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Mokhasi's grey eyes shine, "he sounds quite frightening, but this being does not make sense. Stone cannot normally travel through walls. What do you think, Muto?" The little stone man puts his stone arm under his stone head, thoughtfully, and then shrugs. "Muto also does not think this makes sense."
He turns back to Binji, "can we resolve this conflict peaceably, do you think? We do not wish to harm you or the other gremlins. I believe the Magaambya has much they could offer if you were to ask. Or is this ghost too intimidating?"
"If you can get rid of Stone Ghost, I am sure the other gremlins will stop attacking!" Binji says. "Except maybe Urbek. He is very mean, too!"
Patizamo nods. "I think we can. We should take this map back to the surface, as well as Binji, here. She can tell Teacher Ot what she told us, and we can warn them about this Urbek attacking the Spire Dormitory. Binji, would you like to accompany us to the surface?"
Binji nods enthusiastically. "Yes, please!"
You return to surface and show Teacher Ot both the map and the gremlin. After speaking with Binji for a few minutes, Teacher Ot turns to you. "Well done. This Stone Ghost appears to be a serious threat to the Magaambya. You must find him and stop him to ensure the campus's safety."
Raknar stands patiently as Teacher Ot is debriefed. When they task the group with dispatching the Stone Ghost, he gives Koride a pointed look and says ”Our band is up to the challenge,” before turning and leaving, not waiting for the teacher he had respected to give a reply.
Baldrek is a bit reluctant to pursue the stone ghost at the moment, but just because he is more worried about the gremlin that was sent to kill 'them', as not all in the Spire Dormitory might be ready to defend themselves.
However, knowing he can't be in two places at the same time, he sees the wisdom of searching for this ghost and entrusting the others will deal with the gremlin assassin. "We should not waste any time."
You return to the tunnels and explore the southwest portion of the area. Here, hidden doors lead to a storage area. Though likely once organized, this storage area has been pillaged over and over again, leaving barrels pried or punched open and sacks spilling their contents across the grimy floor. Piles of garbage flood the corners. A small cook fire has stained the ceiling with soot, and the nearby utensils seem to have never seen wash water.
A bag just visible at the top of one of the shelves, well out of easy gremlin reach, is a bag of holding type I. It contains a taxidermy bloodseeker missing its beak and, perhaps unsurprisingly, a bloodseeker beak talisman.
You navigate the tunnels, heading generally north and east. The smell of rotten meat assails the senses in the large cavern ahead. A natural pillar in the middle of the room bears several metal hooks with gruesome slabs of meat hanging from each.
A brutish nuglub gremlin with a pickaxe is here. This must be Urbel! He stands near an enormous tsetse fly. When Urbel spots you, he grunts in Undercommon.
The gremlin grins and draws his pick!
Baldrek moves and points his ranseur at the gremlin menacingly, readying it to strike upon approach. He then zaps both gremlin and fly with lightning.
Raknar takes a more conventional approach. He crouched down, studying the gremlin closely before letting out a roar and lunging at the thing, attempting to bury both claw blades into it simultaneously!
Urbel turns aside, avoiding some of Baldrek's lightning. The giant fly completely evades both the electricity and Mokhasi's scree!
Raknar lunges at Urbel, managing to land one hit with a claw blade. Sneering, the gremlin tries to clamber onto the giant fly's back!
The fly tries to buck Urbel, but he cheers triumphantly as he hangs on tight! He kicks the fly's sides to command it to attack Raknar as he reaches for the ranger, lightning crackling on his fingertips.
The fly jabs Raknar with its sharp proboscis, drawing the amurrun's blood!
Baldrek circles around the pair and thrusts his ranseur against the fly.
Baldrek impales the fly's head with his ranseur, killing it with one critical strike! It falls to the floor, and Urbel grunts as he leaps clear. The gremlin shouts in Undercommon.
Raknar had thought about retreating back a step, but his pride kicked in and he instead launched a series of wild attacks at the gremlin
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Patizamo glided forward, getting near Urbel and preparing to cast a spell into his sword to strike the gremlin.
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Mokhasi gestures and Baldrek feels inspired, and then spends a moment teasing something out of the very air itself. Somewhat unstable, the arrow appears to be made of water, though it is smoking slightly. He flicks something away to the ground, and concentrating, sends it towards the remaining creature.
Patizamo strikes Urbel with his burning blade, but the gremlin dodges Raknar's attacks and Mokhasi's acid arrow.
Urbel gives a frightful lunge and loud grunt, trying to demoralize Patizamo!
He succeeds in throwing the magus off a bit. The gremlin tries to capitalize on that distraction as he swings his pick, scoring a critical hit!
Baldrek continues to strike and send lightning at the gremlin.
Patizamo bleeds heavily from the wound where the pick went into his side. He says, "Raknar, put some fear into him." He then waited for Raknar to do that, and channeled some of the energy from his last spell into himself, and took a single strike at the gremlin before casting another spell, this one conjuring a shield of force against the gremlin's attacks.
Raknar lets out a leonine roar before slashing again twice with his blades!
Urbek takes the full blast from Baldrek but avoid some of Mokhasi's scree. Both Patizamo and Raknar land good hits on the gremlin, leaving him badly wounded.
Urbel snarls, throws down his pick, and then tries to flee!
He doesn't get far, though, as Baldrek stabs him in the back with his ranseur! The gremlin groans, stumbles, and falls!
Baldrek looks around, for any sign of danger, still with his guard up.
Patizamo lets the magic fade from him, then groans as he sits down, holding his side. "Baldrek, do you think you could take the time to patch me up, please?"
"Of course! Let me take a look."
There doesn't seem to be anything interesting in the immediate vicinity. Several tunnels lead away from this chamber.
Raknar grimaces at his own injuries. He kneels down and spits onto some dirt in the chamber before mixing it together in his paws, muttering some words over it before rubbing it over the injuries he has sustained thus far.
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After resting and healing, Raknar leads the way north to explore more of the tunnels. Three centipede carcasses lie on the floor near the south end of this room. Each appears to be curled around a ball of string or wire, like a kitten with a ball of yarn.
Patizamo looks over them, trying to figure out if these are traps of some kind.
Patizamo determines that the centipedes are, indeed, traps. Each giant centipede carcass is curled around a tight ball of springy wire. The wire is tied to the centipede’s legs, which have been sharpened even further into deadly points. When the carcass is jostled, the wire is rigged to unspring, pulling out the centipede legs and flinging them around the room.
Raknar kneels down beside one and looks it over, growling quietly to himself. ”Wait,” he says bluntly to the others. He then carefully reaches down and, one by one, bends the carapace in an awkward fashion until there is a slight snapping sound, before moving on to the next, then the next, until all are tended to.
He then stands and looks them all over before saying ”Let’s go,” and continuing on his hunt.
You explore the northeast region of the tunnels, coming across a pair of gnagrif gremlins and a giant mining bee slowly but diligently gnawing through the rock to expand the tunnels. After defeating them, you find a couple more hidden gremlin nest rooms.
In the southeast reaches of the tunnels, you find three masks and three cloaks affixed to the south wall of a claustrophobic cave, as though in mockery of people, with arms extended to the sides. All look colorful, but dirty and bloodstained. One of the masks depicts a stern antelope, another a kindly hare, and the last a smiling warthog.
A close look at the cloaks reveals dirt and dust on the lower halves of them. It seems to indicate that each wearer was somehow pulled partially into the ground before being killed. The mask of the kindly hare is a mask of mercy.
The hare mask and accompanying yellow cloak hang on a slightly askew secret door. Beyond, a long, narrow hall leads to another secret door that opens into a large chamber. This well-appointed bedroom and study almost makes one forget that it’s hidden deep underground. The space is neatly furnished with mismatched items, including a bearskin rug and extraordinarily comfortable-looking chair. A heavy professor’s desk sits off to one side, along with a massive, gently scuffed four-poster bed. Rugs and curtains hang in an inadequate attempt to make the space seem less like a cave, but craggy wall peeks through the gaps.
With evidence that the Stone Ghost can walk through walls and trap people in the ground, Patizamo checks the surfaces of the walls for any signs of this Stone Ghost.
With his sharp eyes and affinity for stone, Mokhasi notices a strange bulge in the wall behind a hanging tapestry. It almost looks like a humanoid ear...
The elf calls out a warning as a man made of stone steps out of the wall! His faceted skin matching the blocks that make up the Magaambya campus. His hair and face are made of ruined mosaics, and his body is covered in fragmentary runes. "You have discovered my presence here. For that, you must die!" he proclaims. Two jinkin gremlins scramble out from under the bed, brandishing their teeth as they move to support the stone man!
The stone man strides over to Baldrek and swings his morningstar!
The gremlins move to flank Raknar!
Baldrek tries to pierce the stone man's guard with ranseur and he approaches and then again, before unleashing lightning over him and the closest gremlin.
This stone ghost could be tough, but the gremlin next to him was more important at the moment. Patizamo cast a spell, weaving it into his blade, causing the tip to shift into more of a claw as he struck at the gremlin before pulling some of the power into himself.
Raknar lashes out at the gremlin that hurt him the most, slashing away at it as fast as he can!
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Mokhasi sets his mouth into a thin line - "why... what did anyone at the Magambyaa do to you that would cause such strife... we are simply students!"
He focuses a moment... and mildred the kangaroo returns, as if from the stone itself. Muto cheers. "Mildred here does not care for bullies like you!"
Mildred appears, flanking with Baldrek - and kicks out!
"I was a student once, too! And now look at me!" the stone man shouts at Mokhasi.
Raknar stabs one of the gremlins, badly wounding it. Patizamo eviscerates the other one with his magically empowered strike!
Mokhasi summons a kangaroo, which kicks the stone man. Though he seems resilient to physical damage, the critical hit certainly leaves a mark!
Baldrek stabs the stone man, landing a critical strike! He then unleashes a blast of electricity. The gremlin completely evades it, while the stone man avoids some of the arc.
Growling in anger, the stone man reaches out to grab Baldrek.
He briefly renders the warrior intangible and drags him into the ground, planting him waist-deep in the ground! He then bashes Baldrek with his morningstar!
The gremlin stabs Raknar twice!
Raknar continues slicing at the gremlin he is engaged with, though he does turn an eye towards the stone man, eager to begin his attack there…
Baldrek gets caught by surprise as he is pulled into the stone. He tries to free himself and then strikes with his ranseur.
"What happened? A magical accident gone wrong? Could you not find someone at the Magaambya to help you?"
Patizamo cast a spell, and suddenly there were three duplicates of himself swirling about him. He invoked more magic, and then disappeared an reappeared on the desk to flank with Raknar and strike the Stone Ghost.
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Mokhasi frowns, "yes - I have an affinity for stone myself! Things change, you are alive, I am alive. We do not need to fight - but we will defend ourselves!"
Mokhasi gestures, and the grey kangaroo looks stronger, and then gestures again and Baldrek seems to have a less unforgiving relationship with the stone.
"The teachers expelled me!" the stone man shouts at Patizamo. "They called me careless and cruel! They robbed me of my future as a powerful wizard! They confined me to my quarters, and when I tried to use my magic to escape, the school's wards rebounded onto me with the full force of their power. They turned me into this, a Stone Ghost! Trapped within the school's very walls! But now, I will have my revenge! You will not stop me!"
Raknar finishes off the gremlin, then moves up to Stone Ghost, marking him as his prey. Baldrek and Patizamo both land glancing hits that the stony man largely resists. The kangaroo lands a more solid blow.
Stone Ghost swings his morningstar at Baldrek again, bashing him twice on the head! The second is a critical hit that lays the fighter low!
This stone ghost was dangerous - far more so than Patizamo had expected. Baldrek wasn't moving - this was not good. He didn't know medicine, however, so the best he could do was try to finish off the Stone Ghost. Casting a spell, weaving it into his blade, he tried to hit the Stone Ghost with a powerful blow before he cast a spell, conjuring a shield of force before him.
Electricity flashes as Patizamo strikes Stone Ghost! The former student convulses as the energy courses through his body, then his morningstar falls from his nerveless fingers. He groans, then collapses to the ground, his body crumbling to pieces!
You take time to stabilize and heal Baldrek before investigating the room. It takes several minutes to sort through all the incriminating journals, maps, and notes on the desk. The notes and maps concern the Magaambya grounds, including access tunnels, subterranean rooms, and other underground places Stone Ghost was attempting to reach by digging.
The journals detail Stone Ghost’s plans. Some older notes are by an “Uduak Basni,” Stone Ghost’s old name before he took the title the gremlins gave him. More recent notes indicate surprise at the number of insects found on the campus, followed by delight when he realized that digging insects could help create a network of interconnected tunnels beneath the school. One note in particular reads, “Not clear why so many insects are drawn to campus, but the gremlins do fine at keeping them in line. I have the gremlins working the insects to death, to take their little minds off of the fact I’m doing the same to them.” The insect attack on Tireless Hall is just the first of several attack plans detailed in these notes, each aiming to inflict greater damage and death upon the Magaambya.
Under the bed, you discover a rhinoceros mask. Its enchantment can be transferred to a non-magical mask. The bearskin rug is exceptionally well made and is worth 30 gp. Stone Ghost's weapon is a +1 morningstar.
Baldrek sits by the corner, still a bit stunned after being knocked unconscious and trapped in the stone. "It is astonishing how blind can people be and how easy is it to blame others for our own flaws."