"Perhaps we should go west first. The more we can learn before getting into a fight, the better."
Scraps of wood, feathers, and bones litter the floor and the shelves of this room. Many useful talismans lie among the inert supplies, including a sneaky key, two feather step stones, and a rhino hide brooch.
A door to the south seems to connect to the same room that the west door in the entry would have taken you to. You can hear voices conversing in soft tones beyond the door.
Pilzip puts a finger to his lips and silently gestures back they way they have come, an through the other secret door.
Patizamo nods in acquiescence to Pilzip's suggestion they go back, and does so. The room with the snakes it is.
You head back to the previous room and go north from there. Dusty shelves full of what appear to be old reagents line the walls. In one corner is a large pile of broken crates and old hay, presumably for transporting the alchemical equipment here.
An enormous cobra with white scales slithers out from the pile! Its forked tongue flicks in and out of its mouth as it regards you, but it doesn't immediately attack...
Baldrek tries to make calming sounds to the snake, in order for it not to attack them while he tries to recall about this species.
Baldrek identifies the snake as an emperor cobra. These aggressive serpents infest bogs and lowlands. An emperor cobra wards off predators by flaring its hood and hissing at its attacker.
This cobra seems somewhat domesticated. You may be able to keep it calm by offering it a meal or issuing a stern command.
"Any of you are carrying any sort of food a snake might like?" He asks the others without taking his eyes of the snake. Baldrek then tries to keep the snake from attacking them.
Baldrek proves more than capable of charming the snake! The enormous cobra slithers back into its nest, content to leave you alone.
Most of the reagents in this room have spoiled, but some are stable. You can salvage 150 gp of reagents from this room. You also find a lesser elixir of life on a shelf.
A door to the west leads into the furthest room of this building. While the shelves against the walls contain messy and disorganized jumbles, a table in the center of the room holds an orderly arrangement of vials, tools, and several jars of insects.
Two vials contain a weak acid with a faint aura of transmutation magic.
A clay jug holds the remains of some solvent at the bottom.
The tools are all fine sculpting equipment and small drills.
There are two jars of flies and two jars of grasshoppers, with tools and forceps for examining each. All the insects are agitated and aggressive, but none pose you any harm. The insects are obviously here for experimentation, but it's unclear what kind.
A ring of acid resistance rests on the table. In addition, a jumble of magical supplies on a shelf includes a striking rune on a runestone.
Happy with his success in driving the snake away, Baldrek motions the others to continue. Looking at all the stuff related to insects, he gestures for the others. "I believe we are closer to solve our insect mystery..." He then pics one of the vials. "... I think this is some sort of acid, found in ants and bees."
The inquisitive grippli can't make heads or tails of most of the items, but points to the sculpting equipment. "Those are for stonecarving, I'm sure. Sturdier than what you would use on clay."
Safiki eyes the trapped insects with a look of distaste. "So ants and bees were likely the victims of the last experiments. That implies whoever is doing the experimenting has been here for a while, yet the statue was only animated within the past day. Are there two separate parties involved?" He shakes his head. "Perhaps the owners of the voices we heard earlier can provide some answers."
Ubasu has no clue what sort of solvent this is and what its purpose might be. He puts the jug down and offers his companions an apologetic shrug. "Don't forget that it is the Anadi who brought us here, because something 'calls' to them. Perhaps we should present to them the items we've found to see if any of these objects 'call' to them, and if not, we can take them inside and see if they can pinpoint us to this calling. Something tells me these items are altogether too mundane to have such power, but we're left with so many question marks that it won't hurt to remove some from the equation."
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Mokhasi reviews the various things around the room, especially interested in the various crafting items.
He raises a finger, and Muto raises a stone arm, ”I am something of a… crafter myself. Especially of stone. This vial is a solvent of some type. An alkaline solution if you will - one which is used to neutralize acid. Theorists believe it to me more complicated than this… for on a very small scale...” He shakes his head, ”I do not wish to bore anyone. And yes. These are stone tools. I have some tools like this here, in my pack.” He shows off his crafting tools which he has used to delicately and laboriously sculpt small stone objects since arriving at the school. ”Artisans often believe they are bringing forth the true nature of the stone with the tools. But these solutions - it is discomforting! It feels to me that they are warping the stone. A perversion of the stone’s nature. Trying to shape it into a being to serve them instead of letting its spirit be true. Er.”
He blinks, ”this is not a matter many concern themselves with, but my dedication may treat this manipulation as an anathema. If my conclusion is correct.”
"Ubasu is correct - these items themselves are not the cause of the attraction. However, I believe the cause of the attraction is here, somewhere in this building. Perhaps it is used to draw insects here for experimentation, and it has affected the anadi and the insects used by the gremlins underground in the same way. Most curious. Let us go speak to the other people we heard talking."
You make your way to the last room in this building. The room is poorly illuminated by a flickering lantern. Multiple piles of trash dot the room. A makeshift table made of crates and covered by a large cloth bears a few scattered coins.
Two young humans dressed in dark blue robes gamble at the table. One of them is a short man with a slight sneer to his smile. His compatriot is a thin, tall woman, with a fierce, scowling countenance. They seem surprised by your arrival through the room's back door.
"Oh! Uh, good evening, fellow students!" the short man says. "What are you doing here?"
Baldrek points his ranseur at the man. "You should be the ones answering this same question. You are in a building trapped against outside interference, with the body of a serpentfolk nearby."
"Serpentfolk? What are you talking about?" the woman asks. "We tried going in the other rooms, but there’s nothing but trash there, trust us."
It quickly becomes clear, though, that you're not buying the lies the pair are trying to sell you. With a hiss, the two people drop their illusory disguises, revealing themselves as serpentfolk!
The serpentfolk are fast, but Safiki is faster!
Safiki had been hoping the 'students' would answer some questions and is disappointed when they immediately attack. "It's not too late to surrender. I would prefer not to have to hurt you." His desire to not harm another sentient creature is however balanced with caution, so he reaches his hand out and lightly runs his fingers over Pilzip's sword. A glowing trail follows. "Your sword will do more damage now. However please try to subdue rather than kill if you can."
The serpentfolk quickly slather poison on their blades before stepping up to attack!
Baldrek feels the poison entering his veins as he retaliates, both with steel and electricity!
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Mokhasi cannot see the second serpentfolk, so he curls his fingers precisely, slowly at first, and then more quickly, until a small tear appears in the air between his hands. From this issues a small amount of raw fire energy, seemingly moving into this charged space he has managed to create. With some amount of uncertainty, he holds up one hand, with a small orb of fire now floating above it, and tentatively tries to throw it at the serpentfolk.
His other hand, now free, creates a sigil in the air speeds towards Baldrek, infusing him with a minor bolstering measure.
Pilzip brandishes his now-glowing sword, "That's the ticket, Safiki!" He slips behind Baldrek into the room and circles the red serpentfolk.
for and
for and
Patizamo shakes off the poison, but finds himself fending off a serpentfolk. "Mokhasi, can you give me a kangaroo flanking partner?"
He then cast his fiery spell, imbuing the power into his sword before he made to strike at the serpentfolk's head. At the last second, he diverted the strike low, to its torso. As he did, he siphoned off some of the spell's power, and captured it as a source of power.
Seeing Baldrek and Pilzip focusing on one of the serpentfolk, Safiki shifts slightly so he can see the other. "I. Said. Another gust of wind flies from his fingers and slaps the serpentfolk across the face.
Ubasu counters angry serpent hisses with a booming Elvish war cry. He also launches a hastily thrown telekinetic volley at one of the serpent people.
Ubasu's projectile sails wide of his target. Pilzip moves around to flank one of the serpentfolk, stabbing it in the back. Baldrek then impales that serpentfolk with his ranseur and zaps both foes with lightning. Mokhasi and Patizamo miss with their attacks, but Safiki clobbers the second serpentfolk with his admonishing ray!
The first serpentfolk steps out of the flanking position as it stabs Baldrek again and bites him with its fangs, taking advantage of his disorientation to sneak attack! Baldrek falls! The other one remains focused on Patizamo, landing a hit with its sword. The magus narrowly dodges its snapping fangs!
"Thank you, Mokhasi!" Turning his attention to the serpentfolk before him, he said, "Your fangs are quite sharp. Perhaps a surrender would be in order to avoid breaking them?" Even as he spoke, he tried to stab the serpentfolk with his blade as he thought of what he knew about them. He then cast a spell to create a shield of force between him and his opponent.
Ubasu's voice falters when Baldrek goes down and the words fail to linger in the minds of him and his allies. He then again attempts to skewer the serpentfolk with a telekinetic assault.
Pilzip slides over next to the orange serpentfolk and attempts to trip the creature.
Whether successful or not, he'll attack with his sword.
for and
Once again Safiki had underestimated just how quickly their opponents could strike Baldrek down. At least this time his spell had some effect, cold comfort though it was. "I'm sorry Baldrek." Concentrating, he once again sends healing magic towards the fighter before stepping backwards and out of the way.
Baldrek is brought once more to consciousness, understanding this is not his day, since as soon as he does so he still have to deal with the poison in his veins.
Baldrek grabs his ranseur and, while covering his wounds to avoid further bloodloss, he strikes it true against the serpentfolk!
Safiki heals Baldrek, who quickly patches his own wounds and then impales the serpentfolk in the gut! The humanoid doubles over in pain before dropping to the floor, bleeding out!
Mokhasi conjures a kangaroo to join the fight! It lands a hit on the other serpentfolk, as does Pilzip, though Ubasu and Patizamo miss.
Despite being outnumbered, the second serpentfolk continues to attack furiously, stabbing Patizamo twice.
Pilzip again tries to trip the enemy and stab him to stop the assault on Patizamo.
for and
Frustrated by his inaccuracy, he hops back a Step.
Baldrek gets to his feet and moves to engage the last serpentfolk, but his muscles are still stiff due to the poison.
Patizamo concentrated a moment, and then wove a spell of claws into his blade and struck at the serpentfolk.
"We got this, friends!"
Not wanting to repeat the same mistake, Safiki reaches out to heal the worst of Patizamo's wounds. "This battle is almost over. Surrender if you value your life!"
The serpentfolk deftly dodges most of your attacks, only taking a kick to the leg from Mildred. Refusing to surrender, he continues his assault!
Ubasa continues to chant an Alijae war song and deftly moves his hands to once more telekinetically manipulate a nearby object. Instead of aiming for the serpent's center mass, he aims for its head this time.
The projectile clobbers the serpentfolk on the head, and he goes down hard!
The serpentfolk have mundane gear, but a pilfered warcaller’s chime of destruction sits in a nearby trash pile.
Pilzip will curiously pat down the enemies for any kind of letters or diaries that might explain what they were doing here. He also looks around the room for any signs of what might be drawing in the insects.
Once assured that no one else in the party is in immediate danger of falling, Safiki digs through his bag for some rope. "Could someone tie them up while I stabilize them? They should be unconscious for a while yet, but best not to take chances." He quickly casts stabilize on both serpentfolk. "We should take them to the authorities. Perhaps they'll be able to answer some questions about the experiments being conducted here, along with what happened to the other serpentfolk we found."
Baldrek helps to tie the serpentfolk, taking extra effort in doing so, since he believes their anatomy could make them slippery.
There are no letters or diaries, nor are there any other clues as to what might have been transpiring here. Before turning the serpentfolk over to the Chime-Ringers for incarceration, you are able to interrogate them They claim to know very little. Their leader, whose name they give as Salathiss, told them to pretend to be students and deter any trespassers. They know that Salathiss is hiding in Nantambu with other serpentfolk, but they don’t know where and they don’t know the size of Salathiss’s retinue. Salathiss used to come into the storage room every few nights on an errand he didn’t discuss, but it’s been a few days since they’ve seen him.
When you tell Janatimo about what you discovered in the storeroom, he’s concerned to hear about serpentfolk on campus. Clearly, the serpentfolk weren’t infiltrating the student body, even though they’re active on campus. Janatimo vows to heighten the Magaambya’s security precautions as best he can without alarming the students and staff. He asks you to keep these events to yourselves while he pledges to look into matters to keep the student body safe.