"We did not find what it was about the building that called the Anadi to it, unfortunately. Perhaps another look through will find something?"
"Perhaps it was some ritual the serpentfolk were performing. We should ask the new students if they still feel drawn to the building."
Patizamo's mentioning of the Anadi reminds Ubasu that they were planning to bring them inside. "Perhaps we ought to apply our practical skills and see if we can detect any lingering magic within? That, and we should take the Anadi inside if they're willing to. They're our dowsing rod of sorts, after all."
The anadis are elated to finally be able to enter the storerooms that have been calling ot them. They quickly move in and explore the area, fascinated by the experimentation table. They are not able to provide any more details as to what might have been transpiring here, but they confirm that they still feel drawn to the rooms, and that one especially.
There are traces of lingering magic in the area, but it's impossible to determine anything more at this time.
Ubasu thanks the Anadi for their cooperation. It is a letdown that they cannot pin down the source of the magnetic effect, but at least they know that it most likely was a spell. "How intriguing. Even though the strength of the magic used here is fading away, its effects on those affected is still strong enough to guide them here. Could it be a modified ritual version of a suggestion-like spell? Hrm, maybe now is not the time to speculate."
"An interesting research question, but I'm eager to do some field work. What if we were to investigate those strange griffons? Remind me, who on the faculty is an expert on beasts?" With only deadends in sight, Pilzip quickly switches to a new line of inquiry.
"If you ever feel the same pull anywhere else in the campus or in the city, please let us know, ok?" Baldrek asks the anadis.
The asandis agree to inform you should anything crop up regarding the supernatural pull.
***
After resting up, you ask to meet with one of the professors who is an expert on beasts. This leads you to the office of Ahassanu, an iruxi lore-speaker with a love of predatory animals. She has been caring for the griffons since you defeated them. Her office is in the top floor of the Elephant Museum.
“Welcome, attendants!” Ahassunu says happily, her scaled face breaking into a wide grin. “I’ve been watching your progress. Quite impressive, I say, quite impressive. It reminds me of a group of ancient Mwangi Expanse warriors who defied all expectations when they—oh, you didn’t come here for me to ramble. You have questions, yes?"
"Yes, we do, professor. Nice to meet you at last." Baldrek says, with a bow.
"We believe that those who were mistreating the griffons might be behind what is happening in the Magaambya. Do you believe you could offer us any insight in how to track their former home? Or, failing that, tell us more about this unusual species?"
"I believe I may be of some assistance," Ahassanu says. "You might have already gathered that griffons do not normally approach urban areas unless they’ve been acclimated to humanoids. There are many people in Nantambu who capture and domesticate animals for use as guards, mounts, or pets. Griffons are exceedingly difficult to capture and harder to domesticate. This difficulty, combined with the distinct appearance of these griffons, means finding the right place is simply a matter of narrowing down the options! I would suggest asking around the city to locate these creatures' former owner."
During the interrogation of the serpentfolk, Safiki makes certain to ask, "Do you know what happened to your compatriot? We found her body in the storeroom and would like to know how she died." After a second's thought, he adds, "I would also like to know if you have any particular customs or rites that should be followed in order to properly inter the body."
He finds the topic of investigating the griffons much more cheerful. "Such an unusual coloration shouldn't be hard to find. I'm certain anyone who's seen them would remember it."
Ubasu steps forward and volunteers to be the one doing the talking. "I have experience with asking such questions. After all, heh, I traveled along a path of questions all the way from Nagisa to the Academy. Luckily, the kind people of the Mwangi continuously managed to point me in the right direction with their answers."
The half-elf eyes the others and wonders if they perhaps know a thing or two about griffons. Ubasu has some basic knowledge of them, but that's where it ends. "Feel free to butt in whenever you think it's necessary for while I know what a griffon is, my knowledge is basic of them is basic at best."
The serpentfolk tell Safiki that the dead one in the other room was Salathiss's assistant. She angered him somehow, and he swiftly murdered her with a phantasmal killer spell. They don't have any specific burial rites.
***
It takes about four days of asking around Nantambu until you get a lead on the animal trader who owned the unusual griffons. Oba Eze operates a store called Oba's Wondrous Creatures on the south edge of Nantambu that trades in hard-to-find animals. Inside, an elegantly styled woman sits behind a desk, swiftly counting coins and writing notes in a ledger. A few cages contain rare birds and lizards. The woman looks up, and her look of concentration turns into a scowl.
“You! Why would you harm such beautiful, expensive, majestic, and expensive creatures?” she complains. "You and that accursed school of yours, have seriously impacted my business! I insist that you compensate me for the damage you have done!"
"Your beautiful and expensive creatures attacked and almost killed someone. We can assume responsibility of harming your creatures as long as you also assume responsibility of almost killing someone." Baldrek proposes, not liking the woman at all.
"I do not think you are so eager to claim such responsibility, Ms. Eze. Perhaps we can speak as though these events are in the past, and we are cordial towards each other?"
Oba crosses her arms over her chest. "Fine," she says coldly. "I will confirm, then, that the griffons got loose from their enclosures the morning that they attacked your fellow students. This is unusual because I housed the griffons in separate, albeit adjacent, cages. You're free to investigate the cages for clues. I've been so distraught since they escaped that I haven't been to their cages since. In fact, I've hardly been able to rouse myself to tend to any of my animals."
Oba shrugs. ”Okay, why not? Follow me, I suppose.”
A path leads about thirty feet past the shop, through a sturdy gate, and into an expansive, fenced area filled with trees, cages, and sheds. A few wide paths lead through the area, and the smell of animals is unmistakable. A large hemispherical cage to the north stands empty. Boards have been pulled away from a nearby shed. From the east come the sounds of several animals squawking.
”Oh, no! Now what?” Oba cries. She hustles to the nearby cage. The large open cage bears a wooden sign reading, “Tigers: 2.” A wooden shed to the southwest has several boards torn from it, and bits of chewed leather harnesses and collars are strewn about. A canvas tent to the northwest is torn open, with several large chunks of meat spilling from it. The meat reeks of rot.
Growls nearby get your attention. You can see a pair of tigers crouched in the bush, ready to pounce!
Baldrek quickly draws his ranseur and then sends electricity towards the tigers.
"Steady!", commands Ubasu with a booming voice. Whether he's addressing his companions or the lions is unclear, but the Alijae's voice takes away some of the nerves that might cause a blade or spell to miss.
He then weaves a spell and an otherworldly sense of calm takes root in the area, sucking away the tension and hostility as if it were a sponge for such emotions.
Range 120 feet; Area 10-foot burst
Saving Throw Will; Duration sustained up to 1 minute
You forcibly calm creatures in the area, soothing them into a nonviolent state; each creature must attempt a Will save.
Critical Success: The creature is unaffected.
Success: Calming urges impose a –1 status penalty to the creature's attack rolls.
Failure: Any emotion effects that would affect the creature are suppressed and the creature can't use hostile actions. If the target is subject to hostility from any other creature, it ceases to be affected by calm emotions.
Critical Failure: As failure, but hostility doesn't end the effect.
Ubasu's spell proves to be quite effective! The tigers immediately calm down, walking slowly out from the bush. One of them yawns, while the other one simply regards you with half-lidded eyes.
"Ha! Nicely done!" Oba remarks. She coaxes the tigers back into the cage and closes the door. "This cage was supposed to be locked. Somebody must have picked it open. Why must misfortune plague me? Will you please check on the other animals? The squawking is coming from my elephant birds. The tigers must have agitated them. There's also a rare beast further down called a mpeshi with an electrified aura, so use caution in case it has escaped its cage as well!"
Pilzip heaves a sigh of relief at not having to face down tigers.
"Elephant birds? How exciting--let's check them out!"
Looking closely at Oba, Pilzip gets the sense that while she obviously annoyed that her creatures have been let loose, she is also either nervous or afraid for some other reason...
Elephant birds are massive, flightless birds similar to ostriches. Some of you rode them around the city while delivering mail during your Perquisite.
Mokhasi knows that a mpeshi appears to be a monstrous goat with the foreclaws, hindquarters, and tail of a crocodile. Electricity arcs around its sharp horns, which it can use to both batter and gore with equal facility. Mpeshis can tread on clouds or fog as though on solid ground, and when they fall to earth, they hit the ground with a thundering crash that can stun nearby creatures. They are immune to electricity and resistant to sonic damage.
Ubasu reacts with a worried frown to Mokhasi's words. "I can try to pacify it with magic, but something tells me it will put up more of a fight than the tigers did. Sadly, I have no spells to protect us from lightning, but I can cast blur to enhance someone's defense."
"I unfortunately didn't prepare any spells that would help pacify animals. I wasn't expecting the investigation to take this turn." Safiki is relieved that the tigers were so easily returned to their cages but also deeply concerned about the whole situation. "Ms. Eze, while we check on your other animals I'd appreciate it if you started thinking about why this may be happening. First the griffons, now the tigers, and possibly other creatures as well. This cannot be a coincidence. Can you think of any reason why someone would be opening their cages?"
Understanding that any freed animals may be getting up to mischief even as they speak, he doesn't wait for an answer before moving towards the squawking elephant birds.
"I don't know who would want to sabotage me like this!" Oba declares indignantly.
Safiki leads the way forward. This set of three cages has two elephant birds in each. They have shimmering golden plumage and are squawking noisily. A wooden sign reads, “Elephant Birds, Golden: 6.”
The birds are currently in a panic. They are so agitated that they’re fluttering their wings against the bars and hurling their weight against them.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Pilzip calls out to the birds. "Quiet, nothing to fear from us! What's got you so riled up?"
Pilzip coos and makes gentle gestures with his hands to get the birds to settle down. Once the first one relaxes, the others quickly follow suit, and soon all six have calmed down.
"Ah, pretty bird!" The grippli keeps up his cooing as he looks through their cage to see if anything identifiable was bothering them.
While Pilzip calms the elephant birds, Baldrek looks around worried about the mentioned mpeshi.
Pilzip discovers a large, intact golden elephant bird feather on the ground near the cages. Such a wondrous feather could fetch 75 gp at the market! The grippli guesses the tigers that had been up until recently lurking about may have been the source of the birds' agitation.
When you are ready, you cross the yard to the mpeshi's pen. This cage is larger than the others. The door is ajar, and debris is scattered all around the outside and inside. The metal bars of the cage emit a noticeable, but harmless, jolt of static electricity when touched. Like the tiger cage, the lock hangs freely from the open cage.
A rustling from the trees to the south gets your attention as the angry mpeshi emerges! This fantastic beast appears to be a monstrous goat with the foreclaws, hindquarters, and tail of a crocodile. Electricity arcs around its sharp horns!
Pilzip conjures an orb of flame and tosses it at the creature, then propels himself on to the top of the empty cage.
for and
The mpeshi dodges Pilzip's hurled flame. Ignoring the grippli, the creature bleats, then rushes forward and leaps high into the air. It gores Baldrek as it falls, electricity arcing from the fighter to Patizamo. Then it slams headfirst into the ground with a thundering crash, the shockwave blasting you!
Baldrek grits his teeth as the mpesh comes for him. He decides to ask for some guidance of the spirits thereafter, because once more he is being harmed. Strangely, he doesn't feel that much harmed by the electricity...
Bandrek tries to cover his wounds before regripping his ranseur to retaliate!
Safiki covers his ears at the loud crash. The shockwave nearly knocks him over and he recovers just in time to see Baldrek patching up his injuries. "Be careful, things are about to get slippery!"
Hoping to make the creature fall, he carefully directs his spell to cover the ground immediately beneath the mpeshi. (He also makes sure it doesn't appear immediately beneath any of his companions.)
Ubasu barely manages to get a single syllable out as he struggles to recover from the Mpeshi's shockwave.
Pilzip attempts to distract the creature by throwing his voice, then fires an icy projectile at it.
for
"I think I can lure it back into its cage! If you can, cast a defensive spell on me and then back away so I am its only target!"
Patizamo then casts a spell, and suddenly there are three more of him where once there was but 1.
HP: 28/43. Mirror Images Remaining: 3.
Baldrek stabs at the mpeshi with his ranseur, driving its tines into the beast's flank. While Patizamo protects himself with mirror images, Ubasu recovers enough to begin inspiring courage. Safiki coats the ground beneath the mpeshi with grease, but it manages to retain its footing. Mokhasi grants guidance to Patizamo, while Pilzip's diversion and ray of frost both miss their mark.
The mpeshi focuses its ire on Baldrek. It gores him with its horns twice, the electricity arcing towards Patizamo again!
"It doesn't appear lured Patizamo!" Baldrek replies as he is hit yet again. Before attacking again and then stepping back.
Perhaps I'm forgetting something about this creature...
He keeps tossing ice at the creature.
for and
Ubasu weaves magic and song to aid and heal his companions.
Patizmo grabs some of the lingering spell energy from his last spell, then weaves magic into his blade and strikes at the Mpeshi into it, yelling, "Come get me, mpeshi!"
Safiki quickly chants another prayer of healing for Baldrek, (although he sends a worried look Patizamo's way as well). "Please be careful. Korada only grants me so much healing in a day, and I am rapidly approaching that limit."