Kka is getting antsy listening to all this translated conversation with the mitflits. "Boooooring! Too much chit-chat; not enough action." Finally she speaks up. "Okaay. Let's go see this Boss Skraawng of theirs and convince him that not only is his fly attaack plan stupid, but that if he doesn't clear out of here with his flaakey flunkies, things will get ugly for him." She cracks her knuckles to indicate what she means by ugly.
"After we take care of these guys, we'll check out the..." and here she lifts her hand and flicks out her fingers one at a time as she counts. "... one! the evil mist; two! the mushroom people; three! the big scorpion; and four! the greasy frog... Though maybe not in that order; that evil mist sounds like a handful. We should probably deal with it last"
Giyozara turns back to the misfits.
”Speaking of the Mushroom people, where did they chase you out of? Did you come to the surface from underneath this castle, or did you come out somewhere else and then move to here?”
"There's a stairs down up north. We had a nice lair underground, but they suddenly burst in, claimed it as their own, and kicked us out. We never really bothered going up, but we had to and found this leaky ruin, and it's better than no shelter at all, so... If you kick out those mushroom-eyes, we can live in our lair again and we don't have to throw dung at your nice town." They all smile hopefully at you.
Giyozara sighs and turns to the party.
”So, assuming this ‘Boss’ of theirs is willing to listen to any kind of reason-a stretch I know- we might be able to solve a lot of this with diplomacy. we might be able to figure out when these Mushroom dudes have moved in and why. If we take care of them, then at least these misfits have agreed to move back underground, and that just leaves the vampire mist and whatever is lighting the lighthouse if it ISN’T the mist. Oh, and a giant scorpion. I see no reason to kill the frog thing. . . It seems happy, it’s. Not hurting us.”
"In any case, we need to send these guys off on a long "task" so we aren't swarmed at an inopportune time. Since we have an idea of who we're facing, let's try the diplomacy route. If nothing else it'll let Kka and Lough get a little closer before we start fighting."
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"I would like to meet the mushroom people" Lough agrees with Giyozara's plan.
"Little ones" he uses his best "king" voice here, though it comes off as contrived "Your information is vital. We have a task for you. Please go into the swamp, collect as much fungi as you can can carry, and bring it back to me"
He winks at Kka with his grey eye!
The mitflits salute as they're given the command. Seems like they're used to being told what to do. "Yes sir! All the fungi we can find, or only the edible ones? We know a few that can do some funny things to your head."
"And er... Are we tasked with taste-testing all of them, to make sure they're safe?"
"I would like to meet the mushroom people"
”The GM said I have a feeling we should talk to the boss and kill the scorpion before going to the mushrooms. Actually, we should do the boss and scorpion, THEN the mist, that seems pretty dangerous, THEN the mushrooms.”
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Lough's face flushes white - aghast! - at the sheer professionality of Giyozara's death list - he opens his mouth to speak, but his revulsion - and fear! - prevent anything intelligible from coming out.
Instead he turns to the mitflits "Yes those too. Especially those ones! But, collect, don't eat, the poison ones. The swamp is very big and you are very small: be careful" at face value it sounds like a meaningless task, but in fact, it is actually something Lough has generally been interested in for some time, and, now that he has taken some time off work (and has attracted a willing group of subjects that entreat him), finds that some of the little curiosities that have sat in the back of his mind gain new life by this opportunity.
Seeing that the mitflits were about to leave, Kka whispers to Giyozara. "Ask them where we caan find Boss Skraawng and his pet before they taake off. They can't be too far away. We need to haave a little chat with him next."
Seeing that the mitflits were about to leave, Kka whispers to Giyozara. "Ask them where we caan find Boss Skrawng before they taake off."
”Oh, uh, Misfits, before you leave, which area had you old boss again?”
Cherry nods. as Giyozara speaks. "We are here to investigate the lighthouse first. If it turns out that the underground is causing the lighthouse, well that comes then."
With a heavy sigh, the mitflits start packing up their stuff. "Boss Skrawng is to the southeast, right through that door over there. Can't miss it. He'll probably be sitting on that stupid throne of his."
They remain silent for a while.
"So... There's nothing else we can do for you? Polish your weapons, give you a back rub, fold your laundry? Just the mushrooms?"
With a big sigh, they move out of the room and leave the building through the door you came in from.
Kvit nods as the mitflits leave the room. "Well, there's a couple out of our way, or we'll just have to fight them anyway later. We'll see. Let's take a quick look around here and then see this "boss" Skrawng"
Kka does her usual routine on the door and stands back to let Lough take the lead. "All clear. Taake it away, big maan!"
A 15‑foot stone walkway spans a narrow stretch of swamp water, connecting the ruined keep to a large stone outbuilding. Double doors block each end of the walkway. Standing before the southeast door is a seven‑foot‑tall skeleton dressed in armor made of gnarled roots, bones, and rusted metal. The skeleton clenches a morningstar in one weathered hand with the weapon’s heavy, spiked tip resting on the walkway at the skeleton’s feet.
Giyozara notices that the morningstar radiates magic.
"Oh, hey, that's a magic Morningstar there! May be useful to Lough. I could try to identify it, but maybe Kvit should instead. Given that it has just lay discarded on the floor I doubt it has anything more than a standard accuracy enchantment but I could be wrong."
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With a look of unadulterated suspicion, Lough darts his eyes between Giyozara and the skeleton several times for a few moments, hesitant to proceed forward and simply grab the morningstar out of fear that "It's a trap!" he induces "I think we should leave it be"
He raises his shield to protect himself from what in his wild imagination is them disturbing it...
Outside, the Slurk lets out a loud croak.
Kka pokes her head into the room and spots the unmoving skeleton with the morningstar. When it remains unmoving, even with Lough flapping around in front of it like a frightened rabbit, she carefully moves into the room with her sword in hand. Kka then stealthily approaches the creature for a closer look. If she gets close enough to the morningstar to reach it with her foot, she'll try to kick it away from the skeleton.
As she reaches out with her foot, the other one slips on some magic pixie mud and she finds herself spinning her arms wildly just to stay upright. "I meant to do thaat!"
The skeleton was apparently resting partly on the morningstar, because as soon as Kka kicks the weapon away from the skeleton, it collapses in a loud clatter of bones and remains of armour.
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Lough shrieks and races across the room - the mountain of bone and metal nearly collapsing on him!
Hiding in the corner (behind his shield) a few moments shaking, he eventually observes that the dangerous moment has ceased, clears his throat, and heads back to the door the "creature" had formerly been "guarding" and opens it, shrugging.
"No sense in being quite now, Kka"
Kvit winces at the clattering noise. "Well if he wasn't expecting visitors he is now."
He heads over to take a look at the morningstar pointed out by Giyozara. "Let's see what this is, though I suspect Giyozara's guess is probably correct."
Cherry Berry shook their head. "Maybe he'll think its his minions making the noise. And if not, well there were probably alarms anyway."
Kka quickly recovers her balance and avoids the bonefall of the collapsing skeleton. She then bends down and picks the morningstar out of the pile. She glances at it before handing it to Kvit.
"Can you make anything out of it Kvit? It's a little awkward for me to wield effectively, but if Giyozara's right, Lough may want to use it until we can get the rune transferred to something more useful." "Like my shortsword... or maybe that spiffy rapier I saw at Blades for Glades the other day."
Kvit inspects it for a moment and nods. "Yeah, seems like a standard potency rune. Probably the only reason it's not rusted after all this time. Although, knowing these mitflits they've probably licked it or something so, I'm going to need to wash my hands." He holds it out, offering it to Lough
Cherry Smiles at Kvit and Lough. "But it was a lucky first find! Maybe will keep finding interesting stuff as we look around."
Lough opens the next door.
Splintered framing in the ceiling and floor hint that thin wooden walls once divided this stone building’s interior. With those walls demolished, only a single, large chamber remains. Rubble, swamp vegetation, and mud pile in heaps like foul nests, while a larger stack of rubble, sticks, and bones looks almost, but not quite, like a throne. A flattened mound of sand with a few dozen bits of wood and stone stuck into it covers the floor before the throne.
At the back of the room, a mitflit with a scraggly beard sits on the throne, petting a giant spider. Two mitflits nearby are clearly standing guard.
In a raspy voice, the mitflit on the throne addresses you in Common.
"Hmm, so the humans of Otari have come to capture me already. Tell me," he demands, "how did you know of my master plan before I was even ready to strike?"
He looks to the mitflit on the left. "Gragix, did that idiot brother of yours blabber again? You know the penalty for telling secrets to the enemies." He picks up a rock from besides his throne and chucks it at Orange, who doesn't bother to dodge and simply takes it to the back of the head. He mumbles a "Sorry, Boss," in Undercommon, seemingly inured to the punishment.
"Well, anyway," the mitflit on the throne continues, "come closer. Now that you're here, we might as well negotiate. I might be planning an attack on your town, but I'm not a monster. My demands are more than reasonable, I can assure you. If you leave town tomorrow and leave all your belongings behind, I won't burn any one of you."
You know this information, but sharing this with your friends is a bit of a faux pas when you're negotiating with the enemy.
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"Well" Lough thinks a bit "That's not going to happen - Otari is my home, and even though I am on a sabbatical I do intend to return to my job" "probably" our slag hero admits to himself "You two" he addresses the other two mitflits at his right and left "Leave the service of your boss whose plan is unable to move forward now, and side with us, for you are already outnumbered" turning back to his team to holler "Be wary of that Slurk lurking about - bound to slick right through that slipstream here" such a lurking threat could invalidate his last claim indeed.
Stepping forward only slightly, he waits for the Boss (or the other mitflits) to speak before acting rashly - clearing himself from obstructing the doorway entirely.
The two guards look at each other, look back at the Boss, then look back at Lough. You get the feeling they're not sure if you're to be trusted. Or maybe they fear the Boss more than they like you.
When Lough steps into the room and it is clear that Boss Skrawng is within, Kka waits a bit, listening for the start of the engagement before launching herself through the door and catching the enemy by surprise. But the only sounds she hears are Lough chit-chatting with some mitflits. "By the Savored Sting! What's with all the talky-talky all of a sudden? I've had enough of this!"
Frustrated and annoyed, Kka clomps into the room after Lough. "What in the name of all the gods is going on in here?" She looks around, and though a little surprised by the presence of the giant spider, hides her reaction. Kka's gaze then falls on the mitflit with the scraggly beard sitting on, on... "what on Golarion is that? Is that supposed to be a throne???" She barely stifles a giggle and continues.
Pointing menacingly at the head mitflit, she gives him her best evil-tiefling blood-eye look. "Are you this Boss Skraawng we've been hearing about? The one with the haarebrained idea of tossing dung at us from giant flies? Well you caan forget about it. We've just finished taaking out all your airforce as well as the maggots they caame from." She makes a creeeech! sound in her throat while dragging her thumb across her throat. "If you know what I mean."
"And you caan forget about the rest of your laackeys. We got rid of them as well, and if you don't want to staart your own journey to the Boneyaard, I strongly suggest that you taake what's left of your entourage and high-tail away from here before we lose our tempers and things turn ugly." She snaps her beak closed a couple of times show she means business. "Click, clack!"
"Whoa! Where did that come from? I almost scared myself. Oh well, either they take off or they take a shot at us; either way talky-talky time is over." She was oddly proud at having slipped the word entourage into her speech; she'd only learned it recently and hadn't thought she'd ever be able to use it.
"Listen, we're going to go talk to those Mushroom people who kicked you out. Figure out what they are doing there. If things go south, well, you might have your old land back. But trust me, there are enough bows, arrows, and spells to kill any of your people . . . or flies . . . that attack Otari. Now, what'll it be?"
Sam heads inside the room with her bow half-drawn. She doesn't point it at anyone in particular, but she's ready to shoot if things get ugly.
Kvit enters behind the others, staying near the rear, prepared to start flinging spells if or when this goes sour. The boss didn't seem one to give up easily, but besides the big bug, he didn't seem to pose much of a threat.
Boss Skrawng's mouth falls open as Kka's tirade washes over him. "But.. I'm the Boss.. You can't..." he sputters before deflating and slinking away in his throne. He looks towards the group and at the giant spider next to him, clearly deciding whether it's profitable to start the fight, but he takes another look at Kka and her sharp beak and decides against it. He collects his thoughts for a moment.
"You mean you killed off Sir Buzzybuzz and his mate? He's the first fly I raised, our entire operation hinges on him. He's supposed to be the alhpa." He starts sobbing and blows his nose in the hem of his sackcloth outfit. After a while, he recovers himself again.
"But you say you can chase off those mushroom-eyes? That means we can go back to our lair. If you do that, I'll reward you with piles of gemstones we recovered from this keep! Never let it be said that Boss Skrawng isn't generous!"
Cherry Berry nods as they bob in place.
"Good. Attack other people for their homes is not a good thing. Is there anything your people need in the meantime?"
”We’ll . . . ENCOUNTER the Mushroom-people. No guarantees on getting your home back but we’ll at least see if we can figure out what is going on. We should tell you that our first priority by the way this adventure is designed logically, will be to take care of the upper floor. That death-mist we were warned about is certainly problematic and a danger to everyone. Also it was the initial reason we came here.”
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Lough cowers before the "Click-Clacking" of Kka - hitting the deck before remembering they are on the same side.
Recovering somewhat "Yes we killed the Fly" he considers for a moment whether or not to take Boss Skrawng's deal "We accept on the condition that these mushroom people are a menace only" leaving the determination up to the party to decide, and thus, not boxed in by their own deal.
"What say you?" He smiles at the other two mitflits.
Boss Skrawng regains his composure and stands up on the seat of his throne. The throne wobbles precariously. "Yes. In return for not razing your town to the ground you shall become my emissaries. Go forth and vanquish these mushroom-eyes, unless you like your town filled with dung! I shall promise diplomatic immunity and allow you to visit my lands as esteemed guests as long as you do my bidding. Do we have a deal?"
The mitflit looks at you eagerly, sensing that you want him out of your hair as much as he wants you out of his.
”Again, um, your. . . majesty? Looooordshiiiiip? Boss. Again Boss, we’ll talk to them. Murder might not be called for. . . After all, while a good . . . .kiiiiiing? Boss. While a Good boss might kill someone to get their land back, a truly great boss would know when to negotiate and maybe get something out of the deal, like maybe some trade or protection or something.”
Kka listens to yet more unnecessary talky-talky and rolls her eyes. When Boss Skrawng makes his offer, it is clear to Kka that he is capitulating. From Kka's point of view, Boss Skrawng was offering to exchange his life for a promise not to attack Otari. All the mushroom people stuff was just a veneer to save face. And regardless, they would eventually run into these mushroom people and doubtless take care of them in good time.
Finally sick of all the blah blah blah, Kka speaks up. "Click, clack! It's a deal! We'll taake caare of the mushroom people when we get around to it, and in the meantime you leave Otaari alone." She then gives him an intimidating glare and adds, "But if we see or hear about even one of you going anywhere near Otaari, dung or no dung, we're coming baack here to pay another visit. Do I maake myself clear? Good!"
She turns to her companions. "Okay. Thaat's that haandled. Let's go find ourselves a big scorpion to beat up."
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"Ok. I am your emissary. So long as you are a good Boss" having learned a new word today, Lough adds a final condition out of good will, and moves toward the mitflit to shake - extending to him his slagged claw with cold iron nails, but retracted, that only his strong fingers with rounded tips reach forward.
"Shake on it" extending the custom with only the best of intentions.
Kvit shakes his head a Lough a little. "Alright then, lets go if you are done hobnobbing Lough."
Kvit walks out of the room with Sneakers in tow.
With a big grin, Boss Skrawng shakes Lough's hand. "Excellent. I hope you'll do excellent job. Go forth and broker peace between our tribes. Or kill them, that's good too. As long as we get our lair back."
Cherry nods. "Thank you for being reasonable Boss Skrawng." As they follow Kvit from the room.
Giyozara does a shallow bow and follows suit.