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As 'Akila' aims her gun at the spirit, the wisp shoots out a diagonal electric arc towards her gun, but the gunslinger manages to avoid most of it with a well-timed dodge.
Combat! Round 2
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Will-o-wisp
Tenibri, Awkin, Cat (-7), Betty (-15), Lotus, Ejtehah (-8), Blue Gnoll
Everyone except Betty is up! Currently, all allies have +4/+4
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The wisp expertly dodges Ejtehah's slash, cackling madly at the shifter. Almost immediately after, Cat pounces on it with fury! A bite and two slashes go out, but the wisp dodges those too - spinning around the tiger and saying-"You have tamed beasts in preparation! But how could beasts best he who is favored by the Mother of Beasts?"-getting ready to retaliate.
The gnoll takes a few steps back, trying to protect the backline with his melee weapons.
Combat! Round 2
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Will-o-wisp
Tenibri, Awkin, Cat (-7), Betty (-15), Lotus, Ejtehah (-8), Blue Gnoll
Lotus is up! Currently, all allies have +4/+4
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Having dodged all attacks coming its way, the wisp cackles and goes to zap 'Akila' once more! It whispers-"Let me see you at death's door. For a dying creature gives the most pleasant aroma."-to her. The creature's lightning however, comes off weak, and only manages to numb her fingers.
It then dissapears from sight, the cackles only growing louder and echoing in the chamber. It is at this time, however, that Tenibri recites an incantation, unraveling the illusory magic in his mind. A glowing third eye appears on his forehead, and he is able to tell precisely where it is. It seems to have 5-foot stepped into the space above Betty once more. Without Knowledge (arcana), it does not recognize Tenibri's spell and confidently smiles.
Combat! Round 3
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Will-o-wisp
Tenibri, Awkin, Cat (-7), Betty (-17), Lotus, Ejtehah (-8), Blue Gnoll
Everyone is up! Currently, all allies have +4/+4 and Tenibri can choose one attack to target FF AC.
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Amidst the battle, Tenibri yells out the wisp's position, taking the creature by surprise. Cat capitalizes on this, and bites the skull, holding the whole wisp in its jaws and cracking it somewhat. As Betty moves back, with the wisp unable to attack her as she leaves. She turns to make a protective incantation but she is too late - both Tenibri's magic missiles and Cat's savage attacks are enough to rend the creature
With a thud, the broken skull falls on the ground, letting out one last exhalation of macabre air. The cold air of the qanat showing your breath to each other, you take a moment to contemplate your victory and heal your wounds. The traps in front of you pose no threat, provided you can swing from a hanging rope and jump to the other side of the pits.
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Perplexed, Akila asks “Cave cheese?”
"A stable temperature down here is a rarity in these parts. Anything that needs to age, wine, cheese, beer, can be aged here where it would just go bad up above. I wasn't kidding when I said this place had potential for storage...."
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Tenibri quickly casts detect magic and examines the skull and the rest of the area around the battle, wanting to make sure that there's nothing else of interest.
When he's satisfied, he examines the rope. "Everybody okay with this? I have my own way across, but figured I'd check before I wing it over there."
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Tenibri's caution seems to pay off, as his spell detects a spell! Right between both pits, there seems to be a magical aura. With Tenibri's expert arcane knowledge, he easily identifies it as an Alarm spell - the kind one would use in high-security prisons to detect escapees.
The spell covers the whole area and then some, and Tenibri knows it seems to alert the caster of every creature passing through, with no exceptions. It seems odd to him, as normally you would exclude allies - in a prison, you would exclude guards. In this context, you would at least exclude fellow Jackals.
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"Wait, Ejtehah." Tenibri throws a tiny arm into the air to stop the shifter before doing something they can't take back. "We might be able to dispel this." Tenibri studies the alarm effect to see if he can dispel the trigger.
Tenibri casts dispel magic to dispel or supress the alarm.
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Tenibri expertly unravels the alarm spell to its base components, examining them. With a flick of the wrist, he severs the connection to its caster, and motions Ejtehah to enter the spell area. The spell picks up on the shifter's presence, but without somewhere to relay that information, it crashes and folds in on itself, being dispelled successfully.
The group then heads forward, and without any time pressure, passes both traps thanks to their gnoll friend's grappling hook. During your travels, he says-"So uh, what's our path? Boss says no clients enter the base, and by Lamashtu's teats, my mouth is better at biting than sweet-talking the boss. That's gonna get me killed."-a bit worried about how things will pan out, but nonetheless trusting you.
Your path along the qanat is relatively uneventful - one can only imagine the slog it might have been had you not dispelled the alarm. You safely reach a set of stairs going deeper underground, where the base seems to be located.
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"My boss is Tinderwick - a small magic guy. He uh - does not like to listen. Last time I had a day off was when I dropped unconcious for a whole day."-snickering to himself as if trying to relieve the tension with a joke.
"Above him is Fayaz. She's like you-"-motioning to Betty-"staying far back with a crossbow. Hers doesn't make a sound like yours does, tho. She trained us in the art of the hunt, and will not hesitate to put an arrow in my neck if I speak out of line."-ending on a somber note and motioning to scar on the side of his neck.
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The group makes their way into the compound, and are faced with a heavy iron door, but their gnoll friend quickly pulls out a heavy iron key that opens it.
Behind the heavy door, a small space is left open, leading to two paths: a closed wooden door and a passage leading further inward (see map for reference). From further inward, you heard muffled cries and water being splashed onto the ground, but you cannot see the sources of these noises.
It is at this point that the gnoll calls out-"Boss! Got something you might wanna see. Important clients, wealthy beyond belief."-to which a nasal, squeaky voice responds-"Is that you Zaaruj? Why the hell are you back here!?"-before the source of the voice reveals itself to you.
The passage to your left is where a handful of creatures come from - two thugs, smiling to themselves as they see Zaruuj and your group, and a small, pale-skinned gnome which matches the description of Tinderwick. The gnome has frayed black hair that looks like it was recently exposed to explosives, and his face seems not happy to see you here, as he says-"You know the rules, Zaruuj. No clients enter the den, no exceptions. The consequences will be dire."-in an angry tone.
The three humanoids however, are shadowed by a hulking figure that takes the front of the group, trying to intimidate you guys - a massive minotaur, with arms as thick as horse legs and horns as sharp as blades. He just huffs and tightens his grip on his greataxe. With that, Tinderwick addressed you-"Why are you here? Last time we had clients particularly insistent on coming to our door, they turned out to be rival rings bent on killing us. Didn't turn out too well for them though."-looking at his minotaur friend.
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Lotus will put her arm on Zaaruj and lean up against him slightly if he doesn't object.
"My apologies gentlemen , you can be at ease. We don't have any desire to push you out, much more lucrative for everyone involved to just reach a business agreement. Some of your middlemen weren't as longsighted and thought we would be worth more as immediate inventory. That's not a deal breaker but honestly you really should train the help better...but it does mean we needed to speak to you directly "
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Tinderwick listens attentively, but keeps a sour face as he listen to your story. With a shrug, he says-"Alright then, I can see how your story would check out, more or less. Seems Zaruuj here had enough brain cells to recognize when he is unmatched. I'm guessing you are the ones looking for specific slaves?"-harkening back to your three requests passed along to the cult.
"As previously dictated, the first two slaves will be 200gp: a green-yed human female and a blond elf. Got them all cleaned up and ready to go for you. Last one seems a bit complicated to search for, and provided we just lost 4 hunters, you'll have to ask somewhere else."-he says, smiling devilishly.
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Lotus is used to just reading peoples minds....
"Green eyed TIEN human female. And don't try to sell me a half elf. never making THAT mistake again... . I didn't cost you any hunters, some of the dead weight on your payroll decided to jump off your payroll and into the tigers mouth. Honestly should add a consulting fee for the service...
If you don't have all three I'll take the two, at 50 for the elf, 100 for the human female. And directions to someone else in the business, either who'd be able to look specifically, acquire, or just has such a large inventory it would be worth sifting through the dross.
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During negotiations, Betty looks out and finds no other creatures hiding apart from the group of four dealing with Lotus. She realizes the door immediately to their left seems locked and that only 30 ft. of Tinderwick, a heavy curtain blocks view to another room.
With a smile, Tinderwick replies-"Ah! Do you have a portrait of the third request? We might be inclined to double check if a portrait is given. Want to make this a complete deal, and not refer you to less-than-stellar rings."-intrigued by the group's reponse.
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Ejtehah sniffs the air and growls.
"Tinderwick, you lying are! Does you not really want to see the portrait to follow through deal! Thinking I you Tinderwick want to see portrait to confirming your guess that we more than clients. The description of the third rubbed you wrong! You cooperate or not good you!"
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"Hey. You seem suspicious. That is normal in these types of trades, but we want a person you have and we are willing to pay a fair price. We don't need to make it more complicated.everyone can walk away happy. There is an unspoken rule in these types of dealing I don't ask you your business and you don't ask us ours. You are breaking that deal now and you don't want to miss a sale do you?."