"Ah, I do love a good pair of new boots, but think of breaking them in while we're in the jungle..." She clicks her tongue and chuckles, eyeing Yasami's extended leg with a critical eye. "You probably want a lot of hide. Better to have more than not enough, no?"
"I'm going to snag a tooth to add to my little pouch. Never know when this sort of thing comes in handy," She says, peering at the mouth of the creature to see if it even had teeth.
After possibly extracting a tooth, Catalina kneels down next to the jewels and avoids touching them. "Caiten, Sulee? Maybe you can identify them?"
"Oh come on... They're not THAT big." Yasamina chuckles, but stops abruptly as she grabs her wounds. "Yeah, I need to look into that. The bastard had a strong nibble. Can we waste some time here?"
"Bah, I didn't mean it like that! You're quite small. Maybe you'll have some leftover for a vest." Catalina makes a show of looming over Yasami and cackling softly before she puts a hand on her own wounds. "I suppose I could use some bandaging, too."
Yasami chuckles again. "It's a big snake. I'm sure we'll have enough for at least a few sets of boots and cloaks."
She leans against the wall, slowly slides down into a sitting position, and takes a breath. "Alright. Let's look at those slashes and burns." She opens up her medicine kit.
You are able to heal without being disturbed, and there is plenty of bida skin and teeth to be gathered.
Caiten nods in agreement with the idea of checking out the remains of the totem for any curses or useful magic.
She turns to Caiten and Lisi. "You guys have experience with this, right? Suppose I want to make two boots roughly..." she put out her left leg. "this sized. Rouhgly knee-high. How much material are we talking? And should I cut more?"
Caiten looks over at Yasami's leg for sizing. "Probably about six square feet. Less if you don't mind a lot of seams. I could line the inside of the boots so that you don't feel the seams, but they would still be visible."
After checking out the jewels to the best of his ability, Caiten uses Detect Magic to see if there is anything else in the area.
Lisi looks for obvious tracks besides the bida.
Catalina stretches carefully after Yasami patches them up, offering a grateful smile to the swashbuckler. "Thank you, Yasami, as always."
Fully healed, Catalina joins Lisi in looking for signs of passage through the area and hints as to where their enemies may have come from or headed to.
Caiten does not sense anything fundamentally different about this totem than the other totems the group has destroyed, and he isn't able to figure out any curses or hidden treasures other than the gems. The gems do not appear to be magical -- they appear to be a pair of black fire opals, worth 200 gp each. Caiten does sense some magic coming from behind him, back from the area from which the bida emerged.
Lisi and Catalina don't find any interesting tracks up around the totem. There appear to be other humanoid tracks among all of your tracks around the totem, but they don't seem to clearly lead anywhere. It may be that tracking in the surrounding jungle would reveal some information. There doesn't seem to be much of anywhere else to go in these ruins, other than the hole that Caiten is gazing towards...
"Any time, dear." Yasami smiles and walks to the bida to take a nice chunk of raw leather. She goes in, making wide cuts to pull out as much as she can, and stuffs the leather into the bag of holding. "This should do. For multiple people." Yasami leans to the corpse. "Told you you'd become a fashion statement, you bastard." she flashes a wicked grin and stands up again, forearms covered in blood and viscera. She swings her arms for a moment to remove as much as possible, then looks to others with a satisfied sigh. "Right. Any ideas for the near future?"
"Yasami, you've got a little...oh, never mind. Caiten, what do you see?"
Caiten finishes assessing the opals and drops them into a pouch. "Nothing overly interesting. But likely valuable."
He assesses the totem itself. "Intricately carved. Was magical previously, but not any more."
Scanning the area, he notices the slight signature of magic from the area where the Bida hid and goes to investigate.
"Caiten, what do you see?"
"Not entirely sure. Something magical. Sulee, do you smell anything living?"
Caiten draws his short sword and heads into the area to investigate and pinpoint what he is sensing.
Sulee doesn't think she smells anything living. She smells heavy odors consistent with the hole being the bida's lair. The hole is deceptively large -- big enough for a huge creature to squeeze through. Caiten peers into the darkness and detects some magic and he also thinks he sees some glittering down below.
Proceeding cautiously, the party explores the bida's hidden den beneath the ruins, essentially below the fallen pillar in the lower level of the tower. The den itself is a rank cavernous open area -- lots of rubble but essentially one big area. Caiten follows his magical senses to the bida's horde -- the party is able to identify the magical items within either promptly or with additional effort over the next day of travel. The horde contains: 310 gp, 2,400 sp, 8,500 cp, a pair of healer’s gloves, a spined shield, and a wand of widening (lightning bolt). That, and the pair of black fire opals worth 200 gp each, are all of interest that the group discovers in a thorough search of the ruins.
Lisi searches for tracks in the jungle around the ruins and finds a LOT of evidence of apparent cultist activity, but not very recent. It appears the cultists worked to clear the area around the ruins, and the largest concentrations of tracks lead to the NW in the direction of Belmazog's fortress.
Based on the information from Hezle, you believe you have destroyed all the pillars and can now take the fight to Belmazog herself, with no protective fields from the pillars to worry about. You believe the fortress is a day's journey to the NW, although the fortress is in the middle of a swamp and can only be approached by boat or air, not by land.
"to Belmazog, then," says Lisi. "Caiten, can you cast Lightning Bolt? I am able to. These gloves are handy as well," he says, eyeing them.
"And we need to find a boat, unless we have a better method for getting to the fortress. We also need a boat to escape, as we may have to leave in a hurry...or things will be collapsing...or burning...anyhow." Lisi says. "Several boats."
Sitting by the fire, Yasami ponders the current situation. She sighs, stands up, and starts walking in circles. "Alright. I like the boat idea. But let's put our cards on the table. See what we have, know, and can use."
"First, Belmazog?" she looks at the party for confirmation. "Stop me if I say something dumb."
She continues walking in the circle around the fire, hands behind her back, and speaks slowly. "Belmazog. Part boggard, part dragon. Somehow. Don't ask me. I know it sounds preposterous. Leader of the local cult to..." she looks at the destroyed pillar. "Well, you know. Gods, I can't even speak the name without getting angry." she sighs. "But we don't really know what she is capable of. Whether she is a spellslinger, or just bites and claws people to death. She may have summoned demons to guard the mine. Or help facilitate that somehow. So if it's not her, there may be someone else to look out for."
"We know that the boggards venerate Belmazog. Loyalty bordering on worship. Meaning we won't be able to dissuade them from protecting her and we will have to take them all out. It's probably the same with the monkey people - charau-ka."
"We know she has a golem made of clay and a red dragon called Kyrion. Supposedly, she raised this dragon since it hatched. Hezle asked us to spare it if possible." She sighs, and adds a quiet "If possible."
"We don't really know what's in that fortress. Besides Joran and Cev. They were alive a few days ago, but someone was aware of our discussion, so I hope that did not put them in more danger."
She pauses. "Actually, we know -something- about it. It's deep in the swamp, near some sort of newly-formed large rock dais, it's made of red clay and low to the ground. But surrounded by a perimeter wall roughly 15 ft high with tall watchtowers. There are also more dragon pillars around the fortress. Their purpose is a mystery for the time being. Maybe just a source of light, but we should be careful around them. Maybe they spew fire like this one."
"Speaking of pillars, we may have one ace up our sleeve. I don't know the purpose of the pillars surrounding the fortress, but we might ask the elves for help. If the pillars causing problems for them are now cleared up, we could have them attack the fortress to distract the cult and make it easier for us to do our thing. Although that would take a few days to set up, potentially be pointless if the pillars affect the elves, still." She raises both her hands and imitates balancing scales with her palms.
"If Kyrion has been raised by Belzamog in the way Hezle described..." Catalina grimaces. "I am not willing to put any of us at risk for a red dragon. Everything I know about them suggests that being raised in a dragon cult would only stoke his arrogance to heights we can't imagine."
"The cultists are a threat to the Ekujae too. It might be worth it to petition for their assistance now that the pillars are gone. It could also give us a chance to obtain some boats. The problem is the amount of time we have, I think. You said someone was aware of our conversation with Joran, so I hesitate to give them more time to prepare for us..." Catalina, sitting by the fire, adjusts her legs to avoid them falling asleep and grimaces.
"As you say. Balance. What do the rest of you think?"
"I would prefer to not spend the time traveling to the Ekujae and back. There is a good chance that the wards against them are still intact in the immediate area of the fortress. It seems a risk with too low of a probability of success."
"Though boats may be necessary. My last attempt at creating a boat was effective, though only marginally."
"I can help shape the wood for a boat, at least," says Lisi. "Perhaps that will help make it more resilient. I imagine the waters will get rough when chaos starts to rear its head."
"Can we do that today and have you in full force tomorrow?" Yasami looks to Lisi. "I assume it would tire you somewhat? I'm not sure how that stuff works."
"On that topic, I know you have your own tricks, guys." she looks to Caiten and Lisi. "What do we have to work with? Can it help us get in unnoticed? Get out unnoticed? Make a hole in a wall if needed or something? I'm just a girl that can dance. At least I like to think so. Anyway - you know what I'm hinting at."
"I would be happy to do whatever I can to help craft a boat," Catalina says.
"I don't have many tricks either. I don't use it often enough, but I do have the mirror that can help me move around...but it's only useful in certain situations." She clicks her tongue with mild frustration.
After everyone has rested a bit and is ready to go, Caiten heads out with the group towards the swamp, looking for boat crafting materials along the way - vines, clay, anything else that seems useful.
As the ground starts getting soggy, he calls out to Lisi. "It appears that it is time to get started."
"Alright then. Let's get to it." Yasami pulls out her own backup blade to help with the boats. "What you need me to do?"
"I am here to order around as well," Catalina states, ready to help with the boats.
Between Caiten's inspired crafting and Lisi's magical wood shaping, and some other helping hands, the group is able to fashion two serviceable dugout canoes that should be sufficient for the purpose of navigating the swamps.
You find a good campsite about a half hour from the edge of the swamp. The portage with the canoes will be a hassle but do-able. The particular spot you chose is a small clearing well concealed by surrounding trees, and you make an effort to conceal signs of your passage.
Lisi looks around for a suitable camp...
And does his best to clean up the drips and scrapes from bringing the canoes along...
Lisi surveys the boats. "Caiten, we could make this into a business, back on Breach Creek. Even lighter wood might work..."
He then steps lightly into the brush, Guba by his side.
And manages not to trip on a root, but only just barely.
"Caiten, we could make this into a business, back on Breach Creek. Even lighter wood might work..."
Caiten nods. "Generally I make them smaller. A toy boat. But it seems that the pattern works well enough when scaled larger."
"'Toy boat' is fun to say."
"Toy boat, toy boat, toyboat toyboat tobyoat toyboutteyboattiebaetteabate."
Caiten watches his familiar. "So it seems."
"Regarding camp, we are a bit close to the stronghold. Fire would be very risky. I can keep watch during the dark of the night easily enough. Sulee, would you be able to keep watch during a different shift? Those with poor night vision would be grateful for your sense of smell to use as an alert."
Yasamina looks at Sulee as she unpacks her bedroll. "You okay over there? That sounded strange."
"I see quite well in the dark, too." Catalina says, finishing up her nightly setup and settling in next to the fire. "I am antsy and won't be able to fall asleep soon. I can take the first watch and wake Lisi." Catalina sets a kettle next to the fire for some tea, and as the hot water heats up, she takes a look at their surroundings. If one listens closely, they could hear her muttering "Toy boat" over and over to herself, a difficult task with her accent.
The group settles down for a cold night in the secluded small clearing Lisi found. Conveniently, it is surrounded by thick trees, roots, and foliage, but opens up into just enough of a flatish area for the group to settle down. A bit muddy, but passable. The spot is also, hopefully, far enough away from what passes for trails in this swampy part of the jungle to defeat any patrols searching by scent. Without a fire, the night is pitch dark at the jungle floor, but a vast canopy of stars is visible overhead in what turns out to be a rare clear night. The jungle is never quiet, but the night sounds are the expected constant buzzing of insects and the periodic calls of night animals.
Sulee alerts Lisi to the approach of a creature during their shift, but Lisi is quickly able to determine that it is a jaguar on an evening prowl. Lisi and Sulee hear it sniffing and quietly growling at the edge of the clearing, but it appears to conclude there are too many scents in the camp for you to be easy prey. This is by no means the first time this kind of thing has happened during your many nights in the jungle.
During Yasami's shift, she hears, more disturbingly, the sound of multiple creatures passing through the jungle -- not close, but too close for comfort. They do not have torches and they definitely do not sound like any of the inhabitants of the jungle, making too much noise as they pass through. Yasami listens closely, and can make out some quiet croaking speech -- boggards? The apparent patrol passes without stopping and Yasami hears the group move away.
The rest of the night passes uneventfully. The party does its morning preparations and carefully makes its way to the water's edge with the two canoes.
Caiten patrols the camp quietly during his shift at watch, grateful that nothing significant happens.
In the morning he discusses his spell choices with Sulee. "It is unfortunate that we do not know what dangers lurk inside this temple. It also seems to me that it is a bit of a problem that nearly all of the spells that we know do not damage inanimate objects. I am not able to use spells against those totems that were erected in the jungle. I expect that there are going to be something similar inside the temple too."
Focus Points (max 3): 2
Hexes
◆ Stoke the Heart
↺ Phase Familiar
◆ Needle of Vengeance
Focus
↺ Delay Consequence
Innate
◆ Time Sense
Cantrips
◆ Shield
◆◆ Detect Magic
◆◆ Stabilize
◆◆ Guidance
◆◆ Divine Lance
1st
◆◆ Bless
◆◆ Fear
◆◆ Command
2nd
◆◆ Heal H+1
◆◆ Resist Energy
◆◆ Share Life
3rd
◆◆ Heal H+2
◆◆ Phantom Pain H+2
◆◆ Vampiric Feast
4th
◆◆ Enervation
◆◆ Spiritual Weapon (H+2)
◆◆ Fly
"No, you aren't the best at doing direct damage. You have one cantrip that can do damage with sound. But your abilities to keep the others up and fighting is top notch."
Sulee looks out at the swamp. "We may not be able to prepare for the temple itself, but we have to get there first. I can at least prepare for crossing this swamp."
A short while later, Sulee is sporting webbed paws, a slick and dense coat of fur like an otter's, and her ears are perked up more than normal.
▸ Speech
▸ Scent
▸ Amphibious
▸ Wavesense
▸ Echolocation
▸ Independent
With her hand on her weapon belt, Yasami watches the creatures walk past the camp overnight. She doesn't talk, doesn't move, and tries to breathe as slowly as possible. The only thing moving is her eyes as she watches the patrol walk by. And possibly her hair in the wind. The fly on her nose is performing its own little dance, and Yasami is barely able to hold in the sneeze. She twitches her head ever so slightly to get rid of the pesky vermin.
She swipes at the fly only after the boggards move on into the jungle and exhales slowly before sliding onto her back to relax a bit.
In the morning, she starts packing her belongings. "We had a patrol here overnight. Well, not here. They walked past. I could've probable take them, so I didn't wake you up." she chuckles.
"Caiten, you are amazing and I trust you completely. You know what you're capable of, and I am sure you will do your best." she pats him on the shoulder. "That goes for all of you."
"As for stone barriers and golems..." Yasmai looks at Oren. "We have a guy with a maul. Those things don't stand a chance. And they probably can't hurt us when they're on the floor, smashed to a thousand pieces."
"Lisi, you're a force of nature. And we are in the middle of a jungle. This is your turf. Embrace it."
"Yes, even Catalina has something to offer." Yasami throws a playful grin in Catalina's direction. "Her knowledge, and balls of steel! Just aim for the eyes, girl." Yasami touches her forehead with her index finger.
"That said, slow and steady wins the race. I hope. We rushed in the mine, and it didn't go well. So let's learn from our mistakes. Let's save our boys, and honour Dario's memory with Belmazog's head on a wall back in Alterein."
She pauses for a moment, then smiles thinking about it.
"Possitive attitude." Yasami nods to herself.
Catalina grins back at Yasami, adjusting her heavily-laden belts carrying her pistol, bullets, harrow deck, hand mirror, and various esoterica she thinks might be useful in the upcoming battles.
When Yasami finishes, Catalina adds on to her comrade's motivational speech: "You bring style, grace, and deadly precision to the battle arts. We'll get our boys back and avenge Dario, indeed."
After any further discussion, the towering aasimar pokes at one of the canoes with a foot, testing its buoyancy. "We can split evenly among the boats. Oren and I should be in separate ones to make sure the weight is evenly distributed, since we're the biggest."
Lisi nods at Yasami, smiling, and then sinking back into a frown. "We're ready." Nothing has overtly changed about Guba...except some fringes that dangle into the water. "Good for sensing aquatic enemies."
"I'll keep the same assortment of spells...cold and water seemed to work, along with resisting energies of whatever they hurl at us. We need to beware of boggard croaks, and that includes Belmazog, I gather."
Caiten climbs in to one of the small boats. "Oren, if you would, take the other boat. I expect I can handle this one."
"Let's be off. I think we are as prepared as we are going to get."
"Let's get going then." He nods and enters the other boat, taking an oar.
The group breaks camp and carefully approaches the water's edge with the two canoes. Thick roots of gnarled trees crisscross this portion of the jungle, and the sodden earth then gradually gives way to the dark waters of the swamp.
Oren, Lisi, Yasami load up in one boat, and Caiten and Catalina are in the other. Sulee swims alongside Caiten's boat, and Lisi dangles Guba in the water. The canoes are tied together and the water is pretty still. Oren and Catalina are at the oars, and they have no trouble moving through the water, although Oren needs to hold back so as not to outpace Catalina's canoe. Sulee periodically dives to test the depth and reports that the water is not very deep, varying from 15 feet to only 5 feet at spots.
The group travels for about an hour, and spies an area about 150 feet ahead where the the swamp seems to open up into a large area, and within that open area the group catches its first glance of what must be Belmazog's fortress -- a squat structure made of red clay that rises out of the murky water. Although you are not able to take in the full measure and details of the fortress through the trees and from this distance, you spot at least one towering dragon-shaped pillar attached to the fortress wall.
Before you are able to discuss or explore further, Guba starts to wriggle and gesture wildly, seeming to alert Lisi that there is something large approaching the canoes in the water...
"Is Guba okay?" Yasami whispers to Lisi as she watches the leshy in the water. "Is it struggling or something? Should I pull it out of the muck?"
Lisi swipes Guba completely out of the water and calls upon the forces of the winds, rising into the air. "Get the boats to the shore--we are literally out of our element here," he calls.
Caiten watches Lisi snatch Guba from the water and lift off into the air. He looks over at Sulee questioningly.
Not getting more information, he asks for the oars from Catalina. "Something is going on. It must still be a ways out and over by the other boat if Sulee isn't noticing it. You have better range than I do. I'll row for a bit."
He looks over the other boat to see if he can notice anything in the water there. "Sulee, see if you can find out what is coming up on us over there."
Sulee swims over towards the other boat, stopping if she senses anything large in the water other than the two boats.
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: Guba starts to wriggle and gesture wildly, seeming to alert Lisi that there is something large approaching the canoes in the water. Just a moment later Sulee pops her head out of the water and says, "There's a creature coming our way from in front of us. I don't know what it is, but it's big."
"Okay. Thanks for the heads up. That explains Guba acting so weird, I guess?"
She pulls out a blade and looks in the direction Sulee indicated.
Catalina hands over the oars to Caiten, shifting in her seat just enough so that the boat doesn't rock too much. "I'll see what I can see," She says, squinting her eyes at the water and where Sulee and Guba seem to be calling their attention to. While she does, the thaumaturge draws her esoterica, mirror, and pistol just to be ready.