"Maybe you haven't heard, things are changing out there. Goblins are being accepted into society . . . as are Kobolds. Heck, there's even a fully recognized Hobgoblin nation now. I bet your bugbear friends could run off and join right now. They'd probably accept you too Mr. Ogre. Sorry, don't know your names. Seems like the only one that thinks you are born into a civilization of hatred . . . is you."
"Soo.. 'Rise up and crush your pitiful civilizations.' See, that's precisely the sort of attitude that gets you attacked by adventurers. What's so wrong with a 'live and let live' type of philosophy?"
Bonnie puts her hands on her hips. "Well, this conversation got off on the wrong foot. My name is Bonnie, and we'd really appreciate it if, maybe, you could find someplace else to do evil stuff? It's a pretty big world out there, and I'm sure we can help you find someplace that's not as crowded."
"Maybe you haven't heard, things are changing out there. Goblins are being accepted into society . . . as are Kobolds. Heck, there's even a fully recognized Hobgoblin nation now. I bet your bugbear friends could run off and join right now. They'd probably accept you too Mr. Ogre. Sorry, don't know your names. Seems like the only one that thinks you are born into a civilization of hatred . . . is you."
The jackal seems to raise a bit
"I am Mwibah, chosen of Lamashtu. Though I began life as a simple beast, she blessed me with intelligence and incomparable powers to gather her other children here."
"You speak about the changes, but it is to late now, really. Your kind has persecuted and slaughtered my kind for far too long. We will overrun your cities and destroy your cultures. Only we will remain to rule over Golarion."
"I take it that you're the head man, uh... dog around here? Maybe you can answer some questions before we go on our way." Not waiting for an answer, she continues. "We've been sent here to find out what happened to a friend of ours. Have you heard of a Champion of Dawnflower called Thida Aubade? I don't suppose you happen to know what happened to her and her two colleagues, a halfling and a dwarf. I really recommend that you answer my questions, or I might get angry... You really don't want me to get angry."
Mwibah is surprised by hard stance from Mary and seems affected
“Hmmm? Oh yes, that name does ring a bell. I believe her halfling squire shouted it as we gutted him.' The jackal cocks his head. "Some sort of champions of Sarenrae, I believe? Were they friends of yours? I am sorry, but they are all dead. The Dawnflower chose not to save them."
Mwibah regains some of the bravery and looks at the other creatures, ignoring Albrecht and Bonnie
"Looks like my friends are growing tired of this talk. Shall we commence? It is what all of us do so well, after all."
Bugbear runs towards Arity and strikes her with their sword
But his strike is ineffective
Jackal opens his third eye which focuses on Mary
Then the creatures runs forwards and tries to bite Arity
But it also misses.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Green
White
➤ Mary
➤ Bonnie
➤ Flory
⠀⠀➤ Sir Miles
➤ Arity
➤ Mylos
➤ Albrecht
Red
Pink
Mary is strangely transfixed by Mwibah's third eye and quickly shakes it off, but the strange effect it has on her mind seems to linger. She quickly assesses the situation and says, "Same drill as before. Attack and then fall back." She then ducks past the bugbear and, flanking with Arity, shoves her rapier deep into the creature before ducking past it again and taking her position at the end of the short entryway.
"Hey Mr. Bugbear, sorry, still don't have your name, tell me, you'd really rather sit in this stinky old cave than own your own home in Oprak?"
<>Bon Mot Green!
<>Stab Jackle
<>Raise buckler
Bonnie has no witty retorts, nor kind, soothing words. She's interacted with enough people in the world to know there are some she can butter up, some she can browbeat, some she can avoid, and some that she just needs to stab in the neck.
She shrugs and waves her hand, multiple copies of her appearing.
In the confusion, she steps back.
Albrecht smirks. "You know what Mwibah? I'm beginning to think that you are a very bad dog!"
The investigator quickly cobbles together a bottle of captured lightning and tosses it at the jackal.
+1 splash to white and green
He looks at the battlefield and then to the rapier at his hip and sighs. He resignedly pulls out his bow.
Mylos quickly enchants ◆◆ Albrecht's bow, filling it with dark power. (Magic Weapon)
He then ◆ raises a shield.
Mary stabs the bugbear, finding a good spot to stab.
Arity Bon Mots green who looks baffled. But then she misses the big angry boss. Then she moves back. No one strikes at her.
Flory shields herself, moves and tries to scare Mwibah but it is not a creature that can be scared easily.
Bonnie creates couple of her images and moves back.
Mylos enchants Albrechts bow, and shields himself. Albrecht sends a bottled lightning at Jackal hitting them
Jackal barks "They try to outsmart us! In and out, beasts!"
Ogre runs in and swings at Bonnie
A massive swings falls at the image breaking the floor, the ogre moves back.
Bugbear reaches for javelin and throws it at Arity
Javelin pierces Aritys armor.
Than the jackal runs in and goes after Mary
Jaws hit and his third eye intensify on Mary
The other bugbear moves in and swings twice, deciding not to follow orders
But it misses.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Green
White
➤ Mary
➤ Bonnie
➤ Flory
⠀⠀➤ Sir Miles
➤ Arity
➤ Mylos
➤ Albrecht
Red
Pink
Mary is not happy being the target of Mwibah's attentions, but takes his bite in stride. She looks over to their eastern flank and sees that Sir Miles is out of position. Pointing at the open square to the east of Arity, she says, "Someone plug that gap! We don't want these guys getting past our line and attacking from behind." While Arity reacts to the bugbear's attack, Mary darts forward to repay Mwibah in kind for his attack on her, then retreats to her previous position.
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<>Raise buckler
<> Strike
<>Strike
Mylos keeps his ◆ shield in place.
"You're doing a great job Mary!"
◆◆
Arity strikes at the green punishing him for missing so terribly. Surprised bugbear falls to the ground and does not move.
Mary tumbles through the jackal, barely but still, and strikes, then she moves away.
Mylos heals Mary, and shields himself.
Arity Raises buckler and shoots lightning at white and red
Ogre is mildly zapped while jackal dodges the attack entirely.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
White
Mary
➤ Bonnie
➤ Flory
⠀⠀➤ Sir Miles
Arity
Mylos
➤ Albrecht
Red
Pink
Bonnie steps up and swings her longsword at the jackal.
vs flat-footed
plus
Albrecht prepares to shoot the jackal but stops as Bonnie moves in and blocks his shot.
He grins crookedly. "Careful there Bonnie. I almost shot you in the back and the yellow fletching on my arrows doesn't go well with your complexion."
He turns to the ogre and taunts it before firing.
"You'll look pretty with some yellow ornaments though."
Bonnie moves in and swings at jackal, missing entirely.
Albrecht scares the ogre and sends two arrows, one of which hits.
Flory attacks jackal with her claws, leaving deep wound.
Bugbear reaches for his sword, moves towards Bonnie and strikes
The creature misses, but one of the images disapears.
The ogre moves forwards and also swings at Bonnie
Another image disappears
Ogre swings again but misses.
The jackal bites on Bonnie
But only the last bite hits.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
White
➤ Mary
➤ Bonnie
➤ Flory
⠀⠀➤ Sir Miles
➤ Arity
➤ Mylos
➤ Albrecht
Red
Pink
Mary decides to repeat her last successful foray against Mwibah. She dashes forward and dodging the jackal's jaws, shoves her rapier into the creature. Before retreating, she glances at Bonnie and says, "Uh, Capt'n? You got super lucky there. You may not want to tempt fate like that again."
As the team looks healthy, Mylos points at the ogre.
"I bring Sarenrae's judgement for your murders."
A beam of sparkling gold spears towards the huge thing. ◆◆
Some golden energy remains as a ◆ Shield
Bonnie raises her sword to Strike, but abruptly shifts over 5' (), hoping to catch the jackal off guard. Then she enters Arcana Stance and backs up.
Unable to get a clear shot once again Albrecht targets the ogre once more.
"Better watch it, doggie. One of these arrows has your name on it."
Unfortunately given the poor accuracy of his last few shots his threat lacks much conviction.
Mary tumbles through the jackal and stabs them adding yet another wound to it.
Mylos sends a divine lance hitting the ogre
Bonnie brings her sword down cutting deep jackal.
Albrecht sends two arrows at ogre, hitting once. Then he tries intimidate jackal which only laughs
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
White
Mary
Bonnie
➤ Flory
⠀⠀➤ Sir Miles
➤ Arity
Mylos
Albrecht
Red
Pink
<>stride forward
<>Strike Ogre
<>Stride back to where I was
Arity moves in and cuts down the ogre with a well aimed strike.
Flory strikes at jackal, making it bleed one more time.
Bugbear moves in and strikes Arity twice
First strikes catches her off guard, but the second misses.
Jackal attacks with jaws
Creature sinks in their nasty teeth and pulls Arity to the ground
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
White
➤ Mary
➤ Bonnie
➤ Flory
⠀⠀➤ Sir Miles
➤ Arity
➤ Mylos
➤ Albrecht
Pink
Bonnie says a word of power, casting True Strike ◆, before swinging at the jackal.
◆◆ or
plus 1 Force (3 if flat-footed) plus
Mary sees Arity go down. "No time for a nap Arity. We've still got some unfinished business here." Since Mwibah was kind enough to close with them and put himself in a position to be flanked, Mary shrugs and does the honors.
Expecting the bugbear to be less agile than the jackal, she decides to duck past Bonnie, slide under the bugbear's legs, and pop up behind Mwibah...
...a maneouver which she carries out without any problems. She then stabs the jackal with her rapier and in one fluid motion pulls her shortsword out with her free hand and slashes open its belly.
-
-
"Aha! I think I see an opening!"
Finally he reaches out and quickly tends to Arity's wounds.
"Keep going Arity!"
"You've lost, accept your fate."
Heroes turn the tide to their favor. In between Mylos successful intimidation, Sir Miles going for the throat followed by Bonnie, Mary and Albrecht.
The jackal is stroke down and bugbear falls down few heartbeats later.
Peering behind the folding screens, you can see a pile of furs on the ground of the eastern part of the dais, while the western screen hides a small cache of bloody clothes. You find the torn and bloodstained garments belonging to three Sarenites, sized for a human, a halfling, and a dwarf—all that remains of Thida Aubade, Billard Truewood, and Vuzi Nerren. You can bring the clothes back to Otari, if they wish, confirming the fate of these brave adventurers. Among their clothing you can find a pair of healing potions II, an oil of mending, and 73 gp and 1 sp. In the pile of furs you find the sun wheel that Vandy sent them here to retrieve. When you pick it up, you can feel it give off a pleasant warmth, like a room heated by the midday sun on a spring afternoon. The room also fills with an agreeable smoky scent, as if someone threw a block of sandalwood onto the braziers near the dais.
After patching everyone up with the help of Albrecht, Mary collects the loot and picks up the sun wheel along with enough of the bloodstained garments to identify the three dead Sarenites. "I guess we'll have some good news and some bad news for Vandy when we get back."
She then proceeds to search the room thoroughly to make sure they didn't miss anything .
"Okaaay then. Looks like we've still a little cleaning up to do down here before we can call it a day and head home." She heads over to the southern door and checks it for traps and locks.
"Oh my, that was all terribly violent. Thanks for the healing by the way."
Bonnie will look around, but with her sword in hand. She'd probably Refocus, too, as soon as she's sure the room is secure.
You heal the wounded and search the room. With some effort Mary finds a secret passage that takes you to a chamber where Owlbears were.
After resting for a bit you go towards the other door that you haven't explored yet.
Mary silently opens the lock and pry the door open.
At the northeast corner of this odd-shaped room, a wooden barrier only a few inches tall keeps a large puddle of muck from spreading. Next to that, a large bedroll with frayed edge has been laid out on the floor. A pile of clothes and other personal possessions sit near the bedroll. Sputtering torches hang from the walls near the doors leading west and south. The unmistakable odor of manure and fresh mud lingers in the air.
Looking at Mary is a large figure, with green skin and large teeth. They look at you and say
"Even if you defeat us here today, the seeds of your destruction have already been planted in your so-called civilizations. You will eventually crumble like a tree rotting from within. I am tired of being hated and hunted for who I am."
You can see that they are preparing to attack you, but there could still be time to change their mind
You believe that they are a she, and that she is a troll. What is uncommon is her speaking common language.
Looking at Mary is a large figure, with green skin and large teeth. They look at you and say
"Even if you defeat us here today, the seeds of your destruction have already been planted in your so-called civilizations. You will eventually crumble like a tree rotting from within. I am tired of being hated and hunted for who I am."
"Well that's fair. You shouldn't be hated or hunted for who you are. It's what you do that truly matters. Perhaps you could explain to us what happened to the three Sarenite adventurers that were here recently?
"We aren't hunting you. Perhaps we can go our separate ways?"
Mary purses her lips at the sight of the large creature. She leans slightly to one side to give the green figure a view of the carnage they'd just inflicted on Mwibah and his cronies. "Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. Cry me a river. Look, there's two ways this can go. Either you walk out of here on your own two legs and find yourself some a place to live a looooong way away from Otari, or we send you to join your great leader Mwibah licking Lamashtu's backside for eternity. Not much of a choice in my book. So how about you make it easy on all of us and take that long walk?"
Flory knows as well that trolls have very strong regeneration that can be stopped by acid or fire. For the most parts trolls are also weak to fire, if it comes to a fight.
"Who am I? I am Bomela, I was raised by a druid after group of adventurers killed my parents when I was only 3 ft tall." She looks a bit sad recalling that events
"It is him who taught me how to speak."
Bomela listens to Albrecht and looks for a moment to the ground
Perhaps you could explain to us what happened to the three Sarenite adventurers that were here recently?
"Oh yes, they run through that door" she points through the last door that you haven't explored
"Blood on their weapons and clothes. They were yelling, you will die here you ugly troll! And they attacked me when I was feeding those little ones." she points out to a pen in the corner with 2 big boars and couple of small ones
"Mwibah came to help me and we defeated them."
Bomela looks at Mary threatening her and is moved
"I will take my boars with me, I will not let you harm them."
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"Sensible choice. Plenty of remote wilderness on the Isle of Kortos. Mwibah bit off more than he could chew." Mylos smiles at his own wordplay.
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"Don't be so hasty, Mary," Bonnie says. "If we ever sail again, I'm sure we could use someone with Bomela's talents."
She turns to Bomela. "Have you ever thought about being a sailor?
Your boars are more than welcome, too, as long as they don't poop anyplace but the poop deck. We'll take the Sarenrites with us when we leave, don't worry."
"Sailor? I've never been on the water. And my boars are very clean, they poop only in designated space." she points out at the pen, which is in fact less dirty in some places
Bomela lowers her claws and heads to the pen, she gathers her things and opens the door urging the boars out. She opens the door to the south and heads through there.
As she goes through the room you spoot through the open door
Random pieces of furniture, crates, and other detritus covered with sheets clutter this chamber. A narrow, albeit clear path runs from the western door to the northern door. Particles of dust hang in the air.
As Bomela heads through the room, soon a statue spring to life and looks at the troll surprised. Seeing you it says something in harsh language, and a table spring to action and follow Bomela and gargoyle.
When you search the rooms you find few more trinkets, boots of elvenkind, emerald grasshoper and some old furniture. You also find sturdy shield that was most likely owned by Vuzi Nerren.
After that you head back to Otari and find Vandy Banderdash. Seeing you she asks
"Friends, you look ... tired. Please have a sit, I will bring some tea and biscuits. How did it go? Did you find Thida, Billard and Vuzi?"
Sadly they died, Vandy. There was an awakened, three-eyed jackal creature that was favoured of Lamashtu and it killed them. We have there effects though." Mylos says in a sombre tone.