Growling slightly, Valdrin slams his staff into the ground, shouting at the blue creature, Again, he slams down the staff, hard on the floor, as he grabs a tincture for the wound previously given.
Lounge - Round 2 - concluded
24 Elise (19/26hp)
24 Serpens (19/26hp)
23 Fentus
21 Green Charau-ka (3hp dmg)
21 Trista
20 Olaf (20/28hp, shield raised)
18 Yellow Charau-ka (10hp dmg)
10 Red Charau-ka (9hp dmg)
9 Valdrin
7 Blue Charau-ka
Valdrin shouts out frightening words and slams his staff on the ground. The target of his divine spell looks at him with wide frightened eyes and seems to momentarily lose some control, but it recovers more quickly than the cleric hoped. Valdrin also successfully applies some dressing to his now numerous wounds.
The somewhat frightened baboon man is next. It steps down towards the magic-caster and swings it sickle at Valdrin, slashing his once-closed wounds for small damage.
End of Round 2
Lounge - Round 3
24 Elise (19/26hp)
24 Serpens (7/26hp)
23 Fentus
21 Green Charau-ka (3hp dmg)
21 Trista
20 Olaf (20/28hp, shield raised)
10 Red Charau-ka (9hp dmg)
9 Valdrin (12/28hp)
7 Blue Charau-ka (frightened 1, 7hp dmg)
Elise steps around the Blue Charau-ka to flank it with Fentus and stabs at it twice with her rapier.
Fentus, threatened by the Charau-ka, summons a shimmering shield of force to help protect himself from the monkey creature before then creating a ball of flame as he tries to swipe the monkey creature with it, trying to provide some form of threat to it to enable Elise to hopefully skewer it.
"Let's dance, monkey man,"
Lounge - Round 3 - concluded
Elise moves to continue flanking the Blue foe. As slips behind, catching it flat-footed, she successfully stabs it in the back.
As Elise gets the foe from behind, Fentus mashes a ball of flame right in the face of the Blue Charau-ka. It screeches in pain and fear, but the noisy cry is stifled as the foe falls dead.
Wounded but not out of the fight, Serpens continues flailing away with his striking cane. The first attack misses, but Serpens catches Red Charau-ka on the backswing, cracking a killing blow to its simian skull.
As the rest of its allies are killed, Green Charau-ka leaps down to the floor, dropping its rocks and weapons and kneeling head down, arms outstretched in the universal gesture of surrendering.
End of Combat
Trista tries to talk to the creature, attempting a few common phrases in Taldane, Draconic, and Elven.
Elise will toss in a phrase or two in Goblin, just in case, but she's doubtful that one will do anything.
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Holding up his hand, he blows the smoke off it as he looks down at the charred Charau-ka, "I am not sure we'll even be able to communicate with these beasts, are we sure they are even capable of intelligent communication?"
Shrugging as the others still try, Fentus will throw a phrase or two out in Infernal, insulting the creatures intelligence and odor as he does so.
The charau-ka looks relieved at your temporary mercy, but is frustrated as you try to speak with him. He clearly doesn't understand Common or Elven or Infernal or Goblin, but when Trista tries Draconic, the creatures ears and eyes perk up. He bows reverently, and says in the same Draconic tongue:
While he has surrendered for now, he clearly still has some spirit, based on the speech and manners, even if you can't understand the exact words.
Trista tells her friends. "The monkey man is a cultist of Dahak, the dragon god of destruction. He speaks the language of dragons, so I don't doubt his claim."
Confused, looking to Trista, "These monkey creatures speak Draconic and worship some evil Dragon god? Pathetic, I am sure some dragon god would look at these creatures as nothing more than an appetizer,"
"I understood him," Elise says, grinning. "I also speak Draconic. Interesting." Elise regards the creature with disdain, nodding along with Fentus. "Even a god needs manipulatable minions, and I'm sure that's all these creatures are."
"The same could be said our gods to be fair Fentus. Apsu is a draconic god, and I haven't heard of them eating their followers. Other than that, we should tie them up while we have our wounds treated, since everyone here looks worse for wear now," Valdrin mentions while keeping his hand on the holy symbol around his neck.
Elise translates for the others, grimacing at the words she is forced to repeat and wrinkles her nose at the fanatical creature. "Yes...let's tie this one up." She gestures to Serpens, who has been holding onto a pair of manacles, to help her handle the creature.
"Well, we have a portal, an evil dragon god named Dahak..." She begins, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. "Quite a bit more than I expected to run into while chasing down a halfling arsonist. Who is somehow still free and hanging out outside like he did nothing wrong!" Elise shakes her head in disbelief.
"I am exhausted. How much further are we pushing on today?"
"I think tying him up is a good idea. As you can see, he's very agitated."
Trista makes some notes in her book, then relays the information to the crew. "His cult is called the Cinderclaws, and they evidently have many members. He said that that traveled here via a portal, which is interesting. Potentially, it explains the presence of all of these jungle creatures in the keep. We ought to see if we can find it, and close it, before they overrun the town."
"Back to task, the cult's leader is called Malarunk, and he has plans to 'release Dahak,' whatever that means. I'd have to do some research about the dragon god to know more about his current disposition."
The charau-ka cultist accepts the manacles without a fight. "You will take me to Malarunk and release me? I will beg him to spare you, if so. If not, you will burn along with the rest of the non-believers when Destruction itself arrives!"
"Oh, I've found a footnote here. Evidently Dahak took physical form during Earthfall and was defeated and buried. I suppose it's possible someone could resurrect him. Terrible idea."
Trista considers their prospects. "Should we return to town to rest? We can convince our arsonist to come with us and reassure Warble. We can return to clear out the living space after resting. I'm concerned about more cultists coming through this portal, but we don't want to exhaust ourselves."
"We will be taking Calmont whether it is peacefully or not," Elise says darkly. "He will not get away with the destruction he has caused in Breachill or here. In any case, I think returning to town would be wise...What are we doing with this one in the meantime?" She asks, kicking at the charau-ka cultist.
Shaking his head at all this talk of dark Dragons, "That's worrisome to think some evil dark Dragon is buried nearby. I'm not too sure what we'd be able to do about it, can try and take this Malarunk alive, get some answers from him/them/it,"
Looking around the area, "Ah well, I'll do what I can to convince Calmont to come quietly back to town, my Charm spell will have worn off, but hopefully his positive impression of me remains,"
Assuming the south door from this lounge leads to one of the narrow passages coming off the large central vaultway, its not hard to make your way back past the roasted emperor birds and towards the exit to the Citadel's dungeon. From somewhere on the far end of the vaultway, you hear the warning growl of Big Bumble, who is still wandering about in the dungeon.
The door there leads out side to the small stony hill behind Hellknight Keep and it'd only be about a miles walk back to Breachill (in the dark) if that's what you choose.
Olaf looms near their prisoner during the discussions, ready to strike it down if it decides to get violent, but relaxes a bit once the manacles come out.
At the discussions about what to do next he offers, "I still have magic left, but we are getting beat up and a rest would likely do us good. Our main task was that halfling, returning him to town sooner would be wise. Hopefully this dragon thing doesn't want to get ressurected tonight."
"I see no reason to keep this one alive," Elise remarks, poking at the charau-ka with her foot. "Unless you think we can get more information out of it. That would free up the manacles for Calmont. I would like to get that situation taken care of." She shifts her weight slightly, holding her rapier menacingly at the creature, ready to put an end to its miserable existence.
"I would like to get my hands on a set of healer's tools so that Valdrin isn't the only one keeping us pieced together." She grins at the cleric, nodding her head gratefully to him. "I have a place in town if anyone needs a place to crash. Although..." She glances at Fentus, her grin turning into a smirk. "You may want to take Trinil up on her offer for a place to stay. Hard to pass that one up."
"As for Calmont...Fentus, you can take the lead on that, since you made an impression...and we can stay back, ready to restrain him once you have him distracted. He does not need to walk back into town as a free man."
The group readies to leave the dungeon steering well clear of Big Bumble. Opening the rocky hatch of a secret door, the darkness of the woods around the Citadel is a little oppressive, but the light spells cast earlier fill the immediate area with a warm glow.
Almost as soon as the hatch is opened a familiar voice whispers, "Friends, you will come with Helba yes?"
Elise doesn't immediately reply, only pauses before trying to make sure it's actually Helba by saying in Goblin: "Dak tassew int, ħabib?"
Helba nods. "Yes, friends of Cousin Warbal! It is Helba! Put those lights out and follow me! Helba has something to show you!"
Provide you do, Helba scuttles off into the darkness slowing down when she realizes you can't see like she can. She circles back and makes sure everyone is close. After a few moments, she leads you into a camp set up by the Bumblebrashers. While there was only 8-9 goblins trapped in the upper level of the Citadel earlier, there are more than two dozen now, sitting around a small fire, cooking, cleaning or doing other simple chores. At the bole of a large tree, a small bundle lies against the trunk. Helba points at the bundle and grins. "Bumblebrashers have a gift for you, friends! Go and see!"
Approaching the bundle, you hear some muffled sounds coming from a large skin sack. Inside the sack, bound hand and foot, is Calmont! "Bumblebrashers saw the bad man lurking around castle, so goblins trap him and tie up him. Bad man should not wander around loose Helba says. Friends take him to Warbal! They lock bad man away, yes?"
Olaf has no opinion on the disposition of the monkey thing, and follows the group to the goblins.
Finding their arsonist already in custody he rumbles out real laughter, ”Guess that saves us some time. Thank you little ones.”
"Oh, Helba. This is a beautiful gift, friend." She grins widely at the goblin, swooping down and hugging the small woman. "Helba, we weren't able to clear everything. You will need to avoid the area for a little bit longer. We need to go back to town and handle this one," she gestures to Calmont, "and then return to really fix the problem."
She nods to Serpens as he hoists the bag-of-halfling over his shoulder, glancing around at everyone. "Shall we head back to Breachill?"
--Under the Fortress--
"While I'd prefer you..." his voice wanders off as he sees Elise's blade end the creature, before letting out a sigh. "I guess they'll reach judgement at the boneyard, though I don't think it would be favorable."
--With the Gobbos!--
Smiling slightly at the goblins and his party he points towards the town, "I'm pretty sure that good news will be well received, and that we do need some rest before getting ready to properly clear out the cultists. We should bring our gift to the town council as well, lest it decides to run off on us."
Looking to the Calmont and then the others, before shrugging at the Hafling, "Ah well, bad luck happens my friend, maybe the townsfolk will be lenient,"
Trista is nonchalant about the execution of the intruder. "No doubt we would be treated even less mercifully."
Once the group returns to Breechill, she would urge everyone to turn over their prisoner to the authorities and find Warble to reassure her about her friends and relations.
Elise dispatches the baboon captive off camera to spare everyone the scene.
Helba smiles brightly, which is a little disturbing looking for a goblin, when she delivers Calmont. As Elise explains that the Bumblebrashers have to stay out of their homes a while longer, Helba nods in understanding. "Too many cultists to get all at once, Helba understands. Thank you friends for helping Bumblebrashers go home. We will camp for a while longer but look forward to your return, yes?"
Olaf grabs the bundle of halfling and tosses Calmont over his shoulder. The halfling mumbles something unintelligible in protest and looks plaintively at Fentus for some understanding.
Eventually, the group sets out for Breachill in the dark, but there are no misadventures on the way, and soon the torches of the town are visible from a distance. You smile at the statue of Lamont Breachill in the center of town as you descend to the village. It is after 8 at night, when you reenter, but the trade at Wizards Grace (where you began this adventure) is still brisk. Most of the rest of the town is shut down and quiet for the evening. It seems delivering Calmont to the authorities may have to wait until morning.
Walking into the Wizard's Grace, Valdrin smiles at the familiar smells with a deep inhale. Looking back towards Fentus and nodding with a smile, the cleric goes in to secure a table while ordering five dinners and a bowl of soup for Calmont to be delivered wherever the party settles for the evening. "We should talk as how to proceed. Calmont needs to be turned in, and we need to finish our task, though both might take longer than a day. Perhaps we bring your friend to the proper authorities in the morning, before we head back?" Raising an eyebrow, he lets the question linger, before getting back to his food.
Elise takes a seat with the group, ordering a glass of wine to go along with her dinner and whatever drinks the others may like, hard or otherwise.
"Can lock him up at my place," Elise suggests between bites. "Keep him locked in the cellar. I have a padlock for it and everything." She glances around the room, trying to get a bead on what important folks might be dining at the Grace tonight and if she noticed anything interesting.
Breathing a sigh of relief to be allowed back into the Inn, he takes a seat with Valdrin at the table and immediately begins looking for a waitress to order some food.
"If you think it'll hold him, I imagine he's a pretty wily little fella, god forbid he try to burn your place down from the inside,"
Starting to get frantic that he can't wave down the waitress, Fentus stands up to really look around for some food to order.
Looking back to the group, "I say we just tie him up at the city square with a note tied to him that says something like: Here's the guy that started the fire, lock 'em up please, will explain more later, please don't execute,"
"Well, he wasn't going to be loose or anything. He would stay manacled or chained until morning," She replies to Fentus with a tone that suggested this was obvious. She stares hard at the sorcerer after his proposal to just leave Calmont out in the open, trying to gauge if this was a joke or not. "I don't think leaving the criminal out in the open is wise," Elise comments with barely contained incredulity, one eyebrow quirked.
Waving, what Fentus detected as some sarcasm, off with a quick motion of his hands, "It'll be fine, sounds like he'd be just as secure tied to a post in town square as he would be tied to a beam in your basement,"
"A fair trial, with the possibility for redemption would be most advised, though you having those kinds of tools in your cellar, is slightly disconcerting, Elise," he says, with a slight smirk. He didn't need to know why she did have a locked cellar, but it was intriguing to him after he saw the woman's abilities when out in the fortress. "That isn't an issue as long as we get a why he did what he did, who could have coaxed him, and a possibility for him to better himself, without the need for a night in the stockades. My goddess is forgiving, until it is warranted for her to not be, as is likewise with her followers. I think I might pray for, divine justice tomorrow in case we have to deal with more cultists." His face was somewhat soft in the light of the tavern, yet his eyes seemed to hold a cold flame. "I doubt those cultists would let us go freely when we return, and if not, holy fire will purify their souls."
Elise decided to ignore Fentus' ridiculous suggestions and turns her attention to Valdrin, a smile on her face that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm not sure what you think I have in my cellar, but I was thinking just the manacles and a little chamber pot. You know cellars are used for food storage, yes? and it's normal to have one?" She huffs with wry laughter and sits back in her chair, sipping her glass of wine.
"I am not suggesting torture the man, but short of knocking on the guard captain's door, we need to keep him somewhere, and tied to a post in the middle of town is, quite frankly, idiotic. Our plan was to hand him over to the guards who would put him in a cell. We watched him threaten our goblin allies and have solid evidence that he caused the fire in town that almost killed the council, townsfolk, and us. I see no reason to pamper the man into giving us answers."
Listening to the group, Olaf offers, "I say we wake the guard captain up anyway. Its the safest way to put this man in custody, and it is the guard's duty to maintain order, day or night."
Finishing, he looks around, "At least it was in my homeland, I am new here so things may be different."
"Oh, is he still here?!" Trista may have momentarily forgotten the existence of the arsonist, caught up in thoughts of loose bears, jungle fauna, and portals.
"I agree with Olaf. Let's rouse the guard. We can let the council know we accomplished our task tomorrow, and see if Warble has any messages for her friends."
"I think that would be a sensible plan. Let's wake the captain. Serpens, you should not go alone. You'll end up getting arrested for being so pompous," She says, a hint of teasing in her voice as she stands beside the elf.
"After, we can all get some rest. If anyone needs somewhere to stay, I have an extra bed and some floor space. Save you some money, yeah?"