"Quite a drastic change!" Diana joins the others in their surprise at their companion change. At Tryphilla's question, however, she eyes Cyrene's new form with an appraising look. "It's not an illusion, at least as far as I can tell. Some kind of polymorph effect, I'm guessing? The ability to change forms rather than just disguises should prove a pretty useful one."
"The place seems quite well cared for. I wonder who's been doing it for all this time, though. One of the town's people, perhaps?"
Diana follows Lope's casting with a spell of her own, and the air around her clothes shimmers for a brief moment.
"I don't hear anything, Lope, but I'll follow your lead."
3rd (2+1/day)- Haste, open, Bonus: Major Image
2nd (3+1/day)- Glitterdust x2, open, Bonus: Mirror Image
1st (5+1/day)-
0th (at will)- Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Daze, Read Magic
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Triphylla stows her kit and follows the others inside, marveling at the incredible waste of space. "Twenty families of halflings could live in a place this size in Oppara, yet here it sits empty. People don't know what to do with all their money, do they?"
At Lope's warning, Triphylla steels herself, first drinking an extract of Shield. "Already the haunts in this house gather against us." She pulls the small pot of Holy Weapon Balm from her pack and readies it but does not yet expend any uses from her supply. Instead she slowly ascends the stair where the moan was heard.
"I'm sorry I missed your entrance at the ball." Cyrene says to Valeria, looking across the coach at the oracle. "I hear you put on quite the performance. Perhaps you could wear it again sometime for me to see?" The way she emphasises the last word makes it clear to everyone in the coach that looking isn't the only thing she plans to do.
Valeria was a bit surprised at Cyrene's ability to transform and it made her a bit nervous given her past issues with shapeshifting demonesses, but she knew it was Cyrene and that was enough to keep her from panicking. When Cyrene mentioned wondering if she would wear it for her sometime so she could see it with the innuendo laden tone Valeria smiled slightly and said, "I think that can be arranged Cyrene," her tone grew just as suggestive as Cyrene's as she added, "if you ask nicely of course."
"I hear it too Lope, it sounds like it was coming from over there," she gestured towards the same area he had. She had nothing to precast to prepare for the fight with so Valeria instead kept her gaze ready and wished she had a way to cast healing magic at a distance as she knew she would be the only one who could do any reliable damage against a ghost.
"Let's be honest, a single halfling family will fill the manor with good food and better entertainment enough to have the whole Count of Merrat visiting on a daily basis" Lope smiles at Triphylla's natural expressiveness despite the tense moment.
Then, nodding to the others, he follows slowly after Triphylla, making the stairs one at a time, careful of any breaking one or a menace surprising the group from the top.
Lope cautiously ventures up the curving steps, and he has time to appreciate the mahogany hand rail topping the sweeping balustrade which had been polished to a mirror shine. As the party reached the oddly shaped landing which connected to a number of rooms to the east, they heard a loud slamming sound from below - probably a door! The decor for this upper floor is suitably plush, with various stuffy looking paintings on the walls and frescoes on the vaulted ceiling.
You notice a tenuous layer of fog is forming just above the plush carpet!
"It's very limited transformation, combined with a certain amount of skill." Cyrene replies. It's notable that despite her apparent bulk the carriage springs don't protest anywhere near as much as would be expected. "I can change my body but I can't create or dismiss mass from nowhere. I'm just testing how far I can take this at the moment."
Cyrene has dropped all her disguises now that the group are inside and walks almost silently along the corridors, tail lashing and horned head twisting back and forth.
She seems distinctly disquieted, as well honed instincts whisper that something's wrong. Unfortunately she can't say what. So she does what any good assassin should - she hides in turn.
Triphylla scowls at the fog. "Well that's not natural. I suppose we need to figure out what's haunting this place and deal with it. I don't want to try to stay overnight while the spirits linger."
She advances to the nearest doors and pauses to listen. If she hears nothing, she throws them open.
Lope looks below, towards the sound and tries to maintain his demeanor "Diana, what do you know about this house?"
"I don't have much first hand knowledge about the house, unfortunately. But the locals believe the lady Allis herself haunts the house now. Some claim to see lights and hear noises coming from the house on certain nights, and those that have tried to loot the house turned up beaten by some unseen force."
"The lady Allis might have had an affinity with spirits, actually. From what I've heard, she would usually speak with people that didn't seem to be present, a behaviour she kept throughout her life."
Diana ponders for a brief moment, carefully touching the polished handrail before continuing.
"Spititual matters are a bit outside my usual area of expertise. But if Allis' ghost or some manner of spirits loyal to her are present and can affect the physical world, it would explain how the house is so carefully maintained."
She looks worriedly at the forming fog and at the direction from where the sound seemed to originate. "Maybe we can convince them we mean no harm to this place? They might consider us intruders right now."
"Are we not?" Triphylla leaves unspoken that they are not actually Betony heirs.
"Well, yes, I suppose we are." Diana nods at Tryphilla's question, and then looks around for any signs that whatever haunts the house might be listening. "But we are not here to rob the place or break anything. Quite the opposite, really. It's in our best interests to see this estate restored. If they are indeed the reason the house is so impeccably mantained, we might even be able to help in places where their power doesn't seem to reach - like the garden, for example. Sure, our justification for being here might be... unusual... but we're probably the best chance for this place to get back to its cheerier days, as Lope put it."
Cyrene refrains from joining the conversation - she's busy hiding right now.
Valeria nodded along with what Diana said about Lady Allis and said, "I've heard the same things now that you bring it up. Whether they are true or not is another matter entirely."
As they made their way up the stairs Valeria nearly jumped out of her skin at the loud bang of a door slamming down below. She continued to move on up and just began to notice the fog on the stairs when it dawned on her, "Ummmm," she asked in a tremulous voice, "who slammed the door downstairs?"
"Ah, yes, yes... I have heard stories about aunt Allis..." Lope tries to feign knowledge about her fake relative, still not sure how much to confide to Diana "Yeah, sure ghosts, if you are there, we are the new owners and want to take care of your old home..."
"No idea Valeria... this is becoming unnerving..." despite the ghostly sounds, Lope tries to remain cool "Let's try to see what is inside some of the rooms"
The Aldori approaches where Triphylla is, and opens the double doors there.
Lope enters a small formal library with lion skin and bear skins on top of the parquet floor. There are several comfy looking sofas under dust-free sheets and various mostly empty book cases lining the walls. The ceiling vaulted and the walls are oak panelled. The room smells of beeswax polish and old vellum. Several of the doors here are ajar.
A candle whips past lope and thuds on the wall behind him!
Cyrene darts across the room in pursuit of the cat that definitely isn't a cat that she just saw trying to escape.
Triphylla takes off after Cyrene, who appears to have a better sense of the strange activity in the house.
Lope instinctively dodges the flying candle, but it went too far away to hit him anyway "Uh? What? Ok, we fight candles now. I hope there is no full set of cutlery nearby"
The Aldori looks back noticing Cyrene and Triphylla leaving "No need to run away, someone is just trying to scare us" he advances through the room reaching the other side "But I do not buy it, it did not even try to hit us with the candle"
Lope takes attention to the place where he thinks the candle started its flight from. If nothing is found, he checks the books in the library, interested to know what can be learnt in this place.
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"They're not running away, Lope! They're chasing after our "ghost"! Only it isn't a ghost at all! It's a Domovoi!"
She starts running after Cyrene and Triphylla as best as she can. Realising the term might not be as familiar to the rest of their companions, she adds as she moves. "It's a fey creature, and I'm sure it's what's "haunting" this house. I'll give you the details later."
She then calls out to the two women already in pursuit of the creature "That cat is actually a fey creature that has bound itself to this house! It is probably just trying to scare us away! Don't harm it!"
The 'cat' retreats into the tower room to the west, which is full of old junk under dust-sheets. It looks at you curiously, with eyes that are far too intelligent for a normal cat. You notice there is another one in the room too, they share a look.
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Diana rushes into the room, behind Cyrene and Triphylla, hoping they heeded her request not to harm the creature.
As she enters, she kneels down some distance away from the Domovoi, before talking to them in the most soothing voice she can.
"Don't be scared, we're not going to hurt you or harm your house. I know what you are. You're bound to the manor, right? And have been protecting and caring for it ever since the lady Allis passed away? You've done a great job so far, and it couldn't have been easy on your own."
"Maybe we could help, if you let us? Me and my friends were hoping to move in, and if you allow us, I promise we'll do what we can around here."
Diana looks expectantly at the two fey, waiting for their reaction.
"Don't be scared, we're not going to hurt you or harm your house. I know what you are. You're bound to the manor, right? And have been protecting and caring for it ever since the lady Allis passed away? You've done a great job so far, and it couldn't have been easy on your own."
The 'cats' glance at each other and one of them says in a strange high pitched sing song voice, "Lady, we've been protecting the manor for a thousand years."
"Maybe we could help, if you let us? Me and my friends were hoping to move in, and if you allow us, I promise we'll do what we can around here."
The other 'cat' replies, "We miss Lady Allis, she used to sing for us before she grew too old. Then she used to tell us stories. You wish to move in... Do you intend to restore the manor? Will you sing for us or tell us stories?"
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Lope follows the team only to hear Diana talking to some... domestic cats? Having seen already a lot of strange things in the last few weeks, he just shrugs and joins the conversation "My friend Diana is right. We only want to take care of this state and make it our home during our stay in the Meratt County."
"If you care for great stories, then I can explain you the story of my grandmother. Magdalena Aldori. Who fought for the banner of Taldor, protecting the unity of the kingdom, for many years serving the crown, helping nobles escape the craziness of the Red Revolution, and serving with her legendary sword and her word to achieve the peace with Qadira" the man retells the story of her grandmother with clear pride "Only for her name to be smeared by the traitors that wanted my family away from the king and Taldor. The traitors that seized what had been built with great efforts through generations, and even dared to take her aldori sword" Lope continues to retell the story in detail if the cats seem entertained by it, giving turns and using effective voice to make the story of the great deeds interesting and appealing.
"If you let us live here, we will not only take care of the house, but also fill it with more of these stories and songs"
Valeria quickly followed after everyone as they chased after the domovoi, whatever that was, and was a bit winded when they finally reached the tower. When she entered behind them Valeria stayed well back from the fey creatures as she wasn't sure how they would react to the taint ingrained into her soul. When they seemed to be reaching an agreement Valeria added a little herself and said, "I have not sung for a long time now, I don't know if I can, but I am willing to try for you if it helps."
Trihylla watches the exchange with interest. She's always been a cat person.
Cyrene, who is not a 'disguised servants' person, retreats from the conversation and lingers in the doorway where she can jump into things - if needed.
Diana smiles as Lope and Valeria chime in as well, both of them apparently eager to fulfill the fey's requests for stories and song.
She listens attentively to Lope's tale about his grandmother. As he finishes the riveting tale, she turns back to the creatures.
"I hope that story was to your liking. My friend Lope has quite a way with words! And between all of us here, I'm sure we can find more tales to tell you."
"As for the manor, it might be helpful if you tell us what still needs attention. There's the garden, of course, but is there anything else inside the house that needs urgent fixing as well?
The 'cats' listen to Lope's story with wrapped attention, and when he'd finished they said, "Thank you that was a very nice story, the Lady Allis would have loved it."
They reply to Valeria, "If you would like to sing that would be lovely, but when you are comfortable, there's no hurry."
One of them responds to Diana saying, "The garden is the main thing, but the fencing has collapsed in places and many rooms need painting..."
They seem to have taken a shine to you and they say, "Too long these halls have been cold and silent. We would welcome a new family who would look after the house and fill it with storied and song and laughter."
You take a good look around to take better stock of the situation. It's clear you'll need hired help.
Diana follows the Domovoi around the house, assessing the damage, trying to get an idea about the work involved in restoring the manor.
"I'm by no means an expert, but I'm sure we'll need some hired help to handle everything that needs fixing. Maybe a thousand gold pieces of labour, and it will probably take a few months to get everything right. It's still an important goal worth pursuing, though. Until the manor is restored, the other nobles are sure to look down on you."
"Onara Piscum would be the exception to that, from what I've heard. And on that note, we should try to get in contact with her soon. You will be taking over her responsibilities, after all. We should get her involved in the process to ensure the transition goes smoothly. And I'm sure her knowledge will be of use - maybe we can ask her for her help in hiring people to aid in the repairs?"
Lope smiles to the domovoi, appreciating their collaboration "Are there some rooms where we could rest during our stay? Why don't you show us the house?"
The Aldori listens carefully to Diana "Ah, your local knowledge is proving very useful. Indeed, let's spend a day or two inspecting the manor and making an inventory of what we need"
"If you are right about this Onara Piscum, perhaps you can extend an invitation to her in the name of the Betony heirs" Lope looks around and frowns, worried by Julia's state, but continues with the proceedings "I would like to know from her what she judges are the priority needs in Stachys, and any opportunities the land might have to create new wealth"
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"This is quite a relief!" admits Triphylla. She was certain that some nefarious ghoul haunted the estate and would be the death of at least one of them trying to exorcise it. "How do you do?" she follows. "My name is Triphylla, and I very much like cats, especially thousand-year-old cats with lots of stories to share. Remind me later and I'll tell you about the mousers I met on merchant ships traveling the coast."
As to Diana's excellent advice she replies, "I haven't spoken a word to Onara Piscum since we got here, although I serve a similar purpose in this political theater production. Alternately, we could split up, pair up, or whatnot to cover more ground. There is quite a lot to do all of the sudden."
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Once the group settles in Triphylla muses, "I'd like to visit Stachys and see what the man on the street thinks are the priority concerns. It will give me a chance to relax - all these formal evenings with the aristocracy makes my skin crawl a little. And anyway, I hear there is a small halfling community in Merratt. We often feel differently about the direction of things, having a perspective closer to the ground."
Triphylla would be happy if someone wanted to join here but she's content to have a day out on her own too.
"Are there some rooms where we could rest during our stay?"
The pair of Domovoi lead you to a series of bedrooms on the second floor. Everything is under dust sheets, which are soon removed revealing the luxurious furniture beneath.
Stachys is a quiet little village on the edge of vanishing altogether. Locals haven’t had any official leadership or infrastructure since the Lady Betony passed 10 years ago. Their official tribune, Roren Piscum, passed away 5 years later, and ever since Onora Piscum has shouldered most of the burden of protecting her neighbors and keeping people organized while still running her small tavern.
The locals eye you with suspicion and little wonder, after a decade of neglect and heavy taxation, Stachys is a shell of what it could be. The town needs extensive (and expensive) improvements at this point to restore its economy.
Market, Basic (2,000 gp): By paving the village square, coordinating with local artisans and neighboring farms, and hiring a few messengers, the PCs can establish a weekly market to attract more wealth. This improvement helps Stachys become more self-sufficient, reducing the base cost of all future improvements by 10%.
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Compared to the splendor of the Palace of Birdsong, Stachys might as well be on another plane. She had tasted the desperation of the commoner with the encounter on the road. Recalling the brief exchange with the purveyor of magical items, Tessa, Triphylla was left feeling disappointed in the lack of entrepreneurial spirit. It was as if the hope had been snuffed out, and whatever possibility she was imagining for the people was impossible for them to realize.
She had the same feeling here in the rutty streets of Stachys. Not only had the town fallen into ruin, it was clear by neglect that the townsfolk had neither the means nor the will to do anything about it. Perhaps, years past, the windmill on the mill would have been quickly repaired, but now it sits as a testament to terrible management.
It quickly becomes obvious, as it did those many days earlier on the road, that the people need a spark, something to kindle and nurture to flame to revive the town and their livelihood. There were so many areas of neglect and opportunity...
After walking the town and getting a sense for the magnitude of problems she enters Piscum's tavern and orders a beer. Then, beer in hand, she orders a round for the house. Having bought the attention of the patrons she stands atop the stool and announces: "New friends, you may have learned that a Betony heir has recently arrived to Merratt County from Oppara. In his service I have authority to speak on his behalf. As his lordship has roots in this land, his goal is to restore the Betony Estate and return prosperity to Stachys and the surrounding lands."
She speaks with her performance voice, but doesn't overdo it.
Triphylla continues. "As it is plain to see, I am not a noble. My parents worked hard in Oppara under the heel of the Emperor, and I was raised on the docks an merchant ships and among the street vendors in the lower marketplaces. I can tell you, from my low vantage point," she puts the palm of her hand down to make light of her stature, "that the most important aspect of prosperity is trust. You must trust that the price of a good is fair and represents the effort to produce it, plus a small profit. Trust creates incentive and incentive drives the economy."
She pulls a large bag of gold from her pack. "I ask you today to think about trust. The Betony heir would see this town prosper; it takes only your trust to get started. Now I realize things have fallen to disrepair hope is a shadow in the dark, but I have three-hundred gold pieces here, seed money for a new marketplace in the town square. There is more where this came from, but we do not give it out of charity. This is an investment in each of you and in this town. It is the start of a new future. Tell your loved ones, your neighbors, and your friends. Stachys' return to prosperity begins today!"
When the party sits to decide what to start building, Lope, with his merchant background, he is quick to approve the idea of the market. The Aldori finds for the group to provide the needed 2000 golds.
Additionally, through the next days, he makes sure to provide the estate with the other 500 gp to recover the Betony manor in the shape of materials the group can use along with the help of the domovoi.
Lope is not ignorant of hard work, and is the first one to up his sleeves to put the house in order with his best moods.
---
A few days later, when the labor tasks are already on the go, Lope sits to discuss the new steps with the party "What do you think if we have a look at that blocked pump. It might become vital to start providing quality water to the population and perhaps irrigating the farms to improve the food production"
"Also, next week, I have an appointment for an afternoon tea at Dame Crabbe's place. Any of you want to join?" he looks Diana almost pleading in the hope the Dame just let him some personal space.
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After settling into the manor, Diana does her best to help out with the repairs as well whenever possible, preferably by use of her engineering knowledge or her magic (Mending cantrip to fix things that are small enough, for example).
When Triphylla decides to head into town, Diana goes along with her, both to see the state of the town by herself, and to extend Lope's invitation to Onara Piscum.
She listens closely to Triphylla's speech, smiling approvingly at her companion's skill. As she finishes, Diana sets out to have a word with Onara while the crowd reacts to Triphylla's speech.
"Marianella has quite a skill with words, would you not agree? And she is right, trust is fundamental for this village to prosper. That is indeed what Lord Betony does want for Stachys. But he knows he will need help to achieve it. From the people of Stachys, and especially from you, miss Piscum."
"I do not believe we had a chance to speak during the festival. My name is Diana, Diana Lotheed." Knowing her cousin is probably far from the most loved person in the county, she is careful to avoid any tone of pride or superiority when she speaks her family name. In fact, she adds in a subtle note of embarrassment when she speaks it. "The Lord Betony was kind enough to invite me to come with him and help him along. But despite what some might think, we both know that our station alone cannot possibly be a substitute for the years of experience you have in dealing with the duties he is now set to assume. We would welcome any help you could provide us during this transition, and to that end, Lope would like to invite you over to the Betony Estate to discuss matters."
------
"Investigating the pump house seems like a good idea, for the reasons you say, Lope."
"As for Dame Crabbe's tea party, I will accompany you, Lope, and do my best to "shield" you from her, if that's what you want." Diana replies with an amused smile at Lope's almost desperate look. "But as you know, Dame Crabbe is a pretty competitive woman, and not just on the Trucco field. I'm not so sure my presence won't make her double down on her attempts to bring you and her daughter together instead."
The punters in Piscum's Tavern give Triphylla a wary response. After she'd waxed lyrical, one man spoke up, "Well lads that's a pretty speech and no mistake, but we've been let down badly over many years by the uncaring and untouchable nobility. I say we judge this new lot on what they actually do!"
The crowd in the tap room seemed to agree with cries of, "Aye!" and "Actions, not words!"
Onara at first seemed wary of another Lotheed but she soon warmed to Diana. When Diana spoke about the transition, Onara said "Part of the role of tribune is dispensing Taldan justice. I guess I'm the closes thing to a sheriff round here, but I can hardly judge somebody I arrest. It seems we have a chance sort some long standing problems out now, rather than throwing them out in the morning, Lord Betony can pass judgement on any miscreants I encounter..."
Lope feels a mixture of relieve and worry that Diana so quickly picked up what was going on with Dame Crabbe "Well, in that case, let's give her a good entertainment for a competition" he answers with a smile picking up on the challenge to make profit out of this game.
Dressing his tall boots and a leather jacket, the Aldori sets himself ready "Ok, let's see what's up with this pump" picking up a wide-brimmed hat, he opens the entrance door and calls the horses in order to visit this new location.
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The village was most definitely in need of work to make it prosperous again. Oh it wasn't the worst shape she'd ever seen, that was one of the small villages near the wound that made this look like a luxurious city by comparison but that was not something she really wanted to remember. She excused herself from meeting the villagers the first time, she knew that would likely end badly as so many of her first meetings went anymore. Eventually she would feel comfortable about introducing herself, just not today.
When the meeting at the tavern was done Valeria was ready to check out the blocked pump. She wasn't particularly mechanically inclined but she would do what she could. "I'm as ready as I will ever be Lope."
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Before you leave the Bentony estate to clear the Pump House, the Domovoi (it turns out there's at least three of them) ask to see you. One of them shyly turns into it's native form, a barely knee-high creature, looking like a hairy old man with more beard than flesh.
He tells you, "My name is Blunk, this is Nodd, and Wink. A thousand years ago we were entrusted with a secret. A treasure to be saved until Taldor's hour of need. The time for it to resurface is now."
He presents you with a small lacquered box, within it is an ornate strangely curved dagger with a pommel with five gems, four are broken but the centre diamond is intact.
Solemnly Blunk tells you, "This is Koriana’s blade, a storied weapon. It has a command word, 'Melonkurion!' which allows it to transform into any one handed weapon, presently as you see it is a dagger. This weapon's purpose is to defend the glory of Taldor, it has other properties but you must discover those for yourselves..."
Once per day, the wielder can trigger this gemstone as an immediate action to absorb and negate all darts targeting her from a magic missile spell.
When the wielder transfers at least 1 point of the weapon’s enhancement bonus to her AC using the defending special ability, she also chooses one creature other than herself within 10 feet to gain a +1 bonus to AC until the wielder’s next turn. This bonus is always +1, regardless of how much of the weapon’s bonus the wielder transfers to her AC.
Thos weapon will grow stronger over time...
Her brother Tadric, distraught, focused only on creating a fitting legacy for Koriana’s daughter. Devoting himself to the study of metalcraft and magical crafting, he eventually turned a shard of his sister’s shield into a protective longsword. Though records indicate that Tadric’s niece took up the sword and joined the military, her full tale and the blade’s fate were lost to history. Rumors that she went into clandestine service for the royal family still circulate.
Reaching the pump house from Stachys by foot takes 7 hours, and the land is unsuitable for horses and other mounts.
Later you approach the Stachys Pumphouse which is on a narrow spur of land surrounded by a marsh. The air is heavy with the smell of decaying vegetation. Ahead a sturdy stone building straddles the berm separating the algae-cloaked marsh from the stagnant canal waters. A long sluice looks as though it might have once accommodated a mill, while a stone walkway wraps around the southern portion of the building. Moss almost completely obscures the slate roof. Clearly the place had been neglected for a very long time.
The pump house doors rotted away years ago.
"Who would have told that Koriana of Zimar's blade was here in Taldor all the time... Her brother Tadric forged the weapon out of one of her shield's shards when she fell within the ranks of the Fifth Army of Exploration. This is a great weapon specially made to defend its wielder and some of her allies" Lope whistles as the blade is presented to the party "That is a most generous present Blunk. This is an impressive dagger Cyrene, will you wield it? It is tied to Taldor's destiny."
Lope will explain the details of the blade.
"The pump was a source of wealth for Stachys until it broke 20 years old and the marsh has reclaimed the previously liberated farmlands. Be aware though, that the close cemetery that holds the crypt of the Sandaris family, the predecessors to the Betonys, has probably seen its wards broken with the marsh arrival" Lope explains what he has read these days in the books found in the Betony State.
CL 5, Concentration +9 (4 Int, 5 CL)
Cantrips (4/level)
dancing lights
detect magic
mage hand
prestidigitation
Level 1 (4+2/day)
chill touch
shield
magic missile
magic missile
pearl of power I
pearl of power I
Level 2 (2/day)
*ablative barrier
spider climb
As the group arrives to the structure, the Aldori says the magic words of an ablative barrier spell "Well, let's see what is the state of it. If we fix this thing and remove the marsh, the farmers are going to be happy, and the extra crops will make Stachys prosperous again"
Slowly, he goes up the stairs, and looks around the rotted door and into the building.
Diana looks over the dagger with Lope, eager to study the artifact. She couldn't place its name, however, until Lope recounts the blade's history.
"I see you have quite a bit of knowledge of both magic and our history, Lope. I have nothing more to add." She gives him an approving smile as he finishes describing the blade. "But Blunk did say the blade can assume the form of any one-handed weapon - even mimicking the one you carry, I'm sure. Should prove equally useful for any of you who prefer to fight at close range."
"Be on your guard as we travel towards the pump. I spoke with an elderly woman named Eldie back in Stachys, who told me there was a Lurker living in the water. Said her son had saw it when he was young." Diana tells the group as they travel to their destination. "Could be just a baseless rumour, but it can't hurt to be careful, right?"
"A sad state of affairs. The pump had kept the marsh at bay for over 1200 years, and just 20 years have done all this damage already" Diana adds to Lope's rather complete account of the area. "I'd like to take a look at the original magically driven engine, if it is still present. Maybe we could fix it as well."
Triphylla appreciates the expertise for the mundane details of Merratt County history demonstrated by Lope and Diana. She has no doubt that something deadly awaits them at the Pump house. Why else would the locals not fix the damned thing? Were these people so pathetic? No, she did not think so. They were just people, not monster-slayers.
Now, while her companions could wade through the swamp to the berm, Triphylla would need to swim, or build a raft or something. Planning ahead, she crafts her mutagen to enhance her constitution, in the event she cannot stay afloat.
As you move into investigate the pump house there's a sudden disturbance in the water and a tentacled horror bursts out of the water!
In addition to disease the filthy thing's tentacles inject poison!
"That's much worse than I feared!" says Triphylla, wondering if she would fare better underwater, as in, pretending to be dead.
"What the heck is that?!" despite the great alarm of the bestial appearance, Lope is quick to react, knowing his companions need help with such a beast, he quickly casts spider climb and tumbles down the building walls.
Then, with a swift gesture, his blade burst into magical flames "Sorry beast, but we need to clean up this marshy mess"
Triphylla cannot fight this thing while treading the murky water. She does her best to swim past Cyrene to the landing outside the pump house.
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"That's a Scaly Otyugh! Those scales make it thougher than normal, and the snake heads on the end of its tentacles carry poison as well as its typical disease! Please be careful!"
Hoping to hinder the creature sight and make it harder for it to strike at her companions, Diana conjures up a cloud of tiny golden particles around the Otyugh.
Lope enchanted his blade in preparation for battle.
With a word of power, Diana summoned a cloud of golden motes which stuck to the Otyugh like glue, however to her disappointment it didn't seem to notice.
<--- PASS
Cyrene slipped into the water without even making a ripple and she swum into position, ready to stab when Lope attacked. Too focused on the others, the beast seemed unaware of her movement.
Finding the water too deep, Triphylla swam towards solid ground.
Valeria pointed at the hideous Scaly Otyugh and uttered a strange word which seemed to echo with impending doom, yet the tentacled monstrosity didn't seem to care.
<--- PASS
The Otyugh made a strange keening cry as it attacked Lope. The magus was able to deflect it's attacks but not the foetid stench of it's breath!
<--- MISS
<--- MISS
<--- MISS
Environment: Dryland and swamp (difficult terrain)
COMBAT ORDER:
Scaly Otyugh <----- WE ARE HERE
Lope
Diana
Cyrene
Triphylla
Valeria
Lope, Diana, Cyrene, Triphylla and Valeria are up.