As your second month of rulership draws to a close, you feel the urge to go out and explore more of the surrounding lands. The people of your fledgling town have been talking about a few rumors they've overheard:
* Some gnome explorers came by a few weeks ago, claiming they’re here to map the entire Greenbelt; they were last seen heading up the Skunk River.
* A red dragon lives in the Narlmarches and eats anyone who crosses its path!
* The old tower on the island in Candlemere marks a place where the boundary between this world and another has grown thin; it’s now guarded by some sort of deadly monster.
In addition, a few of the locals approach you with specific tasks:
Quest: That Damn Turtle!
Local fisherman Arven has a secret fishing hole on the east bank of the Tuskwater, but now an ill-tempered beast has claimed his favorite spot. The beast in question is a semi-legendary hookjaw turtle named Old Crackjaw. If you can kill or drive him off, Arven will reward you. Watch out for his chompers!
Quest: I Swear I'm Sober!
A lumberjack named Stas claims to have seen an elusive hodag and to have stuck it with his magic spear. His friends think that he lost his spear in the river and made up the hodag sighting to cover up his clumsiness. The poor lumberjack’s honor is at stake! Track down and kill the hodage and bring its head to Stas so he can show it to his friends. That’ll learn ’em!
"Ooh, you can't underestimate those turtles. They're darn stubborn, and they'll hold onto you forever." He turns to Vesi, "Maybe we can get him to move to a place farther away from people. Then we can put up signs to get people to leave him alone."
You head southeast from your capital city, navigating the shores of the large lake known as the Tuskwater. Following the fisherman Arven's intructions, you soon come to a 3-mile stretch of land along the edge of the Tuskwater that rises high above the water, presenting a swath of 40-foot-high cliffs and limiting access to the river below. The cliff tops are thick with stinging nettles, but the fisherman's hidden trail leads through the nettles and down to a secluded pool, 50 feet in diameter, at the Tuskwater’s shore.
You have time to prepare before approaching the pool. As soon as you enter the water, a large, ill-tempered hookjaw turtle rises up to defend its territory!
Before you can react, Old Crackjaw swims forward and snaps at Russ! The kobold avoids his chompers!
Before they start the descent towards the lake, Vesi casts the spell that allows them to communicate with animals, then as Old Crackjaw ruches them the druid whispers a quick prayer to the Green.
"Honoured elder, please listen! We do not want to harm you, and we are in awe of your strength and ferocity! We only wish to talk."
"It's either talk or tonight we dine on turtle soup..."
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Russ manages to dodge before he needs to get his shield up to defend himself, weary of anything that might eat him up and chew him down after the wolf incident among other things.
He sets his shield defensively before swinging with a wide heavy slap with the flat of the executioner's blade to ward off the turtle's advances against him and his allies.
"Back beast, listen to Vesi or you shall answer to me!"
Ankra will toss the turtle a chunk of meat to dissuade it from snacking on Russ. "You might want to stop whacking it on the nose." he says as he sends the water of life over Russ.
"No talking! Only chomping!" Old Crackjaw shouts at Vesi.
Blaze flicks her thumb against her forefinger like it's made of flint and the air behind the grand turtle ignites, flashing with fire for an instant until a hole burns in reality and a preposterously large skunk falls out before the hole reseals.
"Huh. That was supposed to be a turtle friend. Well maybe if- Oh gross!!!"
"Eh, maybe it'll get him out of a biting mood anyways"
Old Crackjaw is unfazed by the skunks's spray, though Russ'ruk lands a solid hit, smacking him on the snout. The crotchety turtle snaps at the kobold again! This time, he gets past Russ's defenses, his beak puncturing the warrior's scales. The giant turtle clenches his jaws, further injuring Russ, then snaps again, though this time Russ blocks with his shield.
As the turtle bites, Ankra reaches in to the jaws, keeping them from biting quite so deeply, but tearing his hand up in the process.
He then touches Russ with the bloody hand, using it as a conduit to send more life back into the kobold.
Ankra then freezes the turtle, hoping that might hurt it.
"Stop trying to eat Russ! He's not even that tasty!" Exasperated at the failure of diplomacy and goodwill, Vesi turns their efforts towards protecting Russ'Rukk instead.
Blaze's skunk keeps spraying everywhere in surprise and confusion, which even out of the immediate blast zone is enough to fully sour her mood.
"Oh fine, I'll fry you! Is that what you want?"
Old Crackjaw is discomforted by the skunk's second spray. The turtle avoids the worst of Blaze's bolt and Ankra's icy blast, and his shell protects him from Russ'ruk's attack.
The cranky reptile continue to bite at Russ. This time, the kobold is able to avoid its jaws. Old Crackjaw then pulls his head and limbs into his shell for extra defense!
Ankra slams the shell with a hammer of water. "Oh, no you don't get to hide away from us."
Blaze leers at the aged turtle, turning the power she's imbued her crown with to his dread. The thiolically incontinent skunk continues to spray away as well.
"I really hate it when they won't even listen... Hey! Turtle! I don't want to kill you! Stop biting my friends!"
This was truly a shame. The turtle hadn't been hurting anyone, but he was an inconvenience for the fishermen. Did he really have to die for that?
Vesi summons forth a few vines which twist into a cone in their hands. A single fruit spills out and Vesi catches it, holding it aloft in front of Old Crackjaw.
"If you go somewhere else and leave us in peace you can have this fruit! It will make you feel a lot better! And I can give you more once you move. Please, don't make my friends kill you."
Old Crackjaw resists Blaze's fear spell and the skunk's spray, but both Ankra and Russ'ruk mess him up pretty badly, despite the extra protection from his spell.
"Damn you! Alright, I'm going, I'm going," the turtle grumbles to Vesi. He emerges from his shell, turns, and starts to swim off for less stressful waters.
Ankra will look at Vesi to confirm that the turtle is leaving peacefully before standing down.
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Russ'ruk remains on guard until the turtle is a fair distance away and he's sure it isn't coming back. Then he relaxes, sheathes his weapon and reaches gently under his armor to caress the now tender spot in his shield arm.
"Gah I can tell why the locals wanted us to deal with the old thing. I wonder how old such a big turtle is anyroad?" Turning to his companions he asks, "Everyone unharmed?"
"Huh. Hey Blue, what kind of fruit would you give the whiny dwarf back at home to make him go away?"