|
Henri moves forward and surrounds himself with the blessing of Sarenrae. "Gather around and close to me those who will fight in range to feel the blessing of Sarenrae." Henri tells his allies. "I will extend the blessing if needed."
◆ Stride
◆◆ Cast a Spell, Bless, 5-foot emanation around Henri, +1 status bonus to attack rolls while within the emanation
"Screech!" Silence flaps his wings.
Silence watches the boggards and makes a frightening hissing sound.
|
Henri blesses the area around him as Swayaah draws her crossbow and hides in the nearby foliage. Argoni knows this are Boggards, easily able to swim through the water, though little else.
Meadow hunts prey and quickly knocks the scout out iwth several blunt arrows. The boggards shriek in fright as they all begin croaking back and forth.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Aldonza
Swampseer (Pink)
Henri
➤ Yakuthiel
Swayaah
Argoni
Meadow
⠀⠀Silence
Scout (Green)
Warrior (Orange)
Warrior (Blue)
|
|
Yakithiel steps out in front, readying an attack in case the boggards draw near. This does not seem to be their intent as the second scout looses a slinged rock back at Meadow.
The rock flings into the brush. The two warriors follow suit, drawing javelins and chuck them from deep beneath the fetid swamp waters at Meadow.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Aldonza
Swampseer (Pink)
Henri
Yakuthiel
Swayaah
Argoni
Meadow
⠀⠀Silence
Scout (Green)
Warrior (Orange)
Warrior (Blue)
|
|
Aldonza raises her blade, though the performance is completely lost on the boggards.
Raising a thing reed the boggard in teh center of the swamp sends a glob of acid fro teh fetid waters at Meadow.
The acid just barely misses as it sizzles at the base of her feet.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Aldonza
Swampseer (Pink)
➤ Henri
➤ Yakuthiel
➤ Swayaah
➤ Argoni
➤ Meadow
⠀⠀➤ Silence
Scout (Green)
Warrior (Orange)
Warrior (Blue)
|
|
Henri increases the radius of his Bless spell to another 5 feet in radius to cover his other allies, helping them make their strike true if they choose to attack. He then draws his scimitar weapon and raises a magical shield for himself.
◆ Sustain a Spell, Bless (increase by 5')
◆ Interact to draw a weapon
◆ Cast a Spell, Shield
|
|
Henri increases the power of his blessing as Yakuthiel lunges a couple of steps inot the water, his blade cutting inot the boggards arm. Swayaah's crossbow bolt sticks inot the boggards chest as it croaks in displeasure.
The second scout drops dead as Argoni's own arrow goes through its eye. Nearly all of Meadow's own arrows strike the swampseer, killing the elder in a singular attack with deadly precision.
The two warriors draw clubs as they leap from teh swamp around Yakuthiel.
Yakuthiel rolls to the side avoiding both attacks with ease.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Aldonza
➤ Henri
➤ Yakuthiel
➤ Swayaah
➤ Argoni
➤ Meadow
⠀⠀➤ Silence
Warrior (Orange)
Warrior (Blue)
|
|
Henri sustains his Bless spell and expands it further as he get closer to his allies that are melee with the enemies on the water. He then forges a temporary link between Yakuthiel's life essence and his own, to lessen the damage Yakuthiel can take just in case he is attacked.
◆ Sustain a Spell, Bless (increase emanation by 5')
◆◆ Cast a Spell, Shield Other for Yakuthiel
"Screech!" With a piercing battle cry, the snowy owl launches himself at his opponent's flank.
extra damage on the first hit.
|
|
The pair of warriors doesn't stand a chance against your combined attacks as they both quickly fall.
Meadow and Argoni identify runes on the Seer's staff (fangs and animals and the north star) as those of an Animal Staff.
Now that the area is clear, anyone who wishes may swim up to the underwater idol.
Swayaah notices a stone in the coils with the scale pattern carved in reverse. This seems suspicious, so she wiggles it and it slides aside, revealed is a hidden bubbyhole, and inside is a lacquered wooden box sealed with wax.
You all swim ashore and open the box. Inside is a scroll of Stinking Cloud and a lesser healing potion. There is also a thin bundle of log pages.
The log pages are written in cipher. None of you have the ability to decode it without the key.
However, sketches among the pages depict a spire in the mountains and a stone barrow at the far end of a one-way ravine.
Each sketch also shows parts of what looks like a circular medallion. The sketch of the mountain spire shows two halves of a case, while a knob that fits in this case is shown in the sketch of the barrow.
Aldonza can see that the completed circular medallion is likely to be the cipher’s decoder. Hopefully, the next two locations have these items, and you can decode the cipher!
|
|
"Alright Fae, show's over. You can come out now."
The young tiefling sticks her head out from a bush, and then emerges with a bundle of cloth, some antiseptic, and a bunch of herbs.
Swimming is fun. Reminds of when she could leap through the shadows as a young child. Might be worth looking into again. But underwater she notices a clue: some of the scales are in the wrong direction.
"Found somethin'." Swayaah pulls out the box, breaks the seal and shows the contents to her comrades. "A magic scroll, a potion... and ooh."
She stares at the logs for a moment. "Hmm. I think we need a cipher to break this code. That must be the treasures of the other two waypoints."
"So, which one is next?"
|
|
You move on, invigorated by the clues. You suspect the next site is also the spire drawn in the logbooks.
The next day dawns, hot but dry. As the journey wears on, the landscape becomes higher and drier, until the land starts to roll in rugged, forested foothills. At times, when the canopy thins, jagged crags are visible to the north.
Now it's time to navigate to the Spire in the Mwangi Highlands! This trek is another 20 miles southeast over forested hills.
Athletics: The rugged jungle sometimes requires a scramble to make it up steep terrain or to quickly judge an easier ascent. Athletics allows you to make the climbs and drop a rope to the group, as well as find simpler paths for the support group.
Nature or Hill or Mountain Lore: These skills allow you to use Search to predict better paths in steeper terrain and keep a lookout for environmental hazards, such as potential landslides, dangerous scree, or unstable deadfalls of forest debris.
Occultism: Ancient auras dot the landscape here—the leavings of serpentfolk magic. Those using Occultism can use these magical landmarks with a successful check to Identify Magic.
Perception: You can use Perception to scout for safer paths.
Survival: The Sense Direction activity is the best function of this skill.
|
By the time the area is thoroughly investigated Meadow's wounds have closed on their own.
The halfling hands the staff to Meadow and takes a look at the scroll. "Anyone want this? I could try to use it. What about the healing potion? Maybe for Yakuthiel?"
"What am I supposed to do with this? Hit people with it?" She hands the staff back to Argoni.
|
"What am I supposed to do with this? Hit people with it?" She hands the staff back to Argoni.
The halfling looks at Meadow. "No, you can use it on Silence to..." He stares at her for a moment. "Oh, you can't cast spells. I mean, I can't either, but I can still get it to work. Right. Ok, I can use it to cast on Silence to make him more deadly. But I have to be able to touch him." He looks at the owl's sharp beak.
As they walk, Argoni tries to use the staff to orient himself.
Through the jungle, Argoni tries to see what serpentfolk magic is left in the landscape and tries to use them to navigate.
|
|
He may be a field medic, but he is not really that acquainted to places he is unfamiliar with. Though he worked outside for many years, he is more focused to healing and treating others wounds during those times. For now, all he needs to do is keep his both eyes open for any paths he may find to be safer.
"Maybe we can go this way. This direction looks clear and safe." he says to them, but unsure about it actually.
|
|
Aldonza takes point, prowling ahead of the others to help them deal with the rough terrain.
She also sings a song as she goes.
”From the marshes to the jungle,
We’re the Finders of the Path,
And if anyone should cross us,
They will face our mighty wrath!”
"You remind me of my old boyfriend. He used to sing, a lot."
|
"You remind me of my old boyfriend. He used to sing, a lot."Aldonza takes point, prowling ahead of the others to help them deal with the rough terrain.
She also sings a song as she goes.
”From the marshes to the jungle,
We’re the Finders of the Path,
And if anyone should cross us,
They will face our mighty wrath!”
”Is that why he’s your ex?”, Aldonza replies.
|
|
"Honestly? I thought he ghosted me because I'm... different." Swayaah digs her claws into a tree truck to get some traction as she climbs a steep hill. "Then I thought he died, but turns out he was prisoner in a vampire lord's castle."
"By the time he was freed, I wasn't ready..." She hesitates as Fae hands her a tool. "Don't know how my parents did it."
|
|
"Honestly? I thought he ghosted me because I'm... different." Swayaah digs her claws into a tree truck to get some traction as she climbs a steep hill. "Then I thought he died, but turns out he was prisoner in a vampire lord's castle."
"By the time he was freed, I wasn't ready..." She hesitates as Fae hands her a tool. "Don't know how my parents did it."
Aldonza’s expression softens as she listens to Swayaah’s tale, but then her brow creases at the end.
”Did what?”, she asks. ”Was your father held prisoner back then?”
|
|
You make an easy trek through the Mwngi Highlands. Keeping your eyes peeled Yakuthiel notices a stone obelisk overlooking a dry ravine here. Statues of armored humanoids with snake heads form a perimeter, facing inward.
Meadow surmises that the obelisk as a formal structure reserved for ceremonial or royal ritual. Such structures were often protected with magic.
You find a piece of strangely heavy metal in the obelisk, and pry it free! This is orichalcum.