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Galvaka drops to the ground as the freezing blast of shadow explodes outward. There is a glint of admiration of the explosion before the ache reminds her of the immediate battle. Her blade in hand surging with power she tells Ashun, "oh I love this! I'll try it out right now!"
She runs to the edge of the swamp before cutting between dimensions to teleport right behind the shadow spitting drake. With a pair of swings she tries to cut it out of the air.
Her first swing is completely off as she immediately swings out of the teleport at the wrong spot, but with another frantic blow she finds a better strike.
The blue drake watches the approach of the goblin warily, waiting to see how she handles the swampy terrain. And is a bit surprised when the goblin simply vanishes.
The surprise is intensified - briefly - as Galvaka cuts the mildly injured shadow drake into separate pieces with her double-magically enhanced blade.
Konbu deals with the shadow damage stoically and hurries over to help Bitty, landing a solid hit on the slippery drake.
The shadow drake takes itself and its meager one hit point and flees to the East with all the speed that it can muster.
"Oh, I am doing just fine," Rain replies cheerfully. "My mission did not start well. The voyage here was delayed for a storm. When I arrived, I found that the rooms in Cassomir were quite a bit more expensive than I had expected. But nothing I couldn't handle. I also found that most of my things disappeared during the night. But I kept my notebook. So it was almost a week before I even made it into the swamp. My guide didn't show up either. But I went anyway. I am a Pathfinder. I will accomplish my assignment with what I have available. Even if it is just my own hands."
"I came across some of the Iruxi in the swamp later that day and they brought me here. It turns out that the ruins that I was looking for are just over there about a two hour walk." Rain points to the north. "So I started investigating them as instructed. It has been slow going, but I think I am getting the hang of it."
"Why would the deans be worried about me? It was a two week mission. The trip here only took one week. And the Iruxi assure me that I have been here for less than half a moon since I arrived."
About this time, you see Kazuuk approaching. "The attackers have been defeated. I am glad to see that you have fared well. Come, it is getting late and we should go to dinner."
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Galvaka waves her weapon in the air threateningly at the drake flees, but she doesn't attempt to chase it down or anything other than make sure it knows not to come back.
After Looking over some of her own burns Galvaka responds to Ashun, "a bit of frostbite, but only the frost and not the bite. Just a little bit. A few days of rest would heal it but bandage magic would fix it much faster."
She bobs her head with a display of understanding toward Rain's story and she notes, "you did very well. Especially without stuff and by yourself." She does attempt a to take an quick aside with Rain although doesn't lower her volume in any noticeable way, "although I'll need to give you times for next time. There are a lot of people who want your stuff, need your stuff, and both of those things. Don't worry, I can help there!"
She stands with a bit of pride as she offers her knowledge, but pauses herself as Rain speaks of the time table. "I think there might be some talking that needs to happen because I think the captains that sent us were waiting for a report for days before we even got on the boat. That boat ride wasn't short, it was too long to just swim across." Galvaka taps her foot with concentration as she tries to solve this enigma. "Maybe the moon changes slower here? Half a moon might got a longer way than back in Absalom or back home."
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Softly nods to Rain, now relivied
"Either way, it is good to see that you are well. May us meet with Kazuuk and Chief Thakik for dinner after I bandage everyone's wounds?"
He turns to Galvaka
"I do have a quick fix if you are interested."
And beckons to Bea, taking a small tube flask with a thick grayish-brown paste at the bottom out of his medical supplies. The cauldron-carrying iguana waddles to the changeling, which promptly submerges the vial in the cauldron to fill it with the translucent clear light blue water, creating a fizz that fills the glass and turns into a red to green hue.
"It is supposed to taste like strawberry, I am sorry if you are not a fan of the fruit." and extends the elixir of life to the goblin lady with a polite smile.
"Now, if I may..."
He starts unrolling large pieces of bandages and applying paste on them, going to help his small blue friend.
Galvaka taps her foot with concentration as she tries to solve this enigma. "Maybe the moon changes slower here? Half a moon might got a longer way than back in Absalom or back home."
Overhearing the tail of this conversation, Kazuuk says simply, "We have so far been unable to convince Rain that a week and a moon are two different lengths of time."
“Do these sort of attacks happen often?”
"Yes, and no. We are often attacked by swamp creatures - such as the frogs that you met earlier. However, shadow drakes are not one of the enemies that we normally battle, though they are not unheard of either. But usually no more than a couple approach at a time - and usually not this aggressively. The attack seemed more like an invasion rather than their normal raid for food. Perhaps the Chief has more news."
Kazuuk leads you back to town and to one of the larger buildings. There you find Chief Thakik and several other Iruxi sitting down to an evening meal. They bring you to one of the tables and offer you frog leg soup or a dish made of nuts and sweet berries. They also have a bowl of dried leaves and swamp bark for Rain, which indicates that special diet needs can also be acommodated within reason.
Chief Thakik comes and speaks to you. "I see you have found Rain. That is good."
"There is a bit of a difficulty. Some scouts have returned and reported that these drakes came from the ruins that Rain has been exploring. I fear that something has been disturbed there. We are not experts on ruins. Rain, do you know of what would be stirring up the dangers that may be living in those ruins?"
Rain looks both confused and abashed. "I do not know of anything dangerous in the ruins. But I will certainly go and find out. I would not want to be the cause of danger coming to your village because of my explorations." He turns to the rest of you. "You are all Pathfinders too, right? You will help me finish exploring the ruins to make sure there is nothing dangerous threatening the village, yes? We should leave immediately."
Chief Thakik interrupts. "In the morning will be fine. It is not good to go adventuring without rest. We can hold the borders of the village for one night at the very least."
Rain nods in acquiescence. "First thing in the morning then."
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Ashun gladly partakes in eating, offering bits to Bea if allowed and/or not frowned up.
"Pardon my manners since it is the first time I am in such surroundings, but if I may, from what I was told in Cassomir about the iruxi, I got the impression that you were unsociable, dangerous and inhospitable. But I am quite pleased with having met you, precisely the opposite in fact."
The changeling gives a polite and gentle nod to Thakik.
"I am very grateful for having had such an amazing hostess, Chief Thakik."
And fter a bit of small talk, he goes back to the topic of the ruins, to both Rain and the iruxis (iruxi plural?)
"Would you mind telling us what any of you know about the ruins? What might we need to prepare for?"
"from what I was told in Cassomir about the iruxi, I got the impression that you were unsociable, dangerous and inhospitable. But I am quite pleased with having met you, precisely the opposite in fact."
Kazuuk grins a bit. "The people of Cassomir would likely think that. In our defense, we generally find them to be entitled, nefarious, and dangerous. Most of the ones who come into the swamp from Cassomir are wanting to take as many of nature's resources as they can get their hands on with no regard to the future, are looking for a place to hide from punishment of the law, or are trying to move stolen, illegal, or dangerous items. We don't take kindly to any such activities."
"Would you mind telling us what any of you know about the ruins? What might we need to prepare for?"
Rain in Cloudy Day excitedly starts talking. "I have found that these are ancient Azlanti ruins. I recognize the language even though I can't read it. All of the buildings have mostly sunk into the swamp, so to explore them we have to go underground. I have a magical torch that I borrowed from the Iruxi."
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"Good food!" Galvaka's compliment is succient as she devours the meal before her.
Not dropping her smile, Galvaka nods in agreement as she regards Kazzuk's appraisal of the people of Cassomir. "Yep! I only talked with them a bit, but that seems right! You have good people sense."
"I know less about ancient ruins though. It is good you can recognize the writing Rain. Since we are here now I say we will absolutely go with you to see if we can learn everything that is in there."
Rain is at least accurate in his time estimation of the trip to the ruins. You arrive there a couple of hours after leaving the village. Rain shows you a couple of the small buildings that he uncovered and began investigating. None of them are more than a single room.
But as you search the area a bit more, you find that there is a stone platform sitting at a crazy angle and sticking up out of the muck of the swamp. Under this platform you find a stone staircase leading downwards. It looks like this staircase was obscured by swamp foliage for years, but recently has been disturbed by several creatures going through and is now quite visible.
"Huh. This is new," Rain comments. "Or rather, really old. But I haven't noticed it here before."
The stone stairs look like they were once polished stone of some white variety. Currently they are a dingy brownish grey color from the swamp muck that covers them. Still, they are sturdy enough and still have plenty of texture for you to keep your footing on easily. At the bottom of the stairs there is a rather large chamber made of that same stone. You are on the lower section of it, and there is a raised platform on the northern half of the room. Two hallways lead away from the room - one to the north and one to the west. There is also a sealed stone doorway leading east. And finally, there is a large crack in the wall directly ahead. It leads to what looks like a natural cavern.
All of this, you can barely see in the dim light from the everburning torch that Rain is holding up. There is no natural lighting down in this area. "Be careful everyone. And maybe don't split up. Especially if you don't have any light."
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Branch uses his wayfinder to provide a better light source.
As the group goes through the ruins, he will be checking for magical energy.
Looking around, he says “I prefer worked stone passages. Shall we try the one going west first?”
He doesn’t have a strong opinion on the matter, he would agree with any of the three obvious exits.
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"Could be, but not with the ice spit. You can dig holes with ice." Galvaka contemplates this as she stares into the ruins. "Not unless they made ice shovels."
Skulking around the corners, knife ready, Galvaka steps into the room taking cover behind the stairs and letting her vision just pass over the room as her mind wanders. "Must search all corners, but it sounds good if you want to go down stone passage. I don't care, but it seems good to start with pleasant corners and work our way to less pleasant corners."
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"While I sure do hope so, Konbu-san, because then we would be able to deal them down here, I would also hope not because I do not want to encounter them once more."
The witch takes then a look towards the tunnels, and end up agreeing with Branch.
"Perhaps starting with the most intact passage is the best option to grow accustomed to this place."
Ashun then will ask Bea to keep their senses... sensing, for any extra creatures other than us, since Bea has tremorsense today.
You make your way cautiously into the chamber. Branch and Ashun check the area for magic. Konbu keeps watch for enemies. Rain looks at the floor and walls in awe. And the rest of you try to stay quiet and unnoticed.
Unnoticed doesn't last long. Two piles of mud shape themselves into something that resembles a humanoid form and bellow a territorial challenge in Terran.
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"Use fire?!" Galvaka calls out with glee as she leaps from her hiding spot. Not waiting a smallest moment for confirmation, she cackles while conjuring and launching a ball of fire across the room toward the elementals.
Delighted with her throw, Galvaka ignites her weapon like a torch. "I can makes lots of fire!"
The blue elemental hollers unintelligibly. It also looks rather cooked after that fire blast.
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Bun's ears stand on end as he sees the shambling mud things walk out of the cave. He immediately pulls his weapon off his back, takes aim at Red and shoots it.
"" the sound of the shot reverberates within the closed space as his shot drills Red center-mass.
He hops over to hide behind Ashun and reloads (Covered Reload) before shooting Red again.
"" Unfortunately his second shot just misses.
Working as a team by splitting up, the blue mud creature moves over to Branch and attacks.
Then grabs a hold of the rather injured shoony.
Red moves forward a bit to get himself into proper position - which also happens to get him right where Bitty wants him. Bitty's attack gets tangled up in a mud glob though. Red blasts a jet of mud across Bitty and Galvaka.
Spew Mud: 20 foot line. Basic Reflex DC 18. -10 foot speed on critical fail.
Rain starts chanting some encouragement and moves to a bit safer of a location. He also tries to remember anything that he knows about these creatures.
He doesn't remember anything in particular that Branch didn't mention.
Bun gets in one solid hit on red, quickly reloads while hiding behind Ashun, then fires again.
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Seeing the puppy getting a hug, with his left hand he draws a glyph and touches his shoulder, marking a shield tattoo on Branch's arms and on the palms of the mud wench.
And with his right hand, he gently touches Konbu, giving them a boost of determination, before turning to the sludge in a stern tone,
"I do suggest you let go of my friend."
In a quick burst of spellcasting, Ashun protects one ally and empowers another.
The dehydrated, mud creature doesn't move quickly enough and gets blasted directly from Konbu's damage boosted wand. It collapses in a cascade of dried and frozen bits of mud.
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Galvaka leaps to join Bitty in the heart of combat, but she is stares angrily at the ground as it gives and shifts around the elemental. She struggles to move through the difficult terrain as her speed dramatically drops off.
Taking a swing at the mud she declares, "why does the swamp have so much mud and water that makes it so hard to move! There isn't mud this way though!"
Once more cutting through dimensions, Galvaka vanishes into a rip in reality to only appear behind the elemental as she swings at it with her flaming weapon.
The red glob of animated mud somehow manages to look a bit startled as it gets suddenly hit from behind. Then as it turns to face the new attacker, it gets hit by a flying rock. It manages to pull itself back together, but it is looking a bit ragged.
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"Chirrrp!" Called by Bitty, Egg rushes in and attempts to bite!
◈ Stride
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Then as a free action, he regrets his life choices. These creatures taste terrible!
Taking advantage of the distraction, Bitty skewers the mud creature. Egg chomps down on the mud as it dissolves and starts looking around for some water to wash it out with.
Looking around this room you find that there were originally three passageways built that lead from this room. The one to the north is blocked with fallen debris, and the one to the east has a stone doorway that is completely and permanently stuck shut. The passage to the west is still passable, and there is an opening to the caverns that the mud creatures came from.
Rain listens carefully to the sounds of the area. "I don't hear anything moving around. It all seems pretty quiet. It is still fairly early in the afternoon." He goes and looks at some of the intricate designs carved into the wall. "No need to hurry, really."
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After Rain assures that they might have some time, Ashun opens his medical bag and (if Galvaka allows) starts tending to the magus' wounds.
Bits of healing salve made from herbs to cover the bruises and tears, then covering it all with the bandages to better protect the area.
He does look quite curious about the writings on the wall, perhaps they have some meaning? But right now he's busy.
When the medic is done with Galvaka, he turns to Branch (if they allow) to do the same, taking a bit of extra care with their fur. The ointment might get sticky and pull out some fur when removing the dressing if not careful.
During the procedure, he looks to Bun with a gentle smile
"It is a very handy skill to have, specially when there is some small downtime between fights. But worry not, it is something I like doing, so as long as I am around, I will gladly tend your and our friend's injuries.", ending with a small head bow to him.
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Branch says “It was only after an expedition into Lastwall that I became interested in such things. I had a bad scare where I thought that I was infected by an undead…” His voice trails off and then he pauses leaving the details to your imagination.
“Although I am not the most skilled at it, since joining the Pathfinder Society I have found many cases where the medical training has been useful.”
He watches as Ashun treats Galvaka and then his own wounds.
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"Thank you! The mess wasn't super bad, but it hurt a lot when it hit. I thought mud was supposes to be soft." Galvaka refocuses as she inspects the dirt and draws spiraling patterns within it.
"Not good at medicine." Galvaka says as she readies herself. "It takes so long and you can't just stop in the middle to take a break."
Looking to the directions she suggestions, "if we want to stay in the ruins-ruins we should head that doorway. That way we can deal with the tiled ground first." She gestures toward the doorway to the west before just looking around, "still I don't mind any direction since we will probably need to explore it all so we can report it all."
Rain nods in agreement with Galvaka. "Staying in the ruins themselves seems like a good idea. At least for now."
As you go through the passage to the west, the light from Rain's everburning torch and Branch's wayfinder light up a long hallway leading north. The walls here are covered in intricate carvings that capture Rain's attention.
A short way up the hallway there is a stone door with a bit of writing in Azlanti next to it. "'Custodian Storage'," Rain translates. "Interesting."
Half way down the hall is another passage that is blocked by fallen debris.
As the group makes their way down the hallway past the collapsed passage, a soft 'click' sounds as Bitty moves forward.