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She points down the docks at another crate. It wasn't the closest, but it did have a poetic relevance.
"Another crate of vegetable down that way! We might spare the crate of incense for last if these are rotten too, or we might give ourselves relief from this blighted smell now and hope for the best."
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Wysteria's head snaps back and she blinks repeatedly at the intense miasma wafting from the crate. "Well, the stronger the scent, the fresher the herbs, so these are still quite effective, I think. You may wish to grab a few for the next batch of your salve, Zekki," she suggests.
Taking the chance to step away from the fragrant foliage, Wysteria joins Clarence near the vegetables, again taking the opportunity to examine the crate a bit before it gets cracked open.
Satisfied that the herbs are really just herbs and haven't been trapped or tampered with, the lid is hastily replaced and the group meanders over to the crate that's supposed to contain vegetables. Iskra gives the crate a thorough examination while Zekki investigates with her nose. When it's all said and done, Iskra is certain that this crate hasn't been tampered with and Zekki does indeed detect the faint aroma of vegetation within.
With the crate not being locked, it's easy enough to open. The interior is filled with irregular parcels wrapped in butcher paper and twine. These wrappings are marked with magical sigils, carefully scrawled in red ink. Zekki isn't sure what to make of the sigils, but Rickle and Wysteria both seem to recognize them.
You're certain that the sigils are keeping the contents from activating and may wear off at any moment. Whatever lies within, it’s likely to be dangerous!
The sigils resemble other necromantic sigils you've seen in your studies and you suspect that they're meant as preservation magic, to keep the contents fresh.
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"Trap? No, these are preservation magics, just to keep things fresh... Aren't they" Wysteria frowns, taking a few steps back, and looking from Rickle to the box and back again.
"Ah, just regular magic, nothing harmful," she says, nodding firmly and stepping back to the box. "I'll take a closer look, see?"
Wysteria carefully picks up one of the bundles and unwraps it to confirm that the contents are merely vegetables, holding it up to show the others.
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"I agree with Wysteriaa, I don't see anything. That said if Rickle, is so nervous about it maybe he should open it, and we can back him up if he was right." she adds backing up behind his waving and giving a look to Wysteriaa which might be interpreted as waiting for cues from her, but might also be interpreted as that look you get when you don't remember if you've left your inn room unlocked when you left in the morning.
Though Rickle is certain that the sigils are some manner of trap, Wysteria and Iskra aren't so sure. Iskra suggests that Rickle might investigate further but Wysteria opts to take charge and carefully picks up one of the wrapped bundles. She unwraps it...to find perfectly fresh carrots and sticks of celery within. Looks like the sigils really are just meant for preservation purposes!
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"Well, no, I wouldn't eat it, but all I need is sunlight. And occasionally some fertilizer. A few well-ripened rodents or fish, perhaps," Wysteria says as she smiles at the memory of a delightful rotting trout she had once in Taldor.
"So, I think we can mark this as safe, no? And what was next, incense?"
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"I suppose thats it then. Should we check for poisons or hidden bugs?" She huffs and then looks the the crate at the end of the dock.
"The lazy bums couldn't even get the crate off the pier? Terrible place to be if its trapped or hiding something bigger than listed..." Takes a quick look back at the lizard's crate.
Turning back to the last crate and then to the other mercs with a stern look, "I have a bad feeling about this last one. Aspis wouldn't be paying us this much if they weren't properly paranoid about sabotaged shipments. So far the worst we have found is a small but severe labelling error. One chance left to find a magical spell, alchemical bomb, or hidden enemy of Aspis."
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"Can you put the crate up on the shore, Clarence? But I agree is Iskra. This is a lotta money for some lizards and nice fresh herbs."
Zekki clambers back up to the shore then scampers down to the box marked "Incense." She gingerly sniffs it over, remember the time she got into her auntie's clerical stuff and couldn't smell anything but lavender for over a week.
With only one more obvious crate to check, you make your way over. This wooden chest, despite being closed, has a distinctly sweet, earthy aroma emanating from it that everyone can smell, not just Zekki. A bit uneasy about the crate's location, it's no problem for Clarence and anyone else to gently pick it up and move it onto the shore proper for further inspection.
While the crate isn't locked and doesn't seem to have been tampered with, Iskra and Zekki both notice a fine bit of blue dust sifting out of the crate when you move it as well as hear a rattling sound from within. They're pretty certain that whoever packed this crate did a poor job and that some of the incense within has been crushed in transit. Given that you can easily smell the incense coming from the crate, they suspect that simply opening the crate without taking some precautions might kick up a cloud of incense dust - which would be hazardous to breathe.
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While most of the group is unable to figure out what sort of incense this might be, Zekki is able to separate out the individual parts of the scent in her mind. She realizes that this distinct aroma belongs to incense of reverie, which has mild calming effects when properly burned. A large dose of dust, however, would be much more potent and likely to impair one until they've had a chance to sleep off the effects.
Now that she knows what type of incense is in the box, Zekki knows that properly shielding one's face and holding their breath will be sufficient to peek inside without suffering the effects. When she, or anyone else feeling up for it, does just that and looks inside, they see that the crate is packed with bundles of sticks covered in a sticky blue incense. As suspected, it looks like many of them have been inadvertently crushed in transit. Further inspection of the crate's contents doesn't turn up anything else.
While all of this is going on, some of you also notice that the dock workers are in the process of unloading a large oak barrel. Based on how they grunt and groan, it seems to be quite heavy.
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Holding her breath, Zekki takes a peek inside, careful not to disturb the dust. She closes it back up again gently.
"Well, nothing in there aside from a lot of dust we don't want to inhale. Might want to put a note on it about being careful when opening. Not sure what you would need it for. Oh, hey, what's that?" She points to the barrel before bouncing off in that direction.
The workers set the barrel down on the dock with a heavy *thump* and overhearing Iskra's question, one of them glances your way and nods. "Yeah, last one. Dunno what's in here but whatever it is, it's heavy. Made it a bear to move!"
As the workers move back and leave you to it, Clarence eagerly approaches the barrel, hoping that his true talents will be needed at last. Still, there's no reason to not exercise the same caution you've done with all of the other crates and so Zekki and Iskra also move up to get a better look at the crate. It looks like the barrel should be easy enough to open, but Zekki also notices something odd - by tapping slightly on the lid she discovers that it seems to be under some sort of pressure from within. Not only that, but her nose catches a distinct whiff of oil. This barrel? She's certain there's a mechanical trap at play here.
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While the rest of you ready yourselves for anything, really, Zekki gets to work on tinkering with the strange barrel. It's not easy work but she manages to disarm one mechanism. Then another. And then a third. As she finishes up the third one, she becomes aware that there's something in the barrel...something that squirms. There's little else to do now but see what lies within, though none of you are particularly looking forward to it.
As the lid of the barrel is lifted, the hoops snap and the wooden staves fall away like the petals of a flower. A spring-loaded platform within the barrel launches five oversized rats in all directions; this is bad enough but all five of the rats are wearing harnesses, each with a large and ominous countdown clock reading 01:00!
Three of the rats are quick to react and begin scurrying towards nearby buildings as the crowd on the docks begins to panic and scatter.
It could always be worse, though. The mechanism that sat within the barrel also sports three nozzles, all of which were disabled by Zekki. Oil drips from one of them and a lighting mechanism, now useless, can be seen.
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Orange Rat
Blue Rat
Red Rat
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Iskra
Rickle
Clarence
Zekki
Wysteria
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Green Rat
Yellow Rat
Active Conditions: *tick tick tick*
Everyone may act!
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Less concerned about the rats than the apparent explosives, Rickle sets off after the one running along the docks. He's not equipped to disable the bomb, but disabling the rat and throwing it in the water is a solid option.
He brings his dogslicer down.
Hoping that got its attention, he then brings his shield up.
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"Wonderful, just amazing and they are all in one place too!" she says with an insincere huff.
Chasing after rodents is not what she had in mind in the slightest and feels very beneath her, but she doesn't really have a choice. As a consolation at least one of these pests ran next to here . She flairs her blades in challenge before lunging at the rat in a series of Feints and Strikes.
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Letting the shield next to Zekki drop as she gasps in surprise, Wysteria looks alarmed at the flood of rats pouring out of the crate. Grimacing for just an instant, she begins to intone mystic syllables as a blob of water rises out of the harbour and forms into a winged creature next to the green rodent.
As the creature takes form, Wysteria orders it to stun the rat and soak it thoroughly, hopefully dampening any explosion that might happen...
Though startled by the development, everyone leaps into action. Zekki flings a dart, blunt end first, at Orange and cracks it on the back of the head! It looks pretty bruised up.
Rickle chases after Red and brings his dogslicer down in a slashing motion, cutting into the creature but not felling it - it does look rather bloodied, however. He then raises his shield, ready for anything.
Iskra, on the other hand, takes advantage of Yellow's proximity and fakes it out with a feint before taking two real swings with her shortsword. The first swing connects...
...but the follow-up does not. Clarence steps up and attempts to finish it off but the rat manages to avoid the blow.
Wysteria, thinking fast, conjures up a water mephit next to Green. The mephit slashes at the rat with a soggy, dripping claw before dousing it in water. Green's countdown timer makes a *bzzt* noise and ceases ticking! The rat attempts to defend itself and snaps at the mephit, missing, before scurrying away along the top of the boulder and then scrabbling down the other end. Yellow similarly snaps at Iskra, leaving her with a bite on her leg, before rapidly scurrying away from its attackers.
Orange also continues moving despite having been attacked, heading for one of the nearby buildings. Blue idles in place, having nothing and no one threatening it, while Red tries to take a bite out of Rickle before moving away. Rickle and Wysteria are certain that these rats have been trained to behave in this manner.
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Orange Rat
Blue Rat
Red Rat
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Iskra
Rickle
Clarence
Zekki
Wysteria
>Water Mephit
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Green Rat
Yellow Rat
Active Conditions: *tick tick tick*
Everyone may act!