Grimmylow casts a spell, and Sarenrae's ghostly scimitar appears, but flails wildly.
Thorn fires a shot at Yellow, smashing it to bits.
--Round 2
Thorn (43/43)
Buzz (30/30, mounted) / Loudmouth (30/30)
Grimmylow (40/40, bless 15', scimitar)
Dwarf (-0, shield)
Kzem (14/45, 1d6 persistent acid, -10' speed, shield raised)
Beggar So (41/47, readied attack)
Red Skeleton (-8)
Yellow Skeleton (-15)
Blue Skeleton (-0)
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Buzz grabs two vials in his small hands as he tosses them down at the skeleton. "Burning through them quick!"
HP 30/30 |
AC 20
Hero Point 0/3
Infused Alchemical Items 7/7
1x Lesser Acid Flask 0/2
1x Lesser Alchemist's Fire (Signature Item) 1/3
1x Lesser Blight Bomb (Signature Item) 4/6
1x Minor Elixir of Life 2/2
1x Skunk Bomb 2/2
1x Lesser Ghost Charge 2/2
Loudmouth
HP 30/30
AC 17
Buzz hits the skeleton with two bombs.
"MY BABIES!" the dwarf necromancer wails. "You'll pay for this."
He weaves a spell in the air, and a barrage of force speeds towards Kzem.
--Round 2
Kzem (7/45, 1d6 persistent acid, -10' speed)
Beggar So (41/47)
Red Skeleton (-8)
Yellow Skeleton (-15)
Blue Skeleton (-4)
--Round 3
Thorn (43/43)
Buzz (30/30, mounted) / Loudmouth (30/30)
Grimmylow (40/40, bless 15', scimitar)
Dwarf (-0, shield)
Beggar So moves up to the door, pokes the dwarf with his staff twice and moves back out of reach.
Kzem's hurt bad and he's also a little too far away for Grimmylow to be able to help him so the goblin gets into the middle of the action, letting the ings of Sarenrae wash over all of his companions before focusing her healing balm on Kzem.
"Your babies were ugly! Just like their mommy!" Grimmylow taunts the dwarf then cackles at his own joke.
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Buzz lands Loudmouth near the doorway as he tosses a pair of poison and fire bombs inside the structure.
HP 30/30 |
AC 20
Hero Point 0/3
Infused Alchemical Items 7/7
1x Lesser Acid Flask 0/2
1x Lesser Alchemist's Fire (Signature Item) 0/3
1x Lesser Blight Bomb (Signature Item) 3/6
1x Minor Elixir of Life 2/2
1x Skunk Bomb 2/2
1x Lesser Ghost Charge 2/2
Loudmouth
HP 30/30
AC 17
Grimmylow heals Kzem.
Beggar So walks up to the door, bonks the dwarf on the head, and backs off. The dwarf's shield takes some of the damage, and then dissipates.
Kzem appears on both sides of the dwarf, and hits with his shield boss.
vs DC 15
Thorn fires his gun into the crowd, and hits just the dwarf.
Buzz's poison bombs lands, covering the dwarf with poison.
The dwarf wishes that he was better versed in spells, specifically, lightning bolt, but a ring on his hand flashes with power as he drains his arcane bond to re-Cast his acid grip spell, this time against Thorn.
plus 1d6 persistent acid plus -10' speed plus push
Then, he runs into a corner and hopes the meanies go away.
At least his skin no longer burns.
--Round 3
Kzem (36/45, 1d6 persistent acid, -10' speed)
Beggar So (41/47)
Red Skeleton (-8)
Yellow Skeleton (-15)
Blue Skeleton (-4)
--Round 4
Thorn (43/43, Reflex save first)
Buzz (30/30, mounted) / Loudmouth (30/30)
Grimmylow (40/40, bless 15', scimitar)
Dwarf (-29, shield used, 2d4 persistent poison)
Beggar So runs into the room and smacks the dwarf twice with his staff.
Beggar So strides up and bonks the dwarf.
Thorn fires, but misses.
--Round 3
Kzem (36/45, 1d6 persistent acid, -10' speed)
Beggar So (41/47)
Red Skeleton (-8)
Yellow Skeleton (-15)
Blue Skeleton (-4)
--Round 4
Thorn (43/43, Reflex save)
Buzz (30/30, mounted) / Loudmouth (30/30)
Grimmylow (40/40, bless 15', scimitar)
Dwarf (-38, shield used, 2d4 persistent poison)
So many things to do!
Grimmylow follows the fighting into the little keep.
Then, he concentrates on the Blessings of Sarenrae.
Then! He flings his force scimitar at the dwarf.
Kzem pins the dwarf into the corner, and crushes him until he stops fighting back.
"I will rise again," the dwarf whispers, with his last breath, ominously.
--End of Combat!
The dwarf uses this space for experiments in alchemy and necromancy, working (so far unsuccessfully) to distill necrotic energies into liquid form. The pentagram and a fervent faith in Asmodeus are used to summon creatures like hell hounds and brimstone rats that the party has been seeing.
A small box contains a brittle piece of parchment that names the bearer as the owner of “Maunder Castle, Maunder Bridge, and all appurtenances thereto.” Despite the sad state of the castle, this deed could present some opportunities to take ownership of the castle. The box also has a silver signet ring with a large ruby worth 50 gp; the ring’s band is inscribed with the words “Lord Maunder.”
Most of the materials on the table are notes about necromancy. Atop
all these notes, only one piece doesn’t bear the same handwriting: an unsigned note stating that the Leadbuster Lads are “stepping into business they would be smart to avoid” by co-opting local monsters that
rightfully owe allegiance to the "Mother of Monsters."
Inside the fountain, the heroes find a single metal climbing bolt that has remained unrusted even after years.
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Not wanting to use up his entire storage of bombs he tosses in a couple more stingers for good measure.
HP 30/30 |
AC 20
Hero Point 0/3
Infused Alchemical Items 7/7
1x Lesser Acid Flask 0/2
1x Lesser Alchemist's Fire (Signature Item) 0/3
1x Lesser Blight Bomb (Signature Item) 3/6
1x Minor Elixir of Life 2/2
1x Skunk Bomb 2/2
1x Lesser Ghost Charge 2/2
Loudmouth
HP 30/30
AC 17
Grimmylow is so disturbed by the altar to Asmodeus that he begins praying and scrubbing and trying to figure out how to get rid of it instead of investigating any of the loot.
He goes for about a minute or two before looking around grimly. "I think we all agree. There's no other choice. We're going to have to burn the entire place."
He starts to pile up all the flammable and inflammable materials he can get his hands on to make a pile.
"Ok...ok...but I think you guys are ignoring how nice this place would look if it was on fire," Grimmylow says, scuffing his toe on the floor then rubbing vigorously with the sole of his boot.
He gives up after a time and gives the unholy altar a hand gesture that Sarenrae would NOT approve of before going outside.
Grimmylow, Kzem, and Thorn argue about the best way to cleanse the castle of evil, while Grimmylow and Buzz argue about the difference between flammable and inflammable, and then Grimmylow and Beggar So argue about the appropriate way to deliver a rude hand gesture to an inanimate object. Sick of arguing, the group eventually sends Grimmylow off on a quest to find a priestess of Sarenrae, who everyone agrees will mediate all the ongoing debates justly.
The Dawnflower Library is located at the western edge of Otari, headed by priestess Vandy Banderdash. When Grimmylow enters the airy temple, the front doors swing open directly into the temple’s central, domed area built in the Qadiran style. Past a small desk, inflammable bookshelves fill the space, leaving several feet between their tops and the flammable dome’s apex. Stained glass windows in the dome depict the Dawnflower healing the wounded and illuminating dark, monster-filled caverns. The light from the morning sun causes these depictions to serenely glow, warmly illuminating much of the library below.
A thin, blond halfling woman emerges from behind the desk, smiling widely. Her boots click softly as she crosses the marble floor. “Hello, hello!” she chirps. “I’m so glad you came! I’m Vandy Banderdash, the head librarian and priestess of Sarenrae. Please, come with me to my office. I have something very interesting to show you!”
Vandy leads the heroes through the library and up some stairs to a cramped set of quarters in the temple’s eastern minaret. The halfling tries to make the heroes comfortable, offering them lemon-flavored cookies and a spicy blend of tea from Qadira. After a few minutes of small talk, Vandy gets down to business. She retrieves a blue leather-bound ledger from a personal bookcase to show the heroes.
Vandy explains the history of the book. Over the past several months, someone - or something - has been recruiting like-minded monsters and fellow outcasts, guiding them toward an area called "the Scar" by promising them slaughter and mayhem. All of this activity didn’t go unnoticed by the local church of Sarenrae, which put out a call to its faithful, looking for anyone to investigate this sudden proliferation of monsters.
A meticulous human champion of the Dawnflower named Thida Aubade answered, bringing with her a squire and an acolyte - the halfling Billard Truewood and the dwarf Vuzi Nerren. Thida and her cohorts scoured the area while the champion kept detailed notes, always submitting a copy to Otari’s church. Eventually, they discovered the illusion-cloaked entrance to "the Scar" and readied themselves to attack the cult. Unfortunately, they never made it back.
Recently, Vandy Banderdash has rediscovered the copies of Thida’s notebooks. The ledger is a copy of the champion Thida Aubade’s notes on the investigation of the Lamashtan cult and provides an account of the group’s interrogation of a captured kobold cultist. Driven to repent by Thida’s admonishments, the cultist details the location of their lair, and warns Thida’s group about the terrifying illusions that cloak the area, saying “only those blessed with three-eyed sight can pass safely.” The kobold also mentions the “Test of the Five Beasts,” and on a later page, Thida notes that she discovered the “Laws of the Five Beasts” in an obscure religious text, copying them in their entirety.
The notebook includes a description of a rare magic item owned by Billard. Retrieving this charm, known as a sun wheel, would be a great boon to the local church, as would discovering the final fate of Thida and her friends. Because they never made it back, Vandy believes that the Lamashtans have likely kept the group’s belongings as trophies, including the sun wheel, even though Sarenrae probably wouldn’t allow them to use it.
"You don't seem like ..." Vandy begins, pausing diplomatically. "... you're doing much of importance." Her eyeballs roll so far back in her head that they almost fall off and roll around on the ground.
"Certainly, the energy you spend on these trifling arguments seems like they would be put to better use ... elsewhere. Would you go into the hinterlands to find the Scar, take down the cultists, and retrieve anything owned by Thida Aubade, Billard Truewood, and Vuzi Nerren, keeping an eye out for the sun wheel? It's a copper disc emblazoned with a stylized image of the sun? You are welcome to keep anything else you find, and in return, I will take a small contingent of acolytes to clean out your castle, chisel off the pentagram, and cleanse the evil bodies with a purifying flame?"
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Thorn almost burts yelling "I would love to find that scar of yours and cleanse it. Days after days of chatting, 'we should burn the castle', 'we should buy plush beds for each and every oen of us', 'we need to first fix the roof'. We almost decided to make a goblin sacriface to cleanse it before you came. So yes any job would be great"
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"I don't think Goblin sacrifice is off the table quite yet, Thorn. Also, I refuse to budge on the feather beds"
His voice trails off, an obvious attempt to deescalate his rising emotions on the subjects at hand.
"Those beds wont pay for themselves, and it seems like this is a good way to increase the coffers a bit, all while doing a kind public service. It seems like enough of an overlap to make it worth it."
As soon as it becomes evident that Head Librarian Vanderbash has something important, Grimmylow runs off to gather the whole group.
His eyes grow wider and wider as she explains and he half forgets to gnaw on the spicy pig's foot that he absently rummaged out of his bag when she began talking.
"Don't worry, we'll punish these heretics for their blasphemies and return the sacred relics to you!" he says, forgetting to swallow before talking so a few pieces of pork fly out.
"Sorry! I mean, we'll offer them the chance to repent and embrace Sarenrae's warm forgiveness THEN punish these heretics for their blasphemies and return the sacred relics to you," he corrects.
"I don't remember any talk about a goblin sacrifice," Grimmylow says thoughtfully to his companions when they leave the office.
From Thida Aubade’s notes, the heroes should know that they can reach the Scar by traveling only a few hours away from Otari. When the heroes set out from Otari, Thida’s notes help guide them through the hinterlands.
Traveling north by northeast from the town, the heroes can see the Kortos Mounts in the distance as the land begins to rise slightly.
"Agreed! Lead on my buzzing friend!"
Thorn easily leads the group through the forest, and Buzz and Beggar So point them up onto a ridge. From the ridge, the heroes can see some rough terrain ahead, but they're certain of the way.
A few minutes after they arrive, a small warband of orcs, looking pretty tired and ragged, climb up the same ridge, apparently with the same goal. They look like they've been searching for something since early morning, and are very irritated.
Grimmylow has been relatively quiet as they've moved through the forest, only occasionally humming to himself or singing out some lyrics. It seems he's may be writing a new hymn to Sarenrae.
"Wow, that's impressive," he says when he realizes they've stopped and looks up at the landscape displayed from the top of the ridge.
When the orcs arrive, he waves.
"Hello, friends! Do you know about the purifying flames of Sarenrae's love? Would you like to?
"Look, you look like you're looking for something. We're looking for something, too. What're you looking for? Maybe we already saw it or we're looking for the same thing. Then, we could tell you where we saw it or we could all look together."
The orcs look a little suspicious, but they're not attacking immediately, so ...
"We like the idea of burning things," the orc commander states. "Do you, too, seek Mwibah? We heard rumors of Mwibah’s growing community on the Isle of Erran, and come to pledge our loyalty to death and destruction."
They respect strength, and will defer to the strongest.
Grimmylow studies the orcs and the shape they're in for a few moments then scowls and smacks his forehead.
"I'm so sorry! Where are my manners? Grandaunt Farlackle always told me 'Grimmybob (she never could remember my name) Grimmybob, don't you forget, when you're out in the wilds and you run into somebody else, it's only polite that you 'rassle' them. Not to really hurt 'em, you know, but just to get to know each other," Grimmylow says, dropping the wheezing accent he'd taken on as he unbuckles his belt and drops his swords.
"So, lets get to rasslin'!" he declares. "One pin wins!"
He ducks his head and rushes the leader.
"Let me, little Green friend. Beggar So confronts the orc, drops into a fighting stance and easily pins the larger creature.
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"No! Say it ain't so, So!" Grimmylow says as the human adeptly ruins his plan.
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Grimmylow challenges the orc commander, who greedily accepts. Even though it's considered mildly dishonorable to crush mediocre opponents, their long, fruitless search has led him to believe that a quick win would be necessary to maintain the morale of his crew.
"Haw, haw, aren't you cute," he sneers at Grimmylow, who runs up and begins hugging his leg. "What the-"
The orc commander bends down to pick Grimmylow up and toss him in the air like a rag doll, but somehow, Grimmylow's teeth catches on the orc's boot, causing him to stumble, and with his head between his legs, rolls forward. Grimmylow falls backwards, and ends up sitting on the orc commander's chest - a clear pin!
Heroically, Grimmylow jumps off the orc commander, claiming that the pin didn't count.
The orc subordinates echo Grimmylow's confession, cheering their commander to get up and fight some more - but the orc commander has enough self-respect remaining to know when he has been bested, even if accidentally.
The orc subordinates refuse to concede. They demand a recount. They start moving forward threateningly - if their commander is too weak to represent the orcs, they are allowed, nay, obliged to challenge his leadership.
In a flash, Beggar So has moved forward, engaging all four orcs. Their rasslin' is no match for the human's, and one is tripped, another is shoved on top of the first, a third is picked up and piled on top of the first two, and then the last is grappled and used to pin all four of the orcs, simultaneously.
The orc sandwich flails about helplessly as the orc commander sighs and refuses Grimmylow's act of generosity. He concedes, as honor demands, and he relays all the tales of the Scar's location, including some information about some "nightmare terrain" to the north that is haunted.
With the information that the orcs provide, the heroes can pinpoint exactly where the Scar should be.
The orc commander will concede a tribute worth 44.2 gp.
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The heroes find themselves standing at the bottom of a 40-foot tall ridge that stretches several hundred feet in either direction. With the open hinterlands at their back, the heroes seem to have no way to move forward at first. However, consulting Thida’s notes, the heroes realize that the champion was convinced that the Lamashtan cult laired somewhere underground in this vicinity.
Buzz, Grimmylow, and Thorn all spot an artificial curtain of moss that obscures the faint outline of a large door. The stone door has no obvious handle or other method of opening it. However, there’s a panel composed of a five-by-five grid of raised squares set into the wall beside the door. A number of colored ridges delineate odd-shaped regions of the squares within the grid.
A bit of script carved into the stone above the grid reads, “Arrange the Five Beasts.”
The heroes recall the “Laws of the Five Beasts” in Thida’s research:
• Only one Beast shall be placed in each Pen.
• No Beast wishes to see another Beast by looking directly North or directly East.
• Two Beasts shall not be next to one another, lest they come to blows.
Beggar So has a look at the puzzle and enters a pattern.
"It was nice meeting you! Think about Sarenrae," Grimmylow says vaguely to the orcs as the two groups separate.
"Hey, a door!" he declares when he spots the cleverly hidden portal.
"Of course I have some rat!" he replies to Thorn, pulling out a shapeless piece of meat with some fur still on it.
He rummages around in his bag. "Rabbit...rabbit...no rabbit but I do have some hossenpfeffer."
With a snack underway, he gets to work on the riddle.
But Beggar So has already arranged the beasts.
Oh, nice job!"
When the heroes push in the correct squares, the stone door slowly grinds open. The corridor inside is 10 feet wide, and the ceilings are 20 feet high. Sporadic torches placed in sconces on the walls provide dim light for the inhabitants.
"Look, these torches need to be replaced every so often. So this place is occupied... The soot on the walls. Looks like someone set large fires here"
Beggar So pulls the staff off his back and pulls a shuriken from his robe.
Grimmylow has no trouble with the lack of light due to his superior goblin eyes.
[b]"And we missed it?!" he cries out when So points out that large fires have been burned here recently.
He mopes a bit as he searches around the place, ready with a spell at a moment's notice.