The Alchemist is seen quickly penning the words coming out of the Man With No Mouth For Words To Come Out Of....
The Prayers have nabbed a few captives from the human town. They are planning on sacrificing them to try to open the Wall of Ghosts and reveal the paradise they say lies beyond. But we Rovers know better! Once we raid the town and slaughter all of the humans, the pain and suffering will make the wall expand and bring paradise to us! Hopefully Mugirou will order the glorious attack soon. We are growing impatient here
Li Jie looks up.
How do you ssspell Mugirou?
The faceless creature gives Lie Jie a blank stare before turning back to Hooli. ”I don’t know the Prayers’ business. Go find one of them and ask. And give me back my crossbow.”
The smiling Nagaji just nods as he takes out a Frost vial bomb. Blue is seen taking out a Bestial Mutagen. They both look at the others.
Have we milked thisss cow dry yet?
Hooli catches the noppera-bo off-guard, shooting it in the chest with the crossbow!
Kwan Tai hefts his hammer menacingly, slamming it into Hooli's victim as he finally returns the terror these fiends have inflicted on his adopted home.
Xiung-Lau positions himself so that he can catch as many of these creatures as possible in a line from his location, and begins chanting in Necril. Shadowy tendrils extend from his mouth along with the words, whipping around in front of him like tentacles, lacerating at the creatures.
Kwan Tai clobbers the noppera-bo that Hooli shot, sending it sprawling against the far wall as he crushes it with his hammer.
Xiung-Lau breathes forth shadowy tendrils at the remaining foes. Two of the creatures resist the spell, but the other begins to bleed from its wounds.
Recovering from their shock at the sudden attack, the monsters ready their spears. They then step up to attack Kwan Tai!
The Nagaji thinks about these strange Alien creatures!
The Alchemist then Quick Bombs the two not in melee with his companions!
The Alchemist looks like he really wants to toss a Bomb, but he decides to Stride into a Flank with Kwai before biting a weirdo!
Kwan Tai joins Hooli's wicked laughter with a snarl, and swings his hammer in a vicious orbit into the pair of noppera-bo.
Xiung-Lau waves his hand and shadows dance try to surround the least-injured looking of the enemies.
Then, almost absently, he waves another hand and a random object flies toward the bleeding enemy.
Li Jie and Hooli team up to take out one of the enemies with their jaws and claws. Kwan Tai crushes another monster's skull with his hammer before shoving the last one away. As it stumbles, Xiung-Lau hurls a chair across the room and slams it into the final foe, finishing it off!
The weapons the noppera-bos have are all mundane. However, you do discover a vial of oil of potency on a shelf next to the door.
Kwan Tai stamps on one of the noppera-bos to make certain, but his eyes are already up. "Did any other hear that?"
Li Jie cautiously investigates any points of egress into their current room...
Fortunately, it seems like the sentries outside the gate took the sounds of combat for mere roughhousing, as they do not appear to be alert or alarmed. The sounds of merrymaking from within the palisade continue unabated.
Li Jie takes out his notes.
The Prayers have nabbed a few captives from the human town. They are planning on sacrificing them to try to open the Wall of Ghosts and reveal the paradise they say lies beyond. But we Rovers know better! Once we raid the town and slaughter all of the humans, the pain and suffering will make the wall expand and bring paradise to us! Hopefully Mugirou will order the glorious attack soon. We are growing impatient here
The Nagaji smiles
Anyone know where thisss Wall of Ghosssts isss? Makesss sssenssse captivesss are there.
"You do not think it the mysterious shroud that pens us within the bounds of our home?"
Li Jie frowns.
That isss a lot of ground to cover.
Rereading his notes, the Alchemist offers
Ssshortest route isss a straight line. How do we find thisss Mugirou?
"The dog will be the issue. It appears we can just walk past the guards and seem to have copied the forms of townspeople, but that dog may be harder to trick."
He glances around at the group. "Should we attempt it then? Hooli, I think, should take lead in talking through this deception, with the rest of us doing our best to keep quiet ... Or perhaps we should continue to scout the periphery before heading inside?"
Hooli takes the lead as you approach the main gates to the lumber camp. The two men appear to be human, and they are conversing quietly with one another. The feral-looking dog with them growls as you get near, and the guards turn their attention to you. "Halt! We have been posted here by the camp's owners. No visitors are allowed."
The guards scowl at the mention of Mugirou. "Bah. I guess you're finally done slacking off in the shack over there, then?" one says disdainfully. "About time you did something useful."
The second one closes his eyes and seems to concentrate. A few moments later, you hear bars being removed from the other side of the heavy double doors, then they are pushed open by two noppera-bos on the far side, granting you access to the camp.
A roaring campfire built from furniture scraps and lengths of timber roars in the middle of the camp's open courtyard. A dome-shaped cage made of branches and thin wooden slats stands just to the south of the fire. The sounds of revelry and the scent of cooking meat come from here, where a gathering of a half-dozen noppera-bos are cooking strips of beef over the fire while betting on the outcome of a fight they’ve just staged in the wooden cage between two giant rats. The rats squeak and hiss as they snap at each other.
The Nagaji hisses silently as they approach the Gate Keepers.
If only we had a key master...
The Alchemist does notice The second one closes his eyes and seems to concentrate. A few moments later, you hear bars being removed from the other side of the heavy double doors, then they are pushed open by two noppera-bos on the far side, granting you access to the camp.
It would ssseem that they have telepathy between them, Yesss. Hope none decide to speak to usss...
Li Jie only winks, as he drinks a Antidote.
Looking at the obvious sighs of enemy control of the camp, the Alchemist keeps his blue eyes and forked tongue active...
Kwan Tai looks at the numbers with some trepidation, but his first thought is of
Six to four. Not insurmountable odds, but not simple. Easier if the rats can be turned against their tormentors... But this is not our mission. Only if the hostages cannot be reclaimed with subtlety should we first isolate their warriors.
Xiung-Lau looks toward the giant rats in the cage. Though I know the spell, I unfortunately did not draw telekinetic hand out from Crawler during my morning preparations.
He says quietly to Li Jie, "If we could release those rats, it would create a disturbance that might be useful. Could your familiar perhaps open their cage, when needed?"
He proceeds along with Hooli, investigating the different areas of the camp as discretely as possible.
The buildings to the west include what looks like an office and a guest house that appears to be of more recent construction than the other structures. It stands out as the only building in the camp that resembles a normal house.
To the east, there is a kitchen and a small dormitory building, as well as a large, long dormitory where the lumber camp's workers must have lived. There is also a large warehouse-like building that stands taller than the camp's fences.
The number of buildings provides many places to roam unseen.
"Precisely the kind of useless illogic I would expect of you Hooli. Still, nothing else about these days follows rationality. Lead the way."
The Nagaji scratches his head, as he follows....
This warehouse-like building stands taller than the fences of the camp. Within, a makeshift wooden cage, apparently crafted from parts scavenged from large saws and other lumber work tools, sits before a haphazard throne made from a large root burl that’s nearly five feet tall.
A faceless noppera-bo in lamellar armor slouches on the throne brooding, while four other noppera-bos pester and mock four prisoners within the cage. You recognize them as some of the workers from Willowshore Stables.
Seeing you, the workers cry out for rescue. The four noppera-bo lackeys silently scamper over to the seated one's side, but he doesn't make any motion to stand up. Instead, he greets you telepathically.
"I suspected the town's heroes might come soon to try to rescue our prisoners. I am Mugirou, but I am not the one who orchestrated violence against your town. Zoudou the Zealous is the one who abducted your fellow townsfolk. She should be the true target of your vengeance."
The Alchemist appears quite reluctant to rely on any response related by this noppera-bo Asshat....
The Nagaji awaits the inevitable discourse that degenerates into dangerous and damaging tirade....
He appears to be grinning.
Kwan Tai casts his gaze laconically over the cages. "Will you release your captives then?"
"I don't enjoy what my underlings are doing, but Zoudou has much influence over them," Mugriou says. "I will offer you a deal. If you can eliminate her and all of her occultists, I promise I will free the prisoners and allow you to leave the camp unharmed."
"The members of our band are split into two factions. Zoudou leads the Prayers, while I lead the Rovers. The Prayers have been sacrificing captives in hopes of opening the Wall of Ghosts and revealing the paradise beyond. We Rovers have been spreading mayhem through the region, believing that doing so will make the wall expand and bring paradise to us.
"But my philosophy was one born of boredom. So far, nothing any of us has done has brought us closer to paraidse, and I'm out of ideas. I'm ready to just pack up camp and move on somewhere else. If you defeat Zoudou, I promise I'll leave your town alone."
Hooli gets the sense that the faceless man may be lying about that last part...
Li Jie frowns. And anyone that has seen a snake frown would recall it ain't good!
"Zoudou and two of her occultists are at the Wall of Ghosts, due west of the lumber camp. She has brought one of the prisoners from your town there as the latest sacrifice in her attempts to open the wall. If you hurry, you may be able to save him!"
Frowning this much on a Nagaji seems to be taking it's toll. At the given directions to halt a fellow townsfolk being sacrificed for nothing, Li Jie tips his imaginary cap and begins to exit stage left...
"The gate guards are some of my Rovers. Just tell them you're working for me and they'll let you in and out without incident."[/i]
"What were you whispering, Li Jie? Hooli's hastiness may be leading us into a trap, but with care it may instead lead to a success in our objective that would otherwise be denied us."