Nixoret's valiant slash makes a deep-cut trencher out of the meat on the festrog's back. The cut though is answered with its own violence, ruptured pustules spraying stinging poison over him and Dawn!
Laszlo's searing flames are not so answered, sealing up the loathsome juices inside the festrogs.
Festrog (Blue) -19 Personal Antithesis
Sajan - Yummy Noodle Bonus
Dawn -8 Yummy Noodle Bonus
Laszlo - Yummy Noodle Bonus
Nixoret - Yummy Noodle Bonus
Festrog (Yellow) -9, (1 Fire)
Festrog (Red) -1
Kalla - Yummy Noodle Bonus
Taking stock of the battlefield, Sajan steps forward and adopts his signature stance to pummel the nearest creature.
Sajan rushes forward, tearing another hunk of flesh out of the festrog with his bare hand, and dousing himself, Nixoret, and Dawn in poison again!
Rising Dawn implores the spirits of Groves and Gardens to help renew this land, patching up her wounds as well as Sajan's, and then she cleanses the festrog in a far more prosaic manner.
The festrogs fling themselves from their little islet on all fours, quickly surrounding Laszlo, but he escapes with only a single nasty gash.
Festrog (Blue) -31 Personal Antithesis
Sajan - Yummy Noodle Bonus (Basic Ref DC 14 vs 3 Poison (and then heal 1))
Dawn -11 Yummy Noodle Bonus, Garden of Healing
Laszlo -7 Yummy Noodle Bonus
Nixoret - Yummy Noodle Bonus (2x Basic Ref DC 14 vs 2 & 3 Poison)
Festrog (Yellow) -9, (1 Fire)
Festrog (Red) -1
Kalla - Yummy Noodle Bonus
Laszlo extracts himself from the pestilent undead and backs up next to Nixoret, and tosses another vial, this one of basic acid. Whistling, he calls out "BRUIT! Harap!" and his mechanical hound moves to bite his target with blunted metal teeth.
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"Get Away From The PUP!" yells the bard who had been slightly dumbstruck by the exploding pustules that showed her companions. Dumbstruck or maybe rather disgusted. Still she was a pathfinder, and sometimes pathfinders needed to be covered in... ugh even was that.
Her words were spoken with enough force it conveyed her magic to her friends, but did not mask her revulsion in the least. Instead of her large sword, she pulled the rope from her hip, spun the sharp dart in a dizzying circle and flung it at the creature fighting the robodog.
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As her dart wizzes by the ear (and maybe into the ear) of the creature, it shoots a look over at the spinner. A spinner's whose rose covered glasses had slipped down to the pertness of her nose. While the pustule-covered corpses may be dead, there are worse things then being so and those worse things lurk in the black pits of Kalla's abyssal eyes.
A wave of pus washed over an unprepared Sajan, an uncharacteristic grunt of pain marks the moment he realizes his attempt at dodging only placed him in the brunt of the explosion.
Doing his best to shake it off, Sajan circles his next target and prepares to dodge another blast.
In a hail of vile vials, toothless chomps, rope darts and hooked fingers, one of the festrogs collapses into a welter of poison!
Sajan -5 (Basic Ref DC 14 vs.
Dawn -11 Garden of Healing
Laszlo -7
Nixoret - Yummy Noodle Bonus (2x Basic Ref DC 14 vs 2 & 3 Poison)
Festrog (Yellow) -9, (1 Fire)
Festrog (Red) -1
Kalla - Yummy Noodle Bonus
Nix, surprised that his enemies explode when hit, did not manage to avoid the poison as it geysered in his direction in response to his hatchet. He was more prepared for the second such incident and avoided the brunt of that emission
After wiping the vile liquid from his eyes, Nix attempts to launch his hatchet at the remaining festrog. He then uses the metal of axe head as a focus point for a bout of electricity from his horn
Electric arc, basic reflex save
The festrog ducks Nixoret's hatchet, only catching a glancing blast from his evocation as it centers on the far-flung axe. Seeing that Nixoret has disarmed himself it bounds forward to take advantage of that momentary weakness! However, even without a blade to fend off the undead's jaws, Nixoret is able to keep ahead of the snapping festrog!
Sajan -5 (Basic Ref DC 14 vs. 3 Poison (Disease))
Dawn -11 Garden of Healing
Laszlo -7
Nixoret -3
Festrog (Red) -5
Kalla - Yummy Noodle Bonus
Kalla spins her rope, slashing with the razor tip into the flesh of the sludge beast with occasional success. "Gore spewing walking poppers are perfect goons for some horrid a!!#*&$. I can just imagine him cackling, All Alone, going 'My pustule Pretties', as he sends them to splatter his enemies with their toxic innards."
Laszlo backs away spitting and wiping at his face. "That is uncalled for. Do you know how hard it is to get vile secretions out of treated leather?" He calls for Bruit to bite again and pulls out a vial in preparation.
Rising Dawn stamps her foot in the muck stirring up the spirits and directing their wrath into the final festrog!
As Dawn finishes drawing forth the poison from your wounds, you become aware of steady yellow eyes watching you. A red iruxi hunter emerges from the undergrowth, sizing you all up carefully. "I am Kazuuk, of Tskikha. You are... deadhunterss?"
Kalla doesn't put up her rope dart, still dripping with puss. "Greetings, Kazuuk. I'm Kalla and these are..." she introduces or lets them do so "Deadhunters neighbors, I'd say, meaning we are hear to find a friend, and will hunt if the deaders decide to come say hi too closely. Do you get many of these things around much?"
"Greetings Kazuuk, I am Sajan. Kalla has the way of it. Are you hunting these creatures?"
Laszlo steps back slowly putting his closest ally (Nixoret) between himself and the iruxi. "I feel it is worth pointing out because there has been some confusion in the past, I am quite alive and there is no need to hunt me. Bruit is also... well not alive persay, but not composed of animated dead flesh and thus also not undead. Oh also my name is Laszlo if that helps with the deciding to hunt or not"
Kazuuk shakes his head, eyes unblinkingly steady. "Only when they get too closse to Tskikha. Often they do not. Now they sseem to too often. Why are you in our lands?"
"We are Pathfinders, in search of a missing fellow. A few weeks ago a leshy should have come through here in search of ruins. By chance, have you seen any explorers pass by recently?"
"Oh! You are looking for Rain in Cloudy Day?" Kazuuk replies with excitement. "We have him at Tskikha; I will show you."
***
Tskikha is another two hours north into the swamp, but with Kazuuk leading the way it seems to pass by very quickly. The enclave is an assemblage of huts and semi-permanent structures built on several pieces of elevated land in the swamplands near a series of ancient stone ruins that rise ominously from the swamp.
"First, you will speak with Chief Thakik," Kazuuk directs you, leading you to a solitary hut a short walk from the larger enclave and closer to the ruins. A pale iruxi ornamented with the bones of various creatures emerges from the hut as you approach, blinking slightly as though she'd been resting. "Greetings, you must be more Pathfinders. It is an honor to meet you. I am Chief Thakik of the Tskikha Enclave, and I am responsible for all who dwell here, including your lost friend, Rain in Cloudy Day."
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Kalla bows, not formally since she has not real idea how, but instead a curved thing that shows deference and respect but while maintaining a chaotic air of anti-authority.
Like a pill bug would.
"Hello, Chief Thakik. I'm Kalla, a pathfinder, like the rest of my friends here." she'll introduce the others if they don't do so themselves. "Is Rain still lost if he was found by the people of Tskikha?"
The iruxi leader's mouth drops open into a relaxed smile. "You wield wordss and wisdom as your friend wieldss fiersse interesst. Perhapss you too should-" Chief Thakik's words are interrupted by a hue and a cry from further south. "Kazuuk? Go and rally the hunterss againsst whatever huntss uss." She turns to you. "Pathfinderss, will you-" "Help! Help! They're coming up out of the water!" Nixoret immediately recognizes the piping tones of Rain in Cloudy Day. Chief Thakik bares her fangs ruefully. "Will you go see what'ss coming out of the water?"
***
"Help! Help!" a little mushroom leshy rushes up, seed pods bulging with ready spores, "Herophilus sapiens. They're hiding in the water and- Nixy?!?!? Mr. Sajan?!" He flings himself onto Nixoret in a squishy embrace. "Why are you- How did you- Who are these-" Rain's reunion is interrupted as the herophilus sapiens make themselves known, rising from the water, pallid flesh is stretched tightly over their starved frame and baring long, sharp teeth. "Ghouls first, questions later!"
Sajan
Dawn
Nixoret
Ghoul (Blue)
Ghoul (Yellow)
Laszlo
Kalla
Ghoul (Red)
Rain in Cloudy Day
Dawn fires a beam of divine energy at a ghoul but it goes wide.
Rushing into battle, Sajan wades into the bog and attempts to pummel a ghoul into submission.
Sajan's swift strikes leave the ghoul senseless!
Sajan
Dawn
Nixoret
Ghoul (Blue) -17, Stunned 3
Ghoul (Yellow)
Laszlo
Kalla
Ghoul (Red)
Rain in Cloudy Day
Nixoret grimaces at the show of affection from the overly touchy Leshy, but quietly feels a heavy weight lift from his shoulders upon seeing that Rain is unharmed. Nix extracts himself from his arms, and jumps in to action moving towards the nearest ghoul to the north and lets loose a crack of lightning at the intruders
One of the ghouls dodges aside like greased lightning before lunging for the kobold, while behind it Nixoret's blast squarely connects with the one Sajan had stunned.
Sajan
Dawn
Nixoret -6, 2x DC 15 Fort Save vs. Paralysis (Incapacitation, Occult) and 1x Fort Save vs. Disease
Ghoul (Blue) -23
Ghoul (Yellow)
Laszlo
Kalla
Ghoul (Red)
Rain in Cloudy Day
Laszlo points toward Nixoret and calls out "Bruit! Véd!" and the mechanical hound bounds through the bog to try and interpose itself between the ghoul and the kobold. Meanwhile, he attempts to capitalize on Sajan's efforts with a bottle of Alchemist's Fire.
"Nice to meet ya, Rain, and all, but your friends here kinda stink like soggy rot feet. We had an uncle, that wasn't really an uncle, that smelled just like this just wasn't as bity." Kalla infuses words with magic, as she pulls her sword and hurries to protect Sajan's flank.
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The last ghoul flings itself bodily up and over the murky water, splashing down into the water next to Kalla in a flurry of fangs and claws, but the brash Boiling Rose is able to keep the undead at bay!
Rain pelts the ghoul attacking Nixoret with spore pods, battering it and leaving it wide open for another attack! "Nixy! According to the second treatise of Dieter Helsnicht the overwhelming hunger-motive of herophilus sapiens often leads them to favor their foreleg!"
Sajan - Inspired
Dawn - Inspired
Nixoret -6, Inspired, 2x DC 15 Fort Save vs. Paralysis (Incapacitation, Occult) and 1x Fort Save vs. Disease
Ghoul (Blue) -29 (1 fire)
Ghoul (Yellow) -7 (Takes 2 Precision from next Strike)
Laszlo - Inspired
Kalla
Ghoul (Red)
Rain in Cloudy Day
Wholly focused on his target, Sajan lays into the ghoul to finish it off.
or
Sajan feints with a left, hooks with a right, and the on-fire ghoul goes down steaming into the murk!
Sajan - Inspired
Dawn - Inspired
Nixoret -6, Inspired, 2x DC 15 Fort Save vs. Paralysis (Incapacitation, Occult) and 1x Fort Save vs. Disease
Ghoul (Blue) -29 (1 fire)
Ghoul (Yellow) -7 (Takes 2 Precision from next Strike)
Laszlo - Inspired
Kalla
Ghoul (Red)
Rain in Cloudy Day
Dawn fires a beam of energy at the ghoul by Nixoret.
Nixoret weathers the ghoul's strikes without any nasty complications, but he loses his composure a bit while fumbling with this esoterica, and it's by luck more than skill that the bite of his hatchet plants itself in the underside of a ghoul's jaw!
Sajan
Dawn
Nixoret -6, Off-Guard
Ghoul (Yellow) -7
Laszlo - Inspired
Kalla
Ghoul (Red)
Rain in Cloudy Day
Given the undead unbreather is between her and her utterly favorite kicker, Kalla concentrates on hacking the thing to death. Her magical utterances are limited to the singular grunting as her sword bites into flesh. It REALLY works the shoulders.
After one rather successful hack and one WAY too eager one that ends into the swampy murk instead of meat, she looks at the dead thing and grins "Oh, the fun. May all things end in the should be dead's complete meat pasting." her black eyes glittering in cold madness over her rose colored glasses.
Laszlo moves to a better angle, mixes a new batch of alchemist fire to toss at the ghoul... and starts carrying on an academic conversation. "You have read Helsnicht?! The master only had his third treatise, but I always found his necromancy far outclassed his anatomy. We should talk more on this later, it is so rare that I find a fellow academic out in the wilderness like this!"
Kalla hews her way through the ghoul with even her more eager strikes, but it survives the chopping and light singeing with the same feral hunger! Kalla is almost able to keep it at bay, but a stray claw stitches a line of fire down her side!
Before the wound even has time to go numb though a pair of precisely aimed seed pods carom off the ghoul's skull and it drops into the murk.
Rain in Cloudy Day looks around to make certain there aren't any more ghouls about to emerge from the marsh, then his face lights up. "Hi! I'm Rain in Cloudy Day, nice to meet you all!"
After taking a few deep breaths to slow his heart, Sajan turns to greet Rain in Cloudy Day, "It is good to see you, Rain in Cloudy Day. I'm glad you're unharmed! What has delayed you from checking in?"
You know that leshies need to breathe, but perhaps Rain can do it through some other orifice while he keeps talking? "Oh! Well you see there was bad weather on my voyage over and that meant that I was late for my reserved rooms, which I had paid ahead on for a plum rate, but because I was late there were a good deal of penalty fees I hadn't been prepared for, so I was forced to seek alternate lodging, and much of my baggage and money was stolen, but luckily I had paid my guide in advance, only something must have happened to him because he never showed up to take me into the swamps and I never found him when I looked, but at that point I had to just go by myself, only the Tskikhani found me, and they thought I was a smuggler or some other miscreant and they brought me to their enclave for questioning, but that was alright because I wasn't a smuggler, and they said I could stay with them while I was learning more about the ruins!"
After that story, Kalla wonders, to herself, if being near little Rain was good for them. "Did you find anything interesting out?" she secretly hoped it was so amazing it made up for all the leshy's hardships.
With one eyebrow slightly raised, "I see. Well I'm glad you're safe. I will request Master Shaine send a token of appreciation for the Tskikhani."
And I must report his naivety, such behavior is not befitting a Pathfinder.
"Yes! Interesting that is, not safe. I've discovered- Actually, I suppose yes to the token of appreciation too, but I've discovered-."
"There iss no need to thank uss. Rain in Cloudy Day hass been a welcome guesst," Chief Thakik returns, a friendly twinkle in her eye. "But we could not allow him to wander in the sswamp alone, no matter the learning he does have."
"Like my discovery!" Rain pipes back up, "The ruins, the ones near here and the main ones further off, they're ancient Azlanti survivors from the time of Earthfall, probably right before Earthfall. I think they're a satellite colony of Nacar-Azen, but I'll need more inscriptionary evidence to be satisfied with that conclusion; a few potshards can't be trusted since the Azlanti city-states were so interconnected in their trade that small quantities of evidence can easily be misinterpreted, and... Wait! Now that they're here! The temple?!"
Chief Thakik lets out a long chuckle, shaking her head ruefully as she looks to you all. "He doess lighten my heart sso. There is graver newss though. You were right, Rain in Cloudy Day. The creaturess that have plagued uss of late, our sscoutss have confirmed that they come from your Asslanti temple. I have forbidden you to invesstigate itss dangerss, but perhapss with your Pathfinder friendss you could venture into thiss sstructure and find out was hass agitated the horrorss within?"
Rain jumps into the air, pumping his fist. "YES!" He looks around at you all, "I mean... yes?"
"Earthfall" Kalla breaths in awe having heard plenty of fantastical tales about such "Yes!" she exclaims without hesitation.
"Before departing, you should resst. No one who does not know the sswamp well should walk it in darknesss." Chief Thakik shows you to a an empty hut where you can unfurl your bedrolls and provides a dinner of turtle soup and a sweet dish made of nuts and berries. (Rain receives a wooden bowl of dead leaves and decaying swamp moss, which he consumes with gusto.) He bids you good night with a reminder, "Just one more sleep!"
***
After a couple hours walking through the morning murk, you see it. A stone platform sits at a skewed angle out of the muck, and rampant foliage covers most of it. A long stone stairway descends below the plinth and into the structure. The stairway would normally be obscured, but Nixoret notices that the recent movement of creatures in the area has pushed the obfuscating foliage aside.
A polished tan white stone stairway leads down into a large worked chamber made of similar styled stone. Stairs ascend along the chamber's northern end to a raised platform. Two halls branch from the raised area, one to the north covered in debris, while the other to the west connects to a wider hall heading north. A stone door to the east bars access beyond. A large crack along the eastern wall of the lower section continues into a damp cavern replete with the smell of vegetation.
It's dark in here, but Rain produces a torch, and Sajan's wayfinder can be ignited. By their light, Sajan and Dawn make out a hunched-over wretch, clinging to the wall up near the ceiling with long, pliable arms capped with five wide, spiny claws. It hisses something in a gurgle that sounds like it was probably speech, and out of Sajan's peripheral vision he sees a second clinging wretch to his left.
It hauls itself along the wall with awful asymmetric jerks, stretching down its arm to grab Dawn by the throat!
Clinging Wretch (Blue) - 10' off the ground
Laszlo
Clinging Wretch (Red) - 10' off the ground
Kalla
Sajan
Nixoret
Dawn -7 - Grappled, Can't talk or cast!
Somewhat flustered by the surprise attack, Laszlo reacts instinctively with Alchemist's fire. Realizing Dawn's unfortunate position, he follows it up with a healing vial trying to repair the injury she's already suffered. "Rain, quickly away from the crawling thing. Get over by Bruit, he will watch over you!"
The burning wretch hisses, arm twitching, but it keeps its hold on Dawn's throat! The other one drops to the floor, scuttling closer before stretching out to grab Kalla by the neck as well!
Ceiling is 15' high
Room is dark
The Bold May Go!
Clinging Wretch (Blue) -7, (1 fire), 10' off the ground
Laszlo
Clinging Wretch (Red)
Kalla -7, Grappled, Can't talk or cast!
Sajan
Nixoret
Dawn -1, Grappled, Can't talk or cast!
Rain in Cloudy Day
Choking and gasping for air, Dawn struggles in vain to escape the wretch's clutches.
Nix seeing the unnatural movement of the wretches arms sorts through his esoterica and pulls a small rough chopped section of a rubber tree, stoking his hatchet with confidence it can cut through pliable limbs. Feeling the thrum of energy in the axe, he then chops twice at the arm of the wretch holding Dawn in an attempt to separate the grasping hand from the rest of the creature
The choker hauls Kalla into the path of Nixoret's axe with a brutal yank, but the bite of the axe is blunted by her armor.
Clinging Wretch (Blue) -7, (1 fire), 10' off the ground
Laszlo
Clinging Wretch (Red) - Reaction used
Kalla -7, Grappled, Can't talk or cast!
Sajan
Nixoret
Dawn -1, Grappled, Can't talk or cast!
Rain in Cloudy Day
Kalla opens her mouth to allow her magic to flow out and help her friends, but as the rough vice suddenly around her throat shuts it off to anything other than Gack. And Gack doesn't seem enough to fuel anyone with power. The violent wrench sending her into the path of Nix's axe was disconcerting, she'd admit to that, but it was also fortuitous as it flung her glasses to clatter against stone.
Her abyss ridden eyes glared utter hate at the choker.
The creature paused at least a moment to stare into the endless black, giving Kalla a moment to plant her boot into its chest and PULL herself free.
"Please for the love of frank and all of his kin, would someone kill this thing!" her words were raspy but were words (unlike Gack) so carried her magic.
"I'll try!" Sajan draws a dart as he steps forward to attack.