The Pathfinders receive a letter from Urwal, the iruxi leader of the Verdant Wheel. He’s one of the newest leaders of the Pathfinder Society, an iruxi stargazer who simply showed up at the Grand Lodge the previous year and made himself at home, correcting labels on Mwangi artifacts, sorting insect collections, and painting murals of the night sky as seen from central Garund. He’s considered odd, even by the flexible standards of the Pathfinders, but he’s clearly committed to the Pathfinder cause, and he and his supporters have proven their worth where the preservation of nature is concerned.
The adventure will take place in and around Mishkar, in Iobarra.
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A towering bright-green lizardfolk with red neck frills and crest enters. He wears patched hide armor and is decorated with lacquered leaves, feathers, small animal bones and teeth on leather or twine thongs. He walks with a decorated longspear clutched in his clawed hand and uses it as a walking stick. A large osprey is perched on his broad shoulder.
It appears we are the first ones here, Kai. He says to the bird in a gutteral voice with a thick Mwangi accent.
The bird blinks as it glances about the room.
The lizardfolk leans his spear against the wall then sits cross-legged on the floor near a corner.
Keep alert, Kai. I will wait in meditation until the others arrive. I am pleased Urwal chose us for this excursion to Iobaria. I do look forward to meeting our companions that will be joining us on this journey. But, for now, we wait.
Moko closes his eyes and slows his breathing. Kai gives his wings a good stretch then waits patiently while keeping an eye on the door.
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After a short time, perhaps just a few minutes, another figure enters the meeting room. This one is a small gnome, dressed in simple leathers and sporting shockingly bright and vibrant red-orange hair. On her back is slung a backpack and wooden shield; a sickle hangs from her belt and she wields a longspear in her hand - though right now it's clearly more of a walking stick than a dangerous weapon. Seems to be a bit of a trend, actually.
"Oh hey, looks like we found th' right place," the gnome remarks as she spots the waiting lizardfolk and his avian companion. She gives the pair a wave and then glances over her shoulder, beckoning to someone behind her.
"Come on, time t' get us a seat and get settled in; looks like we're one of th' first few folks t' get here."
At this, a tiny humanoid-shaped plant peeks around the door and into the room before cautiously moving to join the gnome.
"Howdy there," said gnome remarks. "Here for th' job too, huh? You an' your friend, there. Good deal! Th' more th' merrier, I always say. Name's Poffis Whindlebit an' this here's my friend, Sunny Valley - though they'll answer to just Sunny, too. Nice t' meetcha."
Poffis offers a rather grimy-looking hand for a shake. For anyone looking closely, it looks like she just rolled in off the dusty trail.
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Kai lifts a wing and gently rubs the back of Moko's head to get his attention.
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Feeling Kai's gentle wing, Moko's eyes pop open.
Ah. Excuse me. I was just meditating until others arrived. He stands, towering over the gnome. He sticks out his hand and uses a single finger to gently shake the gnome's tiny hand in greeting.
Well met, Poffis. I am Mokomoko Hahona. "Lizard Healer" in my tongue. My friends call me Moko. Since you will be my adventuring companion, you are also my friend. Please, call me Moko. And this is Kairuku. He nods at the nearly two foot tall brown and white osprey on his shoulder.
It means "One Who Dives and Brings Back Food". He is very good at catching fish.
Moko's eyes turn towards the small leshy entering the room. Assuming the little creature is shy or nervous, he holds up a hand in greeting.
Welcome, Sunny. Do not be shy, my friend. I am Moko. Do not fear my size or my bird friend here. His name is Kai. We are protectors of the Natural World.
Kai points his beak upward and blinks twice at Sunny in greeting.
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Poffis' eyes light up as Moko introduces himself and Kairuku in turn. "Hah! Had a hunch, when I saw your friend Kairuku there, had a hunch that we were all on th' same page, more or less. Guess you could say me an' Sunny are protectors of th' Natural World, too. Mebbe not in quite th' same way as you two, but close enough. I'm more of a plant person, y'see."
At this she chuckles and even the little leshy smiles.
"And I do farm work, when I'm not out doin' stuff for th' Society. That's actually what I was doin' when I first joined up - went straight from th' field to, well, th' field! It's been an interestin' journey, so far."
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While her friend is busy getting acquainted with Moko, Sunny stares up at Kairuku with a sort of cautious curiosity. Then, the little leshy blinks - as well as a plant creature can blink - back at the osprey, twice.
"You've got pretty feathers," they finally say, shyly.
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Kai climbs down onto Moko's arm. He leans far forward towards Sunny putting his head down low. He twists his head back and forth while glancing wide-eyed at the little leshy.
"Oh! O-okay!"
Sunny very carefully reaches out with a little viney hand and slowly gives Kai some pets on the back of his head.
"Am I doing it okay? I'm not used to petting birds...just things on four legs like cats, horses, goats, sheep..."
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At this point a massive and well muscled goblin, at least 3' 2" walks. He wears a breastplate and carries a heavy pick. A rapier and daggers are at his waist. He is green skinned but actually appears to be much neater than the average Goblin.
He also has a pack across his back and what appears to be two small casks on his back and the back of his belt. You also see a metal flask riding above a dagger on one hip and another one stuck in a sash on his armor.
"Greetings all! Me be Grog! Nice to meet fellow pathfinders! Me brew good beverages, anyone want a drink?"
With that he pulls a bottle out of his pack, uncorks it and passes it to whoever is nearest.
"My latest creation. So far it popular! It be mead with a touch of elderflower!"
When he gets close you also notice he is nowhere as, well, fragrant, as the usual Goblin. In fact he may even be wearing some light cologne. You also notice a wooden symbol of a tankard around his neck.
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I do enjoy mead once every now and then. Thank you, Grog.
Moko takes the flask and pours some in his large, gator-like mouth then passes the flask along.
Yes. Mmm. Yes. That is very good. The sweetness. Mmm. The elderflower does create a pleasantly dry floral taste. Delicious, Grog. Good to see we will have an expert of food and drink on our journey.
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A young half elf woman in leather armor with a short bow on her back opens the door. Her head is turned and she is speaking to someone behind her.
"...and then Lily with the brown hair told Lily with the blonde hair, 'You better leave Meadow alone, she's our friend. If you're mean to her again I'll hurt your feelings.' and then Lily with the blonde hair..."
The young woman turns her head and sees the inhabitants of the room for the first time. As her gaze meets Kairuku's she stops talking, her eyes go wide and her mouth opens in astonishment. She stares dumbly for a moment before she is jostled from behind and she emerges from her confusion. She quickly closes the door.
Muffled whispers can be heard from behind the closed door. She seems to be arguing with someone. The whispers are difficult to hear but occational outbursts of "I know, right? Who does that?" and "Of course owls are better! Everyone knows that!" can be heard through the door. This goes on for several minutes.
*blink* *blink*
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"She seemed s'prised t' see Kai there, I think," Poffis points out. "Dunno why, everyone's seen bird an' other critters before, right?"
With a shrug, the red-headed gnome turns her attention back to the other new arrival. "Grog, huh? Name's Poffis, Poffis Whindlebit. Nice to meetcha," she says, sticking out one dusty hand for a shake and the other to accept the bottle being passed along by Moko.
After taking a swig from the bottle she swishes it around in her mouth for a few seconds before swallowing it down. "Ooooh! Moko here's right, th' elderflower makes th' whole thing."
"Tell me t' shove off if I'm bein' too nosy but how's a goblin get into brewery an' such?" Poffis asks, clearly curious.
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As the half elf exits grog shrugs. "Meh, at least she didn't see me, scream and then run away. Grog hate it when that happen.."
He turns to the gnome,shakes her hand and happily hands the bottle over. He gets an excited gleam in his eye.
"Oh! Grog no mind! You see, many no know that goblins are ingenious! They also smart and good with their hands. Sadly many goblins lack focus and only focus on things that go boom. Nice, but you can't drink it. Well, I mean you can but... poor Rockhead, he was silly goblin. Anyway, me like to drink more than me like to make the booms! Then I hear calling in head, the great Cayden Cailean call little Grog to be one of his champions. So, Grog find focus. That short version. People go to sleep if Grog give long version."
Grog stops talking but looks extremely pleased with himself.
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The whispering outside ceases and the door opens. The half elf young woman whispers something to someone behind her and enters the room.
"Remember. Be cool!"
She nonchalantly walks over to a chair near a tall bookcase. Following her is a large snowy owl that silently flies into the room and lands atop the bookcase.
She smiles awkwardly and speaks in an exaggeratedly neutral tone.
"Good afternoon everyone. I'm Meadow and my friend up there is Silence. It is a pleasure to meet you all."
Silence flaps his wings and lets out a loud cry.
With natural avian instinct, crouching low and wings slightly outstretched, Kai cautiously watches the owl swoop into the room and land on a bookcase. Realizing the owl is not a threat, he perches tall on Moko's shoulder and makes a couple high-pitched soft chirps.
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Moko holds up his hand in greeting to the half-elf.
Greetings, Meadow. I am Mokomoko, Protector of Nature and Healer. And this is Kairuku. I did not mean to offend you. I may be one of the first lizardfolk to join The Society but do not fear me. Your owl does not need to be afraid, either. We are friends.
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"Huh. Yeah, I reckon drinkin' things that go boom ain't such a good idea," Poffis agrees with Grog before the (re)appearance of Meadow and Silence distracts her from the topic.
"Hi there! Name's Poffis Whindlebit an' this here's my good pal Sunny Valley," the little red-headed gnome offers in greeting as she gestures to the tiny leshy that's peeping out from behind her leg. "Nice to meetcha both. An' it's nice t' see so many folks here that follow nature's path. We've got a right little menagerie goin' here, don't we?"
"Screech!"
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Grog smiles at the newcomer, "Welcome! Me Grog! Want some good mead?"
He offers the bottle to her.
"Nice owl!"
"Thank you, Grog."
She leans forward and whispers to Grog as she takes the bottle.
"Don't flatter him too much, he's got a high enough opinion of himself as it is."
Meadow sniffs the bottle then takes a careful sip. She immediately begins coughing and hands the bottle back to the goblin.
"It's...erm...quite lovely."
vs the party's various perception DCs.
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Moko holds up his hand in greeting to the half-elf.
Greetings, Meadow. I am Mokomoko, Protector of Nature and Healer. And this is Kairuku. I did not mean to offend you. I may be one of the first lizardfolk to join The Society but do not fear me. Your owl does not need to be afraid, either. We are friends.
"Oh I'm not afraid of you Mokomoko. After all I've known Urwal for some time and he's a lizardperson. And Silence...well...he's not exactly afraid either..."
Meadow looks embarrassed.
Sunny flinches a little bit at all the noise but their earlier interactions with Kai and Moko seem to have bolstered their courage. They look up at Meadow and smile.
"U-um, thank you! I told Kai that he has pretty feathers. Silence has pretty feathers too. Are all birds as pretty as they are?"
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The doors open and a 3 ft tall small figure walks in and it does not look up. It mumbles something under his breath and falls into Meadow.
"Oh! Sorry for that." He looks up and you can see a goblin carrying rather a big backpack and a bandolier that is full with bottles. Half of his head is covered with hair while the other half is covered in tattoos. The tattoos look like a drunk artist tried to draw something with his eyes closed.
He wears leather armor and that has marks of burns on it. The same as dark green skin of the newcomer.
"Can I smell an alcohol here? " He takes a deep breath in.
"Is it elderflower that I smell? Amazing, I did use it with my mutagens to help with the taste, but that was a failed experiment. It was supposed to sharpen the sight but some of the glowing fungi turned bad, and it caused temporary blindness. Unfortunate, unfortunate" he speaks in a high pitched voice as he gesticulates which looks comically.
"Oh, yes. Hopper, my name is Hopper. I am here on a mission, is it the right room?"
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"Ah reckon so, less there's another mission bein' lined up for taste-testin' little bottles of liquid," a red-headed gnome dressed in simple leathers remarks with a grin. She sticks a dust-covered hand out...even going so far as to wave it in front of Hopper's face if he's gone back to looking down at the ground again.
"Poffis Whindlebit, nice to meetcha. An' this here's my friend Sunny Valley - but they'll answer to just Sunny, too."
She gestures down to a tiny plant-person-thing peeking out from behind her legs.
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Hopper shakes Poffis hand, not looking at her, but not ignoring her either.
His hands are rough and covered with burns and cuts.
"Pleasure, Poffis. Meaning my pleasure... a pleasure is mine. Sunny? Who is Sunny?"
Hopper begins to look around nad eyes the leashy
"Where did you found him? It is amazing." Then he looks around the room at two birds
"I will take that mead if I may." says Hopper and takes a solid sip of the beverage.
Then he reaches to his backpack and takes out a green lizard that he puts on his shoulder.
"This is Lizzy, she rarely speaks, and rarely moves in low temperatures but besides that she is a great companion."
A 1.5 feet long lizard is lied down on a table and stays thee without a move. At most one eye is open that scans the surrounding.
Silence turns his head at an awkward angle and looks at the lizard. He unfurls his wings and...
"Screech!
The owl settles down and begins preening his feathers.
Seeing the small lizard, Kai makes a series of soft whistles.
phweep-phweep-phweep-phweep.
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No-no-no, Kai. That is not your lunch.
Moko turns to the somewhat scorched goblin. Welcome, Hopper. Yes, you are in the right room. We'll all be going on a journey together. You may call me Moko. And this, He nods at the large osprey, is Kai.
Please excuse his manners. He, apparently, did not get enough for breakfast this morning.
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