The Krakenwagen wake up in the inn where we spent the night, the Ready Room. A raven emerges from a poof of smoke and settles on Rangu's hand. Rangu's familiar El Cato tries to swap it away. We walk towards a Pyramid, and see the Betrayer's Rise. We see thick acrid smoke bellowing from the chimney of a stone building. As we make our way closer, the smell hits us. There are a bunch of bodies of slain monsters. A thin wispy man and a muscular man with one arm are taking the bodies and walking away into the crematorium. The thin guy looks at us and says "aah new bodies for Bazzoxan".
He tells us that he and his brother are responsible for cleaning up all the bodies. There are piles which are further away from the crematorium. Close to the doors though, we notice a pile with a rather large body of a monster. It has been skipped in favour of smaller corpses. Rara starts exploring the corpses. Woolf asks if the bodies have been looted. The guy replies that the creatures do not really come out with loot, and the posessions of the guards are sent back to their families.
Rangu remembers fighting similar creatures. Woolf goes and investigates the big creature, and bends down over it, and is stopped by the two brothers. A short little Tiefling rushes towards Woolf, and he has a bunch a notebooks on him. He is struggling to find something in his bags, and picks out a shiny badge and shows it to Woolf. It is a shiny, silver circular badge, and has a single eye on it. "You cannot do this, you cannot burn this creature, I have to study". Rara tells him "What are you going to study."
He says "I am Prolix Yusaf", I am from the Allegiance of Allsight". He says he is an archeologist who needs to study monster. Rara says she can cut up the body so that Yusaf can study it. Rara says that she can use the battle axe to cut "delicately". Rangu wants to know more about Yusaf before helping him. "I am here to figure out more about these creatures like this Vrock and other demons that come out of Betrayer's Rise".
"These Vrocs eat magical things. I want to see if this Vroc can reveal what is inside the betrayer's rise." Jazco points out that previous ones melted into demonic ichor. Yusaf says "they do not like light and radiant knowledge," He says he is from the university of Ank'Harel.
Rara asks about the eating magical things. "These creatures do not have much of a brain. They like to eat shiny things. They see shiny things and think it is food," Jazco takes a dagger and cuts open the Vrock, while Rara keeps interrupting with "be careful" and "do not hurt the corpse". Prolix takes a couple of steps back as we begin to cut open the body. Jazco cuts the Vrocks stomach open. Yazhi casts haste on Jazco. With a deft hand and under instructions under Rara, Jazco makes quick work of the creature, and the contents of its stomach spills out of its guts. Jazco continues to cut over the oeusophagus. All of the sudden, the dagger hits something in its throat. Rangu casts prestidigitation to clean the blood from the dagger and its surroundings.
Jazco finds the gullet filled with something heavy and metallic. The body of Vrock starts melting into a pool of demonic ichor, but the gullet is intact. Prolix approaches. Prolix asks the crematorium workers if they are okay with opening the gullet then and there. Prolix is scared of peering eyes. Inside are gold tripped glasses, three golden rings, a small tube shaped black onyx pizzle box, which Prolix immediately grabs."
Rangu puts on the glasses. Yusuf wants the jewelry box. You need to help me keep an eye out for an agent Alysio, who works with the Consortium of the Vermilion Dream. Rara bursts out "the tall lady". Yusuf knows that we have met her. "I have to stop her, whatever she is trying to do, I do not know what it is. These people are coldblooded cutthroats."
Jazco says, "we are an adventuring troop, and we do take quests, but we take them up on a commission basis, you know what I am saying." Yusuf is desperately trying to make his case. "If you can stop her, ot get some information from inside, I will give you this puzzle box and 200 gold coins on top." Rara tries taking the box, but he turns it away. "I will give it to you after you stop Alysio."
Yusuf notices Jazco's necklace. "Where did you get that from, if you don't mind me asking. It is my nature, I am archeologist." Jazco picks him up by the collar. "You have a deal with us, but you are not to mention anything us to your superiors, is that clear?" Yusuf says he will be at the ready room once we stop Alysio. Jazco ties a scarf around her neck so nobody sees the necklace. Yusuf lingers for a bit and walks off.
Yazhi asks us if we should take the box from him by force. We reluctantly get to work reluctantly scooping up the remains of the Vrocks and disposing off the bodies. Rangu tells El Cato to watch where he puts the puzzle box.
Krakenwagen rolls out. We approach the Betrayer's Rise, which has an immense double door, made of onyx and inlaid with silver and copper. Inside the gates are a whole bunch of Aurora Watch guards standing guard. We keep walking towards the betrayer's rise. Just before the gate there is another barricade. As we need the near barricade, two guards of the Aurora Watch signal for us to stop. Rara does not stop walking. "Please stop madam, or you will get shot." Rara reaches for her longbow and stops. Woolf says, "We are here for some field research."
"We are an academic party, we are looking for them." The guard says, "you definitely look academic." The guards opens the barricade and lets us through. Rara asks "Do you know, why is it called the Betrayer's Rise." The guard says, "because of the Betrayer Gods".
In the beginning there were gods, and some gods were like we should destroy everything and start a new world. The betrayer gods went into a war with the elemental forces, and eventually were trapped in a magical plane from which they cannot escape. We make our ways towards the gate, just as we are reaching it, we start hearing shouting and screeching from behind the doors. A familiar sound comes from behind the doors, and the doors burst open.
There are two gloomstalkers one of them is holding an aurora watch. They go high up in the air, and drop the guard right next to us. Roll for initiative. We can see three more figures inside the gates, there seem to be three soldiers who seem to be Aurora Watch soldiers, facing more figures who are approaching them. We can ask the guards with us to go and help those inside the Betrayer's Rise, or we tell them nothing and they will help us handle the gloomstalkers.
Rara nicks her finger, covers the front of the bow with blood, and fires an arrow through one of the Gloomstalkers. The Gloomstalker goes to Jazco, and tries to bite Jazco but cannot do so as Jazco easily sidesteps its weirdly long neck. Infuriated, the Gloomstalker swipes at Jazco with its claws. The second Gloomstalker flies up above Rara and lets out a shriek. Rangu, Jazco and me are paralysed. Woolf casts pain on the Gloomstalker. Yazhi sees that there is an arrow sticking out of the second Gloomstalker, and casts Mind Whip, and deals quite a bit of psychic damage.
Rara curses the first Gloomstalker and amplifies its damage while reducing their own health. Then takes the longbow and fires at the second Gloomstalker, but missing, and fires another one hits true. The second Gloomstar screeches and stares from its deep, dark soulless eyes.
GS1 shrieks, paralysis Yazhi, Jazco and Me, flies down to position itself right next to Rara and Yazhi. Rangu hexes them and throws an eldritch blast at GS2. The hex misses, but the eldritch blast hits. Rangu's cards clips its wings, resulting in some black ichor dropping. The GS stares at everyone. Rangu moves in closer to the GS1, but Jazco is in the way. Woolf casts lesser restoration on Jazco.
Jazco thanks Rangu and Woolf, then attacks the GS and casts lesser restoration of Jazco. Jazco attacks GS1 with his rapier, while Rara attacks the GS2 twice. GS2 grabs Yazhi, and hurts him with his claws. Yazhi is now restrained. The GS2 then is shadowsteps 40 feet up into the air, and starts flying away. GS1 then attacks Rangu as he is the smaller target, who is grappled. GS shadowsteps 40 feet into the air, and then starts running away.
Rangu thundersteps from one GS to the other, and grabs Yazhi's body. Woolf walks down the steps, uses vicious mockery to say "Looser U R". The gloomstalker continues flying away, surprised that its quarry has vanished. Jazco runs towards GS1. Yazhi grabs Rangu and Thundersteps back to the GS2, still holding hands. Yazhi does a Point Break thumbs up at Jazco, and lands up on top of G2, and then physics happens, both start falling. Both land with a thump on the ground.
I run up to Woolf and release two bolts of chaos energy, one jumps between the two gloom stalkers, and another one hits directly. Rara shoots a Gloomstalker which is barely holding on for its dear life, and cuts off its head. Then Rangu takes out the other gloomstalker. The guards come out, look at the splashes of ichor, say well done and say that since that we can take care of us, we can come back to the tower at any time.
No comments:
Post a Comment