Sunday, November 24, 2013

Session 16: The Fist of Kord, Part 4

August 15, Year 3488 (SE 118)

As the rest of the party slowly rouse themselves, awoken by Adokas' scream, the two lizardfolk strike at the halfling again. This time, he dodges both attacks, and the creatures leap past him, out of the wagon. He strikes one of them with a stunning blow as it rushes past him, and it tumbles out of the wagon and onto the ground, paralyzed.

Flossaria shoots the fleeing lizardman with her crossbow, aiming to cripple it, but while she manages to hit it, she doesn't manage to slow it. Iriellis, having woken instantly from her sleep, runs to the horse and tries to ride it, but in the darkness, without a saddle or any other gear, she cannot get the horse to obey her commands. Zedlyn groggily makes his way out of his tent.

The lizardfolk continues to flee, and Adokas realizes that it will escape into the darkness if he doesn't give chase with his lantern, so he jumps out of the wagon to follow it, attacking with his sling as he runs. Flossaria runs after him in order to heal him, as she can clearly see that he is badly injured. Zedlyn moves to the wagon and, with his trident, pins down the stunned lizardfolk in order to restrain it when it recovers. Iriellis continues to have no luck with the horse; it throws her off in its struggles. Sharla begins to awake, while P'hla remains blissfully asleep.

Just as the stunned lizardfolk is recovering, Adokas strikes the other with a sling stone that drops it. He and Flossaria move forward and find that it's out cold; he gives it a solid punch in order to make sure it doesn't wake up any time soon. Meanwhile, the other lizardfolk struggles, but is unable to break Zedlyn's hold, and it soon gives up. The lizardfolk are once again captives.

Realizing that the lizardfolk were able to cut through the rope with their teeth and claws, this time the party weave their rope through the links of the chain in order to tie up the creatures. They also move the two creatures outside of the wagon for the rest of the night, so that both watchmen can keep an eye on them. The rest of the night is uneventful; the lizardfolk do not attempt a second escape.

August 16, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The group transfer the two lizardfolk into one of the wagons as the caravan sets off again. P'hla and Iriellis ride on the horse this time and Sharla stays in a separate wagon and works on scribing her scroll of Hypnotism that she had purchased, while the three others remain in the wagon and keep an eye on the captives. The day is uneventful, and they arrive at Barar without any further difficulties, shortly before nightfall.

When they arrive, Sharla goes to the Temple of Kib while the rest of the group go to speak to the town's head merchant. Sharla explains their predicament, and wonder if the priests know where the lizardfolk live, as all creatures that dwell upon the world are within Kib's domain. The priestess tells her that lizardfolk are considered to be unnatural abominations by Kib's clergy, so she will gladly help the party fight them, but her purview is limited to Barar itself. There is, however, a small circle of Druids of Kib based near the town, and she will be happy to introduce the party to them. Sharla agrees to meet her the next morning, in order to go visit the druids.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party hand over one of the lizardfolk to the head merchant and explain their findings. The merchant thanks them, pays them 100 gold pieces, and promises them another 200 if they can completely remove the lizardfolk threat. The use some of the money to replace the ropes that the lizardfolk shredded, and Flossaria convinces the caravan merchant to sell her a suit of chain mail for a good price.

The party regroup and rest for the night at the local inn.

August 17, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The next morning, the party meet with the Priestess of Kib, who escorts them to the druid circle, about 45 minutes' travel from Barar. There, they meet Tamat, the local Druid of Kib. He doesn't know of any lizardfolk village, but he does know of a nearby cave where the lizardfolk are known to gather. He tells them that this cave has a strong unnatural aura, enough that members of his order are not comfortable approaching it. Despite this, he agrees to lead the group there.

As they travel, the characters question him about the lizardfolk and their beliefs. Tamat believes that the lizardfolk gods either don't exist, or exist but aren't gods - they're just extremely powerful aberrant beings. He also tells them that the holy books of Kib describe all of the creatures created by Kib, and lizardfolk, along with many other monsters and beasts, are not included in these descriptions. Thus, they have no part in the natural order and should be destroyed.

The group travel for several hours until they finally approach the cave. As they near, Tamat stops them and says that they should sneak up to get a good view of the cave. Adokas and Iriellis decide to go with him to get a look, while the rest stay with their lizardfolk captive, who is gagged. Tamat, Adokas, and Iriellis make their way up to a hill that overlooks the cave. Tamat points out the cave itself, located beyond a clearing and under a natural ridge from their viewpoint, and Adokas sneaks forward to search for lizardfolk tracks, trying to get a feel for their recent activity.

Back at the rest of the party, Flossaria decides to question the lizardfolk and ungags it in order to do so. As soon as she does this, it starts shouting and making as much noise as possible. Zedlyn attacks it and knocks it to the ground. As it struggles and tries to claw apart its bonds, he impales it with his trident, killing it.

The commotion draws back Tamat, Adokas and Iriellis. Realizing that the other lizardfolk must be alerted now, Tamat advises that they retreat and return at a later time. The characters, however, take the opposite approach: they'll take this chance to ambush the other lizardfolk as they come out to investigate.

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