Dusk Eclipse's Eyes of the Lich Queen IC

[CoffeeIncluded]

Soren follows Athard's gaze to the stonework of te temple peeking through tangled vines and jungle trees. "That was easier than I thought it would be. You see what a little friendliness will get you?" he adds with a grin. The half-elf also looks for the cave, and a place to put the horses.

Spoiler: Perception

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take 10 for 20.

[Kish]

You find the cave as the lizardfolk leader described it.

"Are we spending the night here, or heading on on foot tonight?" Scholar asks.

[CWater]

Soren follows Athard's gaze to the stonework of te temple peeking through tangled vines and jungle trees. "That was easier than I thought it would be. You see what a little friendliness will get you?" he adds with a grin.

Kaarna just snorts at this.

You find the cave as the lizardfolk leader described it.

"Are we spending the night here, or heading on on foot tonight?" Scholar asks.

"I'm not interested in sleeping in a place other folk know about, however friendly you think they are", Kaarna says shortly, but she is happy to get off the horse.

Spoiler

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I have no particular reason to distrust the previous lizardfolk, so sleeping here is fine by me. Kaarna is unlikely to stop being paranoid, but that's her problem.

[Silverraptor]

"As long as we have someone on guard and we remain alert. One night might be passable. But we should remain on high-guard."

[CoffeeIncluded]

"You guys can't see well at night, right?" Soren yawns and stretches, finishing with a scratch between his horse's ears. "Adrianna's right, as long as we keep a lookout we'll be fine. And Scholar doesn't need to sleep anyway!" He yawns again--is it the mugginess that's making him extra tired? "I'd prefer being rested when we head inside, and that cave will protect us against rain too."

[rypt]

"I'm not interested in sleeping in a place other folk know about, however friendly you think they are", Kaarna says shortly, but she is happy to get off the horse.

"Then don't sleep," Athard replies with shortness to match. "I'm sure Scholar would enjoy the company." He glances from the quiet warforged and back to the crotchety shifter. "Well, maybe..."

He dismounts from his horse and and begins to untie his saddle bags. "I'll scout the area before it gets dark. We'll move on the temple in the morning."

[CoffeeIncluded]

"By yourself?" Soren pauses his rummaging through his saddlebags. "You sure you'll be okay? I know you like to vanish on people but what if you need to fight or something? I'm a bit stealthy and I can use illusion magic; do you want me to go with you?"

[CWater]

"Then don't sleep," Athard replies with shortness to match. "I'm sure Scholar would enjoy the company." He glances from the quiet warforged and back to the crotchety shifter. "Well, maybe..."

Kaarna snorts loudly again, but a small smirk passes through her face.

He dismounts from his horse and and begins to untie his saddle bags. "I'll scout the area before it gets dark. We'll move on the temple in the morning."

"By yourself?" Soren pauses his rummaging through his saddlebags. "You sure you'll be okay? I know you like to vanish on people but what if you need to fight or something? I'm a bit stealthy and I can use illusion magic; do you want me to go with you?"

"Just make sure he won't end up needing to protect you", the witch says and taps the bard's shoulder, "I'm going to feed my pet."

Before she does this though, Kaarna takes a deep breath and then starts sniffing around the cave. She still doesn't like the idea of staying here. After she has made sure she doesn't smell anything alarming, she finds herself a spot with her back against the wall and starts going through her scroll collection.

Spoiler

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Activating Scent for the one minute. I don't really expect her to find much, but do I need to roll something? (Can't remember how Scent works.)

How much time would she have to work on learning spells?

[Kish]

Scholar stands against one wall of the cave, watching the entrance, as Soren and Athard leave.

Spoiler: Kaarna

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There have been lizardfolk here, not recently.

Dawn is in eleven or twelve hours.

Spoiler: Athard and Soren

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I need to know what spells you're using.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Scholar stands against one wall of the cave, watching the entrance, as Soren and Athard leave.

Spoiler: Kaarna

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There have been lizardfolk here, not recently.

Dawn is in eleven or twelve hours.

Spoiler: Athard and Soren

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I need to know what spells you're using.

Spoiler: Soren's spells

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Soren isn't going to use any spells at first, since none of them have a duration of 20 minutes. If it seems like there might be trouble ahead he'll cast invisibility, first on himself and then on Athard (since Athard has the higher stealth score). If they need a distraction he'll use some combination of silent image, ghost sound, and minor image.

EDIT: Soren returns Kaarna's gesture by patting her wrist. "Don't worry, we'll be fine and back before you know it." His smile softens slightly at the edges.

[Kish]

Spoiler: the temple approach, for Soren and Athard

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You see two clusters of mud huts to either side of the trail approaching the temple. At the nearer cluster to you, the one on the east, a short reptilian humanoid reclines near one of the small huts, barely noticeable due to its shifting, chameleonlike skin. It has a bow within easy reach, next to a large toadstool currently serving as a pincushion for the creature's arrows. As far as you can tell it does not see you.

Spoiler: Knowledge: Nature 14

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This is a poison dusk lizardfolk. The subrace is smaller than most lizardfolk, cunning, stealthy, fond of using poison as the name suggests. Their ability to hide makes them good rangers.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Spoiler: Knowledge

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Take 10 for 18 thanks to Bardic Knowledge!

Soren shifts lower in the undergrowth. Hopefully the patterns of light and shadow caused by the setting sun and foliage will help conceal him. Most of his hiding in the past involved making himself unnoticed, not outright unseen. "Poison dusk," he whispers to Athard, almost mouths more than anything else. "Looks like they're living here. Should we go back?" He looks around, flitting his eyes back and forth for any sign of a trail or marks of other creatures.

Spoiler: Perception and a question

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Perception: (d20+10)[28]

Can Soren find another path around the area, or signs that a dragon-demon thing or anything else were here? And that gray thing at the top is the temple entrance, right? Also, do these huts look permanent or semi-permanent?

[Silverraptor]

Adrianna dismisses her mount and makes her way inside. She stands mostly alert as the 2 leave for anything that might be out there.

[rypt]

Nearly flat on his stomach, Athard pulls himself forward with his knees and forearms. Peering through the brush, he frowns at the sight of the solitary lizardfolk. There are undoubtedly more inside the huts, particularly in the larger structures to the west. How many more, however, he cannot know. Not yet, at least.

He shakes his head at Soren. "Now we wait," he whispers back.

Spoiler

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Assuming they aren't visible from the trail, Athard would prefer to observe the huts for a while to see if he can get a better sense of their numbers. He'll only stay for as long as there is sufficient light to withdraw safely, to a maximum of 45 minutes or so.

[CoffeeIncluded]

"Really?" he whispers back, a pensive note to the end of the word. After a moments silence he turns back to watch with a sigh and a, "Fine."

One of the things about Soren is that he gets bored so easily. After just a few minutes of watching he's watching a few ants scuttle across the leaves in front of him. Not long after that he's...not humming, not making noise, but moving his lips to some sort of chant or song. He also quietly taps a finger in the dirt before him in a rhythmic pattern. But he's still watching carefully, even if his hazel eyes are slightly glazed over from boredom.

[Kish]

It's already pretty dark by the time you get there, after walking to the cave and then close to the temple again. The lizardfolk doesn't move from where it (he? she?) is sitting in the first few minutes you spend looking.

[CWater]

Back at the cave, Kaarna picks a scroll, and performs the strange procedure of teaching the spell to her familiar. First she makes a small cut to her finger, and draws a complex symbol on the parchment with her blood. After that she rips it to pieces, burns the remains and then mixes the ashes with some thick suspiciuos looking substance she keeps in a jar in her bag. The resulting dough the witch offers to her familiar, who doesn't seem to enthusiastic about digging in.
"Oh c'mon", Kaarna coaxes the reluctant scorpion, "It's transmutation, good and filling. And the spell has a nice crisp to it, so eat up." Eventually Veca does so, first carefully nibbling the dinner, but soon gobbling it up.

Spoiler

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Spell is Excruciating Deformation, as a 3rd level spell, all of this takes 3 hours.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Soren glances sideways at Athard, nervously pressing the tops of his index fingers together. "Full humans can't see as well in the dark as I can, right? Are you able to see in this, or should we go back?"

[rypt]

Athard's jaw clenches tight as he curses silently to himself. "Can't stay," he whispers in reply, nodding his head back towards the direction from which they came.

[Kish]

Back at the cave, Scholar looks toward you, only her head moving, and says, "What did you observe?"

[CoffeeIncluded]

Back at the cave, Scholar looks toward you, only her head moving, and says, "What did you observe?"

Okay, that's a bit creepy. You don't really think about how human bodies turn to follow heads until they don't. Still, it's not really Scholar's fault, so Soren swallows and says, "There's a poison dusk camp right on the road to the temple, a few hundred feet from it. The jungles pretty thick; I don't think we can sneak past them. I'm not sure how many lizard folk are there but it's definitely occupied. There were...two clusters of huts, each with four huts."

[CWater]

Okay, that's a bit creepy. You don't really think about how human bodies turn to follow heads until they don't. Still, it's not really Scholar's fault, so Soren swallows and says, "There's a poison dusk camp right on the road to the temple, a few hundred feet from it. The jungles pretty thick; I don't think we can sneak past them. I'm not sure how many lizard folk are there but it's definitely occupied. There were...two clusters of huts, each with four huts."

Kaarna frowns. "I'd like to know the numbers before we turn this into a fight", she says, "Can't you turn invisible or something?"

"There was one spell I have on scroll...", she rummages through her backpack,"That could scare away at least some of them..."

[Kish]

"Turning invisible is currently beyond my abilities," Scholar says. "Not surprising that the temple is guarded."

[CoffeeIncluded]

Kaarna frowns. "I'd like to know the numbers before we turn this into a fight", she says, "Can't you turn invisible or something?"

"There was one spell I have on scroll...", she rummages through her backpack,"That could scare away at least some of them..."

"Yes, but I can only cast it three times a day, and then I won't be able to cast any other spells that strong for the rest of the day either. And we only saw one lizardfolk but I know there's more in the huts." He pauses. "What do you have in your bag, Kaarna?"

[CWater]

"Turning invisible is currently beyond my abilities," Scholar says. "Not surprising that the temple is guarded."

"Yes, but I can only cast it three times a day, and then I won't be able to cast any other spells that strong for the rest of the day either. And we only saw one lizardfolk but I know there's more in the huts."

The witch sighs and and throws her hands in the air. "Guess that can't be helped. I can't do it either, Veca is picky, and he hates the taste of Illusions."

He pauses. "What do you have in your bag, Kaarna?"

"Lots of things, but I'll keep the frogs contained", she grins, "Anyway, this is what I was looking for." She holds one scroll between two fingers. "This spell (assuming the merchant didn't rip me off), could scare at least some of them to run away. Only works on a limited number and range, about 30 ft. though. But, if we comp that with an illusion of yours, we could get a better effect." She grins again, "A few run, the rest should follow. Basic pack behaviour."

She taps her temple with the end of the wrapped parchment, "I'd need a few more hours to have Veca stomach the spell first though, I don't care to waste the scroll. Would have been nice if I'd have learned it earlier, but", she shrugs, "Didn't think of it then."

[Kish]

Scholar shows animation at last at Kaarna's words. "Lizardfolk are as intelligent as you are," she says. "They're not simply going to run away and disappear from our lives. I don't know what the duration is on the spell you're thinking of, but even if it's hours, going from hoping to become invisible to a plan that guarantees every poison dusk or blackscale lizardfolk in the temple will know about us as soon as the spell wears off seems strange and tactically unwise. I would say we should try to avoid any lizardfolk we fight getting away, for as long as we might still have the advantage of surprise against our enemies."

[CWater]

Scholar shows animation at last at Kaarna's words. "Lizardfolk are as intelligent as you are," she says. "They're not simply going to run away and disappear from our lives. I don't know what the duration is on the spell you're thinking of, but even if it's hours, going from hoping to become invisible to a plan that guarantees every poison dusk or blackscale lizardfolk in the temple will know about us as soon as the spell wears off seems strange and tactically unwise. I would say we should try to avoid any lizardfolk we fight getting away, for as long as we might still have the advantage of surprise against our enemies."

Kaarna looks at Scholar with raised eyebrows. "You'd prefer to torch them all to crisp?", she asks, and a small spark flickers from her fingers, "I was trying to think of other options, because I've been told that I should, for some reason, but if that's on the table then sure! Let's not make this overly complicated."

"Though you'll have convince the kid yourself", she nods towards the Soren, "I suspect he's generally against death and destruction."

[CoffeeIncluded]

"how did you guess?" Soren asks. He pauses and looks down at his hands. Yeah, he's killed people before, but it was in self-defense. Isn't there something else they can try first? Even if diplomacy is out.

"What if we knock them out? Or scare them off with your spell and an illusion? You guys seen awfully eager to turn to violence. Do you need blood for your wit it spells or something?" Scholar is a warforged, so it sort of makes sense for her though. But as Soren looks at scholar, then Kaarna, then Athard and Adrianne, he gets the distinct feeling he's in the minority.

[Kish]

Scholar gives Soren a surprised look. "If you can come up with a tactical plan that leaves them alive and doesn't result in our dying, I am certainly listening. Unless you think this Rhashaak would be willing to sell us the relics Sur'kil wants--for less than we're getting paid for this--then his servants will likely do their best to kill us. If any of them run away knowing that there are intruders there, they'll alert every lizardfolk they meet, and I cannot see a better-case scenario for us than one where they merely collect one or two more groups before coming back to attack us again and we still kill them. I realize not all of us were programmed with combat tactics, but, as adventurers, we are all professional killers."

[Silverraptor]

"Whatever you all decide, My orders are to protect all of you from danger and potential harm. Lethal force is authorized."