Chult Hex Crawl - IC

[Volthawk]

Draelin nods, and then looks at the strange little creature. Interesting. "Chief's house sounds good to me."

[Pyrophilios]

Meanwhile The Red Horns had taken to the air, circling around the hill, looking for something suitably tasty to hunt.

[agignac]

The flying monkey swoops upwards, heading back towards the village. It flies erratically, often circling back to make sure you're following, but leads you into the center of the ruined village. Qawasha is nowhere to be seen, though you hear a few noises coming from the gate.

Your guide takes you to yet another ruined home, though this one was clearly bigger than average. From outside, it appears to have had a main living area, and at least four other rooms (perhaps bedrooms) coming off the back, like petals on a flower. Some colourful remnants of cloths fluttered in the breeze, all that was left of flags or wall hangings marking this home as special.

[Volthawk]

Draelin surveys the ruins from where he's standing, nods to himself, then turns to look at Nolwenn. "Alright, here's the plan. I've got my tools in our bags of holding, so I can get to work shifting this rubble. You can help wit the labour if you think it'd help, but mainly I want you for your magical skills here. If you have anything that'll help us pick out valuables from what's here - anything magical, for instance - that'll be handy, for instance. I don't know the ins and outs of what you can do, so I'll leave the details to you. In terms of the excavation, step one is this main room, then we'll see if there's any way of telling which one was the big boss' room, in which case we'll focus there. If not, I susppose we just pick one and see what to expect there. Not much clue on how long this'll take, but if we've got time afterwards we can go back to the shrine and work there - even if I stay here, at some point I'd like you to check it out. There were statues there that seemed important and a mage's eye may pick out details I missed."

[The Hellbug]

Nolwenn follows Draelin and the monkey, deep in thought except for the moments she spends struck by how adorable the flying monkey is. As she steps into the chief's hut, though, her practical side takes over, and she shakes her head. "I don't know the proper spell, unfortunately, although I think Red does. Or something similar. He was able to identify those bags we found," she replies, "but if you think you find something magical, bring it to me anyway; there's a chance my knowledge will be enough on its own. Oh, and anything you can't read, too--I do have a spell for that." The wizard steps up beside Draelin and offers a hand at shifting the rubble. "Four hands are better than two; I'll have a look at that shrine once we're done here."

Spoiler: OOC

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Just helping Draelin here, I guess.
Investigate! (1d20+5)[25]

[agignac]

Red headed out hunting, and had luck almost immediately. A group of small dinosaurs, about the size of chickens and just as stupid, were digging for grubs under some shrubs. Within 10 minutes, the once-tiefling had a handful of the chubby lizards, and was heading back to the witch doctor's hut.

The other two had plenty of luck also, though it took them a lot longer. Moving the rubble was time consuming but not as difficult as it might have been - thatch and mud weren't terribly heavy, just very messy. While Draelin focussed on finding the chief's room, Nolwenn was drawn to a partially collapsed room that still had vestiges of bright orange and pink fabrics. Drawing on her innate knowledge of the female mind, she began to poke around, and quickly found a secret compartment in the floor, under where a bed once stood. Inside, she discovered three intact jewelry boxes, each locked. A fourth box had been smashed, and a dozen necklaces, bracelets and rings lay tangled in the dirt.

Meanwhile, Draelin had managed to find a long, low chest, ornately carved with images of Chultan warriors defeating various jungle beasts. It too was locked.

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns delivered the fresh kills to the old woman, before joining the others in their treasure hunt. Using his expertise, he enacted the magic detecting ritual to examine their finds, having his construct hold the objects and amplify the effects.

"Very interesting..." he mumbled "Some of those might be worthwile for my experiments."

Spoiler

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Detect magic ritual

Arcana check w/advantage through construct help action

(1d20+7)[26]/(1d20+7)[22]

[Volthawk]

Draelin grins as his shovel hits the chest under some rubble. He recognised that sound, and a little more clearing soon revealed the whole thing. "Aha. Jackpot." The chief's personal chest had to be worth a look, particulary with it being so elaborate. This kind of thing was why he'd come out to Chult in the first place - admittedly, the dead people whose stuff he was imagining looting were rather longer dead than this, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Now then...Draelin gots his tools out, and knelt down to investigate the chest. Always had to be careful for surprises left behind for those who don't know the proper method, and then the lock itself...

Spoiler

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So as I understand it, with theives' tools I'm proficient with, actually opening the thing is a Dex check with prof bonus, while checking for traps is an Investigation check with advantage?

Trap check: (1d20+4)[5]/(1d20+4)[21]
Open Lock: (1d20+7)[15]

[agignac]

Back together, digging the ruins, the company of three work to open their discoveries. Draelin finds no sign of traps on the chest, and his thieves tools make short work of the lock (which is in surprisingly good condition given the state of the home).

Inside you find a variety of unusual items.

1) Yklwa of the dragon: The shaft of this spear is carved from the foreleg of a dragon. This is a +1 weapon, and on a critical hit, deals an extra 2d4 fire damage. Requires attunement.

2) Chief's headdress: This ornate headdress is woven from reeds and decorated with large, colourful, fluffy feathers. When worn, it grants the user a Wisdom of 18. Requires attunement.

3) Chief's cape: This knee-length cape is also covered with fluffy feathers, and grants the wearer +2AC. It's also waterproof. Requires attunement.

4) Chief's sandals: The woven reed sandals allow the wearer to walk on water, and prevents creatures (bugs, snakes etc) from biting the wearer's feet and ankles. Requires attunement

The chest itself is beautifully carved, and likely worth a lot on its own.


Nolwenn, unfortunately, had no luck opening the first jewelry box.

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns took the Yklwa: "A beautiful piece. All of this stuff is magic. After dinner I'll take a closer look and see what I can learn about all their functions. Ah yes, I got lucky and procured some meat. Better hurry back - don't let Nanny Pu'pu wait."


As usual, The Red Horns forwent eating and instead scrutinized all the items intently so he could inform his comrades about their function.

[The Hellbug]

Ah yes! Patience long rewarded!, the thoughts of a muddy and tired Nolwenn when she pulls the jewelry cases out of the secret compartment. The sudden windfall even distracts her momentarily from the fact that the chiefs twelve daughters or wife or whoever these belonged to are certainly dead. She catches a glance at Draelin and his chest while she's walking outside to get her picks from her bag but doesn't bother him, instead settling into the task at hand: getting the jewelry boxes open.

Naturally, they seem to be beyond the skill of an amateur burglar. Try as she might, and she goes down the whole line of picks in her pouch trying to get one to work, Nolwenn can't make progress on any of the boxes. She sits down with a huff and takes a break from glaring at her inconceivably-still-locked nemesis to admire the rings and necklaces and bangles from the broken box. Maybe I should just break it open, these ones seem fine... she muses but then shakes her head and stands up, maybe Draelin is having better luck back in the main room.

I found where they kept the valuables, but they're locked up tight," the wizard announces as she enters, jewelry boxes stacked in her hands and with necklaces draped over her arms, ""a little sparse compared to some of the things I've seen my mother wear, but taken as a whole they should be worth a lot...

And she almost drops all of it when she sees what Draelin's found. Her eyes go wide are immediately drawn to the headdress and cape. Setting down the boxes with almost trancelike slowness, she passes Draelin and Red on the way to the cape while casting a spell to scrub the grime from her hands and touches its fluffy feathers. "Oh! They're so fluffy and colorful!" she exclaims, "where did you find these?"

[Volthawk]

Draelin grins as Nolwenn rushes over to look at the loot, proudly tapping the chief's chest when she asks about where it came from. "They were all locked up in there. Guess you're holding the old chief's robes of office, as it were. Good stuff, too - Red's been checking them out magically." His gaze moves over to the hand on the chest, and nods in that direction too. "I figure the box itself should be worth something too, if we can take it with us. Just look at those carvings - plenty of people out there who'd pay a decent sum for a chest from the locals of Chult with that kind of artwork. As for those jewelery boxes...I can have a look at them after we've had something to eat, I suppose. Clearing all this mud works up an appetite, so that's first priority."

[The Hellbug]

In her frustration with the locks, Nolwenn actually hadn't realized how hungry she was getting. "Mhmm," she agrees with a vigorous nod, setting the cloak down delicately. She helps pack up what they've found and follows Red and Draelin back to Nanny Pu'pu's.

[agignac]

The smell coming from Nanny Pu'pu's hut was absolutely mouth-watering. Red's catch had been turned into a thick stew, full of unusual root vegetables, herbs, and even flowers. She served it with a spongy flat bread, which she used to grab chunks of meat out of the stew.

Part way through the meal, just after the sun sets, the skies open and the rain pounds down. The skin-covered hut is a bit breezy, but not a drop of rain gets through.

"It looks like you found the chief's house," she cackled, taking in their haul. "Good for you, no use leaving treasures like that to rot. Don't let the flying bastards see them, they'll be on you before you even see them." She glanced nervously to the ceiling, as if scanning the skies for the pterafolk.

"What will you do tomorrow? Stay and search another day? Continue on your way? Help an old lady out and hunt down the beasts that harry her so?" She grins gap-toothedly at you, her eyes nearly lost in the creases of her face.

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns looked at his companions: "I'm not averse to avenge your tribe - considering that the Pterafolk might have stolen some useful artifacts." He threw a side eye at their guide: "Especially since we didn't take the fastest route to get here, I would enjoy staying under a roof for a little bit longer."

[Volthawk]

Draelin nods between mouthfuls of stew. It was nice, having something that was a little more flavourful than rations. "I'm in favour of giving those pterafolk a look, do our host a service and also see what they've got, but I'd like to stick around here another day first. I can give those boxes of yours a look, Nolwenn, and then we can get that shrine cleared out, see what's going on there. Given that our time here has been the most profitable of the entire journey, I don't see the harm in sticking around a little longer."

[The Hellbug]

Hope Qawasha's okay out there, Nolwenn thinks with concern for their guide as the downpour begins. "Oh, yes," she agrees with the others, "I doubt Qawasha will gainsay us there; justice for the people of Mbala. And he'll be tired from his ritual I'm sure--no need to set out right away."

[agignac]

"Good, good," Nanny Pu'pu nods vigorously, "Respect your elders, that's good. And maybe have a few more dry nights and good meals, true!" She cleans up quickly, and shows them a pile of rather ratty blankets in a basket. "Help yourself. Keep the fire going if you want to, you can help me replace the wood tomorrow. No need to keep a watch, my home is as safe as can be, and the old flying skin-sacks can't see well enough in the dark to bother me at night."

The small old woman tucked herself up into a nook in the wall that looked barely deep enough to hold her, rolled over, and soon was snoring gently.

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns nodded towards the others and took his customary position with his back to the wall and looking unblinkingly towards the door - for the next four hours, before once again setting up his workplace to craft another four hours.

[agignac]

The night passes quietly. The rains last half the night - longer than usual, and you're extra grateful for the dry roof. Nanny Pu'pu is up several times, hobbling outside to use the privy, groaning her way back in, then immediately snoring again. She's up early, before the sunrise, heads out for a while, and returns with a basket of eggs. By the time the sun is up (turning the cloud-specked sky a stunning shade of orange), she has breakfast sizzling over the fire.

This is the first proper sunrise you've seen since you sailed here, as the jungle is too thick to get a good view of the horizon. The view from the clifftop is spectacular, and it becomes easier to understand why the old woman stays here.

When you look towards the village, you see an incredible change. The heaps of skulls that had been piled up around the broken gates have been transformed. The gates have turned into two twisting trees, bent towards each other and meeting in a soaring arch, 20 feet high. They are covered with twisting vines and flowers, completely covering (or perhaps replacing), the villager's skulls. It is a breath-taking transformation.

Overhead, an ugly form circles in the orange sky. The pterafolk examines the druid's handiwork from a distance, then swoops away.

Spoiler

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No sign of Qawasha or Weed yet. If you want to open boxes, I'll need some rolls. Are you hunting pterafolk today, or looting?

[Pyrophilios]

When everyone was up and satieted, the Red Horns spoke:
"I could take the guise of one of these Ptera and scout their lair. I imagine it's located somewhere very steep and hard to reach. At the same time, those creatures don't look like they can see by night, so sneaking up on them should be possible. Killing them in their sleep should be a lot easier than shooting them from the sky. Nets would be pretty effective, as it would arrest their ability to fly, making them crash.
The question is, how are we getting you up there?"

[Volthawk]

Once he gets enough light outside - he doubted Nolwenn or their host would appreciate the sound of clacking tools and pins in the night - Draelin takes the jewelry boxes outside and gets to work on them.

Spoiler

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Box 1:
Trap check: (1d20+4)[23]/(1d20+4)[21]
Open Lock: (1d20+7)[9]

Box 2:
Trap check: (1d20+4)[16]/(1d20+4)[14]
Open Lock: (1d20+7)[10]

Box 3:
Trap check: (1d20+4)[12]/(1d20+4)[15]
Open Lock: (1d20+7)[10]

When Red brings up the topic of the pterafolk, Draelin thinks it over. "Got a few things I'd want to finish up here, but now the pterafolk know people have been here - that one that saw Qawasha's handiwork will probably tell the others - we can't exactly work freely around here without risking getting caught out by them, so I'm all for taking them out."

[Pyrophilios]

"That's why we should do this sooner than later. Speaking of which - why are you all playing around with these boxes instead of opening them?"

The Red Horns commanded his construct to assist him, while he took out his own picks and went to work

Spoiler

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Lockpicking with advantage

Box 1: (1d20+5)[24]/(1d20+5)[18]
Box 2: (1d20+5)[7]/(1d20+5)[13]
Box 3: (1d20+5)[25]/(1d20+5)[12]

"Damn, the second one seems to have a broken lock, I'm afraid we have to use force to open it."

[The Hellbug]

"Absolutely," Nolwenn agrees with the elf, "but we should find Qawasha first. He has no idea what our plans are or the specific danger of pterafolk, and he's probably very tired if he was out all night in that rain. I last saw him near his kin's home, but he may have returned to the top of the stairs up from the basin." She rolls her eyes but manages to hold her tongue for once at Red's jibe.

________

Once the three are out away from Nanny Pu'pu's home--out of earshot at least--Nolwenn, now clad in the chief's raiment, looks around to make sure no one's in earshot and turns to the others with a serious look on her face. "Listen, something doesn't add up here," she says in a hushed voice, "I don't think Nanny Pu'pu's been telling us the whole truth. These ruins, this wasn't a small town and it wasn't a poor one either"--she emphasizes her point by holding out the chief's cloak--"and didn't Qawasha say that the people here hunted dinosaurs? It would have had to be a really big pterafolk nest to drive them out. And what about Nanny Pu'pu still being here? Why are they leaving her alone? She herself said they'd were cruel enough to kill the weak for pleasure. If that's the case, by all rights she should be long gone--I don't know if I've ever seen someone that old before. I couldn't fathom at her reasons, but I don't think she's being straight with us. Not totally, at least."

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horn nodded: "I've been wondering about that. I assumed their cruelty was to make her live with all the dead skulls of her lost loved ones. But that seems a bit too sophisticated for those creatures. At the same time I don't see how she could have benefited from being in league with the flying folk. This place is a prison for her, even if its one she doesn't want to leave.

We should talk to our guide about that."

[agignac]

The jewelry boxes prove to be worth the wait. A veritable trove of jewelry is found inside. Most of it is silver, though of varying quality. Lapis lazuli, amber, malachite, opal, river pearls, even a few with sapphire and emerald. Bracelets shaped like snakes with jeweled eyes, necklaces with heavy pendants that cover the entire chest, headdresses dripping with silver beads, earrings, anklets...there is a small fortune in jewelry here.

You head out into the beautiful morning, have a quick chat, then look for Qawasha. However, the druid isn't to be found. He's not near the homes he was mourning yesterday, nor near the results of his druidic handiwork at the gates. Colourful birds sing, and down in the Aldani Basin something trumpets a morning challenge. Insects whine, and small reptiles scurry around the ruins. But Qawasha is nowhere to be seen.

[Pyrophilios]

"I hessitate to ask, but... Do you think Qawasha might have let himself get abducted?"
The Red Horns sounded despondent and annoyed at the same time

"Well, it was only a matter of time before he got us or himself into trouble again. I'd say let's capture a pterafolk and ask some pointed questions."

[The Hellbug]

"What if it wasn't the pterafolk?" Nolwenn suggests, "I know if I'm not going to trust Nanny Pu'pu it's difficult to say when she might have been telling the truth, but she said the pterafolk don't see well at night, and Qawasha clearly disappeared in the night--it looks like he finished his ritual, after all. She also said they were greedy and interested in treasure, but there are still valuables throughout the village. They've clearly had months to scour it, and they haven't--Draelin searched in the most obvious places in the settlement for valuables and just found them there. Sure, they were hidden, but the pterafolk had time. I'm beginning to think someone else we don't know about might have done this and that Nanny Pu'pu is their ally, willing or otherwise." She ponders this for a moment before agreeing with Red. "But the pterafolk are definitely here, and if they have Qawasha, all that's bunk. Let's go pay them a visit."

[Volthawk]

Looking up at the sky, Draelin shrugs. "Do we need to go after him? He wasn't exactly the most helpful guide..." After a moment, he looks back at the others and grins. "Joking." Well, not entirely, but they didn't need to know that. "As for our host..." He was surprised that Nolwenn was the one to bring up concerns, and well-founded, if a little paranoid, ones at that. She was learning, huh? "It does make me wonder how much of value the pterafolk actually have - for all we know, if your suspicions are correct that's just a story she made up as bait for us to get ourselves killed. Still, we do need to have a look. She's not going anywhere, so we can figure out what to do with her after the pterafolk. Who knows, maybe one of them will know more than we thought about what's going on."

[Pyrophilios]

"We do know for a fact, that the Pterafolk have stolen and threatened people before from the other guides. I'd consider that reason enough to take care of them. Having the initiative for once would be welcome on my part."

The Red Horns remarked,