Chult Hex Crawl - IC

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns directed his construct to help Draelin while he himself began to search through the nearest heap that used to be a hut. He didn't see the need to hurry right now. Everything was too late now anyway.

[The Hellbug]

Nolwenn, true to her word, stays with Qawasha, helping him with whatever he needs at the ruin he's drawn to and just being, well, present. The town's complete devastation continues to be a shock, but the rotten wood and eroded architecture pique her curiosity. Draelin was right; this surely happened years ago (or at least months if she accounts for her unfamiliarity with the jungle climate and its effects on such deterioration). If it was that long ago, why was it a surprise? In hindsight, the first clue was the state of the path up the cliff--how had word of something, anything, being wrong not made it to Qawasha, a jungle guide of all people? She ponders this silently as she sifts through the wreckage.

After a time, though, the wizard notices the smoke lazily drifting skyward in the distance and seeks out Draelin and The Red Horns to confer. "You all noticed that smoke, right?" she asks, pointing it out in case the others hadn't noticed it, "we're not alone up here. What do you all make of it?"

[Volthawk]

The shrine looked like hard work to clear, but at least the group's bags of holding meant that his shovel and other tools weren't left behind with the canoes. While he worked, he pondered the statues, wondering if any of the scraps of Chultan lore he'd picked up over the years preparing for this journey had anything to do with it. Statues themselves probably weren't worth much - unless they brought them all the way back home where the sheer distance and mystique would add value, perhaps...

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History: (1d20+4)[16]
Religion: (1d20+2)[13]

During one of his breaks, he joins The Red Horns and Nolwenn, listening to what she has to say. Bringing up the hut gets him looking in that direction thoughtfully. "Two possibilities seem most likely. Either a local made it out, or wasn't here when it happened, and decided to stay here instead of moving on, or whoever did this left someone behind. Hm...I suppose we need to find out one way or another."

[Pyrophilios]

"Smoke?" The Red Horns had been a bit too focused on his work to look at something so obvious.

"Oh, I see. Well, let's check it out while we have light. We can resume the digging afterwards."

[The Hellbug]

"Good, we're in agreement, then; we need to pay them a visit," Nolwenn agrees with a nod, "for safety's sake at least. I'll need a few minutes to prepare a spell, but I so no reason not to go directly after."

________

Once they're hiking through the ruins, she speaks up again. "There is actually one more possibility," she adds to Draelin's suppositions, "it could be someone unrelated who just moved in afterward. Although,"--she makes a face and gestures at the ruins--"if that's the case they may not be any better than whoever did this."

Spoiler: Spell

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That's Comprehend Languages as a ritual, just in case.

[Pyrophilios]

"It's a good general asumption that everything out here wants to eat, kill and/or rob us on general principles."

The Red Horns had once again his construct at his side and looked into the distance.

"Maybe a little flyby would be best to get the lay of the land beforehand."

[Volthawk]

"Yeah, but if you see them up there there's a good chance they'll see you too. Let me have a look from the ground first - I can use the rocks to hide my approach, maybe get a look inside, and keep it quiet."

If there are no objections, Draelin starts sneaking towards the hut.

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Stealth: (1d20+7)[17]

[The Hellbug]

"Wait wait wait, my magic can help," Nolwenn suggests, taking his wrist to stop him, "it will render you entirely invisible to mundane eyes; very useful."

She steps back to cast her spell, and the elf instantly vanishes from sight when she touches him again. "It has limitations though," the young wizard warns him before he can sneak away, "it's better to imagine that you are less 'invisible' and more 'in a position of me having convinced reality that you are invisible.' Best not to take any action that will make it reconsider. To wit, any magic of your own will draw attention to your anomalous state and attempting to harm anyone will interfere with the harmonious nature of the spell. Safer, really, to not even think very fierce thoughts. Subtlety and parsimony are your friends. Be careful."

[agignac]

Invisible Draelin sneaks silently forward until he can get a better view. There are plenty of boulders around, and a small copse of trees near the intact hut. The hut is made from thatch and animal hides, stretched over the rib cage of an immense reptile. Animal skulls, wind chimes and totems of feathers and shells rattle in the breeze, and smoke drifts from the hut.

A creature shuffles slowly around the hut, hunched over in an animal-like posture. You realize it's a human woman: impossibly old, crippled by arthritis, half-blinded by cataracts. Her dark face and bald head are outlined with streaks of yellow clay suggesting the shape of a skull - or perhaps it's her shriveled flesh creating that illusion.

Spoiler: image

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[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns nodded: "Magic is a fickle ally at the best of times - but illusions are especially problematic. Don't take any chances. Here, take this. Tap it ones and throw it away from you into a bush. It will call out as a distraction for five seconds - should give you a moment to steal yourself away."
He gave Draelin a flat stone and demonstrated. At a sharp tap with his fingernail there was a delay of one second before the stone began to croak like the large dinosaurs they had seen and hear yesterday.

"It's not particularly loud - can only be heard about 10ft away, but in the right cirumstances that might be just what you need. Just don't tap it accidentally"

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Simple application of magical tinkering

[The Hellbug]

"Oh, very clever!" Nolwenn remarks about Red's device, feeling very pleased about herself as well, as Draelin sneaks off before her face turns to a frown, "wait, did you just call my magic problematic?"

[Volthawk]

Draelin takes advantage of his invisible state to survey the scene a little longer. Human, then. Some kind of magician or shaman? Hard to tell how she'd receive strangers, anyway. He considered how effective a quick decisive blow while she's unaware of him might be - probably quite so, given her aged state. But her knowledge may be useful, if she's willing to tell it.

Alright. Draelin made a decision and started to head back. Once he makes it to the others, he gets up and starts talking - he doesn't know enough about invisibility to know if and when it'll fade, but he doesn't let that stop him. "One person in there, an old woman. Very old. Looks like she might have some kind of magic - you know, one of those looks and homes that makes you think that way - so it's probably best you two come with me. I can't tell if she'll be friendly or not, but it's worth a try talking. She might know more about what happened, where we're going, and if we need to be concerned about what caused this."

[Pyrophilios]

"Oh, very clever!" Nolwenn remarks about Red's device, feeling very pleased about herself as well, as Draelin sneaks off before her face turns to a frown, "wait, did you just call my magic problematic?"

"Not your magic specifically, no. But you have to admit, that illusion magic is rather... unreliable. Though never mind. Let's discuss this some other time."

As Draelin returned, The Red Horns nodded:
"Let's approach openly and hope for a friendly greeting, but be ready for anything."

[The Hellbug]

"Hmph!" The wizard replies with dismissive petulance, but she doesn't push the issue any further.

___________

The first sounds of Draelin's return put Nolwenn on guard, but as soon as he announces himself her mood is restored in short order. "Oh no! I'm sorry!" she apologizes, dismissing the spell with a flourish of her hand, "I never told you how long the spell would last. Fortunately, it could have been a whole hour if you had wished."

After digesting the elf's report, the next step is obvious to her. "We should tell Qawasha first. He's been here before, and if she's that old, maybe he'll know her."

[agignac]

Qawasha was roused from his grief by their questions. Looking over to the intact hut, he shrugged. "I remember my cousin mentioning a witch doctor living on the edge of town - apparently she helped with births, sometimes. But I never met her."

He pulled himself to his feet, and said, "If you wish to speak with her, go ahead. I will remain here, and begin to put these people to rest. Please don't disturb me; my ceremony will take up a great amount of concentration, and will take the rest of the day and into the night. Tomorrow, if you wish, we will continue to the oracle at Orolunga."

[The Hellbug]

"Take whatever time you need," Nolwenn tells their guide with a nod. In truth, she's not particularly interested in leaving until she has a better idea about what disaster happened here, but she doesn't bother Qawasha with that at the moment.

"Let's go introduce ourselves then; good first impressions, right?"

[Volthawk]

Draelin nods in response to Qawasha. "Reasonable. We'll leave you to it."

With that, he indicates for Red and Nolwenn to follow him so they can talk without getting in Qawasha's way. "Way I see it is this - she doesn't seem immediately hostile, but the fact is that she's here when the rest of the town isn't. That means three things - either she's tough enough to survive whatever happened but she couldn't - or decided not to - save the village, she wasn't here when it happened, or she helped make it happen. Sure, we can't assume she's a bad sort, but we should be careful. I'll go first - if it goes bad, I'm fast enough to get away if need be and good up-close if we can't get away. You two need to worry about her magic - I don't know what she may be capable of, but you two have the knowledge and maybe the ability to do something about it? We take a friendly approach though."

[The Hellbug]

Nolwenn nods in agreement. "I'll do my best," she assures the others, "but I can't necessarily speak to its efficacy."

She continues on, rotely paraphrasing one of her tutor's lessons. "To protect against magic, one must be on guard for anything and everything, but to defeat another with it, one must only find the weakness their opponent neglected...what I'm trying to say is that, if magic is brought to bear against us, my expertise may only be the difference between obliviousness towards or certainty of the same inevitable conclusion."

"So yes, we should be careful."

__________

Nolwenn makes no effort to hide herself, though she's nervously silent, as the group approaches the old woman and her home. "Hello!" she stops and hails loudly with a wave as soon as she's in easy view of the town's final resident.

Spoiler: OOC

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You said there was rubble nearby, so Nolwenn's going to stop and announce herself (and the group) as soon as she clears it. She'll wait for a greeting or invitation from here. I had assumed that could be like 80 feet away but beggars can't be choosers.

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns frowned, trying to follow that logic: "One of the few things I remember clearly from my past was: If you want to win massacre the other bastard first. I think that applies to magic as well.
Though I think we should just run if we are attacked and slap each other if one of us doesn't look like they want to run."

He fell silent as they reached the old woman.

[agignac]

The old woman, ghastly though her face-paint was, seemed to be puttering happily around her garden. She pulled a few weeds from the dark soil, and took a few clippings. She didn't notice you three approach, and jumped when Nolwenn called a careful hello.

Turning to you, she squinted her eyes, peering in your direction. "Eh? Who's there? If you're thieves, don't bother. I'm a poor old woman, with nothing worth stealing." She turned her head a little, back and forth, as if trying to make you out clearly. Even from 80 feet away, you can see the white cataracts that cloud her vision.

[Pyrophilios]

"We are no thieves, merely travelers who had hoped to find shelter in the village for a day or two. Though obviously, we were disapointed and horrified. Can you tell us, what happened there?"

The Red Horns asked

[Volthawk]

Draelin relaxes a little at the woman's reaction, but not fully - he'd had enough experience with people who weren't what they appeared back in the cities he learned his trade in to be cautious. "Yeah, most people don't stick around when their village is turned into a graveyard."

[agignac]

The old woman peered myopically up at them. "Ah, explorers, are you? Come to trade with the wealth of Mbala? Well, you're a few years too late?" She cackled, then broke out into a cough. "It was the pterafolk that did this. Bloody big nest of them, not far off. Though the flock thinned out a bit after the buffet here was finished. Didn't all get eaten, some moved off when it came clear the bastards weren't going to be beaten or driven off."

She gestered to herself, her bent back and skinny legs. "No way I'm getting down that trail - it's been three decades since I last walked that. And nobody volunteered to carry poor Nanny Pu'pu down the trail. Even though I delivered more than half of them. So here I am, tending my garden, too stringy to eat."

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns pulled his wings closer in, to make them look more like a cloak:

"Well, that is really unfortunate. Do you need help to come down and move somewhere safer?"

[agignac]

The old woman batted a hand in negation. "Bah, I'm too old to make a new life somewhere else now. If you want to help an old woman, you could root out the nearest nest of those ugly bastards. There's an entrance just down the trail. It would make my heart rest easy if I didn't have to see them flying over every other day."

Peering up at them again, she added, "Either way, why don't you come and stay with me tonight. It's not much, but it'll keep you dry when the rains come. If one of you strong lads can bring down some game, I can expand my stew for four."

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns nodded: "That sounds lovely. It's been pretty miserable the last few days in the swamp. I'm not sure I know what dryness is anymore. Anyway, I'll see what I can come up with."

He turned to go, but gave the others time to object or give a counter suggestion.

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Survival: Advantage from Steel Defender help(1d20+3)[15]/(1d20+3)[11]

[The Hellbug]

Nolwenn breathes a sigh of relief when the old woman turns down The Red Horns' offer--she wasn't relishing needing to choose between helping her and continuing on their journey. "Five," she corrects, "there's our guide as well. He had family among the villagers here. He's seeing to their rites as we speak." What she doesn't say is that she's still suspicious of the whole situation here. If people escaped, how did the port not know? How many people could be just living out here in the jungle?

"Nolwenn, by the way," she adds in introduction, "we'd be most grateful."

[Volthawk]

Draelin nods. He still wasn't entirely sure about the situation, but it seemed like a safe enough offer to accept. "I don't see a reason to say no. Red, can you handle getting that food? I'd like to keep working on what I was doing earlier while we have daylight." He thinks a little more, then looks back at the old woman. "So these pterafolk, do they raid everyone around here? Do they take valuables or are they more interested in just killing off the competition?" He pauses.

[agignac]

Their now-host glanced at the elf and said, "Oh, they're terrible thieves. If it glitters, they'll take it. If it's made of meat, they'll eat it. If it looks weak, they'll kill it for fun." She shuddered dramatically, making the bones in her hair rattle and clack. She tilted her head, squinting, then added, "If it's loot you want, you might want to try the chief's house, or what was left of it. He had twelve daughters."

She raised an arm and made an unnatural clucking/screeching noise. There was a flurry of movement from the crown of a nearby tree, and a golden creature swooped down to land on her arm. It looked like a cross between a monkey and a bird. You have seen glimpses of these animals from the treetops, but haven't seen one up close yet.

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The witch doctor spoke to it in a strange language, and it chattered back. "My friend here will guide you to the chief's house, or what's left of it," she added with a cackle.

Are we splitting up? Red to hunt, Draelin to loot, and Nolwenn to....?

[The Hellbug]

"I'll go with you," Nolwenn says with a nod at Draelin, "I've never been a good hunter anyway."