Chult Hex Crawl - IC

[agignac]

At this point you hear sounds coming from either side. You turn to find yourselves being surrounded by small frog-men (see slide deck for pics). Nine green-skinned grungs, standing from 2.5-3.5 feet high, and they all have arrows nocked in their short bows. The arrows are currently pointed down, however, and not at you. One of the warriors steps forward and speaks in a croaking language. Kupalue and Qawasha confer with each other in the vege pygmy language, and then Qawasha says, "You are being invited to speak with King Groak. Though I'm not sure "invited" is quite the correct translation."

[Volthawk]

Draelin chuckles at Qawasha's last statment. "I get it. The kind of invitation you don't decline." He thinks for a moment. "I suppose that means we're not getting killed for trespassing, at least not immediately. Unless their king just wants to pass sentence, but hey, that still presents an opporturnity. Maybe we're lucky and he needs something done the frogs can't do themselves."

[tonberrian]

"Yup! An epic quest that only we, the chosen ones, can do! Let's go!"

[Pyrophilios]

"Yes, too late now to try anything else.

The Red Horns sounded a bit defeated, but kept a straight posture while moving himself and his construct according to their escort's wishes.

[agignac]

Qawasha signals to the green grung that you will cooperate, and they lead you to your left and through an entrance into the thorn maze. It is strangely quiet inside, with no insect buzz. Every minute or so, you hear swishing/scraping sounds, as if the thorny walls are moving. The grung guide you confidently through a few twists and turns, and finally out of the maze and into the village of Dungrunglung.

Through an opening in the maze wall, you see a small lake surrounded by reed huts, ferns, and lily pads. Rising up from a flat island in the middle of the lake is a 60-foot tall shrine made of painted mud bricks, shaped in the likeness of a giant frog. Stairs climb from the lake shore to an open doorway carved into the frog’s fat belly. Patrolling the shrine’s perimeter are several small, grung with bright orange skin and shortbows.

Dotted about the shore are dozens of squat huts made from swamp moss and reeds, plastered together with mud. All have a single low opening, though a few have windows or a chimney. You can see curious grung, including small grunglets, peeking curiously out at you. They have various colours of shiny damp skin, including orange, green, purple and blue.

You guards lead you into the lake, which turns out to be more of a pond, covered in duckweed and lily pads. Only a few feet deep, the lake houses many fat catfish, which gulp air and insects at the surface. The ground is muddy and slick, and bones of past grung feasts turn under your feet.

Mucky and dripping, you climb the stairs into the shrine. The interior is one large, hollow room. Just inside the entrance is a clear pool of water.. Phosphorescent fungi illuminate the pool with soft, dreamy hues. Six blue grung are fussing with the fungi and tossing flower petals into the pool- they are supvervised by a vivid red grung. At the back of the shrine is an elevated semicircular basin of water 10 feet high. Wallowing in the basin is a grung with gold skin. On its brow rests a golden circlet. An orange-skinned grung perches nearby, shortbow at the ready.

Your escort stops you near the entrance, and bow deeply to the gold-skinned grung.

[The Hellbug]

Nolwenn is just as surprised as the others when the Grung hunters pop out of the bushes. With all those weapons already drawn, all she can do is put her hands out to show she's unarmed while she anxiously waits for their guide to handle the initial confrontation. Damn them for jumping the group before she had a chance to cast her spell of understanding. At Qawasha's beckoning, though, the wizard relaxes somewhat and steps in with the others. "Not exactly what I had in mind," she admits as the party is led through the maze of brambles, Red's condemnation of getting surrounded in the Grung's camp sitting squarely in her mind. "But it looks like we never had a choice," she adds, partially to save her own dignity, "they already knew exactly where we were and were ready to spring. Draelin's right, though, if they wanted us dead, they'd have attacked already."

As they get into the village proper, Nolwenn gets the guide's attention. "Qawasha, you seem to understand a bit of what they're saying. Can you impress on them that when I cast a spell, it won't be a harmful one?" she asks, continuing with an explanation, "it's a potent spell, and the ritual by which I cast it might be...anxiety-inducing for those uneducated in the arcane arts, but it's harmless, merely an incantation that will allow me to understand any language with perfect precision. Any misunderstandings with them could be"--she gestures to all the bow-wielding frog-men--"disastrous."

[agignac]

[backtracking a bit] As they walked through the village, Qawasha croaked inexpertly at their escort, who immediately called a halt. As the colourful grungs watched curiously, they waited for Nolwenn to cast her spell of understanding. Apparently they didn't want her casting spells in the shrine. As her ritual went on and on, they began to get nervous, and shortbows kept being raised, then going down again. The druid repeatedly reassured them, and they allowed her to finish the ten-minute ritual.

As the wizard put her hands down and nodded to the others, one of the guards croaked at Nolwenn.

Spoiler: Nolwenn only

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"It's done? Does she understand us now?" He turned to Nolwenn and said, "Prove it. My name is Kek. Tell the others my name."

[The Hellbug]

Red has seen it before, but Nolwenn's elaborate preparations for casting her spell are new to the rest of the group. This time, however, the armed grungs around the group have her especially careful to follow every step in her spellbook as carefully as she ever has. One treated and burned scrap of paper later, though, her spell is successful and what sounded like gibberish before is as plain as common to the wizard. Nolwenn nods to the guard and turns to her allies. "This is Kek," she says, holding her hand out towards the grung in an introductory gesture and being careful to speak their name loudly and clearly, "they wish for me to introduce them to you as a way to show my spell is no bluff." She turns back toward the humanoid frog. "Of course, my spell is only one of understanding. Unless they can speak our tongue, they have no way to tell what I'm saying saying."

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns followed along silently - the last thing he wanted was to make the grungs scrutinize him and his deathless nature.
The construct was bad enough to explain, but at least there was no necromancy involved.

[agignac]

They stood before the grung king, the silence stretching out. Finally the guard who'd introduced himself as Kek hissed, "Bow before the king!"

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns looked at Nolween for confirmation, but the gesture seemed to be pretty self explanatory - especially since all the other Grungs bowed before the frog monarch.

He bowed stiffly, still a bit unsure.

[The Hellbug]

Nolwenn follows suit as soon as she's instructed by Kek. "Oh, they said to bow!" she tells the others, still in the midst of her own.

[Volthawk]

Draelin smirks a little at the communication problems, still fairly confident they wouldn't be executed over a small misunderstanding in light of whatever circumstances forced the grungs to need them, and bows as well, putting a little flair into it.

[Holy-hunter]

Xarmus just follows along politely like he was a casual guest, meanwhile looking around with both interest and awe.

[agignac]

The warriors seem satisfied with the adventurers obeisance, and the king waves grandly. Speaking (well, croaking), slowly and loudly, he speaks. Nolwenn hurriedly translates as he goes. "Welcome to Dungrunglung, new friends! Your timing is perfection! I entreat you to stay with us, as honoured guests, so that you may witness a marvelous occurrence tomorrow night! For tomorrow night, I will woo and wed my bride, the goddess Nangnang!"

An orange-skinned grung, bristling with weapons, stepped forward and spoke to the king, "My liege, surely such a holy ritual should remain...private? Perhaps Nangnang will not want such creature to...witness her return?"

The king rounded suddenly on the warrior, and kicked out a strongly muscled leg. The warrior took the blow to the stomach and staggered back. The croaking turned harsh. "Silence, Roark! Do not doubt my true love's desire to wed me! In fact, this diverse group will only appeal to her charming vanity! For they will go forth into the jungle after, telling all of my nuptials, and spreading teh tale of our love." His voice returning to a "charming" croak again, he said, "What say you, travellers? Will you stay here as honoured guests?" There was a sudden increase in the tension in the shrine, as everybody waited to hear the answer to the king's question/demand.

[Pyrophilios]

"Why do I have the feeling that marrying a goddess will involve some trouble for us." The Red Horns murmured to himself. Still, he gave the king a deep bow, that hopefully indicated assent to his request.

[Volthawk]

Draelin chuckled as he heard a little of what the Red Horns was mumbling. Probably accurate, but here they are. This was quite interesting though, potential risk of being put up as an offering to a frog goddess aside. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm up for it. I've never seen a goddess before."

[The Hellbug]

Nolwenn can barely contain her relief as she translates for the rest of the party. She hadn't thought it would be the case, but up until the king's explanation there was still a lingering doubt in her head that she and her companions were here for dinner...as the main course. "I think it sounds like an excellent diversion," Nolwenn agrees, "and it's not like it'll be an actual goddess, right? Surely just some sort of symbolic marriage guaranteeing...whatever good things their gods guarantee. And being wined and dined here sounds like a good break from the rain and the hauling. Qawasha, give him a 'yes'." She accompanies Qawasha's answer with a well-practiced curtsy.

[agignac]

The druid gave a halting affirmation of your willingness to participate. The king waves you off, and the guard who introduced himself earlier guides you to an empty reed hut. There is no furniture, but there are bug-screens on the windows, and it's big enough for you all to lay your bedrolls out.

Kek tells you not to go back into the shrine without permission, but that you're free to look around the village.

If you have anything you'd like to do/see, let me know. Otherwise I'll move things along on Monday.

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns was content to set up his workspace and continue to work on his project - havin a full day to devote to this was quite refreshing and he continued to work and tweek for hours.

[The Hellbug]

Now safely in the hut, Nolwenn takes a seat to discuss their situation with her companions. "Not exactly what I'd hope for as an honored guest, but it's better than a tent in the jungle," she comments on their lodging first before launching into the question she had meant to ask, "does anyone know anything about jungle gods and goddesses? Even the ones of my home never held my interest, and my education on them was slight."

Spoiler: OOC

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Anyone got Religion as a skill?

[Pyrophilios]

The Red Horns answered a bit absentmindedly:

"Well, not exactly learned, just picked up some information here and there. Most of those gods are just powerful monsters, elementals, angels or fiends. Though thinking about it with the given description..."

Spoiler

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(1d20+5)[18] Religion

[agignac]

The Red Horns remembers reading something about Trickster Gods here in Chult. Perhaps Nangnang is one of them, the goddess of the grungs?

Qawasha nods his head slowly, adding, "Yes, I have heard of the trickster gods, though I do not know much about them. When you asked about the undead, and I told you of Ras Nsi, I mentioned Ubtao. Ubtao was our god, he looked over the land of Chult. But he turned his back on us, and left us some hundreds of years ago. The people of the holy city of Omu - now the lost city of Omu - turned to trickster gods, and worshipped them instead. But I don't believe they are worshipped any more. At least, not by humans." He sighed, then added, "the gods, like people, are fickle. It is better to put your faith in nature, than a powerful being who can behave like a child."

The afternoon is hot and muggy, but the reed hut keeps the air somewhat cooler than outside. A young grung brings drinks, a strange, tangy, murky concoction. After you've been there several hours, a red grung enters furtively through the door. She looks quickly at each of you, then croaks, "You can understand me, yes?" Nolwenn nods, and the grung continues. "I am Krr'ook, high priest to the king." She lowers her voice, then continues, "I've come to you for help. Our king is quite mad, and truly believes we will summon Nangnang tomorrow, and that she will consent to marry him. When she doesn't arrive...I fear for our people. King Groak is very violent when thwarted, and he has his heart set on this. I am afraid...."

She pulls out a small wooden chest, and opens it up to reveal several pots of paint. "I have these magical pigments. If you use them to paint an object, it will become real. I have tested it, and painted a door where there wasn't one. It is my hope...perhaps one of you have the skill to paint Nangnang? I know you have magics beyond my own. Could you paint her, and make her move, or speak? Perhaps we can fool the king, enough to keep him happy. If you help me in this, you can keep the rest of the paints.

"The ceremony is tomorrow night. I will be busy with preparations all day. Please, will you help us?"

[Pyrophilios]

When The Red Horns heard the translation, he perked up: "Marvelous Pigments... Hm, yes, what a marvelous idea. Though to my knowledge these colors produce nothing worth more than 25 gold.
Can you get a good description of how Nangnang is supposed to look like?
In the meantime I can create my set of painting tools. With those I'm reasonably proficient and should be able to produce a good likeness."

Spoiler

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I can use my "The Right Tool" feature to gain proficiency with painting tools if no-one else has it.

[Volthawk]

As he listens to what they know of Nangnang, Draelin nods thoughtfully. Qawasha's assessment of the gods doesn't get much of a reaction from him - he was never one for dedication to one god, the way he saw it they all had their uses and places in the world - but the implications about Nangnang were concerning. Krr'ook's arrival and offer is more concerning, although Draelin's happy to let the others handle the painting and other additions - they're the ones with the magical knowledge to make it happen, after all. He instead focuses on the more practical problems. "And you want the king alive at the end of this, right? I mean - completely hypothetically, of course - if his madness is this dangerous it might be better to drop the dead weight now, and a group of outsiders that'll make a quick escape afterwards - after 'stealing' our reward for the job, of course - doing the deed is the perfect scapegoat that won't track back to you."

[The Hellbug]

Ideas are already spinning in Nolwenn's head as she translates Krr'ook's words for the rest of the group. "Oh yes, I have a number of spells that..." she begins to build off of The Red Horns until Draelin's suggestion registers with her, bringing her entirely to a halt. "Don't you think it's a little quick to be suggesting regicide?" she asks, leveling a doubtful look at the elf, "even disregarding the fact that it's by his hospitality that we're guests here, that's ludicrous. I certainly sensed the temper Krr'ook is talking about, but it's hardly our place to render a judgement so...severe." That said, Draelins suggestion does pull her back to reality in one way: trusting strangers with such a deception is extremely desperate, and she scrutinizes Krr'ook's words and bearing once more.

Spoiler: Insight

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Insight: (1d20+1)[9]

[agignac]

Krr'ook looks desperate, she clearly is afraid of the king's temper, and doesn't believe the ritual tomorrow will work. Qawasha looks alarmed at the talk of regicide, and refuses to translate that part. WHen asked about what Nangnang looks like, Krr'ook shrugged. "We have some primitive carvings, but that's all. She's a beautiful grung. Probably gold, or maybe silver? Just make her beautiful."

[Pyrophilios]

"Oh great, what is a beautiful grung... Hm, well, assuming that symetric features are an indication of healthy blood and successful procreation is what life is all about, we can assume strong muscle tonus and enough reserves to create spawn..."

The Red Horns drifted off in speculation while he pulled out a notepad and began writing, while looking at the grung outside, going about their business. He mumbled words like "Sexual dimorphism" and "Tadpole phase" while jotting down notes.

Spoiler

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Investigation check to get a good image of what a beautiful grung should look like

(1d20+7)[8]

That... doesn't bode well.

[The Hellbug]

Nolwenn, too, is not particularly well-versed in standards of grung beauty, but The Red Horns certainly seems enthusiastic to tackle it even if his methodology seems a little strange in its focus. A different problem stands out to her. "The trick, though is this," the wizard begins, "magics and tricks though we might have--like I said, I have a number of spells that could be useful in setting up such a charade--but none of us can stay here to continue the performance forever. We need a solution that allows us to take our hands off, or we're just dooming the tribe to the king's wrath once he realizes he's been fooled. A refusal by the goddess comes to mind--" she raises her hands up above her head and lowers her voice, miming a being of great power--" 'you may be king, but you're still a small-minded mortal, not worthy of my divine attention and magnificent being', but I could see him taking that badly--perhaps blaming it on the priests failing in their rituals or deciding that we outsiders being present displeased her and drove her off. Does anyone have any ideas on that front?"

[Volthawk]

Nolwenn and Qawasha's reactions to his suggestion just gets a shrug back from Draelin. "What? It's the time-honoured way of dealing with a mad king, particularly since our other solutions are...dubious. But sure, let's put that to one side for now." He thinks over Nolwenn's suggestions, before an idea comes to mind. "What about a quest? Some challenge or trial the king must overcome before he can marry the goddess. I'm sure our friend here can help us come up with something that fits the narrative around this goddess, and then we'll have created an obstacle he must overcome before he can continue along this idea. Might buy enough time for the people here to come up with a better solution, or might stop him in his tracks entirely. Hell, if the quest takes him out of the city - make sure it specifies that he personally must go to the destination - that gives them even more breathing room, particularly if..." Draelin shrugs. He wanted to continue with "we're lucky and he dies out in the jungle", but the previous reaction to his idea told him to keep that part unsaid.