Pisgah gets back without any issues. The owlbears seem used enough to his appearance, still in their corner, no doubt digesting their recent meal. One of them is dozing, the other eyeing the goat with mild interest.
The quadrone is still marching its eternal circle around the caryatids, paying the barbarian and Cabrito little mind.
1. four bullywugs (frog-people) 2. three snakelike creatures with beaks and tentacles instead of a normal mouth [Canti and Rico]: gricks 3. two elves with long flowing hair and equipped with scimitars 4. four rust monsters 5. five humanoid reptilian creatures that seem like a mix of lizardfolk and toad and have long claws [Canti and Rico]: troglodytes 6. six goats 7. a boar 8. a large snake 9. a kenku wearing dungeoneering equipment 10. a lizardfolk wielding an assortment of hooked weapons 11. a humanoid with the head of a squid and a flowing robe with an elaborate tentacle motif 12. a scaly humanoid with sharp claws, a single huge central eye and a hunched posture [Rico]: a nothic 13. a powerfully built orc wearing elaborate fur armor and a large axe [Pisgah]: clearly a war chief of some tribe 14. a very big badger 15. a hunched humanoid entirely covered with fur and a feline face [Canti and Rico]: a quaggoth 16. a scrawny half-elf with dungeoneering equipment
ArdneK will once again look at the statues down the hall. "Hmm, I'm not sure how many of these statues I would want to bring back to skin. Nothics, Troglodytes, Gricks! Perhaps the elves and Kenku would be friendly to us, and thankful, or perhaps they will attack on sight. Hmm. What do you all think?"
Pisgah leads Cabrito over to chamber 1 (with the 4 Bullywog statues) and ties Cabrito to one of them, leaving just a few feet of slack in the rope, then goes to the Kenku statue. "I don't know if I will need help with this or not.", as he attempts to lift/push/drag the statue to the light between the Caryatids. STRENGTH roll of 23 (Nat 20 -- for some reason this rolled twice but only should have been a single roll.....IDK what happened. )
Once Pisgah is clear of the light he says "Alright Canti, do your thing!"
As commanded, the statues produce the flash once more.
Once the light flash has subsided, you see how the kenku statue slowly begins to move as it rapidly depetrifies. The little bird person stumbles forward a few steps, sees your party, and freezes. You now see that its feathers are a speckled dark brown and the eyes a dull red.
One feathered hand flicks to the belt, where it finds the hilt of a dagger. It lips out of the sheath and is pointed at the closest person [presumably Canti or Pisgah].
With a surprisingly deep and scratchy voice, the kenku exclaims "Ye got five seconds to explain yerself! Who are ye?! Where's the old fool who dared turn Woodscrape to stone?!"
ArdneK positioned himself to the backside of the statue, hiding in the shadows, a short sword in each hand. He watches as it comes back to skin and speaks, waiting to see what the others say and how they react.
The kobold had no desire to feed the goat to the Owlbears, however if this Kenku is a problem, he won't hesitate to feed the hungry creatures.
"Should I be quicker to protect the Kenku then the goat?" he thinks to himself, "...stop thinking, ...react when it's time, you know what's right."
He shakes the thoughts from his head, ready to react, to defend his new friends.
Pisgah holds up his hands with his palms out, "Hold friend, we mean you no harm. We found you as a statue. We learned how to undo the spell. We only are trying to figure out what happened. I am guessing you are Woodscrape? Can you tell us what happened?" If the Kenku still acts hostile, Pisgah will bow up and try to intimidate him by saying "Stop it! We are trying to help you. Do not get hostile! We are trying to help?" INITIMDATION roll of 6 (....well crap...)
The kenku stares furiously at Pisgah for a moment, clearly mulling something over. Before the barbarian has to resort to intimidation, the dagger has lowered a little bit. A careful red eye inspects the rest of the party, including a side glance at ArdneK, whom the kenku notices at last. The little person ultimately seems to come to the conclusion that the situation called for calmer minds.
Slipping the dagger back into the hilt, but keeping a hand on the hilt, the kenkus says "Aye, Woodscape be me. And who are ye? Don't like asking twice."
Woodscrape looks around, inspecting the surroundings as if seeing them for the first time. "This be Undermountain, aye? This doesn't look like the Lost Level." The kenku growls. "That shitty wizard!" Woodscrape makes a movement as if strangling the air.
Seeing the rest of the petrified statues, the kenku starts inspecting them one by one, growing increasingly exasperated, clearly looking for something, growling "Where be the rest of me crew?!"
They seems to have almost forgotten that you're even there, stomping down the hallway with the petried creatures.
" Hey Woodscape, what do you mean by the Lost Level? Who was in your crew that you are missing? We can try to help if we know who we are looking for and where you last saw them. "
The kenku responds during his investigation of the petrified creatures.
"Ye know 'bout the structure 'o this place? Levels all the way down, aye? We got to number six, called Lost Level. Dunno why it's called that. Old dwarven ruin or some such. Me crew was under Captain Morrissey."
The birdfolk pauses, looking somberly at the petrified nothic.
"They're with Umberlee now I reckon."
[General Religion] Everyone knows Umberlee, especially if you're from Waterdeep. The sea goddess most often worshiped by sailors or people traveling by sea.
The little humanoid squints at ArdneK on eye level.
"Same thing ye are I reckon. Looking for booty. " Woodscrape scrutinizes the kobold, probably assessing net worth. "First time I've seen this place though, must've passed it by."
"Captain said it was the job of a lifetime. 'The deeper ye dig, the richer ye get' were his words. Didn't tell us about the wizard though, walkin' around, PETRIFYIN' people." The kenku speaks the word like a personal insult.
"Gotta leave. Not doing this again. Don't even know how long I was out."
"Wait, before you go, can you tell us where you came across the wizard and how he turned you to stone? Here, I'll give you the gold piece for the back up the well to the Yawning Portal. " Pisgah holds out a gold piece to the kenku.
Woodscrape looks at the gold piece for a moment. [Insight, Rico: A kenkus facial expression is difficult to read, but Rico has the distinct impression that Woodscrape is amused by the offer.]
The kenku takes the gold. "Thank ye sir!" "The wizard got us in a big room after we had explored around in the Lost Level. There were four big pillars and a fancy looking double door in front of us with a gem shape in it. The wizard appeared behind us and said something about “Turn ye back! Ye are not welcome here!” Before I could think of a good insult, he had slung this curse at me!
Rummaging in its pack, the little birdfolk produces something that looks like a decorative white feather wrapped semi-artfully with some string and holds it up to Pisgah. "It be me who should be thanking ye, for freeing me. I made this meself."
They then go around and offer everyone a similar item, all of them feathers in different colors. Black for ArdneK, speckled grey for Canti and striped brown for Rico. The kenku squints at Steel for a moment, but doesn't offer anything to the defender. Cabrito gets a pat on the head.
Woodscrape then adjusts their backpack, looking to head off.
[Waiting a bit in case Canti and and Rico also have questions.]
Pisgah gets back without any issues. The owlbears seem used enough to his appearance, still in their corner, no doubt digesting their recent meal. One of them is dozing, the other eyeing the goat with mild interest.
The quadrone is still marching its eternal circle around the caryatids, paying the barbarian and Cabrito little mind.
I will duck back into the hallway (away from the Owlbears) to wait for the rest of the party.
ArdneK will once again look at the statues down the hall. "Hmm, I'm not sure how many of these statues I would want to bring back to skin. Nothics, Troglodytes, Gricks! Perhaps the elves and Kenku would be friendly to us, and thankful, or perhaps they will attack on sight. Hmm. What do you all think?"
"I think we try for the Kenku or one of the elves first and see what happens. I think I would opt for the Kenku. "
Canti appears to consider before shrugging. "I have no wisdom to share. The kenku it is!"
"OK, let's try a Kenku! Everyone be on guard. Hopefully its not like your last Kenku and he opens up by dropping a fireball on us!" ArdneK says.
Pisgah leads Cabrito over to chamber 1 (with the 4 Bullywog statues) and ties Cabrito to one of them, leaving just a few feet of slack in the rope, then goes to the Kenku statue. "I don't know if I will need help with this or not.", as he attempts to lift/push/drag the statue to the light between the Caryatids. STRENGTH roll of 23 (Nat 20 -- for some reason this rolled twice but only should have been a single roll.....IDK what happened. )
Once Pisgah is clear of the light he says "Alright Canti, do your thing!"
Canti grins, lifts her chin to shake her mop of gray hair out of her eyes, and says in a loud, clear voice, "Elf magic!"
As commanded, the statues produce the flash once more.
Once the light flash has subsided, you see how the kenku statue slowly begins to move as it rapidly depetrifies. The little bird person stumbles forward a few steps, sees your party, and freezes. You now see that its feathers are a speckled dark brown and the eyes a dull red.
One feathered hand flicks to the belt, where it finds the hilt of a dagger. It lips out of the sheath and is pointed at the closest person [presumably Canti or Pisgah].
With a surprisingly deep and scratchy voice, the kenku exclaims "Ye got five seconds to explain yerself! Who are ye?! Where's the old fool who dared turn Woodscrape to stone?!"
ArdneK positioned himself to the backside of the statue, hiding in the shadows, a short sword in each hand. He watches as it comes back to skin and speaks, waiting to see what the others say and how they react.
The kobold had no desire to feed the goat to the Owlbears, however if this Kenku is a problem, he won't hesitate to feed the hungry creatures.
"Should I be quicker to protect the Kenku then the goat?" he thinks to himself, "...stop thinking, ...react when it's time, you know what's right."
He shakes the thoughts from his head, ready to react, to defend his new friends.
Pisgah holds up his hands with his palms out, "Hold friend, we mean you no harm. We found you as a statue. We learned how to undo the spell. We only are trying to figure out what happened. I am guessing you are Woodscrape? Can you tell us what happened?" If the Kenku still acts hostile, Pisgah will bow up and try to intimidate him by saying "Stop it! We are trying to help you. Do not get hostile! We are trying to help?" INITIMDATION roll of 6 (....well crap...)
The kenku stares furiously at Pisgah for a moment, clearly mulling something over. Before the barbarian has to resort to intimidation, the dagger has lowered a little bit. A careful red eye inspects the rest of the party, including a side glance at ArdneK, whom the kenku notices at last. The little person ultimately seems to come to the conclusion that the situation called for calmer minds.
Slipping the dagger back into the hilt, but keeping a hand on the hilt, the kenkus says "Aye, Woodscape be me. And who are ye? Don't like asking twice."
Woodscrape looks around, inspecting the surroundings as if seeing them for the first time. "This be Undermountain, aye? This doesn't look like the Lost Level." The kenku growls. "That shitty wizard!" Woodscrape makes a movement as if strangling the air.
Seeing the rest of the petrified statues, the kenku starts inspecting them one by one, growing increasingly exasperated, clearly looking for something, growling "Where be the rest of me crew?!"
They seems to have almost forgotten that you're even there, stomping down the hallway with the petried creatures.
" Hey Woodscape, what do you mean by the Lost Level? Who was in your crew that you are missing? We can try to help if we know who we are looking for and where you last saw them. "
The kenku responds during his investigation of the petrified creatures.
"Ye know 'bout the structure 'o this place? Levels all the way down, aye? We got to number six, called Lost Level. Dunno why it's called that. Old dwarven ruin or some such. Me crew was under Captain Morrissey."
The birdfolk pauses, looking somberly at the petrified nothic.
"They're with Umberlee now I reckon."
[General Religion] Everyone knows Umberlee, especially if you're from Waterdeep. The sea goddess most often worshiped by sailors or people traveling by sea.
ArdneK approaches him, swords back in their sheaths.
"What was your group doing here in the undermountain? Did you see this place with the statues when you were with your group?"
The little humanoid squints at ArdneK on eye level.
"Same thing ye are I reckon. Looking for booty. " Woodscrape scrutinizes the kobold, probably assessing net worth.
"First time I've seen this place though, must've passed it by."
"Captain said it was the job of a lifetime. 'The deeper ye dig, the richer ye get' were his words. Didn't tell us about the wizard though, walkin' around, PETRIFYIN' people." The kenku speaks the word like a personal insult.
"Gotta leave. Not doing this again. Don't even know how long I was out."
"Wait, before you go, can you tell us where you came across the wizard and how he turned you to stone? Here, I'll give you the gold piece for the back up the well to the Yawning Portal. " Pisgah holds out a gold piece to the kenku.
Woodscrape looks at the gold piece for a moment. [Insight, Rico: A kenkus facial expression is difficult to read, but Rico has the distinct impression that Woodscrape is amused by the offer.]
The kenku takes the gold. "Thank ye sir!"
"The wizard got us in a big room after we had explored around in the Lost Level. There were four big pillars and a fancy looking double door in front of us with a gem shape in it. The wizard appeared behind us and said something about “Turn ye back! Ye are not welcome here!” Before I could think of a good insult, he had slung this curse at me!
Rummaging in its pack, the little birdfolk produces something that looks like a decorative white feather wrapped semi-artfully with some string and holds it up to Pisgah. "It be me who should be thanking ye, for freeing me. I made this meself."
They then go around and offer everyone a similar item, all of them feathers in different colors. Black for ArdneK, speckled grey for Canti and striped brown for Rico. The kenku squints at Steel for a moment, but doesn't offer anything to the defender. Cabrito gets a pat on the head.
Woodscrape then adjusts their backpack, looking to head off.
[Waiting a bit in case Canti and and Rico also have questions.]
"Thank you" says the kobold, taking the gift. "Would you like to know the date, to let you know how long it's been?"
Ardnek will tell him if he likes, or not, up to Wondscrape.
"Oh, and if you run across any of Xanathar's guards, ..." and I will tell him the passphrase/challenge.
Then, in Thieves Cant, he will add... [just out of curiosity]
Good luck out there Woodscrape.
Rico would like to know the last date the kenko remembers, so she knows how long he's been down here.