-/-/- Tomb of Annihilation -\-\-

Quote from BeastyC >>

Wis Save: 9

 Felix feels very much the Valindra's mind intrusion. It is like peeling an onion. For every layer, one piece of Felix's memories is revealed to Valindra clear as the sky.

"Fenthaza, the yuan-ti priestess? Very well. You rest here and prepare for the Tomb. I wish you good luck... until we will meet again."

Valindra leaves the shrine, silently. The cubes fall on the floor.

"At least give us the two cubes. We'll go ahead and clear the Tomb. There is no point for us to wait here if you are saying our goals are the same."

edit: nevermind :) too quick to respond

Quote from filcat >>

Quote from BeastyC >>

Wis Save: 9

 Felix feels very much the Valindra's mind intrusion. It is like peeling an onion. For every layer, one piece of Felix's memories is revealed to Valindra clear as the sky.

"Fenthaza, the yuan-ti priestess? Very well. You rest here and prepare for the Tomb. I wish you good luck... until we will meet again."

Valindra leaves the shrine, silently. The cubes fall on the floor.

 

 Feeling Valindra rip the information from his head, "You're welcome!" He shouts as the wizard walks away. He turns to the others rubbing his head "We should keep moving we got what we need." 

Gertrude is glad that the decision is taken out of her hands. When she sees the wizard walking away from them, she feels herself breathing out all the worries about another fight in their weakened state. But again, she also feels her hatred rising. She feels too weak, she needs to find a way to protect her group. 

Kurma is relieved, his guts were telling him that this wizard was immensely strong. Securing the shrine for a long rest, he takes ten minute to check on Artus.
"Artus, we did not have much choice. We were wounded and without spells, we wouldn't have stand a chance. Something is telling me that this wizard is powerful.
You killed RasNi, I think. So let's turn our attention on the Tomb now. We will meet the wizard again, I am sure."

Kurma then will rest, recovering from the long fight and communing with his deity. Talking to himself, he says:
"I need to prepare more spells that can aid my friends, I feel responsible of what happen. I should have done more..."

During that time, Kurma will identify any object that needs to be identify, in particular the gauntlets of Mushy.

AS the cubes fall and Valindra leaves.  Oniss curses to himself,

"Gods, I hate magic."

Quote from RonanKP >>

Kurma is relieved, his guts were telling him that this wizard was immensely strong. Securing the shrine for a long rest, he takes ten minute to check on Artus.
"Artus, we did not have much choice. We were wounded and without spells, we wouldn't have stand a chance. Something is telling me that this wizard is powerful.
You killed RasNi, I think. So let's turn our attention on the Tomb now. We will meet the wizard again, I am sure."

Kurma then will rest, recovering from the long fight and communing with his deity. Talking to himself, he says:
"I need to prepare more spells that can aid my friends, I feel responsible of what happen. I should have done more..."

During that time, Kurma will identify any object that needs to be identify, in particular the gauntlets of Mushy.

 At the end of the ritual, Kurma is confused. There are certainly traces of magic on the gauntlet (no particular school of magic), but the gauntlet itself has no magical property.

Brunella is tired, hungry, and exhausted. She scrounges for berries and animals nearby to eat and falls asleep for a long rest.

Kurma didn't sleep well. Too many things to think of.
He then takes an hour to pray Oghma, to thank him for keeping him alive and prepare new incantations.

"Also, my friends, the gauntlets of our poor Mushy. It's strange - they seem to possess a faint magical aura but I cannot identify if they have any magical properties. Oniss, you might want to have a look a it."

"Kurma, I appreciate your belief in my skill but I don't know magic like this.  I basically just try to focus and things happen."

Oniss still takes the gauntlets to look them over.  He holds them in his hands and focuses on the details of them. Arcana 4

He hands them back o Kurma and says,

"Just gauntlets?"

After the long rest Felix will scout ahead of the group heading towards the entrance. Looking for any undead or snake people.

Perception: 23

Stealth: 10

Stressed and exhausted, the party falls into a deep slumber...

Too deep.

Except for Gertrude...

Gertrude finds herself woken. Sleep isn't getting her any relief. A noise of footsteps, a brush of floor... Nanny Pu'pu is back, holding an ancient broom, her appearance older than ever. ....  "Greetings my dear, a pleasure to meet you again. I wonder how are you faring..."

Gertrude, exhausted, just shakes her head. 

“I have come to give you great power - the power to defeat your enemies. In exchange, I would like you to take care of a coven of night hags. They are famous for fabricating so-called soul bags. And the soulmonger is nothing else than a giant soul bag.” 

Gertrude is surprised. She didn’t expect help to come from this direction. But she is also about to give up. She needs to protect her friends, they are in her care. And she is not strong enough. But trusting Nanny Pu’pu? (insight check on discord: 20)

Gertrude gleans that Nanny Pu’pu’s involvement in this is more profound. She is a follower of Myrkul, the Lord of Bones and Death. So in this case she's very honest about her reasons. “You know, dear, I don't like the Soulmonger taking my playthings!”

Gertrude is surprised to hear her speak so openly. But somehow it’s just what she needs. She trusts her, she is sure that Nanny Pu’pu is saying the truth. Additionally, Gertrude is desperate to protect her friends and to kill this evil, the yuan-ti, and the soul monger. Still, there is doubt. 

“What can you do for me, Nanny Pu’pu, what is this power that you speak of?”

She speaks simply: “Blood carries power. With the right mixture of blood, powers like you have never seen before, can be unlocked!” She has already prepared such a mixture, and she is offering it to Gertrude. 

"I know you're telling the truth, Nanny Pu'pu. That doesn't mean we're on the same side.  But I will take your offering. If it will help me to destroy the soul monger and if I can protect my friends from these snakes and undead with this blood potion, I'll take it. Right now I am willing to give everything to get them out of the jungle alive and end the curse!" Again, Gertrude's hatred burns high. "What do I need to do?"

With a smile, she hands Gertrude a cup made from a humanoid skull. Inside, dark liquid shapes weird patterns on its own.

"Drink"

If this is what I need to do, if this is what I need to become, then so be it!

 Gertrude empties the cup as quickly as she can. She almost brings everything back up and her face turns a variety of shades of green. Then, she stands upright, her eyes turn black as she feels a new power surge. The taste is horrendous, to say the least, and although she feels like wanting to vomit everything, the liquid finds its way inside her. But she also feels her blood calling to her, like another limb, with which she can now do spell-like abilities.

"What now? Any other advice?"

"Remember, the key to defeat them is in your blood. Destroy the Heartstones with it, and they won't escape you"

"I am not sure I understand."

"You will"

"And who are they? The hags?"

" The are known as the Sewn Sisters. Nasty *****es. - Three of them, they are. Always in three, no more no less."

"And what would a soul bag look like?" "Like a small purse."

"And they are evil? How can they be destroyed?"

"All hags are evil, we are shaped by it. Night Hags are also fiends, and as all fiends they can't be killed on this plane. You would have to go in the Gray Waste of Hades to destroy them for good. For now, thwarting their plan and banish them from the Material is enough. Death will guide you."

That said, Nanny Pu'Pu flies away on her broom.

More than 9 hours are needed for the party to properly rest. But after that time, everyone is in shape and determined now more than ever to proceed further. Even Bag of Nails.

Weirdly, outside is not that warm. A gentle breeze is chill enough to give respite from the hot weather.

Felix leads forward, but again, the city is dead-like, nothing is moving. Except for the big feathered Tyrannosaurs which is bathing under the waterfall, far to the north-east. It is harmless at that distance. At last, the party gets to the infamous obelisk...

Near the base of the cliffs, a fifteen-foot-tall obelisk of cracked stone is draped with vines and black moss. Behind it, you see a dark passageway obscured by withered creepers. A second, smaller tunnel burrows into the base of a cliff to the east.

Kurma observe the obelisk. They made it. It was a long journey and they lost a friend but they were finally there.
"Well, we just need to go in there and deactivate this soulmonger and we're done", he said jokingly.
Holding his silver amulet, he prays: "All-knowing Oghma, I might need some help in there. I hope you can hear me. Please guide me with your Knowledge."

"Brunella, here are the gauntlets of Mushy. I cannot be sure if they are magical but I thought that you were probably the one who should wear them. These were made for dwarves."
He handed the beautiful gauntlets to the Albino dwarf. "I'm sure Mushy would approve"

Kurma will then try to see if he can get any information written on the obelisk and then cast detect magic as a ritual.

The obelisk seems to give away an abjuration aura. Vines and vegetation cover the obelisk almost completely. On the southern face of the obelisk, there is perhaps a message, but it would require clearing it from the vegetation first to read it.

"Wait before you touch it let me check for traps." Felix walks up the obelisk and investigate it for traps.

Investigation: 20

No trap is detected by Felix.

After a long night of rest, Brunella feels like herself again. She slept like a rock as her body healed, her dreamless sleep passing like a long dark instant.

She greets the morning's dawn with appreciation for her life, and is glad to see the ferocious Tabaxi is still among the party.

As Kurma, the wise tortle, holds out Musharib's gauntlets, Brunella hesitates. It feels wrong to wear these, as if doing so would validate the dwarf's death. But seeing the tortle's earnest expression, she realizes that wearing them would bring closure to the party. The young uneducated girl is beginning to mature, becoming aware of group dynamics.

She nods to Kurma. The old Brunella would have taken them wordlessly, but she is growing. She replies: "Thank you Kurma. And thank you all. For everything."

Quote from Thordain >>

After a long night of rest, Brunella feels like herself again. She slept like a rock as her body healed, her dreamless sleep passing like a long dark instant.

She greets the morning's dawn with appreciation for her life, and is glad to see the ferocious Tabaxi is still among the party.

As Kurma, the wise tortle, holds out Musharib's gauntlets, Brunella hesitates. It feels wrong to wear these, as if doing so would validate the dwarf's death. But seeing the tortle's earnest expression, she realizes that wearing them would bring closure to the party. The young uneducated girl is beginning to mature, becoming aware of group dynamics.

She nods to Kurma. The old Brunella would have taken them wordlessly, but she is growing. She replies: "Thank you Kurma. And thank you all. For everything."

 As Brunella wears Musharib's Gauntlet, she feels the blessing of Moradin descends upon her.

OOC Brunella gets Inspiration.