Elena sighed as the others also started to go along with the lizard's request and disarm.  Reluctantly, she handed over her bow, glaive, and longsword to Caramip and/or Kael, who would be staying outside the gate.

She took Dominic up on his offer to let her carry his shield, unsure whether the lizard chief would object to the technicality or not.

After a moment of thought, Kael decides to hand over his sword and dagger to Cara.

If Borric decides otherwise, Kael can stay outside with Cara. If not, he'll go inside as well. Hopefuly Cara would be ok on her own?

Borric watched as the others reluctantly agreed to join him inside the walls. "Thank you for joining me. I hope that my fears are not justified beyond this wall. Keep your wits about you and keep a sharp eye."



OOC: By all means, Kael should join Borric and the others inside. I only mention for Cara to be outside since the character does have a player assigned :)

The party unloads their weapons to their gnomish diplomat and head inside. If the lizardfolk notice small items like a dagger here or there being carried inside they don't make any concerns about it.

The interior shows a primitive village built inside the walls. There are seven mud huts constructed of various sizes in a rough circle of six around a larger central seventh.

The closest are about 4' tall at the top of the mound with an opening for smoke to exit. Their entryways are covered by fur flaps and as the group passes by they can see dark eyes inside staring out at them from the gaps in the hide doors.

They head left towards another mud mound, this one differing from the others by the large number of bones piled near the entrance. The chief uses his trident to lift the flap and gestures for the party to enter.

Inside they see a pair of large lizards hissing and snapping as they struggle against the chains that have them attached against the far wall. Barely out of reach in front of them is the boy looking absolutely terrified. From the bite marks on his arms and legs it seems the chains aren't quite as far out of reach as they should be but otherwise the boy doesn't appear to be in any immediate physical danger. Psychologically though the poor lad is likely only nine or ten years old and this kind of torture would break adults in no time. Who knows how long this has been going on and what else has been done to the boy.

The chief hisses and the lizards give one last snap of their teeth at the boy before slinking back to their side of the tent.

"Here issss the boy. Sssaaffe and ssssound. Take him and....wait..."

He pauses, tilting hiis head to the side as if listening to something. Sure enough there seems to be a soft whisper in the room but it is unintelligable to anyone but the chief, apparently.

The chief frowns and lowers his head.

"The ancesssstorssss sssssay the child cannot be releassssed yet. The sssspiritsss aren't done e with him yet..."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 05:18, Thu 11 Aug 2022.

Kael is not sure if he is more horrified or just confused by this scene. "What the... WHY? What is the purpose of this? Why would your ancestors want this? Can you ask them this? Can we ask them this?"

Is the child chained as well? And can we tell where these whispers are coming from?
This message was last edited by the player at 14:59, Thu 04 Aug 2022.

Borric entered the tent. It took him a while for his eyes to adjust to the dimly lite interior. He knelt down, expecting to have the boy released to him before the chief changed his mind. Damn these spirits. He looked around trying to see if another figure was inside the tent. "Can you remove these lizards from the tent? Clearly the chains are insufficient. The boy needs some medical attention."

---

rolled 9 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 2.  Perception
rolled 20 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 12.  Diplomacy

Elena stood stock still, staring at the miserable, tortured child in front of her and the lizard chief who blithely stated that such tortures must continue.  If she had her glaive in hand, she would likely have used it by now, plunging it into Vesssket's chest the moment he declared his intent to keep the kid.  She wasn't yet sure whether it was good or bad that such violence wasn't an immediate option.

While waiting for the king's response to Borric and Kael's questioning, Elena focused the senses given to her by Shelyn, seeking out the presence of the (almost certainly) evil spirit leading the tribe into violence and depravity.  Or was the "ancestor spirit" claim merely a ruse on the lizard king's part, to justify...whatever was happening here?

OOC: Using detect evil.  Preferably all three rounds to pinpoint locations.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:50, Sat 06 Aug 2022.

Dominique glowers at the sight of the young boy's torment and soon turns his disapproving gaze on the chieftain--apparently just another backwards heathen using 'spirits' as an excuse to justify his own twisted pursuits. He'll get his judgement in the Boneyard, and by Abadar's blessing Dominique might be the one to send him there.

But this is Borric's domain and Abadar would not look kindly on the inquisitor acting out of turn or against the wishes of the rightful lord. The High Priest looks to the Baron for some direction, and at the mere mention on the boy's need for attention--even if it isn't exactly what the Baron meant--he acts forthwith and marches up to the boy heedless of the lizards or any objections from the chief. He kneels down as he reaches the child to assure him, "It's alright, son. We're here to help," and inspect the severity of his wounds.

The boy isn't restrained but he had been penned in by the beasts snapping at him.

The lizard king frowns as the group starts talking about removing the lizards.

"Like I ssssssaid. The sssspiritssss want him. They don't ssssay why and it issss not my place to asssssk."

He pauses as Borric raises concerns about the boys health and he gives a nod and turns back to the empty space next to him and begins hissing and clicking in his native tongue as he converses with the "spirits".

Based on body language and gestures it seems like he is trying to argue for the boy to be released but the "spirits" don't seem to want to listen to him.

Meanwhile Elena scans the area...
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 05:09, Wed 17 Aug 2022.

Dominique looks to Borric, knowing it is not his place to negotiate here, but offers, sincerely but with a bit of derision in his tongue, "Maybe the spirits will trade for some puppies to torment?"

"Let's try to talk to the boy." Borric suggested his companions. He knelt down and approached the boy. He was mindful of the lizards, but he approached anyways. "Boy. Boy. Tell me your name."

Kael gets closer so he could better hear what the spirits have to say. He's still trying to figure out where these whispers are coming from.

If diplomacy doesn't get us anywhere, maybe stealth could. Kael could later use Levitate to get over the fence and on top of the hut, grab the kid through the opening for smoke and carry him back out. Hopefully.

The big unknown are those spirits, which could possibly interfere.

If Kael wanted to identify where the whispers were coming from, all he had to do was follow Elena's gaze.  The paladin was focused intently on the point of space directly beside Vesssket, where she detected a small mote of evil hovering near the lizard king's ear.  She smiled slightly, tightening her grip on the shield in her hands.  "I see you," she declared softly.

Louder, she continued.  "You realize the spirit whispering in your ear is evil, right Vesssket?  And I'm not just saying that as, like, a judgement of what you're doing.  My goddess allows me to sense this sort of thing, and I sense a small, weak mote of evil floating just to your left."

Turning to address the gathered lizard-folk, Elena raised her voice further.  "You seem like reasonable people.  And if you're living in this dangerous of territory, I know you're no fools.  Surely, you have to know that there are as many evil spirits in this world as there are good ones.  Quasits and imps, spiteful ghosts and cruel fey.  These creatures delight in leading their victims into depravity and evil, then betraying them to their death in order to doom their souls to the lower plains."

Levelling an accusing finger at the mote of evil, Elena declared: "I believe that is the sort of spirit whispering in your ear, Vesssket.  Not an ancestor.  Think, in all your tribe's history, are there any stories of your people doing things like this?  What proof has this creature given you to prove that it's one of your ancestors?"

OOC: Giving diplomacy one last shot.  If this doesn't work, maybe a sneaky jailbreak is in order.
09:14, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 27 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 16.  diplomacy.

There is a slight pause as the lizard king considers Elena's words. The signs of conflict are clear on his face.

"No...thisss isssss not normal. Even the ssssspirit talkerssss don't know about thissss..."

More whispers on the wind but the Lizard king just waves his hands in the air next to him.

"No! No I am done with thisssss. I had no appetite for thissss when you firsssst came and I have lesssss now. You promissssed much but have delivered nothing! Begone sssspirit! Go sssspread your evil elssssewhere."

There is a pause, a tension in the air as the king expects some kind of angry spirit to manifest and try to drag him to hell or burst upon the rest of the party in a great ball of fire or electricity but there is only silence. The faint rustle of the wind, the hiss of the leaves or the snap of a leather flap catching the wind.

The evil spirit moves fast, too fast for Elena to track but as she studies the room she can't find any traces of that faint evil energy she felt before. The lizard king goes to the other side of the tent and hauls back on the chains of the giant lizards dragging them back and creating space for the party to grab the child without fear of being attacked.

"Take your youngling and go. Just in casssssse the ssssssspirit comesssss back it is better to not be around here. Conssssider it a gessssture of goodwill. We do not want to fight sssssso if you leave ussss alone we will do the sssssame for you and yoursssss."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:05, Thu 01 Sept 2022.

Borric moved quickly to gather the boy next to him. He lead him to Dominique. "Please, Dominique take care of him." He turned to the lizard king, "Thank you for your good gesture. I hope to return later with a gift of friendship. I hope that your people will not be harmed by this evil spirit."

Borric took some time once out of the tent to survey the rest of the lizard encampment. He looked for signs of warcraft or whatever tools that the lizardmen had in their possession. "Let's go."

Kael is all for leaving the lizardmen alone. He does not like the idea of their citizens (or worse, themselves) being mistaken for food. But they did come here with another reason in mind. "Have your hunters ran into any trolls lately? If so, do you perhaps know where they could be coming from?"

Elena nodded in appreciation of Kael staying focused on the reason they had originally come here.  "And not just trolls.  Ogres too, maybe some fey.  Someone is trying to build an army in these forests.  It's...come to think of it, it's possible that the spirit claiming to be your ancestor was one of his allies, here to turn us against each other.  Have you had any encounters with these people in the past?"

The lizard king shakes his head at Kael.

"No...at leasssst no more than ussssual. There hassss alwayssss been trollssss around thessse landssss."


The lizard king narrows his eyes at Elena, tensing and rising up.

"It wasssss a ssssspirit of oursssss. Do you think me a fool? That I would fall for sssssssimple tricksssss? I have given you your youngling. I do not harbor your insssssultssss asssss well."

The king storms to the side and shouts out the flap and begins hissing and clicking. There are echoes of hisses and clicks throughout the compound and two warriors approach the tent.

"My guardsssss will esssscort you out. Be gone. Come back when you can ssssshow sssssome ressssspect."

Borric gave Elena a look before he quickly turned his head and followed the guards. He felt that he made a mistake leaving Caramip outside with their horses. She had better finesse at diplomacy than all of them combined.


(outside the gates)
"That could have gone worse." Borric turned to Caramip, "I could have used you inside. My mistake." He paused glancing at the young boy. "He needs help. Anyone have any suggestions on if we should take him?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:41, Fri 26 Aug 2022.

Elena was baffled by the lizard chief's sudden reversal of attitude.  When she first told him that the "ancestor" was most likely an evil creature come to deceive them, Vesssket had seemed to agree.  In fact, it was almost strange how quickly he came around, chasing off the spirit and letting the boy go almost the instant she broached the subject.

Then, not ten seconds later, suddenly Vesssket was fighting mad at the merest suggestion that he might have been deceived.  Elena couldn't make heads or tails of it.  Perhaps she had unknowingly crossed some lizard taboo.  Or maybe the lizard "king" was simply a very unstable character, and such wild behavior was the norm for him.

Either way, she wasn't going to make a big deal of it, especially not with the party's weapons laying outside the gate.  She returned Borric's look with a shrug of her own, as if to say "Eh, what can you do?", then she followed him out of the encampment.

Once safely outside the gate, the paladin turned her attention to the tormented child.  Crouching down to his level, she took him by the hand.  "It's okay," She said reassuringly.  "Nobody is going to hurt you anymore.  My name's Elena.  I'm a knight.  What's your name?  Can you tell us where you're from?"

Kael didn't see what was so insulting in what Elena said either, but then he and diplomacy skill are distant acquaintances at best. Maybe the chief just didn't like to be reminded that he was made a fool? Eh, they got the child, and that was all that was important to Kael here.

Once safely outside, he offers his opinion on this place. "We should probably order our people to stay well clear of this place, at least for now. Just in case the locals have not fully abandoned the idea of looking at humans as a potential meal. There's not much of value for us here anyway, just swamps, bogs and mosquitoes."

While the boy is speachless at first slowly he seems to recover his wits although the trauma of his imprisonment still causes him to shake and look around fearfully. The group learns his name is 'Tig' and he was actually captured near the capital. He had slipped out into the woods chasing frogs and had the misfortune of coming upon a lizardfolk hunting party. He is quite eager to return to his mother.

where to next? You can continue to explore or head back to the castle to handle petitioners and important affairs at home.

The boy's story worries Kael. "Not good, we really need to do something about our borders. If their hunting party was that close to our capital, there's no telling who or what else could just march in. We should put some patrols and lookouts on this part of the border so that we have at least some warning of what's coming, as well as to keep this bunch out."

I'm fine with more exploring, but what about the kid? We can't drag him with us to a troll lair. Should we turn back and hand him over to someone first?

"We've got patrols."  Elena replied, a little embarrassed by this latest failure of her militia.  "But wild forest isn't exactly easy terrain to keep an eye on."

She was worried by Tig's story, as well.  The lizards openly admitted to eating people, and if their "hunting parties" we grabbing children from right outside Rivermarch's doorstep, something would have to be done.

"I'll talk to my people when we get back, warn them about how close the lizards are.  We'll have to make sure that no more of their armed parties get close enough to grab any citizens."

"Let's get the boy back to his mother. Then we can continue with our patrol." Borric agreed with Elena's thoughts on checking with their militia. It seems that they were spending more of their time on managing the men and women but that was something that he deemed must be done. Unless he could recruit some help...