Session 17: Welcome to the Jungle Report

General Summary

The Menagerie, now with the addition of the eccentric Bartholomew Morrow, returned to their newly acquired villa in Mekkisir after escaping the clutches of Deleth Yorkiras' agents. There they met the head housekeeper, a dwarven woman named Mirabel, who gave a brief overview of their new home. As the group spent the afternoon tending to their injuries and settling into their new accommodations, they were visited by Akari Isendor who informed the group that the Doge of Mekkisir had declared a lockdown in response to the explosion caused during their escape. She mentioned that Deleth was nowhere to be found in the city and that the deal he'd been negotiating with the Doge had fallen through as a result of the Menagerie's actions. She advised the group to spend the next three days getting settled into their new accommodations and asked them to keep her informed of any more information they might uncover about Deleth's plans.   Brakmat took the time to visit Valtyr's Promenade, joining Light Paws to commune with the goddess Saeora. He found himself transported to a idyllic grassland populated by celestial creatures. He reached out to the celestials to find help in fully realizing his powers, but his will proved insufficient to find any answers he was seeking. He also hired an engineer to install a steam delivery system to his bedroom, which he had filled with plants and turned into a veritable swamp.   Bartholomew Morrow locked himself in the estate's study and spent the entirety of the three days reading through the Obscuris Cosmology.   Skreech claimed one of the parlor rooms to have it converted into his own personal workshop, and spent the three days assembling four golem servants, Harold, Barnaby, Susan, and Elizabeth, to maintain his workshop and assist him in his projects.   Droknar sought out a dwarven craftsman named Thorak to craft a bespoke suit of plate armor for himself.   Dacha spent time with Nightwind exploring the city and was invited to dine with her family.   At the end of the three days, the Menagerie reunited with Osrick Riverhands, who had been spending the time with Rinrin before she needed to depart for Quilport. He gave the Menagerie two options for reaching the Tidefang village, and the group decided to take the overland route through Orwyn Valley. Joined by the mercenaries Osrick had hired, the group set out through the jungle to the east of the city.   On the first day, the group came across a Yang-qi that was raging its way through the jungle, narrowly avoiding being crushed by falling trees as the ape-like creature chased some prey through the woods. At camp that evening, those on watch noticed some four-eyed, mandibled crow-like creatures watching them, as well as hearing the sounds of cawwing coming from deeper in the jungle.   The second day brought the group upon a pack of wyverns that had ambushed some goblin hunters, only to find themselves ambushed by another wyvern that had crept up behind them. They dispatched the creatures and continued on their journey, eventually setting up camp further down the river. They shared stories with Osrick of their adventures after Donborough, and that night Dacha saw a wyvern being snatched out of the sky by a large bird-like creature.   The following day brought the party to the Inamja Cliffs, which they needed to climb in order to reach the Tidefang Village. The climb took most of the rest of the day, with the group noticing they were being watched by various subterranean creatures. As the sun was just beginning to set and the party was nearing the top of the cliff, a huge Ancient Deep Crow emerged from beneath the waterfall and attacked them. It killed all of the mercenaries that had been accompanying the group, and almost managed to send several of the Menagerie plummeting to their deaths. Brakmat, who had already made it to the summit of the cliff, chose to dive off the side of the cliff so he could reach everyone with a Feather Fall spell, while the rest of the Menagerie finished off the Deep Crow.   Finally reaching the summit, the group took a moment to catch their breaths. In the relative silence following the encounter, Quin pulled Morrow to the side, and asked him why he was so trusting of Osrick, revealing that the imp could not sense a soul within the halfling.