4.1 A Claw's Dark Grip

This recap covers Trip's first few SKRUNGUS missions, the sidequests completed after Chapter 3, and Haliah's investigations into the Claw of Sharaka.  

The Latecomer

Maltose's third player character, and the final protagonist of Heaven's Path finally makes his appearance! Theydies and gentlethems, give a round of applause to Trip, the goblin druid. He may be smol, but he more than makes up for it with triple the personality, triple the shapeshifting, and triple the appendages! With the most humble of backstories (of which only Ze Xie's could compare), Trip is here to craft some shit, take care of some animals, and just vibe. He's wicked talented with magic though, so if a Chaos monster's ass needs to be kicked, he'll be ready.   Unfortunately for the young goblin, his first mission was with none other than Badice and Sir Ivan. The Farm (when it's capitalized, y'all know which farm I am referring to) was facing a weekslong string of vandalism and sabotage. Judging by the paw prints and the manic cackling that could be heard after a crime, the kobolds knew that an old enemy was rearing its ugly head once more - gnolls.   So, a stakeout was planned using the intel the kobold witnesses and that Fifi provided. As predicted, the gnolls came scampering in, ready to do some arson or toss some carcasses against the walls. However, Trip and Badice were ready, having set up a trap in advance. One gnoll was captured and interrogated, leading the group to the gnolls' base camp. Pugnacious and proud of it, the gnolls fought their attackers until the bitter end.   Well, some of them got a bitter end. Others seemed to disappear in a strange beam of light, which concerned Trip but especially Badice. The warlock had recently learned from Serendipity that this "abduction by light" of celestials (which the gnolls were, as Badice easily discovered) was rare, yes, but highly suspicious.   Trip however, was more glad to help and to annoy the crap out of Sir Ivan.  

Changes in the City

In attempting to keep events in decent chronological order, I am employing a list of developments in SKRUNGUS and Fengqi awkwardly in this middle section:

• Outlaws Tea - Within the same conversation that Badice had with Serendipity, the Rended fairy doles out some juicy information about the current state of the Court of Heaven and a progress update. Badice, Haliah, and Lyca could learn how to Rend if they keep up the good work.

• CLAMS' New Digs - After returning from the Chimyeong, CLAMS' good standing with Mokhoka Ganbo and the Ganbo Clan meant that the half-orc leader was more than willing to fundraise the construction of a guild hall for CLAMS. After a few weeks of renovations, the guild hall was officially open! To describe it simply, CLAMS' guild hall is a humble combination of a school, a commons, and an orphanage.

• Panpan and Pecksy - Remember those kongamato eggs that Biggles, Vrinill, and Ze Xie brought home from Pijaratva Temple? Well, they hatched, and Trip now has his first live animals to take care of in what will henceforth be known as the SKRUNGUS menagerie/zoo!

• The Bride and the Hero - This downtime's Gather Intel check revealed that their are four subgroups to the Black Opera, each operating under a different color: red, blue, purple, and yellow. The Jade Orchid courtesans were able to dig up the names of the red and blue leaders - Veldheyr and Hu'er Meijin. Both were actors of old that achieved moderate fame. The identities of the yellow and purple leaders are still unknown, but Biggles threat from the yellow subgroup continued to loom over his head.

• Ze Xie will most likely be joining the Ardent Crown, an elite group of guards who serve under the guidance of the Loyal from the Court of Heaven. She has time to decide before committing, though.

• VORE also had the grand opening of their guild hall. It's a bougie, gaudy marble nightmare. They also run a successful in-house apothecary too.

• Jesa and Biggles had a heart to heart, and now, along with Fatima and a select few others, the ex-god knows that Biggles, Vrinill, Umeiri, and Bethany are not of this world.

• Queen Pao is ramping up the renovation of the Mechanical Dam for use as a "revolutionary energy source" and expects the project to be completed by the beginning of the next year.

• Officially deemed the first Muthrati - the cis female version of a muthratva - of the Munaanjar, Fatima is now a political figure and representative of the dwarven peoples. However, she is just turning 20, and even with Munaan's gift of wisdom, she still wants to make time for hanging out with friends and writing silly stories.

• Badice makes an absolute killing selling the various treasures from the Western Dragon Island adventure.

• Lady Sabine Izabel Mai Patrovka the swole half-elf noble barbarian, joins SKRUNGUS with her massive scepter, horrible French accent, and obsession with Badice.

A Dubious Duel

Around the same time that SKRUNGUS current expeditions had returned to Fengqi, Haliah received an interesting message from one Taranga of the Claw of Sharaka. This Taranga was the leader of the Claw and wanted to duel Haliah to the death so that he may be able to prove his worth to Sharaka after having been cast off once before. However, Haliah had to complete some combat trials before she would be deemed 'strong enough' to face Taranga. Along with the message was a permit allowing Haliah free passage into Dark Feng, which proved to be a most valuable asset. Though risky, the paladin chose to accept this challenge with the enthusiastic support of her patron, the legendary gnome hero Endawon.   Haliah's next step was to take a day trip into Dark Feng alongside her sister Rasli (who was also granted permission) to gather as much information about the Claw and Dark Feng as they could. Building from previous information, the sisters deduced that getting rid of the Claw outright would not be enough to keep Dark Feng safe. The Thri-kreen were intensely territorial, and for better or for worse, the Claw of Sharaka was the only group strong enough to protect much of Dark Feng, especially those residing outside the myconid's limited territory.   This underground cavern controlled by the Claw was known as the Yellows, and residents repaid the price of protection and access to Fengqi goods with hard labor. The Claw ran a cruel operation, making sure that all who lived under their guard knew their place. Naga warriors and Sharaka cultists patrolled the heavily fortified community. Haliah and Rasli had their work cut out for them.   The paladin and her sister were not easily deterred and took each of Taranga's challenges and interrogations in stride, easily able to best whatever opponent was placed in front of them. Haliah's sharp wit even got the big buff naga baddie to lose his composure multiple times. Taranga was looking to be all talk, but when he revealed his exceptional self-healing ability, Haliah knew that something real shady must be going on.   It was at this point that Haliah recruited the one and only shapeshifting druid Trip to wild-shape into a cockroach and do some snooping in the Claw's main headquarters. What he found was quite upsetting indeed. It seemed that all of Taranga's injuries were being transferred to another, and that other body was constantly being healed, transferring that vitality back to Taranga.   When combined with her growing suspicions of Taranga's second-in-command Atsuvatu and her interviews with various lower members of the Claw, Haliah and Rasli were very suspicious to say the least. Why was the Claw really here? And what is their true objective? Both sisters knew that if Sharaka was involved, there was no fucking way that things would be so simple. With minds full of questions, the two completed their final trials and it was time to prepare for the one-on-one duel between Haliah and Taranga. An arena would be built within a few weeks time to make sure all see this match, and Haliah was allowed to bring several guests to watch.   Would she rise to the occasion and slay her sibling (technically)? Or would a different path reveal itself? Only time would tell.