The group had found a resting spot half a mile away from the Chupacabra lair in a camp splendidly setup by Roy. The camp was wholly equipped with both resting area and lookout post. All his small magic tinkering made the night more comfortable than expected and overall, he had gone out of his way to make the whole journey as comfortable as he could for his companions. It stood in stark contrast to his whole murderous attitude after finding the dagger in the Chupacabra crevasse.
The motley crew had a late-night chat about what to do next, and though there was a bit of mixed feelings of whether they would be on every wanted poster in town or not, they decided that getting into the city unnoticed was probably the best course of action regardless and that getting rid of the cursed dagger firmly in the big smith’s hand had to take precedence over heading back to the Arcane supremacy. Of course, nothing could be done before they made it back to the outskirts of the city to report back to Roy’s smithing allies of a successful mission.
The road back proved a tad more interesting than anyone would have liked. A hulking creature was spotted gorging itself on a freaking petrified giant. A four-legged dragon of sorts was merrily crunching away on the remains, and no one wanted anything to do with this at all. While they tried to sneak away everyone had their own idea of what a good idea looked like. Roy released the horse from the wagon with a solid slab on its hind to get it to bolt, while Bolgar started running for safety followed by Guz’Rock. Baby-face suddenly disappeared and as Guz’rock tried to run for the hills, Tolans hand shot out from nothing and pulled the Hobgoblin to safety in field of invisibility. This happened just as the grotesque dragon flew in front of the horse and with nothing but a stare, turned it to stone before descending for a light snack. The rest was a huddled sprawl to safety for the fearsome four.
The rest of the journey home went without issues. Only disturbed by baby-faces continuous arrogant outbursts and having to persuade Roy that getting his curse broken first was the best option. For the latter of the two problems, Guz’rock knew a guy in Slowen Croak that delt in occultism, Corrin Rumblecheeks and they decided that after visiting The Murkey Hammer clan, he would be their best bet.
The mining village welcomed them with open arms and gratitude was offered all around. There was no doubt they had earned good graces with the Murkey Hammers and the information of caravan debris whereabouts were very welcome. Apparently, the dragon thing they had seen was familiar to them and even had the thing fondly named, Betsy. Something they had opted to not let the team in on, much to Bolgar's annoyance, in fact he got so annoyed he got all his hair and beard complete shaved off before leaving for the old Arcane Supremacy hideout and from there to find a way into Slowen Croak.
The old hideout had been completely abandoned, but a bit of scrutiny lead to clues to new whereabouts.
Both Guz’Rock and Tolan knew a guy to help them get into the city proper undetected. Guz’ had used his services in shapes of a boat to smuggle elicit wares and Tolan had used his services for far more nefarious dealings. Tolan tried to intimidate his way to better prices, but the old Tengu smuggler, Cam’roon would hear nothing of it, but with a different approach and hands greased the boat was rented, and they could set on their way.
Guz’rock showed just how capable he was navigating search lights, flood gates even in a city on high alert. Smooth sailing led them directly to a small ferry bridge leading through secret tunnels to Slowen Croak heading for the small occult shop owned by the mysterious, Corrin Rumblecheeks. It took an unreasonable amount of time getting to a point of just knocking on the door of the shop, and with next to no fuss they were invited inside.
Corrin Rumblecheeks proved to look the part of someone who periodically worked with curses, and it took little to no persuasive skills for him to take the task of removing the dagger from Roys’ grasp. It was far more difficult to make him understand no one was interested in giving him their earlobes. The curse was successfully removed, and the dagger stolen by gods know what and taken into the sewers. Before leaving the store Guz’Rock was handed a magically enhanced shopping list for which items he was interested in paying for would appear on occasion.
They also snatched up a bounty board “shopping” list on the way out of the Slowen Croak district.
Through hidden paths they went to the new coordinates for the supposed Arcane Supremacy hideout in Remnant center in the old Arcane School. The Remnant Center was a desolate ghost town. An eerie fog and dust hung on the air and empty eyed residents followed their track through the rubble. They found the old school building in ruined despair, and they entered to search for what was described as “the center”. The building leftovers offered only one possible solution and finding a way to unlock the way forward came easily with the instructions of the clues.
An enormous elevator descended into the under belly of the district and on the way Guz’Rock quickly snatched something glittering that caught his eyes. A pair of googles, which he snatched.
They were met with open arms from the survivors from the Arcane Supremacy. Everyone was happy that they had made it out alive, though the mad alchemist was missed and still unaccounted for. The tensions where high, both for the people in the hide out and for the group just arriving and it took a bit of diplomacy, oddly enough from Guz’rock, to deflate a situation.
The district had been hit hard by the city-wide explosion and the magic residue had fallen heavily on the Remnant district, leaving the residents hollow husks of their former selves and in reverie of a gargantuan grotesque being that had been created in the aftermath of the Thranite explosion. Large enough to tower over buildings and was rampaging randomly through the streets leaving corruption and misery in its wake.
With grumbling acceptance Guz’rock agreed that the best solution was for the fearsome foursome to handle the bulbous bastard. Bolgar sent for aid to handle any of the hollow-marked residents that might interject before they set out to scout what they were up against.
Before leaving Jelly offered to enhance their weapons and create a coating for those who wanted it. She also recognized her old goggles but having received new ones told Guz’Rock to keep them. He in turn gave the to Roy as they helped with crafting.
The towering disease infect demon being was more than easy to find and sent fear through every one’s hearts. The immediate sense was, how would they ever fell a creature as big as a moving mountain? But a bit of scrutiny showed what was assumed possible weak points in the shapes of oozing, purulent pustules at the left knee, left elbow, left shoulder, and left side of the neck.
The plan was simple, everyone except Guz’rock would handle what would come on ground level and pave the way for the Hobgoblin to scale the gurgling giant and destroy the convulsing cysts. With that they set into motion the battle was on.