contract: The Don's Request
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On the 5th day of your expedition #Team High Turnover Rate woke up to a sweltering pink wonderland of mold. After quickly packing up, Zuri of House Du'Mansia led everyone after the enemy's party. She deftly followed their tracks through the brutally hot trek that left several of your party facing heat exhaustion. During the twilight hours everyone heard a loud roar from nearby. Zuri scurried up a tree to see what caused the frightful sound while everyone else prepared for a fight. In the tree Zuri was barely able to make out a large shape rapidly approaching the party before it burst into the clearing bellowing with anger.
The Whiskered Renkroda's skin was split in many places with pink and purple fungal growths protruding from them, showing the fate of something that was unable to find shelter before a moldstorm hit. In a rage from the pain of the infection it focused all of its saurian fury on the small creature standing in front of it: Roswell Mogul. Its attacks gravely wounded him while its roars demoralized other members of the party. In an effort to divert attention from her ally Zuri tried to jump from the tree to land on its back but failed miserably, losing her weapon in the process. Bash, Jerzac Scarlewe, and Roquesta (Rocket) Strauss favored the wiser course and attacked with a rain of lead, fire, and ice from range.
After the beast fell, you took a breather to bind your wounds. While doing so you saw an enormous reclining statue through the trees surrounded by an equally scaled plaza of cracked flagstones and semi-collapsed buildings through the trees. After some questioning Professor Muhali recalled a minor passage from Halqueem Zahn's notes about The Plague Warden. She explained that the reclining Elven form was suspected to "serve some ritual purpose, perhaps by absorbing the illness of some great king so he might live forever."
Not long after stepping out into the plaza a horrifying bluish clear mucousy tentacle parachute thing floats down towards you then launched a sticky rope and entangled Zuri. The crew focused all attention on the creature until a familiar sniper crack heralded a bullet that immediately laid Zuri low. Suddenly down a party member everyone dove for cover while still attempting to combat the newly identified sky fisher. Bash was able to break free from the entanglement in time for Rocket to be caught, Roswell ran north weathering a hail of lead trying to get eyes on the sniper, and Jerzac as usual was lighting up yet more Lho sticks from his ever dwindling supply. Gross sky hentai creature felt Jerzac was lonely so he got a tight tentacle hug which unfortunately carried a powerful strength draining drug. Rocket charged in and repeatedly impaled the creature with a gory bone blade while bash ripped out the medkit to treat the poison that was causing the captain to seize violently.
With the creature dead Zuri crawled to her knees, used a stimpak to get back on her feet, and sprinted towards the Plague Warden with Roswell to go after the sniper. Bash laid down covering fire which winged the sniper and drove them inside the statue then followed Rocket who was also headed to the statue's feet. Zuri entered a chamber containing a grimy pool and engravings covering all of the walls. Based on the ritualistic look to the engravings, Zuri started hastily scrubbing herself using the pool and directed Roswell to do the same. Right as Rocket turned the corner to enter the room Zuri finished and started up the stair only to have 2 grenades rattle off the walls and land at her feet.