Investigate the Clay Pit, Part 2

Participants: Camille Dupont, Vanessa Landoriel, Metenan, Riet Zetari, Anath the Deathspeaker, Chanson Nur

Locations: a Clay Pit past the Dragon's Tail mountains, in the Desert of Rydess

Loose threads: a powerful and malevolent Sorcerer currently lives within the clay pit

Keywords: river crossing, Daeodon, clay pit, the Sculptor, Necromancy, Claymation, Anath the Deathspeaker, Coolest oracle (ever)

Short summary: 

Six adventurers go on an incredible journey of self-discovery to a hole in the ground full of dried mud. Their attempt to claim the resource for First Landing is thwarted by a mysterious, powerful, and unstable man known as 'the Sculptor.'

The report can also be found here. 

Full report: Anath

Report: Investigate the Clay Pit, Part 2

I write this report whilst waiting to hear of the ultimate fate of my comrades. My name is Anath, known as the Deathspeaker amongst my kin (a very important title, mind you, but that is a tale for another day). Our party recently set out twice now to lay claim to a rumored source of clay deposits on behalf of the Adventurers' Guild. Undaunted despite an aborted encounter with mean and ugly Manticore, we exercised our big-brained strategies and took an alternate route northwards to our destination.

Rather than try and explain to the Unknown Tribe that they were not experiencing déjà-vu, our navigator Camille deemed it wise to give their village a wider birth. After an electrifying display of successfully daringly sneaking through the array of traps in the surrounding environs, we passed by the village unmolested.

The main divergence of our planned route was where we intended to cross the river between First Landing and the Clay Pit. Though the very rude Manticore was thankfully not within sight of our alternate route, the river crossing was not unchallenging. While I crossed the river with my natural-born swimming skills and waited, my magically-inclined friends used Manipulate Rope spells to create something of a rope-borne conveyer bridge for themselves to aid in crossing. The non-functional eccentric construction allowed Vanessa to begin crossing at the van, but she was waylaid by an ambush as she reached the midpoint.

Collectively, we faced a band of three aquatic Mephits and a pair of particularly opportunistic giant dragonfly nymphs. After regrouping on the near embankment, we managed to fend them off. All but one of the nymphs were felled in the attack, with the last remaining creature fleeing back to the rocky bottom of the river.

Following the fight, our party completed the crossing without incident. Also, the dead dragonfly nymph was cooked by an Electric Arc. It tasted even better than the ones dredged up from the swamps!

The remainder of our journey across the plains proceeded quietly, though the mid-summer heat proved to be taxing for my soft-skinned friends. By the seventh day of our travels, we had reached the alleged location of our Clay Pit. Alas, despite my best efforts to keep my friends safe, the situation began to deteriorate. A big boar and its bully boys stood between us and our muddy hole in the ground.

So began our second brawl, with us getting the drop of the boars! Well, err, sort of. We fired some pretty lights off to try and scare them away, but it didn't work. I think that was because the Daeodon (sp? -ask Camille) was there. At least, that's what our investigator called the big juicy boar that was keeping the other three boars in line. They made a bee-line towards us and we were not particularly well-prepared as they proceeded to take turns goring us with their hit-and-run charges. We all got trampled pretty badly, but once we pinned the Daeodon's massive bulk, it was only a matter of time before we brought it down. Its boar minions proved to be just as great a challenge though, and our poor Sorcerer kept getting bashed to unconsciousness before we convinced them to flee.

Bacon! Right? Wrong!

We spent the rest of the day camped at the edge of the pit, tending to our wounds and debating whether or not to pork up the big boar. Personally, I like mine roasted. Sadly, not everyone was interested.

Not long after the fight, my cosmic Oracle friend Nur went for a little air-walk over the pit to scope things out. There were a bunch of clay people-statues down there, and someone else. He didn't have much more opportunity to look, being as exhausted as he was.

When morning came on the next day, we were ready. Or so we thought. Grumpy Riet sent down the ropes, and my fearless friends Vanessa and Metenan went down to confront the the person/thing in the pit. By the time the rest of us followed in, the mystery person was looking at my friend Nur and ranting about how he was going to get the star child. I don't know what the duo said to tick him off, but they should have sent me! I'm a real good talker and schmoozer, so long as my ancestors shut up for a minute.

Anyway, this guy seemed to be some sort of sculptor. If he wasn't, he should be because all the statues he made were very lifelike! Some of them even moved! Some of them tried to kill us, of course. They formed clay weapons in their hands and started wailing on us while the sculptor shot big lightning bolts at us. Pew pew! ✓✓✓

We didn't fare very well, despite my best efforts to save everyone. I really tried! My friend Nur must have recalled at some point to get away from the Sculptor, because he was gone by the time the hurting began in earnest. Oh, it turns out that the sculptures had blood and bones and stuff inside them! Kinda gross, but kinda funny too if you think about it, because they were discovering that we had blood and bones and stuff inside of us at the same time!

We managed to bring one of the sculptures down. The Sculptor wasn't very happy with that. He did this fancy magic on me that made me want to lie down and stop breathing as the world turned grey, but I escaped using my cunning wits. Oh, and Vanessa helped my friends too I guess. When Metenan went down (which he seems to have a habit of doing) she shielded him and the rest of the group while the beatings continued. Camille recalled while Riet tried to do the same for Metenan. I punched an immobile statue to get the Sculptor's attention, while Riet sent Metenan out and Vanessa sent Riet out. The sculptor got mad and froze one of his statues for some reason. What an absolute idiot. He was alternating between madness and sadness at this point.

Vanessa yelled at me to recall then, but, like, she's not my mom or anything. Still, I felt bad for her, and the Sculptor's whining was bothering me, so I recalled.

As I write this, the hour is late. The fate of my friends is still something of an unknown to me - I assume that the others who recalled before I did are safe, but I have not seen them and cannot spare a moment to search them out.

Vanessa has yet to return. She was still standing when I last saw her, but I have been waiting in the plaza for hours and she has not yet returned to First Landing. If I had known I was leaving her in the clutches of the foe, I would have stayed. That Sculptor guy was giving of real creepy vibes, and I shudder to think what kind of weird stuff he would do to a lady when he gets all grabby and handsy again. My vision is still -off- and I have yet to feel like myself again, and that was after a single touch.

Vanessa is back, everyone! She's missing a finger, probably because the Sculptor did something weird, but she probably beat the snot out of him. She looks so bruised and lumpy, I can't begin to imagine how beaten and bloody that her foe looks!

Probably.

Oh, right, about the clay pit! Forget about it, it's probably haunted anyway.

~~Quest Completed(???) Over~~