As the screaming stared from within the zoo…..
Several of the Amethyst Rose came sprinting into the party
to secure Lord Faruth and lead the various nobles to safety. The heroes had
been waiting for this to happen and quickly ran to retrieve their killing
implements. Once geared up, they ran off into the zoo that Lord Faruth’s estate
contains. They just knew that the Blackwatch Druids were behind these attacks.
A quick look at a small zoo map and the half-orc l and monk
let out a huge sigh. This was no ordinary zoo. It seems Lord Faruth collects
all manner of exotic animals and many other fantastical creatures: Cockatrice,
Manticores, Velociraptors, an Umber Hulk,
a Xorn, an Otyguh, a pair of Trolls, a Displacer Beast, Hook Horrors, a trio of
Ettercaps, Blink Dogs, Hippogriffins, a pair of Galeb Duhr, a small group of
Stirges, a Gelatinous Cube, and his prize possession to date….a Chimera. Someday
soon a pair of Owlbears and a Wyvern if all goes to plan. These along with
lions, tigers, bears, rhinos, axe beaks, otters, tons of fancy birds, an
elephant and a various assortment of common woodland creatures.
A heavy sign came from the barbarian since he had seen this
coming. Their weapons at the ready, the party ran into the zoo to stop whatever
was happening.
They ran into some guards that were heading back for help.
It seems that a trio of party people had been ambushed and drug off into the
Ettercap enclosure. The gang swiftly ran off to save the poor fools. Along the
way they found a pair of Black Watch druids attempting to open the Displacer
Beast cages. Once spotted one druid shapechanged into a big angry bear. The
second druid began casting at the party.
Battle quickly erupted between the bear, monk and barbarian.
The thief tried to pepper the non-bear druid with arrows. As the small combat played out, the noise
attracted a trio of giant spiders from the nearby Ettercap enclosure. The bear
druid was dispatched and the casting druid did a quick shapechange into a
falcon and flew off to safety.
Now the giant spiders were in the mix, but were quickly
dispatched. The group ran off to help the webbed up party goers. The Ettercap
enclosure was a small forest full of webs, a few writhing cocoons , more giant
spiders and two Ettercaps. The beasties moved out to attack, seeing another
group of potential food to capture. Well this food wasn’t going to capture so
easily! Well that is until a third and hidden Ettercap used a strand of webbing
to garrote the monk and drag him up into the trees. The barbarian, thief and
mage set about bashing, stabbing and burning spiders and the spider men
monsters. The monk struggled to breathe and break free as an Ettercap pummeled
him with impunity.
After a few attempts to break free, the monk instead just
laid into the beast to kill it, thus breaking the webbing that was slowly
strangling him. The spiders were all dead and two of the three captives were
freed. The third had been a tasty meal for the arachnids. Wounds were quickly
attended too and then the party ran off deeper into the zoo, looking to try and
stop this night from getting worse.
A trio of Amethyst Guard approached the party with a small satchel,
as they were tending to their wounds post spider battle. They were sent in to
deliver a cache of supplies from the Priestess of Mili and one of the mages attending
the party; quintet of healing potions
and a scroll with a handy spell for a quick stoppage of time. The three house
guards then ran off to help in the rescue relief going on in the Eastern part
of the zoo. The party continued on toward the Umber Hulk, Manticore and Hook
Horror cages to try and keep the druids from unleashing them.
They ran past a set of open cages that the display said
contained Manitcores, yet they were nowhere to be seen. Hopefully they had
flown off home, as they were not in the immediate area and the sky was clear of
flying lions. As they were investigating this area, the barbarian noticed a
giant reptilian face in the nearby shrubbery.
Right as he was saying “Clever girl.”, a velociraptor leapt out to attack the monk.
The party turned to help him, just as three more raptors ran out of hiding to
attack the group. Three of the four dinosaurs were put down, but not before
taking a few chunks out of the party. The fourth raptor turned and ran off into
the park once the other three had been slain.
A quick tending to wounds and the group was off again. They
reached the Hook Horrors and Umber Hulk cages. They were still secure in there,
noticeably agitated, but secure. They moved on to search the center of the park
and found the small reflecting pool, gazebo, a few small tables, some fancy
topiaries, flower beds and small building containing a kitchen. It was quiet
and no people or animals were around, or at least none anyone noticed.
The group moved on toward the area labeled as Savannah. Here
the cages for the lions, tigers, axe beaks, ostriches, zebras, a few giant
lizards, rhinos, warthogs, and the elephant were all open and empty. The hyenas
were still locked up, but nobody seemed to notice. That was probably due to the
pair of rhinos charging the party!
The first beast struck the monk with the full force of its
horn. He still managed to stay on his feet due to his crazy kung-Fu powers. The
second rhino ran at the party, but the quick thinking of Morgan kept the beast
from hitting anyone. He cast his signature spell, and the charging rhino hit a
patch of grease and lost its footing. It slid to a stop several feet away from
anyone.
The party laid into the enraged animals, even though they
were not keen on killing these innocent animals. After a few minutes these
innocent animals reverted to their human forms and began casting spells into the
party. Two more druids!
The party worked to try and capture one of these people
alive, a task that is usually a failure on their part. The first druid was
failing fast and the rouge stepped up to capture him, well he tried using two
attacks from his weapons. The druid fell, all but eviscerated. They rushed to
try and contain the second druid and used a little more finesse this time. The
monk was able to punch her silly and restrain her.
The barbarian began to question her, but only got a string
of gibberish. Nobody else could understand her. His orcish blood was running
hot and he threatened her in orc and she replied by hocking an wad of mucusy phlegm
on him. She knew exactly what he said! Reginald started with the questions and
even explained that the Blackwatch were set-up and being used.
"You started this and we will finish it.” That was the reply
she gave. It was also her last statement as the barbarian finished her.
The party sat to recover for a moment before moving forward.
They were getting tired and their wounds were starting to take a toll. They soon
discovered a few Amethyst Guard that were frozen in various action poses, and they
knew the cockatrice was loose. They checked the park map they found and saw
they were near the chimera paddock. They ran off to see if that thing was on
the loose. As the approached that area they ran into a small contingent of the Amethyst
guard that had been fighting and securing the Eastern part of the park. They
had secured and cleared the area behind them. They had been chasing the final
two druids toward the Savannah.
It seemed that the zoo was safe from druid shenanigans, but there
were still animals to wrangle and a few guests to find. They party relayed the
information about their travel through the area. They had the guards send runners
to find help for the guards paralyzed by the cockatrice. They also sent word to
Lord Faruth that his zoo was clear of those pesky shapeshifting tree huggers.
As the party left to check on William Clay, get a meal, bath
and tend to some physical damage; Lord Faruth’s personal assistant/lackey Mr.
Black arrived with a small lock box. It was full of platinum pieces. A small
bit of compensation for the effort the party put forth.
The evening was over, but the battle against the Blackwatch
was not over yet.
A reckoning was coming, probably next month!?
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