Stiff As A Board

General Summary

Lethe and Precision barely had time to react to the angry chuul as it barreled towards the two of them. Lethe cast a protective spell of darkness around him but was shocked to find it ineffective as the creature single-mindedly attacked him, seeming to ignore Precision even as she hacked ferociously at its carapace. Erevan, who had been staying back, hurled several motes of flame at the creature and while some of them seemed to damage it, others seemed to be absorbed and actually heal the creature. Lethe and Erevan managed to get out of the main antechamber and stay in a hallway out of its reach hurling spells at it while Precision stayed battling it up close. Furious, the chuul attempted to push into the hallway but to no avail, and when it realized it could not reach the casters it finally turned its attention to Precision. The two traded blows as spell after spell whizzed into the creature, some healing and some harming it. In the course of the battle, Precision was grappled in the chuul's claws and paralyzed by its poison. Seeing their ally go down, Lethe called on the last of his magical reserves and hurled a huge ball of electricity at the creature, killing it.
Unfortunately, Precision remained paralyzed after the creature's demise. As Erevan attempted to tend to her wounds Lethe looked around the area. He was able to find five large arcaltium crystals that had apparently been mined by the Volarians before the place was abandoned. As he inspected the crystals growing out of the cavern wall, he saw that several of them had been shattered by the creature, who seemed to have been feeding on the magical energies within. The crystals themselves had a delicate interior latticework, and Lethe could tell that attempting to mine them would be a difficult process. While he considered attempting to gather more for his own use, he realized the peril that Precision was in and elected to help get her out of the ruins to seek a healer. Together, he and Erevan carried her out.
Once the group reached the initial mining area, they found several of Ra'zik's men waiting to hear that the ruins were safe to explore. Erevan did notice that several of them were bloody and two were dead on the ground. The leader of the group said that the spider-like creature the first group of miners had encountered had broken through the barricade and attacked them, but they had managed to push it back. Lethe told them that there were plenty of valuable crystals inside and they should reward themselves by skimming some off the top. The group's leader, who introduced himself as Drogath, said that he had planned to do that anyway but liked Lethe's style. One of the miners expressed concern about stealing from their employers, and in response Drogath killed him and told everyone to say the spider did it. Drogath then told Lethe that he would get in touch in the future.
Aboveground, Ra'zik was waiting to hear the news that the job was complete. He thanked the party for their help and told them to feel free to spend the night at the Five Brothers' for free. He would contact them with the information they were looking for after they handled Precision's paralysis situation. Lethe and Erevan warded the room as best they can, and headed into the night to find some sort of healer. It being roughly an hour after midnight there were few places open, but they did learn of an all-night riverside market and so headed there. While looking around, they were flagged down by a fast-talking traveling salesman who introduced himself as Professor Harold Merchantel, who offered a cure-all elixir he called "basilisk oil." Lethe bought a bottle and the two headed back to administer it to Precision.
On the way back, Lethe heard a commotion in a side alley. He told Erevan to continue onwards while he investigated. In the alley, he found two men beating up Jee-Kai, the lizardfolk merchant he encountered the day before. Using a spell to disguise himself as another lizardfolk, he hurled a fire bolt at one of the men. The two men fled in terror, and as they left Lethe noticed they were wearing city guard armor beneath their robes. Dropping his disguise, Lethe helped Jee-Kai to his feet. Jee-Kai thanked him, but said the use of magic was unwise as the guards would simply come back even angrier. Lethe told him that he would see about maybe doing something about it in the future but that he had more pressing matters presently, and headed back to the inn.
Meanwhile, Erevan was accosted by a rather aggressive street preacher. He ignored him and returned to the inn, where he administered the pungent, thick potion to Precision. It took nearly twenty minutes to fully take hold but Precision did awaken from her paralysis. She summoned Pancake from his pocket dimension and the three bedded down for the night.

Chapter Fifteen

"Stiff As A Board"

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Previous Chapter: Into the Underground

Next Chapter: Barking Up the Wrong Tree

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Ingame Date: 11^th of Rainseed, 1855
Real-Life Date: August 9, 2020
Protagonists:

• Precision
• Lethe Argie
• Erevan

Featured NPCs:

• Drogath Goldworthy
• Ra'zik
• Harold Merchantel 
• Jee-Kai

Locations:

• Roselawn Volarian Excavation
• Roselawn