Session 31 - Kuo-Toa and Back Again
General Summary
From Laura's journal
Events spinning out of control…
Not that we ever had control in this odd journey we did not mean to start, but the feeling of being caught in something much larger than we are, and with too many directions, grows stronger. Anyhow, we thought we had gotten safely away, out of the Kuo-Toa lair and temple; at least we had a chance to sit and catch our breath for a bit. Mkali was certainly washing enough and quite put out with fish flavor. But then I heard them coming down the hallway and Mkali’s tail started twitching, like he was about to pounce. As soon as I looked down the hallway, I saw them, the front 4 or so of what turned out to be 11 Koa Toa fingers ready for more battle. Practically before I could speak Bandua, Tertia and Mkali had formed a line across the hallway with me. Hassan and Kleeck sheltered slightly behind the walls as we waited. Hassan was eager to fling massive quantities of fire at them again and I hissed at him to aim behind them and make sure not would escape if he tired that. Somehow, we managed to do-in the first couple to approach; my arrows flew true, although theirs did as well and they hit me hard… that arrow will leave an interesting scar, I guess. And then our line was advancing again. Hassan did something fancy with the light for a second and three of them just stopped. I did not pay much attention as I battled on with the one in front of me. It was a hard fight, but we kept advancing. Tertia was at my side, Bandua then Mkali making a line across the hall, Kleeck and Hassan firing magics from behind and above. Both Tertia and I were hit pretty hard; Kleeck added some healing magic to aid Tertia and I felt a strange calling to do the same, perhaps it would help me too. So, between strikes after killing one I called on Diana and had a large (Mkali sized) somewhat transparent cat curling around Tertia as we fought. It seemed to make her stronger. We kept pressing them mostly with swords and daggers, but the occasional arrow until we had done-in all but the ones Hassan held spellbound. Then we had a quick discussion. Should we take one alive and try to question it? Would we be able to understand or communicate? We decided to try the capture at least. My transparent healing cat rubbed up against me, then disappeared leaving me feeling much more ready for the continued fight. Figuring on talking to the Koa Toa would have to come later. So, the attack recommenced, and after a bit we killed two and took one captive. Tying it up was a mess and we eventually used one of their nets. Dear Gods, we all stink like fish gone bad and left to stew in the sun. Communication with that fish creature was rather useless in the condition we were in. Hassan tried all sorts of illusions and she either cowered in fear or feigned misunderstanding or both. Tertia had tried to intimidate her into speaking but with no luck. So, we decided to head back to the ship and think about things there, lady Kuo-Toa in tow. Alt least wading through the sea washed off some of the slime, but not the stench. We decided to drag the Kuo-Toa back to Turris. Sailing was uneventful, but I think decision-making at 3 AM after battle and odd sea sleep tainted with Kuo-Toa odor is to be noted as a bad idea, and poor planning. Tertia has military discipline drilled into her, Kleeck was asleep on his feet, and I was not much better. I am not sure the oldster stirred until later and Hassan was full of yawns. After a brief and sleep=muddled discussion, we turned the fishy mess over to the authorities. Had we waited until real morning maybe we would have chosen differently, and slaughter would not be quite so imminent. They are not innocent, but the death we now bring/march with chills me a bit, and I see the same concerns in my companions. Even without the Roman edict to protect the Empire, we might have come out with the same conclusion in the end. The Kuo-Toa do worship gods similar to that which we found in the Necropolis and Lugdunum after all, so even the non-combatants' innocence is suspect. But I worry going into this under others direction and priorities. We have not told them all we know nor all the questions we aught to ask. Back to how we ended up here; after our early morning interview we left her fishiness guarded by soldiers and repaired to the inn to sleep. We had the promise of a talk with the Turris perfecta in the morning. I was hoping at this point that that would be very late morning after a real bath at the bathouse! If it had been late enough, I would have gone to the bath hose first. The innkeep will not thank us for the odor in his rooms! Around midday we met with the Perfecta, Pontifices, head of the druid circle and those presumably in charge of the soldiers of Turris. They had already planned to march on and kill the Kuo-Toa. It is, yes, the Roman thing to do. Any threat to the empire must be dispensed with, but I still wonder about non-combatants. Things are shifting here, and I am not completely sure where right is. But it came down to this: would we march with them and show them were to go? Our answer was yes. So, we follow this road. Choose the consequences of these actions. Before we set to marching, (armies, even the Roman Century, take a bit to get ready) we tried talking to her fishiness one more time. This time, well rested, it went better. Kleeck did something to Hassan so he could speak and understand Koa Toa, and Tertia was able to "Listen" again. We should have rested and done this first. I don’t understand all her meanings, but yes, they know of these Titans; they know of a battle between gods. That which the Pontifex of Apollo in Nemasus banned Kleeck from the temple for asking about. If we had asked these questions before involving armies, perhaps we would have learned more. As we march with an army the information gathering may be limited, but perhaps going back there is still a chance to learn something. Perhaps not. But we aim to recover that which was stolen from Diana and that has to be some good at lest. Doesn’t it? I guess I should talk to the oldster about it, he has been the most quiet on the topic. Tertia and Hassan seem as disturbed as I am. And Kleeck seems to feel the heat of Apollo needs to burn through all the fish. But they are my companions, and I trust them after our wanderings these past months, so we go onward. And hope that things are not too out of control.
Events spinning out of control…
Not that we ever had control in this odd journey we did not mean to start, but the feeling of being caught in something much larger than we are, and with too many directions, grows stronger. Anyhow, we thought we had gotten safely away, out of the Kuo-Toa lair and temple; at least we had a chance to sit and catch our breath for a bit. Mkali was certainly washing enough and quite put out with fish flavor. But then I heard them coming down the hallway and Mkali’s tail started twitching, like he was about to pounce. As soon as I looked down the hallway, I saw them, the front 4 or so of what turned out to be 11 Koa Toa fingers ready for more battle. Practically before I could speak Bandua, Tertia and Mkali had formed a line across the hallway with me. Hassan and Kleeck sheltered slightly behind the walls as we waited. Hassan was eager to fling massive quantities of fire at them again and I hissed at him to aim behind them and make sure not would escape if he tired that. Somehow, we managed to do-in the first couple to approach; my arrows flew true, although theirs did as well and they hit me hard… that arrow will leave an interesting scar, I guess. And then our line was advancing again. Hassan did something fancy with the light for a second and three of them just stopped. I did not pay much attention as I battled on with the one in front of me. It was a hard fight, but we kept advancing. Tertia was at my side, Bandua then Mkali making a line across the hall, Kleeck and Hassan firing magics from behind and above. Both Tertia and I were hit pretty hard; Kleeck added some healing magic to aid Tertia and I felt a strange calling to do the same, perhaps it would help me too. So, between strikes after killing one I called on Diana and had a large (Mkali sized) somewhat transparent cat curling around Tertia as we fought. It seemed to make her stronger. We kept pressing them mostly with swords and daggers, but the occasional arrow until we had done-in all but the ones Hassan held spellbound. Then we had a quick discussion. Should we take one alive and try to question it? Would we be able to understand or communicate? We decided to try the capture at least. My transparent healing cat rubbed up against me, then disappeared leaving me feeling much more ready for the continued fight. Figuring on talking to the Koa Toa would have to come later. So, the attack recommenced, and after a bit we killed two and took one captive. Tying it up was a mess and we eventually used one of their nets. Dear Gods, we all stink like fish gone bad and left to stew in the sun. Communication with that fish creature was rather useless in the condition we were in. Hassan tried all sorts of illusions and she either cowered in fear or feigned misunderstanding or both. Tertia had tried to intimidate her into speaking but with no luck. So, we decided to head back to the ship and think about things there, lady Kuo-Toa in tow. Alt least wading through the sea washed off some of the slime, but not the stench. We decided to drag the Kuo-Toa back to Turris. Sailing was uneventful, but I think decision-making at 3 AM after battle and odd sea sleep tainted with Kuo-Toa odor is to be noted as a bad idea, and poor planning. Tertia has military discipline drilled into her, Kleeck was asleep on his feet, and I was not much better. I am not sure the oldster stirred until later and Hassan was full of yawns. After a brief and sleep=muddled discussion, we turned the fishy mess over to the authorities. Had we waited until real morning maybe we would have chosen differently, and slaughter would not be quite so imminent. They are not innocent, but the death we now bring/march with chills me a bit, and I see the same concerns in my companions. Even without the Roman edict to protect the Empire, we might have come out with the same conclusion in the end. The Kuo-Toa do worship gods similar to that which we found in the Necropolis and Lugdunum after all, so even the non-combatants' innocence is suspect. But I worry going into this under others direction and priorities. We have not told them all we know nor all the questions we aught to ask. Back to how we ended up here; after our early morning interview we left her fishiness guarded by soldiers and repaired to the inn to sleep. We had the promise of a talk with the Turris perfecta in the morning. I was hoping at this point that that would be very late morning after a real bath at the bathouse! If it had been late enough, I would have gone to the bath hose first. The innkeep will not thank us for the odor in his rooms! Around midday we met with the Perfecta, Pontifices, head of the druid circle and those presumably in charge of the soldiers of Turris. They had already planned to march on and kill the Kuo-Toa. It is, yes, the Roman thing to do. Any threat to the empire must be dispensed with, but I still wonder about non-combatants. Things are shifting here, and I am not completely sure where right is. But it came down to this: would we march with them and show them were to go? Our answer was yes. So, we follow this road. Choose the consequences of these actions. Before we set to marching, (armies, even the Roman Century, take a bit to get ready) we tried talking to her fishiness one more time. This time, well rested, it went better. Kleeck did something to Hassan so he could speak and understand Koa Toa, and Tertia was able to "Listen" again. We should have rested and done this first. I don’t understand all her meanings, but yes, they know of these Titans; they know of a battle between gods. That which the Pontifex of Apollo in Nemasus banned Kleeck from the temple for asking about. If we had asked these questions before involving armies, perhaps we would have learned more. As we march with an army the information gathering may be limited, but perhaps going back there is still a chance to learn something. Perhaps not. But we aim to recover that which was stolen from Diana and that has to be some good at lest. Doesn’t it? I guess I should talk to the oldster about it, he has been the most quiet on the topic. Tertia and Hassan seem as disturbed as I am. And Kleeck seems to feel the heat of Apollo needs to burn through all the fish. But they are my companions, and I trust them after our wanderings these past months, so we go onward. And hope that things are not too out of control.
Rewards Granted
1,100 Experience Points.
Missions/Quests Completed
Major Milestone: Escape from the Shrine
Character(s) interacted with
- Prefecta Caelynn Flavia Aruanna (Grey Elf)
- Optio Maxima Asinia (Human)
- Centurion Soveliss Aurelius Selevarun (Grey Elf)
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