Chapter 38
Slowly falling to the tree-covered jungle in the gorge, Dolor considers the irony of being an agile thief and the only one that fell from the rope. Even that muscle-bound half-orc, Gven, nimbly scurried across the thin line. Thanks to Asmodeus, Bilwin had the wherewithal to cast Feather Fall so he won’t be hurt, assuming he doesn’t land in a spot of quicksand or get skewered by some knife-shaped tropical tree trunk.
Reaching the canopy of trees, the tiefling is able to navigate the leaves and branches, landing softly on the jungle floor. It’s oddly quiet here, much more so than up top along the ancient roadway. There are a few unique sounds he can pick out, probably different types of animals live in the gorge. One in particular, a low ribbit, seems prominent amongst the cacophony and coming from all directions. He continues walking, trying to find the cliff walls that lead up to the mainland and perhaps an easy climb to the top.
Noticing that the croaking sounds are getting closer, Dolor rests his hand on Gleaming Blade and stands still but alert with his sword in its scabbard. Within a few minutes, five small-statured froglike humanoids appear from the surrounding jungle and look at Dolor quizzically.
“Hello, I’m new to this part of the island and looking for a way back up to the top of the gorge. Can you point me in the right direction for a stairway or the like?” The creatures stare at him and begin to talk amongst themselves in the rumbling ribbits. Four of them have green skin, while the one doing most of the talking is red. They aren’t wearing clothing of any sort, which makes it easy for Dolor to see that their skin glimmers with a thin covering of moisture. They begin to fan out around him, three of them holding primitive daggers.
“Looks like we’re going to do this the old fashioned way, eh.”
At the top of the ravine, Gven volunteers to rappel down into the gorge and look for Dolor. Grindlefoot takes two lengths of rope tied together and secures one end to a sturdy-looking tree stump. He yanks on it a few times, “There, I think that’ll hold. At least, it should.”
He turns to Gven and gives her a sign to proceed, then decides that the rocks at his feet are begging to be thrown.
Fight choreography
Pulling Gleaming Blade from its sheath, Dolor advances on the red-skinned creature that seems to be the leader. Slashing the blade through the air twice, his foe is able to dodge both attacks with unexpected dexterity. Dolor decides to use an action surge to attack, which draws first blood in their fight.
The red grung gives him a look that Dolor can’t quite interpret, then emits a long “reeeeeeeeeee” in a rumbling tone. He feels a force, a type of resonance, pushing against his mind and is able to shake it off.
While Gven is rappelling down the side of the cliff, Grindlefoot has set his sights on a rock that’s about half the size of his hand. He picks it up, tosses it into the air a few times to get a feel for its weight, and then hurls it as far as he can out into the gorge. A few seconds after hearing a satisfying thwack from the rock hitting a tree, he sees a large swarm of buzzing things fly out from the cover of the trees. “Uh oh.”
Bilwin, not used to being the voice of reason, looks at Grindlefoot and says, “you had to throw a rock.” Because he’s been practicing with Dolor’s daggers, Bilwin realizes that he’s developed an affinity towards them and can use them to find Dolor in the jungle below. He casts Locate Object on them and shouts to Gven, “He’s off to the right!”
Gven, having climbed 30 feet down the rope by now, responds loud enough for the dwarf to hear, “Your right or mine?”
“Mine, of course!” yells Bilwin, shaking his head at her confusion.
Seeing the cloud of buzzing insects hovering over the tree tops, Mond prepares Ray of Frost in the chance they come this way.
Three of the green frog-creatures attempt to grapple Dolor, but with their small stature and his innate dexterity, he’s able to evade their attacks. The fourth green creature has luck on its side and lands on Dolor’s back, grabs hold tightly of his neck, and secretes a slimy substance onto his skin. Dolor can feel the venomous nature of the secretions, but is able to resist the toxic affect, even though he’s unable to shake the grung from his back.
While resuming his attack on the red grung, Dolor yells “I have a frog problem down here! Could use some help!” Gleaming Blade connects this time, as does his off-hand shortsword, both visibly painful to the frog leader.
In an exasperated attempt, the red leader slashes out with its rusty dagger, but misses wide.
Gven hears Dolor’s cry for help and hastens her descent, reaches the bottom of the gorge and turns to her right—making sure it’s the same as Bilwin’s right—then hurries off into the jungle to find Dolor.
At the top of the cliff, the swarm of insects approaches the group and Grindlefoot feels badly about unintentionally disturbing their day. He casts Speak with Animals and apologizes to them, convincing them that it was a mistake and he wasn’t threatening their home. Surprising Bilwin and Mond, the swarm moves away to return to their hive, leaving the group in peace.
Hearing Dolor’s shout about frogs, Bilwin immediately runs off the edge of the cliff, shouting “We’re coming, hold on!” A second later he casts Feather Fall on himself and gently falls to the jungle floor below.
Also hearing Dolor, Mond follows Bilwin, walking to the edge of the cliff and then off. He looks unusually calm as he falls, only moving his arms and legs enough to keep his body upright. As he reaches the tree tops, he casts Misty Step. In a sudden layer of silvery mist, he disappears from the leafy tree tops to reappear on the jungle floor next to Gven. Without missing a step he gives Gven a side-eye look and says, “We can’t let you have all the fun, now can we.”
One of the green frog-creatures jabs at Dolor with a roughly made spear and connects, slicing a small gash across his arm. The two other green ones stab at him with their daggers, but he’s able to evade them, even though the fourth one tightens its grip and stays on his back. Once again, Dolor is able to resist the poisonous skin secretions from his frog-like backpack’s attack.
The weight of the grung on his back has little impact on Dolor’s ability to fight. He slashes the red grung with Gleaming Blade, ripping open yet another wound on its torso. As he misses with his off-hand shortsword, the red one responds with an erratic stab of its dagger and misses.
Grindlefoot feels badly about disturbing the bees and decides to make things right in his own, farmer-focused way. He casts Summon Beast and calls to him all the birds he can think of that might inhabit this tropical island. He directs the flocks of hummingbirds, parrots, and wrens to find all the seeds they can and spread them throughout the forest in the gorge below, especially close to the tree where the insects hive is located.
He tells the rest of the birds, toucans, hornbills, kingfishers, owls, and tanagers, to go help his friends and attack whomever might be hurting them.
Bilwin, still feather falling from the cliff’s edge, looks up to see Grindlefoot standing tall with his arms held out wide and birds swarming around him as the sun’s rays rest on him like a spotlight. “How beautiful!” A few seconds later, he lands lightly on the jungle floor and heads off to the right, towards Dolor’s daggers—and hopefully Dolor.
Mond and Gven are making their way through the jungle foliage towards where they think Dolor is located when they hear the first sounds of battle.
This time, the green one with the warped spear connects with Dolor and slices open a small wound on his shin. The other two green frogs circle the tiefling, attempting to find a hole in his defenses, but neither one is able to hit him with their daggers.
The grung on Dolor’s back seems to realize that its poison isn’t working well, pulls a roughly-made knife out of somewhere—he’s naked, so Dolor wonders where he was keeping it—and slashes at the tiefling’s neck, drawing a small bit of blood. The creature shoves its hand into the air and screams out in triumph, “reeebbbbbbbiiittt!”
Tired of being poked, prodded, and sliced—not to mention several attempts at poisoning and being ridden like an unwilling horse—Dolor responds to the grung on his back with Hellish Rebuke. The small creature bursts into a ball of flames, leaving a slight dusting of ash on the ground around Dolor. Without missing a beat, Dolor attacks the red grung leader with a fury. He slashes the creature across its shoulder with Gleaming Blade, nearly severing its arm from its body. And a quick follow up with his shortsword in a ferocious off-hand strike completely beheads the creature.
Mond and Gven enter the small clearing where Dolor is battling the five grung just in time to see the one on his back burst into flames and the red one violently beheaded.
Gven sees the three remaining small frog-creatures standing around Dolor with looks of terror on their faces. She gives the tiefling a contemplative look, then a slight grin comes to her face. Moving calmly, she sits down next to a tree with her hand resting on Tempest Edge’s hilt, still in its scabbard. With a nod of her head to the tiefling, “Carry on.”
Mond reacts a bit differently, casting Tasha’s Mind Whip at the three grung, immediately killing two of them. The lone survivor is badly hurt, but still able-bodied enough to jump into the air and land on a tree branch twenty feet above ground. Within the next few moments it’s joined by at least fifty of its brethren in the surrounding trees. Dolor, Gven, and Mond can hear the ribbit noises of hundreds more headed their direction.
At that moment, a colossal swarm of birds swoops in and begins attacking each and every one of the grung in the trees, sparing none from their beaks and claws. The large clan of frog-creatures quickly decides to escape into the thick forest, leaving the tiefling, half-elf, and half-orc alone.
Still grinning, Gven pushes herself to her feet, “I think it’s time to go now.”
Standing on the cliff’s edge, Grindlefoot casts Plant Growth at the area where the smaller birds have been furiously spreading seeds. For generations after this day, the buzzing inhabitants of that hive speak reverently about the Great One Who Spoke To Us as they enjoy the plentiful bounty that was created and continues to thrive.
After the day’s escapades, the group returns to their campsite from the previous night. They reach it at sunset and discover that nothing has disturbed the area, so they quickly settle in for dinner and sleep.
Long rest….