S1 E9: Diorophir and Zelara
General Summary
- The party finished up their shopping, buying a pack donkey and a thousand feet of rope, and made plans to reach the Pyramid of Malavir ahead of the warlord; Kristre knew the way, but it was a long trip into unfamiliar territory and it seemed best to move in a larger group. It so happened that an alchemist trader elf was leaving Talaganza with his wagons and two lumbering orc guards. The three of them (The alchemist Diorophir and his bodyguards Ruce and Gulbor), were headed up to Kanambou, the Minonoise colony on the west coast of the Caetica along the Kanambou road, which was the path to get to the central pyramid.
- In addition to his potions and alchemical wares, which he readily sells to the party, Diorophir admits he also has something of a sideshow attraction in the smaller cart pulled by the to guards: Gerico the Tyrant, a wraith that was once his father, now trapped in an ornate and expensive porcelain box that resembles (and may very well be) an elaborate chamber-pot. He charges 2 copper to see the pot and perhaps the wraith within as part of a crowd, a silver to see it in private, and for a gold piece it will be compelled to tell the customer their fortune. Alistor pays a silver; Nyx detects no wraiths or even undead in the strange blackish smoke that wreathes the porcelain box.
- Eventually they reach the cliffs overlooking the cracked stone pyramid of Malavir, choked in rotting jungle, and Diorophir and his paraphernalia continue on up the road. The rest of them carefully descend the cliff face through skillful use of Spider Climb and a thousand feet of rope they procured in town. They move in the direction of the pyramid following vague tracks, but find it much harder to get their bearing down under the canopy in the thick jungle. Soon they're following a trail loosely cut by a machete, consisting of a flattened pathway down which a set of small, delicate booted feet travels, seeming to be just one set of tracks.
- This meanders a while until they happen upon a crouching Yuan Ti Pureblood woman who calls herself Zelara, who stalks a Giant Constrictor Snake some further distance ahead of them which is the source of the flattened part of the path; Zelara's dainty feet are the ones in the trail as well. She says she has been exiled from her clan, the Society of the Great Sleeping Mother, until she can kill this snake and drink its blood and thereby redeem herself after a transgression against the society, the nature of which she seems wholly unwilling to share.
- She listens to the party's story, making it clear she's well acquainted with all three pyramids, and that the Society has been charged with protecting the artifacts inside and keeping the world safe from them as well, and says she can definitely help get them inside the pyramid, but first they need to help her overcome the snake. Once they all reach it, the party joins the fight, noticing she has the ability to charm the snake but uses it only to help them get into a better position, rather than trying to befriend or pacify the snake in some way. Despite her own snake-like qualities she attacks without mercy, and revels in the death of the giant constrictor, slicing a deep gash into its dead body and inserting her entire head in order to drink its blood.
- Sated, she agrees to take the party to the pyramid once she's had a chance to rest and restore some of her energies, in case they meet with any trouble along the way. She explains that the entrance is controlled by a language puzzle, but if they solve it, not only will the entrance open and the guardians let them pass through most of the ruins - those parts not reclaimed by the Demons, anyway - but it will also grant them a boon of some kind. It's unclear if she knows the solution to the puzzle, or if she's only heard of the puzzle but never solved it - or perhaps it changes for every visitor.
- Diorophir, Elven Alchemist and roadside attraction merchant, and his two guards, Ruce and Gulbor, who don't seem to speak any language, just literally saying 'ooga booga booga' when spoken to.
- Gerico (pronounced with a hard G) "The Tyrant Wraith", which in reality seems to be some kind of smoke effect connected to an expensive bedpan or porta-john.
- Zelara, an exiled Yuan-Ti Pureblood who could almost pass for human but for her snakey eyes, recessed nose, and noticeable viper fangs. She says she is a part of the Society of the Great Sleeping Mother, a Yuan-Ti clan whose territory they now find themselves in.
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