Session 6: Bulette Ballet

General Summary

The party will see Sallah's modified sand skiff on the other side of the migrating herd. He will call out to them in friendly greeting, voice tinged with a bit of worry. Any look at the boat, even from the distance, will show that it has been damaged from a collision with rocks (or so the party would assume, in reality he unknowingly hit a surfacing Bulette). The bulettes in the area, seeing a humanoid, have begun to stalk under the surface near the rock he is sheltering on. There is available wood for Sallah to make his repairs, but he instinctively knows he can't make it off his rock and back alive.
Sallah will call to the party for aid. If they refuse to help him altogether, he will be eaten by a bulette.
As soon as the party comes down from their hill/cliff, the combat will start.
There are several holes on the battlemap, places where bulettes have recently surfaced when hunting the herd of beasts. In one of the larger holes, those who spend time with a DC 14 Perception or Investigation Check Can see the remnants of a shattered wagon mostly pulled underground. There appear to be some crates peeking out of the darkness of the tunnel.
Enemies: 2 bulettes. 1 begins its attack as the players enter the field, the other is on the other side and starts by stalking around Sallah's rock. Failing to distract it within 1d4 turns and it jumps out of the dirt and eats Sallah. Intentionally attracting its attention is enough to pull it away from Sallah.
Crossing the herd: Attempting to pass through any square with the herd will require a DC 15 Athletics or Handle Animal check to push through, over, or under, or to ride through with a mount. Failing by less than 5 will stop players from continuing to move. Failing by 5 or more results in the character getting knocked prone. Mounted characters that pass their Dex save to stay mounted are instead pushed 10 feet in the direction the herd moves, and their movement for the turn is stopped. On initiatives 20, 15, and 10, anyone in the path of the herd is pushed 10 feet unless they pass a DC 13 Dex or Str Saving Throw. Any prone characters at these points take 2d6 Bludgeoning damage from being trampled.
Loot: The crates in the tunnel contain sets of fine clothes and tools, along with a jewelry box containing a bone token of an entity.
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The party came across the herd, and immediately noticed the Bulette holes, and Sallah's crashed skiff. Visayan immediately flew down near Sallah, successfully distracting the second Bulette before knowing what was going on. Visayan brought the man his khopesh from the skiff, just in case, and the battle began. The party successfully avoided being pulled under the ground, with good uses of the sentinel feat and passing saves. Two riding horses were killed in the battle, leaving just one riding horse owned by the party and six longstem iguanas. Afterwards, Khashayar looted the broken wagon in the hole, and heard the voice of his Patron demanding he bring the relic to Thywicket.
Meanwhile, Kestrel used some time to wrangle some animals out of the herd, and collected one male and one female oryx, and one camel. Visayan used the time to chat with Sallah, learning that Sallah arrived on the continent a few weeks ago by sea, and set off alone to find the source of the music. Sallah's city is a sand ship that was easily modified to take to the sea. Visayan used prestidigitation and his musical history to produce sounds of different instruments to see if he could figure out what type of music Sallah was hearing (as Sallah's culture does not have church organs). He got close with pan pipes, but enough time had passed to see Sallah depart on his mission. As thanks, Sallah gifted the party the Amber Skiffhook, with the tip a hook made out of the bones of an entity, and the Lucky Bug pendant. He also left the party with the cryptic phrase “the first notes have begun to play”. The party made the ride back to Gundrir Boll, and arrived back late at night.

Notes

Messaged to Khashayar directly: A deep, ancient voice echoes along the tunnels: USE MY TOKEN, BRING IT TO THE CATERPILLAR
Khashayar: I will pause and listen, then look around for what the voice might be referring to
Patron: The voice is familiar... It is the voice of your patron rarely heard, but intimately familiar
THE CATERPILLAR IS UNDER SIEGE, BUT I NEED IT TO TRANSFORM
I will warily look down the tunnel, then whisper back, "It shall be done."
The tip of the spear/hook appears to be made of an amber-like substance. You've seen it before, but in another color- black. The jewelry box with the token is also of this black version of the material (think the translucent black teeth of the xenomorph). It has some connection to the strange entities of the plains
The token looks to be a finger bone, and others you have seen also tend to feel and look like bone, despite the unnerving color
I will tie it (and the one I already had) to the shaft of the amber spear when I attune to it

Report Date

04 Dec 2024