Slay Mansel

Osric had been back one night, and was not contrite at all, despite having already been told that morning by Arnari he should have learned his lesson.  He joined Kaikoa, Tuala, Hikawera, and Dryali as they came up to Arnari's office looking for gainful occupation.

Arnari took one look at this crew and rattled off three possible missions for the five Freelancers to take:

• The Church of Storms and the Church of Ua want us to find Mansel.  At this point they do not care if he is dead or alive.  150gp each
• Garth Nimblefingers of the Academy of Magic wants volunteers to test a trap he has devised.  He will have people standing by.
• Gwydion – the polluter wizard – will pay 50gp per person plus one uncommon potion each, to kill weird mutated creatures on the Pirates River.

Hikawera mused, remembering, "Mansel.  He slept through our heist [of Gillian]."

Arnari ignored the comment.  "Which of these?"

Kaikoa exclaimed in delight.  "We can kill Mansel!"  Dryali suggested simultaneously, "We could capture Mansel and then, throw him into the trap!"

Hikawera looked at them lazily.  "I'm surprised," he drawled, "You haven't gone for him before."  He cast produce flame on one of his fingertips, looking at it intently.

Arnari replied in surprise, "You hadn't heard."  Kaikoa said merely, "We did go after him, it ended poorly."

Dryali asked, "What about Ethan?"  Arnari told him, "Church of Storms wants him alive."  Dryali was unimpressed.  "They're clerics!  They can revive."

Anyhow, of course the mission was go after Mansel.  Arnari had no further intel, so they brainstormed what leads they'd had that had not yet been pursued.  Dryali remembered Kaikoa had tracked some Daystar cultist who had been a warehouse foreman, and they discussed whether that would be stale information or not.

They decided to checkout the warehouse, and if there were any nearby bars, Hikawera would duck in and try to pick up generalized gossip.

On the way to the warehouse, Hikawera had no luck in the bars, and Osric & Dryali tried looking about to spot any unnaturally tanned persons and/or flyers for gatherings.  While they saw a few people with excessive tans, they failed to spot any flyers.

Upon their arrival at the warehouse, they all realized belatedly they should be a bit more circumspect, but really only Tuala succeeded at that with any confidence.  The warehouse had very large doors, to facilitate loading/unloading wagons, so it was easy to see inside.  As they looked, Kaikoa and Osric saw an excessively tanned Rock sagani, ducking indoors to get out of sight!

Heavy footsteps resounded from inside, and then a door slammed.  Oh, he had seen Dryali and Hikawera, and ran away!  Osric called out, "He's running away!"  Tuala couldn't help himself, and gave chase!

Kaikoa flew up on Mordant, his hippogryph, and flew over the warehouse.  The remaining three Freelancers looked at each other.  The warehouse was too big to skirt, so the only way out was through!  They ran after Tuala, and the four of them quickly discovered their barging full speed through a warehouse with an orderly, but unknown layout was full of hazards they were not quick enough to dodge.

Kaikoa and Mordant flew over the other side of the warehouse to see the Rock sagani fleeing up the street, and caught up to him.  Kaikoa had Mordant just land on the fellow, pinning him, right as the other four Freelancers emerged from the warehouse, rather disheveled.  They saw what happened and paused, to straighten themselves out and regain some dignity after slamming into goods and knocking into people.

Then they ran up to Kaikoa just in time to hear the affronted Rock sagani exclaim, "Let me go!  Get off me!"  Kaikoa apologized.  "Oh!  So sorry, thought you were a clam!"  Mordant didn't move.

The Rock sagani scowled.  "Do you have a dangerous hippogryph in the city?"  In the fraught silence that followed, Hikawera leaned over and looked more closely at him, and exclaimed, "Nice skin care!  What have you been using?"

The Rock sagani warmed to this compliment, and struggled to sit up.  Mordant let him.  "Oh!  Special lotion!  I get, you can buy some!"  He started patting around, looking for the lotion.

Dryali crossed his arms. "Where'd you get it?"  The Rock sagani warmed further.  "A new pop-up shop – only open every other day.  It's in the very northern end of Guildstrom District."

Kaikoa asked pleasantly, "Does Mansel run the shop?"  The Rock sagani tensed.  "Oh wait!  I was running for a reason!"  His face hardened.  "Mansel definitely does not run the shop."

Kaikoa growled, "I'll take you much closer to the Daystar," and Mordant moved to pick the Rock sagani up.  The Rock sagani replied, "Feet on the ground!" and they stared at each other.  Mordant mantled a little.

The Rock sagani sagged.  "Yes; Mansel."  Kaikoa did not let up.  "How many other people there?"  The Rock sagani replied, "Mansel, 2-3 other people."

As this exchange took place, Dryali was watching for others to emerge from the warehouse, but there were no others.  He turned back.  "Why were you running?" he asked.

The Rock sagani said with loyalty, "Warn Mansel – Oh," he sagged again, "He's not there."

While the Rock sagani contemplated his life choices, so did the Freelancers.  Not wanting Mansel warned, they decided Kaikoa would take him to the Church of Storms.  Mordant flew up with him in her claws, and the four other Freelancers heard his screams like a terrified child as Mordant headed towards Church of Storms, and they headed towards the north end of Guildstrom District.

Kaikoa landed at a side entrance to the Church of Storms with the screaming Rock sagani in Mordant's claws.  The Temple guards looked at him, and the tanned captive.  "Idiot drop off!" he called out cheerfully.  A Temple guard ducked inside, came out with a third, and they took custody of the captive.  Then Kaikoa took his leave.

He joined up with the other Freelancers in a park.  At the edge of the park, nestled into a low wall, was a small popup store building, shuttered and locked.  Further away, nestled into a similar low wall, was another popup store selling stringed instruments. Some nicer buildings bordered the park in that direction, and in the other direction were mature trees.  Dryali tried to climb one, but critfailed.  The grassy area between the trees and the popups was open & flat.

The Freelancers checked around the trees and bushes.  Nobody was doing their Daystar worshipping thing, nobody looked excessively tan.

Hikawera and Dryali looked at the low stone popup from the base of the trees, and talked about shatter until the others joined them, and they made their plan.

Tuala would alter self into a wild elf, and climb in the tree.  Hikawera would disguise self as their Rock sagani captive.  Dryali would stay at the base of this tree.  Osric would wild shape a cat on the low wall.  And Kaikoa would circle above, on Mordant.

Their plans thus set, they returned to the Freelancers to relax and enjoy the tavern.

After an early breakfast, the Freelancers returned to the park to put their plans in motion.  They stayed under the trees, watching the stringed instrument shop open, until around 10am, Mansel and another similarly tanned person (a Wind sagani), walked along the low wall, and started opening up the shop.

Dryali pulled out his tools, and created a force ballista while the others got into position.  Then, when all were in place, he cast shatter.  The wooden shutters and door splintered, and there was a sound of glass bottles breaking.  Mansel came out, looked around in horror.  So Dryali had the force ballista fire at him.  It missed, shattering another bottle of lotion.

• Hikawera cast shatter.  Mansel was pretty hurt, but the other person less so.  The rest of the bottles broke.
• Tuala cast web, entangling the two Daystar worshippers.  He turned back into a nekomata.
• Osric dropped his wild shape, and cast produce flame.  Despite critting them with it, the lotion prevented them from taking much fire damage.
• Kaikoa and Mordant flew up out of range, watching.

Dryali cast shatter again as the other popup shop owner ran away.  It was pretty satisfying to watch the two Daystar cultists drop unconscious in the rubble that had been their popup shop.

• Hikawera, avoiding the web, started tying the unconscious pair up.
• Tuala dropped to the ground out of the tree, and walked over, ostensibly to help.
• Osric tied up Mansel.
• Kaikoa flew down, and started searching the area and their persons.  He pocketed the 112gp he found.  He didn't find anything else but a sunburst medallion on each person.

The tied-up Mansel started glowing.  Brighter and brighter he glowed, until they could not look at him, and finally, in a burst of light, in his place, was an elemental.  It looked a bit like a fire elemental, but it was made of… daylight?  yellow/white.  The burst of light burned all of the Freelancers, who after all were all standing right next to it.

Dryali put his darkened goggles back on, but he was still seeing spots.  His catapult crit missed the elemental, and the force ballista shot went wild.

• Hikawera insulted the elemental roundly, but the vicious mockery did nothing.  He gave bardic inspiration to Kaikoa.
• Tuala was actually blinded by the flash of light, so cast protection from evil & good on himself, and moved away.
• Osric, who was right next to the elemental, took more radiant damage, and ran west along the wall.  He cast thorn whip on the elemental, hurting it a little, and pulling it 10' towards him… and away from Hikawera and Kaikoa.
• To no avail, Kaikoa also took more radiant damage.  He moved up and slashed the elemental with his longsword, and added unwavering mark to it.  Then he used action surge and slashed it again.
• The elemental attacked Kaikoa, twice, but missed both times.

Dryali decided this weird elemental was not for messing around, and had the force ballista hit it, and then he cast thunderwave, pushing it away again.

• Hikawera, not wanting to lose a captive, cast cure wounds on the tied up unconscious cultist.  He gave bardic inspiration to Tuala, and then moved away.
• Tuala's vision returned, and he moved to put Mordant between him and the elemental.  Then he cast magic missile on the elemental, twice.
• The remaining Daystar cultist sat up as best he could, tied up and wounded.  He looked peevish.
• Osric moved a little closer, and then emplaced a bear spirit totem, providing a protective buffer for those nearby, including Dryali,  He then again cast thorn whip on the elemental, hurting it a little, and pulling it 10' towards him.  Then he crossed to the other side of the low wall.
• Kaikoa took more radiant damage from the elemental, and swung wide with his longsword.  He backed up to get away from that, and the elemental's swipe at him missed.  He told Mordant to guard the Daystar cultist.
• The elemental hit Dryali, burning him with its radiance.

Dryali stepped around to the other side of the elemental and cast thunderwave again, pushing it 10' north, away from everyone.

• Hikawera resumed insulting the elemental, and this time the vicious mockery landed.
• Tuala tried a firebolt, and it struck the elemental, damaging it.  Good to know!
• The Wind sagani, tied up, glared at Mordant.
• Osric summoned an owl spirit, which swooped in to attack the elemental, and flew back up.
• Kaikoa stepped back up to the elemental, getting burned again by its radiance, and slashed it with his longsword.  He got his second wind and healed some of the burns, then backed up again.  Despite the vicious mockery, the elemental struck him, causing even more radiant damage.
• The elemental murmured, in Primordial, about the Daystar being all powerful, and then burst in light in all directions, much like when it had first appeared.  Everyone was burned by this, some more than others.

Dryali was burned more just from being near the thing.  The force ballista fired on it, damaging it greatly.  But he moved towards Osric, who had been badly burned, and used the earring of āhua to help.

• Hikawera stepped up and cast thunderwave, damaging the elemental, but not pushing it back.

Tuala cast a more powerful magic missile than before.  Four missiles perforated the elemental, and then… the light just… puffed out.

The park, empty of all but the Freelancer crew and the tied up Wind sagani, was quiet for a few moments.  They looked at Mansel's corpse.  It was seared, dessicated, like an ancient mummy.

Dryali pulled out a parchment, and used magical tinkering to emplace an image of his memory of the fight and the elemental on it.  It wouldn't last, but would help explain this event to the Church of Storms.

Tuala checked Mansel more closely, using his knowledge of arcana.  "Looks like a… patron boon, to turn into this elemental on death."  Hikawera and Dryali looked at him.  Hikawera just said, "No?"  Tuala thought back.  "I've heard of gods doing this…"

Dryali said, "I've read legends from before the fall of Commerce…" he paused.  "On Nadezdha, there are stories of the Pteroti turning into elementals on death."

Everyone looked around the shattered hut, but it was Tuala who found the shattered lockbox.  150gp was there, but any papers therein were shredded beyond recognition.  The Wind sagani glowered, but said nothing, as they took it.

They loaded Mansel's desiccated corpse on Mordant, and headed south towards the Church of Storms.  As they walked there, Dryali checked the medallions for any arcana, but found nothing.

At Church of Storms, they were admitted quickly, and talked to Adrian, handing over the medallions, Mansel's corpse, and the still-glowering Wind sagani.  They explained what happened, with Dryali taking out the tinkered parchment and its image.  Adrian nodded at their explanations, and was visibly disturbed by their findings and Mansel's corpse.  But he paid them the 150gp fee.

• Kaikoa → level 4!