Pest Control at Hasapis Vineyard

Dryali, Fine Branch, Tahu, Tuala, and Terrance filed into Damakaios' office, with its orderly chairs and weapon displays.  The hanyou leader of the Ripa Daneo Freelancers glanced at them, and as they settled into his chairs expectantly, he unlocked a drawer, and pulled out 3 pieces of paper.

"I hope you are settling in," Damakaois told them smoothly.  "I have three missions you might be interested in.  One is probably the start of a set of missions."  He smiled like a diplomat, then explained in a calm, measured, and condescending cadence, "The newly-come to Commerce House Anabel has purchased a rather large villa.  Unfortunately they did not check out before their purchase.  They have hired the Freelancers to clear out the … variety of flora and fauna.

Tuala:  how many legs have they found?
Damakaios <startled>:  ...I'm sorry?
Tuala:  the fauna has - how many legs?
Damakaios <in an entirely normal voice>:  all I know is, there are harpies somewhere near the top of the house.  So be careful approaching, I expect you will need to clear some out before you get to them.
Fine Branch:  the contract is for flora and fauna?  What about something... neither?
Damakaios:  not clear; you are to make the house habitable.
<Fine Branch pulls out a notepad and crosses something off, annoying everyone.>
Dryali:  the last time we spoke, you were concerned about property damage.  What about here?
Damakaios:  the Anabels know it will need fixing up, as long as you don't level it. <pause and sigh> Basically, whatever isn't nailed down is fair game.
Tahu:  is there a manifest of contents?
Damakaios:  the house has been uninhabitable, for a very long time.
Tuala:  so, an errant fireball is perfectly plausible.
Tahu:  feels like they didn't do due diligence.
Damakaios <smiling again>:  new money; which today is 250gp/person.
Tahu:  per trip, or the whole house?!
Damakaios:  per trip.  <regained the measured cadence> The Anabels consider there should be progress, but they're willing to pay a lot of money to the Freelancers.
Dryali:  that's the first mission...

Damakaios resumed his smooth recounting of available missions.  "The Hasapis Vineyards, northeast down the crater, roughly a day's travel by foot… there are people going missing from the vineyards.  Only 2 or 3 so far, but Niccore Hasapis wants this to stop.

"The Hasapis are half-elven, have quite a bit of money, and the sense to stop this before they lose workers or money.  This will also pay 250gp/person." Damakaios paused, and nobody said anything.

"Third and final," he continued, "Vathia Estia Tunnel Authority wants the Freelancers to root out the constructs attacking caravans in the tunnels lately."

Dryali:  how much does this pay?
Damakaios:  also 250gp
Dryali:  which do you recommend?
Terrance:  pretty intrigued by the vineyard.
Tuala:  likewise.
Damakaios:  all these seem reasonably well-paid and varying level of urgent.  What sort of environs do you want to be in?
Dryali:  well, phrased that way:  tunnels.
Tahu:  what if we fail to clear out the house, and then buy it cheap, and then clear it out?
Tuala:  sounds like Tahu is a Scooby-Doo villain.
<narrator voice:  Scooby-Doo crosses the multiverse.>
Tahu:  the vineyard sounds most intriguing initially, but I'm really curious about this "haunted house".
Fine Branch:  outdoors is first choice, Haunted House second.
Dryali:  does the Authority know the origin of these constructs?
Damakaios:  origin, no; specific tunnel instance, yes.
Tahu:  there are lives on the line in the vineyard!
Dryali:  also in the tunnel.
Tahu:  well, true

The vineyard prevailed, and the Freelancers took that mission.  Damakaios made sure they got the names right:  "Niccore is head of House Hasapis," he explained. "Zurito and Nyanza are running the vineyard.  Zurito is son of Niccore, Nyanza married into the Hasapis family."

Below the buildings clustered near the top, the Rim was not a sheer cliff; a broad path (or, generously, a narrow road) wound counterclockwise as it descended towards the crater floor.  The Freelancers took this path to get to the Hasapis Vineyards, except for Fine Branch, who flew above on Nighthawk.  They passed other groups of people and the occasional braver carter with a cranky horse, and every once in a while a narrow path broke off to their left, winding to the crater floors with scary switchbacks.

A bit over an hour after they departed, the Freelancers saw people hanggliding along the Rim above them.  Some were parasailing.  A few of the sails were black and yellow, sign of the Bumblebee of Flight.

"Hey look!" said Dryali, forgetting to be edgy as he saw all the hanggliders.  Tahu smiled, and said, "We've never seen your hangglider."  Dryali looked around the path and hesitated, then admitted, "I only bought it before we left for Kizil."

They kept going, the Daystar sliding around to their backs; and while the path felt steady, the side of the crater became a gentler slope.  The number of other people on the path diminished as the day wore on, until they were in the area where Damakaios had told them to look, surrounded by vineyards, and the occasional complex of buildings.

They found Hasapis Vineyards in the late afternoon, and walked to the main buildings.  There was a small but nice house, some sort of barracks or stable, and a vineyard building.  Fine Branch landed, and a person went into the vineyard building, glancing sideways at the Freelancers.  Shortly after, a half-elf emerged, in a do-rag and nice-but-worn clothing, of average height and wiry build.  As he approached the Freelancers, he pulled off the do-rag, wiped his face, and shook out his shoulder-length, coppery hair.  It had a bit of a wave.

"I'm Zurito," he said simply, "I hope you are the Freelancers."

Tuala:  that's us!
Terrance:  sure are!
Tahu:  what Freelancers?
<Zurito cast a worried look.>
Tahu:  just kidding.
Zurito:  so far, people have gone missing from the eastern section. <gestured towards the Rim to the east.>  So far, three people; but either sneaking off without pay, or taken.
Terrance:  how many people work here?
Zurito:  20-30, depending.
Terrance <raised eyebrows>:  substantial!
Fine Branch:  what was their job?
Zurito:  checking vines, grapes, pruning as needed
Tuala:  same general area?
Zurito:  2 or 3; they were checking the pinot vines, but not which exact section.  ...it's about another half-day from here.
Dryali <raised eyebrows, behind the goggles>: what time of day?
Zurito:  no idea; they were noticed in the late afternoon, but could have been any time before.
Fine Branch:  the same day?
Zurito:  no
Dryali:  any damage to the vines?
Zurito <short laugh>:  can't tell; I've stopped sending people.
Dryali:  perhaps, we should escort people there, to check.
<The others gave Dryali a look as if to say, that's why we're here, to go check.>
Dryali:  ...we won't know what's unexpected.
Zurito:  I don't want to send anyone to possibly… die horribly, so I will go myself.
Dryali <startled>:  do you have reason to believe horrible death is involved?!
Zurito:  I have no idea but –
Tahu <interrupted>:  how long has it been?  Is this a search and rescue, or removing a threat?
Zurito:  first one was 4 or 5 days ago.  Then I sent two more and they went missing, then I sent to Freelancers.
Tahu:  Terrance, have you heard anything through the grapevine?
Terrance:  not close enough, and haven't learned enough Sylvan.
Zurito:  so, we can go tomorrow.  I can put you up in a couple of guest rooms in the house.
Fine Branch:  that would be lovely.

It turned out that the building they thought was a barracks or stables was kind of both:  a stables with a dormitory above.  Nighthawk got to go to the stables, but the Freelancers went to the Hasapis House, which has a very large dining room.  Everyone ate in the house, although most of the workers were housed in the dormitory.

Dinner was of course accompanied by delicious wine.

The next morning was bright but overcast, as the light of the Daystar filtered through the thin clouds.  The Freelancers left before its orb would have shone over the Rim, escorting Zurito Hasapis to the pinot vines to the east.  They found the view visually confusing: none of the Freelancers were from a round skylith.  The Rim obviously sloped up from the crater, with the vineyards in rows along the side; but the walk was almost level, as the curve of the skylith could be felt, this far from the outward pole of Commerce. 

At any rate, it was a good 3 hours, with Fine Branch circling overhead, before they arrived at the vineyards in question.  Zurito paused, and looked at the Freelancers.  "I'll follow your lead," he said, uncertain.

"Check for the unexpected, in the vines," Dryali directed him, "and we shall be looking for tracks, and so forth."  Zurito nodded, and started inspecting the vines.

Terrance strolled past him, talking to the vines.  She asked them if they've seen anything unusual or concerning, to wave at her.  Zurito, still inspecting, saw nothing that struck him as out of the ordinary.

Tahu and Dryali spread out.  Tahu was looking for disturbances or tracks on the ground, but it just looked like dirt.  Dryali went to the end of the rows of vines, looking for broken branches or tracks.

Tuala, watching the others, started to feel a shaking underneath his feet.  He tensed up.  Fine Branch, circling above, saw, coming from straight east, the ground moving… through or under the grapevines… maybe something was tunneling?  But neither of them had a chance to say anything, before four overgrown centipedes, perhaps the size of a hound, burst out of the ground.  The creatures were all different colours of the stone and earth.

Tahu walked up to the wide-eyed Zurito and said pleasantly, "Welp!  I think we found the thing!"  He handed the half-elf his light crossbow and a handful of bolts, then cast levitation on Zurito, raising him 20' into the air, out of danger.

• Terrance had a grey centipede in her face, and she drew her purpled rapier and completely missed.  Frowning slightly, she drew her magical scimitar and also missed.
• Tuala could not tell if the brown centipede in front of him was an aberration or something natural to the skylith.  He did not dwell on it long, using magic missile to drop the creature with 3 darts.  He moved about 15' away, considering if he should climb the vines to go into the next row.
• Fine Branch hesitated, looking at the dead brown centipede.  Then they called down the sacred flame of the Cat on the orange centipede, burning it with radiance.  The worm fell over dead, half in and half out of the ground.
  • Nighthawk flew to the grey centipede that was in Terrance's face, and struck it with his beak.  The creature fell over, dead.
• The green centipede was on Dryali, and from his vantage in the air, Zurito loaded the light crossbow and shot at it.  His aim was so bad that Dryali dodged out of the way just in time.
• Dryali drew his rapier, and skewered the green centipede, killing it.

The Freelancers had just enough time to relax, and put up their weapons, when the ground started rumbling again.

Two large wyrms burst out of the ground next to Tuala and Dryali.   They had bodies similar to the centipedes the Freelancers had slain, but instead of mandibles they had large, horrible mouths with teeth.

• The grey one, next to Dryali, twisted around to bite the diminutive Dark elf, but had misestimated its strike, and somehow bit its own body instead.  Necrosis spread from the wound.
• The white one, next to Tuala, bit him fiercely, its teeth sinking into the nekomata.  Necrosis spread wildly from the bite, and Tuala lost consciousness from the intensity of it all.  The creature hung on.

Tahu attacked the white wyrm with Tuala in its mouth, piercing it with his short sword and critically with his daggar.  Fluids splashed on him, tainting him with necrosis.  Despite the pain, he continued to levitate the increasingly unhappy Zurito.

• Terrance also attacked the white wyrm, piercing it badly with her purpled rapier, and also taking necrotic damage from the splashback.  The pain threw her off and she had a critical miss with the magical scimitar, almost slicing herself.
• Tuala was really looking like death warmed over.
• Fine Branch cast spiritual weapon in the form of a long hooked weapon, between Terrance and Tahu, which missed the white wyrm.  They then chanted "cats cats cats cats cats!" to manifest spirit guardians in a sphere around them, and flew above Tuala and the white wyrm.
  • Nighthawk missed the white wyrm with his beak, but slashed it with his claws, and also suffered necrosis from the splashback.
• Zurito, watching this, exclaimed "holy … crap … !"  He shot the white wyrm with his crossbow.
• Dryali was just close enough that he could get to Tuala and heal him, so he tried.  However the grey wyrm on him was too fast, and bit Dryali before he could get away, piercing him and picking Dryali up in its mouth.
  • Dryali sure wished things would stop trying to eat him.  He sent a firebolt down the creature's gullet.  While the firebolt was a critical fail, it had nowhere else to go, so pierced the creature anyways.
    • The creature appeared to be resistant to fire.
• So, the grey wyrm bit Dryali again, piercing him more and causing more necrosis, then swallowed the unhappy Dark elf.
• The white wyrm, despite being burned by the radiance of Fine Branch's spirit guardian cats, swallowed Tuala, who did not survive the process.

Tahu, taken aback at what happened with Tuala, swung wildly with his magical shortsword, missing.  His followup with the daggar killed white wyrm.

• Terrance used her scimitar to slice the white wyrm open, carefully avoiding the fluids, which smelled horrible.  Teary-eyed, she pulled out Tuala's corpse.
  • <narrator voice:  Terrance was wondering, how will she learn Sylvan, now>
• Fine Branch flew down, retrieving a diamond out of their belt pouch, and touched Tuala's corpse.  Holy energy flowed, and the nekomata revived, eyes blinking.  Fine Branch then brought their hands together to invoke mass healing word, healing Tuala, Terrance, Tahu, and Nighthawk.
  • Nighthawk flew back up over the grey wyrm, but did not attack it.
• Zurito was still in the air, and what just happened was not lost on him.  "Oh no, not someone else dying!" he exclaimed, and shot the grey wyrm with the light crossbow.  Fortunately the bolt did not hit the swallowed Dryali.
• Dryali had his own ideas about how to free himself, and cast shatter on the wyrm's head.  The piercing tone hurt the wyrm, and it almost horked Dryali back up as intended, but managed not to..
• Instead, its stomach contracted, and Dryali started really feeling the acid, and wondered if he would die.  This wyrm was burned by the radiance of Fine Branch's spirit guardian cats, but moved over to Terrance and bit her with a critical strike.  Terrance managed to dodge much of the damage, but it still grabbed the firbolg in its mouth.

Tahu cried, "Stop eating my friends!"  He ran up to the grey wyrm and struck it with his magical shortsword, avoiding where Dryali was, then followed up with his daggar, piercing it.  He experienced more necrosis from the splashback, however.

• Terrance, stuck in the grey wyrm's mouth, struck upward with the magical scimitar, slashing through the roof of its mouth.  The upper body crashed to the ground, and she rolled free.
• Tuala had already stood up and cast magic missile, the darts striking the corpse of the creature and tearing into it with force.
• Fine Branch stayed where they were, on Nighthawk, watching.
• Dryali cut himself out of the side of the wyrm, and crawled out, dripping acid, his leathers ruined and his skin not much better.

Concerned about the continued presence of damaging acid on his person, Dryali pulled out his all-purpose tool and learned prestidigitation, which he used to clear the acid off himself, and also Tuala.  Tuala had become very quiet, and introspective.

Fine Branch flew off, looking for vine damage, and also backtracking the wyrms' path eastward.  Searching, they found where the other workers had died.

The acid was no longer damaging, but Dryali was hurting badly from wounds, necrosis, and acid burns.  He was not trusting that these had been the last of the wyrms, and made a protector eldritch cannon, bolstering himself, Tuala, Tahu and Terrance.  He looked up at the levitated Zurito.

"That was terrifying!" Zurito cried.  "I think I'll stay up here!"  Tahu smiled, and indulged him, at least until the spell ended, 10 minute later.  Then he floated down, and the protector bolstered him too.

Fine Branch returned.  "I can see where they were attacked," they told Zurito.

Dryali checked the corpses of the wyrms, big and small.  The smaller ones were normal for a surface encounter, but the bigger ones were a surprise; they were more usual down below the surface, where the underground cities were.

He speculated to the others, that the reports of constructs in the tunnel also meant there were disruptions down below, which also related to the aberrations in Inky Agora as well as the wyrms here.  But, the wyrms were not aberrations… a discussion broke out, as the group started heading back to the building complex.  Not directly, though; the Freelancers and Zurito wanted to check all the vineyards.

The conversation drifted to Tuala, who was still contemplating his experience.  Everyone but Dryali saw him go limp; the second bite killed him.  "Internal organs should be internal," he murmured, trying to process what happened.

By evening, they were back to the vineyard buildings, and for dinner, the Hasapis brought out the really good wine.  Tuala drank a lot, as did Tahu; more than was normal for them, and they underestimated the strong wine.

The wine loosened Tahu's tongue, and he was burning with curiosity.  "How do you feel, are you okay?" he asked Tuala.  He wanted to know what the nekomata had experienced, but Tuala just shook his head.  He was still processing, and drunk, and actually didn't remember.

"What are we going to tell Damakaios?" Tahu wondered out loud, where others could hear.  "Why is this a question?" Fine Branch hissed.  They were not drunk.

The wine was not affecting Dryali, who after all spent most of his time in Freelancers Tavern with a glass of port or ice wine at hand.  "What are we telling him?" he replied sharply.  "We have embarrassed the Freelancers; property damage, and look like fools."  One does not normally win battles from inside the enemy's stomach.

Tuala and Fine Branch were dismissive.  "Just tell him everything," they both said.  Dryali was horrified, but Zurito interrupted them.  Zurito was very happy, he called the Freelancers, and is very happy.