2: The Citadel

The Malison steps out of the fire and around Vanessa. First, it makes a strike with its sword but then it tries to shove Vanessa into the fire, but she is too strong and worked up. The Abomination just lost its prey and launches itself on Tonic, coils around him, and bite him.

The elf mentally calculated the situation. He moved with a relative swiftness toward the sarcophagus, then pivoted to arc back between the yuan-ti just beyond their grasp. He spun and loosed a pulse of arcane force, seeking to fling the abomination and malison back into the center of the temple.

Both yuan-ti are unfaced by the thunderwave, but blood is trickling from the Abominations nose.
The Malison is tossed through the room and lands in the cloud of fire, where he spasms once and lay still. The smell of burned meat will soon fill the room. The Abomination is also struck by the thunderwave and blood is trickling from its nose and ears.

Unable to move away, Tonic take a pouch out and throws it behind the abomination causing a ball of fire bursting to life behind it, searing the abomination's back...

Tonic can feel the snake tail around tense up as fire damage is added to the abomination's afflictions.

Vanessa remains fixated squarely on the remaining malison, raking her claws with labored grunts and gnashing teeth.

With the fight seemingly coming under control, Khezzik turns his attention to the yuan-ti bound to the altar.

"Hello," he says to the malison, speaking Draconic. "This one and friends are heroes with the shouting and killing, come to rescue you."

If the pureblood is unconscious, he will administer a healing potion (using Cunning Action to do it with his Mage Hand) while attempting to free the malison from its bonds.

The good yuan-ti are bound to the altar with leather straps. The pureblood woman is severely injured but as soon as she taste the healing potion, she grabs the bottle drinks two-thirds of it. The rest she applies on her chest and arms that have been severely burned.

The good Malison stands up and looks around for a weapon. Thank you, friend and hero. Our work is not yet done. He goes to the body of the nearest evil Malison and takes its weapon.

---

Vanessa stepped aside from the thunder wave that killed her own target. But she can easily find a spot around the abomination to sink her claws into.

Surrounded by magic-users, better than him, his guards down and the prisoners freed, the abomination only chance is to excape. He uncoils from Tonic and rushes to the door with blades and spells biting into his scales. He rushes down the stairs with a brief moment of exaltation as he got away from the pesky adventures. At the bottom of the stairs, the oppressor finds the oppressed. Sticks and stone may break your bones and the gripply have plenty. Before you catch up to the yuan-ti abomination the gripply have killed it.
It is a gruesome sight as they continue to bash the dead body with rocks and hit it with sticks.

Strength returned as Turner's head momentarily leaned back against the sarcophagus. A slight grimace creased the wizard's face at the bitterness of the healing potion. Why couldn't it ever taste pleasant like lemon or mint?

Vanessa doesn't like that the abomination is fleeing one bit. In fact: it only compels her to chase after it; she rushes down the stairs where it's beset upon by the grippli hoard which she joins in, stomping and kicking it with aggressive force. This goes on for a few seconds until she realizes they're down, and there are no more targets. Without something to fight her wild side is pushed back in it's mental box, and she's left with normal (albeit bloodied) hands. She'll pour a little water from her waterskin and rub her hands as she walks back up the stairs, leaving the grippli to work out their frustration.

She regains her composure and surveys her companions conditions, hoping she can get everyone's mind off of her...episode. Vanessa internally curses forgetting to inform them. "Well, that was rather...rousing. Everyone alright?"

"I didn't turn into a barrel this time so I consider it successful" he smiles weakly. " I'm not sure what is happening here though"

Khezzik is very excited, scurrying about the place and re-enacting the most exciting parts of the battle. "Whoosh. Boom! He he hee..." He mimics Vanessa's fight with the malisons, sheathing his dagger and suddenly raising his arms above his head, hands curled like talons, with a shout of "Secret monster! Rah!"

Vanessa feels a little bashful at such a...performative retelling. "Oh, that little thing?" She chuckles to relieve some of her tension, but it only makes her feel silly. At least no one seems outwardly terrified, actually it may have improved her social standing for once. "Just a, ah...defense mechanism. Rest assured I have control of my actions, and I don't eat people." Better to get the common questions out of the way.

"...A barrel?" Vanessa can only ponder the scenario leading up to such an effect, perhaps she'll- oh right, the prisoners. She'll help either break free of their restraints if needed, trying to treat them with a gentle touch. "Can you move? We're here to help, is there any information you can give?"

Aftermath:

---

The captured yuan-ti are overcome with joy. They tell you that they hail from a land to the south. They were called into service by the deity they know as the Scaled Mother and followed her portents as they traveled north. They began excavating the old temple, with the grippli’s consent, in the expectation of finding relics left behind by the yuan-ti that raided through this area in ages past. They were unable to open the lid of the sarcophagus once they unearthed it and were in the process of clearing rubble from the courtyard stairs when the evil yuan-ti descended on the village and captured all the followers of the Scaled Mother.

The chime and the lantern the malisons were carrying are of significant quality. But apart from the sarcophagus, there is nothing else of real interest in the temple room.Outside you find the remains of the yuan-ti abomination, missing its head and the Grippli gone. You find them back in the village, where the sight of fallen leader causes the remaining yuan-ti to flee.

With the threat to the area neutralized, it doesn’t take long for things to return to normal. When the grippli prisoners realize that the characters have persevered, they waste no time getting the news to the village and the trading post. The refugees return home, and within a tenday the frogfolk have repaired any damage to the crab pens and are back in business.

The benevolent yuan-ti, once they recover from their wounds, decide to continue digging out the temple. It will take them 2 weeks to open up to the tempels lower levels.

The returning grippli are so ecstatic that Pond Mother offers to perform a ceremony for your benefit, called the ritual of friend marking.