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Together, Amistad and Achaedany push the five-foot badger's rump up the ladder and onto the rubble-strewn upper level. He sees the mother lizard-chicken hen on the nest, pecking at a large axe-gash on its side and trying to get it to stop oozing blood. The fluffy-feathered juvenile lizard chicken next to it continues to squawk in alarm at its mother's condition. Clay Weatherwax clambers onto a roof-beam lying on the floor, a respectful distance away, and communicates his clear intent to do no harm to the lizard-chicken in Neutral. The wounded creature rears up and spreads its wings to show its (still rather small) size as big as it can... it doesn't seem friendly at all in its current condition.
He sees Rhybek frozen in a battle pose, his shield thrust forward and his axe raised above his head, his mouth open and yelling an alarm. His ruddy flesh, red beard, and gleaming banded mail are all now a dull gray - converted into a smooth and polished limestone that forever calcifies him for the ages. His axe and shield, gripped in his hands, remain made of wood and metal, but would be unable to be removed without some damage to the stone hands or wooden and leather haft and straps. His amulet of Moradin, perhaps by some power of his god, remains shining and gold upon his stony chest. His belt appears to have snapped in the calcification process - it lies on the ground by his feet, his crossbow, quiver, pouch, and dagger all jumbled with it.
Clay goes up to befriend it. I'll allow a reaction roll. He gets one category better for Beith. He gets two categories worse, given it was just attacked and wounded (not naturally friendly or indifferent). It will have a net-change of -1 category.
Clay is saddened by what he sees. He asks blackjack for some rations, then tosses them to the cockatrice and its chick. He moves no closer, but uses his body language and his holy symbol to let the creature know he is a druid and would be willing to help heal it, if it would like that. He makes it know that Rhybek acted rashly and Clay is not defending that.
This is going to take another day, I think. Clay will offer to heal its wound, then come back the next day with the ability to talk to this thing.
The question is if offering a healing touch to the bird will still turn Clay to stone... Maybe he'll just rely on a healing potion for now.
In an open-ended sandbox with a reasonable GM, I am hoping that we can use the cockatrice feathers or an egg shell as an ingredient in a spell to undue the petrification. If that doesn't work, we can still sell the cockatrice feathers/shell, and then sell Rhybek, too.
An adventurer from the newly opened north, petrified by a cockatrice! Imagine what the resale value for him will be! Should have brought Fingers back. Lug has no imagination for the profit of this.
Clay's offer of food seems to overcome hostility, first in the ever-hungry chick, then the still-dubious mother. His offer of healing seems to do the trick in mollifying her, however. When he lays lands on her and mends the axe wound, he earns a bit of trust. She no longer seems dubious, but still isn't considered friendly - she's now comfortably indifferent to the badger so long as he stays further than arms reach.
watches the proceedings form the ladder, keeping out of reach of the beast. Are there no kobold stone bodies about? He points to the badger and reminds him to nibble the medallion free from the Rhybek statue.
Blackjack peers in from the ladder and sees the scene above:
The roof has caved in, making this a chaotic mess. The roofless walls make it a concave bowl of rotted materials, signs of larger creatures nesting over many, many years. You can't see the large hatchway, as it is buried entirely. The small trap door above the ladder looks like it recently caved in, heavy debris hanging downward. There is a large nest of ruined thatch and rock chunks which is the newest, and currently occupied, habitation. You see a large chicken-like creature with a fluffy-feathered juvenile cheeping next to it. It is a large, red-feathered chicken with the scaled lizard tail and leathery wings with feathered fore-edges.
Blackjack suspects that any kobold statues have thus been pecked apart.
The badger with healing powers does not approach the cockatrice again. He is pleased that the creature is being pleasant now and they are on neutral terms. He tries to convert that he would like the statue of the dwarf, that he would have his friends retrieve it, if the bird-lizard offers consent. He asks Clarabelle to throw another ration to the beast for him.
Clay attempts to communicate directly in common, and then again in bird.
Clay communicates effectively in Neutral his desire to have humans come up and take the statue, the bribes the bird and her chick with food. The bird appears to remain mollified, ignoring you as you approach.
The group is able to wrestle the dwarf-sized stone statue down the ladder, scooping up his remaining gear in the process. They do not get close enough to the nest, however, to hope for golden eggs.
Clay is content with retrieving Rhybek's petrified body, preventing it from being pecked apart. He retreats with the others, letting the cockatrice know how grateful they are. He indicated he would appreciate being allowed to visit again in the morning.
"What do you want to do with him now? Post him on eternal watch by the door or take him to Gaul?" he asks wondering how much a stone dwarf weighs. The cart is almost fully laden with the salvage.
I'll visit the creature again tomorrow, with the ability to speak to it. I'll try to bargain for a feather and a shell - ingredients and payment for a massage to create a profile to restore Rhybek, perhaps. If that does not work out, we'll take him to Beith's Watch. He can serve as a warning to others of what might happen here, and as a memorial to the dwarfs that came here in ancient times, I suppose.
Blackjack Amistad considers his wagon. The sturdy draft horse can haul a considerable load at a plodding, slow speed (1,800lbs, 1/4 speed), and that's the speed it needs to go when cross-country back to Beith's Watch, anyway. The winching equipment was heavy (500lbs), but could still fit the dwarven statue to get it back to Beith's Watch for Clay, if desired (Weight limit = deus ex machina).
So, your plan is to camp and wait until the morning, allowing re-memorized spells for talking to the cockatrice?
Well it is only morning. If the cockatrice is no threat, (why would it leave its' nest with the egg unless it hatched a new chicken-lizard), so we can explore more of the surroundings before camping in the lower room of the tower. What can we see of the surroundings from the top of the next building, didn't Lug climb up for a look around?
Lug talked about climbing the tower, but did not actually do so. You've confirmed that the lower three levels of the tower are securable, and that the outbuildings on the base of the tower are empty. The top of the tower, however, is occupied by the horned swan-lizards which you're avoiding. The cockatrice is on top of the millhouse which is northeast of the tower. The old horse barn is west of the tower and reported to still contain giant spiders. The full forest wraps around north and east of the tower's clearing.
Chocolate the draft horse and his wagon are loaded with the winching equipment and the dwarf statue for the moment. The statue still wears his shield and amulet of Moradin and also brandishes his axe, none of which are stone. You have his broken belt, crossbow, quiver, dagger, and pouch, which fell off him.