Castle Whiterock 8 November 2021: Here, kitty-kitty!

The murderhoboes

Garreth, half-orc swordsman
    Bleu, droning elf wizard
Zaber, suave and debonaire man
    Logan, wolverine
Polly, cute and deadly elf archer

Thrognar, half-orc holy warrior

Stonemaul, half-orc holy warrior
Mikal, human holy warrior

What happened

After picking up the rings, I ask what harm could come from keeping these rings. After some chatter among everyone as to what to do, Mikal says we need to drop them in a volcano. I look around and find a lava vent. Since I'm not Frodo Baggins, Bleu casts Apportation and uses it to move the rings over to the lava vent and drop them in.

The rings fall in and as they hit, there are great flashes of light and sounds like the call of a harsh shrill horn that echo before slowly fading away. We see three black spectral shapes fly from the lava, dissipating upwards.

After that, we start healing. Garreth takes one swig from the potion bottle, and pours some down Polly's throat. I also take a drink, and give Logan a swig from the wineskin as well. Thrognar divinely heals Polly, and Logan licks her face.

After about an hour, I hear the soft padding of kitty feet to the South and spring to my feet. Mikal also is on alert, and can see some inferno cats slinking stealthily towards us. "We have company, and unpleasant company at that," he says. "Arise companions. Arm yourselves." Thrognar grabs his weapon and wearily stands to fight, I roll my eyes and put on my ring, Stonemaul calls for Danethar's blessing, and Mikal grabs his mace and shield and waits for a foe to come near, ready to bash in its head.

An inferno cat comes racing forwards, spitting a white hot line of bile and fire as it tramples Polly. Mikal's shield knocks aside the molten spit, but the cat goes near Garreth and claws him, which he's able to soak. Another cat spits fire at Bleu, but her salamander amulet takes the heat for her. It claws at her, but Stonemaul parries the blows. A last one comes from the other side, and Logan grabs its foot.

Bleu casts Haste on herself. I fly warily around a bend. Stonemaul runs up to the cat Logan is grabbing and puts a katana through its head. Mikal shield bashes the cat near him, then smashes its head with his mace. Thrognar then splits open its head. I put my knife into the eye of the (last) tiger, and it falls, not a survivor.

I pull the dead inferno cat off Polly, and Mikal casts Major Healing on her. We all sit down to rest, and Logan gnaws on an inferno cat. After a few minutes, Stonemaul asks Bleu to cast Lend Energy, and, after some prodding from Garreth, she does so. After a couple of hours, we rise, and Polly skins the inferno cats at the behest of Mikal. He wants to make a fire-resistant leather armor that somehow wards your body from blows better than plate.

We look, and we see a small herd of three metal-plated cows standing around this big cave, chewing on lichen and sniffing the air. For all how they resemble simple cattle, a glance tells us their horns could rive plate armor. One, a bit bigger than the rest and far more muscled, sports two brutish heads sprouting from its barrel-like body.