The man you just dismissed earlier is standing at the front of the pack.  You knew there was something off about that earlier request and seeing this display only reaffirms that you were right to avoid them in the first place.  They are all looking down at the ground but now he is looking up directly at you with a creepy smile on his face.  

 
"So, you saw through our little ambush scheme did you?"  he sneers.

 
"What is it you want?"

 
"Quite simply we're aware of your quest to reach the Craxil and we are not prepared to allow it."

 

At this point their heads begin to twist and contort and their skulls appear to come out of their mouths.  It is almost as though they were never human at all but part of some kind of disguise.  In fact, it is now readily apparent that this is the case.  You are now looking at five maniacal looking skeletons armed with an assortment of swords and hand axes.  They seem like they are eager to get things started and in fact, they are all rushing down the beaten path towards you.  You turn the other way until you can decide what to do and despite what you've been told about the undead, you discover they are perfectly capable of keeping pace with you.  

 
You know you aren't going to be able to take on five of these guys and they seem intent on sticking together during the pursuit.  To your left is another cave you've chosen to pass up on your journey, figuring it was just another humunculus den.  Perhaps, if you are lucky, you can lose your pursuers in there.  Alternatively, you could always try climbing the steep rockface off to your right.  You've had plenty of climbing experience as a kid and somehow you hope these skeletons won't be able to follow you.  You could also turn around and start unloading arrows into your enemies.  They may be keeping pace with you, but you still have a heck of a head start and you'd wager you could release quite a few before they catch up to you.  It's up to you...

You climb The Rockface To Get Beyond Their Reach

The skeletal undead aren't exactly known for their climbing skills so you promptly head over to the steep rockface and set about climbing to a point beyond their reach.  You are almost at the top when the skeletons reach the base.  The attempt to climb but as you had hoped, they are substantially less successful than you.  One of them responds to the situation by tossing his hand axe at you and you move your hand just in time to avoid it.  You make sure it stays stuck in the rockface so it doesn't get to try again, then pull yourself up and over the top. 

 
You are glad to be away from those damn things and now that you are at a slightly higher elevation along the mountainside, there's a good chance you won't be seeing them again.  Just got to keep your cool and remember to be stealthy.  You continue your journey in the same general direction but keep to this elevation for fear of encountering those undead creatures a second time.  After a while, you begin to smell a rather curious smell up ahead.  As you approach you discover a camp situated in what is probably the only forested ledge on this entire mountain range.  You don't initially see anyone there, but you keep your distance and eventually see something hop down rather quickly from one of the trees and go behind another.  You didn't get a good look at whatever it was and you are hoping they haven't seen you. 

 

Nightfall comes and now the occupants of the camp are coming into view.  You never believed that at any time in your entire life you'd ever lay eyes on the creatures you are seeing.  The grippli, a race of humanoid tree frogs standing at 2 feet tall, have organized this camp.  There aren't more than a dozen tops, but grippli are known to be considerable fighters when they need to be and there is no way of knowing if there are more of them in the trees. 


They often prefer to fight with poison darts, nets, and bows as they would prefer to keep their enemy at a distance but a few bear swords.  You see one of them adorned in considerably nicer garb than the others and commands quite a presence from them so you surmise it must be their leader. 

 
Suddenly it occurs to you.  These creatures are in Craxil territory so odds are they work for the Craxil.  That means that instead of wandering the mountain range aimlessly you ought try and extract information regarding the Craxil's whereabouts from the grippli.  Ideally, you could get your hands on their leader but that is going to be easier said than done.  There may not be many grippli present, but each one is a challenge in his own right and you have no way of knowing how many may be in the trees to see what you do.

 
Eventually, the captain retires to his tent as do many others.  Three grippli remain near the campfire out front and again, you have no way of knowing what is still in the trees.  The captain's tent is near the back.  You surmise you could go around, giving the camp a wide berth, and sneak into the captain's tent.  However, you feel like you should at least do SOMETHING about the three on watch or you may be the one getting captured instead.  This is quite a dilly of a pickle indeed.

You sneak Around Back And Enter The Captain's Tent Quietly

You don't foresee any way to take down a group of three grippli given each one would probably pose a challenge.  As well, they are tasked with being nightwatchmen so you doubt they'd abandon their posts so easily no matter what you do.  You are going to just have to take a risk and sneak into the captain's tent without attracting any attention.  You give the camp a wide berth as planned and SLOWLY work your way along the far edge of the treeline until you are in a position to sneak in towards the captains tent without being seen by the grippli at the campfire. 

 
Your approach is successful.  You slowly creep in, staying low to the ground.  You can't help but look up at the treetops everyone in a while out of fear that darts, arrows, or nets may come raining down upon you but so far nothing has happened.  Perhaps there is nobody there or perhaps they just don't see you.  Either way, you've made it to the captain's tent.  Cautiously, you open the canopy and enter the tent.  As you had hoped, the captain is asleep and you take care to knock him unconcious with a block shaped wooden figurine from his tent.  Now all that's left is to carry him away from the camp, someplace safe where you can interrogate him for information regarding the Craxil. 

 

You exit the tent with the grippli captain slung over your shoulder.  At only 2 feet tall the little fella is surprisingly light.  Unfortunately, as you exit you hear a rather startling noise.  It sounded like a cross between a ribbit and a scream.  Whatever the hell it was, it came from one of the grippli over by the campfire.  Almost immediately, the whole camp is on alert.  Grippli are dropping down from the trees and coming out of their tents.  You take off and run, your only real option left.  Unfortunately, the grippli have amazing speed and agility.  You drop the captain behind in hopes of getting away but before long you've taken a few darts in the back.  As the poison sinks in, you realize it no longer matters if you outrun your pursuers... this stuff will kill you anyway.

 
THE END