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Shel takes a 5' step and flanks tan rhino with the warpriest. She knew she could barely scratch it, so she accepted Grigori's raging song to go with the heroism spell. She swings twice and the shadow spirits around her attack the creature.
Attack
Damage plus
sneak attack
Attack
Damage plus
sneak attack
Spirit attack
Damage
Kiku targets Red with her magic missile wand. Yojimbo attempts to hit the Red Rhino, but keeps bouncing off the rhino's thick skin. Shel hits Tan over and over again, both with kukris and with the raging spirits slams. Her fierce cuts make some progress, though the rhinos thick skin absorbs some of the onslaught.
Baaldryn and Harsk are up!
Baaldryn repositions himself and then strikes out at Red. His first blow lands solidly, though he notices that a small part of his damage seems to be absorbed by Red's thick hide. His second hit just glances off the rhino like nothing happened.
Harsk is up!
Harsk fires at the Tan Rhino. One of his flaming bolts hits solidly, while another hits the Tan Rhino straight in the eye. It goes down...
...and it stabilizes like the badass rhino it is!
Meanwhile, Red Rhino continues to attack Baaldryn from higher ground...
...but shaken by watching his comrade fall, he misses Baaldryn every time. He roars his frustration to the sky.
Only one guy is left, but keep in mind he's ten feet up. Most of you will have to climb to get to him.
The whole party is up. Kick Red Rhino butt!
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Grigorii moves up to the edge of the debris and stows Glorymane.
"Time to climb"
So it goes
He can't keep his wild eyes off the foe
Watch the gnome
Bets are off, he's going for the throat
I say I heard that you been out and about on some other world
Some other world
He says, what you've heard it's true but I
Can't stop thinking about Apostae
I said I've been there too a few times
You got that mad gleam, raging look in your eye
And I got that big, ripped, classic thing that you like
And when we go crashing in, we come back every time.
Cause rage always makes us hostile
Rage always makes us hostile
You got that long sword, held back, armored suit.
And I got that readied spell and a tight little lute,
And when we go crashing in, we come back every time.
Cause rage never goes out of style
Rage never goes out of style.
Grigorii, Wei Ji and Shel climb. Baaldryn stands there, readying for new threats, but he looks tough while doing it.
Harsk, Yojimbo and Kiku are up!
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Kiku looks up at all of her friends climbing up and bites her lip. Knowing there's only a single wounded rhino-person left, as well as being all-too-aware of her own lacking ability to climb, she declines to rush after. Instead, she closes her eyes and says a quick prayer.
"Korada, the Open Hand of Harmony, please grant this phantom the guidance of your foresight."
Red Rhino doesn't fall, but he certainly notices Yojimbo's first hit, which packs a wallop. Yojimbo's other attacks just glance off the Rhino's tough hide.
Kiku casts guidance, and awaits the upcoming battle nervously.
Harsk, you're up. To save us battle time, why don't you post your shots for both this round and the next?
In his current round of attacks, Harsk's first crossbow bolt hits solidly. The others plink off the Red Rhino's thick hide.
Then the Red Rhino goes, single-mindedly trying to hit Baaldryn on the head.
Both of his hits glance off the heavily armored warpriest!
Then Harsk's next round of attacks go off! Once again, one bolt hits solidly, while the rest glance off the rhino.
Bold players are up. Can you hit the Red Rhino? Only time will tell!
Grigorii climbs!
Shel, Baaldryn, Yojimbo, Kiku and Wei Ji are all up!
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The Red Rhino enthusiastically takes his attack of opportunity on Baaldryn and attempts to clang once again his long sword off Baaldryn's helmet.
But he fails to connect as Baaldryn slips away, and he gives an unhappy snort and moans, "Aooow!" like someone took his favorite toy away.
Meanwhile, Shel readies for a flanking buddy.
Yojimbo, Kiku and Wei Ji are all up!
Under the combined onslaught of Shel and Yojimbo, the Red Rhino goes down!
As you look around you, you realize that you're probably in a wrecked recreation room. There are comfy chairs, and scattered game and card pieces everywhere. Along one side is the remains of what appears to a pantry, built in stove, and dining counter.
Portraits of elves dating from happier times appear along the wall, including one of a tiny elven woman with chestnut hair that Wei Ji recognizes as Sonarisa. There is also a portrait of a pair of muscular twins with longswords up against a backdrop of starry sky, and a respectable looking man in a Captain's uniform with the Orrery and a star chart.
Both Rhinos lay unconscious, breathing but barely alive. What do you do? Also, where are you heading next?
On the rhinos you find the following*:
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"So, these rhinos are teh twins in the portrait. We know about Sonarisa. Who is the Captain, and where is the orrery are the questions that jump to mind for me at least."
Shel, once the group is ready, heads to the door at D4. She looks it over carefully, wondering if it might be trapped.
Perception
If she doesn't spot anything, she opens it. If she does, she attempts to disable the trap.
Disable Device
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After identifying the items found in this area, Grigorii restores Glorymane to his rightful place.
What do you think of this, friend? <Questioning>
The shield's reply comes through their empathetic bond, <Eager Curiosity>, <Delight>
Grigorii stands near the hallway, ready to rush to Shel's aid should she find trouble in her explorations.
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Brother Wei employs the ancient arcane arts of knot-tying to secure the rhinos and ties the knots so they tug against each other if they try to break loose, after verifying that they are stable.
He observes them warily, though, to make sure that neither is healing much more quickly than rhino-elfs should... if wounds are closing rapidly or the like, another method will need to be applied, such as fire to slow the process -- not to kill, but to stop them from healing completely and having to repeat the subdual process.
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Three bunk beds sit near this room's western wall. The remains of a small shrine clutter one corner of the room, and numerous books rest on thin shelves lining the chamber. Broken and scattered crystals lie all over this floor, as well as the crumpled bodies of a pair of cultists in star-patterned dark robes like the ones Abby and Wendir had worn.
The indistinct shape of a woman coalesces near the dead bodies. She looks like a shadowy elf whose body is made of the darkness of space. Her eyes resemble spiraling galaxies and her long, thin fingers end in talons. She moves casually through the furniture of the room as she turns to stare at Shel.
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Such powerful dreamers lived here...
The woman's voice speaks not only in Shel's mind, but in the minds of everyone else in the party. She sounds like Sonarisa, only far more educated and self-assured. Dreams of travel, of exploration and the stars. Dreams of glory. There was a poet here, once. She had lovely, lovely dreams but she fled the ship before I could ask her about them. About myself.
Then it all went wrong. The dreams, the dreamers, turned twisted. Hope became despair, and the dream... IT BECAME A NIGHTMARE. The minds here now are not nourishing. But you have a lively mind, don’t you? So full of ambition and yearning. You want to be a Venture Captain. Lovely!
Come here, little treat.
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Everyone but Kiku is up!
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At Shel's exclamation, Grigorii moves forward, drawing his own wand.
"That's an animate dream! From time to time, when a powerfully imaginative sleeper wakes from a particularly vivid or unusual dream, a fragment of that dream lingers on the Ethereal Plane. To survive, this animate dream needs the power of living will, imagination, and emotion to sustain it. It’s incorporeal and has spell resistance."
Grigorii brandishes the wand in his hand toward the creature, but it does not fire.
"Blasted splinter!"
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"Bring her back to us, Shel!"
The tengu draws his shield and his mithril sabre, though both would be of limited use in this particular situation.
"They may say you're a dreamer... but you're not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us... and the world will be as one..." is offered as a thoughtful retort to the dream fragment's efforts to munch on Shel and her dreams.
Shel fires her magic missile wand, but fails to get past the Dream's spell resistance. Grigorii identifies the Dream, but it shakes him so much that he cannot get his wand to fire. Baaldryn, Yojimbo, and Wei Ji delay in hopes that Shel will lead the Dream to them.
Meanwhile the Dream flies towards Shel, the galaxies in her starry eyes swirling as she meets Shel's gaze. Get out of your head? But how then could I savor your dreams or feast on your fear? We've got all the time in the world.
She reaches out a starry hand to touch Shel's cheek.
For a few seconds, horrible visions flash through Shel's mind of failed missions, dead comrades, and reports filled with an endless litany of failure, but then...
...she shakes it off. Nicely done!
The entire party is up!
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What is this 'end' you speak of? I was once a dream of stars and a snippet of poetry, and then... I became something else. Those two fools behind me were once devoted to the thing that scared my poet away. They became something else, and they're better a part of me than what they were. If their 'Emissary' comes as you fear.... She pauses. YOU know my poet, don't you, feathered aspirant? A former slave who frees other slaves. Would you like to become part of something greater, too?
The whole party is still up!
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"I do. Probably better than you. Unshackle yourself and come, grow, learn. Transcend your current state. I am waiting, eager student."
Wei murmurs up a bit as he speaks, hoping that the incorporeal entity takes the bait being dangled and goes through the wall.
He murmurs a few other things as well, that might be a spell...
Harsk readies an action. Wei Ji tempts the Dream with himself, and then casts Protection from Evil. A heavily wounded and terrified Shel full withdraws and staggers to her friends.
Baaldryn, Grigorii, Yojimbo and Kiku are up!
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Grigorii moves back to the party and casts good hope on everyone.
"With courage and teamwork, we will defeat this nightmare!"
This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls.
Grigorii moves back and casts good hope.
Baaldryn, Yojimbo and Kiku are up!