Slumper shrugs at the Mantis before wading in attacking with vigor.
rapier
rapier
rapier
shield
shield
Ruperta opens her eyes, somewhat disappointingly... Where was the eternal dream land of Desna? Where was the infinite starry darkness of the other life?
She smiles, when she realizes it was not her time... not yet.
She channels the blessings of the Night's Butterfly to all around her (except for the enemies, of course), in a 30' radius.
She turns towards Slumper, from the ground, and say gently to him:
"Finish them my love..."
Then she concentrates and disappears, reappearing almost immediately 70' away in the direction of Pai and Paxs.
Ruperta channels healing, then teleports out of danger, while Slumper attacks! Only his first strike penetrates the mantis' armor and deals a further damage!
Round 4:
26 Pai and Corbyn
21 Paxs
13 Assassins
12 Ruperta
8 Slumper
Pai moves forward and casts a spell against the newly transformed mantis creature.
Damage
The Bralani attacks the closest enemy.
Corbyn takes an invisible 5ft step to flank with Slumper.
and 1 point of STR damage
and 1 point of STR damage
and 1 point of STR damage
and 1 point of STR damage
and 1 point of STR damage
and still invisible.
Corbyn's invisible blade manages to find the kinks in the mantis' armor more often than not, and blood and ichor fly, even as Pai's spell causes the chitin to shatter and shake. Sudden the form wavers and the woman is there again, covered in blood and gore, but with a sudden fierce look of peace and calm on her face, as if she has finally found something she sought for so long. She murmurs "Thank you." to Slumper before her body dissolved into a red mist and disappears! Only her armor and weapons and gear remain behind.
The Bralani attacks the remaining red mantis assassin, whose posture has changed from offense to something less confident with the death of his superior. He, too begins to exude a red mist the color of blood and slashes at the Bralani with a fierce fury!
and and and However, none of his attacks can penetrate the Bralani's defense.
Pai, Ruperta and Paxs, away from the main fray, turn to see the gargoyles abandoning the battlefield with the deaths of the Cinderlander and the lead Red Mantis assassin. Now only the strange red assassins remain and they look to be fighting a losing battle against the fierce Shoanti!
Ruperta will try to do it twice in an encounter!
She starts to cast against the last enemy:
"Be lost in a dream in which you are unable to move!"
Ruperta tries again to freeze a foe, but this one seems to shrug off the effect!
Slumpers eyes light up he closes in to end the threat
rapier human bane
rapier human bane
rapier human bane
shield
shield
Pai is going to hold her action, hoping the outmanned troops are going to pull back their forces after the odds have turned for the worse.
The Red Mantis is a master of death, but Slumper is a master of punching holes in people. With a muffled gasp and gurgling sound, he too dissolves into red mist and disappears, leaving only his gear behind.
With the Gargoyles fleeing, and their leader dead, the Red Mantis nonetheless remain to the end. They manage to wound many Shoanti, but they're killed by skill and numbers.
After the dust clears, Krojun leads his warriors over to you. Six Shoanti warriors were killed, but the number of enemy dead is higher. Krojun pauses next to you, then lets out a triumphant whoop! "Tonight we celebrate this victory and the lives of our dead!" He cries out as he drags you off to the great fire and a dance.
The night is somewhat of a blur, but tomorrow when the Sun Shaman arrives with the Chief, you manage to shrug off sleep and greet him. He is bemused by the violence that has occurred, but he tells you that he has heard you were responsible for the death of the Cinderlander and the leader of the Red Mantis assassins which broke the siege, for which he is very grateful.
He gathers you into his personal tent, around his fire and stations a warrior at the door to keep away listeners. The Sun Shaman is one of the few Shoanti who retains knowledge of the secrets held before Cheliax invaded their homelands along the coast of Conqueror’s Bay. His predecessor passed the knowledge of these times down to him, just as he plans to do for the shaman who will follow him, and as he plans to now do for the PCs.
The Sun Shaman’s tale is relatively short. He tells of how, hundreds of years ago, one of his own ancestors was called to join a righteous cause. A man named Mandraivus, a hero from a distant nation, was gathering a small group of warriors to aid in a fight against a despotic dragon named Kazavon, and the Sun Shaman’s ancestor joined this crusade. He was gone for months, and when he finally returned he was not the same man—his hands shook, his eyes carried a haunted stare, and he cried out in fear at night. He spoke little of what he saw while serving Mandraivus, but did say that they were successful in defeating Kazavon, and that the fortress of Scarwall was now under Mandraivus’s control. He was convinced it would remain impotent as long as the hero managed to maintain a hold on it.
While Kazavon had been defeated, his will to live was so immense that even the remains of his body twitched. The cabal had attempted to destroy the remains, but many fragments of the dragon’s skeleton resisted even their most destructive spells. Mandraivus tasked seven of his surviving followers (which the Sun Shaman’s ancestor counted himself among) each with claiming one of the bony relics of Kazavon’s body and ordered them taken from Scarwall. None of the seven would communicate where they were going to the others or to Mandraivus, and they were to ensure that their chosen relics would remain hidden and guarded for all time in order to prevent the dragon from returning to life.
The Sun Shaman’s ancestor told this story to his fellow shamans, and revealed that his chosen relic was the dragon’s fangs. The Shoanti took to calling them the Midnight Fangs, and they chose the ancient pyramid on the shores of Conquerer’s Bay as their reliquary. After hiding the fangs in a secret room deep inside the pyramid, they took to the task of ensuring that the fangs remained safe. For generations, they maintained their task—until Cheliax invaded and slaughtered the Shoanti. Those few who survived and knew the secret of the fangs were forced to flee with their kin into the Cinderlands. For the next three centuries the knowledge was passed from Sun Shaman to Sun Shaman, and they watched with fearful eyes as the city of Korvosa grew around their ancient reliquary.
That Queen Ileosa has discovered the Midnight Fangs and somehow tapped into their latent power troubles the Sun Shaman greatly, for he knows something of the Fangs’ power. During the time they were guarded, Shoanti shamans studied the fangs and communed with the spirit world about them. They discovered that a fragment of Kazavon’s soul remained lodged within the fangs. While this fragment alone wasn’t enough to work ill upon the world, it could certainly invade the dreams of those who touched them. The Sun Shamans were stubborn and willful, more than a match for the fangs’ temptations and promises, but a weaker mind—say, that of a petty young queen—would have no such defense.
The Sun Shaman goes on to explain that the fragments of Kazavon’s soul are like a plant—once they find suitable soil in which to grow, they can bloom into a mighty tree. This appears to be the case with Ileosa—her own cruelty and strength have been enhanced greatly by the fangs. Worse, she now possesses two souls—her own, and one grown from the fragment of Kazavon’s. Two souls in one body, the Sun Shaman muses, would grant her incredible power over her own mortality. If the PCs describe to him the events of the failed assassination during “Escape from Old Korvosa,” he merely nods grimly.
At this point, the Sun Shaman suggests the PCs take part in a ritual called the Blessing of the Ancestors. This is a rare ritual the Shoanti use only in times of great change—it calls upon a soul from the spirit world to seek guidance and advice on how to proceed. Typically, the Blessing of the Ancestors is used before making the decision to go to war on another tribe, or to abandon a long-held campsite in hopes of finding a better home, but this situation warrants the ritual as well. The PCs face a time of great potential here, but returning to Korvosa to confront an immortal enemy would only result in their deaths. Clearly, advice is needed. The Sun Shaman asks the PCs if there is a particular spirit or ancestor with whom they have a particularly strong link—the stronger the link, the more exacting the advice granted by the Blessing of the Ancestors becomes.
With these words, the Harrow deck in Slumper's pack suddenly seem to come to life and Slumper knows that the spirit of Zellara, the woman who brought them all together, is an excellent choice for this ritual.
"I understand if you choose not to undertake this task; it is a grim burden. Know this: your deeds have already won the hearts of the Sklar-Quah. We will not make war upon Korvosa. If you choose to walk away, you will walk away heroes."
2 +1 sawtooth sabers
2 masterwork sawtooth sabers
potion of cure serious wounds
potion of haste
wand of hold person (19 charges)
large scorpion venom (4 doses)
+2 studded leather armor
ring of protection +1
2 mantis mask
2 potions of invisibility
+1 leather armor
cloak of resistance +2
belt of physical might +2 (Dex and Con)
Headband of charisma +2
potion of haste
wand of cure moderate wounds (22 charges)
+2 mithral shirt
Vindicator (+1 human bane repeating heavy crossbow) with 18 screaming bolts in four pre-loaded clips of five
2masterwork handaxes
Belt of physical perfection +2
pouch of 80 pp
"Of course we are willing to take on the task. We've come this far, and we are going to save our city! "
"We thank you for sparing the poor people of Korvosa from a war. And we thank you for any guidance we can get in our trials ahead."
I do like the Vindicator as a weapon. And screaming bolts are pretty cool.
Yes, I am getting to like them.
Mask of the Mantis which is sellable for 3,000 gp.
Haste potions are 750 Gp each. Large scorpion venom are 200 gp each. So that's an extra 17,300 ; another 3,460 Gp.
Let's hunt more of those Red Mantis guys!