"Welcome to Talmandor's Bounty, Aeroclyse," Ramona says. "We will do our best to repay you for your assistance."
"Thank you," the cyclops rumbles.
Ramona nods in response to Simon's last question. "Yes, she and Kailikk are still around. I'll have them tend to Aeroclyse's needs for the time being until he gets acclimated to the colony." The bard then lowers her voice further. "Was there any sign of the missing colonists?"
Victrix is still rather timid when the party reaches the colony, and uncharacteristically flinches when Ramona and Carver approach.
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While attempting to appear casual, Simon lowers his voice to match Ramona's.
"Unfortunately, the only sign we saw of humans was a cuff link discarded in a sea troll's abbatoir. We remain hopeful they may yet be found, but the prospects are dim.
We can't forget that Raymond and Eliza were captured by the aboleth. Perhaps the rest of the colonists are under its control as well.
Come, let's head to the library. We have many books that were found in the hag's observatory. Maybe one of them might contain some clues we can follow."
Looking back at Victrix again, concern is plain on Simon's face. "I still have some residual weakness from our encounter, but whatever is happening to Victrix is concerning. Kip, please help her get to the priests. If there is anything they require, we can rush to get it right away."
"Well, we should at least celebrate your victory over the hag," Carver says. "Will you join me at my house for dinner tonight? You are invited as well, governor." He smiles at Ramona.
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Simon is already planning out how to organize the books for better research, and is barely listening at this point.
Having reported on Aeroclyse and his needs, he likewise pays no more attention to the well-being of their new cyclops friend.
As Carver speaks, he distractedly responds. "Dinner? Yes, I suppose I will need to eat. That will be fine."
Trailing off into lower mumbles, Simon starts walking toward the library, "Now, Pharasma, I understand. Prophecy was one of her core facets before the Fall of Aroden. But, Desna? Perhaps because of her connection with stars and dreams?"
"...sure."
She starts to walk unsteadily towards the colony's temple.
"Vicki, I'm sure with a bit of work, we'll have you feeling just right in almost no time! We can walk together. Aeroclyse, do you want to come with us? I'm not sure if our priests will be able to heal your eye just yet, but they can probably help us figure out what we'll need."
"I suppose so," Aeroclyse rumbles. He follows behind Kip and Victrix as they head to the temple of Erastil, though the cyclops remains outside to avoid having to squeeze his way through the door.
Father Eamon spreads his arms wide in greeting. "Welcome home, friends. Don't look now, but there's a giant behind you!" he jokes.
When apprised of Victrix's malady, though, his manner turns more serious. "Sounds like that hag hit you with a bad whammy. Let me see if I have something to unwhammy you."
He searches through his desk until he finds a scroll. The half-elf chants the incantation then touches Victrix on the shoulder, and the aasimar feels the oppressive doubt that plagued her finally clear away. "There you go! Should be good as new!"
Victrix blinks, then laughs. "Bloody hell, I feel much better indeed!"
She grabs the priest in a bear hug. "Thanks so much!"
"Oof! Don't mention it..." Eamon wheezes, Victrix's embrace causing him to struggle for breath.
The aasimar lets the priest go when it becomes clear he's struggling to breathe.
"Er... sorry, Father Eamon."
The half-elf gasps for air but flashes Victrix a thumbs-up.
With that, Victrix walks out of the temple and starts on the road back home.
...when was the last time I had a good bath? There ought to be some towels at home--and there should be a quiet spot around the beach...
As evening approaches, Ramona meets you at your house, and together the five of you make your way towards Carver's dwelling. You are near your destination a group of six strix approach with arms spread wide in greeting. "Hail friend! We come trade. Shine treasures have?" one says in broken Common.
Though Ema notices nothing amiss, the rest of you feel something is deeply wrong about the situation. Before you can act on your instincts, though, your suspicions are confirmed as one by one the strix let out wailing, inhuman shrieks before their physical forms twist and contort in gruesome fashion, revealing horrific, faceless
visages beneath! They rush to encircle you
Victrix briefly gawks at the faceless stalkers before unlimbering her greataxe and putting herself between Ema and as many of the beasts as she could.
All with a wide grin on her face.
"More creepy face twisty guys?! Go get 'em Vicki!" Kip exclaimed as he summoned a ring of inspiring bubbles.
The faceless stalkers lash out with their rubbery arms, attacking Simon and Victrix. The half-orc and aasimar manage to fend off most of their attacks, but one stalker each manages to hit and grab a hold of them. They draw Simon and Victrix into grapples as their tongues pierce their necks, eagerly lapping up their blood!
"Fight back! Don't let these monsters win!" Ramona shouts, then her voice rises as she begins to sing the Andoren national anthem, inspiring each of you!
Ema had enjoyed their time in town and was looking forward to the dinner. When the strix appeared and began to talk the fact that they spoke common should have been a warning to her. Unfortunately she wasn't really thinking, her mind focused on her apprentice's curriculum, and so when they morphed into the things from her nightmares Ema screamed in fear. She saw Victrix put herself between the faceless stalkers and herself and then heard Ramona begin to sing calming her nerves enough that she could fight...for now.
Finally able to react to the situation Ema tore open a gate behind the faceless stalker grappling Victrix and from it stepped a...a cow?...a really big cow?....a ]really big and angry cow! The celestial aurochs took one look at the foe on Victrix, called down celestial might so it could royally smite it, and gored the thing while it grappled Ema's friend.
Victrix lets out a little gasp as the faceless creature's tongues jab into her neck, and she draws her machete (since her axe was knocked from her hands).
"Mate, it's not that I'm not flattered--or interested (One at a time, eh? One at a time!)--but the thing is, I've got someone at home that'll do this for me. So, would you kindly get off?" She rather cordially asks as she takes a swipe at the monster on her.
Simon drives his dagger into the chest of the creature grappling him, and it shrieks in pain but does not loosen its grip. Victrix swings wildly with her machete, failing to land a good hit. Kip blasts the three attacking Victrix with a cone of flames, scorching two of them badly. Then Ema summons a celestial bison, which gores the monster grappling Victrix and stomps it into the ground, freeing the aasimar!
The two faceless stalkers that were burned turn their attention to the holy steer, drawing longswords and stepping to flank it. They drive their blades deep into its sides, one scoring a critical hit! The aurochs groans, falls to the ground, and vanishes as quickly as it appeared! The stalker holding Simon continues to drain his blood while the others flank him and slash with their own swords, hitting vital spots and badly wounding the half-orc! He grits his teeth, barely managing to remain on his feet.
"Simon! Hang on!" Ramona cries. She casts a spell and dashes past the faceless stalkers to touch the half-orc. He vanishes from sight, giving him a bit of defense against the monsters, though he is still grappled!
Victrix feels a pang of disappointment when the creature feeding on her is brutally gored out of existence.
She doesn't hesitate, however--now that she's free, she strides up to one faceless creature and hacks away at it!
"I'll be fine! Help Simon!"
Ema saw her latest celestial friend go from being a holy cow to a really holy cow and gave a cry of despair for the creature. She once again tore opena gate and from it came a bobbing lantern. It was fifteen feet above Simon, out the reach of the faceless stalkers, and in range for it's aura of menace to affect the evil abominations. It quickly emitted two beams of pure divine power that lashed out at the faceless stalker grappling Simon. With her summoning done Ema's eyes flashed with purple light as she consumed a spell to replenish what she'd just spent from her reservoir.
Simon is able to slip free of the faceless stalker's grasp. He steps over to Kip to let him know his position. The grippli reaches out to heal the invisible half-orc, mending his wounds with a burst of positive energy. Victrix hacks one of the stalkers twice, cutting it down. Ema's conjured archon blasts the monster Simon wounded twice!
One of the stalkers who had been attacking Simon breaks off to get behind Victrix, flanking her with the last stalker on that side of the combat. They both slice into the aasimar, leaving deep wounds. The other two flank Ramona and try to cut the governor down, but only one manages to cut her.
Clutching her wound, Ramona concentrates on casting a spell defensively. She disappears from sight as well.
"Is that the best you can do?" Victrix taunts the beasts as she swings her machete...
Simon's strike takes the faceless stalker's head clean off of its body, blood spraying the half-orc as the aberration falls. Victrix hacks another of the shapechangers down with two strikes from her machete, leaving only two unwounded enemies still standing.
The lantern like being floated and bobbed, moving within twenty feet of the remaining stalkers to affect them with it's aura and then sent a pair of beams at one of them.
Her summoned creature safely on the other side of the stalkers from her Ema moved up just close enough to her targets and began to cast. She began to gesture with one hand while the other dipped into her component pouch and pulled out a lump of coal. She said a chain of words as she did all this and the coal in her hand began to glow slightly as she used it to create the projectiles. The coal floated up from her hand into the air and began to splinter apart into little glittering crystals that oriented themselves towards the faceless stalkers. though it all seemed to happen in slow motion it was truly only a few seconds of time and she released the spell and said, "Eat this!" as her eyes flashed with reservoir light and a spray of glittering shards of diamond began to lash out at the faceless stalkers in a twenty foot cone of glittering powder.
Ema's archon blasts a stalker with two beams of light, then the arcanist sprays razor-sharp shards at both remaining aberrations. They are too slow to dodge the blast, and the wounded one falls! Kip hops up to attack the last one, plunging his rapier into its belly and finishing it off!
However, you can hear shouts of alarm and panicked cries for help coming from all corners of the town, punctuated by more high-pitched inhuman shrieks! Ramona swears colorfully as she becomes visible once more, still holding her wounded side. "The colony is under attack!"
Victix’s eyes widen.
”ANTONA!”
She races over to her fallen axe and grabs it before running back into the colony, her machete still at the ready.
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Simon fishes a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds out of his Haversack and hold it out toward Ramona.
"Ramona, here, heal yourself, then let's go. I think it is best if we stick together until we have a better sense of what is going on.
I wish we had a tower to get a better look."
Snapping his fingers in sudden realization, he continues. "Kalikk! If she is still in town, she can give us a bird's eye report of the extent of the attack."
Grabbing his dagger and drinking his Barkskin extract, Simon starts to rush in pursuit of Victrix, while keeping an eye out for Kalikk.
Ramona accepts the potion with a nod of thanks. She drinks it, alleviating the worst of her injury, though she is still in pain.
All around, citizens are running in a frenzy. You can see a couple of faceless stalkers slipping off into the woods, but of more immediate concern, smoke and crackling flames are rising from the food storage building! Four of the colony's soldiers--including Antona and Sighra--are engaged in a fight with four faceless stalkers in front of the building. The soldiers appear badly outmatched!
Seeing Antona and the other soldiers struggling against the faceless stalkers, something snaps inside Victrix.
With a feral shriek and a red haze engulfing her vision, the aasimar races pell-mell into the melee, behind the stalker Antona is engaging!
"GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU B@&#&!"
Ema was relieved that the fight was over and was about to relax when they realized that the town was under attack by these things. Her eyes widened in fear and Ema said at nearly the same time as Victrix cried out, "Oh no, Medrinah!" She wanted to go find her apprentice and protect her but she knew that she was likely helpless alone so she stayed with the others for now.
The archon zipped ahead of them to hover over the densest part of the fighting where it could affect the most of the attackers with it's aura and chose one to zap with a pair of rays. It targeted what seemed to be the weakest of it's enemies with the concentrated rays of divine power.
Ema, knowing she needed some extra protection with this many enemies to deal with cast a spell that would once again protect her with the energy of anti-life. As usual it felt icky but it had saved her life before and likely wold again.
Ramona begins another inspiring song as you rush into melee. Simon drives his sword deep into the back of one of the faceless stalkers, severing its spine and slaying it instantly! Victrix chops at a second one, while Kip stabs it and Ema's archon zaps it with light. It is badly wounded but still standing.
Two of creatures turn away from the soldiers to face you, seeing you as the bigger threat. One slices its sword and swings a fist at Simon, while the other attacks Victrix, managing to barely nick her with its sword. The third stalker continues to attack Antona, but she catches its blade on her shield.
"Fight on!" Antona shouts as the soldiers rally against the stalkers. Though most of their attacks miss, Sighra scores a solid slice across the badly wounded stalker, finishing it off. Only two enemies remain.
Victrix doesn't seem to notice the cut the other stalker gave her, instead focusing on the one attacking her girlfriend.
She spares a glance at the sheer carnage Simon is wreaking, and a mad grin appears on her face.
Desna seems to be smiling on you at the moment, as Simon and Kip flank the nearest stalker and take it down with a pair of critical strikes! Victrix chops at the last shapechanger, carving it up, and Ema's archon finishes it with a pair of light beams!
Antona quickly sheathes her sword and wraps her arms around Victrix. "Are you okay?" she asks.
Sighra points to the burning storage building. "We have to put out the fire!"
Victrix comes down from her rage with a few breaths, and returns Antona's embrace.
"I'm doing alright. Bit bloody and one of 'em fed on me a bit, but I'm fine. You?"