While Katria doesn't quite land a critical hit, her two holy bolts impale Gannaius, burning his impure flesh. Seth trips him and stabs him once, then Amelia finishes him off with a final slice of her sword! As he dies, his body shifts and changes to that of a lion-headed fiend, black eyes staring sightlessly up at the ceiling...
Among the man's possessions you find a letter:
Esteemed Brothers,
The Immaculate Circle shall be victorious. The high strategos proves quite pliable and receptive to ideas that sate his desperation and ambition in equal measure. The citizens are ready to tear each other apart, and when Pythareus emerges victorious, it will take only the gentlest shove to topple him, and I have secured the ideal prod in my home, under guard of the Sarenites, with the killing blow in the mitts of the grubby King of Filth himself.
A few complications remain—agents loyal to Pythareus against all reason. They must be dealt with.
And there are still a few other hindrances on our path to victory. Pythareus’s damnable diviner has blundered into the sisters’ dealings and may soon locate the Sweet Dreams Tea Shop. Now that their research is completed, we should focus our efforts on relocating them to a more secure location. That diviner is too damned esoteric to give anyone her true loyalties, and her second sight makes her near impossible to blackmail. Perhaps it is better to simply let the sisters do as they will.
My own personal agents in Waterhill have had difficulty in swaying Pythareus’s majordomo, Baron Astor, and now stamp and fume to replace him with one of my own. I feel the scrutiny the high strategos keeps him under makes this hasty course seem childishly impulsive. We shall bide our time.
Pythareus’s little cult and its enumerator, Iovinus, have likewise proved intractable. Whoever would imagine an Abadaran would feel himself above a bribe. So be it. The Seven Forms of Sin are eager enough for my coin instead, and have places to stash his corpse. I await only your approval.
Immortally yours,
Milton Jeroth
The portfolio on the table contains notes about Jeroth's current operations in the War for the Crown, including the identities of several moles within Eutropia’s supporters, but it focuses most heavily on his resources within Zimar and how to find them, including several rakshasa agents in Waterhill Manor, a group of night hags called the Sisters of Indulgent Dreams in the Sweet Dreams Tea Shop, and the Seven Forms of Sin and their undercity monastery.
"The Seven Forms of Sin is a rumored offshoot of the Monastery of Seven Forms dedicated to perfecting its initiates’ physical form through indulgence, and the sect operates as an assassins’ guild in Zimar," Katria explains as her mind races.
"If that really is Jeroth, at least we have that dealt with -- and a lot of other things we can look into! -- but we still need to find Gannaius..." she muses.
"Yes... and it seems that if this Rakshasa was Milon Jeroth:
Liam considers the situation.
"We may have an opportunity to bring Pythareus to our side, by presenting this information. But I think we need to move quickly on the Night Hags, if Pythareus's diviner is about to locate their base."
Another thought occurs to him.
"The sign-off on the letter, 'Immortally yours', strongly suggests to me the involvement of Panivar Lotheed in this Immaculate Circle. If we can find more documents showing that Pythareus and Eutropia share a common enemy in this immortal wizard, we may have a chance of ending this war and uniting the factions."
Amelia looks at the files, "We also cannot assume that these moles are indeed real. This could be a plan within a plan within a plan." She hoped she didn't sound paranoid, but she was. To see a Rakshasa adn hear about Night Hags gave her chills.
"I have no qualms with destroying Night Hags,"
"If we do, we need to strike them quick and hard and give them no chances to escape. Should they do we can find ourselves at our wits end very quickly."
She looks around quickly, "We need to continue this conversation elsewhere." Standing on top of the dead body, "Gather up, we can vanish together and take the corpse with us."
You quickly depart Honey Kunefe and return to your rooms in the bath house, where you can continue your conversation in secrecy.
Katria relays what she knows about night hags -- "Dreams, again." -- and tries to determine what they should consider as their next course of action.
"I agree, the night hags are probably what we should do next. We might want to do some more research today, though, and then go there tomorrow. Then I think we should maybe talk to this Baron Astor? Maybe that's the first step to trying to reach some accommodation with High Strategos Pythareus?"
Her voice rises at the end, as she's not as hopeful that they can persuade the man to put aside his own ambition, even if he knows he's being manipulated. She fears he'll dismiss the letter as a forgery of their own making . Some people are just too narcissistic, willing to deride any sort of this information as fake news.
Terrifying murderesses and greedy soul brokers, night hags prey upon mortals while they’re most vulnerable. Preferring to kill their prey slowly, haunting their dreams night after night, these hags trap the tormented souls of their victims within dark gems so they might be sold in the infernal markets of the outer planes.
Night hags resist weapons not made of cold iron, as well as most spells. They are immune to charm, cold, fear, fire, and sleep effects.
Liam will use his two Pearls of Power to recall Shield and Barkskin.
He will pour a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds into his Sipping Jacket.
Then he looks over the portfolio some more.
"Can we tell how many of these Sisters there are? And how far away the Tea Shop is?"
The portfolio indicates there are three night hag sisters--a full coven. The tea shop is about a quarter mile from the bath house.
"Katria, Seth, Amelia - should we head there now? And should we seek to disguise one of our number as Milon Jeroth? It is possible we could gain an advantage over these Night Hags by doing so."
Katria nods.
"I think faster is better. They may not have the letter, but there's no way to know if they're expecting him," she says. "Perhaps Seth could pose as Jeroth?"
Amelia considers, "Time is always the limiting factor. We should move as long as we are able to."
Taking some time to check her arms, she looks at the others, "This blessed blade should be able to deal with them, but if they can move in dreams like you say can we finish them off? Can we sunder their magic at all or bind them to this plane?"
"There is a spell that can bind them to this plane, but I do not have it prepared today. The best recourse against such trickery, if they try to escape, is to ready to strike them and disrupt their magic. I will do my best to Command them to halt."
"Seth, do you have any suggestions or preparations to make?"
Liam will cast Shield of Faith on both Amelia and Seth as we get close to the Tea Shop. This will give a +3 deflection bonus to AC (think we all have +2 rings right now) and last for 10 minutes.
"I have something that may help disrupt their spells." Amelia carefully takes her necklace off, with a strange coin on it. "Should help you if we need to dispel them."
Seth nods as he cleans his blade off, allowing his magics to fade, "Not the most pleasant fight. I should see if I can find some way to bless my blade should we encounter any more of these creatures." he notes.
"I can help one more weapon," Katria says. "I'm fine making it either of yours."
As they get close, she also concentrates again, heightening her awareness.
"I can also try to send my mind eye in again to see what it can see, thought the hags might be able to see it too," she says.
Liam will heal Seth with a few charges from the wand that Maya had thoughtfully left with him.
"I think you can go ahead and send the Mind Eye, Katria. Even if the hags do see it, it is plausible that Milon Jeroth would have such an ability, and would use it to scout the Tea Shop before checking in if he thought the location had been compromised by Pythareus's diviner."
"But then, it is equally possible the place has wards that can block your Mind Eye. A risk we may have to take."
Katria nods and will do so as they get closer to the tea shop.
HP 83/83 (inc. +10 from transmutation focus)
AC 23, touch 16, flat-footed 18, CMD 22
Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +11
Speed: 30 feet
Inspiration (Knowledge/Linguistics/Spellcraft checks): 0/5
Mental Focus: 18; Abjuration [4/4]; Divination [1/4]; Illusion [4/4]; Enchantment [2/3]; Transmutation [2/3] (refocusing rod)
Resonant powers (+2 saves; +2 Perception, low-light vision; +1 Charisma checks; +2 Con; 20% miss chance)
Cape of the mountebank 0/1; gloves of arrow snaring 0/2; Dignity's Barb Crit No.: 8
Spells/day: 1st [][][][][]; 2nd [][][][][]; 3rd [][][][]; 4th [x][]
Wands: Scorching ray 0/20; lightning bolt 0/20; magic missile (CL 5) 0/47; magic missile (CL 5) 0/34
Effects:
Amelia wondered what she could do while Katria scouted, but determined the best thing she could aid people with was her sight and her ability to see the flow of a city.
The tea shop also includes a large storage area, as well as a small apartment. Katria sends her mind's eye into the shop. Countless jars and bottles line the shelves in this large room. A raised section of flooring near a sales counter supports several worn, water‑stained tables and chairs. Various kinds of poppets, wooden charms, and silver hoops hang from the ceiling.
A Varisian woman stands behind the counter, minding the shop. She looks up and narrows her eyes, seeming to sense the scrying sensor! But she goes on doing what she was doing, acting like nothing is out of the ordinary.
The mind's eye moves into a loading dock adjacent to the shop filled with shop supplies, including spare kettles and cups and barrels of loose tea and dried herbs. Inside the warehouse, shelves line the walls of a large, dusty space. Smoke chokes the air and soot coats every surface. The source of this smoke and soot is apparent--an enormous black horse with mane and hooves of flame. Hellfire shimmers in its hateful eyes. It paces about restlessly but does not notice the scrying sensor.
The first room of the cozy apartment seems mundane, but the bedroom contains a humanoid figure wrapped in sheets--the desiccated body of a woman, dried by the desert heat. A desk near the door includes writing implements and stationary, as well as a massive tome bound in leather.
Katria tells the others what she sees, and that the hag at the front may have noticed her spying.
HP 83/83 (inc. +10 from transmutation focus)
AC 23, touch 16, flat-footed 18, CMD 22
Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +11
Speed: 30 feet
Inspiration (Knowledge/Linguistics/Spellcraft checks): 3/5
Mental Focus: 18; Abjuration [4/4]; Divination [1/4]; Illusion [4/4]; Enchantment [2/3]; Transmutation [2/3] (refocusing rod)
Resonant powers (+2 saves; +2 Perception, low-light vision; +1 Charisma checks; +2 Con; 20% miss chance)
Cape of the mountebank 0/1; gloves of arrow snaring 0/2; Dignity's Barb Crit No.: 8
Spells/day: 1st [][][][][]; 2nd [][][][][]; 3rd [][][][]; 4th [x][]
Wands: Scorching ray 0/20; lightning bolt 0/20; magic missile (CL 5) 0/47; magic missile (CL 5) 0/34
Effects:
Katria identifies the horse as a cauchemar, a more powerful version of a nightmare. Nightmares are fiendish steeds from Abaddon. They allow only the most evil of creatures to ride them, and are never mere mounts, but rather willing partners in destruction.
The cauchemar is a more dangerous variant of the nightmare, particularly valued for its ability to enter the Ethereal Plane with its rider in addition to being able to use plane shift to invade other realities.
The mummified woman wasn't moving, so it's unclear if she is undead or just actually dead.
"You didn't see any obvious Night Hags?
Well, one could be that Varisian woman in a magical disguise, and the others could be invisible or hiding. Seth, Amelia, I can give True Seeing to one of you for a few minutes."
"Do we have any way to fight something that's ethereal? I may be able to help more weapons, but ..."
"True Seeing will let one see into the Ethereal Plane.
As for actually harming them there... I don't know."
"Murmurrin can pierce the veil up undeath. He can see whether what we face is living or unnatural, sir Liam. As for actually laying any souls to rest, while it is not the most powerful, my blade has managed to cut through many a ghost in my day." Seth offers, "He can at least function as a scout for us."
The dandy thought, "I know nothing about the ethereal realm and how to deal with it. I wonder if there is anything I can do other than muster magic to send them back to our plane of existence. Either way, should we get a strike on them, I can expend energy enough to invest a bloody blow and hopefully drop them immediately before they can flee."
She figured that if she focused enough on her target, read its movements, that she would be able to strike hard and fast enough to make it die a swift death.
"I do not think it is the veil of undeath, Seth. Other things can also exist on the Ethereal Plane. Not just ghosts, but creatures such as this cauchemar, a variant of the nightmare, which Katria saw within. So if our foes are on the Ethereal, your familiar may not perceive them."
"I will give you the benefit of True Seeing, Amelia. Hold still."
Liam smears the ointment of rare oils on Amelia's eyes. It smells vaguely of cinnamon, perhaps. It feels a bit cool but does not sting.
"All things are clear to you now... for the next 10 minutes or so. We should move quickly."
You confer on the subject the ability to see all things as they actually are. The subject sees through normal and magical darkness, notices secret doors hidden by magic, sees the exact locations of creatures or objects under blur or displacement effects, sees invisible creatures or objects normally, sees through illusions, and sees the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things. Further, the subject can focus its vision to see into the Ethereal Plane (but not into extra-dimensional spaces). The range of true seeing conferred is 120 feet.
True seeing, however, does not penetrate solid objects. It in no way confers X-ray vision or its equivalent. It does not negate concealment, including that caused by fog and the like. True seeing does not help the viewer see through mundane disguises, spot creatures who are simply hiding, or notice secret doors hidden by mundane means. In addition, the spell effects cannot be further enhanced with known magic, so one cannot use true seeing through a crystal ball or in conjunction with clairaudience/clairvoyance.
As you step into the tea shop, the woman behind the counter smiles at you. "Welcome to Sweet Dreams! I am Estella. How may I help you?"
Liam acts generally deferential to Amelia, subtly acting as if she is in charge and he is a bodyguard.
He steps into the room first and looks around, before nodding to her to move in. He stands next to her, his hand on the hilt of his morningstar.
"Good. If she doesn't recognize you, my lord, then the diviner won't either."
Amelia sees the night hag for what it is and smiles, "Hello there Estella, I am looking for something special you know. Not quite sure what but we are celebrating a new bathhouse's opening and some distinguished guests from Oppara will be coming." She looks around idly for a moment, "I'm in need of something to sweeten the occasion, preferably loosen them up before going into the baths."
Seth stands at the ready outside, with ears primed for combat and ready to teleport in on a moment's notice.
Katria waits, wary.
"Of course, milady! I have just the thing for you, I think," Estella says. "Some mint tea to help your guests relax and get in the festive spirit."
She turns her back to you as she searches the shelves...
Seth prepares to draw his sword, but waits for a signal from the others before moving so decisively.
Liam shouts "Now!" at Amelia (loud enough so Seth and Katria can here) and readies to Dispel any spell the Night Hag may try to cast.
Seth draws his sword and lets his magic surge through the blade, making it even deadlier.
HP 94/94 (inc. +11 from transmutation focus)
AC 23, touch 16, flat-footed 18, CMD 22
Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +11
Speed: 30 feet
Inspiration (Knowledge/Linguistics/Spellcraft checks): 3/5
Mental Focus: 18; Abjuration [4/4]; Divination [1/4]; Illusion [4/4]; Enchantment [1/3]; Transmutation [2/3] (refocusing rod)
Resonant powers (+2 saves; +2 Perception, low-light vision; +1 Charisma checks; +2 Con; 20% miss chance)
Cape of the mountebank 0/1; gloves of arrow snaring 0/2; Dignity's Barb Crit No.: 8
Spells/day: 1st [][][][][]; 2nd [][][][][]; 3rd [][][][]; 4th [x][][]
Wands: Scorching ray 0/20; lightning bolt 0/20; magic missile (CL 5) 0/47; magic missile (CL 5) 0/34
Effects:
Katria tries to bind the hag's mind before it can alert its sisters.
Binding Pattern (Sp): As a standard action, you can expend 1 point of mental focus to create a binding pattern of psychic energy that causes a living creature to become paralyzed. The target must be within 30 feet of you, and it can attempt a Will saving throw to negate the effect. If it fails the save, it is paralyzed for 1 round for every 2 occultist levels you possess. At the end of each of its turns, it can attempt another Will save to end the paralyzed effect and instead be staggered for the remaining duration. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect. You must be at least 7th level to select this focus power.
With her true sight, Amelia sees her opportunity and lashes out with enough speed to draw and slash!
She focuses on the strands of fate in the room and how they dance around Liam.
Katria's binding pattern falters against the hag's spell resistance, but Amelia land a good hit, though the hag resists some of the damage. She shrikes in rage as she whirls around!
Seth quickly slices at the hag, falling into an easy rhythm as he cuts into the hag with supernatural speed
With a trained grace, the pretender tries to drive the blessed blade through the night hag.
Before the disguised night hag can react, Amelia and Seth cut her down with a flurry of devastating strikes! She crumples to the floor, her form twisting as she reverts to her natural shape in death.