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Rather than advancing, the Yeti instead closes it's eyes and begins to move it's clawed appendages around as if enacting some sort of ritual, suddenly opening it's glowing eyes just as it points towards Grundar. If nothing else, this is not a typical Yeti.
Only Andruss seems to be affected by whatever magic it just called upon, though the results are pretty clear as the witch suddenly begins to move very slowly, almost as if he where traveling through water.
Jorah moves a bit closer and again gets ready to unleash his own magic. Wembly's leopard appears and prepairs to attack, but as soon as it see's the Yeti up close, it suddenly overcome with terror and does nothing but sit there.
ROUND 2
Jorah (Ready)
Maligaster ()
Wembly ()
Leopard (Paralyzed 1 Rnd)
Andruss ()
Grundar (Psy Surge)
=================
Yeti ()
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The halfling will use a swift action to:
Hypnotic Stare As swift action, Meligaster can target creature within 30
feet that then takes a –2 penalty on Will saves. He can maintain this
effect against only one creature at a time, and it ends if the target
moves out of range, Meligaster uses this ability against a new target,
or he falls unconscious or dies. Meligaster’s target is not even aware
that he is using this ability unless he wills it. Penalties from multiple
hypnotic stares do not stack. This is a mind-affecting effect.
Catching the creatures attention with his stare he brings out his watch and as the creature watches it will order, in a strong voice You cannot use your magic! It is gone! When I snap my fingers! SNAP he says snapping his fingers and casting
Mental Block: Meligaster can prevent a creature within 35 feet
from using its skill ranks, spells, feats, and abilities for 4 rounds
(Will DC 15 negates). This is a mind-affecting effect.
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Just in case;
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Andruss plagues a few words in an obscure language, while pointing towards the yeti.
WILL save 1d20+11
ROUND 2
Jorah (Ready)
Maligaster (Hypnotic Stare & Mental Block)
Wembly ()
Leopard (Paralyzed 1 Rnd)
Andruss (Slow, Evil Eye)
Grundar (Psy Surge)
=================
Yeti (-4 Will, Can't cast for 4 rounds)
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-Posted with Wayfinder
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So, I need to know if:
1.) Grundar wants to move on that last actin (and thus need a Refl Save with a -4)
2.) Andruss want to attempt to move (and thus need a Refl Save, but not at a -4 due to the statue)
3.) I need a Will Save <fear> from the Summoned Leopard (as soon as it appears). Additionally, you can have it appear right next to the Yeti or 10ft away and charge. If it charges, it will risk an AoO, but have a better chance of hitting with some of those attack roles. The choice is yours.
4.) Also, just a note, the Yeti is Large, so the Leopard can not Grab it.
The DC of the Reflex save is 12. =)
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Grundar looses his balance as he advances, falling flat on his face on the bridge and then sliding as the winds catch him, tumbling all the way down the crevice. While the pool of water at the bottom is frozen solid, he does land on softer snow first to pad the fall.
Trapped alone at the bottom, Grundar can see a path to climb back to the top some 30ft back up.
Seeing too many opponents coming close, it rushes forward, sensing Jorah is the most deadly threat at the moment, it goes for the caster, triggering the moment Jorah had been waiting for to unleash his own powers.
As the blasts of light hit it, it suddenly stops. At first it's clawed hands go to cover it's eyes as if protecting them from a blinding sun, but then they drop, and the beast simply sits there slightly wobbling back and forth in place as if in a stupor.
For a brief moment you see it's face contort, and then suddenly the body simply collapses, breathing heavily in the snow, but not moving any longer to attack.
In the distance, just as you begin to catch your breath and aid Grundar on the long climb back up, you hear a roaring echo from the west, as five yetis approach menacingly around a nearby mountain. As they yetis draw close, you notice a thin, blue-skinned humanoid sitting atop the shoulders of the lead yeti.
She appears to be 4 or 5, wears fur-lined rags, and also bears a statuette of a yeti that protects her from the cold, exactly like the one some of you also carry. She speaks in
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"Greetings, my lady. I am Andruss Delsine, I assume that you are Jujanil, is that correct?"
The young girls looks down at you for a moment before answering, but finally returns, "No, friend. I am not Jujanil. My name is Sharaheen, . . . once called Bakten. I thought to end my karmic cycle as that self, but I saw the need to persevere. Had I died as Bakten, my dark self would have risen. You gave me life anew. Though you knew it not, your actions in Ayajinbo and Dallo were calculated to unbalance Bakten’s karma. He wished his grandest deeds undone, so that I could live to keep Jujanil from entering this world.”
Wembly takes notice and motions the snow leopard to follow. He turns to some of the members from the first expedition. [b]"Hey cool. Is this the person we were seeking that you guys helped before?
None of the others seems to recognize her at all.
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"No, friend. I am not Jujanil. My name is Sharaheen, . . . once called Bakten. I thought to end my karmic cycle as that self, but I saw the need to persevere. Had I died as Bakten, my dark self would have risen. You gave me life anew. Though you knew it not, your actions in Ayajinbo and Dallo were calculated to unbalance Bakten’s karma. He wished his grandest deeds undone, so that I could live to keep Jujanil from entering this world.”
"So... I believed that Jujanil was one of the incarnations of Bakten...or not? It's a bit confusing, can you explain it better for us?"
Andruss was quite mistrustful about all of this. Although his doubt wasn't related to the fact that Sharaheen can really be the new incarnation of Bakten (despite the short time), something had not been cleared up in this story and he was willing to find out what it was.
"Hey cool. Is this the person we were seeking that you guys helped before?
"Yes, she is", he answers with the tongue between the teeth.
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"There is so little time, and I am still unclear on some of it, "as Malash<-Bakten>, I was acting as a peacemaker, uniting the elven clans, and had a strong relationship with Lady Ishigo. Lady Ishigo had an affair with Mata Ryu, giving birth to six daughters as Malash died, reincarnating into another life."
"We are not certain what happened after that, for this is my Veiled Self. I do know that this is where this "Jujanil" existed, though there are no records, no memories, nothing there about who or what they, he or she did in this obfuscated time."
"But, somehow Lady Ishigo believed that I, in whatever life I had been, somehow stole Lord Ryu's affections, and sent her daughters, trained assassins to spy on and gain the long awaited revenge on the one you knew as Bakten. Like I, Bakten knew nothing about his Veiled Self, but it was only after it was too late that Lady Ishigo discovered the truth, or some part of it, sending you here to make what amends she can."
"Through you, I, as Bakten, was able to disrupt my own Karma enough to postpone what should have been my own final enlightenment, granting me, granting all of me one final reincarnation to set things right and discover the truth. That is why we are here. Seeking the truth of this Jujanil."
"Intention and action must be balanced. It was his intention to become myself, but your actions made it so. And yet, he and I regret the needful deception, and the pain it may have caused. . . Our veiled life, our darkest self. She sought to break from the cycle of souls, to become undead and all-powerful. She is a fragment now, a cursed shard. She bides her time in a pocket dimension, awaiting my departure from this plane. So great was her stealth, it took me two lifetimes to find her. I am now too weak to confront her myself. I beseech you to help me end her misbegotten days. I must accompany you, but this form is frail. My power is in memory. Bear me to the pocket plane where my dark self ’s soul resides and my past shall strive to aid you."
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"I can feel the truth in your words, my lady. And, as in the beginning, I put myself at your service to help, as well as the forces of the Sovereign Court", Andruss takes her hand and kisses it, "and I would like you to know that I have watched the body of Bakten with ardor until his last moments and therefore, I intend to maintain my loyalty. So, it's time to go, we must go and put an end to this pain that plagues so many souls".
Andruss feels more prepared than ever for the epic encounter that awaited them, between two immortal souls, and he was happy to be part of it. "I'm curious to see the face of Lady Gloriana Morilla when I tell this to her", he smiled while imagines the scene.
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Wembly looks upon the tower with almost as much amazement as he has for the strange story of the prior lives of the speaker.
"Well, we aren't going to figure out anything standing out here in the cold. If we need to get into the tower, so be it. At least it will be out of this biting wind.
Can this pocket plane be found within?"
He asks the last part of Sharaheen.
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"What do you know about this Black Tower we are headed to?"
"Can this pocket plane be found within?"He asks the last part of Sharaheen.
"Very little, I'm afraid. Nearly the entirety of my Veiled Self's existence has been hidden from me, though I can feel darkness from here. I'm certain, if there is a way, it is to be found here. I will join you" she adds as she asks the Yeti carrying here to put her down in Aklo, "if you would allow me this one final favor. After all, I remember how, as Bakten, I allowed my pride, my arrogance to rule me. It is, mainly through some of your words, some of your reactions, I was able to realize this, as Bakten, and overcome it before then end. He was never able to thank you for that lesson. Allow me to in his stead."
Following the path towards the black tower, you turn a corner that leads into a tunnel formed of ice, though the ceiling is still mostly open. It creates another funnel for the wind and snow, making travel difficult. Just as you turn the corner, you come upon the bodies of multiple Yeti's and some sort of stitched-together, (or formerly so) corpses that reek of death. Each of the eight humanoid corpses has had it's head severed, and the heads la about in the cold snow. Signs of blood and battle are all about, though it's clearly ended already. Oddly, each of the eight corpses, (not including the Yeti bodies), wears a strange Tien-style mask. It's red, made to look like a demon or devil, with viscous eyes and large fangs.
Sharaheen stops, conferring with the Yeti again in Aklo for a moment, and then turns to translate and explain. "My friends here say that their tribe was assaulted by these,. . . creatures. They returned to attack, not wanting to suffer further assaults, but when they came here, suddenly their leader, Glacial Rose, the Yeti you encountered a few minutes ago, suddenly stopped, turning against his people and acted strangely. He seemed to take control of these . . ." she pauses a moment as she indicated the eight headless corpses, trying to think of a way to explain it. "The Yeti have no word for this. These things, they are not alive, but they are not the walking dead, either. They live through magic, but are not really alive."
"The Yeti and these things fought, killing each other, while Glacial Rose stood by, afterwards going to meet you as you arrived. They found me and I came here, finding you. Do you know what happened with their tribe's leader?"
A jagged tower stretches 50 feet into the sky before disappearing into the thick storm clouds and blinding snow flurries. Twin iron doors stretch ten feet up the jagged pagoda’s side. The doors are painted with a hideous crimson visage ringed by two sets of spiraling script. No handles, rungs, or keyholes are visible, only a small, dark depression that serves as the snarling facade’s mouth. It is the same red face as the eight strange masks you just encountered.
Sharaheen steps closer to translate a spiraling script for you benefit, “Give me gold, for I am want. Make it shine so I can flaunt. Place it in my hungry maw, so as to show my master awe. Do this as it pleases me, and I’ll unbar the door for thee.”
She instructs the Yeti to remain here and guard the door, then takes a knee, focusing here will inward in a combination of what seems to be a medication and prayer while you focus on gaining entrance into the tower. Both doors are made of iron.
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Jorah hovers over to the corpses to inspect them, poking at them here in there with his morningstar. "You say these things are neither alive or walking dead, and seem to be animated by magic. Perhaps they are controlled in a similar fashion to the magic that animates golems."
After seeing all there is to see of the corpses, he begins to look over the massive door in front of them. Jorah instantly recognizes that the visage represents Fumeiyoshi and shares his knowledge of the God of Night with the others.
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"if you would allow me this one final favor. After all, I remember how, as Bakten, I allowed my pride, my arrogance to rule me. It is, mainly through some of your words, some of your reactions, I was able to realize this, as Baking, and overcome it before then end. He was never able to thank you for that lesson. Allow me to in his stead."
"It will be a pleasure for us, if you come, my lady. Bakten was a good friend, not an arrogant one. He was a wise man, and the excess of knowledge justifies the pride, it is not a flaw. Come on, there is nothing to redeem herself, we are friends and we are here to help", Andruss comforts the samsaran.
"The Yeti have no word for this. These things, they are not alive, but they are not the walking dead, either. They live through magic, but are not really alive."
"Like puppets, you mean?", he said rhetorically.
"They maybe a golem of some sort. Neither alive or undead, but acting through magic similar to a living thing, though usually not sentient", the witch gets close to the 'golems' and tries to analyse them.
"The Yeti and these things fought, killing each other, while Glacial Rose stood by, afterwards going to meet you as you arrived. They found me and I came here, finding you. Do you know what happened with their tribe's leader?"
"Glacial Rose seemed to be possessed by a strange force, he attacked us and, without any clear reason, suddenly fall in front of us. The curious is that for a brief moment we saw it's face contort, before its body simply collapses."
Adruss was looking for some gold in his pouch, when Wembly makes the offering.
"Let's see if this will be enough", he thought while watches the 'reaction' of the bizarre door.
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He digs out 5gp and sees if it will fit into the depression.
After dropping a few coins in, the door remains unmoving and locked, continuing to bar your entrance.
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Other than each having an identical mask on their decapitated heads, none of the corpses, (or the bodies of the Yeti's) contain anything.
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Wembly anxiously watches to see if the idol in the mouth will open the door.
"This will be cool if this actually works. I mean it is already cold - you know the other kind of cold. I just hope it works...and I will get my gold back...not that I would not pay to see it open but even better if the idol you know. ."