Next to Jelico, seams form on the wall in the shape of a doorway. The wall recesses and slides over to the right into the rest of the wall. Ahead you see a massive, open room with what appear to be bookcases rising up to a height of 15 feet. Rather than books on those shelves however, you see thousands of slim black and ceramic plates. Each seems to be similar to the kish datapad equivalent that you found at the ancient kish "museum".
Far to the north, you see a balcony about 15ft up.
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\He doesn't see anything of great importance. Instead he takes a seat at the head chair to look under the table. As he does so he says... "Look at this one, Arcalinte Soter! This one is chairman of the board! Now sit down and remind this one why we even came to this place because all this one knows is that the killing of monsters has been successful so far."
Arcalinte sighs at Isu's joke, and stands up.
"According to the information we recovered from Eox, a cell of the Devourer cult we're fighting came here looking for information on the Stellar Degenerator. They deceived the kish into letting them into this place, The Foundry, got what they were looking for (and evidently left behind a digital trap for pursuers like us), and then attacked the kish and fled. That's caused the local kish to break into a small civil war. Xavra blamed Tzayl's trust of outsiders as the reason they fell victim to the cult's deception, and their chieftain is essentially letting them fight it out. We're hoping to find the information the cult was looking for here, and confront Xavra to reunite the kish. I hope that's concise enough?"
He nods at Jelico's warning.
"And I suspect that confrontation will begin sooner than we think."
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"It is possible the final confrontation is just ahead of us."
Isu casts reflecting armor on himself, a small defensive buff.
He is the first to walk forward into the room with the creatures. There is not point in going quietly... he couldn't even if he tried.
"THIS ONE SAYS HELLO! And Arcalinte Soter would like to talk before you try to kill us. Arcalinte?"
Isu leads the way into the room, squeezing in past the massive shelves. Shelves holding a staggering array of datapads line the walls and stand freely around this room (all 15ft high). A small desk sits in front of a shuttered window adjacent to the room’s only entrance. A balcony holding even more shelves stretches across the eastern, western, and northern walls (at a height of 15ft). To the north, floor to ceiling windows between the bookshelves glow gold and pink in the afternoon light of Nejeor Six.
All around the room stand armored kish, two on the ground level wielding axes, two up on the balcony bearing bows. A final kish, this one wearing a suit of armor made of ancient kish artifacts that glows orange and silver, points a pistol down toward Isu.
He calls down "I knew the ancestors would send further demons to test us. And you've come. Cloud walkers, defilers, slayers of good, noble kish. You have even corrupted the minds of those followers of the false god Talavet, clouded their eyes against your true nature. But I see clearly. When I send you back to the ancestors, you can tell them Xavra knows and he stands strong. I will always stand strong!"
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|||| INIT ||||
Jelico (3 dmg)
Arc
Ted
Isu
Spec (11 dmg)
Xavra
Blue kish warrior
Red kish warrior
Green kish scout
Yellow kish scout
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Jellico look to Arc, "I think our attempts at reason will fall on deaf ears. It sounds like they've already got their minds made up about us."
Jellico gathers his will and focuses on himself and the group of heroes around him in the doorway. He allows the power of Desna to flow through him and casts Haste on everyone.
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Isu has to squeeze in between shelves to get (purple) bad guy on the bottom floor.
[looks like I'll be squeezing most of this battle.basically entangled, so You move at half speed, you cannot run or charge, and you take a –2 penalty to your AC, attack rolls, Reflex saving throws, initiative checks, and Dexterity-based skill and ability checks. Power armor, in general, sucks, is my opinion as the game is not built to allow it. The maps are tiny to save publishing space and dollars and don't allow for the options that the game has build into it.]
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As they're greeted by Xavra, Arcalinte steps forward, his armor aglow. He raises his sword defensively and speaks.
"I see you are attuned to the light and gravity of the stars as I am. We are the same. Let us then duel: I against you, Starfinder against Huntmaster, Solarian against Solarian. If I fall to you, I only ask that you allow my friends to leave in peace, and should I win, we will grant the same courtesy to your followers. What say you, Xavra? Will you stand strong as your people's champion?"
Xavra's face pinches in the kish equivalent of a scowl. Responding in Vulgar Kishaleen, Xavra spits "You speak as if your cloudwalker rivalries make any difference to us. The ancestors know that you have sown death behind you and you will sow nothing but death ahead. You and those you say you oppose are the same." However, the offer of a duel seems to strike some chord within the Huntmaster. "Another sly ploy, but it matters not. Come, if you wish to die by my hand. When you fall, if your fellow cloudwalkers wish to return to their metal cloud and leave forever, we will not pursue."
|||| INIT ||||
Jelico (3 dmg)
Arc
Ted
Isu
Spec (11 dmg)
Xavra
Blue kish warrior
Red kish warrior
Green kish scout
Yellow kish scout
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Arcalinte sighs as he goes over and begins climbing towards Xavra.
-
-
On the ground floor, Isu easily closes the distance with his enhanced speed and delivers the blue kish a crushing blow. While the kish doesn't fall, they buckle under the weight and power of his attack.
Up on the balcony, Xavra's armor turns pitch-black, its surfaces suddenly seemingly a portal into the deep reaches of space. They draw a thin curved blade whose edge seems to bend light around it. With a quick step toward Arc, Xavra delivers a diagonal slice straight into his torso. The ancient kish blade cuts through his armor like it were made of gelatin, but Arc is able to back away just enough that he doesn't immediately get bisected.
On the ground level, the blue kish warrior attempts to defend themselves against the massive armored threat. They swing their huge axe upward, but do little more than scratch the paint on Isu's armor. The red kish warrior rushes over to the secret door that Jelico, Ted and Spec are still in front of. Blocking the doorway, they deliver an overhand chop with their axe at Jelico. Luckily, Jelico's quick reflexes let him sidestep the swing.
The yellow and green kish adjust their positions and fire their bows upon the intruders. Arrows rebound off Isu and Arc without injuring them.
|||| INIT ||||
Jelico (3 dmg)
Arc (29 dmg)
Ted
Isu
Spec (12 thp, 11 dmg)
Xavra
Blue kish warrior (24 dmg)
Red kish warrior
Green kish scout
Yellow kish scout
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The Kish appearing in the doorway blocks Ted's entry. He grimaces in frustration. His top spins rapidly around his head and swoops down and hits him in the temple. Ted disppears! and reappears up on the balcony.
Ted rubs his bruised forehead, grabs his top, and stuffs it in to a battery. Purple magical energy shimmers as the top stretches the battery to the breaking point. He throws the battery to explode on the Kish.
EXPLOSIVE BLAST T3
School evocation (fire)
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area 20-ft.-radius burst
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half; Spell Resistance yes
You magically transform a used battery into a powerful explosive device, propelling it in a straight Line to a grid intersection within range, at which point it detonates, dealing 9d6 fire damage to all creatures and objects in the area. If you send the battery through a narrow opening, you must make a ranged attack (usually against an Armor Class of 10 for a narrow opening or an Armor Class of 15 for an extremely narrow opening) to avoid hitting the side and detonating it prematurely.
Flash Teleport (Sp)
As a move action, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to teleport up to 30 feet. You must have line of sight to your destination. This movement doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
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Ted swiftly teleports into position and his follow up explosion engulfs the kish to the western part of the room. Both fail to protect themselves from the flames and end up badly charred. Unfortunately, neither of them fall.
Arc's swings come in fast, but Xavra overwhelms with strength and speed, blowing each of his swings back with sheer force. The kish huntmaster retaliates in kind, slicing through Arc's guard with a devastating overhand chop . Arc dodges the following horizontal swipe by a hair.
The blue warrior kish manages an accurate last ditch slash against Isu, but the simple nature of their weapon leaves the strike mostly ineffective . The red warrior closes in to Spec, striking their axe against the droid's protective energy field.
Green fires an arrow down at Isu but strikes a nearby shelf instead. Yellow switches targets to the technomancer suddenly in their midst. After missing a shot with their bow, they drop it and draw a gleaming dagger instead.
|||| INIT ||||
Jelico (3 dmg) (+standard action from last round)
Arc (65 dmg)
Ted
Isu (8 dmg)
Spec (15 dmg)
Xavra
Blue kish warrior (59 dmg)
Red kish warrior
Green kish scout
Yellow kish scout (35 dmg)
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This is not good. thinks Isu. EVERYONE, IF YOU CAN, DIRECT FIRE ON THE ONE KILLING ARCALINTE SOTER. IGNORE THE OTHERS!
Isu tries to finish up the (blue) one next to him, but succeed or fail, he then starts climbing to get up to the balcony.
Because he is hasted, Isu can climb after attacking and he climbs fast.
With Jelico drawing the axe-wielding kish's attention, Spec sends a pair of shots directly into red.
---
-
-
-
-
-
One of Spec's two sonic blasts connects with red. The kish warrior ducks under the second.
In the cramped quarters, neither of Isu's two swings can quite meet its mark. His electrified attacks are slowed enough by grazing the nearby shelves that the blue kish has just enough time to sidestep and duck. The blue kish attempts a parting swing as Isu begins climbing, but falls far short of locating a weak point. Isu's able to ascend without any further difficulty and closes the distance with Xavra.
As Ted fires, Xavra twirls with blinding speed and angles their blade to deflect the laser bolt. The empowered laser scores a glowing mark on the ceiling. This gives Arc an opening to slash in with his fire-wreathed sword. The blade connects... but the fire is simply swallowed by Xavra's gleaming armor. Thankfully, Sarenrae's blessing infuses some of those flames, and their holy nature allows some of the flame to burn Xavra regardless.
Xavra sweeps to the north to get out of the flank and delivers another lightning fast slash through Arc's armor and through his ribcage. The kish Huntmaster says nothing, but their gaze has a degree of disappointment in it.
The blue and red kish warriors close with Jelico and Spec respectively, delivering inspired battlecries as they chop down with their axes. Both land their attacks .
The yellow kish scout leaps up, jumps off the wall and shouts out a battlecry that sounds eerily similar to the roar of an eohi. In the moment that Ted's distracted by the sound, they dash in and strike. They deftly stab their archaic blade into Ted's left armpit, slicing deep The green kish fires an arrow at Arc but only bounces it off the solarian's armor.
The blue kish warrior looks to be running on pure adrenaline and it seems even the slightest of attacks might be enough to finish them off.
|||| INIT ||||
Jelico (32 dmg)
Arc (91 dmg)
Ted (18 dmg)
Isu (8 dmg)
Spec (26 dmg)
Xavra (13 dmg)
Blue kish warrior (59 dmg)
Red kish warrior (40 dmg)
Green kish scout
Yellow kish scout (35 dmg)
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Arcalinte, realizing Xavra is just on the cusp of slaying him, shifts his focus from stellar flame to gravity, rising into the air and retreating towards Jellico, alighting gently on the floor flanking his assailant.
He then takes a swing at the kish, figuring Sarenrae's holy plasma will dispatch them more quickly.
As Arc attempts to fly down to ground level, Xavra spins about and thrusts their sword into his back. The blade pierces through, plunging deep into Arc's chest. Before getting more than a few feet away he loses consciousness and tumbles to the floor below.
|||| INIT ||||
Jelico (32 dmg)
Arc (0|0|5 , prone, dying)
Ted (18 dmg)
Isu (8 dmg)
Spec (26 dmg)
Xavra (13 dmg)
Blue kish warrior (59 dmg)
Green kish scout
Yellow kish scout (35 dmg)
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Ted's top teleports him to a safer location, where he begins forming a grenade spell bomb. "Nice shot Spec! Do it again!"
Flash Teleport (Sp)
As a move action, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to teleport up to 30 feet. You must have line of sight to your destination. This movement doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
Spell Grenade (Sp)
You can spend 1 Resolve Point to store a spell with a range of touch in a grenade, allowing you to affect a target within the grenade’s blast radius with the spell. Casting a spell with spell grenade uses the spell’s standard casting time, and throwing the spell grenade is a standard action. You must throw the grenade before the end of your next turn, or the spell is wasted. You are considered proficient with the grenade for this attack. Choose a single target within the grenade’s blast radius; that target is affected by the spell as if you had successfully touched it. The grenade goes off as normal, with all of its usual effects within its blast radius. If you miss the targeted intersection with the grenade, you must choose a target within the grenade’s new blast radius. If there are no suitable targets within the grenade’s blast radius, the spell is wasted. Spells whose ranges are not touch don’t benefit from this magic hack.
School necromancy
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range touch
Targets one living creature or construct
Duration instantaneous and 1 round/level; see text
Saving Throw Fortitude partial and Will partial, see text; Spell Resistance yes
You concentrate key particles in your blood into tiny biological nanobots that you can inject into a foe with a touch, disrupting and damaging its natural processes. Make a melee attack against the target’s EAC; if you hit, the nanobots deal 4d8 damage and swarm through the target’s biological or mechanical systems, causing the creature to be confused, as per confusion, for 1 round per your caster level. If the target succeeds at a Fortitude save, it takes only half damage and negates the confusion effect. A confused target can attempt a Will saving throw at the beginning of its turn each round to end the confusion effect.
Casting this spell doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
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"Arc!" Jellico yells as the other man falls to the ground and stays still. It seems like he's still breathing but the breaths are shallow.
He sees a smile cross the kish's face as they turn their attention now to Isu. What do I do now? That thing's going after Isu next. He takes a step away from the kish currently in his face.
He kneels next to Arc. "You need to stay up this time." He lays his hands on Arc's arm and says a quick prayer to Desna. Almost immediately, he feels energy flow through him into his unconscious shipmate.
-
Rather than engage directly with Isu, Xavra steps to the balcony and raises their blade. The other kish shout out in shared triumph at Arc's defeat.
The badly injured blue kish warrior rushes at Ted, slashing down with their axe. The blow lands, cutting shallowly into Ted's shoulder. The green kish steps to the south and fires an arrow at the technomancer as well. The shot ricochets off the shelf nearby and leaves Ted unharmed.
The yellow kish scout zigs and zags as they move in to engage Isu. His guard is thrown off for a moment and the kish goes for a strike to the jugular. Unfortunately for the kish, powered armors don't have jugulars to slice.
Xavra's armor shimmers and distorts as the starscapes within it suddenly begins to spin and change. They point their blade to the west, toward Isu, and an almost invisible ripple surges through the entire western side of the space. It has no effect on any of the inanimate objects nearby, but...
Jelico and Arc see their perception slowing as everyone around suddenly seems to be moving faster. Xavra's armor turns from pitch black to a more normal coloration.
|||| INIT ||||
Jelico (32 dmg)
Arc (0|21|4 , prone)
Ted (30 dmg; incendiary charged with inject nanobots)
Isu (8 dmg)
Spec (26 dmg)
Xavra (13 dmg)
Blue kish warrior (59 dmg)
Green kish scout
Yellow kish scout (35 dmg)
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Still hasted, Isu puts his speed to good use. First, he takes a quick swing at the (yellow) kish, but then he strides over to 10 feet of Xavra. As he goes, he throws his hammer!
As soon as it hits the ground, Isu calls it and it is back in his hands. "PARAMAGNETIC!"
[hammer has called and throwing fusions; I just haven't used them much before]
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Ted throws his grenade at Xavra.
You are on fire. As long as you have this condition, at the start of your turn each round before you take any actions (or attempt the Reflex saving throw described below), you take the listed amount of damage as fire damage (or 1d6 fire damage, if no amount is listed in the effect that causes burning). Fire damage from multiple sources that inflict the burning condition is cumulative.
At the end of each round you are burning, you can attempt a Reflex saving throw to remove this condition. The DC of this saving throw is equal to 10 + the amount of fire damage you took this round from the burning condition. If you succeed at this saving throw, you lose the burning condition. You can attempt a new saving throw each round you have this condition, and you receive a +2 bonus for each previous saving throw you’ve attempted in consecutive rounds.
You can also automatically end this condition by jumping into enough water to douse yourself. If you don’t have enough water on hand, you can spend a full action to roll on the ground or otherwise smother the fire to attempt a new saving throw with a +4 bonus (plus any bonuses from previously failed consecutive attempts) to end the condition.
School necromancy
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range touch
Targets one living creature or construct
Duration instantaneous and 1 round/level; see text
Saving Throw Fortitude partial and Will partial, see text; Spell Resistance yes
You concentrate key particles in your blood into tiny biological nanobots that you can inject into a foe with a touch, disrupting and damaging its natural processes. Make a melee attack against the target’s EAC; if you hit, the nanobots deal 4d8 damage and swarm through the target’s biological or mechanical systems, causing the creature to be confused, as per confusion, for 1 round per your caster level. If the target succeeds at a Fortitude save, it takes only half damage and negates the confusion effect. A confused target can attempt a Will saving throw at the beginning of its turn each round to end the confusion effect.
Casting this spell doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
You are mentally befuddled and can’t act normally. You can’t tell the difference between ally and foe, and thus you treat all creatures as enemies, even your closest friends and family, if applicable. An ally who wishes to cast a beneficial Spell on you with a range of touch must succeed at an attack roll against your Energy Armor Class, since you cannot be considered a willing target. If you are attacked while you’re confused, you always attack the creature that last attacked you until that creature is dead or out of sight, unless it is otherwise impossible for you to attack it that round. While confused, you can’t make attacks of opportunity against any creature or thing that you aren’t already committed to attacking.
If you are not devoted to attacking a target, roll on the following table at the beginning of your turn each round to see what you do in that round.
d% Behavior
1–25 Act normally.
26–50 Do nothing but babble incoherently.
51–75 Deal 1d8 + Str modifier damage to self with item in hand.
76–100 Attack nearest creature.
If you can’t carry out the indicated action, you do nothing but babble incoherently. Attackers are not at any special advantage when attacking you.
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Spectre's two sonic pulses hit their respective targets. The first sends the blue kish warrior flying across the room until they strike a shelf and slump to the ground. The second is a direct hit on Xavra, leading the Huntmaster to eye the droid balefully. Ted's grenade explodes in a burst of napalm around Xavra, but the Huntmaster's armor completely shields them from the flames. The nanobots attempt to tear into their target, but manage only to deliver some surface wounds.
The yellow kish moves back in erratically, but again doesn't manage to land an accurate enough strike on Isu to injure the kasatha. The green kish fires a shot from their bow down on Ted, successfully piercing a thinner section of his armor. Thankfully the archaic nature of the weapon means the injury is mild
Xavra closes with Isu, flanking with their ally. Their armor flickers, suddenly glowing with heat. Their blade flashes in and under Isu's guard, cutting a significant gash.
|||| INIT ||||
Jelico (32 dmg) x2
Arc (0|26|4)
Ted (32 dmg)
Isu (30 dmg)
Spec (26 dmg)
Xavra (30 dmg)
Green kish scout
Yellow kish scout (59 dmg)