Gob and Nykal pound away at the altar, but their hits don't connect with enough force to cause it harm. The spiritual scythe, however, cuts a massive swath of flesh from the werebat. The creature drops to the floor of the ledge, and from your angle you can see his form shrink and change.
Despite the fact that the werebat has fallen, the altar continues to shout profane commands. The little devil too continues to try and clear its vision to fight.
Round 4:
Mirilani: Hit
Baddies: ATK
Rayquaza: Go
Mercutio: Go
Bhielli: Go
Blodgett: Go
Nykal: ATK
Kaghaze: @-3 (Dying)
Demon: (Blind)
Altar: 16
Rayquaza continues to pummel, and with the werebat out of commission, it takes only moments for the party to destroy it.
Thankfully, with the altar destroyed, the little demon, blind as it is, vanishes...
The elf cut from the altar seems to be mumbling still. The elf in the cage yells, "Save him! It's not too late! Gods may it not be too late!"
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Hearing the elf in the cage, Miri calls out to Bhielli. "I don't trust that hole in the ground. Grab hold of him and make sure he doesn't go anywhere."
She then turns her attention to those who are more magically-inclined. "Blodgett, Mercutio, and Nykal. Do any of you have an idea what's wrong with him? Any tricks that could help? Now'd be a great time to use them."
Finally, she walks over to the cage and works to free the elves. "Just need one moment now..."
Miri has no problem opening the cage. The other elves are completely comatose, but the lone elf with his wits about him, "It's not his fault. It's not his fault...." Unfortunately, he doesn't say much else.
Gob can scurry up and report that there IS NO werebat body, only a dying elf.
Mercutio gathers that they're just mentally and emotionally exhausted from torture more than any directed spell.
Nykal spends some time to stabilize, and eventually revive the elf. Meanwhile the elves in the cage meekly shuffle out. It's hard to tell if they understand that they've been rescued, but Mercutio is confident that they'll recover in time.
The elf's story is tragic indeed. His name is Kaghaze, a scout of the Ekujae. Several months ago, he and his patrol were on the hunt for a mobat that had been attacking the eastern portion of the Ekujae’s lands. They followed the beast to the ancient stone markers that delineated the outskirts of Dehu Inu. Kaghaze knew the area was off limits, but driven to destroy his quarry, he convinced his fellow guardians to follow him anyway. They tracked the beast to a cave, cornering it in the central chamber that once served as a shrine to Camazotz. Their battle was fierce. The beast tore apart one of Kaghaze’s followers and hurled his remains atop the altar. As the blood of the Ekujae flowed over it, a flash of the demon god’s power broke through and struck Kaghaze, corrupting his mind and transforming him into a werebat. Kaghaze quickly captured his remaining patrol members and sacrificed them to his new god. As he committed these vile acts, Kaghaze could sense that their deaths had an effect on the altar. Whispering demands for more blood invaded his mind, and he began nightly hunts for new victims....
With the altar destroyed forever, his mind is his own.
The question now, Pathfinders, is what you do with the elves you've rescued and the elf who fell pray to the designs of a demon-god.
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Miri collects her silver dagger and sheathes it. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm inclined to make the possessed elf someone else's problem. I suppose we could bring them back to their people. They look like they need the help, which should clear the dead man's debt and get the Society in the clear."
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Nykal is a lawyer, but he specializes in maritime law
"He broke their laws in following the beast outside of Dehu Inu. For that, I'm sure he should be punished according to their customs. But his actions afterwards were not his own. I think we should bring him back. I would even be willing to serve as his counsel."
"Nykal, that's a death sentence!"
The party takes the elves, including the erstwhile scout-turned-werebat Kaghaze, back to the Ekujae. The elder listens to the story intently.
"What you say is troubling in many ways. Some of our stories spoke of the evil in Dehu Inu, but not of its nature. That an Ekujae’s spirit could become so corrupted so quickly and completely by this bat-god makes me wonder what other secrets our long-held stories may contain. I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. I will spread word of your deeds. Perhaps one day we Ekujae may find that we have room for friendship with your Pathfinder Society.”
Elder Kalwe invites you to spend the night in Jalunth as her guests. Furthermore she asks that you participate in a ceremony that evening. The ceremony is simple, but clearly important. The elves wash your faces and then have your faces painted by Elder Kalwe in the Ekujae style. Fola Barun adds hers as well, commenting that your actions allow them to work towards cleansing Kaghaze, for despite breaking the law, did so to protect the tribe.
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"Nykal, I think I may have contracted lycanthropy..."
"Gob, I can think of at least five reasons that's not possible, starting with the fact that the werebat never touched you and ending with the fact that you're dead."
"..."
"..."
"Nykal, we need to go back to the cave. I think I left my keys there."
"We're not going back there, buddy."
"You need to take me back to that altar! I, uh...I think I saw your dead wife in that cave. We should go check it out..."
"Gob, are you trying to sacrifice me to Camazotz for the power of wing and fang?"
"What?! No!"
"Come on. Let's go home."
"Nykal, listen to me..."
Nykal draws Gob back into his consciousness...
Named for the bright yellow color that develops after being
polished, this rare tropical wood is harder than normal wood
yet no heavier. A fully-grown yellowheart tree can reach 180
feet and is found only in the southern Mwangi. To determine
the price of a yellowheart wood item, add 10 gp per pound
to the price of that item.
A weapon made primarily from yellowheart wood (such
as a staff or club) overcomes the damage reduction of
werebats as if made of silver. Arrows, crossbow bolts, and
other ammunition can be made of yellowheart wood as
well. Such ammunition is less destructive than usual and
imposes a –2 penalty on damage rolls.
Yellowheart wood has 12 hit points per inch of thickness
and hardness 6.
yeah, it's not much of a buy.