Ushyle's quick action sets the stage for the battle as he pushes out of his mind the oddity of the situation. Vael in turn does a bit more.
Whistle Pig opens with a volley, scoring a pair of hits. The damage to the paintings appears as ochre scars, though the blood it splatters seems very, very real.
Round 1:
Baddies: ATK
Ushyle: Inq-fu
Vael: Sha-fu
Whistle Pig: Hits
Raen: Go
Hamilton: Go
Doxon: Go
Bull: 33
+ 5 vs spell or SLA
Doxon turns on the cave bear and paints his own swaths across it's body.
Doxon's first hit drills the creature, whose painting assumes a howling position. Within a few seconds, the painting ages to the point of nothingness; erased for all time. He makes a quick step and strikes the lion for good measure!
Round 1:
Baddies: ATK
Ushyle: Inq-fu
Vael: Sha-fu
Whistle Pig: Hits
Raen: Go
Hamilton: Go
Doxon: Crit kill
Lion: 13
Bull: 33
Raen does not have time to consider that Un-shyle has invaded her personal space. She is too busy with a mind racing on all she has read of these strange, beautiful creatures.
AJ trots a little to the right and the pair attack Bully Boy. But first, he's gotta take his eyes off the pretty pictures...
Will Save, Ham:
Will Save, AJ:
Full Attack, Ham: and
Damage on Hit: and
Full Attack, AJ: Bite, Hooves: and
Bite Damage:
Hooves: and
Resisting the absurdity of the assault, Hamilton and AJ get to work. Combined they make quick work of the bull! The strange pigment sticks to AJ's hooves a bit, but to no ill effect.
Round 1:
Baddies: ATK
Ushyle: Inq-fu
Vael: Sha-fu
Whistle Pig: Hits
Raen: Go
Hamilton: Kill
Doxon: Crit kill
Lion: 13
Raen steps back away from the strange, terrible painting. Chanting softly, she twists the weave around, causing stone to fold into stone... trapping the painting within an endless and inescapable canvas.
Raen tries to fold the painting into a sphere. The two dimensional creature tries to slide itself away from the affected stone , but it's not fast enough! The creature, locked in the stone orb suffers a fate unknown to all for all time....
The remaining painting, the lion, focuses on Doxon:
for and . Paint and blood ooze from the wounds!
Round 2:
Baddies: ATK
Ushyle: Go
Vael: Go
Whistle Pig: Go
Raen: Go and
Hamilton: Go and
Doxon: Go
Lion: 13
Ushyle studies the lion drawing for a tick, then hurries over opposite Doxon to engage the last remaining artwork.
Ushyle makes a singular hit. He strikes at the heart out of habit, though the heart is nothing more than a different splash of paint. Whistle Pig follows up with a pair of sling stones which erase the painting.
All goes quiet, though no one feels comfortable near Raen's work.
With all eyes on the floor where the creatures attacked, you spy more to this strange room. The floor is a large map showing distances and targets. Unfortunately, north is not labeled. Your experience in the valley, as well as your training overcome the problem quickly. You've been to three of the four locations called out on the map; HERE
Where you haven't been the map points to a painting of a large stone temple in the middle of a lake. According to the compass, this temple lies approximately 10 miles south southwest of the entrance to this cave...
"No doubt we will find the sacred waters there," Raen comments, pointing at the lake.
Lifelink works, yes.
Ahead you hear a giant, speaking in Giantish, but with a garbled voice and poor grammar. It's telling someone to be quiet so as to be ready to smash the intruders' heads open as soon as they round the corner.
When you look in, you see a mongrel of a cave giant holding a boulder at distance. With him are a pair of frilled lizards, each the size of Applejack.
Vael lets his life force bleed out into Doxon and Raen, healing them.
He then places a hand on his chest and chants. His eyes change to the inky blackness of the night sky, and his hand glows as positive energy closes his wounds.
Spear in hand, the shaman follows Whistle Pig at a reasonable distance, allowing the halfling space to remain stealthy.
Raen clasps the pearl in her necklace, uttering a mnemonic chant to recover a memorized spell. "Yes, but I have something in mind. Tell me when to spring it, and I will spring it."
At the all too familiar mention of trouble, Vael sighs. "It seems we never find a place without trouble."
Tulia gently pecks at the shaman's shoulder, then flits down to the ground. "I think you should try it now."
"Truly? I'm nae sure I can hold the magic."
"Have no fear. I'm confident you can hold it long enough. You've already called a soul back from Pharasma's home," she says this with a glance to Ushyle. "You've got this in hand."
Vael takes a deep breath, then he chants. The words roll out as staccato sounds. He adds a muted clapping sound, his hands closing in one-handed claps. Starlight flows from Vael's solid black eyes, enveloping Tulia as her form changes...
Standing where Tulia was is a beautiful woman with raven black hair. She moves with impossible grace, and a knowing smile appears on her lips. "Is this what you think I'd look like, Vael? Why, I had no idea."
"I..." the dwarf trails off, blinking.
"Never you mind. I didn't say I don't like this form. It's very, um, interesting. But let's be quick about it. I can already feel the magic waning."
Vael nods, then gestures that he's ready.
Vael and Tulia banter back and forth, tossing about magic and words as only the eccentric pair can.
Whistle Pig opens with a sling stone that strikes the giant in the melon-sized adam's apple! It's almost enough to kill the monster outright.
I'll let you know...
Giant: 49
Surprise Round:
Hamilton: Go
Ushyle: Go
Raen: Go
Doxon: Go
Round 1:
Vael: Go
Giant: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
Whistle Pig: TBD
Ushyle: TBD
Raen: TBD
Doxon: TBD
Ushyle gives a slight grin as he moves up alongside the impetuous halfling, Milani's Thorn at the ready.
He studies the giant and the pet to its immediate left , trying to gauge how best to bring them down.
Surprise Round:
Hamilton: Go
Raen: Go
Doxon: Go
Round 1:
Vael: Go
Giant: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
Whistle Pig: TBD
Ushyle: TBD
Raen: TBD
Doxon: TBD
Raen follows the halfling into the room and silently curses his impetuousness.
Surprise Round:
Hamilton: Go
Doxon: Go
Round 1:
Vael: Go
Giant: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
Whistle Pig: TBD
Ushyle: TBD
Raen: TBD
Doxon: TBD
Not to be left out of the action, Doxon hustles after Raen.
Surprise Round:
Hamilton: Go
Vael: Go
Round 1:
Vael: Go
Giant: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
Whistle Pig: TBD
Ushyle: TBD
Raen: TBD
Doxon: TBD
Tulia rushes forward, Vael lagging behind her.
They both continue forward, the dwarf stopping to begin a chant . The transformed familiar though does something unusual. She takes a deep breath, then releases a sharp sound that manifests into a powerful strike at the red-frilled lizard!
The sound tears through the lizard's scales, drawing blood with its pitch!
Surprise Round:
Hamilton: Go
Round 1:
Vael: Hit
Giant: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
Whistle Pig: TBD
Ushyle: TBD
Raen: TBD
Doxon: TBD
Red Lizard: 14
The injured lizard pulls up onto his hind legs and flairs its frill! He[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-elqg3s97zc]charges Whistle Pig!
for
The other lizard runs around behind.
The giant hefts another boulder, this time aiming for Tulia! for
Surprise Round:
Hamilton: Go
Round 1:
Vael: Hit
Giant: ATK
Hamilton: Go
Whistle Pig: Go
Ushyle: Go
Raen: Go
Doxon: Go
Red Lizard: 14
Giant: 49
Seeing little need to prolong the fighting, Raen opts for her most deadly spell.
Hamilton moves up on AJ, ready to engage after the fireworks, holding until after Raen calls for her spell.
Whistle Pig softens up the lizards, killing one and wounding the other.
Raen's spell obliterates the giant, leaving one scared and burned lizard left.
Round 1:
Vael: Hit
Giant: ATK
Whistle Pig: Kill
Raen: Fireball
Ushyle: Go
Doxon: Go
Hamilton: Go
Black: 55
Doxon charges in.
Ushyle can't help but laugh as the flames explode and wash over the giant and its pets, though he is careful not to try and catch her eye — he knows better, at this point. He studies the lizard and steps up to take a swing.
Doxon misses with his swing, but the lizard walks right into Ushyle's. The cut kills the beast before it even hits the cavern floor!
The sextet looks around, but finds nothing of note. After a time, it seems like this cave complex is a back door into the valley fortress. You scout all the way in, only to see that while some giants are still camping in the valley, but most have fled...
The party travels to the end of the valley, where the map showed a final point of interest. Yellow pine and spruce trees poke through pale outcroppings of gray stone, spilling down into the open grassy vale below. In the center of the vale is a broad, placid lake, whose bluish green surface ripples and glimmers in the light breeze. Whatever the map was pointing to.... must be in the lake.
(Darkvision 60')
---> (LLV)
(Darkvision 60')
Raen spends the long hours of the night scribing a few spells from the scrolls (and tablet) found over the intervening weeks, as well as a few thoughts and ideas of her own. She can feel the gravity of her studies over the past year, but they lift her up rather than weigh her down.
Raen shades her eyes from the morning sun. She scans the surface of the lake for any sign of an island.
"I have prepared magic that will allow us to breathe as a fish does, at least for a time."
Raen sees nothing from the surface...
Raen makes a noise of consternation.
And sees nothing heretofore hidden.
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The first that the party rests after the fight with the giant and its lizard pets is an eventful one for Vael...
The dwarf wakes suddenly from a deep sleep, feeling troubled. The moon is high in the sky, and starlight shines down. He looks off into the darkness, but sees no danger. But something is wrong. "Where's Tulia?"
He stands up, grabs his longspear, and instinctively walks out into the woods. He can sense the bird through their bond, and she's... in pain? It feels somehow different. After a few minutes of travel, Vael find her.
Tulia lies on the brush, pine needles tangled in her feathers. She twitches, her wings and legs askew. "You took your time waking up," she says feebly.
"What happened?" Vael crouches down, gently picking up the familiar.
"What was always meant to happen, though I'd say it's earlier than I expected," she turns her head, beady eyes staring at Vael. "Desna no longer believes this form of mine works for your cause." The shaman looks perplexed, so she continues. "I'm changing, you dummy. I wonder what to-"
Her last words are interrupted as she squawks in pain. Feathers fall from her body as her limbs violently spasm, her beak crumbles to dust and her body glows a rosy hue. The body of the familiar becomes warm to the touch, and a smell not unlike burnt flesh wafts from the remains of familiar. For a moment, Vael can no longer sense his connection to the spirits of the heavens. And then, just as quickly, it's back.
Motes of starlight pour from the thrush's eye sockets, filling the clearing in a blinding light. It lasts seconds, and when it the light abates the body of thrush is gone. In its place stands a tiny, blonde-haired woman, her form lithe and sporting delicate butterfly wings. She is surrounded by sparkling lights and gentle rainbow arcs.
Dumbfounded, Vael whispers, "Who are you?"