As Seal, Thunderpuss, and Rissi wade through the waters to try to get away from the church and the beast attacking it, Rissi fires off missiles that merely poof against the black hide of the monstrosity.
Kufieno somehow manages to fight off the command from the magga, but is still confused enough to attack his nearest comrade.
Lucian gets hold of himself and forces his mind out of his ivory tower of fear. He reacts fast by addressing a sound prayer to Desna: "Blessed Desna, please guide our hands and our hearts in battle. Let us not succomb to fear, or madness, for we are those who bring back hope to these people's hearts!"
Evanya prefers not to go against Black Maga's will, and remains still.
"Lucian, we are LEAVING!" [/Aliens]
Kufieno throws one last snowball at the creature, then turns and runs as fast as his marid ancestry will carry him!
Kufieno hits Black Magga with another snowball. The beast twists around and with a massive blow knocks off the top of the building, sending bricks and other debris flying through the air to splash in the water. The children and priestess are screaming down below.
Perhaps satisfied with her destruction, or perhaps retreating while she's ahead, or even maybe called by some other force, Black Magga sinks back down into the water and you see the dark shape and the massive ripples moving away from the town, vanishing into the depths of Claybottom Lake.
The villages, who have gathered on the shores to watch, cheer at the retreating beast. Only moments later everyone notices the floodwaters receding.
"Let's move, there are still many that we can guide to safety! " enthusiastically suggests Lucian.
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"I am never going swimming in that lake again!" Seal says wet and panting. He looks around to see if anybody else is in intimidate danger.
"I wonder if ghost fae has any idea what that creature is and if it will return. Stones and shale it talked! Talked I tell you! Monsters aren't supposed to do that."
As soon as there's a moment to spare, Lucian will cast curative spells against the seed of madness planted by Black Magga. "May Desna bring your mind back to the light and forget the darkest dreams we've lived."
"Once we're finished here, we'd better check out the dam, or what remains of it. There might be other Kreegs there working at bringing the dam down." suggests Evanya. "Black Maga said it was their fault, and the rain was the handiwork of the hags."
"It was Black Magga, a *squeak* servant of Lamashtu. It comes from outside the material plan, and is not some manner of *chhh* bestial snake. In that place, all manner of creature may talk - or even rule. Demons and angels may take as many forms as a mortal can imagine - and indeed, it is that imagination that summons such forms, in a sense. A mirror of our horror." Rissi comments philosophically. "Why a damn would hold back a creature such as that is unclear; perhaps it is bound to bodies of water in some way. We should head to the damn - after finding someone to help organize cleaning up this mess. We do not know if the mayor and constabulary yet live."
"We should help with the rescue and accounting of townspeople if we can, then we'll rest for a bit. However, we should leave at dawn to check out the dam. Does is sound reasonable?"
"Lucian, can I have another one of those nifty spells cast on me? (Lesser Res)
Seal then walks up to a local and asks a few questions.
"So where are the giants ... I mean dam. Where are the damn giants, I mean the giant dam? ARG!"
Seal's world has been shattered today. As much as he would like to run off into the forest to kill more giants, rest to regain his senses would be welcomed.
Kufieno blows the steam, from the snowball, off of his fingers and grins. "Good thing I scared it off!"
The grocer answers Seal, "Well, the dam's up at Skull's Crossing. Since the waters are going back though, it must not have fully collapsed but there's certainly something wicked going on up there. I heard that thing mention ogres up there!"
"And what do the plottings of hags have in common with Lamias? One mystery is follows on the heels of another."
Rissi knows that there are many types of hags (including but not limited to annis, blood, green, night, sea, and storm). When three hags of any type gather, they can form a coven to gain increased magical ability. Any combination of hags can form a coven, but green hags are the most common members of such foul gatherings.
Whenever all three hags of a particular coven are within 10 feet of one another, all three of them can work together to use any of the following spell-like abilities: animate dead, baleful polymorph, blight, bestow curse, clairaudience/clairvoyance, charm monster, commune, control weather, dream, forcecage, mind blank, mirage arcana, reincarnate, speak with dead, veil, vision.
"We should head to Skull's Crossing now. By the way, did you know that it was one of the final—and perhaps most ambitious—projects Runelord Karzoug’s giants erected. Much of the stone used to craft the towering monuments scattered throughout Varisia was taken from an immense quarry in the heart of the Storval Plateau. It took centuries, but near the end, the quarry finally played out and all that remained was a vast canyon. Karzoug had little use for or interest in the ugly scar, and so ordered the construction of Skull’s Crossing at its southern end to transform the quarry into the region’s largest lake." explains Lucian, happy to conjure stories as a way of escaping the dread they've just been facing.
"If we do *chhhh* encounter these witches, we should expect them to be treacherous and crafty - cloaked in illusion, able to effect minds, and capable of causing unpleasant physical transformations. Why, they could even do something like turn Sealman into a rat" Rissi seems not entirely displeased by the idea.
"Agreed. Evil giants, will travel. The hags will just be for sport."
Seal will slink away from the party to see if there are any of those beats of the newt in town. While Rissi might have been joking about turning into a rat, Sealman really doesn't want to turn into a rat. After all they are gross, scaly and slimy.
"Then let's make sure we put every chance on our side." agrees the Varisian before leaving.
---
Spanning the great breadth of the gorge is Skull’s Crossing. The massive wall of stone holds back the waters of the Storval Deep—but only just. Thousands of skulls have been carved into the dam’s face, with five larger ones decorating the middle length. The easternmost of these immense skulls is all but hidden by a steady flow of cascading water pouring through what appears to be a recent break in the dam. For now, the ancient dam seems to be holding its own against the Storval Deep, but unless these rains end soon, the recent flood looks to be but a minor precursor to a fantastic disaster.
Seal will investigate the area for tracks, especially those of the ogres.
+4 for Giants
Kufieno grabs one of the anti-newt beads as well, then follows the party to the dam.
"There appears to be a path leading on top of the dam, here to the west." Lucian points out. "Lead on, Sealman."
Seal finds many ogre tracks all over the place.
A seven-foot-wide winding stairway of stone climbs the cliff face, reaching a height of nearly two hundred feet before ending at a cave mouth above. Hundreds of stakes line the edges of the stairway, many of them decorated with skulls-some animal, some humanoid, all marked with a strange skull-shaped rune on the brow.
Seal, familiar with the language of giants, recognizes the runes as warnings-territory markers for the Skulltaker trolls who dwell in the region.
At the top of the stairs a short passageway ends in a small alcove, but to the west a fifteen-foot-high ledge prevents you from heading further up to the cave that opens above.
"Trolls," Seal growls.
Sealman stops for a moment to take off his pack and sink down to one knee. He unravels a smaller leather kit bound by a brass clasp. He unfolds the kit to reveal 10 torches, 5 oil vials, alchemist fire and acid.
"Fire and acid is typically needed for trolls to kill them dead. Anybody want any vials for last resort?"
Miana readies her silk rope and grappling hook and tosses it up on the ledge. Sealman ties the other end around Thunderpuss's torso.
"I'll go first to make sure the landing is safe. Thunderpuss, I'll pull you up, but it maybe uncomfortable. Everybody ready?"
"Trolls, you say? We need to be wary indeed. Let's ward ourselves." says Lucian as he casts several spells on his companions.
Rissi begs a few minutes to prepare a few spells with her remaining magic, before Lucian starts his magic. She'll also cast mirror image and overland flight.
Seal recalls that the Skulltaker Tribe is a particularly vicious mixture of trolls, ogres, and other giant creatures. They collect the heads of their enemies and venerate Skull's Crossing as some kind of pilgrimage site.
---
Seal gets to the top and is met with two giant-like creatures, although each of these monstrosities has two heads!
Rissi pulls a scroll of fly and casts it upon Miana.
Kufieno begins climbing the rope.
Getting to the top, he casts a spell, vanishing.
Lucian lets the others pass, then climbs the rope slowly.
Sealman slowly draws Isoult with a maniacal grin while growling at the two giant-like creatures their native language.
"DEATH TO ALL GIANTS!"
Miana leaps up and zig-zags through the air up the cliff face, empowered by her newfound flight.
She ascends slowly to the next level. As she lands in front of her allies, ready and willing to be a shield. Miana calls upon her inner power to move calmly and slowly, ready to dodge the painfully slow blows of the ettin.
After hearing Seal roar of rage, the party starts hurriedly following him up the ladder. Seal, meanwhile, cleaves through the two ettins and leaves them both badly wounded! They turn their ire upon the dwarf, shouting back curses in Giant so foul they are untranslatable.
Miana then bravely flies up to stand beside Seal!
Kufieno draws and imbues his blade with arcane power, steps foward and stabs at the northern ettin.
Lucian finishes his ascent, glad to see it come to an end.
Rissi banks back and forth up through the cliff and draws a wand.
Seal stands there and laughs. He laughs and laughs and laughs as the clubs wiff. The dwarf throws his head back as he continues to wildly chop and hack at the giants before him.
Kufieno nearly brings down the blue ettin as Seal cleaves through them both and finishes them off!
The ettins keep their treasure in a disorganized heap near their collection of sleeping furs in the northeastern cave. The loot consists of 693 gp, 1240 sp, a velvet pouch containing six 100 gp pearls, a phylactery of positive channeling, an ivory scroll tube inset with strips of jade (worth 300 gp) (which contains a scroll of cone of cold, scroll of hold monster, and a scroll of telekinesis.
Grabbing the rope, Kufieno scales the next cliff, peers arounds, and if the area is clear, ties off the rope and lowers it to his companions.