You have been called in on another rescue mission, a group of Pathfinders has gone missing. Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry awaits your arrival aboard her ship, The Grinning Pixie. Your destination is the treacherous Gloomspires.
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Professor Westone strolls up the gangplank, looking around. He spots the VC. "Ah, Captain Benarry, I presume. I'm quite excited to be returning to the Gloomspires. The Dark Tapestry remains one of the most mysterious forces. While no one worships it directly, there is much worship around the Void. And the last time I was down there, it was filled with cannibals and necromancy. Fascinating."
The religious scholar adjusts his pack and the scimitar he picked up from the cute Sarenrite who taught him to dance.
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In the dark, damp cabin of the Grinning Pixie stands a tall but lean man dressed in black cloth covering an armor. He hobbles along slowly, one of his leg seemingly stiff, unable to bend the knee. A grim look and furry eyebrows adorn his face, as well as a goatee and long black uncombed hair. As he limps after the other Pathfinders, he leans on a longspear serving him as a makeshift walking stick. A scraggy black wolf walks alongside him. It is hard to say which one - of the master or the beast - is more famished and prone to lunge at someone's throat. Yet an aura of mystery and fascination surrounds this man, who simply introduces himself with a raspy voice.
"I am Skarn, and this is Fianna." he says, patting the wolf. "So what are we expected to do there? I've heard reports of this place, but it doesn't bode well. Perhaps a sign of Groetus to remind us that we should face our deepest fears in order to prepare for the end times."
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A skinny and tall tiefling, dresses in artisan robes who can't hide he's some kind of caster introduces himself: Well meet companions.
I could give you a first person report if you want; cannibals touched by other plane and undeads, even one kind of undead mass unkown to me and most of the sages I talked before. He says toward Skarn, Gloomspires are among the weirdest places I ever been, and one of the hardest to explore, so I agree with Professor Westone, we have a fascinating opportunity here
His words and tone of voice are low and humble, as if he still wasn`t used to talk before someone asks him.
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A pale female enters the room. Her red and gold robes cover a silvery metal armor. A pair of white gloves are just visible from the bottom of her sleeves. Her white hair is pulled into a tight bun and only a few wisp of hair comes down in front of her face.
"I am actually quite excited to head back there. More tunnels to explore. I am Zavita", She looks around the room smiling at everyone until her eyes land on the tiefling. Her smile wavers for a split second before regaining her composure." I am to be the team medic and was chosen for this roll from the highers. So please do not hesitate to just shout medic, and I will come see to your wounds."
You settle in for the journey and the Captain summons you all to the deck when you arrive at your destination.
On the Grinning Pixie’s deck, Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry stands defiantly amid the howling wind and driving rain. The powerfully built half-orc’s voice carries over the storm. “There!” she yells, pointing to the northwest. “We’ve reached the Gloomspires.” As if on cue, numerous impossibly narrow fingers of black rock suddenly appear in the distance. The unnatural structures exude a sensation of unnatural and profound dread. Benarry laughs deeply as the sensation descends. She nods to those of you who have had the pleasure of travelling with her to this accursed place before. “I bet you’re glad to be back to these gods-accursed spires! I sent in another team to continue the good work you started, and things didn’t go so well. You’re the closest thing to an expert on this rock we have, so I’m trusting you to bring the team through this mission safely.”
She leans in closer. “Let’s review some of the details of your mission.” Her eyebrows furrow. “Two months ago, I sent another team of Pathfinders to Old Sevenfingers’s tomb aboard a Thuvian caravel called the Pride of Aspenthar. The Pride and the Pathfinders never returned to Drenchport. Divinations confirmed that the ship was lost. It apparently sank after transporting the Pathfinders to the tomb, but no Pathfinders were on board. I sent the team into the second level of the tomb—a place called the Labyrinth of Hungry Ghosts. I put a veteran explorer named Jaohd Ilzinian in charge of the team. He’s a paladin of Shelyn known for his skill at fighting against things that should be dead."
“Ilzinian’s team carried the Orb of Stars with them. It’s a powerful magic item that freezes the Gloomspires in place so they can be explored safely. As you can see,” she says, gesturing to the spires, “the orb isn’t working. In the last few minutes, those columns have shifted twice. Without the orb, the spires only stand still on the solstice.” Benarry allows her words to sink in before continuing. “The solstice begins in a few hours, so you’ll be able to make your way to the tomb just fine. I need you to climb up to Sevenfingers’s tomb, find out what happened to the Pathfinders, and recover the Orb of Stars. Also, I let Jaohd borrow Old Flotsam, my folding boat. She’s precious to me, and I’d really like her back.” A sudden flash of lighting and the roar of distant thunder punctuate the captain’s words, and she smirks. "Sounds simple enough, don’t it? The spires will stay in place for three days. If you find the orb, you’ll get two weeks. If you stay longer than that, you lubbers might run into trouble sailing back out. I’ll circle the Pixie around the spires for three weeks just in case. Any questions before you jump in the rowboat?”
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Sea hasn't been kind of Skarn. His stiff leg hurts more than ever, and proved to be his bane once more as the rolling deck challenged his dubious sense of balance at every turn. The second day was somehow better, as the shaman conjured spirits of flame to find new "sea legs", more appropriate to the circumstance. Yet Skarn remained most of the time in his cabin, plainly not interested in taking unnecessary risks on the treacherous deck.
Yet on the day of the Grinning Pixie's arrival at the Gloomspires, the Jadwiga is present, however with a tightly-closed mouth and stern face. He listens intently to the instructions while remaining almost completely still as he sits on a wooden bench. By the time the explanations are over, he had to shift his stiff leg's position twice or thrice, an expression of silent pain accompanying each move. It is only then that his raspy voice can be heard once more.
"I see. We're being sent to rescue those Pathfinders and the orb, but we won't say no to another chance to understand this eerie place. Very well. Even though I wasn't part of the first expedition, I know that the Gloomspires have been occupied by many creatures that have repurposed its space. So we could be facing just about anything. I do have a question, though. Can you provide us with a description and the names of the Pathfinders who were lost in there?"
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Maldrek check his notes about the last mission, That's what I can tell to you, besides what Skarn had said, Sempet Sevenfingers was a legendary pirate who was active in the region 300 years ago. From his dreaded flagship, the Voracious, Sevenfingers commanded a small fleet of pirate ships. His practice of using kuru cannibals to augment his boarding parties inspired fear and hatred across the Shackles.[b] He closes his notes and puts them again in her backpack.
[b]We should organize ourselves; I can provide you with information about the creatures we face, make enemies fall or stay sticked in place, and can see invisible foes if needed. But I'm not very resilient, so I´ll prefer to be surrounded by more thought pathfinders
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"I am not sure to be excited or troubled by being back here again. However, either way, I am glad to help any of our allies in need. But, if what ever call these hall home can subdue a paladin, we should take extra care." Pausing for a moment to make sure she has her flask in order. She also takes time to find each of her wands and makes sure they are in the correct places. Ok, I believe I am ready. Like I said earlier I am a medic, blessed by Sarenrae, I can do some offensive work, but mostly prefer to remain out of combat."
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"In addition, In my last trip there, we saw that the Gloomspires are inundated with strange, reality-warping effects. The columns occasionally shift their positions, and many explorers report feeling a sense of wrongness and foreboding just from being in the area. This bizarre magic also makes teleportation and plane-traveling magic very difficult, though summoning spells tend to function normally."
Benarry nods along with your discussion until there is a break in the flow of words. “You're looking for a group of five. Jaohd is a Taldan paladin who worships Shelyn. He’s tall and scrawny, with gray eyes and red hair. He joined the Society thirteen years ago and become an expert on spirits and haunts. His longsword, a fine blade he calls Ether’s Kiss, can hurt creatures with no real body of their own. Jaohd went into the Gloomspires with four other agents: the Taldan twins Alrasus and Naphinia, known for their quick fingers and quicker wits; Zumek, a Kellid warrior who could wrestle a crocodile and win; and Yetisiel, an elf with the power of storms in her blood.”
Benarry gives you two pouches of grave salt and a wand of ghostbane dirge wrapped in a shroud. The wand has 6 charges remaining.
She explains, “That ratty scrap of cloth is connected to Sevenfingers himself. A mystic old sea dog performed a ritual to connect it to the wand. He said it should make the magic item more effective in the Gloomspires, as long as you don’t unwrap it. You let me know if he was trying to pull something on me, and I’ll go get my coin back.” She says with a wink and a parting wave.
Your journey across the tempest-tossed stretch of sea is a teeth-jarring, nerve-rattling fight for every inch of progress, but it is soon behind you and you are skulking through the ever-present mists of the Gloomspires. The unnatural silence is oddly disquieting, causing you to imagine all manner of horrors lurking just out of view.
Climbing the narrow, winding steps to the top of Sevenfinger’s tomb takes 2 hours. The tomb’s summit is covered with thick tropical foliage, most reaching the height of 30 to 40 feet. A lush canopy of tropical trees, flowering vines, and thick undergrowth forms a dark green wall around this small clearing. To the south is the edge of the column, and a sheer 500-foot drop.
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I can`t use the wand, but I'll carry the grave salt to use it if needed, unless any of you wants it, offers Maldrek.
During the journey is clear that Maldrek is no good at climbing or marching, but he makes no complaint about it. But he's looking around, worried that the unnatural silence is the prelude of an unnatural danger.
There are some footprints crossing through the clearing and heading northeast. Those could be of the group we're searching, of from another visitors, in either case I'll suggest to go and investigate
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Dario takes the wrapped up wand quite confidently. "I'll take this. If we run into any incorporeal spirits, it'll be handy. And if the story about the wrappinng is true, I'd like to study it." Additionally, the Professor find a few oils which he believes will help them.
At the precipice, Dario examines the footprints and nods to Maldrek. "Whoever it was, let's see where they went."
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Seeing that they're getting ready to fight incorporeal undead, Skarn makes arrangements to buy an elixir of spirit sight. "A pricey item, but worth every penny if we're to face ghosts and the like." he comments before storing the elixir in his belt pouch.
As they're about to venture to the Gloomspires, Skarn retrieves a strange, gnarled oak wand and touches his still leg with it. "Может луна пользу мне.", then "легкие ноги" he utters. The words sound Jadwigan, with the harsh sonority of the winter-blasted lands of Irrisen.
"I'm ready." he says at last, patting Fianna's furry neck. "I'll lead." Few words aren't unusual for the tense northerner.
Your group moves through the eerie mist, following the trail of foot-prints. Before long, you notice the smell of wood smoke on the air and hear a shrill voice raised in anger up ahead somewhere. The muffling quality of the mist makes it difficult to tell just how far ahead it is.
As you close in on the source, you begin to be able to make out what the voice is saying. "... enough! I'm done fooling around! Either tell me where it is now or learn to get along without your toes, paladin!"
Though the jungle canopy over this clearing is exceptionally thick, a small campfire set in its center illuminates the area significantly. The clearing contains a makeshift camp, with a handful of improvised beds made from old sails and numerous stools and tables scavenged and repurposed from flotsam.
A human man lies bound at a halfling's feet as she stands over him, glowering and shouting threats. He does not appear responsive.
Surprise Round Initiative
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Doyote
Dario
Skarn
Henrick
Zavita
Maldrek
-------------------------------------Round 1
Doyote
Dario
Skarn
Henrick
Zavita
Maldrek
Speaker
Lackeys
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Skarn seems lost in his thoughts - or is he communicating with a higher power? Suddenly, he opens his eyes, shouting a prayer: "Groetus, god of the End Times, heed my call! Guide our entropic arm to hasten the inevitable demise of these poor souls. Thy will be done!"
"Fianna, attack!" orders the determined voice of the prophet. The wolf lunges forward, biting the nearest foe and attempting to trip it.
Skarn then closes the distance from one of the enemies , hastened by magic, and sweeps the air with his massive axe, bringing it down on his opponent.
Fianna's ferocity is scary. The she-wolf bites, pulls the ankle, utterly ravages the poor victim.
Skarn moves forward and swings his mighty greataxe in tandem with his wolf biting in the legs of their unfortunate target. Mere seconds later the human is on his back with a growling wolf at his throat. Doyote moves in and finishes him while the axebeak tries to bite the halfling, but misses.
Henrick also attacks the halfling, striking a deep wound! Two magical missiles also do their work and slam into the halfling. The halfling steps back and changes into a huge dinosaur! Out of the mist three other lackeys move forward and attack!
Both the professor and Skarn are damaged!
Round 2
Doyote
Prof 17/22 hp
Skarn: 45/50 hp
Henrick
Zavita
Maldrek
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Dinosaur: 24 damage
Lackeys
Fianna lunges at the dinosaur despite the size difference!
Fiana and Skarn vigorously attack the triceratops, but their bites and axe fail on the tough skin of the beast. Professor Dario whirls around on his feet, trying to show of the whirling dance he once saw in Katapesh. It now dawns on Dario that practice makes perfect, his slice is just a moment to late and his momentum makes him miss the sailor.
Doyote tries to puncture the triceratops, but his lance does also not puncture the skin of the huge beast! His axebeak has more luck and manages to inflict some damage.
Round 2
Henrick
Zavita
Maldrek
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Dinosaur: 33 damage
Lackeys
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Doyote
Prof: 17/22 hp
Skarn: 45/50 hp
Zavita tries to aim her ray at the sailor while avoiding Dario. That is a rather difficult enterprise and she fails, instead scorching a tree further on the column.
Round 2
Henrick
Maldrek
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Dinosaur: 33 damage
Lackeys
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Doyote
Prof: 17/22 hp
Skarn: 45/50 hp
Zavita
Henrick's swing connects and tears a huge chunk out of the dinosaur's flesh, while Maldrek conjures an oily patch on the ground. Both the sailor and the huge animal keep their footing.
The triceratops buts it's giant head against Henrick. The sturdy dwarf is almost thrown of his feet by the headbutt, but manages to stay on his feet.
Two of the sailors slash at Skarn. As he is also keeping an eye on the massive beast next to him he receives a minor wound from one of the scimitars.
The last sailor slashes ineffectively at Professor Dario.
Round 3
Doyote
Prof: 17/22 hp
Skarn: 44/50 hp
Zavita
Henrick 21/42 hp
Maldrek
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Triceratops: 49 damage
Lackeys
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Fianna lunges at the dinosaur, biting him fiercely.