Joli lets out a submarine whistle and water jets out from his feet . He shoots forward toward the crab.
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So we make friends with the giant acid-spitting bug, but one look and it's 'f%%& this crab!' I guess.
"Oh...alright, I guess we're fighting it. At least it looks tasty."
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Purpose Creche shoots forward. Water streams over his leathery hide, his barbed tail twitches, and he quickly crosses the distance and twirls to a stop behind Silt.
Silt charges the large and angry crab!
The crabs tries to grasp Silt in its claws!
Silt is grappled in a giant claw!
Cedar
Purpose
Toby
Joli
Silt
Crab -26 hp
Silt drops the sword and bites and claws at the Yonkers crab.
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Silt pauses to think, in this moment, whether attacking this creature was a mistake.
He totally knows it was the right decision!
The jet stream of water helps propel Joli forward. He lashes out with his tongue and an eddy of water forces the crab back.
Silt struggles in the Yonkers crab's firm grip but can't seem to fight back.
Joli blasts it with a stream of water!
You sure do! They are known a Shark-Eating Crabs. They are huge vermin with the aquatic subtype.
"Shark eater. Too late to advise caution."
Manta Creche corkscrews up to Silt. Two limbs unfold from his leathery hide, one holding an underwater crossbow, the other extending to tap the transformed locathah. When the gauntleted hand makes contact, images of a colorful sarong flourish in Silt's mind's eye, and his body buzzes with new energy.
"Fine! If that's how it's gonna be, crab, then that's how it's gonna be!" As Toby shouts, rivulets of water stream from his face as he surges forward and unleashes a powerful blast at the crab!
Silt gets one more bite! He sinks his teeth into the claw that's holding him.
The crab tightens its grip!
Cedar
Purpose
Toby
Joli
Silt
Crab -51 hp
The scrag howls and attempts to lash out at the Yonkers crab, once he gets a flank from Cedar and Hakkuho.
"LET HIM GO!" As Toby screams and unleashes another blast, more powerful than any you've seen from him before, he seems to grow a little larger, the water surrounding him encasing his body!
Silt gets a claw and a bite in. The crab focuses its attention on the locathah, missing the rougarou readying a powerful attack.
The crab gets blown apart.
Out of combat!
The scrag blushes purple at the close call caused by his foible; he will use 8 charges off the wand to heal up before bashfully carrying on.
See invisibility: Does what it says on the tin!
"We should be more careful. More alert." Purpose Creche's body emits a puff of illusory ash that's barely visible as it disperses into the cloudy water.
"You seem alright now." The manta form swims around Silt's hulking body to assess his injuries. "But don't let your new size go to your head. It's good Toby is here. Excellent work." He glides to a halt and turns to face the kineticist; wings spread, dark bands and mottled yellow coloration on display, slit mouth drifting open and shut.
Toby blinks, stunned by the effect of his shot. His fury seems to have subsided, but the surrounding water has remained, remaining almost like an exoskeleton of water. "I..." Shaking his head, he turns to Silt. "You ok?"
Silt dives down to retrieve the greatsword. He looks up and admires the pieces of Yonkers crab that float above, like puffy clouds in the dim light.
Exploded… like an Azzlan tea farmer.
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Joli happily hands one of the whistle sticks to Silt. It creates streams of bubbles as the sometimes scrag sings the activation tune.
"I could ride on your back if you like, so there are two, not one when you charge." He demonstrates by digging his spindly fingers into the grooves of the coral armor.
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Joli, a smart idea! But try not to eat too many of the little crabbies and shrimpies that live here.
"Many changes. Many new forms." Purpose Creche glides in spirals around the group. "Are these sudden revelations? When did you learn to do these things? How do you affect these transformations?"
You reach the island in the middle of the lake. An immense stone double door bars entrance into the building. The right side bears a relief depicting a humanoid woman with ankle-length hair and large butterfly wings holding aloft a single shining star. The left side depicts a stern-looking woman with a blindfold over her eyes holding a single knife above her head, tip pointed down toward herself. At the middle where the both sides of the door join is the symbol of a single spiral with a five-pointed star at its center.
You are on the map. What would you like to do?
See invisibility: Does what it says on the tin!
Defensive shock: First melee attacker to hit me takes 3d6 elec, next hit 1d6, then spell fades.
Each step Purpose Creche takes on the shore is part of the rippling, incremental transformation from manta to leather-clad wyrwood.
"We expect the hag. Stay alert." He slips a hand into his coat pocket and takes hold of the weathered splinter. Arcs of electricity flash between his eyeband and points lower on his body, but are gone in an instant.
He then draws his bow and advances uphill towards the building.
He stops abrutply when he sees the figures on the door. "Spiral. Knife. My Lady? And the Song of Spheres?" His fingers curl around the iron spiral dangling from his neck.
Purpose, keeping his eyes peeled along the way, notices a cave in the side of the island. (Noted on the map)
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As he slithers onto the shore, rolls of foam and mist enshrouded Hakkuho, and when they’re gone only Cedar remains.
Cedar takes in the large doors and then, almost stumbling, sits on a large rock and drags his coarse hands down his face.
”Let’s rest for a moment. I need to just, I mean, it’s going to be fine, right? She’s only a hag, right? We’ve faced worse. I don’t know why I even...” He takes a deep breath. ”Let me just hold on for a moment.”
Joli stands confidently upon Silt’s shoulder. "No need to worry, Cedar. You’ve friends aplenty against this sodden witch. Hakkuho, Mitzi, er, the others. Us! Not to mention Jalaijatali and Iggi here." He pats his hat.
Joli follows Purpose’s gaze toward the side of the island. "I do prefer a side door when I’m not welcome."
Joli begins pushing on Cedar’s leg toward the cave. "Sure you can. You’re a brave little tadpole. You’ve got this." Meeting resistance, his feet slide on his slipstream as if upon a treadmill.
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We’ve faced worse.
No, this hag may be worse than anything yet.
He pauses and puts his hand on Cedar's shoulder. Like a family of orcas attacking the white shark, small friends work together, and bring down stronger prey. We go to do this now, together.
Focus on what’s important ancient religious site revelations information context not fear uncertainty.
Purpose Creche ignores the others as he studies the door with something approaching reverence.
"Yeah, don't worry Cedar. It's not like you have to go in there alone."
"Cedar if you're afraid of the cave then let's enter through these doors under the eyes of the Lady of Graves and her." He tilts his head back to consider the carving of Desna. "Ally? Companion? Some link here between the two new information intriguing. Auspicious surely bolstered against the hag come."
He steps quickly towards the doors, producing the charred prayerbook as he does, and extends the battered tome towards the structure. Streams of ash pour from its pages but disappear seconds later. He stands completely still, a tiny, dourly-dressed figure, bracketed by towering depictions of entities who have existed since before the carbon and iron of the wyrwood's body were even infinitesimal motes in a newly-birthed universe.
Mind Eye (Sp): Divination focus power. As a standard action, you can expend 1 point of mental focus to create a mind eye—a magical sensor through which you can see and hear. The mind eye is invisible and its size is Fine, giving it an AC of 18. Any amount of damage to the eye destroys it, but it can be harmed by only spells or magic weapons. The eye moves with a fly speed of 60 feet with perfect maneuverability and can travel up to 1 mile away from you. You must concentrate as a standard action to direct the eye and receive sensory images through it. The mind eye sees as your eyes see, including any additional senses you possess (such as darkvision or see invisibility). The mind eye lasts for 1 minute per occultist level you possess. You must be at least 5th level to select this focus power.
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”That sounds like a better idea, Purpose. While you’re doing that, I’ll take some notes for Carver and look for Pathfinder glyphs. Perhaps Gest made it this far.” Cedar takes out his journal and begins a rough sketch of the doors.
Unfortunately, Cedar has a hard time focusing his mind on sketching or on looking for glyphs.
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Joli stands next to Cedar, a hand on his leg as if to hold his giant friend up. He begins to sing softly the sound of gentle breezes and warm salt water eddies.
Purpose's mind eye slips under the door. The first thing he sees is that the doors are barred from the inside. It will take some brute force to break them open, which will not be quiet. Immediately inside is a foyer.
This great foyer is a picture of faded majesty. Walls once decorated with colorful murals are now flecked with mold, the discolored paint peeling off in large flakes. However, no amount of disrepair can diminish the awe-inspiring scale of the two thirty-foot-tall statues that loom in this room, flanking a weathered marble altar that bears the seal of a star and spiral. The eastern statue depicts a robed goddess in a dramatic pose, holding a knife in the air with the blade angled down toward herself. A blindfold shrouds this figure’s eyes, and she clutches a stone hourglass under one arm. The western statue depicts a young woman in robes like those of her partner, with hair flowing down to her ankles, a pair of immense butterfly wings, and a five-pointed star held in one hand over her head.
The ceilings in this room measure 40 feet high. There are no windows, and it is dark.
Moving along counterclockwise from the foyer, Purpose sees some disgusting living quarters. Centuries of disrepair and water intrusion have caused considerable damage to this corridor. Mold blotches the walls and floor while the stink of sulfur mixes with a musky odor. A nest of filthy rags, damp cloth, seaweed, and bones occupies the corner by the northern door.
Two scrags are sitting in here, eating. It's pretty gross.
The eye continues around slowly to avoid notice. The small room toward the center of the building is a small kitchen that now lies in ruin. Humanoid bones, strips of decaying flesh, and clusters of oyster shells and tangled seaweed cover the counters. The entire room smells of sweat and brine mixed with a tangy, sulfuric musk. A twisted nest of waterlogged cloth, partly dried seaweed, and gnarled animal carcasses fills the middle of the room.
The slightly larger room off the main living quarters contains the shattered wooden frames of beds and some dilapidated, threadbare cloth mattresses placed in a pile, atop which a foul nest of animal bones, seaweed, and other watery detritus is heaped.
Finally, the last room on this floor. Much of this cavernous library lies in terrible disrepair. The stone shelves set into the walls are cracked, chipped, and split, and heaps of ruined, ancient tomes lie scattered across the floor. A tile mosaic in the room’s center depicting a spiraling comet with a star at its center has been shattered by multiple blunt impacts from fragments of marble slab shelves. What few books remain on the shelves have crumbled into illegible scraps of long-lost lore.
Purpose Creche maintains his concentration on the flying sensor, pulls it from the temple, and sends it into the cave!
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A fifteen-foot-high flooded cave mouth cuts into the steep cliff face at the crater island’s southeastern face. Old, wooden scaffolding props up much of the cave mouth, reinforced by rusted metal brackets and splintered wooden supports.
As the mind eye passes through the cave entrance, there is a cacophonous sound! The mind eye is instantly destroyed as an empowered sound burst trap goes off, and the scaffolding holding up the cave mouth collapses!
Silt cringes at the noise and glances at Cedar to make sure he's okay.
Do you think the trolls inside will want to talk to Silt?
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Cedar is not surprised when the cave mouth collapses. He gives a small knowing smile and shakes his head.
”So much for the side door then.” Cedar closes his journal and sighs. He looks up to the big doors and also casts barkskin.
”I think the trolls would love to talk to you Silt. Let’s go see what they have to say.”
Joli nods and sings softly of the trees that shield grappling from terrestrial foes. His skin toughens. "Let’s make haste!"
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Silt nods, happy that his friend Cedar seems okay again.
He smashes a fist on the door three times and yells (in Aquan) in his most Scraggly Scrag Voice:
Toby leans over to Joli and whispers "Wait, he was serious about talking to them? I thought that was Silt-talk for fighting."
Purpose Creche's view collapses beneath a pile of rubble and snaps back to his body.
He retreats from the door and quickly reports everything he's seen inside. "...and drowned library. Many tomes lost some maybe recoverable. Move now cave collapse alert hurry."
He puts a hand to his waist, his bow takes on a pale green hue, and he steps aside to leave room for Silt.