Like Ylva a few moments earlier, Zithembe takes a running start and leaps across the stream, clearing it with ease as time ripples ever so slightly when Janira remembers that her whip can reach a little further than she thought, her position shifting a little further away from the minotaur...
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Round 3
Sylvak
Tupp
Theodric
Hepsubia
Ylva
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Janira
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Zithembe
Kiango
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Minotaur
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage, Entangle (Green Grid)
Kiango is UP!
As Kiango begins to follow Tupp across the fallen log, the minotaur continues its rather single-minded pursuit of Janira. He manages to wade free of the mass of weeds and swings his axe...
...and slices into the halfling's thigh! She staggers and falls to the ground, blood slowly pooling around her...
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Round 4
Sylvak
Tupp
Theodric
Hepsubia
Ylva
============
Janira
============
Zithembe
Kiango
============
Minotaur
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage, Entangle (Green Grid)
Sylvak, Tupp, Theodric and Hepsubia are UP!
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Theo gasps again as Janira falls. Waving his hands in the air in mystical gestures, he speaks arcane words. The large golden ring on his right hands glows with a warm yellow radiance, and a beam of what looks like sunlight shines from the heavens onto the ring. The beams then reflect, illuminating an area around him with a warm glow. The warmth is palpable, and all who are bathed in the light feel a sense of refreshed determination.
"زهرة الفجر المباركة ، في ساعة ظلمتنا ، تسلط الضوء الشافي علينا!"
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Hepsubia rushes to aid Ylva and Janira, easily making the leap across the stream. Theodric centers himself and uses strange, arcane powers to send a healing pulse across a good part of the battlefield. The worst of Ylva and Janira's wounds mend and close and Janira even stirs, her eyes fluttering open.
Sylvak continues to give the minotaur the evil eye, hoping to weaken it even further...
...and succeeds! The minotaur seems to stumble slightly, shaking his head with irritation as though being pestered by a particularly stubborn fly.
"HEY! Pick on someone that can take it, you, you...overgrown steak dinner!" Tupp bellows as he comes racing up in front of Zithembe and next to Ylva, his katana held at the ready.
Though she knows its risky, Janira quickly attempts to crawl away from the minotaur and provokes another swing of his axe for her trouble...
...but luck is on her side this time and the swing misses her by a mile! Once clear of the minotaur's reach, the little halfling shakily gets to her feet.
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Round 4
Sylvak
Tupp
Theodric
Hepsubia
Ylva
============
Janira
============
Zithembe
Kiango
============
Minotaur
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage, Entangle (Green Grid)
Zithembe and Kiango are UP!
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"I call upon the spirit of the hunt," Zithembe says as he courses dangerously beside the bovine beast. He then stabs the cold iron blade toward the minotaur's hide as his eyes take on the character of rubies.
Tupp feels a rush of nature's savagery flow through his body.
Free: Begin Spirit Invocation, champion spirit
Move: Move 20 ft
Standard: Attack
Zithembe's eyes flash with a dark, red light as he invokes a powerful spirit to bolster his body and guide his strikes. He moves up to engage the minotaur directly and catches the beast by surprise, sinking his blade deep into his flank!
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Round 4
Sylvak
Tupp
Theodric
Hepsubia
Ylva
============
Janira
============
Zithembe
Kiango
============
Minotaur
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage, Entangle (Green Grid)
Kiango is UP!
Finally in a position to offer aid, Kiango gives Ylva a good smack with the healing wand as he calls for the Ulfen woman to rise and fight once more!
Now presented with new, more threatening targets, the minotaur emits another roar as he takes up his axe against both Zithembe and Tupp...
...and absolutely fails to hit anything or anyone! Though the minotaur still stands and the last vestiges of Janira's inspiring words fades away, the fight seems to be slowly, but surely, turning in the favor of the brave Pathfinders...
"Skaðvalda! Ég mun squish þig eins og galla þú ert!"
"Pests! I will squish you like the bugs you are!"
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Round 5
Sylvak
Tupp
Theodric
Hepsubia
Ylva
Janira
Zithembe
Kiango
============
Minotaur
Active Conditions: Entangle (Green Grid)
Everyone is UP!
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A little woozy but feeling much better, Ylva begins to struggle to her feet...and as if anticipating it, the minotaur takes another swipe at the warrior with his axe...
...and Ylva is immediately dropped once again by another powerful blow!
"Ylva!" Janira gasps, visibly distraught at seeing one of her initiates go down yet again. "Hold on, let me try...and move...her!"
With a mighty grunt, Janira grabs hold of the bleeding woman's shoulders and heaves, pulling her away from the minotaur.
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Round 5
Sylvak
Tupp
Theodric
Hepsubia
Ylva
Janira
Zithembe
Kiango
============
Minotaur
Active Conditions: Entangle (Green Grid)
Sylvak, Tupp, Theodric, Hepsubia, Zithembe and Kiango are UP!
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Tupp's eyes widen as Ylva is hacked down yet again by the minotaur's mighty axe. "Hey! Over here you cowardly custard, stop kicking people while they're down and fight with a little courage." He yells at the truculent bovine, stepping forwards and swishing his blade into position for a diagonal swing. "SLAAAAAASHING SNAAAAAAKE!!!" Now that the attack has been called with gusto, all that's left for the halfling samurai to do is take one last exaggerated step and swing upwards towards the beast's knee with as much precision and power as he can muster.
Mad as hell and determined not to take it anymore, the group rallies against the terrible minotaur and his Ulfen-slaying, halfling-kicking ways! Zithembe delivers another vicious stab with his kunai while Hepsubia cartwheels up...
...and finds herself wrapped in Kiango's vines! But even with the vines hampering her she's still able to slip her dagger between the minotaur's beefy ribs as he roars with pain and surprise!
Kiango gives Ylva another gentle tap with the healing wand, mending her wounds and saving her life, if not actually bringing her back to the waking world. And Tupp, hoping to end things here and now before anyone else falls to the minotaur's axe, steps into a vicious swing aimed at the beast's kneecaps and slices through fur, tendon, and bone, severing the leg entirely!
The minotaur has the audacity to look surprised for the briefest of moments before slowly toppling to the ground with a mighty *WHOMP!*
Combat Over!
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With the minotaur fallen, the invisible spirits dancing around Zithembe disperse. The simulacrum appears visible drained as his eyes take on their usual copper color. Tupp and Kiango feel the viloent energy fade away like a cool breeze at the tail of a thunderstorm.
He limps over to Ylva's fallen form and kneels, evaluating her injuries. "I can tend to her in a moment. I just need to rest."
Janira bends over slightly, hands on her knees as she attempts to catch her breath. "Oh my goodness...*huff*...that was quite a...*huff*...ordeal..." she gasps. After she's had a moment to collect herself, she hurries over to where Hepsubia is busy tipping one of the healing potions down Ylva's throat.
"Ylva? Ylva, can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?" Janira asks anxiously.
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Ylva coughs as the potion runs down her throat and pulls her back into the realm of consciousness. She grimaces from the pain lancing through her from the two vicious wounds, and just barely makes out Janira's question through the haze in her mind.
"I know not. It hurts to open my eyes," she mutters with a faint hint of a smile on her lips. It's soon transformed into another teeth-clenched grimace as a spasm of pain rolls over her. "To be fair, everything hurts."
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Tupp holds the pose for a few seconds as the surprised Minotaur topples to the ground, sword held high as the wind and dust created by the mighty *WHOMP!* blows his mussed up, curly hair out of his eyes. He then takes a breath, blinks a few times, and looks around the battlefield full of tired Pathfinders, "I didn't hear that... Did she say three? Ylva, did you say three?" He sheaths his sword and scampers over to anxiously check on Ylva with the others, but smiles warmly when he finds her almost smiling herself. "You know... It would hurt a lot less if you stopped letting things hit you." He jokes as he offers her a hand.
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"Or if my foes wielded down pillows from a princess' bed," Ylva manages to get out with a chuckle before waves of warm healing wash over her.
"Many thanks," she says to Kiango and Theo after their magics mend her wounds. She moves slowly at first, wary of pain, but is surprised to find nothing but pink scars remain of her wounds.
"Do you have another spell for Janira? I fear she needs it more than I," she asks after she gets back to her feet and notices their teacher in a sorry state.
"I'll be okay," Janira responds bravely, though even with Theodric's burst of healing she still looks a bit rough. "I'm so happy I invested in one of those things," she smiles, gesturing to the healing wand. "I'd actually recommend that everyone look into picking one up at some point. Even if you can't make use of it yourself, there'll almost always be another field agent on your team that can use it for you."
Once wounds are mended, Janira flops back down into a sitting position on the grass. "Sorry...I know we should probably head back inside the caves where it's safer but that really took it out of me. Just a few minutes though and I think I'll be ready to move again."
She then looks around at everyone, noting that most of you seem to be in pretty good shape still. "You came out of the caves, right? So there's another way in - or out, depending on how you want to look at it. What did you find inside?"
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When he sees Kiango giving Janiira all her stuff back, Tupp suddenly remembers the potion he stuffed up his sleeve earlier and starts to retrieve it. "Oh and we met a nice Gillman named Uori! He told us that the Gillfolk don't go to the caves because of Aroden, but because..." He frowns slightly, trying to remember why Uori's people bath in the waters in the caves as he passes his fellow halfling the potion, "Well, I don't remember why exactly, but it is really beautiful in there! Glowing blue fungus, fancy carvings, and crystal clear waters... You really need to see it!"
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While the others heal and catch up with Janira, Sylvak cautiously lays down on his belly on the log bridge and slowly crawls across.
you look ridiculous, just run across like everyone else... although, I'd look far more ridiculous flailing in the water and calling for help! no, we just got out of trouble, no need for any unnecessary risks while everyone is catching their breath...
Once he's safely on the other side, the half-elven priest brushes off his midnight-blue silk armor and trots towards his companions. "Well, that got a bit rough for a moment or two," he offers with a concerned smile, "I'm relieved we all got out in one piece, more or less. Maybe on the walk back, when we're all done here, Janira could share some strategic advice about, like, when and how to engage large enemies, or what to do when you get knocked off your feet in a fight?"
"My legs took me all over the place," Janira remarks with a shake of her head. "And I couldn't shake that minotaur for the life of me! Who knew they were that tenacious?"
With everyone gathered together at last, the halfling glances up at the moonlit sky. "I don't know about the rest of you but I'm positively bushed and Ylva looks like she could use some rest too. As much as I'd like to go see what you found inside right now - a gillman! a shrine! - we'd probably best set camp for the night. What do you think, out here near the cave entrance or is there somewhere inside that's better?"
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"Don't worry..." Tupp chirps, putting a hand on the hilt of his sword, "I'll keep guard while you rest! I've been training, and I'm pretty sure nothing can slip by me." As the confident young halfling is explaining his training regime, which seems to involve staring at stones for hours on end without falling asleep, his tired looking chicken finally catches up to the rest of the group, "Buh-" She clucks loudly as she crashes onto the top Tupp's pack, feathers flying everywhere.
As soon as Sori has untangled herself from the straps of the backpack and settled back down into her hollow, she peeks over Tupp's right shoulder and clucks. "Bok bok bok..." She looks at Ylva, then at Janira, and bobs her head a little with another quiet cluck before looking back towards the cave.
Never could get used to landings... Ahem, well, if Tupp's on guard duty, I guess pruning is going to have to wait. Honestly, almost everything slips past the poor boy without me to point them out.
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Theo walks slowly across the log, his arms outstretched... yet he seems quite a bit more nimble than his his would imply.
Once over, he joins the rest of the group. FIrst, he prods the body of the minotaur to make sure that it is indeed dead.
Looking over the rest of the group, especially Ylva and Janira, he remarks, "You all still look a little banged up. Here, let me cast that spell one more time..."
Theodric makes his way across the fallen log with surprising ease. Once across, he pauses to make sure that the minotaur is well and truly dead, which it is. With that matter out of the way, he makes use of his gifts to once more heal some of Ylva and Janira's wounds.
"Ahhh, thank you friend," Janira sighs as her wounds continue to close. Though still looking rather weary, the worst of her wounds are now completely gone and only minor scrapes and bruises remain from her tussle with the minotaur. "Like glass and water?" the halfling repeats Ylva's words, looking thoughtful. "Sounds like...some sort of amoeba or maybe an ooze? Hmm. We might be better off resting out here then, so we'll be at full strength in the morning. Hopefully we'll have no trouble dispatching it then, if it's still oozing about."
She glances at Sylvak and adds, "Wasn't ignoring you, by the way! I'll be happy to share as many tips as you want to hear on the way back to Absalom." Clearly one to not remain subdued for long, Janira grins. "It's not every day that I get initiates that ask me for lectures. Can't let the opportunity go to waste, now can I?"
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Maybe we can even shoot it from afar, whatever that is. Next Morning will do. I'm not sure we could set a trap to harm it. Hey, Yval, do you want to get horny?
after a few seconds, the elf casually adds
Maybe some minotaur's horns on a big helm could help your face not to get punched so often?
With everyone in agreement to spend the rest of the night out under the stars you all make camp on the cave-side of the stream, but not so close to the entrance to be caught unawares should the gelatinous cube or anything else come creeping out. Thankfully, the night passes uneventfully and you all wake to the bright sunshine streaming through the branches of the trees overhead.
With Janira curious to see the inside of the caves for herself you all retrace your steps back through the numerous tunnels and caves. On your way you easily manage to dispatch the young gelatinous cube and you stop periodically to point out landmarks such as where you ran across the two kobolds and the cavern where you encountered the gillman skeletons.
You then return back to the large chamber containing the pool of water and the miniature carving of Absalom. Uori is here too, preparing to make his own return trip to Escadar after having performed burial rites for the fallen gillmen. He's pleased to see you all alive and well and thanks you again for your help in making the caverns a safer place of pilgrimage for his people. After a bit of chatter, wherein Janira visibly restrains herself from bombarding the gillman with questions, Uori agrees to accompany the group back through the forest - after the encounter with the minotaur, better safe than sorry.
Your path clear, you exit the caverns and set your sights towards Absalom. The return trip through the forest is uneventful and you all make camp at the same place that you stopped at on your trip out to the caverns, just off the road. After another evening of campfire stories and marshmallows (which Uori finds absolutely incredible and delicious) the next day dawns and you part ways with your gillman companion, his path leading north while yours lies to the east. The last day of your trip back to Absalom is marked by good weather and cheery dispositions - everyone is returning alive and surely after all that you've learned, your Confirmation will be marked a success. Though given more to oratory than song, Janira can't help but start singing as you draw close to the city.
"~All Lamashtu's creatures have a place in the fire
Some burn low and some burn higher
Some scream out loud on the funeral pyre
And others just flail their Hands or Paws
Or Wings or Claws
Or anything they got now~"
"I learned that one from a fellow named Brobdingnagian - or Brob for short," Janira explains afterwards with a grin. "Oh! There's the city gates - we're almost home!"
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Tupp has never seen the wisdom of drinking from a horn, how do you put it down without spilling everything? or opera for that matter, just a load of people screaming isn't it? and has mixed feelings about chopping off the poor angry minotaur's horns anyway, so the usually helpful halfling refrains from assisting Hepsubia this time. Instead, he spends most of the journey back actively looking around for further dangers, hand almost glues to the hilt of his katana. All the while, his chicken roosts on his backpack, her head bobbing this way and that over his shoulder.
"I always found that an effective strategy against larger opponents is to give them a good sharp kick in the shin..." The young halfling offers after Janira shares her tips, "That's what my parents always told me to do to bullies when I was younger, but I still believe it's a good tactic in a fight if you're caught without a weapon or are desper-" Suddenly his eyes narrow and he shoots a look into the underbrush, ready to pounce on the threat, but as a bird flies from a bush he visibly relaxes and continues, "Of course, some people like to aim for a sensitive spot a little bit higher, but I don't think that's any way to win an honourable fight."
In the evenings, the aspiring samurai gets out his books and scribbles down everything he can remember that Janira and the others said about fighting larger foes, then starts reading about proper technique from his martial arts books. Although, he is easily distracted by marshmallows and stories.
Once the gates of Absalom are pointed out, Tupp cheers and finally relaxes again. "We made it! My brothers are never going to believe me when I write them about what we did for our Confirmation... I mean, you don't see oozes, minotaurs, or gillmen every day do you?"