Henry smiles as the spider woman sends her construct forward to attack. "Yes please. Come and kill." He absently weighs an alchemist fire in his hand for a moment, then flings the vial of unstable oils at the construct's body.
"He's enjoying this entirely too much," Urick mutters, watching 'Khar's grandstanding from afar. With a sigh, he raises his crossbow and starts to line up his shot...
Henry lobs the vial at the construct. It explodes, wrapping the scarecrow in flames. The scarecrow barely flinches.
Tassa grins as she saps the spider-woman's vitality, then she twists, and suddenly Tassa disappears and reappears behind the weaver. Hungry tentacles lash out, attempting to squeeze and bind her.
Tassa shifts into place behind the weaver-woman, lashing out at her with the tentacles. The weaver ducks underneath the bulk of the tentacles, but one sharp tentacle followed by a small bundle of blunt tentacles slice a thin line into her torso, and then wrap around her, grappling her. She curses, and then leans down, trying to sink her teeth into Tassa's tentacle mass.
The tentacles seem to part before the woman's fanged mouth, seamlessly flowing back into place to continue grappling her.
'Khar growls at Tassa as she appears behind the weaver and envelops her in tentacles. "Takin' th'fun outta it," he grumbles. Still, that registers as a minor annoyance compared to when the spider turns its back to him. "You were fightin' ME," he growls as his form seems to grow slightly larger and more fearsome. He slashes at the spider with one of his claws, "Thought ya were gonna make a sacrifice outta ME!" he shouts, his anger rising. "
were gonna kill ME!" His shouts come coupled with an onslaught of claws and bites, the rage and indignation at being ignored driving him to tear the weaver to pieces.
Khar's first claw strike rakes four rivets down the spider creature's back. As she turns to face him, his second claw slash removes one entire leg of her eight, sending her leaning dangerously over to the side. Then, he lunges forward mouth-first, sinking his teeth into the spider woman's throat, ripping a hole. She gasps for air for a moment, blood spraying out of the hole, before collapsing. She is dead.
One of the farmers, a religious zealot to the core, shouts and rushes at Khar, thrusting his pitchfork at his new monstrous foe.
Khar easily sidesteps the clumsy swipe of the un-trained farmer, bashing the attack aside with a bloodied hand.
Perdita will walk slowly forward and target Green with her Coin shot spell.
School transmutation; Level alchemist 1, antipaladin 1, bard 1, bloodrager 1, magus 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
CASTING Casting Time 1 standard action
Components S
EFFECT
Range touch
Target up to three coins touched
Duration 10 minutes or until discharged
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes (harmless, object)
DESCRIPTION
You turn up to three coins into deadly projectiles that gain the velocity of a bullet when thrown. The coins retain their normal appearance but can be used as simple thrown weapons with a range increment of 20 feet and a critical multiplier of ×2. The transmuted coins are treated as ammunition for the purposes of drawing them. Like firearm bullets, the coins deal bludgeoning and piercing damage, and attacks with them are resolved as touch attacks within the first range increment. Regardless of whether a transmuted coin hits or misses the target, it is destroyed after the attack. Only you can make attacks with the coins, though other creatures can safely handle them without discharging the spell.
You can make a single ranged attack with a coin as part of casting this spell. Different types of coins create different bullet effects. Copper coins deal 1d4 points of damage. Silver coins deal 1d6 points of damage and count as silver for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Gold coins deal 1d8 points of damage and count as masterwork weapons. Platinum coins deal 1d10 points of damage, count as masterwork weapons, and are treated as adamantine weapons for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction and bypassing hardness. All coin bullets deal an additional 1 point of damage per 2 caster levels (to a maximum of an extra 10 points of damage at 20th level).
Urick joins Henry in striking the construct from afar, firing a bolt at the charred scarecrow.
Perdita flicks a coin at one of the farmers. It nearly hits him, but flies harmlessly past into the cornfield beyond. Meanwhile, Urick's bolt buries itself in the scarecrow's midsection as it advances towards Henry, swinging a wicker fist.
The other farmer attacks Tassa, swinging a sickle at her.
Henry ducks underneath the scarecrow's fist easily, returning to a standing pose, ready to fight it. The farmer, meanwhile, trips on a root and fails to even come close enough to attack Tassa.
Henry winces as he ducks low under the scarecrow's heavy hand. He backs away cautiously, keeping his guard up, then draws another vial and lobs a second flaming missile into the construct's chest.
Burning ferociously, the wicker construct starts to fall apart under the assault of Henry's alchemical oils.
With the weaver dead, 'Khar seems to calm down, his frenzied movements again relaxed and deliberate. He ignores the peasant next to him for a moment, looking around for the scarecrow or anything else that'd joined the fray. When he sees the construct stumbling around on fire, he just sighs. Turning to face the peasant, he crouches down slightly to look the crazed man in the eyes. "Don't suppose ya are some kinda monster? Prolly not, huh?" he asks, sounding rather skeptical. Retracting his claws, he backhands the farmer, his strength now diminished with his rage gone. "Get outta here, chump, 'fore I tear your throat out."
Khar smacks the farmer. After the brutal display of murder that Khar had just performed on the aranea, the farmer just turns tail and runs.
When the farmer runs at her with his fork, a tentacle snakes out and slaps him as he approaches.
"Drop your fork and lay down, or I'll finish the job and make a meal of you.", she growls.
Then she hustles over to the flaming scarecrow sing-songing, "Your time is near, O bag of sticks / And now you're going nowhere quick."
Then her tentacle mass lashes out in a great blow.
_______________
With a great rush of tentacles, Tassa breaks apart the the scarecrow, sending its wicker pieces sending to the ground scattered all over the place. With the death of the scarecrow and Tassa's threat, the second farmer flees into the cornfield, ending the battle.
Henry wipes the sweat from his forehead as he looks down at the still smoldering pieces of the construct. "My thanks Miss... Tassa. I have no doubt that anyone else nearby will have heard that. Unless anyone is notably injured, I suggest we keep moving before we lose the advantage."
The group forges onward, heading into the cornfield to foil the leader of the cult they've found here. Once they reach the center, they find a thirty-foot diameter glade, stripped down to bare earth. Two large bonfires stand on the east and west sides of the glade, roaring and spilling bright light all over. A wooden altar sits in the center. Bound to the altar is Ms. Lupesco, Shel's mother. Standing above the altar is Andretti Kriegler, clad in white robes and holding a spear high above Ms. Lupesco, chanting while he prepares to plunge the spear downwards.
Every other cultist, numbering about twenty-five, is prostrate in religious ecstasy. They are completely naked, and yet clothed entirely in buzzing, humming, disgusting mosquitoes. A cloud of mosquitoes hangs over the congregation, undulating with the ebb and flow of Andretti's voice. The very cultists that just fought the PCs stand nearby, their eyes half-rolled up into their eyes. They are both naked, and one steps forward. "Won't you disrobe and join us?" he asks, calmly.
Taking a moment before they move on, 'Khar places his clawed foot on the Weaver-spider's back and forcibly removes her head in a spray of gore. Lifting it up, he turns towards the others, "'K, m'ready!"
When they arrive in the middle of the cornfield, he frowns at the pathetic display. "Think'll pass, thanks. But thought ya might be missin' someone, so here ya go." Tossing the were-spider's head, he aims for the altar under the man's spear.
He claps his hands together and cracks his knuckles, satisfied with the throw. "Now, c'mere lemme see if ya can fight better than'er"
Making sure she has the party in the area Perdita castsBless on everyone.
Bless fills your allies with courage. Each ally gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and on saving throws against fear effects.
The Mayor laughs at Khar's threat, but Khar can tell it's just a bit hollow, from the loss of his ally. "You may have come to interrupt our rite, but all you're doing is delaying! We'll just kill you first, and then continue on just as before!"
1. Urick (fatigued) <--- You are up!
2. Khar <--- You are up!
3. Tassa <--- You are up!
4. Henry (mutagen) <--- You are up!
5. Andretti
6. Mosquito Swarm
7. Perdita (fatigued)
8. Ochre Jelly
9. Farmer Cultists
Seeing the cultists draped only in mosquitos, Tassa shudders.
She mutters "And to think I complained about mom starting a cult of Bokrug. Guess I didn't realize how much worse she coulda chosen!"
Narrowing her eyes at Andretti, she says, "First your feet feel stuck in mud / Next your corpse will make a thud"
As she curses him, Tassa disappears as if the space around her had been fractured and crumpled up...and reappears behind the mayor, lashing out with a mass of tentacles.
___________
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Urick only sighs at 'Khar's needlessly crude display, having neither the energy nor the will to protest. He raises his crossbow, bracing its stock against his shoulder, and points it right at Andretti.
"Andretti Kriegler, you will answer for your crimes," the inquisitor says in a loud and clear voice. "For the murder of Elias Kyle, and however many other poor, unsuspecting souls that have passed through this village. For poisoning the minds of your people with these foul, blasphemous rites. And... for not paying your taxes," he adds for completion's sake, as he pulls the trigger.
Henry pulls another alchemical vial from his bags and downs the contents, causing a shimmering shield of blue force to appear in the air before him as he moves forward. He eyes the gathering swarm and fingers his bag to draw yet more of his vials.
'Khar is more than a little surprised when Tassa disappears, appearing next to the mayor. "Need t'learn that trick," he says, thinking aloud.
He rolls his eyes at Urick's proclamation of judgement upon the mayor and chuckles. "Don't think words are gonna kill'm, Urick, much less that shot," he growls snarkily. He heads off after Tassa, eager to fight the mayor before she has a chance to kill him with those tentacles of hers.
As Urick pronounces judgment on the Mayor, he just chuckles. "Yeah, right." Urick's miss only adds fuel to the proverbial fire, although Khar and Tassa's sudden appearance in melee combat with him stifle the laughter a bit - Tassa's tentacle mass slams wholly into him, but cannot get a solid grip - he is stronger than your average farmer.
In response to the two adventurers entering combat with him, he pulls out a spear and calls to the mosquitoes infesting the area - "Feast on my enemies, lovelies!" The mosquitoes swarm and rush in to cover Khar and Tassa from head to toe while Andretti himself seems to call on his god's power. "Gossamer King," he calls fervently, "Imbue me with your favor." As he prays, the mosquitoes stay away from him, forming a little bubble around him where there are none.
Then he focuses on Tassa with deadly intent and drives his spear towards her.
Andretti's attack against Tassa is quick and deadly, and only quick reflexes and desperate speed by Tassa's human arm is able to turn the spear aside from splitting open her gut. Then come the mosquitoes. Biting and sucking blood, their attacks are very painful and distracting.
Perdita moves closer, taking a shot at the Mayor.
Perdita sights down her crossbow and fires a bolt. The Mayor sees it at the last second and slashes it out of the air. The bolt's shattered wooden remnants pelt him, and he growls.
Hearing the sounds of combat, two of the mosquito-clad villagers shake out of their religious vision, or whatever's going on, and stands up. Each of them lifts a pitchfork off of the ground and turns to the heroes, advancing slowly.
Tassa hollers, "Stay back, villagers, or face the same fate as Andretti here."
She steps forward, trying to avoid the mass of mosquitos and pin Andretti in an awkward position, and then she sings out, "Piggie's nose and milk cow's udder / Feel your fingers slip like butter!"
Tassa smiles as he falls prey to her curse, and her tentacles lash out...this time to rip his spear from him.
"Khar, if you would be so kind as to shift over..." Henry says as he draws out a vial of sickly green fluid. "I can deal with the insects."
'Khar growls angrily as the mosquitoes swarm over him, biting at him everywhere. "What is this trickery? " he snaps at the mayor as his body seems to swell with rage. With the mayor distracted by Tassa's attack, he steps around behind the mayor--flanking him--unsheathes his claws, and slashes once straight at the mayor's Jugular.
The sight of blood streaming from the mayor's neck draws a look of fiendish glee from the were-tiger, and he seems to grow even larger as he slices again with his other hand and attempts to bite the mayor where he had lacerated him.
'Khar laughs maniacally at the mayor as he tears into him, his bestial side completely in control for the moment.
As soon as the savage hunter is clear, Henry lobs the vial into the middle of the swarm, sending a cloud of the burning acid raining down over the swarming insects.
Khar's savage assault rips into the Mayor, exhausting his ability to dodge or block and then tearing into his flesh with savage strength and abrupt power. The mayor stands, wobbling on his feet, when Henry's acid flask sprays him with supernaturally-lucky acid droplets. Burned and cut to ribbons, the Mayor falls to his knees.
As he falls, the mosquito swarm dissipates, and the villagers who stood up to fight calm down. The rite seems to end. All is peaceful in the corn maze for a moment.
But only a moment. Just a few seconds after his fall to his knees, the Mayor begins to convulse and scream, the very edge of his life fueling a desperate fear. Khar and Tassa are right there watching as his flesh splits open like a broken seam, and a horrifying, gore-covered insect crawls out of his body. Nearly the size of the man himself, the insect must have been wearing him like a suit. It chirps.
As it emerges, a wave of lethargy and laziness rolls over those closest to it. Tassa, Henry, Perdita, and Khar feel their muscles relax, and the idea of simply laying down to sleep enters their minds. The imagery of simply laying there while a cloud of insects devours your body will not leave.
Like a stirge, their long, hollow proboscis can drain blood at a prodigious rate, and their stingers also carry a willpower-sapping poison.
In addition, they are capable of bestow curse, blur, contagion, diminish plants, gust of wind, and hold monster.
In addition, they resist harm from all mundane (nonmagical) weapons.
After it emerges, the creature's stinger shoots out at Khar with lightning speeds. As if it knew that Khar was the murderer of its host, the stinger catches Khar completely off-guard and lodges directly into his abdomen, withdrawing a moment later to reveal the deep hole left by its entrance. He manages to shake off the creature's poisonous sting, though.
Just then, the effects of the drug finally leave Urick and Perdita...
Henry reflexively recoils as the mayor's body splits open and the blood covered insect creature emerges from its living cocoon. "It's a Blightspawn! One of Ghlaunder's servitors. They can heal their own wounds and are extremely strong, as well as drinking blood and injecting potent poison. Be cautious." He considers his options for a moment, then steps forward and attempts to drive his rapier into the beast's abdomen.
Perdita takes a 5' step back out of the range of the insect.
Snapping at reflex shot at the disgusting thing.
'Khar roars loudly as the bug pierces him with its stinger, leaving a gaping hole in his gut. He looks down and brings his furred hand down to the hole, and lifting it up dripping in his own blood. He begins laughing, though it's clear the blow nearly killed him outright. "That's why I came'ere!" he sputters out, coughing up blood as he does, "...finally a true monster!"
He roars at the bug again, fighting off both the blood loss from the wound, as well as whatever magic was attempting to slow his mind. The adrenaline from his rage kept him from feeling the wound directly, and the extra rush from nearly dying gives him enough strength to gather himself together.
Urick had hoped to take the mayor alive, but when the horrific blightspawn erupts from his body, it becomes clear that he had been doomed to die from the start. He wasn't planning on losing any sleep over it.
"It might appear to be an overlarge vermin, but don't underestimate it," Urick warns the others as he steps slightly closer to his mark. He had not expected a genuine blightspawn to be involved with this cult, but now that they knew, it had to be destroyed at any cost. "It is capable of conscious thought, can cast spells, and is highly resistant to nonmagical weapons."
His aim far more steady now that the drug has worn off, the inquisitor fires a smiting bolt at the giant mosquito, its tip imbued with searing white light.
The aberrant being that shares her body helps Tassa to fight of the Blightspawn's aura, but she shouts when the monster impales her new ally. "Khar! Back away."
"Aberrant, the blood you lap / Leaves you in need of your own nap!"
With that her tentacles lash out, attempting to crush or grab and the horse-sized mosquito-thing.
+
'Khar shifts into a crouch as he swipes at the bug's abdomen, aiming to inflict as much pain as possible. "Y'won't make it outta here alive, bug," he says, grinning through the pain.
Khar and Tassa team up, slashing and striking at the bug. It manages to turn aside their blows with parries from two of its six limbs, but each of them can feel chitin crack underneath their blows. When Henry steps up, the bug sprays all three melee combatants with gore as it uses its weighed-down wings to float backwards just enough to avoid his rapier attack.
Just then, Urick's bolt flies in and strikes the creature in the abdomen. It bounces off, but the bolt creates a big crack in that particular plate.
The creature spins around, the movement of its legs unsettlingly fast. It twitches its stinger up, but then simply flops it down, caressing Tassa.
Tassa feels the creature's own curse impose itself on her flesh, affecting the aberrant being within her as well. She must fight it off, for she feels her sanity slip even further away...
Henry grunts in annoyance as his first strike manages to hit nothing but air. He adjusts his stance slightly, trying to recall the correct movements for the light blade before he makes another focused strike on the monster's body.
Once again, Tassa's aberrant nature helps her to shake off the Blightspawn's curse.
"Ha!"
'Khar's supernatural fortitude seems to staunch the bleeding after a few moments, and he gathers his strength to launch himself at the monstrous bug. "Thought y'were gonna kill me?" he says laughing as he attacks, though it's clear he's still moving slower than he was earlier.
As he fights he moves over to his right, trying to position the beast between Doc and himself.
Urick moves closer to the blightspawn, running right past the villagers. He snaps a quick shot at the creature, but fails to land a hit.