Culsar's bolt flies and embeds itself in the minotaur's shoulder, and he roars in pain as a thin line of blood rolls down into the stream in which he stands.
Izotu's words are lost on the beast, but his loud bellowing appears to be forceful enough that the minotaur's tense, battle-ready body shrinks slightly, and it looks angry and nervous at the sound.
Still, it presses forward.
Forcing its way out of the swift river current on onto dry land, it advances toward the nearest initiate--Izotu--stomping its way through the tangled underbrush to reach him. He is slowed somewhat, but not by enough. He brings his axe toward the bard in a vicious arc!
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Bobbette looks dismayed as Attilio moves out of range of her influence, instead she moves behind Izotu touching him as she recites words of warmth and comfort. She calls to Culsar, "Use your powers to depress the beasts will, that it might fall to the power of my mind and eye or use your power so it becomes hampered by its misfortune."
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"I'm not fast enough to get to him this turn," Aryn says to the others while moving the last potion she holds to her mouth, "Keep shooting, I'll take it down when I pop up again!"
Having said those words, Aryn drinks the potion and vanishing in thin air. She then moves closer to the beast while drawing her greatsword.
Emboldened by his mighty swing against Izotu, the minotaur bellows a great roar in triumph when the bard screams and fails to wrest the enormous battleaxe from his grip--which is cut short by Atillio's arrow burying itself in the man-beast's shoulder. Snorting great plumes of hot breath, it moves forward over the dense underbrush, and towers over the bard and the pair of witches.
Janira lies bleeding on the ground...
...but seems to clot quickly--no more blood flows from her wounds.
The minotaur can feel the curse that Culsar places on him, and swings his axe in vengeance against him!
As he swings the axe, his hoof catches in a length of vine that he swears wasn't there before. The axe blade crashes down into the dirt, spraying up dust and rocks, but otherwise the Initiates are unharmed.
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Bobbette watches the minotaur as it seems suddenly is surprised by the appearance of the vine. She smirks and lets her eyes turn purple and black, that makes the minotaur seem easier for her allies to hit. She retreats slightly, looking for signs of Aryns presence, but she is not to be seen. "Where's Aryn gone, has she run in fright?" asks the witch wondering. She decides to move away from the large beast, not knowing how long the beast will continue with its troubles.
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"Over here, ugly beast!" Aryn shouts as she appears from thin air, standing next to the minotaur. Her silver-white hair moves like its possessed by the wind, and her white eyes glare at the large beast. Her cold iron readied, Aryn lets out a mighty roar as she swings the blade toward the minotaur's chest. "HYAAAA!!!!!!"
Bloodrage: +4 morale bonus on Strength and Constitution, as well as a +2 morale bonus on Will saving throws. In addition, a –2 penalty to Armor Class.
Destined Strike: At 1st level, as a free action up to three times per day, you can grant one of your melee attacks an insight bonus equal to 1/2 your bloodrager level (minimum 1).
Invisibilty: An invisible creature gains a +2 bonus on attack rolls against sighted opponents, and ignores its opponents' Dexterity bonuses to AC (if any).
Potion of Barkskin: +2 natural armor bonus to AC.
Potion of Shield of Faith: +2 deflection bonus to AC.
Power Attack: -1 on Attack Roll, +2 on One-Handed Damage. +3 on Damage when fighting Two-Handed.
Changed stats:
Strength: 22
Constitution: 20
Fort save: +7
Will save: +0
HP: 16/16 (of which 2 temporary HP)
AC: 20
Touch AC: 13
CMB: 7
CMD: 20
Peppered with another arrow, the minotaur swings his massive axe at Izotu while he casts his spell, but a fickle spasm in his shoulder causes the attack to go wide. Izotu ducks back and casts his spell, leaving a large pool of magical grease under the bull-headed creature. It braces itself, though, and manages to stay standing with impressive solidness, considering its bad luck. It manages to stave off the full force of Bobbette's gaze, but it still leaves itself open to further attacks.
Its eyes grow wide with surprise as Aryn suddenly appears, laying into the beast with her blade! Already bleeding from multiple arrow wounds, Aryn's ferocious blow cleaves a great swath of red, and the minotaur bellows in pain. The bellow goes on, then turns into a groan, then a whimper as the huge creature crashes to ground.
Janira lies in the dust on the other side of the river; she is down, but breathing and stable.
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With the death of the minotaur, Bobbette makes her way quickly towards Janira, seeing the tricky log crossing, Bobbette momentarily stops and gives herself some good fortune before carefully going across the bridge. Once reaching Janaria, she stops and lets the healing power of her spell course through the pathfinder's body
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Aryn's hair and eyes return to normal as she starts to breath heavily. She takes a moment to rest, leaning on her bloody sword. Half a minute later she wipes the blood off of her sword, using a clean part of the minotaur's hide to do so.
"How is she, has she come to?" Aryn asks Bobbette, sheathing her sword while approaching her and Janira.
Bobbette and Aryn manage to cross the log without falling in the water, and the witch heals Janira's wounds. The halfling wakes with a start, a look of panic on her face as she whips her head around. Spotting the beast lying across the river, she leans her head back on the ground and smiles up at the women standing over her. Her smile is enormous. "I knew you had it in you to be Pathfinders!" she exclaims, then coughs a little bit--some leftover blood stains her teeth.
She slowly sits up, then stands, careful of her remaining wounds. She then hugs Bobbette and Aryn in turn, thanking them profusely. "I owe you all my life! Are the others over there?" she asks, and doesn't wait for an answer before hopping deftly on the log and running over to thank each Initiate with a hug and a grin nearly as wide as her face.
Once regrouped, Janira takes on a more serious expression (although she can't help but smirk). "So, now that we've got that minotaur business over with, what did you all find in that cave?"
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Well fought, friends! the old man says as he coils his whip around his waist. Atillo's arrows, Aryn's might blow and the mystical energies of our witch pair has given Izotu Hyr many ideas for a song of mighty valor!
Izotu continues to speak as he strolls around the Minotaur and looks about the cave.
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Aryn walks back to where Janira is, and tells her about the deaf gillman and miniature version of Absalom. She goes on to tell about the blessings the party received, and how she completely forgot what they were. "Does anyone remember? I don't, but fishing with my trail rations was quite fun. We also encountered several creatures within the cave, but there's one passage we skipped. Perhaps we should go back, to complete our report?"
When she's done reporting Aryn moves over to the bleeding minotaur, puts her greatsword to its throat, and forces it down. "Better make sure it won't get up to attack us again when we exit the caves later."
"Well, it certainly sounds like you made some interesting discoveries in there!" Janira praises, beaming and excited despite her fight with the minotaur.
Upon the halfling's inquiry Culsar states, Come and see for yourself. You'll be fascinated.
The halfling smirks at Culsar, then with a wink says, "Maybe some other time. If there's still cave to explore, I'll leave you Initiates to it--this is YOUR Confirmation after all. Besides, I'm sure I can read all about them in all of your chronicles, right?"
I would be interested in knowing how you were able to fend off that powerful beast as long as you did Janira. Surely that is a mighty tale in itself?
"Well," Janira starts, "mostly it was luck. I had a couple of spells left, and I managed to keep the minotaur at bay with my whip--got his axe out of his hands enough to buy myself time to outmaneuver him. That sort of thing. I'm glad you all showed up when you did, though, or I'd be toast!"
"I'll wait out here while you finish exploring. Don't be too long!"
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The Initiates head back into the cave to finish exploring, taking the route from Uori's pool that they hadn't yet traversed.
The cave’s damp air becomes increasingly stale as the Initiates continue down through this tunnel, and the stench of decay grows increasingly evident. The passage turns to the east and opens into a small cavern littered with bits of broken glass, rotting pieces of paper, and other unusable detritus. The body of a male dhampir lies facedown toward the back of the cavern. In addition to the lifeless body at the back of the cavern, there are four rattling, animated skeletons. They turn toward the Initiates as they approach, their eye sockets glowing with a faint red light as they raise their claw-like hands menacingly.
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Two of the skeletons step up to Atillio as he enters the chamber, firing an arrow that flies clear through his target's ribs. They lash out with their filthy claws! But only one manages to finds its mark.
The other two move up to Aryn , also attacking with their claws. She's somewhat protected by the narrow cave walls around her, and neither skeleton manages to land a hit.
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Izotu steps up and begins to chant loudly. His words echo in the cave. The deep resonance fills the souls of the warriors with a renewed determination.
Am dah yah way...HooowYooooo tooowwwayyy...yooooTooowwwayyyy...HAAAaaaYaaaa towaaaay
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"Thanks everyone!" Aryn moves toward the skeletons, her hair catching wind again as her eyes turn white. She draws her greatsword while moving, and attacks the skeleton south of her with a ground splitting downward slash.
Bloodrage: +4 morale bonus on Strength and Constitution, as well as a +2 morale bonus on Will saving throws. In addition, a –2 penalty to Armor Class.
Power Attack: -1 on Attack Roll, +2 on One-Handed Damage. +3 on Damage when fighting Two-Handed.
Changed stats:
Strength: 22
Constitution: 20
Fort save: +7
Will save: +0
HP: 16/16 (of which 2 temporary HP)
AC: 16
Touch AC: 11
CMB: 7
CMD: 20
The shambling bones crumple easily under Aryn's mighty blow, bits of dusty ivory and marrow practically exploding through the cave. Attilio's blow is not quite as destructive, but it gets the job done as the skeleton breaks into an inanimate pile.
Unphased, the remaining two continue their assaults. One of them manages to catch Aryn, delivering a blow that scrapes the skin on her cheek.
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The remaining skeletons are soundly destroyed, and the rotten-smelling end of the cave is still.
Among the fallen bodies, there is a note written by the now deceased dhampir that details plans to start an army of undead made from the “fish people” who have been frequenting this cave.
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Bobbette uses her own magic to discover more about the things hidden or found in the cave. Almost obsessively she talks "Must be mine...mine and my elders, the paracountess..." She studies....
"Yes, yes these will be presents for the elders, see this sword with the metal struck in the magic of fire, has made it more deadly with arcane properties to strike and injure." She runs her finger carefully along its blade, before turning to the leather armour. She smells its and rubs it across her cheek. "This too has been crafted with the aid of magic, to imbue it with greater strength to protect it wearer. "
The cave now having been thoroughly explored, the Initiates head back out to the waiting Janira--smiling despite her injuries and fatigue. She puts away the quill, ink, and parchment she had out ("I figured I'd write all of you glowing recommendations--least I could do for all of you saving my life!") and prepares to lead the group back to Absalom.
Once safely back in the Grand Lodge, Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine inquires excitedly about what the Initiates found and asks to see their notes. He compliments those who recorded notes for being certain to write down ideas and observations while the thoughts are fresh, observing that "It’s difficult enough to remember what one had for breakfast the day before as it is to recall exactly what one was thinking while studying an inscription! In any case, as you all are now the foremost authorities on that cave and what it contains, I invite you to come up with its name." The elf compliments Janira for her guidance and assistance, much to the halfling’s delight.