Eyes widening at the looming scion of death, Yavenee projects her will, seeking to weaken the construct's defenses.
The golem resists the long-term effects of Yavenee's hex as it moves to close the gap on Delendir, coming to a stop directly in front of him. As it nears, Delendir and Sunday both suddenly begin to feel weighed down and slower.
The golem buries two stone fists into Delendir's body, nearly critically injuring him in the process.
Heavily battered by the golem, Delendir does not reel. Equipped now with the golembane scarab he strongly grasps the hilt of his magical sword and brings it forward "You beast are not going to attend to reason, isn't it? Take this!"
Ghina flies forward to the giant golem back and strikes taking any opportunity attack on behalf of the party.
Delendir fights back the laziness coming over him "No time for going slow!"
"Damn! This one has a very bad mood, no wonders with that big ugly face of him" patting his chest Delendir teases the golem to come for him "Come on! Come here little beast!"
Dark, eerie laughter bubbles up from Yavenee's throat, prolonging the power of her hex as she calls upon her magic to accelerate her companion's movement through time and space.
Jessica may not be able to do much against golems but there was something she could do. She moved up to get everyone within range, raised her holy symbol, and called out, "Shelyn, I ask your blesing for my friends as they fight the monster before us to protect the people from the giant's plot!" With that a pulse of divine power went out, washing over her and her friends.
Stepping up the giant bat attempts to bite the giant stone opponent, the spirits drifting eerily listless as he does so.
Though Delendir's scarab allows his sword to bypass the golem's natural defenses, he can't put together a solid strike against it and misses with both swings. Ghina's attempt to injure it likewise meet with the same result as the ranger's.
Sunday the bat is able to land a critical strike on the large hunk of animated stone, knocking off a sizeable chunk of its torso. The stone guardian is undeterred however, continuing to pummel the ranger with its large stone fists.
48
With blood and tears sliding through Delendir's face, the ranger endures all that comes on him with great pain "All the rest for Varisia!!!!!"
Unable to pierce the golem hard metal, Ghina just attempts to distract it enough to give Delendir a chance to survive "Chiaaaaa!"
Her full intent locked on tho the massive construct, Yavenee continues to laugh as she twists its fate, reflecting the harm it does back on itself.
Jessia saw how badly Delendir was being beaten with a look of horror and knew she needed to do something to help him. She was unsure just how far the thing could reach and knew she needed to take precautions or she might never make it. Jessica swallowed and cast a prayer that Shelyn's grace heal Delendir and moved in to touch him on the shoulder with a brilliant golden glow encasing her hand.
Sunday rabidly bites at the golem again.
With a heroic display of effort, Sunday the bat and Delendir the ranger are able to bring down the golem before it could finish pummelling Delendir into the ground.
When he giant falls, enough of the smoke from the bubbling cauldron fills your nostrils and begins to take effect.
"Thanks Jessica!" Delendir feels the wounds starting to disappear and slashes with renewed vigor.
Crushing the golem with a last combined effort, Delendir kicks the remains "And I hope you have learned well not to budge with Sandpoint people" and looking at Daud "And Ustalavian bats!"
"So what do we have here? An oversized cauldron? Is Mokmurian cooking here for his whole army?" the half-elf looks over the cauldron trying to spot what is being cooked inside "Killing golems actually makes me hungry..."
Despite not complaining, Delendir is pretty badly injured.
With the fight over Jessica started coughing from the noxious gas coming from the cauldron. She started gagging and her eyes started to burn as she croaked out, "I can't see, help me get away from the fumes."
At Delendedir's compliment the giant bat nods and lets out a slight shriek in agreement.
When Jessica begins coughing he scoops her up by the scruff of her outfit and saunters away from the fumes, not seemingly impaired by them in the slightest.
"Come Jess, let me guide you out" Delendir takes the woman with a protective hug and slowly helps her out of the fumes, far to the eastern corridor getting out "Let's leave the cauldron to the expert, Yavenee is sure to knack it out"
Yavenee, manages not to succumb to the vile fumes, moving clear of them as she follows the others.
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Leaving the giant cauldron behind, the group pushes past it into the next room. Here, the chill in this room isn't quite enough to frost the floors and walls, but it's certainly enough to frost the breath. The room itself contains several large suits of armor mounted on what appear to be frozen or preserved ogres, trolls, and hill giants, all staged as if rallying for war.
When the party enters, five suits of armor move to attack you. One in particular is particularly gruesome. Created from the body of a powerful ogre, this figure is nearly 11 feet tall, dressed in plate armor and wielding a wicked-looking hatchet in each gauntleted hand. The figure's most horrifying feature, though, is the fact that it has no head-only a raw, ragged stump of a neck.
The tall headless ogre orders the other four giants in here to attack you, each moving much slower than the large creature. The headless creature then begins casting a spell.
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Once she was guided clear of the cauldron and got her breath and sight back Jessica pulled out the healing wand she'd used earlier and went to work on getting everyone healed up. She started with Delendir tapping him with it many times to get him back into fighting shape.
When the healing was done and they moved on Jessica looked on in horror at the headless giant ordering the attack. she wasn't even sure how that worked but knew that it obviously had. She chanted, gestured, and sent a spear of pure divine light flying at the headless ogre in hopes it would disrupt it's command of the others and gripping her glaive for combat.
"Your hands are so delightful Jessica... How could I push forward with my life without your soothing?" a nearly-fainting Delendir slowly comes up to himself as the woman heals his gruesome wounds.
Mini-Delendir follows Jessica's example and opens with a quick volley of arrows at the beheaded monstrosity at the back. The arrows enlarge as soon as they get out of his bow, impacting with normal strength.
Ghina bravely sets herself flying as the body to defend the party "Iiiaaaak!!"
Eyes widening in horrorat the gruesome ogre-corpse commanding its underlings, Yavenee once again twists time itself, accelerating her companions.
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It's a bloody battle, but eventually you're able to work your way through all of the large creatures and take down the headless, eleven foot tall warrior. The creature wears a set of +1 full plate and was wielding two runechill hatches. Of the seven suits of armor in the room, four are masterwork half-plate while the remaining three are masterwork full plate.
Moving east, you dispatch a highly mobile creature known as a forgefiend before moving northeast down a corridor which ends in a T-junction going east and west. On the west end, a pair of double doors leads into a large library that is guarded by a clockwork construct, so you close the doors for now and continue your search for Mokmurian.
Moving north and then west, you encounter three alient outsider creatures known as Hounds of Tindalos that act as guards for what you can only assume is Mokmurian's chamber beyond. The gaunt, long-limbed quadruped has huge, soulless eyes and a toothy maw and it repeatedly buyies into both Delendir and Daud's body. Once it's finally downed and dispatched, you eye the final set of doors beyond.
Delendir drinks a potion to recover from the recent fights "This must be the last room in this level. The evil giant worm Mokmurian is must be hiding here. I can smell his filth"
Handing a flame arrow scroll to Yavenee, the half-elf asks "Can you enchant the arrows with this?"
Then, he prepares himself mounting a freezing trap on his next arrow.
"That's all I have left. This is our finest moment people" Delendir nods at the group "If we do not make it... it has been a honor serving Varisia with you"
Jessica was glad they had made it through all the fights to this point and felt nervousness wash through her. She had little magic left to her but they could do this. "Give me fifteen minutes and I can prepare the last of my prayers for the day. After that I will do what I can to ready us and then we need to do this. I will have little healing magic left to me though so we have to do this quickly."
As the group prepares to battle the giant ruler, Yavenee runs through her available spells, preparing to throw all the magic she could bring to bear against their enemies.
"I think the heroism and enlarge should go to Daud, he is our only hope" Delendir gives the flame arrow scroll to Yavenee and his quiver of arrows to be enchanted.
The half-elf pads Daud and hugs Yavenee and Jessica, "This is our opportunity to finish the Giant attack over the plains of Varisia. We should profit it well my friends"
As everyone completes their preparations, Delendir advances forward to the last door, bow at the ready "Mokmurian, your plan to invade Varisia comes here to an end!"
Delendir opens the door.
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This vast chamber might have once been a lecture hall, but now the place is empty of furniture. Six five-foot-wide pillars, each carved with spiraling patterns of runes, rise up to support the hundred foot-high ceiling. Spread through the hall in neatly organized stacks and piles are arcane trappings, candles, books, scrolls, knives, and bundles of powders and ingredients—the entire place looks like an arcanist’s laboratory or storeroom. At the west end of the room, a wide flight of stairs rises up to a stone door in the wall, just north of a twentyfoot wide stage. Here sits a large mound of furs, an immense chair, and a table stacked high with more book and scrolls. An ironbound chest sits under the table against the far wall.
Standing on the stairs is perhaps the shortest adult stone giant you have ever seen. He stands wearing intricate robes and looks down on you in disgust. "You have once chance to pledge your pitiful lives before I end your existence. Advance and die!" Before any of you have a chance to react he deftly casts a spell and fog billows out in front of your group.
"I am surprised any giant has pledged loyalty to such a ridiculously short giant" Delendir shouts back, disregarding the very fact that as of current he is also as small as a halfling. Nevertheless, he moves to a place where he can have good aim and tries to shot the trap he has affixed to the current arrow.
"I cannot see anything" Delendir growls and complains while he carefully moves forward trying to find a way out of the fog.
If he founds, he shots another arrow at the giant.
Jessica finished her preparations and cast her spells, a few on herself and one on Sunday. With that she nodded her readiness and entered the room behind Delendir. The giant wast not at all what she expected, at least not in arrogance, but his arrogance was about right.
With Delendir opening fire Jessica cast one last prayer bringing a blessing that would add fervor to their cause.
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Yavenee utters the words of a spell and gives Sunday a kiss on the cheek before they enter, smiling as he grows in stature. Upon hearing the giant's threat she focuses on their enemy as they wade into battle, twisting fate out of his favor.
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After a delayed reaction Sunday blinks at the kiss from the cute witch, his flesh actually managing a blush before he towers over everyone.
As the Giant begin wasting air and casting air the spirits began to dance around the Barbarian as he strode through the fog towards the Delendir.
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Delendir's first arrow sails unerringly through into Mokmurian's chest, though its met with a fair amount of resistance as it digs into the giant's flesh. Even better, his arrows bursts with ice that damages and encases the giant, freezing him in place temporarily.
The giant roars in frustraiton, unable to move his feet from the ground. Turning towards the party, he prepares himself for Yavenee's hex and pushes it aside as if it were nothing. "FOOLS! I AM NO MERE MORTAL! YOUR DEATH IS UPON YOU!" he shouts, trying to break his body free of Delendir's ice.
As Delendir emerges and Sunday move through the first cloud, the giant casts another spell that is more dangerous than the first, catching both the barbarian and the ranger in it. Yellowish green and poisonous vapors fill the other half of the room, obscuring the giant from sight once again.
27x1
Delendir savors his little triumph as the giant results encased in the ice "We know of you and your plans Mokmurian. You should have known Varisia would stand up against your giants before you can perform your conquest!"
Surprised by the new cloud, Delendir shouts in pain as it starts burning and intoxicating him "Argh"
Unable to do more, the half-elf rushes forward to the base of the stairs, emerging out of the cloud "C'mon my friends, for Sandpoint!"
Sunday rolls his eyes at the Giant's monologuing, making no obvious signs of even registering the second cloud as he marches up to hack at the giant.
Jessica moved forward through the fog cloud and found herself facing another, nasty looking, cloud. She didn't want to go in that so she instead started working her way around it.
Yavenee draws one of her wands, eyes locking onto the giant before going black, cursing his resilience.
Delendir starts to cough, intoxicated by the new cloud that formed up in the room. The ranger double moves out of the vapors and looking for aim to the giant.
Daud though resists the cloud with raging vitality and darts up the stairs, his bastard sword finding Mokmurian's skin too tough to beat , his spirits failing to connect on the short Stone giant who answers back at him as he approaches .
The hit back is mighty, leaving a bad looking bruise on Daud's left arm. The berserker's regeneration kicks in and starts to fast heal.
Jessica advances herself through the first cloud trying to get sight of Delendir and Daud and the giant. She finds it to be more difficult than she expected . After going through, all she can see is another cloud, worse looking than the first one, in front.
Yavanee draws a wand, and too far away from the target to connect her hex, and not seeing it anyway because of the cloud, she is forced to venture herself into the vapors.
Mokmurian utters the words for a quickened spell.
quickened shield
Then he starts to fly, getting past the enlarged Daud and his negative energy field, and navigating behind the northern columns to reach a central position in the room "Ha! You seriously think you can stop the Rise of the Master?! Do not make me laugh!"
The giant waves magic with a few arcane words. Apparently nothing happens.
The cloudkill damages Daud, who is the only one still in contact.
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Jessica recognized the spell that Momurian cast and suspected where he had placed it. She didn't know for sure though and called out, "He's walled part of the room off," as she moved away.
Back a short distance between the two clouds Jessica cast up a prayer for Shelyn to protect them all and apulse of divine energy burst from her. She could only hope that she reached her friends with it.
Jessica raises her holy symbol and Shelyn responds with a burst of luck that reaches Daud through the clouds and brings unluck to Mokmurian "Your petty god is not going to save you human" he exclaims visibly irritated.
The wall of force though blocks the effect from reaching Yavenne at the other side.
Unwilling to enter the cloudkill once more, Delendir moves up the stairs, and from almost the top, he shots an arrow once he catches sight of the giant "You are nothing else than a slave to your rising master Mokmurian! And we will not allow your rule over Varisia!"
Sunday marches down the stairs toward the flying giant.
While Mokmurian flies away, Daud slices mightily cutting a chunk of the giant's stoneskin and making him bleed, slightly more thanks to Jessica's prayer.
Delendir makes it upstairs and his arrow flashes in the air with fire but the giant's magical shield deflects the projectile.
Daud descends the stairs and goes across the cloud to face the giant once more, but he is flying to high for him.
Yavanee, is left outside, confused her magic does not work through the cloud, unknowing it the force wall that cuts the line of effect.
"Ha! Do not make me laugh, you are nothing else than nastily resistant cockroaches who dare occupy the ancient lands of the giants" Mokmurian frowns very angrily.
Further flying higher in the air, the giant identifies the bow as the only weapon who can reach him and starts shooting magical rays at Delendir from air "Die!"
Delendir is taken by surprise by the giant wizard, and one after another the rays strike at him. Barely surviving disintegration, the fire that comes afterwards send him to the ground dead.
The giant sends the last ray to the guy with the big sword, Daud.
And the fire hits him, but the necrotic boy emerges alive from the magic.
Meanwhile the cloudkill keeps rolling, taking over Jessica and Daud.
Standing on high ground and still holding his bow, Delendir grasps for his last bit of air while the fire still burns his tabard "Elneth..."
With that the half-elf exhales his last air and dies.
Unknowing what exactly is happening inside, Yavenee casts a spell and teleports inside the chamber. Meanwhile, Daud decides to become a bat once more in order to reach the flying giant while Jessica alarmed tries to reach Delendir with her breath of life spell, but it is for nothing as he is beyond reach.
Mokmurian then grasps his massive club and mauls Daud with giant's strength. The unarmored and already badly damaged warrior is an easy victim to the mighty blows he is not prepared for and soon dies with several bones broken.
Yavanee tries to hex the giant leader, but his extended study of ancient magic has given him a strong will that protects him from the witch's magic.
Seeing things go south, Jessica becomes a bird and tries to escape. What she does not know is there is a force wall in the entrance tunnel and she is trapped in here.
"You dare to defy me witch?" Mokmurian then casts another disintegrate ray, this time to Yavanee. The witch has no chance, the green energy hits her and her body is reduced to dust.
"Where are you my little bird? Come here, there are many things I need you to explain me" it takes a time for the giant wizard to chase after Jessica, but there is no place for her where to hide.
Meanwhile, Vivi reaches the place, but hits himself against the invisible force wall. The fog disperses, just in time for him to see Mokmurian finally grasping Jessica and squashing her with his giant hands. Beyond, the fallen bodies of Delendir and Daud.
The wanderer starts to cry in desperation hitting the magic wall for nothing. But then a squeak makes him turn. Ghina is there flying around and alarmed. The hawk takes Vivi by the neck of his tunic and starts pulling him away from the giant's room.
Understanding, Vivi unfolds his flying carpet, and starts following Ghina who flies through the corridors of the forgotten Library trying to find the way back. Through a desperate flight, both monk and hawk reach the upper levels of Jorgen Fist, and there, Ghina guides the monk towards the caverns the kobold was warding.
It becomes a desperate escape through a complex tunnels system infested with redcaps that constantly ambush them from multiple sides. Heroically, they manage to survive and get out to an abyss with a river below. Stealthily moving between oversized spiders and a couple of wyverns, Vivi and Ghina manage to reach the Storval plateau.
The trip back to Sandpoint is full of scarcities, but after near a month of travel, the two finally reach the town where everything started. The news spread like powder burning, and soon Krysta knows about what happened to her horde. The rage of the dragon at that moment is something people that saw still talk about with fear.
It takes a great effort to restrain the dragon and make her wait for others to help her. Soon, a small group of voluntaries form to go against the giants, and it is so how Krysta, Vivi, Ghina, Shalelu, Ameiko and Koya join their forces to fight the giants of Jorgen Fist.
They manage to free Jessica with the help of a giantess named Conna, and together they defeat Mokmurian after a truly epic fight. After all that Jessica has suffered, Mokmurian interrogations and treatments felt not that terrible, and with the help of Conna's leadership the giant tribes of the Storval Plateau are pacified and the danger of war in Varisia averted.
Inside Mokmurian's fortress library, the heroes find a trove of information of ancient Thassilon. The discovery attracts researchers from all of Golarion, and as the old secrets of the ancient civilization are revealed, new menaces raise to menace Varisia.
But that my friends, that is another story.