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Mikail hears his companions begin to react, and he takes a moment to grab his rapier as he follows Ferabras and Garrett into battle!
He wipes a bit of nightmare goo from his face as the creature before Ferabras explodes.. and is caughht unawares as the hound creature levels its stare at him!
Mikail cries out as wounds open across his body, but he still charges in, poking out with his rapier!
Mikail's strike misses as the Hound slips bonelessly to the side. Karnhia's lightning bolt hits! But the agile Hound dodges to avoid the worse of it!
ROUND 2:
Garret, Zora and Ferabras are up!
The Hound takes a couple knocks from Garret and one from Ferabras, but seems to fight onward!
The Hound growls and lunges at Ferabras!
for damage!
for damage!
for damage!
Round 2:
Garret, Zora, Ferabras
FOES
Mikail, Karnhia
Between Mikail's strike and the rattling bones spell cast by Karnhia, the Hound lets out a low piteous moan and collapses, its body rapidly dissolving into a puddle of goo!
The inn becomes still once more, though you hear the sounds of movement downstairs. A moment later the innkeeper, clad in a nightshirt, comes barreling upstairs wielding a cleaver. "What in the name of the Lady of Stars is this?!" He yells, looking wildly at the bloodied corpse and the pile of goo.
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”Creatures of darkness, come seeking us in your inn, I fear,“ Ferabras says, laying a healing hand on his own side as he speaks, in case more foes appear. Looking to be sure all of his companions are safe, he continues, ”We aim to go to them and defeat them, so that they won’t trouble you or this city further. In the meantime, perhaps you could provide me with a sack, and I’ll do what I can about this mess in your hallway.“
The innkeeper pales as he realizes the pile of goo and gore was once a living thing. He nods curtly and rushes back downstairs, only to be violently ill below. He returns looking paler and shaky, holding a sack and a mop and bucket of soapy water.
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Zora absently touches Ferabras on one bare shoulder, murmuring to Pharasma as she goes.
"It seems the hunter becomes the hunted, and so forth. What of this dead woman...?"
Zora will crouch to inspect the cultist and her belongings, from the strange sickle sword to anything else she might have had on her person. If necessary, she will get answers by contacting the woman's soul...
The corpse holds: scrolls of cure moderate wounds (3), scroll of invisibility, +1 leather armor, mwk spider-leg sickles (2), ring of protection +1, 38 gp.
She has no other identification, but her remains are fading from view, as a shadow does when exposed to light!
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Ferabras gives Zora a nod of thanks as she heals him - yet again. He sets to cleaning up the bloody mess on the hallway floor, but soon stops, as the remains begin to fade away. ”Well, that is unsettling,“ he says quietly, ”but it does make cleanup easier.“
”Anyone have any idea what just happened? What was she, and what did she want?“ he asks his friend, dropping the now-clean mop into the bucket. ”I am sorry I struck her down before we could ask her these questions, but she may not have told us much in any case.“
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Kharnia sighs as she attempts to hold her torn bedclothes together, taking care to make herself as small as possible when one does not wish to clean the mess one makes. "We were attacked by creatures from a twisted dreamland Dragul meu. She bled red, so she must have been human. She disappeared so another must have claim to her body, and possibly her soul. As to what she wanted, that part is easy." She smiles mirthlessly. "To stop us. Get the book. This much is clear." She straightens her shoulders and winces as her wounds make themselves known again now that the adrenaline rush has subsided. "Now if you'll excuse me, there are times where wearing unflattering rags is acceptable, perhaps even enticing to some, but this is not one of them." She stares at her companions with a predatory smile. "No matter how enticing the view. Good night." And without another word, she returns to her room to change into something that has not been torn by an extraplanar dog and finish her night's rest.
After checking, it seems you still have the key and the book. Unless there's anything else you want to do, you can head back to sleep.
Except...
Your sleep is troubled by nightmares and dark dreams. Normally Madame Carrington and her baku assistant guard your dreams, but now they seem to have relinquished their role and you awaken the next morning with a sense of foreboding...
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Fera digests Karnhia's explanation, abruptly turning his eyes away in case she should mistake his attentive listening for unsavory peeking, grateful that his red skin hides even the most extreme blushes.
When Garret suggests checking to see whether the book and key have been stolen in the commotion, Fera joins him in making sure of this, remarking, "This is why it is useful to travel with Pathfinders of many stripes, as I would never have thought of such a ploy. But I agree, perhaps a visit to Madame Carrington is a good idea. And once we're sure she's safe, we can tell her about our nighttime visitors and see if she can add to our understanding."
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Kharnia, before going to bed, takes the hefty book she and Zora had been studying and places it in her handy haversack before going to bed. "Let us hope that an extradimentional space is enough to shield it from view."
As her companions discuss the restless night they have endured, a wary, disheveled Kharnia walks on down from her room, stating angrily as she makes her way towards the door: "Those motherless cal-cosoș must have gone after Doamna Carrington. We need to be there now."
Gathering yourselves, you head over to Madame Carrington's shop. As usual Maynard answers the door, but he looks haggard. When you ask to see Madame Carrington, he sighs deely. "I suppose you better see for yourselves."
The room is in tattered disarray; Carrington’s furniture is overturned, her accoutrements scattered, and the spiritualist herself pinned beneath her sofa. Her body is horribly twisted and her wide eyes locked in terrible fear, but she is alive, though unresponsive and impossible to awaken.
Maynard stops and waits, just outside the ring of flowers around Madame Carrington's overturned sofa, his eyes downcast.
Maynard sighs deeply. “We were asleep, and they just walked into the dream sanctuary… the hag… her bloody children… and a terrible shadow of a man…” His eyes flare as his features darken and the color drains from the room. Maynard swallows an uncapped potion, disappearing into the resulting gloom.
Round 1:
Mikail, Garret, Ferabras, Karnhia
Maynard
Zora
Ferabras' strike hits something solid and a splash of red blood appears on the ground. Zora blesses the party, and Garret becomes wooden. But Maynard doesn't respond.
Karnhia's enhanced sight sees many, many things. Maynard stands in the spot where Ferabras hit, looking ill. Something lurks over him, eldritch strings connecting to the poor Maynard like a marionette. It's a dark, shadowy figure and seems half into this plane, half out. Also standing over the prone form of Madame Carrington is a night hag. Small children, their throats cut and town, cling to her robes! She seems to be ghostly, leading you to believe she's on the ethereal planes.
Maynard moves aside, slipping to flank Ferabras with one of the strange plants, which seems to be coming alive... The odd crimson and violet flowers all begin to puff with pollen, which explodes into the room!
Maynard suddenly becomes visible as he plunges his short sword at Ferabras!
for sneak attack damage! However the thick armor of the paladin turns aside the blade!
Round 2:
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Ferabras ignores the soporific effects of the plant pollen! Hoping to not hurt Maynard further, the red-skinned tiefling steps next to the poor fellow, getting closer to where the weird creature controlling him is supposed to be. Ferabras swings his blade at the space, hoping to kill whatever is controlling Maynard!
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"Maynard is just a puppet, you can find the real foe above!" coughs Kharnia as she points to the shadowy creature manipulating the phantom. "Invisible to the eye! They... Gods..." she says, her voice reduced to a whisper as she turns to look at the thing threatening the fortune-teller before yelling: ""
Her gun clear her holster as she calls upon the winds of the Path of Angahei.
Unfortunately, try as they might, Ferabras and Karnhia cannot pierce the ethereal plane!
Maynard sobs, but cannot help himself!
Round 2:
Mikail, Garret, Ferabras, Karnhia
Maynard
Zora
He attacks Ferabras again!
for damage!
The plants try to sting at anyone in range, thorns whipping violently.
for damage and acid damage!
for damage and acid damage!
for damage and acid damage!
for damage and acid damage!
for damage and acid damage!
for damage and acid damage!
One of the plants creeps toward poor sleeping Garret, beginning to cover him slowly but surely!
Round 3!
Inexplicably, Maynard's willpower is enough to resist the slumbering hexual power!
Ferabras cuts the plant to tiny plant pieces, while Zora recognizes that Garret only seems to be asleep and should be easily woken with a nudge.
Garret dreams of strange vistas, where terrifying spider gods rule and hags steal souls.
Round 3:
Mikail, Garret, Ferabras, Karnhia
Maynard
Zora
Maynard stabs at Ferabras again, sobbing.
for damage!
The remaining plants crawl toward Garret and try to wrap him up!
Two of the plants lash out!
for damage and acid damage!
for damage and acid damage!
Garret smashes one of the plants into green goo and dirt!
Round 4:
Mikail, Garret, Ferabras, Karnhia
Maynard
Zora