"Ah, Mister Magee is no a pet. He's a bit more ta me like a mentor. A guide? Nah, those be the wrong words, but he bein' a bit a my connection to the starry sky. Hard ta explain if ya never feel it. But I suppose sometimes you do see families that'll keep other dinos for guards or company. They are fickle though and sometimes turn on their masters." She grins and her eyes narrow, "A bit like anyone found too long under a cruel yoke. But then, they be showin' us a bit about our primitive selves: tha' all folks would choose to be free."
Elleross chews thoughtfully on the stem of his pipe, puffing slightly and letting the smoke drift around him.
ahh, I think I see. So he is some kind of familiar? I know there are many who utilise various animals and totems to improve their abilities or to gain a deeper understanding of their beliefs.
It is not an avenue I have ever had the opportunity to explore , I have always had to forge my own path, so to speak.
You have the ability to heal? Do you prey to your gods for these abilities or do you draw power from the land?
Our friend Nasrin had an affinity for nature, she was wild and fiercely loyal to her pack. To us. She used to say she drew her power from the spirits of the land he says as he remembers the wild girl, he missed her straightforward no nonsense attitude and her fierce protectiveness.
"Do ya mean pray like a priest? Nay, tha's no how it be. More like, with some inspiration from this one," Her hand strokes Mister Magee's neck, "I can bring about some healing, or use that some power ta make an enemy's head spin. Mostly he be sharin' secrets a' the worlds beyond this one, the ones framed in a night sky." She listens intently to Elleross' description of their slain friend. "She sounds tha' she knew the value of good friends, and even family."
Grayston sets his eye's on the strange creature, listening to Lucrezzia story of where she came from and how she came about having such an animal.. "That's quite a fascinating creature you have there." He says staring at the creature but not moving any closer. "I've always been fascinated by 'familiars' As Elleross said. Their a magical connection to something greater..." He trails off as he starts to write in his note book.
He then pipes up. "Nasrin was special.. ever tenacious, she taught us all a lot."
"Yeah she was." Corum says solemnly and returns to sharpening his axe.
Sapphire appears lost in thought, a single tear trickles its way down her cheek but she wipes it off with the back of her hand.
If we've rested, we should move on.
she stands and stretches.
Let's try south first then, if there's no other suggestions
Sapphire leads the group south of where they camped and down a narrow, twisting staircase until it opens out.
Flickering light fills this cavern, emanating from the eye sockets of nine skulls hanging from chains staked into the walls with iron spikes.
Huge stone menhirs form a ring about the perimeter of the chamber, catching the candlelight and tearing it into swaths of wavering shadow. The gutted corpses of two frost giants hang from two of the menhirs, facing each other from the east and west. Bound to the massive stones with rusted chains, the giants are soaked in their own blood, which flows into the center of the room to disappear into a huge pile of wilted wildflower blossoms.
The farmgirl said there were frost giants in Artrosa... notes Sapphire as she circles the menhirs cautiously.
Well, this doesn't appear to lead anywhere. Perhaps we should return to another door?
Corum looks up at the giants and says "Rather them than me. This smells like witch work to me though. We should leave, there's nothing here."
"I don't want to bump into whatever did this to the giants."
"There must be more here than what we see. Nothing so far is what it seems."
"Well, I will say this for Artrosa: I really don't have any idea what we're going to see next. Sweet Desna, that's awful close to the same treatment Nazhena gave the other two Riders back in Whitethrone."
I agree Greyston, we should be away from here as soon as we can, someone or something did this and may be back soon...
she moves to leave but then stops
It makes me think though, how will we know the keys we need? Otherwise we might walk past a small picture or a rolling pin or a bloodied spike and never know we need it for the hut...
"It may sound foolish, but mayhap we be needin' something in this room?" Lucrezzia moves to enter the room.
0 arcane mark, light,detect magic, disrupt undead
1- featherfall
Grease
Mage armour
Magic missile x3
2- create pit
Mirror image x2
Scorching Ray x2
3- dispel magic X 2
Haste x2
Spiked pit
4 - ball lightning
Emergency force sphere x2
Elleross looks at the corpses with a morbid fascination.
is this is a warning? an example to those who would invade this place. Or some kind of sacrifice? he wonders as the others debate what to do.
we have no idea what we are looking for which makes this place all the more dangerous. I'm afraid we may have to examine everything we come across.
These bodies are here for a reason, an example or a sacrifice? Who knows. But we must be cautious he says as he casts a simple spell and tries to determine if there is any arcane power at work here
Greyston and Elleros turn their attention to the menhirs. Despite the grisly sacrifice - or whatever it is - the stones clearly have some meaning that the pair try to deduce.
Greyston cannot tell however, though it is clearly a place of significance. Elleros casts a spell and yet again, the towering strength of arcane energy that suffuses this place overwhelms him and he staggers to prop himself up against the standing stones, inadvertently placing his hand in the thick, coagulating blood.
As Elleros falters, the surface of the blood pool wavers slightly but none of the group notice, concerned as they are with the elderly wizard being suddenly overwhelmed.
The surface of the pool erupts in a cascade of crimson and standing there is a beautiful, terrifying creature, naked and black-skinned, a wicked grin on her face and hands ending in wicked claws.
The woman, or creature, is heart-breakingly stunning, but destructive, like a forest fire that dances along the horizon. You cannot tear your eyes from her and for Greyston, Corum and Lucrezzia her beauty is devastating, striking them blind!
Come to me my lovers, I am aching for you! Come as these foolish giants did. the creature says seductively before laughing at the plight of Corum, Greyston and Lucrezzia.
She then claps her hands and a massive cascade of stones and rubble rain down on the collective group.
Difficult terrain, obstacles, and poor visibility can hamper movement (see Table: Hampered Movement for details). When movement is hampered, each square moved into usually counts as two squares, effectively reducing the distance that a character can cover in a move.
In some situations, your movement may be so hampered that you don't have sufficient speed even to move 5 feet (1 square). In such a case, you may use a full-round action to move 5 feet (1 square) in any direction, even diagonally. Even though this looks like a 5-foot step, it's not, and thus it provokes attacks of opportunity normally. (You can't take advantage of this rule to move through impassable terrain or to move when all movement is prohibited to you.)
You can't run or charge through any square that would hamper your movement.
She then moves back toward the rear of the chamber.
This is a nymph. Though a far cry from the glorious wood spirits you have read about. She has been debased and is entirely evil.
Debased fey, sometimes called dark or unseelie fey, are malevolent and evil creatures of nature. Once happy, carefree, and joyous like many other fey, the debased followed a dark path into evil; a seed purportedly planted by a dark god in an attempt to corrupt and misalign the pure and good fey of the world. Debased fey seethe with hatred for good–aligned fey and seek to destroy or kill them at every opportunity. A debased fey is almost indistinguishable from a normal fey of its kind, save that its eyes burn red-fueled with a hatred for life, love, and all that is pure. Its skin darkens, changing to a deep gray or black. Its fingernails blacken and its hands reshape into wicked talons. Its teeth become jagged and pointed and they become powerful melee combatants.
They are still beautiful and that beautiful can be overwhelming, permanently blinding those who look on them. Only cold iron can fully hurt them and they have at their disposal a variety of spell like abilities to make them formidible
Del laments mournfully, "Why is that everything beautiful repeatedly tries to kill me?" Shaking his head at his sad lot in life, he hustles through the tumbled ground to try and circle around the ring of standing stones without crossing through them.
HP: 48/48
AC: 19 (15 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 21
F/R/W: +8/+10/+6
Grit remaining: 2/2
Healing Amulet charges remaining: 3/3
Regular bolts remaining: 50/80
Cold Iron bolts: 40/40
tangle bolts: 3
tracer bolts: 4
Ongoing Effects
Vigilant Loading
Gunslinger Initiative
Favored Terrain (cold): +2 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Even if I did swing your way, your nails really need clipping... let me get that for you!
Sapphire holds out both arms, her blade glows and burts in to flame, and from her other hand a projectile of pure force pulses through the air at the evil fey.
Sapphire snaps through the air to land next to the creature and her blade lashes out at the thing's face, whisper quick.
3rd (3)-
2nd (5)- bladed dash, bladed dash, blur, blur, mirror image
1st (5)— burning hands, shield, shield, shocking grasp, shocking grasp
Graytston shouts out as he is stricken blind by the creature. "I'm blind" He shouts out bring his hands to his eye's as he steps back wards dropping to the ground for safety.
Suddenly everything goes dark and Corum shouts "Can't see!"
He starts running his eyes frantically as the sounds of battle begin to fill the chamber.
Elleross shields his head as best he can as the rocks slam into him and he staggers under the onslaught.
she is a Tainted Nymph, utterly evil and ruthless. Use cold iron if you have it! he calls out
Corum, Greyston stay where you are. We will help you once we have dealt with the nymph
augendae, celeritate ,tempora [/b]
Drawing upon his arcane skill he weaves a spell and unleashes it upon his companions, quickening their actions
Lucrezzia cries out as she is struck blind, then she staggers to her right.
Sapphire crosses the distance between the stricken group and the debased nymph in the blink of an eye, darting across the rubble and blood pool, pulled on an invisible hook of pure force that digs into the creature's flesh.
She follows it up with two quick slashes but they seem to cause almost no damage, only scorching her from the flames that lick along the Black Blade's surface.
The nymph ducks and rolls, showing extraordinary agility to escape Sapphire's blade, but not before she casts a malicious glance over her shoulder at the swordswoman.
Success
Fail
Sapphire is caught unawares and staggers backward, her blade slipping from her grasp. The whole world seems to swim around her and she is almost overwhelmed by a sudden sense of vertigo.
Del skates back a step, out of the deadly fey's reach and looses a hail of bolts he knows typically can harm fey. The creature is achingly beautiful though, and Del's aim proves to be shaky at best.
HP: 48/48
AC: 20 (16 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 21
F/R/W: +8/+11/+6
Grit remaining: 2/2
Healing Amulet charges remaining: 3/3
Regular bolts remaining: 50/80
Cold Iron bolts: 33/40
tangle bolts: 3
tracer bolts: 4
Ongoing Effects
Vigilant Loading
Gunslinger Initiative
Favored Terrain (cold): +2 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
point blank shot: +1/+1
deadly aim: -2/+4
haste: +1 to hit, +1 AC, +1 Ref Saves, +30ft movement
With the terrible beauty closing in on him, Del loses some of his legendary cool and his shots are rushed and snapped and fly wide of the mark.
Grayston scrabbles back away from the fighting, unsure of whats happening.
Elleross sees Sapphire reel from the Nymphs gaze and as her weapon falls to the ground he knows they are in trouble.
Corum! Sapphire is in trouble, she looks stunned. She has dropped her blade!
You need to make your way around the outer wall, keep moving to your right and you will find her. You need to get to Sapphire and try and protect her if you can, if you hear anything near you try and hit it
He calls out, hoping the warrior can do something, even if it is to take the brunt of the Nymphs attacks.
Magia Vis, Potestas ictus! he calls out the words of the spell, augmenting it as he does so, boosting its power and a barrage of missiles leap toward the fey
Corum shakes his head and stumbles toward the sound of
Fighting, sight or no sight he intends to do battle.
Lucrezzia tries to get as close as she can focusing on the dark dryad's taunting and she unleashes her favorite hex. It only hurts them if they be tryna' hurt us!
Elleros' magic missiles slam into the nymph and though clearly causing her pain and to stagger, she has felt the kiss of Cold Iron before and sets her sights on the bowman who threatened her with it before, seeing him as the main threat now that the warriors were dealt with.
Hit
Her bloody claw suddenly glows a pale blue and frigid mist begins swirling around it. Her touch is deathly cold on Del's skin and he feels the chill settle deep into his bones.
Del's lips chatter as he chides, his charming grin oddly blue-tinged, "I-i-i-ifff you w-wanted to ho-hold ha-hands, all you h-had to do w-w-was ask!" He skates back another step and pops another bolt free at the fey.
HP: 31/48
AC: 20 (16 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 21
F/R/W: +8/+11/+6
Grit remaining: 1/2
Healing Amulet charges remaining: 3/3
Regular bolts remaining: 50/80
Cold Iron bolts: 32/40
tangle bolts: 3
tracer bolts: 4
Ongoing Effects
Vigilant Loading
Gunslinger Initiative
Favored Terrain (cold): +2 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
point blank shot: +1/+1
deadly aim: -2/+4
haste: +1 to hit, +1 AC, +1 Ref Saves, +30ft movement
Grayston continues to take cover on the floor as he hears his friends continue to fight, he can only feel his uselessness.
Incanting the same spell again Elleross unleashes another cluster of magic missiles that once more slam into the nymph.
He only hopes they can hold on until Sapphire recovers.
Sapphire! Try and snap out of it! We need you he calls out
Lucrezzia begins to question whether coming in here was a good decision...
Corum stumbles toward the centre of the chamber, he drops his axe and
Blindly swings his arms around him hoping to find the fey.
"Corum! Follow Mister Magee!" Lucrezzia shouts to the barbarian, then she whispers to her guide, Go camp at the dread nymph's feet and call for Corum to get close!" As she releasses Mister Magee, she whispers a spell.
The little 'saurus scurries across the room and get under the dryad's feet. He then begins hissing and menacing, but never touching or attacking the twisted fey.