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Bash closes his eyes, his feeble attempt at avoiding the little puff of fire in his direction. His eyebrows singed, sending up the putrid smell of burnt hair combined with... vanilla? Or something. "That's what you call 'breathin fire' man? That's hardly enough to cook a marshmellow!"
He looks towards Natalia as she mentions flanking "Yer gonna hafta do that girly, not enough space with that fence here... if its still smokin that is!" He says with a deep bellied laugh as he tries to make this thing disappear just like the last.
His swing goes wide though, taking out a few slats in the fence as he does. "Just makin' an escape route Father!" He hollers back into the house.
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Eagle claws and bits at it, dealing it damage!
The Eagle and Natalia manage to bring down the Jack-o'-Lantern, but it has one final say. As it explodes being brought down into firey spores of pumpkin bits.
Bash and the Eagle are stunned for one round, and take 7 points (2 for the eagle, due to it's resistances). Kalak and Natalia are not stunned and only take 3 unless you have resistances or evasion.
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Bash catches a face full of fire and pumpkin as his swing is off the mark Ow. After a few moments of his ears ringing and his vision flashing, he starts combing the bits out of his beard and wiping his earthbreaker off on the grass from the small pumpkin "Aye don't mention it Father, sorry 'bout yer fence..." He adds in after his wounds are mended.
"Where'd all them things come from? We should check while the trail is still fresh!" He starts looking around in the grass for clues from where they came.
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"I agree with Bash! Besides..." N'Ing holds his right index finger up to his eyes, wiggling it and inspecting it closely, "...looks like I'm gonna have to test this baby out a few more times. No way I shoulda missed with that ray, regardless of how nimble that gourd was! Gotta find out if I need to take it into the shop for repairs."
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"I think you're right. We should pursue this. As... unnerving as that was, we can't let them get the jump on us again!" Tenibri takes a few moments to go over the map with Father Bertinard one last time. "So you see the pattern here, right? Can you make sure to warn anyone else whose homes might be in the way? No more casualties; that's the plan."
After finishing with Father Bertinard, Tenibri looks ready to follow the trail to--hopefully--the source.
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Kalak bows to Father Bertinard as he heals her burns. There is a strange mix of gratitude, confusion at what just happened and annoyance at her apparent lack of use all showing at once on her face. As usual, she quietly listens to the others before chiming in to give her assent. "While we shouldn't forget the reason for our being here, I'm certain the Society wouldn't want us to stand by idly while these things roam. Whatever you think is best suited, I will follow."
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As your packing up the father notices something and handing these to you. The pieces of the pumpkins may not have the eerie undeath glow to them but they do have an odd glow to them. He asks that you take them with you.
These are an oil of continual flame, and an elixir of fire breath. Also one of the patches of moss that was dropped by the jack-o'-lantern acts as if false life (Cl 3rd).
As Bash single minded follows the trail, some thinking he may be a ranger in disguise for the ability to zoom in on where it is going.
Along the trail you do find a pumpkin patch, A bumper crop of pumpkins and other gourds fills this field. Some of the pumpkins have been smashed open.
A plant type creature is walking among the fields smashing the pumpkins with a wooden mallet that looked like it may have come from a nearby house. The plant creature is covered in pumpkin bits, flying seeds as is it's mallet.
Upon seeing the party approaching, it sets down the mallet and attempting to frantically pantomime something about the pumpkins.
This is a gourdy leashy, the a Neutral small plant creatures. As before 5+, let me know what you want to know.
You realize the leashy is attempting to communicate with you and that the splattering of seed and pumpkin bits, the leshy is covered in means it's been destroying pumpkins.
The leashy has around it's neck a rainbow assortment of feathers!
You realize the feathers are arranged in the same color combinations as most of the Sheylnite displays around here.
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Bash continues to follow the trail until stepping in a smooshed pumpkin "What the f%%*... I'm starting to hate punkins..." He stops to wipe the orange gunk smeared all over his heavy boots onto the old pumpkin vines in the field. The sound of a hollow 'thwack' brings his attention to the north.
Bash ducks his head instinctively and his grip tightens on his pumpkin crusher, whispering as he does "Quiet down back there ya bunch of cornstalk tramplin kids! We got us a gourdy leashy up there smashin punkin's... guess he likes colored feathers, take a look at that necklace!"
He stops and looks at the others, especially F'Ing, for a few tense moments before nodding and whispering "Sure as shit, that does have a good ring to it.. smashin punkins!"
Realizing the thing sees them and is trying to communicate, Bash stands back up to full height and drops the whispering "Any a you guys speak... whatever the f&*+ that thing is sayin?"
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N'Ing is perfectly perplexed at this being which stands before the party, but is in good hopes it is friendly.
"What a fascinating being! I have no clue what it is or it's intentions, but I like the fact that it is smashing the pumpkins. That seems to bode well for any belief that it would bear ill will toward us. Maybe "he" will join us in our quest!?"
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Kalak stops at the edge of the field and stares at the plant creature for a moment. Hearing the comments of her companions, she mutters, "It sure doesn't look threatening."[b] She then raises her voice slightly to address the little one, though in her usual quivering voice, [b]"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're trying to say. What's going on?"
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"I've been following the bad Jack-o'-Lanterns not the good ones that have been made by the nice villagers. These ones are bad ones and just want to hurt people. I'm good leashy! My name is Feather Seed. I just usually live out here around things but like to listen to the villagers and their festivals but bad-bad Jack-o'-Lanterns want to hurt them then no more nice songs and dances." Comes across in rapid fire Sylvan once he realizes someone might actually speak it.
For non-Sylvan speakers...rapid fire wisps and sounds with lots of exaggerated movement by it's hands including one stomping on one of the pumpkins.
He's clearly upset over what has been going on, and may need to be calmed down. Diplomacy or Knowledge Nature will help (same bonuses as before for sylvan or drudic.
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Tenibri takes the pumpkin, gourd, and moss bits from Father Bertinard, thanking him. "You have a good eye, Father. These could prove to be very useful!"
Tenibri starts to speak up, trying to explain what he's able to figure out about the gourd leshy and it's abilities and intent, but every time he opens his mouth, one or another of the party speaks up first. By the time everyone else is done speaking, Tenibri has nothing new to share.
Following Natalia's lead, Tenibri joins in her attempt to calm the leshy down. He too stomps on one of the pumpkins, showing that they share the same goals. Knowing his words won't be understood, he still explains himself, hoping if nothing else that the tone will convey some of the party's intent.
"Yes! We're with you. We've seen what these gourds can do, and we want to help with the problem. Do you know the solution? Is it just smashing all of the pumpkins? The town won't be happy to lose their harvest, but it's better than some crazy undead mind-control moss!"
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Kalak observes the leshy for a while more, trying to make sense of the pantomime. "Looks like this poor thing met the same things we did."
She looks at the others breaking pumpkins in a show of solidarity and turns to Bash, who is ready to break more. "I don't think breaking all the pumpkins will help anyone."
Then she turns back to the leshy and attempts to make her voice as soft as possible, all the while unsure if the thing understands her. "That must have been scary. But they're gone now. We met them and sent them back where they came from."
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You get the feeling that as it's little head is changing from speaker to speaker he may indeed be able to understand you but not able to speak back in common.
He nods as your talking, and then when it's mentioned that they were sent back he shakes his head in the negative and then motions to follow him picking up his little mallet and leading you towards the swamp.
As they are walking along, Feather Seed moves up to Tenebri and hands him a smaller gourd that has the symbol of Shelyn carved in it.
This gourd has been hollowed out and carved with the symbol of a good-aligned deity. It sheds light as a candle. If the gourd is smashed onto the ground, the 20-foot radius area around the crushed gourd is affected as if by a consecrate spell for 10 hours, and all non-evil creatures in the area gain the benefits of remove fear for 5 rounds. This magic item is often crafted from a pumpkin, though other types of gourds, or even large turnips, can be used.
Aura: faint evocation (good)
Feather Seed looks about the party as they are walking along, looking for any feathers in particular. If he doesn't find any he will start to pick up the all of two he finds in their walk and attempts to hand it to the PCs.
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He shakes his head, holds the feathers out that he has around his neck in almost a warding like motion as if a cleric would present a holy symbol but in the direction of the swamp that he's leading you to.
It appears that the leashy believes these will ward against evil.
The leashy seems to believe superstitiously but perhaps based in a little bit of fact that his 'symbol' will help protect against evil.
He has led you all to a clearing in the swamp, there appears to be the remnants of a burnt out cabin on the far side.
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"A bunch of feathers protectin ya from evil?" He bangs loudly on his banded mail armor with his giant hammer "THESE protect ya from evil! HA!"
After stomping around through a swamp Bash seems to be even pissier than usual, his favorite iron-shod boots soaked and muddy up to his left knee, thanks to a hidden muck hole.
"Someone's burnt out ol' huntin' camp? All this way fer that? Better not be no f@@&in' joke punkin head!"
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"Bash, I actually think that is an effective talisman against evil. Belief can do powerful things, especially when backed by Golarion's powerful deities."
He studies the burnt-out cabin, turning to the leshy. "Is this where the evil is coming from? Is there something in there?" He looks for signs of the moss, or anything else to connect this place with the evil that's been happening in town.
He seems ready to go inside, but looks unwilling to lead the way, waiting patiently for someone to enter first.
__________
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"If you guys think there's an ass to be kicked in there then I'm ready to kick it! But first lemme figure out how this thing works..."
Bash hands the trinket to Tenibri "You seem to know your shit, make this thing work! Who don't wanna be a tougher motherf$~@er?"
As he heads to the shack he checks the ground for any tracks or things of interest that sticks out in the swamp.
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If you look over at the red star on the map.
This is an alter to the Hag Goddess Gyronna, The goddess Gyronna is also known as The Angry Hag, and for good reason. She is not a popular deity as many fear her and her clergy, which is entirely female These are usually the throwaways of society: disfigured prostitutes, wives caught in adultery, pregnant teenagers disowned by their parents, and so forth. Priestesses are renowned for their ability to foster hatred and turn friend against friend. Her priestesses are also known to swap young babies for hideous monstrous creatures birthed from their own womb. The priesthood itself has no canon or book of scripture, or temples; instead, they favor small shrines of simple piled stones.
What you do see as you've approached the burnt out building is four figures almost devoid of any skin or muscles and bits of cloth hanging from aged and weathered bone.
One seems to be shedding a bit of darkened light from it's form follows it around as it moves.
These are your run of the mill skeletons. If you get +5, let me know what you want to know about them.
This appears to be a Burning Skeleton. If you get +5, let me know what you want to know about them.
[u]Initiative[/u]
Little Guys
BS with Aura
Tenibri
Natalia
Lyte
Kalak
Bash
All the bad guys will move forward, so then we have the party.
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Bash rubs the weird moss on his arms as instructed, and gets a tingly feeling. "That's it? This magic stuff's such Bullshit!"
He tosses the used moss to the ground with a laugh and heads towards the buildings "Hey, what the hell are those things? They don't look so healthy, don't let 'em touch ya, they're prolly diseased!"
He moves ahead 40', twirling his earthbreaker between his massive fists as he goes, a smile on his face. "Time ta go to war boys!"
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"The altar is to the hag goddess Gyronna, that religion fosters hatred and vengeance." Natalia explains to the others, "The creatures to the west are skeletons, except the one on fire, which is a burning skeleton. Try to kill it first from range otherwise it'll burn us up!"
After explaining what she knows, Natalia equips herself with a dagger in one hand and a wand of Cure Light Wounds in the other. She also moves a little behind Bash.
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N'Ing shakes his head in disgust.
"An altar to Gyronna, the hag goddess. It is sad when society itself creates its own monsters through its hasty judgement of others and unbalanced distribution of power. Especially in this case, as her faithful are made up, most often, of the women it finds so easy to discard. Disfigured prostitutes, marred by the very men who threw them out...adulteress wives, a lot of whom were married to adulterers themselves...unwed pregnant teenagers, a good portion of which, most likely, who weren't given the choice in the act that brought them with child...
When you honestly dissect what is going on behind the veils of the decisions of menfolk...Gyronna can almost be seen as a hero."
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Natalia had effectively informed everyone of the threats, so Tenibri just put his focus on the one that he knew the most about; that burning skeleton. He immediately called to mind a couple of spells that might be useful, but wasn't close enough for any, so put his effort to moving closer.
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"Blow's up eh? WATCH ME BLOW UP THIS ONE HA!" Bash, happy to finally be doing something he enjoys, moves up past the little quiet girl, and swings his oversized hammer, from right to left. "Lets see good these things move with no spine eh?"
His weapon connects with the sound of someone breaking dried branches over their knee... "Ooo that don't look good..."
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Tenibri eyes the burning skeleton, happy that he's prepared a spell that preys on its very weakness. His eyes glaze briefly as he murmurs an incantation accompanied by some arcane hand gestures.
You conjure a ball of packed ice and snow that you can throw at a single target as a ranged touch attack. The snowball deals 1d6 points of cold damage per caster level (maximum 5d6) on a successful hit, and the target must make a successful Fortitude saving throw or be staggered for 1 round.
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As Bash and Kalak move forward to engage the skeletons, they are close enough for the effect around the burning skeleton activates.
Kalak and Natalia hear the sounds of furious screaming start coming from the area of burning skeleton.
The additional aura around the Burning Skeleton is a Haunt that activates when you are in range.
Bash bashes the one skeleton into little itty bits with the earthshaker. Lyte and Tenibri's affects go wide of the burning skeleton. Kalak misses on her attacks as she realize its already falling apart.
Initiative
Normal Skeletons
Burning Skeleton (with yet an additional aura of something...)
Tenibri
Natalia
Lyte
Haunt
Kalak
Bash
Shaken for one round.
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Kalak winces at her lack of good reflexes as she looks at the empty space she tried to hit, the skeleton turned to dust and blown into what little wind there is. She draws both of her kamas, steps up to the burning skeleton and attacks it with the cold iron one.
Edit: Oops, forgot the -2 on that roll. So it's 18.
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Bash throws the burning skeleton a worried glance as he skirts around the edge of its weird aura "That thing gives me the f%++in willies! If I was you, I'd beat it down from far away!" He gives a slight shiver as he loads up to make another pile of bones disappear beneath his massive hammer.
"STEEEEEERIKE!" He hollers as he lines the hammer head up perfectly, pile-driving down through the skull, and driving the spine and femurs into the soft earth.
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Tenibri tries again, repeating the same words and gestures to call another snowball into his hand. He tries to take more care with his aim this time when he throws it at the burning skeleton.
You conjure a ball of packed ice and snow that you can throw at a single target as a ranged touch attack. The snowball deals 1d6 points of cold damage per caster level (maximum 5d6) on a successful hit, and the target must make a successful Fortitude saving throw or be staggered for 1 round.
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"Ah, the creature itself is the center of a Haunt! That's a new one to me. I think I have something for this though..." Natalia explains to the others, trailing off as she digs a Haunt Siphon from her backpack.
"I'm not sure if this will be enough, but it is worth a shot." She adds as she steps 5 feet into the Haunt aura and opens her Haunt Siphon