Razif swings with his scimitar! "It's alright! We'll take this thing down!"
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Rab-rab screams out again as she blasts the floating horror with her aerokinesis.
Min screeches as well as his burst of radiant energy limns the thing.
A burst of light blooms within the fog cloud well behind the creature. It's at this point that Razif's scimitar swings out.
The blade flashes true, but it passes clean through the thing without connecting. Layaali wakes up with a start.
Rab-Rab screams and shots the ... thing.
Hearing screams, Layaali staggers up to her feet. She looks around, wondering for a moment if her vision had once again receded. Deciding this is something else, she activates her halo.
Drael begins to glow with blue energy as he raises his axe and brings it down towards their mysterious attacker.
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As Layaali concentrates on finding the gnomes via Rab-rab's screams, she discerns a moaning dirge-like sound coming from the same place.
Drael's axe misses the billowy form.
The thing shrieks like a crash of lightning then lashes out at Rab-rab!
Icy claws carve into the pink-topped gnome before the thing pushes away from the plateau edge, floating effortlessly in the buffeting winds. The fog cloud peels away from around Layaali.
As the creature falls back, Razif tries to strike!
"W-w-we might need magic to take this thing out!" Razif mutters through his chattering teeth. He rushes back to his sleeping place to get his bow, but before picking it up, enchants it with his Touch of Flame.
Is that alright, GM, or am I getting my actions wrong somewhere? Just checking :)
Rab-rab shots.
Layaali moves up behind her companions at the fringes of the cloud and prays, blessing their endeavours.
Min pauses and thinks....
Drael waits for the creature to re-emerge from the darkness, on edge as he hears its keening moans move further away from the group.
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Razif lashes out at the retreating form, his scimitar flashing past the dread thing's form.
The bloodrager's axe reflexively strikes the thing, carving a strange wisp of fog out of its being as it whisks off into the fog. The suli then braces himself for a further attack while Rab-rab blasts wildly into the mists, her pneumatic energy failing to connect with anything of substance. The pale light of Layaali's nimbus bathes the combatants in her benevolent prayer.
Min ponders the meaning of this thing.
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As Min's eyes grow wide with realisation, the winds around them go from blustery and annoying to gale-force and dangerous! The fog cloud blows away in a blink, revealing the ghostly form floating fifteen feet above the path, arms stretched out at the party.
"Oh y-you've GOT to be kidding me!" Razif mutters, seeing his odds at hitting this thing with his arrows get blown away by these winds. Nevertheless, he moves in position and envelops his bow and arrows in flame, hoping the enchantment will outlast the winds.
Drael groans as the winds pick up, If you can't shoot it from here, I've got no chance. Min, any idea what this thing is or how to kill it?
As the windstorm blows away, Layaali catches a glimpse of the strange creature just within the boundaries of her dark vision. She shouts a prayer into the wind and, though her voice is swallowed by the storm her prayers are not—a brilliant ball of light encompasses the creature, searing its form!
Rab-rab shots the thing.
it's a eddimu! they are dead genie's unable to return to their home plane they also control storm's and are incoporeal. min yell's
Min sings a series of long notes. As he chants, his body glows with a bright, brilliant light. Then he claps his hands together! The light from Min extinguishes and a bright ball of light surrounds the monster!
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"The winds are gust of wind-quality, which means that Min and Rab-rab are knocked prone, and ranged attacks and Perception checks are at -4."
Both gnomes continue fighting from the ground after being toppled like a set of children's blocks. Layaali and Min send similar blasts of holy light at the edimmu. Rab-rab rips a futile blast of air, more in angry frustration than anything else.
The undead creature, scorched by the holy energy, screeches again as it launches forward, careening in from the edge of the plateau at such an angle to avoid the very-ready suli, despite its blinded eyesight!
"Incorporeal creatures have an innate sense of direction and can move at full speed even when they cannot see."
The edimmu seeks undying vengeance on Rab-rab!
Rab-rab desperately rolls out of the way!
With the creature in close, Layaali prays aloud to Vildeis, but rather than healing her allies, the resulting wave of energy harms the undead.
Drael quickly steps in front of Rab-rab, lashing out with his axe. His frustration with the creature's evasiveness feeds into his fury, and his axe swings wildly towards its head.
Razif attempts to fire an arrow, knowing the odds aren't in his favor.
Rab-rab stands up and five foot steps away. Then she blasts it. She's super angry. "I'll show you wind!!" she shouts.
Wind blasts away from Rab-rab's body in a circle and it looks like she's almost levitating off the ground.
"We could dismiss this creature if any of us were capable of casting dismissal!" Min shouts. "I sure can't! But I do have THIS!"
Min sings a series of long notes. As he chants, his body glows with a bright, brilliant light. Then he claps his hands together! The light from Min extinguishes and a bright ball of light surrounds the monster!
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Layaali and Min scour the lost djinni soul with positive energy as Drael hacks into it. Even Razif scores a hit with an errant arrow, but it's the angry pink-haired gnome who finishes the deal. Rab-rab explodes in a massive blast of energy that tears the edimmu apart. Unfortunately, the undead predator implodes in a pyrrhic blast that washes over the entire party!
The aasimar and the dune walker both feel bits of their essence ripped away as the edimmu screeches into oblivion. The raging windstorm calms, then blows itself out, returning the night to its previous stillness.
"Next time we are not going on gaurd"
Drael's shoulders slump with exhaustion as the battle rush begins to fade and he remembers how little sleep he has gotten. We can deal with that later, is everyone alright? Hopefully there aren't more of those things out here.
Razif shakes off the dirt from his clothes. "Everything fine here. Looks like we were right to be vigilant though, gods that was a scare." He takes a deep sigh. "I can pick up the watch from here, I'm still alright." he says, trying to ignore the strange loss of breath he's feeling.
I'm sleepy. Says Rab-rab while yawning. Lets go to bed Min.
Yeah
Layaali bids then gnomes goodnight then approaches Razif. "This evil has not been completely vanquished, nor its tie to our world completely severed. It will rejuvenate in a few days time. Time enough for us to be far away, but we should take another path home lest we encounter it again."
With a nod to Razif, she returns to the others, spares a few prayers to heal their wounds, and returns to sleep.
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Razif takes over from the gnomes' watch, taking up his bow and pegging his attention to the darkness. His watch passes with little excitement, much to the ranger's relief. Drael finishes the watch cycle with a similar lack of action, though the wind begins to blow again as the sun comes up, but not so nearly as blustery as in the evening.
The morning dawns, still and cold on the rocky plateau. The breathlessness in both Razif and Layaali's chests seems to have resolved somewhat.
The climb into the Pale Mountain range finds the party struggling to find the remnants of the mountain trail as it fades into the rocky backdrop. Somewhere within the seemingly ever-expanding horizon of intimidating grey and white peaks lies an enclave of unlikely elemental allies - the salamanders known to Beshvi. Though you've been told that it's on the north face of the tallest peak - the very peak for which the area has been named - and you can see that monstrous peak to the far northwest, the path in that direction...well, that seems to be less well-seen.
"Which way?" Layaali asks Razif, putting her faith in his vision and sense of direction.
"Good question, let me have a look." Razif takes a moment to survey the surroundings and see if he can find a good path.
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Razif surveys the horizon, consults the map, stares for a long pause at the sky, and checks the wind whistling through the stony outcroppings. Finally, he nods, assured of his position and facing, and sets off across a seemingly-pathless patch of lichen-pocked stone.
Within an hour across the unmarked rock, the trail reappears, confirming the ranger's skills and allowing the party the chance to move (and breathe) a bit easier. These lands are beautiful in a savage way, purples and blues of untouched stony promontories stretching deep into the tributaries of the Pale River as it crashes through carved canyons and coppery-grey capped peaks standing unapologetic amongst clouds of finest spun cotton. Life here claws to its own existence, whether it be flocks of mountain tarns nesting in remote aeries, thick green fingers of scrub plants sprouting out of stone faces, or subtle signs of humanoid passage along the high trail.
Indeed, more than one three-toed footprint can be seen along the way, the lack of a prominent heel indentation reminding you all of the dominant humanoid race native to the Uwaga Highlands and the Brazen Peaks - the gnoll tribes of Katapesh, largely united under the banner of the Carrion King. Your purpose in these mean lands is clear.
The day progresses swiftly, and as mid-day leads to early afternoon, the contrasting heights of the stony rises only grows, the resulting canyons appearing deeper, more intimidating, and less likely to permit natural daylight on the canyon floor. A distant roar of what you assume to be the Hammerfalls echoes around you in all directions, more prominent to your ears as you face away from the sun hanging heavy in the sky. By mid-afternoon, the origins of a deep box canyon, wide enough so as to be difficult to see all the way across, appear in the direction of your travels.
Razif stares into the distance for a bit.
"I think we need to head west from here, and then we'll eventually reach the north face... but light will fade quickly."
Drael nods, Sounds like a plan. Do you know of anywhere relatively protected where we could camp for the night?
Razif weighs their options for a while, then turns to his fellows.
"Let's try to press on a little longer towards the western lip. This part is likely to be rough no matter what we do, and the sooner we'll be through it, the better."
West it is! Wait which way is west? Rab-rab says.
"I'm afraid I don't know," Layaali remarks to Rab-rab. "Everyone says something about the sun's path, but I can't see it and most days it's hard to discern where the light's coming from. But Razif is a good guide. Wherever he's going is the way I would go."
Then she hurries after Razif, not wanting to get lost.
"Yeah it is pretty hard to tell". Min agrees
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Razif expertly picks his way along the canyon's edge to the western lip of the massive hole in the ground, aiming his path as it is lit by the dying sun. The team hustle at the ranger's heed, eager to gain some sort of cover before all goes dark. Just as the last of the sun slips beneath the teeth of the Brazen peaks, a pair of the party members (specifically, Drael and Rab-rab) spot the slightest of rustles along the opposite internal eastern wall of the cavern. Layaali smells something borne on the wind as well.
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"Look out!" Layaali exclaims.