Hexa, with his magic cast and arrow ready, had thought he was prepared for what they faced. But when the bear appeared a primal fear locked him rigi, his scales and frill flaring as the bear began it's charge...
Pabal stands there , sword in hand, looking as ready as anyone can ever be for an approaching bear.
The bear bounds down the stairs and into the clearing beside the pool. As it grows closer, it looks slaveringly eager to charge.
Not willing to charge a bear on his own Paval instead moves only a single step forward, his blade ready for the best.
The crazed bear barrels forward, a veritable storm of fur and claws, and its broad paws crash upon Ahto's chest with the force of breaking waves. The thick claws rake across the Abadaran's face and the impact bruises his ribs.
From her perch, Wonky prepares to make it rain upon the bear with her stonebow.
Sams and Ahto's attacks are foiled by the frenzy of the beast's initial surge.
Hexa steps back and begins to quickly unleash arrows upon the bear, with the first burying itself deeply in the creature's back.
Paval shuffles along the side of the fray and sneaks behind the bear, and with a lunge he plunges his blade almost to the hilt into the creature's flank.
The bear's rage is seemingly heightened by its wounds, and it rises upon its hind legs and latches onto Ahto - its claws cutting deeply into his back as the animal grabs hold. With the Abadaran seized tightly, the bear then chomps its jaws upon Ahto's shoulder.
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Wonky takes careful aim at the monstrous bear from her perch in the tree.
"Damn its eyes!" Wonky lets out a rare curse as her enchanted stone flies wide.
Down on the ground, Sprocket races to an opening and snaps its jaws at the enraged grizzly bear.
Sprocket's chaotic attack at the front haunch of the bear finds nothing but air.
Being comfortable at his position behind the Paval lashes out with his blade once more. It was easy, from his position the bear was a big wall of fur and there was no risk of hitting Ahto.
Ahto is unable to break free from the beast's mighty hold, but one of Sams' strong fists pounds into the furry monster's flank. Paval lances the bear again with his sword's slender blade.
Hexa takes a step back and continues to launch arrows at the bear, but finds no vulnerability as he strives to avoid hitting the grappled Ahto.
In a growling hiss, he commands Tal to charge forth and intervene. However, the dinosaur's whip-like tail seems unable to wound the bear through its thick hide and muscle.
The bear tightens its grasp on Ahto, crushing the Abadaran who can feel the cracking of his ribs. As his breathing becomes labored, Ahto falls unconscious.
The bear drops his body and turns to rip open a terrible, bloody wound in Tal's flank with its crimson jaws.
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Wonky watches in horror as Ahto gets crunched into unconsciousness in the bear's bloody jaws. Trembling, she loads a further alchemically-enhanced bullet into her stonebow and fires.
In the fracas below, Sprocket tears at the massive beast's haunches then backs away, preparing to race in on the next round.
Gnashing onto nothing but air, the small dog backs away, growling with his hackles raised.
Based on my understanding of these rules as written, it would seem that your healing is "paused" until you are conscious again.
With the Warchief's fall Hexa moves forward to assist. Keeping his bow but growing more lean and lithe as hair sprouted from his back. As he reached the fallen Ahto he kneeled outside the bears reach as Tal and the others kept it distracted. His glowing hand touched the fallen Ahto's head. Infusing him with Teuni's might and strength to which Hexa felt his own vitality grow lesser in doing so. His scales becoming a dimmer slate gray.
Feeling Ahto jerk beneath his hand Hexa grumbles low. "Wait for the chance."
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As Hexa works on Ahto Tal presses her attack with a heavy loud cry, feeding off Hexa's growing strength and transforming alongside her master. Hair sprouting along her back and tail as she whipped her tail at the bear in an attempt to fight it off. Her scales shine brilliantly in the dim light of the temple as she doesn't seem to be ready to back down...
Wonky's shot lands, but seems not to faze the beast. Sams continues to pound upon the bear, as Hexa rushes in to rescue his warchief. Tal barrels in and delivers a firm tail slap to distract the bear as Hexa invokes his magic drawn from devotion to Mazludeh.
Watching his Abadaran ally fall only fills Paval with grim determination, and he continues to skewer the bear’s filthy hide with his dueling sword. This last blow is too much for the crazed animal, for it shudders with one last hoarse roar of anger and pain before collapsing to the ground.
The creature seems to fold in on itself, offering one last exhalation - an almost human-sounding sigh of relief. Bizarrely, the bear begins transforming before your eyes. Its bulk shrinks and its fur recedes, leaving only a the curled up body of an incredibly old human man with a look of newfound peace in his eyes. After a fleeting moment, though, the last of his flesh and hair falls away like dust, leaving behind only a skeleton, which lasts nary longer as it too crumbles away into nothing.
The passing of the guardian lifts a pall from the shrine. The colors of the rocks and trees become more vibrant, and the algae-filled murk of the pool fades to leave crystal clear water. The heavy atmosphere you felt over the past morning and evening are gone, like a forgotten dream, and an uncanny serenity infuses the grounds of the lost temple.
The last few moments's worth of Wonky's extract carry her safely down the tree. She feels her grip slipping, but thankfully she is only a foot or two from the ground. It is not a graceful landing, but it is not a painful one, either.
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Ahto feels Hexa's healing spell close his mortal injuries, and he weakly rises to his feet as he feels Sams' hand shake him back to consciousness.
"Abadar preserve your servant," he whispers, as he grasps the Iron Key around his neck with one hand. With the other hand, he leans on his sword as a makeshift crutch until he can regain his footing.
"My thanks to you," Ahto says to Hexa. "Be at ease, Sams. I will live," he replies to the large man shaking him.
With the Guardians fall Hexa calls his companions back to protecting the small human how had the visions. Though he nearly choked as the pale rose from the ancient ruins. The murky water becoming clear caught his eye and he blinked, such a strange thing had happened. "We have drink now. Good."
Helping Ahto up as well he uses his strength to strengthen the Warchief again. His hand glowing as he helped Ahto to his feet. Hexa's scales paling as more of Mazludeh's strength left him. At Ahto's praise he shakes his head. "Hexa was slow. Will move quicker next time, but will check to see if this place is safe now. Excuse me Warchief." He notching an arrow to his string and goes to search around the changed ruins. Ensuring nothing else lurked unseen.
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Wonky looks about with wonder as the shade over the glen seems to artificially lift with the death of the guardian.
The Green is restored, thinks the gnome. From around her neck, she pulls what appears to be an acorn on a leather cord out, places it to her lips, and closes her eyes for a moment. When she opens them, they appear more wet than normal.
”This place was cursed,” she concludes, moving to Ahto’s side. ”There was some form of an enchantment here; I am sure of this. You all saw the old man who appeared in the place of that bear as it died. I think that person was the cursed one keeping this entire glen in a fugue.”
She looks around, beaming.
”We have done an amazing thing here.”
The way Paval looked at the dead bear, then man then nothing could best be described as confused. Maybe slightly horrified, but mostly confused. He shook his head when he heard Wonky's words, as if trying to shake it off.
He then looked up, searching for the priest, "Kavken? You can come out now, the curse seems to be gone."
Kavken approaches the shrine, although he shows trepidation as he passes the mossy columns marking the edge holy grounds - as though worried that he is not worthy to enter. Nevertheless, he crosses this threshold, and his shoulders visibly lose an invisible burden when he realizes that he has not been struck down for crossing.
He falls to his knees before the cleared pond and offers muted prayers to Old Deadeye.
"I think," he speaks up after a time, "I think that these waters have been blessed with some of Erastil's power. Although it is likely more as reward for your bloody struggle on his behalf more than for anything I have done."
Although she cannot formulate an explanation for the uncanny transformation of the water, beyond Kavken's surety that it is a miracle of Erastil, Wonky discerns that the waters have been magically imbued with curative properties - although this is unlikely to be a permanent effect.
When no trouble appears Hexa returns and crouches where the man had turned into nothing at. Looking at the ground suspiciously before flaring his nostrils in an exhale. He keeps his companions close to Kavkan, unsure if nothing else would come for the small scaleless man as Hexa towers over him nearby.
"Although we - well, largely you fine folks - have completed this most harrowing of steps to restore this old shrine," Kavken begins, rising from his prayers, "There is still much work to be done before these holy grounds again properly befit Erastil's glory. Worry not, I will not trouble you with such menial matters. This labor will be my penance alone.
"Before we depart, I should like to take some time to survey the grounds and assess the shrine's condition. It will give me an idea of what needs to be done."
Hexa changes his weapons depending on where they go, axe and claw for tight places, bow in open spaces. But stays close to the small scaleless to protect him. "Follow Warchief Ahto." He nods to Ahto and guards Kavken like he would any in the group, if something appeared to harm him the lizardmen brave would block its path...
Kavken makes for the stone stairs carved into the cliffside, moving with the sprightly step of a younger man. Ahto, Hexa, Sams, and Wonky follow the itinerant priest up the dozens of moss-covered steps that lead into the shrine proper, its entrance set in the cave beneath the massive stag head sculpture that dominates the cliff face. Thick tangles of vines and ivy hang down from the stony antlers, draped across the front of the shrine like a living curtain.
Sprocket huffs and puffs his way up, each step requiring a lumbering leap from the bulldog. Paval remains with the animals around the pool, keeping watch.
The arching stone cavern is carved in the likeness of a trellis, hued green by the colonies of moss and lichens that coat the walls like a patchy wallpaper. Only a few stone furnishings remain - benches and the altar at the far end of the shrine - although broken, moldering heaps of wood mark the husks of wooden seats and shelves.
Kavken wanders forward, enrapt with wonder, like a child in a shop of sweetmeats. He is even heedless as his entrance disturbs a foraging raccoon, which hisses and retreats behind a stone bench.
The day wears on as Kavken circumambulates the shrine and its grounds, taking stock of their condition. With the spare time, you are left to ponder your next course of action.
Should you explore the surrounding forest, making base camp at the shrine? Should you return to the old, abandoned bandit's camp? Or would it be best to return to the trading post?