Jing Hao waits for the perfect moment to strike, and then he slices the banner down its length. The two ribbons flutters to the ground, no longer animated, and a ghostly spirit leaves the cloth and evaporates.
You hear noises coming from upstairs. You also see your fellow Pathfinders struggling to disarm the magical wards in the garden outside.
Gears, glass, and chunks of wax litter the polished wood floor under a sign that proclaims “Scars of the Lich.” The corpse of a Kellid warrior lies in a pool of blood, her furs soaked through. A constant ticking and whirring sound echoes in this area.
A wax humanoid in replica armor paces aimlessly among the battling Pathfinders and other animated relics and constructs. It notices you and calls out a challenge, "You shall rue the day you set foot on my castle, servants of Tar-Baphon!"
-----
The proud crusader who is rushing toward you is not alive. He is made of wax, you see. Also, there a crenellated tower and chisel symbol encrusted on the back of both hands. This is the proof that you are against a golem made by Golemworks. Luckily for the party, it looks like Nigel didn’t add weapons on him.
Still, a slam of a one thousand pounds of wax hurts quite a lot.
For every 5 that you beat the DC, you may ask for one piece of information from this list.
Combat! Round 8. Bold may act.
Manak (-4 hp, enlarged [4 rounds])
Philoneus (Mr. Tiggles 4 NL damage)
Mavin
Drin
Creslin
Jing
Wax Golem
Mr. Tiggles surged forward, brushing against Mavin as he pushed passed. Moving quickly forward, he entered the small enclosed space and lashed out with a talon towards the wax creature.
Manak strikes the replica knight with a heavy blow from his flail, but it does not seem to have struck hard enough to do any damage that you can see.
The velociraptor scratches the wax knight.
Combat! Round 8. Bold may act.
Manak (-4 hp, enlarged [4/10])
Philoneus (Mr. Tiggles 4 NL damage)
Mavin
Drin
Creslin
Jing
Wax Golem (-1 hp)
"Sending giants and demons to do your battles, Tar-Baphon?" the wax knight cries. "I will defeat whatever manner of evil you throw at me, and then I will come for you!"
The knight slams his shield into the velociraptor menacing him, breaking a few scales.
Combat! Round 9. Bold may act.
Manak (-4 hp, enlarged [5/10])
Philoneus (Mr. Tiggles: -6 hp, +4 NL damage)
Mavin
Drin
Creslin
Jing (enlarged)
Wax Golem (-1 hp)
Fueled by his inner fire, Mannak cracks the tin armor around the wax golem even though he only struck a glancing blow.
Combat! Round 9. Bold may act.
Mannak (-4 hp, enlarged [5/10], enraged [1])
Philoneus (Mr. Tiggles: -6 hp, +4 NL damage)
Mavin
Drin
Creslin
Jing (enlarged)
Wax Golem (-9 hp)
Mr. Tiggles continued to lash out at the wax golem who had the audacity to strike him. Emboldened by his master's presence, he attacked in a wild flurry with both talons and his bite.
The dinosaur digs furrows into the wax of the golem's body, but his teeth get caught on decorative faux armor. The knight brings the wooden shield attached to its arm down toward the velociraptor as it frees itself, but the agile reptile twists out of the way of the blow with ease.
Combat! Round 10. Bold may act.
Mannak (-4 hp, enlarged [6/10], enraged [2])
Philoneus (Mr. Tiggles: -6 hp, +4 NL damage)
Mavin
Drin
Creslin
Jing (enlarged [2/10])
Wax Golem (-18 hp)
|
Philoneus pulls his Cure Light Wounds wand from the pouch on his belt (provokes) and pokes Mr. Tiggles with it, knowing full well that the rest of the team is going to do more damage than he would output with his small spear, which he kept in his other hand.
"Mr. Tiggles, flank and continue attacking!" He said as he took a five foot step into a flanking position.
[ooc]Move to pull, standard to use a wand, free to handle Tiggles
Mr. Tiggles takes a five foot step and continues to rip and tear, using his new found position to increase the accuracy of his attacks.
The wax knight rings Jing Hao's armor with a gauntlet as the warrior rushes past.
Drin fires a bolt into the golem's decorative armor, but it does not penetrate beyond the tin plate. Mavin moves into the chamber and slices the shield arm off of the wax golem. The arm continues to move, rocking the shield to which it is attached on the ground. Despite his prey being disarmed--literally--the velociraptor has difficulty finding a vulnerable spot past the replica armor, making only a small scratch.
"Foul demon! I will send you back to the Abyss!" the golem cries out, ignoring its missing arm and headbutting the dinosaur with a loud crack. There is a dent in the tin helmet where it struck the reptile to match the spreading bruise.
Combat! Round 11. Bold may act.
Mannak (-4 hp, enlarged [7/10], enraged [3])
Philoneus (Mr. Tiggles: -9 hp)
Mavin
Drin
Creslin
Jing (enlarged [3/10])
Wax Golem (-40 hp)
Sparks fly as the blades of Jing Hao and Mavin Krane cross in an ill-timed attempt to finish the construct that leaves it unharmed.
Combat! Round 11. Bold may act.
Mannak (-4 hp, enlarged [7/10], enraged [3])
Philoneus (Mr. Tiggles: -9 hp)
Mavin
Drin
Creslin
Jing (enlarged [3/10])
Wax Golem (-40 hp)
Mr. Tiggles warbles and screeches at the damage delivered and continues to lay into the creature as best he could.
The velocirapter wrestles the wax golem to the ground, tearing out a mouthful of wax and tin. Creslin shoots the fallen figure in the head, disfiguring the knight's face with a rather large waxen crater.
The misshapen face looks around in confusion. The knight asks from underneath the dinosaur, "Who are you? Where am I? No, I am long finished and deserve my rest." The ephemeral form of a knight--dressed far more resplendently than the faux armor on the mannequin--rises from the replica figure and then fades away.
|
|
Drin takes a moment to catch his breath, then puts away his crossbow.
"Something I just want to note about the dogs: The Pathfinder Society prefers that we find peaceful solutions to combat, when possible. It's of no concern to me what happens to the beasts, but it's in our own interest sometimes to avoid killing. Who knows how Blakros feels about his guard dogs?"
|
After a loud crack and a ripple of arcane energy, silence falls across the museum as the construct guards freeze in place and haunted relics drop to the ground. Nigel’s voice rings out, magically projected throughout the museum: “We’ve disabled the magical security measures. Since we haven’t found the thieves yet, they must be hiding in my third-story study. Please subdue them; they have much to answer for!”
Nigel Aldain’s announcement echoes through a museum littered with shattered clockwork and toppled exhibits. There’s no question that the Pathfinders have quelled the building’s defenses, and perhaps the peaceful silence will set whoever hides on the third floor at ease.
The mahogany walls and domed, plaster ceiling both show signs of heavy damage. Most of the luxurious furniture and the crystal chandelier are intact. The contents of cabinets and bookcases lie strewn about the floor. A small wooden panel near the door hangs open, revealing an arcane sigil covered in scorch marks.
A Kellid woman dressed in furs with intricate scars all over her body steps forward. She holds a hand up and says, “Stay back. We are members of the Twinhorn following, and we have only come to retrieve what was stolen from us.”
A towering figure steps forward; his translucent red form is that of a man clad in heavy armor and wielding twin warhammers. “Medda, they must be in league with the thieves; they should die for crossing us.” The man’s voice sounds hollow and unnaturally loud, and as he speaks, the chandelier glows with a dull light.
The woman, Medda, puts a hand on the figure’s arm and says, “Maybe we should give them a chance to explain themselves, Anok.”
|
|
Drin strides forward, his face dispassionate and unreadable.
"We are no thieves, but is it truly a surprise that a party making so much noise as yours would attract attention? We are members of the Pathfinder Society. If what you say is true, it would be much easier to make your case to the Society than to pick a fight with everyone who crosses your path.
Come, let us discuss how to proceed together, and any thieves we discover will be brought to justice."
"If you guarantee our safety out of this place," the woman called Medda says, "And you can promise a fair hearing of our cause, we will follow you from this place."
The translucent red spirit scoffs and scowls.
Anok growls, “I’m a phantom, not a ghost. I am Anok, and I protect the guardian of Ivvora’s hilt, Medda.”
Medda gives Anok an affectionately exasperated look and then responds, “These Blakros people stole our most precious heirloom.” Medda retrieves a bundle of bloody bandages, then unwraps it to reveal a dagger hilt with only the fragment of a black blade. “It belonged to Ivvora, a champion of Vildeis who vanquished the great black evil from our land over 900 years ago. We kept it safe until the Blakros agents stole it three months ago.”