Daeris's arrows fly!
She hits the real Purple!
She pops an image!
She pops an image!
Purple is left standing with three images and one hit point left! Who is going to finish it?
Sparkle, Cacumattus, Guen and Ely are up!
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Click. Whirr.
Time to pop images.
Sparkle fires at Purple.
Sparkle doesn't pop an image, she simply obliterates Purple!
Click. Whirr.
Time to pop images.
Cacumattus fires at the flat-footed Blue.
He misses by less then five and pops an image!
Sparkle kills Purple! Cacumattus takes out one of Blue's images!
Blue surges forward across the grease!
She hits Balon with her staff, now crackling with electricity!
"Enemies of fate! Prepare for an electrifying welcome!"
And then she gets tripped by Ely's readied action and falls on her ass!
The whole party is up!
Reesa holds her magic missile charge.
Daeris, bow on fire, starts shooting at Blue.
She hits the real Blue!
The second shot pops the last image, and the third shot kills her!
The real Arodeth moans. "Those time storms above are slaying my anchors, but not releasing their temporal energy! Quick, go above, and slay them! We need the dome to weaken!"
Kreighton nods. "There is precious little time, and much to be done!"
____
With all of you hasted, you only take one round to get back outside into the Azlanti streets just in time to see some undead, glowing with green temporal energy.
"Oh joy. These again.” You hear Kreighton’s voice say. “Remember the blast shadow, that rather nasty flaming undead with a smoke attack? There it is, again! Take it down with cold if you have any, and try not to be too close when you kill it! It may explode as it dies. Those other things are skeletal champions. They’re immune to cold. Hit them with bludgeoning!”
Daeris, Guen and Orin are up!
Seven rounds of Kreighton's haste left! Go, kill!
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The green dome overhead ripples and flexes, visibly weakened but still present. The same woman’s voice from earlier booms from everywhere and nowhere at once.
“This… this isn’t what I wanted. I wanted a world with purpose again—with certainty. But I suppose there is no greater way to die than in the same fiery cataclysm that marked Aroden’s first step toward divinity. Join me in martyrdom, Pathfinders, and try to die with some dignity.”
...And just like that...
The skeletons and blast shadow fall apart, bones clattering to the floor. "Oh!" Kreighton blinks. "Well... As interesting as this is... We'd best return to the vault! Shall we see how many of those Simulcra we can take on?"
You run back down... Take up position...
Just as the next group of simulcra start coming through that door.
Sparkle, Reesa, Ely, Guen, Cacumattus and Daeris are up!
6 rounds of Kreighton's haste left!
Reesa uses her wand! Blue takes five damage!
"Ow! Agents of Chaos! Enemies of Fate! We will slay you!"
Sparkle, Ely, Guen, Cacumattus and Daeris are up!
Daeris fires at Blue. Everything hits because of the Bless, but Blue is still up!
Sparkle, Ely, Guen, Cacumattus are up!
Click. Whirr.
Sparkle kills Blue!
Cacumattus wounds Purple for 9 damage!
Blue dies.
Both simulcra ready their shocking attacks, cast Mirror Images, and run forward.
Purple runs forward to attack Balon!
Ely attempts to trip...
...and hooks an image!
Purple swings her staff...
...and misses.
Red moves forward to shock Ely, triggering AoO's from Orin, Balon and Ely.
The whole party is up!
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Ely tries to flip Red over as she barrels forward.
She then backs up after Red hits her so she can hit any of the clones in the room, and swings again at Red.
"Ow! That stung! I wouldn't even be that upset, except Master Shaine didn't even admonish you for your 'shocking' pun earlier." she complains.
Ely attempts to trip and pops an image. Then she provokes an attack...
...which misses, and trips the real Red, who asks confusedly, "What pun earl---Aack!", before falling on her butt.
Orin has his attack of opportunity on Red and the GM adds his bless, haste and flank bonuses in for him. With those bonuses in place...
...he pops an image!
Then he full attacks Purple, and his bite (after the GM adds bonuses) pops an image! His tail slap (after the GM adds bonuses) pops an image! Purple has no images left.
Then Reesa's magic missile hits Purple!
`
Sparkle, Guen, Cacumattus, Daeris and Balon are up!
Cacumattus hits Purple! Sparkle reloads!
Guen, Daeris, Balon are up!
Guen gives an anxious sounding "Grrrow!" and Daeris cannot help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Alright. Get her!" She acquiesces, indicating the one closest.
Guen pounces forward, sinking her fangs into the clone's leg and shaking mercilessly. She then rakes with claws and bites again!
Guen bites, trips, claws and bites the simulcra for 12 points of damage!
Then Daeris obliterates Purple and moves on to Red.
Red gets carved in two!
The simulcra will show up again in rounds. Is there anything you wish to do before then? Set another trap? Or would you like to disable the machines generating the Arodeth Simucra to give yourselves more time between spawning rounds?
Daeris disables the machines, but only buys you a temporary reprieve. You take a few minutes to rest, when all of a sudden you hear the machine doing something different... It is generating Arodeth simulcra inside the very room you are in!
The glowing women appear, and immediately cast mirror image after tapping their staffs to make them crackle with electric energy. “Think you can defeat us? We have used the extra time before we regenerated to study you. We will be victorious!”
Cacumattus, Guen, Sparkle-Weave, Reesa Balon and Daeris are up!
Click. Whirr.
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Daeris makes sure to retrieve her bow in the interim and keeps a wary eye out for the next wave of magically generated clones. When they arrive, she gives a rare compliment. "Ah, Divide and conquer. Seems they are capable of some strategy." Her eyes narrow as she sees one has appeared dangerously close to the Master of Scrolls. She did not often see eye to eye with the elder elf, but she would still protect his life with her own. Pointing at Shaine, she gives Guen the command to defend.
The cat speeds into action and reaches her target's side, she then turns to growl at the apparent group of women standing nearby. Ready to bite if they come close enough.
She then moves closer herself before firing an arrow at her first victim.
Guen moves to defend Shaine. Daeris moves forward, bow in hand, and shoots Red, hitting the real Red!
Red snarls. "A lucky hit and a mere sting! Enemies of fate, you will die here in the past -- unloved, unmourned... A worthy sacrifice to bring destiny back to the world!"
The real Arodeth looks up from the various crystal screens and strange buttons on the Sky Key interface. Still struggling with the controls to send you all home, she looks embarrassed. "Did I really sound like that when I talked to all of you?"
___
Cacumattus, Sparkle, Reesa and Balon are up!
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Click. Whirr.
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Seeing that Daeris has Kreighton Shaine's protection handled, she moves to the other side of the room, turns her belt buckle with a click, and embiggens rapidly.
Noticing Arodeth's chagrin, Ely tries to console her. "We've all said some embarrassing things. I wouldn't worry too much about it."
"You will all -- AAAaaaaaaaccck!" Thump "Ow!"
Blue falls squarely into Reesa's pit.
Sparkle hastes Balon, Ely, Orin and Cacu. Ely enlarges!
Balon and Cacumattus are up!
Cacumattus pops one of Red's images!
Then Balon uses Mind Fear on Red...
...but her mind is well-fortified. "You will find that I do not intimidate easily, not when I have right on my side!"
Blue meanwhile has no great options. She didn't memorize any fly spells, and can't see anyone well enough to target any of her ranged spells. There's nothing left for her to do but get up and try to climb out of the pit...
...and falls back on her ass. "Just you wait until I get out of here! I will kill you all!"
Purple laughs when she sees that Ely has once again enlarged. "I see. This is meant to be an invitation for me to come up to you, and get tripped. I have watched my predecessors and I decline the invitation!" Casting defensively, she unleashes three magic missiles at Ely.
"If you want me, you'll have to do better than that!"
Than Red narrows her eyes at Daeris. "Although that one tried to cloud my mind, I judge you to be the bigger threat." Approaching Daeris, she begins to attack, using spell combat. "You've killed more of my sisters than ANYONE."
Daeris is down! Can anyone help her?
The whole party is up, and Daeris needs to stabilize.
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The asteroid looms impossibly large overhead, and the air grows stiflingly hot as the world itself begins to rumble. High overhead, the dome of green energy shudders, twists, and finally shatters, and Pathfinders’ bodies begin melting into flowing particles as the world slips away.
Just as quickly, you stumble as Bloodwatered Meadow coalesces beneath your feet, as it does for countless other Society agents. The wildflowers bob lazily in the wind, and nothing but a few still bodies stand as testament to the bloodshed and struggle of the past five hours. Kreighton Shaine, looking several years older, staggers to his feet and gives a nervous chuckle before climbing up a small knoll and waving his arms for the crowd’s attention.
“What we have all witnessed here today has been a remarkably journey that included sights no living soul on Golarion has witnessed. The Sky Key has allowed us to walk among the serpentfolk and Azlanti, gazing upon several of the greatest events to shape Golarion and the region that would one day become the Inner Sea. Let the catastrophe that we witnessed and narrowly escaped humble us and teach us so that we might find value in preserving the messages and wisdom those lost people may have left behind for us to discover. I think we all have some responsibility to remember those who passed so that our modern world can exist.
“You have all observed great things and have notes to share. This much is certain. But for now, let us… let us simply take a few days to reflect. The Society, I imagine, will send agents to collect your notes and interview you about your experiences. Until then, find your families and loved ones, as I know I shall. Failing that, find some passion that ties you to the here and now, and embrace it.
“We survived, Pathfinders. I am proud of your Unrivaled Accomplishment!”
-----
And just like that... You're home and no simulcra in sight.
Shaine runs to Daeris, and pours the potion of cure moderate down her throat. "You defended me well! Now live!"
____
It is a tradition in my games to allow everyone to post a DVD-style Easter Egg for their character as part of the closing credits. If you guys would like to do a scene of your characters in action, I would be honored.
Hmm
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Jasmine, the tien runner you met before, mills around the crowd, spinning and singing, just excited to be alive.
[Intro]
A long, long time ago
Pathfinders searchin’ for pieces of that sky key
And we knew if we had our chance
We could move through time in a trance
And travel through empires lost to history
Going to Sesshigoss made me shiver
With every serpent death we delivered
Bad news in the Slave Pens!
Revolution all over again!
I can’t remember if I cried
When all the serpent priests were fried
Secrets from Azlant were pried
The day of our time slide
[Chorus]
So bye, bye, let’s let Aroden lie
Time to berate the Anchors of Fate the best we can try
And them murder hobos looking at death in the sky
Singin’ this’ll be the way that we die
This’ll be the way that we die
Did you write the book of fate
And know the prophecies they relate
If Arodeth tells you so?
Now do you believe in destiny
Will one asteroid set us free
And can you take me to the vault beeee-lowwww?
Well, I know you reset fate on a whim
Though your chance of success is slim
You’re bathed in that green glow
Oh babe, you gotta go!
But now I really can’t complain
We’ve got a copy of Kreighton Shaine
But I worry we’re out of luck
The day of our time slide
[Chorus]
So bye, bye, let’s let Aroden lie
Time to berate the Anchors of Fate the best we can try
And them murder hobos looking at death in the sky
Singin’ this’ll be the way that we die
This’ll be the way that we die
Now for two hours we’ve been on our own
(Well, us and our Kreighton clone)
So Alrule thinks she’s an Azlanti
And Binui shuffles harrow for the Queen
Calling doom on all he’s seen
Trying to con the likes of you and me
Gad Gemple thinks he’s a god newborn
Omandi Mil was left forlorn
Her hopes like skin were all burned
No one could say what she learned
And then Romnus stole his golden hoard
So he could be a dragon lord
Yeah, he kinda went overboard
The day of our time slide
[Chorus]
So bye, bye, let’s let Aroden lie
Time to berate the Anchors of Fate the best we can try
And them murder hobos looking at death in the sky
Singin’ this’ll be the way that we die
This’ll be the way that we die
Helter skelter there’s nowhere to shelter
If you meet the witch can you melt her?
Earthfall’s high and falling fast
Now I don’t mean to be crass
But I don’t want to wind up on my ass
In a crater of molten glass...
Now the vault is open is there room
To convince Arodeth she’s a loon?
And now the simulcra advance
Well, they haven’t got a chance!
'Cause simulcra tried to take the field
The Pathfinders refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day of our time slide?
[Chorus]
We started singing bye, bye, let’s let Aroden lie
Time to berate the Anchors of Fate the best we can try
And them murder hobos looking at death in the sky
Singin’ this’ll be the way that we die
This’ll be the way that we die
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Snuff anchors like a candlewick
‘Cause we don’t like where this may end
Oh, and as we came upon them in the vault
We doubled the strength of our assault
We wouldn’t let the cult
Determine our end result
And as we stacked anchors high that night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Arodeth shrieking full of fright
The day of our time slide
[Chorus]
She was singin’ bye, bye, let’s let Aroden lie
Time to berate the Anchors of Fate the best we can try
And them murder hobos looking at death in the sky
Singin’ this’ll be the way that we die
This’ll be the way that we die
[Outro]
I met a girl who wanted sense
But realized that we’d be past tense
If her followers had their way...
We went down to her secret vault
She told us it was not our fault
And to fix things she would have to stay
And in the streets, Azlanti screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The prophecies were broken
And the three men I admire most
Shaine, GM Mars, and Aroden’s ghost
Told us to flee or we’d all be toast
The day of our time slide
[Chorus]
And they were singing bye, bye, let’s let Aroden lie
Time to berate the Anchors of Fate the best we can try
And them murder hobos looking at death in the sky
Singin’ this’ll be the way that we die
This’ll be the way that we die
They were singing bye, bye, let’s let Aroden lie
Time to berate the Anchors of Fate the best we can try
And them murder hobos looking at death in the sky
Singin’ this’ll be the way that we die
This’ll be the way that we die
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Reesa was tremendously happy to be alive. For the most part, she had only been forced to defeat undead and clones, not real, sentient beings. She'd learned all sorts about the time before Earthfall, and she was able to talk her way out of trouble several times. She felt bad for the evil sorcerer who remained behind, but that lady had stared all of the mess anyway, so that was definitely karma.
"Pleasure to actually meet you, Master Shaine. I've followed your career, but I've never gotten to actually see you in action. Or to see a version of you in action that is for helping to keep us alive."
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Daeris sits up, her hair bristling away from her face from the static electricity still discharging from her body. Coughing up a puff of smoke, she croaked out a sentence. "Anyone get the number of the lightning bolt that hit me?"
She looked around anxiously for Guen and was greeted by a rough tongue licking her face. "Yes, I am glad you're alright too. Let's go find something to eat, huh? I feel like I haven't had anything for a thousand years."