|
Dr. Quolorum from the Sincomakti School of Sciences, has hired the PCs through the Pathfinder Society to assist in his myriad experiments that he hopes will unlock the secrets of a series of occult incidents. You were handed a letter at the briefing by your venture-captain.
Greetings,
I hope you enjoy fresh air, because I need your skills to protect me in the wilderness tonight. As you may know, strange red lightning often strikes in the foothills near Lantern Lake, and my instruments indicate that another strike is due this evening. I’m told this lightning leaves behind ectoplasmic residue, so I would like to collect a few samples in my new ectoplasm field containers before it all evaporates. Hopefully this will provide us with more insights into the strange phenomena of this region.
I have attached a map to a local hilltop where I would like to meet. The hill should be close to the next lightning strike_but hopefully not TOO close. I’m sure it will be fine.
- Dr. Quolorum
|
Gathered at the briefing is a Gaunt, Ustalavic man with pale skin tinged a slight pale blue and moss green eyes, an unkempt gray main of hair cascading down his neck and his fringe covering his eyes. He wears an expensive but dishevelled suit and carries a Scythe in a harness over his shoulder.
Perched on the man's shoulder and with it's tail curled around his neck sits a Purple skinned Drake around one and a half foot in length. The Drake looks bored as it surveys the rest of the gathering.
"Greetings!" the man says with a broad smile, enthusiastically shaking hands whether they were offered or not, "I am Dragomir Gaspair-Dukain III, but please call me Dragos. My esteemed associate here is Tarantio, together we are the Directors of the Dukain Funerary Service known all across Ustalav!"
|
A heavily muscled Varisian man is stood quietly at the briefing paying attention to everything that is said. He wears a blue hooded cloak, which he has currently pulled down to reveal his plain face and dark hair that is cut very short and tidy. He seems to wear a constant expression on his face of someone who is rather focused when he has a task to complete.
"Greetings Dragos, you may call me Vol." he says with a slight nod of his head. He tries to avoid shaking hands but the Ustalavic man seems to be having none of it.
"I do not normally have other concerns outside of the Pathfinder Society. My time is usually fully invested in ensuring that missions are completed as fully as possible. I do like to research all kinds of magics when i have free time, so this mission does hold an element of personal interest that i do not usually allow myself."
Once he finishes uncharacteristically sharing some personal information, he takes his time to greet to each of the other people attending the briefing formally and with very little small talk.
|
A tall, dark haired attractive man, dressed in red and black well-cut clothes, arrives, the buckler attached to his right hand emoting a magical light that throws shadows on his face. When he reaches the top of the hill, the rest can observe that, his otherwise perfect face has a burnt mark on the left cheek that it looks like a inverted pentagram. His eyes seem to emit a faint red light when he observes the ones already present, or maybe is just the shadows making it look like it.
[bold]Good night gentlemen! Am I to assume that you will be my fellow adventurer friends if only for this night?
Felix, Dacius Felix[\bold] - he adds extending his engloved hand with a smile that seems to warm up the night.
|
|
Dragos reads the ot intensely turning the page in his hands several times and letting Tarantio examine it also. Tarantio hisses something to his Human 'Charge' in Draconic and Dragos smiles broadly.
"Hmm well I should think we are to investigate strange happenings in my home of Ustalav! Which is terribly unspecific as odd things happen her all the time!"
|
|
Tonight the sky is clear, and the stars are out, which helps provide ample light to view the blackened hilltop that Dr. Quolorum marked on his map. A scorched crater sits at the summit of the hill surrounded by a ring of tortured earth. Agonized faces and grasping hands are formed in the dirt around the crater, as if the ground itself were once alive and in great pain. Stunted shrubs covered with red thorns are scattered across the hill.
Oblivious to this unusual scene, Dr. Quolorum wanders about the hilltop humming merrily and checking his instruments. When he notices the PCs he calls out to them.
“Hello! Good to see you’ve arrived. Make yourselves comfortable because the next strike shouldn’t occur for a while yet. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions.”
|
|
Dacius escrutinizes the dark tapestry full of stars above them, a hint of scepticism on his face - Not even a small cloud, are you sure it will strike tonight, Doctor? - he sais while, with a simple gesture, dismisses the magical light of his buckler, realising he doesn't need extra light in a night like this.
Also, in case of a lightning strike, are we safe here?
|
|
Though the barrister is looking at Dr Quolorum when speaking, he keeps eyeing the sky, preoccupied, looking for any sign of storm clouds - Have you witnessed the phenomenon in the past? How does it occurs? Does it need clouds to be gathered like a normal lightning? - his gaze lingers on the firmament for a heartbeat before focusing again on the Doctor.
When was the last time this incident happened and is there any sign left of it? Also, for those of us not versed in the matter, could you give us any information about ectoplasm?
|
|
Dragos makes their way up the hill staring in morbid curiosity at the exquisite agony imprinted into the very earth. Tarantio, stretches languidly from his perch on Dragos' shoulders but seems bored by the set-up.
"Why hello Doctor! What i want to know is why are we doing this? What is the goal of the research."
|
|
I’m told wild animals and plants react strangely to these lightning strikes. Furthermore, ectoplasm can be dangerous and is often accompanied by ghosts or restless spirits. It’s a fascinating substance, really; the best way to describe it is that ectoplasm is the material that forms along the veil between our world and the Ethereal Plane. Fascinating, isn’t it?
Now for the plan... When the lightning strikes, we will hurry to the strike crater. You can protect me on the way and make sure the site is safe when we arrive. When you give the all clear, I will use my ectoplasm containers to gather some samples from the crater. After that, we can all head back to our warm beds.
If you'd like to take some time to look around before the next strike, then by all means.
|
|
Without a cloud in the sky, a huge bolt of red lightning illuminates the darkness with an eerie light. Striking about 60 feet away from your current position, the crack of thunder is nearly deafening.
Small arcs of red electricity dances along the trees. You can see a bright red glow lingering from the other side of the the tree line.
"Exciting! Quickly, let us go to collect the ectoplasm!"
|
|
Dacius bites his lower lip, suppressing a scream of pain when he feels the vines cutting into his flesh. Carefully, so the vines won't cut any deeper, he tries to set himself free.
But when he feels the plant drawing more blood for his movements, he stops himself takes a deep breath to calm down and tries again
|
|
The positive energy manages to wash over the vines causing the red lightning arcing along them to diminish somewhat as well as affecting the ectoplasm at the center of the crater. The vines reach out for Therin still and manage to entangle him.
Perhaps as some sort of self-defense mechanism, the ectoplasm splits into several humanoid forms. One of them wades out of the crater and tries to bash Dragos!
The ectoplasm washes over him, leaving not only a severe bruise, but some terrifying goop. Dragos manages to keep it together however.
Krudenk and Vol are up!
<=== UP!
<=== UP!
|
|
A few things.
It takes a move action to draw the flask and a standard to throw it, so you won't have a move action and can't take a 5-foot step because of the terrain.
When you throw a splash weapon, you can target a creature and make a ranged touch attack, or target and intersection of the grid and deal splash damage to all targets in the 4 adjacent squares.
If you target the intersection between 1 and 3, you will deal 1 point of fire damage to both of them as well as the haunt. Even with an additional -2 penalty for range, you still hit the required AC 5.
So will say 1, 3, and the haunt each took 1 point of fire damage as that is probably your best shot.
Vol is up, the haunt is still active.