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Illayna sighs, "Please remember, i mean you no harm and i do not want to fight, i will protect myself though."
She drops her guise to reveal grisly fetishes and the rags of once fine clothes hang off the corpse-thin frame of this horrifying, sharp-fanged crone.
"My true name is Mestamorga."
Illayna Mestamorga
---Up Next---
Exiel
Ralph
Aram
Lavode
Balik
Alden
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Exiel has no idea what manner of creature stands before him, but scowls nonetheless as Aram identifies it.
"A hag. Of course it had to be a hag."
"The lady whose guise you wore. You said that she was a brave warrior who died on the battlefield beside you. I take it that you're not really a crusader, and I'm even less certain you had nothing to do with her death. How did she die?"
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At will—deep slumber (DC 17), invisibility, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement (DC 15)
At will (with heartstone)—etherealness, soul bind
3/day—darkness, poison (DC 18)
1/day—contagion (DC 17), desecrate, unholy blight (DC 18)
Mestamorga looks at Exiel, "She died as an arrow, aimed at me, pierced her throat. This was right when I arrived her, and I was confused. I frightened those around the area where I appeared and she attacked me. I didn't attack her back. Then one of her party members fired the arrow that slew her. I fled. later, I remembered her face and took her shape. I found the name in an old book in an abandoned house."
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From the cover of his invisbility, Ralph utters an incantation and fires a ray of green energy at the hag.
(this should be against her flat-footed touch ac)
The air warps as Ralph appears a few feet off the ground.
"Liar. Exiel perceived your presence before he even saw you, and he did so without casting a spell, meaning he did so using his abilities as a paladin. You are clearly a creature of evil. That being the case, if you really were attacked out here in the World Wound, you would likely have attacked in return. Furthermore, if you had wanted to flee, you could have fled to the Ethereal plane in an instant, as your kind is well capable of. That wild tale of stray arrows as you were being chased in such a poor story that I would see it recorded in the chronicles so that readers can laugh at your feeble attempt at deception."
"By the way, I have sealed your ability to travel through dimensions for now."
"I find it far more likely that it was you who killed the crusader whose form you took, and you likely killed her archer-friend as well. And since you can travel to the ethereal plane at will, you could have left this place at any time. To go to such lengths to attempt to deceive us tells me that you intended to lull us into a false sense of security and then do us harm. Either that or there is something in here that you do not want us to see or find...and that makes me really want to see it and find it."
"Alden, she never needed our permission or help leaving this place. She has lied to us from the start. The guise she dropped was her magical one, but her lies were a guise of their own. She is not under your protection. My spell will prevent her from fleeing to the ethereal plane for awhile, but if we do not end her now, she will dog us from the ethereal plane with spells until we are overcome."
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Mestamorga winces as the spell binds her to this plane. [b]"Mageling, you are right that i could travel to the ethereal plane. But the method i use to get there doesn't last more than a quarter of an hour."[b] She takes no actions to attack while the spell binds her to this plane.
Mestamorga
Exiel
Ralph
---Up Next---
Aram
Lavode
Balik
Alden
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"Ah, but there is no limit to how often you can flee to the ethereal plane, is there? Even if it is for a quarter of an hour at a time. In fact, there is nothing to stop you from using your ability whilst in the ethereal plane to extend your stay there. Your abilities are known to me, night hag."
"Your story still does not add up, and you have the ability to severely jeopardise our mission if left alone."
"I propose a condition to leaving you unharmed. Your surrender your heartstone and any gems that you have imprisoned souls in. That way we know that you will not be able to pursue us. I will then create a barrier around you. You should have no trouble breaking out, but it will take time, and by the time you are done we will be long gone and you can go your way. If not, then you meet the same fate as any other creature of the lower planes that we encounter."
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Alden looks unhappy with this turn of events, but he has no real way of knowing whether she is lying. "I gave her my word, my mage friend. Our less-than-cleanly friend there says she is telling the truth."
He turns back to the hag. "What is your name? And if there is a way for you to return to your home plane, tell us of it."
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She turns to Alden, "name is Mestamorga." She turns towards Ralph. "A had without her hearthstone is like a wizard without his spell book. Would you be willing to give me your spell book, to ensure that you won't harm me?" she shakes her head. "I think not. It would be like asking you to part with an important part of yourself. I can no more give up my hearthstone than your friend here," she points to Alden "can give up his wolf."
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"You want to know her abilities, Lavode? These are her abilities. With her heartstone, she can freely travel to the ethereal plane and trap the souls of the recently deceased so that they can neither be raised back to life or find peace in the afterlife. Even without it, she can turn invisible and put men to sleep, or fire magical missiles, or debilitating rays, all as often as she wishes. She can also summon magical darkness and induce poison and disease in people, create unholy ground and use magic to ravage those with pure hearts."
Turning to Alden, he adds, "you let a creature like that loose and she becomes one more adversary for the crusaders in Mendev to contend with. All the men she slays and all the souls she imprisons for her own dark uses from this moment forth will be on your hands if you let her go. She is like a lion and many of the newer crusaders would be mere sheep to her. She will devour them. As for her heartstone, it is not a companion or a friend like your wolf is to you. It is a tool she uses to trap imprison souls. She is still powerful without it, but her determination to keep it seems to suggest that she wants to continue to use it."
Finally he looks Exiel in the eye. "She is a creature of the lower planes, Exiel. A predator of mortals in the worst conceivable way, denying brave crusaders even the peace of the afterlife. Unless I am much mistaken, you used the abilities granted to you by Torag to discern her true nature. Why don't you tell us what you detected?"
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"Why don't you tell us what you detected?"
Exiel tightens his grip on his hooked lance.
"Evil. I detected strong and potentially overwhelming evil, and pin-pointed its origin to her."
"I have fellow paladins and worshippers of Torag in the crusade, and I take Ralph's point that if I allow you to do as you are wont I jeopardise the safety of those I am sworn to protect. Torag sees excessive mercy as folly and weakness. Kindness to the wolf is cruelty to the sheep."
"You will not leave this place with an instrument that will allow you to harvest souls. That is non-negotaible. But I will give you a chance to show that you pose no danger to the crusaders. Surrender the hearthstone, and allow us to hold you here. Once we are done with our mission, we will return to escort you to the church of Sarenrae in Mendev. The church of Sarenrae embraces mercy, forgiveness and redemption as Aram says, more than any church I know, so if you seek redemption, they will guide you. Of course, if your intentions are false, you will be quickly found out and dealt with in short order, so if your heart is still set on evil you might as well take your chances with us right now."
He looks to the others. "Unless someone else can think of an alternate viable alternative?"
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Hmm... That doesn't sound like a nice person. Plus Exiel and Ralph sound like they're working themselves into a froth. Can't say I blame them. Most of the things left in this part of the world should just be put down. Suppose it's time to make sure my guys have the best odds.
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Lavode begins to mutter,
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Speaking in Terran to the mud elemental, Go through the ground and come up on the far side of her. If you get there and a fight is happening, crush her. If not, you are free to go home.
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Balik spits. "I got no particular desire to go pickin' fights with them as say they don't want a fight. I'm nae the sort to preach to them as don't seem ta want to be preached-to. If you lot want to stand here and pick a fight with some'un who ain't fought back despite being spelled at, then you best be talkin' to yer god, Pally-din, about right and wrong a bit more. Me, I have things ta do!" Balik mutters a few words and the skull on his shoulder glows with magical light.
Muttering to the skull, he moves deeper into the cave. "Young people these days, Wenton! Pah! Always pickin' fights, spoilin' to kill them as what never started nothin'. Why, I bet if ye were still livin', you'd do no such thing, eh? Silly children."
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"Friends," he says, clearly not including the might hag, "perhaps we need to come to an agreement before making such hasty decisions on behalf of all of us?" he finishes, eyeing Ralph before he goes invisible.
"Our mission is more important than fighting every creature we find in the Worldwound. If this one can provide us with some information, so much the better. Or do you wish to spend days wandering around in ash storms, dodging quicksand and abyssal geysers?"
Aram releases the draw on his bow, and moves forward to speak with the hag.
"We can destroy you if you attack us - you know this as well as I. Now, we seek the town of Storasta. Do you know it? "
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"Ralph, the skies do not "clear" in the Worldwound. The Abyss has come to Golarion here! Do you think that a century of the ravages of demons has left the town of Storasta in prime condition, so that we will even see it when we arrive? Perhaps we can just listen for the playing children and follow them, laughing and skipping, to the town?" Aram shakes his head.
"The Society has a mission for us. Do you turn your back on that?" Aram's voice grows stern. "Besides, I understand you show allegiance to the more mercenary faction of the Society - surely you see the value of dealing with the lesser of two evils? " He lowers his voice. "The Prophecies must be retrieved! The fate of one evil being among thousands in the Worldwound is less important than our mission."
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"I am not picking a fight for the sake of it, Balik. My concern is for the souls of the crusaders who fall in the World Wound only to never find eternal rest due to this scavenger taking their souls. And I am not preaching to the hag, for as Aram points out, the Abyss has come to Golarion, and likely brought this creature with it! Her soul itself radiates evil, and it's likely she is only this pliant because she knows that she has been cornered."
"I still say we shouldn't let her leave with any item that would allow her to capture souls. That said, I am also here as a member of this group, and so I will abide by the decision of the majority, even if my vote is cast against it. The integrity of the group must be maintained. But let me be clear. Any crusaders she slays, and any souls she entraps henceforth are on your consciences and heads. Let Torag bear witness that I opposed the decision to let her go free as best I could without sacrificing the integrity of the group."
With that Exiel lowers his lance and walks deeper into the cave, pointedly ignoring the hag as he searches the rest of the cave.
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Balik nods distractedly. "Ain't nothin' you gotta justify ta me, lad. It's between ye and yer god, eh. Spirits talk at me enough, never had time ta listen ta all the gods, too. Well if there ain't no way outta here, we gotta wait until storm passes." Balik nods to himself, then casts a cantrip o' magical detecting around the cave.
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Ralph tightens his lips, and pretends not to notice Aram's sarcasm.
"No, fool, I would have used my spells to discern the location of Storasta. And yes, you could describe the World Wound as the abyss come to Golarion, but even in the abyss the windstorms come and go. If all of the abyss was like this all the time, we wouldn't have as much trouble with demons as we do. Speaking of which, if you understand that the abyss is dangerous, then you should realise that its inhabitants are likewise. I have warned you of the hag's abilities. I have explained to you how she could jeopardise not only the mission but our lives. Do make sure you are prepared for her when your misplaced sentimental self-indulgence comes back to bite you."
Ralph activates his ring of invisibility and fades from view. He is careful to keep out of line of effect of the hag so that she would not be able to locate him easily.
"I'll just have to make sure I always have a spell ready for my own extraction if things get too complicated."
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When you go deeper into the burial chamber, you find several old corpses. You are unable to identify how long they have been there, or eve if they are human or demon. You do find +1 half-plate, a masterwork heavy steel shield, a +1 demonbane longsword, and a potion of eagle’s splendor.
As you are searching the pile of bodies, Mestamorga takes this time to disguise herself once more. She doesn't take the shape of the woman you've seen before, but she does lose the sharpness that portrays her as a night hag. "I hope this will be okay." she says.
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Exiel examines the longsword and smiles for the first time since entering this gods-forsaken land. This was a weapon he would be able to put to good use on this venture. Alden seemed to prefer to rely on Naala and a lance, whilst Aram would be able to duplicate the sword's unique enchantment through his own abilities, and the other 3 didn't seem any good with swords anyway.
"Ok for what purpose? Alden and Aram have offered to let you go in peace if you provide us with information to further our quest. We already know what you are, so wearing a guise will hardly serve any purpose, especially in a place like this."
"Also, whose weapon and armor are these," he asks as he buckles the sword to his side.
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she looks over at the bones on the ground. "One of those skulls belongs to a thief who tried to steal from me. Another one was from a rapist, who bit off a little more than he can chew. The sword and shield I took from the woman on the battle field as I fled."
She looks to Aram, "As to why i am here, I found this cave after i fled from the battle field. As to why i am here on this plane.. i don't know."
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"well, the sword was sorta stuck in me, so I had no choice but to take that, as to the shield... I don't know how i picked it up, i just remember carrying it after the battle. I was fleeing because i didn't want to die. I may be evil, but i am not stupid. I am from what you might call the Abaddon plane."
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She looks at Exiel, "I take on this form encase another band of humans come into here. Unlikely as it may be, I try to keep my true self a little hidden, so not to frighten others." she thinks about the battle. "I saw this plane's people on both sides of the battle, so i don't know who was fighting."
"my realm is a vast wastelands under a rotten sky, Abaddon is perpetually cloaked in a cloying black mist and the oppressive twilight of an endless solar eclipse. The poisoned River Styx has its source in Abaddon, before it meanders like a twisted serpent onto other planes. Abaddon may be the most hostile of the Outer Planes; it is the home of the daemons, fiends of pure evil untouched by the struggle between law and chaos, who personify oblivion and destruction. Daemons, which are ruled by four godlike archdaemons, are feared throughout the Great Beyond as devourers of souls. How hard it is to travel from it, i don't know... i don't know how i ended up here."
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"Then I may have a solution that may satisfy everyone. Our invisible wizard should be able to send you back to your home plane. If I can persuade him to do so, you must first do a few things for us."
"First, you will subject yourself to Aram's magic so he can determine that you tell the truth. Then you will tell us how to get to Storasta. And then you tell us plainly that upon returning to your home plane you will not attempt to return to the material plane, and if Aram sees that you speak the truth, then Ralph will send you back home. Oh and you must surrender any trapped souls you have with you. You can consider it our price for sending you back where you came from."
(As part of my oracle curse, I get a +3 when I use diplomacy on another individual one-on-one.)
If the hag agrees to those terms, Exiel also turns to the rest of the party.
"What do you guys think of those terms? Aram, Ralph, will the two of you agree to support this course of action? Would this be agreeable to the rest of you?"