Odo's scimitar takes a chunk out of the massive serpent, but as Kuwabara stumbles around to its flank the serpent bites out at him as well, but misses once again.
for
Meanwhile, the Ydersian priest moves from the altar and around the room opposite one of the large smoking braziers. As he goes, his outline appears to shift and distort.
Initiative
Jane 27/38 (unhealed from Plaza)
Wadi 28/36 (unhealed from Plaza)
Midri 25/33 (unhealed from Plaza)
Xander 23/33 hp (unhealed from Plaza/un-fully healed from slave pens)
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Midri would have asked Odo to heal both her and Xander as she doesn't want to risk being half healed as they go through the temple.
For Midri
for Xander
Midri draws her Nodachi on move and once reaching her chosen spot begins to whirl her nodachi around intent on making any meaningful strike harder to land.
Wadi's ray shoots extremely wide at the distorted priest, but Xander lands a solid gore on the cobra. In retaliation, it lashes out at the eidolon with a bite, just barely being deflected by the invisible force surrounding the fire beast.
for
Initiative
Kuwabara
Odo
Jane 27/38 (unhealed from Plaza), delaying
As Odo and Kuwabara tear into the snake (especially Kuwabara), it falls to the floor, bleeding out.
Behind you, the priest circles behind the warpriest and stabs at him with a dagger. "You will die for this blasphemy!"
for
Initiative
Kuwabara
Odo
Jane
Wadi
Midri
Xander
As Xander scurries around the fallen cobra to bite at the serpentfolk, his attack seems to hit the monster squarely but fail to penetrate its hide as the priests dodge the worst of the blow. Jane maneuvers around to skewer the priest while Wadi's force missiles punch through its defenses.
Initiative, Round 2
Kuwabara
Odo
Midri
Midri, Odo, and Kuwabara close on the priest only the summoner's Nodachi hits home. Spitting a litany of curses upon the lot of you, the serpentfolk stabs and bites at Midri before cautiously retreating.
for
for
Initiative
Kuwabara
Odo
Jane
Wadi
Midri 31/33hp
Xander
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Xander steps to side putting him behind the priest knowing that cutting off his escape route is more important then staying near Midri.
Xander's flames grow hotter as he begins to assault the serpent priest. He leads with a headbutt hoping to Gore the creature with his large horn.
for
Xander rears up and swipes with both claws seeking to tear massive strips of flesh off the creature.
for
for
Finally landing on his front feet Xander lunges forward his massvie teeth visible as Xander seeks to tear the priests head clean from the body.
for
Midir's Nodachi and most of Xander's attacks fail to wound the serpentfolk priest as his scale absorb some blows and he dodges others, but Xander's gore and Jane skewer him him once more. The Ydersian is left reeling and bleeding heavily.
Initiative
Cobra
Kuwabara
Odo
Wadi
Panting as his head turns from side to side at you all, the serpentfolk priest summons up the last of his strength and stabs at Kuwabara.
”May this be just the first of Ydersius’ vengeful fangs!”
for
Drawing a bit of blood, he then collapses from his injuries.
As you catch your breath and your bearings, an unharmed Jane looks around at both the icons and implements on the altar and the priest’s own tattered vestments. Given that Ydersius has been half-dead for millennia, the room represents how the faith was practiced at the height of the god’s power, and the elf dutifully takes notes that would be of great interest to many of the grand Cathedrals back in Absalom.
You suspect that there may be more long lost religious works and items elsewhere within the temple, though the sounds of a struggle can also be heard down below, in the hidden Rectory Pathfinders discovered an hour before.
The temple's halls twist and turn as you make your way through them. You come across an ajar massive stone slab, once flush with the wall but from the piles of clothing and a dropped wayfinder you suspect some of your fellows found the secret and pried it open. As you rush down to join them, the red stone of the temple turns to a deeper blue, and an uneasy aura of wrongness begins to grow.
The sound of cries and shouts and clanging metal intensifies as you continue. Finally, the secret passageway spills out into a massive domed chamber. The wrongness is at its apex here - a heavy presence that claws at the chest and weighs the air itself down. Strange glows emanate from nooks at each cardinal point of the room. In its center, an elevated, spiraling staircase entwines a column of stone, atop which sits an altar. And atop the altar, a bound and bloodied man.
The room itself is chaps, as dozens of other Pathfinders do battle with hordes of seprentfolk and worse. In one corner a trio battles a set of skeletons boxing themselves in. To the east a wizard lets out a massive bolt of lightning at a coatl diving at it through the air. But by far the greatest number of enemies are the snake-men themselves, scores fighting to prevent you from reaching the altar-lashed man.
As you enter, two serpentfolk notice your arrival and turn their full attention towards you. The pair are not just burly, but also sport hideous scaled wings and strangely discolored skin. As the ready their arms against you, one hisses in your minds.
More Azlanti allies come to rescue their general? You are too late. Lac Suhn will die. The sacrifice will bring Ydersius' blessings upon us. But come, join him to his fate if you wish.
Initiative
Midri
Odo
A crack of thunder and the tang of ozone cut through the complex. The figures before you, and indeed the walls, the floor, even the air itself seem to crumble and fall away like glittering sands through an hourglass. Unfamiliar figures—their heavy, hooded robes embroidered with the symbol of a winged eye—stand about the field, their hands crackling with lightning. Dozens of Pathfinder spellcasters lie dead at their feet. A gargantuan image of a woman appears and shimmers like a desert mirage. She has a regal bearing, but her features are lined as if by years of endless duty.
”Arrogant Pathfinders! Your ridiculous Society spends fortunes and lives to reassemble a treasure that turns time itself like the pages of a book—a key that could undo all the misery and suffering our world now knows—and you use it for this? Poking at snakes and playing at heroism? Golarion knew a true hero once! Our Lord Aroden—who raised the Starstone from the sea and imprisoned the undead tyrant Tar-Baphon—could already walk the world again were it not for your petty games and delays. Every death in your hours of playtime now hangs as a weight around your collective necks, you spoiled children."
“I am Lady Arodeth, and on behalf of the Harbingers of Fate and the God of Mankind himself, I have seized your Sky Key. Its defenders threw their lives away trying to stop compassion and destiny from returning to this world. I advise you not to throw your own lives away attempting to do the same."
“Behold the return of the Last Azlanti! Behold Aroden!”
As you find yourself prematurely flung back to the present day Bloodwatered Meadow, the robed Harbingers that surround the field begin casting, and arcs of lightning leap to the rods made of skymetal. A deep thrum from somewhere below reverberates with chest-tightening force, then the earth begins to heave and quake. Emerald green miasma lashes out, snaking back along the arcs of arcane lightning and infecting hooded casters throughout the crowd. Your body — or perhaps the whole world — crumbles to dust and you hear a distant scream of “She’s overloaded it!”
Everything fades to white....
And just as swiftly, the world is whole again, but in place of a flower-speckled field stands the sprawling marketplace of a small city. Ivory-white buildings and columns feature reliefs and endless statuary all depicting physically perfect human specimens in poses of glory over serpentfolk. A chiton-clad crowd of gawkers stares, both at you and at the roiling dome of green light that encompasses nearly a square mile of territory, beyond which this strange city stretches on.
You notice robed men panic as they sprint beyond the edges of the glistening dome that surrounds the town only to collapse as soon as they pass the barrier. There they scream and writhe, their bones cracking as esh and sinew age to dust in mere moments. Meanwhile, those unfortunates consumed by the green miasma scream and stagger, their features warping and bloating as if the power seeking refuge within them were too big for mere flesh to contain.
And high overhead, a looming stone glows with a light visible even in the growing light of dawn.
While you take all of this in, you notice that your abrupt arrival in the town square has not gone unnoticed, and a throng of people stare out at you from a gathered crowd and mutter amongst each other. Their words are strange, but the tone seems increasingly nervous, then angry, as they seem to be getting more and more riled by your presence and the phenomena you have brought with you.
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Midri quickly takes stock of her new surroundings as she gains her bearings and while the yelling is worrisome doubly so as she doesn't understand the language its in.
Glancing around Midri quickly identifies the amount of trouble she is in as she is well versed in exactly how much damage the star stone did when it impacted Earth.
"The Star stone and about two hours till impact, we uhh are going to need to work fast if we want to get out of this as we do not want to be here when the star stone hits our location."
Taking a second look at the surrounding buildings both to see what she has to work with and to partly calm her down as she is on the verge of hyperventilating at the sight of the star stone so close.
Midri can see the buildings designs and while they look familiar and she should be able to place them the threat of the star stone seems to cause her to lose concentration before she can deduce the local's heritage.
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Jane will call out in Elven, hoping at least a few in the crowd understand it.
"We mean you no harm! There was an accident involving magical travel. Where are we?"
But, due to the stress of the impending apocalypse, her tone is anything but friendly. Frustrated, she tries to approach an authority figure, or, failing that, one of the louder voices in the crowd, and imitate their language. Unfortunately, all that comes out of her mouth is a nonsensical jumble of syllables.
Jane steps forward and yells in Elven to appease the crowd, but as she does so the masses stare aghast at her.
Demon! A warped elf and her minions! Get them out of Lacsuhnollo! Guards, guards!
The mob grows more and more agitated as the elf speaks, and three men, armored and armed, break through the throng and ready their weapons at you. The one wielding a longspear calls out to the others as they draw their weapons and advance.
Come on men, drive them out. I don't care if its fire of new monsters: this colony belongs to us and those overgrown fish won't take it from us!
Initiative
Odo
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Odo isn't pleased with the prospect of fighting men because of a misunderstanding, yet with communication so difficult, he isn't sure what he can do to calm the situation. The hastiness of the attack upon them also sets him on edge, but that, at least, may be something he can investigate.
Odo focuses closely on the man with the longspear.
Odo does not detect an evil aura nearby, but the guards seem uninterested in parley as the closest one moves towards the dwarf and swings.
for
Initiative
Xander
Kuwabara
Jane Doe
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Xander will swiftly manuever around the human who swung at the halfling and promptly take a bite out of his backside
Tearing a huge mouthful of flesh from his victim Xander spits the offending man's flesh out of his mouth, the flesh already having been partially seared from Xanders constant flames in his mouth.
Xander's bite tears through the guards armor, taking a huge chunk out of him.
Reacting to their compatriot's wound, the other guards advance, one swinging at Jane (but not before taking a jab from her spear) and the other attacking the fire-fiend.
for
for
for
Initiative
Odo
Kuwabara (delaying)
Wadi
Midri
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"Then we shall have to teach them the error of their ways, Wadi! Perhaps we can take the fight out of them without killing them."
Odo turns his attention to the one who attacked him and strikes with his hilt, aiming to take him down a peg without killing him. But he fails to penetrate the man's armor.