Redelia's private PFS game (Inactive)

Game Master Redelia

Catorze nods to Caena. "Good to have you join me!" Then she shouts to Lovissa and Soddy. "And good to have you both of you back in the fight as well! You are as fierce as they come!"

Yellowheart Spear, Archaeologist’s Luck, Higher Ground: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

She then laughs at werebat's bite, deliberately taunting him. "Is that ALL that you have? Perhaps you want to try again!" That's right. Focus on me, not on the helpless elf below you.

Parry, Yellowheart Spear, Archaeologist’s Luck, Higher Ground: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 25
Riposte, Yellowheart Spear, Archaeologist’s Luck, Higher Ground: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 19
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

will save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Catorze's spear thrust barely misses the elfbat creature.

He rolls up in a little ball on the floor under Sara's influence.

You will still be mine... echoes in your heads. You feel like it's coming from the altar.

Soddy?

Having had little luck with her seed pods, Soddy instead pulls out the yellowheart longspear and comes racing to help with bat-elf.

"No one likes being poked with a pointy stick, not leshies or fleshies either one!"
____________

Can't see or access the map on mobile right now but Soddy draws her longspear as a move and then advances closer to the fight where she can stab or Aid someone next round!

stab the one curled up in a ball?

Soddy's armed approach gives the enemy a new save

will save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

He continues to watch Sara.

Party is up.

Adjusted Soddy's map position at the start of this round to reflect the previously-mentioned movement.

Unaware that her armed approach may or may not be screwing up Sara's magicks, Soddy continues to race forward on little viney feet to try and do something to help against the bat-elf. She comes around to the creature's side and makes a quick jab with the yellowheart weapon, which feels surprisingly light in her hands.

Yellowheart Longspear: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

"Um...raaaah!" Soddy exclaims, trying to sound fierce and bold and scary like her fleshy companions.

As Soddy's sharp little spear pokes at him, the elfbat creature's eyes grow focused again and he looks ready to attack.

Fola again touches Catorze on the shoulder. (guidance)

Aglynn runs back to the action, not entirely sure what she'll do against this creature.

Double move!

Caena takes a sliding step to the side to be in flanking position with Catorze. She’s glad enough to be a little further from that hole, though the altar isn’t much better. She swings her terbutje with a heavy blow.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 5 + 2 = 23
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

I'm sorry guys, I must have misread things yesterday. Catorze did injure the elfbat with her last attack.

Caena smacks into the batelf. now at -14 HP

Catorze, Lovissa, and Sara are up.

wait, that can happen?

Ladies, I'll try this again, if I get him, tie him up or something.

DC 19 will save vs Sara's sway.

I have one more for next round if needed.

You will still be mine... echoes in your heads. You feel like it's coming from the altar.

Knowledge Whatever, Creepy Altars that Talk: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

"WAIT A MINUTE! That altar is speaking to us in our minds! Not the Batty Elf! Should that Altar be speaking to us?!" Catorze stamps on the altar. "YOU. Creepy altar. Speak again. I will hear what you say. Are you an evil mastermind? Do you have a evil plan you wish to share with us in a diabolical monologue?"

Meanwhile, she still stabs the Bat-creature, hoping to keep it off the captive Ekujae.

Yellowheart spear, Archaeologist’s Luck, Higher Ground, Flank: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 2 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Lovissa moves forward into the darkness of the cave, illuminating her way slowly. Finally she sees the bat monster. She focuses her psychic power into her weapons, empowering them with her mind. Casting lead blades. Then she grips her strange new weapon tight.

Catorze's stab makes the elfbat wobble and almost fall over.

Catorze knows that it's not the alter speaking, exactly, it's more like the alter is the way the creature speaking is able to reach into your world.

will save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

The creature lunges for Catorze, trying to bite her.
attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

using Catorze's most recent unused parry/riposte rolls

The elfbat creature only manages to spear himself on Catorze's blade, and he falls to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.
-7 HP

Fola looks at all of you. "I think this was Kaghaze, one of our scout leaders who went missing. I don't know who did this to him, but I wish we could do something to help him."

“You... want to save him?” Catorze’s ears lower, and she cocks her head to the side, staring at the bleeding bat-thing. Then she stares at the altar, her tail twitching as she makes a decision. “Fine. Stabilize him and tie him up, if you think there is a chance of saving him. But realize that the other Ekujae might decide to kill him for his deeds, anyway.”

“Caena, Lovissa, Aglynn, do you think you’re up for destroying an altar? Something tried to talk to us through it. I want it GONE.”

Soddy lowers her borrowed longspear and looks from Fola to Catorze. "Save the bat-elf...save the spirit?" She toddles forward and kneels down next to the bat-elf. Vines, some of the vines that make up Soddy's body, begin snaking around the creature's wounds, trying to apply pressure to them as they glow with a faint green light.

Heal to Stabilize: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

"Have to keep the vessel alive to hold the spirit," she nods to herself.

All I wanted was the fghting to stop. Sara walks over to the caged elves.

Are you here by choice? she asks them, wondering who in their right mind would agree to be caged up like an animal.

Aglynn goes to investigate the altar, examining it closely.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21 +2 to notice unusual stonework

Caena holds up her terbutje against the bat-elf's throat. "This... was someone you knew?" She looks at Fola in shock. "It really is a place of evil. What could have happened?"

She answers Catorze, "We should destroy it if that will cleanse the place, but what if that sets the evil loose instead? Let's not be hasty." Without relaxing her guard around the unconscious former-elf-scout present-bat-thing, she looks down at the Ekujae tied to the altar. "You, are you awake? Are you all right?"

Heal?: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (7) - 1 = 6

As the beast falls, Lovissa lets out a laugh. "Well done! You are all fierce warriors! I am glad that I was here to witness your deeds."

As the others talk about destroying the altar, Lovissa shakes her head. "Let me examine it first."

Lovissa awakens her psychic senses, opening her eyes to the auras all around her. Detect magic. She examines the altar, curious as to its exact purpose, and wondering if smashing it would accomplish anything.

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

If she thinks its safe to touch she approaches the altar, lays her hands upon it, and lets her senses search deep into the altar's past...

Using object reading on the altar, which takes one minute.

The elf on the altar gives Caena a terrified look, and then begs to be removed and untied.

The caged elves seem too upset or despondent to answer.

Lovissa carefully reaches out and touches the altar. A series of images flash through her mind. The first is of a larger and more elaborate version of the altar, being used for unspeakable rites. Then that altar being destroyed, by humans that Lovissa recognized from the images on the way in as Old Mage Jatembe and his followers. Then some evil thing being locked away by the destruction of its altar. Over centuries, perhaps millenia, the locked away evil being able to trickle a little of its power out to slowly rebuild the altar. A few years ago, a group of Ekujae hunters chasing prey into the cave, and blood from one of them spilling on the altar, empowering the locked away evil, and changing one of them into the elf-bat creature. The elfbat, under the influence of the evil creature, sacrificing first his companions and then other Ekujae to the evil being. The images are dizzying in speed and violent and graphic enough to make Lovissa feel sick.

“Lovissa, are you alright?” Catorze asks, watching her proud friend turn sick.

I wonder, can they understand me?

Sara looks carefully at the cage, and door, looking for a way to let the pointy eared ones out.

Please, we are here to help. What do you need?

Lovissa removes her hand from the altar. She takes a few deep, steadying breaths. After a few moments, she grins.

"Long ago this altar was destroyed by Old Mage Jatembe, but over time the evil it locks away has seeped out, and rebuilt the altar. Smashing it is a wonderful idea."

Lovissa takes out a holy water, splashes it all over the altar, and then starts smashing the altar with her strange new weapon. For the first minute it will do 2d6+2 damage per hit, but after that lead blades wears off and its back to its base 1d8+2 damage per hit.

EDIT: After the captive is off the altar... lol

With the bat-elf person-thing no longer in imminent danger of dying, Soddy retracts her vines and moves to join the others near the altar. "Smash the stones, stop the leak! But if it leaked out once, could it leak again?"

Caena gives the bat-elf a hard stare, and then turns away to swiftly unbind the elf on the altar. (I assume that's not a difficult task.) She gently helps the elf to take a seat on the ground. "You'll be all right now," she says in her most reassuring tone. Caena then looks over at Fola. "Maybe you should talk to her?"

At Lovissa's dire explanation, her gaze turns stormy and she goes back over to the altar to see if the holy water or the smashing are having an effect. She will gladly join in if so.

The insistent evil whisper from the altar seems to grow temporarily quiet as Lovissa pours on holy water.

damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 5) + 2 = 12 4 damage
damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 6) + 2 = 14 10 damage
damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 5) + 2 = 13 15 damage
damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (1, 3) + 2 = 6 no more damage
damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 4) + 2 = 11 18 damage
damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 1) + 2 = 6 no more damage

damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 no more damage
damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9 19 damage
damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 no more damage
damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 no more damage
damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7 no more damage
damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 no more damage

It will take a lot more hits than that, but eventually Lovissa will manage to destroy the altar. Most of you can't damage it, because it has hardness 8

After the altar crumbles, the evil aura of the place goes away, leaving an odd silence. The cages elves seem to relax and finally look at Sara hopefully. The elf who was removed from the altar before Lovissa started smacking at it takes a little longer to recover, but does.

Before your eyes the batelf changes back to an Ekujae scout. He is still unconscious.

"Oh! His old vessel is back," Soddy remarks, quite surprised. "Maybe we can save the entire self then - vessel and spirit both!"

She looks around at her companions. "Healing the vessel is good. Is anyone able to do it?"

I'm glad bat-elf-man wasn't bad to the bone. Unfortunately I only barely kept Soddy whole. A relieved Sara will help the caged elves with water, blankets, and anything else she can to ease them.

Lovissa crows in triumph as the altar finally crumbles. She tosses another holy water on it for good measure, then exclaims, "Whew! Well, that was a workout!"

"How are the others doing? Are they ready for the journey home?"

With only a little work, you are able to get all of the elves who were captives ready to travel back to the village. Fola reassures you that they will be well cared for there, and recover more quickly there than here. You heal Kaghaze and take him with you also.

As soon as you journey outside the forbidden area, Danbit and Erta find you. Their releaf at seeing you safe is obvious. They bombard you with questions as to what you found and what has happened.

Aglynn help Lovissa destroy the altar, bombarding it with jagged rocks.

Before

Catorze gets out her tools, disabling the lock on the cage for the elves. Then she helps Sara release the caged elves and reassure them in elvish of their intentions. “We were sent by Danbit and Erta. Come, let us take you from that forbidden place.”

Before they leave, she says, “Let us do the words of burial for the headless ones, and set them truly to rest.” Remembering the words of before, Catorze recites the ancient rhymes while Aglynn carves out a tomb for the others.

Then Catorze looks to Kaghaze. “Speak to me. Assure me that we are doing the right thing by bringing you back when so many of your people have died. A great evil has touched you, but you don’t have to let it define you. Fola has faith in you... Tell me that faith is not misplaced, and what you will do to help redeem yourself.”

Now

Catorze sighs as she addresses the elders. “We have returned to you as many of your people as we could. The others were permanently lost to a great evil, but we have released them from their torment and buried them that their souls may find rest.” She smiles to Fola. “Your Fola is a treasure. Many of us nearly died in there, and she kept us alive.”

Then Catorze turns to Lovissa, speaking in common. “Do you want to tell them of the altar? It came back once. It may do so again if they’re not careful.” She offers to translate for Lovissa and any others who wish to tell the tale of what happened in the cave.

Lovissa nods and steps forward. "I am Lovissa of the line of Halenbane, and I have the power to peer into an object's past!" She looks at the surrounding elves one by one, sure to make eye contact. "In the forbidden cave there is an altar. It is a portal through which the Evil can enter this world. Long ago it was destroyed by Old Mage Jatembe and his followers. This locked the evil away for many long centuries. But the evil it strong, and it's power seeped through, rebuilding the altar over untold generations. The larger the altar the more evil it can unleash and spread. When we arrived the altar was whole."

"We have destroyed the altar again. No more will its evil run rampant, but that does not mean it is safe. It is not gone forever. As it did in the past so will it do again. You must ensure that once a generation you send a brave warrior into the cave to smash what parts of the altar have begun to reform. You must maintain the evil's prison, or it will get loose and cause pain for your descendants."

After a moment of waiting for Catorze's translation to catch up she adds, "If your people will not enter, even to do this important work, know that you can always contact the Pathfinder Society to aid you. And remember the name Halenbane. My descendants, at least, will remember this day. They will know its significance."

I'll assume that you also bury the heads you found; I'm not sure how you're supposed to know this, but some of the heads came from the three headless bodies.

Kaghaze looks at Catorze. "I must speak to the elders before I can answer you. My poor judgement in taking my group of scouts into the forbidden area is indeed the cause of this, and some of my people have paid with their lives. I do insist that I was in no way in control of my body after the evil gripped me. I am sure the elders will have wisdom to share with me."

When you return to the village, the elders quickly make sure that someone is taking care of the rescued Ekujae you bring with you. Then they gather a few of their people to meet with you again in the clearing to listen to your tale. They make sure that you have sustaining food and fruity drinks to refresh yourselves as you talk to them. After Catorze and Lovissa speak, they look seriously at one another. "Our ancestors must have once known some of what you have told us, but that knowledge appears to have been lost. We will meet with elders from some of the other local villages and make sure these truths are not lost again. Meanwhile, please rest, and this evening we will have a celebration of what you have accomplished this day. Several of our people whose lives you have touched will wish to declare what you have done."

Sara suggests, Do you have written histories? This may be a good time to start one if you don't. I can help getting the proper materials. The oils my people produce are in keeping with the natural world, and can be used to aid in making vellum supple and keep the writings stable.

Elder Nolani frowns for a moment at Sara's suggestion, but Kalwe gently lays a hand on his arm before he can speak. "That is not something our people can do. We are forbidden to write our sacred stories. However, we will make this into one of the stories all our people know, rather than forbidden lore reserved only for the elders. Our ancestors were perhaps overly secretive. Stories that were known to all have been preserved, but the old forbidden lore has sometimes been lost."

Caena takes a sip from her drink while the others speak. Even though she is not injured herself, it has been a rough day. "Would it bother you if we describe what happened in our records? If your people have your way of remembering this evil, and the Pathfinder Society has our way as well, maybe together we can keep it from happening again."

The mantra of Explore, report, cooperate echoes in her mind and she wonders what they would do if the answer was no.

She brightens at the mention of a celebration. "It would be nice to have a friendly gathering, after all the darkness we've seen today."

Soddy sits quietly nearby, letting those who are better at speaking and tale-telling share the story of their journey into the cliffside cave.

"Telling the story to each other is good," Soddy nods when Elder Nolani explains how they will work to prevent the altar from coming forth yet again. "Tell it to the spirits of the land, too - the trees, the earth, the sky. So no one ever ever forgets, not even them!"

Nolani seems shocked by the suggestion, but Kalwe smiles gently. "Please respect our ways by waiting until you are no longer in our village before writing down what happened. Afterwards, respect the ways of your own people."

You are taken somewhere comfortable to rest, and Elder Nolani comes a few minutes later to tend to any injuries you have. Then you are left to sleep off the stress.

As it grows close to evening, the elves start out with a feast. Then Elder Nolani stands to speak. "You have touched the lives of many of our people, so we wish to honor you. If you were one of us, we would paint your faces with dyes that would show for life the story of what you have done. Since we know that such facial painting is not the way of outsiders, we would like to use our usual painting techniques to honor you, but we will not mix into the dye the plant that makes it permanent. In a few days, perhaps a week, no trace will remain on your body of the painting. It will last for much longer in the minds of our people, and we hope in yours also."

For any of you who are willing, Elder Kalwe begins to paint your faces. Kaghaze, Fola, Erta, Danbit, and all the elves who were prisoners add to the paint. A few elves who you have not met also leave their mark, and you are told that they are family members of some of the dead Ekujae who you buried. Then the party resumes and goes long into the night. Eventually, when you appear tired after your day, you are again taken into a comfortable place to sleep.

In the morning, you leave to return to Nantambu. Fola travels with you until you are about a day outside Ekujae territory. Mitarat also rejoins you. Your return is uneventful, and Aya gladly hears all you have to tell her.

please feel free to interject your reactions at any point in the narrative above.

Although Sara has never had her face painted, it's a new experience for her. She will sit as still as a statue. As long as the artist doesn't mind, Sara will ask questions about their life, what they produce, and how they trade with others.

Lovissa eats heartily at the feast, nourishing both her body and her spirit with god food and fine company. It shames her that she was useless in battle, and resolves to train harder for the next mission. Chronicling a great battle was an honour. Just not the honour she had intended. This failure would only temper her resolve. Looking at the ladies around her, she smiles. She had a lot to live up to.

Upon the offer of a face tattoo, Lovissa grins widely. "I will bear this story upon my flesh with pride. From this day until it fades, and upon my heart for eternity."

She sits still while her face is painted, and finds the whole process quite enjoyable. it certainly hurts less than the permanent tattoos and brands used back home. She smiles at all the contributors, but doesn't nod for fear or spoiling their artistry.

On the journey back to Natambu she is oddly contemplative. But, when the group reports in to their Venture-Captain, she takes great pride in recounting the exploits of her companions during the Battle of Dehu Inu. Theirs will be an epic for the ages...

Soddy, for such a little leshy, eats a surprising amount at the feast - a little bit of everything, even various meats. "What? Poffis told me that you won't know if you like something or not until you try it," she remarks at one point as she curiously bubbles at a strip of roasted boar. "I won't know if I like all these foods or not if I don't try them!"

Later, when the face painting is offered, Soddy is all too happy to give it a try as well. "Yellow and white, if you have those it'll match my daisies!"

Much later, once they're safely back in Natambu, Soddy nods along energetically as Lovissa and Catorze (for they are the most talkative and the best with the telling of stories) relate everything they learned and experienced. "We made the Ekujae fleshies happy again and saved them from being plucked and uprooted - I'm sure they'll grow even bigger and taller in their jungle garden," she muses with a satisfied tone.