You polish off the remaining Zombie and move on towards the source of the undead. The other pathfinder groups seem to be making great headway ad you encounter nothing but dead undead and head towards the standing stones by the river
The clearing on the riverbank features a circle of standing stones with a large stone altar at its center. A shadowy tear floats above the altar, so dark that what little light shines from the stars seems to become trapped inside. Eight large tendrils of inky darkness coil around the menhirs as if keeping the stones in a stranglehold. Other tendrils lick out from the shadowy rift as if tasting the air.
For every 5 that you beat the DC, you may ask for one piece of information from this list.
For every 5 that you beat the DC, you may ask for one piece of information from this list.
To begin the encounter, begin the PCs about 60–90 feet
from the stone circle. Because of the haunting sounds
ahead, the PCs should have 2 full rounds in which to cast any
preliminary spells before they need to rush in to intervene.
So you have two rounds of buffs and then stuff starts
bold to act
Puck
Ree
Jesanna
Froderik
Skeletons
benny
Other undead thing
Rivani
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"Right you are, Benny. We face a giant crawling hand--presumably the disembodied hand of a giant that...crawls. I suggest you not allow it to grab you." Froderik says. "The others are the skeletal remains of humans given an unnatural life!"
"The ring ahead appears to be a portal to a plane of negative energy. Ergo, positive energy is likely to bring about its closure." The bard suggests as he grabs his wand of cure light wounds in his off hand.
The
Bold to act
Puck
Ree
Jesanna
Froderik
Rivani
Benny
Skeletons
Crawling Hand (medium creature size)
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Froderik draws his wand of cure light wounds and then veers into the dense woods and shouts, "Puck is correct, my consistent--if not necessarily accurate--friend! Do not let your guard down and make the undead wish that they never disturbed their graves!"
Benny flails at the skeleton with his mace and misses
Ree smashes her rapier straight through the eyesocket of the first skeleton which shatters into bone fragments
Rivani uses her mind power to shoot pine cones towards a skeleton
The cone removes the skull from the body of the skeleton and it collapses
The skeletons move to intercept the party and the Hands appears to guard the circle
The two furthest forward take a swipe at Benny and Ree
Bennys foe hits him but Ree proves more than a match for his opponents skill as his riposte thrusts the skeletons mangled scimitar into it with enough force to shatter the unholly magic holding it in undeath
The one heading towards Froderik cant attack as it has too much terrain to get through
Party is up
Benny -5
Ree -1 panache
Remaining Undead
Froderiks magic empowered blade cuts through the zombie like a knife through butter* and he heads further forward
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As Medda and Anok join the group of Pathfinders around the stone circle, she assists them with the binding ritual. Medda thrusts Ivvora’s hilt into the portal, calling on Vildeis for aid. The shadow rift shrinks and closes, releasing a massive shock wave that knocks the Pathfinders, the Twinhorn warriors, and Medda to the ground. A field of dark, rippling energy remains, suspended above the stone altar. As Medda reaches out to pick up Ivvora’s hilt—the already broken blade now spider-webbed with new cracks—a supernatural silence descends. Only the telepathic rage of some unseen menace cuts through the quiet. “You dare to shut me out?” it rages. “I see you, but I do not see her. Where is the dwarf woman, Ivvora, who fought me so long ago? Has her mortal body failed at last? Has the realm of the
living at last lost its protector? Know this: when the long shadows reach out again, I will grasp them and claw my way back into your world to see your flesh devoured by my children.”
Sound returns to the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, and Medda cautiously stands. “It seems that Eshimka still lives and has even left this foul scar on our world,” she declares. “If we are to believe its promises, the fiend will attack on the next winter solstice. If we are to survive, we must be ready. Nearly a millennium ago, Ivvora held the key to defeating Eshimka. By following her legends and discovering her fate, we may harness the same holy power that banished this fiend—and together end the beast entirely.
“When we set out, it would be the privilege of this following to have the Pathfinders at our side. But that is a trial for another day. Tonight, at last, we rest.”
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Celebration and preparation have filled the last two days. The Twinhorns are both relieved to have thwarted the villain Eshimka and resolved to help the following’s spiritual leader, Medda, retrace the paladin Ivvora’s millennium-old steps. After hours of considering and retelling ancient stories preserved by oral tradition, Medda gathers the Pathfinders. “The holy warrior Ivvora came to us in pursuit of Eshimka, whom she vanquished and banished with the Twinhorns’ help. However, she would not rest for long, and she insisted on seeking out other evils in the area. At that time, the most fearsome threat was Grathatonhakis, an immense white dragon that lurked in the Tusk Mountains and would strike our camps. Ivvora learned what she could, left her dagger with us, and departed to slay the dragon. She never returned, and neither did the dragon. Exactly what transpired is unclear from our legends.” Medda cradles the fragile remnants of Ivvora’s dagger. “This blade kept Eshimka at bay for so many generations, and now it is ready to fall apart. Ivvora held the key to defeating Eshimka, and by learning her fate or communing with her spirit where she fell, we might harness the same power. Then we shall not just reseal the shadow fiend but destroy it once and for all! From our tales we have learned where the wyrm Grathatonhakis laired. Let us set out together to learn what happened—and who might have taken the caves since.”
The trek is long and cold, taking the group first across the tundra and then into shadow of the frigid Tusk Mountains. As the trail winds around a frozen lake, the snap of a snare echoes over the ice, and a Pathfinder is whipped into air by a cleverly laid trap. Medda scowls and announces, “Pathfinders, we have kobolds. Keep within earshot and spread out. They aren’t just a threat; they may also be our best better to finding the dead dragon’s lair.”
As you journey through the frozen landscape, you come to a place where the path touches a frozen lake. I apologize for placing many of you on the frozen lake, but there's a box I have to fit you all in.
Up ahead, you hear the sounds of some reptilian voices arguing with a soft female voice which is speaking slowly and with increasing emphasis. The response is nasty reptilian cackling.
The frozen lake and the tree areas are difficult terrain. Going up from where you are is walking on the frozen lake. The path which is the only non-difficult terrain stretches off to the right. At the end of it you can see the elfin woman who is arguing with the draconic voices
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Upon hearing speech in foreign tongues, Froderik casts comprehend languages.
"The voice ahead are engaged in a dispute. The woman wishes the reptiles to leave; the reptiles wish in return to consume her." Froderik notes. "By her speech and the way her voice resembles the rustling of leaves, I believe the woman to be a dryad. May I suggest that we follow her voice and render to her our aid?"
The bard heads further along the forest path.
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Ree keeps pace with Froderick, blade drawn and held down at her side. For the first time since meeting her you see her shiver a bit totally all from the cold and natur-ey stuff. Even undead didn't make her flinch, but wet and cold? Yuck!
"Trees huh?...so maybe not with the mentioning that I'm a fire kind of person?"
Rivani follows along, her robes wrapped tightly against the cold. She gingerly steps off the frozen lake and joins Froderick and Ree. The voices carrying on the wind are unintelligible and she listens to Froderick's explanation of the dryad. "I haven't encountered these creatures either, are they likely to be receptive to our help?" she asks, drawing her blade and snapping a sheath of protective force into being around herself.
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"I haven't encountered these creatures either, are they likely to be receptive to our help?" she asks, drawing her blade and snapping a sheath of protective force into being around herself.
"More likely to be receptive to being aided than to being eaten I would think." Froderik responds, drawing his blade as he moves forward.
As you get closer you see four kobolds moving menacingly towards the dryad who starts backing away. One of them atop a strange frog like creature spots you (well Froderik and Ree at least) and yells in draconic pointing at Froderik with his lance
The other 3 kobolds carry crossbows
special attacks are belly grease and slime
Belly Grease (Ex) The slurk exudes a slippery grease from its
belly that grants it a +4 bonus on Escape Artist skill checks
and to its CMD versus grapples. Once per minute, a slurk can
wallow on a solid surface as a full-round action to coat the
floor in a 5-foot radius with this grease. The smear created
turns that area of floor into difficult terrain for 10 minutes,
after which the grease dries to a nasty crust.
Slime (Ex) A slurk’s back is crusted with thick, dry slime and
dozens of nodules. As a standard action at will, a slurk can
squirt a jet of this slime from one of these nodules as a
ranged touch attack against any target within 30 feet. The
slime quickly hardens to the texture of cold tar, entangling
any foe hit by the slime. Anyone the slurk successfully bull
rushes or overruns is automatically squirted with back slime.
The hardened slime can be removed as a full-round action
with a successful DC 15 Strength check. The slurk’s back slime
grants a creature riding it a +8 bonus on Ride checks to stay in
the saddle, but a –8 penalty on Ride checks to dismount
The hostile shouts from ahead spur Rivani into action and she jogs towards the fight. Hearing Puck call out about a magical frog she asks "A normal size frog? Or a huge one?"
The ordinary sized kobold (small) On top of the giant frog creature (medium) barks out at Froderik
However as lance has reach he does not get a riposte
Ree defly flicks the lance aside but his foe is too far away to riposte
The Slurk bounds forward and attempts to overrun him
But Ree stands her ground and rebuffs the Slurk Frog thing
The kobold sniper loads a red feathered bolt to his crossbow and shoots at Puck in the trees and hits despite the cover they provide and his mage armour. The other two move forward loading their crossbows
Bold to act
Ree *see spoilers
Puck -3
Froderick Challenged
Rivani
Benny
Jesanna
Slurk wrangler
Kobold snipers
Dryad
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"Issue a challenge, do you?" Froderik responds to the mounted kobold as he moves forward, blade raised. "Your amphibian and the rest of you reptilian kind should be hibernating for the winter--for the cold-blood within your veins has made you slow, while your words merely serve to kindle our fiery hearts--not to mention my comrade's fiery blades!"
"If you challenge me, then you challenge ALL of us!" Froderik says defiantly as he gestures and let's lose words of arcane origin.
Bold to act
Ree *see spoilers
Puck -3
Rivani
Benny
Jesanna
Slurk wrangler
Kobold snipers
Dryad
6 Froderiks (alas only 1 is real)
The champion doesn't know what hit him but he doesn't like it
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Ree would have parried the attack, yes. She laughs at the attempt, though. "Hah! Try this on for size instead!"
The lady ifrit lunges forward with her rapier, aiming for the kobold's heart!
If the kobold is still alive after that precise strike, she'll grin, her hair lifting from her shoulders as if carried by fire. "This is where you run, surrender, or die."
The kobold slumps forming a dead weight on the Slurks back
Rivani strides purposefully across the hard, frosty ground, her mind focused inwards as she prepares her spell. Seeing the kobolds loading their crossbows she uses her magic to invade the mind of the central one, scrambling it's thoughts and leaving it disoriented.
the middle kobold mutters
Jesanna and Benny continue to sneak around
The middle kobold hits himself in the face with his crossbow the other two fire at Puck and miss and reload their crossbows
The slurs tries to overrun Ree and The Froderiks and succeeds both Ree and Froderik are entangled. Ree is also knocked prone. The slurks belly covers them in slime and they both become entangled. The slurk continues
until it turns 20 feet away from Froderik. At which point the dead kobold falls off its back
Party is up (The Dryad has no more to say and is watching the fight)
Ree prone and entangled
6 Froderiks Entangled
Rivani
Benny
Jesanna
Puck
Kobolds ( 0, -2, 0)
Slurk (where did my rider go)
Dryad