You don't recognize the canine creatures - whatever they are, they're definitely not normal.
Things:1d100 ⇒ 49 Things:1d100 ⇒ 35
The air twisted somewhat as your starknives flew, but both weapons struck home, digging into the creatures' flesh. The one you'd gotten close to let out a howl, and another one - bearing the exact same wounds - appeared on your opposite side. The two(?) creatures promptly began trying to rip into you.
Several of the blows were close, but only one of them actually managed to hit you. Meanwhile, the other two beasts growled, and the air itself began to rip under the force of their gazes as space itself was told to start doing things that weren't natural for it.
Fortitude DC 25 Negates:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (3) + 19 = 22Unless you Surge or something to make the save, takeSlashing Damage:5d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 6, 4, 6) = 23 Fortitude DC 25 Negates:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (18) + 19 = 37
Damage Bonuses: Sneak Attack 4d6+1
+4 Shadow Stryker only
Defensive Bonuses:
+2 Saves Heroism
+4 AC Shield
Surge:1d6 ⇒ 13+21+1=25
Sevia blinked and only realized she was under attack by the time it had already happened, the air itself around her ripping at her body. If it wasn't for her divine willpower and magical aid, she would surely have been unable to weather the attack.
Now it was her turn. She wasn't sure whether the creature behind her was real or not, but decided to focus on the one in front of her. All but her second attack was directed ahead of her, with the other to the one behind herself.
Your second iterative (sadly not a critical) and your ki attack both managed to strike the creature in front of you - but only after something even stranger happened. As you started your attack, the creature lashed out in the exact same movement that had struck you before, and your body moved in the same way, like time itself was somehow repeating - with the same results.
Will DC 25 Halves:1d20 + 22 ⇒ (18) + 22 = 40
4 damage.
The repetition was wrong, and your mind knew it - despite the confusion reality itself seemed to be experiencing at the moment, you were able to resist the change, and your two accurate blows slammed into the creature to injure it further. It probably couldn't handle more than two or three blows - or one of your sneak attacks - and the one in front of you simply vanished. This wasn't invisibility or some other kind of concealment - it simply stopped existing there, and the beast behind you bore exactly the same wounds you'd just inflicted on the one that had vanished.
The other two hounds, seeing your actions, let out a number of growls - and as they looked at you, you could feel their strange malevolence trying to affect you on a deeper level.
Will DC 25 Negates:1d20 + 22 ⇒ (10) + 22 = 32 Will DC 25 Negates:1d20 + 22 ⇒ (11) + 22 = 33
Whatever they were trying to do failed as reality reasserted itself under the force of your will and no changes happened. The only one in combat with you let out a growl of its own, and a duplicate reappeared in the space that the hound had just left.
Damage Bonuses: Sneak Attack 4d6+1
+4 Shadow Stryker only
Defensive Bonuses:
+2 Saves Heroism
+4 AC Shield
Whatever these hounds were doing, it seemed to be messing with time. Trying to change it, bend it. To do so was the realm of extremely powerful arcane magic, which meant these creatures were very gifted. Yet despite their malevolent warping of reality, they seemed barely able to scratch her. The dog flanking her seemed to simply be the same dog standing in front of her, occupying both places at the same time.
In which case, it seemed she need not hold back, and concentrated her attacks on the hound that had just reappeared.
Attack:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35 vs AC Damage:1d6 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 Crit:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26 vs AC Damage:1d6 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13 Attack:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19 vs AC Damage:1d6 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10 Iterative:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29 vs AC Damage:1d6 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11 Crit:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 vs AC Damage:1d6 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13 Iterative:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21 vs AC Damage:1d6 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
Then, after that incredible flurry of attacks, she drew on her ki to turn invisible and stepped away from where she'd been - aiming to throw them off her.
Both bodies of the canine vanished and died at the same time as your attacks struck home, and space pulsed around you until you were able to reassert your will on mundane reality. The other two hounds narrowed their eyes as you disappeared... and one of them exhaled a massive cloud of fog that billowed forth to shroud the chamber and veil most things from sight. (As the Fog Cloud spell.)
Meanwhile, you could hear the voice of your Shadow from outside the room. "This place... lines are... angles... I cannot advance." it said in its soft voice, sounding confused about its inability to move forward.
One down, two to go. As fog suddenly filled the room she lost sight of both though. Which worked for her. Honestly the concealment benefited her more than them, as she could more easily employ her stealth. First though, she decided to cast Infernal Healing on herself, stalling the fight and allowing both creatures to continue bleeding. Meanwhile shifting around the room, avoiding staying still if she had to and trying to pin point where each dog was in the process. She also converted the life force she'd stored inside Stryker into more ki.
The two dogs seemed to have vanished within the mists, though the occasional growl suggested that they were still within the room somewhere. Either way, it was undoubtedly the case that these creatures were just flat-out weird and seemed to be moving in ways that weren't entirely consistent with the usual rules.
Which, of course, brought up the relevant issue - how did three invisible creatures find and fight each other in a fog-filled room?
Sevia kept on the move, not remaining still, though she also strayed near the walls. To locate the hounds, she used her innate ability to detect evil, casting the spell and concentrating on it to narrow their location. Hopefully they were evil, and if so she'd use that to sneak up on them.
If detect evil gets a response, she'll spend 2 more rounds of concentrating to narrow down their location
The Detect Evil spell didn't seem to be detecting anything in particular - aside from a kind of low-grade evil that was infusing the entire house. This was not a happy building. That was the way things continued until you approached one of the corners and it shone with a faint light as another hound appeared... this time no larger than a puppy, and still not detecting as evil. It looked around the room, seeming a bit perplexed by all the fog, and let out an inquisitive bark.
Sevia seemed perplexed that she'd found no evil, well, it was never a sure thing. What really got her confused was the presence of this small puppy. But, with its appearance she had an idea, casting a Ghost Sound at the dog and trying to fool the dogs into thinking the puppy had been hurt by mimicking a howl of pain...then stepped back and waited to see if that drew them out.
The sound could be heard throughout the room, but the puppy just looked inquisitive - it didn't seem to be buying it, but its long tail began wagging back and forth as it sniffed the air. The fog started to dissipate a moment later, and would take at least a few seconds to clear away.
Frustrated by her lack of means to locate these dogs, Sevia opted for a simpler method - just check every square inch of the fog cloud. Though at the moment it might not even be necessary given its slow dissipation. With her speed, is was a simple matter to moved up and down the room, looking for her opponents.
Sevia basically moves into all the squares of the rooms to look for the two dogs
As the fog cleared - with two rounds of invisibility left - the two remaining adult canines darted out of a corner and stood in front of the pup, growling as they faced the air... and clearly bothered by their inability to locate you, judging by the way they were sniffing around. Their movements seemed somewhat faster than before, too, though it wasn't clear exactly how they were managing that. One of them barked something at the pup, who replied with an inquisitive arf.
Sevia debated whether to continue attacking, they were clearly hostile, but also protecting another. She could respect that. Instead of continuing her attack, Sevia backed off, in fact she might not even need to continue the fight given that her other attacks had left them bleeding.
Rather than retreat the way she'd come though, she aimed for the stairs, taking a moment to open the door next to them before continuing up the steps. She could just sneak inside that side room to search it when she came back down. Still invisible, though only for a few more seconds, she ascended the stairs into what she assumed was the cupola.
As you come up the steps, you find yourself in a small attic area, with stairs continuing to lead upwards to the cupola via a trapdoor in the roof. The chamber is dusty, but sheltered from the weather by the area above, and there are a few miscellaneous items still left here. Most notable is a book bound in cracked whale-hide that's sitting atop the table, which looks like it has been recently cleaned and read. Nothing else seems particularly shiny or valuable.
Sheathing her swords, Sevia strode forward and looked at the book, as she picked up the object she then became visible, her ki ability finally running its course. It was odd that the thing seemed to have been recently read, how did anyone get over here with the hounds in the way? She opened it up to see if she could get an idea of what was inside.
The language inside of the book looks both ancient and unusually complicated - and, unfortunately, it's not in a language you're currently familiar with. It would take magic, some serious study time, or talking to someone who knows the language to decipher it.
There is one thing you can tell even without reading it, though - the drawings are weird, evocative of angles and shapes that shouldn't exist.
Sevia turned the book over in her hands a little and examined it some, unable to decipher its secrets. Well, such could be rectified by magic...but later, instead closing the old tome up and sliding it back into her pack. She looked up to her next target, the trap door, and strode forward to it.
Before opening it, she replaced her wrist sheathes with new star knives and drew her swords...something had been up here. Carefully, she opened the door, and looked around inside for movement - also employing her ability to detect evil, then vaulted up into the small room.
A railed widow’s walk stands atop the manor’s dome, looking out over the surrounding marsh. The bricks lining the floor of this cupola are sunken as if from a great impact. In the center of this shallow crater lies a mangled and gore-spattered corpse in the shredded remains of red and green finery.
The hall itself seemed to be empty of creatures, but as you landed on the ground, the light on the ground went out for a moment - and the roof exploded as an elephantine, birdlike creature crashed through it, sending rocks raining down and continuing to hover in the air about fifteen feet above you as it focused its attention on you.
Damage Bonuses: Sneak Attack 4d6+1
+4 Shadow Stryker only
Defensive Bonuses:
+2 Saves Heroism
+4 AC Shield
Sevia noted the body on the floor and tensed as she landed. While she was always quick on her feet, the crash from above was not so surprising that she wasn't able to act first. Unfortunately the strange bird attacking her was in the air...she brushed off the debris from the roof and shifted one sword to her other hand to draw a star knife, immediately attacking the bird.
Sure she could've used the ones in her wrist sheath, but that would have given her no time to employ her ki powers to vanish.
The blow struck home, and as you vanished, the creature shot high into the air to prepare for... something. It wasn't exactly clear what it was planning on doing. On the bright side, though, your Shadow seemed able to maneuver out of the house and come to join you - it would take another two rounds to arrive (since it couldn't follow you through the room where the hounds had been), but at least it could get to where you were.
Sevia ignored the bird as it shot up, assuming this would be an aerial battle then. Speaking the command word, she activated the Fly spell on her armor and shot up after the beast, though instead of directly engaging it, she banked down behind the roof of the cupola, using it as cover while she drew another two starknives into her hand.
One round
Sevia made sure to keep the side of the cupola between herself and the bird, then set down her swords and again attacked with starknives - aiming to keep hidden behind the building. With her familiar returning, she could have him pick them up.
Using stealth to snipe
Spoiler:
Shadow Stryker +15/+10 (1d6+9/15-20x2 P or S, Deadly) Wyroot Primary
+1 Keen Wakizashi +15/+10 (1d6+9/15-20x2 P or S, Deadly) Adamantine Secondary
Starknife (Thrown, 20ft.) +15/+10 (1d4+8/x3 P) Cold Iron
Both of your starknives managed to strike home - and the creature let out an angry cry. It folded its wings a moment later and shot downwards, striking the floor of the open Cupola - not an immediate danger to you, but the entire house shook under the force of the blow, and the floor sagged alarmingly. Another strike would likely be enough to break it open, and the creature was already flapping upwards again.
It... wasn't immediately clear what it was trying to do. Perhaps it was blindly lashing out in an attempt to find you, or perhaps it was trying to reach something within the house...?
Well, if nobody was aware there was fighting going on, they were now. Sevia watched the huge bird fall down and slam into the floor below, and knew she had to do something to stop it. Luckily, she still had the element of surprise and back up was on its way, her familiar swooping in to pick up her swords and hand them off to her.
Finally though, her shadow had reached her, flying up to attack the bird like creature. Sevia followed him up, flanking it in the air and raining down a series of blows against it.
Spoiler:
Shadow Stryker +15/+10 (1d6+9/15-20x2 P or S, Deadly) Wyroot Primary
+1 Keen Wakizashi +15/+10 (1d6+9/15-20x2 P or S, Deadly) Adamantine Secondary
The creature - a Shantak, bird-like alien monsters - just let out a shrill cry as it fell downwards and hit the broken floor. The damaged structure collapsed beneath it, and the creature fell right into the room where you'd seen the giant earlier.
Your Shadow turned to face you a moment later, then looked at Epyon. The bird darted down towards the house, returning a moment later with a golden medallion with a symbol that looked like a cross between an eel, a fish, and an octopus. This was something that the man who'd... well... kind of exploded into tentacles earlier had been wearing - unfortunately, you hadn't had the chance to search the room for items of significant, but with the cleansing of the room it seemed it was safe to retrieve such items.
Sevia grimaced as the great bird, a shantak now that she'd gotten close enough to recognize it, had finally crashed. Looking toward's her familiar as he returned to hand her the medallion she quickly nodded and donned the profane symbol. "Both of you, stay out of sight. Shadow, the collapsed wall, there are two others, find out why they haunt this place." Sevia nodded to them both, dispatching her cohorts. Quickly, she flew down and landed on what remained of the cupola's floor that had not given out, taking special care to not be seen as she assumed the guise of the priest she had fought. Now would be the best time to assume such an identity, but priests could not vast Fly so it was important to not use it.
Disguise:1d20 + 12 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 12 + 10 = 35
"If you are still alive down there, begin making yourself useful and dispose of that beast!" She called down to the giant below, mimicking the priest's voice with rather impeccable tone. She looked around for the body of the man, taking a moment to search him if it still remained above. Following that, she shimmied down the side of the caved in floor toward the room occupied by the dogs, quickly dashing through and closing the door to the room behind her.
Assuming there are no complications, Sevia will head to F14, give a cursory search to the priest's belongings, taking the staff especially, and will head through the SW door into the center chamber
The giant - who'd darted towards the wall as the bird-thing crashed through, looked up... and grunted obediently before grabbing the Shantak and dragging it towards the main doors.
The items within the formerly-infested room seem to have been corroded, but a few other things had survived - including a trident of warning (his staff-like item) and a ring of force shield.
As you neared the door to the center chamber, however, a corner of the room twisted... and the puppy you'd seen in the chamber with the dogs walked out of it, panting happily as its tail wagged back and forth and it looked at you. Was it... following you?
Sevia quickly picked up the trident and the ring, slipping the small metal band around her finger and brandishing her new weapon. It would due to serve as a prop. Though she was skeptical that was all which had survived. "Epyon, search the room a little more. Then keep a watch on the house from above." Sevia said, directing her familiar. Just as she was about to leave the room, she watched with a raised eyebrow as the dog appeared. She...was not sure what to make of that.
Taking no chances, she stepped onto the balcony of the central chamber and closed the door behind her. Walking down into the lower floor where the giant had been. Now that she was inside the room, she took a moment to cast Detect Magic out of sight and give the chamber a once over, visually inspecting the room for clues while she could. As soon the the giant returned though, she stopped and made an appearance of indifference.
It kind of exploded. That's why the slugspawn went flying everywhere.
The entire room was filled with a low-grade magical signature, and the energies were much higher near a menhir on the northern wall - though you'd have to study it for a bit to determine what the power actually was. Nearby, there was a depression in the stone that matched the medallion your familiar had brought earlier. Before you could examine much more, though, the giant returned and stood to attention as she looked at you.
"Anything else I can do for ya, boss?" she asked as, out of the corner of your eye, you saw the puppy hop out of a corner on the ceiling and land silently on the balcony above.
Sevia's eye's flicked to that puppy once more following her, but ignored it. The way the giantess spoke to her though, she assumed the person she had assumed the identity of was indeed Father Voltiaro, but that still left the child she'd also been sent to find, though it could be she had already been 'fostered.' Whatever that meant. "Did you see the other body? There was...I assume a person up there...very mangled, certainly killed by that beast. I lost track of it in the confusion." Sevia made a show to sigh loudly and placed a her head in her hand.
"This is all going horribly wrong. House must be cursed...it might just be best to leave..." Sevia said somewhat indecisively, wondering if the giant might interject and tell her something she could use. Until then she'd just have to carefully word what she said to stay as vague as possible.
Squished rather badly by the impacts, currently half-buried under rubble.
The giantess narrowed her eyes as she looked at you. "...That person was your son." she said, tightening her grip on her massive weapon. "Is the infestation proceeding faster than you thought? Maybe you should sit down for a bit."
'Damn.' Well she hadn't known THAT. Thinking fast, she feigned a look of horror and rolled with it. "What? No...no that can't be, he...he was..." She dropped the trident and stumbled over to the rubble burying the body. She reached out to the rubble but withdrew her hand just as fast. "Gods damned! Have you forsaken me Dagon?!" she shouted, , and hoped the act was convincing. Turning from the rubble she stumbled over to one of their stairs and sat down, shoulder's slumped.
Bluff:1d20 + 18 ⇒ (14) + 18 = 32
She sat there for a minute, both to keep up the act but also to hopefully give the giantess a reason to believe that she wasn't about to have her head pop off and turn into a spawning canker. Looking back at the medallion, and then at the depression in the stone...could there be a connection? "No. I can fix this! This can all be fixed!" she said, standing back up and walking over to the northern edge of the wall where she had detected some more powerful magic. Another secret door like the one at Maheto? Or maybe a secret compartmnet. She moved over to where the indentation had been and pulled out the medallion...could it be the key?
Arcana:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (12) + 16 = 28
She tried fitting it to the slot, hoping for something.
Blue light flared into existence the moment the medallion was pressed into the stone, revealing a door-like portal. From this side, there was no way of telling where it actually went... but there was definitely some serous magic involved.
More problematically, it might not be easy to get your familiar and shadow through the portal without arousing the giant's suspicions further... though there were definitely various ways of doing that if you wanted to.
"Good...good...now we get to the bottom of this." Sevia said, grinning at the passage. She took a moment to look over to the giantess to gauge her mood, had they been looking for this secret passage or did they already know it existed? And for that matter, how did 'fostering' fit in with the 'neighbors?' "What other secret does this place hold?" She mumbled, and began examining the room further.
Take 10 perception for 28
"Hmm...yes...we'll go together. Find out what is wrong." Sevia said. Telepathically she reached out to her familiar and asked him to take a look into the windows on the two rooms she'd passed by and see if there was anything inside. She wouldn't be able to take her familiar down, but the shadow could follow underneath her.
There were definitely people present in the northeastern room here on the first floor - including one very small person. As for the portal itself, the giantess didn't seem particularly surprised at its appearance, though she was continuing to watch you carefully. She hadn't loosened the grip on her weapon - and given what you knew had happened to the priest in the room up above, perhaps that wasn't so strange an act. If they'd seen others burst apart, chances were they'd be more than a bit cautious around anyone acting oddly.
It didn't appear she could find anything else within the circle, but there were others in the house...and they had the child. That meant that the fostering hadn't been completed, so obviously they were trying to do that with whoever these 'neighbors' were. Of course, this sounded far more like a bargain or pact than the harmless tradition Greedle had described it as. "Hmph. Watch the door while I get the others." She said, apparently giving up on her search. "We're going to complete the fostering. And the neighbors are going to tell me how to...to...cure this. I can last that long..." Sevia said, trying to sound confident.
Sevia left the giantess at the door and made her way to the northeastern room.
Whatever furnishings were once in this room have been used as fuel in the old fireplace, which contains a fairly fresh collection of ash. Only a plain wooden bench now remains beneath the western window. A single lit lantern, hooded so that its light does not shine beyond this chamber, has been set upon the hearth.
Three people were within the room - one man dressed in the robes of an important member of the clergy, a fellow who was clearly a lower-ranked cultist, and a small baby.
"Father Voltiaro! We heard some noises - have the Neighbors finally shown up!?" he asked.
If you weren't planning to murder them on the spot, it would probably be best to remember that these people were very familiar with the Father, and it would take an especially convincing act to fool them for more than a few moments. Right now, they saw what they expected to see - someone they knew - but they'd spot mishaps in mere moments.
You'll need to Bluff them to make them continue to believe you're the man you're impersonating.
Sevia steeled her face, pausing long enough to allow them a good look at her stony demeanor. "No." She said simply, giving them a moment to process that, and figure out it probably meant more bad news. "I found...my son. In the cupola. There was...a Shantak, that was what you heard, my fight with it...but...I was too late to...save him." Sevia said with careful measured words, she was not unfamiliar with giving bad news before. She sighed as though exhausted.
"The neighbors have not come. I don't think they will come...in fact, they might be responsible for this...this...curse." Sevia said, having suddenly realized with the right words she could implant a useful idea in their heads. "I am done waiting for answers. Now we go get them, using the portal hidden within the stone circle. Either we complete the fostering and they fix this mess, tell me how to reverse my...my predicament...or things get...complicated." Sevia said with iron in her voice, tightening her grip on the Trident and giving the impression of a man pressed to his absolute limits. She didn't outright say they were going to kill anything down there, but she certainly implied it.
Bluff:1d20 + 18 ⇒ (20) + 18 = 38Oh yeah, they're eating out of the palm of my hand
The two cultists - especially the junior - looked nervous... but slowly, they nodded.
"We have waited a long time - they owe us an explanation." the well-dressed one said slowly. "The Shadow in the Sea does not take kindly to those who abandon the rituals. Let us pray to him for guidance before we go." Both of them fell silent - it was fairly clear who was supposed to lead at times like this.
omfg my computer once again eats a huge post AND everything I saved just incase I needed to paste. Not even bothering. I'm just going to assume a take 10 on religion gives me a good idea on basic rites for gods with my bonus. Also, I don't consider pretending to pray to an evil god actually evil
Sevia understood why, but didn't like it. This was her best shot at figuring exactly what was going on though, she she'd just have to play along. Nodding, she began a prayer, though specifically avoided using any self identifying phrases, refering only to 'dagons servants' and 'the order.' She kept it short, but as convincing as possible. "Would that we had more time, but I am unsure how much longer I can last. We must finish our business soon." Sevia concluded, gesturing for them to follow her back out of the door to the giantess.
You're Beyond Morality - why do you care what alignment it is? (That is NEVER going to stop being useful for you. XD)
The two followers of Dagon fell into step behind you, and as they reached the main room, the one holding the baby held it out to the Giantess.
"We'll be back soon. Make sure the child is safe - she's meant to be with the Neighbors in honor of our pact and Lord Dagon." he instructed firmly.
"Yes, sir." the giantess replied obediently, taking the child. None of them seemed to have noticed the small dog on the upper part of the room, but as you got closer to the portal, you were able to notice it looking down at the infant... and slowly wagging its tail.
Sevia would've rather had the giant than the two humans, but she'd take what she could get. That negative energy channeling might be pretty useful as well if he could selectively channel. Noticing the dog above, she raised an eyebrow and reached out to Epyon mentally, "Keep an eye on the giant, and tell the shadow to follow us in the walls but stay out of sight unless my cover is exposed." She asked before turning to the two priests.
"Come. Now we find out exactly what is going on here." Sevia said, walking into the secret tunnel with her two duped cohorts in tow.
You emerge into a series of damp and cramped tunnels, ranging in height from 5 feet to 15 feet. Directly in front of you, a stair of time-smoothed stones descends 20 feet into the earth to emerge into an open area up ahead. The walls, floors, and ceilings are all natural stone showing some signs of working and uncountable years of use. The walls are damp - possible but quite difficult to climb - and the ceilings show many small stalactites that have formed over the centuries. The floor is free of stalagmites except in out-of-the-way corners. There are no light sources unless otherwise noted.
There's nothing to do but go forward once you're ready to do so. The crude stone stair opens into a wide natural cavern. An alcove to the north holds a tall glass tank in which stands the perfectly preserved corpse of a man. A single large, discolored bronze bell inscribed with strange runes hangs from one wall. You can smell something that seems to be either garbage or compost coming from the northwest tunnel, and quiet sounds of occupation from the southern exit.
As the trio emerged into the room Sevia looked around, she of course had no trouble seeing the room but imagined the other two did not possess the senses she did. "Light." Sevia said, ordering one of the two clerics to produce a source. She raised the Trident she'd been carrying and pointed it towards both tunnels, scanning for any aquatic creatures. She also cast Detect Magic. "Just in case we cannot resolve this amicably, you should cast any longer lasting battle spells now..." Sevia said as she walked over to the tank to examine the corpse while she waited.
Once they had finished whatever preparations they intended to make, she nodded to both and proceeded to lead them through the southern passage.
The bell had a faint aura of abjuration - and hanging from it was a token identical to the one you'd used to open the door above. A lectern near the body held a book, but you were already on your way south.
Several shallow pools have collected on the floor of this chamber among a number of natural stone columns. Great smears of dried black ichor stain one wall above the corpses of two fishlike humanoids, obviously the victims of great violence. Seven more of the fishmen are in the chamber - six of them to the east, who don't look friendly at all, and one giant one a little to the west, who looks... well... completely insane. In the medical use of the phrase, not simply having ridiculous fashion sense.
They were slow to react, but clearly hostile - but there was one more thing hindering you. Your followers almost certainly knew exactly what the priest you were impersonating was capable of, and while some things could be explained (such as "I prepared different spells than usual today just in case"), deviating too far from his talents would quite possibly blow your cover.
Will DC 16 (Giant Enemy):1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14
Meanwhile, the big one suddenly looked very confused and started shouting something in a language you didn't recognize, gesturing angrily at the wall.
As Sevia walked into the chamber, she looked around the chamber. The corpses immediately unnerved her, cluing her in to the fact that things were not well. Looking to the giant fishman she could see why, the way the beast looked it seemed as though his two fellows had been killed in a fit of mad rage. Which would explain why they hadn't answered the cleric's summons earlier.
As they turned aggressively toward her, she narrowed her eyes at the group. "You dare bear your teeth at me? Wretched curs, how dare you all abandon your pact with Dagon's chosen?!" Sevia shouted, though at the moment she wished desperately she could simply drop a fireball on the lot of them. That was unfortunately out of the forte of a cleric.
Sevia raised her Trident defensively as the larger fishman began shouting, looking over to the wall he was pointing at. Luckily it seemed the situation was escalating without need of her interference. "Stay on guard!" She shouted to her two followers.
The creatures are Skum - despite the amusing connotations of the name, the hunchbacked, green-skinned humanoids played a major role in the history of Golarion as the most powerful of the slave races created by the Aboleth. Indeed, most of them don't even remember their original name of Ulat-kini, though you were around long enough to remember that. On the other hand, the race was always just a bit vexing to you, because the entire species is functionally immortal and can only die from disease or violence. Skum are invariably male, but are capable of reproducing by impregnating human women to give birth to twisted hybrids that may or may not become more Skum. The large one must have been truly ancient to grow to such a size.
Speaking of the big one, nothing seemed to be happening on that wall, but he continued to yell what sounded like obscenities at it... even as three of the fishmen closed on you and stabbed out with their tridents.
Melee Attacks:3d20 ⇒ (8, 2, 18) = 28
Swiiiing and a miss. Three misses, to be more precise - these were not phenomenal warriors, and would have to get truly lucky to threaten you.
As the first of the skum charged her, she stabbed out with her borrowed trident at the first. "So be it! Dagon will damn your treachery!" Sevia shouted at them, while sidestepping their pathetically weak strikes. They weren't much a threat, but the big one might be. "Spare only but one of them. Let the rest feel Dagon's fury!" she ordered the other two, hoping to whip them into action.
Attack:1d20 + 18 ⇒ (17) + 18 = 35 vs AC Damage:1d8 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12 Attack:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15 vs AC Damage:1d8 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
*Flips through rules text* Hmm... looks like brace only comes into play if you specifically ready against a charge. Awkwardly and somewhat non-usefully specific, that, even if it does make historical sense. o.O
Your pair of stabs managed to rip apart the first Skum, and the two followers of Dagon moved to engage another. By now, however, the others had arrived - and moved to flank and engage you.
One of them even managed to hit you - by luck, most likely, since even surrounded on four sides you were pretty tough to hurt. That was when the massive Skum turned your way and stomped forward, swinging its massive greataxe to the side and bisecting one of the Skum attacking you. It was still ranting in its native tongue - and the other Skum were looking increasingly fearful as the big one lashed out.
At least they were doing something, though the smaller fishmen were hardly a threat. Sevia did nurse the wound from the lucky strike against her though. Watching the huge skum slap away one of his fellows, she realized he might be extremely dangerous to fight alone, and stepped back toward her unintentional cohorts - hoping to keep some bodies between her and it.
Attack:1d20 + 18 ⇒ (14) + 18 = 32 vs AC Damage:1d8 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16 Attack:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17 vs AC Damage:1d8 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
She struck out a few times at another one of the fishmen. "The big one is the real threat! Get around behind it!" Sevia ordered, knowing that a few well placed strikes would bring it down. And hopefully the one of her followers who tried to attack it first.
