Zoli's sharp ears make her confident she knows where the Scribbler's hiding.
She hustles over toward his casting voice--and along the way gets pummeled by the "statues" she had been eyeing suspiciously. "Whoa! Unnggh!! What are you things, really?!?"
She animatedly points her scimitar where the invisible Scribbler is--"Rilee, can you Faerie Fire this fool? It's right here!!"--but focuses her own strike on the extraplanar being that just attacked her, cutting deep into it's thigh.
"BTW, these aren't statues, they're some weird thing from another plane. Look, you'll see the blood on my scimitar!"
____________________
Should anyone try to attack Zoli, the ermine beside her gives her a guiding chitter and nudge, helping her to avoid getting squashed.
AC 34 (w/ barkskin) +2 if bodyguard succeeds
HP 60/94 +8 THP
Luck 20/20
Panache 5/5
Charmed Life 4/4
Luck o’ the Scene 1/1
Lessons of Chaldira 1/1
False Life 0/1
Wand o' Darkvision 45/50
Grettela’s HP 14/47
Active effects
Barkskin (110 min duration, since just after fighting giant in weird carnival room)
Darkvision (3 hrs duration, since entering caverns)
Shield other: will divide damage *to Grettela* equally w Zoli
"Careful!" Rilee winces as she sees Zoli pummeled as she moves through the corridor.
Then aiming for the spot that Zoli points out, she causes a violet flame to surround whatever is lurking in that area.
As the magic takes hold, a humanoid shape appears right beside Zoli on the far side of the "statue."
Setsuna throws up her obligatory Blessing of Fervor and then sneaks away from her previous spot.
"What was all that Thessalonian jibberish? What's going on?"
Regardless of the answer, Eugeni runs forward to help Zoli. Raising his bow he fires twin arrows at the fairy fire.
"I don't know," Rilee sighs in frustration. "I need to learn it, considering how ancient, buried Thassilon doesn't want to stay buried."
The northern statue turns to face Eugeni, lashing out at him with four arms. He takes a massive blow from the first swing, and manages to dodge the next two. The fourth arm, however grabs his arm and wrenches it painfully, causing the archer to drop his bow as bones crack!
The statue then leans over and closes its jaw around Eugeni's shoulder and neck, tearing away violently! Blood sprays. Organs dangle from torn arteries. Eugeni's eyes roll back as he falls limply to the floor...
The second statue strikes our at Zoli, clasping her once more in one of its four arms, crunching her ribs once again!
Then, the outline fades as the true form of "The Scribbler" appears. His spell fizzled from Eugeni's arrow, he snarls and takes a step away, casting a pair of spells as he does so!
__________
::Destroy them. Destroy them all in MY name.::
And just like that, Eugeni was dead. Rilee gaped as the savagery of the 'statues' tore him into pieces and gave her a very good glimpse of Zoli's fate if she didn't act immediately.
Again reminding herself that death is a temporary thing, she places the tiny statue of Olympus on the floor and whispers, "Awaken," restoring him to flesh with a triumphant cry. Her spell readied, she casts her potent spell to augment Olympus to the size and strength to match that of the creatures disguised as statues. Then, desperately, she whistles the high, piercing command to attack the one between him and Zoli.
Under animal growth, barkskin, BoF, greater magic fang:
Olympus
N Huge animal
Init +5, Perception +10, low-light vision
------------------------------------------
DEFENSE
------------------------------------------
AC 40, touch 13, flat-footed 29 (+5 armor, +4 dex, +1 dodge, +20 nat, -2 size, +2 BoF)
hp 98 (9d8+64) 98/98
Fort +10, Ref +13, Will +6
------------------------------------------
OFFENSE
------------------------------------------
Spd 20 ft. Fly 80 ft.
Melee: 2 talons +19 (1d8+11, magic, holy plus grab)
Melee: bite +18 (2d6+11, magic, holy)
------------------------------------------
STATISTICS
------------------------------------------
Ability Scores Str 31, Dex 19, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 11
BAB +6, CMB +23 (+28 to grapple), CMD 37
Olympus begins a furious assault on the enemy in front of him.
Setsuna shakes her head in refusal.
"Eugeni isn't dead," she says defiantly.
Setsuna almost starts to summon a celestial ankylosaurus, but then she remembers how Rilee saw through her shroud of shadows and how General Gobbledigook taught her that her invisibility is not foolproof. Not wanting anything to go wrong, fearful that the Scribbler and his fiends might have some wicked trick to break her concentration, the invisible Oracle decides to make a tactical retreat and then start to summon some assistance.
Zoli gulps as she sees Eugeni's body ravaged in moments.
When Olympus grabs hold of the demon-thing near her, Zoli takes the chance to attack the Scribbler himself. "You'll pay for this! You monster!!"
_____________
Should anyone try to attack Zoli, the ermine beside her gives her a guiding chitter and nudge, helping her to avoid getting squashed.
AC 37 (w/ barkskin + fighting defensively) +2 if bodyguard succeeds
HP 41/94
Luck 19/20
Panache 4/5
Charmed Life 4/4
Luck o’ the Scene 1/1
Lessons of Chaldira 1/1
False Life 0/1
Wand o' Darkvision 45/50
Grettela’s HP 14/47
Active effects
Luck +2 to hit, dam, saves, skills
Barkskin (110 min duration, since just after fighting giant in weird carnival room)
Darkvision (3 hrs duration, since entering caverns)
Shield other: will play by ear
The northern demon sends an onslaught of blows at Olympus, but fails to connect meaningfully. It snarls angrily at the bird.
The southern demon nods as if in understanding, and strains against the birds grip, breaking free!
The Scribbler says another quick incantation, and a falchion in similar design to his own appears behind Rilee! It slices her across her back! He then lashes out three times at Zoli with his serrated falchion. The first hit is brutal, and the blade seems to come alive and chew into Zoli! She can feel pure evil in the wound as her life nearly slips away, but she is still able to avoid the rest of the attacks! As she regains her footing, she sees that the wounds she just opened up on the Scribbler begin to close...
Grettela squeaks in pain and falls from Zoli's shoulder, and doesn't move...
__________
Zoli screams as the wound that would've killed her instead rips Gretella asunder. She continues to cut and dodge at the Scribbler "Time! To! END THIS!!"
One of her swings looks like it is about to glance off of his breastplate...when suddenly the Scribbler stumbles and it strikes true. With the last swing, he falls backward in pile.
"Ha!" she crows...and then notices that her own wounds are likely fatal too.
__________________
Eugeni isn't dead. He's just... wounded. Badly. I need to clear the room to heal him.
Setsuna bursts forward from the Corner of Safety. Using the Blessing of Fervor's speed boost, she flares her wings and flies into the air to avoid the Scribbler's summoned weapon. The invisible Oracle then finishes summoning her friend and attempts to hide in the darkness.
Surprise Dinosaur manifests from Niravana. Out of instinct, he channels his holy energies and beats his tail against the ground in anticipation. Not really sure what exactly he is facing, Surprise Dinosaur takes a calculated swing at the northernmost demon, using Olympus' positioning to his advantage. His sudden arrive ensures that his attack is very unexpected.
Rilee is heartened that Olympus has avoided taking any damage and that Zoli still lives, even though Grettela's life was traded for hers. She ignores the spectral weapon slashing at her and risks augmenting her companion's offense rather than defense, now that another ally has been brought in from the upper realms.
Under animal growth, barkskin, BoF, bull's strength, greater magic fang:
Olympus
N Huge animal
Init +5, Perception +10, low-light vision
------------------------------------------
DEFENSE
------------------------------------------
AC 40, touch 13, flat-footed 29 (+5 armor, +4 dex, +1 dodge, +20 nat, -2 size, +2 BoF)
hp 98 (9d8+64) 98/98
Fort +10, Ref +13, Will +6
------------------------------------------
OFFENSE
------------------------------------------
Spd 20 ft. Fly 80 ft.
Melee: 2 talons +21 (1d8+13, magic, holy plus grab)
Melee: bite +20 (2d6+13, magic, holy)
------------------------------------------
STATISTICS
------------------------------------------
Ability Scores Str 35, Dex 19, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 11
BAB +6, CMB +25 (+30 to grapple), CMD 37
Further enhanced, Olympus keeps his attacks going on the foe in front of him.
The demon shakes off the hit from the dinosaur, while the either flails unsuccessfully in Olympus' grip. The sword conjured by Scribbler continues to strike out, slicing into Rilee twice more.
__________
Setsuna casts Blessing of Fervor on Surprise Dinosaur and then retreats to the Corner of Safety. As she hides her presence in the shadows, the Oracle begins to contemplate her next move.
Using his shiny, new extra attack, Surprise Dinosaur takes two more calculated swings at the northernmost demon and lands two heavy blows against the fiend's head.
Zoli makes a clever pun and then steps forward and attacks the southern demon. With little left to lose, the new Scribbler throws her all into the attacks.
Rilee whistles to Olympus, and the great bird drops his foe to claw and bite him more, then she has him attack the other demon once the first one stops moving.
Seeing the demon seized between her mighty Olympus and Setsu's dinosaur, Rilee swiftly changes her shape to a thrush and flies over to administer some much-needed healing to Zoli.
The southern demon vanishes in a cloud of smoke to the onslaught of Zoli and Olympus. Seeing the work Zoli has done so far, the demon, despite being grappled, focuses his attacks on her. She dodges most, and begins to make a clever quip, when she feels a sharp pain in her chest. Her expression is one of complete shock, as she watches the demon, despite being in Olympus' talons, pull its claw out of her chest. She is speechless for the first time in her life as things fade to black...
In the corner by the fog, Setsuna and Rilee hears a sadistic chuckle. They turn just in time to see the Scribbler sit up and vanish in a cloud of smoke!
__________
Setsuna steps out from her hiding spot and promptly sees Zoli get killed while the Scribbler escapes.
At long last, Setsuna Kailani breaks.
The celestial ankylosaurus decides to throw more power into his swings.
The demon feels pain.
As you re-emerge topside, a cheer goes up from the crowd! Then, they see your somber moods and the body, and fall silent, a faint murmur running through the crowd.
Once back to the jail cells and inside the garrison, Mayor Deverin, Sheriff Hemlock, and Father Zantus approach you. Zantus asks, "Wh-what was down there? Did you stop it? We heard the bays..."
Rilee is solemn as she helps Olympus squeeze out of the tunnel. She nods to the form wrapped in a bloody blanket. "We stopped... something down there. We're safe for a time, but we have suffered losses as well. Can you provide healing for Olympus, please?"
"Of course," Zantus answers.
Zoli turns to face the sheriff. "We...we didn't finish exploring yet, either. We will tomorrow. For tonight...it's too much. Best to still keep guards watching the hole.
"I don't think anything will come out...but we've killed the foul guardian of that shrine to Lamashtu. Who knows what'll happen now?"
She keeps looking down at the bloody ermine cradled in her arms.
Setsuna looks at the assembled crowd for a long second. Her gaze is hollow and distant.
"Eugeni is dead. Like Riley. Like my father. Like Ameiko. Like Shalelu. Like the Black Arrows. Like the people the giants murdered. Like all the others I've seen killed. All dead. All dead. All dead. All dead. All. Dead."
"Lamashtu," Zantus says in disgust before spitting on the ground. Hemlock looks at him, aggravated he just spit on the floor of his garrison.
"I could have saved Eugeni, but I refused His offer. How foolish. How foolish. How foolish," Setsuna says madly.
Rilee turns to face Setsuna. "I have died countless times in my lives. Death is part of life. There is nothing terrible about it, actually. Death is not an ending, but a transition. Come morning, we will invite Eugeni back to try another life. I know you grew fond of his body, but if you also loved the soul, then you will welcome him back fully." Rilee is gentle but firm in her rebuke.
Zoli nods to Setsu. "'Dead like Riley'--do you hear what you're saying? She's right next to you. And yes, Eugeni's dead that way too. We know he's willing to ride the wheel. He was before, right?"
Zoli decides this particular time--with great strength of will--not to move on to a crocodile joke.
Then she turns to the townspeople who look to them for strength. "We'll have more to say tomorrow. It'll be OK soon. But we're...we aren't OK right now. I'm sorry."
Setsuna looks blankly at Rilee and Zoli.
"You don't get it."
The Broken Oracle casts Plane Shift and promptly vanishes...
Zoli blinks four times, slowly.
"Oh, uh...wow? Um...Rilee, you wanna sleep at my place tonight? I've totally got room, especially if feel like sleeping as a small animal..."
A man in drab brown robes moves through the halls of a cavern, lit torches causing shadows to dance on earthen walls. He passes several other men as he walks, and in side chambers, screams can be heard of people in anguish.
He eventually makes his way to a large cavern with various Runes and markings in a secret language on the walls. A tall, slender figure in a matching brown robe stands before an altar.
"Archdruid," the man says, "the connection is severed. His new body has perished."
The slender figure turns and pulls back his hood, revealing his elven features. "Then it is time. Bring his angelic remains."
The human man bows and hurries off to carry out his master's command...
Setsuna still hasn't returned by the next morning. Rilee begins the rituals necessary to cast the reincarnation.
__________
"It is ready, Master."
The elven Archdruid replies, 'Then let us begin."
A ring of 9 druids, the elf Archdruid included, gather around jars and bowls of organs, entrails, and blood painted on the floor and begin chanting...
__________
Rilee begins the casting of the spell, but something is off. It's like she is fighting against something in a tug of war for Eugeni's soul...
__________
"We are being contested! Focus your magics!" the Archdruid commands!
__________
As Rilee feels the spell completing, Eugeni's body begins to glow white as it takes a new form. Just then, Setsuna returns, looking...different.
Before anyone can speak, there is a loud crack from the floor and alien-like roar from all around you! A purple, barbed tentacle appears from out of nowhere and plunges its point straight into Eugeni's nebulous body, which begins to writhe and pulsate!
__________
As the dust settles, bodies lie scattered all around the chamber, torn to shreds. The walls, floors, and ceiling are all changed. Instead of earth and stone, they are now composed of alien-colored flesh of purple, green, and white. Eyes blink out at random places, and tentacles reach out in others. It is a macabre den of chaos...
__________
As she settles into her surroundings, Setsuna sees what is going on to Eugeni's body, and holds out an arm and authoritatively shouts, "NO!" Waves of starlight surge forth from her hand and into the tentacle, which releases Eugeni and squirms back through the crack of reality from whence it came.
Eugeni's body slowly comes back to rest atop the altar...
As the scene rapidly unravels before her, Zoli sits on the edge of her stool.
"Rilee! Eugeni! Setsu! WHAT'S GOING ON?!?!"
As the bright light fades, it reveals a fleshy, cocoon-like sack that writhes and pulses with life...
Zoli scratches her head.
"Yall know I can be a bit forgetful. Was there a cocoon last time? Rilee, is there usually a cocoon?"
Rilee clutches her chest, horrified that another dear friend seemed to have undergone an unwanted reincarnation, though while Shalelu's was interfered with by the unnatural storm that birthed her, this was... something else. Something horrible.
She had fought, calling Eugeni's soul through the Wheel though something else tried to pull him away and then there was a third influence.
The resulting confluence of events had her speechless and confused. She stares at the pulsing sac of living tissue, heart in her throat. Zoli's questions cut through her fascination and she tears her attention to her.
"This is... I don't know. Something happened. Someone tried to take Eugeni from us." She turns to Setsuna, memory of her actions finally returning.
"Setsuna? What do you know?"
Having appeared from seemingly nowhere, Setsuna is now dressed in clothing of pure white with black trimmings, very similar to those that Father Zantus and his staff wear.
"...That was the same entity that destroyed the Rusty Dragon," the Oracle says truthfully yet vaguely. She glances at Eugeni's wounded cocoon and grits her teeth in anger. "...We could've easily sold the Scribbler's wicked sword and purchased a far less shoddy Resurrection spell, Rilee. Why do you keep insisting on this broken method of rebirth?!"
Not waiting for a reply, Setsuna places both hands on the cocoon and casts a spell; it seems vastly more powerful than anything she has cast before.
Rilee takes a step back, struck by Setsuna's words. Extreme hurt and dismay crosses her face, but then it hardens.
"It's the only means available to me. So you would rather force a soul back into a broken, necrotic corpse and then reanimate it back to the same life that had already ended? And you dare call the Wheel shoddy?"
She turns back to the cocoon and places her hands gently on it, feeling the life within. She squeezes her eyes shut and recalls the grasping tentacle that tried to claim Eugeni before the spell had completed. It was familiar to her. "The same entity... Setsuna, you confessed to destroying the Rusty Dragon in your despair. But at the time, you said you got a message from Mokmurian? But he wasn't responsible. Then you said it was Karzoug... but it wasn't. Then you said it was something he worshiped."
She turns to face Setsuna, looking solemn and wise. "But it isn't, is it?"
"Anyone who knows anything about basic spellcraft would know that Resurrection creates a brand new body, and the spell can bring back people who were killed decades ago. And the Wheel is shoddy! I've, no, we've seen it fail so epically that it turned a lovely elf into a monstrous dire crocodile! And she probably just froze to death during the winter!"
Setsuna tenses when Rilee brings up her chain of lies.
"...I lied. They were easy scapegoats. I... made a mistake. It was... wrong."
Setsuna looks at the ground in shame.
"And I offer no excuses."
Zoli doesn't really understand Rilee's line of questioning. Then she hears Setsuna admit to actually destroying the Rusty Dragon.
What does she MEAN?!?
"Hold on Setsu. You destroyed the Rusty Dragon? And lied about it? How? Why?!? And what have you done to Eugeni?!?"
"Azathoth is the greatest of the Outer Gods. In theory, He is like Gorum, Calistra, or Nethys; in theory, He is not inherently evil or malicious. In theory... Until the day He just... destroyed the Rusty Dragon, I was His most loyal follower..."
Setsuna's gaze goes distance.
"Each night, He offered me a selection of arcane spells that I should not normally be able to cast, but they require an iron will to handle. In theory, though, the only backlash is some easily healed mentally strain. In theory.
"I asked for divination spells to find the missing women and Ameiko. I struggled with casting one of them, and the backlash occurred. However, instead of just some personal mental strain, Azathoth... lashed out. Destroyed the Rusty Dragon. I have no idea why, but... He did. I gave Him nothing but loyalty and praise, and yet... He tried to kill me and all those other people."
Setsuna's eyes begin to water.
"In the immediate aftermath of that brutal invasion, with dozens of innocent people murdered, would you have confessed? The 'good' people of Sandpoint would have been out for blood, and I would have been summarily executed on the spot. So I offered them a scapegoat: Mokmurian."
She sounds conflicted; the Oracle sounds ashamed that she lied, and yet... she feels justified in the same sense that she was acting in self-defense.
"I gradually distanced myself from Azathoth; I never used his Dreamed Secrets until we met Mokmurian himself. And yet, when the Scribbler and his demons were murdering us in droves, Azathoth made me an offer. Accept Him. Worship only Him. And He would bring destruction to our enemies. He would have empowered us and brought back Eugeni in an instant. If He had not betrayed me earlier, I would've accepted in a heartbeat..."
Setsuna goes silent for a long minute, staring blankly at Eugeni's cocoon.
"I went to Elysium last night to... call out Lady Desna for her failure to make intervene in a similar manner, especially when we were fighting a champion of her greatest enemy! Except I was wrong! Very wrong... Long story short, I disavowed Azathoth entirely and turned my loyalties to Mother Moon in full. And it looks like He did not take that lightly and tried to... claim Eugeni... I..."
After surviving weeks of being hunted in Magnimar, after enduring through the brutalities of Fort Rennick, Hook Mountain, and Jorgenfist, after witnessing the Sandpoint Massacre, after learning secondhand of her father's death, and after watching some many people - including her first love, her great grandmother, and her best friend - all get murdered before her very eyes, Setsuna finally reaches her breaking point.
The Oracle finally collapses and begins to sob uncontrollably.
"I'm... so... sorry."
Zoli just stands there, too shocked to move.
"Whoah."
The cocoon begins pulsating rapidly, stretching and flexing as whatever is inside moves. Something alien tries to forces itself through the membrane, stretching it out into weird protuberances. Moments later, a clawed hand bursts through the cocoon, grasping at the air. Its skin is tight, brown and translucent...like that of a desiccated corpse covered in a light layer of slime. The first hand is followed by a second, tearing more of the shell away. A torrent of slime dumps from the cocoon as a third hand completes the process of destroying the cocoon.
Laying in the pile of slime is a horrid....thing. It sits up slowly, surveying the group with octopoid eyes. It is humanoid, slightly less than four feet tall. Walrus like tusks jut down from a face that resembles a carved Mwangi deathmask. Eugeni's entire body looks like it doesn't even have skin, his musculature clearly visible under the tight brown dermis. A third arm hangs from the center of his chest, emerging from between his pectorals. The naked creature appears to be male, a flaccid tentacle-like member visible between his legs.
His square pupils focus sharply on Setsuna. Then he speaks, "Setsuna, თუ რა მოხდა ჩემთვის? ვიყავით ქალაქში, ბრძოლის იმ დემონებს ... მოვკვდი!"
He looks down at his body and freezes up. Then he screams in terror, clawing and slapping at himself with all three hands. "Hayi!"
"ಇಲ್ಲ, ನಾನು ಮತ್ತೆ ಒಂದು ದೈತ್ಯಾಕಾರದ ಎಂದು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ!"
As the group's eyes turn towards him, horror slowly dawning on their faces, he screams, "ХВАТИТ СМОТРЕТЬ НА МЕНЯ!"
The little aberration that is Eugeni springs lightly to its feet and waves its arms rapidly in the motions of long-practiced spellcasting. A dimension door colored the same hues as Azazoth's incursions into reality opens behind him, and he flips through it, disappearing.
As you all struggle with coming to terms with the recent developments, all of Eugeni's old belongings crumble to dust.
Moments later, a lone, beautifully colored butterfly flits over towards you. It is still way too cold and early in the season for such a creature to be out, but here it is nonetheless. It lands on Setsuna's shoulder briefly, looking at her intently, before flying to the middle of the gathering and glowing brightly. It erupts in a wave of bright starlight, washing over everyone present! As the linger fades, you all feel empowered!
"No..."
Her spell had been disrupted, corrupted, by unnatural forces. Unlike Shalelu's return, which had her taking on the form of a primordial animal through interference of an augmented storm, Eugeni's form was far from a form found in nature. He appeared, babbled incomprehensibly, and vanished. Was he even himself? She couldn't tell.
She was about to break down in abject despair when the butterfly arrives and gives them a surge of power. She feels her connection to nature intensify.
The incongruity of the two events stunned her. One friend was cursed while they were blessed. As much as she wanted to find this thing that was Eugeni, she was terrified about seeing it again. She feared that it was imbued with malign powers and intent, and must be destroyed.
Trembling, Rilee stares at Setsuna, still processing her confession. She had dabbled with unspeakable powers and now Eugeni had paid the ultimate price. She doesn't speak, her heart simultaneously hardening with blame and breaking in sympathy for Setsuna.
The other person in the room draws her attention. Little Zoli is there, seeing the worst happen to her best friends. Rilee reaches out and grabs her up in a fierce hug. Tears fall from Rilee's eyes as she holds on to the halfling.
The butterflies seems to calm down Setsuna considerably, and she eventually collects herself and slinks away; knowing that Rilee can see through her shadow stealth trick, the Oracle layers her efforts with her cloak and Invisibility.
The butterflies seems to calm down Setsuna considerably, and she eventually collects herself and slinks away; knowing that Rilee can see through her shadow stealth trick, the Oracle layers her efforts with her cloak and Invisibility.
[dice=Stealth]1d20+24+6+20
** spoiler omitted **