"Oh I understand. Just one last thing then. Out of curiosity, what did she look like? From what I've heard, she seems faintly familiar to me," Setsuna inquires as she cranks up the charm.
"Red hair, green eyes, elegant features. Always well dressed," he replies.
Setsuna nods.
"Hmm... Well, thank you for your time," the Oracle says as she lets the man go on his way.
She turns to her friends and ponders the situation.
"To be honest, I doubt that we will learn much more here. I had my charm up to near maximum, and that usually gets people to tell me everything they know."*
As Rilee and Olympus climb high into the sky, she looks north towards the Wyvern Mountains and the Storval Deep. She leans on his left flank and the two bank in that direction. After covering about half the distance across the Kreegwood, Rilee stands up on Olympus's back and outstretches her arms. Then she leaps from his back and Wild Shapes into a peregrine falcon, staying aloft on her new wings. The two avians continue to fly over the ruins of Fort Rannick and then they continue on to get an aerial view of the Skull's Crossing.
They circle the site a few times, then peel off and fly north back to Turtleback Ferry.
A dark shadow passes over the sun at Turtleback Ferry. But it quickly resolves itself to be the large form of Olympus circling overhead. A much smaller falcon streaks into the marketplace with a shrill cry. It draws up and the avian form grows and stretches until Rilee, barefoot and wild-eyed rushes up to the group.
"Setsu! Zoli! Eugeni! It's the dam!" She staggers a bit and clutches at the half orc to keep her balance. She's quite out of breath. "Ogres are hammering on it! Trying to--" she gasps "break it!"
"..."
A Setsuna-shaped cloud of dust is all that is left as the Oracle dead sprints toward the dam.
"Hold on Setsu!", Zoli hollers. "It's a full day's trek to get to the dam, and the sun's already down. Not all of us can see in the dark, and most of us need to sleep.
"I don't like our options, but I think we need to pray that those ogres can't succeed at their work overnight--or that they need to sleep too. I suggest we get to sleep immediately and leave before dawn...but I think we can't afford to arrive exhausted and depleted.
"What do you all think?"
Setsuna shakes her head and continues forward.
"This can't wait! If we delay now, then we're basically wasting another day! Besides, what have we even done today?! I've only used two spells!"
As the two women fly off, one astride Olympus, and the other shapeshifted into another avian, Zoli, Eugeni, and Morythine all take off after them on foot, their calls to wait and not split up falling on deaf ears so it seems...
However, before they are even outside of town, a strange figure flies towards them in a hurry. It is a short man, roughly two feet in height, with casual attire and wings like an insect sprouting from his back!
"Wait! Please! Please wait! My mistress, she is… ill. Very ill. Death would have been a kindness. The land sickens with her heart, and it cannot be cleansed until her misery is purged. I cannot do this myself. Please, you must help her! You are friends with her human lover, yes? He wouldn’t want her left like this! I can take you to her—maybe you can do something. I have tried everything to cure her forlorn heart, but to no avail. She wails and moans in Whitewillow, and the trees and plants and nixies and frogs and everything are dying or worse! I can take you there! Please! If someone doesn't help her soon, I fear that the effect of her broken heart will spread...” he pleads in a rapid, breathless speech.
Maelin approaches partway through, the concern growing on his face.
Zoli wakes bright and early, impatient to head out to the dam...only to find that Rilee is missing.
She waits impatiently for an hour or two and then grabs Eugeni, Setsuna, and Morythine. "I don't really want to wait any longer. Rilee's a big boy...err, girl. Anyway, he...she'll be able to catch up. Let's go to the dam, they might need--!"
Zoli stops mid-sentence when the tiny winged fellow appears. So beautiful! What is he?
"Your mistress? Slow down, explain. You mean Lamatar's fae love? She's fallen ill? And the lands are falling ill with her?!? How terribly romantic and--arghh, I guess maybe we shouldn't go to the dam without Rilee anyway. Who knows what might happen if we confronted trolls and ogres without our full force. And in her recently reborn state, we should probably have someone here when she gets back, or else who knows what kind of foolish thing she might do?
"What's your name, handsome?" she says to the winged fellow. "And how long would it take to get to your mistress? Perhaps three of us can come to help, while one of us waits back for our friend."
At the sound of prospective help, the little fellow's eyes, puffy with tears, look up excitedly at the halfling, "Oh, Bless you! Bless you!" he replies, vigorously shaking Zoli's hand. "The name's Yap! We can be there pretty quick, just a quick fly over the..." he stops as he looks at the group, and their lack of wings.
"Well...maybe not so quick. There is a road most of the way, but then you'd have to trudge through the swamp. Lots of you Big Folk get lost in there, but fortunately," he says as he puffs up his chest proudly, "I know the way through it! Let's go!" he says before darting off out the western road out of town...
"Uhhh, OK. Setsu, sorry, you're the slowest! Wait here while we go see if we can help. Tell Rilee we'll be back soon!!"
And with that Zoli, Eugeni, and Morythine run off after Yep. "Mory, hold onto your hat!"
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Twisted black trees rise wretchedly from shallow pools, seeming to have lurched from the land, their arthritic branches curled into miserable tortured claws. The sun seems to scorn this place, and a cold, dark mist looms within the canopy of bone-bare branches above. Evil murmurs ride an unnatural wind that f lows forth from the glens, and shadows dance in the dark mists within.
Zoli shudders at the sight of the dark swamplands. "How long has it been like this? And do you know where her lover Lamatar is?"
Yap sighs as he leads the group deeper, saying, "Once beautiful and mystic with drooping boughs of sparkling ivory leaves, have gone dark and twisted with Myriana’s torment. Now, they shift and move when they should not. Shadows play cruel tricks on the sharpest eyes, and sanity-shredding whispers cause even the canniest woodsman to lose his way."
As Yap leads the group deeper into the depths of Whitewillow, the degree of the corruption grows. Spiders, languid and fat with poison, hang from trees. Dying birds twitch in the shallows. Slithering things with too many eyes squirt away through the water.
"Are we...are we still in Golarion? Is this the First World?" Zoli asks nervously.
He actually snickers, "This is still the Big Folk world, silly!"
Deeper into the swamp you go. Nothing but chill silence surrounds the group, though they occasionally glimpse tall, dark-robed figures in their peripheral vision. The creatures’ enlarged skeletal claws extend from their outstretched arms as if reaching toward the party. When any of you look, you see these apparitions are nothing more than horribly twisted black trees.
As you progress deeper into the wood and swamp, more oddities develop...all around you, ghostly translucent forms emerge from the trees. Fey of all sorts—spectral satyrs, ghostly grigs, phantom nixies, and sprightly spirits float gently from the swamp around the party, followed by a parade of phantom animals. These were once the proud denizens of Whitewillow, now polluted by their mistress’s unsettled soul. The fey cavort and frolic as they march, eventually washing over the group. They caress, dance through, and embrace the heroes before passing. Though their touch was deathly cold, it causes no undue harm to the mortals the contact.
Grabbing Eugeni's hand, Zoli whispers, "Oh, this is terrible. We have to do something!" to which he nods silently in response.
You come upon the mangled body of a beautiful dryad half protruding from a tree whose limbs have been smashed from the trunk by massive clubs. When you are within 10 feet, they hear soft feminine whispers in their ears—“She should not have fallen in love—her heart brought this upon us—why won’t she let us go?” The limbs of the dryad have been torn away and tossed about randomly.
"Oh dear!" Running toward the dryad, Zoli asks, "How can we help?"
Yap wipes away a tear, and looks desperately to the Southeast, the tangled swamp gives way to a relatively large clearing, a calm pool of unnaturally still water ringed by twisted, decayed willow trees. Wind blows, but the trees do not sway. It is as if the very land has died. “We’re here… my lady waits for you within. I dare not go any closer…” he says before stepping back to cower behind a gnarled tree.
"Within..? Down that way, into the swamp? Why can't you go closer?" He says nothing more as he quivers in fear behind the tree. Zoli goes and tries to calm him with a hand on the shoulder.
He shakes his head vigorously, "No, she has corrupted and lashed out at others of our kind! She has grown spiteful of her kin! I fear only a Big Folk like you can save her!"
Zoli nods, saddened by everything she sees. "OK then, take heart. We're the heroes of Sandpoint. We'll do everything we can." And with that, she cautiously leads on in the direction Yap pointed. Moving slowly and methodically, keeping an eye out for danger as she steps along.
As you enter the twisted glade, a ghostly form rises with a howl from the waters... Zoli barely manages to avert her eyes at the sight of the ghostly nymph, but both Eugeni and Morythine's eyes glaze over white at the sight of her and they both begin flailing about, crying out about being blind!
In a shrieking, hate-filled voice, she cries out, "You failed my Love! You failed to protect Fort Rannick! You allowed those filthy Kreeg to take him to their lair on Hook Mountain!"
"Myriana! My name is Zoli, and I'm here to help you. I'm a friend."
She does not reply, but glares at Zoli expectantly.
"We slew every ogre we met at Fort Rannick. It's been reclaimed...at heavy losses, but thanks to the men who fought and died beside Lamatar. If Lamatar's been captured by them, we will take the fight straight to their lair. They'll meet the same fate as Jaagrath did. Please though, do you see what's happening to your land? To your people? They're dying!" Zoli pleads.
She screams out, her voice unnaturally powerful and seeming to echo all around you at once, "I care not for them! My Love has been taken from me!"
Zoli shakes her head. "You can count on me and my companions to rescue Lamatar. You know I tell the truth about the Fort, don't you? And that we are your best hope to rescue Lamatar?"
She seems to grow more enraged, "Lamatar is dead! My Love is dead! Or else he would have returned to me!"
"I can't lie. It's possible...but we've found some captives and rescued them, including Lamatar's lieutenant Jakardros." In as soothing a voice as she can muster, she says, "I'm sure he wants to return to you...but he needs help. I and my companions can offer that help...though right now the two with me will be of rather less use against ogres since they're blinded. If you would just remove whatever curse you've laid upon them, and if you have any information to help us find their lair, I swear we can help..."
She casts Zoli a baleful look. "Silence!" she demands. "Do you not think I know if my Love is alive or not! That fire haired wench took him from me! Took him to the Kreegs! And now he is dead! I know it in my heart...but...but when I tried to reincarnate him...foul magic prevented his soul from returning to his new body..."
"Then we will end that foul magic. But--I'm sorry, I know you're grieving--you will need to stop working against your own goals if you want us to help free his soul."
She steels her gaze on Zoli, "If you do not return the remains of my Love to me in three days time...I will make sure that everyone in that town across the lake will feel my wrath!"
"I will swear on my honor, but I am unlikely to succeed with my valiant companions blinded. What of them?" Zoli asks, looking to her long-time companions sadly as they suffer at the loss of their vision.
As her form slips back beneath the waves, the ghost nymph simply mutters, "Their ails are their own. Three days. You have sworn it..."
As the group leaves Whitewillow, Yap emerges and offers to help them out of the swamp as quickly as possible, given the condition the Big Folk have found themselves in...
After a good bit of struggle to escape the swamp, they manage to make it back to Turtleback Ferry, and seek out Maelin for help with Eugeni and Morythine's condition. He fortunately informs the group he has not prepared his divine magics for the day as of yet, and sets to praying to Erastil for the blessings necessary to remove the blindness from the two brave souls who have helped them so much lately. As he does so, he informs the group that Rilee returned astride her flying steed, and he overheard her tell Setsuna that the ogres were trying to destroy the dam. They didn't wait long before they flew off to tend to the problem, not willing to risk waiting on you three to return. But fortunately...they only just departed!
A moment later, Eugeni and Morythine's sight is restored, and the three rush off up the muddy road to catch up to the brave women who flew on ahead. After six hours of hard travel, the sight of Skull's Crossing looms in the distance, partially shrouded in the same powerful storms that plagued the group at Fort Rannick.
Spanning the great breadth of the gorge is Skull’s Crossing. The massive wall of stone holds back the waters of the Storval Deep—but only just. Thousands of skulls have been carved into the dam’s face, with five larger ones decorating the middle length. The easternmost of these immense skulls is all but hidden by a steady flow of cascading water pouring through what appears to be a recent break in the dam, while one to the west is stained and marred with trails of blood draining down the wall near a heavily damaged portion of the dam at the rim. For now, the ancient dam seems to be holding its own against the Storval Deep, but unless these rains end soon, the recent flood looks to be but a minor precursor to a fantastic disaster.
The eastern slopes of the gorge are sheer and slick with rain, but to the west, a narrow stone stairway, its edge decorated with hundreds of poles bearing the skulls of as many different creatures, winds up to a cave mouth near the western rim of the dam itself. A seven-foot-wide winding stairway of stone climbs the cliff face here, reaching a height of nearly two hundred feet before ending at a cave mouth above. Hundreds of stakes line the edges of the stairway, many of them decorated with skulls—some animal, some humanoid, all marked with a strange skull-shaped rune on the brow.
Though Zoli struggles with the large steps, she manages to make it up them without incident.
Feeling a whole lot better after some bed rests and a number of small, stolen, edible treats courtesy of adventures of his serpentine owl, Morythine is feeling a whole lot better by the time Rilee brings word of the ogres’ dambreaking efforts. Rather enlivened by the prospect of another battle to death, the dhampir grabs his hat.
As the druid and the oracle take off upon their flying mounts, he weighs the serpentine owl in hand, knowing its enlarged form would allow him to join them on their journey, but loathe to waste the figurine’s finite magic. After a moment’s deliberation he opts to stay with Zoli and Eugeni, not least because he still feels a deeper loyalty to his friends from the first Sandpoint adventure.
When Maelin the pixie (or whatever he is – Morythine’s not really sure) appears before them on the outskirts of the town, he looks to Zoli to see what the halfling will do, whilst casting suspicious glances at the little fey fellow.
Ki points: 5 remaining
Spells: cause fear (domain spell), forbid action, murderous command, ray of sickening
Channel energy: 2 remaining
Orisons: detect magic, detect poison, guidance, resistance
Setsuna hears Rilee muse about taking a full rest herself.
"Fine by me. We should probably be at full strength before going anything further. I only have one leopard in me before I have to start calling in rabid badgers. Not particularly useful rabid badgers either."
Setsuna plops down and sighs.
"So... you were Zoli's mom? Or is 'are' more apt? ...What do you remember?"
Ruler finishes adjusting Olympus' barding, then she sits cross-legged across from Setsuna. She gets a distant look for a moment.
"I think it's past-tense. I was her mother, for about seven months while she was inside me. Then, well, I wasn't."
She looks sad, but that quickly changes to old pain and regret. "How could I be? I couldn't very well show up on Tan's doorstep, saying, 'Hello, my dear! I may be human now, and a boy, but that won't matter, will it? Love will see us through! Now, where's my sweet girl? Did she like that poppet I made for her?'"
She shakes her head. "No. Forgetting made sense. Painful as it was-- is, it was for the best.
"But now that I remember -- and she knows -- I don't really know what to do. I'm younger than her now! It isn't fair to her to try to be a mother to her now. She doesn't need one. I think I need to find out what she does need, and be that. If she'll let me."
As the group begins to traverse the cave, they travel through a short passageway that ends in a small alcove, but to the west, a fifteen-foot-high ledge provides access to a larger cave beyond.
Zoli struggles to make any headway up the ledge, due to her short stature and being unable to reach some of the hand holds. The taller men offer to climb on ahead and help her from above, and they scale the wall without difficulty. Loose bits of rock and wall clamor down the wall as they climb, echoing through the cavern.
Before they can turn to help Zoli up the ledge, a massive, two headed figure steps up from behind the wall of the cave, a flail in each hand, and begins attacking! As it does so, it would seem the two heads are arguing with one another. It swings its weapons twice at Eugeni, and twice more at Morythine, each one managing to connect with a powerful blow against the heroes.
__________
Zoli yelps, "Look out!" too late, as the two-headed giant attacks her friends.
She starts to climb but the nearest handhold crumbles when she grips it. Drawing on her fabulous panache she swings a bit higher, grabbing onto the next hold up...but still not finding her way over the lip, and in the end she's back where she started. "Aaauurgh!"
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Eugeni raises his bow and there is a flash of movement. Two arrows sprout from each of the giant's foreheads, so close together that the shafts are touching, each aligned perfectly between its eyes. Eugeni hops nimbly back as the giant tumbles dead at his feet.
19+12+14+18+12+31+28 = 134 damage
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The air in this forty-foot-high cave is thankfully freshened by a brisk breeze whistling through from the north, yet the dozens of mostly eaten firepelts, deer, and even a few humans heaped along the walls fill the room with a stomach-turning stink.
Eugeni reaches down, and grabs Zoli's arm. He yanks her up on to the cave platform.
In a disorganized heap in a collection of furs in the northeastern corner of the cave, there is a pile of random treasures consisting of 693 gp, 1,240 sp, a velvet pouch containing six pearls, a phylactery, an ivory scroll tube inset with strips of jade containing three scrolls.
Another 15' rocky cliff ledge leads to a set of stairs, which in turn leads to an exit to the top of the dam. The upper walk of Skull’s Crossing is relatively clear of rubble, though a three-inch layer of water has pooled across much of its surface. Here and there, sections of the dam’s surface have crumbled away, although this damage appears relatively old. A tower of skull-shaped domes sits at the center of the dam’s walk. To the north surge the choppy waters of the Storval face drops away nearly three hundred feet to a Deep, while to the south, the slope of the dam’s muddy lake below. Near the doors to the central skull-shaped dome lie a pile of bodies, some ogre, some troll. Their blood mingling and dripping down the front of the damn in eery red rivulets. On the far side of the bodies are two sets of double doors, one of which is heavily damaged, but pried slightly ajar.
"Let's go team," Eugeni says, leading the way across the dam. He pauses to listen at the door, and can hear Rilee and Setsuna talking with in. Moments later, the group is together once again.
"Oh, you made it!" Riley says.
"Oh, hi guys...." Eugeni replies. "Glad you're okay. Looks like you've made a mess of them already. I just shot some two headed f+@%er down below."
"He, er, they? Must not have heard us through the storm." Rilee muses. "It. We'll go with it. Maybe them."
"Yeah, he got me pretty good first though," Eugeni winces, pointing to his mangled thigh.
"You look wounded. Do you need healing?" Rilee comments as Setsuna delivers a bit of healing from the dark wand in her possession to each of the warriors.
"Rilee, do you still want to rest? Or continue onward?" Setsuna asks.
Eugeni comments, "If we need to wait until morning, maybe we should just check the rest of this structure, and then rest in here. I think I can still handle quite a bit of action today..."
"Well, I still have a few spells left. I don't think I'll be useless," the druidess replies.
The group then begins searching out the upper level. Most of the rooms are filled with thick, green ropy vines of fungoid plant life. In one of the chambers they find a loose stone near the base of the southern wall that hides a small cache of treasure: a cracked emerald, a bent gold comb that looks like a behir (its legs comprising the comb's teeth) with tiny pearls for eyes, and a pair of lacy pink gloves that smell faintly of lilacs which Setsuna identifies as a pair of Gloves of Swimming and Climbing that perpetually give off the scent of lilacs and will never become dirty.
Eugeni says "I think these should go to Zoli, considering she failed to climb that small ledge just a while ago. Pink isn't really my thing."
Riley teases the half-orc, "But it matches your skin tone so nicely!"
"You color blind now? I'm green yo!" Eugeni retorts. "Red goes with green..."
Rilee responds, "Well, we aren't using light sources, are we? I'm seeing in black and white at the moment."
"Pink is the color of baby mice and flowers..." Eugeni adds.
To which Rilee replies, "And the sunsets."
"Only beautiful ones! I'm not beautiful," he responds, "Those would be like earrings on a pig if I wore them..." Eugeni sighs dramatically. He doesn't make eye contact with the others.
"No, you're handsome~," Setsuna says with a teasing wink.
"Bodies are fleeting. It's all about who you are, who you truly are," Rilee muses.
The archer blushes at Setsuna's comment, then looks confused at Rilee's. "I....uhhh....I..." Who am I?
"I guess I don't really know who I am." he admits after some silence.
"Uh... What exactly do you mean. Eugeni?" the Oracle inquires.
"I mean, what Rilee just said. I don't really know who I am."
"Why bother trying to define it? You are. Isn't that enough?" Rilee asks.
"I was like this dog-man, and then I killed that me, and now I'm a half-orc who knows nothing about orcs. I know what I do....mainly shoot people and be completely terrified all the time. But, I don't really know what I am...If I don't know what I am, then how can I be confident? How can I be true to myself? Am I supposed to just follow my emotions blindly like some kind of animal?"
Seeking clarity, Rilee asks "What sort of emotions are you talking about? Animals don't feel much besides fear. Do you love? Hate? Those aren't animal emotions."
Eugeni turns to Rilee. "I feel hate. I don't know about love. I guess I love you guys. You're the closest thing I have to family. I'd die for any of you...even your creepy ass," he says to Mory.
"So how is that not being true to yourself?" she asks.
"You know what else...I think what we're doing is important." Realization begins to dawn in the half-orc's eyes. "I do know who I am. I am a Varisian Ranger. We all are. That's what's important. We have to be there for each other, so that we can be there for Varisia. Like what we're doing right now. For the people at Turtleback Ferry."
"Right. Now, hush. I hear something," Rilee says as her face grows serious and concerned, and begins looking around.
"Well, well. Aren't you just a lovely little assortment," a disembodied feminine voice calls out from behind you. "And so perceptive!" it adds at Rilee's warning.
There is a creak as Eugeni's bowstring is instantly drawn to his ear. He looks around for the source of the voice.
"I must say," the voice continues, now from an entirely different spot in the complex, "I was quite impressed with your work at Rannick."
"We have your dainty pink gloves, b#+#$! Show yourself or you'll never see them again!" Eugeni threatens.
"Gloves?" the voice giggles, "I must honestly say I haven't a clue what you are talking about, sir!" the voice replies, relocated once again.
"Lie all you want. I'll be laughing my way to funny town when I use them to wipe my ass later!" the half-orc boasts.
"But such fervor! Such anger! My, my. Mokmurian would just LOVE to meet you," the voice replies mockingly. It continues to relocate with each sentence as it speaks, sometimes seeming to come from different rooms even.
"Why don't you COME OUT AND TAKE ME TO HIM!!?" he yells frustratedly.
"Tsk tsk tsk. With such an attitude, I must say your intentions are as obvious as can be! A pity, considering I have done nothing to you to deserve such hostilities!"
"Who you is?" Eugeni asks.
The voice giggles, relocated once more, "Perhaps you ARE little more than the animal you think you are, little Varisian Ranger."
Damn! That c%$ was eavesdropping on my confession. She dies...hard.
"...Lucrecia..." Setsuna mutters.
"My! A learned one! A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my dear. I must say, you slept so soundly the night after your massacre at Rannick...I now regret not speaking to you then, seeing as you are so resourceful..."
Eugeni moves to put his back to a wall. He hopes the others are smart enough to follow suit. C'mon...spread out and backs to walls!
The others see the wisdom in the half-orc's positioning and follow suit, pressing their backs against the vine covered walls and spreading around the room.
"...I'm surprised that you wasted a chance to finish us," the Oracle retorts.
"Finish you? My dear...why would I waste such precious potential allies? Do you even know what it is you have been fighting, either for or against?"
Rilee whistles and clicks, and Olympus lifts his head and then flies outside.
Eugeni asks angrily, "Are you gonna keep being a pretentious prick, or explain yourself!?"
"My apologies, but I believe I have yet to catch your names. You know mine, there is no need for rudeness..." the voice says, speaking this time right beside Eugeni's ear.
Eugeni wants to lash out, but uses his restraint. "You may call me Ranger Silva. I'll hear you out, but I don't book no s~#!e. Try something and we eradicate you."
Rilee asks, "Allies? Why would you want us as allies?"
"Because you are clearly quite capable combatants and resourceful souls, of course!" the voice replies.
"Sorry, my brains still a little fractured. I mean, why would we want to ally with you?" Rilee clarifies.
"Well, do you even have a good reason to be fighting me? You've lost friends and loved ones fighting the inevitable, and do you even know why?" the voice chides.
Rilee shakes her head. "You incite the ogres. They are trying to destroy this dam. Are you behind this storm? It's threatening to destroy the town below. If this is on purpose, no, I don't know why."
"Everything has a purpose, my dear," the voice says, almost braggingly, "But yes, I have worked with the ogres. And I did arrange for their allies to conjure this storm. And once the Skull breaks, it will be all the more greed for the Master's need. Almost half of that town has willingly taken the mark, pledging their souls to the Master."
Setsuna's face goes blank.
"Mark? What mark?" Rilee asks, clearly confused.
There is a hearty laugh from the direction of the stairs, before the voice speaks again from the middle of the room, "Perhaps I was wrong! Perhaps you aren't clever enough to be worth my time! I suppose I will let Barl know that you are not worth Mokmurian's time. I needed to go let him know about the failure of the ogre's here anyway. See about having some more come finish the job...and...in turn...you as well. But first...I have something to finish up downstairs...ta ta for now!"
"...The symbol..." Setsuna mumbles, then exclaims, "...The Seven Sided Star."
"What about it?" the druidess inquires.
Setsuna remembers. The symbol being carved into a screaming man's chest. "...It's a mark of sacrifice!" she shouts loudly. "The Skinsaw Men were doing the same thing in Magnimar!"
More memories from a former life come crashing in. "Oh! That
makes a lot of sense, now. Should have remembered that!"
Eugeni declares, "I knew it had something to do with that mark! Zoli, Mory and I have been seeing that thing ever since this all started for us back in Sandpoint."
Setsuna vanishes, and after several minutes, reappears, her body wounded heavily, blood pouring from a three-pronged wound in her back.
"Woah! What happened to you down there?!" Eugeni cries out upon seeing the oracle reappear.
"There's some kind of super trident troll in the dungeon!"
"Is it a teenage mutant ninja?!" he asks. To which Setsuna responds, "I don't know!"
"Are you okay?" he asks, coming over to examine her wounds. As he does so, she uses the curative wand to quickly close up the injuries, leaving not even a scar of their existence.
"Oh...seems you're okay. That's good. Can you explain the troll better?"
"He was bulkier than Jaagrath! And he carried a trident! And he swam!"
"That sounds very dangerous. We shouldn't try to face him unprepared," the archer ponders, "Summons to lead the way, and swarm him. Then I will have time to feather him head to toe. We'll need fire or acid as well if it's a troll..."
Setsuna looks to the druid, "Rilee! Summon the Satyr!"
“I think I wanna meet this troll.” says Morythine “But better let one of the spellcasters’ puppets lead the way. My staff’s ready to do some pummelling, but I’ve got no fire, and no acid for that matter. I’ll be relying on one of you to get something cooking.”
He creeps over to Setsuna. “Would you mind giving me a tap with the Hellknight’s wand?”
Ki points: 5 remaining
Spells: cause fear (domain spell), forbid action, murderous command, ray of sickening
Channel energy: 2 remaining
Orisons: detect magic, detect poison, guidance, resistance
Setsuna nods and taps Mory with the Wand of Infernal Healing.
"We should pick up a few of these when we get the chance," muses the Oracle.
"A real troll! And it sounds like it's just as terrible as in the stories. Thankfully, the stories where the heroes bring fire, they usually win. With Desna and Chaldira's blessing, hopefully we can follow in those footsteps. Oh and, uh, Azathoth's blessing too, I guess. Setsu, I'm going to have to ask you about her (if Azathoth is a her) again sometime soon. You started to tell me about her a while back but I think my mind must've been elsewhere. Sorry about that, I really am interested.
"Oh shoot, I think I've gone off an another tangent." Taking a breath, she continues, "I meant to say, before we go fight this big troll, lets see if we have any tools we've discovered that could help. Setsu, we found this phylactery and an ivory scroll tube inset with strips of jade containing three scrolls when Eugeni took down that last giant. Wanna help me figure out what's what? And we still have this belt of strength, and these two amulets of natural armor, that someone might as well wear.
"And everyone still has their potion of cure serious wounds somewhere close at hand, in case of emergency, right? I've got the extra one."
"We should pick up a few of these when we get the chance,"
Morythine looks momentarily confused. "I've never really thought about it. I don't think I'd know how to use one."
"A satyr may not know the troll's language. That's going to limit how much he'll be able to manipulate it. But I'll call one in," she says.
Rilee looks strangely at Morythine, trying to remember something.
Then when going through the loot, she'll study the scrolls to see if she can cast them.
"Hmm. Not ones I can unlock. Setsuna? Zoli? What about you?" Rilee inquiries about the scrolls.
She hands them off to whoever wants them. She declines the amulets and the belt.
When she prepares to summon the satyr, she pauses and gasps. "Oh! I'm-- ah, this will be interesting." She looks somewhat unsure, but doesn't elaborate.
Setsuna looks at Mory funny.
"Really? I'm fairly certain that Infernal Healing can be cast by Sorcerers. Or Arcanists in general. Some of my mother's Eldritch Knight guards carry them, and Marcello seems to have gotten some mileage out of it."
She turns to Rilee.
"I actually know the Tongues spell. That should solve the language problem," the Oracle says. "With a Hound Archon and Zoli as our front, that Trident Troll should have his hands full."
Really? I'm fairly certain that Infernal Healing can be cast by Sorcerers.
"Magick is a strange thing. I don't really understand it myself."
When Setsuna summons her Hound Archon, Morythine can't help but observe. "Eugeni! He looks like you used to!"
Rilee readjusts her holly headband to make sure her hair is out of her face. Then she goes through the complex gestures to summon the fey from the First World.
The satyr appears in a burst of fresh, green energy and instantly a heady musk fills the chamber. He leans over Rilee with a lustful look. " Helo, un teg. Beth ydych chi'n ei angen oddi wrthyf?"
Rilee gulps as her pulse quickens. She licks her lips before responding, "" Nid bod . Mae trolio yn y siambr nesaf . Rhowch ef i gysgu, yn awgrymu ei fod yn cymryd camau ffôl , unrhyw beth er mwyn ein galluogi i ladd ef. Bydd hyn yn un yn rhoi swyn chi wneud yn siŵr ei fod yn deall eich cyfarwyddiadau." She nods her head toward Setsuna.
The satyr smiles and Rilee's knees go wobbly. "Ah . amser arall , efallai? Os os oes gennym amser ar ôl y 'n Ysgrublaidd yn farw?" he answers, then turns to accept Setsuna's spell and readies his magic.
Rilee shakes her head to clear it and begins casting another spell.
"Hello, fair one. What do you need from me?"
"Not that. There is a troll in the next chamber. Put him to sleep, suggest that he take foolish actions, anything to allow us to slay him. This one will give you a spell to make sure it understands your instructions."
"Ah. Another time, perhaps? If if we have time after the brute is dead?"
Before Rilee summons her satyr, Setsuna turns Invisible again.
Setuna quickly casts Tongues on the satyr and then takes a big step away from him.
She then begins to conjure her Hound Archon.
"Oh! There are deep pools in that room, and he seemed like a decent swimmer. He could be lurking underwater. Be careful."
Rilee nods in the direction of Setsuna's voice. "Beth am awgrymu ei fod yn ymladd ni allan o'r dŵr?"
The group goes through their preparations on the outside of the skull door, and once prepared, the hound archon shoves open the doors. Standing on the far side of the door, waist deep in water, is the massive form that Setsuna had described, trident raised and ready! It quickly and expertly thrusts it forward piercing the hound archon through the chest. It then quickly removes the weapon and slashes it out across the celestial's throat, causing a hideous gurgling sound as the hound archon attempts to cry out, though it's windpipe is slashed open. A moment later, it vanishes back to the realm it came from.
The satyr attempts to impose its will on the creature, and for a moment it seems it might succeed, but then the monster shakes its head and thrusts its trident forward once more, impaling the satyr as well! As the weapon is removed, the satyr clutches at the wounds on its chest.
As it fights, you can all see that small lacerations are forming on the creature, though they begin to close moments after their appearance.
__________
Rilee finishes her next spell and a large crocodile appears imposing itself between the troll and the rest of the party. It immediately snaps it's jaws down on the giant and lashes out with its tail. Then the satyr tries again to influence the troll by suggesting that it cast aside its trident.
Rilee then conjures a ball of flame that she hurtles toward the troll.
When Zoli sees the troll drop his trident, she laughs, "Ho ho, well done! Can anyone grab it now, before he picks it back up?
"This guy must be a scrag troll, by the way--like mer-trolls, basically. I don't know too much about them, though I'm sure he's still plenty deadly with those claws and teeth, even without the trident."
With that she brushes her lucky Thassilonian Sihedron medalion and then tumbles gracefully over the thrashing crocodile, under the troll's snapping claw, and draws a clean cut across it's thigh with Baern's Breath.
____________________
Can anyone grab it now, before he picks it back up?
“Got it!” shouts Morythine, leaping forward and splashing across the wet stones to grab the trident and drag it away.
Ki points: 4 remaining
Spells: cause fear (domain spell), forbid action, murderous command, ray of sickening
Channel energy: 2 remaining
Orisons: detect magic, detect poison, guidance, resistance
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As Morythine moves through the chamber, the creature lashes out at him with his claw. The dhampir nimbly avoids the large creature's clutches, and lunges for the trident. He wraps his hands around the spear, and spots the troll moving to sink his teeth into his body. He quickly hops away, the creature's jaws snapping together mere inches from him, the sound as loud as thunder.
__________
Setsuna takes a quick hop to better see the room and starts calling another Hound Archon to put some meat between Mory and the (former) Trident Troll.
4th - 2/4
3rd - 1/6
2nd - 0/8
1st - 1/8
Eugeni sends a flurry of arrows at the creature, several of them burying themselves into its flesh. The creature roars in frustration and pain, before lashing out once more at its foes.
It sinks both its claws deep into the crocodile in front of it, and tears the thing in half with ease, sending both halves flying across the room before they fade from existence to wherever they came from.
It then tries to bite Morythine once more, but the dhampir is easily able to avoid the creatures jaws. Just then, another archon appears on its flank.
__________
Setsuna's Hound Archon lets out a majestic howl and unleashes a wave of holy power. While none of Good Guys (and Mory) are affected, the Trident Troll is left quite shaken. Elvis then takes two swings with his sword and bites at the troll, who gets hit by the first swipe but dodges everything else.
Setsuna turns to the satyr and says in Thassilonian, "Suggest that he stands his ground and fights us like a man!"
Thanks to her earlier Tongues spell, the fey understands the Oracle without incident.
She opts to do nothing else for the round.
4th - 2/4
3rd - 1/6
2nd - 0/8
1st - 1/8
"Aww," Rilee frowns as her summoned crocodile is ripped up and went away.
Still clutching his side where he had been struck earlier, the satyr raises an eyebrow at Setsuna. He takes a look at the druid, who nods and says something else in Sylvan.
The satyr then pulls out his pan flute and puts it to his lips, filling the chamber with music. Suddenly everyone who hears it feels the suggestion to stay out of the water for the duration of the fight.
Rilee then throws two more blasts of fire at the giant.
Morythine drops the heavy trident behind him with a clatter, straightens his tricorn, takes a deep breath and steps into the fray with his fists held high. Unfortunately, he slips on a patch of wet paving, his hat falls in front of his eyes, and his first swing is a wild miss. The second blow strikes more by luck than judgement, and his follow-up jabs lack the strength to do more than bounce off the scrag's scaly hide.
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"Take that troll thing!"
"Nice work" Zoli calls to Mory, as he manages to get the trident out of reach.
Seeing the troll sunder the crocodile in seconds, she thinks, Ulp! Better end this fast. She makes two expert cuts. The first one manages to cut the troll's femoral artery, sending hot blood spraying out. The second isn't as deep but slice a line up across his abdomen.
______________
With the flames from Rilee's spell suppressing the creatures regeneration, it soon falls to the onslaught against it.
This cold, damp room features a large pool in the floor, the edges of which are caked with pale yellow slime and fungus. The surface of the pool bears a similar film. Additional carvings of skulls decorate the walls here. To the south, an impressive mound of skulls, mostly from humanoids—lies heaped against the wall, where they partially block a large stone double door.