Min and Theo blast the pair of snakes to smithereens!
Moving forward down the logs, a more cautious group of adventurers spots a second snare trap and are able to avoid it.
Suddenly, a high staccato voice cackles maniacally and calls out from the island.
“Too too late, filthy intruders! All your prancing through my beautiful forest, and nothing for you remains! The beautiful, beautiful sun will do my job for me, destroy your precious lorestone as soon as it rises, and you are failures, humans are always failures, always always.”
As the party crosses the bridge onto the island, no living creatures are visible.
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“Hey!” Bitter Plum objects, “Who are you calling ‘human,’ eh?” Making her way toward the druidic circle of menhirs, she casts a glance over the area where the cackling voice came from. Still on the lookout for the voice’s source, she calls out to it: “The sun hasn’t come up to destroy it just yet, dearie. We did an alright job making it here despite your machinations. We’re not unreasonable you know - I’m sure there’s something we could give you for the lorestone?”
She then concentrates again, closing her eyes and speaking the words to cast a spell. When she opens her eyes again, they have a faint glow as she scans the island.
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Theophilus lets his mouth run while he keeps a wary eye out for either the lorestone or any shifts in the terrain that would indicate an angry invisible faerie.
Beaks is right. No reason we can't settle this like reasonable people. We want the lorestone, you probably want to... plant a tree or something?
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Offering a deal to the one who murdered our contact would not have been my approach. Some people only respond to... more overt techniques. A lesson for next time, perhaps... Itami grumbles internally to himself.
"You would destroy such a valuable rock? Certainly you aren't so rash to not at least consider it's value to others and what it could mean for you?" he badgers, while trying to find any hint of the creatures location. Fey and their 'tricks' wear my patience thin. We can try the bird's way, but it is mine next.
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Abdul begins to swim over to the other side.
He has a bit of trouble at first, swimming in his armor takes some getting used to.
Once he reaches the island he calls out.
Some of aren't human at all. So if that makes us not all failure, then maybe you should consider the fact that taking them up on their offer may be your best course of action remaining.
"Haha, you say you are not humans. You are all foolish humans and you will never save your precious stone! Within moments the sun will rise and the stone will be destroyed. Your civilization will crumble and the fey will once again rule the natural world as the gods intended."
Bitter Plum senses an aura emanating from near the central obelisk and another from the boundary stone nearest the group.
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When it's clear that the tiny fey isn't willing to cooperate, Bitter Plum sighs with a clack of her beak and continues to concentrate on her spell. Muttering to the others she says, "There's magic near this first boundary stone - perhaps some sort of protection? But there's also something near that central bit, and I'll wager that's where our rock is. Let's grab it before this fey's grating voice grates the ears off me."
She points a taloned finger at Theophilus, and in a nagging tone says, "Now's the time to get that potion ready, dear." Turning it to Garren she adds, "You, too, yungin'."
Bitter Plum crosses into the druidic circle, heading for the obelisk and honing in on the magical aura there.
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"Aye, I'll be knocking it back now." Garren responds to the ol' Crow while drinking a potion
Finishing the last drop
"Wait a tick! You have ears beneath those feathers?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Bitter Plum treads towards the center, concentrating on her magic detection. She can tell that it's a weak aura coming from directly behind the center stone.
"I tire of your human words. Now face the wrath of the First World!"
Suddenly a blurry figure appears before Bitter Plum and before she can react it has stabbed her and run off towards the far end of the circle.
Cyflymder blur
Abdul
Min
Theo 1 nonlethal, bear's endurance
Itami
Garren barkskin
BP 19/20
Faerie invisible
The party is up!
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Bitter Plum squawks at her wounding, clutching a bleeding leg. ”Ow! Watch where you run with sharp objects! I could have been hurt worse than this little scratch! And what sort of magic have you got hidden behind that big rock?” she scolds.
Stepping back, she draws a length of thin chain with metal weights on the ends hanging from her belt and starts to whip it skillfully around her head. Over the hum of the swinging chain she chirps out a divine invocation: “Desna bless these young travelers, that we might overcome these troublemakers!”
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Garren walks into the center of the clearing aiming his pistol at daft little fairy. Taking careful aim he opens fire with a bravado and flourish.
"Ha ha, have at thee"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Itami begins his ritual to put the fae to sleep.
Bitter Plum invokes a blessing upon the party of adventurers.
Theo's blast smashes into the stone behind Cyflymder.
Garren's bullet misses everything in the circle altogether.
Min sends a pair of force missiles at the fey leader. They zero in on him but are suprisingly sucked into a piece of gold jewelry on his cloak.
Abdul is up!
Abdul gives himself some extra protection.
A tiny faerie who looks reminiscent of Gire appears out of nowhere flying above the main part of the group. She gestures and suddenly the trees and grasses and weeds around the druid circle begin grasping at the party's legs!
Cyflymder, still a blur, leaps up on top of the stone circle and runs around on top of the ring. He settles into place under the trees and he slings a dagger at Garren.
The dagger itself doesn't do much more than just pierce the skin. However it turns out that the wily fey has dipped the dagger in poison!
Cyflymder blur
Abdul Ref DC 13
Min Ref DC 13
Theo 1 nonlethal, bear's endurance Ref DC 13
Itami Ref DC 13
Garren 1 nonlethal, barkskin Fort DC 15
BP 19/20 Ref DC 13
Faerie
The party is up!
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Unamused by the sudden sprawling of weeds, Itami completes his incantation and gestures towards Cyflymder with both arms. "SLEEP!" he commands the obnoxious fey. What a useless spell, what does he expect a bunch of plants to do?
He then vanishes from view and moved away from his closest assailant.
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Nibbling dancing his way around the lashing and grabbing vines that just cant seem to get enough of him Garren looks up just in time to see a dagger come straight at him hitting him with barely enough force to feel anything more than a pins prick he begins to reload his weapon when he feels woozy and his vision blurs suddenly.
Shaking off the pull of old man sleep Garren
Walks up towards the "ANNOYING LITTLE WASP!!!" loading his pistol with a small cartridge aims and fires.
"Aha!! Blaggard! You will pay for the damage you wrought."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Itami avoids the grasping weeds and completes his sleep spell. Unfortunately Cyflymder is too mentally strong to fall for such tactics.
Min also dodges the plants and decides to give it a shot himself.
Theo gets caught but manages to break himself loose.
Bitter Plum struggles through the creeping plants to give Garren a boost.
Garren shakes off the poison's effects and blasts the fey with his pistol.
He strikes the blurry creature squarely, but Cyflymder just laughs. "Your human weapons cannot hurt me!"
Abdul struggles comically with the weeds.
The faerie draws out a tiny light crossbow and fires at Min, hoping to break his concentration.
Meanwhile, Cyflymder tries again with a poison dagger, this time aiming at the entangled half orc.
The poisoned tip sticks right into his hide, poking out obscenely.
Cyflymder blur
Abdul 17/18 entangled, DC 15 Fort
Min 11/14 DC 14 concentration
Theo 1 nonlethal, bear's endurance
Itami
Garren 1 nonlethal, barkskin, bit of luck
BP 19/20 entangled
Faerie
The party is up!
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Garren bewildered at the fact his shot did not penetrate the defenses the flighty little bastard has. He reloads his pistol this time pleading to the gods his shot flys true.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Min is able to maintain concentration on his casting and soon enough, Cyflymder slumps down, fast asleep!
Theophilus' morningstar zeroes in on the sleeping fey and ushers him into the eternal slumber of death!
Cyflymder's faerie companion shrieks when she sees the carnage and flies away into the coming dawn.
The party finds the lorestone on Cyflymder's corpse and hide it away before the sun is able to destroy it. As the first rays of daylight finally break the druid circle, the party is already packing up and preparing for the return journey to Absalom.
Venture-Captain Dennel Hamshanks is thrilled to see the adventurers return. He expresses surprise that their diplomatic task took such a turn and commends them for their adaptability. "That's the secret fourth pillar of the Society, I always say. As for this lorestone, it will be added to the collection here at the Grand Lodge—although unlocking its mysteries will consume many years at best."
He continues on, explaining that defeating Cyflymder’s gang has removed a minor menace from the Verduran Forest, allowing local, peaceful druidic activity to resume and diplomatic relations to improve. But, as explorers push ever deeper into the dark groves, friction is bound to flare up again between the Pathfinder Society and the druids of the forest. "Thanks to you, we will at least have peace for a time."
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"Thank you Hamshanks. I did enjoy the mission you set us on. It has shown me that i must be better prepared for the next mission you send me on. "
With that Garren bows as graciously as a pirate can tipping of his hat.
"Peace though is finite and i best be seeking better provision... and rum. Before you no doubt send us on our next mission any day now."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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“Good luck figuring out what that doohickey does. We went through an awful lot of trouble for it!” Bitter Plum tells VC Hamshanks. She nods sagely as the Venture-Captain explains the peace they've brought to this neck of the woods.
She prepares to leave for her next travels, gathering her things. She approaches Itami and places a hand on his shoulder. “You know, I know what you are…” she says in a low voice with a serious expression. She then gives him a friendly slap on the back as her expression lightens and her beak makes the equivalent of a smile. “You're an old folk like me who never got tired of traveling with a friend and a bottle, right?” she asks. “What do you say we hit the road and find some cheap drinks? Have you ever had baiju?”
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Itami's chest tightens as the Tengu whispers in his ear, but is flooded with relief as she ends the cruel joke. I am not yet powerful enough to defend myself against those that would kill me for who I am and where I am from. One day...
He let's out a pathetic chuckle. "Friends and bottles are in short supply for me," he pauses for a moment and considers his next words carefully. "I accept your offer. What is this baiju? Sounds like a swamp," he follows Bitter Plum out to what is sure to be a fascinating time.
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"Oi everyone. I hav' ta go see a man about a certain licktoad goblin an' ill be back shortly."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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"Well that was rather... interesting... i have returned from the Lost Coast of Varisia. There are some strange inhabitants of Brinestump Marsh."
-Posted with Wayfinder
The group has reassembled in an abandoned cathedral to Aroden in Almas' East Hill neighborhood which now hosts a Pathfinder Lodge. With a thump, Venture-Captain Brackett sets a rounded granite stone on his desk. The stone is polished smooth and veined with shallow carvings reminiscent of constellations.
“This is a lorestone, from the depths of the Verduran Forest. It’s rumored to hold all of the secrets of the druids of that ancient wood. But why am I telling you? After all, you recovered this stone for us." He shakes his head. "We’re not much closer to cracking its secrets yet, but we have gleaned one interesting bit of knowledge.
“The lorestone tells of a lengthy ritual using an artifact called the Atavistic Splinter, a piece of charred bark touched by Gozreh himself.
"The ritual transforms humanoids into bestial creatures with preternatural resilience. We could use something with this kind of power for the upcoming Ruby Phoenix Tournament in Goka, so we need you to recover the Atavistic Splinter for us.
“We believe the artifact is near the gnome town of Wispil, deep in the Verduran Forest. A Pathfinder operative there—a gnome herbalist named Falbin—was investigating increased lycanthrope activity south of Wispil. Falbin discovered that a sinister cabal of druids in a compound called Briar Henge is using the Atavistic Splinter to perform the ritual, probably to drive out the local loggers, but he couldn’t recover the Atavistic Splinter from the druids by himself.
“Go to Wispil and contact Falbin there. He will provide you with directions to Briar Henge and recent intelligence regarding the situation around Wispil. Then use this information to infiltrate Briar Henge and acquire the Atavistic Splinter.”
He leans back in his chair. "Any questions?"