The minotaur abliges Hengist by swinging his axe at him, felling the big man like a tree.
BOSS BATTLE - ROUND 3! (Boss Theme ♬)
The Bold May Act!
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__ Janira -17 hp, 1 nonlethal, fatigued, unarmed
__ Hengist -11 hp, dying
__ Nina
__ Karayan
__ Sir Hayden
__ Mr. Monty
__ Balgrym
__ Alexis
__ Minotaur! shaken
"HENGIST!"
Janira catches Hengist as he topples guiding his fall so as to put him out of the beast's reach.
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Nina roars and launches into a furious attack on the minatour!
Her increased size lending power and strength to her attacks, she first swipes hard with one claw to rake across the minatour's belly, then the other, before rounding about and bringing her arms down in a double fisted blow between the minotaur's horns.
"Try to lure him closer!" Alexis calls out.
"What! I've been trying to get away from this one for half an hour now!" Janira shouts.
"I will generate mists when it attacks, be ready for it!"
"Wait! What about Hengist?" She looks down at Hengist. "Who's got the wand!"
Nina roars and launches into a furious attack...
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Nina roars and launches into a furious attack...
[Dice=slam damage]2d6+6
[ooc]
Relevant information-
Natural Attacks-
These attacks fall into one of two categories, primary and secondary attacks. Primary attacks are made using the creature’s full base attack bonus and add the creature’s full Strength bonus on damage rolls. Secondary attacks are made using the creature’s base attack bonus –5 and add only 1/2 the creature’s Strength bonus on damage rolls.
[/ooc]
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The frothing minotaur warrior drops before the once again blood-spattered dolly.
(After Karayan stares intently at it of course.)
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Mr Monty sighs as the threat goes down to the panting giant Nina. He calls out to her,
Very good Nina! Now, do me a favor and help our friends cross the river before that magic wears off!
Nina nods and quickly moves to Alexis, Carrying her across before the magic wears off so that she can use the wand to bring Hengist back.
With that accomplished, Monty turns to Janira.
Are you okay? You look the worst for wear.
"I was worried about me too." She says panting, and smiling. "Best we get under cover. You may have noticed that's not the same minotaur as before."
Once everyone is back over the stream, near the mouth of the cave, Janira asks: "So how did it go? Did you learn anything? Do you take good notes."
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He humbly starts "I learned that I might not be that well prepared for cave-exploration as I thought. A lot of the creatures there were aggressive and did not even want to talk. Let alone that I did not speak their tongue and thus could not even bespell them!"
He brings out his notes "As for the caves themselves, I did make some notes"
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As Janria reads Karayan's notes, Sir Hayden interrupts. "Janria, we met a gillman back in the caves. While he wasn't exactly friendly, he was able to answer a few questions. The caves used to be an Aroden temple of some kind, but now the gillmen appear to use it for their own purposes."
"Shall we go back so you can meet him for yourself?"
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Hengist's eyes flutter open, and he groans, as Alexis touches the wand to him. A second touch closes the massive gash on his chest, and he clambers to his feet, looking refreshed. "Well! A cowardly and lucky blow, but I stand again! Where is..." He catches sight of Nina standing, bloodied, over the minotaur, and stares.
"...I shall ask no questions." He shakes his head.
As the others catch Janira up, he stretches and examines his new chest scar. When Hayden mentions going back, Hengist says, "Aye, I think 'twould be best--most polite--to let Uori know that we are on our way. And then thou canst meet him as well, Janira!"
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Mr Monty pulls the sheets of paper with the etchings he and Nina did.
Here ya go Ms. Janira. Seems the place used to be a shrine to Andoran, still got some carvings that might be of use. Even a lovely little diorama of the city in there. I think it gives some powers... I can speak this funky language for example.
He coughs a little and speaks. Estoy bastante seguro de que esto no estaba en la aventura cuando lo leí, pero es una pequeña adición ingeniosa que debo admitir. Todos alaban al dios mayor, cuyo nombre es el amo del juego.
He grins.
Don't know if it's permanent, but could be useful for passing messages.
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Hengist coughs. "That's a shrine to Aroden, good Monty," he says gently. Reminded, he digs in his bag and turns over his own set of rubbings. "Ancient carvings in the stones of the mountain. Made by the Low Azlanti, I would guess! Fascinating things. Deep inside there are the remnants of an Arodenite text that's slightly different from the versions we know. A good find!"
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Alexis presents a page of parchment intricately inscribed on both sides with notes, narrative, conjectures, and illuminations along the edges, including a diagram of the stars overhead as they appeared when the party emerged to fight the minotaur, an image of Aroden dead - or just sleeping? - in an underwater cavern, and a bizarre vignette of an Osirionesque knight battling a snail.
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The caves spotted by Pathfinder Janira, She of the Hairy Toes and Indomitable Good Will, have proven to be a most excellent archaeological find! They are the ruins of an ancient shrine dedicated to Aroden, the Dead God, wherein it seems his early worshipers congregated. There are the faint remains of murals on the walls of an antecavern depicting the Twelve Guises of Aroden, and a number of inscriptions using an unusual combination of languages remain below the murals. (See the rubbings I have made, attached.) The cave beyond includes a small replica city, apparently the heart of the shrine, rising out of a pool of water. The Low Azlanti who use the cave seem unthreatening, and further exploration promises glory indeed!
The attachment is several careful rubbings of the inscriptions in the antechamber, particularly any parts that use the strange language combinations.
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As one might expect of a nobleman, Sir Hayden prefers to give his report in person, so he may judge Master Shaine's reactions as well as have a personal audience with the man.
"Master Shaine, the gillperson caves were previously some sort of Arodenite temple. There were religious carvings of many of the Guises of Aroden. We saw carvings of the Fisherman, the Hunter, the Thief, and the Artist. The gillpeople still use the site, though it seems their worship has nothing to do with the dead god. We met one named Uori, who seemed to be meditating at one of the pools. They seem to wear these colorful magic cloaks to denote themselves as pilgrims."
"But they were not completely safe in the caves. We found the corpse of necromancer who was killing the gillpeople pilgrims to try and build an undead army. Luckily, he fell to his own creations, though we had to destroy them afterward. There were numerous other creatures in the caves too, vermin and oozes. Fortunately, we completed our exploration in time to help Janria face a minotaur. We were able to bring it down before it killed anyone of us."
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Why the humans have always looked down upon their ancestors, I have never understood. The strength of the dwarves derives from the continued growth of their understanding from a solid, proven core, and this can only be accomplished through the understanding, respect, and appreciation of the accomplishments of those who came before. Thus, their abandonment of the Azlanti, and the denial of their aquatic origins have always seemed folly.
Then I met one. In the shadows of Absalom, the Low Azlanti huddle in caves and try to maintain the glory of a dead god. At first, I thought this is veneration of that which came before, which would be plenty worthwhile, but it was presented in a manner that showed their insular, petty squabbling. From being unable to contain a necromancer in their own home but still believing the thing to do was to keep living there, to regular uses of the silent treatment, to a complete lack of defense of their own possessions, it became clear they are not revering a hero-god, but trying desperately to live in the shade of a dead tree that will grow no canopy.
And let's not forget the name calling.
It has become clear that humanity is no tree, depending on the old heartwood to strengthen the core.
It is more akin to duckweed.
Signed, Balgrym One Hand
Two days later back in the Pig's Paunch seated around a table upon which Master Shaine Dean of the Pathfinder Lodge is seated upon, the pathfinders give their reports. The strange divine powers granted by the site now only a distant memory. Si, even Monty's incomprehensible facility for speaking in tongues, and Alexis's ability to detect cheese have both fled as evidenced by her being taken unaware by the horrible serving wench, Blanche's surprise appearance with a bowl of dribbly spicy cheese for the table's bowls corn chips.
"Interesting...." *CRUNCH!* "It seems that there is some divergence in opinion as to whether or not the gillmen still worship The Last Azlanti. Yet there is some evidence of religious or quasi-mysticism going on, and according to Balgrym the chance of the existence of a small permanent colony. Correct? And what with this depiction of a tornado fighting this spiny winged thing?" He says holding up a picture Alexis drew--possibly upside down... Possibly. "Can any of you shed anymore light on these seeming incongruities?"
He takes another chip and dips into the cheese stuff.
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Janira nudges Hengist and whispers. "You noticed!" She smiles coily and proudly shows off the permed hair on the top of her feet.
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"I know not about Alexis's illustrations," Hengist comments, with a glance at the gnome, "but Uori, the Low Azlanti we found, told us that he and his kind do not worship the god Aroden. The cave has some other meaning for his people--what, it is not clear."