Duel Stats
Manifesting Level: 4 (CL)
Max MP/manifestion: 2 (highest spell level)
Starting MP from Ability scores: 4 (HD) + 2 (average of +4, +3, +2 rounded down)
Pre-combat: Sacrifice Detect Thoughts (1MP) and a Phrenic Pool Point (1MP) to create a Thought-form creature.
As Shenuska enters the mindscape a figure appears in front of her, a tall woman, clad in elaborate armor and wielding a sword. She stands between Shenuska and the gremlin, although her form is transparent and offers a good view both ways.
AC 14; touch AC 14;
HP 13
Attack Bonus +8 (Manifesting level 4 + 4 Int);
Damage 1d6+4;
Fort +3
Ref +2
Will +7
Protector Augmentation: Increase the cost by 1 MP to grant the creator a +4 bonus to AC (both normal and touch), a +2 bonus on Reflex saving throws, and evasion for as long as this thought-form creature exists.
Psychic Backlash 1d10 + 2.
Manfiesting Level: 3
Max MP/manifestation: 1
Starting MP from Ability Scores: 6
Potential Thoughtform Creature: AC 17, hp 13, Attack +4, Damage 1d6+1, Fort +1, Ref +10, Will +4, Backlash 1d10+1
Mister Retch instinctively tries to spit a stream of putrid vomit at Shenuska's guardian. A disgusting torrent pours from his mouth to lash the woman while a portion of it swirls around him in a defensive shield. "This is trippy!" he declares.
Max MP/manifestion: 2 (highest spell level)
Starting MP from Ability scores: 4 (HD) + 2 (average of +4, +3, +2 rounded down)
HP 8/13
Attack Bonus +8 (Manifesting level 4 + 4 Int);
Damage 1d6+4;
Fort +3
Ref +2
Will +7
Protector Augmentation: Increase the cost by 1 MP to grant the creator a +4 bonus to AC (both normal and touch), a +2 bonus on Reflex saving throws, and evasion for as long as this thought-form creature exists.
Psychic Backlash 1d10 + 2.
Shenuska doesn't respond, simply concentrating as her phantom warrior moves to attack the gremlin!
"Ha! Missed me!" Retch laughs, dodging the strike. He concentrates, manifesting an enormous boulder above his head. He hurls it at the guardian, but she gets her shield up in time to block it.
Realizing that an exchange of some sort is taking place between Mr. Retch and Shenuska, Nime looks back and forth between the two for a moment before turning back to Lullaby.
"I would stop them, but then their argument would take place here in front of us and someone else might get hurt."
Her voice lowers to a stage whisper. "And there would be more vomit." She shudders.
Shenuska's guardian strikes forward again from behind her shield.
Retch dodges again. "Dang! I'm gonna make me one of those!" He concentrates as he starts to shape a thought form creature.
Shenuska's guardian continues to opt for defence rather than attack...
Guardian: 7/13
The heated battle rages on!
The louse and guardian clash, Shenuska's creation proving victorious. Retch yelps in pain as his construct is destroyed, but he concentrates and dodges the guardian's follow up strike as he conjures a new one.
In the real world, nearly a minute passes as everybody kind of stands about awkwardly. Eventually, Mister Retch grunts as blood trickles out of the gremlin's nose. Lullaby frowns. "I think she's slowly melting his brain." She doesn't sound too concerned.
"Oh, I hope not," Nime says with genuine concern. "No one deserves to have their brain melted,"
Emboldened by her constructs victory Shenuska bares her teeth in a grin as her construct marches into the attack once more.
Guardian: 7/13
The louse and guardian hit each other, then both miss. The guardian smashes the louse, then Retch dodges its attack again and summons a third louse. The gremlin is getting worn out, but his louse bites the guardian and destroys it!
In the real world, a bit of blood drips from Shenuska's nose now. "Um, maybe we should stop them?" Lullaby says with concern.
Shenuska goes for something a little more direct and summons an image of Sir Roderic's ghost, sending the creature screaming towards the gremlin!
Both Retch and the louse wince in pain. The louse bites Shen.
Nime closes her eyes and leans in close to Shenuska, taking a long smell of her neck. Pulling back, she frowns.
"Oh Sweetie, why are you doing this?" she says before placing a gentle hand on the woman's arm. She speaks a quiet prayer and healing light emanates from her hand.
Sir Roderic swings by another pass, focused solely on the gremlins pest!
Retch sneers and resists the assault. He commands his louse to bite again.
"He has a brain?" says Rudrik, apparently genuinely surprised.
Same again, and damage should be
Once more, Retch resists the attack and presses his advantage. The louse tears at Shenuska's psyche. "Yeah! How you like me now, b$#@$?"
The manifestation of Sir Roderic reaches into Mister Retch's chest, seeming to drain his life force. The little gremlin shrieks in terror and then collapses. With Shenuska's victory, the mindscape dissolves.
In the real world, Mister Retch's eyes bulge before rolling up into his head. His body goes limp, and he tumbles out of the tree branches, hitting the ground with a thud.
"He has a brain?"
"Not any more. Yikes!" Lullaby says. "You know, this revenge thing was mostly his idea. I was never really sold on it. Let bygones be bygones, right?" She offers a nervous smile.
"How about you pack up and leave town?" Shenuska suggests, teeth bared in a rictus grin. "It would be a shame to get blood on the inside of that lovely hat of yours!"
Lullaby snaps her fingers. "You know what? That sounds like a splendid idea! I hear Magnimar is lovely this time of year. It's a long walk, but I've got to break in these new boots anyway. See you around!"
Unless somebody stops her, the woman adjusts her hat and quickly scurries off into the woods.
"Shen, what... what was that?" Theo wracked his brain to see if he could recall just what that might've been.
In the meanwhile, he retrieved the bottle that he'd tried to use to at least soften Retch up, taking a sniff of the remnants as he did.
"Phwoo, suddenly this stuff's reputation feels like an understatement."
Theodric has read a few occult tomes that mention psychic duels. He understands how they work, though he's never seen one in action until just now.
"I fought him mind-to-mind. It seemed like the best way to make sure he didn't run away again." Shenuska replies. "I imagine it was pretty boring from this side?"
"A psychic duel, huh, I've read about those. And, yes, it was a little less than spectacular from out here - you both just sort of stared blankly into space with the occasional nosebleed."
Shenuska swipes under her nose at Theo's words, and seems relieved to find no blood or other evidence of the duel.
"Well, it was a little more... vigorous in there! And I'm really quite tired. I think I need to sit down and relax for a while." She puts an unmistakable stress on the last part of the sentence and looks around with a questioning glance.
Lullaby snaps her fingers. "You know what? That sounds like a splendid idea! I hear Magnimar is lovely this time of year. It's a long walk, but I've got to break in these new boots anyway. See you around!"
After assuring herself that Shenuska is indeed all right, Nime turns her attention back to Lullaby.
"Leave your hat, please," she says in a firm voice.
~~~~
"Well, it was a little more... vigorous in there! And I'm really quite tired. I think I need to sit down and relax for a while." She puts an unmistakable stress on the last part of the sentence and looks around with a questioning glance.
"You must be so tired, Shen" Nime says. She clears a spot at the base of the tree and gestures for the woman to sit there.
Once she does, Nime lowers herself to the ground and begins rubbing Shenuska's shoulders.
Lullaby grumbles, but she takes off her lucky blue hat and tosses it in Nime's general direction. "Fine, take it!" She then runs away.
Nime smiles as the woman leaves.
"It's nice to know that some people, at least, can be reasoned with."
She picks up the hat and puts it on her head before turning back to her friends.
"The hats magical Nine." Shen manages to saw, before dissolving into delighted moans as the undine rubs her back."Oh... yes!
Nime giggles at Shenuska's reaction.
"I didn't realize that my hands were that powerful," she says. "I wonder what else they're capable of."
She moves from Shen's back to her shoulders and then her neck.
"Are we gonna get in trouble for uh... doing whatever it is you did to Mister Retch? I mean he's a terrible creature and fully deserved it but he does live in the town and we might get in trouble for assaulting someone. Maybe." Rudrik chews on his lip slightly. "Even though he had it comin'."
"I think he was more a nuisance than anything else. Probably have people thanking me." Shen replies in a low voice as her head hangs forward for Nime to massage her neck. "We've done a lot of good here and there's no way of telling how he died. I think.... I saw we finish off these Roadkeepers. If we've dealt with Lullaby and that dwarf then they just have that old crone in charge right? That should regain any lost lustre on our reputation then we can deal with the Horned Fangs. Big Peacock Lady said they're behind those weird fleshbag things, so we should probably put some more questions to Miss Gold. Again, if we deal with the Roadkeepers first she might be more on side."
With Nime's ministrations done Shenuska rises lithely to her feet and grabs Nime's hand. "That can wait until the morning though!" She start leading Nime back towards the inn and shoots Theo a questioning glance and a wink, "We'll see you later!"
"Well, no sense worrying about it for now. If anyone actually liked Retch, I doubt they're going to be speaking up. And taking care of the Roadkeepers first should help - I get the feeling that whatever's going on between the Fangs and the Order is something that's just escalated over time. It's probably over something really petty when you get right down to it. As a noble of Magnimar, trust me; I know how something minor can get blown out of proportion by the arguments it causes."
As the girl's headed off, Theo certainly wasn't one to turn down the invitation.
With Nime's ministrations done Shenuska rises lithely to her feet and grabs Nime's hand. "That can wait until the morning though!" She start leading Nime back towards the inn and shoots Theo a questioning glance and a wink, "We'll see you later!"
"Oh, we're walking now?" Nime says with slight confusion. "Where are we ... " she begins, but then trails off as a scent from Shenuska catches her attention and understanding dawns. "Oh. Oh!"
"So we're dealing the old woman tomorrow then? Who is the old woman anyway? I don't remember hearing anything about her."
She glances back at the others.
"I would invite Calendula, but I don't think she would accept. Rudrik might, though. We should ask him as well. This could be fun."
After a vigorous menage a trois (or menage a quatre, as the case may be), you head back out to the Churlwood the next morning. You pay Hallen a handful of coppers to ferry across the Chivali River again and head south to the opposite side of the hill where you faced the goblins.
A campsite spreads on a gentle slope in this hillside clearing. A single, ancient stone building and four old wagons give the place some shape. Tall grass grows around the wagons, as if they had been in place for a long time. A wide fire pit sits in the middle of these wagons, and a few thick logs provide places to sit around the fire.
Three Roadkeepers are lounging around the campfire, telling jokes and roasting rabbits on long metal forks. They haven't noticed your approach yet.
"So, march in and tell them to give up?" Shenuska whispers. It's hard to tell if she's joking or actually means it as a serious plan...
Calendula is quite thankful for the night alone. She spends time tending her garden and repairing small things around the house. She enjoys a scant few glasses of wine alone. She did not believe in excess or indulgence, but sometimes it is nice to feel loose for once.
Her bones are stiff. Stiffer than normal, and they ache, ache like bags of pain inside her meat. Is that the best analogy she can make? Bags of pain? Well, they do ache like bags of pain, and it hurts just to move.
As she hangs up her sword and shield inside, she is wracked with waves of pain, dropping her to her knees. She gazes up, dark eyes locked with her sword and shield, the emblems of the Inheritor.
"You mock me," she murmurs aloud. "As if I don't remember my oaths and responsibilities. Well I'm here," she coughs as she pulls herself to her feet. "An I can't imagine it's not by your providence I en't died yet. I know I still owe you a debt fer not smitin me down as i fled. No need to rub my face in it. I'm finally off my ass after years of patiently waitin for death, is that not enough? Doin the things that I believe to be right, protecting this town because it needs me. What more is there? Ain't no crusade round these parts for me to march into and join. No. What I'm doin, is more important."
She spits and falls into bed, shivering and cold.
"So, march in and tell them to give up?" Shenuska whispers. It's hard to tell if she's joking or actually means it as a serious plan...
Nime, who shed her clothes to cross the river and had only donned her shorts afterwards, smiles and nods her head.
"Yes, we should give them the opportunity to surrender peacefully."
With that said, she begins ambling slowly towards the campfire.
"Hello Gentlemen. My name is Nime. We have already removed Lullaby and some dwarven fellow from your power structure, so it would be in your best interests to give yourselves up to our legal authority," she says in a pleasant tone.
The oracle tips her head.
"Why are you burning those rabbits. They taste so much better fresh."
The men gape at Nime's bare chest for a few moments, but they quickly leap to their feet and draw their short swords. "You! You're the ones who've been picking us off!" one says.
"See? I told you it weren't no Thassilonian ghosts disappearing our friends," another one says, sounding vindicated.
"You're pretty bold to come back here," the first one says again. "You'd best leave well enough alone and go on back the way you came, unless you want your throats slit."
She pulls back and Shenuska can see that the undine's pupils are almost entirely opened, the gray around them just a dark line.
"You smell so good," she says and her voice is different. "And so different." Shen can now see the reason for the change in her voice as she notices the thin lines under Nime's jaw have opened slightly and she can hear Nime's heavy breathing rustling through them as well. "I've missed you."
The blue-skinned woman leans in again, but this time she captures Shen's lips with hers, her hunger clear.
Calendula pokes her head out from behind. "Bold of you to assume your fate'll be any different. Leave now, afore'n we change our mind."
The men take a few slow steps back away from Calendula. One of them looks to the stone house at the edge of their camp. "Mother Nightthrush! We've got intruders!" he shouts.
Nime shakes her head regretfully.
"Why don't people listen to a reasonable argument," she says before placing her hands on Calendula's shoulders and calling upon Shelyn to grant her protection.
She then summons up the winds to guard her own flesh.
Rudrik moves quickly to get next to the nearest Roadwarden, drawing his gladius as he goes. ”Heya,” he says conversationally, sword at guard.