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Cernan strikes with as much strength as he can muster and cuts through the creatures side!
In the meantime, the monster grappling Fung pulls him into the darkness of the thickets.
The other creature focuses his efforts against Rallas, and unleashes a flurry of monstrous strikes! Biting and slashing him with sharp claws thus wounding the elf badly.
The creature's wounds seem to slightly heal.
From afar you hear the screams of other Pathfinders that sound encouraging in the heat of battle!
~~~
The denser parts of the forest are very difficult to navigate. Entering a square costs 4 squares of movement, and each such diagonal movement costs 6 squares. The thick growth also provides cover against any attacks that pass through at least 10 feet of a thicket, and anything protected by at least 20 feet gains full cover. Any creature that ignores natural undergrowth (such as with the woodland stride class feature) can move at normal speed but does not ignore the cover.
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Fung grunts in pain again but grits his teeth to not scream out as the tentacle starts crushing the life out of his body.
Focusing past the pain, Fung again gathers the energy from the air around him and smashes the mass of swirling air into his captor. His air wyps drifts into the space of the yaoguai and flits around his face to cause distraction.
The writhing vines starts winding around him but despite being bound, he still manages to avoid them.
With a sigh of relief, Fung flies out of the thicket before the vines can entrap him. He moves towards the remaining yaoguai and blast it with his forceful wave of air.
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Ibb plunges his way through the thicket to kill the beast with a mighty slash, freeing the grappled Fung from the tentacle's grasp.
Daniel releases more arrows towards the huge monster near to him, and forces the creature to succumb to its many wounds.
With the hostiles eliminated, you continue to persevere into the dark unknown.. Deeper into the blighted forest, you walk through more blankets of eerie fluorescent purple flowers, till eventually an opening to a small clearing that is free of the dark flowers that seem to permeate the rest of the landscape. A ring of tall grey trees circles the clearing, their branches reaching toward each other to form a ceiling of black leaves. A chorus of whispering voices echoes within the clearing as countless faces form out of tree bark only to meld back in, flowing from tree to tree. Three of the faces remain in place and speak out in unison. “Who wanders these forlorn paths? Do you seek to join us? Join us!”
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Fung sighs with relief as the last yaoguai gets taken out. He lowers himself towards the ground, pulling out a wand. "Would someone be able to use this on me?"
Fung looks at the faces and is taken aback momentarily. Trees that talk? He is intimidated by the angry face and confused by the laughing one. So he turns to calm looking face.
"Um, I'm sorry for disturbing. My name is Fung, Xuan Fung. We are here to do something about this blight. Um, who are you? Do you know anything about the blight?"
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Stowing his blade after ensuring the opponents are for sure down, Umbrato moves towards Shu. "I got ya...nevermind." he begins as the move deeper into the grove.
Stopping in front of the trees, he cocks an eye. 'What the...'
"Hello there. I...perhaps we can assist you in restoring this place to its former glory?"
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Fung sighs with relief as the last yaoguai gets taken out. He lowers himself towards the ground, pulling out a wand. "Would someone be able to use this on me?"
[dice=wand of clw]3d8+3Fung looks at the faces and is taken aback momentarily. Trees that talk? He is intimidated by the angry face and confused by the laughing one. So he turns to calm looking face.
"Um, I'm sorry for disturbing. My name is Fung, Xuan Fung. We are here to do something about this blight. Um, who are you? Do you know anything about the blight?"
[dice=sense motive]1d20+3
I will tapped you with the wand.
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Rallas breathes a sigh of relief after the fight ends. He grabs a pair of wands from his belt and tries to concentrate to activate them.
He curses in Sylvan as he fails to activate the first wand. He heads towards Cernan.
Might you be able to use this onme please? 2 charges should suffice...thanks.
make it 3...
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As the creatures collapse, Daniel moves around his allies making sure they are hale and hearty before heading out to scout ahead. You notice he pulls a small pearl from his pouch, speaks an activation word and nods as the magic reminds him of a recently used spell.
Up ahead he looks at the odd faces then shrugs as his allies all start talking to different ones. Giving it a go he starts to chat with the happy one, "so uh, nice forest ya got here. Looks like you are the one that knows the fun spots, anywhere to get a decent brew?"
(+2 vs. Elves, +4 vs. Humans)
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None of you are really able to understand why the faces act they way they do, but you are pretty sure they bare no hostile intent towards you.
The calm face responds, "Trees? you're mistaken, we are not trees. we are but lost souls lingering in the forest..."
The angry looking spirit speaks immediately after, rather aggressively, but not with pure hostility. "WHAT? HELP US? we can't even help ourselves! How do you think you could help a bunch of lost souls with no memories..."
The happy spirit laughs for a moment, and directly addresses Daniel "You sir... are funny, Oh we have been here forever, Well let me tell you something funnier..."
But before he continues, he is interrupted by the calm spirit. "AHEM... please, tell us what brings you here into the darkness, you do not seem lost, but wish to travel deeper into the forest?"
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Ibb kicks the dirt and looks at the angry tree. Yeah… dis forest is stupid, all grabby and sick. We're gonna doctorize it. See, I love all the animals, and all da plants and junk.
Ibb tries to demonstrate how much he loves the forest and its denizens by grabbing Irp around the neck and petting the bird. Irp struggles and squawks in Ibb's meaty hand, pecking him in several places and drawing blood.
Nice Birdie. Niiiice birdie… See?
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Fung continues to address the calm face, as he is still perturbed by the other two. "Um, yes, we are Pathfinders on a mission. But I see what is happening to this forest and its very unfortunate. Trees and birds and animals should be free spirits, much like you, but whatever the source of this blight is corrupting the place. We hope, I hope, to stop it."
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Daniel's eyes light up at the childlike nature of the happy face, "would you like to see a magic show?" He motions for Ibb to come over to help him present his tricks, pointing to behind the big human's ear he says, "what ya got there big guy?" Deftly removing a silver coin from behind it he adds, "is that where you keep all your money? Let's shake some more free!" Daniel grasps the ear and a shower of copper coins spray onto the ground.
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The angry spirit responds in a way that is worrying after listening to such conversations, "Take on the blight?! You would be crazy to do so! I want no part of this!" And promptly disappears through the trees.
In a relatively similar manner, the calm spirit sighs but tries to look on the bright side. "My friend is right, as much as I would hope to see Mother Bloodleaf and the blight destroyed, I am not convinced it is possible, but I bid you farewell. The secret to staying alive is to get out of here before you are damned forever....."
The jovial spirit keeps his spirits high. "AHA! I see, you have talent, I shall follow you and guide you through this blighted forest!" Afew more spirits follow suit but the whispering slowly dies out as a majority of the voices from the many faces disappear off into the wind when you venture deeper.
whatever spirits remain move once more from tree to tree, but this time down a path for you to follow. As you travel along, more spirits reach out to speak to the brave heroes. Some explain their circumstances, mostly lost Fey who died at the blight, some even warriors from Ivvora's tribe, majority with only partial memories, but it becomes clear that every spirit here is somehow connected to the blight, the blight that was created by a creature called Mother Bloodleaf.
A while in, suddenly all the faces come to a halt, and vanish into the barks momentarily, as a booming voice echoes from all around the forest.
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Daniel scratches his head and then pipes up, "I think there is a mistake or something. We are here to get rid of the blight, not fight for it. Maybe you should check your uh... notes or whatever. We represent the pathfinder society. We are the Righter of Wrongs and the Makers of PANCAKES!!!"
He looks at Ibb, "and while the Pancakes may have been eaten already, we can make some more if you just want to sit down for a chat."
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The spirits suddenly freeze in place as a burly middle-aged man with the ears and legs of a goat steps out from behind a tree laughing out loud. He grins and waves his hand. “Ho there, adventurers! I got bored waiting, so I think we should have some fun! Don’t worry, this won’t take long. I wouldn’t want you to miss the main event, and I plan to have a front-row seat. Oh, where are my manners? The name’s Grimpfkin. So, what do you say? Do you choose to test your speed or might?”
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At the sound of things, Grimpfkin nods approvingly, hops atop a mossy rock, and flings the contents of his mug into the air. Before it reaches the ground, the fizzing ale transforms into a bird and takes flight off into the woods, leaving a faintly sparkling trail. The seilenos looks on with surprised approval before clapping his hands at the PCs and exclaiming, “What are you waiting for? Catch it, and the prize is yours. Just, ah, no flying or teleporting—it’s a challenge, remember?”
From below the trees you follow as you catch a glimpse of the glimmering trail in between the leaves. The glittering trail leads across a wide ravine that cuts through the forest. The ravine has several old logs set across it, and a slowly flowing creek runs along the bottom.
Lying suggestively on one the logs is Grimpfkin and he waves his hand at you!
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Hesitating for a just a moment as the 'bird' zooms off, Umbrato charges into the trees behind it. Without missing a step, he leaps to the log and flips across to the otherside.
Glancing back momentarily, he considers helping his friends. 'Nope...gotta get the bird. That's how we'll help.' Scanning the sky, he looks for the shimmering path ahead.
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Irp manages to point out a few steady logs, making the rest of the obstacle a much easier for the rest as the attempt to balance themselves on said path. Fung and Cernan struggle a little to get across but eventually catches up to the rest of the party as they keep a close eye on the glimmering trail.
The trail ends at a tall cliff that splits the forest, and the glittering trail leads up the rock face. Several thick vines descend from above, but each vine bears several long thorns.
Grimpfkin is once again there as he hangs himself upside down on a vine. "Fancy a climb?" He smirks as he looks down in your direction.