|
An anguished draconic roar echoes across the landscape. Within minutes, reports begin circulating that some of the Society’s newest agents single-handedly defeated a powerful drake, ensuring that will be no threat during the final assault. Competing rumors suggest these agents actually convinced the drake to fight by their side! Whatever the case, it is a great boon in the fights to come.
|
|
The combined Pathfinder and Twinhorn forces have beaten back the worst of Eshimka’s vanguard, and their spellcasters are hard at work repairing the damage around the planar rift. It seems there is at last a lull when a pair of blade-like arms stab through the rift and tear it wider. The wound releases a wave of negative energy that crashes into the mystics’ wards, though the shock causes the trees for hundreds of feet around to wither, their limbs snapping off and turning to ash before hitting the ground. Through the widened rift steps a towering giant with sinister horns, shaking the ground with every step as her army follows her: vampires, towering suits of armor, hungry corpses, and even a powerful dragon! Medda’s shout carries over the din. “Eshimka is here! Strike now!”
The giant laughs thunderously as it regards the mortals around it and tears of pieces of her own flesh that turn into nightmarish beasts.
|
You turn around see chaos ensuing as Eshimka himself stands on the material plane creating destruction with every action. The time to act is immediate and now! However his threat's are far spread and across the group will have to prioritize their efforts to hold back the undead army. Looking across the horizon, you spot his undead army or shadow like figures that seem to be a portion of Eshimka himself.
|
|
You make haste towards the stone circle once more to assist the Twinhorns in vanquishing the undeads that roam the land. From afar, you catch a glimpse of two animated deformed and mutilated corpses with fingers of sharpened bone. They move in a way that suggest they are not zombies and seem to be more malevolent that their undead cousins. One of the undead look none other than the Kellid warriors slayed on the battlefield earlier by Fung. Leading the assault, seems to be a pale skin but very built creature wielding a large axe. His grin reveals a fang of needle sharp teeth.
~~~
|
|
Cernan and Umbrato is unable to identify the greater undead being, but know that the lesser ones are revenants. Zombie-like creature, without humanity fuelled by hatred and a need for vengeance. Like zombies they are resistance to any weapon that isn't slashing type. In addition, they have resistance against magic.
The party begins the encounter by staying a safe distance and throwing range attacks towards the revenant that looks very much like the Kellid warrior. All strikes hit the target, the creature looks fairly bruised and battered at this time but relents on to take revenge on his murderer.
Both the revenants move slightly forward but find them saves in frustration as their targets are outside of reach. Instead, they being shrieking loudly a sound so horrible that it would make most children weep.
The undead lieutenant takes a few steps forward, enough to have Fung within his sights, and makes eye contact as he gazes into the kineticist's soul and attempts to crush it.
Without warning, a large negative energy burst covers every area flowing over you. It would seem Eshimka looms over the battlefield and is bellowing commands and intervening from afar.
~~~
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fung feels wave after wave of necromantic energy sweep over him, assaulting his mind and soul. Somewhere along the way, one of the feathers hanging round his neck burns to ashes. Not that he notices. Amazingly, he finds himself still largely himself after that.
Panting from the psychic assault, he looks down and recognises the undead below him. He is taken aback momentarily, but pulls himself together. He mutters under his breath, "请您安息吧!"
That said, he releases a more powerful and devasting blast of air on the same undead. He then drifts closer to the big bad.
|
|
As a free action Ibb yells the words of an old dwarven oath, bolstering himself against fear for a short time.
By pancakes and syrup! Ibb's here!
with butter knife in hand,
to defend against dumb skellies!
He also remembers princess Song Riu, and her dedication. He call upon her aid as a swift action, offsetting the danger the charge put him in. Also da ghost princess!
Ibb charges the blue revenant!
Resolute Oath: You swore an oath to Lady Axebringer’s service. You can recite one of the seven lines of the oath again as a free action to gain a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against fear for 3 rounds. Alternatively, you can check off four boxes to reroll a failed saving throw against an effect that would have granted you the frightened or panicked condition. Once you have checked off the last box, cross this boon off your Chronicle sheet.
Legacy of a Princess: You have discovered the lost Summer Palace and interacted with the phantom of Song Rui, one of the last princesses of Imperial Lung Wa. You may call upon Song Rui’s dedication as a swift action that lasts for 1 minute. During this time, the first time you hit a creature with a melee attack each round, you gain a +2 bonus to your AC against that creature until the beginning of your next turn. When you use this boon, cross it off your Chronicle sheet.
|
|
Prior to Irp's departure, the raven tells of the horrors of the creature before you. A barbaric half orc that has been bestowed with the undead power of vampirism. A formidable fighter with a weapon but even deadlier is his touch as he is able to drain life from his opponents. This undead being has many resistances, including cold and electricity. Best weapons used against it are ones enhanced by magic and made of silver.
Cernan and Rallas succumb to the terrifying wailing and is unable to act in the moment.
Fung continues his attack against the same revenant with a powerful gale force that nearly knocks the creature off his feet. Ibb, on the other hand, charges towards the closer revenant and strikes powerfully using his momentum to critically wound the undead. Both revenants look close to the verge of defeat as part of their limbs seem to be falling off.
~~~
While Eshimka prepares for her attack during an even numbered round, a PC can attempt to disrupt her efforts, distract her, or otherwise interfere with her landing the attack against their group. Doing so involves either hitting her with a ranged attack and dealing an amount of damage to distract her. or succeeding at a Bluff check as a standard action. Doing so causes her next hazard effect to fail, either by disrupting her preparations, causing the attack to veer off course, or causing her to attack someone else.[/ooc]
Burning Radiance: As an immediate action when dealing damage to an evil creature, the PC can cause her attack to ignore that target’s damage reduction and deal an additional amount of damage equal to 1d6 plus twice the character’s level.
Healing Sacrifice: As a standard action, a PC can touch another creature to heal it. This functions either as breath of life or as restoration (CL 15th). The temporary negative level from this blessing’s breath of life effect lasts only until the end of the next encounter and is ignored for the purpose of determining whether a PC would die from having too many negative levels. This ability can be used offensively against creatures vulnerable to positive energy, but its damage does not exceed 4 × the character’s level.
Unstoppable Wrath: As a swift action, the PC can choose one of the following undead immunities: bleed, death effects, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, or stunning. For the duration of that encounter, the PC’s abilities, equipment, and spells ignore that immunity for undead creatures. Additionally, the PC ignores the impeded magic property of the Negative Energy Plane during that encounter.
|
|
Close to death once again, the revenant directly in front of Ibb screams in his face, unleashing another terrifying howl that makes the blood chill.
Meanwhile, the Kellid jumps towards Ibb and attempts to hold him down
The vampire continues to roam the battlefield from a distance watching the undead minions work, and now attempts to control Ibb's soul.
~~~
While Eshimka prepares for her attack during an even numbered round, a PC can attempt to disrupt her efforts, distract her, or otherwise interfere with her landing the attack against their group. Doing so involves either hitting her with a ranged attack and dealing an amount of damage to distract her. or succeeding at a Bluff check as a standard action. Doing so causes her next hazard effect to fail, either by disrupting her preparations, causing the attack to veer off course, or causing her to attack someone else.[/ooc]
Burning Radiance: As an immediate action when dealing damage to an evil creature, the PC can cause her attack to ignore that target’s damage reduction and deal an additional amount of damage equal to 1d6 plus twice the character’s level.
Healing Sacrifice: As a standard action, a PC can touch another creature to heal it. This functions either as breath of life or as restoration (CL 15th). The temporary negative level from this blessing’s breath of life effect lasts only until the end of the next encounter and is ignored for the purpose of determining whether a PC would die from having too many negative levels. This ability can be used offensively against creatures vulnerable to positive energy, but its damage does not exceed 4 × the character’s level.
Unstoppable Wrath: As a swift action, the PC can choose one of the following undead immunities: bleed, death effects, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, or stunning. For the duration of that encounter, the PC’s abilities, equipment, and spells ignore that immunity for undead creatures. Additionally, the PC ignores the impeded magic property of the Negative Energy Plane during that encounter.
|
|
Again, another horrifying shriek rips through the air, but either it was through force of will or simply fool's luck, Fung shakes his head and finds himself unharmed by the attack. He recovers his wits sufficiently to see Ibb take out the two revenants. He mutters quick prayer to Irori to guide the soul of the Kellid warrior back to light but he quickly turns his attention to the vampire. Seeing the bulk of the party still cowering from the effects, he draws nearer, drawing from his life energy to create a mass of swirling wind and raging lightning and send it towards the vampire.
|
As the negative energies wash over the small man, he manages to cry out "Don't heal me with curative magics!" Suddenly, his appearance takes on a deathly pallor...as he succumbs to the fear.
Once per day as an immediate action, a wayang can treat positive and negative energy effects as if she were an undead creature, taking damage from positive energy and being healed of damage by negative energy. This ability lasts for 1 minute once activated.
All this will do is have be count negative and positive energy as if I were undead. AkA her channeling negative energy will heal me instead of hurt me now.
|
|
Ibb will check off another boon as a free action to grant himself a +1 sacred dodge bonus against orcs (the half-orc vampire should still have the orc subtype).
This increases his AC to 29.
Three Traditions of Torag: You rescued Delbera Axebringer’s descendants from their
duergar captors. In thanks, the dwarves of Davarn share knowledge that may assist you in your future adventures. Your training focuses on one of Torag’s three areas of concern. Choose one of these topics below, and cross the other two off your Chronicle sheet. You may check off at most one box each round.
Protection: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC against giants, orcs, and goblinoids. You may check off one of the boxes before this boon as a free action to grant yourself and all adjacent allies a +1 sacred bonus to AC for 1 round.
|
|
Fung and Ibb continue to stand firm as the creatures attempt to overpower their will, but the scream is enough of a distraction to cause Fung's attack to miss the savage undead.
The creature releases a low growl and shifts his body to engage Ibb, striking him not with his weapon but first attempts to suck the life out of Ibb through physical contact.
In the meanwhile, from the distance, you see Eshimka turn towards the party and starts uprooting one of the standing stones...
~~~
While Eshimka prepares for her attack during an even numbered round, a PC can attempt to disrupt her efforts, distract her, or otherwise interfere with her landing the attack against their group. Doing so involves either hitting her with a ranged attack and dealing an amount of damage to distract her. or succeeding at a Bluff check as a standard action. Doing so causes her next hazard effect to fail, either by disrupting her preparations, causing the attack to veer off course, or causing her to attack someone else.[/ooc]
Burning Radiance: As an immediate action when dealing damage to an evil creature, the PC can cause her attack to ignore that target’s damage reduction and deal an additional amount of damage equal to 1d6 plus twice the character’s level.
Healing Sacrifice: As a standard action, a PC can touch another creature to heal it. This functions either as breath of life or as restoration (CL 15th). The temporary negative level from this blessing’s breath of life effect lasts only until the end of the next encounter and is ignored for the purpose of determining whether a PC would die from having too many negative levels. This ability can be used offensively against creatures vulnerable to positive energy, but its damage does not exceed 4 × the character’s level.
Unstoppable Wrath: As a swift action, the PC can choose one of the following undead immunities: bleed, death effects, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, or stunning. For the duration of that encounter, the PC’s abilities, equipment, and spells ignore that immunity for undead creatures. Additionally, the PC ignores the impeded magic property of the Negative Energy Plane during that encounter.
|
|
Ibb stands alone with his butter knife, stubbornly resisting the life draining vampire to protect his friends — even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice.
He then lashes out against this beast with all his fury!
Ibb will also activate Burning Radiance to ignore DR on the potential crit, and deal another damage.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The combine strength of Ibb and Fung obliterate the vampire, but in his last breath, he swings to strike Ibb one more time before falling to his demise...
Meanwhile, the treat of the shadow army begins to overwhelm the combined forces of the Pathfinders and Twinhorns, they are in desperate need of help!
|
|
Ibb cheers, waving his butter knife madly about. Wings unfold from his back and he flies up to Fung, giving the kineticist a powerful high-five.
Good shot, Fung — you’re pretty tough!
He tries to do a loop in the air but falls back to the ground; when he sits up, Irp flies over and roosts on his head. The bird coos contentedly and seems to fall asleep; soon something white dribbles down near Ibb's left ear.
Ibb looks over to Daniel, Umbrato, Rallas, and Cernan, glad they are safe and waiting to see when they snap out of it.
|
|
Her dark armor riddled with arrows and sliced by a dozen blades, Eshimka staggers back from the nearby Pathfinders attacking her. With one blade-arm she beckons for more of her shadowy minions to reunite with her body and heal her wounds, but other Pathfinders have slain too many for any to answer her call. For the first time, Eshimka seems worried, fighting for her survival rather than leading her army.
|
|
The Pathfinders press on in the moment of need and bravely face Eshimka's shadow army. Floating slightly above ground, a translucent ghostly humanoid whose face is distorted by wrath into a hideous mask. Not too far away, is a large feline creature whose form is cloaked in shadow save for its eyes, which glow with a baleful hatred.
~~~
Burning Radiance: As an immediate action when dealing damage to an evil creature, the PC can cause her attack to ignore that target’s damage reduction and deal an additional amount of damage equal to 1d6 plus twice the character’s level.
Healing Sacrifice: As a standard action, a PC can touch another creature to heal it. This functions either as breath of life or as restoration (CL 15th). The temporary negative level from this blessing’s breath of life effect lasts only until the end of the next encounter and is ignored for the purpose of determining whether a PC would die from having too many negative levels. This ability can be used offensively against creatures vulnerable to positive energy, but its damage does not exceed 4 × the character’s level.
Unstoppable Wrath: As a swift action, the PC can choose one of the following undead immunities: bleed, death effects, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, or stunning. For the duration of that encounter, the PC’s abilities, equipment, and spells ignore that immunity for undead creatures. Additionally, the PC ignores the impeded magic property of the Negative Energy Plane during that encounter.
|
|
The ghostly figure shifts towards Rallas, his movement eerie without noise. The creature puts his hand through the elf's body and attempts to suck his life.
~~~
Burning Radiance: As an immediate action when dealing damage to an evil creature, the PC can cause her attack to ignore that target’s damage reduction and deal an additional amount of damage equal to 1d6 plus twice the character’s level.
Healing Sacrifice: As a standard action, a PC can touch another creature to heal it. This functions either as breath of life or as restoration (CL 15th). The temporary negative level from this blessing’s breath of life effect lasts only until the end of the next encounter and is ignored for the purpose of determining whether a PC would die from having too many negative levels. This ability can be used offensively against creatures vulnerable to positive energy, but its damage does not exceed 4 × the character’s level.
Unstoppable Wrath: As a swift action, the PC can choose one of the following undead immunities: bleed, death effects, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, or stunning. For the duration of that encounter, the PC’s abilities, equipment, and spells ignore that immunity for undead creatures. Additionally, the PC ignores the impeded magic property of the Negative Energy Plane during that encounter.