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Vindex steps around and cleaves the remaining husk in twain. For good measure, Vincenza moves up and stabs the fallen carcass a few times with her dagger.
Meanwhile, the battle continues to rage around the swamp as other teams of Pathfinders fight off other blighted creatures and attacking the seedpods.
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Strands of purple energy whip across the battleground and begin to swirl above the remains of the giant flower. The continuous chant of the Twinhorn shamans reaches a fever pitch and then suddenly stops. After a breathless moment of silence, a loud reverberating boom echoes across the swamp as a column of purple energy pierces through the clouds, dissipating into the starry sky. Shouts of celebration begin to sound across the field as Medda makes her way to the heart of the blight. A shaft of moonlight shines on the site through the parted clouds as she rips through the withered roots of the blighted flower. Medda reaches in and draws out the shriveled remains of a female crusader. In stark contrast to the rest of the remains, her silvery breastplate glimmers in the moonlight. A grievous blow has scarred its surface where a golden engraved figure spreads out her wings. Trails of blood seep out from scars running across the figure. Medda lowers the remains gently upon a white cloak that a Twinhorn warrior has placed on the ground.
With a heavenly glow, the ghostly form of Ivvora appears in the clouds above. “She was my sister-in-arms against the vile Tar-Baphon. I now know that her sacrifice spared me all those years ago, as it will all of you in the days to come. Go with Vildeis’ grace and use this blessed plate to vanquish my hated adversary. Hurry back north, for the moment of Eshimka’s reckoning draws near!”
Medda looks up to the sky as the visage of Ivvora dissipates, the red phantom hand of Anok floating above her shoulder. After a moment, she kneels next to the crusader’s remains and carefully wraps them up in the white cloak, which is slowly soaked with red. She looks at the crowd gathered around her and speaks up. “We stand here triumphant, having rid this land of corruption. But this is a mere shade of the darkness that awaits us at the Solstice Scar! Fear not, for Vildeis’ blessing will guide our weapons to strike true and eradicate Eshimka for good!” Medda motions for the Twinhorn warriors to raise the bundled remains on their shields as one of the honored dead. “Pathfinders, you have done much for my tribe and our lands, but I ask you once more to lend us your weapons so that we might end the evil that haunts Solstice Scar. What say you?”
Inspired by the events in the Fangwood, the Pathfinders and Twinhorn warriors have at last returned to the Kellid following’s territory. The scattered woodlands that once stood in the Tusk Mountains are now cast in perpetual shadow despite it being only a few hours after noon. The trees are bare, the grass crumbles at a touch, and even the accumulated snow of midwinter is melting in the freezing air as if surrendering to entropy.
Medda confers with some of the Twinhorn following who stayed behind, then she addresses the crowd. “The winter solstice does not peak until tonight, yet already Eshimka’s vanguard has escaped the Negative Energy Plane. They now control the area around the planar scar for several miles in each direction. If we’re to stop them, we need to break through these outer forces, regroup at the center, and take control of the rift. If that doesn’t draw Eshimka out, a few brave souls will need to pass through the rift to crush her lieutenants, destroy whatever is keeping the rift open, and draw her into our world. When they do, we need to ensure there are no reinforcements, and that means eliminating any commanders who have already broken through. That includes a corrupted dragon that has our scouts worried.”
She smiles grimly. “When the paladin Ivvora faced the beast Eshimka here centuries ago, she fought with Vildeis’s blessing and banished the fiend. Tonight, Eshimka would return to our world, but we are not one paladin; we are many!” She pricks her finger on her spear and paints a set of bloody wings upon her forehead. The Twinhorns follow suit “And we too carry Vildeis’s favor!” With these words, the painted wings blaze with light.
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Even as Medda speaks these words, all of you feel a divine warmth infusing into your being.
Each PC begins Part 6 with one blessing that she can expend in order to perform one of the feats below. You may gain additional uses later.
These benefits also appear on Handout #1.
Burning Radiance:[/n] 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.
[b]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.
[b[Unstoppable Wrath:[/b] 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.
One of the Twinhorn scouts head towards you. "The area is swarming with undead patrols. To get through them to get to the rift might not be easy. I've manages to secure some of our canoes. The waters should be frozen during this winter period for its seems the negative energy pouring out from the rift has kept that from happening. We can use that to our advantage - navigating through the streams might allow your to bypass the patrols altogether. Alternatively, if you're not comfortable in the water, you might be able to evade them through the thick forests. And of course, you could always fight your way through."
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Vindex addresses the scout. "I've got one big question. These undead have bodies, or are they spirit like? I'm not afraid of anything I can cut, but the things I can't are another story. If they're not spirits, I vote we skip the sneaking and just cut through them as quickly as we can."
"I am uncertain," the scout replies. "Those I've spotted thus far seem to be the corporeal ones, but it could simply that the incorporeal ones are much harder to spot." He looks troubled as he continues. "It also grieves me to report that some of our warriors who stayed back to hold back the horde earlier might have been turned. I saw a number of them moving seemingly mindlessly among the undeads."
While some teams of Pathfinders break off towards the rivers or disappear into the woods, you gather together with other teams ready to battle the undeads directly. Soon, the entire group starts racing forward...
An army of undeads stand ahead of you, and soon the Pathfinders break up into smaller teams to tackel smaller groups of the enemies. Leading the group ahead of you is a humanoid creature has long, sharp teeth, and its pallid flesh is stretched tightly over its starved frame. It is flanked by two Kellid warriors, but as the scout have shared, they stare mindlessly at you, their weapons drawn ready to defend against the Pathfinders.
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Both Seldiir and Vindex move up. The pallid humanoid charges straight towards Vindex. Vindex had yet to get his weapon quite ready and it slips past his blade. The pallid humanoid snarls and attempt to bite him, but his armor deflects its sharp teeth.
The two Kellid warriors hang back. They draw their bows and almost in unison, fire upon the exposed Seldiir. One of the arrow drives deep into his thigh.
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"Oh no - the warriors have been corrupted by the negative energies!" Drelluandast yells. "But they're still alive! Be careful not to injure them badly, and we could maybe bring them back to their senses! But show no mercy to the ghoul, because it will show none to you as it paralyzes you with its claws!"
He trots forward and pulls out his trusty flask of acid.
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Seldiir and Vincenza moves towards the two Kellids, who still glare at you with emotionless eyes. They look about to turn their arrows onto Vindex who had proven himself quite deadly, until Seldiir came up close, in range for a charge. They thus turn their bows back at him and fire before rapidly moving back, keeping their distance. The two arrows plunge into Seldiir's shoulder and stomach. The wounds are too much and he falls unconscious, bleeding into the dirt ground.
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While Seldiir continues to bleed out into the ground, the rest of the Pathfinders continue chasing down the two Kellid warriors. Vindex throws all caution to the wind as he runs straight towards the exposed one, while Eru'Tept and Vincenza moves up more cautiously. Babine flings his javelin with all his might but the great distance causes him to misjudge his strength, sending the weapon flying off overhead.
The Kellid still not tangled in battle nocks another arrow and fires on Vindex, but the arrow is deflected by his armor. She continues retreating away from the approaching Pathfinders. The other , seeing the reach of Vindex's weapon, drops her bow and pulls out a battleaxe across her back. She swings with deadly force, slicing deep across his chest.
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Vindex swings his long weapon, sweeping the feet away from under his target. Eru'Tept seizes this opportunity, quickly running forward and flicking his sharp whip across the back of the prone Kellid warrior. While Babine switches his weapon, Vincenza and Drelluandast moves closer. Everyone seem to have forgotten Seldiir still bleeding away until a fellow Pathfinder decides to send a burst of healing, bringing him back to consciousness and also healing Vindex's wounds.
The warrior quickly gets up to her feet, but in her distraction, Vindex knocks her battleaxe from her hand. She quickly bends down to pick up, only to be knocked back prone again. The archer is more concerned about herself as she seeing Vincenza barreling down on her. She quickly runs back and fires an arrow at the alchemist. Her aim is good and the arrow pierces her thigh.
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With one of the Kellid warriors taken down, the rest of the team closes in on the remaining one. Vincenza manages to pull out a bomb along the way and lobs it unerringly at her. The explosion burns her badly. Babine moves forward as well with his bow. Drawing it along the way, he releases the arrow which punctures through her shoulder, knocking her unconscious.