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"Didn't see that one coming for us."
Free action, quick dismount away from bad touch monkey.
Opening fire on the ape that attacked me.
Using a +1 adaptive seeking veering darkwood composite longbow with cold iron durable arrows, deadly aim, clustered shot, precise shot, rapid shot, point blank
Haste
Kali full attack
If a hit:
If a hit:
Haste
If a hit:
If opponent grabbed:
If a hit:
Between LT and Kali, they take down the ape. It falls 30 feet to the ground, landing with a thud.
The armored ape gestures once more and a wave of evil energy floods the area.
Voros and Dr Strang recognizes the spell as Unholy blight.
The waves rips through the agents. However, the pathinder's stand their ground.
The female on the altar slides off and takes cover behind it.
Pathfinder's May Act
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"It is highly unusual for a creature such as that, to have gained any sort of sentience." He observers. "Though there are many theories on the unholy rituals of the demonic cults of the Expanse... this might be a result of one of those."
He shakes his head, as he prepares some reagents. "Still, this creature has willing given up its life, for some sort of unlife. I do believe it has achieved lichdom!" He sounds amazed by that fact. "Quite fascinating. I would not have thought it possible. Such a path requires a certain level of dedication and sacrifice rarely seen in man, much less ape. I've looked into these topics myself from time to time."
He finishes his preparations, taking a step forward, and calls on Anubis. He reaches towards the ape-like beast, and pulls his hand back in a quick motion. "Let us see if we can't remove the tool... remind it of its more primitive roots."
As the spear flies towards him, he realizes the flaw in his plan... the weapon much larger than he'd anticipated. He quickly steps aside and lets it clatter to the ground behind him.
The huge spear flies from the armored ape's hand and towards Dr Strang. He moves out of the way as the spear lands next to him.
Lavode brings down divine flames. The blinded beast can not avoid it.
Chorkak- 101/157 - blinded 3 round
Round 6
Big Monkey
Boswick
Voros
Theodric
Dr Strang
LT
Kali
Lavode
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Upon hearing Lavode and Strang speak of a lich, Theodric shudders with fear...
...even his courage ring is not enough to suppress the dark anxiety that begin to rise and choke his throat. However, Theodric reaches into a certain memory of a past adventure, and recalls the scenes of Munasukaru crafted beneath the House of Withered Blossoms, which have made all other horrors he's encountered ever since quite tame in comparison...
Regaining his composure, Theodric air walks towards the Huge ape, his blade raised high!
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Swift action Smite Evil on large monkey and full attack it.
Using a +1 adaptive seeking veering darkwood composite longbow with cold iron durable arrows, deadly aim, clustered shot, precise shot, rapid shot, point blank
Haste
Kali rushes in and tries to hit the big monkey.
If a hit:
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Theodric's fear just disappearing, he finally mounts the resolve to walk to the giant ape and fight. Come what may, he will stand his ground, and do his best to...
... ...
Splattered with gore, fur, acid, and other byproducts, Theodric turns to Voros, blood and guts still dripping from the ceiling all around him.
".............................................................?"
With the giant ape out of commission, the PC's are free to approach the altar, where the female figure was tied to.
What the agents see is a female human, that has undergone some sort of transformation. Her brow is grossly enlarged and her entire body is covered in fine blonde air. Her arms are longer and more muscular than average. She sees the PC's approach and immediately cowers in the corner. Even with the changes, you believe this is Kyalla.
If PCs investigate the altar, they find four candles, melted down to the stone slab, each consisting of one of the four humors: red blood, green phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The eviscerated corpse of a shaven baboon lies at the foot of the altar, drained of all bodily fluids; there is no indication where these fluids are now.
Once at the Lodge, Venture-Captain Eliza Petulengro and Osprey thank the PCs for their hard work and for risking their lives for the betterment of the Society. Eliza locks Kyalla up for her protection and vows to find a way to one day cure the ape venture-captain of her affliction. Osprey, disheartened by the hopeless nature of Kyalla’s situation, sequesters himself in the library for nearly a day, then quickly departs the Lodge, following a few hints he hopes will lead to a cure.
If the PCs collected Eddington Keel’s remains and present them to Eliza or Osprey, the venture-captains shake their heads in dismay but ensure the PCs that they will work with the Society’s best clerics to restore the fallen venture-captain to life and full health. Told of the broken portal in Corentyn, Eliza promises to send a team to repair it, restoring access to the Maze from the Chelish city.
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(bah!)
"It would appear we have arrived too late." Strang says, at the sight of Kyalla. "Definite signs of devolution. He glances back at the remains of the giant ape. Perhaps that was a man once too?"
He shakes his head slightly, clearly unsure. "Given what happened to Kreel... perhaps it is a small blessing that Kyalla is in no state to understand."
"I'm not sure how best to reverse this though... with no clues on the ritual that caused it." He starts searching around, taking the candle stubs, and anything else he can find that might help determine what the ritual was. He pauses slightly, at the eviscerated baboon, before collecting it up too.
"Of a more distressing concern..." He starts, with a frown, indicating the dead giant ape again. "The process of becoming a powerful undead, like that creature there... it would normally bind his existence to a powerful talisman, or phylactery of some sort. If we can not find and destroy it... its foul magic will restore the beast in time... to continue doing these things to others."
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Back at the Lodge, Strang makes sure to turn over all the ritual paraphernalia he managed to collect, and will write up a detailed report on what they learned and saw, in case it proves helpful in helping the transformed venture-captain.
"I did collect samples of what might have been Kreel." He states, taking out the samples he collected back at the manor house. "Though there was little enough left to make a positive identification."
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Indeed bad business, this phylactery. Boswick helps Dr Strang look for the vile item.
-----
Back at the Lodge, 2 dead Venture Captains, 3 total now. The body count is rising. And we are no closer to catching Hestrem. I guess we'll need a short bit of rest, and then perhaps back to the Maze of the Open Road to look for more clues....unless you have another better lead? Boswick asks the Venture-Captain Eliza Petulengro and Osprey.
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Theodric shakes his head in sadness at the sight of Kyalla. Unsure how to express his emotions in this situation, he secures a perimeter outside the caves to make sure no one sneaks up on the party while the learned sages of the group attend to the transformed woman. He secures all the possessions of the apes, as well as those of the cultists in the previous cave, and makes sure to properly bag and tag all the items for the Grand Lodge's filing system.
Dr Strang and Boswick gives the cave and altar a good once over, looking for the phylactery. They are not able to locate anything.
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Sweet... I finally get to check that last faction card box on my season 7 sheet. =)
(needed a divine caster of an evil god)
Though would have preferred a wizard with a spellbook!
I'm really hurting for spells here. Dread having to buy them all. 8(
At least they could have tossed in a scroll or something.
Hopefully parts 3 or 4 will have something.
"I know you all did your best. This is the price we, as a team, pay for being a few steps behind. We will make up ground and set this straight." Eliza says clinching her fist.
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Part 3 Faction Missions
Liberty's Edge and Silver Crusade
You’ve had a few days’ rest in the Woodsedge Lodge before Venture-Captain Eliza Petulengro welcomes you to the lodge’s meeting room, largely repaired since the Red Raven’s assault nearly a week ago. She is joined this time by a dark-haired man, slender and silent, clothed in a simple traveler’s cloak, heavy shirt, and wool pants. The dark-haired man stands behind Eliza as she gestures for you each to sit, a heavy chest set on a table beside him, a thick iron lock sealing its contents. Once you’re settled, Eliza makes a few gestures, muttering a few incantations before sighing heavily and directing her attention to you once again.
“The man beside me is one of my agents in the Grand Lodge in Absalom. He is not a Pathfinder, is not employed by our illustrious organization, and is my little secret. Therefore, you need not and will not know his name. He has spent the better part of this week gathering a host of information on Adril Hestram—his motivations, his reasons, anyone he spoke to in the Grand Lodge, and most importantly, the contents of his personal quarters.” Eliza reaches back and thumps her hand on the heavy chest. “All of that is in here. You can look through it if you like—I have—but it hasn’t told me anything I didn’t already know save one piece of information: I know where Odrian is.”"
Eliza waits a moment to see your reactions and then continues. “If you recall, Odrian was on Adril’s target list, but it seemed as though Hestram didn’t know where Odrian was. At some point just prior to joining you in the journey here, he found what he was looking for. It seems Odrian leads a doublelife—apart from being a venture-captain and, let’s face it, likely a member of our Decemvirate, Odrian is also Prince Odrian, the Thurok of Arl, a city high in the cold mountains of the northern region of—“ Eliza pauses for a moment. “Well, a city on the planet Akiton.”
Eliza looks over at Theodric, "No, it is not a separate plane of existence. Akiton, like Golarion, is what we call a planet. There are a few of them in our star system. Golarion is the third planet and Akiton the fourth. It can be seen in the night sky as a bright red star. Akiton itself is a cold, red-desert planet with strange creatures and even stranger cultures."
“It seems likely to me,” Eliza goes on, “that whoever took Adril’s body from this lodge likely took it to Akiton, as neither Adril nor any of his co-conspirators have shown their faces at the Grand Lodge, and since it was the only other location he was seeking and hadn’t found when he set his plan in motion here in my lodge.
“I want you to travel back into the Maze of the Open Road, find Condria—the medusa guardian—and see if she can’t guide you to the portal that leads to Akiton. As far as I know, Akiton is cold and dry but you can breathe the air, even if it’s a bit thin. Go there, find out where Odrian is, and find Adril or any of his conspirators should they still be there. I shouldn’t have to say it, but I will: I want Adril alive, should you find him. He has many questions to answer and many deaths to answer for. Any questions?”
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"First, other than the cold- how cold, by the way?" adds Theodric, pointing to his Sashimono of Comfort, "are there any other harsh elements we need to worry about? Second, do we have any contacts in this strange new world we're heading into? any way to re-supply? Third, what's our exit strategy? I would not appreciate being stranded on the other side of a malfunctioning portal a second time... at least not a second time in a row..." finishes Theodric, winking at Eliza.
"Why yes. You may swing by my armory and check with the quartermaster." She the taps her finger to her chin. "Other than it being a cold desert no. No contacts either. You will be pretty much going in blind and alone. The exit strategy should be the same as your entry, so I suggest you check the portal from both sides." Eliza offers.