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"Though they seek it by different paths, your deity and mine both aim to guide those who need a better place, be it a home for their soul, or a community to nurture them," Pimwrick offers. "I will accept your blessing, and offer my own in return."
"I am pleased that we were able to help," he continues, "especially in defeating the undead spirits. And I will happily continue to help."
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"If such a thing must be defended, we will do so without question," Zephyr adds. "I'll accept this blessing, so long as it helps."
He is quite leery about the contact and divine power involved even as he commits to the ritual. More so afterwards, following the sight of himself as a werewolf. "All to help this work," he can be heard muttering to himself repeatedly.
Sheila Heidmarch is proud of your efforts, and she lets you keep the equipment she lent you. She grants Luvyire a room to stay in while he recovers from his wounds. He’s not the strangest guest to ever set foot in the mansion, and he practices his dances every night.
Mayor Grobaras sends you ribbons acknowledging your service to Magnimar, along with a commemorative certificate that claims that he hired you in the first place. The slight infuriates Theodorus, and he begins what he calls the “True Investigation” before fading from the public eye.
Davorge continues his worship. Between consulting with Ordellia and practicing his dance steps with Luvyire, he couldn’t be happier to be alive. That’s not true, he wishes he could locate the source of corruption himself.
Astrologers say the week will end with the full moon against a cloudless night sky. The Heidmarches agree and advise you to stay in the city- you will hunt again, soon.
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Zephyr scribes Air Bubble with ease, then moves onto the next spells. Divinations are incredibly useful. A shame these curses have persisted so long.
Managing one of them, he returns Kavor's spellbook and joins the dwarf in his research. While they're at it, he jots down some new spells he's been puzzling out.
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Pimwrick is finally glad for a break from all this running around from one monument to the next - when is a fellow supposed to rest? He spends a day or so wandering around Magnimar, knowing he's got a week ahead of him before he's called back to duty, and that he'll have to work at night when the week ends! Once he's satisfied that he's wandered enough, and not missed any promising spots, he returns to a sweet little park he noticed in the Ordellia district, where the city wall meets the Yondabakari River. There's a particularly promising tree there, which promises shade through much of the day, with a view of the river and the harbor beyond. Pim settles down on a patch of grass under the tree's canopy, leans against the trunk and sighs contentedly. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his beloved harmonica, saying quietly to himself, "Time to relax a bit, and then put in some serious practice on this thing. It did not sound good the last couple of times I tried to play it."
As he gazes over the water in quiet contemplation, his harmonica tumbles to the grass at his side, his eyes close, and he dreams of mastering the instrument one day.
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Frustrated at his lack of helping, and angry that he didn't shine, Brak spends the week brooding a bit. He occasionally frequents the more bohemian locations, hoping to absorb a little culture, but at the end of the day he is who he is.
He makes a promise to both Torag and the Thunderskriker elders to redouble his efforts.
Ordellia tries her best to remove the negative level on Kord, but she lacks the capability.
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"Worry not, Brak. Everyone has their lot in life, and without one person's another may not be as useful. Your skills will be most valuable come our fight with this threat. Perhaps you would feel better by fulfilling your promise to Ysandre?" Zephyr possibly crashes his motivational speech with the side comment and a chuckle.
Last time, on Pathfinder Society (Season 10, Episode 5)
Ghosts haunted the Varisian city of Magnimar. Restless spirits, dark rituals and bloodthirsty cultists terrorized the night. A supernatural investigator Theodorus Ichonvarde took his sweet time and drew no leads, so Lord-Mayor Grobaras tapped into a different resource- the Pathfinder Society.
The Pathfinders sanctified the monuments, restored sanity to the guardian spirit of Ordellia, and she led them to Luvyire, an azata follower of Ashava. The cultists planned to sacrifice him, but the Pathfinders saved him and quelled the threat. He warned them that the true culprit was still out there, corrupting the Glade of the Silver Spark. The malevolent will-o’-wisp called Tulvhatha must be stopped before she attacks civilization again.
Lord-Mayor Grobaras thank the Pathfinders and then claimed credit for quelling the supernatural activity and restoring peace to the monuments. Inspector Theodorus remained in the city, claiming the haunting wasn’t over.
Zephyr and Kavor trade magical research, and Kavor finally achieves his dreams of mixing arcane and martial training.
Kord feels his strength return. Thank the gods.
Brak goes bar hopping, hoping his next task lets his axe help a bit more. The mark of Ashava's blessing seems to come alive during the night.
One week later...
Today is the day before the full moon in Magnimar. You have been in the Heidmarch manor, resting, recovering, and performing minor tasks for Venture-Captain Sheila Heidmarch. She asked you to come for breakfast at sunrise, and not to be tardy.
Sunlight streams through the dining hall’s window panes, illuminating the numerous dishes of food set on the table. Among the selection is a salad of fiddleheads, wild mushrooms, and herbs, a tray of grilled mackerel dressed with fen pepper, a plate of stuffed cabbage leaves, a bowl of maize porridge, and a tray of cheeses, nuts, and plums.
A blue-skinned man with solid black eyes, pointed ears, and butterfly wings stands nearby. He casts a curious gaze at the display while Venture- Captain Sheila Heidmarch strides forward with a warm smile.
“Thank you for joining us for luncheon, Pathfinders.” She gestures to the array on the table with a proud gleam in her eyes. “I thought we might chat over some quality Varisian cuisine. Please take a seat and help yourself to whatever you like, though I do recommend trying the mackerel—it’s freshly caught this morning.”
Settling into her seat, Venture-Captain Heidmarch pours herself a small glass of chilled white wine and reclines. “You likely know several areas of the city were recently disrupted by necromantic activity. The investigation traced the attacks to a will-o’-wisp named Tulvhatha, who has taken control of a holy site of Ashava known as the Glade of Silver Sparks. From what we’ve already seen in the city, along with Luvyire’s account of what occurred at the glade, it’s clear this creature wields power that surpasses most others of her kind.”
She flicks her gaze toward the blue-skinned man and inclines her head toward him. “Luvyire here has already offered Ashava’s blessing to transform the Pathfinders who saved his life into holy emissaries of the True Spark—something which can only be accomplished by the light of the full moon.”
Luvyire adds, “And I shall offer my goddess’s blessing to the rest of you as well... but all of you accepted it already, correct?”
The venture-captain pauses to sip her wine and idly runs a finger across the rim of the empty plate before her. “Tonight will be the full moon, and with it the chance to seek out the will-o’-wisp Tulvhatha and end her destruction.” Luvyire perks up from the assortment of food and glances longingly to the window before looking back. “I’m sorry I won’t be able to join you, Pathfinders. After recently being on the receiving end of Tulvhatha’s wrath, I fear I’m still too weak to make the journey. May Ashava watch over you and keep you safe.”
“I’m glad you’re finally seeing reason, Luvyire,” says the venture-captain. “You’ve already helped enough, and Magnimar is safer for it. As for you, Pathfinders, given the unique nature of the blessing Luvyire has bestowed upon you, you will need to exercise discretion. Your transformation will draw unnecessary alarm if witnessed by civilians. With this in mind, please be sure to be at the Mushfens by sunset. Take the time to prepare yourself for this evening however you need. Luvyire and I are here if you need our assistance. Remember, you have only this one night to discover the Glade of Silver Sparks and destroy Tulvhatha. Be quick, but be careful—you go against a formidable foe.”
Kavor and Zephyr spent their time in the Heidmarch manor library, reading and recalling the Pathfinder Society's adventures, especially against Will o Wisps.
Kavor knows their general description: a floating skull, surrounded by a nimbus of eerie light. An elven wizard recalls the creature's immunity to all magic except for the basic magic missile spell (and maze, for some reason.) The wisp fed on her allies' fear after it lured them into a trap.
Zephyr finds a similar story from a gnomish bard who managed to defeat, capture, and inspect one of them before defeating it.
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"Breakfast...at sunrise?" Pimwrick grumbles as he makes his way through the halls of Heidmarch Manor to the Venture-Captain's office. "I might as well have stayed on the farm and had my mother boot me awake to get to the chores..." His grumbling eases some when he sees the repast laid out before them, and he positions his face over the platter of mackerel and sniffs the air repeatedly, barely paying any attention to what Sheila has to say at first. He's a bit confused when she thanks the party for joining her for luncheon at this hour, but he happily tucks into the meal, eventually turning his attention to what is being said.
"I'm a bit puzzled," he offers when Heidmarch's briefing is complete, "and I clearly don't know much about Will o' the Wisps. Why do we need to change into werewolves to fight this thing?"
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"How did you manage...never mind, we all have our methods," Zephyr says, sizing up the bard. "A maze would be a good solution, if impermanent. That it is beyond my power makes this simpler."
At the briefing, he listens intently, but has few questions. "I wasn't able to glean any information on this blessing, Pim. But I can only assume it's more complicated than simple lycanthropy. Perhaps you can elaborate on it?" He directs the question to Luvyire.
Zephyr reads more about the gnomish bard and his learnings against the Will O Wisps. The gnome played a gullible fool and tricked the will o wisp for days, thinking he fell into despair. In the meantime, he learned:
After that, the gnome entered the cave of a deadly, voracious bear. But it turns out the bear was an elven druid in disguise who promptly slaughtered the Will O Wisp. What an adventure that was!
"You do not need to actively fight Tulvatha in a lupine form." Luyvire corrects Pimwrick. "This will become very valuable when you need to find her, however. Ashava is aware of the corruption going on, and she will help you find this fiend."
He turns to Zephyr. "As for the blessing itself. You will feel faster, your skin will toughen and your teeth will penetrate steel. It is a glorious feeling to crush evildoers beneath your blessed heel." Luyvire coughs. "As for the exact details..."
You can change shape. You have three forms—your typical form, a wolf form, and a hybrid form. You can shift to any of your three forms as a move action. If this PC has earned the Celestial Lycanthropy boon from #10–05: Mysteries Under Moonlight, Part 1, you gain that boon’s benefits for free for this entire scenario.
HYBRID FORM
If you shift to your hybrid form, you gain the following benefits.
Senses: Your senses sharpen, granting you darkvision (60 feet), low-light vision, and scent.
Defenses: You gain DR 5/silver and a +2 bonus to natural armor.
Attacks: You gain a bite attack that deals 1d6 points of damage if you are Medium or 1d4 if you are Small. If the bite attack hits, you can attempt a combat maneuver check to trip your target as a free action.
Pack Leader: You can communicate and empathize with wolves. You can use Diplomacy to alter a wolf’s attitude, and you gain a +4 racial bonus on the check when doing so.
WOLF FORM
If you shift to your wolf form, you gain all of the benefits listed for the hybrid form as well as the following two effects.
Speed: Your base speed increases to 50 feet.
Wolf Shape: All of the gear that you are carrying or wearing melds into your body until you switch to another form. All items that give constant bonuses still give their bonuses, except armor, which does not function. Unless you have other feats or class features that would allow you to do so, you cannot speak, cast spells, or manipulate objects that would require the use of hands.
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"As you all no doubt know, dwarves are unparalleled warriors, expert wizards, champion drinkers, and outstanding diplomats." There is at least a glimmer of a jest in Kavor Doan's eye.
"What we are not, however, is swift. If this gift allows us to pursue our foe more swiftly, it would be a welcome advantage."
Moonlight streams through the forest’s thick canopy of dark branches. The chirps and gurgles of nocturnal critters echo in a soft, steady hum, interrupted only by the occasional snapping of a twig or low hoot of an owl. In the distance, fireflies flicker in the shadows. The scent of wet moss and dirt clings to the misty air. Several damp paths branch off, each leading deeper into the swampy woods.
The full moon emerges from the clouds. As the twilight washes over you, your skin erupts into silver fur, your fingers grow sharp claws and your mouth grows into an elongated snout. Your senses are sharper than ever, and you are ready to crush the forces of evil.
You are a celestial werewolf. It is a glorious night to hunt!
You continue onto the trail, your senses and the moonlight guiding you east onto swamp lands. To the southwest you see a giant spider web filled with cocoons. Luckily no spider is present, but you do see the remains of large animals like raccoons, deer and an alligator.
A sharp breeze cuts through the night, rustling loudly through the trees and brambles. Shadowy figures emerge from the undergrowth. The husky voice of the tallest figure calls out, “Halt where you are, monsters!”
“I knew there was darkness inside you, Pathfinders,” the man continues, his gaze a steely fire of determination and fury. “Does the rest of the Pathfinder Society even know what foul beasts walk among them, or do they know and harbor you nonetheless? Maybe it’s even worse than that, hmm? Perhaps this paltry cabal of you represents the true face of the entire organization. Be assured that I shall find out. But for now, I see the truth of your malignant nature, and the ruse ends here—along with your lives!”
Investigator Theodorus Ichonvarde has hunted you down- but who is the hunter, and who is the prey?
Zephyr
Brak
Pimwrick
Enemy
Pau
Kord
Kavor
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Pimwrick raises his empty hands before him and calls out, "Theodorus! You saw what we did to help your city, and return its monuments to their rightful condition! We mean only to help, and my friend here has only taken on this aspect as a means of defeating a greater threat to Magnimar! If you have the means, look into my soul and you will see I am good at heart and speak the truth."
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A small grin passes over the paladin's lips, thought the new form reveals it as a snarl. "Ah, Theo! I was wondering when you might slighter out of your hole again. I noticed you were absent when the monuments were actually being saved. Why don't you let the adults take care of the big bad nighttime monster head back inside, where it's safe. You remember how to find the kiddie table, dont'cha? Run along now, boy, afore you get herself hurt."
"Hmpf. Good guys?" Theodorus laughs. "I've solved every mystery laid before me. One investigation is a little too slow for Magnimar and you miraculously clean things up in a single day? How can I not find that suspicious! Two brave soldiers stand alongside me to fight on."
Brak takes this opportunity to bonk the guard with the red gloves. He's still standing.
"Abaddar! Give me a judgement of justice!" His longbow glows with divine energy. Zephyr decides he's heard enough and tries to blind him.
He takes aim at Brak before shuffling back through the bush.
The red guard counterattacks against Brak.
The other goes against Kord, hoping to catch him flat footed.
Their strikes hit true, but your celestial fur absorbs some of the impact. "Swing harder, you fools! Werewolves resist anything that isn't silver!"
Theodorus
Red guard (30 nonlethal)
Purple guard
Pau
Kord (7 damage)
Kavor
Zephyr
Brak (22 damage)
Pimwrick
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"You are an idiot!" Pim exclaims. "You think because we finished up an investigation faster than you, that we're somehow evil - which we are not - and now you're putting these men's lives on the line!" As he speaks, Pimwrick moves out of the pack of Pathfinders and draws his bow. He then lines up a shot on Theodorus and lets fly!
Theodorus drops his longbow for a bit before Pimwrick shoots him. "Mocking the God of the Coin?" Theodorus sneers.
Kord takes the hit and swings his mace right over Theodorus's head. The investigator's look of genuine fear is replaced with false bravado. "I am the will of Abadar! I will NOT be stopped!"
Pau's knee bonks against the guard's armor harmlessly.
Kavor uses magic to enhance his next strike.
Zephyr
Brak (22 damage)
Pimwrick
Theodorus (10 damage)
Red guard (30 nonlethal)
Purple guard
Pau
Kord (7 damage)
Kavor (True Strike)
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"How hard do I hafta hit ye?! Just give it up already? Would it be worth me switching to the sharp end? Is that what you want? Is this worth yer durned life?"
Brak steps a bit South, keeping his eye on the prize. Meanwhile, between his attempts at "reason" he keeps swinging for the back of the misguided man's head:
MISS?
for