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Quillen exploits his short stature to thrust with his rapier, between the troll's hefty gluteus maximus, piercing its perineum, and ripping deep into its colon and lower intestines.
"D'oh!" The yellow troll falls in a faint, clutching two-handed, the traumatic wound to its taint.
One foe down, the bloodthirsty megalomaniac shifts targets, driving his rapier through the ribs of the great green troll at his feet.
Almost immediately, you observe the trolls' terrible wounds begin to heal, stitching themselves closed like a horrible zipper.
Floundering around in the sand, the green troll lashes out at Quillen with tooth and claw. "Hold still, ya liddle French fry!"
Claws trembling and teeth chattering, the demoralized red troll focuses its ire on the scary snake-man with the big stick. Though it fails to get a mouthful of the samurai, it's able to sink both sets of shaky claws into Kimiya, latching onto his body and further tearing his flesh, then it holds up its bloody prize for everyone to see. "Look, Ma! Bode hands!"
N'Aranav
Dale
Quillen
Kimiya
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Green Troll
Red Troll
Yellow Troll
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Kahwen
Aroden
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Kimiya looks down at the blood weeping from his body and bows his head, "you and I are well-matched, troll, I challenge you to one on one combat!"He slides to the left, the naginata dropping at his feet as one hand grips his katana. There's a flash of metal as the blade leaves his saya and slashes through ... nothing. He looks up at the troll and curses to himself before saying a quick prayer to Sarenrae.
There's a flash of metal as the blade leaves his saya and slashes through the troll's leg. He looks up, satisfied.
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Incensed, the vertically-challenged Quillen thrusts his rapier twice into the green troll's heart in rapid succession, severing both its aorta and its pulmonary artery. The gouts of green blood drench the Galtan in a gory fountain the envy of Quentin Tarantino.
Kimiya challenges the red troll to combat mano a mano. The troll raises its unibrow, glancing down at its dead green sister and its dying yellow brother. "Uh, sure, man."
The troll's eyes cross as the katana leaves the samurai's saya in a sublime iaijutsu strike. Before it can focus on the blade buried in its millennial-like soft belly, its knees buckle and it keels over, falling next to its siblings.
The yellow and red trolls' wounds continue to heal...
N'Aranav
Dale
Quillen
Kimiya
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Red Troll
Yellow Troll
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Kahwen
Aroden
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The last troll hits the deck and the words of the wizard echo through Dale's mind "Regenerating? Fire and acid? I've got just the trick here my friends. A mix of volatile compounds when subject to the correct ratios and proper amount of impact will create an explosion!"
He stows his magic wand and strides towards the downed red troll. "One moment and I'll be happy to dispatch this space troll with a well placed bomb to the face." He looks to the bloody, wounded Kimiya "You best stand back and pick that weapon up. You don't look so great."
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Kahwen cringes as Kimiya is torn savagely by the troll. It doesn't seem like there is too much chance that he'll face such damage again. He feels a little bad about what he's about to do, but he suspects the troll would do the same to him...then eat him...but might not wait to do this, then eat him.
Kahwen's guilt translates into a quite embarrassing miss.
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"Oh? It appears removing their heads from their bodies are sufficient in this case to cause death." He instead takes out a pair of old vials and collects some blood and tissue samples from the downed giants. "Perhaps their deaths aren't completely pointless. I can study their regenerative properties for future medical advancements!"
Dale is happy to help heal up his companions. "Hold on, this may sting slightly. Let me be sure to get in these wounds properly, we don't want any infections... Astal Troll Fever has been known to be a thing..."
Dale will attempt to also collect blood samples from the two injured Pathfinders as well as he heals them! Do with this as you may.
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Everyone but Kimiya thinks Dale's telling the mother of all whoppers when he mentions 'troll fever.'
The Pathfinder Equal Opportunity and Diversity Enforcement and Compliance Staffelführer Janira Gavix breaks away from a tapestry repair team and approaches, sweating and out of breath.
"Well done!" she gasps, bending over in a crouch and resting her hands on her thighs. "You guys want to continue the fight here against more of the astral invaders, or do you want to lend a hand against the undead?"
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"Oh hello Ms Janira! An interesting question you pose here. Do we have any information about what sort of Astral vagrants could be invading besides these trolls? Perhaps, hopefully not, some of their hill giant cousins? Or maybe just a squad of the less reputable ogre and ogrekin?" He continues to list off a variety of giant kin before making his way back around to the general dislike of undead of their crew.
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I got one!
"Astral Troll Fever? Why, its got a pretty quick incubation period.. under an hour sometimes if introduced through a serious wound." He gives the fading wound of Kimiya a glance and shakes his head slowly. "I wouldn't worry about it TOO much. The early outward symptoms are a slight shortness of breath and sweating during physical activity, which tend to clear up with rest. Extreme long term effects though include physical aging and death."
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"Head to the Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment," Janira urges. "Astral pirates heading in that direction."
And so you retrace your steps to the temple. The march takes no more than ten minutes.
As you approach the temple, Aram Zey’s voice carries through the tapestry. "I wish I could say I’m surprised that pirates would strike at a time like this. But there are always forces lurking in the shadows looking to take advantage of weakness. Don’t let them get away with it."
Forewarned, Zhuang and the acolytes of Korada have already locked and barricaded all the doors inside.
Aram Zey is correct: A small team of three astral pirates air drop directly into the temple’s garden and launch their assault for plunder.
One of them is a half-orc woman, cackling gleefully as flames dance in her eyes and at her fingertips. She's unarmored, but she's armed with a masterwork falchion and a masterwork heavy crossbow.
She's accompanied by two graceful elves, each wearing masterwork breastplate armor and a masterwork long, curved blade strapped across her back and carrying a well-used masterwork composite longbow.
Kahwen
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Red Elf
Yellow Elf
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N'Aranav
Aroden
Quillen
Dale
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Orange Half-Orc
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Kimiya
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Clapping his hands at their swift march in appreciation, the pint-sized Galtan hesitates and arches an eyebrow in surprise, echoing Dale's comments.
"Whaaa? Wha- iz zis? Orcs and elves? Togezher? 'zis unbelievable!"
In his shock, Quillen allows the spry elves an advantage he rarely allows on such opponents.
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Although Kahwen is tall enough to see over Quillen, he is not tall enough to jump over Quillen, so running the elves down is not an option at the moment. So, instead, he gets closer so that he can run them down in a few moments. Of course, that leaves him right out in the open, so the takes a defensive stance, putting his sword up in front of him like a sort of shield and his limbs loose and ready to spring.
"It is as strange as a tengu and nagaji working together!" Kahwen declares. "But look at those swords! They're beautiful."
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The blond elf looses three arrows in rapid succession at Kahwen. A slight frown mars her delicate brow, when all three miss their mark. "That was embarrassing."
The redhead chuckles, eyeing the front rank of her foes and taking aim at the nagaji, the larger of the two. "Better to pick a target that's standing still, Cousin."
Kahwen
---
Red Elf
Yellow Elf
---
N'Aranav
Aroden
Quillen
Dale
---
Orange Half-Orc
---
Kimiya
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Aroden mutters an incantation and taps Kimiya, who vanishes. Then the wizard ducks around the corner of the temple.
Bold, brave, and enraged, N'Aranav races to the fountain, surrounding himself with enemies.
Dale pulls the pin on a frost grenade and hurls it at the redheaded archer. It lands at her feet with a splash, that chills her long legs.
Kahwen
---
Red Elf
Yellow Elf
---
N'Aranav
Aroden
Quillen
Dale
---
Orange Half-Orc
---
Kimiya
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Activating the boon received after securing Slave Mountain, Dale ensures everyone enjoys a temporary boost.
Quillen draws his rapier and follows its point end toward the redhead.
"Danger-Close!" shouts the half-orc to her team, as she points her finger, and a glowing, pea-sized bead streaks from the pointing digit. Attaining the prescribed range, the tiny missile detonates, blossoming into a massive fireball.
Map & Images
Kahwen
---
Red Elf
Yellow Elf
---
N'Aranav
Aroden
Quillen
Dale
---
Orange Half-Orc
---
Kimiya
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Dale ducks behind his feathered friend Kahwen and avoids the bulk of the flames. "Don't worry, feathers regrow rather rapidly in your species don't they?"
"Oh, fireball. Very effective spell. Painful really. Best defense is to either spread far out, dodge the flaming effects, or kill the spellcaster quickly." He gives his most 'helpful' Captain Obvious statement.
The flames of the fireball engulf Kahwen, but somehow the rogue avoids the heat.
The tengu makes his way across the garden and threatens the blond elf archer with his elven curve blade.
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Aroden points an arcane pistol finger at the half-orc, ready to pull the trigger, if she casts another spell. Or if anyone else does, for that matter.
N'Aranav scampers up to the spellcaster and punches the lady with the fiery eyes in the breadbasket.
Kahwen
---
Red Elf
Yellow Elf
---
N'Aranav
Aroden
Quillen
Dale
---
Orange Half-Orc
---
Kimiya
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Dale points and gives Kahwen the thumbs up for his complete evasion of the fireball "Now that's how you avoid a ball of fire!" He then hikes up his tattered apron and haste hustles around the outside of the garden, forcing himself to look away from the interesting array of pebbles and odd turtle statue that distracted him on their previous visit.
"Have at you!" He shouts as he hurls a frosty bomb wrapped in a stunning gift basket at yellow.
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As the arrow impales Quillen's shoulder, he grunts unhappily.
"Unh. You will pay for zat, mon cherie."
Stepping forward, the halfling closes the distance and with a flurry of strikes tries to repay the elf in kind. He forgoes his usual defensive tactics and instead works for the quick victory.
for
for
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"Hah! A comedian. I'm a redhead, but I'm no cherry, half-man!" the elf retorts.
Just before Quillen pokes two holes in her. The thug picks up the scent of pine trees and damp moss, when she soils her small clothes.
The half-orc steps away from N'Aranav to cast a spell. Fire lights her eyes, and flickers across her tongue and fingertips as she chants and gesticulates. The flames dim when the spell fails to function.
Dale the Sage hurls a frosty at the blond elf...
Kahwen
---
Red Elf
Yellow Elf
---
N'Aranav
Aroden
Quillen
Dale
---
Orange Half-Orc
---
Kimiya
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Kahwen twists in amazing, if not impossible ways to completely avoid the ball of fire. He is less successful at dodging one of the arrows.
One might think that would make him rush into battle but instead, he cuts around, moving briefly out of underbrush before coming back at her from another direction, ensuring that one of his fellow Pathfinders is at her back.
"That's a nice sword...but I like mine better," he says as he demonstrates why.
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Dale the Sage hurls a frosty at the blond elf, and the bomb explodes when it strikes the ground between her and N'Aranav. The elf shivers in pain from the icy splash.
Still invisible, Kimiya moves closer to the half-orc, hoping to take the sorceress from the rear, samurai-style.
Kahwen slashes with his own enchanted elven curve blade, but the blond ducks beneath his attack, and the sword slices the air above her head.
The redhead flees in fear of Quillen.
The blond elf counterattacks Kahwen, stabbing the tengu with her long, thin-bladed scimitar.
Kahwen
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Red Elf
Yellow Elf
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N'Aranav
Aroden
Quillen
Dale
---
Orange Half-Orc
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Kimiya