Sylvia moves up behind the hedge and fires a ray of sickening energy at blue.
Kramac gets a chance to show his prowess and takes it with both hands. His flickmace strikes true and hurts the creature, but it's the attack with his shield that connects with devastating effect. The flying creature is pierced by the shield and vanishes in a cloud of smoke.
Sylvia then fires her ray of magic. She seems just as eager to prove her worth. The ray is timed right when the creature opens its mouth, and her sickening magic flies right into the creature's mouth. It start to gag and wheeze, obviously feeling the ill effects of the spell.
Prillet next moves up. His first attack strikes true, though his second is too wild to connect.
Lindevaile Tindome then calls the magic from her blood to conjure forth violent winds. They are the perfect counter to the small flying creature, still gagging on Sylvia's magic. It tumbles and turns, caught helplessly in the winds and smacked into the nearby temple. It finally lands in the corner, flopping prone on the ground.
--
Lindevaile Tindome
Sylvia
Prillett
Lleylo
Kramac
Monsters - blue (-12. sickened 2, slowed 1, prone), red (dead)
Lleylo lobs the bomb right in the air, just as a pigeon flies overhead. By accident, the bomb strikes the animal in mid air. The effect against the unfortunate bird is rather dramatic, but the goblin's initial target comes away without any effect.
The vile daemonic creature's first order of business is to right itself and take flight once more, uttering a shrill howl out of frustration. It still gags, but refuses to retch. Rather, it retreats behind the temple.
--
Lindevaile Tindome
Sylvia
Prillett
Lleylo
Kramac
Monsters - blue (-12. sickened 2, slowed 1), red (dead)
Not wanting to chase after the creature on her own Sylvia moves back with her allies before casting conjuring forth a magical shield, and casting guidance on Karmac.
Sylvia uses her magic to shield herself and to guide Kramac on his next course of action. Lleylo isn't shy and runs after the flying creature. This time, his aim is accurate. The creature's skin sizzles and burns, prompting a high-pitched shriek. It's severely wounded, but doesn't seem like it's going to give up!
--
Lindevaile Tindome
Sylvia
Prillett
Lleylo
Kramac - Guidance this turn
Monsters - blue (-16. sickened 2, slowed 1, 2 persistent fire damage), red (dead)
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Lindevaile Tindome stares at the creature pushed far back by her wind. "Sorry, I didn't expect it to be thrown so far!" she apologizes and runs after the creature.
She runs beside Lleylo, then with a flick of wrist and fan sends a blast of air around the corner, throwing dust up in its path to the creature.
Actions: Stride, stride, Elemental toss (focus).
Lindevaile Tindome's spell doesn't strike the creature this time, while her companions catch up and Kramac interposes himself between her and the creature.
The flying daemon, still reeling from Sylvia's attack and on fire from Lleylo's bomb but presumably happy to still be alive, takes Kramac up on his offer. It retches first, clearing away the remnant of the spell clogging up its throat. It then tries to bite Kramac, but the strong man dodges easily. The smoldering of its skin stops, which is small consolation for the lone enemy.
--
Lindevaile Tindome
Sylvia
Prillett
Lleylo
Kramac
Monsters - blue (-18), red (dead)
Sylvia gives up on the waiting plan and books it for the far side of the building.
Prillett finds a way to attack around the corner of the building. Unfortunately both his attacks swing wide. This doesn't save the daemonic creature, though. The combined might of Lleylo's bomb, Kramac's weapons, and Lindevaile Tindome's magic is enough to vanquish it. It vanishes it a puff of smoke, like its twin.
--
With the two daemonic creatures defeated, a silence comes over the statue-filled square. All of the other people there had fled the area of the fighting. It takes the Pathfinders little time to find their colleague, an elf recognizable by his Wayfinder and bucket hat. Upon applying the salve received from Fola Barun, the outer stone starts flaking, like a thin mud shell that has dried up. Below that film emerges a pale elf that looks at you with bewilderment in his eyes. He looks around the square and understanding dawns on him. "Wha- Wha- What year is it?!"
After some reassurances, Ribonal comes back to his senses. He's very grateful to the Pathfinders for rescuing. He takes some time to get readjusted to life and to get settled back into the Society, which has seen some changes in recent years. After a few days, he presents your group with a small golden idol of Acavna, the Azlanti goddess of magic.
--
After a good night's rest and various chores to keep them occupied during the day, the group of Pathfinders head out to the Precipice Quarter, with the intent to investigate and spend the night in the supposedly haunted Mavedarus estate. Their first order of business is to find the estate, and possibly learn some rumours.
Kramac hasn't heard of this particular mansion, despite Calisro's mention that it's known as haunted house. And so the group of Pathfinders spend a few hours roaming the Precipice Quarter, looking for someone who knows about the Mavedarus estate. Lindevaile Tindome eventually finds someone who's heard about it, an older man who used to live here when it was still called Beldrin's Bluff. He can't recollect anything of interest about the house or its previous inhabitants, but at least his directions prove accurate.
After a few more minutes of walking, the Pathfinders enter the grounds. The Mavedarus home must once have been a grand, three-story structure that commanded the respect and envy of its neighbors, with a rooftop veranda and manicured grounds. Now, only the first floor remains standing, the second and third stories having collapsed during the earthquake, and in the years of neglect since, the grounds have grown into a wild disarray.
The single remaining story is cracked and crumbling. Whatever upper stories it had once have long collapsed, scattering stone and debris across gardens grown wild and weedy. Two curving staircases lead to a broad veranda bereft of its railings. Two openings that might have once been doors lead into the faint remnants of a solarium, while two more doors lead further into the creaking house itself. A whiff of rot and decay seeps from the structure.
Sylvia will search for trouble.
The group of Pathfinders carefully enter the manor and find themselves in the main hall. The tiled floor, ornate columns, and sweeping staircases of this once-grant hall evoke a distinctly Taldan aesthetic, though the finery has suffered greatly over the past years. The marble floor tiles are cracked and filthy, and the statuary lining the walls has been smashed. None of the three staircases climbs beyond head level before ending abruptly, debris from their fallen upper reaches scattered across the floor.
Several doors lead on from this hallway, most of them limp on their hinges. On door close to you is missing entirely. It leads to a room that must have been a dining room once. From peeking around the corner, it contains a lot of broken furniture.
Sylvia is the only one to notice something of interest in the hallway. She hears scratching beneath the floorboards, like fingernails or claws on wood. The sounds has an ethereal quality, which suggests the sound is caused by a haunt rather than an actual presence below. Soothing the haunt temporarily would require a short ritual by someone trained in religious affairs.
Kramac's short prayer has little effect. Now that he's had the sounds pointed out to him, he can still hear the intermittent scratching beneath the floor.
Sylvia looks over it as well, an expert in undeady stuffs.
Sylvia's studies pay off. She knows the proper ritual for exorcising spirits of this kind. After a minute of work, the scratching sound recedes and stops. Kramac and Sylvia both realize that a haunt is not permanently dismissed by a ritual of this kind, but it should be safe for now.
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Lindevaile Tindome waves her fan with Desna's butterfly over when Sylvia does the ritual, not helping but not hindering either.
"I heard an old pathfinder say 'When there are doors, start from the left.' I never understood why, but I don't have any better way of choosing now", she says, pointing at the leftmost door.
Sylvia nods at the suggestion to go left "Whatever caussed that haunt is still here, I'd be on your toes."
Lindevaile Tindome heads left and leads the group through the double doors. A large, long-cold fireplace stands in the east wall of this expansive parlor, but the furnishings are all rotted. A dank stench of mold lingers in the air. The ceiling overhead has collapsed, leaving the room open to the sky. The floor in the room’s western end has followed suit, leaving a gaping hole into darkness.
Everyone but Prillett spots the danger in this room: The floorboards around the pit are ready to give way when someone would step on them. Staying clear of the dangerous area, the Pathfinder do a quick search of the place. Besides lots of decaying furniture and an abandoned rat's nest, they find nothing of interest.
The other rooms on the western side of the manor are equally unexciting. The dining room has long-since been stripped of anything interesting. To its north, the Pathfinders finds an empty storeroom and a servant's corridor that leads back into the main hallway.
Kramac leads the group through the double doors, which lead to an empty room. It might once have functioned as an anteroom, because immediately adjacent is what once was the drawing room. Everything this room once held now lies jumbled over the floor in a soggy mess: torn pages, scraps of fabric, and splintered remnants of furniture. The doors to the west hangs askew, but the door to the north has been smashed from its hinges.
Everyone notices a faint red glow between the remnants of paper in the drawing room: it turns out to be a potion, probably magical! A quick search of the room additionally reveals a secret compartment in the wall, containing a stack of papers. It would probably take a few minutes to see what they contain.
A quick peek into the next room to the north reveals it to be a study, as evidenced by an overturned and smashed desk.
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Lindevaile Tindome takes Sylvia's words literally, and tiptoes forward, so accentuating how tall and slim she is. After the search, she barely regards the papers, but is delighted when they find the potion.
"Oh, what is this? They must have put some herbs in it, let me think", she thinks aloud, turning the potion in her hands.
Lindevaile Tindome thinks she spots some chopped basil in the potion, but that doesn't give her any clue to its effects.