|
Adalan tosses out a blast of flame, which badly burns one of the snipers, and two of the robe-wearers.
Most impressive, however, is that the giant robot 'corpse' nailed to the canyon walls starts to smoke, as its tail section melts off...
...whilst the gnome, despite being in the middle of the burst, doesn't seem to be bothered by it, at all.
Bair (-20)
BSS (-21, -)
Khismar (-)
Adalan (-)
Kyra (-)
Dran'Thor (-)
Thorax (-)
BSM (-21, -10, -21)
JRA (-11, -11)
The cleric for her part, moves forward and casts a fire spell on one still on his feet.
Fire Ray:
Damage:
|
|
Kyra moves forward, and throws out a fire bolt, which is dodged.
Dran'Thor then immolates the area...
All three cloak-wearers, as well as one of the snipers, briefly turn into human torch, filling the air with the scent of burned hair and seared flesh.
Meanwhile, the robot-corpse is further melted; one of the gun-platforms on its forward arc is turned to slag, and the other is partially melted.
Moreover, this time, the gnome is singed a bit.
Thorax then heads in for the kill, and cuts the throat of the remaining sniper.
With a horrible screeching noise, the robot-corpse then starts firing a weapon at Bair...
...landing a single hit.
Bair (-33)
Khismar (-18)
Adalan (-)
Kyra (-)
Dran'Thor (-)
Thorax (-)
JRA (-29)
|
|
Bair Steps into a flank, then smacks the gnome twice, although there is a fair bit of resistance to each blow...
...almost as if the gnome has some sort of subdermal amour...?
"Bad goblin! Bad! AHEH! Oh, if only I had a rolled up newspaper. I guess my fists will just have to do..."
The Gnome then tries to wallop Bair again...
...smacking the goblin twice!
Bair (-72)
Khismar (-55)
Adalan (-)
Kyra (-)
Dran'Thor (-)
Thorax (-)
JRA (-29)
Thorax taps the gnome on the shoulder.
"Bye."
+1 Striking Shifting Dogslicer :
+1 Striking Shifting Dogslicer :
+1 Striking Shifting Dogslicer :
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The cleric casts a heal spell upon Bair.
Heal 2 actions. Healing hands:
|
|
Kyra heals Bair.
Dran'Thor channels lightning...
...finishing-off the half-slagged gun. The gnome, however, appears to have enjoyed the electricity, and to have...
...sped up...?
The roc then strips the flesh from his 'bones', revealing that underneath an outer coating of flesh, the gnome is a creature of wires and metal!
"Disappointing. I had enjoyed this particular shell. Oh well. I have plenty more. Goodbye! See you next time!"
He then explodes in a ball of plasma.
With the Blue Streaks gang defeated, you are free to claim their gear , and return to the caravan.
With the squad of Gorumites traveling with the caravan, nothing short of a small army would dare attack the wagons, and the Gorumites are familiar enough with the lands to avoid any real dangers.
In fact, the caravan is able to make it to Starfall virtually unharried, with the exception of a pack of overly curious and somewhat vicious raccoons...
Funniest 28 second ninja ever ^_^
|
|
Dozens of tents and the half-built frames of several future buildings encircle a newly constructed longhouse. The tent city looks down on a dense forest of blood-red pine trees, Iobaria’s iconic bruorsivi, dotted with the occasional wisp of smoke here and there. At the forest’s edge, huge cut stones nearly overgrown with vegetation and covered in creeping moss hint at ancient ruins reclaimed by nature.
Even in the chill of the early morning, the camp swarms with activity. More tents are being set up, and the smell of breakfast emanates from a large cook tent. Agents greet each other and swap stories in the mess tent, and rumors fly through the crisp morning air.
A familiar Halfling woman, whom you recognise as Head Initiate Janira Gavix, waves and comes over to you.
"Isn't this all just so exciting? You know, while Venture-Captain Jorsal of Lauterbury is currently in charge of the camp organization, he has not yet formally begun the expedition. Instead, he is waiting for representatives of the Decemvirate, the Pathfinder Society’s 10 masked leaders, to announce their objectives!"
A loud bell sounds, summoning everyone to a meeting under a large open-air awning that provides a spectacular view of the Icerime Peaks to the west and Finadar Forest to the south and east.
"“Welcome to Iobaria!” Venture-Captain Jorsal smiles and spreads his arms wide, gesturing to the expansive view before him. The sun glints off the snow-capped mountains to the west, though it does little to warm the air around you. Below the camp, the occasional clearing or stone structure dots the endless foliage of Finadar Forest, a huge expanse of blood-red bruorsivi pines.
“Used to the chill yet? Iobaria takes some getting used to. Between the dry air and the winds off the peaks, you’d best wear your warmer clothes.” He waves you over to his worktables, where a series of maps and documents sit weighted down with books, a wayfinder, and several large rocks.
“We live in exciting times. As you may know, the Society has recently been exploring the wilds of Iobaria. There are so many mysteries here! The ancient cyclops empire of Koloran has left ruins that have weathered the ages. The early Iobarian kings maintained their power through dragon-riding knights, and dragons still lurk in the forests and hills all around. Plagues, wars, ancient magic.... Iobaria has seen it all.
As you may know, we’ve had some dealings in Iobaria recently, but the time has come to mount a major exploration. To do that, we need a good base of operations in the area, something more permanent than a couple of rooms in an inn in Mishkar.”
The venture-captain slides a large map across the table, rearranging the rocks and books to prevent it from flying away in the breeze. “Down there, deep in Finadar Forest, is the city of Min-Khadaim, an ancient complex of ruins that dates from the cyclops empire of Koloran, abandoned since the Age of Darkness thousands of years ago. Not only is it an amazing archaeological find, but it also is superbly located to serve as a base for further operations in Iobaria. Cyclopean architecture is built to last, so we’ll undoubtedly find something here to serve our needs. Once we explore and clear the ruins, we can then establish the Society’s first Pathfinder Lodge in Iobaria!”
Jorsal turns to you again and grows serious. “This is an important operation for the Society’s future, and we have the support of the Decemvirate themselves! In fact....”
Jorsal suddenly seems to focus on something behind you, and he trails off. Two figures walk into the tent, both wearing helms that completely cover their faces.
One is short and stocky, wearing a sapphire-studded helmet that covers their upper face. The other is a taller figure whose face is completely hidden by a flowing sheet of water that disappears into mist just past their neck.
“Yes, Jorsal, the Decemvirate understands the importance of this season of exploration in the wilds of Iobaria,” states the shorter of the two in a scratchy voice that sounds older than the speaker looks. “You may call me Sapphire, and you may call them Shrike.” The speaker strides quickly to the table and indicates the large map, which shows a large area of forest subdivided into regular squares.
“Based on a preliminary survey, the ruins of Min-Khadaim have been divided into sections. Each team will explore and clear their assigned section—Jorsal will provide the details.”
They turn to you. “You may be relatively new recruits, but we, the Decemvirate, need you to understand the importance of this operation. There are mysteries here in Iobaria that go far beyond plagues and dragons. The cyclopes of Koloran fled here when their homeland of Ghol-Gan fell under the sway of evil forces. Those brave and determined souls that made the trip were determined to escape the mistakes of their kindred, yet their descendants still fell into decadent decay as well, long before Earthfall ended their empire. The question of what laid them low at the height of their power is one of Golarion’s greatest unsolved mysteries.”
Shrike turns to Gruvok.
“What do you know about modern cyclops culture?”
Sapphire turns to Jasariel.
“If trouble arises, how will you protect and preserve the priceless artifacts or records you find?”
Shrike then turns to the bomb-laden Farryn.
“What was your grade in Master Shaine’s ‘Basic Archaeological Principles’ class? Did you even take ‘Basic Archaeological Principles’?”
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Jasariel inhales the forest air appreciatively, feeling the power of such an ancient and expansive wilderness seeping into her.
She is watching Shrike's aqueous veil when Sapphire's question steals her attention. "With the same talents I am forced to employ on nearly every mission I carry out," she replies coldly. Jasariel closes one hand as if to grasp an invisible wand, then flicks her wrist downward. Water freezes out the of air to form an icy spike as she moves, starting from her palm and ending in a jagged tip about a foot away as her hand stops. After examining it briefly Jasariel hurls the spike skyward, where it explodes in a spray of freezing shrapnel.
|
|
Gruvok does his best to put on a good show, but doesn't manage to fool the Decemvirate members.
Shrike sighs, and shakes their head at Jasariel's response.
"You do know that the painted murals that the cyclopes used to record their history will be more than ten thousand years old, yes? Perhaps explosions that freeze the paint off the walls might make them slightly harder to read, yes?"
Farryn also fails to impress the Decemvirate member, who despite their faceless mask, somehow looks like they have just stepped in something truly awful...
At this point, Sapphire intervenes, laying a hand on Shrike’s arm. “Be at ease; they know what they must do. Trust in their skills.”
Shrike pauses to give the party one last look. “Don’t mess up,” they state bluntly before striding off to the next tent.
Jorsal clears his throat awkwardly, then sighs, before picking up a sheet from a pile of similar documents and handing it over, along with a rough map. “Now, as relatively junior members of the Society, your job will be scouting and mapping the initial sites we’ve selected. Take this to the quartermaster and he’ll provide you some basic equipment for exploration. Explore everything in your assigned area and make an accurate map. Explore all the buildings on the surface, inside and out. Find any entrances to underground levels and explore them as far as is practical. Keep an eye out for any threats and neutralize them. Clear your area so it’s safe for the follow-up scholars to go in and begin the detail work. Understood?”
|
Farryn's eyes narrow, "So we just got dragged through the coals over our skills and now our entire mission is explore and clear a safe spot for the scholars to do the work we just got quizzed on? Why the heck waste our time if that's the end result?"
He seems put off.
The halfling alchemist grabs the sheet and map and heads off, "Yeah, we can do that fine."
|
|
This grand archway stands 100 feet tall and is made of enormous blocks of basalt set together without mortar. The exterior faces are carved with astronomical images, with sun and moon symbols dominating. From this vantage point, the stand of bruorsivi pines blocks the view of the amphitheater (area A4), the ziggurat (area A7), the storehouses (area A8), and the planetarium (area A9).
The district wall stands 60 feet tall and is 60 feet wide at the base, narrowing to a width of 30 feet at the top. The walls are made of the same massive blocks as the entrance arch. Though battered and shaken by earthquakes over the centuries, the wall is still largely intact, except for one area that has collapsed.
Each tower is 80 feet across and 80 feet tall. The inner floors have collapsed, leaving each an empty, cylindrical shell mostly open to the sky.
This oval-shaped building is completely surrounded by thick brush and red bruorsivi pines. A thick layer of fallen pine needles and other organic matter has coated the stonework. This was once an open-air theatre with stone bench seating in the round.
This was once a broad paved roadway leading from the archway to the great temple in the distance. The edges of the plaza are defined by decorative stone pillars and fragments of statuary. The road surface itself is covered with grass and a thick layer of soil, requiring some digging to expose the original paving stones.
The bruorsivi pine forest opens into a clearing 30 yards across. Although the cyclopean plaza’s stone tiles are covered by several inches of soil, no vegetation grows here. A pile of large bones sits near the center of the clearing, topped by an immense skull. With its enormous jaws and swept-back horns, the skull is unmistakably that of a dragon. The empty eye sockets stare directly at the only entrance to the clearing.
Dranald and Farryn realise that there is a Haunt surrounding the skull.
This stepped pyramid rises nearly to the treetops, a hundred and fifty feet above. Each layer of stone is assembled from huge blocks of basalt, mostly covered in moss and vines. Richly carved pictographs adorn the stone, wherever visible among the patches of vegetation. A steep staircase sized for giants rises up one face of the ziggurat to the upper platform, where a small building crowns the summit.
Inside the building, you find a 10' diameter, smooth shaft, descending into the bowels of the ziggurat...
...and Dranald and Gruvok (between them) find some pieces of lapis lazuli.
These rows of low stone buildings were once used to hold grain, but as the cyclopes abandoned their former way of life, they were turned to other purposes...
This squat round building with a domed roof served as a place for cyclopean seers to predict and make use of celestial portents. On the roof is a large stone sphere half-set into the floor and perforated with thousands of tiny holes. The lower part of the sphere is supported by thousands of stone bearings. By Squeezing through from an entrance hatch in the southern end, a Large creature can stand within the sphere and see light entering through the holes. The sphere is perfectly balanced,
so that a Large creature can walk in the sphere and rotate it under their weight, almost like a water wheel.
|
|
Jasariel uses her physical and wilderness skills to help with the exploration, leaving the tasks that call for agility or esoteric knowledge up to her more capable comrades. When the haunt is discovered, she gathers a collection of specific herbs and other natural ingredients from the surroundings woods and lights a fire with them in front of the draconic skull. As it burns she chants rhythmically, causing a stream of cleansing smoke to flow diagonally towards the skull and through its eye sockets.
|
|
Farryn does his best, though his confidence is shaken due to the lack of belief in him from his bosses. Oh heck, he can't lie to himself, he's fine. Those assbags are just jerks.
But his inner monologue is distracting enough he doesn't even notice his allies muscling their way through the first area. But he steps up to brace the wall quickly when they get to it.
A2
_____________________________
Then he carefully balances on the remaining tiny ledge of the inner floor to get around the towers.
A3
_____________________________
Then he avoids falling through the naturally created pit that was covered in leaves.
A4
_____________________________
"Look here, these stones appear to have arrows on them. Arrows mean we go this way."
A5
_____________________________
He hands the skull to Dranald, "This is your expertise, not mine."
The halfling then starts inspecting the dragon.
A6
_____________________________
And then promptly gets lost in thoughts of riding dragons while his allies decipher religious symbols.
In the storehouses he shrugs, "Nothing here..."
A8
_____________________________
He sees the large waterwheel, "Hey that looks like fun, but I'm too short to move it. Someone want to put me on their shoulders?"
A9
|
|
A1 - DISTRICT ENTRANCE:
Athletics:
A2 - DISTRICT WALL:
Crafting, aid:
A3 - WATCH TOWER:
Acrobatics:
A4 - AMPHITHEATER:
Survival:
A5 - GRAND PLAZA:
Society, aid:
A6. DRAGON SPIRIT:
Arcana, aid:
By the power of Iomedae. Vade retro, haunt!
Religion:
A7 - TEMPLE OF THE ETERNAL ECLIPSE:
Religion:
A8 - STOREHOUSES:
Perception:
A9 - PLANETARIUM:
Nature:
|
A1 - DISTRICT ENTRANCE:
Athletics, aid:
A2 - DISTRICT WALL:
Crafting, aid:
A3 - WATCH TOWER:
Acrobatics:
A4 - AMPHITHEATER:
Survival, aid:
A5 - GRAND PLAZA:
Society, aid:
A6. DRAGON SPIRIT:
Arcana, aid:
A7 - TEMPLE OF THE ETERNAL ECLIPSE:
Religion, aid:
A8 - STOREHOUSES:
Perception:
A9 - PLANETARIUM:
Nature:
|
|
A1 - DISTRICT ENTRANCE:
Boosted up by Okh, Jasariel and Dranald find and use a reliable path to Climb the archway without damaging it and document the finer details of the astronomical images.
A2 - DISTRICT WALL:
Most of the party is at a complete loss about what to do here, but Farryn works out that the stones making up the collapsed portion of the wall have partially melted...
A3 - WATCH TOWER:
Farryn almost makes it up the watch tower, but Okh's 'help' causes a fragile section of the tower to collapse, causing a cascade reaction that causes a stream of masonry to come raining down...
A4 - AMPHITHEATER:
This time successfully aided by Okh, Farryn realises that the central stage area seems large enough to be used for team sports, but there is also a layer of ash on the stone: evidence of a massive fire on the arena floor. There’s no way that ash would have remained here for thousands of years; whoever or whatever caused the fire must have done so fairly recently...
A5 - GRAND PLAZA:
Once again, most of the party remains clueless, but Farryn realises that, whilst many of the statues are so eroded as to be featureless, there are hints that they are not humanoid in basic design...
A6. DRAGON SPIRIT:
Channeling the holy power of the Inheritor, Dranald *barely* manages to quell the haunt before it activates, allowing the party to explore the area.
Despite Dranald's 'help', Farryn then manages to determine that the magically-sustained bones here come from a silver dragon...
...and turns up a Wand of Comprehend Languages (as well as some preserved silver dragon scales).
A7 - TEMPLE OF THE ETERNAL ECLIPSE:
No-one in the party is able to work out what kind of religious rituals were performed here, or even whom (or what) was worshiped here.
A8 - STOREHOUSES:
Similarly, at the storehouses, no-one is able to work out precisely what was stored here.
A9 - PLANETARIUM:
Jasariel, Okh, and Gruvok all realise that the holes are precisely located to recreate the constellations of Golarion’s night sky as seen 10,000 years ago! Intriguingly, there are some stars shown on the dome that do not exist in the modern sky. Either these stars are no longer
visible, or no longer exist...
|
|
Utterly exhausted by a hard day of exploring, the party wisely returns to camp, and rests for the night.
In the morning, you head for the shaft leading to the subterranean level...
The bottom of the shaft is covered with a thick layer of fine, grayish-white dust. A few scattered fragments of bone protrude from the dust. The northern wall is carved with a huge bas relief of a massive beast eating the sun, while a huge stone portal is centered in the south wall.
Looking at the stone portal, you realise that it is not locked, but it *is* stuck...
|
|
Farryn knows that the Cyclopes at the height of their empire revered the sun, moon, and stars, and saw eclipses as a celebratory event, a communion of two heavenly bodies. This bas relief seems to celebrate an eclipse as a time of destruction and darkness — very out of character for traditional cyclopean theology...
Jasariel, aided by Gruvok's crowbar, manages to move the stone plug out of the way, although it is still a difficult process, even for her.
Doing so reveals a long, winding staircase, which goes down even deeper...
The stairs end in a long hallway that ends in a stone door. A pool of slimy liquid covers the floor to a depth of a few inches, covered in a multicolored carpet of fungal blooms and spores.
As the party moves forward, six patches of fungus morph, twist, and extended tendrils, hungrily reaching towards the fresh source of nutrients that just stumbled into their domain!
Okh (-)
Jasariel (-)
Farryn (-)
AF (-, -, -, -, -, -)
Gruvok (-)
Dranald (-)
|
|
Jasariel grabs her shield from its position strapped to her back, then brandishes her trident at the fungi. "Master of Wind and Mistress of Wave, shatter the creatures that would consume your agent!" she cries, generating a peculiar echo which seems to advance down the passageway, intensifying as it goes until a destructive blast of sound washes over the fungi. "And may their essence return to the soil and grow less violent blooms," she adds more quietly.
|
|
Okh tosses a blast of flame, damaging one fungus-blob, then tosses a ball at the other front-runner...
...which dodges.
Jasariel moves forward, and tosses out a blast of sound, causing a horribly cacophony, which is magnified by the close confines of the underground corridor...
...but surprisingly, the fungi weather the blast fairly well.
Farryn recalls that these are Abyssal Fungi - weak to Cold Iron and Good.
He then tries to electrocute two...
...frying both front-runners a little.
All six then start firing spore-pods at the front-liners...
Jasariel and Gruvok are each hit twice, by fungal spore-pods, which immediately try to burrow beneath their skin...
Gruvok (-13; Fort save x2)
Dranald (-)
Okh (-)
Jasariel (-10; Fort save x2)
Farryn (-)
AF (-32, -15, -13, -6, -6, -6)