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Dran'Thil's first strike splits open Red's abdomen, spilling cooked entrails across the ground.
His second strike then shatters several ribs, and leaves it barely standing.
Garad Steps forward, and delivers two quick swipes at Cyan, and is rewarded with two surprisingly solid strikes, slashing rotting flesh with disturbing ease.
Fairmount moves around to a flank, but their strike goes wide.
FCZ (-87, -47)
Dran'Thil (-)
Gedrim (-)
Papa (-)
Garad (-)
Fairmount (-)
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Gedrim channels another electrical blast...
Causing Red to explode in a fountain of cooked viscera, whilst Cyan sizzles.
Papa does his best to hit, but just can't quite land a blow.
The remaining undead targets Papa...
...landing a single, solid hit.
FCZ (-63)
Dran'Thil (-)
Gedrim (-)
Papa (-9; Shield -9)
Garad (-)
Fairmount (-)
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"This beastie is quite the amalgam of abilities."
The gnome Steps forward to press the assault, and aims to Strike at the giant's central eye when it next bends down in the cramped tunnel.
Pick:
He then raises his shield, and will once again block if attacked, or strike out if an ally is targeted:
Pick:
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Fairmount knows nothing about crafting, but will take a look around.
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And also very little about all those stupid magical things, but they’ve been around long enough to recall a couple things about people.
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A weird little plant creature pops out of their pack and looks around.
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Which triggers another thought.
—————
And lastly...
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Papa notices the masonry surrounding the hole in the wall has the remnants of a plaster mural. The mural has faded, but a few edges remain, featuring storm clouds. He also discovers a streak of green, jiggly slime that slipped between two stones in the floor.
Papa also notes the slime is tainted with Abyssal energy...
Looking over one of the corpses, Fairmount discovers that a single stitched portion of its flesh is completely unburnt and feels like it contains something. Inside this skin pocket is a scorched pierce of hide decorated with a strange, scribbled drawing of an obelisk, and recalls that a similar obelisk is on display at the Blakros Museum, on loan from the Pathfinder Society.
Fairmount's Hireling identifies that the hide has been treated with fire-resistant secretions from the eshlen flower and comes from an Iobarian ashback bear. Eshlen flowers are common in Iobaria, particularly the notoriously flammable Finadar Forest.
Papa also realises the undead don’t show signs of prolonged exposure to the sewers. It’s likely they were created elsewhere and brought here recently.
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The Foreign Quarter is a melting pot of cultures, peoples, and architecture, with densely packed housing and colorful thoroughfares. This district is popular among visitors and foreign immigrants. As you travel through this neighborhood, you overhear snippets of conversation in dozens of languages and see visitors from across Golarion.
The Sleepless Suns operate out of Utterhome, a precinct located in a renovated community center. A steady stream of people pass through the entry room, including guards, medics, citizens, and other workers, many engaged in conversation. The front desk is staffed by a young shoony with scruffy red fur named Aubray
Nosy and curious, Aubray is a junior member of the Sleepless Suns with aspirations of becoming commander. She welcomes you to Utterhome and asks how she can help. When you ask to see Shristi, Aubray smiles and inclines her snout at an aged Vudrani man with a short-cropped beard and gray hair pulled into a neat topknot. Despite his obvious age, the man appears fit and healthy. At Aubray’s gesture, the man strides over to you, extending his calloused hand for a handshake. He introduces himself as Shristi Melipdra, commander of the Sleepless Suns, asks for your names, and enquires how he can be of assistance. He also asks you to share tales of the accomplishments you are most proud of...
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"Interesting." muses Gedrim as the information is shared. "Why would someone bring such undead to this place, unless to guard or protect something."
"Names Gedrim." he replies. "And I am on track to be the most powerful wizard in the Society! Well...at least that's my goal. To date, while I've had numerous successful missions, I must say my most harrowing thus far involved a particularly nasty woman that never learned to clean her home."
"As my companions battled her minions, I summoned forth a broom from the bowels of the hells and swept her from this plane. You might say, we took her to the cleaners." he beams, chuckling to himself.
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The dwarf proceeds to the handshake before to speak.
My name's Dran'Thil from the Dran'Thor family from the Torgin's clan. We are here to show you some objects. We hope you can help us to understand something.
After a short stop.
An accomplishment I'm proud of is when me and my companions could set free a spirit who was prisoner of a green scarf. We have to be respectful with the spirits.
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The man nods sagely.
“A soul isn’t measured by the harm they cause, but by the rifts they mend. A lesson you’d do well to learn.”
Shristi asks to see the coin and the badge, which he inspects carefully. With a sigh, he informs you that this badge is a counterfeit - the color, weight, and detailing are all slightly off.
Shristi’s lips turn down in concern. “This is the unholy sigil of the demon lord Urxehl, father of trolls. He heralds natural disasters and controls forest fires. I admit, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a coin like this. I recently disbanded a cult of demon-worshippers that were sacrificing their victims to a troll near the Docks. They carried coins like these. I’d hoped we captured them all, but if coins remain in circulation, I worry some evaded capture.
The cultists were meeting in a hidden shrine dedicated to Urxehl. I’ve ordered the area closed until it’s been properly chronicled, so the site’s still pristine. I’ll give you directions if you make sure to tread lightly.”
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Shristi shakes his head.
“I’m afraid not. They’ve been transferred to await trial.”
“I worry over the meaning of the false badge, myself,” Shristi admits solemnly. “It could indicate they planned to target or infiltrate the Sleepless Suns. Perhaps they already have a cultist hidden among our ranks. I suspect it was also sign—a coded message that indicated to other cultists their meeting place was in the Foreign Quarter.” Shristi shrugs. “Discerning the reason for the badge’s presence will be a priority when I next speak with the cultists.”
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The cult’s shrine is a short walk south of Utterhome, on the edge of the Foreign Quarter where it transitions to the Docks district. The shrine entrance is a nondescript shed in a dead-end alley. A broken padlock sits on the ground by the shed door, indicating the shrine was recently disturbed. When you open the door, a puff of smoke pours out and dissipates into the sky. A spiral staircase leads below ground into the shrine.
The shrine is dark and stinks of smoke, with coarse masonry walls coated in heavy soot and a 15-foot-tall ceiling. The fitted stone floor is obscured by mounds of burnt wood, broken furniture, ash, and soot. Some of this debris still smolders.Two hallways off this chamber end in mounds of rubble. A few crumbling stone pillars carved to depict flames still stand throughout this destroyed room — pillars nearly identical to those at the meeting site. A large iron brazier large enough to hold a person sits on a platform at the east end of the hall, surrounded by a channel of flammable black sludge and accessed by a small ramp.
As you get ready to start exploring, four of the ash piles rise up into the air, forming into troll-sized skeletons of burnt bone!
Gedrim (-)
Garad (-)
AS (-, -, -, -)
Fairmount (-)
Dran'Thil (-)
Papa (-)
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"I think we should light this place up. It seems a bit drab."
Without another word, the wizard summons forth an oversized, glowing beetle.
Looking around, the insect's eyes fall on the massive beasts before it. As a warm liquid forms beneath it, the creature emits a warm radiance as it frantically bites as the large undead.
for
for
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Gedrim summons a giant beetle, but although it manages to hit twice, it causes no damage to the flesh-less undead.
Garad throws a blast of water, which goes wide.
Red chomps down hard on the beetle, badly damaging it, and then dark blue finishes it off, before moving forward, and taking a bite out of Fairmount.
Cyan Strides forward, and takes a bite out of Garad.
Yellow then Strides in, and nearly bites Fairmount's head off.
Dran'Thil (-)
Papa (-)
Gedrim (-)
Garad (-5)
Fairmount (-19; Unconscious; Dying 2)
AS (-, -, -, -)
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Dran'Thil moves in, and manages to cause some damage with his back-swing.
Papa tries to help, too, but his pick does minimal damage, although he does wake Fairmount up.
Garad steps in, and starts slashing Cyan; his claws do minimal damage, but the acid works just fine. In fact, on his second swing, Cyan collapses into a pile of ash!
Fairmount tries (and fails) to patch his own wounds, then downs a healing potion.
Gedrim channels electricity...
Dark Blue dodges completely, and Yellow barely notices.
To everyone's horror, Cyan reforms from the ash, and the strange ashen skeletons continue to attack!
Cyan fails to hit Garad
Dark Blue fails to hit Fairmount, who dodges and weaves.
Yellow's jaws are turned aside by Papa's shield.
However, Red lands a glancing blow on Dran'Thil, lessened by Papa's ability.
Dran'Thil (-3)
Papa (-)
Gedrim (-)
Garad (-5)
Fairmount (-5; Wounded 1)
AS (-, -6, -, -10)
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Fairmount cringes as the attacks come in, managing to dodge just barely. They stand, pull a hammer out because stabbing is definitely out and steps in towards the nearest enemy, staying in range of the Sairazul Light wielding priest.
Papa seems to know what to do, I'll stick close till I see a chance to do something useful.
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Dran'Thil chops Yellow down with his back-swing.
Papa then steals Garad's thunder by putting a holy lance through Cyan.
Not to be outdone, Garad Steps forward, and hits Blue twice, the acid being more effective than his claws.
Fairmount simply tries to avoid being hit.
Gedrim channels electricity again...
...but neither skeleton takes any damage.
Red gets a single lucky bite in on Dran'Thil (mostly alleviated by Papa)...
...and then Blue takes a big chunk out of Garad.
Dran'Thil (-4)
Papa (-)
Gedrim (-)
Garad (-18)
Fairmount (-5; Wounded 1)
AS (-, -7)