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When Jayma offers Adrian some aid, he smiles and responds, "Thank you so kindly, but I think I managed somehow." Then he remembers marveling at the spell she applied to make her look so presentable and adds, "Well, actually, there ARE a few bloodstains on my robes. Perhaps if it's not too much trouble...."
Before Jayma responds, Adrian stares into the forest, almost in a trance. He blinks, nods, and turns to the group, "My spirit just showed me the kitsune and the theft of the caravan. Again." He points off in the distance and explains, "I believe we should head in that direction. And ... I sense that we should be on our way soon."
Remembering his manners, he turns back to Jayma, "I'm terribly sorry. It's odd with this spirit. Where were we?"
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Despite this strange forest and it's spirits, Granitt gulps down the remainder of his stew, remembering to wipe the sides of his mouth with his beard. He let's out a loud 'burp', "Yes, that stew was wholesome." Grabbing his war-axe he stands ready to follow Adrian, "If you have incoming messages, then I'm ready to follow." He shakes his head and blinks, I'm following a man hearing voices ...really!
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"Well, actually, there ARE a few bloodstains on my robes. Perhaps if it's not too much trouble...."
Jayma jumps to her feet in happiness at the thought that she can be of actual help to Adrian after all. "No trouble at all, my dear Adrian. It's always a pleasure to be of use to my friends. Let's see now, Hmmmm..." She looks him up and down for a moment. She then moves her hand in front of Adrian in an S motion, and with an added call of "scourgify", the monk's clothes are returned to their original pristine state. Even Adrian's skin seems to glow with cleanliness. Jayma surveys her work with pride, "Yes! Much better. Pleased to be of service."
She'd secretly been wishing to do that for a while now, and not just to Adrian. These, um, gentlemen, she was travelling with were not exactly regular users of either fragrances or bathtubs. She'd accepted that this was one of the inconveniences of being a Society agent on the job, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
She turns to face the rest of the group, and in a hopeful tone asks, "Anyone else interested in a spruce-up? Anyone?"
As soon as she's done zapping anyone that shows an interest in looking their best, she does the same to clean up the remains of their meal. She then hoists up her small backpack, gathers up Twyl in her arms, and stands there tapping her foot to indicate a slight impatience to get going.
The team gather their things and set out to follow the thief.
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As the group starts to follow the path, Adrian turns to the party and says, "Well, that's odd." He shudders and continues, "I just got a frightening new image from my spirit-friend. It's of a strange evil-looking cat creature. It has glowing blue eyes and far more legs than a normal feline should have. I can't tell for sure, but it might be stealing from the kitsune we've been after."
Adrian indicates the direction to Xathiel and is happy to let him pick the best path through the forest.
The Pathfinders use their skills and some gentle nudging from the spirit within Adrian to find and follow some tracks. Initially, these tracks resemble pawprints but with the gait of a biped, much as would be expected from a kitsune. Then they come across a jumble of mixed prints. The paw prints they have been following continue in one direction but look lighter as if carrying less weight. The other prints look more feline, possibly one or two creatures heading off. It is those the spirit nudges the team to follow.
After following the tracks off the road and navigating deeper into the forest for about an hour, the team come to a clearing where they find an eight-legged, feline looking creature carrying a sack. Slide
Adrian’s spirit provides some insight into this creature. The creatures name is Tishoki. They love riddles, soft music and battles of wits. You may be able to convince them to part with at least the main relic you seek and possibly the other stolen goods by using Deception, or by entertaining them with Games Lore or Performance.
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Moving through the forest so quickly, Adrian turns to the druid, "Well done, Xathiel, my friend. Your knowledge of this forest is most impressive." When they come face-to-face with the creature, Adrian seems a little less intimidated by it, especially when his kami explains that Tishoki is interested in music and games.
Not sure if the feline will understand, Adrian holds out his hands non-threateningly and asks, "Tishoki likes music?" He sits down calmly, pulls out his sitar, and begins strumming softly.
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Jayma is a little repulsed when she first lays eyes on the creature. "Surely this isn't natural. It looks a little like an escapee from a mad alchemist's laboratory to me."
Twyl raises his head to indicate an interest, and Jayma realizes that except for all the extra legs and larger size, the creature is not all that different from her familiar. Jayma takes a deep breath; puts on her most radiant smile; and adding a touch of fragility to it, slowly approaches the creature until she is within speaking range.
"Well, aren't you the handsomest creature in the forest," she cooes at Tishoki. "You must be the Tishoki that everyone's been talking about. Very pleased to make your acquaintance," she says, making a small curtsy. Jayma pauses a moment to see what effect her words are having on the creature.
Jayma frowns prettily, drops her head slightly and looks up at Tishoki with her big doleful eyes slowly filling with tears. "I have a serious problem and I heard from some friends that you might be able to help me."
Stifling a small sob, she continues nervously, "Our caravan was recently attacked by bandits and a bag of precious family heirlooms was stolen." Jayma slowly starts building up the waterworks, starting with a single tear gently falling from her cheek. "They belonged to my grammy who passed away recently, and I was taking them back to my poor grieving mother for safe keeping. They were the very last and most precious mementos we have of her."
She finally bursts into tears, turns her head skywards and wails, "Oh grammy, why, why did you have to leave us?" She slumps a little, sobs racking her body for a few more seconds before she collects herself with a visible effort. She then turns to the creature and waiting a second for Adrian's music to hit just the right note, asks in a pleading tone, "Is there anything you can do to help me, Tishoki?"
While waiting for a response, Jayma wonders if that was enough to close the deal. She decides that if the creature's heart wasn't moved by that performance, there was nothing more for it.
It does not look aggressive at this time and there are no obvious bodies around.
The creature seems entranced by Adrian's playing and sympathetic to Jayma's story, looking at the sack and then at her.
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Granitt relaxes slightly, turning to Harsk, "My friend, that creature is a fey, think they called it a Cat Sith, there were pictures of one in the tea house we drank that ... tea! You know when I spoke to some villagers about the creatures of the forest, they talked about fey that steal the souls of the dying. Do you think this is one of those? I'm sure it is you know." Granitt continues to watch the many legged cat, "It doesn't look too dangerous, do you think Adrian and Jayma will be able to talk it round?"
Granitt stays and watches their companions interact with the Cat Sith. Recognising the tune Adrian plays, he bashes his shield using his axe in time with the sitar music. He drones in a low voice, the calming tone of his signing hopefully will impress the cat.
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Xathiel steps forward and joins Jayma in the conversation with Tishoki.
Greetings good Tishoki. He bows his head with respect. Heed these words carefully for this grammy she speaks of was a powerful witch. Prior to her passing she placed a powerful curse upon her mementos that would gravely affect anyone but her true descendants. I would wish only happiness and long life upon you so I would advise you let her take these keepsakes back.
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Jayma sees the creature looking at its sack and then back at her, apparently unsure of what to do.
"Are you kidding me? I give the performance of my life and it isn't enough?", she thinks to herself in frustration while still outwardly shedding the odd tear. "Well, at least we now know you have the loot my friend, so here goes nothing."
Without taking her eyes off Tishoki, she makes a hand motion to Adrian behind her back, encouraging him to play on, hopefully with a tune to melt the heart of this strangely polymeliac creature.
But, before she can continue with her encore, Xanthiel walks up and adds his twist to the story. Jayma stays quiet throughout, sobbing lightly and nodding in the appropriate places to emphasize the truth of the elf's words. After Xanthiel finishes, she thinks to herself, "Not bad Xanthiel. I think I can work with that."
Jayma then mentally re-enters the scene. Sniffling a little, she says, "You are so right dear Xanthiel, Grammy was a terror. You really didn't want to get on her bad side." Jayma is actually surprised by how little she has to stretch the truth in this case.
She abruptly stops crying and turns a little pale; her eyes opening up wide with fear. "Oh nooo!", she wails. "What will my mother do to me when she hears I lost Grammy's things?" she adds breathlessly as if to herself. Then turning back to Tishoki with a sense of urgency, she continues rapidly, "My mother's a witch almost as powerful as Grammy. She sent me to fetch Grammy's mementos to make sure they didn't fall into the wrong hands. She'll go beserk when she hears I lost them."
Jayma pauses and collapses theatrically to the ground as if her legs failed her when the full realization of her fabricated predicament finally became clear to her. "After she kills me, my mother will certainly come here to recover her treasures." and turning her head to the creature, she finishes weakly with, "I don't want to die Tishoki. Is there anything you can do to help me?", before dissolving into another sobbing fit.
Jayma takes a quick peek through her partially closed eyes to see if this second scene had any further effect on the creature. "You better cough up the goods my friend, or you'll soon be getting a sample of what my fake mother would do to you."
Granitt adds percussion to Adrian's tune, the creature initially winces at the sound but as the volume drops it seems to be quite satisfied with the rhythm provided.
Xathiel supports Jayma in her story and between them, they seem to have the creature enraptured and possibly close to tears, it is a little difficult to tell.
As Tishoki finds a natural pause in the performances they gesture for the Pathfinders to stop and listen.
"I know not if your story is true," they start, looking at Jayma, "I know only that the kitsune who originally stole them from the humans is up to no good. I feel the presence of a kami within this item." They say as they hold out a pendant. "I believe he wishes to use the kami's magic for destructive purposes. This must not be allowed. I will give you back these things," they add as they pass the sack forward, " and ask that you chase down this villain so that he does no harm to our forest."
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Adrian at first is a little shocked that the Cat Sith speaks so eloquently, but he quickly recovers. As Tishoki hands the pendant to Jayma, Adrian stands and bows respectfully, "You have our thanks -- both for the information and for protecting these belongings so well. Rest assured that we will find the kitsune and protect your forest home."
With his kami urging him onward, Adrian says to the group, "We should go." He continues heading along the path that the druid picked out. After a minute, he looks over his shoulder to make sure Xathiel is catching up to take the lead.
"Before you go, take this to help you with your quest." The creature offers you a low-grade cold iron katana.
"If we meet again, perhaps you will join me in the joy of some riddles, or perhaps some games." As they say this they seem to fade completely into one of the nearby trees.
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"About time!" thinks Jayma, as the creature finally relinquishes the "mementos".
When Tishoki hands Jayma the pendant, she stops her gentle sobbing and stares at it in stunned bemusement. When the creature hands over the rest of its loot, her face breaks out into a big smile, and speaking rapidly at the apparent reprieve from her mother's wrath, she says "Oh, thank you; thank you, Tishoki. What a relief this is. Mother will be so happy. And of course we'll track down this kitsune you speak of and make sure they never harm the forest again. Thank you."
When the creature pulls a katana out of nowhere and hands it over, Jayma is a bit surprised. "Where in the name of The Many were they hiding that?" she thinks to herself in genuine amazement. "Oooh, what a beautiful gift," she says instead. "It will look especially nice hanging over my fireplace; just below the crossed greataxe and greatclub Lin Po gave us earlier," she adds pensively with a tinge of bitterness. "Why is everyone in this forest an arms dealer? Doesn't anyone have a nice wand or magical staff they want to give away? Maybe the odd relic hanging around the house that they can't find a use for?"
She picks herself up off the ground and with a wiggle of her nose and an "improve image," she is once again dust-free and all traces of tears disappear from her face. She looks a little closer at the pendant, but it is a bit old-fashioned and not her style at all. Just be make sure, she passes her hand over it and with a "show me", she casts her spell
She returns the pendant to the sack of mementos and turning to the group, asks, "Should we return this to Lin Po and Ti Lan before continuing, or will that be too much of a bother?" But, seeing Adrian and Xanthiel already heading down the track, she shrugs. Handing the bag to Twyl, she tells her familiar to, "put this away in my backpack if you would, Twyl," and empathically commands him to do so, before skipping after the rest of the group.
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Granitt almost smiles at the success they group had in placating the Sith Cat. The rhythm played out on his shiled, reminded him of the good days at the forge. As the Sith Cat leaves, he raises his axe in a salute and marches briskly after the others, following Harsk. "You know Harsk, I have a good feeling in my beard, we are gonna do good today." He even nods to Jayma and her friend Twyl, his eyes twinkle as he winks, "Keep safe little one."
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During the whole exchange with his mistress, Twyl had been pondering the creature's extra legs and what uses they might be put to. His mistress had started behaving a little out of character, but this was not without precedent. He was sure she would revert to form in short order.
When his mistress hands him the bag, Twyl becomes super excited. What were all these new toys he would have to play with? He tucks them away in her backpack, but not before going through the contents. Nothing very interesting unfortunately, though there was a nice shiny pendant that caught his eye. He felt in some primal way that there was something different about this bauble.
The grumpy dwarf that had been following them around also seemed to be in unusually good spirits. He even looked directly at Twyl at one point and made noises in his direction. What an odd little person he was.
The Pathfinders head off after the kitsune thief. They enter a pristine clearing with a notable set of stones. It is difficult to determine at first glance if these are a natural formation or not. Those that are sensitive to such things experience a hum of spiritual energy as they enter the area. Up ahead the team spots the kami with several angry-looking foxes accompanying it. The kitsune is wearing hide armour and has bunches of holly and mistletoe readily available.
Perception
The three tiny foxes sprint toward the group. They are quick and each of them pounces on one of the pathfinders, attempting to bite them.
Only the one biting Jayma manages to pierce skin and even then it does minimal damage.
Adrian goes to Jayma's defence. His fists fly. When he pauses to take a breath he notes the creature is nothing but a pile of bloody fur, no sign of life remains.
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Xathiel reacts to the fox attack with dismay. He takes hold of his staff and attempts to knock the fox out instead of actually hurting it.
for nonlethal bludgeoning damage.
for nonlethal bludgeoning damage.
After flailing about with his staff hoping not to morally wound the poor misguided fox, Xathiel chants rapidly in druidic and the air shimmers around him.
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Jayma sees the little foxes sprint towards the group and is actually surprised when one of the cute furry devils attacks her. "What in Shyka's name..." she thinks as the fox launches itself at her. "Ouch!" she cries out as it bites into her arm. She shakes the creature off, but before she can do much more, Adrian rushes up and smashes the life out of it with devastating force.
She's impressed by the monk's performance, but the pain in her arm forces her attention. She squints in apprehension as she looks down at the wound, almost expecting to see her arm half torn off. Instead, she's pleasantly surprised. "Why, tis but a scratch; I've had worse." But then she notices the damage the creature did to her sleeve and her look of relief turns into scowl. "Why you nasty little snot. Do you have any idea how much this jacket cost me?" she yells at the fox's dead body, her anger beginning to rise.
Receiving no satisfaction from the dead fox, she spins around, seeking alternative targets for her wrath, and seeing the other two identical foxes attacking her friends, she gives her fury full rein. The hair of those near her begins to rise as the air crackles around her. She let's the charge build up until she can no longer bear it. She then shoots up her left arm to collect the wild energy and redirects it through her body and out her right hand, which she's pointed at the foxes. With a shout of "Volts vanquish vulpine vandals", a bright streak of an electrical discharge shoots out of her hand and spears through one fox and then the other.
She speaks the word, "defend," and the space around her shimmers for a moment.
Shield Block
Trigger: While you have your shield raised, you would take damage from a physical attack.
Description: You snap your shield in place to ward off a blow. Your shield prevents you from taking an amount of damage up to the shield’s Hardness. You and the shield each take any remaining damage, possibly breaking or destroying the shield.
Xathiel's attempts to pull his blows so as not to kill the fox attacking him caused him to miss the tiny, mobile creature.
Saturday moves and slashes into the little fox that had attacked Harsk.
The kitsune moves closer, chanting and gesturing then pointing toward Saturday. A magical ray of cold shoots forth but is completely off target.
Jayma sends electricity blasting toward each of the remaining foxes. While they try to react and dodge the blasts, they are not quick enough and each has a surge traverse their body, stopping their heart.
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After watching the lightning fry the remaining foxes, Adrian nods to nearby Jayma. "Impressive display, m'lady."
Peering through the trees to see the shape of the kitsune, Adrian knows he must close the gap between himself and the spell-caster. He races north around the trees to greet the kitsune face-to-face. Ever a man of the law, the monk states, "This chaos you're inflicting on the forest and the caravans must stop!"
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The world seemingly goes into slow motion as Xathiel watches the electric blast eviscerate the fox before him. With a gasp Xathiel looks around him and sees the death throes of the other electrocuted fox and the bruised and bloodied corpse of the third. A low, pain filled groan escapes his lips at the senseless death laying around him. His grip on his staff fails and it drops to his feet.
With death in his eyes Xathiel looks toward the Kitsune and shouts, You! You are responsible for the blood of these innocents. It is you who has brought this imbalance to the forest. The price you will pay for this is your life!
With his next breath Xathiel raises his face to the sky and lets out a bloodcurdling howl. The muscles of his face begin to ripple under the skin as his face takes on a canid visage. His arms take on a much more muscular form and his hands elongate into vicious claws.
Xathiel then drops to all fours and beings loping towards the Kitsune, his mannerisms and facial expressions looking more and more bestial as he approaches.
Adrian and Xathiel each in their own style offer challenge to the kitsune and move in on him.
The Pathfinders continue to move up to threaten the kitsune. Saturday even takes a swing and manages to draw blood.
The kitsune carefully steps back away from those flanking him and slashes first at Adrian and then at Granitt with wickedly sharp claws that glint with magic.
He is clearly trying to eliminate these threats as quickly as possible and narrowly misses Adrian's eye.
He is more successful when slashing at Granitt, opening the dwarf's jugular vein and dropping him instantly.
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Adrian winces from the claws to his face. Staring back at the kitsune, he calmly says, "And now there must be retribution." Adrian moves adjacent to Granitt so he's in position to attempt some in-battle headling next turn, while also providing a flanking opportunity for Xathiel. Then activating one of the two Potency Crystals on his handwraps, he flurries his punches into the kitsune.
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Jayma is frankly a little surprised by the efficacy of her spell. Since she didn't think that her spellcasting abilities had improved that much recently, she was left with the conclusion that these foxes weren't particularly impressive adversaries.
Somehow this saddens her. "Why, these poor creatures were not that different from her Twyl," she thinks with a little regret. "These foxes had no business being sent to attack us," she continues, starting to become a little annoyed.
After watching the lightning fry the remaining foxes, Adrian nods to nearby Jayma. "Impressive display, m'lady."
Jayma turns to face Adrian, not really focusing on the monk. A little distracted by her thoughts, she manages only a "Mmm, yes... impressive," the last word trailing off.
She looks at the pummeled and fried corpses of the foxes again. "These creatures had no chance at all. They were sent to a certain death," she thinks, and her annoyance quickly turns into anger. In a burst of sudden fury, she says coldly and without a trace of doubt, "Someone will pay for this travesty."
Looking about for the author of this avoidable tragedy, her eyes alight on the kitsune through the trees. "So that is our real opponent, is it? Well then, I guess it's payback time."
She closes her eyes and slowly raises her arms until her hands are slightly above her head. She then makes several quick snatching motions with each hand as if she's grabbing flies out of the air and into her fists. Bringing her fists to her chest, she opens her eyes, and focusing on her foe, she says, "Fearsome flies, find fox fiend forthwith," and thrusting her hands straight out from her chest in the creature's direction, she snaps opens her fists. Three darts of force leap from her hands. They streak towards the kitsune, deftly missing any trees in the way, and finally plunge into its chest.
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At first, Twyl thought that maybe the foxes wanted to play as they ran up to them, but when one of them attacked his mistress, he became a little frightened. Not so much for himself as for his mistress, and knowing his mistress, he then worried a little for the foxes. His mistress had never been the forgiving type, and he wasn't in the least surprised by her reaction.
He then shoots headfirst into the backpack where he feels safest when his mistress is in combat. He worried about her, but he also knew that staying out of her way was the best thing he could do for her right now.
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Seeing how dangerous this creature was Saturday decided this was enough of a dire situation to cross the threshold. Stepping and swinging his sword, more to guard his movement than to focus on an attack he uses the momentum to slam his hand into the wounded Dwarf's shoulder. "My apologies, Unyielding, but please allow this Dwarf to keep standing so he may avenge himself!"
Granitt feels himself filled with a grating conviction after as the pain remains, rather than a warmth or pleasant swelling that healing magic usually imparts.
◆ Step
◆ Target is Flat Footed until my Turn.
◆ Lay on Hands on Granitt, +6 HP and +2 Status Bonus to AC for 1 Round.