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Zaarah's black blade cuts into he red contruct's crystal like butter for her first attack, piercing deep into its torso...however, the crystal construct ignores the shock as if it had no effect...her other attacks fail to penetrate the construct...
The red construct retaliates against Zaarah...
...both fists slamming into her trying to drive her to the ground...
...while the purple attacks Darkpaw...
...and its fist connects with the wolf's right shoulder...
COMBAT! Round 2 - The bold may post!
Rudzik/Wilk
Narika
Zaarah (-37)
Ghukar
Peribras
Darkpaw (-22)
Kramac/Beak
Turret Guns (Orange disabled, Yellow disabled)
Constructs (Red -50)
Darkpaw bites at the golem again and then at Peribras's bidding she steps away.
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Rudzik's first arrow pierces the constructs left thigh, the adamantine sinking in deep; his second and third arrows narrowly miss while his fourth goes well wide...
Darkpaw sinks his teeth into the crystal twice; while its tough exterior resists the worst of the bite, Darkpaw comes away with a couple of small chunks of crystal in her mouth...
Peribas switches to adamantine arrows; his first arrow pierces the construct's breast but his second shot goes high...
COMBAT! Round 2 - The bold may post!
Rudzik/Wilk
Narika
Zaarah (-37)
Ghukar
Peribras
Darkpaw (-22)
Kramac/Beak
Turret Guns (Orange disabled, Yellow disabled)
Constructs (Red -66, Purple -27)
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After knocking out the gun, Narika switches to a spell that can affect the constructs, with black tentacles sprouting aboard the deck and attempting to tie them up...
...while the constructs avoid being grappled, the tentacles will be a nuisance to their movement...
COMBAT! Round 2 - The bold may post!
Rudzik/Wilk
Narika
Zaarah (-37)
Ghukar
Peribras
Darkpaw (-22)
Kramac/Beak
Turret Guns (Orange disabled, Yellow disabled)
Constructs (Red -66, Purple -27)
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Kramac's second swing of the cestus, cuts smoothly through the right side of the purple construct, causing serious damage, while his other two strikes miss. Beak follows up with a vicious bite that lands, but doesn't wreak its normal havoc...
COMBAT! Round 2 - The bold may post!
Rudzik/Wilk
Narika
Zaarah (-37)
Ghukar
Peribras
Darkpaw (-22)
Kramac/Beak
Turret Guns (Orange disabled, Yellow disabled)
Constructs (Red -66, Purple -70)
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The last slam connects with Zaarah's body!
* * *
"Tough things!!"
Zaarah floats in the air and 5 ft steps.
*
Zaarah attacks the crystal red golem! If the red golem drops, she redirect all attacks to violet.
-
-
---
Zaarah successfully casts brand defensively and delivers her touch spell with her Scimitar.
*
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Ghukar's bombs both prove accurate, landing with effect as they explode, sending several chunks of crystal flying off both...
Zaarah then steps up, her sword a whirling dervish, as she cuts through the crystal as if through a steak, dropping red, and then if finishing fashion, sending purple to the deck with a thud as well...
COMBAT Over! Pathfinders victorious!
Zaarah (-19, 4 images)
Darkpaw (-22)
Turret Guns (Orange disabled, Yellow disabled)
Constructs (Red dead, Purple dead)
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After the battle, the ranking officer of the guard welcomes you aboard and thanks you for intervening.
"We're grateful for the rescue; we were goners had you not arrived. The ship had been quiet ever since we first boarded; the only access further seems to be through a sealed door in a compartment below the main deck. One of my men attempted to break through the door just before you arrived, which is apparently what activated the ship’s defenses. Again, we're grateful..."
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As you search, you see the topside decks the King Xeros are multi-level and lack any sort of railing, lying between the obelisk-like tower to the west and the superstructure at the ship’s stern. A series of stairs
connect the foredeck, mid deck, upper deck, and abaft deck. There is a gangway in the upper deck that leads to the deck below but no access from the decks to the command structure. Despite there being no railing, there are ominous plinths, lumps, and nodules situated here and there along the edges of the deck.
To the east is the aforementioned towering superstructure of crystal that rises above the topside decks at the ship’s stern. A great, convex lens of opaque crystal seems to take up most of its forward face, flanked by facet-cut segments of the hull. Wide, sail-like extensions of crystal extend out from the command structure perpendicularly—parallel to the water...
The only magic Ghukar detects is the faint glow of the obelisk-like tower to the west...it is a solid structure though, there is no entry to it...
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You go below to the next lower deck and see...as you descend, the Guardsmen leader says, "This is where the trouble started..."
The compartment appears empty and sterile except for the crumpled bodies of the two Harbor Guardsmen that lie on the floor—smashed by the crystalline automaton that attacked them so suddenly. The opposite end of the compartment has a single door in the bulkhead, seemingly constructed of a single piece of crystal. Lying beside it is an ornate heavy axe with a head of a lustrous silvery metal. From the markings in and around the door, you assume the dead Guardsmen were attempting to bash their way through the door with said axe...
You notice that the door is a smaller than average door and that your animal companions, in their current size, will not fit through it...
Zaarah approaches and tries to enter the door.
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Zaarah also fails to enter on the second attempt...but the third time’s the charm as she enters and disappears from her companions’ view...and the door returns to looking like it was before to the rest of you...
As Ghukar examines the door, when he gets within 10' of it, the door again takes on a shimmering aspect as if viewed through a rippling pond...
A strangely shaped cabin stretches forward, but its dimensions are difficult to make out due to its alien features. Odd, man-sized cubicles seem to be stacked into the bulkheads themselves throughout the room, but whether sleeping berths, holding cells, or simply shelving is unclear. Their true purpose is further masked by the growths of ghostlike plant life that hang throughout the room. Like thick tendrils of ivy and great curling leaves, these colorless tangles and shoots mat the walls, twist upon the deck, and dangle in curtains from the overhead, eerily shifting in and out of phase as they protrude through solid surfaces and each other alike. It is as if sections of them are wholly present and other parts are mere ghost reflections of the strange plant life. The result is a wraithlike maze of otherworldly growths and tangles.
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Ghukar walks through the door and disappears...to those of you remaining, the door turns back to the way it was...
A strangely shaped cabin stretches forward, but its dimensions are difficult to make out due to its alien features. Odd, man-sized cubicles seem to be stacked into the bulkheads themselves throughout the room, but whether sleeping berths, holding cells, or simply shelving is unclear. Their true purpose is further masked by the growths of ghostlike plant life that hang throughout the room. Like thick tendrils of ivy and great curling leaves, these colorless tangles and shoots mat the walls, twist upon the deck, and dangle in curtains from the overhead, eerily shifting in and out of phase as they protrude through solid surfaces and each other alike. It is as if sections of them are wholly present and other parts are mere ghost reflections of the strange plant life. The result is a wraithlike maze of otherworldly growths and tangles.
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Rudzik moves to examine the door...as before with both Zaarah & Ghukar, the door starts to shimmer...
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This ship is strange. Why not just make normal doors? Sometimes wizards are too clever for their own good.
Once we've figured out how this works, Kramac will pull out a scroll of Carry Companion, and ask Rudzik to cast it on Beak. I have 4 castings left if anyone else with a companion would like to avail themselves of it.
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Rudzik scowls as Narika tells them about the door’s properties. ”So who knows where we’ll find ourselves in th’ other side,” he mutters darkly. ”Figures.” With a snap of his fingers, he points at the floor. Wilk obediently sits, but whines. ”Don’t worry - you’ll be back before y’ know it,” the ranger says softly as he scratches the wolf’s chin. With his other hand, he pulls out a scroll from his pack and unrolls it slightly. With another snap, Wilk vanishes and a small stone statue of a wolf sits on the ground. Rudzik scoops it up and carefully puts it in his belt pouch. ”Right, Kramac, y’ need this too on yer bird? What about you, Peribras?”
”Right, y’all go in first ‘n I’ll take up th’ rear.”
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Peribas attempts to carry a shrunken Darkpaw through the portal now attuned to him...
...and he succeeds. The Guard commander shakes his head and addresses the remaining of you. "None of us were allowed to pass...hence, we tried to break down the door and two of us were killed. I'm sorry but you are on your own as we must stay behind; we will await you here though. Good luck..."
The rest of you, Kramac carrying Beak, followed by Narika, and then Rudzik carrying Wilk bringing up the rear, each approach a shimmering door, one at a time, that attunes itself to you, and attempt to enter...
...and they are each allowed to pass through as well, joining the others in the cabin that appears to be on the other side of the door which, from this side, appears just to be a crystal wall with no way of turning back...
A strangely shaped cabin stretches forward, but its dimensions are difficult to make out due to its alien features. Odd, man-sized cubicles seem to be stacked into the bulkheads themselves throughout the room, but whether sleeping berths, holding cells, or simply shelving is unclear. Their true purpose is further masked by the growths of ghostlike plant life that hang throughout the room. Like thick tendrils of ivy and great curling leaves, these colorless tangles and shoots mat the walls, twist upon the deck, and dangle in curtains from the overhead, eerily shifting in and out of phase as they protrude through solid surfaces and each other alike. It is as if sections of them are wholly present and other parts are mere ghost reflections of the strange plant life. The result is a wraithlike maze of otherworldly growths and tangles.
A crystalline grill is inset into a bulkhead with an aperture in the overhead that once provided ventilation, though it is now blocked by a
seamless crystal plug. Side chambers are empty but still have meat hooks and hanging nets embedded in the overhead to provide storage for foodstuffs and other supplies.
The area ahead opens in what appears to be, or have been, the crew's cabin...