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Seeing the beast starting retreat from the flashing blades of Sonna and Elanna, Elien moves to follow after it if for no other reason than to keep it running and well away from Anders. He eyes the creature carefully, once again looking for a soft spot to do the most damage.
Another sharp retort echoes across the lake, magnified by the cold air.
"Stay back, you animal! Elien shouts, "There's no meal for you here!
Ellien: 25
Nurlen: 21
Anders: 10
Orla: 18
Sonna: 17
Elanna: 21
The Beast!: 28
Ellien rushes toward the creature, again trying to scare it with his whip to no avail, as Elanna and Sonna coordinate their attacks. Sonna's strike draws the creature's attention, giving Elanna an oppening to drive her own blade home, and it roars with frustration.
The movement is just enough to throw off Orla's aim as she moves to Anders' side while he climbs to his feet. Nurlens' beam, similarly, doesn't quite find its mark, and the weakened bear claws at its nearest attacker. Sonna ducks its claw, but finds himself out of position as its jaws sink into his shoulder, ripping and tearing. Spitting out the Pathfinder agent, the bear retreats again across the ice.
Beast: 44, enfeebled 2 until end of turn.
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Nurten loses his concentration on the beast and staying upright as Orla copies him. "You can do that too? Now that I think 'bout what you said about that Desna lady, sounds like she's trying to kill me!"
Still, he fires another beam at the creature, then advances. This time, his feet come free of the ice for several seconds before touching back down, slowing him down greatly. "See?! Bet this was her!"
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Elien keeps up the chase, fully believing his whip-cracks are helping to intimidate and the drive the bear away. "Keep harrying him!" he encourages Elanna and Sonna, "Don't let up!"
Hurrying across the ice, he comes within range of the monster once again and lets loose with another lash. "Hah!"
His foot slips a bit on an icy patch free of snow and it throws off his balance.
Ellien: 25
Nurlen: 21
Anders: 10
Orla: 18
Sonna: 17
Elanna: 21
The Beast!: 28
You continue to pursue the creature, which roars in anger as Sonna, Ellien and Elanna harry it. It finally rears back to strike, giving Anders the shot he's been waiting for. He drives an arrow through its eye and it lets out one last strangled cry of pain before toppling over backward, unmoving!
You didn't manage to escape completely unbloodied, but you've killed the beast!
You believe the monster is actually a rare ursine known as a giant short-faced bear.
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"Ha! Ha! Great shot, Anders!" Elien exclaims, glancing back at the bloodied ranger, "I was worried that monster took you out, but clearly it underestimated you. I daresay you could give our best hunters in Ustalav's lodges a run for their money..." The investigator steps forward and pokes the carcass with his foot. "Does anyone recognize this thing? It doesn't look like a typical bear..."
He then lifts his head and looks around the icy lake. "Shouldn't it have been in hibernation? Or is it more like those polar bears I've heard about in the far north?" He steps away and shades his eyes against the sun. "You don't think it ran across any of the other teams, do you? Two Houses and Without Trace or Fail are probably still ahead of us..."
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"Short-faced...?" Elien peers back down at the bear's muzzle. "Well, perhaps so...I guess it's funny the names that certain animals wind up earning just based on their physiology. Why the three-headed chimaera with a lion's head, goat's head, and dragon or snake head wound up being called 'chimaera' though is beyond me. There's nothing in 'chimaera' that says lion, goat, and dragon, you know?"
He heaves a sigh in the cold air, watching the fog of his exhale drift away on the breeze. "So...what now? As invigorating as that battle turned out...and the accomplishment of protecting our competitors from being eaten on the icy tundra...I guess we've still got a race to finish. I highly doubt we can win it with this delay, but we should at least finish, right?"
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As the beast goes down, Elanna drops her sword and starts heaving, hands on her knees. She breathes deeply to try to regain her composure.
After a few moments, she raises up, grabs her sword back, digging through her pack to find some tissue to wipe the blood from it.
"Sorry," she says, "I've never fought anything that big my entire life. That was scary!"
He face still pale, she looks at the beast carcass: "You... you're right Orla. I've seen a pelt of one once. I was told they were very rare."
She kneels by the corpse and takes a better look at it. "Let's find if it's a male or a female. Because there may be cubs around."
"Also, if we want to bring proof, we can just skin it and bring the pelt and the head with us. I suggest offering it to the organizers to celebrate the friendship between different people."
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"Indeed," Elien agrees with Anders. "Orla? You continue to amaze, my dear. And you, too, Elanna. I daresay, you and Sonna and Anders made short work of it. All I managed to do was keep it distracted a bit..." He coils his whip again and puts it away. "Do you really think we have time to skin such a monstrous thing? That usually takes quite awhile, right?" He looks to the experienced hunters in the party for confirmation.
"Well, if we're going to stay for that, perhaps I'll join Sonna in having a look around. Seems like there's a cave over there. If there are any cubs, I'd wager that's where they'll be. We can scout it and then report back..." The investigator then jogs carefully after the paladin of Sarenrae, calling out, "Wait up! I'll come along..."
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"Well, I don't know about that. It's not so much a keen eye as just understanding that the whole world is one big mystery. Everything has its place. And when things are 'out of place' then that's when I start to notice them..." Elien replies, "But let's see what we can find. I'm curious to know the reasons for this short-faced bear's unnatural aggression. Could something more sinister have caused it? I've heard certain druids of the north can command such creatures to do their bidding. I hope nothing like that's behind these incidents. But, given that we've seen plenty of sabotage thus far in the competition, we can't rule out such a thing. Perhaps someone from a prior race had an axe to grind? Or maybe this is one more bit of treachery from Without Trace or Fail to secure the final leg of the Balgirdtrek?"
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While Elien and Sonna are investigating the cave, Elanna busies herself with skinning the short-faced bear.
"We better do it quickly before it freezes. Anyone wants to help me ?", she asks pushes the kill on its back and opens it up from neck to groin with her sharpened dagger.
Replaying the fight in her mind as she peels the bear's skin off, she adds "Nurten, I just realized that you used the same spells as Orla during the fight. Are you a follower of Desna as well?"
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Nurten tries to help, though he'll have to be lent a knife. He's stronger than he looks, at least.
"No!" The goblin doesn't quite look affronted by Elanna's question, but maybe a bit incredulous. "I learned about a couple gods during the Pathfinder training. Zon-Kuthon, Brigh, Pharasma, uh, Abadar; Aroden too, but he's gone. Only heard about this one when Orla was talking 'bout her."
"And I dunno, she sounds nice, but I think she's got it out for me. We two do the same tricks, right? But Orla doesn't get the voices telling her to go to space, or go flying. Right?" He pauses for a look around, as if doubting his conviction or lack of whispers in Orla's head. "Maybe I'm doing whatever it is wrong."
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"Ha, this is one of the classes I skipped at the academy. They were expecting to learn all the names of the gods and all their stories... And you had to stay for hours at a table writing..."
"I know nothing about voices in the head or going flying, but Desna is revered a lot where I lived. She's a good one. Maybe you should try to talk to her."
Despite Orla's protest, a quick search of the cave fortunately reveals no young bears, nor any signs of sabotage. If you had to guess, the new trail for this year's race -- and all the traffic on it from race officials -- simply came too close to its den, disturbing the creature. After that, nature took its course as it investigated the intruders into its territory.
With time of the essence, you depart as quickly as you can. Two tall, wooden linnorm statues mark the finish line to the harrowing Balgirdtrek. Crossing the line, the gathered crowd of spectators cheers and applauds. Racers are met with blankets, soup, and medical supplies almost as soon as they are within the village of Frostgarten, where spectators are gathered to celebrate the competition and those who completed it.
Looking around, you realize there are no other racers there yet -- the fight might have felt like it took a good deal of time, but in truth it was over in less than a minute (even if it may well have been the longest minute of your lives). One of the race officials comes up to greet you. "Well done, Frostfur Friends. Congratulations on your victory! Who would have thought? Now, we may have neglected to tel you (sorry, we didn't expect you to win!), but typically the winning team is tasked with helping to prepare the feast and medical supplies for the remaining racers. Once the last of the teams cross the finish line, of course, then the festivities begin!"
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"The winners of this gruelling overland trek through frozen wastes, after surviving a battle on the last day of the race with a massive bear, are then immediately enlisted to provide hospitality and medical triage for the other teams?" Orla asks with a bit of incredulity.
"Finally! Something I'm good at!" And the halfling rolls up her sleeves, eager to resume something akin to her normal life by reliving her time as a house-halfling for the Ulfen and Kellid teams.
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Plodding along endlessly over the last few miles of the race, Elien kept as strong a pace as he could, smiling at his companions and offering a word of encouragement here or there.
"C'mon...let's show these northerners that Pathfinders are as hearty as they come. Why, our colleagues across the centuries have visited almost every corner of Golarion, you know? Surely, we can do our part to impress the Linnorm Kings, yeah? All we gotta do is finish. That'll shock some people, I'm sure. And especially that Without Trace or Fail team. I'm eager to see the look on their faces when we show up despite their efforts to impede us. And at the end, it won't matter if we don't win. All of us will know we had the bigger victory, because we overcame it all...the elements, the hazards, the sabotage, and even that monstrous beast..."
When Frostgarten is in sight, Elien's spirits lift that much more. "Ho, now! There it is! Let's finish strong, everyone! Put on your determined face. Show'em we're not worn down. Make'em believe we could keep on racing across the tundra for a few days more if we needed to..." Mentally, he tells himself to push away his exhaustion and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Finally, when they reach the finish line and the race officials greet them amid all the cheers, Elien is stunned to learn they're in first place. "What...what did you say...?" he asks between heavy gasps of air to catch his breath, "You mean...no one...got here...ahead of us? That's...that's uh...astounding...amazing..." The investigator looks around at his friends with a beaming smile. "We did it!" he laughs, "Finishing strong...never felt so good!"
Once he's had time to gulp down some soup to warm himself, he just focuses on fully catching his breath, taking a weary seat to rest his aching legs. And when the race officials tell them they need to prepare the feast, he quirks an eyebrow as Orla says exactly what was on his mind...until she gets to the part where she's excited to fulfill that role. Inwardly, he'd like nothing more than to rest and take a really long nap curled up by a fire.
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Nurten looks doubtful about talking with Desna. "Maybe she'll let up if I stay quiet." The rest of the race sees him more half-floating than walking. It's hard to say whether that slows him down or speeds him up.
The goblin is further put out of his comfort zone at having actually won. He puffs out his chest triumphantly. "Ha ha! Knew we could do it! Wonder what place those Trace and Fail chumps are in." He doesn't manage to keep that out of everyone's earshot, possibly prompting someone else to explain.
Once the other teams arrive, he retrieves another implement, sending forth a pulse of positive energy. Better used on actual injuries, but at least it feels good.
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Sonna stares at the official for a moment in disbelief. "Are you sure? We're the first group here?" Concern can be heard in his voice, as he speaks to his team, "We know that Trace and Fail did arrive at the last checkpoint before us, and left before we even arrived. How is it possible we've beaten them here? Perhaps the they ran into the short-faced bear before us, and didn't fair so well? Should we out looking for them?"
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Weighted down by the heavy pelt she is carrying, Elanna tries to conserve her breath, alternating walking and running to conserve her strength. But she can't stifle her laugh at Elien's ceaseless comments.
"Did they kick you out of the academy because no teacher could get a word in?", she asks between breaths. "For the race next year, I'm going to propose that someone gets you a flying carpet and a bullhorn so that you can fly over the race and comment it as it goes."
She punches him playfully on the arm as they reach Frostgarten and he gives his last pep talk: "Got it. Let's look as fresh as is we started one hour ago!"[b]
She raises her head high and reins her labored breath in as they cross the finish line.
Hand on her knees she listened to the officials words of congratulation she jumps, pumps a fist in the air and launches herself at her companions, hugging each of them in turn. [b]"Ha that was a good run! I didn't think we would finish so well. Well done every one."
Once she comes down from her high, she calls to the officials and unrolls the bear pelt. "Talking about supplies, if someone has a large sled, they could follow our tracks. Less than one hour from here, they will come upon a frozen lake and find the freshly killed carcass of a large bear. It will not be completely frozen yet and if they bring it back, we can add it to the feast."
As she explains, she unrolls the pelt, shakes the frost off and shows it around. "We just brought the pets with us because it was too heavy. And yes, that's the beast that was running along and attacked one of your patrols. It attacked us on the last leg. And well..."
She gestures towards the pelt: "Please accept that as a present from the Frostfur Friends to decorate the banquet hall."
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Sonna stares at the official for a moment in disbelief. "Are you sure? We're the first group here?" Concern can be heard in his voice, as he speaks to his team, "We know that Trace and Fail did arrive at the last checkpoint before us, and left before we even arrived. How is it possible we've beaten them here? Perhaps the they ran into the short-faced bear before us, and didn't fair so well? Should we out looking for them?"
"We'd have found traces of them in the cavern or the bear would have been busy munching of them. It's much more likely they did not take the fastest route for the last leg. Let's just wait a little and we'll see."
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Once she has a moment (perhaps during or after the banquet), Orla nudges Nurten.
"Hey there, friend. You seem to have a fair knack for the night sky, much like me. I came by my talents out of necessity. Skulking about as a go-between for the Bellflower Network requires certain skills, if you catch my drift. I worship Desna, but I think I'd be just as interested in the stars if I wasn't a butterfly lover."
"What about you? What's your story?"
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"Um..." Nurten carefully swallows before speaking. "You say you needed your tricks, so there's a difference. I don't know much about mine. I think they just ended up happening."
"I mentioned Numeria, right? That was pretty much just hauling scraps around all day, then the smarter goblins sold those to longshanks. Well one time I found something real nice! Like a house made of metal. Couldn't drag it back home, 'course, so I tried going inside. Not so sure what it was all about, I think I got knocked out at some point, because around then a bunch of dead goblins showed up and started yelling at me. Now I don't even remember if it really happened."
The goblin pauses his rambling to eat some more, still being quiet about it. "Some people said gods don't look like what we think they do. Otherwise our eyes would burn out looking at them or something. So maybe the goblins were a god? They made themselves seem like something I'd understand. Except I didn't, 'cause it was weird..." he trails off at that, sounding less sure by the second.
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Elanna's words seem almost prescient as the next two teams arrive just minutes after you -- first Two Houses, whose faces fall at first when they realize they haven't one, but then clear up as they offer congratulations. "You'll have to tell us how you did it!" Oluf says. "First time, and all. I guess you do live up to your society's names."
Next to arrive is Without Trace or Fail, and they glower at you as they realize you've arrived first. Their scowls only deepen as they're approached by race officials, who escort them to a private tent. You see them emerge sometime later, faces looking like thunderclouds, and simply depart, race officials watching them go.
A few hours later, the remaining teams arrive: Fangs of the Remorhaz, Wyrding Wayfinders, and finally Bluetongue’s Brawlers. All congratulate you, though the Wayfinders seem more disappointed than happy. Still, all the teams join you and the officials as they lead the way to the massive feast. You're each given a place of honor, surrounded by other teams. They -- a race official confides -- have been told that they're not allowed to participate in the celebration, and furthermore have been banned from ever participating in the Balgirdtrek ever again for their actions during this year's race.
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Elanna is happy to see every team arrives safely and takes some time to discuss with the Two Houses team answering their questions about the race: "Thanks for the kind words Oluf, we did not think we would be that competitive when we started the race. But I think we had people coming from very different places and that our abilities combined well. You also have that in your team. But the main secret is that we had Desna on our side.", she adds with a wink and a wave towards Orla and Nuerten.
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Anders congratulates the rest of the group. Well done everyone. It was our pleasure to work with all of ya, wasn't it Snirt?
Snirt barks.
"And back to you as well.", she replies as she knees by Snirt to pet it.
"You are a good fellow, aren't you Snirt ? You take good care of your master and maybe we'll have a chance to work together again"