Mykel (Damage: 7, Fire Resist 20)
Kahwen
Toral (Damage: 20)
Nectanebo Ellismus (Damage: 21)
Kahwen stands at the door to below decks, checking to make sure his party is ready to go.
Feeble gray light shines through narrow rectangular apertures above corroded metal cannon-like structures, illuminating this surprisingly spacious ship’s hold. The ceiling rises to 10 feet high. The cannons that Sempet Sevenfingers once used on the Voracious have been altered and corroded by the alien environment of Leng; they are now no more than cannon-shaped lumps of useless iron. The cabins to the fore and aft of this deck once held slaves, but only iron rings remain.
The creature turns around when Kahwen enters its domain and stops playing its pipes immediately. It has a pale, froglike appearance with clawed hands, no eyes, a wide mouth, and a snout ending in pink tentacles. A voice rings out in your minds, cold and alien. "This place is not a place of honor…no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here… nothing valued is here."
21 Kahwen
20 Ellismus
17 Mykel
14 Nectanebo
12 Beast
4 Toral
Kahwen cuts into the creatures flesh and finds it is blubbery and alien, with nothing resembling anatomy to strike at!
21 Kahwen
20 Ellismus
17 Mykel
14 Nectanebo
12 Beast (Damage: 16)
4 Toral
Mykel scores a hit, but likewise finds his precise strike blunted by the strange anatomy.
21 Kahwen
20 Ellismus
17 Mykel
14 Nectanebo
12 Beast (Damage: 25)
4 Toral
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Ellismus takes to the air, swooping downstairs and preparing a bomb for the malevolent thing, while adding "Get out of my head, you sorry excuse for toad!"
Ellismus uses a special, utterly black vial as a bomb catalyst, unsure that fire would be wise in the hold of an old ship. The black vial appears stiff and hard to handle, as if a million tiny wheels were spinning at incredible speeds within its carefully disguised interiors...
vs. Touch AC
The great beast absorbs the explosive force while still keeping its footing.
21 Kahwen
20 Ellismus
17 Mykel
14 Nectanebo
12 Beast (Damage: 43)
4 Toral
The beast reaches into Kahwen and Ellismus' minds, assaulting them with alien imagery. It then retreats further into the hold.
21 Kahwen
20 Ellismus
17 Mykel
12 Beast (Damage: 43)
14 Nectanebo
4 Toral
Both Kahwen and Ellismus fall prey to the beasts mental assault! Mykel manages to deal another cut to it on its retreat, but not enough to stop it.
21 Kahwen (Confused 1/?)
20 Ellismus (Confused 1/?)
17 Mykel
12 Beast (Damage: 61)
14 Nectanebo
4 Toral
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Looking at Kahwen's behavior and understanding that something slimy has also crawled into his brain with psychic magic, Ellismus' fading mind races. Calculating the probabilities of him doing harm to his friends versus the amount of limbs and appendages sticking out of the fleeing creature, Ellismus makes the decision to pursue the beast while his wits are still his.
"I know this is going to hurt me... but if my wits fail me, ye'll all potentially burn in this floatin' wooden coffin. So long Pathfinders. It was nice to know ye!"
Ellismus soars down the hold, above the cannons, and tosses another force bomb at the creature, trying to get its attention.
vs. Touch AC
The fell beast raises a clawed hand as Ellismus soars in, but then waggles a finger tauntingly. The explosion rocks it backwards, but it does not fall.
21 Kahwen (Confused 1/?)
20 Ellismus (Confused 1/?)
17 Mykel
16 Nectanebo
14 Toral
12 Beast (Damage: 80)
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Toral looks down the steps and hops through space to arrive at the bottom of the stairs.
Knowledge: Arcana +3 (Rank 1, Int +2)
Knowledge: Dungeoneering +3 (Rank 1, Int +2)
Knowledge: Engineering +3 (Rank 1, Int +2)
Knowledge: Geography +3 (Rank 1, Int +2)
Knowledge: History +6 (Rank 1, Class +3, Int +2)
Knowledge: Local +6 (Rank 1, Class +3, Int +2)
Knowledge: Nature +6 (Rank 1, Class +3, Int +2)
Knowledge: Nobility +3 (Rank 1, Int +2)
Knowledge: Planes +11 (Rank 6, Class +3, Int +2)
Knowledge: Religion +6 (Rank 1, Class +3, Int +2)
He then tries to slumber the beast.
Toral's sudden shift through time does not seem to startle the moon beast in any noticeable way. The slump of its shoulders as the slumber takes hold is a welcome relief however.
21 Kahwen (Confused 2/?)
20 Ellismus (Confused 2/?)
17 Mykel
16 Nectanebo
14 Toral
12 Beast (Damage: 80, Unconscious 1/9)
Edit: Nectanebo waits on the upper deck, hearing the danger has been relegated to just the party members themselves!
Ellismus finds his mind clearing thanks to a good cuppa!
21 Kahwen (Confused 2/?)
20 Ellismus
17 Mykel
16 Nectanebo
14 Toral
12 Beast (Damage: 80, Unconscious 1/9)
Kahwen and Mykel trade sword blows, Kahwen landing a devastating slash while the duelist's restraint hampers him until a lucky blow catches the tengu solidly in the head, sending him senseless to the floor!
21 Kahwen (Damage: 40 Nonlethal, Unconscious, Confused 2/?)
20 Ellismus
17 Mykel (Damage: 36)
16 Nectanebo
14 Toral
12 Beast (Damage: 80, Unconscious 1/9)
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Nectanebo stares into the gloom overhead, perhaps a bit too entranced by the possibility that he knows where they now are (while also being frustrated by not being entirely certain about it).
"Could we really be in...the legendary realm of Leng???"
That off his chest, it is around this time that he finally takes a look somewhere other than the sky or horizon.
"Uhh...FELLOWS? Are you doing alright down there...?"
He begins his cautious descent...until he sees IT.
"...WHOAH."
One nice thing about old pirate-ships, though, Nectanebo reflects as he peers over the staircase...
"Ahoy there, mate; stretch your sea-legs a spell, we need all hands...!"
...you can always find spare skeletons lying around!
Nectanebo's newest recruit stands up in a momentary shower of unguessably-old dust, salutes its 'cap'n', and staggers cautiously over to the slumbering horror, interposing itself between big monster and the little alchemist, but takes no rash action...yet.
21 Kahwen (Damage: 40 Nonlethal, Unconscious, Confused 2/?)
20 Ellismus
17 Mykel (Damage: 36)
16 Nectanebo
14 Toral
12 Beast (Damage: 80, Unconscious 1/9)
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I'll do it...just be ready of the thing survives...I haven't dealt with one of these things before...no telling how tough it is... Mykel says as he looks for a spot to plunge his blade into and shoves it in to the hit and twists it as he pulls it out. He stands ready in case it rouses from its sleep.
As Mykel stabs into the beast, he finds no heart to skewer, the attack rousing it from slumber. It lifts its head and speaks a word into the Pathfinders minds. "Parley."
21 Kahwen (Damage: 40 Nonlethal, Unconscious, Confused 2/?)
20 Ellismus
17 Mykel (Damage: 36)
16 Nectanebo
14 Toral
12 Beast (Damage: 95)
"Call me Yl’nesegva. The guardian of the traitor, Hrethnar Olvaradsson. Your presence can only mean freedom or death to the captive. Neither option can be allowed."
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Thoroughly fascinated by both the monster and the opportunity being presented, Nectanebo gets busy with The Adventurer's Greeting (AKA "pestering strangers with questions"):
"Is this truly the plane of Leng?"
"For how long have you been guarding 'the traitor'?"
"Why do you guard him? Do you do so by magickal binding, by volition, by incentive, or something else?"
"WHAT WAS Hrethnar's treachery?"
"Why is neither freedom nor death acceptable?"
"In what state of being does Hrethnar remain imprisoned?"
"Irrelevant questions from an irrelevant being. The traitor will remain for eternity, bound below. If you proceed to eliminate the intruders within, only then will the gate be allowed to open. Human, halfling, troll, all have proceeded to the cell. I am forbidden entry, even to deal with them."
"Cooperation. These pipes." The moon beast gestures to the discard instrument on the floor.
With the parley complete, the beast summons a darkly opaque portal and indicates it is the way forward. By the time Kahwen is awakened from his injuries, the confusion has passed.
Stepping through the portal trasports the party to the bottom of the ship. Completely devoid of furnishings, this bleak and uninviting ship’s hold is bathed in a feeble gray light, akin to starlight. The ceiling is 10 feet tall and the floor is affixed with several iron rings. The strange light provides dim illumination throughout the hold.
“See, my lord Hrethnar?” the dark-haired elven woman says with a honeyed voice. “It is just as I said; you are no longer safe here. Let us work together to dispatch these assassins. Then, once I free you from this horrible place, we can return to Golarion, loot your treacherous master’s tomb, and return to a life of blood and plunder!”
The broad-chested Ulfen shakes his head. “I will not rush my decision, Faroon. You and your words are both lovely to me, but I want to hear what these bravos have to say first.” He turns to his new visitors. “I seek to leave this prison and exact my revenge against my former master, Sempet Sevenfingers. What have you to offer me? Before you answer, consider this: only I have the power to reach Sevenfingers’s final tomb.”
The man then opens the front of his robe to partially reveal his bare chest. Many tiny arcane runes and sigils are tattooed into his flesh. They glow softly as they reflect the pale gray light of the hold.
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Toral would have investigated the pipes that the dream creature discarded.
When they arrive to see the new scene Toral is clearly confused.
”Greeting lord Hrethnar! I think we have to start with introductions first! I am Toral and my companions and I are members of the pathfinder society! If you are sevenfinger’s enemy than we might be allies because also we see him as an opponent. We have come here to understand this place. The people that arrived here before us are not our friends and attacked us. This means nothing to you lord Hrethnar but to us they are enemies! What is it that you seek … how can we help you?!“ he asks.
"Your society means nothing to me. But you claim to oppose Sevenfingers himself? Then we may have something in common. Do you offer me freedom to act against him?"
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When Kahwen is awakened he is obviously distraught.
"My most abject apologies, Friend Mykel. I don't know what happened. I was certain you were an imposter, but clearly that is not true. Many thanks for not seriously injuring me when you defended yourself," he says, bowing repeatedly.
"What would your acting against him involve?" Kahwen asks the man in the lower deck warily.
"VENGEANCE! Retribution for this ages long imprisonment!"
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"Your gaoler was quite the miser, at least where mind and spirit are concerned. Can you tell me, is this truly the legendary plane of Leng?"
"For how long have you been a prisoner here?"
"Do you know ought of your warden? Why does it serve Sevenfingers in this capacity?"
"WHY were you imprisoned in the first place?"
"Your warden told us that neither your freedom nor your death was acceptable; I must admit I am curious as to what state that leaves you existing in. Normally, Humans are like bananas: Two days unripe, one day ripe, three days rotting, and by the seventh day dead."
Nectanebo then turns to the Elven woman with a small, cryptic smile.