Male Ancient Jininese Elf || HP 346; AC 44; Fort +34; Ref +32; Will +32; Perc +30 (+32 when Init)
"Yoh! Ram them!" I shouted. The pilot responded with his actions, and the air ship turned deceptively quickly to smash into the kami. I brace myself for the crash, then lash out with my blade.
Xin moves to support Hotcha, striking her foe with a critical hit! Hotcha pummels the kaminari, then Xin stabs it again, taking it down. The hulking creature groans and topples off of his cloud, plummeting to the ground below.
Will vs Fear:1d20 + 27 ⇒ (11) + 27 = 38 Reflex vs Ramming!:1d20 + 31 ⇒ (16) + 31 = 47
"Brother!" the other kaminari shouts in anger. He cowers a bit as Yog's spell affects him, but dodges out of the way as Yoh tries to ram him with the Solar Jian II! But Yoh brings the ship up alongside the huge creature, allowing Esh to attack
The kaminari dodges the elf's strikes and strikes him back with his massive fists!
She strikes with extreme power, hoping to shove the foe off his cloud!
⏭1mm:1d20 + 34 ⇒ (20) + 34 = 54 S,cold,fire,force:9d8 + 6 + 3d6 ⇒ (8, 7, 7, 8, 3, 8, 8, 2, 5) + 6 + (1, 2, 2) = 67 x 2 = 134
DC40 fort or stun
DC40 fort or shove
• S 5’
• F 10’
• CF 30’
DC34 fort or slow
DC27 fort or 5’ shove P.Fire:2d10 ⇒ (7, 10) = 17
With all four of you focusing your fury on the second kaminari, beating him to within an inch of his life in a matter of moments. "Alright, I yield!" he shouts. "You mortals are powerful, indeed! I will clear the clouds for you, but beware the raging kaiju!"
The spirit zips away on his cloud, and the roiling storm clouds trail away in his wake, clearing a path for your airship to land.
The members of the Steps of the Sun wave to you from the edge of the caldera. The roc they were riding on is badly wounded, as are several of team members, but they will survive thanks to your intervention. "Good luck, friends! We'll meet up with you when you're done here!" the catfolk Halspun the Stung calls as you zoom by.
Yoh brings the Solar Jian II down through the clouds, landing at the base of the massive mountain. Loose volcanic cinder clinks and crunches underfoot, broken only by the occasional spindly red ohia flower. Every so often, a distorted screech echoes through the air, causing the pebbles on the ground to rattle. A twenty-foot-wide boulder covered in rectangular paper talismans rests against the side of the hill.
The party can attempt to simply shove the boulder aside by force, which requires three successful DC 40 Athletics checks. Magically inclined adventurers might attempt to teleport past it or phase through the boulder, casting spells such as with passwall or meld into stone. However, the paper talismans affixed to the boulder project a lattice of force through the stone for hundreds of feet in all directions (including straight down) that also attempts to counteract teleportation effects and planar travel. This has the effects of a 9th-level dimensional lock spell, except that it affects only attempts to cross through the mountainside within 300 feet of the boulder. The heroes can disable the talismans’ magic with two successful DC 35 Religion checks or remove them from the boulder with two successful DC 38 Thievery checks. Once the talismans are negated or removed, the boulder can be moved with a single DC 30 Athletics check, as the magic anchoring it in place fades.
Yog'Moi goes to work on the talismans but quickly turns around to the others for help. "Perhaps one of you can give me a hand? If we perform a minor ritual at the same time, accompanied by a proper intercessantance dance, you know, the Hotcha thingie, I'm sure we can undo their magic and roll away this blaster boulder."
I examine the talismans, gently fluttering in the sporadic breeze. Wards and prayers to keep the foolish out and the kaiju in. Wise. I kneel and pray, once to Shizuru, once to Tsukiyo. I push the boulder up enough to get my hands under it, then with a grunt lift. It is heavy, but not as heavy as I feared. I can almost feel the arms of the gods supporting me. Once we're all through I set the boulder back down as gently as I can, though dust and pebbles still puff up from the ground as I drop it the last little bit. I dust off my robe, pleased.
After taking a few minutes to rest, refocus, and heal, you enter the lava tube that was behind the boulder. The cool air within this cavernous tunnel is sticky and humid, and the dripping of water can be heard between distant cries and crashes. Any light from the outside is quickly lost in the cavern’s twists and turns.
The lava tube winds for a quarter mile, then the tunnel begins to shake with the movement of nearby creatures. A pair of enormous crimson worms suddenly burrow in from the walls, mouthparts gnashing as they close to attack!
Actions 1+2) Haste: everyone gets Haste for 1 minute | Action 3) cast Shield for +1 AC
The pair of oversized crimson worms manage to enrage Yog'Moi as he's aching to meet, greet and defeat the kaji. Couldn't they feed on someone their own size?! "AHHH! So big yet so stupid! We'll be the ones eating YOU!!!"
Xin spurs Esh to move forward as he moves up as well. The rogue attacks, but fails to find a chink in the giant worm's carapace.
The superheated worm Xin attacked thrashes about, clamping its jaws around the rogue and impaling Esh with its stinger. It quickly swallows Xin whole and slithers back some. The other one opens its maw wide and breathes forth a blast of burning flames that fill the tunnel!
120 physical and 27 fire damage to Xin! He is Swallowed Whole (3d10+10 bludgeoning plus 2d6 fire, AC 38 while flat-footed, Rupture 36). 21 piercing and 8 fire damage to Esh, and he must attempt a DC 41 Fortitude save against Crimson Worm Venom. Esh, Hotcha, and Xin take 53 fire damage from the breath weapon (DC 41 basic Reflex save). Everybody may act!
Crimson Worm Venom:
Saving Throw DC 41 Fortitude, Maximum Duration 6 rounds; Stage 1 1d6 poison damage and drained 1 (1 round), Stage 2 2d6 poison damage and drained 1 (1 round); Stage 3 2d6 poison damage and drained 2 (1 round).
Yog cracks open a cold one and uses it, and Hei Feng's power, to aid Esh. "I shouldn't have told them we're going to eat them! Now they're beating, eh, biting us to the punch!"
Actions 1+2+3) lvl5 Heal with Defense Recovery on Esh Heal:5d8 + 40 + 1d4 ⇒ (8, 6, 2, 6, 5) + 40 + (4) = 71 Esh gets a +2 status bonus to AC & saves 1 round
Esh fails to hit the worm, but Hotcha lands several blows and Xin stabs it from inside. Undeterred, the worm thrashes about again. It misses both fairy and elf, then it crawls away again.
58 physical and 18 fire damage to Yog'Moi. He is Swallowed Whole by the second worm (3d10+10 bludgeoning plus 2d6 fire, AC 38 while flat-footed, Rupture 36). Everybody may act!
Stuck with a sword in a tight space, Yog'Moi instead channels his inner rage in a desperate attempt to get out! No way will he suffer the indignation of becoming a monster's grub, this is not how it is going to happen.
Hotcha pummels the hulking worm while Esh follows up with two powerful slices. Xin stabs the thing from inside, succeeding at doing enough damage to kill the beast! As it lies still, the rogue is still stuck inside of it!
The other worm thrashes about as Yog harms it from inside. The worm's gullet crushes and roasts the hobgoblin. The worm breathes forth fire on Esh and Hotcha!
The ground shakes as the kaiju continue to battle nearby. A burst of magma suddenly erupts beneath the second worm! Though it doesn't hurt you, the worm seems to be absorbing the energy from it to quickly heal its injuries...
20 bludgeoning and 5 fire damage to Yog. Esh and Hotcha take 68 fire damage from the breath weapon (DC 41 basic Reflex save). Everybody may act! A swallowed creature can be freed by creatures adjacent to the corpse if they spend a combined total of 3 actions cutting the monster open with a weapon or unarmed attack that deals piercing or slashing damage. Esh will do that on his turn so Xin can be free to act!
As Yog blasts the worm from inside of it, the rest of you converge on the creature. Esh manages to land one hit, while Hotcha and Xin slash and stab it repeatedly! At last, the creature falls, and you are able to slice Yog'Moi free!
Yog'Moi flashes Esh a toothy grin. "We're simply a delectable bunch of misfits, now ain't we?!" He had heard the word delectable somewhere before. Some fancy figure used it to describe how yummy the food was to a chef - surely they're yummy too.
The hobgoblin takes joy in Xin's misery and barks out a mean-spirited laugh. "That's one way of putting it, yes. I'd say let's take a breather, but perhaps this ain't the place for that. Should we back out, have me tend to our wounds, and then proceed?"
Strewn about are the partial remains from a previous band of explorers. Though mostly decayed and rusting, some of their equipment remains useful, namely a suit of dragonhide armor and a +3 greater striking greater thundering pick.
You fall back and rest for a while, tending to your wounds and regaining your focus. When you are ready, you push on past the site of your battle with the worms. The lava tube exits into the Blasted Lands proper, revealing a spectacular (and terrifying) conflict of titanic proportions:
Steep vertical cliffs ring the caldera, and a few hundred feet up, the trapped clouds form a thick overcast ceiling, though one that still lets through dispersed light. Two massive creatures battle in the center of the caldera. One, shaped like a massive purple manta ray, scatters numerous black orbs as it flies through the air. Wherever the orbs land, bizarre trees made of obsidian and basalt bloom in an instant and are covered in multicolored lichen. The other, a gargantuan behemoth composed of green ooze that constantly emits emerald lightning, stomps across the caldera, crushing and frying the alien forests as quickly as they manifest.
A path leads down the rocky ledge to a kipuka of gingko trees—an island of life spared from the surrounding devastation. As you hurry down the path, Alru—the earthbound kaiju of destruction—bellows, drowning out thunderclaps as emerald lightning courses through her body. In response, Toraloa—the flying source of alien life—flares his wings and lets out a piercing screech. The angled walls of the caldera magnify the sound many times over.
Through the trees is a clearing with a fifteen-foot-tall rock formation at its center. Six masked figures—recognizable as the Speakers to the Winds—remain atop it, though four of them lie unconscious. Beneath the rock, three horned beasts circle the group, the ground beneath their glowing claws clearly furrowed by their repeat passage. As one of the gnolls—recognizable as Phuthi Nuware—raises a hand that crackles with magic, the creatures roar loudly, causing her spell to disappear with a fizzle. She collapses, and the sole remaining figure, Professor Mafika Ayuwari, raises his staff with a hopeless expression.
Doing what he does best, Yog'Moi rushes forward without a thought or worry on his mind. All that there is inside the hobgoblin is a desire to rescue, to dazzle, and to be the star of this show. And, if possible, kick some ass along the way.
The corpulent priest is surprisingly fast as he wobbles forward with zero grace. Once he's amidst the Speakers to the Winds, he cracks open up a foul brew and chugs it in one go. What follows is a bellow that imitates those of the kaiju. The thunderous sound causes skin to split and flesh to burst.
Luckily for the Speakers, Yog'Moi considers them friends. "We gotcha! Yog's here!", he says under his breath after finishing his spell.
Action 1) Stride | Actions 2+3) Wail of the Banshee vs DC 39 Fort
Wail of the Banshee:
https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=361
Area 40-foot emanation
Saving Throw Fortitude
Your scream chills the souls of enemies that hear it. Each living enemy in the area takes 8d10 negative damage and must attempt a Fortitude save.
Critical Success: The creature is unaffected.
Success: The creature takes full damage.
Failure: The creature takes full damage and is drained 1d4.
Critical Failure: The creature takes double damage and is drained 4.
Yog'Moi unleashes a mighty wail--that has no effect at all on the magic-resistant monsters! Esh doesn't know what they are, but he gets angry and rushes towards them nonetheless.
One of the creatures moves to engage Esh, but the other two dash around the elf and close in on Yog'Moi, ripping with teeth and claws!
Yog'Moi can't do much but weather the storm. The damned beasts seem to be impervious to his magic, so he might as well focus on staying alive and helping out the Speakers!
Actions 1+2) Heal (self) | Action 3) Echoing Channel (an ally next to me also gets healed! - perhaps one of the Speakers!) Heal:6d8 + 1d4 + 48 ⇒ (1, 6, 5, 5, 2, 3) + (1) + 48 = 71 Recovery vs Bleed DC 15:1d20 ⇒ 10 Damage:1d10 ⇒ 10 200/260 HP
Xin enacts his marshal's aura and flanks one of the creatures menacing Yog, scoring a critical hit! Esh struggles to hit his opponent, but Hotcha flanks that creature and lands a critical hit, leaving it briefly stunned!
Professor Ayuwari casts a poweful spell. One of the creatures turns to growl at him, trying to negate the magic, but the professor perseveres and scores a critical hit with a polar ray, leaving it badly wounded and drained!
Yog falls to the relentless assault and hits the ground like a sack of lard. His tummy continues to shake like jelly, indicating that for now, he's still drawing breath.
Recovery check vs DC 11:1d20 ⇒ 10 Yog goes from Dying 1 to Dying 2
Xin moves up to engage the enemy Hotcha and Esh are fighting, using his tactical cadence to give his teammates a burst of speed. He stabs the wounded beast, then Hotcha takes it out with her second attack. The sprite flies over to help Yog'Moi as Esh also moves to his aid. Hotcha lands two powerful hits, then Esh finishes off the beast that took down Yog with two strikes of his own!
One beast remains, and Professor Ayuwari fires another polar ray at it. The creature fails to counteract the spell, which strikes true.
