Thriss'k moves up, and with a swipe, wipes the rune off the floor.
Resinosa moves up to a captive, but as soon as they approach, the captive slashes with a dagger.
↺ vs FF
plus
--Round 2
Thriss'k [NV] (26/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, minor curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (16/16) 2 actions
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (20/36) 2 actions, Act Together used
--Round 3
Yellow [Recall: Society, Unobserved to everyone]
Green [Recall: Society, Unobserved to everyone]
Blue [Recall: Society, Unobserved to everyone]
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (26/26, drained 1)
Red [Recall: Society, Observed to everyone]
Orange: "human prisoners," Pink: rune etched on floor
Resinosa swings and misses, but then twirls all the way around and gets Green with its real attack.
Yellow and Blue act.
--Round 3
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (26/26, drained 1)
Red [Recall: Society, Observed to everyone]
Thriss'k [NV] (26/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, minor curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (16/16) 2 actions
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (20/36) 2 actions, Act Together used
--Round 4
Yellow [Recall: Society, Unobserved to everyone]
Green (-39 hp)
Blue [Recall: Society, Unobserved to everyone]
Orange: "human prisoners," Pink: rune etched on floor
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Ghul moves up cautiously to the "human prisoner" most northerly...
"What say you?" wary as the last of these "human prisoners" made sudden violent moves...
◆) Raise Shield
◆) Stride
+
↺) Glimpse of Redemption
↺) Shield Block
~) First Reaction to Trigger
Ghul retaliates!
◆) Strike
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Now able to see at least one of their foes, Corona moves up next to Resinosa and takes a good look - after all, she might have to write all this down later.
"You really should just give up now, before anyone else gets hurt," she remarks as she expends a little of her focus to keep the lights on.
______________
Ghul moves up, and isn't surprised when the human prisoner transforms into a kayal and stabs at him.
His return shot doesn't hit, either.
Corona knows they can cast illusory disguise at will.
She sees a bunch of other shadowy runes disappear as her dancing lights shine light on them.
Red draws another hatchet and moves up to Ghul, slashing at him.
--Round 3
Thriss'k [NV] (26/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, minor curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (16/16)
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (20/36)
--Round 4
Yellow
Green (-39 hp)
Blue
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (18/26, drained 1)
Red
--Round 3
Thriss'k [NV] (26/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, minor curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (16/16)
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (20/36)
--Round 4
Yellow
Green (-39 hp)
Blue
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (25/26, shield 19/20, drained 1)
Red
Rawiri moves up and his fiery companion sets Yellow ablaze!
Resinosa moves up and strikes with a tendril. A root strike comes close, but barely misses.
Thriss'k sends in a bolt of flame, which hits Blue.
Yellow slashes at the jaguar.
Having taken its retribution, he tries to put out his fire.
Unfortunately for the Pathfinders, the kayal knew how to "stop, drop, and roll" without dropping or rolling!
Blue gives up the disguise and steps up to Resinosa, slashing with his dagger.
--Round 4
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (25/26, shield 19/20, drained 1)
Red
Thriss'k [NV] (26/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, major curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (10/18)
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (15/36)
--Round 5
Yellow (-11 hp, 2d4 persistent fire)
Green (-39 hp)
Blue (-14 hp)
Rearing up on powerful hind legs and braying with gusto, Unifax - - slams his hooves down and bounds over and around the furniture - tables and chairs leapt over like a handsome and galloping showpony! - and arrives before the elusive antagonist - "Red" - and runs him through with his Knotted Golden Horn!
◆◆) Stride x2
◆) Strike
+
↺) Glimpse of Redemption
...nearby, Ghul looks on, looking to protect his mighty steed or any of his adjacent allies from the impending violence of retaliation: Offering to them a chance at Redemption...
Unifax charges Red. He almost misses, but heroically twists to gore his target!
Corona sustains the dancing lights and strikes with her longspear, but the attack misses.
Red turns his hatchet on his attacker.
--Round 4
Thriss'k [NV] (26/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, major curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (10/18)
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (15/36)
--Round 5
Yellow (-11 hp, 2d4 persistent fire)
Green (-39 hp)
Blue (-14 hp)
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (19/26, shield 19/20, drained 1)
Red (-10 hp, enfeebled 2 0/1)
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"You've got this, right," Thriss'k says to Corona and Resinosa. "I'll go help out Unifax and Jaguar."
Thriss'k moves up, right in flanking position with both the noble steed and the flaming feline , then casts a melee Produce Flame on whoever looks the most damaged.
↺) Nimble Dodge
Rawiri's fiery dagger reaches out and burns Red, but his jaguar is too distracted watching it to make use of its attacks.
Thriss'k also joins in, his flame catching Red completely off-guard.
--Round 4
Thriss'k [NV] (26/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, major curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (10/18)
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (15/36)
--Round 5
Yellow (-11 hp, 2d4 persistent fire)
Green (-39 hp)
Blue (-14 hp)
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (19/26, shield 19/20, drained 1)
Red (-28 hp, enfeebled 2 0/1, 4d4 persistent fire)
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Boost Eidolon
Act Together: Resinosa Strike, SotP Cast Heal on self
vs flat-footed
Yellow lashes out at Thriss'k, who has helpfully inserted himself into a flank.
vs flat-footed
plus
vs flat-footed
plus
vs flat-footed
plus
Thriss'k is cut twice.
Yellow gasps, "From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee." Then he activates the Genesis device and collapses.
Blue slashes at Resinosa.
Blue slashes very effectively, nearly undoing all the healing.
--Round 5
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (19/26, shield 19/20, drained 1)
Red (-28 hp, enfeebled 2 0/1, 4d4 persistent fire)
Thriss'k [NV] (15/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, major curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (10/18)
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (18/36)
--Round 6
Yellow (-18 hp)
Green (-39 hp)
Blue (-14 hp)
Unifax keeps up the barrage, pinning his foe between himself and his ally!
◆◆) Strike x2
Corona casts a spell at Blue, but the spell misses. It looks like it would have done damage, had it hit, though.
Ghul prepares for retalitation, but none comes - Unifax's first strike floors Red.
--Round 5
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (19/26, shield 19/20, drained 1) 2 actions
Red (-38 hp)
Thriss'k [NV] (15/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, major curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (10/18)
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (18/36)
--Round 6
Yellow (-18 hp)
Green (-39 hp)
Blue (4/18 hp)
The kayal hisses in a foreign language.
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Thriss'k's flame shoot out at the kayal, and just as it's about to hit him, he yells, "I changed my mind!" and soils himself as he dies.
--End
Corona [NV] (28/28, minor curse)
Ghul [LLV] & Unifax [DV] (19/26, shield 19/20, drained 1)
Thriss'k [NV] (15/26)
Rawiri [DV] (28/28, major curse) / Jaguar [LLV, scent 30'] (10/18)
Smell of the Pines [LLV] / Resinosa [LLV] (18/36)
Numerous valuable objects and assorted documents lie in heaps on top of two large tables in this elevated room. The items include assorted art objects such as statuettes, ceremonial weapons, and jewelry, as well as a few precious stones.
objects crafted to resemble items from ancient Iobaria.
The assorted documents include detailed tactical information on the Pathfinder Society’s lodges in Andoran (), Cheliax (), Osirion (), Qadira (), and Taldor (), as well as the Grand Lodge itself (), such as guard rotation schedules, pass phrases, entrances and exits, room dimensions, unusual features, dossiers on the lodges’ leaders, and timelines of recent events in those locales.
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"Oops, should've said something sooner," Corona remarks cheerfully as the last foe collapses to the ground. "Have fun in the afterlife - or don't."
The danger past, she takes a few moments to look around the room and at all of the various items piled on the tables.
"Faaaaaake. A lot of these things are fakes, New Friends. They only look like they're from ancient Iobaria."
"Oooh...be careful, New Friends! I think there's some sort of latent curse on some of these things, probably the things that aren't fakes. But I can't really figure what sort of a curse or why it's not active...or what you'd need to do *to* activate it."
And last but not least, when the documents are perused her eyes light up at the mention of the Andoran lodge. "Hey, I've been there! Helped out with some trouble not too long ago..."
There's a slight shuffling sound from outside before Settie pokes her head in through the open door.
"Is it over? Took long enough, hehehe!"
The poppet seems to be unusually proud of her lack of contribution to the scuffle.
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Ghul weeps for the Kayal who at the last moment had chosen to redeem himself, but was instead engulfed in a final killing flame.
The ducts in his eyes long since dried out, instead of salty tears streaming down his cracked cheeks, he kneels in his heavy and rusted armor, the creaking sounds adding to the heaves of his chest that pulse with the sporadicity of embodied sadness, chipping away at his soul, his soft but raspy moans emanating out from his bowed head cupped in his open-palm hands covering his face in shame.
Unifax comes to gently stand beside him, silent and empathetic in his support, and letting the spell run it's full course with stolid patience, his golden horn reflecting the single beam of sunlight now shining through a just-fallen window board, pouring a faint light into this dark room...
Ghul weeps for the Kayal who at the last moment had chosen to redeem himself, but was instead engulfed in a final killing flame.
---
At the Blakros Museum, Seshuun is glad the Pathfinders uncovered what they did, but is upset the Onyx Alliance were able to get the drop on the Sixwing Drake’s crew of Pathfinders in the first place. She expresses concern for the apparently missing crew, and hopes the Society is able to learn what happened to them—and discover how the Onyx Alliance managed to pull of their heist. She offers to help the Pathfinders with any information she acquires in the future, but states that she’ll be quite busy setting up a different exhibit for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, she also intends to speak with her superiors at the museum about the Onyx Alliance, as she knows that group has a complex history with the Blakros family.
At the Grand Lodge, Ambrus Valsin listens to the Pathfinders’ report. He believes that the Onyx Alliance learned of the shipment, stole it with the help of powerful enchantment magic to manipulate the crew and dockworkers, and then prepared to replace the goods with their cursed items in hopes of setting off some kind of disaster at the Blakros Museum. He ponders why the Onyx Alliance is suddenly lashing out at the Blakros Museum and the Society Whatever the cause, he suspects their attack ties in with the similar disruptive events occurring at lodges across the Inner Sea, and the presence of detailed information on the lodges is only further proof that the Onyx Alliance is coordinating these attacks. Valsin asks the Pathfinders to steel themselves for the missions ahead, as he hopes to send them to the lodges under threat in short order!
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Thriss'k curses as the final kayal yells for redemption and Ghul starts weeping. He rushes to them and attempts to put the fire out and provide first aid if possible.
Sadly, the kayal's wounds are too severe to relieve, and they die in Thriss'k's arms. After a moment, Thriss'k lies them back on the ground.
"I'm sorry Ghul, I tried my best. It wasn't meant to be, I guess."
He sits next to Ghul and provides emotional support until he's ready to leave the tavern.
After you stopped the plot to sabotage the Pathfinder Society, it's been quiet in Absalom. No devious plots turn up, no smear campaigns, nothing. In fact, it's been so quiet that Society leadership has determined that your skills are going to waste here. Therefore, you're sent out to far-off Tian Xia, to help Venture-Captain Amara Li set up a lodge in Minkai.
You've spent the last few weeks in Sakakabe, a prosperous city famous for its trade in silver and pearls. The Venture-Captain has been busy collecting relics from all over the world, and you're there to oversee and catalogue everything that comes in. Venture-Captain Amara Li has summoned you to the gardens of the Kiniro Kyomai teahouse, where geisha serve you tea. The food, drinks, and background music are wonderfully relaxing after a day of hard work.
When everyone has had their fill, Venture-Captain Amara Li clears her throat to call attention to herself, and says,
“I fear that misfortune may have struck some of your fellow agents. I hope that you can help them return here to safety, but I fear the task I have to request of you may instead center around recovering what you can from your fallen allies and, if it is safe to do so, completing the mission in their stead.”
“Last year, I received a donation of relics from Taldor. The route is lengthy and complicated, so I will spare you unnecessary details. A caravan carrying the relics safely arrived in Hongal to the north, where it met up with a pair of Pathfinder agents, Lin Po and Ti Lan. These agents inspected the cargo, sent me a missive indicating that all was in order, and joined a second caravan to take the Spirit Road through the Forest of Spirits. The journey is understandably long, taking over two months to complete. Still, the caravan is late, and I fear that they may have run into trouble along the way. They were supposed to reach Sakakabe two weeks ago.
“While it’s possible that they were waylaid in the northernmost parts of Minkai, I believe it’s far more likely that they ran into trouble in the Forest of Spirits, a mystical place that shelters departed souls and most of the world’s kami. Kami are spiritual guardians with a deep connection to certain living locations or living things. The locals pay great respect to the kami, never intruding further into the forest than their one coastal road, the Spirit Road, and a number of small settlements built around shrines. This should make tracking the caravan simple, since there’s only a single road along which they should have had to rest or resupply at some point. I need you to check each of the roadside settlements until you find the last one to have seen the caravan, then track it from there and figure out what happened.”
“Be sure to respect the kami and the local traditions honoring them; I don’t want you to come to harm in your journey. The kami are mostly benevolent, so long as they receive the proper respect, but there are some dangers that might have harried the caravan. Bandits, hobgoblins, andgiants, among other creatures, dwell within the forest. The forest also hosts some aggressive plants and animals, not to mention malign spirits such as the oni, the sworn enemies of the kami. The locals will know more than I of what perils to expect."
She takes a final sip of tea, then looks at you all.
"Are your instructions clear?"
"Road trip, road trip, ehehehe!" a small wooden poppet giggles as it dances around. "Sightseeing in the Forest of Spirits sounds like great fun!"
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"Oh no Settie, I don't think we'll have time for sightseeing," Corona remarks with a slight frown. "Besides, the spirits might not want any visitors! It'd be rude to intrude if we don't have to."
To Venture-Captain Li, she nods. "Seems clear to me! I know you said the locals would probably know more about any local dangers than you would but is there anything we should pack before we go? Oh, do we need an interpreter??"
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Smell of the Pines seems to enjoy the tea leaves more than the tea itself. It listens but seems not to pay all his attention, maybe thinking about something else. When she mentions kami, it seems to pay closer attention.
It waits for Amari Li to answer Corona’s question before asking “Do you expect us to take a long journey, probably a couple week?”
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Rawiri works without complaining ... Much
"So run this past me again Merian. We saved Absalom and as a reward we were send to the province, half across Golarion to build a lodge. Someone tries to take us out of the way!"
He listens to the briefing accompanied by Hoya his Jaguar of constantly burning pelt.
"So a spirit road going through the spirit forest, someone is really trying to highlight the spirits. Tell us about kami and oni."
To Venture-Captain Li, she nods. "Seems clear to me! I know you said the locals would probably know more about any local dangers than you would but is there anything we should pack before we go? Oh, do we need an interpreter??"
"The climate and environment is about the same as the Inner Sea's regular forests, so expect the regular dangers: bears, wolves, maybe some bandits, and so on. The kami might also play tricks on you, but they're generally harmless. I'd encourage you to not open hostilities against them, otherwise you'll have a whole forest of spirits chasing you," Amara Li says with a smile and nodding at Settie.
"As for the language barrier, that shouldn't be a problem. The missing agents are also Pathfinders and speak Taldane. Not everyone in the villages you'll be restocking at might speak Taldane, but there's usually several wise people who speak multiple languages who are willing to interpret."
It waits for Amari Li to answer Corona’s question before asking “[b]Do you expect us to take a long journey, probably a couple week?”
Amara Li frowns, but hides her irritation. "As I said, the trek should take about two months, so make sure you pack enough clean clothes and prepare for a long journey. Though the weather promises to be nice, you never know when you'll end up in a rainstorm."
"So a spirit road going through the spirit forest, someone is really trying to highlight the spirits. Tell us about kami and oni."
Amara Li sighs in relief and answers, "Good question, not everyone might be familiar with Tian Xia's spirits. Kami are tricky to explain to outsiders, but they're a combination of ghosts, spirits, deities, and elemental forces. Some kami are born from the spirits of our ancestors, looking over us and protecting us when necessary. Other kami are related to individual objects."
She lifts her teacup. "Some believe each and every object has their own kami, such as this very teacup. But other kami can watch over a collective of things, or an area. There might be a kami for a single tree, or for the entire glade that tree resides in. But there are also kami of non-physical things, such as the wind or fire. Regardless, all kami protect their respective area of concern. If you happen to see one, be nice to them, otherwise you might bring bad luck upon yourself."
She puts down her teacup gingerly, as if to demonstrate the proper respect necessary to appease a kami.
"It is curious that you don't have kami in the Inner Sea Region," she muses. "Are there no kami because no one is there to worship them, or does no one worship them because there are no kami?"
"Anyway, oni are comparable to the Inner Sea's trolls or ogres, typically evil big ugly brutes. Despite their physical power, they're not dumb or simple-minded. They're as cunning as anyone else, maybe even moreso. They delight in murder, torture, and cannibalism, so if there are oni involved in this disappearance, I fear the worst has happened to your colleagues. If you think they are involved, do not engage them and report to me. Though you have some experience in the field, these creatures are in a league of their own."
"What gods do they worship in Tian Xia? Any chance they know about Zon-Kuthon?"
"While the common folk worships the Tien pantheon, there is a curious overlap. Some deities might have a different name or shape here, but they're the same person."
Amara Li smiles. "Again, do the deities take the shape of something we can understand, or do we envision the same deity in different ways so our culture can relate to them better?"
"Anyway, while the common folk probably doesn't recognise the name, they might have their own version of him. More knowledgeable or spiritually inclined people might have heard of Zon-Kuthon, but I think they're in the minority."
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"What gods do they worship in Tian Xia? Any chance they know about Zon-Kuthon?"
A kayal enters the room, forcing a smile.
"I'm Sunshine," he says mirthlessly.
"You see Merian ..." he looks at Merian face, and the sound of water rocking in her barrel. And he sees her mouth speak
"I'm Sunshine,"
And then her face fades and morphs into those of a kayal
"You scared me... sunshine. I follow flames and light in all forms, but you are the weirdest sunshine that I've heard of."
When listening to the briefing he nods his head. "All clear"
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“I feel like its a chance to be given the help necessary to reach such a long destination.”
Commenting on the long travel, “A long trip through a forest full of spirits? I can’t see anything better.”
Concerning the kami, it comments “There’s also nature spirits in the Inner Sea region, like dryads. Or leshys, like me.”
After Rawiri comments on the kayal’s name, it says “More like sunshine in a cloudy day maybe?”
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Sunshine forces a smile.
"My life is still dedicated to the service of Zon-Kuthon. But I have found that among those outside Nidal, beating people into submission is not as effective as it is within Nidal.
As long as the lost are returned to Zon-Kuthon's bosom, the mission will be considered as success."
Sunshine explains that he is seeking a deserter from the Nidalese army, named Emdi.
Oni are more like golarion’s demons or devils, extra-planar evil creatures, rather than the more physical ogres.
Smell of the Pines recalls that the Forest of Spirits hosts mostly benign spirits. Some of the kami can possess people and objects to share their memories with them, but aren't capable of mind-control.
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"Hello New Friend Sunshine! I'm Corona and this is my friend Settie," the young, blonde-haired human says cheerfully, gesturing to the small wooden poppet peeping out from behind one of the chairs. "Most people that I've met don't really appreciate beatings. But I think there might be specialty groups out there for people who do - have you looked into trying to join one?"