The tree gives Ionic some of that fire resistance, then looks for more enemies.
Low light vision
Herondal moves and inspires the party.
Pip moves in and attempts to tickle the troll's funny bone.
The troll begins to chuckle.
Pip's tree heals hopper.
Salliss douses the troll in acid.
Barydeth's first swings misses, but the second connects.
Round 7-Bold may Act
Herondal 74/74
Pip 54/78
Salliss 78/78
Hopper 69/72
Wolfie 55/60
Barydeth 96/118; concealed; acid retaliation 1 acid; wounded 1; drake heart mutagen
Black-bloodied
Ionic 69/85
Ionic's tree 80/80
Herondal's tree 80/80
Barydeth's tree 80/80
Pip's tree 80/80
Hopper's tree 2/80
Salliss' Tree 57/80
Black: 63/200 4/1, 3/1, 2/3, 1/3; regen negated; 2d6 persistent acid; slowed 1; no reactions; flat-footed
Hopper tosses a pair of bombs. Both are off target, splashing the poisonous mixture on her.
The troll lurches forward in an attempt to bite Barydeth.
The jaws snap shut right in front of the halfling.
The troll turns and continues to dig. Barydeth takes an opportune swipe and leaves a wound on it's backside.
Round 7-Bold may Act
Ionic 69/85
Round 8-Bold may Act
Herondal 74/74
Pip 54/78
Salliss 78/78
Hopper 69/72
Wolfie 55/60
Barydeth 96/118; concealed; acid retaliation 1 acid; wounded 1; drake heart mutagen
Black-bloodied
Ionic's tree 80/80
Herondal's tree 80/80
Barydeth's tree 80/80
Pip's tree 80/80
Hopper's tree 2/80
Salliss' Tree 57/80
Black: 34/200 4/1, 3/1, 2/3, 1/3; regen negated; slowed 1; no reactions;
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◈◈
◈ Hideous Laughter
Pip uses the scroll in her hand, and then sustains her spell with a quip in Jotun. "Did you hear about the troll alchemist who makes sunrods? He and his buddies like to get together and get stoned."
If there is anyone to benefit from it, the tree spreads some of the resistance to fire.
It then looks again for enemies,
Low light vision
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Ionic gives a look back at the tunnel that is being dug and grumbles as he starts to run. "Need ta train more... Runnin' be de worst dough..." Panting heavily he moves up behind Pip tree feather in his cap as he starts trying to figure out a way to plant it in the ceiling.
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Ionic moves up to where the action is.
Pip activates her scroll and a loud blast erupts from above the giant.
The sonic waves seem to do nothing. Pip sustains her other spell.
Barydeth steps and strikes twice, leaving a pair of gashes on the troll.
Being heavily wounded at this point, Herondal's performance strikes at its core.
Salliss moves in and stabs the troll, driving the troll to its knees and unconscious.
Hopper tosses a pair of bombs just for good measure.
After a few seconds, the troll ceases to breath.
Conclusion
Once back topside, you learn that the Sarkorians were able to beat back the demonic invasion.
Dolok Darkfur completes his ritual, fully restoring a natural vibrancy to the soil within the camp. Beyond the borders of the river, the profane fires die down, and some small shoots break through the blackened topsoil for the first time in generations.
The eidolon meets with the PCs shortly after, thanking them for their aid in repelling the demons and pledging his support to saving the possessed Decemvirate member. He invokes the many debts the Farheaven Clan owes the Pathfinder Society and expresses an eagerness to repay them for their past and present support.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:The PCs fulfill their primary objective if they stop at least half of the attackers from reaching the Farheaven camp. Doing so earns each PC 2 Reputation with their chosen faction.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: The PCs fulfill their secondary objective if they stop all the attackers from reaching the Farheaven camp. Doing so earns each PC 2 Reputation with their chosen faction.
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Salliss gives a cheer as the troll burns up in the lava. “Glad that is done!”
He then goes over to Pip and asks her “So is there some way to save my tree before it burns up? It wasn’t clear to me if using the ritual a second time killed it or just made it go into a dormant state where we couldn’t immediately replant it.”
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"We'll try," Pip says to Salliss. Pip works to save any trees in danger, and then summons a leshy just so that she can thank each and every one of Dolok's trees. "You were amazing, and a credit to trees." Then the dryad-touched gnome hugs each and every one of her leafy comrades. She also hugs each of her two and four-legged comrades, and then goes to work retraining at Iobaria base camp.
She takes a class called "Getting the most out of your Occult Spells", a training seminar on "Basics of Comedy: Shaggy Dog Stories and Dad Jokes", and then spends a day in Iobaria base camp listening to Pathfinders with legal dilemmas and filing their paperwork to go back to the various courts where they are having legal difficulties.
"You got into legal difficulty in Hell? That must have been an interesting mission," she tells one experienced Pathfinder. "Fortunately, I'm fluent in Infernal. But oh... it will take me most of the day just to untangle all the legal loopholes they left for themselves!" She grins. "I love a good challenge!"
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"And for the most part, we'll be playing ourselves, so all you have to do is scowl and say naughty things in Jotun!" Pip says enthusiastically to Bardyth. "Then Herondel narratively describes the battles while you guys strike dramatic poses and strike at countless enemies, and I do the tree ballet that Herondel wrote in this section right here..."
Pip does a dance, taking the parts of the different trees, waving a long gossamer scarf behind her and casting prestidigitation in order to create the colors of the various leaves and effects like sparkles in the air. After all, these were very active trees!
"Wait. Let's make this even better!"
She attaches leafy collars to Bailiff and Wolfie's collars, and brings them in as back up dancers. "C'mon you two. Just run around in circles with me and I'll dance around you! The audience will love it!
"Wooof! Wooof!"
I don't know what's happening, but I get to run around in circles with my friends! I'm such a good dog!
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Ionic, scowl on his face tromps up on stage picks up a single hat and plops it on his head. He crosses his arms and glares at the imagined audience for a few moments. He silently takes in Pip's dance of the trees, enjoying it but not showing any outwards signs of it. When it comes to his turn he stomps to center right and takes a pose.
... And gives a rather competent rendition of the kobold author Shakes-Spear's Let Ham's To Kill or Not to Kill scene, in a near perfect Absalom accent. Stepping off the stage he grumbles, "Had ta learn it fa Actin' 101 back in trainin'. Couldn't pass wid out it."
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Bardyth, after a bit of coaxing, slowly and carefully moves onto the stage. sliding his feet cautiously, listening for any sounds of creaking wood... After a few moments of reassuring himself that he isn't going to break his new friend's stage. He will strike an intimidating pose...
He will then start to recant an old Jotun tale of conquest, and enslavement, that ends in a very vivid description of an uprising. The farther into the story he gets, the more descriptive he gets, like someone telling a story passed down by their parents, and flowing into a tale of their own life.
But the extremely vivid and detailed descriptions of evisceration of the Jotun during the endings bits seems to have spoiled the audience's opinions some.
The adventure begins at the Pathfinder base camp near the ruins of Min-Khadaim. The PCs gather around a table sporting a huge map of the Finadar Forest just outside the central command tent.
Eando Kline of the Vigilant Seal faction steps out of the command tent, holding the canvas flap open for his guests: a woman wrapped in Sarkorian furs, and a ten-foot-tall black bear with a mantle of multicolored feathers growing across his shoulders. The three move around a large table adorned with a map of the surrounding landscape that indicates Pathfinder teams positioned throughout the wilderness.
“Thank you for joining us,” Eando says, his voice low and determined. “I’m sure you recognize our allies from the Farheaven Clan, God Caller Nelket and her clan’s deity, Dolok Darkfur.” He gestures to the woman and the bear, respectively. “They’ve agreed to help us with a sensitive and dangerous mission. An evil spirit that once resided in the nearby ruined city has possessed a member of the Decemvirate. This member is known to you as Sapphire. The spirit has used Sapphire as a vessel to carry out preparations for a ritual that we suspect would lead to worldwide catastrophe if completed. Our divinations have failed to locate Sapphire, and we lack the numbers to search all the possible sites where this ritual might be enacted before it’s too late.”
“Fortunately, we might have a solution,” Nelket cuts in. “My ancestors used rituals to give physical form to the wishes and ideals of the clan, manifesting as deities to lead us—including Dolok Darkfur. By reframing one of these rituals, we can convert Dolok’s body back into a part-living, part-intention entity; a kind of ‘aspirational spirit.’”
“That form will allow me to locate Sapphire, whose body contains two divergent spirits wrestling for control,” Dolok continues. “If I give Sapphire the upper hand, it could give us a chance to save them. I can also create a beacon the Pathfinder Society can use to track down Sapphire’s possessed body.”
Eando points to the map. “When Dolok’s beacon appears, our field agents spread across the region can converge on the site and secure it. You are among the most veteran Pathfinders here, so we need you to help Dolok and Nelket complete the ritual, then reinforce the first responders and exorcise the evil spirit—without killing Sapphire, if possible. Make any preparations you deem necessary, then meet us here when you are ready to begin.”
“How long do you expect the ritual to take, and what can we do to help with this ritual?”
: “The ritual we’ve adapted for this task required lorekeepers to sing, dance, and extol the virtues of the Farheaven Clan
while elders wove their magic. Any mystical training, athletic prowess, or cultural expertise can serve a similar purpose here. The more skillfully you contribute to the ritual, the more power Dolok should have available to lend you in your quest. With that said, we still need time to prepare, we will summon you when we are ready to begin.”
"Do you think that we may encounter ghosts?" asks Hopper and chills run down his spine
"That is our purpose, to confront a spirit. But do not worry. The ritual tethers us all to a common goal, which means I can lend you my strength to overcome any obstacles in your way. Use my power as you see fit, but try not to use it all too soon; you might need my help most when confronting Sapphire, and I need at least a shred of energy remaining to retake my physical form.”
"Do spirits have any weaknesses?"
"The evil spirit is ancient, which means it’s likely undead and might be able to summon undead to serve it. Our prior encounters also suggest it worships the demon lord of disasters and storms, Urxehl, so cold-iron weapons and celestial energy are likely to be effective.”
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Bardyth listens closely while sharpening his Glaive for the battle to come. He grimaces some at being reminded he'll need to be non-lethal in the end, but otherwise looks quite happy about what he has heard so far.
Otherwise Bardyth has no questions he can think of, though hearing he needs non-lethal, he is debating on grabbing a third weapon to come on the trip... But needs to deliberate on it some.
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"I participated in a ritual to help out a dragon, and we were able to fight off monsters that were attacking the ritual by siphoning off some of the ritual's excess energy. Will we be able to use the ritual in our fight?" Pip asks.
And then, another more important question occurs to her. "You said the spirit occupying Sapphire's body is undead. If I cast disrupt undead on Sapphire, does that hurt both of them, or only the spirit inside?"
Dolok responds to Pip. "The ritual will take place before you set out. The power I will be able to offer you will be yours to wield as you see fit. Whether it be combat or guidance."
Nelket answers Pip's second question, "We do not know how strong the bond is between this spirit and Sapphire. Hopefully, magic that specifically targets undead does not harm the host."
"You will have to subdue Sapphire long enough for Dolok to rip the spirit from him. Do whatever is necessary to give him that opportunity."
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An ever so slightly thinner Ionic stands up on his new running boots and stretches. "Dolor finds Sapphire. We go. Subdue. Prevent oder ritual. Any ding else?"
He grabs out his Wayfinder and pops it open pulling a list of paper he kep in the lid out, before laying it on the table. Producing a oen from his beard and then a sealed ink well as well, he scratches out something on the list and writes in something else instead. Pursing his lips as he does some calculations. "Dang, guess liftin' belt waits. Armor rune, dat 'ealin' stone 'n' reforgin' de trident more important. Runnin' boots ain't cheap."
He pulls the trident off his belt and takes a look at what is clearly the newest of his weapons. "'ate ta mess wid a gift, 'specially from de Pixie crew. Can't be 'elped."
He looks back up at the rest of the group. "'ow long dis ritual/searchin' take? Long 'nough ta reforge Pokes 'ere? Possibly?"
"from preparation to completion, it should take about four hours. Should be enough time to get your weapon situation figured out."
Urxehl is the demon lord of storms and natural disasters. He is known as the father of trolls, although some cyclopes also worshipped him near the end of the Koloran empire.
Urxehl’s faithful often strive to conjure cursed storms, with a rain of fire considered a sacred manifestation of their lord’s will.
The cyclopes of Min-Khadaim were renowned sculptors and architects, using magically reinforced stone to craft massive statues that often featured an enchanted eye.
Koloran’s mystics considered their statues a reflection of their own spirits, and so considered it taboo to include booby traps in their construction.
Cyclops ruins sometimes attract stygiras, mysterious fey seers who use gemstones for occult divinations. These creatures can petrify enemies with their claws and are resistant to physical damage from any weapon not made of cold iron.