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With a quick footwork, our chivalric even thinks with grace, grabbing his chin with his off-hand while keeping his guard tight.
◆) Dueling Parry
◆◆) Recall Knowledge x2
+
↺) Opportune Riposte
"My great great uncle" he elaborates, looking down now at his "Boots of these gifted to me by way of inheritance" distracted a moment, turning to Rixette "Aren't they mode?" but recovering "Slain by a skeletal guard - such as these here" pausing before adding with dubiousness "Twas my aunt's nephew who finally retrieved them, bequeathing them unto me at my 13th birthday!" the yarn now spun.
Do they have AoO reaction?
Any particular damage resistance / weakness?
Does "mindless" mean immune to "mental" effects (feint, etc)?
Don knows the weaker skeleton is a guard, a weak and mindless undead. He passes along what he knows.
Your Pathfinder training told you about the skeletons' famous resistances: cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing.
The weaker skeleton scimtars Interi, who is flat-footed:
Somehow it connects once.
Tough skeleton 2 steps out of the flank. It moves with more intentionality.
Unintentionally, it fails.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Interi
Tougher Skeleton 3
Mint
Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
Tougher Skeleton 2
➤ Torrrent
Tougher Skeleton 1
Tougher Skeleton 4
Salka
Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
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Torrent shields herself and then rushes in--slamming her gillhook into #2 with tremendous force that creates a shockwave of energy rippling through the enemy ranks.
"Devastation is next...If they are still standing!" Torrent warns, before remembering that she's channeling cold energy which would make her devastating spellstrike near useless against these skeletons. Oh...
Torrent blasts sonic energy against the creatures. When the sound clears she is disappointed to see they somehow all took very little damage.
Tougher Skeleton 1 raises its shield and stands. It strikes at Interi once:
Tougher skeleton 4 moves into a flank and stans at Interi too —
— well, tries to.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Interi
Tougher Skeleton 3
Mint
Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
Tougher Skeleton 2
Torrrent
Tougher Skeleton 1
Tougher Skeleton 4
➤ Salka
➤ Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
Rixette steps to over to help Don Jurri finish off his opponent, drawing her mace as she drops her hatchet, then swings the blunt weapon in a confident fashion!
Salka's run of bad luck continues.
Interi only connects to their target once… but it's a big hit! The skeleton crumbles.
Rixette is also snake-bit by bad luck.
Skelly 3 attacks Don!
The it raises its shield.
It chatters its teeth in frustration.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Interi
Tougher Skeleton 3
➤ Mint
➤ Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
Torrrent
Tougher Skeleton 1
Tougher Skeleton 4
Salka
Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
The opportune rapier scrapes off bone, ineffective.
The skeleton takes its own opportune action!
— sort of.
Don tumbles through, but his weapon glides through the creature's ribcage, only catching air.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Interi
Tougher Skeleton 3
➤ Mint
Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
Torrrent
Tougher Skeleton 1
Tougher Skeleton 4
Salka
Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
Mint blasts the skeleton, which stands firm against the energy.
Weak skeleton continues its trend of weakness.
Even though its practically holding its scimitar backward it somehow connects with the flanked fighter. The wounds are starting to take their toll as Torrent is ready for her next action…
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Interi
Tougher Skeleton 3
Mint
Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
➤ Torrrent
Tougher Skeleton 1
Tougher Skeleton 4
Salka
Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
The skeleton blocks Torrent's gillhook; its shield shatters just before its blown apart by a powerful blast of pressurized water. Bones clatter down the steps…
Tougher 4 steps into a flank and slashes at Interi:
The Conrasu is finally beginning to succumb to their many cuts and scrapes.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Interi
Tougher Skeleton 3
Mint
Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
Torrrent
Tougher Skeleton 4
➤ Salka
➤ Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
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The light in Interi's orb begins to flicker as the skeletons hack into their wooden frame, but that does not stop them from stepping into a flank and swinging their hammer at the skeleton before them. In acknowledgement of their wounds, though, they follow up their swing by casting a defensive ward.
Interi shatters half the creature's skull… but it still stands!
Can Salka or Rixette save their woodsy friend?
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Interi
Tougher Skeleton 3
Mint
Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
Torrrent
Tougher Skeleton 4
➤ Salka
➤ Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
Rixette capitalizes on the skeleton that used its reaction to recharge here panache, but not much else.
Salka misses with the shield… then hits! The skeleton totters, but is still moving.
Skeleton 3 steps out of the flank and swings at Don:
The swashbuckler riposts the second attack; once again the piercing weapon skitters across bone.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Interi
Tougher Skeleton 3
➤ Mint
➤ Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
Torrrent
Tougher Skeleton 4
Salka
Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
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The fog of fenced combat easily distracting our chivalric hero, who heeds not the upstage battle, viewing himself and his meager contributions as the protagonist of primary factor, concerned only with his continuing legacy blown to a proportion suitable to house an ego inflated by an upbringing of material wealth manned by a legion of servants whose emotional labor substituted entirely for an equally and opposite absence of such connecting himself to his own line of cooly distant progenitors, it is with his elegantly inherited rapier - the veritable symbol of all described incongruence! - that he expresses himself... But not without some facility!
◆) Dueling Parry
◆◆) Strike x2
+
↺) Opportune Riposte (+11 @ 2d6+2)
He boasts to the mindless creature - the better to eliminate risk entirely for the consequence of his words ”You fight with clumsy lumberage - perhaps if you lifted your spine and projected your sternum, you blows may find their mark? Alas, broad sack of bones. It appears to me that futility shall be your destiny manifest! ‘‘Tis why I am still alive, and you are not? Ha! I’ve got you where I want you. Let the cards fall as they wilt!”
Don takes out the flanked skeleton with a critical and a hit! The mindless one seems nonplussed with his trash talk.
Weka skeleton strikes at Torrent —
connecting once and drawing some blood.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Interi
Mint
Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
➤ Torrrent
Tougher Skeleton 4
Salka
Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
Bones FINALLY fall as Torrent smashes the skeletal champion. But not without cost, as the ,agus takes a nasty slash across the forearm.
Only the weak guard remains.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Interi
➤ Mint
➤ Don Jurri
Weaker Skeleton
Torrrent
➤ Salka
➤ Rixette
DC 26 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 18 as second check after first success:
DC 23(crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 15 as second check after first success:
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Feeling on top of the world, his lucky strikes struck true, he laughs casually as yet more bones crumble from his strongest stroke!
With a graceful spasm, he draws his sidearm and takes a sudden aim at the remaining skeleton, waiting until just the perfect moment for his tree (?) companion to harry it with his confusing branches...
*) Draw dueling pistol
**) Ready to Strike after Interi’s turn
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BOOM! The skeleton's head explodes.
OUT OF COMBAT (finally).
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Stowing his rapier with a gentle tuck, Don Jurri blows on the tip of his firearm’s smoking barrel.
He turns to Rixette ”Crude instruments, these. But necessary in modern times, unfortunately. For the enemy is often cowardly, shrinking away from a fair fight. And so. A true knight need be always prepared, for in a world ruled by cowardly men, it pays to keep a secondary arm at one’s side. Wouldn’t you agree?”
And then, with his soft hands and feminine grace, he reloads the pistol, and gingerly stows it back inside his purse, patting the fastener that secures the latch, and looks to call upon ”Xavier... are you alright good boy?”
Goodberries and healing are had. Perhaps some of you might think to invest in a light hammer.
After you heal up you head down the stairs, into to the next room. A statue stands on each side, each sculpted to look like a dwarf woman wearing an apron. Their hands stretch out in welcome. The only difference between the two statues are the veins of raw ore preserved in their stone robes; the one to the East is adorned with veins of obsidian ore and the one to the West has a bright river of silver over her apron.
The statue to the east blinks her eyes open. “Oh!” she says. “Sister, we have visitors. It’s been so long.”
The other statue shakes herself awake. She yawns before saying, “I told you someone would come back. Now, who are you?”
I am Raseri Kanton, says the silver sister.
And I am Jernashall, says the obsidian sister.
"There was a trio that passed through here long ago. I don’t know the exact date, but it was long enough ago that we were debating what to do next."
We were made by a cleric of the dwarven goddess Folgrit, in order to provide information to travelers seeking to reconnect with their families. She told us we were to help guide those from the cities to their family. That is why we are name as such. We've never heard of the Far Caves. Was your great-grandmother from Jernashall or Raseri Kanton?
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Salka looks at the two of them. "Honestly, it's quite possible. We don't know what the Far Caves was either up in the Land of the Linnorm Kings, just that's what she always told everyone. My family suspects that she might have secretly been a Shaitan and just didn't want anyone to know. I wouldn't be surprised if somehow your cleric knew her though, given that you and are have a remarkably similar errr.... design let's say. My silvered skin accents are practically the same as yours. Fascinating!"
Salka begins looking over the two sisters' designs with kind of artistic eye that only a master blacksmith like herself could have.
"Oh, uh. Where are my manners. I'm Salka Frisk, apprentice blacksmith at Frisk Family Smithing. But most people call me "Salka Silver-Fist" back home. Since y'know, my hands are all veined in silver and all."
Are you a traveler, Salka? If so, we can tell you whether Rajat of the Far Caves came this way. Sadly we do not remember the name of the one who made us. We were only made to remember one kind of information accurately: the names and messages of those who passed this way. They think for a moment.
"You see, that is what we were made to do. A traveler only needs to give us a name and we can say if that person has come past. If there was a message left, we can provide that as well. We do this so the families fleeing our eponymous cities can be reunited.”
After answering Salka's question, they continue. No one has come in a long time. We That’s the question. Would you help us settle the debate?”
Jerneshal says, Thank you. We were crafted us as statues and animated us to provide information to travelers seeking to reconnect with their families. Travelers could leave information about where they were heading or messages for loved ones, and later visitors could retrieve the same information. But it has been so long since we've been needed. Still, I believe that we should keep an active watch in case anyone returns for information."
Raseri Kanton, However, and I believe that we should stop storing information and instead focus our energy on emitting a beacon, so that it’s easier to find the routes to the cities—but doing so would destroy the records we’ve collected."
What do you think? they ask in unison.
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”Books” the only form of record our chivalric hero is aware of ”Are how we pass our own stories down from one generation to the next. Why, if it wasn’t for My great great great great great grandfather Don Jurious el Dente sur Maximus, I would have never...” and proceeds to launch himself into an overlong story about knights, damsels, and dastardly villains...
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"I- Hmmmm."
Salka moves to speak then quickly closes her mouth and starts to pace back and forth in thought.
"On the one hand, a beacon to the city would be useful and would help people find a historical city that is so lost to time. On the other hand, I think I've become some kind of proof that Jerneshal's argument has some merit. There could be more people out there who want this family history if the site is rediscovered now..."
Salka looks up at them with renewed resolve.
"You know what? Leave marking the way to the city to us! We're Pathfinders, finding the way somewhere is in the name. I think protecting those records would be important if we start studying down here. Especially since whatever knowledge and messages you all have still has the chance to be recorded. As we've seen there are people alive even today that still have histories here. It would be a shame to lose them."
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Torrent stands quiet in the back until asked for her opinion. "I am searching for Lysianassa, Empress of the Torrent. What I would give for direction to where she is trapped so that I might free her. Without your records, loved ones could be lost, and generations could be spent searching, waiting, longing to reconnect. Please, you cannot destroy the records. Torrent reaches for one of her seashells, a golden one, that she holds close to her.
Mint, Rixette, and Interi can voice their opinions!
perhaps.
Mint is up. The rest of you can attempt another round if checks after he goes. I need at least 6 successes for one side here, and have 4.
The sisters are unconvinced. This is an important decision….