HP 14/61
AC 23 (+1 vs. traps), deny advantage, cold resistance 2
Fort +9, Ref +13, Will +10 (+1 vs. traps)
Hero Points: 1
Deviant backlash DC: 10
Effects:
Expecting another lightning bolt, Daehalya's able to duck the worse of it, though her dark hair continues to stand on end as she teeters from the shock. Still, undaunted even this close to death, she closes in once more on one of the remaining vengeful stars, staff swinging.
The leopard springs upon the iridescent red star naga. He bites at the serpentine beast.
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"These wretched snakes remain, lingering as unwanted guests aboard this plane ship."
Psi Burst on Yellow
Daze on Yellow
Alvarius keeps the elemental magic going, hurling yet more electricity at their foes.
And he once more shields himself magically.
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Alvarius shields himself as he sends shivers down the spines of the Vengeful Stars. Their scales clatter against each otehr like a wooden wind chime.
Onye shakes off his own electrical shock as he protects Daehalya as she crushes in another Vengeful Star's chest with her staff.
The last snake tries as hard as it can to fend off Grundles mental assaults but in the end it begins to creep through.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Onye
⠀⠀Uhu
Daehalya
Grundle
➤ Nicholo
Vengeful Star (Yellow)
➤ Ezgara
Alvarius
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Now THAT sounds more like Grundle. I guess he got whammied for only a second with cosmic dust. He's back to himself.
With only one more enemy- I need to make sure the "sounds like himself" Grundle doesn't get eaten and swallowed whole!
Nicky moves to the Vengeful Star and flanks it. Wanting to poke the Star in its tough scales.
◆ Stride
◆ ◆ Devise a Strategy.
Not liking that strategy, he tries to dazzle the creature with his awesome buckler!
◆ ◆ ◆ Feint! Activate the glamourous buckler!
DC Target's Perception.
Activate envision; Frequency once per day; Trigger You Feint; Requirements You have the glamorous buckler raised; Effect As you Feint, the glamorous buckler sparkles mightily. On a successful Feint, the target is dazzled for 1 round.
Come closer! Heeeeeeeee… Hooves clop on the deck and then a hydraulic torrent shoots out from the cloud…
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Ezgara pushes off from the cloud as he slams into the Vengeful Star, shoving it back 5'. Nicholo successfully feints the creature dazzling it as the reptilian eyes blink back the darkness.
The creature slowls its momentum as it pushes back towards Grundle and Alvarius. Long sharp fangs purge forth from its mouth as it viciously bites at the pair.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Onye
⠀⠀➤ Uhu
➤ Daehalya
➤ Grundle
➤ Nicholo
Vengeful Star (Yellow)
➤ Ezgara
➤ Alvarius
Alvarius interjects his magical shield as the fangs strike him. The shield takes the brunt, but is not enough to prevent it from breaking old bones.
The dead man mutters a spell, causing his hand to temporarily transform into a massive clawed appendage. He lashes out, looking to gouge furrows into the creature's flesh.
"I think I've had about enough of this," he says, stepping away from the lone foe.
Ezgara tosses another bolt of suddenness.
HP 22/61
AC 23 (+1 vs. traps), deny advantage, cold resistance 2
Fort +9, Ref +13, Will +10 (+1 vs. traps)
Hero Points: 1
Deviant backlash DC: 10
Effects:
Daehalya, realizing she's feeling better than she thought thanks to Onye, moves into position opposite Grundle, her staff swinging in a complex pattern before lashing out toward the vengeful star.
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Nicky sees the steady onslaught on the lone Vengeful Star. He gives an encouraging vocal call with extra Flair!
You are stylin' and profilin' GateWalkers!
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Daehalya's staff connects witha decent thump as a bolt from the storm suddenly kills the last of the Vengeful Stars, turning it into a blackened husk. They disintegrate into motes of light that streak back up into the sky.
The hallucinatory visions you share aboard the Mermaid’s Tears awakens more of your dormant powers as you feel it grow within you.
With the storm beaten Sakuachi is woken from her long slumber, seemingly returned to her senses. "I had the strangest dream. A glowing gate. You were all there." She shakes her head as the visions get fuzzier and fuzzier. She has only vague memories about what she saw in her vision. She does recall an acute feeling of betrayal or dismay, though. "You all may be somehow involved with the entity slumbering under the Crown of the World, as well as perhaps my grandmother’s missing saumen kar friend."
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The rest of the night and the entire next day pass without incident. As the sun begins to set on the final day of the voyage, the Mendevian coastline and eventually the city of Egede come into view.
Before Captain Adney can moor the Mermaid’s Tears at Egede’s docks, a small keelboat rows out to meet the ship. Egede’s dockmaster on duty calls out from the boat in a greeting that sounds a bit like a challenge. A whitehaired man with a close-cropped beard and deep lines creasing his face, informs you that the Mermaid’s Tears isn’t welcome to dock in Egede.
“You might be fine people, but your ship looks like it was dragged from the bottom of lake. We don’t want trouble, but we don’t want spectral ships or ghostly crew docking at our port either. Really... this is for your own safety.”
"I promise you, this ship may have black sails and be crewed by the dead, but it's captain is a good man, certainly not so evil that Hell itself spat him back out. We are flesh and blood and have come a long way, and will cause no trouble in the city."
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Ezgara grumbles. Hunger. I hunger. Will they let us in? Something must be ahoof in this port city. He stamps the aforementioned appendage.
"The Illuminated Epopts seeks only passage for the living," the lion-masked amurruan calls down. "The ship and the spirits that command the ship will sail onward once the living have disembarked."
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Grundle struggles to peek over the rails of the ship. He shouts down,"Esteemed Dockmaster, we find ourselves at the threshold of your realm, not merely as seafarers but as emissaries. Our vessel, borne of shadows and whispers, seeks refuge within the embrace of your harbor. We implore you to consider our request, not out of mere necessity, but as a gesture towards the great tapestry of existence that interweaves the living and the departed. Grant us the sanctuary of your docks, and in doing so, you affirm the boundless dimensions of your hospitality. We come in peace, tethered to the same codes that guide the noblest among your earthly mariners. Let this be a meeting of worlds, an alliance of the seen and unseen, as we promise to abide by the laws of land and water, visible and veiled."
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Ezgara knows a little bit about Egede. Egede is a Mendevian port city and the last stop on the River Road. During the Mendevian Crusades, southern fighters on their way to the Worldwound would stop at Egede to resupply and get one last glimpse of peaceful city life before heading into battle.
Since the Worldwound’s closure 4 years ago, Egede has been in something of a slump. Businesses that previously relied on a steady stream of crusaders to buy their wares now struggle to keep the lights on in these far more peaceful times. As a result of Egede’s depression, tensions—and prices—run high.
The man holds his hands up in protest. "I will agree to take the living to shore. That ghostly vessel will scare the locals." He manages to attach his vessel to your own so you can board the ferry, though the port master makes no motion to board the Mermaid's Tears as it's sobbing wail carries into the distance.
Captain Adney looks down at you as you begin to sail towards the docks. He calls out to you with a peaceful smile. "My work here is done. Many thanks be for me last eventful voyage you have shown me." He waves to you as the Mermaid's Tears slowly begins to dissipate into thin air, leaving no trace of its existence behind.
Daehalya muses. "We should take some time to reequip ourselves," she says. "We should find a room to let, and look through what we've collected over our voyage. We must also send a message to Professor Ritalson, I think. We've learned a great deal over the last weeks."
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You easily find room in any of the local Inns. Not a single place is near to being sold out since the Worldwounds closure has left behind the steady stream of heroes and adventurers.
Once in the room you are able to sort through all of the gear you have acquired and figure out a new course while Sakuachi meditates on her quest to find a living god. Her companions also question locals for advice, maps, and guidance to help the group reach the Sarkoris Scar, your next destination.
The amurrun warrior remains pensive from when they are deposited upon the docks and make their way through Egede. Once they are in the room, he ponders, "Why would Onye Dinta free a creature that tears at the threads in the tapestry? These visions do not make sense to Onye Dinta."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Alvarius says to Onye. "And I gotta admit, I looked at lot more different. So much meat on my bones. And the hair! So wild."
Ezgara wanders the market looking for cheap red wine, muttering about mendacious erutakis.
Malicious merchants. Below average intelligence, clever avarice. He crouches down in the middle of the street and stuffs rags and herbs and splinters of wood into his pouch. Ezgara outwits. Outwits them all. Antiseptic rags and sharp sticks, purchased from an alleyway urchin, will keep his friends safe. Outwitting children is so easy, only seventy-five gold for these treasures! Good health is priceless! Hehehe! He spits on the ground and stamps his hoof, trotting after the group to catch up.
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Ezgara's hoof leaves small imprints in the soil as he trots ahead of the others with a strange gait due to his condition. The streets widen to form a circular plaza, at the center of which stands a metal sculpture of Iomedae on a stone plinth. The Inheritor’s holds her sword high, as if ready to call down divine justice on any evildoers who dare enter the plaza. From nearby alleyways, a trio of humans dressed in old Mendevian armor step into the square to intercept you. “Stop there,” says one, hand on the hilt of his sword. “In the name of the Committee of Moral Rectitude, I command you to leave Egede at once.”
"But why?" Daehalya asks. "The Guiding Hand has led us here, and we mean no harm."
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(prior shopping). Nicky tools around the shops. Eager to spend coin. He baters with shop keepers -selling some of the items they accrued and also buying a couple things the party needs. He stops cold at a toy store. A store with wooden figurines carven in toy soldier shapes and animal shapes. The store also has a section with a seamstress that makes huggable and squeezable things for the toddlers and young girls.
He looks Dang, that thing reminds me of Ezgara! I mean, it's got a hoof, but the look. The look on it's face. That's Ezgara.
He moves into the store and buys the item. It's a keepsake he wants.
He purchases the plushy. He also makes his way and buys materials for the makings of traps.
*********
He hears the call from the trio for them to leave. A distinct accusation that *HE* doesn't have moral rectitude.
You must be mistaken noble knights! We are pious. We are Morally straight. We like this city and don't want to be given ole' heave ho!
Are you certain you've been assigned the right people to evict? Maybe someone's pulled a fast one. Give us but a moment and you'll see we have good morals. Great morals even.
Nicky thinks I bet they don't like Carny folk. I bet they don't like walking skeletons like Alvarius. I bet they puit the moral bar so high you need a 10 foot pole to vault the bar.
Group Impression and Glad Hand.
He looks to start a fascinating performance. Probably by balancing something off his forehead (like a wooden bevel or stick) or some juggling. Depends on how itchy trigger finger these guards are.
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Moralists slouching from alleyways. Rectitude hides in the dark, away from Iomadea’s eyes. Ezgara is more just than weak-minded fanatics. He stands in the light. None like him. None more pious than Ezgara. The light stands his shadow up. Standing it along the ground. Long is his shadow, donkey ears long. All can see. None can see his mind. Wisdom lies in this paradox. Do they see? The storm gathers. Bright light in the black cloud. Illuminate, incinerate. Will they see the light and slouch back to shadow, or are they so eager to splash the lady’s feet with fanatical blood?
As Ezgara mutters his thoughts aloud they take on a hypnotic quality, the folklorist’s shadow magically warps and grows taller and taller and grows long ears.
Alvarius, for his part, tries to be as invisible as possible without needing to resort to magic to become invisible. He does say, "You can probably drop 'moral' from the name. By definition, 'rectitude' implies morality. It's redundant is all I'm saying."
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The trio look between Nicholo and Ezgara's hoofed foot. “Tell the truth about why you’re in Egede. You appear to be enemies of all that is good and decent, “demonic agents” aiming to spread sin in this innocent city. You arrive on a ship of the dead and branding cursed marks on your bodies." The trio seem twitchy, not knowing what to expect.
You can see townsfolk watching them from the windows or alleys of nearby buildings. The townsfolk mumble Iomedaean prayers as they watch and duck out of sight as you make eye contact with them.
"Guards of Egede are seeing with eyes of fear," the amurrun comments to his companions.
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Ezgara's mouth hangs open as he stares up at the statue of the Inheritor, muttering his thoughts aloud.
They know nothing, Ezgara whispers. Mortal in Kantaria as a mortal, Iomedae ruled for a year and a day. A year, and then a day. They remember, they remember the time, the act. The tenth righteous act. Do they remember Exemplar? Exemplar, the old dog she found in a back alley? The ugly old mutt she cared for? Exemplar. Kindness to the old ugly broken thing. Not kicking or beating, no, not at all, never. Now, mutt's ghost guards Valor's Fastness.
His blind eye rolls around, landing on the fanatics. These ones, these would kick an old ugly dog. Beat it. Break it. Shall I waste words in an effort to instruct them? Will a friendly ghost guard their tomb for eternity? No, not at all, never. They will be forgotten. Dog-bitten. Flea-bitten.
Words are too precious to be wasted, hence my coy silence!
The old elf giggles to himself, then chokes and coughs on his own drool. It comes out like a bark.
"You seek to judge us on our appearance, instead of what is in our hearts. We have done nothing wrong, merely walked through the city looking for a place to stay. Would you deny us shelter?"
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Grundle climbs atop an overturned crate and addresses the armored Karens.
"Honorable Representatives of the Committee of Moral Rectitude,
We stand before you not as adversaries nor agents of chaos, but as travelers bound by a narrative that may have been misunderstood. Our arrival on a vessel that carries the echoes of the departed speaks not of malevolence but of our journey through realms both seen and unseen, bearing marks that are histories, not hexes.
These symbols etched upon us are not curses but are testaments to the trials we have endured and the lessons learned along the way. They narrate stories of resilience, not of rebellion; of overcoming, not overthrowing.
We come to your city seeking not to corrupt but to contribute, to share the wisdom gleaned from our travels across the spectral and the corporeal. We appeal to your esteemed virtues of understanding and justice as we assure you of our commitment to uphold the very essence of goodness and decency that is the foundation of your community.
Let us step forward together, dispelling shadows with the light of dialogue, and enriching your great city with the peace and knowledge that is the true mission of our journey. Your guidance and acceptance would not only help us but also reinforce the sanctity and moral fortitude of your city against true malevolence."
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Giving a applause to Grundle's amazing soapbox speech, Nicky boils it down even further.
You have seen a planar tear in the earth that spewed out hordes of demons. After all the funk and craziness that you saw in the Worldwound, *WE* stand out as demonic agents? If I'm weighing the two things, The Woundworld mightily tips the scales.
Here's a compromise- *I* am a tiefling. I do have fiendish blood in my heritage. But I'm a good dude. If you need to put me under house arrest until my companions leave Egede, I'm cool with that. Don't boot heroes and good people from Egede on account of me. These others are the encyclopedia of decency. Let them have their shelter.
Nicky -
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A wooden cart comes rattling up the western street. Muscular peasants push the cart from behind at the behest of an older male dwarf who stands atop the cart’s cargo: a large metal crate with a hatch facing the plaza.
Like the loyalists, the dwarf wears the burnished plate mail of a Mendevian crusader. His gray beard has been plaited into formal braids threaded through silver rings. "The gnome speaks of testaments and trials! The Committee keeps Egede safe from lingering demonic influences." He intones by way of explanation, "Myself and my fellow Committee heads believe you to be sinners come to sow discord." He pronounces these charges with all the weight and dignity of an actual magistrate.
"Then you shall have but one more trial before you. Your own trial and yu must face evil itself. It’s known that evil bears the seeds of its own downfall. So if you are consumed here today, your guilt is proven. If the evil does not kill you, then you are free to go!”
"Onye Dinta deems the Committee offensively racist and murderous," the masked amurrun says with a low growl in his voice. Wind swirls his dark mane, which begins to flicker like breathed upon embers. With a steady voice that never rises to a shout, he continues, "Onye Dinta fears the Committee would pit the tribe against some innocent the Committee has fearfully labeled evil and so force the tribe to dishonor the creator spirits. The tribe will leave Egede and sleep in the safety of the wilds. Let the tribe pass."
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Nicky tries to look around to the hatch back side of the wagon. He wants to see the evil that this Dwarf is toting around. Maybe it's tell tale evil and not "fair evil".
He pulls out his magnifying glass.
If it's a clown, it's evil. Straight up, them's the rules.
Mag Glass. Pursue a lead.
Dehalya waits for Nicky to see what's in the cage. She agrees with Onye that they can sleep in the wilderness, but if this committee has indeed found something evil, she suspects her goddess would want her to deal with it. Perhaps that's why they are here.
And, she can't help thinking, maybe it would help balance Pharasma's scales if they did indeed release some other evil into the world. She's still not sure why they would have -- Grundle's words about the strange marks they bear ring in her head, and what those marks might actually mean -- but it seems they did.
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His speech concluded, he kicks open the chest to let the evil out! This black, amorphous blob piles up on itself, a quivering mound of midnight sludge that glistens darkly before surging forward. "No evil presence has yet to survive this trial."
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Nicholo
Living Evil
Ezgara
Onye
⠀⠀Uhu
Daehalya
Alvarius
Grundle
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Nicky doesn't have an idea on what this living evil may consist of. Nicky grabs an small vial of acid from his belt and tosses it at the creature.
The acid splashes across the ink black creature as it reaches small psuedopods out, clawing at the ground with wet plopping sounds as it drags itself forth.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Nicholo
Living Evil
➤ Ezgara
➤ Onye
⠀⠀➤ Uhu
➤ Daehalya
➤ Alvarius
➤ Grundle
Ezgara prances around the steps, spreading out. He points his broken twig at the evil; a bolt of white-hot plasma cracks down from the sky.
Woof!
HP 72/72
AC 24 (+1 vs. traps), deny advantage, cold resistance 3
Fort +10, Ref +14, Will +11 (+1 vs. traps)
Hero Points: 3
Deviant backlash DC: 5
Effects:
Unsure what this is, Daehalya steps up and swings her staff at it.
The amurrun growls as the black ooze approaches them. "Onye Dinta is of two minds that the fear of Onye Dinta did not prove true," he says before invoking the spirits of creation. The glowing mists rise around him and recede to reveal a tawny lion.
He snaps at the masses, bracing for what must be a repugnant taste.
"What a curious creature..."
◆ Recall knowledge...
Alvarius will also try to ascertain what this creature is...
Grundle, distracted by the constant clicking and clacking of Alvarius' bones, frowns as the identity of the creature slips off the tip of his tongue.
He just knows it must be restrained to keep it from attacking his new friends (or even the skeleton).
As this thought enters his mind, he feels a force shoot out of his little tummy, heading straight for the hideous, black, Tasha Yar-killing creature.
At the same time, he sends a Message** to Nicky..
"Position yourself!:
**Amped
"Black Pudding, and it's a big one! If you're going to hit it, smash it. Blades are useless!"
Alvarius moves his hands through a series of complex gestures, the smell of ozone filling the area. He completes his spell a thunderous bolt of electricity striking down at the ooze.