Targrish's amulet reduces the damage he takes, though blood still drips down his face.
"You'll pay for that, creature."
for
HP 114/188 (Toughness, Diehard)
AC 28
Fort +14, Ref +12, Will +14; fire resistance 5 (crown), poison resistance 12 (brass dwarf), xx weakness 5? (brass dwarf)
Hero points: 3
Active Harrow Omen: The locksmith (keys)
Chaotic Destiny [x]; Incredible Improvisation []; crown of the fire eater []; ring of lies []
Spells: 5th [][], 6th [][x]
Focus Points: 1/1
Effects:
Vashta casts again as The Tyrant finally soars off the ground, snapping and clawing at the fiend.
AC 30
Fort +20, Ref +19, Will +17
Collar of the eternal bond []
Effects: Root worker fetish []
The Tyrant roars in triumph. "Back to Hell with you!" he roars as he tears
"Ah, c'mon! Don't make me grow wings!"
The tables turn against the fiend as the Tyrant finally makes it off of the ground. He tears into the hawklike creature with his teeth and claws. Targrish slices the fiend again, then Oro lands a critical hit! The arrow is enough to finish off the wounded fiend, who plummets from the sky and crashes into the ground below.
Skawnak and his rebels emerge from their hiding spots to give you a cheer. "Well done! And thank you again, my friends. We can complete our mission on our own from here, but we wouldn't have gotten this far without your aid. Our destination is still quite far from here, so this is where we part ways. Good luck!" With a wave, the rebels depart.
You are able to claim The Big Sky from the bloodied body of the fiend, as well as a ruby religious symbol of Pazuzu worth 750 gp. With your prize in hand, you can open a portal to return to the Harrow Court at your leisure.
"Well, what a lovely excursion to Arcadia," Vashta murmurs. "Shall we return 'home' now, or spend some more time here? I hear Port Valen is lovely this time of year."
Aicard wishes the rebels the best of luck - they'll surely need it. "May you run along Desna in the weeks and months ahead. Until we meet again!"
Once they're gone and the others discuss where to go next, Aicard can't help but wonder what this Port Valen is. "What exactly is this Port Valen? I'm down for anything, doubly so if it involves beating the pulp out of fiends."
"Yes, let's have a rest. And a think." The dwarf frowns. "Perhaps we can determine some pattern among these cards. Though, we may need to gather more of them before things become clear."
You open up a portal and step back into the Harrow Court. The Arch of Hammers is now empty, and once you take the time to attune to The Big Sky, it epitomizes in the realm.
More astonishingly, this region has a supernatural ability to help a creature use their raw strength to break free from curses they’re suffering from. Once per day, a character can spend an hour meditating here, enduring either the extreme heat or cold, but at the end of that hour, the character can select one curse that they’re currently afflicted by, then attempt an Athletics check against the curse’s DC.
Critical Success The curse is counteracted.
Success The curse is counteracted as long as its level is
equal to or less than the character’s level.
Failure The curse is counteracted as long as its level is equal to or less than the character’s level – 4.
Critical Failure The curse is not removed, and the character overextends themselves in the attempt, becoming enfeebled 3.
Three arches remain to explore...
After they've rested, and perhaps spent some time in Harrowheart , Vashta joins the others in the hall of arches.
"Shall we tackle the Silent Hag next, dears?"
When you are ready, you step through the Arch of Stars. You find yourselves in an area of hills covered with scrub and short grasses poking up between patches of earth laced with the remnants of past snowstorms. An ancient road leads away to the east. Looking to the west, you see that you have appeared at the end of the road: no trace of it continuing further west remains.
"Well, dears, it appears the road does not go ever, ever on, at least not in this direction. Shall we follow in the other? That seems preferable to standing here sorry we cannot travel both ways," Vashta says lightly.
"And perhaps a traveling companion too..."
She concentrates and summons The Tyrant.
"I am here, always!" The Tyrant announces ominously as he appears.
"But we should be wary of a path that seems set for our feet," the suspicious dwarf adds.
Aicard takes in the new surroundings and wonders what sort of person or being could call this desolate nothingness 'home'. Maybe a failed artist who has come to grips with their lack of talent?
"Perhaps I should burst into song and fill these hills haunted by the sound of silence with the vibrating hum of life. An urban roar might just be the shake-up this place needs."
You begin to travel down the road, but you don't make it very far before you see plumes of dust indicating the approach of horses. As they draw closer, though, it becomes obvious that they are not horses, but centaurs! Six of them approach you cautiously, hands out and smiles on their faces. Their leader is a short and stocky centaur with bright orange hair in a braided coil on the top of her head. She wears a breastplate covered with a repeating pattern of interwoven vines.
She calls out in Sylvan, and Orozomoc is able to provide a translation: "Well met, wanderers! I am Rohrry Gray-Eyes. You are in the home of the Stone Teeth tribe. What brings you to our lands?"
"Well met, Rohrry Gray-Eyes. You can call me Vashta, and these are my companions. We come searching for strange omens, and a magical card," Vashta replies with a warm smile.
"A harrow card? I have no idea what that is," Rohrry says. "But if you are looking for strange magic, you could venture to the Maw of Karth, further east along the road. The Maw is a stone gate carved to look like a cyclops face. The road passes through its mouth on its route further east toward Finadar Forest. I’m told that the road ends at a place watched over by a great stone hag, but that’s much further east than I’ve ever cared to go. The Maw draws many folk, including giants and trolls, so you’d best be careful if you travel there."
Aicard listens intently to the words exchanged between Oro and the centaurs. Whatever language it is, it sounds nice enough. Nicer than abyssal, anyway.
As they chatter, Aicard takes the time to use the magic invested in his armor to change his appearance. No longer is he wearing a frilly shirt with puffy sleeves, but instead he's clad in a straight-forward black leather jacket and matching pants to protect him against the challenges this environment might throw at them. Wind, rain, and who knows what else torments this place. Well, they'd do that if only the clothes were real.
"Perhaps she understands me, but if not, do let her know her hair looks absolutely fabulous. She'd be all the rage back in Absalom."
"Yes, a hag sounds like just the person we want to meet. Thank you, dear, you've been ever so helpful!"
After hearing about their destination, Targrish mutters a few colorful phrases in Jotun.
"Well, I'm a bit rusty, but I remember at least four ways to insult a giant's mother." The dwarf laughs.
Rohrry nods to Orozomoc. "Yes, that is acceptable. If you return to this place, some of our people will find you sooner or later."
She accepts the compliment from Aicard with a simple nod of her head.
***
You travel along the road for three or four miles before coming upon the Maw of Karth. A massive cyclops head looms over the ancient road, built up between two low hills. Rather than block the road’s passage between the hills, the cyclops’ yawning mouth forms a short tunnel through the carving, so that those who travel the road are symbolically swallowed by the great one-eyed visage. Worn inscriptions in the ancient Cyclops language encircle the carving’s bulging eye.
As you approach, you hear the sound of deep chanting coming from somewhere beyond the head...
"Well, dears, that sounds ominous," Vashta says lightly. "Considering our other travels, we should probably prepare for another fight."
Aicard flashes Vashta a disappointed look. "What you call ominous sounds like an invitation to a party to me!"
As you pass through the Maw and emerge on the other side, you can see a pair of enormous giant women deep in meditation. The twenty-foot-tall giants have gray skin adorned with numerous runic tattoos. They open their eyes as they hear you approaching, glaring at you warily, but they continue their chanting.
Vashta waits to see if their chants continue, not wanting to interrupt what might be a religious ceremony. She holds up a hand to prevent her companions from getting involved.
After a few moments of silence, one of the giants sighs and addresses you in Sylvan. (Orozomoc can translate again). "Well, what do you want, wee folk? As you can see, we are busy."
Targrish answers them in Jotan. "We're on the trail of a hag, we think. She is in possession of some powerful and dangerous magic."
"I must say, I also admire your rune work!"
"Yes, darling, what Targrish said," Vashta agrees. "A harrow card, to be precise."
"Harrow? That is an unfamiliar term," the giant says. "Can you describe this card?"
After providing a description, she furrows her brow. "Hmm. We passed a hill that had a similar image into it. The hill lies about a day's journey further along the road toward Finadar Forest. Perhaps you will find what you are looking for there. Now, leave us to our ritual."
"Of course, darling," Vashta replies. She hesitates a moment, a calculated pause, and then asks, "What are you trying to accomplish with this ritual?"
The second giant taps her foot and says something that sounds snide in Jotun. The first one chides her before switching back to Sylvan. ”We have recently journeyed for days from the Ice Steppes on a pilgrimage to this ancient place. The ritual is designed to call on its power to attune us to deep primal magic and assist us in recovering lost knowledge.”
"Well, more power to ya. Good luck with your pilgrimage." Targrish is content to leave the giants to their business. Giants aren't usually so friendly, in his experience.
Vashta also is content to leave the giants to their ritual, since it doesn't seem dangerous.
"Our apologies for disturbing you, dear" she says lightly.
You follow the giants' directions further along the road. Though not as obvious or massive as the Maw of Karth, the hill you are looking for is easy to see once you draw near.
A steep, bare hillside that at first seems to evince odd patterns of erosion reveals itself upon closer observation to have been carved to resemble a long, narrow face. Two small, shallow caves look out over the ancient road partway up the carved hillside, resembling nothing so much as empty eye sockets above a narrow spur of rock that evokes imagery of an almost beak-like nose. What appears to be a third cave sits near the ground, yet this stalactite- and stalagmite-adorned opening seems to have been blocked from within by an immense round boulder carved to resemble an eye.
The carving very much resembles a classic representation of The Silent Hag. The face itself is 50 feet high. The two eye socket caves are empty, but an examination of the lower entrance confirms that it is indeed a cave that has been blocked from within by the round, carved boulder. Pushing the 5-foot-diameter eye allows it to rotate a few feet within its mouth “socket,” but the eye will only allow itself to be rotated enough so it appears to be looking in a slightly different direction before it quickly self-corrects to shift back to its neutral position, staring straight ahead.
Up close, the stalactites and stalagmites that decorate the lower cave are clearly carvings, not natural formations, meant to evoke the Silent Hag’s sharp teeth. Investigating the teeth, Orozomoc discovers faint traces of dried blood around the edges of some of the teeth where the stone presses to the eye just within...
Vashta looks for the trick to keep the eye rotated.
There doesn't seem to be any mechanical means of keeping the eye in place. Perhaps there is a magical means of doing so.
"What do we think? Blood sacrifice?" Targrish doesn't mind getting his hands a bit dirty. "I hate to rush into it if there are hags about, though."
Vashta casts detect magic to see if that helps.