The Tyrant growls slightly at the hag's face. It better open if it knows what's good for it.
He will not be denied. I will not be denied!
Vashta detects necromantic magic focused around the entire hillside.
"Of course, darlings, we likely need to offer it some blood. The Silent Hag is often invoked when forging blood pacts involving secrets, after all."
She waits for one of the others to bleed for their entry.
Aicard taps a balled fist against the stone eye, wondering what it would take to smash it to bits. Whatever is needed, it's endlessly more than what he has to offer. "I'd rather break this stone in two than give whatever haunts this place a drop of my blood."
"Eh, I've got loads of it." Targrish pricks his finger with his kukri and presses it against the teeth.
Targrish's blood quickly seems to spread across the stone eye, giving ita glistening, bloodshot appearance. The eye now moves smoothly and freely in its socket. Rotating it upward, so that the eye’s pupil slides beyond the upper lip of the cave, reveals a small hollow within the boulder—a hidden cache. Within the niche is a stone coffer containing 13 eye-shaped gemstones. Of these stones, a dozen are worth 50 gp each, while the thirteenth is an eye of apprehension talisman.
In addition, the Harrow card you are seeking is here--The Silent Hag.
Targrish looks around suspiciously, then carefully gathers the items from the cache.
"Well, no hag here, it appears..." He waits as the invitation hangs in the air.
No hag appears to challenge you. It would seem you will be able to claim this Harrow card without a fight!
"It does seem a little too good to be true," she agrees, looking around.
With the card in hand, you open a portal to return to the Harrow Court. Once you are there, The Silent Hag epitomizes itself within the realm.
Two more arches remain to be explored--the Arch of Shields (The Trumpet) and the Arch of Tomes (The Snakebite).
"Now we just need a crystal ball, darlings," Vashta says lightly.
After resting, she heads back to the arches, gesturing to the Arch of Shields, though she's equally happy to go to the other.
"Charming additions to our abode, though at least it may prove useful." Targrish nods at Vashta's choice.
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Success As success, but instead of granting insight into the nature of a specific foe, the GM chooses a generic monster that the PCs may soon face, selecting from standard monsters that might be encountered in the current adventure the PCs are playing. The information gained is equal to what the PC would have gained from a success by Recalling Knowledge about that monster.
Failure Apart from a vaguely unsettling feeling of being watched themselves, the PC learns nothing from their visit to the carnival.
Critical Failure Rather than noticing anything helpful, the PC emerges from their trip to the carnival with paranoid feelings of being watched by unseen eyes, and becomes stupefied 3.
[expert]
Vashta joins the others at the carnival, but as before, she's far too focused on the Harrow readings to truly pay attention to others.
Aicard takes the time to mend the various dents and damage to his armor and shield. Hammering out the dents and filing away the sharp edges is monotonous but fulfilling work, and it helps the tiefling to empty his head and thus unburden his shoulders - if only for a little while.
The world is heavy enough as is and given time, even the smallest of weights becomes unbearable. The reprieve is much appreciated.
Once more, Oro gleans some cryptic clues from the carnival performers. He's sure the secrets will make themselves clear in time.
When you are ready, you step through the Arch of Shields. A ridge of jagged stone serves as a natural battlement at the edge of this hilltop. The ground on the other side is steeply slanted and strewn with scree. Armored soldiers look over the battlement with evident trepidation, while down below, roiling hordes of fleshy aberrations, from crawling globs the size of a human fist to bulbous, fleshy giants towering dozens of feet tall, rush back and forth between boulders and rents in the earth, as if unable to bear the light of the sun for too long.
You immediately noting the muggy heat of the area and the low rumble of monstrous growls, slithering, and howling that rises up from the hillside below. The two dozen human soldiers stationed atop the hill behind you are startled by your sudden arrival, but the ranking officer quickly approaches and salutes. She speaks in Vudrani at first. Once it becomes clear you can't understand her, she frowns and switches to Aklo, which Orozomoc can translate:
"It is strange that you do not speak our language, yet you speak the language of our enemies. You are our reinforcements, correct? I apologize for not following the order to retreat. It arrived too late, and now our commanding officer is trapped!"
"What a lovely place we've discovered, darlings," Vashta mutters sotto voce to her companions.
She turns to the officer, though she's relying on Oro to translate. "Of course, dear. Where is your commanding officer? (And where are we, exactly?)"
The roiling mass of flesh fills Aicard with disgust. Whatever they are, the gods surely mustn't have meant for such things to exist. "And what a lovely crowd. Perhaps I should play them a song or two before we send them off to Pharasma's embrace. Good Gods, what are those ... things?!"
The sergeant frowns at Vashta. "Did they not give you a briefing before teleporting you out here? We are at Open Bridge, in southern Vudra. Our forces are the only thing preventing the aberrant hordes that emerged following Aroden's death from overrunning the mainland."
This newly formed peninsula became known as Open Bridge, and the people of southern Vudra expected a boom in trade and resources as a result of the ease in travel between what were once islands. Anticipation turned to horror when fissures on the peninsula spewed forth countless aberrations that swarmed out and overran many towns and trading posts, and then threatened to spill into greater Vudra. By working together, resolute soldiers and architects constructed massive walls and fortresses to keep the aberrations at bay. Providing vigilant soldiers for this wall is the duty of the local mahajanapadas, and it is one they perform with grim honor.
Over the century since Open Bridge became overrun with monsters, this fortification line has shifted many times. More often, the defenders have had to fall back, ceding territory to the aberrant hordes. Sometimes, however, the defenders can push forward to claim a ruined keep or establish a new defensive line atop a canyon edge or deep river.
"There are too many bhanyadas for us to fight. Commander Araseesh initially received permission from our superiors to claim that building down the hill. They received approval for the mission, but we did not get the follow-up retracting the approval in light of new information about the enemies' movements." The sergeant points down the hill, where a ruined fortification stands. "Commander Araseesh went there with a small group, but a swarm of bhanyadas attacked them and tore most of the soldiers apart before they fell back! Since then, we've seen enough activity down at the ruin to know that at least one person still lives. The bhanyadas appear to be preparing for another assault. Time is of the essence!"
"Many thanks, Orozomoc." Targrish tucks the gift into his armor, enjoying the pungent scent.
"We've got to rescue the survivors, then. What can you tell us of the enemy?"
"Tell them I am summoning a creature to help," Vashta urges, giving the soldiers a bit of warning before summoning The Tyrant.
"Yes, dears, what are these bhanyadas?"
The sergeant, who gives her name as Japulipel, tells you about bhanyadas. Gobbets of flesh left behind from an untidy meal or a surgical procedure typically rot away if left where they lie, but when steeped in areas of powerful lingering magic or eldritch radiation, these bits of loose tissue might achieve some measure of animation, perhaps sprouting thick limbs to move about or tiny, multifaceted eyes to see. Near the magic-suffused Ghantibhu Pits in the caverns located beneath southern Vudra, where ripples of magic are powerful enough to rend the air and transform stone, these tiny, rotting castoffs form into even larger amalgamations called bhanyadas.
Bhanyadas are almost never encountered outside the Open Bridge region in southern Vudra, as the magic of the Ghantibhu Pits beneath that region create them. Bhanyadas taken away from Open Bridge quickly decay into a repulsive slurry, although though it isn't clear whether their demise is due to being too far from the magical energies that animated them or too far from the masses of other bhanyadas that give them cunning and vigor.
Bhanyadas resist bludgeoning attacks but are weak to slashing attacks. They possess extraneous chunks of flesh that make them somewhat resistant to critical hits, as they can lose those components without much impact to their function.
Japulipel shakes her head. "Apologies, but we are not strong enough to face so many bhanyadas! We would likely only put you in danger if we came with you. We will hold this position until you return with Captain Araseesh."
"They sound delicious!" The Tyrant rumbles.
Targrish tests the edge of his kukri and hikes up his belt.
"Well, let's see if we can salvage the situation."
When you are ready, you start making your way down the hillside. The path is treacherous, and you carefully scramble and slide down the loose scree and rubble on the hillside.
You are halfway down the hill when the ground suddenly shakes and shifts. Two swarms of fleshy bhanyadas burst up from the ground on either side of you, hundreds of tiny gobbets of flesh with prodigial limbs and jaws protruding from them!
The aberrations get the drop on you! They swarm all over you, biting and gnawing, their stench overpowering.
Targrish looks for any weakness in the swarm, then slashes away at it.
for
for
HP 180/188 (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 []; Incredible Improvisation []; crown of the fire eater []; ring of lies []
Spells: 5th [][], 6th [][]
Focus Points: 1/1
Effects: slowed 1 for 1 round, temp immunity to odor of rot for 1 minute
The disgusting creatures pummel Vashta and The Tyrant, much to the summoner's displeasure. Her eyes flash as she urges her companion to attack.
[ spoiler=Quick stats]
AC 30
Fort +20, Ref +19, Will +17
Collar of the eternal bond []
Effects: Root worker fetish []
[/spoiler]
The Tyrant rips into the disgusting masses with claws and jaws.
Aicard thought he'd be ready for what's to come, but he wasn't. The disgusting mass of flesh overwhelms his senses and fills his world in a way that he wants to forget - if necessary, through consuming copious amounts of alcohol.
Targrish knows that the swarms are vulnerable to splash damage, so he quickly spreads some oil on his kukri and ignites it to exploit their weakness. He lashes out, scoring a hit.
Orozomoc takes to the air to avoid the swarms, firing an arrow into the squirming mass of flesh.
Aicard raises his shield and bashes the bhanyadas.
Vashta commands the Tyrant to attack, the eidolon scoring a hit.
The bhanyadas continue to swarm about, biting and tearing with their teeth.
HP 164/188 (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 []; Incredible Improvisation []; crown of the fire eater []; ring of lies []
Spells: 5th [][], 6th [][]
Focus Points: 1/1
Effects: slowed 1 for 1 round, temp immunity to odor of rot for 1 minute
The creatures continue to pummel Vashta and The Tyrant, but both have suffered worse, though the mass of disgustingness continues to hamper them. Still, she urges her draconic companion to continue his attack.
AC 30
Fort +20, Ref +19, Will +17
Collar of the eternal bond []
Effects: Root worker fetish []
The Tyrant lashes out with claws and fangs again, but he's getting swarmed, hampering him.
"AWAY FROM ME, FOOD!"
"It's a swarm, you old lizard. Fry it!" Targrish grins at the Tyrant as he shares some of his thaumaturgical insight.
for
for
for
The sea of flesh keeps Aicard from acting freely, but the champion still manages to get some good strikes in.
Targrish slices at the bhanyadas around him. Orozomoc unleashes a sonic blast that is quite effective against both swarms! Aicard manages to finish off the stragglers in the first swarm with his attacks, but the Tyrant struggles to land a hit.
The remaining swarm continues to scurry about, biting and tearing at you.
HP 163/188 (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 []; Incredible Improvisation []; crown of the fire eater []; ring of lies []
Spells: 5th [][], 6th [][]
Focus Points: 1/1
Effects: slowed 1 for 1 round, temp immunity to odor of rot for 1 minute
Oro's abilities continue to keep Vashta largely safe, with the creatures little more than a nuisance. "Thank you, darling!" she calls out, as she continues to do her best to destroy the monsters.
The Tyrant continues to lash about him in a blind fury.
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Seeing the damage that the first wisp did to the swarms, Oro considers the other one flitting about in its dwelling. Although it can be cathartic for a departing spirit to release its anguish, Oro has always prefered to let them pass gently with a final act of healing. I'll keep that second spirit holding on for a little while yet.
He takes aim with his bow, looking for any weaknesses in the abhaya swarm...
...and looses an arrow.
Seeing the success of the first one, he fires another.
Reflex: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27
Reflex: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (2) + 21 = 23
Targrish fills the air with colorful dwarven curses and slivers of animated flesh.
for
for
for
Aicard fails to evade the worst the mass of flesh throws (or, gnaws) at him, but he continues to fight. Is he truly fighting the mass or is he merely mirroring it right now?
Targrish scores two good hits on the remaining swarm and Orozomoc strikes true with his arrow, but neither Aicard nor the Tyrant are able to finish off the ravenous gobbets of flesh that continue to gnaw and chew on those they can reach!