As some Pathfinders work on disabling the machine and others shelter as best as they can at the nearby door a Pathfinder by the name of Spica Capella conjures a wall of force to help shelter her fellow agents from the machine's ethereal energies, giving a brief and welcome respite to all. Moments later, with a shudder, the machine begins to fold up again. The ethereal tendrils dissipate as the machine closes, locking tightly. With only a barricaded door between them and Charvion, several of the stronger Pathfinders put their collective shoulders into the door and pop it open with ease.
The walls and floor of the room revealed within are made of pale, roughly-finished sandstone. They curve upward to an almost dome-like structure above, and the level of the floor is slightly lower than that of the entry door. Squared arches of polished sandstone are cut into the curved walls, creating fantastic columns. The walls are covered to a height of 30 feet with enormous bookshelves full of tomes, scrolls, and leather-bound books. Several ladders, used to climb to the higher shelves, are scattered about the room.
At a half-dozen points throughout the room, the rough, sandstone floor has been breached, smashed open as though someone were looking for something. Standing above one such hole is Charvion Eater-of-Bones. Flinging aside his sledgehammer, he raises his arms to the ceiling and screams in an ancient, guttural tongue. A nimbus of white flame erupts about him and then explodes, sending several different versions of Charvion flying about the room. Each Charvion stands and laughs, and in one loud chorus they say,
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7 damage
4 damage
Both Malist and Fraxon are hurt badly.
Malist and Aegis are at the gate and a senior pathfinder points at the Chavrion that they should tackle.
Initiative
Aegis
Malist
Chavrion
Daenerija
Fraxon
Rosla
BOLD is up.
The bolt pierces the man's shoulder and the copy shouts out in pain.
All around you Pathfinders storm into the room and charge at the various copies of this very dangerous man.
Chavrion sends a magic misfile into Aegis!
Initiative
Daenerija
Fraxon
Rosla
Aegis, -6
Malist, can take two actions
Chavrion
BOLD is up.
With each defeated copy, the remaining Charvions seem to fade, as if each copy contained a portion of himself!
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As Chavrion is about to cast another spell, Aegis bolt hits his chest and the copy vanishes!!
But you see that immediately another copy is starting to focus on you!
Initiative
Daenerija
Fraxon
Rosla
Aegis, -6
Malist
Chavrion II
BOLD is up.
The holy book just the magic user hard and he’s burned by the fire!
You also see that he seems shaken.
“I … I’ll kill you all!!“
As the tide of battle swings firmly against him, Charvion’s power continues to fade. His strikes seem suddenly less potent, a growing desperation apparent on his many faces!
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In a mighty burst of light, all remaining copies of the Pathfinder Charvion Eater-of-Bones merge back into one form. Charvion, his mouth open and his eyes wide, shrieks in horror as his recombined form is sucked back through the door into the room with the Cage of Soul Echoes, which suddenly hums with a ground-shaking energy. You see Charvion, caught for one moment on the edge of the light’s eclipse, his hands wrapped around the cage itself, mouth the words, ”Help me!” before a second burst of light envelopes his body, pulling the Pathfinder out of existence. As suddenly as it began, the room goes dark and silent, and Charvion is no more.
Studying the Cage of Soul Echoes in the aftermath of the attack, Pathfinder scholars surmise that when he was sucked through the device Charvion was torn to a million pieces, his soul shattered and forever unrecoverable. Because of his foolish errand, however, the Pathfinder Society knows finally, unequivocally, that the Shadow Lodge is real and the entire Society is in danger...
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