Xiung-Lau casts haste on Kwan Tai. The hobgoblin fails to demoralize Yeri, nor is he able to land a hit! Lie Jie's hissing doesn't scare the monster either, but Hooli is able to score a critical hit, her slashing weapon proving quite effective against the monster's dangling organs! However, slicing the organs has a side effect, as well, as acidic bile spray on the kitsune!
Yeri's entrails lash out at Hooli, battering her and wrapping her up as they restrain and squeeze the rogue!
Xiung-Lau raises a hand and hurls shadows at the creature's face.
He then points a staff toward a nearby rock and hurls it.
Kwan Tai flails, but is unable to clobber the small child that is apparently his nemesis.
The Alchemist Commands Blue to Quick Brew a Mistform elixir and the Little Blue spills it down the Nagaji throat.
Li Jie then Strides to the Tangled Torso and Strikes!
Xiung-Lau clouds Yeri's eyes with darkness but misses with his projectile. Kwan Tai misses as well, as does Lie Jie. Hooli manages to slip out of Yeri's grasp and slashes her again, eliciting a fresh burst of bile.
Yeri attacks with her forked tongue, landing a single hit.
Crawler of Night, propelled by some powerful impulse, springs from his master's shoulder and scampers across, to stand adjacent to and behind Yeri.
Once Crawler is in position, Xiung-Lau draws the shadowy darkness stronger around Yeri's face.
He then lets out a low hum, which seems to fill his allies with a growing power.
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HP 14/58
AC 22
Fort +9, Ref +13, Will +10
Hero points: 3
Seasonal Boon: summer []; fall []; winter []; spring []
Spells: 1st []
Effects:
Hooli sways a little as her wounds start piling up. She slashes twice, quick cuts, and then retreats!
[ooc◈◈ Twin Feint (two Strikes, second is vs. off-guard), ◈ Stride 25 feet away [/ooc]
The Alchemist begins to doubt his Melee prowess. He decides to Step into Hooli's vacated seat to Flank with Kwan Tai!
The Medic then Doctor Visitation Hooli!
With not much technique, but with a great deal of enthusiasm for ending this horror, Kwan Tai clobbers the fiend!
This time, Kwan Tai delivers two powerful blows with his hammer. With Yeri frightened and Xiung-Lau's blessing, Hooli barely manages to land two hits. Lie Jie just manages to connect as well. The floating head and organs shrieks one last time before she falls to the floor, thrashing and wriggling before at last falling still. The headless body crumbles to dust, leaving behind a ghostly image of Yeri as a human. She sighs in relief.
"For too long did I suffer the torment of being trapped in that monstrous form! Thank you for releasing me. Please, find my big sister Yuni and save her too."
Yeri's ghostly form fades away entirely, leaving behind her set of holy prayer beads.
Li Jie hisses.
Big sister equalsss bigger badder Tangled Torso Type. Just saying.
The Medic will then Treat Wounds and pass out Healing Elixirs until everyone is tended to.
Kwan Tai bares his teeth. "How hideous then will her sister be?"
You continue on along the path, making your way through the lightly falling rain. As evening falls, the rain worsens into a downpour, soaking you and leaving you cold and miserable.
Finally, as the sun has almost finished setting, you near the second shrine, the Garden Shrine. The forested path reaches a break here, next to an ash-strewn clearing astride the path. A partially-burned wooden cottage sits near the path, while a five-foot-wide rock walkway winds around the ruins to a ruined garden beyond. Here, the scorched remnants of a burned oak tree loom tall, while at the far end of the charred clearing sits a small stone shrine. The rock pathway leads up to it, with this last stretch flanked by three pairs of unlit stone lanterns.
Kwan Tai oddly seems more cheerful as the weather turns horrid. This at least is a hardship that he understands. "Let us examine the shrine. Whatever spirit controls this place may tell us much."
The Nagaji shivers.
Are we there yet?
At the shrine, the Alchemist begins tidying up a bit prior to lighting the stone lanterns.
The cottage is badly burned, but enough of the roof remains intact to offer at least some shelter from the rainstorm. As soon as you enter the building, however, four charred, blackened corpses rise up from the ashes! The remains of the shrine's caretakers reignite, bursting into flames, and they cry out in agony as they move to attack!
Dropping his tindertwigs, the Alchemist Commands Blue to grab a Beastial Mutagen and the Blue fellow pours it down his throat.
Li Jie seems to have been working out a bit recently.
Striding into Melee with a Flaming Kabob, the Beastie bites!
Kwan Tai sets his stance and whips his hammer across the closest undead as he gives a baleful glare.
Hooli peppers the closest undead with needle darts as Xiung-Lau conjures a spiritual dagger to stab it. Kwan Tai strides in, demoralizing his foe before knocking it down with a critical blow from his hammer! Lie Jie pounces on the fallen enemy, destroying it with a swift bite.
The three remaining enemies close in on Kwan Tai and Lie Jie, letting loose eerie howls that set the pair ablaze!
The Nagaji hisses!
The Alchemist Commands Blue to grab a Numbing Tonic and pour it down his throat.
Numbing Tonic (5)
The ancestors laugh!
The Medic does a Doctor's Visitation on himself about 25' away from Melee!
He flips those ancestors the bird!
As the rain begins, Xiung-Lau activates his Hongrui's Gratitude cloak. the image of the umbrella vanishing and appearing as a red wax umbrella above his head, largely protecting him from the rain.
He pulls a wand from his cloak. "Hooli, may I cast endure elements on you?"
Hours later, the attack commences ....
Xiung-Lau points his staff at the nearest enemy that doesn't have cover, hurling another shadowy knife of energy at it.
The shadows reach out for the creature, trying to engulf its head in shadow.
He then motions and Crawler scurries across to stand on the ground near the (hopefully) blinded enemy.
|
|
"Thanks. Doesn't hurt to have a little extra fur!"
HP 58/58
AC 22
Fort +9, Ref +13, Will +10
Hero points: 2
Seasonal Boon: summer []; fall []; winter []; spring []
Spells: 1st []
Effects:
Hooli growls at one of the creatures and sends another trio of darts at it.
[ ooc]Invigorating Fear reaction (once/hour); Trigger A creature within 60 feet gains the frightened condition. Effect: You are invigorated by the shock of a prank or the thrum of terror. You gain temporary Hit Points equal to the creature's level or 3, whichever is higher. You lose any temporary Hit Points after 1 minute.[/ooc]
Kwan Tai batters the undead as they close, smoldering with rage and much more literally with the fire he's been set on. As the burning bodies crowd around him, he slams his hammer into the one that Hooli has terrified, whirling on another and hammering it farther back before taking a careful step back away to force them to advance again to surround him.
Hooli's needle darts miss by a wide margin. Xiung-Lau shrouds one of the fiery undead's heads in shadows and sends his familiar in to distract it. His spiritual weapon hits another foe, then Kwan Tai annihilates that skeleton with two heavy blows of his hammer! Lie Jie misses, falling back to tend to his injuries.
The two remaining foes stride forward and attack Kwan Tai!
Xiung-Lau motions for Crawler to remain near the one that is shrouded, but remaining as innocuous as a tennis ball-sized spider can be.
Xiung-Lau draws more shadows around the enemy.
He then conjures another shadowy knife, hurling it toward the one that isn't shrouded.
Feeling a bit better, the Nagaji Alchemist does a Doctor's Visitation on Kwan Tai.
The Alchemist then Strides(Steps) into a Flank with the Fighter just prior to....
A grim smile plays behind the faceplate of Kwan Tai's helm as the undead keep stumbling forward in disarray. Hammering their every error mercilessly he strives to keep them both off balance and at arm's length.
Kwan Tai's reactive strike is a critical hit, knocking the skeletal foe to the ground before it can reach him. Between the hobgoblin's heavy blows, Lie Jie's fangs, and Xiung-Lau's magic, the remaining two undead are swiftly eradicated!
A search of the shrine uncovers repair supplies, along with a clay pot containing a dozen cones of particularly fine lavender incense. Among other things, lavender incense is said to stimulate the appetite. Each cone of incense is worth 25 gp. You also discover a cunningly crafted silver and oak incense burner that shields the incense within from being extinguished by wind and rain. This incense burner is worth 50 gp and is shaped like a dragon’s head, so that the smoke wafts from its nostrils.
It looks like the incense will fit inside the six lanterns that lined the path to the cottage.
As a seasoned campaigner, Kwan Tai is quick to set up shelter whenever the opportunity arises.
The Alchemist puts away his tools....
Hooli remembers that the incense was lit at this shrine, known as the Garden shrine due to Master Zhi Hui discovering a grove of wildflowers, berries, and wild radishes growing in an idyllic clearing here. Pilgrims coule enjoy a simple meal and contemplate the values of enjoyable repasts at the end of a day of travel while also ensuring that they did not overindulge in food or drink.
When you light the lanterns with the incense, a feeling of calm settles over the area. You rest comfortably in the repaired cottage, the rain finally letting up with the dawn, replaced by a thick fog. When you emerge from the cottage, you find that a a fresh layer of green grass has sprung up from the ashes. A half dozen bright blue orchids have likewise bloomed among the roots of the burned oak tree. You are overcome with the urge to pick all of the flowers.
"Long have I known that the sun has no good taste." Kwan Tai gripes good naturedly.
The Alchemist gasps in utter pleasure at the revelation of the foliage growth.
You did good.
Once you are ready, you head off into the morning fog. Travel increasingly becomes vertical as the day’s trip begins, with the path having several switchbacks and steep slopes to navigate. The forest remains on either side of the path, although cliffsides and ledges often encroach, and the fog makes it difficult to see very far ahead.
Past noon, the wind picks up and disperses the fog. Once the fog has been dispersed, the view to the east allows glimpses of Willowshore. Beyond that, the haze surrounding the hinterlands gives the region the unnerving appearance of being trapped under a bowl made of dark clouds.
The steep inclines and slopes of the mountains, path taper off here for a while, winding through flat but densely forested terrain, but this stretch of pathway becomes particularly grim as dozens of human heads in varying states of decay hang by their hair from tree branches on either side of the road. As you draw near, the heads begin to whisper and hiss, decaying lips twitching as soft, menacing voices swirl in the air.
“You will join us soon.”
“We welcome you to our family.”
“Join our voices and become one with Kugaptee.”
One head in particular is different than the others; this one is little more than a skull, and it sits in the middle of the path, facing you. As soon as anyone approaches within 30 feet of the skull, it rises up into the air and commands you to stop and turn back. “You are not welcome here; you lack the true insight needed to be one with Great Kugaptee!”
Li Jie hisses at the constant fog, the overgrown foliage, the lack of any hand rails. At the whispering voices, the Nagaji shakes his head.
He's freaking me out man....
At the more insisting voice, the Alchemist huffs!
Great Kugaptee!? Isn't he down in the dirt napping with the worms while everyone else is dancing on his grave? Thought I heard something to that affect.
Li Jie seems impatient....
"Kugaptee lives!" the skull insists. "And if you do not bow to his will, then it will be you who finds themselves buried beneath the dirt. Your friends and family will join you as well, and there will be nobody left to mourn you!"
"Already will the mourning for my death be brief. Bring Kugaptee forth if you dare."
A slightly shivering snake smiles still at Hooli.
Niccce....
"Fools! Prepare to forfeit your souls!" the skull declares!