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A few minutes pass.
"What yew got there, Milo?"
Guzzling a green elixir, Fjörn's forehead expands to accommodate a dramatic interior shift to his grey matter, multiple veins running across it now, as blood is re-prioritized from other parts of his body to his head which swells to massive proportions, straining his neck muscles to hold aloft.
A flash of inspiration "Hundred years old, this" he reads it "Some journal from a certain Alystair Caskwater - fancy pants hunter of monsters in his own words" he chuckles "Tried to take out a Mage here - blamed 'em for attacking someone from the Isle of Kortos on account of weakening some barrier" he hands the books back to Milo "Some scribbled notes in the beginning - think that's about it"
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"Aha! What have we here?" Milo reaches under a broken table and recovers a book. He casually flips through it. "It seems to be a journal. Not in the greatest shape, but readable nonetheless. Written by..." His musings are interrupted when Fjorn snatches the book from his hands. He raises an eyebrow at the dwarf but says nothing.
With another information at hand, the group presses on. A few cautious walk and to their left, they find a room.
(That's Odd)
Everyone except Navo can sense a rotting smell that seems to be emanating from it. What could that be?
You can see the spout trickling blood, sludge, and offal begins to draw upon your life energy, increasing the flow and spreading an even fouler smell within the chamber.
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Mixing a fourth mutagen, Fjörn again helps himself expand his third eye, seeing what he can see, smelling what he can smell, feeling what he can feel!
"Unmistakeable" he looks around at his comrades "Can yew smell it?" he pinches his nose "Shit and pickles and blood" he points "This pool looks to be more than just, well, shit and pickles. Do yew see the things not reflected in it?"
He turns to Milo "What do yew make of it, hey my boy?"
Fjorn makes the first step, cautious as he enters. He can sense that this is no ordinary pit of blood and offal. Fortunately for them, he is able to check it first.
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"Unmistakeable" he looks around at his comrades "Can yew smell it?" he pinches his nose "Shit and pickles and blood" he points "This pool looks to be more than just, well, shit and pickles. Do yew see the things not reflected in it?"
He turns to Milo "What do yew make of it, hey my boy?"
Milo gags a bit at the stench and covers his nose with his hand.
"Ugh! It's horrific!" He makes some occult gestures with his other hand in an attempt to ward off the foul energies of the pit.
Milo manages to stop the energies emanating from the pit, the supernatural smell of offal in the room decreases after a few moments, and. With the threat eliminated, they can easily inspect the inscriptions on the walls of the room.
(may use Cognitive mutagen, 8 and avert CF)
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Pointing to the mural "That's Aroden - bastard of a man - lifting the Starstone and the Isle of Kortos out of the Sea!" he twists of of his dreadlocks inquisitively "But what does it mean?"
Slamming another Cognitive Mutagen, he ponders a bit...
"Aw yes. I knew it! The birth of Shadow Kortos. Do yew see it there in the reflection in the water? And there! There is Shadow Absalom!"
With another information learned from the murals and taking rubbings of them, the Pathfinders get out of the foul-smelling room and continue exploring the place. They find themselves in cavernous ruins where signs of another battle fought long ago are in abundance: scorch marks cover walls made of uneven stone, slashes from blades and arrows scar the walls further in, preserved in this collapsed extraplanar demesne. The fighting here seems to have been much more intense than in the earlier chamber.
(That's Odd)
Ignatius finds another torn page in the rubble. It looks like it was written weeks later, and the fragment details the travails of the same group from the first fragment as they hunted the mage across Shadow Kortos, tracking them to the dark reflection of the Uromaz Citadel. The last entry indicates that they planned to trap her within by collapsing the citadel above into a massive pile of rubble, kill her, and return to the Universe.
Leaving the cavernous ruins, they come across an antechamber where a long corridor exits into a much larger chamber, its north wall filed with an enormous carved stone mural, this time of a great battle against a draconic foe. Depicted within the mural, a great many faces stand behind a singular individual, weapons raised as a dragon attacks. The hands raising weapons behind the hero are skeletal in nature, and their faces skulls. Stairs descend to the west, a sturdy door made of a black metal of some sort stands to the south, and a slim corridor exits to the east.
Going South means going through the large sturdy black metal door. Push it and it won't budge because it is locked.
Most in the group tries to slam the door to open, with Vanizadi making the situation worse. Fortunately, Navo has his tools and easily picks the lock to open.
Once opened, the first feeling that this room gives is the promise of home and light. The second is a palpable wave of dread, as a wave of negative energy flows into the chamber, pouring into the open sarcophagus at its center. Excess energy flows around like a foul wind, smelling faintly of ozone. In the distance, screams echo, or perhaps laughter? It’s impossible to make out. A tattered and rotted body quickly rises from the sarcophagus, garbed in rotted and torn fabrics that may have once been a sign of nobility.
“Finally, I can feel that I’m freed from that accursed lich, and I believe I have you to thank. Sadly, the only gratitude I can offer is death. I need your strength to become my strength, so I, Alystair Caskwater, can repay those who betrayed me!”
As Alystair speaks, there is stirring as one of crypts bursts open, its animate occupants lurching into the room.
(Call to Arms)
(Call to Arms)
(Call to Arms)
(Call to Arms)
(Call to Arms)
Alystair draws out his greatsword and attacks Ghardak!
Well, he is too clumsy to hit, the fact he has just risen from the bed, I mean dead.
Terrain Features: Whole Map is in Dim Light w/o a light source.
ENCOUNTER MAP
Other Notes: ☘️ - Hero Points.
❖❖❖CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT!❖❖❖
Alystair Caskwater (Red)
➤ Navo (☘️ 2/3)
➤ Ignatius (☘️ 1/3) | Moderate Curse?
➤ Vanizadi (☘️ 1/3)
Guard (White)
Guard (Blue)
Fjorn (☘️ 1/3)
Milo (☘️ 1/3)
Ghardak (☘️ 1/3)
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"Our organization has already destroyed the lich," says Vanizadi, rushing into the room to circle Alistair before the doorway is blocked, "And anyone who betrayed you is long dead. But we offer you the same help."
A wooden spear lances from the plant creature towards the undead monster hunter. This time it doesn't aim to pierce him. Instead it stops, and a brilliant flower blossoms from the end. It instantly withers, projecting its vital energy.
Ignatius imbues his weapon with magic and raises shield. Navo draws his weapons and marks the newly risen one as his prey. Vanizadi brings a plant(?) attack at the enemy but misses widely.
White draws arrows and bow and flies them at Fjorn!
Both misses. Blue Guard does the same but to Vanizadi.
Seriously, the enemies should have just slept in their chambers.
Terrain Features: Whole Map is in Dim Light w/o a light source.
ENCOUNTER MAP
Other Notes: ☘️ - Hero Points.
❖❖❖CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT!❖❖❖
Alystair Caskwater (Red)
Navo (☘️ 2/3)
Ignatius (☘️ 1/3) | Moderate Curse
Vanizadi (☘️ 1/3)
Guard (White)
Guard (Blue)
➤ Fjorn (☘️ 1/3)
➤ Milo (☘️ 1/3)
➤ Ghardak (☘️ 1/3)
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◆) Draw Juggernaut Mutagen (Moderate)
◆) Inbibe
◆) Strike
↺) Reactive Shield
Hefting another orange draught, our mutagenic hero slams his ulfen ax into Alystair Caskwater "Death is not gratitude! What buggered your brains, you imbecile brute!" chopping off one of his hands!