|
"Look at that dragon!" Tandang whispers to Plantina, his familiar. "This is my first time seeing such a creature in person," though his words hint at uncertainty.
Turning to his allies, he asks, "Should we talk to the dragon, ask why it's here? Let's keep our distance, though. I've heard tales of dragons breathing fire and turning everything to crisp. We wouldn't want that to happen to us," he adds with a hearty laugh.
|
After handing the fulgurite focus to Czav, she remarks to Marigold "I suppose you can carry them all with you and visit them without returning to me, but I wouldn't mind if you did fill me in on what you find at each location after you place the foci. But the choice is yours."
Marigold opens her mouth to say something, then closes it. ”No problem!”, she replies. ”We’ll check in after each delivery!”
Czav whispers to Marigold: "It's time to earn your nickname, Charming."
Marigold swallows audibly, but smiles as she approaches the dragon.
”Hi, I’m Marigold!”, she announces. ”You okay!? You look kinda down in the dumps!”
|
At the gnome's sudden appearance, the dragon springs to life, snarling and spraying water from his maw. How dare you tread upon the domain of the great Aojimitsu, sovereign of all Kayajima! Prepare for the unbridled wrath of the storm, the incarna—”
The dragon coughs and sputters, then wipes his mouth and continues. “The incarnation of the sea’s fury! Bow before... before me... Oh, what’s the use...” The dragon collapses across the entrance of the peninsula.
“I couldn’t even defend what small stretch of ocean I claimed as my domain. What would the ancestors think of me now? Perhaps my destiny lies elsewhere...” the dragon cranes his neck, gazing out across the horizon.
Aojimitsu sighs, then turns back to you all. “I suppose my pride gets the best of me. I can at least defend this sand, this stone. So, who are you, and what are you doing treading upon my land?”
|
|
The dragon relaxes slightly at the hint of an actual conversation.
"So you have been brought to these shores on a quest. How valiant... and full of purpose." He trails off.
On your turn, each of you can either roll:
a Discovery check (using Dragon Lore, Nature, or Perception) to either find out a useful skill to influence him, or to find out a resistance or weakness he might have that will aid your efforts to influence him
or
an Influence check (using skills your team has discovered or just your best guess at a skill that might work)
The more influence you have with him at the end of four rounds of this, the better.
Let me know (along with your roll) what you wish to do this round (bonus for role-play)
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ulfgar begins a long, well reasoned, yet impassioned explanation of their mission and request for assistance in it, which touches on the existential need for all sapient beings to have some purpose above and beyond simply existing.
In his head.
Outwardly, he watches and studies the dragon in silence to determine how best to approach gaining his assistance, or at least permission to proceed.
|
|
The dragon opens up a bit. "I came to the this abandoned island without issue, I even hoped to claim it as my lair, the simplest of feats for a dragon-lord - one would think. But yes, I had an unfortunate encounter with a vicious sea serpent and now I'm not sure I can even defend this new home. I've even let you onto the beach."
|
|
Tandang nods while Marigold introduces them. "Your, uhmm, Highness, Tandang, and I am a druid. I wonder where such a mighty dragon like you came from and why you seem a bit down. What's your story, big guy?" he asks while inspecting the surrounding that might relate to the dragon, on why on the shore and not in a, say, cave. Or castle.
Hero Point!
|
|
"Yes, my kin ruled these lands before your kind arrived, and I am the last of my line - a sovereign-in-training, if you will."
He shifts and you can clearly see his wounded abdomen that looks infected.
"But now this future emperor passes his days subsisting off mealy fish from the reefs off the island. I came here to learn of the world and hone my powers, but I am nothing but a scavenger now."
Everyone is up again. Let me know (along with your roll) what you wish to do this round (bonus for role-play)
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Your abdominal wound appears to be quite manageable. Perhaps I can offer some assistance in treating it with the herbs I carry," Tandang remarks, withholding the extent of the dragon's injuries, which, though minor, are not to be taken lightly. He retrieves his kit containing an assortment of herbs and healing materials.
Tandang proceeds with care, attentively addressing the dragon's wound. He intermittently glances at the majestic creature, ready for any unexpected fiery response.
|
|
”Hey, we’ve all been through a rough patch”, says Marigold, taking a seat on the ground. ”Knocked down, aimless. If we didn’t, there’d be a lot less Pathfinders”
She starts. ”Say, maybe we can help each other out! Give this sea serpent a proper butt-kicking together! Sovereigns have allies, don’t they?”
”By the way, what’s your name?”
|
|
"Fear and strength, so 46th century."
Czav steps forward.
"Modern sovereigns are not reigning like their fathers. They build relationships, develop commerce, promote art and science. They disprove the old beliefs and fully embrace progress as the only way forward."
He pauses for a second then concludes: "Luckily, fate just sent you an unexpected and innovative ally!"
Unfortunately, even Czav is hardly convinced by his own speech...
|
I think h-helping each other is a f-fine idea!
Elsha joins in with Marigold's lead.
I think you'll f-find that we make capable allies!
The alchemist decides to put on a little demonstration of how he composes alchemical devices and reagents into useful tools. His left hand reaches into his belt pouch and withdraws several esoteric looking parts, one clearly a container, and some tiny vials of multi-colored fluids and powders.
His right hand begins to pour and arrange parts into the container and after only a couple of seconds he holds up a perfectly formed, functional blight bomb. Presuming he's impressed the dragon, he gives a quick wink.
|
|
"Aojimitsu, sovereign of all Kayajima..." He replies to the gnome.
The dragon relents and rolls to the side to allow Tandang and Graeyson to work on his wounds. Being so close to the beast, the two healers notice that the dragon's flesh underneath its disk-shaped scales seems to be heavy and malleable much like the sea water that infuses the creature.
He listens to the rest of you explain your willingness to aid and seems quite interested in the display of alchemy.
The dragon sighs once again. "So what do you need from me to fix these ley lines? Not that I'd be much help...I should just get out of the way..."
Everyone is up again. Ulfgar gets two rolls... Let me know (along with your roll) what you wish to do this round (bonus for role-play)
|
|
Elsha quickly shifts gears in topics, but does not break from his confidence.
Okay, d-down to business then!
He smiles reassuringly at the dragon as he proceeds.
N-not only am I an expert alchemist, but I was brought up in a rich tr-tradition of the arcane, in Nex! It's all anyone does there is think about the place of magic and technology in our lives! Ley lines? No problem. What I think we c-could work with you to do is...
You sense that in the middle of this he's really getting into it and overcoming his usual social debilitations (and for a dragon, no less).
|
|
The acrobat listens to the dragon and comes up with an idea
You know your Imperalist Majesty, you have all the might that we humans only wish that we could have at times. Things that are easy for you are something that we cannot do unaided. This used to be hard for me he says as he begins an acrobat performance, until I practiced and put my mind to doing it. now this is like second nature. I am sure once your confidence comes back you will be able to do what it is you do best.
acrobatics to influence
|
|
Czav seems a bit pissed by the situation. At some point, he starts removing parts of his armor and shows a scar on his arm:
"That! What do you think it is? The teeth of some weird dog who was teleporting all around the corners of the room. And that!"
He shows a violet mark on his calf.
"The poison from a deadly centipede. And that!"
This time, it's his side which has a scar caused by burning.
"A nasty ray from a cleric of Asmodeus."
He stops showing his body: "Am I dead? For sure not! How come? Because you only lose when you give up. You have centuries ahead of you to build your glory, you can pause for a while, but please stop whining."
|
|
Aojimitsu listens carefully to the bolstering words and watches intently to the further demonstrations of skill and sacrifice from the group.
For a moment, Tandang thinks that maybe providing all these pledges to support the dragon might be counterproductive and harm his sense of self-worth. Before he can act on the thought, the dragon speaks again.
"Perhaps I have isolated myself too much. Your adventures - living life to the fullest and with purpose - is what has given you the skill and bravery to face any challenge. That is clear to me now. So, I may stay on the island, but maybe I can find an even more suitable realm to govern."
With a grunt of concentration, Aojimitsu transforms into a young locathah angler.
"Thanks you for making me feel not so alone in this world. Consider this island your island and do what you must to solve your magical problems. "
He reaches into a pouch on his newly transformed form and pulls out a small lion statue made of gold and jade.
"It is not much, but it is all I have. A gift for my new Pathfinder friends." With that, he dives into the ocean and disappears to celebrate his new-found confidence.
--------------------------
The gate itself occupies a rocky outgrowth jutting into the sea and shelters a simple dais with perfect concentric circles and wave motifs carved into the dark stone.
As you approach it, the fulgurite that Czav carries sparks and glows.
|
|
Ulfgar, as expected, remained silent during the discussion with the dragon. He gives an approving nod as the sovereign of the island takes on a less imposing form and heads out into the ocean to find his fortune.
With that taken care of, he heads to the gate, looking past to examine the dais to seek out any other dangers or any indication of how to activate the elemental key.
|
|
Tandang also waves goodbye to Aojimitsu that turned into something else and swam into the sea. "I hope I can see them again."
Turning back to their purpose of why they are there, "The place looks safe to me." he looks around but his shield is ready in defense.
If the dhampir still hesitates, Tandang will happily take it and put the focus to the dais himself.
|
|
When the dhampir places the fulgurite on the dais, the circles and patterns pulse with blue energy. A giant wave crashes against the peninsula, sunlight refracting into rainbows through the spray as the energy courses through the dais and swirls its way into the underlying rock.
A wisp of this energy flows from the dais and seeks its way into Czav's backpack before cyclically calming down once again. When he opens his backpack to see why, his signal whistle now shines a subtle blue (and even emits the sound of the sea when held to an ear).
-----------------------
Returning to Kukuha Mukai at the center of the island, she turns to your arrival. "The focus was placed, no? Did you have any trouble?"
|
|
Kukuha entertains your explanations of the first placement.
"To Soruseiji Peak then..."
Kukuha fetches the crystalline prism from her campsite. She holds it to the early afternoon sunlight, which catches the prism and refracts in an array of vivid, impossible colors.
“A sky diamond—the perfect focus for the mountain. At the place of power, it will surely shine even brighter.”
-----------------------------
Once you are ready to depart, the group can head northeast through the ruins of the fortress and a small stretch of woods, eventually reaching a sloping and winding path that carves its way up Soruseiji Peak. As you travel, the rocky path switches back and curves along the slope.
An hour into your trip, the group encounters the broken bridge that stopped Kukuha’s progress up the mountain, originally built to traverse a short gap that passes over a section of path you walked up earlier. The broken rope-plank bridge dangles from the posts on your side of the gap, the ropes that connected it to the other side having long frayed.