The first few miles show standard signs of large-scale conflict: uprooted plants, dead fauna, and pus-covered gashes along Aucturn’s uneven surface. Over time, however, the land changes dramatically. Certain craters hold pools of darkness unlike the planet’s natural ichor, with strands reaching beyond their edges like spiderwebs. Long scars along the surface look like they actually healed the land, the normally fleshy soil replaced with verdant greenery and long rows of vibrant, flowering plants of varying colors. As you close the distance, these slashes of night black, multicolored bloom, and ashen sickliness start to resemble chaotic strokes from three different paintbrushes fencing each other through the canvas of Aucturn’s crust.
You hear a guttural groan as the landscape ripples. Immediately following the seismic activity, you are simultaneously beset by another piercing shriek in your heads like the one you experienced while approaching the planet, accompanied by a strobe-like vision of multicolored slashes rending the land and sky! Will Saves
Human Female Operative (ace pilot)-10 (Spaceship speed +1 from sky jockey); init +10; SP 84/110; HP 84/84; Res 12/12; Reroll 0/1; Cloak 10/10; mk 1 healing serum 1 KAC29 ; EAC 28; (2d6 electrostatic field); DR 5/-; elect/10; Fort 8; Ref 13; Will 9; (immune to confusion)Perc +16; SM +16; Stealth +23 :T10=34 for trick shot)
Are we afoot or in the Pegasus? will:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Prepared for the scream, or maybe inured to the sound from listening to a little too much Abysshead ("not voluntarily, I can assure you!") Gunnz takes the sound in her stride.
"[b]Black, green and the standard ichor. If this planet really is the "Egg" of a god, then maybe there are twins about to come out of it.[/]b" muses Gunnz.
Let's say you're aboard the Pegasus using visual scanning.
Gunnz:
Once the sound passes, you feel fine, though the mystery of the cause makes you extremely uneasy...
Kneepuncher:
You begin to notice irregularities, such as hearing a baby whimper or seeing the ground pulse, but these disappear with a bit of focus or any attempt to interact with them. There is something .... deeper here.
The Stain of the phenomenon affects you. —You take a –2 penalty to initiative and Perception checks. You also feel a power, and can choose... +2 on your next save versus whatever this is, or you gain blindsense (vibration) 60 ft. Keep your choice in a spoiler.
Yuqab:
Once the sound passes, you feel fine, though the mystery of the cause makes you extremely uneasy...
Santos:
Once the sound passes, you feel fine, though the mystery of the cause makes you extremely uneasy...
Ash:
You begin to notice irregularities, such as hearing a baby whimper or seeing the ground pulse, but these disappear with a bit of focus or any attempt to interact with them. There is something .... deeper here.
The Stain of the phenomenon affects you. —You take a –2 penalty to initiative and Perception checks. You also feel a power, and can choose... +2 on your next save versus whatever this is, or you gain blindsense (vibration) 60 ft. Keep your choice in a spoiler.
Ishkitik:
Once the sound passes, you feel fine, though the mystery of the cause makes you extremely uneasy...
Eventually you notice a concentration of terrain anomalies around an elevated area overlooking the inky ocean. You land in a clearing nearby and approach.
An ephemeral aura envelops a hill, a hazy dome resembling a vortex of Aucturn’s toxic atmosphere, a clear spring day, and a starless midnight all mixing like dyes in a fishbowl. Echoes of cries, clashing steel, and collapsing chains radiate from the aura. Tick-like bugs skitter around the field’s edge, but do not approach it.
You cannot see what is on the other side of the aura.
Human Female Operative (ace pilot)-10 (Spaceship speed +1 from sky jockey); init +10; SP 84/110; HP 84/84; Res 12/12; Reroll 0/1; Cloak 10/10; mk 1 healing serum 1 KAC29 ; EAC 28; (2d6 electrostatic field); DR 5/-; elect/10; Fort 8; Ref 13; Will 9; (immune to confusion)Perc +16; SM +16; Stealth +23 :T10=34 for trick shot)
"Well.." notes Gunnz.
"There is only one way to find out. But I suspect the true source is much deeper. Still, might tell us something about what is going on."
She dials the volume up to 9 for the last of SMC as she brings the Pegasus in to land.
I'm assuming we can recharge our belts in the Pegasus while we are flying, same with environmental protections and batteries.
You can definitely recharge your stuff. I don't want to assume you're going into the area of the aura until someone says (just in case you use gear/magic/etc.
You enter the aura and immediately see a massive crater in the side of the hill the aura envelops, resembling a bite taken out of the land. The entire earthwork is covered in a rainbow gradient of colorful feather-like plants, although sections of flora appear unnaturally drained of all pigment as though depicted in a pre-Gap film. The blasted remains of a small town lie atop the crater, including a tiered pyramid made from chalky ashen stone. You can see that the pyramid is partially collapsed, bearing a gash along its side. Furthermore, a golden rod protrudes from the pyramid’s peak, barely visible from your distance.
The aura also imposes a crushing weight of empatheti sadness. As you approach, you hear a telepathic voice hissing at you to “leave this place of loss,” and ominously warning “I have little time left to settle my unfinished business.” You don't know why, but you can tell that the source is the rod in the pyramid...
Human Female Operative (ace pilot)-10 (Spaceship speed +1 from sky jockey); init +10; SP 84/110; HP 84/84; Res 12/12; Reroll 0/1; Cloak 10/10; mk 1 healing serum 1 KAC29 ; EAC 28; (2d6 electrostatic field); DR 5/-; elect/10; Fort 8; Ref 13; Will 9; (immune to confusion)Perc +16; SM +16; Stealth +23 :T10=34 for trick shot)
"Anyone else feel... uneasy?" asks Gunnz.
Then she adds out loud. "Umm, I can't speak into your mind, although I'll play some Strawberry Machine Cake for you if you like. I like to think that talks directly to the soul!"
She switches on her external speakers, and blesses the planet with perhaps its first ever SMC soundtrack.
"What is your unfinished business? And might we help with it?"
As you get closer, you can see that it's not a rod that's sticking out of the pyramid, but an antique glaive. A Culture or Mysticism check may reveal more.
The telepathic voice turns acerbic, ignoring your questions, "No! You are deceitful, thralls of the Whelp. You are not here for help!. Sense Motive may reveal the cause of the vitriol. Additionally, you may be able to overcome it. If there is a skilled diplomat among you, you can take the lead at trying to mollify it. Others can Aid, but one needs to lead.
Ash finds it near impossible to believe, but he realizes that the weapon is Whisperer of Souls, a legendary sentient weapon said to corrupt its wielder and feed on the souls of powerful creatures it slays. The weapon was stolen by the lost god Shelyn, who supposedly took it on many heroic adventures and inverted its corrupting influence, purifying it into a beautiful instrument of good. Mysticism can add to Shelyn.
Shelyn is the goddess of love and beauty, half-sister to Zon-Kuthon, whose envy over her talents led him to journey beyond the edge of the Great Beyond, from which he returned forever changed as a god of darkness and pain. Currently, Shelyn's whereabouts are unknown and her guidance to former followers is inconsistent, leading some to speculate that she is following the path her brother once took to search for a way to cure his condition.
Santos asks the question aloud, but the glaive doesn't answer yet. It's as if it's psychically processing some "stuff."
There's a pregnant pause. Then, it acknowledges Yuqab, "I am Whisperer of Souls, and I am in mourning. I am... reticent. I have been alive for untold time, but speech is new. I... have always been intelligent, but could not directly communicate until the psychic torrent that happened here, a gift it will likely lose once I leave the aura. I am.... not good."
Your minds perceive a slipping away from the glaive. You feel like you could center it, bring it back, if you can help it know who it is... Recount some tales of Shelyn (Culture check), or invent some tales of Shelyn (Bluff.)
Whisper of Souls recounts what happened here, depicting its story with illusory images and empathic emotional beats. Having heard the cosmic cries of an immeasurably powerful soul being smothered by foul magic, Shelyn descended upon Aucturn to rid the planet’s spirit of its oppressor. This instigated a conflict with Nyarlathotep, who manifested before Shelyn brimming with fetid energy. The two gods clashed, and despite Shelyn’s best efforts the Crawling Chaos easily overpowered her. As the dark god lifted his ankh to strike a killing blow, however, his hand was stayed by spiked chains flinging forth from the darkness: Zon-Kuthon, Shelyn’s corrupted and estranged brother, had joined the fray on his sister’s behalf, driven by some long dormant love resurfaced by her imminent peril. The battle between the three divinities sundered the land, and every wound made Nyarlathotep stronger. Seeing an oncoming defeat, Shelyn bid me goodbye before giving all of her life force to her brother in hopes that he could turn the tide; little did she know that Zon-Kuthon would do the same for her. The convergence of selfless energies fused the two gods into one, a new duality of artistry and suffering, beauty and loss, pain and understanding: Zon-Shelyn. The dissonance of Zon-Shelyn’s formation shattered Nyarlathotep, scattering his fragments beyond the farthest reaches of space, and as I fell to the ground and pierced the broken pyramid, I felt the stolen energy rush back into the planet, prompting the changes to the land."
Human Female Operative (ace pilot)-10 (Spaceship speed +1 from sky jockey); init +10; SP 84/110; HP 84/84; Res 12/12; Reroll 0/1; Cloak 10/10; mk 1 healing serum 1 KAC29 ; EAC 28; (2d6 electrostatic field); DR 5/-; elect/10; Fort 8; Ref 13; Will 9; (immune to confusion)Perc +16; SM +16; Stealth +23 :T10=34 for trick shot)
"Wow..." says Gunnz.
"I totally get suffering for your art. You should see my feet sometimes after dancing the night away. But that is something else. So... What happened to Zon-Shelyn? And were you not wielded by each of them individually? Why did they not reclaim you when they merged?"
Male Halfling Operative (Daredevil) 10 | sp 80/80, hp 62/62, rp 12/12 | EAC 27 KAC 28 | F+9, R+15 (evasion), W+8 (+3 vs fear) | speed 60ft, climb 40ft, swim 40ft, fly 40ft (jetpack + aeon stone, average) | Init +10 | Percep +18, SM +9 | Current Conditions: [yeti party -> +1 STR/DEX skills, +1 Fort], 1 CON & 1 CHA damage, +2 racial bonus to saves against confusion effects, darkvision 60 feet, DR 5/—, EX fly 30 ft
Ishkitik wrote:
"Nice work, Yuqab. Were those stories in one of your movies?"
"Nah. My audience is more into action and kick-ass stunts. The more heady stuff doesn't test well. This is me pulling from Comp Religion class back in high school at Sisters of Perpetual Radiance"
Human Female Operative (ace pilot)-10 (Spaceship speed +1 from sky jockey); init +10; SP 84/110; HP 84/84; Res 12/12; Reroll 0/1; Cloak 10/10; mk 1 healing serum 1 KAC29 ; EAC 28; (2d6 electrostatic field); DR 5/-; elect/10; Fort 8; Ref 13; Will 9; (immune to confusion)Perc +16; SM +16; Stealth +23 :T10=34 for trick shot)
Gunnz continues to to talk to the Glaive, trying to encourage it with some of the lyrics from that most upbeat of all possible sources. Strawberry Machine Cake.
"I went crazy over you (Ah, ah)
Over you, only you (Ah, ah)
I went crazy over you
Like e-e-e-e, e-e-e-e, e-e-e-e"
"You know so much. There is so much to know... You must be omens from my lost companion, and dedicate myself to helping the people of Aucturn as best it can. I offer each of you the opportunity to temporarily hold a small fragment of my soul to increase my autonomy and grant blessings on my lost goddess’s behalf... do you wish this?"
The party looks on as Gunnz and Yuqab both consent..... and immediately they nearly drop to their knees in pain!
Gunnz and Yuqab:
The ordeal takes its toll. You take 1 point of Constitution damage
and 1 point of ability damage to you choice of Wisdom
or Charisma. In return, gain a +2 racial bonus to saves against confusion effects, darkvision 60 feet, DR 5/—, and an extraordinary fly speed of 30 feet with average maneuverability. These benefits last until the end of the scenario.
After a moment they recover, the only visible change is that their irises now match the glaive's metallic hue.
Will take CHA dmg, since I already rely on my hireling for such. Do any of those benefits stack? I already have Darkvision, a flight speed from my wings and DR/5 from Deflective Reinforcement. Seems I chose poorly...Oh well. At least I have an odd CON, so I don't lose a surge.
Sadly no stacking. There are other benefits, but those are extra spoilered.
Ishkitik:
The ordeal takes its toll. You take 1 point of Constitution damage
and 1 point of ability damage to you choice of Wisdom or Charisma. In return, gain a +2 racial bonus to saves against confusion effects, darkvision 60 feet, DR 5/—, and an extraordinary fly speed of 30 feet with average maneuverability. These benefits last until the end of the scenario.
