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"I'm thinking something different," Gitaena says. She then notifies Faethor she has a helpful hex for dealing with the cold. If he accepts, she casts Nudge Fate on him.
Then she faces the direction the ice monster slithered off in and begins to sing a series of short notes. Each note persists, building into a dissonant chord that shatters ice rime off the trees and perhaps injures the monster as well.
As she's casting, her black widow familiar directs a little fateful energy at Faethor as well.
◆ Hex: Nudge Fate
◆◆ Cantrip: Haunting Hymn
DC 17 Basic Fortitude save for half damage
Gitaena sends notes into the nearby trees. It's unclear if any creature was caught in the area of her spell.
After waiting several moments for anything to happen, the snake never reveals itself.
The party takes a minute to patch themselves up before moving on.
--------------------
Discovering the destination of the goblins is quite easy—the rascals were so excited over a successful heist and chaosinducing rampage that they didn't bother covering their tracks. A couple hours of travel through the Hoarwood leads you to a clearing.
The ring that edges this clearing is marked by a gruesome spectacle; trees stripped of needles and garnished with thorny vines that impale scores of dead crows like a natural iron maiden. The group of chattering winter goblins crowd the center of the clearing, gathered around a sizable wooden structure and all but climbing over each other to get closer.
A loud crack that sounds like a log splitting disperses the cluster back to a reasonable distance, allowing for a proper look. The desiccated remains of a tree stump have been hollowed out and shaped into a twisted facsimile of a throne, complete with a soaring back and wide arms that make it too large for its occupant: a human-shaped plant, no larger than a forearm, woven with gnarled branches and pine needles encrusted with frost. It twirls a piece of sapling in what passes for its hands, capped with red berries like rubies on a scepter, the very image of a tiny wicker king. Its featureless head tilts downward, gazing at the train models pilfered from Queen Anastasia's estate.
As you approach, the mob of goblins falls uncharacteristically silent, eyes darting between the intruders and Rimesnap. The fey turns their eyeless face to the trespassers, somehow twisting their featureless countenance into something resembling haughty curiosity. In a voice that sounds like frosted branches snapping underfoot, they ask, "What humanoids dare impose upon our court?"
"We are agents of the Irrisen Queen, sent to retrieve her property."
You mean these? he gestures at the models at his feet. They appear to be models for designs that would unleash untold destruction upon our wilderness. I rather think we'll be keeping them.
"We are tracking a posse of goblins through here. They have stolen something valuable"
The twigjack gives a sinister smile, looking around at the winter goblins assembled in his "court."
Rimesnap makes a grandiose appeal to the assembled winter goblins, demanding that any champions step forward to protect their king.
[dice=Diplomacy (T)]1d20+5
"We crave your pardon," says Elidathas, hoping to cover for Beezhul. "But we act upon the authority of another court and claim the right of Emissaries. Please, convey us to your court."
Rimesnap chuckles as soon as the phrase "authority of another court" falls out. It's clear what he thinks of the authority of Irrisen.
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"Before you step forward, consider what a giant black widow spider could do to your little bums. I can turn this small one into something bigger than all of you combined!" Gitaena shows the goblins her tattoos of a black widow in a web on her neck and then her familiar crawls across her eyes as she grins with pleasure at the thought of what she is describing.
The frost goblins nervously look at each other. Clearly they've been imbued with enough doubt and have essentially stood down.
They begin creep their way towards the edge of the clearing, making to flee the scene.
The twigjack seems particularly incensed that his goblin minions have been turned!
He grabs a talisman hanging from his neck. Suddenly the multitudes of impaled ravens around the clearing begin to twitch. Their energy increases until they fly off of the spikes they resided on, collecting in the air as two undead swarms!
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Beezhul sighs.
”Unfortunately then our dispute cannot be solved non-violently…”
~) Ever Ready
↺) Intercept Attack
~) Guardian's Armor
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Party effects:
After your Turn:
------------------
The bold may go!
Beezhul
Gitaena
BLACK
RED
Elidathas
Faethor
PURPLE
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Leaping like a wild hyena, Beezhul races towards the the Red foe, swipes with her heavy lash, and retreats to the front of the pack!
◆) Stride
◆) Strike
◆) Stride
↺) Intercept Strike
~) Guardian's Armor
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Gitaena casts her Nudge Fate hex ◆ on Beezhul and as she does, her black widow's red hourglass marking shifts to provide more luck for the kholo.
Then she moves to the side, so the crows cannot swarm over the whole party at once ◆ .
She stares at the twigjack, trying to remember anything she may have learned about it. ◆
Gitaena tries to nudge Beezhul's fate, but it's not quite enough to convert the swipe into a hit.
Gitaena knows that Rimesnap is a twigjack, and importantly that it has Weaknesses axes 5, fire 5.
While truculent and violent, twigjacks care deeply for what they consider to be their forests. These creatures harass outsiders who delve deep into their wooded domains, forcing back even the most determined explorers, foresters, and travelers, especially when those intruders cut roads through the forest. However, they are not terribly territorial when it comes to other forest creatures. When sylvan creatures, especially fey, rally against an outside threat, twigjacks in the area eagerly arrive to fight, even if they were not invited.
--------------------
The zombie crow flock descends upon Beezhul and Faethor. Crows begin diving out of the swarm to peck at the two, which goes on for an extended period.
Rimesnap approaches the guys and sprays a volley of frozen pine
needles from their body in a 15-foot cone.
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
------------------
The bold may go!
Beezhul
Gitaena
BLACK
RED
Elidathas
Faethor
PURPLE
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Faethor steps out of the cloud of birds. A large pair of wings springs from his back and gives one flap before dissipating, sending a huge gust of wind towards their foes.
Success: The creature can't move against the wind.
Failure: The creature is knocked prone. If it was flying, it takes the effects of critical failure instead.
Critical Failure: The creature is pushed 30 feet in the wind's direction, knocked prone, and takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage.
--------------------
Faethor's gust holds the zombie crow swarm and Rimesnap in place. However the zombie crow flock is knocked around and pushed back 30 feet.
Beezhul DC 17 basic Reflex save vs 2 piercing
Beezhul, Elidathas DC 18 basic Reflex save vs 5 piercing and 2 cold
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”I have a couple of those” Beezhul mentions to Gitaena, and reaches down to retrieve one of her mambeles!
Beezhul DC 17 basic Reflex save vs 2 piercing
Beezhul, Elidathas DC 18 basic Reflex save vs 5 piercing and 2 cold
⇒ 1 piercing
⇒ 2 piercing and 1 cold⇒ Full damage
Elidathas' energy washes over the party, slightly soothing several companions and burning some of the rotting feathers from undead birds in one of the swarms. In fact it really seems to harm them more than the original potency of the spell .
The other swarm speeds back towards the party, hovering over Beezhul. Individual birds begin swooping down and dive-bombing her.
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 2
Tactical Map
------------------
The bold may go!
Beezhul -3
Gitaena
BLACK -6
RED
Elidathas -6
Faethor -4
PURPLE -3
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~) Guardian's Armor (Resist physical damage 2)
♥️21/22
Easily repelling the birds which blunt their beaks against Beezhul's hide armor, she returns with lashing and laughing.
"Hee hee haa!"
◆) Step
◆◆) Strike x2
↺) Intercept Strike
~) Guardian's Armor
Indeed Beezhul cackles as the birds bounce off of her armor, completely ineffective.
She strikes at Rimesnap, though her swing is note quite close enough to be nudged over the edge by fate.
On the other hand her swing into the zombie crow flock takes out several birds, leaving a mess of feathers and undead decay on the bones of her weapon.
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 2
Tactical Map
------------------
The bold may go!
Beezhul
Gitaena
BLACK -6
RED
Elidathas -6
Faethor -4
PURPLE -13
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Gitaena advances on the incoming swarm and sends out another Haunting Hymn into the birds and also affecting the Twigjack.
DC 17 basic fortitude save
Both foes brace against the sonic wave, and weather it completely
The other flock of birds finds empty air space, again over Beezhul! Again, they try to get familiar with her.
Where did my goblins go!! the twigjack snarles indignantly, starting to get the idea that perhaps the backup forces were not optional.
It begins slashing at Beezhul with its clawed branches.
Beezhul easily dodges the first, and on landing catches a nasty, roughly-barked wooden claw to the abdomen. This motivates a light fast dodge of the third swip, as the wound quickly fills with frost.
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 2
Tactical Map
Party effects:
After your Turn:
------------------
The bold may go!
Beezhul -10 (DC 16 basic Reflex save vs 3 piercing; 1d4 persistent cold)
Gitaena
BLACK -6
RED
Elidathas -6
Faethor -4
PURPLE -13
Elidathas is able to fully heal Beezhul. Every last cut close and bruise disappears. She does feel whole again, and reinvigorated in this fight.
Faethor pops out from under the swarms of crows, catching Rimesnap in the bark with his gouging claw.
The zombie crow flock migrates just above Gitaena and Elidathas. All at once they lower their flight elevation until they envelop the two pathfinders, and unleash a barrage of swarming pecks on them. It's all the two can do to cover their faces to avoid a rotting, undead beak in the eye!
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 3
Tactical Map
NOTES Please make any saves before your turn.
Don't forget persistent damage at end of turn.
------------------
The bold may go!
Beezhul (1d4 persistent cold)
Gitaena (DC 17 basic Reflex save vs 3 piercing, DC 17 basic Reflex save vs 5 piercing)
BLACK -6
RED -7
Elidathas -6 (DC 17 basic Reflex save vs 3 piercing, DC 17 basic Reflex save vs 5 piercing)
Faethor -4
PURPLE -13
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DC 17, 3 piercing
DC 17, 5 piercing
"In other circumstances, I might enjoy this," she quips sardonically. She endures the swarm assault as best she can and then flees to a temporarily safe distance ◆. Again she directs her Haunting Hymn cantrip ◆◆ to be heard just by the two swarms and the twigjack, narrowing avoiding her allies..
As before, she builds it up by singing a series of notes which crash together to produce the damaging sound nearby. She picks a different chord, hoping it does more damage this time.
DC 17 basic Fortitude save. If a target critically fails the save, it's also deafened for 1 minute.
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"Ho hee haa!" Beezhul keeps moving, keeps pressure, laughing easily at the birds.
◆◆) Strike x2
◆) Step
↺) Intercept Strike
~) Guardian's Armor
Gitaena is able to blast all three foes with her haunting hymn.
weakness 5 + success ⇒ 4 damage
weakness 5 + success ⇒ 4 damage
Rimesnap braces for it and fends most of the sonic damaged off. While the birds seem prepared for it, they are particularly frazzled by it . The thinner swarm is dispersed in a combination of fleeing undead birds and others that drop to the ground innert.
Beezhul swings at Rimesnap and knocks a sizable chunk of wood out of their form. This is immediately followed up by knocking more undead birds out of the air, and dispersing the flock!
The cold saps at her...
It stings particularly harshly.
Rimesnap scuttles to the other side of Beezhul, and unleashes another volley of frozen pine needles from their body in a 15-foot cone that envelopes her and Feathor.
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 3 ⇒ 4
Tactical Map
NOTES Please make any saves before your turn.
Don't forget persistent damage at end of turn.
------------------
The bold may go!
Beezhul -4 (1d4 persistent cold)
Gitaena -6
BLACK -10
RED -24
Elidathas -6 (DC 17 basic Reflex save vs 3 piercing, DC 17 basic Reflex save vs 5 piercing)
Faethor -4 (DC 18 basic Reflex save vs. 1 piercing + 2 cold)
PURPLE -33
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Gitaena wipes some blood from her eyes and glares at the twigjack. "Back at you, Jackie!" Then she concentrates, directs her attention to one of the larger twice-dead ravens and sweeps her hand in the direction of Twiggy. The raven then lifts and zips, beak first, at the Twigjack.
Then she yells, "We're going to use your corpse for kindling of a great bonfire next!"
◆◆ Telescopic Projectile
◆ Demoralize
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Beezhul hoots and hollars as her flail lashes and smashes.
◆) Taunt
◆◆) Strike x2
↺) Intercept Strike
~) Guardian's Armor
♥️17/22
The party unleashes a final salvo. Gitaena launching a projectile into it, and Faethor burning it. Beezhul thrashing it, and Elidathas further impaling it with needles.
By the end of this, there is little more than splinters of wood where the twigjack once proudly stood.
With Rimesnap defeated, you are free to recover the train models and question the remaining goblins lurking at the edge of the clearing.