Iesha's milky eyes catch the helpful sprite, which distracts her from the single mindless need to destroy her enemy and protect those below. Her mind instead thinks That's Nice, someone is helping her. Two of her swings clang against scales, making her throw that away to loose herself in the rage of battle for the last one.
Firing off a spell, Ranek prevents a confusion spell from being cast.
Ranek ignores the pattern as it appears above them, then decides to try and limit Krune's ability to further cast spells. Striding out of the pattern, pulling together magical powers, he casts a spell, trying to dull Krune's faculties and make his spellcasting weaker and less potent.
Alaznist plunges her polearm into Krune as he flees, a look of delight on her face so savage it almost pierces the veil of her invisibility. Chasing after him seems beneath her dignity, and stopping to fly would take too much time, so she channels her magic into her own body once again, stretching up to tower over the battlefield and crashing her ranseur down in a thunderous strike!
Krune resists both Ranek's and Torisen's spell, though his dragon mount is lightly damaged by Torisen's spirits. Alaznist grows to enormous size and slices into Krune, scoring a critical hit! Meanwhile, Batman flies to flank Krenlith and his dragon with Iesha. The angry ghost tears into the dragon with two brutal strikes, the second one slicing open its throat! Blood splatters all around as the dragon plummets to the ground, but Runelord Krenlith leaps free of the saddle and uses magic to float gently to the ground.
Krenlith uses mythic power to recover his disintegrate spell as he fires it at Iesha, narrowly missing the ghost!
Runelord Krune's dragon mount hovers in place and lashes out at the invisible Alaznist with its long tail, while Krune himself hurls his polearm at her then summons it back to his hand. None of the attacks come close to hitting!
Torisen raises his magical defenses and fires off a barrage of needles at Krune.
for
Alaznist's sneer can be heard in her voice. "Maybe this will finally prevent your wretched corpus from troubling us."
Ranek decided to try and fill each of their remaining opponents with fear, moving forward enough to strike each of them with fear.
Sir Batman grins at Iesha!
Well taken down! Now the wizard!
The eager bronze-colored bat-shaped Sprite Raises his Shield, Flies down into the Rune lord's personal space and....
The Champion of Mazludah calls upon Mythic assistance!
Ranek's fear spell leaves Krune's mount shaken but the other enemies resist it. Runelord Krune grimaces in pain as Torisen impales him with needle darts, but then he cries out in agony as Alaznist's invisible polearm slices him, charged with disintegration magic! Krune's body crumbles to ash before exploding outward in a riot of swirling color!
Iesha and Batman fly down to flank Runelord Krenlith, both scoring a hit.
Krune's dragon mount swoops down closer to Alaznist, trying to claw at her to no avail.
With most of his attack spells depleted, Runelord Krenlith attacks Iesha with his polearm. He also misses!
Iesha allows the weapon of her foe to slide through her, becoming just mist before solidifying and raining blows down on his solid body in her signature screaming rage.
Torisen deepens his connection to his spirits and unleashes a spell at Krune's riderless dragon.
With one Runelord destroyed and the other forced to use his polearm, Ranek decided to conserve his magic and cast a spell to hurl a rock from the ground at the remaining dragon. He then cast a shield to defend himself.
Sir Batman grins at the ineffective Rune lord's martial prowess.
Perhaps you can return it for a refund.
The Champion of Mazludah Raises his Shield and....
Go back to whatever Rune lord's hole you come out of!
Alaznist rises to greet the dragon's charge with an explosive fleche, grinning wider at every pulse of movement in the great beast as their combined masses collide!
The dragon resists Torisen's spell, but Ranek scores a critical hit with his projectile. Alaznist stabs and rips at the dragon with her claw-infused weapon and takes it down! Meanwhile, Iesha and Batman team up for a brutal beatdown on Runelord Krenlith, causing the risen runelord to burst into swirling color and vanish!
As soon as Krenlith is destroyed, a death roar echoes down from above as the remaining mirage dragon spirals down from the clouds to slam into the nearby cliffs before tumbling lifeless to the ground. As the doomed dragon falls, his mounted runelord, whom Ranek identifies as a risen Runelord of Greed named Atharend, leaps free and attempts to fly to safety, only to be snapped up in the jaws of the gravely wounded omen dragon. With a single chomp, the omen dragon kills the remaining risen runelord, only to come to a harrowing, painful looking landing himself nearby. The gravely wounded omen dragon breathes heavily, shakes his head as if confused, but makes no further move at the moment.
Ranek takes a moment to consider what he knows of Omen Dragons as the wounded dragon lands. With yet more Dream Runelords defeated, he takes his time to consider the magical creature.
Fate is a fickle matter on Golarion. Even with prophecy broken on the world, there are ways to look to the immediate future or acquire a vague sense of long-term events. Omen dragons are bound to see the future—nebulous though it might be—at all times. Visions of the future hound them like a quiet song that never stops playing in their minds. While an omen dragon can focus on or ignore the music of fate at any time, the song plays all the same. At a glance, omen dragons resemble other occult dragons in appearance, save for the mirror-like interior membrane of their wings. An omen dragon's wings offer glimpses into the future. These glimpses are cloudy and vague, but generally correct, if only technically. Omen dragons have a natural compulsion to share the futures they see. These dragons have no compunctions about what the visions show and share their knowledge equally with innocent villagers as they do with wicked tyrants.
"Come, that dragon survives, and we could use what advice it may offer," Torisen recommends, never adverse to a little glimpse of the future.
Ranek nods. "I concur. It does appear like it may be under the effects of a confusion spell, however. We should approach with care."
Ranek casts a spell to detect any ongoing spell effects, and then cautiously examines the omen dragon as they approach. Should the omen dragon be under the effects of such a spell, he would attempt to dispel it.
Alaznist opens her mouth as if to protest, but with a sidelong glance at Ranek, she nods instead. "Sensible. Between us we should be able to obliterate any unwelcome magics."
When their foe is slaughtered, Iesha still along with her rage. She looks to the sprite who protected and joined her in the defeat of one that deserved an end. There is a brief... Smile... on the lips of the ghostly woman, dimpling her cheeks. Briefly.
Gone when she notices the wizards taking off toward the confused dragon. The ghost woman shakes her head "There is enough danger without courting more." she mumbles before flying after them.
Sir Batman blinks at the dizzying colors swirling about his tiny person.
He seems fine. Normal actually. Nothing changed. Weird.
Sir Batman grins up at Iesha as the ghost grins at him.
Those Wizard suck.
As he notices the approach of his company before the Omen dragon, the champion of Mazludah quickly flies over to it.
Be greeted with honor and respect good dragon! We are heroes so don't be alarmed. You fought bravely. We are grateful.
The dragon inclines his head to you. "You are welcome," he rumbles. "My name is Kandirvek. I have watched over Vekker's Crossing since the towns's foundation. When I spotted those mirage dragons flying through my terrirotry, I thought they were readying to attack the town, so I moved to confront them. Their riders were stronger than I had anticipated, but fortunately you were here to help deal with them.
"I have much I wish to discuss with you about this new runelord cult, but I see you have charges you must get to safety." He nods his head at the Eurythnians, who have nervously begun to gather themselves after the fight. "Deliver them to Vekker's Crossing first, then seek me out in my lair in the nearby mountains. I will await you there."
The dragon spreads his mighty wings and takes to the skies once more, flying away.
Though both Krune's and Krenlith's bodies vanished upon their destruction, Krune left behind a wide leather belt. This is a major retrieval belt that contains the following items in its pouches: a Cyrusian wand of never mind, a clear quartz crystal ball, and a triangular slab of pale green stone into which has been etched a complex star chart. The etchings seem to be magically created, and they depict the passage the Trinity Star took as it crossed through the sky a year ago.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
With the dragon gone, Iesha flies back to the people she is guarding, telling them simply "The enemy has been defeated, the remaining dragon is not a threat."
Delivered by a ghostly undead the reassurance is anything but reassuring.
"Well, a source of information about this cult is highly valued, and that Kandirvek chooses to protect Vekker's Crossing means he's generally not hostile towards us."
Ranek found the Cyrusian wand to be particularly gaudy, but it might be useful, nonetheless. Being able to banish someone's intellect without needing to cast the spell was useful. He studied the slab of stone, looking at the star chart. "There must be something more to this. I'll study it more thoroughly later."
Sir Batman grins up, up, up, up, up at the mighty dragon with a bit of starstruckness on his bronze-colored bat-shaped Sprite face.
Hi.....
Once the cause of his awe departs, the Champion of Mazludah floats over to Iesha.
That was a valiant effort!
"How fortunate then for Kandirvek that such were his wishes."
Torisen is happy to take the star chart and crystal ball under his care.
You press on a little further, and you finally arrive at Vekker's Crossing. The city's leaders welcome the tired Eurythnians into their town. While Vekker’s Crossing is far too small to comfortably house thousands of refugees, the locals have spent the past several days preparing tents and shelters in the surrounding flatlands to give the weary evacuees a place to rest in comfort for a few nights, and the city’s food stores have been opened to supply hungry mouths.
Thanks to your heroic efforts, all of the people who left Xin-Eurythnia have survived, enough so that they can maintain their society. Talk of returning home to reclaim and rebuild is popular. They remain tightly knit and plan to make trips to Varisian cities over the next several months to gather interest and support for an eventual return to Xin-Eurythnia.
The next several weeks will be exhausting and complicated as the refugees settle into the area or split off to make much safer journeys along trade routes through the Storval Plateau to other safe havens, but your direct responsibility ends here. Ayavah, along with other leaders, take it upon themselves to see to the safety of the Eurythnians, for you have a meeting with a dragon to attend. More importantly, as Ayavah notes, these “risen runelords” and their cult represent a serious threat to the region. "If they can wreak as much havoc as they did in Xin-Eurythnia anywhere else, they must be stopped," the nephilim says. "But simply determining what they want is important as well. I fully expects you must travel soon to confront the cult in their headquarters. I will make sure the Eurythnians are cared for, and you are welcome to contact me whenever you wish via spells like sending if you have news or want updates."
At about the same time, news that the regional distortions to teleportation effects have faded comes to light. Ayavah interprets this as a hopeful sign, that whatever the Risen of the Trinity Star are up to, their plans have not yet progressed to a point where they’re affecting things on a permanent basis.
Sir Batman offers hearty hands shakes to everyone (does take a bit), smiling and granting Mazludah's blessings to each before reconveneening with the group.
Do you think we should dress up? I've never been invited to visit with a dragon before.
Iesha looked down at her drab heavy and frayed dress, then willed a change. Her height shrunk, her hair piled ebony on her head, her dress now a flowing red silk with brass bangles. She looks back up to Sir Batman and shrugs "All I've done is kill them, so this will be different." her now brown eyes blink then she smiles, small but true... which in a way is disturbing since it is after talking about Killing intelligent beings, which she might have added they had all been evil trying to roast and eat people, but she didn't since her I Am Being Creepy meter is rusty to say the least.
Alaznist sniffs. "There was a cinder dragon once who found much sport in interfering with me. Perhaps one other lives who triumphed over me in such a way, even briefly. We shall see what this Kandirvek has to say."
"An elder dragon is one of the few being who can make any sense of prophesies and signs, these days," Torisen comments. "Let's hope he has some insight here. This cult clearly has some unusual powers."
Chapter 3: Secrets of Pride
Once you are properly rested, you follow the directions Kandirvek gave you to his lair. They lead to an unassuming valley about a four-hour hike northwest of Vekker’s Crossing. Here, hidden behind a waterfall, is the cavern where the dragon lives.
When you arrive, you find Kandirvek waiting for you outside the cavern. He perks up when he sees you, his tail lashing back and forth beihnd him. "I am glad you came. Thank you again for helping me earlier. I must tell you that I have seen you before. As an omen dragon, I am no stranger to visions and divinatory dreams, and your faces have been featuring prominently of late, always in association with the region's history of ancient runelord rule.
"Be they ghosts roused from slumber or something else, it seems that the legacy of ancient Thassilon still claws at us from the distant past. In my dreams, I see you facing it, just as I recently witnessed you clash against two of the risen. I wish to provide what aid I can. The Kodar Mountains have long been my home, and I do not wish to see the runelords return to them any more than you do. Will you accept my aid?"
"Yes, mighty Kandirvek, we would be honored to accept your aid. Anything we can learn to help prevent the return of these Runelords would be very helpful."
Torisen's eyebrows raise into his hairline: "Can you tell us more of these visions?"
"Be they ghosts roused from slumber or something else, it seems that the legacy of ancient Thassilon still claws at us from the distant past."
"Truly?" Alaznist asks in a voice dry as the Sahure Wastes.
Sir Batman only grins stupidly up, up, up, up at the sweet Omen dragon....
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The living looking Iesha frowns at the comments of ghosts "They were not ghosts" she said simply, knowing quite a bit at ghosts as she does. But she then shakes her head, letting her raven hair sway. The dragon is amazing to look upon, something she takes her time to do so, since the only other dragons she has seen were her enemies and only seen living through her rage. "What aid?"
The bronze-colored bat-shaped Sprite does seem to be sporting a new fancy jeweled eye patch.....
Kandirvek spreads his wings wide and stares down at you as images and shapes begin to flicker and form in the folds. His voice both deep and soothing, Kandirvek asks, “Where do the fates of these heroes cross with that of Thassilon’s legacy?”
Over the course of the next several minutes, the shapes and colors coalesce into visions played out against the canopy of Kandirvek’s prophetic wings:
• In the first vision, you see yourselves riding atop Kandirvek’s back, flying above a vast mountain range while Ranek consults the strange stone star chart you found, as if using it to navigate. You recognize the mountains as the central span of the Kodars.
• In the second vision, you see yourselves clashing against immense, green-skinned trolls.
• In the third vision, you see yourselves floating down into a vast cavern where an ancient, ruined city sprawls. Ranek realizes that this is the lost city of Xin-Cyrusian, in part of the Darklands realm of Nar-Voth.
• In the final vision, you see yourselves using magic to pry open a portal above the shattered remains of a stone well. Again, Ranek identifies the well as as shattered runewell, but not just any runewell. It's the Runewell of Pride.
As you observe the final vision, Kandirvek gasps in shock as the looming image of Runelord Xanderghul clad in peacock robes rises up to obscure the view and disrupt the portents granted by his prophetic wings. Xanderghul sneers and curtly waves his hand, and the vision comes to a sudden end as Kandirvek recoils in agony!
"Argh!" the dragon growls, trickles of blood pouring from his nostrils. He wipes at it with the back of a claw. "It would seem that the runelord did not wish you to see those visions. But it cannot be undone now. I will take you there so that the visions may come to pass."
Ranek recalls that the location of the ruined city of Xin-Cyrusian was once located somewhere in the southeast reach of what is now the Land of the Linnorm Kingdoms, but its exact location has been lost to time. But based on the second vision of you fighting against trolls, its likely that the city is somewhere in the trolls' territory. And one of the most notorious sites within that area is a place called the Throne of the Troll King. It would be a good place to start your search...
Ranek feels a flash of anger and hatred as Xanderghul contemptuously ends the visions. Perhaps it is fear that causes him to interfere.
Curious, that sentiment. Ranek wonders if it is entirely his own. Still, they have a starting point. "Xin-Cyrusian was located in the southeastern reaches of what is now the Land of the Linnorm Kings. If we are to battle trolls, then we should search their territory. The Throne of the Troll King is where we should go - although I shouldn't wonder if the site of the Trinity Star's crash wouldn't be worth an investigation. Torisen, your understanding of the stars is better than mine. I'll assist you in navigating our route with the star chart we found."
"I am familiar with such things from my study of astrology," Torisen grumbles."[/b]
"Once I could have commanded visions like the dragon showed us, but now I must shuffle playing cards, spend freezing nights out of doors, and cohort with serpents!"
Sir Batman quietly listens to those a bit more familiar with magicks and Wizard stuff. The bronze-colored bat-shaped Sprite simply enjoys his time spent with a cool dragon that doesn't want to eat him.
When Kandirvek begins showing the sweet outdoors moving pictures, Sir Batman stares happily at the scene of them flying on his back across the blue skies.
At the totally rude interruption by that super mean bully Wizard, the Champion of Mazludah Raises his Shield and starts flying straight at him!
Git out! You are going to be placed on punishment when I see you!
Stopping quite suddenly by the visions disappearing, Sir Batman floats back down to the group.
He's not nice! Are we going to ruin his day?
"Rune his day? Is that a pun, my tiny champion?" Torisen chuckles.
"I would have said that wasn't possible, as he's been dead for more than a decade, but the runelords have their contingencies, now don't they."
He gives Alaznist a significant look.
"The ones worth the name, yes."
There is plenty of room for all of you ride upon Kandirvek's back. Once you are safely in position, the gargantuan dragon flaps his mighty wings and you take to the skies!
It’s a 600 mile journey west from Vekker’s Crossing to the Throne of the Troll King. Each evening of the trip, Kandirvek selects a sheltered cave or valley to rest for the night. Fortunately, the journey across Varisia and into the Land of the Linnorm Kings is unventful, and as sunset approaches on the fourth day of travel, you reach your destination.
Kandirvek touches down on a mountaintop overlooking the site. Even from afar, the immense stone throne sitting at the peak of the tallest foothill in the area is impressive, as is the astounding number of trolls that dwells in the surrounding hills. Ranek recalls a local legend that claims that anyone who sits on the throne overnight at midwinter can command the trolls of the region to obey them for a year and a day.
While there are thousands of trolls in the region, a much smaller number stand guard at the peak of the hill. Looking closely, you can see the troll who appears to be the leader of the throne guards wears flowing, colorful emerald robes accented and wields a flaming bec de corbin. It looks very similar to the gear of the Trinity acolytes you faced in the Xin-Eurtyhnia's dawnsilver workshop.
"Might I suggest an intimidating arrival?" Kandirvek rumbles. "I can swoop down low and drop you off at the top of the hill, then make passes over the horde of trolls lower down. That should keep them pacified while you deal with the ones around the throne."
During the journey, Ranek had used his growing magical strength to prepare a contingency in case the trolls came too close to him.
Ranek nods. "Yes, I think that would be best. Though trolls are not the most powerful of creatures, even the greatest warriors are vulnerable to overwhelming numbers. Keeping the lesser trolls out of the fight would be to the better."
Ranek prepares for their arrival by casting Energy Aegis and Darkvision on himself. As they swoop in, he will also cast Fly and ready the Cyrusian wand.
"Yes, we can cow the simple creatures. They've obviously already been taken in by the Trinity Star cultists."
The refreshing winds race pass them as the mighty dragon soars through the air to their destination. The clouds seem to stand stationary, simply accepting of their slow, steady course. The ground grants graciously gregarious, gorgeous panoramas from the high height.
The tiny bronze-colored bat-shaped Sprite smiles.
The champion of Mazludah's blue eyes lock onto the huddled group of trolls seemingly guarding the peak, obviously lead by the fancy troll, wearing flowing, colorful emerald robes accented and wielding a flaming bec de corbin.
That fellow looks very similar to the gear of the Trinity acolytes. Let's go talk to that one!