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Ah, I have a busy weekend and a lot of stuff happens. :D
When Dirk, Sparks, and Zephyr arrive at the Eoxian embassy, they notice a small robot sitting on its haunches not far from the entrance they're headed towards. It's quadrupedal, with a vaguely animal-like head--a long, narrow muzzle with metallic 'teeth' in its mouth, a mismatched pair of triangular ears (one shorter and wider, the other taller and narrower), and similarly disparate camera 'eyes'. Its four legs are also varying in appearance. It also has two 'tails', one thicker with a handful of patches of scraggly gray false fur clinging to it, which splits into a trio of manipulator tendrils, one of which looks to end in another camera. The second 'tail' is far more slender, though it similarly splits into a pair of manipulator tendrils at the end. Its casing is patched, pitted, and in many places has obviously had segments replaced. Its flanks have a few small solar panels integrated into its casing, and the symbol of Sarenrae is painted (rather inexpertly) in flaking golden paint on each side. But perhaps most interestingly, a familiar mote of light dances between the two tendrils of its smaller tail. It stands as it sees the approaching trio of solarions and lifts said tendrils, shaking them in what might be supposed to be a wave. It opens its mouth and a voice that sounds very like that of the young protagonist of an action holovid from last year emerges. "Oh! Three fellow solarians! I wouldn't have thought I would see something like that here! Hello fellow solarians!"
"If I knew how it would help I wouldn't want to look at the book," Brennus lies. "Can you think of a reason why a man whose interests seem otherwise entirely centered on art would have such a book? I *suppose* it could simply have been a random impulse, a moment of curiosity, but it's still the only thing that seems out-of-place." "As for the artist, I'm not thinking the artist would be the murderer, yes. I suppose I am rather, as you say, grasping at straws here, given the lack of anything else to focus on."
Hmmm, I should think about this...
A strong start is good for sure! :)
Yeah, hope things are going well for you!
I think it's safe to say I like these ideas. :D
Part of me is tempted to have Zilvazaraat show up right in the middle of all these heartfelt conversations. :D
Fin is able to find a village and arrange for the drained soldiers to be taken care of.
That would be fine.
The sensation Quasit gets from the doll is so like a grumpy "Harumph!" that she could almost swear she heard something. Funnily enough it seemed directed more at being called "Babs" than the rest of it. ”I am curious about these ideas you have, if they won’t interfere with bringing her back, we have plans for this. She’s been dead before, and we don’t plan on this being the last time. It’ll be more difficult this time, but the merchant guy seems able to get the kind of supplies needed. I think the others are in favor of reviving her, but some concern about how to accomplish it is there. Maybe I should see if the merchant can understand us. He travels a lot and might have magic to understand all the different languages he needs to interact with.” "I could always translate if need be, you realize," Syvet says, haughtily. "We should be able to draw on that connection you still have with her to bring her soul to you. There are actually some witches that set something like this up ahead of time, where the familiar and the master will end up with both souls in one body if one of the two of them dies. My master..." Syvet pauses just a moment, then continues, "...my master never thought she'd need something like that, but she did study it , which of course means that I've studied it. It might even make revival easier afterward, if it works like the case I described she'd just need an empty body to possess once she got tired of sharing yours with you."
"We scarcely have a target to fight yet, Broulnindre," Brennus points out absent-mindedly, still caught up in his thinking. After a moment the conversation finishes catching up with his brain. "Oh... yes, I suppose sleep would be a good idea. If nothing else the people we need to question are likely to be more reticent if we knock on their door in the middle of the night! Now, where should I roost for the night..."
Ah. Here, at last, is a target for a holy blade. Silently calling on Pheonix, Benedetto lunges forward, his sword blazing with holy flames.
Unity wakes in the darkness with a start. But just the one of him. He can feel the rest of themself still dreaming, waking thoughts and dreams mixing oddly in their total consciousness, but he found they could keep his waking thoughts separate enough to mostly make sense if they focused on it. It would be a neat trick to be able to do this at will, but he suspects it wouldn't be easy to do it deliberately. As the images of the last dream continued to drift through their mind, he pondered if it actually meant something. They often dreamt of being in many bodies but one mind. They'd thought it was just... symbolic, a way their subconscious expressed the truth of them being many but one, but... what if it was more? What if 'Unity must reign' truly meant becoming some kind of... worldwide consciousness? If their mind started bleeding out into the world around them when they arrived... His desire to shiver in discomfort brings no movement. Ah, he may be awake but they are too asleep to move... interesting. But their dreams take the form of their fear, of their body breaking up into more and more animals that spread to cover the world. This isn't helping. It takes barely any effort at all to let his consciousness drift back off into the sleep the rest of them never left. ********************** Unity dream they're enormous They hover next to a moon the size of half their body on many wings, gazing at the dead world below them. But the world is not truly dead. After all, all its life is a part of them now, preserved in some of their appendages and heads and internal organs. Isn't it better this way? The world's life, sooner or later, would have died, but now they will be immortal with Unity. They turn their gazes to the stars, pondering what next to preserve. ********************** Unity awake trembling. That had been worse. Well, surely having such terrible dreams about what was to come would make whatever terrible truths they were about to learn feel a little less awful? Doubtful. They sigh. Clearly, they have too many *maybes* about what they're about to learn and not enough solid evidence. And they hadn't even dreamed about whether or not it had been the right choice to not try to kill Dr. Moreau while they were there. ... This is not a suggestion to their subconscious! But they can tell they're still tired. Their dreams have interrupted the sleep they need. Well... better try to get more sleep anyway. They adjust their sprawl on the floor slightly, shuffling wings and tail and legs around a bit to find another comfortable position. And surprisingly enough, no more dreams come.
Brennus is... quite frankly, not entirely interested on why some drunk human fell to his death. But best not to tell his new allies that. "It looks like she already beat me to it," he says in response to Ratchet's request, nodding at Broulnindre as she flies up toward the balcony.
Rasputin has a number of pieces of gear: a fine dagger and revolver, an amulet, a belt, a cassock, and a headband. All but the weapons radiate magic. The headless Cossack also has a number of items: a scimitar, a revolver, a lance, a belt, and a ring. All but the lance radiate magic. The three vampire brothers had nothing of interest on their bodies.
Rasputin... promptly dies again.
All right, Terex leveling up! Let's see, what was I planning... oh right, this is level 16 isn't it? So Intelligence boost, bringing it to 22 with his headband. Another magic talent, so I'll have to think hard on which one of the several I want for him he'll take (I'm seriously tempted by the Mind sphere talent that lets you speed-read ridiculously fast)... I figure he can finish retraining Bookish Rogue for his third instance of Natural Arcanist, so he can cast up to third-level spells. He'll definitely be adding to his spellbook... and a Hedgewitch secret. I might just go for another magic talent with it, though I *have* been playing around with the idea of Terexaltherin developing a poisonous ink breath weapon due to his library bond. :D Oh, some plot ideas I thought I'd throw out there in case you're looking for ideas: * We have to go to the rescue of an Organization team that's in distress. Could be a way to see some of the people we've recruited/worked with in the Organization.
"Ah, yes. Quite... humane," Unity say, grinning. Their grin shows off a large number of teeth. The urge to sink those teeth into the neck so close to them is strong... but surely Dr. Moreau couldn't have lived this long if he were truly so incautious as to sit next to someone that could easily kill him without defenses? They pause for just a moment at the entrance to the room, sighing. "That's about what we thought you were going to show us," they say, even before the lights in the tubes come on. Almost subconsciously, they shift back to their hexapodal form as they pad towards one of the tubes--the one with the chimera gnawing on itself. They place one massive paw on the tube. "Dealing with being many but one must have been the hardest part of creating a being like us," they murmur. "Nothing could really prepare a mind for that. It took us so long to accept it, truthfully. It's no wonder so many couldn't..." They trail off. What could *possibly* be worth this? Could any thinking being *really* be willing to sacrifice so many lives to create them? They'd thought many times before on how many must have been killed to collect materials for chimeras like themself... but they hadn't thought about the suffering of the failures, not really. And now... well, their creator has much to answer for. And they will get answers, even though they're certain they will be wholly insufficient justification. "What does it take to birth a monster, Doctor?" Unity ask, still gazing at the contents of the tube. "Does it happen all at once? A sudden moment, where sanity dies as if shot? Or does it happen gradually, by degrees, one choice at a time?" They turn to Moreau even as they keep gazing at the failed chimeras. "When you say that Peter wasn't Peter any more, do you mean only behaviorally or do you believe something was biologically different as well? A... doppleganger of sorts, or something possessing his body or mind?"
Why did I make it take so much work to come up with how The First Flame speaks? Oh right, because it's fun too. XD
And another Terexaltherin illustration!
Oh hey, fancy seeing you here! :D Yep, I'm making a version of Brennus for this game, it should be great fun. For your character, you know I like shapeshifting characters. ;)
Ah, excellent, thank you! For those wondering--I wanted the big azure eye in Brennus's chest to be able to see magic, so the way we decided to do that was to subtract the cost of using permanency on detect magic to balance out the ability. So Brennus's extra eye is equivalent to detect magic--when we're in-town or he's trying to be unnoticed he'll keep it closed, but in dangerous surroundings (or when he thinks there might be interesting magic to observe) he'll have it open. On a completely unrelated note, had I shared some of the art I've gotten of Brennus? I feel like I have but I don't remember which pieces...
That's fine, Fin, we can do that.
Yeah, that pretty much covers it! The only other thing is that he can only apply one hack to an effect, so he can only splinter things once--no chain-splintering a single-target spell to every member of the party.
Rahlmaat is staring at a nearby flower, utterly ignoring all of you.
Oh, The First Flame was definitely around long before Golarion was formed. :D I'm figuring it hasn't visited any of the primary campaign settings. They already have their own sources of warmth and light.
I would suggest shooting her, stabbing her, and burning her, those always seem to work for you guys. :D
I got a fun little illustration of Terexaltherin. :D
Oh, hey Shadow! It's been a while. Anyway, Way of the Wicked... not my favorite, but templates are tempting. :D Maybe I'll rebuild my one werewolf who considered himself a Hound of Hell?
Right, I was going to ask that. :D
Benedetto groans as he stretches out his tired muscles. He knew he probably shouldn't have been working so hard when their battle was coming up, but... well, it felt good to do some of this work with his own hands. Phoenix knew he needed the break from the headaches of command. Sure, technically he was here making sure the money he'd donated to building and repairing housing for the refugees was being spent properly. And sure, he could have done that without doing any hauling or laying ashbricks himself. But whatever his command responsibilities were now, he still didn't *feel* like he was some... great prophet or leader or whatever, and besides, he was pretty sure it was a meaningful thing to be willing to do with your own hands what you were commanding others to do. He was pretty sure Phoenix approved of not getting a big head, anyway. He'd been trying to make a daily habit of praying to the Phoenix, even though he was pretty sure the Phoenix knew all about his daily activities. Benedetto had particularly been praying about the whole new temple situation, just to make sure it was acceptable. Maybe it was just the issues he'd had with the Volcano Temple, but he still felt a little nervous about the whole thing. He sighs. Better get back to his office--he had an office now, who would have thought--and make sure everything was ready for tomorrow. The troops were, at least, starting to seem more like an actual cohesive fighting unit instead of a bunch of hot-headed warriors. They might actually listen to orders when the time for battle came. So he'd better go make sure they had some.
They're temporary for 24 hours, then you get to roll a save and if you fail they become permanent (if you succeed you get rid of them).
That sounds good to me. Benedetto is definitely in a "spend the money on the people who have suffered" frame of mind at present.
I haven't been in the mood most days to write big speechs for Benedetto is part of why I wanted to just jump ahead a bit. XD
"Atten-tion!" Benedetto shouts as he strides out into the training field. As he'd been walking, he'd come up with a speech. It felt uncomfortable to him still, but, well, he didn't feel like he could pass this responsibility on to anyone else, so... he was doing it. He gives the assembled warriors a little while to gather before launching into his speech. "You'll be marching out in a few days to liberate the city of Light from Moon's madness. I would say we, but I'm going to have to catch up--I and some allies need to put some corrupted elementals to rest before they cause serious damage, but I'll be with you long before you reach the city." "We've all lost something in the past days. Friends. Family. Faith. Order. A place in the world. But even in the middle of such loss, there's still hope and new life. I think our new friends here," he waves at the phoenix chicks on his shoulders, "Are a little reminder to us from the Phoenix of this fact. And we're going to go bring that hope back to those lost in Moon's madness!" "It may seem like Moon and Dark have us on the back foot right now, but that's because they're afraid! They're attacking us, trying to break us, because they know that we can break them! So let's put our all into getting ready to show them that they do need to fear us and that they haven't broken us!"
In the instant that Quasit and Selena finish setting the last tower into the proper settings, a searingly-bright bolt of violet lightning leaps from all four towers to the air where the spire of the ruined temple once stood. As you recover your vision after the bright flash, the ruined temple burns... in reverse. Flames crawl up its walls, leaving restored wood behind them. Fallen stones lift up and slot into place. Shattered glass flies back into stained glass windows. In less than a minute, a pristine structure stands where once there had been a ruin.
Blocking extradimensional effects is pretty standard in high-level campaigns to prevent any "skip directly to the boss" kind of shenanigans, I'm sure you'll still have plenty you can do.
I just realized there's no reason I can't just pick two +1 CR templates that add up to +8 Wisdom. XD I'd still be grateful if you could take a look. And thanks for the suggestions, Grumbaki. I might go with Holy + Advanced, but I'm keeping Titanic (look, stars are big, so it needs to be too :D). I was thinking I should write out my full backstory/description and design goals for The First Flame. It's going to be kind of long, so spoilers it is! :D Backstory & Description:
On one small material plane, the first creator gods got a little overexcited when igniting the first star. A flare erupted from its newly-burning surface when they ignited it. This flare split from its parent star, charged with the excess power of creation the gods had poured into the star, and formed great wings and keen talons, becoming the first and greatest of all phoenixes (for its plane, at least). The gods were a bit surprised by this, but it knew its purpose. It would go forth to bring light and warmth to the coldest and darkest corners of existence, and since that time it has flown the void, bringing its fire to those who need it most.
…or so one legend says of its origin. But legends about it are as numerous as its names: The Sunwing, The Beginning of Phoenixes, The Stellar Eagle. When asked, the name it gives for itself most often is The First Flame, but it acknowledges the others, as well. What is certain is that The First Flame is a being of great compassion, but also terrible wrath. At times they descend on a darkened corner of a world and bring hope to a dying people, using its power to rekindle life where it was almost extinguished. At other times their coming is marked by vitrifying entire swaths of land with its flames--sometimes because of an obvious threat, other times when no danger can be seen. Still other times it descends in its smaller, anthropomorphic form, to speak to and guide individuals or nations that were lost in metaphorical darkness. Also certain is its incredible age, having lived to see the cycle of life and destruction that stars go through, seeking in some way to emulate in itself the way stars are the ultimate source of all warmth and light in the universe, yet simultaneously the most destructive forces in existence... and how that destruction births new worlds and stars. It came to Hyraeatan recently, by its reckoning, meaning it's 'only' been in the city for a little under a century. It is officially a member of the Ashlords faction, though they are known to also have some ties to the Cocoon Pact, sometimes serving as a liason between the two factions. Its belief in the cycles of destruction and creation are well-suited to this position, though it does draw some suspicion from the more 'orthodox' members of the Ashlords. In its natural form The First Flame is a titanic mass of stellar plasma in the vague shape of a great eagle with a 400' wingspan, its plummage glowing in shifting hues of yellows, oranges, and reds, its eyes churning orbs of brilliantly-burning flame. While in Hyraeatan it more frequently appears in the form of a humanoid bird with the same fiery plummage. In either shape, it never speaks aloud, instead the very light it sheds seeming to form words or images in those it wishes to converse with. Build Goals:
The core ideas of The First Flame are, roughly in order:
* It combines the rebirth theme of the phoenix with the way stars can be formed due to the deaths of other stars
From these core ideas come some essential goals and some nice-to-have goals. Essential goals
* It needs to be capable of incredible destruction via fire. Current plan is to have a lot of talents in the Destruction and Light spheres to make it roughly capable of causing small nuclear explosions or simply radiating enough heat to incinerate its surroundings. * It also is a source of life. Current plan is a lot of talents in the Life sphere. * It must be immune to fire. This is where the Light Immunity from the Lightbringer deific talent comes in. * It must be able to traverse space, meaning it needs to be able to survive and fly in vacuum. Surviving vacuum means not breathing (probably via the Universal Mythic Path ability) and being able to resist any cold damage involved (note this means I do *not* want it to have the Fire subtype, as that gives cold vulnerability... and what kind of star is vulnerable to cold?). Starflight is harder--the only way I've come up with so far is to get Mythic Transformation so it can have a 'space form' that includes the Starflight ability from the Star-Spawn Body Alteration talent. Not my favorite solution. Nice-to-haves * Its mere presence should be able to cause positive effects, like how warm sunshine can be comforting and hopeful. Some Light sphere abilities will help here. * It should be dangerous in melee. It *is* a giant bird after all. Currently thinking of Mageknight abilities for this plus being able to use Strike talents. * Its presence should also be capable of causing great harm. Light sphere abilities here again. * It should be capable of long-range telepathy (preferably as its only method of communication). It's a space bird, it needs to communicate by something that doesn't take an atmosphere, and preferably at a longer distance than 60' or 100'. My current idea here is a very, very expensive Spheres of Power Apparatus. ...I'm sure there were some others I was thinking of, they'll come back to me probably. My current draft build is Titanic Holy Advanced Fenghuang Incanter 20/Mageknight (Sun Warrior) 20 Spheremaster/Guardian 1.
The check DC's are supposed to make sure you have to find the blueprints and talk to Viktor before you try to shut down the towers. I'm not going to have you fail just because none of you have good spellcraft.
"Here, this is a safe place for you," Benedetto says to the human boy as he brings him to where the rest of the humans are being treated. As he makes sure the boy is getting settled and that the rest of the humans are recovering well, he thinks of Drook, and of the humans' future, and the upcoming march on Light. He's getting... rather a pile of responsibilities, isn't he? But as exhausting as it seems, he finds he's almost eager to take them on, like he's been... hiding or something, and now he's finally getting to stretch his wings. ...okay, maybe there's something more to that metaphor than he thought.
Whoops, I thought I'd said. It's an amulet of proof against detection and location.
I'll be back home tomorrow, updates will probably follow on Wednesday.
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