"It's a trap!" Lunar-17 declares. She draws her pistol and fires a wild shot at Jaedana's target, taking a moment to reload afterwards.
Eventually, Batman snaps out of his confusion and helps defeat the strange beasts. From there, you descend deeper into the temple. You battle past more of Osoyo's blackfrost undead. In the depths, you again encountered the strange dream creature who you first met in Dr. Ritalson's hidden laboratory. Here, it does its best to stop you from progressing further, battling to its death. After a tough fight, you defeat it and continue on to the great alien's inner sanctum. There, beneath a half mile thick ice made supernaturally clear, you catch a glimpse of Osoyo himself. The vast dark shape imprisoned beneath the eerie streets and twisting spires of a vast underground metropolis lit by flickers of pale blue and violet radiance. In a far alcove in the sanctum above lies a slumped pile of matter, bloody fur, all that remains of the last saumen kar Ainamuuren after you brought him here under Osoyo's influence during the Missing Moment. But the remains rise up again as fully corrupted Ainamuuren rises up to attack you, his captors! The battle is fierce, but you ultimately prevail. However, a tremor wracks the north pole of the world as Osoyo thrashes in his prison below, causing cracks to radiate outward through the ice. As Ainamuuren lies dying, Snowy Owl begs you to help her to focus on her bonded god Ruun, saying that she must guide the god’s essence out of her soul and into the fallen saumen kar to restore the ancient wards that keep Osoyo imprisoned. Ruun manifests, a great snowy owl rising from his host's body. You focuse your mental powers to bolster Ruun and guide him to Ainamuuren. As the god merges with the saumen kar, he purges all trace of the Blackfrost Whale’s influence from the saumen kar. Doing so puts Osoyo back into suspended animation within his prison and cuts him off from the outside world once more. At the same time, Snowy Owl collapses to the ground, unconscious. A few moments later, shimmering white energy similar to windblown snow begins swirling through the air, engulfing you, Snowy Owl, and Ainamuuren. You feel a presence in your minds, and instinctively recognize this as, in part, the presence of Ruun, the lingering presence of dead Aqakaru’s divine soul, and, in part, a final few whispers from Osoyo. At this oint, you have a choice to make: should you cling to the deviant powers Osoyo granted you and allow Ainamuuren to die, or should you release your powers and allow this “gift” to drift back down through the ice to its source, to rejoin Osoyo while also allowing Ainamuuren to survive? Ultimately, you make the right choice, relinquishing your powers. You feel as if a great weight has been lifted from your souls. The strange marks you've carried on your flesh painlessly fade away as well, reappearing on Ainamuuren’s body to further bolster the wards that hold Osoyo in stasis. The saumen kar awakens as if from a particularly long slumber, stretches, and then somberly thanks you for all you have done. He bears you no ill will for the role you played in his capture, for he knows more than anyone that once Osoyo gets in your head, you are not yourself. Instead, he reminds you that it was your actions as yourselves you should be proud of, not those of your enemy. Snowy Owl returns to her previous persona of Sakuachi, and is back to her old, bright-eyed and playful self, and swiftly becomes fast friends with Ainamuuren. She informs the group she wishes to remain at the temple for now, to aid Ainamuuren in bolstering Osoyo’s prison further and then assisting him in his search for survivors of his people. You have, at least for the time being, put Osoyo back to sleep and made the world a safer place. Your fates are now your own to pursue. And when next you sleep, your dreams will, for the first time since your fateful step into the Missing Moment, belong to you and you alone... THE END!
You bathe in the lake's waters, cleaning off the dust and grime of the past few days' journey. You rest overnight, awakening to a cold but clear day. For the first time since starting along the Pilgrim's Path, the sky is blue and free of clouds. You feel stronger from your recent experiences...
Cadenza smiles slightly. "Yes, I think that might work. You could even tell her I'd be studying the actors from backstage to try to learn from them while performing my other tasks."
"Fear not, friends. I shall use my mystic might to ask the Akashic Record for information!" Lunar-17 says confidently. She psychically reaches out to the collective unconscious of the universe to send the information about this Z person to her comm unit.
Lunar-17 coughs and gags as the toxic gas engulfs her. "My eyes! The goggles do nothing!" she wails as she staggers over towards some nearby crates, seeking cover. Once there, she calls on her mystic powers to fire a beam of mind-assaulting eldritch energy from the dark spaces between the stars at the elemental.
"Keys have teeth," Dawn observes quietly. "Maybe it is the key to the lock that is invisible?"
Max’s tail lashes back and forth behind her. ”Well, I don’t want to forget who I was before this. I feel like that would be fundamentally altering who I am as a person. But maybe I could give up my memories of past relationships? Ones that... that didn’t end so well. Do you think that would be sufficient?”
Dawn is amazed by the portal and strange maze they travel through. The spiritual energy in the place feels different than that of the real world, and like Kalla, she finds herself eager to explore, though she follows Drandle's instructions. Once in the dorms, the dwarf smiles and claims a bunk. "Can you believe it? We're actually going to be bona fide Pathfinders! So exciting!"
Max's face pales as she sees the extent of Statian's injuries. Though it was indirect, she knows that this is her fault. For all her power and strength, she couldn't protect her friend. Her teammate. "No! Sam, I'm... I'm so sorry!" she cries, tears welling in her yellow eyes. She steps back, wrapping her arms around herself as she withdraws, shaking slightly. Her stare is distant and she doesn't respond if anybody tries to talk to her.
Poshov is frantically dashing about the kitchen, clucking his tongue at the disarray. "Bozhe moi! So much to do! And I am given so little to work with." He turns and looks up at Gentle Storm as the druid enters. "Hello! Have you come to help? The lodgings here are a mess! There are dishes to scrub, linens to wash! I could use all the help I can get!" *** Madge gives Wispil a wry grin. "Curses? Sure, I know lots of curses! F$#+ and shit and cocksucker! So many fun ones!" The gathlain cackles hysterically. *** Thuja nods to Kilitsi. "I know what you mean! It's, like, think of the big folk when you choose a secret base for you new Lodge, y'know? I'm Thuja. Nice to meet ya!" The giant holds out a meaty hand for Kilitsi to shake.
Max nods to request the veil. Once it's in place, she changes back into her demonic form as she holds the wand out. With a shrug, she wills the wand to activate. A shockwave of radiant energy bursts from the wand, swirling around her like a cyclone of divine power. Max gasps as her casual clothes dissolve into golden mist. In their place, plates of gleaming armor materialize, fitting her form perfectly. A cuirass molds to her torso, adorned with intricate engravings. Silver greaves clasp around her legs, and pauldrons shaped like unfurling wings rests upon her shoulders. A flowing white chiton drapes beneath the armor, rippling as if caught in an unseen breeze. Max can feel the intense magical power thrumming through the armor. She looks down at herself in awe before looking back to Tim. "Holy crap," she breathes.
The journey was long, indeed, but Dawn knew just what to do to keep morale from flagging. As a liturgist, she draws forth her apparitions through song and dance, two things that the dwarf is quite skilled in. So she sings through the long marches, her voice bold and deep. She sings the songs of the dwarven people, ballads of stone and sky. She sings the arias of the spirits, hymns of wild places and of worlds beyond this one. And at night, around the fire, she dances the dance of the Rivethun, a dance of joy and freedom at becoming one's true self. When Laszlo asks about her personal effects, Dawn reaches into her belt pouch and presents a signet ring with a carved dwarven sigil. "The ring of House Stjorn. It is a reminder of a life that I left behind, a life that would not have been my own. When I joined the Rivethun, I gave all of that up for the chance to seek my own path instead of the one that had been pre-ordained for me. And now here I am, on a grand adventure with you fine folk. I wouldn't have had it any other way."
Later that day, as you are debating what course of action to undertake, Nok-Nok the goblin comes running up to you. "Guys! Guys! The Tanglethorns are back from the dead! They're back!" Once you are able to calm Nok-Nok down a bit, he explains further. "The Tanglethorn goblins used to live in the northern Narlmarches, but everybody believed they were killed off years ago by a rampaging moose! But now they're back somehow, and their new leader is planning to raid Safehaven! I heard it from a friend of a friend of a friend who heard it from a very talkative crow! It's crazy! Not the talking to crows part. My friend’s friend’s friend has always been able to talk to crows. The Tanglethorns-back-from-the-dead part! "We gotta stop them, right? Protect the town? Cause that's what heroes do, and I'm gonna be a big godsdamned goblin hero! Maybe even a hero-god like mighty Hadregash! Or Venkelvore! Or Zarongel! Or Zogmugot!"
You get the feeling that had you attempted a full overland journey, you would likely be subjected to numerous such nightmares throughout the duration. Fortunately, Zienvus's magic means you will be able to get to your destination much more swiftly. Indeed, by the end of the second day of shadow walking, you are over two-thirds of the way to the Nameless Spires. That night, as you prepare to rest, Snowy Owl makes an announcement. "Thank you, my friends, for all the aid you’ve given me. My destiny awaits in the Nameless Spires—I can feel them looming large in my mind’s eye even now, just as I know your own answers await you there as well. Many months ago, my grandmother Seshu beheld a dream of her own—a dream that informed her that one of my people would need to undertake a great quest to find a lost god and then carry it to the Nameless Spires. “I volunteered for this quest, as I suspect grandmother had expected I would, but she wasn’t able to tell me what I needed to do when I reached these spires... only that as I drew near, I would know the time would be right to dream of her and learn my true destiny. I see how you carry the weight of lost memories and unsettling dreams as well, and as you have protected and guided me over so many miles, I invite you to come with me on a new journey tonight: a journey into a dream. A journey to meet my grandmother. I fear this might be the last time I will be able to speak to her, but I also know she has great power and wisdom and will be able to help us all. So... please, will you come with me into the Dreaming this night?”
Dawn bids Kalla to lie down and rest. "It will not do to have this plague progress to a point where you cannot recover. Let me tend to you." The dwarf mixes up some healing poultices from her kit to help leech the sickness from the bard's body.
Knowing that his weapons won't be very effective against the plant, Belmont instead grimly swaggers towards it with his gun on display in an attempt to intimidate it. He succeeds in frightening the corpseroot. This allows Visna to hit with her snagging strike, her axe biting into the tree's bark and exploiting its vulnerability. She grabs a hold of the huge tree, her experience with wrestling titans coming in handy! Briar moves in and slices the tree twice. Pen's polar ray hits the grabbed and frightened tree, scoring a critical hit! Ice coats the tree's trunk. Despite its grievous injuries, the tree strikes back, managing to hit Visna once. Still, it doesn't look like it will be able to take much more punishment.
Enemy Status: -295, drained 2, frightened 1, grabbed
Dawn holds up a hand. ”No need for that. The spirits provide.” The dwarf begins to dance, then. A pair of shimmering spirits seem to materialize around her, one gentle and protective, the other with a feral bent. She beckons to the latter spirit, which looms over her like a shadow. The shadow envelops Dawn, and her form shifts and shrinks to that of a tiny, wild cat. The cat wiggles her haunches before bounding carefully through the foliage, avoiding the itchleaf. Once inside the house, the cat changes back into a dwarf. Dawn takes her time searching the home and gathering things off value, then calls on the spirit to transform again. Soon enough, the cat returns to the others and once again becomes Dawn, who smiles and shows the others what she’s found.
Cerulean only splashes the monster with acid, but Esirelle hits with her divine lance. The spirit damage prevents the monster from regenerating, and both Kharya and Timdok capitalize on its momentary vulnerability. Kharya delivers a powerful punch before Timdok unleashes his flurry, a devastating combo that ends in a critical hit! The strange being's despairing scream fades away swiftly as the body crumples lifeless to hte floor. Each of you feels as if a sudden weight you hadn’t known you'd been carrying has been lifted from your shoulders. This last remnant of your old foe—Akhenaten's anguish personified—has been defeated.
The paralysis is magical in nature. Mundane medicine will have no effect on it. Floare's dispelling attempt fails as well. You'll have to come back with more powerful magic or some other way to cure the centaur. There doesn't seem to be anywhere else to go in this section of the dungeon. You return to the main hall, where a thorough search uncovers a secret door. Beyond it, stairs lead down to another chamber. This chamber’s walls are composed of burial alcoves. All are empty save for assorted bits of pottery. A door here opens into a wide chamber that appears to have been naturally formed; its ceiling rises twenty-five feet and is festooned with stalactites. The stink of sulfur and tar are strong, as a huge lake of bubbling black tar dominates the chamber. From rock outcrops here and there on the walls bubble small springs of milky-looking water from which clouds of steam rise. Across the chamber, a stony shelf provides purchase for a door stoop before a black wooden door swollen in its frame. The broken stumps of two support posts protrude from the rock of the shelf as well as that of the main entrance near the pool’s edge, showing where a wooden bridge once spanned the inky soup. A rotting undead human man stands motionless on the ledge before the door. When he notices you, though, he lets out a sepulchral groan and raises his hands to begin casting a spell! Initiative:
Hyrune blinks at Humerus. "Seriously? The plots to poison, raise, and control the population of the nations around Geb that rely on our food exports? Have you not been paying attention?" He sighs and rubs his temples wearily. "Ugh. Whatever. Slay them, unrisen guards!" he commands. The four unrisen shamble forward Initiative:
Hyrune creates a shield of force before casting a more powerful spell, creating a repulsion field in a 20-foot radius around himself. The unrisen suddenly charge towards you, their twisted bodies reshaping and bones cracking in a gruesome display. They bite at Ceceka and Humerus. Humerus is hit and grabbed!
All of the delegates seem rather impressed by Blooms in Darkness's passionate delivery of the queen's message. It's enough for them immediately to sit up and take notice of your group.
As the leshy finishes reading the queen's letter, each natoin is invite to introduce themselves. The first to speak is Kyonin’s southeastern neighbor, Druma. "I am Chalzo Rove, Prophet of Kalistrade. Many here know me from my ongoing campaign against pirates on Lake Encarthan. Faced with the Whispering Tyrant’s threat, I pledge that Druma will do all in its power to stand against him." She approaches the central table to sign the declaration of intent to negotiate in good faith. She gives you an appraising look. "I must compliment your heroics on Lantana Beach. Tell me, who are your tailors? Who made the armor and clothing you wear? I can connect you to some of the finest tailors and smiths in all of Avistan, if you are interested." Perception DC 30:
You notice that Chalzo gives a hard look toward the Razmiran table during her speech when mentioning pirates. Society DC 25, if you made the Perception check: Chalzo is known for her crusade against the Faith Barges of the Living God, many of which are little more than pirates hiding behind faith.
The door is locked, but not trapped. Aily is able to pick the door open. Mostly empty shelves adorn the walls of this large room, while at the center stand a pair of worktables. The ceiling rises to twenty feet above, where a dozen empty cages sized for humans hang from spiked chains. A strange, towering creature stands in this room. The faceless being stands as tall as an ogre, with toxic red smoke pouring from its body and forming the semblance of a face. When it sees you, the figure looms high and speaks in a strange, grating way that sounds as if a roaring fire accidentally learned how to talk. "You will answer me these questions three," it demands. "Then I shall answer three questions from you. Question the first. Tell me—your blood—is it always red? Question the second. It smells of your secrets in here, doesn’t it—which secret stinks most? Question the third. When did you last feel the tender touch of ashes?"
Jeni and Nadja slice Gorlak repeatedly, but despite his grievous injures, it seems like the ogre is too stupid to surrender. Zenobius bashes the giant in the face with the flat of his blade, and the ogre’s eyes roll up as Gorlak thuds to the ground, unconscious.
Sylva executes the doctor, putting a permanent end to his villainy. Severed from its familiar bond, the oozy creature sloughs away in pursuit of its own enigmatic devices. *** In the aftermath of the battle at Lichgate, you inform the other Gatewalkers at Doctor Ritalson's manor of his demise. They agree to spread the word throughout the organization and urge you to continue on your path of stopping Osoyo. With enough time, Zienvus is able to peruse all of Ritalon's journals to learn more about what he had been up to: Etward's Secrets:
1—Aiudara: These notes detail Etward’s investigations into aiudaras and their relationship to the Missing Moment. The notes indicate he’s been spending a lot of time at Lichgate, and include directions to this location from Lepidstadt. The notes also describe how one can use a moonstone to activate Lichgate to travel to Icegate in the Crown of the World.
2—Blackfrost: The notes describe the physical effects of blackfrost, boast about Etward’s immunity, mention its capacity to create blackfrost zombies, and ruminate upon the true nature of the curse, theorizing that “Osoyo’s dreams” may be the source of the ash-like substance. The fact that blackfrost seems to progress more quickly when an afflicted creature dreams has further intrigued Etward, although he’s not sure yet what to make of this observation. 3—Dreams: Here Etward details how, ever since the Missing Moment, he’s been able to invade the dreams of other gatewalkers. The notes further reveal how obsessed he’s become with dreams and his quest to find a way to travel to the legendary Dreamlands, where he believes he will be reunited with his missing memories and become much more powerful. 4—Gatewalkers: These notes provide a full list of all of the gatewalkers he’s watched through dreams, including your group, the other gatewalkers you've encountered and, in particular, Queen Equendia of Skywatch. His descriptions of her leading the city’s population north on a dangerous journey to the Crown of the World are tinged with admiration and jealousy—it’s obvious Etward wishes he commanded this level of servitude over a large group of people. The notes conclude with him wondering if the queen reached the Nameless Spires, and ponder “what she might now be” after spending time amid the blackfrost and dreams of Osoyo. 5—The Guest: These notes describe how Etward found a partial, oversized mummified hand in his belongings when he woke from his Missing Moment, and how he’s been growing that hand back into a full body. He calls the resulting creature “the Guest” and describes the containment chamber he built. 6—Mind Harvesting: These notes detail how Etward has been harvesting the minds of gatewalkers and infusing their memories and psychic powers into Lichgate. He hopes to use the aiudara to merge their psychic energies with his own so he can then stand before Osoyo at the Nameless Spires and use his enhanced power to free the entity from its prison. The notes include the names of previously harvested gatewalkers, and include the your names with an extra note observing how “the potential in the dreams of these final pawns may be the greatest of them all.” 7—Nameless Spires: Etward’s notes detail how he’s come to believe that he made an expedition to the Nameless Spires during his Missing Moment, and how he’s concluded that, if he can return there and dream in the Spires’ vicinity, he will be granted entry into the Dreamlands and discover a method to significantly enhance the psychic gifts he gained from Osoyo (or hopes to steal from his gatewalker victims). 8—Ogmunzorius: The discovery of a strange hand found in his belongings pales against Etward’s discovery of a strange presence within his laboratory—an entity named Ogmunzorius. Etward theorizes that Ogmunzorius is a “sending” from Osoyo’s dreams, and takes the entity’s presence as proof that he is some sort of “chosen one” intended to release Osoyo from its prison in return for even greater mental powers and, perhaps, the key to reaching the Dreamlands. The notes also mention how Ogmunzorius assisted Etward in conjuring guardians for the laboratory, but notes that these creatures were “untrustworthy” and that Etward further ensured their compliance with inveigle rituals. 9—Osoyo: Etward’s notes go round and round, theorizing on what Osoyo might be. An alien? An undead god? The collective consciousness of the long-dead builders of the Nameless Spires? His own mind projecting back to guide him from the future? These and wilder theories fill pages, but throughout it all shines Etward’s obsession—his fear that if he’s not the one to release Osoyo, he will go unrewarded. This fear becomes eclipsed near the end of the notes by the greater fear that your group might seek to push Osoyo back into its prison, thus stripping all gatewalkers of their powers. 10—The Vanished Yurt: Etward notes in many places that more than memories went missing during his Missing Moment—there are gaps in his fortune as well, indicating that he spent a fair amount of money during the Missing Moment. His investigations have revealed that this money went toward financing an expedition to the Nameless Spires, but the apparent loss of one of his family’s greatest treasures, an explorer’s yurt, intrigued him the most. He secured a scroll of discern location and used it to make an astonishing discovery—his family’s explorer’s yurt is now located in a remote abandoned temple devoted to Findeladlara, the elven goddess of architecture, art, and twilight. This temple can be found at the very edge of the High Ice, about 5 days’ journey from Icegate in the Crown of the World. *** It would seem that all of the answers to the quandary of the Missing Moment lie at Golarion’s north pole, at a legendary ruin known as the Nameless Spires. Snowy Owl’s quest to defeat the evil that threatens her people requires her to travel north, and at this point, even in her strange new incarnation, she can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief that her goals and yours now seem to be fully in sync—her compulsion to remain with you has paid off. "Rest and prepare as best you can. We have a long journey ahead of us," Snowy Owl proclaims.
Devil Diva:
"No! I will never join you!" Max shouts defiantly. "This city isn't undefended. The heroes will stop you! This is our time, not yours!"
Sylva easily slips past the guards. Within the old ruins, the rogue finds Dr. Ritalson alone near the arching aiduara of Lichgate. The site has been transformed into a staging area for an expedition, including a large collection of survival supplies for navigating ice and snow. He appears to be making some arcane measurements and calculations, and doesn't notice Sylva spying on him...
"Yes, exactly!" the man exclaims, smiling and completely missing the sarcastic subtext.
Caraid makes good progress in increasing his own status among the elite of Mechitar. Telvir's summit is a success, increasing your clout with both the Celebrants and the Export Guild. Unfortunately, all the skeletons Humerus talks to are boneheads, and he learns nothing useful.
*** Aily's challenge is well received by the public, and rumors that Hyrune was involved in the incident at the waterfront begin to percolate through the city. Hyrune accepts the challenge, and you are granted the Deathless Arena’s favor, allowing you to set the conflict at any point they wish within the next 3 days, with one limitation—it can only take place during the night, so that all of Mechitar’s citizens can enjoy the spectacle in the open-air arena without the sun keeping light-sensitive undead away. The splendor of a fight between Blood Lords thrills the populace, and the Celebrants can use this to their advantage. The Tax Collectors Union is quick to capitalize on the spending such a spectacle creates as well.
No worries! At this rate, Clancy's just going to turn every monster in the dungeon and you can walk through it without a scratch! :D
Cao Chen's frown deepens. "This is troubling news indeed. I am sympathetic to your plight, but I fear it will be difficult to dissuade our employer, Mago Kai. Perhaps it would be more pragmatic to attempt to reseal Kugaptee in his prison rather than try to convince him to take you at your word to leave and just hope things work out."
"I can suppress my adhesive coating when I want to do so," the mimic says. "That sounds great! Oh, I do so love legitimate theater! I'm in!"
"I can only transform into objects. But that doesn't mean my artistic inclinations must be stifled!" the mimic proclaims proudly. It shifts forms to a finely crafted credenza of apparent Taldan make, then to a sleek Ulfen longboat, and finally to a treasure chest adorned with what look like glittering gemstones. "My companion--whom you have slain, no hard feelings, of course--and I were first befriended by the goblins who previously dwelled down here. We came to an arrangement in which they would provide us with food and amusement in exchange for us protecting the entrance to their temple. When the humans came and drove the goblins out, they made a similar arrangement with us. "We quite enjoyed being those statues," it goes on to say. "The humans here venerate the Sandpoint Devil, and they would often praise us and give worship in passing."
You quickly slay the snake with a series of deadly strikes. The mimic quivers at Jeni's suggestion, then its form shifts and hardens as it becomes a stylized statue of Zen in a heroic pose. "Here you go! Is this to your liking?" the creature asks hopefully.
Lie Jie finds great success reinforcing the town's buildings.
Hooli gets some insights on the curse afflicting Willowshore from Great Willow, while Xiung-Lau makes some further progress researching the curse on his own, reaching the limit of what he can learn solo. The name Kugaptee is associated in certain old texts with the Tan Sugi monastery and was the name of a powerful nindoru fiend defeated hundreds of years ago by a hero named Tan Sui-Jing. The old legend says Tan Sui-Jing also perished in the battle and that she reincarnated into the towering sugi tree that served as the focal point of the Tan Sugi monastery. Perhaps more information about Kugaptee—including the possibility that the curse might be associated with the fiend—still resides within the abandoned monastery walls? Unfortunately, the monastery lies beyond the mysterious Wall of Ghosts...
***
This week, Yami brings Hooli with a piece of parchment. On it is written a haiku: Hooli slips through night,
*** One morning, Elizeth Candora, the head priestess of Her Fluvial Lady of Souls, requests a moment of your time in private. An elderly villager died from the flu the previous night; the corpse went missing sometime ater that same evening, “as if it just walked away on its own.” She suspects that You So-Jin, the elven herbalist who minds Graveside Manners, animated the body with some sort of “alchemical concoction” but doesn’t have any proof one way or the other. She wants you to investigate what happened to the missing body and offers gifts from the temple in exchange for solving the mystery.
Jing De receives a cryptic prophecy. Blue fire burns within solid bronze. The bell's toll spells doom for those without its ringer. Seek the Lady's shrine for succor. The sorcerer then creates a scrying eye to scout out the fortress. From high above, he can see that beyond the fortified exterior wall, a ten-foot-wide path of packed earth is open to the sky above. The path goes around the entire circular fortress. The buildings to either side of it appear to have been recently reinforced to be more militaristic in appearance but here and there, legacies of their prior use as shops and eateries remain in the form of a few golden tassels, hanging bells, or other mercantile adornments. Beyond the inner ring of buildings, a beautifully tended garden occupies the fortress’s central courtyard, a covered well at the center. Several well-pruned cotton trees dot the area at aesthetically pleasing intervals. Their branches are currently bare, giving the impression of jagged spines reaching up toward the sky. A colorful canopy has been erected on poles in the southern part of the garden, under which rugs, a chair, and a table set with tea and snacks has been set up. A burly, bearded man in lamellar armor relaxes here, reading a novel. A large axe lies on the ground nearby.
And thus, the story of the 4721 AR Ruby Phoenix Tournament has come to an end. But the legend of its champions will endure for generations to come.
"Let her try to drain my radiant blood. It will burn her from the inside out!" Valda scoffs.
The mummy Briar is grabbing takes a brutal blast from Tahi's waves! The other one and the marid avoid the worst of it. Briar hurls her foe into the other mummy, then she rips it to pieces! Pen hits the undead genie with a disintegrate beam but he resists some of its potency. Then Visna tears into the marid, scoring two critical hits! Her axe bites deep into the creature's neck, and with an anguished shriek, the Ulfen warrior separates his head from his body! The headless body thrashes in the water as the soul trapped in its ribcage fades away, finally freed to move on to the afterlife. The remaining mummy puts up a bit of a fight but you quickly finish it off as well. You are able to claim the genie's treasures: jewelry worth 2,000 gp, a +2 greater striking shock thundering trident, and another Harrow card: The Beating. Studying the crystals in the flooded chamber, Pen determines that the blue one supplies fresh water at a constant rate, while the shadowy one has been corrupted to infuse the area with negative energy siphoned from the Shadow Plane. The blue crystal has been pushed to its limit and is likely the source of the flooding in the Upper City, while the shadowy crystal is powering the dome over the villa.
Max breathes heavily as Violet escapes into the computer. She cringes and covers her head as Empyrean's power blasts through the room. The demoness' tail lashes back and forth as she tries to get a hold of herself. Digits' attempt to comfort her falls flat, and she gives her teammate a blank look. "How am I doing? Not great, Digits! Not great! This whole thing was a trap for me. I shouldn't have been so careless. This could have ended a lot worse." She starts to walk away. "I've got to go somewhere. Clear my head."
Kamo cannot recall any stories about crane-wives that don't end in their tragic deaths. Fortunately, the woman responds well to the rest of the party's kindness. "Very well. I'll stay here in this town, with you. Perhaps, in time, I will be able to learn to live with this crushing despair." The people of Willowshore view your solution as the right call to make. The townsfolk exhibit sympathy for the strange woman and do their best to make her feel comfortable and welcomed. *** More time passes. Although the past few weeks have featured stark weather and the looming season, it isn't until the 21st day of the month that winter arrives with the solstice. As this day nears, Ouh Ba-Ming, caretaker of Nine Ear Shrine, approaches you with a proposition. Last season’s First Long Night festival did wonders for the town’s morale, and even though things seem grim and somber, she suggests that Willowshore participate in another old tradition to celebrate the first day of winter: the Claylight Festival. Claylight is a much less involved festival than First Long Night but still requires an entire day. On this first true day of winter, the townsfolk create small clay huts and set them out in the fields or along streets with a small light inside. Once the fields are lit up with the tiny huts, the residents grill vegetables over fires and pray for good fortune to come.
Zeevu had been planning on asking you to perform some sort of cruel prank in order to gain her favor, but after speaking with Gig for a few minutes, the bard's overwhelming charisma wins her over! The cave worm cult is such a dangerous topic because it tried to overthrow Queen Frilogarma a decade ago. The coup failed—violently—yet the fact that an uprising happened at all was practically unheard of. The common assumption is that declaring cult affiliation paints a target on the speaker. An enemy of the cult might earn the queen’s approval, but it would be a delicate negotiation. Zeevu suggests the nameless ysoki camping outside the city might know more information if you can earn his trust. Fortunately, you know how to do that: find the satyr Garphinollo and convince him to return the ysoki's stolen reputation. Also, the gremlin is so taken by Gig, she offers him a necklace of fireballs I as a parting gift!
The giant meets the eyes of her fellows as she steps up to throw the last skull. She winds her hand back, but then she shouts, ”Now!” Initiative:
Before you can react, the giants draw their scimitars and rush to attack! They hack and slash, drawing blood from all of you except for Esirelle!
It seems that the four of you aren't totally unfamiliar in this version of Willowshore. Some of the villagers you pass give you strange looks and ask if you've forgotten something. These interactions seem to imply that these people just met you even though this is your first time encountering them. Indeed, more strange occurences happen as you walk through town. As you pass a market stall, a villager bits into a large ripe persimmon. The torrent of juice that flows down their mouth and chin smells overwhelmingly sweet and looks exactly like blood. Across the way, another person minces river fish to prepare them for fermentation into fish paste. The fish have glassy human eyes and prominent human teeth in their mouth. And a few minutes later, a crimson butterly emerges from an old woman's cup of tea. It flutters around you for a few moments before it drops to the ground and melts into a bloodstain. The governor's manor stands tall and intact in the place it is supposed to be in downtown Willowshore, exactly where it is missing from your original mindscape. But the governor isn't at home--the guards inform you that he is out shopping at the Hand of Spring in the eastern part of twon. You should probably try to find him quickly before this disturbing realm unleashes any more surprises...
1: Where is the Governor?
DD is surprised when Chroknight begins to trauma dump on her. But she's been on the superhero scene long enough to know that even a real cool suit of armor is only a shell for a real person inside, with fears and insecurities just like everybody else. The devilish girl puts her hands on Chroknight's armored shoulders and gives them a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. You're doing great. It's only natural to get rattled after a big fight like that. Breathe deep, relax. Inhala... Exhala..." Max slowly breathes in and out with Chroknight, doing her best to calm the other hero down. "There. Better? If you want to, you know, talk about it some more, I'm a pretty good listener."
After another hour of burning the midnight oil. Wherby at last comes to a breakthrough. The Hellstorm Focus once controlled the Hellstorm Flume, but it also served as a teleportation circle. The other end of its portal is either destroyed or inactive, but if one could adjust the Hellstorm Focus toward conjuration magic and away from evocation, it could theoretically be linked to other inactive teleportation circles. However, the means to do so are not within your capabilities at this time.
”Oh, yeah, me and the monks go way back,” Kalen says. ”We all became undead at the same time. Not sure how that happened, by the way. In fact, until you showed up, I’d thought the entire world had been zombified! I can finally see for myself, I guess.” Kamo unlocks the chains, and the undead man rises to his feet. ”Hey, thanks! There’s more monks further down. They’re trying to bring back an evil fish, I think. Koi-guppy? I think that’s its name!”
"Hmph," Nualia huffs in response to Nadja, giving her words the benefit of the doubt for now. She turns to Jeni and floats closer, staring at the kineticist's features. "Ah. You are like me. Cursed with heavenly blood. You want to know how I dealt with being different? I killed my adoptive father by burning down the church while he was still inside. Then I orchestrated a goblin raid to steal his remains to try to burn them as an offering to Lamashtu so that I could transcend my accursed mortal form. And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling heroes!" Zen is able to determine that reminding Nualia about the good points of her life would be the easiest approach towards influencing her. Meanwhile, Kaz remembers the horrible treatment Nualia's adoptive father, Ezakien Tobyn, put her through. Mentioning him will no doubt invoke her fury, but censuring or condemning his acts may help get Nualia to put stock in your words.
Mal trips Tuom again but can't find a chink in her armor. Uhe whips her and Gig peppers her with needle darts. "Argh! Alright, alright, I yield!" the wounded smith shouts, dropping her hammer and raising her hands over her head.
Valda's hands glow with silver light as she lays them on Kadosh, healing his injuries. "Rise, brother. This is not your time to die."
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Pathfinder Society GM. Starfinder Society GM. 504 posts (50,323 including aliases). 1 review. No lists. No wishlists. 7 Organized Play characters. 62 aliases. 