Looking forward to it!
Search Posts
Hi all, the game has been reported and chronicles are here: Let me know if there are any problems. Thanks again for playing!
Phaedria oversees the restoration of the manor, hosting parties and galas and dramatic reveals as one might expect, but as time goes on, and word of the strange events that took place there spreads, the manor is visited by increasingly strange and sinister folk eager to have access to “the Xarwin legacy” for unmentioned research topics of their own. Eventually, a small gathering of Desnans arrive to take over stewardship of the Cosmic Crypt. The Desnans offer the heir(s) of Xarwin manor free healing and spellcasting services for life if they’re allowed to remain as custodians. In time, the sect hopes to see the return of a much more positive force from Thassilon’s dying days— the return of the Order of the Starless Night! Still... all of these outcomes only delay the inevitable, for as long as Tchekuth slumbers below, his threat remains…
You remove the brains from their jars and carry them to the family crypt, to the southern sarcophagi adorned with the names of Asethanna, Marney, and Mira, where you place the brains delicately in the open skulls. Shade performs a traditional Desnan burial, and immediately upon concluding the ritual, a bone-chilling howl of frustration and pain fills the air as Ioseff’s ghost rises up from the ground! Ioseff makes a move as if to attack Shade, but a tangle of long, spidery legs made of blood-red ectoplasm reaches up from the ground around him and pierces his ghostly body in a dozen places! An immense set of toothy jaws rises up to swiftly close around him. Ioseff screams in agony as this ectoplasmic manifestation of Tchekuth consumes his soul, absorbs his memories, and then retreats back into the deep below! The ectoplasm disappears from the walls as Tchekuth retreats back into the deep below, once again slumbering as long as the Void Mirror remains in place...
GM:
The algae swarms Ioseff, attacking with a frenzy of beaks, each bite an attempt to cage his soul! Already severely wounded, Ioseff writhes in agony but cannot escape the shackles of the nosoi. “You will be with me again soon, my loves!” His ghostly body shrieks as it finally melts away. The mouther bites at Judy a few times, and then returns to its home plane. A tentative calm settles across the manor. There is one last task to perform to truly destroy Ioseff’s ghost: putting the brains of his loved ones to rest.
And he'll have access to the Starless Scope!
Hi all, I've created an RPG Chronicles sign up for the game here: Please sign in. We are close to the end!
Judy swings angrily at the mouther, and even with books in the way is able to connect. When Abella fails her save against his spell, Ioseff reacts with a pleading, pitiful look, as his spells can carry a strange alien disease! "It hurts, so bad..." Internal Insurrection DC 28 Fortitude save vs disease:
Critical Success: The target is unaffected. Success: The target becomes clumsy 1 for 1 round as pain wracks their body. Failure: The target is afflicted with internal insurrection at stage 1. Critical Failure: The target is afflicted with internal insurrection at stage 2. Internal Insurrection (disease); Level 7. The target can’t recover from the clumsy condition from internal insurrection until the disease is cured; Stage 1 clumsy 1 (1 day); Stage 2 clumsy 2 (1 day); Stage 3 clumsy 2 and flat-footed (1 day); Stage 4 clumsy 3 and flat-footed (1 day); Stage 5 death, and the target’s body splits apart into a mass of fragments that crawls outward in a 10-foot-emanation before perishing, leaving a bare skeleton surrounded by gore. Ioseff -68
Ioseff flies over to the ectoplasm-cacked tombstone, and pleads with Abella. "Why, my chosen one? I loved you the most, but I will be denied no longer!" Ioseff conjures the most fearful image imaginable to kill Abella!
Phantasmal Killer DC 28 Will save:
Critical Success: The target is unaffected.
Success: The target takes 4d6 mental damage and is frightened 1. Failure: The target takes 8d6 mental damage and is frightened 2. Critical Failure: The target is so afraid it might die. It must attempt a Fortitude save; if the target fails, it dies. On a successful Fortitude save, the target takes 12d6 mental damage, is fleeing until the end of its next turn, and is frightened 4. This effect has the incapacitation trait. Meanwhile, the gibbering mouther maintains its grip on Shade, and rolls across the cleric in an attempt to engulf him! Ioseff -68
Suddenly, the sound of hundreds of whippoorwills fills the room. The algea has arrived!
"My beloved," Ioseff gasps as Abella blasts him with magic missiles. Ioseff -68
Tuco feels the sickening pain of amputation! And unfortunately, Tuco's kicks are not able to connect with the ghost. Ioseff -56
Having taken too much damage, Phaedria goes unconscious. Ioseff's ghost rises from Phaed's body to stand, and holds up the stump of his left arm. The streaming blood begins to form a ghostly hand that he then points at Tuco! Phantasmal Amputation DC 28 Fortitude:
Critical Success: The creature is sickened 1 by a sudden, agonizing pain in their left hand. Success: As critical success, but the creature also takes 2d6 slashing damage and is clumsy 1 for 1 round as they feel as if their left hand just got lopped off by a hatchet. Failure: The creature is sickened 2, takes 5d6 slashing damage, and is clumsy 2 for 1 minute as they feel as if their left hand just got lopped off by a hatchet. Critical Failure: The PC is sickened 3 and takes 8d6 slashing damage and 2d6 bleed damage as their left hand appears to detach and fall to the floor before instantly decaying into bones. The PC is clumsy 2 and wounded 1. As soon as this wounded condition is removed, the PC’s hand miraculously returns and the clumsy condition ends. Ioseff sustains his summoned entity, which continues to attack! The Gibbering Mouther bites at Shard!
This time the creature's teeth hold on! Ioseff -56
In shock at seeing her own face, although no doubt disfigured, Abella fails to hit the ghost. Tuco trips Ioseff/Phaed and they fall to the laboratory floor with a smack! GM:
Pavo 1, Mouther 2 In his confusion, Shade draws his starknife, steps, and takes a stab at Pavo!
Shade
Phadria/Ioseff struggles against Tuco's grip, but isn't able to break free. Spittle flying, she shouts, "You're all going to die down here! Then we shall become one!" Phadria/Ioseff speak in an eldritch tongue, and summon forth a gibbering mouther to attack the party!
The mouther appears next to Pavo and Shade and it's loud gibbering is confusing! DC 19 Will save.:
On a failure, you are confused for 1 round. On a success, you are temporarily immune for 1 minute.
The mouther bites at Pavo!
The mouther then spits at Shade!
DC 22 Fortitude:
A creature that takes damage from a gibbering mouther’s spittle must succeed at a DC 22 Fortitude save or be dazzled for 1 round (or blinded for 1 round on a critical failure). Ioseff -39 Shade
ooc]Party is up! DC 19 Will Saves from all vs the mouther's gibbering, and a DC 22 Fort save for Shard.[/ooc]
GM:
With her backslap, Abella knocks the mask off Phaedria, revealing the disfigured face underneath! But, the ghost is not expelled! Phaed smiles through the blood. "I'm not leaving that easily!"
Fulvia's ring begins to glow! Abella: A PC wearing Fulvia’s ring automatically realizes that they can attempt an unarmed Strike against a possessed PC with the hand that wears the ring. On a hit, Ioseff must attempt a DC 30 Will save to resist being expelled from his host. If he critically fails this saving throw, he’s also stunned 3 and can’t use Malevolent Possession for 24 hours.
Phaed: "Now I shall take what's mine!"
Ioseff floats over to Phaedria. "You want to be my chosen one? Jealous of your sister? Search your feelings. You know it's true." "Why don't the two of you fight it out?" Ioseff then tries to possess Phaed's body! Malevolent Possession DC 28 Will Save:
Critical Success The target is unaffected. Success You possess the target but can't control it. You ride along in the body while the spell lasts. Failure You possess the target and take partial control of it. You no longer have a separate turn; instead, you might control the target. At the start of each of the target's turns, it attempts another Will save. If it fails, it's controlled by you on that turn; if it succeeds, it chooses its own actions; and if it critically succeeds, it forces you out and the spell ends. Critical Failure You possess the target fully, and it can only watch as you manipulate it like a puppet. The target is controlled by you. Ioseff -12
Ioseff is frightened by Phaed's dirge, which allows Pavo to hit the ghost! "You? Why would I pay attention to you?" "We shall all be one soon!" He says to Pavo.
GM:
"You'd use my tool against me?" Ioseff resists the effects of the scope, but not entirely. Ioseff shines with starlight! Shard identifies Ioseff as a ghost, an incorporeal undead. Ghosts have the ability to possess the living! Tuco lands a punch on Ioseff, but hardly any of the damage goes through unfortunately. Ioseff -1
GM:
While the rest of the party is exploring the room, Tuco watches in horror as Ioseff’s ghost rises, floating, out of Tchekuth’s gravestone, pulling with him long tethers of sticky green ooze as he turns to face Abella. He points his good finger at her and cries out, “And now I shall take what is mine!” For a moment, it seems as though Ioseff is about to cast a spell, but he notices the ring Abella carries, and stops himself!
"How dare you bring that ring here!" In a rage, he attacks Tuco instead, who happens to be nearby, sending a tendril of ectoplasm to strike the monk!
Abella can sense Asethanna's outrage flowing through the ring! Ioseff
Shade looks at the skeleton and sees that the right hand cradles a long silver telescope against its chest!
You push open the double doors! The pale lavender walls of this room ripple with glowing green fluid that drips up to pool against the ceiling. Alcoves in the walls to the east and west contain a few books and tools, while many more books sit on the numerous wooden shelves lining the walls. To the southeast, dark red curtains obscure what lies beyond: a horrific statue made of glass, bronze, and wood. A depiction of a crab-like creature with several glass domes on its back stands to the north—human brains float within three of these fluid-filled domes. To the west of this unsettling statue is an empty wooden mirror frame. A paper-cluttered desk and chair near this frame face the statue. A human skeleton clad wearing rotted black and red aristocrat’s clothing over a chain shirt slumps forward in the chair. The area around the body has been sprayed with dried blood and bits of leathery flesh—as if the figure’s skin and organs had burst from its body, leaving the skeleton intact. The skeleton’s left hand is missing at the wrist. Occultism DC 26:
The statue to the north depicts a brain collector. The glass domes on its back all function as brain cylinders, except that they afford brains preserved within no ability to see, hear, or speak. Destroying these brain cylinders will kill the brains inside. At the center of the room, a 10-foot-diameter, one-foot-high stone platform supports an eight-foot-diameter slab of six-inch-thick stone—almost akin to a slab covering a well. This entire platform seethes with pale green ooze that constantly extrudes wavering tendrils into the air before absorbing them over and over. There is an inscription on the slab. Celestial:
May you remain below, shrouded in stone, apart from the dark above. May your name be forgotten forever, and your evils left to the memories of the long dead. May all your nights remain starless forever more.
As you stand outside of the double doors, the red hunting axes begin to vibrate and heat up with an aggressive urgency.
As you prepare to return to the basement and confront Ioseff, Ezramalkun wishes you luck and reminds you that due to your efforts, the nosoi will come to your aid when the time comes. You climb down the stairs, and explore the known parts of the basement first, the areas you learned of by discovering the manor's original plans. The Scriptorium: A pair of desks stand in the east side of this brick-walled room—one a writing desk and the other a bookbinding worktable. To the north, a cabinet with cracked glass doors shelters a collection of writing implements. A large nook to the west is filled with shelves containing mildewed parchments, paper, and bookbinding supplies. The cracked cabinet contains sterling artisan’s tools usable for bookbinding and writing. In addition, a small wooden case contains three occult scrolls: a scroll of comprehend language, a scroll of hypercognition, and a scroll of restoration (4th). Investigating the shelves in the northwest alcove reveals a hidden panel that, when moved aside, opens into a locked metal safe built into the wall. The safe contains several small wooden coffers containing a total of 340 cp, 665 sp, 198 gp, and 8 pp, all that remains of the Xarwin family fortune. A leather ledger holds a few dozen IOUs and expired letters of credit with House Thrune; Near the back of the safe, wrapped in a bloodstained handkerchief, is Asethanna’s wedding ring. The Family Crypt: Mildew dots the brick-lined walls and floor of this damp room. Sarcophagi stand in alcoves along the rest of the walls, ten in all. Each sacrophagus has a bronze nameplate, though only four have been etched. Four etched nameplates adorn the four southernmost sarcophagi and bear the names of Ioseff, Asethanna, Marney, and Mira. While Ioseff’s sarcophagus is empty, even a cursory examination reveals that the lids for the other three have been sealed with strips of lead pounded into the seam. Each contains the skeletal remains of Xarwin’s murdered family. In all three cases, the skeletons of Asethanna, Marney, and Mira have had the tops of their craniums surgically removed. A strikingly lifelike representation of Ioseff Xarwin (with both hands intact) stands against the southern wall. Upon inspecting the statue, the ghost of Ioseff floats out! ”I want what’s mine!” he shouts. But Abella presents presents Fulvia’s ring, and the ghost flees, shrieking into the wall. Only a pair of double doors remain unexplored.
At first, Abella doesn’t dream of Fulvia, she dreams of the womb, that she is not alone, that someone else is with her, clutching her golden arm. Then her dream shifts to the the Sinkomakti School, to Fulvia’s affair with Ioseff in Ustalav, their impromptu exchange of inscribed rings, their breakup over an argument about who should buy the starless scope, and her later arrival at Xarwin Manor with her son. Abella also understands that Fulvia blackmailed Ioseff into letting her stay at the manor and use his resources, including the starless scope and the Void Mirror, to aid her own research. The dream ends with a brief flash of Fulvia’s conviction that the world was about to end and be offered up to a vast “devouring black star” by the Dominion of the Black. Shade also dreams of the inscribed rings, and wakes with the understanding that the person who wears Fulvia’s ring will gain protection against Ioseff! Tuco tries not to dream, but the malevolence won’t let him sleep easily. He dreams he’s strapped to a table, and feels a horrific lurching sense of vertigo as the point of view shifts upward and away, giving Tuco a brief glimpse of his own brainless, eyeless corpse on the table— smiling in relief before darkness descends!
Unfortunately, Phaedria isn't able to focus on Fulvia well enough to dream of her, but that doesn't mean a stage production wouldn't be a hit!
Faldur does not know exactly what must be done, other than a vague idea that Tchekuth must not be allowed to awaken, and that you must put an end to the malevolence in the region. He is quite thrilled that you have found a Starless Scope, and three lenses no less!
"Cheliax? But... If what you're saying is true, then we are in great danger! Based on my research, wakening Tchekuth will bring doom from beyond the Dark Tapestry, an apocalypse to Golarion!"
”Oh, I don’t believe many remain, but the Starless Scopes were a very powerful tool used by the Order of the Starless Night against the Dominion of the Black.” Faldur goes on the explain. The details:
Activate [reaction] Interact; Frequency once per day; Requirement you worship Desna; Trigger you use the starless scope as a divine focus; Effect You attempt to enhance the effects of a spell as you cast it by attempting a Religion check against the spell’s DC, as determined by Table 10–5 on page 503 of the Core Rulebook.
Activate [two-actions] (abjuration, divine) Interact; Frequency once per hour; Effect You raise the scope to your eye and observe a creature within 30 feet. You can attempt to identify the creature by Recalling Knowledge. The starless scope adds a +2 item bonus to this check. If the creature is associated with the Dominion of the Black or the Elder Mythos, or is a creature whose actions have blasphemed against Desna (Ioseff Xarwin’s ghost falls into this latter category), the creature must attempt a DC 27 Will save.
”Now, could someone tell me where we are, and why all this interest in ancient history?”
"Well, Order of the Starless Night, where to begin...?"
Saving Faldur: Restoring him to a body before his brain dies requires either powerful magic (such as miracle, wish, or the like) or a long, likely dangerous, and potentially morally complex quest to secure the talent and tools needed to transfer his brain into a new body.
Given time, Faldur can adjust to his new condition. As long as someone remains at hand to care for his well-being via conversation, helping him to read or stargaze, or simply keeping him company, characters can keep the horror of his fate at bay until they can secure the means to restore him. There are also many in Kintargo who would take him in, not the least of which would include any of the good religions who maintain temples in the city.
"Ah, I would love to see the stars again," Faldur says longingly. " If only I could move my body. Am I to understand you're a Desnan? I am one of the foremost scholars of ancient Desnan beliefs and practices. Ioseff was particularly curious about a group known as the Order of the Starless Night."
Pavo and Shade aren't able to calm the brain down, but Abella's mention of thanergy and thalergy seems to to the trick. "Intriguing. I wish to hear more," says the brain, as though forgetting his other worries. ”I am Faldur, a professor of astronomy at the Sinkomakti School in Ustalov. One night, I was jumped from behind while stargazing in some nearby woods. I remember a long period of “floating in the dark” interspersed by strangely vivid dreams, periodically interrupted by a voice that asked me various questions about astronomy and other… occult matters. The voice identified himself as ‘Ioseff Xarwin,’ but I never learned more than that from this forever-unseen interrogator.” DC 28 Occultism check, Society check, or appropriate Lore check:
Indeed, you remember the old but infamous case of Faldur’s mysterious disappearance back in 4653 ar, in which his body was never found. ”Tell me, who are you and what is this place? Am I to understand that something terrible has happened to me?”
"What's happening? Why do you look at me like that? What did he do to me?" Faldur still seems quite panicked by his current state.
Working together, you attach the vision module, the hearing module, and finally the speech module. Immediately, a voice cries out in horror and panic! "Where am I? Why can't I move? Why can't I see my body?"
Unfortunately, Pavo cracks part of the glass while trying to remove the brain cylinder! Luckily, Phaedria is able to remove it from the clock without further damage, or harming the brain!
You return to the brain clock in the upper hall. The pendulum swings, while the brain floats above in the glass cylinder.
GM:
Ixirizmid isn't able to entirely dodge Abella's electric arc, and while Cammy and Shade's spiritual weapon both miss, Tuco lands a kick for a critical hit, killing the strange creature before it can hurt anyone again.
While you recover and search the lab, you find several interesting things. The collection of books and papers on this room’s shelves predominantly cover the topics of anatomy, surgery, and a wide range of experimental and mostly unethical experiments. Xarwin had heavily annotated many of these books. A character can use these annotations to Research Ioseff Xarwin, Asethanna Xarwin, Fulvia Nostraema, the Dominion of the Black, and the Order of the Starless Night. The unlocked metal coffer on the shelf to the west holds the speech module for the brainclock! Among the equipment on the southern table is a set of expanded alchemist’s tools, a pair of alchemist goggles, and a spare lens for the starless scope!
Pavo patches Shade up and grazes the creature with a arrow, while Phaed blasts it with Magic Missiles! Ixirizmid -135
GM:
Ixirizmid is not entirely able to dodge the electric arc, and takes some damage, but their pursuit of brains is unrelenting. "Who needs an operating table? I'll take your brains myself!" Losing interest in Phaed, Ixirimid lashes out at the cleric before them, striking, grabbing and then eviscerating!
vs Shard's Fort DC 19. Eviscerate:
Critical Success: The target takes 8d6 slashing damage, is slowed 1 for 1 round, and becomes clumsy 1, enfeebled
1, or stupefied 1 (the mi-go chooses) for 24 hours. Success: The target takes 5d6 slashing damage and is slowed 1 for 1 round by the pain. Failure: The target takes 3d6 slashing damage. Critical Failure: The target takes no damage. + Slowed 1, Stupefied 1 Ixirizmid -115
Shard manages to hit with his spiritual weapon, but everyone else fails to connect so far! Ixirizmid -116
GM:
Cammy lands a critical blow on Ixirizmid! The creature sees through the concealment and uses its sharp claws to swiftly try to remove Phaed's brain! vs Phaed's Fortitude DC 19. Eviscerate:
Critical Success: The target takes 8d6 slashing damage, is slowed 1 for 1 round, and becomes clumsy 1, enfeebled
1, or stupefied 1 (the mi-go chooses) for 24 hours. Success: The target takes 5d6 slashing damage and is slowed 1 for 1 round by the pain. Failure: The target takes 3d6 slashing damage. Critical Failure: The target takes no damage. Slowed 1 GM:
Not satisfied with their attempt at removing Phaed's brain, Ixirizmid strikes her with a claw and grabs on again!
"I will have your brains one way or another!" Ixirizmid -110
Phaed blasts the creature with magic missiles, Shade strikes with the star of Desna, Tuco lands two punches, and Pavo blasts with a moonbeam! Ixirizmid -92 Dazzled
GM:
Ixirizmid dodges away from some of the electricity, and only seems more annoyed by all of the resistance to their offer. "I'll take your brains one way or another!" The strange creature maintains their grip on Pavo, and seeing through the dazzling light, Ixirizmid uses their sharp claws to perform a swift and painful surgery on Pavo's head! vs Pavo's Fortitude DC 21 Eviscerate:
Critical Success: The target takes 8d6 slashing damage, is slowed 1 for 1 round, and becomes clumsy 1, enfeebled
1, or stupefied 1 (the mi-go chooses) for 24 hours. Success: The target takes 5d6 slashing damage and is slowed 1 for 1 round by the pain. Failure: The target takes 3d6 slashing damage. Critical Failure: The target takes no damage. + Slowed 1, Clumsy 1 Then, Ixirizmid drops Pavo's body and moves on to their next subject!
GM:
Phaed 1, Shade 2: Phaed! "Your neurocranium looks tender!" Ixirizmid says as they slash out at Phaed with a claw and grab on!
Ixirizmid -28
Shade blasts and dazzles Ixirizmid with a moonbeam! Ixirizmid -21
Ixirizmid is not intimidated by Phaed. "As we say in the scientific world, the truth hurts." Pavo does manage to pierce the creature's green hide. Tuco, unfortunately, can't seem to land a hit.
Ixirizmid
|