Hey folks. Still around? I was hoping to have you roleplay the wrap-up of the adventure, but I can summarize through it if people are busy.
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"Your unrighteous taunts will not avail you, varlets!" The peri shouts what suffices as a battle cry. He urges the phoenix to swoop toward Kimmich and Crystal. Once the celestials close, they divide their attention.
for plus and 2d10 persistent fire for and
~+~Combat Round 1~+~
Before Your Turn: Crystal needs to save vs the peri's aura. DC 37 Basic Reflex for 8d6 fire
Luck is on Na'ilath's side! He gets in two strong swings with his spirit-charged hatchet, the second one sheers right through the end of the tail, which disappears through a tiny hole in reality with a *pop*! The warping in reality continues, but now there is little to keep you from fixing it.
Griphook's needles fly across the room and nick the tail, then Jackie follows up with a powerful swing. The tail is looking pretty ragged! Don't forget Courageous Anthem! (3/4)
Ma'elo slips out of the tail's grasp, but misses his strikes at the creature. The tail lashes out at Na'lath, who hit it the hardest! for
While the magus dodges, the tail sways in his direction and he can feel a strange wave of sensation sweep over him. Na-ilath: Fortitude DC 20:
On failure: You are Flat-footed and gain 1d6 temporary Hit Points for 1 round Don't forget Courageous Anthem! (3/4)
The rest of the group rallies to attack the tail and help Ma'elo. Griphook's song lingers in the air, Alexandros heals, and Jackie and Na'ilath attack, both striking the tail. Don't forget Courageous Anthem! (3/4)
The burning bird ignores Dianora's spell with a dismissive 'squawk.'
"What, weigh the oaths of murderers against the sanctity of Elysium? The greater good is to wipe all of you out." The creature raises his sword with a showy, and frankly unnecessary, flourish. Initiative:
~+~Combat Round 1~+~
Ma'elo slices at the tail with shadowy daggers, scoring one good hit. The tail lashes out at the rogue in retaliation. for It tries to wrap around him...but fails.
So it tries again, and just getts ahold of him.
~+~Combat Round 1~+~
Sorry for the recent delays. I'm traveling and the wifi has not been as reliable as I predicted.
When Ma'elo tries to grab the tail, it reacts violently, rearing back to swing at the Pathfinder. Initiative:
The rogue is too fast, however, and get the jump on the tail! ~+~Combat Round 1~+~
"Typical villains, always sniping at each other and stabbing each other in the back. This whole place is a vile nest of betrayal," the peri offers. "You're no doubt caught up in the plans to invade Elysium, no matter what sweet words you offer me. I encountered a powerful group of your kind on the other side of the portal, and I won't chance that you are reinforcements to those invaders."
You ease open the secret door, which swings back silently. Beyond it is a 40-foot-long corridor that dumps onto a balcony above a large chamber. This immense circular chamber sits under a looming domed ceiling that peaks at a height of sixty feet above the floor, which sits twenty feet below a pair of circular balconies flanked by steep flights of stairs that provide access from the eastern and western entrances. The floor is polished gray stone, but the most commanding feature of the chamber is the whirling vortex of energy that hovers in the center of the room. Dozens of motes of light orbit around a central sphere of teal radiance, filling the room with flickering illumination and a low droning hum that can be felt in the bones. The entire light show is contained by a fifty-foot-diameter ring of glowing red metal floating about twenty feet off the floor below. A five-foot-square platform of black metal balances atop this ring near the room’s eastern balcony, with a two-foot gap separating the two. The crumpled, scorched body of the red assassin leader lays on the floor in the north side of the room. The east side of the room is dominated by a gargantuan bird with flaming feathers! Perched on the bird's back is an angelic being clad in shining armor. His wings and hair are both tipped with flame. “Greetings, mortal assassins. I am Sir Rhysaphine and this is my faithful companion, Soleil. We encountered one of your kin despoiling the sanctity of Elysium—an intruder who has murdered, caused destruction, and dispatched several of my kin. I can only assume you are his reinforcements, come to slay more of us. For that I say, ‘Nay.’ You shall not enter Elysium. You shall not cross that threshold. I grant you your lives, but first I must destroy this chamber and your access to other realms. I have already dealt with one unrepentant villain unwilling to take advantage of my mercy." He points a sword at the dead assassin. "Now, step aside!” He waits for your reply.
The students easily understand Ma'elo. Tels leads a group of them (Hari, Geltra, and Vim) to open the venture captain's door. The area outside the door shows signs of what can only be called "extreme planar weirdness", so much so that the students comment on the bouncy carpets and moving wallpaper. Once the door is open, you see a large bed covered in fine linens is the centerpiece of this well-furnished room, and a sturdy table surrounded by three chairs sits in its northeast corner. Several eye-catching curios rest on top of the room’s chest of draws, including a mirror with a gilded frame, a mother-of-pearl box holding talcum powder, and a polished lodestone more than a foot in diameter. Two lamps in wall sconces light the room and a thick carpet woven with a wayfinder pattern lays on the floor. Looking at the room for long is disorienting: Shimmering images of the bed dance across the floor, loose papers float through the air in slow processions, and the walls ripple like a pond’s surface each time someone in the room takes a step. The pile of the carpet grows six inches deep in the course of a second, and then subsides back to normal. Occultism DC 15:
This room is the center of the chaotic forces that have plagued this field trip. They also realize that they’ll be unable to interact with whatever is inside the room unless they enter the room themselves, due to these powerful reality-warping effects. Professor Thandmere Krelsun lies on the bed, unconscious. Both you and the students can see the professor--you can tell as the students gasp in recognitrion--as well as a ghostly, serpentine creature wrapped tightly around his body. Disturbingly, the creature’s head appears plunged into Krelsun’s temple. DC 24 Religion:
The creature is a pelagastr protean. The creature's long tail hangs down over the side of the bed. The end of its tail is entirely on the same phase as you, appearing to emerge from a “ripple” in reality. It sways back and forth in your general direction.
Your slashes and slices make quick work of the remaining assassin. With more time to look at the room, you see that it is a section of the library dedicated to ancient history. A half-dozen rows of twenty-foot-high bookshelves run east to west in this thirty-foot-tall library. Each shelf is filled with a combination of ancient tomes and newer texts. The center of the room has three broad wooden tables, each with four chairs and book stands ready to hold books open without straining the volume. Narrow ladders on wheels allow access to the highest shelves. This wing contains books pertaining to the history of Golarion, with a focus on lore predating the Age of Enthronement. Most of the books focus on the Inner Sea region, but there’s a fair amount about Azlant kept
The door in the southeast corner of the room is locked. Yuki spots a secret door in the southwest corner. GM:
The red dwarf jabs at Kimmich, then...disappears! (In a pop of magic.) for plus and 1d6 bleed
~+~Combat Round 4~+~
When Griphook walks into the door of the Venture Captain's room, he appears outside the door on the other side of the balcony.
The doors in the upstairs portion of the lodge are too heavy for you to open them from your current phase of reality. When you try to pass through a closed door, they appear in the hallway outside one of the other bedrooms doors. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to which door you appear outside of! You do notice that the door in the far corner of the second story has a bronze plaque that reads "Venture Captain." There must be some way you could get inside.
Sister Dianora nicks the dwarf with her saber, empowering herself with the mantis' blessing. Crystal finishes off the blue assassin with a off-hand slash. She gracefully leaps into a flank on the remaining henchmen, but her attacks miss. Kimmich is having the time of his life, taking large chunks out of the assassin leader. He shrugs off the poison as well. The gray assassin seems curiously unconcerned about his own mortality, and spends his few remaining moments on Golarion vainly trying to kill Yuki.
~+~Combat Round 4~+~
The tricky rogues avoid Yuki's spells, but she stabs the gray one. Red takes a deep breath and breaths a red mist over Kimmich, then slashes at him.
~+~Combat Round 4~+~
The red assassin may be reckless, but he's also slippery. He dodges Dianora's first attack, but the distraction from Kimmich is enough to let her catch him on the second strike. Meanwhile, the gray henchman closes in and slices at Yuki and the blue slashes away at Crystal.
Yuki dodges adroitly, but Crystal gets caught by two lucky swings! ~+~Combat Round 4~+~
The environment upstairs in the lodge is decidedly more chaotic, with shifting patterns in the carpet that change color; strange smells of the ocean, swamp, and desert wafting through the level; and odd noises of all
The balcony is lined with eight closed doors.
Like the rest of the building, the conference room is deserted. Sheets of notes litter the table, one of which seems very interesting to Ma'elo. In Case of Planar Emergency
To achieve maximum ritual potency, bring the focus items as close as possible to the center of any extraplanar disturbance. Grasping the focus item firmly, speak the activation word, “Narven.” To avoid accidental triggering of the ritual, simultaneous activation of all three focus items is required, so please coordinate carefully with fellow staff members. Focus items may need to be activated as many as three times to firmly re-anchor the area to the Material Plane. A handwritten scrawl in the margin notes: “I have stored the lodestone in my quarters so it will not be misplaced. ~A.J.”
No, and there is one room on the first floor that you only poked your head into (the conference room next to the kitchen).
"Oh, wow!" Tels comments. "From what we could see, that was quite the battle. Wait until we tell everyone else about your moves!" Vim is speechless with admiration, but Tels tries to hand your reflection a fancy and expensive looking sword through the mirror, and it actually works! He lets go of the sword with a gasp, and it falls into your phase of reality. When Tels presses his hand against the mirror, it seems to have returned to solid glass. "Thanks again, Pathfinders," Vim finally finds her voice. "We're going back to the main hall."
With the backlash of the dwarf's spell, the line of negative energy bounces hungrily back through you--and through him! He hisses in frustration. Yellow, meanwhile, falls lifeless to the ground, not even twitching! ~+~Combat Round 3~+~
Yuki drinks grey's essence and he momentarily sways on his feet. The red dwarf, leaps over to the southern bookshelf and, with flagrant disregard for safe working conditions, sends a line of crackling black energy surging through Kimmich, yellow, Crystal, and blue.
~+~Combat Round 3~+~
Griphook heals his friend and sends a bolstering song lingering in the air (Crit Success). With the worm hovering next to his brother, Ma'elo is able to get a slash into it. Na'ilith strikes down the blue worm after channeling his magic.
Alexandrios gets the fallen Ka'elen a bit more healing before the fighter gets up and ...
Before Your Turn: Jackie: Shield Block? Remember Rallying Anthem! (4/4)
~+~Combat Round 3~+~
Bold may act
Dianora flies to the top of the bookshelf and stops dripping blood everywhere. Crystal reminds two of the assassins why she was sent on elite missions, slicing into each of them. Kimmich rises up to attack on top of the bookshelves, slicing deeply into the yellow assassin. Slowed by Yuki's magic, the assassins struggle to strike back. Gray rushes up to Yuki to strike her.
The blue and yellow assassins continue to concentrate on Crystal, knowing it's their best hope for survival.
~+~Combat Round 3~+~
Jackie shakes off any effects from the creature, but fails to hit it. Griphooks rallies the intrepid pathfinders and heals Ma'elo, bringing him back into action! Na'ilith closes on the creatures, but they squirm out of the way. Ka'elen also misses his assault. Alexandrios splashes a bit of healing on Ma'elo, who just misses the blue worm! Meanwhile, the strange flesh of the creatures seems to mend together a bit on its own. The red creature snaps at Jackie, and the blue creature advances on Ka'elen.
Before Your Turn: Remember Courageous Anthem!
~+~Combat Round 3~+~
Bold may act
Yuki weaves her magic around the hench-assassins, tangling their limbs and slowing their minds. The dwarf shouts, "That's enough for you--all of you!" He intones a spell and spectral mantis arms erupt from the floor, slashing you and attempting to grab you in their spines.
He then leaps over to the middle shelf of the library's Ancient History section. Before Your Turn: DC 34 Reflex
Ma'elo rushes the worm and slices at it, scoring a hit. In return, the creature floats into Ma'elo's space and lashes out at the elf with its tail. for
The creature follows up with a bite, knocking Ma'elo unconcious!
Meanwhile, the red creature flies over to attack Jackie.
~+~Combat Round 2~+~
Bold may act
Crystal leaps up and slashes at the yellow ambusher, her first hit setting up her second! Dianora conjures a horrifying vision in the mind of the gray ambusher.
Kimmich frightens the dwarf, then tosses shuriken at blue and attempts to stop yellow's heart with a glance! He succeeds in merely scaring the assassin very, very much. The gray assassin draws her second saber, flips off the bookshelf, and attacks Dianora.
Without knowing Crystal's capabilities, the blue assassin draws a second saber and jumps behind Crystal. The yellow assassin draws his own saber and slashes with both weapons.
~+~Combat Round 2~+~
Tels and Vim mutter appreciatively at the displays of Pathfinder prowess. As attacks span the room, ripples travel across the giant mirror on the wall. Like fish emerging from a pond, multicolored monsters emerge from the mirror, looking very unfriendly! Luckily, it doesn't seem like Tels and Vim are in any danger. They don't even seem to see the new arrivals! Initiative:
~+~Combat Round 1~+~
Bold may act
Tels and Vim are examining the room’s equipment in the room with interest as Ka'elen enters. They look up and exclaim in surprise: "Hey, it's one of the chaperones!" It's clear that they can see the Ka'elen in the mirror, though their forms are indistinct and shadowy. Vim asks, "Where's everyone else? Could you show off some moves? This looks like the only place that we can see you!"
The flurry of attacks finishes off the oozeshard! The bloblets become quiescent as their creator dissolves. When the oozeshard is defeated, its body collapses into a steaming and rapidly evaporating puddle of goo. In addition to the warshard the party has come for, the oozeshard has absorbed several other items of value that the party can sift from its remains. Within the oozeshard are the precious metal fragments of weapons and armor from previous groups’ attempts to slay the shard. While those groups failed in their task, the items they left behind can be safely retrieved now. With the oozeshard slain and the warshard retrieved, you can begin the journey back to Ecanus and then on to Quantium to report on their endeavors!
Yuki weaves lightning through the room, while the spellbook in her backpack mutters angrily.
The spell is extremely effective! The red dwarf in the back gestures with his sabers and grasping mantis legs rise from the floor all around you, slashing at you with murderous intent.
plus 2d6 bleed
Before Your Turn: Reflex saves from everyone
Sawtooth Terrain: Sawtooth Terrain [three-actions]
Spell 5 Rare Concentrate Earth Manipulate Source Prey for Death pg. 100 Traditions arcane, divine, primal Range 30 feet; Area 20-foot burst Duration 1 minute You cause long, serrated mantis limbs to appear, swiping at and obstructing creatures in the area. The area is difficult terrain. Each creature in the area when the spell is cast and who end their turn within the area take 3d6 slashing damage and 2d6 persistent bleed damage, as determined by its Reflex save. Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Nina heals Ro. The giant ooze takes a swing at Othello as he flies over. for plus The champion slashes at the creature once again, gouging its flesh. Jiki's spells lash at the creature:
The red bloblet zaps Jakoby, moves north and zaps Othello.
Don't Forget: Courageous Anthem
Ma'elo continues to hunt through the lower floor of the lodge, and in the northeast corner he finds an armory. Weapon racks, suits of armor, and racks of steel shields on display stands line the walls of this well-stocked armory. Several weapons are laid out on the table, along with whetstones and oil clothes. The room is deserted and quiet.
Jakoby and Ro continue to tear at the oozeshard, and Sylvua unleashes a crackling line of void at the ooze.
The ooze bubbles and snaps around the wound, but it shurgs off lasting effects!
Virava moves into a flank with Jakoby and pokes into the gelatinous creases of the oozeshard's armor! The orange blob zaps at Virava, moves south and zaps at Jiki.
The big guy swings his greatsword wildly at his attackers!
Yellow zaps at Jakoby, moves south and zaps at Nina
Don't Forget: Courageous Anthem
A half-dozen rows of twenty-foot-high bookshelves run east to west in this thirty-foot-tall library. Each shelf is filled with a combination of ancient tomes and newer texts. The center of the room has three broad wooden tables, each with four chairs and book stands ready to hold books open without straining the volume. Narrow ladders on wheels allow access to the highest shelves. As you move toward the reading tables to the west, you hear a slight rustle of movement, and Yuki feels the flash of magic in the area pass over her. An ambush! Initiative:
Three Mantis agents, led by a red-skinned dwarf, perch atop the bookshelves of the area, waiting to attack.
Each of the agents casts a spell, then tosses a shuriken at one of you!
Two attacks go awry, but Kimmich feels his wound burn with poison, and the bones near his wound sprout razor-sharp spurs!
As Nina gets close to the yellow blob, it zaps at everyone in the surrounding area!
She's able to heal up Jakoby substantially. As Jiki sings and gets some bloblets in his sights, the blue blob crackles with electricity.
Othello flies above the fray, swooping in to slash at the oozeshard. The red bloblet zaps at Jakoby, moves west and zaps Othello.
Before Your Turn: DC 26 Reflex: Nina, Jakoby, Ro, Jiki, Virava.
Yuki recognizes the book as a kindled tome, a rare intelligent version of a book of lingering blazes. As she handles the book, she hears a husky voice whisper in her mind: You should burn them out. Start the fire right here, they'll flee into your arms! You move south into the open area, and you see rooms to your east and west. The walls of this open ante-chamber are adorned with carvings of Red Mantis assassins in fighting stances. A steel grate covers a drain on the floor in the center of the room, while fifteen-foot-wide arches to the east and west open into large libraries.
Sylvia fires a ray of frost that accurately hits the oozeshard, splashing frost all over it. Virava slices into the blue node Jakoby continues to tear at the ooze, though Ro's attacks barely miss. Blue zaps at Virava, moves south and zaps Ro.
Orange zaps at Virava, moves north and zaps Ro.
The oozeshard swings its greatsword at Jakoby & Ro.
Yellow zaps at Jakoby, moves east and zaps again.
~+~Combat Round 2~+~
GM Screen:
Jiki realizes that when the ooze is in this battle form, its AC is much higher, but it loses its immunity to bludgeoning and precision damage. The oozeshard completely resists Nina's spell, though the yellow bloblet is somewhat damaged by it. The red ooze zaps Ro, moves to the () west and zaps at Jakoby.
~+~Combat Round 2~+~
When you are ready to leave the area, there is a large opening to the south that appears to lead to a big, open room, and a door behind the librarian's desk in the east wall.
Dianora and Kimmich manage to attack the ooze through the grating! The surface tension on her pops, and she discorporates into globules of ooze! The tiny blobs roll down the pipe! From your knowledge of mezlan, you know that she's not truly dead. After some time, she will reform. Assuming you look around, you find a heavy lead box on the floor behind the desk, and stuck to the bottom of the desk with a bent nail is a long, black key with razor-sharp teeth. GM:
Explosive Runes! The box doesn't seem to be trapped. Open the Box?: Inside the box is a red spellbook with the phrase: “Where there is progress in the field of magic, there is always someone who uses it to set things on fire,” engraved in gold on the cover. You can identify its magical properties in the usual way.
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