Nketiah bows to Ardoinel after his outburst and story: "We know all about containing the shadow. Do you see my father there?"
The storyteller points to where Jahsi sits in the circle. "Notice how he is the only one among us who wears gold. He alone of the tribe can bear to contain the curse of that metal, and so he wears it with honor and virtue."
"All of you are able and generous storytellers, and clearly care for each other. Those are also virtues that we greatly value."
You early 2 Influence Points for excellent roleplaying during story time.
"Let's walk together, and enjoy the night air," Nketaih says as the gathering starts to break up. She leads you to a comfortably breezy platform that enjoys some privacy.
"To speak plainly of the story I told earlier, in days long ago, our tribe battled Dahak to a standstill, and many of our people sacrificed their souls to empower weapons strong enough to piece the scales of a god. His avatar has been trapped in a...between place...since then," Nketiah is an excellent translator, but you can tell that the Taldane words she uses here are imprecise. "The Cinderclaw cultists seem determined to bring the Destroyer to Golarion. You are trying to track down the cultists who invaded your lands, yes? They’ve tormented us as well, and if you can find them and defeat them, we will all prosper. I think I can give you a place to start.
"Shortly after we drove the cultists away from the temple of Ketephys, we sent scouts east to track them as they fled. Yet these scouts swiftly came to a spot in the forest they could not enter without being struck blind. They said it was as if the air had turned to embers and ashes, and they could not breathe or see—as if they were somehow caught in that terrible battle our people fought against the Darkness, thousands of years ago.
“When I studied the broken pillar that the Cinderclaws left behind in the temple after we drove them off, I could tell that some of it was meant to channel power against my people in particular. The Darkness has a grudge against us, and I think the Cinderclaws are using the power of that grudge to keep the Ekujae from striking back against them where it matters most: at the seat of their power. So, what would you say if I asked you to investigate the jungle to the east? If I am wrong and you end up blind, I promise to heal you—free of charge!”
Sounds like you folks are reasonably cautious about messing with the lives of people you just met! Just remember that it's on the table as you get to know the Ekujae better.
Once everyone has had plenty of time to eat, drink, socialize, and listen to music, Nketiah interrupts the festivities by striking her staff against the floor.
You know that, as part of their tradition for welcoming guests, the Ekujae swap stories with their visitors in a storyteller’s circle. Nketiah intends to speak first.
“Come, children of the Leopard Clan!” Nketiah’s voice calls out, clear and strong above the sounds of the festivities. “Dusk has fallen! Let us call a moth to tell us a story!” As one, the Ekujae stand and hold their hands cupped in front of them, each conjuring a ball of light into their palms.
“I have caught a little moth!” Nketiah says, dramatically clutching the air in front of her. “It has a story to tell. It is a story of a Great Darkness.”
“We will listen,” the others reply.
“There was once a time of anguish. A time of destruction. A time of night so dark that even moths refused to fly. From a hole in this night came a Great Darkness, who saw the world suffer, and thought only that it wanted to see more suffering. The Darkness sought to burn all that remained, until there was nothing left but ashes.
“The first people that the Darkness found were a brave people, who stood before the Darkness with their weapons and did not run. The Darkness sought to destroy them, saying, ‘You shall fall before me, for I am Death and I am Fire.’ But the people were not afraid, and replied, ‘You shall not break us, for we are the guardians of this land, who stayed to defend it when all others fled.’
“Oh, what a terrible battle it was! The people shattered their spears gainst the Darkness again and again, but no living being could pierce its hide. At last, the greatest among the people, the kindest, the most righteous, gave their lives to forge their souls into weapons for the people to wield. Oh, how their souls burned, like bright coals in the night! The people took up the souls of those they had most loved, and in wrath split the skin of the Darkness. They spilled the blood of the Darkness across the whole of their lands. They broke the horn and teeth from the Darkness and flung them into the sea. Yet still the Darkness would not die!
“The people forced the Darkness back into the place from whence it had emerged. The people trapped it in the space between spaces. The people swore they would stand guard so that the Darkness could never escape to threaten the land again.
“Could the people imprison the Darkness forever, when even the best among them could not defeat it? Was it foolish to expect them to try?” Nketiah pauses, then says, “That is the story that we have been given.”
“We will remember,” the other Ekujae reply.
Once Nketiah has finished, she asks you to share some of their own stories. The elves have no preference regarding the kind of story you might tell, as long as the story is not offensive and is told well.
Vrosi sizes up Akosa, carefully observing a conversation that reveals that the elf still has emotional turmoil from his capture by Aspis League agents that leaves him reluctant to pursue happiness, and that he is convinced Jahsi sees them only as friends due to the difference in how Jahsi treats Akosa compared to how he treated Hiruth.
Ellaeanda realizes that Jahsi is uncertain of his current feelings due to his long friendship with Akosa and still has reservations due to feeling unfaithful to his deceased wife Hiruth.
Nketiah replies to Ardoinel: "Oh, you met Harriet! We named her after the explorer who brought her to us. This poor woman had rescued a baby lion from a smuggler, and she was convinced the cub needed to go back to the jungle where it belonged! Oh, we laughed at her for weeks afterward! But Harriet had the last laugh on us—we found that lion a pride that would accept her and left her out on the plains to live with her people, only to find six months later that the lion had come back to the jungle! Shows what we know! I’m not sure how Harriet eats without any spots to hide her hide in the forest, but she’s certainly fat enough for a lion, so who am I to argue?”
With your appetites whetted and everyone having a nice time at the dinner, main dishes are passed around. People still circulate throughout the feast, chatting with friends and discussing recent events as they eat.
Nketiah approaches you over your dishes and says:
"See my father and his friend Akosa over there?” Nketiah gestures her staff toward where the two elves are speaking quietly to each other.
“They’re both clueless. They have been friends since childhood and been n love for the past ten years, ever since my father helped Akosa recover from his time with the Aspis Consortium and Akosa helped my father recover from my mother’s death. And neither of them will do anything about it! They both have too many concerns invented in their own minds, and they both worry what my mother would think. I know precisely what my mother would think, she would also think they are both being clueless!”
“I have let them dance around each other for years, but today I have decided that life is too short, even for elves. Maybe even especially for elves.” Nketiah seems pensive for a moment, before she shakes her head and scoffs slightly. “The elders here always say it isn’t our place to interfere in other people’s personal lives, but I am a half-elf, so I don’t care about that! Why don’t you help me turn this festive atmosphere into a romantic one to see if those two can catch a hint?”
If you want to do a bit of match-making, this is an open-ended social encounter where you can propose any strategy you like for getting the prospective couple together. You can make checks to Sense Motive (Feel free to roll your own) if you want some clues about the elves' dispositions.
All of the elves have a good time at the pepper eating contest, laughing as each of you tries the peppers. Vrosi manages to outlast all of the children, only being momentarily inconvenienced by the hottest peppers. "Wow, you have a tongue of cast iron!" the kids laugh with Vrosi, when they recover their own composure.
The young elves offer you four bottles of hot pepper oil that have been specially distilled from their garden. Each bottle of this substance acts as salve of antiparalysis, though the creature the salve is used on experiences some blazingly spicy aftereffects in addition to its magical effects.
Your good nature (and heartiness) also impresses the elves. You gain 2 Reputation.
Iannos misses, Rohirron taunts one of the griffons, Acantheus splashes acid on the creatures, and Siara surrounds Rohirron and herself with their magic.
Reflex:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 Reflex:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
Both of the creatures seem preternaturally quick, but they still take a bit of damage. (These guys have mythic reflexes.)
Both griffons swoop in on Rohirron, the biggest target.
For those in the group with adventurous palettes, the youngsters offer brightly colored peppers—they brag that they’ve been growing some of the best, most delicious, and spiciest peppers in the city, and challenge you to compete to see who among them can eat the hottest one.
Nketiah grins at the prospect of the harmless fun.
The children set out the peppers in order of mildest to spiciest. Anyone who eats a pepper must attempt a Fortitude save; on a failure, the character is sickened 1, and on a critical failure, they are sickened 4.
If you attempt to recover from being sickened, they must attempt a Deception check at the same DC to keep your composure. A character who can’t recover fully from being sickened within 5 rounds is out of the contest. Losing your composure doesn’t eliminate them, but does draw laughs from the crowd.
The first pepper the children offer requires a DC 15 check; the second DC 19; the third DC 22; the fourth DC 24; and the fifth DC 28.
Who's up for some spice? Feel free to roll all of your checks in one post.
Netkin is able to put together the comments of the people since he arrived with what he already knew of the Ekujae to construct a very complete understanding of their society.
Ekujae Society:
Ekujae organize themselves into distinct social groups known as clans, which in turn create their own villages and towns. These clans are so self-sufficient that many outsiders who encounter them assume that they are entirely separate political entities from one another. The Ekujae clans constitute a united nation, however; the clans maintain strong relationships with one another, though these ties may not be easily evident to people with shorter life spans than the elves. While this nation technically has a king or queen who is chosen from the leaders of he clans, that position exists mainly in case a central authority is needed to take charge during a time of emergency, rather than to dictate nationwide laws.
Though an Ekujae’s immediate relatives are of great importance, most Ekujae believe that clan members should be considered as close as family, and a child of one clan member is treated as a child of the whole clan. An Ekujae’s clan also tends to influence their vocation. Though clans happily support their members’ individual aspirations, certain ones are known for specializing in various trades or skilled work, either through geographical advantage or long tradition—a clan near ancient ruins, for example, might be famous for their warriors and protective magic, while those close to the Magaambya in Nantambu typically educate diplomats and mages. Ekujae are not born into their clans, though they always consider the clan of their mother to be family as well; they instead choose to join a clan after they have reached adulthood. Ekujae are expected to remain a part of their chosen clan for the entirety of their lives, meaning that joining or leaving a clan is a very serious matter, though few clans will refuse a request for either. Banishment from a clan is a shame reserved for heinous social crimes that Ekujae feel do not warrant capital punishment, such as child abandonment or reckless behavior that results in the death of another person, and is a punishment only slightly less severe than a death sentence.
Ekujae clans nominate and elect rulers and their advisers democratically, with all adults having a say in the final outcome. In particularly contentious elections, clan members may demand a task from the potential ruler to prove their worth. Once a ruler is accepted, the ruler and the clan jointly choose the ruler’s advisers. In addition to magical, military, and spiritual advisers, Ekujae highly value advisers known as linguists, who serve simultaneously as diplomats, translators, storytellers, and historians. These linguists are almost always half- lves, who, with their shorter life spans, tend to adapt more easily to changing times and situations that require an immediate solution.
After a couple hours of preparation following the return of the hunting party, the Ekujae bring out food and palm wine for the celebration, including the small game you caught with the hunting party.
Early in the feast, the starting courses are circulating around the table when three grinning youths approach the group. They have heard that northerners "can't hold their spice" and want to ask you if that rumor is true. (A smiling Nketiah stands behind them, curious to see what you will say.)
The Ekujae hunters flinch at your clumsy woodcraft, and Akosa audibly sighs as a flock of bats startles out of a tree and flaps away.
You've lost 2 Influence with the tribe
After you have picked your hunting blind, it's time to try to capture some of the animals. Luckily, the remaining animals tend to be pretty slow and unobservant. With your help, the Ekujae hunters gather several turtles and bats to bring back for the feast.
You automatically succeed on hunting
While the hunters quietly spread word that you are not naturally skilled in game hunting, the community does appreciate your effort to help out.
You gain 2 Influence for bringing back the bats and turtles, so the hunting trip is a wash. Akosa seems particularly unimpressed with you, though, and avoids you as soon as you return to the settlement.
When you reenter the settlement, you notice a slightly unusual sight: a slightly pudgy lioness lying on one of the higher branches and watching you intently.
Nature DC 15:
Lions are not usually jungle animals, nor are they
known for living in trees.
"Ah...you have...flushed out the game," Akosa notes with disappointment. "I hope you like bats and turtles. Some people consider them a delicacy."
Not the best hunting trip, but there is still plenty of game out here. The next step is to get into position to capture some game.
Position the Hunters
With the target game animals located, you must move to an advantageous position without startling the prey. Attempt a Stealth check.
Rohirron intercepts the attacks against Iannos and charges after the attacker. Siara shapes Iannos' flesh and raises a magical barrier while the rogue fires his sling at the blue griffon, critically hitting the creature, who was taken by surprise. Both attempt to siphon mythic power from the creatures.
Some of the red glow surrounding the creatures cracks around the battlefield, forked bolts of power that respond to the heroes' calls.
You gain 1 Mythic Point and the ability to Rewrite Fate!
Rewrite Fate ◇
Uncommon Fortune Mythic
Trigger You roll a skill check or saving throw and don’t like the result.
Destiny, fate, or some other force bends around you as your mythic power swells, manifesting in a flash of light or visible surge of energy emanating from your body as you cast aside the chains of fate. You expend a Mythic Point and reroll the check or save with mythic proficiency (Your level +10), taking the new result.
Acantheus weaves magical protections around the party, though he is unable to make progress unraveling the magic leaking from the crater.
The other griffon swoops in on the centaur, then safely wings out of easy range of the guardian.
This one is going to make sure he's far enough away that one Stride will not reach him.
From the crater, a surge of crimson power blasts across the field, filling you with sudden feelings of wrath!
An infectious battle frenzy threatens to overtake you. Attempt a DC
18 Will save with the following results:
Critical Success You are unaffected.
Success You resist the battle frenzy, but takes 1d6 ⇒ 5 fire damage from the roiling fury coursing through its blood.
Failure As success, and the creature is slowed 1 as it fights off the frenzy.
Critical Failure The creature is confused for 1 round.
The other griffon flies across the field, attacking Rohirron and Iannos with sharp talons on its way.
Before Your Turn: Everyone DC 18 Will vs the hazard ~+~Combat Round 2~+~
Red
Rohirron (-4, -9?)(Let me know if you are Shield Blocking)
Iannos
Siara
Acantheus
Blue (-22)
Akosa pointedly ignores anyone who greets him in Taldane, and nods at those who greet him in Elven.
"If you want a say in what we have for dinner tonight, you can come along with us," Akosa offers. "There's red river hogs and waterbucks. Otherwise, there’s river turtles and bats, if you like to work for your food. Or crocodiles, if you like fighting to see who gets to bite first."
Whomever wants to can join the hunt, although its possible that those who aren't skilled in woodcraft might scare off game. During the hunt, participants can decide whether to roll for themselves or Aid. The hunt consists of three phases: Seeking the Animals, Positioning the Hunters, and Hunting the Game. The hunt will take 3 hours, so there will not be too much time before dinner when you return.
Seeking the Animals
You help the elven hunters look for signs of animals. Attempt a Nature or Perception check.
All of the participants have a thoroughly good time, and Resa is declared the winner, as she got to 5 points the fastest. Your good sportsmanship has definitely impressed the tribe.
Vitus lands good hits, but messes up the beat so much that he loses all of his points! Vrosi continues to score points, and Resa critically hits her opponent.
"I'd be most honored by the ride," Merosyne gives Rohirron a slight bow. "We should head to the north side of the island to see if we can find my lost love."
Following the awoken acolyte's directions, you make your way to the northeastern tip of the island (E11).
A jagged crater sits at the center of a small clearing, the trees surrounding it snapped and blackened as if by an immense explosion, although the center of the crater contains only a hollow depression in the earth. The acrid tang of smoke hangs in the air.
"No, no!" Merosyne gasps. "This isn't right at all! There should be a peaceful glade here!"
The rush of flapping wings stirs the air above, and a pair of creatures with the hindquarters of a horse and the head of a hawk alight near the crater. They rear up on their hind legs, wings spreading wide, as they shriek at the intruders in their domain. A swirling red miasma emanates from their bodies, and their eyes have an unearthly glow.
"What's wrong with those hippogriffs?!" Merosyne gasps as she slips off Rohirron's back and takes cover.
Something about the creatures calls out to you. You feel like, if you tried, you could siphon off some of the strange power glowing around them! The crater pulses with the same energy.
◆ ABSORB POWER:
DIVINE CONCENTRATE
Requirements You are not mythic.
You attempt to momentarily siphon energy from a mythic creature, drawing its power into yourself. Choose a mythic creature within 60 feet; it must attempt a Will save against your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher.
Success The creature is unaffected.
Failure You siphon some mythic power from the target, granting you the Rewrite Fate free action (War of Immortals 78) until the end of your next turn. You gain 1 Mythic Point that you can only use for this free action; this doesn’t affect your Hero Points. If not used before the duration expires, you lose this Mythic Point.
Critical Failure As failure, and the creature loses access to
its mythic abilities until the end of its next turn.
One of the hippogriffs makes a flying attack against Rohirron and Iannos, flapping away to a safe distance after strafing by to attack them.
beak vs Rohirron:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 for piercing:1d10 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11 plus precision:1d6 ⇒ 4 beak vs Iannos:1d20 + 9 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 9 - 4 = 24 for piercing:1d10 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
~+~Combat Round 1~+~
Red
Rohirron
Iannos (-6)
Siara
Acantheus
Blue
Hazard
SHARD’S FURY HAZARD:
Description Wisps of red energy and violent urges emanate from the crater.
Disable DC 18 Intimidation to overpower the hazard's will, DC 18 Religion to calm the belligerent miasma flowing from the crater.
"Excellent. We will make arrangements quickly," the Blood Mistress bobs her head. "I dislike the counsel being down so many members. Rejoin me here in two days time."
At some unseen signal, the door into the chamber opens, and two silent servants enter to collect the body of Kimmich. (They step gingerly around all of the sabers on the ground.)
You are given private chambers within the Citadel to refresh yourselves and prepare for the ceremony.
At the appointed time, you find yourselves back in the chamber. The weapons you claimed from your foes are artfully arranged on the floor in a pattern most pleasing to Achaekek. On three plinths stand mantis masks like those you have seen the Vernai wear. From her throne above, Jakalyn addresses you:
"Unfortunately, the soul of Kimmich did not answer our call. He serves now in the court of He Who Walks in Blood. May he reap the souls of those our master deems necessary."
"Take up your masks, and your places among the Vernai. Know that your loyalty will be rewarded here, and hereafter."
When you put on the helmets, you feel the grace of He Who Walks in Blood wash over you like a torrent of warm viscera.
You all gain Achaekek's major boon: 3d6 sneak attack, or increase your sneak attack by 3d6.
There is much to do on Mediogalti, as usual. While the conspirators have been unmasked and killed on the field of Elysium, things are very much not normal on Golarion. Gorum’s death resulted in a rain of deific fragments that crashed down upon all the worlds on which Gorum was worshipped. Upstart "heroes" charged with mythic power pretend to be gods, and your sword hands itch to teach them important lessons. War breaks out across the globe, and efficient assassins are sought by factions from all over Golarion. Those your position among the Vernei earns you some rest, your hands (and blades) will not stay clean for long.
Vrosi is all set. Vitus and Ardoinel: Make your Acrobatics or Performance checks for Phase 2, and everyone except Vitus can make your attack rolls and checks for Round 2!
"Oh, I have only awoken, and feel so weak," Merosyne answers. A resolute look comes over her face. "I don't know how much help I can be, but I will accompany you, and at least give advice where I can."
No strenuous help from her, but she does want to aid you.
"Sophreista's battle was at the north end of the island. I can tell you of it on our way."
Between one blink and the next, Jakalyn disappears from the balcony and appears on the floor of the chamber. She quickly, efficiently, and silently arranges Kimmich's body with a bit more dignity, laying two of his many sawtooth sabers across his breast.
"I never sacrifice a loyal ally," Jakalyn assures Crystal. "And this miss was far more than a prank."
"The former high priestess, Saviya, had plotted her treachery for years. She couldn't move against me directly, so she recruited almost a third of the Vernai--Can you immagine?" Jakalyn's gaze rakes across the figures on the chamber balcony.
"When she arranged to send you on that wild goose chase after Ordulf, she finally showed her hand. She knew I would be away for an extended period, doing a bit of research of my own, so she wanted to discredit you, my loyal agents."
"When that failed, the fool determined to try to directly petition He Who Walks in Blood for the position of Blood Mistress. She snooped through my research and saw the portents that I had recorded indicating that Divine Achaekek would soon appear on the Clashing Shore," Jakalyn explains.
"I had arranged my absence purposely to flush out potential traitors, and I'm pleased that you were able to deal with her and her accomplices. Speaking of wich," she gestures to several empty balconies around the room, "There are vacancies on the Vernai that I would see you fill. And, of course, we will return Kimmich to life to serve, should he soul deign to return to this plane."
"Oh, wonderful! Yes, of course it's just for fun," the girls laugh.
They call out to some of their friends to join them so that there will be even teams. A group of youths nearby grabs some drums and woodwind instruments to play for the contest, inviting anyone who wants to play with them.
If you are playing along, feel free to make a Performance check, or just describe your contribution for fun.
Daikda
Dancers square off against each other in a 1-on-1 dance contest. Run the game of daikada in two phases, continuing until at least one player has 5 points, at which time the game ends and the player with the most points is declared the winner.
Phase 1. Each dancer makes an unarmed attack roll against their opponent’s AC with a –4 circumstance penalty (due to aiming only for the opponent’s anklets). A successful hit gains the dancer 1 point, a critical hit allows the dancer to strike both anklets for 2 points, and a critical failure applies a –2 penalty to that dancer’s roll in the second phase of the game.
Phase 2: Each dancer must succeed at a DC 15 Acrobatics or Performance check to keep up with the beat of the music. A critical success here grants a +2 circumstance bonus to the dancer’s AC for the next round, failure removes 1 point from the dancer’s total, and a critical failure removes 3 points. A player who critically fails and has fewer than 3 total points is disqualified from the game. A dancer can also accept a –4 penalty to their Acrobatics or Performance check to gain a +2 circumstance bonus to her next attack roll while playing the game.
Vitus, Ardoinel, Resa, Burnis: Please make unarmed attack rolls (at -4 penalty) for the first round.
You tumble through the shattered remains of the Crashing shore as waves of the Maelstrom batter you with weightless waves.
A glowing rift opens and you propel yourselves through it with nothing more than the strength of your mythic will.
You find yourselves in a familiar fourteen-sided stone chamber with floors and twenty-foot-tall walls of polished crimson porphyry.
The Chamber of the Vernai
Unlike the last time you were here, several of the stone thrones are empty, draped only with crimson silk. The occupants of the chairs jump to their feet at your arrival, which sends and odd ringing through the echo haunted chamber. It seems you interrupted them in the middle of a heated discussion.
The only person who doesn't seem surprised to see you is also the only one unmasked: The Blood Mistress Jakalyn!
"Ah, so you've returned! Tell me, did you enjoy visiting my library?" the Blood Mistress smiles. "And Saviya. Did she find her research there...fruitful?"
"I fear that this cave has been my home for too long, based on the dire portents you bring," Merosyne answers. "But if I have awakened, perhaps you are destined to help me: I asked the naiads to help me slumber until Sophreista's spirit could be put to rest. Would you help her?"
Assuming you agree, Merosyne tells you that she thinks the only way to put Sophreista's spirit is to find her ghost and reinact her last battle, allowing her to find triumph and peace.
She does not know where Sophreista's ghost wanders, but warns you that Ekleios, Sophreista's betayer, is still trapped within the hero-god's shrine.
As you triumph over the reshaping of reality, tears through the fabric of the Great Beyond give you a singular opportunity to plunge through an opening and emerge anywhere you wish that they’ve previously visited. (You can use this to quickly and safely return to the Crimson Citadel or Ilizmagorti, for example.)
We'll explore the village first, then join the hunt.
As you set off into the village, you are approached by two tall Ekujae girls, who seem eager to make your acquaintance (or at least get out of helping with food preparation.
"We are Mauuko and Senyo, our mothers were of the Leopard Clan," they greet you, in Elven. "Come, you must play daikada with us!"
With your Elven-speaking groupmates acting as translators, the girls explain daikada to you. The game involves each player wearing a pair of copper anklets; each set of anklets is designed to make chimes that are
distinct from the other pairs when struck. The goal of the game is to dance along with the beat of a song, while at the same time using fancy footwork to strike the opposing player’s anklets and make them chime. The player that makes her opponent’s anklets chime the most is the winner, but stumbling and missing the beat results in losing points or even outright losing the game.
"Come, who will play with us? If you are old or clumsy, you can clap along or play an instrument!" The girls excitedly offer.
The markings of the runic circle fade away under the influence of Acantheus' incantation.
The woman’s eyes open, and she blinks blearily at those who awakened her, tightening her grasp on her lyre. Slowly, she shifts to sit up.
“Who are you?” she asks, her voice melodic even while raspy from slumber. “How long has it been? If you undid the naiads’ spell, it must be time…” She stops, shaking her head. “I apologize. You are strangers, and you may not know of what I speak. It is rude of me to make assumptions before even introducing myself.”
She waves one hand and then the other in a complex greeting. “I am Merosyne. Welcome to Eupherae, my home for… likely more years than I realize. But I must ask, what brings you here?”
You sail through the eruption of the ground beneath you, but the very fabric of the plane is rupturing!
Jagged mountains rise up and form a defensive bulwark against the devastation still being unleashed by Gorum’s death, as scabs would form over wounded flesh. The vast ocean at the edge of the Crashing Shore surges into the subduction zones left by the retreating earth.
THE MOUNTAINS RISE Key Checks Athletics (to Climb or Leap over mountains, to smash them apart, or to Swim through the ocean gulfs between them); Cast a Spell to blast a path through the mountains (using any spell that causes damage or manipulates stone or objects); Fortitude (to endure being smashed by a mountain)
Not only does the land revolt, the forces of chaos are quick to take advantage of the death of the boundary's guardian. As Crashing Shore continues to transform, the raw entropic chaos of the Maelstrom takes notice and moves in, forming creeping tendrils of matter and energy that writhe like an immense organism feeding on a dying coastline.
CHAOS TAKES NOTE Key Checks Stealth (to Hide or Sneak and avoid being noticed by the encroaching chaos); Cast a Spell to fight back against the planar intrusion (using any spell that counteracts magic, banishes planar effects, or draws upon order to fight entropy); Will (to resist the overwhelming mental trauma caused by the truths laid bare by the Maelstrom’s touch).
One check for each obstacle! Same DCs and rules as before
Nketiah laughs at Netkin's comment, "It is very warm, but I revel in it! When I was young, I traveled all over Garund with my mother and father. I certainly prefer this heat to the winds off the Barrier Peaks."
"As for the Cinderclaws, I will tell the full story of their history and our struggle against them at the feast tonight," Nketiah grins. "You wouldn't want to spoil a good tale, would you?"
"Speaking of the feast, it's to be held in your honor, and I really must go help with the preparations. Please, make yourselves at home in our village."
There are a few different things to pursue, here. Please say what you'd like to do first, and we'll go from there.
Options:
1) Meet more of the tribe
2) Explore the village
3) Find a game to play with the villagers
4) Help hunt for game for the feast
5) Meet the village leaders
With the advice of the naiads, you head off to awaken Merosyne, the hero goddess' disciple and lover.
Traveling to E6
A fissure in the rock, nearly invisible behind hanging greenery, leads to a small cave within the mountain. Inside, the stone walls are overgrown with moss and vegetation; dappled sunlight shines through cracks in the ceiling. At the far end of the cave, a white-robed woman sleeps upon a stone altar, dark hair fanned beneath her, motionless save for the faint rise and fall of her breath. Her arms are folded over a golden lyre upon her chest.
It’s apparent from her position and the spell circles around her that she’s in some sort of magical stasis.
Perception DC 17:
Dust motes slow stranging as they enter the encircled area. The magic of the lingering enchantment might ensnare the unwary. Disable: DC 16 Hero-God Lore or Occultism to convince the magic that it’s fulfilled its objective; DC 18 Arcana, Nature, or Religion short-circuit the stasis magic; or DC 20 Thievery to disable the ritual circles.
This climactic escape plays out using Victory Points (GM Core 184), with the PCs facing three end-of-the-world disasters that they must survive long enough to ride out the devastation caused by Gorum’s death. At the same time, though, each PC is infused with mythic power, as Gorum’s divine essence bolsters them beyond the limits of mere mortals, if only for a moment. In other worlds throughout reality, these shards bring mythic power to many new heroes and villains, but for the context of this climactic encounter, they grant the PCs the chance to accomplish things they could only dream about.
I'll present each of the following obstacles in order, describing the devastation the party faces, then asking each player how their character intends to overcome the obstacle. I encourage each of you to draw upon their surge of deific power to do things like perform astounding physical stunts, cast supercharged spells, or simply shrug off the chaos and move onward. This will amount to three choices each round, and each skill check or saving throw made gains a +15 untyped bonus to the check to represent the sudden infusion of divine power.
Each round you can attempt:
• A DC 50 Acrobatics, Athletics, or Stealth check (as determined by the GM) to perform an astounding physical stunt. If the stunt performed uses a skill listed in the obstacle as being a key check, reduce the DC to 46.
• A DC 50 Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion check to resolve the casting of a supercharged spell. If the PC casts an appropriate spell to solve the situation at hand and create an effect listed in that obstacle’s Key Checks, reduce the DC to 46.
• A DC 50 saving throw (the GM chooses which one makes most sense based on how the player chooses to try to avoid the disaster). If the saving throw being made is one that’s specifically mentioned in the obstacle as being well-suited for avoiding it, reduce the DC to 46.
Obstacle 1: The Land Erupts
Reality shatters, and Clashing Shore, as far as the eye can see, breaks apart into countless islands that begin to drift into the ocean or blast shards of shrapnel into the air.
Key Checks Acrobatics (to Balance atop an unstable island or to Maneuver in Flight to avoid shards of reality); Cast a Spell to grant superior mobility (such as flight or teleportation); Reflex (to avoid explosions)
You patch yourselves up and collect Kimmich's remains, and none-to-soon: The walls of the demi-plane shimmer and shake, eventually bursting with a cascade of scarlet sparks.
You find yourselves on the island above the end of the Clashing Coast, where Elysium brushes against the Maelstrom. Below, the twinned protean still curls around the rift tree that marks the planar boundary.
In the distance, but all too close now, the monumental figure of Gorum classes with unseen enemies. The giant iron god pauses and turns his full attention on you; there is a peel of thunder that shakes the entire area. Blood red storm clouds boil up around Gorum and his gaze falls upon the full group, rather than just Crystal.
He takes a step, and the world trembles. He takes another and another, building speed as his walk turns to a stride and then a run. Immense waves spread forward as each footfall crashes down into the ocean, and the clouds themselves seem to twist and tear. You stand frozen for a moment in the face of such overwhelming deific doom. Gorum has decided to take their fates into his own hands; despite your power, certain death is only moments away.
And then the ocean explodes behind Gorum, a foaming wall of water rising up behind him. From this unimaginably vast plume, a crimson blade scythes out and plunges through Gorum’s back, piercing him through the chest to emerge in a spray of metallic shrapnel. Time seems to stand still apart from the falling cascade of water, which reveals the towering form of Achaekek standing beyond Gorum, one of his blade-like arms plunged through the god of war’s torso.
There’s a moment of profound stillness as He Who Walks In Blood stands behind his prey. Gorum is still and silent, while Achaekek turns to face you. He clicks his mandibles, gives the slightest of nods, and the feeling of religious awe washes outward over you. You have witnessed what few mortals ever shall: the execution of a god.
A moment later, Achaekek rips his arm to the side, and the upper third of Gorum’s body is torn away with a single tremendous strike that rends reality. Cracks radiate out from the killing blow, red light shining out
from within the god of war’s body. As his body begins to topple to the ground, his armor rips open, revealing what many have long suspected—nothing is within. And then, his remains explode!
The sight of this divine explosion is silent, for despite the size and spectacle, Gorum’s body is many miles away. From their perches, you bear witness as tsunamis are pushed forward and blasts of blood-red shrapnel radiate outward as Gorum’s armor explodes from within. Yet your view is momentarily eclipsed by a sudden beam of red light, one that blasts outward from the core of Gorum’s armor and lances backward toward the unseen heart of the Maelstrom. Even Achaekek is startled by this display of power and staggers back from the kill.
Achaekek vanishes in a cloud of blood, abandoning the site of the execution, but you are on your own. You regain control of your faculties and realize that raw reality is crumbling around you, leaving little time to react.
What you are witnessing is an immense abscess triggered by the death of a god. You'll have to endure the cataclysms rolling across the plane to escape back to the Universe, and relative safety.
You recognize the arm as a magical prosthesis made of twisted wooden branches and bone—such an item could only have been made by a powerful arboreal spellcaster.
You are all very welcome," Nketiah answers you.
She looks at Netkin, "Yes, let's get more comfortable."
Her wooden arm unravels, reaching up into the tree and pulling herself up.
A moment later, a pulley-driven elevator platform lowers to the jungle floor.
It's a DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics check to climb the tree, or you can take the elevator.
Once you are up in the tree, your host leads you to a bower with comfortable benches and ewers of fresh water. It is nicely shaded from the jungle sun, and clever engineering means there is a breeze through the alcove to cool you after the long walk.
"I need to help prepare for the feast tonight, but I can answer some questions, if you like, before I go. Once you are rested, you have the run of the village. Word of your arrival has spread, so I'm sure most people will have some time for you."
"We don't have many visitors, so I'll warn you that most people don't speak Taldane! Only myself and my father are very proficient."
There's a map of the village and a picture of Nketiah on the Slides. The elves here speak Mwangi and Elven.
"Come, you have many questions," the elf says, "And speaking Taldane gives me a headache. I'll take you to our settlement and my daughter, Nketiah, can explain everything to you. She's a talented linguist, and more patient than I."
The way Jahsi mentions it, you might expect a short hike to the elven settlement of Akrivel, but it is a 10-mile journey and likely leaves anyone unaccustomed to the heat very ready for a rest!
You are hiking for hours, so if you have any more questions, you can ask him. He'd might even answer you if you ask in Elven :P
Though the woven-branch buildings of the Ekujae blend into the surrounding forest, the architecture is unmistakable once pointed out.
Woven tree branches form the foundations and buildings of this large treetop Ekujae town. Bridges made of sturdy vines spread out through the rainforest canopy, allowing rapid travel through the jungle for miles around. Dozens, if not hundreds, of trunks of massive trees, each over ten feet wide, support a wide weaving of branches that in turn supports the city above, and each is decorated with twisted roots and shoots that have been painstakingly arranged to form images of elephants and leopards. Further up the trunks, amid beautiful meshes of branches that have grown together to form wide platforms overhead, a staggering array of grafted fruit trees and earth-filled terrace gardens creates a spectacular display.
An Ekujae half-elf waits at the base of one of the trees, balancing lightly on a mass of protruding roots. In one hand she holds a brass staff topped with a sculpture of a leopard grasping a sword in its jaws and pinning a prone human. Her other arm seems to be made not of flesh, but of twisted wooden branches and bone.
“I am Nketiah, of the Leopard Clan,” she greets. “My mother was of the Stargazer Clan. You are guests of the Ekujae tonight. Welcome to our lands.”
The priestess falls and her sabers clatter to the floor, you feel a shudder pass through the floor of the demi-plane that she created.
Saviya certainly had equipment worthy of a member of the Vernai: bracers of strength, +3 greater resilient antimagic greater winged mantis shell armor, greater doubling rings, major mask of the mantis, +3 major striking greater astral greater shocking wounding high-grade dawnsilver sawtooth saber, highgrade dawnsilver sawtooth saber.
All is silent in the hall, where the spilled blood of assassins decorates the tiled floor.
The naiads are happy to chat with you about Sophreista's story and their role in it.
Sophreista's Story:
Two millennia ago, Sophreista defeated the Chimera of Aevelos, a unique chimera that had been terrorizing the coast for months. On Eupherae’s shores, she baited the chimera’s heads to turn against one another before slaying the distracted beast. After this deed, the island became the center of Sophreista’s worship; a shrine was built there in her honor. Sophreista lived there with her pegasus steed, Iokoris, when the two weren’t out adventuring, and many of her followers took up residence on the island. Among these followers were a male aiuvarin named Ekleios, who became Sophreista’s high priest, and Merosyne, a human woman and gifted poet who chronicled Sophreista’s exploits and eventually became her lover.
For a time, life on Eupherae was peaceful for Sophreista and her cult. Tragically, it was not to last. One of Sophreista’s rival hero-gods, Phreskores, envied her powers and sought her destruction, but he knew he couldn’t defeat her in a fair fight. Instead, he coaxed Ekleios into betraying her, and the priest betrayed her greatest weakness: when Sophreista first gained mythic power, she was dying from an arrow embedded in one of her ribs, and though she was revived by her empowerment, the arrowhead remained within her. She knew if the spot were struck again, fate would catch up with her, and so she disclosed this information to only her most trusted allies.
Armed with this knowledge, Phreskores challenged Sophreista to battle and quickly targeted her weak point, slaying her. The pegasus Iokoris was badly wounded in the fight, and he barely managed to flee; it took him days to make his way back to Eupherae.
Meanwhile, Merosyne discovered what Ekleios had done, and in vengeance, she poisoned him during Sophreista’s funeral feast. Neither Sophreista nor Ekleios would rest peacefully, however. Sophreista rose as a ghost, doomed to roam her former home while lamenting her betrayal. Ekleios rose as undead, yet Merosyne believed this wasn’t punishment enough. She beseeched naiads of the surrounding sea for aid. Though generally uninterested in mortal affairs, the naiads took pity on Merosyne and granted her a boon. At her request, they performed a ritual to seal Ekleios in Sophreista’s shrine, where he could ponder his betrayal forever. When this was done, they placed Merosyne into a deep slumber, safe within a cave on the island, to allow her to remain with Sophreista’s ghost until heroes capable of laying her beloved to rest arrived to awaken her.
They don't have much to say about the griffins, other than that they avoid them because they are unpleasant.
"“You are in Ekujae lands, some distance east of the Lirgeni coast," the elf tells you.
DC 15 Society:
This is in the northwestern reach of the Mwangi Jungle.
"My people maintained this shrine to Ketephys, and this gate, but they were both built many, many years ago. Before the Age of Darkness."
"My wounds are healing quite well, merely a nick from a charau-ka weapon. I need to be more careful," he tells Netkin and Ellaeaanda. "Charau-kas and boggards—the Cinderclaws—attacked, but they were so much stronger, with claws and scales and breath of fire... but that is no excuse.” Jahsi holds his arms stiffly to the side, his muscles straining. “I ordered us to run. We returned and fought them off, but not before they opened Huntergate and sent some of their kin through.”
"Your words and welcome do you credit," the elf spokesperson says to you, in Common. "And I cannot imagine them from the tongues of the Cult of Cinders."
The speaker, a man set apart from the others by his gold jewelry and bracers, steps forward into the ruined temple, holding his palms open at his sides to show he is unarmed. The rest of the elves relax the draw of their bowstrings and put their weapons at rest, though their arrows remained nocked, ready to fire quickly.
The elf in gold jewelry stops a respectful distance away and gives a very slight bow. “I am Jahsi, of the Leopard Clan,” he says, speaking in Taldane. “My mother is of the River Clan.”
Jahsi is a wiry Ekujae warrior. You recognize the hoply symbol of the elven goddess of magic, Yuelral, decorating his armor. He wears armor made from iron and wooden plates that have been wrapped in colorful swatches of cloth. The sides of his head are shaved, and the rest of his hair is woven into long, thin braids. He bears some signs of recent injuries, most notably a heavily bandaged wound on his neck.
Tankfully, Ellaeanda's plea to the goids is a bit more effective than Netkin's!
A rush of cool air fills the tunnel, and the fiery simulacrum of the dragon blows apart into tatters.
"That was close," Renali says. "That certainly didn't happen the first time I came through. I wonder if the cultists damaged the portal, somehow. You seemed to have handled it well, Ellaeanda."
Without further incident, you make your way to the other portal and step through...
Cloying heat and humidity hangs heavy in the atmosphere of this open-air temple, its surrounding stone arches smeared black with soot. Charred branches and clumps of roots mark the shape of the garden that once stood here, but the plants and flowers have been ripped up and burned. In the middle of the ring of stone arches, in the center of a cold pit of charcoal, a half-complete wooden pillar capped with the charred remains of a dragon’s visage stands near a pile of carved rocks and a small sack of cloth. Only one section of the ring of stone arches is solid—the section of wall you stepped out of, which bears an exact duplicate of Huntergate as it appeared in the wall below Citadel Altaerein. Beyond the open archways elsewhere sprawls a verdant expanse of a tropical jungle.
Between you and the jungle beyond, you find yourselves surrounded by a force of 20 elven warriors, all holding bows at the ready.
"Halt," one of thjs elves repeats in Elven, Common, and a language you don't recognize.
DC 20 Society, DC 18 Elf Lore:
These elves are Ekujae, jungle-dwelling elves who keep to themselves and dislike trespassers on their territory.
The naiad looks like she's just about to taunt you again, but Dorrance's strike takes her in the throat, spilling her lifeblood out to cloud the waters around her.
Got her exactly on the hit points. Very efficient!
After she falls, you are able to gather the naiad's corrupt Enoménos crown as well as quite a bit of salvage from the sunken merchant ships, worth at least 175 gp.
You swim back to the Glorious Payoff, where Calisro congratulates you on a job well done. Latanoris lets out a cry of relief when told the naiads are no longer a threat to the shipping lanes. As a reward for returning the crowns, Latanoris pays for a week’s stay in Hoimpeia’s finest kapeleia and secures theater tickets for each night of the week.
True to her word, Latanoris informs the city’s leaders of the outstanding service the Pathfinder Society provided to Hoimpeia. She’s confident that your actions will spark the opening of formal diplomatic discussions with the Pathfinder Society.
As you board the Glorious Payoff to return to Absalom, Hyp materializes on the dock as he lowers the hood of his cloak. He wears a Latanoris Trade Company uniform and calls out to you, “Look, fílos! No more scavenging for me--too dangerous. Maybe I’ll even visit you in Absalom one day.”
Congratulations on a successful mission! You completed your primary objective by defeating Timonithaea and retrieving her Enoménos crown. (The secondary success condition was recovering the other crown, which Saloratha had. Shame that you had to kill or threaten her to get it. :/) You recovered all 10 treasure bundles.
