The party continues through the ruined remains of the temple. They pass through a forge, where a bunch of cultists died from experimenting too much with metal and exploded from a fiery furnace blast. Inside is a suit of Moonlit Chain that they cultists were working on before they all died. DC20 Crafting Check to complete the Moonlit Chain.
Then the party passes through into a new area, with a small squalid prison. Manacles are affixed to the walls, and gutters at the base of the walls for prisoner waste sits. This is truly a disgusting area. Two people are shackled to the wall, a female ratfolk and a black haired orc. They look like they have been trapped here for weeks, and are in a sorry state of condition. Freeing the Prisoners: DC24 Thievery to pick the locks, DC32 Athletics to rip the manacles out of the walls.
Round 4: That's no dinosaur, it’s a demon!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-13,Injured 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-14,Injured 1)
Head Cultist(-88,Sickened)
Orange Cultist(-64,Dead)
Yellow Cultists(-63,Dead)
Dinosaur Demon(-149,Retreating)
Rakdon fires a series of shots right up the demon's censorship hole!
Launcher:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32 Damage:2d8 + 5 ⇒ (1, 8) + 5 = 14 Reload Launcher:1d20 + 17 - 5 ⇒ (11) + 17 - 5 = 23 Damage:2d8 + 5 ⇒ (1, 1) + 5 = 7
The goat charges at the head cultists, taking this opportunity to do some damage, and bashes its skull right into the man's censorship area!
Headbutt Attack:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30 Headbutt Damage:2d8 + 4 ⇒ (4, 5) + 4 = 13 Headbutt Attack:1d20 + 11 - 5 ⇒ (2) + 11 - 5 = 8 Headbutt Damage:2d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 6) + 4 = 16
Well, those certainly did it. The demon falls over after that, the expression on his face one of horrific pain before he dies. The head cultist collapses on the ground, and sure enough the pain is more than he can tolerate or hope to survive. His pelvis broken, he dies from his injuries.
The skeletal pit leaving shouts more mocking gestures at the cultist and demon, "Nyeh, serves you right you pricks!""Get stuffed and bent!"
After this bout of battle, Clynter and Ashes go take a restful bath inside the pool of deadly negative energy. Eight feet below the semicircular pool of water is a small copper tube capped with sapphire-studded stoppers. Clynter pulls it up out of the water and opens the tube, finding some magical dust! Good thing he chose to not open it in the water.
The team looks over the dust and finds it is Dust of Appearance!
The western doors are open, and the party finds that they can go north, south, or through the middle doors.
Round 3: That's no dinosaur, it’s a demon!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-13,Injured 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-14,Injured 1)
Head Cultist(-24,Sickened)
Orange Cultist(-64,Dead)
Yellow Cultists(-63,Dead)
Dinosaur Demon(-122,Fine)
Suddenly, the dinosaur demon finds itself being beaten and pummeled in a series of knives, fists, and a horde of angry undead wailing against him! Try as he might, the damned creature is getting quickly overwhelmed, and he is certain one of the undead just stole his wallet.
The head cultist takes his spear and launches it at Clynter, then it flies back to his hand and he launches it at Stokes!
Spear Throw VS Clynter:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24 Spear Throw VS Stokes:1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (9) + 16 - 5 = 20
On both throws he goes wide, and hes looking ever more desperate to either kill someone or flee.
The Ahvothian dinosaur demon shows less hesitation, "Well, I don't know about you Nyamat, but I'm gettin the heck outa here!" It decides fighting this is not worth it anymore, and takes off! You swear it sounds like a chicken clucking as it flees, smashing through the eastern gate and breaking into a sprint! The head cultists looks on in disbelief and shock. "Wait, if I tell you that there's treasure and a slave to be rescued in the other passages where you entered from, will you go away?!"
Well, the team already knows that is a complete lie because it already explored every room from the original passages and only found a cranky scholar in a snake scale infested bed, Chef Demon Ramsey, and a bunch of nothing.
Round 4: That's no dinosaur, it’s a demon!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-13,Injured 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-14,Injured 1)
Head Cultist(-24,Sickened)
Orange Cultist(-64,Dead)
Yellow Cultists(-63,Dead)
Dinosaur Demon(-122,Retreating)
The goat stays still for a bit while injured. It seems to acknowledge that the dinosaur has some means of making attacks at an opportunity.
3d20 ⇒ (2, 10, 12) = 24
1d20 ⇒ 3
The Cultists and the dinosaur demon all show great incompetence, as they take every punishment thrown their way by Ashes. The orange one getting pulled into the pile of bones and you can hear the sound of her bones breaking as fists come up and start pummeling her into the ground. "Nyeh, when you gonna learn to shut your mouth?!""I got a bone to pick with you!""Gonna break more than a leg today!""Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!"
Round 2: That's no demon, it’s a dinosaur!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-23,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-14,Injured 1)
Head Cultist(-24,Sickened)
Orange Cultist(-64,Dead)
Yellow Cultists(-63,Dead)
Dinosaur Demon(-54,Fine)
The head cultist looks ill and horrified at the situation. He looks up at his targets, seeing one that looks the closest to not an unliving creature. He raises his hand and utters a dark incantation, pointing at Stokes!
1d20 ⇒ 1
His spell arcs wide and he misses entirely!
In his last desperate attempt to recover the situation, he makes a dash out of the bone storm!
The dinosaur demon grunts at the head cultist. "Coward! Must I do everything myself?!" It looks over Clynter...
1d20 ⇒ 3
But fails to determine just what the hell kind of species Clynter would have been before being a skeleton. In frustration, it bites twice at the skeleman!
Bite vs Clynter:1d20 + 18 ⇒ (10) + 18 = 28 Bite Damage:2d10 + 8 ⇒ (6, 7) + 8 = 21 Bite vs Clynter:1d20 + 18 - 5 ⇒ (17) + 18 - 5 = 30 Bite Damage:2d10 + 8 ⇒ (10, 4) + 8 = 22
The damage is enough, and Clynter falls to the floor. Its hard to tell if a skeleton looks unconscious, but that seems to be the case.
Round 3: That's no demon, it’s a dinosaur!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine) Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-66,Dying 1)Can act if receiving undead healing this turn Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-14,Injured 1)
Head Cultist(-24,Sickened)
Orange Cultist(-64,Dead)
Yellow Cultists(-63,Dead)
Dinosaur Demon(-54,Fine)
Round 1: That's no demon, it’s a dinosaur!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-23,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-19,Fine)
Head Cultist(-0,Fine)
Orange Cultist(-36,Fine) Yellow Cultists(-63,Dead) Dinosaur Demon(-12,Fine)
The head cultist runs up the far side of the skeletal pit, maneuvers into position, and throws his spear the spellcaster, Ashes! The spear then returns to his hand throw magical powers, and he throws it again!
Spear Throw:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25 Damage:3d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 6, 3) + 4 = 17 Spear Throw:1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (5) + 16 - 5 = 16 Damage:3d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 6, 2) + 4 = 13
The remaining minion moves forward and casts a spell at Stokes!
Harm Attack 2 Actions:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19
The dinosaur demon clutches a trophy limb around his neck, it appears to be some kind of animal limb. He then starts jabbing furiously at the goat!
Jaws:1d20 + 18 ⇒ (14) + 18 = 32 Damage:2d10 + 8 ⇒ (2, 9) + 8 = 19 Jaws:1d20 + 18 - 5 ⇒ (13) + 18 - 5 = 26 Damage:2d10 + 8 ⇒ (5, 2) + 8 = 15 Jaws:1d20 + 18 - 10 ⇒ (18) + 18 - 10 = 26 Damage:2d10 + 8 ⇒ (4, 5) + 8 = 17
The goat is dying, its life hanging by a thread!
Round 2: That's no demon, it’s a dinosaur!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-23,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine) Goat(-89,Dying 1)
Head Cultist(-0,Fine)
Orange Cultist(-36,Fine)
Yellow Cultists(-63,Dead)
Dinosaur Demon(-12,Fine)
Alright, so admittedly I forgot all about this for a few weeks. Been moving myself out of the Venture Agent role cause I got worn out of being only ever a GM for Society. I haven't been to a table game in a while, and life moved itself around in a different way that pushed this to the wayside. Apologies, I am going to just start doing large fast-forward posts to try to wrap this up.
Clynter:1d20 ⇒ 18 Clynter:1d20 ⇒ 9
Clynter finds a trap on the door and manages to disarm it without any threat to the group. The party moves over to the door on the left and gently flings it open after checking for any immediate hazards. The room is a large alcove where the door is defaced with slashes, and a bunch of red baskets lie in here with an ominous red stain. Searching the baskets appears to have some strange substance.
Putrescent Glob:
Usage affixed to a weapon; Bulk —
Activation [free-action] envision; Trigger You damage a creature that is sickened 1 with a Strike using the affixed weapon; Requirements You are an expert with the affixed weapon.
This repulsive, hairy glob dangles from the end of your weapon. When you activate the putrescent glob, the creature you damaged must succeed at a DC 23 Fortitude save or its sickened condition increases to sickened 2, and it can’t reduce its sickened condition until the end of its next turn. On a critical failure, it’s also slowed 1 until the end of its next turn.
The passage way either continues south to exit the shrine or back to the north through Ademe's room and into the main entry. You all walk past her as she continues to sulk, her legs tucked into her arms as she lies in the bed. Her legs look oddly large under that dress of hers.
Back at the large double doors to the main entry, the only passage left and the goat seems weary of it.
4d20 ⇒ (9, 12, 18, 8) = 47
Upon further and closer inspection, the door is clearly trapped. It must have been bad luck that prevented finding it the first time.
Clynter:1d20 ⇒ 15
Clynter fiddles with the trap's tripwire mechanisms, and a successful snap and click can be heard. Six large metal talons slowly move forward from the walls surrounding the doors. It seems the gravity of these heavy things let them slide loose now since the locking mechanism has been broken but the springs have been left unengaged. Beyond the doors is a plaza...
This huge plaza is open to the sky. Several slender pillars stand at the plaza’s edges, with each ending at a broken point a dozen feet above the ground. The western edge of the plaza is painted with a massive hideous face—a simian creature with scaly skin, open mouth, and horns long enough to stretch from one side of the plaza to the other over a pair of double doors. The face’s open mouth contains a semicircular pool adorned with small stone spikes that resemble sharp teeth. An enormous rune of a crude multi-limbed stick figure is carved into the plaza’s floor, and blood splatters testify to past sacrifices made in this circle.
4d20 ⇒ (1, 3, 13, 8) = 25
Stokes can identify the markings on the ground as paying homage to a demonic figure named Angazhan.
The pool in the center appears to be wicked in nature. It looks inviting to the undead of the group.
Inside this room also resides an older man who appears to be a demon worshiper, two women who are dressed in cult robes, and a creature that looks like a utah raptor with elephant feet!
Round 1: That's no demon, it’s a dinosaur!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-23,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-0,Fine)
Head Cultist(-0,Fine)
Orange Cultist(-0,Fine)
Yellow Cultists(-0,Fine)
Dinosaur Demon(-0,Fine)
The compulsion was only to help her read the tablets.
You all feel no longer compelled to stand by and read the tablets. You can continue south through the single door, or go back to the entry passage and see about doing the double doors that the goat warned you of.
Clynter is uncertain as to what is going on, but still feels compelled to help with the research.
Upon hearing what these scrolls were, she grows very agitated. "It can't be, how could these be a waste of my time? Damn it! Are you sure you are reading those right, ARE YOU SURE?!"
Spoiler:
1d20 ⇒ 7
Stokes:
You feel her presence probing into your mind. She is reading you, like a book. As swiftly as she forced her way in and looked all over your brainscape, she just as swiftly retreats.
"Damn it. Damn it! damn it!! damn it!!!" She is furious, but then looks defeated and silent for a moment.
Then another moment passes.
"What are you still doing here? Take the tablets and get the hell out." She mutters.
With the violent end of Chef Demon Ramsey, there is nothing to stop the looting and pilfering of the butchery. In one of the slabs of meat is a unique knife. The cultists themselves have only cheap spears the party could live without. There is a door to the south and it is unlocked. The party moves in.
Flaying Knife:
This long, thin +1 striking wounding dagger has a smooth edge on one side and a serrated edge on the other. Its persistent bleed damage comes from slicing away long strips of the target’s flesh, and it deals 1d8 persistent bleed damage on a hit instead of 1d6. A creature takes a –2 status penalty to saving throws against diseases for as long as it has persistent bleed damage from this knife.
The west side of the room contains a low table with a scattering of gems on it and doors leading west and north. The east side of the room contains a large bed, although the mattress has been pulled onto the floor and the bedframe turned upright and covered with a sheet to create a large impromptu canopy over the mattress. In the bed fort sits a woman.
She is a long-haired Mwangi woman with large green eyes, sitting cross-legged on her mattress and studying a few ancient, rune-carved silver platters. She looks over your unusual group and sighs. "Are you more cultists who won't be of any value or use to me? You certainly seem the bunch for just that. Well, perhaps you can help then by trying to aid me in identifying these platters so I may finally leave." She holds up strange platters that would take a bit of time to identify.
Perception DC20:
Very interesting, there are several shed snake scales on the bed.
Perception DC30:
She has been casting a low level spell this whole time. Her choice of words has the hidden elements of arcane words.
Decipher the Platters DC22 Religion:
These are hymns to Pharasma and written in the dead language of Requian Haha! It's a pun! One has the effects of a scroll of fear at 3rd level casting, and the other a scroll of darkness at 4th level casting.
GM Screen:
5d20 ⇒ (3, 16, 7, 6, 15) = 47
For whatever reason, you all feel like you should be helpful to her.
Round 1: That's no demon, it’s an angry chef!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Red Flesh Demon(-76,Stunned 1, Slowed 1)
Spoiler:
1d20 ⇒ 1
The metal teeth of an iron maiden surround the demon, and he is too slow to react to the danger!
Clynter lands a firm and deadly blow into the demon's kidney! His second strike is a bit too wild to land though.
Stokes goes in for a powerful watery infused punch right into the demon's jaw, and then a follow up punch square into the stomach!
At this point the demon isn't really reacting with thought or reason, but as a wild animal just lashing out at any nearby object it can possibly bite. It aims wildly and haphazardly without its weapons towards whoever just so happens to be nearby!
The demon doesn't suspect a thing as he follows Ashes into the other room.
Demon is flat footed and slowed 1 for the first entire round you guys do anything.
Things continue to steadily escalate. The cultist who got slapped by the demon gets back up and angrily shouts curses in return. "You thin-skinned red prick why the f*** are you letting them throw you off, you dimwitted moron!" The demon glowers over him, "DIMWITTED MORON AM I?! WHY I OUGHTA-" And then he slaps him again across the face. The cultist grabs the fresh new slap wound as blood is leaking, and says "Oh, wise guy eh?!" And he proceeds to extend two fingers and pokes him in the eyes.
The demon reels back in pain, and the third cultist lets out a laugh. "LAUGHING BOY, HUH? WELL LETS SEE IF YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY!" The demon shouts, grabbing a cleaver and cutting the laughing cultist's hand off on the table. He shrieks in pain and then looks angrily at the demon. "Nyeh, you think you're a real bigshot for a low level demon?!" he then grabs a large butcher's carving knife and slashes at the demon's eyes.
This proceeds for a solid 4 minutes of watching the demon and the cultists back and forth slap, stab, scratch, slash, and smash each other. The demon is the only one not bleeding to death on the floor, his resistance to damage preventing him from dying as fast as the frail mortals.
He looks up at you all, "NOW WHO THE F*** ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?!?!"
The demon and one of the cultists look visibly confused, not sure what to make of this newcomer coming in and throwing out suggestions on preparation and cooking. The third cultist looks over and raises an inquisitive eyebrow and rubs his chin.
"Wh-who are you? What are you doing in my kitchen?!?!" The demon bursts out in shock and surprise.
The cultist who is also surprised begins to clear their work station in order to start prepping the meal to instruction. The last one stands quietly and continues to watch, before the demon turns to them and yells "I DIDN'T SAY YOU COULD HAVE A F**KING BREAK YOU DIMWITTED PILE OF DONKEY REFUSE!" And then slaps him so hard he falls to the floor, looking visibly hurt.
"Ah, yes, this is the Great Mark of Wahlborg, or GM Worg for short."
Heh heh
With this passage having nothing further of use to the party, they continue back to the entry way. There is the door that the goat seems to be gently warding people away from that goes west, and a door to the south.
Peeking through the southern door, the room looks like some kind of cult butchery. Dried blood coats the floor and lower walls in this room. Several animal carcasses hang from hooks in the wooden ceiling. A low table contains several tools for carving meat, and a large tub contains slabs of it. The room is thick with flies.
Inside is a demon with red skin and appearing deathly gaunt, almost like some kind of bloody skeleton if it weren't for the horns protruding from its head and a thin layer of flesh. It is shouting and yelling at two cultists, "Your meals are fit for a God, because they are all BURNT OFFERINGS!"
This irregularly shaped room provides a good view into the weed-choked streets of Holy Xatramba. Two long-dead corpses, each with skin the purple of a livid bruise and a strange rune adorning their bare chests, hang from the ceiling’s wooden beams.
DC22 Religion:
The two dead bodies wear symbols of Zura, the Demon Lord of cannibals.
DC22 Society:
The dead bodies here are a warning that gangs use to ward off rival gangs.
There are no further passages from this room to go. The party can return to search south or west from the entry.
Paizo site ate my post :( Sorry about the disappearance. I'll just handwave this encounter.
The adventurers fight a fierce and ferocious battle against the forces of this demonic temple in a scene of such spectacular proportion that it would not appear in a low budget film like this! Just when the dinosaurs and the Ahvothian appear to be ready to land a series of powerful blows that would beat back the adventurers, they trip and fall into the ground face first, landing against some rocks in the dirt that cause enough damage to paralyze and kill them. Upon closer inspection, they appear to have all tripped on buckets left on the floor.
On the corpse of the Ahvothian dinosaur is a bunch of spears and animal trophies. None of this appears that particularly valuable.
A doorway lies further to the north from this passage. Inside the door is a room with bedrolls, ropes, cooking pots, and all kinds of supplies precariously stacked on tables. They would be suitable for a lengthy and arduous expedition.
Clynter finds among the objects a salve marked as "Ghoul Prevention", and Stokes finds a pouch containing 12 chips of polished obisidan worth 40 gold each.
The party can move to the west, or go back south to the entry way.
Inside is a most peculiar sight to behold. A strange scaly dinosaur like creature wielding a spear and two other avian like raptor dinosaurs reside in this room. The strange one stands on two feet like an elephant's, and his eyes gleam a wicked intelligence. He was scratching at the floor with his spear while in some strange training session with the two other dinosaurs.
2d20 ⇒ (1, 12) = 13
Clynter's attempt at stealth betrays him though, and while Stokes is pushing the door open the boney man loses his footing and slips, causing a commotion. The trio of dinosaurs look up at the party and get ready to attack!
Round 1: That's no dinosaur, it’s a demon!
Light Condition: Dim, Indoors, Plaza
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine) Gargzith the Avothian(-0,Delay)
Deinonychuses Orange(-0,Fine)
Deinonychuses Yellow(-0,Fine)
Goat(-0,Fine)
Lore Abyssal, Religion DC22, Specific Lore at 17, Unspecified at 20:
Ahvothian Uncommon, CE, Medium, Fiend Ahvothians are feral and cunning fiends from an Abyssal realm of jungles, dinosaurs, and relentless brutality. They resemble humanoid dinosaurs with narrow, fanged heads similar to raptors and solid, heavy legs like sauropods.
1d20 ⇒ 2
Clynter can hear some kind of sound from across the northern door. Perhaps scratching? He can't quite make it out, but it does sound directly through the door.
Everyone in the party is able to find the deceased bodies of the elven women that were murdered on the road. Their essentials are basically all gone, rapiers torn apart. In the heel of a boot of one of the sisters is an emerald worth about 45 gold and 6 platinum coins. Clynter takes no hesitation in adding this to the party's budget.
Holy Xatrambra now lays in sight, and the party finds a plaza on the northern edge of the city. The most direct route in leads to a wide courtyard. The party enters it from the eastern side.
On the western side of this courtyard is a wide double door that bears an enormous carving of a six fingered hand with long and curved talons. Mosaics on the walls show a horrifying humanoid with saurian and simian features, long sharp horns, and six-fingered clawed hands devouring a variety of creatures. Narrow alcoves to the north and south lead to smaller doors, and the north door is slightly ajar.
As Random:1d4 ⇒ 2 Rakdon approaches the double doors to the west, the Goat gets in the way and tries to nudge him away from it, planting itself inbetween the party and the double door. The goat seems to be weary of the double door.
The battle is vicious, with both sides trading blows en tandem! Negative energy splashing everywhere from the specter sisters, blades and powers flying from the adventurers! Rakdon finds solid footing and lands a hefty blow against the specter's left side, then rotates and slashes again on the right, then once more in a spinning strike against her face! Clynter follows through with a double stab into the ghost's ribs!
It is all the damage she can take, before she fades away into spectral dust, and then into nothing.
LEVEL UP!
Through experience and constant struggle, the party feels stronger than before!
The goat is looking tougher as well!
Round 4: It’s the Ring! Or the Grudge!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Red Specter(-64,Fine)
Green Specter(-51,Frightened 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-36,Fine)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-40,Fine)
Goat(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
As the brawl lashes out even harder, Rakdon and Stokes find their attacks land wild and miss!
Clynter steps into the fray against green, landing a critical blow that gets mostly resisted!
The spirit seems unsettled by the berating from Ashes, and then Ashes fires a ray at the green ghost! The ray flies wide and misses its point!
The ghosts respond in kind, trying even moreso to land some decisive blow. The
Red Spectral Touch VS Stokes:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (4) + 16 = 20 Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (3, 3) + 8 = 14 Red Spectral Touch VS Stokes:1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (12) + 16 - 5 = 23 Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (1, 1) + 8 = 10 Red Spectral Touch VS Stokes:1d20 + 16 - 10 ⇒ (12) + 16 - 10 = 18 Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (4, 4) + 8 = 16
The green specter swings twice, and then shifts out of flank!
Green Spectral Touch VS Stokes:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19 Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (6, 4) + 8 = 18 Green Spectral Touch VS Stokes:1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (16) + 16 - 5 = 27 Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (3, 6) + 8 = 17
Round 4: It’s the Ring! Or the Grudge!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Red Specter(-64,Fine)
Green Specter(-51,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-63,Fine)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-40,Fine)
Goat(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
The goat seems to finally gain some of its gruff back, it looks angry at the spirits, as it charges forward and headbutts green with all of its might!
1st Action: GOAT RAGE, 2nd Action: Move, 3rd Action: Attack! Headbutt Attack:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29 Headbutt+Rage Damage:2d8 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (3, 1) + 3 + 2 = 9
Round 3: It’s the Ring! Or the Grudge!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Red Specter(-64,Fine)
Green Specter(-39,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Frightened 1)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-0,Frightened 2)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Frightened 2)
The ghosts have no chance of harming the undead Ashes or Clynter. The goat refuses to go back into battle, so the brawl devolves to these two evil and vengeful spirits slapping furiously at Rakdon and Stokes.
The red specter probes strikes out against Rakdon, in response for his vicious flurry of glaive strikes!
Spectral Touch VS Rakdon:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25 Negative Energy Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (7, 6) + 8 = 21 Spectral Touch VS Rakdon:1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (15) + 16 - 5 = 26 Negative Energy Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (7, 4) + 8 = 19 Spectral Touch VS Rakdon:1d20 + 16 - 10 ⇒ (10) + 16 - 10 = 16 Negative Energy Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (1, 5) + 8 = 14
The green specter moves into flank against Stokes!
Spectral Touch VS Stokes:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30 Negative Energy Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (3, 6) + 8 = 17 Spectral Touch VS Stokes:1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (15) + 16 - 5 = 26 Negative Energy Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (6, 5) + 8 = 19
The ghosts manage to land some payback against the two living individuals!
Round 3: It’s the Ring! Or the Grudge!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Red Specter(-64,Fine)
Green Specter(-39,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-36,Frightened 1)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-40,Fine)
Goat(-0,Frightened 2)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Frightened 2)
The party retaliates and hurls a flurry of attacks against the two ghostly women, but find that their attacks are only so effective against the beings! The fire from Ashes may burn but he can see there is not as much blistering as he would hope, and the shivs from Clynter seem to be far less effective than he would like! Stokes finds his targets harder to hit than expected!
The goat, trembling and trying to seek a way to flee, starts by smacking the green ghost twice and fleeing!
The party sees from the goat's attack and Clynter's attack that while these ghosts may be immune to precise damage, they aren't immune to a critical blow!
Round 2: It’s the Ring! Or the Grudge!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Red Specter(-11,Fine)
Green Specter(-34,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Frightened 1)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-0,Frightened 2)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Frightened 2)
The red ghost has two potential targets, and uses its corrupting powers to attack Stokes and then tries to slap Rakdon!
Special Attack: Spectral Corruption, Strike Spectral Touch vs Stokes:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22 Negative Energy Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (3, 1) + 8 = 12 Spectral Touch vs Rakdon:1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (10) + 16 - 5 = 21 Negative Energy Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (1, 8) + 8 = 17
The green ghost has already tried and failed to hurt the skeleton Clynter, and sees the goat that was its next victim has retreated like a coward, moves to attack the next closest target; Ashes!
Stride, Special Attack: Spectral Corruption Spectral Touch vs Ashes:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19 Negative Energy Damage:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (4, 8) + 8 = 20
Some truly incredible rolls here from these two.
The ghosts flail around and miss every single attack they could make!
Round 2: It’s the Ring! Or the Grudge!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Red Specter(-11,Fine)
Green Specter(-34,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Frightened 1)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-0,Frightened 2)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Frightened 2)
Another two days pass as the party continues on the caravan. The first being uneventful.
Goat recovers 10. The goat is now at full health. Clynter recovers 14. Clynter is now at full health.
The group slows as they see something further up on the road. Bright red patches of fresh blood mar the stones that mark the ancient highway’s route. The corpses of two female humans wearing leather armor are sprawled face-down in the blood. The lush jungle spreads out for miles on either side of the ancient road.
It is clear to Ashes and Stokes that there is no sign of insects or scavengers in the immediate vicinity, which is concerning.
Clynter looks at the sight and realizes that there are signs of this struggle having taken place weeks ago, and the bodies are being perfectly preserved by some hate filled and vengeful spirits.
As the party comes to these conclusions, the spirits of the dead women manifest from their bodies and rise, drawing spectral rapiers!
Round 1: It’s the Ring! Or the Grudge!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Red Specter(-0,Quickened)
Green Specter(-0, Quickened)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
The specters manifest onto the battlefield and they surge forward to attack the most immediate targets, Stokes and Clynter!
Stride, Spectral Corruption Vile Strike VS Stokes:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (4) + 16 = 20 Vile Strike VS Clynter:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30 Damage Clynter, Negative:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (8, 2) + 8 = 18
Stokes manages to dodge the ghostly rapier entirely, and Clynter finds himself feeling those joint pains going away like he just got some acupuncture. Hey, that felt great!
The sister specter attacking stokes tries again with a normal blow, and the sister specter that just healed Clynter realizes her weapon is ineffective and moves onto another target!
Vile Strike vs Stokes:1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (1) + 16 - 5 = 12
As the party reacts, they realize just how unnerving and spooky these sisters are, and it settles in to them that this is pretty scary!
Red = Left Dice, Green = Right Dice Will Saves Bulk Stokes:2d20 ⇒ (6, 14) = 20 Frightened 1
Will Saves Bulk Rakdon:2d20 ⇒ (16, 16) = 32 Safe
Will Saves Bulk Goat:2d20 ⇒ (12, 3) = 15 Frightened 2
Will Saves Bulk Clynter:2d20 ⇒ (13, 17) = 30 Safe
Will Saves Bulk Ashes:2d20 ⇒ (8, 10) = 18 Frightened 2
Will Saves Bulk Kuatha:2d20 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5 Frightened 2
Round 1: It’s the Ring! Or the Grudge!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Red Specter(-0,Fine)
Green Specter(-0,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Frightened 1)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-0,Frightened 2)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Frightened 2)
Without active healing, you will only be recovering so much of your wounds for any imminent danger. You don't know how long it may be before your next problem comes up. Your journey has taken 5 days so far, with 4 more to go before you reach the temple.
Resting:
The character regains Hit Points equal to their Constitution modifier (minimum 1) multiplied by their level. If they rest without any shelter or comfort, you might reduce this healing by half (to a minimum of 1 HP).
Source: GM Core Pg 42
Round 5: Filthy Wish Loser Dragons!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Blue Drake(-111,Dead)
Green Drake(-63,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-26,Enfeebled 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-31,Fine)
Red Drake(-115,Dead) Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-56,Fine)
Goat(-22,Fine)
As Kuatha moves towards the drake, it uses its tail in a furious reaction against the spawnling!
Reaction Stinger vs Kuatha:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (17) + 17 = 34Critical! Damage:2d6 + 7 ⇒ (2, 4) + 7 = 13
Clynter and the Goat close the distance onto the drake. The skeleman stabs once at the creature!
Stabbity Stab Stab ◆:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21 Slashing Piercing:2d6 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (5, 2) + 2 + (4, 2) = 15
The flank provides just enough distraction to get the knife inbetween the drake's scaly hide!
Having lost its comrades, and being no closer to a meal, the drake makes a desperate escape! It takes flight and disappears off into the thick brush of the jungle! It uses its experience and natural skill to fly effortlessly in escape.
3 Actions - RETREAT!
Clynter releases another deadly stab against the drake, and it is more than the beast can handle! It goes down in battle. Clynter begins to move back to the caravan to end the last drake's life.
The green drake sets its eyes on the fire fighter, Stokes, and unleashes a flurry of attacks!
Round 2: Filthy Wish Dragons!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Blue Drake(-111,Dead)
Green Drake(-24,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-26,Enfeebled 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Red Drake(-28,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-18,Fine)
Goat(-22,Poisoned, Enfeebled 1)
Stokes, Ashes, and the vampire fledgling Kuatha encircle the blue drake. They pound with fists of hydraulic power and sharp fangs, beating down on the beast until it can move no more and the life vanishes from its eyes.
The Red Drake, having been struck by the boney skeleman Clynter, growls in anger and seeks its revenge!
Stinger vs Clynter:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32 Damage:2d6 + 7 ⇒ (6, 3) + 7 = 16 Clynter Fort Save vs Poison:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26Success! Fangs vs Clynter:1d20 + 17 - 5 ⇒ (18) + 17 - 5 = 30 Damage:2d10 + 7 ⇒ (10, 5) + 7 = 22 Predatory Grab:1d20 + 13 - 10 ⇒ (12) + 13 - 10 = 15
The drake's stinger strikes true, and it follows up with a bite! The boney man takes some substantial blows from the drake, but manages to avoid being grabbed in its teeth!
Round 2&3: Filthy Wish Dragons!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1) Blue Drake(-111,Dead)
Green Drake(-24,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-26,Enfeebled 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Red Drake(-28,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-56,Fine)
Goat(-22,Poisoned, Enfeebled 1) Goat Fort Save:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Round 2: Filthy Wish Dragons!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Blue Drake(-51,Burning 1d4)
Green Drake(-24,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Red Drake(-28,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-18,Fine)
Goat(-22,Poisoned, Enfeebled 1)
Rakdon loads, fires, and loads again his launcher at the Blue Drake!
Taw Launcher VS Blue:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31 Damage:2d10 ⇒ (10, 7) = 17
Another heavy blow against the blue drake, it looks a lot worse for wear!
Blue Burn Damage:1d4 ⇒ 4 Blue Fire Check:1d20 ⇒ 6
The blue drake stomps its way forward, looking to bring some pain to the party members in the back!
Stride, Draconic Frenzy Special Action! Stinger VS Ashes:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (2) + 17 = 19 Fangs vs Ashes:1d20 + 17 - 5 ⇒ (16) + 17 - 5 = 28 Fangs Damage:2d10 + 7 ⇒ (6, 7) + 7 = 20 Stinger VS Ashes:1d20 + 17 - 10 ⇒ (8) + 17 - 10 = 15
The triple attack from the Drake's special ability flails haphazardly, only landing one blow against the vampire!
The green drake follows suite, moving up and attacking Rakdon with the same level of ferocity!
Stinger VS Rakdon:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23 Fangs vs Rakdon:1d20 + 17 - 5 ⇒ (1) + 17 - 5 = 13 Stinger VS Rakdon:1d20 + 17 - 10 ⇒ (15) + 17 - 10 = 22
As if to Rakdon's own fortune, the jungle drake slips on a bucket that fell off the party's cart and fumbles ALL of its attacks!
Round 2: Filthy Wish Dragons!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Blue Drake(-72,Burning 1d4)
Green Drake(-24,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-26,Enfeebled 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Red Drake(-28,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-18,Fine)
Goat(-22,Poisoned, Enfeebled 1)
Round 1: Filthy Wish Dragons!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Blue Drake(-51,Burning 1d4)
Green Drake(-24,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Red Drake(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-0,Fine)
The Blue drake is blasted by flames, then battered by water! The fires catch on and persist through the water, igniting the drake! While Stokes and Kuatha box the blue drake to death, the red drake inches in on the now stranded Clynter.
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Blue Drake(-51,Burning 1d4)
Green Drake(-24,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Red Drake(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-18,Fine)
Goat(-0,Fine)
The goat charges forward, looking to support the Boneyman in his time of need!
The drake, in response to the goat's charge, lashes out with its tail!
Reaction; Twisting Tail; Stinger:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32CRITICAL! Damage:2d6 + 7 ⇒ (3, 1) + 7 = 11 Goat Fort Save:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13 Goat Poison Damage:1d6 ⇒ 5
The goat finds its charge suddenly halted by the stinger attack, but it decides to push forward anyways.
All 3 goat actions used to move.
"Imma gonna go check out this bridge." Clynters hops onto the first plank then the next plank one; merrily skipping along the rickety bridge.
Interesting choice of words.
Clynter skips along the bridge, tempting fate all along the way. As he reaches further into the middle of the bridge, suddenly he feels a heavy presence on the bridge behind him. The boney man turns around, and sees a drake!
*********************************
Back at the caravan wagon, the party sees a large form jump out of the shadows of the trees, cutting off their view of Clynter! As they ready themselves to charge into battle, the sound of two large thumps from the left and right can be heard. Two of the drake creatures appeared from the jungle on the party's flanks!
Round 1: Filthy Wish Dragons!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Blue Drake(-0,Fine)
Green Drake(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Red Drake(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Goat(-0,Fine)
Weapon drawn, Rakdon fires at green, reloads, and fires again!
Taw Launcher VS Green:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (17) + 16 = 33CRITICAL! Taw Launcher Damage:2d10 ⇒ (6, 6) = 12 Taw Launcer VS Green:1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (3) + 16 - 5 = 14 Taw Launcher Damage:2d10 ⇒ (1, 10) = 11
The green drake takes a taw STRAIGHT to the FACE!! It reels in pain from the attack, and it roars in anger! It spits venom at Rakdon! Its burst catches Ashes within its range!
Spit Venom Reflex Save: Rakdon:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15 Spit Venom Reflex Save: Ashes:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18 Spit Venom Fortitude Save: Rakdon:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29 Spit Venom Fortitude Save: Ashes:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 Damage Poison:1d6 ⇒ 3
Rakdon manages to tough out the venom, but Ashes finds it to be troublesome!
Ashes is now Enfeebled 1; -1 to Strength based rolls.
The blue drake rushes forward, looking to attack Stokes and Kuatha!
Fangs VS Kuatha:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (3) + 17 = 20 Stinger VS Stokes:1d20 + 17 - 5 ⇒ (3) + 17 - 5 = 15
Both its attacks miss wide!
Round 1: Filthy Wish Dragons!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Blue Drake(-0,Fine)
Green Drake(-24,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 2)(-6,Enfeebled 1)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 2)(-0,Fine)
Red Drake(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Lore Dragon, Arcana DC22, Specific Lore at 17, Unspecified at 20:
Jungle Drake Large Dragon Wood Believed to be related to horned dragons, jungle drakes are dangerous hunters equipped with a debilitating venom delivered by a large barbed stinger or their noxious phlegm. Their wings are equipped with vestigial claws that allow them to deftly maneuver through thick jungle foliage both in flight and on foot. Jungle drakes prefer to ambush their prey using hit-and-run tactics, picking off the weakest members of a group and dragging their victims off to finish their meals as they please. Rampages of jungle drakes will often drag prey in many directions to divide pursuit.
The crumbled highway ends at the edge of a large gorge, which must have cut across this path after the highway was already built. Trees and vines choke its entire width and obscure how deeply it plunges, but the sound of rushing water far below indicates a river flowing at its bottom.
Two large posts support a wide bridge of rope and planks, but the opposite end of the bridge leads into darkness within the thick jungle.
GM Screen:
GCRKS:5d20 ⇒ (4, 1, 3, 11, 8) = 27
Unfortunately, no one is really able to tell how secure the bridge is and if crossing with the wagon is safe or not.
One long spooky bridge that crosses the chasm. Do you ride your wagon across?
The green wisp dissipates and then fizzles out! Upon seeing the other two wisps disperse, the third wisp makes a retreat!
Fly, Fly, Fly
The party loses sight of the creature, but after how much damage they were able to deal to its fellow sprites, they feel confident that the wisp won't be looking to return for a rematch.
Searching around the site, the party finds a half buried knapsack near an old firepit.
It contains a darkwood music box carved with cavorting animals worth 20 gp, a lensatic compass, a minor elixir of life, a vial of lesser antiplague, and a
wand that you would need to identify.
Identify Wand, Arc/Rel/Nat/Occ DC26:
WAND OF TEEMING GHOSTS
This pale wooden wand is carved to resemble a thigh bone with metal caps at each end. Ghostly tendrils seem to swirl around it every so often.
Activate Cast a Spell; Frequency once per day, plus overcharge; Effect You cast false life of the indicated level. During the duration of the spell, wisps that resemble spirits flit around you as long as you have any temporary Hit Points from false life, and you can use the following action.
Activation [free-action] envision; Trigger You successfully impart the frightened 1 condition to a creature;
Requirements You have temporary Hit Point; Effect You end false life and increase the creature’s frightened condition value to 2.
After two more shocks, the goat collapses to the ground, its legs sticking straight into the air. Without medical attention it may no longer be alive!!!
Round 2: Spooky Dancing Lights!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Goat(-60,Dying 1)
Red Light(-64,Dead)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 0)(-15,Fine)
Green Light(-0,Fine)
Blue Light(-17,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 1)(-30,Fine)
Ashes determines the creatures to be will-o-wisps, and understands a very inconvenient fact about them - these little bastards are invulnerable to magic!
Giving Ashes a new choice of actions.
The barrage of attacks from Rakdon and Stokes seems to do a significant amount of damage to the red wisp!
Round 2: Spooky Dancing Lights!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Goat(-26,Fine)
Red Light(-40,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 0)(-15,Fine)
Green Boggards(-0,Fine)
Blue Light(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Ashes has 2 remaining actions.
The goat decides to take the easier target, and join the flanking conga line!
Round 1: Spooky Dancing Lights!
Light Condition: Dim, Outdoors, Jungle
Active Buffs: None
Active Penalties: None
Goat(-26,Fine)
Red Light(-0,Fine)
Clynter Glittergrin (Rerolls: 0)(-15,Fine)
Green Boggards(-0,Fine)
Blue Light(-0,Fine)
Kazavel Ashes Aldaris (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Rakdon Tripus (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Stokes Celerity (Rerolls: 1)(-0,Fine)
Lore Aberration, Nature, Occultism DC22, Specific Lore at 17, Unspecified at 20:
Will-O'-Wisp Small Air Aberration Malevolent balls of colored light, will-o'-wisps haunt lonely marshes and forests, where they lure unsuspecting travelers into danger.
As the group gets off their caravan to investigate, Clynter and Rakdon find some graffiti scratched into the wall. Clynter scratches his head as he is unable to understand the Mwangi writing. Rakdon reads it out loud for everyone.
Apologies for my absence half of the month. @Rakdon Its one chronicle for the whole bundle. @Stokes With everything the party stolen acquired factored in, it comes out to a total of 689gp.
The youth that Ashes now mentors, who goes by the name of Kuatha, awaits further orders from his new master.
The trip from Kibwe to Holy Xatambra and Oenopion will take 140 miles through jungle terrain, with an ancient road that once connected the distant points. Vegetation grows wild over the path, but it looks as though it was taken care of a month prior with deadfall and overgrowth having not enough time to completely engulf it.
GM Screen:
Random:1d3 ⇒ 2
The first day comes and goes, with the wild noises of the jungle following the party. They make a considerable distance in their city regulation caravan wagon they stole procured with the blessing of the government.
The second day comes around and they stumble upon the crumbled remains of a highway pass the ruins of a large stone building. Most of the building's side wall is gone, and plain evidence of past campfires is scattered inside. The first sign of any civilization the party has found anything of.
As per my understanding, you gain no benefit but it would not hurt you. Just annoy you.
With the ritual deciphered and two participants chosen, they engage in the task to activate the room. Everything appears to go in order, but after 10 minutes of this pass the orb dissipates. It is uncertain exactly what happened or what is going on other than it seems that some key component to this ritual is missing. Inspecting the mural again shows what the missing component is, the Cursebreaker itself. When asking Croakchief Globbit about it, he simply states, "The Tomil guy who gifted me this building, he had a badge with a snake on it. He stole something from here, but what it was is not known to me. All I know is he stole it from that room you were in for a while."
This unfortunate circumstance for the humans is indeed a nuisance for you all, Tomil stealing the cursebreaker and the building is essentially useless without it. With the map in hand you know that Holy Xatramba is 140 miles due east and would take a caravan trip to get to and back, with Oenopion being the nearest settlement.
That concludes part 1 of The Slithering.
Meeting up with Abayone, she's been following up on two things in particular; the first being the Khalibi Caravan House and the Aspis Agents running it, and the second being why there have been an increase of fires happening in the city recently. As far as what she knows about Tomil, most of it is what you have already confirmed for yourselves.
"Rumors say he ventured to the demon-haunted city known as Holy Xatramba in the jungles to the southeast. Evidence is that he took something large—perhaps a heavy statue—there. This isn't the first time he's been connected with that evil place. There have been persistent rumors for as long as he’s been in the city that he was raised in Xatramba among wicked cultists who revere the demon lord Angazhan. Tomil never formally disavowed these rumors or Angazhan’s worship, so perhaps he retained some connection with his homeland. Explorers tell of a complex called the Plaza of the Feasting Fiend on the north edge of Xatramba, where humans venerate Angazhan with horrid sacrifices and schemes to dominate those around them. It sounds like Tomil didn’t stray far from his upbringing."
After hearing what you have to report about the Cursebreaker, her face darkens and grimaces. "That son of a b****! He prepared for the curse by stealing and hiding the only thing that could break it! We need that statue back. No doubt he also used those fires to distract us and hide evidence!" When you show her the map she breaths some relief "He may have tried to hide it all, but its a good thing you found evidence of his evil deeds before he could destroy the evidence."
Feel free to make any preparations you need before you go to Holy Xatramba. The journey will take 9 days via wagon through the jungle.
Croakchief Globbit considers this for a moment, "Immortality you say? That would be an enticing gift of one such as my stature." It seems between the strong Diplomatic approach from Stokes to disengage the fight and Ashes 'bribery', the Boss of the Boggards is quite open to working with you. Whether or not it is to his benefit is an unknown factor.
I will let Ashes RP that out after pushing through the next segment here.
With free passage offered to the group, they can now proceed to its final chamber. Croakchief tells them, "We have not gone into that room ourselves, ever since the human named 'Tomil' had recently stolen something of value from it. He then paid us to keep guard over it."
Tomil and what you know:
You found Tomil, or at least what you believe to be Tomil, back at the Khabli Caravan House. He succumbed to the Slithering Plague in his office room. You have notes on his plans, as well as his tome that you were able to open with brute force. There was also the stones you found that had a note addressed to him inside the box about their potency being increased in containment.
An enormous sun symbol carved into the floor of this room glows with a warm light. The symbol is a loose spiral with triangles surrounding it like rays. Two holes pierce the stone floor in the symbol, one at the symbol’s center and the other at the end of the sun-spiral. The walls are carved with intricate runes and myriad shapes of animalistic humanoid warriors, and it takes only a moment of examination to realize that these shapes represent the Pillar-Watchers around Kibwe. A raised dais at the far end of the room contains a pedestal for a statue, but no statue is present.
The carvings on the walls are written in an archaic version of Mwangi.
Decipher with Arcana or Society DC20:
This appears to be an inventory, though it is not exact. because some well-known Pillar-Watchers aren’t presented here and others are now lost to the city, either having been stolen or destroyed long ago. The Pillar-Watchers are named in the text with titles such as “Boneseeker,” “Crykeeper,” and “Fallowbringer.” Cursebreaker is one of the listed Pillar-Watchers, and the eland-headed image here is just as Abayone described to the heroes.
Activating the Sun Symbol DC22 Nature or Religion, at least 2 people must succeed this check, +2 bonus if you succeed the Decipher check:
To activate the sun symbols, the heroes must first perform the ritual illustrated on the wall carvings. With one person standing in the center of the symbol and the other going to the room below and standing in the center of that room's symbol, an intangible orb of light 1 foot in diameter appears around the character at the center of the upper sun symbol and moves away along the spiral.
When it reaches the end of the spiral, it drops through the hole in the floor to the center of the lower sun and traces a similar path along that spiral. When the orb reaches the end, it rises up through the ceiling to the center of this symbol and begins the path again. The orb moves quickly, completing the circuit of the upper symbol in a matter of seconds and then a circuit of the lower symbol.
Each time the orb returns to the upper sun symbol, the pedestal on the dais at the east end of the room glows as well. The moving light is plainly powering the pedestal, although its precise effects aren’t clear.
Every time the orb completes a run, everyone who benefits from life giving energy heals their character level in hit points.
The boggard chieftan, Globbit, laughs at Clynter's offer of the goat. "A pitiful creature! What would I want a livestock for when I could have riches?!" He holds up his hand, revealing he has gold bracelets with gemstones.
Globbit looks down from his raised 'throne' at Stokes, weighing his options between his hubris and his greed. "And what tribute would you bring to offer such a peace treaty from the humans?"
