I'd imagine Nethys priests blowing crap up, much like a science demonstration focused on the showy effects & power more than the principles Priests of Nethys just acting like Tim the Enchanter is not something I had previously considered but I love it.
16-year necro! That's impressive.
Having gotten the ram to calm down from actively murderous, Barcos hangs back with it while the group finishes searching the compound. He sends Baron Barksley away for a moment, asking him to use his collar of disguise to make himself look like one of the great white dogs that Taldan farmers use to guard sheep before returning. Taking a different approach, he simply sits near it at a safe distance, humming a shepherd's tune he learned as a boy while chewing on a stalk of grass. Herd animals like sheep trusted their own, and he did his best to make himself seem like one. He says calmly to the ram while maintaining the mystic connection possible from his druidcraft, "Your master is hurt. We can help, but only if you let us. Come with her as she comes with us, and we will heal her as best we can."
Barcos motions to Baron Barksley to back off. The ram was alone, it's master dead. To kill it now would be to kill a scared animal. There was no honor in that. He lowers his head and stomps several times, a show of force and restraint, as far as sheep are concerned, as if to say, "I could butt you, but I won't." He then raises his head and locks eyes with it, extending a hand to it in the same way he had to the elephant. The connection was wordless, but the message was, "Be calm. We have no wish to hurt you. You can be free from fighting, and find soft grass to eat, gentle hills to roam, and many lambs to raise."
It's vague, perhaps intentionally so, such that a GM can make it whatever they want it to be. The answer is this. The entire matter of the Eternal Emperor and the Oracular Council and the Five Dragon Throne exists as a plot hook for GMs to slot whatever character they want into it. If the game revolves around finding the reincarnation for a virtuous and diligent spin on the Oracular Council, it's whoever passes all the tests that the GM comes up with to determine proof of reincarnation. If it's about getting the newly discovered reincarnation past a villainous and corrupt spin on the Oracular Council, then the test might just be beating up a bunch of oracles. If it's a pesky player that's too big for their britches that decides to sit on the throne, it's as simple as "Boom, lightning bolt from a dragon. You're dead, sorry."
Cyclops aren't getting smaller. If anything, cyclops are getting bigger. Great cyclops, the ones that are Huge at 30 feet tall, are postulated to be a result of degeneration and mutation of normal cyclops, and the ultimate fate of the cyclops now that their empires have fallen.
Officially, Asmodeus never lies. Everything he says is true. But A. truth is relative B. he's powerful enough to make the truth almost anything he wants and C. an infernal contract can be complex enough to be perfectly truthful but also able to screw people over in every sort of way they'd never expect.
Also, I wouldn't take Divine Mysteries as a list of ALL of them. The Kyton Demagogues, I believe the Rakshasa and Oni deities, and several other groups were not included either. It WOULD be cool to see an expanded-expanded pdf with ALL of them, for people who want to worship or fight them. That, or some hypothetical Divine Apocrypha book way in the future that gives us even more gods.
Just got back and situated at college for the semester, will post tomorrow.
With that, the dog begins to get the hang of it, doing a loop in the air before letting out a triumphant howl and exclaiming, "Oh, hells yeah! I'm the best damn dog in all of Taldor, it's over for all the rest of the mangy mutts!"
Cat versus dog, the classic showdown. Baron Barksley was sure he would win. With magically enhanced speed he bites at the lion that had attacked him.
But big-time whiffs it.
My take on the Beyond Beyond vs the Dark Tapestry is that at a certain point, once you get far enough, it all blurs together. Outer Planes and Inner Planes dissolving into one another in the incomprehensible outer darkness where unspeakable things lurk.
I’m still here, just wrestling with a hectic stretch of IRL stuff.
They could very well have originated in Golarion and were banished to Earth just recently during the turmoil of the Godsrain. Them originating on Golarion is actually canon! When the Keleshites invaded Osirion and functionally outlawed their worship in 1532 AR, the gods of Osirion retreated from Golarion for the land of Kemet on Earth. This date lines up with the late period of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Ultimately, it's a weird but fun detail in Pathfinder lore that, rather than the case being that the Egyptian gods are also worshipped on Golarion, the Osiriani gods chose a similar world with humans living in a desert along a life-giving river to set up a fallback/second kingdom, and one they made their primary domain for thousands of years. While I can somewhat understand the Pathfinder writers wanting to reduce the amount of real-life Earth religious figures in the setting, it's still a bummer to have them written out of the setting and lose a zany piece of lore like that.
The Barcos that arrives at the meeting with the Baron is not even recognizable as the hobo druid, and his loyal hound is unrecognizable as well! Rather, he is in his guise as Reginald Weatherby, the foppish half-elf with his "new pet," a somewhat scraggly little terrier with a pink bow around his neck. If any of the party comments on it, the dog speaks in a voice that is unmistakably that of Baron Barksley, just a fair bit more high pitched. During the meeting with the Baron, Reginald is the height of etiquette, delicately nibbling at the provided food and creating subtle distractions so his canine companion can eat his fill as well, "It is ever so lovely to know that you're back to sleeping well." He nods emphatically to Elmar's points, "My, my, a skilled mage with a razor-sharp sense of politics. I see I've got competition."
Barcos laughs at his faithful hound's antics and ruffles the fur between the dog's ears before looking Elmar in the eyes. His tone is mirthful, but there's a steely edge beneath it, "No. I am of one world. One of squalor, of suffering, of the heavy cost incurred by the fortunate who see my fellow paupers as disposable. I respect those caught between them, but I know the world in which I live, and I know that I cannot leave it behind."
In an accent even more rough and uncouth, the ragged man's dog begins to speak, seemingly directly to Shendra, "Oi! Flutter stuff! You think you're so fancy 'cause you can speak in my noggin! Well that's b%!+~@#s! I'm the best damn beast in whole group, and don't you get it twisted, you 'ear?"
Barcos chuckles at Rose's introduction of him as Lord Weatherby. "My ragged appearance belies my high station in...nah, I jest. Reginald's a character I've got that's useful when dealing with the gentry. The name's Barcos, no fancy titles beyond that." Though initially speaking in a voice that drips with the idle privilege of Taldor's upper crust, he switches to the brogue of the Taldan lower classes almost immediately, sounding a bit more natural as he does so.
Should be more properly back soon. Start of the semester has been busy too, but hoping there should be some calmer periods soon.
Baron Barksley accepts the pet, though perhaps a smidge grudgingly.
The fey claps his hands together in delight at Topper Red’s poem before striking an imperious pose and reciting his own verse. ”On victory’s tender flesh feast we
Seeing a pointed look from Eskra he sighs, ”Blast and damn. Noble and full of potential that ye new squires be, our hosts to the north would consider us poor houseguests should we bring what they consider bandits in our wake. Stay here and man the fortress, let not fire or ruin or war or the world’s bones unmaking cause it’s walls to fall.”
Baron Barksly easily powers through whatever fell magic the barghest tries to use to ensorcell his mind. Despite what he might claim, he is a good boy in his heart of hearts, and would never betray his friends.
He tries to snap at the barghest, but doesn't fare too well.
Love the description for Amideo’s downtime! Spot-on for what he’d have done and what he’d have come away with.
Baron Barksley yells, "Bastard! Givin' us canines an awful name." With that, he charges in, going for the barghest's legs to wrench it for the ground.
As he slays the final bandit leader, Carageorn lets out an ululating roar of triumph, halfway between the clarion of a hunting horn and a vicious battle cry. ”Yes, yes, YES! Glory and rule awaits, the crown upon my brow once lost but soon to be reclaimed, the new blooming of the rose upon which the bloody briar rests, the flowering vine’s sweet and heady smell of blossom-birth.”
The fey warrior whoops with glee and triumph. It was his blade, his overwhelming prowess, that had killed the Stag Lord and paved the way for his kingdom's grand rebirth. Riding high on that, he turns to Auchs and bellows, "Mightily have I slain thy lord! Thou have not stood down, so ye shall share his bloody fate!" He makes three quick strikes at the hulking bandit.
Eskra begins spinning a tale of Carageorn's great and mighty deeds, "And so, in the grim and ancient days when the tyrant stag still ruled the Greenwoods, did brave and noble Carageorn appear to slay him, at his ide noble hounds and hunting-mates aplenty!" As they speak, faint sounds of barking dogs and bugling horns can be heard in the room. They then place a hand on Carageorn's shoulder, "Get the bastard." Carageorn's blades then begin to glow with shifting green light.
Will have my updated sheet up soon, got a few more edits to do but I unfortunately and annoyingly caught Covid, and my brain feels like mush as a result of it. I'm on the mend though, and should hopefully be more up to it in the next few days.
Barcos mutters a few words in Druidic, giving Baron Barksley a pat between the ears as he does so. His hand glows with soft light while he does this, light that the hound seems to absorb. He says quietly, "Keep your eyes away from her, but give her hell."
With that, the hound rushes in, trying to bite the medusa.
He doesn't do too well, however.
Been a very fun one, y’all! Thanks for such a great ride.
Carageorn raises an unsettlingly long finger and says to the two of them, his tone sounding like he's pointing out something insightful, "Ah, yes, of course! It is said that should thy flowery words fail you, stab the hearts and stomachs of thy foes first. Once your foe shuffles back from the dead, they shall be left with a heartache and a stomachache to remind them of thy stunning victory. All know this to be true."
Eskra grins and shakes their head, ”Nah, won’t be me. It’ll be Carageorn, sure as sunrise. Terms of our agreement, bound in soul. I’m to return him his royal destiny, to do all in my power to make him a king. That just means he’ll be the mayor, ruler, whatnot on paper. He doesn’t wanr to rule, just wants the title.” They take a moment to inspect their nails, acting nonchalant as possible, ”I, however, want the opposite. Damn the titles, I want the power, not a whit of the pomp. Carageorn will be the Lord-Mayor, what have you, and I will be his humble Seneschal, ruling from the shadows as an indispensable attendant to Carageorn’s magnanimous leadership.”
Uchurtai grins and takes his payout. With newfound skills and a bit more creds, Uchurtai returns to the life he knows and loves best. For any of the party who want to keep in touch with him, he can be found out in the Akitonian deserts, the wind on his tusks as he tears along the shobhad convoy routes on his newly upgraded and tricked-out enercycle. In time, perhaps, he will make the pilgrimage to the Pillar of the Sky, to climb to it's height and become a warchief of the shobhad, maybe even lead them in a great raid to cement their independence. But for now, Uchurtai is free and happy, doing what he loves best.
Barcos furrows his brow at the baron’s tale. Though normally rather skeptical of the “struggles” of the nobility, this man is clearly suffering. While he would eagerly try the use of his magic to help soothe the man, he’s still in disguise as the foppish Reginald Weatherby. And so, he places his hand on his chest and takes an exaggerated breath before saying, ”Oh my, how utterly ghastly. I am truly sorry for your horrid nightmare milord.”
Rovagug.... is...........
Rovagug lives! Awesome that the death of Rovagug kinda sorta ends the world.
Totally agreed that Iomedae had a hand in Arazni's death! I've mentioned it here and on Reddit a few times and to put it lightly, folks did not agree despite having some clear sources showing it was the case, so it's nice to see other people are putting those pieces together. Might not be too holy, but it sure is some vindication! I pretty firmly believe that Iomedae was the one to give the order to bind Arazni. My take on the Fourth Act was that it happened before Iomedae summoned and then bound Arazni. It's also possible that it happened post-binding but pre-death, because the Knights summoned her in 3818 and then she was killed by the Whispering Tyrant in 3823. Hell, it's possible Arazni didn't even know about the binding until the battle where it got her killed.
Carageorn takes a look at the two fey before looking askance at Nidintu, "Speak not for myself! I am steadfast and dignified, no matter the times. I would never stoop to speaking in rhymes." He is, seemingly, entirely oblivious to his rhyming.
Our friendly neighborhood Great Old One, snuffed out by the darkness she came from! Quite poetic. As my favorite member of the Prismatic Ray, I'm glad to see Desna is safe.
“Reginald” raises his eyebrows and gives a rather foppish laugh as he shoots a slightly exaggerated glance at Marius, ”How dreadfully fascinating! Members of a vanished cavalry company riding by night to an abandoned manor of grim repute. I say milord, this grows more exciting by the minute.. Rest assured though, lords and ladies, we will get to the bottom of this.” As he talks, he tries to recall anything he’s heard about Orvestikar Manor.
Quite a bit! So my best events are bucking, where you use a crosscut saw a bit like this either alone or with a partner to saw through a log. There’s also chopping, where you cut through a log with an axe, tree climbing where you’ve got boot spikes and a big rope kinda Mulan-style, and chainsaw events where you cut a log with a chainsaw as fast and precise as possible.
As the party prepares to meet with the council, Barcos briefly steps out of the room. The man who returns is...well, not Barcos. He is a half-elf, dressed in ostentatious clothes and with blond hair in pompous curls. His expression seems rather vapid, but there's a shrewdness in his eyes that only the party would recognize as belonging to the beggar-druid. Baron Barksley is similarly changed, looking more like a well-groomed hunting dog than the street hound he normally appears as. Barcos bows slightly to the party, his voice putting on a deliberate high society aspect, "May I introduce you all to Reginald Weatherby, Esquire. Charmed to meet you all, truly." ------------------------------------------------- At the council meeting, "Reginald" bows deeply to the assembled crowd, "Good day, milords and miladies. I am Reginald Weatherby Esquire, landholder in Stachys and attaché to Lord Erallan. It is an honor to be in the presence of such esteemed men and women, and our privilege to be able to assist you all in any way we can."
Stayven shakes his head at Ahto's question, "Not a scratch on me, thank you very much." As Ahto does his sin eating ritual, Stayven shoots a look to Faerin. Though wordless, it does a decent job of subtly conveying something like, "Yeah, I think it's weird too."
Woo! Hard to kill what's already dead. The hint that Arazni might be the one to do the slaying is lending credence to my theory that it'll be Iomedae.Wait, why would Arazni slay Iomedae? Did I miss something? I believe the only thing we've been told about them (unfortunately, because I'd like to hear more) in so far is that Arazni has complex and ambivalent feelings about her old Paladin: That she resented her for reaching divinity easily, and that she was proud of her for her victory over the Shining Crusade. So there's one important detail about her relationship to Iomedae that isn't explicitly stated when sources describe Arazni's relationships with other gods. The Knights of Ozem, led by Iomedae at the time, summoned Arazni to help fight against the Whispering Tyrant. Despite Arazni being willing and eager to fight, the Knights bound Arazni to their will. With Iomedae as the leader of the knights, who else would've held the reins of power or given the order the bind Arazni? Because of that binding, she was unable to retreat when the Whispering Tyrant gained the upper ground, and she died because of it. Essentially, Iomedae willfully allowed Arazni to be murdered and kicked off the whole series of events that led to her becoming a lich. Arazni commands her followers to "despise and never forgive those who hurt you" and if I was in her shoes, I would see Iomedae as a person who hurt me.
Woo! Hard to kill what's already dead. The hint that Arazni might be the one to do the slaying is lending credence to my theory that it'll be Iomedae.
Barcos gives the Baron a sturdy pat on the flank. His voice is soft, ”It’s alright, Baron. Don’t get too riled up. She meant nothing of it. Just excited to meet a talking hound like yourself. Not many of those, there are.” He pulls a scrap of parchment from his pocket and scribbles something on it before handing it to Rose. It reads, ”Apologies for him. It’ll take some time to figure out his boundaries. He’s not a pet, never has been, and is nearly as smart as us. His intellect is new to the world, but his being isn’t. He’ll need respect and support to understand how to navigate it.”
Baron Barksley scoffs, almost interrupting Rose, "Learn to talk like us? Please, there's no way you could..." When she makes a barking noise, the hound growls slightly and he lightly bares his teeth, "My mum was a lovely woman. Do not say that about 'er."
Barcos gives a smile, "Believe me, a low profile is always the goal." He then chuckles and shrugs, "As for what I've been feeding him...well, where do you think a good chunk of my meals go? And from time to time your meals. Aaand, well, everyone else's...any case, I doubt it's the food. This feels different. A bit more mystical."
Before Barcos can say anything more, the dog yips excitedly and implausibly begins speaking. His voice sounds like a street thug aping at nobility, ”Gods be damned, ‘ats lovely getting to talk now. Hells, I didn’t even know I could talk until not too long ago.” The dog casts a glare at Lord Wobblekins. If a dog could sneer, Baron Barksley would be, ”And you! You’ve ‘ad a long enough run bein’ the only talkin’ beastie in this here group. Now, your reign ends! Make way for Baron Barksley.” He laughs and lets out a howl.
|
