Zaidel carefully casts prestidigitation on the area around the magical rod and the rod itself. Very cautiously, the godling picks up the rod, hands it over to Liriiestil, then explains what magical energies he observed around the object.
The godling fires off a bolt from his magical crossbow at the behemoth, using the fireball option and dumping a mythic point into the shot.
+1 Holy Crossbow, heavy:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32 Dmg.:2d6 + 1 + 2d6 ⇒ (1, 2) + 1 + (3, 4) = 11 x 2 = 22
Zaidel huffed, "Wow! More like that to come, I imagine. Well, let's scout ahead, or more to the point our invisible sniper might be able to scout ahead without incident." The godling dusts himself off and readies himself for the next insanity to occur.
The godling feels the skin take on a rocky hue, and unsheaths his shield from his backpack, understanding the plan.
"Okay, I'll try to keep to the right of the cavern, giving you all space for ranged attacks on the left."
Zaidel charges the monstrosity. Zaidel is hasted so he quickly closes the gap between himself and the party. Seeing how a charge is considered a full action attack, Zaidel will make an additional attack. Charge attack hasted:1d20 + 2 + 1 + 21 ⇒ (19) + 2 + 1 + 21 = 43 Confirming critical:1d20 + 2 + 1 + 21 ⇒ (18) + 2 + 1 + 21 = 42 Dmg.:1d8 + 11 + 1 + 2d6 ⇒ (8) + 11 + 1 + (3, 2) = 25 x 2 = 50
Additional attack:1d20 + 2 + 21 ⇒ (11) + 2 + 21 = 34 Dmg.:1d8 + 11 + 2d6 ⇒ (5) + 11 + (6, 6) = 28
"Okay, guys. Gather close. Let's see if this works."
Zaidel raises a fist to the sky, opening it at the periphery of his reach, casting a spell with a small emerald green flash.
Everyone has haste for 10 rounds.
Zaidel, being a little taken aback, takes the offered canteen back and takes a swig. "Actually, I barely know what's going on at any given time. I just kinda 'nod' and go with it."
Intently listening to the exchange between lord and vassal, Zaidel jumps slightly when a small hand taps on his broad shoulder.
"Wha..! No. We are definitely not safe." The godling whispered to the new Erika. "Until you get your abilities back, stay behind me or Liriiestil."
Zaidel quickly stows his longsword, keeping his hands free. Stepping behind Liriiestil, the godling unleashes a powerful ball of electricity upon the tangled fey.
Fireball (using Common Element Ascendancy (electricity):10d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 2, 6, 6, 3, 3, 1, 1, 3) = 32
Zaidel immediately goes through his backpack, finding his ioun torch and activating it. "A little notice would have been nice", whispers the irritated godling.
The big warrior listens carefully for any noise coming from either hallways.
Perception:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32
"I guess we go in like it's any other dungeon", Zaidel relents. "Blind."
Looking to the elf feylord, the godling nods, "I'm ready to go on Liriiestil's say."
A little surprised the others were looking to him, Zaidel went with it, turning and gives a courtly bow before The King of Dandelions.
"Your Majesty, is there any new intel on The Barrow or it's activities?"
"Uh, guys?!" Zaidel asks, hoping for some assistance.
"Okay. Believe it or not, you are in the court of a fey monarch. Yesterday, we found our group after a siege of an evil floating city. Beyond that, I hardly know you, really."
Okay, folks. Bare with this post. It'll be a long one. Something I've had in the works for a few months now.
Zaidel, along with the rest of The Returned, are treated to a lavish dinner courtesy of The King of Dandelions. The big warrior sat across from Liriiestil , which was fortunate, because Zaidel had a few questions about some of the food items he could not recognize. Thankfully, his noble fey friend was willing to explain some of the more stranger offerings. During the meal, the god-blooded warrior noticed a few fey maidens looking over their delicate hand fans at Zaidel, which was a new experience for the former hard-on-his-luck hotel auditor he was on Earth.
Earth. The Prison. No wonder most of his life Joe..I mean, Zaidel felt stifled. His life on Earth had some good points, but the more he looked back at his former life, the more Zaidel could see the metaphorical bars on the windows.
After his sumptuous meal, Zaidel was going to get up and see if he could 'chat up' one of the beautiful fey ladies at the dinner. Yet, as soon as he stood up from the table, the big warrior finally began to feel the weight of the day. The very VERY long day. When asked by a court page if Zaidel and the others would follow them to their rooms, the god-blooded warrior did not object. As Zaidel entered his room, he was amazed at it's extravagance and size. It was easily as large as a gymnasium. With a large, well-made gilded bed in the center. The big warrior was going to find his coin purse and tip the page, but the young fey had already left.
Now that he was in his sleeping quarters, the feeling of sleep grew stronger. As he was removing his armor and boots, the need for sleep got noticeably stronger. In a not-at-all natural kind of way. Zaidel began to panic. What's going on?! This! This feels wrong! I gotta get out of here!!
Zaidel walked a few steps toward the end of the bed, when his body collapsed on the soft larger-than-King bed. Eyelids feeling like they had a thousand pounds on them. Zaidel mumbled a futile cry for help, then fell right to sleep.
The first dream of Zaidel Michigan:
Damn it! Joe Waskalis swore at himself. I promisied myself NEVER AGAIN!
The forty-something overweight balding man stood outside the front door of Union High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The night auditor could clearly see the school's sign on the lawn: Union High School. Home of the Redhawks. The rusty red-bricked complex loomed over Joe. He swore he would never return to this hellhole! 'I did my four years', Joe would always say, 'And I'm never going back! Even if I won the Nobel Peace Prize or something! NEVER!' But he was here. And with nothing better to do, the former student walked in the front doors.
Despite the lights in the hall being on, the place looked deserted. No students. No faculty. Nobody. Joe found himself putting one foot in front of the other and began to walk the halls. The lockers. Posters for upcoming events. Clocks mounted on the walls. They were all still there. Nobody else though. And for some reason, Joe liked it that way. After passing the large cafeteria, the Union High School alumni took the nearby stairway up to explore the second floor. The stairs. The railing. The windows looking out. All the same. At the top of he stairs, Joe heard a loud clicking sound at the bottom of the stairs. Looking down, it looked like someone had turned all the lights off on the first floor, for the window in the hallway door was dark. Oddly, Joe Waskalis did not feel afraid, just confused. Huh. Weird.
The big man began to walk the second floor hallway. he would sometimes stop to look inside deserted classrooms, reminiscing. This is where I took Algebra as a sophomore. God that was boring. And just after lunch, so I was super-tired. Joe walked until he got to a intersection of halls. Once there, the hallway lights leading down the hallway to the left went out. Then the hallway behind him lost it's lights, illuminating the hallway ahead of him. Very strange, but for some reason, not troubling.
"I guess I go this way", Joe said to no one in particular.
At the end of the hallway, one of the classroom doors were open, and the closer Joe got to the room, the overhead lights in the hallway began to turn off as he passed them, clearly leading the former c-average student to the open classroom. As Joe arrived at the open classroom, he saw only two desks: one teacher desk and one student chair with the classic built-in desk. Joe wedged his body into the student desk. Man! I gotta lose some weight!
Joe sat in that chair for a bout a half a minute, until he could hear someone walking up the hallway toward the classroom. The person that walked in looked very familiar. His gangly appearance was one he wore around most mortals, but Joe knew him to be The Vulture King, who sat down behind the teacher's desk.
"Hey, V.K.! How's it going?"
The deity looked puzzled at himself and his surrounds.
"I-I don't think I'm really The Vulture King", the gangly man pondered aloud. "Rather I think I'm a representation of The Vulture King. Or maybe I am. I'm not sure. Mortal dreamscapes are most confusing. Oh, you are dreaming, by the way."
Joe looked around his surroundings as well.
"Makes sense, I guess. I would never come here otherwise."
The man in his forties frowned. "I hate these dreams! I graduated over twenty ago. I should not be dreaming about this place anymore!"
The representation of The Vulture King nodded. "I believe your brain is using this memory of your school as a basis for a 'place of learning'". "Aw, man! Is this one of those profound dreams you learn something true about yourself then forget it minutes after you wake up. So damn annoying!"
V.K. frowned as he pondered Joe's words. "No. I believe the polar opposite is in order." The deity stood up and picked up a large picture frame covered in a white cloth in the corner that Joe didn't notice before, and walked in front of Joe's desk.
V.K., or the representation of V.K. removed the white cloth with a flourish, revealing a mirror.
Joe gazed into the mirror to find a astonished Zaidel Michigan staring back at him. Wearing his armor and weapons, the god-blooded warrior who helped end a siege on a fantasy city hours earlier, blinked in surprise.
"This, currently", The Vulture King said, "is who you truly are!"
Joe..no, Zaidel asked, "Wait! What do you mean 'currently'?"
V.K. sighed and explained, "Zaidel is what is called a 'larva' stage. Zaidel Michigan is a construct you created for your mind to accept that you are not a mere human, but the half-divine offspring of a diety, or god. A godling."
The Vulture King walked back to the teacher's desk to prop the mirror against he wall and sit down. Zaidel looked down and only saw the heavily-muscled warrior he now knew himself to be.
"See!" The God of Avian Creatures said. "Even now, Joseph Waskalis is becoming a distant memory. In time, you will uncover greater truths about yourself, and you will fly as the preverbal butterfly."
Zaidel was going to ask some more questions, but V.K. held up his hand.
"Even in this timeless place, Time is short", The Vulture King said. "That makes no sense. Dream logic, I suppose."
V.K. then began a lecture about what Zaidel might expect being a godling, such as fighting divine minions of the godly rivals of his deific parent, explaining his domain lineages and divine traits.
At the end of the lecture, V.K. walked to the classroom door.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Zaidel asked The Vulture King.
"My time is over here. I believe I wlll either dissolve back into your psyche or, if I really am The Vulture King, or V.K., as you call me. I will see you..soon?" "V.K.! Do you know who my god-parent is?" "Not a clue. Good luck, young Zaidel."
The godling was going to get up from the chair, but again The Vulture King held up his hand.
"No. Stay. Learn." At that, a clipboard appeared in V.K. hand and read it.
"Looks like at least one more teacher is to arrive very soon. Sit tight, as the saying goes."
With a friendly wave, The Vulture King walks out of the classroom, closing the door behind him.
Either a few seconds or several millennia pass, until a large poof of purple smoke materialized behind the teacher's desk. Stunned, Zaidel sat there as the now-very old man in a long white beard, balding head, wearing clearly wizard's robes, took out a piece of chalk and wrote his name on the chalkboard. One word: Merlin.
"THE Merlin?!" Zaidel asked enthusiastically.
"How the hell should I know? This is your dream! Now! Kindly do not interrupt and listen!"
Merlin, or the dream equivalent, began a lecture on magic, more to the point, godling magic. The old wizard explained how godling magic works differently from traditional non-divine arcane magic, such as it's dispel resistance, lack of concentration needed, spontaneous castings, and lack of spell failure. Merlin also explained ascendancies, both minor and major, and spell selection. With every sentence understood, Zaidel could feel his mind unlocking those spells from deep within himself, and by the end of the lecture, Zaidel felt he could fully access those spells. A great feeling of relief and accomplishment washed over the godling.
After the lecture, Merlin sat up from the desk, looking like he was about to leave.
"What now?" The godling asked.
The old wizard looked around the room. "I believe...", Merlin paused, "the proprietor wishes to say a few words. Good luck, kid. Who knows. You might actually find me someday."
Looking to the door, the wizard of legend decided, "I think I use the door this time." At that, merlin opened the door and closed it behind him.
As the door clicked, all lights went out. Zaidel could no longer feel the desk under him. The godling seemed to float in a dark..universe..sky..nothingness. Then Zaidel noticed a flurry of lights rising up to meet him. As they got closer, the godling could make out the creatures: they looked like fluorescent butterflies. They flew up and circled Zaidel for a few seconds until flying to swirl several feet in front of him. As the swirling butterflies began to take the shape of a humanoid, the emptiness around him disappeared, replace by a country landscape at dusk. Turning back to the buttlerfies, Zaidel was amazed to find a beautiful dark-haired elven maiden in a flowing purple dress.
"Greetings, Zaidel", the elven woman said. "Can you guess who I am?"
The godling blinked as he remembered several Pathfinder books and novels, describing the ancient deity before him.
"Desna?!"
The Goddess of Dreams and Luck clapped her hands in satisfaction. "Well done, little godling. How are you?"
Zaidel quickly knelt in front of the formerly-believed fictional diety.
"Arise, Zaidel. I appreciate the sentiment, but that's not necessary", the diety cooed.
"Look at you", Desna commented, "My, you are growing big."
A question flashed in Zaidel's mind. "Um, Lady Desna? Do you know who my god-parent is?"
Desna sighed. "Yes. But I will not tell you. This you must find out on your own. I'm sorry, but that is an intrigual part of your journey." "Is my god-parent a god of Golarion?" The realm of Dreams crosses multiple universes and worlds, even Golarion, again I can not say," Desna conceded.
"Well", Zaidel asked. "What can you tell me?" "Zaidel. The road ahead of you will not be easy. You already have some idea of what may be in store for you and the other Returned. Even I do not have the right to tell you what you should do. I would like to ask that you continue to do good works throughout your journey, and be aware of hubris, the failure of many godlings."
Desna looked around the rolling hills around her. "I created this time for you to begin your journey in earnest. I did not necessarily see eye-to-eye with your god-parent, yet I saw the need to at least help you with your first steps into a greater existence." "Unlike most dreams, Zaidel, you will remember it all. Use the knowledge learned here to move forward."
Zaidel bowed his head in submission of these truths.
"Goodbye, Zaidel", Desna reached forward to embrace the godling. "With your godling nature, you do not need to sleep, so I'm not sure if we will meet again like this. If you feel as tired as you did before, do not fight it, unless it is a powerful sleeping spell, of course. It will be me, calling you, for another chat."
Desna then patted Zaidel's head, and whispered the words, "Awaken."
Zaidel woke up like a shotgun blast. The godling found himself under the covers of the lavish bed he fell unconscious on. Zaidel did remember everything about the dream. The godling got out of bed, and could smell he needed a shower..or did he? Concentrating on the spell now clearly in his find, by divine force of will, Zaidel casts prestidigitation on himself! The godling spells were there, in his mind..in his very being. After he cleaned himself by arcane means, the godling sat down on the bed, staring out into space.
"Thank you, Desna", Zaidel whispered to the universe.
Still reeling from the dream education he received, Zaidel made his way down to breakfast, explaining his dream to anyone who asks about the peculiar look Zaidel wore at the breakfast table.
