Zephyr emir's page

Busy week? I feel like there are hooks to pursue currently, or let me know your next plans.

There is a lot going on, yeah, which has kinda sucked

Whatever you can contribute is appreciated.

It is incredibly odd to me the connection I feel to this campaign sometimes. The Universe and exclipses notwithstanding, it isn't lost on me that I can sit down, pull up my browser, open this page ... and see that you have posted 44 seconds ago.

Team Elen,

I will be back tonight (wee hours again)
If there's anything we need that couldn't be botted, let me know?

Zephyr emir wrote:

The Declarative wrote:

Zeph, there is something about your group that has piqued the boy's interest - he does follow the others for at least a block or two (depending on how long you are observing)

Zeph stays 10' above and behind the young man for a few minutes before deciding to engage. He whispers very softly ...

"Do you know the language of our people little sylph? Would you like to meet the group of people you are so curious about? They are all extremely kind, you would like them."

[dice=DIPLO]1d20 +5

He jumps, looking around in vain, then nods eagerly. In sylph he replies, "I would like that. Are you...a sky elemental?"

Kind of assuming the two engaged somewhere off the beaten path, whilst the boy was shadowing ...

Zeph slowly releases the invisibility and decends to stand in front of the young man

"In truth, I am not ... but a very very good friend of mine is. He will be returning to our group soon. Would you like to meet him as well?"

Zephyr smiles at the young man

"My name is Zephyr emir, and I am a child of Father Sky, much like you. Walk with me. What is your name young man?"

Zeph, there is something about your group that has piqued the boy's interest - he does follow the others for at least a block or two (depending on how long you are observing)

Zeph stays 10' above and behind the young man for a few minutes before deciding to engage. He whispers very softly ...

"Do you know the language of our people little sylph? Would you like to meet the group of people you are so curious about? They are all extremely kind, you would like them."

DIPLO: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

Whispering to Anan, "I will be right back" Zeph becomes invisible in a moment the boy is not watching.

would any of you attempt to "hide" what you are, like making the air elemental stop whirling for a while, cover your phoenix symbol with a tabard, etc? The line is going quickly enough for peasantfolk and breadcarts, but you see that anyone with weapons or magic is being questioned more thoroughly.

"Fury my friend, fly above us, far above us, for several candles, please? I know you could never lose me; descend to me or to Anan when we are long past this gate."

Benedetto looks up to the phoenix symbol, feeling his heart rise with his gaze. "The Phoenix stands against the mad Moon and the Dark. And I will stand with it," he murmurs.

Turning to the others he says more loudly, "We're almost to Hearth. I'll be looking into who, if anyone, is organizing aid for those affected by the disasters that have happened. What of the rest of you?"

"I can only hope that the symbol, and your rebirth Benedetto, will help me burn my affliction away. The Night Carrion crawls in my dreams now, and it costs me greatly. My instincts say that I must focus on rebirth, cleanse myself to connect more strongly with the Sun. I believe that only we can forge this unity of Fire & Sky."

Zeph bows his head

"I really do hope you will help me in this."

Will be able to fully post in the wee hours ...

for anyone who picks it up, the pamphlet is a ratty publication from Hearth. It uses angry language to denounce the new 'cult' that worships a false aspect of Volcano, and reminds all true believers that the Cauldron Lady is a staid and true protector of those who fear the Dark.

Zephyr hands the pamphlet to Anan after he has read it, "We will need to be prepared for haters & heretics in Hearth as well it seems. These issues with faith are more wide spread than I had thought."

He turns to Corsa, "Perhaps you would wake both Anan & I when you complete your watch? We will continue."

Apologies team - I will be back this weekend!

Corsa adjusts her speed to match pace with Gamberino, River, and Gull. "We are being followed, at least two from what I can tell," she says quietly. "I don't think they know we know yet and we should try to keep it that way until we have a plan of some sort."

She glances at the group flying above them. "Do any of you have a way to notify the other group without drawing more attention?"

"At a minimum we should return to the ground with you. We are useful from above, but we are also easier to follow. We will be right there."

As you finish your statement about faith, Fury crackles with lightning.

give me a d20 roll + your wisdom mod, then roll 10d6 for damage. Fury is becoming a lightning bolt spell (temporarily) to sizzle these blasphemers. You are definitely hitting them, but the d20 will determine whether your can misdirect the rest of the mephits as to where the bolt came from.

TheFuryOfFURY: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 1910d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 1, 4, 5, 3, 1, 3, 2, 6) = 31

Zephyr didn't really need another sign ...

"It would be helpful for me, in this moment, to be steadied by a hand of reason who can see our survival superceding our intervention in ongoing blasphemy ..."

Zephyr smiles, NOT the good smile either

"or a hand of faith could share with me that there needs to be a limit to the desecrations we suffer, and I will bend my will to destroying the disgusting little cinder-pussed deformeties who 'frolic' before us."

So then the modified plan to to skulk along stealhily, the fliers can float which should make it easier for them, and then we can escape to the sky invisibly if needed. Did I get all that correct?

How much can you carry with your powers, Zeph? For ease of calculation, I'll say Anan + Fury can total hold about 1/4 your maximum.

tbh, I was basing that on a sustained Telekinetic Haul which would be no problem for Zeph at this point. At it's most basic, without using a point of burn, Zeph can lift like 900 lbs. But this is an aether-based kineticist power. Anan would need to use whatever his wildshape elemental strgth is (I think he can be Medium at this time), and Fury is small so probably cannot carry as much as Anan.

"Well given how many elens thought Sky was gone forever, I can't exactly blame most sylphs for not knowing much about these different voices," Benedetto comments. "That said, Sky being back is certainly a point of hope in the middle of all this madness. We'll need all the hope we can get, I think."

"So, time to go back and tell the others what we've seen? I'd say we aim for a route that avoids as many of those things as we can, then making a big show of scaring off the first one we can't avoid."

"Caution should rule this day, surely. Anan & I can fly with Fury, and I should be able to hold several of the young ones aloft as well."

"I am sure that you know all the aspects of Volcano, as so many of us do, and yet, among Sylphs, many of Father Sky's children do not listen to all of his voices. Disheartening in so many ways."

Zeph smiles just a touch as he continues.

"Yet I appreciate the opportunity to share Him. So for me, when I look at devastation like this, I know that Queen Zephyr who watches over Birds and whispers to each of us of news we may not know, and Prince Raven who is always curious to learn of forbidden knowledge, must both feel that this attack is personal to Father Sky in many ways. I simply counseled Anan to listen differently and more accutely for their voices."

Father Sky

"Anan, take Fury with you; stay 100' or so above the ground or above Benedetto & myself, whichever is higher. Listen, closely; my namesakes should be whispering of forbidden knowledge. Both Prince Raven & Queen Zephyr must be outraged, listen for them, I know you can."

Zephyr is, uncharacteristically, frowning.

"Sir Knight I am happy to carry you above this field of desolation for a time, perhaps you will choose a place for us to alight?"

Zephyr smiles thinking he will forever refer to Drook by his new Squire Name: Kroon.

Benedetto stands and looks out past their makeshift wall. "Time to see what new strangeness we're up against," he says. "Anyone else want to come take a quick look around with me?"

"I would ... and just you & I for now maybe? I am somewhat perplexed by the impressions Fury has shared with me. Holes in the ground, nothing moving, an absence of any wind; it's as though the storm were unnatural, a desecration of the land itself."

The elen's brow is clenched in thought ...

"Anan, are you ready to fly again? I want to head outside, and I can carry the knight with my new powers. I want you to follow us and fly back here with Fury if there is a problem. Can you do that?"

As if Zephyr's very words clear up perspective as well as the weather, the relentless precipitation slows, then stops. Sky's Tears has moved on.

anyone volunteer to go out first and survey the land?

It is thirteenth candle.

Zeph could always volunteer Fury to take the first look (and make the action totally GM purvue)

"I agree," Corsa says looking toward Benedetto. "I may not be a soldier anymore, but I still have a duty to protect those in need of it. This doesn't seem like the sort of thing that will resolve itself if we wait it out."

"Under no circumstances will this resolve itself, whether we are allowed to wait it out or not, 'not' having already manifested as our 'choice' given the myriad divine interactions we have already witnessed."

"We were meant to engage, of that there is no doubt. The coming changes to our cosmology will affect everyone, and I think it will be wise for each of us to decide sooner than later where we will stand."

I need to just own that I have no idea what Zeph has - the escape from Light was pretty harried and there wasn't a lot of time to pack.

Corsa smiles at that, looking a little less lost in her memories. "Thank you, that sounds lovely."

"It does sound rather lovely, doesn't it? It seems like civilization was a long long time ago. All of my past experiences in Hearth were not enjoyable, but I needed to learnthe best ways to present my piousness."

Anan, the sylph--perhaps in his twenties--who comports himself more like an undine, simple says, "For my part, I was raised in the far south among the patient ways of undine folk, those on my mother's side. The details become less important to me as I walk and grow in the light of Zephyr Emir's teachings." With a self-effacing smile, he goes back to blocking the stormwinds at the entrance with the help of Fury, Zephyr's translucent elemental companion.

"and were there restaurants there Anan? Were you able to enjoy yourself, in addition to the studies which brought you to Light? I continue to hope that we will all soon be able to spend some time of peace and joy together. We earned it I think."

Sure, I like that idea! Like a "1st level cantrip" he can use indefinitely for moderately strong wind.

My vision was of he & Fury working together, monitoring the cave mouth for both the storm and intruders

You know ... we've never really talked about the levels/skills of some of the acolytes. Specifically at this juncture, I am wondering whether Anan can conjure a breeze at the mouth of the cave to at least fend off some of the precipitation. Just a thought.

Anan's blue eyes open wide in worry. He whispers to Zephyr, "Is this another 'Captain Zurlo', Emir? A trick to divide us and sow doubt?"

"I can see the seeming there Anan, surely, but I do not think so. This one strikes me as tricked far more than tricky."

Zephyr stretches his arms as wide as they will go, his arms now outstretched, he turns his palms skyward ...

"One hopes we are well met new stranger, yet this has not been a day briming with our hopes. That said, you seem to arrive in good stead and we would greet you as a comrade, not a foe. I am Zephyr emir, newborn Sun of FatherSky, and this is Anan, Votary of the Father and my protégé."

Zeph, your disciple Anan prepares your food and bedding, talking all the while of the miracles of a holy Prince such as yourself living amongst those of flesh and blood.

"The real miracle is choosing to care for another Anan." You can hear the smile in Zephyr's voice as he speaks, "and I wonder; should one of use offer to help Sir Pheonix with the egg? It seems difficult for him, and you have been quite the bearer for our feather."

Friendly reminder to always save your posts first - I'm very much in the habit of copy/pasting my posts into a blank email first (easy spell checker too). Paizo tried to eat poor Gamberino's text three times.

Happy to share a much simpler fix that I came up with

In your post window, when you are done typing, before clicking anything:
CTRL-A
CTRL-X
CTRL-V

Select All
Cut
Paste

Until you cut/copy again, that text will remain on your windows clipboard.
You can actually close your browser, open it again, get to Paizo again, and Paste again if needed :)

Many of you are hurt, cold, and tired. Do you wish to rest for the night after you travel an hour or two away from this inquisitor-infested location?

Yes, we absolutely do

**

The delicate sylph looks at 'Detto with gratitude in his eyes for a moment, but his attention is centered on his prince. "You will be alright, Emir. You must be alright." Two small tears run down his cheeks.

"I am absolutely 'alright' Young Keeper, your faith is strong, yet I am healed not solely by the faith YOU keep it would seem. A great deal happened as I was knocked from the air. It seems I should extend a hand to Drook's Knight. Help me up?"

Zephyr's eyes glow for just a moment, and he looks superficially "refreshed" if a little worse for the wear internally.

"Drook, it would seem that I have been saved by The Pheonix. Would you be so kind as to introduce me to your Knight?"

Zeph, can you clarify whether you are unconscious right now? You were at 24/60 HP. With a successful save, you are at 14 / 60. You also took 18 points of nonlethal damage, which would put you at unconscious.

Fury would automatically cushion and slow down your fall, so no falling damage to worry about.

Those numbers are correct, so Zeph must be unconscious

Not sure if that should assist with Ben's WILL roll, or Intimidate Kylo Ren, or both

Next Round!

With a hideous half-smile showing through his torn mask of skin, Inquisitor Ky La says, "Surely you can do 'better' than that, noble warrior?"

Benedetto, start your round with another Will Save, this time only DC 15. Succeess = free of the confusion, otherwise attack Zephyr TWICE with the bow.

"Noble warrior MUST mean the Knight of the Pheonix, right? One more failure for you. Wouldn't it be better for you to simply die? I can fly up far beyond his bow range, far beyond your feeble magic tricks, and still pelt you with aether! The Sun is returning little priest, you should crawl back to the hole you came out of."

You save! And please let me know if you are doing Foe Throw, and what the details of the save are and what the exact effect is. The more details for your DM, the better :)

Did some valuable reading re Infusions; I had recalled that there were 2 types but not really the mechanics. Foe Throw is a FORM infusion, as are Zeph's range extension infusions. That said, in order to use Foe Throw, Zephyr will need to be within 30' of the actual foe he wishes to throw. GM, lmk please?

WILL: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Let me just look up the extended and extreme range for Foe Throw

I have looked and cannot find Force Choke ;)

Zeph surveys the field while glying over towards Benedetto

"Fury! In your new form, you should be able to lift the child and fly him to safety while we attend to his savior"

"Sky I've heard of, but what's Sun?" Benedetto mutters to himself as he keeps firing at whichever mephit seems most injured, hoping he can keep River from getting herself killed. He almost tries to reach for the warmth of Volcano's power before remembering again how long it's been since he could.

Fury flies closer to his master as Zephyr concentrates; snatching the little golden trinket from the idiot savant was one thing, trying to elevate two elen from a pool of magma seemed to be quite another




- Yes, created the term Vulcunus' as a plural form for Worshipers of Volcano
- Yes, doubled down on the Sun creation myth incepted 01/08/2024 under open license from GM_Dec ;)
- Waiting on distance ruling to help determine outcome of Telekinetic Haul to save Ben

GM - can you confirm that the current range from Zeph to Ben is like 120'?
I want to see if he can simply lift them both above the magma pool and hopefully bring them closer to River

To keep the narrative as-is, it simply makes more sense to me for you to be some of the VERY few that were powerful enough to escape Light intact. Revamping everyone's backstories to include everyone knowing each other (and other session 0 type stuff) would just be too extreme a change for me to keep "believing" in the story, if that makes sense.

We've lost a few players to Real Life (an awful enough beast for all of us), and likewise we've lost a few characters to the ravages of a dangerous world. I'm satisfied with this being our "starting point" for the current party.

If anyone wants to collaborate on "I remember this crazy prophet ranting on the street last year!" to know Zephyr, or if Leo and 'Detto want to 'recognize they trained together in Forge many years ago', that is perfectly fine, but otherwise getting to know each other and developing trust in a harsh world is fine with me too.

I'm open - now is the time to make these few final adjustments to both crunch and fluff so we have a solid base moving forward.

What they probably remember is closer to "an extraordinary zealout trying to convince people that all sylphs can fly" ... but I see your point ;)

I think we jettisoned the idea of a new Session Zero with the rest of the old players ... right? Part of me still feels like it would be super helpful. Hi new players!

I am a few posts behind but I will catch up shortly.
GM is brilliant at botting Zephyr so I am sure that it is not a problem.

At this point, Zeph is almost like GM's kineticist sandbox ;)

Just PM me whenever you feel ready to rejoin -- we can have a sidequest to get you and Albert to Hearth (the rest of the party will likely be there by then)

Will you let me know if Zeph's HP are back to full?

"Anan ... do you know why I was able to ... change?"
Zephyr watches the young man's reaction carefully, and then smiles.
"Because our Father knows that he is alive in you."


Zephyr holds out his arms to embrace the young man.

" ... now, all of you, remind me: did I ever mention The Sun in our lessons? When we talked about both observable and spiritual cosmology?"

I'm pleased to say that I have successfully added +1 to my children stat. All went as smoothly as it could, we're all doing well and getting used to things.

Thanks for handling everything and moving it along, all looks great to me.

Congratulations!

Luu Sanh nods, pleased at your suggestion. "Absolutely. I think some alchemy and "sun" power could help get our shelter comfortable."

Gamberino shrugs. "Sure, I got no issue helping get this set up, but I need to get back to Hearth to see how my family is doing." Drook says nothing, only grabs onto Gamberino's arm to declare his allegiance.

**

You can see that Anan would follow you into the Dark itself, but he looks toward you for the final decision - does Emir think another set of hands would do the most good here, or in Hearth?

"We are going to Hearth, make no mistake about that. We must go for no other reason than to find our next step to fight the Dark and now the Moon. But friends matter, like family matters. Let's make sure that our comrades are set before we venture forth."

Zephyr turns to Anan - "We need to take care of all who come into our care, even if we are parting ways. We will go to Hearth, it will be a great to establish ourselves there. But we owe it to Master Albert to try to keep him safe before we depart. You can do that, right?"

Luu Sanh is quiet and still. Looking around the hills of snow that surround you, with no civilization in sight, she makes a decision.

"Zephyr, I know there's something happening with you, and probably Drook too. Something to do with phoenixes and "suns" and all the rest. I have a feeling you need to get to Hearth."

A pause. "And I'll stay here with Albert. I've lived through enough nasty southern winters that I can make us a good shelter in the snow."

Albert mutters something about brewing some warming alchemical teas, and Luu Sanh nods. "Here's what we're going to do. We're all getting away the immediate area, just in case that inquisitor has any more nasty surprises lying around. You're all going this way, she points toward Hearth, "and we're going this way." She points to a series of hills that will get her and Albert out of the wind.

She gives a small, encouraging smile to Zephyr. "Lead them to Hearth, Mr. Living-Son-of the-Wind or whatever you are. We'll meet you there when we can, ok?"

Zephyr decends, nods, and gives a slight bow to Luu Sânh.

"Just a thought, but I think it would feel more like closure than parting ways on a battlefield. You both mean a lot to all of us."

We were a little under the weather here, but back now.
Not actual weather, and not pregnant, so there's that :)

Big snow storm coming my way - if I'm not posting for a few days, it's because we lost power.

Stay safe, good luck!