Rico nods and points at Yoltzin.
"You've got a point there, as well."
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"Hey, Djackie boy, what are you thinking, my friend? Should we seek out this Chief of the Raiders? If we continue on to the settlements, someone else may get the jump on us," Rico pointed out. It is very easy for both Djack and Amideo to take Rico's meaning. Though he didn't bring it up during your initial conversation, Rico seems to be aware of a reward, either by the Makava or someone else, to help with these bandits.
"It appeared as out of nowhere, I'm afraid," the man said, clearly preparing to travel. "I must head back to civilization and inform the rest of my order. If you seek out the Chief of the Raiders, tread with caution. He seems quite powerful, both politically and personally."
The rest of the night at the campsite goes without a problem. Come morning, your guest, who gives the name as Senor Montemayor, Cardinal of Galecian (same deity Pious worshipped), is awake. After breakfast and a ritual performed by Yoltzin and the Cardinal, everyone's mind feels fully restored. The Cardinal tells his story: "I was searching for the man who is called Chief of the Desert Raiders. In my journeys, I came across several raider parties, who were, for the most part, easy to avoid as they travel with great noise and spectacle." "One such party I managed to infiltrate, whereby I obtained that map. I believe it leads to some sort of stronghold where this Chief operates from." "But I was pursued; somehow the forces of this villain knew where I was; tonight I was set upon by this creature, and nearly died as a result." Augusto can confirm to Amideo that indeed, the creature they fought here was not natural, indeed not of this world. Someone summoned it's presence here.
The scroll is a map. To the north, there is a "X" mark, unlabeled but prominently displayed. Estimating the scale based on the position of the Makava settlements, also noted on the map, and which you know is about another 30 miles East, the "X" is a long day's journey northward.
Wait, he died? I thought I saved him? I think I lost something in the long wait times. The module calls for him to die, and that's what I ended up posting. I'll retcon it.
The sun has fully surrendered to the horizon, leaving the desert in a violet twilight where the hills loom like silent sentinels. As the armored knight delivers a final, fatal blow, his blade passes through the Soul Eater’s core with a sound like a sudden intake of breath. The creature’s nebulous, smokey form shudders violently, the dark energy that binds its clawed limbs unraveling into thin, jagged ribbons. It lets out a rattling hiss that mimicks the wind through the dry sagebrush before its entire mass collapses outward, disintegrating into a fine, soot-like mist. The arid breeze catches the remains, scattering the last of the extraplanar horror across the cooling sands until only the scent of burnt copper and the vast, empty silence of the plains remains.
Party may act. One good hit should take it down.
Top of Round The bizarre being is in its final moments, but it continues to fight.
On Rocko:
On Amideo:
Djack:
The scout's attack is ineffective, almost-but-not-quite piercing something solid.
Agree with Mal and Simeon. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be running on these boards, but as long as this game is going, I'm not kicking out one of my years-long players.
The heroes mostly have little luck at the moment, but Momo manages to get at least one good gore in on the ethereal creature.
Party may act.
The creature is very weak, but it continues to be a threat for a bit longer. Lashing out now at Rocko and Djack...
Need a FORT Save.
On behalf of Djack
Yoltzin arrived just in time. The man was close to expiring, his will addled by the creature's strikes, and his body crushed.
As Momo makes another gore attempt, this one failing to hit anything solid in the creature, Yoltzin's tending of her patient has done some good. The man looks up at the Elf, confused at her appearance, but urgently seeking to communicate. "The Chief...chief of the desert raiders...must be stopped." He hands Yoltzin a scroll case.
Rocko's hit, as well as Amideo's first strike, both hit, adding to the damage done the mysterious creature. Augusto gets a sudden burst of memory...the creature is something not of this plane. It has gained the unenviable name Soul Eater, for its habit of doing just that. If it drains enough Wisdom from a victim, it will gorge itself on their very soul.
I'm fine going either way. If you have a preference, I'm happy to back your choice. I think since yours is the only response since Wednesday, I'm going to call it here. There's just too little player action to justify the time, and frankly, my response times have been crap the last few weeks as well. I think when I finish the Pathfinder game I'm running, I'm going to take a break from the forums, perhaps retire from them entirely.Thanks for sticking through.
Guys, this adventure is intended to be the last in the series. My life is in a place right now where I don't have the time I used to for forum games. Posting has slowed down quite a bit, so I'll leave it up to you. Do you want to finish the adventure out, and end the game having achieved the original objective (finding Golarion) or do you want to just call it here?
Party May Act
Top of Round The creature attacks:
As on previous hits, the creature pulsates a bit and is visually diminished slightly, seemingly an indicator of damage.
So question about this blob creature. Can it be flanked and hit with precision damage and/or crits? In the interest of saving time, Yoltzin could let Rocko know (via Knowledge/planes) that it cannot be critted. It can be flanked, and Djack's weapon has a special property that let's him use Precision damage against creatures that would normally be immune; you're unsure if it would work without that or not.
Rocko flails around alot, but manages to get one solid hit in the his axe. From the other side, Momo's gore connects with the creature as well. Finally, Amideo makes two solid strikes. Most creatures would definitely have fallen to attacks like that, but this one seems to be quite resilient. Nevertheless, the combatants can visually tell the attacks are taking a toll on the thing. Augusto feels he's heard something about creatures like this before, but he's having trouble putting his finger on it. If he gives it some more thought, he might come up with an answer.
The creature, whatever it is, hovers near multiple targets, but decides to attack Momo.
Party may act.
Rocko spends his round moving around behind the creature. He can act on his turn next round.
Suddenly, Joyride detects a ping on the starship sensors. Something is coming in from out-system. It's moving too slow to be Cyleerin fighters.
As Joyride approaches the planet, he instinctively knows...this isn't it. There's background communication, not satellites, no space stations or even the smallest of craft.
Hours later, the crew of the Black Betty is on their way to the 5-day destination star. The trip goes as expected. No surprises in the Drift, and you arrive in-system.
Momo's charge is in vain, not hitting any portion of the creature solid enough to do damage. Amideo's sword, however, strikes home. It's hard to tell how much damage was done, but the creature's reaction seemed to indicate it had at least felt the attack.
"That's being handled, but since your team's been so effective at assisting the fleet, we wanted to give you the first choice," the speaker admits.
"What...what did it do? I don't feel right!"
The creature lashes out with a claw that's all too real, physically cutting into Ricardo's exposed flesh. The claw stays imbedded for an instant longer than necessary, and when it pulls away, Ricardo stumbles back.
Ricardo draws his blade and moves forward, uncertain whether or not his attack with have an effect on the weird creature.
The creature seems to retract its mass from Ricardo's blade almost instinctively; it is incredibly agile.
Zia:
Creature:
The skeletal creature makes a hissing grunt and lumbers beside his Elven companion. As you approach, you see something drifts low over the barren plain like a living storm cloud, its amorphous body roiling with sluggish currents of violet and charcoal vapor. Dust skitters across the cracked earth beneath it as the thing pulses and swells, flickering against the darkening sky. From its shifting mass extend two strangely solid protrusions—arm-like shapes of denser, darker matter that reach outward with slow, deliberate movements as they attack an armored, mace-wielding man. He screams a final time, and drops to the ground as you approach. Initiative
Rocko is able to find a sheltered area behind a low hill as the sun sets. It should be cool enough, and even cold, for the evening. Once the party is settled in, the sun sets quickly. The cooking fire is drifting to low embers, and talk of who's taking what watch have begun, when the sound of battle is heard not far from your position. Just at the edge of your lantern light, you can make out the form of a human struggling with...something amorphous. The man's cries mingle with an unnatural hissing.
"If the bots know - somehow - where we're goin', then they know where to concentrate their forces to stop us. I dunno if we'll be able to force our way though their entire fleet. Prolly don't want 'em hangin' around Golarion anyways. We need a way to get rid of them for good..." "We don't believe they know exactly where we're going. We've got agents working on determining how they're following us. But for now, your Ratkin crewman is correct. We'd like you to pick one of the three systems, and determine if this is indeed Golarion, or if you can find evidence of the system there." A digital image pops up on the display screen. It features a stellar map, shown in two dimensions for simplicity, with differentials showing the distance to each star. "The first, closest star is a K-Sequence star. It is similar in mass to our own star back in the colonies, but is roughly 1/3 as luminous. It is approximately 1 day's Drift travel above and starboard to our current plane of travel, according to the latest Drift navigational readings." "The second, a larger yellow G-type star, is 3 days travel below our current plane of travel." "The furthest, a yellow star only slightly larger than the colonial primary star, is 5 days Drift travel ahead and 30 degrees to port to our current direction."
Julium 4 leads you into pure, rocky desert, with very little shrubs or cacti (see image). The sun has crested well past its zenith, and you're preparing to seek a sheltered area to camp for the evening.
I'm parched already... "C'mon Djack. Hasn't been that long since you've been out here. This is the cool part of the day!" Rico says, slapping Djack on the back.
Perhaps I've missed it (I tried to go back and confirm)... Is Rico traveling with the group? He is, yes. Ricardo slaps a mosquito on his neck. "Enjoying the nice muggy air, Djackie boy?" he asks.
The next morning each member of the crew receives a summons from Councilor Drongul. Arriving in the late morning in his briefing room, you note several military personnel as well. "Good morning," Drongul says, a serious note in his voice. "What I'm about to tell you cannot go beyond this room. We believe we have found three possible systems that may contain Golarion, our long lost homeworld. We suspect this is the reason the Cyleerin have been working so hard at destroying our fleet this last month or so."
By evening you've exited the swamplands, and are well up the mountain pass. Nothing hostile approaches your camp that night, but whoever is on 3rd watch hears the cries of eagles hunting their pray in the pre-dawn hours. Julium 2 is much the same as the 1st; by the time you've come down from the mountains and are back on the path that last year saw you battling the bizarre creatures that issued forth from the Wellspring of Chaos, the temperature is quite warm. On Julium 3, you're setting up camp just past the sealed caverns of the Wellspring, and preparing to enter open desert.
It's a frustration many in the fleet have felt and even voiced lately. Too many ships have been lost to these strikes in recent weeks.
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