Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)

Mind control doesn't really work like that, though. They could be Dominated, I guess, but that's a pretty high level effect, and not something that could be applied simultaneously to multiple creatures. It would be easier and faster to just send a squad of Teleporting Outsiders, if that kind of power was being applied.

Even if they were Charmed, which would be the most likely effect that would make them work for Zura, that doesn't do anything to change overall behavior, just who they treat as a friend or ally. If they attacked us here and now, they would have done it with it without promoting from Zura or her minion.

I remembered that we already found a group of the People that had all been led through nightmares to murder us. I think that we should give these ones the benefit of the doubt.

And we should go to that mystical tribe who might know what to do about the ring.
 
Arc 3 Post 35: Tangle and Trickery
Tangle and Trickery

26 of Arodus 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)

One good trick deserves another, you think, and thus your thought become shadow whispering through the cavern to bind and keep. Between Warty and your own efforts the horror is well and truly stuck. Alas, Mina's song does not lul any of the other foes to slumber, but Cob knows who the greater foe is as he rips into the tattered black wing with his knife with a shout of: 'Git 'em Warty!'

Dark Thrylien takes 5 Damage -> Now at 26/39

"Wretches and worms, you will not keep me from what is mine!" the thing screeches as it sets all about it ablaze in pale light that does not feed, but only blinds and scours. Were it not for the sound of a body striking the floor you might have missed Gorok windowing down another of the foes in that same instant. You're winning, but are you winning fast enough to beat the reaper's blade?

Cob Takes 6 Damage -> Now at 20/26
Warty Takes 7 Damage Now at 14/21

Dark Creeper One takes 13 Damage -> Now at 0/19 (Unconscious)


A pair of spears sink into the flesh of the last hunter still up and trying to offer some order to his kin as his own dagger passes over the head of the iruxi warrior who dealt one of the blows. The warriors of the People are unused to being the ones fighting blind. Another of the Whisper Foots wavers on his feet, though bloodied and near to succumbing he fights on with fel abandon.

Dark Stalker Two Takes 15 Damage -> now at 8/39
Dark Creeper Four takes 16 Damage -> Now at 1/19
Iruxi Warrior One Takes 8 Damage -> Now at 11/19


Another pair of arcane darts from Iolda slam into the body of the horror, deftly avoiding the scorched Warty and Cob. Under your breath are invocations of good fortune and in your mind hope.

Dark Thrylien takes 7 Damage -> Now at 19/39

The tattered thing tears itself from your shadows and it laughs at Warty's attempts to batter it and points a withered hand even as Cob tries to stab through it.

"Work your magic 'round that!" the goblin screams, though thanks to the more unique aspects of the tongue it can also be transalted as 'Shit magic through that hole.' You'll have to ask Cob which one he meant. You will ask Cob which one he meant.

Dark Thrylien takes 1 Damage -> Now at 18/39
Dark Thrylien takes 4 Damage -> Now at 14/39
As you rush around the pair of Whisper Foots who had been dogging you before you hear Iolda call out that she is out of 'arrows', the light darts you assume, which is just too bad given that they had been the most efficient at dealing with the leader of the raid. Even as Gorok deals with the last of the hunters you know they, like all your fellows, had been little more than a distraction. Moving without thought you slash and draw blood. Should I have poisoned the dagger? you wonder. A weapon without poison is a weapon half-drawn, the old saying goes.

Dark Stalker Two Takes 8 Damage -> Now at 0/39 (Unconscious)
Dark Creeper Five takes 3 Damage -> Now at 16/19


As you watch, the only one on this side of the battle able to get a clear view through the clouds of writhing shadows, one of the iruxi falls to a pair of Whisper Foots who had finally snapped to.

Iruxi Warrior One Takes 11 Damage -> Now at 0/19 (Unconscious)
Iruxi One is poisoned -> Takes 1 STR Damage -> Now at 14/15


Just then Mina, who had been hobbling along towards the sound of Warty's warbling, screams something that probably makes a lot more sense in her native tongue than in yours: "Tag, you're it Spawn of Zura!"

Golden light sizzles against the chest of the winged monster like fat cast into a campfire, though the smell isn't anywhere near as pleasant.

Dark Thrylien takes 8 Damage -> Now at 6/39

Cob yowls in pain, though you are not sure why... then he sinks his clever little blade into the point that had been scorched deeper and deeper until it hits something important, or perhaps the substance of the monster could no longer withstand the battering which had been inflicted upon it.

Either way, it breaks.

Cob Takes 2 Damage -> Now at 18/26
Dark Thrylien takes 6 Damage -> Destroyed


No sooner had the thing died, if indeed it could be said to have lived, than the remaining raiders seem to suddenly realize the circumstances the find themselves in, pitched battle against armored opponents. They turn and flee... or try to at least.

Do you allow the remains of the raiding party to flee?

[] Yes, they had probably been pawns of the monster like the goblins you fought earlier and in any case chasing down a broken band of caligni is an excellent way to get ambushed

[] No, they might come back with friends, chase sown and capture all of them

[] Write in


OOC: In case you guys are wondering, the reason Mina did not act for a turn is that she needed all her turn to make it to the enemy.
 
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[X] No, they might come back with friends, chase sown and capure all of them

Mercy can be decided afterwards, but I don't want loose ends here.
 
[x] No, they might come back with friends, chase sown and capture all of them

Nope. If they had anything else in store, they'd throw it at us now... and if there are monsters waiting for an unwary traveler, they'd spring that ambush first. Get'em.

Maybe leave someone behind to tend to the wounded and guard the halflings.
 
So... we should demand their surrender or bluff about something to get them to surrender. It is quite difficult to chase after four at the same time.
 
[X] No, they might come back with friends, chase sown and capure all of them

We've taken a beating so best try not to chase literal shadow people into the deeper darkness.
 
Whew, ambushes are always scary, this one especially. And we certainly didn't come out not it unscathed. Hopefully we'll be able to get Mina cured in Cauldron.

We've also got to worry about that Lich getting in our business in the future, since it will eventually reform and be able to track is down again. The sooner we get rid of this ring, the better.
Warty Takes 7 Damage Now at 12/19
I think Warty's base HP should be 21 instead of 19.

Will this work with Mina, DP? Web doesn't exactly require fine targeting, since it has a 20ft radius AoE, so it should be possible to point her in the right direction to cast the spell and block off their retreat, assuming positioning allows for it.

[X] No, they might come back with friends, chase down and kill or capture all of them
-[X] Iolda will try to direct Mina to block off their escape with a Web spell, if she is able to do so while blinded. Then she will lead Mina to the unconscious iruxi to heal him, along with any others who are injured. The Dark Stalkers will be searched and looted, then killed from a safe range.
-[X] If the Web spell succeeds in blocking off their escape or capturing them outright, offer the Dark Creepers a chance to surrender. If they refuse, kill or capture them as time and the situation allows, trying to keep at least one alive for questioning. If the spell fails, Kori, Cob, Gorok, and Warty will try to run them down while the rest of the group readies to move on.
 
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Whew, ambushes are always scary, this one especially. And we certainly didn't come out not it unscathed. Hopefully we'll be able to get Mina cured in Cauldron.

We've also got to worry about that Lich getting in our business in the future, since it will eventually reform and be able to track is down again. The sooner we get rid of this ring, the better.

I think Warty's base HP should be 21 instead of 19.

Will this work with Mina, DP? Web doesn't exactly require fine targeting, since it has a 20ft radius AoE, so it should be possible to point her in the right direction to cast the spell and block off their retreat, assuming positioning allows for it.

[X] No, they might come back with friends, chase down and kill or capture all of them
-[X] Iolda will try to direct Mina to block off their escape with a Web spell, if she is able to do so while blinded. Then she will lead Mina to the unconscious iruxi to heal him, along with any others who are injured.
-[X] If the Web spell succeeds in blocking off their escape or capturing them outright, offer the Dark Creepers a chance to surrender. If they refuse, kill them. If the spell fails, Kori, Cob, Gorok, and Warty will try to run them down while the rest of the group readies to move on.

I insist about focusing on capture first. I would like to interrogate all of them before slitting throats. It is not like it was so difficult to drop the others unconscious.
 
I insist about focusing on capture first. I would like to interrogate all of them before slitting throats. It is not like it was so difficult to drop the others unconscious.
Capturing them when they're bent on fleeing is a lot more difficult and time consuming, though. They are all stealth specialists in their native environment, and Small-sized but capable of moving at normal Medium creature speed. The longer we take to capture them, the further we get from the rest of the group and the more likely something else is going to go wrong.

What if I add to my plan to try to capture one of them?
 
Capturing them when they're bent on fleeing is a lot more difficult and time consuming, though. They are all stealth specialists in their native environment, and Small-sized but capable of moving at normal Medium creature speed. The longer we take to capture them, the further we get from the rest of the group and the more likely something else is going to go wrong.

What if I add to my plan to try to capture one of them?

... I meant just attacking them but not finishing them off. I don't want the vote to not be taken too literally.

If they happen die it is okay. I just don't want to start slitting throats from the downed ones.
 
Whew, ambushes are always scary, this one especially. And we certainly didn't come out not it unscathed. Hopefully we'll be able to get Mina cured in Cauldron.

We've also got to worry about that Lich getting in our business in the future, since it will eventually reform and be able to track is down again. The sooner we get rid of this ring, the better.

I think Warty's base HP should be 21 instead of 19.

Will this work with Mina, DP? Web doesn't exactly require fine targeting, since it has a 20ft radius AoE, so it should be possible to point her in the right direction to cast the spell and block off their retreat, assuming positioning allows for it.

[X] No, they might come back with friends, chase down and kill or capture all of them
-[X] Iolda will try to direct Mina to block off their escape with a Web spell, if she is able to do so while blinded. Then she will lead Mina to the unconscious iruxi to heal him, along with any others who are injured. The Dark Stalkers will be searched and looted, then killed from a safe range.
-[X] If the Web spell succeeds in blocking off their escape or capturing them outright, offer the Dark Creepers a chance to surrender. If they refuse, kill all but one of them, then capture the last one for interrogation. If the spell fails, Kori, Cob, Gorok, and Warty will try to run them down while the rest of the group readies to move on, attempting to keep one alive for questioning.
  1. Fixed the HP
  2. You could try, but Web can be cut and they have daggers, at most it would slow them down a few turns.
 
... I meant just attacking them but not finishing them off. I don't want the vote to not be taken too literally.

If they happen die it is okay. I just don't want to start slitting throats from the downed ones.
Okay, I clarified that in the plan. Kill or capture, as the situation allows for.
  1. Fixed the HP
  2. You could try, but Web can be cut and they have daggers, at most it would slow them down a few turns.
Slowing them down is better than nothing, especially since there won't be too many opportunities for Mina to use ranged spells like that until she is cured.
@Goldfish maybe add healing our people? We got downed and poisoned lizardmen afterall.
That's already included in my plan.
 
[X] Yes, they had probably been pawns of the monster like the goblins you fought earlier and in any case chasing down a broken band of caligni is an excellent way to get ambushed
 
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