With the spectre defeated, Fobias suggests that it would be fitting for someone to say a few words about Theo, seeing that his brief burial was so abruptly interrupted by a crass Black Arrow who had been wronged by his own battalion. His sentiment is touching and raw, much like the same emotion that Theo used to share with this ragtag group.
Shortly afterwards, Barnaby remembers that he is still under the detrimental effects of Mammy’s Dexterity curse, and he inquires to Trace for assistance. Trace would need an entire night of rest before his mind would be able to comprehend Sarenrae’s gifts in that regard, so Barnaby turns his attention to Fyn, the Distracted. Calling down the bountiful blessings of the “Inscrutable Peacock”, Fyn is able to dispel Barnaby’s curse and return Jak’s mental faculties.
In better shape, it’s time for a well-deserved rest. Over the course of the day, the party eliminated the Kreeg leader, killed countless ogres, and regained control of an overrun fort. Not too bad for a single day, eh?
While the party rests, Fobias has a dream where his sights are heightened to an extraordinary degree. He is feels his soft, padded feet bounding through the dense forest floor before he clamps his teeth down into sweet rabbit flesh. Upon awakening, his awareness is still distinctly acute, and he spends his watch pondering the meaning of his visions.
During Barnaby’s watch, the last of the night, he hears a voice calling out for Black Arrows. He peaks his head into the storm and sees an old man riding a horse and working his way towards Fort Temros. The river is rising at a rapid rate, and he is seeking assistance to help evacuate Turtleback Ferry and build levies to stem the raging waters. Despite their growing to-do list, the party agrees that several hundred people could die, and they hurry down the slopes to offer their expertise.
As they descend back down the mountain towards the seaside town, Fobias and Krask notice a peculiar section of broken twigs and branches off the path, perhaps indicating someone who pushed their way through the brush intentionally while not bothering to cover their trail. Noted for later.
Several hours pass before the party reaches Turtleback Ferry, which is already being flooded by the turbulent waters of the Skull River. They can hear the screams of children who are trapped aboard one of the town’s namesake ferries. Fyn casts Enlarge Person on Fobias and Trace accompanies the ranger in a daring rescue mission through the rising water. When they’re sixty feet away, a large riverbelly boa emerges from the swells and begins constricting one of the poor schoolchildren.
Luckily for the trapped villagers, Fyn is able to telekinetically grapple the snake and pin it down before it is able to squeeze the life out of a child. Using his enhanced size, Fobias lifts the children and teacher onto the roof for safety, and Trace helps dislodge the raft from the building.
Before making movements to assist the villagers still in the church tower, a huge black tree comes careening down the rapids towards the structure. It briefly dips underwater because the gargantuan shape of a terrifying creature erupts from the froth, wrapping its swamp-green tentacles around the stone tower. Fyn recognizes it as the legendary Black Magga, a mythical creature rumored to live in the Storval Deep, but whose existence has never been confirmed. With a mighty roar, the beast begins to wreck the tower, threatening the fragile lives of those seeking refuge within its walls.
How will Barnaby fare against his latest adversary? Will our heroes be able to save the lives of Turtleback Ferry’s citizens? Is Fobias going through late-stage puberty?
We Done Gone Goofed – Rules Clarifications
Alright. This one is a major doozy. When Fyn casts Telekinesis to grapple the riverbelly boa, we run into a situation where a grappler is being grappled. If the RAW are followed, it would appear that the snake would be transported to the square next to Fyn as the maneuver resolves normally. This is bonkers, and isn’t how we ruled it. Surprisingly there isn’t a lot of definitive ruling on this situation, especially in regards to CMD calculation with the Telekinesis spell. The snake used its action to try and escape Fyn’s grapple, and therefore took a penalty to the check for being grappled. It also lost its Dex bonus after becoming pinned. This is all correct.
Consensus seems to be that the CMD calculation is 10 + caster level + spellcasting modifier, similar to the CMB calculation. This isn’t specified in the description of the spell, but it makes sense that Fyn would use his intellect to restrict the boa’s action economy. So, it wasn’t really a rules mix-up, since there aren’t really rules around this specific situation. Running into something like this helps to flex the GM muscles, but also allows the players to chime in and come up with a fair ruling that makes sense for the situation.