The battle with the Spirit Allip rages on!
As the room reorients itself, the party keeps their faculties about them, and none of them are sickened by the change in perspective. Their damage is consistent, but the incorporeal nature of the creature limits their overall output. Not to mention that Barnaby’s critical-hit build is momentarily tamed in this room.
Fyn casts Haste, hoping that it will allow the party to quickly finish off this creature and still reap the benefits of the spell in subsequent battles. The allip continues to float around the room, catching everyone except Trace in a savage lightning bolt. But that would be the last of its major damage, as the party beats it into submission.
In the opposite room, one of the shaitan gets smothered and overcome by the tentacled beast they are fighting.
The party takes a few precious moments to heal before rushing into the next room. Here, there are two bat-like hounds and a pair of interesting worm-like creatures wielding scimitars and crystals in each of their twin tails. It’s a good thing that Trace is there to keep the party’s courage up; without him, this battle may have been a different story.
In fact, Barnaby rushes towards one of the hounds and becomes confused by the aura of madness that these worms emit. Henceforth, I’ll describe them as what they really are: seugathi.
The hounds don’t seem to be much threat, but the party sticks close to Trace as they maneuver further into the room. That’s when the trouble begins.
One of the seugathi conjures up Barnaby’s worst fear: a version of himself as he truly is, not as the world sees him. It’s an anguished sight, and the tortured image comes up to the real Barnaby, saying, “You are a fraud.”
Barnaby believes that this is a real version of himself, and the fear wells up inside him. Fortunately, he shakes it off, not succumbing to the Phantasmal Killer spell.
Trace also becomes a target of the same spell. However, even the threat of looming darkness isn’t enough to scare away a Paladin of Sarenrae. He stands his ground, telling off the illusion in a commanding voice. His life, too, is spared.
The rest is a tale we’ve come to learn and appreciate with this party. Fyn chains lightning bolts through all of the targets in the room. Krask impales the beasts with arrows. Fobias finds purchase with his flaming ranseur. Barnaby decimates the hounds with his scimitar. Trace unleashes the divine fires of Sarenrae. Even Richard gets in on the action.
On the other side of the crystal, the shaitan djinn square off against a relentless horde of faceless demons. One of them is quickly overtaken, repeatedly stabbed by the speedy creatures. Only one djinn remains.
The Mad Prophet
You walk into a large room, the floor of which seems to be undulating until you realize that it’s covered in snakes. A gaunt man stands in the back, wearing a thin, tattered robe that seems to be several sizes too big for him, and a dirty, cracked mask over his face. The back of his head is smoking, as if completely immolated.
Their minds echo with a soft, sad voice.
“Time slips away, constantly falling like the swirling sands of an endless hourglass. But my patience is finally rewarded, and the Threaded Prince will rise once more. He has spoken to me of this day, when the hourglass is tipped in favor of my master and his followers.
There once was a day, where he was revered and regarded above all others, as the most powerful being. His song was beautiful, and sweet, and fell over the world in such a calming reverie. Why did they have to cease his playing? Why did they stop his song? A song the world needed to hear, to be united in a perfect dream of his own design?
I foretold of his coming, of this day. And regardless of whether or not I escape this prison, the prophecies are already in motion. Someday soon, Ömys, the Threaded Prince, will find his voice, and the world will fall to its knees to listen.
You too, will listen. And rejoice.”
What tricks does this seemingly immortal man have up his sleeve? Who is the Threaded Prince? Was this module specifically designed to attack the party’s weaknesses?