Plaza of the Pallid Mask

 “I do not know how you are here, alive, but this is where your quest ends. I will see to it myself!” the Pallid Mask intoned before casting a spell at Erevel.

Ciprian identified the spell as Phantasmal Killer but Erevel withstood the horror for minimal damage.  Gavril had targeted the creature as his Quarry while Ursina moved out of direct line of sight.  Paullus fired his bow at the creature but did no damage and Armania tried to hit the enemy with Magic Missiles but the spell fizzled.

Erevel stood dazed, looking absently toward the sky.

Ciprian identified the creature as an aberrant unique humanoid and began a Performance and cast haste on the party.  Gavril moved up to attack but also found no creature existing.  But both Ciprian and Erevel were hit with a spell from the creature. Ursina moved back into the fight and cast Prayer.  Paullus again tried arrows but determined that the enemy was an illusion as Armania's Magic Missiles again failed.  Erevel moved to Ursina and attacked her while Ciprian moved directly through the illusion and found another Pallid Mask to the southeast.

Gavril now flanked the actual enemy who then Dimension Stepped away to the north.  There were actually two Pallid Mask creatures about two feet apart from each other and they were surrounded by a shimmering light.  Ursina moved away from Erevel as Paullus fired arrows, one of which reflected right back at him, piercing his leg.  Armania again failed to hit the creature with a spell.  But they then saw the Pallid Mask heal up some of his wounds.  Erevel then attacked Ursina once again and Ciprian hit himself in the head with his weapon. 

Gavril moved quickly to the side of the enemy but his attack did little damage.  As the creature touched him the party saw Gavril become faintly translucent and shadowy.  Ursina again moved away from Erevel as Paullus again fired arrows.  Armania at last hit with a Lightning Bolt and Erevel moved up to attack the Mask finally not confused and Ciprian cast a spell that only partially damaged the monster.

Gavril again moved up to the Mask, attacked and missed with most of his attempts as second figure confounded him.  The Pallid Mask then Bluffed an attack against Erevel, then struck with more effect.  The off-end of the Quarterstaff missed Gavril.  Ursina moved next to Erevel and cast Align Weapon to good on her sword.  Paullus moved toward the enemy and attacked with his sword but hit for a small amount of damage.  Armania finally succeeded on a Dazing Magic Missile, but the Mask ignored the daze.  Erevel stepped up and hit but her damage was again reduced.  Finally Ciprian cast Deafening Song Bolt, two of them hit the creature but the third rebounded and struck Ciprian.

Gavril again struck at the Mask, but again several of his attacks missed and the others did minimal damage.  Even worse the Pallid Mask again healed some damage and then again took a Dimension Door away from the heroes to an area south of the party.  Ursina then cast healing on Erevel, Paullus moved closer and fired arrows which again did limited damage.  Armania took advantage of the Mask's isolation and cast Incendiary Cloud on the monster.  This cloud of white hot embers made the party unable to enter and they could not see into the cloud either.

Erevel moved to the edge of the cloud waiting for the enemy to exit and then she healed some more damage.  Ciprian drank an elixir of fire breath and moved away from the cloud.  Gavril joined Erevel at the edge.  Then three different Pallid Masks emerged from the cloud near Erevel, Gavril and Ciprian.  Ursina moved up next to one of the images of the Mask and attacked.  Her went right through the image and she yelled that this was an image.  Paullus fired arrows at the image near Erevel and saw them hit and damage it.  Armania's cloud moved to the south and expanded, and she then cast a new fireball over the cloud.  Erevel swung at the image near her and yelled that this one was fake also.  Ciprian breathed on the third image and was convinced it took damage.

Gavril held his turn waiting for the enemy to move out of the cloud.  The images then moved including the one near Gavril, which actually begged for mercy.  Ciprian then felt an attack from the rear as the Pallid Mask appeared and continued to attack with its Quarterstaff, although it missed Ursina with the off-end.  Gavril then jumped in and sped to Ciprian's aid by flanking the enemy and missing once again with his attack.  Ursina and Paullus both attacked the probable image by Ciprian.  Armania cast another Magic Missile and Erevel moved into the battle with a heavy blow.  Ciprian again cast Deafening Song Bolt only to be Bluffed and hit again with the Quarterestaff.  Gavril finally hit the damned monster and Ursina had the killing blow with her book.

Gavril quickly sniffed for magic and noted that only the Quarterstaff was magical.  Ciprian then used his fire breath to incinerate the yellow robes and corpse of the Pallid Mask.

"We should probably wait in the future to see if there were any interesting notes, or other non-magical items before destroying all the evidence," Gavril sadly noted.

"I was just so mad at this creature and I wanted to use the rest of my breath," Ciprian said in defense.

"You did very well in dispatching the Pallid Mask," Cassilda said joining the group once again.

Ciprian fell to his knees and asked everyone who required healing to gather around.  He needed the healing as much as anyone.  He then began a Soothing Performance to regather the groups strength.

"Do we need to worry about the Pallid Mask reappearing?" Gavril inquired of the Queen.

"Yes you do.  He rejuvenates after some number of days.  He would likely come after you again." she responded.

"Does he need the body?  Or maybe a ring the he is wearing?" Paullus asked.

"No, he just recovers.  I can recover also after a random number of days.  I think it is one of the curses of Carcosa!" the Queen answered.

"Does anyone need any other healing or help with any curse?" Ursina asked as she noted that Gavril had lost his translucence.

"I seem to be fine now" Gavril answered.

"Do you need to rest, I can stand guard while you recover if you would like," Cassilda added.

Most importantly, Cassilda told the party that this recent proximity to the Pallid Mask has allowed her to make use of the Imperial Diadem. She is now able to tell them the locations of the three Star Stelae the PCs seek.

The Star Stelae are located in the city nexuses of Aevan-Vhor, Bohlvarai, and Paris. Cassilda provided directions and offered to sketch a map to each city.  She explained that there is no precise order in which the Star Stelae must be deactivated, but she advised the heroes to go in the order in which she listed them. Aevan-Vhor’s stela is the least stable and Paris’s is the strongest. In addition to their visit to Aevan-Vhor, she also recommended that they seek out someone she refered to as “the Musician.” She explained that he is a traveler known to visit other worlds who had enjoyed some success sidestepping some of Carcosa’s many threats. Her visions have revealed that he was recently a guest of a Lord Eldarius of Aevan-Vhor.

"What are the nexuses like?  Will we find terrible creatures to fight in each?" Ciprian asked.

"In general, most nexuses are almost entirely empty. Their native populations have died out, or ghosts and undead thralls inhabit them, though even these creatures have begun to decline into torpor. Travel through such lonely places is dismal. The weather is often stormy and overcast. Other nexuses, though, are quite active. Survivors and refugees lost in time and space gather in small communities. These pockets of civilization are not usually friendly places, and they are often figuratively frozen in time." Cassilda responded.

"What about this Aevan-Vhor?" Gavril inquired. 

"It is larger and more populated than the Neruzavin nexus. The city still has a deserted feel, but people are plainly seen carrying out the business of daily life. The outlying districts resemble the worst parts of farm country, with sick and struggling crops." answered Cassilda.

"How do we get there?"

"The Neruzavin nexus is near a section of the Hali lakeshore, and the Aevan-Vhor nexus is not far—a few nexuses beyond, in fact. Bohlvarai is deeper in, amid an unnatural set of mountains that jut from the earth as if pulled directly from a mountain range. A frozen river in that city thaws and becomes part of the river that flows through the Paris nexus before dumping into Lake Hali near where Thrushmoor is located on another portion of the lakeshore."

Before the night's rest Armania used her Limited Wish to get rid of her lesser madnesses.  Ciprian cast Tiny Hut and the group spent the night resting under the moon of Carcosa.

DM's Notes: The party earned 25,600 XP for the night.