Katiyana's Ghost

Trying to find a way out of the Uqtaal Necropolis, the party had been ambushed by a pair of Yeti Savages as they made their way across the floor of a vast cavern that appeared to be some sort of throne room. The Yeti Savages put Ulf down before he even knew what hit him, and then another pair of Savages, accompanied by a half dozen other Yeti, began charging towards them from their hiding place in a deep chasm on the far end of the cavern. As if that wasn’t enough, the yeti chieftain, Bormurg, stepped right out of the stone wall behind Bella. It looked as if the party could be quickly overwhelmed.

Nicki was out in the open, caught between the fearsome Yeti Savages behind him, and the horde of charging Yeti ahead. He debated going invisible and just finding a quiet corner to hide in, but instead opted to take as many foes with him as possible. He summoned his power, and unleashed an Empowered Fireball on the charging yeti. Two of the Yeti were blown back into the crevasse from which they’d emerged, and their Yeti Savage leaders were badly scorched.

Down below, Sawyer quickly dispatched the Yeti Savage that was attacking him, but its partner, who had already taken out Ulf, now turned its attentions to Shinjiro. It sank its fangs into his neck and slashed him again and again with its claws, and the monk (once again) found himself teetering at death’s door. Marie, standing behind him, was faced with a hard choice: heal the monk to keep him in the fight, or heal Ulf, who was bleeding out on the floor. She chose to save Ulf, and her Cure Critical Wounds brought the caravan guide back to consciousness.

Bormurg

Bella slashed away at Bormurg, her rapier and shortsword biting deep through his tough hide. She could see from the fury in the yeti chief’s eyes that he wanted nothing better than to rip her head off, but instead, he turned and attacked Nicki instead, nearly ripping out the sorcerer's spine. Like Zhustin, Bella realized that Bormurg was not in control of his own body – someone else was calling the shots. “I think he’s possessed or something!” she shouted.

Nicki, knowing he was in an unsurvivable position, used Dimension Door to pop up onto the ledge from which the original Savages had launched their ambush, giving himself a bird’s eye view of the battlefield. Shinjiro, hearing Bella’s warning, remembered the Nine-Fold Spirit Sword he had claimed from the tomb yesterday. When Zhustin had Identified it, he’d said its glowing rings had special powers against undead or incorporeal creatures – including, if he remembered right, the ability to expel creatures that were possessing another. Dodging the Savage attacking him, he dashed out of its reach, drawing the sword as he ran. But he was afraid to engage Bormurg when he was so close to death. “A little healing over here?” he shouted, but Marie still had her hands full.

With Shinjiro now out of reach, the Yeti Savage turned her fury on Sandoval, who’d been stabbing at her from behind. Both claws sank into his flesh, and she used her Rend ability to tear him open. But before she could finish the bard off, Marie called down a Flame Strike, and the Savage was reduced to a pile of cinders.

Bella Pounced on Bormurg, opening a bleeding wound with her rapier, while Sawyer charged in with Suishen in hand. Sandoval, with no more enemies in his immediate vicinity, cast Slow on the yeti chieftain, but the spell had no effect. The bard then began singing a different tune, singing now to Inspire Greatness on Sawyer. Zhustin cast Scorching Rays on the Yeti charging from the chasm, and two more dropped. But another herd of yeti began pouring out of a tunnel on the far side of the crevasse. From his new vantage point on the ledge, Nicki fired off another Empowered Fireball, and the new group of yeti was blasted out of existence. But they could hear more muffled shouts from beyond the tunnel opening, and there was no doubt that there were more where those had come from.

Marie moved forward and used Channel Divinity to heal all the nearby party members. Feeling marginally healthier, Shinjiro was emboldened to try his new sword. Activating two of its rings, he charged Bormurg, swinging the blade in a furious arc. As it bit into his flesh, there was a flash of light, and Bormurg went down like a puppet whose strings had been cut. An icy wind began to howl, and the area was suddenly filled by a blizzard of blowing snow.

Above the yeti chief floated a familiar, ghostly figure. It was Katiyana, but now ephemeral. As she rose up into the air, she taunted the party. “Stupid mortals – you cannot kill me! I am become Katiyana the Eternal, Avatar of the Hungry Storm, Handmaiden of Sithhud and the Harrower of All Creation! Kneel before my power, so that my storm may strip the flesh from your bones, and your souls shall serve me for all eternity!”

Bella considered the offer for about half a second before concluding it wasn’t such a good deal. Unable to reach Katiyana herself, she pulled out her Terra-Cotta Warrior, and summoned a Spiritual Ally, which appeared in mid-air next to the ghost. As a construct of force, it was able to hit the incorporeal Katiyana, but she simply cackled with mad laughter and flew off towards the dais in the center of the cavern, much faster than the Ally could follow. As she did, there was a flash of sparks, and a Large Lightning Elemental suddenly appeared next to Sawyer, who barely dodged its crackling blows. Zhustin cast Magic Missiles at Katiyana’s fleeing form, but the missiles evaporated as they touched her, doing no damage.

On the ground, the bloodied Bormurg was waving his arms feebly. “Please! I was controlled by the bad, lying spirit! It was she who ordered my people to attack you. Please, I beg you – do not harm any more of my people!” The last surviving yeti in the cavern had taken to his heels at the first sign of Katiyana’s ghost, and was by now leaping back across the chasm, so that didn’t look like it would be a problem.

The group now focused their attention on Katiyana’s ghost, but unfortunately she was flying well above the cavern floor, surrounded by an aura of gale-force winds that made it difficult to even approach her. Undeterred, Marie cast Fly on Bella, and shook out her own angelic wings and took to the air. Sandoval and Shinjiro were occupied fighting off Katiyana’s Lightning Elemental, but Bella knew that Shinjiro’s sword would be invaluable against the incorporeal ghost. She Tumbled beneath the Elemental, and snatched the sword out of the monk’s belt. “I’ll bring this right back,” she shouted over her shoulder as she, too, took to the air in pursuit of the vengeful spirit.

Shinjiro and Sawyer both pummeled the Lightning Elemental, and Bella’s Spiritual Ally gave it one parting whack before floating off after Katiyana. Sandoval came up behind it, and his echoblade destroyed it in an explosion of sparks. Katiyana merely laughed. “Puny mortals! Flee before my fearsome presence!” Katiyana’s Greater Command had taken Sawyer out of most of the fight back at the Storm Tower, but this time only Ulf was affected, and he scampered at full speed back down the passage towards Koya’s tomb.

Sawyer activated Suishen’s Air Walk ability, and joined Bella and Marie in the airborne chase. Marie drew near Katiyana and used her Channel Divinity against the undead being, but she found that the area around the dais was protected by a Desecrate spell, and her ability to commune with her goddess was inhibited. Bella charged in, Nine-Fold Spirit Sword in hand. She activated three of its remaining rings, hoping to utterly destroy the ghost. The sword bit into Katiyana, its Ghost Touch ability allowing it to hit the ghost as if she were a physical being. There was a clash of wills as the power of the sword attempted to obliterate Katiyana’s undead essence, but Katiyana’s will proved stronger, and she flew off with another triumphant laugh. As she did, she cast Unholy Blight on the group clustered around and above the dais. All were injured by the cold, cloying miasma, and Marie and Shinjiro found themselves Sickened by its evil touch.

Nicki was frustrated by Katiyana’s protections. His go-to fire spells seemed to have no effect on her, and now Magic Missiles also didn’t seem to work. In desperation, he tried a Command Undead, but wasn’t surprised when it had no effect. Zhustin took a moment to consider what was going on. They’d seen Katiyana’s imperviousness to fire back at the Storm Tower, and he’d concluded then that it was probably a Protection from Energy spell. If so, the spell could only absorb a finite amount of fire damage, but whether they could hit her with enough to break through before she finished them all off was the question. What he’d seen with his Magic Missiles looked like she also had a Spell Immunity active against them. Not surprising for a high-level spellcaster, but again it limited your options. Digging through his own bag of tricks, Zhustin tried a Ray of Enfeeblement, but with no luck.

The aerial battle filled the upper reaches of the cavern. Katiyana futilely tried to stay out of reach as Sawyer and Bella chased her with their swords, and Marie continued Channeling Positive Energy. Nicki decided to use his Elemental Magic to transform a pair of Scorching Rays into acid, but Katiyana’s innate Spell Resistance thwarted his attack.

Of all the attacks, the Nine-Fold Spirit Sword in Bella’s hands was the only thing doing full damage, and Katiyana knew that she had to eliminate that threat. She turned to the flying rogue with a sultry expression. “You’re such a beautiful little thing,” she purred. “Come to me, join with me, feel my power fill you.” She reached out and enveloped Bella in a passionate embrace, and pressed her lips against Bella's. Bella felt her body tingle in a way she’d never experienced. She was dimly aware of Katiyana entering her, possessing her, and she wanted it, like she’d never wanted anything before. She wanted to surrender herself to that power, to become its vessel.

But then she returned to herself. “NO!” she screamed, and pushed herself away from Katiyana’s phantom embrace. She swung the broadsword with both hands, its rings chiming against the steel of the blade, and it slashed through Katiyana’s ephemeral form. There was a sound as if the fabric of the universe itself was ripping, and a dark opening appeared beneath the ghost. A vast, three-fingered hand reached up through the tear in reality, and snatched Katiyana’s spirit back down into the Abyss.

The group realized that Katiyana’s threat was ended forever. As they regrouped for healing, they listened to Bormurg’s heartfelt apology. “I had gone up to investigate the unseasonal storm that was assailing our mountain when I encountered a beautiful spirit. She said she was the goddess of the storm, and I was seduced by her beauty. But then she entered me, and took control of me, and used my voice to command my people to exact her vengeance on you. I am sorry for what we have done to you, but you have also taken a great toll on us.” As he spoke, yeti had begun to cautiously emerge from the tunnels, and their wails of grief at the sight of their dead loved ones scattered across the cavern floor was heartbreaking. “Here, take my magic stone, and leave us to our mourning.” He offered the party an Ioun Stone, and the caravan hastily made its way up the ramp to the exit tunnel, under the watchful eyes of dozens of grieving yeti.

It took another two days to wend their way through the underground maze, until they finally came through to the southern face of the Wall of Heaven mountains. The steppes of Hongal stretched out before them under the setting sun. More than six months after they first set foot on the Path of Aganhei, its end was in sight. But Minkai was still far away, and they had no idea what lay between them and the Jade Throne.

This is the end of book three, The Hungry Storm. The PCs earned 12,114 XP for the night, putting them at 110,655 XP. They are now at 10^th level, with 155,000 XP required for level 11. Next week, Roger will be in Texas playing grandpa. If Joette and Rich are back from NC, we’ll meet at Leo’s, but if they’re not, we’ll take a break due to lack of quorum. The following week, May 31, it looks like there’s a good chance I’ll be the one playing grandpa, in which case I’ll be there in person.