026. Gathgorian and the Ninety Nine Cornugons

[Corwin]

#ed

[01:17] <Kotono> At last! Working the magic, the way out ahead is opened...OOC: Go ahead, Afina.
[01:18] <Afina> "Go ahead, I'll be right behind you," Afina urges her Queen, casting the Superior Invisibility scroll on her and hasting them both. "Go down the mountain from the courtyard, follow the angel."
[01:18] <Kotono> Queen Ilsenine nods, vanishing from sight a moment later thanks to magic!
[01:18] * Afina flinches. "Hurry, Gathgarion's here, but the spell will hide you!" she urges near desperately.
[01:19] <Kotono> Presumably the unseen queen has done just that, passing through the wall unseen!
[01:19] * Afina crawls through after waiting a second for Ilsenine, turning invisible once again.
[01:20] <Kotono> Outside Afina cna see Jaela and Hanna retreating in the sky, the imposing, massive form of Gathgorian filling the air above! After a moment, he grimly smiles and takes to the air in pursuit! OOC: Into #dunes, we be in coming init land.

[Corwin]

[01:21] <Afina> roll 1d20+20
[01:22] * Hatbot --> "Afina rolls 1d20+20 and gets 38." [1d20=18]
[01:22] <Ithea> roll d20+9
[01:22] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+9 and gets 18." [d20=9]
[01:22] <Jaela> roll 1d20+6
[01:22] <Kotono> roll 1d20+8 Hanna
[01:22] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+8 Hanna and gets 11." [1d20=3]
[01:22] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+6 and gets 7." [1d20=1]
[01:22] <Kotono> roll 1d20+14 Annalise
[01:22] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+14 Annalise and gets 33." [1d20=19]
[01:22] <Kotono> roll 1d20+18 Gathgorian
[01:22] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+18 Gathgorian and gets 32." [1d20=14]
[01:24] * Kotono changes topic to 'Afina(38)>Annalise(33)>Gathgorian(32)>Queen Ilsenine(21)>Ithea(18)>Hanna(11)>Jaela(7)'
[01:24] <Kotono> OOC: Go Afina.
[01:25] <Afina> Getting free of the tunnel overlooking the courtyard and finally seeing the fiend that despoiled her queen, Afina elects to give him something to remember her by in passing. Flying up and past him, her blade forged specifically for slaying archdevils cuts into him twice on the way before the fairy dips down again, racing another seventy feet down the mountain!
[01:26] <Afina> roll 1d20+49 6th level arcane strike
[01:26] * Hatbot --> "Afina rolls 1d20+49 6th level arcane strike and gets 64." [1d20=15]
[01:26] <Afina> roll 1d20+44 6th level arcane strike
[01:26] * Hatbot --> "Afina rolls 1d20+44 6th level arcane strike and gets 52." [1d20=8]
[01:26] <Kotono> OOC: One hit.
[01:26] <Afina> roll 1d20+59 hide (darkstalker)
[01:26] * Hatbot --> "Afina rolls 1d20+59 hide (darkstalker) and gets 78." [1d20=19]
[01:26] <Afina> roll 1d4+21+5d6+2d6+2d6+2d6+6d4
[01:26] * Hatbot --> "Afina rolls 1d4+21+5d6+2d6+2d6+2d6+6d4 and gets 85." [1d4=3][5d6=6, 5, 3, 6, 2][2d6=1, 3][2d6=5, 6][2d6=5, 2][6d4=4, 4, 3, 1, 4, 1]
[01:26] <Afina> OOC: silver, holy, epic
[01:27] <Kotono> roll 1d20+68 spot ironically enough
[01:27] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+68 spot ironically enough and gets 88." [1d20=20]
[01:28] <Kotono> Afina flees with all the haste in the Heavens and the Hells, slashing across him! One blow skitters aside, deflecting off an errant bit of air! The second blow is true, slicing a shallow wound in the fiend's side! It's harder than working adamantine, his scaly skin impossibly, mind bogglingly hard! Worse...you see his eyes on you, boring into you with grim, unflinching determination! OOC:
[01:28] <Kotono> Annalise. Whatever she does is unseen and probably involves a tactical retreat. Gathgorian is up.
[01:30] <Kotono> Gathgorian turns away from the rest of the fleeing party, pointing his blade out at Afina...before he charges through the air like a mountain hurtled by the Gods of revenge, blade rising up to strike near Afina!
[01:31] <Kotono> roll 1d20+52 (+2 charge, -20 PA)
[01:31] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+52 (+2 charge, -20 PA) and gets 53." [1d20=1]
[01:32] <Kotono> The blade rips into the air strong enough to cause tornado force gusts to buffet outward, but somehow Afina is missed! A moment later, a burningly hot fire ball burst around him, and then another! OOC: Auto passes the SR check. Two reflex saves, -3 to both of them.
[01:32] <Afina> roll 1d20+28
[01:32] * Hatbot --> "Afina rolls 1d20+28 and gets 43." [1d20=15]
[01:32] <Afina> roll 1d20+28
[01:32] * Hatbot --> "Afina rolls 1d20+28 and gets 42." [1d20=14]
[01:33] <Kotono> The fires seek Afina out! They move in ordered lines and bursts, beautiful, deadly art around you! Yet Afina manages to evade both, unburnt! Now at last Gathgorian speaks, "Finally." A grotesque grin splits his face, "It's been too long since I've found a worthy opponent to kill!" OOC: Queen Ilsenine presumably retreats as well. Ithea.
[01:38] * Ithea keeps running with Willim in tow!
[01:39] <Kotono> OOC: Okay. Also all of you, list your per round total run rate in #thecauldron.
[01:39] <Kotono> Hanna continues to retreat as fast as her wings can take her! OOC: Jaela.
[01:40] * Jaela flees, feeling no shame in running away from such an enemy, especially with their goal all but accomplished!
[01:42] <Jaela> 'Twenty seconds,' she thinks during her escape, probably optimistic. 'If we have that, we can get away.'
[01:43] <Kotono> OOC: Afina!
[01:45] <Afina> "Not today," Afina retorts as she wheels about and flies not along with the rest of her allies but perpendicular to the left, intending to lure Gathgarion away and buy her slower allies some extra time to reach the safe distance.
[01:45] <Afina> OOC: not bothering with tumble, he can AoO away
[01:46] <Afina> OOC: AC 54 vs AoOs if it's relevant. 50% miss chance as well unless he bypasses that.
[01:46] <Afina> OOC: if he hits a 6th level spell will be sacced to reduce damage by 30
[01:48] <Kotono> roll 1d20+52 (+2 charge, -20 PA)
[01:48] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+52 (+2 charge, -20 PA) and gets 54." [1d20=2]
[01:48] <Kotono> OOC: -2 charge. Fortune still favors you.
[01:50] <Kotono> Woosh! The wind from the blow hits her before she realizes she dodged, further propelling Afina along! She flees with all the haste she has, flying away fast and hard! Meanwhile Annalise does the same as...behind you, Gathgorian pursues! From him, two balls fly out! They unerringly seek Hanna and Jaela out, exploding around them! OOC: Reflex save, one each. -3 penalty.
[01:50] <Jaela> roll 1d20+37-3
[01:50] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+37-3 and gets 42." [1d20=8]
[01:51] <Kotono> roll 1d20+23 Hanna
[01:51] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+23 Hanna and gets 38." [1d20=15]
[01:51] <Kotono> roll 25d6 halve this for Hanna, bypasses her resistance.
[01:51] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 25d6 halve this for Hanna, bypasses her resistance. and gets 78." [25d6=5, 4, 1, 4, 5, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 5, 3, 4, 6, 1, 2, 3, 1, 5]
[01:51] <Kotono> roll 25d6 halve this for Jaela, bypasses her resistance.
[01:51] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 25d6 halve this for Jaela, bypasses her resistance. and gets 106." [25d6=4, 6, 5, 6, 5, 4, 4, 5, 5, 2, 3, 6, 3, 6, 1, 4, 5, 5, 4, 6, 1, 5, 3, 4, 4]
[01:55] <Kotono> The fire is so beautiful, and yet so painful. So accurate. It burns true in perfect lines nad patterns, scorching both angels! Gathgorian is pursuing, already only 40ft behind Jaela, matching her pace! OOC: Queen Ilsenine, whatever she does. Ithea.
[01:56] * Ithea just keeps running!
[01:56] <Kotono> Hanna does the same, glancing back, "FASTER!" she calls! OOC: Jaela.
[01:56] <Jaela> Oh, Annalise better be ready with a Gate by the edge of this blocked area, or they are all doomed. Jaela does her best to flee, but what can she really do in the face of the thing chasing them?
[01:56] <Jaela> roll 1d4+5
[01:56] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d4+5 and gets 8." [1d4=3]
[01:57] <Kotono> OOC:Afina, go.
[01:58] <Afina> Veering back, Afina races to catch up with the others, bestowing haste magic upon the three that she can see!
[01:59] <Kotono> Meanwhile, ahead? You can see it, far ahead! A gate! A gate is opening! As you see that, Gathgorian continues his fireball assault, flinging two more, the same pattern as last round!
[01:59] <Kotono> roll 1d20+23 reflex Hanna
[01:59] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+23 reflex Hanna and gets 43." [1d20=20]
[01:59] <Jaela> roll 1d20+37-3
[01:59] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+37-3 and gets 53." [1d20=19]
[02:01] <Kotono> roll 25d6 ignores res Jaela
[02:01] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 25d6 ignores res Jaela and gets 97." [25d6=6, 1, 6, 5, 6, 2, 6, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4, 5, 2, 1, 5, 1, 1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 3, 6, 6]
[02:01] <Kotono> roll 25d6 ignores res Hanna
[02:01] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 25d6 ignores res Hanna and gets 91." [25d6=3, 4, 5, 1, 3, 4, 3, 3, 6, 4, 4, 5, 4, 3, 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5, 3, 5, 5, 2, 6]
[02:01] <Kotono> OOC: Both made the save.
[02:02] <Kotono> Fire again burns you, as Gathgorian maintains his pursuit, unflappable about it! OOC: Ithea, go.
[02:05] <Ithea> While she doubts it'll work, Ithea starts trying to quick cast beams of magic behind her at the devil to try and slow him down. Or mess up his aim. Or just piss him off more. Either way, they're almost out of here! (ooc: quick casting ennervation)
[02:05] <Jaela> 'Tepen, where is the Gate coming out?' Jaela thinks briefly as she continues her flight. Her armor is uncomfortably warm, and the magic placed upon her doesn't help with that problem one bit. 'Courtyard?'
[02:05] <Ithea> roll d20+16 SR
[02:05] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+16 SR and gets 30." [d20=14]
[02:05] * Ithea continues running without checking to see if the spell did anything!
[02:06] <Ithea> roll d20+22 forgot to roll for ranged touch attack before SR checking, whoops!
[02:06] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+22 forgot to roll for ranged touch attack before SR checking, whoops! and gets 23." [d20=1]
[02:06] <Kotono> 'Yes,' Elder Magi Tepen replies, 'We have a circle of attackers around it in case hostiles appear,' He sends back. Meanwhile the beam strikes Gathgorian...and fizzlse out, utterly negated! Meanwhile Hanna keeps running - almost there! It's within movement range this next round! OOC: Go Jaela, it's not in your range this round since you're at the end of init, but y'know.
[02:07] <Afina> 'Is the Queen through?' Afina asks Tepen, joining the harried conversation.
[02:07] <Jaela> 'Gathgorian in very close pursuit,' Jaela thinks, her flight continuing. 'Get ready to drop a Wall of Force or something to cut him off if he tries to cross!'
[02:08] <Kotono> 'She just made it through! The Chil-' Tepen stops abruptly, 'The Chil-' he tries again, 'The Child is...!'
[02:08] <Kotono> OOC: Afina, go.
[02:09] <Afina> Afina needs to hear nothing more, though part of her fears it was all a ruse to get the child access to Aurora... using her superior speed she outstrips her companions, charging through with no restraint about stabbing Ilsenine in the gut once she reaches the other side!
[02:10] <Kotono> OOC: #evildunes.

[Corwin]

#d

[02:12] <Jaela> roll 1d4+5 forgot to roll for me
[02:12] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d4+5 forgot to roll for me and gets 6." [1d4=1]
[02:12] <Kotono> Meanwhile Gathgorian pursues again, fireballs at Jaela and Hanna once more!
[02:12] <Kotono> roll 1d20+23 Hanna
[02:12] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+23 Hanna and gets 32." [1d20=9]
[02:12] <Kotono> roll 25d6 half Hanna
[02:12] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 25d6 half Hanna and gets 72." [25d6=2, 4, 5, 4, 1, 3, 1, 1, 2, 1, 4, 5, 4, 4, 1, 2, 3, 6, 3, 6, 1, 4, 1, 2, 2]
[02:13] <Jaela> roll 1d20+37-3
[02:13] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+37-3 and gets 50." [1d20=16]
[02:14] <Kotono> roll 25d6 half Jaela
[02:14] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 25d6 half Jaela and gets 83." [25d6=5, 2, 5, 1, 4, 3, 5, 2, 2, 5, 4, 1, 1, 3, 6, 3, 1, 2, 5, 5, 5, 4, 2, 6, 1]
[02:15] <Jaela> 'Afina, you through?' Jaela thinks curtly.
[02:16] <Afina> 'Yes, but the child is active again!'
[02:16] <Kotono> The flames burn - oh Seladrin they burn - but you endure even these, flying along! OOC: Ithea, go.
[02:16] <Jaela> 'Fuck! I'm almost there!'
[02:17] <Ithea> 'We're almost through! We'll change that in but a moment!' Ithea thinks as she crosses through the gate.
[02:18] <Kotono> Ithea makes it through! OOC: #evil, Ithea.
[02:20] <Kotono> A moment later Hanna rushes through the gate! OOC: Jaela, go.
[02:21] <Jaela> The Gate is still opened. Both pixies are through, that much had been confirmed. "I am the last!" Jaela calls. It's vague enough, but Annalise should easily get the message without a need to reveal herself and act accordingly. And then she, too, is through!
[02:21] <Jaela> roll 1d4+5
[02:21] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d4+5 and gets 8." [1d4=3]

[Corwin]

#ed

[02:10] <Kotono> On racing through the portal...OOC: will save.
[02:11] <Afina> roll 1d20+22 sick of these
[02:11] * Hatbot --> "Afina rolls 1d20+22 sick of these and gets 36." [1d20=14]
[02:12] <Kotono> Afina stops. Her body refuses to listen. Her body will not listen. Throb. Throbbing. No! The chains pull at her, rip her, but Afina keeps her own mind, her own will! The magic circle around her glows hot enough to melt metal, sparks flying, but it holds! OOC: Do you have any way to detect Ilsenine?
[02:12] <Afina> OOC: No, but I can dispel the superior invis I put on her. Which takes a round, so everyone else can join the party by the time I'm done
[02:13] <Kotono> OOC: Okay, doing so?
[02:13] <Afina> OOC: may as well
[02:16] <Kotono> At this will, Queen Ilsenine appears! She wobbles in the air, her stomach distended horrifically again! Within it you see the Child throbbing, others around you. Adrian, Misalea, Tepen, Annalise, Crystal. Other faces. 27. For some reason the face of 27 meets your own, staring at Afina. It stares at her, and speaks, '21 is the key to everything. 21 can destroy the Child of Lifasa, Abigor and
[02:16] <Kotono> even Bel. 21 is a battle for a soul.'
[02:17] <Afina> "Elena! Get Sylvie!" Afina yells, trusting she won't be under the sway of this thing. In the meantime, she already knows a way to subdue it...
[02:18] <Kotono> Ithea passes through the portal with all the energy she has left! The moment she steps through...OOC: Will.
[02:18] * Ithea drops Willim's corpse down unceremoneously off to the side the moment she crosses back to Aurora, so he's no longer burdening her ability to act, just far enough to the side that he won't accidently trip Hanna or Jaela as they come through.
[02:19] <Ithea> roll d20+21+6 cunning insight
[02:19] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+21+6 cunning insight and gets 38." [d20=11]
[02:20] <Kotono> Ithea feels it. Chains. Chains pulling her down - no hope, her body reacting outside of her control - but somehow she resists! With superhuman will she shakes the feeling off! Ahead of her is Queen Ilsenine, stomach bloated and the Child within. "I'm here," Sylvie's voice is heard, stepping past Adrian, "I think it has a sense of humor. I know what I need to do now."
[02:20] <Afina> "Do something quickly, the alternative isn't pleasant," Afina asks Sylvie, turning now to keep an eye on the gate. "Annalise, get ready to close the gate!"
[02:21] <Ithea> "Anything we can do to help?" Ithea asks as she moves closer to the queen, examining the horrible sight, her brain going into overdrive trying to think of anything useful.
[02:25] <Kotono> Sylvie nods, approaching the Queen. In her hand is a book - it looks nondescript enough, though Sylvie opens it and begins to silently read. "No. This is why I got involved with the entire wretched thing." As she speaks Jaela comes through, a wall of force from Annalise appearing moments later, blocking up the Gate! As she looks down and reads, she simply speaks one word, then another, then
[02:25] <Kotono> a third. On that third word, a howl echos about you! The Child of Lifasa explodes out of the Queen, into the air! It twists into dozens of shapes - a fetus, a king with scepter, a great pit fiend larger than any you have seen before, a shapeless nightmarish...thing. For a moment it seems to draw in on itself, before exploding outwards! The next thing anyone knows, you lie far back. Everyone
[02:25] <Kotono> is casually scattered against the outer wall, hundreds of feet from the gate, Sylvie and Queen Ilsenine. The pixie falls limply to the ground, Sylvie kneeling next to her.
[02:26] * Ithea shakes her head as she recovers from being thrown farther away, and quickly moves back towards the source of the explosion, checking to see how the pixie monarch is doing.
[02:27] <Jaela> "Annalise? Annalise!"
[02:27] * Afina decides to rest right where she is for a while. Someone that didn't seriously contemplate murdering the Queen would be better for welcoming her to the Crusade. Crystal or Skye would love it.
[02:27] <Kotono> Annalise lies against a wall a little ways away, groaning up already rising.
[02:27] * Jaela rushes over to her, armor banished along the way, to pull Annalise back to her feet.
[02:28] <Kotono> The wounds of Queen Ilsenine have vanished, Sylvie weaving magic. AFter she sits back and lies down, looking up. "Tired," she announces, the book she read from gone. Queen Ilsenine is slowly rising to the air, wobbling but her body is normal. Dirty, beaten, bloodied...but no longer terribly distended.
[02:30] <Kotono> Slowly Queen Ilsenine takes about, "Afina," she calls, "Afina?"
[02:31] <Afina> Well if she's called she can't refuse, so Afina gets up and flutters across to Ilsenine with her usual eerie grace. "Your majesty?" she asks as if the past two years had never happened.
[02:32] <Kotono> "Thank you, you have done the Court proud," she says, "I would like to retire to rest very much now. We will all speak after that."
[02:33] <Afina> "We have a suite prepared, I will show you to your chambers," Afina nods, intending to lead Ilsenine to one of the recently refurbished royal quarters.
[02:34] <Ithea> "We should take her to the healer's wards first, don't you think? A night in one of the beds there will probably ensure she sleeps better after her ordeal," Ithea suggests, given the beds in there can help with nightmares and other sleep effects.
[02:35] <Jaela> "Or... a Heal." Once she made sure Annalise is alright, Jaela joins the others by the rescued queen and uses her magic for that very purpose.