052.5 Ithea, Sylvie and Balyss vs Slaad Insanity!

[Anastasia]

> It's going over weapon drills - a normal activity without anything really interesting about it. Helping the common soldier is always enjoyable enough, but the sight of Balyss approaching causes a break. "Ithea," she says quietly once she gets in earshot, "You remember that dungeon that you, I and Sylvie went through a few months ago? The one run by an insane slaad?"
<Ithea> "Yes, what about it?" Ithea asks as she gives an approving nod to one of the soldiers for doing well with a maneuver before turning to look at Balyss. "Anything come up?"
> Holding up a fine white envelope, "We've been invited back for round two. Want to see?"
* Ithea blinks. "Were we now? I guess we 'amused' him," Ithea says with a small snort.
> "Oh yes, that's what it says," Balyss says, "The entire invitation is magicked to give you a full sensual..." Frowning, "Not what I mean. I mean it uses all five senses with magic. You hear the voice, see the images and so on. Ick." Making a distinct EW face, "Sorry. There's instructions for how the three of us can be gated over at any time."
* Ithea makes a thoughtful face. "Part of me wants to say no, I remember some of the more annoying parts, I didn't much care for his use of souls, the skeletons, dust swarm, and that forge giant come to mind...on the other hand, going means getting rid of such terrible things, and the rewards were pretty good last time. Just need to remember to bring waterskins and other useful things if we
* Ithea accept the invite."
<Ithea> "What's Sylvie said on the matter? Or not asked her yet?"
> "She's willing," Balyss says, "I'm in if you're in."
<Ithea> "Sure, put the blame all on me," Ithea says with a snort. "Well, why not? Have any ideas for preparations we could use first? I mentioned waterskins, and you'll probably want something to deal with holy matters, right?"
> "Waterskins are the main one. I'm better equipped this time," Balyss says, "Sylvie has a bunch of things in her bag now."
* Ithea nods. "I'll grab a backpack from the armory to dump any items we find that won't really fit in her bag, as well. May be easier to lug around things like giant hammers that way," Ithea decides. "Other than that, if you guys think you're covered, then I'm good to go as well."
> OOC: Going to grab a backpack and meet in the courtyard then?
<Ithea> ooc: yep
> Soon the three of you meet up just outside in Air. Sylvie's whistling and lying back stomach down in the Air, flipping up once the other two make it out. "So defying death and vengeful boulders demanded an encore?"
> "If it makes you feel any better," Balyss settles in, checking over her armor and adjusting her shield with Sylvie's help, coming over to her, "I'm doing it for the glory of Selune."
> "I'm doing it for Gond and I'm sure there's something about Sharess there." Lightly going on as she adjusts Balyss's shield straps, "So we're doing it for the moon, knowledge and cats and/or sex. I still don't get how that one ended up on one goddess."
* Ithea just snorts in amusement and shakes her head. "We all ready to go?"
> "I am," Balyss says, as Sylvie chuckles and nods as well. "We'll form a circle and I'll invoke the words on the invitation."
<Ithea> "Anything worth seeing in the invitation for Sylvie and I before we gate over?"
* Deadward (~Melanchth@pool-173-79-9-135.washdc.fios.verizon.net) Quit (Ping timeout)
> As hands are taken, "Here's hoping it works out," Sylvie says, as Balyss replies, "It's interesting, but..." She opens the invitation and utters a few words! Reality folds in on itself like a sheet of paper and you go flying off! In an instant you are soaring amid the stars of the night sky, soaring and zooming! After a few moments you're coming up on something - a big, blue green sphere and a much smaller silvery sphere. In particular, you're racing right towards the silvery sphere!
> Sylvie takes it with relatively calm, while Balyss goes wide eyed! "What in-" she begins, sputtering, "If this isn't an illusion, I swear to Selune...!"
* Ithea braces for arrival, if it seems like they're going to crash. "Hang on!" Ithea warns, preparing to use her glaive to slow their flight by using wings to counter their speed. Balyss has her own wings and should be able to help with that if it comes to it, they'll just both need to hold onto Sylvie.
> Faster and faster and faster! The trio race down towards that silvery sphere, impossibly fast - but your reactions are well founded! Drawing back and calling on the magic and wings each of you have, you slow down the fall to a rough if safe landing.  You stand in a field of silver. The ground glows with bright moonlight radiance,  The ground is whirls of silver stone and metal of various types, all colored the exact same. They only differ in texture. As you land a bit of silvery dust is kicked up, glittering around you.
<Ithea> "Well...I said it before, I'll say it again. He's certainly living up to the 'Demented' name," she says flatly as she looks around. "Some entrance."
> "This is blasphemy is what it is," Balyss says, voice dark and heavy with offense. "This is Selune! This is the surface of the moon, I mean! At the same time it isn't - the feel isn't the same."
> "He's starting strong," Sylvie admits, cracking her knuckles and looking about. Around you are open planes - and far ahead you can see something sticking out of the ground. "This is less dungeon and more overland exploring."
> "Wait a moment," Sylvie does a doubletake to Balyss, "You've been to the surface of the moon?"
> "Once and not for long," Balyss shakes her head, "It's a long story and a lot of it is a secret of the faith. I can't tell either of you much about it, but yes, this is visually accurate."
* Ithea looks at Balyss, curious for the answer herself.
> Kneeling down and getting a bit of moondust in her hand, blowing it out like dandelion fluff, "The straition of the metal and rock isn't natural, at least by normal standards." Tapping it with a finger, "If I don't miss my guess, this is mithral or moonlight mithral?"
<Ithea> "Well, let's get exploring then, I suppose. And who knows, the slaad will probably give us an option to blow this place up if you really think this is blasphemy," Ithea comments. Pausing she adds, "Hopefully after we get out."
> "Both and other things. Don't worry about it," Balyss says, "Don't even think about digging. The moon - on our world or on another, is an extension of Selune's body."
<Ithea> "Would the slaad really be able to get his hands on moonlight mithral?" Ithea asks as she tries examining the silvery metal surface.
> "Right, right. Ithea's right," Sylvie rises quickly, dusting off her hands. "Let's get exploring. See that ahead? Something sticking out of the ground? That's a good starting place, right?"
<Ithea> ooc: knowledge check to see if it's moonlight or regular or other?
> OOC: K:R or anything related to metallurgy would do.
<Ithea> roll d20+34 K:R
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+34 K:R and gets 43." [d20=9]
> "It's possible," Balyss says finally, looking as if she bit down on a lemon. "If he can make an illusion on this scale that's real or quasi real enough to fool us and 21," A glance at Sylvie, who nods after a moment, "We're dealing with one hell of a powerful entity."
> "My guess is on highly refined and enhanced limbo control," Sylvie says, before snapping her fingers, "Hey Anarch, try manipulating something."
<Ithea> "It does look like it is moonlight mithral from what I know of it. And sure," Ithea says as she tries concentrating, trying to form something of a different substance in front of her.
> OOC: Limbo control check.
<Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wisdom check
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+6+8 wisdom check and gets 16." [d20=2]
> With some effort Ithea turns the air in front of her into blobs of water that crash down! It is indeed Limbo - and the Limbo here feels powerful. Alive. Extra vibrant.
<Ithea> "Definitely Limbo," Ithea says, actually relishing the feeling of taking control, having not realized she'd missed the feeling from the last time they'd been to Limbo. Shaking her head, she says, "Anyway, let's go to where Sylvie pointed. As she said, it's as good a place as any to start."
> You walk along to the object. It is two things - a mound of dirt with a sword plunged in the center, like a sword in the stone. The second is a sign.
> Sylvie goes over to the sign, Balyss idly looking at the sword. The sword is of fine make, well made without being ornamented at all. It seems to glow with the same silver at the air around you.
* Ithea goes look at the sign with Sylvie, before her attention focuses on the sword.
> The sign has four entries. They are, "Ahead, Palace of the Moon. The way you came: The Sea of Silver Serenity. To your right: Death. To your left: Serpent's Lament.
> "I like that. Fantastical locations, interesting things...and death, just tossed in." Sylvie chuckles again, "There's an absurd sort of comedy to it.
> "
<Ithea> "Well, I'm encouraged by the fact that three directions don't point towards death," Ithea says drily for her part, before casting detect magic and focusing on the sword, wondering if she should pull it.
> The sword indeed radiates strong magic!
> "If you're feeling brave we could go to Death," Sylvie remarks, "There's a story about the Night of the Walking Dead and the soon to be Goddess Alicia, where she defeated Death itself above Balmuria."
<Ithea> roll d20+35 spellcraft on the sword
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+35 spellcraft on the sword and gets 44." [d20=9]
<Ithea> "Maybe. I'll admit I'm more interested by the Palace of the Moon. I've had enough of the sea after the crystal one, I think, and the left path sounds too much like the sort of place that would tempt Tiamat and Bahamut's curses into action," Ithea comments. "The Death path could have interesting results, we might see how we'd rank against something that took a fledgling goddess to defeat like
<Ithea> you said."
> "Assuming it's the same thing," Sylvie glances that way, "For all we know it'll cause a giant fireball to fry us to bits."
> "I doubt it. He doesn't seem to be interested in flat killing us," Balyss mutters, discord and fury warring in her voice. "Is the sword worthwhile, Ithea?"
<Ithea> "Well, we're on a moon, might just be that the air gets sucked away," Ithea says with a shrug. "Anyway, that sword feels like a holy avenger. Are you any good at detecting traps, Sylvie? I have a little bit of training at it, but I figure you'd be better with that. Feels weird to have a reward just for surviving his opening move."
<Ithea> "If there's nothing, it might just be a reward for coming to play again, but best to make sure."
> "Let me give it a shot," Sylvie says, kneeling down and giving it a look over!
> roll 1d20+12
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+12 and gets 29." [1d20=17]
<Ithea> "I'll help a bit, but I'll leave it to your expertise."
<Ithea> roll d20+9 search aid
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+9 search aid and gets 12." [d20=3]
> "...yep," Sylvie replies, "I'm not sure what it does, but there's one hell of a powerful trap around it. Cloaked magic if I don't miss my guess."
<Ithea> "Think you could disarm it between the two of us?" Ithea asks. "I can try to just dispel it, but if it's as powerful as you suspect..."
> "...maybe." Sylvie says finally, "Unfortunately, there's only one way to find out."
<Ithea> "Which do you think has the better chance of success?" Ithea asks.
> "Dispeling," Sylvie says, "But that's just a guess based on your magic skill versus my trap catching skill." Pausing, "Before I even started I got my hands on some thieves' tools and I never got around to teaching myself how to do it, even after all these years." That gets a bit of a chargrinned look, "I always managed to put it off."
<Ithea> "Bad knowledge seeker, bad, bad, bad!" Ithea says with a disappointed sounding tsk tsk as she wags her finger in front of Sylvie, before laughing. "Alright, I'll try dispelling it. If that doesn't work, we can also just try using Limbo itself to trip the trap, and if the sword survives it, recover it then."
<Ithea> roll d20+10 CL dispel magic
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+10 CL dispel magic and gets 29." [d20=19]
> Sylvie begins to laugh, but it dies in her throat! A dark shadow overtakes the blade after Ithea casts! The shadow rises up into the air, forming! A massive dragon of darkness looms 50ft above you, blocking out the infinite starry sky! In a voice that booms in your ears and causes aural agony, "MORTAL HANDS WILL NOT LAY THEIR HANDS ON THIS HOLY BLADE!"
> "Fuck." Sylvie says but a single word, cracking her knuckles at the same time.
> "Mortal feet aren't meant to tread here, or even in a bad fakery of the moon," Balyss snaps back, "But if that's how you're going to do it?"
<Ithea> "...the slaad did research on us. A dragon? Really? Right after bringing a moon?" Ithea asks, narrowing her eyes, pointing her weapon at it. "Just so you know, dragons don't come to a happy end after encountering me. Only warning you get, you overgrown lizard."
> With a roar, the dragon rears its head back as cataclysmic energy gathers around it! OOC: Init. It's not being Mr. Nice Dragon.
<Ithea> ooc: knowledge check for dragon?
> OOC: K:A.
<Ithea> roll d20+19 init
> OOC: After nint.
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+19 init and gets 21." [d20=2]
> roll 1d20+22 Sylvie
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+22 Sylvie and gets 42." [1d20=20]
<Ithea> roll d20+3 Balyss
> roll 1d20+3 Balyss
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+3 Balyss and gets 12." [d20=9]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+3 Balyss and gets 23." [1d20=20]
<Ithea> ooc: you can roll for her! =p
> OOC: We'll do it that way for now, yes.
> roll 1d20+8 Dragon
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+8 Dragon and gets 14." [1d20=6]
* Kotono changes topic to 'Sylvie(42)>Balyss(23)>Ithea(21)>Dragon(14)'
<Ithea> roll d20+37+5 K:A
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+37+5 K:A and gets 54." [d20=12]
> Sylvie's already moving, charging right on in before the dragon can react, going straight up!
> roll 1d20+37 (+2 charge, 9/10 inspiration using it on the damage roll)
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+37 (+2 charge, 9/10 inspiration using it on the damage roll) and gets 54." [1d20=17]
> 3d10+26+12
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 3d10+26+12 and gets 62." [3d10=6, 8, 10]
> Sylvie smacks the dragon right in the underbelly, causing scales to crack from the point of the impact! A moment later Balyss bows her head, beginning to utter strange and offsetting whispers!
> roll 1d20+20 dragon SR sucks at least
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+20 dragon SR sucks at least and gets 33." [1d20=13]
> roll 1d20+20
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+20 and gets 29." [1d20=9]
> But nothing happens to the dragon at all! OOC: Ithea.
<Ithea> While Sylvie charges high, Ithea charges low, slashing at it with magic and metal. (OOC: channeling VT)
<Ithea> roll d20+41 (not actually using charge)
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+41 (not actually using charge) and gets 42." [d20=1]
<Ithea> ooc: and that would be why
> Ithea charges in, but the dragon is a hair too fast! It's already rearing up, head pointed down as great concussive blasts of pure power erupt out, engulfing the trio! Light consumes everything as...OOC: Ref saves.
<Ithea> roll d20+26 Ithea
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+26 Ithea and gets 27." [d20=1]
<Ithea> roll d20+21 Balyss
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+21 Balyss and gets 38." [d20=17]
<Ithea> roll d20+26 Sylvie
* Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+26 Sylvie and gets 38." [d20=12]
* Hatbot was kicked by Kotono (Out.)
* Kobot (~dunefar@ip68-10-224-127.hr.hr.cox.net) has joined #dunes
> roll 25d6
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 25d6 --> [ 25d6=88 ]{88}
> OOC: 1.5 times that since I hit enter prematurely.
> roll 88*1.5
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 88*1.5 --> error: malformed expression
> roll 88+44
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 88+44 --> {132}
> OOC: 132 to Ithea, zero to Sylvie thanks to evasion and and zero to Balyss thanks to divine oracle's evasion-alike.
<Ithea> ooc: any of that get resisted or DR'ed? I don't think so from your description in PM, but checking
> OOC: Nope. It's pure force.
<Ithea> ooc: okay
> The blast catches Ithea offguard, plummeling her down with pure, agonizing force! She survives, winded and bloodied! Somehow the other two don't look injured at all, as Sylvie looks up, saying not a word as her eyes flash with anger! A flurry of blows comes ripping out, as if to tear the dragon apart!
> roll 1d20+33
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+33 --> [ 1d20=2 ]{35}
> roll 1d20+33
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+33 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{51}
> roll 1d20+28
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+28 --> [ 1d20=17 ]{45}
> roll 1d20+35 (+12 inspiration 8/10)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+35 (+12 inspiration 8/10) --> [ 1d20=15 ]{50}
> roll 1d20+30 (+12 inspiration 7/10)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+30 (+12 inspiration 7/10) --> [ 1d20=9 ]{39}
<Ithea> ooc: I'll use opportunist with one of her attacks.
> roll 12d10+130
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 12d10+130 --> [ 12d10=52 ]{182}
> The dragon is terrifically plummeled, creaking and cracked all over! As it groans in the air, Balyss holds a moment...OOC: Go Ithea. She'll toss a spell if your wrath doesn't send it to dream land.
<Ithea> roll d20+45
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+45 --> [ 1d20=5 ]{50}
> OOC: Going to make more than one attack? It is in FA range.
<Ithea> ooc: Oh, that was from opportunist. Let me resolve that first and then go into FA.
> OOC: Hits.
<Ithea> roll d10+25
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d10+25 --> [ 1d10=5 ]{30}
<Ithea> roll d20+29 CL for VT
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+29 CL for VT --> [ 1d20=15 ]{44}
> OOC: Hit. It'll survive this, so go ahead and segue into your FA.
<Ithea> roll 10d6
<Kobot> Ithea rolled 10d6 --> [ 10d6=29 ]{29}
<Ithea> As she sneaks a hit in with Sylvie's assault, Ithea starts feeling slightly better after the breath attack, and begins a harder renewed assault on the dragon.
<Ithea> roll d20+41+2
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+41+2 --> [ 1d20=11 ]{54}
<Ithea> roll d20+36+2
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+36+2 --> [ 1d20=17 ]{55}
<Ithea> roll d20+31+2
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+31+2 --> [ 1d20=15 ]{48}
<Ithea> roll d20+26+2
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+26+2 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{41}
> OOC: 4 hits.
<Ithea> roll 4#d10+25+2
<Kobot> Ithea rolled 4#d10+25+2 --> [ 1d10=10 ]{37}, [ 1d10=4 ]{31}, [ 1d10=4 ]{31}, [ 1d10=10 ]{37}
> Under that pure, vengeful fury Ithea rips up into the dragon's chest, tearing it open! THe dragon's roar lessens into a whimper o fpain as it begins to fall, landing ahead on the path towards the Palace of the Moon! From the way a small ocean of blood is coming out from it's torn chest, it's quite dead! OOC: Free act.
> Immediately Sylvie dives down with a powerful plunging kick, pulping the things head with repeated blows!
> "Good work!" Balyss cheers, "Ithea, come here and I'll heal you. Selune approves of punishing this heresy."
<Ithea> "Ow," Ithea mutters, eyeing the corpse for signs of regeneration. "It wasn't a real dragon, so I don't think the usual follow-up will occur, but be ready just in c...or Sylvie can beat it to pieces"
* Ithea nods leaving the corpse desecration to Sylvie as she moves towards Balyss.
> Sylvie breaks of a horn from its head, using it to impale the brain and send chunks of it out like rock with a pickaxe! "I got it," Sylvie calls back as Ithea is healed! Meanwhile the sword glows with a greater, serene light. OOC: Full HP.
<Ithea> "Thanks," Ithea says. "Sylvie, was the dragon the trap on the sword?"
> "If it wasn't, I hate to see what the trap is." Turning back and dusting her hands off, dragon brains splattered all over, "It should be fine to take now."
* Ithea nods, grasping the sword, and then putting it away in the backpack taken just for this purpose. "Onward to the palace then?"
> The blade comes out easily! It glistens, pure mithral and feeling light and fine in Ithea's hand.
> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=96 ]{96}
> roll 1d100 sub tables
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 sub tables --> [ 1d100=81 ]{81}
> The trio travels ahead for perhaps a half hour. Far ahead you can see something glistening on the horizon - it's too far away except ot make out in general. Some sort of rising building, too broad to be a tower. It is a pure white, not sharing the silvery glow of everything else. The edges of it are tinted a pale, soft blue, resembling the sky on a clear day. Yet as you go on...OOC: Make spot, all.
> roll 1d20+8 Balyss
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+8 Balyss --> [ 1d20=14 ]{22}
> roll 1d20+5 Sylvie
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 Sylvie --> [ 1d20=5 ]{10}
<Ithea> roll d20+42 Spot
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+42 Spot --> [ 1d20=9 ]{51}
> Ithea keeps her gaze going - hm, what's that? In the sky above, several of the stars are getting brighter and larger. Quite rapidly too.
<Ithea> "We need to move faster, I think the stars are pulling our entrance and going to fall!" Ithea warns the others, pointing at the growing bright stars, even as she starts breaking into a run, while looking for any kind of shelter along the way and calculating if they can make it to such shelter or the palace before the stars crash.
> No shelter - just flat, silver moon planes ahead. OOC: What's your movement speed?
<Ithea> ooc: 40ft, 60ft if I use flight with weapon. What's the distance to the palace? I may dimension door us there.
> OOC: It's a large ways away - thousands of feet on thousands of feet. It's distant on the horizon still.
> "This slaad doesn't do it by half measures," Sylvie observes, before breaking into a run - before stopping. "Wait. I could teleport us or you could control Limbo against it."
* Ithea frowns thoughtfully as she also stops. "I'll...try and see if I can make them crash into one another, or at least make sure they're diverted away from us. If it looks like I'm failing and we're going to get hit, teleport us," Ithea says.
<Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wis check (#1 of more?)
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+6+8 wis check (#1 of more?) --> [ 1d20=13 ]{27}
> "Right," Sylvie says, as Balyss gathers in. Above you the stars are growing brighter and brighter yet! But suddenly they begin to draw closer together! "Keep going like that," Sylvie says, eyes peeled above now.
<Ithea> ooc: more rolls?
* Ithea keeps concentrating and focusing on making sure the stars won't crash into them!
> OOC: Go for it.
<Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wis check (#1 of more?)
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+6+8 wis check (#1 of more?) --> [ 1d20=18 ]{32}
<Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wis check (#3 of more?)
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+6+8 wis check (#3 of more?) --> [ 1d20=10 ]{24}
<Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wis check (#4 of more?)
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+6+8 wis check (#4 of more?) --> [ 1d20=10 ]{24}
<Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wis check (#5 of more?)
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+6+8 wis check (#5 of more?) --> [ 1d20=4 ]{18}
> In the sky above the stars grow closer - until with a silent impact they come together! There is no noise, only silent explosions taking up much of the horizon!  Then-KABOOOOOOOOM! A massive burst of sound plunges into the trio! OOC: Fort saves, you created a sonic boom. Congratulations!
<Ithea> roll d20+31 Ithea fort
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+31 Ithea fort --> [ 1d20=10 ]{41}
<Ithea> roll d20+28 Balyss
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+28 Balyss --> [ 1d20=14 ]{42}
<Ithea> roll d20+29 Sylvie
<Kobot> Ithea rolled d20+29 Sylvie --> [ 1d20=18 ]{47}
> The blast of sound leaves the three women sprawled out, ears ringing! But despite that Ithea feels alright, as Balyss gets up to one knee, "Are you two okay?"
<Ithea> "I'm fine. You?"
> "Ears ringing," Balyss rubs her ear, as Sylvie gets to her feet. The sky above sparkles with so many stars now, so many stars!
<Ithea> As long as they don't look like they're falling, a lot of stars don't bother her. "Better than being crushed under them and dealing with the noise up close at least. Thanks for the idea, Sylvie."
> "You're welcome." Looking up as she resumes walking, the ringing in your ears lingering, "I'm worried how this is going to end upf if this is just the opening act."
<Ithea> "Well, we always have your present if we need it," Ithea says drily as she raises a hand and taps the bracelet on it with her other hand. "You did name it appropriately for that sort of thing, after all."

[Corwin]

[20:37] <Kotono> Balyss thwaps the side of her head as you continue on, "Selune damned ringing," she says as the trio proceeds on. Ahead you come to the Palace. It is a building that rises naturally out of the ground, an extension of the lunar surface. It lunar rock that turns pure white as it ascends up, a blue glow surrounding it. It is a great palace, of beautiful design. A great wall surrounds it, only about
[20:37] <Kotono> 5ft tall or so. Past it and between the palace are open fields, silvery trees planted all about and garden paths leading through it.
[20:40] * Ithea searches for a gate nearby, wondering if they're just supposed to go over the wall. It's not very tall after all.
[20:41] <Kotono> There is indeed a gate of wrought moonlight mithral. As you walk towards it, "I suppose this will be the real dungeon?" Sylvie muses aloud, "Better than a drippy, crumbling cave."
[20:44] <Ithea> "Well, depends on what kind of monstrosities hide within. The cave could be better then," Ithea says with a shrug as she tries to push or pull the gate open. "At least it's pretty to look at."
[20:46] <Kotono> The gate swings open on being pushed. Ahead is a natural pathway, leading through the pure silver trees. They look like oak and maple trees with the occasional pine thrown in. "Selune's beauty is unrivaled," Balyss says in quietly reverential tones. "For the many flaws of our host and his impiety, he has a sense of beauty. Even if he is only mimicking it."
[20:50] <Kotono> "It's too bad all of this is a secret of the faith," Sylvie says, "After this, going to visit the real moon sounds like an adventure."
[20:51] * Ithea just nods as she eyes the trees, keeping an eye out for branches or vines that will attack them or something of that sort, while she starts walking into the courtyard.
[20:52] <Kotono> OOC: Make a spot check then, Ithea?
[20:52] <Ithea> roll d20+42
[20:52] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+42 and gets 52." [d20=10]
[20:53] <Kotono> As you walk in, Ithea spies something just past the gate. A shadowy figure, hiding behind a silvery pine. You only get a glimpse of it, as it darts behind the tree. Vaguely humanoid and covered in shadows.
[20:54] * Ithea taps the other two, and points at the tree. "Someone's hiding behind that," she whispers. "Be ready."
[20:55] <Kotono> No reply from Sylvie, but Balyss makes the slightest noise of acknowledgement.
[20:56] * Ithea starts moving in the direction of the spotted individual, her weapon at the ready, wanting to get as close as possible when it makes itself known.
[20:57] <Kotono> As Ithea gets within 15ft, it comes out - invisible but moving fast, right at Balyss! Ithea can see it coming, her magic parting the ether of the unseen!
[20:58] * Ithea tries to intercept it, having the reach for it! "It's invisible!" Ithea calls out, unsure if the other two have a way to see through that right now.
[20:59] <Kotono> OOC: Init then, you spoiled the surprise round.
[20:59] <Kotono> roll 1d20+22 Sylvie
[20:59] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+22 Sylvie and gets 41." [1d20=19]
[20:59] <Kotono> roll 1d20+3 Balyss
[20:59] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+3 Balyss and gets 17." [1d20=14]
[20:59] <Kotono> roll 1d20+12 invisible assassin
[20:59] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+12 invisible assassin and gets 21." [1d20=9]
[20:59] <Ithea> roll d20+19
[20:59] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+19 and gets 34." [d20=15]
[20:59] <Kotono> Ithea has a chance to get a look at it. It's humanoid all in all, but shadow-black and with vaguely undefined features. A whispy short sword can be seen in its hand.
[21:00] <Ithea> ooc: any knowledge check?
[21:00] * Kotono changes topic to 'Sylvie(41)>Ithea(34)>Assassin(21)>Balyss(17)'
[21:00] <Kotono> OOC: None.
[21:00] <Ithea> ooc: okay
[21:01] <Kotono> Sylvie holds position, hand passing over her eyes, "Seen the unseen, percieve the unknown, thrice thrice thrice!" She chants! OOC: See invisibility. Ithea, go.
[21:16] * Ithea attacks the creature in full, channeling a low powered spell through her glaive as she attacks. (OOC: AS1)
[21:16] <Ithea> roll d20+37
[21:16] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+37 and gets 48." [d20=11]
[21:16] <Ithea> roll d20+32
[21:16] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+32 and gets 41." [d20=9]
[21:16] <Ithea> roll d20+27
[21:16] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+27 and gets 37." [d20=10]
[21:16] <Ithea> roll d20+22
[21:16] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+22 and gets 32." [d20=10]
[21:17] <Kotono> OOC: All hit.
[21:17] <Ithea> roll 4#d10+20+d4 (is it an evil creature for holy?)
[21:17] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls 4#d10+20+d4 (is it an evil creature for holy?) and gets 124." [4#d10+20+d4 = 34, 30, 28, 32]
[21:17] <Kotono> OOC: Yes.
[21:17] <Ithea> roll 4#2d6 holy
[21:17] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls 4#2d6 holy and gets 36." [4#2d6 = 9, 8, 9, 10]
[21:19] <Kotono> Under this assault, the assassin is cut in twain down the hips, legs falling away as his torso lands in a heap! No blood - it just lies there lifeless! But a moment later, the pine tree it came from glows brighter, before a chorus of pine needles are launched at the trio!
[21:19] <Kotono> roll 1d20+30 AC each of you?
[21:19] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+30 AC each of you? and gets 44." [1d20=14]
[21:20] <Ithea> ooc: 46
[21:20] * Kotono changes topic to 'Sylvie(41)>Ithea(34)>Pine Tree(21)>Balyss(17)'
[21:20] <Kotono> roll 5d10+10 Sylvie and Balyss take this, Ithea's safe
[21:20] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 5d10+10 Sylvie and Balyss take this, Ithea's safe and gets 43." [5d10=8, 2, 6, 10, 7]
[21:25] <Kotono> "OW!" Sylvie yelps as both girls get pine needles sticking out from them all over, as if they are nothing more than pincushions! Balyss winces as Sylvie leaps up and down, ripping one out of her foot! "The tree!" she gasps! Balyss turns, "Ithea, can you Limbo that out of being? I'd rather not strike or burn it, even if it's a fake."
[21:26] <Ithea> "I can try," is all Ithea says back at that.
[21:27] <Kotono> OOC: Balyss and Sylvie hold then. Go ahead.
[21:30] * Ithea concentrates on destroying the tree through control of Limbo!
[21:30] <Ithea> roll d20+6+8
[21:30] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+6+8 and gets 28." [d20=14]
[21:32] * Lucie (~Melanchth@pool-173-79-9-135.washdc.fios.verizon.net) Quit (Ping timeout)
[21:32] <Kotono> The tree twists and ripples, before becoming a swarm of cute kittens! They mewl and meow before scattering, chasing after this or that! OOC: Free act.
[21:35] <Ithea> "...I wasn't even thinking of kittens," Ithea mutters, confused at the result.
[21:37] <Kotono> "What were you thinking of," Sylvie kneels to pet one before it scampers off.
[21:39] <Ithea> "Well, nothing. I was just trying to destroy the tree, turn it into air particles maybe," Ithea says, but finally shrugs. "I guess that was just Limbo being...well, Limbo."
[21:42] <Kotono> "In the absence of motive, it chose something related?" Balyss says, before chanting a few soothing words of restoration. OOC: Vigorous circle, fast healing 3 for 30 rounds. Should top those two off barring anything coming up immediately.
[21:44] * Ithea shrugs. "I guess," she says, looking around for any other trees or invisible assassins. If none are spotted, she'll start searching for a way into the palace from the courtyard.
[21:44] <Kotono> Deepening her voice and squaring her shoulders, "You shouldn't be surprised, kitten," Balyss cracks a smile after as Sylvie does the same, looking about. OOC: Spot check.
[21:46] <Ithea> roll d20+42 spot
[21:46] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+42 spot and gets 61." [d20=19]
[21:50] <Kotono> Nothing at all - just safety, and more paths leading towards the palace. No sign of more assassins.
[21:51] <Ithea> "Well, I don't see anything else, so I think we're good to keep going, assuming you don't want to stay longer to play with the limbo kitties or take one home with you," Ithea says as she finishes looking around.
[21:52] <Kotono> Smiling at that, "Oh, what about his sword?" Sylvie asks, "Taking it?"
[21:53] * Ithea nods. "Might as well. I'll see if he has anything else, I guess," Ithea says as she grabs the sword and gives a quick check of the corpse.
[21:54] <Kotono> There's not much else of interest in his corpse. Just shadowy, half formed body and no blood.
[21:55] <Ithea> "Nothing else," Ithea says, putting the sword away and then moving on towards the palace.
[22:00] <Kotono> You follow the garden paths into the silver-laced trees. You walk on a goodly ways - about halfway or so to the palace. It's here there's a small detour, leading to a small stone shrine. It has a door into it, closed shut, and is made of the same white stone as the palace.
[22:02] * Ithea takes the detour! "I'd like to see what's in the shrine," she comments before the others can ask, as she tries to open the door.
[22:05] <Kotono> "It's your party," Sylvie says agreeably as you open the door - or fail to. It's locked.
[22:06] <Ithea> "Hrm...Did you ever get a chance to pick up lockpicking in the time you missed out on disabling traps?" Ithea asks Sylvie.
[22:13] <Kotono> "I'm afraid not," Sylvie says, but she cracks her knuckles, "But I know just where to hit it. You know that too, Ithea. Brains over brawn. Remember it, focus, and hit the hell out of that lock in just the right place."
[22:15] <Ithea> "Or, as we've already proven, a bit of Limbo control can go a long way here too," Ithea adds with a small smile as she concentrates on the lock and trying to turn the mechanism into sand.
[22:15] <Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wis
[22:15] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+6+8 wis and gets 34." [d20=20]
[22:16] <Kotono> The lock immediately becomes a row of sand, as Sylvie gives Ithea a warm pat on the back. "Good work!"
[22:17] <Kotono> "Brute force only goes so far," Balyss agrees.
[22:17] * Ithea nods, opening the door now that the lock is gone, and peering inside the shrine.
[22:21] <Kotono> Within the shrine is a long, tapered silver wand. It is adorned with crescent moons all over and the tip is a big, globular moon. It sort of resembles a mace like that. As you enter in, "Only can one touch this, but only one cannot hold it." A whispering voice sighs.
[22:24] * Ithea uses detect magic to examine the wand, wondering if that might help clarify the statement and what effects might occur if one doesn't listen.
[22:24] <Ithea> roll d20+35 spellcraft
[22:24] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+35 spellcraft and gets 52." [d20=17]
[22:26] <Kotono> There's strong magic around the mace - the mace is cursed to harm the holders if anyone but one person touches it, but it is also cursed to harm the holder if they hold it alone.
[22:29] <Ithea> "Two curses on it if that warning isn't followed. Not exactly sure how one could obey both at the same time though," Ithea muses out loud.
[22:30] <Ithea> "For now, I guess I can just use Limbo to build a box around it and dump the box in the backpack?" Ithea suggests. "We can worry about it when we get back home then, and curses shouldn't be a problem if we're not touching or holding it."
[22:33] <Kotono> "That works," Balyss says, "If we can't touch it safely, then we don't touch it at all."
[22:34] <Ithea> Since neither has given suggestions for bypassing the curse right there and then, Ithea concentrates once more and works on making her idea a reality!
[22:34] <Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wis check
[22:34] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+6+8 wis check and gets 23." [d20=9]
[22:35] <Kotono> A box appears around the mace, neatly enveloping it.
[22:36] <Kotono> Sylvie picks up the box, "Good thinking," she says, "Ugh. I hate paradoxes. They're like a mental knot that hurts to try and work around."
[22:38] <Ithea> "Someone in Aurora will probably love the chance to tackle such a paradox. Not sure who, but I'm sure there's someone," Ithea comments as she moves to pick up the box to put away.
[22:45] <Kotono> "That would be me," Sylvie raises a hand and sighs, "21 helps, but the human brain isn't really meant or equipped to deal with paradoxes and time anomalies. Afina and I ran into one after getting rid of that sword of hers and it nearly destroyed our  minds."
[22:46] <Ithea> "You hate paradoxes, but you love the chance to tackle them..." Ithea comments then snorts. "You're a paradox all on your own."
[22:48] <Kotono> "No wonder you give us headaches," Balyss openly smiles at that, before ruffling Sylvie's hair. "Ithea has the truth of it."
[22:50] * Ithea snorts again, as she turns away from the shrine. "I don't think there's anything else here," she comments as she goes back on the path towards the palace.
[22:56] <Kotono> Sylvie mutters dark nothings as you return to the path, "I am no...well, maybe I am a paradox," she admits, "I wonder..."
[22:59] <Kotono> "You wonder what?" Balyss banters as you head towards the palace.
[23:01] <Kotono> "If you can understand time enough to see it as connected points, like a river," she mutters, "Then find a way to visualize both points and access them...you could use one to sustain the other past disadvantageous effects. That's what happened there, wasn't it?" Sylvie's eyes are closed as she goes on, face a mask of concentration. "Of course, the Far Realm wouldn't have any concept of paradox,
[23:01] <Kotono> would it? If Time even exists there, it doesn't seem to be linear time."
[23:01] <Kotono> Balyss casts a glance over at Ithea, and quietly, "Did you follow any of that?"
[23:02] <Kotono> "See, if there isn't a concept of Time and it isn't equipped to deal with Time," Sylvie mutters, "That WOULD theoretically work like it did before! Of course, you'd need something with a perspective from Beyond to defeat something geared in that reality in the first place."
[23:06] <Ithea> "Not a clue," Ithea answers honestly.
[23:09] <Kotono> "Of course," Going on and deflating with a deep sigh, "This is fine theoretical work but completely, uttery and fucking worthless on a practical level. Even if I could manage that sort of time-comprehension and paradox-understanding, I bet that Temporal Compact would forbid it. So I could go to the Far Realm to do it or risk being obliterated or erased from history." Snapping her fingers, "Damn."
[23:09] <Kotono> Looking over to the other two now, "I have evidence that if I could perceive and embody two points in time - one before 21 and one after 21 - that I could draw on the former to lie in the latter while maintaining 21's benefits. It's completely impossible, but it fits. None of us are equipped to deal with time in such a way."
[23:11] <Ithea> "This is almost as bad as Kascha interviewing the guardian of 21..."
[23:11] <Kotono> Balyss rubs her temple, "Selune's mercy," she mutters.
[23:12] <Kotono> "This isn't so bad," Sylvie says, "I could explain the theories to either of you if I had to. See, I'd been mentally grappling with that problem for some time and your comment caused it to click."
[23:15] <Ithea> "Right, if you say so," Ithea says, just nodding her head.
[23:16] <Ithea> "So Balyss, does Selune have a palace in the moon as well, or that part of the secret?" she asks, deftly moving to another topic.
[23:20] <Kotono> "I really shouldn't talk about it," Balyss admits as you proceed on, "I can tell you this much - the moon is part of Selune's body. The entire moon is the holiest of holies to the Selunite faith. The most barren crater-plane there has more nobility than the grandest palace in all the mortal world."
[23:22] <Ithea> "Not telling very much, actually, but okay," Ithea says with another shrug, deciding to focus on the palace exploration.

[Corwin]

[02:24] <Kotono> The rest of the walk to the palace is without incident. Through the silver-tree gardens you go, to the entrance. The walls of the palace simply open up to short, three step rises onto the palace proper. Pillars support the open entrance, a long hall ahead, full of pillars. Far at the other end you can see a grand door leading in further, but you can't make out much of it from here.
[02:27] <Kotono> "Pretty," Sylvie observes as she goes on, "It's all ethereal - in apperance, I mean. Prettier than the last dungeon."
[02:32] <Ithea> "I'm sure what's waiting for us will be just as bad though," Ithea comments back, as she keeps heading towards the door, looking over the pillars as she walks, keeping an eye out for more hidden assassins.
[02:34] <Kotono> OOC: What's the walking order?
[02:34] <Ithea> ooc: Ithea > Sylvie > Balyss?
[02:36] <Kotono> OOC: Okay. Make a listen check real quick.
[02:37] <Ithea> roll d20+42 listen
[02:37] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+42 listen and gets 53." [d20=11]
[02:38] <Kotono> As Ithea steps up the stairs and into the palace floor, there is an ever so faint -click- sound.
[02:42] * Ithea stops in her tracks, looking for signs of a trap activating, hoping to be able to dodge anything that barrels towards them if so. "Hold!" is all the warning she can really give, as she tries to figure out what caused that click and if there's any followup to it.
[02:44] <Kotono> Ithea stops - and after a few seconds, all the pillars react. Slots open up all over them, as suddenly darts fly from the pillars! Each pillar fires in all direction to other pillars, creating a deadly pattern of connected lines of darts! When a dart hits the pillar it is fired at, it winks away and vanishes.
[02:45] <Ithea> ooc: do we have to dodge at all, or did us stopping mean we just got to enjoy a nice show?
[02:46] <Kotono> OOC: No dodging for now, but getting ahead in the hall at all is gonna be tricksy.
[02:47] <Kotono> "Good catch," Balyss stops, raising her shield up and watching the darts. Several seconds pass, the whirrling and clinking of darts constant in the air. "...they aren't stopping right away, are they?"
[02:48] <Ithea> "No, they probably reset somehow when they hit a pillar. We need to either find a way to navigate safely through, or find a way to reset the trap itself," Ithea murmurs, as she pulls back a bit, examining the ground trying to find what might have triggered the trap in the first place.
[02:50] <Kotono> OOC: Quick search check.
[02:51] <Ithea> roll d20+9 untrained
[02:51] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+9 untrained and gets 27." [d20=18]
[02:51] <Kotono> "Something to deflect them if all else fails," Sylvie says," Walls of stone or force or ice. We could chance it, especially if we can ward against poison. Darts usually rely on poison, since they do so little damage on their own."
[02:51] <Kotono> Ithea can see the first segment of the hall floor has depressed slightly, but she can't find anything else. Just smooth stone.
[02:55] <Ithea> "There's a slight depression here, so we probably triggered a trap here," Ithea comments as she passes her hand over the stone. "I can try and reset the trap by commanding Limbo, but Sylvie's idea might be better, in case there's other triggers up ahead. I can try and warp the pillars, make it so the darts are fired at an upwards angle, maybe? Make sure we have space to walk through then."
[02:58] <Kotono> "Let's try Limbo first," Balyss suggests, "That doesn't take any of our spells to do."
[02:59] * Cidward is now known as Sierra_Dreaming
[03:00] <Kotono> "Which one?" Sylvie akss, to which Balyss turns reddish.
[03:00] <Kotono> "Oh. The angle one," Balyss appends quickly.
[03:02] <Ithea> "Alright then," Ithea says with a nod, as she concentrates on the pillars, trying to rearrange their shape so the roof is still well supported, but the slots are angled so the darts fly at an angle, say...forty degrees upwards.
[03:02] <Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wis check
[03:02] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+6+8 wis check and gets 34." [d20=20]
[03:03] <Kotono> It's hard. Ithea finds Limbo pushing back - another presence resisting her! But slowly her will is made, the pillars aimed up! The darts now hit the ceiling, vanishing when they do! The way ahead is clear of darts, now nothing but a show above your heads!
[03:06] <Kotono> "Good work," Sylvie says, whistling, "I think that slaad should have rethought challenging an Anarch."
[03:06] <Ithea> "Something was fighting me that time, move past fast, they may reset. Probably shouldn't rely on Limbo to solve all our problems too..." Ithea says with a motion for the other two to keep moving. To Sylvie, she adds, "I think he's rethinking it right now."
[03:11] <Kotono> "Then let's go!" Balyss hurries along, Sylvie right after her! As the trio races ahead, yo usee the darts starting to angle back to the way they are! But fortunately with the party's fleet wings and feet, you reach the door before they can quite get to you! The door ahead is engraved with images of a huge full moon shining over a body of water. Perhaps a lake, perhaps an ocean. The edges are
[03:11] <Kotono> adorned with lillies and roses.
[03:14] * Ithea knocks on the door! "Might as well be polite, right?" Ithea says with a smile to the others.
[03:16] <Kotono> "Sure, why not?" Sylvie quips, as the tang of darts hitting pillars resumes behind you. The door is knocked on - and opens up! Ahead is an indoor hall, narrower. Only 30ft wide and most, the floor covered in cream-white carpet! But ahead are three figures crafted of pure opal, each one a knight in armor and carrying an opal blade. They're 10ft away from the door and coming at the trio!  OOC:
[03:16] <Kotono> INit. Natives and restless. In other news, wate ris wet and Hatbot hates you. Do you want Kobot?
[03:19] <Ithea> ooc: ...Sure? How did he hate me, secret sub-tables gave me worst opponents or something? Hatty did just give me an 18 and 20... >_>

[03:19] <Ithea> roll d20+19 init
[03:19] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+19 init and gets 37." [d20=18]
[03:20] <Kotono> roll 1d20+22 Sylvie
[03:20] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+22 Sylvie and gets 27." [1d20=5]
[03:20] <Kotono> roll 1d20+3 Balyss
[03:20] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+3 Balyss and gets 18." [1d20=15]
[03:21] <Kotono> roll 1d20+9 Knight 1
[03:21] <Kotono> roll 1d20+9 Knight 2
[03:21] <Kotono> roll 1d20+9 Knight 3
[03:21] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+9 Knight 1 and gets 14." [1d20=5]
[03:21] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+9 Knight 2 and gets 14." [1d20=5]
[03:21] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+9 Knight 3 and gets 16." [1d20=7]
[03:21] * Kotono changes topic to 'Ithea(37)>Sylvie(27)>Balyss(18)>Knight 3(16)>Knight 1=Knight 2(14)'
[03:21] <Kotono> OOC: Open Ithea.
[03:22] <Ithea> ooc: any knowledge check?
[03:22] <Kotono> OOC: K:A.
[03:22] <Ithea> roll d20+42 K:A
[03:22] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+42 K:A and gets 59." [d20=17]
[03:24] <Kotono> Ithea knows these creatures as Opal Reflectors. The swords are purely decrorative and they attack with slams or a powerful ray of cold. However, the real power they have is that any damage they take the attack suffers as well. These things have been lost for millenia, the knowledge of them slowly fading.
[03:30] <Ithea> "Those are Opal Reflectors! Any damage they take, we'll take as well...We need to get them to attack each other, or outheal whatever damage we do to them," Ithea warns the others. "Debilitating attacks instead of damaging ones may also work. I'm going to try it."
[03:31] <Kotono> "Right," Balyss calls, "Got it!"
[03:32] <Ithea> ooc: actually, slight edit to mine. Delete the last sentence from mine in logs. Waves of Fatigue doesn't work on constructs.
[03:33] <Ithea> Warning in hand, Ithea attacks the constructs, attempting to see how well debilitating attacks work even as she prepares herself for the damage. (OOC: channeling Touch of Idiocy)
[03:34] <Ithea> roll d20+41 Knight 1
[03:34] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+41 Knight 1 and gets 60." [d20=19]
[03:34] <Ithea> roll d20+41 Knight 1 crit?
[03:34] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+41 Knight 1 crit? and gets 57." [d20=16]
[03:34] <Ithea> roll d20+41 Knight 2
[03:34] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+41 Knight 2 and gets 52." [d20=11]
[03:34] <Ithea> ooc: -5 to that
[03:34] <Ithea> roll d20+31 Knight 3
[03:34] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+31 Knight 3 and gets 50." [d20=19]
[03:34] <Ithea> roll d20+31 Knight 3 crit?
[03:34] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+31 Knight 3 crit? and gets 48." [d20=17]
[03:34] <Ithea> roll d20+26 Knight 2
[03:34] <Kotono> OOC: No crit, they're constructs.All hit.
[03:34] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+26 Knight 2 and gets 34." [d20=8]
[03:34] <Ithea> ooc: ah right
[03:34] <Ithea> ooc: good, because critting on this guy might actually be bad.
[03:35] <Ithea> ooc: 34 also hits?
[03:35] <Kotono> OOC: Yes.
[03:35] <Ithea> ooc: any SR?
[03:35] <Kotono> OOC: No.
[03:36] <Ithea> roll d10+25 knight 1
[03:36] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d10+25 knight 1 and gets 34." [d10=9]
[03:36] <Ithea> roll d6 idiocy knight 1
[03:36] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d6 idiocy knight 1 and gets 6." [d6=6]
[03:36] <Ithea> roll 2#d10+25 knight 2
[03:36] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls 2#d10+25 knight 2 and gets 59." [2#d10+25 = 27, 32]
[03:36] <Ithea> roll d6 idiocy knight 2
[03:36] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d6 idiocy knight 2 and gets 5." [d6=5]
[03:36] <Ithea> roll d10+25 knight 3
[03:36] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d10+25 knight 3 and gets 32." [d10=7]
[03:36] <Ithea> roll d6 idiocy knight 3
[03:36] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d6 idiocy knight 3 and gets 2." [d6=2]
[03:37] <Kotono> roll 34+59+32
[03:37] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 34+59+32 and gets 125."
[03:38] <Kotono> Ithea hacks into each one, opening up serious wounds into the opal knights! They crack easily, but each crack is felt in Ithea's body! Her own body cracks open, blood oozing out in relation to each and every blow! OOC: Sylvie's up.
[03:40] * Ithea grimaces. "Yeah, that's going to get old fast."
[03:41] <Ithea> "My spell did not reflect back, assuming it affected them though, and it felt like the spell did discharge," she adds.
[03:41] <Kotono> Sylvie's already moving, "Balyss, heal us after this!" She calls, fists already striking out in a swift flurry!
[03:42] <Kotono> roll 1d20+35 (5/10 inspiration total, dropping it on 5 boosts to damage here.) attacking one at a time to see if she finishes each one. Knight2 first since it took 2 hits.
[03:42] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+35 (5/10 inspiration total, dropping it on 5 boosts to damage here.) attacking one at a time to see if she finishes each one. Knight2 first since it took 2 hits. and gets 55." [1d20=20]
[03:43] <Kotono> roll 3d10+26+12
[03:43] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 3d10+26+12 and gets 53." [3d10=1, 6, 8]
[03:43] <Kotono> roll 1d20+33 (5/10 inspiration total, dropping it on 5 boosts to damage here.) attacking one at a time to see if she finishes each one. Knight2 first since it took 2 hits attack 2 in flurry, last one should have been -2 but doens't matter
[03:43] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+33 (5/10 inspiration total, dropping it on 5 boosts to damage here.) attacking one at a time to see if she finishes each one. Knight2 first since it took 2 hits attack 2 in flurry, last one should have been -2 but doens't matter and gets 37." [1d20=4]
[03:44] <Kotono> roll 3d10+26+12
[03:44] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 3d10+26+12 and gets 61." [3d10=10, 7, 6]
[03:44] * Kotono changes topic to 'Ithea(37)>Sylvie(27)>Balyss(18)>Knight 3(16)>Knight 1'
[03:44] <Kotono> roll 1d20+28 (5/10 inspiration total, dropping it on 5 boosts to damage here.) attacking one at a time to see if she finishes each one. Knight 1 now
[03:44] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+28 (5/10 inspiration total, dropping it on 5 boosts to damage here.) attacking one at a time to see if she finishes each one. Knight 1 now and gets 42." [1d20=14]
[03:44] <Kotono> roll 3d10+26+12
[03:44] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 3d10+26+12 and gets 49." [3d10=5, 5, 1]
[03:45] <Kotono> A pair of blows drops the second knight, Sylvie gasping as her shoulder spontaneously dislocated as her nose breaks! A bloody gurgle follows as she follows through with a backhand to the first one, cracking it before stumbling back! She's torn up and bloodied but still up! OOC: 163 damage to Sylvie. Balyss is up.
[03:47] <Kotono> Holding her holy symbol aloft, Balyss cries, "Selune, wipe away pain and impurity in the moonlight!" To this prayer moonlight radiates down around the trio, restoring wounds and injury! OOC: Mass Heal, +200 HP and a bunch of status curing. She's done. Knights are up.
[03:48] <Kotono> The first knight points at Ithea and fires a pure opal beam of crackling frost at Ithea, while the other survivor does the same to Sylvie!
[03:48] <Kotono> roll 1d20+20  ranged touch Ithea
[03:48] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+20 ranged touch Ithea and gets 37." [1d20=17]
[03:48] <Kotono> roll 1d20+20  ranged touch Sylvie
[03:48] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+20 ranged touch Sylvie and gets 29." [1d20=9]
[03:48] <Kotono> OOC: Touch AC?
[03:49] <Ithea> ooc: 31
[03:49] <Kotono> roll 10d12 cold damage
[03:49] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 10d12 cold damage and gets 36." [10d12=8, 3, 1, 5, 3, 3, 1, 1, 6, 5]
[03:50] <Kotono> Sylvie sidesteps the be as her body mends, while Ithea takes it head on! But the beam barely even phases her, only a passing chill to her! OOC: Okay Ithea, you're up.
[03:53] <Ithea> Since there's no reason for Balyss not to be able to keep outhealing the damage, before they wise up and decide trying to gang up on the warrior of the moon lady, Ithea continues her assault, trying to keep a balance between damage and survival.
[03:53] <Kotono> "I never realized I hit so hard," Sylvie says around a huge wince, eyes squinting shut as she flexes her arm, "Finish them, Ithea!"
[03:57] <Ithea> roll d20+37 K:A
[03:57] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+37 K:A and gets 52." [d20=15]
[04:00] <Ithea> roll d20+41 knight 1
[04:00] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+41 knight 1 and gets 59." [d20=18]
[04:00] <Ithea> roll d10+25 does that break it first?
[04:00] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d10+25 does that break it first? and gets 35." [d10=10]
[04:00] <Ithea> roll d20+36 I'll keep attacking knight 1 until it breaks, then switch to #3 actually, just to get rolls out of the way
[04:00] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+36 I'll keep attacking knight 1 until it breaks, then switch to #3 actually, just to get rolls out of the way and gets 37." [d20=1]
[04:01] <Ithea> roll d20+31 I'll keep attacking knight 1 until it breaks, then switch to #3 actually, just to get rolls out of the way
[04:01] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+31 I'll keep attacking knight 1 until it breaks, then switch to #3 actually, just to get rolls out of the way and gets 46." [d20=15]
[04:01] <Ithea> roll d20+26 I'll keep attacking knight 1 until it breaks, then switch to #3 actually, just to get rolls out of the way
[04:01] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+26 I'll keep attacking knight 1 until it breaks, then switch to #3 actually, just to get rolls out of the way and gets 35." [d20=9]
[04:01] <Ithea> roll d10+25 attack #3
[04:01] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d10+25 attack #3 and gets 26." [d10=1]
[04:01] <Ithea> roll d10+25 attack #4
[04:01] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d10+25 attack #4 and gets 35." [d10=10]
[04:02] <Kotono> OOC: First hit destroy sthe 1st one.
[04:02] * Kotono changes topic to 'Ithea(37)>Sylvie(27)>Balyss(18)>Knight 3(16)'
[04:04] <Kotono> roll 35+26+35
[04:04] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 35+26+35 and gets 96."
[04:04] <Kotono> Under the assault Ithea quickly finishes the first off, cutting it in half! As it crumbles she reverses her blow, cutting deep twice into the last! It stumbles and staggers before giving up the ghost, collapsing as more wounds spring up on Ithea's body! Victory! Ahead lies the hall, at the other end three doors. OOC: 96 to Ithea. Free act.

[04:05] <Kotono> "Hold on," Balyss is at Ithea's side, Healing away the damage swiftly.
[04:07] <Kotono> "Bastards," Sylvie opines as she cracks her knuckles, reaching up to rub her shoulder after. "That's a sneaky enchantment - a great way to get killed trying to end the fight."
[04:07] <Ithea> "Thanks," Ithea says as she eyes the remains of the constructs with a musing thought, wondering if she would be able to take at least one of the opal reflectors with them. "They're a bit big for my backpack, and I imagine for your bag as well, Sylvie, but I'd like to take one of them for Afina, maybe she can reverse engineer them in mass for Aurora with the remains of one."
[04:08] <Ithea> "I rather like the thought behind that enchantment. Would be a great defense."
[04:10] <Kotono> "Take some choice parts." Sylvie kneels down, starting to inspect them...
[04:10] <Kotono> roll 1d20+58 cunning insight K:A
[04:10] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+58 cunning insight K:A and gets 78." [1d20=20]
[04:11] <Kotono> "Yah!" A few blows breaks apart an already ruined chest, revealing a cracked opal embedded in the chest - which below the surface you can see is just dull stone now. "I think this is the key. There's several types of golems that have a center core."
[04:14] <Ithea> "In that case, we could take all three cores with us, give her a better sample to study from. I'll take some random extra pieces just in case as well," Ithea says as she tries to salvage some of the chest pieces from the others and grabs a few extra pieces, before looking over the swords. Were they useable in any way?
[04:16] <Kotono> Ithea finds the swords to be blunt and worthless. "Bad news. The second knight's core is shattered. I think I hit it when I took it down. The third one's is intact - cracked, but it's intact. I think you grazed it." Sylvie reports back, as Balyss keeps a watch. She tosses both cores into her bag,
[04:16] <Kotono> OOC: Gha.
[04:16] <Kotono> Ithea finds the swords to be blunt and worthless. "Bad news. The second knight's core is shattered. I think I hit it when I took it down. The third one's is intact - cracked, but it's intact. I think you grazed it." Sylvie reports back, as Balyss keeps a watch. She tosses both cores into her bag, "These will be great if we can get a powerful enemy to throw massive power at them. They'd make
[04:16] <Kotono> amazing suicide soldiers."
[04:20] <Ithea> "I'd rather keep them for defense, if Afina -can- bring a spark of life back to their enchantment, lest they get turned against us like we claim these for Aurora," Ithea says. "But yes, against an unknowning powerful enemy, they'll be a nasty and amazing surprise for sure."
[04:21] <Ithea> "Balyss, is this recreation in any way significant that you'd recommend a route for us to follow?" Ithea asks, turning to the other member of the group, gesturing to the path options.
[04:22] <Kotono> "If he knows what he's doing...the center door," Balyss says, "The center indicates the full moon. The waxing moon to the left leads to quarters and the waning moon on the right leads to the observatory."
[04:25] * Ithea nods. "I think I have enough faith in our host to play this place up to it's best. Center it is."
[04:28] <Kotono> Thus the door is opened! Ahead of you is a small room, each wall taken up by a silver decanter of water. The door ahead is cold black steel, like it has been charred. Balyss stares, "This isn't what should be ahead. Speak of the devil and he surprises you."
[04:30] <Ithea> "Recommend going... left instead then? Or keep forging ahead?" Ithea asks, figuring something might be kept in the representation of the quarters.
[04:32] <Kotono> "I don't know," Balyss admits, "I don't know at all. Why don't we try all three and see which way looks best?"
[04:32] <Kotono> "Logical," Sylvie remarks, "As long as one of the doors isn't a huge maw full of teeth this time. Or a stairway with a boulder."
[04:33] * Ithea shudders. "Thanks for reminding me about that door. Onward then," Ithea says as she steps into the small room, looking around.
[04:33] <Kotono> The silver basis are plain and full of water. Closer, you can see the black door has runes burned into it. It's hard to see from far away with the general color of the door.
[04:36] * Ithea examines the water, casting detect magic. Slaad had magical water before, why not this time too?
[04:36] <Kotono> The water is indeed magical. So's the door. OOC: Spellcraft.
[04:37] <Ithea> roll d20+35 SC
[04:37] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+35 SC and gets 55." [d20=20]
[04:37] <Kotono> "Welcome," Sylvie says, "I had a nightmare about that damn door after we got back."
[04:37] <Kotono> A basin of holy water and a basin of unholy water. The door is magically sealed.
[04:38] <Ithea> "Why would you have a nightmare about that one? You were nice and safe! The stairs and the boulder I'd understand, but the door? Really?" Ithea asks with a raised eyebrow before moving from the water basins and closer to the door to examine it more closely. "That water's holy, that one's unholy by the way."
[04:39] <Kotono> "Don't ask me to try and understand my nightmares," Sylvie says with a shrug, "It didn't make sense to me." On the door is runic writing...OOC: Languages?
[04:40] <Ithea> ooc: Languages Known: Common, Feline, Draconic, Sylvan, Elven, Infernal, Aquan, Terran, Celestial, Ignan
[04:42] <Kotono> The writing is a hybrid of Infernal and Celestial. It's extremely difficult to read, as the languages simply don't agree with each other. In fact, as Ithea reads, she finds the words to slip into incoherence. It's as if the entire thing is refusing to be read, clashing before her eyes.
[04:43] <Ithea> "Hey, Sylvie, paradox type stuff for you to decypher. Our slaad had the bright idea to create a hybrid of Infernal and Celestial writing. Can you figure it out? I assume the water's our key to move on, but not sure how exactly."
[04:44] <Kotono> Sylvie peers before the writing, studying with a soft hmmmmmm.
[04:44] <Kotono> roll 1d20+12
[04:44] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+12 and gets 14." [1d20=2]
[04:44] <Kotono> "It's not a lie, precisely," she says after several moments, "It's something that shouldn't be together. I can't make heads or tails of it like this."
[04:46] * Ithea gives it a shot, concentrating on the writing. (OOC: int check from the looks of things?)
[04:46] <Kotono> OOC: Go for it.
[04:46] <Ithea> roll d20+9
[04:46] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+9 and gets 16." [d20=7]
[04:47] <Kotono> Balyss peers over at the same time, "So whati s it supposed to be?"
[04:47] <Kotono> roll 1d20+4
[04:47] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+4 and gets 19." [1d20=15]
[04:48] <Kotono> But Ithea can't make heads or tails of it, either! However, Balyss snaps her fingers, "Oh, I get it!" she says, "The holy and unholy water. Splash them both on the door."
[04:48] <Kotono> "How in the world did you come up with that?" Sylvie turns to her, "It's not a bad guess, but I don't follow the logic."
[04:49] <Ithea> "Well, that's what I was going to do if I couldn't figure it out, and since I was already thinking of doing it..." Ithea comments, shrugging as she reaches for the unholy water basin. "One of you grab the other basin, we'll splash them at the same time."
[04:50] <Kotono> Balyss does so, getting a handful. The unholy water tingles Ithea's hand - it doesn't feel good at all, but not painful.
[04:52] <Ithea> "On three. 1...2...3...!" Ithea counts down, tossing the unholy water at the door, hopefully at the same time as Balyss.
[04:54] <Kotono> "THREE!" Balyss does the same, the twin waters splashing on the door! As they hit, the door creaks and opens wide! Beyond is open space! The night sky, a terrible, powerful vacuum sucking you forward! "AAAAH!: Balyss screams, Sylvie desperately reaching out for the doorframe immediately! "Dammit! This isn't standard, Balyss, or Selune's got a bad sense of interior design!" OOC: Str check, all
[04:54] <Kotono> of ya'll.
[04:55] <Kotono> roll 1d20+16 Sylvie
[04:55] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+16 Sylvie and gets 27." [1d20=11]
[04:55] <Kotono> roll 1d20+5 Balyss
[04:55] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+5 Balyss and gets 20." [1d20=15]
[04:56] <Ithea> roll d20+10+9
[04:56] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+10+9 and gets 32." [d20=13]
[04:58] <Kotono> Sylvie is fast enough, getting to the door frame and grabbing on for dear life! Balyss yelps and manages to do the same, most of her body out into the void but hanging into the iron door! Ithea's faster yet, impaling her glaive into the wall and holding on tight! The three of you are horizonal, being sucked towards the space ahead! "DAMMIT! SHUT THE HELL UP, SYLVIE! DO SOMETHING INSTEAD OF
[04:58] <Kotono> MOUTHING OFF!" The pulling pressure on the three of you is heavy, trying so hard to wrench you into the space void! "CAN ANY OF YOU DO ANYTHING WITHOUT YOUR HANDS?"
[04:59] * Ithea is already concentrating, trying to create a shield to protect them from the vacuum, blocking the way out. Even if the slaad is trying to stop her from using that ability, right now is a damn good time to put it to use!
[04:59] <Kotono> Balyss is fully wide eyed, looking back as she holds on for dear life! Sylvie grunts and looks back, "Ithea! Ideas?" Raising her voice to carry over the eerie wooshing sound the vacuum brings, "Got a better idea than trying to climb out of the room and close it the hell behind us?"
[04:59] <Kotono> OOC: Limbo control check then.
[04:59] <Ithea> roll d20+6+8 wis check
[04:59] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+6+8 wis check and gets 34." [d20=20]
[05:01] <Kotono> It's even harder this time! Ithea's mind feels heavy and oppressed, as if a boot is grinding it into the ground. But a big metal shield appears over the door to vacuum, stopping it to a dull pull from the very edges of the door the shield doesn't cover. Moments later gravity reasserts itself, the trio slamming down in heaps!
[05:01] <Kotono> roll 2d6, dr applies.
[05:01] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 2d6, dr applies. and gets Error: Numeric values only." [2d6=2, 6]
[05:01] <Kotono> OOC: 8 damage to all three of you. Neither have DR I believe.
[05:03] <Kotono> "Oooooooow!" Balyss groans as she picks herself up, "Whew."
[05:04] <Ithea> "Alright, I think our guest is learning. Don't expect Limbo control to save us more than once, maybe twice more," Ithea says with a grimace. "That time was even harder."
[05:04] <Kotono> Sylvie dusts her knees off, "Cute. Wonder if that went to the plane of Vacuum?" Sylvie muses aloud, "That would have been really bad."
[05:04] <Kotono> CRACK! As you talk, a giant crack appears down the center of Ithea's shield, the sound of suction growing larger again!
[05:06] <Ithea> "Uh, talking outside might be good," Ithea suggests, already moving outside the room, ready to close it once the other two are back out.
[05:08] <Kotono> Thus the two flee out! Slamming the door shut mutes the sounds and the slight tugging. Balyss exhales, "Much too close."
[05:11] <Ithea> "Yeah, but we've confirmed that having any sort of faith on this guy? Not a good plan," Ithea says with a snort, shaking her head, as she starts heading to the left door. "Let's see how he's redecorated the quarters next."
[05:12] <Kotono> "Let's," Sylvie says as you open the next door-AGAHAGAAAAH! TEETH! BIG MAW! ROWS OF TEETH! SUCTION! A void pulls at you into this maw, as if to stuck you into a toothy Hell! "Oh now he's just pissing on us!" Balyss snaps, eyes going wide as she dives to grab at the wall! Sylvie stares a moment in disbelief, "Oh bullsh-" She begins, before reaching out to grab something! OOC: Str check, y'all.
[05:13] <Kotono> roll 1d20+16 Sylvie
[05:13] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+16 Sylvie and gets 36." [1d20=20]
[05:13] <Kotono> roll 1d20+5 Balyss
[05:13] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+5 Balyss and gets 25." [1d20=20]
[05:13] <Ithea> roll d20+19
[05:13] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+19 and gets 36." [d20=17]
[05:14] <Kotono> But the three of you leap back, grabbing holds on the thick white carpet and resisting the pull! It's not quite as powerful as the other one, but it's still enough to strain against you hard, pulling you upwards as you hold on for dear life!
[05:16] * Ithea grits her teeth, trying to resist using the power of Limbo again, as she looks towards the door opening, trying to figure out if she can use a spell or anything to shut the door again or if they can teleport away from it's suction at least. What's the best option based on the situation?
[05:17] <Kotono> The door is pulled back and rigid in the vacuum. It's as caught in it as you are.
[05:20] <Ithea> ooc: is the vacuuming focused? I want to know if I teleport us towards the other door if we'd still feel the suction very strongly.
[05:20] <Kotono> OOC: It's coming from within the maw. Glancing over, you can see the far side of the hall isn't nearly so windswept from it.
[05:22] * Ithea hopes that putting some distance away from the maw's suction is enough to help as she casts dimension door, dragging Sylvie and Balyss with her away from the door and towards the other side of the hall.
[05:24] <Kotono> OOC: You need to touch them and that menas letting go. You'd have to try and grab them as you're sucked in. Willing to try?
[05:25] <Ithea> ooc: yeah, why not.
[05:25] <Ithea> ooc: worst case I teleport without them and then try and save them with a regroup spell.
[05:27] <Kotono> OOC: Make a dex check.
[05:27] <Ithea> roll d20+6+9 dex check
[05:27] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+6+9 dex check and gets 20." [d20=5]
[05:29] <Kotono> Ithea lets go, reaching out! For a terrible moment she's flying back, pulled by the vacuum! And then she grabs a hold of both by the leg, calling out the word of power for Dimension Door! In an instant you appear on the other side of the hall, the pulling a steady but manageable tug!
[05:29] <Kotono> "I think I hate this slaad's sense of drama," Balyss remarks, slowly rubbing her temple.
[05:30] <Kotono> "You think?" Sylvie drawls, "Everyone alright? Ithea?"
[05:30] <Ithea> "I...I think we need to stop talking about things we didn't like about the first dungeon, agreed?" Ithea says, eyeing back the other side of the room warily.
[05:32] <Kotono> "Agreed!" Sylvie and Balyss say in perfect echo, voices mixing together.
[05:32] <Kotono> "Want to try the last door?" Sylvie says, "Though this time let's be prepared in case it's another vacuum."
[05:34] <Ithea> "Any plans in case it is?" Ithea asks. She starts by examining the door, searching for traces of that slobber from the first dungeon or any other kind of signs of any sort that can forwarn what's on the other side.
[05:35] <Kotono> OOC: Spot check.
[05:35] <Kotono> "Have a good grip ahead of time and we teleport out after," Sylvie says, "We'll just find another way if the palace is a dead end. Hopefully without falling stars coming down at us."
[05:37] <Ithea> roll d20+42 spot
[05:38] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+42 spot and gets 51." [d20=9]
[05:39] <Kotono> Nothing like that at all. No drool or anything at all like that.
[05:42] <Ithea> "I don't see anything, but obviously that doesn't mean anything..." Ithea says. "Just keep a hold on me as I open the door."
[05:43] <Kotono> Balyss grabs a hold with one hand as her othe rhand takes Sylvie's. Sylvie's free hand gets a good hold on the nearby wall, "Ready!"
[05:50] * Ithea opens the door!
[05:53] <Kotono> The door opens! Ahead is an ordinary room, a stairway winding downward in a spiral. The walls are cold and undecorated red brick.
[05:54] <Kotono> "Huh." Balyss says, "So it wasn't another death trap after all."
[05:55] <Ithea> "No. It's just a stairway leading downward," Ithea says drily. "I'm blaming Sylvie."
[05:56] <Kotono> "Sure," Sylvie says, "Watch them be teeth-stairs."
[05:58] <Ithea> "I was thinking more of the last stairs. Be prepared for a nice brisk run," Ithea says as she starts going down.
[05:59] <Kotono> Thus you go down!  A good minute of waling then two more. Still no sign of the end of the stairs. It's lit here, a pallid dull glow that gives just enough light to see. "We must be going deep," Sylvie mentions, "I wonder if the moon has volcanoes?"
[06:01] * Ithea doesn't reply, but she suspects if there weren't any, the slaad probably put some now, just for Sylvie. "Hopefully we'll reach somewhere soon."

[Corwin]

[20:54] <Kotono> Several more minutes of going down deeper. As you go...OOC: Listen check, Ithea? You're the only one with enough of a mod to have a chance.
[20:55] <Ithea> roll d20+42 that's never a good thing to be told.
[20:55] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+42 that's never a good thing to be told. and gets 61." [d20=19]
[20:56] <Kotono> As you continue on, Ithea hear a faint rumbling from above. A rumbling-thumping sort of sound, distant but getting louder.
[20:58] <Ithea> "Did you guys hear that? Some rumbling from above..." Ithea asks the others looking briefly back and up. "If that slaad is going for another repeat performance of the same stairs trick, I'm going to be disappointed."
[21:00] <Kotono> "I didn't hear anything," Sylvie stops and looks up, while Balyss simply takes to wing and starts to fly down. "Let's not find out, by Selune's mercy. Whatever it is won't be good!"
[21:00] * Ithea nods, starting to move faster down. "Stay within reach, if we need to we can teleport out of whatever's way again, I hope."
[21:02] <Kotono> You race down! The thumping-rumbling begins to become louder even as you race down! As you do, you notice a sign on the wall as you hurry along!
[21:04] * Ithea looks at the sign while still moving down. She should be able to read some of it before she starts passing it, and if it looks like anything important enough, she'll slow down and/or stop to read the rest.
[21:07] <Kotono> It looks like a child's crude drawing. A stairway with three stick figures with circles on the upper part and long hair are halfway down the stairs. From above there's yellow scribbles, and in sloppy Common letters GOLD can be read. Below the figures is scribbles of red and the word FIRE can be seen. Past the scribble is an oversized equals sign and then crude drawings of three gold stick figure
[21:07] <Kotono> womnen are there, along with GOLD STATUES!.
[21:11] <Ithea> "...I could be wrong, but is that sign saying we're going to be covered in gold, smelted and turned into statues if we keep going down?" Ithea asks the other two. "Is there a way to detect secret tunnels or anything, you two?"
[21:15] <Kotono> "Oh-" What Sylvie says next is colorful and not worth repeating. Meanwhile Balyss shakes her head, "I can request divine intervention if we have no other option. I fairly sure that with the mockery of the moon above us that Selune will reply, as it is an insult."
[21:15] <Ithea> "Here's hoping then. Keep moving meanwhile!"
[21:18] <Kotono> The trio continues down! The rumbling-thumping above becomes louder and as you race down, it starts to get hotter! It's warm into summery heat right now, but the bricks are starting to glow with a dull red light.
[21:20] <Ithea> "How long does it take to request that divine intervention, Balyss?"
[21:21] <Kotono> "Not long." Balyss says quickly, glancing back above.
[21:23] <Ithea> "Well, things look like they're going to get hot fast, so start praying," Ithea says as she keeps moving.
[21:30] <Kotono> "Stay here!" Balyss calls, landing into a kneel! Sylvie stops, looking back and forth, "If this doesn't work, try using Limbo to help and I'll try 21 blasting through the wall."
[21:33] * Ithea nods, as she searches the walls in the meantime for any passageways or anything that can help.
[21:36] <Kotono> Balyss kneels and prays! As she does the glow of the bricks become silver moonlight! A chill fills the air, a great thudding CRACKLE heard above before the rumbling-thumping sound ceases. Below you can see icepatches form here and there, the summery heat gone.
[21:38] <Ithea> "...Selune really was ready to intervene, that was faster than I expected. Be sure to include my thanks in your prayers, Balyss."
[21:43] <Kotono> Sylvie exhales, breath misting out of her mouth. Balyss rises slowly, "Thank her in your nightly prayers," Balyss says, "Unless Sharess is the jealous type?"
[21:47] <Ithea> "I'll just thank both, I suppose," Ithea says, starting to go back up to check out this gold that was supposed to be coming down on them.
[21:49] <Kotono> Climbing back up, the three of you find that there is indeed gold! A wall of thick ice blocks the way back up, and just beyond is gold! Gold nuggets, gold bars, gold coins, gold everything! A stairway filling avalanche of gold!
[21:52] <Ithea> "Can we get to any of that, or would breaking any of the ice start the avalanche again?" Ithea asks, examining the wall of ice, and making some calculations based on what she's seeing it holding back.
[21:52] <Ithea> roll d20+17 K:Architecture&Engineering
[21:52] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+17 K:Architecture&Engineering and gets 31." [d20=14]
[22:03] <Kotono> The ice is just barely holding the gold back. It shouldn't break anytime soon, but putting stress on it could cause the entire wall to fail.
[22:04] <Kotono> "That's a LOT of gold," Sylvie whistles, "At least a dragon's hoard!"
[22:07] <Ithea> "Not sure if we can get it though, the ice is barely holding it back. Any stress on it could make it break," Ithea replies. "Or do you have any spells that can help support the ice and let us get to it. We don't know how high up this avalanche goes either, we may not want to teleport upwards either."
[22:09] <Kotono> "Hmmm..." Balyss murmurs, "Give me a moment to think."
[22:10] * Ithea nods, examining the ice and trying to think up ideas of her own. Sylvie is probably putting her noggin to good use too.
[22:12] <Kotono> "What I think is that I wish I'd memorized Wall of Force," Sylvie crosses her arms with a grumpy grumble, "Several Walls of Force could channel a manageable stream of gold out. Unfortunately we don't have that."
[22:13] <Kotono> "We should let it be," Balyss speaks up, "It was by Selune's personal mercy that this didn't crush us underneath. Indulging in greed instead of respecting the wall of protection she granted us is foolishness."
[22:14] <Kotono> "Really?" Sylvie says, "So who should have a fortune in gold, her faithful servant and friends or a blasphemous slaad?"
[22:15] <Kotono> "The gold's not that important," Balyss turns to Sylvie, waving a finger in front of her face. "We have a greater gift from her. That argument is nothing more than witty sophistry."
[22:16] <Ithea> "Unless you can think of a way for us to target the right distance to teleport up or to reinforce the ice, Balyss's idea may unfortunately be the best option. Besides, ice melts, we may be wasting time standing here when we should keep moving."
[22:16] <Kotono> "Oh yes?" Sylvie retorts, "I-" A pause, "That's a good point." Casting a look back at it, "I want it, but you're right. This may not last forever."
[22:17] <Ithea> "If Selune favors us getting it, or the slaad just thinks our solution was creative enough, we'll probably find a way to recover it at the bottom of the stairs. Let's be optimistic with that," Ithea says, already starting to head back down. "Let's keep moving fast since we don't know how long it'll hold."
[22:19] <Kotono> Down you go! Down into an ice slicked stairwell, deeper and deeper! It's another ten minutes of wintry travel before you reach the bottom! At the bottom is a single wide door with a pull ring in the center. It's made of rusted iron, deeply pitted from time's march forward.
[22:22] * Ithea has learned her lesson for doors while in the slaad's domain, and examines the edges for signs of anything beyond, as well as listening for noises from beyond. Not opening doors blindly is a good policy here.
[22:25] <Ithea> roll d20+42 spot
[22:25] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+42 spot and gets 61." [d20=19]
[22:25] <Ithea> roll d20+42 listen
[22:25] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+42 listen and gets 47." [d20=5]
[22:26] <Kotono> Ithea can hear a faint hissing sound behind the door - like something burning.
[22:28] <Ithea> "I hear something hissing and burning. Remember the sign? I don't think your plea to Selune went past the stairways, Balyss, it's going to get hot again once we open the door."
[22:33] <Kotono> "Alright," Balyss says, "We're warded, so we should be able to withstand it."
[22:35] * Ithea nods. On top of her resistance, she also has some protection from endure elements, so hopefully it won't be too uncomfortable. Reaching for the ring, Ithea pulls on it.
[22:38] <Kotono> OOC: Str check.
[22:38] <Ithea> roll d20+19
[22:38] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+19 and gets 28." [d20=9]
[22:40] <Kotono> The first tug doesn't work, but then Ithea has an idea! Putting her foot against it for leverage and pulling sharp and hard, she's able to get the iron door to open! It groans terrifically-ACK! A great torrent of lava bursts in, like a ruptured volcano! OOC: Ref saves, all of ya.
[22:41] <Kotono> roll 1d20+38 Sylvie (+12 inspiration since fuuuuck lava)
[22:41] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+38 Sylvie (+12 inspiration since fuuuuck lava) and gets 58." [1d20=20]
[22:41] <Kotono> OOC: +evasion for her, 20d it anyway.
[22:42] <Kotono> roll 1d20+21 Balyss evasion equivalent
[22:42] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+21 Balyss evasion equivalent and gets 22." [1d20=1]
[22:42] <Ithea> roll d20+26+9 evasion+inspiration
[22:42] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+26+9 evasion+inspiration and gets 50." [d20=15]
[22:42] <Kotono> roll 20d6 fire damage Balyss, other two evaded
[22:42] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 20d6 fire damage Balyss, other two evaded and gets 69." [20d6=3, 2, 4, 5, 2, 4, 5, 1, 1, 1, 5, 4, 2, 6, 5, 2, 6, 3, 4, 4]
[22:43] <Kotono> OOC: Obviously full since she threw a 1 on the save.
[22:44] <Kotono> Sylvie and Ithea are twin blurs, leaping up the stairs several times and out of th eway! Balyss blinks and turns, caught completely flatfooted as she's engulfed in lava! The entire stairwell is filled with lava to 10ft up, Balyss struggling in it and immersed up to her chin! "AGAHGAHGHAGHAGHAHAAAAAAGGGGGGGH!" Balyss screams! OOC: Roll init. This needs to be done round by round for reactions/trying
[22:44] <Kotono> to get her out/whatever.

[22:44] <Kotono> roll 1d20+3 Balyss
[22:44] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+3 Balyss and gets 20." [1d20=17]
[22:45] <Ithea> roll d20+19
[22:45] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+19 and gets 39." [d20=20]
[22:45] <Kotono> roll 1d20+22 Sylvie
[22:45] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+22 Sylvie and gets 25." [1d20=3]
[22:45] * Kotono changes topic to 'Ithea(39)>Sylvie(25)>Balyss(20)'
[22:45] <Kotono> OOC: Lava deals damage on her turn. Go Ithea.
[22:48] * Ithea moves further up the stairs and casts regroup, pulling both Sylvie and Balyss to her!
[22:49] <Kotono> roll 1d3
[22:49] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d3 and gets 3." [1d3=3]
[22:49] * Kotono changes topic to 'Ithea(39)>Sylvie(25)>Balyss(20)(3 rounds)'
[22:50] <Kotono> Sylvie appears on one side, still safe and sound! Balyss appears on the other and collapses in a heap, glowing hot magma still clinging to her! OOC: Sylvie's up.
[22:51] <Kotono> Invoking names and signs, Sylvie steps to the side with Balyss between her and the wall! Shards of ice gather in her hands, before a cone of cold flows out over the burning-hot aasimar! "Just stand still and don't dodge this!" Sylvie calls!
[22:51] <Kotono> roll 15d6-30
[22:51] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 15d6-30 and gets 24." [15d6=4, 4, 5, 3, 4, 2, 5, 4, 2, 3, 3, 6, 2, 1, 6]
[22:51] <Kotono> OOC: 30 is from energy res.
[22:53] <Kotono> The cold strikes the screaming Balyss head on! Your vision becomes obscured by a massive burst of mist and steam! When it clears Balyss is covered in black shiny stone and patches of frost, twitching on the ground! OOC: Free act.

[22:58] * Ithea grimaces at the sight, and tries to help Balyss by pulling some of the stone out, particularly focusing around the hand. "Damn..." she mutters.
[23:00] <Kotono> Sylvie does the same, precise chops causing the still warm stone to fall away. Balyss lies there, armor half melted and face an exquisite mask of pain. "Hurts..." Below you the lava bubbles and hisses!
[23:00] <Ithea> ooc: is the lava level rising?
[23:01] * Ithea tries to reduce Balyss' pain a little bit by soothing her wounds with some healing power, as her eyes briefly go towards the lava.
[23:02] <Ithea> roll 4d8+20
[23:02] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls 4d8+20 and gets 42." [4d8=7, 5, 6, 4]
[23:05] <Kotono> The burned flesh of the aasimar recovers considerably, yet she lies there. Her wings twitch, badly scorched. "Ow." Balyss manages, looking up. "Ithea...I need you to do something for me."
[23:05] <Ithea> "What's that?"
[23:06] <Kotono> "Hit Sylvie upside her head. Volcanoes! Really!" Balyss sighs and flops her head back down, just about doing a header into the stone steps.
[23:08] * Ithea slaps Sylvie in the back of the head before she can defend herself. "Stop giving the slaad bad ideas," she says in a flat and dry voice, before snorting.
[23:09] <Ithea> "Remember, I was asked by the burn victim."
[23:10] <Kotono> "OW!" Sylvie turns and glares, "Fine, fine. I'll give him good ideas. Slaad!" Calling out and looking up, "I've never been in a dungeon with a good bakery and library, but they sound like good ideas to me!"
[23:12] <Kotono> Balyss groans before picking herself up, "I don't think any idea you give him could be a good idea," Going to sit and look down at the pool of lava below, "So now what?"
[23:12] <Kotono> The lava level isn't rising.
[23:18] <Ithea> "Well... I had an idea just now from Balyss and the lava, strangely enough," Ithea says, giving an apologetic look at Balyss. Pulling out the sunnishard mace, she shows it to the others, not saying it's properties since they should know about it, and didn't want to give the slaad any ideas on preventing its effect. "Remember how I said that we could teleport above the gold if we knew just how
[23:18] <Ithea> high up to go? With this we can. After collecting what gold we can, we can just break the ice wall, teleport back up, and let the gold slide in, maybe melt into a gold floor, or we could just fly above the lava, I dunno."
[23:23] <Kotono> "Good thinking," Sylvie says after several moments, "I like it."
[23:27] * Ithea turns to Balyss just to see if there's any objections from her quarter, and if not, starts going back upstairs until they reach the ice wall. From there, holding the mace, she'll start putting her plan into action and using the earth glide effect to go up the stairways without disturbing the delicate balance between the stairs, ice and gold.
[23:28] <Kotono> OOC: How far into the stone are you gonig?
[23:30] <Ithea> OOC: Not far, I want to be able to peek and check if I've gone past the gold avalanche or not. 10ft sound reasonable?
[23:32] <Kotono> OOC: How far up are you going?
[23:33] <Ithea> OOC: How far up could I see the avalanche went? I'll go up 10ft past that, peek, and if not repeat that distance until I get past it.
[23:35] <Kotono> OOC: Farther up than you could see, since solid gold was stacked up beyond the wall.
[23:38] <Kotono> Ithea goes up up up! It takes several peeks before she comes to the stairs at the other end of the gold rush. The entire way lower is plugged up with gold, gold coins, gold bullion, sacks of bulging gold dust, gold nuggets, gold everything.
[23:39] * Ithea gives a quiet impressed whistle, as she calculates how far up she went in her head, so she can figure out if she can just regroup the other two, or if she needs to go pick them up and teleport all three of them up here.
[23:41] <Ithea> ooc: Actually, I should just go back down and dimension door us. Regroup only works up to 75ft
[23:42] * Ithea goes swimming through the stone back down to get the others and teleports all three of them up once she finishes her calculations!
[23:48] <Kotono> IN a flash the three of you appear! Sylvie grins ear to ear at this, "Oh my...this could buy a dozen manors outside Balmuria!" She goes to kneel, hefting a large gold nugget! She idly runs a finger across the surface of it several times.
[23:50] <Kotono> roll 1d20+39
[23:50] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+39 and gets 46." [1d20=7]
[23:52] <Kotono> "I doubt we could carry a tenth of all this," Balyss says, "Even with your bag."
[23:57] <Ithea> "Actually..." Ithea says as she taps the bracelet on one of her arms. "Counter Ithea's Luck sounds an appropriate name for this. We pulled it off in Lixer's throne to good effect, though the question then  becomes if we use it ourselves too or not." Ithea tries to be vague, in case the slaad can block a Gate out if he's aware of it, but the others should know enough to use the references to
[23:57] <Ithea> figure out her plan and her question to them.
[00:00] <Kotono> "Hmmm..." Sylvie rubs her chin and rises, "It's real gold. How about we do that? I'm for it. Balyss?"
[00:00] <Kotono> "Your luck will probably strike sooner or later. Let's do it," Balyss says. "I say we use it too."
[00:01] <Ithea> "Objections to our using it too, Sylvie?" Ithea asks.
[00:01] <Kotono> "Mmmm...let's do it," Sylvie finally says. "I'm for it."
[00:07] <Ithea> "Okay. Do we think we'll get all of it, or should we load up our bags some first?" Ithea asks, wanting to get as much of this treasure out as possible.
[00:08] <Kotono> "Load up," Sylvie starts kneeling, "Do you have a bag of holding too, Ithea?"
[00:10] <Ithea> "Just this backpack that I've been filling up with the stuff we've picked up so far. I'll probably ask Afina to make one for me after this, heck, maybe a few more if we get a third invitation later on," Ithea answers as she fills the backpack to the brim, a quick matter probably considering it was already partially filled.
[00:13] <Kotono> Sylvie does the same with her bag and even Balyss gathers up some in her pockets and hands. It puts a bit of a dent in the great heap of gold clogging the way ahead, but not much of one.
[00:17] <Ithea> "Alright, time for Operation Counter Ithea's Luck!" Ithea says as she clasps her hands on the other two and teleports them back down to the ice wall. Once they're all oriented again, she attempts to use the bracelet, commanding the front side to appear against the ice wall, keeping the wall as a barrier between them and the gold in case the gate fails against the slaad's power. If it forms
[00:17] <Ithea> though, Sylvie and Balyss can crack it so they can enter the gate once the gold finishes or the gate's about to vanish.
[00:17] <Kotono> OOC: Make a caster level check on the Gate?
[00:18] <Kotono> OOC: If it didn't mention a CL, assume it's 17, the minimum for Gate.
[00:27] <Ithea> roll d20+17
[00:27] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+17 and gets 31." [d20=14]
[00:28] <Kotono> The Gate struggles - it flickers and sputters, but eventually comes into being! "Let's do this!" Sylvie says. Beyond you can see Air, and ahead, Aurora's gates.
[00:31] <Ithea> ooc: I was opening the gate in front of the ice wall, so the gold should just start flowing into it automatically with a place to go into. We'd need to break the ice wall to get into the gate.
[00:33] <Kotono> OOC: Oh, right.
[00:34] <Kotono> The gate struggles to appear, but flickers into life! You see Air for a moment, before gold and treasure begins to pour on in!
[00:36] <Ithea> "Sylvie, Balyss, get rid of the ice wall. We'll step in when the gate's about to fall even if we haven't gotten all the treasure out. I'll give you a warning too," Ithea directs the two as she keeps the gate open and leaving the ice wall to them.
[00:37] <Kotono> Wham! Wham! WHAM! Several blows crumble the ice wall as a minute and a half passes! The gate's running out of time! Treasure continues to pour through it at a massive clip, no end in sight yet!
[00:41] <Ithea> "Get ready to run through! Gate'll fall soon!" Ithea gives a preliminary warning as time runs out, before calling out "NOW!" to the other two and moving a few seconds later herself, running through with just seconds to spare. (OOC: I assume we get pelted with gold for some damage as we step through?)
[00:45] <Kotono> OOC: Looks like it, yes.
[00:45] <Kotono> OOC: Make ref saves, you three.
[00:46] <Ithea> roll d20+26+9 evasion+inspiration
[00:46] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+26+9 evasion+inspiration and gets 48." [d20=13]
[00:46] <Kotono> roll 1d20+26 Sylvie evasion
[00:46] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+26 Sylvie evasion and gets 41." [1d20=15]
[00:46] <Kotono> roll 1d20+21 Balyss evasion
[00:46] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+21 Balyss evasion and gets 32." [1d20=11]
[00:47] <Kotono> The three dart through just as the portal closes! A few last bits of gold come through and you stand within Air! The beautiful, empty Air. Below you is a fading rain of gold, plummeting in the endless freefall that is the Elemental Plane of Air.
[00:50] <Kotono> "Oh damn!" Sylvie scowls, darting towards Aurora, "Drena! Air Elementals!" she shouts, "Get out here!"
[00:50] <Kotono> Balyss meanwhile slaps her forehead with her hand, "Air! Of course, it's Air!"
[00:52] <Ithea> "Less slapping, let's go try and get the gold together while Sylvie gets reinforcements to help us!" Ithea calls out, already darting past the gold, trying to get to the front of the falling avalanche.
[00:58] <Kotono> Thus the two fly down fast in outright dives! You slowly begin to catch up with the gold, Aurora becoming smaller above you! As you do wooshes of wind pass you by, air elementals flying faster than wind and plummeint down at the stream of gold! Drena's voice is heard booming on the wind from above, "Gather it all! Become whirlwinds if you need to!"
[01:04] <Ithea> "Thanks Drena!" Ithea calls out as she starts grabbing some of the gold she can, and letting the air elementals focus on getting the gold that's still far ahead of them.
[01:06] <Kotono> With this, the two get armsful of gold! Meanwhile below them, great whirlwinds of glittering gold form, flying back up towards Aurora!