I'm going to start this one OOC since I want you two to explain your plan, party and everything. Go into some detail since it's been awhile on this thread, make sure we all have our ducks in a row.
Plan is to gather Arrel/Kascha/Mirajane and then go to Elysium/House of Nature and fly to the sun where we can make another attempt at that volcano dungeon that has the key to the first embers. After we get those I think we need to go to Thalassia?
Cool. Anything to add, Jaela?
This one won't get rolling until tonight or tomorrow due to prep issues. I talked to y'all privately about it so you're aware.
Other than using the golden bracers with Mirajane and seeing if she has any suggestions, I don't have anything to add to Eb's plan. Looks good. We'll improvise!
Alright. Post again if you want to add anything before I make your next post.
As the party prepares, Jaela takes a chance to ask some long delayed questions.
Set yourself up for that commune, Jaela. Be it your own casting of it or having another cast it on your behalf.
In the temple to the Triune, Jaela asks Mei to make sure they have reasonable privacy for the duration of the Commune spell while meditating to clear her mind. Once she feels the distractions and stresses of the situation fade away, she calls upon a Miracle to hear her deity's guidance on a few matters!
"My queen," Jaela speaks, asking of her patron, "it often seems as if beyond the understandable trauma of being Hell's prisoner, Baator's influence continues to chain her spirit. Can Ellese's unfortunate situation be seen that way?"
"Yes," The voice of the Triune echos all around you, a three-fold thing that consumes everything and overshadows all else. Mei is silent as always, merely watching from a position of prayer.
Keep track of your questions so I know how many you have left.
She thought it might be like that, as she watched the chains lashing out at Baleruk's team earlier.
"Is it within my power at present to break them, perhaps by means of a quest I could go on with Ellese?" Jaela follows up on her first question.
Question 2/25 max
"Yes," The voice sounds again. It is three voices - one solemn, one joyous and one distant.
Smiling in relief, Jaela confirms, "Will Ellese and I know the next step if we meditate upon this together here?"
Question 3/25
"Maybe, her will matters," Is the answer you get. All three voices speak in perfect harmony, the cathedral around you fading. You stand in the endless white void, surrounded by the echoing voices of the Triune.
Of course it matters, though Jaela was taking it for granted that someone in the Crusade would want to break any influence have over them. Then again, actually asking, however awkward it would be, is probably the next step.
"I understand," she says. Something to pursue when both of them no longer have pressing matters to attend to. "Another question I had was about Medi's quarters, and the means to transform anyone to an outsider. Would using it on myself go against your will?"
Question 4/25
"No," They answer after a moment's pause, the light around you rippling like water. "It is your soul."
It sounds like no offense would be taken, which is a good thing. Still....
"Would such an act interfere with any plans you may have for me?"
Question 5/25
"Yes," The answer comes, "But it is your soul, Jaela. If that is your choice, you have our blessing. We have placed our faith in you."
That burned through an additional three questions as the Triune chose to answer in more depth than standard for the spell.
And Jaela has her faith in the Triune, after what can only be described as remarkable support throughout her short life. She inclines her head, saying only, "Thank you for this audience."
That was all I needed to ask.
Reality returns. Mei is there, coming and putting a hand on your shoulder. She smiles warmly.
"We have the best goddess," Jaela asserts with a smile of her own.
Onto the main event.
Getting the group together isn't hard. Jaela and Afina find Kascha first, tucked away in a corner of the library. Ioun stones float around her head, several of them swirling about. At the same time she takes slow, careful steps, face screwed up in concentration. No sign of noticing the two.
"Hey there," Jaela greets Kascha, stepping closer to catch the other angel in the highly likely case this causes her to stumble.
"Hello Kascha. Not interrupting anything are we?" Afina asks, fluttering into 'step' with the ghaele.
> roll 1d20+8 Kascha
<Serith> Koaway roll for Serith < 27 > [d20=19]
Kascha stops on a dime, snatching up the ioun stones one by one. "Hi!" She smiles, "Just practicing with my ioun stones out. They tend to distract me and I keep following them with my eyes, which makes me trip a lot."
"That was very graceful at least," Afina compliments with a little smile. "I've never really had much interest in those kinds of items, for all that I have to make a lot. Getting better about filtering them out?"
"Very graceful," Jaela agrees. "Your training is clearly bearing fruit!"
"Yes," She holds up a white sphere, "They're worth it. This one can heal the wounds of anyone nearby as the ninth circle spell." She juggles the others in her hand, coming away with a clear cube. "This one protects me from gases and air-based threats, like a green dragon's breath." She goes for another, before the sphere slips out of her hands. "Ah!" she tries to get them, but her ioun stones all fall to the ground.
"Well, some fruit," Kascha blushes, kneeling down to pick them up. "Once I master there, I'm going to get another couple of stones."
"Well I'm happy to make anything you ask of me," Afina nods. "But for now we need something I can't make, a weapon against Taelfagn now that he's being more blatant against us. Up for making another attempt at the first embers of Goldenfire?"
"Oh, you want to go back there? Certainly," Kascha nods away, putting her ioun stones back up. "Hopefully we avoid any more puzzle mazes and those sort of portals."
"Sounds like the beginning to a prismatic defense," Jaela muses. "Inspired by Baleruk, maybe?" As Afina brings up their mission, however, she refocuses, adding, "We've waited too long on it as it is."
"Oh no, I just like the ioun stones," You get a warm smile form Kascha, pausing to adjust one stone then brush back a bit of stray hair. "I'm ready. Who else is going?"
"We're asking Arrel next," Jaela responds. "And after, I was hoping it would be the sort of thing to take Mirajane on. Serious and important, where her unique abilities could shine." She shifts uncomfortably. "But not actually a crusade into Hell where she'll need to face off against high ranking devils."
"It's not as if this is fully safe either, considering what happened last time," Afina says with a wince as she recalls her undignified display. Though it was totally earned considering the sheer pain and trauma involved. "But hopefully we can get this done with minimal dismemberment."
"Let's focus on that," Kascha agrees cheerfully, "Victory rather than defeat."
"We'll certainly do better this time," Afina resolves. "Lets go find Arrel and Mirajane then?"
Arrel's found next. He's recently moved his horde his own room, perching atop a pile of coins. Lady Skye is there, writing down what Arrel says. "...ce to be so far behind. There are limits," Arrel huffs, making his beak click. "Prismatic dragon or not."
Skye? Is she trying to become a draconic scholar as well? "Hello Skye, Arrel," Afina says as she flutters over. "Are you busy right now?"
"Limits?" Jaela repeats. "Are we discussing limits and Baleruk in the same sentence?"
"Yes, I don't think limits are the right word for Baleruk," Kascha seconds, lingering just inside the door.
"Ahem. General Afina," Skye greets as she ceases writing. "It seems Baleruk made an unwelcome remark on the size of his hoard compared to Arrel's. Word of this reached Her Majesty and she commanded me to inquire about it. It seems to have struck her curiosity."
"Hoards are important for dragons," Afina nods sagely. "Even Smrgol's been quite insistent on developing his own. To be honest I feel a bit sorry for dragons that devote so much of their long lives to acquiring things that make them happy, only to be seen as living treasure chests by others. I confess even I harboured some thoughts like that when the Crusade was young and we were in dire need of funds."
"To be fair, the way this sort of thinking developed is due to the evil dragons giving the rest a bad reputation," Jaela voices with a shrug. "Dragons demanding tribute, attacking villages and abducting princesses for ransom? That just invited heroes to go after them."
"But this is an insult that goes beyond the pale," Arrel says, "I don't even greatly care about my hoard, but this...this..."
"AHEM!" Lady Skye clears her throat, fluttering in the air. "This is intolerable?"
"Yes, that! It's dragons like Baleruk that give others a bad name!" Arrel's claws clang and cling against his pile of coins, "The absolute nerve!"
Afina always ends up having to settle disputes amongst their resident dragons so in this case she keeps her mouth shut and smiles expectantly at Jaela. Surely she'll salve any hurt feelings and have the two dragons back as fond brothers in arms with some well chosen words!
Kascha quickly does the same, smiling warmly at Jaela. "I'm sure Jaela can help," she even adds.
"I wonder if we won't all be served by being spared Baleruk's presence for a while," Jaela muses, deciding to deflect all that rage for now. Surely things will be better once Arrel had time to cool down! "And if it gives us a chance to increase our hoards, all the better. How about it? We're going back for Goldenfire, and it had interesting opportunities last time," she continues, raising the arm adorned in a golden bracer with a grin.
"...yes, that is a point. Perhaps I can enrich my hoard and silence Baleruk by this," Arrel says, preening. "I'll go."
"Let's face it," Jaela says quite reasonably. "Baleruk sits here all day. He has quantity, sure, but you can only get quality by going out there and finding what's unique! Glad to have you onboard, Arrel!"
"Yes, so let's go take care of this," Kascha claps her hands together, "All we need is Mirajane now."
"Know where we'll find her, Jaela?" Afina asks in lieu of bothering Elena.
"I think we'll meet her by the gates," Jaela muses.
"Are we leaving right away?" Kascha asks as Arrell joins you, leaving his coins behind.
This is interrupted by Elena, who appears, "Hi. Kascha? There's a faerie dragon - you know, like Hope? Anyway, there's a faerie dragon here who says he's been sent by Seira to take guardianship of you."
This gets Kascha to stop cold, making her ioun stones pelt the side of her head, one after another "Ooowwww!" she rubs them as her other hand darts out to catch them. "What?"
"There's a faerie dragon here who says he's been sent by Seira to take guardianship of you," Elena dutifully repeats.
"I heard you! I mean...what?" Repeated again, slowly this time. "I haven't heard anything about that."
"How long would it take you to check?" Jaela asks Kascha with a frown. "The timing's a bit weird."
"Not long," Kascha says, "I'll use powerful magic for this, I think. I need to know so that if this is a lie, we can deal with it as soon as possible."
"Let's find a quiet place for that," Jaela suggests. "Figure out just what's going on."
Well if anyone here could reasonably need a guardian it's Kascha, but still it's been ages since she died so Afina can't help feeling a bit critiqued.
"If it is a lie it should be easily checked," she says, fluttering alongside Kascha.
Kascha slips into an unused room and promptly kneels, sketching a magic circle with her fingers and light. She then focuses her magic, forging it into a power spell of Commune. This causes Kascha to be surrounded by a haze of golden flames, the temperature of the room rising. The flames swirl around her faster and faster, until they disperse into harmless blasts of warmth.
"Surraruthru was sent by Seira." Kascha's calm now, "He's a survivor from Lifasa and she chanced on him, so she sent him our way."
[spoiler]
Kascha: 258/258 Spells used: 9th: Wish.
Mirajane 283/283
Arrel: 343/345
"A Lifasan?" Afina perks up immediately there. She'd been thinking recently that the number of actual Lifasans in the crusade was pretty small. "Lets go see him?" Hopefully he won't be too put off by the giant brands on hers and Jaela's foreheads...
At this the group heads into the courtyard. At the gates they find the new member, waiting with Drena.
Meanwhile, Surraruthru waits. He sees them approach - a curious pixie, an angel and Kascha. The first two steal his attention, for on their foreheads are letters of Draconic. They read GUILTY. These two have committed a horrible crime against all dragons. You feel disgust rise up within you, a choking bile that threatens to drown anything but sheer fury. Your ears roar as you can dimly hear Kascha call, "Hello?"
Afina does look a bit odd for a pixie, with her clammy pink skin that looks more suited on a cooked lobster than a person, contrasted with a bob of glistening white hair that sits underneath an ostentatious two-tailed floppy hat in purple and orange. She wears a bodysuit and leggings of no particular colour or style, with clashing oranges, blacks, and greens splashed across in tiled squares and diamonds all offset with girlish purple frills that seem to suggest at a figure she just doesn't have. Of course that's all a distant second to the giant GUILTY brand though.
"You're from Lifasa?" she asks in a stereotypically cutesy and vapid sounding voice for a pixie, seemingly unaware of the horror her presence brings. "I'm general Afina. If you've come to fight for our world you'll be welcome here."
"Jaela," she introduces herself in turn, clad in armor and prepared for battle at a moment's notice, as always. "You're in luck, I'm another general in the Crusade. And we're in luck, because you're a friend from Lifasa and found your way to join up with us."
*narrows his eyes and arches his back as he moves into a crouch, letting out a deep clicking growl at the sight of the brands*
"You dare?! You who have been marked as enemies of dragons dare to greet me as a friend? I see now why Seira sent me. Enemies of dragons hold one of Her own while claiming war for Liefasa!"
*breathes deep, sudden bright light light begins pouring out of his mouth as he prepares his breath weapon, mentally calling up spells*
Not attacking yet, waiting for Kascha to either seperate from the two or other reactions.
"Calm down," Kascha quickly says, coming over to Surraruthru and placing a hand on the dragon's side. "Calm. Calm. They aren't enemies. It's a long story, but they're allies of myself and of Seira. Otherwise, Seira wouldn't have sent you hear to help, right?"
Afina just nods reassuringly without doing anything else to provoke the excitable little wyrmling. Kascha surely has it in hand.
"I dare plenty, so stop talking like a cliche devil," Jaela scoffs. "The fuck you're doing, letting Bahamut do your thinking for you? Don't you got no pride or willpower to look past what he's feeding you? Enemies of dragons? Well, fuck other dragons. What did we ever do to you or Seira that got your saddlebags in a bunch?"
*cocks his head slightly so he can look at Kascha and keep still keep an eye on the others.*
"I... suppose. It's possible that they are coercing you as well!" *hops to stand between Kascha and the other two*
"I... will give you a chance to prove your words. But stay back! I'll not allow you to be in striking distance until I am assured! Also your presence is unpleasant." *he says the last with a disdainful sniff as he turns to address Jaela*
"And why should I swallow what you're feeding me? I know nothing of you! What have you done to earn more of my trust and loyalty than our gods? I only know of my contract with Seira."
OOC: I'm doing this at work on my phone, so give me a bit longer than normal to respond.
"You're the one that came to our home, remember," Afina points out in what she thinks is a reasonable manner, keeping an easy twenty feet back or so... really there's no getting out of striking distance where she's concerned, but she makes no moves for the blades crossed over the small of her back. "But there's no need to fight - whatever our crimes against dragonkind, the crimes committed by devils against all as fellow Lifasans surely must concern you more?"
"Oh for fuck's sake, you came here! You! Here!" Jaela exclaims, throwing up her arms. "And on a friendly recommendation, it sounds like!" She rubs at her temples. "I feel a headache coming on, but fine. What do you want? For real."
"Tsk. You make a good point... I will... grudgingly... ally with you against them. My main goal is to protect Kascha, however. As for my personal wants... Hmph. We are not friends yet, and that is no business of yours. For now, I am here to fulfil my contract and fight devils."
Kascha smiles.
It's a happy thing, ever so innocent and soothing. She pats the faerie dragon's scales, "I know you're a mighty dragon, but trust me when I say that they're good people. I promise. Relax and how about we see about getting you a lair for your hoard?"
"Don't hurt yourself agreeing to free our homeworld from the devils that fucked it over," Jaela mutters. "Welcome, I guess. Go get settled in?"
"Any who would stand with us against Baator's tyranny... however grudgingly or not, is welcome," Afina says. "We'll meet back up in an hour or two before heading out, think that'll be enough time to show your new guardian around, Kascha?"
"Speaking of, let's grab a snack first? Always a good idea while leaving Aurora for a while."
"Hmm... a hoard? That would be agreeable. I don't have anything to put away right now, but I would like to have a place... It's also been quite a while since I've eaten in comfort or with others... Very well, I accept. Where are we going after?"
"We're going to Elysium to obtain a weapon we can use against Taelfagn," Afina answers. "Where in Lifasa are you from? For that matter what's your name?" she asks, thinking they might bond over shared heritage and hatred for devils.
"We're heading out to a section of Elysium that burns off the souls of anyone impure," Jaela responds after thinking on her answer for a few moments.
"I am Surraruthru! Bringer of nightmares and chaos! I don't know where I'm from, exactly. I mean, I'm from Lifasa, but I never left the forest. My Mother and Father called it Drulix Grove. There was a small lake in the forest, and it was surrounded on all sides by mountains. They said I was never to go up into the mountains. They mentioned humans being the closest... A throne? Or a heaven, maybe... I never left the forest, though! I listened!"
Surraruthru beams at Kascha after declaring this, eager to prove his trustworthiness and show that he's responsible to his new charge!
"But after the devils came, my brood was scattered.. I stayed looking for them for a long time, but couldn't. The devils started figuring out my tricks so I had to leave. Then Seira found me while I was lost!"
"That sounds like it was a nice part of Lifasa," Kascha says, "Do either of you know where that was?"
"I haven't heard of Drulix Grove," Afina shakes her head as they head back towards the fortress proper and then a portal to the mess hall. "But the Throne of Heaven is where Adrian and Tepen are from, and I know that was far away from the Gloaming Forest, so it's not my part of the world."
[20:17] <@Shizuru> roll 1d20 K:L Drulix
[20:17] <Kobot> Shizuru rolled 1d20 K:L Drulix --> [ 1d20=2 ]{2}
+17 so result of 19
"If anything, I'm surprised it lasted that long," Jaela admits with a frown. "Didn't all nature just die during the invasion?"
Do you have ranks in K:L or count as trained in it? I dunno where that +17 came from, so relevant.
I count as trained in it due to magic. I just forgot to add the bonus to the actual roll.
You recall it - a hidden dragon grove of some sort. Information was scarce, but it also may have been of interest to the fey. The name's legitimate, Jaela can tell that much.
Relaxing a bit as her memory makes the connection, Jaela asks, "Any chance you know just how the grove stayed hidden?"
"It didn't. It did die. Kind of slowly at first, but after a few days everything died really fast. My family stayed, but we didn't know what happened until the devils showed up. We tried to isolate them at first, but they figured it out. They found us and my Mother told us to run. I got away and hid, using noises and illusions to lead them away. After a while, though, I just had to leave. I never saw my Mother or Father again."
Quietly Kascha murmurs, "You did good to escape." A stricken look comes to her face, "It's all you can do sometimes."
Surraruthru shifts uncomfortably at this.
"Well.. Food and safe places now, yes? What are we getting from Elysium? I've learned about it... some stories and books, but what's it like? How are getting this weapon thing?"
Surraruthru visibly becomes more energetic as he imagines this new place, his wings fluttering a bit as he begins to get worked up.
"Your Grove must have had something powerful protecting it. Even in the Gloaming Forest all plants died the instant Abigor stepped through." She allows herself a satisfied smile after that. "He's dead now. We killed him. But for all he was the tip of the spear the one guiding it was Taelfagn. He has the power to control Destiny, and took Muirfinn and Lief from us. The first embers of Golden fire are said to have the power to burn through destiny. A power we'll need when next we face him."
"He's trying to make it so the same thing happens again and again. World after world will fall to his destiny if he's allowed to continue," Kascha adds, voice heavy and solemn.
In the meantime the party makes it to the mess hall. It's full of people as always, bustling all about. It's just going on, on and on. Tables are full of warriors chatting away - is that Vul'lath with Sylvie and Tepen at one table? Looks like it. The githyanki leans forward, talking quietly to the two humans (yet something seems faintly off about Sylvie, nothing you can easily pin down).
At another table sits Dana and The Master. The former is loudly going on about something, waving a tankard about. The Master eats steadily without missing a beat, ducking and weaving to avoid splashes from Dana's drink. He's in motion just as much as Dana, bone dry despite constant spills. Lady Rosa stands nearby, watching the entire proceeding carefully.
Jaela leads them over to Dana's table, nodding at Rosa when she's near enough to catch her gaze.
Lady Rosa returns the nod with one of her own. Meanwhile Dana looks over, "Well, well, well. It's Miss Fucking Princess," she grins at Jaela, "Got an entourage today?" She waves her mug, a big splash coming. The Master parries it with a chop that comes close, splitting the liquid into two smaller waves that hit the ground. He merely looks and gives his own slight nod to the party.
After a beat, the Master says, "Training."
Jaela snorts. "Wouldn't it make Elena happier if the training parted the booze into two new mugs?"
She takes the seat by Dana's side, nudging her over. "Meet a fellow Lifasan that joined the Crusade. The master of nightmares and terror, was it?" she muses, glancing over at the colorful dragon.
Caught sniffing at a small puddle of spilled booze, Surraruthru is caught surprised by the mention and takes to the air with a quick and excited jerk.
"Bringer of nightmares and chaos! I am Surraruthru!"
He lands on the table, eyeing Jaelea a bit suspiciously. "You're a princess? Hmm. You don't seem like the ones in my parents' stories. You should work on that." With that casual comment he turns to regard the new people, starting with Dana and stares at her intently, "You said she's a princess? A fucking princess? What's that? Is fucking a thing? Is she doing it now?"
He turns to regard Lady Rosa and The Master, "Are they fucking, too? What's fucking?"
"Yes. Dana is fucking with you right fucking now."
Surraruthru cocks his head so he can have one eye on both Jaelea and Dana at the same time.
"She is? Hmm.." He considers this strongly before turning to look at Kascha and speaking gravely and seriously.
"Is 'fucking with' the same as being grumpy? That's the only thing I can see that they have in common. It must be that, right?"
Turns back to look Dana and Jaelea, "You should work on that too. Are you grumpy because you're bad at princessing? You have a lot to work on. I'd like to help, but I think that'll be too difficult to fix while also taking care of Kascha."
"Just how old are you, Surraruthru?" Afina feels compelled to ask. He is even smaller than Hope but she assumed fairy dragons were just naturally slight of build compared to true dragons.
Surraruthru cocks his head at that question and focuses on Afina. "Not old. I was the youngest! I can only remember... maybe 20 winters? Yes, sounds right. They said I was the best at games, though!"
"Well that makes you as old as Jaela and Ithea... I suppose it's talent that counts, not age," Afina says, settling into an appropriately pixie-sized chair and reaching out for the plate of cheese and crackers that appears before her. "What are your skills anyway?" He might just have a puffed up opinion of himself but surely Seira wouldn't have sent him to watch over Kascha if he wasn't at least as strong as her?
The Master chuckles. "One can't have everything their way." He moves slightly, avoiding yet another splash - this one from above, out of the blue. "Indeed."
Rosa turns beet red and just glowers at the faerie dragon, while the Master is unruffled.
"Oh, see, now fucking Jaela has it right on the fucking nose." Dana refills her mug and takes a big drink this time.
"Tricks! Illusions! We played games with them. I was the best as mind tricks. The devils weren't easy to trick. They saw through most things at first, so I had to learn what they liked to see to trick them. They don't like nice or fun things, but I had to get good at them to trick them."
Surraruthru flutters his wings in discomfort and irritation at that. "I could get them to fight each other at times. It was easier to make them see each other as enemies. They don't trust each other much. I could show you!"
Munching on a cracker as she listens to Surraruthru's explanation, Afina nods. "We had trouble during the invasion with erinyes, the ones that can see through illusions and pierce invisibility. But yes, show us what you can do," she encourages, wanting to get a baseline of his skill before she agrees to take him on any dangerous missions.
"Please," Lady Rosa speaks up, still crimson-cheeked. "I'd like to see this magic of yours."
Jaela watches curiously, summoning a bowl of dates to nibble on.
Kascha gets herself some lemonade in the meantime, the magic of the tables producing it instantly. She sips and watches, "Yes, I'd like to see the magic you have. I study wyrms and dragon magic and there are such revelations to be found in there!"
Surraruthru puffs up proudly, beginning to cast his first spell!
OOC: 1st spell/action: Time Stop.
> roll 1d4+1 Time Stop
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 5 > [d4=4]
2nd Spell/action: Nightmare Terrain.
Nightmare Terrain: Range - 55 ft., Will vs DC 25, 15 rounds, no SR
3rd Spell/Action: Hide check (Nightmare Terrain allows hide check while observed)
> roll 1d20+37 Hide
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 40 > [d20=3]
4th Spell/Action: Phantom Battle
Phantom Battle (adding Phantasmal/Fear): Range - 360 ft., Will vs DC 28, 26 rounds no SR if you failed detection; Will vs DC 26, SR allowed if you passed detection. Choosing to have it not affect Kascha, Afina, Jaelea, Lady Rosa, and The Master. Everyone else that fails the save can't make AoOs and are flanked.
5th Spell/Action: Nothing, ending time stop for spell effects to take place.
As Surraruthru completes his spell, several things happen at once. He seems to speed up impossibly, completing his second spell instantaneously and suddenly everything goes out of control. Suddenly the cafeteria of Aurora is replaced by things most present are familiar with: springing from every surface horrible, twisted, corrupted and nightmarish vegetation springs, writhing with horrific hunger despite their apparent rotting. Twisted and deformed limbs appear on the plates in front of everyone, replacing their formerly succulent food with things only the corrupt would find joy in. Spotted throughout the room, on all surfaces, smoking pits open, belching forth vapors and clouds smelling of burnt, rotten flesh as corpses clamber out of the pits, their screams and moans being tortured and horrible, reminding many of things they've seen and heard from the hands of the devils and their allies.
Among this, Surraruthru is covered by the writhing, rotting vegetation, swallowed up and hidden from view from all. Following his disappearance, to add to the confusion and fear of the new scenery, the sounds and roar of battle suddenly spring forth. Out of the pits, along side the corpses, pour forth an army of devils and horrors, all howling for blood, torture, and murder, screaming in the name of Taelfagn. In response to their sudden appearance, a host of soldiers, comprised of creatures he's seen here in Aurora flood into the room from every entrance, screaming their own war cries and calling for the cafeteria residents to rally in the name of Aurora as they slam into the host of attacking monsters.
[19:58] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+35 spot (blindsense vs darkstalker)
[19:58] <Serith> Ebiris roll for Serith < 48 > [d20=13]
Afina's eyes never leave Surraruthru despite his concealment and theatrics, and she munches on her now illusory revolting cracker without any sign of complaint. "Pretty good," she comments as a screaming barbazu leaps over her head only to be bisected by a similarly screaming werewolf. "I'm glad we upgraded the mess hall, though, or you'd have put everyone right off their food."
Kascha blink-blinks at this, stopping cold as chaos erupts around her. "I-woah!" a flying phantom erinyes comes close, making her wobble to dodge and fall over onto Jaela. The Master stays serene, dodging anything that comes close. Lady Rosa meanwhile falls into a defensive stance, "What?" she manages, sword coming out to defend herself.
Meanwhile the rest of the mess hall has gone stone still, silent as chaos erupts. Moments of utter shock and fear ripple through them at the new, sudden scene.
Jaela catches Kascha even as she grimaces. "Break, break, break," she chants, calling upon her magic to prevent this mounting panic!
10:08 PM <Tifa> roll 1d20+30 counterspell, chain dispel
10:08 PM <Serith> Tifa roll for Serith < 34 > [d20=4]
Dispels up to CL 23. What's the CL on your spells, Iddy?
OOC: Nightmare Terrain hits CL 15. The Battle hits CL 26.
Thanks to Jaela, the illusions of horrific scenery, smells, and limbs are shattered, breaking apart like crystals and fading away into black, shadowy motes, revealing the normal cafeteria and Surraruthru still lounging where he was before the spells, only with a small pout for Afina and Jaela, bottom lip sticking out just a tiny bit.
His pride is assuaged a bit, however by the fact that the battle continues raging on, the screams and clashing of the armies still deafening to all.
"Power you've got," Jaela admits. "Not much on the common sense, though. Kascha could've fallen! Because of you! So stop that."
Kascha scrambles up, blushing. "Still, that is impressive illusion magic. Just...not in the cafeteria?" She gestures around, as every set of eyes here is on the group. Sage Vul'lath is facepalming - repeatedly. Elder Magi Tepen looks on with unhidden interest while Sylvie merely watches.
"HEY YOU FUCKSTICKS! GET BACK TO EATING YOUR OWN SHIT AND STOP EAVESDROPPING! IT'S A PRIVATE FUCKING CONVERSATION, ASSHOLES!" Dana turns and shouts that.
"You probably haven't made any friends here with that kind of display," Afina admits, putting down her plate. "Now you'll need to work twice as hard on missions to prove you're an asset to the Crusade. Anyway, you've proven your power. End it, please." She'd do a disjunction of her own but that'd wreck everyone's magic items for a few hours and no one wants that.
Surraruthru sniffs a bit at this, releasing his spell, the battle fading away.
"You asked me to, and so I did. I didn't want to cause too much of a problem, so I didn't play any mind tricks. I can though, if you want to see."
He then turns to Afina. "I don't particularly care for any of the others. I'm here for Kascha alone. I'll do missions, and I'll do my best, but I'm here for her."
"You should care for the others. There's good people here," Kascha speaks up as the magic fades, "I've met so many wonderful friends here."
"You don't care at all about getting revenge on the devils? About freeing our world?" Afina asks disbelievingly. Having a bad attitude is one thing, but this seems like an insurmountable gulf in ideals.
"I never said that. I said I'd do missions and help. I'm thankful for a place to stay, but I don't know any of you yet. I saw what the devils did and I just want my home back. My family. But I don't know that you can do that. You're strong, yes, but so am I. And all I could do is run and hide."
He lays his head down across his forelegs, much like a cat and sighs with resignation. "Those things I created just now were things from the devils. They've turned my home into that. I'll give this place one thing: it feels like home. I think you could create a new home here. I'm just not sure you can make our old one new again."
He locks an eye with Afina with a slight tilt of his head, "If you can prove me wrong, I'll change my mind."
"How's it been, Princess?" Jaela asks Dana, nudging her side. "Thinking about setting a date for the big showdown with Daddy?"
Glancing past her at the Master, she purses her lips. "And you, we really should find the time for a decent fight on Ysgard. I wonder if I can hit you if we're both trying."
"It occurs to me that you effectively know nothing about how Lifasa was invaded and what's happened since then," Afina muses in response to that challenge. Capturing Yian, the victories at the Burning Aeropolis and the Elven Tree, killing Abigor... she just takes it for granted that everyone knows about them and what they mean. But to Surraruthru they're just meaningless names and places. "You should get caught up on all that, make sure you know what the stakes are. Go talk to Yian in the dungeons when you have some time. As a fellow dragon you might even get some insight out of him that we missed." Maybe he even recognises the name? She doesn't know how much dragons back home kept tabs on each other.
OOC: Roll to recognize name?
K:Local, Iddy.
Dana kicks back, "Yeah, I was thinking about it. Muirfinn had been working on it." She grimaces at that, "Fucking devils."
The Master merely smiles at this, "I wonder if you can hit me," he seconds, "Cornugons no longer pose a serious or credible threat."
"Think about if we want to have some ground rules in place to make it fair," Jaela muses, before her expression sours. "Yeah," she says in response to Dana. "Fuck that Duke. You know what? You should do it to honor Muirfinn the moment you get a chance."
"Fuck the Duke of Destiny?" Dana blinks a moment, "Really?"
OOC: Don't have K:L so I did an int check.
> roll 1d20+8 Int
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 16 > [d20=8]
Surraruthru cocks his head at this. "Muirfinn? I've heard him mentioned before. There was another?"
Jaela blinks, thinking back over their recent conversation.
"In the metaphorical, giving him the finger while you keep going with your life sense. Not the Candy sense," she says slowly.
Abigor even Surraruthru knows. The Duke of Hell that crushed Lifasa's resistance and ensured the world's fall. The others turn up a blank.
"Oh that? I'd do it." Dana says, "If you fucking ask me, he needs ten feet of cold steel to ass fuck him."
"Yian.. Hmm.. I do not know this name. I'd rather simply kill devils. I've found if you toy with them too long, you end up regretting it."
Kascha takes out a book at this and begins to write. "Oh, I forgot to write most of it down," she murmrus in dismay, scribbling away swiftly. "Yes, devils do tend to be a pestilence like that."
Surraruthru gets up and stands in front of Kascha, peering into the book, "What's that? What's it for?"
It looks like she's writing down what you said. "I'm a wyrm wizard," Kascha murmurs, focusing on her writing. "I collect lore from dragons and us it to unearth arcane secrets. Like I've learned to convert a few clerical spells into arcane spells that way, and also apply metamagic spontaneously and quickly."
"Hmm... If you learn from me, can I learn from you?"
"I can try," Kascha muses as she writes, "I've learned a lot from Baleruk and Arrel and I bet I can learn from you as well." She stops here a moment, "Like I've learned to cast Mass Heal, a ninth circle clerical spell, as an arcane spell. It's one of the best ones there is for healing."
"Hmm... My spells are almost all illusions and mind tricks... Will that work? My other spells aren't nearly as powerful. Who's Baleruk and Arrel? Are they Faerie Dragons? I haven't been with any since the grove died..."
"Oh, Arrel's an eagle dragon. He's actually a half dragon eagle, but he acts like a dragon," Kascha goes back to writing, "Baleruk is the prismatic dragon, he's the one Aurora got in that mess with Bahamut over."
"An... Eagle Dragon? That seems funny! Does he have a nest or a lair? Does he roar or screech? Loom or perch? Is he a fledgling or a wyrmling? Does he flock or have a clutch? Does he roost or hibernate?"
Surraruthru becomes more and more excited as he asks and begins shifting and hopping continuously as he goes.
"Oh yes, it's fascinating like that." The others seem lost to Kascha and Surraruthru as they begin to talk, the eladrin leaning in closer to the faerie dragon. "He has a lair in Aurora, he took one of the rooms for it. Oh, there's this terrible drama right now because Baleruk insulted the size of Arrel's hoard compared to his. Do you believe it? It's scandalous is what it is. He screeches more than he roars and prefers to perch. He manages to do it on piles of coins and it's interesting to study. Did you know that draconic limbs, even in half dragons, have adaptability so long as it allows them to better sit on, perch on or lay on treasure?"
Surraruthru giggles at that.
"Perch! Screech! Baleruk seems like a bully. First he goes against Bahamut and then makes fun of a hoard! I don't have a hoard. I don't have a place for it! I have to carry everything!" He peers at his saddlebags, "I can only put so much in here... I need one of those better magic bags, but they get so heavy if you put too much in them... I think Arrel and I should try and make our hoards better than Baleruk's... Oh! We can play tricks on his hoard!"
His wings start fluttering like a hummingbird's at the prospect of pranking the other dragon.
"Baleruk is Baleruk. He's very prideful, and I suppose he deserves some of it. He's the first prismatic dragon since Tiamat. But that's the problem and oh no, you don't have a place for a hoard? Well, don't worry, you can get a room that can serve as one. I'll get Elena to make you a hoard space right away. A dragon shouldn't have to waste treasure on bags of holding! That's just wrong! You poor thing!"
As Kascha goes on, Dana turns and just watches the conversation, rolling her eyes. The Master hmms, "Jaela, perhaps a dragon would be a worthy opponent to hunt?"
"But.. But if I don't take my hoard with me, then how do I protect it? Someone could take it! I saved what I could from my family, but I couldn't take everything. With a magic bag, I can have it with me *all the time.*"
"Aurora's safe," A warm, sunny smile comes onto Kascha's face. "Hell's tried to attack ti several times, but Medi's magic and Aurora's defenders are too strong."
"Hmm..." He still seems unsure and a bit suspicious, but... "... Only if I can keep it near you. If I have to protect both a hoard and you, I might as well be able to do both at the same time."
"If it's a terrible dragon, sure," Jaela muses. "Ideally, one helping the devils which can't be that hard with Tiamat's flunkies." She snorts. "What a coincidence, I was just thinking of a really badass dragon earlier today."
Taking ten for 58 on Knowledge:Planes for TOR SALINUS
"Actually it's really hard to permanently kill devils, that's why we get so much use out of our dungeons. They're full of information to help the Crusade too," she adds but then shrugs as it seems Surrurathru and Kascha are off in their own little world.
Indeed, Kascha and Surrurathru are going on and on about things. Meanwhile, Dana kicks back, "If it's a terrible dragon, then it'll be a good damn fight."
Jaela can recall Tor Salinus. The Brine Dragon, the closest thing Salt has to an archomental. It is at least a great wyrm if not stronger, a deadly intelligent dragon that overwhelms any living creature that enters the plane. It collapses tunnels, can travel through Salt's deposits like an earth elemental can glide through stone and is an archmage as most elder wyrms are. It has a breath weapon that deals heaps of negative levels and damage plus a razor sharp lattice of crystals around it.
"It's the worst," Jaela is all too happy to inform Dana, though she keeps her eye on the Master and Afina as well. "Swims through solid salt, flays with a breath of negative energy and is made of edges."
"Now that sounds like a good time," Dana smirks, "Lots of edges to bleed on."
"He's the head cheese of his fake plane, and his hoard has the gear and tears of countless defeated adventurers!"
Kascha looks up at that, "Hm? Salt isn't a fake plane," she says, "It's entirely natural, as it's where the Elemental Plane of Water and the Negative Energy Plane meet. It's actually quite dangerous, even Seira's been there and hasn't beaten Tor Salinus."
"Then we'll avenge her while we kick his ass!" Jaela exclaims, before looking shifty. "Not that she lost and sorely needs to be avenged, of course."
"Ahem," Kascha merely coughs discreetly. "I say we can settle on vanquishing him, but we really must be careful. All the lore suggests that countless others have tried. Did you know that the Red Knight hunts him and he still lives? He's forced away invasions from Water and from the Negative Energy Plane singlehandedly. He killed and ate Salt's last archomental and has kept another form taking its place. He's so strong that I hear not even devils try to mind the crystalvein in Salt."
"Hmm... sounds like a hard fight. I'm not sure Kashca should go, if we don't have a really great plan."
He nods to himself, convinced that he's spoken completely logically and with absolute common sense.
"I actually forgot that part about the Red Knight," Jaela admits. "That makes fighting him even more interesting. When we have the time, of course."
"When we have time," The Master smiles a little bit, "He would be a fine test of our skills. That time should be sooner than later."
"But until then, can I ask you for a favor? We really need to step up the training here. Aside from giving the troops something to do, we really should be seeing fresh officers rising from the ranks, don't you think?"
"It's going apace," The Master replies, "We're working on it, though the various outsiders pose a difficult situation for the mortals at times."
"Anything we can do to help offset those advantages, short of cycling soldiers through Medi's room?"
Slowly the Master shakes his head. "It is what it is. One cannot change one's nature so easily. We can only strive to make them the best they can be."
"Ah well. If there's some training regimen or better gear that we can provide...." Jaela trails off in thought. "Actually, would it help if we managed to make a training room follow the same rules as Ysgard? Extreme training, no dying for good in the process?"
"Somewhat, we did that on Ysgard," The Master says after some consideration. "Can that be done?"
"I can do it with sufficient preparation," Jaela muses. "And any magical effect in existence, Afina can replicate. I think it's possible. If too complicated, however, I could offer my services with training that way while I'm around."
"It would be nice not to have our Lifasan forces so overshadowed by recent recruits," Afina agrees with the sentiment. "I tried to train the other pixies but only Lief really took to it." She looks down there. "His fate will only have disheartened them further."
"A week," Jaela tells Afina. "A week, and we can begin to avenge him and Muirfinn."
"Yes," Kascha murmurs, "But now that this is done, we need to be getting towards the goldenfire."
Finally! Afina puts her mostly consumed plate down and lets it vanish before she takes to the air. "Lets not keep Arrel waiting," she agrees. "Surraruthru you're welcome to come along, but beware the guardians and their warnings when we reach them." She got a pass herself luckily but who knows how pure a baby dragon archmage is? "Also your skills merit high rank. We'll place you as a major for now unless you display an affinity for command. Even if you don't think you're suited to it, you might surprise yourself," she says with an encouraging smile.
"Yes, let's go." Kascha smiles, "We can do better than last time and finish this."
Last chance for comments, purchases and other upkeep before going. Any takers?
Let's do this thing.
Who is gating/plane shifting and to where?
Jaela can do it, to the sun/volcano or just the House of Nature if that's impossible?
OOC: I'll go, but I'm not sure what the purity deal is. I might need to upgrade an item or two.
Waiting on Jaela's confirmation, location and spell used.
Gate. Destination is Elysium, so we could fly up with Arrel. Since we have new members it's probably best to vet them. We can ask if it's okay to teleport to one of the platforms we've been to at the entrance.
> roll 1d100 ???
<Serith> Kowork roll for Serith < 92 > [d100=92]
A quick dip outside of Aurora takes the party into Elysium. Here perfect fields of green spread out all around you. The sky is an unearthly, perfect blue and a sense of tranquility comes over the party. A sense of belonging, a calling, a need. All is right here and all is as promised.
"Surraruthru, if you've never been here, Elysium is one of the Heavens. It's noted for drawing visitors to it and making them natives of the plane. It's actually similar to how some of the Hells corrupt and trap visitors, but far more benign." Kascha says, "Many mortal visitors have abandoned their plans and stayed here, becoming angels who live here forever."
"How are we going to do this, Arrel?" Jaela asks as Kascha familiarizes her pet with the plane. "We have more people with us this time, but I've learned to fly a bit faster. How many can you carry comfortably?"
"Hmmm... Angel dragons. Seems.. Not entirely fun. If I stay, though, I'll break my contract with Seira. Can't do that."
With that, Surraruthru takes to the air, looping around Arrel, inspecting him curiously.
Arrel is Arrel. A golden eagle with draconic features and a sharp gaze - one that may even be called eagle eyed. He's a bit bigger than a warhorse. He follows the faerie dragon's gaze, "A fey dragon?" he asks in draconic, "Your kind is seldom seen in my home, is it normal for your kind to wear jewelry and magic like lesser creatures?"
Mirajane looks around, smiling as she turns her eyes upwards. "I doubt all of us can ride on Arrel."
Quick note: With Iddy's new PC, I forgot to intro Mirajane in that diversion. I'll intro her over the next few posts here.
Surraruthru cocks his head a bit at Arrel, but responds in the same language, "I don't know! When I was with my family, we didn't. But when we ran from the devils, they gave me what seemed useful from our hoard. It's a little weird to wear, but it helped keep me safe."
He stops to look down at himself and what he's wearing before turning back to Arrel, "Is it normal for dragons and eagles to have babies? Is wearing clothes stranger than that?"
Jaela shakes her head. "If we can pause in the sniping for long enough to get to the volcano, let's get going. Just slow down to my speed and we'll all get there together. Kascha, go with Arrel just like last time. Mirajana, take my place there and look after them both. Let's go!"
Waiting for answers would mean more draconic bickering, and so she takes off towards the skies like a glowing, fiery comet!
Base speed of 90ft
OOC: I've got a 100 ft fly speed, so I'll just follow along next to who/whatever's carrying Kascha.
While Afina may be a fast flyer, pixies just aren't built for high altitude flight. Maybe when she absorbs Air, but for now she hitches a ride on Arrel.
Mirajane follows Jaela, just as fast as she ascends higher with Jaela. The air is warm and easy to breathe as you ascend higher, like you're standing in a warm field in summer than ascending into the sky. Arrel travels straight up steadily, leading the way as Kascha holds on tight. Like that you plunge into the clouds, soothingly warm mists. All around are the hazy shapes of angels, glimpsed as you rise up through the cloud cover.
"It's not time for her yet," Mirajane speaks up. A moment later, Afina hears a gentle voice in her mind. 'Come home. You've earned your rest. You deserve to be happy.'
"What's that?" Jaela asks Mirajane, glancing at her. "Lathander's going to try and recruit Afina again?"
"No." Mirajane spreads her arms wide, as if embracing all the sky and clouds. "Elysium calls everyone to it."
"That's lovely."
Surraruthru eyes the shapes curiously, but maintains his position, flying next to the group.
"I thought it didn't affect outsiders?" Afina asks, since that's what she is. "I don't remember it being so blatant on previous visits, either. In any case, this isn't my home," she declares resolutely. Whether it's Lifasa or Fire or Water or Yggdrasil who knows, but it's not Elysium.
"That is unusual," Kascha takes out her book and perches it against Arrel's back, writing away. "But Afina's powerful - we all are. Perhaps she interests the angels here or she has some aspect of her already touched by Elysium?"
"When we came for Galariel I was changed slightly, yes," Afina tells Kascha, her back to the ghaele from where she sits at the base of Arrel's neck. "Though compared to other changes I've endured it was quite minor."
"Unless someone feels a pressing urge to merge with Elysium, let's get going again?" Jaela suggests, flying up once more.
Higher yet. The party ascends through the clouds and into the warm sky ,the air still perfectly breathable. You see heat shimmers ahead, soon solidifying and fading away. Behind the shimmers are floating islands. Great chains of floating islands, covered in every type of terrain imaginable - even snowy and icebound ones - save for anything volcanic. Each island is dotted with buildings, as if each one is home to an extremely spread out village.
"Did we ever investigate these sky islands?" Kascha calls over the wind, looking out over them.
"No, it's not really a priority is it?" Afina says, casting a curious eye towards them as they ascend through the atmosphere. "We can make some time to have a look later if you're curious, though."
"I wanna see! How far are we going?"
Kascha turns to Afina, "Of course, aren't you? There's entire lands here that have escaped common planar knowledge! What is the purpose of these lands? Are the homes for the angels or something else? Are they tied to the resting places of Elysium's deepest layer? Maybe they're something even more interesting!"
"I didn't know they were anything special," Afina admits, blinking in surprise at Kascha's enthusiasm. "When it comes to the planes everything's just as much mundane or fantastic as the next thing to me."
"Oh Afina," Kascha droops, the tips of her wings sagging. "You poor thing! What happened to your sense of wonder We're in paradise!" She sweeps her arms about, "Be it Celestia, Arborea or even Elysium, we're in the place creatures dream about. Yet you've grown that jaded to the miracles you witness every day?"
"They're just floating islands..." Afina mutters defensively. "There must be a million just like it on Air and the Astral. Even Gehenna had some that I remember. Even if the scenery here's nicer it's still just another floating island, isn't it?"
"Oh..." Kascha murmurs, before turning and keeping balanced with her legs on Arrel. She sweeps Afina up into a hug, "I promise on Seira's hoard I'll help restore your sense of wonder!"
"I still have wonder!" Afina insists, though she doesn't protest or try to escape the hug. "You remember when we went to Fire to get the Everblaze, and we heard the primal elemental's song? That was wondrous! Maybe when I become part of earth and air then flying islands will be altogether more alluring to me?" she trails off questioningly as thoughts of fire prompt other elements and how they might affect her.
"Maybe so. We need to get you back there soon," Kascha says, "Do you feel ready?" She holds the hug, a sense of warmth and peace coming over her. A feeling of enveloping love, like being home and self in your mother's arms.
"I do," Afina nods inside Kascha's comforting embrace. "Not now though, since if it's like last time it'll take me out of action for a while. Have to wait until we've given Lixer a bloody nose."
"Right," Agreement from Kascha as the party flies higher. Soon the islands are left behind, the skies growing dark. As you do, a heavy wind slams right into the party, pushing them down.
"Hold tight!" Arrel calls, "I know the trick to defeat this now!"
"You can do it, Arrel!" Afina encourages, holding onto Kascha's arms where they loop around her small body.
Surraruthru flies as close as he can to Arrel, preparing to mimic whatever he's about to do.
Yet even before Arrel can cast, Mirajane utters one phrase calmly, "By the light of the Seladrine and the freedom of Hanali's heart, be free." A wave of power passes over the party, the wind no longer troubling any of you.
Mass Freedom of Movement. Mirajane's good at beign pre emptively useful. Freedom of movement on the whole party, CL 22nd, lasts for 220 minutes or 3 hours, 40 minutes.
[spoiler]
Kascha: 258/258 Spells used: 9th: Wish. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Mirajane 283/283 Spells used: 10th: Mass Freedom of Movement. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Arrel: 350/350 Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
"That's fine too," Afina says, though she wonders if Arrel feels a bit cheated of his victory. "Good work, Mirajane!"
Surraruthru levels out his flying, letting a low rumble of glee at the sudden ease of flying.
"Whee! So much easier! Thank you!"
Surraruthru: 238/238 Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Arrel's screech doesn't seem upset. Instead he leads on as the group pushes ahead of the winds, through them and onward. Into the darkness of the sky, a vast blue plane beneath you rather than a sphere. The air and warmth are still fine - if anything, it's getting warmer. The stars in the sky are coming closer - not stars at all. They are six winged angels of tremendous light, wearing starshine as armor and blade. There are dozens and dozens of them.
"Halt!" The single word is an overwhelming command, coming from all the star-angels as one.
"Just like last time," Afina murmurs from her perch on Arrel and Kascha. "Shouldn't have any trouble I hope," she adds, glancing between Mirajane and Surraruthru.
Surraruthru adjusts his flight so he's simply orbiting around the others, still playing around with his new ease of movement, though he does stare at the angels whenever he can.
Nothing to do but comply, given the circumstances. "Hello again," Jaela greets the angelic guards, silently wondering how they perceive the passage of time. "We've returned and weren't sure if it was alright to just gate to one of the platforms within without making the trip from the start. Can you enlighten us?"
"You may not, especially not with others." One advances, this one with a long lance made of starlight and wearing armor of it from head to toe. It seems more light than flesh, shining brighter the longer you look on him. "Only those that are pure can advance ahead. Should you advance cloaked in sin, you will be forever incinerated in the sun's fires." His gaze turns to both Surraruthru and Mirajane at once. How he does it you don't, two different focuses and gazes at the same time, despite the impossibility of it.
"Good point," Jaela agrees. "The slightly slower way in it is." She doesn't worry one bit about Mirajane, and doesn't know much about the hyper fear dragon than his name and place of origin, so leaves it to the professionals. "Would you be offended if someone asked to see your lance? It's very nice and Mom always talks about crafting stars but I think it's the first actual weapon from them I saw this close."
"Will you still protect me despite the sins I've committed?" Afina asks, not wanting to be burned because it was a one time thing.
"I am newborn in spirit, reborn," Mirajane says, just as the angel opens his mouth. "The sun will not harm me."
After that and a slight nod from the angel, he tries again, not getting interrupted. "Your mother is one of us?" he asks. "Yes, if you were accepted once, the way will stay open."
"She's with the Court, though the Whirling Fury detached her to the Aurora," Jaela responds, and since it's a good chance she decides to press her luck a bit by adding, "May I, then?"
Surraruthru zips up to eye level with the angel, but keeps his distance.
"Can I go, too? I'm supposed to, I think..."
What is your alignment, Surraruthru?
Make a diplo check here, Jaela.
[22:51] <@Annerose> roll 1d20+55 diplo (+2 with elves!)
[22:51] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d20+55 diplo (+2 with elves!) --> [ 1d20=4 ]{59}
OOC: Chaotic Good.
"You may," The angel at last decides, "Our raiment and weapon are protected from the eyes of the inquisitive. Overcome that and you are worthy to learn."
Meanwhile another angel comes forth. This one carries a mace, the head a brilliant nova of light. "You may go, wyrmling."
Jaela inclines her head, and calls upon her magical sight. She can already tell perfectly where the contours are with blindsight, and that just leaves fleshing out the details. If she manages to fill them in through magic she should be golden!
[17:36] <@Annerose> roll 1d20+35+15 spellcraft, divine insight
[17:36] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d20+35+15 spellcraft, divine insight --> [ 1d20=16 ]{66}
Add a caster level check with whatever means of magical sight you're using. DM, arcane sight or whatever.
[17:54] <@Annerose> roll 1d20+25 DM CL
[17:54] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d20+25 DM CL --> [ 1d20=15 ]{40}
Greater Blindsight is precast at CL29, so 44 for that.
Jaela studies the angel's weapon. It's hard to - it's as if a great darkness surrounds it. A cold emptiness, insulating the li-agh! Jaela's eyes water and hurt as she gets a glimpse of light unending. Darkness surrounds the weapon in a thin sheathe, holding back such radiance as to be solid. It is light trapped, purified and intensified many times over. If unleashed, the light wound scour everything around it, destroying the righteous and unholy alike in a blinding cataclysm.
Jaela thinks she grasps the basic principals - the darkness around it is absolutely critical.
"Darkness," she muses. "No, not quite darkness. Void? Both to contain the light and focus it upon your enemies?"
The angel does not reply to that, only listening and watching Jaela.
Then it's time to experiment, with a bit of a magical boost. She learned how to glow with the help of magic, by inviting the power of the sun and stars into her body. What is that if not a raiment? She can even make it brighter still at will, by overcharging the spell. So can she not do the opposite if she tries? Or, taken further, reform the light about her into a shape of her choosing?
Good Hope, and recast Divine Inspiration.
Surraruthru lets out a chirp of happiness at being granted permission and does a couple loops around Kascha and the others.
OOC: So, the source we used as reference said Faerie Dragons have immunity to light. Specifically, "spells of the evocation school, such as searing light or sunbeam, and any effect that causes blindness.' Does that mean I can see through the light on the weapon?
What source is that, since I don't see it in the Draconomicon.
OOC: Huh. I thought I saw that in there. I guess I transposed it from somewhere else. I'll update my sheet.
What precisely are you trying to do, Jaela?
I'm glowing! So I'm trying to control the glow with my will. If I can manage that, maybe I could manage to form a blade of sunlight/starlight, or a gauntlet/sheath.
Charisma check.
[20:21] <@Annerose> roll 1d20+13+2 charisma, good hope
[20:21] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d20+13+2 charisma, good hope --> [ 1d20=14 ]{29}
Jaela tries to channel her spells with sheer force of personality. It's hard, like trying to think her way into floating off the ground, as if in a dream that won't cooperate. The halo around her shudders and then explodes out in light, before condensing down around her. It briefly takes the form of a gauntlet before dissipating.
"Goodness!" Kascha's attention turns to Jaela, "Did you just change your spell's shape like that?"
You did manage to make a gauntlet, though doing so ensured your halo of righteousness spell was expended.
"I did," Jaela confirms, taking a few moments to study the fading magic before recasting the halo. "Am I on the right path?" she asks the angel who gave her the hint in the first place, before glancing over at Mirajane and Afina. "Any insights?"
"Oh, what was that?" Afina asks in surprise at the sudden explosion. She hadn't been paying much attention to Jaela's interest in the angel's weaponry, but that sure caught her eye!
Mirajane nods just a second before the angel does the exact same thing. The being of light looks over to Mirajane, who merely says, "Yes." Then the angel turns back to Jaela, "I forget how vexing powerful seers are," he admits. "Crafting light is a talent like any other. Some have an inborn talent to do it and refine that, while others learn it as a skill akin to blacksmithing. Your mother sounds as the latter and you may have potential as the former. Most powerful celestials have some talent at it."
"It's not just light, is it?" Jaela muses. "This feels like it could work with any energy we have a connection with, it's just that light suits us the most. In any case, I think I have enough to practice! Thanks!"
"Oh, like Hanna's starcrafting?" Afina asks. She's still sore over spending all that time attached to the hip with Hanna because of 27's warning and then the one time they separated was when her skill would have been useful. "I'm afraid it's outside my area of expertise - I've focused my talents solely on crafting physical matter. This sort of thing is more like a spell than a real object isn't it?" Holding her hand away from Kascha and Arrel she casts flame dagger to demonstrate, a nice dagger of blue-white flames appearing in her grasp.
Retroactively rolling for this as I get my cheatsheet up and running
[18:42] <@Ebiris> roll 1d8+10 heroes feast temp hp
[18:42] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d8+10 heroes feast temp hp --> [ 1d8=8 ]{18}
Afina 208+17/208, greater mage armour (CL 23), moment of prescience (CL 23), flame dagger (CL 23)
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear.
Spell charges remaining: 6/9/8/8/9/8/8/8/6/7
"Oh hmmmm!" Kascha takes her book out and starts writing anew, "How fascinating! Afina, do you think you could do the same with your spell there?"
"No," she shakes her head. "The spell is the crystallisation of the arcane potential within me. Once cast it takes its shape and keeps it until it's dispelled or runs out." This is pretty basic stuff for her to be saying to a group of archmages but she keeps on. "It's no different than say Balyss's moonblade for example. I could slightly alter its dimensions and potency at the moment of casting, but that's all. If you wanted to make armour or weapons out of light, it'd probably be easiest to go with the approach of developing a spell to do it for you."
"No," Kascha says, "Do you think you could change the shape with your will? Jaela just managed something like that." Kascha says, as Arrel clears his throat. AN oddly wet, clacky sound from a dragon-eagle.
"Ahem! Our destination lies further up."
Surraruthru nods emphatically in agreement with the older, larger dragon-eagle.
"No," Afina repeats. "Maybe a primal elemental could do something like that, or of this was an instinctual ability and not a spell I could modify it on the fly, but the point of a spell is to reliably get the same effect every time. Now that I've cast it this blade is as fixed and tangible as Hywelbane or Afame." She waves it around for emphasis before stopping. "Oh, sorry are we boring you Arrel? Let's continue upwards then."
Thus the party flies on. As they do, Kascha speaks up, "Will protections from fire be needed?" she asks, "Or other defensive means?"
"Last time the fires were either harmless or burnt through resistance or immunity, so just prepare as you would for any otherwise dangerous place?" Afina suggests.
"Not from Goldenfire, not the way I remember it," Jaela responds. "But I'll protect us with Fortunate Fate as soon as we're in. And while there, Mirajane and I will take the front. I think Arrel and Afina would be best at striking out at any resistance once we two have managed to stop them in the first place. I'll need you to keep a map of the place, Kascha, and plot the best course we can under the circumstances. As for you, Surraruthru, can I count on you to cover the back?"
[20:43] <@Annerose> roll 1d8+10 temp hp, likewise
[20:43] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d8+10 temp hp, likewise --> [ 1d8=5 ]{15}Jaela 318+15/318, Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 25min)
AC 63 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, spell resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 10, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//10/5/7/1/9/8/8/5/5//5
"I can! But don't count me out just because I'm small!"
OOC: Going to cast Greater Mage Armor (Wiz CL 13, 130 min) on myself and bringing up my Greater Invisibility (2/3 uses remaining), Ring of Counterspelling: Dispel Magic, Greater
Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13)
AC: 32+6 (Touch: 17, Flat Footed: 26+6) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing.
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635 (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635)
"No one's going to be underestimated for their size in this group," Afina reassures Surrurathru, having no complaints with Jaela's strategy. She doesn't bother casting any further spells just yet, and in fact dismisses her flame dagger rather than continuing to hold onto it where it's not particularly useful.
Afina 208+17/208, greater mage armour (CL 23), moment of prescience (CL 23)
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear.
Spell charges remaining: 6/9/8/8/9/8/8/8/6/7
"You know," Jaela muses, "something kept bothering me from the last time we were here. That riddle, the one we answered with 'noting' which was apparently wrong. 'I am what all creatures shall strive for, never deserved but always granted when asked for. What am I?' I wonder what the answer to it is."
Iddy, greater mage armor's duration is one hour/level. So you have a lot more of it than 130 minutes worth.
As general agreements go around, the party advancing onwards, "Yes, I'll keep a map," Kascha agrees, "I wonder how rare maps of the sun are? They must be extremely so."
"Only Lathander keeps one, probably," Jaela muses. "Extremely rare sounds right."
"I doubt we'll map more than a fraction of it. Even if we had time, exposure to goldenfire limits how much we can cover," Afina points out.
"I wonder if he even needs one," Kascha remarks idly as she keeps going, "Seira's really smart and doesn't need things like that anymore. But maybe it's a status symbol or enchanted in some way..." she pauses, save for her quill still writing.
OOC: Greater Mage doesn't stack with my armor enchantment, so I updated the stack block to be correct:
Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13)
AC: 32+1 (Touch: 17, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing.
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635 (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635)
Correct. Also please use italics for OOC posts. An OOC header isn't needed so long as you use italics.
"I'm sure Tiamat has a big list of everything in her hoard even if she can track it all down to the last copper anyway. It'd be a point of pride, wouldn't it?" Afina muses.
"Pride, hm?" Kascha murmurs as you fly on. Ahead is the sun in the starry sky, overshadowing all else. The sun becomes larger and larger as you approach, soon blocking out everything ahead. It is hot here, painfully hot and getting hotter. For Afina it is no problem. Surrurathru finds it extremely unpleasant, as does Jaela.
Last time, Jaela was protected by Afina's gift of fire-elementalness. No such luck this time. Fire resistance 10 helps a bit.
[spoiler]
Kascha: 258/258 Spells used: 9th: Wish. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Mirajane 283/283 Spells used: 10th: Mass Freedom of Movement. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Arrel: 350/350 Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Jaela winces, casting Fire Resistance upon herself. Just because she's technically right and no fire within should hurt her doesn't make the experience a pleasant one.
Jaela 318+15/318, Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 25min)
AC 63 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, spell resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//10/4/7/1/9/8/8/5/5//5
Kascha quickly starts to chant, "Dragon Princess, open the gates of the Cauldron and fill me with the essence of Fire." Her spell weaves around her like orange-red string, transforming her body into that of a fire elemental's.
Elemental body: fire cast. Surraruthru, going to do anything?
[spoiler]
Kascha: 258/258 Spells used: 7th: Elemental Body 9th: Wish. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Elemental Body (CL 24)
Mirajane 283/283 Spells used: 10th: Mass Freedom of Movement. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Arrel: 350/350 Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
"Want to carry one of my weapons into the sun?" Jaela offers to Mirajane, materializing a spear with a flick of her wrist. "Gae Ardaigh belonged to your aunt, and it will serve you well."
Gae Ardaigh MkII: Longspear+1, wounding and valorous. This is an intelligent weapon. Chaotic Good, int 18, wis 18, cha 10. Can communicate with speech. It has 10 ranks in sense motive (+14 total modifier). It can use light 3/day as an spell like ability. It can use clairvoyance and dimensional anchor 3/day as an SLA. Caster level 15th.
Currently under Greater Magic Weapon (CL 25) as Longspear+5, wounding and valorous.
Mirajane holds her hand out just as Jaela goes to materalize it, "Thank you, Mother," she says.
Could you note the stats on it for me real quick?
OOC: I don't have any resistance spells prepped, so I'd need to drop my invis if someone wants to cast one on me?
Up to y'all, but you may want to drop invis IC first.
Surraruthru drops his invisibility and flies close to the others with a low rumble of discomfort.
"Hot. I don't have anything for hot. I need something for hot, please?"
Jaela grins. "If it comes to that, we could lead a double charge!"
"Mmm." Gae Ardaigh stirs once Mirajane takes the spear, "A new wielder?"
"Yes, and because it's needed right now," Mirajane answers back.
[spoiler]
Kascha: 258/258 Spells used: 7th: Elemental Body 9th: Wish. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Elemental Body (CL 24)
Mirajane 283/283 Spells used: 10th: Mass Freedom of Movement. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Arrel: 350/350 Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Mirajane is using the following.
Gae Ardaigh MkII: Longspear+1, wounding and valorous. This is an intelligent weapon. Chaotic Good, int 18, wis 18, cha 10. Can communicate with speech. It has 10 ranks in sense motive (+14 total modifier). It can use light 3/day as an spell like ability. It can use clairvoyance and dimensional anchor 3/day as an SLA. Caster level 15th.
Currently under Greater Magic Weapon (CL 25) as Longspear+5, wounding and valorous.
"Come here, Surraruthru," Afina offers, waving him over. "I can either give you some resistance against fire or make you partially a fire elemental for the day. Which would you prefer?" she offers.
"Fire elemental? Fire elemental!" He zips over to Afina with an exclamation of joy and an exuberant look of expectation, staring at Afina the whole time with a fanged grin.
"Good choice," Afina smiles approvingly, laying one hand on the hilt of one of the swords at her back and reaching out to touch Surrurathru's snout with the other. After a few seconds fire suffuses him, burning through his body without pain and temporarily reforging the fairy dragon as a creature of heat and flame!
Half-fire elemental template gives Surrurathru the following:
fire subtype (immunity to fire, weakness to cold)
+1 natural AC
+4 dex, +2 int, +2 cha
immunity to disease
+4 on fort saves vs poison
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
And Afina takes -2 con for the day
Afina 185+17/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), moment of prescience (CL 23)
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear.
Spell charges remaining: 6/9/8/8/9/8/8/8/6/7
As fire fills in Surraruthru, the party rises higher yet. Solar flares shoot around you as the party ascends higher. Winds whip against you, solar winds rivaling Fire. The bursts of sunfire do not burn you at all, even when they wash over the party. As you ascend up, the sun looms larger. You can see something amid this. Ahead is a great opening, an upside down mountain hanging in the air above, the base of it clinging ot a great sea of golden light. As if a volcano was placed here upside down.
Surraruthru blinks a bit as the fire rushes through him, his scales getting a darker orange tinge as it rushes out from his snout.
"Fire... Fire!" he clicks out a growling cackle at this.
Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype
AC: 36 (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
"Yes, fire," Kascha says brightly, as Mirajane points ahead, already flying towards something.
Jaela follows Mirajane's lead, even as her eyes seek out the stone platforms that were used to transport them during the previous visit.
Surraruthru grins at Kascha before looking ahead at what Mirajane is pointing at, pulling his invisibility up again.
OOC: Greater invis, 1/3 uses remainingSurraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility
AC: 36 (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Afina's happy enough to remain on Arrel at least until they get inside the volcano itself.
Thus you fly up to the volcano. As you approach, the world goes topsy turvy. When you were ascending you are now descending, the party landing on the lip of the right ways up volcano. Below you can see a deep golden glow, and hovering in the center of the mouth is a stone slab with faint golden lights forming letters on it. Interestingly, you can see them shift as you come closer.
Jaela alights to read them!
Surraruthru dutifully begins scanning for threats, eager to show the others his fearsome might and ability to protect Kascha!
Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility
AC: 36 (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
You approach the slab. The writing is as follows, "Stand on the slab to resume your challenge."
Lathander surely wrote this, Jaela muses. It really feels like him. Though maybe it was his partner, the secretive one. Maybe they'll even learn who that is.
"Time to get going!" she calls out to the others. "As soon as we're transported, we might end up in a fight. Just stick to the plan and remember to draw out the exposures to goldenfire when they happen."
Now that they've arrived Afina takes off from Arrel's back and flies over to join Jaela and Mirajane, taking a look at the sign and nodding before she alights on the slab.
Surraruthru follows the others!
Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility
AC: 36 (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
"L-" Mirajane begins as everyone lands on the slab, but reality breaks apart. You're somewhere else in an instant, a gush of goldenfire and little else. You stand in a room with walls of glittering diamonds, interlinked and half melted together. The walls are transparent and you can see goldenfire rushing all around you. There's no immediate door out or path to follow, but there is a sack lying in one corner of the room.
"Challenge resumed, I guess," Jaela muses, looking down to see if another slab exists at their point of arrival that can take them away. "You were saying, Mirajane?"
There is no slab here. "Look out," Mirajane smiles just a little ruefully, "But it was faster than even I."
"It's never a bad idea to work on your speed," Afina says with conviction, flying over to open up the sack and look inside.
Surraruthru diligently inspects the area for threats... or anything that catches his (short) attention, really.
"It's only fair," Jaela muses with a shrug. "We did bring a couple new challengers. Let's consider this the extra challenge."
The sack has fourteen small tokens in it, two of each of the following colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. On opening it, small and matching indentations for tokens appear on in the center of each wall. North is red, east is blue, south is orange and west is green.
"Hm," Kascha looks around, "Curious. A color themed puzzle? At least it wasn't one of those portals again."
Search check, Surraruthru.
"It's the colours of the rainbow, too," Afina says. "I'm not sure how they relate to what's on the walls. Lets just try matching colour to colour first and see what happens?" she suggests, taking a red token and putting it in the North wall, then doing blue in the East, orange in the South, and green in the West.
"The colors of the prismatic spray or a defensive veil, too, so maybe we can use those in order if this doesn't work?"
On placing the red token, a door appears just besides it. It leads to a short hallway of the same composition as the room you're in, leading to another room.
A chance to stop after the first one or continue on with putting all the tokens in. Up to you on that, since results can change actions.
Afina stops! "Oh, we have to use the tokens to get through each room until we're out of here?" she presumes, gathering them up. "In that case lets try doing them in the order they appear in the rainbow from red to violet if we get the option?"
"That's my thought as well, so let's give it a try," Jaela agrees, using Fortunate Fate upon everyone in preparation before nodding at Mirajane and setting off.
Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 250min) x6Jaela 318+15/318, Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 250min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 25min)
AC 63 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, spell resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//10/4/7/1/9/8/2/5/5//5
> roll 1d20+34 Search
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 54 > [d20=20]
Mirajane walks forward, studying the opened path. "I feel as if..." she murmurs, before taking out the red token. The passageway vanishes, "And if put it back in, it appears," she says, doing just that. "I foresaw they can be removed and reused."
Surraruthru examines the room. Nothing awry is here and no signs of danger, either.
"Oh, in that case I can open it from the other side so we can take the token with us," Afina says, carrying the sack as she flutters through to see if it's red on the South wall of the newly revealed room.
Afina 185+17/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), moment of prescience (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25)
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear.
Spell charges remaining: 6/9/8/8/9/8/8/8/6/7
The new room is as follows.
North: Red
East: Violet
West: Green
South: Red
Afina puts the remaining red token on the South wall so the other one can be taken while allowing everyone to follow her. "Actually we're going to have to reverse course if we want to do red then orange, aren't we? It's not an option from this room."
"No orange," Jaela agrees. "Maybe we can follow the same path north for now?"
Everyone follows along without incident. Kascha's looking around, "If this works, I wonder if it's intended or an oversight?"
"Or we can go South from the starting room and see if Yellow's an option there," Afina suggests. "Forcing us to double back to find the correct solution's the sort of thing you'd expect in a riddle isn't it?"
"I say we keep going north," Kascha hms, "Red again. If there's another red door past that, that means we've managed to do something expected or break the puzzle."
Mirajane looks around, then murmurs, "Don't go east," she speaks up.
"How about we also mark the rooms we go through?" Jaela suggests. "Something on the ground, to see if the rooms loop at some point."
"Alright, we'll try it Kascha's way," Afina says, nodding to Mirajane's warning and going to put her red token in the North wall.
Jaela uses Gae Trocaire to mark an arrow on the ground in their direction in the middle of the room.
Another hallway appears. Ahead is a room with only one door to the north, a red one.
"Good instincts, Kascha!" Afina compliments, repeating her trick to let everyone through so they can open this new door.
"Puzzle broken!"
Arrel looks around, "How tricky. I wonder if a hoard is hidden behind all this?"
Meanwhile, Kascha merely smiles, "No, I think it's the fact you grasped the workaround right away."
Afina goes to open the only door left!
"Hoard! I need a hoard. How many hoards should I have? Three? What do you think are behind the other doors? Will the same trick work?"
"Why would you ever have more than the one?" Jaela wonders, before glancing over at Kascha. "Is this a thing?"
"But.. But what if some nasty adventurer steals your hoard? Why wouldn't you want a back up hoard?"
"Oh yes," Kascha begins, "It's known as Multiple Hoard Syndrome. Some dragons split their hoards up into multiple ones rather than have one single hoard. Now most hoards are sorted to some degree or another, but remain a single unit. The dragons that suffer from this syndrome - which research suggests are overwhelmingly chaotic in outlook - instead make anywhere from two to dozens of separate hoards."
Meanwhile the third red door is opened. Ahead is a hallway leading to a room with a stone platform on it, just like the one before. Golden letters float in the air above it.
"See? It's a thing! Though, I need to get my first hoard before I worry about my third, I suppose. How big should a hoard be?"
"Doesn't it make more sense to keep it all in one place where you can look after it? What if all your other hoards get stolen while you're checking on just one of them?" Afina asks, going to read the golden letters. If she can.
"Huh," is all Jaela has to say to that explanation. "But hey, forget the issues defending them. Before that, do you dragons actually go 'some adventurer will steal my hoard'? I realize it happens sometimes, but do dragons live in continuous fear?"
"I dunno. Magic traps and things, I guess? Oh! Is that where dungeons come from? I could build a dungeon!"
Surraruthru gasps in realization.
"Aurora could be the ultimate dungeon! I just have to find good places to hide my hoards there... Hmm.. Trustworthy guardians, maybe..."
There's an uncomfortable silence after that, with an almost physical weight of his stare on everyone...
"It's a syndrome for a reason. It's really quite tragic," Kascha continues, "An affected dragon suffers from all those problems, often feeling compelled to go from hoard to hoard. Advanced cases can result in the dragon constantly torn between them. It's a rare affliction but a tragic one. Some claim that it comes from dragons who produce half dragon spawn with creatures with food hiding instincts - squirrels, for example. It somewhat resembles the way squirrels hide nuts all about in preparation for winter."
Meanwhile Afina checks the letters. It reads, "Seven color puzzle. Next: Solar forges."
"Well, that really depends on the dragon and the situation. Some dragons are assaulted more than others, and it's agreed on that chromatic dragons are more likely to display such behavior. The majority of dragons have supreme confidence in themselves and do not suffer from any fear. Especially since there are usually many challengers to a dragon before one succeeds, so that the dragon becomes self assured."
"You'd be better off hiding your hoard where no one knows it exists. Dig out a cave only accessible by teleportation or something," Afina suggests, going to land on the slab.
Jaela gives the smaller dragon a pitying look before moving over to join Afina in awkward silence.
Mirajane alights, smiling and undisturbed. Arrel bristles as he does the same, "Yes, but it's seen a a sign of weakness to do that lightly. Also, after a point, being vulnerable to teleportation is a bigger weakness than asset."
"Oh yes," Kascha flies on, "I'd recommend staying with one safe hoard, Surraruthru. How about I help you with that when we get back?"
"Well, like I said, I *do* have to have a first hoard before I can have a second or third... So.. I guess first one.. I've never built a hoard before, so I'll need help, too. Thanks Kascha! Man, this deal is really coming in useful..."
The party steps onto the slab at last, Kascha the final one down. "Oh, it's easy. All you do is-" And like that, reality shifts again. A rush of goldenfire before you stand on a platform of stone once more. Ahead are massive vats of adamantine, fourty feet tall and dominating the massive chamber you're in. Each one bubbles and boils with goldenfire, the heat here absolutely overwhelming.
No reactions yet, just list fire resistance or immunity.
immune to fire. Quite fond of it, too!
OOC: Immune to Fire.Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility
AC: 36 (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Modify message
Fire Resistance 30
Kascha is immune, Arrel is immune. Mirajane has resistance 30.
Afina and Surraruthru are able to endure. It blazes hotter than can be imagined, but you can endure. Jaela finds it impossible - it hurts just standing here, the sheer heat absolutely overwhelming her. Then, "Open the gates of Fire," Kascha intones, touching Jaela's shoulder. The pain is gone and she can think clearly again.
Energy Immunity: Fire, CL 23rd.
[spoiler]
Kascha: 258/258 Spells used: 7th: Elemental Body 9th: Wish. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Elemental Body (CL 24)
Mirajane 283/283 Spells used: 10th: Mass Freedom of Movement. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Arrel: 350/350 Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Mirajane is using the following.
Gae Ardaigh MkII: Longspear+1, wounding and valorous. This is an intelligent weapon. Chaotic Good, int 18, wis 18, cha 10. Can communicate with speech. It has 10 ranks in sense motive (+14 total modifier). It can use light 3/day as an spell like ability. It can use clairvoyance and dimensional anchor 3/day as an SLA. Caster level 15th.
Currently under Greater Magic Weapon (CL 25) as Longspear+5, wounding and valorous.
[/quote]
"No, help Mirajane!" Jaela exclaims.
But she doesn't wait on help from another source, not when her faith in the Triune is channeled into her magic to grant Mirajane a body of fire!
Miracle to grant Mirajane Elemental Body/Fire, 25 roundsJaela 318+15/318, Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 250min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 25min)
AC 63 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, spell resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//10/4/7/1/9/8/2/5/4//5
Duration of Elemental Body is 1 hour/level, Jaela.
With that cast, Kascha quickly changes her target, touching Mirajane instead.
Mirajane gets Elemental Immunity: Fire instead.
[spoiler]Kascha: 258/258 Spells used: 7th: Elemental Body 9th: Wish. 10th: Energy Immunity Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Elemental Body (CL 24)
Mirajane 283/283 Spells used: 10th: Mass Freedom of Movement. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Energy Immunity (Fire) (CL 23)
Arrel: 350/350 Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
Mirajane is using the following.
Gae Ardaigh MkII: Longspear+1, wounding and valorous. This is an intelligent weapon. Chaotic Good, int 18, wis 18, cha 10. Can communicate with speech. It has 10 ranks in sense motive (+14 total modifier). It can use light 3/day as an spell like ability. It can use clairvoyance and dimensional anchor 3/day as an SLA. Caster level 15th.
Currently under Greater Magic Weapon (CL 25) as Longspear+5, wounding and valorous.
"So these are the solar forges? I wonder what gets made here," Afina wonders, flying around to inspect the adamantine vats, careful not to touch any goldenfire herself. She's ahead on exposure after all. But where do they go from here? Does the room lead anywhere?
With everyone protected, the party is able to see ahead or advance if they please. Vat after vat goes on as far as you cans ee. There's space to walk in between the vats if you wish.
The room is massive, Afina can see. It stretches on and on - and ahead the vats become too thick to pass. However, there's a ladder up the sides of them and walkways over the sea of vats. Flares of goldenfire leap from vat to vat here, over and sometimes through the walkway.
"Watch out, the goldenfire isn't strictly confined to the vats," Afina warns, making sure to keep a sharp eye out so she can dodge any that comes her way. Flying up above the walkway she starts to fly in a random direction until she finds something more interesting.
"Are you alright?" Jaela asks Mirajane worriedly. "Does anything hurt?"
"I'm fine," Mirajane says just as Jaela begins to speak. "Besides, grandmother would say it would toughen me up." She says that with a bit of a smile.
Afina flies around. Vats block all ways in all directions, so flight or using the walkways is essential. The goldenfire looks to be getting more active to the east and slower to the west. At the far end of the east, you can see the golden glow become nary a flicker, almost entirely drowned out by darkness. In the east, you can spot it growing brighter and brighter, blocking what's ahead from view.
"So how do we actually catch the fire? Can we catch the stuff going from vat to vat?"
Jaela rolls her eye, muttering, "She's crazier than me."
At the dragon's question she responds with, "I'm thinking it will be in a container we can use, since this whole place is artificial, and was left behind as a way to retrieve it. But that's also why I tried to form that gauntlet. Worst case, we practice making our own container. Between that and magic things'll work out."
Raising her voice, she calls out, "Hey Afina, this being a forge and all can you use it to make something?"
"Could we get this stuff back to Aurora? Wouldn't it help the forge there?"
"We don't want to catch it or take it away or anything like that. We're here for the first embers, not any old goldenfire," Afina responds to the barrage of questions sent her way.
"As for making something, only if we find some tools so I have an idea of what's involved. Even if I use magic normally I've never crafted out of energy before - even Ever blaze was a rock.'
In any case she starts heading East. They're looking for the core so it seems a more likely prospect.
As Mirajane giggles at Jaela's words, Arrel takes to the air and follows Afina. Kascha follows, "Fly high enough so we're not at risk from the goldenfire. You really don't want to be hit by it."
"Thinking about it, the goldenfire is probably used to heat other materials in the forge rather than being used as material itself," Afina muses, letting others catch up before flying on and carefully avoiding any splashes. "That's probably enough for it to imprint special properties onto steel."
Afina 185+17/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), moment of prescience (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25)
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear.
Spell charges remaining: 6/9/8/8/9/8/8/8/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
"Think it will make people merge with the volcano if they're hit enough times with a goldenfire-forged sword?" Jaela asks curiously, following along with Mirajane.
"Maybe ask Lathander?" Afina suggests. "But would you want the sun to become full of devils? There has to be a reason they only let the pure up here where it's a danger... though that might mean the protection I've been granted renders exposure moot?" she hums and looks at her arms consideringly, not seeing any visible field of force protecting her as such but there has to be something.
Best not risked casually though.
"Maybe they meant that if you're not pure enough by their standards, the really nasty guardians come out and smite you?"
"That could be it," Kascha says, "And to prevent the true threats from trivially approaching. I don't really want to fight all those star angels, do you?"
Jaela shrugs. "I do. So long as it's on Ysgard. I'm sure we'll learn a lot from it!"
"I do quite fondly recall our fight with Mistfall," Afina nods along with Jaela, smiling. "I had a great fight with an angel in Celestia when I was looking for the information that led us here. It's fun to go all out without all the hatred clouding everything."
Flying to the east, the party finds the flares of goldenfire increasing below them. The light is stronger and ahead they can see a great wall of goldenfire. Here gouts of it rise straight up in, a barrier ahead. Only small, moving gaps in it allow any possibility of further passage. The gaps move fast and irregularly, darting about with the flow of fire.
"Does anyone have wall of force or some other barrier spell to give us a more consistent path through?" Afina asks before risking her reflexes on the task.
Afina 185+17/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), moment of prescience (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25)
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear.
Spell charges remaining: 6/9/8/8/9/8/8/8/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
"My magic's still overtaxed, for now," Jaela admits. "I think it's best if Mirajane goes first, and we follow the same path."
"I do," Kascha speaks up, "Shall I?"
"No reason not to."
A wall of force is conjured,, blocking the goldenfire. It makes a small passage ahead, stable and holding back the flames.
"If I must," Mirajane says with a small smile, "But I do see that it's not needed now."
"Magic is so useful," Jaela agrees with a grin, heading down said passage.
"Thanks, Kascha," Afina says, fluttering after Jaela. "I'd have used a prismatic wall but sending goldenfire randomly off to other planes doesn't seem the best idea."
Surraruthru follows the others, curiously eyeing the area for anything interesting as they go.
The group passes through. Beyond this is a massive vat, lower and as wide as a hundred of the previous vats. A virtual lake of goldenfire. Platforms are just above the placid surface, where figures of overwhelming light work. They are humanoid and too much to look at, your eyes tearing up as flashing pain makes you avert your gaze. It stretches on farther than you can see.
These creatures of light work the goldenfire, dipping metal into it and forging it in flashes of glorious light.
Jaela closes her eye to see more clearly with blindsight. So it seems that the process is as Afina suggested, with the goldenfire aiding in the forging rather than being the raw material itself.
Squinting and averting her gaze so she doesn't have to look directly at the overwhelmingly bright figures, Afina nonetheless flies down towards the platforms on which they rest. "Hello," she greets them as she gets closer. "Need an extra pair of hands?" They're here to be tested after all, and showing her skills at forging would work as well as any fierce battle.
Blindsight doesn't help - all you see in it is light. Endless light, pushed into your mind. Mirajane comes forward as Jaela looks, pulling her back with her eyes tightly shut. "Not even grandmother would risk that," she murmurs to Jaela. "Don't look too long at the sun, lest you be blinded."
Kascha says well back, gaze averted and scribbling into her book instead. "Beings of light," she whispers to herself as she writes. Arrel just turns away, a wing brought up to shield his face.
In a voice of power, one that echos in Afina's mind like a sledgehammer, "Yes, try. Prove yourself in the fires of the sun."
"Give me some metal and I'll show you what a fey crafter can do," Afina says, not lacking for confidence in her artisanal skills. "Out of interest, would plant-based armour be empowered if made here, or would it just burn up?" she asks curiously while waiting on some materials to work with. It could make for a new spin on leafweave armour!
No means no. With a nod at Mirajane, Jaela forces her mind's eye to unfocus.
"We only used reinforced adamantine," Said metal appears out of nowhere, a large chunk of it for Afina to work with. "Prove yourself."
First conjuring a floating disc to hold the adamantine, Afina then lowers it into the goldenfire as she watches the radiant beings around her work as best she can without looking directly at them so she can get an idea of what's involved, casting greater heroism as she observes, followed by a limited wish to further boost her abilities to their peak. Once she's confident she has a handle on how to work with these materials she casts fabricate to reshape the no doubt already softened adamantine into a large greatsword fit for a Solar!
Limited Wish is used to emulate Improvisation.
Craft (Weaponsmithing) DC is 15 base for greatsword which she autopasses. For the masterwork component she's using the epic rules (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101739.msg1046464.html#msg1046464) to make an epic masterwork weapon at DC 80. She'll use Improvisation for a +11 luck bonus and moment of prescience for a +23 insight bonus to the roll.
[19:07] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+35+4+11+23 vs DC 80
[19:07] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+35+4+11+23 vs DC 80 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{91}
Afina 185+20/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25)
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/8/8/8/9/7/8/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
Time for an OOC interlude. Eb, those rules aren't finalized (I wouldn't have posted them there if I had a live game going for B3 at the time) and haven't been ported over to rules and setting for that reason. I ended up redoing the epic crafting rules a fair bit, as seen in the link below. I never expected that to come back and bite me in the rear, but so it goes. I'll post about this in nagging in more depth.
http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101729.msg1057100/topicseen.html#msg1057100
In any case, forging in goldenfire is a special situation that calls for a check of its own, and I'll use your roll there to cover it.
Afina drps the adamantine in, using her magic to try and forge it.
Make a CL check for fabricate as well, as forging in goldenfire is far harder than typical flames.
[19:36] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+23
[19:36] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+23 --> [ 1d20=2 ]{25}
It's hard - the flames seem to have a life of their own. Afina struggles as she works her spell, sweat starting to trickle down her face. She is intent, managing to slowly forge and withdraw a sword out. A large greatsword, the color of sunlight. It glows as it emerges out.
The being of light looks at the sword, "The barest success, a mere sun blade," he announces.
Afina's cheeks burn with shame at that insult to her craftsmanship. She's created weapons fit to slay a prince of Hell, armours honoured as gifts by Archomentals. But here she's undone in spite of all her preparations, in spite of expending her magic like she has for no creation ever made in the past.
"I apologise for wasting the materials you allowed me," she stands and bows stiffly as the floating disc deposits the meagre blade back on the platform. "If you would allow it, could I observe your work longer so I can learn from my mistakes?" It'd delay everyone else, but how's she going to do anything with the first embers if she can't manage this?
"You may," It intones, "But know that it may cost you to learn, for your eyes are not meant to look on the sun's full majesty."
No, that won't do at all. Even if she's recently attuned her senses back to the level they were at as a fey, she's sure to lose progress there soon enough as her body has to accommodate more elements, and it was never a proper substitute for sight.
"Then I'll just have to hope I learned from my mistake. Farewell," she says, flying up to rejoin the others. But where to from here? Should they go back to the dark area or does this place lead anywhere else?
"Would you mind pointing us in the right direction?" Jaela voices, keeping her eye averted from the beings that glow so much brighter than she can manage. "We're looking for the first embers of goldenfire."
"Take it with you," The being says, the greatsword flying up with Afina. "A mistake held and remembered is a mistake learned from." It then points ahead, "Fly on to the east. Always to the east, where new days are born."
Surraruthru flies over to Afina, circling her and studying the Greatsword, trying to decide on if it would make a worthy addition to a hoard...
Jaela salutes the being with Gae Trocaire, and flies off to the east!
Not good enough for a Solar at all, then. "Maybe someone will find use of it on our Crusade," she says, putting it back on the floating disk. Maybe Hanna could use it? It's really too big for anyone else.
Kascha follows as Arrel swoops ahead. She starts to speak, but Mirajane comes to your other side and says, "That's a lovely sword, Afina. I see that it will be useful to myself and my family one day. Mother, do you think you could have it changed into a spear?"
"Hmph, if I'd expended so much effort making a weapon in Medi's workshop I'd have made a thing of legend," Afina grumbles. "The sad thing is I'd have been quite happy with making this a year ago, but now it's insulting. I don't know if it can be reforged outside of Goldenfire without breaking the enchantment though..."
Any check to know if it can be remade into a spear without losing its properties?
K:A, Afina.
[17:02] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+39+11 using improvisation because it'll run out anyway
[17:02] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+39+11 using improvisation because it'll run out anyway --> [ 1d20=4 ]{54}
Possibly. You simply aren't knowledgeable enough about goldenfire and whatever this reinforced adamantine is to be sure. If nothing else, it would be a learning experience.
If you had to guess, you'd lean towards yes.
"... maybe," Afina concludes at length. "But there's no guarantees. Does it have to be a spear rather than a sword?"
"Mother does favor spears," Mirajane glances over at her, "Or would you prefer it in another form, or an axe like Grandmother prefers?"
"It's too big for Jaela," Afina points out. "But if you want it I suppose you can have it. I was probably going to give it to Hanna anyway. Or maybe Morniel or Vivantha. They're the only ones that could wield it."
"Spears don't take a lot of metal, so it could probably be good for a couple?" Jaela muses. "Mirajane's right in that it looks like a pretty neat sword, and it shines, too. And if you do it back at Medi's old place it might just end up legendary?"
Surraruthru lands next to the sword on the disc, and eyes it curiously, poking it with a claw as the others discuss.
The sword is warm to the touch, like metal left in the summer sunshine.
"Hmmmmm," Kascha flies over and studies the sword, "Seira always says sun blades are good. So I definitely think you should."
"That definitely wouldn't work, you can't split an enchanted weapon into two and keep the same enchantment. If anything it'd have to be a spear with a metal shaft to keep as much of the original material in it as possible," Afina says. "Anyway, the main use of a sunblade is to produce sunlight for dealing with undead. Even if I made it into a spear or anything else it wouldn't be as good as the spears you currently have when it comes to stabbing things."
"Oh, really?" Jaela blinks. "Didn't know that. An axe would probably be better, then-- hey, remember Gae Dearg?" She briefly takes it out. "How do you think it'll compare to a goldenfire sunblade speartip?"
"A sun blade would be superior at fighting undead but in general is less effective," Afina answers. "You know, crafting in goldenfire seems to rely more on magical potency than artisanal skill. You could give it a try if you can convince the angels down there to provide some materials."
"Good point," Jaela agrees. "Okay, if we end up going back that way I'll be sure to ask!"
Arrel leads the way further into the light of the sun. You soon lead the beings of light behind. Ahead you see great cauldrons full of boiling adamantine above the lake of goldenfire. Here there are molds of various shapes that they pour adamantine into. Most are human sized or human shaped - Afina can easily identify them as being in the shape for various constructs or golems. Once poured, the heat flees the metal. Literally, as great lines of sizzling fire flow from the adamantine and dissolve in the air around it. Thereafter each mold's bottom drops out, the shape inside dropped into the goldenfire.
"A golemworks?" Kascha takes out her book right away, starting to scribble. "That looked like a typical iron golem in shape, and that other one...!" she scribbles quickly, "The cost, too! No mortal agency could toss this much adamantine around. This must be the work of Lathander himself."
Arrel's wings twitch in the air, yet it doesn't stop his flight in the least. "A single one of those metal men would be worth a great deal in any dragon's hoard."
"Not that we're thinking of taking any of them home!" Jaela says out loud, looking up. "Want to avenge your honor here, Afina?"
"Yes yes, not even a dragon would be so short sighted," Kascha says, before eeping. "I mean, not that dragons are short sighted and woah!" Her wings stop moving a moment, which makes her dip downwards. She quickly recovers, coughing. "Ahem! Ahem! You were saying, Jaela?"
"These aren't just any golems, they're adamantine golems," Afina says in quiet awe as she watches the incredible pace of construction for so many constructs. Even with the benefits of Medi's workshop that would cost a fortune. "I've read up on them in the library, but they require incredible arcane might to enchant. You'd have to have mastered the thirteenth circle to manage it." She looks up at Jaela and smiles wryly, "Even if I hadn't exhausted myself on that sword, this would be far beyond my abilities."
"Baked in goldenfire, no less," Kascha murmurs, eyes widening at Afina's words. "But to what purpose and what end?"
"Creation. Protection. Light." Mirajane says, turning to look ahead and upwards. "Hello."
Surraruthru eyes one of the golems....
"Hmm... If I got one, I could put a bag of holding in its chest and make it a mobile hoard vault!"
"No doubt they'd be incredibly potent against the undead," Afina says. "Golems are immune to most esoteric methods of attack favoured by the undead - disease, strength drain, negative energy... couple that with making each one a font of the sun's radiance? Few necromancers could stand against such a construct." At Mirajane's greeting she looks up to see who's being addressed.
Jaela follows Mirajane's glance.
"That's..." Kascha hums, "You'd have to design it special so that the bag wouldn't compromise the golem's structural integrity, but that's an interesting idea." She starts to write anew, "A mobile vault that can defend itself, but what if its defeated? Your hoard would be lost in the Astral."
The figure that is there is not a figure. It's more of a presence, a sense of overwhelming sunlight. It's like staring into the noonday sun, your gaze naturally turning away from it. "Precisely on all counts." It's a man's voice, full of mirth. "Only one in a hundred adamantine golems are able to withstand the goldenfire and emerge intact. Those that do are awakened and serve the Morninglord in his sacred quest to exterminate undeath forever and for all time."
"Nice! I'm partial to the idea of killing Lixer. I don't suppose you have any good leads?"
One in a hundred? She wouldn't want to risk any of her golems on those odds even if they weren't already awakened! Pity since it'd be great against Lixer's minions, but a seed in the ground is worth two in the air. Still though, it's a nice thought. "Hello," she greets the figure after her ruminations. "We recently lost two of our number to Hell's prince of the undead, so we can understand the value of having such champions. Still, losing ninety nine golems for every one that endures must be a hard price to pay."
"It is only the natural order of things." A figure appears in that place. It is a massive bulky humanoid of glowing, sun-yellow metal. It's about as tall as two Hannas and much broader. Afina can tell its a golem, one that's smiling. "I am Origin, the first adamantine golem created by the Morninglord's own hand. Even adamantine golems melt in goldenfire, save for the most exceptional."
"Hello Origin," Afina smiles. "I've created and awakened a few golems of my own. It's a shame none of them can fly or I might have brought Smrgol along, it'd be nice for him to meet another golem that wasn't made by my hand." She figures the ironwyrm with a fragment of Sunnis in it is a fair match for the first golem made by a god, right? "But isn't there any way to determine which will be exceptional before testing them with the flames?"
Then again maybe not. They're after the first embers to burn through destiny, would that make divinations suspect where any goldenfire is concerned?
"I'd love to hear more about the properties of goldenfire, and the weapons and golems made with it," Jaela muses. "Would you mind terribly filling us in? Also, not to forget about Lixer, who we really want to kill. Any good suggestions there?"
"No, because they are forged in it. It is the way it is and must be," Origin intones. "I oversee the creation of the golems for the Dawnbringer." He descends down, level with the party. He extends a hand out, bigger than Afina. "A pleasure to meet a fellow golem maker and her marvelous friends."
Mirajane smiles slightly, "Thank you and yes, it is not a hidden secret here."
As Origin blinks and then grins at Mirajane, Kascha clears her throat, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kascha and I serve Seira. Ah, are you part of the trials we're going through?"
"Afina Devilsbane," Afina introduces herself, pressing her tiny hand against one of his fingers in greeting.
"Jaela," she introduces herself, even if belatedly. "Like Kascha says, it's a pleasure."
The rest of the introductions go around and around. "I heard you gave Lixer a black eye on the Negative Energy Plane. Good work." He grins, one massive hand thumping Jaela's back (and sending her sprawling forward) as he shakes Afina's hand with his finger. "We have the ability to burn away undead with flames they cannot resist. We bring life to them and immolate them in it."
"Lixer, Lixer," Hemurmurs after, "The trick with him isn't killing him. He's powerful but not the strongest ever. I think I could take him." A cocky grin spreads anew, "Wham, wham!" A few fake punches into the air, "But his father makes sure he's protected at all times. You won't ever get Lixer in a fair fight. You'll face him behind a creature he possesses and aided by as many minions as he sees fit. The little runt's survived this long with Lathander AND Orcus both wanting to end him. Get him in person and you can end him like any other devil. Probably."
A pause there, his free hand going to rub his chin. "I don't know for sure, but he's probably a godling, so you'd need to be one to put him down for good. Or have a trick around it, which I've heard Aurora has."
"We heard as much," Jaela agrees. "Do you know any hideaways he'll show up in person to defend if we were to hit them? Anything his shriveled heart cares about? Where he keeps his prisoners?"
"Well we did," Afina makes a face at that. "But we had to dispose of it, the price of its use was too high even for me. That's why we're here looking for the first embers actually, since that other weapon served to counter the Duke of Destiny and now we need a replacement for that. Anyway, I don't expect we'll be lucky enough to catch Lixer in the open, but if we ruin a few of his strongholds and minions it'd do enough to send the message of our displeasure."
"You know about Castle Crumbling, 'course," The golem remarks, as Kascha furiously writes all of this down.
"Negation we know about," Mirajane adds.
"Right," Origin agrees, "That's where anything really important to him is. It's also right in his father's shadow, which means it's almost impossible to attack. He's no fool, I've never had any luck forcing him out by hitting his possessions. Just more possessed undead or minions, as well as his father's Nessians. Kid's balls haven't dropped after all these millenia, though the devils call it being cautious. I call it being a chicken shit little daddy's boy."
"We're going to hit his other holdings, and if we hit enough of them in quick succession the other devils mocking him might get too much for him. Wanna come along for the fight?"
"Tempting," He admits, peering down at the goldenfire lake below. "But my creator taught me something about this. He said, 'Origin, whenever mortals or the like ask for your help, it's important that they earn it. It's a sacred tradition to test them before that.'"
"I really like Lathander, speaking of. So are we gonna go to Ysgard for this, Origin?"
"No, I'm thinking of an even more traditional test," He grins at this, "Finding something important and bringing it to me. You know, most of the time, if they can do your test, they prove to themselves they don't need your help anyway. On the other hand, it is Lixer. Anyway," He gestures to the side, a swirling portal appearing. "There's a maze here full of danger. Somewhere in it is a figurine of the sun, made entirely of gold and platinum. You'll know it when you see it. Find it and bring it back and I'll pitch in."
"Plus you know you'd have fun kicking his houses over!" Jaela adds. "But before that, it's not the naked portal, is it? Cause Mirajane came this time and Kascha's already pretty embarrassed."
Laughter follows, Origin throwing his head back and cackling. "Oh, it is. I like that name a lot, but we call them humbling portals. It makes it so much easier to test people, since magical gear complicated things so terribly much. Plus you don't need such powerful defenses for a mere test."
Kascha eeps and blushes hotly, while Mirajane is unperturbed. "Mother, if you don't think it's a test I should do, I can wait here."
"Are there other things in the maze? Things we can keep? I'm trying to build a hoard. Terribly important. Though I haven't figured a way to keep it safe yet..."
That gets a huff from the golem, mechanical mouth emitting a gust of hot, goldenfire-tinged air. "Of course there is! We're civilized people here," He reaches out and pats Surraruthru on the head, enough to send him down several feet. "What's a dangerous maze of death without the allure of treasure? The Morninglord would be terribly disappointed if I put you in a dungeon with no treasure!"
Jaela shrugs, freely admitting, "I was just trying to tease Kascha since she blushes at everything. You should do as you like, Mirajane." Nodding at Origin, Jaela flies towards the portal.
How much time has passed since we almost got burnt to death and I used Miracle to heat-proof Mirajane?
About ten minutes.
Kascha sighs, while Mirajane considers and then flies with Jaela.
Surraruthru flies off with the others.
"I'd be of limited help after expending my magic so judiciously on that sword," Afina admits as Jaela departs. "Especially without equipment, but even so it's probably better than me not coming at all." And so she flies after Jaela.
Thus everyone steps into the portal. Reality blurs and shifts, and as it does? "Oh wait, I have a better idea," A strong, masculine voice says. It's distorted by howling winds and gushes of heat, before you stand on a raised stone platform. All about are walls of dark, mostly opaque glass the color of smoke. Veins of goldenfire flow through it, shedding erratic pulses of yellow light. There's a hallway to the north that goes for 25ft and turns east, as well as a passage to the south that goes 40ft before curving to the east.
Oh, and your possessions and equipment are still there. Nothing's gone, oddly enough.
"Can't argue with the Morninglord's taste," Jaela says with a grin, heading to the north to explore.
Mirajane slowly pauses, "Hmmm, I didn't see that coming," she says. "Well."
Surraruthru is gleeful that his gear still works and takes stock of the area, looking for places to hide and be stealthy!
"Nothing wrong with a good surprise," Jaela muses. "Does it still seem like the same destination, though? It'd be a shame to look for a token to bring back that just isn't here."
"I'm sure Lathander has it handled," Afina says, "But we'll probably be challenged more of we're allowed our equipment."
"Hmph," Arrel murmurs in draconic, "Just as well."
As Kascha checks her gear over and sighs in visible relief, Jaela explores to the north. The turn to the east goes for 20ft before coming to a 10ft by 10ft open space. You can see passages to the north as well as a passage continuing past this to the east. In the center of it floats a gray orb of misty light. It crumbles at the edges, as if a cookie about to fall apart.
Fluttering along after Jaela, Afina looks over the misty orb curiously. "Are we supposed to do something with this? Fix it maybe? Or will it break and unleash guardians for us to fight?" she wonders.
Mirajane hums as she follows, "Or a trap? It's harder to see things here," she remarks, "As if the immediate future has a fog over it. Or, more aptly, it's too bright to see."
Kascha brings up the rear, "Of course. Whoever changed things probably took our skills into account. Was that the Morninglord himself or a powerful servant?"
We met Lathander before, does the voice match?
It sounds reasonably like it, though the distortion makes it impossible to be sure.
"It sounded like him from the last time we spoke," Afina answers. "Can one of you cast detect magic or something and have a look at the orb, see if that gets us any clues?" She'd do it herself but after that limited wish earlier there's a good chance she'd just waste time floundering over her spells.
> roll 1d20+46 Kascha
<Kobot> Ko-NitorisImpossibleDemand rolled 1d20+46 Kascha --> [ 1d20=10 ]{56}
Kascha stands where she is and invokes a simple cantrip. "Oh!" Kascha gasps, a hand going to her mouth, as the other protectively shields her dress. "It's a disintegration trap, primed to destroy armor and possessions."
"Can you see what triggers it?"
"No," Kascha says, "Probably distance, but you'd need someone trained in trap disabling to tell you that."
Afina looks at Arrel, and then looks at the room which presents more or less the same dimensions as the giant eagle-dragon typically occupies. "No, I don't think we're going to be sneaking around it or blocking it with a barrier. So either we dispel it, or send someone in naked to trigger it and hope it has just one charge."
Arrel just turns to Afina, preening his uncovered wings and generally unhidden eagle-dragon body.
"Thanks for volunteering, Arrel!" Afina beams, fluttering backwards to get clear.
Arrel steps into the room. Immediately several gray beams fly from the orb as it unravels, going right at Arrel.
> roll 1d20+30 touch AC
<Kobot> Ko-NitorisImpossibleDemand rolled 1d20+30 touch AC --> [ 1d20=13 ]{43}
> roll 1d20+30 touch AC
<Kobot> Ko-NitorisImpossibleDemand rolled 1d20+30 touch AC --> [ 1d20=1 ]{31}
> roll 1d20+30 touch AC
<Kobot> Ko-NitorisImpossibleDemand rolled 1d20+30 touch AC --> [ 1d20=11 ]{41}
Two beams hit Arrel - but nothing happens. "I'm unharmed," The dragon-eagle says a moment later, a clack of his beak, "Kascha's analysis was correct."
"Thank you," Kascha warmly smiles, "All that dragon lore makes analysis so easy."
"Good work, both of you," Afina is free with her compliments both for Kascha's wisdom and Arrel's bravery. "Now, what were we told earlier? Always go East towards the rising sun, so lets do that," she says, flying Eastwards.
"Hold on a moment," Kascha says, "I want to study where the trap was first." She kneels down, placing her book down and making a long, careful examination of it.
If you want to interrupt or overrule her, go ahead. Otherwise just say you're waiting.
Afina is happy to wait so Kascha can expand her knowledge. Besides the longer they take the more likely she'll have her magic back when she needs it.
> roll 1d20+46 Kascha spellcraft
<Kobot> Ko-NitorisImpossibleDemand rolled 1d20+46 Kascha spellcraft --> [ 1d20=3 ]{49}
> roll 1d20+33 Kascha spot
<Kobot> Ko-NitorisImpossibleDemand rolled 1d20+33 Kascha spot --> [ 1d20=9 ]{42}
The ghaele takes her time, a good minute passing as she checks everything over. In the meantime, Mirajane leans over to Jaela and asks, "By the way, why didn't you invite Grandmother to this?"
Meanwhile, Kascha works on and away. She finally finishes, 'I can't tell anything else," she finally says, "The trap was all magic but fairly well obscured. Through sheer power, like how the sun blinds you with too much light. The relation seems too obvious to not use as a comparison, don't you think?"
"There's nothing wrong with having a theme and sticking with it," Afina nods steadfastly. Luckily she has lots of fire spells to use for her theme, although she might come undone when it comes to rainbow type themes. With nothing else to look at she continues onwards!
"We have a complicated relationship, plus I wanted you to have your very first serious trial in the safest environment possible," Jaela responds after weighing the pros and cons and deciding to answer the question properly. "I did also think your powers might come useful to compliment ours. But don't take it to mean I'm shunning her or something. We'll invite Mom to an outing on Ysgard or some hardcore training later, when we're freer."
Jaela 318+15/318, Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min)
AC 63 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, spell resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//10/4/7/1/9/8/2/5/4//5
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted.
"Hmmm... Wouldn't a trap like this be useful against the devils? Or maybe to protect a hoard..."
Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility
AC: 36 (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Modify message
"Aside from trash like unholy weapons we don't want to break the devils' belongings, since the Crusade is mostly financed on what we can loot," Afina tells the invisible dragon.
Afina 185+20/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25)
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/8/8/8/9/7/8/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
The party continues east. It goes on perhaps 30ft before hooking north once more. Just past that sits an actual, honest to goodness treasure chest. It rests against the wall, painted a bright red color. Past it the passage continues to the north 40ft, before coming into another open square. You can see a blue orb in the center of that, floating along there. There's no door to the north there, but there may be one to the east or west, as you can't tell from here.
Surraruthru lands and tries to stick to a corner or near a wall.
".... I haven't been in many dungeons, but... That's a trap, isn't it?"
"In normal cases? Yes. No one is so fool to leave valuables unguarded. But this is not a normal place," Arrel says, "Do you have skill in finding traps, wyrmling?"
Surraruthru eyes the room...
"Yes, I know to find some traps... We used to play tricks on each other with them. Want me to try and find it?"
"That's probably wise," Kascha says, "This isn't a bad place to see how good you are at it, either."
Where are you searching? The hall north? The treasure chest? The room north with the blue orb?
I'd start with the hallway/room we're in just to make sure any trap isn't proximity like the last one, then move onto the chest. The passage/room north with the orb.
I presume you have trapfinding? I mean, I think beguilers get it but I'm not 100%. Anyway, assuming you do, roll a Search check. We'll do the previous area first.
Beguiler does get it, lvl 1.> roll 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 54 > [d20=20]
Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility
AC: 36 (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Modify message
The way you came is trapless and safe. No sign of secret passages or the like, either.
"No traps here! Chest might be, but we don't have to worry about anything like the first room here. Next room maybe."
With that, Surraruthru approaches the chest to look it over!
Search again.
> roll 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 36 > [d20=2]
Figured that was coming.
The chest is not trapped.
Kascha waits on that, "Is it safe?" she asks.
"It sure is safer from forty feet away," Jaela instructs her.
"Yep! I don't see any! Though... Even if there were I couldn't disarm it. I guess I should have mentioned that earlier."
Surraruthru goes to open the chest!
Arrel and Mirajane do the same. Even Kascha does, "It is best, just in case. Even Seira has a few stories about the times traps were missed. But I'm sure you have it. In fact," she steps back forward, "Right?"
The chest is opened. Within lies a breastplate set - greaves, armguards and breastplate. Good, solid armor. It has a painting of the sun on the breasplate and rays of sunshine cover the bracers and greaves.
Loot post.
"Better safe than sorry, Seira will thank me later," Jaela says, pulling Kascha back.
Surraruthru sits proudly in front of the chest, not that anyone can see him, preening in his success.
"Armor! Hoard ready, I think. Unless it's needed by someone, I guess..."
"Huh. Well, can anyone carry it, or should I store it away?"
"Let me study it first," Kascha says, "Ooooh, I wonder if it's enchanted?"
> roll 1d20+46 Kascha spellcraft
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 59 > [d20=13]
She looks it over for a time, "It is. It's enchanted and also protects against energy drain and negative energy."
Loot post.
Jaela nods her understanding. "As expected of Lathander!"
"It is awfully nice to be just sitting here, unguarded," Kascha says, "This would be a valuable armor if given to a mortal sect, passed down for generations and generations." She reaches out, tracing the sunshine on the greaves. "Don't you think?"
"It all depends on how much was planned ahead," Jaela muses. "We ended up in this dungeon because we talked about taking on Lixer and his goons. So it makes sense to have an armor just like that here, given how relevant it all is and how we were told there was treasure here to keep things fun? I don't think they'd trick us about this here." She shrugs. "You think we should donate it to someone instead?"
"May as well see if anyone wants it for our raids against Lixer first," Afina says. "Who uses medium armour amongst us?" Generally she either makes the superheavy stuff or the ultralight stuff, not much in between.
"Adrian, Dana, Balyss, Ithea, Mirajane here?" Jaela lists from memory. "A few more if it resizes. The rest of us won't be able to use it as effectively."
"That's not quite what I meant," Kascha stays on the armor, "It's just...to us, this isn't anything special. But to mortals, this armor could be a legend, the raiment of heroes. I don't know, something about this struck me oddly."
"I sort of get you," Jaela muses. "Still, even for us a suit of armor made by Lathander and retrieved from his sun is a big deal. You could tell the story to your and Morniel's kids, and their kids, and it'd still be fresh and entertaining!"
Kascha turns bright red at that, "Morniel and I's children?! What?"
"Grandchildren, too," Jaela helpfully adds. "That's how big a deal it is!"
Kascha's next reply is a rather incoherent sputter.
"Ahem," Mirajane clears her throat, "We should continue on."
"Kascha, what can you tell us about that blue orb?" Afina asks to distract the easily flustered ghaele.
> roll 1d20+46 Kascha spellcraft
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+46 Kascha spellcraft --> [ 1d20=4 ]{50}
"It'll transport us," Kascha says, "And scatter us about the maze."
"Could try dispelling it, or just using dimensional locks to prevent any teleportation. Thoughts?" Afina asks. She can cast dimensional anchor but chain-casting it would be a pain in her current state.
"A summoned creature is fine as well," Kascha suggests, "I think it'll fade like the disintegration orb."
"I can manage that then," Afina says, calling forth a horde of fire elementals!
Using Elemental Swarm sla.
[18:57] <@Ebiris> roll 2d4 large fire elementals
[18:57] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 2d4 large fire elementals --> [ 2d4=7 ]{7}A whole seven of them appear, ready to answer Afina's call! "Go through that room and wait," she instructs them in crackling Ignan, sending the septuplets through!
Afina 185+20/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25)
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/8/8/8/9/7/8/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
The moment the seven are into the room, the blue orb flashes light. It vanishes away, as do the elementals - simply gone, out of sight and who knows where now.
Surraruthru twists his head to look around the room, eyeing it for anything that might be a back-up, more mundane trap.
"Maybe we'll run into them later?" Afina wonders amusedly, flying in now that the way is clear.
Search, Surraruthru.
The room is like the previous one. There are passages to the east and west here. The passage to the east goes on 15ft before sloping downwards and out of sight, while the passage to the west goes 40ft before turning north once more.
Always go East, right? Seeing no reason to question that, Afina takes the downwards sloping passage.
> roll 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding --> [ 1d20=16 ]{50}
Remember your italics.
The party heads on down - or starts to. Surraruthru does a quick check. Beneath where the orb was is a trap door, seamlessly part of the floor. It doesn't look to be trapped and can be opened if you wish.
"Ah! Door! Door! There's a door under the orb! More treasure? No traps that I can see."
Mirajane stops and goes to it, "I see great risk and great reward," she murmurs. "Along with a feeling trepidation." A slow frown forms on her face, "It radiates out from it like a pulse."
"Lathander strikes me as the sort of person who'd be more impressed with daring than caution," Afina says, recalling Origin's scathing assessment of Lixer's character. "Lets prepare for a battle and then open it?"
Suiting action to words she casts Shield on herself...
[19:42] <@Ebiris> roll 1d100 spell failure
[19:42] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d100 spell failure --> [ 1d100=72 ]{72}And succeeds!
Afina 185+20/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), shield (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25)
AC 64 (touch 46, flat footed 64), spell resistance 38, blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/7/8/8/9/7/8/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
"Hmm... Part of the test? Risk for reward? See how bold we are? Great reward is tempting."
"That does make sense," Kascha puts her book away and readies her greatsword. "I wonder what lies below?"
Surraruthru does like-wise, preparing a few defensive measures for himself...
Casting Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience, and Foresight on self.
Spell Turning requires DM to secret roll 1d4+6 for spell levels.
Moment of Prescience gives me a +25
Foresight gives +2 Insight to AC and ReflexSurraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Modify message
As requested, spell turning has been secretly rolled.
"Let's go!" Jaela concurs, Moon Bolt channeled into Gae Trocaire and her martial competence on overdrive!
[22:18] <@Annerose> roll 1d100 spell failure, divine favor
[22:18] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d100 spell failure, divine favor --> [ 1d100=4 ]{4}
[22:18] <@Annerose> roll 1d100 spell failure, divine favor2
[22:18] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d100 spell failure, divine favor2 --> [ 1d100=67 ]{67}Jaela 318+15/318, Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
AC 63 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, spell resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/5/4//5
Moon Bolt channeled into Gae Trocaire.
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted.
The trap door is opened. It reveals a small passage with a ladder going down. The party should be able to make it - save for Arrel. He takes one good look at it and clacks his beak, "A passage for creatures with arms and legs, not wings and feathers."
What order are y'all going down in?
Lets go Surraruthru, Jaela, Mirajane, Afina, Kascha?
Jaela goes down the hole, relying on blindsight to warn of of anything that doesn't show to her regular eye.
Edit: Sure, second is also fine.
Surraruthru leaps to take the lead, flying down the hole and forgetting his job as rear guard in his excitement! He eagerly takes in the new place, looking for anything interesting or surprising!
Down and down you go. 20ft? 30ft? Something like that. It leads to a simple archway into a much larger chamber. You stand at that archway, seeing the room is 30ft wide and 120ft long. At the end of the room sits another gaudy treasure chest. But 100ft ahead of the party stands a guardian, preventing you from easily taking it. A massive construct of gleaming dark adamantine, something you have just seen: an adamantine golem.
Surraruthru eyes it for a moment, but temporarily dismisses it as the others' problem as he takes in the area, looking for any traps or tricks, as they've run into a few already.
How are you searching the area, Surraruthru? Where and how?
Initially I'd just visually check the area (Trapfinding) before entering the room where the golem is before entering, as everything we've run across has been proximity so far. If that comes up clear, I'd probably edge in, but stick to the outside area of the room, along walls and stuff, trying to be stealthy. I do have True Seeing (which I forgot to put in my stat block, added), so I dunno if that comes into effect here.Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Okay. Search check.
> roll 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding --> [ 1d20=3 ]{37}
No traps or anything - but the moment Surraruthru comes through the archway, the golem comes to life. It takes a single step forward, massive bulk overshadowing the party and making the ground shake. It's up and moving!
Init, the golem reacts once someone crosses the archway.
> roll 1d20+12 init
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+12 init --> [ 1d20=18 ]{30}
[20:58] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+26 init --> [ 1d20=12 ]{38}
Afina 185+20/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), shield (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25)
AC 64 (touch 46, flat footed 64), spell resistance 38, blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/7/8/8/9/7/8/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
[07:29] <@Annerose> roll 1d20+12 init
[07:29] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d20+12 init --> [ 1d20=2 ]{14}Jaela 318+15/318, CMB +32/CMD 69 (Divine Favor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, Divine Favor): +43/+43/+38/+33/+28, 1d8+33+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Moon Bolt channeled into Gae Trocaire.
Init +12; Fort +48, Ref +40, Will +48; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 63 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/5/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7
> roll 1d20+12 Kascha
<Kobot> Ko-NitoriSolvesProblems rolled 1d20+12 Kascha --> [ 1d20=10 ]{22}
> roll 1d20+7 Mirajane
<Kobot> Ko-NitoriSolvesProblems rolled 1d20+7 Mirajane --> [ 1d20=1 ]{8}
> roll 1d20-1 adamantine golem
<Kobot> Ko-NitoriSolvesProblems rolled 1d20-1 adamantine golem --> [ 1d20=6 ]{5}
Initiative is Afina (38) > Surraruathru (30) > Kascha (22) > Jaela (Miko 14) > Mirajane (Like Mother 8) > Adamantine Golem (5)
Afina, you open. Anyone can make K:A to learn more. You know it's an adamantine golem from what you saw just before the maze, but details on them aren't automatically known to y'all.
9:36 AM <Tifa> roll 1d20+42 K:A
9:36 AM <Kobot> Tifa rolled 1d20+42 K:A --> [ 1d20=5 ]{47}
Jaela can recall that you need an adamantine weapon of the strongest enchantments to properly damage an adamantine golem. Oh, and they heal fast, too. Quite fast.
"Mirajane was right about that huge sword!" Jaela calls out. "Adamantine! You need adamantine to bring it down!"
Or, I presume, a transmuting weapon like Gae Trocaire.Jaela 318+15/318, CMB +32/CMD 69 (Divine Favor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, Divine Favor, K.Devotion): +48/+48/+43/+38/+33, 1d8+38+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Moon Bolt channeled into Gae Trocaire.
Init +12; Fort +48, Ref +40, Will +48; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 63 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/5/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7
> roll 1d20+49 Kascha K:A
<Kobot> Ko-NitoriSolvesProblems rolled 1d20+49 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{62}
"They can conjure steel walls out of nothing," Kascha calls, "Don't get blocked by them!"
Afina does as she always does and casts haste on the party to start things off!
[10:13] <@Ebiris> roll 1d100 haste spell failure
[10:13] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d100 haste spell failure --> [ 1d100=88 ]{88}As everyone is gleefully accelerated past mundane speeds she draws Afame and flies towards the golem, her floating disk moving a mere twenty feet so as to remain within her range of maintenance. "Help yourself to the sun sword if you think you can carry it!" she calls even as she brazenly leads the attack, drawing Afame and stabbing into the golem's shoulders before darting back twenty feet away from it.
[10:20] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+55 6th level arcane strike --> [ 1d20=7 ]{62}
[10:20] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+50 6th level arcane strike
[10:20] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+50 6th level arcane strike --> [ 1d20=13 ]{63}
[10:20] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4+22+2d6+6d4
[10:20] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d4+22+2d6+6d4 --> [ 1d4=4 2d6=10 6d4=16 ]{52}
[10:20] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4+22+2d6+6d4
[10:20] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d4+22+2d6+6d4 --> [ 1d4=4 2d6=7 6d4=14 ]{47}
Afame is a Linthrum/Adamantine alloy so hopefully strikes as adamantine for overcoming DR. It's a +5 weapon, though I did ask around the end of the original game if it became epic when Afina did and never got an answer 'cause of the game ending.
Afina 185+20/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), shield (CL 23), haste (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25)
AC 72 (touch 54, flat footed 72), spell resistance 38, 50% miss chance (applies to single target spells as well), blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/7/8/8/9/7/7/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
What's Afame's stat block?
Afame - Adamantine/linthrum small short sword +5, skirmishing
- Afina is constantly feels warm and damp, like in gloriously moist fires. This gives her the benefits of Avoid Planar Effects and Endure Elements spell. This ability is always active as long as the sword is held.
- Against creatures anathema to Afina (devils) and to Creation (creatures from beyond), this sword deals an extra 5d6 points of damage per strike.
- Part of Afina's natural world is speed and dodging. As a swift action, she may grant herself a +4 dodge bonus to armor class while holding this sword. This may be used at will.
- Once per day, Afina may bestow some of her elemental energies to a willing creature by touch. This is a full round action. Doing so grants that creature the half fire or water elemental template (Afina's choice). This lasts for 24 hours. Doing so takes some of Afina's life energy, and she suffers a -2 penalty to constitution during this time. This penalty cannot be removed until the 24 hours pass.
Does it say anything about the weapon evolving with Afina? Serious question.
No, I just took it as read that it would adjust so she'd feel earthy/airy when she got those elements and that she'd be able to transfer earth/air elemental energies when she had them as well, so I asked the epic question just 'cause being epic is a thing in terms of someone's status/existence and thus might be reflected on the weapon.
As of now, it isn't. It may well be once you gain more elemental templates or become a prismatic pixie.
Afina flies right on in, hacking at the golem's shoulders before retreating back. It makes shallow cuts that immediately begin to repair, her arcane fire helping her melt into the golem's body but barely making serious progress. It's reminiscent of hitting a steel wall with your bare fists and about as effective.
Surraruthru is up. Go.
First a K:A Roll:
> roll 1d20+32 K:A
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+32 K:A --> [ 1d20=8 ]{40}
Surraruthru doesn't remember anything new, beyond what Jaela and Kascha have added.
Surraruthru calls up his magic, casting a series of spells!
Casting Time Stop, then using my Summon Nature's Ally IV 1/day SLA to summon a Unicorn to aid the others with heals and stufffs, and then use my remaining actions to move past it to the chest. With haste, my fly speed is 130 ft. There's rolling and stuff that needs to happen, so I'll continue once we figure out the number of rounds and stuff after.Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Okay, roll and post your time stop rounds.
> roll 1d4+1 Time Stop
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d4+1 Time Stop --> [ 1d4=4 ]{5}
You have 5 rounds. Summoning the unicorn takes one, flying over there takes another. You have 3 rounds to burn and you're at the treasure chest. Now what?
Surraruthru inspect the chest, looking it over for any tricks or traps!
Make your search check as normal.
> roll 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding --> [ 1d20=1 ]{35}
Luckily for you, there's no crit fails on skill checks.
Surraruthru can tell the chest is trapped. Sealed is more accurate, it won't open until a certain creature is defeated. A unique, powerful custom enchantment. He might be able to disable it, though.
2 rounds left.
Surraruthru eyes the chest grumpily, but decides to cast another spell on it, hopefully getting rid of the magical trap.
Casting Greater Dispel as Beguiler, CL 24
> roll 1d20+24 CL Check
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+24 CL Check --> [ 1d20=5 ]{29}
Edit: Correction, maxes at +20. Total of 25.
No good, the magic doesn't buckle despite Surraruthru's power.
1 round left.
Surraruthru growls at the chest and tries again.
> roll 1d20+20 CL Check
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+20 CL Check --> [ 1d20=14 ]{34}
Surraruthru throws his magic at the chest once more. This time the enchantment on it pops, allowing the chest to be opened.
You still have a move action, which could be used to open the chest before time stop ends, if you'd like to.
Surraruthru quietly clacks his jaws in satisfaction at beating the enchantment on the chest!
If there's space to hide behind the chest I'll move to it, otherwise I'll just rely on my invisibility.
There is. Make a Hide check.
> roll 1d20+47 Hide
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+47 Hide --> [ 1d20=10 ]{57}
Surraruthru hides behind the chest. Time resumes for the others. Suddenly there's a unicorn instead of a fairy dragon and...
Unicorn's up. As its your summon, you run the unicorn, Surraruthru.
Initiative order is Afina (38) > Surraruathru = Unicorn (30) > Kascha (22) > Jaela (Miko 14) > Mirajane (Like Mother 8) > Adamantine Golem (5)
The Unicorn snorts at the golem, but simply eyes the group.
Going to hold action since I summoned it mainly as a distraction/heal bot and no one's hurt yet.
Kascha's up.
Kascha starts to say something but stops, a smile showing. "Oh, a unicorn!" she says, reaching a hand out to pet it - before the golem takes a single, thunderous step forward. She jerks back and quickly starts to chant. "Seira, I ask of you to open the gate of Heaven! Shine down on us now and forever, so that we will triumph!" Golden light surrounds all the party, even the unicorn.
Celestial Valor cast. It has the following bonuses.
+8 sacred vs fear and any emotion based attacks.
+4 sacred to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, armor class and saving throws.
Weapons count as holy, dealing +2d6 vs evil. Doesn't stack with holy weapons or other similar effects.
Jaela's up, Kascha's otherwise staying back on this one.
[spoiler]
Kascha: 258/258 Spells used: 7th: Elemental Body 9th: Wish. 10th: Energy Immunity Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Elemental Body (CL 24), Haste (CL 23), Celestial Valor (CL 23)
Mirajane 283/283 Spells used: 10th: Mass Freedom of Movement. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Energy Immunity (Fire) (CL 23), Haste (CL 23), Celestial Valor (CL 23)
Arrel: 350/350 Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Haste (CL 23), Celestial Valor (CL 23)
+8 sacred vs fear and any emotion based attacks.
+4 sacred to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, armor class and saving throws.
Weapons count as holy, dealing +2d6 vs evil. Doesn't stack with holy weapons or other similar effects.
Mirajane is using the following.
Gae Ardaigh MkII: Longspear+1, wounding and valorous. This is an intelligent weapon. Chaotic Good, int 18, wis 18, cha 10. Can communicate with speech. It has 10 ranks in sense motive (+14 total modifier). It can use light 3/day as an spell like ability. It can use clairvoyance and dimensional anchor 3/day as an SLA. Caster level 15th.
Currently under Greater Magic Weapon (CL 25) as Longspear+5, wounding and valorous.
"Let's do this!" Jaela cries out, bolstered by the magic of her allies. The world she perceives elongate into a tunnel where only she and the golem exist, and as she charges at her opponent head on so does her spear to strike at its vitals!
[21:01] <@Annerose> roll 1d20+54 charge, divine might, lunging impalement
[21:01] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d20+54 charge, divine might, lunging impalement --> [ 1d20=16 ]{70}
[21:04] <@Annerose> roll 1d8+42+13 silver this round, bypasses DR for 10 rounds starting next round
[21:04] <Kobot> Annerose rolled 1d8+42+13 silver this round, bypasses DR for 10 rounds starting next round --> [ 1d8=6 ]{61}
Charging to strike from 20ft, will accept AoO if the golem can still somehow hit me. Channeled Moon Bolt spell presumably autofails.Jaela 318+15/318, CMB +36/CMD 73 (Divine Favor, Celestial Valor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, Divine Favor, K.Devotion, Celestial Valor): +52/+52/+47/+42/+37, 1d8+42+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Init +12; Fort +52, Ref +44, Will +52; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 67 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft, +8 vs fear/emotion.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/5/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7
Jaela charges headlong at the threat, lunging out far longer than she should be able to. She hits the golem in the leg, a loud tink as contact is made. She manages to carve a shallow hole into it, the metal resisting far too well.
After that, Mirajane's right behind you. She joins Jaela at her side, 20ft away from it. "It's about to-" Is all she gets out as a wall of iron appears right behind Afina, Jaela and Mirajane.
This is a spell-like ability if you'd like to try your countering game, Jaela.
Jaela decides not to risk it and waste next round's swift action on a 50/50 chance.
The wall that springs up is complete. It blocks the way back utterly, keeping Kascha and the unicorn sequestered from the rest of the party. The golem then takes a few steps forward, advancing 5ft. Both fists go out - one for Jaela and one for Afina.
> roll 1d20+49 vs Jaela
<Kobot> Ko-NitoriSolvesProblems rolled 1d20+49 vs Jaela --> [ 1d20=6 ]{55}
> roll 1d20+49 vs Afina
<Kobot> Ko-NitoriSolvesProblems rolled 1d20+49 vs Afina --> [ 1d20=14 ]{63}
But Afina's far too fast, weaving out of the way of the golem. Jaela just blocks with her spear, stopping the attack cold.
Afina.
Those walls could sure grow concerning... she'll leave it for now in case Kascha or Mirajane have a solution, not trusting her own magic despite its successes so far. Darting under the golem's outstretched fist she scores a hit under its arm and across its flank before flying up and to the side behind it, trying to keep her distance for now.
[19:27] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+59 6th level arcane strike
[19:27] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+59 6th level arcane strike --> [ 1d20=15 ]{74}
[19:27] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+54 6th level arcane strike
[19:27] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+54 6th level arcane strike --> [ 1d20=14 ]{68}
[19:28] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4+26+2d6+6d4
[19:28] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d4+26+2d6+6d4 --> [ 1d4=2 2d6=4 6d4=15 ]{47}
[19:28] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4+26+2d6+6d4
[19:28] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d4+26+2d6+6d4 --> [ 1d4=2 2d6=3 6d4=17 ]{48}
Afina 185+20/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), shield (CL 23), haste (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25), celestial valour (CL 23)
AC 76 (touch 58, flat footed 76), spell resistance 38, 50% miss chance (applies to single target spells as well), blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/7/8/8/9/7/6/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
Afina's blade slices into the golem - shallow scratches that mend almost as fast as she can make them. Its previous injuries are regenerating as well, adamantine flowing to fill them in.
Surraruthru, you're up. Go.
Surraruthru creeps around to the front of the chest and tries to open it and take the loot! Then the group can escape!
Make a Move Silently check, Surraruthru?
> roll 1d20+47 Move Silently
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+47 Move Silently --> [ 1d20=16 ]{63}Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Surraruthru peeks out, opening the chest silently. Within the chest lies a longspear. It has a shaft of white ash wood and a head composed of seven needle-like blades rather than one tip. As Surraruthru grabs it...
Alignment, Surraruthru?
Chaotic GoodSurraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
The spear feels good to the touch. He grabs it, the weapon now in claw.
Initiative order is Afina (38) > Surraruathru = Unicorn (30) > Kascha (22) > Jaela (Miko 14) > Mirajane (Like Mother 8) > Adamantine Golem (5)
Unicorn is up. It can see Kascha and nothing else - the way ahead is blocked by that iron wall.
The unicorn moves so that it can see around the wall.
The unicorn finds that the wall blocks the entire way from wall to wall.
Anything else?
Nope.
What Kascha does is unknown to the party, as they can't see her and there's no obvious sign of it.
Jaela's up.
"So how did one of Lathander's elite forces ended up a mere guard for a hidden trap door in a dungeon?" Jaela asks, taking a couple steps closer to position herself in a way that practically invites retaliation if her words are not enough. "Not that I mind you're not out there saving worlds and smiting undead if it means we get to spar like this!"
This time around, she aims a bit higher. The knee joint should do!
5ft step to be within 10ft. Full attack with Gambit (opponents get +4 to attack and damage), Ordained Champion's Holy Warrior activated for 5 rounds including this one.Jaela 318+15/318, CMB +41/CMD 78 (Divine Favor, Celestial Valor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, Divine Favor, K.Devotion, Celestial Valor): +57/+57/+52/+47/+42, 1d8+49+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Init +12; Fort +52, Ref +44, Will +52; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 67 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft, +8 vs fear/emotion.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/5/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7; Divine Might 2/13 rounds, Holy Warrior 1/5 rounds
[12:00] <Franceska> roll 1d20+57
[12:00] <Franceska> roll 1d20+57
[12:00] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d20+57 --> [ 1d20=4 ]{61}
[12:00] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d20+57 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{70}
[12:00] <Franceska> roll 1d20+52
[12:00] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d20+52 --> [ 1d20=11 ]{63}
[12:00] <Franceska> roll 1d20+47
[12:00] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d20+47 --> [ 1d20=9 ]{56}
[12:01] <Franceska> roll 1d20+42
[12:01] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d20+42 --> [ 1d20=4 ]{46}
[12:01] <Franceska> roll 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10
[12:01] <Franceska> roll 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10
[12:01] <Franceska> roll 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10
[12:01] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10 --> [ 1d8=6 ]{55}
[12:01] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10 --> [ 1d8=7 ]{56}
[12:01] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10 --> [ 1d8=4 ]{53}
[12:01] <Franceska> roll 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10
[12:01] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10 --> [ 1d8=2 ]{51}
[12:01] <Franceska> roll 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10
[12:01] <Kobot> Franceska rolled 1d8+49 bypasses DR round 1 of 10 --> [ 1d8=2 ]{51}
This time Jaela's weapon strikes true. She thrusts and thrusts at it, tearing deep into the enchanted adamantine. She manages to rip three holes into its middle before it manages to lower an arm to block it, the last two failing against that defense. Mirajane holds position briefly before taking a 5ft step forward, a few careful, prodding stabs at the golem.
> roll 1d20+39 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+39 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=8 ]{47}
> roll 1d20+39 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+39 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=12 ]{51}
> roll 1d20+34 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+34 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=6 ]{40}
> roll 1d20+29 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+29 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=11 ]{40}
> roll 1d20+24 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+24 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=15 ]{39}
They are all simple, probing pokes. More feeling it out to Jaela's experienced eye than actually attacking. The golem's arm blocks them all and then it steps back another 5ft. Suddenly another wall of iron appears where it was.
Golem's up. Going to counterspell, Jaela?
[spoiler]
Kascha: 258/258 Spells used: 7th: Elemental Body 9th: Wish. 10th: Celestial Valor, Energy Immunity Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Elemental Body (CL 24), Haste (CL 23), Celestial Valor (CL 23)
Mirajane 283/283 Spells used: 10th: Mass Freedom of Movement. Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22), Energy Immunity (Fire) (CL 23), Haste (CL 23), Celestial Valor (CL 23)
Arrel: 350/350 Buffs: Freedom of Movement (CL 22)
+8 sacred vs fear and any emotion based attacks.
+4 sacred to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, armor class and saving throws.
Weapons count as holy, dealing +2d6 vs evil. Doesn't stack with holy weapons or other similar effects.
Mirajane is using the following.
Gae Ardaigh MkII: Longspear+1, wounding and valorous. This is an intelligent weapon. Chaotic Good, int 18, wis 18, cha 10. Can communicate with speech. It has 10 ranks in sense motive (+14 total modifier). It can use light 3/day as an spell like ability. It can use clairvoyance and dimensional anchor 3/day as an SLA. Caster level 15th.
Currently under Greater Magic Weapon (CL 25) as Longspear+5, wounding and valorous.
This time around, Jaela refuses to let the golem cast as her will clashes with its spell!
[20:14] <Tohsaka> roll 1d100 spell failure on chain dispel
[20:14] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d100 spell failure on chain dispel --> [ 1d100=99 ]{99}
[20:14] <Tohsaka> roll 1d20+30 counterspell
[20:14] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d20+30 counterspell --> [ 1d20=10 ]{40}Jaela 318+15/318, CMB +41/CMD 78 (Divine Favor, Celestial Valor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, Divine Favor, K.Devotion, Celestial Valor): +57/+57/+52/+47/+42, 1d8+49+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Init +12; Fort +52, Ref +44, Will +52; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 68 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft, +8 vs fear/emotion.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/4/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7; Divine Might 2/13 rounds, Holy Warrior 1/5 rounds
Jaela throws all her magic at the barrier - but the sheer, simple and overwhelming power of the spell is stunning. You've fought archmages with less power behind a spell. Despite your best effort, the wall appears.
On the other side, Surraruthru can see the golem rear back and punch the wall with all it has.
> roll 1d20+49
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+49 --> [ 1d20=20 ]{69}
> roll 6d10+40
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 6d10+40 --> [ 6d10=35 ]{75}
On the other side, a chunk of the wall bulges out - before it tips forward, falling right onto the party.
Due to the previous wall being in place, you don't have room to dodge. As written, that means you wouldn't get a Reflex save against this and the 10d6 damage it provokes. However, I generally don't agree with that sort of thing, so you will get a Reflex save. I will impose a -10 circumstance penalty to the save, however.
Make Reflex saves Afina, Jaela and Mirajane.
[18:24] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+38-10 evasion
[18:24] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+38-10 evasion --> [ 1d20=1 ]{29}
Afina 185+20/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), shield (CL 23), haste (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25), celestial valour (CL 23)
AC 76 (touch 58, flat footed 76), spell resistance 38, 50% miss chance (applies to single target spells as well), blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/7/8/8/9/7/6/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
[20:27] <Tohsaka> roll 1d20+44-10 evasion
[20:27] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d20+44-10 evasion --> [ 1d20=1 ]{35}Jaela 318+15/318, CMB +41/CMD 78 (Divine Favor, Celestial Valor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, Divine Favor, K.Devotion, Celestial Valor): +57/+57/+52/+47/+42, 1d8+49+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Init +12; Fort +52, Ref +44, Will +52; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 68 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft, +8 vs fear/emotion.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/4/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7; Divine Might 2/13 rounds, Transmuting 1/10 rounds, Holy Warrior 1/5 rounds
> roll 1d20+24 Mirajane (+4 celestial valor, +1 haste, -10 circumstance)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+24 Mirajane (+4 celestial valor, +1 haste, -10 circumstance) --> [ 1d20=20 ]{44}
Before anyone else reacts, Mirajane kneels and thrusts her spear up. The wall plummets, the sight of that plus the sheer speed catching the other two off guard. It crashes down on them, crushing them beneath it.
> roll 10d6 Afina and Jaela full
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 10d6 Afina and Jaela full --> [ 10d6=34 ]{34}
CRUNCH! Both steam pixie and angel's vision is blocked by tons of iron pressing them down. Pain as they're crushed hard enough to turn a peasant into a greasy smear on the ground. They're both alive and relatively unhurt, but having all this iron on you is a problem. A moment later you hear a second crash, not that you're in any position to worry about that.
Surraruthru can see it happen. The first wall falls and hits the second, which gives it up and tumbles backwards as well. Kascha and the unicorn are still where they are, most of the floor now covered in fallen iron. The first wall has a bulge in it, right where it fell on Mirajane. A little dome, as if a force managed to protect her.
Afina and Jaela, you're being crushed by a wall of iron. This is obviously suboptimal. You can't move nor can you cast spells with somatic components. A Strength check to lift the wall is possible, as are actions that don't require moving and spells that don't require somatic components.
Afina, you're up.
Afina is trapped and unable to kill! Unable to move her limbs under this crushing weight she tries to dimension door her way out, only for her magic to fizzle under the mana-burn she's currently suffering. Unwilling to let it lie like that she attempts speeding herself up enough to squeeze another attempt, but this magic too slips away from her!
[18:41] <@Ebiris> roll 1d100 spell failure dimension door
[18:41] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d100 spell failure --> [ 1d100=8 ]{8}
[18:42] <@Ebiris> roll 1d100 spell failure x2 haste/time stop
[18:42] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d100 spell failure x2 --> [ 1d100=10 ]{10}
Afina 181/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), shield (CL 23), haste (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25), celestial valour (CL 23)
AC 76 (touch 58, flat footed 76), spell resistance 38, 50% miss chance (applies to single target spells as well), blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/7/8/8/8/7/5/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
"Mirajane!" Jaela calls out, muffled though she might be by a wall of iron crushing down her pride. "Are you alright? Can you get to me?"
"Trying," Mirajane says, "I have it!"
Initiative order is Afina (38) > Surraruathru = Unicorn (30) > Kascha (22) > Jaela (Miko 14) > Mirajane (Like Mother 8) > Adamantine Golem (5)
Go Surraruthru.
Surraruthru sees the others in trouble and decides to use his Disintegration spell on the wall to free them as he flies towards Mirajane to give her the spear!
> roll 1d20+17 Ranged Touch
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+17 Ranged Touch --> [ 1d20=3 ]{20}
> roll 26d6 Disintegrate dam. CL 13
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 26d6 Disintegrate dam. CL 13 --> [ 26d6=96 ]{96}Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Modify message
A large hunk of the wall is gone, freeing Afina and Jaela. They can see and breathe once more, "Yes, like that," Kascha calls, as...
Unicorn's up.
The Unicorn snorts and uses its Cure Moderate Wounds on Afina!
> roll 2d8+5 Unicorn heals
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 2d8+5 Unicorn heals --> [ 2d8=10 ]{15}
Afina's pain from being crushed lessens, restoring some of her vitality.
Kascha's up. She'll hold to try and interdict another wall if it appears. Jaela.
Suddenly freed, Jaela's first thought is to glance in Mirajane's direction. But she had said that she had a plan to deal with this, and trust has to start somewhere. It helps, she muses, that Mirajane had somehow interdicted with Gae Ardaigh.
"Tell me if you need help!" she call over to Mirajane, and then her focus is consumed by hurting the massive golem even more! Her aim was a bit off before, but now she tries to center on the knee joints with her strikes....
34 damage, DR20, 1 temp hp left from 15. Still using Gambit, and if Mirajane manages to rejoin me I want to try the Angelfeather Stone gambit.
[22:15] <Tohsaka> roll 1d20+57
[22:15] <Tohsaka> roll 1d20+57
[22:15] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d20+57 --> [ 1d20=5 ]{62}
[22:15] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d20+57 --> [ 1d20=15 ]{72}
[22:15] <Tohsaka> roll 1d20+52
[22:16] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d20+52 --> [ 1d20=17 ]{69}
[22:16] <Tohsaka> roll 1d20+47
[22:16] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d20+47 --> [ 1d20=8 ]{55}
[22:16] <Tohsaka> roll 1d20+42
[22:16] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d20+42 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{60}
[22:16] <Tohsaka> roll 1d8+49+13
[22:16] <Tohsaka> roll 1d8+49+13
[22:16] <Tohsaka> roll 1d8+49+13
[22:16] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=7 ]{69}
[22:16] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=3 ]{65}
[22:16] <Tohsaka> roll 1d8+49+13
[22:16] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=1 ]{63}
[22:16] <Kobot> Tohsaka rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=3 ]{65}
Jaela 318+1/318, CMB +41/CMD 78 (Divine Favor, Celestial Valor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, Divine Favor, K.Devotion, Celestial Valor): +57/+57/+52/+47/+42, 1d8+49+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Init +12; Fort +52, Ref +44, Will +52; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 68 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft, +8 vs fear/emotion.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/4/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7; Divine Might 3/13 rounds, Transmuting 2/10 rounds, Holy Warrior 2/5 rounds
Jaela thrusts out with a series of jabs, several of them tearing deep into the golem. She leaps up and tears it open from middle to neck, a tremendous squeal of tearing adamantine. The injuries are still healing, but far slower than Jaela's dishing them out. Yet it still doesn't move - it's like hacking apart a boulder with a pickaxe, slow and laborious.
Meanwhile Mirajane attacks, trying to bust the iron around her.
> rollroll 1d20+39 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+39 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=17 ]{56}
> roll 1d20+39 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+39 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=14 ]{53}
> roll 1d20+34 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+34 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=13 ]{47}
> roll 1d20+29 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+29 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=5 ]{34}
> roll 1d20+24 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste)
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+24 (+4 gmw, +4 celestial valor, +1 haste) --> [ 1d20=6 ]{30}
> roll 1d8+19
> roll 1d8+19
> roll 1d8+19
> roll 1d8+19
> roll 1d8+19
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d8+19 --> [ 1d8=6 ]{25}
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d8+19 --> [ 1d8=3 ]{22}
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d8+19 --> [ 1d8=1 ]{20}
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d8+19 --> [ 1d8=4 ]{23}
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d8+19 --> [ 1d8=7 ]{26}
A series of blows slowly expands the safe zone around Mirajane, until a final thrust tears a hole open in the wall. Mirajane emerges out, safe once more.
As she climbs out, the adamantine golem turns to Jaela, taking a pair of swings at her.
> roll 1d20+49
> roll 1d20+49
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+49 --> [ 1d20=16 ]{65}
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+49 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{67}
> OOC: Forgot the +4 from gambit, so those both hit AC 68.
> roll 1d20+53 crit confirm 1
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+53 crit confirm 1 --> [ 1d20=19 ]{72}
> roll 1d20+53 crit confirm 2
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+53 crit confirm 2 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{56}
> roll 1d20+53 crit confirm 1
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+53 crit confirm 1 --> [ 1d20=19 ]{72}
> roll 1d20+53 crit confirm 2
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+53 crit confirm 2 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{56}
> roll 1d100 1-20 miss chance 1
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 1-20 miss chance 1 --> [ 1d100=3 ]{3}
> roll 1d100 1-20 miss chance 2
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 1-20 miss chance 2 --> [ 1d100=4 ]{4}
Jaela just got seriously lucky, though Fortunate Fate would ensure survival.
Both blows are nigh overwhelming, but Jaela just barely dodges. Both blows hit the ground, shattering it and sending cracks along the floor and up the walls.
Afina's up.
Also this got lost in the shuffle of a big post: Take your AoOs for gambit, Jaela.
The first strike passes through an afterimage, while Jaela's cloak diverts the other, as if through a will of its own. And each time, she retaliates!
7:47 AM <Tifa> roll 1d20+57 AoO
7:47 AM <Kobot> Tifa rolled 1d20+57 AoO --> [ 1d20=8 ]{65}
7:47 AM <Tifa> roll 1d20+57 AoO
7:47 AM <Kobot> Tifa rolled 1d20+57 AoO --> [ 1d20=13 ]{70}
7:48 AM <Tifa> roll 1d8+49+13
7:48 AM <Kobot> Tifa rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=8 ]{70}
7:48 AM <Tifa> roll 1d8+49+13
7:48 AM <Kobot> Tifa rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=5 ]{67}Jaela 318+1/318, CMB +41/CMD 78 (Divine Favor, Celestial Valor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, Divine Favor, K.Devotion, Celestial Valor): +57/+57/+52/+47/+42, 1d8+49+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Init +12; Fort +52, Ref +44, Will +52; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 68 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft, +8 vs fear/emotion.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/4/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7; Divine Might 3/13 rounds, Transmuting 2/10 rounds, Holy Warrior 2/5 rounds
"I can't do any real damage, so I'm counting on you Jaela!" Afina says, zipping up from her freshly disintegrated spot of iron wall to fly around the back of the golem, threatening it and striking solely to distract!
Flanking the golem and aid anothering on Jaela's attack for +4 total
[17:26] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+53 aid another
[17:26] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+53 aid another --> [ 1d20=8 ]{61}
Afina 185/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), shield (CL 23), haste (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25), celestial valour (CL 23)
AC 76 (touch 58, flat footed 76), spell resistance 38, 50% miss chance (applies to single target spells as well), blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/7/8/8/8/7/5/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
Jaela strikes twice more, deeply skewering its chest. She's tearing it apart, many holes now in it. But it stands yet as Afina maneuvers around.
This provokes an AoO since you aren't using spring attack on it. Normally I'd ask, but it only hits on a 20, so I'm going to take the liberty of rolling it for the sake of getting things moving again. With your AC I'm pretty sure you'd chance it anyway. In the event it hits, crits and beats your miss chance, I'll deal with it then.
> roll 1d20+49 vs AC 76, needs a 20
<Kobot> Ko-Kappafear rolled 1d20+49 vs AC 76, needs a 20 --> [ 1d20=7 ]{56}
The golem takes a backhanded swing at Afina, but she's far too fast to hit. She zips behind it, getting into position.
Surraruthru and unicorn are up. Go.
Surraruthru drops the spear at Mirajane's feet.
"That was in the chest! Enjoy it!"
I'm going to hold past that for now. I don't really have much more to contribute against a magically immune foe. Unicorn will similarly hold since no one else is currently hurt.Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
"Jaela, finish it!" Kascha calls, still holding.
Mirajane smiles at that, reaching for the spear in the meantime.
She holds. Jaela's up, go.
There is no time for trickery this time around! With everyone counting on her and Mirajane there ready to pick up the slack should she fail, Jaela opts for an all out attack!
Just a full attack while flanking with Afina, no gambit or anything complex.
7:25 AM <Rin> roll 1d20+61
7:25 AM <Kobot> Rin rolled 1d20+61 --> [ 1d20=6 ]{67}
7:25 AM <Rin> roll 1d20+59
7:25 AM <Kobot> Rin rolled 1d20+59 --> [ 1d20=16 ]{75}
7:25 AM <Rin> roll 1d20+54
7:25 AM <Kobot> Rin rolled 1d20+54 --> [ 1d20=10 ]{64}
7:25 AM <Rin> roll 1d20+49
7:25 AM <Kobot> Rin rolled 1d20+49 --> [ 1d20=20 ]{69}
7:25 AM <Rin> roll 1d20+44
7:25 AM <Kobot> Rin rolled 1d20+44 --> [ 1d20=8 ]{52}
7:25 AM <•Ko-Kappafear> Oooh, nice.
7:26 AM <•Ko-Kappafear> Dice, I mean.
7:26 AM <Rin> roll 1d8+49+13
7:26 AM <Rin> roll 1d8+49+13
7:26 AM <Kobot> Rin rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=6 ]{68}
7:26 AM <Rin> roll 1d8+49+13
7:26 AM <Kobot> Rin rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=8 ]{70}
7:26 AM <Kobot> Rin rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=7 ]{69}
7:26 AM <Rin> roll 1d8+49+13
7:26 AM <Kobot> Rin rolled 1d8+49+13 --> [ 1d8=3 ]{65}Jaela 318+1/318, CMB +41/CMD 78 (Divine Favor, Celestial Valor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, Divine Favor, K.Devotion, Celestial Valor): +57/+57/+52/+47/+42, 1d8+49+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Init +12; Fort +52, Ref +44, Will +52; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 68 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft, +8 vs fear/emotion.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/4/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 260min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 240min), Good Hope (CL 25, duration 15min), Divine Favor (CL25, duration 1min)
~10 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7; Divine Might 4/13 rounds, Transmuting 3/10 rounds, Holy Warrior 3/5 rounds
Jaela leaps up, wings supporting her as she lands on the fist of the golem. In a blur she sprints up the golem's arm and shoulder, reaching atop his head. For one moment she stands there, before leaping up. Both of the golem's fists come up, smashing where she was and crushing its head. As the arms fall down from the failed strike, Jaela brings her spear down dead center into the golem's crushed head. She plunges down and deep, adamantine tearing around her as the sheer force of her strike burrows a hole into the golem. She goes all the way through, landing between its legs as the now cored-out golem falls apart.
Free act. Nicely done.
Jaela twirls her spear before rescalling it back into her gauntlet. It's the done thing, after all!
Then her gaze falls down on the spear now in Mirajane's hands, and she grins. "Handy. So that's what we're given for getting past the guard?"
Ranks are unlocked by using them in battles of the appropriate CR or higher. Multiple ranks can be unlocked in a particular battle if it meets the CR requirements and is particularly epic.
Rank 1: CR 10 or sparring, fire resistance 10, 100ft range.
Rank 2: CR 13, +2 fortitude saves, 125ft range.
Rank 3: CR 15, searing light at will as an SLA, 150ft range.
Rank 4: CR 18, +2 reflex saves, 200ft range.
Rank 5: CR 20, flame strike at will, 300ft range.
Rank 6: CR 21, +2 will saves, 400ft range.
Rank 7: CR 24, +2d6 goldenfire damage on weapon damage rolls, natural attacks and spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor, 700ft range.
Rank 8: CR 27, immunity to fire, 1000ft range.
Rank 9: CR 29, save bonuses increase to +7, 5000ft range.
Rank 10: CR 32, goldenfire damage rises to +4d6, unlimited range as long as on same plane.
Rank 11: CR 35, sunburst at will as an SLA.
Rank 12: CR 40, goldenfire damage rises to +6d6, gain goldenfire spell as a bonus feat.
"I'm impressed! You Aurora people really know how to fight!"
Surraruthru flies in a circle above the others, eager to hear about the spear!
"For all its power, it seemed to lack a mind of its own," Jaela notes. "Let's get back to Arrel, unless there's something else here you found?"
Surraruthru takes that as a personal queue to continue his treasure hoard crusade and looks the room over!
OOC: Figured I'd do this for speed/condensing of posts:
> roll 1d20+34 Search
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+34 Search --> [ 1d20=17 ]{51}
Afina merely smiles as her faith in Jaela is justified, waiting for Surrurathru to male his sweep before they go back up to Arrel.
"Thank you," Mirajane murmurs, hefting the spear. She studies it slowly as Surraruthru searches the room. "Ah, so that's what it does."
> roll 1d20+32
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+32 --> [ 1d20=20 ]{52}
Surraruthru finds nothing unusual. Well, besides all the hunks of adamantine left over from the golem, anyway.
Loot post.
Surraruthru finishes his loop around the room and returns to the others.
"Only thing I can find is the golem left overs! Afina, didn't you say the Adamantine was valuable? We should take that!"
The adamantine chunks lie there, quite large and heavy looking. Getting many of them into your bag of holding would be difficult without shrinking or breaking them down somehow.
"You can stack some on the floating disk," Afina offers. "Any more and we'll need to rely on bags of holding and the like." Unless anyone wants to strain their back, but she doubts it.
Disk can carry 2300lbs - whatever the large adamantine greatsword weighs
I also have my Handy Haversack/saddlebags. They're pretty much empty right now except for my bedroll stuff. It can hold 120 pounds I think.
Afina gets hunks of adamantine on the disk and more is put in the bags of holding. A good part of it is still left behind - it's either too heavy or too big to go into bags.
Loot post updated, balls in y'all's court.
"Hmm... Maybe we can ask the other golem to transport the rest to us once we finish? We should go back now, I think. More to find, further east to go!"
"Lets just be grateful for what we can carry," Afina says, flying up to reunite with Arrel and dragging her floating disk after her.
The party thus returns up. To refresh:
The room is like the previous one. There are passages to the east and west here. The passage to the east goes on 15ft before sloping downwards and out of sight, while the passage to the west goes 40ft before turning north once more. Afina had just begun to go east before Surraruthru found the secret passage.
Arrel awaits you, "Well?" he asks, "What did you find? I heard a terrible clashing of metal."
"Golem! And a spear in a chest. We have that and some adamantine from the golem. There's a bunch more down there, but we couldn't carry all of it."
Arrel inspects the various hunks of adamantine.
> roll 1d20+28 appraise
<Kobot> Ko-NitorisTwistedIndustries rolled 1d20+28 appraise --> [ 1d20=13 ]{41}
"Several thousand gold of it, though it's in terrible shape after all it's been through. What did you do to it?" Arrel clacks his beak shut.
"Me? Nothing! I got the spear. They stabbed it. Many times. And it dropped a wall on them. Afina, Mirajane, and Jaela."
"Unfortunate, but the gold it earns at market will help your hoard," Arrel remarks, "Will you keep the coins or purchase something to take their place?"
"Not sure yet... On one hand, I could use a couple things to help stay alive... On the other... Hoard. I'll have to consider carefully."
"Indeed," Arrel clacks his beak once more, "Do you know the trick of taking humanoid form? With all you wear, that form would suit you better. Humanoid bodies are better designed to wear things, for they are weaker and need the magical support."
Surraruthru cocks his head and looks down at his equipment, before he realizes that he's invisible.
"I know a spell for it from my studies... But.. Why would I want to be anything other than a dragon?"
The eagle dragon gives Surraruthru a long look, before he simply says, "I concede to your point."
Kascha giggles a little bit at that, "Now you sound like a real dragon."
Surraruthru huffs at Kascha's comment.
"I always sound like a real dragon! I *am* a real dragon! Therefore, everything I say will sound like a real dragon!"
"Be that as it may," Mirajane interjects now, "The future shows us going ahead and talking another time."
"Humph! East, then. I'm supposed to guard the rear so lead!"
"Adamantine is adamantine," Afina says, unbothered by the damaged state of the metal. "We can melt it down for re-use, maybe try forging in Goldenfire again. Mirajane could try?" she suggests, recalling something about her making a weapon to deal with Father.
In any case she leads the way East for now.
As if reading Afina's mind, "Perhaps, though I have not yet trained to do so."
Meanwhile the party goes east and down. This passage leads down and ahead. Soon you come to the end of it - where a pond of goldenfire blocks the way. A waterfall of goldenfire falls from above, cascading into the pond. It's inconstant, and during the slower flows, you can see a tunnel is behind the waterfall.
"Oo... Pretty. It'd be better if it was a waterfall of liquid gold, though. ... That might be a good idea for a lair accent..."
Surraruthru begins planning a dream lair as he loops around the others.
Mirajane meanwhile studies the waterfall silently, while Arrel clacks his beak, "Walls to shield us again?"
"Kascha, Mirajane, can either of you two provide?" Afina asks since she and Jaela both have dubious magic.
Kascha and Mirajane exchange looks, the former shaking her head while the latter says, "Yes, but only if I invoke a miracle."
"Lets not ruin everyone's magic," Afina says, shaking her head. Sad thing is she could just sneak under her floating disk for cover but that won't work for anyone else except Surrurathru. "Hold on a minute, I'll go back and see if any more fire elementals have appeared. I can fashion a shelter out of the adamantine and have them carry it for us."
I cast Elemental Swarm earlier so after ten minutes another batch will show up.
[18:27] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 huge elementals
[18:27] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d4 huge elementals --> [ 1d4=1 ]{1}
Afina returns and indeed finds a huge elemental waiting for her.
Just one? Disappointing. It won't be able to lift that adamantine on its own. "I'll be a little longer!" she calls back to the others, waiting a further ten minutes for a greater elemental to arrive. "Come with me," she orders the two in crackling Ignan, marching back to the pond and waterfall. There she attempts to fabricate the salvaged adamantine into a shade...
[18:34] <@Ebiris> roll 1d100 spell failure
[18:34] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d100 spell failure --> [ 1d100=98 ]{98}And succeeds! "Hold that up overhead and out to block the waterfall," she tells the elementals who struggle manfully with the task.
Between the elementals their max load is 2,800lbs so they should be able to manage to carry the adamantine overhead albeit with some difficulty
Afina 185/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), shield (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25), celestial valour (CL 23)
AC 68 (touch 50, flat footed 68), spell resistance 38, blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/7/8/8/8/6/5/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
Doing so, the elementals are able to provide a cover of sorts. It deflects the goldenfire away, providing a path to proceed onward.
Afina flies under the cover provided, waiting till everyone's through before she orders the elementals to follow. It won't much matter if they get dunked in goldenfire, this being their first exposure and not expecting them to complete the quest after all.
This is sufficient for the party to get through. Once done, you can see the passage continues to east 80ft or so, before rising back up and out of sight. In the center of the hallway, 40ft away, is a sun emblem. It's drawn on the floor with chalk, pristine and untouched.
Surraruthru cocks his head this way and that, inspecting the area with a clicking growl.
"I do not like this. This looks like a trap."
After stating such, he inspects the area for said traps...
Visual search from current location for the moment.
> roll 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding
<Kobot> Iddy rolled 1d20+34 Search: Trapfinding --> [ 1d20=6 ]{40}
"I doubt it's a trap, but there's probably significance," Jaela agrees. "Anything magical or interesting about it, Kascha?"
How long has it passed since the fight (for the purpose of spells)? 20 minutes? More?
15 minutes now, mostly due to Afina's elemental waiting.
Surraruthru searches around it. He finds that there are two tiny circular grooves in it, as if to insert something. Kascha meanwhile looks ahead and studies it.
> roll 1d20+46 Kascha
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+46 Kascha --> [ 1d20=4 ]{50}
"There's magic there, but it's not finished," Kascha says, "There's something missing, a pair of triggers."
Surraruthru nods.
"Yes, I see where two things are supposed to go. Can't tell what, though... Divination?"
"We did get this pair of bracers here," Jaela muses, raising her own. "Think it's them?"
On a glance, you can see the bracers are much too large to fit.
"Perhaps merely going East wasn't enough and we need to explore to find the keys elsewhere in this maze?" Afina suggests.
"Makes sense. Let's double back, then."
Arrel gestures ahead with his wing. "We still have a path to follow past this," he says, "Perhaps we will find them as we explore."
"Just make sure not to disturb the chalk," Afina says, flying around the design in case it incorporates any sort of binding trap or the like. "You two wait here," she adds to her elementals. "You can set the adamantine down as well."
There's a massive CLANG of adadmantine down as the elementals obey. The party proceeds onward. The passage rises up and goes another 20ft before a new square room. This one as a green orb of light in the center and passages to the north, east and west.
Kascha immediately peers at the sphere.
> roll 1d20+46 Kascha
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+46 Kascha --> [ 1d20=7 ]{53}
She promptly takes a few steps back, then a few more. "That sphere skunks us. It makes us smell like a skunk got us, and what's worse, metal and especially adamantine is drawn to us, making it harder to avoid attacks from weapons made of metal."
Jaela perks up. "That's a nice one! Please take notes so we could put it at the Aurora's gates."
Kascha dutifully takes out her book and starts writing away. Meanwhile, Mirajane looks at it as well, "Interestingly, I saw futures where you step into it on purpose, mother."
"I don't want to smell like a skunk. Maybe I hit my head in those futures?"
"So who can disable this one?"
"A disposable summoned monster?" Afina suggests. "Surrurathru, why don't you see if any fire elementals will answer your call?"
Surraruthru perks up at this idea and gives it a shot, focusing intently on the new abilities given to him by Afina's spell.
Using 1/day Elemental Swarm summon:
> roll 2d4 Elemental Swarm
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 7 > [d4=4,3]Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Modify message
Seven fire elementals appear as summoned. They crackle, burn and wait for commands.
Surraruthru draws himself up regally to issue commands, not that anyone can see him, and commands the nearest elemental.
"You, go into that room and spring that trap! Then, go jump into the goldenfire outside."
The elemental does just that, going into the room.
> roll 1d20+30 orb
> roll 1d20+30 orb
> roll 1d20+30 orb
<Kobot> Ko-SagetorisAquarium rolled 1d20+30 orb --> [ 1d20=14 ]{44}
<Kobot> Ko-SagetorisAquarium rolled 1d20+30 orb --> [ 1d20=17 ]{47}
<Kobot> Ko-SagetorisAquarium rolled 1d20+30 orb --> [ 1d20=15 ]{45}
The elemental is promptly pelted by three rays as the sphere unravels. It immediately turns back and runs past the party and to the goldenfire. The smell is absolutely nauseating, but it's soon gone.
Surraruthru nods to himself triumphantly and takes a moment to land and pose nobly on the head of one of the elementals.
"You may proceed without worry."
Kascha does exactly that. She peers around, "North leads to stairs going up, west leads to a turn to the north and east leads to a door. A big door, looks like iron or steel."
"Well, someone try the door?" Afina asks as she follows Kascha. Her method of getting through oversized metal doors involves disintegrations and her magic remains unreliable.
"It's quicker," Jaela agrees, heading over to try and get it opened.
Most shockingly, the door is locked.
It might take time to open the door, so Jaela goes exploring to the west.
"Maybe there's a key somewhere?" Afina says, figuring it can't hurt to explore a bit and maybe find more treasure that way. Since Jaela's picked a direction she'll follow her!
The party goes west. It indeed hooks north, to which you find leads to a dead end room. However, sitting in the center of the room is another of those overly gaudy treasure chests.
Afina dutifully checks the chest over for traps!
[21:12] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+41 search
[21:12] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+41 search --> [ 1d20=18 ]{59}
The chest is not trapped.
Jaela tries to open it, more than willing to slam the butt of her spear into the lock if need be!
The chest opens. Within lies a slender wand - barely a foot long and made polished oak wood. Interwoven lines are carved into it, with tiny suns on each tip.
Jaela picks up the wand, and after giving Kascha enough time to study it she retraces her steps before heading north this time.
The moment Jaela picks up the wand, an annoyed voice calls, "Hey, hands off!" It comes right from the wand. "I was trying to take a nap! You're not going to move me to another chest again, oaf! I swear I'll throw some fire at you this time!"
"Good morning to you, then. I'm Jaela and you're going to kill Lixer's undead minions, not into another box. What's your name?"
"Oh!" Kascha's face lights up, "Are you an intelligent magic wand? How wonderful!"
The wand vibrates in Jaela's hand, "The Great Wanderous of the Wand Clan. Call me Wand." After a beat, "Of course I'm called Wand! If I had another name, I'd just confuse people when they called me something else. Like, "I'm going to point my Jaela at you and burn you up!" and everyone's wondering why you named your wand Jaela. It's awkward."
"If you like utilitarian names, why not Fire?"
"Too confusing. People call the Elemental Plane of Fire that, so it's a headache." The wand flips in your hand before replying, "So someone finally found me in this Lathander forsaken maze, eh? How do I know you're worthy of wielding me?"
"But there are lots of other wands," Afina jumps in on this name debate. "You could add a second name to narrow it down, something that's inarguably you. I went through a phase of changing mine lots recently but now I've settled on Devilsbane." Or had it chosen for her really. "I think it suits me."
"Oh yes, individuality is important," Kascha looks up from scribbling in her book, a hand batting away ioun stones from her face. "How about a name, like the Wand of Fire, or the Wand of Jaela? Something like that."
The wand huffs - how it does it without a mouth is a good question - and replies, "You fleshy creatures and your need for names. Just call me Wand already!"
"Alright, Wand," Afina says, uncaring to make a fight of it. "So what can you do?"
"Throw fire, of course. Grab me and focus on fire. You'll be good at it," The wand waggles over in Afina's direction, "Since I can smell the fire in you."
Afina flutters over to take Wand off of Jaela should she be willing to relinquish such a devastating artifact of legend, before she waves it down the way they came from.
Nothing happens. "You have the right idea, but focus on your magic. Push in some of your mana and let it flow through me."
"Don't set anything we like on fire," Jaela says dryly, relinquishing the relic.
"Ahh, I'm familiar with that skill," Afina nods, channelling unfocused magic into the implement like she would with her arcane strike technique. A third circle slot should do it, she thinks.
Afina 185/185 (-2 con), greater mage armour (CL 23), greater heroism (CL 23), shield (CL 23), fortunate fate (CL 25), celestial valour (CL 23)
AC 68 (touch 50, flat footed 68), spell resistance 38, blindsense 30, immunity to fire, disease, water, poison, fear. 50% spell failure.
Spell charges remaining: 6/7/8/7/8/6/5/7/6/7
Goldenfire exposure: 3/7
The wand is pointed and a third level spell is poured into it. You feel the magic twist and shape in thew and, before it become a little dot that flows out of the wand. "FIREBAAAALLLLLLL!" It cries, as the corner of the room explodes out into a fireball. A wave of heat washes over the party, "Aaaah, an old classic. You can't go wrong with fireball. You have good magic and good compatibility. I can use your magic to make all sorts of fire spells."
"Mmmhmm," Afina hums. "I've focused my fire magic so it can bypass resistance and even immunity with a little extra effort. Can you manage that, Wand?" Really she's got all the fire spells she'll ever need, so she's not exactly seeing much benefit in using the implement over just casting normally.
Well, situations like now where her magic is on the fritz aside anyway.
"Oh, metamagic? I can. See, you give me the mana and I shape it into the spell I want. Then BAM! Fire magic." Wand shakes in her hand, "Things burn up."
Arrel hmphs, "So we've found another Simmer?"
"Some of it's metamagic and some of it's just talent... well, we can experiment more when we're back at Aurora. Surrurathru, why don't you hold onto Wand for now so you can burn things that won't get fooled by illusion or enchantment?"
"How much around you can you sense?" Jaela asks with interest. "Can you spot the invisible dragon?"
Jaela 318+1/318, CMB +38/CMD 78 (Celestial Valor), Gae Trocaire full attack (Haste, HW, GMW, K.Devotion, Celestial Valor): +54/+54/+49/+44/+39, 1d8+46+1d6 non-lethal, x3/20, 10ft (+10ft reach with Lunging Impalement); Damage: +13 Divine Might, silver/bypasses any DR next round after successful hit for 10 rounds.
Init +12; Fort +52, Ref +44, Will +52; Speed 90ft (fly, good)
AC 68 (touch 45, incorporeal 47, flat footed 44), 20% miss chance, DR 20/evil+cold iron+epic, Fast Healing 3, Spell Resistance 33/42 vs Evil spells, Immunity to Compulsion, Disease, Petrification, Sickened, Nauseated, Fire Resistance 30, Cold Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 20, Electricity Resistance 20, Sonic Resistance 10, Blindsight 60ft, Darkivision 60ft, +8 vs fear/emotion.
Spell charges total: 6//10/9/9/7/9/8/8/8/8//5
Spell charges remaining: 4//8/4/7/1/9/8/2/4/4//5
Spells: Divine Insight (CL 25), Lore of the Gods (CL 25), Magic Vestment/shield (CL 27), Magic Vestment/chainmail (CL 27), Celestial Brilliance (CL 25), Greater Magic Weapon/all five (CL 25), Righteous Halo (CL 25), Longstrider (CL 21), Moment of Prescience (CL 21), Heroes's Feast (CL 20), Resist Energy/Fire (CL 26, duration 243min), Fortunate Fate (CL 25, duration 213min)
~27 minutes since casting Miracle, spell durations adjusted. (50% spell failure)
Goldenfire exposure, 2/7, 13/16 Turnings left
"Everything in 120 feet around me," Wand replies, "Like vision."
Things seem settled with the wand, and so Jaela proceeds towards the unexplored path once more!
The party returns to the previous room and heads north. This right to a set of steps going straight upwards. The stairs look to go on a decent ways, perhaps two stories up, before ending and leading on. Climbing up is unremarkable and the path ahead only goes 10ft before coming to a solid steel door. It's closed tightly, but just besides it is a lever built into the wall. It goes up and down and is currently set to down.
Jaela pulls the lever up.
The lever is pulled up and the door promptly opens. Ahead is a narrow hallway, and a sleepy voice calls, "Visitors? Mmmm, mmmm, mmm. Come further in."
How could she refuse such an invitation? Jaela walks down the revealed hallway!
"Hi?" Kascha calls, "Who are you?"
Mirajane murmurs, "Yes, thank you, I can understand that."
Then the voice replies, "I am...Wait a second, how'd you..." To which Mirajane merely replies, "Seer."
"I'm Jaela!" she calls over as she keeps on walking. Mirajane hadn't warned her off, after all. "Who are you, to the non-Seers among us?"
Afina is curious who owns that voice as well but doesn't see the need to add another question in to express it.
The party heads along. You soon come into a wide open room, much larger than the others. Here lies a dragon of adamantine, eyes of goldenfire blazing. It's 'only' the size of a large house. and it blocks the way forward. "I am he who is metal and yet lives, for Lathander willed it to be so. I sleep and yet do not rest, because I do not need to. I am Golden Heart. Who are you?"
Hopefully just like Smrgol this construct dragon will be uncaring as to Bahamut's curse on her brow, Afina thinks as she flutters closer. "Well met, Golden Heart. I am Afina Devilsbane. With me are Jaela, Mirajane, Kascha, Arrel, Surrurathru, and Wand."
"Hi!" Kascha smiles and gives the dragon-golem a little wave. Mirajane just nods slightly.
Arrel gives the metal dragon a long look, the two locking eyes. Nothing's said, however. Perhaps mercifully, Wand stays quiet for now.
"So Origin tossed you in this maze for some reason? What's your goal?" The dragon's long neck rises up, head against the ceiling and well above the party. "This maze has many purposes, each with a goal to be found or a reason for the trouble."
"To prove ourselves by retrieving a trinket for him, so he'd be allowed to join up with our Crusade when we give Lixer the boot," Jaela responds. "That's the prime goal for us here. Then, there's the overall goal of getting the first embers of Goldenfire to kill the Duke of Destiny. It also seems like this is your usual dungeon with riches and treasure chests, so since the Morninglord and Origin clearly want us to get useful and expensive tools to kill our enemies better, we're going after them. It makes so much sense we would be doing that even without a couple dragons on the team." She tilts her head. "I suppose recruiting anyone who wants to join the Crusade is another goal. How about it?"
"We have another awakened ironwyrm golem over there, he'd probably like to meet you," Afina chimes in after Jaela's explanation. "I'd have brought him along but he's Earth-aspected so flight doesn't agree with him."
The dragon listens to it all, a metal tongue flicking out every so often. Just like a snake's, licking at its lips. "That's a good reason. I can't leave this place, for the Morninglord depends on my presence here. But I can help you nonetheless." The dragon's eyes close and there's a soft rattle, as if all the maze were glass standing against a gale wind. "Back the way you came is a closed door. It's open now."
"That's very kind of you, thanks," Afina says with a smile. "Is it best if we keep going East to the exclusion of all else or would we be better served exploring more of the maze?"
"Ah, you figured it out," The dragon eyes Afina, "Always go east, to a new dawn and new life. Anything else is a diversion."
"We actually got told that elsewhere, but it seems prudent in any place connected with Lathander. You have our thanks, Golden Heart. Farewell," she says, taking flight back towards the presumably now opened door and beyond!
The party heads back. As they do, "That was an amazingly well mannered dragon," Kascha speaks up, "How nice of him."
"Yes, many could learn from such an example," Afina agrees blandly.
Surraruthru excitedly zips in circles and loops around Arrel and Golden Heart as the others talk.
"Bye, Golden Heart! I need to meet more dragons, so thank you for helping with that! I miss other dragons... But now I know two more! Though... I can't really visit you here often... Still... More dragons are always fun! Well, not the chromatic ones. Still, thank you! And give my thanks to Lathander! He's really helping me build my hoard. It's my first one!"
With that, Surraruthru flies off after the others, clutching Wand in two of his claws.
Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
Surraruthru gets a nod - a strange thing on a dragon - and a, "Farewell."
"Yes," Arrel thirds, "If only the rainbow was a good a learner as a speaker. Hmph."
Wand vibrates in Surraruthru's claws, "What they're saying is that most dragons are more arrogant than a pack of pit fiends. I hate fighting dragons, since it's all hubris until the end."
The door that has stopped them earlier has been opened, so Jaela heads towards it!
The party returns to the door, finding that it is indeed open. It leads to a path going about 60ft ahead, then to stairs going up. Besides the stairs is a treasure chest, just like the others you've seen in here.
Jaela risks herself by heading over to open the treasure chest!
Surraruthru begins looking over the chest for traps, but is surprised by Jaela's quick intervention and instead watches what happens with interest...
Jaela opens the chest, only to vanish.
Congratulations, you chose the one chest that was indeed trapped. Irony. Your reward is to get into a new thread, which will be posted shortly.
"That's the reward for complacency," Afina grumbles as Jaela vanishes. "Mirajane, can you divine what happened to your mother?"
Mirajane starts to say something, but instead grimaces and averts her eyes. "All I see is light. Overwhelming light. Destruction. Seven verses of destruction. Se-" Mirajane stops, shivering and rubbing her arms. "Ugh. Mother is by something powerful. She says that around a gasp, "Something that has been watching."
"Well... I don't think any of our enemies could reach her in here without Lathander's say so, so it's probably just another part of the testing," Afina says. "Should we wait and see if she returns on her own or keep going?" While Mirajane figures out which course to pursue she flutters over to take a look in the chest.
Surraruthru blinks at the disappearance and heads over to the chest, circling around it looking for the trap mechanism. Maybe he can get a better idea of what it did or where it sent Jaela.
> roll 1d20+34 Searching: Traps
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 52 > [d20=18]urraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
The chest is trapped. Opening it or taking what's inside will teleport you somewhere.
Afina looks inside, seeing a simple dagger lying within. It looks unremarkable, not even of masterwork quality. Just a dagger.
"Bah," Wand says from Surraruthru's claws, "Dungeon this, trap that. You know what fixes traps? Fire! A trap that's burned away isn't a threat."
"Taking the dagger will teleport you, too. I don't know where to, though. Do we want to go after her? This is a pretty big detour from always go east... Unless it teleports us east... Does it teleport us east?"
Surraruthru: 238/238 HP, Greater Mage Armor (CL 13), Fire subtype, Greater Invisibility, Spell Turning, Moment of Prescience (+25), Foresight
AC: 36+2Insight (Touch: 20, Flat Footed: 26+1) SR: 18, Immunity to Fear, Sleep, Paralysis, Reflective Fear, Darkvision 60 ft, Low-Light Vision, Waterbreathing, Immunity to Fire, immunity to Disease, Weakness to Cold, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha, +4 Fort Save vs Poison, True Seeing
Spells/SLAs: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101754.msg1059635.html#msg1059635
Spell like abilities as follows: (1/day for each) burning hands, produce flame, flaming sphere, wall of fire, fire shield, fire seeds, firestorm, incendiary cloud, elemental swarm, plane shift (Fire only)
"That's actually interesting - all the other traps have been the kind that function once then deactivate. This is almost like an invitation isn't it?" she glances at Mirajane, "As if someone had foreseen that Jaela would open the chest without waiting to check for traps."
"It may be so," Mirajane remarks, "All I can see is light ahead. Blinding light, blinded by light."
"I think it's worth the risk," Afina says, laying a tiny finger under the dagger's blade. "Everyone pick up the dagger together and hopefully we can back Jaela up wherever she's wound up."
"It's for the best," Kascha agrees, laying a finger on it as well. Arrel manages to get to the side, resting a claw on it, while Mirajane does the same, ducking and twisting to get in.
Surraruthru does as requested!
Surraruthru picks it up once everyone's touching it!
Reality changes around the party, suddenly elsewhere.
Moving the party over to Jaela's thread. Locking this thread as well. Wait for my post over there.