Okay, which of your todos is up first, Iddy?
Probably the Selune thing. I need cash for my items =/.
How much do you need? Kascha isn't married to her share if you need it.
A lot. 19k for the breath amulet effect and assuming I can get the money back from the Ring of Wiz 3 effect, 67.5k for the Ring of Wiz 5. So 86.5 total.
I also wanna swap out a couple of feats.
Kascha will just give you her share, she's fine on money right now. How much do you still need?
Depends on if we cut Aurora in on a share. Yuth never really said anything about it one way or another.
Edit: Executive decision to cut Aurora in. Which means...
Surraruthru has a total of 48,444.4 +772.77=49,217.17=48,444.4(Kascha)=97,661.57.
The amulet is 200,000/4=50,000*1.5=75,000 to add it. That leaves Surraruthru with 22,661.57. The ring is 67.5k-22,661.57=44,838.43 gp still needed and it'll zero out Surraruthru's funds.
Kascha has an additional 60k she'll give you for it if you need it. Money's not important now, winning is.
That works. Note it down as a loan and I'll pay it back whenever.
Edit: New Purchases made, sheet updated, updating spells. Rod of Energy Sub is replaced with Rod of Maximize for the Casting Glove. That rounds me out for equipment, for now. I can't think of much else that would significantly improve Surraruthru's abilities, outside of a RoW 11 to overload on Superb Dispels, but I don't even wanna do the math on the cost of that and vomit blood from it.
So for now, I suppose I can advance with my list, though I do wanna talk about an idea I had, but that's more of a quick DM yes/no thing we can do via IRC if you want.
What's your idea real quick?
Looking for a ranged spell that does Dex damage but isn't a fort save. Something based off of Ice Knife maybe? There's numbing sphere, but that damn thing is slow as hell moving. I imagine it'll take a custom spell?
Second thing is how does something like Superb Dispel stack up against magic from a Divine Rank source? Can I actually dispel Bel's magic? If not, is there a way to get an artifact or something that lets me?
Ray of Clumsiness, but I think that's a penalty to Dex instead. Shivering touch with something to make it a non-touch spell would work, but there's also a good reason that abusing that spell is seen as terribly unbalanced.
If it's a spell or spell like ability that is subject to being dispelled and you can meet the dispel check DC (barring anything else interfering), then yes, you can. It's hard to dispel deity magic for a few reasons.
- Firstly, they have high caster levels as well as caster level boosts if they're serious about making something stick. Barring the weakest demigods, you have to be an epic character to have a chance of dispelling deity magic simply due to the math involved.
- Secondly, not every thing they do is a spell or spell-like ability. A deity usually has many supernatural abilities, which aren't subject to being dispelled.
- Third, the more important a particular spell is for a deity, the more likely they're going to look into a solution to use a supernatural ability in place of it, or failing that, make it as hard to dispel as possible. This is hardly unique to deities, but it's worth noting.
Bel's not a caster, but he has many SLAs. On his sheet over in C&M, he has a caster level of 51 for his SLAs. So that means you need a total of 62 on a dispel check to affect anything he does, and that's before any bonuses, such as he gets to evil and lawful spells from the related domains. A fully prepared and boosted Bel who is fighting seriously will likely have bonuses to his caster level, and possibly to his spells being dispelled, if he feels that's something he needs to prepare for.
Additionally, Bel is an epic level martial with the divine marshal salient divine ability. It's not implausible he could have a custom marshal aura that boosts his caster level against dispels or something like that. C&M sheets are meant to be reasonably complete but not exhaustive, so you have to factor in deities having resources you might not imagine otherwise.
So anyway: Yes, if it's Bel RAW and without any prep. When he's going serious and prepared, it's dicier.
Yeah, I've got Ray of Clumsiness but that is indeed a penalty. It can take it to 1 but not 0, which I was checking into.
As for Bel, that's what I figured. I can get a 62, but that's like rolling a 20 on top of everything. I guess poking him in the eye won't work for me.
Pretty much. There's no shame in a deity being stronger than you, Creation's set up that way. It also doesn't mean you're helpless, but it's a tall order to actually fight one.
Anyway, long digression aside, what's your first todo now?
Selune's thing still unless someone needs Dragon help.!
Okay, cool. Refresh me on the particulars there?
I can't find the thread at the moment, but I recall something about the Gates of the Moon? Balyss said she would take/guide me.
Okay. Going alone or...?
Well, Balyss said she had to guide me, so her at least. I'd defer to her judgement on any others.
You find Balyss in Selune's temple, kneeling and deep in meditation. It's quiet here, no one else with her right now.
Surraruthru walks up next to her and sits down regally, inspecting the room before slumping down and stretching out for comfort and maybe a nap, depending on how long until Balyss finishes.
Balyss is some time, "Be careful," she murmurs as she rises, standing as she finishes. "Hi," she says, before wobbling on her feet and falling to her knees.
> roll 1d20+31
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 36 > [d20=5]
Carry on.
Surraruthru watches her without moving.
"You know, if it numbs your limbs like that, why not consider a cushion? Or a bed."
> roll 1d20+31
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 37 > [d20=6]
Balyss looks up to say something - but her features are pale. Deathly pale, as she promptly falls face down onto the ground.
Surraruthru sits up and inspects her.
"Elena, are you near? I think Balyss may need a trip to the infirmary."
Elena pops in, wearing a farmer's overalls and straw hat. "I have Stille and Priest hurrying over," she says, "Stay with her, do you know enough medicine to check her pulse?"
Surraruthru stares blankly at Elena.
"I can use Cure Serious Wounds and Neutralize Poison."
Guessing no ranks in Heal?
Nope. But is it a trained only skill? If not, I can make the wis check for it. Or try, at least. Alternately, I can spend 1 minute to weave her into the Tapestry, which I have:
Monitor Tapestry [Epic]
You are aware of the condition of those in your eldritch tapestry. This is identical to a status spell, except that the duration lasts until the eldritch tapestry ends.
You can, so make a Wis check.
> roll 1d20+8 Wis
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 27 > [d20=19]
Her pulse is steady and strong, fortunately. No sign of anything going wrong there.
"Pulse is steady and strong."
Surraruthru begins weaving Balyss into his Tapestry to gain more information.
"Good," Elena says, "It's probably just her being overloaded, I don't think Selune would let her get hurt too badly."
It's less than a minute before Stille runs in, "She collapsed?" Stille asks, right to the point.
"Yes. Pale, then face down."
Surraruthru continues his weaving.
"You idiot," Stille mutters as he kneels down and scoops Balyss up. "Thank you, Surraruthru. I'll handle my sister, she's pushed herself too far again."
Surraruthru waits to respond until after his weaving is complete.
What does your weaving tell you about her?
Monitor Tapestry [Epic]
You are aware of the condition of those in your eldritch tapestry. This is identical to a status spell, except that the duration lasts until the eldritch tapestry ends.
"You are aware of direction and distance to the creatures and any conditions affecting them: unharmed, wounded, disabled, staggered, unconscious, dying, nauseated, panicked, stunned, poisoned, diseased, confused, or the like."
Balyss is unconscious as well as exhausted.
"She's exhausted. If she's going to meditate this long, she needs to invest in a good chair or cover the floor in pillows. Maybe something with an enchantment against fatigue. Then again, that might just inspire her to meditate all the time."
"We'll take care of it," Stille says, "Thank you, Surraruthru. I'll tell her that - again."
Surraruthru nods. Well then... What to do now...
Um, I guess either researching the location of Pyrohydras, how to make a Demi-Plane, or if there's something Aurora people need help with.
Go for it. Make an K:A check on Pyrohydras.
> roll 1d20+58 K:A
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 65 > [d20=7]
That's a no brainer - anywhere aligned with Fire should have some. From the elemental planes tied to Fire (or Fire itself, of course) to many outer planes with fiery influences, they're not hard to find.
Go ahead and narrow your search down a little more. Are you aiming for elemental planes, outer planes, primes or something else?
I have no idea. Would they be different at all depending on where they came from?
Generally not, unless you're looking for specific templates or the like, which would make it harder.
Unless there's a template that makes them already awakened and friendly, nah. Just somewhere that we have at least semi-friendly ties with so I don't have to worry about outside attacks while I try to recruit them.
While not common, the efreet do sell pyrohydra eggs and even baby pyrohydras on occasion. It takes connections and/or a lot of money, though, not to mention Aurora's on bad terms with the efreet.
Fire has many nests of them near lava seas, fearsome predators that consume anything they can get on Fire. They aren't that hard to find if you spend some time on it or use magic. Likewise, most of the elemental planes that are offshoots of fire have these.
The second is likely the best bet, as most of the fire dominant planes are tinged by evil.
Surraruthru nods to himself.
"Elena, do you know where Kascha and Simmer are?"
"Kascha's in your hoard room," Elena turns to you, "Simmer's off dealing with female things, give her a little while."
"Thank you."
Surraruthru makes his way to his room.
Kascha's in the hoard, adjusting this and that. She's whistling to herself as she works, humming lightly to herself.
"Hello Kascha. I think it's time we help you get a bit more fire for you."
> roll 1d20+8
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 27 > [d20=19]
"AAAAAH!!" Kascha leaps a good half dozen feet up in the air, sending gold coins everywhere as she whirls around. Her eyes are wide and she breaths rapidly, "Surraruthru!" she gasps, "You just about scared the magic out of me!"
"That would be a mighty powerful weapon if I could. I seem to do this often to you. Perhaps you should find a way to be warned of things approaching you. A small construct of a dragon, perhaps? Maybe I should revisit that dragon scarf idea, and enchant it with something to detect everything and inform you of it? Hmm.."
Surraruthru shakes himself off that train of thought.
"In any case, you're a Phoenix. As Simmer would say, you need more fire. You've already become something of a teacher and care-taker for the Cryohydras. I propose getting you and Simmer some friends with more in common. Pyrohydras."
"Oh yes, those would be useful if we can train them fast enough," Kascha says consideringly. "Can we?"
"Can't hurt to try. If we don't feel they're ready for the final battle, then we can evacuate them somewhere else. If they're decently trained, we can try to integrate them with the Cryohydras and try to figure out how to make their fire and cold work together."
"Alright, where we can we find them? Have you worked that out," Kascha asks.
"Fire plane is the best bet. Elemental Body will protect us well enough. Maybe some divination to get an exact position.'
Go ahead and outline a plan and means to achieve it, Surru.
First of all, does the Epic Ignore Material Components apply to the Awaken Magical Beast spell?
Material Components
A potion made of rare ingredients worth no less than 4,000 gold.
If it does, then who are our good Diviners? I'll hit one of them up. If I can't get a solid answer from them, then has it been 1 month since we did the Benfal thing? If so I can use Commune With Nature once we hit Fire.
Outside of that, I wanna get Simmer involved. I figure she'd love to 1) be on Fire and 2) make Pyrohydra friends.
As it is a material component, yes.
Balyss is but she's obviously way busy. Mirajane isn't bad and has plenty of levels in divine oracle.
Simmer can easily be involved.
Alrighty, as for diviners, let's go with Mirajane. Also, has it been a month since Benfal?
"We'll have to get Mirajane to do some divining for us since Balyss collapsed and is in the infirmary. After that, we can find Simmer and see if she wants to go with us. If Mirajane can't give us specifics, we'll have to just explore from the air until we spot some, I suppose."
It has not.
"Oh, Balyss collapsed? Is she alright?" Kascha frowns deeply at that, "What happened?"
"Overworked in meditation. Went to ask her about that trip to the Gates of the Moon and she tried to stand up and went down face first, unconscious."
"Why didn't you tell me that first?!" Kascha huffs, "That's important!"
"Because she's already in the infirmary being taken care of. What do you plan to do that Stille and the infirmary is not?"
"That's not the point!" Kascha glowers, "That is completely not the point and you know it!"
"I didn't really consider it that massive of a concern, to be honest. She's being taken care of properly and there's nothing more to be done until she wakes. The way Elena and Stille responded made me believe this was a semi-regular occurrence, so it didn't concern me as much as it seems to bother you."
"You...you.....man!" Kascha snaps out, before sighing and closing her eyes, shoulders slumping. "I'm worried about her. She once used restoration spells to force herself on, rather than sleeping, until that caught up with her, too."
Surraruthru raises an eye ridge.
"That is rather more foolish than I had expected. Perhaps she's the one who needs a minder far more than you... Hmm... I wonder if that Faerie Dragon we helped might up for the task. She's got one child to care for already, a second shouldn't be much worse."
"She won't take it, she's dedicated to her work," Kascha says, some of the irritation slowly leaving her voice. "She pushes herself too far sometimes in Selune's name. She won't stop when she needs to, minder or no minder."
"Sure she will. If Selune appoints the minder and decrees their authority over her. Maybe something to ask while I'm at the Gates."
"You think you can talk Selune into that? She doesn't seem to have seen fit to chastise Balyss over this," Kascha says, "It's not like being possessed like this isn't a sign of favor."
"Not I, no. Perhaps an entreaty from multiple people close to her might, however. She may not be overly concerned now, but the closer we get to the fight, the more Selune will need her pieces."
"Her pieces? But yes, I get your meaning," Kascha says, "We should...and oh, weren't you talking about pyrohydras?"
"Indeed. Pyrohydras. There's nothing to be done about Balyss for now, so for now, Pyrohydras. Mirajane for locating them on Fire, then recruiting and awakening."
Kascha agrees with a word and...
Okay, what magic are you looking for Mirajane to use here, precisely?
So Scrying seems to be something to use if you already know stuff about whatever you're scrying. So I guess Divination first, then Scrying?
Mirajane listens to your request, "I could manage a divination," she agrees. "I need a specific question to work with, as well as about 25 gold for a sacrificial offering for it."
"We need the location of a colony of Pyrohydras on Fire that's out of the way enough that running into enemies is unlikely and the colony being roughly equal in number to the Cryohydras we have."
Surraruthru hands over the gold.
"Okay, find some way to phrase that as a question that's helpful to that," Mirajane says, "Think carefully, and try not to overcomplicate the question or you may get ambivalent results."
"Where on Fire can we find an equal, or close to, in size colony of Pyrohydras as we have Cryohydras with a low as possible chance of running into enemies?"
Post the expense in loot.
Mirajane goes to cast and soon enough returns. "The answer is: Seek the Ember Coast."
"Thank you. Would you recommend trying to narrow it down further?"
"Possibly, depending on what you ask. The same topic tends to get the same results for a time if the same diviner asks it," Mirajane says. "It's best to ask questions more laterally, garner information that way."
"So something like, 'What's the nearest large landmark to the colony, and what direction from there to the colony?'"
"Yes, though aim for things with simple answers rather than detailed, the spell doesn't provide many words," Mirajane says.
"Hmm... What is the closest well-known place to them, and what in what direction?"
Okay, deduct the cost of this in loot.
"Beyond the hook but before the rise." Mirajane repeats when she's done.
"Hmm... I'll have to see if the library has any maps I can use to identify that. I may return if not. Thank you for the help, Mirajane."
Going to research that? K:P with library bonus if so.
I will!
> roll 1d20+57+15 K:P/Library
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 76 > [d20=4]
Secondary bonus: Do you have any ranks in K:Geography?
Not directly, but the Knowledge Prism gives me +15 to all, and if I cast Biblotheca Arcana, that gives me another +15 and allows me to make knowledge checks untrained. That'd be a total of 1d20+39.
Roll it.
BA is an all day spell, FYI. If you're going to use it I suggest assuming it's always on and cast at the beginning of the day, though this isn't mandatory.
I was going to hold BA until I had a full tapestry, so it'd extend to everyone, but in this case, the immediate info need sorta calls for it.
> roll 1d20+39 K:G/Library/BA
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 48 > [d20=9]
The Ember Coast is huge, as most outer planes regions are. Still, several hours on maps of regions finds a likely location. There's a small, jutting cape along the coast in a rough hook shape, and a bit past that is a region called the Sulphurian Rises.
Surraruthu nods to himself. A place to try. He heads off to find Kascha and Simmer again.
"Oh, that sounds promising," Kascha says, "Shall we go?"
Simmer's more relaxed about it, "A magma sea? Do you have a plan in case they go swimming and we can't follow?"
"Well, elemental body will protect us from the fire, and I have my necklace of adaptation, which should let me breathe. Is there something else you suggest we prepare for?"
"Magma's much harder to move in than thin lava," Simmer point sout, "It's not really like water. Creatures adapted to Fire can do it, but you'd find it difficult, even if you could breathe. Do you have a means to see in the magma?"
"Hmm, I have blindsense, but I'm not sure if that will work through magma.. Do you have any suggestions?"
Are there spells that grant that stuff? I can't recall any.
Not that I can think of, it's pretty specialized territory.
So I'd have to write a new spell. What creatures have lava swimming and tremor sense?
Honestly I can't think of anything. If you want to make something custom you'd be better off wishing it, as it's not really time efficient to make a new spell.
"I'll prepare a couple of castings of Earth Glide and Tremorsense, but it'll cost a bit in spells that will empower us. How I bemoan the lack of a more powerful ring of wizardry... In any case, those spells are more short-term so we'll have to be smart and fast when we use them."
"We'll just have to settle it fast," Kascha says, "I think that should do, wish should be able to address any short term emergencies."
"Hmm... Should we take anything? The Cryohydras like food. I can fill up the portable hole, perhaps..."
"Meat. Cooked meat, burnt meat, lots of it. That's only logical," Simmer says, "Meat that's been touched by fire."
"So, who to talk to about getting that much meat? Can the cafeteria provide that much at once?"
"Yes, so you can..." Kascha begins.
Aurora can literally magic this up, so it's hardly worth lingering long over. I assume you want a lot of meat?
Yeah. However much can fit into my portable hole that you suggest. I'll note it's the bigger one. 12x20 ft, I think? I'm assuming more is better, but whatever of that is enough.
We'll assume enough meat unless you come into a situation it might matter, and in that case we'll do the math then. Any other prep or ready to go?
Just to check, telepathy will work to communicate with them? I also want to do research on their body communication so I don't piss them off accidentally.
Assuming they have a language, yes.
Think that's everything, then.
Okay, what's the tapestry here gonna look like?
Tapestry:
Elemental Body (fire) CL 28, 28 hour duration
You have the benefits of the attune form spell with respect to the appropriate element. If you choose a water body, for example, you can breathe normally on waterdominant planes.
You are immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, and stunning, and are not subject to extra damage from critical hits or flanking. You gain darkvision out to 60 feet.
Your creature type remains unchanged, so you are unaffected by spells that target elementals, but you gain the air, earth, fire, or water subtype depending on the elemental substance you chose.
Fire: Fire immunity, burn (those you hit in melee and those who attack you with natural weapons must make a Reflex save or catch fire, with a save DC equal to that of a fire elemental of the same size).
Surraruthru's Stupendous Dragonskin, CL 28, 28 hour duration
Grants you a +10 armor bonus to armor class and damage reduction 10/magic.
Strength of the Dragon Princess, CL 28, 28 hour duration
The target of this spell gains a +4 insight bonus to Strength.
Mind of the Dragon Princess, CL 28, 28 hour duration
The target of this spell gains a +4 insight bonus to Intelligence.
Agility of the Dragon Princess, CL 28, 28 hour duration
The target of this spell gains a +4 insight bonus to Dexterity.
Endurance of the Dragon Princess, CL 28, 28 hour duration
The target of this spell gains a +4 insight bonus to Constitution.
Beauty of the Dragon Princess, CL 28, 28 hour duration
The target of this spell gains a +4 insight bonus to Charisma.
Create Magic Tattoo, CL 24, 24 hour duration
+1 luck bonus on attack rolls.
Create Magic Tattoo, CL 24, 24 hour duration
+2 competence bonus on attack rolls.
Energy Immunity (x4) CL 26, 24 hour duration
Grants complete protection agianst: acid, cold, electricity, sonic
Quiescent Weaving: Haste, Spell Turning, Earth Glide, Tremorsense
Self:
Epic Mage Armor CL 28, 24 hour duration
An invisible but tangible field of force surrounds the subject of epic mage armor, providing a +20 armor bonus to Armor Class. Unlike mundane armor, epic mage armor entails no armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, or speed reduction. Because epic mage armor is made of force, incorporeal creatures can't bypass it the way they do normal armor.
Moment of Prescience CL 28, 28 hour duration
This spell grants you a powerful sixth sense in relation to yourself. Once during the spell's duration, you may choose to use its effect. This spell grants you an insight bonus equal to your caster level (maximum +25) on any single attack roll, opposed ability or skill check, or saving throw. Alternatively, you can apply the insight bonus to your AC against a single attack (even if flat-footed). Activating the effect doesn't take an action; you can even activate it on another character's turn if needed. You must choose to use the moment of prescience before you make the roll it is to modify. Once used, the spell ends.
I'll do spoiler blocks when needed.
Thus the three of you are ready and gate to your destination.
Flame.
What else is there but Fire? You appear atop a cliff, overlooking a vast, burning sea of magma. It sluggishly moves, slow and rippling waves going through it to crash on the shoreline. A shoreline of broken, burning obsidian and volcanic ash, slowly building atop itself with each magma wave.
"I'll fly up and try to spot anything nearby."
Saying so, Surraruthru flies up to gain altitude and view.
Sure, Spot.
> roll 1d20+38 Spot
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 54 > [d20=16]
Far away on the horizon and shoreline, you think you can see something - big, draconic things with multiple heads.
Surraruthru tucks his wings in like a falcon and falls back down to the others, flaring his wings out close to the ground and landing gracefully.
"I think I've spotted them over that way. Shall we?"
"Lead the way," Simmer agrees.
Just going to go over there and see?
Cautiously, but yes. Plan to fly a little so I get a better view of things.
> roll 1d100
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 50 > [d100=50]
You fly on, undisturbed as the three of you soar over Fire. You can see them - perhaps a half dozen pyrohydras, slinking along the shoreline of this blasted and burning place.
"There we go. Simmer, Kascha, would either one of you like to take lead on this? I can try to sate them with the food and use body language to try and make them non-hostile, then cast Telepathic Bond on us and them."
Simmer shrugs, "It's your idea. You try and I'll play clean up if you screw it up."
Kascha nods along, "I think that's best, Simmer may be able to relate to them as a creature of fire."
Surraruthru snorts at the thought in amusement before approaching in a confident, but non-threatening way.
The pyrohydras turn as you approach, dozens of reptilian heads suddenly focused on you by the time you're about 200ft away.
Surraruthru's already been through this sort of thing with the Cryohydras, so he continues until he's close enough that he's confident the Pyrohydras will be able to smell the meat from the pit when he opens it. Once there, he does just that.
Okay, how close is that?
Gonna go with... Say... 100 ft.
The pyrohydras begin to advance as you get closer - and then you open your bag. That seems to make them pause, before hurrying towards you, even faster and more intently.
Surraruthru waits until they're closer, say 25 ft, and then shifts to a more dominant body position, locking eyes with the one in front but not moving to completely stop it.
Make an Intimidate check.
> roll 1d20+9 I don't have that skill
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 27 > [d20=18]
> roll 1d20+10
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 26 > [d20=16]
Dice bailed you out.
Something in it somehow gives the pyrohydras pause. Something that makes them come up short, dozens of heads sizing you up, flaming tongues darting out to lick their many lips.
Surraruthru takes a moment to try and show how much magical power he holds, letting it wash over the hydras before shifting again and letting them go forward to the meal.
Okay, how are you doing that?
Delayed blast fireball into the ground a-ways away. Not directly towards them or anything, but close enough for them to clearly see the power of the blast.
Okay, make an Intimidate check with a +4 bonus.
> roll 1d20+9+4+25 I don't have that skill but I have magic!
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 56 > [d20=18]
The pyrohydras rear back....and don't charge. Instead they simply observe you, eyes on the bag instead of you now.
Surraruthru shifts his position again, allowing them forward to the food.
Rather predictably, the pyrohydras go for the meat. One set of heads manages to more or less dominate, as the others jostle and snap, beasts fighting over the food. At least they aren't looking to eat you - at least for now.
Surraruthru begins to cast again, targeting the dominant one.
Casting Telepathic bond here.
Needs willing creatures, which the pyrohydras don't quite count as yet.
Surraruthru considers for a moment, then turns to Simmer.
"I don't think I've quite gained their full trust yet. Any ideas? I imagine it has something to do with not having enough fire."
"Worth a shot," Simmer remarks, "They might just be hungry, though."
"Hmm... Well, we'll let them eat first then."
The pyrohydras eat. The meat doesn't last long with that many heads, the pyrohydras jostling and snapping at each other for it, huge creatures wrestling and snarling at each other.
"The cryohydras are much more polite. Less messy as well."
"These ones do seem more wild..." Kascha trails off, then smiles. "You'll just have to treat them a little wilder. They seem wary of you, press that further. Not too far, but make sure they know you're in charge and work from there."
Surraruthru considers, then begins to stride forward towards the pit of meat and the hydras, locking eyes with the more dominant ones again.
Make an Intimidation check with a +5 bonus.
> roll 1d20+9+5 Intimidate
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 27 > [d20=13]
> roll 1d20+10
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 13 > [d20=3]
The pyrohydras eye you and slither back, giving up space as you advance.
Surraruthru peeks inside the pit, seeing how much meat is left and looking for the best looking piece before flying down, grabbing it, and flying back up to eat it in the view of the hydras. He intends to hold the hydras back until he finishes, then allow them forward to finish the rest.
The meat's about gone. There's a bit left but you'd guess about 95% of it is now hydra food.
Giving you a chance to react there if it matters.
Eh, it's more about my having the power to 1) stop them and 2) take what I want and 3) hold them back at will.
The pyrohydras don't resist you taking your pit back. They just watch you, reared up and not making any sudden moves.
Surraruthru finishes his food and sits down placidly, shifting his body stance again to relaxed and allowing them to come forward again.
The pyrohydras are observing you carefully at this, many heads locked onto you. They slowly, ever so slowly, start to advance towards you.
Surraruthru allows it but is ready in case they get mouthy.
They stop a decent distance from you, all eyes on you.
Surraruthru motions to the rest of the food, but doesn't move.
Make Diplomacy with a +10 penalty or Handle Animal without a penalty, whichever is better.
> roll 1d20+39-10 Diplo
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 31 > [d20=2]
The pyrohydras - one at first and then the others - go for the food. They devour what little is left, snapping it up.
Surraruthru moves to sit directly on the edge of the pit, testing their boundaries again and trying to enforce his own power again. Once they finish eating, he'll try to judge their attitudes to see if a telepathic bond will work.
One more Intimidate check, +8 this time.
> roll 1d20+9+8 Intimidate
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 21 > [d20=4]
> roll 1d20+10
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 26 > [d20=16]
You aren't really sure - they're cautious and staying back, but also not completely cowed, you think.
Surraruthru takes to the air, hovering above them and looking down on them before casting another spell.
Disintegrate on a nearby boulder or something that they can see. If no boulders, then just a chunk of ground near them.
Attack roll.
> roll 1d20+38 ATK
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 47 > [d20=9]
> roll 1d100
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 63 > [d100=63]
That sends the pyrohydras slithering away from you defensively, cowering after that display of disintegratory magic.
Surraruthru drops back down to the ground and slowly approaches the biggest and most dominant one, somewhat presenting himself for inspection and hopefully acceptance.
This time the pyrohydra is simply submissive, lowering its heads down and going supine. No resistance, no bites, no flame breath.
Surraruthru hopes for the best and tries to cast again.
Telepathic Bond here.
No resistance here, not this time.
Go ahead and act on it.
Surraruthru knows they probably won't respond to fully formed words, so he instead attempts to send a friendly feeling and an image of himself and the Pyrohydras living as a pack.
Update of hurr-durr didn't read the spell: Telepathic Bond requires Int 3 or higher. Baseline pyrohydras have int 2.
A wish would be able to work around this, if you wanna do that and roll with it, and give you more flexibility with how you send thoughts to them anyway.
Yeah, that's fine. I'll use wish... Word it with something like... "I wish I could communicate with the Pyrohydras telepathically with them able to understand my words and thoughts as someone with language."
Make one final Intimidate check, +10 bonus.
> roll 1d20+9+10 Intimidate
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 24 > [d20=5]
> roll 1d20+10
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 30 > [d20=20]
That's unfortunately timed.
The hydras retort. Images of fire and hunting, the pyrohydras mighty while you slink along, a small little thing that hangs on, a parasite to the pack. Yet you can feel uncertainty about it, leaking through the connection.
Can I tell which hydra that came from?
Yes. One in the back.
Surraruthru locks eyes with the one who's being rebellious and takes to the air, getting a clear line of sight on it and begins casting.
Orb of Force, CL 24.
Target: Rebellious Pyrohydra.
> roll 1d100 Wish Spell Failure
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 39 > [d100=39]
Figures.
Trying to cover the failure of his spell, Surraruthru instead flies closer to the rebellious one to further single it out.
The rebellious one rears up, all six heads lashing up and hissing flames as you approach. It's not showing any signs of backing down.
Ball is in your court here.
Surraruthru tries casting again!
Orb of Force, CL 24.
Target: Rebellious Pyrohydra.
> roll 1d100 Wish Spell Failure
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 13 > [d100=13]
So. Question now is does channeling a spell into Wand also incur spell failure?
Paste me Wand's writeup?
There was never an actual write up. It's listed on page 94/95 of the Loot thread and here: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103707.msg1063258.html#msg1063258
and: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103707.msg1063262.html#msg1063262
Nothing else though.
I'll say yes, so roll for it.
Surraruthru tries again, this time using an old friend who might impress the fire based hydras more than his Orb of Force.
Channeling into Wand. I figure a... 6th level spell might be enough. I don't exactly want to kill it, just put it in its place.
> roll 1d100 Spell Failure
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 98 > [d100=98]
'Heh, you remember I existed at last?' Wand crows in your mind, as torrents of flame erupt out. They spread everywhere, the flames dancing around the hydra, becoming strange animals that snarl and snap at the pyrohydra.
The beast quickly rears back from them, defiance crumbling as it goes upright, heads up and hissing loudly.
Surraruthru follows the display up with a roar of his own, as loud and draconic as he possibly can.
'I never forgot about you. I've been trying to keep you as secret as I can for the upcoming fight. Surprises kill. Devils in this case, hopefully.'
At this you feel the submission of the pyrohydras, images of not fighting you anymore or your vision.
Surraruthru nods to himself and lands, sending happiness and images of them all as a pack, and introducing the images of Simmer and Kascha.
I'm not sure how you want to do the logistics on this. I didn't memorize any castings of the awakening spell since I wasn't sure how this would play out yet. Move them back to Aurora and then dedicate a few days to awakening them all? I'm not sure of the numbers exactly, either. My goal was to have a fairly equal number of Cryo- and Pyro-hydras.
That's fine, this is offscreen stuff by and large. So what's your plan in detail?
Gather them up in Aurora via Gates with Kascha and Simmer to corral them in the fire/lava environment. Using more meats if I need to, then cycle through them on Awakenings by dominance order. I'm not sure what other challenges you might have that need to be solved.
None, this isn't hard, just time consuming. How much is this going to run you?
Shouldn't be any money. I have [Epic] Ignore Material Components.
Oh right. No money then. Okay, it just takes some time. How many can you change per day?
6/day unless I swap a Sorc spell slot for it, but that's kind of meta gamey abusive because I'd just want to swap it back after.
Okay, that'll keep you busy for a bit and eat up that level of spell slots. What's next on your todo list?
Just the Selune thing, money, and helping people out. Unless Seira has tasks for me.
Okay. What are your money reserves at?
Hoard/Monies: 6,411.57gp
1x Large ruby. 9,100gp.
1x Large blue diamond, perfectly clear and pure: 12,000 gold
A set of six matching amethysts and sapphires: 3,000 gold.
DEBT: 40.5k to Tryll, 60k to Kascha
Let me move you to a new topic since a new day has started.