The hunt for goldenfire (Afina and Jaela, later Surraruthru too)

[Anastasia]

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.

[Corwin]

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.

[Ebiris]

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.

[Anastasia]

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."

[Ebiris]

"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!

[Corwin]

No means no. With a nod at Mirajane, Jaela forces her mind's eye to unfocus.

[Anastasia]

"We only used reinforced adamantine," Said metal appears out of nowhere, a large chunk of it for Afina to work with. "Prove yourself."

[Ebiris]

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 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}

Spoiler: ShowHide

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

[Anastasia]

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.

[Ebiris]

[19:36] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+23
[19:36] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+23 --> [ 1d20=2 ]{25}

[Anastasia]

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.

[Ebiris]

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?

[Anastasia]

"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."

[Ebiris]

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?

[Corwin]

"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."