Again getting chomped on hard, he broods at the lizards before attacking.
Rataji fires a volley of force missiles and whichever lizard appears to be most injured.
The chameleon races by Marnarius, who takes the opportunity to deal a mighty blow. The slayer then turns his attention on the lizard, and strike twofer times with great effectiveness. A powerful kick by the ambitious one sends more piece of stone crumbling, only to be followed up by a magic missile from the leader.
The experiment once again enshrouds the mind of her opponent, causing the chameleon to look on, baffled.
---
Ambitious
Professional
Vengeful
Experiment
Leader
---
Chameleon (18, -2 on attack, -4 vs pro)
Lizard (48)
---
Shohiraj takes advantage of the chameleon's confused state to slink around it, then strikes at the beast from the other side.
for and
The professional again manages to distract the chameleon, the reptile being unsure about the force of nature attacking it.The dagger drives straight through the creature, leaving it motionless on the ground.
The lizard turns to the slayer biting down hard, though its tail slap is only an afterthought.
---
Ambitious
Professional
Vengeful
Experiment
Leader
---
Lizard (48)
---
The Ambitious continues brawling with the lizard, striking it with powerful blows.
Shohuraj steps forward and strikes again.
for and
Once again reeling backward from the powerful bite, Marnarius dour expression deepens.
"Enough lizard."
322 moves forward and swipes with her masterwork dagger.
Attack
Damage
Rataji waits to see if the others manage to take out the lizard, but if they do not, he will unleash another arcane barrage.
It's the whole pit of snakes against a single lizard, and it only takes the professional's blow to crack the stone statue to pieces, sparing the leader the use of a magic missile.
Though the notes aren't immediately apparent (), there is a magical staff, and Marnarius' weapon is here as well: a display case containing three weapons has Marnarius' among them.
The first is an obsidian-bladed scythe with a mahogany handle. The second is a heavy flail made of magically hardened gold and whose head is molded like a roaring tiger skull. The third is a serrated, single- edged longsword made of green-tinged metal.
Whilst the others search the room for the notes, Rataji identifies the items.
He then uses a Pearl of Power to recall his used Magic Missile.
"Well, THAT could have gone better..." Shohiraj mutters as the team pauses to catch their breaths. She grimaces as she looks down at the nasty bite one of the lizards scored on her. "How are the rest of you doing?"
As they respond, the thief begins searching the room for the notes they are there for, as well as trying to spot anything else worthwhile.
Upon finishing his identification of the items, Rataji moves to assist in the searching of the room.
322 pulls out her wand. She uses it to heal herself first.
CMW
She then taps it on the Professional.
CMW
Same for the Vengeful
CMW
CMW
Marnarius walks over to the case.
There it is. I have been waiting for you. Come, let us once more spill the blood of these Pathfinders.
Reaching in, he grabs obsidian-bladed scythe with a mahogany handle.
With Deathreaver back in my hands, we will free all who are trapped in the tapestry.
Unharmed after the combat, The Ambitious assists the others in searching the area. He still wears the disguise of the dead scholar.
The leader clearly identifies the scythe as the blade Marnarius knows it to be: a +2 vicious scythe. The staff is a staff of caustic fury ().
Aided by Zurnzal and Rataji, the Professional locates the notes. In a long preface, Aram Zey introduces a ritual, lathered with warnings against performing it: completing the rite would tear a permanent rift into the Hao Jin Tapestry, allowing uninterrupted traffic between the planes—but always to the same site within the demiplane.
Rataji eagerly claims the staff.
"These the notes you need, 'boss'?" Shohiraj says as she holds up the papers she found. "Because if so, might as well go and use them. Oh," the thief says, turning towards 322. "And thanks for that. Might I suggest we move a bit more, cautiously, going forward."
@Marnarius: Sneak Attack dice (precision damage) are not multiplied on a crit, unfortunately :-/
With their silent, stealthy ways, the group again manages to avoid the patrols in Skyreach, stating in the shadow or posing as pathfinders. The leader even gets a 'Hi Howard' from his disguise.
Climbing to higher level, the agents ascends five sets of stairs and zigzag through numerous levels, until finally entering a secured area, that eventually leads to a door.
The sound of a conversation can be heard from this side:
A self-righteous male voice, lecturing: If it hadn't been for your brash measures, we would not have been on this duty. Think of it, if you had changed your violent ways, you could be enjoying the greatest moment in pathfinder history. What a view that congregation should be, and we only get to watch this torn tapestry.
A female voice, agitated and fiery: Is that so? I had no other option in Isger. We were surrounded, and I had to think quick. At least I got to see the tapestry again. If I had followed your advice, we'd all be dead.
"Two people, at least, on the other side" Shohiraj whispers, taking a step back from the door after she listens against it for a moment. "A man and a woman. Man seems frustrated at pulling guard duty rather than get to - seems that the woman's aggressiveness and violence-prone stance might've cost them some standing."
She takes an even further step away. "How should we play this? Persoanlly I doubt we can just convince both to up and leave but if we can get at least one of them away, that'd help our odds significantly. Man in particular seems bristling he's not outside right now."
"Plus, if I, or Marnarius, can get a quick blow in before they realize what's wrong, that could really throw them for a loop."
Perception
322 holds a finger to her lips. "Sounds like two guards," she whispers.
Rataji motions for everyone to back away from the door to hold the discussion.
"The two of us disguised as Pathfinders should be the ones to speak. I figure that there is a decent chance we should be able to convince them that they are needed elsewhere - the distractions outside should be more than enough!"
"I think we should convince them we are their replacements," The Ambitious says.
"If they seem too hesitant, we can always resort to Plan B," he says as he lands one fist in his other palm.
The Ambitious is still dressed completely as a scholarly Pathfinder he had silently killed. His disguise is almost perfect.
There's actually a third voice, which doesn't chime in that often. He seems to be more impartial, and tries to avoid getting dragged into the conflict.
The door is not locked.
"Forget what I said. There's three of them in there. You all can be their relief, and let them see all the festivities. I bet they won't even ask questions!"
Rataji nods.
"No time like the present. Let's go meet the people we are 'relieving'..."
"Just so we're clear: which tack are we taking? General relief, letting 'em have a turn at the festivities? Or 'Chaos downstairs, they need you stronger guys' relief? And is it just us three" Shohiraj nods to herself, Rataji, and Zurnzal "'showing up', with the two sneakers over there trying to hide behind some piller or something out here?"
"Hmmm... If they are here as punishment detail, it might be better to take the latter path - it will probably be more believable. I think 'three for three' would also be more believable; the other two should hide."
"I'll hide!
Stealth take ten for a 20 if possible. If not, here is my roll.
The experiment hides as the consortium select three 'pathfinders' for relief duty.
"I can assist with the charade. In case this goes wrong I'm better up-close-and-personal anyway. Not the worst at lying either, though I'm not sure if you'd rather take point."
"We going to have a codeword for 'nope, not working, time to attack?'?"
"My disguise is almost perfect," The Ambitious says. "I should go in with the relief group."
The group of three opens the door, and are greeted with a Hey, Arminaldus as they enter. Who are your friends? I don't think I've met them before. the person behind the agitated voice says, with the righteous one adding Oh, and sorry, you can't move further into the room. Guard duty and all that.
An unremarkable tapestry bearing intricate but heavily worn
geometric patterns along its length hangs on the far end of
this meeting room. A rune-inscribed circle set into the floor
completely contains a table at the room’s center.
Three adventurers are inside, one looking like a martial type (the self-righteous one), one looking like more of an arcane type (the sanguine one), and one with a firearm at his side (the silent one).
The Ambitious merely clears his throat and waves at the three, then points to The Pro.
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Rataji looks visibly relieved when he sees the three figures.
"Ah! Thank goodness we found you! You must excuse my colleague - he is suffering from laryngitis. We've been sent to relieve you; the Grand Lodge is under attack! It looks like the stinking Aspis are involved - someone has released the menagerie animals, and the status of Durvin Gest has been animated. Your unique skill sets," he says, gesturing in particular to the firearm wielder and the arcanist, "are needed elsewhere. We can handle close-quarters fighting, if anyone manages to get this far. Please, make haste!"
Well, the self-righteous one says you heard the man! Let's move, let's move!
The trio rushes out of the room, none-the-wiser.
Looks like it's just the Aspis agents and the tapestry now.
Once he is sure that the *actual* Pathfinders are safely away, Rataji begins to perform the ritual.
When 322 sees the others run by, she steps out of the shadows and enters the room with the others. "Nice job, you three!"
"That was...impressive." Shohiraj mutters to herself as Rataji gets straight to work on the Tapestry ritual.
As the rest of their group enter the room, she closes the door behind them, leaving it open merely a crack, then stands just behind it and listens to see if anyone approaches.
The Ambitious takes up watch with The Pro at the door, leaving it only slightly ajar.
"We've kicked the hornet's nest...they will be swarming about soon."
A thin slit appears down the middle of the tapestry, and then its whole center tears open in a deafening rip and a crack of thunder. Planar winds whip out from the frayed fabric for several seconds as purple lightning dances in the tattered wound. The gusts die suddenly, and the fabric stretches painfully to create an aperture nearly 10 feet wide, revealing a peaceful woodland occupied by a growing army.
A woman bedecked in chainmail and scars steps through into the room and then motions for those behind her to remain still. She surveys the chamber for a moment before a broad, genuine smile cracks her tough expression. “By Hanspur’s soggy hide, I never thought I’d see this world again.” She shakes her head and wipes away a tear before it can quite form. “The name’s Wolona, bronze rank. We’ve got good news and bad news on the other side. The good’s that everyone we expected to show up did, plus some more besides. The bad news is that some of them are starting to believe we’ve set them up.” Wolona clears her throat loudly as though no more need be said.
“The only thing keeping them from just killing each other and the rest of us is my promise that there would be a welcoming committee who might prove this place exists and that it’s not all a trap.” She starts to turn back to the portal. “Think you can give them a little pep talk?”
“I hope they haven’t killed each other already” she says, and steps back into the demiplane. She returns a moment later leading an eclectic entourage of about fifteen delegates and war leaders, including humans, a halfling covered in bright war paint, a hag, a wyvaran, a yeti, a pony-sized green dragon, and more. They jostle one another while inspecting the room. No bodies, one says, almost disappointed.
The wyvaran sneers, looks to the group, and asks, “So which of you is the Aspis king?”