Reign of Winter (group two) (Inactive)

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

So they deduce that we can kite them forever?
Edit: Or at the very least out run them?

"GO GO GO! I'll make the distraction!"

He called out, doing something well predictibly stupid, flying Mule higher and higher and away from the party (but still torwards their destination) and readying to loose an arrow.

"Run!" Sigrin shouts breaking into a run. "Stay with us Silence or you'll lose the invisibility,"

Lyosha and I have a base speed of 40, Mule can match that at a trot, and Zses can fly. We can outpace them."

And only attack as a last resort! Percy adds.

The daemons roar in anger and begin pursuit. You're slightly faster than they are, bu their innate dimension door ability allows them to keep up - although this form of teleportation is limited and prevents them from attacking you. The chase has attracted some attention, however, and you can see a brass dragon break off from the besieging army and begin flying over to investigate. Judging by the rider's lack of armor and other protective gear, he's probably some kind of mage.

You're 200ft from Spurhorn's walls. Those with knowledge of dragons can estimate that the newcomers have a 120ft fly speed. How high off the ground are you?

As high as we can reasonably get without letting the demons catch up.

Maybe 200-300 ft up? High enough to be well above things without worrying about oxygen loss

Double move gets you to Spurhorn in 2.5rds. However, the dragonrider will reach you in 1.5rds. Whatcha want to do?

Keep running? A round away from the city's walls I don't think the dragon will keep following.

Ya. And even when he does catch up I think we can survive one round. As we full withdraw to safety

As you reach the walls of Spurhorn, you're bombarded by joint attacks from the dragon and its rider before your attackers are driven off by a hail of crossbow bolts from the fortress defenders. As soon as you close within 25ft of the walls, the defenders notice you and shout with alarm. Bescaylie clearly hasn't had time to tell them you were coming, and they clearly think this group of hideous aliens is attacking.

Mule and everyone on him takes 43pts fire damage (Reflex DC 20 halves) from the dragon's breath weapon.
The entire party takes 16pts cold damage (Reflex DC 18 halves) from the mage's explosive spell. Anyone taking damage from this attack is staggered (Fort DC 18 negates) for 1rd. No rolls to identify, unfortunately. Triaxus uses a different magic system, and there's no Golarion equivalent. ;-)

reflex DC 20 Silence: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
reflex Mule: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

reflex save dc 18 Silence: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
fort save dc 18 Silence: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17
reflex save dc 18 Mule: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Silence says OW, and has taken 51 points of damage and is staggered 1 rd. Mule However laughs at the pathetic attempts of the enemy to harm him and evades all damage... like a good warhorse should.

He cursed rather colorfully as they neared the walls and the dragon veered away. He almost fired an arrow, so bristling with annoyance and anger at not even having fired a shot and yet having had suffered so. The fact that the defenders on the wall were clearly startled by their presense made his tail futher lash.

"Bescaylie! Bescaylie!"

He cried out loudly trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible.

reflex: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27
fort: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

Percy shivers, then peeks behind them and flies two of the tiniest and yet most aggressive middle fingers ever at the retreating dragon and his rider while hurling a few choice comments on both their ancestories in scathing sylvan.

Hopefully that little display will make it clear who's side we're on.

Reflex: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25 3 damage after Cold resistance
Fort (cold based): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24

As the burst of cold washes over them, Sigrun all but ignores it for the most part, effortlessly shrugging off it's effects much as she does the current weather.

So we're visible? Nobody's attacked yet. Or should we assume they can see invisibility too based on the fact that they're reacting to us?

Reflex: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34 I evade!

Neither rider nor winter wolf take any damage though the former seems rather annoyed.
"So they seem keen on killin' us. What do we do here?"

Reflex: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
Fortitude: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

"If they open fire, stay behind me." Sigrun says watching closely and preparing to take the brunt of the assault.

Between rage powers and my DR, I could actually take a volley....that's nuts

Neverhome cracked a smile at his love. He wouldn't let her take the full of it if it came down to it, but he wasn't going to argue with her right now either.

@Sigrun: Pretty cool, right? XD You passed the LotR mark several levels ago and are currently comparable to the heroes of the MCU.

Now that you're closer to the fortress, you can see glowing lanterns positioned regularly across the walls. It's likely that they boost individual's vision capabilities (they're lanterns of revealing).

The defenders hold their fire at the name of Bescaylie and permit you to land on the battlements. After a few tense minutes, Bescaylie locates you.

Neverhome smiles at the Dragonrider.

Turning to the others he says in Taldane "They want us to see Commander Pharamol, and offer us quarters and healing."

His ears perked up about healing.

"Good. yes yes. i could use a healy stick or nine."

He began patting Mule's neck and dismounting... scowling at the lack of any marks on the horse.

"Yea, Gorgeous is hurt too. A little R and R would be nice right about now."

Percy flicks some frost from her eyebrows and flexes her frosted arm in pain.
And I'm nearly out of magical ooph. I still have a few tricks, but I wouldn't say no to a good night's sleep.

"Definitely not." Sigrun agrees, grinning. "I don't even remember the last time we ate."

Neverhome nods. "Da. Food good."

Bescaylie leads you to the guest quarters and tells you there'll be a meeting in the morning. Your rooms are sparse, but comfortable, and food is brought shortly thereafter. It's military rations, but there's quite a bit more meat than what you're used to.

Spurhorn
You're in area B7

The next morning, you're called to a council meeting with Spurhorn's commander and senior officers (area B11). The council is a mix of Triaxians and dragons, and there are twelve individuals present.

- Commander Pharamol
- Amerenth (female gold dragon, very quiet)
- Bescaylie (female triaxian)
- Calissus (female white dragon, lots of jewelry)
- Efrixes (male red dragon)
- Herjan (male black dragon, seems bored)
- Jarilne (female triaxian, blind)
- Nevra (female blue dragon, friendly)
- Sumira (female triaxian, inquisitive)
- Talsune (male copper dragon, analytical)
- Thronull (male triaxian, skeptical)
- Zusk (male triaxian, confident)
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As written, this is a role-playing encounter that's intended to be a back-and-forth as you convince the council to give you the double-headed eagle. However, as you know, that would take an extremely long time via the PbP format, and not everyone would be included - especially as there's a rather severe language barrier. Therefore, I'll handwave most of it and focus on the key components.

1) The council seeks to know your motivations for offering to help defend Spurhorn. Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you here? What experience do you have? What is your objective? Why did you enter the Skyfire Mandate?

2) Looking at the notes on the various NPCs, it should be clear that some are supportive, some distrust you, and some are indifferent.

3) The dominant languages here are Draconic and Triaxian. All other languages will probably not be understood.

4) At some point, I'll need some skill checks - almost certainly Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate.

We have 17 characters here. I can cast Share language (communal) to overcome the language barrier. It's 24 hours long divided by 17 hours or so. It might take a few castings, but I have 7 so we should be ok.

You don't need to cast it on us. You share our common language with them so that'll save you a few castings/extend the duration of your castings

"Listen folks. I know we're new here and this ain't even our world. We come from a planet called Golarion. But you need all the help you can get and we need somthin' from you so we can save ours. We've fought monsters, dragons, even witches so we can take on anything."

Aid on someone's social check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

He spent the night polishing his armor, readying his gear for full inspection.... then working on Hila armor.

Armor work dc 13: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

Oh man so close to done, like 19gp left of crafting!

The next day he arrived for the meeting gleaming, His pennant attached to the pole on his back rested easily. He was silent during the introductions taking note of everyone there looking stern... only the tiniest twitching of his tail and flicking of his ears any sign that he wasnt some furry statue.

"Friend Hobbes is has the crux of it, We have business we need to complete and it seems that it coincides with your goals as well yes yes, As to why we are helping you, since we are outsiders it is simple. Your person stopped to talk... they stopped to blast us with fire and ice. "

He paused meeting the eyes of a few of the participants particular the bored or indifferent. They would be the ones whom would have to be swayed the most after all.

"I am The Quiet pause one moment before the pounce upon ones prey, in a cool winter evening with a slight wind blowing from the east, though my friends call me Silence, you may as well. I have studied the art of war since i was knee high to most of you folk. that includes sieges and the like. How may we help you?
diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

You're doing well so far - although Silence's name is very confusing and doesn't translate well. ;-)

The council would like some further information from you. Thronull wishes to know what your goals are. What terms would you require if they accept your aid? Talsune wants more information about your combat experience - particularly against dragons. How did the fight/s play out, and what tactics did you use. Sumira is curious about your world. What's it like? Are you all the same species? Which is dominant? How do you cope with the extreme temperature shifts?

You've accumulated one success. This time, social skills will be less effective, as the current discussion is focused on your skills, knowledge, and experiences. There's no correct skill check here, but let the above sample questions guide your RP.
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@Silence: if this goes well, you'll have enough downtime to (finally) finish the armor before the next major scene begins. Remind me what you're making, as I may have a surprise for you once it's done....

I was making hila essentially MW studded/spiked leather armor. +3 Ac using leather, giant mantis carapace and ... crud i dont remember. *lawls* there was something else cool we fought i was going to use but i cant recall it so no worries on it.

@Silence: wasn't it Tatzylwyrm scales or something from Logrivitch? It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure it involved scales. Anyway, That's all I needed to know. Thanks for the reminder. :-)

Their were tastywyrm scales and im pretty sure we snagged a scale or two from eatslogslikesamench :)

With a smile Sigun recounts the tale of the Battle to liberate Whitethrone, describing the devastating fury with which the group faced the mighty Logrivich and his allies, warriors and giants alike, the fury of battle dancing in her eyes leaving no doubt of the group's formidability.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16 Plus any possible circumstance bonus from telling a room with dragons in the audience about how we slaughtered a dragon. heh

Figured if the want to know how tough we are Intimidate might be a good way to go. It definitely helps mercenaries get work.

Anyone else want to help out (Prof:soldier is another good skill here) or answer some of the other questions?

Percy explains the basics of their magic to the more mistically inclined and then explains how she makes those kinds of people who use her kind of magic cry. She suggests that the same could be done to the enemy, given a bit of time.

diplo: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

Anyone else want to chime in? There's still quite a few unanswered questions - several of which are rather important.

Hobbes will explain how the group is of varying species. "Well the Kid, Big Red, and the Quiet One are all call humans. Whiskers over there is a catfolk. Gorgeous over there is a gnome and I'm a halfling. We're a team, sort of, so we don't have a leader. I mean what kind of looney would want to take charge of this pack of hyenas? We do just fine in the cold if that's what you're asking. Like Big Red mentioned, we know a few things about slaying dragons."

Aid: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

Thronull wishes to know what your goals are. What terms would you require if they accept your aid?

"Our means of transport to and from this world uses strange magic that requires a two headed eagle. That is what we would require in exchange for our aid against your enemies." Sigrun says honestly.

That and something from the enemy. <insert thing that's theirs that I can't remember and can't look up do to posting on the go here>

@Percy: *cough*bear pelt*cough* XD

Sigrun's recounting of the battle with Logrivich doesn't receive the impressed response she's expecting. According to the council, the dragon's tactics were foolish and reeked of overconfidence. However, the fact that Percy is skilled at harassing enemy spellcasters proves interesting to the council. That, and the fact that quite a few people saw you tank dragonfire almost without injury shows that you're clearly capable warriors. The price you're asking is a dear one, though. Commander Pharamol possesses a bird like what you described, and this rare creature is considered extremely valuable. Still, they're willing to trade it for your aid if that's what you require. Of course, this assumes you're successful. As for the bear pelt, the council has no idea what you're referring to - in fact, they don't even know what a 'bear' is. Such creatures don't exist on their planet, apparently. They DO know, however, that their enemies come from the Drakelands stronghold of Ivoryglass. Warlord Yrax is rumored to have a great horde. If you help lift the siege, the council will help you get there.

sooo, we say yes and proceed to the butt kicking? I'm not sure why were even on this planet other than you retrieve the trash the witch needs for the cauldron.
If they have a nuke stashed under the city I'll probably use it.

"Then we will help you. They know little of us and surprise allies may do much ho help break the siege. You will have our aid." Sigrun says, looking at her companions after a long silence.

Percy just shrugs and nods. This was either going to be fun or an absolute bore. She hoped for the former.

"You got my bow."

"Yes yes, you point in the direction of your worst foes ... and we will make short work or them."

He added his tail lashing in excitemnet

Back in town and ready to get things moving again. :-) As we discussed, Book Four is a really cool concept, but the execution's severely lacking. As such, I'll skip almost everything and just hit the important/iconic sequences. Don't worry, I'll also give you the loot/XP you'd otherwise have missed and will provide story summaries between each scene. Before you post actions here, make sure you're Level 10.
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A few days after the council meeting, the Drakelands army attacks in earnest. The fortress is highly defensible, but your (temporary) allies are greatly outnumbered. As the defenders aren't really sure what to do with you, you're kept busy moving to "hot spots" to eliminate immediate threats: defending ballistae from draconic assault, preventing a group of skirmishers from being ambushed, holding a section of battlement against a pair of dracolisks, etc. Then a new danger arises. Out of the early morning fog comes a massive siege tower crawling with Drakelands soldiers. If it reaches the fortress walls, it will create a huge weak spot in the fortress defense. As such, it's your job to keep that from happening. The enormous tower is being pushed by a pair of seven-headed cyrohydras, and there are two frost drakes to provide air defense. You can also see that the siege tower designer was no fool - it's covered in wet hides, making it all but immune to fire.