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Violetta the Enchantress's page

59 posts. Organized Play character for David Haller.


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Sovereign Court 3/5

I'm a frequent user of planar binding. I've used it, in fact, only in the presence of five-star GMs, one of whom is a Developer.

As far as I know, anything from any of the four Bestiaries is fair game; it is a very complex spell, though, with profound in-game implications (and applications.)

Sovereign Court

"I confess to a greater talent for random violence than for sabotage.

Hermea is an interesting place, but it's not strictly natural; it's also ruled by a moral autocrat, which is hardly common.

The thing is, slavery is a state of nature. It's natural for the strong to dominate the weak; any departure from this requires application of power. It's akin to digging a canal to redirect a river. If a slave economy has a "vulnerability", it's in the possibility that the slaves might somehow coordinate an uprising... there are good reasons slave masters like to deprive their slaves of literacy and other forms of communication.

The best way to exploit such vulnerabilities is either to make possible an organized resistance within a slave community, granting them a mode of strength, OR to weaken the slave masters themselves (my suggested terror and violence), or, perhaps ideally, an intersection of the two approaches."

Sovereign Court

"Slavery completely makes economic sense! From a profit perspective, it's amazing, a no-brainer. There are whole cities and nations whose grandeur only exists because of slavery.

Since it's so amazing, the only way to curb it is to add extreme risk to involvement in the practice, like certain death for a slaver and his whole family, or just things far worse than death, like being made into a corporeal, sentient undead and sealed in a concrete block forever, or some other fate which precludes passage to the next world.

Transmute Flesh to Ooze comes to find as an apropos fate.

You just need to make everyone who owns a slave feel never quite safe; that starts eroding the institution."

Sovereign Court

"Of course an employee is more costly than a slave. Slavery exists because, um, free labor of any degree of intensity you can imagine. I've even heard of slaves magically warded to preserve their lives - resistance against elements, infernal healing, immunity to poison, and so on - so that their masters might exact greater labors from them. With food conjured from thin air, clerics always being on hand to keep a slave team going, they're even free to feed.

It's an abomination of the material world.

In fact, I shall slay the next slaver I meet, simply out of principle. A kind of winnowing, like fishing a bit of dead leaf from a basin of clean water.

Or maybe a casting of dazing hungry darkness in the Absalom auction yard, and then telekinetically pluck slavers from the ground as they try to flee, depositing them in the darkness to be chewed apart by force-fangs.

Their slaves can gather their baubles from the remains after the darkness fades; there's your post-bondage "economics".

Anyone up for an outing, later?"

Sovereign Court

"Organized military might is about as organized as its chain-of-command. It's remarkable what a few well-placed assassinations can accomplish. I wonder how many military commanders serve their own food?

The risk of revolt is great, but what's to lose, really? Slavery skews risk-benefit quite rapidly towards risk, given a charismatic focus... some covertly-placed people persons like, say, a few talented bards or sorcerers. Maybe they're even sent by Liberty's Edge?

I'm not even affiliated with the faction, but I'd happily polymorph a few slaves into, say, dragons, or huge giants... if nothing else, the expressions on their "master's" faces would be priceless."

Sovereign Court

"Well, how exactly are you defining "a slave"? Human slaves? Humanoid? Sentient? What about servitor undead? bound outsiders? summoned beings? simulacra?

One might argue that a horse is a slave, or a chair. It all depends on how liberally you define the institution of slavery.

And who's "we"? We, talking here now? The Pathfinder Society, as an official mandate? And why stop at Absalom? why not Oppara? or Korvosa? Many of us have no special attachment to Absalom, outside of a place we visit because our employer is headquartered here.

As for the economics of slavery or of ending slavery being very complicated, I'll say "duh", but I'll also say that virtual impossibility has been overcome on many occasions. It's what "magic" is, after all.

But all that aside, I'll agree that I find the institution odious in the extreme. I've never owned a slave, and I never will... though I usually have bound outsiders at my service at all times. Hence my interest in clarification of the topic. I don't see why we need to render the institution illegal, though... it's best for the slaves if they free themselves. That way, they earn the respect and fear of their former masters, assuming they allow their former masters to survive. So, really, a slave revolt is a better path to a slavery-free Absalom, and maybe eventually a slavery-free world.

There's your "liberty's edge": the willingness to rebel against tyranny!"

Sovereign Court

Ozymandias the Lion Blade wrote:

Lady Violetta, perhaps you have something to add to this perfectly legal, border permeable, proposed contract?"[/b]

I suppose what I was getting at in my opening comments is the idea that perhaps it's a bit premature to worry about contracts, "constitutional" or otherwise. The very word sounds suspiciously Chelaxian to me, anyway, a way to enforce compliance with an idea which, under the surface, isn't actually very good, or at least not mutually beneficial.

This is the very reason I've always refused to deal with devils, even in binding them - they always want to jump past "friendly understanding" to land in the contractual mire of formal obligation.

As I said, or perhaps implied: what we need to establish is not contractual agreement among members, but an understanding. We need to establish a culture of aristocratic outlook and behavior which transcends national identity. In other words, we want one of Lady Morilla's "like-minded" nobles to consider themselves less "Taldan countess" or "Chelaxian duke", and more "a countess" or "a duke". To use a fancy term, to create an aristocratic demographic state which is global in scope and outlook.

How do you create and, if necessary, enforce an aristocratic culture? That's the million-crown question, of course, but it seems to me you do it by subtly rewarding those who provide the example and punish those who don't. You are or are not invited to important conferences. You are or are not included in valuable marriages. You are or are not subject to the pointy end of a duel (Violetta casts a wink to Righty). And so on.

And, of course, the time cycle of aristocratic change is pretty long, so what we're really worried about right now is setting the tone. To borrow an idea from arcana theory, we're releasing the butterfly to establish its effect. We must not only act to provide examples, we need the right people to know about it.

We subvert the arts. We subvert fashion. We manufacture gossip. We put it in the tea a noble idly sips. We infect the very behavior which frames aristocracy, take hidden control, and shift. It may take years.

But a contract? If you create a global, contractually-bound organization of nobles acting as actual signatories, overnight you have the most dangerous, incendiary document in the Inner Sea: proof of sedition from a sizable portion of the world's elite. If - no, when discovered, enough heads would roll to impress even a Galtan executioner.

I love a good scandal, but there are limits.

Sovereign Court

Lady Violetta, bare of foot and clad in an immodestly gossamer web of mithril threads along which gem-like gleams of eldritch light dance, leans forward, a concerned expression on her flawless face; as she is dripping in jeweled Varisian bangles, the movement is accompanied by a mild clatter.

The "constitutional" proposals I have heard thus far, for the most part, are simply a catalog of the very Taldan failures and excesses Lady Morilla has entreated us to abandon. The desperate attempt to maintain material privilege while dodging nobless oblige is enough to prompt a donation to the Galtan cause.

Perhaps it's time to apply some revolutionary thinking to the notion of "elites".

What we really want to do here is create a shadow aristocracy. We leverage actual aristocracies, but then we subvert their allegiances to create a kind of global power structure. What we need is less of a constitution and more of a culture, a guiding ethos for how this body is supposed to act.

And really, what is it for? It's easy and breezy to talk about "global stability", but what is that, exactly? Who decides it? A committee? Have you ever seen a committee of aristocrats try to agree on something? Even within the context of a national effort or need, it's so much cat herding... but a transnational committee? I'm skeptical.

Moreover, before you can bind this global cartel of wealthy elites with a body of law - which is what a constitution seeks to do - you need the leverage to get the signatories to sign. You need to offer something which not only makes it worth their while where it counts, on their native soil, but it needs to be valuable enough to render them beholden to whatever enforcement arm this constitution will create. I mean, we do realize that this organized body of elites needs to be policed, yes? Even to the point of lethal reprisal?

Offhand, here's how I see it. We need to offer membership in a global cartel of aristocratic elites which promises vertical improvement within their own national system, derived from the leverage afforded by their global connections - that has to be the deal. As these "minor" aristocrats become less minor, the Sovereign Court will shift from being a shadow government of small, local powers to a shadow government of major, increasingly dominant powers, until you have some theoretical exit point in which it's a committee of kings and emperors.

I just don't see aristocrats assuming the risk otherwise.

That has to be the purpose of whatever binding document there is: takeover. And the buy-in needs enforcement, so you have to set up a group for that. Assassins, slayers, means of compulsion, whatever.

Or... not. I mean, do we really want another wave of political conquest, albeit hidden? But any alternative requires some kind of radical culture shift, almost to the point of creating some kind of new religion or guiding philosophy focused on the betterment of the world, whatever that means. There's a whole lot of definition needed.

Frankly, while obviously the whole thing is intriguing - I mean, I'm in - I'm not sure Lady Morilla thought through all the implications.

Sovereign Court

Pontificor the Great wrote:

Look I am usefulls I found this stuffs.

I know all this important stuffs about this too

Violetta listens to Pontificor with interest.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Hmmm, I never knew that. Interesting.

Sovereign Court

Immune to poison herself, Violetta casually handles a spent crossbow bolt. Having used spent ammunition to magically find enemies in the past, she briefly considers it, but feels confident that the party will meet the attackers soon enough.

Careless, leaving such things behind in a world inhabited by practitioners of sorcery. These drow have grown complacent, limited to morlocks as prey.

She confers briefly with Sheliantha on the arrangements of corpses -

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 24 = (20) + 24 = 44

- adding considerable insight (if applicable and whatever that might be!)

Indeed, Righty, assuming it was a single blade which dispatched them all; you're a master of the form, do these wounds appear to all stem from a common weapon? A scouting party seems more likely, but their leader could be worth some attention, if so.

Sovereign Court

Yeah, I'm not sure whether Golarion is more TORG, or more RIFTS...?

Sovereign Court 3/5

I'll happily offer to cast polymorph any object on any who require such a change!

I can usually be found at either my residence in Absalom's Petal District, the Palazzo di Incantatari, my palace on Akiton, on the mountains outside Arl, or in the Deep Lodge.

Best to make arrangements with my seneschal, Mitsuko.

For gender changes within the same type and race, the duration should be permanent!

As a fey being, I think everyone should explore both genders - it's very enlightening and freeing.

Sovereign Court

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Eltacolibre wrote:

So my cleric is CG and yeah I'm that point of the game where I have enough gold that it seriously doesn't matter and got all the essential magic items and more, granted only going to need the planar ally for a day. (Using rod of extend to make him last more than 24 hours but anyway)

So 12 HD worth of outsiders, so far I'm thinking a movanic deva. It seems to cover nearly everything for a combat intensive day.

What are your suggestions?

I've planar bound a movanic deva in PFS - different spell but same end effects - and it's certainly a useful outsider.

Huge elementals are great, in part simply because they're huge - I'm partial to huge air elementals myself.

Really, though, it's a matter of what you need. When I bound a movanic deva, I was with a healing-lite party. I've bound a Hound of Tindalous to track an enemy, an Erinyes as a bodyguard (true seeing + high perception), a Kolyarut Inevitable to track down someone, a succubus for the profane bonus to charisma, and a bebelith (for demon-hunting).

In the case of Planar Ally, you can get some of the high-save/high-charisma outsiders which are harder to bind, like an Akhana Aeon (which can raise dead) or a glabrezu (an amazing bodyguard/tank with powerful SLAs).

For a "combat intensive" day, my recommendation is something huge-sized and tough, like an earth elemental, bebelith, or glabrezu. Barbed devils are great, too, if you need medium-sized combatants, as are movanic devas (and they have a nice aura).

A couatl I've always found cool (my 3.5 wizard had a couatl henchman, from the Leadership feat! Good arguments since he was LG and my wizard was CG...)

Sovereign Court 3/5

I wasn't familiar with heart of the mammoth - what a fantastic spell! (*adds book to cart*)

Yes, the elder elemental is much, much easier! (and a modify memory would eliminate any ill feelings for those of a less Magaambyan bent...)

Sovereign Court 3/5

Dhjika wrote:

So have you figured out what creature you would have to turn into to have a 52 strength so you can use blood money to cast Wish spells for free? (possibly out-of-scope for pathfinder until retirement characters get to 18th level).

(1) Gate in a Titan

(2) Quickened energy drain to debuff Titan's will save (using a Staff of the Master)
(3) persistent magic jar to possess Titan. A witch companion is helpful here!
(4) Cast form of the dragon III while possessing Titan, raising strength to 55
(5) Cast blood money
(6) Cast wish
(7) Dodge GM's coffee mug as it hurls towards you.

Not that I would ever do such a thing.

Sovereign Court

As the group readies its collective gear, Violetta bestows darkvision upon those who may need it, and fortifies herself necromantically with greater false life and mind blank.

For now, she will walk with the others, her bare feet untroubled even by flinty outcroppings of bladelike, volcanic stone; she is impervious to almost any "natural" source of damage, save for items fashioned of cold iron.

A creature of forests and dappled sunlight, she dislikes the dank places beneath the Earth, but curiosity (and boredom with the daily affairs of above) has her looking forward to new vistas, even as they might become ever darker and more alien with descent.

She could hasten things by taking her charges into the strange, twilight realm between material and shadow, but such travel seems inadvisable in this underworld; the denizens of shadow reflect their material counterparts, and the notion of encountering a shadowy aboleth or neolithid... Violetta is supremely confident, but she is also cautious.

"Well, fine day for a stroll, everyone? Let's see where this road leads."

Sovereign Court

Righty_ wrote:
I don't use tailors, I live in the now. Fashions via Hat of Disguise. It is how my clothes change every six seconds.

"You obviously haven't been to a party with a bunch of gossipy, vindictive glabrezu!

True seeing, bane of glamour,"

;)

Sovereign Court

"Very nice, Righty. I actually own - employ - a tailor with a certain expertise in drow fashions. He has a talent for designing apparel suited to my azure complexion. Suiadan Miruvor, who mostly serves the High Aristocracy of Kyonin. He's referral only, normally, though I expect you may have at least heard of him"*

Violetta herself wears almost nothing - she is bare of foot, her close fitting robes wrapped with artful carelessness about her. From her haversack, she produces a jade circlet, slipping it over a delicate wrist as she utters an arcane word, passing her hand over her face, in an instant becoming, herself, a beautiful drow woman. (Spellcraft DC 24 reveals a casting of shapechange)

"Of course, the other approach, in such a place as this, is to be a drow. Whether such a form helps or hinders diplomacy with the locals will remain to be seen, but I can assume such forms as are necessary."

"If our purpose is "contact", we are well to present ourselves as Pathfinders; the name will carry little or no weight of preconception in these dark places, and so we may take the opportunity to craft our own lore. For those occasions when we seek to pass undetected, I shall veil our passing in the apparent skins of local fauna."

"Of course, for those inevitable times when neither words nor stealth suffice, well... we can deal with that when it happens."

*I actually have an old fiction (from our RP in my retirement group!) about "acquiring" said tailor, which, while off-topic for this thread, I'll happily share as "background" if folks so desire (or send it to you, Righty, if you want a good tailor to refer to!)

Sovereign Court

Ishpumalibu wrote:
Violetta the Enchantress wrote:

Forcecage would be a better option, probably - I mean, why cast four walls of force around a foe, only to have him fly out the top when time stop ends?

If you're casting time stop, your enemy can fly, very likely!

Or, another idea - rather than casting four 5th level spells, cast four 4th level spells and hit him with 4 enervations, and then nail him with hold monster or chains of light when he's at -10 (on average) to his saves?

But yes, you can box an enemy in, no save.

Well, you can't enervate him in a time stop since it targets him...

Doh!

Indeed. Scratch that.

Since it sounds like we're trying to catch our victim, a dimensional lock around him followed by a forcecage would be nice, and if he can't go gaseous or anything we can make it a forcecage with bars so we can target him with debuffs at our leisure - rays, curses, or whatever - after time stop wears off.

Sovereign Court

Forcecage would be a better option, probably - I mean, why cast four walls of force around a foe, only to have him fly out the top when time stop ends?

If you're casting time stop, your enemy can fly, very likely!

Or, another idea - rather than casting four 5th level spells, cast four 4th level spells and hit him with 4 enervations, and then nail him with hold monster or chains of light when he's at -10 (on average) to his saves?

But yes, you can box an enemy in, no save.

Sovereign Court 3/5

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Really, you want to hold out until you can buy a +4 tome (or a +5 if you think you can get to level 20); you can probably afford it at 17 (after Moonscar, for example).

Lesser tomes are just going to be throwing money away in the long term, since they don't stack.

Sovereign Court 3/5

DrakeRoberts wrote:
nosig wrote:
While it is possible some judges would rule that Concentration checks are an INT/WIS/CHA based check, many others would not... is there an FAQ or anything which would help resolve this question?
Yes and no. SKR and Adam Daigle both weighed in here. Adam says straight-out that it is. SKR's response is rhetorical and perhaps pithy, but the implication from him too is that it is a charisma-based check. While there have been many rules forum discussions on the topic, I've accepted that with two developers in agreement on the issue, it's good enough for me (both as a player and a GM).

So all this time I've been missing out on an additional +3 when I grapple foes with telekinesis...

Sovereign Court

I often find it funny, how drawn Pathfinders are to owning houses or estates in which they will seldom really spend much time. I suppose it's the sense of balance with the vagaries of adventuring life... well, that, and the fact that we get rich.

I kind of went crazy with it myself. I have my little palazzo in the Petal District in absalom, of course, and a country estate outside of Korvosa. My current obsession though is Akiton - I'm building a palace on a mountaintop a few miles from Arl; the ruler of that city is a friend, so I called in the favor for the land. No normal person could build anything there anyway. The view of Arl and its Great Pyramid is stunning!

Akiton's gravity is sort of low, so you can build much taller, much more slender, but more elegant structures; for perspective, you can build four times the height on Akiton, yet still preserve full structural integrity. I'm actually building it by reshaping the mountain top, extruding the rock of the summit up into elegant shapes. I've... arranged for a top sculptor to design the structure: it should be as much a work of art as a residence. Not monumental, but more like a forest of living stone. The designer is elven, actually, to give an idea of the ethos.

The builders are shaitan - I just bind them into service. You can't really imagine the quality of shaitan stonework and design until you see it... it's almost like a tailor weaving the very structure from the living mountain.

Anyway, it will be my showcase.

After this expedition, I'll certainly expect everyone over - I'll have a huge, insane party to open the place. I know some of you are aware of how to get to Akiton; arrangements can be made for the others.

Sovereign Court 3/5

BigNorseWolf wrote:

In general:

Remembering that you are part of a team.

Pick up items someone else might get some mileage out of: Tired of martials running year of the demon with no cold iron? Get a cold iron longspear and hand it to them.

If you're a monk carry a wand of mage armor. Pass it off to someone in the party to cast it.

If you are a paladin or have UMD, bless weapon is a ridiculously good wand. Even if you don't need good to get through dr, automatically confirming crits against evil things is amazing given how many of them are in between us and the loot.

This!

I carry a number of utility items to lend to the unprepared: golembane amulet, various weapon blanches, etc. I'd probably carry a swarmbane clasp if I wasn't myself pretty capable of killing swarms.

Because I can generally see invisible beings, I always carry a wand of faerie fire.

If you're good aligned and have a charisma bonus, a wand of bestow grace is amazing - paladin for a minute! It's the number one reason to have a good-aligned oracle or sorcerer.

Somewhat more esoteric (ie. high level) are things which can be used by bound outsiders, like a ring of counterspells (dispel magic) - for those situations where someone wants to dispel your binding - ioun stones which grant skills (lend a crimson sphere (disable device) to an elder air elemental for an instant high-level rogue!), etc. (I used to like bracers of falcon's aim for erinyes before they were banned!)

Use that haversack!

Sovereign Court

Violetta, smiling gently, leans down to the the little gnome, Yzarktistab - she seems impossibly tall and slender, and with her azure skin and silver hair, beautifully alien, like an elegant, lovely spider.

Gently, she puts her index finger under Yzarktistab's chin, lifting his gaze to her eyes - her fingers are cool and silky, luxurious - and he sees that the blue of her eyes is sky, and there are clouds there, and the hint of sunshine, the cobalt of dawn or dusk. He realizes it is the sky of his home, and it's strangely calming. Her voice, somehow, is at once penetrating and a whisper.

"My little kindred one, fear is nothing to be ashamed of - for your ancient people, the thrill of it has long warded them from the bleaching. That fate, and that alone, should instill terror. Your fears? savor and face them. Little is more pleasurable than the sense of release after escaping certain death."

She crouches down on bare feet and long, slender legs, regarding the gnome - nearly - at equal stature.

"I have known fear... no, terror. The absolute certainty that This Was It, that all my precautions and powers had failed me, and I would be ground to bloody meal. That was before I had this - Violetta holds up a perfectly manicured, blue hand, revealing a simple platinum ring, bound round with a spiral strip of leather - my great weakness, and my great fear, was being held down, unable to call upon my powers. Like you, I am not physically powerful, and so I could never depend on brawn."

Violetta reflects a moment, searching Yzarktistab's eyes.

"I could, if you want... go in to your mind, and... suppress all your fears. I do this, at times, for those who may feel nervous in my presence, as some, admittedly, do. It would be, a bit, as though you're in a dream - you, but not you. Some find it, in retrospect, relaxing. But it is not for everyone."

Violetta's smile sweetens.

"I only serve, Yzarktistab - she pronounces the name lightly, in Sylvan dialect - it is ever your choice."

Sovereign Court

"Ah, assassin's guild, of course. I used to travel quite often with an assassin companion, and in fact thought she was several assassins until I got to know her quite well, and learned she was all the same woman. Master of disguises and so on. She assassinated a flying behir once, in an arena on Akiton - tense moment, that - but it was a feat to behold. Last I heard, she'd joined the resistance in Galt."

Violetta gestures with her wine goblet, simply assuming someone will fill it.

"I've only ever employed the services of a third party to effect a rival's end on one occasion. He'd shot me with an arrow - there was a big ambush, and he'd gotten inside my wind wall - but managed to slip away when we turned the tables... I had something pressing - I think I was attending to someone in danger - so I didn't even realize it until after the fact. I have this sort of policy that I never allow any harm to my person to go unpunished, so it bothered me quite a bit.

I was on a mission, and there was no way I could just drop everything, but I had the arrow, and it was enough for me to magically discern his identity. A few days later, I had time to pursue the matter, so I planar bound a soul eater, an incorporeal spirit from Abaddon. The soul eater, given a name and the vision of a target, finds it unerringly, unless it is protected by powerful magic such as a mind blank, and when it does find it, eats its soul, bite by bite, from it's very body. No recovery, no possibility of resurrection, nothing.

It was probably overkill, but he paid for that arrow.

Abaddon, I suppose, is my "assassin's guild".

Violetta smiles gently, looking around at her listeners, perhaps gauging their reactions.

"As for immortality? I'd say your sword was true - no such thing exists. "Forever" may exist, but until countless ages have passed, even that is suspect, but if it does exist, the only thing that might last forever is oblivion. Once one has passed from the world, one's works and legends slowly follow, and that final absence of any trace can last very long indeed; forever, let's say.

I might ask my archer if he agrees, since he's on that path, but there is no soul to conjure, no echo of memory to hear... and I've already forgotten his - his? - name."

Sovereign Court

It has been years since Violetta was teleported to a location by another - she is usually the one transporting a group of trusting adventurers to some remote locale - but she enjoys the small thrill of being now here, then there.

Her hour's preparations were brief enough. Her own ability to return to one of her homes on a whim have made her complacent about long-term planning, save in such cases as planar or interplanetary travel. She had already done her standard morning preparation - castings of mind blank and extended greater false life - and was always running a contingency of some sort. While not really concerned about the possibility of ambush, she decides on castings of see invisibility and heroism just prior to teleportation.

(She briefly considers spending the better part of the hour binding a servitor bodyguard - maybe an astral deva or a rakshasa tataka - but experience has taught her that most Pathfinders are sensitive about bindings, especially of angels. Not yet having a read on the "culture" of this new Lodge, it can wait.)

After teleporting to the Lodge, Violetta applies her own arcane mark to one wall, the easier to "find" for future teleportation, and follows the others on the "tour". She is discomfited by the dimensional anchor effect of the hallowed space - Violetta dislikes any hindrance to her ability to escape - but concedes the tactical necessity of such a spell. She resolves to adjust her contingency later to accommodate.

Violetta enjoys the food, and tries some of the less familiar fare. "I often find that when a chef first encounters new ingredients, his first instinct is to bend those ingredients to a direction of familiar flavors - aromatic rubs, lemon, certain herbs on otherwise alien meats, for example." Violetta spears a mushroom on her dagger, lifting it as though to examine it. "If you're here for the long haul, and if you really want to understand the beings which dwell here, it will be worth training our palates for truly alien flavors. That purple fruit, for example, rather than lemons, to drizzle over these... fish." Violetta pops the mushroom into her mouth, chewing approvingly. "Perhaps I'll dominate a drow chef to add to the cook staff?"

(Violetta is famous enough that some may be aware of her infamous poisoned dinner parties, in which guests are treated to exquisite dinners in which each dish is a deadly poison. Guests are encouraged to protect themselves magically, but there's always that ONE "tough guy". In any case, she's culinarily adventurous.)

Violetta addresses Telessar - "Over the years, I've been tempted to relieve myself of the need to eat, or to sleep, but I'm too much a sensualist; I love flavors, I love textures, and I love dreams." Violetta pauses a moment, as if considering something; she frowns slightly."I don't think I'm familiar with Absalom's mortality guild. Mortality?... it doesn't sound like a terribly appealing guild, to be honest."

Pushing her plate away, Violetta looks at Val. "So, when do we meet this druid? Hrogarth?"

Sovereign Court

Violetta looks upon the scene: a charred (not cooked) carcass, men grabbing hunks of smoking flesh from the beast like starved slaves, a giant tent having been erected INSIDE the great hall, kegs appearing as though from nowhere.

She arches a perfect, diamond-dusted eyebrow.

"Ah, Pathfinders."

Considering - only for a moment - blanketing the whole of the great hall in reversed gravity, Violetta instead teleports to her estate in Korvosa to make preparations for an expedition to the underdark.

Sovereign Court

"We welcome your interest in our case, Lord - Lord? - Abraxxi.

Lady Violetta is preparing to undertake an expedition of indeterminate length, and before that must inspect progress on her new palace on Akiton - being built, fittingly enough, by bound shaitans - but if your schedule is flexible, she could receive you at brunch tomorrow at her Palazzo di Incantare in the Petal district, and you could chat with her then. I'm sure she'd be delighted.

That said, I should point out that I'll be handling all of Lady Violetta's legal matters directly; as a simulacrum of Lady Violetta, I am fully in possession of her personality and wishes, and all her memories as of three days ago, the date of my creation.

There is a wealth of Gebbite case law pertaining to the validity of simulacra as legal representatives of their masters. We can provide this, or I am certain your very capable assistants can produce it."

With a flourish, "Lady Violetta" sweeps her hair back and dons her riding hat.

"We will expect you at tenth bell, then? Tomorrow? And never mind the rumors about poison - that was one dinner party, and the guests were fully aware of it. At worst, you may find the Taldan brunch menu a little light for Chelaxian appetites."

She looks at both lawyers, smiling warmly.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen."

Sovereign Court

"Two legal minds? Our lucky day.

First, to the esteemed halfling, Meridoc, is it? Yes, the erinyes is gone, slain by the gelugon.

Second, to... I don't have a name yet: no, there was no contract, because this was a planar binding, not a casting of planar ally. People often confuse the two, but they are quite different. And as for me, no, I was not there for the binding - I did not yet exist - but I have the full and detailed memory of the occasion, so yes, I recall the exact wording.

Here is our position, and we feel it will make for interesting Infernal case law: when the erinyes was bound, she was compelled to obedience by the force of Lady Violetta's will. There was no torture or debuffing involved - no castings of agonize, major curse, geas, or other such means of undermining the creature's will. In fact, Lady Violetta did attempt to charm the erinyes upon initial trapping - she always does so in the interest of making her bound servitors' experience of binding more agreeable - but the spell was resisted, and charm itself hardy comprises an attack upon a creature's self-determination: it is not a compulsion.

So the erinyes was bound, but not particularly happy about it, which one can understand.

As for the specific wording, the erinyes was to remain within line-of-effect, using her true sight to identify potential dangers and warn Lady Violetta of such, as well as to serve as a bodyguard if needed... the first two provisions were clearly violated, and the last never tested.

Taking our case will provide our litigators with an opportunity to explore infernal law in the realm of the legal binding of compulsion. We assume that Hell must have a rich legal literature on the matter of enslavement, so it would seem to be a good starting point.

Lady Violetta herself - ourself - hardly has need of monies, but in our experience, cash tends to incentivize lawyers to a degree that mere interest might not achieve; if nothing else, it accelerates things."

The young woman produces a pair of calling cards, holds them up for a moment in a perfectly manicured hand, and then hands one to each lawyer. On one side, a silver cartouche about an azure field enclosing two lilies, one white, one black, the cartouche wreathed with white and silver roses, crested with a coronet. On the other, a scarlet sigil of arcane runes, and titles: "Violetta d'Armand, Countess du Plessis, Enchantress of Taldor, Fey Flower of Oppara in Her Perfect Beauty, Revealed Jewel of Goka."

"I will add that Lady Violetta would be an very... important client. A client who knows many other important, potential clients. She is very good to those who serve her."

Sovereign Court

"It's interesting that you mention "erinyes for hire", as our specific complaint involves an erinyes.

About two years ago, Lady Violetta planar bound an erinyes, and compelled twelve days of service from it; specifically, service as a bodyguard so as to leverage its true seeing, as she was dealing with an enemy known for employing doppleganger assassins. The erinyes, unable to resist the force of the binding, agreed in full. As we know, such bindings are fully protected by the Infernal Courts.

During the second day of service, this erinyes observed an illusion created by an ice devil, and did not reveal the illusion as such to Lady Violetta, even though it was under a specific mandate to use its true seeing to warn her of such dangers. Indeed, it simply said "stay here" and went to "investigate", at which time (we later discovered) it engaged in a telepathic conversation with the other devil. It was in fact, ultimately, slain by the ice devil, who then used a major illusion to lure Lady Violetta into a trap. She fortunately survived and prevailed, but not without considerable harm to some of our allies, as well as her wasting a suffocation spell on the illusory erinyes.

So, our complaint is that some Infernal power provided Lady Violetta with a faulty erinyes. If we want treachery, we'll bind a glabrezu! Not only did this erinyes fail to provide Lady Violetta with full capacity or service (10 days remained), but it resulted in the wasting of quite a few spells - planar binding, magic circle against evil, dimensional anchor, and suffocation at the very least, as well as combat spells. Lady Violetta was also placed in grave danger, which could have necessitated a very costly resurrection... prorating this last spell gives an equivalent caster value of 15000-20000gp. Added to that, obviously, any other monies for inconvenience, pain and suffering, and generally "making whole".

We place it at 50,000gp, easily.

Our desire is for a firm or representation which can procure priestly discovery in Hell - namely, the archdevil responsible for creating this erinyes - and then litigate the case to our satisfaction. We are willing to accept credit at the Bank of Mammon, if this will expedite the case (since we realize such cases can take many years, and credit can accelerate satisfaction.)

If this interests you, let us know; our usual attorney for such matters seems unavailable. Or a referral... we simply wish to proceed!"

Sovereign Court

A young, blue-skinned woman of extraordinary (if unearthly) beauty, clad in a close-fitting riding outfit of pale-blue and white silk, embroidered in a subtle jacquard of arcane runes, enters the embassy, removing a plumed riding hat as she enters, shaking her silvery tresses free. Tall and slender, she moves with an arrogant confidence, as though an aristocrat arriving back in her own home after a leisurely ride. It is quickly whispered through the ranks of staff that she arrived on a nightmare...

"I am of Lady Violetta d'Armand, Countess du Plessis, a client, supposedly, of the Asmodean priest Cardamus, who should be our attorney if he weren't perpetually off on some unimportant errand.

In any case, we have need of some legal paper-pushers, concerning Infernal obligations owed us, and recompense and making-whole and everything therefrom, or however it is lawyer-types like to put it."

She looks... impatient.

"Well? A referral? something? Whom should I speak with here."

Sovereign Court

A blue woman of uncanny, supernatural beauty appears, apparently having been there the whole time, yet undetected. Tall and slender, she is clad in a mist of droplets and sparkling motes of light, her silvery hair gently animated by an unseen breeze, but otherwise unadorned. She is bare of foot, but her feet don't touch the ground; she glides languidly through the air, at walking height, closer to the center of the room.

"Well, I am intrigued.

The prospect of an expedition into the unknown... it's the sort of thing I've been waiting for as I cast about for my own lodge, the location of which I'm as yet undecided on.

As for what I offer? I can create loyal agents and spies of nearly any being, drow, for example, in what I like to call "catch and release". I can bind any manner of outsider for any purpose, whether as scouts, as guardians, or for utility purposes. I can see places where we cannot go, and understand the past history of a place through visions. I can shapechange into nearly any conceivable form... and of course, when needed, I can end life or confer any manner of impairment to the inevitable foes who will take a less charitable view of Pathfinder incursion.

And considering it is a long journey, I am willing to create duplicates of our explorers which can tend to their business and everyday affairs in the Upper World; I've used simulacra of myself to attend dull-but-necessary parties for some time. Very useful.

Of course, I can teleport myself and six others anywhere I have knowledge of, with no possibility of error. As for hastening through the unknown, well, there is shadow walk, but only the most confident or crazy of explorers would use that below."

Sovereign Court

Flutter wrote:


Absolutely NOT! You are using magic to force someone's mind to what you want it to be. That's even worse than forcing their body.

Violetta regards Flutter cooly, but still smiles, radiantly. She brushes a platinum strand of hair behind her ear, tilting her head just slightly, as though mildly interested or amused.

"You seem to have quite strong opinions on the matter - so strong, in fact, that I wonder if their source is more personal than ideological."

"I can tell you that magical compulsion is hardly so simple - even I, an undisputed master of the art, cannot force someone's mind into whatever state I desire. I can influence and guide, very strongly, but I must still be careful with the demand I make, lest they break the bond with their will. Granted, they might not, especially if they are - and this applies to most - weak willed. But even then, I could never, for example, compel someone to self-destruction, unless I applied very dark arts indeed, such as the demonic secrets of Sifkesh, and then we are leaving the mere province of magical compulsion.

The whip and the sword are far more efficient in the removal of human agency than any application of magical compulsion.

The only magical means to render a victim merest puppet is necromancy, either through the displacement of the soul, as with magic jar, or through the appropriation of the empty body itself, after death, via necromantic reanimation. Of course, that's another argument entirely."

Sovereign Court

[

Mikaze wrote:

Quick correction: Outsiders are very much people.

A person doesn't stop being a person because they died and their soul transcended old forms to be wrapped in new ones. Origin doesn't dictate personhood.

"While I understand your misconception - outsiders, especially those of the good-aligned planes, often present in pleasing, humanoid forms - they are merely actionable facets of their respective ethos and plane of existence, their former souls having provided the energy or fodder for their creation. They are servants of powers beyond their access and understanding, and their binding is the mere, temporary deflection of a tool to another purpose.

Lacking the duality of soul and body, never sleeping, never eating, eternally vigilant, they are utterly alien to the "person" experience. Do not be fooled by their beautiful faces and lilting voices; their summoning or binding is the unsheathing of a sword, the drawing of an arrow from a quiver."

Lamplighter wrote:
Mikaze speaks wisely regarding the use of enchantment magic. Magically compelling a being to not rebel against slavery is a particularly insidious form of slavery.

"What of magically compelling a being to rebel against slavery? Most slaves have been conditioned to accept their fate - indeed, the rehabilitation of the lifelong-enslaved is a problem seldom discussed in Andoran circles, but it is very real... not everyone can afford to be healed - and are unlikely to seek freedom of their own volition; many times, slaves even fail to cooperate with their rescuers. Compulsion can ease this process.

Like most magic, compulsion and charm are as good or bad as their intended use, or as pure or corrupt as their casters' intentions."

Sovereign Court

"Perhaps I, as both an enchanter and a binder of outsiders, can provide some guidance in this.

First, understand that summons themselves do no bring forth the actual being, but rather conjure forth an equivalent representation of it. There are no beings on other planes even aware that they've been "summoned", because summons are not of specific beings, but rather the idea of the being: when you summon a babau, you bring forth not a representation of Gluznosr the Babau, but simple a generic "babau". There is no soul, no real "self" there to enslave, and so no enslavement.

Bindings of course are another matter, since one does physically transport the outsider into a prison, whereupon one then compels service from it. I have bound and greater bound a great number of elementals and outsiders, including angels, and it has been the source of some discomfort to those not really familiar with what an outsider really is.

By their very nature, outsiders are servitor creatures; manifestations of ethos, they are in some sense constructs... they aren't really "beings" in any sense of agency or self-awareness. Not "people", to use a familiar idea. A dog has more intrinsic value as a "being" than does even the most potent outsider. Their purpose is akin to a tool; binding simply appropriates a tool for uses other than intended; at most, binding an outsider might be seen as tantamount to theft, or, since its duration is temporary, borrowing without permission. There is no basis for considering it to be slavery: there is nothing to enslave.

As for magical compulsion? Interestingly, a compelled creature desires to serve its master. It is a situation wholly different from slavery, in which service is compelled by threat and intimidation. Indeed, I have used domination to empower those who serve me, by alleviating them of such mental foibles as fear or uncertaintly: if anything, it can be freeing. Just as service to a higher cause or respected authority (such as characterizes a knight, for example) can allow someone to attain goals they thought beyond them, so compulsion, applied judiciously, can supplement courage and faith. While it can be abused, it's hardly slavery in any definitive sense.

Slavery is enough in and of itself: institutional bondage based on threat. Focus on stopping that, and don't try to extend it to areas in which it is untenable."

Sovereign Court 3/5

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Vrog Skyreaver wrote:
whatever you do, don't play with a gnome who has a rod of wonder. this will haunt your dreams (like it does mine).

There is reason I finished "Eyes of the Ten" a shade of deepest azure.

I can work it, though.

Trendsetter.

Sovereign Court 3/5

Kenji Elindir wrote:
Honestly the best use of this tactic is a whip wielding Combat Maneuver Magus with wand wielder. Kensai gives you whip prof at level 1.

Well the best use of the tactic is a sorcerer casting perfected quickened true strike followed by a casting of telekinesis, but a whip is pretty good too :P

Sovereign Court

"Titles are pretty; they are jewelry for one's name.

They are also invitations to high society; if someone has a title, we know they're at least someone useful either by birth, or the sort who can manipulate influence to their favor. Either sort is worth knowing.

And "fussing with frippery" is the basis of civilization. If one wants to grub food from earth and tree and sleep on logs, by all means, do so... I expect you to bathe before entering my rather opulent and entirely-too-large villa in the Petal District or my country estate, though.

As for actual hard work... by all means, thank you!"

Sovereign Court

Just as an aside - it's very nice to have one of these stones on-hand, keyed to the disable device skill.

If you find yourself rogue-less (it happens!), just planar bind an air elemental, pop the stone around its whispy head, and you have a pretty good instant trap-disabler!

(+22 for a huge air elemental!)

Sovereign Court 3/5

I am sorely tempted to retrain my bloodline from Fey to Sylvan; at 16th level - and with a robe of arcane heritage - that would give me a 17th druid level animal companion. Tiger? T-rex?

Perfect for Form of the Dragon III, or just casting anti-magic field on it and having it go grapple enemy spellcasters.

Of course, at this point it's down to modules and specials, but still...

Sovereign Court 3/5

I have been often tempted to bind a Glabrezu... but it's a demon of treachery. Just not a comfortable situation! :)

I do think it's worth mentioning what one has bound in the past to GMs, in case they should have a chance to make things interesting in the scenario ("you bound my brother!").

I think thus far I've bound a huge air elemental, a Hound of Tindalos (two, actually), erinyes, a kolyarut inevitable, a movanic deva, a bebelith, and an efreet. Should I encounter any of these, I certainly understand if they might take an interest in me ( assuming they have knowledge: local... Glabrzu have K:local +18!).

Sovereign Court 3/5

andreww wrote:
Not really. From level 15 onwards the Wizard can simply use Moment of prescience for a huge bonus on the opposed check. Alternatively nothing is stopping you from debuffing the trapped critter and then compelling it to agree with enchantment spells.

Yes, this is probably among the most powerful applications of Moment of Prescience. Of course, my sorcerer has to wait until 16th level.

But at 16th level, casting a persistent greater planar binding and invoking moment of prescience for the opposed charisma check (which will then clock in at +30 or so), it becomes trivial to bind a Planetar (to use one example).

Again, it comes down to good "gaming citizenship" in such cases - am I making the game more or less interesting by binding a Planetar?

Sovereign Court 3/5

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CRobledo wrote:

We have a Seeker in the area that uses this spell liberally. It is very open to GM interpretation, so word of warning.

What he does though is compel the creature to service, using the opposed charisma check. However, he plays a fey bloodline sorcerer with like... 28-20 CHA now, so the CHA check is not that hard for him.

Another good idea may be to summon and bind a GOOD outsider, which are more likely to "like" what you are calling them for.

This would be me :)

As Carlos has said, I use Planar Binding *all the time* (and in one more level will start using Greater Planar Binding). It's actually a pretty clearly-worded spell - you *bind* an outsider into service through pure magically-enabled dominance (charisma), and in principle no negotiation is necessary - so it really *shouldn't* be subject to a lot of GM fiat... but GM's hate it, so in practice, it is.

I always bind for "open service", and if I bind particularly evil outsiders (like devils or demons), I do give them very specific ground rules. Your case is certainly a very under-powered use of a Movanic Deva (a personal assistant), and it's really just going to be flavor (or it sounds like it). In general though, use of very powerful spells such as Planar Binding, Polymorph Any Object, Simulacrum and so on require what I like to call "good gaming citizenship" - remembering that the GM and the other players want to have fun, too.

Case in point: I bound a Movanic Deva for use in "Academy of Secrets". I knew my GM (the excellent Kyle Pratt) was aware of my history of using Planar Binding (John Compton had a lot of fun with my outsiders during the retirement arc), and I wanted it to "fit" in with things. I was traveling with a paladin as well (who might take umbrage at my enslaving an angel), so some role-playing was required. Ultimately, I promised the angel that I would never make it harm innocents (even though strictly I *could* make it do so - it's bound to my service), and I promised the paladin that when we were finished, I would have the angel fulfill the balance of its service providing help in Absolom's orphanages (they can cast remove disease at will).

It's a spell many GMs dread because it can be abused with impunity - there's no way for a GM to have it appear for revenge in later scenarios - but done right (meaning with agreement between GM and player), it can provide a lot of fun roleplaying (as the outsider is an NPC present).

(One recommendation - if you're just looking for a secretary/chronicler type, consider a Lillend Azata!)

Sovereign Court 3/5

And then there are those of us who killed the phoenix... twice.

It's fitting that the rewarded Pathfinders toe the mid-ground between too nice (your group) and not nice at all (my group).

:D

Sovereign Court 3/5

A dazing firesnake would be fantastic.

Sovereign Court 3/5

Speaking as a 14th level Fey bloodline sorcerer:

Any of the shadow evocation and shadow conjuration spells are fantastic, just out of sheer versatility.

I use resilient sphere amazingly often. I can rescue NPCs, isolate bad guys for later, trap incorporeal beings (I had half a dozen specters imprisoned, once), create a buffing-shell for myself, and so on. You could even block a passage with it. Just immensely useful.

Telekinesis is awesome. A +27 grapple check at 200+ feet solves a lot of problems (and with buffs like haste and inspire courage it can go even higher). If I really, really need to grab something, I'll cast a quickened true strike first, so I'm hitting with a +47 or so grapple check. I've grappled huge dire ape liches, advanced retrievers, you name it; I could potentially grapple the tarrasque using that combo (CMD 66).

Dominate Person: I just can't tell you how useful this has been. Good fun dominating a 12 level druid early in a sanctioned multi-day module, so they can buff the party daily, commune with nature each morning to advise the party, and so on. Goes very well with persistent spell.

Slow versus haste? I find slow more useful.

I love hold monster because it allows time to do a full "you're mine" workup on an enemy: bestow curse, dominate person, etc.

Here's how to get maximum utility from an NPC: dominate them, use them for awhile until you tire of them, magic jar into them and use their body to fuel a rough casting of blood money (maybe for a free limited wish), then hold them or put them in deep slumber, and coup d'grace with vampiric touch for 14d6 temp hit points. Waste not, want not!

Finally, I now always have a bound outsider; a sorcerer with a +12 charisma modifier can absolutely rock planar binding. Since 12th level I've been served by a huge air elemental (great), an erinyes (didn't work out so well), a kolyarut inevitable (great, if difficult and hilarious), and a movanic deva (how cool is having a bound angel as a servitor?) "Never be alone" is the binder's motto.

Overall, though, if I had to choose just two spells for sheer versatility: resilient sphere and telekinesis.

Sovereign Court

Righty_ wrote:
Dears the fashionable title is Marquis.

Oh Righty, I'm afraid you're wrong on this one!

It is true that Marquis is the loftiest of titles proffered by our dearest Stavian, but any student of nobility and peerage will point out that it is hardly fashionable.

Consider the origins of the title: a landed Marquis governs the marches of the land, those border regions far from the Imperial center; it's an important role, historically, to be sure, but dominion over rustic hinterlands does not charming company make.

The more developed, civilized, interior divisions of land - counties - are presided over by Counts (and Countesses), an element of nobility far more likely to participate in Court life and urbane, fashionable society.

Not that the Marquis, stomping around the pristine wilderness on a country outing in his armor and muddied boots, is any less aristocratic a figure - it's a great trope of nobility, certainly - but the elegant Countess receiving well-dressed visitors in her salon is always going to be more fashionable.

Country Mouse versus City Mouse, if you will.

Count or Countess - or the Uflenized Graf or Graffen - are the most fashionable titles. If such considerations matter, of course!

Sovereign Court

Lady Violetta d'Armand Countess du Plessis, an azure-skinned, silver-haired human woman of extraordinary beauty, looks thoughtful for a moment.

Well, first of all, "Lord" isn't a really a noble title; it's an means of address. You'll be "Lord Garblenarf" regardless of the title you select.

Of the other two - Baron and Viscount - Viscount is the "better" title... but I suspect you're looking for the sort of "poetry" of how a noble title fits your name. So, I think it's worth considering what fits nicely with a Gnomish name. Gnome, to the Taldane ear, has a rough, gutteral - no offense - quality to it, which to me suggests an Ulfen title. Considering the Ulfen Guard, there is certainly precedent for the Taldan use of Ulfen titles; those lands should be under our rule anyway.

So, "Baron" might suggest "Freiherr", but this is, frankly, a lesser sort of title in Ulfen than in Taldane, and there really isn't the equivalent of "Viscount" in Ulfen (Viscount being a title traditionally with judicial functions, something not practiced in barbaric lands). I would reach a bit higher to the equivalents of "count" or "earl", such as "graf".

Graf Garblenarf? I think it works nicely.

A little Gnomish Graf! I do adore gnomes - I had one as a pet, once - and I do look forward to seeing you in the aristocratic "scene".

Sovereign Court 3/5

zean wrote:
I wanna see someone try Planar Binding a Glabrezu, however (which a Wizard can do at 11th Level, or a Sorcerer at 12th Level). It looks quite dangerous, but geeze, if you managed to do it, you could legally acquire a Wish spell in a PFS scenario.

I could quite easily planar bind a glabrezu (I have a 91% chance of beating its SR, and it has only a 12% chance of saving versus the binding if it were persistent, and then it would pit its +5 charisma bonus (assuming I didn't bestow a curse or enervate it before forcing it into servitude) against my +12...)

That said, it's a demon of treachery: I would never try to exploit its wish; even bound, I would assume it would find a way to twist my wish against me. Bad, bad idea.

A much better outsider for access to wish would be the (far weaker) efreet. I could call and bind one of these with trivial effort, and its 3 wishes per day far exceeds the mere 1/month of the glabrezu... but, even though I could kill the efreet almost instantly if it tried to betray me, I would still be very cautious about exploiting its use for wishcraft: it's very powerful magic which must be treated with great caution and respect!

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