Xanderghul's page

It is not difficult for Xander to evade the Crusader guards that pursue him. His mastery of illusions and the more recent sessions with Anevia practicing the skills of a thief have given him all he needs to secure his own freedom. This allows him some leeway to watch his own fall from grace, an experience which possibly isn't the best one for a person to go through. After a few days, Xander leaves Drezen behind. He tells himself that it's for good, and that they're better off without him. Under the cover of darkness, after securing some basic tools that he wasn't already carrying, Xander hikes out into the Wound.

He needed time. Time to re-evaluate his priorities and figure out a plan for what to do with his life. Luckily for him, Xander thinks best on his feet and was able to walk quickly and for a long time. So he walks. He has to get out of Crusader territory, and he doesn't want to wander too close to the Wound's center and its extremely dangerous inhabitants, so he travels along the north side of the Wound, avoiding the armies at Pulura's Fall, getting too close to Undarin, or passing through the core of any one region. Skirting around the borders allows Xander (despite his sometime deathwish) to make it safely to the sparsely-populated northeast of the Wound, where he is able to set up shop.

With a place he knew he could return to, he was able to plan his required curriculum for Boccanegra and move to Cheliax part-time. That he felt relief from the dangers of the Wound wouldn't be something that Xander would admit, but the life of contracted academia suited him in some respects. Unsuspicious young people looked up to him, and when he fulfilled his duties to the letter he was handsomely paid. Xander turns out to be an alright teacher, at the very least advancing his students' spellcraft considerably, if not teaching many valuable life lessons along the way. His cult he centers on the faculty and slaves of Westcrown. He takes advantage of an academician's desire for knowledge and promises them greater access to that knowledge if they follow his philosophy, and follows it up with the promised access to anything he has the resources to find. To the slaves he promises freedom -- if they do as he says. One by one he spirits them away from their homes and relocates them someplace else. He finds them jobs and shelter and asks only that they serve as a future contact. He places them in Andoran and Nirmathas to grow his network wider.

To Geryon, in exchange for his freedom in three years' time, he gives the ritualized sacrifices of those he deems an acceptable loss. He only targets evil, and he only acts as often as is necessary according to the contract, but to Xander serial killing is worth eternal freedom. He reasons that he would wind up as a devil for all eternity, torturing and killing and serving the will of Hell, if he did not make this sacrifice for three years now. That reasoning is part of what allows him to do it.

Eventually he returns to Mendev after getting in contact with Ehren. The Archdruid had offered to reincarnate him again, to preserve his identity. He gladly accepts, meeting with Ehren in a secret place where they could perform the ritual. His new form is that of a green-skinned frog creature. Two feet tall, the creature has spindly arms, strong and agile legs, and a stout, thick body. His skin glistened with an oily poison that warned creatures against eating him, and his eyes were two different colors. None of his old clothes fit him anymore, and anyway if he wore too much it would just get oily and slimy anyway. After his reincarnation Xander takes to wearing a loincloth and a concealing gray cloak. He carries his haversack, utility belt, small machete, and iron staff of freedom's command with him at all times, giving him the strange appearance of a hermit frog... archaeologist? He leaves behind many of his items in his office at the school, intending for whichever student brave enough to take them to have them.

Today one might even say that he is content. He has only made one ritual sacrifice -- a man he found at the docks in Westcrown selling shiver to desperate poor people -- and it hasn't quite set in that he will have to do so eleven more times. Still, he does whatever else he wants. He travels between Cheliax and the Worldwound on foot when he has the time, but by teleport when he has procrastinated too much recently. When in the Wound he wanders to explore, entering whatever cave or ruin he finds and frequently fleeing the dangers inside. When in Cheliax he plays a very good quirky professor, assigning unusual homework and only occasionally pitting his students against one another. Xander believes that he can honestly and contentedly do this for another two and a half years, get out of his contract, and then move on to another life afterwards. One about spreading his power and influence and having a blast doing it at the same time. All this hunting demons and being responsible had really worn on him over the years. It was time for some hedonism.

A few addendums:

Xander obviously can't spend all his time wandering the wasteland. He signed an infernal contract committing to teach part-time at a university in Cheliax for 3 years! So he's gotta do at least some of that. He plans to fulfill the terms of his contract, assuming that there's nothing too terrible in there and he can spend the rest of the year outside of Cheliax no problem.

On another hand, Xander doesn't want to completely abandon Drezen. He knows he's not welcome there, so he wouldn't try to move back in. Ehren offered in Discord to assist Xander with a second forced reicarnation, in order to disguise his identity further. As a result, Xander would feel comfortable entering Drezen from time to time as a wanderer, bringing news and checking on his followers.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want Xander to do. I think I have something like an answer.

He won't turn himself in. Frankly, he feels betrayed by Ary, and besides won't consign himself to a lifetime of imprisonment or a potential execution.

He will certainly not harm any of his friends, or expect anyone to side with him. When presented with the possibility of arrest, he flees. He uses illusions and his Flickering Step to evade the authorities.

Knowing that he is likely to be pursued, he employs flight and invisibility to leave the city. Then he hikes into the heart of the Worldwound. If he is able to make it past the radius of the Sword of Valor, he feels pretty home free. If anyone catches up to him, he can disable them with nonlethal illusions like phantasmal web.

His next goal is to find someplace to call home. Somewhere better than a cave, maybe with some demons that aren't too strong. Ideally, Xander scopes out a few places that are safe to rest and wanders between them, adopting different disguises via illusion and becoming some sort of wasteland sage/crazy pseudo-villain. In this position, his goal is to foster the growth of his cult.

How does that sound?

I'm happy to play through the following scenes if you feel we need to roll some dice to see if he actually gets away with these things, or if you have any of your own input to add.

Xander wrinkles his nose twists his mouth, and shakes his head. "By now? We were on the other side of an ocean just today, for only one day. And besides, I sincerely doubt that the Adepts are going to stick around to give descriptions of the slave-stealing criminals to the authorities."

"I do think you should lay low, though I think we should be careful about who we ask for refuge from the law. Good temple or not, the Iomedaens here are still subject to Chelaxian law."

Xander nods at all of Unafe's questions. "Yes, I think we should go to the temple first."

"We will contact Ehren tomorrow, to see what his status is. If he lives, we can wait for him." He considers the corpse again. "Perhaps the temple has some sort of mausoleum where we can store this body. I don't like the visuals of carrying it around for as long as we're here."

He gestures forward. "Well, then. Lead on."

Xander shakes his head at Unafe's question. "No, I don't know that spell," he says in response. "I can learn it if I need to, but I think our time might be better spent trying to arrange a resurrection ourselves."

Looking at Aravashnial's limp body held pathetically under Unafe's arm, he considers the image the two of them presented -- Unafe with her saurian spirits and corpse, Xander using illusions to appear completely normal and unassuming. "I am badly hurt... though I might be able to limp through the rest of the day with a couple more spoonfuls of that honey."

"But I think we'll need to do something about him anyway. Something more permanent than an anti-bad-smell spell, at least. We can't just be carrying around a body for however long it takes anyone to find us."

When he sees Unafe transform back to her human form, Xander realizes where they are and he uses his hat of disguise to shroud himself in the appearance of Alexander Potts. He gives a weak smile at Unafe's gratitude for their lives, responding, "It's no issue."

"I'm glad I was able to get us out of there," he adds. "When I was knocked out by that dragon's breath, I saw Hell flash before me." He looks up at Unafe. "I apparently sold my soul back there, at Boccanegra, in order to sign onto their staff. I wasn't really expecting it, but then in a few blinks the principal was suddenly summoning a contract devil and I had to either sign it or bail."

"Anyway... I guess thank you for saving me, as well. I would have ended up someplace I did not want to be if you had not."

He listens to her spiel about the dangers of Azir and her desire to never leave Sarkoris again. He nods, satisfied and in agreement. "I agree. We should not have died back there in that accursed place. I can contact others at any distance twice each day. We can start to do that tomorrow. For now, yes. Let's go back to that inn and take some rest."

Xander jumps when they reappear in the wrong inn, but when the inn's patrons appear Chelish, he relaxes. While Unafe calms the inn patrons, Xander (while groaning with the pain of his many aches) casts prestidigitation several times to clean the sewage and grime away from himself, Unafe, and Valais.

He follows them out into the road, quiet and tired. He takes a deep breath in, fighting the upset feelings that arose from their failure. Not thinking too much about anything, he follows Unafe while she leads them back to Veronica's.

He would have to return to Boccanegra later that week to scry on his remaining friends. Ary was still in prison. Hinagiku hadn't come to meet with them. Isilme was probably dead. How would they ever return to the Wound and continue their mission?

Disbelief: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 11 + 2 + 1 + 4 = 21
Dodge: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 9 + 2 + 1 = 31

Xander gasps deeply, and then puts a hand to his mouth. He smacks his lips and swallows some honey that remained inside. He flips over, grabs up his staff with one hand, and pushes himself out of the water with his hands, up to his knees. Looking all around at the deepening darkness and the enemies drawing near. He manages to weather the blast from the invidiak, its amateur shadow-magic sweeping over him like a spray of hot water. His death was nearer than it's ever been before, and he is once again held over the precipice of eternal torture.

He looks up. Unafe and Valais had saved him. They rightfully surmised that he held the key to their survival. Isilme was just out of reach, but as he had just learned, there was no time to wait for anyone. There was only personal survival, now. At least he could save the people that had saved him.

He reaches up out of the muck to grab on to Valais' arm, shouts, "Grab onto Unafe!" and then he musters the last of his reservoir for conjuration. Like an unwanted hair, Xander plucks the group from the Material Plane. They're hurled through the Astral for just a moment before reappearing somewhere familiar -- the common room of the bed and breakfast they had stayed in just the previous night.

Xander spends 3 MP to cast teleport. He goes back to Westcrown.

Reflex (good hope, serendipity, inspiration): 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 2 + 1 + (5) = 19

Xander doesn't even have time to express regret or surprise at the speed with which they were pursued by the dragon, for he is thrown against a wall. The dragon's terrible breath bends his bones to the breaking point, and he knocks the back of his head against a sewer brick.

He drops to the ground, unconscious in the sewer-water.

Xander falls to -25/114. He auto-stabilizes, due to hard to kill, but he is unconscious.

Xander is more blunt than Isilme. He tells Gerrard, "We left them behind," as he walks into the group. "Several members of the Adept retinue are able to walk through walls, and we were forced to retreat at a critical juncture."

He lets air out through his lips, looking back down the sewer the way they came. Then he turns back towards Isilme, brows furrowed. He trades the scroll of shadow walk for his wand of nondetection, but adds, "I don't want to just leave you here!"

"Isilme, why don't we just do what we were going to do anyway? Let's make for the river."

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (14) + 18 = 32
Will #1 (Good Hope, Luck, Not Real): 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 11 + 2 + 1 + 4 = 20
Reflex #1 (Good Hope, Luck): 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 2 + 1 = 19 3 damage
Will #2 (Good Hope, Luck, Not Real): 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 11 + 2 + 1 + 4 = 23
Reflex #2 (Good Hope, Luck): 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 9 + 2 + 1 = 25 3 damage
Reflex v. Force (Good HOpe, Luck): 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 9 + 2 + 1 = 23 45 damage
Will v. Shaken: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 11 + 2 + 1 = 26 not shaken

Recognizing his signature spell, Xander ducks, weaves, and throws himself down, protecting himself with Unafe's body and his cloak as best as he can. He emerges from the onslaught relatively unscathed, though with body-wide aches from whatever force spell it had been.

Current status: 63/114, grazed, no penalty

K. Arcana: 1d20 + 20 + 1d6 ⇒ (15) + 20 + (3) = 38

When he sees what's going on, his eyes widen. "A dragon!" he calls, "An etheric dragon! That's what caused the force breath. If it eats you, your soul will be torn apart, so we need to go!" The situation was so much worse than he had anticipated, and he thinks Ehren was right -- Ehren, who had sank into the floor already, leaving them. His plan had been to fight through the complex, finding an exit and leaving on his own. Now they were surrounded, their charge dead, every one of them badly wounded. "Isilme!" he calls, "Get us out of here!" He points at the body. "Unafe, get Aravashnial!"

Then he does what he can -- he targets the bearded wizard with his spell of instant death, sending a heart-stopping vision. Hopefully, with his wounds and the fear filling him, he would succumb to the spell this time. If not, Xander could redirect the spell to the xill.

Resilient Illusion: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29
Resilient Illusion: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

Xander does a 5' step back and casts Bouncing phantasmal killer on beardy. Disbelief save is 29, Fortitude save is 20. If he succeeds at everything, it bounces to a new target within range -- I target the xill.

Fort Save (Good Hope, Serendipity): 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 10 + 2 + 1 = 24
Fort Save (Good Hope, Serendipity): 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 10 + 2 + 1 = 26

Spell Penetration v. Xill: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15
Spell Penetration v. Xill: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
Damage: 5d4 ⇒ (1, 2, 4, 2, 4) = 13
Duration: 1d4 ⇒ 1

Xander takes a deep breath in reaction to the first cloudkill spell and manages to hold it through the first's disappearance and the appearance of the second, not inhaling any of the deadly poison. With Unafe in the way of the female wizard that had fled, he turns and dashes to the other side of the room. Emerging from the edge of the cloudkill, he waves a hand. Speaking words of sacred light, he evokes a burst of radiance in between the bearded wizard and the xill beside him. If his luck held, it would blind them both and give Isilme some time to get Aravashnial to safety.

Xander moves and casts burst of radiance on the two to the south. The xill and wizard must make DC 17 Reflex saves to avoid being blinded.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (1) + 18 = 19
K. Arcana: 1d20 + 20 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 20 + (3) = 24

Resilient Illusions: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
Resilient Illusions: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

The five Xanders rush into the room, running to stand by Aravashnial. He couldn't help the wizard escape (and anyway they still needed to look for Najat) but he could at least guard the man against any further torment. With his mystic sight he can see down the hallway towards one of the Adepts that had retreated, and he points down the hallway towards him. "There are two Adepts down this way!" he shouts, "The other one backed down the other hallway," he adds.

Then he focuses on his opponent -- a masked wizard that had slipped away from Unafe's grasp. Once again he summons the power of phantasmal illusion, but this time his goal is a sudden shock of fear so powerful that heart attack and instant death ensue. Summoning the best that his magic can muster, he speaks the words of death and sends the vision into his opponent's mind.

Xander moves and then casts Bouncing phantasmal killer upon the masked wizard, using educated metamagic to add the metamagic for free. He must make a DC 28 Will save and then a DC 20 Fortitude save to avoid instant death.

Fort Success Damage: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 3) = 8

If the masked wizard happens to make the Will save, it targets the woman beside him instead.

Aid K. Planes: 1d20 + 20 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 20 + (3) = 24

When Ehren returns with news that their opponents were invisible and lying ready in wait with a trap, Xander signs the components necessary to see through the invisibility they employed.

He holds out one hand, palm open. "I'm ready to go whenever you are. I can find my own way to the riverbank meeting. When we find Najat, don't hesitate to bring them and Aravashnial back here and head for our destination on your own."

He makes eye contact with Isilme to make sure she understands. "If I don't make it, go into hiding. If I can, I will contact you tomorrow." Then he clasps her hand, ready to be teleported into battle. "Ready to go."

Xander uses one Genius Insight to cast see invisibility. Then he's ready to go into battle!

Xander furrows his brows. "I mean, I'm all for continuing to rescue people, but if we use our resources to rescue Najat, we might not have anything left to save Aravashnial." Looking up at the now-closed sewer roof. "But I agree we should get moving at least. Ehren can scout, as we discussed, and we can decide what to do after."

He looks to Isilme and Ehren. "By the way, in case any of us get separated -- where are we supposed to meet each other, for the final escape from the city?"

With all of the slaves evacuated, Xander crouches by the hole into the sewers. The plan was apparently to close shut the hole before retreating to the coastline and summoning a boat. Xander knew just as well as any of the rest of them that there waas limited time before the authorities were onto them. He shakes his head at Gerrard's request. "I also don't use much divination, and don't carry any bloodhound fur," he says. "Come on, get down into the sewers. We can continue this discussion when we are a bit safer."

With no support from the others regarding going to search for Aravashnial the old-fashioned way, Xander waits until everyone else was headed for the sewer exit before jumping down himself.

"In any case, we should get moving soon. Whether or not we have everyone, we have a limited time remaining until someone catches us. If you all are going to do something to find Aravashnial, you should do it now." He looks to the azata that Isilme had summoned. "Isilme said you can locate creatures. Could you do so now?"

K. Engi: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (12) + 13 + (6) = 31

Squinting at the architecture around them, Xander nods in response to Isilme's assertion. Doing a bit of math in his head, he determines that he could burn the building down in less than a minute if desired. On the other hand, he imagines that it could be wasteful and overly noisy. "Yep, I see them," he says in response. "I think I could, yes. Not quickly, though, and it would gather a lot of attention. Are you sure you want to do it?"

He looks around, gesturing vaguely towards the outside. "Where are the rest of the Blackfyres, anyway? Shouldn't they know by now that we attacked?" He rubs the back of his head briefly. "The silence and lack of action is telling me that they don't, which in turn warns me against causing unnecessary action. If you think it's the best choice, though, I can bring down this barn."

Xander presses his mouth closed tightly with concern and doubt. "I still think it would be better if we went to search for them the old-fashioned way, with our eyes -- especially if we're going to flee and shut the door behind us before attempting to use magic. There's no guarantee that any elf located by a spell is going to be Aravashnial, after all."

He gestures with one hand towards the door that leads to the Blackfyre facility. "Why don't we just turn invisible and go look for ourselves? I'm sure we could find him without getting caught. Ehren could lead the others towards the escape point while we do so."

He sighs, and puts a finger and thumb to his temple. "I'm just nervous about the idea of teleporting into an unknown room with unknown inhabitants based on the assumption that the nearest elf is your boyfriend."

Xander steps back and away from the bat swarms. Relegated to people-watching, and with no enemies left to fight, he simply sheaths his sword and waits for something to happen. Xander does not wish to fight a hundred slavers (or even whichever subset of them are security) and a half-dozen Blackfyre Adepts, but he doesn't see a way to reliably pinpoint Aravashnial's location without using old-fashioned methods. "How do we roughly discover where Aravashnial is? You mentioned using magic, but I thought locate magic only works on people that you know?"

Xander has no action to take.

Even if the summoned insects couldn't hurt him, Xander has no real wish to charge into a crowd of them. With the derghodaemon disabled by his magic, he has full confidence in Unafe's ability to destroy it before they needed to flee. With the halflings being escorted down into the sewers by Aglais, Xander has nothing to do.

Looking around at his compatriots, and having heard what the Riftwarden told Ehren, he says, "Well, I guess we have to go look for him, don't we? If the key is in the hand of a Blackfyre Adept, then that's one Blackfyre Adept we have to kill in order to save Aravashnial."

Xander takes a deep breath in through his nose as he accepts in his mind that, while the daemons have been defeated, there are likely other enemies beyond the walls of this barn. He's going to need everything he has in order to fight them, so he takes a few moments to relax and re-center himself.

Xander recovers all of his maneuvers.

When the thanadaemon falls unconscious, Xander capitalizes on that immediately. He carefully steps closer, holding his machete over the creature's neck to line up properly. When he thinks he's got a good angle to simply sever the thanadaemon's head from its body, he swings his sword as hard as he can down into its neck, whirling his entire body in order to get the extra momentum going.

CDG Crit Damage: 2d6 + 2 + 2d6 + 4 + 1d6 + 12 ⇒ (4, 3) + 2 + (6, 3) + 4 + (6) + 12 = 40

His work done, he stands up and takes stock of the situation around them. The daemons seemed to be well-in-hand, but if he heard Ehren properly they hadn't located Aravashnial yet. He looks up and around at the others. "What do we do next?" he asks.

Will: 1d20 + 11 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 11 + 4 + 1 = 23
Machete vs. Thanadaemon (Flank, Bane, Unafe Aura, Haste): 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 22
Damage (Bane, Sneak, Unafe Honk): 1d6 + 1 + 2d6 + 2 + 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 1 + (1, 6) + 2 + (1) + 6 = 18

Overcome by the furor of battle, Xander throws the hand holding his staff up in the air and cries, "Yah!" When he sees Unafe leap to flank with him, he takes advantage of the thanadaemon's compromised position and lashes out with his machete. With the derghodaemon disabled for the time being and the second one dismissed by Isilme, destroying the thanadaemon became the most important thing to do. It would seem that things were going well, but they were far from success. Between himself and Unafe, though, he believed that the daemons were more than handled.

"Hurry up and get those captives out of here," he call, before adding, "Has anyone found Aravashnial yet?"

Xander uses his move to recharge Unafe's martial focus. As a swift, he uses Scarlet Eye's Perception, which makes his next attack a touch attack, then his standard to attack the Thanadaemon.

Xander vs. Fear: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 11 + 1 + 4 = 31
Concentration: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 15 + 2 = 35
Resilient Illusions: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 9 + 2 = 25
Resilient Illusions: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 2 = 15
Spell Penetration: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 9 + 2 = 24
Spell Penetration: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 2 = 20

With a wary eye on the thanadaemon, Xander weaves a spell -- a fairly new spell, as things go. He glows with power as he thrusts the magic forward into the mind of the closer derghodaemon, trying to summon an image that would terrify and intimidate even such a creature. While he does so, he taps into the natural mathematics present behind all reality in order to amplify his chances of success, making a minute adjustment here and there to the natural order of things.

Xander 5' steps and then casts onieric horror using Sacred Geometry to make it Persistent. The closer derghodaemon makes two DC 25 Will saves. On a failure, it spends every turn making a FRA, and can attempt two saves again at the end of each turn.

Xander looks up the hole when Ehren breaches the floor. He clenches his staff and sword tightly, takes a deep breath, and then he takes a step upward. He disappears in a blue flicker and reappears in the room above, next to the astradaemon, balanced on the edge of the hole Ehren made.

He quickly takes stock of the situation around him, the terrifying creature that stands above the hole, and the shadowy cell-filled room. He leaps away from the hole towards the center of the room in order to get himself between the derghodaemon and Ehren -- for he knew Ehren had to concentrate on his spellcraft in order for the plan to work -- and lands on the ground. Staff in one hand and sword in the other, he keeps his back to the outer wall and tries to keep his eyes on both the thanadaemon and the derghodaemons.

If his luck held out, the thanadaemon was about to be pounced on by Unafe, which left only the terrifying derghodaemons to handle while Isilme and Ehren took care of the halflings.

Xander uses Flickering Step to jump up through the hole. He uses his move action to move to his present position on the right-hand map, and then his swift action to activate Time Skitter, which is a personal haste that lasts 5 rounds.

Four illusory Xanders spring up around him in addition to the defenses bestowed on him by Unafe and Ehren. Ready for battle, he holds his staff in one hand and draws his machete with the other. "What's next? We kick down the door and kick some daemon butt?"

Xander stops with the others and watches Ehren and Isilme cast a myriad number of spells on themselves and each other. Wishing he had been able to come better prepared, but still confident in his skills and abilities, Xander only has one spell that might be relevant to cast: comprehend languages. Knowing that they had issues with the Osiriani language before, he uses it on himself just in case.

Xander will also use mirror image on himself just before we go in:

Images: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Xander relaxes from the spell when Hinagiku responds. He twists his mouth with some consternation, and then brightens again. "Well, it seems Hinagiku is free, though she didn't explain. She just said she was in hiding, and that she was leaving in search of Sophini's."

He steps to one side of the group, peering down the sewers, wondering which way was the right way to go. "Maybe we'll meet her there. What kind of place is it? Have you seen it?"

"Anyway," he adds. "I don't see a reason to hang here in the sewers, now that we're all reunited. What's the next step, Isilme?"

Ready to move forward any time.

When given the plan, Xander nods along. He surmised they were assaulting a Blackfyre base of some sort, and that their objective was not to defeat the Blackfyre Adepts but rather to rescue the slaves. "I brought with me a scroll of summon boat so that we can escape together by sea -- I was hoping that we could collect our other friends before leaving Azir for good, but if Ary is still imprisoned... that might not be possible."

To Ehren, he nods affirmation. "I tried to contact Ary today but found that she's being held in an antimagic cell and can't be contacted. I also tried to scry on Hinagiku earlier, but she just resisted it. She's not in a cell... and I have another sending I was planning to use once we arrived. If you have a few minutes to spare, I'll do that now."

Xander tries to find a comfortable place within the sewer and then begins to cast his communication spell. He performs arcane gestures for several minutes before the message is sent.

When Xander appears, Isilme is instantly upset with him, showing all scowls and frowns and bad portents. Xander adopts his own frown once he dispels the illusion concealing his true form. "Actually, no, I did not go into a long explanation about what we would face. What will we face, Isilme? I got your message about the slaves and the daemons."

He gestures at the excrement that surrounds them. "I see that we're standing in a sewer. Why are we here, and where are we going?"

He sees Ehren perched upon her shoulder, and he's brought Unafe with him. Ary's location he knows, and he decides to share with Isilme -- "Have you any word from Ary? She contacted me in a dream last night. She told me that she's in custody, and she's been offered some kind of deal? She didn't ask me to turn myself in, but she did say that the Rahadoumi asked her to. Has she contacted you?"

"Have you heard from Hinagiku recently? I see that she's not here. I tried to scry on her and found that she's not caught in an antimagic field like Ary is, so I wonder if she's been released."

Finally, he throws up his hands and gives a little lip-razzle. "What about, 'oh, thank the Gods that you're here Xander, there were only two of us before and now there are five helping to deal with rescuing my lover'."

While he complains, Xander withdraws his wand and uses it on everyone -- bird, filthy goblin number one, filthy goblin number two, dinosaur shaman and chronicler.

"We must all hold hands in order to teleport anyway," Xander responds, grabbing onto Unafe's hand. He needed his other hand for the scroll, and anyway if Valais was coming she could hold on to Unafe's second hand. "Hold on to your hats!" he calls, before beginning to chant.

Xander returns a few minutes later. He's tucked away the scroll of summon ship, and he's ready to go. He pulls out the scroll of teleport. "Are you ready, Unafe?" He looks at Valais. "Do you want to come? It seems like it's going to be a big battle and a quick escape. Should make a good story!"

K. Planes: 1d20 + 20 + 1d6 ⇒ (8) + 20 + (3) = 31

Xander looks down at the little fearful student cowering beneath the infernal spy. He feels some sympathy for the boy. Education was difficult in the best of circumstances, and needing to worry about punishment from the Hells themselves could hardly be considered the best circumstances.

He smiles kindly at the boy. "Thank you for the message," he says, "Go on, now."

Then he turns and speedwalks up the halls with a renewed vigor. Once he reaches the lobby, he approaches the two women. "It's me," he adds with a wave, before getting a bit closer. He frowns down at Unafe when he sees that she is sleeping, and raps on her head a bit rudely to awaken her. "Hello! Mission of top-secret importance knocking. I see you brought what I asked. Please hand it to me."

He holds out his hand for the scrolls and the toy boat to be delivered into his hand. Once he has them he reviews them carefully for correctness before adding, "I will be right back. You had better be ready to go immediately when I return, because we have no more time to waste." Then he takes off down the halls at a brisk pace, headed for the scroll library. In the scroll repository he quickly exchanges the two scrolls Unafe had brought for the single scroll of summon ship he had found earlier. Thus armed with the appropriate magic, he heads back for Unafe and Valais.

Xamder quirks his head at Unafe when she adds rope to the list of desired items, and presses his lips when she relies on slave labor to gather information. "Don't bother them with extra work."

"What do we need rope for?" He cracks a grin. "Planning to be hauling ships?"

K. Arcana: 1d20 + 20 + 1d6 ⇒ (18) + 20 + (3) = 41

"Bah," curses Xander. "Fine."

He gets up and goes down to the crystal ball. He needed to wait for materials anyway, and he now had confirmation that it would be impossible to reach Ary. No word on Hinagiku, though, except that she was not worried about rescue.

Wondering, Xander begins to use the crystal ball to scry on Hinagiku.

Xander nods. "We'll try to get into the college together, but it's possible you will have to wait for me to go in and come back out. Isilme told me to contact her at noon today, which means we have a few hours."

"Before we go, we will need to spend a little money. It's my plan that we arrive, fight the Adepts, and then get everyone out of the city on a ship. I've already checked the library at Boccanegra for the scroll of a spell that can summon a ship. All that we need is scrolls from the marketplace to trade for it and a miniature replica of a small sailing ship."

"Will you donate some of your gold after all?"

Xander needs any two 2nd-level scrolls to donate to the school to get the scroll of summon ship, and the cheapest miniature focus for that spell.

He gives her directions to get to the school before adding, "Meet me at the school, in the front by the gates, an hour before noon. Be ready to go back to Rahadoum wherever Isilme might be."

Directions given, Xander finds a seat in the bed and breakfast and prepares to send. He has two hours to kill, he might as well spend it on spellcraft. He casts his spell, sending a response to Ary after her dream-message to him.

Summon Ship?: 1d100 ⇒ 58
Unseen Crew?: 1d100 ⇒ 32

Teleport: 1d100 ⇒ 60 #: 1d4 ⇒ 1
Scrying: 1d100 ⇒ 10
Greater Teleport: 1d100 ⇒ 11

Xander follows along with the tour with a few 'oohs' and 'aahs' in all the right places, but really he's impatient, waiting for the time that the tour will be over so that he can go about the business that he came here in the first place for. The impressiveness of the devil-summoning school would have to wait for now.

He descends to the scroll library and browses. He looks through the stacks, searching for scrolls relevant to his purposes. After a long search, he is able to withdraw only a single treasure -- a scroll of teleport. He quickly checks the scroll out, checking in his scrolls of symbol of mirroring and beast shape i in exchange.

Then he hurries out of the college, back to Unafe. He had arranged with Isilme to scry at a certain time, and they all had to be ready together in order to a plan dependent on intercontinental instant transportation to really work.

Xander nods. "Then it's agreed," he says with a satisfied nod and a 'hmph'. "Let's return to Boccanegra. We have some magic to do."

He stoops down to pick up his staff. He looks at it squarely. 'Hey!' he thinks at it. 'Isilme and our friends are trying to rescue slaves in Rahadoum. In order to help them, we have to use the services of a place that employs slaves. As much as I would love to topple this regime, it's just not realistic... but I could see if we can bring one with us into the certain danger we are going to leap into, if it would make you happier.'

'Please cooperate. I need you in order to do this.'

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

Then, barring further disaster, he takes Mirabella's hand and leaves the bed and breakfast, heading back to the college.

Unafe sighs with visible relief--as though taking her first breath in a long time--when Xander offers her back her tribe's treasure.

"Well, that's a rel--SAY WHAT??

"I'm...I...I don't understand at all. Your soul? You've taken a job here? So you're not coming back? And what"

Xander tries to wave Unafe's concern away with his hand as if it were a mosquito. "Don't worry, of course I will return to Mendev. I plan to send a clone of myself to teach my classes in my place, though we must first survive and return home to make those preparations."

"The real problem is this:" he says, gesturing towards his staff and the slave. "The staff is my arcane focus, which means it is intricately tied in to my practice of magic. The staff hates slavery, which I supposed was a fair thing to carry at the time it was made. However, it also compelled me to steal a slave from the school and abscond with her. I must return the slave in order to use the school's magical facilities, which we require in order to rescue our friends."

"What do you think we should do? I'm not exactly happy about bringing a slave back into servitude."

Also gonna check daemon knowledge here...

Derghodaemons: 1d20 + 20 + 1d6 ⇒ (10) + 20 + (5) = 35
Thanadaemons: 1d20 + 20 + 1d6 ⇒ (15) + 20 + (6) = 41

"Isilme also told me a bit about our foes, those keeping Aravashnial. She said they're keeping dozens of other captives as well, and that they are guarded by powerful daemons that summon swarms of insects and raise the undead."

Xander's spells are prepared.

Xander waves the servant away when asked if he needs anything else, adding, "No, that will be all, thank you." Then he sits up to greet the morning light. Tentatively, he peers at the slave that he accidentally stole. "So," he begins, "We have a few options here that I want to bring up. I was hoping to speak with my ally first, though. You needn't worry about being harmed or taken advantage of in any way. We are reasonable people, and me taking you from the college was an accident."

At that very moment, there is a knock at his door, which he stands to answer. He opens it to find Unafe and Valais, who he quickly ushers into the small attic room. "Well," he begins awkwardly, "We have some good news and some additional complications."

He first withdraws some mithral from his haversack to give back to Unafe. "The good news. I did not have to barter any of your gold or your mithral, and I think I found the resources to join our friends."

Then he gestures towards the slave, and the iron staff lying alone on the ground. "The bad news. My staff of freedom's command decided to pick that moment to make a fit about slavery, and compelled me to bring this slave from the College here right as I signed away my soul to employment with the university here."

While escaping, Xamder is still allowed the use of mental communication. He responds to Lavath's sendings as best as he could.

'Many apologies! A spur of the moment impulse took me. I will shortly rectify.'

'Heard and understood. Satisfaction will follow shortly.'

Once he reaches the privacy of his own room, kidnapped slave in tow, he hurls his iron staff to the ground. "Time out!" he shouts at it, "You finally decide to make a move, and it's to ruin a key negotiation? Very nice. Very very nice."[/'b]

He turns away from it to face the slave. He regards her for a few moments. [B]"I think you will have to go back," he says, reluctantly. "But... would you prefer rescue from bondage?"

K. Planes: 1d20 + 20 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 20 + (4) = 28

Xander considers his options for a mere moment before plucking the pen from the Headmistress' grasp, pricking his finger, and signing his name. He signs an ornate 'A.X.P.' before giving the pen back to the Headmistress. He meets the devil in the eye briefly before looking away to refocus on his task.

Reminding himself to speak with Unafe soon, he stands. "You said you have a tour. Then.. will I get some sort of identification?" He grins at the professors and the devil around him and waggles his brows. "Will I get one of those snazzy robes?"

Xander will go on the tour, and then hopefully be allowed to leave so that he can go and report to Unafe.

Xander nods and gives serious 'hmms' as she gives her analysis of his spellcasting capabilities and experience, and smiles broadly when she offers him the position. The pay was pretty significantly high, and Xander's mind is already hard at work thinking of a way to collect that salary without needing to spend a third of every year in Cheliax.

Still, he was being offered what he wanted. He would need to speak to Unafe later, of course, but for now he could work on the necessary task of getting back to his allies.

He speaks up. "Of course I will take the position. I have some immediate personal matters to take care of, but I could be ready to teach a class by next semester. Does that work for you?"

"I also heard from Echevarria that you're having some issues with shadow...beasts? Here in town? Is there something I can do for you related to that?"

"Potts" scoots forward in his seat a bit, moving to the edge to better sit up straight. "Actually yes, I do teach in a university. Or, I have, at least. I've even taught arcane magic -- mostly with teenagers and young adults. I am an expert in fifteen languages, ancient history, and planar phenomena in addition to arcane lore."

"Have you heard of the university in Drezen? I have a position there. The students there are typically war orphans with no previous arcane training, or really higher education of any kind. Teaching there involves a lot of... communication difficulties." He takes a deep breath before continuing. "As for research -- I have done a fair amount of research on simulacra and the variants thereof, and I have also cooperated with the local druidic circles on research into Sarkorian druidic lore."

When asked the question about using shadow magic creatively, he has to pause, and think for a moment. The purpose of shadow magic, to him, was to offer the abilities of regular magic, but it also had its own unique benefits.

"Once, I got into a fight with some foul creatures inside of a church. Surely you know that awareness of an illusion spell aids in resisting it, so I told my allies that I would use one. Then, I filled the church with illusory choking gas. It impeded the senses and movement of my enemies, while my allies were free to act and see."

Then he is asked to demonstrate magic. The first thing he does is withdraw his blessed book and place it on the table between them. Then he ponders what magic to use. Knowing that his magic cannot be identified, he opts for a choice that is more visually obvious than a copy of another school's spell. Calling on the knowledge inside his spellbook, he traces arcane runes in the air while chanting. After a few moments, his body mystically grows shadowy and wispy as bits of it are replaced by illusory material from the Plane of Shadows. "This spell is useful for defense," he says with an obscured grin. "It renders any attack directed towards me as quasi-real as the shadow magic I myself use."

Xander uses genius insight.

Xander tries his best to memorize the route that he and Echevarria take, but also comforts himself with the knowledge that it would probably be fine. In the absolute worst case scenarios, he could teleport through a window before needing to rush about the holidays in order to escape.

He runs his hand through his hair as he sits in the armchair across from the Headmistress. How to answer a question like: who was he and where did he learn magic? Puzzling, since Xander thought that the truth would only confuse them. Either that or they might try to capture and study him.

"My name is Alexander Potts," he says by way of introduction, "I trained in Absalom, but not under any master. I stole textbooks from the Pathfinders and taught myself. Eventually, I was able to meet other wizards and learn from them, as well."

He throws up a hand, giving them a reassuring smile as he does so. "Don't let that sketchy story fool you, though. I'm as good as they come. I've lived a hard life, longer than it might seem at first glance. Honestly, I'd be doing you a favor by doing work for you. Then again, I need something from you as well -- use of some of your facilities."

Bluff: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 13 + (4) = 20

Xander leans forward onto his knees, engaged and ready. It was strange that the school he had visited was looking for a specialist of his own specialty, but he wasn't about to do anything but take advantage of it.

"I say... that's an awfully good deal that you're offering me. Shall we go to meet her now?"