"Unfortunately I don't have a summoning spell right now, but in theory an elemental can follow directions and could use the talisman," says Rurik.
"Assuming we had someone capable of speaking its language to get whatever intel it would gather. I don't speak any of those languages."
"I wasn't thinking intel gathering so much as target," says Rurik. "Send the elemental up first, let it get clobbered by spells or arrows or whatnot from the initial volley before the next person goes up. A dispersed elemental just returns to its plane; it's not like it's being 'killed'."
"We just need a distraction, right? If Hatch can go up, super sneaky, and cause the folks upstairs to give us even a few moments grace, that might work. So long as we don't bottleneck like we did against this druid woman, we should be able to overwhelm the witch and her apprentice, especially with silence running."
"I prefer Erland's idea. Our best bet is stealth, not sending something that announces our presence. Hatch is really good at distractions, as we just saw! Have him make all of us invisible, and then he leads the way upstairs. We give him about 12 seconds to create a distraction if needed--a sound or something to get the enemy to look or move away from the teleporter. Then we start moving in--fighters first. We can have Silence cast on my spear, and I can either keep it on my person or throw it as needed."
"Honestly, the concept of stealth is semantic at this point. They know we're here and waiting for either a report that we're dead, or an attack. Either way they'll be watching the teleporters ready to attack at the first sign of a non-friendly. If Hatch goes through invisible it'll only be a few seconds before they figure it out. That might give us a moment, but the silence tactic is probably our best move. Though the longer we debate this, the more time they have to prepare." Ingrit says, looking at each of her companions in turn.
Aggreed , let's go
Dom continues to discuss the details with the team.
As they discuss the details of engagement, Ingrit takes the vial of greenblood oil from her belt and meticulously applies it to an arrowhead.
Before heading up, Erland takes a few moments to whisper incantations between himself and Fiske. First, his eyes glow a frosty blue for a moment then recede into their normal color.
Almost immediately after, he begins to rapidly shrink, down to the size of a child or halfling, while all his equipment and gear shrinks along with him.
"Olay, ready."
Silence is bard/cleric 2, Erland does not have it available to cast.
Khristov will cast it on Dom's spear.
Ingrit treats two other arrorws with poison as they prepare, one with Centipede toxin, and a second with greenblood oil
Dom uses his Oil of Magic Weapon right before heading up.
Once everyone is ready with buff spells and items, Hatch steps onto the tranporter platform of ice. All anyone can see is the snowflake shaped key bobbing along a foot above the ground. Dom stands ready to take the key from Hatch as soon as the transport process begins to manifest.
The ice encases the platform, leaving a faint Hatch-shaped void inside. The ice vanishes and the game is on.
Under the spoilers in this post are actions taken by Hatch and anyone who is aware of him or his activities. Players should not look at these spoilers until after the melee is ended.
Hatch:
Nazhena:
Radosek:
Round 1
Hatch arrives in the ice transporter. Although Radosek and Nazhena cannot see him, they know someone came up. Radosek, waiting behind the curtain is informed of someone using the transporter by his familiar, Valstoi, a goat. Nazhena's attention focuses on the ice as it forms.
DC 15 to discern the general shape of Hatch before the ice melts.
Nazhena:
Valstoi:
So neither gets a clue as to Hatch's size/shape. But they both know someone came up and can assume that someone is invisible. They also know it is not anyone who is supposed to be coming up, so they start taking aggressive actions which they decided on knowing the tower is under attack.
But they must wait for the start of Hatch's second round actions to do anything themselves.
Round 2
Hatch: ;
Moves to position I6. Uses TK to knock some books off the table in position F9.
Radosek/Valstoi: Valstoi
Valstoi is fooled into thinking someone has bumped into the table.
Radosek begins summoning using the Cauldron of Summoning (FRA).
Nazhena:
She suspects the falling objects might be a trick. She uses the round to cast Spectral Hand. Then she moves into the room to the SW, leaving the door open enough that she can see out but gets full cover.
Dom is seen by the others as the one holding a bit of colored cloth and the key. He moves in immediately after Hatch vacates the platform. He hopes he isn't making a mistake, but has taken to heart Ingrit's suggestion that their advantage of surprise is limited. As he is about to teleport, he drops the cloth and hands the key to Ingrit for taking.
Many tables and shelves covered in books, maps, and large scrolls line the room’s circular walls, and a large ornate mirror hangs between two open windows to the west. Some books lie on the floor near the table in the NW side of the room. Twin ice sculptures of demonic fiends flank a curtain. Sounds of chanting can be heard from the south side of the chamber. Hatch is nowhere to be seen (not surprisingly). There is a door on the SW side of the room that stands ajar and there appears to be a woman looking around the door. There are two other doors, both closed; one to the east and one to the north.
Just before his turn, Domitian sees the curtain at the south side of the room slide east revealing a goat next to a bubbling cauldron. Dom can just see the left hand gestures of someone behind the cauldron.
He can't tell, so hoping they are not he moves toward the creatures by the cauldron and said ice sculptures. He intends to attack if the gesturing figure walks by him, but not any other enemy.
;
;
As Domitian moves across the floor, the statues don't move or exhibit any other signs of being anything other than statues. He eventually sees a man finishing a spell focused on the bronze cauldron with artistic scrawls on the dark surface that depict an array of exotic animals, legendary beasts, leering fiends, and hosts of elementals. When the silence radius begins to affect the area with the cauldron, the caster looks displeased. The man has what looks like an icicle in one hand.
The man swings the icicle through the air near him, apparently checking for invisible foes close to him. Then he points the wand and triggers it. Just behind Domitian a spear made of ice erupts from the ground. Had he been standing in that spot, the spear would have wounded him and possibly tripped him. The spear remains in that spot, providing cover but not otherwise inhibiting movement.
A moment later, the entire room fills with sleet as if in a blizzard. The sleet does no damage, but it obscures all sight beyond one's own square, making the room effectively dark, blocking even darkvision. In addition, the ground under Domitian's feet becomes slippery.
[ooc]It is Ingrit's turn to act right after Domitian takes his next action, although it is unlikely Ingrit has any idea where Domitian is unless he bumps into her. If she moves (which will be necessary to free the transporter for the next person), she must make a DC 10 Acrobatics check to move at all. Failure by 5 or more means she falls prone. All squares covered by the sleet effect are considered difficult terrain. Ingrit can reach out and confirm where the walls are around the transporter (see map location of the transporter but remember she cannot see how big the room is). She can feel her way along a wall or strike out toward the middle of the room.
She should also make a perception check, which needs to beat a DC 20 to detect the general presence of someone within 30 feet and a DC 40 to pinpoint a location.
She can make a touch attack with her hands or a weapon into two adjacent 5-foot squares using a standard action. If an invisible target is in the designated area, there is a 50% miss chance on the touch attack. If successful, the groping character deals no damage but has successfully pinpointed the invisible creature’s current location. If the invisible creature moves, its location, obviously, is once again unknown.
As Domitian and Ingrit now know, the conditions in the room into which you are transporting will make communicating your actions to me and me communicating the outcomes back to you difficult. Use spoilers directed to the GM and only read spoilers with your PC's name on them. This situation will not last beyond a few rounds, so hang in there and be creative in your responses. Use the map and shift the covers if your PC is in a position to explore what's behind but generally don't assume what shows on the map is observable.
In addition, remember you are each invisible until you make an attack. Furthermore, remember that somewhere in the room is a spear with a silence spell on it. Anything you say can be heard by people outside the area of the silence but I will inform each PC of what he/she hears. Generally, each time you post, make a perception check, which will have some effect on things you might know.
Domitian is next to act, followed by Ingrit. Erland is next on the transporter. After I communicate what happens relating to Dom's and Ingrit's actions, I will describe what Erland sees at the point his turn begins, which will be after the enemies' next actions followed by Dom and Ingrit.
The goat moves forward five feet and butts his head into adjacent squares to the north.
The goat fails to locate Domitian.
The man uses his wand as described above, striking at a random square within 20', hoping to locate the source of the silence spell.
Little Erland stands ready to transport!
When Domitian attempts to move closer to the man behind the cauldron, he bumps into the goat and has to step back
;
; He has no trouble hitting the target--is it enough to finish it?
*Edited for correct crit damage.
Ingrit moves as indicated. Ingrit feels a corner at this point, with something like an opening or the start of a hallway to the east. As she moves into this space, she enters the area of the silence spell effect. Ingrit does not notice anyone else nearby.
Nazhena does the same, activates flight hex and flies through the door and 30 feet NE and 30 feet up.
Hatch huddles under a table, waiting for the sleet to end.
Now "visible," Dom tries to move past the fallen goat, but instead stumbles over the combination of its body and the sleet, forcing him to a stop just to maintain his balance. Frustrated, he spends some precious seconds tearing off his shield and dropping it, since it only seemed to be getting in the way.
Khristov takes the next ride up.
H
Rurik gets in line after Khristov.
Assuming Erland will step off the transporter to free it up for the next person, he finds the ground is very slippery. He manages to keep his footing, however, and can move further without falling, so long as he does not try to move too fast.
stealth
Erland moves 15 feet, feeling along the wall. On the wall it feels like there is a large pane of glass, probably a mirror. Then he comes to a door.
As he moves, he remains in a part of the room not affected by silence and hears Fiske make noises that he understands to mean, "I smell something flying above that reminds me of paint."
Radosek:
Radosek manages to hover and casts Flurry of Snowballs down and toward his cauldron. It hits Domitian, Ingrit and Hatch.
Erland:
Domitian gets hit by a bunch of small, hard, cold objects that rain down on him from somewhere behind him and to his right. The first one to hit him alerts him and he ducks and protects himself from some of the others but still gets beat up by those that hit.
Ingrit gets hit by a bunch of small, hard, cold objects that rain down on her from somewhere in front of her. The first one to hit her alerts her and she ducks and protects herself from some of the others but still gets beat up by those that hit.
Nazhena:
Casts Vampiric Touch and delays the touch attack attempt (using spectral hand) on whoever is transporting, right after transport is complete. Hatch, Domitian, Ingrit, and Erland act before the attempted touch attack.
Erland:
Dom tries to fumble around for the enemy caster that he thinks might still be around the cauldron.
;
Grunting in surprise as she finds herself being hit by a barrage of what feels like snowballs, Ingrit maintains a crouched profile, avoiding the worst of it and focusing her attention up.
She continues to wait patiently.
perception
For the time being, he remains quiet and stealthy.
Fiske DC 10
Erland and Fiske are able to move with caution another 15 feet . Fiske makes another cat-sound which Elrand understands as "Human straight above."
Vampiric Touch spell is not delivered but still active.
Khrisov DC 10
Radosek:
Khristov finds nothing in the areas he moved through or reached out for.
Domitian:
Erland:
Ingrit:
Khristov:
Hatch:
Round 6 begins.
Initiative Order
Ingrit (if she had a ready action to fire her bow)
Domitian
Ingrit (if she did not have a ready action to fire her bow)
Erland/Fiske
Enemy