DM Brainiac |
Your tears give me strength. >:)
Avert Eyes Sara, Safina: 1d100 ⇒ 361d100 ⇒ 22
Sara Dirty Trick, Terrible Cost: 1d20 + 36 ⇒ (9) + 36 = 45
Miss Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 71
Safina Attacks: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (3) + 20 = 231d20 + 20 ⇒ (1) + 20 = 211d20 + 20 ⇒ (8) + 20 = 281d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 201d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Crit?: 2d20 ⇒ (9, 20) = 29
Damage, Challenge: 1d8 + 28 ⇒ (1) + 28 = 291d8 + 28 ⇒ (6) + 28 = 341d8 + 28 ⇒ (2) + 28 = 302d8 + 56 ⇒ (5, 8) + 56 = 69
Sara and Safina both avert their eyes. Sara darts in and gashes Ghoom’s brow, blinding him! Safina takes advantage, challenging him and shooting him several times. The wild fey snarls in pain and wipes the blood out of his eyes, then flickers across the room, appearing 30 feet further away.
Everybody may act! His gaze is still active if you approach within 30 feet of him.
d'Valois Mai Zhi |
Not to be dissuaded by the simple act of moving away from her, Zhi follows up and stabs at the man.
Rapier Attack: 1d20 + 20 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 20 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 8 + 1 = 37 reduce person, hasted, invisible, transformation, elevated - flying
Rapier Damage: 1d6 + 10 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 10 + 1 + 3 = 20 reduce person, arcane strike
Sneak Attack Damage: 6d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 3, 5, 6, 1) = 24
Avoiding Gaze - Complete Concealment 50% Miss Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 29
crap
Current Effects: mage armor, shield, mirror image, reduce person, fly, haste, visions of blood, transformation
Mirror Image: 3 images
Koriana's Blade: +4 AC
Current AC: 39 - 50% miss chance vs sighted opponents
Maria Greyson |
Doing what she could to keep her eyes averted from his gaze, Maria continued to stab their latest assailant.
Studied Attack 1: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (19) + 27 = 46
Studied Attack 2: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (14) + 27 = 41
Studied Attack 3: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (5) + 22 = 27
Studied Attack 4: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (2) + 17 = 19
Damage 1: 1d6 + 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (3) + (5) + 13 = 21
Damage 2: 1d6 + 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (6) + (4) + 13 = 23
Damage 3: 1d6 + 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (2) + (6) + 13 = 21
Damage 4: 1d6 + 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (2) + (1) + 13 = 16
Crit Confirm on Attack 1: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (14) + 27 = 41
Crit Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (4) + (4) + 13 = 21
DM Brainiac |
Reflex: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (1) + 23 = 24 Ha!
Sara Avert: 1d100 ⇒ 27
Heel: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (8) + 23 = 31
Miss Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 56
Damage: 1d8 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17
Safina Attacks: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (15) + 20 = 351d20 + 20 ⇒ (2) + 20 = 221d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 271d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 281d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Crit?: 2d20 ⇒ (12, 11) = 23
Damage, Challenge: 1d8 + 27 ⇒ (4) + 27 = 311d8 + 27 ⇒ (8) + 27 = 35
Melodie and Zhi falter again, but Ghoom stumbles uncharacteristically as Zileska calls down a flame strike upon him. Maria scores a critical hit, and seeing the fey hunter badly hurt, Sara abandoned her tricks to just kick him in the gut! Safina shoots him twice more, and he staggers and falls! His weapons of force vanish as he dies.
When you take some time to search around, you see a variety of valuable chemicals and experiments lie around Adella’s lab, including a boro bead (5th level), three bottled misfortunes, an elixir of gold dragon breath, an oil of stone shape, eight potions of cure serious wounds, three potions of inflict serious wounds, and two potions of remove curse.
Adella’s sizable notebook sits open on the marble worktable. Stained with a dozen different fluids, it contains details from her experiments over the past year, but one dog-eared section looks frequently referenced and details the laborious process of creating a duplicate of a living creature—as well as a few gruesome mistakes along the way, such as the attic whisperer you encountered in the Palace of Birdsong—similar to the clone spell. In it, she credits the Huntsmaster Barenby Ghoom with retrieving “a lock from the prince”—a keepsake Eutropia kept of her little brother, and that she believed was sealed away in the Imperial Palace by the Ulfen Guard. Scrawled in a much angrier hand near the end of this section is a personal note:
I should have expected Panivar’s barbaric little “pet” to ruin my months of careful, precise work. He insists he has Thassritoum under his sway, but it certainly seems to be the opposite from my perspective. I replicated the boy down to his childhood scars, and Lotheed’s cosmic dog mauled the soul into shreds pulling it back for us. Am I expected to put half a soul into this vessel and see it thrive? Well, my art is perfect! This mistake isn’t on me!
DM Brainiac |
Melodie can bring the others along with dimension door.
A marble tub filled with thick, red fluid bubbles quietly atop a dais in the center of this small room. Each side of the room appears to be a stone archway, carved in detail with immobile stone curtains hanging from either side of the blank wall. The curved ceiling above displays a stone relief of twisting branches, withered leaves, and obscenely plump fruit, all gilded in gold and illuminated with motes of dancing light.
Adella floats within the tub, absorbing the fluid to rejuvenate her body,
A gold necklace hangs from a nearby goblet, with a single circular moonstone dangling from the chain. The chain itself is worth 150 gp, but the gem is a gem of seeing. The cup used as an impromptu display is a chalice of poison weeping.
A secret panel in the wall hides an alcove in which the Duchess keeps her jewelry box. This elegant adamantine-and-silver-filigree box has a strange magical lock shaped like an open, fanged mouth.
DC 35 Use Magic Device or Disable Device check to open.
DM Brainiac |
With a mighty stroke, Zhi decapitates Nenareen Adella, ending the vampire’s unnatural existence once and for all.
Within the jewelry box are the Adella family jewels, long thought lost in the family’s extermination: a rose gold tiara set with flower-shaped diamonds (12,300 gp); a rope of over 100 pearls (6,600 gp); a twisted platinum ring with a starburst-shaped ruby gem (4,900 gp), a yellow gold navel ring fashioned with a citrine-and-onyx wasp ornament (3,150 gp), and a silver-and-jade amulet designed in a complex knotwork pattern (2,200 gp).
Adella herself has +4 shadow chain shirt, amulet of mighty fists +2, belt of incredible dexterity +4, cloak of resistance +4
d'Valois Mai Zhi |
Zhi gathers the valuables that she finds into her magic bag, giving a second look at some of the jewelry. Images of some of it on her wife gives her a smile. She cleans her weapon and then, with a repeat of her previous spell, returns to the rest of the group.
"Ok, who's left?" she asks their guide.
Melodie d'Valois |
Melodie finds herself staring at the tiara when Zhi reutrns to show them what she's found and has to take a moment to pull herself together and remember why everyone is actually here.
"Well we've defeated almost all of this Circle now I think." She says, "Jerroth, the ooze, the huntsman and Adella. Is there anyone else apart from Lotheed? Also - we should use these, even if they were worn by a vampire..."
Amulet to Sara if she doesn't have one. Cloak to Maria probably? Mel would like the chain shirt, it's a +5 AC boost for her right now. (Assuming it would impact Zhi's dex too much?)
Maria Greyson |
Well I don't think I need-
checks Maria's sheet
Okay yeah; Maria'll take the cloak. :P
"Well, the cloak's certainly an improvement over the one I'm using. Doesn't quite fit with my outfit," she gestured to how her current one had been modified into a half-cape style, "but I can worry about that another time."
d'Valois Mai Zhi |
Zhi indicates the secret door as the direction forward. But before continuing, she refreshes some of her short term spells.
shield, reduce person, mirror image, fly
Mirror Image: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Current Effects: mage armor, shield, mirror image, reduce person, fly, visions of blood
Mirror Image: 5 images
Koriana's Blade: +4 AC
Current AC: 34
Zileska Vestalina |
"Are we ready to face Lotheed? I've called upon a good amount of divine favor already, facing these hench-beings. If he's as powerful as we suspect, he might be... a little more difficult," notes Zileska. The priestess wraps her hands over Sara's shoulder and leans against the fighter, taking a moment to relax after all the action.
Melodie d'Valois |
"He's a wizard if his family are anything to go by." Melodie replies. "Between Zhi and I we're pretty well equipped to deal with a wizard... Speaking of which, Sara, let me do this quickly."
She taps the warrior on the head and the woman is suddenly surrounded by a zone of complete silence. Melodie beckons Zileska out of the effect so they can speak. "That should deal with most spells as long as she can get close to Lotheed."
DM Brainiac |
Three wide steps run along the walls of this octagonal chamber, leading down to an altar in the center of the room. The altar seems to be formed of shadows and whispers—a magical creation of swirling darkness from which a susurrus of voices emanates.
Floating in the air behind the altar is an old man with sunken eyes. Despite his age he seems hale and healthy, his fine clothes denoting a man of wealth and taste. He wields a staff topped with a carving of a crow. You have seen his likeness several times before, and recognize him at once as the allegedly immortal Panivar Lotheed.
Beside him, a morbidly beautiful woman clad in a gown of spider silk leans upon a staff seemingly topped with a giant spider. The fetishes of savage magical traditions dangle from thick strands that wrap her form, even mummifying her angular face. Her mouth is turned down in a scowl—she looks uncomfortable or resentful.
”I might have known it would come to this. You have meddled in my affairs and those of the Immaculate Circle far too many times. It ends here!” Panivar declares.
Maria: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Melodie: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Sara: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Zileska: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Safina: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Panivar: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
Zhi may act before Panivar!
Maria Greyson |
Between the earlier discussion and entering this chamber.
As part of their prep, Maria downed various extracts to reinforce her body and otherwise protect or hide her.
Downing Greater Invisibility, Greater False Life, Shield, Spell Resistance, and a Cure Light Wounds. Will update statline when I see these rolls.
Greater False Life: 2d10 + 16 ⇒ (5, 3) + 16 = 24
Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Oh; and her Spell Resistance is now 28.
d'Valois Mai Zhi |
Zhi considers making a comment about her wife making Panivar's descendant her b@~, but decides that the time for combat banter is long past. This man is deadly and dangerous. Focus is the order of the day.
She invokes her spell of speed and then races forward to vanish next to the elderly man.
haste
Current Effects: mage armor, shield, mirror image, reduce person, fly, haste, visions of blood
Mirror Image: 5 images
Koriana's Blade: +4 AC
Current AC: 35
DM Brainiac |
Both Panivar and the woman track Zhi’s approach, unhindered by her invisibility. ”Take down her mirror images,” the mage instructs. The woman chants and waves her hand, but Zhi’s magic proves resilient.
Dispel Magic: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17
Panivar frowns and flies back a few feet before speaking the words to a powerful spell. Time stops for the wizard—to your eyes, he lurches across the room and numerous walls spring into existence where there was nothing a moment before! A prismatic wall of swirling colors blocks the entrance, while beside Zhi, a wall of bubbling lava emits intense heat. Panivar and his minion are behind a wall of force. There is also an enormous clenched fist of force floating beside Zhi that swoops at her, trying to shove her into the lava! Fortunately it only destroys one of her mirror images.
Time Stop: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Bull Rush: 1d20 + 30 ⇒ (14) + 30 = 44
Mirror Image: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Fire Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5
5 fire damage to Zhi. The red line on the map is a wall of lava. The blue line is a wall of force, and the purple line is a prismatic wall. Everybody may act!
d'Valois Mai Zhi |
Zhi drops the invisibility and steps through the shadows to Panivar's side.
shadow step
Current Effects: mage armor, shield, mirror image, reduce person, fly, haste, visions of blood
Mirror Image: 5 images
Koriana's Blade: +4 AC
Current AC: 35
Zileska Vestalina |
"We need to figure out a way to remove his control from that psychopomp, which almost certainly came here to kill him because he was trying to subvert the order of mortality," says Zileska as she claps her hands together, makes an outward clawing motion with her hands, and then leans down to touch the ground, where the stonework parts and leaves a Sara-sized trench that goes under the prismatic wall and the wall of force.
Melodie d'Valois |
Melodie moves away from Sara and the aura of silence surrounding her before focusing her immense will on Pannivar Lotheed. "Let me know if I can help Zil." She calls before speaking to the wizard.
"Circles are perfect and endless." She says, her voice carrying across the room. "But they bind as well. You stand in the center of your own prison Lotheed, and count yourself strong because you built it. No more."
Terrible Remorse on our good friend the wizard. DC25 Will save, -4 to will, ref, sr, attack rolls, dc's of all his spells and he moves 5 feet slower in all speeds. (Damn Mel stacks penalties like crazy now...)
Maria Greyson |
Still accelerated from Zhi's magic, Maria moved through the trench Zileska created to strike at the ancient wizard.
Move action to get close, swift for Studied Combat, standard to attack.
Studied Attack: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (20) + 27 = 47
Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (6) + (5) + 13 = 24
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (20) + 27 = 47
Crit Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (3) + (6) + 13 = 22
DM Brainiac |
Zhi steps through the shadows to reappear in the air behind Panivar. Once Zileska has opened a passage under the walls, Melodie moves through and targets Panivar with a powerful enchantment. Unfortunately, the wizard's abjurations turn the spell back on the mesmerist!
Sara waves her banner and calls for a battle charge before wriggling through the passage, flying up to reach Panivar, and attempting to blind the mage. He cries out in surprise as she succeeds!
Dirty Trick: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (11) + 31 = 42
Maria moves under the walls, flies up to Panivar, and drives her sword deep into his side. Safina follows suit, shooting the wizard with her crossbow.
Safina Attack: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (20) + 20 = 40
Crit Confirm?: 2d20 ⇒ (3, 3) = 6
Damage, Challenge: 1d8 + 28 ⇒ (2) + 28 = 30
"Argh! Heal me!" Panivar commands, and the morrigna clambers up the wall to comply. The conjurer flies back a few feet and defensively casts a spell, creating a cage of force to try to trap Maria, Sara, and Zhi!
Cure Critical Wounds: 4d8 + 12 ⇒ (7, 2, 7, 6) + 12 = 34
Concentration: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (13) + 31 = 44
Melodie must save against her own terrible remorse spell thanks to spell turning. Maria, Sara, and Zhi must succeed at a DC 26 Reflex save or be trapped in the windowless cell version of a forcecage. Everybody may act!
d'Valois Mai Zhi |
Reflex Save: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (15) + 21 = 36
Zhi flies up above the magical cage (5' move) and then stabs repeatedly at her blinded opponent.
Rapier Attack: 1d20 + 18 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 18 + 2 + 1 = 40 reduce person, haste
Rapier Damage: 1d6 + 10 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 10 + 1 + 3 = 19 reduce person, arcane strike
Sneak Attack Damage: 6d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 5, 2, 2, 2) = 19
Rapier Attack: 1d20 + 18 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 18 + 2 + 1 = 30 reduce person, haste
Rapier Damage: 1d6 + 10 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 1 + 3 = 18 reduce person, arcane strike
Sneak Attack Damage: 6d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 6) = 15
Rapier Attack: 1d20 + 13 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 13 + 2 + 1 = 29 reduce person, haste
Rapier Damage: 1d6 + 10 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 10 + 1 + 3 = 19 reduce person, arcane strike
Sneak Attack Damage: 6d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 5) = 12
Koriana's Blade Attack: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 14 + 1 + 2 = 24 haste, reduce person
Korian's Blade Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 arcane strike
Sneak Attack Damage: 6d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 4, 2, 5, 6) = 24
Koriana's Blade Attack: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 1 + 2 = 19 haste, reduce person
Korian's Blade Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 arcane strike
Sneak Attack Damage: 6d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 2, 6, 2, 6) = 26
Rapier Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 18 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 18 + 2 + 1 = 22 reduce person, haste
Rapier Damage: 1d6 + 10 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 10 + 1 + 3 = 19 reduce person, arcane strike
IF that critical confirms on the blind wizard, then trigger vision of blood
Current Effects: mage armor, shield, mirror image, reduce person, fly, haste, vision of blood
Mirror Image: 5 images
Koriana's Blade: +4 AC
Current AC: 35
Opponent is -6 to Will saves for rounds equal to number of hits.
Maria Greyson |
Reflex Save: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (6) + 20 = 26
Bloody hell that cut it close.
Feeling the cage snap closed right behind her, close enough that she was worried her new cloak would get caught in it somehow, Maria did what she could get to Panivar again.
Not sure what options are available for getting at him around the wall, but between Zhi's haste spell, the flight from the banner, and the trench going under this first wall, she should be able to reach him.
Studied Attack: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (4) + 27 = 31
Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (4) + (5) + 13 = 22
DM Brainiac |
Mel Will: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (16) + 17 = 33
Sara Reflex: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26
Melodie resists the spell turned back on her, while Sara and Maria narrowly avoid being trapped in the forcecage. They converge on Panivar with Zhi, and all three woman kick, stab, and perforate the blinded wizard. Unprepared for the overwhelming assault, the wizard groans and ultimately falls down to the floor, bleeding from a dozen wounds.
Despite the grisly state of his body, Panivar is still alive. No matter how many times you stab him, he simply refuses to die. It seems whatever method of immortality the man has achieved is a potent one indeed!
Panivar has a staff of conjuration, +1 dagger, amulet of natural armor +3, belt of mighty constitution +6, cloak of resistance +5, headband of vast intelligence +6, ring of the recalled soul*, ring of protection +4, Lotheed family signet ring.
Price 150,000 gp
Slot ring, CL 18th, Weight --, Aura moderate illusion
The ring of the recalled soul allows the wearer to open a door into a nearby mindscape they are aware of as if using the spell mindscape door, but the targeted creature cannot resist this effect with a Will save. If the ring’s wearer connects to the mindscape, he can designate up to 10 other creatures to be able to see and pass through the door as though it were a normal doorway. The ring grants no ability to detect mindscapes, so the wearer must already be aware of its existence via interactions, hearsay, or the detect mindscape spell.
Once the ring’s wearer has connected to the mindscape, he can open the door to that particular mindscape from anywhere on the same plane, so long as the mindscape still exists. Physical distance poses no barrier to the mindscape. Each time the ring’s wearer opens the door to a mindscape he has previously visited, he can alter the designated creatures allowed to pass through the door as if he were opening the door for the first time.
The ring’s wearer cannot prevent creatures within the mindscape from exiting to the real world so long as the door is open. The ring’s wearer can close the door to the mindscape at any time as long as he is not within the mindscape.