Not pleased with the thought of potentially being surrounded in the room by three enemies, Kali pulls out the potion of invisibility and drinks it. She also averts her eyes from the Agash on Nuria's recommendation.
F Human Monk 10 [ HP 101/103 (0 NL) | AC 26* Tch 21 FF 24 | Fort +10 Ref +9 Will +13 | CMD 30 | Init +2 | Perc +17, low-light vision | Ki: 16/16 | Effects: mage armor ]
Eva narrows her eyes and focuses on the enemies, evaluating her options. A moment later she launches two swift kicks at the nearest of the leopards, somehow managing to bridge the distance and yet remain exactly where she started. Marid style, flurry, Elemental Fist (cold). Reach +5ft for unarmed strikes. Bastion Stance (can't be moved/tripped) and Iron Limb Defense (+2 shield bonus to AC/CMD) will activate at the end of my turn.
M Wayang Witch 10 | HP 70 | AC 18 | T 17 | FF 14 (w/mage armor: 22/17/18) | CMD 18 | Fort +10 | Ref +11 | Will +11 | Init +9 | Perc +21
Dangit, post from several hours ago disappeared!
Senja conjures a strange, tangled mass into his hands, then pulls a strand out and grips it, while tossing the rest at the nearest leopard. As the shadowy thing flies through the air, it's clear it is a long, shadowy string, the end of which hits the ground right in front of the leopard! Senja yanks it back, hoping to distract the great cat from the fight!
Both leopards obligingly decide to look at the pretty colors.
As I read the spell, hypnotic pattern fascinates the affected creatures. Here's an excerpt from the definition of "fascinated" in the Glossary:
PRD wrote:
Any potential threat, such as a hostile creature approaching, allows the fascinated creature a new saving throw against the fascinating effect. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the fascinated creature, automatically breaks the effect.
Something to keep in mind.
Round 2 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Fiendish leopards-fascinated
Kali-
Aghash-
Senja-
Eva-
Asvald-
Nuria-
Kali is up! How fortunate for her that she's invisible.
Dice rolls:
DC 17 Will save, red:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 DC 17 Will save, black:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Yep, it's definitely a team effort spell. If anybody attacks the kitties, it's automatically dispelled. But... pretty colors! Besides, I would annoy Feral too much if I spammed cacophonous call.
Initiative order
Fiendish leopards-fascinated
Kali-acted
Aghash-acted
Senja-
Eva-
Asvald-
Nuria-
The div hisses in surprise as Kali's blade strikes home. Kali, its flesh seemed to resist even the razor-sharp edge of your wakizashi. Its gaze falls on you and seems to draw you in. DC 16 Fort save or stunned for one round.
Senja, Eva, Asvald, Nuria--you're up!
Aghash: AC 18 T 12 FF 16 -8 HP
Black leopard: AC 15 T 14 FF 11
Red leopard: AC 15 T 14 FF 11 -12 HP
F Human Monk 10 [ HP 101/103 (0 NL) | AC 26* Tch 21 FF 24 | Fort +10 Ref +9 Will +13 | CMD 30 | Init +2 | Perc +17, low-light vision | Ki: 16/16 | Effects: mage armor ]
Eva narrows her eyes at the giant cats as they stop attacking, glancing between Nuria and the leopards thoughtfully. Her brows furrow as she tries to communicate a question to the fiery abuser of punctuation: Is it safe to go in there?
Delay, as presumably approaching them would break the affect. Let me know if that's incorrect or if it doesn't seem reasonable for Eva to perceive that from their current state.
M Wayang Witch 10 | HP 70 | AC 18 | T 17 | FF 14 (w/mage armor: 22/17/18) | CMD 18 | Fort +10 | Ref +11 | Will +11 | Init +9 | Perc +21
"Wow, Nuria, that was amazing!" Senja exclaims in uncharacteristic excitement as he steps closer to the fight. "You took the cats out of the fight, and brought Kali back into it!"
Now able to see the div clearly, Senja throws a large, shadowy mudball at its big eye!
Evil Eye Hex for -2 to saves, DC 18 Will save to resist.
Your hexes are (Su) abilities, and not subject to SR, Senja. (I looked it up.)
All of this going on near the leopards will give them a new save, but it's not the auto-break that attacking or threatening them directly would be. However....
Round 2 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Kali-acted
Aghash-acted
Senja-acted
Fiendish leopards-acted
Eva-
Asvald-
Nuria-acted
The aghash easily resists Senja's hex. The magical attack against their master is enough to rouse the leopards from their trance, though, and they immediately move to attack! Asvald's armor protects him from the fangs and claws of the red one, but the black one manages to bite Eva for 7 HP. The agile monk is able to keep it from holding on, though.
Eva and Asvald, you're up!
Dice rolls:
DC 17 Will save, red:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22 DC 17 Will save, black:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
DC 18 Will save, aghash:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Claw, red to Asvald:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16 Claw, red to Asvald:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18 Bite, red to Asvald:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Claw, black to Eva:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18 Claw, black to Eva:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12 Bite, black to Eva:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 Bite damage:1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Actually, your minimum damage on the second hit is enough to take it out. I was pretty sure that was the case when I posted, but I was in a meeting at the time and couldn't confirm (or change the map, for that matter).
A quick one-two combination from Eva, and the second leopard is sent back to Abaddon!
Round 3:
Initiative order
Kali-
Aghash-
Senja-
Eva-
Asvald-
Nuria-
Kali slashes at it from concealment and strikes a vital spot, but the div is still clinging to life. With its leopards gone, though, it has little chance of prevailing against the party. It steps back from Kali and disappears.
The door is locked, but one of the keys you found on Klarkosh opens it. The familiar but still eerie emerald glow of the Spire illuminates a largely finished chamber with rough-hewn walls to the west. A solitary figure sits crosslegged on the floor next to the Spire, chipping fragments of the green-glowing stone from the Spire with a small pickaxe. A sack next to her feet squirms and rustles occasionally. The figure looks up as you open the door, then returns to her work.
DC 18 Knowledge (Nature):
She's a pech, an earth fey creature that's extremely rare except in the deepest parts of the earth.
Nuria, as far as you're aware they're standoffish and tend to keep to themselves, and they're not known for being malicious. Despite their frail appearance they are supposed to be quite strong.
M Wayang Witch 10 | HP 70 | AC 18 | T 17 | FF 14 (w/mage armor: 22/17/18) | CMD 18 | Fort +10 | Ref +11 | Will +11 | Init +9 | Perc +21
Spellcraft, DC 19:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23
Seeing the div disappear, Senja informs the others, "It used a spell often known as 'dimension door' - so it has traveled some distance away, though not any great distance."
Knowledge (nature):1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20
"Yep, it's a pech all right. Never seen one myself," Senja comments. "But I wonder what's in that bag it's got. Maybe you should talk to it, Nuriam," he adds, oblivious to the fact that the pech can most certainly hear him.
The pech steadfastly ignores you as it continues to make small chunks (about the size of the Spire pieces in the constructs you've fought, actually) from larger ones.
M Wayang Witch 10 | HP 70 | AC 18 | T 17 | FF 14 (w/mage armor: 22/17/18) | CMD 18 | Fort +10 | Ref +11 | Will +11 | Init +9 | Perc +21
"Oh, right, hadn't considered you might not speak the language," Senja says airily. Turning to the pech, he adds, "We are curious, and what you're doing is curious. What do you do with the little bits of the stone that you chip off?" He manages to hold his tongue a moment, but before the pech can respond, Senja adds, "And what's in the bag that's making it wiggle?"
Figured you'd cast it on yourself, but since she doesn't speak Common Senja would have to have a language in common with her to contribute in that case.
She's not going to attack if you don't go after her. She's also the last encounter down here (the aghash is bravely running away), so once you're done with her you're done with the level. I'll start getting chronicle sheets together.
M Wayang Witch 10 | HP 70 | AC 18 | T 17 | FF 14 (w/mage armor: 22/17/18) | CMD 18 | Fort +10 | Ref +11 | Will +11 | Init +9 | Perc +21
"Interesting, what sort of pet? And the gold-faced man, is he a friend of yours?" Senja asks in the language of the dark lands below. "He sure took a shine to me."That's a funny phrase to use in Undercommon, since they live in darkness. I hope it means what I want it to mean.
He glances at the others, wondering if they should tell the pech what's happened or just let her figure it out when she goes to deliver her haul of crystals. Did we just free a slave, or did we just cost her a job?
M Wayang Witch 10 | HP 70 | AC 18 | T 17 | FF 14 (w/mage armor: 22/17/18) | CMD 18 | Fort +10 | Ref +11 | Will +11 | Init +9 | Perc +21
"Ah, you must be Gundrun then," Senja deduces. "I am Senja. The gold-faced man didn't tell us about the Great Master in the Deep. I'd love to know more about him. What's so great about him, that you live to serve him?"
Kali stands by idly as the others communicate with the creature in an unintelligible language, taking a moment to scan the room from her position near the door. She starts daydreaming about apple biscuits in Absalom, however, and doesn't take notice of much.
