DMDM's Way of the Wicked: The Devil My Only Master (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

DM? Also how long would it take him to make another one.

Let me examine it closer. Also we should keep in mind the idea that we might want to destroy it as we destroy him, or right before we attack him...timing could be everything.

I agree.

Not completely sure how to break it. But I imagine we can figure it out. Not sure how long it takes to make a new one either, but I do know that we have to destroy this before we can destroy him. I suggest we take it with us, and destroy it just before we go commence our attack on him. ulp...

Ulp says, his tail gently swaying back and forth.

The Judge looks over at Edmin.
Don't suppose that axe you got from the good captain might be effective at slicing this in twain?

Are you ready to go attack right now Corpse? If not then cutting it in twain is a poor idea. I think we can assume that he will know when it is destroyed, and since we have no idea how long it will take to make another one, that seems foolish....ulp... We should get all of this treasure out and sold, resupply then move on to him.

Ulp says his tail lashing fiercely

The Judge shrugs.
I am always ready. The rest of you mortals likely need some rest.

The Judge then turns to Jax:
If your weird friend can teleport me back to civilization, I can return with some slaves to load all this into bags of holding.

He then looks to the others:
Unless any of you wants to carry all this.

Rest is smart, but not the issue. We should have a plan before taking on such a foe. Unless you want to just stroll into his office and challenge him to a duel to the death? Is that your plan

arrogant bigguns never think things through.

The Judge laughs at Ulp's comment:
If we walked in, he would likely be just as unprepared as us. Perhaps one of your alchemical creations can be used to make yourself look like his girlfriend. I bet that would throw him off for a minute or two. . . Might even make him go ulp.

Ulp considers, tail swaying at the tip

That I could do, very easy assuming he cannot see through the illusion, but that is easy...what is not easy would be my convincing him I was her...not to mention finding out what she looked like. ...ulp... Be better if I made potions and let you do the acting.

Glancing at the crack in the wall, Jax taps his lip and motions for Zoren to come over. He whispers to the wizard for a moment, then looks back at the Judge. "Zoren can take himself and most of us back to civilization at the same time. He won't be able to take myself, but I have other ways back, once we are ready. After that, we can recruit some help to come haul all of this gold back to a city."

"Do you think that's his heart, Ulp?"

Would the lich's phylactery count as part of himself for the purposes of Scrying? Because..that would be awesome."

If it does, Zoren can attempt to scry on the cardinal to help figure out where he is. He'd get a -10 Will save modifier if the phylactery counts as a body part.

It is the phylactery, or it is the most brilliant fake ever, as I said before, had you been listening and not flirting with your sword. If our creepy friends tale is true then it is his heart.

With a scowl, Jax steps toward Ulp. "I don't need the snideness, lizard. How do you know so much about liches anyway? Have you been spending time studying undead in case of the Judge needing to be put down?"

The Judge narrows his eyes and looks back at Jax:
Careful there thief. Some of us are much more difficult to dispose of than others. Try and you may find me gone. But, then you will have to look over your shoulder everywhere you go to make sure that my minions are not following you.

Oh, and remember my sticky fingered friend. There is no story I can tell that whole communities will not believe. It would be so easy to release your description and weaknesses to the public. Then, your . . . life . . . might not be so enjoyable again. Remember what it was like before Brandescar? I can make it that way again . . . or worse.

Unlike you, I listen when others speak. Don't feel bad most your size ignore my great race. It is a failing of your kind.

Ulps tail does not move at all.

Any one heard of the name on his cloak? Ulp says as he wanders back to the obelisk and looks at the symbols

Ulp, you didn't detect any secret doors.

Meanwhile, 1d20 ⇒ 1

Pfft. Well, okay!

-- The name on the cloak would be either Knowledge (local), or perhaps Knowledge (nobility). (Knowledge (local) is really poorly named.)

Jax, lich knowledge is pretty obscure. What little you've read has mostly dealt with how to avoid them or survive their attacks.

(Do not shake hands with a lich. Do not try turning a lich. Holy water doesn't bother them much. They dislike sunlight but it doesn't actually harm them. Think twice before trying to sneak around a lich, they're extremely sensitive. Don't jump to conclusions about what a lich can or can't do, each one is different. Try to avoid direct confrontation with a lich, they're smart and nasty. But if you absolutely must fight one, treat it like a full caster that happens to be unusually physically tough.)

Figure the name of something would be Knowledge (history), or possibly knowledge(nobility). Knowledge (local) seems to be a much more "current events" and humanoid info skill. History would seem to be everything from the past, while nobility seems to be broader time wise, but of a narrower focus that includes etiquette and customs.

Not sure whether the cloak is just an important tailor - know(local) - or some famous artist from the past (history). Nobility/Royalty would only seem applicable if there is some royal crest or other significant marking on the cloak.

Just another 2cp.

Knowledge(cloak name): 1d20 ⇒ 8
--> 19 (history)
--> 21 (nobility)
--> 25 (local)

A famous traveling showman and charlatan, Maximilian achieved modest fame in the last days of the Barcan dynasty, when he was widely suspected of being a spy and agent provocateur for the ruling regime. After the civil war it was revealed that he had indeed been a spy -- but for the upstart Darians, not the Barcans. He was given a patent of nobility and an estate, but was unable to give up his wandering ways. He disappeared about a decade into the reign of Markadian I.

As he recalls the name, the Judge frowns:
Maximilian. Famous showman. At least famous if you enjoyed watching an incompetent fool. Disappeared about ten years into the reign of the Darians. Strange thing is though, how did it get here? Does not seem like what you would expect to find in a dragon's treasure. Unless he somehow ticked off the Cardinal. But, even then, why would the cloak end up here amongst ancient relics of an eon old dragon's collection? You would think that the Cardinal would have destroyed it, or sold it, or buried it somewhere farther south.

DM do the symbols on the obelisk mean anything to ulp?

Here are all the dice that I can possibly roll. Cant imagine alchemy would help...maybe a Craft check, though that would be untrained, but I will give it a whirl as well.

1d20 + 24 ⇒ (17) + 24 = 41 spell craft or arcana or nature or religion
1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23 UMD

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15 craft

If you're not sure which skill to roll, roll one and then note the different bonuses that you have ("+24 spellcraft, +16 UMD" and like that.)

ok. I just didn't want it to look like I had one good roll and was throwing everything into it!

Interesting. Ulp mutters to himself, then he wanders over to Edmin.

note he is undetectable again.

Edmin frowns then nods his head. "Yes what do I have to do?"

Edmin agrees.

Ulp becomes visible and gets Edmin to slice into the Linnorn and he collects some blood from the heart of it. Then he sits down with Edmin and slices open his arm and collects a lot of blood.

-2 Con

He collects it all. Some secrets are not for you to know! he says to everyone and poof he disappears.

Everyone hears some mixing and muttering in Draconic and Aklo. Occasionally an empty vial clatters to the ground and becomes visible. A few alchemy tools are set on the ground and appear then disappear as he picks them up.

After a few minutes, he appears again.

Take this and go splash it on the obelisk. He hands a bowl of blood to Edmin.

Judge want to go see if there is anything of interest up there?

The Champion stows his beloved Axe and removes his guatlet and enough of his armor to expose his left forearm. Edmin holds out his arm to the kobold as he grips his cold iron mace in his right hand. "You may begin.

side note. wouldn't this be the ultimate mind game by dmdm, if I actually failed that arcana or spell craft and this is going to turn you into a toad or something? Well played dmdm

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17 heal check if I needed it to draw his blood.

Edmin hangs his mace on his belt and takes the blood to the obelisk. The knight muttrrs a prayer to his dark lord and pours the blood onto the ice elves totum.

"You know, if hanging out with you guys didn't already make me feel like a dreadful evil monstrosity..watching you make blood sacrifices sure helps."

says the guy that sacrifeced a servant to a book

Lol - forgot about feeding the servant to the book.

The Judge looks up at the dead magic area.
Lets see what is up there.

With that, he will assume gaseous form and fly up to the ceiling. Then he will revert to his normal cheerful self and use spider climb (Ex) to scale the opening and see what Ulp is all excited about.

Obviously that was a completely different situation! Jax didn't have a choice, he had to do it to find out what would happen!

Judge, as you climb, you can feel the dweomersink like a vibration deep inside your teeth and bones. You've felt something like this before: it's reminiscent of the anti-magic ward, years ago back in Branderscar Prison.

This is much stronger, though. And as you climb, you can feel it getting stronger still. It's giving you a bit of a... not exactly a headache, but a dull vibrating ache like a continuous low-grade electric shock.

The Judge grits his teeth and continues to climb calling down as he does:
Lizard boy, this is strong whatever it is. The un-magic is truly potent. I wonder what would happen if the Cardinal's phylactery were brought in this dead zone?

I don't know...

do I dmdm?

Probably nothing. You've never heard of anything other than complete destruction of the phylactery being able to interrupt a lich's resurrection cycle.

Edmin hangs his mace on his belt and takes the blood to the obelisk. The knight muttrrs a prayer to his dark lord and pours the blood onto the ice elves totum.

For a moment, the obelisk seems to thrum with some sort of strange energy. Edmin has a strange sense of something looking at him and judging him. Then the blood disappears... and Edmin feels in his bones that the curse is lifted! No wonder the dragon was endlessly gnawing on this ancient artifact.

One effect does remain: when Edmin next looks in a mirror, he'll see that a streak of absolute white now runs through his hair. This is purely cosmetic and does not affect Edmin's stats. It does make him easier to recognize, but that's unlikely to make much difference at this stage of things.

It probably won't do anything Judge. But I wouldn't want to destroy it until we are ready to attack. If he makes another one, we are screwed.

is it worth trying to figure out how to get up there, or do we think it is just a red herring, and really is just a poor way to enter the dragons lair?

Ulp, you can fly up there using your wings. It is just magic that does not work. I am sure that the Judge can keep climbing, it is just that he is going to feel like crap, and be in an even crabbier mood if he keeps climbing. At least that is my guess, knowing DMDM I could be completely wrong though.

Ulp, you can fly up there using your wings. It is just magic that does not work. I am sure that the Judge can keep climbing, it is just that he is going to feel like crap, and be in an even crabbier mood if he keeps climbing. At least that is my guess, knowing DMDM I could be completely wrong though.

Judge, between darkvision and your crazy high Perception you're not going to miss this: there's a stretch where the walls are coated with patches of green slime.

Yes, it's our old friend from First Edition, green slime. Touch it and take Con damage as it starts eating you. So, anyone climbing or flying would have to deal with the dweomersink eating their magic and also this. Judge, you have no idea whether it would affect your undead flesh or not... you can of course play with it to find out. If Ulp wants to flap around up here, he'll need a Fly check to avoid touching any of the stuff.

Note that there does not seem to be anything of value or interest here... AFAYCT, it's just the dragon's back door, complete with welcome mats.