DM Doctor Evil Rise of the Runelords AP

Game Master DM DoctorEvil

Cathedral - Round 9 - concluded

Mirela yells after the jogging dwarf, but he has shut the door already. Seeing that her skills are fairly useless, the acrobat just keeps a wary eye in case an opportunity arises.

As you throw the bloody monster parts into the pool, in addition to the frothing and bubbling, the orange glow grows very strong in intensity.

End of Round 9

Cathedral - Round 10

21 Aziza (shaken)
20 Quasit (wounded 19hp)
19 Seldon (frightened)
13 Barek (shaken)
13 Mirela (protected from evil) (shaken)
12 Thorn (protected from evil) (shaken)
9 Tunder (shaken)

The glowing orange of the upper pool is easily visible from down below where the others stand. The temperature in the room drops another few degrees and you can see your breath in places.

"Fools!" screams the quasit angrily. "Do not use what you do not understand!"

Ok, Aziza not sure what's left in your bag of tricks.

Seldon should be able to rejoin the fight now. I rolled pretty luckily on that d4

"Um... I'm not so sure that you should be dumping things into that pool. Messing around with evil fountains when we have no idea of how they work is NOT a good idea." yells Aziza at Barek and Thorn once she realizes what the two warriors have been doing. "Now put the dismembered body parts down and back away from the font of the Mother of Monsters slowly, like good boys, please?" She probably sounds a little hysterical thanks to being shaken by the quasit's scream of a few moments ago.

As to what Aziza has left in her bag of tricks? The answer is nil, zip, nada, zilch, nuthin' and not a whole lot.

She readies her crossbow to loose another bolt at the quasit once it reappears...

Readied action - shoot at the quasit then reload

Ranged attack, light crossbow, shaken: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 4 - 2 = 22
Damage, cold-iron light crossbow bolt: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Critical confirmation roll: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 4 - 2 = 19
Extra damage x2 cold-iron crossbow bolt: 1d6 ⇒ 4

...or just maybe the little gnome pulls that out of her apparently empty bag. :)

"Whoa. I wasn't expecting that. Ok, so maybe not such a great idea." Barek backs away from the pool a couple of steps, dropping any remaining monster parts.

He looks up at the quasit, realizing he got some reaction from it. He steps back and spits into the pool again. "Don't put it past me to play with it more. I'm just silly, stupid human. Come stop me."

Seldon I had already rolled the duration of the fear effect as outlined below:

Everyone in the room is affected (unless special ability makes you immune). Effect similar to Cause Fear. Need a Will Save DC 13 or be frightened for 1d4 rounds. Even if you make the save, you are Shaken for the same duration. Roll for duration below.

Fear duration: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Sorry that it's max effect, but that's the way the dice rolls...You're on the run for 2 more rounds.

"Well yes, I see your point Ziza, shall we go join her and wait for the quasit to reappear." Thorn says, then whispers to Barek, Perception DC 10, "If it comes down we can hit it, we should get next to Aziza so she is protected."

With that he steps away from the pool and heads towards Aziza, but first toward his javelin to pick it back up.

Oh! I missed that. Bugger.

Cathedral - Round 10 - continued

The tiny demon races across the room attacking Barek wrath filling her. Just as she re-appears, Aziza tracks her with the crossbow and fires a bolt that penetrates her hide and sticks deep into her vital organs, black blood rushing out the hole.

Screeching with pain and anger, the quasit slashes and bites at Barek causing 1 hp of damage.

Seldon continues his panicked dash through the halls of the underground temple.

Quasit Claw 1: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
quasit Claw 2: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Quasit Bite: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Barek Claw Damage: 1d3 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

Barek, Mirela, and Thorn with a chance to hit her.

Using his elven court blade, cursing himself for not having the guirisame, on the small demon.

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14 attack, 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13 damage.

Thorn growls at the demon, "May you go back to the abyss and burn."

When the quasit flies down to attack him, Barek lunges at it, trying to grab the little thing.

Grapple: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

After the Quasit reappears at least, Mirela impatiently shouts "Finally! Enough of this damnable creature." Moving quickly to engage, Mirela strikes as it engages Barek.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 2 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

My word, I hope that does it... getting sick of this thing and its disappearing act.

Cathedral - round 10 - concluded

As the screeching quasit dives at Barek, the other heroes are glad to see it appear and come into reach. Thorn, using his elf blade, slashes, but comes up with nothing but air, while Mirela stabs at her from the other side, her iron rapier, cutting a fresh wound on the enraged demon.

Seeing her come within grasp, Barek manages to grab the flying ferocity with both arms. Holding it in place, as it flails about, the quasit struggles to bite him.

Quasit Grapple AoO: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28
Barek Bite: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3
Monster Init: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

From out of roiling and glowing pool comes another of those fearsome monsters with the ravening maws. As it appears, the pool's surfaces smooths out and the glow becomes dimmer even than it was before the carcasses where thrown in. The beast is still rising from the depths fo the pool this round.

Tunder continues his dwarven dash after the frightened elf cleric.

Barek has the tiger by the tail now and the heroes are closing in on the grappled quasit, as another foul monster appears.

Cathedral - Round 11

21 Aziza
20 Quasit (wounded 31hp) (grappled)
16 Red Monster
13 Barek (grappled)
13 Mirela (protected from evil)
12 Thorn (protected from evil)
9 Tunder

Assuming Aziza is chomping at the bit, this turn. Go get 'em!

Aziza cries out to the warriors who have been mucking about with the fountain when the new aberration emerges from it's glowing surface. "See? I said playing around with that stuff was a bad idea." Now that Barek has the little demon in his meaty grasp,she moves towards the dais, then takes one hand off her crossbow and flicks it towards the grappled quasit, sending a sizzling bolt of electrical energy towards it.

Ranged touch attack, elemental ray, into melee: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 - 4 = 15
Damage, elemental ray: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Cathedral - Round 11

The gnome sorceress, seeing the monster rise out of the glowing pool, arcs a bolt of electrical energy at it. The bolt stikes the thing dead center and it emits a low moan, curls of smoke rising from the strikepoint on it's chest.

Seldon continues his desparate flight from the battle scene without even looking behind him.

The grappled quasit gnashes her teeth in frustration and tries vainly to squirm out of Barek's grip, a long howl of anger rises from her throat. From behind him, the street fighter can hear and see the monster coming out of the pool, but is attention focused on grappling the quasit, he cannot defend himself as it attacks, taking 6 damage from it's awful bite.

CMB vs Barek 18 CMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Red Bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Claw 1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Claw 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Bite Confirm: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Bite Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Duration: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Barek needs DC 12 Will Save or be so overcome with wrath that he is sickened, taking a -2 on all checks for 2 minutes. Barek up now, after the Save. Mirela, Thorn, and Tunder up now too.

Thorn side steps to get into a better position to let Miri come and play.
"Come Miri, lets make this monstrosity into bits. Get on the other side to flank it with me." Thorn says with confidence, he will do a readied action to attack the beast once Miri is in flanking position.

1d20 + 5 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 5 + 2 - 1 = 23 Elven Court Blade with power attack, 1d10 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 3 = 10 damage with PA.

Continue following the running Seldon while trying to remember which way we're going.

Cathedral - Round 11

The gnome sorceress, seeing the monster rise out of the glowing pool, arcs a bolt of electrical energy at it. The bolt stikes the thing dead center and it emits a low moan, curls of smoke rising from the strikepoint on it's chest.

Doc, Aziza specifically aimed at the grappled quasit, not the new aberration which appeared. Please reread my last post. :)

Will Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Barek growls as the monster behind him sinks its teeth into his back. His head swims with pain, but he manages to keep his focus and tries tighten his grip and immobilize the quasit.

Grapple Check (+5 as controller) to pin: 1d20 + 6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 6 + 5 = 15

Pinning it will cause it to lose its Dex bonus to AC (Miri!) and suffer an additional -4 to AC.

Peering past the Quasit towards the pool, Mirela curses as another monstrosity emerges "Oh for the love of..." Resolving to keep the pressure on, Mirela strikes the Quasit again.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Confirmation: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Pinning it will cause it to lose its Dex bonus to AC (Miri!) and suffer an additional -4 to AC.

Oh snap, I missed that this morning! If that is true, she'll also get sneak attack damage rolled below.

Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Cathedral - round 11 - concluded

My apologies Aziza, I didn't read that post closely enough. Erase any reference to your Round 11 (!) action and then see below.

Retcon of Aziza action: The gnome sorceress seeing the monster rise out of the pool and the quasit in teh firm grip of Barek, chooses to lash out a the tiny demon and sends an arc of electrical energy blasting through the air. With the smell of ozone strong in her nose, she is stunned to see the blast has no effect on the quasit.

Better?

Struck in the back by the biting Red Monster, Barek heroically holds the quasit, but is unable to immobilize her in a pin hold. Fortunately, just holding her is enough, as Mirela skewers the held quasit with her iron rapier, finally causing enough damage, that she falls limp in his arms, unconscious and wounded.

Nearby, Thorn slashes at the remaining monster, striking it a deep gash across the shoulders and neck.

Finally, Tunder continues chasing after the long-legged elf, as fast as his own stubby legs can take him.

End of Round 11

So you have her unconscious, and just one more creature remaining here. What happens next?

Cathedral - Round 12

21 Aziza
20 Quasit (unconscious? 32hp) (grappled)
19 Seldon (frightened, 1 more round)
16 Red Monster (wounded 10hp done)
13 Barek (grappled)
13 Mirela (protected from evil)
12 Thorn (protected from evil)
9 Tunder

Ok, Aziza, what now?

Dammit, it's resistant to magic! curses the little gnome to herself, wishing that she had tried to hit the hulking aberration attacking Barek after all. With that thought in mind, she flicks her hand forward once again, looking as though she's trying to shoo away a particularly vexatious fly, this time sending the actinic blue arc of electrical energy surging towards the red monster...

Ranged touch attack, elemental ray, into melee: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 - 4 = 18
Damage, elemental ray: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Seeing that the Quasit is no threat for the moment, Mirela glances over at the monster engaged with Thorn and curses before jumping into action. With little room to squeeze by, Mirela instead leaps from behind Barek to find position opposite Thorn.

Acrobatics, move through threatened space: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Her rapier drawn, Mirela strikes at the creature in a bid to put an end to the menace.

Attack Roll: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 = 10
Damage Roll: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Cathedral - Round 12 - continued

Aziza, fresh of firing a bolt of elecrical energy, summons another, this time directed at the ravening monster biting Barek. Her arcane blast hits the creature dead center, sending little tendrils of smoke rising from it's body.

The grappled quasit, regains consciousness in Barek's massive grip and begins to flail about again, trying desperately to get free but failing to break loose.

Break Grapple vs Barek CMD 18: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

The Red Monster, recently struck by Thorn and toasted by Aziza, lunges at the elf warrior trying to bite and claw him, but he deftly avoids all the natural attack by the unnatural being. Acrobatically, slipping behind the monster, Mirela takes a stab at him with her cold-iron, but fails to connect in a damaging way.

Seldon finally stops running in fear long enough to recognize he's back in the old or natural construction caverns. He pants, out of breath, and tries to work up the courage to go back and assist his fellow man. Next turn you're back in control.

Bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Claw 1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Claw 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

Alright, Barek your grapple-mate is back kicking and screaming again. Careful how you handle her, but let's see your actions. Also need Thorn and Tunder to close out the round.

Tunder keeps after Seldon. Seldon has the advantage over this long distance stuff. Dwarves are natural sprinters after all.

"Argh, she came alive again!" Barek shouts as he desperately tries to hold on to the quasit and pin it again.

Grapple: 1d20 + 6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 5 = 12

Re-reading the rules, I think that if I fail the check, I lose the grapple too.

Oh for love of god, I forgot about regeneration. Miri should have given the unconscious little bugger a coup de grace when she had the chance... ugh, this thing just doesn't die.

Cathedral - Round 12 - continued

Despite a iron grip on it, the quasit's sudden revival startles Barek so much that it is able to get free but is noticeably weakened.

Tunder continues plodding after the scared elf, muttering under his breath the entire time...

I'll also run Thorn again, since it's been 24 hrs.

Thorn sees the quasit escape, and realizing she's the bigger threat, he steps to the side, and slashes her with his elf-blade while she's still weakened. The blow seems to ward from her magical skin, but still strikes enough to cause the demon to fall the ground, unconscious (for now) once more.

Thorn Blade: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Sword Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

End of Round 12

Ok, she's down again, will she stay down? And what about the biting Red Monster? On to lucky Round 13.

Looks like my Round 13 kick off post got eaten in cyberspace. here you go:

Cathedral - Round 13

21 Aziza
20 Quasit (unconscious 35hp)
19 Seldon
16 Red Monster (wounded 15hp done)
13 Barek
13 Mirela (protected from evil)
12 Thorn (protected from evil)
9 Tunder

Like always, starting off with Aziza

Realising that her spells and rays will have a limited effect on the quasit even while it's unconscious, thanks to it's damage resistance and fast healing, Aziza instead moves towards the stairs on the other side of the cathedral to get herself closer to the fight. Once at the foot of the stairs, she raises the crossbow and - aim carefully - tries to impale the little demon with a cold-iron tipped bolt...

Ranged attack, light crossbow, into melee: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 - 4 = 5
Damage, cold-iron bolt: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Round 13 - Cathedral - continued

Aziza, seeing the quasit fall, but knowing it's regenerative powers, leaps up the stairs, and fires at the still form again, and from her vantage point against a helpless target, she scores a hit with the cold-iron tipped bolt.

Take away the melee penalty and act like the helpless target has AC 0 and you hit with that roll...

The unconscious quasit lays there quivering slightly. Her minion Red Monster bites and slashes at Barek moaning horribly as it does so. Only one claw actually rakes the fighter for 3hp, large claw marks welling blood appear on his forearm.

Claw 1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Claw 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Barek Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Barek at 12/19 hp. You gusy should be able to end this now. Go get 'em.

Thorn, I'm going to recommend you take a 5' step and give the Quasit a Coup de Grace attack, just to put an end to it. Mirela squeeze behind the Red Monster and hopefully put an end to it.

Finding a narrow space between the wall and the aggressor attacking Barek, the nimble acrobat slides into a flanking position and attempts to rid the world one more monstrosity.

Attack Roll: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 2 = 16
Damage Roll: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Hope that does it.

Seeing Miri skewer the quasit, Barek turns on the monster who has been biting him from behind. He lashes out with a strong cross.

Unarmed (PA): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Damage (PA): 1d3 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Seeing his allies focus on the red monster he takes the simple step over to coup de grace the quasit.

2d10 + 8 + 6 ⇒ (3, 9) + 8 + 6 = 26 court blade damage with power attack and being a critical. Not cold iron, but... a lot of damage.

"I will make sure to keep the quasit or imp down, get me my guisarme and I will be able to finish it, once you are done killing that monstrosity." Thorn states with gritted teeth as he forces his blade into the chest cavity of the outsider before him with a massive over head stroke.

Cathedral - Round 13 - concluded

Seeing the quasit fall to the floor, Barek turns and takes a punch at the monster behind him, but cannot get a blow past his foe's guard. The boxer does distract the monster long enough for Mirela to sneak behind and skewer the beast which falls face first to the ground.

Thorn drives his elfin blade deep into the body of the fallen quasit, just to be sure. Near as you can tell with her outsider body, she is dead.

End of Combat...finally!

Many many RL days later, you have killed the quasit, and 3 of the summoned things and two ants. Your patience has earned you 700xp each, which makes the cumulative total 2893/3300 or about 80% to level 3. Post combat summary up in Discussion, look closely, as it was a long fight and I may have missed something.

Tunder finally catches up to Seldon. "Good thing you stopped, elf, I was about to try and wing you." Tunder indicates his large crossbow. "You ready to get back to work or have you lost all heart for it?" No matter Seldon's response, Tunder turns around and goes back to the group.

Barek slumps after an exhausting fight. "Like going 20 rounds with that half-orc." He shakes his head, kicking the body of one of the monsters. "And about ten times as ugly too."

He goes to examine the magic pool which seems to be the source of these monsters.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 2

Seldon manages a breathless chuckle, but it's clear he doesn't appreciate Tunder's remark. "What foul magic... I'm glad you stopped me when you did, master Dwarf. I don't want to think of what I might've found deeper inside."

Channel Energy: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Channel Energy: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Channel Energy: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Gathering the others close to him, Seldon will mutter a prayer, bathing the room in moonlight and staunching their wounds. (This is exactly enough to heal everybody to full. I say we scour the rest of the complex)

The gnome sorceress scuttles over to stand next to Barek, peering into the now dimly glowing pool from whence the aberrations spawned. "I think that quasit was summoning those things using this pool. I'm not trying to state the obvious, but the question is how does this pool allow that to happen, and how do we make sure it doesn't do it again?"

Aziza will cast detect magic and carefully examine the pool, the bodies or the quasit and the monsters, and the entire room. She will recast and keep examining the area for as long as it takes her to search the entire place. She will also be pondering the significance of the pool and the aberrations which seem to spawn from it.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Choose whichever rolls you think appropriate for that Doc.

Thorn laughs at Barek's remark, hitting the quasit once more. Then retrieving his cold iron guisarme, he skewers the quasit with that, another coup de grace. "Heh, it should be dead now, right?" Thorn questions and keeps his polearm ready for use if it twitches.

Thorn sticks the quasit's corpse to the point of his guisarme while he looks around the room searching for any valuables or anything that looks to be precious, shiny, or metallic. He will take his time inspecting until Seldon and Tunder return. Then return to looking after being healed. Taking a 10 on perception, getting a 12. If he thinks the thing twitches he rams his polearm into the wall pinning the body to the wall.
_________________________
"Ah thank you brother that makes me feel just right." Thorn smiles and gives Seldon a big hug once the channels are done.

Placing one foot on the back of the monstrosity skewered and lifeless on her rapier, Mirela pushes it off with noticeable disgust. As it slumps to the ground, the young acrobat leans against the wall behind her and takes a deep breath. With a smile and a nod at Barek's summation of the battle, Mirela adds with a light chuckle "I've never gone toe-to-toe with a half-orc before, but I catch your meaning... that was exhausting."

Pushing herself of the wall, Mirela slides up beside Thorn and looks at the quasit a moment and slowly nods "Yeah Thorn, that should do it I would think. I think it's probably safe to loot the little bugger now."

Listening to Aziza while rifling through the quasits possessions, Mirela suddenly pauses and inquires "Do you think there might be someway to rid Sandpoint of this awful contraption Ziza?

The elf cleric and dwarven ranger return to the Cathedral room, backtracking the way they'd came, without incident. When they return, they find Aziza puzzling over the orange pool, and Thorn, Barek, and Mirela searching the dead quasit and around the room.

When Seldon sees the little demon, he gives an involuntary shudder but manages to resist bolting away again. He calls on the healing power of Desna, and all are restored to full vitality, even though Seldon's healing power is used up for the day.

Aziza's detection returns a strong aura from the dimly glowing orange pool, but she is unable (even with a 24 on Arcana) to detect the type of aura. For sure she knows it's no good...but is frustrated in any other means of divining it's use, purpose, history, or threat.

The quasit has in her possession: a cold-iron dagger, a tiara, a black silk gown (tiny size) and an obsidian holy symbol of a three-eyed stylized jackal or wolf on a chain around her neck. Searching the rest of the room turns up no more items of interest or value. The lower pool is water and has a ring of human skulls on spikes around the deeper part. The walls are carved with strange spiky runes that are not any kind of writing you have seen before, except it appears very similar to the glowing writings you've seen on the walls a few times.

Added the loot items to the Tracker in the possession of Mirela, unless someone voices otherwise.

Kn: Religion (Take 10)

"That chain. Give it to me, mellonamin." the elf says, claiming the holy symbol. He eyes the three-eyed jackal with some distaste before dropping the symbol to the floor and crushing the brittle obsidian underfoot.

Tunder stands guard at the door, patiently waiting for the others to finish inspecting the vile shrine.

Bareks outright laughs when he sees the tiara. "Hey, Ziza, you want this? Might looks good on you!"

"That pool is definitely bad news. But if we can't figure it out, maybe we should explore the rest of this place and then come back with one of the your scholars, Aziza."

Aziza looks both disgruntled and frustrated after spending time trying to discern the nature of the magics behind the orange pool. Replying to Miri and Barek, she says "I may have to drag Master Quink or Father Zantus down here, since I can't make any sense of the thaumic energies underpinning this pool. There has to be a way of breaking the spells, but what they may be I've no idea as of yet." She pauses and looks at the spiky runes that cover the wall again. "I'm guessing that this is Thassilonian magic, and that makes it roughly ten thousand years old, so it's not really surprising I can't understand it..."

Linguistics, trying to make sense of the writing on the wall: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Just a reminder - Aziza does read and speak Thassilonian, if that makes any difference to her Linguistics roll

Studying the writing carefully, Aziza does begin to make out a few of the characters and even an odd word or phrase, but the writing is so jumbled and the letters and syntax are malformed or just slightly "off" from the Thassilonian she's seen before.

What about the rest of you?