DM Khel's Test of Tar Kuata (Inactive)

Game Master Khelreddin

Sard – no need for the Will save beyond 30’.

The bolts of force spring from Sard's hand, and this time the magical energies harm the monstrosity, cutting off a wriggling limb and slicing through a layer of viscous slime!

Tarn calls upon the freezing emptiness of the great void between the stars to shatter the priest’s mind!

Cold damage: 4d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 2, 1) = 5 Wow, sorry about that!
Fort, DC 15: 1d20 ⇒ 5 At least that roll was terrible also…

The raving priest seems to suffer a brief bout of brain freeze, but keeps his feet! ”Your feeble attempts to harm me only make me greater in the eyes of my god! You will bathe in my thognorok’s toxic waters and be devoured by his infinite mouths!”

He lays a hand on his chest and mutters a few words, then steps to one side and swings again at Ostendiel!

2d8 + 3 ⇒ (1, 1) + 3 = 5 Wow, dice bot is cranky this morning!

Greataxe, flank and stuff, vs Ostendiel: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 28
Damage: 1d12 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 2 = 12

Round 3 Initiative:
Ostendiel
Wriggle Monster: -22 hp
Sard
Tai
Tarn
Tasutek: -30 hp

Ostendiel’s turn.

Ostendiel starts to look rather battered as the greataxe cuts into him again. He decides to change his tactics, and instead of pummeling the priest of Rovagug, he takes a five-foot step to the side and attempts to grapple him.

"Your Rovagug was imprisoned in this planet by all of the other gods," he says. "He was made weak in so doing, and you will ultimately prove ineffective as well."

Grapple (Improved Grapple): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

Ostendiel adroitly steps to one side, grabbing the cult leader’s wrist and elbow and spinning him into a perfect hold – but somehow, his foe simply slips from his grasp, a cruel smile on his face!

The thognorok swims along the edge of the rock, then attempts to ooze up onto it, but it slips back into the water, its many legs flailing!

Climb: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Round 3 Initiative:
Ostendiel
Wriggle Monster: -22 hp
Sard
Tai
Tarn
Tasutek: -30 hp

Bold are up! Tai gets an AoO on the qlippoth as it moves away.

Seeing the monster fall back into the water, Sard will move up and unleash a blast of fire at the priest instead.

Will save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 What's the effect on a failed will save? Is it also sickened?

Scorching Ray, Point-blank: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 1 = 22 Ranged touch attack, before whatever cover penalty you want to impose from there,
and before whatever the effect of that failed will save is.
Scorching Ray, Point-blank: 4d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 3, 1, 1) + 1 = 11 If attack is successful

Tai stabs again with her guisarme as the creature slips away.

guisarme attack, raging: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15
guisarme damage: 2d4 + 9 ⇒ (2, 4) + 9 = 15
acid damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Sard - Yes, a failed save vs the creature's Horrific Appearance results in being sickened for 1d6 rounds.

Tai's opportune strike misses the creature as it moves away!

Tai - that was your AoO. You also have your regular turn to take.

Sard sends a ray of scorching fire at the mad priest, who screams in pain and frustration as he falls to the stone, his scarred face twisted in rage at his defeat!

Tarn and Tai are up, the priest is down.

Sorry, I got a little confused at the order!

Tai, staring down the creature, furious that it escaped her parting attack, drops her polearm, scrambles up the rock and hops over to attack the beast again.

Still raging

Climb: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

If that's not enough for the Climb check, attempt the same thing with her second move action.

Climb: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

If the first Climb check succeeded, I think with 30 ft of movement, I can get to there in one move action and then attack, but if not, ignore this roll.

Unarmed Strike, raging, higher ground, power attacking: 1d20 + 10 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 10 + 1 - 2 = 10
damage: 1d6 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 4 = 11

The climb check is only needed if you're climbing from the water onto the rocks, as it's a bit steep and slippery and you're actually trying to move up. Hopping from rock to rock is easier.

Tai swings at the amorphous beastie, but her balance is off and she misses!

Tarn - do you still want to use your Brain Drain ability on the thognorok, or would you like to do something else?

Hmm, the chance to detect thoughts on a horror from beyond the stars? yes, please!

Tarn casts his mind outwards, feeling for the most alien intellect he can find. Och, tha's creepy...

brain drain, no save: 4d4 ⇒ (3, 1, 1, 2) = 7 only works if creature is intelligent (Int>0)

Next round I can gain the effects of detect thoughts as if I spent 3 rounds concentrating.

Tarn reaches out with his mind, tendrils of thought questing through the toxic mists of the mine cavern for something truly alien, though it’s unclear if he does it to vanquish the deadly foe or to take the merest sip from the well of darkness that is sure to drown us all one day soon. He finds the maddened, maddening, inscrutable mind, batters against it with his own, but is unable to find any purchase or weakness, unable even to find a way to think about it as a mind rather than a maelstrom of gibbering rage and uncontrollable energy. He can sense flashes of thought, perhaps glimpse a snippet of strategy or at least a plan to cause pain but, try as he might, Tarn cannot force himself into the multi-dimensional inner workings of the thognorok’s intellect.

In other words, it is not unintelligent, but the brain drain doesn’t seem to have any effect on it.

Tarn suddenly sees in his mind’s eye a dark, swirling form, but he can’t quite make it out. Its nature becomes clear, however, when the many mouths of the thognorok open, each of them belching forth hundreds of tiny spiders onto Tai! The infinite-legged blob-monster then squirts a slimy jet out of one of its mouths, propelling it a short distance away from its foes!

Tai, take 1d6 ⇒ 5 damage and make a DC 11 Fort save (which I expect you’ll nail) or take1d2 ⇒ 2 Str damage. Also, please make another DC 11 Fort save vs distraction. Oh, how I wish my adjacent target were Sard!

Round 4 Initiative:
Ostendiel
Wriggle Monster: -22 hp
Sard
Tai
Tarn
Tasutek

Party is up!

Tarn hustles across the stony floor, drawing his crossbow and trying to think back to his time in the great libraries of Tar-Kazmukh. Wha' kind o' beastie is this alien horror? Looks a bit like a shoggoth, but there's no way these twits could o'summoned one... gibbering mouther? Some kind'eh ooze?

Knowledge: 1d20 ⇒ 18 Arcane +6, Dungeoneering +1, Planes +4

"Tai, get outta there! I'm gonna fry the little buggers!"
Sard waits for Tai to move clear before unleashing a torrent of flame on the spiders.
Readied action to cast Burning Hands when Tai moves clear

Tarn's attempt to enter the creature's mind, as well as his less horrifying effort to recall whether he's ever heard of such a thing, tells him that this is a form of qlippoth known as a thognorok. They are considered servitor qlippoth of Rovagug, though their connection to that deity is bizarre indeed, as they are actually sentient symbiotes that once had the misfortune of dining on the Rough Beast’s skin, blood, and other fluids.

It's an evil outsider, you get two questions about it.

OK, how about resistances and special attacks?

"No wonder this thing is so ugly, it's pretty much a scab off the Rough Beast's bottom," he mutters to no one in particular.

Since the Climb check wasn't actually needed, is it okay if I still have my guisarme? I dropped it only so that I would have two hands to climb. Assuming that's cool, starting from the top...

Fortitude save vs Str dam: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20
Fortitude save vs distraction: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

Ugh, these things are awful! Get them off! Get them OFF!

Still raging

Reflex save to try to get the spiders off: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Wait, I made the last post assuming the spiders would move with me, and Dennis obviously assumed they would stay in place. Can you clarify what they do?

Tarn – the thognorok is immune to cold, mind-affecting effects, and poison, and it is very resistant to acid, electricity and fire.

Tai – no problem with you still having your guisarme in hand. And the spiders are a swarm, so you can move out of them as Dennis thought, and won’t provoke if you use a move action. Unfortunately, I made the swarm too small when I first put it on the map. I’ve increased the size, but in a way that it won’t retroactively affect anyone else or impede your moving out of it, since it was my goof.

Pretty much everyone is still up, since you guys have only made some saves, a Knowledge check and a readied action, which Sard can roll damage for now.

As the crazy priest of Rovagug goes down, Ostendiel contemplates that the priest should be happy that he has achieved death, for after all that is what Rovagug promised. Still, there is the horrendous beast that the priest worked with, and Ostendiel moves forward to engage it, lashing out with a savage kick as he arrives.

Unarmed Attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
Damage if hits: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Ostendiel - The square you moved to is within the swarm and in the water, is that what you were aiming for? I ask because the swarm on the map makes it a little hard to see what's underneath - though that might be true for the characters as well!

D'oh... screwed up. THought that was just rock square, not swarm square. Will change my actions shortly when I figure out what to do.

OK, question. I'm considering jumping into the water, because Ostendiel is bold. Is enough of the beastie above water so that the attack would not suffer the half-damage underwater penalty? What I'm thinking is: jump into water, make swim check to stay afloat, and punch the part of the beastie that's sticking out of the water so it's not a fully underwater attack.

I fully support the bold stroke approach and would not apply the underwater penalty. A nice overhand chop at the weird blob with a thousand mouths and constantly sprouting insectile legs should do the trick, just wash your hands afterwards. But not in this water.

Ostendiel jumps over the swarm and into the water next to the beast, bringing his hand down upon the beast as he does so. (Take 1 on Acrobatics for a result of 18 to complete the jump; can I use the attack and damage roll from my previous post? If so, I will.)

To avoid sinking: Swim: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Ostendiel leaps into the water, and discovers that the toxic runoff of a mine mixed with the otherworldly secretions of the thognorok make for an unpleasant bathing experience! At the same time, he notices a network of strange, viscous strands floating on the surface of the water, fortunately right next to where he landed in the water. His strike connects, breaking a couple of slender legs and bruising an already swollen lip on the creature, and leaving the monk’s hand unpleasantly slimy.

Take 1 point of acid damage each round you’re in the water, unless you’re completely submerged, then you take 1d6 damage. The viscous web is on the surface of the water in the area outlined in yellow.

Round 4 Initiative:
Ostendiel
Thognorok: -30 hp
Sard
Tai
Tarn
Tasutek

Bold can act.

Just realized I never told Tarn the thing's special attacks: it can make an acidic web, has a horrifying appearance, and has poison.

And speaking of its appearance: any round you can see it and are within 30' (and are not already sickened by the thing), please make that DC 13 Will save or be sickened for 1d6 rounds).

Burning hands damage: 5d4 ⇒ (3, 2, 3, 2, 2) = 12

As soon as Tai is clear, Sard unleashes a torrent of flame onto the spiders.

Will save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

As the flame subsides, he catches another glimpse of the monster and his head begins to spin.

Will save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 last round
Will save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 this round

"Och, this beastie is immune to pretty much any form of energy except sonic, an' I think it's venomous as well," Tarn yells to his companions. "Ye might try to avoid letting it bite you," he suggests helpfully.

I did a double move this round and drew my crossbow, plus the knowledge check, so I'm done.

Is that where the spiders are, or did they get shifted?

Is that where the spiders are, or did they get shifted?

Sorry, I moved the spiders to draw the web area, and must have been so pleased that my little freehand outline actually looked the way I intended it that I forgot to put the spiders back. But Sard fried them, so I’ve now deleted them anyway.

Sard’s searing flames burn thousands of spiders to a crisp, leaving the air in the cavern still smelling awful, but in a wholly new way.

Tai is up to finish the round.

Cool. Assuming I can call that one move action, interrupted by Sard's readied action, I can still attack!

Tai faces the awful beast, determined to bring it down. Her head still rings with battle cries of ancient oreads.

guisarme attack, raging, higher ground: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 11 + 1 = 24
guisarme damage: 2d4 + 9 ⇒ (2, 3) + 9 = 14
Not accounting for cover
Will save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Stepping on the crisped bodies of countless spiders, Tai makes her way across the rock and brings her guisarme down on the quivering, mouthy mass of the thognorok! Though its alien nature resists her weapon, she still hits it hard enough to split it nearly in two! There's a tense moment as it quivers and continues to move, as if it will fight on in its separate halves, before it begins dropping legs and chunks of itself into the stinging water, its many snarling mouths going silent and still as it sinks into the toxic stew.

Victory! Will get a concluding post up later.

Ostiendiel climbs back up onto a rock. "I find it very difficult to understand cultists of Rovagug."

Satisfied that the Doomsday Knights will no longer trouble the region, the Pathfinders set out on the return journey to Tar Kuata. They’re easily able to catch up with the recently rescued captives, escorting them home to a village and monastery very happy to see them.

Among the followers of Irori, the commonly accepted path toward self-perfection rarely involves revelry, yet when the party make their victorious return, even stoic Tar Kuata celebrates news of the cultists’ defeat. Bertrag narrates his account of the Pathfinders’ deeds, and Aeotsep warmly congratulates them on overcoming such a trial. Honoring their bargain, Itephta and Menkha formally transfer their Sky Key component to the Pathfinder Society. Itephta also presents them with a sealed letter to deliver to the Society, extending his compliments and friendship. Finally, because the Pathfinders performed so well in the trials, Itephta also offers honorary admission to the monastery, should anyone wish to continue their studies.

Anyone wish to do anything more before leaving Tar Kuata, particularly any Scarab Sage affiliates who might not recall the first handout from some weeks ago?

Ostendiel will spend all his downtime between this and the next mission doing monastic things here with the Irorians.

Sard will ask the abbot if he knows anything of exiled Sages passing nearby as they fled Osirion years ago. Perhaps this monastery dedicated to Irori has some written records from its early days that may bear such an account?

I'll just ask in the interest of not taking too much time with the faction mission. Are we just supposed to be looking for information on the jewel, or also to recruit a candidate for the next sage? The note could be read either way.

...recruit a candidate for the next sage?

This.

OOoh! OOooh! Pick Ostendiel! Pick Ostendiel!

An excellent notion! Fortunately, they are not limited to finding and recommending just one, and they've met a few possible candidates along the way - in addition to Ostendiel.

We were going wait a day, so Tarn could summon an earth elemental to go and get the instant fortress for us...

Once back at Tar Kuata, Tarn will seek out Menkha, spending some time with her and telling her the tale of the adventure, if she seems interested. He'll also try to understand a bit more about the appeal of the ascetic lifestyle she's chosen.

Other than that, he'll wait for his companions to conclude their discussions. if he sees the champion who we were forced to fight atop the tower, he'll again try to console her for her unfair loss against us. If the head of the order is around, Tarn will avoid him if possible, sneering at his heartlessness in destroying his "champion"'s confidence by forcing her to fight the four of us for his amusement.

Right, forgot about the fortress recovery plan. Consider it done.

As for Aramaya, the champion, I see her as having been fairly excited about the challenge of fighting all of you. As I mentioned, her build actually makes it possible for her to win that fight, but Sard's opening gambit kind of sealed her fate. But she'd be happy to discuss it with Tarn, and possibly propose a rematch.

Tai was very impressed by both Aramaya and Bertrag and would like to feel them out to see if they may be interested in a future career as a Jeweled Sage.

Now that the Society’s mission in Tar Kuata is complete, Tai reflects a moment on the goals of her own faction, and seeks out some of the monks of Tar Kuata. Aramaya is honored to be asked about such things, but quickly returns her focus to the practice yard, saying she has far to go to reach self-perfection.

Aeotsep, on the other hand, is both honored and intrigued, as he sees the path to becoming a Jeweled Sage as one that will allow greater depth of introspection, and a broader view of the world and its ways. Given that he is widely revered as being patient, wise, and knowledgeable, all of which are worthy virtues for a new sage, Tai determines to recommend the aging monk to Amenopheus as a possible candidate.

In the course of the conversation with Aeotsep, during which Sard ambles up and joins in, the monk reveals himself to be something of a scholar as well. He has a deep familiarity with the collections of Tar Kuata, but had chosen not to mention them until the Pathfinders had proven themselves by completing Itephta’s trials. With the trials completed so successfully, and the Doomsday Knights defeated, Aeotsep is now willing to discuss what Tar Kuata houses on the subject of the Jeweled Sages. Unfortunately, what remains is minimal, but he does show them several texts that reference a now-absent scroll—supposedly a biographical account and paraphrased transcript of a discussion with a Jeweled Sage who stayed at Tar Kuata for 3 days soon after Osirion’s fall to the Padishah Empire. Any substantive research would require tracking down a surviving copy of the scroll - and Aeotsep points out a record suggesting that one may still remain in the Sothis Exhibitory!

Fortunately, you got a twofer by talking to Aeotsep, which clears the bar for the faction boon.

With their work in Tar Kuata done, the Pathfinders set out on their return journey to the city of An, to report what they’ve done and learned. Along the way, Tai and Sard wake one morning realizing they’ve both had the same dream, in which they were visited by Amenopheus. In the dream, he explains that he has sensed the completion of their work at Tar Kuata, and both he and Tahonikepsu are interested in learning more of the Pathfinders’ findings regarding Tar Kuata and any connections it might have—past, present, or future—with the Jeweled Sages. He asks them to report what they’ve learned to him at the earliest opportunity.

On reaching An, the intrepid travelers present Venture-Captain Balentiir with both the newly found piece of the Sky Key and the letter of praise from the monastery’s leader,. He praises the party heartily for a job well done, and promptly arranges a ship to take him and several other agents to Absalom so that he might ensure the relic arrives safely. Acknowledging that additional security is always appreciated, he welcomes any party members who wish to join him. For those with business elsewhere, he arranges for their transportation and wishes them the best wherever their next adventure takes them.

That’s it! Sorry if the faction mission felt a bit tacked on at the end, but I didn’t want to cost you guys the boon by my faster pace at the beginning, and it’s also kind of written that way.

Hope you all had a good time! I really enjoyed playing with you all, and I’ll have chronicles posted tomorrow.