Epic heroes chosen by fate stumble across an ancient secret and unknowingly become gods. Their actions will determine the destiny of the multiverse itself.
Holding his staff out for the kobold to grab, THOON held the forked rod in the other. He examined it, searching below the surface for the pattern his minds n below. Once he could see the destination in his mind's eye, inky blackness erupted from beneath his greatcoat, an oil-slick-like amoeba enveloping both of them before dissolving.
Most probably, hmm? Well, such was the way things went. "Does anyone else have preparations they need to complete?" Camiel asked the others. "I can bring you to another plane and back again if need be." She lifted her staff up slightly, the divine power within it surging slightly at her touch. The best part, however, was that she could use its planar transportation without reducing its ability to cause havoc to the enemy. She knew exactly which spell she wanted to cast on the giant dead creature within the city. The only issue was getting close enough... but Primordial Magic ought to be able to solve that.
THOON's attempt to teleport fails utterly. He feels a strange heaviness enter his body, keeping his disparate particles from separating.
As the energy of the power dissipates, a low rumble can be heard and the ground itself seems to shake. The tremors begin increasing in intensity and, in the distance, the sight of grey-black sand can be seen showering into the oppressive sky. Apparently something has awoken beneath the sands, and it now comes for you all...
ALL Teleportation and Planeshifting attempts fail. Part of the Desert of Woe's Burden of Sorrow trait I homebrewed. Only deific-level magic or a certain place within the plane allows escape. The Mask prepares for all, no? :P
Male Kobold Wizard 17/Witchguard Ranger 7/Duelist 10, Archmage 3 | Sunseeker's Power | HP: 197+2d10+17 | AC: 46/36/26, Saves: +22/+34/+21, SR 22 | Init:+21, Perc. +21
Well damn :P Should have given my spellbook Instant Summons or something like that.
As the Plane Shift fails, Charis growls in anger. "Xsio!" Now he was stuck with mostly useless spells, and his potential would not be fully realized for the fight against Da'amat.
"Planar-wide Dimensional Lock?" The kobold spoke quietly, gnashing his teeth. "Seems our hosts are even more prepared than we thought."
Taking the foci back, Charis turned towards the explosion. "About time they found us." Their opponents held all the cards in this fight. No doubt they were being scried upon, fixed in the eye of the cursed dragon. "Da'amat holds far too much advantage here."
The kobold flew up into the air, staring down towards the strange beast. A purple worm or some creation of the Pharaoh? Whatever it was, they were no doubt prepared to slay it. "Take care. They will use information from this fight against us later." Charis called out the warning, tightening his grip on his rapier.
Readying action to attack the creature with the rapier if it attacks me
Light sparks under the crystal cap that THOON wears, and those nearby feel as if a distant memory was called to mind. THOON manifests hypercognition , remembering what he can of the creature before it even appears, based on scraps of scryed knowledge of what burrows in such a manner on this obscure demiplane.
"Hmhmhm. They want us that badly?" Camiel mused, her voice husky. She tilted her head for a moment, thinking, then nodded slightly and held out one of her hands. Something deep within her flickered slightly... before lightning crashed down from the heavens and into her outstretched hand, where it formed a small sphere that she lightly tossed up and down while she kept an eye out for the enemy. "Well, nobody's ever accused me of being unresponsive to desire..." She... really was acting differently than she had back in the celestial realm, wasn't she?
"I suspected as much. If they can force those arriving to appear at this obelisk, it would be trivial to make all spells attempting to depart or travel within the plane *also* arrive at this obelisk."
Seeing the disturbance in the ground coming, she invokes another spell. Elemental Body IV: Air
"Inky, go find out what it is and if it's alive." she calls out.
Yukio lifts off into the air silently to observe the coming creature.
Male Goblin Witch/Trap Breaker Alchemist 17, Tier 3 Trickster Archmage | Tricks and Status | HP: 221 | AC: 50, T: 28, FF: 33 | Fort: +21, Ref: +26, Will +22 | CMD: 39 | Init +14, Perception +37. +46 vs. traps, Sense Motive +34
"Oooh!" Trazzle exclaims, raising up into the air. "Something wants to play!"
Knowledge:1d20 ⇒ 7+32 for Nature and Arcana, +29 for Planes, Religion, or Dungeoneering Nocturne's Knowledge:1d20 ⇒ 1Ditto.
"Coat! Get me the quick stick!"
The old leather coat that had, until now, merely been resting on Trazzle's shoulders comes to life. Its sleeves raise in a mechanical movement, and searches through his Handy Haversack, producing a crude staff of wood, carved with some goblin inscriptions, which it hands to its wearer.
Goblin:
Zoom!Whoosh!Pew pew pew!
Um. I appear to have misplaced my legendary item's abilities, some time down the line. Can I get a refresher on what its creations rules were, so I could draw it up again?
Trazzle draws a small satchel from his belt, ready to consume its powdery contents should their guest prove threatening.
Male Silvanshee Dread Wraith Familiar 157/157 HP; Init +19, Percept. +33; AC 40/36/28; Fort +27, Ref +36, Will +27; MP 9/9
"I was about to do so," he says, obviously annoyed that it needed to even be asked of him. "I am most curious about this creature that approaches." With that the small feline wraith darts off surprisingly quickly towards the approaching creature.
Sneaking forward to observe. Can only be percieved via sight (not sound/tremorsense), will use lifesense to determine of whatever approaches is living. Stealth:1d20 + 46 ⇒ (9) + 46 = 55 Perception:1d20 + 33 ⇒ (10) + 33 = 43
Yukio will use her scry on familiar ability to watch through his eyes. If any knowledge checks need to be made to identify it, let me know.
"Be on your guard, fellas! Something's coming!" Nocturne alerts loudly, never so much herself as on the battlefield. "Looks to me like a big one, too!"
By the way, Nocturne has a passive power you guys know about: When any allies take a surge within 30 feet of Nocturne, they can roll twice and take the highest roll. The rest of her mythic powers are also concerned with helping allies, but those are activated, so you'll see as we go. c:
Anyone choosing to use a special effect not requiring information, such as Camiel's ability, to divine the nature of the beast:
Delving into the Akashic memory of the universe, you see the beast that burrows beneath the sands. It is known as the Maw of Oblivion, a massive beast formed out of solidified negative energy and undead flesh fused together into an an abomination reminiscent of some combination of Nightcrawler and Purple Worm, but vastly more powerful than either. You see a snippet of an entire group of adventurers being devoured in a single gulp by it, their essences torn and absorbed by the beast within moments. You see another snippet of the beast coiled around a golden dragon of great size, the dragon being crushed and, oddly enough, it's scales dulling. Before long, the dragon's struggles cease and it slumps to the ground. After a few moments, purple light shine from beneath it's scales and out of it's eyes and mouth. It convulses for a moment and rises upon broken limbs, releasing a gutteral roar before flying off in the distance. In yet another instance, the beast vomits a black sludge on the ground, from which rise countless skeletal being seemingly formed out of the foul material. Clearly this monster is extremely powerful and displays almost unheard of powers of necromancy.
All knowledge checks but those made with special rules fail, for no living thing has ever escaped from this plane of existence, nor was able to send an arcane missive of some sort. Hence, whatever knowledge there is of this beast lies only with those it has slain. Hypercognition also fails because there is not enough facts known about the creature as of yet (If you can somehow argue that you can somehow piece together information from a beast that no person alive in the multiverse today can know, that you know so little about, I MAY overrule this for Hypercognition!). How Verana had any knowledge of this plane at all is, at least to you, unknown. :P
Yukio/Ink'kali:
There is no sign of any life beyond your group.
Trazzle, it was basically a Legendary Item, as per the Mythic ability of the same name. I also allowed you to splice abilities into it as if it were a regular magic item, as per my rules for combining magic items!
The trail of dark sand flying into the air grows closer and you can make out that the sand bulges up for some distance, almost like some sort of giant serpent or worm burrowed beneath the earth...
Does Camiel know whether or not the beast qualifies as undead?
It was important to be decisive. Even as the beast rumbled towards them, Camiel focused on her inner powers, then sent a surge of energy into her staff. Power crackled on the edge of it, ready to be sent outwards as soon as the beast was in range. It certainly seemed to be quite a foul enemy... and in a case like this, what she really wanted to do was strike it down with holy might. More than that, however, the power she was channeling had a second purpose - reducing the enemy's ability to see and hear, thereby making it far harder for the beast to successfully strike at anyone. Of course, size alone could be a threat, but she'd be working on dealing with that in a moment...
Ready Action: Use 1 Mythic Power (10/11) to cast Celestial Fanfare through Mihrel, Camiel's staff, as soon as the enemy is within range (270 feet).
Celestial Fanfare (DC 32):
CELESTIAL FANFARE
School: evocation (good) [sonic]; Level bard 6, cleric/
oracle 7, sorcerer/wizard 6
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: all creatures in a 30-ft. radius
Duration: instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude partial; SR yes
A great blaring of trumpets from on high blasts down upon the area you designate. All evil creatures within the area of effect take 1d6 hp damage per caster level (maximum of 15d6 hp damage) and are blinded and deafened for 2d4 rounds. A successful Fortitude save halves the damage and reduces the blindness and deafness to 1d4 rounds.
Neutral creatures within the area of effect take half damage and are blinded and deafened for 1d4 rounds. A successful save reduces the damage to one-quarter the total and negates the blinding and deafening effects. Good-aligned creatures are not affected by this spell.
Half the damage this spell causes is sonic damage. The other half results directly from divine power and is not reduced by resistance to sonic-based attacks.
No, although considering the fact that the plane is Major Negative Dominant, as per Verana's description, it can be assumed to be either undead, a construct, or somehow otherwise immune to negative energy
Male Uldra Oracle 17/Witch 7/Winter Witch 10(PrC, Gestalt)
Calling upon his powers of the frozen north, the Ice King summons freezing sheets of ice that gird him like armor, increasing his protection. Ice Armor, AC is now 44 He then channel his full might into a chilling, deadly blast of cold, waiting for the right moment to unleash winter's icy doom. Readying an action to cast Mythic Polar Ray once he can see the beast, range 170ft
Yukio hovers in the air, secure in the knowledge that Avidarel's Shadow renders her undetectable to whatever is approaching. She prepares to strike at the beast the moment it shows itself.
we doing initiative yet? I will throw mine up here.
Fort vs Celestial Fanfare:1d20 + 21 ⇒ (19) + 21 = 40Stalwart means if i save, i take no effect rather than partial effect (rolling now for speed although typically you'd have to roll vs my SR) mental initiative:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25 physical initiative:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14
That should only matter if you're trying to get close to the beast... which I don't advise. XD Preeeeeetty sure I can hit him without also hitting you, if only because of the range. Also, I prefer DM rolling for Initiative - saves time.
Male Goblin Witch/Trap Breaker Alchemist 17, Tier 3 Trickster Archmage | Tricks and Status | HP: 221 | AC: 50, T: 28, FF: 33 | Fort: +21, Ref: +26, Will +22 | CMD: 39 | Init +14, Perception +37. +46 vs. traps, Sense Motive +34
I don't even know what I was readying anymore, so I'll change what it was.
Watching as the creature approaches, Trazzle begins chanting some words in the goblin tongue.
Readying the Evil Eye Hex as soon as the creature attacks, targetting its saves. DC 30 Will save reduces the effect to 1 round. This oughta help Camiel's spell go through.
Seeing as how no one used any special abilities that could determine what the beast is, I will proceed with combat. For this game, initiative is handled as block initiative, with your individual initiatives determining the orders your actions resolve in.
The source of the rumbling and the showering sand approaches, coming within 100 ft., at which point all goes silent and no movement can be seen. Then, dark sand explodes into the air and a massive roar can be heard. As the sand settles, you see an almost impossible large worm-like monster reared like a serpent at you and the others. It's body seems to be made out of some foul amalgam of rotting, fluid-leaking undead flesh and almost liquid darkness. Wisps of energy emerge from it's body to form screaming faces, which are swiftly grasped by tendrils of darkness and reabsorbed into the beast. It raises it's 'head' in the air, it's mouth opening like some obscene fanged flower opening and a massive roar shakes the ground. In the distance, almost half a mile away, you can see coils of the improbably-sized monster moving. Just how large is this thing?!
Maw of Oblivion's Initiative:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 Party's Initiative:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25 Party Initiative Average Added to Block Initiative: 21, 16, 14, 11, 9, 5= 76/6= 12.6=13
Male Goblin Witch/Trap Breaker Alchemist 17, Tier 3 Trickster Archmage | Tricks and Status | HP: 221 | AC: 50, T: 28, FF: 33 | Fort: +21, Ref: +26, Will +22 | CMD: 39 | Init +14, Perception +37. +46 vs. traps, Sense Motive +34
I'm going to add a little to my action.
Trazzle rockets forward, hovering some thirty feet away from the beast, and glares at the beast with a look that could melt through glass. Then, with a guttural snarl, he thrusts his magical rod out towards the Maw of Oblivion. "Be chicken now!"
Move action: Fly ahead.
Standard action: Evil Eye Hex, -4 to saves for 20 rounds, DC 30 will save reduces to one round.
Swift Action: Quickened Baleful Polymorph (with rod of Quicken Metamagic), DC 28. (The -4 above applies)
I will laugh oh so very hard if this works. Beware, mortals, the hen of oblivion! If not, then I still hit its saves pretty hard for the party's opening volley.
I'm sticking with my readied action for the first round, yes. ^^
Camiel faced the creature as she fired off her celestial spell. Perhaps Trazzle's act would be enough to ensure its success - and quite honestly, anything that could reduce the beast's ability to strike at foes or properly defend itself would be a good thing. It was foolish to take on the mightiest of foes and allow them to retain their power - though she was also looking to keep a fine balance here and not reveal her most powerful abilities unless she truly had to. They still had other foes to fight... and she was saving her best for that point. For now, though, she was looking to see how effective their individual strategies were.
Overmind Blast (Su): A Thoon elder brain can project the horror of its consciousness against a single foe within 100 feet. That target must succeed on a DC 23 Will save or take 2d6 points of Wisdom damage. Though overmind blast isn’t a fear effect, a creature that has immunity to fear or a save bonus against fear receives a +4 bonus on the saving throw. The save DC is Charisma-based. A creature that is reduced to 0 Wisdom by an over mind blast is unconscious, but its body mutters, “Thoon... Thoon...” repeatedly until consciousness returns. WIS dmg:2d6 ⇒ (1, 5) = 6
He will then use Branding Pattern.
Brainding Pattern:
Branding Pattern (Su): As a swift action, the cryptic can manipulate the pattern of one enemy to “mark” them as a ranged touch attack. Until the cryptic’s next turn, each time the cryptic makes a successful attack against that enemy, she deals an additional amount of hit point damage equal to her Intelligence modifier.
ranged touch:1d20 + 22 ⇒ (11) + 22 = 33
He will then use Enhanced Disruption with the Disrupted Healing augment.
Disrupted Healing (Su): When a cryptic with this insight uses her disrupt pattern ability, if the creature struck is of her active type, any healing that creature receives for a number of rounds equal to the cryptic’s Intelligence modifier is reduced by half (minimum 1).
The addled dwarf-like creature that remained near the back of the party, at first, seemed to take very little notice of the creature. Those familiar with the powers of the mind felt a resonance in the air, not unlike the waves created by a large creature swimming just under the surface of a placid lake.
Then, the being raised his arms, one hand pointed at the creature and the other carving a symbol from thin air with the head of a crystal-coated wooden staff. The pattern of the symbol flew at the breast, and no sooner did it alight upon the world serpent's hide, a beam of grey energy sprung forth, streaking towards the abomination.
Male Kobold Wizard 17/Witchguard Ranger 7/Duelist 10, Archmage 3 | Sunseeker's Power | HP: 197+2d10+17 | AC: 46/36/26, Saves: +22/+34/+21, SR 22 | Init:+21, Perc. +21
The dread creature merely caused Charis to narrow his eyes at it, grimacing at the strange undead. Whether it was natural to this plane or not, it seemed like attempting to avoid it was impossible.
Glancing around, Charis dashed over towards Camiel, focusing his arcane energies into his blades as he set up his guard around her, ready to defend the spellcaster with his power.
Standard to Fly over to Camiel
Move to activate Defend Charge, +6 Dodge AC and +6 to Concentration checks for Camiel for 1 Round (4 uses remaining)
Swift Action for Mythic Arcane Strike, +4 Damage and setting the weapon property to be Bane (Undead)
Charis Zooms in front of Camiel, ready to defend her to the death.
Maw of Oblivion's Fort save gainst Baleful Polymorph:1d20 + 23 - 7 ⇒ (7) + 23 - 7 = 23
Trazzle fires a blast of energy from his rod, which zips and zags erratically through the air before striking the beast, which lets out a furious roar as it's body is encased in a pale green energy and shrunk... into a chicken with glowing red eyes!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEN OF OBLIVION INDEED! You're quite lucky that thing had such a horrendous Fort save! I definitely hadn't planned on that, but well done! XD
Camiel couldn't help it - she grinned slightly, though the evidence of magic suggested that her next thought might not have been as effective as it could have been. "As much fun as this is, perhaps we should put the creature to rest." she suggested, allowing a little more warmth to caress her increasingly sensual voice. She glanced down at Charis, appreciating his help in protecting her, then glanced around... what powers might her new companions demonstrate in a situation like this, hm?
Male Kobold Wizard 17/Witchguard Ranger 7/Duelist 10, Archmage 3 | Sunseeker's Power | HP: 197+2d10+17 | AC: 46/36/26, Saves: +22/+34/+21, SR 22 | Init:+21, Perc. +21
Charis glances down at the Maw, ready for a frightening combat.
That promptly was changed.
The white-scaled kobold tilted his head at the transformed creature, lowering his weapons at the sight of the hen. "What?" is the only word he speaks, the hen a strange sight for him.
"I see you've kept your penchant for the absurd Trazzle" Charis smiles as he keeps an eye on the chicken. "So, is anyone up for chicken tonight?"
Male Goblin Witch/Trap Breaker Alchemist 17, Tier 3 Trickster Archmage | Tricks and Status | HP: 221 | AC: 50, T: 28, FF: 33 | Fort: +21, Ref: +26, Will +22 | CMD: 39 | Init +14, Perception +37. +46 vs. traps, Sense Motive +34
"There is no defending against what you can't predict. That is the lesson for today." Trazzle nods.
"I'm not 100% sure how complete the transformation is. I doubt it'll be dangerous, but I wouldn't recommend eating it. I have to agree with the shiny lady, we'd better chop it up before someone tries to turn it back and sic it at us again."
