Human Magus 14 | HP: 93/93 | Temp HP: 0/0 | 50% miss chance| DR 10/adamantine (140/140) 140 minutes| AC: 28/ FF 22/ T 15| Fort: +14 Ref: +14 Will: +14 | Perception: +10| Init: +5
42 thinks of Exiel's comments. "The only problem with that.. is if one of us gets severely wounded. It might, and i repeat, might suck our soul into it."
"I think he meant the lantern, which is actually a valid concern. Hmm... are any of you carrying an extra-dimensional carrying space like a bag of holding?"
It has been about 10 minutes since you came to this part of the camp. You are certain that there is no one else here and nothing else to loot other than what has been mentioned.
While you discuss what to do, you begin to hear multiple steady hoofbeats coming in your direction. (Assume you are in the big main tent.)
If you have knowledge religion, I recommend you roll your now for the Dullahans. I will give you some useful information as your first question.
"Uh-oh, here comes trouble," Exiel mutters. "Mike, now would be a good time to put those stealthy skills to use. Could you take a peek and see what's coming and how soon? Lauriel, if you have anything interesting to tell me about the dullahans, now would be the time!"
Huge Celestial Earth Elemental CR 8 l HP 95/95 l AC 19 l T 7 l FF 19 l Fort +11 l Ref +2 l Will +7 l CMB +21 l CMD 30 l Immune to Bleed, Bull Rush, Crits, Flanking, Overrun, Paralysis, Poison, Precision damage, Sleep, Stunning l Resist: Acid (10), Cold (10), Elec (10) l DR 5/- l DR 5/evil l Prec +13 (darkvision & tremorsense 60 ft) l Init -1 | Conditions:
Earl nods his rocky head vigorously at Rhon' question.
Terran:
"I am going to try to sense how many are coming our way."
Earl attempts to determine how many Dullahans there are in the approaching group using his Tremorsense.
Exiel:
Lauriel knows that dullahans have special senses that negate their headless-ness. They have blindsight 60ft.
Exiel has 1 more question.
Lauriel has 3 more questions.
Rhon:
Earl does not detect anything through his tremorsense yet. It appears that the dullahans are stil more than 60ft away.
Rhon can ask 2 questions about them.
You can share the above information quickly, but you don't think you will have much time before Earl and the dullahans sense each other.
Mike:
You stick your head out and see the dullahans near the entrance to the fenced-off tents area. They are about 100ft away. None of them appear to notice you.
Questions:
1. Special attacks
2. Saves from high to low
3. Special defences
4. Can their blindsense detect people if they are hiding under a sheet?
I get that they will detect that there is an unusually lumpy sheet, but they can't "see" through a physical barrier, correct?
Exiel quickly looks around the room for anything that could completely block off the dullahan's line of effect for their blindsight.
1. Dullahans can pronounce a special curse on you if they know your name. Any weapons they hold gain the frost property.
2. Dullahans have strong wills but much slower reflexes.
3. Other than being undead, their dead flesh mends itself over time (fast healing) and they resist spells.
4. If by sheet you mean a bedsheet, yes. Blindsense will need something alot sturdier than a bedsheet to block it. Hiding in a cupboard or at least under a thick canvas will be enough, but not just a sheet of cloth.
This is a military and apart from a small field desk, bed and cabinet, there is no much to hide in or under.
Not yet. They are not dismounting in a hurry. In fact, as you watch, they begin to walk towards the tents. Behind them, their mounts disappear into thin air. Some of them are walking in your general direction and you will soon be within their blindsight range.
"If we head out the opposite way they're approaching from, we might be able to hide, but honestly it's not all that likely, given how loud some of you are. We can certainly give it the old college try though!"
"I'd prefer to try to draw them closer to this tent and then take them down fast. They don't look like the sort to raise an alarm by yelling, what with their lack of vocal chords..."
Suddenly, Exiel gets an idea.
"Earl, get beneath the ground. Rhon, lie on the floor, preferably in a position that makes it look like you may be unconscious or dead. And make your breathing as shallow as possible."
"We are currently in uniforms, so unless the dullahans have memorised all the faces of the guards, we should pass muster at a glance, even via blindsight. Rhon fortunately still looks suspicious being a dwarf, so if we stand around him looking like we caught an intruder, we should be able to at least draw the dullahans to come closer to investigate. Hurry!"
"An all together reasonable plan, with one potential problem: We know they don't speak Common; If it's an ambush you want however, I'm happy to oblige!"
Huge Celestial Earth Elemental CR 8 l HP 95/95 l AC 19 l T 7 l FF 19 l Fort +11 l Ref +2 l Will +7 l CMB +21 l CMD 30 l Immune to Bleed, Bull Rush, Crits, Flanking, Overrun, Paralysis, Poison, Precision damage, Sleep, Stunning l Resist: Acid (10), Cold (10), Elec (10) l DR 5/- l DR 5/evil l Prec +13 (darkvision & tremorsense 60 ft) l Init -1 | Conditions:
Following a quick command from Rhon, Earl sinks in the ground awaiting the outcome.
Busy weekend and I needed to think about how the dullahans will respond. Here we go.
Rhon lies and closes his eyes, keeping his eyes closed. Earl goes underground. The rest of you stand around him and pretend to look at him with varying degrees of curiosity or interest. And you wait.
Moments later, the tent flap whips open as one of the headless figures pulls the tent flap open and walks in, scimitar in hand. The undead creature points at you (Mike, Exiel and 42) and beckons you to come to him. You notice that there is at least one other of his fellow-dullahans behind him. For whatever reason, though you identified that they have a fear aura, it does not seem active at this time.
The dullahan waits till Mike is right in front of him, then casually swings his scimitar at Mike's neck. The blade catches on Mike's enchanted inssuit, and a flick of the dullahan's neck indicates that were its head attached it would have given a jerk of surprise, as if it was expecting to easily execute Mike.
Despite their surprise, the dullahans are quick to recover and begin their attack. The two dullahans at the tent entrance swing their scimitars at Mike while a third one comes up from behind to join them. One of the dullahan's strikes hits Mike, drawing a line of blood lined with frost from the ice-cold blade.
Slightly to the North, another dullahan cuts a new opening in the tent, and you see another two more dullahans behind that one as well. (See the map if you are confused.)
Mike takes 11 points of slashing damage and 2 points of cold damage, but the 2 points is absorbed by the inssuit.
Pathfinders, it is your turn. Earl is just beneath the ground and Rhon is prone on the ground.
"Well, either they were unconvinced by our ruse, or they just plain didn't care..." Exiel mutters as he waits for Earl to show himself. As soon as he sees Earl, Exiel casts a haste spell, catching the entire party.
"We managed to get them close anyway, so the plan's still the same! Take them down fast! Make sure none of them get away!"
As the Dullahans begin their assault, Mike says "Hey! Stop it, you crazy headless j@ck@$$. Someone could get...Ouch!" as the blade swings in from behind.
"Fine. You wanna play it hard, we'll play it hard."
Mike again channels the color around himself and then unleashes a crackling blade of void into the monstrosity.
Huge Celestial Earth Elemental CR 8 l HP 95/95 l AC 19 l T 7 l FF 19 l Fort +11 l Ref +2 l Will +7 l CMB +21 l CMD 30 l Immune to Bleed, Bull Rush, Crits, Flanking, Overrun, Paralysis, Poison, Precision damage, Sleep, Stunning l Resist: Acid (10), Cold (10), Elec (10) l DR 5/- l DR 5/evil l Prec +13 (darkvision & tremorsense 60 ft) l Init -1 | Conditions:
Earl 5 steps up out of the ground and full attacks.
42 opens with a lightning bolt. Under most circumstances this would draw attention, but with all the lightning in the sky an occasional stray bolt at ground level doesn't draw much more than a shrug, if it draws attention at all. When the bolt reaches the dullahans, however, 42 feels resistance to his magic. One of the dullahans stretches out his hand and looks like he just pushes the lightning away from himself. The other is caught by the lightning but manages to avoid some of it.
You already know they have spell resistance. Please roll caster level checks when casting spells against them.
Rhon gets to his feet and Earl comes up to attack the dullahans. Almost immediately all of you feel yourselves moving faster as Exiel casts his spell. Earl swings rapidly at the nearest dullahan, but in his excitement he misses his first 2 attacks, and only hits on the third. Mike unleashes a blade of gravitic force and attacks the same dullahan, cutting it down.
5 dullahans left.
Surprised by the unexpectedly strong resistance, the dullahans press their own attack, pressing into the tent to try to flank and surround you. Two of them manage to get into flanking positions against Mike. One more also attacks him while the last 2 go for Rhon.
The 2 dullahans flanking Mike miss on most of their attacks, but one of them manages to get a lucky but critical hit on Mike with a backswing. The third attacker also gets a hit on Mike, though this is only a normal hit. 29 damage total
Rhon in his defensive stance stands his ground like an impenetrable rock and deflects every attack against him.
Summary:
One dullahan down. 5 left.
Mike has taken another 29 damage. 2 dullahans are flanking him.
You are all hasted.
Remember to roll agasint SR.
Pathfinders are up.
They are using scimitars so slashing damage. They also deal some cold damage but I am ignoring that for you because of your inssuit. The 29 damage was all slashing.
Exiel adopts the crane style stance and delays to see if Mike's victim is still standing if he is, he starts stabbing at that one. If not, he stabs at the one Earl attacks. Or just the nearest one if they both take down their respective targets.
Huge Celestial Earth Elemental CR 8 l HP 95/95 l AC 19 l T 7 l FF 19 l Fort +11 l Ref +2 l Will +7 l CMB +21 l CMD 30 l Immune to Bleed, Bull Rush, Crits, Flanking, Overrun, Paralysis, Poison, Precision damage, Sleep, Stunning l Resist: Acid (10), Cold (10), Elec (10) l DR 5/- l DR 5/evil l Prec +13 (darkvision & tremorsense 60 ft) l Init -1 | Conditions:
Earl 5 steps up out of the ground, finally rising to his full height, and full attacks.
Aura of Good (Overwhelming) l Aura of Courage (10 ft) l Aura of Resolve (10 ft) | Aura of Faith (10 ft)
LG Male Dwarf Paladin (Stonelord) 16 | HP 182/182 | AC 43 | T 14 | FF 42 | CMB +16 | CMD 34 | Fort: +20 (+2 poison/drugs, +4 alcohol), Ref: +11, Will: +19 (+1 all saves FF/surprise rd) | 8/adamantine | SR 21 | Fortification 75% | Immune to Blood Drain, Charm, Fear, & Petrification | Perception: +25 (+2 unusual stonework)(darkvision 60 ft) | Init: +1 | Move 20' | LoH 11/11 | DS 38/38 |
Rhon maintains his Defensive Stance and activates his Phase Strike ability. I unleash a full round attack on the nearest Dullahan. If it goes down I direct any remaining attacks to the Dullahan that has come up to me.
During this turn all of my attack count as magic and adamantine. They ignore any cover less than total cover provided by stone or metal, and ignore any AC bonus from stone or metal armor or shields as if wielding a brilliant energy weapon. A phase strike cannot damage constructs, objects, or creatures with the earth subtype, but unlike a brilliant energy weapon, it can harm undead.
"Your kind of evil can not be allowed to continue. Now you face Torag's justice."
Attack #1: Masterwork Cold Iron Mace, Power Attack, Stonestrike, Phase Strike:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (3) + 19 = 22(Add +2 if it has the Earth Subtype or is a Construct) Damage #1: Bludgeoning, Piercing, Cold Iron, Power Attack, Stonestrike, Stonebane, Magic, Adamantine:1d8 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22 Stonebane:2d6 ⇒ (1, 5) = 6(Only applies if the creature has the Earth Subtype or is a Construct)
Attack #2: Masterwork Cold Iron Mace, Power Attack, Stonestrike, Phase Strike:1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21(Add +2 if it has the Earth Subtype or is a Construct) Damage #2: Bludgeoning, Piercing, Cold Iron, Power Attack, Stonestrike, Stonebane, Magic, Adamantine:1d8 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18 Stonebane:2d6 ⇒ (4, 6) = 10(Only applies if the creature has the Earth Subtype or is a Construct)
Attack #3: Masterwork Cold Iron Mace, Power Attack, Stonestrike, Phase Strike:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12(Add +2 if it has the Earth Subtype or is a Construct) Damage #3: Bludgeoning, Piercing, Cold Iron, Power Attack, Stonestrike, Stonebane, Magic, Adamantine:1d8 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21 Stonebane:2d6 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6(Only applies if the creature has the Earth Subtype or is a Construct)
Haste Attack #4: Masterwork Cold Iron Mace, Power Attack, Stonestrike, Phase Strike:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (15) + 19 = 34(Add +2 if it has the Earth Subtype or is a Construct) Damage #4: Bludgeoning, Piercing, Cold Iron, Power Attack, Stonestrike, Stonebane, Magic, Adamantine:1d8 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17 Stonebane:2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8(Only applies if the creature has the Earth Subtype or is a Construct)
42 activates his ring. Mike goes next, taking down one of the dullahans in a single strike. Rhon begins working on the dullahan that had been singed by 42's lightning bolt, bringing it to an inch of its un-life. Earl and Exiel double team their nearest common target and also nearly bring it down, but do not manage to overcome it yet.
With Mike presenting himself as the biggest threat, one of the dullahans steps into a flanking position against Mike, and Mike finds himself under attack once more. The other two try to crack the metal nut that is Rhon.
