Male Human Ranger 14 (Freebooter and Skirmisher) - HP 122/130, AC 29/T: 16/FF: 25 - Perception +19 - F: +14/ R: +14/ W: +8* - CMB: +18 - CMD: 34, Speed: 30*, Init. +4
”Romulus! Kill!” Thunders Fletch, pointing to the Lamia Matriarch. The great wolf leaps forward, bounding up onto the stage.
Acrobatics:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Meanwhile, Fletch kicks his heels together, activating his boots of speed and launches a fusillade of arrows at the foe.
Fletch quickly takes down Eliara! Balimar (the puppet) and Mr. Softshoes begin to applaud as Balimar shouts out, "Bravo! Brilliant! Quite extraordinary!"
The puppet applauds for a few more seconds before continuing, "You know, you would make perfect leads in our magnum opus!"
With a crack of thunder, the theater vanishes into a cold night made even colder as your apparel melts, replaced by Varisian silks. Driving rain pours down, cascading over the stone dais beneath your feet. Dozens of shadowy figures stand in the distance, laughing and mocking, while eight shadowy figures draw close with ravenous eyes.
Fendahl:
You see through the illusion, recognizing that Balimar and Balio stand on the stage in the place of the eight shadowy figures (which function as mirror images to everyone else who can't see through the illusion). They still stand in the theater and your allies, still normal, stand next to you although they don't recognize the illusion and think they are off in some other realm.
Tattoos: Invisibility (x2) [Ring]; Fly [Chest]; Primal Scream [Shoulders]; Water Walk [Feet] | Haagenti’s Blessing | Overland Flight
Reflex Save:1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 8 + 1 = 12
Ace is charred by the blast of heat as he studies the room around him for clues. He will retreat 20' behind the group of men as he is pretty beat up from that attack.
GM:
If some dice rolls are needed, then here they are!
Tattoos: Invisibility (x2) [Ring]; Fly [Chest]; Primal Scream [Shoulders]; Water Walk [Feet] | Haagenti’s Blessing | Overland Flight
@Fletch: You still have to make the saving throw as all saves fail on a natural 1. Also, you only crit with one arrow if you crit on the first attack while using Many Shot.
Male Elf Magus (Bladebound) [9.1] | HP 63/63 | AC 28 T 18 FF 22 | F +9 R +11 W +9 | CMB +7 CMD 25 | Init +8 | Perc +14 (low-light vision) | Acro/EA/Fly +8 | Climb/Swim/SM +3
Reflex:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22
Maldoc almost goes down amidst the flames but manages to stay standing. He then decides to withdraw. Not sure how high the stage is but I'd have to go that way I believe.
Tolgarov throws a fireball at the shadows and hears the puppet's voice scream in pain!
Tolgarov and Ace:
You snap out of the strange Varisian raining scene and recognize that it was only an illusion and that you are still standing in the theater, with Balimar and Balio standing on stage in the place of the shadowy figures.
Hawk continues to fire at the shadowy images before him, popping two more of them! Four shadowy figures left.
As Fletch's first arrow drives into one of the shadows, he hears it thud and hit something solid.
Fletch:
And suddenly you snap out of the strange Varisian raining scene and recognize that it was only an illusion and that you are still standing in the theater, with Balimar and Balio standing on stage in the place of the shadowy figures. Your arrow is sticking out of Balio (the human), who starts to slump to the ground before popping out of existence! Balimar the puppet still stands on his own though.
Tolgarov, Ace, and Fendahl:
You see Fletch's arrow hit Balio (the human) and as Balio starts to slump to the ground he suddenly pops out of existence!
Hawk and Maldoc:
You see Fletch hit one of the shadows, which then dissipates.
Tolgarov, Ace, Fendahl, and Fletch can see the puppet/puppetmaster. Hawk and Maldoc still see shadowy figures (three remaining).
Tolgarov, Ace, Fendahl, and Fletch:
DC 20 KN (arcana):
Balio (the human) disappeared as if he were a summoned creature....
Separate check:
[spoiler=DC 20 KN (arcana)]Balimar appears to be more than a normal puppet; he is a soulbound doll. DR/magic, susceptible to mind-affecting effects.
---
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the little puppet shouts out. "Please, I can write you a new play to accentuate your individual talents! This does not seem to be working out."
Initiative:
1. Ace and Hawk
2. Balimar (puppet, 41 dmg)
3. Maldoc, Fendahl, Romulus, Fletch, Kirrah, and Tolgarov
Comrades ! All of this is an illusion ! Don't let your mind be played by it.
Balio seemed to be like a summoned creature, but I don't know what is the puppet !
Said Tolgarov being the witness of the fall of Balio and the screams of Balimar the "puppet".
If you have nothing else to offer, only your death will repay your mistakes
Responded Tolgarov to Balimar's plea while casting a simple spell; after which 5 greenish magic missile went for it.
Male Half-elf HP 130/130 (172 for troll) AC33(40 for troll) Touch 13 Flat 31; F+17 R+11 W+18(+2 ench,+4 fey) INIT+4 Perc+21 CMB+16 CMD+30 Lion Shaman 13/Samurai 1, {see in posts} Shape changed 1/5 Beads 0/3, Rerolls 0/3
Fendahl will ready an action to shoot his bow if the puppet tries any hostile action (casting/attacking).
Assuming that Kirrah still cannot see through the illusion.
readied:
bow:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 for arrow:1d8 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14 attempting to disrupt casting if possible.
Tattoos: Invisibility (x2) [Ring]; Fly [Chest]; Primal Scream [Shoulders]; Water Walk [Feet] | Haagenti’s Blessing | Overland Flight
Ace shakes his head, expecting a bit more from the master playwright.
He slams on his guitar in a brutal off-key chord.
Distraction:1d20 + 24 ⇒ (2) + 24 = 26If you are affected by an Illusion, you gain another save and you can use my Perform check.
"Give up... I really don't think we need to destroy you." Ace says, disappointed with the turn of events. Are there any good performers left... besides me of course.
Balimar does not seem genuine in his desire to back down and the party quickly takes him out!
Out of combat!
Yeah, that was a soulbound doll summoner pretending to be a marionette with his eidolon acting as the human puppeteer. Craziest (and most creative) f@#~ing thing I've ever seen.
gear:
wand of fireball (CL 10th, 12 charges); +2 chain shirt, +1 dagger, 348 gp
You also find that the doll holds a dazzlingly beautiful diamond (worth 1,100 gp) that functions as his token.
It seems that during the ruckus Mr. Softshoes quietly escaped from the premises, not wanting to take part in the commotion.
Male Half-elf HP 130/130 (172 for troll) AC33(40 for troll) Touch 13 Flat 31; F+17 R+11 W+18(+2 ench,+4 fey) INIT+4 Perc+21 CMB+16 CMD+30 Lion Shaman 13/Samurai 1, {see in posts} Shape changed 1/5 Beads 0/3, Rerolls 0/3
Fendahl will call back Kirrah and will heal himself and any others with a wand.
Clw:2d8 + 2 ⇒ (1, 1) + 2 = 4
" Hrrmm, we are making good progress. Do we think we can recover all the tokens in what remains of the day or do we need to think about a rest at some point?. "
While the Striding Fortress served as her private home before the Conspirators murdered her, Sonnorae considered the Prophet’s Garden her sanctum. The Prophet’s Garden is also the site of Sonnorae’s gruesome murder, and the final resting place of her bitter remains.
White marble walls, stained by ages and overgrown with thorns, surround this weed-choked garden. White cobblestones lead into the open gate, flanked on either side by tarnished bronze angels.
The weathered patio at the entrance looks over what must have once been an immaculate garden of flowers and fruit trees. Today, brambles and vines overgrow everything, with only the barest hints of desaturated blossoms weakly poking through. A winding path leads beyond the brush.
This ragged lawn features a stagnant, gray pond to one side. A pear tree, bizarrely colorful in full bloom and heavy with fruit, leans near the wall. The path continues north into a forest of pillars.
As you approach, a unicorn and a goblin wearing a papier-mâché unicorn mask argue loudly over the ownership of a pear. The unicorn holds the pear in his mouth out of reach as the goblin shouts, "Come on! I picked it! It's mine! Don't you want to help a fellow unicorn? Look at my horn!"
Taking averages on cure wands outside of combat is fine.
---
The Idiot: +4 circumstance bonus on all Charisma-based skill checks against the goblin.
The Unicorn: +4 circumstance bonus on all Charisma-based skill checks against the unicorn.
Unfortunately the Keep does not work here (although you were close).
---
"But, but. . . I picked that one!" the goblin protests. It'll take Bluff, but I know you can easily pass the DC.
Ace uses some fast speaking to confuse the goblin that the pear he picked was actually still on the ground nearby and that the unicorn had picked its own pair. The goblins nods greedily and goes running to chase down more pairs.
The unicorn rolls his eyes at the goblin and, after gulping down the pear in a few bites, mutters, "Thanks. Here, take this for your troubles." He hands you an old, molted horn which acts as a lesser silent metamagic rod.
Moments later the goblin comes back with his hands full of pears and his face covered in pear juice. "Here!" he says as he drops six pears at your feet. "I can't eat these. They've got words on them! Words will steal your soul!" He goes running off.
The pears have the word fearnot on their rinds and function as a potion of remove fear.
Male Human Ranger 14 (Freebooter and Skirmisher) - HP 122/130, AC 29/T: 16/FF: 25 - Perception +19 - F: +14/ R: +14/ W: +8* - CMB: +18 - CMD: 34, Speed: 30*, Init. +4
"This place is like a drunkard's dream of a child's fairy story," observes Fletch. "I don't blame them for wanting to become real and leave. What worries me is where is the one who created all this in the first place? Is there a dreamer somewhere? Or did all these creatures just somehow escape from a story book? Do we need to find the book?"
"There's some underlying sense here somewhere," he says, with more conviction than he feels. "Let's hope we find it at that castle."
The air grows cold as the garden gives way to a forest of columns. A wide, crimson-stained stone dais creates a massive forum in the columns' middle. At its center sits an attractive, wooden writing desk.
When bitterness consumes a woman already steeped in arcane power, that energy may sour, driving her to rip out her own eyes and tongue and burning the light from her soul. This ritual births a strange and horrible creature: a mute hag. These hateful abominations dedicate their wretched lives to spreading misery and strangling joy wherever they go.
Mute hags exist to unmake happy things. Tales claim the natural order despises the crones so much that plants wither at their touch, storms churn at their passing, and wounds they inflict never heal. Though physically capable of ripping a man in two, the crones prefer to corrupt instead.
DR/cold iron and magic; immune to cold, acid, charm, fear, gaze attacks, sleep
DC 26 KN (nature):
They have spell resistance and vulnerability to fire.
Seeing the creature poping out of invisibility without having attacking them, Tolgarov thinks that Ace reaction was rude.
Sweating abundantly he said to the creature.
Don't listen to my comrades, this one loves only maidens and the other hate hags ! I'm Tolgarov. If you don't have attacked us I suppose it's because you are intrigued by us, and want to know more.
That's your lucky day.
We are heroes, heroes ready to go save the Princ... a friend from the claws of a dragon ! Yes, no less !
But for that we need tokens, tokens which will guide us through the traitorous way which surrounds the castle where our friend is hold.
Please, Help us find our friend or get your vengeance or whatever you want !
Pfff... it's always difficult to talk so nicely to people. I prefer to yell at them or to threaten them
