GM Endless Forms' Shattered Star (Inactive)

Game Master Mike Tuholski

I'm assuming that this takes place *after* Karn has awakened and fixed Bert's sight, or he won't be seeing anything.

Bert nods vigorously. "Of course it is! Maybe not right away, but it is." He looks around. [b]"Still, once everyone's back up we should keep moving.

When Bert moves back out into the main hall with the flame in hand, its light reveals wondrous tapestries depicting fantastic feats of magical accomplishment and fleeting visions of fawning courtesans of various races presenting wondrous gifts and rare skymetals to their king sitting upon the throne.

Where to?

You move across the hall to the easternmost of the three doors available. Inside, seven pillars of cracked, murky crystal grow from the floor, encasing the withered forms of desiccated humans dressed in Thassilonian finery. Two of the pillars pulsate with a deep orange hue emanating from within. The human bodies inside the pillars seem... not alive, persay, but closer to undead. The flamma horaculum reveals the resolute figure of Xin, at first young but rapidly aging as the scene transpires, seated in an audience chamber decorated with finery before a blur of servants and courtesans begging favor from their king. Just before the scene ends, Xin appears enraged with several emissaries, whose eyes freeze in horror as crystal prisons grow around them.

Brelar! Did you see all that? Was was them crystal things? How'd he do that? Was that somethin' that happened before? Argust will keep a wary eye on the not-alive-but-close-to-undead things. And what about them?

Sorry; on the road yesterday and today. Oh--EF, it's per se, not persay.

"I think they're still alive, imprisoned by Xin a really long time ago. Maybe if we can free them we can learn something from them...better let them out one at a time, though."

The halfling studies the crystal pillars with detect magic, assisting Brelar as needed.

I know Brelar's player is short on time--hope you don't mind my botting him for the moment.

SOh--EF, it's per se, not persay.

Bah, I knew that I was just typing too fast. Thanks though!

And that's fine botting Brelar. And Karn for that matter, haven't heard from him in over a week I think.

Bert and Brelar note that the pillars seem to be holding the undead in somehow. The unfortunate men have been transformed into wraiths-quite disagreeable in terms of undead, really, and not to be reasoned with.

Argust senses his friends' distrust for the imprisoned undead. So, we ain't gonna mess with them none, are we? Argust takes another look around the room. So what are we gonna do? And why does only two of them things have a weird color?

Bert shakes his head. "I don't think so! I mean, we'd make short work of them, but let's not take the time."

Next door to the west?

EF, I've got the proofreader's eye, the instinct that can spot a typo in the middle of a paragraph without actually reading it in detail. This was very useful in grad school--I helped out a lot of the folks in my research group--but sometimes in online fora it's a burden.

Mine is broken. I thought I saw a typo in yours and quickly thought "wow, the a is a long way from that m" and realized you used a plural of forum. Oof.

Haha, I usually have the same blessing/curse (depending on the writer and situation). Especially as there are several regular players who speak English as a second language, I have to work at suppressing it sometimes.

In the next room over, dozens of copper spheres float hypnotically at
various heights here, each humming quietly as runes engraved on its surface flicker chaotically. Sheaves of thin, bronze plates—or the dust of their corroded remains—orbit each sphere. Runic scripts pulsate on the room’s crystal walls, and several steps lead up to a podium with stilted, spider-like legs holding a large black crystal that shimmers with a nauseating light. To the south, a curved pillar set into the wall features a single shelf on which sits a small coppery orrery, with a bright flame burning at its heart.

As you enter the room, the spider-legged podium begins to move towards you. At first it seems as if it is presenting its large black crystal to you but suddenly its malicious intentions become clear as the table begins to attack!

The table itself is little threat and quickly smashed. However, after the table falls-and the black crystal with it-the dust of the shattered remains begin to swirl and coalesce; something was trapped inside the crystal and has now been released! This monster has ten spidery legs, a head writhing with dripping tentacles above a clutch of red eyes, and three whipping stingers.

Sorry to push ahead but I didn't think a CR 3 animated object was worth rolling for so I skipped to the exciting part.

The creature turns its eyes to 1d4 ⇒ 4 Bert; the horrific appearance of the creature is truly something to behold: DC 27 Will save or stunned for 1d4 ⇒ 3 rounds and take 1d6 ⇒ 3 points of Wisdom damage

Initiative:

1. Qlippoth
2. Argust, Karn, Brelar, and Bert

You guys are up!

DC 27 Will save: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35

Bert's got a +19 Knowledge (Planes), so taking 10 he can identify the creature.

"Hey, that looks like a thulgant qlippoth! They're supposed to be pretty scary, I think. Not sure what all the fuss is about.... You'll need lawful iron to get through its defenses."

Argust bounds forward, looking to protect the party from the creature. I have holy iron, that'll haveta do!

Using Stunning Assault, forgoing Power Attack this round.

DC 26 Fort or be stunned: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (9) + 31 = 40 for Damage: 2d6 + 30 ⇒ (4, 5) + 30 = 39 plus If Evil: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 5) = 6

Brelar is actually blinded from the last encounter still...unless there was some way to resolve that before this encounter I am going to pretty useless again. On top of being a bad player this past week...:(

Karn can cast remove blindness/deafness, so I assumed that he'd take care of Bert and Brelar. If he didn't have the slots left to do both of us, Bert would have had him cure Brelar first--Bert's echolocation spell lasts for a couple of hours.

Karn hasn't cast that many spells so I think he could have covered both of you. Hopefully he'll be back on soon but in the meantime I'll try to bot him.

Knowing the qlippoth can be quite a powerful spellcaster, Brelar readies his action to counterspell with greater dispel magic should the creature invoke it's arcane power!

Bert calls on his luck and gives the party his usual shot of optimism!

Casting good hope.

Bert wishes everyone luck as Argust leaps in to engage the qlippoth! Argust's blade cuts it deep but the wounds almost immediately begin to heal themselves. Meanwhile, Karn gives everyone a blessing of fervor! I'm sure you guys know the drill on that spell by now.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (17) + 31 = 48

The qlippoth is reasonably certain what Brelar is doing, so it elects to attack Argust instead.

sting: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (19) + 27 = 46
damage: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
DC 29 Fort save or take 1d4 ⇒ 2 Strength drain

sting: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (13) + 27 = 40
damage: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
DC 29 Fort save or take 1d4 ⇒ 1 Dexterity drain

sting: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (8) + 27 = 35
damage: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
DC 29 Fort save or take 1d4 ⇒ 3 Charisma drain

tentacle: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (18) + 22 = 40
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
acid: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 3) = 5

tentacle: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (13) + 22 = 35
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
acid: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 5) = 6

tentacle: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (5) + 22 = 27
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
acid: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 2) = 8

tentacle: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (12) + 22 = 34
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
acid: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7

tentacle: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (9) + 22 = 31
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
acid: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 2) = 6

Confirm on the first sting:
sting: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (19) + 27 = 46
damage: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Initiative:

1. Qlippoth (35 dmg)
2. Argust, Karn, Brelar, and Bert

You guys are up!

For the third time, Bert speaks an unnaturally-loud word that echoes through the room.

Casting resonating word.

Round 1 sonic damage, save for half, don't roll a 1: 5d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 4, 3, 4) = 18
Round 2 sonic damage, save for half, don't roll a 1: 5d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 6, 5, 3) = 22
Round 3 sonic damage, save for half, don't roll a 1: 10d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 1, 2, 3, 1, 5, 1, 5, 4) = 31

You know the additional effects if it rolls a 1 on any of the saves.

Wait, can it be stunned? If so it needs to make a DC 26 Fort save or be stunned. If not stunned I take 38, Karn 5.

And I just noticed I haven't updated my stat block to Level 16 yet, grrr.

Fort Strength: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (1) + 20 = 21
Fort Con: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (9) + 20 = 29

Argust feels a bit weaker than normal! However, aided by his friends spells and a click of the heels the dwarf continues fighting! We'll forgo the stunning thing this turn and use Power Attack.

Attack: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (14) + 28 = 42 for Damage: 2d6 + 39 + 2d6 ⇒ (4, 3) + 39 + (4, 2) = 52
Attack: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (2) + 28 = 30 for Damage: 2d6 + 42 + 2d6 ⇒ (6, 5) + 42 + (3, 2) = 58
Attack: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (5) + 23 = 28 for Damage: 2d6 + 42 + 2d6 ⇒ (3, 4) + 42 + (2, 3) = 54
Attack: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (12) + 18 = 30 for Damage: 2d6 + 42 + 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) + 42 + (4, 3) = 58
Attack: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32 for Damage: 2d6 + 42 + 2d6 ⇒ (3, 6) + 42 + (5, 4) = 60

Confirm?: 1d20 + 13 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 13 + 4 = 23 for Damage: 2d6 + 39 + 2d6 ⇒ (3, 4) + 39 + (5, 6) = 57 plus Bleed: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2 and DC 26 Fort or be staggered.

Sorry, Argust. I forgot. Now just don't roll a 1...
1d20 ⇒ 1
Lol! The only way he could have gotten stunned! So ignore the attacks above as it spent last round stunned.

1d20 ⇒ 15

Bert hits the qlippoth with sonic power and then Argust cuts into it, but only once!

Initiative:

1. Qlippoth (96 dmg)
2. Argust, Karn, Brelar, and Bert

Karn and Brelar are up!

Wow, even stunned I only hit him once? Yipes.

The first round, it's save or staggered, so it can take a standard or move action.

@Bert: it saved against your spell but got a nat 1 on Argust's stunning strike. So it was stunned last round but on its next turn I think it's ok.

I'll give Brelar some more time to post. I messaged Karn two weeks ago and he hasn't responded yet so I'll try to bot him in the mean time until he gets back on. This far into the AP I really don't want to replace him or bring in a new player but I also don't think you'd make it with just three of you and no dedicated healer so hopefully he will show back up soon.

Feral tried to email Tek a few days ago and got no answer--I hope he's OK. Agreed that this late in the game we can't really bring someone in to replace him; we can bot him cooperatively for now, I think.

Feral tried to email Tek a few days ago and got no answer--I hope he's OK. Agreed that this late in the game we can't really bring someone in to replace him; we can bot him cooperatively for now, I think.

Yeah, I hope he's ok too. If you guys want Karn to do something, go ahead and post an action for him. That will make things easier for me. Otherwise if no one has botted him by the end of each round I'll try to bot him unless you guys have things under control and don't really need him.

Botting Karn:

The oracle flies into a rage, then takes a short step forward and chops repeatedly at the qlippoth with his lucerne hammer!

Note that this is a +5 weapon, so AFAICT it ignores the thing's DR.

Hammer blow, incl. good hope: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 24 + 2 = 42
Fervent hammer blow, incl. good hope: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 24 + 2 = 37
Hammer blow, incl. good hope: 1d20 + 19 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 19 + 2 = 23
Hammer blow, incl. good hope: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 14 + 2 = 24

Hammer damage, incl. good hope: 1d12 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 14 + 2 = 21
Hammer damage, incl. good hope: 1d12 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 14 + 2 = 18

Brelar continues to act like an anti-magic cloud looming over the quippoth while his companions mash it into bits!

Ready to counterspell with greater dispel magic.

Wow, even stunned I only hit him once? Yipes.

EF, remember that when it's stunned it loses its DEX bonus to AC, and takes -2 AC on top of that. Given that, Karn may have hit with his other two attacks.

Whoops, you guys are right. I was accidentally still going against regular AC. That will certainly change things:

Now that the thing is stunned, Argust and Bert work together to eviscerate the qlippoth and send thulgant guts flying about the chamber!

Out of combat!

You can sort out seven surviving volumes on ancient arcane theory, each worth 2,000 gp, as well as a scroll of summon monster IX and a scroll of limited wish. In addition, Xin’s tome of living runes rests among the debris.

The light of the flamma horacalcum reveals a flurry of scholarly activity, and you spot glimpses of a visibly angry and elderly Xin, placing a black crystal mirror onto spiderlike legs.

Thanks, EF. One other thing--since Karn and Argust acted before Bert, would Bert still need to have used the resonating word spell?

[]"It looks like there's only one more door to check out, guys! Let's see what's back there once everyone's fixed up."[/b] Bert will listen at the last door, just in case there's something audible behind it.

Argust is down 38 HP so whatever method would be best to heal that up is needed, whether by wand, spell or channel.

I don't know how many charges he has left on his CMW and CLW wands. A channel will at least make a dent in that.

Channel positive energy to heal, 3 channels remaining: 9d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 2, 2, 4, 4, 3, 2, 3) = 24
CLW, 7 L1 spells remaining: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Close enough!

OK Bert, whatever ya think is best!

Let me see... nope! He'd be dead before that's needed. Save your spell.

Bert leads everyone to the last door on this level. A crystal dais supports an intricate chair cast from black metal in a delicate web-like pattern. Sets of tiny glyphs, each set glowing in a different color, crawl over the ceiling, floors, and walls of the room, while a slowly spinning rune-carved disk floats in the air before the chair.

Bert and Brelar study the room for a while and eventually come to a startling conclusion: The floating, rune-carved disk in this room must be one of Xin’s surviving spellwells—this one is attuned to transmutation magic! A person who sits in the large chair causes the spellwell to rotate forward to face him, then slowly start spinning.

Even a glance into the spellwell is enough to cause a minor
headache for Bert, but Brelar instead swiftly feels a surge of elation as he looks into the spellwell.

A prepared arcane spellcaster can attempt a DC 25 Spellcraft check—on a success, he merges his mind with the spellwell and can study from it. This spellwell contains all transmutation wizard spells found in the Core Rulebook The arcane spellcaster can prepare spells from this list as if he knew the spells (and could, in theory, later transfer spells new to him into a spellbook, for example). Alternatively, an arcane spellcaster could expend an uncast spell and immediately replace it with a transmutation spell of equal level of his choice from those contained in the spellwell. After an arcane spellcaster uses a spellwell, he gains a +2 insight bonus on all concentration checks and caster level checks made to penetrate spell resistance for 24 hours.

Brelar? Whatcha think of this place? You look kinda happy.

"The power of Xin's magic continues to impress me at every turn!" Brelar says after sitting a few moments in the large chair, taking in the awesome power of the spellwell.

Taping on the tome of living runes the wizard says to Bert, "This will come in handly for getting rid of any other magical traps Xin may have left to protect the rest."

Are we on any kind of in game time crunch currently? Brelar could take a few days to syphon out some higher level transmutation spells into his spellbook and make some scrolls.

Re: time crunch: not as far as you know. And this main level seems secure now so you could certainly take a nap in one of the rooms or find a secure place outside the palace if you want a break.

From your current position on the main floor, it seems that there are only two ways forward: the stairs lead down to a watery, flooded dungeon beneath and upwards to what seems another large open chamber.

We stayin' here for a bit, then? But we gotta go somewheres after but I dunno if I can swim all that well.

So where do you want to go and/or what are your plans in the interim?

Sounds like to me that Brelar wanted to take time to scribe scrolls since there is no apparent time crunch.

"Let's attune our wayfinders to this door here, go back to Magnimar and resupply, then come back here and have Brelar spend a day or three tapping the well. My wayfinder's at full charge after attuning to Venture-Captain Heidmarch's front door yesterday."

Ok, sounds good. Whenever you guys are ready to jump back into the action, just tell me up or down and I'll get the map ready. Remember the lower level is flooded so as long as you're going back to Magnimar you might to stock up on underwater gear. Since we're a man down, it means everyone else will need to take up a little of the slack in pushing the action forward until Karn rejoins us.

I say we might as well go down first. However, what gear would be best to take? I'm sure there is a spell/potion/something that we can use that one of you guys can cast so that Argust doesn't sink like a stone and can effectively use his greatsword.

Potions of Water Breathing and Freedom of Movement come to mind. Also, will we need something for ranged attacks?

Potions of Water Breathing and Freedom of Movement come to mind. Also, will we need something for ranged attacks?

Those are probably your best bets. You are at a high enough level where some bottles of air might be more convenient than water breathing but freedom of movement is probably the best way to get rid of underwater fighting penalties. I'll assume you pick up some stuff in Magnimar that you can list later and move on:

You descend down into the water and the flooded lower chamber. Submerged far beneath the murky crystal floor of the palace's main promendade rests a multitude of motionless clockwork soldiers. Each stands firmly in place, row after row, in regimented columns from the floor to the transparent ceiling a hundred feet above, with those above the ground seeming to stand on floating disks of rippling force.

Soon after you enter the room, six eel-like creatures sporting sharp frills along the back of their humanoid torsos and down their long, powerful tails emerge from between the stoic soldiers. They look quite pleased to have some new food coming down to them!

The eels are quick and they instantly swarm around the party!

tail slap on Brelar: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
electricity: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 2) = 6
DC 22 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1d4 rounds

tail slap on Bert: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
electricity: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 3) = 12
DC 22 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1d4 rounds

tail slap on Bert: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
electricity: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 1) = 5
DC 22 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1d4 rounds

tail slap on Karn: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
electricity: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5) = 12
DC 22 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1d4 rounds

tail slap on Argust: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
electricity: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 5) = 14
DC 22 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1d4 rounds

tail slap on Argust: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
electricity: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 6) = 14
DC 22 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1d4 rounds

Initiative:

1. Siyokoys
2. Bert, Argust, Brelar, and Karn

You guys are up!

DC 22 Fort save: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17

Bert is stunned!

For: 1d4 ⇒ 3 rounds.

Karn DC 22 Fort save: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24

Karn isn't, though. The Kellid rages and swings repeatedly at the one that hit Bert. Attacking eel #3.

Lucerne hammer PA w/rage: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (18) + 20 = 38
Lucerne hammer PA w/rage: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28
Lucerne hammer PA w/rage: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

Damage: 1d12 + 27 ⇒ (2) + 27 = 29
Damage: 1d12 + 27 ⇒ (3) + 27 = 30

Hmm, sounds good. I'd think we'd use that. Definitely need Freedom of Movement stuff also.

Argust decides to test how well the spell enables him to attack! Will forgo Power Attack for Stunning Strike. If I do stun something I would move to another critter, rinse and repeat. DC 26 Fort if I hit.

Attack: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (9) + 29 = 38 for Damage: 2d6 + 24 ⇒ (1, 6) + 24 = 31 plus If Evil: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4
Attack: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (20) + 24 = 44 for Damage: 2d6 + 28 ⇒ (4, 2) + 28 = 34 plus If Evil: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 4) = 10
Attack: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (7) + 19 = 26 for Damage: 2d6 + 28 ⇒ (4, 4) + 28 = 36 plus If Evil: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8
Attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15 for Damage: 2d6 + 28 ⇒ (1, 5) + 28 = 34 plus If Evil: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 5) = 6

Crit?: 1d20 + 24 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 24 + 4 = 36 for Damage: 2d6 + 28 ⇒ (1, 6) + 28 = 35 plus Bleed: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 4) = 5 and DC 26 Fort or staggered.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

Cast Defensively: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (18) + 16 = 34

Brelar reaches for his metamagic wand, carefully avoiding the siyokoys as he casts, and turns the waters around the part into a caustic explosion of acid (acidball)!

DC 24 Ref for half of 10d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 3, 3, 5, 4, 6, 3, 6, 6) = 45 excluding party members.