GM Infinity: Crypt of Everflame, Wizard Party [Completed!] (Inactive)

Game Master mishima

Hemiantus shrieks as the gnome tumbles down the slippery slope into the thorns far below. Once he seems to have stopped falling, Hemiantus calls out: "Are you okay? Hold still, and don't try to move any farther!"

I'm assuming we know what our donkeys are carrying by now. Any rope? Also, how far down from us is Megdhar?

Yes, as mentioned each donkey had: backpack, 5 days rations, small tent, waterskin, piece of complete map. Additionally, the following items are 1 each on each of the donkeys: 50 ft hemp rope, box with tinder and 3 tindertwigs, 2x CLW potion (labeled: healing), 3 torches, grappling hook, small bottle brancy. Some have been claimed IC.

"Heh heh <cough><cough> found a shortcut...<cough> ow..."

If I read it right, I slid two thirds of the way down... so anyone trying to reach me normally would have to make two acrobatics checks to do it. I only need one more to make it to the bottom, but I am at 1 health point right now thanks to thorns being enough to pierce my lungs, it seems.

Please note herolab would not let Bezoar carry Eralds spell book, but he is carrying itmso Erald is at a light load - I should edit that.

Giving Medghar a puzzled look Erald unslings his shield and ties Hermione in place near withing reach of plenty of grass. He takes the potions and rope from Hermione's packs to a likely looking outcropping and ties the other end about Bezoar's belly, cushioned by his pack saddle. Letting the goat go ahead and spooling out a bit of rope at a time until they had descended to the gnome.

"No ethical objections to Infernal Healing?" he asks pulling out a scroll.

Hook up the rope and then take 10, if no suitable outcrop Gerald will use his torches as stakes.

How long is the slope in total? Will the rope reach to the bottom?

-Posted with Wayfinder

William looks at Erald and scoffs. if I Had that spell in my book, I'd gladly use it on every occasion that I needed healed

acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

reflex: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Besides the gnome had it com- OH!!

If you have a positive acrobatics modifiers why not take 10? Seems like the exact situation taking 10 is made for... I might be off on the ropes though, since looking back GM Infinity said 30 minutes to descend. Maybe we can tie a rope have the person with the best acrobatics untie it after everyone is down then retie, etc.? If not Erald and Bez just take 10 on acrobatics to get down. The take 10 rules practically describe this situation a safety measure where an average roll would succeed but a poor roll might fail.

Taking 10 seems like a very good idea for all of us (unless we have negative Acrobatics modifiers).

William seems to be doing fine until suddenly a large patch of mud gives out under his step. Scrambling madly with his bony fingers he slows his descent somewhat, but his focus isn't varied enough to catch a large pine in his path...striking the mangled trunk hard.

Nonlethal: 1d4 ⇒ 3

And yes, rope reaches the bottom and gives +2 to checks, the reason it takes so long is the hill is really more of a gorge

If we can take 10 Og does so for a 12 each round. If not he uses the ropes and guides a donkey down.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 2 = 17

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 + 2 = 21

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 + 2 = 11

If Og can make it down to the gnome he will fix the little guy up with a smear of devil's blood and a quick infernal healing.

Also waiting to hear if we can "Take 10".

Yep, can always take 10 outside combat.

Og scales the gorge as if he was born for it, reaching Medghar in his agony there on the face of Serpent's Gorge.

Leaving Medghar to Og's prepared spell rather than his scroll Erald and Bez carefully finish their descent,

"Right let's entomb ourselves!""

Using the securely tied rope, Hemiantus carefully navigates the ravine, leading his donkey down at the same time. (I'm assuming the donkeys can "Take 10" as well.)

Once he's secured his beast at the bottom, the half-elf moves over to Meghdar and looks him over for further injuries.

"I know you're excited, Megdhar, but we are not in the laboratory any more, with our masters only a stone's throw away to bail us out should we get into trouble. We're out on our own here, and the consequences can be permanent. Because of your foolishness, we're already down a spell."

The lasts words are not said unsympathetically, but still with enough seriousness that Hemiantus hopes he will be taken seriously; well, at least as seriously as the gnome will ever take him.

If possible, Hemiantus will climb back up the slope and untie and retrieve the rope and then descend without it, taking 10 the entire time. If he thinks this will not be possible while taking 10, he won't attempt it.

"No need to retrieve the rope Hemiantus, we have four more, and we will presumably need to climb back up once we are done," Erald says as he sees the elf preparing to ascend.

Hemiantus nods and thanks Erald for his suggestion.

"Good point. I'll try to hide the rope, however, just in case someone comes by and decides to steal or sabotage it."

The half-elf will climb up and do his best to use brush or rocks to mask the presence of the rope as best he can.

Disguise?: 1d20 ⇒ 3
Stealth?: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Wow, good job, me.

There is one donkey not like the rest that dares all down the slope.

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Reflex for 1st roll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

It takes a few brave steps before sliding down a muddy hill, unfortunately ending at a drop off a 20 ft cliff. It takes

2d6 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5 damage

seemingly taking a massive blow to the head, the beast slowly rises and looks back up at you meekly before hoping down to the bottom with grace.

From a certain angle, the rope might look like a vine.

An archway of stone is set into the side of a small hill at the bottom of the valley. Moss has overgrown many of the details, but one is still quite clear. The keystone of the arch is carved with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond the archway is a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive wooden doors, one of which is slightly ajar. A pair of horses and a trio of ponies lie slaughtered next to the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground nearby. A swarm of fles hangs lazily in the air above them.

"Well that hardly bodes well," Erald says moving cautiously forward to examine the corpses to see if he can get any indication of what killed them.

Heal: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (16) - 2 = 14

Hemiantus sucks in air between his teeth when he sees the slaughtered animals.

"It seems we are not the first people here. There are at least two groups in front of us: the owners of these poor animals and those who killed them."

He turns around to look at their own pack animals with concern, especially the one who just injured itself.

"Before going any further, we should first find a safe place to hide our own animals, lest the same fate befall them. Something a bit away from here would be a good idea."

How big is this ravine? Could we scout it a bit to find out if there's a place we could build a base camp away from the entrance of the tomb? A place we might drop our supplies?

Sure, make an intelligence check to analyze the situation tactically, or a survival roll to treat it like a camp, or both

Erald, looks like the mark of a crude blade, like a stone knife. Perhaps even claws, the slashes are torn. Much fresher than previous corpse, only 2 days at most.

Medghar smiles as the blood aids him.

"Much obliged, think I will just take the stairs next time."

Taking a 10 for the last bit down. Did I get fully healed by infernal or just partially?

Seeing the bodies, the gnome turns to William.

<And here you were thinking you would need to exhume the dead for your experiments... seems like they have done the job for you.>

Infernal Healing is always 10 HP over a minute, amazing spell.

Seeing something beneath the animals Gerald rolls up his sleeves and strains for a moment, third time proving the charm as he drags the horse aside.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Str: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10
Str: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2
Str: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (19) - 1 = 18

You can thank Satan later

Here lies an ancient skeleton, clearly not of the same timeline as the other victims. It's phalanges are covered with blood and seem to be grinded to razor points. William's best guess might put it beyond 400 years old, well before the time of Asar and Kassen.

Searching the packs reveals an odd bounty. 2 very large, and remarkably comfortable pillows, nearly twice the size of Medghar whole. Another oddity, 10 arrows blunted with a tight, leather strap knit lattice bulb Function as normal arrows, but deal only non-lethal damage. In addition, some more easily identifiable things like 2 days worth of trail rations and 2 pints of paraffin oil.

Hemiantus looks for a place to camp.

Survival: 1d20 ⇒ 4
Intelligence check: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Hem, you find a few options shortly, including recesses into the cliffside and an underground river cave. However, the most promising as a defensible position from the undead is as actually a 20 ft ledge, large enough for a few tents. You could reach this area using a fallen tree like a makeshift staircase. In the event of an assault, the defender could easily ascend the 20 degree incline before rolling the trunk to the side, completely blocking access from below.

Medghar immediately jumps on one of the pillows, the act making it look like he was lounging on a small bed.

<I call dibs on this one! I am going to call it Flopsy!>

<Flopsy the Murder Pillow? Just waiting for the chance to do to a tasty tender gnome what it did to those horses? Why do you think its so plump and inviting?>

The crypt has 2 large heavy doors supported by what looks to be cast iron hinges. They are quite difficult to move. DC 15 strength to open/close

Cracking one for a peek inside, the faint light from outside reveals a long chamber with risen platforms on either side. A faded painting of Kassen is on the far wall. The room appears to be the site of a gruesome battle, with two bodies piled in the center and a number of skeletons scattered around. An echoing wail can be heard somewhere in the distance, beyond this foul chamber.

Darkness unless otherwise stated in here

You find a pair of backpacks nearby containing another strange large pillow, 20 more blunt arrows, a full waterskin, and 2 smokesticks.

Map coming soon

Map updated with first room, yellow x are fleshy corpse, white x are bony corpse. Please place selves

Erald carefully fetches Hermione down, picking a bunch of grasses for her, and guides her down and to the ledge campsite, before hurrying back to the door.

Ever impatient Erald strains at the door for a moment, but falls on his arse on the fourth attempt. Grinning ruefully, he looks up at the half orc "Loosened it up for you Og, have at!"

Once the door is opened he swears, <Termites! Those are Gerol and Vark, friends of the Mayor. I was only drinking with them, what a month ago? Why would they be here? Everyone else hears that wailing from the east right? Not just me?">

Str: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9
Str: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5
Str: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10
Str: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1

Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28 Really? Dice, really?
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
heal(how long they have been dead): 1d20 ⇒ 15

<what Wailing? I hear nothing. And i'm an elf, so you must be insane>not like that was ever in question. william rolls his eyes.

Medghar picks his way through the darkness to inspect one of the older corpses on the left.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

<Insanity is just a state of being, though you are right... I hear nothing as well.>

<<This looks fishy. Everyone out of the tomb for a moment, I'd like to try something first.>>

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

"Also, could someone cast light on my sword, please?" he states, drawing his elven curved blade.

Hemiantus also casts heightened awareness and mage armor on himself.

Busy weekend - Catching up, but having to run to a meeting now.

<<Cast your prep spells if we are going in. I am down my healing spell so take care all.>> Og casts his Mage Armor Spell, readies his weapon and takes point.

Hemiantus turns to Og. "Would you like me to cast your mage armor spell on you from the scroll now as we discussed?"

William looks at his allies and rolls his eyes. he gets a look at the fresh corpses and backs out of the tomb. in his hands you can see him readying a glass vial with oil and a strip of cloth.

I once learned as an alchemist, this is the way you start fires ;)

Medghar backs up as requested and draws his gun, loading it.

"Not like I have any defensive or offensive spells to prepare... instead I will just get Smokems ready to say hello."

Erald grins, "And I just have wo..."" and Bez butts him casually into the wall,

"Owf! I guess I am my own worst critic, lazy joke bad Erald."

I guess if your familiar is your dream then really it is kinda sorta part of you.

William, the fleshy ones have been dead a few days. Claws rending the sinews, as before. The bony ones are quite ancient...centuries old.

As you casually snoop around you notice swift movement in the bone piles, at first you might think it was a rat or some vermin escaping, but rapidly the bones assemble into a man form whole, screaming with an unknown organ from beyond. Some of them grasp swords of a lost make.

Initiative:::::
red: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
orange: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
yellow: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
green: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
blue: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
purple: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Erald: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Hemiantus: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Medgar: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16
Og: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
William: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Order:::::
Hemiantus, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Medghar, William, Purple, Red, Og, Erald

AC 16/12/14, hp 4, 5/bludgeoning, sv:0/2/2

And afk a bit

Hemiantus turns to Og. "Would you like me to cast your mage armor spell on you from the scroll now as we discussed?"

Nah. I have it memorized for now. If we need to renew it then I'll burn the scroll and take advantage of your talent.

<<Erald, step back when you can and let me take your place. Og and I will bottle them up in the doorway here as best we can. Megdhar, get behind Og and myself, now! William, what kind of fiends are these?>>

Meghdar fires a bolt at the nearest (pink) undead creature while his familiar chatters at him from the satchel.

Standard action to cast disrupt undead: ranged touch: 1d20 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 1 + 2 = 16;damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6; ready move action to move into Erald's square once he's out of it and the move does not provoke an AoO.

The skeleton is vaporized in a burst of positive energy...but four others swarm forth in mad fury...Medghar seems caught in certain doom.

yellow: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (12) + 0 = 12
green: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (8) + 0 = 8
orange: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (20) + 0 = 20
orange confirm...: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10

yellow dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 3
orange dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Medghar is slashed brutality with 2 broken looking scimtars from the past.

Slinking behind a pillar, a 4th finds Hemiantus...

blue: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (8) + 0 = 8

...but his attack crashes into the wall.

Order:::::
Hemiantus, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Medghar, William, Purple, Red, Og, Erald

Medghar winces as the blades attack him. "Well, my master didn't want me to come back from this anyway, guess this is where he gets his wish. First though, you go back to dust." So saying, the psychotic gnome takes aim at the yellow skeleton to his left and fires.

Ranged attack: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 2 + 1 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

"Heh, gotcha."

Hemiantus' eyes grow wide with fear as he sees the gnome fire off his spell.

"You stupid gnome, get out of the front line, they will gut you!"

-Posted with Wayfinder

Medghar, I'll assume you take a 5 ft step back, otherwise that would provoke 3 AoOs on you...unless you have some ability that prevents that?

William's go

Yes, assuming I can... thought I was up against a wall from the map for some reason.

Medghar, did you intentionally not 5' step before casting?

-Posted with Wayfinder

so... that means all of us have agreed on bonded mind?

Og? you agreeing?

Whoops sorry if I jumped the gun there, I can always retcon as having had message prepared if the concensus comes down another way - but I vote Bonded Mind.

I propose that we encase things said through the bond in bold and italics to differentiate it from plain thought (to ourselves) or speech ... should Og agree to taking the feat.

So it would look like this.

good point... that makes sense.

I was going with speech marks to differentiate it from thought since I suspect speech is going to be more common than thought, and thus perhaps worthy of clearer demarcation. But either way works.

It looks like Og and I will be the front-liners, since we're the ones with the big melee weapons, yes? Where do the rest want to fall in the marching order?

Second rank works for Erald and Bez.

debuffer... just a quarterstaff, not doing much up front. perhaps in the middle, in front of the truly ranged and behind the melee.... i need a crossbow... I'm rearranging my equipment real quick for that.

If we're feeling paranoid, I can also bring up the rear in case we get ambushed ...

Slides is up. Not much there atm, but can chat it up if desired.

BTW, William, it says that you have 3 hp.

yeah, max 1st dice, and my con mod (-1)

oops, darn it! im so used to D&D d4 for wizards

yeah, max 1st dice, and my con mod (-1)

oops, darn it! im so used to D&D d4 for wizards

Yikes, negative Con mod. You'll definitely be somewhere in the middle then!

Heh. Still, I will probably be mid range. Standard range on my gun is 20 ft.

yeah, not a tank yet... all i need is 1 point, but i rolled a 11 and have a reduction to con.

make up with it by having a good dex, for ranged touch attacks and such.

looks at gamplay

i love how all of this is happening in our heads and all the mayor has gotten out of us is a few brief sentences and a few loud and boisterous introductions.

yeah, not a tank yet... all i need is 1 point, but i rolled a 11 and have a reduction to con.

Is "rolled" a turn of phrase? Our PCs were supposed to be built with 15 pt point-buy.

William Nightwing wrote:

yeah, not a tank yet... all i need is 1 point, but i rolled a 11 and have a reduction to con.

Is "rolled" a turn of phrase? Our PCs were supposed to be built with 15 pt point-buy.

yes, force of habit from all my offline friends. i say "Rolled" when ever i refer to coming up with stats, no matter the method.

Yeah you guys probably appear pretty creepy. I was thinking about what your camp will look like later. You will all be sitting around a fire not talking.

It's the mayor's fault for not taking the teamwork feat at level one...

Maybe he did and he's been listening the whole time? Maybe the whole town did? They all turn to look at you.

Just be careful or I'll give my familiar the feat as well, and then you have to put up with her incessant chattering all night long.

Speaking of Illyriana, you all know that Hemiantus is quite ... fond of her, but you're not sure why, and he's pretty tight-lipped when it comes to his familiar. All you know is that he is very protective of her and that they are very affectionate with one another one day, and then seemingly treat each other very coldly on other days. You can also hear him bickering with her when he doesn't think anyone is listening. As far as you know, she just responds with rat-like squeaks.

So... they've been listening to me calling them curs and lovely corpses... NO WITNESSES!!!

no wait... i haven't been projecting that to everyone... never-mind... they live for that much longer!

Also, even though none of us are combat monsters, we all have ways of dealing B, P, and S damage, yes? Might be useful if we run out of spells.

slashing... if there are creatures that require slashing to get past DR, which is usually just zombies i'll spam disrupt undead or some other attack cantrip, at them.

Does anyone still have 25 gp? Forgot that Infernal Healing as a material component.

I have p & b om my gun an p & s on my dagger.

Well Erald has Splintered Spear which is piercing, blunt crossbow bolts, nothing for slashing, but at 1d6+5 with PBS Splintered Spear can hopefully punch through. Sadly the bleed damage will not likely be applicable much since we are going to a tomb.

And yes Disrupt Undead will be a go to, with PBS and Precise Shot he should do pretty well with it.

quarterstaff and a lt. crossbow... i have B and P, i could just use acid splash on anything else.

Great, now we have the gnome wandering around gesturing and pointing around as if telling a heart-filled story, compleatley silent as we are talking to the mayor...outside... in-front of the entire town.

Heh, you did bring up his gun to him... you knew what that would entail, ;)

yeah, i did, wonderful RP by the way

Does anyone still have 25 gp? Forgot that Infernal Healing as a material component.

Hmm. That is an issue. I think people usually assume you have the lesser costly demon blood material component at least in games like PFS. Can we get a ruling on this? If we need to have Unholy Water at 25 gp a pop for our only healing spell that is going to be expensive.

Yeah, you're freaking wizards, not some nancy from the farmlands. You've been carrying devil's blood around in your spell pouch since you were 13.

If a component does not have a specific cost it is included in a spell component pouch and covered by eschew materials. Getting blood off a tiefling should not be any harder than getting bat guano, much less so I would think. Probably a cottage industry.

Minor tweak, if that is ok - I think I'll go with Toughness as my first level feat. Not feeling the love at 9hp. I still want Arcane Strike, but it will have to wait.

I have a feeling we're going to be doing a lot of running away in any case. We can't afford to take more than one hit at this level.

especially me... 5 HP... Ranged it is!

We'll have to protect you from strong gusts of wind, William ;)

One change to Medghar based on the way I am playing him. Altered his alignment from CG to CN.... seems more fitting that way.

We seem an independent lot. Perhaps we need some common cause or commitment that we are bound to to increase unity? Perhaps we have sworn to some pack within the cabal - at least mutual support and commitment to this mission?

I like the idea that we are all basically still apprentices to more powerful wizards, and have been sent on this mission to prove that we are ready to be taken seriously. Even though we may have differences with each other, we each have a certain amount of respect for our masters, and we are doing this to prove ourselves to them. Our masters want us to work together to discover what is behind the corruption of the ley lines, so that's what we are going to do.

Medghar would be in the group more because his master was this close to finally expelling him for his obsession with his firearm, but rather than do so without a test he sends him with you to either prove his mettle or die. No lack of love between the two, let me assure you.

As such, the rest of you probably know of Medghar's rocky relationship with his master (and the master's in general) and know that this is a test.... though you probably don't know the full extent of this test's wager, so to speak.

Maybe you guys are all the apprentice of the same wizard, vying for favor etc. That way you still keep some independence, but it explains why you share a mental link.

Maybe our Masters were all apprentices of the same Wizard? Or in Erald's case creation and apprentice, I tend to think the groups ages and proclivities would make having the same Master difficult.

Bonded Mind does not necessarily imply we were bonded to each other, it might be a common practice in the Cabal.

Lets go with something like that. Our masters want us to work as a team, and despite our independent natures and even potentially conflicting personal goals and desires we are sworn to teamwork and to never act to harm each other in any way. We may not even like each other but we are not going to openly or even secretly act against one another. Agree?

yep, William's sort of just hoping something goes wrong for you, he never is plotting to kill you himself.

Sounds good. IRL I have a newborn (she is a little over 2 weeks old now) so my hours might be a bit odd... will try to keep pace though. I will catch up on posting in a bit, need to crash though (she didn't want to sleep last night and her mom needed it).

yep, William's sort of just hoping something goes wrong for you, he never is plotting to kill you himself.

Yea, but he hopes that about everyone so its not really personal. :)

Medghar, I remember those days. My little ones are not so little any more.

I am confused by your last post. You did get the message that the lantern is not lit, right? What flame are you referring to?

Sounds good. IRL I have a newborn (she is a little over 2 weeks old now) so my hours might be a bit odd... will try to keep pace though. I will catch up on posting in a bit, need to crash though (she didn't want to sleep last night and her mom needed it).

Congratulations! Welcome to the Land of No Sleep. Is it your first one?