GM Kiora's Wrath of the Righteous

Game Master Kiora Atua

Karzoug was updated to a Thassilonian specialist in the anniversary edition :)

Yeah, just checked my PDF copy.

Plot twist: All the angels were elevated versions of Shadow Conjuration that no one ever thought to disbelieve. :)

Was he? My book still says that he's just a regular transmuter, but then, I didn't bother to count the number of spells he has prepared, which would be the only way to be certain. Level 20 statblocks are just eeeeeh eh heheheh. :P

It's not marked properly. He's not marked as having an archetype, but where his arcane school would normally be, it's marked as his 'Thassilonian Specialization'. Yeah, I have no idea why Paizo makes editorial decisions sometimes.

You can't even use shades to mimic planar binding. Only summoning and creation spells.

I made you guys a map. Sorry if you can't read my handwriting :(

Some details I forgot to mark:

The West Sellen River is the boundary between the Worldwound and Mendev. Once you cross the river, you are in the Worldwound.

There is a bridge across the river at Fort Portolmaeus. However, that is a bad place to cross your army, since getting to Drezen would take you dangerously close to Yathscar. Hence Irabeth's suggestion you take Keeper's Canyon.

I'll link the map to the campaign tab.

Thanks a bunch! :O

Neat map! Really easy to understand.

Hmm, the map has 36 mi as "one day's march", but according to the rules, 24 miles is the distance traveled in one day on foot (move = 30 ft). Furthermore, carts and wagons move at a speed of 20 for a total covered in a day of 16 mi.

36 miles is a single day's march for the army per the AP, I believe the idea is that with the original army, they're all on horseback, and the author simply ignored the fact that they'd have been slowed down by the wagons holding their food supplies. Also, within the AP, distances between points are given in both terms of distance and terms of travel time - thinking of things in terms of the latter was important to set up rations.

But regardless, I still intend to run with the (simplified) idea that if Ehren can shift into something with a 60' fly speed, he goes 2x the overland speed of the army.

I thought about some things during my horrific insomnia last night that I omitted, so I Edited and re-uploaded the map.

Changes:

The West Sellen River has three tributaries that feed into Mendev in this part of the map. One runs south of Kenabres and goes into the Estrovian Forest. One runs through Fort Portolmaeous and snakes a bit southeast so it runs a little past Bedis (it was flooded when you visited Bedis, remember?). There is also a very small one that runs into Valas' Gift - this is more of a small stream and is readily crossable by your army - however it is blood red due to Valas' dying influence on the area.

There is a Crusader outpost exactly in-between the Ahari Bridge and Fort Portolmaeus called Millford Castle. It has a small fighting force compared to Fort Portolmaeus but a distinctly bloody past (it is the castle that Valas died defending during the Second Crusade.) There is also a small fort at Vilareth, in case it wasn't obvious that the Crusaders have fortifications at all entrances into the Worldwound.

There is mountainous terrain around Icerift Castle that consists of the Rimethirst Mountains which border the Crown of the World. There is a small Crusader fortification (about the size of the Chapel of the Argent Shield) called Mantarin along the Rimethirst Mountains, but it was abandoned during the Second Crusade.

There are wardstones at Kenabres, Fort Portolmaeus, Millford Castle, and Fort Vilareth.

Sorry for any possible confusion. Paizo actually hasn't updated their map of Mendev since the original Campaign Setting guide, despite fleshing out the region with new areas of interest (such as Icerift Castle). I have taken liberties to add/adjust some things for the purposes of this game, but still :P

Thank you for the clarifications I too strangely had some horrific insomnia last night. I didn't get to sleep for hours after just lying down in bed.

Ooh, another random query. Does the druid vestment that Ehren has take up the body or shoulder slot? Just asking since it was described as a robe, while the default is a little shoulder cape.

It is a body slot :)

Thank you for the clarifications I too strangely had some horrific insomnia last night. I didn't get to sleep for hours after just lying down in bed.

I feel your pain. Though for me I just couldn't stay asleep D:

So I've been reading Lost Kingdoms, the player companion. It really gives some perspective about why the inquisitors don't trust Sarkorians.

I don't think I have that book. What's the deal?

The Sarkorians kind of accidentally worshipped Deskari. They equated all extraplanar beings with gods and mistrusted things that weren't.

Vorlesh, the one responsible for the Worldwound, was imprisoned for being an arcane caster.

Besides that, the Sarkorians basically let the rift get really bad through inaction. Sarkorian history is full of demon worshipping and betrayal and pride.

That sort of makes sense. Of course, worshiping an evil god doesn't necessarily make you an evil person. Hell, the Azlanti people worshiped several demon lords on the basis that appeasing them with worship would keep them from attacking the material plane.

In not saying that they're evil, but rather that specifically their ignorance and inaction led directly to the formation of the Worldwound. Thus, why they don't get much mercy from inquisitors for not knowing better.

Taking out what happened in the past on the people alive now is moronic. It's like if I hated German people because they let Hitler take over. It's not like 99% of the population alive now was in any way involved in that.

Well, it likely goes beyond that. As in the real world, good intentions or not, sometimes the 'saviors' are viewed as interlopers. Sure, a lot of people may have asked for help. They may have needed help. But the Crusaders are still outsiders. Outsiders with a very different culture, in the middle of a location filled with centuries of culture.

Factor in that some Sarkorians just don't want help... and that some Crusaders really are the bad guys, and you create two good peoples with dissenting values, opinions, and needs... with all the tension to go with...

Ary has the gist of it. It's a really interesting setting, and it's a little sad that the AP completely glosses over the racial tensions in the region.

I think I've mentioned before that the Sarkorians let the Worldwound get out of hand due to disorganization and inaction (Sarkoris was not a unified nation but rather a collection of independent city-kingdoms, ruled by Clan-Lieges of varying power).

I think the most damning thing the Sarkorians have going on is that this is the second time this has happened to them. Deskari attempted an invasion at the Lake of Mists and Veils but was thwarted by Aroden himself. The Sarkorians were actually really appreciative of this - they started worshipping Aroden, and in a way they became a little bit more "civilized" in response... built a few metropolises rather than being a bunch of semi-nomadic clans, and the Arodenites started pushing the disparate Kellid tribes towards unification as a whole (with Kellids of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords and Kellids of Numeria). And from what I understand from some campaign setting material I read from Iron Gods, things were headed that way, though I'm not sure if it would have been a good thing for Avistan to have a supercountry lead by a chaotic neutral barbarian war counsel ahahaha...

Soooo when Deskari peeked his head in again, you'd think the Sarkorians would think twice before worshipping him. Though, from what I understand, Deskari was worshipped as a destructive nature god in ancient Sarkoris, a sort of counter-point to nature gods that focus on fertility and growth, he was about culling fields before they overgrow.

Current racial tensions exist from both sides essentially viewing the other as a failure. Crusaders blame Sarkorians for letting this problem happen in the first place - if they worshipped the gods like normal people everything would be fine! The Sarkorians view the Crusaders as interlopers and invaders - their presence, besides the wardstones (which relied on ancient Sarkorian magic to work, nonetheless), has been a net negative for Sarkorians in the region.... they're here messing things up and not actually helping anything. And they fear that, even if the Crusades were to end, what happens to Mendev? All these foreigners who have settled on their lands? They're certainly not going to pack up, go "welp jobs done we're leaving" and leave Sarkoris to the Sarkorians....

I am actually impressed by the overall thought put into all of the racial tensions. Or rather, how good of a job you have done of weaving it into the story. Makes being the saviors of mankind a lot more complicated than just kicking a lot of ass.

Honestly, had I known more about all of that and Kellid culture before this game started, Ehren might have turned out very differently. That Charisma of 7 might have been less "quiet and withdrawn" and more "grumpy and abrasive." ;P

Anyway, once this war is all over, Ehren will just have to kick everyone off his lawn.

Ehren be like "Would you kindly just..." waves hand. "Go Away?"

It's funny that the crusaders complain that the Sarkorians don't just worship 'regular' gods like they do. Because guess who the Azlanti people worshiped as the god of the negative aspects of the sun according to Lost Cities of Golarion? Nurgal. So I guess that Aroden, who was an Azlanti king and would have worshiped their pantheon for centuries before Earthfall, was a weird demon worshiping freak like those Sarkorians they keep getting mad at.

I don't suppose there's a way I can justify Val knowing that. Because that would totally be something that she'd rub in people like Ebonus's face. "Your god's boss worshiped Nurgal b*tch!"

That sounds like an incredible stretch, frankly. :P

Ehren - Haha, I'm glad!

And I hope that Ehren (and the other heroes, really) eventually get involved with the question of what happens after the Worldwound closes.

Valaria -

I'd probably need something like a DC 40~ K. history check to justify knowing something like that, from what I've understood from running RotRL, any information about ancient Azlant is classified as "highly obscure" and pretty much only in the realm of specialists.

<---- Was joking because Ebonus still p*sses me off

Ary's gonna keep it closed, that's what!

We're going to build another wardstone field! And make the demons pay for it!

Strategy: if the cultists don't have archers, why not draw them to cross the river by shooting at them with our own archers(using our heroes to kill any demon that might want to attack the archers), and then, while they ford, taking them out with our ground forces?

Speaking of that, do any of our foot soldiers have bows?

Your standard foot soldier is outfitted with a shortbow, a sword, a shield, and a pair of daggers.

Your standard cavalryman is outfitted with a longspear, a sword, and a longsword.

We're going to build another wardstone field! And make the demons pay for it!

I've got all the best wardstones! Believe me!

The current Crusader-Queen is so low energy! Sad! I will end the crusades in no time!

Hey, I'm on mobile and can't easily catch up today or most of tomorrow. I'm trying to read but won't be able to post in combat or post a detailed response until Sunday night.

I do want to cast heightened awareness and heroism (using my arcane bond) well before we actually fight. Both should last 70 minutes. I also want to use both of my major images and both of my silent images during mass combat to do things like cover for falsely retreating infantry, make there appear to be an extra wave of cavalry so that the enemies stop to attack early and distract enemy infantry so pur archers can have some free shots.

Xanderghul - Isilme proposed a plan in which essentially you and her will use images to create a fake army, hoping to lure the nabasu into blowing its more deadly abilities onto the illusions. Your actual army would then charge in from behind, surprising the forces. She would use minor image, you would use a major image. Are you game for this?

I am game for this, yes. We can also render ourselves invisible with mythic invisibility. I can not get that heroism if I need to cast it twice.

I do not think that we should fight this army, though. It doesn't seem like we have to. If Ary decides to fight, though, Ill play along with whatever plan.

I do have one concern with this plan now that I think about it. I'm not really confident that Val can fight a Nabasu by herself.

Isilme brings up a good point. There's really no reason to cross the river unless they were chasing or fleeing.

Also, I have faith in Val. You got diss.

Also, I really only think 'sticking Val on the Nabasu' works if she's got Hinagiku to back her up. Also worth mentioning: The Nabasu very likely ate lots of people today. There will probably be ghouls. :(

Also, Also... the next time a horse dies, do you think Markus would mind undeadifying Ary a mount? Leading by example and all that?

You should actually do pretty well. Nabasu's are pretty weak as far as demons go because they're meant to be mid-long range skirmishers. With invis and fly you will have the jump on it, which means a full round action right off the bat. Both Anevia and Isilme will be attacking it for certain, and Ary and Ehren can contribute as well once the summons are negated for the Vrock and Babau.

Edit: If the Nabasu had no growth points, it only gets to create one ghoul per day. If it's got a lot of growth points it'll be tougher, 'cause it could've done it multiple times, but it still can't have more ghouls than growth points. Worst case there might be a handful of ghouls.

Assuming that it doesn't have maximized HP and that I hit all four attacks. And that it doesn't use one of it's disabling spell-like abilities on me successfully.

Also we have two oils of greater magic weapon. Might be worth using one on one of Val's knives (the one she's not attuned to).

Also, Also... the next time a horse dies, do you think Markus would mind undeadifying Ary a mount? Leading by example and all that?

Markus won't mind. There are tons of horse corpses on the battlefield here. Do you want to ask him to raise some of them?

It really depends on how folks react to it. Ary will definitely ride one herself in order to establish that they're safe and useful, while granting her horse to someone else. She'll definitely support using the White Necromancer's abilities if he's able.

Could be kind of cool to use it as a surprise tactic... and Nabasu/Vermleks are probably the best place for him to do so in a fitting fashion. But it's better to ease the troops into it, I think.

Okie dokie. We can RP through it, whenever you want to have it done, just have Ary go ask him :)

The disabling SLA's should be gone, that's the point of the illusions. Also your saves are pretty solid with mythic heroism. If we had some way of getting Hinagiku in the air too, that'd be great, but I don't know that we have anything but that one potion of fly.

I'm open to other options to kill the Nabasu, but either way the Nabasu has to die really quickly, followed by the Vrock. The Babau is fairly low priority once its summon has been wasted. Do we have some way to ground a flying creature?

Burdened Thoughts from Ehren, Will Negates.

Unfortunately, Ehren only has one shot with it, and it'd have to bypass both the nabasu's spell resistance and decent Will save. It's a shot worth taking, but it's probably not worth counting on. Do we have any tanglefoot bags?

Exceedingly short range on Tanglefoot Bags :(

BUT, hitting the Vrock with Burdened Thoughts might be worth trying.

The Vrock shouldn't need fly negated, he wants to melee and will be pretty certain he'll kick our asses.

It is worth trying burdened thoughts on the Nabasu. With Rally the SR check should go through, but yeah, we can't count on it working.