GM NotEspi's Confirmation 2 (Standard) (Inactive)

Game Master NotEspi

Perception (Vorden): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
Perception (Eidolon): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Retconning to right before Zaratina coup-de-graces the remaining zombie.

"No, wait!" Evariel throws out his hand when he sees Zaratina moving her weapon to his undead thrall's throat. "Don't kill it! That one's under my control, it won't hurt you."

Zaratina pauses, prepared to remove the zombie's head.

"What? Why not?" she looks at the wizard in puzzlement. "What do you want to do with it?"

"Well use it, of course. Why kill it when it can fight for us? Think of it as another weapon."

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Zaratina looks around the room, her expression only slightly less puzzled. "Fight what?"

Noranti watches the back and forth with interest.

"There may be something else in these caves to attack us. Or traps. Or the minotaur outside could come back, if Janira didn't lead it far enough away. I suppose someone who's already did would be more expendable to combat such threats, though it does seem rude to use him that way."

"While I wouldn't mind someone--something--else taking the punches if we get attacked, Noranti has a better point: it would be cruelly rude to march the gillman's kinsman out in front of him like a corpse-puppet."

Zaratina lowers her blade as she gesticulates while making her argument. "He asked us to clear out the monster killing his kinsmen, which turned out to be a necromancer, and you want to do the same thing to his kinsman?" She shakes her head.

"Besides, how long before you lose control and it's attacking us, maybe in the middle of a fight? Better to lay his body to rest and remove the threat it poses here and now."

He blinked for a moment and regarded the fact that they now had a discussion over an animated corpse. "If you want, I can draw up a legal contract in regards of damaged and worries so that people cannot be held responsible?"

Zaratina chuckles and looks at Jean-Robur like a mother looks at a child who asked if she could lift him up to touch the moon. "I think you would need to do that before performing the damages for it to be valid, wouldn't you?

"Jean does inspire an idea: Evariel, leave the zombie here and you go ask Uori for permission, personally. Maybe gillmen have very pragmatic thoughts on death."

"Besides, how long before you lose control and it's attacking us, maybe in the middle of a fight? Better to lay his body to rest and remove the threat it poses here and now."

Evariel chuckles. "As to that, I understand your concern but it isnt necessary. The technique I used is permanent. Where necromancers get themselves into trouble is by trying to animate more creatures than they can handle. It's a little complicated, but in lay terms, what I can control is a result of my magical potency, and is completely unrelated to the spellwork involved in raising the things. This one will obey me forever, until it dies or until I use that technique on something else.

"As for the gillman we met back there, you're right about bringing it along. And if we have to double back and cross him again, you have my permission to destroy this thing beforehand. But I don't see the necessity of asking him about it-- like the Utu said, we might need it again."

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The Varisian woman looks confused again. "If? We are at a dead end. The only way out is back past the pool."

"I'm sure there's another way out somewhere. We've only answered the question of why these gillmen were disappearing, but not why they were coming here in the first place. Or the significance of the full moon, which I can assure you has nothing to do with creating undead."

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Zaratina begins to wonder if Evarial knocked his head on a stalactite. "Um. Aside from the fact that the gillmen told us they make a pilgrimage on the full moon to visit the sacred waters here," she says, beginning to speak slowly and enunciating more precisely, "The cave we are standing in only has one exit, and that is back to the cave where the gillman is praying in the sacred waters. So. Even if we want to explore the other tunnel, we will walk past the pool."

She takes out a piece of chalk and draws the T-shaped map on the ground. She circles one end of the T. "We are here." She draws a star at the cross of the T. "The gillman is here. See?"

I know there's a secret tunnel here, but we've all failed our Percpetion checks, and Zaratina can't even make it on a Take 20, so she's taking the dead end at face value.

"Really? I thought he said the pilgrimage was his own." Evariel ponders. "Well if that really does answer all the questions, I suppose we have little choice."

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"So we don't have to have that thing following us?" Carlotta breaks her silence with obvious distaste. "Given the option, I'd rather have it controlled than uncontrolled, but destroyed completely is better still. Rest for its soul has not yet come." Carlotta thinks back to lectures on the practicality of necrmoancy but still can't shake the feeling that undead are inherently wrong. "I agree that our gillman friend would likely be spooked as well," she adds, hoping to hide the emotions clouding her opinion.

"And it smells of death."

"Pure instinct," Evariel says with a hand wave. "That fear and revulsion toward dead things is evolutionary programming. You can train yourself to ignore it. But if everyone feels that strongly about this, go on and destroy it."

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"We could try to sneak it past our gillman friend outside. He doesn't seem that observant."

After Vorden finishes criticizing his eidolon, he walks back to the party and says, "I don't really care about the undead one way or another, but I don't see any benefit in potenially making an enemy of Uori."

He turns back to his eidolon, "You there! Looks like this is a dead end. Let us go back the other direction."

Feeling a whisp of air caressing his cheek while the rest were talking about the corpse and what to do about it he made his way towards where he could feel the whisp of air. "There is something down here, a hidden road or cave... do we want to explore it?"

"Don't get me wrong," Zaratina says to Evariel, "Your power over the undead likely saved my life, and I'm grateful. I just don't see the benefit of ris--"

She stops as Jean interrupts the debate with a question. "What? I don't see a thing." The warrior woman squints at the corner of the cave where Jean is investigating. "Really?" She scrunches up her face harder, still failing to see anything beyond a clump of mushrooms.

Noranti excitedly heads to the corner Jean-Robur indicated.

"Oh! Fresh mushrooms! These will be good in my next stew."

She begins picking the fungus and putting it in her pack, oblivious to the hidden hallway that her fellow Pathfinder was trying to point out.

Vorden shrugs. "We did offer to clear things out. Might as well be thorough."

"Huh. Well good, looks like I get to keep it around. At least for a little while." Still spending a charge from the wand to heal it 10 hp.

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"Huh. I'll be," Zaratina says in surprise as Noranti clears away the fungus. "In that case, be my guest, send the golem into the cave first."

I don't think it was injured, was it?

Carlotta holds her tongue- -and her nose- -and follows the group trough Jean-Robur's passageway.

"Nothing really to add, but ready to go" post.

It was not injured. I'll play it, just give out orders. It performs actions on Evariel's turn.

You start moving through the passage. Compared to the rest of the cavern, this one is fairly narrow, but you keep moving without bigger problems. Besides the mud, that is. You seem to be moving uphill, and after several hundred feet, you notice a strong source of light at the end of the tunnel. Eagerly, you move forward, and you start noticing something else as well. A familiar voice reciting and taunting something. You emerge during the night, but compared to the darkness of the caves, the full moon seems like the sun itself. The light of the surface world above provides a welcome reprieve from the blue and green fungus of the caverns below, and light illuminates a stream whose water is hastened by runoff from a recent storm further up the mountains. A ledge to the west rises up to the nearby forest canopy.

Just beyond the stream, Janira is locked in combat with the minotaur you have met earlier. She notices you and seems to gather whatever remainder of energy she has, despise her obvious wounds: "“You vile beast! I know not what drives your black heart, but I shall not fail in my duty!"

Turn 1 - Go if bolded

Noranti
Carlotta
Evariel
Heyyou!
Zaratina
Minotaur
Vorden
Janira
Jean-Robur

Map up, and a short note in discussion.

Small question of time (it doesn't affect this turn, just duration of spells that expire concurrently). Has it been an hour since we arrived in the caves?

"I'll try and slow it down," Carlotta offers, adrenaline kicking in.

Carlotta rifles around in her gear for the scroll of entangle that Janira had in her pack and her voice takes on a foreign anger as she reads aloud.

"ምድሪቱ የራሱ እንደ ይሉ ይሆናልምድሪቱ የራሱ እንደ ይሉ ይሆናልምድሪቱ የራሱ እንደ ይሉ ይሆናልምድሪቱ የራሱ እንደ ይሉ ይሆናልምድሪቱ የራሱ እንደ ይሉ ይሆናል."

As she punctuates her alien chant, the trees, the bushes, even the blades of grass reach out to grasp at the minotaur. (DC 11 Reflex Partial v. Entangled condition.)

"And keep running!" She shouts at Janira, her incongruous voice back to normal.

The three eyed old elf sees the minotaur attacking Janira and rushes to try and help.

"Don't worry, Janira! We'll save you!"

Double move to get closer - most of my magic is short range, and summoning an eagle would just get chopped down by an AOO before it could attack, anyway.

Zaratina hurries to the edge of the scrub and then lobs the borrowed thunderstone over the stream.

Throw Thunderstone, -4 for 2 Range Penalties, AC5: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 3 - 4 = 0
Miss Direction: 1d8 ⇒ 4

She winces a little when she sees the stone will fly a little further than the Varisian had intended. It explodes with a loud bang as it lands, fortunately still far enough away from her halfling ally to not risk her.

Thunderstone: DC 15 Fort vs. Deafened (of particular value is the -4 to Initiative)

Move Action: Move 25 ft and draw weapon.
Standard Action: Throw Splash

"Don't worry, Janira! We're... well, on our way," Evariel says somewhat despondedly, as he watches the dead gillman shambling forward. That's going to take awhile. "Attack the minotaur!"

Commanding the zombie to attack the minotaur, if the combat is even still on by the time it gets there. Double moving myself.

Small question of time (it doesn't affect this turn, just duration of spells that expire concurrently). Has it been an hour since we arrived in the caves?

I assume it is. There are a few elongated walks through the caves, documenting of the glyphs, chat with Uori, reading the dhampir's journal, etc.

Minotaur ,Reflex vs 11: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Minotaur, Fort vs 15: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Just as Evariel commands, the zombie starts shambling towards the beast. Shambling being the operative word, since it is rather slow.

1 move action of 30 ft.

The minotaur seems unphased by either the sudden emergence of undergrowth or the thunderstone landing and exploding nearby. It gives you a brief glance and turns towards the halfling, swinging its great axe twice.

Greataxe, Broken: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 93d6 + 4 ⇒ (3, 6, 3) + 4 = 16
Greataxe, Broken: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 133d6 + 4 ⇒ (5, 1, 6) + 4 = 16

But Janira is quick on her feet, despise the signs of the fight heavily visible on her. She dodges both swings, takes a step back, and continues to shout at the creature in common: "We'll drive you off, beast! Either that, or you meet your maker today!"

Inspire Courage - +1 morale bonus on saves vs charm and fear / +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. Lasts for 3 turns.

Reflex, Minotaur vs 11: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Turn 1+2 - Go if bolded

Noranti
Carlotta
Evariel
Zaratina
Minotaur
Vorden + Heyyou!
Janira
Jean-Robur

If you wish to pass the stream via the log, you will need an Acrobatics check to do so, since it is slippery. Or you can just jump across. It's roughly 7-feet wide.

Seeing the minotaur he blinks for a moment and utters a quick prayer to Asmodean before touching Hey You, granting him another Guidance before moving forward a bit.

Hey You! stands around, looking a bit confused as to what to do. Vorden looks at his eidolon a sighs, which is becoming a common sound heard by the party.

"You there! Get up to help Janira. While you're at it, take one of those javelins and throw it at the minotaur!"

The eidolon moves up, drawing a javelin, and throws it at the minotaur.

Attack, Javelin, 1 Range Incr, Guidance: 1d20 + 2 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 + 1 - 2 = 6
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Vorden moves past his eidolon. As he sees the javelin sail far wide, he shouts back, "Control please! This isn't a distance throwing contest!"

Zaratina now rushes to the edge of the stream, drawing a javelin from her quiver and throwing it with a grunt of exertion.

Javelin, -2 Range Penalty, IC: 1d20 + 4 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 4 - 2 + 1 = 41d8 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 1 = 12

Evariel plucks a fear spell from the aether with an incantation and a gesture.

Casting cause fear vs the minotaur, DC 16 Will negates.

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Minotaur, Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

The minotaur shakes off Evariel's influence over him and continues doing what it's doing. All of this while dodging attacks. To be honest, most of them went off-target, so not much effort was put into it.

Turn 1+2 - Go if bolded

Noranti
Carlotta
Evariel - Fear, saved
Zaratina - Javelin, miss
Minotaur
Vorden + Heyyou! - Javelin, miss
Janira
Jean-Robur - Guidance

"Oh, this is bad. I wonder if I could use enchantment magic on it. Do minotaurs even speak our language?"

Noranti thinks for a moment, trying to remember the answer to that question, so she'll know if the Obey occultist power will work on it.

knowledge any: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

She then attempts to jump across the stream. move action

acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 - 2 = 11

Assuming she makes it, she'll summon another eagle to try and attack the minotaur. The eagle appears next to the minotaur, so no AOO for approaching.

The eagle will then full attack the beast.

bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3
talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2
talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Turn 1+2 - Go if bolded

Noranti - Servitor
Carlotta
Evariel - Fear, saved
Zaratina - Javelin, miss
Minotaur
Vorden + Heyyou! - Javelin, miss
Janira
Jean-Robur - Guidance

Carlotta hustles closer to the fray.

Double move. Sorry to make you wait for that.

All good. We should make it.

Noranti's servitor plucks and scratches at the minotaur, providing an ample distraction. The minotaur turns at the bird and attempts to slice it into two.

Greataxe, Broken: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 232d6 + 4 ⇒ (6, 6) + 4 = 16

He does so with a single swoop. With a loud squawk, the eagle disappears back into the aether.

As he does that, Janira targets the minotaur's axe with her whip.

Disarm: 1d20 + 0 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 0 + 1 = 15

The whip coils around the weapon, but the minotaur makes a quick pull and soon after, the bard's whip is on the ground near the beast's feet. With her weapon gone, she runs closer towards the apirants.

Turn 2+3 - Go if bolded

Noranti - 3
Carlotta - 3
Evariel - 3
Zaratina - 3
Minotaur
Vorden + Heyyou! - 2
Janira
Jean-Robur - 2

Does Janira look wounded? Since I'm close enough, I might just run up and heal her, if it looks like she needs it.

Woops. moved myself but didn't post... also, circle I created is for me, if I am going to use the channel :P

Seeing the predicament of Janira he quickly moves towards the tree stump in hopes of being able to do something once needed.

Double move, possible channels inc!

His weapon looks broken. Maybe I can make it worse. Pulling forth one of the few spells he knows that isn't meant for living creatures, he forces it into the minotaur's weapon.

Casting break, DC 15 Fort negates.

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Vorden looks at his eidolon and shouts, "Again!

Attack, Thrown Javelin: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Vorden continues to move up.

She looks pretty tired and beaten, yeah.

Evariel perform a quick incantation, and snaps a small twig in his hands. The greataxe in the minotaur's hands decides that it and the twig are friends, and decides to imitate the twig immediately afterwards. It breaks apart into two separate pieces. Warm huffs streaming from his nostrils, the minotaur tosses both pieces of his now-useless weapon to the ground, and starts reaching for a javelin stored on his back.

Don't question the Great Axe! It knows what it's doing!

Sweet! I'm contributing!

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Noranti runs up to Janira faster than you'd expect from such an elderly elf, and quickly casts a spell to heal the wounded halfling.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

"Janira, wait until we tell you what we found in the cave. Is that one of the gillmen you saw entering the cave in your earlier visits?" she gestures to the zombie shambling forward with the group.

Speaking of which, someone is 2 turns behind.

The zombie keeps moving in the minotaur's direction. Water or not.

Swim vs 15: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

As it approaches, the minotaur decides that the creature invading his personal space without proper introductions is kind of rude, and puts his horns to good use impaling the undead menace.

AoO, Gore: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 121d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

The zombie doesn't even flinch.

Turn 2+3

Noranti - 3 - Tending to Janira
Carlotta - 3
Evariel - 3 - Break
Zaratina - 3
Minotaur
Vorden + Heyyou! - 2 - Javelin
Janira
Jean-Robur - 2 - Double move

Carlotta steps to the 'shore' of the river, stopping as soon as her boots begin to sink in the soft ground. There she pulls a trio of small rocks out of her puch and softly chants over them in that same stange alien tongue.

Moves, casts magic stone.

With the zombie between her allies and the minotaur, Zaratina decides to remain on the far side of the shore. She draws another javelin and hurls it at the minotaur. "Get out of here, you cow! We are no meat for your dinner table!"

Javelin, IC, -2 Range Penalty: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 - 2 = 4
Damage, IC: 1d6 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 1 = 10