Tyrandro focuses his shot and destroys another of the dragon's dwindling images.
Sebastian is shaken with fear after the dragon's savage attacks. He does his best. He doesn't hit the dragon with any of his attacks but does manage to destroy the dragon's last image.
Ayako begins summoning her anaconda.
Iolana's dispel magic is successful and the dragon's shield is dispelled.
Sabina has a moment of clarity during the confusion's duration and tugs and kicks the dragon to distract and maneuver it into an awkward position. "We need to kill this beast fast, before it realizes it has an entire city at hand to destroy!" Sabina shouts. "Zarmangarof (the dragon) doesn't speak Common. I'll keep up the pretense of ally as long as I can."
Zarmangarof continues his attacks on Sebastian. His attacks are thrown off by Sabina's poor tactics but still manages to clip Sebastian a few times. Sebastian tries to parry the dragon's bite but its maw is just too big and overpowers his thin rapier continuing on to chomp down on him.
Tyrandro keeps going for the safe shot.
Seb cries out as his sister speaks clearly. "I'm glad you came to your senses. The Queen is evil."
He stabs with everying he has at the dragon.
Iolana pulls out her big spell and casts Disintegrate. She ueses her meta magic rod again.
A giant snake falls on the dragon and tries Om-nomming
Sebastion! Get back here so I can heal you
Ayako tilts her head back and a hideous gargling sound emits from her throat that turns into something like a cat screaming as it drowns. Black liquid dribbles down the corners of her mouth before she whips her head forwards and a stream of steaming sludge erupts from her throat and arcs towards the dragon
School transmutation [poison]; Level cleric/oracle 4, druid 3, shaman 4, witch 3
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V
EFFECT
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect one stream of venom
Duration instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw Fortitude partial; Spell Resistance no
DESCRIPTION
You spit a stream of venom at a target using a ranged touch attack. If the venom hits, it causes blindness for 1 round. The target must also save or be poisoned by black adder venom; the DC in successive rounds of the poison is equal to the spell’s DC.
DC 20
Tyrandro keeps his distance and hits the dragon in a soft spot just under the chin.
Sebastian stabs the dragon in the neck then leaps up and drives his blade right through one of its eyes. Black ichor gushes forth with a minor acidic sizzle.
Then, a giant magical anaconda appears through a portal to a jungle on some unknown plane. The snake towers over the buildings and dwarfs even the huge dragon. Its head crashes through the Shingles above the streets when it rears up. It then wraps its body around the dragon and begins to squeeze despite the dragon's protests.
Ayako spits out something horrible but it splatters harmlessly on the street.
Zarmangarof is struck by Iolana's disintegrating ray. Unsurprising, he has a strong constitution to resist the full force but the ray still turns a large patch of scales to dust leaving a large hole of raw bloody flesh.
Sabina's moment of lucidity vanishes and she returns to babbling like a baby.
Zarmangarof is badly wounded. His remaining good eye glances around wildly as if to find an escape route but with the giant anaconda constricting it, that is not an option. It breaths another breath of acid across the snake's length. The snake is unable to dodge and its flesh melts and the stench of burning meat fills the air. But it still maintains its hold.
With the dragon grappled Tyrandro tries shooting many arrows again, but he decides to play it safe and go for the hit and not for the damage.
"I'll be there to see you in a moment." Sebastian yells to Ayako, and he attacks.
Iolana sends a set of Freezing Rays at the dragon.
Ayako holds, rather certain the dragon is finished. I sure hope that snake doesn't eat Sabina. Oh well
It only takes one more arrow to put the dragon down. Tyrandro finishes the dragon off and its head smacks lifelessly onto the ground. The giant anaconda doesn't mind. It continues to squeeze and unhinges its jaw for a fulfilling meal.
Sabina unstraps herself from her saddle and hops to the ground. She throws down her weapon then runs up to embrace Sebastian.
"Oh Sebastian, can you ever forgive me? All along I knew something was wrong with Ileosa. But I knew that openly opposing the queen would only get me killed. You may accuse me guilty of the Queen's cruelty, and I would accept blame, but I have always works secretly to lessen the impact of the queen's cruel methods with kindness. If you'll have me, I beg you to give me a chance to undo what I have allowed to happen through my inaction. But first, we need to get away from this scene and find somewhere safer to speak. Do you have somewhere to go that won't be put at risk if the Queen's minions come looking for me? There are agents within Castle Korvosa who know nothing of kindness or pity and will likely soon know something is amiss when I don't return to my quarters in the castle."
"Can we create a dead clone of that dragonrider?" Tyrandro asks.
That is beyond my abilities. Ayako explains as the giant snake starts sliding over the dragon.
Sebastian embrases Sabina. "I was so worried about you. I knew you weren't doing this on your own. We have a place we can go. Do you think the Queen has a way to track you? We can't be followed to our safe place."
I wish I could trust her like I used to do. She is my sister, but she's changed so much.
He looks to Iolana, "Can you take us all back the house?
"I can if you think it's safe." She'll cast Teleport to Zellara's home if neither Tyrando or Ayako object to the location.
Works for me. Odd that we keep coming back to the place where this all started.
"Check her for magic, that could give her away first?" Tyrandro suggests. "But then let's get away fast. But do me afavor and do your destruction spell on that dead dragon. You don't want the queen to raise that monster from the dead for a mere 5000 gold. I'm sure she can afford that."
Making sure the dragon is really dead, Tyrandro shoots another arrow from close distance at the dragon.
The snake ate it.
"There is nothing on me specifically to allow tracking. But I have nothing to ward off scrying either. The current seneschal, Togomor, a bloat mage from the Acadamae, and the Red Mantis Assassins are my primary concerns. Queen Ileosa is probably too engrossed in her plans to bother personally searching."
You make your way back to Zellara's house. When you get settled, Sabina has plenty to say.
"I'm not blind. As early as Ileosa’s attempt to execute Trinia Sabor for the assassination of Eodred II, I began to suspect that something was dreadfully wrong with my idol. My fears were confirmed after Ileosa moved forward with the establishment of the Gray Maidens. I certainly didn’t object to the foundation of a new military wing, but I did object to the use of magic and torture to force loyalty. Yet I had seen enough to know that openly opposing the queen was no solution either. Instead of taking direct action against Ileosa, I accepted the charge of leading the Gray Maidens. Where I could, I lessened the impact of the queen’s cruel methods with secret kindnesses. Ironically, these acts of compassion proved the most effective at securing loyalty. Yet still, many women who were drafted into the service proved too headstrong. Ileosa executed some of them until I convinced the queen that it would be better to imprison them under the Longacre Building, arguing that “some of them, given time, might well realize that serving as Gray Maidens is the better choice.” Unable to authorize their release, I did the next-best thing—I made regular secret trips to the Longacre dungeons to ensure that the imprisoned women were as comfortable as conditions would allow, and that they weren’t being abused by the Gray Maiden guards."
"Yet the forced recruitment of Gray Maidens was only one of the ways that Ileosa had turned against Korvosa. With each passing week, I learned of a new atrocity: the introduction of blood veil into the city, Ileosa’s bargaining with devils to gain more power, the appointment of Togomor as seneschal, cold-blooded murders, and the enslavement of a hateful and destructive dragon. I long ago realized that Ileosa never loved me—further, that Ileosa has never loved anyone, with the possible exception of herself. Yet by that point, I was in too deep. I felt powerless to change Ileosa’s unceasing brutality on my own, so I continued to take advantage of my close proximity to temper the queen’s cruelty whenever I could. The stress had become nearly overwhelming, and when I learned that you returned to Korvosa—those same heroes I met what feels like a lifetime ago on the eve of Eodred II’s death, and who helped to rescue some of the women imprisoned below the Longacre Building, and friends of my brother—I realized you might be my only chance for redemption and to save the city from the woman I thought I loved."
"Originally, Ileosa hoped to use the black dragon, Zarmangarof, to quell uprisings and generally add to her arsenal of terror against Korvosa’s citizens. However, I stepped in with a different plan—I requested the use of the dragon as a mount, explaining to Ileosa that with such a creature held in reserve, I could quell a large and organized uprising with ease. Ileosa agreed, and with his permission, Zarmangarof agreed to serve me. Until today, I had been careful to take the dragon out only during the night—I had been saving a public unveiling of my new mount for the right moment when I could engineer the dragon’s defeat. When I found out about your encounter with Trifaccia, I knew it was just such a moment."
Sabina continues, "Your next step is likely to infiltrate the castle. My knowledge of the castle is great and I can provide you with a rather detailed map of the castle for you to use to plan out you attack, including some secret doors and hidden chambers."
"I can also provide you with information about many of the major opponents you will face within. Over the past several months, I've been spending more and more of my time outside of the castle, as I've been feeling increasingly unwanted therein; I haven’t ventured beyond the third and fourth floors much at all. I know that Ileosa’s been recruiting devils to aid her, but I'm not sure how the queen’s been able to pull this off—I initially suspected a link to the Acadamae, but my investigations into that theory have shown no support. I know Ileosa has some large hell hound pets, that a horned devil named Mavrokeras guards the towers (although I'm not sure where he lurks), and that three barbed devils known as the Yallops have been increasingly annoying and disruptive. I also know that a few Red Mantis agents have recently claimed portions of the fourth floor and that a powerful new leader has arrived from the distant south to reorganize them after their recent troubles, but I avoid contact with them and know little else about the assassins. Finally, Ileosa has grown even more cold and grim of late, and for the past several weeks she has rarely left her chambers. She certainly hasn’t called for my companionship since she started wearing that “ugly new crown,” and I have finally admitted to myself that Ileosa likely never loved me."
"In regards to entering the castle, there are numerous physical entrances into the castle via doors, windows, arrow slits, or even chimneys or soil pipes. Some of these might require you to be gaseous or to break bars, and most of them have guards posted nearby. I recommend the secret entrance via the armory, and can direct you to it, although approaching via flight while invisible gives you the option to enter the castle from any number of locations, in which case I recommend the hole in the floor of the construction storage in the attic."
"Three types of guards make regular patrols through Castle Korvosa: erinyes devils, Gray Maidens, and Red Mantis assassins."
"There are six erinyes devils stationed in the lower guardroom on the castle’s first floor. Periodically, the devils use greater teleport to pop into other rooms on this floor, spending a few minutes in each room to look it over and ensure that everything’s okay. Once an erinyes spots intruders, she immediately begins alerting all other devils, Togomor, and other castle guardians via telepathy, raising the castle’s alarm to full readiness in a matter of seconds."
"There are 26 Gray Maiden palace guards active in Castle Korvosa, and once it becomes apparent that I've abandoned the order, leadership of them will fall to Vavana Dhatri. A patrol of Gray Maidens consists of four palace guards who move as a group in clockwise rotations through all unlocked areas of the castle, remaining for a minute in each room to ensure all is well. At all times, one patrol is active on the second floor and another is active on the third floor."
"After you defeated the Red Mantis in Deathhead Vault, the surviving assassins left in the city fled to Castle Korvosa. The queen graciously gave them the castle’s fourth floor as a new hideout, pending the securing of another base elsewhere. Soon thereafter, the commander of their previous leader Cinnabar arrived from Mediogalti Island. This new arrival is Mistress Kayltanya, a remorseless assassin eager to salvage what she can of the Korvosa operation. The assassins are largely in control of the castle’s fourth floor, where they patrol the halls, keeping to the shadows and moving stealthily."
Vavana Dhatri...is she related to Ishani Dhatri? We heard he might be in the castle.
"So we face another crawl through some castle. Only this time it is devils and not undead." Tyrandro states.
"I missed you." he tells Laori. "We fought some fire guy - well the others did. I was sent to hell - and a black dragon. I really could have used your help there. But if we go to the castle next we'll take you along for sure."
"So much pain! And I wasn't there." Laori complains. "But tell me, how was it in hell? Give me all the details? Did you enjoy it as much as I did?"
"It wasn't enjoyable. And it reminded me, that I need to get another deity to worship. The final destination offered to those following him isn't to my liking. Even without that spanking from a devil you got. You can't trust anyone there as everyone tries to screw you over. I'm so sick of that."
"Even if you come out on top from such a deal. I had that s+@& in my family and it's a mindset where you can't even trust your closest relatives." Tyrandro tells.
At the very least, Tyrando, if we take a nap in the castle you won't have to put up with the screaming of ghosts in the walls.
"But if we get that castle freed of it's annoying pests, we'll keep it, don't we?" Tyrandro asks. A smirk sneaks on his face as he imagines himself as king of Korvosa. But remembering that all kings and queens so far have found an early death he discards that idea.
Mushu starts thinking about how Korsova would be much better with him as king.
Fluffy sees the smug face of Mushu and whimpers, hiding his eyes with his paw. Reigned by food. Nooooo! it screams inside his head.
Every seventh day shall be veggies only day!
Iolana even shudders at the only veggies day thought.
"It won't be easy. Clearing the castle sounds even harder than I thought it was going to be, but if we can clear a castle full of dead we can do this." she tries to look like she believes it.
"How do we block telepathy. I don't want the entire castle on guard if we can avoid it. Are there any safe places we can hide if we do raise the alarm or need to refresh ourselves?"
Seb hugs his sister close when the are in the safe house. "I knew you could not be supporting her. I knew it." He won't move away from her while she explaining what has happened to her.
"Thank you for your information. We have to stop her, and we have several people to take care of as well. Do you have a suggestion on who to work on first? The Red Manitis? Togomor?"
"We do have a temple of Sarenrae here in Korvosa - it's that white marble building not far from our Pharasmin friends. How do they fare in these times?" Tyrandro asks. Obviously his mind wandered off from the issue at hand.
There are a few places we might be able to hide if needed. The shops and manors we investigated while fighting the Blood Veil. Old Korsova is a maze of abandoned buildings like Salvador's home and if need be, we can even teleport away from the city.
Vavana Dhatri...is she related to Ishani Dhatri? We heard he might be in the castle.
"I know very little about Vavana. I suppose they could be related. I haven't spent much time in the castle lately. I haven't heard anything about Ishani, sorry."
"How do we block telepathy. I don't want the entire castle on guard if we can avoid it. Are there any safe places we can hide if we do raise the alarm or need to refresh ourselves?"
"I'm not aware of a way to stop the devils' telepathy but their range is limited. If you kill them quickly, or use a dimension lock to keep them from escaping, they might not have time to warn others. They castle is also not as occupied as it sounds. They are dozens of rooms you can hide out in."
"Thank you for your information. We have to stop her, and we have several people to take care of as well. Do you have a suggestion on who to work on first? The Red Manitis? Togomor?"
"You should probably try to find and deal with Togomor as soon as you can. He is a powerful wizard and can also teleport throughout the castle. You don't want him dropping in on you with a killing spell."
"I would rather not accompany you into Castle Korvosa, however—I instead want to aid the rebellion in retaking Korvosa. While the Gray Maidens ensconced in the castle are completely loyal to the queen, some of those in the city proper still see me as their commander. If I can use this loyalty to gain their aid, the rebels may suddenly gain a potent fighting force on their side when the time comes."
Where do we find that bloated mage? It would be nice to take him by surprise."
"Mage first. Sounds like a good plan. I don't want to be surprised by a spell."
"I don't want you in the castle. It will be dangerous for you to be seen. Please gather the support from the other Grey Maidens. I want you safe, and away from this." Sebastian says to her.
Turning to the group he asks "Should we go now or wait until our spellcasters have rested up?"
"Well?" Tyrandro replies and looks at Iolana and Ayako.
Let us rest a bit and then strike. we could fly through the roof or teleport in, although Iolana has never been in there I believe.
"The seneschal's apartment is located on the second floor. He spends a lot of his time there. However, the fat bastard often wanders the castle as well, typically to the kitchen, to feed his fat face. Even his imp familiar is obese. It's disgusting."
Once you are done talking with Sabina, she asks to stay the night with you. Nothing happens overnight and you rest up ready for the next day. In the morning, Sabina says her goodbyes and heads off to find the Gray Maidens to begin her plan. You are left to your own devises to enter the castle.
"Fly invisibly sounds best to me, to get into the castle. No more gutter crawling please." Tyrandro voices his opinion.
I agree with that as well. I guess some will be hanging off of others. Perhaps a flying Fluffy as a mount?
"I'd say we leave Fluffy here. With normal sized rooms it's always a bit stuffed with him along, and the enemies we face lately are out of his league by now." Tyrandro suggests.
"That sounds like an excellent plan. The invisible flying."
She gives fluffy a snuggle. "You need to watch our house and make sure it stay safe, please."
She'll tap everyone with her wand of invisibility when the time comes. "That will save on spells."
She will also cast Fly three times. "Seb and Ayako, Tyrando and myself. Laori you are a little too sharp from someone to hold on to you for long. That work for everyone?"
Works for me.
Mushu is smug pig again since he gets to go storm the castle.
"I might be spiky on the outside but I'm soft on the inside." she tells sadly as she is told that no one wants to touch her. She casts airwalk on herself and Tyrandro. "You would hold on to me, so I don't get lost on the way, wouldn't you?"
