GM SpiderBeard's Wrath of the Righteous (Inactive)

Game Master Barvo Delancy

Irabeth smiles as she takes the potions.

"This will help a great deal. Our troops have the capacity to heal themselves, but these supplies will save lives. However, we have more serious business to attend to. We have a prisoner."

Irabeth sighs miserably.

"I am not a redeemer like Nilus. I am a warrior first and foremost, and the military law indicates that traitors are put to death. However, the five of you are somewhat above the law and your word is final here. If we bring Nurah with us as a prisoner, she is a liability; a very powerful foe who could cause us great harm at the last moment if she gets free. However, if she can be redeemed there is a powerful argument to show mercy. My advice is unless you see something I do not, send her to her Gods for her crimes. We cannot handle the risk. But this is your decision commanders. Does Nurah live or die? We must have an answer now lest we delay further."

Nilus rises and says You all know my feelings on this. All that live may know beauty. Nurah should not be trusted until we have proven her loyalty, and she should atone for her crimes. But all who live may be redeemed, I do not doubt that.

If there were some way we could restrain her, or make sure she doesn't communicate with the demons.

"She has shown no signs of contrition, and her presence is a constant risk we cannot afford to bear. As much as I would like to see Nurah redeemed, I don't see how we can afford to risk it. I am willing to give Nilus another chance at swaying the halfling's mind, but failing that, I believe execution under the law is the only option."

Irabeth nods slowly, and then looks over to Sarkast and Ronan.

"I fear I must agree with Ayesha. If her presence is too much of a strain, we must consider the safety of our army and the importance of our mission above the life of one criminal."

"I'm sorry Nilus, but I must agree with Ayesha and Sarkast, Nurah must face execution for her crimes."

Stone-faced, Irabeth nods once.

"Vote is all we have in such circumstances. Nilus, Dejik, I am sorry. We are at war and such things must be done."

I'll move things along tomorrow unless there is more to be done here.

The group solemnly parts.

"The troops see you as sent from the gods. It would not do to see you strike down someone they loved so much," says Irabeth softly before she heads off.

Soon, a tree stump is brought forth as a headstone. Nurah, bound tightly, dirty, and with rage-filled eyes is grabbed like a sack of potatoes and hauled over. She does not fight, she simply stares.

"Aravashnial, watch her. She has a right to speak," says Irabeth.

All around you the army has gathered in a circle around the crude headstone. A burly paladin holds Nurah tight, and then removes her gag. Nurah immediately turns to the paladin holding her and smiles.

"You should untie me..." her eyes glow for a moment and Arvashnial steps in instantly, chanting. Her spell falters, counter-spelled and she lets out a howl of rage, kicking and screaming. However, the tiny halfling is no match for the huge paladin holding her still, and she instead turns to stare at the group.

"Cowards! You will all burn! I will see you all in the abyss where I will flay your skin and feed your eyeballs to the dretches! The demonic horde is unstoppable! UNSTOPPABLE!"

She is then shoved headfirst onto the log. Irabeth looks at her sadly and Nurah meets her gaze.

Irabeth speaks, her voice ringing out, if cracking a little.

"I am Irabeth Tirablade, and as Commander I am ceded authority over life and death by the Knights of Kenabres and Her Majesty, Queen Galfrey. Nurah Dendiwhar, you have betrayed all that we hold dear, spat on the name of the Inheritor, and sabotaged the crusade. You are a traitor and you will die by the axe. Iomedae, The Inheritor, Light of the Sword, forgive me for this life I take so that I might save others."

Irabeth raises her axe. Nurah's bravado falters in the last moment, her eyes go wide and she tenses up with fear.

"Please."

Irabeth's axe comes down, and a gout of blood sprays onto the red dirt of the Worldwound. Nurah's headless body slumps to the side. The crowd is utterly silent; tears can be seen on the faces of Aron, Sosiel, and Anevia.

"It is done, return to your duties," says Irabeth dully. "We march immediately."

Nilus, eyes red rimmed with tears, spends the entire day and night in prayer.

Blessed Rose, I've failed you.

Ayesha faced Nurah with a calm expression as the axe came down, flinching only slightly when the halfling voiced her last plea. She closed her eyes and said a prayer to Sarenrae, asking for bothe forgiveness and strength. She knew that this would greatly damage the morale of the army, and yet it had to be done.

She whispered aloud, "When mercy fails, justice must be delivered."

She moved to Nilus and draped an arm over his shoulder, knowing the man to be in emotional agony.

Soon, Nurah's body is taken to be put to rest and her possessions recovered. The army, already prepared for the march, is off westwards within a half an hour.

Quietly, almost apologetically, Aravashnial delivers a series of items, that he identified, recovered from Nurah while the group rides on. He explains that they have value, and that she has no next of kin. Furthermore, nobody quite knows what to do with the gear. Such things need to be used in the fight against evil.

[ooc]You can deal with doling out, or not of the above items

It seems like no time at all passes, although it is getting closer to night, Anevia immediately rides back up to the army, having taken her turn scouting.

"There's some sort of bizarre green mist up ahead!"

The paladin army advances a little further, and sure enough, covering the entire gorge, is a nauseating-looking green mist. The gorge itself is nearly vertical here, with its walls reaching 120' high. The only way ahead is through the mist.

If permitted Jinxx will take 20 for Perception of 28

Yeah, you're out of combat and can take 20 on any skill that doesn't have a consequence for failure.

Taking 20 for Knowledge Planes of 30

Conferring with Jinxx Ronan tells everyone "That is no mist that's a swarm of vescavors, that swarm will cause madness in those they do not devour. With a swarm that size we must be near the hive. If we can find the Qween and kill it the swarm will die. There must be an under ground complex, that is where we will find the Qween."

Knowledge skills are an exception I should have mentioned since you know it or you don't. Buuut I'll give it to you, someone would get that check anyways.

Nilus is eager to have a new quest, since the failure with Nurah is so raw.

Then it seems we know what we must do... What options do we have for destroying these swarms. Radiance might be less than useful

Technically knowledge checks DO have a consequence for failure (can't retry if you fail), thus fall under the same rules.

What he said. And right, same for identifying magic items now that I think of it.

Aravashnial and Aron ride up alongside the group and peer out. Aron groans miserably.

"I'm glad to get my mind off of matters, but vescavores damn it they're going to rip the army to shreds," he looks over to the group and Aravashnial, grimacing.

"And it's not like you can swat the things with a sword. Any chance you casters have some spells that blow things up?"

"I might be able to work out a "blow things up" spell. It's not my usual line of study, but I have been able to do all sort of new things recently."

I can use my Wild Arcana to cast Fireballs

Ayehsa, that sounds like an excellent idea.

Do we know if vescavores have any fire resistance or immunity?

k. planes: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

I barely know what they are. Of course, if they are planes, then they are likely demonic and probably do have fire resistance or immunity.

Aron looks over the vescavores slowly. He looks back to the group.

"Vile things. Fire spells will harm them, but like most abyssal creatures they're resistant to them. Same with electricity. They'll eat the armour right off of you as easily as your flesh, and most dangerous is that they yammer with the madness of the abyss. I have encountered them once and most of those that survived were never the same - they can drive you permanently insane."

"I can lend my magic, I think the more spectacular evocation spells are over-compensatory but have a few in my spellbook," says the elf as he looks over the swarm with his keen eyes. "I would need time to memorize them though and the question of how much time we have is on our gentle quartermaster and our provisions."

"I don't have much to add on the vescavores. But they are defined by the madness they cause. If you can guard your minds, do that, for that is what they truly attack. Well that and they'll eat you."

Is there a spell that allows weapons to deal damage normally to swarms...because if not Sarkast and myself are 100% useless vs them

Nilus, it depends on the size: swarms made of small creatures (and larger) do take half damage from bludgeoning weapons. I'm not sure what size a vescavore is.

How long before we encounter them? If we can avoid them until tomorrow morning, I might be able to channel Iomedae's power against them. Right now, I just don't have the strength.

Dejik can use the Mythic Spell ability to cast Burst of Radiance, but she's out of mythic points for today.

Ronan could cast Wind Wall but I think that is a stationary wall of wind, tiny and small creatures cannot move through it. It would be a wall 60 ft long and 30 feet high. Also can enclose around a specific point. Not sure if it would be big enough. Any thoughts?

Earlier, on the subject of Nurah and her gear:
As the axe drops, Sarkast watches solemnly, remembering the words of the elders, Sometimes it is necessary to take a tribesman's life to protect the rest of the tribe. When we must make that choice, we do it with eyes open and accepting the taint on our own souls.

When Aravashnial brings her belongings, he nods. "It would be an insult to the gods not to use every advantage they have provided. Perhaps by using her gear, we can bring some good to her name."

I have added the items to the tracking sheet. Check the OOC thread for discussion.

--------------
Discussing the swarm:

"Nilus is right, there is little I could do against these. I will do what I can to help us prepare for them, though."

If scouting can help find a safe path or at least delay the meeting, that would give the casters time to prepare.

Aron carefully spits into the dust as he watches the swarm.

"I don't think they give a toss about us, Dejik. If we get close they'll destroy the army - no question. But we could probably camp at this distance without issue. So if we want to let the casters magic themselves up some ways to deal with the swarm I'm all for it. That wind spell sounds good though."

Dejik nods. We could try to locate the underground complex in the meantime--but scrying is a little beyond me.

Ronan looks around at everyone. "I will set up the wind wall either to encase that swarm or as a barrier between us and them, just let me know when and how you would like me to do so. To really kill off that swarm we do need to find the queen."

Can we tell how big the swarm is? (multiple swarms or just one?)

"Perhaps if you encase it in a wall of wind, I can bombard it with a long-lasting area of effect spell. A firestorm or ice storm of some sort, and then the wall keeps them from fleeing the destruction."

You'll encounter multiple swarms. I'll move to the next scene later tonight.

The night passes by uneventfully. Sarkast, Aron, and Anevia work and are able to find a hole which seems to lead into a massive underground complex. Aron takes a while watching the hole before he returns back to the group, shaking his head.

"We've found an entrance into the hive. This is going to be miserable and frankly, you want to leave as many people behind as you can. All of you are vital to this mission and the crusade, but you're also the most powerful people here."

Aron draws on the ground with a stick, speaking in his gravelly voice.

"It's a straight twenty foot drop into the hive. Once down there, you need to be as stealthy as possible. Get in and kill the queen as quickly as possible. If you make too much noise, or if you take too long the swarm will come down on you. And you will go mad. And you will die. So you require stealth, speed, and a way to kill any swarms you encounter."

"I will accompany you," says Aravashnial confidently. "I may lose my mind or die doing this with you, but you gave me my eyes and all I have to offer in return is my magic. Let me know your plan, commanders."

You are now rested up with your spells chosen. So you have a 20' drop to navigate. If you are noisy, you will have a set amount of time to kill the queen before the swarm overtakes you.

Does Dejik need to save against the negative levels, or were those from enervation? If she needs to save (she gets +2 if this counts as a death effect):
Fort save vs. negative level: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

I can protect some of us against them if they're evil creatures, and I think I can summon the divine power like I did against the tieflings. Aravashniel, Ayesha, do you know any spells to make us silent?

After searching through his equipment that night, Sarkast comes back with several vials and flasks.

"I have one flask of alchemical fire, which I understand is effective against swarms due to the small explosion. After that I would have to rely on lighting lamp oil on fire."

"I also have a vial of an elixir that improves one's ability to move quietly. As I am trained in stealth, I could give that to someone else to improve their chances of moving quietly. I am also trained in climbing difficult terrain, and can assist others to navigate a knotted rope. "

"Beyond that, I have two potions to help see in darkness, and a few healing draughts left. "

Nope, they just go away after several hours. Dejik is back up to normal.

Dejik will spend one of her Mythic Points to cast Mythic Endure Elements: everyone in the party gets endure elements, fire resistance 5 and cold resistance 5.

When they are all ready to go, Ayesha casts featherfall on the group, allowing them to drop the short distance in absolute silence. Nodding to the others, she indicates that she is ready to go.

Aron and a few soldiers remain near the top with a series of ropes.

"I'll be of no aid down there. Remember. Be silent. Be fast. Be smart. If you take too long, you will die in there and we will not be able to save you. Guard your minds. That is what will fall first."

The group and Aravashnial all crowd around, Ayesha casts her spell, and the seven of you gracefully float down into the hive below.

Warm air fills this crystalline cavern, pulled through a vent in the ceiling twenty feet overhead from which you now descend. A continuous, high-pitched noise issues from the three tunnels ahead, a disconcerting drone melded with the discordant buzz of an angry crowd. The walls, floor, and ceiling of this cave glisten with moisture and are caked with a thick red resin resembling dried mucus, giving the chamber the disturbing illusion of being the interior of some beast's body.

Here and there, you see sunlight peek through vents and fissures which lead to the surface, however they are far too small for any of you to navigate.

Three tunnels lead eastwards. You see the occasional foul-looking, green insect with membranous wings crawling around.

"These are recently hatched," breathes Aravashnial. "Fully matured but groggy and stupid. Lead the way, and tread cautiously."

Map is updated!

Nilus moves along with the group, trying to stay as silent as possible.

Fort save vs. negative level: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

No fort save needed Ronan! You're cured. Enervate levels just go away on their own.

What's the lighting down here? Dejik's clouded vision curse functions as darkvision, but only to 30 ft.

The lighting is good. There are enough shafts to the surface to provide a bit better than dim light.

Before dropping in, two things: First, did anyone want the stealth elixir? Second, could we have found some wax or something to make improvised earplugs?

Nilus would use the stealth elixir as he is very much the worst at moving silently.

It's all on you folks. Tell me how/if you're buffing up and pick a tunnel.