Granta's Cosmic Captive (June 9 - July 21) (Inactive)

Game Master Granta

He hears voices talking around him as he is helped to his feet. Legs still weak from the near death experience Anduris tries to clear his thoughts of the recent events "...an' hold the line..." he speaks groggily "If'n that horse swaggle makes it out o' tha ground we will just have to plant em back into it an more permanently like." Anduris staggers about noticing that he isn't holding onto anything...not even his pride. The fight is over and he wasn't there for it. As his thoughts clear he pieces together the last moments before losing consciousness.
"Ahh I see. Thank ye fellows, and err mam, fer rectifying that terrible dilemma o me being dead and all."

Hamith says, "If we've decided the frozen city then so be it. We should be going."

He hoists his backpack over his shoulder and looks down into the crater where other groups of Pathfinders are headed. I would have liked to bear the brunt of what they may face, but the last time I took the lead... His thoughts go dark for a moment, remembering old scars, old friends. He flexes his gauntleted hand. How long can I last?

"Oi, the Frozen City 'tis then. Anyone seen me teeth?" Anduris collects his things...minus a few teeth and joins his companions.

"I prefer open space myself, but if you folks would be more comfortable in the city, the city it is."

Anibal walks over to Andrius and checks the carnage on the ground for anything resembling teeth.

"Maybe you could even get an upgrade. Look.", he knee-bends to the ground, and attempts to extract some teeth from the dead creatures with his dagger.

Voting for the city, then.

21 minutes have elapsed since the previous encounter.

Maps

Round 1
Effects none
Gravity 1/5 normal
Terrain dim light, slippery rocks (penalty to Acrobatics)

• Hamith -
  
• Graxzos -
  
• Anibal -
  
• Amelia -
  
• Red -
  
• Orange -
  
• Yellow -
  
• Green -
  
• Black -
  
• Anduris -
  
• Darva -
  
• Sahba -

A vast forest of lifeless trees blankets this landscape. A thin layer of ice coats each branch, tracing dappled shadows in the starlight. A dark, half-fallen spire rises in the distance, while running water splashes nearby alongside the sound of vicious combat.

Two wounded creatures (blue) are surrounded by five others, and pleading for mercy. As soon as you come into sight, they turn to you and cry out, "Help us! We are loyal to Zhaleh, not Kelizandri!"

Hamith, Graxzos, Anibal, and Amelia are up.

Remember to roll concealment because of the dim light. 1-20 on a d100 misses.

"Who and who?", Anibal makes a mental note of the names mentioned, but it is clear that they don't ring a bell.

He takes two arrows from his quiver, nocks one and keeps the other in his hand. "Stand down and explain yourselves!"

Graxzos hustles toward the front of the group to get a clear shot and snaps his pistol up to train it on one of the aggressive creatures (red with black border). "What 'e said!" he bellows. "Cease this or we'll cease it for yeh!"

Hamith moves up while drawing his greatsword. Like his fellows, he readies himself for combat if the need arises. He prayers to Iomedae for sight to see wicked creatures. He then calls out to the creatures, "We are travelers here and do not know of your quarrel. Stand down, and we will come to an accord of some kind."

Trying to figure out what the hell is going on Anduris wracks his brain to think of who or what is Zhelah and Kelinzandri!
know planes: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
"Anybody know what we be dealing with here? Hamith any chance they be make'n it easy on us and to be show'n if any are evil?" Anduris steps forward drawing his sword.
If there is any aggression made against the group or the creatures before us Anduris will charge forward and attack. Otherwise if things are calmer then he will spend a moment to try to use his wand of shielding. UMD: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

@Hamith: The creature does not detect as evil, and using Diplomacy takes 1 minute. If we're still here 9 rounds from now, remind me to determine the result.

@Anibal: Do you want to ready a standard action attack or delay and do a full-action flurry?

Maps

Round 1
Effects none
Gravity 1/5 normal
Terrain dim light, slippery rocks (penalty to Acrobatics)

• Hamith -
  
• Graxzos - ready
  
• Anibal - ready?
  
• Amelia -
  
• Red -
  
• Orange -
  
• Yellow -
  
• Green -
  
• Blue -
  
• Purple -
  
• Black -
  
• Anduris -
  
• Darva -
  
• Sahba -

Hamith moves forward cautiously, not wanting to escalate the situation before he understands it, while Graxzos and Anibal just want to make sure they draw first blood if things do get ugly.

Amelia is up. If anybody else reads this first, please bot her.

@GM - Dumb me. Can't ready a full-round. I'll delay and full-attack if they are aggressive.

Amelia bot

Kn. Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
Since the roll was fairly high, I'd like to go ahead and find out more about what are the mists' resistances. Cheers!
Kn. Planes: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Amelia discretly shares what she knows about the creatures, and pulls out a magic missile wand. In case the situation escalates.

I am sorry, GM.. and thank you Anibal! Its been a rough week but I will try to do better.

Amelia turns from one side to the other as she is faced with the combatants, her wand at the ready. "Come now.. We have a moment to discuss this. What is going on here? And who are Zhaleh and Kelizandri?"

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

@Amelia: The mists are resistant to non-magical weapons. You get the sense that these creatures used to be on the same side, but are now enemies.

Maps

Round 1-2
Effects none
Gravity 1/5 normal
Terrain dim light, slippery rocks (penalty to Acrobatics)

• Red - 4 damage
  
• Orange -
  
• Yellow -
  
• Green -
  
• Black -
  
• Anibal -
  
• Anduris -
  
• Darva -
  
• Sahba -
  
• -----Round 2-----
  
• Hamith -
  
• Graxzos - 2 damage
  
• Amelia -

Just before one of the aggressors attacks the injured creatures again, the Pathfinders jump into action. Graxzos shoots the attacker with bullets and Amelia hits it with invisible missiles of force, but neither hit seems very effective.

The attackers all swarm the Pathfinders after that, but luckily Hamith dodges all of their attacks, and Graxzos suffers just a scratch.

Everybody is up. Those of you who posted an action ahead of time can change if desired.

Hamith is taken aback by the creatures' ferocity. It seems we have blundered into a civil war of some kind, he thinks. He notes the way the two types of creatures fight, and when the mist comes close to hitting him with its strange touch even through his full plate, he decides that is the more dangerous opponent.

"Why would you attack us?"

He chops at the mist with his greatsword and then steps back to whisper to his goddess for sight once more.

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Well that decides it then." Anduris tightens his grip on his sword he moves 5 feet forward and swings a mighty backhanded swing.
melee attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 262d8 + 7 ⇒ (5, 2) + 7 = 14
confirmation: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 142d8 + 7 ⇒ (7, 4) + 7 = 18
If vampiric mists can be critted

"Ngh!" Graxzos grunts as the water elemental's blow glances off his shoulder. "'ight then, 'ave it yer way!" Not being sure whether he can knock the damn thing prone, he darts backward, reloads calmly, and fires--point-blank--at the creature.

Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14 vs. touch
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 4

Anibal is not surprised by the developement, but he does seem dissappointed anyway: "If it's death you desire, so be it! If there is such a thing for your ilk, enjoy afterlife!"

Declaring Smiting judgement as a swift action. Weapons count as magical for purposes of overcoming DR.

Flurry, PBS vs Black: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 1 = 91d8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 1 = 61d100 ⇒ 11
Flurry, PBS vs Black: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 3 + 1 = 161d8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 1 = 61d100 ⇒ 80

Darvan, true to form, orders Sahba to flank the nearest of the creatures, then charges it himself, drawing his scimitar as he approaches.

Free action: Order Sahba to attack
Full-round action: Charge yellow
Attack (+1 Scimitar, Power Attack, Charge): 1d20 + 8 - 1 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 8 - 1 + 2 = 27
Damage (+1 Scimitar, Power Attack): 1d6 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 2 = 9

Critical Confirm (+1 Scimitar, Power Attack, Charge): 1d20 + 8 - 1 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 8 - 1 + 2 = 26
Critical Damage (+1 Scimitar, Power Attack): 1d6 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 2 = 9

Sahba rushes past the indicated creature and circles back as she has been trained, leaping at the creature with a talon extended.

Move action: As indicated on map
Standard action: Attack yellow
Attack (Talon, Flanking): 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 2 = 27
Damage (Talon): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

@Anduris: They can't be critted.

@Sahba: Companions take the most direct route to a flank, they do not avoid AoOs.

@Hamith: Please remember to roll for concealment. And you do not detect evil.

Maps

Round 2-3
Effects none
Gravity 1/5 normal
Terrain dim light, slippery rocks (penalty to Acrobatics)

• Red - 4 damage
  
• Orange -
  
• Green - 10 damage
  
• Anibal -
  
• Anduris -
  
• Darvan - 7 damage
  
• Sahba -
  
• -----Round 3-----
  
• Hamith -
  
• Graxzos - 2 damage
  
• Amelia -

Anibal has trouble locating the creatures in the dim light, but manages to hit the vampiric mist with a single arrow, and Anduris follows up the tiny arrow with a swing of his enormous sword. Darvan and Sahba quickly take down one of the elementals, while Hamith finishes off the mist.

Graxzos then grazes another one of the elementals, and Amelia tries to take down the one on Anduris. One of the creatures strikes Darvan, but the rest appear weak an inexperienced in combat.

Everybody is up. Please list your weapon and its damage types in the rolls. It is easier for me to determine DR that way, and also to narrate your action.

Hamith steps up beside Darvan and strikes at the elemental.

"Can someone shed some light for this gloom?"

-Posted with Wayfinder

"I got nothin'," Graxzos growls. "This ain't too difficult."

He blasts another shot at the creature fighting Anduris, taking a spare second to aim carefully.

Pistol (foe in melee): 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 8 - 4 = 21 vs. touch
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 8 bludgeoning and piercing damage
Concealment: 1d100 ⇒ 3

GM, I realized I forgot to roll my concealment for the last round...I'll put the roll below in case you still want to take it into account.

Concealment (previous): 1d100 ⇒ 85

OH COME ON. :(

@GM - Sorry, never saw that documented anywhere, so I figured that there would be a natural sense of self-preservation that would be at work in positioning, especially for a smaller creature like a velociraptor.

Reeling from the elemental's blow, Darvan retaliates with another swing of his scimitar.

Standard action: Attack orange
Attack (+1 Scimitar, Power Attack): 1d20 + 8 - 1 ⇒ (11) + 8 - 1 = 18
Damage (+1 Scimitar (Slashing Damage), Power Attack): 1d6 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 2 = 11

Sahba repositions herself and does what she can to bring down the strange creature.

Not an action: 5' step, as indicated on map
Full-round action: Full attack orange
Attack (Talon, Flanking): 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 7 + 2 = 19
Damage (Talon (P/S)): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Attack (Talon, Flanking): 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 2 = 25
Damage (Talon (P/S)): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Attack (Bite, Flanking): 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 7 + 2 = 15
Damage (Bite (B/P/S)): 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Amelia moves forward into the battle to support Anduris. She mutters a few words and points her finger towards the creature in front of her, Green releasing two bolts of magical force to strike it.

MM: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (4, 2) + 2 = 8

Anduris steps forward and makes a wide arching attack with his blade. "Not that 'eh mind smash'en a few of these snots into tomorr'ah but least 'eh'd like ta know what wer do'en it for."
slashing attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 201d8 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Anibal nods and picks up a small rock pebble from the ground. He focuses on it for a second. With a few quickg hand motions, he casts a spell, and the pebble starts illuminating the area.

"This should help."

He keeps the stone in his hand, thinking about a suitable location for it.

Anibal starts a stone to glowing, to fulfill the paladin's request. The injured elemental in front of Anduris falls to the dwarf's sword, while Darvan and Sahba take down another one. Hamith charges the last enemy, but the monster eludes him. Graxzos' and Amelia's attacks prove too much for it, though.

"Thank! Thank!" The injured elemental shouts at you.

Talk to the rescued creatures if you wish, and roll Diplomacy. It is obvious that the they speak only broken Common.

Hamith says, "Who is Zhaleh and Kelizandri, and why were you fighting?"

★ - OVERSEER ANNOUNCEMENT - ★

Sorrina Westyr urgently projects her image to speak to every Pathfinder, and appears to be holding tightly to a steel ring near an alien device. “Everyone, brace yourselves. We have finished repairs of a strange craft on the bright side of the asteroid, and the engines will fire shortly, hopefully causing this rock to spin and even out the extreme temperatures. This may get a bit bumpy though in three…two…one... Hold on!”

A sudden jolt shakes the entire asteroid, sending anything unsecured reeling as the stars begin to spin overhead.

Table GMs, the Engines benefit is now in play. Vroooooom!

Darvan pulls a wand out of his belt pouch and taps himself with it; his bruises quickly lose their color.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

"What exactly was that about?!" Amelia exclaims, putting away her wands. "What is going on here?"

Before the odd little creatures can respond, the image of Sorrina appears, heralding a bumpy ride. As the comet shakes under her feet, she kneels down to maintain her balance. Once the comet returns to stability, she returns her attention to the aftermath of the conflict awaiting an answer.

diplomacy: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15

Anduris try's his hand at "diplomasizen". "If'n ye don't mind, this here rock we are on is make'n me nervous. Tell us 'bout yer business and be quick 'bout it."

Anibal puts his feet further away from each other to gain more balance after the warning. Not that it helps much, but he is able to remain standing with some effort. After the maneuver, he adjusts his posture and decides to get to work, at long last. He pockets the stone - the thing illuminates the edge of his long-coat pocket. He takes out a notebook and a pencil.

"Now that that is out of the way, would you mind shedding some light on what transpired here? And on the two names mentioned earlier...", he writes the two names into the notebook.

"... Zhaleh, and Kelizandri, was it?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

He scans the creatures for whatever signs of purposeful untruths the creatures might produce.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Will wait a little longer before advancing, to see if the other players want to add anything.

★ - OVERSEER ANNOUNCEMENT - ★

Sorrina Westyr’s projection appears once again to every Pathfinder. Behind her is a map of the Asteroid, Aucturn’s Tear, lit up with different colors around the different regions.

“Good news, everyone! Our tactical reports coming from the region known as Area F, ‘The Sea of Fire’, tell us that the entire region has been claimed and is now safe for travel! Keep going, Pathfinders!”

The Sea of Fire has been Claimed!

"Serve the Shahzada Zhaleh Setat, revolt the Brackish Emperor Kelizandri. Fail.

"Ayrzul stop the Tear, freeze. Prison Zhaleh in ice lake."

They also provide some details about enemy movements in the area, which provide a +2 bonus on initiative checks in the Froze City (current location) and the ice reservoir.

Round 1

Maps

The gentle wind brings a semblance of life and movement to a vast frozen city. Failing enchantments cause stone to crumble and rebuild from moment to moment. A thick sheen of ice and snow covers every surface. A few structures around a temple plaza bear signs of recent repairs and habitation, and the icy, shattered remains of fifteen-foot-tall, willowy humanoids lie scattered across the cobbles.

You spot a shrine with broken doors, and the shimmer of ancient magic inside. Upon entering, you find a frozen pool. As you near the ice, an ethereal humanoid manifests from pool.

At first, its expression is friendly, but as soon as it tries to speak, something changes drastically. The face distorts wildly, runes around the room glow white hot, and the spirit howls in pain before lashing out at you.

We aren't in initiative, but everybody gets one round of actions at a time.

• Defusing the Spirit Use Diplomacy, Disable Device, Knowledge (arcana, religion), Linguistics, or Spellcraft to learn something about the situation. You must be within 10 ft. of the pool, and this works best with a variety of skills.
  
• Distracting the Spirit Use Bluff, Intimidate, CMB, or damage to get the spirit to attack you instead of the characters trying to defuse the spirit. You must be within 20 ft. of the pool on the spirit's turn for this to work.

Amelia rushes forward as she sees the spirit cry out in pain. "These runes here are doing something to hurt it!" she cries out, looking around. "give me a minute to figure this out.. Someone else see if you can talk to it.. I will translate if I can!"

K. Arcana: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25
K. Religion: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13 Plus and additional +2 if this is an identify situation.

GM, Not sure if so many knowledge checks are allowed, but I put it there just in case. If not all this is allowed, we can use this for my next round or two of actions depending on the situation that develops.

Graxzos, never one for diplomacy, mostly ignores the two elementals as he braces against the engines' movement, though he listens with interest to their answers. He then proceeds into the city with the group, keeping his gun at the ready.

When Amelia rushes toward the spirit, Graxzos curses. "I'll distract it, lass, yeh better get them runes turned off quick!" He waves his arms and fires his gun into the air. "C'mon, crazy spirit! Lookit me! I'm big an' scary!" He reloads his gun with a paper cartridge and continues the act, attempting to look threatening.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

When you say 'damage', do we roll attacks normally?

Anibal pulls out a wand from his belt, and moves closer to Amelia and addresses her quietly: "I don't think my knowledge of clockwork devices will help here. See what you can do. We'll draw its attention."

He walks towards Graxzos, looking at the creature.

"This is one of the elemental lords who's names have been tossed around then? It doesn't seem so tough now, does it?"

Intimidate, Aid Graxzos: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

I assume this is some sort of magical device, and not just a mechanical one. If this is the case, my disable device won't do much, despite it being my best skill. Perhaps I should invest into a level of rogue.

Anduris tentatively moves forward and has a his hand at trying to figure out the puzzle before him. Sword ready at hand in case it turns ugly.
"By Areshkagal's maleficious mysteries! What clues can we be riddle'n out ah ya? Let me know what ye be find'n an I will be try'n ta figure out what I can make of it m'self."
linguistics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
religion: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
disable device: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

★ - OVERSEER ANNOUNCEMENT - ★

“More tactical reports have been flowing in to our Control Center,” Sorrina Westyr proclaims as her image appears once more to all of you. She points her wand at a now glowing region of the Asteroid. “We’ve cleared another region! Area D, The Frozen City has been claimed and is now safe for travel!”

Hamith steps forward, seeing the others in action and decides to reason with this creature and calm it's rage while the others work on the runes.

"Please, you don't want to hurt us. We have done nothing to earn your anger."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

-Posted with Wayfinder

And that announcement makes this combat unnecessary now. Moving on to the ice reservoir.

You quickly defuse the angry spirit, which identifies itself as the Voice of the Seven Songs. "I was once one of the oracles of Iovo--the shattered planet on whose surface you now stand. My memory of the past and vision of the future have waned considerably, but still may I see the near present to come.

"I also see you chasing a rune-scribed floating island, where bone priests and skeletal champions try to stop you."

Those are foretellings of two encounters coming up, and you may role Knowledge (religion) checks for the bone priests and skeletal champions. Her foretelling also gives you a +2 bonus on the next initiative check.

---------

Time elapsed since previous encounter: Minutes: 2d10 + 10 ⇒ (6, 2) + 10 = 18

An immense, frozen subterranean lake lies beneath the ruins of the Iovian city, and is carved with a network of tunnels. The area is completely dark and severely cold.

Powerful gusts of warm air howl through these twisting tunnels of ice. The passages turn upon themselves and end in sudden precipices. The footing is treacherous, and a step to either side drops into chasms clouded by freezing mist.

The mechanics for this encounter are a little complicated, so I'll post them in the Discussion thread.

Rolling knowledge religion
know religion: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

rolling checks from the discussion tab
climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
acrobatics: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9
reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

"Talk about hazardous working environment, eh?", Anibal jokes around.

Climb, Aid: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Aura of Courage is not included in either of those. Not sure what the spacing would be, for example.