Sure. Look up bearded devil and obtain two facts and know that this guy is a bearded devil 'on steroids'.
Sure. Look up bearded devil and obtain two facts and know that this guy is a bearded devil 'on steroids'.
The devil screamed as his head was invaded. He shook it off, his horns almost brushing the ceiling of the room. He grinned, “I will have all your souls tonight!”
Eirik was impressed. He had seen first-hand how devastative the mystic's mental attacks were, and he knew he had landed a telling blow himself. Yet the demon hardly seemed to notice. Yet if they were to have any hope of interrupting the ritual that might be going on beyond, they needed to deal with this foe quickly and decicively.
Tapping his inner reservoir of energy for a burst of speed, the monk glided forward, launching a fierce offensive. Rolling Boulder, into Rain in High Wind, into Lightning of Three Prongs. Infused with his Ki, the heavy palm thrust on top of his earlier puncture wounds connected solidly. Turning slightly, Eirik followed the thrust with an elbow strike into the devil's magnificently-bearded jaw, then took half a step back to launch a series of heavy palm strikes into the creature's muscular chest, finishing with a swipe of Ki-clawed fingers that should have eviscerated the creature, yet barely cut its skin. As he had feared, the hell-spawn was resistant to his attacks, just as its lesser kin they had encountered before had been.
Caleb's face freezes somewhere between comical surprise and desperate fear. 'I hit it with enough power it CAN'T have just recovered.' he complains to himself. 'How do I stop this thing? Callistria, please, if you're listening - help me!'
Desperately he lashes out with his mind again, screaming as something bursts through the skin of his back and wriggles out of his shirt - a giant black and yellow wasp, big as a cat. The insect perched on his shoulder, compound eyes trained on the Bearded Devil.
Familiar Move: leave body. [dice=knowledge: planes]1d20+7 *sigh*. Standard: Unnatural lust SLA (devil->...[dice=1d4]1d4) Noravia (sorry Noravia) DC 14.[/ooc]
So help me out here. How is it that your familiar casts unnatural lust...?
Action 1
Vandomir saw that his friends had decided to take the fight to the creature, and so he decided to give it his best effort. He twice plucked his bow, launching projectiles at the devil...
...and twice he was rewarded by seeing his opponent flinch as the arrows sunk into its skin.
Star knew that in order to defend Vandomir, he needed to place herself between the noble and the devil, and so she moved into position between Noravia and Eirik, having passed behind Caleb in doing so.
Action 1
Tillia knew what this creature was, she had studied devils growing up and continued to study outsiders in general to this day. Such education was a requirement in Chelliax. She knew some of what made this type of devil far more vicious than some of it's lesser kin and called out, "Watch out for it's beard, which can infect you with an illness and it's weapon which leaves wounds resistant to healing magic." The mage knew she was in a bind, there were very few spells she had ready just now and most of them were going to be all but worthless against this fiend. She decided that her best bet was to try and delay him. With a few words and a gesture or two she pushed a spell at him and felt a bit of resistance, resistance that she resolutely pushed through. Into his head he felt a longing, a desperate desire to fondle the nearby chair.
... If you have the ability to gain a familiar through other means (such as the arcane bond class feature), and you are at least 5th level, instead use the statistics for an imp, but replace the invisibility spell-like ability with an unnatural lust (DC 14) spell-like ability usable three times per day. You can have only one familiar...
No, I'm Ok with it but please put your stats in your alias so I don't look like a dumbass trying to figure out what's going on. :)
And why would the wasp hit on people?
And he would do this by casting unnatural lust?
Is there any PC prepared to be hit on? Good chance no-one's going to know it's a wasp at least for the start. I see the Vandomir->Tillia->Noravia triad seems good. Eirik seems to have someone as well ;P.
[/ooc]
Is there any PC prepared to be hit on? Good chance no-one's going to know it's a wasp at least for the start. I see the Vandomir->Tillia->Noravia triad seems good. Eirik seems to have someone as well ;P.
[/ooc]
I know I'm slow but how will the familiar use alter self or is this Caleb casting it on the familiar?
I was waiting on Noravia who forgot to post! :)
I'll move this along later today.
Questions?
Game on!
The inquisitor searched the depths of her knowledge to determine any weaknesses or potential threats of this bearded devil. Obviously, it being a devil, it was susceptible to weapons of good and Noravia planned to help out Vandomir's bow in that regard when she had a moment. He was also obviously evil and the inquisitor contemplated how she may use her scroll to protect them all from his taint. Weighing which action to take was always a dilemma when one could not do everything at once.
The devil's beard would be problematic and was just about to warn the others, especially Eirik, when Tillia offered the information.
Oops, you're right, which is a shame because I could have recapped last night.
Post coming later this afternoon.
Game on!
Turn 181 is up.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, fail
, pass
You guys killed my devil too quickly!
Action 1:
Noravia stood with her mouth agape trying to process what just happened. If someone had described the scene to her she would have sworn that they had had too much to drink. "That...was interesting. Not the outcome I was expecting at all, but I'll take it."
Action 2:
Noravia approached the men and asked, "Is there anyone else around or was it just the devil that was imprisoning you?" She handed over her waterskin. "We'll see about freeing you as soon as possible."
tag young men
To the others she said, "Vandomir, you've been getting pretty good with locks. Can you see if there's any way you can free them? In the meantime, as much as disgusts me, I'll go and see if the devil had the key on him."
tag everyone
"That...was interesting. Not the outcome I was expecting at all, but I'll take it."
"Yes... I had expected more, from all the big talk," Eirik replied, eyeing the giant insect perching on Caleb's shoulder with some suspicion. "Perhaps the thing was merely here to delay us." 'Or perhaps we have grown more powerful than I had expected,' he thought. Some mental attack had certainly captured the creature's mind, allowing them to dispatch it with relative ease, and the flavor of the effect suggested Tillia had been behind it. It had been almost embarrassing to strike the final blow against an enemy so enraptured.
"Vandomir, you've been getting pretty good with locks. Can you see if there's any way you can free them? In the meantime, as much as disgusts me, I'll go and see if the devil had the key on him."
"We still might have more prisoners to rescue, so let us not waste time. You take one, I'll deal with the other," Eirik said, kneeling beside one prisoner and gesturing for him to rest the chain binding the manacles on the stone floor. Then, using his own body to shield the the youth from shrapnel, the monk slammed his fist on the chain amidst the sound of splintering stone and tortured metal.
Action 2:
Noravia approached the men and asked, "Is there anyone else around or was it just the devil that was imprisoning you?" She handed over her waterskin. "We'll see about freeing you as soon as possible."
The boys virtually shivered with fright. "The witches. Two of them came and told us that they were waiting for our birthday."
The other boy added, "Our birthday is tomorrow and I don't think it was a birthday party they were preparing."
Almost in unison, they asked, "Can you take us back?"
That's a pretty neat trick there. Yes, assume that you can break one of the manacles while Vandomir works on the other one.
I need to know what you guys want to do...
The boys virtually shivered with fright. "The witches. Two of them came and told us that they were waiting for our birthday."
The other boy added, "Our birthday is tomorrow and I don't think it was a birthday party they were preparing."
Almost in unison, they asked, "Can you take us back?"
Noravia was torn between continuing on and dealing with whoever had kidnapped the boys and needing to see them safely home again. "Where are you from? I'll see about getting you safely home." After they answered she asked, "How many witches are there and what do they look like?"
FYI: I have two days of 'field work' ahead of me but I'll still be able to post in the mornings (brief?) and later in the evening/night. However, don't expect anything from me during the day for the next two days.
The wasp on Caleb's shoulder burrowed back into the squiriming sorceror's skin. A few moments later the wound healed, and left only a strange scar that matched so many on the young man's body.
"It is dead, right? I've heard stories about those things coming back from decapitation." The stories Caleb alluded too were entertainment - horror tales to chill and and delight - and bore little basis in fact, but Caleb lacked the education to take comfort in that.
"Huh." Caleb gave an appreciative grunt when Eirik shattered steel with his fists.
"Are you saying we stop and do that now? I'm all for rescuing the kids, but won't whoever survived just go kidnap more people? I think we need to take them down!" Caleb paused as a terible thought intruded "Hey, these are just kids right? This isn't some trick?" Caleb looked around in nervousness.
Action 1
With the threat neutralized, Vandomir heard Noravia's comment, "it certainly seemed chatty for a devil. It is things like that which have made Cheliax the terror it is for its citizens today."
Action 2
Vandomir nods, and pulls out his tools. When he had released the prisoner, he calmly dropped the exceptionally crafted manacles into his pack. "Those may prove useful at some point. It is a shame you ruined the other pair. Two pairs could have been even more useful." Vandomir winked at Tillia and nodded to Noravia.
Action 1
Tillia couldn't help but laugh, "Expected more yes, but when you're stuck dry humping a chair like that it makes it very hard to fight back, which was the point." She watched with a shudder as the wasp crawled inside of Caleb's skin and resolutely turned away as it was making her ill, "Please, for the love of all the gods, warn me before you do that again Caleb, that was...really painful to watch."
She was getting out her spell book as Salina came flying back in and alighted on her shoulder as Caleb asked about being sure whether the devil was dead. She smiled viciously and said, "Yes, I'm sure it's dead and not coming back. If it had been summoned it would have returned back to hell when it was killed where it would reform in a safe place. This one didn't disappear back to hell, it''s still here and still dead. That means that it came here another way, by a gate of some form most likely. There are spells that can open such portals and what comes through them is truly here. That means if it dies here it stays dead and is incredibly difficult to raise, impossible actually short of some very high level magic that might exist, well beyond my capabilities anyway." Her tone was somewhat dry and instructional as she spoke, "They don't have a seperate soul you see, outsiders like that, their body and soul are one piece so damage to the body is damage to the soul. As a consequence death to the body is death to the soul, something that doesn't happen to outsiders like tiefling and aasimar who are of this plane."
Action 2
As Vandomir and Eirik began to work on the chains Tillia broke out her spell book and quickly flipped to a couple of particular pages. She read them intensely as she rapidly drew her mind to the right state of consciousness to prepare the few spells she had left available to her this day. A minute or so later she finished and closed the book, replacing it in her pack, "There, that's done." When she turned back to the others it was just in time to hear Vandomir comment about the manacles and said, "Hmmm, they could be useful, though I think I'd rather mess with your mind instead, much more interesting that way."
"Are you saying we stop and do that now? I'm all for rescuing the kids, but won't whoever survived just go kidnap more people? I think we need to take them down!" Caleb paused as a terible thought intruded "Hey, these are just kids right? This isn't some trick?" Caleb looked around in nervousness.
Noravia looked up at Caleb from her position by one of the twins. "That's why I said that I'd take them. That leaves the rest of you to chase down the witches. Ideally we'd want to do both but we can't take the boys with us, we can't leave them here, and someone should accompany them home to make sure they're safe." What Noravia didn't add was that the reason she had been asking the boys questions was to try to determine if they were indeed prisoners and that it wasn't some kind of trick. "Unless someone has a better idea?"
tag everyone
This will leave you out of at least one fight, which in real time could mean a couple of weeks. Maybe?
I don't want to force you all down a path not your own but there are other options. Start thinking! :)
I'll do a brief recap but leave this issue open for further discussion if it's not resolved in the next couple of hours.
Game on!
Turn 182 is up.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
Turn 182 is up.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
Where are my 'decision-making' Ravens!? :)
To Noravia it sounded like the boys were referring to the cultists they had already fought but that didn't mean that there weren't more of them somewhere down here. She described the women's appearance to the boys. "Do these sound like the witches who were keeping you captive?"
tag boys
When they came to the locked, heavy doors, Noravia gave her opinion. "It doesn't look like anyone or anything is coming out of those doors anytime soon. Shall we continue our exploration and clear the rest of the space, leaving these doors for last?"
tag everyone
Action 1
Tillia considered what to do with the two boys for a moment after her spell preparation was finished and posited her opinion, "I think getting the two of them out of here is important but I also don't think we should split up. It might be best if they wait here where we know it's relatively safe while we go ahead."
The large heavy door was a nuisance, the mage thought it would be good to know what was back there but she also realized that leaving it be for now might be safer. "Is there anything we can do to further block those doors for now? Just because we'd have trouble with them doesn't mean whatever might be on the other side would too. I'll admit I doubt that anything is going to come through them either but it still pays to be cautious."
Prisoners
Tillia considered what to do with the two boys for a moment after her spell preparation was finished and posited her opinion, "I think getting the two of them out of here is important but I also don't think we should split up. It might be best if they wait here where we know it's relatively safe while we go ahead."
”I concur,” the monk quickly agreed. ”They can stay here or make their own way out – there should be no more enemies along the path we just cleared. It would be more dangerous to have then follow us into battle.”
Action 1
"Is there anything we can do to further block those doors for now? Just because we'd have trouble with them doesn't mean whatever might be on the other side would too. I'll admit I doubt that anything is going to come through them either but it still pays to be cautious."
”If the seal looks intact, and the door hasn’t been opened since the Hellknights went through here, I doubt it’s going to suddenly open in the next few minutes,” Eirik said, his nose a few inches from the door as he examined the seal for signs of being broken. ”If that is the case, let us move along and return here once we are done. The lives of more innocent captives might still hang at a balance.”
Prisoners
”If the seal looks intact, and the door hasn’t been opened since the Hellknights went through here, I doubt it’s going to suddenly open in the next few minutes,” Eirik said, his nose a few inches from the door as he examined the seal for signs of being broken. ”If that is the case, let us move along and return here once we are done. The lives of more innocent...
I'm Ok assuming you left a team up above so yeah, the kids could try and make their way out or wait for you. Up to you.
The door seems sealed from your side, meaning to trap whatever was inside. The door has a 'mechanical lock' and also a 'magical lock' thus making it very difficult to open but I'm sure you guys could figure something out. Such a resourceful group of people. :)
Questions?
Game on!
Vandomir let the others consider the fate of the children. The doors though, they were magnificent, but they could be trapped. How well he knew about traps, after the day he was having. He checked them thoroughly and...
+4 vs humans, +2 vs Evil outsiders, +1 to locate traps, +2 in Kintargo
... found no traps. This he reported to the group.
... found the doors to be trapped. This he reported to the group.
+1 to disable traps
Vandomir, having cleared the door of traps and determined how to open them when needed reported "ok, so we can either press on, or I can open these doors now, I am fine with whichever."
Caleb thought about what lay between them and the team upstairs: decomposing devils, garbage monsters, a serious climb, and - oh yes - the dead bodies of the women who kidnapped and threatened to kill them. "Look" said Caleb "I'm the fastest. I'll escort the kids up to the team, then run on back. Vandomir's going to be a while with these doors anyway, so I don't think you'll be waiting long."
Turn 183 is up.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
Noravia took in the different statues and was able to tell that they showed the Dowager of Illusions' transition throughout the day. Seeing the unfinished prayers written on the walls and hoping to buy some time she asked, "Why haven't you finished the prayers on the walls?"
Hoping to distract them from their sacrifice and potentially make them angry enough to attack, Noravia continued with another question, "Why bother with anymore sacrifices? Your twins are no longer captive and your devil is dead."
tag Head Witch
Action 1
As they entered the room with Salina perched on her shoulder once again and saw the sacrifice in the offing. Tillia was about to cast a spell when they were spotted so instead she held her tongue and waited to see what would happen next. She was a bit pre-occupied with the various prayers and images around the room to realize the captive's apparent enchantment and so was unable to do anything about it. Tillia heard Noravia's words and added, "Then there's the added fact that killing this sacrifice will guarantee you won't make it out of here alive where as freeing them will give you at least a chance of escape."
Eirik watched the scene with narrowed eyes, calculating the distance. He was pretty certain he could reach the altar in seconds, but quickly enough to intercept the sickle’s strike? That was very much uncertain, but if these three were half as dedicated to their cause as the previous women, no mere words or guarantees of their own safety would sway them. ’There’s no reasoning with true fanatics,’ the monk thought. Yet perhaps the inquisitor’s words might distract the masked cultist just long enough…
The head witch already knew about the devil and had guessed about the boys, "Funny thing about devils and their telepathy..."
She looked at Noravia, "The Dowager will reward us even beyond death whereas as this wretched girl will go straight to hell."
She smiled and looked at her sacrifice as if looking for answers, "The only way she is..."
The head witch faltered; she clearly had no idea what would happen next.
For now yes but you will eventually discover what that is.
"Really?" Caleb bluffed "You expect us to believe you've really got a sacrifice there? You, the servant of the Dowager of Illusions?" he smiled grimly, taking two steps forward, brand gestured to the others behind his back. Time seemed to slow down.
: "the Gods only know what we're seeing here is truly real." Caleb reasoned.
: "I'm sure someone as powerful as you must have a plan bigger than this" Sneered Caleb.
: "Fight, and your soul is an Abyssal entree! Your only chance is..." As he spoke the Mystic's hand clenched into a fist.
[dice=perception]1d20+5
"Really?" Caleb bluffed "You expect us to believe you've really got a sacrifice there? You, the servant of the Dowager of Illusions?" he smiled grimly, taking two steps forward, brand gestured to the others behind his back. Time seemed to slow down.
: "the Gods only know what we're seeing here is truly real." Caleb reasoned.
: "I'm sure someone as powerful as you must have a plan bigger than this" Sneered Caleb.
: "Fight, and your soul is an Abyssal entree! Your only chance is..." As he spoke the Mystic's hand clenched into a fist.
Casting Heightened Awareness is a standard action and thus subject to initiative if 'combat starts'.
We'll see what the others propose to do and then figure how your posts fit in.
Game on!
The head witch already knew about the devil and had guessed about the boys, "Funny thing about devils and their telepathy..."
She looked at Noravia, "The Dowager will reward us even beyond death whereas as this wretched girl will go straight to hell."
She smiled and looked at her sacrifice as if looking for answers, "The only way she is..."
The head witch faltered; she clearly had no idea what would happen next.
Noravia repeated, "The only way she is...what? Is this why everything is unfinished here? You don't know what you're doing and the Dowager is keeping you in the dark?"
Noravia repeated, "The only way she is...what? Is this why everything is unfinished here? You don't know what you're doing and the Dowager is keeping you in the dark?"The head witch already knew about the devil and had guessed about the boys, "Funny thing about devils and their telepathy..."
She looked at Noravia, "The Dowager will reward us even beyond death whereas as this wretched girl will go straight to hell."
She smiled and looked at her sacrifice as if looking for answers, "The only way she is..."
The head witch faltered; she clearly had no idea what would happen next.
The head witch was confused, "Shut up! Do not talk of the Dowager in such a way. Blasphemy!"
She pointed to the door, "Leave this place before you regret it. She'll feast o your soul!"
Noravia repeated, "The only way she is...what? Is this why everything is unfinished here? You don't know what you're doing and the Dowager is keeping you in the dark?"The head witch already knew about the devil and had guessed about the boys, "Funny thing about devils and their telepathy..."
She looked at Noravia, "The Dowager will reward us even beyond death whereas as this wretched girl will go straight to hell."
She smiled and looked at her sacrifice as if looking for answers, "The only way she is..."
The head witch faltered; she clearly had no idea what would happen next.
The head witch was confused, "Shut up! Do not talk of the Dowager in such a way. Blasphemy!"
She pointed to the door, "Leave this place before you regret it. She'll feast o your soul!"
The inquisitor mockingly mirrored the witch's confusion. "First you invite us to stay and now you're telling us to leave. Are you sure that you speak for the Dowager or should we be talking with someone else?"
The inquisitor mockingly mirrored the witch's confusion. "First you invite us to stay and now you're telling us to leave. Are you sure that you speak for the Dowager or should we be talking with someone else?"The head witch was confused, "Shut up! Do not talk of the Dowager in such a way. Blasphemy!"
She pointed to the door, "Leave this place before you regret it. She'll feast o your soul!"
The confused lead witch was frustrated; she looked at her victim and started chanting. Her helper started swaying her hips seductively and alternated between singing praises to the Dowager of Illusions and cursing the people who wanted to interrupt their sacrilegious rite.