Round 9:
The star of the show (up until now) lies wrecked and unconscious, but still alive.
Sickened, stable, prone, unconscious
Tessai steps through the bars pried open in the cage by Edmond as Thrax seems to lose it - "Thrax.... THANK YOU!!! You have just provided the excuse we needed to step in - you are clearly spineless, and as you decided to leave your cage... It is now legitimate that we do the same. You have but one single chance, one defining moment in your life... To return to your doghouse... And yield!! Or we will drive you there! With a rolled up newspaper!"
The tiefling does a small twirl, drawing her rapier in one hand, her wide brimmed hat in the other, and a HUGE smile on her face, standing in total defense, over Beppo's prone form.
Aemon, be a gent and kindly put an arrow in his mouth? There's a good fellow.
Edmond drinks an extract of shield and moves up beside Tessai. Regarding the giant dragon he cocks his head to the side and says;
Hello, my pretty.
Aemon slams his fit again the cage as he sees Beppo go down. Then sees the rest of the group pour of the the cage he notches his arrows and aims to attack.
A quick smile crosses Aemon face as he focuses on his target.
"Gladly"
Round 9 cont.
IF Kyle is able to use his CMW wand, Beppo will attempt to get up and strike at the beast's heads again. Depending on Tessai's approach, that may require some rolling away, but I imagine an AoO is possible either way. If so, so be it.
|
Next Round
As Kyle heals Beppo, two arrows fly towards Thrax, with one of them landing in his shoulder.
You shall all PAY for attempting to ruin my name!!
Beppo gets up and attacks the beast, with one of his attacks landing in the beasts' neck.
Enemy Turn
Die, Vixen! A fireball leaves his hands, aimed at Tessai and engulfing the party.
Aemon: ReFlex Save for Half
Beppo: Not in AoE
Brandon: Reflex
Kyle: Reflex
Tessai: Primary Target, Reflex
The beast attacks Tessai.
Hits for 17 and Grapples.
Status
60'
55' Kyle (32/32 Reflex), Aemon (44/44 Reflex),
50' Beppo (18/44 Craploads of Buffs, Sickened, Flanked), Tessai (23/40 Grappled, Reflex), Brandon (48/48 Reflex),
30' Dragon Like Beast (Perfect, Gargan Size. Reach. Haste.), Mantrithor Thrax (Perfect, Floating 30 ft above ground, ???, ???),
Round 10:
sickened
Singularly focused on the gargantuan beast, Beppo takes another swing at destroying its heads.
Edmond remembers the advice from earlier and rushes forward to attack the beasts body.
Aemon seeing the fireball heading for him tries to jump out of the way, then focus back on his target the man trying to kill him and his friends.
|
|
People scream at the mass mayhem below as healing effects, fireballs and huge monsters collide.
Kyle heals his friends as Edmond and Beppo work together to take down the huge beast. At the same time, Aemon is able to hit the wizard in the thigh. The sudden loss of blood causes him to fall to the ground, losing consciousness. As he hits the ground, you hear a disgusting thud as he hits the ground. You rush to him and see him bleeding...he will be dead within seconds without divine aid.
The audience flees out in panic, most not noticing that the monster has been neutralized. Janiven, Yako and a few others, stand in their seats, turning to leave only after most people have left...nodding to you all in approval as they do so.
Since Tessai was solely defending Beppo, she would have:
- Picked up the shield;
- Invoked Judgement of Sacred Protection +2
- Cast Shield of Faith
- putting her AC at 33 and NOT being hit by the monster - MUAHAH!!! (So we don't have high AC huh?)
The reflex save fails, she gets hit hard by the fireball and eats the 21 damage, putting her at 22hp (is the monster hit by the fireball?)
Would this be acceptable?
I am wondering about the Knowledge check to identify the creature to use Bane
Usually to identify vulnerabilities DC is usually 10+CR, I am assuming it is easier to simply identify the creature itself to use bane?
Would this do it?
Tessai kneels next to Thrax, herself bloody and battered, and whispers - "Not yet you cheating bastard..." - then utters a few short words, laying her hands on him .
After making sure the villain is stable, she strips him of all his possessions, ties and gags him up.
Leaving the bundle on the floor she goes to Beppo - "You my friend, are as hard as an old, stubborn, rusty nail - Now THAT was a show!!" - and envelops him in a tight hug. Stepping back, she adds firmly - "I am happy that you are ok"
Edmond nods in appreciation of Beppos efforts and takes a knee before Thrax.
Well, isn't this a predicament?
Aemon still on alert makes sure there are no more threats before going up to Beppo, a smile cracking on his face as he see's his friends are all ok.
"Beppo now that was pretty good, i'm glad to see your still in one piece my friend"
He then glances over to where Thrax laids on the ground.
Looking around at the deserted room, Tessai laughs - "I guess some may have not been able to take the nature of the spectacle. In any case, Beppo has won, so we are entitled an art piece as a reward I believe?"
Looking at the defeated Thrax - "And what EXACTLY are we going to do with this cur...?"
|
|
You don't find his spellbook, but you do find a Wand of Magic Missile (22 charges, CL5) and Ring of Protection +2. (Both added to loot list).
Rance runs out into the arena, grabs Beppo's hand up, and announces, By definitive victory, we have a new champion! Beppo wins!!
Those who didn't run in panic, leave in disgust, tearing up the betting tickets they had for the long time champion, Thrax.
Good job! Great, even! Here is the championship trophy, and you'll find some extra gold in it for your SPECTACULAR performances! Ah, yes...the statue. It's yours, of course! Just take it on the way out. And, again, congrats, gentlemen and lady!
The party earns 1,000 gold for winning, and an additional 1,400 gold for their performance. The party earns 1 hero point and fame point for winning, and another of both for keeping Thrax alive to answer for his crime (attacking another, living person).
As the beast and its master fall to the floor, Beppo raises his arms to shout his victory and bathe in the glory of his fans' appre- where are they going?
...he settles for the congratulations of his comrades and the announcement of his championship as he falls back to his normal stature.
Thanks to you all. I- uh, could not have done it without you. The encouragement, the suggestions, as he returns Tessai's shield and Brandon's morningstar, the equipment, the support spells, and, of course, he looks straight at Kyle, the healing and the support of the Eternal Rose.
Beppo admires the championship trophy. He is still looking at it when he says to his friends, Let's get that statue.
At Tessai's "what EXACTLY are we going to do with this cur..." he remembers Thrax and looks down at him. What to do with him indeed? Turn him over to the Hellknights? Take him to his patron? Dump him in the sewer with the other garbage? Do you think there is anything useful he could tell us?
Aemon finally lets his guard down as everyone seems to be safe.
"There's nothing i want to hear from this scum, we came here for one thing." Aemon then pauses for a moment. "The local guard can deal with him, lets get back on track."
|
|
Rance answers, I have already sent a runner to fetch the guards. I'm already pushing some of the laws with my shows now. If they thought I allowed combat directly between people, I would be thrown in shackles faster than you can blink. Clearly, this is the result when one's ego gets grows to large in the spotlight!
When Tessai manages some privacy, she adds to the others - "Maybe it is time to head back then, before the guard arrives? And I believe we have some investigation to do with the statue...?"
Agreed. Thrax is nothing more than a cowardly worm. And being beaten, being humiliated so publicly, will hurt him far more than we could. Well... I could try...
He presses a razor-sharp claw a hair's breadth from the wizard's eye.
Fine, fine. I was merely going to add an exclamation mark.
Let's get out of here. I feel oddly... exposed.
Back to himself, Brandon approaches Beppo.
Nice trophy. And well-earned. Good show Beppo though I must admit I thought you were done for when that thing swallowed you. Edmond was about to climb down it's gullet to drag you out! Thankfully, you didn't need the help.
Since the day is still young, Brandon spends an hour brewing another mutagen - just in case the party finds itself in any more difficulty.
You all take the statue and the spoils back to the base.
You all did well! Look at the detail. This is definitely the work of someone turned to stone. Shall we use the grave candle to question him now, or wait until you've investigated the other leads?
Looking at the grave candle, Arael adds, We might have enough here for four or five questions. Let me know if you want me to set it up.
Upon returning to the Shades of Grey base, Beppo declares that he is taking a nap! and brings the trophy with him. Tell me what the statue has to say.
Aemon nods at Edmond.
"Yes let's leave we've had enogh fun for today, Beppo looks like he could do with a little rest too."
Aemon stands eyeing up the candle and the statue. This is going to get interestingHe then coughs to get some attention on himself.
"Before we light this we need to be ready, let's at least have an idea of what we want to ask maybe even just one of us asking."
Brandon takes a seat at the table and peers curiously at the statue, remarking how perfect its features are, how life-like it remains.
I never want to be turned to stone. It must be like being buried alive.
I hope this works. he muses, then clears his throat.
Aemon is right. We should know exactly what we want to ask. I'm happy to talk to him, it. Whatever. As a Pathfinder myself perhaps he would be more willing to speak to me. In any case, I think the things we should cover should be;
What happened after Delvehaven was sealed?
What creatures and traps can we expect there?
Has anyone ever tried to reclaim Delvehaven and if so how did they plan to do it?
What information did the Pathfinders leave behind?
What else is there?
Tessai nods as she listens to her companions - "I agree with you both - we should all be present to ponder the questions and to place them..."
"And I also agree with the questions you suggest Brandon - from what I remember of our earlier debate about this, and about this note we still possess, I think we should somehow address the following" - she reads from the notes:
"There is the strong possibility that the Delvehaven Pathfinders hid a portion of their treasure and clues about how to enter the deepest vaults in an off-site hidden cache somewhere in or near Westcrown, but that no indication of where this cache might be located has yet surfaced. These ledgers are frustratingly vague and written in shorthand, but could help to identify an object’s value or to identify magic items discovered within Delvehaven. The ledgers cease abruptly at the end with no explanation - This means we should try to inquire about this off-site hidden cache"
Continuing she adds - "The Poem, and its cypher - if I remember correctly The poem is covered with spidery script, as is the folded parchment that cradles it. A quick study of the parchment indicates that someone believed the poem was a code or cipher that hid the route to a cache of Pathfinder treasures kept outside of Delvehaven (as indicated in the ledger portion of the Delvehaven papers) - this means that interpretation or deciphering of this poem should help us find the above mentioned cache, so we should ask if it knows how to, or who can decipher it"
"This means I would add at least one question regarding each of the above, and not forget that we are trying to find out exactly how is it possible to access the deepest reaches of Delvehaven, though it seems the answer will depend on the two above..."
Tessai ponders for a moment - "Last but not least, we need not forget that some manner of understanding spoken languages must be employed when addressing the spirit - I believe this will be Kyles' area"
"Do we know exactly the duration of these candles, or how many questions we can pose?"
Aemon listens intently and nods at each point put forward. "These all sound good, Tessai has a point about the cache and poem and Brandon your more than welcome to speak for us if kyle can make sure you two understand each other, Your far better with words than me."
He then strokes his chin in thought. "Areal said there should be time for five questions." A grimace then crosses his face. "It's going to be hard to pick our questions, it's good we're spending this time to decide we can't leave anything to chance."
So our priorities are the hidden cache, the cypher, why Delvehaven was sealed, what dangers we can expect there and what happened to the Pathfinders after it was sealed?
"What exactly do you mean by What happened to the Pathfinders?"
There is no rush. I understand that Beppo, especially, has been through an ordeal. If you wish, we can pursue this in the morn. The choice is yours.
I must say that he did...you ALL did, a fabulous job there.
"I think we acted and thought as group more than we ever did before" - Tessai smiles - "My boys are growing up and making me proud" - she laughs out loud.
You are right, Tessai. The group is much more experienced and cohesive then when I first called you all together. It feels like half a year ago, though it really has not been that long. What was once a rag tag band of citizens with dreams of a better way in their hearts has become a force to be reckoned with!
Beppo can be heard snoring in his bunk.
"I'll be honest i didn't think we would get this far... Aemon laugh to himself "But what we have done together i couldn't have imagined it." He then looks up at Tessai and smiles. "You're not doing to bad yourself"