"I'm opening up on this thing I just need to prepare one thing!" He takes a potion and downs it stepping back.
get back from it, this thing is called a Roper. It’s reach spans some fifty feet and it’s touch will drain you of your strength. Use fire on it but not lightning, it is immune to electricity Elleross calls out warning the others of its abilities and he moves away from the roper and unleashes a spell.
Calor,ardescit,ignis
With a swift gesture he weaves a spell and as his hand is suddenly wreathed in flames he hurled three rays of blistering flame at the aberration.
Hit
Fail
Hit
Success
Hit
Fail
Hit
Fail
Miss
Miss
Reeling from Elleros' fire damage, the maw of the creature erupts in an explosion of whipping, drool-covered tentacles. The lash down on Greyston and Corum and both feel their strength begin to drain away though the alchemist is hit hardest and rendered completely helpless by the attack!
The tentacles wrap around you and begin reeling you in like fish on a line.
Corum lets loose his rage and feels the familiar elemental surge of power it provides. He slashes at the tentacles that strikes Greyston.
Pa rage
Dam
Dam
Dam
Corrleon sucks in a breath as Greyston instantly succumbs to the roper's attacks. He takes a steadying breath, the halo behind his head flaring brightly as he focuses on the task of bringing his bow to bear.
Grimacing, he throws his head back and shouts, "Daxionnen Apsulanti!" and the previous flare from the halo erupts into a burning beacon of white fire that briefly take the shape of unfurling dragon wings. The wings spread wide before wrapping in around Corrleon and fading into a steady white glow which limns his entire frame.
HP: 92/92
Cold Resist: 20
AC: 20 (18 T / 13 FF) (includes +1 from PoF)
CMD: 23 (includes +1 from PoF)
F/R/W: +15/+11/+14
Lay on Hands remaining: 11/12
Smite Evil remaining: 2/3
Divine Bond remaining: 1/1
Stormlure remaining: 1/1
Hunter's Cloak minutes remaining: 10/10
Ongoing Effects
Favored Terrain (cold): +4 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Favored Terrain (urban): +2 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Terrain Dominance (cold): +4/+4 vs terrain natives and +1/+1 vs cold subtype
Aspect of the Falcon: +3 competence perception, +1 to hit, crits = 19-20/x3
Power of Faith (2/10): +1 to AC, to hit & damage
Smite Evil: +5 to hit, +8 damage (+16 vs evil dragon, undead, or outsider)
Moving back further from the creature Elleross again summons his powers and contours several missiles that leap forward from his open hand, the missiles streak unerringly toward the Roper and slam into its gaping maw
Fail
Successs
Fail
Fail
Success
Success
The tentacles whip out once more, dropping Greyston but this time lashing around Corum who's mighty strength begins to drain away.
Corrleon continues to let his bow thrum, the light limning his body flaring up with each arrow's release.
HP: 92/92
Cold Resist: 20
AC: 20 (18 T / 13 FF) (includes +1 from PoF)
CMD: 23 (includes +1 from PoF)
F/R/W: +15/+11/+14
Lay on Hands remaining: 11/12
Smite Evil remaining: 2/3
Divine Bond remaining: 1/1
Stormlure remaining: 1/1
Hunter's Cloak minutes remaining: 10/10
Ongoing Effects
Favored Terrain (cold): +4 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Favored Terrain (urban): +2 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Terrain Dominance (cold): +4/+4 vs terrain natives and +1/+1 vs cold subtype
Aspect of the Falcon: +3 competence perception, +1 to hit, crits = 19-20/x3
Power of Faith (3/10): +1 to AC, to hit & damage
Smite Evil: +5 to hit, +8 damage (+16 vs evil dragon, undead, or outsider)
Elleross looks on with a little relief as the Roper releases greysston and focuses its attacks on Corum instead. The warrior was far more able to withstand the strength sappIng attacks.
Drawing on his powers again he sends another barrage of missiles into the roper
Corum feels his strength being sapped by the tentacles. He growls in anger and slashes at the tentacles again.
Pa rage
Dam
Pa rage
Dam
Pa rage
Dam
With a combination of spell, arrows and powerful slashes the group brings an end to the roper. It's tentacles retreat back into itself and the entire thing collapses into goo like a sunken trifle.
Baknarla rushes forward and cradles Greyston's head in her hands.
He lives! But he has no strength, none at all. she says.
The furious light surrounding Corrleon slowly melts away, wicking away like ribbons of silk caught on a breeze. The steady radiance from his halo remains, however, and as he approaches Greyston, Apsu's warmth brings some relief to both the alchemist and to Corum.
With the danger passed, Baknarla turns back toward the ice wall and the blurred figures of her ancient brethren encased within.
It's true... she whispers. It's all true... Help me dig through this ice!
Carefully she excavates the bodies until their top halves are exposed and you see the almost perfectly preserved remains of three adlet males.
She falls to her knees in reverence.
Finally, I have something I can take back to my people to show them that the legends are real and that adlet heroes can rise again.
Only a single piece of armour remains on Sarnok, the largest of the three. It is a pauldron of gleaming bronze that she carefully removes from his body and clutches to her breast like a babe.
I promised me that if you helped I would give you the weapon the dragons so feared and there it is.
She lifts out of the ice a magnificent longspear with a broad, leaf-shaped head as well as Sarnok's belt which she also offers to you.
It is a Belt of Fallen Heroes and a +1 Dragon-bane, thawing longspear
The strange tentacle thing dies under their combined assault and Corum punches the air in triumph. His joy quickly turns to concern as he sees Greyston lying prone. He moves to aid him but Corrleon intervenes and the barbarian feels his strength begin to return.
Greyston comes to and Corum claps Corrleon on the back. "Thanks friend. He lives."
Baknarla begins digging the ice and calls for help. Realising he can do little for Greyston he moves to aid their guide.
He hacks at the ice with a hand axe and they excavate the corpses. Baknarla withdraws the spear and armour and he examines the spear.
"You say he dragons fear this? Why?"
It has sent many to the Eternal Clouds. she answers seriously
+1
A bane weapon excels against certain foes. Against a designated foe, the weapon’s enhancement bonus is +2 better than its actual bonus. It also deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against such foes.
A thawing weapon thrust into a non-magical frozen object of Medium size or smaller melts the ice from it. When used against a creature with the cold subtype, it deals an extra 1d6 points of damage. The wielder of a thawing weapon receives a +2 competence bonus on saving throws against ice-based effects, and the weapon itself is immune to cold damage.
Corum nods and says. "There's one more to add to its tally then eh friend?"
Greyston attempts to stand up, but on shaky legs, he can hardly move. "I feel like crap!" He shouts, extremely groggy. "Thanks Corrleon." Pulling out two potions he downs then and can feel his strength returning to him.
"I'm guessing we took it down, did we get what we needed?" He steps forward looking around.
It's yours. Baknarla agrees.
After the recovery of her ancestor's relics, Baknarla keeps her word and leads you deep into the glacia crevasse.
After trudging for more than an hour, the crevasse narrows to a mere crack no more than one man wide. She nods and bids you keep going.
Go. she says Old way. It opens into the moulin. From there you can see the fortress but how you get in is then up to you. You are the destined ones. You will slay many dragonkin this day. she smiles.
Right enough, the crack eventually leads to a hole in the ice wall that overlooks an open area at the bottom of the enormous moulin - a circular hole naturally formed in the glacier. The hole you emerge from is at ground level to the base of the moulin and rising in the centre of the clearing is a mound of ice that must be ivoryglass.
On the eastern side there are two small towers that flank what looks like the only entrance.
you guess correctly Greyston, the roper will ensnare no others. Elleross says as he moves forward toward examine the powerful spear how are you feeling? Has your strength returned? he asks the pale alchemist
the spear may grant us some advantage over the dragons and their kin, Corum may be able to make good use of it he says as they follow Baknarla deeper into the crevasse eventually they find themselves looking out at the great ice fortress
how are we going to get in? There seems to be only one entrance and there is little cover.
As they all gaze out at the distant towers it quickly becomes apparent that they have a hard choice to make. There were few options open to them and the least appealing at least to Elleross was a frontal assault. Not the quickest at the best of times he did not relish approaching the towers on foot but then maybe there was another way.
we could stand here all day and not get any closer to our goal, we need to make a decision. There are only two options really, one we approach the towers on foot and risk whatever defences are left here, or I can utilise my magics to get us in.
Now I could teleport us but I suspect the fortress is warded against such things but I have another option which could work. he says rubbing at his beard as he thinks furiously
it would mean using my two most powerful spells but if I can combine them in the correct way, I can replicate what is known as a wind walk spell , it would transform us into a gaseous mist. Whilst in these forms we can travel at a great speed, if we had white robes we would be almost invisible as well he says as he lays out the plan there is a slight drawback to this spell in that it takes a short while to transform into and out of the gaseous form
Corum assesses the approach with the professional expertise of a seasoned soldier. "Tough." he says. "You could lose a lot of men on a frontal assault."
He begins to formulate a plan involving a desperate effort to approach alone, scale the wall and open the gate when Elleross speaks.
A chill runs down his spine when the mate talks of teleportation. The thought of being magically dissolved to reappear somewhere else made him deeply uneasy. His deep rooted mistrust of magic suddenly engulfs him and he can feel his anger begin to swell.
He fights to control it. In his time with the old mate his magic had never failed the group. He had never caused harm or been a threat to them. Corum respected the old timer. Hell he liked him despite being a caster.
He gradually calms down and says "If that's 3rd only way, then aye. Do it. Get us in there and I'll take care of the red work."
With the consent of the others Elleross begins his preparations to combine his spells, laying out several components from his pouch he begins.
With immense concentration he draws on the spells he has learned for that day casting them both simultaneously, overlappIng their spell matrix.
Ventus , spatio ambulo he begins the casting, streams of energy erupt all around him as he wrestles the magic into an entirely new form, boosting its power to suit his needs.
Swirls of blazing fire erupt all around him and he seems engulfed in flame before they gradually fade into streams of what seem like steam or mist
Caligo, ventur incido! completing the spell he unleashes the pent up energy, moving to each of his companions he wreathed then in what seems a living most, the tendrils gradually wrapping around each of them, moulding to their form and gradually transforming them and their equipment into vapour .
Once the transformation is complete Elleross motions for them to follow him and together they rise into the air and streak toward their goal
Greyston had been quiet, he didn't like the idea of any of this. But he also couldn't think of any other way to get in. "I really don't like this. But I just can't see another way, its the best we have let's do it then Elleross." He then drinks down two vials a shimmer shifts across his body as he drinks the last one. "I'm ready for whats ahead."
"Before we leap into the maw of the beast, perhaps I might slip ahead and learn what I might of our foe? I can pass as a simple, unassuming bird for a time and perhaps there is another way in?"
With the groups blessing, Corrleon draws his cloak up over his shoulders fully and slowly shrinks down into a small bird. He dips his beak to the ground sweeps one wing long across his chest, offering a graceful bow to his companions, before taking wing and zipping out over the moulin.
Corrleon transforms himself into a white-winged stottick, a tny four-winged bird native to the arctic regions of Triaxus.
It is not uncommon in these parts but make easy prey for dragon-kin looking for a snack so he decides not to get too close.
The sole entrance to Ivoryglass stands in the palace’s eastern wall, flanked by two stone guardhouses. Barred iron gates 20 feet wide and undeniably thick remain closed.
He can see four heavily armed drakelands barbarians and one ice seer making their way back and forth between the guardposts, looking somewhat bored.
While the gates are stout, if he understands Elleros' spell well enough, it should allow them to slip in between the cracks.
Corrleon returns to the group and relates his findings, "I'm afraid there is but one way into Yrax's icy fortress. I could find no crack or seam anywhere but for that front gate." He pauses for a moment, "That also means that door is the only way out. What we are about to do is beyond dangerous. Are we each prepared? There will be no breaks once we are within Yrax's halls."
As Corrleon arrives back Greyston hopes for good news but doesn't expect a lot. Listening to his report he sighs. "There is no other way... This is our path and we have no way off. I just want this done, we hit hard and Elleross can get us out if needed."
Corum pounds his fist into his open palm, he draws his sword and smiles savagely. "aye. I'm ready. This could get brutal so strike first and worry about it later."
The night is cold and bitter, even deep in the crevasse where the wind that rips across the glacier is lessened.
In spite of this, a variety of magics keeps you safe and relatively comfortable and the night passes without incident.
The next morning the group gathers once again at the crack in the moulin wall and looks down upon the massive hump of ice that is Ivoryglass. Over the course of a few minutes Elleros prepares himself and then summons his power to transform the group into wisps of living fog!
The sensation is disconcerting at best, but you find that you have almost perfect mastery over the currents that ebb and flow over the ice and drift quietly along toward the gate.
As you near, keeping low to the ground to avoid detection, the two stone guardposts come into view.
As you near, several of the guards gather, including the Ice Seer.
<That don't look right...> one of the barbarians says, shouldering a shield suspiciously.
<No...> says the Ice Seer in reply. <Something here is strange.>
Elleross can see the guards ahead of them, they were obviously alert and looking for any threats but their course was set, they had no other plan.
Gathering the magical wind behind him he flies toward the gap in the gates.