Labyrinth Souls (Inactive)

Game Master Mighty Glacier

Forward to the fog wall. Do we want everyone in?

Before the party heads out, they check Elyna's condition. She has regained some vigor, but is still pale.

(Sure you don't want to go shopping for that healer's kit? If so, you can start choosing your combatants. The shades are the same as last time you checked the fog wall.)

I am game for going in to battle the boss Nothing I can think of tp buy or inquire about.

I'm good to go in, hopefully I lay some smack down on the boss before dying myself. Order of the Sheep really pays off for Araden's build and luck. As for the healer's kit, it'd be good to get, but who knows if we'll find a vendor beyond this fog wall?

The party puts faith in the unknown that lies beyond the fog wall and walks there, past the cafeteria and up the creaking wooden stairs.

Upon reaching the fog wall room that leads to the "Librarium", the party sees the two shade emblems on the ground, right where they were the last time. (Current location is B16F.)

One of the visions appearing above the emblem of circles is an elven lady in noble dress, while the other is the familiar-looking female gnome, from the encounter with the scorpion.

"I leave this message in hopes someone would eventually find a way to the Sanatorium library." a telepathic voice resonates in the minds of the party. "I know something useful. In exchange for this knowledge, I demand two artifacts, one from the room, one from the enemy."

Shade contract of Baroness Yuelia: Boss soul, and one specific item from the boss room.

Similiarly, Phila's voice echoes: "O roamers, we meet once more. Sheep bless. A great force awaits thee in the library, but do not frighten! Join the Shepherd's herd, and He will reveal the way to avoid the fight completely."

Shade contract of Altruistic Phila: At least one party member joins the covenant "Order of Sheep". No other shade rewards asked.

The shades stand still, awaiting for a reply.

(Ulrich, Pahleg, Kekkle: which of you are joining Tannan and Araden on the boss fight?)

I would like to go, since I haven't done one for a little while. But Pahleg and Kekkle are the two magic users, so it may be a bigger advantage to send them in lieu of me.

Do we agree that the Baroness' contract is too expensive? We should probably not bother.

I always feel bad when I pull this card because I feel like I'm calling myself overly important, but I don't think we should ever go into a boss fight without our dedicated healer.

That's a steep price from the Baroness, losing the boss soul. Can you remind us, what exactly is the difference between a boss soul and a labyrinth soul?

Can you remind us, what exactly is the difference between a boss soul and a labyrinth soul?

(What's a Labyrinth Soul?)

Here in this post.

(I mean, I know what a Labyrinth Soul is. But you don't, beyond the few, tiny bits of info here and there. The man in the stone statue talked something about them, and you can get one by soloing a boss. *shrug*)

I don't think we know what a Labyrinth Soul is yet, as we haven't found out because we haven't tried to solo a boss. Is now our time to try it?

(...So, Araden has suggested a solo battle. What do you think about this?)

If we're going for a solo boss kill, I think we need to plan out a bunch of buff spells and things like that so we can swing the odds in our favor. And who would go?

Edit: I'm guessing Araden since he has the better damage output/AC between me and him- it's cheesy but we could load him with our healing items and cast shield other and hope it works through the fog wall. And hope the boss doesn't use ranged attacks, since the spell ends once he gets too far away.

Hahaha I'm down to try it!

Oh, I wasn't being totally serious about that, I figure we might want to wait until we get to the point where our characters are much less squishy, we have some better gear, builds come fully online, things like that. I mean, if we want to try it I'm down for anyone to go through, including myself, but either way I'm good.

C'mon, you guys afraid to live a little? And by live a little I mean die a lot!

Ulrich looks between the others.
"What do you say to seeing what this Labyrinth Soul business is about? We can enchant Araden with what magic we have, hand him my estus flask and see if he can deal with this foe on his own... and perhaps give us an answer to at least one lingering question."

Araden turns to regard Ulrich as he speaks, and after a moment of silence, he nods. "I mislike leaving such fine companions behind to face the challenge alone, but I too have curiosity for this strange Soul. If you think it wise that I face the challenge alone if I can, then I will do so gladly."

Buffs for Araden: Protection from Evil
Shield Other
Shield of Faith
Sanctuary
Guidance
Sun Metal

If we want to try this again I could prepare another buffing 2nd level spell.

Pahleg begins chanting while holding his holy symbol, and after more than half a minute he steps away. "Go now, some of those don't last very long. And good luck my friend!"

(Any buffs from Kekkle? Araden, are you calculating these buffs in your sheet?)

I can tally them in my posts in a spoiler along with stat changes.

Don't forget that protection from evil stops mind control and summoned creatures! (If evil)

I actually missed that you'd used it. I'll pop that in the next one.

Ulrich hands the other armored figure his estus flask.

While Pahleg is casting his many blessings on Araden, Ulrich hands the axe knight his Estus Flask. When Pahleg casts his final spell, sun metal, Kekkle uses his powers to enlarge Araden.

With the spells fading at each passing second, Araden enters through the fog wall. Alone. Into the unknown. May the sheep bless him.

Araden enters a place befitting the name "Librarium". All around him he sees bookshelves, filled with books, tomes, and grimoires. Who knows what kinds of knowledge is archived here? But Araden has no time to examine them.

10 feet away from him, in the middle of some bookshelves, is a large table. Two skeletons are sitting at the table, and one human man. The skeletons seemed to be writing something before Araden arrived, but stopped upon seeing the towering knight. The man, on the other hand, was speaking to the skeletons, possibly directing what they were to write.

The man is clothed in some rare garb: if Araden were to guess he'd say its purpose is ceremonial. There is something unnatural about his being, but it's hard to pin down what. His face is that of a normal man's, at the least.

"It's been a time since a roamer last found this haven," speaks the man. "I know your kind. You know nothing about your fate. But I can teach you. If you're willing."

"Or mayhaps you simply wish to roam more? I have no reason to stop you if it's the sea you seek. Do you see that door?" He motions behind him, and indeed there is a double door at the end of the library. "Go on."

HE OFFERS KNOWLEDGE! KILL HIM!

Araden steps through the fog already in a battle stance, his axe raised before him, aglow with the power of the sun. Upon seeing what lies in the room, though, he stands still, confused and unsure of how to respond. "What might you teach, scholar? I've little experience of such peaceable offers in this place, and I mislike hearing such talk behind a fog wall, separate from my allies." I know, Ulrich, I know I should, but this is unexpected to say the least. Hate to blow a round of buff duration, but it seems out of character for Araden to just murderhobo his way through a conversation.

(And with that, your sanctuary has ended.)

"I see you have a level head, young one. Very good. As for what you'll learn..." The sage points at a bookshelf to his left. Controlled, one of the skeletons stands up and walks to the pointed bookshelf, retrieves an old-looking tome, and places it on the table. The scholar picks it up, and shows the cover to Araden. It is titled, Book of the Miracle.

"The message of the Miraclemaker. He is the lord of life. And, some say, the maker of the Labyrinth. His word, and word alone, changed the world."

He opens the tome, turns to an early page, and slides the open book across the table, so that Araden could read it.

"Everything is in there."

Araden's sense of caution warns him. The man is being open about his beliefs, there is no reason to doubt that. On the other hand, the situation on the whole is abnormal, and thus alarming. There has always been some kind of terrible threat on the other side of the fog walls. Is this man it?

The man, for one, is unarmed. Except for the couple of scrolls and holy symbols he keeps on him (and you don't have the Knowledge (religion) skills to recognize them), which are just as indicative of a threat, in the possession of a spellcaster. The skeletons are also unarmed, under some lenient definition of the term: they are undead abominations, after all, and their claws are sharp.

Araden continues to remain wary but uncommitted, and he looks to the book for a moment. Unless there's something of particular interest and intrigue on the page, though, he heaves a breath and looks back up at the old man. "Forgive me my suspicions, but these places are rife with danger, and great foes always lurk behind the walls. That the fog remains is a sign there is danger here, and my allies rely on me to slay it."

The knight hefts his axe and stands in a battle-ready stance. "If I am mistaken in this, forgive me, and speak to my allies when they enter here. Your talk of these Miracles is strange and doubtless of import. But for now I must do battle with you. Come!"

Araden warily walks to the book, and gives it a short glance, for curiosity and politeness. He immediately notices the text is captivating. The words speak to him on a personal level: the writer provides answers not only to universal problems, but also to Araden's personal worries. Knowing the dangers, however, he tries to resist reading it.

(You get a +2 bonus on the save because you expressed no desire to learn the secrets, and just glanced at the text.)
Will: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 2 = 21

Araden shakes off his inner curiosity, and challenges the scholar to fight.

"Idiot. Disappear from these halls."

The floor starts tilting for a second, or so it feels to Araden. When the nauseous feeling passes, the Librarium seems to have expanded, at least doubled in area. (Current location: Librarium)

The man raises his hand to point at Araden. Now one can see that his arms are definitely not those of a human: they are elongated, at least 4 feet long, and the fingers are bony. He begins to magically float some 2 feet mid-air.

Araden has found his enemy.

Preacher Nero

54 / 54

Round 1

The scholar orders the skeletons to attack Araden, mentally and by pointing at him. He takes some steps away from him, but doesn't do anything else.

Araden grimaces beneath his helm as the man steps back and the battle commences. Although he'd rather face the biggest threat directly, taking out the minions seems the most straightforward--and necessary--option, and so he swings out with one metal-wrapped fist at the undead on his right.

Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Round 1

Araden crushes one of the two skeleton servants with his fist. It crumbles to a pile of bones, and then disintegrates to ashes and dust.

The remaining skeleton attacks Araden with its claws.
Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Claw 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
The axe knight laughs at the attempt.

(And with that, your sun metal has ended.)

Round 2

The scholar withdraws further away from Araden, floating to a space between two bookshelves. Another skeletons appears, not far from him.

Araden swings his cestus again, trying to bring down the other skeleton before him.

Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Damage: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

After that, he moves to follow the Preacher, squeezing along or shoving aside the table to give chase. Moving so the bottom right is in (7,J).

Round 2

Araden swings his cestus at the second skeleton, but his aim is sloppy. He then follows the strange scholar, by moving past the table.

The skeleton he missed won't let him get away that easily,
Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Damage: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
and manages to claw a wound into Araden.
The other skeleton closes the distance, too.
Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
But, it takes a lot from a mindless undead to harm a magically-enhanced knight like Araden.

(Okay, since your short-duration buffs are now over, we don't need to bother counting the rounds of buff durations. Guidance ends at the end of round 7 (if not spent earlier), Protection from evil at the end of round 23. If it ever gets that far.)

Round 3

The scholar stays where he is, and points his bony finger at Araden. A coruscating ray of necromantic power flies at the knight.
Ranged touch vs cover: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 6 - 4 = 14
Fort: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Strength penalty: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Araden feels his muscles weakening a little. There was something odd about that ray attack.

Araden gives some grunts as he's hit with claw and spell, but with another swing of his fist, he continues to move forward toward the true enemy.

Attack: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 7 - 2 = 7 This aimed at the skeleton in his way.
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

And now continuing to move toward the Preacher, if possible. Might involve some squeezing. Did shield other take effect, or did Araden take the full 8 damage?

Does shield other appear to be working through the fog wall? Is Pahleg taking damage?

(Hm, there's nothing in the rules to prevent shield other from working through the fog wall. But it might be trivializing the challenge that is supposed to come with soloing a boss. So how about this: if it turns out that shield other is even moderately in-line with other 2nd-level buffs, it'll fly. I mean sure, it's a good spell, let's give it that, but it has consequences in this campaign that the Paizo Devs weren't intending (now that's a rare occasion, amirite?). If it turns out that yes, it's trivializing the boss, then there are 3 options: (1) this fight counts as a 2-man team taking the boss on (because Pahleg was also "participating"); (2) the spell ends, and we rule that the effect doesn't work through fog doors; or (3) shield other is a 3rd-level spell in Labyrinth Souls.)

(I don't think it's a problem if the cleric is in the boss arena, too. This is mostly an issue with the boss solo thing.)

(Does this sound wise? Good. Araden and Pahleg both took 4 damage.)

Round 3

(BTW, I forgot to include your Protection from evil +2 resistance bonus (which, lol, doesn't stack with ABP: it's just overwrites the +1 bonus) against the ray. Didn't make a difference, though.)

Araden swings his fist again, but is apparently weakened enough so that a skeleton can block the attack.

The two skeletons unleash a fury of claws at the lone knight.
Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Claw 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Claw 3: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Claw 4: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Damage: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
The armor protects him well, and Araden only takes a scratch. A nasty scratch, mind, but it could be worse. (4 and 4 damage.)

Round 4

The scholar stays still, and is becoming more and more inanimate. Is he becoming weaker, or what's really happening? some roll plus ?: 1d20 ⇒ 16 Araden realizes the "scholar" he's been pursuing thus far is just an illusion.

At the same time, some kind of sound is made from behind a bookshelf to his left. It sounds like a whisper, though Araden doesn't hear the details.

Sounds good to me. I agree that if it seems to trivialize things we can work it out at that point.

Araden lets out a hissed oath as he realizes the truth of the scholar he's been chasing, and he turns to regard the sound behind the bookshelf. For now, though, he's pressed by skeletons, and so he swings with his cestus once more, hoping to fell these minions that he might face the true threat. Aiming at the skeleton in (K,6).

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Ah, Fool's Idol style.

Round 4

Araden punches the skeleton in front of him, causing several rib bones to fly off. It wasn't quite enough to destroy it though.

The two skeletons continue where they left off.
Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Claw 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
Claw 3: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Claw 4: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Damage 1: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
The skeleton to Araden's left manages to wound him with its claws.

Round 5

The image of the scholar disappears. ...

Araden swings again, growing more impatient with each passing moment that the skeletons take up his time. "Show yourself, fiend!" he calls, knowing it's unlikely to do anything, but needing some way to release his unease.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6 Gosh darn it
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Round 5

Araden has bad fortune as he critically misreads a skeleton's movements during his attack. He calls out the enemy in the hiding.

The two skeletons seize the opportunity to cause damage to the knight.
Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Claw 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Claw 3: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Claw 4: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Damage: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
The constant barrage of attacks has been steadily effective at wounding Araden.

Round 6

Araden hears a reply to his taunt. "I am no fiend. Fiends are malevolent by nature, and serve their dead, false gods." The voice came from behind a bookshelf, but a different bookshelf than where Araden heard the whispers a moment earlier. "I have devoted myself to a being truly worthy of worship. Miraclemaker changed the world for the better. Shouldn't everyone serve Him? Shouldn't you?"

Araden swings again, savagely, trying to fend off his skeletal attackers, growing ever more weary and angry.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

"Mayhap we should, but I know not this Miraclemaker," Araden replies, casting his gaze toward the voice for a moment as the skeleton falls. "For now I serve myself and my companions, who've earned my devotion as your god earned yours."

Round 6

Araden knocks out the jaw and skull of a skeleton, destroying it, as he replies to the voice.

The lone remaining skeleton knows no fear, and continues attacking.
Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Claw 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Damage: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Unfortunately for Araden, the clawing is really intense. (It's starting to look like the shield other isn't luxury cheese, but a necessity if you want to solo a boss... hm...)

Round 7

There is no further response to Araden.

(This is the last round of your guidance.)

With a growl, Araden swings one more time at the skeleton, trying to free himself up long enough for a moment of rest.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 5 + 1 = 19 Using guidance.
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

"How do you think he's doing?"

Ulrich turns from Kekkle to watch Pahleg and study the priest's quickly expanding wounds.

"... I think he's met some resistance."

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

(It'll be fiiiin- *a body pops up*)

Round 7

Araden knocks off half of the skeleton's rib cage, but it's not quite enough to put a stop to it.

Indeed, the skeleton shows no sign of stopping.

Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 (...it's spooky how constant the 18s have appeared. Be thankful for no 20s, I guess?)
Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Damage: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 (And that, I think, puts you at 0 hp.)

Araden falls unconscious, succumbing to his many claw wounds, on his final seconds of consciousness hearing the scholar's mad laughter. He is then killed. YOU DIED

1d6 ⇒ 6

Combat over.

The others, outside the Librarium, notice the fog door swirling a little, changing its color and feel. They estimate they could enter through now, which means Araden has failed in his attempt.

(What will you do now?)

"Well. What else could we expect. We should wait until Araden resurfaces, then and he can give forewarn us about this. Once we've had a chance for Pahleg to recover his spells, we'll make another attempt."