Motteditor's Reign of Winter PBP (Inactive)

Game Master motteditor

Malavarius looks at Pemsworth, one bushy eyebrow arched in a mix of confusion and concern. "Did he now, Pemsworth? Interesting." Looking to Quinn and Tsin, the old man then loudly whispers, "What's he going on about? Why's he talking about hanging dead men?" He looks back at Pemsworth, as if the halfling couldn't hear what he just said to the others, and offers a clumsy smile and a few nods of his head.

Hawktir returns to the group, and using a serious of hopping, flapping, and squawks attempts to guide the party to the maiden figure.

This is the one I wanted to enter anyway.

Hawktir will fly with the group to the maiden, indicating they they need to ascend to the top the maiden to enter.

When the climb is clear to all, he will helpfully offer to take Pem's delicious rabbit to the top in his sharp, pointed, hawky claws. To be helpful, of course.

"He wants us to climb that?!?" Pems looks up at the towering statue with incredulity. "If we slip... One fall and... SPLAT!"

"From here, it looks daunting, I agree, master Pems. I think once we're closer, there should be something reasonable to allow us to climb it. I should think. Unless the only ones encouraged to enter are those who can fly." Tsin looks at Quinn with a light head tilt towards her shoulder.

"What's this jabber about the phases of the moon, though, hmm? If Hektir's found a path or door or somesuch, why did the blasted riddlesome raven give us those verses?"

"Yes, to that point, we must conclude that a door already present at the height of the Maiden's rock formation must mean that tonight, the moon is waxing. Does that mean that we only have a certain amount of time within that thing before the door disappears with the coming of the new phase of the moon? Unlikely we'll be lucky to find what we seek by visiting only one of them." Tsin rolls her neck, fatigue from the march setting in.

"What are we doing here, again? Following the orders of Ravens, yes, but I can't quite remember the why of our pilgrimmage."

There is no apparent path up the statues; it's climb or fly...

And just to make sure Tsin's question wasn't aimed at me, you're following clues granted by the ravens:

“This amulet holds only one of the three clues you seek. It reveals the first ingredient for Baba Yaga’s kettle. Look for this key where time catches up to us all.”

and

“You have taken upon yourselves a great burden, for that which you desire, the changeling holds. Know this as well—you will find the Crone only when the moon wanes.”

and

“So be it. Seek now the sisters three who are one: Mother, Maiden, Crone. But know that the Maiden is elusive, and may only be caught with the waxing moon.”

So, the clues led you here, where you'll apparently find an ingredient for Baba Yaga's kettle, which will presumably move you on to where she is (or closer at least).

Hawktir squawks and waits for the team to fly/climb up. While he waits, hopping from vantage point to vantage point, he scans for trouble...in between preenings.

1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19 Perception

I was hoping stairs or somesuch would appear during the appropriate moon-phase to scale each of the figures. Hmmm. How to get an old wizard up a vertical cliff face....

Malavarius gazes up the vertical distance of the figures to Hektir's circling form in the sky above and strokes his beard in contemplation. After a minute, he jabs his staff into his hat to rouse Zeno. "Zeno? Zeno! Get up, won't you. You've important work ahead of you now. You've got to carry me up to the top of this statue here."
"You want me to what?! Are you mad? I mean- madder than usual? I can't carry you. You're much too heavy!"
"What? Can't carry me? Bah, what good are you then? What about Pemsworth? Carry him then."
"He's too heavy too you empty headed beardgrabber!"
Malavarius frowns and scoffs at the insult as the two descend into old and familiar quarreling habits.

Pems scratches his head. "I can weave a spell of flying. But I only memorized one today. If we wait... I can memorize more tomorrow, but... I mean, I can't exactly carry anyone else. But I'm not a climber. I'm much more of a faller."

Any idea, roughly, how tall these statues are?

Hmm. If you cast bull strength on a thrush, could it carry a human? What about a coconut? What would its average airspeed be?

A half-mile (2,600 feet).

Yo momma! Dem ladies is taaaaaaaaalllllll!

Unless Quinn prepared multiple castings of fly, I think we might be camping at the feet of these giant stone ladies for a day before we can make our way up to the top!

Hawktir squawks as the unfeathered squabblers squabble. Rolling his hawkish eyes, Hawktir goes down to land on Tsin.

Squawking angrily, he casts Fly on Tsin.

Tsin is plenty strong enough to carry youse yahoos to the top, one at a time.

Hawkir mimics flying to Tsin...indicating that the woman should be quick about the process as the spell wouldnt' last forever.

Intelligence Check: 1d20 ⇒ 17

Max Load 350lbs, Tsin is able to transport anyone less than 150lbs, give or take.

No sooner does Hektir descend and alight upon her shoulder, Tsin turns from the pantomimed direction, and grabs hold of Pemsworth, ready to test her capacity to port each of the others upward. "Do not wriggle, master halfling, and keep your eyes open. I am not interested in anything seeking to interrupt our ascent."

First Pems, then Mal, then Quinn. Readying to ascend with Quinn, Tsin turns to Erdija. "You were very kind to escort us this far. I can't imagine you wanting to continue further with us here, so I will say our goodbyes and give our thanks to you and your camp. Hopefully we can find our way back, once we have found what it is we have come for."

Erdija nods.

"I can wait here for a short while if you want, and make sure you can find your way back..." she says.

As Tsin begins to ascend with the halfling, she notices a pair of lights about a quarter of the way up, easily visible in the shade cast by Artrosa. They appear to be hovering in front of the cliff.

Not sure how exacting you want to be with this ascent, Mott, but in case the answer to that involves us making a lot of fly checks, here's a quick link to the skill for everyone's sake.

Malavarius nods to Erdija, "That's very kind of your, my dear, but don't feel the need to linger for long. If we've been followed and have had demons set upon us by our unknown pursurers, I wouldn't want them cornering you here while you wait for me and these dundering cabbageheads." He smiles warmly to their guide then raises his eyebrows as he looks up to observe Tsin's flight with poor, dangling Pemsworth. "Do you know, I'm not looking forward to my turn."

Ummmm. Not sure how strict GM's going to be, but this may be a very very bad idea. You can fly at 60' speed. You can ascend at half speed and descend at twice speed. This means ~43 rounds to get up to the top, and another 22 rounds to get down again. Assuming no time at the bottom, that means you have 5 rounds of ascending at 60' per round before the spell gives out about 300' up. You float downward at 60' per round for 1d6 rounds, meaning as long as you roll a 5 or 6, you're fine. But that still only means one of us is at the top. So Tsin brings Pems up, Hektir can fly. That means at the end of the spell Pems and Hektir are up, Tsin, Quinn and Mal are down. If Tsin grabs Pems and Pems casts fly on Quinn, then Quinn can fly Mal up and we should be fine.

not to mention the need to make a DC20 fly check to ascend at more than a 45 degree angle AND the will-o-wisps that are somewhere in the middle of the ascent! D:

So, I'm going to hold off a bit then on this plan until you decide what to do. I'm willing to handwave a little -- I don't think we need the Fly checks if you're not in combat, for example. And maybe there won't be any combat?

Famous last GM words... Maybe there won't be any combat, as he cackles behind the screen.

Hawktir will fly with the team up to the top, keeping an eye on the lights should they come and want to fight.

Tsin takes to wing with Pems, tucking the halfling under her armpit, so as to keep her sword arm free. "Quinn, be a dear, and bring Mal up with you, alright?"

As Tsin takes flight, she eventually spots the lights, and so searches for a place to set the halfling down on the side of the cliff, while continuing to climb.

Fly Check: 1d20 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 2 + 4 = 24

Perception, Halfling roosts: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16

Perception check: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30

Pems casts his flying spell on Quinn, leaving Mal to his tender embrace. He is scooped up by Tsin in a most undignified fashion. He clutches Flash tightly, not trusting the Hawktir's self-control. "This is by far the craziest idea I have ever been a part of..." He mutters.

Hawktir squawks happily as Tsin finally gets the party moving up, with Tsin/Pems and Quinn/Mal lugging loads upwards.

Hawktir flies in looping circles up and up, keeping an eye out for danger.

"Whoa- what? WHOA! The devil- Quinn? Quinn! Oh for heaven's sake, watch where you're flying. Ack! Zeno? Zeno?! Quickly now, save yourself! Ouch! Don't squeeze so hard you drunken fool! Ahh! Don't loosen your grip that much either!"

Tsin, you can find a couple small 5-by-5-foot ledges that should be able to hold someone. However, as you veer away from the lights, they begin to move toward you!

The will-o'-wisps, as you realize they must be, race toward Tsin and Quinn and both feel electricity coursing through them, cuasing their fingers to convulse and painfully dig into their cargo. 20 hp electricity damage to Tsin; 11 to Quinn

Party is up for Round 1; no map

Are we treating all of us (save Hektir) as having the grappled condition whilst either hauling or being hauled upward?

"Ach! Tsin! That part of me is both very sensitive and very precious! Please don't squeeze that!" Pems angles to see the lights pursuing them. He lays a hand on Tsin and concentrates, healing her for 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (8, 7) + 6 = 21 damage and adding his ward (+2 deflection to AC and +2 resistance to saves) to her!

Pems, how are you doing 2 stnd action hexes at once?

Round 1, Init 14

Hawktir squawks irritably as they are attacked...especially when he was on watch. He fly charges the nearest wisp, giving it a good Hektirring.

1d20 + 4 + 6 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 4 + 6 + 1 + 2 = 31 to hit; (magic)
1d4 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11 magic talon damage.

That was going to be my question, Hektir!

And, yeah, that probably makes sense, Mal.

Whoops! Forgot ward wasn't a free action. I'll just heal Tsin!

Concentration Check (DC 19): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31
(DC = 10 + 7(Quinn's CMB) + 2(spell level))

As the will-o-wisps zip through the air toward them, Malavarius manages to invoke a measure of protection for Quinn. "Don't stop flying, you drunken fool! And don't drop me! Blasted wisps, let us be!"

cast protection from energy (electricity) on Quinn, gains resist 10

Round 1, Init 7

Tsin does move to one of those precarious, precipitous cliff ledges, and divests herself of her cargo. Move-Free action? I'd hate to think of Pems as an item...

"Alright, not the best of circumstances, but I think you'll be safe here for the time being, especially if the creatures engage with Quinn and myself for now. I apologize- I'm sure that will heal soon enough, but it will make for a rather oddly-placed bruise, I agree."

Tsin braces herself for more electricity by quietly pleading to Pharasma to ease the full extent of the pain. Cast Resist Energy(Electricity)

As Tsin and Quinn move away to deposit their charges on nearby ledges, both suffer more shocks from the wisps, the electricity coursing through Tsin especially painfully again. 28 hp for Tsin (48 total now), 16 for Quinn (27 total); wow -- this may be my most effective fight yet

As Tsin drops Pems and casts her spell, healing energy from the halfling cures some of the ills and Mal casts protective magics on his transport. The cleric calls on Cayden, and more of his own and Tsin's wounds are wiped away. channel 1/6; 10 hp healing to everyone but the wisps

A short distance away, Hektir dive-bombs the closest wisp, talons tearing into it. The two aberrations turn their focus to the avian, and electricity courses through him moments later. 15 and 11 hp of electricity damage

Concentration (DC 20): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23

Malavarius begins to shout his discomfort once more, "Gah! Don't rip out my beard you clumsy ox! Goodness! Of all the miserable..." before trailing off into muttered oaths and transitioning into a spell. As it finishes, his allies find their movements hastened as his magics settle over them.

haste on the group!

Oops...didn't realize that Hawktir was tiny. -3 damage from last attack. Apologies.

Round 2

Hawktir recoils from the touches of the wisps as if shocked, squawking loudly because he can't really spit effectly. He can, however, defend himself in ways that wisps have never seen hawks do.

1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22 vs. DC 19 Cast Defensively Concentration Check

Hawktir casts Resist Energy (electricity) successfully.

Pems shakes his head, unfamiliar with wisps and their... nature. So he casts a slumber hex on the nearest one, while clinging as tightly as he can to the cliff face! Will Save DC 17!

Round 2

Seeing charred feathers fluttering towards the ground as Hawktir takes the brunt of the lighting creatures, Quinn calls for healing to aid his companions.

channel heal, selective: 4d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 3, 3) = 13

Round 2, Init 7

Tsin turns towards the wisps, getting beaten by both damaging electrical currents of the lights and restorative buffets of her friends. She tries to get a better understanding of any weakness about her vicious foes.

Knowledge(Dungeoneering), Untrained, Monster Lore: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 And I was hoping to apply Monster Lore here successfully... sigh...

She keeps moving, as her control seems to waver when she tries to stay in one place for long. It seems like a poor idea to sit mid-air and continue receiving shocks.

She lashes out at the closest light.

+1 Falchion, Power Attack, Bane 4/5: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 11 - 2 + 2 = 31 for 2d4 + 7 + 6 + 2d6 ⇒ (1, 1) + 7 + 6 + (5, 4) = 24 damage

Haste Attack: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 11 - 2 + 2 = 17 for 2d4 + 7 + 6 + 2d6 ⇒ (1, 4) + 7 + 6 + (1, 6) = 25 damage

Edit:

Confirm Critical?: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 11 - 2 + 2 = 12 for 2d4 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (2, 4) + 7 + 6 = 19 damage

double sigh...

Pem's hex seems to have no visible effect, something that can't be said for Mal's spell as it speeds all his companions' efforts.

Hawktir casts, carefully manipulating his wings to avoid provoking attacks from the wisps. Though doesn't he need a Fly check to hover there; otherwise he'd provoke when he moves, wouldn't he? I hate flying rules...

Quinn heals his companions as Tsin races back to the nearest wisp, blade slashing through the center of the ball of light. The ball of light retreats quickly from the swordswoman, flying down the cliff, before it blinks out.

The other wisp turns its attention back to Tsin, who feels another shock course through her, though this time dampened by her protective magics. 7 hp electric (before resistance)

Yes, Hawktir does need a fly check DC 15 to hover. However, with 7 ranks, 3 for class skill, good manueverability (+4), and his tiny dex, he autochecks it...and most of the other fly checks.

Round 3

Hawktir flaps and keeps attacking, moving to the one on Tsin.

1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 1 = 17 to hit;
1d4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 magic damage.

Haste:
1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 9 + 1 = 15 to hit;
1d4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 magic damage.

Round 3, Init 7

Tsin braces against the third electric strike, imagining what it must feel like to be airborne in a lightning storm. She tries to finish the creature swiftly, no longer keeping track for exactly how long she's been flying. Sorry, left off Hover check to keep full attack last round

Fly Check, DC 15 to Hover: 1d20 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 2 + 4 = 17

+1 Falchion, Power Attack, Bane 5/5: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 11 - 2 + 2 = 31 for 2d4 + 7 + 6 + 2d6 ⇒ (1, 1) + 7 + 6 + (6, 1) = 22 damage

Haste Attack: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 11 - 2 + 2 = 22 for 2d4 + 7 + 6 + 2d6 ⇒ (1, 3) + 7 + 6 + (2, 1) = 20 damage

edit:

Confirm Critical?: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 11 - 2 + 2 = 16 for 2d4 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (4, 1) + 7 + 6 = 18 damage

Round 3

Confident that the butcher will slaughter any lightning bugs that are foolish enough to hover about her vicinity, Quinn draws his crossbow and searches the sky for more of the creatures. "Take care that more don't sneak upon us, finish that beastie and let us move quickly to safe ground."

perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29

Malavarius smacks Quinn atop the head as he gropes about for a crossbow, "What do you think you're doing, boy? Don't you dare drop me for some silly crossbow! It's an awfully long fall from here, don't you know."

As he wonders whether he's about to be discarded or not, Malavarius calls up his ward while Tsin and Hektir dispatch the remaining wisp.

As the staff raps across his head, Quinn cringes from the old man standing on the narrow ledge beside him. "Ouch! It's a long fall from up here, be careful swinging that thing, you might slip and go tumbling."

Malavarius looks at the ledge that seeming materialized under his feet from out of nowhere. "What? When did that get there?" He leans back into the rough rock wall and waves Quinn back over, "Put that silly contraption away and let's get to the top of this blasted hill, hmm? Pemsworth's magics won't bear you aloft for much longer, lad."

totally missed mott's auto-pilot of Quinn setting Malavarius down on the ledge back in round 1. Derp!

Tsin's blade rip into the remaining wisp and it quickly follows its companion in beating a hasty retreat, leaving the rest of you free to continue your ascent up the massive carved mountain unmolested.

Arriving at the peak, you see vertiginous cliffs surrounding the mesa top on all sides, though a rock wall backing the top of the figure’s head rises above the plateau, creating some cover from the cold winds blowing across the mesa. From every direction the view is dizzying, offering a clear panorama of miles and miles of Iobarian wilderness. A small copse of bare, weathered trees stands in the shelter of the rock wall, their knotted roots clinging desperately to the cold, hard stone. Dozens of bones litter the ground before the grove, some so ancient that the trees’ roots appear to grow right through them. Behind the trees, a shadowy arched opening in the wall leads deep inside the rock.

As Pems somehow spotted earlier from half a mile below, the gutted carcass of a centaur hangs from one of the trees.

"I never did study gears and contraptions and levers, but I doubt that centaur climbed up here or was lifted by mechanical means, which suggests that something that is very big, with a very big appetite, did lift it to this lofty perch." Wide eyed and nervous, Quinn searches the area for clues to the unknown beast's nature.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

"As I said before, this isn't a welcome home sign." Pems shudders. "I guess now we wait for the moon to rise, right?"

It appears to be mostly normal as far as mountain scuplture-top groves with gutted centaur carcasses go except for the nearly 18-foot-tall willow tree with a trunk in the shape of a woman.