NotEspi's "Severing Ties" (Standard) (Inactive)

Game Master NotEspi

Glaring at the fiendish monster, Kazu lets loose and tears into the kyton with claws and beak. "Die, you abomination," he mutters in a cold voice.

Bludgeoner, Enforcer, Frightening, Flank
If any of the attacks below hit, debilitating injury (bewildered): -2AC (-4AC for Kazu) for 1 rd (including for all subsequent attacks). Each successive hit increases duration by 1 rd.

claw 1: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 10 + 2 = 27 nonlethal dmg: 1d3 + 6 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 6 + (4, 4) = 16
If hit, intimidate: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 vs 10+HD+Wis to be frightened for 1 rd

claw 2: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 10 + 2 = 21 nonlethal dmg: 1d3 + 6 + 2d6 ⇒ (3) + 6 + (5, 1) = 15
If hit, intimidate: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26 vs 10+HD+Wis to be frightened for 1 rd

bite: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 2 = 15 dmg: 1d3 + 2d6 ⇒ (1) + (1, 1) = 3

I LOVE reading kazus attack routine, its like a beautiful novel :)

Helme moves as far as she can, but can't quite see the enemy.

Double move. She's an Oread and slow really slow.

Kazu, Tenibri and Garr all come in and etch a few deep wounds into the chain-covered fiend. Some of the wounds close immediately, but it is clear you got him bad. On top of everything, Kazu's frightening presence sets in as he strikes the creature. The fiend attempts to flee, and attempts to shove Garr aside to move out of the room. But Garr stands still and stops its advance.

Overrun vs Garr: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

Garr can take an AoO against the chain devil and the rest of you can do your actions for these two turns.

Turn 1/2 - go if bolded
Status: -

Kazu
Helme
Kyton
Cypher
Eadric
Tenibri
Garr

Seeing Kazu work, and the fear it put in the eyes of the Kyton, is almost enough to make Eadric feel sorry for the devil... Almost. "Your evil, torturing days a through!" He cries as he attempts to repeatedly slam his shield into the Kyton's chest.

Atk. Mithral Shield; Flurry: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 7 - 2 = 17
Dmg. Bludgeoning (Silver): 1d3 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Atk. Mithral Shield; Flurry: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 7 - 2 = 6
Dmg. Bludgeoning (Silver): 1d3 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

I think y'all have the damage side of things sorted, I'm just trying to get a hit in to remove the regeneration. :)

Seeing the hurt being put on the devil kyton, Cypher hisses at it in Shadowtongue.

They hold out their hand, not casting any spells but ready if needed... Readying action to cast Grease if needed to get someone out of grapple

Tenibri's ant continues its assault, biting and attempting to grab the kyton to keep it in the room and deliver more stings.

Tenibri seems pleased with the way the battle is going, and decides that his simple, tried-and-true strategy is best for now. He moves into the room by Garr and calls up a little glob of acid, which he launches at the Kyton.

Forgot about this. INCOMING OPEN ROLL!

Fort: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Eh. It's not like he's hitting you anyway.

Tenibri, I think the smite evil from celestial template does not bypass DR. It merely gains the bonuses to attack and damage.

Kazu presses on his attack. His swings his first claw overhead to slam against the face of the fiend, followed quickly by a vicious claw across its chest before capping it with a vicious bite into its neck.

Bludgeoner, Enforcer, Frightening, Flank
If any of the attacks below hit, debilitating injury (bewildered): -2AC (-4AC for Kazu) for 1 rd (including for all subsequent attacks). Each successive hit increases duration by 1 rd.

claw 1: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 10 + 2 = 27 nonlethal dmg: 1d3 + 6 + 2d6 ⇒ (3) + 6 + (4, 6) = 19
If hit, intimidate: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 vs 10+HD+Wis to be frightened for 1 rd That should do it

claw 2: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 10 + 2 = 19 dmg: 1d3 + 6 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 6 + (3, 4) = 15

bite: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 9 + 2 = 31 dmg: 1d3 + 2d6 ⇒ (3) + (6, 2) = 11
crit?: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 9 + 2 = 31 dmg: 1d3 ⇒ 3

Kazu, I think you're right. Why oh why would they use the same name if it has different effects? @GM, you should apply DR to the ant's attacks.

I don't think it really matters at this point. We'll keep using paladin version of smite for the rest of the fight.

Helme moves up and stabs the devil with her longspear. She slips it between Eadric, and Garr.

Longspear Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Im sure the Kyton is royally screwed at this point, but ill take the AoO real quick lol

Garr swings in tandem with the group, keeping the advantage in the teams favor as they press on the Kyton. His chains coming out in a deadly blur

AoO; Kamas, Pow.Att, Flanking: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 2 = 22
Damage, Pow.Att: 1d6 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 3 = 10

After the Kyton comes in range of Garr's spinning chain, he follows up with his signature Loopy Flurry

Loopy Flurry, Pow.Att, Flanking: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 2 = 9
Damage, Pow.Att: 1d6 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 3 = 11
Loopy Flurry, Pow.Att, Flanking: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 5 + 2 = 16
damage, Pow.Att: 1d6 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 3 = 12

With a bellowing cry, the kyton collapses to the floor after the assault of the 'Aspis'. While the fiend is on the floor, he is not bleeding, and some of his wounds are slowly closing. (Eadric didn't manage to land a hit)

The three cultists in this room are laying on the tables, with most of their clothing neatly stacked on shelves nearby. An unfinished Sihedron rune is carved into the skin of each one of them. In addition, tied to a simple leather strap, each wears the cult's holy symbol around the neck.

Cypher is curt as they speak.

Eadric, clean that up... beat it with your shield until it stops regrowing.

Are the cultists unconscious?

"Sure thing, Cyph!" Eadric says as he unstraps his shield. "I'm totally on it." He looks down at the torturer with disdain and proceeds to whack the everlasting snot out of the devil, repeatedly bringing his shield down two-handed on its head. Once all that's left of the friend's noggin is a pulpy mess, Eadric unclips the Aspis badge from his belt and stuffs it in the Kyton's hand, as if he ripped it free in the struggle.

They were definitely unconscious when we entered. ;)

Gotcha

Cypher walks over to where the Kyton was working and picks up a blade.

The squeamish of you may not want to look... scarification is a standard practice in Nidal, and I don't exactly have to make it look pretty.

They take the knife and proceed to slash and cut the rune in each members flesh, permanently disfiguring it. The others can see that Cypher's disposition is cold, much colder than usual, and they don't even flinch as they cut into the cultists. Once they are done ruining the scarification runes, they then cut loose the holy symbols from their necks and tuck them into a pocket.

Search the room. Cypher barks out Make sure we've got everything.

Seeing what Eadric did, Cypher grins and a little bit of their usual warmth returns.

Clever darling, clever. Who says your all muscle?

They give them a quick peck on the cheek before returning to their more serious tone.

Once we finish here, I say we burn the remaining dolls. I don't wanna waste any more time here... if they have Kytons, this place just got a lot more dangerous, and these *Insert shadowtongue curse* cultists might wake up if we take to long.

Ahem... That was supposed to be the 'fiends noggin' back there, definitely not his 'friend's nogging.' :)

Dang, that is cold Cypher. I know they're an evil cult and all, but those poor acolytes will never be the same again.

Eadric shakes the excess Kyton off his shield, straps it back on, and looks up in time to see Cypher cut free and stow away the cultists' holy symbols. He completely missed the vandalisation of ritual scars, and the cold look in Cypher's eyes as they did it, but their uncharacteristic disposition is easy to see. "Gee, thanks, Cyph!" Eadric says, blushing a little at the peck on the cheek, "Well, like, the brain is a muscle too, right?.. So that means I'm totally covered in brains!" He jokes, giving Cypher a big goofy grin as he flexes his considerable muscles, hoping to lighten the mood, "Must be smarter than any long-bearded wizard I ever met!"

He then conducts a haphazard search of the room, going for more speed then precision.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Heh, Cypher is normally the sweetest, nicest person you'll ever meet, but Nidalese and torture stuff is a literal trigger for them. PTSD is a rough beast. They've been around in various incarnations since 3.0, and you should have seen the stuff that got wrote up during my edgy teen role-player phase about what poor Cypher suffered during their life as a slave.

Kazu looks on unflinching and unfazed as Cypher gets to work. He stations himself near the door in case anyone should come in. He asks in a loud whisper, "I do not understand the connection between the Kytons and these cultists. But I do not like this. This mission is becoming more complex that I like."

Realizing this has upset Cypher very much and not knowing what else to do. Helme gives Cypher a hug, and follows directions searching the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

"Come, we have dallied here enough." Without another word, Kazu stealthily creeps out of the room and goes to examine the next room. (Room 2)

Kazu will take 10 for the thievery stuff, i.e. stealth (24), perception (20) and disable device (24).

That was... personal. Tenibri says nothing to Cypher about what he just saw, but looks at the sorcerer with a new respect. What must have happened... I don't think I want to know.

With that on his mind, he follows Kazu as they try to find the remaining Lissalans.

After finishing the nasty business in the scarification chamber, the party moves on to other rooms. The next examined areas (rooms 2 and 3) prove to be simple storage rooms. None of the items here are of any significant value, and pretty much all contents of both rooms combined can be purchased for a few dozen gold pieces.

"Well... That's a bust." Eadric says as he searches through the supplies, "Bet it's not even worth stealing." He shrugs and looks to Kazu, "What do you say, Bro? You feel like sneaking into the room we passed back there?" They saw the doorway to the south a few times as they entered and exited the scarification chamber, and Eadric really wants to get a good lay of the land before confronting the chanting cultists to the north.

Southern room

This wide room contains several bunk beds and chests - sleeping space for about 30 people - each embossed with a different rune. A heavy iron pipe runs the length of the south wall of this room at about four feet from the ground, disappearing into the eastern and western walls. A pungent smell issues from an alcove to the east.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

"Ugh! Smells like goblin farts in here..." Eadric says, screwing up his face as he enters the room. "I don't think these cultists are, like, totally hygienic." He's about to head into the east alcove to find the source, half afraid it'll end up being a load of dead cats hanging from the ceiling, when something catches his eye. "Hey, what's that?" He steps up to one of the chests where, wrapped around a magical wand, a letter juts out. Pulling it out, he gives the letter a quick read and then passes it, and the wand, onto anyone else who's interested. "The letter's just gibberish, but like, wands are always most interesting! What do you think it does?"

Unsurprisingly, Eadric cannot read Tian. :)

Tenibri takes a look at the note that Eadric produces. "Good eye, my man; good eye!" He quickly realizes that he can read the note without trouble. "Hey; I read this! Tien; the language of my ancestors!" Reading along, he translates for the others before moving on to an investigation of the wand.

Unless you think there's something troubling that Tenibri would like to keep to himself, go ahead and let us all know what the letter says. He will then cast detect magic to study the wand.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Cypher touches sweetsong softly and the gentle smell of lilacs comes from the tiny bird.

Astute observation Eadric.... very foul indeed... let's see if we can't find out what's causing that...

Waiting for Eadric to lead the way to the alcove, Cypher follows behind, detecting magic as they go... just in case.

The letter is a missive regarding one of the newly discovered backdoor of the Hao Jin Tapestry, a home to multiple locations and environments.

After entering the eastern door, you find a washroom containing a table with four ceramic basins, each capable of holding 8 gallons of water. The iron pipe juts into this washroom, capped with a spigot positioned over a large barrel. The spigot dribbles foul-smelling water into the barrel, which is ringed with dried flowers in an attempt to mask the smell.

Near the barrel hangs a wand underneath a note that reads, "Conserve charges! Use on full basins only!"

Eadric enters the alcove first, covering his nose as he gestures for Cypher and the others to follow. "Huh... It's just water!" He says with surprise and relief that quickly turns to disgust once he notices the basins. "No way..." He looks back to the others in horror. "Do they actually, like, wash in that stuff? Gagh, that's most foul."

Cypher gives a barely noticible twitch.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

However, even without knowing exactly what the wand is, they put two and two together.

Not just bath Eadric... I bet they use that wand to make it safe to drink... makes sense, it's tough to get clean water into a abandoned building without being noticed, but you'd think there would be limits... ugh... let's get out of here. We have a days to wreck and little time to do it in.

"Totally, Cyph!" He looks at the wand dubiously as he stuffs it in his bag and makes for more fragrant ground, but something Cypher says makes him think twice. "Wait a minute... I have a most excellent idea!" He looks back at the spigot dripping foul water into the barrel and then at the pipe above the beds. "What if we, like, rip out the pipes or something? It'll totally wreck the place and make it way harder to get drinking water if they can't repair it properly..." He gives a smile, ready to yank on a pipe if given the go ahead.

I could try using a bit of brute force and yank a few pipes free? We were asked to sabotage as completely as possible, so flooding their barracks in foul water might be a good start. Or like the basilisk, we could come back later?

Just like letting the basilisk free, breaking the pipe or the spigot seem like valid options to me. You can still explore the other rooms for other options, if you wish. I would also suggest at least finding someone to talk to (to announce the 'Aspis' presence), before actually messing the place up.

I really like the idea of identifying all our options, then after kicking up a big stink during 'negotiations,' trash the place on our way out like petulant children. :)

Cypher gives a mad grin.

Oh Eadric, that is CLEVER.

They give them a kiss on the cheek again and a squeeze as they look at the room.

It could take HOURS to clean this place if we break the pipes right... and the smell would NEVER come out! Oh hehehe... this is gonna be good... Gotta let them know who's doing it though.

"Just don't get any on my feathers," Kazu adds on in all seriousness.

"Let's see what else we can find in here." He pads silently across the stone floor to the door to the east. Think that's the last one before the room to the north where we heard the chanting?

Take 10 for stealth (24), perception (20) and disable device (24).

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Cypher can clean you up if you get water on your feathers. They are good like that." She'll follow the others to the eastern door.

Eastern Room

This room contains several mats and low beds. The walls of this room are deeply carved with jagged runic symbols. A small table sports a large brick of burning incense, but the incense’s heavy scent does not quite disguise an underlying sharp smell.

Eadric is positively beaming as he enters the eastern room, since being called clever once was pretty awesome, but twice in one day is practically unheard of. He's also particularly pleased with how happy his suggestion seemed to make Cypher. "What is it with these guys and smelly rooms?" He wonders, waving his hand in front of his face in an attempt to blow away the incense and the underlying smell. "I mean, like, is it part of their cultish self torture rubbish?"

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Know. Local: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Cypher Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 3
Sweetsong Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16
Sweetsong Engineering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Sweetsong whispers something into Cypher's ear and they giggle, stepping back and away.

Everyone, careful how much you breath. That stench is a poisonous gas.... won't kill us right away, but isn't healthy. Notably, Sweetsong would like to mention that it's flammable... potentially explosive even... another possible source of fun. So no fire unless we WANT this area to go sky high... anyone know how to rig a flint and steel deadfall trap?

Kazu took 10 for perception earlier

As quietly as ever, Kazu moves over to one of the mats and pull out a set of forgotten rune-decorated prayer beads. He whispers, "You think this might be magical?"

Cypher looks over the beats to detect any magical presence.

If not, might make a good prop...

spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

"Woah! Poisonous and flammable... Sounds most interesting." Eadric says, taking an instinctive step back from the smell. "I have a candle, torch, and like, a tindertwig if that helps anyone?" He looks around at his fellow Pathfinders, unsure if any of them are capable of building traps.

Cypher detecds magical auras in the beads, but their nature remains enigmatic.

Cypher shakes their head in annoyance and passes the beads to Tenibiri.

Tenny darling, I can't seem to think straight enough to figure out these beads, their magical though. If you would take a crack at it, it would be appreciated.

They sigh and look at the room, thinking for a moment.

Well... we can blow the thing up on the way out.... trap it so that it blows after we're gone... either way, we should see what their up to right now.

"Sounds good to me, Cyph!" Eadric says with a smile as he takes one last look around the room, noting the deep runes carved into the walls and wishing he had a hammer. "I haven't seen a good explosion for way too long."
___
I'm good with heading north towards the chanting now. :)

Tenibri takes the beads from Cypher. "Probably religious, you know, so not my expertise, but I'm always glad to take a look; glad to take a look."

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

"Eadric, I don't know anything about traps, really, but I can move things slowly." He quickly casts mage hand and gently lifts the incense from its tray, only enough to demonstrate before setting it down again. "I could fly your candle into the room while we're safely outside, if we want to do something like that."