Alden moves to protect his comrade, while 42 dodges the javelin by blinking out of existence momentarily! He retaliates with a spell that leaves his hand stinking of undeath. Fort:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27 He hits the masked man, but there doesn't seem to be the paralysis or stink effect that 42 expects.
Male Human Spell Sage 14 | HP:100/100| AC: 16/ FF 12/ T 14 |CMD: 17| Fort: +12 Ref: +12 Will: +13 | Perception: +18| Init: +3 [|] Uses Ring of Invisibility
Our Mysterious Benefactor wrote:
PFSRD wrote:
Attacks from Land: Characters swimming, floating, or treading water on the surface, or wading in water at least chest deep, have improved cover (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus on Reflex saves) from opponents on land. Land-bound opponents who have freedom of movement effects ignore this cover when making melee attacks against targets in the water. A completely submerged creature has total cover against opponents on land unless those opponents have freedom of movement effects. Magical effects are unaffected except for those that require attack rolls (which are treated like any other effects) and fire effects.
Fire: Nonmagical fire (including alchemist's fire) does not burn underwater. Spells or spell-like effects with the fire descriptor are ineffective underwater unless the caster makes a caster level check (DC 20 + spell level). If the check succeeds, the spell creates a bubble of steam instead of its usual fiery effect, but otherwise the spell works as described. A supernatural fire effect is ineffective underwater unless its description states otherwise. The surface of a body of water blocks line of effect for any fire spell. If the caster has made the caster level check to make the fire spell usable underwater, the surface still blocks the spell's line of effect.
If Rybos is trying to bite and smack 42, I'm pretty sure it is not completely submerged, so I should still have line of effect. All that cover sucks though.
Swift action to activate mantle of the black rider. +3 INT for 1 minute. Move action to pick up the wand that Exiel stole and dropped earlier. Concealed by the mist so no AoO. I also think I'm out of his reach anyway. 5ft step out of mist. Standard action to activate the wand, spell trigger activation so all Ralph needs to know is the spell in the wand - enervation. It was a DC 19 spellcraft check so Ralph had a 0% chance of failing to identify it. No AoO due to spell trigger activation method.
Ralph picks up the wand that Exiel had stolen from Rybos and fires a ray of dark energy at the overgrown seafood platter.
Link
-4 attack rolls
-4 combat maneuver checks
-4 saving throws
-4 skill/ability checks
-4 caster level
-20 hp (Max and current)
"Be honoured, Rybos, this was just about the same tactic we used to bring down the Runelord Krune himself!"
That should help Lavode and 42 not get turned into fish-food. Alden and 42, it might be a good idea for you two to help Lavode get out of there and let Exiel and Nienna finish off Rybos.
I worked out that I actually do more damage without a weapon when in gargoyle form and smiting with divine favour due to the static damage-per-hit bonuses.
Taking a cue from Ralph, Exiel also activates his Mantle of the Dark Rider. Then he drops his katana and attempts to hover above the water as he goes all feral on the giant calamari, attacking with bite, horn and claws.
1/2E Sorc 13, HP:93 of 93, AC:16, Touch:12, Flat Footed:14, with mage armor 13hrs F:+12, R:+11, W:+15, Init:+2, Perc:+19
Buff - remaining duration
Protection from Energy Electricity - 71 rounds (171 for others)
Magic Circle Against Evil - 771 rounds (on Alden)
Bless - 84 rounds
Water Breathing - hours (on everyone except 42)
.
He be dead...
Male Human Spell Sage 14 | HP:100/100| AC: 16/ FF 12/ T 14 |CMD: 17| Fort: +12 Ref: +12 Will: +13 | Perception: +18| Init: +3 [|] Uses Ring of Invisibility
My PFS Lavode De'Morcaine wrote:
Buff - remaining duration
Protection from Energy Electricity - 71 rounds (171 for others)
Magic Circle Against Evil - 771 rounds (on Alden)
Bless - 84 rounds
Water Breathing - hours (on everyone except 42)
.
He be dead...
Well...fortunately, even that can be fixed by Ralph's vast capabilities. Don't write Lavode off just yet.
Lavode convulses, blood streaming from his mouth as the tentacles squeeze the life from him! Ralph snatches the fallen wand and uses it against its former master, hitting him with a black ray that drains life from him! Lord Rybos shudders as the negative energy courses through his rubbery form. Exiel, seizing the opportunity, flies forward to attack the squidzard! His first attack misses, but his subsequent three hit! Rybos bleeds an odd greenish ichor into the water!
The masked men cackle, extending the -2 AC for another round to 42 and Exiel. The one closest to 42 attacks with his trident, while the other evil eyes Exiel again, this time targeting his attack rolls for a -2 to all attacks! Will Save DC 14, failure means -2 to attacks for 5 rounds, success means only 1 round!
Male halfling Fighter/Cavalier | hp 28/95 | AC 29, T 12, FF 28 | Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +2 (+6 vs. enchant) | Challenge 2/2 | Bluff +14, Diplom +17, Handle Animal +22, Percept +2 Halfling
Naala, wolf mount:
hp 21/76 | AC 24, T 16, FF 19 | Fort +10, Ref +12, Wil +5 | Speed 50 ft. | Acrobatics +8, Percept +10
Though I'm not totally sure how long has passed since I fed the potion to Naala, I'm going to assume that she is still affected by the water walk potion. I'll give two options below.
If water walk is still active:
Alden and Naala will move across the water to where Exiel is harrying the squid, and Alden will shout a challenge at the creature, then try to stab at it.
42 doesn't like that he is getting nuttered with debuff spells. He casts a Arcana Theft defensively Cast Defensively:1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24 then steps off of the shelve 5 foot towards the octopus and attacks
attack:1d20 + 18 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 18 - 4 - 2 = 26damage:1d6 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 11 - 2 = 10
I am hoping that the octopus form is a magical effect.
Even with Naala striding across the water, Alden is unable to hit the crafty squidzard. 42 follows up, casting a spell to strip the wizard of his form, but his attack is unable to land!
Well, let's see if I roll a one for that save vs evil eye. Btw, you can only suffer 1 evil eye effect at a time, so my AC is back up to 46 vs Lord Rooibos...not that it changes the fact that he needs a nat 20 to hit me. All the more so now that he sucked 4 neg levels.
will save:1d20 + 20 ⇒ (14) + 20 = 34
Nope, not a 1
Edit: Oops looks like I can be under multiple evil eyes at once. But Lord Rooibos still needs a natural 20 to hit me. =p
Male halfling Fighter/Cavalier | hp 28/95 | AC 29, T 12, FF 28 | Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +2 (+6 vs. enchant) | Challenge 2/2 | Bluff +14, Diplom +17, Handle Animal +22, Percept +2 Halfling
Naala, wolf mount:
hp 21/76 | AC 24, T 16, FF 19 | Fort +10, Ref +12, Wil +5 | Speed 50 ft. | Acrobatics +8, Percept +10
Actually, you can be under multiple Evil Eye effects as long as they are targeting different aspects of your character. So you could be evil eye'd to reduce your AC, and then your saves, and then your attack rolls, etc.
Female Elf Oracle 1/Slayer 10 | HP 69/69 | AC 28 T 18 F 20 | CMD 28 | Fort +7 Ref +15 Will +7 (evasion) | Init +10 | Diplo +14 (+5 w/ mods) | Perc +16 (trapspotting, +4 traps, +2 if Studied Target) Buffs: Mage Armor
Can you tell me which effects are not going through, so I can remove those dice rolls? I don't know if the sneak attack went through last time; if so, add +2 to all attack and damage.
Nienna continues to pepper the squid with adamantine arrows.
All the effects got through, you just didn't roll high ebough to hit his AC, even flatfooted!
Nienna fires again, but due to the water, only her last shot gets through.
Lord Rybos suddenly slips beneath the water (5' step), then the blackish water suddenly becomes inky as it fills with, well, ink! Ink cloud, free action! Lord Rybos is now fully submerged and has total concealment! Beneath the water he does something else, but no one can see!
Male Human Spell Sage 14 | HP:100/100| AC: 16/ FF 12/ T 14 |CMD: 17| Fort: +12 Ref: +12 Will: +13 | Perception: +18| Init: +3 [|] Uses Ring of Invisibility
Ralph quickly assesses the situation and yells out to Exiel.
"Exiel! Given its size and the depth of the water, Rybos should be just below the surface of the water! You should still have a chance of hitting him if you slash just beneath the surface!"
He then takes a 5ft step back into Nienna's fog and begins concentrating on a spell.
Looks like I won't be raising Lavode on this in-game day, since I'm being forced to use my spell study ability here.
If Ralph hears any chanting from below the water, he will try to make out what spell Rybos is trying to cast.
spellcraft:1d20 + 20 ⇒ (13) + 20 = 33
knowledge anything:1d20 + 20 ⇒ (15) + 20 = 35 Question:What is Rybos exactly and does it have any way of seeing through the inky black water, or does it need to come out to see us?
Male Human Spell Sage 14 | HP:100/100| AC: 16/ FF 12/ T 14 |CMD: 17| Fort: +12 Ref: +12 Will: +13 | Perception: +18| Init: +3 [|] Uses Ring of Invisibility
I guess it also has a template of some kind? Fiendish or awakened something like that? Anyway, I have what I need to know. It did not see where Ralph went, so I can concentrate on my spell safely. And it can't see us without surfacing. Exiel, keep it busy for a few rounds. Once I complete my spell, it is doomed.
Exiel hovers and lashes! His bite finds only inky water, as does his goring attack, but his claws land in something rubbery and fleshy! There is a churning in the inky black water and a dying squid floats to the surface, a scroll clutched in one tentacles and a staff in another!
The two masked men shriek in anger as Lord Rybos goes belly-up! They howl in anger and the westernmost one strides onto the water to lash out at 42!
Once the war beast of a storm-worshiping druid, Lord Rybos is a giant squid who acquired superior intellect as the result of an awaken spell. Once truly awakened, he began to hear the distant summons of the elder kraken Zhanagorr, who taught him a ritual that would grant the awakened squid greater power and influence by sacrificing humanoid victims—beginning with the same druid that awakened him. Lord Rybos has continued to perform the vile ritual and grows more powerful with each ceremony. After a decade of service to Zhanagorr, he commands great respect among the Servants of the Deep and has hundreds of boggards and slaves to further his ambitions in southeastern Wanshou.
Alden stabs at the unconscious body of the squid, killing it for good. 42 attacks the nearest masked man, felling him and stealing a water walking effect. His body floats away on the water, to bob next to Rybos. Nienna's barrage fells the last man, who lies atop the water as if it were solid land.
COMBAT OVER!
The mood in the room is joyous for a moment before you notice the corpse of Lavode bobbing gently in the water... Hamade Sora still kneels on the shelf, his eyes unfocused and staring straight ahead, but still definitely alive. He appears to be drugged or poisoned. He is currently at 0 dexterity and needs at least a single point healed before he will be conscious again.
Male Human Spell Sage 14 | HP:100/100| AC: 16/ FF 12/ T 14 |CMD: 17| Fort: +12 Ref: +12 Will: +13 | Perception: +18| Init: +3 [|] Uses Ring of Invisibility
Ralph sighs as he sees that Rybos and the last of his minions have been felled. He ceases concentrating on his spell and flies over to the far shelf. As he passes Lavode, he sighs again.
"How inconvenient. I will need to wait till tomorrow to bring him back to the realm of the living. In the mean time," he says as he dismisses the force sphere around Hamade Sora, "let's take this minstrel back to King."
"Could one of you also search Rybos and his minions for that flute we came here for?"
The room, minions and corpse of the late Squidzard are searched, their treasures numbered and cataloged. On a northern shelf, just under the water line, you find a fine looking flute. You head back to King, who offers you respite for the night.
The next morning Hamade Sora has recovered enough to speak. He tells you how he found the flute and how he swears it once calmed the waters and cleared the sky when he played, but King laughs this off as a flight of fancy. Hamade Sora is sad to see the flute go, but happy to be free. After consideration, he decides to stay with King and help him restore the tower. He tells you he has no living family and nothing much in his old village to go home to. And both he and the kappa have grown fond of one another. King smiles when he says this and offers that he plans to take in escaped slaves and teach them the gentle art of Irori. Hamade will make a fine first student.
Male Human Spell Sage 14 | HP:100/100| AC: 16/ FF 12/ T 14 |CMD: 17| Fort: +12 Ref: +12 Will: +13 | Perception: +18| Init: +3 [|] Uses Ring of Invisibility
Indeed.
Refreshed the next day, Ralph calls upon Exiel for assistance.
"For once, your muscle will actually be instrumental in performing a true feat of magic. I need you to accept this spell, and let me siphon your strength into myself."
Assuming Exiel willingly saves his saving throw, Ralph will use one spell study to cast Siphon Might on Exiel.
strength stolen:1d6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9(Ralph's strength is now 16, Exiel is down to 9. Tough.
Taking a deep breath, Ralph plunges a dagger deep into his arm as he chants another incantation. Blood streams from the deep gash in his arm and into Lavode's lifeless body. As his blood flows into Lavode's open wounds, Ralph guides it through his veins whilst casting his own spirit into Pharasma's boneyard, seeking his recently-departed ally. At length, he finds Lavode's spirit, waiting in line for judgment, and promptly grabs him and pulls.
Using blood money and dealing 11 str damage to himself in place of the material component, Ralph uses his second spell study for the day to cast Raise Dead.
When the spell is done, both Lavode and Ralph are drenched in blood, but Lavode is breathing shallowly, his spirit having been pulled back to the land of the living once more.
Finally, knowing that the blood-loss would render him unconscious as soon as the strength he had borrowed from Exiel faded, he draws more blood from his veins, and uses it as a catalyst to rapidly replenish his own blood. Using another casting of blood money, dealing 2 more points of strength damage, and using my final spell study of the day to cast restoration on myself.
The feat of magic is done in little over a minute, but by the end of it, Ralph is hunched over on the ground in exhaustion... but he finds exhiliration coursing through every fibre of his being. He had done what only the smallest handful of practitioners of the arcane had ever been able to achieve in the history of Golarion - to defy death and deny Pharasma herself, not by petition to any deity, but sheer force of arcane might.
"This...this is going into the chronicle," he pants weakly as he finally catches his breath.
Male halfling Fighter/Cavalier | hp 28/95 | AC 29, T 12, FF 28 | Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +2 (+6 vs. enchant) | Challenge 2/2 | Bluff +14, Diplom +17, Handle Animal +22, Percept +2 Halfling
Naala, wolf mount:
hp 21/76 | AC 24, T 16, FF 19 | Fort +10, Ref +12, Wil +5 | Speed 50 ft. | Acrobatics +8, Percept +10
Alden is flabbergasted. He's never seen such a sacrifice used to help a fallen ally. "That was amazing, my friend. Knowing the costs of death that the lady of graves draws from those tho tasted death, I know that Lavode will still need some of his strength returned. I will gladly offer to pay for the spellcasting from a practitioner of the divine arts."
Impressive, Ralph! But he'll still need two restoration spells to cure the negative levels before he can use the character again, correct?
Male Human Spell Sage 14 | HP:100/100| AC: 16/ FF 12/ T 14 |CMD: 17| Fort: +12 Ref: +12 Will: +13 | Perception: +18| Init: +3 [|] Uses Ring of Invisibility
I believe negative levels are the exception. Anyway, we just need to rest one more day, and then I can cast restorations on Lavode. I still have the power to teleport us back to Goka today for the debrief, rest up one more day, then I can cast the restoration spells on Lavode using the same trick.
And this is why spellsages are insanely powerful.
"All in good time, Alden. Even I can only bend the laws of magic and life itself so much in a single day. Come tomorrow, I will see that Lavode is fully restored. For now, gather to me. It is time for us to return to Venture Captain Amara Li."
42, you are fine. Negative levels from enervation do not last long enough to become permanent. You will be back at full by the time we finished resting.
Ralph checks one last time to ensure that they have their loot and the relics they were sent to retrieve, then teleports the party back to Amara Li.
Exiel cooperates with Ralph and is amazed by how far his friend's magical abilities has come.
As soon as Lavode looks well enough to travel, he says his farewells to King and Hamade, wishing them all the best and reminding them that they would also have allies with the Pathfinder Society and the Way of the Kirin. When Ralph makes the call for going home, he makes sure to be close at hand, lest he get left behind! XD
Ralph's feat of magical blood-letting and resurrection done, the party teleports back to Kwanlai to report their success to Amara Li and Shiyo Takarak. Takarak questions you carefully about the state of the tower, the money you spent on equipment and the coin that you removed from the treasury room. Finally, after listening to your explanation, she nods and bows deeply to each of you. "The Way is very pleased to see the return of these historical relics of our past. I am honored to have met you and I look forward to working with you in the future."
So Ralph can cast another Restoration on Lavode, but he will need to spend either funds or prestige for a second, since you can only have a single restoration to restore a permanent negative level in a week. I will note so on his chronicle. Everyone, if you have a day job, please roll it! I will be sending out chronicles as soon as I have your rolls.
1/2E Sorc 13, HP:93 of 93, AC:16, Touch:12, Flat Footed:14, with mage armor 13hrs F:+12, R:+11, W:+15, Init:+2, Perc:+19
With a bow, Lavode address Ralph formally, My thanks for your assistance. It is rare to find a team such as this that can truly be counted on when things are critical.
In the future, I shall need to remember to resolve my defenses earlier. I will spend prestige for the other restoration.
