[Outpost I] GM Abraham's Ancients' Anguish (Inactive)

Game Master Abraham Z.

Ali remembers that Aghash Divs are Medium extraplanar evil outsiders. You may ask 2 questions about Agash Divs from the list here.

Also, Knowledge (Religion) to know something about what Sinuhotep is.

Sinuhotep glares at Ali. "Repent? Who are you to ask me to repent? I see you bear a mighty sword. Are you so certain that every drop of blood it has shed deserved to flow? What of the noble girtablilu guardians outside? Did you strike them down? Were they evil?"

Looking closer, Sinuhotep notices the jewel Ali carries and nods. "You say that no knowledge is worth committing evil for, but that is because you do not yet know what true knowledge is. That jewel you bear is but a seed, barely sprouted, while mine is like the mightiest tree in the forest, that has stood the test of time. I did many things across these thousands of years, even made the ultimate of sacrifices in order to preserve a store of knowledge that you can scarcely conceive of, and now you demand my repentance? Instead, you should be grateful for my efforts."

We asked them repeatedly to stand down. They did not listen to reason. We let them live - merely bound while we perform our business. We did not cut out their hearts and devour them for purely personal gain. We will repent. We were wrong and we recognize it. You flaunt it. You are a being of evil. A perversion of the noble goals of our order. Your Sage Jewel would be better served in the hands of another.

Ali draws Gamin, handling it gingerly in his hands. He wants so bad for Sinuhotep to be worthy of redemption. Like the misunderstood Gamin and Kalkamedes. Instead he taunts him. Flaunts his misdeeds. Shelyn would judge him harshly for suffering him to live. I would have been grateful had you passed that knowledge down the generations as had happened with the Sapphire sages. Or had you handed off the jewel to a long lived individual such as the leader of our order, Tahonikepsu or the elven monk Dhiara. Instead you chose selfishness. You chose evil. You have perverted everything. Do you even care what you did to Saruna? Does she mean nothin to you?

Knowledge Religion via Archimedes: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18

I would like to know about the culture/ motives of Aghash Divs. Beyond that, Resistances and Special Defenses of both liches and Agash divs.

Enora is torn morally but at the same time she knows that she owes loyalty to her faction as ultimately the leader, the diamond sage, has to be the final decision maker. The Amethyst sage is maybe evil, he is maybe not evil. Who knows what somebody is capable of when he has thousand years to gain knowledge. Maybe the line between good and evil is nonexistent then.

”I want to provide the diamond sage with the opportunity to talk to you ancient Sage. Therefore, I want to give you the chance to explain to us what we will face when we engage the being that cursed you.”

Archimedes is unable to remember anything useful about Liches.

Ali recalls that Aghash Divs embody the evil eye, a curse granted by merely witnessing these embodiments of ruin and misfortune. Terrifying, haglike beings, they wander deserts of the Material Plane spreading doom with their gazes. These wretched creatures hold nothing sacred, taking particular pleasure in bringing vain and arrogant mortals, particularly spellcasters, to ruin. Ragged and filthy, an aghash moves with a staggering motion. Its hoofed legs bend like those of a goat, giving its emaciated frame an obscene, jerking gait. All divs exhibit some manner of compulsion, and theirs is to despise beautiful mortals. Further, he remembers that they have spell resistance, resistance to acid and electricity, and that to harm them with a weapon it is best if the weapon is either Good or Cold Iron. They do not normally have any special defenses.

Sinuhotep turns towards Enora, "I cannot tell you much about Surma. I have not actually encountered her, but this temple was once hers. Once she was a genie of unsurpassed beauty, but in death she was transformed into a hideous aghash, and now she hates all that is beautiful and mortal above all else. The remnants of her power that were imbued in this temple made it possible for me to complete the rites to attain immortality, but they also gave her power over me, to confine me here. I cannot leave until she is destroyed. But if you will destroy her for me, I will pledge to you to accompany you to meet the Diamond Sage so that I may rejoin the order. Tahonikepsu will understand what I hold, and why the sacrifices that were made were necessary, even if you cannot."

At this last comment, he turns to look toward Ali. "As for passing on the jewel, as I have already explained, we are intertwined now, it and I, me and it. But you accuse me of selfishness, which shows me that you still do not truly understand the vastness of all that I have sacrificed. And there were many sacrifices. Yes, Saruna, and many others besides. These were all necessary, that the Amethyst Jewel, and the knowledge that it contains, survive. Even if you cannot understand this, Tahonikepsu will."

Knowledge (Planes): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22

"Ali, regardless of what you think of Sinuhotep, surely you can agree that this Surma should be destroyed? Let us deal with that first, and then seek the council of those wiser than ourselves, such as Tahonikepsu, in deciding how to proceed. I understand that you feel you cannot ally with one such as Sinuhotep. Fine, but we are faced with two beings in this case. One, standing before us, is motivated by something other than evil and destruction. The other, Surma, is a being of pure evil, with no other intent. Let us destroy her."

”One of my kukri is cold iron, and I have an oil that will make my other one act as if it is good aligned.”

As long as the one that cursed you ain’t made of stone, I can smack it with whatever works

I vote dog for whatever it’s worth. And why would you fall, you are killing the “greater evil” to the Sage can reunite with his other sages right?

Sard does not quite remember anything about Aghash Divs.

It sounds to me like the general consensus appears to be that you will accept Sinuhotep's offer and take on Surma. I'll give it a bit to see if there are any strong objections to this and otherwise I'll proceed on that assumption.

Just to be clear: I currently have the votes of the 3 Scarab Sages PCs as something like: Sard: fight Surma; Ali: leaning to fighting Sinuhotep but open to fighting Surma too; Enora: leaning toward fighting Surma. Correct?

Correct.

Also, let me know if you have any preparations you wish to make before we start the next (and final) fight. Your minute/levels spells like Mirror Image will have expired by the time the next encounter starts.

"Does anyone want to be enlarged before me begin the next fight? And a spell to protect from evil? Shel do you want to be made invisible? Let us also look again at the items that we found, especially the consumables."

Sard will renew fly for himself and will add see invisibility.

Sajan casts "flexes his muscles" and prepares to die

Tafhat, I don't know the Sajan build very well. Would you benefit from mage armor?

Invisibilty would do me nicely, please. The more sneak attacks the better!

Are we allowed multiple buffs before the Surma fight starts?

Are we allowed multiple buffs before the Surma fight starts?

Yes, you can do whatever you like. When you indicate that you are ready, Sinuhotep will attempt to call her. There is no way to know how long it may take for her to arrive. This will happen outside the complex, so position yourselves wherever you would like to be there.

Sajan's AC comes from a +3 bracers of armor, so mage armor would only give him 1 more.

Ali reluctantly agrees to help fight off the Div.

Depending upon how long this Div has been trying to corrupt Sinuhotep, it could be the case that his extreme behavior is the result of that corruption. Possibly.

Ali may still need to strike down Sinuhotep some day.

Fine. Let's just get this over with

Archimedes will cast Aid on Ali granting, Temp HP: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Immediately after Sinuhotep finishes the calling ritual, he will cast unbreakable heart on himself.

I am happy with how our 2 file arrangement is set up. if we are allowed to spread out, I will be in the center of the formation so that as many people as possible are covered by my auras.

Shel will ask a healer to top off her healing with a use of her wand. No reason to not be at tip top shape.

Clw 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Shel’s Longstrider Spell should still be in effect as it lasts an hour per casting. She holds her oil of Bless Weapon in her hand, ready to cover her non cold iron kukri at the first sign of the enemy, as that only lasts for a minute.

"Okay! Then let us prepare!" Enora says and starts casting.

1. Enora uses her wand of mage armor on Sajan and herself, 2. she casts invisibility on Shel, 3. she casts False Life on Sajan so he gets temp HP: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10, 4. she casts mirror image on herself ... one 3rd level spell through her bonded item is reserved for haste during the battle ... Enora is empty and only has one 1st level spell slot remaining and 4 charges of her staff of embers . ;-( The first level spell slot could be used to enlarge a melee Strength fighter or she would cast it on herself to get protection from evil.

Well, you can save one of those 2nd-level slots. False Life is a personal range spell.

(Assuming Enora shares how tapped-out she is) "Here, use this if you've exhausted your innate power. It's doesn't do a ton of damage, but it's better than nothing." Sard hands Enora a wand of magic missile with 47 charges remaining.

"Thank you Sard!" Enora says with a smile.

Taking 2 rounds to buff myself. Round 1, BLUR: duration 3 minutes, 20% miss chance. Round 2, BLESS WEAPON OIL: 1 minute duration, weapon counts as good, and all critical threats are auto-confirm

I have 1 more bless weapon, 2 magic weapon, and a pro evil if anyone wants

"Chasik, would it help you to be enlarged?"

Sure, I’ll take all the extra power I can get. If this thing really did curse Sinuhotop, strength will be my friend

Enora casts her last 1st level spell on Chasik to enlarge him. As the temp HP for Sajan did not work as it is a personal spell as Sard noted, Enora has one 2nd lvl spell slot open.

Round 1 - the bold may post

Desert Twister 0 dmg;
Sajan 0 dmg; mage armor;
Surma 0 dmg;
Ali 0 dmg (+5 temp); aid; unbreakable heart (exp. round 9)
Archimedes 0 dmg;
Shel 0 dmg; longstrider; invisibility;
Enora 6 dmg (+10 temp); 5 mirror images; flying; mage armor;
Sard 0 dmg; flying; see invisibility;
Chasik 0 dmg; 2 CHA dmg; blur; bless weapon; enlarged;

When the Pathfinders have completed their preparations, Sinuhotep steps through the door, visibly straining himself and soon falling to his knees. In great anguish, he yells “You ugly old wretch, reveal yourself!” Two rounds later, Surma appears atop the southern pillar with something that looks like a desert twister. As a div, Surma only exists to cause suffering to the world she blames for her misfortune. Once beautiful and vain, now nothing of her beauty remains, and for that reason, she despises beautiful mortals above all. She glares at all of you, and scowls hideously. Her gaze is truly terrible to behold!

Knowledge (Planes) to know something about the desert twister creature; aside from that, anyone who hasn't already made a Knowledge (Planes) check regarding Aghash Divs can also make one now.

Enora's mirror images: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Remember, you are currently 50' above the floor of the canyon. The tops of the columns are also 50' up.

The desert twister flies through the air and slams (from 15' away) into Enora!

slam attack vs. Enora flat-footed: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30
slam dmg: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 4) + 6 = 16
Mirror Image? Hit on a 1: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Sajan, you are up!

kn planes to learn special qualities, immunities, special attacks: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Sajan leaps to the pillar opposite Surma and then leaps again, past the twister, to land next to Surma on his pillar.

I don't think Sajan can fail these acrobatics check, but I'll roll them in case it makes a difference.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (8) + 28 = 36
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (2) + 28 = 30

"I am ready to meet your challenge, Surma."

Round 1 - the bold may post

Air Elemental 0 dmg;
Sajan 18 dmg; mage armor; Fort save needed vs. gaze attack at start of your turn;
Surma 0 dmg;
Ali 0 dmg (+5 temp); aid; unbreakable heart (exp. round 9); Fort save needed
Archimedes 0 dmg; Fort save needed
Shel 0 dmg; longstrider; invisibility; Fort save needed
Enora 6 dmg (+10 temp); 5 mirror images; flying; mage armor; Fort save needed
Sard 0 dmg; flying; see invisibility; Fort save needed
Chasik 0 dmg; 2 CHA dmg; blur; bless weapon; enlarged;

Enora recognizes that the Desert Twister is in fact a Huge air elemental. She knows that it has the usual characteristics of elementals (immunity to bleed, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning. Cannot be critical hit or flanked. Do not take additional damage from precision-based attacks such as sneak attack (Sorry, Shel). And they do not breathe, eat, or sleep. You get two additional questions from the list here (special qualities are not on that list, so please tell me something from that list; and its basic immunities from being an elemental are covered just in making the check - I can also tell you any additional special immunities it has if you want to ask that, or you can ask something else from the list - just let me know).

Sajan leaps to engage Surma (Note that the DC for jumping the way you did on the second jump is considerably higher - 25 - because you jumped 25 feet - you still made it easily, but want to be sure that everyone is aware of the Acrobatics rules for jumping: DC = distance jumped and this is doubled if you don't have a 10' running start), provoking an attack of opportunity from the Air Elemental.

AoO slam attack: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (8) + 17 = 25
dmg: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 6) + 6 = 18

Sajan, what is your current AC? I think it's +1 from mage armor and +? from an amulet you took earlier? In any case, I think a 25 still hits you but correct me if I'm wrong. And, ouch, that damage roll!

Now that he is closer to her, Sajan can sense that there is something wrong, horribly wrong, with the way that she is looking at him. She has a gaze attack. At the start of your turn, before you act, I'll need a Fort save from you. You can choose to avoid this by a) averting your eyes (which gives you a 50% chance of not having to make the save, but also means that she will have concealment from you: a 20% miss chance for all your attacks); b) you can close your eyes altogether - in which case you do not have to make the save at all but you are effectively blind.

Surma steps 5' away from the monk who is harrying her and waves her hands while intoning mystical sounding utterances.

A cloud of fog appears (marked on the map), obscuring all sight beyond 5' away. Any creature within 5' has concealment (20% miss chance); any creature further away has total concealment (50% miss chance, can't use sight to locate target). Worse, this particular fog smells AWFUL! I need Fort saves from Sard, Enora, Ali, Archimedes, Shel. Chasik is just out of range. This is a poison effect in case you have any relevant situational modifiers. Also, note that holding your breath will not protect you from this - it feels as if it is seeping into your very pores, and is likely to continue to do so as long as you remain in the cloud.

Pathfinders are up!

I don't think I received mage armor as it was only a +1 bonus, but with at least a +1 amulet of natural armor and mobility giving me +4, my AC is 26. I am familiar with the jumping rules, but Sajan has a +28 and always counts as having a running start even if standing still.

Sajan closes his eyes and lets his other senses guide him. I have a blind character, so I am also familiar with these rules pretty well.

Perception to pinpoint square, DC 20: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

Sajan manages to determine where Surma moved too and decides to accept this new challenge of fighting his enemy blind. He 5ft steps over and begins his assault.

Stunning Fist Punch: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Miss chance, high is always good for me, 50%: 1d100 ⇒ 83
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 plus DC 14 fort save or be stunned for 1 round. The damage is Silver, Cold Iron, and Magic.

+2 Sword: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18
Miss chance: 1d100 ⇒ 45
Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

+2 Sword: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Miss chance: 1d100 ⇒ 36
Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

However, Sajan is unaccustomed to fighting entirely blind and many of his attacks fail to land.

"From this trial with you Surma, I will grow from the experience."

Did the fly that Sard cast on me expire? Just for my own refence?

Fort Save Ali: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22

Fort Save Archimedes: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Archimedes begins to vomit on Ali's shoulder and moves himself under the paladins cloak to protect himself.

Ali activates his Aura of Justice

This allows everyone within 10 feet of Ali, so everyone but Sajan, to use my Smite Evil this turn. Please be sure to use it if you make your saves, to bolster your saves as much as anything else.
Unfortunately since you lack line of sight at the moment you cannot apply this bonus to the upcoming fort save....but I believe in you!

The paladin moves out of the cloud, calls upon Shelyn to smite the Div and Gamin gleaming in hand stands to threaten the Tornado elemental.

Gamin uses his guidance ability to further bolster Ali's saves.

Ali, I’m confused. How does Smite Evil increase my saves? Can I use it on the Fort save?

Unmodified Fort save 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Im going to wait and see about the Smite awesomeness before I post a move.

So what I have granted you is a USE of my smite evil.

What you DO get when you use it is a +4 to hit, Deflection to AC, and +11 to damage. It doesn't effect saves, I misremembered that.

You need to be able to see the Div to use the ability, but it will take a swift act

Round 1 - the bold may post

Air Elemental 0 dmg;
Sajan 0 dmg; mage armor; Fort save needed vs. gaze attack at start of your turn;
Surma 0 dmg;
Ali 0 dmg (+5 temp); aid; unbreakable heart (exp. round 9);
Archimedes 0 dmg; nauseated;
Shel 0 dmg; longstrider; invisibility;
Enora 6 dmg (+10 temp); 5 mirror images; flying; mage armor; Fort save needed
Sard 0 dmg; flying; see invisibility; Fort save needed
Chasik 0 dmg; 2 CHA dmg; blur; bless weapon; enlarged;

The Air Elemental's AoO on Sajan just misses due to his speedy nature.

Sajan, you don't go again until after the Air Elemental, so I'll resolve the attacks you've just rolled then.

@Ali, yes, my assumption was that by the time you finished talking with Sinuhotep and deliberating and then moving outside to summon Surma, that the minute/level spells you had cast before unlocking his sanctum had expired, so that would include the Fly spell that Sard cast on you earlier. If that wasn't clear, and you would like to retcon a Fly spell, I'm ok with that (assuming that Sard has another one available for you); otherwise, you'll need to adjust your move accordingly.

Both Ali and Shel manage to handle the stench of the cloud, at least for now, but poor Archimedes begins to wretch and vomit all over his master.

As noted, the Aura of Justice won't help you with your saves, but it will give you hefty bonuses against the Div AS LONG AS YOU ACTIVATE IT BEFORE ALI'S NEXT TURN. And don't forget that you need to be able to see something to smite it, which you can't currently do due to the cloud.

Pathfinders are up!

fortitude: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Enora steps back and casts haste on as many martials as possible via her bonded item and extends the duration with her rod of extend.

Casting defensively : 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27

I am sorry but I am not at my computer and cannot see the map properly on my phone. Resistances and weaknesses for the elemental would be great. She also uses her smite from Ali on the elemental to gain deflection on AC (23 then). Also I cast mage armor on Sajan beforehand .

Enora is unaffected by the stench of the cloud.

Enora recalls that Air Elementals have untyped damage resistance and no particular weaknesses. She also knows that they are typically Neutral (and therefore Smite will have no effect on them - feel free to use your smite against Surma instead if you wish, though you'll need to see her first).

She is able to cast Extended Haste on everyone in the party but Sajan (Ali, I'll include you in this since it's not clear yet whether you have the means to fly outside, and in any case you could have easily delayed until Enora cast Haste).

Enora, do you want to remain where you are? You will need to keep saving against the cloud if you stay within it.

thanks GM. I changed my position. Worked on my phone now.

I would have renewed the spell on Ali, if that's alright.

Fort save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19

Sard averts his eyes from the div's terrible gaze.

since I don’t have a runnning start, what’s my acrobatics DC to go from sacrum to ledge to other ledge to engage the bbeg?

Invisible Shel takes a Hasted double move and closes with the Mage. Hopefully the Mage didn’t notice her, and next round, she could unleash hell.

Could someone move me please? Thanks.

I will move you but PLEASE use your smite.

Round 1 - the bold may post
Air Elemental 19 dmg;
Sajan 0 dmg; mage armor; blind due to eyes closed;
Surma 0 dmg;
Ali 0 dmg (+5 temp); aid; unbreakable heart (exp. round 9); haste (exp. round 15); flying; smite vs Surma; Fort save vs gaze needed at the start of your turn;
Archimedes 0 dmg; nauseated (exp round 5); haste (exp. round 15); Fort save vs gaze needed at the start of your turn;
Shel 0 dmg; longstrider; invisibility; haste (exp. round 15); Fort save vs gaze needed at the start of your next turn;
Enora 6 dmg (+10 temp); 5 mirror images; flying; mage armor; haste (exp. round 15);
Sard 0 dmg; flying; see invisibility; haste (exp. round 15);
Chasik 0 dmg; 2 CHA dmg; blur; bless weapon; enlarged; haste (exp. round 15);

Retconning to say that Sard has renewed his Fly spell on Ali before summoning Surma.

Ali flies out of the cloud, provoking an AoO from the Air Elemental (who has Combat Reflexes).

AoO vs Ali: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (2) + 17 = 19
dmg: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 2) + 6 = 14

... but he misses.

Archimedes vomits quietly but follows his master. Although no longer in the cloud, he remains nauseated for: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 more rounds

Sard also fights off the sickening effects of the cloud and flies out to a spot with better air. Then he drops a furious orb of flaming fire amidst the div and her loyal minion.

Air Elemental Reflex: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (20) + 16 = 36
Caster Level check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

The air elemental appears to have incredibly quick reflexes and it is able to avoid the worst of the fireball. Surma, on the other hand, does not even bother trying to avoid the blast, but simply laughs with delight at the fire rains down upon her. It does not appear to affect her, though Sard believes that the spell did "reach" her.

@Sard, you can sense that you are too far away for Surma's gaze to affect you, and hence you do not need to avert your gaze. Yet.

@Chasik, the Acrobatics DC to jump 10 feet is 10 (with a running start) or double that without a running start. But you have a running start - you just need two empty squares before the spot you plan to leap from. That's for jumping to the first column. Jumping to the second column was also 10' when you all came this way before but the air elemental is currently blocking that shorter jump; if you want to jump to the second column (where Surma is), at the moment it would be a DC 25 Acrobatics check. Note, also, that as soon as you enter the cloud, I'll need a Fort save from you vs the poison of the cloud. Also, although you cannot actually see where you are jumping because of the cloud, I'll rule that this doesn't really matter since you were able to see it before and you know where you need to jump to.

@Shel, since you are not flying, you'll need to make 2 Acrobatics rolls to jump across. You auto-succeed the first one (DC 10) but the second one is DC 25. Do you want to do that? If you fail you'll fall 50' down to the canyon floor. Also, I realize that you can't access the map on your phone, but assuming that you do want to make the leap, it would be helpful to me for someone to show me the path of your movement once you land on the second column (where Surma is).

Chasik, you are up! And Shel, I need to know whether you are attempting the second leap, and also the route of movement you want to take once you make it to the southern column.

fort fumes: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19

acrobatics, +12 from haste speed boost, +1 dex, -4 acp, LEDGE 1: 1d20 + 12 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 12 + 1 - 4 = 16

Chasik takes a few deep breathes, and proceeds at taking a running start through the noxious fumes and tries to leap across. He lands on the other ledge, huffing slightly. He glares at the huge elemental blocking path. He stops, fearing he pressed his luck enough, and takes a violent swing at the elemental.

PA, vital strike, haste, ac 29, +1 silver/good hammer: 1d20 + 14 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (5) + 14 + 1 - 1 = 19
damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (1, 2) + 10 = 13

@Chasik, Enora has already moved (back) to get out of the cloud. However, you can freely move through your allies, so her being there does not prevent you from jumping.

I will try the second Acrobatics check this round.

Acrobatics with Haste 1d20 + 19 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 19 + 4 = 36

For my path, I started just north of Enora. I will 5’ step southeast, move 5’ east, take another 5’ step to the southeast, head 35’ due south, and move to the east to try and summit the column from there. If I have misunderstood and have to take another path to get to the caster, I am fine with anyone moving me there as directly as possible. If I trigger a trap or so,etching, that’s fine, but I would take a direct path.

Shel and Chasik PLEASE use your smites. I used a lot of resource on that for you guys.