Kai's words seem to stun the aggregate, as images of a purer, more mortal Isirah emerge like flashes.
Damage?:4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 5, 6) = 20
From a crunch perspective, it looks like making these diplomacy checks will literally erode the aggregate's will to live. And stagger it. Which is nice. Eadie, V and Amestra, you are up! And I'm adding Karl for the top of Round 3.
Current Initiative wrote:
Round 2-3
Karl - Sickened
Isirah the amalgam - 37 Dmg- Sickened - Staggered
Lin Kai
Insidion Readying Vanzetti - Sickened
Amestra - Sickened
Eadie 16 Dmg
GM, Isirah would not be sickened anymore. Kai's sickening offensive only lasts one round. Ooh, so I can either smack her with my spear and sicken her, or sap her will and stagger her. Nice! But anyone else who wants the opportunity, please feel free to take the tablet from Kai. He definitely won't mind sharing the fun. :)
Female CG Human (Chelaxian) Fighter 13 | HP 161/161 | AC 27, T 15, F 24 | CMB +18 (+25 with heavy blades), CMD 34 (37 vs disarm, sunder) | F +21, R +13, W +19 (+2 vs death effects, +3 vs fear) | Init +10 | Perc +20, SM +3 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: none
Round #2: AC 25, T 10, incorporeal T 14; S 22, D 12; -1 to Attack rolls, haste, +1 Reflex
Eadie single moves SE-S-S-S-S 25' to within 15' of Big Isirah and lunges.
"Hey, are you squeezing, Isirah? Does that make you easier to hit?"
Eadie, I moved you to where I'm pretty sure you want to be. The map is actually rotated 90° such that North is pointing to the right of the page. If that's not the right spot, please let us know.
Amestra races across the room with her speed enhanced by Insidion. Coming around the cylinder, she gestures to the rapier at her hip and says to Kai, "I can take the tablet if you want. I think you'll be more effective at damage than me."
Move action, hasted to reach Kai, then her standard action to take the tablet from him based on GM's previous post, assuming he agrees.
Eadie's strike hits the amalgam but does not do as much damage as expected. Isirah chuckles eagerly and retaliates!
Ah pity the fool vs Eadie:1d20 + 20 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 20 - 4 = 21
The punch dents the nearby wall but not Eadie, leaving corrosive material to eat at the wall. The aggregate steps back further into the hallway as Karl begins to fire his arrows... And Isirah's aggregate takes advantage of the Inquisitor's situation.
Attack of Opportunity #1:1d20 + 20 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 20 - 4 = 18 Lucky! Attack of Opportunity #2:1d20 + 20 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 20 - 4 = 35 Damage + Chemical Burn:2d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) + (4, 6) = 19 Attack of Opportunity #3:1d20 + 20 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 20 - 4 = 26 Damage + Chemical Burn:2d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (2, 1) + (3, 5) = 11 Attack of Opportunity #4:1d20 + 20 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 20 - 4 = 17 Super lucky! Give me two DC 23 reflex saves though or catch CHEMICAL FIRE!!!!!
Current Initiative wrote:
Round 3
Isirah the amalgam - 59 Dmg- Staggered
Karl - 30 Dmg - Sickened Lin Kai
Insidion
Vanzetti - Sickened
Amestra - Sickened
Eadie 16 Dmg
Darn it, I just noticed that Isirah moved in the previous round. That would have provoked an AoO from Kai as he is carrying a longspear. I should have paid closer attention.
After handing the tablet to Amestra, Kai quickly races across the room out of the corridor in front of Karl. (That movement would provoke AoO.) He then raises his longspear and stabs at the swirling evil being.
Female CG Human (Chelaxian) Fighter 13 | HP 161/161 | AC 27, T 15, F 24 | CMB +18 (+25 with heavy blades), CMD 34 (37 vs disarm, sunder) | F +21, R +13, W +19 (+2 vs death effects, +3 vs fear) | Init +10 | Perc +20, SM +3 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: none
Round #3: AC 27, T 12, incorporeal T 16; S 22, D 12; -1 to Attack rolls, haste, +1 Reflex
Eadie drops her falchion, draws her enlarged lucerne hammer and swings at Isirah.
"Karl, are you OK with letting me closer to Big I? Amy, if you need me to move 5' in any direction, please direct me there."
Amestra uses her jade wayfinder to give herself Guidance, then moves to the square immediately W of V and N of Eadie (based on the compass rose, not the map orientation). She'll use the tablet the following round instead.
Having trouble parsing that statline; but Lin, if your AC is 30 as I understand it, I am hitting you for 20 damage, half acid half negative energy, and I need you to make a Reflex save DC 23. Roll an 11 or better?
Disrupting the Amalgam:4d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 6, 6) = 18
Isirah considers moving back without regard for her safety but realizes that the ease with which her opponents seem to hit her does not play in her favor. Instead, she takes a five foot step back and attempts to pummel Lin Kai into bloody pulp.
Female CG Human (Chelaxian) Fighter 13 | HP 161/161 | AC 27, T 15, F 24 | CMB +18 (+25 with heavy blades), CMD 34 (37 vs disarm, sunder) | F +21, R +13, W +19 (+2 vs death effects, +3 vs fear) | Init +10 | Perc +20, SM +3 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: none
Eadie has had enough of Isirah messing with her friends.
"Kai and Karl, I would like to occupy the spaces you're currently in, to cover everyone if she doesn't fall this time."
Yup, that is AC 30, and she still hit twice. OMG! (Sorry I put the AC like that to remind me what to take out once the duration ends.) Separately, Kai would have sickened her with his last attack (sickening offensive). She still hits though, but at least Kai took 2 less damage. Eadie, I have to 5-foot step follow her to reach her. If you take over his and Karl's space, since you are large and she is huge, I think Kai shouldn't provide cover. If you're thinking of new space now, then please invalidate all his actions below and I'll repost.
Kai almost falls to his knee as Isirah slams him hard in two rapid successions. What's worse, he catches on fire.
His head spinning, he nonetheless presses the attack. Kai steps forward and thanks to Insidion's magic, thrust twice in rapid succession with his longspear.
Taking stock of the tactical situation, Amestra calls out to her teammates, "I've lost sight of her. I'll have to move to a better location, but that means she won't be affected by Good Isirah for a few seconds. Be careful."
Amestra is near the end of the order anyway, so I'll wait until the positioning of Eadie, Kai, and Karl is finalized, then I'll take her turn.
Female CG Human (Chelaxian) Fighter 13 | HP 161/161 | AC 27, T 15, F 24 | CMB +18 (+25 with heavy blades), CMD 34 (37 vs disarm, sunder) | F +21, R +13, W +19 (+2 vs death effects, +3 vs fear) | Init +10 | Perc +20, SM +3 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: none
Round #4: AC 27, T 12, incorporeal T 16; hasted Reflex +9
Sod this.
Eadie jettisons her previous plan out the airlock and moves 25' into the corridor to face Isirah head on. Provokes!
Can someone please move Eadie into the four squares directly to the right 'north' of Kai?
"You are a brave man, Lin Kai. But if she doesn't drop this time, I agree it's time for you to withdraw."
Eadie raises her hammer Smashy, focusing on Isirah's green-tinged face through the slits of her helm.
|AC 12, T 12, FF 12|HP: 56/56|F +5, R +4, W +6 (+8 vs MA, +2 vs divine magic/death/ED/NE/Necr)|Init 0, Perc -1|CMB +3, CMD 13|11/11 Sacrifice, 1/1 Pyrotechnics, 1/1 Godless, 1/1 Rally, 1/1 Rova, 1/1 Liberate
Well, what good am I if I can't be the least bit creative? V thinks to himself as he finally changes his tactics. He rushes out into the hall, and suddenly, from somewhere behind Isirah...
[dice=fireball, DC 19, spaced far enough away to engulf only Isirah, Sacrifical Boon, False Focus to mock-up alchemist's fire (she catches fire if she fails her Reflex save) and black powder (+1 damage)]7d6+3[/dice]
Female CG Human (Chelaxian) Fighter 13 | HP 161/161 | AC 27, T 15, F 24 | CMB +18 (+25 with heavy blades), CMD 34 (37 vs disarm, sunder) | F +21, R +13, W +19 (+2 vs death effects, +3 vs fear) | Init +10 | Perc +20, SM +3 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: none
@Kai, Yep, all good. Now please don't get yourself killed!
Tiefling Barbarian 1 / Sorcerer 4 / Dragon Disciple 4 | HP 87/87 | AC 20 [24 shield]; Tch 12 ; FF 18 | F +10; R +6; W +7 | CMB+14; CMD 25 | Speed 40 ft | Init +6 | Bite: +14 (1d6+13/19-20) | Perc +11
I'm having a hard time seeing where I was hit for 37 dmg. DM post from last Wednesday shows me with 0 dmg, then from yesterday showing 37 dmg. I can't see that I took any hits. If I did, I wanted to remind you I have 10 Acid Resist.
Insidion keeps some distance from the amalgam of spirits, but continues pelting them with magical force spheres.
A couple of Karl's arrows manage to find purchase in the aggregate's form, and Lin Kai's spear manages to strike at something that sends arcs of green energy coursing through the ectoplasmic body. It begins to crack open, and with a keening wail the entity breaks apart, leaving a single, medium-sized creature standing in a rising steam of freed souls. Isirah. Not as she was, but as you see her in her AI form. She smiles radiantly, and begins to soundlessly walk towards Amestra. She looks at the tablet, in which an awed AI resides, slack-jawed and gently caresses the screen with the back of her hand before turning around and walking over to Lin Kai. As she slowly begins to fade, she embraces the Tian man, and whispers into his ear.
Lin Kai:
"Thank you. For everything."
And with that, she rises and dissipates, a hint of jasmine in the air.
Kai, you aren't actually on fire, but the chemicals are eating at all your flesh.
Duration:1d4 ⇒ 1
I was about to make some long post about how you could rid yourself of the chemicals burning you but it turns out you already took your action this turn and it wasn't to try and rid yourself of the chemicals. So how about you take the damage and call it a day?
Chemical Burn:2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9
Take 9 and you are no longer burning from all the acid on your skin. Although that is going to make your skin blotch something awful.
Kai feels the chemicals burning into his flesh. He grits his teeth at the terrible pain, but is soon distracted by the vision of the Isirah that is radiant and beautiful walking towards to him. As she fades away, he mutters under his breath with a catch in his throat, "You're welcomed. Be at peace once more."
He holds up the tablet, looking at the AI Isirah wordlessly, then holds her up to face the rest of the party.
Isirah looks around, as if rediscovering the world anew."Lin Kai... I remember... I remember it all... The crew, we were under attack... Creatures from the blackest void. They came at us, to shred our souls. Some of us went mad... We tried, we tried to save ourselves but the decoupling went wrong, they had damaged the anchors... I tried to save my mind... I couldn't... We all died, choking on the gases we had made for the fleet. All of us. Sekenia. Marthol. Scarjen. My friends... Dead... I remember their names; their faces... I remember EVERYTHING LIN. SHE MADE ME WHOLE" she cries out, digital tears streaming down her face.
Female CG Human (Chelaxian) Fighter 13 | HP 161/161 | AC 27, T 15, F 24 | CMB +18 (+25 with heavy blades), CMD 34 (37 vs disarm, sunder) | F +21, R +13, W +19 (+2 vs death effects, +3 vs fear) | Init +10 | Perc +20, SM +3 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: none
“There, there, Isirah.”
Eadie tries to reassure the AI but finds it difficult without being able to give her hug. “I know it feels raw to you, but those events happened a long time ago.”
The warrior retrieves her falchion and has a hunt around for lewtz. As she moves about she asks the others. “How are we going to smuggle her past the Ghost Wolves?”
|AC 12, T 12, FF 12|HP: 56/56|F +5, R +4, W +6 (+8 vs MA, +2 vs divine magic/death/ED/NE/Necr)|Init 0, Perc -1|CMB +3, CMD 13|11/11 Sacrifice, 1/1 Pyrotechnics, 1/1 Godless, 1/1 Rally, 1/1 Rova, 1/1 Liberate
V approaches the tablet and gives Isirah a shrewd, but kindly look.
"Well...what would you want to do? I'm afraid I don't know what to do for a creature in your condition. Amazing, really...you're neither alive, nor dead, nor undead, nor even truly unliving."
He turns to Eadie. "If the Ghost Wolves have any decency at all, they'll at least recognize that there is a difference between Isirah and all these other machines. We have to try...especially considering how little we know about their magic. Trying to deceive them and smuggle her out could be a deadly or otherwise catastrophic mistake."
Having handed the tablet back to Kai, Amestra considers what to say to Isirah. I've never been very big on empathy. So I'll stick to the situation instead.
"Isirah, welcome back to being your whole self again, " she starts, then pauses. "But as Eadie mentioned, we've still got to get you out of here., assuming that's what you want."
Then addressing her teammates, she continues, "If so, I think we're probably going to have to hide her from the Ghost Wolves somehow. Or see if they'll believe us without checking us with that wand of theirs."
As she turns to join Eadie in searching, she asks Isirah, "Do you think there's anything here on your ship that could help us sneak you past the local tribesmen?"
"What... What I want to do?" ponders the AI as she sniffles. "Well... I don't want to be here any more... This is a place for the dead. A grave for people who didn't deserve what happened to them. Once we're out? I suppose I'd like to explore. I mean, that's why I left Androffa. But... What is it with these Ghost Wolves? And what do they want? Because... I don't know if there's anything in the areas that aren't caved-in that are still usable. Let's go take a look around here, this is the only area where you haven't taken a good look around."
Eadie and Amestra find a locker with some corroded technological chips. "Hmm. They look corroded, but if you manage to get rid of that, you might be able to use them. These are skill-chips, they will likely be blank after you repair them, so I guess you are going to have to figure out how to program them. Or... Duh. I can program them. Not here, it'd take too long. But I can do it."
They also find a mask of some sort. "Ah a filter mask! Looks timeworn though. Aaaaand... Kai could you press that button on the side? Yep. Little under half-charge on it."
Finally, inside the vessel where the aggregate was created, you find a rod which Amestra, Kai and Vanzetti spare little time identifying.
Female CG Human (Chelaxian) Fighter 13 | HP 161/161 | AC 27, T 15, F 24 | CMB +18 (+25 with heavy blades), CMD 34 (37 vs disarm, sunder) | F +21, R +13, W +19 (+2 vs death effects, +3 vs fear) | Init +10 | Perc +20, SM +3 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: none
“The Ghost Wolves aren’t bad people. However, your life would be very different among tribal plainsmen than it would be with Grand Lodge scholars in cosmopolitan Absalom, Isirah.”
Eadie *sighs* “I have no way of hiding you that has any chance of working.”
“If someone has a decent chance of defeating their detection methods, I vote go for it. If not or the attempt fails, we can honestly relate how much Isirah means to us and see what happens.”
She shakes her head. “Not that I think it will make much difference.”
“The upside is, Xol-Nomag may allow Pathfinder researchers to visit Isirah here in Numeria, seeing that we’ve eliminated the threat of the Sulfur Gulch Compound to her people.”
Short of becoming invisible which I doubt will fool the Ghost Wolves, Kai has no reliable way to sneak the tablet out.
Kai looks deeply troubled, agonising over the dilemma of giving Isirah, at least the AI of her, her freedom, while keeping the Pathfinders' word to the Ghost Wolves. Finally, he lets out a deep sigh. "I see few options ahead of us. We did give our word that we would not remove any artifacts from the ruins. I can only hope to speak to their compassion to free a sentient being such as her. After all, while she resides within an artifact, she herself is, must be, an independent intelligence who deserves her freedom. Sigh." Looking at Isirah, he says without much hope, "Unless we can transfer your conscious somewhere else?"
Female CG Human (Chelaxian) Fighter 13 | HP 161/161 | AC 27, T 15, F 24 | CMB +18 (+25 with heavy blades), CMD 34 (37 vs disarm, sunder) | F +21, R +13, W +19 (+2 vs death effects, +3 vs fear) | Init +10 | Perc +20, SM +3 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: none
“What’s an ANT-roy, Isirah?”
Eadie clutches grabs the glass-fibre straw with both hands. “Was Androffa ruled by Formian Queens?”
“Maybe there’s a mummified body of one we can find somewhere in the Compound?”
"I need you all to know this, if I'm asked directly the closest thing I can do to keep the secret is to not part my lips, but if I'm forced to speak, my vow forbids me to speak lies.
"I do hope we can find a way to get Isirah past the Wolves, I do not wish here to remain trapped here, so close to these painful memories."
|AC 12, T 12, FF 12|HP: 56/56|F +5, R +4, W +6 (+8 vs MA, +2 vs divine magic/death/ED/NE/Necr)|Init 0, Perc -1|CMB +3, CMD 13|11/11 Sacrifice, 1/1 Pyrotechnics, 1/1 Godless, 1/1 Rally, 1/1 Rova, 1/1 Liberate
"All the more reason to be honest...at least initially."
V turns back to Isirah. "Don't worry, whatever happens, you ARE coming with us. Having met the Ghost Wolves, I have hope they will be reasonable about their law. If not, take it from me: The boundaries of nations were drawn to be scuffed."
The Pathfinders make their way back through the ruins and arrive back at the entrance without further incidents. Jala and the Ghost Wolves nod upon your arrival.
I need to understand how you are coming out and how you are approaching this, as you have chosen not to be deceitful about this. Which might be to your credit, but definitely goes against what the Ghost Wolves had asked of you initially. So, are you just coming out, luring Jala in and bushwhacking him, holding Isirah aloft like she's the tablet of the ten commandments... Paint me a picture pathfinders.
If we're going with honesty, I'd still not push the issue of Isirah in their face unless or until challenged. Since she seems the most comfortable with Kai, perhaps he just carries her in his pack for now?
How about Amestra carries that new rod out in the open, at least to gauge how much they're likely to push the issue. And then be willing to turn over the rod and hope they don't ask any further questions? That's not being deceitful, just a bit of misdirection.
Oh, right... Before leaving the ruins, Karl will get out of the chameleon suit, and use his Mage Armor wand. UMD:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
That is apparently turned off for a day xD
"Huh.. this hadn't- wiggles the wand close to his left ear -happened before...
"So, is anyone using my bracers? I don't remember if they were of any use to you." If no one took the bracers, I'll re-don them.
The monk will walk outside with the technological armor, carefully folded, carried over one arm.
Karl has no issue with the group lying, but he can't do it. So we can go with the "straight arrow" approach while we avoid entering into a situation where straight arrows are needed.
