[PFS] 8-08: Tyranny of the Winds Part II (Inactive)

Game Master Blake's Tiger

"What a shame. Mithradatha mentioned how restricted this library was. The Cloister of the Hidden Breeze was much more open. I will have to talk to him about this. He will get back to you. Promptly."

Intimidate, Guidance, Sickened: 1d20 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 1 + 1 - 2 = 17

"Oh, you all are acquainted with Mithrandatha as well?" the attendant says, casting her eyes side to side. "Well, I suppose I can let you past, but make sure you obtain the proper paperwork from Mithrandatha before the next shift."

Mahogany bookshelves encircle the walls of the chamber with two rows of freestanding shelves spanning its length. Desks and chairs of varying sizes offer seating accommodation for the library’s diverse patrons. Small tendrils of mist spiral up from the vapor fountain in the middle of the room—an elegant display of anchored cyclones. An open door on the western wall empties out into a hallway, and a ladder near the eastern wall leads up to the second floor balcony. The ceiling reaches sixty feet from the floor and is painted with a mural of imperious djinn soaring in the sky. The most striking details of the room, however, are the thick clouds suspended in the air between the balcony and the ceiling.

Atop these stationary clouds rest additional bookshelves, chairs, desks, and podiums.

EDIT: I need a Perception check for anyone searching the library for the book you need to earn your Prestige point.

"Ah, of course. Thank you for your assistance." Corona bows and proceeds onward.

"Unbelievable..." Corona is awestruck by the vast knowledge and books. Unfortunately for her, she's not the only excited one.

<Oh my gosh look at all of these books! I bet you could burn every one of them and no one would notice! Fire! Fire! BURN EM NOW!>

The silvered charms heat up significantly, almost to the point of scarring her. She hesitates and clutches the charms around her neck.

Fort Save, let's go 19!: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 3 - 2 = 18 Dang, it's DC 20
She tears it off and hurls it against the ground in a fit of anger. She finds a seat to help her relax.

"So close..."

We are here for knowledge, not fire.

<Oooh, phooey.>

Perception: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 7 - 2 = 9

Corona is much too distracted by her pain to give a thorough search.

Brutus begins haphazardly searching through the library of old tomes for their target.
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Keelee likewise begins searching for books relevant to our mission.

Brutus climbs one of the tall ladders to a floating bookshelf forty feet above the floor. There he notices what looks like a false panel behind two dusty tomes. Suspicious and curious, he pushes the books out of the way and pries open the panel. Within, he finds another old tome.

Flipping through the pages, he finds that every page has the same thing written on it. Initially, the words seem to be in an alphabet that he does not recognize, but the ink swirls and changes before his eyes to become a riddle written in modern Osiriani:

Without wings, I soar
Without throat, I roar
I can be touched
But never clutched
I am free within the skies
You cannot see me with your eyes
What am I?

Brutus hands the time over to Cel.

The wind?

The language of the riddle begins to shift to samsaran as Brutus hands it toward Corona. There is a sudden flash of light when the half-orc speaks.

The animated image of a young girl wearing a jeweled turban appears on the page in scintillating ink. Melodic laughter echoes from the book as she offers a deep bow. “Hello, gentle reader,” the illustration says in a lilting voice. “How may I assist you?”

The young girl appears to speak in whichever language is most comfortable to the listener.

"I think you solved it, Brutus. Good job!" Corona smiles.

"Thank you. Please tell me about the Untouchable Opal, the prison of Ranginori." She talks to the living ink inside the book.

Thornberry throws himself down onto his belly, elbows supporting his head, swinging his legs with eager anticipation of the bejeweled turban wearing book-spirit.

That was their riddle? On the Plane of Air? A little on the nose, don't you think?

...Or do they not know that's what we call this place?

"Sometimes it's best not to overthink it." Corona looks up from the book.

”I think Brutus blew that riddle away.”

Brutus doesn’t get it...

“I have collected many theories on the Lord of Air's prison and how one might break it, but the one I feel is most credible involves the creation of a hammer crafted from the purest elements of fire, water, and earth. Metal from the core of Aryzul’s kingdom must be forged in fire hotter than Ymeri’s hatred and then quenched in water colder than Kelizandri’s heart. When such a weapon is applied to the Untouchable Opal, the gem should break and release my lord. Ostensibly, a similar treatment using equally powerful components might also suffice. For further reading about this subject, please refer to page 109.”

Don't just sit there Cel! Turn the Page! Turn the Page!

Theophilus's eyes glaze over, I hope one of you inkies knows who these people are. It'd be real embarrassing if it turns out Ymeri's a sweet old lady, though it would make it easier to find a fire that hot...

Fairuza Bereket ends the Cobalt Gallery with a rush of wind. "You could not leave well enough alone, could you?" she says, her voice tight with sadness.

"Why do you want to free Ranginori? By nature, the balance among the elements depends upon the balance of power among the elemental planes. For tens of thousands of years, one elemental lord has reigned supreme over each plane. To release a second in the Plane of Air would disrupt
that balance. It would bring about chaos, with the promise of war and suffering."

Ignore the map for now, I've prepared it for the encounter after this.

Theophilus smirks, Preserving a monopoly in favor of a little creative destruction is always the battle cry of people who're already on top.
I'm far from an expert on your elemental lords, but refusing to free them because it'll upset the lunatics that imprisoned them is clearly ridiculous.

"Ironic, isn't it? By sending those guards against us, you only hardened our determination." Corona stands up.

<You didn't tell me this Ranginori guy would cause chaos! We GOTTA open him up!>

"We are both in agreement." She mumbles. "Keeping anyone imprisoned without due cause is... is terrible. He must be freed. "

Thornberry looks up at her confused If it was well enough, we wouldn't have left it alone. Your plane is ruled by a tyrant. Just because its a stable system doesn't make it "well enough". Jeeze, I thought you were supposed to be smart. War is sometimes necessary. As they say in my native Andoran, Sic Temper Tyrannis!

"She may be a tyrant, but she is also a god," Fairuza counters. "You make light of going to war against a god--four gods, for the four would surely unite to put down any challenge to their power. How many innocent casualties are acceptable to you for your experiment?"

A masculine voice interrupts, "We knew that we would find you conspiring here. The Concordance may feign neutrality, but here we have proof of your traitorous machinations."

A sylph, accompanied by an air elemental, a mephit, and a pegasus step onto the balcony.

"Challisier, one of Hrshurha's lap dogs," Fairuza hisses at you between clenched teeth. She rises to the air and throws bolts of energy at the pegasus and mephit, both of which miss. "Catch me if you think you can,"[b] she challenges them as she flies through a window in the second level of the hall.

[b]"She left you behind for me to deal with," Challisier says with a sigh.

Combat! Round 1.
Bold may act.

Theophilus
Air Elemental
Corona
Brutus
Thornberry
Keelee
Challisier

"You consider this an experiment, and yet..." Corona's conversation is cut short as more people arrive. So much to learn... do they think we are with the Concordance?

There's all kinds of people who are too big to fight. Doesn't mean they shouldn't have to sit careful.

Theophilus sends a pin lancing towards where he's imagining the hindquarters of the air elemental are.

Telekinetic Blast (PBS): 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 1 = 14
Magic Piercing: 2d6 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (2, 3) + 5 + 1 = 11

The elemental agilely twists around the telekinetic assault and then dives toward Theophilus. It rams into his force barrier, washing it away.

Combat! Round 1.
Bold may act.

Theophilus (-4 vs. temp hit points)
Air Elemental
Corona
Brutus
Thornberry
Keelee
Challisier

Brutus lets out a low growl at being interrupted in their quest yet again and rushes toward the newcomer at the top of the stairs.

Took both move actions to get up there

Corona begins focusing on the arcane energy within.

Arcane Spell Failure, less than 10 is bad: 1d100 ⇒ 37

She is able to gesture despite the armor weighing her down... maybe It is helping her?

I'm casting Enlarge Person. This has a 1 round casting time, so Corona can be interrupted.

Concentration Check, if needed: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

"Brutus, Kaylee- I will enlarge one of you. A moment, please!"

Keelee draws her rapier as she double moves.

Thornberry and Leshington both advance seperately and as he passes, he slaps Cel with a guidance spell Happy....whatever Cel!

Oh my gosh, guys, I'm sorry. I thought I was waiting on some of you to post.

Chalissier moves away from Brutus, momentarily becoming ephemeral and insubstantial as he steps. Further down the balcony, fog rapidly billows forth from the sylph, obscuring his position.

Brutus may still take his Attack of Opportunity: it might hit.

Combat! Round 2.
Bold may act.

Theophilus (-4 vs. temp hit points)
Air Elemental
Corona
Brutus
Thornberry
Keelee
Challisier

Brutus takes a swing at the elemental with his fist.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Damage: 1d3 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Skipping to the air elemental for the sake of catching up.

Brutus' strike is stopped by an invisible force.

The air elemental withdraws from Theophilus and flies onto the balcony, blocking the shortest path to the cloud of fog.

Combat! Round 2.
Bold may act.

Theophilus (-4 vs. temp hit points)
Air Elemental
Corona
Brutus
Thornberry
Keelee
Challisier

Brutus moves up to the edge of the mist.
And uses martial flexibility to give himself the Blind Fight feat.

I assume I'd be able to swing at the elemental before it gets out of line of sight, please correct if not.

Yeah you better run!

Theophilus staggers back from the elemental's blow, then flicks a knife into orbit around himself, gathering speed before it plunges into the elemental's... back? Elemental anatomy's not really Theophilus's specialty.

Telekinetic Blast (PBS): 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 8 + 1 = 28
Magic Piercing: 2d6 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (3, 4) + 5 + 1 = 13

Corona completes her spell. She moves toward the base of the stairs, only to see Brutus is too high up for her magic to affect. She points at Kaylee, who begins growing at a phenomenal rate until she is about twice as tall.

Kaylee, you are under the effect of Enlarge Person. This will give you more reach and more damage on your melee weapons.

Anonymous broke the map, so that explains something that I was confused about.

The air elemental--the dagger stuck in its flux circling around and around--strikes at Brutus as he ascends the stairs. The brawler is abraded by the scouring wind, but the assault took the last of the elemental's energy. It melts into a pool of clear liquid as its life force begins to return to the plane.

Keelee grows to a new height.

It's the thought that counts. She'll need to squeeze up the stairs and along the balcony.
EDIT: Or she can move along the ground floor and attack over the rails (cover).

Combat! Round 2.
Bold may act.

Theophilus (-4 vs. temp hit points)
Air Elemental (-14 hp, dying)
Corona
Brutus (-4 hp)
Thornberry
Keelee (enlarged [+2 Str, -2 Dex, -1 to hit])
Challisier

Thornberry proceeds to right behind Theophilus and taps him with more of The Green Mother's divine favor Go go go! . Now that people are getting hurt he also procures his Cure wand.

Guidance

Menawhile, Leshington takes one of his acorns and readies to toss it at the first thing that comes out of that fog/wind

THROW, DC 11 fort save on hit or be Deafened: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 171d1 ⇒ 1

Sorry for delayed post.

Enlarged Keelee moves along the, ground into the fog and tries to find the air elemental in the fog.

(it's down? but in the fog so we don't know it's status?)

If Keelee finds it down she calls out to the others, "It's dying, but we need it alive."

"I can stabilize it, but I need to touch it. Please guide me, Keelee."

Keelee find not the air elemental, but the sylph hazily outlined in the fog.

Keelee: you still have a standard action so you can attack Challisier at 20% miss chance and partial cover, if you choose.

Assuming you don't kill him in one shot:

The sylph backs away into the concealment of the fog and two force missiles streak into Keelee's head.

Brutus is standing on the unconscious/dying air elemental.

Combat! Round 3.
Bold may act.

Theophilus (-4 vs. temp hit points)
Air Elemental (-14 hp, stable)
Corona
Brutus (-4 hp)
Thornberry
Keelee (-5 hp) (enlarged [+2 Str, -2 Dex, -1 to hit])
Challisier

Corona hustles to the top of the stairs. Double Move

Keelee takes a swipe at the sylph, but misses due to the fog.

miss chance >20 hits: 1d100 ⇒ 4
rapier w/-4 cover: 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 5 + 1 - 4 = 20 to hit
damage if hits: 1d8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 + 1 = 9

I would like to move into the fog, reaching out and grabbing anything less than a large creature I find. Is there a way I can do that mechanically?

With Blind-Fight active, you can move through the fog at regular speed. Draw your intended course through the fog with the line function and roll a CMB check, and I will let you know the consequences.

Not sure how to draw a line on mobile, but consider it straight up
CMB: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 5 + 2 = 19

Theophilus inches forward, and sets a dagger floating about his head, ready to send it whisking out if the sylph starts doing any suspicious chanting.

Brutus sees a shadow in the fog and lunges for it, grabbing hold of the lithe sylph arcanist.

"Unhand me, you brutish oaf!" Challisier shouts in indignation.

Brutus says quietly, Drop the fog and let’s talk...

Then yells to the group I’ve got him, now what?

Thornberry taps his chin I would say call the guards but they seem to work for her. I guess just tie him up and leave him here. We have found what we needed to find after all. I think it is time to go home.

Thornberry taps his chin I would say call the guards but they seem to work for her. I guess just tie him up and leave him here. We have found what we needed to find after all. I think it is time to go home.