I've been with the Acadamae for nine years now. I moved to Korvosa from way up Kalsgard, in the land of the Linnorm kings, when I was a boy. As soon as I discovered my magical talents, I did everything I could to fund my entry into the Acadamae. I would have passed the test of graduation by now, but I am mindful of the ten year enrolment commitment of this school. I will soon qualify to graduate, and I think adding 'winner of the Breaching Festival' to my list of accomplishments will help me secure a place among the Acadamae's staff.
When Sunday morning arrives, the Acadamae wakes to a single sharp ringing of the campus bells at the break of dawn. Spectators have already gathered on the campus site, even though the festival does not begin until an hour after dawn. Hundreds of common folk sit or stand atop the Acadamae’s southern walls, while vendors of refreshments and souvenirs wander nosily and often through the mass. Important observers, such as aristocrats and other prominent locals and nobles, are allowed to gather at ground level among several large and colorful tents and pavilions erected overnight in the quad just south of the Hall of Summoning.
The Hall of Summoning: this is where contestant are expected to go for their start. Fifteen minutes before Ornelos Toff is to give his opening speech, none other than queen Ileosa comes in, surrounded by royal attendants. A throne of sorts is set up for her, on which she sit down and say Let the contestants come to us!
The other contestants, one-by-one make their appearance before the queen. One did not expect a dwarf in the competition. One is surprised. the queen says and Knur of the gilded hand presents himself. Illia Ean is next, and present herself as a member of the Cerulean society. The queen tries to hide her disdain - poorly - and merely comments One wishes you luck.. Maganrad takes a courteous, but slightly stiff, bow, to which the queen comments One is eager to see a contestant from the Acadamae itself, though her voice betrays no eagerness.
The is no sign of Fatmire.
Now, who are these contestants? One was informed there would be four, not nine. One does not recognise their affiliation. Speak up, and explain us, whither do you hail?
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Jebediah steps forward, and bows.
"I am Venture Captain Jebediah Heliotrope, originally from Carrion Hill, but lately from Abasalom, the City at the Centre of the World. I have mastered the Mutani Arts, touched the First World, battled armies of giants, recovered the Runecarved Key, and travelled to other worlds and other planes."
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"Glaurung, a friend of the Paracountess Zarta Dralneen and practitioner of the arcane arts. We come here together representing the Pathfinder Society." Glaurung takes this time to unfold her leathery wings.
mage armor (13 hours)
false life ( temp hp for 13 hours)
extended displacement (using metamagic rod-lasts 26 minutes)
communal darkvision (13 hours split across the party)
extended enlarge person (using metamagic rod-lasts 26 minutes)
extended bull's strength (using metamagic rod-lasts 26 minutes)
stoneskin (lasts 130 minutes)
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"I am Venture Captain Nalshene, of the Society. Like Amshegar there, I have been following the wishes of the society for several years, and was present for the siege of the diamond city, where Balor demons fell to my spells and the claws of my friend, Narshala. I look forward to proving my worth to you, my queen."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Nalshene will cast several buffs just before leaving her room to go to the tournament grounds:
Umbral mage armor (13 hours, constant low-light in a 10-ft radius around her)
darkvision using her Mnemonic Vestment (13 hours)
greater false life ( , 13 hours)
false life on Narshala ( , 13 hours)
and just before entering the competition, she will cast:
fly on herself (13 minutes)
beast shape III on Narshala (dweomercat, +4 bonus to Strength)
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Amsheagar has 1 charge of "Cure Serious Wounds" that he put into his spell storing sword. In his Counterspell ring, he has Disintegrate, Because once is enough of that.
The pathfinder Society, one had expected as much. Where else would one expect to see this many contestants? Tell us, are you prepared to meet your doom? For one doubts that the society would be able to outperform one's subjects.
Despite her question, the queen signals to her attendants that the audience is over.
At 7:00, the bells toll the hour and Headmaster Toff Ornelos arrives in a blast of multicolored smoke, teleporting in. He lifts his hand to signal silence, and after the crowd quiets, he speaks aloud to the crowd, but especially to the contestants.
“Welcome one and all to this year’s Breaching Festival! I know the contestants are eager to begin, so I shall keep this introduction short. This year, as every year, one must enter the Hall of Wards via its eastern entrance after solving several minor conundrums our professors and spellcasters have set up at the other seven halls that surround us. The first contestant to emerge from these doors—” here Toff pauses to indicate the large doors in the Hall of Wards’ western facade, facing the quad—“shall be declared the winner of the Breaching Festival. If no winner emerges by dusk, there can be no winner for this year’s festival. Yet should one of these brave contestants accomplish what no one has accomplished in over 150 years, that person will walk away with more than 150,000 gold sails!”
Here, the crowd erupts into cheers for several seconds. When the roar dies down, Toff places his hands inside the front of his robe and withdraws a glowing, fist-sized sphere of shimmering light that he holds aloft. The sphere dances and bobs an inch above his upturned palm.
“These glowing spheres are the keys to your fate and fortune, worthy contestants. This is a key-light—there are nine of them hidden among the seven other Halls on the grounds. Each contestant needs his or her own key-light to get into the Hall of Wards. So find yourself a key-light, use it to enter the Hall of Wards, and you will have your chance to enter history!”
With that, Toff bows to the contestants, then signals to several other students standing nearby. They aim fireworks into the sky, and with a touch of magically conjured flame to fuses, a colorful set of pyrotechnic fire bursts signal the start of the Breaching Festival!
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Pad catches up with his companions as his short legs struggle to move his girth faster than a snails pace without the aid of magic. A sweet white powdery substance clings to his long mustache. His fire emblazoned robes also share a similar dusting.
"What did I miss? Oh my! What an audience! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it appears I lingered too long choosing which pastry might be my last. It was an agonizing decision to say the least!"
Pad agrees with Nalshene that the Hall of Summoning should be their first challenge. He casts a series of arcane buffs upon himself.
"Anyone hear about Fatmire? I was looking forward to meeting the halfling fellow."
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Ongoing Effects: Freedom of Movement (perm), Mage Armor (13 hrs), Stoneskin (130 min), Heroism (130 min), See Invisibility (130 min), Shield (13 min)
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Amsheagar opens his eyes, as if coming out of a quick nap. "So, we just have to be the first ones out of that door... right?" He smiles to himself as he comes up with a plan.
He shakes his head. "You didn't miss much little one." he says as he pats pad on the head. He proceeds to cast two spells on himself.
The hall of summoning is one of the large buildings, completely vacated for purposes of the breaching festival. It's not clear in which room the key-light is located,
Finally, the party gets to a large classroom, with five table arranged in five-fold symmetry. Above each table is a key-light, hovering in the air.
It's quite clear to the adventurers that this is a summoning trap.
Shinkeer tinkers a bit, and suddenly two of the five glowing red key lights turn dim. The remaining three remain well-lit: these are the key-light the adventurers are looking for.
The party enters the hall of shaping, and find their way relatively quickly to an abandoned office in the eastern wing.
The office is a stuffy room filled with weird, gargoyle-like trophies. In the middle, on the table, is a glowing key-light. Also in the room is the dwarf Knur, who is just about to reach out for the light. A bright flash follows, and where Knur was before, a small songbird is flying around. It flutters and twitters, but as soon as it sits down, one of the statue-like trophies stirs to life, and smashes the bird to a bloody salsa with one mighty fist.
Two more statues soon follow, moving to defend to the blood-splattered table.
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Glaurung
Amsheagar
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Statue
Statue
Statue
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Pad
Jebediah
Nalshene
Shin
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The creature is a Garipan, an outsider rather than an magical beast. They're immune to sonic damage.
The room fills with two fireballs in rapid succession.
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Pad
Jebediah
Nalshene
Shin
Glaurung
Amsheagar
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Statue (75)
Statue (50)
Statue (57)
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Knowing that despite their statuesque appearance, these creatures will be affected by her mind-affecting illusions, Nalshene five-foot steps forward and then casts a Persistent loathsome veil as shown on the map. The far side of the veil is a wall of shifting colors which can cause each of the monsters to be nauseated.
"Do not pass through my spell, friends. Let them come to you." Nalshene then says to Narshala "Defend, Narshala." and points to Jebediah. Narshala will then delay until Jebediah moves, and will move along and attack any creature that threatens him.
Pad fills the room with a third fireball, brighter and hotter than the two before, and nearly wipes out all three statues in one go. One of the stone outsider goes down, while a second only stays up long enough to be stabbed down by Glaurung.
Only one statue is standing, and it's clearly affected by the wall of bad taste that Nalshene has put up. The statue looks quite unable to put up any kind of resistance at this point.
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Pad
Jebediah
Nalshene
Shin
Glaurung
Amsheagar
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Statue -Dead
Statue (122, nauseous)
Statue - Dead
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