Seeing these firy creatures, that are so close to animals that Amsheagar would love to use Hide from animal.. if they were animals. he quickly reaches back to Purs and casts Blessing of the Salamander to make his skin slimy.
Technically this was not a situation where you could take 10 but I'll hand-wave it to keep things moving.
Amsheagar's intervention proves timely as a pack of the infernal hounds move up to unleash their fiery breaths upon your party! They breathe over each other freely, evidently unconcerned about covering each other in flames.
Rhon, Exiel and Amsheagar each need to make 6 reflex saves against fire. Purs only needs to make 4 because he is a little further back and just out of reach of 2 of the breaths. Pathfinders are up!
Exiel and Amsheagar (mostly) avoid the brunt of the fiery breaths, but Purs is caught completely off-guard, surviving only through the aid of the slimy coating gifted to him by Amsheagar's spell.
GM:
5d20 ⇒ (3, 13, 11, 4, 14) = 45Oh of course
Exiel responds by casting a cloud of blinding glitter over most of the hounds, blinding them, while Purs channels positive energy to heal the party. Amsheagar prepares for battle by transforming into a dragon!
Purs takes 52 damage in total after resistances. He would have taken 152 damage and died if Amsheagar had not gone first and cast his spell. After the channel, you lost a net of 28hp this turn. Amsheagar takes 14 damage after resistances from the 1 save he failed, but is then healed by Purs' channel.
Rhon still needs to make 6 saving throws and then declare his actions for this round.
We are otherwise still in round 1. The 5 hounds nearest to you are blinded.
Despite being somewhat absent, Rhon's strikes are powerful and sure, and he severely bloodies the nearest hound with a few mighty swings.
Blinded by Exiel's spell and packed into the tunnel, the hellhounds are mostly unable to launch an effective counter-attack. The only still-seeing hound glowering from behind as it waits for its breath weapon to recharge. And the bloodied hellhound takes what could well be its final breath.
The Dragon Amsheagar nods and moves to the side of the party before spitting a line of acid down the middle of the group of Hellhounds, getting all but one. I Think..
Exiel delivers two quick stabs to the hound, followed by Rhon's barrage of swings (of which only 1 hits, but it is a severe hit). The hound almost buckles, but stands until Amsheagar finishes it off with a powerful bite.
With a furious howl Yellow steps a little closer to Rhon and attempts to bite him, while green breathes blindly in the direction of the sounds of battle, catching Rhon, Exiel and Amsheagar.
The remaining hounds snarl as they attempt to shake the dust from their eyes, but still to no avail.
Amsheagar, Exiel and Rhon need a reflex save each against the breath Pathfinders are up. 4 hounds remain.
Still waiting for Purs, but I also just noticed that I forgot to apply Purs' sound burst from last round, so I will do that in this round and move to the next round.
Rhon's reflex save:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
Exiel and Amsheagar manage to dodge the flames and their evasion/resistance takes care of the rest, but Rhon catches the breath full-on and is slightly signed through his resistance.
GM:
3d20 ⇒ (7, 12, 2) = 21
Between Rhon, Exiel and the dragon, another hellhound goes down, and Purs' loud spell stuns one of the blinded hounds. However, one of the other hounds has regained its breath weapon, and turning its head in the direction of the sounds of battle, he also breathes out a jet of flame over the Pathfinders.
And another hound blinks off the blinding glitter.
Rhon took another 7 fire damage. Amsheagar, Exiel and Rhon need a reflex save each against a breath again. Pathfinders are up. Orange is no longer blinded.
Exiel and Amsheagar try to focus their attacks on orange, but this time it is not enough to bring down the hound just yet. Rhon goes for Green, but the hound avoids the blow through sheer luck, ducking at just the right moment for all the wrong reasons. Purs brings Rhon back to top fighting shape.
Orange snarls as it tries furiously to bite the dragon as blue breathes its breath in the general direction of the roar.
GM:
2d20 ⇒ (6, 10) = 16
The hounds miss.
GM:
2d20 ⇒ (8, 9) = 17
Pathfinders I'll call the combat over. The hounds are having too much trouble between your resistances and high AC.
With the hounds defeated, the way ahead lies before you. You head down the massive tunnel. It gets rapidly warmer as you press on, and a glow illuminates the path ahead. As you turn a corner, there is a sudden spray of loose rock as a large boulder smashes into the side of the tunnel. Rhon and Exiel are able to catch a glimpse of what lies ahead before ducking back behind the corner of the tunnel's bend.
The corridor widens into a large cavern before ending precipitously at the edge of a chasm filled with slow-moving magma. Across the rift, the passage continues beyond a landing where two columns of stout, black rock buttress a low wall between them. Behind the low wall stands a line of massive flame-haired giants in armor and hefting large flaming boulders. You have time to plan how you want to proceed - though it would need to involve both crossing the lava-filled rift and the giants waiting on the other side!
Pathfinders how would you like to tackle this obstacle?
"Our goal is not to kill everything in here, only to get past them to wherever the macguffin we need to retrieve is. To my knowledge, fire giants cannot see the invisible. Perhaps whilst Amsheagar is still a dragon he could bear Rhon and I could carry Purs, and if I make us all invisible we could simply fly over and past them?"
Had to double check the length of the spell and if this dragon could talk. It lasts for 17 minutes, how many minutes has it been since we started the fight with the hounds?
Amsheagar nods his dragon head, "I should be able to carry the two across somewhat easily.
"Alright then. Stay close. Between your borrowed draconic senses and my echolocation spell, we should be able to keep tabs on each other. Rhon and Purs, you two just hang tight."
Exiel casts echolocation, then casts invisibility on the 4 of us one by one.
"Alright everyone, let's try to be quiet and fly as far down the passageway as we can without being detected."
Purs It occurs to you that the giants were most likely alerted to you when the hellhounds started barking. Perhaps they cannot cross the chasm, but if they can, you think they will most likely come looking at some point if you attempt to take an 8 hour rest here. You will probably need to find a safer place and/or time if you want to rest.
Aura of Good (Overwhelming) l Aura of Courage (10 ft) l Aura of Resolve (10 ft) | Aura of Faith (10 ft)
LG Male Dwarf Paladin (Stonelord) 16 | HP 182/182 | AC 43 | T 14 | FF 42 | CMB +16 | CMD 34 | Fort: +20 (+2 poison/drugs, +4 alcohol), Ref: +11, Will: +19 (+1 all saves FF/surprise rd) | 8/adamantine | SR 21 | Fortification 75% | Immune to Blood Drain, Charm, Fear, & Petrification | Perception: +25 (+2 unusual stonework)(darkvision 60 ft) | Init: +1 | Move 20' | LoH 11/11 | DS 38/38 |
"You had best be right about this or I am going to ask Torag to reforge you into a bedpan when I get the chance." Rhon grimaces at the thought of dying in this fiery hell.
Rhon climbs on the dragon and hangs on with everything he's got so as not to get dropped in the magma.
Amsheagar only has one higher level spell left, then he is tapped. I haven't used it, since it was overkill on the last guys... I could transform into Earth Elemental form and make a small cave, close off the entrance.
Amsheagar laughs at Rhon and replies in his draconian voice, "One with nature, it is best to spread your wings and fly little dwarf."
I believe only Amsheagar is neutral in our party, and since he is of a higher level than Purs, he would not be affected by the holy word. Fire at will!
Happy to proceed or rest. If we want to rest and the cave idea is not feasible, I can also bring us back up to the upper level with a dimension door spell.
I do not see anything in the earth elemental's abilities that will allow it to make a cave or shape stone to hide a cave. It can move through earth, not move the earth itself at will.
You can certainly dimension door to the upper level if you wish, but I need you to tell me what you actually do before I proceed. Are you flying ahead invisibly or using dimension door to the upper level to rest? If you are resting, are you taking any precautions since it appears that at the very least the giants and linnorms know that you are in the vicinity?
My preference is to go ahead since I still have some resources to spare and the alarm is kinda raised, but also happy to pull back if Purs needs the rest. I'll leave the decision to Purs. Happy to take first watch if we rest.
I will assume Purs wants the rest since he requested it.
At Purs' urging, Exiel transports the party back to the upper level of the cavern, where the smoke-filled chamber had been. It is mostly silent, save for the occasional growl from the sinkhole where the linnorms have presumably butchered the fire elementals sent to fight them. A quick inspection of the areas you have cleared shows that the passage up back to the cottage has disappeared, and there is no real safe place to hide, but you are able to find relative safety in a corner of the large cavern.
Exiel takes the first watch while the rest of you rest.
GM:
3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 5) = 13
Out of nowhere, two puffs of hazy black smoke appear. A pair of feminine figures emerge from the puffs of smoke, although they are clearly not human from the jet-black wings bearing them aloft. They look around, and one of them quickly sees Exiel.
"Ah, here are the ones that the oafish giants told us about. Tell Olcazra we've found our prey. I'll keep our friends here company for a few moments."
Exiel you are up. There are 2 enemies, and all your allies are asleep. Due to your attempt to rest, none of you are wearing armor unless you have a way to avoid fatigue while resting in armor, and only your hour-per-level buffs are still active. Edit: I will assume that Rhon slept in his armor since he can remove his fatigue with his lay on hands, and I assume he would rather accept the resource expenditure than risk being caught without his armor.
Lauriel shifts from her tattoo form as Exiel moves forward. Seeing the other pathfinders sleeping in a convenient line, she breathes a line of cold over them, giving them a sudden but effective awakening
Hmm... I regret only sending such a small search party
One of the winged women prepares to vanish in a puff of smoke, but at Exiel's magical command, she stops. Both of the women remain motionless as they strain against Exiel's magic.
GM:
2d20 ⇒ (3, 15) = 18
One of them nearly breaks free, but Exiel's magic is just a little too irresistible for now.
Amsheagar, Rhon and Purs each take 2 damage, but are now awake. The winged women are just standing there for now. Pathfinders are up.
Aura of Good (Overwhelming) l Aura of Courage (10 ft) l Aura of Resolve (10 ft) | Aura of Faith (10 ft)
LG Male Dwarf Paladin (Stonelord) 16 | HP 182/182 | AC 43 | T 14 | FF 42 | CMB +16 | CMD 34 | Fort: +20 (+2 poison/drugs, +4 alcohol), Ref: +11, Will: +19 (+1 all saves FF/surprise rd) | 8/adamantine | SR 21 | Fortification 75% | Immune to Blood Drain, Charm, Fear, & Petrification | Perception: +25 (+2 unusual stonework)(darkvision 60 ft) | Init: +1 | Move 20' | LoH 11/11 | DS 38/38 |
I found a moments reprieve here at Gen Con.
Rhon clangs into alertness and swiftly overcomes the fatigue of sleeping in such heavy armor. "What the.." Rhon's words trail off as he spots the two unmoving women. He picks up his axe and shield and walks a circle around them giving the women a wide berth while he does.
"So who or what have you caught disturbing our well earned nap?" Rhon glances at the women as he addresses Exiel.
"They teleported in and said something about telling some Olcazra we've been found. I'm guessing demons or devils. Take them down before they break free from my spell!"
Lauriel flies to Exiel and reverts to the safety of her tattoo form.
Hoping to bring his allies into the fight as quickly as possible, Exiel flies back a little to get the whole party in range for a haste spell. As a swift action, he adopts his fighting stance and prepares for battle.
Entering crane stance, rapier drawn, party is hasted.
Sorry Purs, your rest was interrupted during the first watch. You probably only got about 1 hour of rest in. You have not regained your spell yet.
Exiel moves and casts haste on the party while giving them a quick update on the situation.
Rhon you can act in light of Exiel's information. Rhon, Purs and Amsheagar are still up. Your rest was interrupted by the appearance of the two winged women. Exiel has stopped them from calling reinforcement for now.
