Revival of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

Wind walk is also good, it just costs a bit more and has a 0.25% chance of Something Bad happening if I try to cast it.

"Not sure what to expect about that shadowwalk spell, but looking forward to the new experience. I would suggest that we don't appear right next to their base so that we can gather some intel and scout the place out a bit."

One advantage to the Wind Walk is that we can see more where we are going…Not so sure with Shadow Walk, but it could work too.

”Could we overtake the giant kidnappers? Set an ambush for them before they reach Jorgenfist and liberate our citizens?” asks Guiness.

"Sure. Why not?" says Kellek sardonically in an obvious attempt to end all his companions' 'nattering.'

The next day, he prepares teleport again with the aim of reaching Magnimar.

When everyone and their belongings is ready, Kellek begins weaving the magic with his hands and voice. then he pauses and says "Alright now, join hands and keep quiet, or I am turning this dimensional breach around." Then he finishes with a flourish.

teleportation mishap (seen casually)?: 1d100 ⇒ 98!!!

There's an audible *POP* like the last moment of a big soap bubble.

Kellek looks about* and snarls "Now what did I just say?"

* i.e. he takes 10 on knowledge (geography) for a total of 21.

Ziva looks around, expression bemused. "This does not look much like Magnimar, unless it has changed a great deal in less than a week."

Uh oh!

"I didn't do anything!"

Sighing, Guiness looks around and says, ”We dwarves are, of course, naturally resistant to magic. That’s never been a problem for you before, though, Kellek. What happened?”

!!!

The sensation of teleportation feels a little different this time, and as your eyes refocus after arriving at your destination, you notice you're definitely not in Magnimar. Standing atop a grassy knoll, you see a wide and winding river to the south and a swampy morass on the other side of the river. Thanks to having traveled this way before, the landscape is immediately reminiscent of the Yondabakari - you're somewhere along its length. A single tooth from a small or medium sized humanoid sits in the grass here.

You could certainly give it another try right away if you have the spell prepared.

Looking around, Colvyn try to get a good feeling of where they are compare to Jorgenfist. "So, are we trying to get back to Magnimar or should we just head over to the giant's base?"

Knowledge Geography: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

A single...tooth?

"Hmm, someone lost a tooth," Ziva kneels down to examine the wayward chomper, then curiously looks around for the person it might've come from. "Odd."

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19

"Well, there's a good chance Kellek may have dropped us much closer to our ultimate destination," Astrid says with a shrug. "Wouldn't be the worst thing."

Yep, someone in the group had a little mishap during the teleportation, so one of you is missing a tooth. I'll let you decide who that might be :)

Colvyn looks around, identifies the Yondabakari river, and places the group about 50 miles directly east of Magnimar. Basically no closer to the Storval Plateau than when you started in Sandpoint.

You could certainly give it another try right away if you have the spell prepared.

Sorry. He had had the spell prepared a few seconds ago.

"That's mine." Kellek says snatching the tooth, and putting it back in his spell component pouch along with all the other odds and ends.

Assuming he has the chance to sleep on it in the comfort of his magical shelter. Kellek uses the extra day to scribe a scroll of haste using his Brilliant Spell Prep Exploit to to prepare the spell for the scroll. Kellek wakes up the next day and uses two of his valuable 5th level spell slots for teleport (subbing out cone of cold) and tries again for Magnimar. If Magnimar is too far away he just shoots for the next nearest major magical hub Korvosa being first on his list.

"Now, is everyone ready?"

*POP!*

teleport mishap: 1d100 ⇒ 70

This time around Kellek's spell goes far better. You vanish from your impromptu camp-site along the Yondabakari, and appear instantly in the streets of Magnimar. Once there, you're able to complete the shopping you were heading over for in the first place, as well as acquire your scrolls of shadow walk or wind walk (It sounded like you settled on shadow walk earlier but I saw some other comments afterward. Doesn't change things dramatically either way).

Activating your scrolls, you stream across the landscape, Colvyn in the lead as he keeps you pointed in the correct direction. The rolling plains near Magnimar quickly give way to damp forests, lakes, and hills. A few minor villages zip beneath or around you, lost within minutes as you travel far faster than any horse or caravan. Before long, you see the cliffs marking the edge of the Storval Plateau. The rocky highlands beyond stand imposingly stark and inhospitable - especially seeming so for those of you who've spent your lives along the coast. You ascend upward, across the plateau's lip, and then across the rocky terrain beyond. Colvyn's guidance takes you over a mountain range, until you release your spells to settle atop a promontory overlooking a vast valley - the Vale of the Black Tower.

See the drawn map on page 4 of the Maps slides.

The dry valley is perched on the upper edge of a cliff overlooking the Muschkal river. At the western edge of the valley entrance, a lone watchtower stands upon a low hill, but this structure is overshadowed by the larger one that looms in the valley proper. Here stands a ring-shaped stone wall, fifty feet in height and surrounding several buildings, the most impressive of which is a looming black tower with blade-like crenelations that overlooks the river gorge. Apart from the black tower, five stone towers are built into the fortress wall - one of these towers is wider than the others and seems to be the only way into the courtyard beyond.

Encamped more informally near the fortress are dozens of large huts and tents. It's difficult to make out the scale at this distance, but it suggests dozens, if not hundreds, of giants have decided to make the site their temporary home.

This time around Kellek's spell goes far better. You vanish from your impromptu camp-site along the Yondabakari, and appear instantly in the streets of Magnimar. Once there, you're able to complete the shopping you were heading over for in the first place, as well as acquire your scrolls of shadow walk or wind walk (It sounded like you settled on shadow walk earlier but I saw some other comments afterward. Doesn't change things dramatically either way).

Sure though Kellek will buy a second of whatever spell it is. One for now and one for later to scribe into his spellbook. ;) I'll have more of a list of possible purchases up this weekend in discussion--mostly for coin encumbrance sake.

"Ah. Pismo Beach, and all the stone giants we can fight, I presume." says Kellek straightening his hair after the party's hectic trip through shadow.

Looking out over the camp, Guiness asks, ”Does anyone see signs of the kidnapped Sandpoint residents? Or do you think we beat them here?”

Perception on the camp: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24
Geography to calculate kidnapper arrival time: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

Brainy wizard guy takes 10 on the same calculation.

Looking out over the camp, Guiness asks, ”Does anyone see signs of the kidnapped Sandpoint residents? Or do you think we beat them here?”

It might be possible (assuming they weren't carrying their prisoners like luggage), but remember it has been a week.

Guiness doesn't see any signs of the kidnapped residents, or any other prisoners, out in the camp. By his and Kellek's judgement, if the giant raiding party had headed directly back here with no stops anywhere along the way, they might be here already. After all, giants move quickly and have incredible endurance for long marches. However, if they slowed down or side tracked themselves, or if their destination was something else, then they could still be on their way.

Ziva lets out a low, impressed whistle at the sight of the fortress and the camp that surrounds it. "We should observe for a time, and call upon those divinations to determine if perhaps there are ways in that won't require us to throw ourselves against several hundred giantkin. For now, though, we should get off of this hill before we are spotted."

Astrid lifts her arm, signaling Muninn to hop down from her shoulder. His talons grip her bracer as she leans in to speak with him.

"Go take a look around the valley, but be careful. Stay out of the camp, run if anything takes notice of you, and, for heaven's sake, don't talk to anyone. I won't be able to talk you out of anyone's cookpot this time." She pauses, then adds, "Be back by nightfall."

The bird tilts his head quizzically, but only for a moment, as she quickly hurls him into the air. He flaps his wings furiously, gaining altitude before settling into a long glide that will take him around the edge of the valley. Astrid watches him for a full minute, then turns back to her companions.

"Well, let's figure out how we're going to take on a whole army."

"Divide and conquer." Colvyn studies the different camps. " With this large of an army, there are bound to be differents factions. We should see if we can pit some against each other."

I've noticed that Muninn is both pretty decently smart and knows common, so I've taken the liberty to speak for him.

"To south, caves in cliff filled with webs and many bones. Winged lizards within noticed when I passed." Muninn straightens some feathers and continues "When returning, giants in camps started throwing rocks at me. At me! How dare!" He squawks indignantly. From the looks of things, one or more of the thrown boulders must have been a very close call.

"Your bird is very brave, hmm?" Ziva nods approvingly, then sits down to sketch the scene described by Muninn in the dirt. "Could you tell us more about those 'feathery winged watchers' you mentioned? How big were they, what did they look like?"

"Ordinary talons and wings they had, but with bodies the size and shape of a human. Ugly."

”Any sign of human prisoners?” asks Guiness.

That's great! I'd mostly had him sandbagging his ability to speak because he thinks it's funny, but after a day like that I think he'd be too tired.

"He is," Astrid says, reaching into her pack and retrieving a strip of dried meat for the bird, who promptly gobbles it down. "And clever, and handsome."

Muninn tries not to preen at the attention as he answers Guiness' question "Only on sticks. Very dead."

"Ugly bird-folk watching the skies, spiders and winged lizards in the caves. Wyverns, perhaps, or drakes." Ziva sits back on her heels, staring contemplatively at her map in the dirt. "Cave is best, I think. Kill the drakes and the spiders, have a way in and out. Hopefully not well known to them, but I think that is unlikely, no? Still least bad choice."

She looks up to the others for a response. "Can we reach the caves with magic? I have many talents, but never learned to fly."

Astrid nods. "There's enough magic between Kellek and I to get the lot of you into the air, though I can't promise you'll be graceful."

”I suppose if we can’t tell whether the Sandpoint citizens have been brought in yet, there is no sense in setting up an ambush along the entry route to this giant city,” says Guiness, adding, ”And though I am loathe to admit it, there is more at stake here than just rescuing the townsfolk—these giants are up to something big, and we need to find out what.”

Setting his jaw, Guiness says, ”Are we going in with stealth or invisibility, or just flying low and under cover as best as possible?”

Yep, how would you guys like to do this?

"Perhaps we wait for dark? Little chance of being seen from the camp and tower, and can save our casters some magic. I get the feeling we will need it."

Giants generally don't have darkvision, right?

"Good idea! Kellek, what do you think?"

Giants generally don't have darkvision, right?

Depends upon the giant. Kellek would probably know that or could with a Knowledge check taking 10.

"Good idea! Kellek, what do you think?"

"And how many of us know how to fly? See in the dark?*"

* If there's a moon out tonight it might only be "dim" allowing the giants to see us.

"I don't have much in the way of flight or long term invisibility spells prepared today."

Yep, Kellek and most anyone with decent investment in KN:local would know that most giants don't have darkvision, but many do have low-light vision, letting them see reasonably well on moonlit nights like tonight's. Definitely dim light when out under the open sky, and potentially dark in enclosed spaces if there are no light sources.

”I have no innate ability to fly or spell to achieve such, but I can see a limited distance in the dark,” responds Guiness.

"Then leave the magic flight to me. That's easy enough. What's the saying? 'Throw yourself at the ground and miss?'"

I can spontaneously cast fly on each of us by swapping out other prepared spells, though it will save me one if Kellek uses the overland flight he already has prepared. Alternatively, I can take 15 minutes to prepare communal air walk in my empty slot. I don't think there's anything I can do about making us invisibie. I guess I could cast hunter's blessing to give us a +2 sacred bonus to Stealth while in mountains, but that's marginal. Low-light vision just doubles the range they can see in dim light, though, so depending on the distance, it still might even out.

Seems like the outline of a plan - you guys hike a bit closer, Astrid casts fly, and you stealthily fly your way to the cliff openings. I'll be on the lookout tomorrow for agreement and/or adjustments, but will otherwise push us forward with that plan if I don't hear otherwise.

Sounds good to me! I'll cast the fly I have in my domain slot on myself, then swap out mind maze, terrible remorse, and dispel magic to cast fly on Colvyn, Guinness, and Ziva. I'll assume Kellek uses his own overland flight. Also, unless someone has better ideas for hunter's blessing, I'll cast that, targeting Giants and Mountains.

Kellek shrugs and sighs.

He casts overland flight upon himself.

Colvyn does have a flight spell, but considering it summon wings of fire, it is not very stealthy.

Colvyn Stealth: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (17) + 22 = 39
Kellek Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Astrid Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Guiness Stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Ziva Stealth: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23

With a lot of ground to cover, you climb down off the promontory and along the edge of the valley, heading toward the cliffs and the river below. With the aid of Astrid's magic, you move fairly swiftly and quietly, though mostly its the distance you keep from the giant encampments that keeps you safe. When you get close to the cliff, you distribute magical flight across your members and launch off.

Wind buffets you down in the canyon, but even the most ungainly are able to keep themselves reasonably stable as you descend. Eventually you turn to face the two openings Muninn described. One is smaller and densely choked with spider webs. The second is wider, but with visibly scattered bones inside. Those sharp eyed among you spot the telltale signs of movement from deep within the larger entrance.

(Which way first? Map has been updated.)

Gesturing towards the larger cavern, Ziva draws her sword and floats forward, nudging bones aside with her boots as she lands. "Come then, let us begin," she calls softly into the darkness. Holding her blade high in a defensive stance, she peers intently into the cave, straining for those signs of movement.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

Making an assumption here, but drakes or wyverns can rat us out, and spiders probably can't, so Ziva wants to deal with the big lizards first.

Mechanically, Ziva is assuming a defensive stance so her Crane Style feats kick in, which gives her a +5 dodge bonus to AC (total AC28)

Guiness lands next to Ziva and draws his shield and hammer, willing Dragonfist into flame as they get cover from the outside cave opening (so the light can’t be directly seen from outside the cave).

”Agreed,” responds Guiness, using his darkvision to look ahead until he can safely set his hammer alight.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31

When you're fighting defensively, your AC would actually go up by 8! The +5 from Crane Style and Crane Wing is on top of the +2 you're already getting from fighting defensively and the additional +1 you get from your ranks in Acrobatics.

Astrid descends with the others, but doesn't quite touch the ground. Instead, she drifts along in the wake of Ziva and Guinness, spear clutched in front of her, listening intently for the sounds of movement or alarm from deeper within the cave.

Astrid Perception: 1d20 + 23 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 23 + 2 = 34-2 if this is enough to take us out of Mountain™ terrain.
Muninn Perception: 1d20 + 18 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 18 + 2 = 25 Same here.

I'll say you're still in mountain (tm) terrain here, lol.

A musky smell lingers near the entrance to this cave - a thick, almost reptilian stink chokes the nose. Thanks to your darkvision and generally sharp senses, you spot the immense mammoth and aurochs bones lying in piles at the back of the cavern, as well as the scaled beasts lying in wait behind them! The three wyverns begin to hiss and screech amid the gloom.

|||| INIT ||||
Ziva
Colvyn
Guiness
Wyverns
Astrid
Kellek

First fight with our new party member and she gets a 20 on initiative :)

First fight with our new party member and she gets a 20 on initiative :)

I got a rock.

Each step placed very deliberately, Ziva advances into the room with her bastard sword held in a one-handed high guard. "Let us begin," she says solemnly to the wyverns, waiting for them to advance to meet her.

Move + Ready Action for a vital strike once they come in reach. Applying my stance as previously discussed; AC27/31
Attack: 1d20 + 18 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 18 - 2 = 19 Damage: 2d10 + 7 ⇒ (2, 8) + 7 = 17