
Ziva Vilcek |
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Her mind finally fully her own again, Ziva takes in the battered state of the two ghosts and resolves to put at least one of them down for good. As Guiness swings away she joins in with a vengeful flurry of her own.
Attack #1: 1d20 + 23 - 3 ⇒ (20) + 23 - 3 = 40 Damage: 2d10 + 15 + 2d6 ⇒ (4, 2) + 15 + (2, 2) = 25
Attack #2: 1d20 + 18 - 3 ⇒ (20) + 18 - 3 = 35 Damage: 2d10 + 15 + 2d6 ⇒ (6, 6) + 15 + (1, 5) = 33
Attack #3: 1d20 + 13 - 3 ⇒ (4) + 13 - 3 = 14 Damage: 2d10 + 15 + 2d6 ⇒ (2, 8) + 15 + (5, 5) = 35
Can't get the crits because it's incorporeal :'(

GM Cellion |

Did you manage to pick up your sword Ziva? I think it's still on the stairs. You can keep those attack rolls if you have a backup weapon you want to use.

GM Cellion |
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Though visions of tearing through ghosts swim across Ziva's vision, she's left flying for the sword she discarded in her panic earlier.
1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31 2d6 + 1d3 ⇒ (1, 3) + (2) = 6
|||| INIT ||||
Kellek (8 dmg, 3 con dmg) x2
Ziva (8 dmg, 2 con dmg)
Colvyn (8 dmg, 1 con dmg)
Astrid (4 dmg, 2 con dmg)
Guiness (31 dmg, 10 con dmg)
Red ghost (94 dmg)
Blue ghost (108 dmg)

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Only partially protected by the increase in durability provided by the stone, Guiness continues to attack the red ghost!
Warhammer Attack with Defensive Stance Primary Attack: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (11) + 17 = 28
Dragonfist Damage: 1d8 + 17 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 17 + (3) = 23
Warhammer Attack with Defensive Stance Secondary Attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18
Dragonfist Damage: 1d8 + 17 + 1d6 ⇒ (8) + 17 + (6) = 31
Warhammer Attack with Defensive Stance Secondary Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Dragonfist Damage: 1d8 + 17 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 17 + (1) = 21
Shield Slam Attack with Defensive Stance: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Damage with Magic Shield: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Steel Headbutt: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22
Cold Iron Damage: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Astrid Olvirsdottir |

Astrid steps back once again, sending out yet another wave of positive energy.
Channel, Harm Undead, DC 17 Will: 6d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4) = 21

GM Cellion |

With a final wave of positive energy, and a few powerful swings from Guiness' hammer, you tear the last two remaining ghosts apart. They burst into thin grey wisps, fading into the darkness of the Black Tower once more.
Combat Over
The ghosts have left behind the scars of their touch and the memory of their presence, but little else. The Black Tower is now once again cavernous, cold and empty.

Kellek Zaderan |

"Well that went well." *Koff, koff!*

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Releasing his grip on the stone with the soles of his feet, Guiness sits down heavily, looking even paler than before. He agrees with Kellek, "Indeed, those wispy ghosts were a difficult foe."

Kellek Zaderan |
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"Let's take a rest shall we." says Raistli--err, I mean Kellek. *koff, koff*

Astrid Olvirsdottir |
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Unusually pale even for her, Astrid channels a measure of Pulura's grace to remove the worst of Guinness's affliction. "There's not much more I can do for us today, at least not without dipping into our limited stocks of diamond dust."
Lesser Restoration, Guinness: 1d4 ⇒ 1
Lesser Restoration, Guinness: 1d4 ⇒ 3
Using my 2nd-level pearl of power to reprepare for the second casting.

Colvyn "Slick" Dashtail |

"Let's hope there isn't more of those flying around."

GM Cellion |

Guiness ends up looking a good bit better after Astrid's magic takes effect, but he's clearly not at his usual degree of vitality. Luckily, while Astrid is busy healing, no further ghosts show up.
What's the plan?

Ziva Vilcek |

Retrieving her sword with an embarrassed grimace, Ziva gives the tower another wary once-over. "I could resume my aerial scouting, if we don't think there's anything down here that requires our attention."

Kellek Zaderan |

"For now. Ghosts like these take some time to reassemble their corpus." *koff, koff*

GM Cellion |

Looking up into the tall interior of the tower, Ziva doesn't spot anything more beyond the gargoyle-like figures looming down out of the dark.

Ziva Vilcek |

"There might be alcoves or some other hidden spaces not visible from down here. I will take a closer look."
Flying up to investigate, coming back down if anything hostile rears its head
Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31

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”Perhaps this trapped area hides a portal leading below,” suggests Guiness, though he has no skill at disarming traps, so he keeps his distance.

Kellek Zaderan |

"There might be alcoves or some other hidden spaces not visible from down here. I will take a closer look."
"You do that." says Kellek in an exhausted tone of voice.

GM Cellion |

Ziva doesn't spot any hidden alcoves or secrets up above, but her sharp eyes do confirm what Colvyn saw earlier. The central slab in the floor of the room, which is heavily iced over, seems like it's been designed to give way if anyone steps atop it. It seems like Guiness' theory might bear fruit.

Ziva Vilcek |

Alighting back on the un-iced ground, Ziva nods towards the slab. "I think our brave dwarf is right about that spot--but given our condition after that last fight it might be best to recuperate a little longer. How are we on spells?"

Kellek Zaderan |

"I have spells." Kellek says dryly.
Although he doesn't have much that can effect incorporeal undead.

Astrid Olvirsdottir |

"I have plenty remaining to me," Astrid confirms, "but I can do precious little if we encounter more undead that sap our life force."

Ziva Vilcek |

"When you're ready, then," Ziva steps on the tile, waiting for it to start to drop her into the presumed pit below before spreading her fiery wings to avoid such a fate.

Kellek Zaderan |

"Right, so tomorrow. I'll put up the magical shelter and-"

GM Cellion |

Ziva puts her full weight on the icy tile. When she does, a spiderweb of cracks quickly spreads across the ice before the block beneath that ice swings aside. She drops, falling into the utterly dark pit that has opened up beneath her, before her wings catch her and prevent her from falling any further. Looking down, she sees the pit opens to a large enough space that she can't see the bottom. An icy wind flows up from below.

Kellek Zaderan |

"Well, that doesn't seem ominous at all."
Kellek casts detect magic to see what might be seen.
Kellek says looking downward into the gap, his eyes shining like eerie, blacklight, lighthouse beacons.

GM Cellion |

With his flight, Kellek dips a little into the hole and searches with detect magic. Deep below, he faintly detects an abjuration aura. He doesn't see the source of the aura - assuming he has darkvision, he can see that a wide shaft descends down into the structure, then opens up into a larger chamber about sixty feet below the level of the upper room. The floor of that larger chamber is constructed of black stone and lies about 20 feet further below that.

Kellek Zaderan |

No no darkvision at present for Kellek. He explains his findings though to those who cannot fathom the Colour of Magic.

Astrid Olvirsdottir |

Astrid, for her part, gazes down into the hole, listening intently for any sign of activity in the darkness.
Perception: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (13) + 24 = 37

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Seeing the pit open up below, Guiness digs a rope out of his pack and looks for a good sturdy place to secure it for the climb down.

GM Cellion |

Nothing moves down there, as far as Astrid can see. Guiness has Ziva loop the end of his rope around one of the gargoyle statues in the room. From there, its an easy enough descent. (I'm going to assume Guiness is willing to descend first, but you guys decide who's going to follow next)
Climbing down the rope, Guiness descends into an increasingly frigid space through the long shaft. By the time he reaches the bottom, the temperature has dropped to well below freezing, cold enough to be harmful if you were to linger. The shaft opens to a large circular crypt with a domed 20-foot high ceiling. Every surface in the room is covered in ice. Niches evenly spaced around the room hold stone slabs marking the graves of some ancient figures. A single stone slab, to the north, is missing. In its place, a mummy stands upright within the niche, its arms and legs bound by both textile and chains. Clutched within its arms is a scroll case that glows with green light.
Map updated

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Thankful for his dwarven resistance to hot and cold temperatures, Guiness nevertheless draws Dragonfist and wills it into flame. He looks warily about the room, checking for other exits, obvious traps or unsafe areas, etc., as he waits for the others to descend.
"Icy cold down here, and there is a mummy with a glowing scroll in this crypt," observes Guiness curiously, "I wonder what magic it might hold..."
Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21

Ziva Vilcek |

"I admit, I don't think I've seen a more obvious bit of bait in all my years, though I've heard of some in bard's more outlandish yarns," Ziva gives the mummy a very skeptical once-over before turning her attention to the rest of the room, looking for the metaphorical other shoe that must surely be ready to drop.
Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (12) + 16 = 28

GM Cellion |

Bait or not, neither Guiness nor Ziva see any obvious traps or hazards around the chamber, other than the layer of ice over everything making the terrain dangerous slippery. The glowing scroll case looks like it certainly *could* be dangerous, but you can't tell anything for sure from your observations.

Astrid Olvirsdottir |

Astrid gently floats down after the others, but stops short of actually setting foot on the icy floor below. She gives the display a wary look.
"What do you mean?" Astrid says, her tone wry. "I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent explanation for the creepy glowing scrolls held by a bound mummy. It's very fashionable right now."
Switching out dispel evil to cast overland flight.

Kellek Zaderan |

Bait or not, neither Guiness nor Ziva see any obvious traps or hazards around the chamber, other than the layer of ice over everything making the terrain dangerous slippery. The glowing scroll case looks like it certainly *could* be dangerous, but you can't tell anything for sure from your observations.
Kellek inspects it with his magic-discerning peepers and knowledge of the arcane arts.
He takes 10 on any Knowledge (arcana) or Spellcraft rolls (see above for mods) required to determine what the item or glow might be over the course of 3+ rounds of detect magic.
Also, before descending he will pull out one of his trophy wands of cure light wounds and attempt to make the idiotic, backwards, divine thing work.
Use Magic Device v stupid theocrat's wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26 cure light wounds v self: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Forgot I had these. Anyone else?

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In addition to looking a bit pale (con down), Guiness is still injured (31 hp down), so he would be happy for some healing.

GM Cellion |

Feel free to spin that wand up as much as you'd like prior to descending. I'll assume Colvyn also came down with you.
When Kellek lays his magic peepers directly on the mummy, he notes the brilliant abjuration aura surrounding the scroll case, however, he doesn't get more than a moment or two to study before the mummy stirs. It rises up half a foot in the air, still clutching the scroll case. A dry, faint voice emits from the wrappings, speaking in Ancient Thassilonian "I sense you, thieves. The Emerald Codex will not be yours. I will guard it with my life..." Its eyes begin to glow with the same light as the codex!
Astrid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Colvyn: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Kellek: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
Guiness: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Guiness Will: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17 1d4 ⇒ 2
Kellek Will: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15 1d4 ⇒ 2
Astrid Will: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23
Ziva Will: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Colvyn Will: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23
Guiness and Kellek both find themselves completely paralyzed by despair (for 2 rounds). The mummy follows by breathing out a wide cone of tomb dust, engulfing the whole party. (If you have an air bubble or life bubble type effect running, you're immune to this)
Guiness Fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18 1d4 ⇒ 4
Kellek Fort: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7 1d4 ⇒ 3
Astrid Fort: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Ziva Fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25
Colvyn Fort: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12 1d4 ⇒ 2
As you all inadvertently inhale the necrotic dust, Guiness, Kellek and Colvyn feel the foul powder rapidly drain away their life energy. (4 negative levels to Guiness, 3 to Kellek and 2 to Colvyn)
|||| INIT ||||
Kellek (paralyzed 2 rd, 3 neg lvls, 3 con dmg)
Ziva (8 dmg*, 2 con dmg)
Colvyn (8 dmg*, 2 neg lvls, 1 con dmg)
Astrid (4 dmg*, 2 con dmg)
Guiness (paralyzed 2 rd, 4 neg lvls, 31 dmg*, 6 con dmg)
Guardian Mummy
Possibly pre-healed damage is currently starred.

Astrid Olvirsdottir |

Before descending
Channel: 6d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3, 1, 6, 4) = 21
Moment of Greatness for CLW on Guinness: 1d8 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18
Could I have used one of my pearls of power to reprepare the remove fear? It's okay if not, I have a backup.

Colvyn "Slick" Dashtail |

"The emerald codex? what the hell is that. We are here to cleanse an evil that we were told laired here."
Colvyn blessing his bow with holy flames and then use his ability to speed up the casting of a spell to use channel vigor on his torso.
Blessing of good on the bow and Channel vigor (torso) with fervor. +6 on fortitude and concentration.

GM Cellion |

Yep repreparing remove fear in advance is fine, assume you're confident you would have done so.

GM Cellion |

Colvyn casts his magical blessings, while you all feel a moment of thankfulness that Astrid had healed you just before descending.
|||| INIT ||||
Kellek (paralyzed 2 rd, 3 neg lvls, 3 con dmg)
Ziva (2 con dmg)
Colvyn (2 neg lvls, 1 con dmg)
Astrid (2 con dmg)
Guiness (paralyzed 2 rd, 4 neg lvls, 6 con dmg)
Guardian Mummy

Kellek Zaderan |

Previously.
In addition to looking a bit pale (con down), Guiness is still injured (31 hp down), so he would be happy for some healing.
UMD v Wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26 wand of cure light wounds v Guiness: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
UMD v Wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18 wand of cure light wounds v Guiness: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
UMD v Wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19 wand of cure light wounds v Guiness: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
UMD v Wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15 wand of cure light wounds v Guiness: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
"Blasted gods!" curses Kellek.
UMD v Wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31 wand of cure light wounds v Guiness: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
UMD v Wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28 wand of cure light wounds v Guiness: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
UMD v Wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28 wand of cure light wounds v Guiness: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
"That's more like it."
UMD v Wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33 wand of cure light wounds v Guiness: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
UMD v Wand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24 wand of cure light wounds v Guiness: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Before descending
[dice=Channel]6d6
[dice=Moment of Greatness for CLW on Guinness]1d8+17Could I have used one of my pearls of power to reprepare the remove fear? It's okay if not, I have a backup.
"Oh well then nevermind." Kellek rescinds any blessing he had laid upon the dwarf from the wand, and floats off in a huff as if this post never happened.

Kellek Zaderan |
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Currently.
Guiness and Kellek both find themselves completely paralyzed by despair....
"I ask myself why do these sorts of things always seem to happen to me?"

Ziva Vilcek |

"Guiness, with me! ...Guiness? S*." Hoping her fellow warrior shakes off the effect soon, Ziva rushes forward to deliver a vicious strike at the mummy guardian.
Including the holy dmg since it's probably not a nice mummy
Vital Strike: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (10) + 21 = 31 Damage: 2d10 + 15 + 2d6 ⇒ (3, 6) + 15 + (5, 5) = 34

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Answering the mage, Guiness says, ”We are all doomed, my friend. We might as well just stand here and wait for the inevitable.”
As Ziva rushes off into battle, he adds, ”Oh how nice, she is still trying…She doesn’t yet realize that all our efforts amount to nothing; everything is dust in the wind…”

Astrid Olvirsdottir |
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"Snap out of it!" Astrid shouts, obliterating the paralyzing fear that has Guinness and Kellek in its grip.
Casting remove fear on those two, plus Ziva. Might as well.

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Guiness shudders as the magic washes over him, restoring his will to fight. Embarrassed by his behavior before, he strides resolutely over to the mummy and swings his fiery hammer at it, though his is much weakened from his normal strength.
Dragonfist Attack with 4 levels drained: 1d20 + 15 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 15 - 4 = 29
Dragonfist Flaming Damage: 1d8 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 15 + (2) = 23

GM Cellion |

Sadly, this is one time where initiative does matter. Since Astrid was at the back of the pack, Guiness and Kellek are out of commission this round before being broken out of their despair.
1d20 + 18 ⇒ (4) + 18 = 22 1d10 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23
1d20 + 18 ⇒ (14) + 18 = 32 1d10 + 17 ⇒ (4) + 17 = 21
1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24 1d10 + 17 ⇒ (2) + 17 = 19
1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27 1d10 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23
1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15 1d10 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12 1d10 + 17 ⇒ (5) + 17 = 22
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23 1d10 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18
The monk's tattered wrappings grip the scrollcase tight as it stretches its arms. It intones "Begone, begone, begone..." as it begins a series of punches aimed at Ziva! As it punches, each one starts coming in faster and faster until its an overwhelming barrage.
Ziva Fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17
She easily dodges the first, but the second blow clocks her in the head and stuns her (stunned 1 rd), leaving her wide open for several followups. (21 bludgeoning damage on the first hit, followed by 19 dmg, 23 dmg, and 18 dmg) The strikes coat her in a thick layer of tomb dust, but she seems to resist any further negative effects.
Ziva Fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32
Ziva Fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34
Ziva Fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27
Ziva Fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22
|||| INIT ||||
Kellek (3 neg lvls, 3 con dmg)
Ziva (81 dmg, stunned 1 rd, 2 con dmg)
Colvyn (2 neg lvls, 1 con dmg)
Astrid (2 con dmg)
Guiness (4 neg lvls, 6 con dmg)
Guardian Mummy (29 dmg)

Kellek Zaderan |

With a word and flick of his hand three lines of burning fire race from Kellek's fingers at the walking dead.
He spends an Arcane Res. point to retain some of his CL, to get off 3 shots. Note: he starts with a +1 CL from his Varisian Tattoo (evocation).
imprecise scorching ray v mummy (range touch, into melee): 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 7 - 4 = 17 fire damage: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 3, 5) = 18
imprecise scorching ray v mummy (range touch, into melee): 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 7 - 4 = 13 fire damage: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5, 2) = 14
imprecise scorching ray v mummy (range touch, into melee): 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 7 - 4 = 8 fire damage: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 5, 3) = 13