"You said that there was no magic in the room? So what is moving the books...?"
Raven then casts a spell.
No, there is no magic at work that I can see. This could just be an attempt to slow us down.
The man continues to get more and more agitated. "No, no, no! Whatever you are doing, it's just making the books fly faster! Get out of here; all of you!"
"Sir, calm yourself! The books are moving about because there are invisible stalkers moving them. They are probably moving them faster, trying to provoke you into getting us to leave, because they realise that we could deal with them. Please, give us a chance to *deal* with them..."
"Ah, finally sssomething that makesss sssenssse. We will gladly assisst you sssir."
Any chance to avoid combat behooves us at this point.
"Damn it! That bastard! And he knows I can't prepare See Invisible without my damn spellbook. Can you stop them? I have no way to see them."
"With pleasure."
Surprise Round:
As though they were listening to the conversation, the instant confronting them is mentioned, the four spirits of air drop their books and begin to move towards Raven, hostile intent clear.
Once its clear that a fight will ensue, Angelo vanishes and waits for something to attack Raven, "Tell me when they are clossse to you Raven." When it does, he casts glitterdust on the area, hopefully illuminating any invisible attackers there.
Raven 5' steps Northward, and swings at the (apparently) empty air.
"There is one adjacent to me here; a Glitterdust centred on the NW corner of the bookcase directly East of me near the far wall will hit another two of them. The fourth is in the SE corner of the room."
The first Elemental sends limbs of air slamming towards Raven, hoping to disable him quickly.
A second moves, unseen by most of the occupants of the room.
A third rushes towards Jeska, charging in and slamming her with a gust of air. . Jeska feels the impact hit her armour, but she is unharmed.
The last moves into position to flank Raven, and tries to hit him.
Round 2:
"Correction: A Glitterdust centred on the middle of the southern edge of the table south of me will hit the three I am *not* currently attacking."
Raven then unleashes a flurry of blows against the same target, North of his current position.
Rotann holsters two of his guns with his lower pair of arms. His lower hands move in a complex series of gestures before a green light jumps from himself to each of his allies.
Seeing that something just hit Jeska, Angelo steps back and casts glitterdust in the indicated spot. A cloud of golden particles outlines the forms of the three invisible stalkers there.
Rost could see his new friends taking offensive postures...and even attacking?...but attacking what?... He couldn't see any enemies and racked his brain for a way to help out.
Jeska will cast Haste (std) on herself, and Perform Inspire Courage +2 (move).
Make it heroism then. :)
Angelo's sparkling spell outlines the figures of three indistinct creatures, floating in the air around the table.
The southernmost of the creatures looks confused, and instead of approaching anyone in combat, it drifts up towards the 20 ft ceiling.
The creature being attacked by Raven attacks back, , hitting him once.
The other opposite the first does the same, taking advantage of the flanking position it holds. . It fails to land a blow.
The last attacks Jeska again. . While the second blow is well aimed, Jeska manages to deflect it away at the last moment.
Round 3:
Rotann redraws all his weapons, and taking a small sidestep to get a clear view, unleashes hell at the elemental at Raven's back.
The bullets tear into the form, knocking it back and tearing it to shreds. Each shot that hits sends gold dust flying as the impact shakes the entire form. When the last shot hits, the whole form melts away, becoming nothing but the air from which the creature was born.
Raven nods wordlessly to Rotann, then unleashes upon the elemental in front of him, shredding its wispy form.
He then moves adjacent to the one targeting Jeska , and slashes at it, managing to land a single solid blow.
Angelo also steps forward and tears into the invisible stalker next to Jeska. He bites twice and kicks at at.
Once his fangs whoosh through the thick air of the creature's body, at the same time he kicks a chunk of it away.
Rost focuses on one of the untouched elementals and tries to scramble its thoughts.
Round 3
Jeska strikes at the elemental before her with her falculta. ,
The untouched elemental targeted by Rost goes mad for a moment , but for the moment just continues to fight. It shakes off blindness inflicted by the Glitterdust and takes stock of his opponents. He moves to the side and attacks Raven with fists of air. .
Round 4
Not needing to be asked twice, Raven happily shreds the final elemental which so kindly moved adjacent to him.
In the wake of the noise that filled the room before, the flapping of pages and constant rustling of paper, the room is eerily silent. The chelaxian looks bewildered for a moment, and then suddenly very happy.
"They've stopped moving! I can search them all now, and be certain. I just have to start at one end of the room, and search. I'll have found it within hours! After bloody years of this, I'll have it back and I can leave!"
"Can we help you? We alssso ssseek to leave thisss place."
"I would appreciate the help! Thank you for stopping the movement. I've lost track of how long I've been here, trying to fulfill the... to find my bloody spellbook! It might take me the day to find it on my own. Together, we can probably find it in an hour. It may be under a spell to conceal it's aura, so we'll have to look at each book individually. So, will you help? Once I have it, I can finally leave!"
...fulfill the?...the test maybe?..holy...
Sir, I think you've been here for a year. We are currently undertaking the Breaching Festival...I think you've been trapped in this place bu design.
"A year? Hell, it could have been longer. Feels like I've been here decades. I think time works differently in this... whatever this place is; a pocket dimension."
"The Breaching Festival? Hah, I'd practically forgotten what brought me here in the first place! The Festival is a sham! It's set up only to trap people here! Once you are here, there is no leaving! But now! If I can just find that book, I will leave!"
The only way out is through the Western door...or at least that's what they told us. What spell do you have that will allow you to leave?
Rost's tone clearly said that 'we're wasting out time here' but his curiosity would always get the better of him.
"Spell? What? No. I just have to find that book and then I will be allowed to leave. The things that guard this place... they will have to let me go!"
"What thingsss?"
"Devils! This realm is rife with devils! The Breaching Festival is a scam. It's just intended to get the people in here so the devils can have their way with them! The gate back to the real world is through those large doors at the Eastern end of the Hall, but they are guarded by a Contract Devil. No one gets by him without promising him their soul or finding him another one in exchange. And he'll fill the thing with so many twists and turns you'll be lucky if you even have a chance of coming out on top!"
"Devils... We can deal with. I think we will have to have a long chat with the Master of the Acadamae when we get out of here..."
Is it possible to destroy this Contract Devil and obtain our freedom?
It was starting to become apparent to Rost that he might have made a terrible mistake accepting the challenge of the Breaching Festival...such has always been my fate...
"Devils can die. And I for one don't intend to negotiate."
With rust-colored skin and a jutting crown of ridge-like horns, this muscular devil is draped in lengthy contracts.
Contract Devil (Phistophilus) CR 10
XP 9,600
LE Medium outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)
Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness; Perception +26
DEFENSE
AC 25, touch 18, flat-footed 17 (+7 Dex, +1 dodge, +7 natural)
hp 136 (13d10+65)
Fort +9, Ref +15, Will +16
DR 10/good; Immune fire, mind-affecting effects, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; SR 21
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee binding contract (whip) +20/+15/+10 (1d4+7 plus bleed), gore +11 (2d6+3)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with binding contract)
Special Attacks binding contract, bleed (1d6), impale (2d8+4)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 13th; concentration +19)
Constant—tongues
At will—bestow curse (DC 20), detect thoughts (DC 18), dimension door, erase, identify, major image (DC 19), produce flame, sending
3/day—arcane eye, break enchantment, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), hold person (DC 18), locate creature, mage's private sanctum, scorching ray, silence (DC 18), vision
1/day—contact other plane, delayed blast fireball (DC 23), dismissal (DC 21), plane shift (DC 23), summon (level 4, 1d6 bearded devils or 1 bone devil 50%), symbol of pain (DC 21)
STATISTICS
Str 17, Dex 25, Con 20, Int 24, Wis 23, Cha 22
Base Atk +13; CMB +16; CMD 34
Feats Alertness, Deceitful, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mobility, Persuasive
Skills Bluff +26, Diplomacy +26, Disguise +8, Intimidate +26, Knowledge (arcana) +23, Knowledge (nobility) +23, Knowledge (planes) +23, Knowledge (religion) +23, Linguistics +20, Perception +26, Profession (scribe) +19, Sense Motive +26, Sleight of Hand +20, Spellcraft +20
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Gnoll, Halfling, Ignan, Infernal, Orc, Sylvan, Terran, Undercommon; telepathy 100 ft., tongues
SQ infernal contract, infernal investment
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Binding Contract (Su)
All contract devils carry numerous lengthy contracts draped over their horns or within their numerous carrying cases. They can wield these contracts like whips, but deal lethal damage regardless of the armor bonus of their target. A contract devil modifies attack and damage rolls when using a binding contract by its Intelligence modifier, not its Strength modifier (this equates to a +7 bonus for most contract devils). Wounds created by a binding contract resemble horrifically deep paper cuts and cause 1d6 points of bleed damage. A contract devil can use its binding contract to disarm and trip foes as if the contract were a whip. If it is itself disarmed of the contract, the devil can rearm itself with a new contract as an immediate action.
Impale (Ex)
As a swift action, a contract devil can impale an opponent grappled by its binding contract, dealing 2d8+4 points of piercing damage.
Infernal Contract (Su)
As a full-round action, a contract devil can produce an infernal contract for a single living mortal creature. This contract can grant a wide range of abilities and effects, as detailed on the following page. To receive any of these bonuses, however, the mortal must sign its true name to the document of its own free will. Upon doing so, that mortal's soul is sworn to the contract devil, condemning the soul to an eternity of servitude in Hell rather than whatever fate would naturally befall it upon the mortal's death. Breaking a contract with a contract devil is difficult and dangerous; as long as the infernal contract remains in effect, the victim cannot be restored to life after death save by a miracle or a wish. If a mortal is restored to life in this way, the contract devil immediately senses the development—it not only knows which soul has been restored to life, but also gains the benefits of a discern location spell targeted on the character or creature that restored the damned soul to life.
Infernal Investment (Su)
As a subclause of all infernal contracts, a contract devil can use greater scrying at will upon any creature it has a contract with. The target creature always fails its save against the devil's scrying attempt—this ability otherwise functions at caster level 20th.
ECOLOGY
Environment any (Hell)
Organization solitary, pair, or court (2-12)
Treasure standard
A contract devil, also a called phistophilus, always appears handsome and confident, its chiseled features housing a perpetually smug grin. Contract devils have red skin and black hair and stand near 6-1/2 feet in height, not counting their horns. The thicket of horns around a contract devil's body increases its height to 7 feet and its weight to 350 pounds.
Contract devils serve Asmodeus, archfiends, and the vast bureaucracy of Hell as clerks, scribes, and bargainers for mortal souls. They exist to keep track of the damned, to manage Hell's endless ordinances, and, when time and opportunity permit, to coax mortals into damnation. Most phistophiluses spend their eternities in the various courts of Hell's nine layers, particularly in the maze-like fortress-libraries where all infernal laws and oaths are recorded. Occasionally they serve similar roles on the Material Plane when summoned by particularly desperate, arrogant, or foolish mortals.
When one of the souls damned by a contract devil is restored to life (typically via powerful magic like a wish or miracle), the phistophilus immediately notices the transgression. Usually, the contract devil recruits the aid of more powerful allies to track down and punish such transgressors and to collect the escaped soul as quickly as possible.