1d18
Arcane Essence --> Illusion!!
Well balls, lol. That's Niyut's catnip there, and I'd very much like to not deathmatch her for possession of it :p.
@Garidan: Thanks. :-) As for [Darkness] spells, those are mostly Evocation just like most -- but not all -- [Shadow] spells are Illusion. Since improving Ruza is important to you, you might ask our very patient GM whether casts per day could be improved by Ethereal Essences, since those are just raw magic.
I must say that I'm not very impressed by the horselords and their heroes thus far. Every time we find them fighting the gnolls they are either jerky or on their way to becoming jerky. And this time it's in their sacred, god-carved city. They must be dying of embarrassment if they weren't already dying of burns and wounds from falchions. :-p
I must say that I'm not very impressed by the horselords and their heroes thus far. Every time we find them fighting the gnolls they are either jerky or on their way to becoming jerky. And this time it's in their sacred, god-carved city. They must be dying of embarrassment if they weren't already dying of burns and wounds from falchions. :-p
In their defense, they're awfully discombobulated of late. End of the world, night everlasting, savage hordes baying and howling--quite literally so--just outside the walls (and nevermind the bumper crop of roaming undead). Really, I'm actually quite impressed with the fact that they haven't broken utterly by this point.
Pish. :-) We have held up with only moderate psychic trauma.
The people I'm truly impressed with are the gnolls and their god. On an organizational level alone! Within two months of the world ending they have moved an army half a continent and are doing a fair shake at conquering one of the two strongest kingdoms in the known world. (I'm assuming that the Leyrtian Empire is the other major power given that the elven kingdom seems a bit insular and incestuous and the Dukedoms of Esteparon seem fractious.)
This suggests to me that Kiravor and Gaeruhn have been plotting the resumption of a war that ended over 8000 years ago with a remarkable degree of coordination with their mortal thralls and allies.
As a bit of player knowledge...
1) This side of the city is not fortified nearly as much as the southern side. The city was carved from the mountains, by Calledrym, to defend itself from invasion upon the plains... the south. Never, in its history, has an invasion come from the mountains. The walls of the north side, here, were actually constructed by the people of Haemil long after the Godling Wars. They are here to fend off the random incursions by humanoids from the mountains (orcs, goblins and such... that are never coordinated or involve military strategy) and to control the flow of traffic to/from the First Lands.
2) You will soon learn that there is a much larger siege occurring from the south, so most of the city's forces were concentrated there. They neglected the north as no one was expected to come from this direction. Certainly, with the splintering of the world and the First Lands drifting apart from this section of the world, little thought (other than your hopeful return) was directed to this gateway into the city.
I have no doubt that the southern assault is taking up most of the horselords' attention.
However:
1. Getting two large siege towers that contain gods-know how many gnolls up and into the mountains and then down the pass takes time and logistical prowess. It however, shouldn't be a surprise because Haemil should have scouts patrolling for this very reason. Pincer assaults, sappers, and sabotage aren't especially new tactics.
2. If the gnolls killed the scouts, their lack of reporting should have alerted them to the potential danger.
3. Even if the Tikabalang covered their approach under clouds of illusions (which would be smart), the moment that they started throwing fireballs at the gates, the guards should have sent for reserves. By this time all the remaining nobles, horselords, and heroes who survived the storm should have gathered in the city of Haemil. Some must be resting or held in reserve. At some point a named npc should/should have show/shown up to take charge of the scene.
This leaves me not impressed with Haemil. However, it leaves me very impressed with the gnoll horde.
1. The main force was a day or two behind us when we flew across the gap and saved Formadar. We defeated their vanguard who was trying to bridge the gap and destroyed their bridge. This was roughly ten days ago.
2. In ten days, the gnoll horde:
a. found a way to move tens of thousands of gnolls and giants across the gap after their primary plan was ruined.
b. Invested a seige.
c. Somehow managed to bribe or coerce a legend from the First Lands into guiding and protecting an elite assault group to take the northern gate.
10 days. At least 3-4 of which had to have been pure travel time. Before we arrived to the gate, I thought it would take them a month to get this far.
I'm so impressed. If they weren't hellbent on genocide and eating the populace, I would say that Haemil should surrender to them because given their logistical and organizational skill on display that they are probably the best group to shepherd the mortals through the long night.
You make several astute observations and logical conclusions given the facts you know. It is the facts that you are unaware of, that would explain much. The ‘wheels of time’ have been turning long before the world was broken by Baerwynnd.
No doubt.
From Niyut's perspective, if the Primogenitors, even the "nice" ones like Chana and to a lesser extent Simur, are not to be trusted because they see too far, plan too well, and don't always respect the temporal order -- then the Great Spirits, the putative enemies of the Primogenitors, are probably even better at planning. She has picked up that this assault was at least five years, if not hundreds or thousands of years in the making.
That still doesn't excuse Baerwynnd, in her mind. She blames his pride and foolishness for being the catalyst for this mess.
Though what she finds troubling, is that if this city was carved by the King of the Great Spirits to hedge out his enemies, then its defenses are not exhausted by stone hundred feet high and a hundred feet thick. Stone alone won't keep out angry gods, demons, or dragons. Which means these more mystical defenses have either degraded over time or the current rulers don't know how to use them. While their enemies, on the other hand, have their paws all over ancient weapons of power out myth and legend.
...have their paws all over ancient weapons of power out myth and legend.
Yes, the dread and eldritch power known in hushed and fearful whispers as "Gee Eem Fiyat," a fell blessing from unspeakable netherbeings that grants those favored by it the ability to do all manner of things previously thought impossible for mere mortals to achieve.
;p.
...have their paws all over ancient weapons of power out myth and legend.Yes, the dread and eldritch power known in hushed and fearful whispers as "Gee Eem Fiyat," a fell blessing from unspeakable netherbeings that grants those favored by it the ability to do all manner of things previously thought impossible for mere mortals to achieve.
;p.
I think that does a disservice to the narrative work our GM has done. It makes sense that a weapon famed in song for scarring the god of Flesh during a suicidal last stand deep beneath the earth later shows up in the hands of his minions.
I am appreciating how the story is hanging together. :-p
It also makes sense to me that the good and neutral Great Spirits seem to be sitting on their thumbs.
Who better to let tear an opening for them to get back into the material world than Kiravor? They can be all "oh goodness, how terrible" until he has done the dirty work and the path back is clear. Then they can swoop in and be big-damn-heroes. :-p
One needs to interact or study an illusion closely to save for disbelief. If I use tremor sense to find the surviving caster which allows me to "pinpoint" his location. Could I then study the square to attempt to disbelieve the illusion?
If Garidan were on the ground, his ioun torch's blindsight would have been a good way to find the sneak. Of course, if that caster has any brain at all, he's getting distance while he can.
What is the range of your tremorsense?
As for the tremorsense allowing you to “study” the illusion, I have to say no. That’s a pretty far stretch of the interpretation. But, depending on the circumstances, I may allow a bonus to perception for it.
"Tremorsense (1/day) Once per day, you can gain Tremorsense in a 30’ radius for concentration (standard action) plus 1 round."
30'. It's not the strongest version of the ability. :-) But one uses what tools one has.
Well, tremorsense can definitely tell you what square an invisible person is in. That's well established. Much in the same way that scent can help you sniff someone out depending on the wind and other factors.
I'm heading out of town this afternoon for a college reunion. I will try to get in a post after Malthazir so that Niyut, Garidan & Gruskorb can act this weekend. I'm back on Sunday night.
Enjoy!
@Malthazir: I know you are rather busy helping us with the invisible casters, and that's very important. However, when you have a quick moment could you summon a grig to put out the gate-house fire with pyrotechnics?
At this point, does Gruskorb sense the direction to be more due west or to the south of the clump of archers?
West by southwest
Hello, all!
Per the message in my inbox, I'm guessing my vacation notice post didn't take on the site. I'm returning from the wilds of the North now and am sending this from my phone.
If I don't pass-out when I get in the door tonight, I'll read through what's happened and do some summary writing for a post!
I'm glad you are returning! I never do justice to the salt you can give. :-)
@Malthazir: would a pit in the portcullis square be a good idea?
WB, Gruskorb!
To answer Niyut's question on the play by play thread... No.
In this section of the campaign, you may see some larger battles with lots of combatants. Only the named enemy NPC's and, in this case, the guards around them may drop essences. The gnolls archers and infantry storming the walls won't be dropping any essences. And any allies that die, will certainly not drop essences for you.
Otherwise, the percentages would create too many essences for your power level. And I want to drop you in some larger combats.
Fair enough.
It certainly decreases my competing interests. :-)
What are the criterion going forward to know when this applies?
I think the easiest rule of thumb is to say that if a creature has its own, singular marker on the initiative table, it could drop an essence. When I use a plural noun, like gnollS or goblinS, then those creatures are not eligible. If I deviate from that rule, I’ll try to make it clear in the initiative table.
Ok! Thank you for the clarification.
Did the horselords make any headway this round?
You see no additional reinforcements upon the wall this round.
I meant did they do any damage or kill any gnolls? :-)
I meant did they do any damage or kill any gnolls? :-)
They did. forgot to update the visible map
@Garidan: It likely doesn't matter with your good roll, but don't forget that you have haste. :-)
@Garidan: It likely doesn't matter with your good roll, but don't forget that you have haste. :-)
Missed that, thanks! Not going to use the extra movement this round, but more attack never hurts.
I have heard good things about extra attacks.
Am I miscounting that the eastern most gnoll archer blinded is within 30' of the western most gnoll archer? I admit, I don't have my glasses on and it is a bit hard to tell with the 10' squares.
To clarify the ruling on the Tikbalang not being spotted... Malthazir's last couple of rounds had been casting and moving. Looking at the map his attention had been focused on his elementals and the archers. The Tikbalang had approached stealthily from the north having circled the obscuring mist in order to try and find something to attack. So, he approached from direction that Malz would not have been facing. Additionally, with a battle raging around him, I didn't think it was probable that Malthazir would have turned around, looked beyond a battle and past his companions to see a sneaking beast coming from the rear.
The following round when Malthazir turns his attention to Garidan and Truk, he then was looking in the appropriate direction, and I had him see the sneaky beast.
Moving the western most archer 30' east would place him one space diagonal to the NW of the most eastern gnoll. They are 35' apart.
Thanks! I should go looking for my glasses. :-)
Re: Tikbalang: that makes a lot of sense to me. There is a lot going on in this battle and it seems appropriate that there is a limited amount of things one can pay attention to.
Is Truk's ability to turn his weapon supernaturally cold a free action?
Is Truk's ability to turn his weapon supernaturally cold a free action?
My understanding is such activations are standard unless otherwise stated.
I'd make it a move action since it only lasts several rounds. I wouldn't want the activation round to count. This way he can make a singular attack the round he activates it, and subsequent rounds he may be able to get all his iterative attacks.
I've updated it on the campaign tab.
What's the lighting situation on the walls either from torches or the burning gate house?
There is some dim light around the gnolls upon the wall, but most torches have been dropped. So, the light is very faint and glowing upwards.
In the gatehouse a glow from the inside of the west tower suggests that a fire is still present but is not burning as it once was.
@Malthazir: I know you are running low on spells, and if you survive you will probably want to turn invisible to escape if you succeed at catching the fire bolt. However, don't forget that you have all those scrolls from Rhykal. With whatever conjuration spells you want 4th level and lower: "Rhykal will provide a scroll for Malthazir with 1x 4th level spell; 2x 3rd level spells; 3x 2nd level spells and 5x 1st level spells; spell choices are his to make."
I had my entire gameplay post written up just to come and see Niyut had come to the same conclusions I had.
I think we share a common appreciation for cleverness. :-)
"Either as a standard action or upon a confirmed critical, the whip emits a moan reminiscent of the shadowbrood cloaker. All creatures within 20' must make a will save (DC=10 + Chr mod + Character Level) or be shaken for 2 rounds."
Since Gruskorb critted, it seems like those rangers in twenty feet of the tripped gnoll should make saves or be shaken.