The Emerald Spire

Game Master Stormstrider

"Since we are all here and both colors of lever stand so conspicuous over there, perhaps we resume our experiments at this juncture? I suggest we exit this turning area and pull the black lever one position, then see where it ends up. Of worst comes to worse, we can always teleport back to the entrance room of this level, no?"

Intelligence Check: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (3) - 2 = 1

”Turning area, what’s that?” thinks Undari, befuddled as usual by part of Ilyanaro’s technical speech. At least he understands the part of the request about the lever, and he walks directly over to the black lever and pulls on it—> 1=move up, 2=move down.

Lever Randomizer: 1d2 ⇒ 2

First of all my apologies for the delay. Between the 6 nights in a row of work, and then both severe neck pain & migraine on Monday, I basically slept most of Monday! I literally just laid in bed and watched Netflix off & on. Couldn't even really tell you what I watched.

Next: The map. There is a 'red' turntable between F11 & F10 that I forgot to indicate on the map & you already walked through it before so I am Ret-conning you noticed the 'red' walls! I have placed a Gold with Blue star right in the middle of it & drew a couple of 'red' lines to indicate the 'red' walls. Sorry for the confusion.

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"Turning area, what’s that?” thinks Undari,

Not sure about who this Undari is? I'm guessing a spellcheck error? Oh well, moving on.

When Uriel hears Ilya talking about the levers and decides to take action and pulls down on the black lever (To the middle position since it was in the top position) the turntable suddenly starts to move with the rest of the party still inside!

I am going to grant everyone a Reflex save to try to get out on the southern side of the turntable, but the DC for Boudacia is going to be higher since she is further inside. Sorry, but I didn't cause this!

Sensing the vibrations all around him, Wayne flies right out the southern entrance, followed closely by Lonam, however Ilya can't seem to get his footing right and this does not help Boudacia either as she is a bit slow to react as well.

As the turntable rotates clockwise Boudacia & Ilyanaro see that the way to the west is blocked by a solid wall, but once the northern side opens up they see a new hallway! It is short and there is a double door leading westward.

Wayne becomes quite ... excitable? concerned? frustrated? Chittering away frantically as he becomes separated from his master.

Sorry, that is what I get for having multiple characters whose name starts with U. Stormstrider is right, of course, it was a typo.

Uriel stands at the lever, somewhat dumbfounded, just now realizing what Ilyanaro meant by the “turning locations”. Slowly it dawns on him what has happened and what he needs to do to fix the situation (move the black lever back up to where it was before), which he will do in number of rounds: 1d4 ⇒ 4.

Once the turntable stops moving, Ilyanaro quickly steps off the rotating platform with a muttered curse in elvish, under his breath.

Raising his staff, Ilyanaro strains his ears and listens for anything coming around the corner.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18

"That was a close call," to no one in particular.

I am tempted yell out - "Put the candle back!"

The cogs in Uriel’s brain turn slowly, as he reasons out what has happened. Lever reset in 3 rounds...

I thought I had made a post yesterday, but I have caught myself recently writing a post, and previewing it, and then forgetting I'm in 'preview' mode, so the post never actually gets made. So entirely possible that it's my fault that said post is not here.

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"... Of worst comes to worse, we can always teleport back to the entrance room of this level, no?"

I did want to clarify on this, if you are referring to using the Spire Transport Tokens, the answer is NO. To use the tokens you have to be able to put them in contact with the crystalline Spire itself, and then speak the name of the corresponding Rune for the level you wish to transport to, which would obviously have to be a different level than the one you are currently on.

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Ilyanaro just barely hears some sort of indeterminate noise from the other side of the doors around the corner, but it seems to be stationary - at least for the moment.

Otherwise no one has heard or seen anything else.

ok, the party is split (a DM's dream) we need to get together so we can be visual with each other! Mr. DM man!!! are you home for Thanksgiving?

... Mr. DM man!!! are you home for Thanksgiving?

Home as in Greenville? Nope. Still in the frozen wastelands of Chicago area. But saving money so I can buy a better car first, and then eventually move my ass back to the Greenville area hopefully.

T minus two rounds until Uriel’s reasoning capability engages fully and he pulls the lever back (or DM says the time has passed if nobody else wants to do anything)...

... (or DM says the time has passed if nobody else wants to do anything)...

Go ahead as far as I'm concerned.

Going...going...gone...

Uriel finally makes the connection and pushes the black lever to the “up” position, saying, ”Uh, sorry about that...” as some of his companions come back onto view. His face starts turning red underneath the helmet.

"No need for embarrassment, Uriel. Actions such as that allow for knowledge gathering, even if it appears not at first glance. To the north is another tunnel. I could hear something, but I did not wish to explore further without the full team. If we rotate this room again, it should open a pathway without trapping us apart from one another."

Um, Ilyanaro, you posted that you were getting off the turntable right away, but never posted that you were getting back on it. I am going to be generous & grant you another Reflex save to get back on.

Ilya's Ref save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Ilyanaro suddenly hears the now familiar sounds of a turntable starting to turn again & just manages to jump back onto the turntable as it turns again.

The pathway is once again open for the party to be able to regroup.

That’s why I was waiting to have Uriel pull the lever—since Ilyanaro was off the platform...

Having learned his lesson (at least for the moment, Uriel stands by the levers and waits for further instruction. He looks to Ilyanaro and says, ”What now?”

Lonam reenters the room.

Lonam reenters the room.

The room with the turntable do you mean? Or which room please?

Ilyanaro moves to stand next to Uriel very deliberately.

"Okay, this time, let us use the lever while everyone is away from the rotating area. Once we are all clear, please move the lever once more."

Uriel nods seriously, then waits for everyone to join him in the lever room. He will then pull the black lever from the "up" position to the "middle" position.

Lonam moves, standing next to Uriel and watching to see what will happen next.

Everyone has moved except Boudacia and Wayne, and she hasn't posted for over a week. Should we assume that they move over to join us and Uriel pulls the lever?

Everyone has moved except Boudacia and Wayne, and she hasn't posted for over a week. Should we assume that they move over to join us and Uriel pulls the lever?

Yes, lets do so. In accordance I have gone ahead and updated the map.

After Boudacia & Wayne reunite with the rest of the group, Uriel pulls the black lever back down to the middle position. After all the usual grinding sounds stop, you all realize you are now closed off from the rest of the maze.

Blinking slowly, Uriel realizes this lever position is not all that helpful. Looking at Ilyanaro, he asks, ”Want me to pull it all the way down?”. Assuming the answer is yes, Uriel will move the black lever to the “down” position.

"Yes, to the lower position, please."

Once Uriel lowers the level and the turntable turns and all the grinding/movement noises cease, you now see a 10 ft wide passageway that turns immediately north.

Heads up in Discussion.

"That worked," says Uriel, smiling, "Let's go."

Uriel starts up his detect evil and scans the hallway as he moves forward to the doors for any traps. If the doors are thin enough, he may be able to detect if there is evil on the other side.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Trimbor moves to keep pace with Uriel.

Uriel looks around for Lonam after this Trimbor fella shows up. If he has been following us around this whole time, Trimbor may be the perfect addition to the party as our stealthy scout...

Uriel looks around for Lonam after this Trimbor fella shows up. If he has been following us around this whole time, Trimbor may be the perfect addition to the party as our stealthy scout...

Hahaha! Funny Uriel! Thanks! I needed that laugh! *** And next I need to make a random location check. 1=North, 2=East, 3=South, 4=West.

Random location?: 1d4 ⇒ 1 = North

Uriel detects no evil from beyond the double doors. He does hear some sort of induistingable sound.

Sheathing his sword, Uriel says quietly to the others, ”I hear something behind this door, but I can’t make it out. Does anyone else want to listen?”

He will step back to let others listen if they want to.

"I stand ready. Open the door when you can, Uriel."

Ilyanaro raises his staff and prepares to blast anything hostile that appears.

Uriel will give Lonam or Boudacia a chance to listen at the door if they like, then open it.

DM, feel free to have Boudacia check or wait for Lonam to give it a shot...

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Lonam listens at the door

DM, feel free to have Boudacia check or wait for Lonam to give it a shot...

Ummm, what was the whole point of you botting her for me? I didn't mean just combat. But I'll get this one.

Boudacia Perception: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 5 + 2 = 21 +2 if Wayne w/in reach

Lonam is unable to make out what the noise is, but Boudacia says she hears slight 'shuffling' sounds, as if someone is perhaps moving around a bit, but it is a little 'muffled'? somehow? She thinks it seems to be only 1 creature causing the shuffling, but is uncertain.

In the interest of time, I'm going to say Uriel opens the doors. IF we need to retcon that let me know.

With some difficulty due to the room being full of steam (thus the 'muffled' sounds) you see:

"Clouds of steam form from a fountain in the middle of this hall. Four heavy stone columns support the high ceiling, and a single red lever is mounted in a panel on the eastern wall. Rusty remnants of two human-sized automatons lie on the floor."

The two 'splothces' on the map indicate the "Rusty remnants - automatons" and those squares are difficult terrain.

You also see some strange looking creature partially hidden by a column. You see it has what appear to be ... goat legs? And seems to be wearing nothing but rags. You don't yet have a full visual of it as it was inspecting the automaton's remains.
You also see two big cat-like creatures with spots on their fur. The two cats immediately move to attack!

CURRENT INITIATIVE:

Top of the round.

Block 1:
Red cat, Blue cat, Raggedy creature

I'm going to make a separate posts right now for the creatures turns, just because I feel this post is getting too long.

The cat-like creature with a red collar rushes forward & tries to bite Uriel! It will also activate a supernatural ability - unknown to your characters at this time.

Red cat attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Red cat attack confirm?: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9 Nope.

The cat-like creature manages to get past Uriel's armor and bites him!

Damage: 1d6 + 3 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 3 = 9

And then the cat-like creature tries to grab onto Uriel!

CMB vrs Uriel's CMD: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

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Then the cat-like creature with a blue collar rushes forward & tries to bite Lonam! It will also activate a supernatural ability - unknown to your characters at this time.

Blue cat attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

But it can't get past Lonam's armor.

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Then the raggedy creature turns and looks at you all ...

You see: "Draped in rags and hunched over on goatlike legs, this creature possesses a featureless face, save for a large eye ringed by fangs."

The 'cats' have a 50% chance to avoid the gaze. 1-50 Avoids, 51-100 it affects them as well.

Red cat: 1d100 ⇒ 6
Blue cat: 1d100 ⇒ 22

Wayne & Ilya are both stunned, dropping anything they are holding.

The raggedy creature then mumbles something and point in Uriel's direction ...

Taking 1d4 damage.
Spectral Hand damage to the creature: 1d4 ⇒ 3

a ghostly hand appears and floats towards Uriel, and tries to 'touch' him ...

touch attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Uriel Will save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

For just a split-second Uriel feels a horrible cold feeling pass within him, but then it is gone with seemingly no effect.

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CURRENT INITIATIVE:

Block 2:
Lonam {47 of 47 HP}, Ilyanaro (Stunned) {31 of 31 HP}, Boudacia {37 of 37 HP} & Uriel {65 of 65 HP}

Ugh, gaze attack stun...sad elf

Boudacia recoils in shock from the creature and tries to think of what it could be.

Knowledge/Planes: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28

If that roll is good enough to determine what the creature is ( and she thinks it may be vulnerable to sleeping), Boudacia will describe the creature briefly and invoke her slumber hex (DC19).

If not, she will quickly state what she knows, invoke misfortune (DC 19) on the raggedy creature, and start her cackling.

Startled at the otherworldly appearance of the one-eyed creature and the palpable evil emanating from it, Uriel draws his sword as his armor turns from gold to battle-grey, saying ”I smite thee in Iomedae’s name!”

Unwilling to leave his stunned companions vulnerable, Uriel does not close with the freakish creature, but instead steps to the southwest to flank the blue-collared great cat with Lonam, taking a mighty swing with his enchanted Longsword.

(Smite Evil swift action, draw sword move action, 5 foot step—token assist please, then standard action to attack the blue collared cat.)

Longsword Flanking Attack: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 11 + 2 = 21
Longsword Damage: 1d8 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Bonus AC against smite target = +4 deflection, plus bonuses to hit and damage.

((Uriel moved))

Lonam swings at the cat.

to hit: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 2 = 18
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 5

Sorry for the delay. Migraines, not sleeping well, whole stupid Driver's license thing on my mind & stressing me as well, so anyhow - I'm making an effort here.

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Boudacia recognizes the creature as a Div outsider, specifically an Aghash. 2 more pieces of info for the high roll, rolling randomly.

1st of 9 possibilities: 1d9 ⇒ 2
2nd of 9 possibilities: 1d9 ⇒ 8

Boudacia remembers that an Aghash has some resistance to most damages other than cold iron or good (DR 5/cold iron or good) and in combat, if given a choice between attacking two different opponents, an Aghash always chooses the most physically becoming foe. (Yes, Charisma 20 Uriel, the part of always choosing the highest CHA opponent is actually in the PFSRD!

Since Boudacia is unsure about using Slumber or Misfortune, We shall let the dice decide. 1=Slumber, 2=Misfortune.

Which action?: 1d2 ⇒ 2 (Misfortune)

Raggedy's Will save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22 (Safe.)

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Uriel steps forward & swings his sword, stabbing the blue-collared cat-like creature deeply, and then Lonam also stabs it and the cat-like creature drops dead to the ground!

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The cat-like creature with the red collar then tries to claw & bite Uriel ...

1st claw: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
2nd claw: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
bite: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

but it just can't find that chink in the armor that it found on its previous attack.

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The raggedy creature continues to stare at the group ...

No one specified they were taking the 'Averting Eyes' option to avoid a gaze attack, so Fort saves from everyone.

Boudacia & Lonam suddenly get confused ...

Boudacia's actions: 1d100 ⇒ 80
Lonam's actions: 1d100 ⇒ 13

Boudacia must attack either Ilya or Lonam (Boudacia's choice or she can roll die for a random choice) to the best of her abilities. Hexes & spells are certainly considered as attacks. *** Lonam gets to act normally. *** Ilya, you are no longer stunned.

50/50 chance of 'Gaze' affecting the red-cat. 1-50 No, 51-100 yes.: 1d100 ⇒ 35 Nope.

The raggedy creature continues pointing at Uriel and the ghostly hand tries to touch him again ...

Spectral Hand touch attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

but the hand cannot find his flesh somehow.

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CURRENT INITIATIVE:

Block 2:
Lonam {47 of 47 HP}, Ilyanaro {31 of 31 HP}, Boudacia (Confused) {37 of 37 HP} & Uriel {56 of 65 HP}

Kn(planes): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (8) + 15 = 23

"A div? Here? Bizarre, it must have been called or conjured, or wandered through a portal like on the watery level."

Ilyanaro scoops up his staff and touches Lonam on the arm, infusing the cleric with strengthening magics.

"Help Uriel, slay the div quickly."

Move to retrieve staff, standard to cast Bulls Strength on Lonam. Closing eyes after that to avoid gaze (yes, will count as blind for this round)

Uriel moves around the southern side of the column and approaches the evil outsider from the south. With the holy power coursing through him, he strikes mightily at the Div.

Move provokes from the leopard, smite bypasses DR, adds +5 to hit, and adds double level on the first hit added damage against evil outsiders.

Longsword Smite: 1d20 + 11 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 11 + 5 = 29
Smite Damage: 1d8 + 12 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 + 12 = 26

I would have to risk several attacks of opportunity to immediately move to the Div. I am taking on the remaing cat to prevent another attacker on Uriel and leaving Ilya & Boudacia open to attack.

Lonam attacks the "red-collared" cat.

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

I am not familiar with gaze/avert eyes in Pathfinder, but if I am attacking something, I really don't understand why I need to say I am averting my eyes from some other "thing" in the room? Am I not looking at the thing I am attacking? Is there some reason my gaze is diverted to want to look at the Div? if that were the case, would I not suffer a penalty to hit the thing I'm attacking?

Eyes averted: all your attacks incur a 20% miss chance, and you get a 50% chance to avoid having to make a save vs gaze. Closing eyes (or blindfold, hood, etc) makes you effectively blind but don't have to worry about the save.

Boudacia, blank eyed and obviously not herself, moves slightly hesitantly over to Lonam and attempts to stab him with her dagger.

Attack, Boudacia: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

damage, Boudacia: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2

Sorry for literally and metaphorically stabbing you in the back Lonam. I figure it is the least worst option, you are less squishy than Ilyanaro, and hitting you with a spell or hex is about 20 times worse.

I'm sorry, but I'm having further issues with my car insurance company trying to get this mess with my driver's license straightened out, and dealing with all that. Can't really think straight, need more time to do proper gaming post sorry. I will post when I'm able to, but not sure when that will be.*** Also, I do have a rules question/clarification needed before I can make a post. I'll post the question in Discussion.

Going in posting order, so answering Ilya's post first & so on.

*************** Ilya ***************

DC of knowledge check was overcome by 1 set of 5, so giving 2 bits of info (not repeated).

random info 1 of 7 possibilities: 1d7 ⇒ 6
random info 2 of 7 possibilities: 1d7 ⇒ 5

Ilya manages to remember that this type of Div is capable of producing Sandstorms and also they can cast Bestow Curse, Detect Good, Detect Magic, Dimension Door, Minor Image, and Spectral Hand at will.

Since you took a move & standard before closing your eyes, you will be 'blind' until the end of your next turn to be effectively 'blinded' for 6 seconds/1 round. So any move or standard on your next turn has to be taken while blinded.

*************** Uriel ***************

Then Uriel moves into a tactical position and stabs the Div very deeply! And it howls in pain! Flavor text

*************** Lonam ***************

Lonam takes a step forward and gives the red-collared cat a glancing blow.

*************** Boudacia ***************

Now for Boudacia's turn, since Lonam had to step away to attack the red cat, that leaves only Ilya as the 'nearest creature' for purposes of the confusion spell. I am going to use the order of attack type listed in Boudacia's post: 1=spell, 2=hex, or 3=weapon and then if needed roll randomly for spell or hex. Sound fair?

Random attack type: 1d3 ⇒ 2 (Hex)

Random hex type. 1=Misfortune, 2=Slumber: 1d2 ⇒ 2 (Slumber)

Boudacia, blank eyed and obviously not herself, casts her slumber hex upon Ilya, not thinking about Elves being immune to Sleep.

So it all worked out for the best in this case! :-)

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The red-collared cat then focuses its attacks on Lonam trying to bite & claw him ...

Red's bite attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Claw # 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Claw # 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

It is unable to sink its teeth into him, but both claws dig into Lonam!

Claw 1 damage: 1d3 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Claw 2 damage: 1d3 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

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The raggedy creature continues staring ...

No facing rules in Pathfinder so Uriel is still included. It's really more of a matter of the characters are looking at the creature anyways.

DM roll: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Wayne suddenly lets out a small 'yip' of pain, taking ...

Damage from failing the save for the Gaze attack: 1d4 ⇒ 2

two points of damage.

The raggedy Div then concentrates while looking directly at Uriel ...

Concentration to cast defensively DC 21: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

but he fails to cast his spell.

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CURRENT INITIATIVE:

Block 2:
Lonam {38 of 47 HP}, Ilyanaro {31 of 31 HP}, Boudacia {37 of 37 HP} & Uriel {56 of 65 HP}

Thinking about the potential for mind control and shenanigans this div has, Ilyanaro casts protection from evil on himself and remains where he is.

"That hand is a spectral apparition. The creature can use it to deliver spells and potentially curses, beware."