The Forgotten God (Table 5)

Game Master Rednal

Snake Fang AoO: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (3) + 20 = 23 Damage: 1d8 + 11 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 11 + (4, 5) = 22
Second attack if that hits: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (20) + 20 = 40 Damage: 1d8 + 11 + 2d6 ⇒ (7) + 11 + (4, 6) = 28

Easily dodging the daemon's attacks, Astoroth could see that there wasn't much fight left in his opponent. It was time to end this.

Flurry: 1d20 + 20 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 20 - 2 = 29 Damage: 1d8 + 11 + 2d6 ⇒ (8) + 11 + (2, 3) = 24
Flurry: 1d20 + 20 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 20 - 2 = 23 Damage: 1d8 + 11 + 2d6 ⇒ (1) + 11 + (2, 1) = 15
Flurry: 1d20 + 15 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 15 - 2 = 17 Damage: 1d8 + 11 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 11 + (6, 4) = 23

If my second Snake Fang attack triggered, I can't use Snake Style this round. Therefore, if my last flurry attack connects, and it looks like Coulthwaile is only a few HP away from dropping, I'll expend Studied Strike to deal an additional 2d6 damage[/ooc]
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Current: 60ft Fly (perfect); 50% crit negation; +3 natural armor; two slam attacks (1d6); studied combat (5rds)

Your AoO did hit.

Couthwaile had probably extended himself a little bit too far - by your second normal hit, he was out cold, and quite vulnerable to being finished off if you wished. At the same time, the wall of energy blocking the passage flickered off - tied to his consciousness, probably - and some thirty seconds later, the golems had finally been beaten-down by the weary-looking celestials. Down the hallway, you could see the great wind elemental slamming a hydrodaemon's head into the wall as Nia watched from a safe place in the middle of the hallway.

"Ooh, Meladaemon." she said, peeking into the room as the barrier vanished. "...Uh, how fast does that map of yours work, again? I think we should get going, like, now. Or after you grab the gem, anyway."

"It'll take a minute or so to activate once I have the gem. Can you make sure I'm not disturbed while I grab it?"

Assuming I have time, I'll retrieve the gem and touch it to the map. If I'm able to take multiple people with me, I'll also signal the celestials and elemental.

Nia crossed the room, and peeked out the door on the other side, where there seemed to be a balcony of some kind. "Uh... Yeah, I think we've got a minute." she said as you clambered up the machine and ripped the gem free. Its omnipresent hum died down as its lights faded, while the gem itself pulsed slightly. The two celestials seemed faintly interested, while the great elemental was more focused on the forming portal. It didn't take too long for the planar passage to form, though you heard more and more noises from down below - and the captives you'd rescued didn't hesitate to push through as soon as you signaled it was safe. Far in the distance, you could hear a horn of some kind. "@#$%, Szuriel's with them. Yeah, definitely time to go." Nia muttered, hopping through after the others.

Stepping through yourself, the now-familiar sensation of the warp rushed past you - and you stepped out once more onto the streets of Axis, where your companions were waiting.

And, if I recall correctly, my awesome [i]daemon-bane AoMF +3 goes *poof*

Well, that went about as well as expected. Astoroth looked around for the psychopomp. Hopefully she'd be able to pinpoint the other gem now.

Yup. All the items that you were given crumble away - quite as intended by the ones who gave them to you.

The Psychopomp seemed to be where she'd been the whole time, and didn't look like she'd budged - but then, most of them were known for being patient and/or bored with most matters, figuring that everything would get handled in due time. After saying their farewells, the celestials and the elemental departed - though Nia was sticking around for the moment, she didn't approach Pharasma's minion.

For her part, the Keeper simply took the map and focused for a few moments. "The interference seems to have lessened." she said, passing the map back. On it, you could see that the last gem marked on the map was in Axis... outside the border of the city, and inside what had once been Aroden's domain. "I suggest you use the map to approach it, as you did for the others. There are a number of powerful entities contesting that realm, and it is... unlikely... they would be inclined to permit you safe passage. Using the map should avoid their notice as long as you do nothing to draw undue attention to yourself."

"These entities you're referring to - what can you tell me about them? 'Don't draw undue attention' is rather vague."

"Gods and demigods, dragons, aggressive formians, and others who would like to lay claim to the realm of a dead god. Milani's territory is safe enough, and she would not object to your passage, but she is nowhere close to ruling all of the dead god's home, and at any rate your course would not take you through her region." the Psychopomp explained. "You would not survive the more aggressive attentions if they considered you a threat to their plans." This was delivered in a simple, matter-of-fact tone.

"Thank you, you've been most helpful." After taking a few moments to fully reinvigorate himself, Astoroth readied himself to travel once again.

It'll take an average of 2 castings of Life:cure to bring me back to full. Then I'll head out.

With the last of the gems' locations cleared up on the map, activating the portal was easy - and unlike before, it appeared almost instantly. That... probably had something to do with the fact that it didn't even need to leave Axis. Nia glanced over as you opened it, clearly willing to follow along as before but not intending to force her presence on you.

"Well, Miss Nia, how discrete do you intend to be?" To be honest, he had reservations about bringing the strange girl with him this time, but he also highly doubted that he could simply leave her behind if she really wanted to come along.

"Mm, maybe a little more than before." she mused. "I really don't want to draw too much attention to myself here unless it's on purpose, and the best way to do that is to not get too involved in what's happening. You're much too fun to not watch, though." she gave you a cheerful smile to go along with her words. "Besides, I want to see how this goes."

"In that case, let's be on our way. Be warned, though: I have no intention of attracting the notice of the mentioned entities, so if things start going south, I'll be leaving."

Ready to proceed

A narrow walkway spirals around a cylindrical chasm’s interior, sometimes nearly obstructed by broken siege engines or small huts built out of crude salvaged material. Far above, the impossible height of the Spire of Pharasma is visible, with the dread visage of Groetus the god-moon lingering near. Ahead is a cave cut into the wall of the chasm, providing a subtle golden light from farther in, beyond a slight bend in the tunnel, and your map is pretty clear that the gem you're seeking lies in that direction.

For her part, Nia looked up towards the spire and the moon for a few moments, her mouth twitching into a small smile.

This venture was significantly riskier than the previous retrieval missions, so Astoroth wanted to make certain that he was prepared. Focusing inward, he spent some time calculating possible outcomes and preplanning for certain scenarios. As it was too risky to experiment with different choices at the moment, observation and reflection became even more important.

Spending 1min to divine future for a future 1d4+1 bonus to a roll.

His study complete, he began to move quietly toward the cave.

The tunnel was fairly narrow for a time, but soon widened into a rather more notable chamber. At its widest point, this great cavern is more than two hundred feet across. The center part of the cavern’s far wall is a cathedral of crystal and gold, seemingly growing from the rock itself. Its doors are open wide, and an air of peace and power radiates from it. Atop its spire is a winged eye. The light within the great cavern comes from the cathedral itself, a subtle but pervasive illumination that bathes the entire area in a welcoming brightness.

New map!

That ... looks a lot like the symbol of Aroden - which means that other group is probably here. Wonderful. From their previous conversation, Astoroth knew they wouldn't be interested in returning the gem, which meant that violence was all but inevitable. Pulling out the Revealer of the Hidden, he began to inspect the area. As if being in hostile territory wasn't enough, being in a place affiliated with another deity (even a supposedly dead one) made him extremely uncomfortable - and slightly paranoid.

Scanning for magic, illusions, and hidden things. Also activating the see hazard sense talent in case there are traps. If everything's clear, I'll enter through the left door.

There's a definite magical effect covering the area, although its source isn't quite clear - it seems to be responsible for the constant illumination of the area, and while it might be possible to shut some of that down, you note that the aura is widespread enough that you could only affect part of it... and probably not permanently, either.

Pushing through the left door, you see that the outer walls meet at an angle here, forming a triangular space with one of the interior walls. The crystalline ceiling glows with the same warm, golden light as the great cavern. Olvan and several of his companions are here, looking rather battered but grimly triumphant, and the group looked up as you and Nia entered.

"Ah." Olvan said, breathing a bit heavily. "Hello. I don't suppose you've come to join us?"

"Actually, I'm here to retrieve the gem you stole. I don't suppose you'd care to return it?"

Olvan took another few breaths. "Come in... and speak with... our leader, Galen. Maybe... he can... change your mind." he managed to get out, clearly too tired to bluster or threaten at the moment.

Good luck with the move. XD

Astoroth nods and motions for the man to open the door. In their current condition, he doubted they'd attack. Whatever they'd been doing before he arrived had left them very drained, so he allowed himself the minor rudeness. While it could easily be mistaken for arrogance, assured confidence was also a sign of power, which would be useful in this situation.

"And yo-" Olvan began.

"Just an observer. You're not going to convert me, but I don't really have anything against your faith, so just think of me as an unusually cute statue or something." Nia answered cheerfully as you were shown inside.

The walls here are steel, granite, and crystal, with gold and green trim around the walls. The room looks like it has been converted into a mess hall, with long tables shoved against the walls and an improvised kitchen in the far right corner near some iron stairs. A fair few servants are busy cleaning the place, and Olvan took a left as he entered, leading you through another set of doors. To Area 5 on the map.

This neat room looks like an office and a bedroom — a large desk, leather chair, bed, and footlocker are pushed against the walls, with two smaller chairs stacked nearby. The man behind the desk was a half-elf of moderate age - old enough, in fact, to have been present when Aroden was still alive. He looked up as you entered. "Ah, Olvan. Who are our guests?" he asked.

"Galen, sir, this is Astoroth. He's been tasked by the servants of the Lady of Graves to track down the fragments of our lord's soul... a job at which he's been quite impressively successful. We have our disagreements, but I can appreciate his skill." Olvan explained. "And his... um... companion here is Nia. She says she's just here to observe." The half-elf nodded thoughtfully.

"I see." Galen said, looking at you and setting down a pen he'd been writing with. "I can't say I'm surprised that Pharasma is acting to get Aroden's soul back into her clutches. When I had my vision - saw that he was free of her - I knew that wasn't going to be the end of it. Still, she did too little, too late." Galen looked right into your eyes. "Our ritual is almost ready to begin. I don't know what others have told you, but if you'd like to join our faith - even if you're not human - we'll welcome you as we would any new brother. Otherwise, the only thing I ask is that you stand by and watch as an honored guest who's been blessed enough to touch a fragment of Aroden's soul - I know it's easy to doubt when you haven't seen the things I have, but when the ritual is done, the truth will be known by one and all."

Astoroth gave the elf a respectful nod. The man's age meant that he held the knowledge and experience of hundreds of years. If he had, in fact, been alive while Aroden was still alive, Galen could likely answer a large number of questions regarding everything Astoroth had missed while he'd been dead.

"Greetings to you, Elder Galen. As your compatriot said, I'm here to retrieve the soul gem you recently acquired. I am curious about the nature of your ritual, however. I've been told that you mean to resurrect Aroden? From a fragment of his soul?" That sounded ... unwise - if not impossible. Although if this church DID, in fact, have knowledge about resurrecting a deity, it could lead to some answers regarding what had happened to Astoroth.

"Well, more precisely, from multiple fragments." Galen explained. "It's not the kind of thing that you can do with just one of the gems, you know? Like putting a puzzle back together when you only have a few pieces. With them, however, we've set out to fulfill what we believe are the four criteria of godhood." Hearing that, Nia perked up slightly.

"First, faith. A deity needs someone that believes in them, whether it's a group of followers or just their own selves. We have our church here for that. Second, there needs to be space in the pantheon for them. Somewhat similar deities can exist, but never those who truly cover the same area. There is no god of humanity right now. Third, it needs to be the appropriate time for a deity to ascend... and a message from that deity saying it's the right time sounds right to me. Finally, there needs to be a source of power, and our ritual is taking advantage of a planar conjunction to provide far more power than we could normally hope to draw upon. I like to think that we're operating with a little more than faint bits of hope and half-understood scraps of damaged ritual guides."

Astoroth gave a knowing smile. The elf had done his research, it seemed. In truth, his own ascension so long ago fit those criteria, so the evidence DID support Galen's conclusion. Of course, there were a multitude of variables that hadn't been accounted for.... Nonetheless, observing the attempt could be enlightening - if one major discrepancy could be answered to his satisfaction. "I'd be interested in knowing how Aroden was able to speak to you. After all, my understanding is that he hasn't even been granting spells to his followers for quite some time. Were you able to confirm that the communication was truly from him and not from a less benevolent entity?" Ghlaunder, for example, particularly enjoyed posing as other members of the Pantheon.

"Your understanding was... incorrect." Galen answered. "But I do not blame you for that - Aroden has only been granting spells to those of the faith here in the chapel. ...Not, I suspect, that many outside of here have been praying for spells to begin with. Most of his faithful turned to Iomedae when he perished, and it has been long enough that even the most devout, with no other signs, have surely moved on. As for spells from other entities..."

"No god would do that." Nia said, finally joining the conversation. "Sending a follower to lie and pretend to be a part of a faith is one thing, but gods can't provide a spell if someone is truly calling upon another. Not without making their own presence obvious, anyway. It's a, uh, security measure, basically. Nobody wants potential followers of their own being misled by someone else, see, and enough deities agree with it to make it basically divine law."

Well, now I'm extremely interested. XD Am I missing something, or are you writing your own canon for the Aroden story? Also, if this ritual goes through, how likely is it going to destroy the world or something?

Those are the kinds of questions you have a Divine Ability for. XD Or you could just continue the adventure and see what's naturally revealed - nothing stops you from using your power to get answers afterward if you want to know more of what was going on.

I keep forgetting I have that. :-( Although I'm not sure how wise it would be to use it in this location....

Aroden still alive? That contradicted everything Astoroth had heard thus far, and definitely merited further research. And what better way to find out than to observe it directly. "If he's still granting spells, that is, indeed, a different matter entirely. In that case, I would be most interested in observing your ritual." Among other things, seeing what happens when mortals attempt to resurrect a deity with only a partial soul would be enlightening.

Galen nodded. "So be it." he said. "There's still a few hours before the ritual starts. Olvan, please show our guests back to the atrium and set one of the initiates to see to their needs while they wait. I see your team had quite the experience, so go ahead and make sure they get whatever they need in the meantime. They've all worked much too hard for me to accept injuries forcing them to sit out the culmination of everything they've worked for."

As your small group left the room, Nia smiled slightly. "Well." she said. "One way or another, this should be fun to watch."

"It will certainly be educational." Galen's obvious care for his underlings was a positive. The odds of him having malicious intent was lessened. Still, Astoroth didn't have a particularly good feeling about this ritual. Even without knowing the specifics, it seemed ... wrong. After all, Astoroth's soul had been fragmented in a similar fashion, and - each recovered piece left him stronger - he had regained only the smallest portion of his lost divinity. That meant a whole soul was needed, and this cult currently lacked that....

If possible, I'd like to learn about their history (and anything else they care to tell me) while we wait for the ritual to begin. Specifics about the ritual would be nice, too, but I doubt they'll be forthcoming about that, and I don't intend to use any divine abilities here.

Olvan showed you to a bench that had been set up in the large atrium just before Galen's office, near the far left corner from where you'd entered - and it wasn't long before an initiate - a human boy who couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen - scampered over to listen.

"I, uh, don't have the full histories on everything myself..." the boy said, "But it's actually been pretty straightforward so far. Everything started when Galen received his vision. He was an acolyte in Aroden's church, but our lord died before the leader ever progressed to spellcasting, and he finished up his training in Iomedae's faith. Nobody really believed him at first, but he paid everything he had to get transport to Axis, then here... and found the church growing out of the very rocks, right in the very heart of our lord's domain. Following his vision, he brought in the first fragment of our lord's soul and prayed - and that's when Aroden began to grant magic to him. Ever since, we've been gathering the gems and preparing for the ritual, as well as spreading the word to let people know our lord's return is near. We have enough gems to get it done, too - Galen says it's likely Aroden's only going to be partially resurrected from the ritual alone, but he should have enough power to retake the rest of his soul and return to full strength all on his own from there."

Astoroth listened intently. The initiate's story made sense, and it matched his own journey extremely well. "A fascinating story. Might I ask when Galen found the first soul fragment?" Neither of the gems he'd retrieved had resonated with him, but the timing was still worthy of looking into. The odds of two deities returning in such a short time was unlikely to be coincidental.

"The first fragment was found... about four months ago, I think?" the initiate said, rubbing his chin. "That was actually before I got here, but we've been steadily growing as more people have come in to see the spells and join the church. Our teams have retrieved... I think it was nineteen gems, now? Mr. Olvan got twelve of them himself, and the rest came from everyone else's hard work."

How long ago did I wake up? I'm curious how the timeline syncs up.

"Were all of the gems taken from Pharasma's care? Have you faced much opposition?" Four months is a long time, and it was unlikely that the Keepers had simply been sitting around idly while their Groetus barrier was ransacked.

You've been awake for a fair while, given all the traveling you've done. Giving an exact amount of time is a bit harder, given some of the planar travel you've done. XD The time you've been awake doesn't quite seem to correlate with whatever's happening here, though.

The initiate shook his head. "The Lady of Graves may have possessed them originally, but our teams have been visiting all sorts of places to collect the gems. Sometimes it's easy, other times..." he looked across the room, to where Olvan's team was still receiving medical treatment after their last excursion. "Thankfully, we haven't actually lost anyone."

I figured as much. XD Just curious which of us likely woke up first.

"I see."

I'm ready to move on at your convenience. Definitely getting some weird vibes here but am unable to articulate them clearly.

As previously promised, it took a few more hours before a loud sound rang throughout the cathedral - and the initiate who'd been taking care of you reappeared, holding a decent-sized box. "Galen's ordered that no weapons be taken into the ceremony hall." the boy said by way of explanation. Nia, after a few moments, reached into one of her sleeves and drew out an iron dagger, tossing it into the box with a shrug.

Once you'd had the opportunity to deposit anything - although with your extradimensional storage, hiding things was pretty easy - the initiate put the box away and led you into a large room.

This is clearly the central worship chamber of the cathedral — a great vaulted room, domed with crystal and admitting a green-golden light, with balconies overlooking the main floor. The symbol of Aroden is painted on the dome above, mirroring a mosaic laid out on the floor below. Rows of pews are pushed back to the rear of the room. An altar on a dais is at the far end of the room, with a large, old tapestry showing Aroden covering the wall. Suspended from the ceiling is an orrery tracking the Outer Sphere, Inner Sphere, various godly icons, and other unrecognizable things. The mosaic on the floor contains 20 sockets, each the size of a soul gem.

The senior members of the church were invited to the center of the mosaic, while you were given the choice of standing in the southern part of the room or up on the balconies. Soon after all were present, Galen emerged from a presbytery, dressed in full, classic Arodenite regalia. Five assistants (including Olvan, who was looking rather better after time for healing and cleaning himself up) followed him out, four of them carrying a large chest and placing the gems in the sockets, one by one.

As they went in, Nia watched them, then glanced up at the orrery. Finally, Galen raised the last two gems... and your Forewarning started going crazy towards the eastern "up" section of the balconies.

I should have asked this earlier, but have I felt the 'unwelcome' thing associated with a deity's shrine yet? Like when I was in the Bank of Abadar, for example.

Astoroth deposited his rapier but wasn't bothered by the (rather understandable) precaution. In the ritual room, he watched with interest as the ritual began, but the familiar 'unease' drew his attention. He raised his voice to draw the notice of the others. "Danger." He pointed in the direction he sensed the disturbance and readied himself for whatever was coming.

Ready Action: warp 15ft further along the balcony if something comes my way (projectile/spell/creature). I'd prefer to be on one of the balconies (as opposed to the south end of the room), by the way.

If we roll Initiative, and I'm not acting first, I'd like to use my stored divine future for the 1d4+1 bonus.

You have not.

Before you'd even finished talking, the familiar twang of a crossbow could be heard - and a bolt stabbed right into Galen's chest, cutting him off before he could complete the ceremony.

Fort Save (DC 17): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23

He staggered somewhat under the bolt, but the black smear your keen eyes had noticed didn't quite seem to have affected him. Quite a lot of the room had already erupted into pandemonium, though, with a number of the acolytes rushing towards the gems as you saw someone draw out a wand from near where the crossbow bolt had come from. At the same time, the orrery clicked into place above... and you could feel a sudden torrent of energy start to surge through the room, caught by the gems in the lattice and spun through them to create a crackling ring of energy.

"Well, this just got interesting." Nia said, sounding her normal cheerful self despite the sudden chaos.

Well, this was unexpected. As he didn't appear to be in any immediate danger, Astoroth simply observed. There was certainly a lot going on at the moment, but 'without information, action is useless.' "Miss Nia, I noticed you observing the orrery a moment ago. Do you know what it's doing?"

I'm not sure what rolls are needed here, but my priorities are as follows: 1) determine the purpose of the energy; 2) figure out who's causing this ruckus; 3) see how well-protected the gems are and the likely outcome if any are removed right now.

"Tracking the planes, of course." Nia said mildly. "Assuming that thing's right, and it probably is, that's a heck of a conjunction they found. I don't know if they can actually call Aroden back - kinda doubt it, actually - but they might really create a god if the ritual finishes." The entire time, her tone was that of someone who was simply watching things... and not concerned in the slightest for their own safety. "If I had to guess, that energy lattice they're powering will determine the final result. A blueprint, of sorts, for the energy they're using."

Meanwhile, the figure with the wand pointed it at the lattice... and a bolt of fire erupted from the tip, scorching towards the gems on the western side.

Ranged Touch Attack vs AC 10: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 7 - 4 = 9 for Fire Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 5, 1) = 13

The bolt didn't quite hit a gem... but it did strike one of the people projecting the gems, and he hit the floor with a scream. Two other initiates were dragging Galen towards the area he'd entered from, and another figure in elaborate robes frowned slightly, then moved purposefully towards the doors heading into the atrium where you'd spent the last few hours. Others were engaged in open combat (of sorts - it was rather one-sided, with most of the attacks coming from the other balconies while those below frantically tried to shield the gems with their very bodies). Nobody was paying too much attention to either of you just yet - they were a bit too, ah, busy to be paying attention to the church's guests.

"I'd thought as much. Despite what Galen said, I've not felt Aroden's presence at all while we've been in this cathedral." A thought struck him as he watched the chaos continue to unfold. Opening his mind, he calculated potential outcomes of interfering with the ritual.

Now seems like a good time to use my Divine Ability. If this thing has the power to create a new god, what happens if I step into it or otherwise attempt to harness it?

The potential outcomes were... numerous, and you saw literally thousands of possibilities flashing between your eyes as you looked into the energy lattice. The primary factor appeared to be the location of the gems, which could determine the alignment of the creation (which definitely looked godlike). Following that, however, it appeared largely chaotic - possibly because the last two gems hadn't been inserted, so the lattice, while functional, was technically incomplete. Either way, any result might have a near-random selection of domains... and just being near it would probably infuse you with renewed divine power. Fully harnessing it was beyond your current abilities - and as you thought about that, you had a momentary vision of your body detonating from the strain of trying to hold an ocean in a teacup.

As a follow-up question, what happens if the gems are removed/destroyed before the ritual is completed?

Given the amount of planar energies being channeled, you're looking at a tear into the Maelstrom if it destabilizes too far - though it'd take the destruction of quite a lot of the gems to make it that bad.

Well, if these people wanted to open a tear into the Maelstrom, they probably didn't have anyone's best interest at heart. Pure unfettered chaos wasn't the safest thing to be around, after all. Best to put an end to this nonsense, then. His mind made up, Astoroth launched a wave of concussive force at the wand-wielding figure.

Augmented Studied Destructive Blast: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 11 + 1 = 19 Damage: 7d6 + 7 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1, 2, 6, 6, 4, 6, 5) + 7 + 3 + 1 = 41
Hits touch AC 19 for 44pts bludgeoning damage
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Studied Target (8rds)
Destruction Sphere Recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Only having to hit your target was... pretty handy, actually, and you saw the figure stagger slightly under the force of the blow. He'd definitely felt that one. That didn't stop him from shouting at his allies, who moved to cover him before he sent another burst of fire scorching towards the gems.

Ranged Touch Attack: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 7 - 4 = 16 for Fire Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 4, 2) = 12

With a roar, one of the crystals on the dense 'lawful' side of the lattice detonated, and you saw the wave of force it emitted crack four of the nearby crystals. The entire energy lattice flickered for a moment, but for now, it was still more-or-less working. Moments later, a hail of crossbow bolts rained down on you.

Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Hitting you wasn't that easy... although one of the bolts did scratch along Nia's cheek, and she raised a hand to the injury with a surprised expression as ruby-red blood trickled out.

Well, he was certainly dedicated to destroying the gems, that was for sure. And if he managed to detonate more of them, he could probably take out the entire array within a half-minute or so. The crossbowmen weren't much of a threat at the moment, although he knew better than to underestimate them. A few bolts had come close to hitting him, after all, and even the most capable of combatants would struggle to avoid that many projectiles for long. Still, the mage was still a bigger threat. With a thought, Astoroth made himself airy and rose from the ground.
How far away am I from the wand wielder (and the crossbowmen). I'd like to fly toward the wand wielder while rising 15ft off the ground.

Alteration: Elemental Transformation (air elemental)
Alteration Sphere Recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
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Current Effects: studied target (7rds); 50% critical hit/precision damage immunity; +3 natural armor; fly speed 60ft (perfect)
Destruction Recharge: 3rds

"Bring them down!" the leader of the attackers said, and a few figures darted towards Nia as the others focused on you. A speed of sixty feet would get you about halfway towards the group - although with the energy lattice running at near-full power there and reaching fairly high, that proooobably wasn't the safest place to be. Going around was an option, and a double move from where you'd arrived would be quite sufficient to reach them.

More immediately relevant were the half-dozen golden spheres (recognizable as bits of Necklaces of Fireballs) hurled towards you as you approached, each of which detonated in a burst of searing flame as it got close.

Reflex DC 14 Halves: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 18 = 23
Reflex DC 14 Halves: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (9) + 18 = 27
Reflex DC 14 Halves: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (20) + 18 = 38
Reflex DC 14 Halves: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (18) + 18 = 36
Reflex DC 14 Halves: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 = 21
Reflex DC 14 Halves: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 = 21
for Fire Damage: 24d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 4, 1, 6, 4, 4, 3, 6, 4, 2, 6, 6, 2, 4, 3, 4, 4, 1, 4, 1, 6, 3, 5) = 95 Halved to 47

On the bright side, you'd soon be much too close for them to use those on you again... not without hitting themselves, at any rate, and they didn't look that crazy. Meanwhile, the wand wielder uncorked something and drank from it.