Ruins of Azlant (Inactive)

Game Master Nathan Goodrich

Sense Motive: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9

Aurelian closes to Sarine's side and lashes out with his blade.

"Aurelian told you this was monstrous!" he says happily. "As usual, Aurelian was too right. It is Aurelian's curse."

The blow skitters off Rayland's shield, and Aurelian immediately resumes his form to prepare for a counterblow now that he's presented himself as a threat.

Rapier: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Parry (DC=attacker's roll): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Riposte (if parry succeeds): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Eliza bears her teeth and something about her seems to shift, sending a shiver down the spine. She glowers at Aurelian and the swordsman feels an assault, not by the blade, but against his mind!

Mind Thurst: 5d8 ⇒ (4, 8, 5, 1, 6) = 24 Will Save DC15 for half damage Aurelian.

Everyone (apart from Aurelian) up!

Ashlyn hurries around the tank and rushes up behind the woman.

"Tell me about your master!" she demands.

Double move.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

Sarine steps forward to attack Eliza. "Something is controlling Rayland!" she shouts.

I moved Sarine 5' into a flanking position with Ashlyn. If that doesn't work due to the tank, she'll 5' step toward the other side and just won't flank.

Unchained Bloodrage 2/8 rounds remaining, 6/6 temporary hit points remaining. Power attack for -1 attack & +3 damage.
Attack Eliza: 1d20 + 8 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 8 + 2 - 1 = 17 - +2 more for 19 if the flank works.
Damage Eliza: 2d6 + 8 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (4, 3) + 8 + 2 + 3 = 20

Ouch, them some damage.

Jenner swears and hurries to join the fight, a last bit of divine energy filling his hand as he rushes to help his colleague stay in it.

Divine favor -> CLW on Aurelian: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

He calls on Abadar's guardianship as well...

Swift to invoke increased defense blessing on himself (AC now 18), standard to convert spell to CLW, move to move

Aurelian Will: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (1) + 0 = 1

Aurelian reels at the mental attack, which shakes even his unshakeable confidence! Jenner is on hand to help however and the swordsman is still in the fight!

Sarine and Ashlyn show excellent teamwork, flanking Eliza and landing a mighty blow on her! Her blood however flows only sluggishly - too sluggishly for such a wound!

Rayland takes a jerky step sideways, paying no attention to Eliza and lashes out at Aurelian with sword and shield.

Sword: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29 Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Confirm Crit?: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27 Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Shield: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Sword: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19 Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Where Eliza seems to be unnaturally resilient, Rayland seems endowed with supernatural strength! His blow crashes through Aurelians parry and cuts right down Aurelian's face and chest! The swordsman goes crashing to the floor, leaving Jenner to face the blank stare of the former colony leader.

Aurelian Stabilise? DC15 with Charmed Life: 1d20 + 3 - 6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 - 6 + 3 = 3
On -7 HP and bleeding out.

Aurelian continues to bleed on the floor as Eliza glares at Sarine, clearly attempting a spell! Her concentration is broken by her wounds however, giving both Sarine and Ashlyn a chance to strike!

Concentration, DC17: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

DR: 1d100 ⇒ 88

So, I've rolled Aurelian's turn to keep things quick. Sarine and Ashlyn get an AAO against Eliza, then its Sarine, Jenner and Ashlyn's turns.

Intiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

I'm happy to take an opportunity attack. Failing a concentration check doesn't provoke, though...you just lose the spell.

Sarine growls as she sees Aurelian fall again and presses her attack, determined to defeat the treacherous colonists. If we do get our opportunity attacks & Eliza goes down before this, the same attack on Rayland but 2 lower due to lack of flanking.

Attack Eliza w/Flank: 1d20 + 8 + 2 - 1 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 8 + 2 - 1 + 2 = 30
Damage Eliza: 1d20 + 8 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 2 + 3 = 26
Confirm vs Eliza: 1d20 + 8 + 2 - 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 8 + 2 - 1 + 2 = 14
Crit Damage: 2d6 + 8 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (3, 3) + 8 + 2 + 3 = 19

Bloodrage 1/3 rounds remaining, 6/6 temporary hp remaining
After her attack, Sarine moves to engage Rayland.

"Aurelian!" Ashlyn shrieks in a panic.

Seeing an opening she quickly punches at Eliza!
AoO: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 = 10
Damage: 1d3 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Ashlyn takes a step back from the battle, then focuses on Aurelians wounds, staring at him intently. His wounds stop bleeding and his breathing regulates.

Five foot step back, casting stabilize on Aurelian.

Then she brandishes her shield cloak. "Leave him alone, you murderer!" she shouts at Reyland.

Move action to activate her shield cloak, which increases her AC by 1. Her AC is now 17, T13, FF15.

Good spot Sarine! :) Eliza lives long enough to be critted!

Sarine's strike, empowered by her concern for Aurelian, splits Eliza from shoulder to hip. The two pieces of the psychic's body slide in opposite directions with a wet thump.

Sarine's First Damage Roll: 2d6 + 8 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (3, 4) + 8 + 2 + 3 = 20

Rayland doesn't react at all to his companions death

Well that's one thing going well, then. I changed the square that Sarine moved into based on that.

Sorry about that; I was waiting for my turn, but with that critical (again!) it wouldn't matter, I don't think. Thanks for saving my life, Jenner!

Aurelian breathes shallowly on his floor, dreaming of better times in his unconsciousness.

"Aurelian, lad, you've got to stop hittin' the ground like this!" Jenner exclaims with worry. A short look at Aurelian convinces him that despite the grievous slash, Master Fache won't leave the world in this particular second, so Jenner steps over the swordsman's body protectively and attacks the blank-eyed Raylan with his axe.

"Let's see if you feel this, you numb horror!"

Attack Raylan: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6 Good to see Jenner's back in typical form.

Raylan definitely doesn't feel Jenner's attack. Maybe the whiff of air from the axe, but that's about it.

Rayland, surrounded and with his companion dead, keeps his shield in front of himself and opens the tank door with his sword hand, before stepping back into the water and vanishing out of sight as his armor drags him downwards!

Party Go! Rayland is off this level now, depending on whether/who goes after him will determine if we stay in initiative.

Ashlyn -- reckless as ever -- shares a look with Jenner. "Save him."

Then she races into the tank after Rayland, takes a deep breath, and swims after him.

Swim: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

Drop bloodrage, 1/8 rounds remaining. Sarine is fatigued.

"Ashlyn, no!" Sarine cries as Ashlyn jumps into the tank. "It will take all of us to stop him, or just to save Ashlyn," she says as she looks at Jenner.

Sarine will wait to act until Jenner has a chance to weigh in. Her plan right now is to put away her greatsword and jump into the tank while pulling out her dagger. At this point, Jenner is probably better than Sarine underwater. We could also go around to the lower-level tank door in case Rayland tries to come out that way, but that's making a lot of assumptions.

Swim Check if needed: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 - 1 = 25

We'll stay in initiative for now then. Jenner's action.

"Ashlyn!!" Jenner exclaims. "Lass, we race after them in their turf we're asking to get slaughtered! Get back out here, young lady!"

Apparently his inner dad is coming out, however little it might be appreciated.

Out of convertable cures, but:

Jenner crouches to touch Aurelian again, this time with an innate spark of what Abadar sees fit to grant his servant than with actual spells.

Fervor heal: 1d6 ⇒ 3

I'm certainly willing to spend more fervor to heal Aurelian, but that's it for this round

"We should regroup, take stock-- I doubt he's going to leave this complex, Ashlynn, come now, be rational, lass."

What can Sarine see of the relative positions of Ashlynn & Rayland?

I guess what I'm going for here is that if it looks like Sarine can grab Ashlyn while they're both out of reach of Rayland and stop her from pursuing, that's what she's interested in at this point. If she'd just be grappling Ashlyn so Rayland can chop her up more easily, less so.

Aurelian continues to lie there, certain in his unconsciousness he has vanquished their foes.

Rayland sank out of sight almost immediately because of how heavy his armor is. Ashlyn, since she isn't anywhere near as weighed down is stuck about 3 feet into the water, because...

As Ashlyn begins to pull herself through the water, the liquid coalesces around her and strikes her in the face!

Slam: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 7 + 1 = 17 Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 = 6

Party Up! Sarine could reach into the tank and pull Ashlyn if she suceeds at a combat maneuver.

Sarine looks on in shock for a moment as Ashlyn is assaulted by the water. "Hold on Ashlyn!"

This is a reposition effort I guess? It's never been clear to me what the DC of those should be if the target wants to be moved.

CMB Ashlyn: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 7 - 1 = 15 - stupid fatigue

Combined with the buoyancy of the water 15 seems reasonable.

Sarine reaches into the tank and pulls Ashlyn back from the tank, sending them both sprawling as she leaves the embrace of the water.

"What was that?" Ashlyn exclaims.

She tries talking to the water in a strange gurgling language.

As the water gurgles back at her, Ashlyn smiles.

Ashlyn seems to think nothing is strange about conversing with the water.

Ashlyn waves goodbye. Then she turns to her companions. "The water says that Reyland belongs to someone called the Master. Oh! And the water belongs to him too, of course. The Master told the Water to stop us. The Master's strong, but I'm afraid poor Water couldn't tell me more than that."

"We should hurry. I worry over what this Master might make Reyland do next."

She heads over to Aurelian and asks Jenner. "How's he doing?"

Ashlyn focuses on Aurelian's wounds and seals them with her mind. Casting cure light wounds on Aurelian.

Healing: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

I'm out of healing spells, but I have a lot of potions if you want some, Aurelian. Just say the word!

Sarine could use a potion in case we run into trouble on the way out. If we want to take them on, I bet we could still defeat the elemental & Rayland if that's all that is left here. We'd want to be pretty full on life before we attempted that, though, and it'd be expensive in potions.

"This Master person sounds like trouble. It would be one thing if this was all the result of some forgotten Azlanti experiment or the efforts of a tribe of fish-men. If the effort is led by someone powerful though..." she trails off as she looks at Rayland. "It even looks like the Master can control people against their will. Or something."

Now that we aren't fighting for our lives, is there anything we can tell by looking at the rune that Sarine uncovered? Is there anything more in the tank?

Sarine Arcana: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Demon Cat Arcana: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Aurelian comes to, wincing in pain.

"Ah," he says, looking around. "What happened?"

He drinks his two curative potions as he gets a quick recap, though some wounds still remain could use one more CLW; which I'll roll, since it sounds like someone's going to provide.

"They do not fight at all fair," he complains. "They knew they could not defeat Aurelian Fache one-on-one, so used magic to incapacitate him. Now that he has fled, we should chase him and make sure he understands that this cannot be allowed, and find out why he killed everyone in his first colony."

2d8 + 2 ⇒ (7, 8) + 2 = 17
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

"--now see, that's why you don't-- why you don't go leaping into strange bodies of water," Jenner says, trying to salvage the situation. "Be...cause... they might be bodies of water. Just-- think before you leap, alright, lass?"

He takes stock of their injuries with a sigh, twisting the key twined into his beard absently. "I've a smidge and a dab and a drib of patch-you-up prayers left, but.... not a lot. And as for Raylan-- well, that wasn't him, by damn. Or if it was, something's wrecked or wracked his mind some way or another."

an OOC inventorying of how many potions we do have would be useful; I know Ashlyn was holding several because nobody claimed them, but we should sort that out after what it takes to get Aurelian on his feet, etc. I still have a whole 3d6 of heals for someone, but that's not a lot. As Sarine says it could be potion-expensive to try and take out Raylan, and fighting in water always adds a much sharper risk of quick death should you go unconscious. My vote is leaning towards a retreat and resupply, but if we have the healing resources on hand to try and take out Raylan I'm willing

I have no more potions left. I've used one from Ashlyn's stash. We could run down to see if he came out the bottom of the tank, but if he's not, I think retreating and informing the rest of the colony of what we've learned is a fair move (though we should also see if we can get any clues from what's left of Eliza's body before we fully leave the tower).

Given that the elemental has not left the tank, despite opening doors at the top and bottom it seems clear that it is only a threat if someone goes into the tank itself. Rayland is the only mobile threat.

I hate to pull out with enemies behind us, but I'm leaning that way as well. It could go very poorly for us. My last crazy idea is to empty the tank, possibly by opening the bottom door. I really don't know how the mechanics of that would work, though, and I don't know that it would fix any of our major concerns with pressing the fight.

How many healing potions do we have? If one of the potions that Aurelian drank was Cure Moderate Wounds, those are 2d8+3 rather than 2d8+2. But it looks like he's full anyway?

I used two CLW potions (for the 2d8+2).

I think we've got time to heal up and check out the body, then let's head for the door and look outside. Rayland'll have a 30-second head start on us, so if he's outside and we don't see him, he's gone for now. If he's not, we can look around here and be ready for another fight.

We'll drop out of initiative then since that seems to be the consensus. Post what you want to do and Rayland will do his own thing! ;)

Also, opening the bottom tank door doesn't make the water spill, it's magically contained in the tank.

What about breaking the tank? :p

"We could break the tank," Jenner suggests as Aurelian gets to his feet.

"The tank is not the problem" Aurelian says. "It is Rayland and whatever is controlling him and the water. Ashlyn, can you take the water inside you, like the creepy man?"

Aurelian will search Eliza's body.

Ashlyn shakes her head. "Oh, that'd be terribly rude of me, don't you think? Just to drink the poor fellow up?" She thinks for a minute. "Plus he is rather large... I think we should leave him alone."

Ashlyn happily gives Aurelian one of her potions and drinks one herself.
Healing Ashlyn: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

I have five potions of cure light wounds left (four we found and one I bought with my starting gold). Checking the loot list... we also have a wand of goodberry which I can try to use with UMD. I'll add it to my personal gear and use it once we get outside and I can wrangle up some berries.

After counting out her remaining potions, Ashlyn hands one to Jenner, one to Aurelian, and one to Sarine. If you each take one potion I have two left.

"Rayland will have to wait a moment. Sarine? Can you keep watch while we see what poor Eliza has on her. There might be something helpful."

Perception to loot Eliza: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Once they've taken anything of use, Ashlyn puts her hands on her hips. "Lets head back downstairs. If we run into Rayland we should fight him. He could cause some real trouble if we leave him free. Plus, that poor dead fellow won't rest until we bring him Reyland. Haunted churches are bad for the colony's morale." After a moment she shrugs. "But, if we don't run into Reyland, let's leave this place. We can head back to the colony and tell them what we've learned."

@ Everyone: Since I have UMD now, I'm going to add the unclaimed wand of colour spray and the scroll of burning hands to my loot list. SARINE: when you get spellcasting let me know and you can take the scroll and wand. They're both on your spell list and aren't on mine. GM: How many charges do the wand of goodberry and the wand of colour spray have?

@ GM: Our loot list shows Fleur claimed a mitral chain shirt, potion of cure light wounds, and a scroll of glitterdust. When we get back to the colony can we reclaim them for the group? Or are they gone?

Ashlyn's plan is fine with me. Despite some diversions, I think it was what most of us were heading toward anyway. Sarine will take one CLW potion.

If I understand right, Sarine can use those wands already. Either that, or she'll be able to use them next level.

"Thank you," Aurelian says, pocketing the potion.

Agreed; her plan works.

@ Oh. Well if you can cast them already then take them. They're not doing any good in the unclaimed pile. Haha. It's a wand of colour spray and scroll of burning hands. I assume CL 1, but don't know for sure, and I don't know how many charges the wand has.

You can reclaim Fleur's loot when you get back.

Proceeding slowly down the tower poses no threat, but as the heroes approach the bottom floor it becomes apparent that someone has been fiddling with the crossbow trap, as the weapons swivel threateningly towards them and the ramp.

Beyond, through the open doors a silhouette can just about be seen - Rayland.

"Ahhh, you've got to be shitting me!" Jenner exclaims indignantly. "We went to all that hassle the first time!"

He pauses.

"........we do have Eliza's body," he offers, reluctantly, awkwardly.

"Better her than us, and there's even two of her..." Sarine agrees as she reaches for her newly distributed potion and drinks it.

Potion of Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2- guh... I needed a better roll than that.

"Rayland seems content to wait for us, at least."

Thoughts: we throw the nearest corpse into the crossbow trap but rather than trying to run it out of bolts again (we don't know how many it has) we just rush Rayland in that turn. The Wand of Color Spray isn't really likely to work on Rayland, but it's never going to be better than it is now...we might as well give it a shot. Whether it works or not, we all just beat on him as much as we can after that. He does too much damage to risk a prolonged battle.

Did we ever search Eliza's body? Aurelian said he was searching earlier, but I don't see any results.

That plan works for me.

"Yes, he is smart to wait. He clearly knows that he owes Aurelian Fache another fight, this time a fair one," the swordsman says, up on the balls of his feet with his sword drawn.

"That's weird...I don't intend to fight fair at all. Let's go get Eliza."

Ashlyn helps Sarine fetch Eliza's body, and double checks that they got everything they could from her body.

Jenner remembers he has freaking longstrider now prays to Abadar to let him close with the enemy quicker.

"Right," he mutters. "Ready as rocks..."

I'll use my blessing for increased defense again before we corpse-hurl. Jenner has 3d6 of healing left that can be swift actioned on himself (albeit only one d6 at a time), but take standards to use on anyone else; if I go first (after the corpse) I can hopefully take some of the damage that it'll be more-action-economy effective for me to heal. Plus, Jenner's at full HP, and is less useful offensively than Aurelian or Sarine. So: corpse hurl, Jenner runs through first to draw the crossbow, if that's okay with everyone. The 18 AC is correct with the blessing.

That makes sense to me. Thanks for a good plan, Jenner and Sarine! I do also like the idea of using the flaming sphere wand before we go.