Way of the Wicked - The fall of Andoran, Chapter II (Inactive)

Game Master increddibelly

I assume Cole and Talon wonder around and finish their dealings and then head back when Talon is ready.

** spoiler omitted **

Not in Farholde, sorry.

Unless anyone has a compelling reason to stay in Farholde, I'm going to assume everyone is back at the horn. And with that, we've reached ***week 12***.

Remember, the midpoint of the ritual is at day 111, during week 15. You have a nun in custody and a guard outside the cellblocks.

I'd like to ask everyone to please roll a perception check.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16

Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22

Nice to see the dice favoring us right Talon :)

I'm not killing something, so my rolls are low. Trust me, if that cleric suddenly tried an escape attempt and I attacked her I'd roll a 20.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16

Three's a charm... hopefully Sindran does better.

Back at the Horn, Caladwhen wanders about her lab as she considers what could be nagging at her. Summoning Nariel to her chambers, Caladwhen speaks from behind her desk "Something isn't right Nariel... maybe I'm being paranoid, but I think we should take stock of everything here." Standing up, Caladwhen starts to pace as she recites a laundry list of things to check out "Let's start with the Banshee... I don't trust her, never have; is she up to something. Next we need to check up on our two Daemon friends, make sure their still playing chess." Glancing over at the tablets that Morvius had found, Caladwhen adds in afterthought "I doubt those two are up to anything, since we hold these, but let's not leave any stone unturned."

Continuing her pacing, Caladwhen resumes her train of thought "I need to see Sindran; we should do a thorough inspection of the Goblins. In general, we should review our security, make sure that there isn't someone here that shouldn't be. When Cole and Talon return from Farholde, I'll ask them to suss out our present security condition."

Sitting down again, Caladwhen looks to her mantle where her trusted broken wing is perched "T'larryo, I want you to thoroughly scout out the Horn for me... if there is anything out of the ordinary, let me know." After a moment of silence, Caladwhen finally finishes her meeting "Alright, that is enough for now; let's get to it."

Alright, well since Cala can't shake this feeling, it's time to do a top down review of everything in the Horn before our guest the Baron arrives. Caladwhen will first seek out Sindran, and ask him to look what the, if anything, the Goblins might be up too.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Nope. I might have an average roll, but I've got the worst perception out of you lot.

"I've just checked the entire Horn," Sindran reveals to Caladwhen when she asks, "but it doesn't hurt to double-check. Perhaps by someone with better eyes than me. I've been working on establishing direct control over the goblins, but they're quite unstable at the moment. I'll personally see myself appraised of the situation, however. It would be a good opportunity to drop by on our new... allies."

Talking about One-eye and the new minions, of course. Not sure where they moved. I wonder if we can still get those Eyes of the Eagle from the golem back.

I'm not killing something, so my rolls are low. Trust me, if that cleric suddenly tried an escape attempt and I attacked her I'd roll a 20.

wait - what? Look!!! That cleric suddenly tries an escape attempt!

But seriously:
Cole, one morning, you notice a big blood stain one of the pillars in the lower temple (room 1-27 on the map) that wasn't here before. And you don't remember any fighting....

Back at the Horn, Caladwhen wanders about her lab as she considers what could be nagging at her. Summoning Nariel to her chambers, Caladwhen speaks from behind her desk "Something isn't right Nariel... maybe I'm being paranoid, but I think we should take stock of everything here."

So used are you to Náriel's immediate obedience and instant appearance, that it takes you most of that monologue to notice that she has not yet arrived in your study.

Then, the sinking feeling hits home hard: you haven't seen your assistant since...the middle of last week!

She has been running errands and of course day to day operations, so her absence wasn't something to concern yourself with - but now... This is a problem!

Cole will share his findings with the group.

Cala do you recall canything happening here while we were gone?

No, she didn't notice. Netiher did Sindran when he surveyed the entire horn last week. In fact, everyone except Cole failed the DC20 perception check. I'm pretty sure that Cala will have an opinion about this issue, though... ^_^

Alarmed at the sudden disappearance of her trusted confident, Caladwhen follows Cole to the Throne room. Following the evidence to throne itself, Caladwhen coolly shakes her head, though she is clearly cross "This would explain Nariel's absence... whoever attacked her knew about the enchantment tied to this throne." Cursing herself quietly, Caladwhen mutters "How did I fail to notice her absence?" It was true that Caladwhen's time was always consumed by something, either rituals or crafting magical gear for the 9th, but such an oversight was beyond the pale.

Perception, looking for any other clues: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20

Ascending the steps up towards the throne, Caladwhen glares at the stone monstrosity, lost in thought "If memory serves me, the throne is laden with conjuration magic, something I have became increasingly adept with in the past few weeks." Her expression turning to a hardened scowl, Caladwhen realizes the implication of what has transpired "Nariel's abduction here informs me what I always suspected, that this throne is a teleportation device of some form... it also tells me that we very well might have an intruder." Kneeling down to inspect the runes closely, Caladwhen adds "I've put this off long enough; it's time to discover exactly where this damnable throne leads."

Spellcraft to decipher the throne: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (12) + 21 = 33

While inspecting the throne, Caladwhen looks back at Talon and Cole, an emotion registering on her face that one could only call concern, if indeed Cala was capable of such things "Talon, Cole, can you both thoroughly search the Horn while I do this... we can't rule out that an intruder might still be in our midst."

Oh bloody hell... something went after Caladwhen's cohort! Somebody or something is either in the Horn already, or has easy access to it via this throne; knew I should've looked at this thing more closely months ago. We may need to follow the rabbit down the hole, and find out where this throne goes, cause whatever attack Nariel already knows.

The blood trail ends at the large stone throne, decorated with scenes of daemonic victory over angels. As you know, the throne radiates a moderate conjuration aura. You already suspect the thrones are teleportation devices of some sort - and you know such portals are generally triggered by a very specific password.
Now that you know what you're looking for, You just barely notice a *tiny* inscription at its base, no more than three tiny Abyssal markings scratched very subtly into the stone.

Very well, but be careful. If the device does teleport you don't want to make that trip alone. You have no information on the intruder. They could be one or many. We could set a trap. Do we know or not if you can scry into here. If not then we can lay in wait I'm sure our intruder will come back again, but if they can see what is going on then we may need to take the fight to them.

Yeah, that's a good point... don't want to be taking any undo risk with Caladwhen, though she could make such trips invisible. A better plan might be to use some test subjects; zombies or goblins maybe? Sindran, could you spare a few of those little buggers?

Excellent thinking Cole...

Sure I can! How useful goblins will be on a scouting mission, however, is something else entirely. I prefer trapping the place first rather than alerting whoever it is that we're on to them. Though we do have the dragon to contend with still.

I just did a search for 'throne' in our gameplay thread.
There are three inside the horn; 1-27, where the blood was found; another in room 2-20 and one in room 3-9. plix refer to the map in campaign info tab.
Apparently Oret, Aerent and Talon had already located the abyssal word on the back of the throne way back in the first month of the ritual. There's also a word in the same spot on the throne in 2-20.
Also, around that time, Cala discovered that the thrones had a strong vertical conjuration field, thinking they were portals to travel between floors.

See also cala's earlier musings on this subject, which were in the right direction.

From this, I think you should be able to piece together how they work. As always, your characters probably have more INT and WIS than the players, so if you can't figure it out, just make an int or wis roll and I'll drop another hint.

I sincerely think this is a very appropriate time to focus on the thrones, despite all other distractions. Sometimes it's nice to be able to finish a line of investigation. In other words, I promise not to backstab you with a dragon.

Should have thought to search older postings, I totally forgot about the other thrones. Having said that, wow... that post it almost exactly a year old; we've been at the Horn for a long time now, both in-game and in real time. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I've got it now.

After inspecting the other thrones, Caladwhen nods her head as though an obvious revelation has finally become clear "The thrones are teleport points; say one of the passwords while sitting on one throne, and you'll be whisked away to one of the others."

Angry at herself for not paying attention to the thrones sooner, Caladwhen sits down and leans on her elbow, scowling while lost in thought "That explains the thrones, but not how our enemy is entering the Horn, unless they're already here. Sindran, can you use the eye to scour the entire Horn? I want to make sure there is nobody in our midst."

The first eye can see anywhere in the Horn, just to be sure right? I only remember using it once with Caladwhen. If there is nobody in the horn though, I have a thought as per below.

Getting up and pacing about, Caladwhen suddenly turns and looks at the Throne again "My former master used to have a saying - "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Falling silent a moment, Caladwhen suddenly snaps her right finger "Perhaps there is a fourth throne that our enemy knows of that we don't? That might explain why we haven't been alerted to their presence. Nariel may have discovered who has been infiltrating the Horn by accident, and paid for her discovery dearly."

Elementary my dear Watson, elementary.

Perhaps there is a fourth throne that our enemy knows of that we don't?Elementary my dear Watson, elementary.

That is brilliant. Well done indeed! You now know that there must be four thrones in existance.

You are forgetting one *small* detail though... I think Cala would be able to figure it out. Can you?

The first eye can see anywhere in the Horn, just to be sure right? I only remember using it once with Caladwhen. If there is nobody in the horn though, I have a thought as per below.

Yes. When the eye is in the socket of the statue in the temple, one can look into it and scry inside the entire horn.

You are forgetting one *small* detail though... I think Cala would be able to figure it out. Can you?

So there is a fourth throne... but what am I missing though?

Two things come to mind

1. We've thoroughly searched the Horn, and there are only three thrones as far as we know; is it possible it's located somewhere else offsite? In Farholde even

2. We have figure out the password for the forth throne. Is there anyway to do that, or anyone who would know?

Wait, wait... Ezra was the head Priestess back in the day; would she know all the passwords? Caladwhen would absolutely hate having to go see her, but I can't think of anyone else who would know.

So there is a fourth throne... but what am I missing though?

1. Is it possible it's located somewhere else offsite?
2. We have figure out the password for the forth throne.

Wait, wait... Ezra was the head Priestess back in the day; would she know all the passwords?

Words of great wisdom. But I meant something else.

INT: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Talon frowns. "We know there are four...but that doesn't mean there isn't more than four."

Glancing over at Talon contemplatively, Caladwhen nods "Yes, that is a distinct possibility Talon, and renders us considerably more vulnerable than we had previously thought if true." Her slow pacing beginning again, Caladwhen appears to be once more lost in thought. Suddenly she stops, and looks to the ceiling as though resigned to something difficult and unpleasant "I'm afraid I may need to have a word with Ezra. She was head priestess in her day, and her experience might be the only record we have of the passwords that is in our reach."

Slowly looking over towards the others, a reluctant Caladwhen adds "Anyone care to join me?" The request seems born out of an underlying strand of tension in the normally stoic elf woman; while weeks had past, this much was clear... Caladwhen was still repulsed by the Banshee in their midst.

Caladwhen is going to head upstairs to get an audience with Ezra. Much as she hates to do so, I think Ezra might actually have the information we need... she would very likely have known the passwords, and may have used the Thrones when she had charge of the Horn.

Talon nods understandably. "Of course." He walks over, standing next to her with a hand on her shoulder protectively.

It's interesting to see the strength/int character who dumped charisma feeling a connection to the charisma/int character. Like, he's ugly and socially inept, but they have the same interests and trust each other. It's a classic possibly-tragic love story that's interesting to see in the midst of all this evil scheming.

Ezra of course senses you approaching with her Hear Hartbeat ability. She senses your increasing heartrate, and annoyingly mouths the rythm in time with your own.
"Badum! Badum! Badum! Badum! Ooh just look at all that lovely blood rushing through those pretty veins of yours! WHAHAHAAAAAAAA"

"Bet you miss it, don't you?"

Wincing at the sound of the Banshee's voice, Caladwhen bites her lip as though trying to suppress pain. Truly, it took every once of control for the skilled Necromancer to not attempt to overpower the tragic elven specter and send her away from her sight.

Shaking her head, Caladwhen cooled herself down and found her nerve... Nariel's life and the security of the Horn depended on Ezra's cooperation. "Don't anger her Talon, she is still a servant of he who eats the eyes, and is deserving of our respect as such." A lie of course, Talon and indeed any of those close to the Necromancer knew it was a lie; Caladwhen didn't give a damn about Ezra or her fiendish master, but she needed them now, and she was good a feigning such sincerity.

Bluff: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32

I'll say she's good! What a performance.

Bowing her head and taking a knee, Caladwhen plays the role of penitent and worshiper in one fell swoop "Priestess, we are in dire need your experience. The Horn has been infiltrated by enemies unknown to us, perhaps forces of the Victor or the Sarenraens from Farholde. They threaten the ritual to restore the Master by their insolence." Glancing up reluctantly, Caladwhen looks at the specter, appearing sincere in her reverence "They have used the thrones to enter the Horn, the very same thrones I suspect that you once graced yourself. In order for us to rout out our enemy, we beg of you to let us know the passwords for all the thrones, especially those that lead outside the Horn itself."

"Bet you miss it, don't you?"

In one fell swoop, the gray maiden screams and dives into the rocky floor of the Horn, only to emerge half an inch in front of Talon - blocking his view, enveloping his world, as she rises from the stone like a smoky volcano of hatred. Her robes ebb and flow dangerously close to Talon - and she knows he knows that all it takes for her to snuff him out is one short, gentle touch.

Oh. And of course, she screams. She screams! Boy, does she scream!

"mmmmmMMMMiserable bird!! Insolent, insignificant, ignorant parakeet! You're not worthhh the air you breathhhe!"

But, before she can end the Strix' miserable existence, Cala intervenes with her excellent theatrical performance - and the spirit uses all her mental flexibility to restrain herself, returning to (and basking in!) the role of worshipped priest.

"Of course I know thhhe desthhhination command words! Do you thhhake me for a fool?! But mere morthhhals do not deserve thhhhem. Firsthhh - I would hhhhave you do somethhhing for me!!! You see - I grow tedious of your endless procrastinating. I have figured out a methhod to bolden our Prince's resolve and hhhelp hhhim burst thhhrough the hhhhindrance of the pallid seal of thhe Sarenraeans in hhaalf the time required!"

Ezra goes on to explain how your healing magic (which disgusts her, as she does not mind to explain in quite colorfo(u)l language) can help you increase the speed at which the seal breaks down. Remember that the horsemen of the Apocalypse who used to run this place are a death cult; she claims that by using a special sacrifical blade (specifications for which will be provided) to disembowel yourself as you perform the ritual, you would significantly invigorate Vetra Kali and desecrate the seal at the same time. With your healing magic, FOUL AND DISGUSTING AS IT MAY BE, this would be a mere inconvenience to you - but it could have great effect.

"You will try this for me at the midpoint of the ritual and the week afterwards, and ***then*** I will provide the target words!"

For the record, Talon would realize that it is only Caladwhen's excellent theatrical performance that saved you from getting banshee-slapped for 14d6. Consider this a fair warning - probably more than you deserve :)

I didn't realize that hit so close to home for her. Still, gotta RP that 6 charisma beyond "I don't say anything".

Talon nearly draws Rygat when he realizes the jab was a lot more insulting than he intended. Fighting her was not something he looked forward to, especially since she didn't fight in the style of mortals. Most of his training would be useless.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17

Talon is too preoccupied by the sudden onslaught to concentrate.

Short on time, so I'll do a full post tonight... in the meantime though, does it have to be our own blood? We have all of these goblins around, surely we could sacrifice a few of them for this purpose rather than give ourselves to such daily grievous harm?

Knowledge Arcana DC20: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27

"Hell no - dead already. killed wrong - the Hand must not taint us! "
The blade actively shifts away from your panicked hand, refusing to be drawn. It is genuinely upset about the ghastly undead.

does it have to be our own blood?

You realize the power of the ritual comes trom doing it voluntarily, willingly sacrificing oneself to draw Vetra Kali Eats The Eyes into this world.

Shedding the blood of a sentient humanoid *not* wishing for VKETE's imminent return to Golarion would reduce the ritual by a measly few days, at best. Giving yourself, however, is far more powerful: by your educated guess, that could save you weeks!

Sindran could disembowel himself! He's so hardcore he can even stay conscious throughout the whole thing and heal himself afterwards (his Diehard feat means he automatically stabilizes and remains conscious below 0 HP). Though he'll still use minions to actually do the cleaning up and Grumblejack to protect himself should anything go wrong.

It's almost like Sindran was born for this kinda thing... and that is so creepy, I don't even know where to say!

As Ezra's horrible scream resonates throughout the Horn, Caladwhen winces in fear; this above all else was why Caladwhen hated having to approach the specter of the former elven priestess. Luckily for both Talon and herself, it appeared that her feigned prostrations had mollified the egotistical spirit.

Listening to the demands, Caladwhen appeared contrite but secretly she was furious. Ezra, the Daemons... all these servants of Vetra-Kali are so impatient; you'd almost think they hadn't been waiting here for eighty years in shameful defeat the way they carry on...

"Of course Priestess, we'll try to speed up the ritual as you have suggested."

... and here we are, trying to usher in her Daemon master where she failed, and the first time we need her help, she has the temerity to demand a pound of flesh from us!

"Priestess, I beseech you in the meantime to answer us one last question; can you tell us how many thrones outside the Horn? Until we reach the midpoint, we remain vulnerable to invasion by our enemies... it would help to know just how vulnerable we are."

You will live to regret this Ezra-thrice-damned... for as my power grows, your stock will continue to decline. Some day, you will be under my thumb, and all the screaming in the world won't free you.

Once the meeting has concluded and Ezra has departed

Looking over at Talon with an expression of both relief and exhaustion, Caladwhen speaks in his native tongue

Standing up and throwing her cloak over her shoulders, Caladwhen shivers and starts to make her way from the Ezra presence as quickly as possible "We need to see the others; what she is proposing is going to get messy. Truthfully, it's probably something Sindran will be able to handle quite aptly, and it it works... we might be able to get out of this god forsaken place sooner than we had originally thought."

Talon shakes his head, hard frown set after the departing Ezra.

Talon absentmindedly picks at one of his feathers. "I don't like the idea of Sindran, or any of us, doing that every day. You don't get cut up as often as the more martially inclined ones of us do, but every wound takes a bit away from you. A wound that serious is numbing."

Sindran could disembowel himself!

Ye gods, Orc! There's no need to look forward to it like that! That's just gross!

Let me just answer your question, Caladwhen:

"Priestess, I beseech you in the meantime to answer us one last question; can you tell us how many thrones outside the Horn?

"More than you know. Less than you fear. More than you'd like."

"it would help to know just how vulnerable we are."

The spirit swirls around casually, enjoying every moment of her advantage over you.

More than you know. Less than you fear. More than you'd like.

Thanks Ezra, you useless windbag of ghost... have I mention that Caladwhen really detests this witch? At this point, I can't decide who Cala would despise more, Tiadora or Ezra; at least Tiadora is helpful now and again.

With a quiet sigh, Caladwhen shakes her head lightly in guarded frustration. We're done here, for now. Bowing, Caladwhen takes her leave of Ezra.

sorry guys have the flu. I'm reading and keeping up. Hope to be better soon.

sorry guys have the flu. Hope to be better soon.

That is what everybody in Andoran will be saying in a year from now...When you get the tears of Achlys from Vetra Kali... *grin*

Back up and at em

That spirit. It is trapped here? Do we control it? It seems we do not. Should we get rid of it? It seems dangerous to leave around. I guess we have other things on our plate for now.

I'll leave that for you to decide, but I'd think anyone with a WIS of 12 or higher would realize this enemy is out of your league just yet. Ezra is probably a more difficult battle than the dragon - whose weakness you know and are very much able to exploit. Ezra is a unique product of a foul betrayal and the spirit of a mad, evil, powerful cleric.

Meanwhile...Those of you bored of Ezra's overly dramatic presence, or those trying to get some distraction might be looking out a window.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

"S#~%. I think we're under attack. Contact the others, I'll go try and see what's going on." Talon leaps headfirst out the nearest window, diving down before snapping his wings open and coasting over the slaughter. He tries to find the source of the arrows.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Sindran, meanwhile, is busy reading how his plans are coming along in his room.

Talon sends a minion to trigger an alarm spell and within half a minute, everybody is on alert and aware of the situation.

Fat clouds of black smoke bulge from the cavern's mouth, and anyone in the vicinity would hear the crackle of a big bon fire.

Before Talon even reaches the ground, a long, sharp whistle sounds. Two archers who were previously firing at the goblins now loose a last volley at our resident Strix, before stepping into the thick dark smoke that is obscuring the cavern from sight.

atk talon: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27 dmg: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
atk talon: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30 dmg: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

You hear a voice, repeating quickly...
"Here, here, here! Here, here, here! Here, here, here!"
...the voice is followed by 2 more voices:
"OK, I made it. Here, here!"
"Me too!"
...and then the first voice again:
"OK - All here, let's go!"

Then, the voices stop, but the silence is pierced by two swishy, zingggy sounds right after one another.
As if the sound isn't enough of a giveaway, the fact that the hairs on the back of Talon's neck suddenly stand up is also a giveaway that spells are being cast.

The smoke at the mouth of the cavern suddenly inflates into the cave mouth, as if a huge creature drew a giant breath and inhaled a truckload of smoke.

Talon check it out and come back. We can't go rushing down at the sign of an attack it could be a destraction. We need them to funnel up to us. We can wait for them in the throne room. The only way to the upper temple is the hidden spiral stair case there right? So if they have to come that way we can lay an ambush.

Cole will cast Mirror image for 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 now 6 of me.

Sindran is out the room and checking the situation as soon as the alarm sounded. "Grumblejack, take point! Head down. Send a group to the seal with immediate alert if anything happens."

Waiting a few moments to gather some more minions to surround him, Sindran takes out the eye and begins attempting to scry out the situation below. When Grumblejack has assembled a good-enough protection detail, they begin heading down as Sindran assesses their options.

Walking down with a bodyguard team! Some of Heitr is on protection detail with me. I'll scry the area on the way, or if I can't walk and scry at the same tie, scry first then walk.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Let's see... for our internal defenses, I think we have our golem, our minotaur, the beasts Heitr caught, and assorted minions? For the jungle, we have our new minions and One-Eye. Also undead everywhere. We really should put an alert group on the thrones.

Spellcraft;Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 181d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13 Derp.

Talon moves directly towards the mouth of the cavern, then casts wind wall at the mouth. "Now come out and fight me like men!"