GM SpiderBeard's Tyrant's Grasp (Inactive)

Game Master Barvo Delancy

Conensus was grab the glove. The holy symbols are valuable and some are of gods nobody has even heard of, so of notable worth if you wanna take the time to go through them.

You wander outside to take a look over the outside of the house, Nine-Eaves.

Looming over the road like a wizened old man, this ancient manor of dark, splintery wood rises three stories tall. Several windows and small balconies jut from the manor irregularly, each under a sweeping eave of the building’s sharply pitched roof. A wide doorway stands in the front of the manor, with a greenhouse of grimy glass set against its side. The building exudes an air of gloom and age.

Could you give us a picture that shows the full exterior, even if you have to mask interior places we haven't been? That visual might help.

I don't have a picture unfortunately. To drop an additional hint, the puzzle and the keys are about the features of Nine-Eaves itself and has to do with numbers. The informatino to solve the puzzle can be ascertained by asking some key questions about the house's outside appearance - again - in a way that has to do with numbers.

"Semicircles could represent balconies ... the rectangles ... doors? Not sure about the triangles..."

Malvo attempts to ascertain if any other features of the house's design resemble the shapes, and counts those he can see to see if the numbers relate to the number of keys in any way.

Eaves are the part of the roof that overhangs the building, so look for where the roof isn't complete I guess?

Between the two of you, you seem to have it.

Malvo realizes that the number of keys seem to represent different features of the house.

The three rectangles seem to represent three doors, and the semicircles represent the balconies, of which there are six.

It's Ridill who then realizes that the house is called Nine-Eaves, but there are only eight eaves. Yet, there are nine keys.

I guess we take either the 1 or 9 Triangle key then.

I didn't assume eaves would be specifically *right* triangles, but the keys were called out as right triangles. Damn being a math teacher and thinking about those things! ;-)

OK ... so, is there a logical way to number the eight eaves to figure out which one is missing? If not, I would speculate #9 is the missing one, though Ridill is right that #1 is also a possibility. "

"That'd be my guess. Could be all sorts of varieties otherwise. Unless there is an indication. Like nice big convenient numbers... But of course, life is never that easy."

”The afterlife less so.”

Waiting to see if Malvo's speculation has value ... is there some reasonable way to assign numbers to the eaves that would indicate a specific one is missing? If not, I would just go with #9, as any natural way of counting would start at 1.

Sorry thought I had posted!

You guys talk over the keys, and decide that key #9 is the correct one and head into the house. The portait cries out in joy.

"You've done it! You can free my master. Vithiz lurks in the ballroom, but the magic of Nine-Eaves protects it there. The sahkil carries Kishokish’s staff. You could slay it to free Kishokish, but the sahkil is powerful, and there is another way: if you can wrest Kishokish’s staff from Vithiz and touch the sahkil with the staff, Vithiz and Kishokish will swap places—imprisoning it within the staff and freeing the rightful master of Nine-Eaves."

Puzzle solved! You can enter the ballroom from the top floor or the second floor, therein is the sahkil who caused this entire mess.

Artyom scratches his chin. "Sounds like a plan. But, how exactly do we get the staff away from Vithiz?" He racks his brain for any weakness on Vithiz.

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

"Charge him as a group, tackle him, and hold him down while prying the staff from his grip?"

”I think we’re supposed to use the glove?”

Still here, but talk away as you figure out stratemegy.

"Sounds like the glove could give us an advantage, but ultimately I suspect Tornell is correct. Ridill, how are you at wrestling?"

"I could sneak up on him and try to knock the staff out of his hands. I'm good at being sneaky."

Malvo nods. "I can help with that, too. I can make you invisible, though only for a short time. In fact, I could do it to both of you."

I can cast Vanish, which lasts 3 rounds or until you take an offensive action. Depending on our approach, I could cast it once on Ridill and once on Alara, giving you two rounds to move in unseen and try to get the staff.

I could also attempt to use "Fascinate" bardic performance to make him less likely to notice you, again assuming we have a chance to do anything before hostilities break out.

”The sexy kind, yeah. The sport kind? Eh, I dunno, never done that.” Ridill replies to the Halfling.

You make your way to the second floor as you plot, now outside of the main entrance to the ball room.

Who is wearing the gloves, and what's the plan? Two vanish casts and rush for the baddie to get his staff while Malvo fascinates h im?

Reading up on the glove, not sure it would work too well in this situation. You have to spend an action to attack with it (Ranged or melee) before the bonus applies. And if we're going for a sneak attack, probably not worth the action spent on it.

The rest of the plan is solid, though. Vanish, Fascinate, and charge. Tornell will give either Ridill or Alara Guidance to give them that handy +1 to their next D20 roll. Who wants it?

Yeah I have no idea how the glove is supposed to help. I guess Alara, Ridill doesn’t roll the best.

So Vanish Ridill, Vanish Alara. Someone opens the door and Malvo begins Fascinate. At that point Ridill will have 2 rounds of invis and Alara will have 3. The save vs Fascinate is DC 14 Will; on fail, the target "sits quietly and observes the performance" and takes a -4 to Perception checks. Once an aggressive action is taken against the target, the effect ends.

When everyone is ready, Malvo quickly casts a spell on Ridill and Alara. Nodding to Artyom to open the door as Tornell prays for Alara's skill, the Sergeant-Major strides boldly into the room. "Atten-CHUN! This is a surprise inspection! Everyone stay where they are while I see what sort of mess you've made here!"

The nine-eaves key clicks in a very satisfying manner, and the door swings open.

Wooden pillars carved to resemble thin trees support the ceiling of this enormous ballroom. Stairs lead up to a balcony at the south end of the room protected by a wrought-iron railing. A low stage under the balcony contains benches and music stands. The walls are painted with misty forest scenes, each image featuring a clearing with a grave or mausoleum. The ballroom contains no windows and only two doors: one at either end.

A grasshopper-headed creature with buzzing wings holds a staff with a lantern dangling from it. It turns in utter shock to see the door swing open and Malvo steps through in full military mode.

He fails to enrapture the sahkil, but it does pause for a moment, looking at the halfling incredulously.

"How did you get in here?!" it buzzes through its strange mouthparts. Although clearly hostile, the idea that one halfling would challenge it is beyond its ken.

Map is updated your invisible friends have not been detected and it hasn't attacked.. yet. I recommend some sort of check to keep it talking.

"That's 'How did you get in here, Sergeant-Major'! Stand at attention when you speak to me! I have the key to every room, THAT'S in MY JOB DESCRIPTION!"

Just trying to keep his attention, if taking 10 is allowed, take 10 for 19 Intimidate. If not, then Intimidate: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17. Also, use that speech to begin Inspire Courage. I won't maintain it, but it will linger for (hopefully) long enough to help Ridill and Alaara make their checks.

Ridill will begin sneaking into the room.

Stealth: 1d20 + 1 + 20 ⇒ (5) + 1 + 20 = 26

Alara takes point in stealth.

Stealth: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (5) + 29 = 34

Just realized I should have been Inspiring Competence, not Courage. With my Inspiring Mentor feat, I can give them both +2. Not sure if it makes a difference or not.

No taking 10 in this situation.

The sahkil starts buzzing angrily, clearly unimpressed by Malvo (although Malvo is pretty impressive, it's just a weird spacebug with no sense of decorum). Oblivious to the rest of the party, it starts takling for Malvo, and its wings begin buzzing noisily as it is clearly hostile!

The buzzing of its wings is a maddening, insane sound and it haughtily stares down at Malvo, waiting for his mind to melt. However, it is Alara who feels a strange madness attacking her self.

Alara is confused and will attack the nearest target next round. EVERYONE is up! Note that Ridill and Alara are now within melee range thanks to their sneaky sneaky.

"Bzzzrghahbabababrahbahbah!" Alara babbles, some fragment of her trying to nudge herself in the right direction.

At least the sahkil is conveniently right in front of her--the madness afflicting her demands that she hurt something.

Sneak Attack *Breaking Invisibility*: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 2 = 17
Damage?: 1d6 + 4 + 2d6 ⇒ (3) + 4 + (4, 1) = 12

When Alara fails the save vs confusion, Malvo uses Saving Finale to give her a reroll. Then on his turn, he uses his final round of performance to start Inspire Courage one last time.

As Alara becomes visible with an odd look in her eye, Malvo calls out, "This is NOT the time, young lady! Back to work!"

He moves around the creature, continuing to offer his support both verbally and physically, trying to give Alara the advantage on her attack.

Standard to inspire courage, Move to get into flank with Alara. Marked my path in red to avoid AoO.

Will Save Reroll?: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18

"SIR YES SIR!"

That's a pass! Alara's brain is whole again and she can retcon that action.

Disarm?: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 2 = 10

Alara attempts to disarm the sahkil with a smack from her nunchaku...

Ridill will attempt to grab the confusing bug.

Grapple: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

You get a +2 bonus if you break invisibility while doing so, Ridill.

Does Flank apply to grapple?

I think so...

But if I'm invisible it won't get its Dex. Unless it has Uncanny Dodge.

Tornell's prodigious bulk lumbers into the room, and he worms his way around to whatever the creature is, looking to force it to the ground.

Tornell will Aid Another Ridill's grapple, to provide a +2
CMD 10 Attack Roll: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

You get a +2 bonus if you break invisibility while doing so, Ridill.

Breaking invisibility isn't optional ... any offensive action ends the spell, but you do get the benefits of being invisible for that action.

Everyone tries to leap at the bug at the same time, but unfortunately it is to little avail as it wriggles out of all of the attacks. Alars is more fortunate as her sneak attack lands and she cracks it in the head with her nunchaku.

Artyom is up!

Realizing this is the last bad guy he'll fight in this miserable house, Artyom sends out an explosion of glitterdust behind Vithiz, trying to blind the wihsaak. Vithiz lets out a shriek as he loses his eyesight, and is clearly not having his best day. He starts swinging the staff around wildly, and manages to clock Alara upside the head with it!

Alara takes 10 damage. Vithiz is blind. Everyone is up!

With his admonition to fight well still ringing in everyone's ears, Malvo tries to get the staff away from the blinded bug.

CMB plus Inspire courage.
Disarm: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 2 + 1 = 18 Oh, with him being blind that just might work!

Inspire Courage will linger for this round and one more.

Alara gets clocked over the head and goes down.

Stabilize?: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Malvo feels an unseen hand guiding him as he lunges for the disarm, like the staff -wants- to leave his hands. He knocks the staff free, and it clatters to the floor! Vithiz lets out a shriek, realizing that things may start going very badly for him.

The rest of you are up!

Ridill nonchalantly picks up the staff and bonks the locust with it.

The staff is a +2 quarterstaff. Roll it!

Quarterstaff: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24