Time Bandits

Game Master Monkeygod

Lehk sticks to the plan, holding position by his doorway and readying an action to Counter Punch, but not rejoining the fray.

Happy to hear Dymer's mental activity he poisoned a couple more arrows.
Ready an attack if I see a hostile creature

"If you giver her less targets, you she might implode without an opponent. Try circling around the edges. Come back towards the entrance."

Nephre's tattoos flash once again, wiping away the strength drain Lehk had inflicted. She keeps beating on the only target available to her without tearing through stuff that can't bleed and is therefore less interesting--Koro.

Only one tension to boost attack

Kick: 1d20 + 25 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 25 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 32
Kick reroll (take lowest): 1d20 + 25 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 25 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 35
Damage: 2d6 + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (1, 4) + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 = 25
Punch: 1d20 + 20 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 20 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 25
Punch reroll (take lowest): 1d20 + 20 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 20 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 27
Damage: 2d6 + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (3, 3) + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 = 26
Knee: 1d20 + 15 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 15 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 19
Knee reroll (take lowest): 1d20 + 15 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 15 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 33
Damage: 2d6 + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (5, 4) + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 = 29

Init:
Koro 37
Dymer 21
Lehk 18
Ozzie 13
Nephre 7

Koro will continue to try his best to absorb Nephre's gigantic blows, focusing as much as possible on reducing the amount of damage she's doing to the rest of the party.

"Guys, get out of the room, she's too big to go through as she is now. I'll buy time for you to escape. Once you're all clear, I'll port out!" Koro yells, in between blocking and dodging Nephre's attacks.

Only the first attack hits for 20 damage, after DR 5/-. Not enough to get through Koro's temp hp.

Koro will Total Defense in order to better avoid Nephre's blows.

He will also have his psicrystal regain his second psionic focus (assuming he needed to ghost step over to Dymer last turn - If not, he'd ghost step this turn, expending psionic focus, then have his psicrystal recover his focus).

Koro will also continue Berserking.

Instead of running for the door, Dymer seizes the opportunity provided by Koro to disappear into the shadows again. Next to invisible again and knowing Nephre should have no way to find him, Dymer activates an extract enabling him to climb without needing to brace against the nearly-parallel walls as well as move along the ceiling. Dymer looks over the riddle contraption at the remaining doorway again, checking for any changes to the riddle that was previously presented.

Standard action: Activate Spider Climb 10 min duration
Move along the ceiling towards the riddle-console
Stealth: 1d20 + 51 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 51 + 7 + 6 = 74
Note Hide in Plain Sight, combined with Dampen Presence means perception via sight, along with blindsight and blindsense must make perception checks vs stealth
Perception, if needed to inspect the console: 1d20 + 17 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 17 + 6 = 40

Active effects
HP: 99+153 (temp) - temp HP lasts 10 hours
Permanent invisibility - applied by Ozzie (party can see through it)
Black warpaint: +7 competence bonus to Stealth - 20 hours
Spider Climb - 10 minutes
Bombs remaining: 19/20

Lehkazeran runs on the wall, maneuvering around the foam and drops back onto the ground in front of the door to the south.

Confident he's won the day, he opens the door, preparing to give Nephre time to "relax" and preparing choice words about the value of mental discipline and self-control.

Ozzie follows closely behind Lehk, along the wall

Double move/stealth
Stealth: 1d20 + 26 + 20 + 20 - 5 ⇒ (6) + 26 + 20 + 20 - 5 = 67

With only one target left in sight, Nephre keeps going at Koro.

Attack: 1d20 + 25 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 25 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 41
Attack (take lowest): 1d20 + 25 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 25 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 32
Damage: 2d6 + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (5, 4) + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 = 29
Attack: 1d20 + 20 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 20 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 29
Attack (take lowest): 1d20 + 20 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 20 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 22
Damage: 2d6 + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (4, 3) + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 = 27
Attack: 1d20 + 15 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 15 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 23
Attack (take lowest): 1d20 + 15 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 15 + 5 + 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 23
Damage: 2d6 + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (2, 6) + 16 + 5 + 1 - 2 = 28

Between the status effects Nephre is currently suffering from and Koro's own focus on total defense, he is able to avoid all of her blows.

Seeing that everyone else has already left the room, he too will do his best to teleport out of the room, to wait for Nephre's rage to expire.

There are numerous ways that this can occur.

1.) I ghost step out directly, assuming I can see past the door.

2.) If I can't see past the door at the moment, but I will be able to do so after getting close to it, I can double Ghost step out of there (i.e. ready a Ghost step upon completion of another Ghost Step).

3.) If the door is already obstructed, Koro will need to use Rapid Augmentation to pick up the Warp Sphere as well as Unseeing Teleport to teleport through the door to the rest of the team anyway.

After the team regroups and Nephre's senses have returned to normal, Koro will burn a point of essence using Augury on the levers to determine the right one. If he needs to use Augury on each lever individually, however, then he'll instead just attempt to Disable Device both the trap and the door.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 30 ⇒ (6) + 30 = 36

When her last plaything suddenly vanishes, Nephre roars in sudden rage. She begins tearing apart everything in the room in frustration, rending and smashing everything within until she at last transforms back to her normal self after nearly five minutes of rampaging.

Ozzie peeked back into the room, still unclear whether the danger was truly over.
"Someone mind explaining what happened?"

Over the mental link, Dymer chimes in as he rejoins the team, slipping out the door and away from Nephre, "Mind-affecting trap. Made my brain go fuzzy, like I saw you all, but didn't recognize you. In fact, half the time I had un uncontrollable urge to attack whomever was closest to me. If anybody has a way to deflect mental attack, it might be best if you try to throw the next lever by yourself.

And speaking of, the trap itself looks to have reset without alteration. So we know the '10' lever is incorrect. That leaves three options. But that also means two of those levers we don't know what they do. No guarantee that they all spring the same trap."

"One of you going to risk flipping a switch with her in the way?"

A set of spiral stairs around a thick metal post rises out of the floor. The post turns slowly, driven by gears beneath the mesa, so the stairs rotate around the post like a screw. They lead up through the ceiling there, connecting to the spire rising high above the mesa.

Stepping back from his handiwork, Koro will look at the opening to the room and mentally alert his teammates.

"I think I disabled the traps and unlocked the next room. That said, be on your guard. Given the danger level of these traps, whatever they were guarding is sure to be incredibly strong, dangerous, or important.If you have any buffs to cast, now might be the best time," Koro says.

Once everyone has gotten their wits about them, Koro will take point in heading up the spiral staircase.

When the others return to the room, Nephre is lying on the floor amidst the wreckage of... well, everything that was previously in the room. She apparently quite thoroughly demolished every bit of furniture in the place. She jumps to her feet as soon as someone walks in, though.

"What took you?" she asks, grinning. "She was quite disappointed with all of you running off, you know. Good idea, though. As much fun as that fight was, I wouldn't have wanted any of you actually dead."

She watches with only slight impatience as Koro works the mechanism until the stairs appear. "Guess I should've punched the ceiling," she jokes. She focuses for a few moments, a sequence of her tattoos glowing, then strides towards the stairs.

"Guess we're not gonna talk about it? Fine"
Ozzie head up with the group, giving Nephre a wide berth.

"Would you like to clue us in, whether we should keep a few candies or pieces of jerky to spare. Maybe Koro can sing a lullaby?"

Dymer chuckles, standing next to Ozzie and apparently being the only one paying attention to his comments, "Nah, nah. Let them go rushing off into the unknown. It's not like my being invisible helped with those efreeti yesterday, anyway. Maybe they'll trigger something this time; at the very least it should be entertaining." Dymer waits about ten seconds before following Koro and Nephre up the stairs, himself in full sneak mode.

stealth: 1d20 + 51 + 7 + 6 + 20 ⇒ (13) + 51 + 7 + 6 + 20 = 97
+7 from black warpaint, +6 from dim light/darkness, +20 from invisibility (moving)

"Would you like to clue us in, whether we should keep a few candies or pieces of jerky to spare. Maybe Koro can sing a lullaby?"

"That directed at me?" Nephre laughs. "I told you before, if I get big, get out of there, right? She comes out when there's a good fight, and She won't go back until she's done."

She pauses. "A lake of beer colored like blood might work, too, though."

"When I get some more magic juice, I'll see if I can think of something. Before we get out of here, I'll have to make another one of my Bubble Bath Bombs."

The stairs to an alcove at the south end of a massive hemispherical room. A large urn made of interlocking steel gears occupies the center of this room. The air is stifling and warm due to the heat emanating from a golden statue of an elderly human man standing at the north end of the room.

A hollow, robotic voice rings out a warning as the group enters. "The Menagerie is for guests only, this curator is equipped for gallery protection. Gallery rules will be strictly enforced. Failure to comply will result in offensive action."

The group seemed to shuffle in carefully. Ozzie discretely dropped the invisibility and stepped out from behind Koro.

"Oy curator. Your, uh downstairs systems seem too damaged to be able to register us. You got a way of putting us down as temporary guests, and explaining the rules and amenities? At the very least, you got any contingencies for catastrophic damage?"

Dymer maintains his stealth into the large, nearly barren room and waits for the voice's reply before taking any other actions, though he does remain ready to run back down the stairs should an alarm be sounded, or guards begin appearing, or similar.

"Menagerie? Where's the animals?" Nephre asks.

She starts to stalk around the room, looking around for anything interesting. Except for the possibly-fighty construct, this room was seeming boring.

Koro looks around for the source of the mechanical voice, trying to ascertain anything that might be detecting them or any device that might be watching.

Perception: 1d20 + 30 ⇒ (14) + 30 = 44

He'll do his best to stay on his guard.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16

"I have had about enough metal men..."

Muttering under his breath, Lehk refreshes his aura extensions, then cats Bloody Tears & Jagged Smile.

"When the clever little ones find you, metal ghost, I will add the pieces of you to my hoard. Fear. Us."

Knowledge Engineering: 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (20) + 33 = 53 guessing to what commands might be associated with an automated curator

Before anybody has a chance to react, the door you all came through slams closed with a frightening note of finality. Again, the voice calls out "The Menagerie is for guests only, this curator is equipped for gallery protection. Gallery rules will be strictly enforced. Failure to comply will result in offensive action."

"Well that was ominous. Let's see here. A little bit of... And then a swig of..." Dymer's muttering trails off as he pulls out two extract vials. "Everyone let me know when you're ready, I'm going to see what triggers if we move through the room and start touching things."

Once a ready-up has been given from each, Dymer will drink Alchemical Allocation, followed by Vomit Twin extract. Then use the Twin to move around the room. 30ft move speed and it can move any time Dymer uses a move action, so up to 60ft per round for 11 rounds. Depending on the actual size of the room, a zigzag pattern to cover ground, deliberately bumping into the urn (on the way back, if there's movement to make it to the other door and back).

"Typical. It's so dumb all it can do is say the same meaningless thing over and over," Nephre sneers.

After pacing around for a bit longer (giving people time for buffs), she says, "Okay, that's it. I'm too bored," charges the golden statue, and punches it in the face.

Attack: 1d20 + 21 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 21 + 3 = 38
Damage: 1d8 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 3 = 14 Counts as silver and adamantine, ignores 4 points of any type of DR

Dymer places the extracts in his hands back into their respective pouches. "Well, that works too, I guess."

Ozzie sighs and applies some poisons to his bowstring, and arrows. "So much for renovations ..."

The golden statue's hand flashes forward in an instant, and intercepts Nephre's punch before it can land. "You are not a guest." The voice rings out again.

Initiative!

Initiative: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (2) + 18 = 20

Init: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Nephre cackles with glee as the statue blocks her punch. "This should be good..."

Initiative: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13
"I'm guess you're banned from the nice things store Nephre?
By banned, I really mean, they pack up and go running."

Koro sighs and shrugs with his eyes closed, "Well, I can't say I imagined this ending any other way." and with that, he'll begin to smirk, a glint of restrained bloodlust shining through as he opens his eyes.

"Oh well..."

Initiative: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (16) + 27 = 43

init: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

As you all ready yourselves for the coming battle, the golden statue begins to glow with inner power, which then blasts forth, bathing the entire room in it's radius. Special immediate action. All PCs need to make a Will save DC 32. No special bonuses apply, and you can't re-roll or roll twice.

DC 32 Will save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18

Will save: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27

Will: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (19) + 18 = 37

Will: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (1) + 20 = 21(+2 if vs Fear or Stun)

Will: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Everyone but Ozzie is frozen in a powerful stasis effect that prevents you from taking any actions. Mental, physical or otherwise. At the start of your turn, you may make a new save to break the effect, gaining a +2 bonus per failed roll, which starts next round. Ie, you do not gain the bonus on your first new save.

Save for Ozzie's shadow
Will: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

The golden statue does not move, but a pulsing, hollow gong like sound rings out, as it assaults Ozzie's mind. Will save DC 26 or be effected by a Mental Block. You then need to make another DC 26 Will save, or take 15d8 ⇒ (1, 3, 3, 2, 4, 3, 5, 8, 3, 6, 1, 8, 6, 8, 4) = 65 damage(half on a success), and are exhausted for 1 round on a failed save, or fatigued for 1 round on a success. All of these effects bypass all immunities or resistances.