Radiant Fire [Tyrant's Grasp]

Game Master mike9322

SECOND THOUGHTS: You are sickened for 1d6 ⇒ 5 rounds.

Argus's glaive nearly tears the boy doll in half. Dellan's swing goes wide and ... I dunno, he gets sick somehow.

ROUND 2
Amanteia (15/15 hp, asleep)
Boy Doll (15 damage)
Girl Doll (0 damage)
Ray (13/14 hp, 1 dex damage)
Argus (21/21 hp, 1 dex damage)
Dellan (16/16 hp, sickened [5 rounds])

Bold may act.

Amanteia stands and smooths out her dress and hair. She feels her thanks to Somnius, then conjures another acid splash for the boy doll, who she has a clearer shot at.

AS: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1

The boy doll approaches Argus (provoking if Argus has a gauntlet) and tries feebly to hit the paladin. The girl doll has better luck with Dellan, but he barely feels it (1 NL).

ROUND 2
Amanteia (15/15 hp, asleep)
Boy Doll (15 damage)
Girl Doll (0 damage)
Ray (13/14 hp, 1 dex damage)
Argus (21/21 hp, 1 dex damage)
Dellan (16/16 hp, 1 NL, sickened [5 rounds])

Bold may act.

Argus backpedals from the doll and swings his glaive, hoping to finish the horrifying little ... construct? ... as quickly as possible.

Glaive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Probably not.

"Keep your eyes open!" he calls. "I sensed evil behind that wall. It could be on its way now!"

Ray begins moving toward Dellan and the other doll, gently shaking Bob awake as he moves.

Bob drowsily opens his eyes. [color=blue]"Five more minute, Ma.... Wha... Gack!!"[/color] The raven flutters frantically and flies several yards away.

Dellan backpedals from the doll, stomach turning as he overthinks the situation. What if this is a servant of Pharasma? She is the goddess of Death. Of course her servants would be a bit morbid. You are angering your goddess.

But I must help my friends...

They are not your friends. You only met them yesterday. They do not even like you.

Dellan forces himself to swing at the doll anyway.

Mace: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 4 - 2 = 15
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Feeling more than useless, Amanteia launches another acid splash at the girl doll.

AS: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 3 - 4 = 9
damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3

Argus just misses the boy doll, but Dellan's strike lands true. Porcelain cracks and chips off of the girl doll.

Both dolls approach their foes and punch feebly again. The boy can't seem to hit Argus but the girl mildly bruises Dellan's arm (1 NL).

ROUND 3
Amanteia (15/15 hp)
Boy Doll (15 damage)
Girl Doll (4 damage)
Ray (13/14 hp, 1 dex damage)
Argus (21/21 hp, 1 dex damage)
Dellan (16/16 hp, 2 NL, sickened [4 rounds])

Bold may act.

Argus darts past the doll toward the stage and swings again, feeling a little guilty about fighting such obviously feeble creatures. But by the gods, he has no interest in losing any more teeth.

Glaive: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 5 + 2 = 17
Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Ray steps up to the doll on Dellan, drawing his silver sword as he goes, and takes a swipe.

Longsword: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 2 = 18
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Dellan is almost panicking now as he steps back and swi gs.

Mace: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 4 - 2 = 5
Damage: 1d8 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 - 2 = 7

Amanteia steps back and .. well, you know the rest.

AS: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 3 - 4 = 13
damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1

"Dellan, Ray! Throw it over the balcony!"

Argus shatters the boy doll, leaving nothing but a pile of porcelain shards. Ray does minimal damage to the girl doll, who tries to punch Dellan again and fails.

ROUND 4
Amanteia (15/15 hp)
Boy Doll (22 damage, destroyed)
Girl Doll (6 damage)
Ray (13/14 hp, 1 dex damage, heroism)
Argus (21/21 hp, 1 dex damage, heroism)
Dellan (16/16 hp, 2 NL, sickened [3 rounds])

Bold may act.

AoO: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 4 - 2 = 8
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 8

AoO: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 2 = 19
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Dellan hesitates at Amanteia's words. "Throw it? I--I don't know..."

He doesn't trust his own wrestling skills, so he decides to help out Ray with his. He steps back and swipes at her, hoping to drive her back into Ray's grip.

Aid Another to increase Ray's grapple check.

Aid Another: 1d20 + 4 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 4 - 2 + 2 = 11

Thank goodness for that flanking bonus. And thanks to Dellan's background, Ray actually gets a +3 instead of +2!

"Ha!" Ray barks. "Not a bad idea." As Dellan distracts the doll, he makes a grab for it.

Ha! +3 CMB, +3 for Dellan's aid, +2 flanking, +2 Heroism.

Grapple: 1d20 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 18

Yoink!

Seeing that the others seem to have the doll in hand, Argus turns back toward the hallway, glaive ready and alert for new danger.

Readying an action to attack any new enemies who come up the hallway.

Amanteia moves next to Ray and attempts to help him toss the doll.

aid reposition: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (9) - 1 = 8

lulz so useless

Ray grabs the doll. The doll squirms and gets away. (16 on the die :facepalm:)

ROUND 6
Amanteia (15/15 hp)
Boy Doll (22 damage, destroyed)
Girl Doll (11 damage)
Ray (13/14 hp, 1 dex damage, heroism)
Argus (21/21 hp, 1 dex damage, heroism)
Dellan (16/16 hp, 2 NL, sickened [2 rounds])

Bold may act.

Jeebus. Okay second verse, same as the first.

Aid Another: 1d20 + 4 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 4 - 2 + 2 = 10

Jeez Dellan, cutting it close.

Ray swipes at it again.

Grapple: 1d20 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 19

Argus wonders why three people are having so much trouble with one doll and continues his vigil on the southwest hallway.

Readying to attack again.

aid: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5

Ray grabs the doll again. This time, it isn't able to escape his grasp.

ROUND 7
Amanteia (15/15 hp)
Boy Doll (22 damage, destroyed)
Girl Doll (11 damage, grappled)
Ray (13/14 hp, 1 dex damage, heroism, grappled)
Argus (21/21 hp, 1 dex damage, heroism)
Dellan (16/16 hp, 2 NL, sickened [1 round])

Bold may act.

Ray scoops up the doll and lobs it over the balcony.

Grapple Maintain: 1d20 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 + 2 + 5 = 16

It gets a CMB check against my CMD with a +4 bonus, unfortunately. CMD 15.

The doll fails to escape again. Ray tosses it over the balcony and it shatters on the floor below, sending porcelain shrapnel flying in all directions.

COMBAT OVER

"Hmph," Ray grunts. "Frickin' creepy-ass dolls. Freaky enough without non-consensually binding a soul to it."

Dellan looks up in alarm. "Wait. Really??" He frowns in Argus' direction. "How? In the middle of Pharasma's domain! The gall! Withholding souls from the Cycle is anathema to the Gray Lady. What in the world is going on here...?"

Argus shakes his head as he sifts through the stage for useful items. "I d-don't kn-n-now. But let's k... keep moving. This ...s hall r-reconnects. There is ev...vil on the o-other side. D-Dellan, Am-manteia, take that way. R-Raybin, with m... me."

With that, Argus moves the party forward toward the source of the evil energies he'd sensed.

On my phone atm but basically I want Argus and Ray to go down the left path and Dellan and Amanteia to go down the right path and meet in the middle at the bottom (assuming it connects again to the south; it looks like it does).

Ray nods, looking over the stage quickly before joining Argus at the west hallway.

Perception (stage): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Perception (hall): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Dellan cautiously approaches the eastern hallway, but his mind is distracted by the implications of the soulbound dolls.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 6 (-2 vs traps or ambush)

I'll give you this one since it's been a day or two since this encounter began and you probably forgot about the magical stuff you detected...

Amanteia lingers a moment while the others walk away, studying the red-and-white striped pole on the stage. "Wait. This is magical." She picks it up and studies it.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

She shakes her head. "Raybin, I feel like I ought to know what this is but I haven't been feeling quite myself since the town. Can't you ... feel ... the magical properties of items such as this? Do you mind?" She holds the pole out to the occultist.

Ray looks at Amanteia, pulled away from his detailed analysis of the hallway (to be fair, it is a pretty interesting hallway). "Eh? Oh. Yeah, sure. Lemme see."

Ray turns the object over in his hands, running fingers across it, studying the interwoven strands of magic sprawled across its surface like a dozen invisible spiderwebs.

It's a lesser metamagic rod of extend spell!

Ray blinks at the rod, then up at Amanteia. "Holy crap."

And they were using it as a SET PIECE?! It's like 20,000 gold!!

EDIT: Okay I looked it up, it's only 3,000 gold. I was thinking of the quicken metamagic rod (lesser). Still super rad find!

"I knew I recognized it. They must not have known what they had."

She is trying really hard to pretend like she doesn't regret handing it to Ray.

You slowly and carefully explore the hallway, eventually meeting at a door in the middle. The door is slightly ajar. A raspy, cloying voice from inside calls out, "I know you are creeping around out there. Come in!"

Argus glances uncertainly at the others, then pushes the door open and steps in.

Once an elegant study, this room has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along the walls, a pair of heavy desks, and several overstuffed chairs. Most of the books have been shredded, their pages and covers forming small nests. The chairs have all been sliced open, their stuffing removed and likewise fashioned into small nests. An unsteady chair made of stacked books stands atop the larger of the room’s two desks. Loose teeth are piled on the shelves, affixed to the ceiling, and heaped on the floors in strange, spiky patterns. The only exit from this room is the door you are currently using.

Four tooth fairies lounge and relax in the furniture around the room. A larger tooth fairy with a weak chin, overlarge ears, long, wispy facial hair, and a crown made from teeth sits in a makeshift throne in the middle of the room. He smiles a gap-toothed smile and continues speaking when you open the door.

"Come in, come in! I am Prince Uspid! Welcome to my home! I am pleased that you have come, though I must confess I do not remember inviting you! Please: tell me who you are and why you are here."

Argus glances uncertainly at the others, then shrugs. "Ap...pologies for your v-v-vanguard. The door was op-pen and we entered to s-seek an audience, at the b-behest of a p...p...pair of ps-sychopomps... But the fey below attacked without p...provocation. We s...simply wish to get h-home. W-we are from the M... M.. Material Plane. Strange circ-cumstances find us here in the B-Boneyard. We seek p-passage on the Dead Road to r...return home."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Ray nods. "Yeah, we're not keen on people taking our teeth without permission. We only get so many of those."

Diplomacy Aid: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

Whew.

Dellan nods at the paladin's words. "The psychopomps mentioned perhaps an arrangement of sorts could be met. We need to make our way farther down the road, and Umble was quite certain you were the one that could do this for us. Perhaps there is something we can do for you, in return?"

Diplomacy Aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Uspid scowls at the mention of psychopomps but smiles wide when you ask for help. "Ah, of course, the stamp! Yes, you've come to the right place! The toll is one tooth each. You can choose the tooth, but they must be fresh!"

Argus looks absolutely crestfallen. "B-but..."

Ray gives Argus the side-eye. "Alright, alright. One tooth each, fine. Take one of my molars, I guess."

Dellan closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. It is the only way home, Dellan. Just do it.

He opens them again. "I have all my wisdom teeth still. You may take one of those."

Argus looks absolutely horrified. "I... Ah, h-hells. Take a m-molar."

Ray seems to be struck with a "eureka" moment. "Ooh! Take a front tooth, actually. I always wanted to be able to whistle better."