GM supervillan's 1-35 Voice in the Void [Gameday IX] (Inactive)

Game Master supervillan

"Very interesting indeed! If only I hadn't used my levitation earlier... I can climb up there in a sec.. hold on." Dale quaffs his last prepared extract, monkeyfish, giving him the odd ability to slowly climb, and swim.. at the same time?

"I'll go attach a grapple and rope, then help pry it free with my anytool ok? Its going to take a lot more time to study this baby!" Fueled by the power of curiosity and lack of self awareness, Dale climbs up the arch to do what must be done!

I'd say Goe should take the lead on yanking this thing down and Dale will assist as best he can when needed.

Good work Dale. Everyone else help me pull on the rope.

str chk: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Crap! I will use my folio reroll with 1 gm star

str re-chk: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 4 + 1 = 16

"Alright!" Malvic says moving over to assist.

Strength (Aid): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Catushlara joins the others in pulling the rope.
Strength(Aid): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Kioshi helps, too.

str aid : 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (14) - 3 = 11

The mithral canister is stuck fast.

STOP.

A voice comes from everywhere and nowhere.

You interfere with my Great Work. Stop now, or suffer the consequences.

You can take 20 on the STR checks - it'll just take time (2 minutes).

Ignore that voice. Let's take our time and do this right.

A take 20 will give us 32 (with all the assists) on the str check to pull it free.

Hearing the voice bellow sends Dale scurrying back down the arch like the hairy man-monkey he is "Great work? This portal is pretty neat I've gotta admit! Random portals though in basements like this though... not sure that's a great idea."

But if it was in MY basement? HELL YES! Dale thinks back to all the specimens he's collected throughout his Pathfinder missions across the globe. Once they finish up here he can make a few more collections of the odd fungus's they've seen so far today.

"Oh, I do not need another voice prodding in my mind. Ulthar is enough! Let us pull this thing free and ensure it never opens another portal." Malvic shakes away the voice and keeps pulling with the others.

It is in your mind!? Good...send him packing. We are bonded, fool elf or not.

The elf smiles as his the voice from his black blade joins the chorus.

You continue pulling at the sinister canister...

"Sure I could, Mr. ominous voice from the deep, dark abyss! I'm not here to kill anyone though, we've already killed that poor woman with the bag of ogre zombies!" Dale's eyes light up at the thought, and goes over to snag whatever the woman WAS using to make zombies!

"I think its pretty obvious this canister needs to relax. Get it free and I'll stuff it away in a safe, quiet place." Dale gives the zombie making device a critical eye with his wayfinder set to detect magic. Yes, Dale has gotten himself distracted while you all yank on the rope. It happens.

Spellcraft to ID via Detect Magic, heroism, cog: 1d20 + 14 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 14 + 2 + 2 = 22

Whilst the rest of you work to remove the mithral canister, Dale (who is perhaps not best suited to physical labour in any event) decides to find out how Imrizade Blakros was conjuring giant plague zombies.

Dale detects multiple magical auras.

There's a wand, a potion and a scroll. Imrizade wears a magic mithral shirt, with a magical black robe over it, and a magical cloak over her dirty traveler's clothes. She also wears an enchanted headband. Details in 'Loot' spoiler.

Eventually you pry the canister off the archway. Some kind of magical backlash envelops the canister - though it does not harm you.

NOOOO!!!!!

The umbilicals still attached to Imrizade shrivel and wither.

Fools! Put me back! Put me back or suffer the madness of ineffable reason!

The voice screams in your heads, uttering curse after curse, each more unintelligible than the last.

The space between the arches still flickers with images of the void.

Still need Fort saves from Sirius and Kioshi.

"This whole scene is very scary! What do we do now?"

Kioshi drinks the potion of cure moderate wounds.

clm: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (1, 7) + 3 = 11

fort save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

Kioshi casts detect magic and scans the cannister.

kn arcana : 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19

That is unfortunate. I had hoped the portal would close when the canister was removed. Hmm...

GM, Is the portal frame affixed to the wall? How firmly? Do any sections look moveable or even removable? Any writings, pictograms, of hieroglyphs?

Dale slips on the robe, peeking under the hood and up the sleeves "Nifty!" He also grabs up the scroll of grabby tentacles and turns to the canister "Once you're done eyeballing that thing I'll stuff it in my haversack where it'll be nice and quietly contained."

Turning back to the portal though he scratches his head as he walks around, looking for a way to shut it down.

K Arcana? Engineering?: 1d20 + 14 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 14 + 4 + 2 = 34

"Anyone have an adamantine weapon? Those suckers really do some damage against even the weirdest metals, like this gate!"

Reading back through things, if we had destroyed the canister it would have destroyed the gate. However, we are here to collect the canister AND the woman and the guards. Wouldn't be wise to blow up the canister. Have to find another way to shut down the portal if we can.

The abysium portal is freestanding, though it has a fluid, organic appearance much like the rest of the chamber. It bears no inscription, nor any decoration.

There is no apparent way to close or otherwise affect the portal, except, as you have previously learned, destroying the canister that has some eldritch link to it even when physically removed.

You will not silence me! I, Kuburrum Ishme-dagan the Eternal, will plague your dreams and haunt your days! This I swear, by all the gods of the Outer Reaches. My essence reaches across time and space and across the dimensions. My Will cannot be thwarted! Eventually, you shall all come to call me Master!

The disembodied voice becomes more strident, intruding upon your thoughts. You begin to receive fragmented visions of unnameable things that leave you with throbbing heads and churning guts.

Goe Lem calmly kicks the canister across the floor of the room with a steel clad boot. Then he unlimbers his flail.
You have exactly one choice. You can (A) cooperate and hope to subvert someone else in the future to further your goals. OR... (B) I will smash you into scrap, seal you in a barrel of lead, and sink you into the deepest most isolate depths of the ocean to rot in isolation for all time.
Your threats bother me not. I can handle a few bad dreams as the price to save a world.
intimidate: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (8) - 3 = 5
intimidate reroll with 1 GM star: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (11) - 3 = 8

I wouldn't mind some assists from the rest of you.

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Feeling that a fight is close Sirius calls his servitor, depleting his compass.
A small air elemental joins him and hovers nearby.

"Broom the eternal? Who is that? My faith in the Dawnflower is stronger than you pathetic attempts. Wallow in obscurity, unknown and unheard for eternity!" Catushlara says as she starts gathering divine power.

I am ready to cast Searing Light on the cannister.

All: do you attack the canister?

Malvic's whip nearly begins to dance as Goe Lem threatens the container.

"Oh well someone approves...it seems the more powerful voice in my mind agrees with Goe Lem. Perhaps once he cracks your canister open Ulthar can root around inside?" Malvic laughs.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

THERE, that is the elf I have been prodding. Good boy.

He shakes his head at the continued stubbornness of the eldritch being.

"We can haul it back through the streets till it can be contained but it appears to be probing our mind more violently. We can only imagine all the weaker minds between here and the Grand Lodge. We may need to sever the link." he says.

Malvic will attack it with Goe Lem. He knows better than to leave things like this to stew. Buuuut he has no chance of hurting that cylinder himself. *Cue one of those cat fight dust clouds from cartoons*

Dale fidgets a bit with his wispy beard as the others seem to turn more towards destruction of the canister. Unfortunately, his study of the portal and how to close it is fruitless. "I... I don't know how to close this portal.. other than destroying the canister."

Dale drags out the papers they found earlier, scanning through them more just in case he's missed something important.

Can we even damage something made of mithril? I'm not sure I can hit it with a bomb powerful enough to do much. Fire/cold would be halved at the minimum right?

I wish I had one of the boons that lets you know how an action affects our mission success! All my other characters have it but Dale!

Goe Lem can do enough damage to get through mithral's hardness with a good roll. Sirius can definitely get through with his bardiche and lead blades spell. Fire damage is halved before applying hardness - you've seen the canister be unaffected by a fireball and a burning hands spell. Other energy forms you might also expect to be halved - but perhaps acid would deface the complex runes carved into the surface.

Buffs:
bless - dur 48 rounds
HP: 22 of 35

Close that portal or be destroyed! barks Goe Lem.

flail att: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15, if hits, flail damage: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

GM, based on the 19 kn Arcana roll: does Kioshi believe that destroying the box makes sense?

The notes that you found in the scriptorium suggested that destroying the canister would also destroy the gate if the canister was attached at the time - but you believe that the link between the two artefacts is such that the gate will fail even if you destroy the canister now it has been detached. You also recognise that the unstable portal is responsible for the presence of the bizarre and alien creatures that you've encountered in the museum, and is a danger to Absalom.

Goe Lem whacks the canister, but Slitherbane does not dent it. Hit, but doesn't bypass hardness.

If you are agreed that you want to destroy Kubburum Ishm-dagan - the ancient brain within the mithral cylinder - you can do so since you have the means between you and he cannot fight back. You've killed all of his minions. But if he's left inside the cylinder, as you may have deduced, he can corrupt others given time.

"Crack that baby open if you have to guys. Just don't ruin it completely, we need SOMETHING to bring back to the VC... maybe we should snag up a few other things while we're down here to take back too." Dale thinks back to the Scriptorium for some ideas.

Ya, since Dale only has the one conclusion he'll support destruction of the can. Dale doesn't like destroying neat stuff, never wins any points with the Dark Archive that way.

Catushlara's naginata glow with holy power as she starts helping the others destroy the cylinder.
Blessing: Holy Strike
Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 5 + (6) = 15

If Malvic can't repurpose dark powers, he destroys them.

Malvic stands back from the portal but keeps himself ready while the others work on the canister, in case something tries to come through.

Catushlara, Goe Lem, Sirius and his elemental strike the canister, and all the while the telepathic ravings of Kuburrum Ishme-dagan grow more strident and less coherent, until the canister is holed. Green liquid sprays out of the hole until it forms a vile puddle under the mithral canister....

NOOOOOooooooooooooo

Ishme-dagan is finally silenced, much to your relief. The images in the archway vanish altogether, and the alien metal begins crumbling. In just a couple of minutes the top of the arch falls away, and soon enough the entire edifice has fallen to dust.

The threat has been dealt with, and the entity responsible for Imrizade Blakros' corruption has been destroyed. All is still.
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You take what's left of the canister and leave the strange chamber of the Gate. You return to the museum above, avoiding the two huge puddings.

"Well?" asks Nigel Aldain. "Where's Imrizade? Is it safe now?"

Kioshi looks down and then up to Nigel.

"I am sorry but she died. And we had to destroy the canister with the brain of an evil being. But the gate to another world is closed and no more dangerous beings can escape into this realm. I have to admit that I am not content at all! We had to destroy magical knowledge and we hurt someone that could potentially have been saved... and he looks at this companions.

His horned lizard is obviously also a little shaken and hides behind Kioshi's head.

"It was regrettable that we could not save her. The monsters that came from the gate were almost more than we could handle but we persevered and were able to overcome them."

It seems that someone in authority should have a discussion with the head of the Blakros family. They are developing a reputation for irresponsible magic use resulting in danger to the entire city.
Unfortunately, Imrizade paid for her foolhardiness with her sanity, body, and life. The canister took over her mind, corrupted her body, and ultimately led to her death.
At the end though, we managed to end this danger before the death toll became too great.

"As is a possibility when one dabbles in magic of another world, it is a shame however that we could not salvage more...I can assure you the Dark Archive will want records of everything leading up to this. Another doorway, another opportunity for something like that to come through if we don't track it all down." Malvic says, coldly.

Mr. Business now that you are faced with your failures. That blathering entity had no value...we will find more power for you.

Dale retrieves the punctured canister and brings it back with him to the VC. "We should bring up her body to Nigel. He can take it from there." He asks his more beefy companions.

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"Sorry Nigel, but we couldn't save her. I've reattached her head and I'm sure the deep pockets of the Blakros family can restore her power if they wanted..." He does his best to seem sincere, its not his strong suit though.

Diplomacy, heroism: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 6 + 2 = 12

"Oh, and there's some giant oozes in one of the store rooms, and a mouther. Best send in a acid resistant cleaning crew with earplugs for that."

You bring Imrizade's remains to Nigel.

"Dead...? You... you... stitched her head back on?! Hell's Bells! Hamaria will have my head for this." Nigel shoots a venomous glare at Goe Lem.

"Well, at least you found out the cause of the disturbances. I suppose I should thank you for that." Aldain just about keeps his composure. "Take that accursed cylinder with you. I never want to see it again as long as I live - which may not be very much longer. Well, go on then. Shoo!"
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Later, back at the Grand Lodge, you present the mithral cylinder that once housed the ancient brain of Kuburrum Ishme-dagan to Venture Captain Adril Hestram and recount your experiences in the museum.

"It's a brain-jar? Remarkable! And the occupant took control of the Blakros woman and tried to open some hidden gate? The wonders that Nigel keeps in that museum of his! There's going to be repurcussions from Imirizade's death, you can be sure of that, but you brought me what I asked for and you stopped a serious threat to the safety of all Absalom. I'll have to pull some favours to protect you from the Blakros' ire, but I think you've earned that much. You've had a long night, Pathfinders, go get some rest."
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Later still, in the Blakros museum, Nigel Aldain regards the corpse of Imrizade Blakros with consternation. The elven curator pushes his glasses back up as they slide down his nose.

Suddenly, Imrizade Blakros gets up!

"Imri! What the-? How?" Nigel exclaims, taking a step back.

Imirzade vs Nigel: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

"Ugghhhhhh......" a rattling sigh escapes Imrizade's mouth as her head slides forwards, straining at Dale's needlework. She slams her fists into Nigel.

"Ooof... Pharasma's Bones! You're a zombie!"

Nigel staggers backwards and runs for help, pursued by his wife's undead cousin....

This concludes The Voice in the Void - you made a plague zombie!

Ha! Perfect! Many of my characters have often wanted to slam a fist into Nigel.

Knowing Nigel most likely wet his knickers makes it all worth it in the end! Plus if they capture her I am sure they can marry her off to someone in Geb.

Ha ha ... ;)

Kioshi is still concerned that the Blakros daughter's death will have long-term consequences.

"I assume that they will just raise her, right? I hope so. I am really sorry."

I wonder if I should have warned Nigel she was infected by the plague zombie? Dale picks a bit of roasted gull out of his teeth as he copies the scroll into his weary formula book.

Still thinking of the death of Imirzade Catushlara enters the temple of Sarenrae. Returning to her quarters she starts praying, hoping that Sarenrae would shine the light of sanity on the Balkros and stop them from digging up such dangerous artifacts and for Nigel to be more careful with what he puts in that museum of his.