PFS2: Breaking the Storm by GM Redeux (Inactive)

Game Master redeux

Astrid's pathfinders arrive at the designated meeting place one at a time, (or two in the case of Meadow and Silence), and begin to congratulate themselves on a job well done. Astrid, however, is not quite as pleased.

"Allright, calm down. We did well in the end but there were a few missteps I'd like to point out. A literal misstep in Milo's case." Astrid turns to the investigator. "How in the world did you manage to fall into a sinkhole?"

Milo just shrugs. "I told you. I'm cursed."

Astrid shakes her head and continues. "Olombe, when I said to distract them with a story I didn't mean for you to actually finish the story. You almost got burned to a crisp. Meadow, good job sending Silence over to distract that monster and let Olombe get away but you were almost at the crystal and you left to shoot arrows at the thing. You should have grabbed the crystal and gotten out of there."

"But he was hurting Silence. I had to stop him, even if my arrows didn't hurt him it distracted him long enough for Silence to get away." Meadow says defensively.

Astrid takes a deep breath, "Yes but if you had grabbed the crystal the monsters would have disappeared and you wouldn't have had to shoot arrows at it. We're just lucky I was able to get to it soon after. At any rate we made good enough time that I think we can hit another site on the way back."

At the second ritual site Astrid glances worriedly at the sky and steps up to an odd bone construction and give a nearby rib bone a shake.

"It fells pretty sturdy. I don't think we can cut our way through."

Jun-Mei speaks up. "The structure is oddly beautiful. It would be a shame to destroy it."

Astrid gives Jun-Mei an incredulous look before continuing. "So it looks like we need to slip in there somehow and get that glowing thing. Meadow, Hobbs, you're both pretty small. Do you think you can squeeze through and get it?"

Hobbs pulls out a pipe and fills it with an alchemical substance before stepping up to the structure. "Hmm...I can try." He blows into his pipe and an explosion of soap bubbles emerge and float away.

Astrid nods. "Okay. I think I can bend the bones a bit to help." She grips two of the rib bones and straining mightily manages to pull them apart just a bit for the two smaller pathfinders to slip through.

acrobatics: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17

Arcana: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (17) + 18 = 35

"Okay, it looks like this is pretty complicated. I'm going to have to do this myself. You guys will need to cover me while I defuse these artifacts."

Quinoline looks around at her crew.

Emdi Emmay proudly stands beside her. "I can't help you until you get hit," he explains.

Nina Jaribu offers to make Quinoline invisible. She can also send a dream message back to the Grand Lodge.

Ezaki Glico picks up one of the crystals. It explodes in his hand.

Quinoline sighs. "Oh, gods. Is there anyone on this team that has any reasonable martial capability?"

Potipher Perkins declares, "I don't know about martial capability but I know one member of this team that could use some manners." She brings out a ruler and raps Quinoline on the knuckles.

Anschluss steps forward, brandishing his spiked chain. "I shall protect the faithful of Zon-Kuthon." Quinoline informs him she's an atheist.

Merian Seiche raises her hand. She has breastplate armor, a shield and trident ... and 6 Bulk of water in a barrel strapped to her back. "I need to take a bath every night," she explains.

Quinoline buries her face in her hands.

Zac is still working on it. He's got this athletics: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17
uhhh. Hero point athletics: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35

Thievery: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (12) + 20 = 32
Amada's team hopefully wraps it up successfully with that roll, I'll type up a conclusion based on how the trial resolves.

Occultism 26

Greezgux looks up to the stars, unsure on how to read them. He never paid much attention to the stars. "That cluster there? Aren't those the Gods?"

Whether it was the stars, or Greezgux's instincts, he is able to guide the team towards the proper monoliths to scratch out. The runes still glow, though with less intensity they had previously. Success

Pulling his finger out of his mouth - how long was it there? - he jams a gooey poultice into the cut, and wraps it in a muddy rag - and instead of stubbornly rushing in, goes now to observe what everyone else is doing first...

Nature 27

Everyone else seems to be cutting through the dome of vines. Progress is made to get to the center and a slab of flint is spotted in the inside, but no way to get to it yet. Before the group can continue....success

Astrid gives Jun-Mei an incredulous look before continuing. "So it looks like we need to slip in there somehow and get that glowing thing. Meadow, Hobbs, you're both pretty small. Do you think you can squeeze through and get it?"

Acrobatics 17

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like the massive bones are very flexible, and seem unwilling to move. Meadow and Hobbs don't seem to be able to squeeze through.... fail

Arcana 35

"Okay, it looks like this is pretty complicated. I'm going to have to do this myself. You guys will need to cover me while I defuse these artifacts."

With her team protecting her, Quinoline is able to successfully defuse the remaining artifacts. When the last one is disabled, the rift ceases to erupt red demonic energy. success!

Zac is still working on it. He's got this

Athletics nat1
Hero point Athletics 35

Zac and his team continue to work on removing the poles and Zac notices that his junior pathfinder, BAGA is about to snap the pole in half making it impossible to remove from the ground! Zac is ablle to run over and correct Baga's form, and with the expert's help the two are able to remove the last pole. Once all of the poles have been removed, the runes flare hot energy until the poles melt into a slag in some kind of catastrophic feedback of energy success

Amada 32

Amada's team hopefully wraps it up successfully with that roll, I'll type up a conclusion based on how the trial resolves.

Success

-------------------

...suddenly, the storm is quietened substantially thanks to the efforts of all of the teams at the various ritual sites. With enough work collectively to disrupt the ritual sites, your next orders are to return to base camp to regroup before heading into the storm.

We did it guys. Okay, should we return to base camp, or just head out into the storm. I know orders are orders, but time is everything.

Jakoby goes over to apologize to a sulking Knab later "I needed you to fail, so I set you up. But look! The storm is calmed. It worked." her cavalier attitude is rebuffed firmly when she offers him her pipe and he retorts "I don't" blocking it's path with his thick-fingered hand - and to which she replies mercurially "Suit yourself deary"

A strange pair, the two sit quietly together for a long beat - one smoking the other just sitting - with neither feeling as if the have to fill the silence with anything whatsoever - and certainly not words! - while Ro keeps a lookout from a burnt tree, equally content to keep his sounds to himself.

The Parting Clouds changing direction overhead!

As the elf finishes unbinding a chain in the basement of the tower, he checks over Fester's progress. "Almost clear on your end?"

The kobold jolts to attention, quickly shifting his gaze to his chain links which appear suspiciously similar to Amada's work. "Of course! I've made great progress! Just a little more and I'll have this-"

Suddenly, a bolt of fire shoots down from the entryway, melting through the remainder of the bonding link and causing Fester to let out a frightened yelp. "Oh yeah, The Gilded Gec's still got it!"

"What was THAT for? I almost had it unbound!"

"Almost doesn't cut it in showbiz, short stuff. Places to go, demons ta slaughter! The Gilded Gec runs a tight schedule, and he's pretty sure the demon freakshow in the eye of that storm does too!"

As the two Kobolds banter, Amada watches as the orb of light fades away with a grateful twinkle. After a quick prayer of guidance, the elf takes a stand and gives a quick whistle. "All right Fester, you can continue your argument with Gec on the way out. For now, let's reconvene with the base camp and see what our next steps will-"

Suddenly, a loud grinding sound pierces the silence, followed by frantic shouting. Amada sprints to the entry to the basement, ready for a fight, but quickly calms upon seeing the situation resolved.

Above the elf is a levitating slab of rock, entangled in a mess of hastily attached ropes held by Klatzu, Siva and Masei (now returned to her original size). "You will vacate the basement now," Burgess says nonchalantly. "The slab has roughly 9 seconds left before the flow of time returns to it, at which point we'll see just how good Klatzu's craftsmanship truly is."

As the elf and kobolds quickly scurry away from the tower, a loud slam can be heard from behind them as gravity returns to the slab, causing it to collide with the upper story of the tower as the ropes hold. "See! Klatzu's craft held! Never doubt Klatzu's skill!"

"They are out. Release the ropes and return to camp," Masei intones before doing just that, catching the excited goblin by surprise as he gets lifted several feet into the air before getting snatched by his wolf, seemingly unfazed.

After doing a quick headcount (Six... Seven... wait, did Necalli even accompany us? If that bird is back at the camp...) and dusting himself off, the elf turns to address the group before leaving. "Good job team, we've neutralized this site. Judging by the sky, its safe to say our adversary will likely notice. Our new objective is to reconvene with the others and strike before the physically-impaired beast can react. Be ready for anything."

Greezgux comes barreling out of the woods. "We did it! The storm is done! Look, LOOK!" He waves is bird skull staff high into the air at the storm, to better make his point. The tiny poppet hangs precariously on the end, never falling though on the edge of it.

Astrid's pathfinders return late to camp, looking somewhat dejected. Hobbs in particular is sullen. He is holding his hat in his hands and a tiny hedgehog is peering over the brim. His oversized head is covered in thick grease. He stomps off to clean himself up. Astrid disperses the rest of the team and heads over to Quinoline, Jakoby and the others.

"Looks like we managed to do some good after all. I was a bit worried when Hobbs got his head stuck but it looks like everything worked out after all and the storm is dying down."

Amada gets a hero point for the excellent roleplay! (slide updated)

Each team makes their way back to the pathfinder camp which has fallen eerily quiet without the howling winds. The teams sent to disable the sites begin to trickle back into the camp. Some look shell-shocked, some are wounded, but all are stained with soot and ash. Agents rush to care for the wounded, taking those with severe injuries to secure areas for treatment. One agent approaches Hobbs and tries to see if there are any injuries underneath all the grease!

Meanwhile, Eliza Petulengro rushes from team to team, gathering the surviving agents in a circle. She steps into the circle’s center and smiles with grim determination. “Excellent work, agents! Many of the ritual sites have been disabled or damaged enough so that they no longer function. The Abyssal firestorm has diminished, although it’s still quite strong near its eye. Hopefully, we have a chance to break through, but we’ll need all your bravery, strength, wits, and tenacity if we are to succeed. Our next move is to push deep into the forest, drive off the demon lord Urxehl’s minions, and then together, we will defeat this great evil!”

After the speech, Eliza approaches each of you with a relieved look on her face to see each of you unharmed and in one piece. "There will be time for a debrief later, but first, as some of the most capable agents the society has to offer, I need you to spearhead the attack on the eye of the storm!"

She takes a calculated breath before continuing, "You have roughly one hour to prepare. We're going to need you to fight off the skeletal ravener who seems to act as the spirit's guardian. Eando and I intend to lead flanks of pathfinder agents to fend off the demons, undead, and other threats that guard the eye of the storm. Once those threats are eliminated, the support teams will enact a counter ritual!"

Essentially, you have 1 hour before the pathfinders are heading into the eye of the fire storm with you leading the way.

Unceremoniously, without a word or wave or even looking back, Knab gets up from where he was sitting, slowly hefting his bulk with his strong arms and powerful shoulders, and leaves.

Unceremoniously, Jakoby senses his movement, but neither speaks, nor waves, nor even turns to look upon his departure - her body only stirs to adjust her pipe, and only several moments later, with smokey wisps cleverly billowing out of her nostrils - her face stern.

She spends the subsequent hour in quiet contemplation.

Erastil, you bastard! Do you entreat me with success now only to move the target later? How arduous will you make this journey back to your village, to sit amongst the elders gathered there, and to speak of times that pass, have passed, and have yet to pass? And what of this dragon? This vision? Are you not, in your almightiness, stirred from your seat amid the circle, to do other than remain sitting as this storm passes? What have my people done to anger you? I do not understand your apathy: For I know you exist, I have felt your adoration from afar, and returned it in kind, for awhile, but too, I have felt your negligence, like a stone within my throat. Am I not your agent? Has not my bow served you well? Have I not tracked with persistence quarry you deem? Have I not sown the very seed over the field that is now under threat of fire? And why now? Give me a sign. Give me a sign of what is to come, that I may know your hand guides my arrow...

Army of undead, eh, this should be fun. Zac has his hammer and shield out.

Each team makes their way back to the pathfinder camp which has fallen eerily quiet without the howling winds. The teams sent to disable the sites begin to trickle back into the camp. Some look shell-shocked, some are wounded, but all are stained with soot and ash. Agents rush to care for the wounded, taking those with severe injuries to secure areas for treatment. One agent approaches Hobbs and tries to see if there are any injuries underneath all the grease!

Hobbs brusquely declines the medic's offer of assistance. "I'm fine."

Astrid apologizes to the helpful pathfinder. "Sorry about that. He's just a bit embarrassed. He got his head stuck in a giant ribcage. We tried for ages to get him out. We eventually had to grease up his head in order to pull him out."

I can think of no preparations that Astrid can make, so she's ready to go.

Greezgux begins to sweat from all of the physical exertion he had been doing stomping through the woods. He sticks out his tongue at the mention of all the undead. "Ugh, more undead. They taste terrible. So dry and dusty."

Cast Vital Beacon for the day.

Quinoline will add a little hot sauce to her ghost charges, so that when she splashes the undead, they'll taste a little better to Greezgux.

As the group prepares, Eliza retrieves some supplies and returns to the group, "Each of you should take these..." she says as she hands over 1x greater elixir of life (to each PC), and 2x moderate alchemist fires (to each PC). "Now, I now the irony in handing out firebombs during a firestorm, but Urxehl is the father of trolls, and some of our scouts have found troll tracks."

As the hour passes and the group gets ready to set out, Eliza has some final words before you depart, "Good luck out there, we're all counting on you. And watch out for the ravener that awaits on the other side of the storm. While you'd have significant trouble against a true ravener, this one seems to be but a ravener husk with necromantic flames flickering erratically inside its body. I suspect it will still pose a serious challenge, but again your job is to distract it long enough for the rest of us to make it through the outer area of the storm."

You notice that the firestorm has been significantly weakened after the cumulative efforts at the ritual site-- the wind and heat from the base camp is hardly noticeable. As you head into the storm, the winds and heat slowly intensify until suddenly a surge of abyssal energy begins battering everything in it's path. Jakoby and Astrid are the first to spot the surge heading straight towards the party...

Into the Eye of the Storm. Round 1 : BOLD can act
Jakoby:
Ro:
Astrid:
Firestorm:
Greezgux:
Amada:
Necalli:
Zac:
Quinoline:

Notes:

1. Are we on a particular slide, or is this free form?

2. The item we were given was listed as a greater elixir of life (Item 13). Is that correct, or did you mean moderate elixir of life (Item 9)?

Quinoline goes last in initiative because she's performing a field test to precisely quantitate the amount of life in her elixir of life. She is flabbergasted if her lifometer ends up exceeding 3.0 hit points per milliliter!

Another firestorm, I ain't ready for this? Who here has fire resistance?

Alright Ol' Deadeye - what aid can you send today?

Whispering to her deity in her mind, the new leaf Jakoby is turning wrinkles the normal rhythms of her conscious being, and she calls twicely.

The first, to Erastil to guide her own hand. The second, to that space between space - the ether that connects all life to all other life - the force of energy that pulses with a steady beat through all aspects of creation. A blade of grass. A shrub. The trunk of a tree. A feather shed from a bird. A branch. The licking flame of a firebranch. The wind. All these manifestations our ulfen hero taps herself into, listening in at first, then placing her palm against the surface, finally grasping the various strings with the energetic fonts at the tips of her fingers.

Disable Firestorm (Nature, Expert): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24

Losing her grip, she feels the power slip away, stripping her of her connection to the material of creation, blaspheming her deity in her prayers, and shedding a single tear here, the pain wrenching into her stomach!

1. Are we on a particular slide, or is this free form?

2. The item we were given was listed as a greater elixir of life (Item 13). Is that correct, or did you mean moderate elixir of life (Item 9)?

Quinoline goes last in initiative because she's performing a field test to precisely quantitate the amount of life in her elixir of life. She is flabbergasted if her lifometer ends up exceeding 3.0 hit points per milliliter!

1. Free form for this part

2. Not a typo. It is indeed a lvl 13 item. Welcome to high-tier ;)

Jakoby's attempt to disable the firestorm is seemingly futile-- It continues to head directly towards the group, ripping branches off pine trees and those branches begin to rain down from the sky....

@Astrid

"Oh, my gods! This elixir is titrating at 4.3 +/- 1.1 hit points per milliliter!

... wait ... what's going on?! Are we under attack?!"

Quinoline looks up and get smacked in the face with a firestorm.

Astrid pulls a small locket out from under her armor.

"Amma Nanni gave this to me when I was little and an identical one to my sister. She said that the hair inside them is from Baba Yaga herself. Now I don't know how true that is but this locket does have some power. Let's hope it's enough."

Grasping the locket tightly, Astrid uses it to focus her thoughts as she attempts to temper the might of the oncoming storm.

Astrid casts guidance before attempting to redirect the storm.

occultism: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 13 + 1 = 28

"Well that didn't seem to help much. Greezgux, you wouldn't happen to know how to dispel magic would you?"

Astrid similarly isn't able to divert the storm. The storm surge falls upon the group suddenly with a slew of particularly-sharp branches being picked up and thrown all around.

@All, DC 27 basic Reflex Save or take 4 Bludgeoning damage and 23 Piercing damage.
Astrid, you get +1 to your save, @Jakoby, you get +2 to your save for succeeding/crit succeeding in spotting the hazard.

And as quickly the surge came....it rapidly moves past the party and doesn't appear to be returning. out of 'initiative' -- @all - you can give a perception (visual) check as you continue to head further into the storm

reflex save: 1d20 + 15 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 15 + 1 = 23

perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20

Reflex: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (15) + 18 = 33
Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21

Quinoline completely dodges the firestorm ... only to realize that one of the rocks is about to smash her burette!

"NooooOOOOOoooo!" she yells as she reaches back to protect her equipment, taking half damage.

Jakoby Reflex w/ Evasion w/ Spotting Bonus (+2) vs 4 Bludgeoning and 23 Piercing (DC 27): 1d20 + 20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 20 + 2 = 40

Jakoby Perception w/ Visual (+1) bonus: 1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 18 + 1 = 33

Unable to control it, our ulfen hero is able to avoid the flying debris - as well as see clearly ahead into it's eye!

Ro Reflex w/ Evasion vs 4 Bludgeoning and 23 Piercing (DC 27): 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (18) + 19 = 37

Ro quickly swoops in and tucks himself against his quick-footed master - and also somehow manages to avoid harm!

relfex: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34 Zack dodges most of it. 2 and 11, if only he could have rolled 1 higher, as that would be the only way to crit succeed.

DC 27 Reflex: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

Greezgux watches the storm pass as he ducks from the debris. "Looks like I won't need to try and dispel it." He pees his head back up to see several burning branches fallen to the ground.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

Amada:
Reflex: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 27 Evasion, no damage
Perception: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (12) + 19 = 31

Necalli:
Reflex: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27 Pass, 13 damage. Shoutout to leveling up between sessions; both of these Reflexes would have been fails otherwise.
If Necalli would benefit from rolling Perception, Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21

"Still groggy from your nap, girl? Maybe next time you'll think twice about sleeping through the start of the mission. Buckle down; I'll patch you up as soon as I can."

Necalli gives Amada a derisive look, but is too busy nursing the hit to respond strongly.

Forgot about the Mosquito Witch Doll

Reflex DC 27: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16
Hero Point Reroll Reflex DC 27: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18

The little poppet is out in the middle of the storm rushing around to find some sort of cover. Due to its size it must seem like the world is ending around it as the Mosquito Witch Doll silently screams.

Sorry forgot about the perception check perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (1) + 15 = 16 Well, most of us dodge the brunt of that storm, you okay Greezgux?

Most of the party is able to find cover or otherwise avoid the harshest parts of the firestorm surge, though Astrid takes the worst of it. The group continues further into the storm-- keeping eyes open for any other surges. 11 minutes pass before another sudden storm surge rapidly approaches the party. Jakoby and Amada are the only ones to spot it in time to react-- This time entire trees seem to be uprooted and blown by the wind.

Into the Eye of the Storm. Surge # 2 : BOLD can act
Amada:
Necalli: -13,
Jakoby:
Ro:
Firestorm:
Astrid: -16, 27dmg - 11 minutes of pearly white spindle healing
Zac: -13,
Quinoline: -13,
Greezgux: -13,
Mosquito Witch Doll -13,

Notes:

Are you testing me? Or is this your indifference?

Continuing the mental and spiritual struggle with her deity, Jakoby grasps at the ley lines again - this time with Ro perched on her shoulder! - attempting to re-establish connection with the movement of energy and matter - the blade of grass, the shrub, the trunk of a tree, the feather shed from a bird, the branch, the licking flame of a firebranch, the wind - and focusing her spirit's eye, projects her being into communion with forces of nature.

Disable Firestorm (Nature, Expert) vs DC 31: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 = 21
Hero Point!
Disable Firestorm (Nature, Expert) vs DC 31: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (19) + 18 = 37

The power nearly overwhelms our ulfen hero! It is just at the precipice that Ro leans in, adding his own primal power - more raw and instinctual than his master's, unclouded by complex consciousness - that rights the course: A nexus of lightning, fire, and wind, Jakoby channels the storm, and standing now, raises her hands apart, so as to fold a line through, penetrating straight through to the eye - a passage just wide enough to ferry her party single file.

"Hurry!" she exclaims, struggling with her entire being to maintain the stemming!

Have I passed your test, great one? Will you now rise?

Jakoby splits the surge in half, allowing for the party to go by unscathed as trees are uprooted and subsequently slammed on either side of the party. Success! and end of 'initiative'

-------

The party travels for another 12 minutes further into the storm. The further the group travels, the ever-more violent the storm becomes as debris is whipped around with sudden wind changes, and soot is lifted up and blown in the wind. The party manages to avoid danger until another sudden surge of energy begins picking up large amounts of branches reminiscent of the first surge. Jakoby, Zac, and Astrid notice it in time....

Into the Eye of the Storm. Surge # 3 : BOLD can act
Astrid: -4,
Zac: -13,
Jakoby:
Ro:
Firestorm:
Quinoline: -13,
Greezgux: -13,
Mosquito Witch Doll -13,
Amada:
Necalli: -13,

Notes:

Astrid focuses her will upon the maelstrom.occultism: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27

"Bah. This isn't working. Here Amma, maybe Amma Nanni's charm can help you."

Astrid casts guidance on Jakoby.

Fickle is your love, is it? Must I prove myself once more?

She barely hears Astrid, her own thoughts concentrated in complex emotion elsewhere - but the Captain's bejeweled trinket refracts another spectre of light - this a shade of purplish-black - into the prism that has become Jakoby & Ro's primal focus.

Disable Firestorm (Nature, Expert) w/ Guidance (+1) vs DC 31: 1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 18 + 1 = 31

It was just the tilt!

Her concentration expands in band as the Storm remains under her control; she regains her ability to interact with her teammates "Almost lost it there, Captain Astrid - give Amma Nanni my regards - but Hurry!"

While Ro soars on the winds a moment - temporarily their master! - diving and rolling; in a word: playing in their spurious drafts - the rest of the party is ushered along into the Eye of the Storm!

Do I not draw upon my community? Will you yet remains seated?

The ulfen heroes together are able to Part the Clouds of the firestorm surge, as branches begin raining down from the sky on either side of the party. The surge has been diverted!! Zac, who also saw the surge coming, is able to save his energy for the inevitable fight at the eye of the storm.

The party travels for another 9 minutes until you come across a rocky incline. This time it looks like the storm is once again trying to surge, but it has lost too much of its power and instead weak wind blows through the party with no ill-effect. Up-ahead you see the top of the incline, with burnt trees all around the path you take.

From Eliza's briefing you suspect the ravener awaits ahead now that you've made it through the worst part of the firestorm. if you have any preparations, now is the time to make them.

Greezgux shakes his staff in the air as necrotic dust sweeps away into the wind, healing everyone's wounds with his demonic magic. "I am just fine Zac, had worse growing up in the warrens."

Heal 3rd level (3 action): 3d8 ⇒ (5, 8, 2) = 15

Satisfied with herself, Jakoby ceases her praying.

"Alright boy - stay sharp - this is it" she calls Ro close the give him a little pep talk of sorts, and after a moment, looks back upon her team, and at Astrid "Ready when you are, Captain. What's the plan?"

GM - if allowed, I'd like to continue to Track the Dragon, which I understand to be my Prey, as we transition into this encounter, rolling Survival (+24 / Hunt Prey / Incredible Initiative) for initiative!

Satisfied with herself, Jakoby ceases her praying.

"Alright boy - stay sharp - this is it" she calls Ro close the give him a little pep talk of sorts, and after a moment, looks back upon her team, and at Astrid "Ready when you are, Captain. What's the plan?"

Astrid shrugs. "We have an undead dragon to kill. Hopefully it'll stay on the ground but we can't really count on that. So we'll need to rely more on our ranged weapons most likely. We'll want to spread out to avoid any breath weapon it might have."

3act heal fixes up Necalli, so I'm good on health. School scroll of Haste and Trident are drawn.

"Look alive, girl. The storm is clearing and the hunt is on." Hunt Prey against the dragon if possible; I'm assuming I won't be able to time Haste precisely enough to use it a turn before initiative starts so I'll cast it t1.

"As for the plan, adapt to the situation as it develops and be ready to face a flying target... something I think we should be well prepared for." Amada briefly smirks as he scratches Necalli's head, only for the owl to respond by lightly bashing his with her wing. "Easy there, girl. You'll have plenty of foes to use that anger against soon."

Zac taking the advice of Astrid has his bow out.

Quinoline pulls out her empty vials with pre-measured aliquots of 35 mg dazzling powder for quick alchemy. She does some quick allometric scaling in her mind: 0.50 mg/kg for a 70 kg Medium creature usually equals 0.17 mg/kg for a Large creature, metabolism factor of 0.37 for dragons, carry the 2 ... she carefully weighs out an additional aliquot and adds it to the flask, just to make sure.

"Now I'm ready."

@Amada, you wouldn't know precisely when combat breaks out, so Haste would be cast during initiative unless you were wanting to lose several rounds or more of Haste

--->optional mood music<---

Both Jakoby and Amada survey the nearby area-- and notice that several trees with massive claw marks from what they believe to be from the Ravener. Cresting the top of the path the group emerges into an area filled with more burned trees that are atop a raised section of rock. A cavern lies to the east of your position, with stones jutting out from a short path. Perched on top of the cave you see the Ravener who immediately takes flight and soars towards the group. As it nears the group, it's massive presence alone strikes fear into the heart and minds of the group. @All - everyone needs to make a DC 25 will save (Traits: emotion, fear, mental)

The dragon continues its path towards the group and from 15ft in the air, reaches down to take a massive bite out the shield maiden. As the dragon's jaws clench into Astrid's armor, necrotic energy seeps into the wound. 35 to hit @Astrid for 25 Piercing and 9 negative (After negative resist 1).

Also near the cave the group sees a Brimorak wielding a flaming sword looking eager to attack.

Into the Dragon's Maw. Round 1 : BOLD can act
Jakoby: Hunt Prey (Ravener), DC 25 will save or be frightened.
Ro: DC 25 will save or be frightened.
Quinoline: DC 25 will save or be frightened.
Amada: Hunt Prey (Ravener). DC 25 will save or be frightened.
Necalli: DC 25 will save or be frightened.
Zac: DC 25 will save or be frightened.
Astrid: -34, DC 25 will save or be frightened.
WhiteBrimorak:
Greezgux: DC 25 will save or be frightened.
Mosquito Witch Doll DC 25 will save or be frightened.

Round 2
RedRavenerHusk: +15ft in air.

Will: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35

"Come on, team, we prepared for this! I'm not scared, look!"

Quinoline shows everyone her dry pants.

She quickly slaps a bandage on Astrid (Battle Medicine ◆), runs forward (underneath the dragon) ◆, and throws a ghost charge at its underbelly ◆.

Battle Medicine, Assurance 23: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (7, 2) + 10 = 19

Moderate Ghost Charge: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (7) + 18 = 25
Positive: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 7) = 9 plus 4 splash positive plus enfeebled 1 (1 round)

Note, I'm aware it's likely to have AoO, but we need to spread out, and Quinoline can take a hit or two.

Amada Will: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35 nice
Necalli Will: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25 good enough for me

If Jakoby makes their Will Save upon the Ravener approaching and I'd be aware of their result, if they're fleeing change the target of the effect to Amada.

"Jakoby! Look alive, your arrows are our greatest asset here!" The elf throws his scroll before him, levitating in the air with its own arcane magic as he enacts the incantation for the spell. With a final gesture, the scroll disintegrates as Jakoby begins to feel time dilate around them. Flurry Rangers are godlike Haste targets due to the reduced MAP, plus Haste does not generate additional actions for the turn if you cast it on yourself (Quickened only adds actions if it's available at turn start) so you can enjoy the extra arrow shots this combat.

Readying his weapon, the elf looses his Trident as Necalli follows in its wake, only mildly perturbed by the great beast's frightening visage.

◆◆ Haste on Jakoby.

◆ Trident Strike: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (14) + 18 = 32
Damage: 2d8 + 6 + 1d8 ⇒ (6, 3) + 6 + (7) = 22

◆ Necalli: Fly, Frightened wears off at end-of-turn.

EDIT: For purposes of AoO if it has one, Haste is the last action taken to reduce its chances of being interrupted. I'd rather have it provoke off of the Trident strike or Necalli's move than the buff spell.