That was actually a gate, but not really? You have never seen that spell. Some type of mini gate?
Teleporter! The white winged Succubus shouts
By the swarm no, that was a gate spell but... minimized? Cast by someone already here, that female tincan is not alone!
The insectoid woman answers
---------Idaya--------------
As you are pushed through the portal, you see 2 half fiend minotaurs, both obviously evil, in front of you. To your left is a cultist, strong aura of evil, and a white winged Succubus, with an overwhelmning aura of evil but one that is weaker then those of your earlier hosts. And far weaker then that of Laulieh of Luralune.
You hear but not yet see the mother of your hosts, her soprano voice is not something people forget after hearing it once, to your left beyond that.
-----------
Consolidated INIT:
Laulieh 30 (acted round 1)
Sorica 24 (acted round 1)
Azira 23.999 (delayed until Sorcia has yet to act round 1) Is up
Verne 21 (has yet to act) is up
Cultists 19
Janeanimine 18
Minotaurs 17
Arthur 15(surprise round action to do the summoning, not acted in round 1)
Chorussina 14
Nabasu 9
Idaya 6
Wuflric 4
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Merixia gasps as her blade lights up with the same fiery light as her shield of wings spell, the distinctive shade of Ragathiel's power. Something clicks into place in her mind. There's a presence to her sword, a well of power. But it needs a name to invoke that power. She looks down at the sword, and inspiration strikes.
"Retribution," she whispers. The sword's power pulses in response.
Ah, Lord Ragathiel, I trust thee have been we parted
As you hear the demoness in your head, in respsone to your sword flaring up, seeking to address Ragathiel through you.
The demoness then looks at you, recognizing your features, her stunning eyes suddenly showing, for a milisecond, sheer raging hatred, which is rapidly replaced by amusement and perhaps even a weird kindness.Lord Ragathiel, thy chosen in this affair is... *her* offspring? Are thee trying to kill one of Doloras worst and vilest vasalls by inducing an Aneurysm? Such creativity, it will probably not work, from my experience killing Gylous, but it is commendable creativity.
I did not know thee had a better sense of humor then Cayden Caylean. But it is risky, I do not assess she could prevail over her Gylou ancestor, not yet at least... But yes, thee play thy cards well, I shall increase thy chosens chances without thee even needing to offer recompense.
A few seconds later, you hear a male chuckle, you think its Ragathiel, and he seems... uncharacteristically smug.
Wait a minute. Ragathiel knows and is on apparently friendly terms with a succubus? And the succubus is looking at Merixia with something other than "it's a good-aligned cleric, kill her immediately"? This day just gets weirder and weirder.
And apparently Irathiel was right about Merixia's infernal ancestry, which is depressing and mildly concerning. Given her luck, they'll probably have to fight this gylou at some point. Hopefully that won't be until they're powerful enough to kill her.
She's just about to start the festivities with a spell when someone stumbles through a magical portal. An Iomedaean! Maybe she's another paladin, that would be great. "Hello, fellow crusader. Here to fight some demons?"
Friendly? No. She is a foe, but a worthy one, which is extremly rare for her kind. In some ways, she is far more dangerous then most of her type. Demons who are able to command genuine willing loyalty from competent mortals are dangerous. Demon commanders who lead bravely from the front, who inspire their troops by example? Who treat most defeated foes with a degree of dignity and honor, and thus make surrendering to them a non suicidal option? Extremely dangerous.
There was, no there is a debate in heaven about... her and the handfull of other demons like her. Are demons with a sense of honor, who possess genuine courage, a threat unlike any other, to be killed as quickly as possible, or is there a possibility of them changing? Could the Abyss, at least in part, become a civilized enemy?
The debate is ongoing, and I have yet to announce my position.
Ragathiel speaks to you in your mind, a conversation you know to be secure and uninterceptable. He also speaks to you like... A teacher to a pupil.
And good work with Irathiel.
Courage and Honor Merixia
His presence fades
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Idaya's gaze jumps quickly between the two huge minotaur to see the fiendish looking woman welcoming her. At first she suspected another like the three who had bartered for her life, but no evil taints this woman's spirit. "Yes, and thank you." she says with mild relief "If you don't mind sharing that is." Idaya has always found banter to be a way to ignore the abject terror every crusader should feel in the presence of such evil.
Oh my teleporting Paladins!
Laulieh deadpans
Did anything odd happen to thee during the transport?
You hear the, polite as ever, voice of the demoness in your head
That was... a heavily modified gate spell useing... completely new tricks to reduce its spell level?
First, the gate scroll was keyed to a specific individual written directly into the gate scroll itself. It could not have summoned anyone but Idaya, and unlike a proper gate spell nobody else can walk through that gate. Second, it apparently made use of the fact that Idaya is a Paladin and can smite evil, in particular evil outsiders, as an... attractor? Because the person who wrote the gate scroll is an Evil outsider. Which is probably the most creative and chaotic, if extremely risky, idea in magical theory you have seen, ever.
The modified gate also seems to purposefully limit whatever it calls in to an alignment aura that is less then overwhelming.
By specifying the target of the gate ahead of time, by useing a Paladins prospensity to smite evil outsiders as an additional attractor, and by limiting the to be gated person to less then overwhelming alignment auras, the spells actual level was reduced from 9 to 5? Which is really impressive in terms of magical engineering.
You are guessing that whoever came up with this a) grew up or spend much time in a low magic enviroment while having a thorough understanding of magic and b) has a rather opportunistic concept of self preservation to say the least. To state it again, part of why this works as well as it does in terms of reducing the spells level, is because the scroll gates in something that is innately dangerous to whoever wrote the scroll.
But the possibilities? By reducing the spell level that far, magical traditions capable of applying metamagic to scrolls, and such exist, suddently gain a lot of additional options, and then there are other implications.
You also guess that whoever came up with this views, while being an evil outsider herself, other evil outsiders as their main or most common antagonist.
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"Sorica, with me! Inheritor, guide my blade against the pretender!" Azira calls out in a stirring battle cry, lifting Radiance's glowing golden blade. Its normally warm light currently has an additional harsher, silvery-white sheen radiating in a halo around the edges, casting two kinds of shifting shadows that make the minotaurs, the cultists, and even the outwardly beautiful demons look jagged and strange. Almost before her words have reached the corners of the room, she is darting forward with deadly grace, her feet alighting and sword-arm extending in a dance that falls into sync with the soaring of the invisible strings and soprano voice. With only one stumble on the rough-hewn floor, she whirls past the giant beast-men and cultists to engage the most truly dangerous foes directly: the two masterminding this summoning. In her single-minded focus on her battle dance, she does not even notice the white-haired new arrival or the disembodied voice in the other corner of the room.
A final burst of blurring speed takes her to the white-haired succubus's side, and Radiance flicks out in an unpredictable yet precisely targeted spinning flourish.
Quick as a thought, the paladin changes her grip to adjust the center of gravity on the hilt and swings it around again.
And the Inheritor does, indeed, guide her hand. A joyous smile curves her lips, stained with the blood of the wicked, and the reflected light of the sword shines in her eyes. "Defiler, you will regret coming to this world."
*AC = 10 +1 natural +7 armor +2 shield +8 Dex +3 dodge +2 deflection +1 insight +2 sacred. 1 point of the deflection is from protection from evil and thus only applies to attacks from evil creatures. +2 sacred is from veil of heaven and only applies to attacks from outsiders with the evil subtype.
**CMD = 10 +8 BAB +0 Str +8 Dex +3 dodge +2 deflection +1 insight +2 sacred. Sacred is from the Righteous Medal of Valor. 1 point of the deflection is from protection from evil and thus only applies to CM attempts from evil creatures.
The scene is hard to make sense of at first, with many creatures she can see and some she cannot, and Verene blinks as a woman she had taken to be a prisoner behind the summoning circle seems to break free and bound to her feet holding a rapier. Then one of the demons is shouting about teleportation, when she had been explicitly told teleportation would not work here. But her role is fairly clear in any case. Disable those you can and stay hidden. If it worked well on the kalavakus...
She falls into the cold deep well that turns the world into information and probability. Her small clear voice chants from nowhere as she invisibly forms the sign, and the field of writhing black tentacles bursts from the floor, stronger than her first attempt, curling with mindless and inexorable malice around every living thing in their path. Still invisible, she trots into the room near them and places herself behind a pillar, examining the large, beastly-looking and somehow rough-skinned humanoid man standing in the corner. Although she could not see him when they kicked the door in, he is in about the right place to have been the origin of the chanting that brought into being this white-haired warrior of Iomedae out of a painting, which would make him a friend, not a foe.
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"no" the paladin whispers to no one, looking slightly embarrassed at talking to no one.
She is kind of used to it already, since her helmet is in truth a Cassisian angel that is grumpy, pompous, and opinionated. All traits she would never point out verbally of course. Her guide to being pure and righteous has been rather quiet of late, probably due to Judging her for not attacking her saviors with just her bare fists and bared teeth.
Until he felt the need to describe the speaker who welcomed her into the fray, obvious disdain for her appearance prompting the break in the silent treatment
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-----------Azira---------------
One minotaur strikes, but while the attack is precise, it narrowly misses her.
Both strikes against the white winged Succubus would hit, but suddenly 3 images of her appear
Mesmeric Mirror: An illusory image appears near the subject to throw off attackers. The mesmerist can trigger this trick when the subject is attacked or becomes the target of a spell that requires an attack roll. One duplicate of the subject appears, and the attacker must determine randomly which it hits (as mirror image). For every 5 class levels the mesmerist possesses, one additional image appears, to a maximum of five images at 20th level. Each image lasts for 1 minute per mesmerist level or until destroyed. This is an illusion (figment) effect.
Aziras first strike only destroys an image,
but the second strike hits true, dealing a massive wound to the white winged demoness who stars at the wound with some horror
Jane -61
Hypocrite! Janeanime snarls pointing at the other Succubus in the circle
That ones aura of evil far exceeds mine
Impressive Sword Maiden, thee danceth well
the crystal clear voice of the other demoness politely enters your brain.
-------------------------------Verene------------------------------
The summoned tentacles coil around 4 of the Minotaurs, 3 of the cultists, and around the white winged Succubus, but the insectoid sorceress is unaffected
No freedom of movement? While trying to bind a mythic Succubus? The insectoid sorceress asks with twitching eyes as she sees Janeanime, her Succubus ally, grappled by the tentacles.
Jane -61 -7 grappled 2 mirror images
Red Mino -7 grappled
Yellow mino -7 grappled
Green Mino -7 grappled
Blue Mino -7 grappled
Pink cultis -7 grappled
Green cultist -7 grappled
Teal cultist -7 grappled
Thesius is up
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Verene sees a large sized half-orc. On top of being twice the size of a man, he has a wolf snout and cat-like eyes. His arms are also long for his already enlarged size, hitting the floor and he is wielding a scary looking axe. There's a floating force shield that is obviously from the Shield spell and his skin resembles tree bark. He looks angry.
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This Janeamine is alas correct in her assessment of the strength of my aura. Judging by thine own auras of good and law, a risk would exist that looking at my aura could stun or fascinate thee.
The demoness in the circle adds telepathically, politely
A prudent choice of spell. Thy aura alas... are thee by chance deifically sovereign? Laulieh apparently sees you easily, and her polite telepathic voice is easily heard over the din of battle. "Deifically sovereign" is an interesting and rather polite term for an atheist.
You do guess that, with enough experience, someone may be able to infer someones deity, or lack thereoff, from correlating the results of an alignment sight spell.
As a word of warning, according to my spy network, this Chorussina knows the spell invisibility purge, and is smart enough to assume one or more invisible casters. the demoness in the circle adds some tactical information
<I will not look closely at you then.> Azira laughs out loud at the desperate taunt, keeping her eyes on the white-haired succubus and insectoid sorceress, and not the golden-eyed succubus in the circle. She placed herself between the summoners and the circle, not to mention Sorica, on purpose. She is also pretty sure that the bat-winged brunette woman in the circle is not only the Laulieh who did not want to be called here, but is also the succubus Iomedae defeated, yet did not kill, in her earlier vision. "I am not an idiot. I give honor to worthy enemies, and contempt to those like you. You tortured crusaders wearing a cheap imitation of my goddess's face. You'll die for that."
Verene, for her part, answers telepathically without meeting the eyes of the winged demon in the circle. <No one mortal is sovereign in a world with deities, and I do not care for flattery. But I appreciate the warning all the same.> Her attention is split between the appearance of the white-haired succubus's doubles, and the alarmingly bestial and angry-looking giant half-orc and his axe. Not sure I want to be standing near that one... But if an invisibility purge should happen, I may not have a choice.
"The white-haired succubus is a mesmerist, likely Janeamine who enslaved the Keystones of Lozeri," she warns the others in her spellwhisper. "The doubles should behave like my mirror images. Attack them, even from a distance, and they shatter, leaving her vulnerable. I truly hope this half-orc with the axe is friend and not foe."
Thesius watches in awe as his companions make explosive maneuvers and entangle their enemies with mighty spells. Having esperienced battling minotaurs before, he takes the moment to pull out a spear and get into position to lash out next turn.
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Yet thee opts, in a world with gods, to not bend thy knee to any of them, while engaging directly in combat with very powerful entities. the voice is quite respectfull
Which is impressive. My liege, the Lady in shadows, does not force her vasalls to deifically worship her, predominantly for pragmatic reasons. Which is why I am, in some ways, an atheist as well. Although likely for less idealistic reasons then thee.
But perhaps we can have a conversation when there are less people actively seeking to kill thee
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------------Cultists--------------
Dispell that spell! Janeanime shouts
Cultists tries just that
yet his attempts fail to overpower Verenes Magiks
Seeing the intended sacrifice freed, the orange cultist slashes at Sorica with his Scythe
Soricas borrowed blade moves almost on its own, with supernatural speed it bats the clumsy swing aside, before striking deep into the cultists torso. The runes on the blade flare up as it seems to absorb the vitality of the target, which seems to be near death from the strike.
What is this blade? Sorica says as her own wounds heal and she suddenly looks much less pale and hurt from her captivity.
You are reasonably certain that Sorica, while a skilled with a blade, does not know how to parry and riposte.
Laulieh turns her golden eyes towards Sorica for a moment, and understanding flashes in Soricas eyes as a telepathic communication clearly happens.
Jane -61 -7 grappled 2 mirror images
Red Mino -7 grappled
Yellow mino -7 grappled
Green Mino -7 grappled
Blue Mino -7 grappled
Pink cultis -7 grappled
Green cultist -7 grappled
Teal cultist -7 grappled
Orange cultist -39
Sorica 28 temp hp
----------Teal cultist-----------
---------Green cultist----------
Yes! Free me! Janeanime says as she sees the cultist to her right succesfully concentrationg on a freedom of movement spell
The swarm lives on Said cultist says calmly as he casts it on himself, rather then on the Succubus, before stepping out of the black tentacles reach, as well as further away from Azira.
--------Pink cultist-------------
Oh, Lord of the swarms, may thy fervor add to our hunger in thy name!
Another cultist intones as he casts a spell, several of the minotaurs, the white winged Succubus and the sorceress seem to accellerate in their movements
Blessing of fervor, affecting Minotaurs Red, blue, yellow, Pink cultist, Janeanime and Chorussina
-------------------------------Cultists done-----------------------
-----------------------Janeanime-------------------------
Standard action:
The Succubus manages to break free, and then 5 foot steps out of the tentacles and away from the angry paladin
She focuses her stare on Azira, due to her Paladin nature Azira is not shaken, yet her will save and attack rolls are penalized by 3.
A combination of
Mesmerist stare
A mesmerist can focus his stare on one creature within 30 feet as a swift action. That creature takes a –2 penalty on Will saving throws. This penalty changes to –3 at 8th level. A mesmerist can maintain his stare against only one opponent at a time; it remains in effect until the mesmerist stares at a new target, the opponent dies, the opponent moves farther than 30 feet away, or the mesmerist falls unconscious or dies. The mesmerist can remove the memory of his stare from the target’s mind; The creature doesn’t remember that it was affected (nor does it realize that it is currently being affected) unless the mesmerist allows it. The hypnotic stare is a psychic effect, and relies more on the mesmerist’s focus than the target’s perception of his stare. It can’t be avoided in the same ways a gaze attack can. The mesmerist can use this ability even while blinded, but must succeed at a DC 20 concentration check to do so. Staring at a creature requires the mesmerist’s focus, so if he uses a gaze attack or similar ability, he must target the subject of his hypnotic stare or voluntarily end the stare. The penalties from multiple mesmerists’ stares don’t stack, nor do they stack with penalties from witches‘ evil eye hexes. This is a mind-affecting effect.
As well as:
When you trigger your painful stare, the target must succeed at a Will Save (DC = 10 + 1/2 your mesmerist level + your Charisma modifier) or become shaken for 1 round. This can’t cause the target to become frightened, even if the target is already shaken.
Coupled with
At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, a mesmerist’s hypnotic stare imposes a further effect upon its target. The mesmerist chooses one option each time he gains a new bold stare improvement, and the choice can’t be changed later. The mesmerist can’t choose the same bold stare improvement more than once unless otherwise noted. All of the mesmerist’s bold stare improvements affect the target as long as it is affected by the mesmerist’s hypnotic stare.
Janeamine has
Disorientation: The hypnotic stare penalty also applies on attack rolls.
and
Psychic Inception: The hypnotic stare and its penalty can affect creatures that are mindless or immune to mind-affecting effects (such as an undead or vermin). The mesmerist can also partially affect such a creature with his mind-affecting spells and abilities if it’s under the effect of his hypnotic stare; it gains a +2 bonus on its saving throw (if any), and if affected, it still has a 50% chance each round of ignoring the effect. Ignoring the effect doesn’t end the effect, but does allow the creature to act normally for that round.
You will be mine! She says
--------------Minotaurs--------------------
---------Green Mino--------------------
Green breaks free and moves to block the remaining heroes
------Red Mino---------------------
Red Mino, known for some perhaps more... Socothbenothan desires, makes the mistake of looking at Laulieh while trying to break free from the black tentacles, and, if anything, becomes even more entangled.
-----------Blue mino-----------------------
Blue Mino, being slightly confused, also looks at Laulieh who at that very moment smiles seductively in their direction, and likewise, even with the benefit of the blessing of fervor, fails to break free.
-----------Pink Mino---------------------
Seeing Idaya, and figuring that 1v1 is easier then trying to bail out his tentacles allied against multiple heroes, the Mino charges at Idaya, after smiting her!
You mess with the bull you get the horns haha He snarls in triumph as his glaive strikes true
------------Yellow mino-----------
The yellow Minotaur breaks free
Behind me mistress! He announces as he bravely interposes himself between Azira and Janeamine, although he is not capable of fully blocking the way to her, and will be assailed be the tentacles again
With a sneer, the yellow Minotaur smites Azira.
Jane -61 -7 grappled 2 mirror images
Red Mino -7 grappled fervored
Yellow mino -7 fervor smite azira in tentacles not grappled
Green Mino -7 grappled
Blue Mino -7 grappled fervor
Pink Mino charging smiting idaya
Pink cultis -7 grappled
Green cultist -7 grappled
Teal cultist -7 grappled
Orange cultist -39
Sorica 28 temp hp
Idaya -38
Yellow Mino smiting Azira
Pink mino smiting Idaya
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A large sized half-orc appears, in the middle of an attack. On top of being twice the size of a man, he has a wolf snout and cat-like eyes. His arms are also long for his already enlarged size, hitting the floor and he is wielding a scary looking axe. There's a floating force shield that is obviously from the Shield spell and his skin resembles tree bark. He looks angry. His chainshirt has two slits on the back from which insect-like wings come out.
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The very surprised pink mino is taking a massive hit, receiving 44 damage from the attack of Arthur
Oh, is tickling the current euphemism for inflict massive damage Dr. Tickles? Laulieh telepathically addresses you be the name you have given her
In the midnight isles, it is "multiply someone with zero", resulting in a lot of people claiming to be mathematic experts
She adds
---------------Chorussinna----------------
Enough with this invisble tomfoolery!
The sorceress snarls as she flies 20 feet up and away from the tentacles, drawn a rod as she does so
The swarm sees all! in a quick blast, an invisibility purge goes off
Ah, found you She says, addressing verene directly
As she flies closer to her position
I learned this from an ice witch I have slain
She says conversationally
Cone of cold
A massive cone of cold affects Merixia, Verene, Elliot and Thesius
DC 21 to half
Jane -61 -7 grappled 2 mirror images
Red Mino -7 grappled fervored
Yellow mino -7 fervor smite azira in tentacles not grappled
Green Mino -7 grappled
Blue Mino -7 grappled fervor
Pink Mino charging smiting idaya -54 damage near death
Pink cultis -7 grappled
Green cultist -7 grappled
Teal cultist -7 grappled
Orange cultist -39
Sorica 28 temp hp
Idaya -38
Meri -34 cold
Elliot -34 cold
Verene -17 cold
Thesius -34 cold
Yellow Mino smiting Azira
Pink mino smiting Idaya
-----------Elliot and Merixia are up!----------------
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Elliot feels the sting of the cold stiffen his joints, but nonetheless knows he must act. Calling upon his mythic powers, he enchants his weapon with bane against evil outsiders (demons) as a swift action while falling into casting. With a blur he moves forward to lash out at Janeanime a number of times.
It depends She answers
The highest number of double crosses I have seen in one fight was 8 in less then 3 minutes
The thing with high level abyssal warfare is that nearly everyone who matters can teleport, so rapid reinforcements, as well as rapid withdrawals, are a very frequent thing.
The most chaotic fight I ever have been in only had 2 factions though, the armed forces of Midnight eternal and a Besmaran raiding fleet, led by Besmara herself in her "Sea Wraith". I was acting as an officer on Shamiras flagship the "Siren". The Sea wraith teleport right next to us and then rammed to start a boarding action. Since I was on the Siren, and Besmara, who is far too powerful for me to oppose directly, was boarding her, I improvised an impromptu force and counter boarded the Sea Wraith. At which point one of the floating midnight isles above us decided to explode, and at which point Lady Shamira decided to make her displeasure known with a few mythic empowered meteor swarms at the sea wraith, while I was boarding it.
So, board the personal ship of the goddess of piracy, while an island explodes above you and a nascent demonlord, who is really good at fiery magic, unleashes her full arsenal on the ship you are currently boarding.
That was pretty chaotic.
You can also ask me about escaping from Cania, probably my most cleverst, is that a word? thing I ever pulled. Doloras is still really mad, over 6 millenia later.
She slips into a less formal, but somehow warmer and more mirthfull way of speaking.
Elliot, casting fly and sporting transparent wings of flame, not unlike Merixias, flies up and strikes her, quite effectively, yet her skin is surprisingly hard.
Some stoneskin variant? Or perhaps a combination of stone skin and disguise self to disguise the stone skin?
Pah, a feeble attempt! What Magiks may I learn from your corpse I wonder, something fiery most likely!
Close up, you see that the rod she is holding is finely made of what you think is mammoth ivory, with snow based wintery motives, as well as a picture of a demonic looking frost giant being shattered.
Jane -61 -7 2 mirror images
Red Mino -7 grappled fervored
Yellow mino -7 fervor smite azira in tentacles not grappled
Green Mino -7 grappled
Blue Mino -7 grappled fervor
Pink Mino charging smiting idaya -54 damage near death
Pink cultis -7 grappled
Green cultist -7 grappled
Teal cultist -7 grappled
Orange cultist -39
Sorica 28 temp hp
Idaya -38
Meri -34 cold
Elliot -34 cold
Verene -17 cold
Thesius -34 cold
Chorussina -24 damage -10 from her stone skin
Yellow Mino smiting Azira
Pink mino smiting Idaya
Chorussina is trasktalking Elliot
But perhaps we can have a conversation when there are less people actively seeking to kill thee.
Verene wipes frost from her white-scaled face, feeling slow and sluggish from the blast of cold. <Certainly,> she thinks back at the golden-eyed succubus, equally politely. <I shall live in the greatest anticipation of that happy eventuality.>
To her comrades, she reports in her calm whisper, "The cultist to the far left just gave himself, the three entangled minotaurs, Janeamine, and this sorceress a spell that will allow them a choice of becoming faster, or stronger, or swifter to attack, or casting empowered spells. Azira, the succubus is trying to use the debilitating power of her gaze on you, to a much lesser effect than most mortals, I hope. That was a cone of cold, of course, and the sorceress seems to have a variant form of stoneskin to allow her to resist attacks."
While I am prevented from aiding thee directly, I can offer indirect aid.
In a few seconds, I will truely being my performance, a skaldic weapon song, further enchanced by the rage powers of celestial blood and the greater spirit totem
This offer is made with no malice, while I also have songs of compellance and seduction, these performances are quite different
Due to requiring plausible deniability, my performance will also effect those of your foes who accept it, which will probably be rather few, not that they would gain much benefits from having celestial blood anyway, although, if thee have a confusion spell thee could do something very funny.
-----------Retcon Elliots turn-----------
15 damage and 15 damage stoneskin takes 10, 20 damage to enemy
35 first attack 26 to confirm
16 damage stoneskin takes 10, 6 damage to enemy
32 second attack 32 to confirm
18 and 16 damage stoneskin takes 10, 24 damage to enemy
----------
You dare you burning fool? The insectoid sorceress snarls as she takes heavy and serious hits from Elliot, chipped stone flying everywhere, and her green-tinted blood leaking from her actual body beneath the stoneskin.
She is injured, and would be more then that had she not been under heavy protective magiks.
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Arthur replies in thought "Oh wow, I can't tell if you're lying, but that is a great story.... Wait, no. I will not be entertained by a demoness! You're... you're one of the baddies!"
His alchemically induced rage influences his reply "If you were one of the goodies, you'd be great to talk to. Why did you have to be a demoness? Why can't you turn to the good people's side? You know! Give up your demon side so we can sit and have a few rounds of Chelaxian wine? Hells, I need a drinking buddy, but all I know are demons and demonesses." He doesn't know why he's spilling his heart out like this.
You hear a suprisingly gently chuckle
Cheliax? The place has gone downhill since the Thrunies took over. Although, at some time, that undercooked piece of infernal not-yet-fried chicken calling herself para-c%&+ess Lrilatha will find out that I had someone replace her 3rd most favorite high heels with fiendish Latex Mimics, and there is a contingency scry on one of them so I will see her stupid face.
You have a feeling that this is true, but that she also exactly knows how to make you friendly. Not with anything mind controlling, but simply by being genuinely fun to be around.
As a demoness, I need specific alcohol to even get drunk. Being immune to poson has its drawbacks. Although specifically Caydenite brews sourced from Elysium works, as do Callistrian wines.
I do theorize that the Abyss made us immune to getting conventionally drunk, or we would simply spend our time getting wasted rather then doing its evil bidding. If you want to troll the Abyss, or enter trade with Alyushinyrra, common acohol brewed by an alchemist with the celestial poisons discovery works and sells incredibly well, and if you survive I can setup a trade route. Which, since I am a ransom broker, could even result in trading booze in exchange for me repatriating prisoners. You comrades may look down on trading directly for money
As to changing my alignment? I prefer not too. It is relatively established that Succubi who become neutral can no longer control several of their abilities, in particular their drain. Were I neutral, I would kill or harm anyone I enter intimacy with, and I enjoy my consorts nearly as much as they enjoy me. There is a persistent rumor that a Succubus who becomes good inverts her abilities, sex with her would heal and restore their partner. While this sounds great in theory, but in practice, such an individual would likely become the most abducted or most raped being in the multiverse. Which is not attractive to me. As such, pragmatic, civilized, charismatic and agreement capable evil I shall be.
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Arthur twists his mouth and replies "Maybe just refrain from sex. Or even more outrageous, keep to one partner, one you can trust? It's been known to happen." He hopes his joke comes across, but he isn't sure whether Succubi find the topic of monogamy funny, or even the things mortals value.
"And about losing abilities, I'm sure you're powerful enough to not need to rely on them. Look, you are clearly a being that has lived for millennia and has learned much. Aren't you a bit curious about life on the other side? The games of the demon- and empyreal lords must get exhausting after a while. And even if you want to keep at it, having a fresh take could give you the edge you might need. Maybe you don't need to be the meanest, most badass Succubus there is. Maybe all you need is to have some friends, and some gods may even not want to try to go against you so much.", he continues earnestly.
The Abyss... tattles if it detect one Succubus being *good*. To like, every single demon in existence. And if even just one out of a 1000 demons risks its chances with trying to abduct you, thats still millions going for you, the inverted power specifically works if the good aligned Succubus is violated.
And I would not have my private army, my position as a vasall of a powerful demonlord, my well fortified stronghold or most of the many interesting favors I could call in to protect me from that, I would have to fully rely on the willingness of others to fight and most likely die for me. I would prefer not too, better to fly on ones own wings then be carried by others.
She continues
Monogamy? In the past when I served Luralune yes, that was a thing. The Erlking is... lets just say I dont recommend ever calling him *horned one* to his face. There is a funny story on how Baphomet got that title, as an insult initially, but he succesfully turned into into a title.
In the modern midnight isles monogamy would be incredibly odd. Power there is distributed via networks of consortage, having only one partner would place me in a position of dependence on that individual. I do not force my consorts to only consort with me either, as I look for *partners in crime*, not *toys*, although the translation into common is not quite accurate, on any account, my consorts compete with each other, and I do not shy competition with theirs.
You gain more insight on planar knowledge, as you held a fairly polite conversation with a very powerful demoness.
I have lived in the Boneyard, in the first world, in several material planes and have even frequented Elysium as envoy to the garden of delights. I am only minutes younger then Lady Nocticula, but the only true boredom I felt was during a period when Doloras and that Calamari-wannabe Shimengelieth tried to do a century of sensory deprivation as a torture approach.
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Idaya hated moments like this, being in the chaos of combat, growls, wet thunks, arcane yelling, posturing yells, buzzing... all while she could barely see any of it. She had no idea why her goddess robbed her of her sight to such a degree. One of the priests had suggested it was so she would Focus on what was important.
What was important was being able to see what was going to try and kill her!!!
At least there were those massive bull beast like men who were obviously not on the side of pure and holy, so she concentrated on them, holding her greatsword in two hands, ready to strike when they charged. It was always better to come to her, which they almost always did.
Drawn to the halo.
Then this huge orc, almost more animal than humanoid, rushes right past her to hack into one of the two legged bulls with a scary looking axe. She could have sworn there was nothing behind her but wall a second ago.
"Sir, are you my summoner?" she isn't slow mentally, so can put two and two together to get close to four at least. Her eyes track the enemy's movement, judging the moment to dart forward, also trying to track, bumps, steps, blood sprays, and anything that would make her slip or stumble.
Ah, Lady Idaya, I hope no teleportation sickness?
You hear Lauliehs voice
And Yes. Prof. Dr. Tickles, crusader scout has clearly faithfully eaten his vegetables.
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The large half-orc bears his teeth at the paladin and barks "Yes, who cares? Start swinging that sword of yours, we're in a fight, can't you tell?" His bluntness seems related to an apparent fit of rage he is undergoing. It may reduce his capacity for thoughtful conversation, but it sure seems to help him with his axe swinging.
Arthur replies "You may be toying with me, but I do notice that your reasons aren't because you don't want to. They sound more like excuses to stay in your comfort zone. The good thing about friends is that they stick by you on their own volition. You don't need to enforce them, not with command, fear or rules. You know, these things that angels and devils like so much. Friends are moved only by good memories and the pure desire to see you succeed."
He tries to smile telepathically and sends "You know what, if you ever decide to do the switch, genuinely be a good creature, I'll be your first friend. Then you can tell me all about all you know since creation. And if you worry about this Succubus thing, maybe there's a way for you to not be one anymore." He knows it's a longshot, and this ancient being is probably far from his ability to reason, but he figures sometimes the smallest butterflies can create the biggest of hurricanes. He dispels the notion of becoming a Desnan that is brewing in his mind.
"I can, yes." the paladin lets a little irritation into her voice at the rebuttal. "Violence before understanding leads to regret and something, something, something. The meaning of the wisdom is clear enough that forgetting the rest of it doesn't diminish it. " she defends weakly, while looking at the still Still beast men. "Do they attack or just wait, Prof. Dr. Tickles?" her voice holds a bunch of questions at the orc's name and title, but she does not judge.
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Nabasu turn:
Someone dispell their protection from evil, but you lot arent proper Kabririte fighter useing intelligent tactics, as such! the batlike demon announces as it looks at most of the party.
The Nabasu seems to be summoning more demons.
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Wulfrics turn
Wulfric hears Laulieh sing, with some altered version of songbird playing the melody for probably more then one round.
He even knows the opera piece this is from,
and its even one of his favorite duets, an emphasis on just how shockingly good Galtese Opera was before it all went to s*##.
Je peindrai toujours
Arrête de peindre
Lâche ce pinceau, quitte cette toile
Aline
I will always paint
Stop painting
Put down that brush, leave that canvas
Aline
To his partial surprise, the Succubus seems pleased at this, returning the favor with her performance.
Couleurs embrasées,
Rouge feu, vie ôtée
Tableau que je ne peux voir
Fermer les yeux, reste le noir
Even at his absolute best, Wulfric cant quite match her, but it is close enough
Sorica nods along to the song, as a spectral figure, which Azira recognizes as Soricas brother Timon, appears sharing her square, the figure strikes out with a slam at the cultist who tried to strike her
inflicting an additional wound on him and sending him to near death.
Another spirit, looking like a Succubus with burning wings wearing a falcata, appears in Lauliehs square, but does not strike anyone (yet).
The spirit appearing in Lauliehs square looks like the flame winged Succubus-Balor-hybrid daughter you recently talked too.
Wulfric, who, since he is participating in the performance also accepts it, has a spectral figure of Azira appearing in his square to protect him if neccessary.
Looking carefully at Soricas blade, it seems to now gleam with a certain additional radiance, while also subtly vibrating
It seems to be a weapon song, of a spell warrior, on part of the Succubus at least, which seems to conjure the spirit totem line. This summons a manifestation of whatever the person accepting the song thinks, intuitively, would protect her or him.
Unliked raging songs, this song does not shut down spellcasting or hinder concentration.
She seems to currently increase the enchantment bonus of any weapon wielded by an acceptor of the song by +2.
The damage the spirits deal scales with the charisma and base attack of the caster, certainly nasty if its done by a Succubus.
You can also instantly note that Lauliehs weapon song ranges much further then the 30 feet range it normally should have.
Damnit, she is supporting the crusaders! Chorussina snarls
But she cant attack us! Janeanime answers
She doesnt have to, someone kill that crusader bard! The insectoid woman orders their respective minions
My Ladies The cultist in green, who has recently succeeded in casting freedom of movement on himself while being black tentacled interjects
*Someone* is not very precise orders
THEN YOU KILL HIM! Janeanemine snaps back
The cultist clearly bites his tounge while stopping his motion to point at the black tentacles, giant half orc, angry Elliot, mysterious Thesius and soon to be very fiery Merixia between him and Wulfric, and then exchanges a meaningfull glance with Laulieh.
A quick question archmage? Do you know the incantation for power word kill? Just the incantation, not actually casting the spell.
Verene hears Lauliehs voice
I do enjoy the spirit of your bardic member, and would seek protect him from getting cleaved in twain from a Minotaurs glaive, but I need plausible deniability. I can make it look as if you cast it, even if it was me. But that does require your cooperation. I offer thee a small favor in return
-------------------------Idaya and Merixia are up---------------------
The incantation evades her conscious mind for a split second, and then a memory pops into her head with lightning-eye clarity. She is in the Blackwing, reading about the primal Words of Power that long predated any mortal life, but were first given shape in human language in the time of ancient Azlant, or some say by Aroden himself. Verene smells old paper and ink, and tastes ozone on the back of her tongue.
<I do,> she thinks cautiously at the succubus. <But I think they will know it for a fraud if I appear to cast it myself, for anyone who has been paying attention to our progress so far would know such a spell is still far beyond me.>
Out loud she says politely to both the axe-wielding half-orc and the slightly disoriented-seeming Iomedaean aasimar, "Greetings, friends. Since we all seem to be at least temporarily on the wrong side of these demons and their cultists, I would observe that the flying sorceress casting quickened spells is the largest problem, followed by the nabasu demon on the other steps who appears to be in the midst of summoning another demon*. It would be very good for our immediate prospects of survival to take down either or both if we can." These words come from a personage only revealed by the sorceress's wash of anti-illusion magic: a white-scaled, yellow-eyed kobold, only three feet tall, wearing simple undyed clothes, a belt with a pouch, and a little backpack, with a pink stone orbiting her head. From what the flying part-fiend had said to her, this might be the mage who cast the black tentacles currently imprisoning the legs, and crucially, the arms, and thus the huge two-handed glaives, of several of the minotaurs and cultists.
A reasonable point
But Would it? Perhaps you have been hiding your true potentiall all along.
The Succubus thoughts sound rather amused
Or you currently arent Verene, or you are under a profane gift equivalent that allows your donor to cast spells or spell like abilities through your direction, my own profane gift could do that, although not for a power word kill.
Ohhh, I could even try to bluff them into believing that you are actually The Lilitu Minagho, useing a Husk of Verene, to sabotage her near peer competitors, it is known that Minagho, was feuding with the Marilith Aponavicius who actually *owns* Drezen. Wouldnt that be fun? I do know that Minagho can do power word kill once per day, same as I. And your party is would have significant issues detecting and dealing with Minagho at the present. She would be a... difficult fight for me in a duel, although my allies and my organizatinoal resources are of significantly higher quality then hers.
You can sense that the Succubus, as a creature of chaos, would prefer this option
Alternatively, you could draw a scroll while you speak the incantation. A very well prepared archmage like you could have well invested in such a thing, as an emergeny *die right now* measure.
But she also offers a far less complicated and chaotic one.
Merixia is up!
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Much as Merixia longs to support her boyfriend in fighting the winged sorceress, she really doesn't want to see what kind of demon a nabasu can summon. The cleric chants a prayer to Ragathiel, asking him to grant her the ability to reach her enemy. Five enormous wings of flame ignite on her back.
Verene's haste spell speeds her flight as Merixia leaps up, soaring above the minotaurs and cultists standing between her and her quarry. But the nabasu is starting to wrap up his summoning. Faster, faster, I need to go faster! Suddenly, the wardstone's power kicks in, and she descends on the demon with glowing sword raised for a powerful blow.
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With a massive strike, Merixia rams Retribution into the chanting Nabasu, dealing 54 damage to the Nabasu, who
loses his concentration on his magiks.
As Merixia accepts the the weapon song, a ghostly Elliot Manifests next to her, mirroring her strike
Slamming into the Nabasu for additional damage
Jane -61 -7 2 mirror images
Red Mino -7 grappled fervored
Yellow mino -7 fervor smite azira in tentacles not grappled
Green Mino -7 grappled
Blue Mino -7 grappled fervor
Pink Mino charging smiting idaya -54 damage near death
Pink cultis -7 grappled
Green cultist -7 grappled
Teal cultist -7 grappled
Orange cultist -56
Sorica 28 temp hp
Idaya -38
Meri -34 cold
Elliot -34 cold
Verene -17 cold
Thesius -34 cold
Chorussina -24 damage -10 from her stone skin
Nabasu -67 damage
Yellow Mino smiting Azira
Pink mino smiting Idaya
Chorussina is trasktalking Elliot
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Laulieh turn
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Laulieh continues her quite spectacular performance, but also seems to ready an action
The cultist directly to the right of Janeanime (ooc: green cultist, who cast freedom of movement on himself first turn) is negotiating terms of betrayal with me. I am inclined to accept his services, and would take him with me after the conclusion of hostilies, but I will bid him to share any actionable intelligence on the remaining Deskarite and Baphometan forces.
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Sorica turn
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With a look of hatred in her eyes, Sorica darts past the cultist who clumsily attacked her, provoking an Attack of opportunity
The spectral form protecting Sorica, shaped like her brother whom Azira would recognize, simply snuffs out the near death cultist (orange) near her.
Emboldened, she moves to attack the white winged Succubus, it appears alas that the yellow Minotaur ignores her, keeping his attention at the more threatening Paladins, as such he ignores the charging ex-sacrifice, even though she seemingly intentionally leaves herself open to attack from him.
Alas, her strike only pierces an image
Her spectral ally promptly takes care of the last one
Stripped of all your images in front of a Paladin? How risque of you.
Sorica says as she regards Janeanime with an almost reddish glow in in her normally green brown eyes.
According to my blade, thy ally Sorica has a... partly-suicidal ideation, although she wishes to first kill those responsible.
Ms. Sorica also considers herself *evil* even though she does not detect as such, and is exceedingly unlikely to currently employ means to evade my alignment sight.
Azira hears the polite, if somewhat concerned perhaps, voice of the Succubus in her mind.
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Azira and Verene are up!
Summary:
--Laulieh keeps performing
--Laulieh indicates that one cultist (green) is ready to betray his masters
--Laulieh indicates that Sorica is not in a nice mental place
--Sorica kills one cultist (orange)
--Strips Janeanemine of remaining images
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Azira
Azira lifts Radiance in a fencer's salute in time to the song. A ghostly version of Sorica herself, new rapier in hand, springs into being and lashes out at Janeamine in a mirror of what her spectral brother just did to the cultist. Azira steps up just behind the shade, and momentarily looks sideways to meet the eyes of the real Sorica with confidence, hope and pride in her steady gaze. Softly she says, "I will guard the honor of my fellows, both in thought and deed, and I will have faith in them."
Her attention turns to Janeamine, deadly swift as the blurring-fast strikes of her radiant sword, and her shout rings out. "For Victory, for the Heart!"
*AC = 10 +1 natural +7 armor +2 shield +8 Dex +3 dodge +2 deflection +1 insight +2 sacred. 1 point of the deflection is from protection from evil and thus only applies to attacks from evil creatures. +2 sacred is from veil of heaven and only applies to attacks from outsiders with the evil subtype.
**CMD = 10 +8 BAB +0 Str +8 Dex +3 dodge +2 deflection +1 insight +2 sacred. Sacred is from the Righteous Medal of Valor. 1 point of the deflection is from protection from evil and thus only applies to CM attempts from evil creatures.