Protectors of Golarion (Wrath of the Righteous AP)

Game Master Sensen

"I am glad we could help. You are not alone in such challenges. Many face crises of faith, but you are also not alone in facing them. Take care Arles," Thesius says with a smile.

After returning...

Thesius nods to Verene as she chooses to focus upon her current endeavor.

I don't think you need anything else from me at the moment, so feel free to RP amongst yourselves.

""This may not be the most conventional first date, but you have to admit that it's very us."

Elliot laughs. "Hah, I guess it is. Come, let's go tell the others before they think we got lost somehow."

On the way back however, his smile gradually fades as he further contemplates that line. "It *is* very us. Because everyone living here came to support the Crusades - directly or indirectly, everyone here is here to fight. So... what happens to us when we win? What do we do then?"

Later...

"So we've finished sweeping the area," Elliot informs the group at large when they rejoin. "In short, neither the Object Detection nor the Enchantment Sight detected anything. No one is currently under an enchantment and there are no other vials of Shadowblood in the camp. As for the Aura Sight, other than the First Children and Akravash as the captured Tiefling, there were only a few people without Good auras." His face takes on a hard look. "There's Anevia, Aron, the paladin Azira and Thesius were just talking with... and then Korryn and Nurah."

"Since it does not seem to be Aron himself, and Anevia and Akravash make very little sense, that leaves just a handful of suspects. If we assume the First Children detect as neutral just because of the Worldwound's influence, that leaves us with just three main suspects - Azira's friend, the suposedly fallen paladin, or our fellow advisor and historian. Personally, I'm very wary of it being Nurah. That would mean the demon's spy is both in our command structure and the Queen's inner circle. Whatever we do, we really need to investigate her thoroughly."

Wulfric, too, would have had no aura to aura sight when Merixia looked over at the conversation the other three were having with Arles. Right?

"We have no certainty that there is a willing spy, but neither do we have solid reasons to eliminate any of the aura-lacking people from the suspect pool yet. Except perhaps Aron, but he still could have been forced to act in some way he does not remember. Similarly, anyone could be the unwilling host of a shadow demon or have had their appearance stolen by an enemy. So, that is all the First Children, Anevia, Aron, Akravash, Korryn, Nurah, and— wait." Verene, who added Merixia and Elliot to a refreshed message when they got back, with another reminder that whatever is spoken at normal volume might well be overheard, looks up from the list she is adding to her note in alarm. The other four hear her whisper as though she is standing at their shoulders. "One of the paladins had no aura? And it was the one Thesius and Azira spoke to? That is grave news indeed. At the very least, it means Iomedae has turned her face from him."

"Azira and Thesius, did you find the source of the rumors and mutterings? What did they have to say for themselves?"

If we got specifics on which First Children came along, I missed it. I would like to know, though, so she doesn't just have to write "all of the First Children."

"We have no certainty that there is a willing spy, but neither do we have solid reasons to eliminate any of the aura-lacking people from the suspect pool yet. Except perhaps Aron, but he still could have been forced to act in some way he does not remember. Similarly, anyone could be the unwilling host of a shadow demon or have had their appearance stolen by an enemy. So, that is all the First Children, Anevia, Aron, Akravash, Korryn, Nurah, and— wait." Verene, who added Merixia and Elliot to a refreshed message when they got back, with another reminder that whatever is spoken at normal volume might well be overheard, looks up from the list she is adding to her note in alarm. The other four hear her whisper as though she is standing at their shoulders. "One of the paladins had no aura? And it was the one Thesius and Azira spoke to? That is grave news indeed. At the very least, it means Iomedae has turned her face from him."

Merixia frowns, lowering her voice to reply. "It can't be Akravash, the prisoners have been too closely watched. They even have an escort to the latrine. I doubt it's Anevia or one of the First Children; they all had ample opportunity to interfere with our attack on the wardstone, and they didn't. All it would have taken for one of the First Children would be a little friendly fire when we were already hard pressed. And it doesn't make sense for Aron to plant the drugs on himself." She absently taps her fingers on her thigh armor, thinking. "A shadow demon or disguised spy would have to be an incredible actor to fool Irabeth into thinking they were Anevia, and they would need extensive information on everything the two of them have done and experienced to avoid being caught out. Same with one of the First Children, they all come from the same small, isolated community. They would know if one of their own was not who they seemed."

"So that leaves us with Korryn, Nurah, and the fallen paladin. The average paladin wouldn't have the skills to get into and out of Aron's tent without being seen, nor would he have the spellcasting ability for an invisibility spell or the spell to conceal an evil aura. Korryn is a possibility, but she also lacks spellcasting ability. That leaves us with Nurah." Merixia begins ticking points off on her fingers. "She's part of the command team, which makes her a more valuable spy than any of our other possible suspects except Anevia. If you're going to the trouble and risk of placing a spy in an army of paladins, it makes the most sense to put them where they can access our plans. She's small and walks quietly, so I would be willing to bet that she's good at moving unseen. She's a bard, and bards are known for their acting skills, which a spy needs to have. And finally, she's an arcane spellcaster. Verene, do you know if bards can learn the spell to disguise one's aura?"

And, well... she doesn't particularly want to come out and say it, but Merixia has heard of more than one slave who turned to evil powers in a desperate attempt to get free, as well as ex-slaves who did so for revenge on their former masters. In Cheliax and Andoran, that's usually Norgorber or Thamir Gixx, but every now and then someone opts for a demon lord or daemonic harbinger. She's even heard of Katapeshi slaves who swear their souls to Ahriman, lord of the divs, in their desire to tear down the world that hurt them. It's entirely possible that Nurah saw her master's plan to travel to the Worldwound as an opportunity to join the demons and free herself. She might even have sabotaged the Isgeri noble's attack on Drezen.

"Verene, do you know if bards can learn the spell to disguise one's aura?"

"They can, and it comes easier to them than to most other mages. But whoever planted the shadowblood clearly has access to expensive magic items. With such items, none of these effects would be out of reach for anyone. Our foe could also not be wearing a face we know, but simply be a demon that has accompanied us invisibly. The Wardstone explosion killed or gravely injured every fiend on the Mendevian side of the border — but then the border went down, and it was down for weeks before the Queen even arrived. And this is such a strange, small-scale sabotage to risk exposure over if one were a spy, when one could instead have warned the enemy armies and caused a great deal more destruction among our troops, or even an outright loss of this last battle, which could have gone very badly if they were at all ready for us. That would have been a golden opportunity to scuttle the entire mission, especially if the spy were Nurah, who knew exactly what we planned. She is also the only person in the entire army who must surely have been thoroughly investigated by whoever serves as the Queen's spymaster, in order to become a royal advisor; and she has plenty of reason to fear and hate the demons. They slaughtered everyone else on her first expedition to Drezen, under the banner of one Axilar Trezbot." Although the events had seemed reasonable as Nurah described them, examining the story in a suspicious light does cause a certain unease. Even supposing that her small size had allowed her to escape unnoticed, how could such a physically vulnerable person have made her way back to the safety of Mendev from deep in the Worldwound — all alone?

Well, that is the kind of question that the Queen's spymaster must surely have looked into, and found a satisfactory answer for. Moreover, someone in the elite group of people tasked with protecting the Queen should have noticed if one of her advisors was routinely casting abjurations like the spell to hide from a paladin's sense for evil.

"Anyway, I am trying not to get too attached to any one theory just yet. Nurah is certainly not above suspicion. We simply need more solid information." She looks hopefully at Azira and Thesius.

After the group has shared information and have discussed the next steps to find the source of the shadowblood (presumably we can still RP about developments with Arles in spoilers if people want to?), Verene takes her amended note to Irabeth and delivers it directly into her hands that same evening. The list of names includes everyone Merixia told them lacked an aura of good or law; Nurah's and Arles Jhestander's names are underlined, as the most suspicious figures not to have one. She spends what free time remains of the evening trying to set up the complicated collapsible bathtub inside the large tent for privacy — it does not take ten minutes or less — and asking Merixia for several uses of her water-generating cantrip. She feels especially grubby from digging graves today, in a way that the cleaning cantrip that is so good for clothes cannot fix. And she will not be bothered by the cold water particularly, thanks to endure elements. Anyone else who wants to use the collapsible bathtub is of course welcome to, in their own turn.

Her dreams that night are troubled, but less like memories or possible futures and more like the pictures from a storybook. She marches, armed and armored like a foot soldier, in a sea of faceless others like herself, through a barren wasteland toward a sheer cliff: each rank tumbles over it in turn, unable to stop; and constantly behind her is laughter, high and mocking.

She wakes and memorizes spells early, before any camp chores, trying to prepare for what would, to her mind, be the worst-case scenario: an actual greater demon revealed in camp with most of the soldiers not yet prepared to fight.

The previous day.

"And this is such a strange, small-scale sabotage to risk exposure over if one were a spy, when one could instead have warned the enemy armies and caused a great deal more destruction among our troops, or even an outright loss of this last battle, which could have gone very badly if they were at all ready for us."

"I don't know about that, sis," Elliot ponders. "It could be that said spy, or their demon masters, are so desperate following the wardstone explosion that they felt presseded into taking high risks, even for questionable gain. Or... maybe this person isn't acting rationally, but rather out of spite. People don't always act purely on good sense. Source: all servants of evil entities."

"And she has plenty of reason to fear and hate the demons. They slaughtered everyone else on her first expedition to Drezen, under the banner of one Axilar Trezbot."

"And who told you that? Was it Nurah herself? Are you sure that's not a convenient backstory for a high placed mole?" He then presses, more and more convinced it had to be her, suspicions further raised by Merixia's sound reasoning.

Now...

The plan set into motion, Elliot joins Irabeth's meeting with the suspects that day, staying next to the exit and aware Verene was there somewhere reading everyone's thoughts. He wondered what Verene and Irabeth had worked out between them for 'a message that would be harmless to someone innocent but alarming to a demon spy planting drugs on Aron', which sounded difficult to work out. But his sister was crafty, so surely she had something in mind, and they'd know soon enough...

@Thesius Are you willing, while this is taking place, to invisibly search Nurah's tent while she is attending these morning summons? If yes, Elliot would have approached you and offered to cast the spell on you.

The heroes take the chance to meet up with one another in the late evening to compare notes, and discuss their plans for the following day. Afterwards, Verene delivers her note to Irabeth explaining their findings,

Fireday, 12th of Rova, 4713

The following morning is unpleasantly cold, with rain coming down in buckets. Though the rain itself appears mundane, it is unnervingly warm compared with the frigid air, as though the sky is a living beast weeping tears upon the crusaders.

Irabeth calls a meeting early on, commanding all but the most injured of the Knights of Kenabres to attend. "Much though I am loathe to call you all here in this weather," she begins, striding out of the command tent's shelter to stand in the rain with the rest of the troops (though, like them, she wears a rain cloak over her armor), "I have heard grave news on military matters that might impact our mission."

She turns to the champions and Wulfric. "These heroes have brought information of great import to my attention, and I will permit them to speak with clarity on the subject."

Well, how about a little more opportunity for RP while we sort out whatever is happening the next day.

Previous evening, with Elliot and the others:

"And who told you that? Was it Nurah herself? Are you sure that's not a convenient backstory for a high placed mole?"

"Yes, while we were riding this afternoon. Apparently she did not choose for herself to come to the Worldwound at all, but had to as part of this Isgeri nobleman's retinue — I did not ask if she was a servant, or a slave — and he struck out into the Worldwound to claim Drezen for himself with a private army even larger than this one. But a possessed crusader accompanied by a group of demons ambushed and killed them all before they even saw Drezen's walls. I could not place the name Trezbot, but I have no reason to doubt her. It is an easily disprovable lie if no such expedition took place or was not lost in the Wound. It would have happened during the Fourth Crusade, while I was away. Do any of you recognize the name Axilar Trezbot?"

Back to the previous day

"Axilar Trezbot, you say? Hm..."

History, does Elliot know something of Trezbot and/or his connection to Nurah?: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

"Wait, are you saying Nurah was the only survivor of that attack? That's... convenient? Disturbing? Both in this context? There'd be no one to verify how it really went down. But if *everyone else* in this supposedly large army died, did she really escape or did the demons intentionally let her go? If she *is* a spy, she could very well be resonsible for his army getting ambushed and destroyed. And it'd then make perfect sense on why the demons spared her."

Sure, there was the chance they wanted one crusader to spread news of the defeat and install fear... but still, this felt sketchy as all hell.

To go back a bit and do a bit of a retcon. Verene is correct that Wulfric would not have had an aura. I don't think I've handed out the names of the First Children, but I probably should double-check when I have the time. Sorry about how distracted I've been, it's been a whole thing recently.

Yesterday

Retconning my previous post in its entirety and cursing that deletion is not an option.

The following morning is unpleasantly cold, with rain coming down in buckets. Though the rain itself appears mundane, it is unnervingly warm compared with the frigid air, as though the sky is a living beast weeping tears upon the crusaders.

Irabeth calls a meeting early on, commanding all but the most injured of the Knights of Kenabres to attend. "Much though I am loathe to call you all here in this weather," she begins, striding out of the command tent's shelter to stand in the rain with the rest of the troops (though, like them, she wears a rain cloak over her armor), "I feel that I must remind all of us about the dangers which we are to face as we plunge deeper into the Worldwound. Physical dangers, we all know and may be able to fight with blade or bow. Master Aravashnial has told us a great deal about other things we may face - disease, whether that is hostile in the most literal sense, and more."

She casts her gaze over the crowd. "However, I wanted to talk about another danger that we face in the Worldwound - that of despair and spiritual corruption. Most of us here are paladins of the Inheritor, but all must know that this is no guarantee of safety. We are all merely mortal, after all, and pushing ourselves beyond our limits may well break us." Irabeth folds her hands before her. "We will face ever greater trials, and some of us may come to believe that all is hopeless - perhaps even that we may do better to flee, or even join our greatest foes." She growls. "But I wish you all to know this - so long as we stand together, we shall not break so easily. With your comrades, you shall fight all the harder. If ever you find yourselves doubting, speak to your siblings-in-arms, ask for aid."

She looks meaningfully to Sosiel, who steps forwards. "Should anyone feel uncomfortable speaking with their peers about any doubts they may have, please come to me. I am always willing to lend an ear or a shoulder to cry on."

That's better, I think.

Thanks for doing that, GM. No worries, it happens.

Fireday, 12th of Rova, 4713

The rain is a problem. As the soldiers are gathering before Irabeth, Verene slips invisibly into the command tent from the center of their smaller group when they approach its entrance — carefully, so she can maintain her concentration on the divination she had cast back at their own tent. Just before the commander begins speaking, she peers around and past Irabeth, picking out the faces she needs to find in the assembled. There is the male knight with the seamed and scarred face that Azira and Thesius had spent so long talking to by his squad's fire last night: Arles Jhestander. Here is Nurah's bright blonde hair half-hidden by her cloak, near to the front so that she can see despite her short stature. Aron is beside Sosiel, seeming pale but focused. The gaggle of First Children archers hold themselves slightly apart from the other soldiers, or perhaps the soldiers are keeping away from them. Wulfric is with Azira, of course, and Anevia nearby Irabeth. Korryn stands near Anevia and the other scouts. At the very back she spots Akravash and the two other tiefling prisoners in the custody of a pair of knights.

As Irabeth begins talking, Verene opens her awareness. There is a clamor of many minds in range. She will listen and look for any that do not belong, or for the absence of those that should be there to her sight, and then focus on listening to the few she wishes to target, as Irabeth warms to her them and gets to spiritual corruption and joining our greatest foes.

Just to recap, Verene cast message on their group of five, anticipate peril on Merixia, invisibility on herself, and finally detect thoughts on herself before the group came over for the speech. Looking out from inside the command tent, she's detecting thoughts while Irabeth talks, focusing on the above characters. Or on any minds that are within range but don't have a visible source.

Before Irabeth's speech

As the group prepares themselves for the day ahead, Merixia pulls her friends aside. "I'm going to have to find somewhere near the command tent to hide so I can take the saboteur by surprise with my spells. If anyone asks where I am, one of the wounded took a sudden turn for the worse and I went to help, okay?"

Current time

Merixia is many things, but stealthy is not one of them. She does have the advantage of a distraction, though, in the form of the army's commanding officer demanding everyone's attention. The cleric arrives well before the army was told to show up, finding herself a comfortable hiding place. The mess tent is about a hundred feet from the command tent, and people facing the spot where Irabeth will likely stand will have their left side to the open flap of the mess tent. Hopefully nobody will think to look this way. She stations herself right next to the flap where she can easily see the command team in the front row.

Okay. I wait for Verene to tell me who has a magic aura and who's having guilty thoughts, hopefully that will be the same person. Cast cleromancy as quietly as I can and pray that that's enough for my dispel magic to actually work. Dispel, then try to get my hold person off before the culprit can run for it. Ugh, there are way too many moving parts in this plan and Merixia is responsible for two of the more crucial ones. But nobody has been able to come up with a simpler alternative that stands an equal chance of working, so here she is.

The cleric closes her eyes, lays a hand on her holy symbol, and silently prays for Ragathiel's support.

I'm assuming the army has a mess tent, since the Worldwound is prone to rain things like acid or eyeballs that should not be in the food.

Earlier...

"While I think the plan is good, there's still the chance Nurah, or Korryn or whomever else the tratitor might be, manages to shield their thoughts from Verene. Detect thoughts is sadly not guaranteed to work," Elliot says when the group is about to put it all into action. "Still, I would suggest we search the belongings of the prime suspects while they are confined to this meeting. Thesius, if you would be willing to do it, I can use Invisibility on you. If not, I will do it myself. It shouldn't require all of us to subdue one traitor when we're surrounded by friendly paladins."

@GM Verene's detect thoughts requires a willsave from Nurah and everyone else Verene targets with it. Afaik, they get the saving throw even if completely unaware.

Whatever is decided, his look softens when they are about to head out. "Still, be careful everyone. I'd hate to miss any of you at supper; not when I still need to break my losing streak on the cards." At times, it felt like all of his friends just had supernatural powers for both deception and seeing through any of his feeble deceptions, at least compared to him. Or perhaps he was just too distracted by Merixia's presence to pay much attention to any leisure game regardless.

Elliot would essentially ask for Irabeth's permission when we inform her of the plan and proceedings to do said sweep, having an invisible person go through the things of the suspects while everyone is occupied. I get the feeling Thesius is a bit busy, but he's obviously our best bet to perform something like such. But Elliot can do it just fine as well.

Earlier...

Thesius' eyes go wide as he listens to the conversation. It would appear much had happened since they last met. "Why are we talking of a spy?" he asks simply.

"Aron seems to be a paladin who has lost his faith after many ordeals. He believes the war unwinnable, so we did our best to assure him that our cause was not lost and necessary. I believe we made headway, but the thought of a spy paints the picture in another light."

Looking to his friends he inquires, "What has brought up the idea of their being a spy?"

At Elliot's request, he nods gravely that he would.

Later...

Silently he listens to Irabeth's words. His mind still racing from the night before.

Verene caught you two up on the Aron situation in whispers while waiting for Elliot and Merixia to get back, Thesius. I think you can assume he knows the information we learned through talking with Sosiel and Aron that caused us to think a spy was one possible explanation for the planted drugs — though not the only one. After Merixia and Elliot came back, Elliot summarized what they learned from aura sight, enchantment sight and locate object. That post is slightly incorrect since Wulfric would also have had no result to aura sight, but that was the information we had at the time and it's close enough.

Do we have two other tiefling prisoners? I don't recall them, and am pretty sure that all of the second group were executed.

Irabeth nods approvingly at Sosiel's declaration, then lifts up a gauntleted hand. "You're all here to bring the fight to the demons, to retake Drezen from its Abyssal conquerors. It is a monumental task, but we have far more advantages than any have since its fall. The demons are distracted, our champions mighty, and our foes unprepared."

She lowers her voice, her words utterly sincere. "But we cannot do that without trusting each other, the gods, and ourselves. So I ask of you all to do just that. Even in the face of great terrors, fight for one another, for Mendev, for the Crusade, and for all of Golarion!"

"I can't read Nurah, Wulfric, Akravash or Jan," Verene says to the others in a whisper. "The others seem to be fine. Arles feels... guilty for his grumbling and that this is justly aimed at him, but not angry, resentful or treacherous." She releases the spell, retreats to the back of the command tent and switches to detect magic before coming back to the front and peeking out again as Irabeth is getting to her final paragraph. She is especially interested now to see if there are any auras of abjuration, transmutation or illusion on Nurah. Other than that, she's looking for anyone who has magic items but no magic auras, meaning her detection spell is being blocked.

Just picked a First Child from before, hope that's okay. The two other tiefling prisoners are the two from the battle of Keeper's Canyon that you said were not remorseful but also not actively planning to betray us when they surrendered, GM. Since this was also pretty much the same situation Akravash was in, Elliot insisted on saving those two, to my knowledge.

Azira talks very little throughout their discussions about a spy, in large part because she knows she is ill-suited for such work. When Korryn and Wulfric are mentioned as possible suspects during their first conversation, she says only, "if it's Korryn, she'd have to be under some kind of magical control- she knows way too much about our time together to be an impostor, and Korryn would die before she'd serve the enemy willingly."

When Wulfric is brought up again the next day, she frowns. Through Verene's whisper magic she replies "he seems fully committed to the cause, and as loyal as can be... but, I must confess, I am bad at reading people. Would you like me to have him come stand before all of us to be questioned? I'm sure he would submit to it, and if he's innocent I'm sure he'd keep it all in confidence once we explain the purpose."

Sorry, crazy busy at work. We could probably check out Wulfric off camera to keep things moving? And, once the spy is revealed, I'll plan to preemptively use glitterdust on them if I win initiative.

"I can't read Nurah, Wulfric, Akravash or Jan," Verene says to the others in a whisper. "The others seem to be fine. Arles feels... guilty for his grumbling and that this is justly aimed at him, but not angry, resentful or treacherous."

Merixia frowns as she continues to watch and listen. That's not good, and it seems like Irabeth is starting to wrap up her speech. Hopefully Verene will be able to detect a spell on one of their suspects, or Elliot will find something in the tents. She's not holding her breath on that one though. Any properly paranoid spy would keep incriminating documents or items on their person at all times.

Yeah, checking Wulfric can happen off-screen. I'll also say that I'd like to wait for Thesius and Elliot to do their espionage, if they want.

"Magic sword on Arles, two potions on Jan, looking pretty much as expected there. Lots of magic on Nurah, unsurprisingly. It seems to be mostly magic items, but not all. There is definitely active abjuration magic on her that I did not expect. What are you...?" Verene breathes, half reporting in and half talking to herself as she peers at the emerging flickers of the magic auras on the items Nurah wears and carries. She is more worried by spells surrounding the small cloaked form itself, detectable before only by the slight distortions they made in the ambient energy field.

Taking 10 for 25 on the Knowledge (Arcana) check to identify any ongoing spell effect on Nurah. DC(s) are 20 + spell level. This does not take an action; if she knows she should just know. But we're stalling here for the simultaneous investigation's sake.

Verene, if you're invisible, you could also recast detect thoughts out of sight and come back while Irabeth's speech is going on to get a second attempt at Nurah, but you probably know that.

Elliot and Thesius set off in direction of the Bard's - the other one's - tent first. Whether cast by him or Elliot, Thesius ends up invisibly, and Elliot sits down nearby, casually sharpening Radiant Eclipse with a Whetstone. He was on the lookout for trouble, and could be called upon should Thesius require some sort of aid. Hopefully Thesius' superior skills would find something inside while the magus kept watch. If nothing happens, he waits for a moment where attention is not on him, then casually walks in to briefly join the search himself, cast detect magic inside the tent and look around, then leave again to stand watch.

The following depends on if we are projected to attack Drezen that same day or the next. If it is *not* the same day and his search would otherwise turn up empty:

Before leaving the tent, he closes his eyes and reaches for the reservoir of wardstone power within him as he takes another look around. Was there something that felt evil or off to the eyes of the countless angels and clergy who'd imbued the Wardstone, and now him?

Elliot uses mythic surge, which can be used after the result of the perception roll is revealed to turn it into a success if required.

Should someone ask him what he was doing there, he goes into deep arcanobabble on magical theory and the fascinating books on either that subject or history Nurah seemed to possess and how he'd been distracted by it, then leave.

Perception, search tent, +4 surge if otherwise fails: 1d20 + 8 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 8 + 4 = 28
Spellcraft Identify if we find magical items: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
Surge to add to perception if needed: 1d6 ⇒ 4

I'm hoping Thesius does better than I did.

Drezen is about a day and some change away. I'd say probably if you set out early today, you'd be there by early evening-ish of the 13th - assuming no other interruptions happen.

Verene's heart sinks, and her whisper in the message dies away for a moment. It returns again steady and calm, but somehow distant, the way it sounds when they are in battle. "Nurah is warded by a spell of undetectable alignment. Let us not pounce before the entire army, but draw her into the command tent before we go further."

She had not wanted to believe in an active, willing traitor amongst them, but the evidence now seems damning. She approaches Irabeth, lays an invisible hand on her shoulder and repeats in a whisper, not within the message, "Nurah is warded by a spell of undetectable alignment. Can we call a smaller command meeting to address this? Merixia is standing ready to dispel magic and hold her for questioning, and it might be less chaotic to do so when we are not before the entire company."

Verene's heart sinks, and her whisper in the message dies away for a moment. It returns again steady and calm, but somehow distant, the way it sounds when they are in battle. "Nurah is warded by a spell of undetectable alignment. Let us not pounce before the entire army, but draw her into the command tent before we go further."

Merixia smiles to herself, all teeth and the thrill of the hunt. Ha! Elliot and I were right! She's polite enough not to say so, though. At least not where Verene can hear.

As for this new twist in the plan? Personally, Merixia would rather start the festivities with lots and lots of paladins present to help catch Nurah if she manages to run or resist the hold person. But there is something to be said for doing this in a confined space, too. Speaking of which... "I think it would be a better idea to cast hold person first, tie her up and frisk her, wait for the spell to wear off and then try to dispel the undetectable alignment. Less opportunity for her to get away."

She's forgetting something. What is she forgetting? Merixia goes over the steps of their plan again, and smacks herself in the forehead. She forgot to cast owl's wisdom! That might make all the difference in whether or not her hold person works. As quietly as she can, the cleric recites the words to the spell.

Casting owl's wisdom, since I forgot to do so earlier. Hopefully casting in a whisper ~100 ft away is enough to avoid being overheard.

"As you like, then. I will also be standing by to hold her if she resists the first spell." Verene makes sure that Irabeth can hear her whisper as well as her friends.

Okay, let's get this party started?

Alright, is everyone ready? I suppose this makes it combat.

Combat Start

Surprise Round

Irabeth gives a slight nod, affirming her readiness.

Initiative order is Elliot, Thesius, Verene, Azira, Nurah, Irabeth, Merixia. The bolded characters are up, but can wait until Merixia goes to cast hold person.

Please situate your tokens where you are in the camp - I've put Elliot in what I have decided is Nurah's tent, but I don't know about anyone else's for certain. Further, please give me an up to date list of buffs on you all. I'm going to need that to figure out what the status spoiler should look like. It is quite inaccurate at the moment.

Pre-combat:
As soon as Merixia says through the message that she is about to cast, Verene ducks out of her rain-sheltered position at the front of the command tent (which I have decided is the blue one) and hurries around the side of its canvas walls to stand behind Irabeth, hoping that the knight's imposing frame and bulky armor will shield the vaguely person-shaped hole she makes in the falling droplets from notice for the few seconds it takes for things to start happening. Placing Verene at the start of combat in the square directly behind Irabeth. If Stealth is required, I've rolled it below.

Surprise round or first round of combat:
Verene waits to see what becomes of Merixia's spell. Delay until just after Merixia but before Nurah, especially if this is a first round instead of a surprise round.

Merixia peers out of her hiding spot. She can clearly make out Nurah's short stature and pale blonde hair in the front row. How convenient. The cleric starts chanting her spell as quietly as she can, sulfur yellow eyes focused on her target.

It's party time! Casting hold person on Nurah. Note that Merixia's Wisdom is currently 24 thanks to owl's wisdom for a Wis modifier of +7. So the save DC is 10 + 2 (spell level) + 7 (Wis modifier) = 19.

It looks like we've moved past the point where we were actively investigating Nurah to try and catch her. So rolling into the combat portion.

Pre-combat

Thesius unsure of Nurah's full capabilities will cast Heroism and Heightened Awareness upon himself.

Combat

Like Verene, Thesius will hold off to see the results of Merixia's spell.

Azira focuses for a moment and conjures a cloud of glittering dust, carefully positioning it to effect as few other soldiers as possible.

I moved the shape Verene left on the map for glitterdust to hit Nurah and (hopefully) only one other person.

Elliot is moving back, dejected at not having found anything even with the aid of Thesius, when there is a commotion up front and he sees Azira and Merixia begin casting their spells. "Crap! We're late!" he calls back to the bard, then swiftly takes to the air in hopes of getting a better view of the situation. He drew Righteous Eclipse as he flew, ready for anything - or so he thought. "Did we find them!?" he calls to his friends, not yet having received confirmation.

Activate Flight hex, fly over crowd. he is 15 ft above the ground.

Elliot, Verene has been communicating with you and Thesius through message. She cast it before the group split up and you went to search Nurah's tent, it doesn't require line of sight to send and receive messages, and I don't think you would have been out of its 160-foot range at any point. Here are the things she's said:

"I can't read Nurah, Wulfric, Akravash or Jan. The others seem to be fine. Arles feels... guilty for his grumbling and that this is justly aimed at him, but not angry, resentful or treacherous."

"Magic sword on Arles, two potions on Jan, looking pretty much as expected there. Lots of magic on Nurah, unsurprisingly. It seems to be mostly magic items, but not all. There is definitely active abjuration magic on her that I did not expect. What are you...?"

"Nurah is warded by a spell of undetectable alignment. Let us not pounce before the entire army, but draw her into the command tent before we go further."

"I think it would be a better idea to cast hold person first, tie her up and frisk her, wait for the spell to wear off and then try to dispel the undetectable alignment. Less opportunity for her to get away."

"As you like, then. I will also be standing by to hold her if she resists the first spell."

Surprise Round Midpoint

Elliot, still invisible, takes flight, soaring towards the meeting.

Thesius and Verene hold off from taking action, but Azira acts, unleashing a burst of golden-white glowing dust in front of her. While a handful of paladins shout in sudden surprise, many more draw their blades.

Nurah Will vs. DC 20, glitterdust: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20 Oh, that's surprising.
Irabeth Will vs. DC 20, glitterdust: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Irabeth grunts, but the sound of the swords being drawn prompts her to shout. "Hold your blades, Knights! This isn't an attack on you!"

The crusaders hesitate, allowing Merixia to cast her own spell. The magical energy whirls up from her bond with Ragathiel, and she unleashes it on Nurah... only to feel the halfling shove it away with an effort of supreme will.

Nurah Will vs. DC 19, hold person: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21 ... Wow, she's just lucky today, isn't she?

Thesius and Verene are up.

Remind me of your buffs, please. I've put the ones you have cast this combat. I'm afraid this is going to become a running theme, as you get more and more buffs to cast. xD

Azira cringes and calls out, "I'm sorry, Commander!" as the half-orc tries to blink away the blindness caused by her magic.

Obviously, I'd prefer I hadn't blinded Irabeth, but the Will save only negates the blindness, not the sparkling outline (so the spell will still stop Nurah from becoming invisible). As usual, I forgot that I do have a pre-combat buff now and didn't post anything about using it, but if I'm allowed to I would like to have activated divine bond to give Radiance the merciful weapon quality.

Prescience, 7/8 remaining: 1d20 ⇒ 9
A cold flash of premonition shows her her own hand outstretched at a specific angle, though she isn't sure what spell it is.

As the golden burst of Azira's magic clears and she sees Nurah looking glitter-covered and surprised but not obviously frozen in place, Verene reaches for the deep cool well of power that connects her to the threads of reality, and touches one clear option. She has always eschewed necromancy, but this is as close to a sure thing as they will find. She steps out from behind Irabeth and begins to cast, pulling a tiny dead wasp from her pouch.

With the first word of her chant, she suddenly appears from invisibility beside the Knight-Commander. On its final word, she flings one hand at Nurah, ending in the same position as she glimpsed just a moment ago, and a dark line of energy uncoils from it. It lashes at the halfling with the quickness of a whip, attempting to coil around her neck and drain her vitality.

Five-foot step, casting limp lash through Wild Arcana as the surprise round standard action.
Ranged touch attack, vs. Nurah flat-footed AC: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6 Wow, glad I used that Prescience. Total of 14 vs. flat-footed touch AC.
Penalty to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution: 1d6 ⇒ 2

"Nurah Dendiwhar," she calls, cold and carrying. "Would you care to explain why you are under a spell shielding you from these paladins' ability to detect evil?"

Thesius watching everything unfold casts vanish upon himself and moved forward while working to keep an eye on Nurah in case he needs to give chase.

Yep, Nurah's unable to disappear like she would otherwise prefer. I'll allow it this time, Azira, but please do keep it in mind in the future.

Surprise Round Wrap-Up

"It's fine, Azira." Irabeth says, her tone blunt.

Verene draws on the powers within her to hurl a spell at Nurah. Unfortunately, the halfling's small size looks like it is about to keep her from being struck - only for a burst of deja vu from an earlier vision prompts Verene to adjust her aim, striking home instead.

Nurah does not answer Verene's question even as Thesius approaches.

Round 1

Elliot, Thesius, Verene, and Azira are up. Unless Thesius and Verene count as having delayed last round, in which case they have to wait until afterwards. Not sure of the ruling on this.

Merixia had anticipate peril up, does that make a difference in the initiative order? As far as buffs go, all she has is that and owl’s wisdom.

Same question as Merixia. Merixia had anticipate peril granting a +5 to her initiative roll, agreed on beforehand in discussion and declared in gameplay before things went down. Verene delayed until just after Merixia's spell was cast so she could see the results of hold person before casting her own spell or not. So Verene's initiative count is now fixed at that point, just after Merixia. I'm going to declare actions as though Verene does act before Nurah, but if this is wrong, feel free to change it, GM.

"Until she goes fully limp, she can still move around, attack or cast spells. Be ready," Verene whispers to all her companions. She walks closer to Nurah, holding the end of the line of dark energy clenched in one fist. With a flick of her wrist, the wand of magic missile appears in the other hand. She stops just before the halfling, the wand held ready. Where before her voice was cold, now it is quieter, almost pleading, as she looks down at Nurah's cherubic face. "Haven't you anything to say for yourself? If there is an innocent explanation for all this, now would be the time." Still, the command word for the wand presses on the tip of her tongue.

Move action walk forward, swift action draw wand, standard to ready to fire the magic missile wand at Nurah to interrupt her if she tries to use any magic. Until one of her stats is penalized down to 1, the limp lash does not prevent her from acting normally, including talking and casting spells, so Verene wanted to warn the others of that.

Penalty to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution: 1d6 ⇒ 4 Nurah now has a total penalty of -6 to Strength, -6 to Dexterity and -6 to Constitution.

Thesius watches the scene unfold as he carefully make his way through the crowd. His eyes keeping at eye on the seemingly uneffected halfling.

Second round of Vanish.

I forgot about the anticipate peril. Current initiative order is Elliot, Merixia, Verene, Thesius, Azira, Nurah, Irabeth. Apologies for the confusion.

Merixia hisses a vehement curse in Infernal as she feels Nurah throw her spell off. Plan B it is, then. The cleric sprints toward her quarry in a furious clanking of armor, stopping once she's managed to close the range. Raising her holy symbol, Merixia seizes another spell from the starry void in her mind and begins chanting. A shimmering, translucent chain with hooks at either end appears next to Nurah and flings itself at the halfling.

Move and use a MP to cast chain of perdition for Dirty Trick (Entangle). I'm assuming it works like spiritual weapon in that the chain gets its own combat turn on Merixia's initiative.

Chain of Perdition Combat Maneuver: 1d20 + 6 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 7 = 27

Azira visibly leans away from the tendril of dark energy connecting Verene to the halfling as a look of concern and distaste creeps across her face. Still, she moves around to the far side of their prey and readies Radiance to strike if the halfling tries to flee.

readied attack (flank): 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 14 + 2 = 36
for (non-lethal): 1d8 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 13 + (2) = 16

confirm?: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 14 + 2 = 31
for another (non-lethal): 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Round 1 Wrap-Up

Elliot soars closer to Nurah, his weapon ready in case she attempts to escape or otherwise act against them.

Merixia summons a whirling chain that promptly binds the small halfling in its supernatural chains, and Verene draws a wand in preparation for further combat as her previous spell saps the halflling's strength.

Thesius continues his approach, while Azira circles around Nurah, dodging through the paladins, and readies herself to strike.

After a brief struggle, Nurah's body freezes, held still by Verene's spell.

Combat Over.

Nurah's lips twist in a scowl, before she sighs heavily. "Bound again, huh?" There is something deeply resigned about her words.

The Knights of Kenabres mill about, clearly confused. A sparkling Irabeth rubs her eyes a few times before speaking. "Apologies, soldiers, for the abruptness of these events. It came to the command staff's attention that there was a saboteur among our ranks, and we needed to weed them - or her, I suppose - out." She stares in Nurah's general direction.

Thesius takes the time to finish covering the distance to stand behind Nurah. She seemed unlikely to be a threat at this time, but he wanted to be ready in case of any attempts to escape.

After having the time to assess the capabilities of magic, he takes time to pull forth a handkerchief and promptly places within the halfling's mouth.

Looking to his companions, he explains. "Not being fully aware of her abilities, I think it prudent we keep her bound and gagged except for when it be necessary she not be. This should hopefully help prevent her from continuing to elude your attempts to determine her inclinations (Alightmnt)."

"That is distinctly not a denial." Verene stands before Nurah, chained in two ways by Merixia's spell and her own. "She will be paralyzed as long as I hold the end of the spell. Merixia, you wished to dispel her ward so Azira could check her nature for evil?"

She puts the wand in a free slot on her bandolier, then kneels and begins removing from Nurah's reach the magic items she sensed on the halfling before (except her armor) and weapons.

Irabeth shakes her head vigorously, and her eyes focus on the soldiers. "Knights of Kenabres, break camp. The command staff will handle this, and I'll make sure to tell you the results."

The crusaders comply surprisingly few grumbles - perhaps they are more disciplined in this matter than in the matter of looting the dead because it is not something quite so unsavory.

As they clear off, Nurah looks at Verene. "Why bother? You've made your choices." She says bitterly. "As the 'righteous' always do."