Protectors of Golarion (Wrath of the Righteous AP)

Game Master Sensen

"Thesius speaks the truth, Nurah. I admit that when I learned of your role as a demon spy and the reason for it, I was furious. But I see now, in retrospect, that I was wrong. I cannot truly say I would have done differently had someone purchased me as a slave and taken me from my family to then suicide his army in some far off war. I suspect many would have made a similar choice to yours, especially if it was the only way to survive."

He takes a deep breath and bows his head. "So, for that, I am sorry. I, too, would like to offer you a chance at redemption. But I am just one man and the Sarenites do not have absolute sway in such matters. If you follow us and genuinely aid us in this fight, it would likely go a long way in convincing the other crusaders you deserve a better fate than the gallows or prison."

Wealday, the 17th of Rova, 4713
Temporary Prison, Crusader Camp

"You are under no obligation to accompany us into the fortress, Nurah," Verene adds after Thesius and Elliot have broached the idea. "It is, of course, a dangerous mission, and I would not blame you for wanting to remain here. Your status will not immediately change, whatever your choice. I will argue for clemency either way, though I must agree that if it goes well, this operation will be a major turning point, and it might go some way toward convincing Crusade leaders that you have renounced allegiance to the Abyss. We would expect the same conduct from you as from any ally, no more and no less."

Previous Day.

Now.

Nurah's small shoulders bob up in a shrug at Thesius' apology. "You're busy, I'm sure." She replies cautiously. At his invitation, however, her eyebrows shoot upwards. "You want me to go into the Citadel with you?" She asks, incredulous.

A few of the other prisoners in the vicinity of Nurah's prison shout offers to join them in her stead, but the guards' glares eventually quell their... eagerness. The halfling looks annoyed at herself, shaking her head slightly, focuses on the party once more as Elliot and Verene offer their perspectives.

Muttering something under her breath, Nurah looks up at the party. "'Redemption,' huh?" There's a sting of cynicism in her voice, but she doesn't reject the request outright. "It'd be nice to be out of these chains," she gestures with her fully locked hands, "but why - no, obviously you wouldn't trust me. Of course, you don't need to, given how skilled they say you are."

She looks a little confused, but thoughtful. "... I'll try. But I want to warn you that there are a lot of ways I could betray you - depending on how many demons and other forces are left in there, it wouldn't be hard to call down the whole fortress on you." Her eyes fall to her bound hands and she shrugs helplessly, showing vulnerability for the first time they've seen since her capture. "I don't want to at the moment, but... I don't know how easily I'd be convinced if someone there tried to sway me."

Azira's skepticism is clear throughout the conversation about including Nurah in the incursion, but she holds her tongue. Once they are with the halfling, actually discussing the venture seems troubled.

While the spy confesses her likely betrayal, the paladin leans over to Verene and quietly asks, "Can we afford another person if the plan is to teleport in and out? We are already six, with Wulfric, whom we know to be a solid ally... How many people can you move with a single spell?"

Thesis listens intently to her words, nodding as she works her way through her thoughts. A warm smile finds it's way to his face as he hears her accept the offer and warn them of her possible betrayal.

"You underestimate yourself and overestimate those around you. We all have to deal with temptations and I dare say we have all likely failed to choose what one might consider the proper path at one point or another. The simple fact that you are not simply jumping at the opportunity, but warning us of the possibilities speaks well of you."

Briefly he turns away to gesture to one of the guards, "We need her freed of these chains." before turning back once more. "We're to depart in short order and I would see you geared prior to this excursion. Please be careful in there. We can hold our own and I would prefer not to see you fall within."

"Can we afford another person if the plan is to teleport in and out? We are already six, with Wulfric, whom we know to be a solid ally... How many people can you move with a single spell?"

Verene's eyes glow white for a brief second, and she answers equally quietly, "Eight in addition to myself, if I use the Wardstone power to stabilize the portal and key it to those others. I must do so anyway to take all of us. Nurah's presence changes little on that front."

In response to Nurah, Verene nods, businesslike. "Trust is earned, but one must have opportunities to earn it. I appreciate your candor, Nurah, so I will be candid with you. I am confident that we can escape with or without you if we must. With what you have told us already, from a selfish perspective, it would be much worse for you if you were to fall into the demons' hands again. This consideration is why I wished to be sure you knew it is only an opportunity and not a demand. But if instead the infiltration goes well, you could emerge from all this truly free for the first time. If I do not fully trust you, I still trust that spite is a less powerful motivator than hope."

She never insisted on taking Nurah's armor, but once Nurah is unchained, she returns the halfling woman's scroll of cure moderate wounds and makes sure she has, at the least, a suitable cold iron weapon and cold iron ammunition for a bow.

If we got a specific weapon from Nurah before, I have no record of it with the other things that were from her, but Verene would give it back here. I believe Thesius is wearing her belt of mighty constitution +2, which is a bit awkward. Verene would not return her spy gear like the wand of modify memory or scroll of sending, and the scroll of dimension door has been used up anyway so that Verene could learn the spell.

Nurah's martial equipment was just a mundane short sword and sling, as well as her +1 chain shirt. She isn't much of a fighter.

Nurah snorts softly at Thesius' words, sparing a brief glance at Verene and Azira as they mutter to one another, but nods. "Well, maybe you're right. Maybe you're not, and you overestimate me." She sighs, then extends her hands. "Alright. When are we leaving, and what are we doing?"

One of the guards (rather reluctantly) unlocks the halfling's chains. She flexes her fingers, sighing with some relief. "Mm. Well, you're not wrong." She replies to Verene. "But victory earns a lot of leeway with them."

Although Verene returns most of Nurah's equipment, it turns out that there aren't really any cold iron weapons that fit her size. At best they have a few short swords and daggers, which are still not ideal for her hands.

Sense Motive - DC 21: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

"We leave shortly, we wish not to give them a chance to realize our plans," he says evenly.

He nods to the guard in thanks for assisting with the manacles.

Would there be any cold iron sling bullets? I feel like it's better to keep her at a range as is. He can also part with one of his cold iron daggers for her. It would be a penalty for her to use it, but it would be a cold iron weapon and not garner the penalty for not being proficient.

Otherwise I feel like we're likely ready to start the infiltration of Drezen.

There definitely are cold iron sling bullets, albeit not many. It'd take time to make more, though it's definitely feasible. Still, you could probably scrounge up about two dozen.

Nurah rubs her hands vigorously. "I guess so." She says. "I've got a fair few tricks that should help you with any battles we face." She gives the heroes a quick rundown of her capabilities.

As a quick description of her capabilities: Nurah's got Spellsong, 22 rounds of bardic performance per day, inspire courage +2, countersong (useful against suggestion-wielding succubi), distraction, and dirge of doom. Spells-wise she has cure serious wounds, displacement, alter self, invisibility, hideous laughter, grease, and cure light wounds. (She has others, but they're more useful for spying and such.)

She's very physically weak at Strength 6, but is extremely acrobatic, stealthy, and convincing at a +15 - meaning she could bluff enemies into thinking she's bringing you in as prisoners and/or that she's still on their side.

Verene looks at Nurah keenly as she speaks of the demons' penchant for rewarding victory, then smiles slightly. They both know that demons are too unpredictable to count on any reward, and Nurah's warning is for the form of the thing. "Well, with the formalities out of the way, then. I am satisfied."

Prescience, 9/10 remaining: 1d20 ⇒ 6
Sense Motive DC 21, tears to wine: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 3 + 2 = 25

She listens seriously to Nurah's capabilities, putting them to memory. While some of it overlaps with Wilfrid's skill set, she suggests a default course of action that will not do so, warns her that they expect to be fighting Staunton Vhane fairly directly after they teleport in, and gives her the resized cold iron longspear prepared last night right before sleeping, for just this eventuality.

If we're about to leave, Verene would have already cast her longest-lasting buffs, including mage armor, longstrider and tears to wine, but I wouldn't assume she has heroism for Rova 17 yet. I'll get her status line and spells for today updated sometime soon. Probably similar to yesterday's but with two copies of dimension door, for sure.

Satisfied with Nurah's pledge (he didn't try detecting falsehoods as he wished to give her the benefit of the doubt, plus he wouldn't be able to catch a presumed master spy at lying anyway), Elliot begins heading back to his tent to turn in for the night. On the way, he mingles a bit with the crusaders en route, chatting about the course of the battle and the siege and offering what words of encouragement he could. He gives Merixia a chaste kiss on the hand on parting, resolving to be as focused and rested for the coming day as he could possibly be. Unless she has other plans; he's probably not hard to convince :)

The next day, he makes his way back over to the command tent and waits for everyone to make their last minute preparations for the assault, then begins putting his supporting magics on the others to the best of his ability.

I'll go with roughly the same party and self buff setup as last time. 1 MP to cast Shared Training on Merixia, Therius and Azira to give them Outflank and Paired opportunists as bonus feats for 100 minutes. Then 2 MP to cast Keen Edge on Merixia's, Azira's, Thesius' and his own weapon to make all weapons have Keen/double crit rate for 80 minutes (Elliot and Meri have it for 100 minutes). So he goes into the fort with 4 MP left. His other buffs: Alter Self (grippli again) for 19 minutes, Longarm for 8 minutes, Blur for 8 minutes, Blade Tutor's spirit for 8 minutes, and Shield from the wand (1 minute increments he keeps refreshing). Finally, as a new buff, he uses almost all his remaining gold to cast Visualization of the Body to increase his max hp by 8 for 24 hours (and it can heal him once for 13 ish hp).

Wilfrid!? That was a weird autocorrect. Sorry, Wulfric.

When everyone is ready and they have moved around to the back side of the fortress to be reasonably close to Vhane's office, Verene casts her shorter protections, including the one that koboldifies her. She is well wrapped in her warm clothes and a layer of furs again, having forgone the spell to endure harsh weather, and her white-scaled face looks incongruous poking out of the fur-lined hood of her coat.

Picturing the office, she takes a deep breath and begins to chant, sketching with precision in midair the outline of a doorway with runes at its corners. Her slitted yellow eyes glow white as she adds a secondary and then a tertiary phrase, looking at each of her companions in turn. At the end of the sentence, Verene simply vanishes. The door she sketched is now a portal made of glowing silver lines that hangs in midair, perfectly visible to the companions and Nurah. Instead of the cold outside courtyard, it clearly shows a view of the inside of the fortress.

Buffs up: mage armor 8 hours, merge with familiar 8 hours, heightened awareness 80 minutes, message 80 minutes, tears to wine 80 minutes, alter self 19 minutes, protection from evil 8 minutes, mirror image 8 minutes with 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 images, shield 9 rounds. If and when the fight with Staunton triggers she'll drop heightened awareness for a +4 bonus to that Initiative check. Her spells in profile are up to date for this day, including which ones have been used already. After casting Mythic dimension door, she is at 6/7 uses of mythic power. 9/10 Prescience remaining.

Everyone has tears to wine 80 minutes. Thesius also has protection from evil 8 minutes. No haste until we're in there and Staunton is in sight.

Earlier that morning

The transition to the waking world hits Merixia like a hammer blow. She stares up at the tent roof, breathing heavily and trying to figure out what's going on. There were angels, warrior angels, teaching her to fight. No, not how to fight, how to fight differently. The rage that might be her or might be Ragathiel or might be her infernal ancestor burned within her.

I guess this is what Ragathiel meant by 'something new'. Not that I don't appreciate it, but gods, I feel like I've been up all night. No rest for the weary in war, though. The cleric drags herself out of her bedroll to start another day.

Current time

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (14) + 19 = 33

"Glad to have you aboard, Nurah." Merixia smiles down at her. It's obvious to her trained eye that the halfling has no plans to betray them, and her objections are simply due to the fact that the Crusade has been her enemy for so long. Old habits die hard. "I try to keep an eye on everyone, but demons do tend to be distracting. Please let me know if you're injured in a way that isn't obvious at first glance."

Buffs immediately prior to infiltration: heroism, magic circle against evil, weapon of awe, ironskin. If they'll be flying, add shield of wings.

Alright, time to do buffs. Yikes, this is always a headache. xD Current status line below.

Once they have recruited Nurah, the champions meet up with Irabeth, Anevia, and Aravashnial. The Knight-Commander nods at them. "Morning, all of you. You seven are heading into the Citadel, but while you're gone, we've decided on a few things that others will do which might help out."

"I'm planning on sneaking around and doing a little sabotage here and there - nothing that'll help you fight directly, but I'm going to harass the people inside." Anevia says with a cheerful smile. "Sabotage siege engines, sniping the odd lurker, that sort of thing. Aron's going to help out, so we'll cause some chaos in different parts of the citadel. Don't worry too much, though - we're going to run as soon as we harass them. Sosiel is going to be our backup." Thanks to Anevia and Aron's work, all denizens of the citadel will have a -2 penalty on their initiative rolls. Thanks to Sosiel, they're not at risk of getting injured enough to rest.

"I intend to scavenge the ruins here for magical supplies." Aravashnial says. "I doubt there's much, but I think I spotted a few magical auras here and there." Aravashnial can salvage some one use magical items - potions and scrolls - from the ruins.

"I'm willing to join you in this fight, myself." Irabeth says. "But I understand if you would prefer to minimize the numbers - I don't know how well you can teleport eight people in."

"You're teleporting in?" Nurah looks startled. "That seems risky. Do you know where you're headed?"

You might want to give a summary of your plans for everyone's benefit (though not necessarily IC), since it's been a bit. Insofar as I understand it, you're planning on teleporting into Vhane's office to ambush him, then head over to the chapel, free the mind-controlled crusaders, and investigate what looks like the Sword of Valor?

Last week was busy, and this week is too, but I’ll keep an eye out for combat and post as quickly as I can when it comes.

With Radiance’s aid, Azira and “Wilfrid” join in the flurry of preparatory spellcasting. The sword-knight calls upon the golden blade’s power to wrap herself in a veil of heaven, (+2 sacred bonus to AC and saves vs evil outsiders; 40 minutes). Meanwhile, the bard casts lucky number on himself (1d20 ⇒ 3) and the paladin (1d20 ⇒ 4), and then adds featherstep and heroism for Azira.

Lucky number lasts 24 hours. Featherstep and heroism will both last an hour.

"I'm willing to join you in this fight, myself. But I understand if you would prefer to minimize the numbers."

"I'm sure you would be a strong ally, commander. But wouldn't it be better for you to remain here to lead the crusaders in our absense?" Elliot responds, looking to his allies for their input on her offer. "It is what has worked well for us thusfar."

"You're teleporting in? That seems risky. Do you know where you're headed?"

"Only the most dangerous place we could possibly go to. Which for us is pretty much par of the course," Elliot jokes, barely restraining himself from answering along the lines of 'into certain doom'. "Don't worry, Nurah. We scouted the area extensively and know the layout fairly well. We also have a map. But if you have any suggestions, feel free to make them." He adds more seriously as he gestures towards the map.

Can Wulfric or Thesius grant a heroism to Elliot, perhaps to Verene as well before we go?

@ GM Elliot will activate the shield wand and 1 minute of his flight hex right before we teleport.

My second level spells are pretty limited and I was hoping to save a few for eagle’s splendor (which is why I didn’t put heroism on myself, though I’m still debating that if only to help with my saves).

As they outfit Nurah, Thesius will return the belt of mighty constitution to her. He noted to her that he could not promise she would get to keep it at this time, but that he wanted to make sure she was taken care of while they were inside.

He thanks the others who will be assisting from outside the citadel and agrees with Elliot. "I do believe having you out here to quickly align our efforts is for the best Irabeth. While your strength in combat I'm sure would be a boon, your ability to lead is crucial as well."

As they get ready to breach, he will cast his own buffs.

He casts Heightened Awareness upon himself (70 Minute duration).
He casts Heorism on himself, Elliot, Nurah, and Verene (70 Minute duration).

Sounds good, Elliot. Here's the final(?) setup:

Last call for the buffs. Also, anyone want to accept or decline Irabeth's offer of joining you in the Citadel?

Satisfied with his preparations and the plethora of blessings from his friends, Elliot stands ready to go. Just before they head off, he whispers to his scimitar. "All right, Eclipse. Let me know if you recognize anything around here... if nothing else, when we finish, I'd like to honor your previous wearer in some way. We owe her a lot, I fee."

After which he activates his wand, flight, and approached Verene for the teleportation.

@Thesius Thanks!

@GM the armor values in the spoiler screen do not seem to be updated for the buffs except for perhaps Azira. I updated my stat screen for the final buffs. Also, in case you missed it, Both Elliot and Thesius are advocating for Irabeth to stay behind to lead the army.

Busy traveling day yesterday. Looks like I didn't have my status line fully updated for all the buffs I had declared, sorry about that. Status line should be accurate now. In your format, GM:

Pre-Infiltration Command Meeting
"Distracting the fortress's defenders with other attacks and sabotage while we go straight to its heart should be very useful. Thank you both. And Master Aravashnial, I should be very glad of it if you are able to find any interesting scrolls especially. Good luck in the search." Verene, still human-shaped for now, smiles at the determined faces of the command staff. She answers Irabeth, "I can take two more people than we currently have — a total of nine, counting myself — with one spell by using the Wardstone power. You can be included, Lady Irabeth, and we will still have one slot left over if we discover someone in the fortress we need to extract instantly. Your presence would be very welcome, of course, but I must reluctantly agree with Elliot and Thesius. If something unforeseen goes terribly wrong, the army will still need its leader. On the other hand, no creature on earth deserves a good smiting from you more than Staunton Vhane. I could not blame you for wanting a rematch!"

Personally, I think it would be very narratively fitting for Irabeth to be involved in the showdown with Staunton Vhane. But if we're trying to be (somewhat) realistic and practical, it's probably a bad idea for her to risk herself like that. I don't know how a paladin of Iomedae would feel about that, though. Basically both I and Verene think it should be up to her in-character. The dimension door certainly has room for her if she wants it.

Merixia bites her lip, visibly conflicted. "I have to agree with Verene. In your shoes, I would absolutely want vengeance on Vhane, and I would want to take it personally. But you're also the most experienced commander we have." She gives the paladin a rueful smile. "This is why I don't want to be in charge."

Thesius' HP is 64 currently with having passed the belt to Nurah to help make sure she does not die. He used his last 2nd level spell on her to provide her with Heroism as well. Not sure if you were planning on adding her to the list.

Crap, you're right, Elliot. I somehow missed that. I think I've got everything settled, so I'm going to move us forwards, somewhat. I won't be putting Nurah's stats in the status spoiler, but I do have her things all noted down.

The Knight-Commander chuckles dryly. "You're right, of course. I had to offer, but there are other duties I've got to handle." She waves away the suggestion of vengeance. "Much though I'd like to finish him, I think I can entrust that to you well enough."

I'm doing a short one today, since I don't think I can handle the amount of juggling that the next big post will take - sorry about that, but it's a bit of a heightened stress period for me these next few days.

"I will smite the betrayer on your behalf, Commander," Azira offers, raising her fist to her chest in salute.

Turning her attention to their mage, she asks, "Verene, once we've killed the demon or demons behind... what you saw being done with the prisoners, and freed them, will you be able to teleport them out of the citadel or will we need to keep them alive while we clear a path out?"

I'm doing a short post before Verene's answer, because Irabeth has fought Vhane before, and will share what she remembers of him.

The Knight-Commander smiles. "I've every confidence in you, Azira - and your fellows, as well." She grows solemn. "But be careful. Vhane is our opposite - an antipaladin, if you would. He can strike fear even into the hearts of those bolstered by the gods, and fighting him is to fight despair as well." She continues with a brief summary of her experiences fighting him.

Vhane was an antipaladin of Baphomet when she fought him. He thus has the usual slew of smite good, detect good, etc. His glaive is magical - it transformed from a hammer into a glaive when she discovered his treachery. He also has a fiendish dire wasp as a mount, which is how he escaped the battle with Irabeth. He's also a dwarf, with all that that implies, of course.

"Verene, once we've killed the demon or demons behind... what you saw being done with the prisoners, and freed them, will you be able to teleport them out of the citadel or will we need to keep them alive while we clear a path out?"

"I saw seven people in the room — too many to transport at once along with our group. Assuming we can liberate all or most of them. Either I would have to teleport them first, and then come back for you; or, there is a very short path to the broken wall of the fortress where the eye entered yesterday, by which they or we might make our exit if healthy. Those corridors were already clear, from what I saw then. If we can only open the doors for them, it should not be difficult to escort them there. And perhaps some of the knights of the regular army could wait for us near that broken section of wall, to guide them back to camp and get them situated." Verene looks hopefully to Irabeth. "Regardless, I am ready to cast some shorter protective spells and then the short-range teleportation."

Merixia nods to Irabeth. "Good thing I prepared unbreakable heart today, then. Figured someone in the keep would try that sort of thing. I'll hang back for the first few seconds in case one of us needs a boost to beat his fear and despair abilities."

"All right. We have a solid plan both for the infiltration and extraction of the prisoners. It should be enough to go on for a first pass and see what is really down there ourselves. Is everyone ready to go?" Elliot asks, still standing ready to go.

Going to finally move us forwards!

Once everyone has prepared fully for the teleportation and made their way close enough to the Citadel that it is possible, Verene invokes her spell, and summons the dimension door in a display of magical might that surprises Aravashnial (who is present to witness).

They heroes rush through, emerging into their destination.

Which I realize now we haven't actually specified - if you want to catch them by surprise, you're going to want to teleport to the bedroom next door to the place where Verene spotted Staunton. Otherwise it'll take you actions to get through the portal that will give them the chance to respond and take away your surprise round. Any thoughts on which one you'd prefer? I'd recommend the former, so you aren't attacked as soon as you get in and have to fight through the portal.

Room next door sounds good to me. Maybe we could even take a second in there to confirm Vhane is where we expect him to be before using shorter duration buffs?

I agree with Azira. Also happy to finally move forward!

Sure, the disused bunk room next door is fine with me. Let's do it! I was figuring that the party wouldn't be able to act in the surprise round other than being portaled, but obviously neither would anyone in the office since they were the ones surprised, and then combat would just begin for everyone with Round 1. But this is good too.

Incidentally, it looked like everyone's icon was super huge compared to the map, if each square is supposed to be 5' x 5' as normal — and I think it is supposed to be at that scale, since some of the doors are single doors that are just 1 map square across. So, I scaled our icons down so that each icon only takes up one square, and put us in the bunkroom. Nurah does not seem to have an icon yet. I didn't touch Staunton or the two half-fiend minotaurs, so possibly they still need to be rescaled.

For other players: GM Worldwound pointed out earlier that the winged minotaurs are half-fiends and not just fiendish, and I was imprecise in conveying that through Verene earlier. But she would have known and reported the difference. Half-fiends will have DR/magic instead of DR/cold iron or DR/good. But everyone usually attacking with a weapon definitely has a magic weapon by now, so that should be fine. Staunton himself could definitely have DR/cold iron or/and DR/good; makes sense to prepare for both if you need to.

Verene waits a tense few moments in the disused bunk room as the others pop into being around her, listening for evidence that their arrival was marked in any way but the silent plumes of disturbed dust. Staunton Vhane should be in his office; she listens for this too. She whispers through the message, "We're in the room just beside the office. If Vhane is there and the door is unlocked, rush in on my signal." Thamyris briefly pops out of her kobold horns to listen at the door she indicates as well.
Perception, Verene, heightened awareness, heroism, tears to wine: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 26
Perception, Thamyris, tears to wine: 1d20 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 16 + 2 = 28 In case anyone was wondering, Thamyris drinks his wine out of an acorn cap goblet Verene made for him specially.

She waits for these things to be determined (and for the door to be unlocked if it needs to be), then counts down from three with her fingers and casts the quickening spell on her friends as one of them throws the door open.
Spellcasting is pretty loud, so I don't think we should take the risk that it will be heard and lose us the surprise round. I'm planning on Verene's surprise round action being to cast haste on everyone, including Nurah and Wulfric. If other PCs end up before her in initiative order, please either delay until just after her, or don't get farther than 30 feet away during your surprise round. Her Initiative in status line is +18, already factoring in +4 from dropping heightened awareness.

Everyone gets haste 8 rounds. Verene's AC and Reflex save are updated to reflect this. She also has heroism 70m noted in her status line now when it wasn't before, and I have already applied it to her saving throw bonuses as well. Thanks Thesius!

Sounds like a plan. Do we want Thesius to check the door first?

Thesius gives Verene a motion to hold on her casting while moving quietly to the door to check if it's trapped or locked.

Perception: 1d20 + 24 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 24 + 2 + 2 = 30

Please feel free to roll disable device for him if it's either. Current bonus is +20.

Once he has confirmed the way is ready, he motions back to Verene while readying his spear and to open the door for the others.

"Anyone else feeling a bit self-conscious over having not one, not two, but three bards with us? Suppose I'd better make sure I make a good impression," Elliot messages, blade drawn. His grin fades, replaced with intense focus as Thesius and Theramys creep towards the door...

Thanks for your help, Verene. Unfortunately, it looks like Large is too big to fit to the way the grid is set up, meaning the minotaurs are gonna look a little funny, unless someone with better spatial awareness than me is able to do it.

The heroes emerge into the abandoned bunk room, where they launch their final preparations for the battle ahead.

With that finished, the heroes burst out of the door, ready to fight. Rich appointments of fine furniture and plush carpet decorate this oddly shaped chamber. A mahogany desk with several bookshelves occupies the southeast corner, while expansive liquor cabinets follow the curving northern wall. Two doors lead south, one of which they have emerged through, one leads west, and another leads northeast.

Combat Start

Three people are present - two oversized winged minotaurs, and the dwarf that must be Staunton Vhane. Vhane and one of the minotaurs lined in red look startled, caught off-guard by the sudden emergence, but one, lined in green seems prepared. She lifts her axe, bellowing in rage.

Surprise Round

Initiative Order is Thesius, ???, Elliot, Verene, Azira, minotaurs, ?????, Nurah, Merixia, and Staunton. Bolded characters are up. As a reminder to both you and myself - minotaurs are never caught flat-footed.

I reduced the border weight of the colored borders around some tokens to 1 pixel, and shrank the tokens a little bit more, so it looks like everything should fit now. It doesn't look like the +4 from heightened awareness and +1 from additional Dex from alter self was applied to Verene's initiative roll, which is fine, but I'll just keep the heightened awareness then. Surprise round standard action: cast haste.

Verene finishes casting her spell with three precisely enunciated words and a crisp snap of the shred of dried root in her hand. All of the companions, as well as Nurah and Wulfric, feel that the outside world seems to slow down: a side effect of the fact that they themselves are now perceiving, moving and reacting with increased speed.

Five overlapping pairs of slitted yellow eyes lock on Vhane from behind Azira's hip. Wreathed in obvious battle magics, the little white kobold says with calm politeness, "Hello, Sir Staunton. What a pleasant room you have here! No, no, do not trouble yourself — we will let ourselves in. We just have a few small matters of Crusade business to discuss."

*seconds ago*
When Verene begins summoning the portal that will take them to the doorstep of Staunton Vhane's rooms, Wulfric begins casting a spell of his own, enchanting Azira with even greater presence. (casting eagle's splendor for +4 Cha for the next 6 minutes.)

*Now*
The bard waits quietly until the door swings open, and then begins to orate, a rousing tale of one of the many occasions on which Iomedae bested Baphomet.

activating inspire courage; everyone should get the +2 hit/damage from that, but I think flagbearer will only reach to the nearest minotaur

*before stepping through the portal*
Azira prays over Radiance for a moment, summoning a celestial spirit to sharpen its edge. using divine bond to add +1 keen for 8 minutes.

*before the door opens*
The savagely beautiful paladin reaches down with her free hand and gently touches one of the medals she'd received from the crusade. Activating righteous medal of agility (+2 sacred bonus to Dex, 1 min).

*surprise round*
As soon as Verene's spell is cast, Azira summons wardstone power (swift action, fleet charge) and dashes nearly through the next chamber, tumbling to a spot on the other side of their quarry and bringing Radiance twirling towards the dwarf in introduction.

acrobatics vs AoO (heroism): 1d20 + 21 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 21 + 2 = 41

fleet charge, hopefully vs ff? (hero/haste/ic): 1d20 + 20 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 20 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 36
for (ignoring DR): 1d8 + 19 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 19 + 2 = 29

Then she follows up with a second slash (as standard action).

Radiance, vs ff? (hero/haste/ic): 1d20 + 20 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 20 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 28
for (ignoring DR): 1d8 + 19 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 19 + 2 = 23

It looks like I have enough movement to stay out of reach of the minotaurs and just tumble by Vhane, but if not just apply to acrobatics check to them to. Also, I'll try to parry the first attack that comes my way.

parry: 1d20 + 20 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 20 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 37

@ Azira your sword is already Keen from Elliot's Keen Edge spell which lasts 80 minutes. Perhaps you can use a different bond buff?

Surprise round:

Magcially quickened once again, Elliot, seeing Staunton Vhane himself, knew this was as hard a 'go' time as it was ever going to get. He put up his most power defensive spell as the same time as he enhanced Righteous Eclipse to strike even more true. "Why, Staunton? Why sell out the nation to the demons?"

After enhancing himself to pretty much the highest level he could, he falls into the door opening, shielding his sister and the others in the first seconds!

Standerd action: Mirror Image: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Swift: Arcane point: arcane enhancement to increase eclipse's enhancement bonus by 2 for 1 minute. Let's hope three images is enough. After that he 5ft steps into the gap Azira just left.

Thanks, Elliot! With all the buffing going on I had missed that. I’ll just put the whole +2 into increasing the enhancement bonus (upto +4); that means all those attack and damage rolls should be +1 higher. Also, the damage from my second attack doesn’t bypass DR at all, I accidentally included that from the first attack (I mean, it penetrates DR normally for a +4 cold-iron weapon, but it doesn’t ignore all DR like the mythic attack).

Seeing as Thesius is first in the round, I'm not adding the buffs from the surprise round until we get into the 1st round of combat.

Thesius calls upon the supernatural power they each have been granted and quickly bursts through the door to take up a position to prevent the enemy from blocking off the doorway. Lashing out not once, but twice with his long spear at the first minotaur (red-lined).

(Swift action - Fleet Charge, Standard Action - Attack)

+1 Cold Iron Longspear Attack with Fleet Charge: 1d20 + 8 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 8 + 4 = 24 (+8 base, +4 Fleet Charge)
+1 Cold Iron Longspear Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 (+4 Base)

+1 Cold Iron Longspear Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27 (+8 base)
+1 Cold Iron Longspear Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 (+4 Base)

+1 Cold Iron Longspear Attack Crit Confirmation: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20 (+8 base)
+1 Cold Iron Longspear Damage Additional Damage from Crit: 2d8 + 8 ⇒ (8, 8) + 8 = 24 (+4 Base)

Thanks a lot, Verene. You, uh, may need to do some further adjustments if I fail in the future. :P This is gonna be a long combat, I think/hope.

Surprise Round Midpoint

Verene conjures the now-familiar spell that accelerates everyone in her party. I assume she's including Nurah in that. The others feel their limbs lighten and the world seems to slow down.

Wulfric begins his stirring tale, brandishing his banner and bringing a renewed inspiration to the others as Azira draws on the power of her tie to Iomedae to empower Radiance further. The sword blazes in her hand as she rushes out past the winged minotaur to strike a rapid series of blows at Vhane. As she arrives next to him, she feels a chill of fear - the first she's felt in quite some time - as his own aura of dread eats away at the courage endowed on her by Iomedae.

It is not enough to save him, however, as the traitorous dwarf is unable to react at all as Radiance[/ui]'s golden edge slides gracefully through his spiked armor, cutting into his flesh several times. Blood oozes out of his wounds, but he looks more alarmed than hurt.

Elliot calls out to the fallen dwarf as he summons up several more images of himself. Meanwhile, [i]Righteous Eclipse releases its golden corona and Elliot takes a swift step to where Azira had moved from.

For clarity's sake, I'm doing the initiative blocks when you all post in whatever order you post in, Thesius. It helps make planning easier.

Thesius rushes out of the room, thrusting his spear at the somewhat unprepared minotaur. However, the demonic creature whirls reflexively, deflecting the first few attacks, only for the rest to pierce through and stab deep into its side. It shrieks as blood sprays back at the half-elf.

Its green-lined counterpart howls, gesturing sharply at Thesius, and an eruption of cold, cloying miasma of darkness bursts out from and into the door behind him, striking through to hit the siblings and Merixia as well as the archeologist. The heroes limbs weaken, but with the power of their magic and the raw willpower they have achieved since Armasse, they fight off the worst of it.
Unholy Blight Damage to Good Characters: 3d8 ⇒ (6, 4, 5) = 15
Verene Will, magic circle against evil, heroism: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 11 + 2 + 2 = 28
Merixia Will, magic circle against evil, heroism, partial cover: 1d20 + 12 + 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 12 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 31
Elliot Will, magic circle against evil: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 2 = 20
Thesius Will, heroism, protection from evil: 1d20 + 8 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 8 + 2 + 2 = 19
No one's sickened, and everyone takes only 7 damage! Fortunately, Wulfric is outside its range. Nurah is, too, but she'd be immune anyways.

Nurah quickly chants something, drawing herself upright as she does so, and pulls out her sling, ready to fight.

Merixia is up.

Before entering Verene's portal

Time to cast the more short-lived spells. Merixia launches into a series of spells; crusader's edge upon her sword, bull's strength to strengthen her blows, divine favor to guide her. And finally, something new from her dreams of Ragathiel's celestial boot camp. Her sword glows with a steady golden light as she invokes the power of Heaven.

Current time

Righteous fury flares up within her at the sight of Staunton Vhane, like embers suddenly whipped into a wildfire by the wind. The greatest traitor of the Crusade, the man who cost so many lives, and he's right there! Merixia lets out a wordless scream and charges in, somehow keeping enough of her wits to circle around the minotaur standing in the way. She stops next to Azira and delivers a vicious slash to the traitorous dwarf.

Guess what time it is? That's right! It's RAGE TIME! +4 Str and Con, +2 morale to Will saves, +16 bonus HP, -2 AC. Also using Mythic Power Attack, Furious Focus, Destructive Smite, and Holy Lance.

AC: 19 + 2 deflection magic circle against evil + 5 natural ironskin + 1 dodge haste - 2 Rage = AC 25

Strength: 21 + 1 bull's strength + 4 Rage = 26

Attack + Rage + heroism + haste + bull's strength + divine favor + Inspire Courage: 1d20 + 13 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 13 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 37

Damage + Mythic Power Attack + Rage + bull's strength + divine favor + weapon of awe + Destructive Smite + Inspire Courage + holy weapon: 1d10 + 13 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (10) + 13 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 4 + 2 + (2, 3) = 44

Surprise Round Wrap-Up

Unfortunately, Merixia will provoke from one of the minotaurs, as it isn't flat-footed and thus does have threatened zones, and I don't see how she could get there without passing through one of them.

As Merixia explodes into motion, she passes by the minotaur between the door and Staunton Vhane, which lashes out at her with a powerful blow from its enormous axe. The attack rips through her armor and magical protections, rending a tremendous gash on her arm.
Red AoO vs. Merixia: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29
Damage: 3d6 + 11 ⇒ (4, 2, 1) + 11 = 18 Merixia is at 63 hp.

Although it hurts, the pain only makes the priestess angrier, and she takes it out on the antipaladin before her, even as the chill of fear slips up her spine. Her bastard sword knocks aside Staunton's defense and tears wounds across his body. He growls, staggered, but keeps his feet, even as blood flows freely down his armor.

Round 1

Thesius is up.

Thesius watches as the others rush past him and continues to stand his ground in hopes of preventing the doorway from being blocked which would split the party. A prayer on his lips, he continues to lash out at the minotaur (red-lined) in front of him.

(Swift action to activate Archaeologist's Luck, Full Round to attack twice with haste.)

+1 Cold Iron Longspear Attack: 1d20 + 8 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 19 (+8 base, +3 Archaeologist's Luck, +2 Heroism, +1 Haste)
+1 Cold Iron Longspear Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 3 = 12 (+4 Base, +3 Archaeologist's Luck)

+1 Cold Iron Longspear Attack: 1d20 + 8 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 27 (+8 base, +3 Archaeologist's Luck, +2 Heroism, +1 Haste)
+1 Cold Iron Longspear Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 3 = 12 (+4 Base, +3 Archaeologist's Luck)

Merixia had 16 bonus HP from Rage, so I think she's at 70 HP right now. Next time I'll put that up in bold along with my AC when I start my Rage.

For some reason, Merixia, I had you at less than full health when we started the combat, then added the bonus hp and subtracted the attack. Not sure why. You're right, however.

Round 1 Continued

Thesius unleashes a barrage of thrusts at the half-fiend minotaur, who wards off the strikes with expert parries from his axe and wings alike. The second series of attacks, however, pierce through his guard and catch him across the flank. He roars his fury at the half-elf, glaring balefully down on him.

The door to the northeast bursts open, and two crimson-skinned babaus rush through it. One lined in black shrieks in delight and brandishes its polearm at Merixia menacingly.

More concerning, however, is its white-lined companion, who strikes out at her with a blur of blackened iron. The weapon tears through her armor and magical protections, piercing her hip and knocking her off-balance.
Longspear vs. Merixia: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29 Luckily, it's not actually flanking yet, since Staunton isn't threatening the squares yet.
Damage: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 Merixia is at 57 hp.

Elliot, Verene, and Azira are up.

"In the name of Iomedae, die, traitor!" Azira intones as a ripple of light dances across her flawless skin. The words barely escape her lips before Radiance unleashes a flurry of attacks against the dwarf. activating smite and full attacking (this should be fun, hopefully even a little ridiculous)

Smite1 (hero/es/bond/medal/haste/ic): 1d20 + 27 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 27 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 50
for (ignore all DR): 1d8 + 28 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 28 + 2 = 36

confirm?: 1d20 + 27 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 27 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 43
for another: 1d8 + 20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 20 + 2 = 25

SmiteH (hero/es/bond/medal/haste/ic): 1d20 + 27 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 27 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 38
for (ignore all DR): 1d8 + 28 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 28 + 2 = 35

Smite2 (hero/es/bond/medal/haste/ic): 1d20 + 22 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 22 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 31
lucky number triggers, allowing me to reroll...

Smite2 reroll: 1d20 + 22 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 22 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 37
for (ignore all DR): 1d8 + 28 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 28 + 2 = 35

Well... I, for one, will be shocked (and horrified) if he's still standing after that. A smite well spent, lol.

"Maybe there's still a little bit of good left in him?" Elliot thinks as he channels Wardstone Power to make Righteous Eclipse strike non-lethally - just as Merixia and Azira seemingly cut Vhane to ribbons.

"Oh well. I guess we'll never know?" The magus shrugs and, should Vhane indeed be dead, turns his attention to the newcomers at the back. Shifting into the doorway, he pounced upon them with the same supernatural speed!

Mythic point to make Elliot's sword Merciful for 1 minute. Which with three different types on enemies is probably his best enhancement. Free action to activate the +2 damage for 1 minute from Eclipse's own arcane pool. Then 5ft step and bladed dash Vhane - or if he is down, then the black and followed by white Babao's at the south. Elliot has Reach so with his position he can target all 3. This might provoke from the red minotaur if it has a second AoO this round. Elliot has 3 mirror images and blur and with haste his ac is 1 higher.

attack (spell combat bladed dash), haste, IC +2: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (10) + 21 = 31
damage, Merciful, IC+2, RE +2 (magic slashing coldiron non-lethal: 1d4 + 1d6 + 16 ⇒ (2) + (6) + 16 = 24

attack #2 , haste, IC +2: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (2) + 21 = 23
damage, Merciful, IC+2, RE +2 (magic slashing coldiron non-lethal: 1d4 + 1d6 + 16 ⇒ (2) + (2) + 16 = 20

attack #3 (hasted attack), haste, IC +2: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (18) + 21 = 39
damage, Merciful, IC+2, RE +2 (magic slashing coldiron non-lethal: 1d4 + 1d6 + 16 ⇒ (4) + (6) + 16 = 26

attack, haste, iterative, IC +2: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (11) + 16 = 27
damage, Merciful, IC+2, RE +2 (magic slashing coldiron non-lethal: 1d4 + 1d6 + 16 ⇒ (4) + (5) + 16 = 25

crit confirm attack #3 (hasted attack), haste, IC +2: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (1) + 21 = 22
extra crit damage, Merciful, IC+2, RE +2 (magic slashing coldiron non-lethal: 1d4 + 1d6 + 16 ⇒ (1) + (4) + 16 = 21

Intimidate rolls when landing hit 1: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (14) + 18 = 32

Intimidate rolls when landing hit 2: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (10) + 18 = 28

Intimidate rolls when landing hit 3: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (11) + 18 = 29

Intimidate rolls when landing hit 4: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (1) + 18 = 19

If any attack lands and intimidate works, the target is shaken for x rounds per demoralize rules. If Elliot lands the crit however, that target is also firghtened for 1 round in addition and has to flee from Elliot on its next turn.