Chaine's lance skewers one of the hellcats, leaving Setare to mercifully put the beast down a second later. The other hellcat takes a blow to its leg from Monkey Boy and then turns to flee!
Chaine hit Blue for crazy damage, and Setare's second attack finished it off.
Monkey Boy hit Green, but it made the save.
Having the Frightened condition, Green turns to flee. Monkey Boy, you'll get an AoO.
Male N Salt Mephit | Buffs: | HP 41/41|DR 5/Magic| FH 2 Arid Env|AC 25 T 14 FF 22|CMB +5 CMD 18|F +4 R +5 W +7|Init +6|PER +14 DV 60' SM+1|30' Fly 40'+18 Stealth+20|Improved Evasion,SR 16
Everyone Distracting Charge teamwork feat for 5 rounds, ignore all prerequisites [Great Tactician] Everyone Lastwall Phalanx teamwork feat for 3 rounds, ignore all prerequisites [Great Tactician] 60 feet +4 competence saving throws vs. fear and +1 competence bonus on attack rolls for 8 rounds and any ally with frightened or panicked condition immediately makes another save to resist [Lion's Call] 30 feet +6 morale bonus on saves vs. fear [Rallying Shield] 60 feet +3 morale bonus on saves vs. fear and +2 morale bonus on attacks made as part of a charge [Banner]
Chaine, Silvermane, Setare, and Monky Boy now at +3 to AC and saves vs. evil creatures
Male N Salt Mephit | Buffs: | HP 41/41|DR 5/Magic| FH 2 Arid Env|AC 25 T 14 FF 22|CMB +5 CMD 18|F +4 R +5 W +7|Init +6|PER +14 DV 60' SM+1|30' Fly 40'+18 Stealth+20|Improved Evasion,SR 16
Male N Salt Mephit | Buffs: | HP 41/41|DR 5/Magic| FH 2 Arid Env|AC 25 T 14 FF 22|CMB +5 CMD 18|F +4 R +5 W +7|Init +6|PER +14 DV 60' SM+1|30' Fly 40'+18 Stealth+20|Improved Evasion,SR 16
Xilt makes his way back to the entrance to the tent. He uses the appearance of Frantz to time the recovery of his spells with pearls of power.
Xilt will recover two first level spells and one second level spell with pearls of power.
The wizard yawns. Despite all of the excitement he has only been up for perhaps a couple of minutes at most. He heads back to bed for his last hour of rest.
The rest of the night pauses without further incident, and it only takes a few more hours of walking in the morning to reach what must be the location discussed in Rijana's journal.
Near a shallow watering hole is a cold fire pit, a collection of well-organized gear and supplies, and two journals blowing lazily in the wind. A small stone monolith, clearly the stele described in Rijana’s journals, is covered top to bottom in intricate and exotic carvings as well as markings and what look to be writings in an ancient language. The entire camp is covered in a thin layer of reddish dust, as if no one has been here for some time.
The layout of the camp is described in the new Slide # 2.
Male N Salt Mephit | Buffs: | HP 41/41|DR 5/Magic| FH 2 Arid Env|AC 25 T 14 FF 22|CMB +5 CMD 18|F +4 R +5 W +7|Init +6|PER +14 DV 60' SM+1|30' Fly 40'+18 Stealth+20|Improved Evasion,SR 16
The chaotic and uncertain state of magic seems to abate as you draw closer to the stele--within a radius of 20' or so, spells and magic items appear to work normally.
Xilt:
You don't see anything hidden (neither does your familiar).
Xilt stays close to the stele and allows his ioun stones to orbit for a couple of minutes before being satisfied that the magic is stable. He then activates Monkey Boy's wand and casts several spells of his own.
Once the wizard is satisfied that his spells of protection are in place he sends Tzleztor to fetch the journals and and to examine the rest of the equipment around the fire pit. Assuming nothing of note happens he will study the journals first.
Male N Salt Mephit | Buffs: | HP 41/41|DR 5/Magic| FH 2 Arid Env|AC 25 T 14 FF 22|CMB +5 CMD 18|F +4 R +5 W +7|Init +6|PER +14 DV 60' SM+1|30' Fly 40'+18 Stealth+20|Improved Evasion,SR 16
Tzleztor flies over to do his master's biding. He scans the area for anything of interest before retrieving the journals and any other relevant or valuable equipment.
23 Perception check on a take 10.
"I wonder where the last missing journal could be? Perhaps under the water or through a magical portal? I guess we are going to find out soon."
Xilt begins examining the journals as Tzleztor and Monkey Boy look around.
Xilt:
The two journals are Translations of the Mana Wastes Stele and Flora, Fauna, and Hazards of the Mana Wastes. The first is a half-finished book containing page after page of drawings and translations of the stele; the last written page contains an incantation in Common and instructions that describe exactly how to activate it; a notion below the incantation reads “Making my first attempt tomorrow” and is dated several months ago with no following notation. The page immediately preceding that one has this notation: “Worried that if I activate the stele and don’t like the results, may not be able to deactivate it. Pretty sure the incantation I’ve copied on the next page, when read backwards, will return this stele to normal if performed backwards. Will test later.”
Xilt continues to examine both journals. He also spends a few moments pondering if the incantations provided make any sense at all considering the translations provided by the Cleric.
30 K-arcana with a take 10.
With the assumption that nothing of interest does happen Xilt will then turn to the stele itself for his own translation and interpretation. He begins with a mundane translation (25 on a take 10 on Linguistics) but if this proves to be inaccurate or insufficient then the mage will cast Comprehend Languages.
I am getting the impression that the writer of this scenario did not expect there to be anyone in the party capable of making their own translation of the stele or even to be competent with magic rituals.
Male N Salt Mephit | Buffs: | HP 41/41|DR 5/Magic| FH 2 Arid Env|AC 25 T 14 FF 22|CMB +5 CMD 18|F +4 R +5 W +7|Init +6|PER +14 DV 60' SM+1|30' Fly 40'+18 Stealth+20|Improved Evasion,SR 16
Male N Salt Mephit | Buffs: | HP 41/41|DR 5/Magic| FH 2 Arid Env|AC 25 T 14 FF 22|CMB +5 CMD 18|F +4 R +5 W +7|Init +6|PER +14 DV 60' SM+1|30' Fly 40'+18 Stealth+20|Improved Evasion,SR 16
Tzleztor knows that Xilt will have a cow, maybe two if Monkey Boy starts to climb the stele. He jumps right in with an answer before Xilt has a chance to respond.
"Maybe latter. Why don't we check out what it does first. Ok?"
Your magic allows you to confirm the literal translation that Rijana provided in the journal. However, it's hard to figure out what it all means. Rijana spent weeks or months studying it, and even her speculations don't seem certain. For this purpose, a good way to imagine the difference between translation and understanding is if someone gave a college freshman a copy of Heidegger. Even translated from the German, it'd be hard to make sense of it without extensive study.
Xilt sighs as knowing the unknowable should be his stock in trade and yet the outcome of this magical ritual is uncertain.
The wizard stops for a moment recalling an important piece of information from the mission briefing.
"I suspect that this incantation will open a rift to another dimension and that reading it backwards will close that rift. However all of this is very speculative going off of what was said at our original meeting. For all I know something could simply pop out of the stele or the pond for that matter."
"Alright everyone. We are going to do this. So get ready."
One of the advantages of PbP is having a beautiful log of everything that has happened to go over latter at your leisure. In a live game players are prone to sleep through the mission briefing only to find out halfway through the game that they have no clue about why they are there and what they are doing. :)
I am back on duty--thanks for your patience! It sounds like Xilt is planning to read the incantation, and has suggested everyone get ready. I'll wait another 12 hours or so and then we'll see what, if anything, happens.
As Xilt finishes reading the incantation, a brilliant flash of blue light surrounds you! When the light fades, you find that you're still standing in the camp, but all of Rijana’s supplies are gone, as is the stele! And it’s also as dark as the middle of the night, as, oddly, the sky lacks stars and is black as pitch and the wind is perfectly still. Nothing moves, nothing makes a sound, and the uncanny change is chilling . . .
Suddenly, creatures lunge out of the darkness around the camp to attack!
I'll roll for Initiative and we'll start an encounter. These creatures (there are seven) look like the same type of zombies you fought previously.
Please note the lighting conditions are now Darkness. If you don't have darkvision or another means to see in the dark, you're effectively fumbling around blind.
Blind Condition:
The creature cannot see. It takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class, loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), and takes a –4 penalty on most Strength– and Dexterity-based skill checks and on opposed Perception skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Perception checks based on sight) automatically fail. All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) against the blinded character. Blind creatures must make a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. Creatures that fail this check fall prone. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.
DC 20 Knowledge (planes):
You believe you've been transported to some kind of demi-plane, just as Xilt speculated.
DC 30 Knowledge (planes):
This demi-plane is none other than the fabled Geb’s Accord, a series of linked-but-separated pocket dimensions that Geb long ago used to store equipment and soldiers for battles against Nex!
Male CG Human (Shoanti/Varisian) Cavalier (Strategist) 11 - Init +2, Senses: Normal Vision, Perception +1, Lookout Perception +11, AC 30/ touch 12/ ff 28; hp 92/92, F+10, R+6 W+5, Speed 20 ft.; Challenge 3/4; Tactician (60') 4/4. Continuous Auras: 30 feet: +6 morale bonus on saves vs. fear; 60 feet: +3 morale bonus on saves vs. fear and +2 morale bonus on charge attacks. BUFFS:
Thanks to Monky Boy's light, Chaine charges the nearest!
+1 Impervious Adamantine Lance, Mount Charging, Power Attack vs. white:1d20 + 22 - 3 ⇒ (13) + 22 - 3 = 32 dim light miss change, past Monky Boy 20 foot radius but within 40 foot radius, 01-20% is a miss:1d100 ⇒ 29 adamantine magic piercing dmg:3d8 + 15 + 27 ⇒ (2, 5, 8) + 15 + 27 = 57 plus trip (Mighty Charge) trip:1d20 + 14 + 1 - 3 ⇒ (8) + 14 + 1 - 3 = 20 vs. white's CMD
30 feet +6 morale bonus on saves vs. fear [Rallying Shield] 60 feet +3 morale bonus on saves vs. fear and +2 morale bonus on attacks made as part of a charge [Banner]
Chaine then challenges yellow to battle! Swift Action
Male N Salt Mephit | Buffs: | HP 41/41|DR 5/Magic| FH 2 Arid Env|AC 25 T 14 FF 22|CMB +5 CMD 18|F +4 R +5 W +7|Init +6|PER +14 DV 60' SM+1|30' Fly 40'+18 Stealth+20|Improved Evasion,SR 16
The Pathfinders spring into action! Monkey Boy lands a solid punch on one of the zombies, while Chaine's lance devastates another! Meanwhile, Xilt takes to the air as his familiar drops magic dust on two of the zombies. Setare uses a magical scarf to extend her reach and cuts down one of the blinded foes!
Monkey Boy's second punch hit Blue. Chaine hit and killed White.
Red and Yellow are blinded by glitterdust. Setare destroys Red and damages Yellow.
Setare's foe takes up a defensive stance as it tries to clear the glittering sparkles from its eyes. Monkey Boy's foe goes on the offensive. And Chaine is swarmed by a trio of zombies!
Yellow does Total Defence and, at the end of its turn, makes the save against the glitterdust blindness.
Blue attacks Monkey Boy.
Three zombies attack Chaine (two of them provoke AoOs--Cornflower Blue and Dark Gray). One of them lands a nat 20 (not a crit) and does 10 points of damage.
GM Dice:
Yellow Will save:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15 Blue vs Monkey Boy:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13 Dark Yellow vs Chaine:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27 Cornflower Blue vs Chaine:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29 Dark Gray vs Chaine:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13 Cornflower Blue Confirmation:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16 damage:1d6 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
Xilt grimaces as these creatures are immune to so much of his magic. The wizard sees Chaine outnumbered so he flies over and casts a spot of grease underneath one of the zombies (blue). He waits a moment to see if the zombie falls and then dispels the spell with a gesture.
Grease DC 20 Reflex or fall prone. As the spell is fleeting it can be dispelled with a swift action. I have left a large black dot on the map but I will delete it once the zombie's save is resolved.
Male N Salt Mephit | Buffs: | HP 41/41|DR 5/Magic| FH 2 Arid Env|AC 25 T 14 FF 22|CMB +5 CMD 18|F +4 R +5 W +7|Init +6|PER +14 DV 60' SM+1|30' Fly 40'+18 Stealth+20|Improved Evasion,SR 16
Chaine then barks an all-out attack command to Silvermane while he tries to put down one of the zombies! he then yells, "Stand shoulder-to-shoulder, warriors!!"
Chaine full attack vs. challenged Yellow, if he falls he makes extra attacks against; Swift action: Greater Tactician to grant Lastwall Phalanx teamwork feat to all allies within 60 ft.
Companion to Chaine "The Butcher" Alazario | Male N Horse Animal Companion | HD 9| Class Level 11th | HP76/76 | AC 33 T 14 FF 30| CMD 28 (34 vs. Overrun) | F +12 R +11 W +6 (incl. pro vs. evil)| Init +3| Low Light Vision, Scent, Perception +5 | Speed 80 ft | Buffs: Feather Step
Silvermane neighs aggressively, and attempts to stomp and tear the surrounding zombies into their second death!
Horse Full Attack, Mounted Challenge, Power Attack; starting with blue then switching to grey if blue is down Hoof vs. prone:1d20 + 11 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 11 + 4 = 17 for dmg:1d6 + 6 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 7 = 14 Hoof vs. prone:1d20 + 11 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 11 + 4 = 34 for dmg:1d6 + 6 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 6 + 7 = 19 Bite vs. prone:1d20 + 11 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 4 = 31 for dmg:1d4 + 6 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 7 = 16
Chaine/Silvermane: +1 to AC/Saves due to Lastwall Phalanx
