PF2E Stolen Fate

Game Master andreww

Getting into the place seems easy enough. A pair of large doors mark the entrance. They are of clear crystal and brass-colored metal and open into a wide entryway. It connects to a mezzanine overlooking a broad, circular opening into a chamber below, in which several ancient orreries stand. The dome’s interior rises over this opening. Some jungle vines have intruded across its glittering ceiling. The area smells of water, stone, and rot. The bodies of several dead hadis lie scattered about, they have clearly been crushed by some enormous force.

Below you is an arena of white stone, this area has stepped benches going up the sides and smaller stairways allowing access to the various levels. Water flows into the arena from an entryway, cascading down the stands to the central floor. Scattered everywhere are debris of rock, crystal, and metal. Given the shapes, some of this wreckage must have been statues of different beasts.

As you begin to look around one of the orrery's unfolds itself to reveal it as the guardian warden. It rises into the air and begins speaking in Shory.

Everyone except Sigourney notes that there is a Harrow card lodged deep inside the constructs inner workings.

I have placed you on a new map. The warden is flying some 15' above your level. The arena floor is 25' below you and is entirely difficult terrain.

Pinebrush, trying to avoid attracting attention among larger obstacles as always, takes note of the bodies. "Looks like he's tried sending people before, you think?" he whispers.

Seeing the dead ratfolk, Billy nods to Pinebrush sadly and whispers back, "I think you're right." As the warden starts speaking, Billy asks Sigourney, "So this is Shory? Can you tell him we mean him no harm, and with his permission, I'd like to cast a communication spell?"

Billy holds his hands up non-threateningly, and sings,
♫"This place has many an orrery. Dead hadis are sad and quite gory.
Could make for a fine allegory. But first, we all need to speak Shory."♫
Billy casts Translate (Rank 4), so all can speak Shory for 1 hour.

Retrieving his jug, Billy steps forward. The small halfling bows to the enormous creature above and says, in Shory, "Greetings, friend. I'm Billy, a renowned minstrel from Absalom. Perhaps you've...no, never mind. We mean you no harm. We were hoping to share a drink with you and discuss a solution to a problem." He pours honey mead, takes a sip and holds a mug up for our host, "We were coerced to run an errand for a lich calling himself Lord Trexima Butoi. Do you know him?" Billy sighs, "He's ... not very nice. If you've had similar dealings, perhaps we can work together." Billy looks up hopefully and takes another sip.

Diplomacy to Make Impression +cloak +jug: 1d20 + 26 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 26 + 2 + 1 = 37
If that's a failure, Halfling Luck for his 1/hr reroll.
Diplomacy to Make Impression +cloak +jug: 1d20 + 26 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 26 + 2 + 1 = 45
Billy activates The Publican (1/day activation to improve a creature's attitude by an additional step).

A 37 would be a fail, a 45 is a success, boosted to a critical success by the Publican. He is now friendly to you.

The Guardian peers down at Billy and appears confused, if a massive machine of glass and metal can be said to have an expression.

I require no sustenance small creature. I have not heard of this Trexima however I only recently awoke from what appears to have been an extremely long period of inactivity. There was an undead entity here when I awoke. It sought to activate my command sub routines but they are protected. I remonstrated with it and forced it to flee. It has, however, left behind some fragment of itself which I can sense but not reach without damaging the Observatory even further. It is quite aggravating. Now, as I said, it really is not safe in here for such small creatures as yourselves. I must advise you to leave until I have completed repairs although that may take several years.

Slick takes in the scene and the dead hadis. He shakes his head in annoyance. "The lich must have known these poor creatures wouldn't stand a chance against the guardian. He sent them to a certain death. The bastard will pay for that." Further examination of the construct brings the Harrow card to light. He whispers to the others. "I'm all for talking our way past this thing, but not if it means leaving that card behind."

On the assumption that they'll end up having to destroy the guardian to retrieve to the card, if not to get past it, Slick looks over the arena that will undoubtedly become the battlefield. "Looks like this is going to be another flying battle." He prepares himself to activate the Bravery Baldric and launch himself at the creature before them.

Finding himself able to speak and understand Shory, and with the warden now seemingly a little friendlier, Slick decides to say hello. "Greetings. I'm Slick, Billy's friend. The undead entity of which you speak is doubtless the lich that Billy's talking about. The creature mentioned having had an altercation with you and coming out the worse for it. Well deserved comeuppance in my view. I believe it is this fragment of itself that the lich sent us to recover in exchange for a special card it has in its possession." Slick points at the card visible in the inner workings of the warden. "I see that you too seem to have come into possession of such a card. We have been tasked with collecting all such cards and making sure that they stay out of the hands of people who would do great evil with them. Is there anything we can do to convince you to part with the one you are holding?"

I won't bother with a Diplomacy roll given that I need a roll of 38+ with only a +21 to get it. That means a <= 20% chance of success, with a >= 30% chance of a crit fail. I also don't think Intimidation is the way to go here... at least not just yet.

Card, what card? says the Guardian, twisting around but clearly unable to actually see the card lodged inside it.

What are these cards?

"They're cards from a Harrow deck." Pine unfurls one of his cards to display it. "But the deck is scattered all around the world, and a lot of people have each found one card. They're magical, and special somehow, and a dangerous demon--or at least a dangerous person who commands demons--is trying to get them. We want to stop him! We may be little, but we're still fierce. We have defeated armies of demons!"

Putting away his card again, Pinebrush points into the construct's mechanisms. "You have one embedded in there. We can see it. If you didn't put it there on purpose, I can probably get it out for you. I would like to show you that being small doesn't make me helpless!"

He hesitates. "Although the last time I pulled a card out of a construct, it kind of... fell apart. But that one was killing people with the demons, and it didn't seem right. I think they may have used the card to corrupt it somehow?"

When the warden doesn't seem to know about the cards, Billy is about to explain, when Pinebrush jumps in, "It's as my tiny friend said. You have such a card wedged between that large cog and rear lever." Billy pulls out his pocket mirror and offers it to the warden. "With your permission, I could create a magical staircase and hold the mirror up so you can see it. Or you can borrow my mirror." The bard is clearly anxious letting anyone borrow his valued mirror, but is willing to risk it.

Feeling the conversation is going well, especially considering it's with a construct, Billy supports Slick's request. "You mentioned our common undead enemy left an aggravating fragment behind." Billy sips from his mug and continues, "Would you allow us to handle that matter for you? You'll find us quite capable and we'd take care not to further harm the Observatory." He pauses and adds, "We appreciate you being worried about our small size, but perhaps it's our stature that will allow us to complete this task for you."

After waiting for a response, Billy concludes,"If we're able to assist you, would you consider offering up your card in return?"

A Harrow Deck? the construct muses, I have never heard of such a thing. It pauses and leans down to Billy, looming large over the group. Reaching out it very carefully takes hold of his mirror and angles it so it can see into its internal workings.

How curious, how is it that I never noticed such a thing.

It gently returns the mirror and spins around, heading over to the other side of the room. It gestures to one of the exits, That chamber was used by the lich as some sort of laboratory. We battled there, it caused significant damage. I believe this fragment now lies in the upper chamber, accessed through the old lift shaft, although it has clearly been non functional for a very long time.

You say that you have battled hordes of demons? It spins round to face you again. I admit that does seem unlikely for such small creatures but I suppose it could be possible. He looks at Pine, I do not think you are helpless little one but it is clear that Kho has suffered severe damage in the crash. This has made the whole region extremely hazardous. From my examinations there is extensive dangerous flora and fauna in the region. In addition, the destruction of the engines and resulting explosion has caused the creation of globules of anti-matter to spontaneously arise. It will be centuries before I can make Kho safe and even consider trying to repair the engines. In the meantime, yes, I would like this remnant of the lich removed from the Observatory. If you can do so then yes, I will grant you this card.

Somewhere in the middle of the second sentence spoken by the guardian, Slick's eyes glaze over as it talks about crashes, engines, and globules of anti-matter. When it becomes clear that the guardian will allow them to remove the runes and give them its Harrow card in return, Slick isn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"It's a deal. Up the old lift shaft to the upper chamber; grab the runes; come back here to collect your Harrow card; then leave you to fix the damage."

He then heads in the direction the guardian had indicated as the location of the old lift shaft.

Relieved to have his mirror safely returned, Billy takes the opportunity to check his hair. It's nearly perfect. As it always is. Looking up, he says, "Always happy to make new friends ... and fans." He smiles and carefully stows his mirror.

Billy starts following Slick to the old lift shaft. He stops and turns back to the warden. "Thank you for trusting us with this. We'll set things right and report back."

Sigourney has been frantically taking notes this whole time and just stands there taking notes while Billy and Slick leave to the lift shaft. A few moments pass before Sigourney snaps out of her focused state.

"Huh? Where'd everyone go? Oh, sure I'll help out I guess. Can you tell me more about this place and the Shory people you no doubt worked with when we get back?" Sigourney says absentmindedly in heavily accented Shory, fumbling around with items and keeping her notebook away.

The group pick their way through the rubble into the southern laboratory. At the edge of a rough wall is a rubble-strewn area with cubicles flanking a smashed stone double door. Water trickles out of one cubicle, trickling back toward the mezzanine. Beyond is a large chamber in a shambles. Furniture made from metal, crystal, and stone lies scattered and scorched. Near the back of the room, above a slanting pile of wreckage, is a hole in the ceiling.

Discarded in a hole in the floor is a small fortune in gold and gems. The hole in the ceiling is presumably part of the non functional lift. Peering upwards the shaft rises up about 40'.

What do you do?

Treasure: Within a hollow in the floor is a cache of 1,500 gp as well as several onyx gems worth 3,000 gp in all and 1,000 gp in other rare components.

Billy takes out his Bag of Holding so the group can collect the goodies and trinkets into the pouch. While they're doing that, Billy looks up the shaft and frowns, "That looks high." He brightens, "Fortunately, I have this spell..."

Unless someone stops him, he sings,
♫"Climbing? Not for me -- my muscles aren't like Slick.
Some stairs to set us free. And get us up real quick."♫
He casts Helpful Steps to create a 40' high spiral staircase.

"Huh? Where'd everyone go? Oh, sure I'll help out I guess. Can you tell me more about this place and the Shory people you no doubt worked with when we get back?" Sigourney says absentmindedly in heavily accented Shory, fumbling around with items and keeping her notebook away.

The construct looks down at Sigourney, Yes, of course, I have a complete record of the history of the Shory Empire. Recounting it may take some time.

When they approach the shaft and spot the valuables in the floor, Slick nudges Billy. "What do you think? Will the guardian get upset if we were to slip these items into your bag? He probably wouldn't even notice, right? I say we take them."

I've updated the loot sheet with these items under the assumption that we take them. Slick is happy to take them and deal with the consequences if the Guardian notices their absence.

Slick nods appreciatively when Billy pops up the staircase. "Nice job! Up we go."

"I don't think they'd care."

"Water in the building? Is there a leak? But it wasn't raining."

Pine peaks into the cubicle to see if he can identify the source of the trickling water.

The Guardian doesnt care about stuff the Lich left behind

Pine pokes about in the various cubicles. It looks like it might once have held some sort of magical water source. The water continues to trickle out of a broken basin, with no apparent connection to any water. The damage looks fairly recent, possible caused in the battle between the Guardian and the Lich.

Slick slips up the handily provided staircase. Reaching the top he finds a chamber of white stone covered in the remains of dead vines, moss, and clinging plants. A broken wall breaks the room into two sections. A few empty pedestals line the outer walls, along with faded runes etched on the walls near them. Larger symbols have been painted on these surfaces, but they look like recent additions.

As Slick emerges into the room the symbols begin to shift and move, forming themselves into words.

Give...The...Password

"Uh...Darkness precedes light?" Sigourney says, remembering the unpleasant conversation with the lich.

She spends a moment trying to identify any magic on the symbols.

Identify Magic with Unified Theory and Quick Identification (Legendary) for a one action Identify Magic with a +30 to my check.

Before heading up, Billy casts Musical Accompaniment and mentions, "The staircase will last for about 10 minutes, so if we can deal with the runes quickly ..." He then follows the group up.

Upon reaching the top, the bard watches with interest as Sigourney gives the passcode.

Is there a new map of this upper level?

Slick looks over the runes. "From what the guardian was saying, it seems that these runes may hold a remnant of the lich. I suspect we're dealing with Trexima's soul cage." Turning to Sigourney, he says, "Is there some way you can confirm this and figure out precisely where this so-called remnant resides?"

"Wait, he said paintings, but.. he painted the wall? How are we supposed to take those to him?"

No that the group seems terribly inclined to do it anyway.

The runes reconfigure themselves in order to communicate.

Password accepted. Trexima has sent you to bring us to him yes? However, he would not have discussed the existence of his Soul Cage. Explain!

The runes are not magic items, they are creatures as meniotned Here

When the runes mention Trexima's soul cage, Slick pauses momentarily. "Whoopsy! I forgot these runes thingies were 'living' and 'sentient', and might be able to hear us talking. Oh well. In for a copper in for a gold."

He addresses the runes. "You are indeed correct; Trexima did send us to collect you and take you to him. He claims to have created you to hold the souls of his old companions, but from what the guardian downstairs tells us, we suspect that one or more of you are being used as his soul cage. That would certainly explain his urgency in retrieving you. Did you not realize you were being used as containers for souls?"

"While we are asking questions, can you tell me what it feels like to be a living set of sentient runes? Are you a two-dimensional or three-dimensional being? How do you sustain yourself? Do you have magic powers? If I made a mobius strip and you entered the strip, would you be able to traverse the strip endlessly? What if I created a piece of rock, would you be able to travel from the wall to the rock and be carried around that way?" Sigourney's curiosity gets the better of her as she bombards the runes with questions about themselves.

"Also, you know, liches aren't exactly an uncommon type of being. I know that liches have soul cages. And it was quite obvious that your master Trexima is a lich. So it is therefore a reasonable assumption to make that he has a soul cage." Sigourney explains her deductions.

"Hmph. Sigourney's right. You insult our intelligence, and by proxy you insult your master," Pine's wings glow as they hold him aloft, putting him a little more on everyone else's level. "He chose us because he believed we could get through the guardian of this place when he could not. And we did prevail, using a technique far beyond his limited comprehension--" for asking nicely did seem to be a technique Trexima could never understand-- "We are formidable; we know what a lich is."

Billy is in awe of the runes and marvels aloud, "Greetings! My friends sometimes forget their manners." He takes a quick glance at the others and continues, "I'm Billy. What fantastic beings you are! And what a clever way to communicate by rearranging yourselves. I've never met a living rune. I hope you'll forgive us for any social faux pas. We're just excited to have found you." He retrieves his jug, "Do you require sustenance or is there anything else we can do to help you?"

Diplomacy to Make Impression +cloak +jug +music: 1d20 + 26 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 26 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 46

Unsure if Make an Impression even works with living runes, but why not try? And if bonuses for holding the jug or musical accompaniment don't apply to them, please disregard. Billy has Group Impression to address all 3 of them.

The runes shift and move around, they appear to be communicating with one another. The status of our souls is not a matter for minions such as yourselves. Trexima must have sent you to bring us to him. Have you dealt with the Guardian below? We are ready to leave if it has been destroyed.

There is no known way to identify a soul cage, its very much a Harry Potter Horcrux type system.

Sigourney takes offence to being called a minion.

"Ok, first off, I'm not a minion. I'm my own person, praise be to Nethys. Reginald's the minion and he's MY minion. Second off, I'd like to keep the Guardian alive so he can give me the lost history of the Shory Empire. It's a historically significant font of knowledge that I'm not going to destroy. Third, can't we solve this issue without destroying the Guardian? I can just generate a piece of rock for you guys to put yourselves on. Then we could carry you out of here past the Guardian."

Billy is a bit saddened that these runes didn't take more kindly to him. After all, everyone loves Billy. Well, most everyone. He concludes that they must just be good at hiding their feelings. Because they're runes.

He echoes Sigourney's question, "We were tasked with returning you to Trexima. Why must the Guardian be destroyed?" He pauses and asks, "Speaking of the Guardian, he mentioned a fragment was left behind during the previous encounter. Surely, he's not referring to you wonderous creatures as a mere fragment. Do you know what he meant? In case it's important to Trexima." Billy sips his mead and continues to wonder how runes sustain themselves.

The Guardian is dangerous. It attacked our master and is unlikely to permit us to leave. Deal with it!

Billy calmly explains, "I beg to differ, friends. The Guardian is not dangerous ... to us. Indeed, he was quite reasonable when we told him we'd remove 'the fragment of the lich' and leave." He pauses and continues, "Assuming he thinks of you as 'the fragment', we'll leave here with you and return to your master." He smiles, "We call that a win-win."

My understanding from having read about liches and their soul cages in the Book of the Dead, is that in Pathfinder, each lich only has the one soul cage. This makes it different from the Harry Potter books where Voldemort had multiple Horcruxes all of which had to be destroyed to remove any chance of him reforming after his physical body was destroyed.

"Hmm... seems these living runes aren't going to help us with Trexima's soul cage. Looks like we don't have a lot of choice then. If we want to destroy the lich completely, then we're going to have to destroy his soul cage, and that means we're going to have to destroy these runes. All of them."

"Don't worry about the Guardian. As Billy says, we talked to the fellow on the way in and he turned out to be very reasonable. We explained the situation to him, and not only will he let us pass with you, he'll even reward us for doing so. So if you'll prepare yourselves for transportation, we'll all leave here together and have you back to your master in no time."

"No, I'm not going to destroy the Guardian." Sigourney states very plainly to the runes.

I wasnt suggesting he can have multiple soul cages, just that there is no way to tell whether an item is a soul cage or not.

The runes seem to consider your words carefully before rearranging themselves into a reply.

Very well, we will trust you on this one occasion. If you betray us then you will be destroyed! Lead on and get us out of here, we wish to return to our creator. We can easily traverse the walls and ceilings here.

What do you do?

Billy considers and says, "I'll speak to the guardian to make sure there will be no problems leaving." Billy heads down the spiral staircase.

Back with the Warden, Billy explains, "The fragment of the lich has manifested as a set of living runes. We believe we can take them with us when we leave. That will earn us your harrow card, yes?"

While downstairs (and out of earshot of the runes), Billy activates his Phylactery of Faithfulness to act as an Augury.
(With the phylactery, it's a 1-action activation, not 10min.)

He prays quietly, "Oh, wise Desna. Given our goal of destroying the lich and the living runes efficiently, we plan to remove the runes from this obelisk and attack them outside. What results can we expect?"
Normally, Augury has a DC 6 flat check, but with The Carnival invested, it's a DC 4 check instead. And Billy is Stupefied 1 for 1 round.

Assuming no surprises from the Warden nor the Augury, Billy returns upstairs and announces, "Let's go."

With Billy working to negotiate the rune's safe passage, Sigourney decides to talk to the runes.

"You still haven't answered my question, runes. Are you two or three dimensional? If you can traverse the ceilings are you climbing on the surface or do you exist within the surface?"

Billy questions the Guardian. It looks at him with glowing lambent eyes. I care not Billy, I simply wish it gone. Once they are gone you may have my card.

Asking about the future Billy gets the answer that attacking the runes outside here would be a good approach to dealing with the Lich.

Meanwhile, upstairs, the Runes stubbornly ignore all of Sigourney's questions.

When Billy returns and reports what the guardian said, Slick turns to the runes. "See? We'll have no problems with the guardian on the way out. Just follow us closely; we'll guide you safely past the guardian and out of the obelisk."

The group lead the runes down into the Observatory. Heading through the atrium the massive construct watches them go carefully. Reaching into its internal workings it pulls out the card and hands it to Billy.

It is the Bear, details on Roll20

Heading outside you move a little way from the Observatory. The runes are cautious and clearly suspicious of you.

Initiative
Slick : 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (18) + 25 = 43
Slick Battle Cry: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (1) + 31 = 32, crit fail
Billy : 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (14) + 25 = 39, +2 item visual/hearing, +2 circ scout
Pinebrush, Stealth: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (5) + 28 = 33, Perception +24, +1 circ if visual, +2 circ scout
Sigourney: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (16) + 23 = 39, +2 circ scout, +2 item visual

Handing The Bear to Slick, Billy bows to the Warden, and in Shory, says, "Thank you. If you're ever in Absalom, you can find me at the Gutless Griffon. Good luck with your repairs." The spiral staircase disappears after 10mins. Speaking Shory lasts for 1 hour.

Safely outside with the runes, Billy starts singing, for no particular reason.

♫"We rescued some runes from a cage.
Their warden, a guardian mage.
.....The lich, he is waiting.
.....His runes irritating.
I'm Billy. The world's my stage."♫

Lingering Performance +VirtPerf +Mask +Music, DC 34: 1d20 + 28 + 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 28 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 49
Crit Success: Courageous Anthem duration 4 rounds. Cost: 1 focus point.

He follows up his inspiration with his usual encore.
♫"Runes are not confined. I'll prep us, just in case.
The pleasure is all mine. I'm Billy, let's make haste."♫
Cast Haste (7th rank) for the entire party.

◇ Ling Comp, ◆ CA, ◆◆ Haste

Slick bows to the Guardian and tucks The Bear safely away in his armor.

As they leave the obelisk and prepare to enter the jungle, Slick draws his sword from its sheath and grasps it firmly. "There are a lot of dangerous creatures out here. You never know when one of them will charge out of nowhere and attack you without warning."

Will assume that Slick drew his weapon as they left the obelisk and starts his turn with it in hand. If that's not the case, I'll have to come up with something else (maybe use his fists instead of his greatsword, or something).

After they put a little distance between themselves and the obelisk, Slick pauses as Billy sings his ditty and Sigourney does whatever she feels like. He then charges the runes without warning and attacks each in turn as he runs by them, adding an extra wild slash at the last one for good measure.

NOTE: Slick will not use his reaction for a free Demoralize on a crit strike unless I explicitly say so (Battle Cry).

Action (◇): Delay: Until end of Billy and Sigourney's turns.

Actions 1, 2 & 3 (◆◆◆): Path of Iron
- Action: Stride (45 feet)
- Action: Strike (+2 Greater Striking Grievous Keen Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem vs Green Rune.
- Action: Strike (+2 Greater Striking Grievous Keen Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem vs Red Rune.
- Action: Strike (+2 Greater Striking Grievous Keen Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem vs Blue Rune.

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 28 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 28 + 2 + 1 = 50 vs Green Rune
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (2, 12, 4) + 13 + 1 = 32 slashing damage

CRIT! due to nat-19 (Keen). Green Rune is off-guard until the end of Slick's next turn.

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 28 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 28 + 2 + 1 = 35 vs Red Rune
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (5, 8, 5) + 13 + 1 = 32 slashing damage

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 28 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 28 + 2 + 1 = 44 vs Blue Rune
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (9, 5, 4) + 13 + 1 = 32 slashing damage

Action 4 (◆): Strike (+2 Greater Striking Grievous Keen Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem, Haste and MAP2 vs Blue Rune.

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 28 + 2 + 1 - 10 ⇒ (4) + 28 + 2 + 1 - 10 = 25
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (7, 9, 4) + 13 + 1 = 34 slashing damage

Wait Slick, I don't think we had the time to apply the Keen rune to your sword yet. We needed downtime for that and we didn't get that. If we did that off screen, I didn't get the chance to learn the formulas for the anti-magic or the keen runes through applying it to your weapons and armour. Do we just assume I succeeded at those checks?

Sigourney gives Reginald a Command and lets him know its time to do his thing.

She then casts a spell. "Sorry runes, I really would have preferred you interesting things lived, but you weren't making a compelling case for yourselves. Sonic Sign - Phantom Orchestra!"

She then Hastily Strides forward.

Phantom Orchestra is a 10 foot burst on Red and Blue, hitting them before Slick runs in.

Sonic Damage, DC 36 Fort Save, CA: 8d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 4, 3, 5, 1, 4, 1, 4) + 1 = 24

◆ Command Reginald, ◆◆ Phantom Orchestra, ◆ Stride

Reginald does his thing, splitting into threads and trying to immobilize Blue. He then reforms in Sigourney's square.

DC 36 Reflex Save, Slashing, Courageous Anthem: 14d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 5, 3, 5, 5, 4, 1, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 3, 1) + 1 = 48

On failure, target is immobilized for 1 round or until it Escapes against my spell DC (DC 36).

In tried and trusted fashion Billy inspires and hastens his companions.

Reginald tries to immobilise Blue, who twists away from the worst of it.

Sigourney creates deadly harmonics. Blue shrugs off the worst but Red shudder violently.

Slick then dashes through the runes, damaging two of them badly as he does so!

Crit on green for 64, hit on red for 32, crit on blue for 64.

The runes rearrange themselves and shout, TRAITORS!, they follow up with a variety of expletives as they begin to move.

Red slithers away from Slick (a step) and casts a spell, Sigourney recognises the build up of electrical energy from a Chain Lightning.

Pausing here to see if Sigourney has a reaction she wants to use Bear in mind this is just the 1st of 3 runes to act/

Blue also slithers away from Slick and unleashes electrical energy at the group!

Green decides discretion is the better part of valour and slithers up the side of the rocky pillar before unleashing its chain lightning!

Slick happily grounds all the lightning bolts directed his way and comes out of the runic electrical storm none the worse for wear. He notices that Sigourney took the brunt of the damage and tries to relieve her injuries as best he can from a distance.

Reaction (↺): Cast a Spell: Protector's Sacrifice [L8] on Sigourney

Damage to Sigourney reduced by 24 hit points which is redirected to Slick. Slick now at 209/233.

He's quite pleased with how easy it was to damage the runes, so after waiting for the rest of his compatriots to do their thing, Slick steps to close with the most damaged of the three (Blue) and tries to erase it from existence with his sword.

Action (◇): Delay: Until end of Pinebrush, Billy and Sigourney's turns.

Action 1 (◆): Step

Action 2 (◆): Strike (+2 Greater Striking Grievous Keen Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem and Haste vs Off-Guard Blue Rune.

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 28 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 28 + 2 + 1 = 41 vs Off-Guard
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (11, 9, 2) + 13 + 1 = 36 slashing damage

Actions 3 (◆): Exacting Strike - On a miss, next Strike uses same MAP
- Action: Strike (+2 Greater Striking Grievous Keen Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem and MAP1 vs Off-Guard Blue Rune.

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 28 + 2 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (10) + 28 + 2 + 1 - 5 = 36 vs Off-Guard
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (5, 6, 2) + 13 + 1 = 27 slashing damage

I'm assuming here that this was not a miss and that the next Strike is at MAP2.

Action 4 (◆): Strike (+2 Greater Striking Grievous Keen Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem and MAP2 vs Blue Rune.

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 28 + 2 + 1 - 10 ⇒ (19) + 28 + 2 + 1 - 10 = 40 vs Off-Guard
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (1, 7, 9) + 13 + 1 = 31 slashing damage

CRIT! due to nat-19 (Keen)

When the runes spell out, "TRAITORS", Billy looks injured, "What? Now to be fair, I didn't attack you. I provided musical inspiration, just in case we got into a fight." Billy can't hold a straight face, as he doesn't believe that nonsense either.

Focusing a burst to the east, he sings,
♫"Well, now I'm in the fight. It's time to end this feud.
Can runes like you feel fright? Next time, don't be so rude!"♫
Billy casts Phantasmal Calamity. (30' burst should hit Red & Green)

Phant Calamity (Mental Damage) +Dangerous Sorcery: 11d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 1, 2, 5, 5, 4, 2, 6, 5, 4, 1) + 6 = 47
(Basic Will DC 36)

He then moves to Sigourney to provide some in-battle healing.
Battle Medicine DC 20: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (5) + 23 = 28
Damage Healed +Medic: 2d8 + 10 + 5 ⇒ (1, 8) + 10 + 5 = 24

◆◆ Phant Calam, ◆ Stride (hasted), ◆ Battle Med

"How can we be traitors when you made it very clear we weren't on the same side?"

Pine had thought he'd been very clever, implying they had destroyed the guardian without actually lying. But that ruse had fallen away so quickly, so he had returned to his old habits of slipping aside to observe what was happening without directly intervening until it was necessary. Not sulking!

But he'd been a little unsure where the others were going with this. Still not entirely clear on the point of this plan, he does at least understand what to do next!

Darting forward, he alights almost on top of the rune closest to Slick and stabs at... the ground? This is a very strange enemy. Well, it should still work. That's what magic weapons are for.

"Excuse me, does poison work on you? Do you have blood?" They are sort of alive, so maybe, but... well, stabbing always works.

◆ Fly
◆ Fly
◆ Strike Rapier: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (18) + 28 = 46 for piercing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 3, 6) + 6 = 19, precision: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 3) = 9, and spirit (immune?): 1d6 ⇒ 1. On crit, double damage and add deadly damage: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 6) = 8
◇ If the attack hit, Double Debilitations: Enfeebled 1 and can't use Reactions.
◆ Strike shortsword: 1d20 + 28 - 4 ⇒ (16) + 28 - 4 = 40 for piercing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5) + 6 = 18, precision: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 3) = 11, and spirit damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4. On crit, double damage.
◇ If the attack hit, Double Debilitations: Enfeebled 1 and can't use Reactions.

Sigourney, having taken over half of her vitality in lightning damage, is sizzling slowly from the impact. She spends her time delaying up until everyone else has made their move while she tries to figure out what to do.

"Ohh...So that's...how it feels to get hit by my Chain Lightning..." She groans in pain.

Action (◇): Delay: Until end of Pinebrush, Billy and Slick's turns.

After receiving some healing and damage mitigation from Billy and Slick, she feels confident enough to keep blasting. She gives them both a thumbs up and a tentacle wave of appreciation.

I should be at 109/173 HP now.

She quickly runs away from Billy and the runes, trying to keep out of Chain Lightning distance.

After she makes it far enough, she focuses her psychic energy into the rune she thinks is the most injured. "You know, that really hurt. No more mercy! Cold Sign - Amped Frostbite! I hope you freeze over!

If Blue is still alive, targeting Blue. Otherwise targeting Green.

Cold, DC 36 Fort Save, CA: 17d4 + 1 ⇒ (3, 1, 1, 4, 3, 3, 2, 4, 2, 2, 4, 4, 1, 3, 4, 1, 3) + 1 = 46

On Critical Failure, you have weakness 8 to Bludgeoning. Also, amped Frostbite has 120 feet of range.

With an additional bit of spiteful magic, she forces the deadly harmonics 10 feet into the air, catching both Red and Green in a cacophony of chaos!

Sonic, DC 36 Fort Save, CA: 8d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 1, 1, 3, 3, 6, 1, 6) + 1 = 24

As she launches her spells off, she remarks gratefully to Reginald: "You make for a very useful lightning rod!"

◇ Delay, ◆◆ Amped Frostbite, ◆ Sustain Phantom Orchestra