GMDQ's Forces of Nature

Game Master DeathQuaker

Same thing goes for Liber, have to beat her admittedly small-by-comparison, SR 22. Granted given CL 20 you beat it unless you roll a 1, but still.

Caster level check: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (5) + 20 = 25

Ariston is unaffected, Krowys still is affected.

Is the creature able to detect Mira while she is invisible and mind blanked? Heroism is still up, it lasts about 6 hours.

Mira quickly hastes herself and the other characters nearby before relocating herself out of the way.

Cast Haste, move.

Moving quicker now, Lazur flies to within reach of the Ravener while trying to avoid it's attacks and attacks after quickly studying it.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (6) + 22 = 28
+5 Inspired Mithral Rapier SC PA 1: 1d20 + 21 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 21 + 8 - 4 = 42 50 Damage: 1d8 + 10 + 8 + 8 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 38 Inspiration: 2d8 ⇒ (8, 2) = 10
+5 Inspired Mithral Rapier SC PA Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 21 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 21 + 8 - 4 = 39 47 Damage: 1d8 + 10 + 8 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 10 + 8 + 8 = 27 Inspiration: 2d8 ⇒ (8, 1) = 9

Ariston squeezes Trer’s meaty shoulder. ”I’ll get you there. Hold a moment… May Varan guide your strikes - and guard your ass.” The priest conveys Varan’s luck on his ally and then steps her into the gap between worlds…

They reappear a moment later, right beside the prodigious wyrm. Ariston immediately channels a blast of holy energy at the monster. He is ‘dismayed’ at how easily the behemoth shrugs off Varan’s power and the damage he does to the undead abomination is a pinprick. Not one to give up, the priest starts thinking quickly about how to overcome the wyrm’s magical defenses…

Wyrm takes 15 DAM… I scared the crap out of him now!

SWIFT: Quickened Bit o’ Luck on Trer (roll 2d20 instead of 1d20 for every roll until your next turn)
MOVE: Dimension Hop – 2 ppl 70’
STAND: Channel Energy @ Dragon

Well with two chances to hit, and being adjacent, I'll full attack instead of vital striking. They are all flanking power attacking, accurate stance, haste boosted efreeti strikes, all of which get through alignment based DR- (the first benefits from furious focus) Hold on to your butts, there's a lot of numbers coming this way...

Attack 1: 1d20 + 43 ⇒ (12) + 43 = 55
Attack 1 advantage: 1d20 + 43 ⇒ (3) + 43 = 46

Hasted Attack: 1d20 + 38 ⇒ (18) + 38 = 56
Hasted Attack: 1d20 + 38 ⇒ (8) + 38 = 46

Attack 2: 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (19) + 33 = 52
Attack 2 Advantage: 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (6) + 33 = 39

Attack 3: 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (11) + 26 = 37
Attack 3 Advantage: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (19) + 28 = 47

Attack 4: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (3) + 23 = 26
Attack 4 Advantage: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (14) + 23 = 37

Attack 2 confirmation: 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (18) + 33 = 51
Attack 2 Confirmation advantage: 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (6) + 33 = 39

Attack 3 Confirmation: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (1) + 28 = 29
Attack 3 Confirmation advantage: 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (2) + 26 = 28

Whew! Now for the hits!

Attack 1 damage: 6d6 + 41 ⇒ (5, 2, 2, 4, 6, 5) + 41 = 65
Hasted Attack damage: 6d6 + 41 ⇒ (6, 1, 2, 5, 5, 1) + 41 = 61
Attack 2 Critical hit: 12d6 + 82 ⇒ (1, 3, 4, 2, 6, 3, 3, 4, 3, 1, 3, 2) + 82 = 117
Attack 3 No crit: 6d6 + 41 ⇒ (4, 5, 5, 1, 6, 5) + 41 = 67
Total damage 310

"Hah ha!" Trer bellows, as she drives her mighty blade home again and again and again (and again). "I don't know exactly what it was you did, but boy did Varan guide me!"

Is the creature able to detect Mira while she is invisible and mind blanked?

Yup.

Heroism is still up, it lasts about 6 hours.

Noted! That also means Ariston takes only half damage from horrid wilting

Trer, I assume there is not fire damage calculated into your hits? I assume no but I know that's something you get in efreeti form so want to check. (It's immune to fire). (And nice rolling!)

Waiting on Krowys and Liber to act (posted earlier to check on SR but I don't see an action unless I'm being blind). If there's no post by tomorrow I'll bot Krowys and move on to the Ravener's action

Meanwhile, don't mind me

1d4 ⇒ 3
1d4 ⇒ 2

Ack! Got sidetracked by my two campaigns which I'm GMing and forgot to post. I think this is enough damage to kill the thing, if it isn't dead already? Don't want to risk Power Word Kill or Wail of the Banshee dying to SR when I can just accursed hex. As cool as it would be to Power Word Kill a Ravener.

Seeing the immense damage the melee combatants are doing to the creature, the pair decide to merely double-down on the unfailing hexes that Axis grants them, lest they waste a potent spell to resistance... and Liber decides to heal some amount of damage to herself with Make Whole

Will Save, DC 27 halves: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (13) + 23 = 36
Damage: 4d8 + 17 ⇒ (5, 2, 2, 7) + 17 = 33 16 damage to Ravener. Should be dead now? Between yanking health from its Soul Ward and Trer's blow.
Heal, Make Whole, Liber: 5d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 3, 4, 6) = 17 +2 from regeneration

Krowys Standard: Major Healing (Accursed Hex) @ Ravener; Move: 30ft away.

Liber Standard: Make Whole @ Self; Move: following Krowys.

All the pair can think is that they hope their souls remain in their bodies as they flee.

No fire damage. Read it was immune :)

WHoops---ravener IS indeed destroyed. Ariston, I nearly missed the entirety of your channel, could you please not hide damage rolls/results in spoilers? I skipped right past it. Damn, that bit o' luck combined with a hasted Trer is a nasty combo. But all this is helping me figure out what CRs I should aim for for future combats. Obviously I need to aim higher than I've been going to actually make things challenging for all of you.

The ravener first seems pleased when the party engages it more directly, but as Trer carves whole chunks of dessicated flesh from its frame, not even the unholy energies sustaining it can keep it intact, and it crumbles into dust. The hot air surrounding it dissipates even before you could even really feel it.

You can see deeper into the mountains however more cherufes coming up, the dragons' rear guard. As they see the ravener become so much volcanic ash, they roar in a frenzy, apparently displeased that you have slain their god.

4 more cherufes arrive in 1 round. You get a free round of prep/healing! And/or they are approximately 400 feet away if you want to approach them. (And your help is also on the way, he's just a little slower).

Combat Round 3
Mirabelle: hp 134/172| | AC 25/24 (T16 FF19) *7 mirror images* | CMD 20 | Fort +19 Ref +18 Will +22 (+3 vs mind affecting) | resist fire 30, freedom of movement, mind blank heroism haste
Cherufes (on their way)
The Mighty Trer: 13 temp HP 195/195 |AC:+4 36/35 T:19 FF:26 (+1 if opp is bigger)|CMD:45 CMB:26|Fort:21 Ref:14 Will:11 (+3 will when rg, +2 vs enchantment) | death ward, resist fire 30 heroism haste
Krowys: hp 47/123 | AC 32/31 (T20 FF26) | CMD 27 | Fort +12 Ref +15 Will +15 (+2 v. Poison & Mind-Affecting) | Resist 5 Electricity | resist fire 30 heroism haste
... and Liber: hp 41/60 | AC 20 T15 FF 17 | Fort +12 Ref +15 Will +15 | SR 22 | resist fire 30 heroism haste
Ariston: HP 67/105 | AC 34 (T18 FF30) | CMD 27/23 CMB +13 | Fort +15 Ref +15 Will +23 (+2 vs charm/compulsion) | Resist: Acid/Cold/Electricity 5 |
Lazur Anil: hp 118/156 | AC 32/31 (T19 FF27) | CMD 34 | Fort +13 Ref +18 Will +15 (+1 versus enchantments; roll twice vs mind-affecting) | Immunities: Illusions | death ward, resist fire 30, spell resistance heroism haste
Fire Giants (Not your concern for now, this is just a placeholder for where they go)

Ariston, I nearly missed the entirety of your channel, could you please not hide damage rolls/results in spoilers? I skipped right past it.

Will do, Chief. I was trying to prevent clutter but I didn't draw enough attention to the results.

Damn, that bit o' luck combined with a hasted Trer is a nasty combo. But all this is helping me figure out what CRs I should aim for for future combats. Obviously I need to aim higher than I've been going to actually make things challenging for all of you.

If you want to see the apex of Bit o' Luck craziness... drop it on a hasted uMonk that is FOB-ing with Ki Flurry (to get that extra extra attack) using a weapon with a wide crit range. At 10th-ish level, you are looking at 5 attacks with decent odds of crit-ing on a few hits. It's a woodchipper.

Correction to the status bar - Ariston is unhurt. Horrid Wilting didn't beat my SR.

The priest is more than a little relieved when the Ravener is blasted to dust…. even though he is now coated in a layer of the dragon’s remains. He coughs up some dragon and calls out, "Circle up, if you need healing!" While he waits for his allies to arrive, Ariston pats the dust from his robes. Once they assemble, the cleric casts a healing spell.

Trading in anti-magic field for mass cure crits

CCW, Mass (17 ppl): 4d8 + 17 ⇒ (7, 6, 1, 8) + 17 = 39 Everybody gets 39 HP back

Seeing that Krowys is still injured, Ariston touches the witch to provide additional healing.

Trading in a mass pro from energy for cure crits

CCW on Krowys: 4d8 + 17 ⇒ (3, 4, 8, 2) + 17 = 34 Krowys gets an additional 34 HP back.

Lazur smiles at Ariston "Thank you for that. Looks like we have more coming. Everyone get ready." Lazur then drinks a vial and disappears.

Are the cherufes flying or on the ground?

The two of them, looking visibly beat-up and dehydrated (however dehydrated a metal orb can be), head over to benefit from the mass healing that the Cleric can provide. Looking at Liber, who seems to be fully recuperated, Krowys speaks up, "The two of us offer our thanks as well." Krowys retrieves the two glass cones from his spell component pouch, ready to cast his remaining Cold spells on the hopefully less-resistant cherufes.

Remembering he has Mass Cure Critical prepared, Krowys continues on, "Should we need another casting of Mass Cure Critical Wounds, I can handle it, so you do not need to convert one of your spells to positive energy."

Thought we'd be taking more damage than we have, hence the mix of healing spells and damaging spells in Krowys's list.

Mira misses out on the healing as she is invisible and I dont think Ariston can see her.

Mira observes the creatures heading towards them. She also glances over to see how the Giants are handling the two nearby ones. She casts another spell and floats forward.

Casting greater invisibility and moving.

I can't see her BUT I'd wait to hear her say something before casting.

I think that would still leave a 50% miss chance.

If we are in physical contact, I think that would be negated. So Mira flies in, and grabs Ariston, I touch your hand, then cast the spell, we should be good. At least, that seems reasonable to me. But in the end, it is a GM call.

"Let them come! I will smite them all into the mud!"

Trer moves to the front of the party, uses a swift action to reduce the reach of the nearest Cherufes by 15ft, and then readies an action to vital strike at the first dragon that comes into her reach.

If we are in physical contact, I think that would be negated. So Mira flies in, and grabs Ariston, I touch your hand, then cast the spell, we should be good. At least, that seems reasonable to me. But in the end, it is a GM call.

Mass cure spells target specific creatures within a specific distance from one another, rather than is a burst (like channel energy), so I would say that you can't by default target an invisible creature, even if you are aware of their presence. If I ruled that you can do that, that also means my monsters can do that to Mira when she is invisible with similar spells, and I don't think that would be fair (the ravener was able to see Mira, or I wouldn't have included her in horrid wilting).

If Mira moved to you and took your hand as you say, I might handwave, but Mira declared a different action and moved away, and is in fact nowhere near you, so I'm going to take this that Mira's player has accepted she is not going to be healed and move on.

Mirabelle we are moving to round 4 so you get one more action before the cherufes go. I've put them on the board where they will appear on their turn but they're not actually there yet--they're about 90 feet south of the edge of the map, but you can see them well enough to target them with area of effects with spells of the appropriate range.

Mira looks at what the fire giants are doing. The ground is shaking around them and the fight is a chaos of rocks being hurled at one another. It's hard to exactly tell what is happening, and intervening would be futile even if possible, but while the fire giants have taken some losses, you'd guess they ultimately have the upper hand in numbers and strength. They just don't have a jacked up Trer to one-shot them.

[Combat Round 4
Mirabelle: hp 134/172| | AC 25/24 (T16 FF19) *7 mirror images* | CMD 20 | Fort +19 Ref +18 Will +22 (+3 vs mind affecting) | resist fire 30, freedom of movement, mind blank heroism haste greater invisibility
Cherufe 1 hp 243/243 DR 10/- | AC 30 T11 FF 29 | Fort +19 Ref +14 Will +10 | Immune fire, sleep, paralysis, other protection a
Cherufe 2 hp 243/243 DR 10/- | AC 30 T11 FF 29 | Fort +19 Ref +14 Will +10 | Immune fire, sleep, paralysis, other protection b
Cherufe 3 hp 243/243 DR 10/- | AC 30 T11 FF 29 | Fort +19 Ref +14 Will +10 | Immune fire, sleep, paralysis, other protection a
Cherufe 4 hp 243/243 DR 10/- | AC 30 T11 FF 29 | Fort +19 Ref +14 Will +10 | Immune fire, sleep, paralysis, other protection b
The Mighty Trer: 13 temp HP 195/195 |AC:+4 36/35 T:19 FF:26 (+1 if opp is bigger)|CMD:45 CMB:26|Fort:21 Ref:14 Will:11 (+3 will when rg, +2 vs enchantment) | death ward, resist fire 30 heroism haste
Krowys: hp 120/123 | AC 32/31 (T20 FF26) | CMD 27 | Fort +12 Ref +15 Will +15 (+2 v. Poison & Mind-Affecting) | Resist 5 Electricity | resist fire 30 heroism haste
... and Liber: hp 60/60 | AC 20 T15 FF 17 | Fort +12 Ref +15 Will +15 | SR 22 | resist fire 30 heroism haste
Ariston: HP 105/105 | AC 34 (T18 FF30) | CMD 27/23 CMB +13 | Fort +15 Ref +15 Will +23 (+2 vs charm/compulsion) | Resist: Acid/Cold/Electricity 5 |
Lazur Anil: hp 156/156 | AC 32/31 (T19 FF27) | CMD 34 | Fort +13 Ref +18 Will +15 (+1 versus enchantments; roll twice vs mind-affecting) | Immunities: Illusions | death ward, resist fire 30, spell resistance heroism haste
Fire Giants (Not your concern for now, this is just a placeholder for where they go)

Mira flies forward to get closer to the enemy. Invisibly, she weaves powerful magic and directs a beam of green energy straight at the nearest Cherufe.

Move: Move
Standard: Empowered Disintegrate. It has a range of 280' so I should be able to reach.

Attack, vs ff touch: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (2) + 17 = 19, hit
Fort save DC29: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (6) + 19 = 25, fail

Damage: 36d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 2, 2, 2, 5, 3, 6, 5, 2, 6, 5, 5, 5, 2, 5, 2, 5, 2, 2, 2, 5, 2, 4, 5, 2, 2, 1, 6, 2, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6, 5) = 130 *1.5 for 195 damage

A note on buffs, Mira also has death ward up

Sorry I missed the death ward, added. I think I also have it on Trer and Lazur. Is that right? I also recolored your token to help remind me you've got greater invisibility up.

The half-dragon cherufes finish moving into position. Their move action is to get into the places they are on the board. They are reptilian creatures that look like they have obsidian features, with their heads and wings clearly of draconic shape more than the standard creature. One--the target of Mirabelle's spell--seems to be melting, as though parts of it is turning into magma itself and falling away from its body. The damaged one (labeled #2) lands on a 40 foot spire of rock while the others approach from different angles of the pass. Please note your own relative height to them as you act.

The first three, including the wounded one, all lob smouldering boulders of obsidian at the person who killed their god: Trer.

Cherufe 1 Throw Rock at Trer: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (20) + 19 = 39

Cherufe 2 Throw Rock at Trer: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (4) + 19 = 23

Cherufe 3 Throw Rock at Trer: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27

The fourth cherufe, farther away from Trer than the others, instead lobs its rock at Lazur.

Cherufe 4 Throw Rock at Lazur: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (3) + 19 = 22

All are clearly too shaken at seeing how quickly their ravener went down to be terribly effective, save the one at the rear who is obviously possessed of a spirit of vengeance.

Cherufe 1 Confirm Crit: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (12) + 19 = 31

But not quite vengeful enough.

Rock damage: 2d8 + 18 ⇒ (7, 5) + 18 = 30 plus Burn damage that probably won't do anything: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4

Reflex save vs Burn, heroism DC 27: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 14 + 2 = 32

Trer's protection eats the fire damage and she is not on fire. I believe she takes 26 damage, is that correct?

If you see any numeric shenanigans here during my edits, I realized my combat manager had calculated the bonus to hit for the rocks wrong. It didn't affect the outcome.

Everybody else up

Combat Round 4, continued
Mirabelle: hp 134/172| | AC 25/24 (T16 FF19) *7 mirror images* | CMD 20 | Fort +19 Ref +18 Will +22 (+3 vs mind affecting) | resist fire 30, freedom of movement, mind blank heroism haste greater invisibility death ward
Cherufe 1 hp 243/243 DR 10/- | AC 30 T11 FF 29 | Fort +19 Ref +14 Will +10 | Immune fire, sleep, paralysis, other protection a
Cherufe 2 hp 48/243 DR 10/- | AC 30 T11 FF 29 | Fort +19 Ref +14 Will +10 | Immune fire, sleep, paralysis, other protection b
Cherufe 3 hp 243/243 DR 10/- | AC 30 T11 FF 29 | Fort +19 Ref +14 Will +10 | Immune fire, sleep, paralysis, other protection a
Cherufe 4 hp 243/243 DR 10/- | AC 30 T11 FF 29 | Fort +19 Ref +14 Will +10 | Immune fire, sleep, paralysis, other protection b
----> The Mighty Trer: HP 182/195 |AC:+4 36/35 T:19 FF:26 (+1 if opp is bigger)|CMD:45 CMB:26|Fort:21 Ref:14 Will:11 (+3 will when rg, +2 vs enchantment) | death ward, resist fire 30 heroism haste
Krowys: hp 120/123 | AC 32/31 (T20 FF26) | CMD 27 | Fort +12 Ref +15 Will +15 (+2 v. Poison & Mind-Affecting) | Resist 5 Electricity | resist fire 30 heroism haste
... and Liber: hp 60/60 | AC 20 T15 FF 17 | Fort +12 Ref +15 Will +15 | SR 22 | resist fire 30 heroism haste
Ariston: HP 105/105 | AC 34 (T18 FF30) | CMD 27/23 CMB +13 | Fort +15 Ref +15 Will +23 (+2 vs charm/compulsion) | Resist: Acid/Cold/Electricity 5 |
Lazur Anil: hp 156/156 | AC 32/31 (T19 FF27) | CMD 34 | Fort +13 Ref +18 Will +15 (+1 versus enchantments; roll twice vs mind-affecting) | Immunities: Illusions | death ward, resist fire 30, spell resistance heroism haste
Fire Giants (Not your concern for now, this is just a placeholder for where they go)

With her greatly enhanced speed Mira swoops forwards to be in front of the two lead monsters. She incants swiftly and as she does so a massive white dragon head appears above her and breathes out a cone of freezing fog!

Move: Fly forwards and up a bit 70'
Standard: Defensively cast Empowered, Persistent Dragon's Breath, I think I can hit 2 and 3 with a 30' cone
Swift: Quickened Dragons Breath

Cold Damage, DC31 Reflex: 18d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 6, 5, 5, 4, 6, 6, 2, 5, 3, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 4, 3) = 78 *1.5 for 117 cold damage

Reflex 2: 2d20 ⇒ (6, 19) = 25, take the lowest +14, fail
Reflex 3: 2d20 ⇒ (12, 7) = 19, take the lowest +14, fail

Then a second head appears and does the same thing!

Cold Damage, DC31 Reflex: 18d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 1, 5, 3, 5, 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 1, 4, 4, 4, 2, 2, 5) = 63

Reflex 2: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16, fail
Reflex 3: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21, fail

Both take 180 cold damage. Two is very dead. Three may be dead if they are vulnerable to cold.

She calls out to her companions, giving away her location even though she remains invisible, This day is beginning to tax even my resources a little. Lets get rid of these things quickly shall we!

Ariston drops quickly through the sky, slows to a hover, then weaves a baleful spell. Reality alters and the Cherufe’s body of stone and magma collapses in on itself.

MOVE: On Map
STAND: Cast Implosion on #1 (Round 1 of 8)

Fort Save vs DC:29: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (2) + 19 = 21 negates or take 170 DAM. FAIL - #1 takes 170 DAM

Mirabelle, you already took your turn for the round, in the post before mine. That's why the arrow in the stat summary is on Trer. I'm going to disregard your post for now, and you can let me know on your turn at the top of round five if you want to keep your action.

Krowys just stares wide-eyed at the carnage that Implosion can do, moves slightly closer to the Cherufes along with Liber, and opens his mouth and screams. He casts Wail of the Banshee, as opposed to another Cone of Cold to actually catch multiple of them with one spell. Liber can be seen clutching her head in preparation. Granted, she is no longer a fox, so this will not help quiet the sound in any way.

See the square marked with a circled x. It's off-screen and has a 40ft radius burst so it affects Cherufes 2 and 3 and 1, but not Mirabelle.

Cherufe 2 Fort Save, DC 28: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (1) + 19 = 20 OUCH
Cherufe 3 Fort Save, DC 28: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (1) + 19 = 20 OUCH
Cherufe 1 Fort Save, DC 28: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (6) + 19 = 25 Fail

All three Cherufes take 170 points of Sonic Damage. Wail of The Banshee only has Verbal components, no Somatic, so the buckler is raised for +5 to AC. Edited the post to include Cherufe 1, since it's also within the burst.

Damage sounds about right!

Trer takes a single move to hit #3 and greater vital strikes it with a yell. She also uses a swift action to reduce it's reach in regards to her by 15ft.

To hit greater hasted efreeti vital strike: 1d20 + 41 ⇒ (8) + 41 = 49
Damage: 24d6 + 47 ⇒ (1, 5, 5, 4, 5, 6, 6, 5, 4, 2, 1, 3, 2, 5, 2, 4, 6, 6, 1, 2, 5, 2, 2, 6) + 47 = 137

Seeing the destruction rained down by his comrades Lazur moves forward (#2) and studied the Cherufe and attacks it.

+5 Inspired Mithral Rapier SC PA 1: 1d20 + 21 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 21 + 8 - 4 = 32 Damage: 1d6 + 9 + 8 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 8 + 8 = 27

Mirabelle, you already took your turn for the round, in the post before mine. That's why the arrow in the stat summary is on Trer. I'm going to disregard your post for now, and you can let me know on your turn at the top of round five if you want to keep your action.

Sorry, missed that it said everyone else was up.

Trer slices into one of the cherufes, blade sliding through obsidian scale like butter. She notices that the fiery after effect of her efreet-powered attack actually helps heal it a little (fire healing ability) but no matter...

As Krowys subjects the cherufes to the sound of Axiomatic gears grinding, and all suffer tremendously, the two most wounded dying outright. Ariston follows up on the last one hurt by Krowys and you watch the creature fold in upon itself and perish.

Lazur has no one else to attack but the last, fourth one, and moves in, skewering a weak point between one of its black scales. Lazur, I moved you toward #4 since #2 was dead by the time you acted. You are welcome to adjust if you wish.

Bronze Dragon initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Meanwhile you hear a great flapping of wings coming from behind you--but it is no red or magma, nor undead dragon. Instead, it is the verdigris-crusted bronze scales of Senator Orteza in his true form, coming in from behind. In Draconic it roars, "So sorry I'm late!"

Further up the pass you see more creatures still approaching--some various monsters and wildlife, and non-winged cherufes. But the only half-dragon cherufe that remains is the one staring defiantly outraged at you---and one that the fire giants are likely to put down any moment, the other dying at their hands as we speak. Any other opposition is likely to be nonthreatening to the likes of you.

Combat Round 5
Mirabelle: hp 134/172| | AC 25/24 (T16 FF19) *7 mirror images* | CMD 20 | Fort +19 Ref +18 Will +22 (+3 vs mind affecting) | resist fire 30, freedom of movement, mind blank heroism haste greater invisibility death ward
Cherufe 4 hp 216/243 DR 10/- | AC 30 T11 FF 29 | Fort +19 Ref +14 Will +10 | Immune fire, sleep, paralysis, other protection b
----> The Mighty Trer: HP 182/195 |AC:+4 36/35 T:19 FF:26 (+1 if opp is bigger)|CMD:45 CMB:26|Fort:21 Ref:14 Will:11 (+3 will when rg, +2 vs enchantment) | death ward, resist fire 30 heroism haste
Krowys: hp 120/123 | AC 32/31 (T20 FF26) | CMD 27 | Fort +12 Ref +15 Will +15 (+2 v. Poison & Mind-Affecting) | Resist 5 Electricity | resist fire 30 heroism haste
... and Liber: hp 60/60 | AC 20 T15 FF 17 | Fort +12 Ref +15 Will +15 | SR 22 | resist fire 30 heroism haste
Orteza (fashionably late)
Ariston: HP 105/105 | AC 34 (T18 FF30) | CMD 27/23 CMB +13 | Fort +15 Ref +15 Will +23 (+2 vs charm/compulsion) | Resist: Acid/Cold/Electricity 5 |
Lazur Anil: hp 156/156 | AC 32/31 (T19 FF27) | CMD 34 | Fort +13 Ref +18 Will +15 (+1 versus enchantments; roll twice vs mind-affecting) | Immunities: Illusions | death ward, resist fire 30, spell resistance heroism haste
Fire Giants (Not your concern for now, this is just a placeholder for where they go)

[b]Mirabelle up, then cherufe 4 if he survives. Mirabelle, you can either keep your previous action with the dice already rolled, or you can take a new action but will need to roll the dice anew.

I will stick with my previous actions

Mira I want to check your position--since you cast 30 foot cones, you should be 30 feet from the last standing creature (2 and 3 or dead so you need to move to target 4). Even if the monster can't see you I need to see where you are before I act and if you are where you are currently you couldn't use the dragon's breath ability on it.

I should have checked the map. I will change my actions and instead launch a disintegrate and then move.

Attack vs ff touch, invisible, heroism: 1d20 + 13 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 13 + 2 + 2 = 20, hit
Damage: 36d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 6, 5, 1, 2, 6, 6, 1, 1, 4, 4, 1, 1, 3, 6, 1, 1, 2, 5, 6, 4, 6, 3, 5, 6, 5, 3, 1, 2, 6, 2, 3, 2, 2, 1) = 122

Fort save: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (3) + 19 = 22, fail

The creature's scales turn into ash, and it roars as it cannot even find the source of its pain. The person trying to stab it is right in front of him though, so he snarls at Lazur Anil, in remarkably coherent Common/Tradespeak. "These children of Thrakterifax fall today, but like our father-lord, we shall rise one day to devour you and your descendants' souls."

He inhales and blows out a gout of lava and flame. Unfortuately for Lazur but fortunately for the rest of you the 30 foot cone hit only reaches Lazur

Magma breath: 18d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 2, 4, 3, 4, 6, 2, 5, 6, 3, 6, 6, 2, 2, 3, 3, 5) = 67

Lazur Anil Reflex Save DC 27: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24

Fortunately the fire protection spell takes the brunt of the damage. 37 damage

Trer and Krowys up! He's at 74 hp. Finish him!

"I will not have descendants, and I cannot abide the devouring of what rightfully belongs to Axis," Krowys monotones, as if selling your soul is no big deal. As he speaks, he glides up to the creature, uttering a single word, as arcane symbols start to coalesce and manifest around him while he does so:

"Die." Power Word Kill.

The creature has no choice but to obey, and falls dead on the spot. The giants finish off the cherufe they were fighting, and Orteza zooms in. "Oh. Well, you are remarkably efficient. I'll take care of the stragglers then." He launches toward the final wave of lesser, that is to say, ordinary cherufes, and the survivors, within moments, decide flight is the better part of valor.

It will take some time to determine if the fallen remains of the cherufes dropped anything of value, and is likely if they had anything notable it was left in their home caverns--many of which may be filled with lava. Nonetheless you may wish to search the area. You might also want to speak with the fire giants, and then there's the issue of herding all the monsters who are still, as we speak, fleeing toward the farmlands to the south, which spots on the horizon suggest the flying cavalry may have arrived to help with.

I definitely do not want to run any further combats but if you have any ideas about how to address any of the issues or IF you want to it is up to you. What do you want to do?

Trer shrugs off her efreeti form. "My bit here is pretty much wrapped up. Clean up's a job for wizards. If you need a big rock moved, let me know though! I'll get on that for ya." She rubs her hands together. "Now. Thrafaxallfalldown's treasure. If I was a big stupid undead dragon, where would I hide it?"

Ariston swoops down over the battlefield. He assists with the 'mop-up', imploding enemies along his path of travel. He also notes any fallen or wounded fire giants.

I'm happy for the rest of the tactical stuff to happen off-screen. Ariston can implode 7 more baddies and then mass heal/selectively heal fire giants, resurrect one, and if the timing is right raise one from the dead with 'Breath of Life' if I get there on the right round. Basically, he's looking to strengthen the agreement/relationship with the fire giants.

Krowys will do the same, also communicating with the Fire Giants in a hasatily made pidgin if necessary. He does not say much, for he knows that he and Liber, despite being races that (originally) served Axis as diplomats... they were no diplomats.

Xenoglossy, and it's an auto-success. Who needs languages when you can just ad-hoc pidgin your way to victory! And Krowys can carry any extra loot needed in his bag of holding, along with the many, many bolts and True Strike scrolls. He can't implode bodies like Ariston can, but he can definitely help with the healing effort. Two hexes each, along with a few prepared spells. If there's extra diamonds lying around, he can also Resurrect one (the spell slot was intended as a backup, in case Ariston died, so I didn't purchase a diamond.) And yeah, I'm in agreement with no more fights for right now. It was a lot in quick succession.

Mira also aids with the cleanup, directing a number of chain lightning spells amongst the lesser foes.

Ariston, now might perhaps be a good time for your Miracle. Perhaps some weather control magic might divert the remaining monsters away from the farmlands and back into the mountains where they wont be so much trouble?

As they finish up she returns to the giant Queen. Your Majesty, I trust you found out intervention adequate to assist you? Perhaps this instance of co-operation could be a basis for agreeing some longer term treaty between your people and the people of the island? At least, after I have had a bath!

Good call, Mira. DQ is there anything else we need to do that I can simpilfy by miracle-ing it?

Lazur looks south and says "Can anyone put up a wall or something in front of these monster to get them to turn back? Or a large crevice or the illusion of something to make them turn back? We need to stop this before we go looking for loot."

Give me some Intelligence and/or Knowledge (Dungeoneering) or (Nature) checks. This isn't against a specific DC (you would auto-succeed, I expect, if there were), just want to see how high you get.

As for resurrection,as a reminder you recovered the bodies of four high priests and a ranger who were killed by the proteans, and Mara had only the means immediately to resurrect one. I'm not sure Krowys would consider this from an altruism angle, per se, but he might see the logic or efficacy in helping raise them, as it would in turn raise the people's capacity to get healing, which in turn would ensure recovery of the island happened faster. This is obviously something to consider for later, but since Krowys brought it up...

K (Nature), Krowys: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (12) + 29 = 41
INT check, Krowys: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
INT check, Liber: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25 Oof. Familiar doing better than the spellcaster here.

Krowys would probably see it in a more pragmatic angle, but definitely would explain it through a pragmatic lens. He does have some amount of emotion in him, but he tends to bury it under rules and order, since he isn't exactly a Pact Witch of Heaven. He could raise two bodies if given the diamonds to do so. One with Raise Dead, one with Resurrection. And he would determine if any of them have the capability of raising others before doing anything, so as to maximize the amount of lives saved.

Lazur looks upon the masses of creatures for a way to stop them peacefully.

Kn: Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30 + Inspiration (better of 2d8): 2d8 ⇒ (6, 1) = 7 36
Kn: Nature: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17 + Inspiration (better of 2d8): 2d8 ⇒ (7, 2) = 9 24

I must have missed Mara's limit on Resurrection. I thought with the cauldron she could raise all of them. OK, I'll save Resurrection to help Mara's team and I'll use Breath of Life to 'raise' one of the fire giants that falls in combat.

Again, we don't need to do this round by round. I'm not trying to drag this out. I was offering spells to 'narratively' but a bow on this battle. From then we can RP and go onto non-combat shenanigans.

INT Check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

Mira mutters a simple spell as she considers her options.

Investigative Mind

Nature: 2d20 ⇒ (6, 6) = 12, keep best +14 for 20
Dungeoneering: 2d20 ⇒ (10, 17) = 27, keep best +14 for 31

As an FYI, the cauldron of resurrection is usable only once per day and requires 10,000 gp of incense and herbs, which she only has so much of. With no other options, Mara would eventually resurrect everyone, but it would take her awhile to gather the resources to do so. I'd say Ariston as an experienced priest is likely aware at least to some degree of its limitations.

Ariston checks on the health of the fire giants, they wave down both him and Trer. Their battle with the cherufes has triggered at least one very local earthquake (an ability of the cherufes) and in fact they would accept some help moving some heavy rocks to clear the pass (and untrap one of their own mostly-dead and stuck in a cravasse).

Meanwhile, Krowys, Lazur, and Mira particularly consider the question of the still-fleeing fear train of trolls, giants, oozes, and other critters. They come up with the following:

- The more intelligent creatures might notice the fire giants have stopped running and follow their lead, which would just take getting their attention. As the fire giants are easily the most powerful and respected of the group here, they just need some leverage to get the others to return. You could get as creative as you like going this route, but in the end this could just be helping position the fire giants prominently and making a Charisma-based skill check.

- The dumber magical beasts, animals, oozes, and the like are the bigger problem, all now triggered into a stampede, getting them to stop is the issue. One, or preferably, two of the following would possibly do the trick:
-- While summoning a giant wall or weather effect could work, the land is already saturated with the aftermath of the earthquakes and storms, and it would be tricky to do this without causing more long term damage to fix. Possibly reshaping the moutainpass to cleverly loop them back north would be the smartest. Miracle might do it, but would need a tactical approach, i.e., some skill checks, to do it best
-- Mass destruction magics could also take care of some of them, especially the harder to remove options like magma oozes. This is definitely a handwave option--there's definitely going to be no further need for your magics today other than what you may wish to use in the denouement to this section, so you can just burn slots and say you blow s*$@ up.
-- Another option is fear. They're running primarily away from the ravener and its brood. They're just so scared now they can't get themselves to stop running. But something that scared them WORSE in the direction they're running might get them to turn around. An illusion of the ravener would be an obvious option, and/or perhaps asking Orteza to intervene and give him some magics to boost his own presence/fear aura (which it occurs to you he is so used to suppressing his own fear aura he might forget he can use it). Your creativity does not have to end there. Miracle and other magics could easily produce something suitable here, if not just aiding Orteza to make some good rolls.

The other problem is the tunnels filled with lava. Some of the flows will recede but many tunnels have changed shape and/or take entirely new directions. Many of these creatures don't have homes to go to, or at least think they don't, which is more likely to make them want to move south to carve out new territory.
-- You could use divinations to identify new paths to their lairs and lead them there.
-- You could teleport at least some of them to a different location (like near one of the volcanoes in the Cloudreaches or Sogard).
-- You could use terrain sculpting magic to give them a new path home.

The hope here is to help you use up some of your resources in creative ways that you may not usually get to try. If this isn't interesting to you, you can summarize a brief plan and wrap this up, and get to lootz and/or other rewards. If you're burning to use the miracle, there are any number of ways you can--hopefully the above helps--and/or you can use it to help fix up the city later, such as help the flood waters recede or clear out collapsed sewers.

Just a quick question, re we now moving to a stage where some of this happens on a longer timeframe of a few days rather than an immediate problem? Obviously the various rampaging monsters need dealing with now but reshaping tunnels and the like could take longer?

We are focusing on what you can do immediately for the most part, but absolutely you can plan on refining or adding on the longer term, especially on those more complex aspects. We'll have a bit of downtime after this so you can decide what might be happening as things progress.