The blow is vicious enough but it also hits a vital part of Quenly.
Quenly needs to make a DC23 Fort save or die.
"Now, that's just a taste of what I can do," the newcomer says. "But we don't have to settle this violently. Let's come to an agreement before anyone else gets hurt any more. I've got some information I figure you want and in return, I just want to be let leave."
I'm switching to block initiative so the PC's may all act. Negotiation is obviously an option at this point.
The alchemist lock Colin in the force cage, Colin lock alchemist out of using more bomb because the force cage will go away and form at the new target if the alchemist use the bomb at others.
Colin put away his bow as a sign of peace and knock on the wall. Obviously, you can't talk to someone on the other side of a Wall of Force.
Flyn slowly lowers his bow; even then it is just slightly lowered…
”You assault my friend, damn near kill him, and then cry peace? Forgive my tardiness in responding to your peace offer, I was just thinking on whether I should respond in kind; you know, seeing how you’d like an arrow in your gut and then I’d agree to negotiate terms…”
He pauses for a second before further lowering his bow. ”Since my friend survived your assault and Colin is willing to listen you, I suppose I will as well. Time is of the essence and we have no qualms with Torch, only Vahlo. If you can tell us something of use that will quicken our search for that bastard, I will not stop you from leaving, as long as you do it quickly and don’t return…”
Flyn closely observes the assassin, trying to get a read on him as he relates his information…
With a shrug the half-orc assassin answers Flyndyngylyn, "An arrow in the gut is definitely going to catch my attention and tell me to listen, so it seems like you do get the idea."
He looks warily at the four of them but then gives a satisfied nod. "Alright, it sounds like you're all reasonable folks."
He and the alchemist who is here with him head to the stairs from which the Pathfinders entered this room.
"Give me a three minute headstart before you go after them. I don't want to be caught up in any of this or have to worry about you changing your mind.
"Vahlo is headed to the top of Skyreach and Torch is after him. If I was you, I'd just let them fight it out, but I suppose you won't listen to that good advice."
With that, he hurries up the stairs with his ally close behind.
Flyndyngylyn's keen eyes are able to sift through the numerous scrolls and texts here to find that a scroll of true resurrection resides within the
bookshelves in the northeast corner of the repository, hidden within a stack of old Pathfinder Chronicles. The bookshelf also contains a hidden manual of bodily health +1.
It takes about half a minute (5 rounds) for Flyn to sniff out the treasure in the room. Then, the waiting for a spell to expire begins.
But the wait is not long as, with a deep rumble, the stairway that allowed you in fills in with stone, trapping you in this room.
Trapping you in this room with a towering, night-black giant that has demonic features, including a huge pair of ram-like horns. Its arms end in massive blades that suddenly appears.
I'm going to call it 15 rounds, assuming they started at the beginning of the combat. A couple rounds of combat, a few of discussion after the ambush, say 5 for the half-orc and his companion to get away and 5 for you to search the room.
Flyn reacts swiftly to the towering creature that appears, assuming it’s a creature of Vahlo’s and not Torch; the Elf unleashes a volley of cold iron at the beast…
Burning a use of Perfect Strike along with a ki point to increase arrow damage to 1d10…
Friendly reminder for Hunter's Blessing (Undead/Urban) Colin gave everyone, for a +2/+2 Sacred bonus vs undead that stack with Ranger's Favored Enemy (for being bonus of different type and different source)
Flyndyngylyn peppers the creature with arrows though none of them do quite as much damage as he might think, even the one that strikes the beast right in the eye.
Both he and Colin know this is a Nightwalker Nightshade, an undead horror rather than a living giant. It has damage resistance only overcome by good and silver, immunity to cold, and undead resistances. It has an aura of desecration that strengthens undead and a fear gaze that weakens the living.
Round 1, the BOLD may act.
Flyn
Tad
Colin
Quenly
Nightwalker -184HP
Tad casts a spell and a beam of bright light flies out from his hand towards the undead monster. (sunbeam spell)
The creature is blinded and takes 4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 5, 4) = 15 damage, which is doubled if sunlight is harmful or unnatural to it. A reflex save (DC 24) negates blindness and halves damage. Because it's undead, it takes an additional 15d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 6, 6, 3, 3, 1, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 6, 6, 6) = 65 damage, also halved if the save is successful. Also, the beam will destroy any undead creature specifically harmed by bright light if it fails its save.
Tad blasts the beast with the power of the sun. It narrowly twists away to avoid the worst of the beam but the light still burns away much of it's form.
Round 1, the BOLD may act.
Flyn
Tad
Colin
Quenly
Nightwalker -232HP
If Quenly hasn't acted by tomorrow, I'll bot him.
Between the numerous arrows and Tad's solar blast, the shadowy creature squeals then dissipates.
Soon after you vanquish what is, very likely, Vahlo's latest attempt to kill or at least slow you down, the fog in the Repository dissipates and you can freely continue to explore. Moments later, the stairway that led out of the Repository is cleared of obstacles and the magical warding that temporarily prevented teleportation fades. You can now make your way to Skyreach to confront Vahlo.
In order to reach the tower, you need to get to the top of Skyreach. Obviously, you have quite a few methods at your disposal so let me know which one you use. Flying, teleporting, climbing the walls or going up the stairs are all obvious options so feel free to pick one or let me know if you have another method. As usual, I'll assume the first two agreeing answers is the one you take.
Colin himself got Extended Overland Flight, and still have a Entended Communal Air Walk and a Fly prepared. That being said, we also have a cleric and an oracle who also has Air Walk in their spell list, but I don't know if they're currently air-walking or not.
Flyn get to decide whether he want to be air walking or flying I guess.
After carefully plannings between the casters, Colin casts Extended Communal Air Walk on everyone, and then Colin and Quenly casts a dozen of other spells on teammates.
In preparation, Flyn will cast Heightened Awareness and Blend on himself in addition tapping himself with his Mage Armor wand…then will graciously accept the spells offered by his companions (listed below)…
When his companions are ready, he’ll say, ”Let’s roll,” and begin air walking to the top, moving quietly and staying alert for any signs of danger…
After a full minute of casting combat enhancing spells on themselves, the party walks up to the roof of Skyreach on invisible stairs made of nothing but air. A task made difficult by storm clouds that gather over Absalom, drawing worried shouts from citizens. Periodic bursts of sheet lightning illuminate the clouds as the wind gusts violently, stripping tiles off
Skyreach’s tall towers. A deep red, horizontal disk hovers 5 feet above the peak of the west tower. The disk is about 5 feet across, but it slowly grows as it draws energy from the storm.
Severe winds are in effect. They won't prevent you from air walking up there but if you try to use it during combat, the wind will push you 50' from left to right. They also impose a -4 penalty to ranged attacks.
Vahlo stands atop the tallest tower, watching the growing disk with evident satisfaction. He is so focused on the storm that you are able to attack him before he can react.
Severe winds are in effect. They won't prevent you from air walking up there but if you try to use it during combat, the wind will push you 50' from left to right. They also impose a -4 penalty to ranged attacks.
We all have Freedom of Movement up, so the wind shouldn't affect our movement? For reference, Freedom of Movement allow the creature to succeed at ALL swim check per Aquatic Adventure p.45, and water is a much denser fluid than air and more difficult to navigate in.
BOTTING Quenly
Quenly will cast Displacement as well as Quicken Dispel Magic, then move closer a bit.
CL check:1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20Dispel one spell that's CL9 or lower, starting from highest CL
After Quenly have hopefully weaken Vahlo somewhat, Colin will studies his target,activate Boot of Speed, and fires at Vahlo , mixing a Tangleshot Arrow in the volley to hopefully make Vahlo easier to hit for Flyn.
Silver Nocking Point reduce wind penalty to -2, and should be hitting flat-foot AC which hopefully trigger his 1d6 Sneak Attack? Manyshot:1d20 + 24 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 24 - 2 = 29Damage:1d8 + 17 + 1d8 + 17 ⇒ (2) + 17 + (1) + 17 = 37Sneak Attack:1d6 ⇒ 3
Colin's invisible familiar will cast Minor Image to create another Quenly, while Quenly's Pseudodragon will stand guard with blindsense to detect unseen enemies.
You're not swimming so I don't necessarily agree with that argument but it also says that you're immune to things like web so Freedom of Movement is obviously more far reaching so I agree that it is effective.
Spell Resistance:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17
Tad's spell sputters and dies against the inherent magical resistance of his target.
There is an audible pop and a quick flash of light as Quenly's spell manages to disrupt one of Vahlo's magical defenses.
Only one of Colin's arrows strikes his target.
Round 1 the Bold may act.
Round 1, the BOLD may act.
You may begin anywhere on any of the roofs as long as you are no closer than 30' from Vahlo.
Quenly
Tad
Colin
Flyn
Vahlo -25hp
Flyn's first arrow hits Vahlo right in the eye and each of the ones that follow split their predecessor simply driving those arrowheads further and further in and converting the wood of the shafts to shrapnel.
That level of accuracy is surprising but the results are predictable.
Vahlo is about to unleash unholy havoc, his mouth open when he simply collapses.
You guys have a round before anything else happens.
Quenly cast Divine Favor on himself while Colin overwatching, ready to shoot at new threat as it show up.
"Maybe Torch is afraid of height, he is more of a bathhouse person afterall."
Tad gets close enough to examine the corpse and sees that it is well and truly dead. No illusions, no tricks...
Well, maybe one more trick...
The swirling disc creates an enormous lightning bolt that creates deafening thunder.
Everyone please make a DC25 fort save to avoid being deafened.
Red lightning begins arcing from Vahlo's sword to Vahlo’s helm to nearby creatures, causing an uncomfortable buzzing sensation as the air pressure in the area drops precipitously.
DC20 Knowledge (arcana) or Spellcraft check:
You recognize that the ritual’s energy has become unstable and is at risk of blasting from Skyreach in a random direction with unpredictable results—but also that it might be possible to take control of these wild energies.
Quenly, as part of his oracle curse, is already deafen :)
Quenly Spellcraft:1d20 + 22 ⇒ (5) + 22 = 27
Quenly recognizes that the ritual’s energy has become unstable and is at risk of blasting from Skyreach in a random direction with unpredictable results, but he thinks it might be possible to take control of these wild energies, and relay these information through the telepathic pseudodragon and telepathic pooka to everyone.
In an attempt to stablize the red disk, Quenly will cast Dispel Magic at it... CL:1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33
Tad sees that Quenly's spell dissipates some, but not all of the gathering energy. He has only moments to act (1 round) if he hopes to dissipate or otherwise manage the energy further.
Colin also haven't act yet so will do a round worth of action
Seeing Quenly's spell having effect, Colin will follow suit, taking out some Myrrh and use his Greater Dispel Magic on the red circle.
Greater Dispel Magic CL:1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 14 + 1 = 26For what it worth, CL15 = 3 spells worth of dispelling if successful
