[Outpost VIII] Mistress of the Maze (Inactive)

Game Master Super Zero

Bruce completes her sentence, "...Mr. Chitters? And Rindle?"

"It would seem so, yes. But we do have an intact body, so I think we should be able to raise him. Anyway--I know that you all, and Rindle obviously, have had more to deal with in the Maze then I have, but I have been holding on to this thing with both hands without letting go for a while and my arms are getting sore. If you're ready..."

A particularly thick section of the maze’s hedges has grown over massive white structures. What may have been the spires of an ancient temple are now so choked with wild plants they are inaccessible. Even stranger, mounding dunes of red sand are gathered in the open paths between the living walls of the maze.

A humanoid figure directs several strange hounds, which are covered in moss and seem to be made of packed dirt and pebbles. The figure himself is about human-sized, wearing a red and yellow robe and conical mask. He's certainly not human, though, with four arms, bluish skin, and three sharp fingers and toes on each hand and foot.
He looks up as the Pathfinders approach, then glares and grips his weapon. "You!" he shouts, and starts to cast a spell.

...but everyone else reacts faster.

Avery and Kat's turns.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 72/72 HP)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Purple Hound
Narkru (AC 24, 70/70 HP)
Hancock (AC 22, 90+9/90 HP)
Red Humanoid
Green Hound

Kat moves up, points her crossbow at the Green hound, pulls the trigger and reloads.

+1 Striking Hand Crossbow: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30 for Piercing Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5 Doubled to 10 if that's a crit

◆ Step
◆ Strike
◆ Reload

Avery moves, keeps her eye on Red Humanoid, and hides behind the bush.

◆ Stride
◆ Hunt Prey (Red Humanoid)
◆ Hide, Stealth +15

Kat's crossbow bolt buries itself deeply in the hound's shoulder. Which might be more impressive for a hound made of flesh and blood, but the elemental hound doesn't seem unimpressed either.
That is indeed a crit.

The other earthen hound, the one with sweet little purple flowers on it, lunges forward to bite Narkru. It clamps its jaws on her leg--and then pulls it out from under her! She crashes to the ground, hard.
◆ Stride
◆ Strike Jaws: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27, hits for piercing damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
◆ Knockdown Athletics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30, crit dealing bludgeoning damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Narkru and Hancock's turns.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 72/72 HP, hidden?)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Purple Hound
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP, prone)
Hancock (AC 22, 90+9/90 HP)
Red Humanoid (Avery's prey)
Green Hound (-10 HP)

Narkru looks to attempt to pet the dog until it bites her leg and she slips to the ground. Stumbling to her feet, she holds her hand out and tries to pull dirt from the dog itself.

◆Stand up
◆Extract Element, 3d4 untyped damage on basic Fort save.
On success or worse, -1 AC and saves penalty and damage will bypass resistance and makes immunity resistance equal to level.
◆Channel elements, one action blast on purple dog.

Extract Element: 3d4 ⇒ (3, 3, 4) = 10
Elemental Blast, piercing: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 222d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 6) + 4 = 16

The sod hound mostly resists, but Narkru still manages to pull some of its elemental essence and wield it against it. Elementals should not attack kineticists who control the elements they're made of...
Fortitude: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21 Success. But a hit!

Hancock's turn.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 72/72 HP, hidden?)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Purple Hound (-21 HP, element extracted -1 to AC and saves vs Narkru)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP, prone)
Hancock (AC 22, 90+9/90 HP)
Red Humanoid (Avery's prey)
Green Hound (-10 HP)

Hancock, as usual, is more interested in going after the leader. With a burst of sudden speed he charges across the battlefield and engages the Red Humanoid.

to hit maul: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20
bludgeoning/force damage - cold iron, ghost touch, draconic rage(force): 2d12 + 8 ⇒ (7, 5) + 8 = 20
4 of the damage is force damage; Critical Specialization: The target is knocked prone unless they succeed at a DC 21 Fortitude save

to hit maul, map -5: 1d20 + 14 - 5 ⇒ (10) + 14 - 5 = 19
bludgeoning/force damage - cold iron, ghost touch, draconic rage(force): 2d12 + 8 ⇒ (1, 10) + 8 = 19
4 of the damage is force damage; Critical Specialization: The target is knocked prone unless they succeed at a DC 21 Fortitude save

◇ rage
◆◆ sudden charge
◆ attack

Hancock's attacks are close, but not close enough!

The strange humanoid finishes casting his spell, and suddenly there are four of him shifting around, moving around and through each other, making it impossible to distinguish which one is real. He then retreats a ways.
◆◆ Cast mirror image, ◆ Stride

If Hancock is lonely, the mossy hound eagerly comes to keep him company. And bite him, though this time it doesn't manage to knock him over.
◆ Stride
◆ Strike Jaws: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26, hits for piercing damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
◆ Knockdown Athletics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18, failure

Avery and Kat's turns.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 72/72 HP, hidden?)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Purple Hound (-21 HP, element extracted -1 to AC and saves vs Narkru)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP, prone)
Hancock (AC 22, 83/90 HP)
Red Humanoid (Avery's prey, 3 mirror images)
Green Hound (-10 HP)

Kat raises her crossbow and shoots Purple.

+1 Striking Hand Crossbow: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34 for Piercing Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 3) = 7 Doubled to 14

She reloads and drops into a combat stance.

◆ Strike
◆ Reload
◆ Tiger Stance

The bolt hits dead center, and the hound begins leaking large clumps of earth as it starts to crumble.
A crit, which bloodies it.

Avery's turn.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 72/72 HP, hidden?)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Purple Hound (-35 HP, bloodied, element extracted -1 to AC and saves vs Narkru)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP, prone)
Hancock (AC 22, 83/90 HP)
Red Humanoid (Avery's prey, 3 mirror images)
Green Hound (-10 HP)

"Tsk." Avery mutters, seeing that her prey is on the move, blocking her sight of the Red Humanoid. She gets out from hiding to flank Green for Hancock,
◆ Stride

and launches an arrow when she has a nice view of the target.
+1 Striking Fearsome Sukgung Attack: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30 vs Target (becomes Frightened 1 at Crit Hit)
Damage: 2d8 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7 P damage
Precision Edge: 1d8 ⇒ 6 precision P damage to Prey the first time hit in the round
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 2 precision P damage to Off-guard (due to Hidden?) target
◆ Strike

She then reloads.
◆ Reload

The solid sound of the impact suggests Avery chose the right image.
Mirror Image: 1d4 ⇒ 1 A hit. And no help from mirror image.

The earthen hound with the pretty flowers takes another look at Narkru, whines, and dives into the earth. It does not reemerge. It seems to have fled.

Narkru and Hancock's turns.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 72/72 HP, hidden?)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP)
Hancock (AC 22, 83/90 HP)
Red Humanoid (-15 HP, Avery's prey, 3 mirror images)
Green Hound (-10 HP)

"Good boy." Narkru mutters as the dog fades back down into the earth. She then looks up toward the..."four" humanoid shapes further down.

She runs down toward the humanoid and tries to grab him, her face is more confused than angry. "What are you doing?"

◆ Stride
◆ Stride
◆ Grab at the humanoid, picking one that she thinks is the real one.
Grab: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20

Narkru's hands close on nothing. The image she tried to grab disappears.
A failure. Though a failed attack still destroys an image.

Hancock's turn.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 72/72 HP, hidden?)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP)
Hancock (AC 22, 83/90 HP)
Red Humanoid (-15 HP, Avery's prey, 2 mirror images)
Green Hound (-10 HP)

Hancock relentlessly pursues the mage and closes his eyes to shut out the distraction of the images.

That tactic seems effective. Hancock feels his weapon hit twice, though the strange creature seems to pull away the force energy with his spare hands. The physical hit still works fine!
Both hits, but he's unaffected by the force damage (I think witchwyrds might be the only creature in the game resistant to force?).

"Fighting with eyes closed? You will regret that!" All three remaining images of the humanoid move away from Narkru, running around Hancock to strike him from his greater reach. The first hit is devastating. The second only devastates the ground, which is what he hits.
◆ Stride
◆ Strike Ranseur: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32 crits for 2xpiercing damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
◆ Strike Ranseur: 1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (1) + 16 - 5 = 12 critically fails

The remaining hound seems perfectly happy to focus on Avery, now that she's next it. It bites her and knocks her to the ground. Then it takes a bite out of the ground, but that may have been on purpose? It's hard to tell with elementals.
◆ Strike Jaws: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28, hits for piercing damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
◆ Knockdown Athletics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30, success
◆ Strike Jaws: 1d20 + 11 - 5 ⇒ (1) + 11 - 5 = 7, critically fails

All PCs' turns.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 62/72 HP, prone)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP)
Hancock (AC 22, 53/90 HP, eyes closed)
Red Humanoid (-46 HP, Avery's prey, 2 mirror images)
Green Hound (-10 HP)

Narkru moves to circle around the humanoid and decides to forgo hitting one image at a time and forces up the ground directly around her.

◆ Stride
◆◆ Raise Slabs: basic reflex save, bludgeoning damage. Knocked prone on a crit fail. Will hit red, just barely out of range for green.

Raise Slabs: Bludgeoning: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 2) = 6

Hitting the entire area also proves an effective tactic. All three react like they were hit, though there is only the sound of one impact.
Red Reflex: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20

Avery, Kat, and Hancock' turns.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 62/72 HP, prone)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP)
Hancock (AC 22, 53/90 HP, eyes closed)
Red Humanoid (-52 HP, Avery's prey, 2 mirror images)
Green Hound (-10 HP)

Kat runs up and shoots the Green hound. She reloads.

+1 Striking Hand Crossbow: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (10) + 15 = 25 for Piercing Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4

◆ Stride
◆ Strike?
◆ Reload

Opening his eyes long enough to get the lay of the land, Hancock moves into a flank and then closes his eyes for another round of walloping.

"You'll gonna regret that!" Avery hisses. She calls Sophia for help to attack the Green Hound.
◆ Command an Animal

She then launches needles made of silver toward the attacker.
Needle Darts Spell Attack, Penalty from Prone: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 8 - 2 = 15
Spell Damage: 5d4 ⇒ (2, 3, 3, 1, 2) = 11 P damage plus additional damage to target w weakness to silver (plus 3 persistent bleed damage on Critical Hit)
◆◆ Needle Darts

Sophia obediently follows and flies above the Green Hound and scratches the same with her claws.
Talons Attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32 vs Green Hound
Damage: 2d4 + 3 ⇒ (3, 4) + 3 = 10 S damage

◆ Fly
◆ Strike

Kat hits. Neither Hancock nor Avery are able to--but Sophia makes up for it, tearing away chunks of earth. The depleted hound dives into the ground and disappears.
Sophia crits, and this one also flees.

"And that's why we don't do that." The four-armed humanoid strikes at Hancock while he's vulnerable, before falling back to a position that'll be harder to flank with a boulder behind him.
◆ Strike ranseur: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35, crit for 2xpiercing damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
◆ Strike ranseur: 1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (11) + 16 - 5 = 22, hit for piercing damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

All PCs' turns.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 62/72 HP, prone)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP)
Hancock (AC 22, 12/90 HP, eyes closed)
Red Humanoid (-52 HP, Avery's prey, 2 mirror images)

Kat moves up and shoots the red Humanoid.

+1 Striking Hand Crossbow: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 15 = 31 for Piercing Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8 Doubled to 16 if that's a crit

◆◆ Stride
◆ Strike
↺ Infernal Detonations (I keep forgetting I have it!)

The crossbow bolt whistles through the creature's head, and beyond. Another illusion is destroyed.
Mirror Image: 1d3 ⇒ 2

Avery, Narkru, and Hancock' turns.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 62/72 HP, prone)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP)
Hancock (AC 22, 12/90 HP, eyes closed)
Red Humanoid (-52 HP, Avery's prey, 1 mirror image)

Narkru moves to get closer and circle around the red humanoid and tries to grab them one last time. Then, she follows that up with a bit of dirt to the attempted face.

◆ Stride
◆ Grab
◆ One-action blast, ◇ Weapon Infusion: Agile

Athletics: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30
One Action blast, bludgeoning: 1d20 + 12 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 12 - 4 = 132d8 + 4 ⇒ (5, 5) + 4 = 14

Mirror Image: 1d2 ⇒ 1

Narkru grabs the man in the pointy had. He manages to duck away from her blast even so, but it hits and disrupts the last illusion.
Successful grab. Attack misses, but non-critical failure still destroys an illusion. That's the end of his mirror image spell.

Avery and Hancock' turns.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 62/72 HP, prone)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP, grabbing Red)
Hancock (AC 22, 12/90 HP, eyes closed)
Red Humanoid (-52 HP, Avery's prey, grabbed by Narkru)

Hancock peeks and finds the illusions gone. So he goes back to using sight, though he is tempted to make it more fair by closing his eyes. He does love a good fight!

Hancock hits him with his maul once, and he's starting to look pretty beat-up.
And then he hits him again.
A hit due to Off-Guard, which bloodies him. And another hit.

Avery's turn.
Initiative:
Avery (AC 24/25, 62/72 HP, prone)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP, grabbing Red)
Hancock (AC 22, 12/90 HP, eyes closed)
Red Humanoid (-93 HP, bloodied, Avery's prey, grabbed by Narkru)

Avery stands, dusting herself from being on the ground. She then reloads and shoots at her prey, making sure that she will not wound it fatally.
+1 Striking Fearsome Sukgung Attack, Nonlethal: 1d20 + 15 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 15 - 2 = 28 vs Target (becomes Frightened 1 at Crit Fail)
Damage: 2d8 ⇒ (6, 2) = 8 P damage
Precision Edge: 1d8 ⇒ 6 precision P damage to Prey the first time hit in the round
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 5 precision P damage to Off-guard target

◆ Stand
◆ Reload
◆ Strike

With the thunk of an arrow, the witchwyrd collapses in Narkru's arms.

Around the area, the Pathfinders can find a collection of planar maps, intricate devices, and etched gold medallions.
With the witchwyrd defeated, the way is clear to finally pass on to the Woodsedge Lodge. Eliza stops briefly near the still-partially-blocked portal to Akiton, noting that the portal seems to be sound and removing the detritus should be easy once the maze is stabilized. After the Pathfinders have a moment to look around and collect items of value, Eliza leads them through the final portal to the Woodsedge Lodge.

Status:
Avery (AC 24/25, 62/72 HP)
-Sophia (AC 23, 52/52 HP)
Kat (AC 25, 80/80 HP)
Narkru (AC 24, 54/70 HP)
Hancock (AC 22, 12/90 HP)

That was the final encounter, so go ahead and talk about healing just in case before moving on if you like but no need to worry about the details.

Not even stopping to tend to her wounds, Narkru uses her provision potion to see to it that the humanoid is not left for dead. After leaving them out cold to cool their temper, she proceeds to use her earthen abilities to carve a safe entrance through the debris.

When the witchwyrd wakes, they will find the portal pathway passable, with some earthen pellets as the equivalent of doggie kibble in a depression on the ground. A single word in common: "Sorry" left near the gifts.

Hancock will treat his wounds,

expert treat wounds: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17 but can't seem to manage. In annoyance he turns to using his healer's gloves.

2d6 + 7 ⇒ (6, 3) + 7 = 16 healing.

He will stick to it until he is patched up, trying to treat his wounds every 10 minutes (he has continual recovery).

The Pathfinders and Eliza make it back to the Woodsedge Lodge with their samples. A group of Society spellcrafters and sages are ready with an array of arcane implements, eager to receive the samples Eliza has collected. Eliza calls for a cleric and turns over the magic satchel containing Rainfickle’s body, asking that the halfling be raised at the Society’s expense.

With her responsibilities and magic paraphernalia successfully handed off, Eliza thanks the party for their efforts and lets them know that if they don’t mind resting overnight at the lodge, she’ll arrange less “unstable” transport back to the Grand Lodge for them.