Alia of the Blade's page

Aye, Aye, I HAVE been meaning to catch up, but now I'm also busy digging through history, going back to the Trolls, to the Kobolds(I do remember there was trouble after, we just can't have anything work out in our favor, it seems)
I was also trying to check back on some past Renault stuff(like bringing home some kids from that settlement) that could mellow him out.

It's just like I'm trying to revisit 20 points in time for this and not getting anything done.

But I'm trying, promise :/
If I am not properly up to speed on thursday, I'll just throw out a post. Apologies again for the delay, but I AM on it.

Also, just to re-ask, because that level was mentioned and we may do some kingdom building...WILL there be time to retrain(re-build)? Or will be get home, run a nice hot bath and then have to jump back into action before even getting in?
I'd just like to not level up for leveling ups sake, then do it all over.

On the topic of a brief summary - Yeah, we won is pretty good :p

Specifically we've dealt with most of the horrors of the cursed meeting and with our limbs still attached. Not all the attendees were as lucky - they're are greyed out on the map sheet. But we killed the lich - or a piece of it anyway - and are now in character on the way to actually set up the kingdom...

Well. We mildly inconvenienced the lich that orchestrated it all by taking out a stunt double of his.

@taking a turn, Illthir did :) But I'll try the next one. So far it seems fine. That said, I still think giving us more resources(for individual realms) and less turns(with event checks and stuff for all parts of the kingdom) might me more time-efficient, but also more work...so yeah, whatever GM feels makes more sense.

Kobolds: I think we are good with those - I think after the Mites and driving off the dude in cahoots with the Dark Elves we reached some agreement with the Sootscales, was it?

Akiros: Is currently acting as Steward in our Capital, we gave him a task of starting renovations and stuff, get things up to code, basically.

Farmers: Yeah, we have to deal with Renault. I know Durgan was against any "autonomy" areas, but honestly, those guys were here first and for the sole reason to not be bothered by big government. I'd still be fine giving them their hex as if they were an investor, then just trying to make them see the light when they realize everything around prospers but they foolishly excluded themselves.

Trolls: Are the chatty trolls back? I'll have to check gameplay tomorrow.

Yeah, thats the thing, I KNOW we wanted to use skills, because I already pre-loaded Knowledge(Nobility) during the last level-up. Which was a LONG time ago.

That is also kind of the impasse I find myself at right now, because to have the right kind of stats for the test run, I would probably need to level first.

But before that, I'd have to know if retraining is a go during the downtime.
And I'd have to check what my bank is, I have not updated it for a while.

Regarding the "Duke" - or formerly, Zokon, I had considered taking him on as Cohort at Level 7...originally I planned for Vega, the Unchained, vicious Ninja Cat Assassin of Telvurin.
But it could make sense to have a Cohort fill one of the Kingdom Positions, and having Duke Zed as a stay-at-home king could be a reasonably efficient use.

I did have a lot of stuff coming up in the last 1.5 weeks that more or less kept me off the boards - I'll have to re-check the alterations we planned to do, such as knowledge nobility instead of stats and stuff like that.

One thing that we SHOULD probably talk about, since that's pretty important, is if we want Zokon to be the NPC ruler and have a puppet king (since we would make decisions by council/OOC anyway), or not.

Technically, I could (as planned) marry Zokon and we could both be "Ruler" - keeping him home to avoid the vacancy penalty while still having someone able to make the "decisions" we make OOC, IC.

I know Durgan was opposed to that because I was a long-lived foreigner and insisted on me being Consort instead, but after his departure(and I stand by what I said earlier - I am sorry to see Durgan go even if we did not always see eye to eye on things) and Zokon having gone missing, it seems relevant to revisit.

I do promise I won't sneakily align our nation with Kyonin or something like that - just saying :)

But having NPC Zokon be the resident King and me as travelling Co-Ruler would give us all the options. (plus the Boni from the position)

Poor Drelev...

She inclines her head in a nod towards Numesti: "And thanks to all of you. Things could have ended much worse if not for our cooperation."

Duchess...it still felt strange, but it was the title Zokon had chosen.
He was under the care of what medical experts could be provided on such short notice, but as of yet, there were no conclusive results regarding his health.
But Alia was steadfast in her decision to follow through with the plan they had.

"I am glad to hear that, and happy for you.", Alia curtsies to Baron Drelev and his Lady-to-be, "I wish you all the best for your marriage".
She manages to completely ignore Imeckus - not in an offensive way, but simply keeping the attention on the happy couple.

Hm.

a.: I did mention Alisa, too, before so thats 3 votes. The Shepherd is missing but we can't even consider him without any remains to work with. My hope is that he got away somehow - albeit the fact the creatures in the Hedge Maze managed to mimic him so well makes me doubt it.

b.: I think our capital is in that Hex, and we already started building it up and left that one dude in charge of getting things done while we were gone. So that hex is not up for sale.
Regarding the religious input, I am still not clear on what they would offer - making an agreement and only finding out afterwards doesn't sound like an informed decision, rather lottery.
I think Sandralane would stay around if she gets to build a Temple, which would bring another powerful NPC close, and she may be happy with a Temple in the capital, but understand that it's not an exclusive thing.
Which I think would be true for all the religions...and I think also not in their interest. I mean, Abadar is called out as being supportative of Erastils grassroots movement in bringing community into the wilderness that then is a basis for civilization and growth. I doubt he'd tell Erastil to get lost because thats his gig now.
Iomedae, as mentioned, could be a decent compromise.
Aside from the Dool and whatever religious figure, I'd think Alisa and Longtooth are worth giving spots. Longtooth did pull his weight and really helped, proactively, during that episode. Plus I have a feeling he might even make a good Spymaster-type sneaky organizer if he's interested in the job. (Like, let them have their domain, but if we can somehow "integrate" them in our fledgling nation, even better...less likely they isolate themselves, and may be more of autonomy regions rather than split-off free cities.)

c.: Sure, lets do a mock run. We still have to settle on how. If we do not run things in parallel and independent, but in one location deliberating over each building and potentially placement, I could see this being a very slow process.

Also, regarding the Level up to 6 - is there time for the rebuild/retraining? As said before, Alia would be mostly kept as-is flavorwise, just some mechanics would get shuffled.

Oh, and yes, we totally need to double-check loot. I have no idea what my bank should be right now....

To be clear, I am perfectly fine with meeting Lord Vader early on.

But I'd prefer to be a lowly stormtrooper on the verge of deserting that watches as big daddy single-handedly storms some place.

Or be a civilian onlooker that watches him take apart a rebel group meeting in the cantina where I'm going to meet some smuggler.

When I am part of the Rebel Alliance, he storms my frozen base with a ground assault, randomly blasts some people, then lightsabers my supervisor, before shouting "stay off my lawn" and going back to the Executor, I don't quite feel confident making a new frozen rebel base on the same planet assuming I'll be quite fine if I prevent my Taun-Tauns from wandering near his flower garden.

Know what I mean?
These NPC's were not just introduced in the campaign. This was not a CR 25 evil-colored Dragon that was passing overhead or burning a village in the distance.
Their actions were in direct reaction to something we did and they took notice of us. They confronted us and slaughtered people associating with us.

I'm fine with evil superman flying around over the Stolen Lands, as long as we're beneath him, and he simple does not care if Staglord, We or Pitax calls the shots, because he is busy with things way out of scope.
It's when he takes time to land, slap some people into buildings producing fine red mist and a few ruins, then gives us the middle-finger before taking off again that I start to worry what else might trigger him.

Long story short: I totally don't mind meeting higher-level NPC's that eventually turn into allies or enemies.
What I do mind is higher-level enemies that take notice of us and act in direct opposition, or multiple equal-level enemies that get away and quite possibly plot revenge or will amalgamate into a threat beyond our capacity to deal with.

That said, I didn't join to play Skulls and Shackles, I want to play kingmaker. It just seems very dangerous to attempt ot start up an initial settlement with the political landscape we find ourselves in at this point.
I also originally picked Soul Forger because I expected extensive travel- and downtimes in Kingmaker, but gave up on that, we were basically rushed most of the time and I never even managed to finish my own chainmail. Which is also why I was waiting for the opportunity to retrain(/rebuild) since give or take about 2 years now.(I remember waiting on doing the last level-up because I hoped I might not need to retrain it)

I mirror Serena's sentiment.

We definitely did not always see eye to eye on topics, but I would be sad to see Durgan go.
Differences in alignment and visions for the future aside, he is a great character.

But I DO understand the sentiment.

For all intents and purposes, it feels like we are surrounded by enemies. We had trouble with a neighbouring nation, a rogue mage(or two, if we count Stroon in case something happened to his sister - maybe three if Dool does not get a tower and gets pissed), that Drow Fortress beneath the Sycamore, a superpowered Lich and whatever he hides beneath the Elk Temple, the Aspis Consortium, ...

So many NPC interest groups have a bone with us to pick, it seems that a permanent settlement is just giving them a target - before we were moving, and in Brevoy, out of their reach, but if we are now "stuck" in a place we are trying to build up, that just means they have a spot they can corner us in.
And we can't really hope for backing from Brevoy alone, ser Richard was certainly not beyond the reach of our enemies.

My original reason coming here was to find something hidden in Telvurin, and lay claim to it. With Zokon, there was a good reason to stay and have the means to find what I am looking for.
Now?
I'm curious how we turn this towards "we try and do this regardless of all the dangers and people killed and regardless of the fact that basically all of the killers except Staggie himself are still out there and ready to escalate things."

I mean, the sensible thing would be to find an Elf Gate, go meet my brother, tell him that the approach we settled on did not work, fetch a company of elite troops and just focus on searching the woods slaughtering anything that could mean trouble until I find it.
But even if I disregard my personal motivation for coming here, with Zokon as NPC-King it will be a difficult role.

Basically I feel we are already WAY too deep in several plots, and by this point we should be commited already by having our kingdom in place, a capital and some settlements to be involved with, to feel something is at stake. Something that prevents us from turning our back, or saying "it's too dangerous to START doing something now". It seems like we basically skipped the first couple downtimes and kingdom management sessions and are now in the "everything around crumbles"-stage but without any investment in the region on our part that essentially forces us to ride things out.

But I'm quite willing to hear GM out on his doom/gloom address, just wanted to express my concerns as well.

(Also, one of the reasons I wanted to kickstart kingdom building, because it SEEMS we should be much further along. Not just nourishing a first settlement. And if we get resources from different sources(e.g. Alia from Kyonin) that could include some troops that could provide a measure of safety, at least for the settlements.)
(Well, in theory. Practically, a CR 18 Lich with Simulcra and a Dragon could likely proclaim himself ruler of Brevoy and slaughter people until nobody whines about him sitting on the throne any more)

Re "domains" - as little as I recall of the actual kingdom building I don't think this is a great idea *at start*. Cities/stuff are quite expensive and one probably wants a few basic thingmabobs in one place before we try multiple.

But I believe pbp will be a bit different - as I understood it is supposed to go through many iterations, where you do updates and calculations often, allocate resources to build up more and do relatively many updates during the downtime periods.

I think having things start with a bit more omph, and having more impactful cycles, but fewer of them, could be well-suited to pbp. So we could have sufficient support(from Brevoy, Kyonin, locals, our potential sponsors, the churches, new settlers...) to start several projects simultaneously(build up capital, start a road, check the river, build a mining settlement, a forest village, extend farming...), but then have fewer iterations of kingdom building before the next story segment or adventuring part happens.

Know what I mean?
I do WANT to get into the Kingdom Building, but deciding on wether to build this or that first, and on which location, and then consider if there is higher need for that road or this farm, and basically coordinate and/or deliberate over every tiny detail could really slow things down - and "more slow" is not something we need in this game :D
So I'd prefer if everybody could meddle a bit by themselves, and we just align on how we share resources. (e.g. pooling all BP and splitting them fairly - so not everybody has to focus on first raising BP somehow and we end up e.g. without farming and paying extra for all armies we may eventually need.)

But I'm totally open on how we want to do things, I just think running many cycles and having multiple people discuss priorities on each cycle will be very...very...very slow.

There would still be enough we would have to deal with as a council, e.g. with trade agreements with external partners and all that, politics stuff, refugees, etc...I just think the deeper we go into minor aspects/details, the less useful is time spend deliberating on them.

""Do not bother me nor what I claim as mine again."...thats what he said..., Alia sits up, looking around with panic in her eyes until she notices her Estoc just behind her, quickly retrieving it and calming down a bit: "Just what was wrong with that dude? He turns all of this into a casual murder-circus, then just plays with us and backs off? Do we know this is real? Or are we in some perverse mindscape of his and he intends to keep torturing us?"

@Renault: That was basically my idea, just without forcibly relocating them.
I only give him credit because they basically left their home and went here to start a new community without the kind of government we are about to establish.(and because we promised as much).

So my idea was to let him have that field as an autonomy region, but not spend any of our resources on him, but on bypassing him. There will be a fancy new road for trade to Brevoy? Yeah, but not through his territory, nobody else is going to come to their backwater place.
There will be job opportunities and new homes with schools and healers in a new settlement, just a day to the west.
Basically let him stew in his autonomy while he sees that everything around is being lifted up, and their own young leave to join us. I believe he'll cave in, and there will be no hostility or anything.

He'd get exactly what he'd bargained for. Just not what he wants.(as in, our impact WOULD be felt). Their farms are next to the forests Alia wanted to steward, I'll gladly take him in my domain and deal with him.
A new road would likely go from the Trading Post straight down, along the Forest Edge to the Bridge, then to the Capital?

Building up the Trading Post, and a second small settlement near the Bridge would make sense(so there's about 30 miles between them for a day of travel by horse, with a inn/waystation halfway at 15 miles for foot travellers/carts) would likely cut him off pretty much, while luring the youth to find a future and jobs over there :)

For the record: being well-connected and wealthy does not play into this for Alia, but forcing your authority on people tends to lead to resistance, to people working for outside forces, trying cause trouble behind the screens and hindering you out of principle without going to open rebellion - I'd rather have people be citizens willingly - it may not always be an option but I think we have some wiggle room to work with Samuel. He's not really hostile to us, just pissed that "Big Government" is coming back to haunt him.

I am not sure how comfortable we even are starting to build stuff.

Everybody and their mother in the whole country seems to outclass us, still.
Szam Tass is somewhere here, a Rogue mage is out there, a Drow fortress beneath us, trying to invest in anything seems like inviting trouble, and without an entourage of higher-level NPC's we'll probably see it all crumbling to dust.

Aside from the fact that I do not fully understand quite what happened...some blue dragon showed up while breaking the mirror, messed all of us up but didn't finish us?
Thats ANOTHER thing...why is it here and what prevents us from using our capital as a seaside vacation roost?

1.: Any remains of the Shepherd that could be found anywhere? For all we know he could have been a 14th Level Druid, just shifted into a bird and left when all the trouble started.
Noah never showed up in the first place did he?
Imeckus also left somewhere and has not returned? His sister, unknown, her dog, soon to be orphaned.

2.: Personally I liked Allisa, if only because she seems relatable, the adventurer eventually settling down, having seen the world, trying something new, maybe having a kid or two.
Rationally, it would seem that Ser Richard would be our best bet on support if he was not in on this. But chances are as leader of Swordlords, friend of Mayors and the throne, etc...he has other people sponsoring his resurrection.
So using it on him may not be the best way to spend this even if it seems an obvious choice at first.

3.: I think I would like an example to better understand the cost/benefit, as well as expectations. I mean, if we can levy taxes, AND get an initial boost of income, there has to be some drawback beyond "those hexes not available to develop". Especially if we get to pick the lands and send Dool to build a nice tower in the swamplands bordering on Mivon.(So just in case there is trouble with Mivon, he can't just stay out of it, or at least acts as a barrier if they go around him). Like, I understand the concept, but I am not feeling that I can make an informed decision on this. Also regarding any special needs - could we just clump them up around Renault, use the resources they provided to dig a moat and build a wall around that section of the kingdom, then call it a day, never worrying about them again?

4.: I think we did have a talk about this a while ago?
I never saw eye to eye with Abadar, but Durgan does - but right now we're more in Erastils territory here, and Abadar does respect that as necessary grassroots from which civilization grows.
I think there was some talk about the implications of backing Sarenrae, too, but I think we reached no consensus back then. I think something that was not mentioned then was the part about them granting benefits, which seems to be above any beyond an intial payment. Maybe knowing what they over could allow us to reach a decision based on practicality, rather than ideology?

5.: Well, Renault WAS here first, for all I care they can do their thing. But then they also won't benefit from what we do. That is, he can join and be mayor and pay taxes and get infrastructure and stuff, or he can say they want to stay isolated because they left to avoid paying taxes in the first place, but then the world will change around them, and their young will leave. I'm an Elf, I can play the long con and simply build up everything around their patch of dirt to the level they will come beg to be included in less than half a century.

Also, definitely want to be part of kingdom building. I think because it's more difficult to align online, we decided on simply managing several "domains" within the kingdom? With everybody that wants to do it taking care of a region?

(For the record, your mention of init did nothing for this, I had settled on shouting before you posted, when I noticed how we are all bunched up in here-)

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26
"Out, out of the room, I don't like how he's staring, I think this is a trap-"

If I do have a move action...
As the Szam Tass on the other side speaks, Alia scrambles to cover the Mirror with the Sheet she had brought earlier, hoping to break line-of-sight and line-of-effect for the suspected copycat-lich on the other side.

Oh, if we get a chance, we are so striking him down.
We can do a redemption arc after, but he'll be totally dead-dead.
Maybe we keep the phylactery around a few days and give everybody a chance to strike him down a bit before destroying it.

Mostly I don't want someone to commit us all to a pursuit through this thing(if it is still a portal) without first talking and expressing my strong desire to not go through based on a incomplete-information based risk/reward analysis.

@GM: NPC's do NOT get a say in this. If someone jumps through trying to take the decision for us, thats on them. We'll light a candle for them and use them as a classroom example on why you don't Leeroy pointlessly.

I mean the REAL slim shady....er...Szam Tass will stand up, will stand up.

And my point stands, Simulacrum or otherwise - pursuing will not stop him from coming after us next week. Even if we destroy it, we don't know how many there are and he could form a new one or come personally.
But pursuit means we transfer to an area he could have prepared as a trap/fallback.

So I'm not keen on jumping into that mirror.
But wanted to discuss before deciding on an attempt to shatter/sunder it.

I have half a mind to just let him go and attempt to destroy the mirror.

Pursuing him to his home turf seems risky.
Plus, seeing how he is a lich, even if we best him that just means he'll come back in a couple days and will give it another try.
Until we have means to find his Phylactery, I think there is little gain to be had from forcing a confrontation.

Of course, he will just recharge and continue to harass us if we don't undo him for now, but weighing one against the other I'm not really keen on jumping into that mirror and finding ourselves in some lesser demiplane without breathable air or something.

Alia moves into the room as well, seeing the second lich, and not stopping until she stands right next to it. Turning the momentum of her charge(Flavor, not a mechanical charge.) into a blow, she does her best to introduce the liches facial remains to the pommel of her Estoc. "Where did you even find yellow snow for that abomination...", Alia quips, hoping that the Lich might fall for revealing a hint about it's base of operations.

Pommel Blow, Attack, Enhancement, Bless, Prayer, Improvised:: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 2 + 1 + 1 - 4 = 20
Magical bludgeoning Damage(one-handed), Enhancement, Prayer: 1d4 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 2 + 1 = 7

The door IS open, is it not? Or did someone close it again? I am unsure because it seems Durgans Channel has not reached me - only Serena and Sandralane - Mother Vorst and Lord Varn are also still at old HP value (but may have not been in position when he channeled - I just know I was... - also, I'll update in a bit, sorry for the delay, I need a few more hours but I'll post today.

The famed council of ducks, praised be.

I sometimes substituted co-workers for the ducks, but they had a habit of interrupting or talking.
Rubber ducks are clearly superior in that regard.

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33

All the Alias backflip away as the pit opens beneath them, then run along the wall and push themselves off from it to somersault forward over the Dools.

Also, we'll cast shield and will attempt to position near the door.

Well, solved is an overestimation. With the improvised weapon penalty, I expect not to hit more often than I manage to connect with a hit.
That said, Durgan has much higher staying power so he makes sense regardless.

Mirror Images: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 Pity, I hoped for more than Dool, if only to offer a smug grin to his cluster. But he's at least 4 levels higher, ces't la vie.

Alia draws on Arcane power as the advances on the Lich, prepares to stab forward with her Estoc in a dramatic pose, then jabs at the Lich with the pommel as she channels the Arcane energy into it.
Swift to add +2 to my improvised bludgeoning weapon via Arcane Pool.
Attack, Enhancement, Bless, Prayer, Flanking, Improvised: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 6 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 - 4 = 23 Magical bludgeoning Damage(one-handed), Enhancement, Prayer: 1d4 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 2 + 1 = 8

Lich question: Immunities...I do know them, but seeing how Alia has Cold and Electricity options at her disposal and wants to prepare what is efficient against a Lich, she'd like to be informed by Mother Vorst in the strategy meeting that both of them are pointless.

I'll just go ahead and freeze myself while at it.
Revenge Cold Damage: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Example Lich Question: What would be their answer if I asked them about the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Finding herself unable to reach any foe, once more, Ala takes a few steps forward and casts Mirror Image on herself.
No dispel here. I don't even have Level 3 spells at my Level. Also, I found literally no way to contribute in a meaningful way in this round. Apologies.

My money is still on Arcanist, not Conjurer.
Still, that makes trapping him even harder. Yay.

With our pattern so far, we'll hopefully manage to not die, then, when he is low, he will flee to potentially harass us again later.
With some kind of flight active and extradimensional movement we can't stop, I don't think we can really prevent him from retreating.
(That, and the Arcanists Slide does not provoke and can be done as part of a movement...)

If we ever need a replacement character, someone should make a grappling focused Luchador/Strangler/...

Just out of curiosity - how did he get there? Was that some kind of teleport or did he move? I mean, he is glitterbombed, but there was no prompt for any AoO's, so I'm just curious how he got over there - if it was some form of dimensional slide or so, or we simply lost track of him somehow.

I concur. Plus the swift for a lay on hands...

Alia moves towards the revealed enemy, slipping past Durgan, but realizing she will not be able to close the distance before Szam Tass could flee - holding her Estoc in one hand, she raises her other hand towards the open space behind the apparent Lich.

Thick strands of magical webbing appear, attempting to trap - or at least hinder - the undead Spellcaster.
Using my Arcane Bond 1/day to cast Web. Unfortunately only DC 15 Reflex, not being a primary caster. But here's hoping he's lacking in that department.

My thoughts, too, but I wanted to see what other options we might have - since it seems we are once more dependent on NPC's to help out, it would also be splendid if Mother Vorst or Sandralane want to do some healing so Serena knows if she gets a turn.

I suppose Dool will continue with whatever he was doing(and hopefully not backstab us).
And I doubt the other 2 guys have much better options at their ready.

I could also cast invisibility and retreat towards the treasure room.
So I could take Zokons Bow, grab the crypto-based "Named Bullet"-scroll and "Arrow of Szam-Tass-Bane", have Longtooth use his radiant UMD-skill to unify them into a weapon banned by Geneva, and hope I don't roll a natural 1 on the attack and do so before everybody dies.

Not really a great action plan. But that's how far I've been stretching for a solution.

Aaaannd he's 5 foot away from striking distance.
Can't reach the bastard.
And the guy is happily hovering there, beyond the balcony, and probably floating out of the Invisibility Purge Area on his next move, before throwing more stuff our way.

I am kind of unsure what we could even do.
I can try and throw a web his way, trying to anchor it between ceiling, balcony, side walls, and hope that he has to remain so we can attempt to hurt him next turn if we survive.

I could lob an Acid Arrow his way and hope that ongoing Damage disrupts his casting.

I am not sure if we are aware of his type, but I think he was undead? Which would make stuff like Ray of Enfeeblement a non-option(COULD be good against an living caster - getting his strenght to 1/heavy load to 10 would give some significant penalties...)

If anybody has any ideas, do let us know. As said, with the diagonal movement he's 35 feet away from my reach, so attempting to stab him is not really an option, and I have even less of a clue what anybody else could do, still - or if one of the other healers gets Serena back into play.

Reflex: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 1 + 1 = 21 And Thanks for blessing and prayer, there...

Normally? Sure.

Right now? No time to meditate, an extremely stressful environment with emotionally destabilizing factors(including her future husband being catatonic, aside from all the "trying to murder her and everybody she cares about" going on since the start of this arc.

Na, normally Lembas sounds about right. This time around, she's ready to go full Thessaly(Sandman).

All good, Illthir.
Jerk us forward, jerk us good.
Just don't....off us.

That said, yeah, this place drags on and Zokon is comatose, Alia is having a bit of a moment somewhere between frontline apathy, hysteria, PTSD and an ambitious drive forward.
Oh, and her periods due soon, so throw in some PMS for good measure as well.

"Oh, we have such sights to show you.", Alia responds to Longtooth - "...alas, I am certain there is trouble in there - there's been trouble everywhere in this cursed place. It'll probably tear our souls apart and enjoy our sweet, sweet suffering.", she waves Longtooth past, to take a look at things at his leisure.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
"Hej, Alak, what gives? I need some drapery, but your Doormaster is blocking the path - I assume to give you some privacy, which I'll be glad to provide once I have some sheets. That said, what ARE you casting - anything we should know about the place or some "none of-your-business" broody caster type stuff? I'm fine with either, would just like to know."

Alia retrieves whatever seems suitable for the task - drapery from the corridor or a guest room, sheets, whatever will do the trick.

At this point? CR17 is slightly over 100k XP - Fergus has not posted since February, so that would kick us from level 5 to Level 7, halfway to 8. Even in slow XP progression which i suspect we use it would get us to Level 7 on the basis we did not just become level 5. Assuming we don't just die horribly and anti-climactically.

More seriously, I had even considered if it could be a mirror of life trapping or the sort...but with those rolls and at our level we have no idea. The mirror gave Ilthir pause, I have no idea what it is, but just saying "nope" and leaving the treasure room alone on the chance there might be trouble seems like Meta, when we pushed on everywhere else so far. So if someone wants to be a voice of reason IC, be my guest, but I can't really think of an in-game reason to just turn around at this point.

Dool could possibly take a look, but as with traps and such before, it feels weird to just call on the NPC's to do all the checks we can't.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13 Yay. THAT is likely to uncover the mystery.
"If the mirror is troublesome, lets just cover it with some drapes."

Careful not to approach the mirror from the front, or to even look in it's direction more than needed, Alia fetches a suitable large piece of fabric and throws it over the mirror.
Ranged Touch vs AC 5: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Trying to make us use the map. Tricksy GM.
It has our preciousss...xp.
We wants it. We needs it.

"Ilthir, what do your half-elf eyes see?", Alia asked her companion.

Seconded.

"Does the man think he is a dragon?", Alia asks, looking from behind Serena, "Or worse, IS he a dragon?"
She is not quite willing to believe the mound of treasures they stumbled upon, turning to the other magically inclined members of the party:"Any indication of foul play here? In terms of the arcane weave?"

"Lets swiftly check for anything we may make use of, then proceed to the next door.", Alia suggests, taking a glance across the room Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

"I think we are past politeness at this point.", Alia responds.
"If any survivors feel offended by their rescue opening doors without proper etiquette and decorum, they are welcome to file a complaint if we make it out of here."

"On the plus side, someone went to the trouble of making that illusion talk to us to lure us into a trap. Chances are whoever did so also placed a spell of Alarm, so would have known we're coming anyway. This way, at least, we don't expect to have the element of surprise.", Alia adds, but takes care to soften her own steps henceforth, regardless.
Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Not that she is putting very much effort into it, between Serena and Durgan and their armors...

"Good job, Longtooth. Glad to have you with us.", Alia acknowledges the trap deactivation as she comes closer to take a look, then nods upwards:"Let's find out what OTHER trouble awaits us up there."
Following Durgan, Alia is still alienated by the figure of Szam Tass. She extends her Estoc and attempts to cut through it, expecting an illusion.

Never split. No matter. If we assemble enough rescuees, we'll transition into army group movement, but we're sticking together.
Flavorwise, there is a serial killer/horror setup here, where we are trapped and whoever goes somewhere alone will be a victim.
Mechanicswise, some of the stuff we faced here was too strong to make splitting a comfortable option, without risking the death of multiple NPC's.

"Longtooth, that's your area of expertise, is it not?", Alia encourages the rogueish adventurer to follow up behind Serena and Durgan when she hears the Cleric announce the presence of traps.

Against arcane power and traps both, bunching up seemed a bad idea - for a moment she considers attempting to ran past the supposed trap using the wall, but with no way to see it from her vantage point, and with Serena potentially also in the traps area, she decides to stay put - for now.

To be perfectly honest, that's not an original quip either...Old but amusing, still.

"I'm afraid I have to concur with Durgan - we know too little for a proper plan. But we will change the tune. We already do, by not being scattered and subdued, but taking initiative and trying to find what is at the core of all of this."
Alia draws her Estoc and points at the stairs:"Onward, we're going up a level - it's been too long already."

"We did find this other group before. Out cold, but alive. That said, I am not sure if fleeing will work in our favor. I understand the notion, but resolving this situation may vastly strenghten our political position - where leaving it unresolved may lead to all of this being considered a failed experiment and support may be withdrawn - which may be exactly what whoever orchestrated this may have planned. I do think there could be other options for our future, but i'm not sure you'd prefer them."

I do know you did suggest to look for survivors, not run immediately. What I mean is that at that point we may as well go for the "clean-up" and score extra points with any leaders or potential backers.

That said, if everybody from Brevoy dies and they call it quits, we can still try and get Kyonin to back our Expedition :D I'll put in a good word for you, promise!