The Pathfinders work together to quickly bind Imrizade and cover her eyes with the Noa's scarf. Belegorn calls on Erastil to double Jake's size and the warrior asks the dwarf to hold off for a moment. He grabs the canopic jar with both hands and twists with all his might, but it is lodged far too tightly to break free. Having tried he nods to Belegorn and the two of them grab their weapons and begin hammering the jar. Amid the blows a telepathic wailing forces its way into each of your minds, but after a couple of solid hits it shatters and a shriveled tentacles laden brain falls out dropping 15 feet down to land on the dais with a wet plop and ruptures on impact. Gray ooze spreads out and Jake and Belegorn's feet while then tiny tentacles writhe slowly and finally go still.
Imrizade remains unconscious while Marchello strips her gear tossing a nice rapier, tanglefoot bag, potion, hand crossbow with darts, lock picks, a small pouch of gold, and a scroll loosely rolled inside a protective case. On a second thought and after opening his sight, he also removes her cloak due to its minor aura and her Blackros signet ring just in case of a poison pill or something similar. The scroll itself is fragile and ancient- written entirely in an extremely ancient form of Osiriani. The margin contains illustrations of planar alignments and is titled with the only phrase Marchello would know in such an ancient form of Osiriani: "The Aucturn Enigma."
Back above, Nigel is upset but not surprised by the deaths of his night watchmen. He is extremely relieved that Imrizade lives and insists on healing her with her own potion to learn if she is free of the possession. He does agree to leave her bound and that you all may knock her out again if she is in fact not herself. As it happens she is restored and well aware of everything that has happened. She croaks out an apology for what the fiend made her do and insists that she is now free of Ishme-dagan. After confirming that she no longer has any lingering necromantic aura as is common of possession, Nigel persuades you that you all should take whatever was agreed upon and leave the Blackros girl with him. He will call a priest on the family retainer to tend to her injuries here in her own home and call in specialists to deal with the mold and fungus removal.
Back out on the street the group stands in the dim light of burning street lamps in front of the Gothic edifice of the Blackros Museum thankful to have come out alive- yet uncertain as to what exactly they had just witnessed in the basement of the Museum. Venture Captain Hestram would want a full report, but that could wait until morning...
I wasn't sure exactly what you were going for Jake. The Break DC to remove the cannister is 25. You can't take 20 because you only have 10 rounds of large size. After the spell ends even climbing up there and taking 20 won't give you enough str bonus to hit the DC.
Until you reduce its hps to 0 Kuburrum Ishme-Dagan lives on in control of Imrizade and potentially others over time. I'm going to assume that you actually destroy it and retain the pieces.
Note: Enlarge gives you +2 str which is only a +1 modifier.
That more or less wraps us up. Thanks again for playing guys.
I've already sent out Chronicle sheets for Noa, Belegorn and Jake.
For everyone else, if you have a day job roll to make you can do it here (or take 10) then PM me your email address and PFS # so I can send your sheet.
Jake> Maybe the iron box from the antechamber? It is still giving off a deafening siren alarm. but was the only movable object down here. Or Belegorn could enlarge you.
BTW- since this is an unattended object you don't need to roll to hit it. You can auto hit as a full round action.
If you are using anything ranged to hit it you can use a full round action to get +5 on the attack roll.
It would be tough. You could hit it with a reach weapon or someone could climb the arch and try to break it free with a strength check (at a quite difficult DC). And spells of course. Energy damage gets halved first and THEN subtract 10 for hardness.
Omrax> There is a technicality there. When you have +1 bab you CAN draw a weapon as part of a move. Not move action. You have to actually be moving.
PRD Combat wrote:
If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you can combine one of these actions with a regular move.
Noa> I'm not sure about the blindness. Either ends this round or the next. Still stunned until Round 11 in any case. (If I remember correctly. Feel free to double check that.)
Marchello> Still no DR. Iron has a hardness of 10. Anything over 10 points of damage per strike will count. The longbow will never damage this iron cannister.
Also fyi- your strength bonus does not add to damage with a regular longbow. You would have to buy a composite longbow built with enough tension to accommodate your str score. So in your case a "+2 strength composite longbow" Costs 300 gp as opposed to 75 gp for the standard longbow.
Jake slashes wide, opening up the woman from mid chest to hip. She stumbles back gasping and the spell dies on her lips. "We can always heal you after you have been liberated!" Jake yells in case the woman is aware of what is happening.
Mordecai moves in and throws himself at her, wrapping his arms around her waist and gripping her tight while she is still in shock.
Over on the dais Belegorn swings his axe at the iron canopic jar. The blade leaves a rent in the casing which begins oozing a gray slime. A telepathic wailing breaks out invading every mind in the room, "Nooooooo!" and Belegorn begins shrinking back to his normal size.
Omrax blinks awake and once the room stops spinning manages to grab his sword and get to his feet again the joins the others backing Imrizade into a corner.
The Blackros girl shouts something in Ancient Osiriani and there is a wet thump followed by another almost instantly. Mordecai crumples a bit after taking two solid blows of force energy to the gut.
Concentration vs damage 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22 vs DC 29. Failed. Lost spell.
Mordecai> Grappling with only one hand free gives you a -4. Are you taking the -4 or dropping your shield?
Defensive Casting to avoid provoking 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20
Concentration to be able to cast while grappled: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18 vs DC 10
Magic Missile 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (1, 3) + 2 = 6 vs Mordecai
Omrax> Grabbing your weapon and standing are two move actions. That and a 5' step is about as far as you can get this time.
Now Continuing Round 9:
Omrax, Imrizade, Marchello, Jake, Mordecai, Belegorn, Noa and Omrax at the top of round 10
Marchello, seeing Belegorn's mighty strike deflected from the Blackros girl pulls his bow from over his shoulder and fires an arrow at the cannister. It cracks against the iron shell of the jar without much impact.
Still need an action from Mordecai and I forgot to include it, but the top of Round 9 will be included in this series of actions so Omrax can act as well.
"Belegorn, pick up you hammer and smash that cannister! We can't reach it." Marchello relents on the now flailing cords. He reaches down to scoop up his mace and steps up behind Jake with a spell on his lips to heal the warrior.
Mordecai does the same from his left flank.
Jake snaps the last fungoid umbilical cord with one massive overhand chop. Around him the five untethered cords flail in the open air around the gate. A ripple briefly disturbs the surface of the void and a crackling field of energy plays over the Ancient Osirion canopic jar before dissipating.
Imrizade snarls when her last cord is severed and hisses in fury, "It is verily known by few, but is nevertheless no attestable fact, that the will of a dead sorcerer hath power upon his own body and can raise it up from the tomb and perform therewith whatever action was unfulfilled in life. I stand here as testament and truth and swear to you that should you destroy even this husk I will return to feed you one by one to the crawling horrors of Aucturn."
Jake turns to keep the Blackros daughter in his sight and growls, "We need to destroy the cannister at the top of the gate!"
Belegorn decides to focus on the woman for the moment and swings his giant axe. What should have been a direct hit rebounds off an invisible field of force and she smirks at him.
Imrizade backs herself further into the alcove and begins casting again.
Defensive Casting 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
Spellcraft to ID the spell if you like.
Now Round 8:
Omrax, Imrizade, Marchello, Mordecai, Jake, Belegorn, Noa
That will leave us waiting for Marchello, then me, then you so I'll just give you a preview now.
Jake easily severs the last tentacle. It does not end the possession. If you recall, she was possessed well before she came down here and rigged herself up to the tentacles so there is no connection there.
You don't have any real way to know this, but you have reduced and finally ended her fast healing 3 by severing the cords. You also achieved something else, but it is unrelated to the possession.
Once again, Marchello attempts to separate the woman from the tentacles that appear to be controlling her. He makes another furious slash with his dagger but the cord bobs wildly.
Mordecai makes a feint at her with the edge of his shield, but Imrizade is unconvinced.
Just as the blast of pulsating light vanishes Jake brings his sword down across her thin wood wand. There is a crackle of energy and it snaps, splintering into two halves.
Belegorn swings at the last tentacle, but the damned thing proves to be a difficult target.
In retribution her tongue snakes out crackling and arcing electricity as it slithers over Jake's armor.
Marchello desperately pulls his dagger from his pack and slices at one of the cords. "My mace is having no effect" The last cord however proves harder to hit than he imagined with it bouncing around in response to Imrizade's movement.
Mordecai stares at the woman and points an imperious finger at her. "Your rescue is at hand. Foul creature inside of you, fear your imminent departure from this plane!"
Jake grunts as he hefts his sword again and snaps another cord.
Belegorn drops his hammer (which immediately shrinks back to its normal size) and pulls an axe to swing at the remaining tentacle, seeing as how swinging at her is getting nowhere. Like Marchello that last cord manages to bounce out of range of his axe at the last moment.
"Nor may those who pass ever return, for in the Vastnesses transcending our world are Shapes of darkness that seize and bind. The Affair that shambleth about in the night, the Evil that defieth the Elder Sign, the Herd that stand watch at the secret portal each tomb is known to have, and that thrive on that which groweth out of the tenants within -- all these Blacknesses are lesser than HE Who guardeth the Gateway; HE Who will guide the rash one beyond all the worlds into the Abyss of unnamable Devourers. For HE is UMR AT-TAWIL, the Most Ancient One, which the scribe rendereth as THE PROLONGED OF LIFE. And HE arrives. I have no more time to play with you." When she pronounces the name there is a sympathetic ripple in the blackness of the gate's open space and she lifts the wand to fire off another pulsating blast of light.
I have to say, Noa totally warned you all that you were nicely lined up for color spray and no one moved. Marchello is the only one out of the area of effect.
Belegorn, Mordecai, & Jake: Will saves
Now Round 6:
Omrax, Imrizade, Marchello, Mordecai, Jake, Belegorn, Noa
Omrax will awake in Round 7 and be able to act in Round 9
Mordecai: Nice one. Shaken will help you vs melee touch attacks and I think in regards to her defensive casting checks too. I think that roll is going to get you at least one bonus round out of it.
Note: you do still have the doom spell prepped which could possibly keep her shaken through the end of this fight.
Noamuth: As Omrax said unconscious is different than sleeping. He won't be able to shake you awake. Also once awake you guys are still stunned for some time which prevents you from taking actions.
Jake: She will still have one more cord even after your round 5 attack. Round 1 you killed a zombie. The other 4 you cut cords. She had 5 total.
I'm sorry to say I think the forum dice roller hates you guys :P
Jake: That will get 4 of 5. You can only do one at a time and they are resolved as sunder attempts. I forgot you have sunder bonuses, but to be honest you are doing plenty of damage. Hasn't been an issue to get that extra point in there.
EDIT: I just realized I posted Jake's action from round 3 again there. You haven't posted any action for round 4 though it does seem like you intended to continue chopping cords. Roll the attack out.
Then you need your round 5 action along with the others.
Marchello reflects for a moment and calls on his god. In answer his mace is bathed in a divine light and he then takes another massive swing at the one of the tentacles. The umbilical snaps back and forth like a loose rope when he hits it, but does not break.
Mordecai moves up behind his companions and casts a spell while reaching out to lay a hand on Jake's back. Jake feels the invigorating sensation of a healing surge flow through his body. he looks over his shoulder briefly to see Mordecai, and he nods curtly before refocusing his attention on the remaining cords tying this woman to something...
With another swing Jake severs a second umbilical cord which like the other begins flailing around in mid air.
Belegorn shifts across the room for a clear line of attack and brings the hammer down. It cracks against the stone platform when she steps back.
Imrizade opens her mouth again to lash out with an impossibly long black tongue, but Jake manages to sidestep it this time.
You are a little ahead there. The smite attack you posted is your round 4 action. I haven't gotten to it yet because we were still in round 3 when you posted it. I will just tell you though- there is no DR in play. As objects the tentacles have hardness.
Mordecai calls on the gods to flow through him and explodes outwards in a burst of energy. Imrizade seems to be completely unfazed as it passes through her.
Jake hacks through another of the cords tethering the possessed woman to the gate.
Belegorn grows increasingly concerned as he sees his companions dropping like flies. Perhaps this calls for a bigger hammer! With that, Belegorn grows to becomes a giant of a Dwarf and swings at the lady with the wand. His hammer rebounds off of an invisible shield of force and the impact crackles outward in a spiderweb of dispersed energy.
Imrizade edges away from Jake and begins chanting but when Jake feints at her she stumbles over her own words and ends up cursing and spitting in anger.
Belegorn> I moved you in another 5 feet. You have 15' reach now.
Imrizade: Defensive Casting 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15 = fail
At the moment everyone has posted their actions for round 3 except you. I imagine you weren't sure if you would be up or not after the color spray, but you are and once you post I'll wrap up round three.
Damn. I wrote Mordecai when it should have been Marchello in the above action resolution post. Sorry guys. Tired. Can't edit now or I would.
Round 3 - Bold shows whose actions I have not resolved yet for this round, but all have posted except Jake.
Omrax, Imrizade, Marchello, Mordecai, Jake, Belegorn, Noa
Jake and Noa are enveloped in another blast of blinding staccato bursts of light. Jake powers through, but Noa falls away rolling in a seizure on the ground before going still.
Mordecai runs for the edge of the dais and swings his mace like a hammer at one of the cords linking the Blackros girl to the outer ring of the gate. Trying to hammer what is more or less a loose hanging rope proves difficult and he isn't sure, but he thinks his mace was slightly deflected by some kind of force.
Jake
Sorry about the placement Noa. I didn't move you there for a better color spray placement. I think I just moved you in a direct line without thinking about it.
Unconsious, Blinded and Stunned: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4 rounds
Blinded and Stunned: 1d4 ⇒ 2
Stunned: 1 round
DC was 11 so Jake passed.
Mordecai> steps of the dais will break a charge regardless.
Jake jogs up tot he dais steps and, and targets one of the umbilical cords tethering the woman with an attack from his Greatsword. The heavy blade easily severs the cord leaving it flailing around blindly.
Belegorn edges in a little bit and begins a low rumbling chant.
Noa rushes at the Blackros woman and throws her arms around her in an attempt to restrain her before she can fire off that wand again.
The woman and the spirit possessing her growl in frustration and she angles her arm up to fire that wand one more time...
Belegorn - You have listed a 10 foot move and beginning a full round casting. If you want the casting to go off as normal, you want a 5 foot step instead. Otherwise taking a move action this time will mean spending your standard action this time and next for the spell. I put you in L7. Correct me if that causes an issue of range for you.
Noa- you have the right idea, but you'll need to be able to pin her to prevent her from doing almost everything. That will take a second round of grappling to attempt and you will get a +5 because she isn't breaking out this round. Opening with a disarm would have removed it from her use immediately. Once you get a caster pinned though they are effectively F'd.
Marchello stalks into the cavernous room with determination and lifts one hand to fire off another ray of energy at the tentacled thing, hoping to free the girl without harming her directly. His aim is off and the beam vanishes into the void of the open gate behind her.
Mordecai- I put you in K5, because your movement is 15 while armored and heavily encumbered. However, even with the extra 5 feet your channel would have fallen just short of Imrizade, her cords and the gate. Do you want to do something else?
((She is 40 feet away from you after you take a single move to K5))
Jake:
Spoiler:
You have the actions in the right rounds, but she acts before you on all counts. Her init is 18 to your 13.
So round 1 she uses the wand, then you cut her zombie in half. Round 2 she tongue-lashes you, then you try to sunder her umbilical cord.
I think I cause some confusion with getting people to act in groups then sorting it out, but it is a little faster in the end. Sorry if it is throwing you off. I'm open to suggestions if you have any ideas on making it smoother.
I assumed that my round 2 action would take place before her second attack attack in initiative order? If not, then retro my Round 2 action to move to R5 and complete the attack on the umbilicals referenced above.
I'm not sure why you thought you would get to act twice between her round 1 and round 2 actions, but that's fine. Movement change noted.
Belegorn moves in and invokes his god to protect Jake while Noa taunts Imrizade but remains wary of her wand and is careful to avoid bunching up with the others. Imrizade frowns when Jake destroys her zombie, rattles something off in Ancient Osiriani then opens her mouth far too wide for a human and lashes out at him with a glistening black tongue from nearly ten feet away. From the second it comes into contact with his armor, Jake's every nerve is on fire and his muscles involuntarily contract with the pain leaving him spasming, but it passes as soon as it started. Imrizade glides back up the stairs of the dias, reeled in by her umbilicals.
Melee Touch 1d20 + 5 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 5 + 3 = 17
Electric Damage 3d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 3) = 11
Moves back one square to S5
Spellcraft for the spell if you want to know IC
Kn Arcana for a little insight into her special tongue there.
If you haven't posted an action yet for round two, you are all up now.
Marchello rushes in and fires off a beam of light at the dead man who stands stock still while it narrowly misses. Mordecai offers a prayer to the gods and Jake charges the zombie. In one powerful blow he cleaves it in half at the waist flinging gore in an arc at the dias. Both halves tumble to the ground and go still.
Mordecai's bless is in effect now. Remember to apply +1 to hit everyone.
Omrax goes rigid in the visual onslaught and drops to the floor writhing in the grip of a seizure until he goes still.
Ahh hell. I'm afraid you are going to be out of this fight to the end unless it somehow goes on for ages.
Unconscious, Blinded and Stunned: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 2) = 6 rounds
Blinded and Stunned: 1d4 ⇒ 1 round
Stunned: One round
This doesn't make any difference on the outcome of your attack there, but I can't figure out why your greatsword has a +7 damage mod instead of +6.
+4 str x1.5 = 6.
-Masterwork adds to attack roll, but not damage.
-Weapon Focus adds to attack rolls, but not damage.[/ooc]
Am I overlooking something else? Either way that was an awesome strike despite low damage dice. You will be happy with the results. :)
Imrizade smiles when Omrax charges in. In heavily accented Osirion she calls out, "Puppet, rip him limb from limb for me." The dead man jerks to attention quickly focusing on the paladin. The Blackros daughter is lowered down the steps by her umbilical extensions drawing a wand as she moves. "The change happened whilst I slept." She giggles, "Its details I shall never know; for my slumber, though troubled and dream-infested, was continuous. When at last I awakened, it was to discover myself half sucked into a slimy expanse of hellish black mire which extended about me in monotonous undulations as far as I could see." She lifts the wand and blasts Omrax with an intense strobing light shifting through the rainbow with all colors of blinding intensity.
The instant the dead man jerks his head up and focuses on you, you know you aren't dealing with the standard shamblers. This one was created to hit fast and hard (40 ft spd, 2 slam attacks on a full attack). For its speed it sacrifices durability No DR.
The other 4 appear to be simply dead.
Omrax> I just wanted to note that everything in this room was just beyond the range of your previous detect evil since you were back on the other side of the chest when using it.
Jake throws aside the heavy black curtain on the toothed gate. Beyond the walls and ceiling bulge outward, continuing the grotesque architectural style of the antechamber, as if you were standing in the leviathan’s stomach. Queer, glowing cysts protrude from the walls at
seemingly random intervals, bathing the room in their sickly green glow.
A tall, free-standing, roughly circular gate designed to look like organic nodules of bone and tumorous growths stands atop a low dais in a wide alcove at the far end of the chamber. The gate is carved from a glowing blue-green stone with hieroglyphics engraved up the arch and spaced between stone eyes looking in all directions. The center of the arch is empty, revealing the wall behind it, but the space occasionally flickers with curtains of starry darkness, as if somewhere else lies just beyond the portal. A susurrus of ghostly whispers seem to issue from the gate, their language and meaning unclear, but fraught with a sense of wrongness.
Scattered around the dias where the gate sits are the corpses of Nigel's museum guards. Four of them lay splayed out across the floor while one stands with the gate centered behind him, face and eyes blank.
Imrizade Blakros hovers just above the dais before the arch, supported by five disgusting, fleshy, fungoid umbilicals attached to her hips, shoulders, and the base of her skull. The Blackros daughter is half-Osirian, with long, dark hair and light brown skin, wearing a weathered explorer’s outfit. Her eyes are completely black, showing no iris or whites.
Init:
Omrax, Imrizade, Marchello, Mordecai, Jake, The Dead, Belegorn, Noa
She tries to silence the cube then flips the box shut, but the alarm continues to wail.
Marchello> You need two things, but you already found the one that was supposed to be in the box. It was in the room full of crates where you fought the yellow pod.
When Marchello opens the chest his ears are blasted with a keening alarm. At a guess you would imagine that alarm is loud enough that at ground level an entire district of Absalom would hear it. The chest is empty save a few straggling spiders and a tiny stone cube engraved with runes and affixed to the side of one wall which is emitting the alarm.
A bit late on that. I overlooked it in the initial description because it is tacked on after some stuff about subtier 6-7. Bad layout.
Had I noticed that I would have also told you there was a faint aura of abjuration. The conjuration was a trick via magic aura. I suppose I might have used it to just suppress the abjuration aura instead had I known.
Marchello jumps back smashing a flask of oil amid the swarm, but they continue to flow towards him, up his legs and all around him biting any exposed flesh they find. Noamuth backs away and Belegorn smashes a flask of acid at Marchello's feet. The acid spreads out instantly dissolving every spider it touches and causing the swarm to scatter harmlessly throughout the room.
End of Combat.
Swarm damage 1d6 ⇒ 4
Marchello: +1 point of acid splash damage = 5 total
+ Fort Save vs poison
These spiders are too small for weapons to be worth much of anything. You need something that will spread over an area like fire or acid.
Spells that target a specific creature will not make an impact.
Noa is about to waste her action. Swarms do not target your AC. They just move over you to attack.
Is Belegorn's +2 init a typo on his sheet? He has +1 dex, no trait modifier, no feat or racial ability and as far as I can tell no item to modify it.
I see he would have +3 if it were a surprise round, but this one is regular.
Marchello's gaze glazes over while he focuses on the box. Noa uses her glaive to fiddle it. It isn't going to poke through iron, but she could probably use it to open the lid if she wanted.
Omrax opens his sight, but neither the box nor the fanged gate register as evil enough to make an impression.
Site maintenance got me again last night.
Marchello: Moderate Conjuration aura
Marchello Spellcraft: Not trained, so can't interpret further
