The red woman took flight and began pelting us with spells. Gallond charged the demon and dispatched it after a furious exchange of blows. After grounding the flying woman Asa finished her with a flurry of strikes, only to have a mystical mark appear on her forehead. It was the Sihedron Rune of Wrath. I believe that it transfered itself from the woman to her killer.
We returned to the central chamber and chose a different direction. These new halls are redolent with necromancy. Likely dedicated to the Sihedron Rune of Gluttony, due to all the skulls having scraps of meat clenched in their teeth.
However after a few rooms filled with skeletons and zombies, a single clay golem and some paltry gemstones I am wondering if this wing of the complex is abandoned. Perhaps only the areas with surviving Runelords are still inhabited. Although this would mean that, in addition to Karzoug, Alaznust is still in this world.
The dragon's lair had a number of exits and we chose one at random.
It had a room with a flying Iron Golem in it. After Lazurin melted it with a few acid blasts we continued down the passage to find a pair of circles. Teleport circles to be exact. The blue one took us to a red one. The Matrix as written by Larry Niven There we found about a dozen people who tried to kill us. I discovered a new use for the whip, removing Mirror Image spells.
This new room had two pair of teleport circles, the first pair we tried had more scrubs. The second had a red woman and a gargantuan demon. This made Gallond very happy.
The dragon retreated, allowing me to Levitate to a safe landing. We followed it to its lair and, after neutralizing several traps, found a pile of treasure we assumed belonged to the dragon. We baited the beast out of hiding with our professional looting skills and defeated it.
In the 3.5 splat Sharn: City of Towers there is an item called a Feather Fall Talisman. One shot, a swift to activate and 50 gp. It only lasts one round, requiring a Wisdom check to make sure you are within 60' of the ground before you activate it.
Chapter 36: After the High comes the Crash, Part II
Searching the temple we found scribblings that told us where we could find the Runeforge. After informing the authorities about the hidden temple we set off for the Library beneath Jorgenfist to do some serious research. There we met the kobold barbarian from earlier. She seemed to have developed a fondness for Brodert Quink, so much so that she wants to wear his head like a hat. Distracting her with an illusion we entered the library and found enough information to continue on to the location of the Runeforge.
As we were dealing with the rather complicated lock & key system to access the Runeforge proper we were attacked by a huge White Dragon. First it picked up Lehna and did the seagull vs. clam trick. As it swooped around again Lazurin created a Wall of Force directly in front of it. Then it decided to take me for a ride. Curiously it did not chew on me or breathe frost like it had with Lehna. I was rather surprised when Lazurin threw one of his warlock blasts at me. The dragon was even more surprised because the blast put a sphere of force around me.
Now I've got ten minutes to search my Deep Pockets find a one-shot item that costs less than three hundred gold piece and will keep me from falling to my death.
Having cleared the way we set out to explore the rest of the complex, only to be attacked by two waves of Shadow Mastiffs. After I Removed Fear from Lehna and Asa The Scribbler decided to join the melee by attacking me. Lehna and I kept him busy until the others could join us, but our foe retreated into a narrow tunnel where only two people could engage him in melee. Lazurin began stripping away defensive spells and I cast Grease on his sword and had my Shadow carry it off.
The Scribbler was not amused. He was even less amused when Lazurin dispelled his Bear's Endurance, but as it was the only thing keeping him animated he was in no condition to comment.
Taking a few days to rest I investigated the library. I learned much about Ancient Thassilon.
Returning the kidnapped humans and dwarves to their respective villages & cities we took our booty to Magnimar, there to convert much over-sized, magical junk into shiny gold pieces... which we converted into properly sized magical junk.
Finally returning to Sandpoint we were surrounded by celebratory townsfolk. As the festivities reached full swing Sheriff Hemlock pulled us aside. It seems that Brodert Quink successfully excavated the blocked stairwell from the "secret underground base."
Strange noises have came out of the chamber they uncovered. Several people have disappeared from town. Several guards, and Gallond's cleric friend, went in to investigate. They have not returned.
The bottom of the stairs had been sealed off by a secret door. While Morgrum dealt with that I investigated the unusually thick spider webbing on the stairs. Consultation with Jamlamin & Lazurin revealed that the webbing was unnatural and caused by a spell. My own knowledge of the arcane led me to the conclusion that the area we were entering was covered by a spell known as Guards & Wards, or some variant there of.
Sure enough, the place was full of fog. Lazurin stepped up and dispelled the entry room so that we could enter safely.
An unseen speaker began to question us about our intent in entering this place. It was eventually determined that the questioner was the Scribbler, and enemy of the Rune Lord Karzoug. Before any more could be learned Gallond and I entered an area sacred to Lamashtu, antagonizing the guardians of that place. The Scribbler too, for that matter, cutting short any attempt to find out more about Kurzoug.
Perhaps, just this once, it would have been better to talk before smashing.
As we rested I realized that my shadow had become a Shadow, of sorts. I began calling it "Spooky".
After casting spells with the expectation that there would be a fight with as many giants as could squeeze into these tunnels we opened the door and beheld McMurrian's unpleasant countenance. Behind him the hall was full of giants, including Conna, the giantess who directed us here, and another giant we had seen leading a patrol. Conna seemed to be having an argument with the unnamed patrol leader.
The gang stalled (wasting a round and a half of Haste and being pelted with spells) waiting for McMurrian to be stupid enough to walk into and be flanked.
I sent out by Spooky and fired off an arrow. The others were finally motivated to attack. Gallond and Asa moved in. Morgurm circled McMurrian looking for a flank. He passed under the giant we had seen leading the patrol, and the giant did nothing to stop him. Conna must have won the argument they were having because they evacuated the area with remainder of the giants, leaving McMurrian alone with us.
With Lazurin, Lehna and myself pelting him with Dispel Magic he quickly found himself vulnerable to melee. He was still game for a fight until Murgurm & Spooky staggered him with strength damage. Only then did he Dimension Door.
Jamlamin raced down the corridor looking for our adversary. We pounded through another room and found the Giant Wizard recasting his defensive spells. Asa dashed across the room and lept up onto the platform to face him. Only slightly taken aback by our arrival McMurrian cast Force Wall, sealing himself off with Asa. ...and Spooky, who'd been sneaking up on him through the floor.
Upon realizing my shadow was in there with him he wasted no time in cutting lose with Disintegrate & Quickened Magic Missile Spooky was forced to retreat. He turned to deal with Asa, only to discover that Gallond, Jamlamin & Morgrum were using Adamant weapons to hack through his Force Wall while Lehna & I healed them.
We surged up to him and, after a few more spells & dispels were exchanged, dispatched him.
As McMurrian lay dying we were taunted by and entity claiming to be the Rune Lord Karzoug. Given that the speaker sounded exactly like the voice of the the illusion below Thistletop I am inclined to think it was truly that ancient entity.
Lehna healed me to where I could rejoin the fight. And Asa closed the door by taking the key out of the door, locking McMurrian out.
Using our respite we revived the halfling. After determining that the other door was jammed, probably by yet another collapsed tunnel, I led the way out the door we entered through. I caught three Scorching Rays and three Quickened Magic Missiles. While the others charged into battle again I retreated to heal, though not far enough to avoid the Horrid Wilting. To paraphrase the bard, Two Hit-points is no time to start chanting. So I cast Haste and started chanting.
McMurrian was trapped with Asa, Jamlimin and Lehna on one side and Gallond on the other. He overran the three to get to the door, then cast Force Wall to keep the melee fighters at bay... leaving me and Lazurin alone with him. We closed the door.
I healed myself a little more and opened it again so Lazurin could fire his Eldrich Blast. Lazurin then closed the door again. The next time we tried this I got clubbed in the face. A third time and McMurrian stole the wand I had gotten ready. The fourth time McMurrian charged into the library and caught a nearly lethal blast from the warlock. He charged back out of the room and Dimension Doored.
Returning to the search for McMurrain we found a corridor inscribed with prayers dedicated to the "Peacock Sprit". (Some sort of Lawful Evil Monk type god. Dead now.) I shrugged off a spell that was likely to keep me reading forever. Leading off the side of the corridor was a double door that lead to another double door that lead to a large stone block (likely conjured by those annoying elementals we dealt with earlier.
At one end we found a double door sealed with a seven pointed lock. Morgrim pulled out a seven pointed key that he picked up during our investigation of the Skinsaw Murders and opened the door.
It opened into a library. I promptly sent the library golem to fetch all the books referring to Karzoug, Rune Lord of Greed. I had just settled down to a good read when I was enveloped in a Solid Fog! You can imagine how difficult it is to turn pages under those conditions. There was the sound of combat, and the green ray of a Disintigrate spell hit me in the face.
Barely remaining conscious I stood and cast Haste but as I could not see anything I had to cast it on myself and hope for the best. 5 HP is no time to start chanting. I heard what sounded like the growl of a deformed dog...
We entered a room containing a cauldron, a stone golem and instructions on how to use the cauldron to turn ordinary giants into Rune Giants. After disposing of the golem we set about defacing the instructions and Gallond took a swing at the cauldron with his adamantine axe. While we were moving to repair the axe some sort of earth elemental slid out of the wall and attacked. Dealing with that we made a note to come back and destroy the cauldron, then on moved to the next room.
This one was crammed full of the corpses of giants & ogres. Of course they were undead. One was a special sort that went after Gallond with negative energy attacks. It was touch and go for a moment there, but paladin trumps wraith giant. Or whatever it was, I didn't get a good look at it because another elemental slid out of the wall, this one enveloped in a Darkness field. Lazurin knocked down the Darkness and the thing retreated. When it came back Gallond gave it a seeing to. Then all that was left was a room full of zombie giants. Which took about a minute and a half to clear, even while we were hasted.
Lehna and I set about Mending the gear damaged by cauldron thumping and elemental nibbling.
The giantess explained why she was wanted to help us. It was not so much that she wanted to help us, more that she wanted us to stop killing giants. Oh, and kill McMurrain, the magic using giant who killed her husband. As a way to motivate us she made it clear that McMurrain was the instigator of the raids against the low lands, and that he planned on leading the army of giants overhead in a war to conquer everything form the mountains to the sea.
Eventually she told us how to find him and gave us a map. I found it a struggle to get information about guards and hazards along the way. I am not sure we should trust her once we have dealt with McMurrain.
On the other hand, she informed us that the sihedron runes were placed on beings designated for sacrifice. It is now apparent that the rune is being used to channel the dying energies of the marked, but to what ends I do not know.
Setting off we ran into the four troll guards she mentioned. She neglected to mention that they were hiding behind walls where they could stab at us with large ranseurs. It was bloody. Fortunately we were well equipped with fire, acid and healing.
Coming to a fork Jamlimen and Morgrum began arguing about which path to take. The rolled dice for it and Jamlimen led us to a room trapped with a Reduce Person spell. The nausea was apparently due to poor architectural design. There was a Rune Giant in the room, and it tried to take advantage of the weakness of those of our party who entered the room. Fortunately Lazurin stunned the thing allowing him, Asa and Morgrum to obliterate it.
Let not forget Gallond's EPIC destruction of one of the detestable Wyrm's...I could see his holy power radiating from his very being as he strode toward the beast an severed its vile head on one might blow!
Did. Third line from the bottom. Forgot to mention how he "spiked the ball" by flinging the axe at another dragon. Hit the thing to, IIR.
After straightening out the wrecking crew we went out looking for more people to rescue. We found three lamia preparing to sacrifice two humans on one really big altar dedicated to Lamashtu. (Beginning to see a pattern here. Should probably consult a professional divine servant.) As we began to explore the aftermath we were attacked by yet another lamia. This one had, rather evilly, watched her ... associates being slaughtered so that she could throw on all her protective spells. Not that they did any good in the end.
Lehna did learn a very important lesson about not casting negative energy on servants of Lamashtu. Criticals doubly so. Also letting lamia make a bed out of silk tends to leave the fabric somewhat... pungent.
Needing a rest to restore our spells we retreated to the tunnel where we had stashed the former prisoners.
During the night several giants passed through the area. One solitary giantess tried to wake the kobold without success.
Upon waking we set out to finish exploring the lamia's temple. After some defacement of the altar we went into the tunnel at the back. Turns out they had three large red dragons stashed back there. All of them had sihedron runes etched into their breast scales. Yeah, this again.
Special mention must be made of Gallond's killing one with a single swing of his ax, splitting its head from teeth to neck.
Distressingly, the dragons had no treasure. What is the world coming to?
Treating the burns and scrapes we exited the dragons' cave through the far tunnel, almost. The giantess who had been trying to waken the kobold was waiting in the next chamber, apparently standing guard. She darted across the chamber and waved for us to go back the way we had just come. She then began speaking to another giant, telling it that the intruders had gone top-side and were killing giants outside the wall.
Chapter 28: The Bigger They Are, Part 2 - Jotun Boogaloo.
We entered a chamber containing a single lit candle. And a kobold. Who Lazurin won over to our side. She informed us that the way to the surface was down the corridor she had just exited.
A brief period of questioning later and we discovered that the captured humans were down the other corridor. There were also captured dwarves. She was excited to learn that we had fought the Red Caps rather than negotiating for passage. After telling us to not touch her tapestry she went to look for corpses to snack on.
The giants guarding the prisoners proved less than equal to their task. The giants who came to investigate the work stoppage were somewhat more competent.
A further patrol of giants came up while we were resting in the tunnel leading to the Red Cap warren. They made the mistake of waking our kobold friend.
The extremely large giant who came later was very competent. This was only exacerbated by him being accompanied by four stone giants. Morgrim turned his back to hamburger and Gallond did the same to his front. The gigantic giant chose to focus his attention on the halfling. (and if you'd just taken 140 some points of damage you would to) Once Gallond knocked him down we mopped up the regular sized giants.
Time once again to rest, because it's going to take some serious healing to get Morgrum, Gallond and Asa back to being fit for more fighting.
Chapter 27: They got legs! They know how to use them!
From the wyvern cave we made our way up the cliff to the upper cave. The floor was covered with innumerable, tiny, vile, crawly things. Further in the back there were three, gigantic, vile, crawly things stuffed with innumerable, tiny, vile, crawly things. Deathwebs by name, undead balls of spider legs by appearance.
Searching the cave we found a secret door. It led into a warren of twisted passages. After traveling for what seemed like ages we were attacked by a type of fey known as Red Caps. Rather than stand around getting our shins kicked we opted to keep with out policy of moving upward whenever the passages allowed.
If you have some sort of divine information about this fortress or maybe a map that you've been keeping hidden from the rest of us, now would be a good time to share. Otherwise the plan is to rescue the people and not die.
Just logic. We ran into a corrupted aasimar, then a llamia, then another llamia, then a spell casting stone giant. We chased off the dragon that attacked Sandpoint a little too easily for it to be in charge of a horde of giants. So what's worse than a spell casting giant?
TWO spell casting... yeah, yeah.
The point is that the giant's raids on the lowlands will continue unless someone does something. And I've never seen Gallond the Gallant not do something.
Chapter 26: Does Anyone Have Anything To Take Care Of Before We Go Into The Cinderlands?
The reason Jamlimen was so happy to find us is that he was spying on an army of giants massing at a place called Jorgenfist. Apparently there are hundreds of them.
I think it is likely that their raiding of the lowlands is the prelude to declaring a war of domination. Or perhaps they aren't going to bother declaring it, and just start dominating. Either way we set off into the Cinderlands toward Jorgenfist.
About half way on our trek we spotted a patrol of four stone giants, accompanied by four giant bears. After a short battle we reached the mountains surrounding the giant's army. There really were quite a lot of them. Even Gallond was reluctant to stage a frontal assault. Perhaps we should have brought one of the sacks that the giants were using to haul humans, climbed inside and... nah.
Choosing a more circuitous route we approached Jorgenfist from below the cliff it rests upon. Jamlimen had identified two caves that might lead into the fortress proper. No mention of what we'd do once we got into the fortress beyond "rescue the humans," but I believe we will likely have to kill the entity responsible for this giantish jamboree.
The former Black Arrow told us that the lower cave had wyverns flying in and out at night. Entering, we found them at home. Lazurin being poisoned by one of the lizardy-scorpion-bats was probably the most exciting thing about the fight. We don't seem to have any poison cures...
Chapter 26: I Thought We Were Following Them
As we were cleaning up we heard a voice, "I hate giants, too! C'mon and we can catch 'em."
Not being one to simply chase off with strangers we took a few moments to examine the person speaking. A half-elf with a mithril breastplate, a longbow and a pair of swords. He said his name was Jamlemen, but before we could learn any more we noticed a group of giants climbing the stairs. As they had sacks, presumably full of people, we decided that they were more important than the ones who ran away. I'm sure we'll pay for letting some get away, but one must have priorities.
As it turns out Jamlemon not only hates giants, he is very good at killing them.
And we begin cleaning up again.
Jam-a-lam:
Yes, we were having some fun with the new guy's name.
...I never did get the spelling.
Chapter 25. The Game Is Afoot... Because they don't grow horses that big.
Tidying up from the fracas. Lazurin spoke to the local animals and determined that the giants left to ambush us were merely a distraction, the kidnapped humans were carried off in three different directions. Selecting the ones moving toward the northwest we set off after the giants.
Once the trail entered a mountain range I repeated lost the track. Stone giants, go figure. We would have done better to follow them through the forest.
Eventually the trail came down from the heights and into open grassland again, eventually leading to another giantish encampment. Following it further we came upon a band of ogres who, judging by the cows the had slung over their shoulders, had been looting farmsteads.
A few more days and the tracks were truly lost, even if the trail was not. It was fairly obvious that the giants had climbed the Storval Stairs, a literal gigantic stone staircase.
It was an agonizing decision, but we decided to release the horses as they could not be expected to make this climb. The top of the stairs were guarded by more stone giants. First they pelted us with rocks, then tipped their rock piles down the stairs. Once we attained the summit and dispatched half their number the remainder fled from Gallond's rather justified wrath.
Because Combat drinks play time. If there was a way to get through it more quickly without making the gun-bunnies cry it would have been done already. UC just promises to add more rules to look up.
As Lazurin, Asa, Morgrum and myself moved to assist Gallond and Lehna we encountered yet more giants. I was rather dubious about how such large creatures could sneak up on a town until I saw one of them moving with purpose while we were killing his associates. I attempted to delay him with Hold Monster from a scroll, but he shook it off within seconds. Relying on the others to finish off the brutes I set off in pursuit of the lone giant.
Before I caught up to him I was passed by Asa carrying Morgrum like a backpack, then by Lazurin, who I recall had his boots enchanted for speed...
As I was passing a side street who should pop out but Lehna. She was being followed by a pair of giants, but as she'd cast Slipstream on herself she was easily out distancing them and caught up with the rest of the group...
Fortunately for me, I'd learned the trick of Hiding in Plain Sight. The giants charged Lehna, instead.
From my vantage point I saw the lone giant digging in the rubble around the base of the Old Lighthouse as Morgrum and Asa came up behind him. As Lehna, Lazurin and I were dealing with the pair who'd followed us the the lone giant felled Asa with rapid blows from paired pickaxes and looked fair to deal with the halfling. Lazurin looked to be sweating bullets as he focused on the lone giant, and the great brute fell at the halfling's feet. (A decidedly unsafe place considering Morgrum's uncanny ability with Coup-de-Grace.)
Lazruin Charmed one of the tagalongs and sent him to protect the lone giant while we finished off his companion.
The Charmed giant hoisted the lone giant onto his shoulder and begain to carry him away. When Lazurin tried to get him to stay he kept on moving, stating, "Got to protect the chief."
Suddenly Morgrum was on the chief and showed greater skill with the pickaxe than the chief had, killing him with one blow. When Lazurin stunned the remaining giant with an Eldrich Blast the halfling killed again.
After Lehna and I healed the injured we set about ascertaining the damage to the town. The giants we had not encountered made off with several villagers. Gallond had been shepherding people into the "Secret Lair" after he and Lehna got separated. I located Brodert Quink and tried to engage him to find out what the giant chieftain had been searching for. Lehna got her armor on. We mounted up and rode off in pursuit of the kidnappers.
After long ride and a night's rest we came upon a pair of giants sleeping by a fire. Thank you, Admiral Ackbar. It was a trap, of course. After a brief rest for looting and healing in that order we were on our way.
[...]
Young harpies are ideally raised in groups, and caregivers will often find that cultural standards introduced to such flocks tend to be self-reinforcing within the group. While this explains the sad commonality of the brutal culture of most harpies, it does prove beneficial when bringing them back into the fold of humanoids as a whole.
"Hey! What's all this squawking going on in here?"
Butterflies. Attract. Monsters.
A year has passed since our conquest of Hook Mountain. I spent the time we were locked in winter repairing Fort Rannick and Skulls Crossing, trying to reopen the mines and repeatedly saying "No," to door-to-door ogre hook sales... things. Winter finally broke.
Heading back down the river we arrived in Magnimar, reported to the Lord Mayor, sold as many ogre hooks as we could, refitted our gear, then set out for Sandpoint.
We were greeted as heros. The citizens held a pre-festival-festival in our honor. Apparently the Swallowtail Festival has been renamed the Goblin Festival, where goblin effigies are burned in a bonfire. Unable to get away I planned a pub crawl for the next day.
At breakfast I was rudely interrupted by a boulder slamming into the side of the inn. So much for seeing the town.
Yep, giants. Three of them. Lehna came out of the inn in her nightgown so I sent her up the cathedral to look for a secondary assault. As we were finishing off the giants, a dragon swooped down and breathed fire on the town. Allowing the surviving giants to flee we set out to face the dragon when Lehna emerged from the cathedral to say that there were giants attacking the other side of town.
Eventually I got off a Haste spell. Gallond stated that he had no real distance attack and set out for the giants, Lehna had no distance spells and went with him. Asa, Lazurin and I faced the dragon in the center of town.
And saw it off. We set out to deal with the giants.
The Eberon setting had several races living together in the city of Sharn. IIR Medusea were often heads of organized gangs. Goblins were pretty much the bottom rung in every social ladder.
The swamplands to the west were filled with orcs who had a remarkably civil culture. They held half-orcs in high esteem because they combined orcish strength with human cunning.
Chapter 22. The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Hit.
Near the door guards was a smoky ash filled pit. We failed to convince Morgrum that there were shinies at the bottom.
Penetrating the mountain's interior we came to a junction of tunnels. Down one there was the sound of forges being worked, no doubt the source of all the ogre hooks we've collected. We needed to physically restrain Lehna when someone suggested extinguishing the forges.
Following one of the other tunnels we surprised a coven of Hags. After a messy, smoky, Force Cageed, half Invisible fight we finished them off.
Returning to the junction we chose another tunnel, this one an abandoned shrine of Lamashtu.
The final tunnel led to a cavernous throne room, illuminated by a cleft in the roof. At the far end a stone giant seated in a crude throne was arguing with another, while a third slouched against the wall. Charging down the center aisle Gallond took two boulders chunked by the standing giants, and the seated one cast Fly on himself. The battle began in ernest, and the two standing giants fell, one stunned by Lazurin and ganked by Morgrum, the other beaten almost to death by Asa then burned by Lazurin. The seated giant took longer, left Asa Blind and nearly finished Gallond with a wand of Enervation.
Seems I now have Hook Mountain as part of the territory controlled by Fort Rannick. This includes iron mines under the mountain and several tons of worked iron in the form of . . . well, quite a lot of ogre hooks.
Don't forget the social issues, these masks were made from the skin of the people the Skinsaw cult killed. Keeping them could lead to accusations of murder against the players, after all they have the evidence in their possession.
Having two hours and fifty nine minutes left on the Water Breathing we decided some underwater exploration was due, and swam through one of the adjoining tunnels. On the one side we found a model of the dam, and after some examination we determined that it was the control mechanisms for the sluice gates, though our experiments seemed to produce no reaction.
Following the other tunnel we entered a room with no noticeable function. More detailed examination revealed a secret door in the middle of the pool leading down. Passing through the shaft below and a second door Lehna and I entered what might have been open water. There were fish indicating that this may have been connected to Storval Deep.
Seeking more information inside what we now took to be the control area we moved a pile of skulls to gain access to a double door. Passing through we found a room containing two barred cells, each with a Magic Circle Against Evil. One circle contained a pile of scarlet dust, while the other contained what I recognized as a badly withered Pit Fiend. Despite my advice to the contrary, and the devil's demand that we release it, Lazurin stepped into the circle with the dust stating that the dam must run on Life Force.
His surmise proved correct, and he gained a Negative Level for his trouble. The Pit Fiend was destroyed. Seeing the forces in action we concluded that the dam could have been "fed" a farm animal. I collected the dusty remains of the Pit Fiends.
A further inspection of the dam proved that there were no more ogres or trolls, and the skulls which decorated the exterior were now vomiting forth lake water.
Upon our return to Turtleback Ferry we informed the mayor of our adventure. He was slightly disturbed as to the nature of the dam controls, and gratefully restored the Lazurin's loss. After some debate as to wether we could afford the two months we would need to travel to a major city to re-equip we decided that at least a probe into Hook Mountain would be necessary.
We traveled without incident until passing through the woods at the base of the mountain where we spotted a band of ogres stomping through the undergrowth. Upon my advice the others waited until I had cast Haste upon the party before stealthily taking position in their path. We allowed Gallond to step up and challenge them. Sickened by Impaler of Thorns, intimidated by his martial prowess and knifed in the back by Morgrum the bestial humanoids fell in a matter of seconds. Their gear was substantial only in encumbrance, confirming our estimate that these ogres were an overeager bunch of punks.
Arriving at an extremely large cave entrance decorated with gigantic bones we were caught flat footed by a pair of ogres guards. (Seriously, IIR our highest initiative was ten.) Lazurin threw a blast that Stunned one allowing Morgrum to execute a Dastardly Finish, while the other made the mistake of provoking the ire of Asa who turned it into an ogre-jelly. (Rolled max damage on each attack in a Flurry.) them we entered the cavern and found what at first seemed to be a gigantic statue. Studying the thing I recognized it as a Rune Giant. It was adorned with a sihedron medallion and upon removing it the magically preserved corpse turned to dust, allowing its gem studded armor to fall with a thunderous clang.
This, of course, attracted more ogres. Two advanced towards us while one blew an alarm horn. I led off with Haste. Morgrum struck one of them, killing it instantly. Gallond and Asa dealt with a second one. Lazurin stunned the bugler and Morgrum finished it off.
Using the trench they were chopping as a launching chute, we sent the ogre corpses over the side of the dam.
Moving towards the center of the dam we came to a structure which took the prevailing skull motif to new heights. Or, perhaps, lows. Regardless, we entered in search of more ogres. We found fungus. And a door with the words “Below Dwells Wet Papa Grazuul! All Hail Wet Papa Grazuul!” scrawled on it in the extremely poor penmanship we've come to expect from our more common foes. Behind it was a stairwell leading down. And down. And down. We began to pass the time by making lewd comments about how Grazuul earned the epithet "Wet Papa." Ten flights and approximately one hundred and fifty feet. And we came to a door.
We caught our breath and examined the door. Morgrum checked for traps while I checked for magic. It was magically trapped, with a cold blast effect.
When I informed the party Lazurin moved to a more secure location, entirely out of the line of fire, while the rest of us moved back up the stairs to the landing. Lazurin's decision proved to be the wisest as Morgrum triggered the trap, and, as it was magical, it was not expended. The rest of the party moved to join Lazurin. As for Lazurin, he said he'd heard a noise coming down the stairs. We moved to ambush anything that might come down while Morgrum triggered the trap several more times.
When the sound of crackling ice subsided Morgrum came around and told us that he had disarmed the trap. Curiously enough, he was unscathed, with not even a snowflake on him.
Forcing open these doors we entered a largish room with an algae covered pool. We spread out, waiting for the appearance of the "Wet Papa." I was slightly surprised when an aquatic troll, commonly known as a scrag, emerged from the water bearing a military fork and began shouting random words in Giantish. I had been expecting more tentacles.
Lazurin did some warlock trick, Grazuul fell asleep and slipped back into the "wet." Which was just as well because four trolls came stamping down the stairs. A Grease spell kept them off balance while Gallond, Asa, Morgrum and Lehna smashed, chopped and stabbed them. Lazurin threw acid blasts and I emptied a Wand of Scorching Ray to finish them off.
As we were cleaning up I remembered Morgrum's fascination with stealing weapons and suggested that he go down into the pool and try to slip the military fork away from Grazuul. He was enthusiastic about trying. As a precaution I had Lehna cast Water Breathing on the rest of our group. Unfortunately he woke the scrag and we had to come to his rescue.
Actually Morgrum knifed him, trying for the coup-de-grace kill. It occurs to me that I don't know Morgrum's last name...
The weapon proved to be a Vicious Adamant Military Fork. Surprisingly it is sized for normal sized beings.
Chapter 19. A Tentacle Monster. It had to be a Tenticle Monster.
Patching ourselves up after dispatching Lucrecia we opened the next door - and discovered where Shaleylu and the remainder of the Black Arrows had gotten off to; alive, locked in cells, and slightly scorched.
The surviving Black Arrows disbanded, each choosing to go their separate ways, save Shaleylu and Jukardis who went off together. Our party set off for Turtleback Ferry in a driving rain. Lehna declared the rain to be unnatural, and given her affinity for water we did not doubt her.
Arriving at Turtleback we discussed the Black Arrow situation with the mayor. He was upset that the Black Arrows had chosen to abandon their duties, then offered the fort to us. As none of us had considered settling down in a fixed location we chaffered throughout dinner. I suggested we send a letter to Magnimar, though no one seemed interested in that either, so I offered to see if I could round up some people to staff the place in our stead.
When negotiations were finished we stepped out of the inn, only to discover that the town was flooded! The Inn had become and island! And no one had seen fit to alert the mayor! As we were deciding on a course of action the cries of children came through the pelting rain.
We leapt into action! I cast Haste and tried to talk the Mayor out of his stupor. Morgrum and Gallond rushed out in search of the children, finding them on one of the turtle shell rafts from which the town derives its name. The craft was snagged on the corner of a partially submerged building and was in danger of foundering! Gallond and Morgrum waded into the flood trying to secure the raft while Asa ran up the side of the building, along the peak of the roof, then leapt into the raft with the children. Lehna and Lazurin moved to assist activating their mystic powers. Lazurin threw one of his eldrich blasts and created a massive block of ice! This cut down on the current, helping to stabilize the raft. The water surged mightily and Gallond was pulled off his feet. Lehna waded into the water, babbling happily in Aquan.
After much Ogre Hook-ing, rope use, pulling and snake disposal (and porpoise imitations, Water Breathing and Slipstream on the part of the Wave Oracle) the raft was secured well enough to evacuate the children to the only high ground left - the roof of the inn.
Where they made tempting targets for a creature known as Black Magga. Taking a moment to recall what I could about such creatures I informed my associates that the Black Magga is one of a type of creature generally known as a Mother of the Void. This creature is a gargantuan outsider (aquatic and native), resistant to damage except by cold iron and magic, immune quite a number of things that would solve the problem of its presence almost instantly as well as being resistant to acid and cold and magic. I recast Haste.
Black Magga began using its long tentacles to pick people off the roof. Morgrum, Asa and one of the children were snatched up, only luck prevented a second child from joining the first!
Gallond struck the creature many solid blows, but could not prevent the loathsome beast from crushing the first child into unconsciousness and releasing its grip, allowing the small body to fall into the raging floodwaters. It was only good fortune that this child was one of those that Lehna had blessed with Breathe Water earlier. The vile fiend vulnerable to Cold Iron, remember ;) reached out for more victims, this time claiming Lazurin and another child. Lehna dove into the water, presumably because she did not wish to see her spell so lightly cast aside, only to have to snatch the second child as it was cast aside. Lazurin was also tossed into the turbulent waters, but one of his warlock tricks caused him to bob about on the surface.
Then the denizen of the deep reached for me. I gave it a blast from my wand of Scorching Ray, only to see the spell fizzle uselessly against the arbitrary and inexplicable magic resistance that seems to exist in our world for no other purpose than to make things "challenging" for magic users.
Suddenly he floodwaters began to recede, as quickly as they had come, taking the monster with them. We had saved all the children.
We were feted as heros, and were rewarded with renewed offers of Lordship of Fort Rannick. We averred that we should first examine the Skulls Crossing dam, for Black Magga was known to inhabit the waters of Storval Deep. Her presence and the continuing high waters in Claybottom Lake boded ill for the dam's integrity. We gathered some supplies, advised the people of Turtleback Ferry to stay well clear of the water and headed up river.
We spent the night at Fort Rannick, where I realized that I hadn't written the letter to Grobaras, the Lord Mayor of Magnimar.
The day dawned early, as days are inclined to do, and just as wet and blustery as it had been since we defeated Lucrecia. As we approached the dam it became clear that there was considerable damage to the upper portion of the structure. Gallond said that the rift was not natural, but likely the work of ogres.
Yes, more ogres.
We scouted around for a path up to the causeway and found the only reasonable access was a stairway, a stairway sized for creatures larger than men. It proved passable, and lead to a cave guarded by an solitary ettin. Asa and Morgurm made quick work of them and we followed the cave out onto the causeway. Sure enough there were ogres.
Gallond stepped forward to challenge them and began a spirited melee. We were victorious, of course, else you would not be reading this. The only casualty on our side being Asa.
They then moved down a hall and found a room with a bunch of torture implements and a demolished room. In there they found a magic scroll in Thasilonian. Then they moved down the hall further and found a room with 12 trap doors and another aberration, this one looked to have once been a goblin, now he had extra arms and legs. He moved to engage the party. Baedin movd to block his way, Gallond got behind Baedin with the new Ranseur. The rest of the party lined up behind, waiting a chance to get in there and hurt someone.
The icky creature spit at them, a 20-foot line of caustic acid that took Baedin down and wrecked the next few in line a bit. Gallond was now holding the line. The rest of the party dropped damage in from behind, finally putting the creature down.
So I'm wondering if these mutant ogres have been warped by the power of sihedron rune.
I realize the "rather nice master work ranseur with ivory inlaid in it" Gallond picked up in the same place is not magical, but...
I did gloss over Lucrecia having a couple of ineffective rounds where she started to lose the hurt vs. heal game. Having two characters Evade her Lightning Bolt while the third just soaked the hp only made it worse. Then getting cracked a few times while she closed on you, only to be touched by Lehna's critical on Inflict Moderate (39 hp) before having the party collapse in on her.
Oh, and we have to pick Asa up off the floor again.
There were a few more ogres upstairs. It was odd that they didn't come when the ogre in the shrine yelled, but that's ogres for you. It's just as well, as a noteworthy pair awaited us down the hall. One distinguished himself as being able to hit Gallond and send him flying. Just our luck to find the world's only golfing ogre. His partner was a spellcaster who promptly Dominated Asa and sent her to beat up Morgrum. After the second (or third?) time Gallond was knocked through the air I intervened. My Glitterdust spell blinded the the golfer, but the caster. A blind ogre is still dangerous but this one failed to make par. The caster reconsidered her position, sent Asa after Gallond, then Dimension Doored. For once Asa's weak defenses worked in our favor as we began pummeling her into unconsciousness. Lazurin exercised some mercy by Dispeling the Domination.
After a night's rest we headed to the basement. There we found a woman who called herself Lucrecia, a striking woman with amazingly red hair. We began sounding each other out on numerous topics, discoverng that it had been her pleasure barge that sank back at Turtleback Ferry, that she knew the sihedron runes were older than Thassillon, and began name dropping. I started taking notes. I offered to sell her the book on Thassillon I had been working on. She offered 50 gold pieces on credit. I graciously offered to not punch her in the mouth. She began casting a spell. Morgrum jumped up and attacked, only to be smacked by our old foe, Xanesha the snake lamia. Not remembering Xanesha's long reach I tried to cast Haste, only to get stabbed for my trouble. As we engaged the pair it came as no surprise that Lucrecia was also a lamia. We fell into the same strategy we used to drive Xanesha out of the clock tower, with Lazruin casting Dispel Magic and the rest of us trying to avoid losing too much wisdom until the debuffs. We had a greater advantage this time with Lehna's newfound ability to cast Dispel Magic. Nevertheless, it was touch and go until Xanesha fell. Lucrecia crossed the room to attack Lazurin, presumably prevent him from Dispelling any more of her defenses. The rest of the party stepped in and surrounded her.
Moving on we crossed the courtyard to the smokehouse. The ogre that met us at the door was not wearing "Kiss the Cook" apron, so it one got right in the mouth with Gallond's axe. By the time we finished with it the shocker lizards had been either killed or driven off, leaving five smoldering ogres, of whom we made short work. While searching the courtyard for loot and finding several Black Arrow bodies being cured in the smokehouse caused Gallond to quip, "the breakfast of champions."
1. 2. 3. 4. Yeah, that's what we thought. After allowing the air to clear...
We entered the fortress proper, disturbing the rather disturbing residents. It was very similar to the lair of the ogre-kin we cleared out earlier, save what they lacked in variety they made up for in size. Everyone needed to be saved from certain death at least once, but a combination of firepower and the fact that ogres having difficulty aiming at objects shorter than their knees allowed us to quickly clear the main floor of opposition.
Heading upstairs we found yet more of the wrack and ruin we've come to associate with these inbreds. The first door we opened was a sort of shrine, vile in almost every way it is possible to be, barring intervention from the lower planes. The chief ogre standing in the middle of it did not detract from the wretchedness. When attacked the ogre let out a terrible roar, causing several of the party members to flee in panic. Upon making our way back we found Asa had fallen, but Gallond and Lazurin had dealt with the ogre's abominable leader.
When practicing the bow I just went out and picked up the arrows when my quiver was empty, they were fairly easy to find. The rocks I used when trying to teach myself the sling became embedded into the loam or disappeared altogether.
Seems a little strange until you realize that I was in forested terrain. Plenty of wood & silt bottomed waterways, but very light on rocks of sling suitable shape & size (being mostly shale).
So, for example, you might have Gharve, son of Hardrin, Blood of Merok, of the dwarves of Janderhoff (or something like that). Dwarves that wanted to show disdain for someone wouldn't tell you their lineage, so you would only get a terse "Gharve" if the dwarf was trying to blow you off.
[...] but in the histories, only what is actually know to have happened is recorded. So the walls recording history would only say "King Forgrat killed the red dragon Threxistes on X date."
Freesword wrote:
I do however reserve the right to use the name Adamantinearse McKnuckles (Blood of Knuckles, King of the Wall Climbers) the next time I feel the need to be far too silly.
Or you want to travel in disguise. Not from your contemporaries, but from history.
Which in turn reminds me of something from Order of the Stick & Discworld. Dwarves wanting to be buried in their ancestral caves.
Now selling some princess into slavery is obviously a bit much unless the character is evil aligned, but that was obviously an exaggerated example anyways so there's little point in nitpicking all over it.
You don't sell them, you ransom them back. <eye roll> Sheesh.
One idea I played around with for a while was elves having a yearly ceremony of renewal.
pjackson, that's a terrific approach.
You might look into the Warhammer RPG. The elves there can consciously delete specific parts of their memory. It keeps their immortal minds from getting too cluttered.
110 years starting age. What do they spend a century on before reaching the competence of a human teen? Are elves functionally disabled? Do they spend all that time practising aloof expressions in the mirror and brushing their hair? :P
It's the chocolate.
Y'see, all elves are chocoholics. Can't stay away from the stuff. And y'know what chocolate does to dogs? It does something similar to elves, only it does it to their memories.
And with gnomes it's vanilla. Dwarves just keep banging their heads on their ceilings.
so for example if you made a craft monkey cohort could you then use your own caster level or a caster in the group to allow the cohort to craft at your level instead of his ?
The caster level of an Item is not a requirement unless it is in the requirement list. For crafting it just sets the DC of the crafter's roll. (DC = CL+5)
Opening the back of the barn, we found Jukardis and two other surviving Black Arrow Rangers, starving and dehydrated, but after a food, water and healing they cleaned up nice. Jukardis reclaimed his bow, which we had found in the house. Shaleylu and Jukardis had a whispered conference which I was unable to overhear.
Jukardis informed us that he and his band had been captured after a failed raid to retake their fort from a large band of ogres.
We decamped to Turtleback Crossing to acquire a Remove Curse spell for Gallond, but opted to get a wand as insurance against future need, then set out to retake the fort. I suggested we spend some cash to re-equip the Black Arrows, but Gallond and Lazurin were against it.
As we traveled we pressed Jukardis for more information about the fort and its new inhabitants. A bit of persuasion got them to reveal that there was a secret tunnel leading into the fort, but they hadn't gone that way because they were stupid and arrogant. Plus there were shocker lizards in a side branching. We suggested that the rangers smoke the lizards out into the courtyard to provide a painful distraction for the ogres.
The rangers agreed to the plan and estimated that it would take about an hour to effect the plan. While they went to carry it out, we amused ourselves by ambushing a patrol of ogres. I suggested I use a scroll we had found earlier to reanimate two of the ogre corpses, and use their strength to raise the portcullis and allow us easy entry into the fort. Gallond stated that animating the dead was an evil act and he would would be obliged to smash anything involved in such an act. Not knowing Gallond could distinguishing people from things I relented.
Once the sound of violent electrical discharges began we approached the fort. Asa and Lazurin scaled the wall like it was a flight of stairs, while Gallond, Lehna and I ran for the portcullis.
Lazurin charmed an ogre to open the way for us, but he was having trouble doing so as the commander of the ogres would allow him to. Asa smashed the ogres standing atop the wall, and while the commander was distracted Gallond's taunting the charmed ogre opened the portcullis - and was immediately charged by Gallond. Fortunately Lehna and I chose to risk being hit by a falling portcullis rather than leave the rest of the party trapped inside with minimal healing. As it was Lehna took a fearsome blow while trying to find a place to squeeze in.
As we were finishing off our foes three of the ogres that had fought the lizards returned looking somewhat singed. Taking a moment to mend our wounds we moved after them and found a rickety wooden barracks building with a dozen ogres inside. With Asa inside and Gallond blocking the doorway it looked like sandwich making time, until one of the ogres got impatient for his turn to be killed and smashed out through the wall. Lenha, being foolish-but-heavily-armored, moved to intercept while Lazurin and I blast the beast. With Gallond and Asa whittling down the ogres in the building and we three burning the ones who made their own exits we were cutting our way through their ranks rather quickly, until Asa fell. With nothing to entertain them inside the building the ogres who were not fighting Gallond smashed through the rest of the front wall precipitating the collapse of the building's roof. Finishing off the last of the ogres we moved to dig out our fallen comrade.
124. Make all races except humans allergic to chocolate.
IIR, in PF terms, Elves and Half-Elves suffered Int Drain if they eat it, Dwarves become Nauseated by the smell and Sickened if they eat it, Orcs and Half-Orcs become addicted to it like it was an opiate, and Halflings become permanently deranged if they ate it.
Gnomes have no problem with chocolate, but vanilla is fatal to them.
We continued our exploration of the Ogre-kin's... lair. This place was so vile it didn't even qualify as a house. It was like the offal pit behind an abattoir, only with a roof over it. Morgrum assured me that he acquired an adequate supply of candles.
The remaining inhabitants of the house included a pair of deformed ogre-kin in a front room, and the clan's mother in the back. Words fail me when trying to describe her degenerate characteristics. That she kept her former paramours (involuntary I can only assume) as zombies only hints at her loathsomeness. She was a spell caster, but with the exception of Gallond we suffered no injuries before we forced her to retreat via Dimension Door.
We looked through the rest of the house to be certain she hadn't doubled back, then proceeded to the barn.
Forming up in anticipation of putting an end to this detestable clan we burst in and were confronted by the sight of three more of these inbred cretins, three more zombies, and the ... woman who had escaped us earlier.
Asa and the bear suffered the greatest injuries, though we will have to lift another Curse off Gallond. All that remains unexplored is the rear section of the barn.
Next time: What's in the back of the barn?
Full Name
Elmar Vulsaren Tarathiel
Race
Male Half-Elf Arcanist 8 | AC 12, Touch 11, FF 11 (14 mage armor) | HP 13/50 | F +5, R +5, W +9 (+2 vs illusion, -2 vs evil) | Init +2 | Perc +17
Male Half-Elf Arcanist 8
CN Medium Humanoid (Elf)
Init +2; Senses Perception +17; low-light vision
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DEFENSE
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AC 12, touch 11, flat-footed 11 (+1 armor, +1 dex)
hp 50
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +9 (+2 vs illusion, -2 vs evil)
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OFFENSE
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee Dagger +2 (1d4-2)
Defensive Abilities Aegis of Recovery (if HP drops below 0)
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STATISTICS
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Str 7, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 23, Wis 12, Cha 14
Base Atk +4; CMB +2; CMD 13
Traits Taldan Patriot, Student of Philosophy, Extremely Fashionable
Drawbacks Haunted
Feats Extra Arcanist Exploit, Extra Arcanist Exploit, Extra Arcanist Exploit, Improved Familiar
Skills (80 points; 16 arcanist, 50 int, 16 background)
ACP -0
(1) Appraise +9
(7) Bluff +18 (-4 to feint, -1 if not well dressed)
(8) Diplomacy +18 (-4 to gather info, -1 if not well dressed)
(6) Knowledge (arcana) +15
(1) Knowledge (dungeoneering) +12
(1) Knowledge (engineering) +10
(1) Knowledge (geography) +10
(5) Knowledge (history) +17
(6) Knowledge (local) +17
(2) Knowledge (nature) +11
(8) Knowledge (nobility) +17
(2) Knowledge (planes) +11
(2) Knowledge (religion) +11
(8) Linguistics +17
(8) Perception +17
(8) Sense Motive +14
(5) Spellcraft +14
(1) Use Magic Device +9
*ACP applies to these skills
Non-Standard Skill Bonuses
+2 Knowledge (history) (racial)
+2 Knowledge (local) (racial)
+1 Sense Motive (racial)
+1 Bluff (racial)
+1 Sense Motive (trait)
+1 Knowledge (history) (trait)
+1 Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate when well dressed (trait)
+5 Perception (item)
Languages Common, Elven, Azlanti, Celestial, Kelish, Hallit, Dwarven, Halfling, Skald, Osiriani, Vudrani, Gnome, Sylvan, Infernal
Special Abilities:
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Sophisticate Half-elves who strive to embody the culture in which they live develop a keen instinct for the ebb and flow of fashions, fads, and political trends. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (history) and Knowledge (local).
Alert for Betrayal You gain a +2 racial bonus on saves against illusion spells and effects. Perception and Sense Motive are class skills for you.
Wary Many half-elves have spent their long lives moving from place to place, often driven out by the hostility of others. Such experiences have made them wary of others’ motivations. Half-elves with this trait gain a +1 racial bonus on Sense Motive and Bluff checks.
Low-Light Vision Half-elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Fey Thoughts Diplomacy and Bluff are always class skills for the character.
Taldan Patriot You love your country, its history, and its people... even though they may not love you back. Whether you’re a bureaucrat, a minor noble, or a soldier, you want your community to be the best it can be and you channel that love into a position in service to the people of Taldor. You gain a +1 bonus on all Sense Motive and Knowledge (history) checks, and these skills are always class skills for you. In addition, once per day you can recall a specific fact about a Taldan noble’s personality—quirks such as a hobby or pet peeve—including information you would normally learn as a discovery check in social combat.
Student of Philosophy You were trained in a now-defunct philosophical tradition—such as that of the now-destroyed magic universities or astrologers—and learned to use logic and reason to persuade others. You can use your Intelligence modifier in place of your Charisma modifier on Diplomacy checks to persuade others and on Bluff checks to convince others that a lie is true. (This trait does not affect Diplomacy checks to gather information or Bluff checks to feint in combat).
Extremely Fashionable You really know how to make a good impression when you’re dressed well. Whenever you are wearing clothing and/or jewelry worth at least 150 gp (and not otherwise covered in gore, sewage, or other things that mar your overall look), you gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks. One of these skills (your choice) is a class skill for you.
Haunted Something from your past—or a dark secret you presently hold—makes it difficult for you to ever be at peace, and your chronic worry that you might fall to evil influence has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You take a –2 penalty on saves against spells with the evil descriptor.
Arcane Reservoir (1/10) The arcanist’s arcane reservoir can hold a maximum amount of magical energy equal to 3 + the arcanist’s level. Each day when preparing spells the reservoir resets to 3 + 1/2 her arcanist level. More points can be gained but can never exceed the max. The arcanist can expend 1 point as a free action when casting a spell to increase the caster level by 1 or increase the spell’s DC by 1 (both by +2 due to Potent Magic Exploit). She can expend no more than 1 point from her reservoir on a given spell in this way.
Consume Spells (1/2) At 1st level, an arcanist can expend an available arcanist spell slot as a move action, making it unavailable for the rest of the day, just as if she had used it to cast a spell. She can use this ability a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1). Doing this adds a number of points to her arcane reservoir equal to the level of the spell slot consumed.
Arcanist Exploits At 1st level and every 2 levels thereafter, the arcanist learns a new arcane exploit. Unless otherwise noted, the saving throw DC for an arcanist exploit is equal to 10 + 1/2 the arcanist’s level + the arcanist’s Charisma modifier.
Quick Study The arcanist can prepare a spell in place of an existing spell by expending 1 point from her arcane reservoir. Using this ability is a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity. The arcanist must be able to reference her spellbook when using this ability. The spell prepared must be of the same level as the spell being replaced.
Dimensional Slide The arcanist can expend 1 point from her arcane reservoir to create a dimensional crack that she can step through to reach another location. This ability is used as part of a move action or withdraw action, allowing her to move up to 10 feet per arcanist level to any location she can see. This counts as 5 feet of movement. She can only use this ability once per round. She does not provoke attacks of opportunity when moving in this way, but any other movement she attempts as part of her move action provokes as normal.
Obfuscated Spellcasting When casting a spell, the arcanist can spend 1 point from her arcane reservoir to make the spell being cast appear to be a different spell. The spell can be disguised as any other spell that the arcanist knows. This exploit raises the DC for a Spellcraft check to correctly identify the spell being cast by double the arcanist’s caster level. Identification attempts that fail by an amount less than double the arcanist’s caster level mistakenly identify the spell being cast as the false spell chosen by the arcanist.
Potent Magic Whenever the arcanist expends 1 point from her arcane reservoir to increase the caster level of a spell, the caster level increases by 2 instead of 1. Whenever she expends 1 point from her arcane reservoir to increase the spell’s DC, it increases by 2 instead of 1.
Aspect of Innocence An arcanist can expend 1 point from her arcane reservoir as an immediate action to gain the benefits of innocence, with a caster level equal to her arcanist level.
Charmer An arcanist can expend 1 point from her arcane reservoir as a standard action to gain the benefits of glibness, with a caster level equal to her arcanist level.
Familiar An arcanist with this exploit can acquire a familiar as the arcane bond wizard class feature, using her arcanist level as her wizard level to determine any of the statistics and abilities of the familiar.
Spells:
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Spells
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0th (Prepare 8 | Cast at will | all known)
Detect Magic
Light
Read Magic
Prestidigitation
Message
Open/Close
Scrivener's Chant
Arcane Mark
Elmar was born to Edwyn Lotheed and Alenia Tarathiel. Edwyn was from a cadet branch of the Lotheed dukedom, and "Removed as many steps as drinks I'm having tonight". Alenia was a young elf who was hired by the family as one of their scholars, working in the vast Lotheed arcane libraries. Edwyn was stricken by Alenia's beauty and sharp wits, the latter a sharp contrast with most of his regular consorts. Alenia found Edwyn's passion and appetite for life enchanting.
The courtship proved mutually beneficial. Edwyn helped Alenia get a firsthand experience of human culture and gave her a kind of excitement she had never experienced, as well as give her inside tips on how to succeed as a scholar in his family. And Alenia helped tame Edwyn's rabble-rousing nature, both allowing him to somewhat settle as well as improve in his own studies. It was not long until Elmar was brought into the world.
When the rest of the Lotheed family learned of the situation, there was a certain tense reserved judgement. While Alenia was low in the scholarly ranks, she was still a respected elven mage, and while Edwyn was indeed a Lotheed, he had always danced the knife's edge of causing too much trouble for his family. But having a half-human child out of wedlock was enough for the family to no longer tolerate his behavior, and an intervention with the senior members of the family sharply curtailed Edwyn's reckless nature. It also came at the cost of his relationship with Alenia and the legitimacy of Elmar, as the family forced Elmar to take her name and for no official connection to be made to the child's real father, but they would be permitted to raise him in the privacy of their estate.
As the years went on Edwyn and Alenia thought they would be able to maintain their relationship in secret, living a life of comfortable solitude. Through Elmar's early years this desire was a reality. Although he grew up with loving parents he had no friends his own age, and soon became bored. To combat this he dove into the Lotheed arcane libraries along with Alenia, and with little else to entertain him his studies pushed him to surpass his mother's skills by the time he was a teenager. However his education caused complications; Elmar became aspirational, and he became curious. He pushed to attend more family events and see more of the wider world, pressuring his hesitant parents to allow him off the grounds. His sheltered life did not teach him the implications of his birth and the wider politics of his family and Taldor. But his parents reluctantly acquiesced, quietly letting him see more of Taldor and carefully bringing him to select family gatherings.
Elmar fell in love with everything about Taldor, eagerly throwing himself into the culture. He began sneaking out to see more than what his parents allowed, and grew bolder with every passing day. He also began to experience the darker side of Taldor, particularly the night life and underground since he usually snuck out at night. The parts that shook him to his core were how many non-human races were treated, particularly the open enslavement and discrimination. The nation that he was falling in love with was flawed, and it cut him deeply. He became increasingly vocal at the Lotheed gatherings, not truly understanding the political implications of his words and his family, but vying for positive change to the most influential people he knew. However the only thing he accomplished was bringing attention to himself. Things only became more tense until finally Elmar pushed one of his elders too far, and he was loudly called a "bastard mongrel" in front of the whole family.
That was a turning point for Elmar in more ways than one. In a single shocking moment the truth of the world and his family had been exposed to him. At the same time the covert life Edwyn and Alenia had fostered was torn away, and the Lotheed's increased their scrutiny. This caused resentment to build in Edwyn, the constant pressure and judgement of his extended family causing him to grow angry and distant from Alenia and Elmar. Elmar's early years had been sheltered and loving, but now the rest of his childhood was destined to be cold and hostile. Alenia did what she could and still retained a decent relationship with Elmar, but her unwillingness to stand up to the Lotheeds frustrated Elmar. He was openly critical of how they were treated and he only grew more vocal about the problems of Taldor, further angering his father over the years. Eventually Elmar had enough, and recognizing that solitude was the Lotheed's most important control over his life, he fled home to find out what life held for him out from under their thumb.
Elmar went into Taldor without a copper to his name, but he had made friends with many of the disgruntled downtrodden of the lower class, and so while his life was hard he had a community to share it with. They spent as much time struggling to get by as they did rousing unrest and engaging in civil disobedience. Elmar was young with little direction besides following his anger and sense of justice, so all he really accomplished was some property damage and a lot of attention from the guard. That could have easily lead to a short and brutal end to his story, if he was not rescued from certain capture by the guard by Gloriana Morilla. Morilla kept tabs on the unrest around the nation and Elmar had gotten her attention. He was inexperienced and his skills unpolished, but his passion and force of personality and sheer arcane acumen showed a patriotic force to be reckoned with.
Appearance and Personality:
Elmar cuts a slim figure dressed in a sharp but practical set of well-tailored black and silver robes, the cut decidedly at the modern edge of Taldan fashion but the pattern and trim from old elven culture. His wavy blond hair is cut short and combed forward with just a bit of messiness. His facial features are sharp, pointed ears showing prominently past his short hair and adorned with a mixture of modern and classical earrings. His eyes are a piercing sea green, and there is a certain loose intensity to his posture.
Elmar is a deeply passionate man with a fierce sense of justice. He cares little for rules and procedures but does respect certain traditions, and is openly proud of his half-elven heritage, intentionally presenting himself in an unambiguous representation of both halves of himself. He has experience hobnobbing among the elites as well as slumming it with working man, and knows how to tailor his mannerisms to both, although a keen observer may notice certain tense moments and not-so-joking comments made in the former settings. Although Elmar has deeply rooted convictions and huge aspirations for the future of Taldor, he often wrestles with how principled the approach to change should be, and what kinds of means justify what kinds of ends.
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Breath Weapon 5-foot cone, euphoria for 1d6 rounds, DC 12 Fort negates. Creatures affected by euphoria are staggered, sickened, and immune to fear effects for the duration. A faerie dragon can use this breath weapon once every 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Alertness While a familiar is within arm's reach, the master gains the Alertness feat.
Improved Evasion When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails.
Share Spells The wizard may cast a spell with a target of “You” on his familiar (as a touch spell) instead of on himself. A wizard may cast spells on his familiar even if the spells do not normally affect creatures of the familiar's type (magical beast).
Empathic Link The master has an empathic link with his familiar to a 1 mile distance. The master can communicate emphatically with the familiar, but cannot see through its eyes. Because of the link's limited nature, only general emotions can be shared. The master has the same connection to an item or place that his familiar does.
Deliver Touch Spells If the master is 3rd level or higher, a familiar can deliver touch spells for him. If the master and the familiar are in contact at the time the master casts a touch spell, he can designate his familiar as the “toucher.” The familiar can then deliver the touch spell just as the master would. As usual, if the master casts another spell before the touch is delivered, the touch spell dissipates.
Speak With Master If the master is 5th level or higher, a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help.
Speak with Animals of Its Kind If the master is 7th level or higher, a familiar can communicate with animals of approximately the same kind as itself (including dire varieties): bats with bats, cats with felines, hawks and owls and ravens with birds, lizards and snakes with reptiles, monkeys with other simians, rats with rodents, toads with amphibians, and weasels with ermines and minks. Such communication is limited by the Intelligence of the conversing creatures.
