On the trip back to Drezen, Isilme mostly kept to herself after the others rejoined the group. She had had little to say to Xander, and to be honest, there would have been no point even if she had. If the years traveling with the group hadn’t changed him, nothing would’ve. Perhaps there was nothing that could overcome the selfishness learned from spending an eternity surviving in the abyss alone, or perhaps it was truly impossible to overcome his nature as a shabti, despite having repaired his soul and become mortal. She did her best to care for Ai’sintar’s body on the return trip, until Ehren successfully reincarnated him. Desna seemed to have a sense of humor, or perhaps it was the green that did, as he had been returned to life as a dwarf of all things, though she had supposed there were worse things one could come back as, perhaps a badger or some sort of frog… His new, shorter and more stocky form had done nothing to dissuade her from kissing him when he awoke, however, throwing her arms around him and welcoming him back.
In the days that followed she’d helped him come to terms with his new form, and they’d begun discussing the possibility of getting a scroll of a suitably powerful polymorph spell to adjust his form to one that they would both enjoy more. They had also discussed the possibility of taking some time to travel, to visit Thuvia to find Gerrard and Mikael, as well as to get in touch with Jahani and the halflings that had escaped with the pair. The more they had talked about their future, the clearer it had become to Isilme that her time as an adventurer needed to come to its end. She had spent so much of her life either not truly caring about those she was around, or once she had, risking their lives and her own in a foolish quest to right everything. For once she’d decided she simply wanted to just be, especially since she was mortal. Discussing arrangements for Najat’s funeral had been especially hard on both of them. It had made it clear that both she and Aravashnial had only been a moment away from being devoured by the dragon, after which there would have been nothing. No afterlife, no reunions, simply nothing.
All their planning, however, had come to a screeching halt when Irabeth came with orders to arrest her and Xander. The thought of being separated again from Ai’sintar was almost too much to bear, but in the end, unlike Xander, she couldn’t abandon Ary. What had happened had not been her fault, and Isilme wouldn’t have been able to live with herself if she’d fled. And so she’d kissed Aravashnial and said her goodbyes to everyone else, entrusting her belongings mostly to Li’an, except for a letter for Jahani along with Cygnus, her armor and her shield. It of course had come as a shock—and a bit of guilt-ridden relief--that when she’d arrived at Nerosyan, she’d found her sentence had been reversed due to Ary’s sacrifice.
The situation, of course, was never going to be as simple as her returning to Drezen. After her meeting with Ser Abranci, her superior who oversaw intelligence for the crusades, she’d arranged for the two of them to arrive in secret in Drezen again with Ehren’s help. It was there she’d introduced Velthur to Duke, who effectively had been spymaster of Drezen while she’d been traveling. The initial introduction went about as well as could be hoped given the apparent absurdity of the situation. When they’d arrived in the room to meet with Duke and Isilme had dismissed Duke’s assistants, it took her several attempts to convince Velthur that the talking cat was not simply a joke at his expense. Eventually, she and Duke had managed to convince him that they could easily have several people stand in as ‘Isilme’ while Duke continued to run things without interruption. Impressed that they had successfully kept the fact that the second-in-command of Drezen’s intelligence operations was an awakened cat even from the Crusades itself, he’d found it hard to argue their logic going forward. Unfortunately, there was no way out of her and Aravashnial needing to leave to assume new identities. The crusades needed her whereabouts to remain a mystery to the demon cultists, and she couldn’t risk traveling lest Jerribeth manage to track her down to kill her, or even worse, capture her.
They eventually had decided that she and Aravashnial would take up new names and leave. She took up the mantle of Sisay Akram, a Garundi trader who, along with her spouse and business partner, Valar Blueeyes, set up shop in Aspenthar from which she quickly organized a resistance operation—along with Jahani’s help—to begin dealing with restoring operations within Azir, as well as expanding the Desnans’ anti-slavery effort to all the surrounding countries as she’d been commanded by her goddess. Eventually both she and Valar had been able to acquire scrolls to become human, which caused a bit of confusion, but had been easily explained given Sisay’s silver tongue. People easily accepted that the two loved each other, and that having Valar become human would enable them to raise a family together. A few questioned why Sisay’s appearance had changed as well, but a well-timed change in wardrobe and hairstyle had allowed her to easily brush off most of the questioning.
It was at this point that Sisay had taken Jahani aside to discuss things in private. She herself was quite a powerful priestess of Desna and scholar, and she had been teaching Jahani how to call upon the powers of Desna for quite a while at that point. With her identity no longer dependent upon Cygnus, Sisay had taken Jahani aside one day and gifted her Cygnus, as well as Sisay’s celestial armor and shield to her. Though she’d initially objected strongly, she’d relented when Sisay revealed that she and Valar were expecting. It came as no surprise to Sisay that Cygnus had taken to Jahani immediately, and while Sisay had continued overseeing their network of operatives working to free slaves, Jahani had been the one off on the front lines, sabotaging organizations and leaving a trail of broken hearts. Jahani is now a hybrid cleric ???/bard ???, VMC vigilante, Trickster 4 with Isilme's former mythic tradition and mythic powers
Whenever she’d had the spare spells and time, Sisay had continued to keep in contact with Yulin via sending, explaining that she’d no longer be able to visit, but kept inquiring after her and continuing to encourage her to not be held back by her heritage. She hoped to see her one day again in the future, but so long as the crusades continued it seemed unlikely that they would get a chance. She’d also spoken from time to time with Külə, who had long since grown past needing her guidance and attention and found something resembling peace in his life.
In the meantime, the halflings who had been freed in the original escape had managed to form Swallow’s Tale a small village within the Rahadoumi borders with the help of Sisay and Jahani. This village served both as a place for halflings to congregate among their own, but also as a place for those who had been freed from slavery to find comfort among those who understood what they had been through, as well as a place of pilgrimage for Desnans who came to hear about the cloud of swallowtail butterflies that led them to freedom from Azir, a miracle that had been repeated many times in the surrounding countries since then.
Though originally having spent some time in Drezen after their escape, Clovis, Hildegard and Cassandra had eventually found their way to Swallow’s Tale as well, though the three of them seemed to have been affected by the ordeal differently than the others. While many of the town had been content to stay in safety and help those who passed through, the trio became active in the resistance movement in Azir, and under Jahani and Sisay’s guidance had become competent adventurers and freedom fighters on their own.
Muleback Cords (x2, 2 days, CL 3, DC 8)
Heavyload Belt (2 days, CL 1, DC 6)
Stone of Alliance (5 days, CL 3, DC 8)
Ehren should auto-succeed on the DC 6 with crafter's fortune, (1+11+5-10=6), and auto-succeeds on the other three combines as long as Li'an or Auraelia make their aid checks.
Additionally, I will get Unafe to craft armor and a shield for Auraelia, at a cost of 1750gp for the tiny mithral full plate, and 170 for a tiny mithral heavy shield.
Li'an can provide Crafter's Fortune along with Aid Another from herself and Auraelia for every day of crafting.
Not counting the armor/shield, that's 51 days of crafting.
1 ( 12.5 gp) 8 DC 6, 0.25 days each
2 ( 75.0 gp) 8 DC 8, 0.25 days each
3 (187.5 gp) 6 DC 10, 1 day each
4 (350.0 gp) 4 DC 12, 1 day each
5 (562.5 gp) 2 DC 14, 2 days each
Li'an uses masterwork tools and crafter's fortune via wild arcana for every check.
ring of protected life CL 7, DC 17 Craft(Jewelry), 5 days
scholar's ring, CL 5, DC 15 Craft(Jewelry), 5 days
Day 21 (5 MP + 6 regen - 1 wild arcana) - ring of protected life - DC 17 vs +27 Craft(Jewelery)
Day 22 --- cont'd ---
Day 23 --- cont'd ---
Day 24 --- cont'd ---
Day 25 --- cont'd ---
Day 26 (10 MP + 1 regen - 1 wild arcana) - scholar's ring - DC 15 vs +27 Craft(Jewelery)
Day 27 --- cont'd ---
Day 28 --- cont'd ---
Day 29 --- cont'd ---
Day 30 --- cont'd ---
Crafting Wondrous Items
eyes of keen sight, CL 1, DC 6 Spellcraft, 3 days
tunic of careful casting, CL 3, DC 13 Spellcraft, 3 days
blazing robe, CL 8, DC 13 spellcraft, 6 days
Li'an and Auraelia will provide aid another on all three items (L/A):
Assuming that Xander flees, and it's known that Rahadoum won't free Ary without both of them, or that Ary reaches out to Isilme to let her know that she won't accept trading her freedom for Isilme's, Isilme will likely leave Drezen with Aravashnial instead of allowing herself to be shipped to Rahadoum.
Her goal will be to move to Thuvia, where she'll set up a shop with Aravashnial, and try to live a 'normal' life. She'll train Jahani to be her successor, including handing down Cygnus, and work with her to restore the Desnans' anti-slavery efforts in Rahadoum, with an eventual goal of ending slavery there and breaking Ary out of jail someday.
"Thuvia is the nearest country which does not practice slavery, and where Gerrard, Mikael and the other survivors are headed. They will likely be there later today, and will need our help. They have no food or gold with which to purchase supplies, as there was no time to give them such things. Once we've reunited we can figure out where we go from there." They could only deal with one problem at a time, and for now her highest priority was ensuring that she didn't consign those who fled to death because no one was there to help them.
"I have a scroll that might help," Isilme says, digging out the scroll of divination she had, "if you are concerned that there are things that remain to be done here." She could understand how Hinagiku was concerned about leaving Ary and Lann behind, so perhaps the divination would put her mind at ease.
Isilme takes the time to dig out the scroll, which itself was lined with gold thread acting as the offering for the spell, and with which the response would materialize. "Song of spheres, guide my steps in this difficult time. Will our departure for Thuvia tomorrow endanger any of those we care about or who are depending upon us?"
Using divination scroll to figure out if Ary and Lann would be in danger if we leave for Thuvia instead of staying to help them
"I knew our task was difficult and unlikely to succeed when it was just us, and it is certainly possible if the two of us had gone alone that I would have died. However I could not turn my back on my Lady Starsong. She is the reason I even have any power left with which to help you all. If she had not imbued Cygnus with a measure of divine spark, I would be nothing more than a moderately powerful priestess of the Song of Spheres today. Who would I be then, if at the first sign of adversity I turned and fled because it was too hard or dangerous?" Isilme shakes her head, considering the alternative. "I did what was asked of me, and I asked you all to aid me in that. I do not expect perfection from my friends, to do so would be grossly unfair. I do however expect my friends to listen when I plead with them to do something. I pled with Xander to use the scroll then and there, he refused. He instead suggested we walk to the river... to the RIVER! Nearly an hour away! To suggest that when he knew the Dragon was merely moments away from us--the same dragon he warned us about and yelled for me to get them out immediately because of the danger--is the height of insanity, or maybe pride, or perhaps omething else. I don't know what was going through his head, but whatever it was cost the lives of 9 innocent people."
She grows quiet for a bit at the mention of Aravashnial, it hurt her greatly that she'd failed him after all he had suffered, but at least he had a chance now, instead of just non-existence. "I believe Unafe had Aravashnial's body, so hopefully they will care for it until we can get him returned to life.
[b]"I am not certain it would be wise to push our luck in any respects, but I do have scroll that could give us insight into one of those questions, but unfortunately not both," Isilme replies when Hinagiku asks about what they might be able to do about the current situation. "I must say that I am most certainly wanted dead or alive at this point, as is Ehren probably. They will be looking to place blame for the situation near Sophini's with the dragon, and it is very likely that blame will fall on us, not the Adepts."
"I wish we could do something about Lann and Ary at this moment, but I am not sure anything short of Xander or myself turning ourselves in would be sufficient to merit their release. If it needs to happen, then I will seriously consider it, but not before we have met up with Gerrard and Jahani in Thuvia. There we can arrange for safe passage for everyone, and it will give us time to determine what Azir will demand for Ary's release. I do have enough magic though, a single scroll, to answer one of those questions if it would help you feel we have done all we can before departing."
When Ehren suggests riding might still be preferable, Isilme looks at the halflings and then back at Ehren. "I believe if made as large as possible and held correctly, it would be possible to travel in a single shelter, and it would make me feel quite a bit safer. It is one thing for us to risk traveling without a saddle or something to that effect, but it is different for others. We're nearly a day of nonstop travel from Thuvia , if I had to guess. Having an enclosed space would mean they could sleep and eat as needed in relative safety."
"I was pretty sure I was going to also," she responds with a half-laugh. "I don't think I've ever had a dragon fly through me before, and if I can help it, I never will again. But my Lady Starsong saw fit for me to live another day."
"Well, if the disturbance was enough for you to find each other and escape, that's just icing on the cake. Coming here through the river was clever, and certainly had to have been more pleasant than another two hours in the sewers. As for me, I immediately went invisible after the fight and went to find the three, and thankfully caught them in the sewers before they got too far."
Isilme sighs when Ehren asks about who had gotten out. She hadn't really had time to think since the incident, but now that she had a moment to pause and think about it, she couldn't believe Xander had simply refused to cast the scroll. Nearly a dozen more of the slaves could have escaped if he had just swallowed his pride for once and listened.
"Well," she begins when she remembers why she'd begun thinking about it again. "Remember the scrolls we'd purchased when we were going to visit the Demetae valley with Unafe? I'd remembered I still had those and pulled them out when we teleported out of the room to rejoin the others."
"I gave one each to Gerrard and Xander, hoping we could get the majority of the people out in one go. Gerrard immediately used his and escaped with 10 of those we rescued along with Mikhail, which was a huge relief..." She pauses and looks at Clovis, Hildebrande and Cassandra, wondering if there was anything she could have done to save more of them. Perhaps she should simply have cast the second scroll on her own. She shakes her head, abandoning the train of thought. There was no way she could have abandoned her charges, and Xander would have left them alone to die if he'd been given half a chance.
"Xander... I asked him to go immediately with Valais, Unafe and as many has he could take, but he refused. I tried to argue with him..." She shakes her head in dismay again. "The dragon burst out of the wall moments later and killed nearly everyone we were rescuing, and knocked out Xander, causing him to drop the remaining scroll and ruin it. These three somehow avoided the brunt of the blast and took off running. Unafe and Valais managed to heal Xander enough to get him up and they were able to teleport away, to Westcrown I assume. I am glad Valais and Unafe made it out, I was sure they were dead for a minute. But Xander... He cost so many innocent lives... I'm not sure if I'll ever forgive him for that. Butting heads with him on things here and there is one thing, but when I needed him most he refused to listen." She sits there in silence for a while, not really sure what else to say.
"But anyway, I was thinking perhaps we could try to leave in the evening tomorrow after sundown. I imagine we all need rest, and it will be easier to escape notice that way. It would be ideal if we had some way to carry us though. I don't think it's fair to expect our friends here to ride on your back for a couple dozen hours like we normally do. Do you have any ideas?"
Isilme rushes forward upon finding the two inside the Sylvan Hideaway and gives them both a hug. "Ehren! Hinagiku! I hadn't expected to see you here! How did you find each other and escape the city?" she asks, clearly curious about how they'd made it here first.
"These are Clovis, Hildegarde and Cassandra. I managed to find them after the mess trying to get everyone out," she says, introducing the three halflings. She takes a moment to clean everyone up with prestidigitation as she does, followed by a quick freshening of the air in the hideaway to get rid of the odors of the sewer system. When she finishes the adrenaline from her battle from the dragon and the their tense escape from the city finally wears off, and she collapses to the ground. She digs out what little food she has left from the previous day, slightly stale bread and some leftover cheese and hands it to their three guests. "I will be able to provide us with better food tomorrow, but for now we are safe here. Eat up and rest for a while."
Isilme dismisses the light quickly, then takes a moment to dig out the flower she had used yesterday. She wasn't sure where Ehren was, or Hinagiku for that matter, but she figured she could at least leave a trail for them. Once she enchants the rose, she chooses to include Cassandra, Clovis and Hildegarde, along with Hinagiku and Ehren.
In Halfling "Come quietly, it will take us a while, but I know how to leave the city, and a place we can remain hidden," she says, explaining the situation. "This magic will help you find your way if we get separated for any reason, and it will also help some of my friends find us. I will need to make a stop along the way to try and give them a signal as well."
She begins leading the group along a path away from Sophini's, keeping her three little companions ahead of her and listening for the sound of anyone approaching them from behind.
Once they've made it about half way to the sewer exit, Isilme finds a quiet alcove for the Halflings to hide in for a moment. "Ok, stay quiet and hidden here for a moment, and I will be right back." She casts light on a stone for them and explains that they could use it if they needed to see something, but to otherwise keep it hidden. She then casts invisibility on herself and swarms out the nearest gutter in the streets, heading straight up into the sky. There she makes a clear arrow downward towards where she had left, about 300' up, and about 100' across, before heading back down into the sewers and rejoining Clovis, Hildegarde and Cassandra. She removes her invisibility and resumes her normal form, then dismisses the light and gestures for them to continue following.
She continues leading the group towards the sewer grating, trying her best to keep the trio quiet among the sewer rats and filth down below. When Hildegarde trips and falls into the sludge with a wet thud, then scrambles up spitting loudly Isilme tries to quiet him, quickly cleaning him up with prestidigitation to help calm him down. She listens intently in case anyone heard them, hoping that they were far enough along to the grate now that no one would be nearby or following.
Isilme puts up an arrow 300' in the air using trail of the rose, the arrow is roughly 100'x100' and points down to the sewer where she exited.
Isilme resumes her normal form, coming to rest before the halflings. The she quickly casts light to provide them something to see her by, though she shields it with her hand to minimize the area covered by it. "êow ôra nâteshwôn wist full−gân welhwilc pro mâ, nâhwæðer pro and fullan ðone as sædêor same only in swâ wægn hlâfordlic, lôc êow must bêon ðâgîet. ofercuman mid me eornostlîce ic pro mæðelcwide drêogan ûs of pro ic oððicgan gêoc" she repeats quietly, hoping they will be willing to follow her despite the earlier catastrophe.
Halfling:
"You are not being pursued anymore, neither by the dragon nor the wizards, but you must be quiet. Come with me and I will lead us to safety."
Isilme catches up to halflings quickly and immediately dismisses her invisiblity and flies along side them, the swarm whispering quietly to the terrified former slaves. "êow ôra nâteshwôn wist full−gân welhwilc pro mâ, nâhwæðer pro and fullan ðone as sædêor same only in swâ wægn hlâfordlic, lôc êow must bêon ðâgîet. lîcian swâðêana attraction with pron ðe ic wilnian lædan ûs of pro ic unnan an hælu "
Halfling:
"You are not being pursued anymore, neither by the dragon nor the wizards, but you must be quiet. Please stop and I will lead us to safety."
Not wishing to risk being spotted by the wizards, Isilme turns towards the sound of the running and begins following the halls in that direction, hoping to find the three halflings still running for their lives.
Isilme quickly draws upon her divine power to grant her the ability to understand languages, and listens momentarily to the muffled conversation, trying to decide which way to go.
Using comprehend languages SLA for 1 faith point Perception:1d20 + 26 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 26 + 2 + 2 = 35
Isilme quickly heals herself twice before reverting to her normal form, continuing to hang under the balcony. She immediately follows her heals with an invisibility spell, and a charge of Xander's non-detection wand, as well as recasting heightened awareness before returning to her swarm form and heading in the general direction she suspected the halflings had gone. After she's gone down the street a ways, she flows back into the sewer cautiously and listens for signs of anyone running.
The butterflies burst into shimmering blue and white light as Isilme channels her goddess's power into healing herself. If she was going to keep this cat-and-mouse game going at all, she'd need to be able to survive the next breath, and that meant keeping walls between him and her, and doing her best to hide as well. If she could manage to heal herself up just a bit further she could teleport away from the dragon to safety.
Channel Energy:3d6 + 5 ⇒ (3, 2, 4) + 5 = 14
After healing, her swarm silently moves out the door and around the corner, lining the underside of a balcony for shelter again.
Isilme laughs audibly as the dragon charges through her, snapping at the multitude of butterflies that comprise her form.
"All claws and no brains? I was wrong, you're not a white dragon, you're a poor excuse for a four-legged wyvern. You'll have to earn this dinner, you parasite-addled iguana-spawn!"
Isilme flows into a nearby building, out of sight of the dragon, laughing as she enters. She sweeps through the building and down around a set of stairs, doubling back. Her butterflies stream up against the ceiling as they get out of sight, coming to rest upon it, their wings slowly opening and closing in time to her heartbeat. Stilled, she attempts to hide, hoping to avoid the dragon's notice as it charges through the building to attack her.
Isilme hears Unafe talking to Xander as he's brought back to consciousness, and subsequently Xander's call for them to hold on before teleporting away. Though still angered that her charges had been needlessly slaughtered, Isilme couldn't help but feel some relief that at least Ai'sintar's corpse had been taken away from the soul-devouring abomination before her. It saddened her that she likely wouldn't see him again, but there wasn't any time to dwell further on the subject.
With the others gone, there was nothing to distract Isilme from finishing the task her goddess had given her. The halflings had fled, and though the were rather slow, there was perhaps a chance she could buy them enough time to escape. And if she could enrage a dragon and a few demons, and give the city above a spectacle at the same time, it was the best she could hope for.
Looking the Etheric dragon straight in the eyes, she draws upon the last bit of divine power available through Cygnus to do her best to enrage the beast and invidiaks. "Hey, you! You off-brand white-dragon knock-off! I bet you love being those wizards' pet, don't you? Do they let you out of your cell to clean it, or do you sleep in your own dung? I bet they haven't let you out into the city even once, and now I'll head up and you'll cower down here like your masters want you to. I'm sure you can slink back to them and apologize for killing their slaves, instead of hunting me down like a real dragon."
Peering under the dragon, she waves at the group of invidiaks hiding in the back at the corner. "And I see you all back there, you pathetic little shades. I killed Eustoyriax, so a bunch of half-witted bodiless demon-wannabes like you had best keep hiding down here as well. Your impotent flailing will never get you what you want, so just keep lobbing those tiny little firecrackers you call 'magic'. Have fun!"
Bluff:20 + 21 + 2 - 2 = 41
As she finishes taunting them she bursts into a swarm of blue and silver butterflies, the individual wings glinting in the shafts of light coming down from a nearby sewer grating. In a single fluid move the swarm flies out the grating up into the sky above, looking to get out into bright light to prevent the shadows from being able to toss their remaining fireballs at her. If she was lucky, though, they would come up and get blinded, and the enraged dragon would charge her recklessly.
My Lady Starsong, Song of Spheres, Tender of Dreams and Resplendent Goddess of Fortune, I am truly sorry I have failed those who you charged me with protecting. I owe all I have to you and will give everything I have to you. If you have any love for the three poor souls who are fleeing through the sewers now, terrified for their lives, guide their steps to freedom. I have nothing left to give them but time, and even that might not be enough to save them.
As she streams up through the streets in the midst of the daily traffic, and up the side of the building, she watches the people stopping and staring at the swarm streaming ever higher, the column nearly 20' in length. Once she's up in the sky she turns her focus down towards where she hoped the dragon would be following shortly.
No Act: Take 20 on Bluff, spending last MP. Free Act: Symphony of The Elysian Heart; Std Act: Butterfly Swarm Form; Mv Act: Fly through nearest sewer grate straight up 50'
Isilme barely has a moment to argue further before the dragon's wrath falls upon them all, slaughtering those she had been tasked to protect, all due to the sloth of one of her 'allies'. The blast nearly knocks her from her feet, though her preternatural reflexes allow her to avoid the worst of the blast. Nevertheless, she's certain she felt a few of her ribs crack in the process. The force of the blast reverberates through the halls and in her ears, and she struggles to get a sense of the aftermath of the attack.
Out of the corner of her eye she witnesses Aglais fading away from existence, his life snuffed out by the awesome blast. Littered about the hall are the corpses of the halfling slaves who hadn't been lucky enough to make it out with Gerrard. Before she can even yell at Xander, she sees him collapse to the ground, taking their only hope of escape into the sludge below them, rendering it useless. Perhaps if she moved quickly she could save two of those left. Knowing there was nothing else she could do at this point, weakened as she was, she turns to Unafe, "Take Valais and whoever else you can grab, and run as fast as you can, flee here. Head east to Thuvia if you can."
With that she turns towards the dragon and charges it, stopping just short of its maw and casts the only spell she has left that might have any effect. Please Song of Spheres, let this work, she thinks as she unleashes the spell.
"هناك تنين أثيري يصطادنا الآن ، جنبًا إلى جنب مع اثنين من Xill وثلاثة إنفيدياك. لن نصل إلى القارب ، إنها رحلة تستغرق أكثر من ساعة من هنا إلى هناك ، وسيكون من السهل جدًا العثور عليها بين ممر Unafe ومجموعة كبيرة من النصفين," she responds to Xander in celestial, trying to avoid causing their charges undue stress. "إذا كان لديك أي احترام لي كرفيق وصديق ، فستغادر الآن. سيكون إهرن على ما يرام ، ويمكنني الاعتناء بمن يُترك بسهولة أكبر بكثير من محاولة إخراج هذه المجموعة."
Celestial:
"There is an etheric dragon hunting us now, along with two Xill and three invidiaks, all of whom can bypass the barriers we placed to prevent them following us into the sewers. We will not make it to the boat, it is over an hour trip from here to there, and we will be trivially easy to find between Unafe's trail and the size of our group // If you have any respect for me as a companion and friend, you will leave now and take as many of those that we've freed with you as you can. Ehren will be fine, and I can take care of whomever is left significantly more easily than trying to get this entire group out on foot."
Isilme shakes her head at Gerrard sadly, but realizes if she plays up the danger they were in right now, the Halflings might panic, and that would be disastrous. "I need you all to listen to me now, and listen closely," she says, addressing the group, "I have two scrolls of shadow walk, they can get twenty four people to Thuvia where Jahani will be able to help further." She holds one out to Xander and Gerrard each, knowing they were the only ones who were likely to be able to cast such magic. "I will be staying, and I believe Ehren won't leave until he has found Hinagiku. We need to decide then who is going, and who will be coming with me to the hideaway. Unafe has to go for certain, her trail is too risky to have here, and clearly Mikael should go with Gerrard."
"Ic pro mêowle ðorfte hwilc−hwugu câf saint ûðe forððêon ongen¯æman bûan hêr," she adds, addressing the halflings directly. "ôðer scearpsmêawung sý lêof−t¯æl to ealdorneru mid drýcræft sôðlic. Ic pro andettan ðone as lêoð of hôh−hwyrfing word heordr¯æden ôfer ðæge pro sê ðâ ðe ieldan."
Halfling:
"I may need some brave souls to volunteer to stay with me, // the others will be taken to safety with magic now. I promise the Song of Spheres will watch over you all, stay or go."
Diplomacy:1d20 + 26 + 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 26 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 40 Isilme uses both her move actions to dig out scrolls of shadow walk and offers them to Xander and Gerrard
As Xander walks over, a thought occurs to her: "Also, if you can spare it, I could use your wand of non-detection, Xander."
What had begun as a rescue, with a good chance at saving Aravashnial had quickly turned into a rout. They had killed a wizard or two in the process, but the trio of invidiaks, pair of Xill, the third wizard and now some sort of dragon from the ethereal plane had pushed them to their limits. Ai'sintar was likely dead at this point, she had seen his body slumped over after Ehren had restored their vision, and she didn't even have time to grieve. The fact Unafe was able to pick up his body was cold comfort to her, as it was far from clear to her at this point that they would be able to escape their foes.
"Off we go then," she says, running over to Xander. "I think I can get us to the hideaway north of here in one go, the others should already be there, they won't find us up there," she says, making it sound like she's trying to whisper to the others.
Bluff(good hope, luck, gallant inspiration):1d20 + 21 + 2 + 1 + 2d4 ⇒ (7) + 21 + 2 + 1 + (1, 1) = 33 If that would fail I'll use Blessing of Desna for a reroll.
She reaches out to touch the others and then incants dimension door, pulling the three of them through space to where she imagined the Valais and the halflings might be if they'd been hustling along.
As they appear and she works to get her bearings, she suddenly remembers the pair of scrolls they had purchased for their trip to the Demetae valley as a way to get back to Drezen quickly in an emergency. It might be possible to get the majority of the group and halflings out to safety if they put them to use, and given what she knew of the spell and the distance they'd travelled from Manaket, it might be possible to even use them to get all the way to Thuvia. It was a gamble, but if they could make it there, Jahani could help them out when she arrived, she was certain of it.
Perception (good hope, luck):1d20 + 26 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 26 + 2 + 1 = 36 To figure out where the halflings are
Isilme moves closer to Aravashnial, for the moment ignoring the toxic cloud they were trapped within. She wasn't certain attempting to dispel it again was the wisest course of action, as it wasn't clear they'd not just summon yet another cloud atop them. Instead she opts to use her magic to move Aravashnial out of his fetters and into a safer position.
"Sorry for scaring you Ai'sintar, I had to be sure. we will get you out of here shortly, but first I need to get you out of this gas cloud," she says, laying a hand sympathetically on his shoulder. "We'll have a lot of time to talk on the trip out of Azir, I promise." She then expends her magic on teleporting him a short distance away to the wall next to Ehren, well within the safety of his circle of protection from evil.
Isilme begins to cough as soon as the spell is cast, realizing quickly from the time she had used the spell from a scroll that this must be cloudkill. It had been quite effective in wiping out their foes back when they had been on the march. Thinking quickly she thinks back to her songbook, remembering the how to dispel an effect such as this, and then channeling it into magic to sunder the spell the wizard had cast, as she releases it she focuses Desna's blessing into the magic, enhancing its effectiveness even further.
Using Magician's Flexibility to act as if I had dispel magic prepared for the next minute, and then dispelling cloudkill Dispel Check(Faith):1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 1 = 26 Fort Save (good hope, luck):1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 11 + 2 = 18
Continuing both performances for the round
"Aravashnial, you're alive! We will have you out of here in a moment. Would you prefer the red lace lingerie when we return home, or the black?" she asks the wizard, giving him a knowing wink.
The real Aravashnial should be confused, as he would know they haven't had any intimate relations yet. Sense Motive:1d20 + 28 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 28 + 2 = 33+2 if vs humanoid
"Then to battle we go again, let the Blackfyre adepts tremble when we appear. We are here to save our friends, and shall not falter when victory is so near!" she chants out to her friends. She then briefly traces the divine rune for 'freedom' in the air before them, protecting them from anything that might impair their movements, before reaching out to touch both Xander and Unafe as she finishes. Their surroundings warp around them and moments later they are in the room where Ehren had just been.
Isilme was at once heartened to hear Aravashnial was there and likely alive, and horrified and enraged to have him used as bait. Of course there was no doubt they would do so, however. Clearly this is what had been taking time up until now.
Unable to think clearly herself on the subject, she instead looks to the others, "Xander, Unafe, what do you think we should do? I would teleport in in a heartbeat, but I am exactly the person who shouldn't make such a decision."
While Xander and Unafe deliberate, Isilme takes a moment to think about what Ehren had described. When she realizes what they're talking about, she shudders visibly. There was a very good chance Aravashnial had already been implanted with eggs, something that would need to be dealt with once they got him to safety, given the larvae would devour him from the inside if they weren't eliminated. "They are Xill, also known as Ethereal Stalkers. They are hard to classify, but they are all likely to be competent warriors. Xander, Gerrard, Aglais, do you all know anything further?"
To convince Gerrard to help with an aid another Diplomacy (good hope, unafe's luck):1d20 + 27 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 27 + 2 + 1 = 34
"Xander, see the central pillar by the hole we came in at, and the two nearby corner pillars? If we could knock those out we could bring down the entire building at once. Do you think you could do so with magic after we have evacuated everyone?" asks the Wizard, wondering if he could pull off her idea.
As the halflings continue to exit, an idea occurs to Isilme. Perhaps if they brought down the entire barn as they left, it would cause a further distraction outside and force them to sort through the rubble to verify the halflings had disappeared. If they were lucky it might buy them 10 or 20 minutes, a head start they'd need to get to the river before the Guards or Pure Legion started after them.
Trying to determine how we could bring down the Barn in one fell swoop once we've evacuated everyone to safety.
"We don't have to teleport blind, Ehren can go in invisible to peek before we go. We have already pulled this off once yesterday, so I have no doubt we can pull it off again," Isilme's disembodied voice replies to Xander. "We can test for the nearest elf, and then for what we know of Najat. If they're in the same room, and below the surface, there is just little probability it's anyone else, and again, Ehren can double check. If that fails we'll know quickly, and then we can consider sneaking in."
Hearing Xander speak while she found her consciousness distributed among the swarm was a unique experience. Instead of simply hearing his voice coming from a singular direction, she instead heard it almost surrounding her completely. Despite the lack of sense of direction she had on the sound itself, she still was somehow conscious of the rough direction it had come from. Similarly, though she could 'see' Xander, she had to focus on seeing 'at' him. When she didn't her vision was diffuse and unfocused, seemingly seeing everything at once and yet not resolving any of it sufficiently to understand what she saw.
She thinks on Xander's question momentarily and then swarm seems to reply somehow as a collective whole, answering him. "It should be able to find an elf, however, and there are unlikely to be many here. If we also search for Najat in the same place then Ehren could verify that it is in fact them. Once we have done so, it would be easy to teleport in to free them."
"If we can figure out roughly where Aravashnial is, we don't even necessarily need a door. We could easily duplicate the trick we did to get my gear back from the Pure Legion," she says in response to Ehren's inquiry. "I think we should try to keep that door sealed and repair the entry point here before we go. It'd make it significantly harder to follow us."
"I think I might have a way to help keep the swarms from approaching further," she says. She stops for a moment and begins focusing inward, drawing upon the memory of their time in Drezen just after they'd defeated Vhane. It was there, down those steps leading into the basement that she and Valaria had witnessed something truly divine: Hundreds and thousands of butterflies appearing out of nowhere and flowing through the room in a giant swarm, leading them to the jail cell where some mysterious Desnan had been trapped. That moment had been the one that led her down the path of serving her Lady Starsong not simply as a follower, but as a priestess as well. As she focuses on the memory, she feels Cygnus thrum with power, and moments later her small goblin body dissolves into a cloud of blue butterflies, their forms filling the room. The swarm swiftly moves into the nearest swarm of bats and beyond, carefully avoiding Xander and Unafe, she works to bait the bats into attacking her, knowing she'd be protected by the cloak of winds and stoneskin Ehren had imparted upon her.
Assuming butterfly swarm form and moving to fill the spaces highlighted by the cyan square. Cloak of winds requires a fort check for them to attack, and if they fail does 3d6. Since it's effectively AoE, it should also count as them being vulnerable to it.
Isilme walks over to where the halflings and the wardens are filing out and unleashes a burst of healing energy, filling the room with silvery-blue light for a moment.
Channel Energy:3d6 + 5 ⇒ (6, 6, 3) + 5 = 20 I am excluding the Dhergodaemon if it would for some reason be in the AoE
"Anything you can tell us about the torture chambers and who runs them would be of great use as well," she adds to Ehren's questioning of Gerrard. "For the time being we need to get everyone into the sewers and seal the path behind us. If we can prevent them from following us we can figure out what to do about Aravashnial and Najat. We may be able to get help from Aglais on this, Thyrliens are gifted by the Song of Spheres with the ability to track creatures or people magically."
1) We finish evacuating halflings and sealing the barn off
2) We use silent image to let Aglais know what Aravashnial looks like
3) Isilme, Aglais and Xander work to find Aravashnial, while Unafe/Ehren work with Valais to get the halflings and riftwardens organized and moving
4) Once we pinpoint Aravashnial's location, we decide who is going in, and all strike at once, get the two riftwardens and get back out asap.
"Heorcnian and lecgan mîn word−cwide frîend, fullfyligan dôð buter−flêoge flêogendlic azata, man willa drêogan êow hêan h¯ælnes ðâ we nîðplega. Frêot bîd swâðêana êower!" she calls out to the halflings in the cells, encouraging them to get moving.
Halfling, the Forbidden Language:
"Listen to my words, friends! Follow the butterfly-winged azata, he will lead you to safety while we fight. Freedom awaits you all!"
She then turns her attention to the Dhergodaemon in the back, calling up the same magic she'd used to banish the demon possessing the clay statue they'd dealt with in the cavern when they sought out the celestial leyline. She invokes the power of the Song of Spheres to further empower the spell as she finishes the incantation.
Mv Act: Close to within 40' of Dhergo #2; Std Act: cast dismissal on Dhergo #2, Non-Act: 1 FP to boost DC of dismissal by 1. Caster Level vs SR (vs. Outsider):1d20 + 7 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 5 = 28 Dismissal, Make a Will Save vs DC 20 (+5 cha +4 lvl +1 faith) or be sent back to his home plane (80%) or a random plane (20%)
Isilme's ungainly goblinoid form flies straight up through the hole after the others, moving up to the roof just like Aglais had. She wasn't in her swarm form yet, and she had no intention of exposing herself to an attack from the Thanadaemon's life-draining attacks. She doesn't particularly notice the stench of the barn, having grown accustomed to the stench of the sewers after spending nearly an hour preparing for this battle.
At once, she notices one of the Dhergodaemons attempting to summon more of its kind, which would be seriously problematic if they hadn't already prepared for just this situation. Pulling out a small vial of ambrosia, she pops the cap off it and throws it in the direction of the daemons, chanting in celestial as she does. Her invocation blesses the space, warding it against evil outsiders, weakening them and preventing them from drawing others from their native planes to aid them in the battle.
Mv Act: Fly up to the roof; Std Act: cast sacred space (blue circle). evil outsiders take a –1 penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws, and they cannot be called or summoned into a sacred space
With the group in position at the half-dug tunnel, she quickly explains the plan. "I will go seal the door down to the stairs. I'll return with a stone with silence on it. Aglais, you will carry it up along with Ehren as he digs up through the area ahead, and once he breaks through, either throw it into a corner at least 20' away from where we broke in, preferably with none of the prisoners, or if that isn't possible, bring it out here and throw it down the hall. Once the fight starts, you and Valais will be responsible for helping guide the Halflings and riftwardens down here and out into the sewers while we fight. Here we go."
She then goes back down the hall and casts silence on a stone quickly, then runs up to the top of the steps where the door is. She takes a moment to inspect the door to see which way it opens, then, leaving the stone at the door, backs up far enough that she is able to cast again, then touches the wall, using the stone from it and the door frame to seal the door, using what she knew of the principles of engineering to reinforce it as much as possible.
She then heads back with the stone, handing it to Aglais. Once Ehren and Aglais head into the tunnel, she quickly casts displacement on Unafe and signals that she's ready for Ehren to begin.
Like the others, Isilme begins weaving spell after spell, using both her bardic and divine casting to great effect. Most notably, she places a strong ward upon Ehren, extending a radius about him which would protect anyone within from the Daemons.
Once those spells are in place, she guides the group still closer, now only a couple corners away from the stairs up to Sophini's. She then proceeds to cast the remaining spells on herself and others, leaving only the shortest duration of spells to cast once they were ready to engage.
Buffs, Buffs, Everywhere:
First set of casting
Mage Circle against Evil (70 min) - On Ehren
Heightened Awareness (70 min) - On Isilme
Lucky Number (24 hours) - On Isilme
Lucky Number:1d20 ⇒ 11
Overland Flight (7 Hours) - On Isilme
Veil of Heaven (70 min) - On Isilme
Second Set of Casting (30 second walk from Sophini's)
Remove Fear (10 min) - On Isilme, Xander, Unafe, Ehren, Aglais and Valais
Good Hope (7 min) - On Isilme, Xander, Unafe, Ehren, Aglais and Valais
Expeditious Retreat (7 min) - On Isilme
Mirror Image (7 min) - On Isilme
Images:1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
"We will not get to see what Sophini's looks like. We will be entering from the sewers and exiting via the sewers. We will travel via the sewers to where we'll exit the city. We cannot move two dozen halflings through the city any other way," she explains to Xander when he expresses hope that they'll be out of the sewers soon. "We don't know what it looks like, and hopefully we won't get to see any of it beyond the jail cell, since we are planning on sealing the jail off with a wall of stone to keep the guards from helping while we deal with the Daemons."
She then continues explaining what the plan is in order to get the people out of the jail safely. "The next step will be to move closer to Sophini's, within striking distance, and cast all the spells we'll need to deal with the Daemons. At least those that will last a long time. Then we'll close, and cast any remaining spells before Ehren digs us a route into the jail and we begin the fight. We will focus on the Daemons while Aglais and Valais help the halflings and Riftwardens down here and get them ready to leave as soon as we have the Daemons under control. We have a route to a grating that exits to the river outside the city, that's where we'll head as quickly as we can."
I'm ready to move until we're about 1-2 min walk from Sophini's. There we'll begin casting all the buffs that last longer than 10 minutes, before closing in for the final preparations for the assault.
"There wasn't much better choice in location sadly," she remarks at the location for their operation. "The first target will be the Thanadaemon. He's the most powerful, but least physically powerful of the group. I hope we will be able to leverage magics to dispose at least of one of the Dhergodaemons. There shouldn't be any Blackfyre adepts entering, but if one does it will be via teleport, and we will need to bring them down fast, as they will likely be a wizard. Assuming, of course, we're able to seal the entrances."
Isilme lets most of Xander's complaints roll off her, but she frowns at him when he trivializes the situation to 'rescuing her lover'. "I am glad you are here, Xander, it is better than otherwise. I just want her to know the dangers ahead. And many more lives are at stake than just Aravashnial's, you know that. I wouldn't call on you here if it were just his life on the line."
"Anyway, we should get moving quickly. We need to get closer before we begin using our spells to ward us. Their base has one set of stairs down to the sewers, and a half-finished tunnel that seems to go underneath the jail cells. Our plan was to seal off the exit to the sewers before we head in, then have Ehren dig up into the room. I will begin with calm emotions to help the halflings get down the tunnel, and we will need to seal off any exits in the room immediately. The biggest threats will be from swarms, so Ehren has prepared some spells for that. Additionally the ability of the Thanadaemon to drain your energy will need to be dealt with. I believe Ehren can protect two people, so perhaps he and Unafe should be protected."
"Aglais and Valais, I will need you both to help get the Halflings down into the sewers, and once they're here Ehren will work on freeing them from their shackles, while Unafe, Xander and I try to deal with the Daemons and any other threats that might appear. If we can bring them down quickly, we can begin heading for the sewer exit immediately, where I trust Xander has something planned for our escape."
"Any questions before we get moving? Or would you like to give us a brief description of what you and Unafe have prepared for our escape?" she asks sincerely, looking at Xander to make sure he was on board with the general plan.
Isilme is flabbergasted when Valais glibly describes the coming battle as something quick and trivial. "Please tell me you explained to her what was happening here before you brought her Xander," she says, looking at him for some sign that this had been more than one of his whims. "This is no 'quick battle' and there is no guaranteed escape here. We are fighting three extremely powerful daemons, and we need to escort two dozen halflings and four severely wounded friends of ours out of this city. The city and its guards are hostile to us, and both the slavers and the guards will be after us once they realize we are trying to flee with their slaves."
Turning to her ritual after explaining the situation some, she is a little surprised and flattered when the Thrylien that appears knows of her, and more than a little embarrassed to similarly have forgotten the azata's name. She replies in her own still fluent Celestial, her natural Azatan cadence unaffected by her newfound mortality. "لديك لي في وضع غير مؤات ، لسوء الحظ. بينما كنت في السابق Lleuad a'r Ser ، أصبحت بشرًا الآن ولم يعد لدي ذكريات تلك الأعمار التي قضيتها في خدمة السيدة ستارسونغ. من فضلك اتصل بي Isilme ، ماذا يمكنني أن أسميك؟," she begins, getting introductions out of the way.
She begins explaining the situation and the services needed to the Azata, hoping she can convince him to aid them for long enough to get out. "لقد اتصلت بك هنا لمساعدتي في تحرير مجموعة من العبيد نصفين ، ما يقرب من عشرين من كل ما تحتجزه الشياطين داخل مجمع قريب. من المحتمل أنه بينما نهرب ، سيحاول البشر أو الحراس من المدينة إلقاء القبض على أولئك الذين أطلقنا سراحهم. سأحتاج إلى مساعدتكم في حراستهم وإرشادهم إلى حيث سنغادر المدينة وما وراءها حتى نصل بأمان. نأمل قبل مرور 8 ساعات أخرى."
Moving on to the topic of payment at last, she finishes by offering what she can. "يمكنني أن أقدم لك أجرًا عادلًا ، أو أي خدمة قد تطلبها مني ، أو أي مزيج منها إذا كنت ستساعدنا في هذه المهمة."
You have me at a disadvantage, unfortunately. While I was once Lleuad a'r Ser, I am mortal now and no longer have the memories of those lifetimes I spent in service of our Lady Starsong. Please call me Isilme, what might I call you?
I have called you here to aid me in freeing a group of halfling slaves-- nearly two dozen in all--and several Riftwardens that are being held by daemons within a compound nearby. It is likely that as we escape, slaver humans or guards from the city will attempt to apprehend those we have freed. I will need your aid in guarding them and guiding them to where we will leave the city, and beyond until we have reached safely. Hopefully before another 8 hours have passed.
I can offer you fair payment, any favor you might ask of me, or any combination thereof if you will aid us in this task.
Isilme is more than a little frustrated when Valais appears along with Xander and Unafe. If things got bad it meant that they'd have to deal with even more dead weight on top of the four mangled riftwardens and the two-dozen halflings. She goes to say something but then stops herself.
"I am glad you all safely teleported here," she says, starting anew, "If you could, I need you to break out your wand of non-detection, Xander. We need it on everyone here as soon as possible please. We know the city guard has been scrying on us regularly, and we cannot afford to have them do so going forward from here until we escape."
Turning to Valais, she adds "What we're about to do here is exceedingly dangerous, Valais. I will be summoning an Azata to help us shortly. You will stay with it and listen to what it says. Do not enter the room with us when we go to fight the Daemons. We do not have enough magic to ward you against their ability to devour souls. Is that understood?"
Once she gets a chance to use the wand on herself, she begins the ritual to beseech the Song of Spheres to send them aid on their quest.
Once the summoning is done, we will need to know how far it is from here to Sophini's so we can decide how to time buffs.
"Last contact yesterday morning. Ary in custody, waiting to speak
to authorities. No further contact. Situation prevents investigation currently. Attempting rescue of Riftwardens from Blackfyre."
Scrying Sensor!:
When Isilme notices the scrying sensor appear, she makes a point to gesture briefly towards it and then point down to the ground, attempting to make the point that--assuming that Xander was on the other side of the sensor, of course--this was the place to teleport into. There was little point in worrying about if the sensor belonged to someone else at this point. Either way they would be heading in in the near future to attack and attempt to rescue the slaves.
