Jassminder shuts her eyes tightly for a moment as she tries to decipher the feelings she is experiencing via proxy from her goddess; opening them, she gives Noctifer a critically piercing look. "Wait. This is ... Something is wrong."
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Jassminder gives a one-shoulder shrug, as she draws the bowstring back and prepares to fire one of her cold iron arrows at the unsuspecting creature. "If I Fall for this, I'm taking you with me. Just so you know."
Jassminder has one hand drawing an arrow from her quiver even as the others are speaking; but she holds fire for a moment. Her face is thoughtful. "I'm not a murderer. I could be, easily, which is why it's important that I'm not. The shadow mastiff was one thing, they're bad news. But these..." She shakes her head before looking at Noctifer. "I'll cover you if you want to try talking to them."
Apologies for dropping the ball here - I got called away with a work emergency that led to too much time in too many airports, I think my brain is still somewhere over the Atlantic. I desperately need to sleep and I will pick up again on Saturday morning (European time). EDIT: from comments, looks like you guys are waiting on me! Sorry. I will post something in a minute or two, let me unscramble my brain first.
I don't know what's going on. I've never rolled this many natural 20s with a character before!
Jassminder follows up her initial shot with an additional volley, aiming to put the creature down before it can make a sound.
MISS
HIT
Sorry, no - sociopath. She doesn't get scared and she doesn't empathise or care enough about anyone else to protect them from fear. (Also, the Tortured Crusader archetype rules mean that her abilities only affect her; but I like my interpretation better)
Jassminder considers things carefully, as befits her Lawful nature. Drawing back into the trees, she whispers to the others. "I'd rather fight this thing now with surprise on our side, than risk it attacking us later when we're already fighting our real opponent. And if it howls and brings the enemy to us, then so much the better, right? Means we don't have to keep looking." Others may disagree with her sentiment, but assuming they agree with her logic, she waits for someone to light it up with magic before drawing her bow back and shooting the creature.
hit
I think we need to kill it - it's unlikely to be a random encounter and more likely to be a guard for the thing we're after, in which case even if we ignore it now it will come back to bite us (literally) when we're mixed up with the thing we're really after. The downside is that its howl will almost certainly bring down the enemy upon us, but at least we don't then have to go looking for it. Apologies for the delay in replying, I'm going to roll my attack to keep things moving and hope that I'm not doing a Leroy Jenkins.
Glad you are still with us! Take the time you need to recover.
Yeah, I have an Ioun Torch and we've already had confirmation from the GM (in-game, no less) that it's not going to help us. I think Marcus has the +1 dagger but can't find the relevant post. I think we're getting bogged down on equipment and need to move the game forward.
Jassminder nods. "Code makes sense. Let's pick up what we need and get moving."
Jassminder has cold iron arrows, and her smite evil bypasses DR entirely :) I think we have what we need, let's go kill a fey! I don't want to get bogged down in planning (shame we can't just Flashback to acquiring what we need...)
I am also not a rule expert but the above reasoning makes sense and suggests that the bottled sunshine is not our panacea. If Daylight requires an opposed check to counter the Darkness then I would prefer the Darkvision potions, if only because they don't need you to be lucky - they just work. For Glitterdust, remember that what made it work vs Ilquis was that we knew where to target it; we're going to need See Invisibility as well (apologies if that point's already been raised, I know I missed a fair bit; but it's important enough to be worth raising twice).
Jassminder nods approvingly as Noctifer seamlessly recites the events so far, listing details she would consider unimportant like names. He may be a chatterbox, but this is good work. She frowns in thought. "Invisibility we can get around, one way or another. Magical darkness will be an issue, if it will overpower magical light." She pulls an ioun stone from out of her pouch; it burns with a heatless flame as it circles around her. "This works in normal darkness, but even then only out to a few feet. Beyond that, I won't be able to shoot anything reliably." Not that being blinded prevented her from putting Ilquis down; but you can't rely on luck going your way every time. She puts the circling stone back in her pouch. "Can you tell me if that will work against a lamp-blight's darkness? Otherwise we're going to need two more darkvision potions." Noctifer and Marcus can see in the dark without problem, she knows that from experience. But she, Ussaile and Xanther will need assistance.
Sorry all, it turned out to be Covid which flattened me for a few days. Catching up now, looks like I missed a lot!
Hi all unfortunately I've come down with a bug, I won't be posting for another 12-24 hours or so at least. Please bot me as needed.
Jassminder pauses with a forkful of food halfway to her mouth and closes her eyes, willing away her exasperation. "Are you incapable of a straight answer, or are you just abusing the fact that it would be wrong of me to hurt you?" She glances to Noctifer. "Can I get a plain answer from someone who speaks Taldan rather than Cryptic?" Plan B is that she stabs one of them repeatedly with her fork until they spill the answers, and then seeks atonement somewhere. She won't do that, ever, and they know it. But a girl always needs to have a plan B.
Exploring the manor:
If Xanther hesitates, Jassminder will offer her hand to help Anya up (she's at least as strong as the half-elf). "If you decide to stay here, that's your decision. Let us know if it changes." She doesn't sound much as though she cares either way, because she doesn't.
At lunch, Jassminder piles her plate high as if she'd skipped breakfast, which she didn't. Between ravenous mouthfuls, she answers Noctifer's question. "Xanther and I had a talk with Anya. There were lots of feelings but nothing useful to learn." She notes the tiefling's emphasis on his words. "And what did Eugenia draw your attention to?"
Exploring the manor: Jassminder thinks for a moment or two, before shaking her head. "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't kill you - well, Noctifer certainly wouldn't." She's less certain about the limits of Ussaile's morality. She's dimly aware that might not be what Anya wants to hear. "I think I'm the wrong person to ask about right and wrong, I have a code but I don't really feel it in the way most people seem to. But, if you want us to exorcise Eugenia, we could probably do that. It might use up supplies we need when we go through the mirror, though. So it would probably be best to wait until that's done." She's suddenly aware of the baby - Marek - looking at her and she shakes her head at him, suddenly uncomfortable. "Don't do that, I don't have anything you want."
Sorry, I posted yesterday but it obviously didn't make it through Paizo's servers. Trying again!
Exploring the manor: Jassminder clears her throat, alerting Anya to her presence. "You're upset. Did something interesting happen?"
Sorry! busy couple of days. I'll get posting now.
Hero's Defiance, at Noctifer's suggestion, but Keep Watch is on my spell list.
Jassminder will, despite her misgivings, cooperate on creating a page of Keep Watch if everyone else thinks it's a good plan.
Addressing the Baroness Noctifer says, "My research suggests there may be two spells to help your husband sleep or at least attain some restfulness. The first is called 'Keep Watch'; unfortunately I do not know the spell and it isn't one Master Miklos is likely to know. My associate Jassminder can cast it." Jassminder gives Noctifer her have-you-thought-this-through look; it's one that the tiefling gets a lot. "I'm not convinced that giving a paranoid aristocrat, who has almost absolute power locally, more time to brood and scheme is a good plan. A better plan involves putting him to sleep for a week. Or two." She can't hear either of the prearranged distress calls (Noctifer screaming like a girl; or the squishy sound of internal organs being externalised) coming from the meeting with the ghost, so she figures that the tiefling and the witch have things in hand. That leaves her free to go exploring the manor.
"If you're willing to wear them, I have some spare holy symbols here. They might help." She produces several amulets depicting silver skulls with chains bleeding from the eyes. "Who plans to go?" Jassminder looks at the symbols with obvious distaste. "I'm not wearing that, it doesn't go with my other accessories. None of us are particularly good at lying, Noctifer's probably the best at it and Ussaile..." She takes one of the evil symbols and holds it up speculatively as she looks at the witch. "Ussaile's the only one of us I can imagine actively worshipping Zon-Kuthon." She hands it over to Ussaile, with a half-smile. "Wear this and look evil, let Noctifer do the talking."
Looking up a genealogy, you discover that Dimitri Boroi died in Pangolais two months after the final entry in his diary. He "accidentally" fell out a window and died from the impact. Jassminder gives a casual one-shoulder shrug as Ussaile reads this bit of news. "This is Nidal. Falling out a window practically counts as natural causes." She gives the library a dismissive glance. "Are we done here? We don't want to keep aunt Eugenia waiting. Although you're probably better off if I'm not there, I doubt I'm her type." Anya's comment about people who can be, quote, obvious, unquote in their worship of the Prince of Pain didn't go unnoticed.
Jassminder pockets a few hard-boiled eggs for later on, leaving the breakfast table behind reluctantly. But duty calls. "If we'd split up to search the town last night, anyone running into the chandlery without me would have got dead twice as fast," she reminds Marcus. "We stick together. Although I agree neither of us is much use in a library."
Jassminder sleeps well, in her usual dreamless fashion. When she wakes up she spends some minutes in prayer, although her time in Nidal has made her careful enough that unless her roomate is specifically looking for it, they don't notice. Once washed and dressed, she hustles downstairs to breakfast where she devours whatever is on offer. Between mouthfuls, she looks to the others. "So what's our plan for today?"
Hope you had a great birthday! I was out all weekend but am back now, will catch up.
Ooh, I like Hero's Defiance! The only issue is that I get to use LoH offensively by turning them into extra Smite Evil; so I may not have any left when the time comes. Still, I will change up my spell when we rest tonight. Thank you :)
Jassminder shrugs, alternating between forkfuls of maple syrup pancake and steak so rare it's still bleeding. "It's what we do. How is your husband doing?" Her tone indicates that she's not asking out of concern, but to see if he will take any more questioning.
@Xanther - I've realised I didn't put spellcasting onto my character sheet, a mistake I will rectify. My plan was to prepare Divine Favour which gives a luck bonus, stacking with almost any other modifier. Keep Watch is a bit situational, although I like the idea in this instance!
It sounds like the only thing we're agreed on is the need for a night's rest; other than that, we're split between those who want to enter the mirror and those who want to do something else first. The GM mentioned a ghost that could potentially be made helpful and we haven't encountered her yet so - if you'll forgive the metagaming - it does sound like there's some additional things we can do before we enter the mirror and I'm definitely open to that.
Jassminder gives him a long, slow, look. "You want us to go into somewhere that isn't even part of this world, a magical realm where everything is hostile, where there's no guarantee we can get out again, and kill a thousand-year-old prisoner who can use magic in a way that even the brains on this team don't really understand?" Her eyes sparkle. "Finally." She looks around at the others. "I was so sure this place would be boring." "But more importantly... you're a Baron, yes? So in addition to all this stuff..." She gestures round at the opulence of the manor. "You have a chef, right? Wake them up and tell them to make pancakes. It's been an eventful day already and I'm hungry."
"And, if anyone were so motivated, the only way to destroy a Midnight Mirror is to enter it and kill the physical manifestation of the magic item's consciousness with a shard of itself from the Material Plane. " Jassminder rolls her eyes. "And in Taldan, for those of us who stay active rather than read? What do I have to kill, and what do I kill it with?"
Would everyone let me know their preference for non-combat knowledge checks? (Taking 10 vs rolling?) I'm not a great believer in taking 10 - I like the element of chance - but I do concede it leads to instances where critical plot elements can be foiled by a single poor roll.
Jassminder looks sceptical, and doesn't do much work to try and conceal it. "I can see why he took an instant dislike to you, it saves time; but I can't see how he can curse you from inside a prison like that. If I were making a magic prison that let people live forever, I'd make pretty damn sure the prisoners inside couldn't do anything out here. Is there anything else you're not telling us?"
Jassminder gives a very slight shake of her head, which from her is a sign of increasing exasperation. It would have been much simpler if the baron had been in league with Ilquis, but things are obviously not as straightforward as that. She absorbs the conversation and Ussaile's clarification, but shakes her head again as the baron starts rambling. Unless it's not rambling, of course. "Alright. Let's keep this as simple as we can. What makes you so sure Nicasor is still alive?"
@Noctifer: I hear you, but I don't have diplomacy as a skill and Jassminder is ticked enough at the baron that he's only still alive because you aren't actually allowed to murder people and stay a paladin for very long. Plus, you know, the whole needing-him-alive-for-the-adventure-module-to-make-sense metagame thing.
Jassminder locks her stare with the baron's, her eyes not so much cold as just... empty. In the blazing light of the study, Stepan can see himself reflected in her blank gaze. "This will go much better for everyone if that's the last lie you tell us. Ilquis abducted and murdered children at your orders, so you'll understand if I don't grovel to your title." Her wrath is somewhat constrained by the knowledge that locking Stepan in the room with Marcus and letting nature take its course would be wrong. Satisfying, no doubt; but wrong nevertheless.
"I agree. We don't need another lynch mob forming, it's disorderly." Jassminder likes neatness. "And almost any corpse will fit into a sack, if you cut the body up correctly." She looks around at the others. "Once we've done that, do we visit the Baron or the loggers next?"
I've been enjoying the mystery of it and I'm keen to find the answers, but that's just because I like to know everything (there's a reason I'm more usually the DM than the player). If everyone else just wants to move on then I'm happy with that too.
So have we made much progress on these? We've discovered some other things, but we still don't know what's causing the plague or why the Baron fired all his fetchling servants or what made him go weird even before then.
"Was it as bad as they say?" It wasn't concern in the witch's voice, it was academic curiosity. Jassminder's face is paler than usual and she just nods. "Much more painful than getting stabbed, less painful than a relationship. It'll be a few hours before I'm fully recovered from the after-effects."
Jassminder accepts the offer of a change of clothes but refuses the restraints, the scar of her old shackles on her wrist seem more prominent as she does so. The pain however is every bit as bad as was promised, and even as she bites down hard on the strap she can't avoid the cries of pain that escape her. She only hopes that the others have left her to suffer in private. Eventually, it is over and as she sits up, her breathing ragged, she thinks about the presence she has felt. Was it merely the Midnight Lord making himself known to his cleric? Or was it something closer to home, something lurking in the darkness of this place? At least if it's the latter, there's a chance she can kill it; Zon-Kuthon is a little above her pay grade. A few minutes later and she is dressed in her own clothing and ready to get going again.
Jassminder doesn't normally say very much (unless there's an opportunity to snark at somebody) and the loss of her eyesight has left her using her other senses to try and compensate. She looks directly at Miklos, or at least in his direction. "I'm fine with pain but you need to get on with it. Time's not waiting on us."
I get that chasing Catalina to stop her going after any more kiddies is a priority here, but how long would it take Jassminder to get her eyesight back? Can she do that and catch up with the rest of the team a few minutes later?
Out of the wax and fed both children are much calmer. Delian takes his role as guide for Jassminder very seriously, (and also likely finds it comforting to stay near the person who killed the monster). Meanwhile Olya shadows Marcus. Jassminder feels a small hand grasp hers, tentatively at first and then with more confidence as she doesn't flinch or react. "Remember that I can't see so you will have to warn me of anything in my way, as well as leading me in the right direction. In return, when I get my eyesight back I will teach you how to kill monsters. So, where are we going?" |