Lorelei Starling's page

Lorelei listens intently to her friends' voices. Even while not sure what to say, Baergar has a deep, sturdy, heroic voice, which is very fitting for the High King of a nation. Manisha sounds soft, sagely, light, and angelic but also quite strong as well. Mr. Lefty is somewhere in the middle, but he has a distinct element of sophistication and amusement in his.

Despite her state of undeadth, Lorelei feels her eyes starting to wet for the first time in years.

"...I don't know, Manishy. I guess I'll see in time."

"...One moment please," the Oracle says softly as she begins to concentrate on... something. She closes her eyes and seems to enter a completely relaxed state of existence. A few seconds later, Star begins to hum to herself.

After exactly a minute, Lorelei Starling opens her eyes and begins looking around the tower. The raven-haired woman looks to be at the union of a state of wondered disbelief and sheer happiness. She slowly lowers herself to the ground for the first time the others have known her and takes a few short but confident steps.

"...Can you all say something? Anything will do," she requests.

Each oracle is cursed, but this curse comes with a benefit as well as a hindrance. This choice is made at 1st level, and once made, it cannot be changed. The oracle’s curse cannot be removed or dispelled without the aid of a deity. An oracle’s curse is based on her oracle level plus one for every two levels or Hit Dice other than oracle. Each oracle must choose one of the following curses.

As a newfound deity, I reckon I can remove my own curse.

The irony is that Star was borderline undead anyway. She doesn't need to eat, drink, or sleep, breathing is strictly optional for her, and she was immune to most mind-affecting effects. Given her otherworldly Charisma, I suppose she'll be more of the vampire undead than whatever Urgathoa was.

Seeing the moment to finally rise to the state of being that she has been seeking for years on end, Lorelei embraces the power of the dark cloud. She is used to this sort of thing. After all, most of her power and state of mind comes from gazing into the deepest depths of the Dark Tapestry. Expanding her mental perspective and existence in a dramatic fashion is nothing new to Lorelei Starling.

"My, my. What an interesting turn of events," the Oracle muses as her new form settles. "I think I'll take a little trip to the Stars soon. There's someone up there that I want to speak with. The Dreamer in the Deep sleeps, but the Song of the Spheres doesn't."

Star looks at her allies and smiles kindly.

"For now, let's celebrate. A good drink sounds nice, though I've always prefered wine."

Great game, everyone. I'm glad we got to play it.

So how exactly does this ascension process work? As long as it doesn't alter Star's character too much, I'm game.

I think it's your turn, Mr. Lefty.

"...I rest on your arm humbly corrected," Rose replies with a sigh.

Lorelei grows as the lich nimble dodges through the chains. Before they fade, she quickly yanks them back toward the Whispering Tyrant, hoping to ensnare him this time.

Looking back over the battle, I don't think I've used it on him, so immediate action: Misfortune Revelation on Tar-Baphon. He needs to make the save again.

"GAH! HE. WON'T. DIE." Lorelei screams in her head.

"Might I make a suggestion, sweetie?" Rose calmly replies. "I've been thinking through all the spells my Miracles can recreate, and I think I found a spell that might be just what we need."

"Won't work. He resists EVERYTHING!" Star growl-deadpans.

"This one offers no resistance. Absolutely none. He can only use his dodging prowess to avoid it," Rose replies. Star feels her "look" over at the Whispering Tyrant. "And as mighty a wizard as he may be, as tricky as liches are, I don't think centuries of sitting out of battle would result in particularly honed reflexes."

Lorelei pauses.

"...Tell me more," the Oracle finally replies.

Once Lorelei knows what she is looking for, Star begins to look deeper into her mythic well for the spell Rose described to her. After a bit of searching, she finds it. With a smile, Lorelei extends her palms out toward Tar-Baphon. Several golden chains of pure light shoot out of them and begin to encircle the lich...

Star casts Chains of Light on Tar-Baphon via Inspired Spell. She automatically makes the Defense Casting Roll. Tar-Baphon needs to make a DC 36 Reflex Save or be paralyzed. There is no spell resistance.

Yeesh, and I thought I made Star hard to kill!

Lorelei flies at Tar-Baphon and tries to punch the lich in the face.

Rose Attack (Power Attack): 1d20 + 36 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 36 - 4 = 47
Damage (2d6 Holy): 1d6 + 23 + 8 + 2d6 ⇒ (5) + 23 + 8 + (5, 6) = 47

"He boxed us in with Force Walls!" Lorelei tells the group through the Telepathic Bond.

Lorelei Dimension Doors past the wall.

Seeing as the eastern wall is closer to her, she would probably try flying upward and west because she knows there is more open space in the direction.

I think you got our actions mixed up. Manisha summoned the pit. I thought the cloud would fall in instantly, so I decided to punch Tar-Baphon in the face.

Given that the cloud is still in place, it seems that will not be happening as I intended. However, according to the map, Star is right next to the edge of the cloud. She currently has a 150 fly speed, so I can see her launching out by accident and then trying to punch the lich.

As a high level wizard, Tar-Baphon probably has a flight spell up, so this is assuming he just avoids the pit.

Once Tar-Baphon is visible, with her magic constantly having to face a wall of spell resistance, Lorelei fly-charges at the lich and takes a swing with Rose. She feels her swing going wide, so she quickly adjusts herself to make the final result better. Sadly, it is not.

Rose Attack (Charge, Power Attack): 1d20 + 36 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 36 + 2 - 4 = 37
Rose Attack Fortune Revelation Attempt 2 (Charge, Power Attack): 1d20 + 36 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 36 + 2 - 4 = 36
Damage (2d6 Holy): 1d6 + 23 + 8 + 2d6 ⇒ (6) + 23 + 8 + (5, 1) = 43

Tar-Baphon will also get caught in her Silence spell. Might as well roll that SR.

Silence SR: 1d20 + 18 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 18 + 4 = 26
Nope.

I actually didn't cast Life Bubble on the entire group, just myself...

"I'm gonna cast Silence and see if it throws off Tar-Baphon. It won't affect me, but it might disrupt your casting, Mr. Lefty and Manisha," Lorelei explains through the group's Telepathic Bond.

Having a similar kimono to Manisha, Lorelei knows how the item works. She lands on the ground near where Tar-Baphon used to be and throws up her field on Silence.

Moving to the ground and casting Silence. When Tar-Baphon gets back, he will need to make a DC 32 Will Save if Star beats his spell resistance. I will roll that check when he actually gets in the field.

It also made a nice planar fishing pole to reel in that one necromancer.

Lorelei leaves Manisha to secure the table. She recasts her new Moment of Prescience spell. She pauses for a moment, realizes something important, yanks off a piece of her hair, and carefully sticks it in Rose.

"Just in case!" she explains mentally to her cestus.

Star recasts Moment of Prescience and tucks a piece of her hair into Rose.

Waiting on Baergar. He might score a couple of crits and knock Tar-Baphon straight to the Boneyard.

Mage's Disjunction is not affected by Spell Resistance. To my knowledge, only Aroden's Spellbane, Antimagic Field, or Source Severance can tank it.

I think he meant Mythic Severance.

Reaching deep into her well again, Lorelei tries to dispel some more of Tar-Baphon's defenses. Unfortunately, even though Star resisted most of it, the lich's last spell seems to have thrown the Oracle off. Her own magic quickly gets counterspelled.

Dispel Check: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (9) + 20 = 29
Caster Level Check: 1d20 + 20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 20 + 4 = 25

Using Inspired Spell to cast Greater Dispel Magic. It probably doesn't do anything.

Activating Moment of Prescience.
Will Save: 1d20 + 28 + 18 ⇒ (13) + 28 + 18 = 59

Neither spellcraft roll would be necessary. Star current has a +33 to Spellcraft, enough to get both on a 1.

Question. Is Star still invisible? She had Greater Invisibility up from her Cloak of the Hunt. It lasts an hour when first invoked but decreases to one minute after throwing an attack. Even though she "attacked" by dispelling his barrier, she should still be invisible for nine rounds, so Lorelei should be covered by Rose's Undetectable power.

I ask because this might change his target.

Dispelled the barrier. It was a Antilife Shell-Repulsion mix. Still, be careful approaching him, Lorelei tells the others through the Telepathic Bond spell she set up before they went through the portal.

Mythic Surge: 1d12 ⇒ 5

That enough?

Caster Level Check: 1d20 + 20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 20 + 4 = 37

Friendly reminder, Lorelei is covered by Rose's Undetectable property. As long as she is invisible and wears Rose, nothing in the game can perceive her.

Lorelei quickly flies up after Manisha. Star then reaches deep into her mythic well and hurls a powerful antimagic bolt at Tar-Baphon's forcefield. If anyone could actually see her, they would notice darkness-cloaked woman actually be pushed back by how powerful the shot is.

Moving next to Manisha. Using Inspired Spell to cast Greater Dispel Magic on the forcefield. She will use the Targeted Dispel to dispel the Repulsion and Antilife Shell and three other effects if necessary (20/4 = 5 spells total). Inspired Caster Level is 20.

Dispel Check: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (15) + 20 = 35

I don't know if that technically counts as attacking. If it does, my Greater Invisibility from my cloak goes down from an hour to one minute and begins counting down.

From what I can tell from those rolls, is Tar-Baphon the source of the Repulsion and Antilife Shell? As in, did he cast those spells on himself? This is important because Lorelei has this spell up. In short, she basically has a personal Antimagic Field up that would suppress any spell, supernatural ability, or spell-like ability cast by Tar-Baphon (or any arcane spellcaster) that Antimagic Field normally suppresses. Magic items work just fine, though.

So do I know anything about it? I rolled rather high on those checks. Also, who is Trent?

I think you mixed up me and Lefty. His init is +17, and mine is +35.

Lorelei studies the force field before she does anything, lest she want to end up like poor Hiram.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 29 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 29 + 4 = 48
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 29 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 29 + 4 = 53

Hey, Voice. I have this thing called a Nexus Crystal. Any idea about how this could be useful? This place is sort of dimension locked.

As Lorelei prepares for the battle, she takes a glance at The Scroll of Eldritch Might. The Dark Tapestry Oracle slowly finds herself falling deeper and deeper into the knowledge contained within. She quickly begins to see and understand the very essence of magic. All of it. The line between arcane and divine becomes nothing to her. However, while the material is nothing for Nethys to grasp, Lorelei's mortal mind, already broken long ago, starts to unravel. She feels her connections to Desna and other Dark Tapestry entities begin to break. Her magic slowly starts to fade into nothing...

Just as her mind is about to sink into the abyss, she manages to surge just enough willpower to pull herself back to reality.

Scroll of Eldritch Might Will Save DC 44: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (17) + 24 = 41
Mythic Surge: 1d12 ⇒ 3

Eyes wide with fear and understanding, Star tosses the scroll aside and whimpers.

"...Don't read that thing. I almost lost my mind. Again."

As expected, Lorelei giggles, though it feels highly forced.

Star's natural caster level is 17 (an ioun stone puts it at 18, but that isn't natural). So the DC was 10 + (17*2) = 10 +34 = 44. Which I just made!

New Spells (17 Levels total): Greater Heroism (6), Moment of Prescience (8), Slow (3)

Buffs:
Nobody of Consequence/Nondetection - Constant
Mythic Contingency - 18 Days
Life Bubble - 36 Hours
Ant Haul - 36 Hours
Frightful Aspect (Enduring Blessings) - 24 Hours
Mind Blank - 24 Hours
Magic Vestment (Inspired Spell) - 20 Hours
Longstrider - 18 Hours
Moment of Prescience - 18 Hours
Cloak of Darkness - 17 Hours
Wings of Darkness (Overland Flight) - 17 Hours
Source Severance (Arcane) - 180 Minutes
Freedom of Movement - 180 Minutes
Telepathic Bond with the Group - 180 Minutes
Resist Energy (Fire) - 180 Minutes
Resist Energy (Cold) - 180 Minutes
Resist Energy (Electricity) - 180 Minutes
Resist Energy (Acid) - 180 Minutes
Resist Energy (Sonic) - 180 Minutes
Magic Circle Against Evil - 180 Minutes
Greater Invisibility from Cloak of the Hunt - 1 Hours until she attacks someone, then 1 Minute
Greater Heroism - 18 Minutes
Mythic Shield of Faith - 18 Minutes
Mighty Strength - 18 Minutes
Mythic Fly - 18 Minutes
Deflection - 18 Rounds
Channel Vigor (Fort) - 18 Rounds
Divine Power - 18 Rounds

Fort Save: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (13) + 19 = 32
Fort Save: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (16) + 19 = 35
Fort Save: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27

Will Save: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (10) + 24 = 34
Will Save: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (12) + 24 = 36
Will Save: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (13) + 24 = 37

Pretty solid.

Star unknowingly repeats the offer to the rest of the group. "Do you all want to jump right to Tar-Baphon's lair? Maybe at some unknown major risk? Once Manisha gets back of course!"

We've beaten up Tar-Baphon's goons so far, but saving time is important. We would be jump closer to the lich, right?

...I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to risk our mission. I'm this group's healer. I can handle how I am now. Maybe after Tar-Baphon is gone?

I know the damage. Broken leg, ears, and mind. However, these I don't know... What risks? And what benefits? Star asks curiously.

Star was telepathically repeating everything to Rose that the voice was saying to her. Vice versa is how Star fakes being able to hear.

Let me put it this way. Being directly connected to a god isn't all it's cracked up to be. Especially when he dies, a weary voice in Lorelei's head answers softly. Regardless, thanks for your concern. Me and my Aunt Rose miss him.

Star continues rambling about her Cestus and Miracles.

Speaking of the gauntlet...

...Excuse me? Can you hear me? the artifact calls to the voice she heard in Lorelei's head.

If Rose gets a response...

My name is Rose Starling. I would say that I am Lorelei's aunt, but I think describing myself as a memory of that woman would be more accurate. Pardon my niece's... behavior. She used to have direct connection to Lord Aroden, and I don't think her mind ever fully recovered from his death.

"...I miss him too," Star whimpers.

Her eyes go blank for a few seconds, but Lorelei quickly composes herself. She turns to her allies and says, "Seems napping in the lobby wasn't necessary. Even if we don't need to rest, maybe we should stay for a while. Manisha's still missing. ...I also want for Rose to recharge. Her Miracles are useful!"

How long has it been since we started? By my math, it has been around half a day. According to Vrog, Rose's spell-like abilties would recharge at midnight.

Lorelei pouts her lip as the cool trapmaker leaves. She was really taking a liking to him. However, she does pause when a thought cross her mind.

"...Someone followed us in? Geez, this tower needs a better doorman."

Lorelei floats over to the sphinx and "takes a seat" in the air.

"So what's your story? Anything you can tell us about the path ahead?"

Sense Motive - Hunch: 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (6) + 33 = 39 Is Stalnee still telling the truth? Also, if I ask Stalnee about the Nexus Crystal, assuming he knew anything, would he give an honest answer about why the Pathfinders gave me an object that by all logic should be useless because of that ward that blocks teleportation effects?

Hunch: This use of the skill involves making a gut assessment of the social situation. You can get the feeling from another's behavior that something is wrong, such as when you're talking to an impostor. Alternatively, you can get the feeling that someone is trustworthy.

"Oh... Well don't I feel silly now?" Star giggles. "Thaddeus was a young warrior who died in the room before the time-space tunnel. He managed to get pretty far in, but now that I think about it, if your soul pyramid is anything to go by, others got further than him."

Star scratches her chin at the thought of the wards.

"These wards are really strange. I know what the first three do. Are there any others?"

Star realizes something.

"'...from the adventurers who try to kill Tar-Baphon after he's dead.' ...What? Tar-Baphon's been killed before?! ...Wait. That Thaddeus kid's writing said that they destroyed the lich's statute, but he got stuck and starved to death. I can't starve to death, but..."

She taps her head.

"...Have any others made it this far? Thaddeus somehow kicked the bucket in the room before the tunnel. Maybe he couldn't open the door...?"

"'What isn't in there?' Well, I'm not- Oh, that's a rhetorical question, isn't it? I take it there's some good stuff in there? Stuff like artifacts?" Lorelei asks.

"Well, if that's the case, I can stay here. I just want to make sure she's okay. Manisha is a real sweetie. Can you get her out then? And what's in that armory, anyway?"

Star turns to the rest of the group and says, "Start thinking up questions for that Sphinx. This is the perfect chance for us to get some intel."

"Armory? Falling out of time-space puts you in an armory? ...Can I go take a look for her there? Manisha is smart. She might have a question for The Voice too. We should go find her..."

"He tried to kiss me," Lorelei mumbles her breath. "Our friend must have fallen out of space-time. She was with us in the tunnel for a bit, and then she disappeared. Poof! ...I missed her."

Star grows silent, and her eyes seem to glaze over. However, the Dark Tapestry Oracle gets over it quickly.

"More questions: What/Who's The Voice? What's with the pyramid? What's with the sphinx? How much further in is Tar-Baphon? I would've expected to find him by now."

Lorelei nods. She is beginning to like Stalnee. If nothing else, his life's history is fascinating.

"Edward? Is he that kooky Sphere of Annihilation? If so, that explains so much. Oh, aside from what Baergar asked, we also lost someone. She was with us when we went in, and then she was gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Would you know what happened to her?"

"Tar-Baphon hiring trap makers; who would've guessed? Anyway, to my knowledge, no one among us is a Paladin," Star says truthfully, recalling the lack of evil smiting thus far. "...So what happened to those people you rescued? Did they just hop on that circle of yours and leave?"

"So you're dead? And where are these people now? And why are you making these traps in the first place?" Star asks cautiously (albeit in her usual peppy manner).

"Don't you worry about Tar-Baphon?" Star asks Stalnee as she hovers behind Lefty.