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Majara Pricknettle's page

105 posts. Alias of dien (RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16).


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara's head swivels to and fro, taking in their incoming problematic friends, as well as the-- spiders? at the bow. Oh. Spiders. Those are foes she is especially equipped to dispatch, she muses. But perhaps one thing at a time.

Taking a defensive step back down the stairs, Majara lightly tosses-- almost rolls-- a flask across the deck to crash into the ankles of the merrows. The flash fire won't burn long enough to do any REAL damage to the deck; she thinks the captain will understand.

I will 5' step if it's possible to when going down the stairs; if I can't 5't step then I will just do it with a move (provoking AOO). Then ducky go boom! I'm selecting one square of Mr. Merrow to target so that the other also gets splash, etc etc

Bomb vs Merrow's touch AC, bless, PBS: 1d20 + 8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 8 + 1 + 1 = 27 Yeah I think that'll hit.

Damage to Purple, PBS (fire): 2d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1, 4) + 4 + 1 = 10

Red can make a Reflex save, DC 16. On a fail he takes 7 fire, on a pass 3 fire


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

What Majara wants to do is fish. There are night-fish in the river that she'd like to catch at least one or two of (her conversations with the dwarf regarding possible fertilizers have led her to want to try out fish, if nothing else) and it's a quiet enough night, good for it, Miss Blackford and Mister Hargraves far enough away at the prow of the boat that she, fishing at the stern, is not bothered by their conversation.

That doesn't preclude being bothered by Sirio.

It is reasonable (Majara reminds herself) that he is concerned over Constantine. It is reasonable that he has questions.

It's just that she's answered them all, ad infinitum ad nauseam ad taedium, and comfort is deeply not her strong suit.

"Yes, Mr. Regilianus, no doubt there are divine petitions that can be made to your patron, but that is much more your area of expertise than mine, and--"

She and Sirio both stop, heads snapping around as two-- rather large shapes join them on the aft deck.

What are they?: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

She wrinkles her nose as she doesn't recognize the specimens in front of her. Well, no matter. She is fairly sure they are not supposed to be on the boat, regardless.

Even as she's making this observation, Majara's fingers are moving for one of her extracts, and a light shimmer of force emerges around her as she guzzles the small bottle.

Extract of shield as standard action, +4 to AC


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)
GM Slowdrifter wrote:
Dalna's eyebrows rise but a small smile plays across her face at Majara's confession. "Greetings Majara Pricknettle of Saringallow." A range of emotions plays across the dwarf's face in quick succession, gauging how to answer the question and what to she feels comfortable sharing. "Visiting my sister - she married a local. Hapless but I suppose harmless. And I did do some work in their garden - my trade - but not my reason for coming," she adds. That would explain the condition of her hands and glancing at her pack you can see a trowel and a small fork, tools of a gardener, tied to one of the straps.

"Ah-- a gardener," Majara says, her expression brightening somewhat and her speech becoming more animated. "What is your opinion on adding bone meal to fertilizer? Do you find that compost of kitchen leavings is better than the manure of beasts for the sake of the aforementioned fertilizing? What contributes most to the rapid growth of plants-- gypsum, acids, or ammonia? Conversely do you find that the hardiness of growth is affected by any of the above? I have been trying to engineer a strain of devil's trumpet for the last three years to enhance the psychoactive potency but my experiments are failing to produce consistent results. Too many parameters. Would you recommend sandy soil or that with a greater proportion of clay for the sake of--"

It is perhaps a solid minute before Dalna is able to get in a word edgewise in the face of Majara's onslaught of specialized question.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)
GM Slowdrifter wrote:

The dwarven woman has as far as possible tried to carve a space for herself, not particularly easy on the crowded barge, though most people seem happy enough to give her a wide berth. She looks apprehensive as Majara marches over, fiddling with one of the large hooped gold earrings she wears. A look of slight surprise crosses her face as the gnome speaks to her in her native tongue.

"ᚷᚱᛖᛖᛏᛁᛝᛋ. ᛘᚪᚳᚱᛁᛞᛁ, ᛁᚾ ᛞᚱᚢᛘᚪ" she replies. "ᛁ ᚪᛘ ᛞᚪᛚᚾᚪ," she continues by way of introduction as she sizes Majara up. "ᚳᛁᚾ ᚩᚠ ᚹᛖᚾᛏᚱᚢᛞᛖ," she adds, having decided the gnome does not appear to be a threat and she has no real reason to be rude and not disclose her lineage. Greetings. Macridi, in Druma. I am Dalna, kin of Wentrude.

She offers Majara her hand to shake, expecting her to introduce herself in return. A glance at the calloused fingers and soil under her fingernails shows that Dalna is clearly somebody well used to working with her hands.

"...and that is, I fear, about the extent of my Dwarven," Majara says drily. "I am trying to learn more of the tongue, but further attempts would no doubt be an insult to your people's speech. Majara Pricknettle, kin of nobody in particular, these days. An alchemist and apothecary by my trade, based in Saringallow."

"Is it trade, then, that brings you hither? It seems the most common reason for citizens of Druma to travel."


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara sniffs at the comment that she needs to hydrate for the sake of her skin. "Master Hawkren, I'm a hundred and twelve. Your skin won't look as good when you reach my age, I daresay. But I can certainly make no argument as to your price."

She shows no sign of hesitation at the needle, merely sets her hand flat on her knee and gives Hawk the nod to go ahead. Through the initial drawing she tilts her head but seems content to accept it however he draws it. The white highlights earn a brief flick of a smile across her sharp face.

When it comes time for the needles to make permanent what was temporary, there's only the occasional minimal wince from the gnome; she never takes her eyes from the process, seemingly intrigued by the sight of the needle's progress.

She takes her time answering Hawkren's question, spreading her fingers wide and observing the reddened flesh, gleaming slightly with the liniment, and the stark black of the moth atop it.

"It's a good souvenir," she says eventually. "An indelible record to travel with you, hmn? Well made. You could probably ply a very brisk trade by Saringallow's docks, if you wanted to. Thank you, Master Hawkren."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara looks with interest at Hawkren's handiwork, closely inspecting his designs, making little grunts of approval here and there over a stylized deer caught mid-leap... a dragon curled in a spiral... Desna's butterflies, stars traced on their wings...

"You have a decent eye," she remarks eventually, which might seem like faint praise but if her apprentice Gellion were here to comment he would say this counts as a high compliment. "Rates? Small moth, no bigger than an inch, on the back of my hand, black ink only, stylized like-- mm-- this one."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara's blue eyebrows sweep upwards at the knuckle kiss-- less offended than just imagining that they look ridiculous, the human bent double to reach her hand, and she herself hardly the epitome of courtly feminine graces-- a scarred and stained leather work apron rather than a dress, and hands that are just as marked by her trade-- old acid burns, discolorations from experiments, a sliver of flesh missing from the heel of one hand as a memento to use caution with her scavenger beetles, nails bitten down to the quick and painted different colors on Majara's whims...

Humans, though. What can you do?

She tilts her head at his volunteering to show his samples, giving an approving nod. "Yes. Let's see your sundries. What colors do you have available? Do you make your own ink? I have bone glue and high-quality soot, copper powder, ground alkanet root--"

A rapid-fire listing of a dozen other reagents that can be used as dyes in Hawkren's profession follows with Majara not pausing for breath before she finishes with, "Have you ever executed a design of a moth?"


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

"Our young friend is from a smaller village," Majara says in a dry deadpan, her gaze sweeping up and down the tattooed wanderer. "I doubt Calistria has many followers there."

To Shel, the gnome offers slight further explanation: "Not only lust. Trickery, revenge. It is wise to be respectful to her clergy, if only out of self-preservation."

Another once-over of Tattoo-and-staff, and then Majara thrusts a hand upwards to the much taller person. "Pricknettle. Or Majara. Are you creator or canvas only?"

At some point after conversation with Hawk, Majara will also approach the dwarf

A child of Torag, looking very far from her home caves, Majara muses as she observes the green-clad woman. The gnome's fingers are never too far from her length of knotted string, and as she watches the dwarf she starts weaving the knot sometimes called monkey's fist. When it's completed she makes her way to the dwarf.

One of Majara's many pet interests over the last year or so has been a desultory study of the Dwarven tongue. She is far from fluent-- better with the runic alphabet than actual conversation (the dwarven population of Saringallow have grown weary of her attempts to practice on them), so this is a welcome opportunity.

"ᚴᚱᛁᛁᛏᛁᚾᚴᛋ," she intones, a very basic greeting. "ᚢᚼᛁᚱᛁ ᛅᚱᛁ ᛁᚬᚢ ᚠᚱᚬᛘ?" Where are you from?

(I have Dwarven as a language Majara is going to gain from the level up but I'd prefer to have her studying it during the downtime to fully 'acquire' it-- right now for RP/immersion's sake she's that person who knows a few guidebook phrases but can't really understand it. ...Much like me with Spanish.)


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Yet more housekeeping rolls:

Spellcraft vs DC 16 - Ant Haul: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Spellcraft vs DC 16 - Identify: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Spellcraft vs DC 16 - Touch of the Sea: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Spellcraft vs DC 17 - Barkskin: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11 Boo
Spellcraft vs DC 17 - Aldori Alacrity: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
Spellcraft vs DC 17 - Darkvison: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13 Double Boo
Spellcraft vs DC 17 - False Life: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Since I was paying for time to access other people's spellbooks I assume I have to pay again for the time to get another shot at the Barkskin and Darkvision. So another -40 GP

Barkskin attempt 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Darkvision attempt 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Aight! Spells Formulae sorted


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Lvl up bennies:

HP 2d8 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7 5+2 con = +7
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +1
FCB: + 1/2 bomb per day
Ability boost: Intelligence (and a corresponding language gain - Dwarven)
Discovery: Precise Bombs
Trait: accelerated drinker

Free formulae gained: Lesser Restoration, Aram Zey's Focus

Others I am obtaining:
Barkskin
Aldori Alacrity
Darkvision
False Life
Ant Haul
Identify
Touch of the Sea

Skills: Craft Alchemy, Disable Device, Kn Arcana, Kn Dung, Kn Nature, Kn Planes, Perception, Spellcraft, Appraise


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

"Succinctness has strength," Majara agrees, and turns back to her wine for the rest of the meal.

After they are done eating, she leaves Constantine in the care of the others and slips out into Elidir's streets in order to visit the apothecary shops, libraries, and similar buildings of the capital city. There she will find spellcasters-- who use spellbooks-- and who are amenable to her copying a scroll from their tomes, for a small fee.

Just spoiling my shopping rolls:

So there's an option to rent someone's spellbook in order to copy a spell/formulae; if that's available to Majara in Elidir I'd do that since it's cheaper than just buying the scrolls outright. If you say that's not an option, GM, then I'll buy the scrolls. Majara goes looking for....:

(as always, high is good! so 26 and up)
Barkskin?: 1d100 ⇒ 88
Aldori Alacrity?: 1d100 ⇒ 41
Darkvision?: 1d100 ⇒ 84
False Life?: 1d100 ⇒ 72
Ant Haul?: 1d100 ⇒ 62
Identify?: 1d100 ⇒ 9 Alas, nobody has this scroll/spellbook around apparently!
Touch of the Sea?: 1d100 ⇒ 87

For the sake of saving time, I will see pre-emptively if Identify is available back in Saringallow: 1d100 ⇒ 38 Yay. So all of my desired formulae are available in one or the other city. If you allow the cheaper option of 'renting' access to a spellbook, my total is 3 x Lvl 1 = 45 GP; + 4 x Lvl 2 = 240 gp, so 285 total spent in accessing and scribing new formulae. The more expensive option where I have to buy the scroll would come out to 865 gp total.

Elidir's students of magic make a decent bit of coin off Majara for the privilege of her being able to scan the pages of their spellbooks for a few minutes...


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

YOU get a trait and YOU get a trait and YOUUUU get a trait

Yes, this is all great! And yeah, at level-ups there's a no-penalty feat/spell change if you need it, just because I hate feeling locked into stuff that I misunderstood when I picked it. That's separate from actual retraining-during-downtime option that is baked into the rule but costs gold-- how Roger is doing his hit point boosting, etc.

*off to browse 900 traits


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

A retroactive post to Ravenmoor

In the night...:
In the night they pass in Kriegler's manor-- a tense night, where even those who aren't on watch don't sleep terribly soundly-- Majara uses her own slot in the rotation to count coins from the chest and muse on the village's probable fortunes after their departure. She lubricates her thoughts with more of the takings from Kriegler's wine cellar, which seems to be doing an excellent job draining away the edge of tension she feels at spending the night here.

--hang on. It is in fact doing an excellent job of taking away her anxiety and lingering brusises, she realizes with an abrupt blink sometime after midnight. She has a considerable tolerance for alcohol despite her small frame, so why is mere wine...

Ah! Yes! That's the aftertaste she's been detecting! Well, of course, why not-- they add it to their food, naturally they would put it into their local beverages as well!

Majara gazes out into space, recalling the sight of something she'd noticed earlier that day but which had been all but swallowed up in events since: a rather large field of an immensely profitable crop... flayleaf.

Does the village know what it has? Yes, yes, they cook with it-- and no doubt its presence in the food contributes at least on some level to much of the village not asking too many questions-- but do they know about its refined uses? And value?

She decides not, after a few minutes' thought. If any drying-and-smoking process exists in the village, it would surely have been near that field, in the alchemist's lab. It would need space and it would be obvious-- many drying racks, at the least-- so, no, Majara doubts that the villagers are using it as anything but a herb, ignorant as to the more dangerous and illicit uses the rest of the world has found for it.

Well, that's interesting.

She has another sip of the wine, rolling it around on her tongue now with a critical assessment of the flavor, just how strong is the flayleaf, anyway...

She considers the proportions of the field-- calculates the average number of harvestable leaves-- density of bushes-- total quantity-- and makes a little involuntary noise to herself in the quiet of the manor.

Well.

Right. Majara goes in search of paper and ink, her small feet moving quietly through the halls of the sleeping manor....

In the morning, when they encounter Saul and Shel Lupescu at the river crossing, Majara silently observes the girl taking leave of her father. Goodbyes are made, and then they are readying to cross... but Majara taps the burly Saul on his forearm and clears her throat.

"Can any who are left in the village read?" she asks brusquely.

He is torn from gazing after his daughter to blink down at her. "Eh? Aye, a few..."

"Right, well, give them this," the gnome pronounces, and pushes a small square of folded paper into his hand, the paper folded around something stiff and heavy. Whenever Saul gets around to inspecting the document, the heavy item is revealed to be ten golden sails, and the note reads thusly:

Majara Pricknettle wrote:

Your crop of flayleaf can be harvested, processed, and sold at considerable profit. Proceed thusly:

-Harvest somewhat later than you normally would, as the leaves are beginning to crinkle at the edges and darken
-Construct drying racks by means of cheesecloth or muslin stretched across a wooden frame, elevated off the ground, set in direct sunlight. Spread harvested leaves on the cloths and expose to sunlight until dry and brittle. Transport the racks inside at night or if chance of rain. Full drying will take at least a week.
-Grind the dried leaves finely, to the consistency of sand.
-Bottle this coarse powder in glass jars that can be sealed with wax and cork- it must be airtight. A small bottle of one ounce is a good size.
-This powder, when placed into pipe or incense burner, will release smoke that can be inhaled to produce hallucinations and induce sleep. In this form, it is a profitable, albeit addictive, drug. Healers, surgeons, and clerics also make a more noble use of it to relieve the pain of patients.
-In Misarias, one such bottle should fetch a price of at least two sails at any apothecary that isn't seeking to swindle you.
-The five gold enclosed is to obtain appropriate bottles or other supplies that may not be on hand.
-My estimates indicate the village could profit perhaps six hundred sails in this manner. Use this to maintain prosperity for all your survivors.

Saul looks bemused, but takes the paper with an awkward nod, and Majara says nothing further as she proceeds after the others.

***

By the third day out, when Hannelia's patience is being tried particularly by an increasingly restless Shel, Majara tugs Blue closer to the two women, and fishes out one of the last bottles from Kriegler's house. "Shel. Drink some of this."

Should Hannelia happen to arch a brow of enquiry about wine as a teenager-management-technique, Majara murmurs back, "She's probably lightly addicted to flayleaf. I imagine they all were. Aside from everything else, she is in withdrawal. The wine will give her enough to help her wean from it."

***

By the fifth day, Majara has an accurate sense of their profits, and relates the tallies to the group at dinner one night. When she gets to the pure coin, someone from the group asks about That much? Didn't we talk about leaving them some coin?

"I saw to it that their economy will manage," Majara says with a dismissive shrug, and leaves the matter there unless anyone asks more questions. She somehow doubts that either Elias or Emma might be entirely approving.

***

And by the time they meet Sirio in Elidir, Majara has sold off those items the group has agreed should be sold, and tallied out the profits exactingly. She divides them into five piles on the table of the White Stag, and looks at Constantine.

"This is rightly his share of coin," she says after a bit, indicating Constantine with a nod of her chin, "but he is not exactly able to spend it just now. Does it seem fair to all if we set some gold aside for his care, then disperse the rest among us evenly? Should he recover, the balance can be settled as necessary."

Hannelia wrote:
"And if you can come up with a more satisfactory name for our little group then be my guest.”

"Hmn." Majara settles back on her haunches on the stool she's perched on and tugs a lock of her blue hair. "The best names say something about what it is you do. Your group, as I understand it, seems to be in the habit of uncovering old sins and past secrets -- all very dramatic-sounding. A lantern aimed into dark places, to be more dramatic yet. Or an arrow that finds its target? Or a shovel that excavates a grave, as you all literally did in Saringallow, no? Hmn."

"As Saringallow's Shovels sounds terrible, you might make do with Saringallow's Seekers. Or the Isgeri Investigators. Or the Conerica Companions. Or the River Redeemers."

Majara pauses a beat, then says defensively, "I'm a gnome, alliteration is in my blood, alright?"


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara has a certain jaded, long-suffering look on her face as Jeminda and Kyle reunite. Perhaps it's partly for the immediate blame from Jeminda-- but probably most of it is something in the vein of You two idiots wasted a lot of time regarding something I[/i] knew years ago...[/i]

She gives Elias a measured nod at his thanks, then steps forward. She half-raises her hand as if to shake Elias's, remembers that of course that would be impossible, and with a clearing of her throat turns the gesture into an awkward patting of Elias's... hip, sure.

"Ah. It looks like you'll be staying in Elidir. Government jobs usually offer a certain stability. Best of.... luck. Take your second chance. Enjoy your remaining years, both of you."

It's not the most sentimental of goodbyes. Sentiment is not Majara's strong suit. She merely starts a mental tallying of the profit from this venture, and wanders off in search of some paper to write on...

****

At the White Stag, Majara looks up from a glass of wine just about as big as her entire face (they'd had no smallfolk glasses available, apparently) at the hailing from Sirio.

"Ah. Hello. We--"

Further matters are interrupted by Sirio's reaction to Constantine. Majara has taken it on herself to take the damaged young man in hand on the way back to town (and in the process dosed him with six or seven combinations of herbs, chemicals, and drugs that she has hoped might bring him back to himself), and now takes it on herself to answer the question.

"Mental contact with a powerful eldritch outsider is the current theory. He began acting oddly after that, and after our last battle lapsed into full non-responsiveness, such as you see." It's a blunt explanation but Majara feels it conveys the important details. "A cleric may be able to do more for him than I can. Father Ruvarra assisted Gellion, I believe."

Majara uses both hands to drink from her wine glass, then lowers it and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. "Something to discuss when we return to Saringallow. And there's another thing. I..."

A moment's uncharacteristic hesitation from the gnome, then she says, "Well. I found working with your group to be acceptable. If you need a hand to fill in until Mr. Fioritura is feeling better, I... would be willing, I suppose."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara gives a nod at Hannelia's entrance to the kitchen and another nod at the sincere thanks for the soup. Having found a loaf of thick-crusted bread earlier, she wordlessly tears off a hunk of the dense loaf and sets it by where Hannelia is slowly working her way through the soup.

Beyond that Majara doesn't speak to interrupt Hannelia's needed meal-- she's discovered the cellar has some wines as well, and considers these more than fair forfeit to their group. She's dusting off the bottles when Hannelia speaks again.

A cure for a sore head..?

The gnome's lips twitch once before she deadpan proffers up one of the bottles of wine. "As good as any. Though it will only delay the ache until the morning. No, no, I'll see what I have."

Before doing that, though, she cocks her head at Hannelia's weary words, and studies her a moment before hefting herself up into a chair at the table where Hannelia's eating. Majara squints at Hannelia a moment before she uncorks the bottle of wine-- by scale, the bottle might as well be a jeroboam to her-- and pours herself a cup with a bit of effort.

"Who are you saying sorry to? Me? It's unneeded," Majara says with her typical genteel bedside manner. "You're not the only weary one. Do you typically apologize for not being able to survive nearly dying in a day without being weary at the end of it?"

She has a mouthful of the wine in a critical way, swirling the juice of the grape around in her mouth assessingly before swallowing. "And people are as trying as a battle. More so, to me. Did your words win willingness with the Lupescus?"

Another mouthful of wine, then Majara pronounces her judgment of the wine. "Hmn. This isn't bad. A bit tart and bitter, but not awful. Outcomes are often like that."


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Without much in the way of detectable optimism, Majara duly wishes 'luck' to Hannelia as the other woman heads out the door...

It seems they're spending the night, which despite her objections, Majara is tired enough to not object again. At least the house is defensible; a camp on the open road is less so. So now the question becomes one of caring to their walking wounded.

While Hannelia has a heart to heart with various Lupescus, Majara deals with other logistics: ushering Elias into the manor's bathing chamber to wash the filth and grime of his imprisonment from him, and coaxing Constantine to sit in a chair at first.

While Kyle cleanses at least physical filth from his body, Majara takes advantage of the manor's actual kitchen, to be preferred over an open flame at the least. Alchemy and cooking are related disciplines. She'd hardly call herself a chef, but she can make something palatable, and after some musing decides soup is the way to go. She has no compunctions about raiding the manor's cupboards for ingredients, and sets to dicing and slicing while her mind wanders.

Spring onions - garlic cloves - hearty chunks of meaty mushroom - into a large pot with oil, to saute down and release their fragrance into the room... the chair that she led Constantine to is here in the kitchen, and she speaks to him, absently, not truly expecting a response, as she works.

"Good produce hereabouts, these onions are almost as big as my head. I wonder if the fields will stop yielding such bounty with the cult broken. Perhaps it's the last year the onions will look like this."

Digging through the kitchen produces some smoked ham. Majara slices off strips of it and tosses them into the hot oil, the sizzle briefly overwhelming her words.

"But the ends don't justify the means. Supposedly. That is what we are supposed to say, isn't it. Ethically. I'm a businessgnome, not a hero; I often do justify the means. I have lines I don't cross, certainly, but... I have, traditionally, felt that some losses were acceptable."

Salt, pepper, parsley... an opaque bottle is opened and sniffed-- ah, paprika, yes, that can go in-- a generous pinch of sweet basil...

"It comes out to sums, doesn't it. This life for the greater good, or greater survival, or what have you. One person dies so that everyone else might live. Unpleasant arithmetic but necessary. Calculated losses-- or at least calculated risks."

Her small hands stop fiddling with the spices while Majara stares off at nothing in particular for a dozen seconds, an unusual pensive look upon her face.

"I performed that math once upon a time and we... our group... Kyle and Zuke and I, and there were others-- well, my math was wrong. I thought the risk level was acceptable. Miscalculation. It went poorly. We lost-- mnn."

Majara clears her throat then hops down from the stool she is using in the human-sized kitchen to rummage for more ingredients in the stores. A trip into the cool root cellar turns up heavy cream, and cheese, and some of the tick meat common to the region. Majara shrugs and returns to the kitchen with these things in hand, where she saws off a bit of salted tick to taste it on its own before nodding and cutting it into chunks for the stew-- in goes the cream, the cheese...

"Hopefully your being in this state won't mean the end of your group. And hopefully you'll heal. This is a dangerous sort of life.

"...though I suppose I've missed it, in a way. Certainly more interesting problems to resolve than balancing the shop's accounts. Perhaps once back in Saringallow, I'll leave Gellion to manage things at the shop for a bit and... hrmf, well, we must get back to Saringallow first. I don't enjoy the thought of having to manage YOU the entire way back, but you'll need feeding, and washing, and so forth. It would be helpful if your head clears before someone must do those tasks for you, young man."

The last is said sternly, with Majara side-eyeing Constantine for a reaction that doesn't come. She sighs a little, and stirs the stew, and decides that it can bubble away on its own as she hunts some replacement clothes for Elias in the erstwhile mayor's wardrobe.

Everyone will be the better for some food in them. She's surprised Kyle's still on his feet, but she won't have him stand a watch tonight, certainly. The man needs rest, and Constantine as well.

Majara keeps busy, bustling around the house and thinking about preparations for travel on next-day. Keeping busy has always helped her.

If Roger or Emma seem to need tasks to do, she has no shortage of duties to assign them...


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

"We have to tell them something," Majara says with a shrug. "A version of the truth, probably. 'Your mayor plotted to sacrifice people-- strangers, preferably, to keep your village thriving. But he, and the rest of the cult, weren't above sacrificing your own-- like Shel. Decide for yourselves if that's the sort of prosperity you want-- bought in the blood of innocents.' We won't be here to stop them trying to restart their cult, but they ought to at least know what it was."

Majara testingly wiggles an arm that had been trampled earlier by the mob-- magic has helped but phantom twinges remain. "I say we leave town immediately after that speech, though. I don't want to give any of them the time to summon up the bravery to try to claim vengeance for their dead family members. Yes, we could hole up here-- but I don't think I need to remind all of you what happens when a mob of townsfolk decides to attack the richest house in town, hmn? These fine walls will burn."

Saringallow's shadow is long, Majara supposes. She muses briefly on the dark irony of it, especially with Constantine in his current state; if she were more superstitious she might wonder if the current situation is some lingering echo of a familial curse.

"I don't like the idea of traveling now-- we are all tired, injured (or at least we were), and both Constantine and Elias need proper rest and physicker attention-- but I like even less sleeping in the town full of people we just deprived of a faith, a mayor, and twenty or so of their kin. It might be worth putting distance between us and the town before sunset.

"If we do sleep here-- we lock the doors, block the windows, and keep watch. And leave at first light."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara is quieter than is her wont as they make a methodical progress through the mayor's home, her lips pursed with a number of concerns that she doesn't voice aloud. Constantine, his mind wandering. Elias, his hand gone no matter if his life has been saved. The village-- foul as the cult had been, she muses there must be something to the words of prosperity-- so what happens now to all these people...? Should all be damned as complicit? Hmnf.

Hannelia's spoken words seem to echo her own thoughts. Majara looks up from the bottles of wine she's tucking safely into the padded compartments of her pack, making a little face before exhaling.

"Arguably, by attacking Elidir's tax collector they earned themselves much more punishment than the mere forfeiture of gold," she points out cynically. Then she shrugs. "....but I agree that there has likely been enough punishment, of sorts. We left twenty dead here. A town this size? That will impact the harvest, certainly. Even if nothing else does. To say nothing of the impact on wives, husbands, children... those left behind.

"I don't defend the cult, but how many are like this Shel? Ignorant, innocent of anything but perhaps a bit much naivete? I am with Hannelia. Some remnant gold to help the community through what will likely be a cruel first few years seems.... affordable. Or the goods of Kriegler's prosperity, I suppose. Like this wine."

Majara clicks her tongue absently, then sighs. "And of course who would we leave that money with? I would wager that anyone in the town of any authority or respect-- the community leaders-- were all in that mass of maniacs we killed back at the farm. Tch."

A brief cynical smile crosses the gnome's face as she looks at Elias. "You are going to have an interesting report, aren't you, Elias?"

I promised I'd do a loot listing the other day-- I will try to get on that soon!


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

"I've been covered in worse," Majara says brusquely. Then a little pause, and a shrug. "....but being cleaner would be more pleasant. Yes. Thank you."

"Though doing something about our collective injuries might be more pressing than our hygiene. Still - before you clean me up, let me retrieve my dagger and see if there's anything else of interest in the... muck. You might do a bit of checking for magic, too."

Perception: 1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 9 - 2 = 14 (Rooting around in the trashslime to see if it ate anything interesting, and also getting my dagger back)

Majara looks all the filthier after her inspection of the slime's remains, but duly presents herself to be magically dry-cleaned.

"Now then. I believe we've seen everything on this property, unless we wish to stick our head in the outhouse. The mayor's house, on the other hand, probably has whatever objects of wealth exist in this community, hmn? And.... the fields, we didn't poke about too much in the fields. I'd like to take a breather but I want us to do it safely, and not get attacked by remnants of the village out for vengeance. Your... Shel is it? Would she know about how many people are left unaccounted for?"

Majra resheathes her dagger, gazing at a wall a moment in silence, before adding, "I think this town won't be paying taxes for years to come. We've rather decimated the local economy."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara stands with bomb in hand, shifting her weight foot to foot, trying to get a clear line on the thing.... the thing that just swallowed Roger.

Hrrmnmff.

Alright, new calculations must be made. Even as she does math in her head, she gropes for a bomb at her belt... only to realize she's come up empty! Has she really used so many! Majara mutters a foul curse under her breath and settles for grabbing one of the alchemist's fires instead.

When Emma steps out of the way she has a sort-of-shot. Not ideal, but she'll take it. An adjusting step first, and then...

Targeting the grid intersection indicated by the red arrow on the map, so I will only get the splash if I hit, but no allies should be damaged.

Vs AC 5, Cover penalty, PBS: 1d20 + 7 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 7 - 4 + 1 = 13

5 fire damage, Reflex DC 14 to halve it to 2

She doesn't answer Emma's uncertain query about whether or not it burns.... because she doesn't know. Call this empirical field testing.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

What is that?: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

"Slime mold!" Majara says with some disgust. Whether her disgust is for the rotting compostosity of it or the part where her allies are too close for her to use fire is up for debate. "They can engulf you-- you can try and dodge it if you're fast."

The close quarters cause her to draw her dagger, ineffective weapon though it may be.

Throw, throw, throw the dagger! PBS, cover penalty: 1d20 + 6 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 6 + 1 - 4 = 20

...damage, PBS: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

She chucks the dagger with surprising grace past Emma's legs to hit the blorting ooze... then backs up.

"If people give me a clear shot I'll light it up."


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

"Ah, there we are. See? Wouldn't have wanted that to get singed," Majara says with a dry half-smile as she peers into the chest of goodies that Hannelia has discovered. "Zuke would be proud of your eyes."

Kn Engineering on ladder: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

"It's not the strongest, but safe enough. Here, I'll go take a peek, if nothing else I'm light."

Majara scrambles up nimbly, then her voice calls down, "I doubt Roger would be able to stand upright here, anyway. Junk. Dust. Cracks in the boards of the walls to peer out through..."

Which she does, checking to make sure all still seems quiet outside. That done, she glances briefly around in the loft.

Per: 1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 9 - 2 = 15

"Hrmmn... what's this..."

Majara tugs something free of the rest of the clutter, and then promptly sets to coughing at all the dust she just loosed into the air. Grimacing at her own lack of foresight there, she yanks the collar of her shirt up over her nose as impromptu filter, then squints at a quilt.

"....charming. A handmade quilt lovingly depicting villagers subsuming themselves to the evil we defeated here. And making sure they get a good harvest out of it. You know, I think I generally prefer it when the evil cultists don't pretend that what they're doing is not evil. Here, it could be a useful record or... I don't know, someone might want to buy it. Watch for the dust."

She rolls it to the edge, trusting Roger's height can grab it and take it down to ground level. Down the ladder after it.

"Next door, I think. That one Hannelia's cleared of trouble. Roger or Emma, do the honors?"


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

"Yes," Majara says immediately, with the pragmatism of one who has lit buildings on fire before. "It might destroy things of value that we could sell. Let's beat the flames out-- not you, Miss Blackford, you look about ready to keel over. Sit down at once. Have we any more healing at hand?"

Majara moves to assist Roger in putting out the fire, having no more curative potions at hand.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Burning... burning.... a flame that sucks all into itself, something pure about it-- she wonders what it uses for fuel, is it self-sustaining, is it--

Such questions fly out of Majara's momentarily-addled mind when the scent of fresh blood-- Emma's fresh blood-- hits her nose, copper dispelling quicksilver fumes. With a grimace, Majara comes back to herself, and notes that some damned scarecrow just nearly cut their Iomedan's throat.

"Tch!!" the gnome rasps, and instinctively reaches for one of the flasks of incipient fire at her belt-- but no. The eyes burn, maybe it's immune-- and besides, she doesn't want to risk getting Emma in the splash. Instead... well, Emma did say there was evil in here...

Knowledge Arcana: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

After spending a half a second in trying to figure out what it IS, Majara tilts her head. "Despite the eyes, it IS vulnerable to flame. But Emma is too wounded to risk it right now. If I get a clear shot, perhaps--"

Readied fire bomb vs effigy's touch AC, PBS, cover: 1d20 + 7 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 7 + 1 - 4 = 13
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 5) + 4 = 10

Readied action to hurl a bomb IF no allies are adjacent to Cillian Barfly there


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

With her feet back on the ground, Majara dusts herself off a bit and gives a little nod to Elias.

"Constantine. Sit down, if you can hear me. .. hmm, he seems to be quiescent, at any rate. Keep an eye on him, Elias."

There are cythnigot fungi Majara still wants to investigate-- but best to stick together for now. She rolls her neck side to side, then makes her way after Hannelia, Emma, and Roger, picking up the rear. If her pace is a little less jaunty than before, well, it's been a day.


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)
GM Kubular wrote:
Elias puts a hand on Majara's shoulder, kneeling to get low enough. "Yes, still here. Thank you, old friend." He tilts his head, "Let me help you up, please." Though weakened, the man is still much larger than Majara and lifts her up in his arms. Should she object, he'll argue, he is trying to mend his own pride, but he'll respect her wishes.

"--"

Majara opens her mouth to protest, probably loudly, as she is scooped up...

Will save?: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

...but manages to click her teeth shut on what she was going to say. Instead she exhales. "Yes, thank you, Elias. You were invaluable during that, you know. Getting Roger on his feet, waking me up-- Thank you."

As soon as she feels she can do so without wounding his pride, however, she slithers out of his grasp to stand on her own again.

"Is anyone very badly hurt? I can't say I feel fully fantastic and fine, but I won't fall for a feather."

With one hand on her side at the worst of her wounds, she gingerly pads over to Constantine, gazing up at him with furrowed brows.

"Constantine. Fioritura. Sarini. Are you in there?"

The lack of response makes her frown segue into a scowl. Majara is currently considering the logistical hassles of taking a brain-damaged person all the way back to Saringallow.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara lets out a huge breath of relief when the cursed bug-thing falls. Then, she sits heavily down on the ground and inspects her injuries that she hasn't had time to deal with before now. Ow. She is, perhaps, getting too old for this.

...that's a horrible thought for a gnome to have, she muses, and promptly banishes it.

"Feel free to eviscerate it," she says drily to Roger, and then flops back onto the dirt fully, limbs splayed, gazing up at the sky.

"How bad off are we all? Elias, still with us? Constantine... Constantine?" she says, quirking a brow upwards at the form of the young Sarini, who is gazing blankly off into space.

"....bugger..."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara darts forward, weaving between Hannelia and the old spiderwoman, her fingers once again reaching for explosives. An underhanded lob.. Emma will probably get caught in the splash... but Majara considers it worth the risk.

Attacking the blightspawn! (point blank, Roger's bane): 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 7 + 1 + 1 = 11

Ugh. That's vs Touch AC, but I bet a flyer probably has a decent dexterity.

Fire Damage, pbs, bane: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6, 5) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 16

Assuming the 11 misses, which it probably does... 1d8 ⇒ 5 That's good at least. It lands on the far side, in the square I marked on the map, and depending on how high up the spawn is, it will take either no damage or make a reflex save DC 14 for 3 damage on a save, 7 on a fail. (I.e. if the spawn is flying at ground level it's in zone, if it's flying 5' up then it won't take anything)


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

"What she said," Majara echoes Hannelia tersely, her eyes fixed on the flyer rather than the spider-crone. The darkness is an issue...

...but she prides herself on preparation. Majara's fingers dart into one of her pouches and pull a flask that glows softly even through opaque glass. Twist-and-wrench to unstopper the cork-- sunlight streams out around her fingertips-- and then....

....yes. Majara swivels to Hannelia, goes up on tiptoes, and dumps the oil into her quiver of arrows.

If you'll let me get away with it, Kubular, I'm dosing up multiples of Hannelia's arrows. I think per RAW it would just be a single object, but hey, a lot of effects in the game give you like 50 if used on ammunition, so.. I'll take my shot. ;) If we can only get one glowing arrow out of it, so be it. I would also accept values somewhere between 1 and 50. :P


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara finds herself staring up into Elias's face gazing down at her with a mixture of relief and urgency. For a moment she's decades in the past. Happier times, by some peoples' measures. Zuke and her and Elias and...

Majara has her own measuring cups, as it were, and the voices around them are newer voices, voices that belong to the now. From her position flat on the ground, Majara takes in an upside down view of Roger tangling with the spider-horror, and the buzz of wings...

Ah. Right. The flyer. Ranged support, that's her role.

The gnome uffs to bring her legs up to her chest, then forward, and uses the momentum to roll to her feet, ignoring the way the world swims crazily around her. No possible way to assault the spider without inflicting peripheral damage on Roger, and... he really doesn't look as if he can stand much 'peripheral', as it were.

The insect-thing, then. Majara takes a small, wobbling step forward to try and get that much closer, and then lobs a bomb in an underhanded arc, sweeping her hand up and letting it go in an oddly gentle arc towards the flyer. She'll have to trust to her muscle memory as her vision keeps being unstable.

Move action to stand, 5 ft step, std to BOMB

Bomb vs Blightspawn: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 7 - 2 = 19

I THINK I'm about 40 ft from the blightspawn (35 on the ground, blightspawn is 20' up), which would mean 2nd range increment (thus my -2). But going against touch AC thankfully

Fire damage: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 4) + 3 = 8


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12 Well, poop. My dice had to turn sometime...

Majara turns to prepare to barrage the spider with fire.... but all of a sudden her eyes are heavy, her limbs leaden....

"Oh, fudge," she mumbles in disgust before she drops limply to the ground under the crowd of glowing moths.


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara's eyes slit as she regards the horror coming closer, but she ducks the claws easily enough. The damn thing's long arms are a great inconvenience, she muses. In order to clear a path for Elias, she'll need to pull back to the center of things herself....

Provoking AOO by moving as shown on map

With some distance between her and the stalker, Majara hurls not directly at the monster, but at the ground near its feet. Roger is too close to risk a direct attack.

vs AC 5, square to the south-east of the stalker: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 7 + 1 = 19 Not a 1, so I hit the square; stalker gets a DC 14 Reflex save to halve the 6 splash damage. (No splash to Roger)

"Come and get me, you.... woobly wavy wacky faceless freak." She'd liked that, from Roger. It had almost sounded Gnomish.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Kn Dung: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

Again-- there is too much to keep track of, visually. Roger is down, and there is some sort of ungodly squelching from behind her-- Majara dares a quick glance over her shoulder in time to register.... a blightspawn. Wonderful. The day continues to improve.

"Roger is down," she says quickly. "And that is an emissary of Ghlaunder-- strike with magical steel or strike very hard! No cold or acid or poison-- but it can still be burnt. It will wreck your potions, though." The last is said with particularly personal annoyance. Then, Majara has to look back to the immediate problem, which is that Roger is down, and she's the next closest to the stalker. ...or Kyle is.

Damn the stubborn man.

Majara takes another protective step backwards, having seen the reach of the shifter's arm, and quickly downs a potion while snatching another bottle into hand as well. Drinking her extract of shield for the AC boost, drawing an extract of cure light wounds

"Elias. I know you want to fight. But redemption is sometimes about helping rather than attacking. I'm going to try to keep this thing busy-- pull back to the center of things and be ready to grab my potion and take it to someone who needs it... the man before us if you can do it safely, or Hannelia."

Majara keeps her eyes on the faceless stalker during her words, warily thinking how best to deal with it.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Majara has too many things to keep track of-- the shifting thing in front of her, the mayor, the spider creature, Elias...

"Are you mad? Pull back, Kyle. A stiff breeze would knock you over," she says tersely, and once again tries to barrage the shifting-thing with more fire.

(Per the map, nobody's currently adjacent to the stalker; not sure if that's correct given that I think Roger and the stalker are engaged in melee with each other? I don't want to risk hitting Roger with splash, so if he is adjacent to the stalker, I would preferably do something else, like move south and target the aranea. But if the map is accurate:)

Vs Stalker touch: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 1 = 24
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2, 6) + 3 + 1 = 12

Despite her blunt words to Elias, Majara smiles at a dead-on shot. That's better. She flicks a glance back in time to see the mayor's spell, and her smile fades to a scowl.

"You can't cut a mist apart with mere steel! Only weapons with enchantments!"


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara cannot see what is going on with the mayor-- but she can see a creature appear from seemingly nowhere and deal a grievous injury to Hannelia. She bares her small teeth in a little hiss of frustration, judging the odds of catching Zuke's apprentice (for that's probably how she'll always think of Hannelia on some level) in a blast...

Fortunately, Miss Venator pulls back before Majara has to think of what to do about it. She nods to herself, snatches another bomb, and runs forward.... ...then runs a few more steps to give Roger a clear path.

"Elias! Pull back!"

Bomb vs Stalker's touch AC: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 7 + 1 = 13
Fire Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3, 3) + 3 + 1 = 10

If I miss, it's still going to be exposed to the splash; DC 14 Reflex save to halve the splash of 5. That said, Elias might be hit by splash if I miss, so here's my roll for miss (though if Majara could wait til Elias moved back, I suppose she would): Miss direction: 1d8 ⇒ 4 Okay, so even if it doesn't hit the stalker, it will land on the far side from Elias and not hit him


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara keeps her footing during the shoving and jostling and general chaos, though it is difficult with so many much larger forms around her.

Spellcraft vs dc 18: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Despite new bruises and a split lip from a cultist's elbow, Majara is able to hear spellcasting... and glances south to see that Kriegler is engaged in calling up... something.

"Miss Blackford! Target the mayor before he completes his spell!" she shouts even with a little blood spit from her mouth. She snatches the last of her daily bombs and ... throws it. Arcing over the milling bodies as best she can, over Emma, trying to calculate the trajectory to hit the mayor's annoyingly calm face. There's a supernatural pressure to NOT throw at him, but Majara is quite used to doing things others don't want her to do...

Attack Kriegler touch: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 7 - 4 = 20 I assume at least -4 for cover given the swarm, Emma, etc, if it should be higher subtract that.... but I am guessing I will probably still hit vs touch AC

Bomb damage to Kriegler, fire: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (3, 3) + 3 = 9 Nobody is caught in the splash damage so I don't think any reflex save is called for, but he can darn well make me a concentration check for damage taken while casting

That done, Majara tries to get the hell out of the crowd. Move back out of the troop and around the corner, IDK if I need a fort save for that, if I do:

Fort: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17 +2 vs poison

Oopsie, belated will save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Per dc 27: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Spellcraft #1, dc 16: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Spellcraft #2, dc 16: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

The greater good. Her own thoughts on the matter, the comments Elias isn't making... she's sick of that phrase.

Majara slides her tinted goggles down into place over her eyes and prepares to f#!& some shit up.

"The old woman just cast an illusion to create the image of that overgrown bug. I wouldn't worry about it," she says crisply. "And the 'good mayor' is hiding behind a magic that requires someone with a strong will to attack him. Let me.... clear you all a path."

She strides forward, small fingers flying to her bandoliers and pouches, triggering a fuse that she then lobs underhanded towards the group of cultists.

Vs swarm touch ac: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 7 + 1 = 21
Damage, fire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1, 2) + 3 + 1 = 7 Meh

Cultists can make a reflex save DC 14 to reduce that by half, but the 50% increase for splash would apply after the reduction, so either 10 or 5 depending on save


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Oops, I forgot to attempt the Per check

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 Hahaha


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)
GM Kubular wrote:
"If we don’t get that ugly, red-headed, dog-mannered cityboy back, my Shel will have to take his place. So sayeth the Dream Tender. I do what it takes to serve. I done it many times before. But I will not give up my Shel, y’hear? If you give me the redhead or go into the maze, you can save my daughter.”

Majara looks unimpressed. "Dog-mannered cityboy? You mean, the person I came here looking for? A man I've known for some thirty years? For a woman petitioning us for assistance, you're remarkably poor at attempting to be conciliatory."

Even if he CAN be a self-righteous prig, she thinks inwardly. And even if she's bracing, right now, for Kyle to make some nasty comment to her about Sacrificing a life for the greater good is up your alley, isn't it, Pricknettle?

She shakes her head to dislodge the annoying thoughts, though it could be taken as a head-shake at at Anya.

"If this Shel is a decent sort," the words are aimed more at the others in the party than at Mrs. Lupescu, "then I'm not opposed to attempting a rescue, but point-the-first: Kyle is hardly well enough for rigorous travel or journey into danger, and she's just proven we can hardly assume he'll be safe if we leave him here. Point-the-second: I propose Anya be left restrained so we know she's not running to tell some other cultists we're coming. Point-the-third: we still have that other essence Emma detected here. I dislike leaving it at our back. Again, we are on our own timetable, not hers."


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Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara barks a little laugh at Roger's extremely ... pragmatic take on the chances of walking into am ambush. "Your confidence charms, but sometimes a trap can't be cut nicely in twain, boatswain."

She watches Anya expectantly, and Emma, to see if Emma has any verdict to give. And there's Kyle. Elias Kyle.

It's not possible not to glance at his missing hand, the bloody stump. He was... he had been.. quite the swordsman. In his youth. Twenty years ago for Kyle has been twenty years for her as well.. but gnomes reckon them differently. Majara's suffered no graying, no weakening of the body in the years since. She has full command of her faculties and both hands, which she appreciates, as alchemy would be much, much harder with one only. There's a moment of mental diversion in considering the possible devices that might be engineered to assist with the hurdles, but--

Elias Kyle has his life. She was here in time for that. There is no greater haste that could have been made-- it was Elias's absence in the first place that prompted her mission, so he was already in the filthy basement even then. There is no blame here for Majara Pricknettle in the loss of Kyle's hand; no, none, not even with the harshest math. That's satisfying; she gives a firm little nod to herself. The hand's not my fault.

Leaving only the matter of things from twenty years ago.

Tch, one thing at a time; mercury before sulfur! They had to survive this cult mess and then guilt could be brewed fine and fizzing. Until then, it was to be placed upon the back burner.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara's attention is torn between numerous troubles-- Elias Kyle, and Constantine. Both need attention. And comfort. The latter is something she has never been good at.

The sound of the vocal interruption is almost a relief, though another complication. Lips pressed into a thin line, Majara hurries after Roger to be sure he cannot get too far ahead, alone.

The heartfelt plea-- if such it is-- earns a narrow-eyed gaze from Majara.

"You know what is going on, then. We are not your timetable, but our own, so you'll need to offer more information than that if you wish us to cooperate with you... after your cult already tried to kill us. And we also know that not everyone in this village is precisely what they look like. How do we know you are indeed a human and not a shifting monster?"

Sense Motive for the hilarity of it: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (13) - 1 = 12

"Miss Blackford, your senses might be of use here... though I suppose if she is one of the cult her heart might still read as foul."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara doesn't answer Elias's muttered question right away, giving Constantine a long look of her own before saying anything, and turning her eyes back to the cleaning of the crude amputation using Hannelia's waterskin.

Heal: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

"He is....... sensitive," she says after a long moment of putting fresh, clean cloth on the just-washed wound. "He senses-- spirits. Things like that. There is apparently a great deal to sense here. But he is on our side."

She says this with a certain firmness as if trying to make it a reality.

"That is the best I can do for your wrist right now. You should drink the potion, it will help some. Miss Blackford, will you help him walk? Elias, this is Emma Blackford. Not Iomedae. And that is Hannelia-- Zuke taught her what she knows. Roger and Constantine are both solid warriors to help us root out this rot."

If Constantine doesn't succumb to it first.

With Elias leaning on Emma's strong arm, Majara moves to Constantine and peers narrow-eyed up into his face.

"...wash your face," she orders after a moment, and thrusts Hannelia's waterskin up at him. A splash of cool water is hardly a cureall for incipient mental fracturing.... but she supposes it can't hurt, and her preferred method of a strong sleeping brew and a week of bed rest is hardly feasible just now.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)
GM Kubular wrote:
Majara Pricknettle wrote:
"Elias. You-- it will be set right."
"Will it? You always did seem too sure of yourself, Majara." He challenges, tilting his head. He shakes his head and amends, "I'm sorry. Thank you. For finding me."

Majara opens her mouth as if to argue about which of the two of them has seemed more sure of their acts.... but thinks the better of it, apparently, and closes it again, crouching to look at Elias's mangled hand swathed in the filthy bandages. "I need to disinfect this. Does anyone have clean water with them? Or alcohol? And yes. Jeminda asked I look for you."

Majara's fingers are careful as she tries to pull the dirty cloth with a minimum of further trauma to the flesh beneath. "A shape-shifter. Yes. We surmised such after finding possible progeny outside. Kriegler? The mayor, you mean? I thought something was off about his story. Do you mean he's a shape-shifter, too?"

She leaves the body-uncovering to the others, busy working on Elias's wound.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Religion: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Per: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Majara is.... distracted. She stops as the speaker comes into view, eyes widening, an unaccustomed look of blank surprise on her features.

...she really hadn't thought he'd still be alive. Not after finding the sword.

Neither his words nor his look are lost on her but after her moment's shock has passed Majara wordlessly hurries forward, her eyes darting to the manacles and to the bloodied stump. That is going to be infected...

"Hannelia. I've some skill with locks but my tools are on my mule. Do you--?"

The hoarse, whispered, not this time earns a sharp sidelong glance from Majara at Elias's ragged countenance. Majara bites her lower lip a moment, uncertainty as rare a look on her face as startlement. She hesitates as if hunting words that don't come naturally to her.

"Elias. You-- it will be set right."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Majara glances up at Constantine when he speaks in Taldane, giving him a squint-eyed look from where she is busy poking around near the thing's heart. She pauses a moment, studying him, then says quietly, "It's dead enough, but you'll guarantee certainty on the matter better than me. More strength to your swings."

She wipes her dagger's tip off against the piggoth's leathery hide, then stands up again.

"And yes. They might have heard us and silenced in response. Down the stairs, I think. Active trouble should be dealt with actively. Lead on, Miss Blackford."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

"Efficiently done," Majara murmurs with a single nod at her traveling companions. She pauses, then cocks her head to the side. "-- I don't hear the chanting now. This... was the source? Hrmn."

She pokes lightly at the disfigured pig innards with her dagger, curiosity still her strongest drive. She'd almost considered saving one of the spores... for study.... but Gellion's recent troubles had stayed her tongue. Perhaps if she'd been here alone. But it was easy to imagine this group would be quick to draw parallels between her and Gellion.

But this is better! Not just a spore but an actual cythnigot, emerged. Dead, now, which is the preferred form for study and dissection... and there's the mushrooms she hadn't identified back in the other room... Majara looks rather pleased with the day (it's improved so much from the recent near-brush with lynching!) as she pushes around flaps of porcine skin with the tip of her blade, examining the fungal tendrils that have obscenely entwined with the base flesh.

"Pig hearts and human hearts are quite similar," she observes aloud, then pauses, and looks up with a frown. "Oh, you're going to want to go find that other 'evil' source, aren't you? I suppose this can wait."


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 Seems about right

Majara is no stranger to either horrific sights or accursed smells, yet all the same, she gags a little at the qlippoth's appearance. Moving in, she realizes quickly there are few places to stand in the room that lend themselves well to throwing bombs. Instead, she works to distract the creature and let one of the others do a good job putting it out of its unholy existence.

Double moving, using acrobatics to try and avoid attack of opportunity, drawing dagger as I go so that I threaten for flanking purposes

Acro vs CMD, sickened: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 - 2 = 2 Lol, yeah, it gets an AOO on me


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Per DC 15: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Kn Nature DC 18: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Head cocked to the sounds of the chanting, her brow furrowed as she tries to ascertain the words, Majara is slower to respond to the pig situation. She blinks as Hannelia lets loose with an arrow and Roger moves into the fray....


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)
Hannelia Venator wrote:
Hannelia whispers back, "What exactly is a... 'cythnigot qlippoth', did you say? And how concerned should we be?"

Majara takes a moment to answer, busy rifling through the bottles on the room's surfaces. The frown on her face might be for that task as much as the question.

"Qlippoths are monstrous entities from outside this reality. Not... quite demons... but just as bad. The cythnigot is fortunately a relatively minor sort of qlippoth... a sort of fungal parasite. Hatches in the corpses of small animals-- rats, cats, that sort of thing. Mutates them. Extra limbs. Or eyes. Or claws. Puppets the body around, bites things. There are four non-incubated spores here and we will be destroying them. A fifth is unaccounted for. Probably already in the body of some unfortunate creature," she rattles off in a low clipped whisper.

Turning from the table Majara starts to hand out potions. "These are defensive. This one is curative. These two will help if you're poisoned. I'm keeping the rest."

8 doses of blue whinnis poison, 5 vials of alchemist’s fire, 2 potions of shield of faith +2, 2 potions of neutralize poison, and a potion of cure moderate wounds-- Majara wants the poison and the alch fires but people should grab the others!

She nods the once at Hannelia's words that they should take the chance to surprise the cultists, though her eyes linger on the alchemical setup with a certain desire to stay and poke around. Later, she promises herself.


Gnome Alchemist 4 | HP 34/34 | AC 1822/t14/f15 | F+6 R+7 W+4 | Per +11 (-2 if sight based)

Craft Alchemy DC 20: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
Kn Planes DC 20: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Perception (sight): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Per (hearing): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Majara's nose wrinkles at pungent scents familiar to her professionally, and her eyes rake the contents of the room with keen intensity, piercing the gloom easier than her human companions.

"--do not touch any of the plants," she says sharply. "There are multiple poisons there, and also.... a... is that--"

With a frown, Majara sidles closer to Roger to look, and after a few seconds of intense study, clicks her tongue sharply against her teeth. "Where on earth-- or outside of it-- did these fools obtain a cythnigot qlippoth? This day develops direly.... although there's several potions here that could be of use to us, at least..."

She peers into the gloom of the eastern room, then looks west, holding up a hand for silence. When she speaks again, her voice is lower, a whisper.

"We're not alone. I hear... chanting, I think. To the west. They may be more than one room away, it's very faint. That dark room to the east-- just piled supplies, but also a lot of displaced earth. Hiding something, perhaps-- another door... or something buried."

Majara edges closer to the tables, muttering to herself too low for the others to hear as she examines the unknown black mushrooms, her sense of the threat and urgency of the other people present at war with her desire to collect samples and play with the fancy alchemy lab.

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