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That is unfortunate but understandable GM. Your family should take priority. I am sad to see this game go, and I hope to hear from you in the future. Best of luck all! P.S. I'm going to bump the gameplay thread and mark it as inactive to remove it from my campaigns tab, so please send me a private message with any updates.
"Or even to reverse it's effects and bind the Bonemother more securely than before." He suggests quietly, mind racing through the possibilities.
Malz passes on the mental impressing of an approving nod to Garidan. "You are thinking along the right lines, and you may even be right. Although I would wager it more likely that the power balance is tipped in the other direction and that Li'luurant will find herself just another victim of Yrgna upon releasing her." Malz pauses for an appreciable amount of time. "Is there any way to understand the ritual she is attempting? If we can understand the details on a fundamental level, not only would we be able to predict what her goals are, we may even be able to disrupt the ritual in a much more nuanced way."
Malz gestures to Asulad. "She says that if the plans of Prisca and Li'luurant went uninterrupted, it would destroy the Dreaming and release this Bonemother, Yrgna. We thought Li'luurant was the greatest threat in this scheme, but it sounds like the destruction of this entire place is only the first step in their plan. Here we have an opportunity to nip this problem in the bud, crushing them before they release a greater power."
Malthazir politely raises a curious eyebrow in response to the explanation of Niyut's powers. Still no concrete understanding of where they come from then. Back to square one. Malz quietly absorbs the story of the Dreaming in great detail. As they are finding themselves shouldering the burden of stitching the world back together, such details would surely end up being vital to their efforts. "It is good to have such a clear enemy and clear goal. Niyut, you should lead out efforts here, as this is your home turf." Malz inhales deeply. "I deeply understand her goals, actually. You have all long known me as a summoner, but the more advanced practice, the next step of my research, is binding. Something we binders learn is about the dangers via temptations from higher beings. Many conjurers thought if they gave freedom to incredibly powerful evil beings, they would be rewarded, but that is rarely the case. This Bonemother is such a creature to be wary of. One that is likely nigh-unstoppable if released." Malz can feel the invisible imp on his shoulder digging into his shoulder with excitement, already sensing where he was going with this. Malz winces and with an annoyed gesture a disembodied yip of pain comes from above his shoulder. "I think it time I start to practice these binding rituals. I have researched them long enough, and the art I have learned is becoming quickly relevant. It is dangerous and costly work, but highly rewarding if done properly."
Mhmm, meeting and elf is a delight for you, how curious. Malz says as he finds a safe place for bunny-Garidan. Malz tenses for a brief moment when Asulad points her staff and starts chanting, but he quickly identifies the magic and relaxes. "Your magic is appreciated, I would need to do a great deal of research to undo..." He takes the bunny off his shoulder as he magic starts to take hold, placing it on the ground. "...such a spell. Garidan, welcome back." Malz frowns as the words are burned from his mind. A language so secret it manipulates the minds of those that hear it. I would love to know such mysteries. Powerful applications for sure... He muses to himself. At the display of life-essence-altering magic, Malthazir is suddenly grateful at the level of secrecy involved. His eyes flash to Niyut for the briefest of moments, wondering how the insatiable oracle would handle the existence of such magic. "Asulad, it is an honor to meet you." Malz inclines his head respectively. "I have traveled far with your daughter and overcome many obstacles with her, and we have learned much about the nature and binding of magic with each other. It is interesting to see the source and potential of her powers." He says, a mix of caution and curiosity in his eye. "Lead on." Malz says with a sweeping gesture. "We would finish our work here and leave things tidy." With Raektov approaching he turns to the young conjurer. "You did well to keep your distance and stay alive. It is wise to know when you are in above your head, and use whatever tricks you can manage to keep yourself safe. We...won, but we have allies to recover."
Now I feel stupid for not having taken larger advantage of the Tower of Conjuration while I was there. Necromancy is an opposition school so that will be of limited use, hopefully they have a vast store of magic from other schools as well. Hmm, I wonder how long the Tower of Conjuration will be in a war zone, and what its fate will be?
Well I think in that case I'll simply pick up teleport and start acquiring more spells. I should be able to teleport into (or at least near) the towers. I would also like to see about getting a ring of sustenance effect, that way I only need to sleep 2 hours, and I can learn spells in the night without impacting adventuring time. Any way for me to pick up that kind of effect?
I suppose increasing my saves isn't a bad choice. My saves are abysmal for this level. I could also pick up Spell Resistance. 6 Ethereal Essences would give me 10 + level SR that automatically lets beneficial spells through. I can probably ignore my AC. It's never going to be good. And I already have spell storing, which is the most important trick to have. Metamagic effects are always on the table. Although honestly quicken getting up to 3rd level is already pretty solid for this level, lets me throw out things like haste. Empower would be no joke, would take 4 essences for a regular effect, which could be pretty disgusting with summon monster 5 getting swarms of enemies in. Arcane essences, thematically I have the most important two schools. The school to call outsiders, and the school to control them. Question GM: Is there any way for Malz to pick up some new spells? Similar to how I would pay to copy spells in a more normal campaign, I'm looking to expand my spellbook.
Malz will want to investigate the [url=https://paizo.com/campaigns/TalanorTheBrightTower/gameplay&page=90#4454]scroll[/ooc] to make sure it's a scroll of teleport, definitely a big spell to have available to the party. However Summon Monster V is pretty integral to his build, and I can't pass up on planar binding. Hmm, definitely going to need to expand his spellbook as we get up in levels. With this massive INT and ability to spontaneously cast summon spells Malz can actually have tons of stuff prepared, but for his higher level slots he just ends up doing things like x4 haste. Also it appears the link to the rules for essences is broken. I think I have something like...7 ethereal essences, 1 abjuration essence, and 1 conjuration essence to work with.
Malthazir Level 10 (Level 9 Wizard) HP: 71 now (thanks Niyut)
Malz hovers over the scene, slowly lowering to touch down next to Garidan. He takes the polymorphed rabbit, setting it gently on his shoulder, which Garidan quickly finds has a flat surface that is easy to keep his balance on; evidently decades of carrying around familiars has made Malz adept at this. He observes the scene with disdain, running a hand through his sweaty hair. "A great victory today, but at a great cost. Garidan will be the easier ally to recover, I think. Either way, we are too spent and exhausted to pursue them now. We need rest and recovery. We shall plan in the morning."
Am back. Had to deal with handling my irl game because my players are way too smart for their own good and are absolutely cracking open the plot of my homebrew, which is very exciting but taking a lot of very quick writing to handle. I should be able to read up and post tomorrow.
I vote for letting Niyut run him until his storyline concludes and then writing him out. I will pick up teleport. If we have it as a scroll I'll pick it up that way, so that my freebies aren't limited by what spellbooks or scrolls we have. Also, woohoo for level up! Malz can access planar binding at this point, so now the real fun begins >:) I have quite a store of essences at this point. I know at one point I was dabbling with the idea of constructs, I want to make sure I'm not spreading myself too thin though. I'm pretty adept at minion management though, so maybe it will be fun to start turning into a puppet master.
3rd level summon for a dire bat. Using their blindsight to help find Garidan and also to sense incoming threats.
Brief check in. I approve of any use of Malz for magical research or questions that are non-evil in nature (and maybe some evil summoning too). Also a dot to remind both myself and the GM that Malz is looking into constructs.
Malz sneers at the smoldering corpse. Do not think that mortal magic can face me. My craft is a honed edge, yours is a club. Breathing heavily he nods to Niyut. "Transmuted...rabbit..." He forces out. He takes out his regular candle, starting another summoning.
Ah I didn't realize I wasn't up again yet, I managed to catch my post within the 1 hour mark and deleted it.
Niyut was kind enough to jump onto a chat with me so I'm caught up to where we are. I should no longer be having to go "What" 15 times when it's my turn to post. Speaking of which, post. That is...a terrifying thing that Malz just did. Niyut and I have dubbed this trick "The Choir".
Oh. Well, that's not good. Malz pants, watching his allies sucked away into the ether. But that would have to wait. This battle was not over, and both sides were carrying heavy losses. It was time to end this.
The ether is torn open as Malz finishes his spell. From it flies a pair of warming orbs, bursting with light. But Malz is not done. He burns a candle, and with a sneer forces the portal to stay open. From it erupts even more of the warming orbs.
With the air swarming with the lantern archons, Malz barks a shortened incantation, letting his devil ooze focus the magic.
Lastly he waves the staff, covering himself with an illusory double.
And then...the light flashes out, blinding and burning, filing the area with painfully bright magic. Malz pants heavily, his limbs had been moving so fast that it didn't seem real, and his words tumbled so quickly it was like he was speaking simultaneous sentences (which he was, in part, actually doing by blending similar words from the spells together). It was a vicious magical assault he summoned, but it was clearly a taxing effort for Malz.
A bunch of dice:
I'm honestly not even sure what link/map to look at. I honestly can't even keep track of the current threats and their tactical positioning. I think we have like...3 flying threats now?
Hmm, I wonder how a 20% effective hold person would work. 20% chance to not act?
A note to all of my games: My availability will be sporadic from now until the end of next week. Please DMPC me as needed. For Talanor, this campaign, I will get my action for this round posted sometime later today.
Lingering metamagic would not make a single target make their save multiple times. I believe that would be persistent metamagic.
Oh shit, in the best/worst possible way! Any kind of check that Malz can make to maybe identify what happened? Spellcraft or arcana perhaps?
Normally, but I'm actually getting better on it! I've recently picked up the game "Shattered Pixel Dungeon" and in that game if you don't strategically use every single item you find the dungeon can and will use your intestines for Christmas lights :)
I'm aware, but it only has a certain number of uses and then its gone forever, and it's a very useful item that doesn't get any weaker as we level up (in fact it only gets better since action economy becomes tighter and tighter).
A familiar incantation rolls from Malz's lips. The summoning begins.
GM I believe you forgot to roll for my mirror image.
Honestly it's more likely that I just forgot that since IRL those things happened months ago. I don't mind taking extended pauses, as I've been there myself as a GM, but mid-combat is rough.
Malz, overcome with the same blocked access to magic that Niyut had experienced, resorts to the powers of his imbued spirits to defend himself. A copy of Malthazir appears alongside him and a terrifying visage flashes out, even as he flies back to continue using the wand.
God I'm past the 1 hour edit limit, I need you to update my previous post and delete this one. Thanks bud!
Well, the good news is that we've already survived 6 months of 2020. Only 3 more to go and we're done! :)
Malthazir, with his see invisibility and his psueodragon's blindsense, fly around the area at rapid pace to find anything that may be hiding. His brows furrow in frustration as he does so. I should invest more heavily into perceiving through this kind of trickery.
With a mental prod, the psueodragon charges at the hag!
Malz charges the hag himself, although invisible and flying, ending right next to her.
Malz and his dragon continues to make wide passes over the area, ensuring everything around them is safe.
Malz and his dragon get 150 ft. apart, and start sweeping over the battlefield.
Malz frowns as he still sees nothing. You are tempting me with more powerful magic. He thinks as he continues looking around.
Yeah sorry. I have so much going on that my memory doesn't keep track of stuff that happened weeks ago. GM I will cast see invisibility. Since that effects the rest of my actions I'd like to know what I see.
Well I'm not entirely sure if my see invisibility is still available for the day or not, but let's go with that then!
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