Ralph Cauthorn's page

Ralph is also partly restored by the surge of power, and as he takes in what has transpired, he speaks again.

"“The death of Baba Yaga is no small thing, and you have succeeded in finding it where none have before. Now that you have secured her death, however, you must also locate and obtain her life. Although Baba Yaga hid her mortality away so death could not find her, to be more than a walking corpse, she must still have life. To this end, she ensured that a wellspring of life would flow in an ever-renewing fountain for her purposes. Guarding and protecting this source of life she tasked to her daughters, the Queens of Irrisen. After one hundred years of rule, these queens rejoin Baba Yaga and take up the responsibility of ensuring that her wellspring of life never runs dry. Now you must face the queens of old to reclaim Baba Yaga’s life and escape with your own as well.”

"Baba, Kindly Grandmother, you must realize by now that this means I have discovered the secret of your immortality, and that these friends of mine will learn it too once they see it. I trust this is acceptable in their endeavour to free you?"

Rhon and Exiel discover that the sound of rushing water is coming from the trapdoor, and peering down it, they see... a sky! The look closer and realize that what lies on the other side is an inverted world, where the gravity is also pulled in the direction of the surface the trapdoor on the other side is set upon.

Stepping through the trap door is mildly disorienting, but as you re-orient yourselves you find that the the trap door opens out of a large, flat-topped gneiss boulder at the bottom of a grotto surrounded by sheer rock cliffs broken by myriad ledges and fissures. The sound of falling water echoes through the grotto and a fine, chill mist fills the air with sparkling droplets. Most of the grotto’s walls are in shade, though bright sunlight shines down from somewhere above, refracting through the mist to create rainbows and glowing jewels of radiance. The shadow of a huge, gnarled tree is just visible through the fog toward the sound of the waterfall.

From within the fog, you hear Ralph's familiar voice calling out.

"Rhon. Exiel. So good of you to finally come. I trust you are not the only ones here? Your abilities are considerable, but this mission will require more than just the strength of the two of you."

Are the rest of you coming into this strange new landscape?

Once I get another post from each of you, we will begin in earnest.

Just a generic intro for now while I muster the table.

For many of you, the last few weeks have been a time of rest and relaxation as you took a well-deserved rest from you most recent travels. It is rare, after all, that the highly-trained (and often semi-retired) seekers of the Pathfinder Society are called upon for missions.

But for Pathfinders the call to action can often come abruptly and without warning, and you are reminded of this when a small air elemental comes before you bearing a sealed message.

Perhaps under the circumstances it would be best to end the adventure here. It seems you will have enough on your mind for now and in the near to mid future.

The paragraph from pages 12-13 of the guide to organized play allows players to get full credit for a module or sanctioned AP book if they complete at least half of it. As GM you also would get full credit.

Feral: I proposed this in light of your current situation with your father.

Exiel and Purs are amenable.

Rhon has not expressed a view either way.

Perhaps under the circumstances it would be best to end the adventure here. It seems you will have enough on your mind for now and in the near to mid future.

The paragraph from pages 12-13 of the guide to organized play allows players to get full credit for a module or sanctioned AP book if they complete at least half of it. As GM you also would get full credit.

Ralph finishes his enlarge spell and casts it upon Rhon, greatly increasing his size and reach.

Rhon: This should allow you to full attack either of the giants without moving.

Then he casts uses his wand to cast an illusion of a brilliant wall of prismatic energy behind the giants.

Ralph begins casting enlarge person.

I am non-good, but if you give a warning I can move back out of the effect range. But perhaps we should reserve that tactic for the next battle. This looks like a straightforward brawl, and I will use one of my remaining spells to even the odds.

"Icy king of the frozen wastes,
Bear thy wrath upon these wretched souls.
Yrax's breath!"

dazing intensified frost fireball: 15d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 5, 5, 6, 2, 3, 6, 5, 6, 4, 1, 6, 6, 5) = 71
DC 23 save for half, cold vulnerability applies. If they fail they are also dazed for 3 rounds.

After casting his spell, Ralph pulls back 40ft to give Purs the option of casting his spell if he wishes.

Purs, what spells do you have left? I can transport us to my demiplane to rest so we do not need to worry about saving spells in case of an ambush. If you have enough spells to keep fighting perhaps we can last one or two more fights before having to pull back.

Ralph nods.

"Very well. We are going to go in and kill that "b&$~~" as you call her anyway. After that, I will be your only ticket out of here. Don't cause us any trouble, and I will send you back after we are done here. If you attack us, we will just kill you, which benefits no one since it will mean expenditure of resources on our part that we may need in other battles, and you will be dead. I'm sure neither of us wants that."

"Hmm... while there is still time, tell us what forces we can expect further ahead. Numbers and known abilities."

Once we've gotten what information we can from the gigas, Ralph will be ready to proceed.

Ralph is mildly annoyed that he was not able to execute his plan solely by his own power, but satisfies himself with the thought that it was ultimately his plan that Exiel executed. Mindful that he still has two paladins to contend with and that his plan henceforth would require satisfying them, Ralph devises a strategem that would satisfy all parties.

"Lianna, your control of the gigas should last for several days, assuming he does not balk at your control. Let us capitalize on that. I must assume that the giants or one of their allies was responsible for the gigas' prior enslavement, so please direct the gigas to make his way towards the forge and remain there for three days. He is to attack any giants he sees, and to leave us unmolested. That should keep all parties more than satisfied."

He then speaks to the gigas in abyssal.

"Hear me, gigas. You are a creature of the abyss so I know you speak this tongue. You have been given a chance to avenge yourselves on the giants who enslaved your will, and apart from that you are given some relative freedom. Moreover, if you cooperate, I will return here in no more than three days to return you to the abyss."

Ralph then explains his plan to the paladins and cleric.

"Thus you will not be allying yourself with an evil creature and the gigas will ultimately be sent back to the abyss without causing further harm to us or any innocents. This will also allow us to focus on dealing with the greater threats here, and at the end all of the forces of evil will be removed from this place. I trust this strategy of diluting the enemy's forces and ultimately removing them from the Prime Material is acceptable within the tenets of your code?"

The succubus will only be around to issue new commands to the dominated gigas for about another minute, but the domination itself lasts for days, so I will use this to remove the gigas from the picture as well as potentially prevent any giant reinforcements from attacking us form behind.

Interesting...

???'s CHA check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25 Lucky for me my 'lady friend' has more charisma than any giant, or even dragon.

"My dear, it appears that someone else has the gigas under her control as well," a feminine voice purrs.

"Is that right?" Ralph smirks as he stops concentrating on his illusion, and casts dispel magic on the gigas, targeting the dominate person spell upon the gigas (even at this level I doubt we are encountering dominate monster).

dispel check: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24

Within the illusion, Ralph's summoned creature finishes her spell-like ability. If the gigas makes the save, she follows up with a suggestion projected directly into the gigas' mind via her telepathy.

Ralph stands by to see whether either spell catches.

Since the gigas did not make any d20 rolls in the last round, Exiel's ill omen is in full effect. The gigas needs to make a DC23 will save or be dominated. He must roll twice and take the lower. If he makes it he must then make a DC21 will save, rolling twice and taking the lower.

I believe we are just waiting on the GM now?

Ralph completes his summoning spell and immediately waves his wand to create an illusion of the tunnel behind Exiel being swallowed up in inky opaque darkness.

"Do not concern yourselves, my friends. That is of my doing. Focus on the opponents before you."

My apologies, I've been very busy at work.

Mildly annoyed that the gigas is not vulnerable to cold, Ralph decides to try a different tactic.

"Exiel. Prepare to do the thing on the gigas."

Ralph begins to cast Summon Monster 6.

knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (20) + 24 = 44

Ralph's extensive knowledge makes him appear nigh-prescient.

"That one in the back is not like the others," he hisses at the rest of the Pathfinders.

Questions:
1. Resistances and immunities
2. Special Defences
3. Special Attacks
4. Special senses
5. Notable feats commonly possessed by this type of creature

"That apparently might not be a skeleton," Ralph thinks to himself.

Coming out of delay. Disbelieve against the spellcaster.

disbelieve: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

Ralph delays and watches invisibily from the back, waiting to see how much of a threat these giants are and whether his magic is needed in this fight.

"Shall we proceed then?"

"Remember to keep on your guard. Our battles here have swung between trivial and almost absurdly difficult. I will try to reserve my more powerful spells for the latter."

Search the bodies for useful items, identify all loot, moving on.

Ralph maintains his readied action as he sees no need to intervene with his magic against an opponent that his allies can mop up.

Feral: Are we still waiting for something in particular?

Same readied action as before. If Exiel moves I will move so that I am near enough to take the readied action.

Ralph takes a move action keeping 30ft away from the giant. He readies an action to move behind Exiel if he sees his friend take another hit.

Move and ready action to make another move.

Feral: Can I confirm the giants' invisibility purge radius?
I would also like to come out of delay after Exiel and take a double move. Tell me if this changes the giant's action.

Everyone: Ralph delays. Conserving my spells for a bigger battle.

Feral: How far were Exiel and Rhon from the nearest giant when the invisibility purge spells removed their invisibility?

Ralph manipulates his illusion so that the fake Rhon takes a 5ft step to the side and gives the finger to the giant who failed to see through the illusion. Meanwhile, the real Rhon is obscured by the illusion of an empty space of fog.

Feral: A simple misunderstanding. I put the line there for Exiel's benefit so he would not move into the giant's line of sight and thereby give them a free saving throw.

Ralph continues to concentrate on his illusion and alters the illusion of Rhon to match his movements.

Nevermind. I was acting after Rhon anyway.

Ralph continues to concentrate on his illusion and alters the illusion of Rhon to match his movements.

Ralph waits for Rhon to act, then conjures an illusory bank of fog over Exiel and Rhon to cover Exiel's retreat. He includes illusions of Rhon and Exiel, standing where they were when he cast his spell, but partially obscured by mist. His illusory Exiel appears to take a full defence. He does not speak to avoid giving away his location, but he trusts that his team mates can work it out.

Purs: Exiel should survive thanks to his Khepresh of Refuge. How much healing can you give him this round?

"Divine spells. Temple of Zurvaster. Clerics, then. Meaning the illusory wall was most likely provided by another. Don't let your guard down."

"The giants have cast spells to purge invisibility enchantments from those near to themselves. Since the spells were cast from scrolls, it is most likely that the effect only extends to a radius of 25ft. Prepare accordingly."

"This should be within their abilities to handle on their own," Ralph thinks to himself. "Minor support will suffice. Better to save my spells for a more difficult battle."

Ralph draws his wand of silent image and readies an action: if an ally is attacked, he will create an illusion of a pane of opaque pitch-black darkness between the ally and his attacker. If Exiel is attacked by both giants, he will not take his readied action against Exiel's first attacker (but he will take it on the first attack on any other ally).

Feral: Ralph will ascend to a height of 25ft or as high as the ceiling will allow. What weapons are the giants using and what other weapons can I see on their persons?

Feral: Neither Purs nor I entered the room, so I have moved us outside. Unless more than 3 minutes have passed, the entire party should be invisible because I passed my ring of invisibility around for everyone to activate on themselves before opening the door. The giants would only know that someone has opened the door.

Exiel: Just go ahead and disbelieve the illusion for now. Let's see what we're up against.

Feral: The specific ruling is on a very similar situation. I think at the very least Exiel should be getting a save when he notices that he discerns one thing through his eyes and another thing through his echolocation. If there is a bonfire in the room and yet the room feels like it is -10 degrees, I have a good reason to believe one of my senses is being deceived. And since I used a very similar tactic in our first fight, this tactic is clearly something Exiel has encountered before, assuming the wall is illusory.

Feral Are there any exits to this room?

"I have half a mind to just bring the whole cave system down on their heads," Ralph mutters darkly.

Feral Do these doors open towards us or away from us? Do they appear locked?

Before anyone else does anything that might alert the giants within, Ralph raises a finger to his lips and then beckons them about 100ft away from the doors.

He passes his ring around the group so that they all get a chance to use it.

"Alright, Rhon and Exiel, try to open those doors. If that doesn't work, Purs will try to cut as an opening near the base of the door. Let's go."

FeralSame routine. Ralph maintains invisibility and checks for magic. Rhon listen at the door taking 20. If he hears nothing, try to push the door open. If locked Purs hack opening with adamantine axe.

Rhon: I assumed that since they barred our progress they were locked, but we can try to push the doors open first. But if there is anything on the other side then they are deliberately trying to be quiet, meaning they intend to ambush us.

Feral Then I will ask Purs to start chipping at the base of the door with his adamantine axe. Let's start with an opening just big enough to see through, then if we see nothing we'll break a hole big enough to enter through.

Ralph rubs his chin thoughtfully.

"A steel door . I don't suppose you have an adamantine weapon, Rhon... Hmm... no you don't but Purs does. That will do."

"Rhon, we are in no hurry. Take what time you need to try to ascertain whether anything awaits us behind those doors. Purs, if you would be so kind as to carve us an opening once Rhon is done. Exiel, stand by to shield them."

Rhon Please do a take 20 perception on the door.

Purs If Rhon hears nothing, please go ahead and sunder the door. Try to make an opening near the bottom so the giants can't just walk through the opening.

Exiel If you are back following the thread again please stand behind them and be ready to use EFS to protect them if something suddenly happens.

Ralph will check the door for magic. If he detects nothing suspicious, he will ask Rhon to try listening at the door. He will speak in hushed tones so as not to give undue notice to awaiting enemies.

"Rhon, perhaps a listen at the door will be more fruitful. Exiel, give me back my ring and be ready to cover Rhon."

Exiel activates Ralph's ring one more time, then passes the ring back to Ralph who also activates it. If Rhon moves up to the door to have a listen, Exiel will follow just behind.

Rhon/Purs If you want, Ralph will also let you borrow his ring to cast a CL3 invisibility on yourself. If the giants are giving us free prep time, we might as well prepare.

Rhon/Purs: Neither Exiel nor I have magical footwear but we can both fly so I do not think either of us need the slippers. We both wear cloaks too. As Exiel points out, I should take the figurine since Ralph is the only non-good-aligned character in the party. Spear can be someone's backup weapon.

Feral: Ralph will fly above Purs. Rhon will be in front of us. Since Exiel flies at about twice the speed Rhon walks at and has his echolocation and see invisibility spells on, Ralph will lend Exiel his ring of invisibility and send him forward to look out for enemies and give warning if he spots trouble. He will report back if he sees a door or a room with enemies within. He will double back as soon as he sees enemies and will not try to open any doors or enter any room on his own. He will use Ralph's ring to keep himself invisible. Since he flies at twice Rhon's land speed anyway, this should have little or no net effect on our overall travel speed.

Purs Since it is lying in a dragon horde instead of on a giant's torso, I presume it belonged to the earlier team that was here before us. But it might be small-sized rather than medium.

Addendum: Ninjaed by GM. Looks like Rhon can wear it.

Ralph turns himself invisible while the paladins put the loot into appropriate receptacles. He surreptitiously attends to his wound with his wand of infernal healing while they are unable to observe him.

Before setting off again, he will also use his ring of spell storing to cast air bubble and death ward on himself, then use spell study to convert his wall of stone and teleport spells into a cleric plane shift and store it in his ring.

"If I call for a retreat, make sure you come to me quickly. I do not believe Purs has prepared the spell to enter my demiplane, so I possess the only and best way of withdrawing to a safe location. Needless to say, it is in your own interests to keep me alive and conscious."

The invisible mage smiles darkly as his wounds are slowly closed by the fell magic from his wand.

"Hmmph. Coward. She sends her children to fight to the death while she flees upon being struck by a single spell. Pathetic."

"The eldest red dragon has lost her brood and will be severely weakened for around 14 hours. While I would have preferred to finish her off I am content to complete our mission while she mewls in whatever dark hole she crawled into. We should have time to rest and recover once without having to worry about her again, so perhaps we should press on to make the most of whatever strength we have left."

"Exiel, you must maintain the ability to see invisible creatures at all times. We now know of a powerful adversary with access to that magic, and though weakened she is still dangerous if allowed to surprise us. You will not allow that to happen again."

"In our earlier battle the giants in the forge were reinforced almost instantly. This time the dragon already had an improved invisibility spell cast upon herself from the moment we entered this cavern. The duration of that spell is very short, so she must have known of our imminent arrival. We must assume that we have somehow already lost the element of surprise. Consequently there is no longer any advantage in pressing on relentlessly. Instead we must assume that our enemies have already learned of our presence and concentrated themselves in strategically advantageous positions. We must be prepared to frustrate those advantages and not overextend ourselves. Rushing in headlong will only result in us getting killed."

He waves at Earl's remains.

"Case in point."

Feral Since it appears that the red dragons had roosts near the top of the cavern, after Purs has healed us up, we will do a sweep of the cavern with particular attention to the ledges that the dragons descended from. We can go together since Rhon and Purs are now air-walking. Detecting magic and identifying as normal. Ralph will also check the lava pool to see if it somehow magically generates lava wyrms or is simply a natural feature.

Rhon Ralph would never express it, but THANK YOU for killing that dragon. I really wanted to get Exiel out there this turn.

Exiel dismisses his force sphere and flies out of the tunnel (he will take the attack of opp). When he sees the huge red dragon he points at the dragon and shouts something suitably heroic with the appropriate ham to smite the evil red dragon (color-coded for PC's convenience).

Ralph follows Exiel out and draws his empower rod again as he moves.

"Yes, yes how very heroic. That direction then? 20ft laterally, so given the angle, right about there."

Ralph aims his rod in the direction that Exiel points in and casts an empowered enervation spell.

Empowered enervation: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 7 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 32
CL check vs SR: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (12) + 14 = 26
miss chance (high = good for me): 1d100 ⇒ 87
negative levels: 1d4 ⇒ 3 x1.5=4

Crit confirmation: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 7 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 27
negative levels: 1d4 ⇒ 2 x1.5=3

Feral: It is not just the numbers. The tactical elements of this fight are obnoxiously stacked against the players. An elder dragon that starts hidden and invisible and 5 younger dragons starting in a cave far above the range of most spells. Not to mention 6 highly mobile strikers in a large arena that gives them the full advantage of their mobility. If Exiel had not won initiative so he could use EFS and if I had not been in a stone body to tank a lot of those hits we would have fallen long ago. This would have TPKed a less optimal party. I thought Sean K Reynolds would have been experienced enough to balance this fight a little better.

Feral: Exiel will not include Rhon or myself in his sphere this time. I will take the hit. Are the dragons using wands? By my count all 3 remaining dragons have cast at least 3 true strikes by now (maybe they just have that many spell slots, but if they are using wands that could change my tactics).

Feral: I will be sending Exiel out to chase the big dragon on his turn. Please indicate his position and elevation so I can give Exiel's actions. Given Exiel's line of sight, and the length of the tunnel, he can't have gone too far with a single move so Exiel should see him easily one he gets out there even if he has a 250ft fly speed. Unless we are fighting a dragon old enough to cast quickened dimension door.

Rhon/Purs: By my estimate the red-bordered dragon has taken 47 damage, assuming its AC is above 18 but below 25. The other 2 dragons are unhurt. If Rhon kills the red-bordered dragon with his full attack, Purs can channel without healing any dragons. Green-bordered dragon has closed its eyes to attack me, so it cannot take any attacks of opp on Purs.

perc: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (18) + 20 = 38

"It appears we can expect company soon. I hear the beating of wings coming from deeper in the tunnel. It seems they think to cut us off. How... amusing."

"Exiel! Rhon! Finish this pathetic red piece of filth. We will have a new foe to deal with soon!"

Exiel swift action lay on hands: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Exiel stands up (or picks up his sword, whichever he did not do last round) and readies an action. When he sees the red dragon that retreated coming back again, he will attack the red dragon in front of him but target the other dragon with osyluth guile.

fight defensively: 1d20 + 18 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 18 - 2 = 34
piercing damage: 1d6 + 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + (4, 3) + 7 = 19
confirm: 1d20 + 18 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 18 - 2 = 28
piercing damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Ralph casts mirror image and puts away his empower rod.

mirror image: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

"Now then. Let's see how this plays out."

Rhon See if you can finish off this dragon before the other one comes back.

Purs If your Rhon and your mount are able to take down the dragon, could you heal Exiel a some more? I need him to tank the dragons coming from the other side.

The character is lying on the ground. A prone attacker has a –4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A prone defender gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to AC against melee attacks.

Standing up is a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity.

Feral Since the substance of the prone condition is that you be 'lying on the ground', would he not have lost the condition once he started flying again by virtue of not being 'on the ground'?

He can also simply hover as he cannot fail the fly check.