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Raymond, not wanting to really waste his bird by dismissing it, puts his summoned creature to use by sending it ahead of the party into the next room in hopes that it triggers any potentially deadly traps before anyone of value does. "Let the bird go first. If it dies, we'll know somethin's waitin' for us."
I have a feeling that this fight is going to be a tough one. Was there something we missed that could help us deal with these things? I went back, and aside from being warned about them I can't really think of anything that would work towards helping kill them. Also, just an FYI that I will be out of town and unable to post over this coming weekend. I'm heading to my dad's house for father's day and he lives way out in the sticks with no net access at all. Please bot me if need be. Sammy and the eagle will continue to fight, Raymond will continue to try and avoid direct combat. The eagle's stats are linked in my profile under Raymond's Creatures in the Special Abilities field.
Sammy lashes out at the snake closest to him, but he fails to land a blow on the lithe constructs.
Raymond ensures he's out of striking distance and summons a twisted falcon directly above the snake that Sammy tried to hit. "Let's see how this snake handles a bird." The falcon attacks in a flurry of beak and talon.
Sammy claws at the snake as it moves to attack Zinbah, his arms lashing out like whips as they stretch around the mage in order to strike their target.
Not to be a bother, but could we get something that indicates when a round ends and the new round begins? It looks like we're on round 2, but I can't really tell for sure.
Sammy's arms lengthen as he prepares to strike at first opportunity. Meanwhile, Raymond readies his spear.
Raymond uses his circlet to simply change the color of his skin and hair to more common fare, a dark tan and brown respectively, while donning an outfit similar to that of the guards at Brandescar. "Alright, let's go find us a knight to torture."
Raymond remains quiet as the boy spills all he knows. When they lock him back in his small nook and leave the room, he congratulates the women for their good work. "Impressive. You had that boy eatin' outta your hands. I don't know much about this Mitra or whatever, so I figured I'd do my best to just shut up while you two talked. But with this other guy, Balin or whatever, how well do you think we're gonna be able to trick him at first?" "An' if we're changin' our looks, what's the normal look for just some low rank soldier? Someone who don't know much but would be likely to be sent as part of a search party? 'Cuz I figure I'll be just standin' back and bein' quiet again unless this guy decides to try an' fight."
Raymond keeps quiet, letting those more familiar with the religious ways con the boy into leading them to their goal. No point in messin' with their work when they've got the job handled.
Raymond summons the dog, and points at the orb in the center of the room. "Fetch." The dog bounds off towards the podium, jaws open and tongue lolling around outside its mouth.
"I can see in the dark, but I can't see into that thing. Nothing I summon would be able to either. But I can send something in to check for anything else." Raymond says as he summons a rabid looking dog and sends it into the darkness.
"Shatter what blinds us? What, are we supposed to punch the shadows or somethin'? Sounds like a joke to me. But the part about burnin' stuff, that's more like it. You gimme somethin' to burn and I'll take care of it."
Just noticed I've fallen behind on keeping track of Raymond's gear. I need to get that updated, but I won't have a chance to until probably Tuesday morning. All my combat stuff is fine, save for the alchemist's fire and tanglefoot bags being missing.
Raymond shivers in the cold. "Gimme a fire over a frost any day. Let's get outta this place before my blood freezes over." As the mold recedes in the face of the even greater cold, Sammy proceeds into the next room first, in order to act as a 'human' shield of sorts. Raymond quickly pushes in behind him in an attempt to get away from the cold.
As everyone else busies themselves with searching the room, Raymond brings for his eidolon by inscribing his summoning circle upon the wall of the room. Sammy climbs through the temporary portal and flexes his arms as he looks at Raymond with his featureless face. Once Sammy is by his side, Raymond follows Morossa to the south. He shows no interest in the gemstone that was just uncovered by Amanda. "I don't even know why we're doin' this. Seems pointless to just be scratchin' around in this guy's basement because he can't be bothered to." When they enter into the next room, Sammy begins carefully feeling over the walls and stepping through the room, inspecting just about everything as he goes.
Raymond rolls his eyes in annoyance as he's told what his 'training' is. "Whatever. Let's just get this done with."
At level 3 I can definitely summon a lemure. And not only that, I can summon them easily, 10 times per day, and they have a higher Con score than normal so they can be bled more effectively. While I understand that 2 or 3 of the group are going to be gaining negative energy affinity through some way right around level 3, I still think that the wand of CLW is the way to go for right now. And it's not like it will instantly stop working on those of us who don't go for negative affinity when the people who are going that route get it.
"You talk big, but takeover's are never clean and never as easy as people think. I've got experience with this. Thinkin' you got the upper hand makes you do stupid things, and in the end you lose. I still say it's a better idea to bribe off whoever you need or eliminate the handful of people that won't be bribed rather than try to shake up everythin'. It goes smoother, and while you still got that chance of gettin' caught if you've played your cards right you ain't got nothin' to worry about 'cuz they can't make nothin' stick." Raymond picks over his food as he does his talking, not really favoring one item over another but more sampling everything available. Nothing he tries really seems to satisfy him though, because everything is being soured by the lingering taste of his slavery.
Actually, the crafting rules say that for wands you need all the components for each charge of the wand. Which is something that makes wands of Infernal Healing fairly cost prohibitive unless the GM handwaves the material portion by saying that devil blood is in a normal spell component pouch or something.
"Survival is good an' all, but servitude ain't livin'. It's bein' owned. What's gonna happen when I get a crew of my own together and try runnin' my business and they learn that I'm bought an' paid for by this guy? That don't look good on me. It makes me lose respect when they know I ain't the top dog." "I broke out of that place with you guys because I figured we could help each other out with that. Partnership of opportunity and all that, you know? I didn't expect to be gettin' involved in this whole schtick. All I want is to set up a crew again, run some numbers, work on my, uh, security consulting, acquisitions, a little banking on the side. That sorta thing. Eventually, yea, I had plans on takin' it further than that, and the police probably wouldn't take too kindly to certain activities of mine, but it's easy to just grease a few palms to get my way when I need to. Takin' over the government completely is a bit beyond my scope."
Raymond is still rather displeased at his current situation and so as conversation turns to the contract his demeanor sours again. Recalling how some of his newfound friends signed the contract unquestioningly, he bursts out with an angry tone. "I can't believe you guys signed on without so much as a blink. There's a lotta potential for you to get screwed over in that contract. It's so heavily weighted for him that you may as well chain yourself to his ass so you can kiss it more often." "I'll keep my end of the deal for as long as I have to, because I signed the thing and it's a binding agreement. I'll keep my word, but that don't mean I have to like doin' it. I go from being condemned to labor to being condemned to servitude. One master for another. Not much of a trade if you ask me... I guess if it comes down to it I'll probably outlive the guy thanks to my old man though. It'll be a good 150 years or so before I keel over, while I bet the Cardinal's only got another 30 or 40 tops. An' by then I figure I'll be in a position to be runnin' the show around here. Not only that, but I'll head back home and show those backstabbin' brothers of mine exactly why our old man chose me to take over instead of them..."
With the contract signed, Raymond's unhappy demeanor is unchanged. As soon as he's given the option to leave the room, he does so without saying a word to anyone. He's very clearly displeased with the way his attempted negotiations went. When he's back in his room, he throws a fit. He mutters curses under his breath, trying to not shout loudly as to draw any extra unwanted attention, but he throws some of the furniture about the room making it a moot gesture as it crashes about. When his slave arrives in the morning, he's calmed down somewhat but is still irritated. "I need a tailor. Now. I also need a makeup kit, some jewelry, and a handful of other things. I made a list. I'm not in a good mood today, so you'll get them quickly or I'll let Sammy use you as a punching bag. Understand?"
Oh I know. I wasn't going to sign it and immediately go "HAH! I WIN!" It's more of an ace in the hole. Asmodeus is a fan of contracts, while Cardinal Thorn essentially violated the contract by including the "free will" bits but forcing it to be signed on threat of death. Eventually, when Raymond believes he has enough power to do so, he'll make a move. But until then, he'll play along.
Raymond suppresses a smile to nothing more than a smirk as he cuts his forearm and signs the contract. "Just makin' sure I was clear on the situation..."
Raymond reads over the contract that's presented to him, noting the same bit that Morossa did. He also notes something else at the very end of the contract. Signed under my free will, eh? More like signed under duress. I may just have myself an opening here that makes this contract null and void. At least in my case... "So, Cardinal, you see that I'm not the only one in this group that has misgivings about this contract of yours. It's very one sided in your favor. But you say if I can't just walk away from this. You say if I don't sign it, I'll die, right? I'm just wanting to make sure I'm clear on that point before I do anything."
Just an FYI, I would have no problem at all with Raymond being killed right now. I know I'm pushing it, but that's what he would do. He's smart, but not wise, so he's going to be stubborn and think he's more valuable than he probably is. I am kind of hoping that conceding for a year is enough to buy him some time though.
As the spell hits Raymond he narrows his eyes. Sammy's arms elongate as the eidolon gets ready to defend its master.
"Show me the contract. Considerin' that you don't seem to be takin' no for an answer, I'll sign. But I'm adding a write-in - In a year's time, I want the opportunity for renegotiation. You ain't got nothin' to worry about as far as me not doin' the job until then, because I keep my word, but I ain't gonna let you twist my sac forever. You don't wanna give that one concession, then you may as well kill me now. But if you do you'll never know what an asset I can be. And trust me when I say that you will have many a use for a man of my talents."
Well, I went with Enlarge Person for my new spell. I have a feeling that Raymond will end up spending more than a few rounds in combat being idle while Sammy or summoned creatures do the fighting, so a full-round casting spell isn't much of a problem for me. Also, I looked at the Reach evolution again, and it says to just "add 5 feet" of reach, so by RAW a Large eidolon will only have a 15ft reach if they already have the Reach evolution. Not bad, but not as good as I was hoping. My profile and quick stats have been updated to reflect being level 2.
Raymond seems uncowed at the threat of death. Without changing his stance, he continues his negotiations. "I have a hard time believin' that you'd spring someone just to kill 'em. Especially if you think they were slated to die anyway. Seems a big waste of time and effort, and you don't seem to be a guy who likes to waste either of those. But anyways, I was set for the mines and was gonna break out one way or another. All you did was get me out early. And like I said, I appreciate that. But you still haven't actually offered any real terms." "Now, correct me if I'm wrong on this, but from what I been able to put together, this Asmodeus guy is a big fan of contracts. What you're wantin' me to do is sign on to a verbal contract with you, but you're not bein' too specific about what I get from this deal. You're wantin' me to enter into an agreement where I pledge my life to you in exchange for honeyed words and sweet talk. There's a lotta wiggle room in what you say. I'm to be a soldier, sure, that's pretty clear. But what exactly does 'high rank' mean in this case? Are we talkin' a general or a sergeant here? Either of those is high rank compared to the lowest of the low, and so either could fit your words. And even more, what's 'prominence'? Are we talkin' governor, minister, what? That's the kind of ill-defined wording I like to avoid unless it's in my favor." "So I don't like to enter agreements with people who won't tell me what the agreement's really for. I'm a businessman, and I have a feeling that you are as well so I hope you see where I'm comin' from here. See, I got plans of my own for this place, they probably have a thing or two in common with yours, and I figure we could reach a mutually beneficial arrangement with a little work. But I want guaranteed minimums, not just vaguely worded maximums. You offer me something with substance and we'll see where things go."
Well, my eidolon has a natural reach of 10ft, and I'm not sure if enlarging him will give him a reach of 20 or 15. As for Grumblejack, I don't think he's really going to be sticking with us. I think he's supposed to be a more permanent companion later on. And the attitude is all a part of negotiating. Raymond was a boss on the plane of fire. He's not going to kneel to someone without good reason and good reward. He hasn't said "I won't do it." He's said "I can do it, but you haven't really given me any reason why I should beyond vague promises. Make me a real offer, and we'll see what happens."
I will once I get everything done with my leveling. I haven't even updated the statblock in my profile yet.
Raymond listens to the speech, standing with his arms crossed and a bored, unimpressed look on his face. As the others pay instant respect, he raises an eyebrow. When given a chance to speak, he says "Well, you're not what I was expectin'. I thought it was some broad what wanted me sprung from the joint, and then it's really you - a guy. And you say you want me to serve you? I ain't served no one in years. That don't mean I ain't grateful for the help in bustin' outta there, or that we can't come to an agreement, but I don't just flat serve no one, at least not no more. Where I come from, I was a feared and respected man. I know I ain't home and my name don't carry much weight around here yet, but I ain't willin' to give up my pride so quickly after bein' what I was before. You can't expect a guy to go from bein' a king to kissin' someone else's feet." "So lay out your terms, and we'll talk. But I ain't gonna just bow down right away like these others. If that's what you're wantin' from me, then I may as well just leave now."
I'm pretty sure everyone has rolled their HP now, unless I missed someone. I got a little bit in on my leveling before I came in to work tonight, and I'm mostly done, but I'm trying to figure out what my new level 1 spell should be. I could grab Infernal Healing, but I don't see that as being something worthy of grabbing if we're just going to be getting wands of it. Rejuvinate Eidolon is kind of "meh" when we've got other ways of healing it, and it can't help anything other than my eidolon. Magic Fang could be useful for my eidolon, but it has two natural attacks and not just one, which makes it a lot less useful, unless I'm reading it wrong and it affects both claws as opposed to only affecting one. I'm leaning towards Enlarge Person, Protection From Good, or Shield. Better battlefield control, or better defenses. Which would you guys prefer I take?
Roger that.
Also, WOOHOO!
Are we rolling HP, or are we doing averages? I don't remember that being mentioned anywhere.
Raymond lets himself be led back to his room, taking note of the house, and of some of the slaves themselves, as he goes. As the slaves bring him his food and wine, as well as the fresh clothes and a bath, he sighs. "Now this is makin' me homesick... It's been a while since I got this treatment." After finishing eating and having a drink or two, he snaps his fingers at one of the female slaves. "Get over here. I could use a sponge bath. And maybe you could bring another one of your girlfriends in too. There's a lot of me to cover, and my man Sammy here could use a wash as well..." After a short time he reemerges, cleaned, dressed, and refreshed, with a freshly cleaned Sammy in tow.
Raymond claps his hands and rubs them together. "Well, here we are. Let's see who my mystery admirer is! I'm ready to get me some action after the last few days. Let's hope she's a looker!"
While everyone else does their bit, Raymond lets his summoned eagles feast on the slain dogs until the magic that binds them to this plane wears off. Once they vanish, he resummons Sammy. With his bodyguard at his side, he pridefully strides across the bridge, like a man who just conquered the world, to join Morossa, not bothering to be stealthy in the least. "Why you sneakin' around for? We got everyone already."
"Call it a hunch, but I'd think that they'd send all the guards once that horn blew. I don't think we've got anythin' else to worry about now. Anyway, tubs here needs to go into the drink if we're still plannin' on framin' him."
Yea, Raymond doesn't really see much use in the whole "worship Asmodeus" thing unless it gets him toward his greater goal of being the Boss of Bosses on the criminal side of things. He's also less forgiving and would rather kill his enemies unless they specifically seek him out to surrender, but he's deferring to others right now because a prison escape like this is a group effort. I still haven't decided if I'm going to have Raymond contend for being the party leader once we're outside. He may just tag along as an underling for as long as it suits his needs, slowly building a base of power, before he wrests control. Or, if the group seems to not care about the criminal element and is more religiously driven to claim power over the state, he might just stay quiet and do his own thing while making sure the new government doesn't take a dislike to his activities.
Raymond's eagles continue to tear into the remaining dog.
"When you're done, my pets, you're free to eat your fill from these vermin. You have served me well this day."
I know I said I'd try to limit myself to only have 2 out at a time, but I'm under attack by two enemies, so I called out a third.
Raymond winces as the dog bites into him. "Filthy mutt! I got more friends, you know!" he says as he takes a step back and summons another eagle into his newly vacant space. The new eagle immediately sets upon one of the dogs with talon and beak as the older eagles do the same to the guard.
As the guards come up the stairs Raymond's eagles screech loudly and set upon their faces, scratching at their eyes from above.
Meanwhile, Raymond prepares himself to summon another creature as soon as one of his eagles falls.
"I think you made the fat guy mad. If he don't like arrows, let's see how he likes a couple birds peckin' out his eyes."
Spooky: The eagles I summoned have the fiendish template, which at 1HD gives them Darkvision 60, Fire and Cold Resistance 5, SR 5, and Smite Good 1/day. Which, aside from the Darkvision, probably don't matter for this fight since I doubt that the guards are spellcasters, or have any DR, and the eagles don't have a charisma bonus. So, for this fight at least, they should be effectively identical to their Bestiary stats.
As the guards approach, Raymond summons two twisted, fiendish looking eagles to replace his dismissed servant.
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