While she's disappointed that her Prince Carrius ruse didn't have an effect, Triphylla springs into action, flying into a rage and moving to flank one of the cultists and then attack from behind.
Mutagen+Rage+Crowd Control+Power Attack+Sneak Att: Attack +13, Damage +6+4d6, AC +7
Triphylla ambles casually into the room, looking the spitting image of the dead (risen?) Prince Carrius II. She mills about looking for nothing in particular, noting this, that, and the other. Here eyes settle on the paperwork and whatever importance it offers to the casual observer.
That's enough time where Triphylla's extracts have likely expired. Only her Dex Mutagen is currently active. She is also no longer Invisible, but instead has Disguised herself to appear as Prince Carrius II.
"Huddrigga is not our enemy unless we make her so," says Triphylla. "She is a tradesman, applying her talents in the dark as poison-crafters are often forced to do. I believe her role is simply to keep the cult malleable to the will of its master. Without that individual, she will find employ elsewhere and be of no further harm to this community."
Triphylla hopes her read on the dwarf alchemist is accurate, or they may yet find themselves facing her bombs or poisons before the night is over. It would have been simple to kill her in cold blood, but that was not the halfling's way.
But the encounter caused her to consider her inventory.
"Here," she says and hands out a small vial to Lope, Diana, and Valeria, keeping the last for herself. "Essence of Independence, a serum that can aid you if you feel you are under a mind-altering magic or effect. You may also force it into the mouth of another to give them a chance to break such a spell."
With her Indivisibility about to wear off, she uses the potion that Lope did not take from her, choosing to once again disguise herself as the dead Prince Carrius II. She smiles. "The last time I claimed this face, the Emperor was murdered. Maybe it will bring us luck again."
Disguise:1d20 + 3 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 3 + 10 = 24
@DM, How much time has passed since we started into the basement?
Triphylla stands staring at the old dwarf. Laudanum. Hardly an offense worth execution. A strong case could be made that if half of Taldor was properly dosed with the stuff the world would be better off.
If she wasn't such a rude old cow, Huddrigga might present herself as a sympathetic figure, slaving away with noxious chemicals in this poorly ventilated basement, surrounded by human cultists without brains in their heads.
It would be an easy thing to launch into her from hiding and tear her to shreds, but that kind of impromptu murder glossed over a lot of interesting nuance, and Triphylla suspected Huddrigga was an interesting character, if only circumstances were different.
The halfling relaxed, deciding she bore no malice toward her fellow chemist. Retreating from the room, she gave Lope's cloak a tug on her way out.
Triphylla recognizes an alchemy lab when she stumbles into one. Although this might be a proper time for her to raise her voice and extend the ruse, she does not want to give up her invisibility when it is so likely to be useful in attack. Instead, she maneuvers quietly to flank the old dwarf and prepare to attack if necessary.
As the group files purposefully into the first room on the left, Triphylla loses herself in the folds of Lope's cloak, moving only when the large human does.
Stealth:1d20 + 19 + 20 ⇒ (18) + 19 + 20 = 57
When the rats leave she exhales. While the others perform their meet and greet with the local prisoners, the halfling begins preparation for battle with the golem, or whatever else awaits.
Extracts have 7 minute duration so probably still active?
AC 31, Spd 50 (Dex Mutagen, Cat's Grace, Expeditious Retreat)
At Alchemist level 7, Triphylla could, I believe, get to be totally unbalanced, with Beast Shape for the Smilodon, on top of all of her other mutagen/extract/barbarian insanity. The animals available cover a lot of abilities from flight to darkvision to combat maneuvers, etc. Maybe it's too much although it probably depends on how I play it. I dunno. Thoughts?
Apologies for my recent absence. Looking for a new job and after two months with no bites suddenly I have a flurry of interest. I'll try to lvl up tomorrow or friday at the latest.
Triphylla retreats back up the stair, and still invisible, she sidles next to Lope and Valeria and says, "The golem is stomping around down there. But I think we could easily fool it by disguising ourselves as cultists. We've seen what they look like. I could remain invisible for long enough to get past it, and Valeria has the hat that enables her disguise. Lope, I have an extract of Disguise Self and the ability for you to consume it without consequence."
She places the extract vial into Lope's hand.
She considers St. John and Esinti. Are they still with us?
Triphylla nods. "Fine by me. Hopefully we don't wake the lot of them and have to fight our way out. Yes, those are the stairs that lead to the thing I saw. If you have anything else to do to prepare for a fight, now is probably the time."
She drinks one of her prepared Invisibility extracts. "I'll head down first. Give me one minute to have a look and come back to the top of the stair."
Even though she is invisible, she descends only to the last stair and then peers around the corner into the hallway (if there's light).
Triphylla looks into the room around Lope and does a double-take when she spots the old man in the chair. Her face flushes and her limbs seize, but then she tugs at Lope's finger to turn him back out of the room.
"If I were to trust my eyes I'd say that's no man, but a monster from another plane! I know what I said before but it would be best to leave this one be; a denizen of Leng cannot truly be killed on this world, and we'll make an enemy that will haunt us the rest of our days. Best we leave it alone and pray it does not wake."
"Agreed. Seems this theater has served no legitimate purpose in recent memory. Nevertheless, I know from my father that these spaces often have hidden doors to move quickly through the backstage area. Possibly even to the list floor. We should be thorough. "
Relieved to see her companions waiting on the other side of the door as planned, Triphylla follows Lope and his dancing lights into the auditorium proper.
To the group she says quietly, "We should steel ourselves now against the dangers to come. The risen Prince would be a spectacular thing to see but believe we all suspect it is a fraud - a trick of lights and treater craft."
She begins her ritual consumption of mutagen and extracts to prepare for the inevitable fight.
One after another, she drinks her dexterity mutagen, then her extracts of Shield, Expeditious Retreat, and Cat's Grace.
Properly bulked up, she looks around and asks, "Do we want to investigate these rooms adjoining the stage? I'd prefer to fight my way in than out."
Sorry for the delay. Instead of posting last night I watched Groundhog Day with my wife. That movie is still great and kinda feels like my life right now. Incidentally, Harold Ramis, the writer and director of that movie, said the Bill Murray character repeated the same day for somewhere between 10 and 40 years!
Also, I had previously updated my Resource tracker. Notably, added 2 Invisibility extracts and also a Disguise Self and Reduce Person.
Having successfully teleported herself inside, and finding this part of the theater empty, she turns her attention to her next task, but instantly regrets her plan. The beam barring the door looks very heavy and also pretty high off the ground, relative to her small frame. She's pretty sure just by looking at it that she won't be able to budge, but she gives it a shot.
STR:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
She screws her face and curses quietly. There is another way, maybe. Digging into her pack, she finds a vial of silence dust and quickly pours it around herself. Then she pulls out a vial of mineral acid and carefully pours it over the end of one of the metal brackets holding the beam, figuring she only needs to break off the end of the claw to push the beam off horizontally.
As the group approaches the Encircling Bower for the second time, Triphylla quips softly, "Ruin and religion make a proper pairing, no?"
The halfling tugs the Cape of the Mountebank around her, having cinched it to keep it from swallowing her whole. She moves briskly ahead, sneaky in her approach, looking for guards or anyone wary of unwelcome visitors.
@DM, will you re-introduce the event or should we just go with what we encountered previously, as you have reposted? I was holding for a new establishing post but we may not need it.
"Oh yes, that one with the enormous fluted weather vane resembling a wyvern atop the building’s highest spire. Hard to miss from any vantage point. Thank you, sir."
I've no wish to delay the action if everyone wants to move ahead.
Triphylla has advocated for rest. Unless anyone objects, the next evening sounds like as good a time as any.
"Indeed. Well, seems we'll have the better part of the day tomorrow to explore the town. As much as I enjoy the cuisine at the Inn, I wouldn't mind finding a pub and a simple stew to go with a couple pints. Can you recommend something for lunch tomorrow, Enumerator? Preferably some place that would have a lot of traveling clientele. I can't speak for the rest of the group but I'm feeling isolated in Yanmass."
Triphylla would love to hear some news of the wider goings on, even if it's rumor and speculation.
"With the Cape of the Mountebank I move inside and unlock any doors in our way, or get behind that golem. Whichever. It seems our final destination is clear but before that I need a few hours rest. This meal has been exemplary but it's best not to slay spirits when tired. Thye mind can play tricks."
The Cape would be awesome for Triphylla to get into sneak attack, but if someone else wants to make a case for it - the newer players haven't had much of the spoils yet and I'd be happy to have one of them use it.
Triphylla spits, of course. She picks at the shreds of human flesh and hair which bespeckle her crimson stained armor. As always, the wash of fatigue puts her in her butt for a minute while the automatons dissipate for lack of fighting targets.
"We should sack it, at the very least,' Triphylla follows. "In the name of the Empress, of course."
"Seems like there's only one remaining loose end. Did I tell you there's a construct in the basement of the theater? A clay golem or the like. Whatever the cult is hiding down there will take either stealth or a full assault to uncover. I'm for either approach."
"But before any of that, I could go for a bath and lunch, not necessarily in that order."
It seems to me that although we killed Commander Staubel, Tallgrasses is still a threat to the stability of the region. It still has the potential to make war. Am I missing something there?
It would help if I had CMD and CMB correct in the stat line but I seem to have missed a couple levels update. Base CMD is 10+1+3+5+1=20. Currently, Crowd Control is in effect again for a +1 Dodge bonus so AC is back at 34. Urban Barbarian Dex Rage adds a +4 morale bonus to Dex for another +2. Alchemist Mutagen is +4 alchemical bonus to Dex so add another +2 to CMD. Cat's Grace is a +4 enhancement bonus to AC and Haste gives +1 Dodge bonus as well, making CMD 27. Was probably 26 during the armor turn.
5' Step, activates Crowd Control: +1 atk, +1 AC.
The Stack: Dex Mutagen + Dex Rage + Cat's Grace + Haste + Power Attack + Crowd Control + Flanking - Satire = +17
Deftly dodging the animated armor's shield bash, the halfling seizes her opportunity to eat some Earl. She leaps at the sinister spellcaster with horns, teeth, and fangs!
"St. John--" Triphylla calls when she sees the Duelist engaging with the summoned armors. "If we close on Yander together he can't slip away. I'll mirror your steel with my claws!"
Having been knocked backward away from the target, Triphylla brushes herself off and drinks a Shield extract, then tries to reposition to get at Earl Yander. If he can use Dimension Door once he may be able to use it again.
Going to take the chance with AC 33 against the AOO. Moving clockwise around Red to avoid the AOO from Yellow.
Triphylla grits her fangs when the animated armor are summoned, but she quickly takes from her pack an extract of Invisibility and then moves to flank Earl Yander, beginning a Rage while she moves.
Triphylla keeps running, dodging through pedestrian traffic without breaking stride. She's nearly caught the carriage and hopes St. John and Diana are close on her heels, but there's no time to look around.
When the moment offers, she attempts to leap onto the back of the carriage.
Acrobatics:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
But she makes a clumsy show of herself and falls well short, only to watch the carriage trundle away. She picks herself off the cobblestone and consumes an extract of Cat's Grace while resuming the chase.
Because of Expeditious Retreat, Haste doesn't make Triphylla faster, but it will give her an extra attack when the time comes!
The halfling takes off running downhill toward the river and the ferry dock. She figures she'll either head off the Earl or catch him, with any luck. The crowded streets would slow down any carriage or big person moving on foot, but not Triphylla.
Triphylla has the Underfoot Dodger alternate racial trait: City-dwelling halflings do not treat crowd squares as difficult terrain and they gain a +5 bonus on Acrobatics checks to move through the spaces of larger foes. This racial trait replaces fearless and weapon familiarity.
Her pulse quickened, Triphylla shrugs off the disorientation, focused fully on the task. She cannot see ahead with all the tall folk between them and their target, but she assumes they are somewhere nearby the Earl.
"Diana, can you make us faster, and perhaps give yourself the power of flight so as to guide our movement?"
