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Roderick's torch sheds 30 feet of illumination, plus 30 feet of faint illumination past that. With a DC 10 perception check, any character can observe the 2 figures in greater detail.

back from Gen Con. you guys need to go next year, there was tons of pathfinder events and you would all have tons of fun!!!

Roderick heads up the staircase, followed by Victor.

The chamber is silent once more, and the birds within the cages are still paralyzed and motionless.

It is just a few hours past midnight of the 27th of flamerule, now the 28th of flamerule.

I'm gonna be at gen con for the next few days, but feel free to continue posting. you guys have the upper tiers to explore or you can go back through the hallway and head back to the aquatic exhibit.

"I may want to copy some of those down in my journal, once the night is through Izyk."

Rolls out alchemy set and begins inspecting the bottles.

** spoiler omitted **

"Morgra, let me see that thing."
Pointing at the flesh crafted mask.

** spoiler omitted **

This mask allows the wearer to use cause fear once per day as a standard action. Activation is through speaking a command word in abyssal, and the mask must be worn to be used.

Everyone gains 500 xp from combat

The scroll reads:

CONTRACT OF SERVICES

twenty-four hours after services have been terminated, the familiar spirit will be returned

unless the bound mortal has perished, at which point the bound mortal's familiar soul (and all of its belongings) is forfeit, and will be paid to Abraxis the Unfathomable indefinitely

the scroll is signed - Lyssa Riverborn

Hmm lets be seeing what dis mask is. Every great witch docta be having a mask.

You pick up the mask, and realize with some revulsion that it is crafted out of gnome flesh. The mask is etched with runes, and detect magic will cause it to radiate a faint conjuration aura.

"Hmm...these are interesting..."

*I'll cast detect magic and attempt to identify all the items I can*

** spoiler omitted **

"If no one objects, I'd like to keep this book. It seems full of interesting and useful spells. As for the scroll tube, I'd like to open it and see what's inside...perhaps she kept some sort of last resort she never got to use...."

You make no progress identifying any of the potions or items, but within the scroll tube you find a vellum scroll scrawled with profane sigils and runes.

Anyone with Abyssal as a language can decipher the runes with no rolls, if you don't have Abyssal you may attempt a DC 15 linguistics check to figure it out.

Elessar and Roderick tend to the corpses and begin searching for any kind of valuable information.

I'll only be listing the gear they have that may be judged important. Personal effects are present on each body, but I won't be listing trivial mundane items. Items in italics will radiate magic under inspection of a detect magic spell. Potions and scrolls will be identied automatically unless they are higher level than the party.

between the 3 dead adventurers, you each gain 156 gold.

You don't find much in the way of information, although these are undoubtedly mercenaries or adventurers, hired for the same task as you. The dead woman was certainly a wizard, her spellbook and wax-sealed scrolltube signify that much.
The spellbook is bound in leather and writ in a fine, elegant script. It is full of the standard cantrips, plus identify, magic missile, icicle dagger (UM), jump, vanish (APG), expeditious retreat, color spray, bungle (UM), and burning hands.
The wax-sealed scroll tube is made out of burnished bronze, and has beeswax sealing the cap. The scroll tube does not radiate magic.

Throwing my trident at the Dretch attacking it's weak point for massive damage.

** spoiler omitted **

Your trident impales the dretch, pinning it to the lower stairway. It vomits foul ichor and expires in a spasm of pain.

The stinking cloud dissipates shortly. Victor comes to his senses, though he is literally frothing at the mouth and appears to be quite unsettled. Cleaning the blood from your weapons, you regroup to nurse your wounds and do a quick head count.

The surroundings are poorly lit, and the caged birds are still motionless within their prisons.

There are 4 dretch corpses littering the floor, which is now slick with gore and blood.
After shedding light on the dark corners of the room, you find 3 more corpses. One robed human female, one eldery human in banded mail, and one half-elven youth in studded leather. They have each suffered a grisly fate, each worse than the next. Their belongings appear to be mostly undamaged. These poor saps were likely exterminated before they had a chance to fight back.

There is a stairway leading to the top 3 tiers of the aviary.
There is an exit back to the hallway directly to your right.

The first dretch falls, screaming profane curses with its last gasp. The other dretch is suddenly flanked by eidolons and damion, and turns about to face its new opposition.

party's initiative again

This round victor is still feared, 2 rounds remaining. Once elessar posts we'll go to the next round. If he hasn't posted by tomorrow sometime I'll post again

Both dretches are wounded, dretch 1 is near death.

Dretch 1 steps forward five feet and tries to claw and bite Morgra.

Dretch 2 descends down the stairs, attempts to engage in melee and bite a random target. 1d5 ⇒ 3 1:Snarl 2:Sludge 3:Izyk 4: Morgra

Party's initiative again

Victor...."AHHHHHHHH DEMONS! SO MANY DEMONS!"

thanks to your enhanced movement, you manage to clear the 20 foot radius of the stinking cloud. the nauseated condition lasts for 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 rounds. you'll be in the hallway near roderick next round, still feared and nauseated.

1d4 ⇒ 3 rounds of fear for Victor.

true enough. it's the party's initiative, post your actions. damion, izyk, morgra, and the 2 eidolons are in melee range of dretch 1. the other dretch is up on the walkway, near the top of the stairs.

The cause fear spell causes Victor to do a quick turn-about, charging headlong down the stairway as quickly as he had at first climbed it. The first dretch descends the stairs, aiming to sink his teeth into the first person who gets in his way.

1d5 ⇒ 4 random character attacked by Dretch 1. 1=Izk,2=Snarl,3=Sludge,4=Morgra,5=Damion.

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21 vs random opponent in melee, 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 damage if successful.

As suggested by Macade, we're going to do combat rounds a little differently. If a member of the party hasn't posted for 36 hours, the combat will proceed as normal for that round with the late character forfeiting that round. We can change this rule if it doesn't work out.

I don't mind it. The more informed everyone is, the better things flow. Currently we're still waiting for ethan to declare his action. If he doesn't post by midnight tonight, someone else can fill in for him this round.

No problem. So to clarify, since the cloud was cast on the center of the room the party is in, would we all be subject to a Fort save, or are we going to backtrack that and the demons do something different?

The demons on the second floor walkway summoned the stinking cloud up in the air, so it started drifting down to the first floor. Since they were up on the walkway they couldn't see or target anything on the first floor. As far as I know, everyone has moved out of the area the cloud is landing in.

You sure it doesn't just make a 20 ft. radius, 20 ft. high bank of fog emanating from the area designated? That's how I understood it from reading it...

You're right, I always misunderstood the spread spells to literally spread out every round to encompass more squares. looking deeper into the rules I didn't find anything to back this up. so the cloud is only 20' radius, centered in the middle of the room.

What's the area of effect for a stinking cloud?

The cloud has been out for 2 rounds, and it spreads at 20 foot per round, so right now it is at 40 feet, and will be at 60 feet the round after that. On the dretch's initiative the cloud will land in the center of the first floor and continue to spread for several rounds.

Player's initiative will end once Derrick and Ethan post, feel free to act on the information provided in this post and revise your actions accordingly if you wish.

The party regroups and recovers for a moment. Izyk's senses are jolted momentarily as one of his eidolons imparts to him an empathic signal of warning.

Looking above you, you see the spiraling brass staircase and a circular walkway that partitions the first and second tier. From the ledge of the walkway, a swirling noxious purple cloud emerges and begins hovering downwards, spreading out to encompass the party. The cloud smells of pungent decay, and the air shimmers with faint magical light.

You hear menacing voices echoing from above. Demonic laughter, guttural profanities, and a babbling of esoteric utterances spoken in a devilish language emanate from the second floor walkway.

Those of you with Spellcraft may roll to identify the cloud or the demonic utterances.

The cloud will descend 10 feet this round (round 3), and it will begin to fill floor one and encompass the party on the following round (round 4). The cloud will move on the dretch's initiative. It is the party's initiative now.
The stairway is 40 feet in front of where victor and damion are standing (the stairway goes up 10 feet before connecting to floor two). The eastern doorway is exactly 30 feet away from all party members, and it leads back into the hallway.

Recapping, it's the party's initiative. Post your actions.

I could be wrong, but I think you guys all did EXACTLY enough damage to drop them each to 0 hit points.

With a flurry of attacks, the demons are flayed, battered, shot, stabbed, and eviscerated. With their last bloodthirsty breaths, the demons swing their cudgels with reckless abandon.

After attacking, the demons fall to the ground, oozing blood from a brutal variety of wounds. They are down and bleeding at -1, you can coup de grace as a full-round action at your discretion.

I guess the gunslinger is its own class now instead of a sub class fighter

did anything significant change?

Round One, dretches have initiative

The squat demons raise their cudgels and charge headlong towards the front line of the party.

Swing-and-a-miss, dretches are now adjacent to victor and damion, and they have -2 AC this round for charging.

With weapons drawn, and torches outheld, the party slowly proceeds into the aviary. Shadows are pushed back by the glow of torch and lantern. Cages, full of blurred movement and panicked screeches, emerge from the darkness.

From the hazy darkness, you hear a chorus of snorts and gurgles. The profane sounds instantly hushen the cries of every songbird on the first tier. All motion becomes still, and as feathers drift to the bottom of cages, two small, squat figures approach from the stairwell. They are dripping in gore, and their disfigured countenance, wattled skin, and aura of buzzing flies clearly identifies them as demons of some sort.

The demons approach, gurgling and vomiting blood as they stagger forward. They wield crude cudgels and are unarmored. The demons begin their turn 25 feet from damion and victor. Other party members are at least 10 feet behind damion and victor, but no more than 100 feet behind them. I think everyone still has weapons drawn.

Here are the stats for the dretch, should make combat quicker if everybody can see the combat stats. I know you guys are pretty good about avoiding metagaming, so I think this will be a good way to run combat.

I will move to the end of the hallway and peak into the room ahead.

** spoiler omitted **

"Better pray Morpheo doesn't have a Roc loose in here."

Peaking into the aviary, you see a flurry of motion as birds rattle against their cages, beating wings and raising a hell of a noise. Many dead birds litter the bottom of the cages, covered in wounds or simply dead from over-exertion.

Cages of all shapes and sizes fill the aviary, and the entire aviary stretches upwards into 4 upper tiers, tied together by a gilded brass stairwell that spirals upwards elegantly. The cages have all been designed to accommodate a variety of species. The upper tiers will need to be explored firsthand before you can gather much information there, but the first floor looks like it is full of songbirds of various breeds.

With the combined results of your knowledge nature checks...
You are all able to identify the feathers as belonging to a common songbird. With this information, it stands to reason that this man was somehow overtaken by birds.

Shifting your focus to the end of the hallway, you are welcomed once again by a cacophony of warbling squawks and troubled screeches, echoing from the aviary's vaulted enclosure.

You wonder if the other seven adventurers stationed in the west wing have fared as poorly as their fallen comrade...

I will retrieve equipment from my healer's kit and begin performing a quick autopsy on the corpse.

"Let us see what ended the poor man's life shall we?"

** spoiler omitted **

It's a minor detail, but both my eidolons have darkvision, Dave. Why didn't they notice the prone form earlier? They rolled better than Elessar's subsequent roll...

Darkvision trumps low-light vision in nearly any situation, but because moonlight is the only source of illumination, low-light vision is paying off in this particular case. Normal darkvision extends to 60 feet, and elessar is noticing the prone form at the far end of the hallway. The faint moonlight coming in through the windowed hallway gives 15 feet of normal light and 15 feet of dim light beyond that. The body is 40 feet away from the window, so under normal circumstances only a character with low-light vision would notice it without being closer.

The party continues down the western hallway.

The silence here is almost oppressive. Continuing down the corridor, you keep your senses focused on the possibility of lurking demons or other hazards. Following the elven physician, you are led to a prone humanoid form. A small pool of blood spreads from the collapsed man, who is lying face-down with arms outstretched on the ground. The form is motionless, and is clothed in studded leather armor.

Bolstered by Roderick's non burning flame and the presence of his hand cannon Victor enters the room boldly looking around to see what sort of deep sea menace has been dredged to the surface for the amusement of nobles....

The inky blackness is illuminated somewhat by Roderick's torch. Approaching the nearest wall, you find that it is constructed of some kind of transparent material, possibly enchanted glass. The walls here are open windows into the deep sea habitat, and as you observe the wonders within, you can't help but feel somewhat detached from the surface world. The first wall to your left displays a squirming mass of writhing tentacle-like objects clustered around a slimy petrous rock. The tentacles writhe and twist, reaching towards the glow of the torch. A cloud of tiny glowing creatures briefly hovers around the tentacles before darting into the darkness again.

"Damion, stay here and guard the initiates."

I will follow behind the young lad, bullseye lantern leading the way.

"Can't let you wander off alone there friend. Seems no one wants to see the Aviary, though I would rather see the deep seas exhibit."

perception:
Keeping a look out for more demons during the trek to the Aviary exhibit. 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
"You know that something had to have let this bird out of its exhibit right?"

Izyk: You are standing at the entrance to the western hallway. Your eidolons notice little more than faint moonlight being shone in through the windowed hallway. The threshold into the hallway is completely unbarred, the double oak doors hang open. You hear the distant flapping of wings as the tickwing disappears into the darkened end of the hall. Just behind the left door, a bronze marquee stands. An inscription on its face reads: AVIARY EXHIBIT

Victor: You snatch a talon from the quasit, after checking twice to make sure the creature is entirely dead. Turning to the door, you pull down on the door-bar, causing both doors to swing open inwardly. The doors open very smoothly and quietly. You notice the marble floor here is covered by a rich violet rug. Peering inside, your eyes discern only darkness. It is eerily similar to staring into an inkwell: only cold unmoving blackness greets your vision. In this exhibit there are no windows, and you recall Dirlish's words about this exhibit being a display of rare deep sea creatures. No doubt the displays within were designed to mimic the utterly black void of the deep seas. You may need Damion's lantern to continue safely.

I think derrick is still having internet issues. Does anyone else have a light source?

Are you waiting for that decision to resolve the three actions that just took place?

yes. I'd like to know who is going where.

I need to know which direction the party is going. You guys can split up and explore the two different wings, but I wouldn't recommend it.

honestly I don't know. Everyones been online, and most have posted on your PbP, and yet no one has posted here. I asked Derrick If he posted yet, yesterday and he said not yet.... Dunno

Derrick is having internet issues, he can only access the internet on his phone. >.<

"Gui, I taught you be eatin everyting that flies. I be tinking that thing might have put up a fight wit ya but looks like we have more den enough muscle to take care of da small ones."

*Morgra jabs at the qausit making sure its dead*
1d20 +3
if it hits 1d8 +3

*Morgra pats victor on the back*

Good job Victa dat be one less demon you be fightin when ya get ya brudda back.

You put the creature out of its agony, and the demon gurgles as it expires. Before you are able to withdraw your spear from the prone form, the green bird swoops past your head, flying into the western wing of Morpheo's museum.

ENDING COMBAT

On my turn I'll ready to shoot the thing if it comes with in 20' with one of my guns prefferably before it engages in melee.

Roderick loads his ladies, licks the sight, and takes aim...

Victor pulls out his blade and readies an action to charge and attack anything that comes near a party member.

Gripping your fire-and-acid-pitted blade, you gnash your teeth in eager anticipation of rending demonflesh and sundering demonbone.

Fires a crossbow bolt at the Quasit.

Rolling to Confirm Double Crit

Loosing your bolt during a prescient moment of oneness with the universe, you penetrate the demon's eye. The tiny fiend shrieks, hurling itself from the ledge as the emerald jungle bird wheels screaming among the party members. In a frantic blur of motion, the impaired quasit feverishly beats its wings, trying to escape but instead careening headfirst into Victor's waiting blade stroke. After being nearly bisected under the ribcage, the demons form is hurled into Roderick's waiting sights, where the poor beast is blasted to hell and back. The smoking, blind, and near lifeless quasit collapses to the floor, with one wing twitching. It screeches feebly.

Morgra, you may use the reach of your spear to attack the blind quasit as your attack of opportunity. If you choose not to, the quasit is prone, disabled, blind, and helpless.

EXPERIENCE POINTS GAINED: 100

Guess we let Stew roll initiative since he has a +4 bonus.

Knowledge Arcana 1d20+8 to try and identify the creature.

I'll inspect the exotic bird wondering if I have ever encountered one before on my travels, then take a look up after Izyk's warning.

** spoiler omitted **

Framed by the moonlight, your gaze detects a tiny winged humanoid figure creeping along the ledge of the narrow windowsill.

You all notice a tiny winged demon in the domed ceiling about 50 feet above you. Thanks to Elessar's keep perception, the party gets to act in the surprise round.

Beginning Surprise Round - Player Group needs to select a character to roll initiative.

*The bird in the central room is odd, and I try to recall my travels through the varied wildernesses, thinking perhaps I've seen it or it's kind before...Snarl and Sludge remain ever-vigilant, and I can sense their unease at the situation facing us.*

** spoiler omitted **

A single emerald feather drifts slowly to the floor.

I will set the lantern down on the floor before laying simon out on the floor. I will go up and inspect the door, seeing if it can be opened.

Perception. 1d20 + 1

Perception = 5: You are startled by a screech from the bird as it launches itself into the air and wings towards the domed ceiling. The bird circles the dome, testing the windows before landing on the narrow ledge of a windowsill.

The bird continues to watch the party, preening its feathers nervously.

I'll pick my self up, still nursing my bite wound. "This'll be sore in tha mornin. Can one of you fellers help me out here?"

I am at 3 of 18 hp so I could use some heals. Beyond that I'm more concerened about the nasty beast so I'll be looking for it. Also I designate Chris as my roller if for some reason I don't post in time.

** spoiler omitted **

The central chamber is pierced by moonlight, which beams down through the windows of the brass domed ceiling. By moonlight, you notice a large and brilliantly colored bird perched on top of Morpheo's bust.
The bird preens its feathers for a moment, then lifts its head to regard the approaching party.
The chamber is suddenly very quiet as the bird regards you.

To the west lies the oppose museum wing, the hallway leading there appears darkened.

To the south lies the exit.

To the north lies the new exhibit. The twin oak doors are currently closed.

After searching, you are all fairly confident the demon is nowhere in the immediate vicinity. With it teleporting away, there's no real way to tell where it is right now.
The presence of a demon, while unsettling, is not nearly as unsettling as the thought of more than one demon being nearby. If one blood demon managed to infiltrate Morpheo's palatial estate unnoticed, there could very well be more lurking the hallways and exhibits.

And where is Morpheo's spellguard? Whatever magic is used to notify them of intruders must have been dispelled or subverted somehow.

The shadows dance by the light of Damion's lantern.

Unless notified otherwise, I'll assume you are all advancing into the central room. Marching order is currently: Damion in front with lantern, Victor in the front as well, Elessar, Roderick, Morgra and Izyk behind the two armored guys. If you want to state another marching order, feel free.

** spoiler omitted **

"Look out Damion, he's behind you! Just kidding don't tarnish your armor. Well it looks like he teleported away. Better watch ourselves, and Simon needs to be watch in case that thing shows back up."

** spoiler omitted **

"WATCH OUT HE REALLY IS BEHIND YOU DAMION!!!!"

Damion and Victor back away from the demon as the rest of the party regroups. From within the sphere of darkness, abyssal chanting and muttering can be heard. The chanting falls silent. No movement is discernible in the darkness, and as the moments pass, the silence becomes a looming psychological force.

Abruptly, the darkness fades into nonexistence and the lantern light bathes the hallway in yellow light.
The demon has vanished! Escaped by means of some sorcerous trick no doubt.
By the light, you do a quick head count. Roderick looks haggard, but alive. Simon is stable but still out. Victor is wounded but the injuries are mostly cosmetic. If anyone missed the appearance of Izyk's unique companions, they would notice them now.

We're out of combat now, you guys get 250 experience points for surviving the combat.

The demon left behind a mess of blood. The demonic blood is easily discerned from the human blood, as it sizzles and smokes on the stone floor.

Faint illumination is available within 30 feet of the windows. All other unlit areas are considered dark. Damion's lantern sheds normal illumination with a 30 foot cone, and dim illumination 30 feet beyond that.

The Central Floor Room is over 200 feet ahead of you. Morpheo and his tour group will be somewhere North of the Central Floor Room, and the other party of 8 adventurers was stationed in the West wing. If you decide to continue, remember that Simon is still unconscious and is dexterity drained. Leaving him behind might not be safe. I'll remind you guys that your party is primarily CN, so if you decide to leave him behind, it won't be a mark against your alignment.

NEW COMBAT POSTING RULES
We're going to switch to grouped initiative. The players (you guys) will choose one character to roll initiative. Obviously you'll be picking the character with the highest initiative. I'll pick the creature with the highest initiative and roll for my group. Once initiative order is determined, all characters or creatures will act within their grouped initiative. This will make it easier to post combat actions, and you guys can still use tactics and strategize by using ooc discussion or whatever to flank, use heals, ready actions, set up combos, etc.

ALSO
We're going to try to schedule each combat round in a maximum window of 12 real-life hours. If someone can't post by deadline, then a substitute player will take that person's turn for them. Everyone should pick somebody to roll for them, and it should be a mutual agreement. If this doesn't work or it feels to restrictive we'll try something else.

I think hes actually at 1 since he is 1 point from dying which was -7

yup, you're right. at -8, even if he was stable, he'd still be a corpse.

*since the demons away Morgra pours a potion of cure light down Roderick's throat*

1d8 + 1

Stew, it's your initiative and Roderick is alive, conscious, and prone at 0 hit points. He is 30 feet away from the demon. Roderick will probably bear scars on whatever part of his body the demon bit him, but it will make for good drinking conversation.

Well since he is in a Darkness spell now I have to roll miss chance. High = Success

1d100

I usually ignore miss chances in the case of critical hits.