No one understands better than I how real life can impact gameplay right now. Take all the time you need. :)
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The energy the powerful hastening spell draws surprises Zaijka for a moment, but she quickly marshals her will and sends a tangle of faintly glowing lines from her arms to snarl around and entrap the alchemist's legs.
*gratefully accepts much-needed headwubs*
As Zaijka watches the group rush forward, the intricate images on her arms begin to swirl and dart around each other with almost frightening speed and intensity. A bubble of energy begins to build in her chest, and in only a moment's time, she can't hold it in any more. As she shouts in pain and frantic excitement, her tattoos swirl up toward her lips and dart outward on the wave of sound, separating to encircle the rest of the party in the same wild movement.
Sorry I've been out of it; that's likely to continue for at least a week or two more while I'm trying to deal with everything. I'm still kicking, but on top of the work-related insanity I have going on right now (60-65 hour weeks every week, one day off), I also have vertigo on the daily, so bad I can barely keep my feet sometimes. Feel free to bot me as needed.
Oh no! Best wishes as you deal with everything, and our thoughts are with you.
Sorry if I don't get a chance to post for the next little bit - work week from hell and it's showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. I'll try and get in posts as I can.
Zaijka watches from a distance as Bernard opens the coffin, standing ready should any surprises emerge.
Zaijka goes wide-eyed at Sysky's babbling. Zev had said allips' attacks could drain the sanity of their victims...but just how many hits had Sysky taken? "Sysky - come on, shh!" she chimes in in a whisper. "It's a - it's a new game, ok? We all have to be very quiet - whoever is quietest wins."
It feels cliche because I'm pretty sure every single one of my arcane caster characters ends up taking it...but in this martial of a party, boy howdy is it worth it.
Level up! Level 6:
I'll make the changes to the statblock later today.
Totally forgot to update my header! I'm pretty sure I'm actually at full hit points.
As Bernard passes, Zaijka once more conjures her spell of protection; the lines of energy swirl over him, pooling inside the gaps in his patchwork armor and lending him an ethereal glow.
No worries, it happens.
What Sysky said. It's better protection in this particular case.
With an opening in place, Zaijka rushes forward and sets a hand on Khardir's shoulder, and ethereal lines trace the outlines of his armor as well.
Seeing Sysky take multiple blows from the allip, Zaijka rushes forward and lays a hand on her shoulder, and a fine web of silver lines coalesces over the top of her already-impressive armor, imitating its shape and decoration precisely. Meanwhile, Zev flies back to Vibenia, pulling madly at her clothes and hair to try and wake her. "Move, move! Let Mother come to the stout one!"
Searching desperately, Zaijka sees Bernard's sword fall out of the corner of her eye, and she turns to shake his shoulder none too gently. "Bernard! Fight it!" she calls out, her voice husky with concern.
The only action I've taken so far is a Perception check - would I still have a standard action left to shake the sense into someone?
At Zev's bidding, both the raven and the sorceress cast their eyes about, searching for something, anything that could have belonged to whatever the creatures were before.
"Lo-o-ost!" Zev's voice echoes through the chamber as Zaijka fights through the hypnotic effect of the strange creatures' speech. "Mad, wandering, dead by their own hand! Show them something of themselves!"
"I can conjure a light, if we need it, but we'd sacrifice secrecy if we did."
"I’m sure your wizard'll soon have a better grasp on this than I do." Zaijka can't help but smile embarrassedly at Azmur's compliment. "I hope you're right." "...where the grioths stuffed Hapscot to starve..." "Wait - Hapscot's body is still here? Sysky's right, that seems like a reasonable first step. Damnation - if only it wouldn't take so long to get back to town! He'd likely be much more cooperative than the other lieutenants if we called him back with magic from a scroll to speak with him-" Then the news of the other girl finally registers. "Wait, another girl? Then going there definitely sounds like my next plan. Glad to know you agree, Sysky."
"Fortune smiled on us, finding you, Azmur - truly. I only hope we can repay the risk you take being so forthright with us." Zaijka settles back into her cushion, her face pensive. Idly, she traces small circles on her arm, and the raven flitting through her tattoos chases after her fingertip. "These lieutenants, then...it sounds like seeking them first would be prudent. Unfortunately I find it unlikely any of them will divulge the dragon's true name willingly. It's gruesome, but there is magic that could make them share it after...well, after they've been eliminated..." Carefully detached disgust sneaks into her tone. "Enchantment magic could convince them as well, although with them being magic users themselves they'll likely be resistant to such interference..."
Ew. That is a powerfully un-fun combo.
"...but we shouldn't discuss it here..." "Not here, Sysky - names have power. But maybe this will be of help." Zaijka withdraws a scroll from the overstuffed bag at her side, then uncoils a delicate, faintly lustrous rope from where it is secured on the outside of her pack. "I can use this rope to create a pathway to a small extra-dimensional space - it won't be roomy, but it should be safe and secret. We can talk there."
"Not the black dragon of legend - a green dragon, didn't you say, Azmur? Simply using the name to strike fear. He may be knowledgeable, as you say, but if he feels the need to use the name of another to hide behind, he is not so powerful as the Aeteperax of legend, I would think. We simply need to find a way to separate him from whatever forces he's called upon, whatever knowledge he's gained, and then we come on more even footing. There are spells that can accomplish that sort of thing, but they draw more from the psychic spellcasting traditions...I think I could sort out the basic principles, though, enough to make it work..."
Zaijka waves her hand as she examines the newcomer. With the motion, lines of force dart out of the tattoos on her arm to tether doors to frames and pull them closed, each in turn. He was right, whoever he was; closed doors would be safer.
As the grioth screeches overhead, Zaijka moves clear of the entryway to distance herself further from it. Drawing green lines from her skin, she conjures them together into a glob of acid to hurl at the creature as it retreats.
Zaijka winces as her celestial allies poof out of existence almost as fast as they had come into existence...but at least they had drawn a few moments' attention away from her allies. It was something. And now, for a stranger tactic...they aren't the only ones that can overwhelm the mind. She conjures the image of a warrior from her skin, and draws it upward into reality - but as the image coalesces together, the warrior's sword suddenly slips from her grasp, and the hilt strikes its wielder on the head before weapon and warrior both fall to the ground. If they're likely to find anything funny, it's a foe's failure...
As the eagles finish coalescing into being, Zaijka sends them forward with a shout, and they charge toward the nearest grioth, their warlike screeches shot through with a strange, bell-like timbre.
As Bernard lashes out at Sysky, Zaijka steps back out of his reach and hurls forth another knot of ethereal lines from her palm. It wouldn't hold him long, as strong as he was...but maybe it would be long enough.
Zaijka begins an incantation; as her hands swoop through the air, ethereal lines rise from her arms and coalesce into a pair of winged figures flanking her.
"Want some extra reach, Bernard?" Zaijka begins an incantation, and the tattoos on her arms begin to bulge outward, as if an invisible skin beneath them was swelling and growing. Finally, she sets her hand on Bernard's armor. The tattoos rush from their place above her arms to hover over Bernard's form - then suddenly, he rises up and out to meet the spectral outline! Her friend bolstered, Zaijka conjures a tangled nest of lines in her hand and throws it toward one of the sleeping grioths, hoping to entangle it in an ethereal web.
Ok, the worst of my personal life is hopefully past now. (60-hour workweeks every week are overrated. Sigh.)
"We, erm..." The Field Maralictor was not one to cross, Zaijka had decided quickly. "We were here kind of hoping to figure out the plan. Find out more about the situation, as it were. We saw only an illusion of a dragon, not the real thing, and illusions are incredibly easy to manipulate..." Embarrassedly, she lapses into silence, realizing her words aren't helping much.
Sorry from me as well, my big day at work that I've been promising for weeks now finally came to pass. XD Culminations of six months of preparation tend to eat up time like no other.
Finally got around to updating my statblock! It was a bit out of date, and I don't trust my record-keeping ability of late, so I used Herolab to rebuild with all the same options as before to check my work. +6 HP
"I don't think it qualifies as greed when the Lady herself told us to avail ourselves of the treasures here," Zaijka answers Bernard good-naturedly. "We should take advantage of whatever we can to protect Belhaim - it's what Tula and Arturic would have wanted. In the interest of being thorough, perhaps we should even plan to rest here for the night - I don't particularly relish the idea of resting in a crypt, but we do know that Lady Tula means us no harm, so it is as safe as perhaps any resting place would be."
Ooh, I missed that there was a mnemonic vestment? I will definitely take that, they're one of my favorites as I tend to heavily favor spontaneous casters.
I wouldn't say no to the amulet of natural armor, but I also acknowledge that I am not a front liner and there are others who may benefit more from the protection. If no one else wants it, though, I am a clothie and a squishy and need protection from the ow. XD
Yay level up! I'll be working on it through the day today.
"Powerful gifts indeed," Zaijka says with an air of reverence. "The amulet will give you the hide of a beast to protect you from attacks, the ring will protect you from strong acids, and the breastplate will allow you to manipulate fate itself! As for the sword, I could not even begin to work out the nature of its enchantments. It is mighty, though; of that, I have no doubt."
Zaijka remains kneeling in silent contemplation as the ring is retrieved. The spirit's words are reassuring, and invigorating - I only hope I live up to them. As Sysky returns, Zaijka rises to her feet and begins to examine the magical auras suffusing the crypt.
Zaijka follows Bernard in dropping to a knee. She was not a particularly formal or religious person, but it seemed the respectful thing to do in the presence of a spirit so powerful as to speak like this from beyond the grave. "We seek not your treasures for our own benefit, but for Belhaim's. A dragon threatens the town...and I am afraid I may have played some small part in aiding it, without my knowledge. I wish to make this right."
"Don't worry, Bernard - you can make it look like your patchwork armor if you prefer," Zaijka answers with a smile. "It's enchanted to look however you want - it could appear as a bathrobe if you wanted it to." She manages to mostly suppress a giggle as she turns to examine the rest. "Sysky is right, Vibenia - this crossbow would allow you to get past obstacles that foes might hide behind. I do not know what the bolts do, but they are definitely magical as well."
Having begun to examine the magical auras surrounding the sarcophagus immediately (who knows what other enchantments could be in place to prevent robbers?), Zaijka can't help but gasp softly. "Yes, it's magic that's preserving these," she answers Bernard, reaching out to gently touch the silk of the robe. "I don't think it's just preservative magic, though - they're enchanted for other purposes. Things he used while he adventured, probably. The shoes would help the feet cling to surfaces, even walk on a ceiling...but I can't figure out what the rest of these would do. They aren't likely harmful, but I'm perfectly content to let them rest with their owner." With one last long look, Zaijka's eyes lose their magical luster as she turns back to Bernard. "Lead the way," she answers simply.
Zaijka releases the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, one long exhalation that sends her elemental wafting back to the Plane of Air in its embrace. "...and we still have to find the Lady's resting place? If these were her allies, what on Golarion could she have become?"
Zaijka again sends her elemental toward the creature with a quick gesture, and it surges forward, sending tiny electrical currents dancing a short distance along the water's surface. Unfortunately, though, the creature's confusion at the strangeness of its foe has it bewildered, and the wraith easily ducks away from its half-hearted swing.
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