Female Init +4; Percept +26 |AC 28, T 19, FF 23 hp 140/140 | Fort +16, Ref +17, Will +13; +2 vs. fear, +2 trait bonus vs. Disease Resist Acid 10 | Base Atk +12; CMB +15; CMD 33
"Down the stairs we go. Let's clear the tower. I'd like to take a closer look at the road openings. Maybe we can use that to take the battle to the leaders once we are done here."
You descend the stairs to the ground floor of the tower. Four glittering columns of glassy, black stone support the ceiling nearly thirty feet overhead. Doors open on three sides of this massive hall, but to the south stands only an elaborate arch of black stone, enshrining a featureless wall.
As you enter, four constructs step forward from beside the arch. These statues resemble lean humans cut from blackened glass stone. Numerous razor-sharp protuberances jut from their bodies.
Knowledge (arcana) DC 22:
These constructs are obsidian golems. They can spray jagged shards of stone and explode when destroyed. Fire spells sharpen their claws, while cold spells blunt them. Stone to flesh to stone can negate their defenses temporarily.
"I've heard of these. I can sense how they work... These explode when destroyed, so stay back! And avoid fire or cold. It just makes them stronger..."
As she speaks, she keeps a hand on Nik'o to prevent it from attacking, and opens a pit under the golems.
Spiked Pit under as many as possible, no SR, Reflex DC 21, 80 feet deep Fall damage and spikes at bottom:8d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 2, 1, 5) + (6, 4) = 39
Wulfram prayed to the battle spirits to help him vanquish these constructs, and doubled in size! He spoke a command word to stop his spear from flaming.
Casting Righteous Might, and activating Enemies Bane (constructs). AC 34, DR 10/Evil
It's been about 10 minutes since you arrived at the tower.
Reflex:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Karla conjures a pit beneath one of the golems, and it plummets to the bottom. Wulfram enlarges himself and readies his spear.
The three remaining golems converge on the shaman, each one taking a hit as they draw near. They attack with their claws and spray shards of jagged obsidian at him, Rogar, and the animals!
17 damage to Wulfram after DR and 2d6 bleed. The obsidian sprays deals 25, 35, and 26 damage slashing respectively to Wulfram, Rogar, Sia, and Nik'o. A DC 18 Reflex save for each of the three sprays reduces damage to half. Everybody may act!
Karla frowns at the golems and opens a second pit.
Spiked Pit under as many as possible, no SR, Reflex DC 21, 80 feet deep Fall damage and spikes at bottom:8d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 6, 4, 4, 3, 2, 6) + (2, 6) = 40
Male Dwarf Geokineticist 17 HP 143(296)/325; AC 28/20/22 (defensive training) (+2 v goblins, +4 v giants); DR 13/Adamantine; 35% crit/sneak attack negation; Acid Resist 10 Saves +27/+19/+15; +5 init, +28 Per; 5/15 burn, 3/3 Internal Buffer
Reflex DC 18:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (20) + 19 = 39 I'm slightly confused as to whether I take 25 (0) or 35 (4) damage from the blast.
Rogar's skin helps him in enduring the flurry of glass, but with a motion of his hand, the glass shimmers, turning into metal and stone, and flying back at the golems.
Maximized Empowered Metal Blast:1d20 + 25 ⇒ (18) + 25 = 4392 + 40 + 20 + 25 = 177 Damage:14d6 + 1d8 ⇒ (2, 4, 1, 2, 5, 3, 4, 3, 6, 2, 6, 4, 1, 6) + (1) = 50
Each golem is shooting out its own spray of shards, so you each have to make 3 separate DC 18 Reflex saves. Each successful save halves the damage of that spray. The sprays deal damage of 25, 35, and 26. So if you fail all 3 saves you take 86 damage, if you make all of them you take 42 damage... Etc. Make sense?
If Wulfram can step back (ie. Sia and Niko move out of the way), he will stab yellow until it is destroyed, then red. If he can't step back, he'll have to attack green, which will get cover.
Melee bite +19/+14 (2d6+15 plus trip) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.. Wolf N Large animal Init +10 Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +9 AC 42, T 17, FF 37 | hp 163/163 | Fort +18, Ref +17, Will +9 | Improved evasion
With only one golem stuck in the pit, Karla refrains from casting any more spells. It's easy enough for Rogar to fire blasts down into the pit and slay the final construct. It is too far down for its death throes to hurt anybody.
The first two golems explode, dealing 39 and 43 damage to both Wulfram and Rogar (DC 18 Reflex save for each one for half damage). The third one hits Wulfram, Rogar, and Sia for 35 damage (DC 18 Reflex for half).
Male Dwarf Geokineticist 17 HP 143(296)/325; AC 28/20/22 (defensive training) (+2 v goblins, +4 v giants); DR 13/Adamantine; 35% crit/sneak attack negation; Acid Resist 10 Saves +27/+19/+15; +5 init, +28 Per; 5/15 burn, 3/3 Internal Buffer
Ref DC 18:3d20 ⇒ (6, 11, 18) = 35 Okay, math... 6, 8, 4, for 18 total damage.
Rogar raises his arm to shield his face from the blast, suffering only minor cuts from the explosion, as he looks around the room, trying to get a sense of what else might be just beyond the walls before they open any doors.
Melee bite +19/+14 (2d6+15 plus trip) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.. Wolf N Large animal Init +10 Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +9 AC 42, T 17, FF 37 | hp 163/163 | Fort +18, Ref +17, Will +9 | Improved evasion
Sia dodges out of the way of the flying shards.
She can't fail a DC 18 Reflex save and has Improved Evasion.
Melee bite +19/+14 (2d6+15 plus trip) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.. Wolf N Large animal Init +10 Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +9 AC 42, T 17, FF 37 | hp 163/163 | Fort +18, Ref +17, Will +9 | Improved evasion
Wulfram finds no traps. The doors open onto the top of a stairway, beyond which is a heavy iron gate blocking the tower's entrance. Two hobgoblin archers stand guard here, but they seem surprised that enemies are coming at them from inside the tower!
I'm assuming that Righteous Might (duration 16 rounds) ran out before Wulfram opened the door. His AC goes up to 36 (no size penalty to AC and +1 dex bonus; the natural armor bonus from Righteous Might doesn't stack with Barkskin), so only one arrow would hit (alternately DR 10/Evil would still be in effect).
Wulfram cried, "For Phaendar!", as he stabbed the archers.
Melee bite +19/+14 (2d6+15 plus trip) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.. Wolf N Large animal Init +10 Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +9 AC 42, T 17, FF 37 | hp 163/163 | Fort +18, Ref +17, Will +9 | Improved evasion
Sia rushes forward as far as she can get toward the Archers.
Rogar annihilates one of the archers with his blasts and wounds the other. Wulfram scores one strike with his spear, then Nik'o pounces on the hobgoblin and finishes him off with a frenzied flurry of teeth and claws!
Each archer has: +2 breastplate, +1 scimitar, +3 composite longbow (+3 Str) with 40 arrows, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of mighty constitution +2, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +2
"Wait a moment, Wulfram. Wouldn't it be better if we all looked like we belong? I can have us look like these Hobgoblins' leaders and those archers. It will allow us to get close to the lieutenants before all the Nine Hells break loose."
Female Init +4; Percept +26 |AC 28, T 19, FF 23 hp 140/140 | Fort +16, Ref +17, Will +13; +2 vs. fear, +2 trait bonus vs. Disease Resist Acid 10 | Base Atk +12; CMB +15; CMD 33
"I love that idea. I can stomp around like a tiny hobgoblin." Eustoma starts to giggle at the picture. "We're doing well. I'm so glad that we were able to teleport into the top of the tower, and not have to fight our way up."
"Ok so Wulfram will be Scabvistin, and we'll be bodyguards. Eustoma and I will be these archers. Let's grab their bows and arrows for good measure, and Rogar will be Scabvistin's bodyguard. Sia and Nik'o we can turn into golems, unless they can act as mounts for Wulfram and Rogar. Or perhaps just pets? Any thoughts on that?"
Karla's spell effectively disguises your group, allowing you to proceed with confidence. Ahead, fluttering red banners flank wide stairs before the tower gate. You can see out into the rest of Fort Phaendar, and the hobgoblins moving about your former hometown pay you no mind.
Before you head into the fort proper, you return to the last few rooms on the tower's ground floor. A locked wooden chest in a corner contains correspondence to Scabvistin from the Legion’s arcane advisor, the naga Zanathura. Several of the notes reference an obscure arcane theory called geomancy and order scouting reports for oddly specific but tactically useless corners of Nirmathas. Zanathura’s final letter mentions several chilling details.
My experiments with the geomantic nodes here have succeeded in rendering the citadel unassailable and our troops within indestructible, but the General considers them useless isolated as we are. The nodes also seem to function well as anchors, however, and with the reports you have sent I believe I can align our stronghold with Nirmathas and repurpose this ancient complex as a sort of transposition engine. The results are likely to be devastating and widespread, however, at least to those outside the citadel, so continue recalling our forces into the vault.
The second room is a supply depot containing months' worth of rations and camping equipment. A large, dusty chest in the corner contains a bottle of air, a traveler’s any-tool, a 10-foot-by-10-foot carpet of flying, and a bag of holding (type VI) containing 500 1-pound bags of salt.
Looking back out at the fort, you identify several points of interests--the barracks, the prisoner pen, the Taproot Inn, and the secondary command post.
"Zanathura... It almost fooled us to our death!" says Karla as she tries to make sense of what is being mentioned, in particular the perils outsiders would be facing.
Wulfram read the letter and offered his opinion, "I wonder if we need to do something about these 'geomantic nodes' before we assault the citadel? Presumably the scouting reports are to do with the location of these nodes."
