Do we get AoOs? If so...
Aude will cast her cure serious wounds and steps up to Eltariel.
"Don't worry , this is not your moment to meet Pharasma"
Audes spell heals Eltariel of her wounds and..
We move onto round 3
Layjiani 20..grabbing for ring
Eltariel 16
Guardian 13
Avinar 11
Holgur 10
Gashelle 6
Aude 4
Eltariel grabs the ring from the constructs back with surprising ease
Eltariel will double move away from the construct around the ziggurat.
The construct once again turns into a cube and rises out off that form upright..launching a furious blow at Layjiani
The Scout manages to backpedal and the blow is glancing but still painful[7 points]
Gashelle takes a moment to try and parse the entire room. Cubes. The vial. A cubic guardian atop a ziggurat. A ring.
Athena is the goddess of wisdom. Lakshmi is the patroness of bounties won through prudent effort. What can Gashelle understand about this fight, that would make her godesses proud?
Wisdom check: .
EDIT: Oh, yeah!
its a wearable ring..Layjiani is holding it in her hand,a plain gold band..
Gashelle notices something about the room..the placement of objects the arrangements on the shelves seems..symmetrical.Is this a place dedicated to order and in that case has the gaurdian reacted to the disturbance of that order...
Avinar and Holgur lay into the construct with renewed vigour..it is now looking decidedly the worse for wear..(no AoO for Holgur due to the creatures way of standing up..but I used his strike as his action for this round)
"Etariel, I think the construct is a guardian of some sort. The niches around the walls and stairs are filled with trinkets and tribute; maybe the vial belongs in one of them. Once you touched it, the construct may have registered you as a thief. Try placing it back into a receiving niche."
"That was the first thing I tried!" Eltariel replies. "The problem is, we are now out of place in here."
"There are f-five of us. What if we stood in the center of each side, with a fifth up here at the t-top?"
"Wouldn't work, I grabbed the vial again!"
After a brief internal struggle, Layjiani shrugs and backs away 10' from the construct then places the ring on her finger.
" Eltariel , try to give the potion to someone else to see what will be the thing reaction . "
"Agreed!" Eltariel nods. "Ready Gashelle?"
Gashelle nods.."Aye..just throw it t..true"
Aude moves away from the combat
Round 4
Layjiani moves away and places the ring on her finger..the construct lashes out as she goes connecting with another painful blow[10 damage]
Eltariel mutters a word and is wafted up on a column of air onto the first step of the ziggurat, moves to the closest point she can to Gashelle and either passes or tosses the vial to her.
Throw:
Gashelle nods.."Aye..just throw it t..true"
No, no. I've been here. I just didn't realize you folks were expecting a reply before Etariel's throw!
Does Gashelle need to make a Dex check or a CMB roll to catch it? plus hatever modifiers you think are appropropriate, Wellard.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Gashelle nods.."Aye..just throw it t..true"
No, no. I've been here. I just didn't realize you folks were expecting a reply before Etariel's throw!
Does Gashelle need to make a Dex check or a CMB roll to catch it? plus whatever modifiers you think are appropropriate, Wellard.
--
The vial flies through the air and thuds against Gashelles chest..unfortunately she cant hold onto it and it tumbles to the floor at her feet..Miraculously it does not break.
The construct ignores this and pursues Layjiani striking another crushing blow on the scout[12 points]
Using her agility and acrobatic skills, Layjiani tumbles away from the construct and moves as far away from the construct as she can, while trying to lead it past the warriors so they can attack it.
Acrobatics:
Avinar chips some more rock from the construct..
Holgur?...Aude?
Aude will casts moderate cure wounds and move near layjiani in order to cure her
Holgur tries to get as close to Eltarai and Layjianni as he can in order to draw off some of the thing's attacks. He reasons that he can probably take more punishment than they can. But he hopes to take this thing down before he finds out.
As Gashelle picks up the vial, she looks up to see Holgur hammer a blow into the thing. "Yessss!" she cheers, under her breath.
Distinct cracks are now appearing in the fabric of the construct.....
Round 5
Layjiani 20
Eltariel 16
Guardian 13
Avinar 11
Holgur 10
Gashelle 6
Aude 4
Layjiani tumbles away from the guardian and then rushes round the side off the ziggaraut in her attempt to lead it past the fighters.
Advancing to the corner of the ziggurat, Eltariel readies a firebolt to hurl if the construct disengages from melee to chase Layjiani.
Attack: Ranged Touch
Damage: Fire
Strangely the construct ignores everything in it's pursuit of Layjiani..Holgur and Avinar land decisive strikes on it and it crashes to the ground...
"An inspired plan, Layjiani ... can we take a look at why that ring may be so precious?"
Eltariel will use detect magic and Spellcraft ...
"Damed unnatural thing... My friends I fear that whatever that was could easily have overcome any one of us. Ha, Ha we took it down as wolves fall an elk!"
Nodding at Aude in thanks and ignoring the pain of her further wounds, Layjinai then nods at Eltariel and gratefully hands over the ring.
She then moves over to the construct, picks up her bolos and starts poking around in the strange creation to see how it worked and looking for anything interesting.
Perception:
Layjiani goes to take the ring off..and finds she can't it seems to be ..stuck.
Eltariel Avinar and Gashelle exchange glances which say "Oh no not again"
"Oh not again," Eltariel sighs and goes to examine the ring on Layjiani's finger.
This ring is a plain golden band.
The Ring allows its bearer to use mending at will and keenedge once per hour, both as a 9th level caster.
Once per day on command, the Ring can create a set of masterwork tools or masterwork instruments related to any Craft or Perform skill in which the wearer has at least 1 rank, causing geometric patterns to flare and fade around the band. After 9 hours, they disappear. They also disappear if anyone but the wearer tries to use them.
Dedicated to Centivus the Shaper, this minor artifact grants the bearer a +4 sacred bonus to any Craft or Perform check as long as it is worn.
Layjiani
Putting on this item changes the wearer’s moral alignment to
Lawful, not affecting the ethical alignment (evil, good,
neutral). If the wearer was already Lawful, he or she
benefits from a heal spell.
Green with envy, Eltariel relates what the ring can do ... the powerful magic item she has seen with her own eyes.
"... I have no idea how we could remove it, though, my friend, or if it has ill effects as well. I strongly suspect it may. There's something there I don't quite understand. I'd need to work deeper on this."
Layjiani seems nonplused for the moment and simply stares at the ring, seemingly lost in thoughts of her own...
Wellard
huh, ok, so Layjiani's Lawful now, eh? Ok, well, some questions:
-Should I change her sheet to reflect this? And also, does the artifact make this a welcome change? Does (or Can) Layjiani have any desire to remove the ring? Or is she perfectly content to have it on?
-out of curiosity, do those benefits to crafting skills also apply to any New skills learned?
-Finally, what's the deal with the Word? Is there more to that or is it just for 'show'?
Layjiani
After a few moments more, Layjiani raises her head, looks her at her companions and says " That did be...interesting. From what you say Eltariel, it do seem this ring would be better on your finger. But it do be stuck. And as it do be having no harm on this one, this one thinks we can think more on it later. For now, let us do be about our business."
After this she squats to grab her bolos, searches the construct and then the rest of the room.
Wellard
Well, this should prove for some interesting roleplay to say the least. In all my years of D&D this is the first I've personally run across this type of situation. I'll change the sheet, but I won't announce it or anything, as I think it will be more fun to just play it out and see the other players reactions. (Of course Dabbler already knows though as he's reading this right now ;-)
As for wanting to take the ring off, here's how I see it. If Layjiani is now Lawful, and will be so even if the ring does come off, then this means a profound change has been made in her. For to me, the moral alignment is more significant than the ethical alignment. There can be many gradations between Good, Evil and most people will at least a few times in their lives find themselves thinking or acting in ways which at least some others might judge to fit into either or both of those categories. But to be Lawful or Chaotic is more a part of one's nature, one's make up. So if she is now Lawful, then this would now seem to her to be the Right and Correct way to be. For remember "Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion."
So it won't be like in her head a switch is thrown and she's suddenly 'Hey! I'm Lawful now! But she acting or reacting in certain ways which, to her comrades at least, will seem different, but to her will only now seem natural. IMHO anyway.
I'm not exactly sure yet how this will be, but at the moment I'm thinking that Layjiani may be a significantly different person in many ways. But I guess I'll let her tell me exactly how that will be.
Here's a question for you though Wellard- In D&D one's alignment can change based on one's actions. Has this artifact made it impossible now for Layjiani to act in, or eventually switch back to a chaotic nature? If she was a Paladin for example, would it make it now impossible for her to act in a non-Lawful manner? I wonder...
Anyway, just thinking out loud.
PS: Does it have a name as far as Layjiani knows yet?
PS: Search check? Anything in the construct?
"Well, here's a warning to all of us, that we'll have to be careful in what we touch around here. Onward, my friends. Let us see what else is in here?"
Eltariel examines the vial that caused all the problems in the first place, and then we can look for other items around the room if there are any ...
Layjiani
A through search reveals a scoll of Spiritual weapon(CL5) and the vial is Oil of Magical weapon(CL1)
When we'll leave this place , I 'll try to remove curse you Layjiani if you want.
Ok who need healing and how much ?
"Thanks to your earlier spell, I'm completely uninjured, but I think Avinar has take a few blows."
Gashelle tips her head sideways as she looks at the scroll. "Aude, what is your goddess's spiritual weapon?"
"What was the guardian guarding? This seems an enormous room, and an elaborate show to watch over," she gestures in the nooks along the walls, "essentially junk. Maybe these turtle folk were more whimsical than we've been lead to believe."
"I wouldn't call that ring 'junk'," Eltariel laughs. "It's the most powerful item of magic I've ever seen. Offhand, I'd say it was worth more than everything else we own combined."
Gashelle nods, still a little uncertain. "But that ring was part of the guardian, perhaps guiding it somehow. Creating this great chamber, with all these niches, and the Bluestone Golem --- all of that, just to attach a powerful ring to the golem's back like a 'kick me' sign?"
"Well, it made sure we couldn't find it unless the golem came after us, and let's face it, the golem couldn't by bypassed if you wanted the ring."
Eltariel goes to explore the remains of the golem thoughtfully.
" Pharasma's priests usually carry a misericorde dagger to cut the cord after birth or to abbreviate the death of someone by a coup de grace but Pharasma is in no way a martial deity "
From the top of the pyramid, Gashelle will recite a simple prayer. "Centivus, god of shapes and lord of the boundary between the ideal and the world, we thank thee for the privilege to stand here in thy sacred space, and we ask whatever blessing thou might choose to bestow upon us as we seek the source of the terrible weather outside and the safety of our peoples. May we do right by thy sacred ring, and may our actions bring thee no dishonor."
Where next oh gallant adventurers?