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Well hello stranger, or should I call you "skulk" (grin)...Thank you for your interest in our endeavor! We hope we don't disappoint in our attempt to avoid the doom the Rune Lord would cast upon the world. I hope your hero's have as wonderful an experience as we have! OH!! It seems we are on the move again, nice to have met you...fair winds Friend!
(Waving with a big smile, wink!)
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Touring Xin-Shalast
It appears much was assumed on my behalf as the sneaks lasted longer than the Octopus thingy! During our tribulation I witnessed more than one gaseous spirit of a felled sneak float and wisp it’s way beneath the raised area where a good portion of the combat had taken place. Whilst the others were finishing off the remainder of the sneaks I grasped my keepsake and walked through the stone staircase and found a chamber with a number of coffins, some of which were occupied! Startled by the skitter of loose stone I retreated only partway until I found yet another spirit wisp float to an empty coffin and form into one of our sneak combatants. All were immobile and non-reactionary as I entered the room with Uther in hand. One by one I leveled Uther taking careful aim and with my other hand shielding my face, and loosed his furry. Waiting for the last to float in and manifest I took the opportunity to relieve them of their nasty blades and other bits of value and returned to the troupe. Sadly I was UNABLE to get a better accounting of the “Octopus” as it too had attempted escape by the same means and had been finished by Fredereich. I had not witnessed the transformation nor to whence it made its escape, and no one else either had the time or inclination to CATALOG its peculiarities.
We regained Morgiv and assured him of the demise of the “Hidden Beast” as he called it. We returned to his “Cyst” (EWW!!) and spent a brief moment with his people before retiring to GrAnnies private arcane oasis. While resting I did manage to write a bit of our encounters and sketch the entrance to the city, though I am sure it will give no bearing on size or scope and will completely rely on my description to express the proportions. After a good rest we bid Morgiv farewell and set out upon the causeway. Following the gold road I found myself lifting myself to the top of the handrail to periodically sneak a peek at the City’s vastness when we would stop to deliberate or remove a stone from a boot. We avoided a lava flow covering the causeway resuming travel in the city streets long enough to pass the flow. In doing so Duhrock and Sheldor found tracks and evidence of big creatures called …Yogis…or some such and after a brief hushed discussion we decided to elude them and make for the causeway.
After ascending to the causeway it rose and fell as we advanced through the city. We were careful to hug the city side of the road to allow a better vantage into the city for those who could see….well I guess that was everyone but me…and tried not to walk upright with spears aloft. The causeway dipped down to a four way intersection whose pavement had been poorly tended or badly abused. As we made our way across the troupe was ravaged by a snow worm. (EGADS- THEY EXPLODE!!) I managed to flee to cover in its attempts to ravage the troupe and avoided the explosion as well! Then I bolted for the other side….and found the OTHER ONE!!! Knowing full well the troupes love of ending these creatures in such a celebratory fashion I did my very best to avoid its attacks (which I highly recommend) but sadly was bitten by the frigid beast! I called on the Rose to enter the stone to move away and wait for the inevitable boom. Prior to said finale the worm screeched some horrendous noise that even penetrated the stone…and then succumbed to the festive troupe’s delight….BOOM!
At this point, knowing this much activity and noise would likely bring on curious would be assassins, we fled to the cover of a hot springs area covered in plant life and warmed by volcanic activity. Here we wait to see the reaction of our hunters.
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While Iomedae’s power flowed through me I also reached for Desna’s. I could feel each of their powers flowing together. The Ranseur I held became light in my hands and it had red and orange flame licking it’s way to the end’s of it’s tips. The Beast had just been killed by Rikert but instead of dieing it turned into a mist and sank into the ground near the throne dais. I took a step towards one of the Vampiric Skulks and thrust the Ranseur into it. I felt little resistance as the Ranseur turned it into mist as well. The wrathful part of the power flowing through me was not diminished and I moved to the next Vampire Skulk. In just one strike I again fell another of the disgusting things. Again it turned to mist and floated along the floor and into a crack but not to the same place as the Hidden Beast. I heard Moxie’s pistol shot from the place the Skulk’s mist had gone.
Fearing she was in trouble I melded into the stone and saw Moxie in a room full of coffins, smiling as a Skulk materialized. She carefully lowered her pistol BOOM. The noise in this little room was deafening, Moxie didn’t care. She walked to the coffin’s giving the inhabitant’s their last farewell. Seeing that she did not need any help or acknowledgement from me I returned to the rest of the troupe and waited patiently for Moxie’s return and report. I let Iomedae’s and Desna’s power stay with me even though it was no longer necessary. It felt good to be surrounded by power. I looked at the others to see if they saw any change in me, happily I saw no one had given any notice to me at all. They were more concerned with me healing them and making sure that we had ways to fix some of the drains that had taken place among them. I healed them up and reassured them that if they did mend on their own I would be happy to help them.
Morgiv was still in the corridor waiting to see if we would actually be able to defeat the Hidden Beast. He seemed pleased and more self-confident that we had. He walked with purpose as he lead us back to his people. A feast was prepared and while I was okay eating the grubs and slimy things and crunchy things not everyone in the troupe was as adventurous. I prepared a Hero’s Feast for the troupe and any skulk that wanted to try it was welcome. Eventually we retired into GrAnnie’s hideaway for the night. It was a very taxing day and the rest was welcome.
The next day Morgiv told us that there was news of groups of chosen or Karzoug’s favored looking for us. We would need to be careful as we made our way through the city. It was decided to stay on the causeway as much as possible and use it’s height to our advantage. Sometimes though it was necessary to go to ground level and traverse the difficult terrain.
At one such juncture we were attacked by two frost worms and I had barely enough strength to save Sheldor from the grave. I had been keeping GrAnnie alive by sharing her damage and then the second frost worm exploded trying to kill us all. Desna continued to smile on me and gave enough of her healing for us all to run for the jungle that has grown in this frozen place. Jungle? What?
Fark me it’s alive!!!! SHELDOR
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EGADS- THEY EXPLODE!!
My favorite quote from every bard (or sneakabout, should Moxie prefer...)
Heh. Rather amusing that as my group has a cleric who took one level of Bard (she has no idea what's awaiting her in a certain swamp, but it will help boost how long she can buff people with song at least!) and the NPC Arcane Trickster. Naturally the "give everyone a vaguely insulting nickname" grouch calls the NPC "sneakthief" (which pisses her off), and the halfling cleric "hairfoot" (as anything actually insulting would risk cutting off the healing). (The half-orc Barbarian is "pig-monster" though just recently Lucian did take umbrage on that, even though his player likes to joke it's a term of endearment. Oddly enough he's not tried to insult the high-born sorceress from Irrisen. Her ability to find treasure and her brilliance in combat (and those oh-so-deadly locks of hair!) seem to have helped shield her from such nicknames. :D (Her maid though gets insulted. I joke the two are so adversarial that by the rules of anime, they have to end up together. She promptly stabbed me, the GM, through the screen. ^^)
So we've sneakabout and sneakthief :D (Essanne did try to get her revenge on him at one point, but it backfired. She started hording all the treasure and storing it in her room. No one noticed as there'd not been too much treasure before that point. Two weeks later she came down with all the treasure and said "look guys, we need to sell this off, I'm having difficulty getting into my room." It was because of several bulky items, mind you, but still!)
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As well it should...sneakthief...indeed!?!? I too would take great umbrage at such a monicker! Thief, rogue, burglar, etc are all repugnant titles for someone who takes great pride and care in providing for their people! I have repatriated many objects my troupe has found useful or at the very least profited from! And at great peril to my personal safety! The occasional trinket has lent a hand in keeping me on par with my troupe mates but far and away the greatest overwhelming bulk has been parsed and split amongst the troupe. THIEF...BAH!!(SPIT!) They are to be shanked and banked for their lawless degenerate ways. They subjugate and intimidate with terror indiscriminately but that is not me or what I espouse. Finding the hidden passage, deactivating puzzles or heinous contraptions designed to inflict harm, tinkering with quality locks, or simply to sneak forth in the dark to know what is to come, are the hallmarks of a true sneakabout!
Oh to be sure a "THIEF" lurks within, but only for those who consider me such, think they are my better, or exhibit cruelty. Woe to the foolhardy to stupid to know the difference!
(Wave...giggle...batting eyelashes...grin)
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Rikert Krupt – Paladin of Iomedae
The battle in the creature's lair continued as we forced the undead back into gaseous forms that they used to escape from the room. It turns out they were moving back to their hidden coffins in a chamber below us. Unknown to all of us, Moxie had used the token given to her to travel through the stone to the chamber below and killed the helpless vampires before they could regenerate.
Morgiv appeared again following the battle and led us back to the chamber where we had originally talked to tell the other Skulks that the hidden creature had been destroyed. After discussing our plans with him regarding Karzoug, he provided some additional information that may prove helpful as we travel through the city.
We rested in the dimensional space created by Mother Not before venturing farther along the road into the city. We followed the path until we found an area where the pavement was broken and churned. It was here that two more of the giant frost worms appeared to attack us. We dispatched them quickly, but still have not found a way to avoid their explosive deaths which have proven fatal or nearly so to several in the group.
After the enormous explosions, we healed our wounded and moved quickly off of the causeway in an attempt to avoid the giants and whatever else may be searching for us in the city.
By the way, I just want to confirm: Your group brought the vampire flying octopus to below 0 hit points but were unable to find its lair... and then lied to the Skulks over having destroyed it?
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No, OH ELYSIUM NO! I would not have, in good conscience, knowingly lied to Master Morgiv on this matter! EGADS NO! I would leave it to our dear Fredereich to confirm the details, but his telling of the account included pursuit to a chamber similar to the one I happened upon of bedded skulk assassins, and he too returned with a handful of loot. I can say as matter of fact that Master Morgiv was woefully aware of our combat, and brought to the scene to witness the safety within the room of the former "Hidden Beast" previously approached at ones assured doom.
Thank you. I'd thought I might have missed a detail somewhere; it was just a detail not yet mentioned! ^^;;
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Yeah, it was sitting around 15 health when Rikert hit it and killed it outright. In its turn order it then floated into its lair under the throne and rematerialized, only to have the last round of Koriel's spell tick and really, really kill it. Friedrich was still in Dust Form and moved into the lair the same round as Koriel's spell ticked. So it was a confirmed kill. ;)
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Okay, work has been hell so Im late . . . again.
I had already worked out the encounter structure for The Tangle so as to not be dragging the game down while looking for info. Turns out, I slowed the game down when I had to cut out some gargantuan sized bases. Seems I cut these things out multiple times a year and then promptly loose them and have to cut em out again.
The session start was a fairly descriptive narrative of the group having run somewhat deep into the Tangle to avoid any possible pursuit from unknown pursuers. (Department of Redundancy Department) I had everyone make Perception checks to realize that there wasn't any "noise." No one in the group is from a jungle so they weren't positive what that noise should be, but enough of them have been in forests to know there should be bird calls, insects chirping etc. So paranoia somewhat sets in and they decide to walk perpendicular to the Causeway about a quarter mile in the Tangle. They could see the Causeway on occasion through the trees and foliage so they were good there.
The first "encounter" was a nest of five or six (can't remember) Giant/Advance/Shambling Mounds that the group walked into the middle of. I had decided that if certain Xin Shalast creatures wouldn't go into the Tangle, there had to be something - everywhere. Because there wasn't an enormous amount of food either, I figured the creatures would be dormant for the most part, conserving energy. So the group first discovered where they were when all of a sudden the snap of tree branch showed a large section of the jungle moving.
Kn Natures whipped up and they learned that it was a carnivorous plant. (And humorously enough liked eating elves, so our "Nature doesn't like elves" mantra was held true by Paizo. Read the description of a Shambling Mound and it states our mantra essentially.) It lurched forward as the other Mounds (that conveniently surrounded the party) moved to do so as well. They did some damage but nothing to intense, although two of them were trying to make a wish with Friedrich as two individual Mounds were grappling him. Dice for me was feast or famine, they rolled a nat 20 on Initiative and went first so most of the damage was done on the first round. After that, what I joked about in another post happened. Friedrich bombed it, Rikert condemned it as heresy and hacked it down. The rest followed suit.
I had those in melee combat with them make a Perception 40 attempt to notice small patches of yellow colored lichen on some of the leaves. Their only indicator as to what was going on in the Tangle. Only a couple noticed this and it took until the end of all combat to confirm this.
The other encounters were at the top of round 4, I was going to have a Lamia run through their group, heading towards the closest edge of the Tangle. She was going to stop for just a second, look at the group and then take off. Chasing her was the second encounter, 5 Giant/Advanced/Tendrilicious (as we are now calling them).
I had figured this was going to be a stupid difficult challenge because I had decreed that all the ground was difficult terrain, and you only had 15 ft. of true visual distance because there was so much foliage, and the fact the creatures attacking them were plants and stupid huge to boot. But one spell from Sheldor a few rounds into the fight with the Shambling mounds killed that. I don't remember the spell off-hand, but he essentially lowered all plant life to a manicured height of just lower than your knees in a 100 ft radius from him. Davok was now free to fire his bow without being subject to Attacks of Opportunity, spells were being cast at safe distances, and the difficult terrain was no longer an issue. This also meant that the 4 gargantuan Tendrilicious had to hike to the party at 40 ft. per round. A Wall of Fire and Blade Barrier later there wasn't much left.
But the idea for the what would happen to the party if they stayed here was sent and they got the message. They left quickly and returned to the Causeway. From here they found a spot to rest as they had been hiking for most of the day. In the morning they continued on towards the Heptaric Locus.
I layed out one of the seven large sides of the building on the mat that had varying styles of stairs. Those for giants and those for humans. I gave it an overhang from the building over the doors (also of varying heights and widths) and included large columns to hold the overhang. As the group began making their way up the stairs I had them make Perceptions vs the Stealth of the Scarlet Walkers that were hiding on the underhang behind the columns. Only Davok kept his armor class as the creatures surprised the group. They also rolled stupid high on Initiative, I think I rolled a natural 19. (They were also Advanced, max health, etc). So they ended up going first and one struck out trying to share the love with its Bleed effects and the other moved up to use its Bleed gaze attack.
We ended the evening with only 1 real round of combat with the creatures. Oh, I also forgot to mention that this was a "random encounter." There have been very very few random encounters because of bad dice. So this should be fun.
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I have to say, I do love what you did with the Tangle. Our sorcerer lobbed a Fireball into it from a safe distance and was rewarded with a swarm of dog-sized critters composed of vines and thorns that looked like they were out to destroy anything they contacted.
The party looked at each other, said, "Hmmm.... swarms of carnivorous plants... No..." and never approached the Tangle again.
At least your party went in and had some "fun"! :-P
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Both of you ended with the same word.....fun?!? I think your perception of "fun" is distorted, disturbing and deranged! To quote a character from a wonderful tale...
"You kee-pusing tha-hword, I do nothink i-means what you think i-means!"
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Both of you ended with the same word.....fun?!? I think your perception of "fun" is distorted, disturbing and deranged! To quote a character from a wonderful tale...
"You kee-pusing tha-hword, I do nothink i-means what you think i-means!"
Anybody wanna peanut?
"The fun has just begun, Lina Inverse!" =^-^=
So yes, fun is subjective. Heh heh heh.
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From the diary of Kori’el Shalani:
Something is wrong with my mind, and I don’t think it’s just the altitude.
These others carry on as if nothing is different, but for me everything has changed. They chatter on and on about things that happened hours or days ago of which I have no memory at all. Merely speaking to them enough to keep up a façade is becoming more and more tedious to me. Even Calypso seems to be holding his tongue, so to speak.
Yesterday, I came to myself as we were slogging through a dense forest. Devok called a halt because he had seen something, and the witch said something like “maybe it isn’t hungry,” just as the thing attacked us. We couldn’t see more than a few meters, but it became apparent that we were surrounded by big carnivorous plants. The cleric (Zandoo?) asked me where I wanted to be, and I pointed with Calypso; and we were there, along with the little gnome sniper. My head in a whirl, I began casting protective spells…
Suddenly the tangle of forest was gone, and for a large circle around us there was nothing but short shrubbery. A lamia bolted past headed for parts unknown, her pursuers stepping into the clearing—more carnivorous plants. REALLY big ones. Ranged spells started going off, the alchemist threw some bombs, and I managed to catch three of the things with a Cone of Cold, and the fight was over. It was decided that this forest was an unhealthy place to be, and we moved off after the lamia to return to the causeway where at least we could see enemies coming.
I think we spent another night in the witch’s special place, but I don’t really remember it.
Next, we were approaching a big seven-sided building, with alternating human- and giant-sized staircases leading to entrances under the overhanging roof. I’m not sure how we got here. Everyone is scowling at me; the knight Rakert hates me, I know it. The elf druid, too. Did I do something wrong? Big red spidery things drop from hiding in the overhang as we draw near, and a sharp tentacle slashes at me. I’m covered in blood, and so is the Orc archer. Others cry out as a second one uses some sort of gaze attack on them; the witch shrivels back into a crone as I watch. I’m bleeding really badly…
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Rikert Krupt – Paladin of Iomedae
The forest seemed like a good place to hide from those pursuing us ... for a few minutes ... until the vegetation came alive and attacked us!
A strange mixtures of vines and roots formed the roughly humanoid shapes of the creatures that appeared almost without warning from the dense undergrowth. The creatures seemed driven by a feral hunger as they encircled us like a pack of wolves. Combat began and a confusing melee continued for several minutes as I moved through the tangling growth to cut down several of the creatures. I barely saw the others in the party as they were hidden by the thick brush and limbs that surrounded us.
Suddenly, the entire forest dwindled in size almost instantly. The trees and brush shrunk down as though they were struck with a fast-acting disease that shriveled them down to nearly nothing. I found out later that Sheldor was responsible for this instant clearing of the forest all around us. I briefly saw a creature that looked like one of the lamias we had encountered much earlier run along the edge of the clearing and retreat back into the town.
With the trees and brush removed, it was easy to spot and fight the remaining plant-like creatures. As the last of them fell, I turned and saw several enormous creatures, much larger than the first ones, advancing toward us from across the clearing. The spell casters and ranged combatants cut them down quickly at a distance.
We regrouped and decided that fighting a continuous battle against the forest itself would be more of hassle than returning to the open streets or causeway.
We moved back to the causeway and followed it farther into the city until we spotted a large, sihedron-shaped building nearby. We decided to investigate this building in hope that it would provide us with clues or tools we could use to penetrate the occlusion field protecting Karzoug.
We moved up to the building in two groups, one on each side of a pair of normal-sized stairs flanking a set of giant-sized stairs that led up to a large, covered stone entrance. As we ascended the stairs, a pair of monstrous, red spiders with long, thin legs dropped from above and landed on the open area at the top of the stairs. The creatures used their long front legs that ended in sharp pinchers to attack the party from a distance as soon as they landed. Their claws seemed unusually sharp and caused wicked, bleeding wounds on several of us as we organized ourselves to fight back...
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Er... poke, poke? Anybody rattling about in there?
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Yeah, we're still here and still playing. Useplanb is extraordinarily busy right now, too busy to update regularly. He did give us permission to go ahead and post our journals if he hasn't updated by Monday, so expect to see more then.
Rest assured that Xandu, Friederich, Krazy Kori'el, the Paladin of Comfort and the rest are still kicking around Xin-Shalast. Just made it to the upper city, in fact...
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Darn it, Kori'el! I was going to tell him that Useplanb lost his copy of the adventure book and we were on hiatus until he found enough change in his couch cushions to buy a new one!
:)
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...the cleric healed me. As we were fighting the spiders, an Ice devil and then two bone devils appeared and we fought them too. Eventually we beat them all, and made our way through the maze of the building interior. It was infested with more of the spiders, they seemed to be everywhere. I think we came to a room where there was treasure, and a ring and a note. We fought more spiders coming back out.
There was a large building in the distance with big bird-like things flying around it; we decided to avoid that. We did search a structure with many chimneys. It held furnaces and not much else, a huge crematorium. One of the ovens lit, and giant shadowy forms came out. They were ripping pieces of souls from my companions; the little gnome woman was reeling, and the cleric and orc were not in much better shape. I touched the gnome and dimension doored away, in order to gain the time to do some spells, then I returned down the hallway to the fighting. As I approached, the cleric touched me and I brushed him aside, intent on the apparition ahead; only to see it destroyed by the paladin. I was so angry that I nearly struck at him, but I was able to keep my rage in check-- barely. I seem to remember that these people have names, but in my state I cannot think of them.
After leaving the crematorium before more ovens could start, we rested and headed on into the city, moving in a dream. An enormous blue dragon sailed overhead, and settled into a ruined fortress; we headed that way. It was big and powerful, but we drove it away and plundered its hoard before mounting the stairs on up the mountain. It quickly became apparent that the wind would rip us off the road, so we scouted the ledges above and then teleported as a group to what seemed to be some sort of upper city...
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It’s been days now since I’ve had time to tell you all about our time here at Xin Shalast.
We were being ambushed by huge living mounds of shrubs or so it seemed and I yelled for Sheldor to do something. I was apart from the group and facing these shambling mounds without the support of the troupe, I thought I’d have to go toe to toe with these things and I couldn’t see any friends about. I could hear them fighting and cursing but could only see foes in front of me. Then Sheldor did something remarkable. He let lose some magic that laid low all vegetation for hundreds of feet, allowing the troupe, me included, to use range weapons and spells. I used a fire wall and a blade barrier to keep the mounds from advancing upon us.
Seeing Sheldor in the middle of this new clearing brought about a new vigor in me to do what ever I could to keep the troupe up and fighting. I healed and moved as fast as I could to my troupe mates. While doing so I noticed a fungus on the mounds that I would later ask Friederich about. The battle with out all the “jungle” in the way was short and the troupe performed admirably. It was quickly agreed that we leave the jungle and return to the relative safety of Xin Shalast. Ha!
We approached a large building and giant spiders of sorts attacked. Kori’el and Davok were hit first and hard. Then GrAnnie and Moxie were also attacked by these giant spiders. I healed Kori’el and GrAnnie healed Davok and we had to improvise to get the rest of the troupe healed up. This actually took a couple of days and me watching the infected very closely, ready to heal them if they didn’t make it on their own.
The spiders dealt with we moved on inside looking for clues. Clues and a Daemon of all things that had also attacked us. The building was immense beyond words. And it was a maze of walls and obstacles. We saw many more spiders and avoided what we could and dispatched the ones we couldn’t. Still in search of this Daemon. Devil, Daemon what ever and where we were maybe it was another building. I do remember more than one devil and I remember them really liking to hurt me. We never found him or even saw him again but we came upon what we considered a hideout of his. He had left in a hurry but left us something too. Along with a couple of treasure chests he left us a ring one like we had with the Sihedron on it. One more down and several to go. It’s the collective thought of the troupe that we need these Sihedron rings or amulets (like the one I have) to bypass some field that protects the upper portion of Xin Shalast from entry. Anyway we have several but need several more. We think.
Moving during the day and sleeping in GrAnnie’s pocket plane, we’ve managed our way further into the heart of the city. Have I mentioned how HUGE this place is? Well it’s HUGE!
We spotted some fliers and tried to avoid them as best we could but then a dragon gave us quite a fright. It flew towards another huge building and we decided to go after it. As we approached the building we could make the dragon out moving about so we sneaked the best we could trying to find it before it found us. This may have been foolhardy at best. While we were looking around we came to dead end after dead end. We were all getting pretty touchy by now and the group no longer paid a great deal to where the dragon may be. I was no where near when it attacked the troupe. Breathing icy cold and gnashing of horrendous teeth. Those uf us that weren’t near the thing could clearly imagine what terror our friends were in. We ran to their aid. The dragon flew right over us and breathed more icy breath. Sheldor ran, so did others.
Kori’el advanced while calmly talking to the dragon explaining in no uncertain terms it would meet it’s death here today if it did not cease and desist. After a couple of these flyby’s and one nasty landing on your’s truly. OUCH!!
Kori’el (I believe) convinced it to leave. That girl is something. Crazy no doubt but still I admire her. In the dragon’s lair or hoard we found the remaining rings we needed. Oh yeah, there was lots of loot too. It’s funny, right now nobody cares about the treasure, we just want to survive. That being said, we still collect as much loot as we can and try to use any magic items to their best.
Now we climb…or better yet we could BLINK
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And You, you think that's air you're breathing?
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The overall quality of the writing as the party succumbs to altitude sickness is nothing short of brilliant.
What are you doing, Useplanb, locking the authors in your own personal oxygen deprivation chamber?
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Rikert Krupt – Paladin of Iomedae
The past days have been a blur as we deal with the altitude and the enormous scale of the city.
The fight with the giant spiders grew in scope as devils joined the fray. I tried to target the devils specifically as the power of Iomedae protects and strengthens me against their kind. We eventually destroyed the spiders and most of the devils. Their leader teleported away after taking several grievous wounds. We then opened the doors of the giant building and spent several hours exploring the maze of hallways. We encountered more of the spiders, but they caused us few problems as we were once again grouped tightly and could use our numbers to an advantage. Eventually, we found the devil's lair and various belongings that included a Sihedron ring similar to the amulets worn by others in our group.
We rested a few times, using Mother Not's spell to create a hidden, safe place to recover and prepare.
Our next challenge proved to be another dragon. We saw the creature flying in the distance, and followed it to the crumbling ruins of an ancient cathedral. After searching through the debris while trying to find a path to the dragon, the group had lost its discipline and once again spread out in a long line. We were out of position and Xandu and I were at the back of the line, far from the opposite end where Moxie and some of the others were ambushed by the dragon which had been hunting us.
The dragon was immense and fast! It covered large spaces quickly and used its great size to power through the stone walls and other debris which would have stopped a lesser creature. In addition to its formidable physical weapons, it also used strong magical spells against us.
The fight was brutal and hard to follow as it crossed the battleground repeatedly, striking us along the path with little effort. We finally managed to injure it enough that it chose to withdraw rather than risk being destroyed, and the last we saw of it was its silhouette disappearing in the distance.
We found more of the Sihedron amulets and rings in the horde of treasure it left behind. I think we now have enough of them to allow us all to pass through the magical barrier that protects the upper reaches of the mountain.
Our path to this point has been brutal and draining on all of us. The group has been pushed near the breaking point on multiple occasions, and I can see the effects on everyone. The dark circles around their eyes and the grim set of their jaws, and the general lack of light-hearted banter that has always accompanied us in our travels but is now missing or rarely appears are all signs. Kori'el is the newest member of our group, and the relentless horrors we have encountered seem to have hit her the hardest. She seems removed from our group, and I often hear her talking quietly to herself as she tries to deal with the stress.
We are all tired. We are all bruised.
But ... we are all determined to finish this!
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The inside of this building is shaped like a corkscrew, and we are climbing up the screw part. It takes a long time. At the top, a large voice shouts in giant, "they're here," (why do I think of ghosts?) and we are once again being pelted by boulders as a wall of mist obscures the cloud giant throwers. A gust of wind blows the the mist away, and we advance. I'm ready, I want to kill them all, but the Paladin keeps stepping in front of me and the giants fall. I'm once again becoming angry with him. I get in a couple of good blows at the last giant, and the cleric moves through a huge set of doors (giant-sized), and turns pale just before he is narrowly missed by a spear as big as a medium-sized tree. I grin, and step in front of him to see another squad of cloud giants escorting... something else, the biggest giant I have ever seen. Then, more giants emerge around a corner to our left, and lightning arcs among us. With them is a normal-sized woman, lazily brandishing a golden scimitar. Our eyes lock, and I am suffused with glee. She steps forward, and I feint at her, then attempt a disarm which she shrugs off almost casually, then she begins cutting down my images. The paladin can't come close to hitting her; finally a worthy opponent! The cleric touches me, and we are suddenly 30 yards away. I scream my frustration, but restrain myself from striking him in his garish clothes. The big giant rounds the corner, and lightning and flame bursts from his armor...
I'm standing up, helped by the cleric. I hear the big giant roar from around the curve of the building, "kill that one!", he can only mean the druid, standing alone as the other giants advance. Lightning arcs around him and mace-blows slam into him. He falls, and the woman steps over his body. Our eyes lock again, and once again I grin. I have a spell for just this occasion...
+1 for the Poltergeist reference!
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+1 for the Poltergeist reference!
i was a big pulp mystery/horror story and horror movie fan as a kid, that was the only movie as a kid that Scared me, to this day i can't eat steak, and its been decades!
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Rikert Krupt – Paladin of Iomedae
Following our rest and regrouping after the battle with the dragon, we moved on into the upper reaches of the city to the immense spire with the circular path climbing high up into the sky.
We slowly made our way up the seemingly endless ramp until we reached the top. Here, we once again found our way blocked by more giants. The battle began as usual with a hail of boulders crashing amongst us as we moved to close the distance.
We killed several of the giant and pushed them back through the clouds of fog to a large doorway at the top of the ramp. The huge, double doors led into another large area that was filled with more giants, including a black-skinned behemoth who seems to be the leader.
Combat continues as we target the immediate threats while trying to reach the leader. Sheldor once again surprised us all with another powerful spell which drove the dark-skinned giant back against a wall and pinned him there.
The giants aren't alone in the fight, as there is a woman in plate armor who fights with a golden scimitar. Her armor is nearly impervious, and she wields the scimitar effortlessly as though it is a natural part of her body.
In addition to the woman, there was a sighting of Karzoug (possibly an illusionary image) that also appeared. I told Xandu to take me to him as I hope that cutting the head off of the snake may shorten the battle.
But for now, the fight continues...
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Wow...
...they went in through the front door! Ouch!
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The battle was epic. The druid soaked up over 300 HP with my help (Xandu). The palidin took close to 1000hp of damage, lots of healing to keep him going and much of it was from himself as I was busy keeping Sheldor up. I only had to use breath of life on Sheldor once but he used up my three Heal spells by himself. In the end we only saved two of the giants and let them go.
LOL the palidin almost picked up the golden sword but we were all screaming at him not to touch it. Thinking he would be amune to what ever effects it might have, he almost ignored us. That would have made Kori'el's day if she had to fight him, she was so ready for him to pick it up.
More to come in better detail as the journals are written. Good night for now.
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Wow...
** spoiler omitted **
We couldn't find the dumbwaiter!!
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So yes we made our way into and out of the quaint rain forest and were threatened with a forced eviction in the manner of terminal consumption/absorbtion by walking plants that have an affinity for the fair sidhe folk apparently. Nature is commonly referred to as “Mother”, but I have come to realize “She” is probably more akin to a starving, villainous, dire, rabid, carnivorous she-weasel in heat, and I am sure all elf folk would agree! If not for the timely application of divine intervention by Sheldor that turned our position from indefensible to a glade with a clear field of fire I have grave doubt we would have made our way out of this predicament intact! The snow elf saved the day and it almost cost him his life. A recurring theme in the days to come.
Ever stalwart our troupe raced to the inevitable allure of a mammoth structure the size of which is incomprehensible, and what words or drawings I have penned will undoubtedly be ridiculed but it truly boggles the mind. By the stone relief we guessed it to be an arena of combat and as normal we approached with abandon as only this troupe can muster. As we approached the top of the stair a pair of wicked unnatural spider-like beings pounced from the eaves of the overhang into the troupe and began to lash out with extremely long agile appendages, and that was the good news! I engaged as did the rest of the troupe and found myself face to face with the crimson terror. I felt its gaze wrack my insides with a tremor that felt as if it fed on my spirit and tore small bits from their moorings inside my head. I turned away quickly and slumped behind the stone wall feeling as though my head would burst. At first I noticed the bright red droplets form my nose, then warm sensations washing from my ears, I began to tear and wiped a red stain from my eyes. I panicked and ran to the top of the stairs. When I reached the top the flow had increased dramatically and my strength started to wane in waves of pain.I leaned at the base of the first pillar I could make out with my vision woefully obscured and watched in horror as I coughed a spout of blood. I knelt at the base of the column as I watched my life spill upon me. I lay in a great pool of my life listening to the troupe fight these and newly arrived foes, and caught only glimpses through my bloodied eyes. Then all was quiet, and I heard my troupe advance to the top of the stairs. Too weak to stand let alone heft my gear, I heard Xandu approach. He tended my affliction as weakness enveloped me and revitalized my body and spirit through the blessings of Desna. All had seen the wrath of our foes in one manner or another but I was the only one laying in a warm sticky pool of my life essence and wished to be free of bearing its weight and shame. I worked feverishly with the help of Kori’el and Xandu to make the best of a bad situation and we moved inside. We found a labyrinth with more of the gruesome spiders lying in wait and came to a chamber with a hand full of loot, and a sihedron ring on a table with a message scratched into it saying if we wanted it so bad we were welcome to it.
Once again I had been a liability rather than an asset. I had tried to be sure that I had equipped myself for such assaults but found what was lacking, was me….my inner strength. This is a hard pill to swallow; it will be my undoing if it is Shelyn’s will. Despite my devotion, I am weak of will and must try to resist the effects more earnestly or remove myself from selection. My faith in myself is my true weakness.
As we moved through the city Duh’rock and I led the way trying to get the band of noisy misfits through the city the best we could attempting to move unnoticed and as quietly as possible, but with these guys….we did our best. We had spied the approximate area that we suspected an enormous blue dragon had landed and likely called home. Duh’rock and I deftly approached the area of a ruined temple after securing what remained of passages, corridors and chambers. I feared we had already made enough noise to wake the dead but with a dragon about it never hurts to sneak! We approached what used to be the main hall evidenced by still standing pillars. As the others advanced the serpent let loose on them with a gout of lightning breath and we made for cover. Shortly thereafter the beast took to the air, strafing the troupe with its breath and bashing the strays in the open. Ultimately pouncing upon Xandu..EGADS!! A prolonged combat ensued, and much the same as the infernal ringbearer had fled, we watched the great blue dragon fly away leaving us with a vast treasure and more sihedron jewelry, of which I claimed the necklace the new found rings had been secured upon.
From here our path was clear. We had made our way through the perils the city of Xin Shalast had to offer. Now we were to climb the peak to the pinnacle palaces of Karzog where he surely laid in wait of our arrival. Luckily we found our way to said pinnacle via the transport method I have come to disdain, but this time, we made it on the mark. Thankfully we managed to avoid another variety of spider-like abominations in doing so, as they are far and away an undeniable menace to my existence! We delved through buildings of enormous stature settling in at a great spire climbing high into the sky. We entered the immense circular colonnade arched and supporting the central column wrapped with a ramp circling ever higher beyond sight. Up we marched to the top, one foot in front of the other, which for some of us, namely ME… is quite a few more steps than the others! (HUFF! PUFF! HEAVE! HACK!) As we saw the floor of the ramp begin to lose its angle, great sky giants where found standing guard and began to cast stones. A brutal melee led to them being reinforce by a second troupe of sky giants of a different variety but no less lethal. Accompanying them was a terrifyingly large black skinned giant who had nearly impaled multiple troupe mates with one hurled spear whose shaft was easily as broad as one of Rikert’s legs! This was going to be a grand battle. I slipped unseen by way of arcane trickery to the far side of the room. I had intended to attack unseen from a doorway when the great black giant was forced into my direction by way of one of Sheldors well timed divine applications that repelled metal. While good for the rest of the troupe I found it wholly disconcerting as my trickery died off!!!! I slipped into the room with an unexpected ease as the heavy stone door was well balanced and required hardly an effort at all. I stepped in away from the black giant and found myself face to face with Karzog. I screamed his name aloud and felt my heart nearly pound its way from my breast! I felt my body become rigid with muscle memory and found my Annie instantly and without effort in firing position. My vision narrowed to his face and the barrel rested between his eyes on his brow. I will swear until the end of my days that for everyone but me and Annie…time stopped. I looked in his eyes, there was nothing else, no sound, no combat, just his eyes. My mind raced through the trials my people and my troupe had endured, and the faces of the lost flashed before me…and I spoke the words…”for Lettie!” and I loosed THE….PERFECT…..SHOT! Alas it had only been an image of trickery!
%#&@%*&^%@$@#@!!....... “You issue of an ogre squat, you will not escape, you will suffer my vengeance yet, for all you have destroyed and those you have hurt!” I unleashed Annie through the doorway on Whatever giant was in view indiscriminately! Suddenly I realized I needed to transition for a while to Uther to be sure I had ammunition to finish and hopefully repeat the job again. As the combat came to a close I heard giants suing for mercy and cared little for the troupes decision as I drew my sword and removed the black giants topknot as a keepsake, and well, to slake my frustration on those deserving my fury rather than take it out on the troupe!
(Blood spattered smiley face, raising a huge bloody red haired scalp with one hand, and waving with sword in the other hand!)
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Nature is commonly referred to as “Mother”, but I have come to realize “She” is probably more akin to a starving, villainous, dire, rabid, carnivorous she-weasel in heat...
I am *SO* stealing that! Don't know where yet, but I must!
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Wow. Things are getting dark. I'm kind of reminded of the Slayers anime series - it starts out light... and as you approach the Boss Encounter it gets dark and dire. Afterward it gets light and fluffy again until the next Boss Encounter.
Oh, it'll no doubt amuse Moxie to learn that my own Runelords' sneakthief, Essanne, found herself suddenly competent. Much as she took levels of Gunslinger, Essanne has taken a level of Swashbuckler. She seems to have taken several levels of badass in doing so. (I so can see those two sitting down to a glass of wine, probably with Leilani, and exchanging stories and the like. ^^)
Put my tangential ramblings about my game behind a spoiler tag so not to bore people who aren't interested in it.
Now that the group is more reasonable (three players and one NPC), I'll only boost monster stats to compensate for high-rolled stats (basically +3 to every stat for the monsters to compensate - I increased other people's stats to compensate with two players' uber stats).
Anyway, thank you for the Moxie-eye view of things! :) I hope things relax for Useplanb as it would be nice to get an impartial view of events as well. :) (BTW, what are the current classes and levels for the Troupe?)
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Assuming Shelyn allows me to complete this endeavor I will gladly pay for a girls month out on a warm beach where handsome, strong, thick haired, dark eyed, tan, hand servants wait on us hand and foot! Shopping, exotic foods, strong drinks and wild nights...I am past due for some crazy girl time!!! I will admit that for now though, a bath and my bed would suffice!
As for your new found interest, I would say you will not regret it. Just be sure to get only what you need and then follow your heart, where ever it leads. Never known a wildman to give up the fight short of having his head removed...QUITTER! (Wink!)
...Sooo then its a date....post Karzog demise.....MY TREAT!!
(Jumping until the squeak!)
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Kori'el is Bladebound Magus, 16th (no dervish dancing in sight, still a total bada$$).
Freiderich is Alchemist, 16th
Moxie is a Thief/Gunslinger, she'll have to detail the split since I have no clue.
Mother Not is a Witch, 16th
Sheldor is a Druid, 16th
Davok is a Ranger, 16th
Xandu is a Travel Cleric of Desna, 16th
Rikert is a Paladin of Iomedae, 16th.
I'm actually kind of amazed, now that I think about it, that we have only the one multi-class character; especially since Mother Not's player usually tries to cover every possible base with his characters.
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Essanne has taken a level of Swashbuckler. She seems to have taken several levels of badass in doing so. (I so can see those two sitting down to a glass of wine, probably with Leilani, and exchanging stories and the like. ^^)
I will gladly pay for a girls month out on a warm beach where handsome, strong, thick haired, dark eyed, tan, hand servants wait on us hand and foot! Shopping, exotic foods, strong drinks and wild nights...I am past due for some crazy girl time!!!
I'm sure Leilani would approve, though at the moment her entire focus is on her new horse. (The rest of the party is taking bets on how soon it will die because she'll forget to feed it. "But... but... horses on my plane TELL you when they're hungry!" *SOB*)
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Harrumph! As if I would EVER forget to feed Hooves like Clouds! Shame on you, NobodysHome!
And yes, Moxie, I would be delighted to accompany you on a girls' month out!
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I'm actually kind of amazed, now that I think about it, that we have only the one multi-class character; especially since Mother Not's player usually tries to cover every possible base with his characters.
Our experience (through 4 APs now) is that multiclassing just slows PC progression so much that it's not worth it, even for nice prestige classes like Shadow Dancer for rogues.
It's the PFS games that have multiclassers because they're mostly short-term scenarios where progression isn't as critical.I think D&D 3.5 turned multiclassing into an OP nightmare, so Pathfinder took the opposite tactic and made sure you get little-to-no benefit from it.
On the other hand, in Carrion Crown I had my fighter take 2 levels of barbarian just to boost his hit points and that ended up being a game-changer because he could rage during critical fights.
You just have to be REALLY careful to match BAB, feats, class bonuses, and so forth, and it's pretty hard to find a good combo.
Well, I will admit that I started Essanne out with plans to go Arcane Trickster (and I rather like the class - surprised they didn't create a hybrid class based on it) and switched to Swashbuckler primarily to fill a void caused by Lucien's retirement. That said, no regrets. It's nice not to worry about a character who would be getting Greater Rage in one level, is often buffed to the gills, and was sadly becoming a one-trick pony in some ways (despite being the Thassilonian scholar of the group).
Details on the group follow:
And of course there's Tongs. I think even that fighter-chap (Simon?) would sit back with his eyes growing a tad wild at some of Tongs' stories of brothels and the like. It's almost driven Essanne to become alcoholic. ^^;; But he went with Eldritch Knight (two levels Ranger and then Transmuter Wizard).
Yet the character who's become perhaps the most powerful is the single-class Sorceress. I'll admit I've given her some help along the way (suggesting she go for extra spells instead of hit points or skill points, for instance), but she's chosen spells that proved quite devastating when she uses them. (Strangling Hair. *shudders* It has ended several sub-bosses... and only now is growing less useful.)
So it really depends. Branching out with one class can be handy. Focusing on one, or with one of the more effective Prestige Classes can also be handy. And for all that she's pretty much a generalist, Essanne (Rogue 4/Air Elementalist 3/Arcane Trickster 2/Swashbuckler 1) has shown a knack for helping the group out (even if Tongs calls her the group Lemming, jumping over the cliffs of combat time and time again).
(BTW, ultra-high armor classes can help with that problem. She might be the group Lemming, but when she goes defensive and gets a sneak attack in, her armor class jumps to 35. I very much suspect it'll be going into the 40s by the time they reach the Runeforge in the distant future.)
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Rogue and gunslinger work pretty good however I would recommend the musketeer(?) template if you do (lesson learned!), and want to play a sniper type it can be quite fun. That said I do see how much it could hamper the high end of a campaign. The only thing that keeps me on par even remotely is employing a weapon that uses touch AC to hit. Honestly I did it for a couple of reasons. First was for the characters development. Gnome...gadgets...loud boom and a little sisters affection for the person who introduced/exposed her to the exciting explosive mechanical device. I also needed to boost the fighter ranks after the loss of Uther and Lucien as we had yet to reach the level of "breath of life" etc.. Second was for the continued presence of the shiny new thing. As for the numbers...
Rogue 9, gunslinger 7
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Glad I am not alone in looking to the future. I too am weighing options to form the amorphous ball of imaginary primordial goo to follow Moxie.
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Any idea which AP you guys will be doing next?