Erebus: Brightfire

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Standing only a few thousand miles from one of the Plane of Midnight's ancient gates, the city of Brightfire is an oasis of peace... but not of life. Or at least, not only life. Beyond an outer ring of walls, fortresses and towers of black stone as tall as mountains, lies a miles-wide valley of forest and running water, grasslands and laughter, animals both wild and domestic. Among the trees-some of which are hundreds of yards tall and as ancient as the oldest dragons-are built the wooden homes of thousands of lithe humanoids. The design of the buildings beyond the outer ring makes them look natural, part of the forest around them, flowing with the small streams and springs and laughter. That should not come as a surprise, really.

Slim and tall, with hair ranging from green and grey to midnight black, with skin moon-white or sun-gold or pale brown, pointed ears and musical voices, the denizens of Brightfire are obviously elves. Beneath the easy laghter and playing elven children, the dancing adolescents in the glades and the young couples kissing amidst the trees, something feels off. There is not a single older elf among them; everyone seems young and fresh, even moreso than normal elves would be. And then, there are the eyes.

They are blood-red. From infants to adults, all the elves have crimson eyes and what they drink along with the fruits and pies and little cakes you see them gulping down is too deep a red to be just wine. And then you realise where the older elves must have gone. The black-cloaked, black-armored guards that escort strangers through the city share the same easy grace and light step with the elves. Under their heavy armor which they carry as if it weighted nothing at all they have the same slim bodies, the same skin colors and narrow angles in their faces. They have the crimson eyes and snakelike fangs-but you already knew they were vampires. Only now you see the undead troops aren't just guardians or even jailors of the people of the city; they are family. Dead family perhaps but blood relatives all the same...

Contingents of guards escort any strangers to the center of the city where a miles-high obsidian spire stands. At the top of that spire lies the city's namesake; a massive white-hot flame that casts its light and warmth over the city in the place of the sun the plane of Erebus lacks. The guards escort you through floor after floor of offices, labs, workshops and libraries where more elf vampires go about their business, working in the usual posts a city of that size would require to function. The military must be stationed at the ring of fortresses at the city's primary defences while these... people here are the workers, teachers, researchers, engineers, scientists and administrators, all gathered inside this miles-high tower. Almost an hour and several miles later, the stairs lead to a massive chamber only a few hundred yards below the great fire above.

Other non-elf, non-vampire individuals wait in the chamber or come and go to the adjoining rooms. Not many-barely over three dozen-but more than enough given the isolation of the plane of Erebus, let alone its danger. Newcomers are gathered before the elevated seats of thirteen people, all of them elves, all of them vampires. The one in the middle, a blonde elven woman of exceptional beauty sheathed in robes of crimson silk, stares down at all newcomers and says;

Brightfire council is now in session. Evaluation of outsiders' presence and continued existence within our walls shall now begin. Be warned that truth-telling and mind-reading enchantments are in effect in this place. Should you wish to assert your rights of individuality and free thinking, report to commander Darkslayer at gate six. That said, please tell us, in your own words, how and why you came to be here-and nothing more.

[Frog Dragon]

(Qorixos)"Do not let themmm capture you. A true warrriorr sss will die rather than be captured" The mental speech of Qorixos sounds in his head "I amm ss not crazzsy. I will sss not fffight an army.." Shaking off the sound inside his head he responds to the vampires "I fizzzled a planessshiffting ssspell and wassss disssplaced ss here.. I thenn ran into the otherssss. We fought the monssster until the Sssorceress intervened and broughht ussss here."

[MikelaC]

Linteshar faces the elven woman.

My story is somewhat similar to his. I was in the middle of a battle that was turning against me. In an attempt to get out of it, I used a spell to plane shift to escape the battle. As I did so, the mage I was battling used a spell to attack me, and it must have interacted with the plane shift in some unknown way. It ended up putting me here, with the rest of this group. Before we could even start introductions, we were attacked by that strange abomination and only survived due to the intervention of the sorceress.

[Karsh]

Saint Albrecht DelaCroix the Platinum

As the party was led through the halls of Brightfire, the platinum saint felt a change come over him as his knowledge was altered in subtle ways. Ways that would grant him greater strength on this plane. And Albrecht knew. He knew this was the beginning of his final great task. Bahamut's guidance had brought him here, granted him the new power to overcome these new obstacles.... He would not fail.

"I am Albrecht DelaCroix, humble servant of the Lord of the North Wind, the Platinum Dragon, Bahamut. I was sent here by the King of the Good Dragons on a mission that has not yet fully revealed itself to me. I arrived though a magical mishap when my Amplified Miracle interacted with an epic gate to the Abyss. It created a planar rift which sent me to this place. We encountered a black, vampiric beast of shadow, and Alarra came to our aid. It was she that brought us here to Brightfire."

[Gorgondantess]

Kasibel floats around the room blithely, getting uncomfortably close to the vampires before him and scrutinizing them, uncaring, as he speaks. "Oh, well, I just came here on a noonday stroll to chat with the locals. Lovely people. You're nice too, I suppose. Too homogenous, though... the transition is lacking, the asymmetry. Perfection in imperfection and all that. Just like my mother used to say..."
Whoever is reading Kas' mind needs a will save... I believe against DC 38... or be hit with insanity? I'll have to look up the PrC again. Anyways, he's not telling the whole truth, but I suppose that's irrelevant.

[Tequila Sunrise]

"My name is Eldred, and I am here quite frankly because I can't plane shift away. Perhaps you'd be kind enough to tell me why."

[Adumbration]

The great shadow dragon, even in the bright lights of the city, reflects no light - not even his eyes, which are hardly distinguishable from the black scales surrounding them. "I am Winnowshade. I could tell you, without lying, that I am a scholar: where other dragons hoard wealth, I hoard knowledge. But that wouldn't really tell me why I'm here, now would it?" The dragon shrugs, almost uneasily. "My motives are... a bit more mundane. I was curious. I have visited countless planes of existance, flitting between the zones as free as a bird. The only place that eluded my grasp - until now - was Erebus."

"And so I am here."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

As the outsiders speak up one by one, one of them, a short, overweight man in white pants and shirt, black overcoat and a huge cylinder hat advances upon the council and with every step he grows in size, becomes paler and his nose becomes more bloated and red. By the time he's crossed half the chamber-only a few seconds, really-he is nearly seventy feet tall, his hair and nose are bright red, his mouth is a gaping hole full of jagged teeth and his overcoat is bright pink with green dots. In his right hand he raises a terrifying flail that ends in a dozen tentacles, each one with a fanged mouth at its tip.

The seemingly youngest vampire in the city's council-a little, black-haired girl of an elf-sighs melodramatically and points her arms towards the advancing... thing. Her hands, palms, fingers and all, detach from the rest of her arms as if severed, fall on the floor and advance on their own accord on the attacker, growing and changing even as they do. By the time they reach the enormous fat man, they have the size of houses, the nails at the end of tree-sized fingers have turned into man-sized claws and upon the middle of each palm a gaping, blood-dripping wound has opened and has grown cat-like teeth in a grotesque imitation of a mouth.
The two monster-hands jump upon the advancing fiend, bury their claws deep into its flesh and pull, tearing the fat body in two from head to groin. Then they stuff the still-screaming pieces into the mouths and, despite the pieces being larger than they are, manage to devour them without visibly bloating at all. That done, they jump in the air, shrink down to their initial size and reattach themselves to the girl-vampire's wrists.

The vampire girl licks her bloody fingers and belches... loud enough to put a dragon to shame.
I hate clowns. She complains in a fittingly girly voice. They give me indigestion.
Manners, Linda! says Alarra at her with a scowl. Eructation is against good table manners in many realities. You don't want to offend our guests, do you now?
As the girl shows an abnormally long tongue at Alarra's back, the sorceress frowns at the bloody mess on the floor-all that remains from the fiend-and at the outsiders gathered before her.
You realise now the necessity of this inconvenience we're putting you through? As council, we have decided that a mild violation of your privacy through our questions and truth-finding spells is the lesser evil when compared to attacks from forces of the Far Realm... she pauses and looks fondly at the little girl let alone Linda growing too fat for her latest dress. Truth be told, some of the citizens did not believe the latter option to be hard to bear but, through great effort, I've convinced them otherwise.
And after letting you know in that light manner what the alternative to submitting to the council's search might be, Alarra smiles winningly at you. Her smile, of course, fools no-one.
And now we'd like a description, in your own words, of your capabilities both physical and magical which might be, according to your judgement were you in our place, pertinent to the security of the city.


@Gorgondantess; I don't think insanity would be a problem... even if undead beings were not immune to mind-affecting.

@everyone; make a sense motive check and an intelligence check.

[Frog Dragon]

"What is this place.....?? It's insane. See Qorixos now the futility of fighting back. I probably couldn't defeat their toddlers for all my training"

"Assss you wisshh. I practisse the sssublime way and sssorcery. I amm a deccently powerful mage though not equalling archhmages of the prime.. I practissse my innate magiccal tallents to augment my ccaoabilities in combat.. over what I could physssically do. I doubbt I could be a thhreath to you. Your very children sseem to make play of creaturesss I mighht never claim victoryy over. I thhe prime II am a legend... Here, judginng ffrom my exxperinccesss here I am a medioccre combatannt."



Int Check: [roll0]
Sense Motive [roll1]

[MikelaC]

There are some who would name me a demon, even though I cut those ties many years ago, when I no longer cared for the direction they would have taken me.
So I moved to the plane of mortals, and made my way entertaining both men and women with my musical and artistic talents, as well as in more...intimate...fashions. I am a bard of a special college, a wizard, and some might name me whore, even though I only supply simple and happy pleasures; but I would hardly consider myself a security threat to your city.

[roll0] sense motive
[roll1] intelligence check

[Adumbration]

"So you wish to know my... Capabilities?" The previously subdued, even meek demeanour suddenly changes as he spreads his wings, letting out a roar worthy of the long-dead behemoths that once traversed the lands. Shadows seem to flicker around him, liquid drops of it oozing froms his snout, as he lowers his face level with hers. He whispers, barely audible: "I. Am. A. Dragon." Briefly a yellow light surfaces from the depth of his dark left eye, pulsing before disappearing again, like a sun travelling in the infinite void of space. A wink?

A hint of amusement drips in his voice. "Is that enough for an answer?" He gathers his wings around him again, seeming as harmless as a huge dragon can be.


Sense motive:
[roll0]
Intelligence check:
[roll1]

[MikelaC]

As Winnowshade returns to his "harmless" state, Linteshar moves to stand right beside him. Waiting for the Council to speak, she whispers to him

A very impressive display, at least to me. Perhaps lost on this group, but impressive nonetheless.

She smiles warmly at the dragon.

[Karsh]

Saint Albrecht DelaCroix the Platinum

"I wield the holy light of Bahamut. It grants me strength, grants those around me strength, and strikes down my foes. I am skilled with my spear, and my magic amplifies that skill.

I am also skilled at piercing the veils of illusion and casting out spirits that have inhabited the bodies of innocents."

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Gorgondantess]

Kasibel floats on his back, shrugging.
"Oh, I can just do some things. This and that. Y'know, it works. What I do. That stuff. And things."

I'm not going to bother with sense motive. I believe I have a -2 modifier. And whatever I find out, it won't make a difference.
intelligence check:[roll0]

[Belial_the_Leveler]

For a moment it seems some members of the council-an ancient looking vampire lord for one-would blast Winnowshade and Kasibel from existence for their inappropriate replies but a contingent of grim vampire warriors in black armor comes floating into the chamber.
My Lords... says the vampire in command in a deep voice ...Intelligence reports that a group of Outsiders is advancing through a Dreamscape towards the eastern gate, followed by an army of their minions on the face of Erebus.

The entire council save one jump from their seats. The sorceress in red turns to the others, immediately assuming command.
Deimos, she says to the ancient-looking vampire lord in black bone-and-scales armor, skeletal face and pronounced claws and fangs you'll lead the ground troops into combat.
Mot, she commands a thin, pale, very tall man in concealing black robes, we'll need you and your people to revive those not strong enough to defy oblivion by themselves.
Yama, Amets, Merritt, she points at an abnormally pale, white-haired elf woman in grey robes, a young, brown-haired man in casual clothes with a distant, empty grey gaze and an older male vampire with black hair, greying skin and a multicolored robe that seemed to flicked in and out of existence you'll come with me. We'll open a dreamgate and the four of us will take on the enemy between this world and the next where their mobility is severely limited.

The rest of the council goes on to their assigned positions-it would seem Alarra has command during times of trouble like this one-all except the vampire girl who is still sitting on her throne-like chair.
Oh don't mind me. she says as she waves the others goodbye. I'll just sit here and play with the cute lizard and his little friends.
The other council members don't seem to pay the young elf any attention. Only Alarra frowns at her suspiciously while the girl gives the sorceress what is obviously her best innocent look. Alarra rolls her eyes and leaves, leading the vampires against this new attack on her city.

The other newcomers in the city quietly leave the chamber one by one, leaving you alone with the little girl. Not all of them would be as strong as you in magic or combat and none wanted anything to do with someone who ate an Outsider in under six seconds, no matter how innocent they may appear.

[MikelaC]

And so, what sort of games do you play? Probably most of them are far beyond me, but then, in some areas, Im very, very experienced.

[Gorgondantess]

Kasibel floats up towards the girl, about 10 feet away from her, and assumes a position mirroring her in the air. "Oh, yes, yes, what do you play? I'm so very eager to learn." As he speaks, his faces distorts in subtle ways, becoming a bizarre parody of what it once was, but not in anything obvious.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

The girl, no more than twelve or thirteen were she a human, seems to concentrate for a moment and smiles.
While the others are having their own games where you're not invited, several playmates have come up unannounced. Follow me; we'll welcome them since the others are not here to do so. It'll be fun, too; each one of them has eight hands to play with!
Linda is obviously excited-if not quite clear on what exactly you're supposed to do.

[Adumbration]

"Games, games..." The dragon sounds the word with a slow, lumbering voice, tasting them. "Sounds interesting." Winnowshade appears to gain some sort of perverse satisfaction from humoring the girl; a grim premonition that the games will have little resemblance with those of the young ones in the Material plane.

[MikelaC]

Lead on, then says Linteshar, Im interested to see what sort of excitement this plane can offer.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Linda moves her hand as if pushing aside heavy curtains and a Gate opens before you, a hole in the fabric of Reality that leads... elsewhere. You can see strange mouths, eyes and what looks suspiciously like tentacles growing from the floors, walls and ceiling of the Gate's destination but the place is strangely misty and you can't see any details.
Transdimensional Express route one. Linda announces Next stop; Mr. Tentacles. Come on, follow me. Walking is for suckers! And with that remark of questionable wisdom, the girl jumps through.

[Gorgondantess]

Kasibel follows, a discerning look on his face. "Tentacles, eh? Haven't they gotten kindof... dare I say it- passe? I mean, they were great a few eons ago, but the real big thing now is the non-euclideans. Really lovely people, so many interesting realities." He floats through the portal as he talks.

[MikelaC]

Linteshar hops through the gate at the same time as Linda, keeping pace with her. She seems to concentrate for a moment, but nothing visible occurs. When she comes out the other side, she looks around in interest.

[Frog Dragon]

"Hmm if that isn't Erebus the effect that ruins planeshifting might not work anymore. I might be able to reach the prime." "Games... Games with demons. or whatever.. here is." Slishye says stepping through the portalThis vampire is bananas!

[Karsh]

Saint Albrecht DelaCroix the Platinum

Albrecht shook his head slowly before drawing his spear and entering the portal. "Bahamut protect us all."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

The chamber you find yourselves in is larger than the council's hearing room and part of the tower, too; you can see the obsidian and black crystal of the walls behind the tentacles covering them. But most of the hill-sized chamber is covered by the strange, animated growth.
The floor is even weirder; covered completely by a strangely bulging green mass from which the tentacles grow, carriage-sized fanged openings are gaping wide every so often, the holes leading to another reality of flashing lights and swirling mists. As you watch, garbage begins to fall through one of the many smaller holes in the ceiling's stone; rotten fruit, old bones and tiny pieces of roasted meat, torn clothing and old leathers as well as less pleasant things. The tentacles begin to dance excitedly as the garbage falls then drag it into one of the mouths. The strange growth eats the garbage, shudders for a moment then vomits upwards, exhaling pleasantly smelling moist soil.
Here we are; Mr Tentacles!
Linda exclaims, indicating the tentacled monstrosity with a sweeping motion of both arms.
It once was a people-eating abomination but now we changed that. As Mother used to tell me, people-eating is Bad. So I taught him to eat what we send here and manipulated space-time within him so he'd digest things about a million times faster. Then I modified him to be able to reverse gravity to send the soil he thus produced back up to the fields.
That Linda says very rapidly, perhaps fearing you'll interrupt her, then beams up at you as she finishes.
He's cute, isn't he? Just don't get too close to the tentacles as you admire him; he might take you for garbage. And try not to fall in his mouths on your own either; you'll rot away before we could get you out.

Leaving you a few moments to admire Mr. Tentacles, the girl leads you to a side tunnel in a free part of the wall. The opening is as full of dirt and sewage as the rest of the place but the stone beyond is remarkably clean.
This is a super-secret tunnel to outside. No-one can see it unless I let them. But our guests know about it and are always coming to search for it, even though they can't see it and it's supposed to be super-secret anyway. So I have to get out there and play with them so they get distracted and don't get too close.
Linda looks you up and down and frowns.
The game might seem too hard to you though; you're growing old. Maybe you should prepare before we advance?

[MikelaC]

Its hard to prepare for something when we dont know what it is. However, I do have a few standards that are hopefully usuable in all cases.

Linteshar pauses for a moment, then casts on herself.
(efflugent epuration, superior invisibility, true seeing.... sirine's grace is always active)

[Adumbration]

"Well, I guess a little preparation won't hurt." Winnowshade mutters a few arcane words, waving a claw carelessly to invoke the magic.

Scintillating scales, Heroism.

[Karsh]

Saint Albrecht DelaCroix the Platinum

Albrecht makes the sign of Bahamut with his right hand. "The blessings of the Lord of the North Wind be with you all."

He closes his helmet and a platinum glow spills out of the eye slit as the dragonborn prepared himself for righteous combat. He speaks a word and his spear morphs into a longspear.

He rests a hand on Linteshar's shoulder before she vanishes. "May the Platinum Dragon free you from that which binds your path. May he brush aside all impediments which stand in your path, and leave you free to stand on your own."

He raises a hand and makes the sign of Bahamut once more, continuing his prayer. "May His holy light confound your foes and leave them powerless in your presence.

May His holy light shield the faithful from the magic of His foes, and use their malice against them."

There is a burst of holy light, and Albrecht's draconic wings morph into the more graceful wings of a Deva, a halo of platinum light wreathing his head.

Bless, Extended Freedom of Movement on Linteshar, Holy Aura on everyone, [roll0] on himself, Celestial Aspect on himself.

[Gorgondantess]

Kasibel shrugs, and starts casting.
[maximized spell turning, shield, extended displacement, aaaaaand repulsion.]

[Frog Dragon]

Slishye draws a his blade and begins casting
[Stoneskin, Vertigo Field, Greater Invisiblity]
Finally anyone with the capability to see through invisiblity will see him entering Holocaust Cloak stance.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Linda leads you through the twists and turns of the side-tunnel and as she walks, she changes with every pace; she grows taller, older and curvier until she appears as a tall, striking woman in her twenties with long green hair. She also abandons all pretense at humanity; her hands become claws made out of darkness, her eyes gleam with green-black fire and phantom tentacles swirl around her form, shifting shape, size and location continiously so they are impossible to measure or tell where in her body they sprout from or end. Disturbing changes manifest on the tunnel around you as well; the walls bleed, the ground oozes foul-smelling black tar and where Linda steps small plants grow in the blink of an eye only to rot or mutate to impossible shapes only moments later.

After walking through this nightmarish terrain for a time, you exit into the vast openenss of Erebus beyond the ring of mountains that surround the city of Brightfire. You are not sure how this might be possible; the tower would be miles from the mountains and you crossed such a distance in under a minute. Looking back, you can't see the tunnel's exit at all. But looking ahead you can see what Linda would call guests and playmates; unnaturally visible against the darkness of the plane, many weird forms crawl towards you. Their central mass is a seething blob of boiling flesh flashing brown and green and other colors you cannot describe. Out of that central mass grow eight arms, so very similar you are convinced they are the same arm somehow shifting through time and space to exist many times in the same reality, each instance taking different actions but cooperating perfectly to drag the creature along. Out of that same body grows a longer appendage that ends into a swirling spike of Chaos so utterly alien it is nauseating to look upon. What those spikes would do if they came close enough to clearly see is horrible to contemplate-let alone what would happen should they hit you directly. And there isn't just one creature that comes nearby but dozens, maybe hundreds.

LET'S KEEP THIS SIMPLE, MORTALS. Linda says in a voice as nauseatingly unnatural and overwhelming as any unreal thing you've seen so far. There is no trace of a child's personna in those words.
I CAN DESTROY THE LOT OF THEM BUT IT WILL TAKE TIME. DON'T INTERFERE IN THAT FIGHT; YOU WON'T SURVIVE. BUT HOWEVER UNNATURAL THEY MAY BE, FAR OUTSIDERS ARE NOT BEYOND PLANNING. I GAZED INTO THE FUTURE AS THE OTHERS LEFT TO FIGHT THE INCOMING ARMY, WISHING TO SEE HOW THE BATTLE WOULD PLAY OUT. I SAW THIS INVASION INSTEAD AND I ALSO SAW THAT FIGHTING THEM MYSELF I MIGHT WIN BUT I WOULD FAIL TO KEEP KNOWLEDGE OF THAT PASS A SECRET.
Linda sighs as the Far Outsiders close the distance to about half a mile.
THEY WILL ATTEMPT TO SWARM AND DELAY ME, SENDING SCOUTS TO FIND THE HIDDEN ENTRANCE. TRY TO DEAL WITH THE SCOUTS-THEY CAN TELEPATHICALLY RELAY THE LOCATION OF THE OPENING THE MOMENT THEY FIND IT SO KILLING THEM AFTERWARDS ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING.
And with that she advances to meet the horde with dancing steps. She glances back one last time and gives you a frown.
YOU SHOULD KNOW THE REASON YOU ARE HERE. MY DIVINATIONS REVEAL THAT THE CITY'S DESTRUCTION WILL FOLLOW SHOULD THEY FIND A HOLE IN OUR DEFENCES WHILE OUR ARMY IS FORCED TO FIGHT IN MORE THAN ONE FRONT. THUS THE DEFENCIVE ACTION HERE IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE. BUT ON THE MATTER OF THE DEFENDERS' SURVIVAL, MY DIVINATIONS WERE... INCONCLUSIVE.
And with that remark she vanishes from sight. A moment later, a great bang that shakes the earth comes from the center of the enemy lines and most enemies turn back, surrounding Linda's position. But four pairs break from the formation, vanishing then teleporting in the slopes on the mountains behind you, beginning their search while the "girl" is distracted. For some reason they ignore you completely which strikes you as strange and a bad tactic to boot-until you remember the cloaking magics the sorceress Alarra said she'd weave upon you. Hopefully these will hold until you get much closer to your opponents. You have some time to prepare further... but from the frantic motions of everyone in the battlefield you get the impression they know there is little time till this battle is decided...



What is green, has eight arms, no head and two dozen SLAs? :smalltongue:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/EPIC_Gallery/Gallery5a/44184_C5_Uvuudaum.jpg


You're facing them in pairs for now and you get a surprise round at least for the first pair. It would be a good idea to prepare against insanity, though.

Things to include in a spoiler under each post;
Initiative (roll it at the first post)
Active buffs (and their remaining rounds if they have less than 10 rounds till they end)
The mechanics and rolls of your actions (you can roll elsewhere and link to that place. Just make sure any pertinent rolls are included)
Make sure a miss chance d100 roll is included for all attacks and a SR check for all spells that allow SR.

[Adumbration]

Winnowshade, stares thoughtfully at the creatures, evaluating various tactics against the beasts, as well as trying to remember useful bits of knowledge that he might have run across during his long travels. A puff of black gas emanates from his nostrils, like liquid, black silk. As he ponders, he slowly disappears into the shadows, leaving no sign of the huge dragon.


Knowledge devotion/check. Since Winnowshade automatically succeeds in the Knowledge Devotion to gain maximum bonus, this is to find out the creature's strengths and weaknesses, specifically if they are vulnerable to his breath weapon - energy drain, in other words. He has the same modifier for all knowledge skills, so I'm not going to specify it.
[roll0]

Initiative:
[roll1]

Active buffs:
Heroism
Scintillating scales
Resist energy (cold) 30
Planar Tolerance
Mass Conviction
Everything gained from items.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Winnowshade has encountered aberrations similar to those before-though of far lesser power. He knows such creatures don't normally have any special protection or immunity to dark magics (including his breath) but if that were the case, how are they walking the face of Erebus with its life-draining properties?

[MikelaC]

Linteshar speaks as she prepares her attack. I am casting at the one on the left. If my spell works, it will be encased in a shimmering sphere of light, a sphere of timelessness that will render it powerless until I stop. Concentrate your attacks on the other one if it works, we will take them out one by one

Linteshar uses an Assay Spell Resistance (swift), followed by a Song of Timelessness (standard), directed at the one on the left.

Rolls in the OOC (dont bug me, dragon) thread

[Gorgondantess]

Kasimir floats in the air, and begins casting, grinning wildly.
Assay SR.
Twinned Quickened Empowered (rod) Maximized (rod) Fireball (I have multispell)
Twinned Empowered (Rod) Maximized (Rod) Cone of Cold
Fireball 1:[roll0]
Fireball 2:[roll1]
Cone 1:[roll2]
Cone 2:[roll3]

So, that's....
2 instances of cold damage, 135 damage or DC 35 fort save for half
and 2 instances of 90 fire damage, or DC 36 reflex save for half
Attempting to catch at least 2 of them in each blast.

Waves of fire and ice intertwine, 2 from each hand, as his face distorts in the light. He floats there a bit, and sinks into the ground until he's about 10' under.

[Karsh]

Saint Albrecht DelaCroix the Platinum

"Eight..." Albrecht tightens his grip on his spear and wields it, his shield orbiting him protectively. "May Bahamut strike them down."

Albrecht moves in closer to the first group of enemies and then raises his hands. "Foul evil creatures! May the light of Bahamut be an anathema to you!"

I'd like to retcon casting more spells back in the tunnel since I would have cast those if I knew my spell list had reset:

Sublime Revelry - All (1/2 damage from melee/ranged attacks, immune to mind-affecting, immune to pain effects)
Fortunate Fate - Albrecht (Contingent Heal)
Mass Conviction - All (+5 Morale bonus to all saves)
Sign - Albrecht (+4 to Initiative)
Recitation - All (+2 Luck Bonus to Attacks, AC, Saves; +3 if worshippers of Bahamut)

Activate Bead of Karma for +4 CL for 10 minutes (before all buffs are cast).

[roll0]

Current Buffs:
Luminous Armor
Endure Elements
Divine Favor
Divine Power
Righteous Might
Amplified Greater Magic Weapon (Gives +8 enhancement bonus)
2x Magic Vestment
Spell Resistance
Superior Resistance
Mind Blank
True Seeing
Greater Blindsight
Sheltered Vitality
Visions of the Future
Mass Conviction
Sublime Revelry
Fortunate Fate
Holy Aura
Recitation
Double Strength Magic Circle Against Evil
Lesser Globe of Invulnerability
Consecrate
Bless

Albrecht casts Righteous Smite, trying to hit both Uvuudaums, but focusing on the one that Linteshar isn't trying to put into stasis if that's not possible. DC 32 Will save halves the damage and eliminates the blindness effect. I'm assuming these still count as outsiders.

[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Linteshar, Kasibel and Saint Albrecht blast the creatures with their magic but the Far Outsiders seem to shrug off the effects with ease. First one of them bursts through Linteshar's containment field then both dodge Kasibel's last cone of cold, the only spell from the ghost that doesn't melt away as it contacts them. Finally, Saint Albrecht's holy blast seems to harm them to a point-but not slow them down at all even as their bodies seem to shed about half the scorch marks from the attack. As this rate, the group might be out of magic before it overcomes even a single pair of the creatures.


They save against everything. Kasibel's second fireball is barely melted away by SR. Saint Albrecht's blast barely manages to overcome SR. I think that narrows down their SR score.

[Karsh]

Saint Albrecht DelaCroix the Platinum

The platinum light emerging from his helmet's eyeslits shifts from a bright platinum to an icy blue as the Saint's wrath is aroused. "I am the Platinum servant of Bahamut. Foul beast from beyond, do you see? You cannot hope to stand before me! To arms! Our spells will not avail us in this battle, so our might must win the day!"

Albrecht's angelic wings unfurl and beat powerfully, propelling the enlarged saint's one ton frame at the Uvuudaum, slamming his spear into the beast's torso in a flash of blinding light.


HP: 332
AC: 53 (charging; normally 55)

Charging the Uvuudaum hit by his Righteous Smite in a diving attack by gaining altitude before diving back down, dealing double damage (Dragonborn racial ability).
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2] + 3d6+23=33 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2043534/)
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

Also, if the attack hits, Albrecht will activate the Stored Searing Light spell in the longspear.

[roll6]
[roll7]

Platinum Talon is a +10 weapon vs. evil outsiders, and it is Good aligned twice over. It is also ghost touch. Currently its composition is Adamantine, and it is a longspear.

If everything deals full damage, that's 113 damage, which requires a save vs. massive damage (who knows, you might roll a 1?).

[MikelaC]

Linteshar's eyes flash a look of frustration, but she keeps her focus. Her plan is good, it just lacked a bit of execution this time.

I'm going to try that again, it only has natural resistance to my spell, nothing unnatural. Concentrate your attacks on the other one.

Her voice raises in song once again, trying to imprison the beast.

[Frog Dragon]

Slishye flies (stormcrow amulet) to the creature Linteshar didn't attack and attempts to drive his blade, now aflame, deep into the creature leaving dancing flames behind to burn it


moving next to one of the critters attacking with the lingering inferno maneuver

Attack: [roll0]
Weapon Damage: [roll1]
Fire Damage: [roll2]
Maneuver Damage: [roll3] (fire)
If I hit it will take 2d6 fire damage at the start of it's turn for three rounds
The duration for invisiblity is 15 rounds from casting with my char.

[Adumbration]

Winnowshade sees Slishye's attack, and joins in, dropping like a stone from the sky, maw filled with terrible, shadowy fangs directed to sever one of the creature's limbs. At the last moment, his claws make a few, swift motions, turning it translucent.


Charge and bite, using Wraithstrike as a swift action. Considered Ghost touch and magic, against the creature's touch AC.
Attack roll:
[roll0]
Damage:
[roll1]

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Taken by surprise, the two creatures are slow to respond to any attacks. This gives the group the opportunity to strike again before they can react.

Linteshar again attepts to imprison one of the two and for a moment it seems the creature will once again burst through her warping of time. But in the end, Linteshar's magic overcomes it and barely manages to hold it immobile.

Shlishye and Winnowshade both strike true at the still distracted Far Outsider and cut through its tough hide. A great deal of the physical part of the blow is deflected by it and Winnowshade's blow, despite the dragon's piercing teeth, bleeds not as if Winnowshade bit down on a piece of wood rather than a living creature. But Shlishye's strike manages to bleed the creature and partially burn its hide; fire seems to work normally against it as if it were a troll.

Saint Albrecht charges down at the Far Outsider and slams his spear directly at the creature's torso. The holy spear pierces the creature's tough hide easily, burns away a portion of its flesh and sets the thing's blood afire. Bahamut's holy light is anathema to it; that blow alone did as much damage as everything else you did to it so far.

The Far Outsider growls with fury... and vanishes for a moment. When it reappears, it is not alone; two fiends have appeared in its place right next to Linteshar! Even more alarming, the two fiends are identical down to their battle-wounds, which are significantly diminished since you saw it last. Winnowshade's bitemarks are gone as are the burn marks from Saint Albrecht's initial holy blast and some of the burning from his latest spear thrust. The blow Shlishye dealt however is deeper, the burn marks more pronounced.

Howling in their otherworldly voices, the two fiends appear blurry both with augmented speed and a haze of extra-dimensional energy. Both strike down at Linteshar twice, attempting to break the sorceresse's concentration and free their imprisoned brother.


The Uvuudaun strikes at Linteshar at the best of its ability, flanking with itself.
[roll0] (ignores concealment)
[roll1]
[roll2] (ignores concealment)
[roll3]

Linteshar takes the following damage from their attacks, assuming they hit. Damage is already halved for Sublime Revelry but all other defences (including damage reduction) apply;
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

Linteshar takes the following wisdom drain, assuming the attacks hit. Each instance of wisdom drain can be negated with a successful DC 49 fortitude save. Remember to include the bonuses to saves from St. Albrecht's group buffs.
[rollv=drain1a]2d4[rollv]
[rollv=drain2a]2d4[rollv]
[rollv=drain1b]2d4[rollv]
[rollv=drain2b]2d4[rollv]

If the attack rolls are 19 or 20, both damage and drain for those attacks are doubled.

Linteshar needs to make concentration checks against DC 10+damage dealt to resist her concentration on the Song of Timelessness from being broken. If her wisdom becomes 0, she falls unconscious and the song automatically ends.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

I knew I'd done something wrong;

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Gorgondantess]

Grmble grmbe stupid forums grmble grmble eat my post...
ehhhhh. What I was going to post this latest combat round is to cast a wall of force and then two quickened wall of force, I believe 50 feet wide by 45 feet tall each to form a triangle of force around a few of them. This round's actions will be determined as to how they react to this.

[MikelaC]

Linteshar is pummled 4 times by the fiends, her song ends and she stands looking stupidly at nothing.

[Karsh]

Saint Albrecht DelaCroix the Platinum

Perceiving the threat posed by the monsters' head spikes, Albrecht raises his arms in prayer. "Mighty Bahamut, Lord of the North Wind. Bring your sheltering wings around us in this time of need and shield us from these foes of madness!"

A surge of platinum divine power swirls about Albrecht and lances from party member to party member, shielding them from the madness inflicted by the spike.

His platinum eyes connect with Linteshar and turn a softer color. "I apologize for failing to prevent this from happening sooner. By Bahamut's light, may you be cleansed!"

He then beats his powerful wings and flies towards the Uvuudaum next to Linteshar.

Casting a 11th level (amplified) Miracle to cast a Reached Chained Sheltered Vitality, rendering everyone immune to fatigue, exhaustion, ability drain, and ability damage for 29 minutes.

Then, using a charge of my Greater Rod of Quicken Metamagic to cast a Quickened Miracle to cast a Reached Restoration on Linteshar, removing all wisdom drain, followed by a 90' move towards the Uvuudaums.

[Adumbration]

Winnowshade

The dragon, finding his tactic ineffective, decides to try for something even more... visceral. With a roar meant to distract the beasts from Linteshar, Winnowshade launches himself bodily at one of them.


It may well be that they're immune to grappling, but I'll give it a shot.

Melee touch attack (initiating Grapple, provokes AoO, considered Ghost-touch.)
[roll0]
Grapple check:
[roll1]
1d100 check, if necessary:
[roll2]

Use all of the consecutive attacks to attempt to pin the target, as per the grapple rules.
#1:
[roll3]
#2:
[roll4]
#3:
[roll5]

[MikelaC]

If this doesnt kill you, nothing will. If these attacks don’t finish him off, one of you will have to do it, I’m putting everything I have into this attack

Linteshar begins a complex series of actions. It starts with a spell, and progresses to a song. She then seems to shimmer, and somehow manages to cast off more spells. The first one causes the fiend in front of her to explode into a mass of gore and blood, while the second one causes a huge black blade to materialize out of nowhere, and hammer on the wounded beast. When she finishes, she seems dazed and confused, shimmering as if she was caught in some sort of time flux.

EDIT: Changing it back to the old post, seeing as Belial said my actions would work.

[Gorgondantess]

Kas, seeing his first attempt fail, waves a hand, transforming into a massive serpentine creature, brown and scaly, with a single eye ringed by 5 long claws. He lashes out, the claws whipping at the nearest creatures.
So, that's a quickened shapechange into a golothoma, then a full attack.
Claw 1:[roll0]
Claw 2:[roll1]
Claw 3:[roll2]
Claw 4:[roll3]
Claw 5:[roll4]
For all of the above, +3 to the attack roll if it can be done by melee. Also, if one is close enough for a melee,
tail touch attacks:
[roll5]
[roll6]
Now, damage:
Claw 1:[roll7]
Claw 2:[roll8]
Claw 3:[roll9]
Claw 4:[roll10]
Claw 5:[roll11]
And tail, acid damage:
[roll12]
[roll13]
for both of the latter, DC 31 reflex save or take 4d6 damage next turn.
If any go into a square adjacent to me, DC 38 reflex save or 1d12 constitution drain. If this is considered complete darkness, make it a DC 42.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Saint Albrecht shields the entire group then uses his divine magic to get the succubus out of her predicament. Linteshar snaps out of her stupor and prepares to strike back at the fiends.

Winnowshade launches himself at one of the three fiends but fails to hold it down; the thing, while smaller, is immensely strong and fast; it throws him off easily.

Kas jumps out of the ground next to the fiends and his ghostly form expands and boils away, giving way to the massive form of a snake-like creature. The creature launches itself at one of the three fiends but its attacks seem to be having little effect, if any. Somehow the creature is avoiding each and every one of them, blinking through the shadows around it easily.

Before Linteshar and Shlishye can act, the previously imprisoned Far Outsider slips from Linteshar's extradimensional prison and... vanishes. A split second later, all of the three Outsiders have rearranged themselves around the party. Only, they are not three; they are four! And many of their previous wounds have vanished as well.
With a sudden move of their spike-like heads they cause the flow of magic in the group's location to boil away, being disrupted by no less than four magic-killing waves.
Then, the fabric of reality seems to waver, bend and be torn away around two of your enemies, the rip in Space-Time sucking two of them in before closing. The two wounded enemies have vanished, leaving you to fight two perfectly fresh creatures.

Only moments after that disruption, Linteshar launches a powerful combination of spells. Her black blade strikes true at one of the two horrors... but shatters against its immense resistance to magic. Linteshar's second spell, a black beam of necromantic energy, causes the target Far Outsider to scream in its unearthly voice as its very flesh is torn, boling blood oozing from hundreds of rips on its skin. Most amazingly, the exact same wounds seem to appear on the second enemy, every tear, every gash, every drop of blood exactly the same.

It takes a moment to realise what is going on. Your initial two enemies have disrupted the fabric of the Universe, bending their past and their future so they would overlap for a time. That would not only give them the ability to strike back at you with twice the firepower but enable them to share some abilities within themselves due to their own weird skills with time-magic. One of those talents might include a time-stop spell; that's why they seemed to move and attack before you ever noticed and that's how they could pull off some tricks so fast you could not react to them. But the technique has its downsides; the reality gap that absorbed the two duplicates of the first enemy can attest to that.


Shlishye acts first after the creatures and again at his normal initiative count because he didn't manage to act yet.
Linteshar had exactly the same initiative count as the escaped Uvuudaun (because her being stunned is what freed it) but the Uvuudaun has higher dexterity score. So she did act but after its actions.
The two remaining Uvuudaun are both at half HP now.
The two original Uvuudaun are no longer part of the time-stream (for now).
You cannot react to the latest Uvuudaun attack due to their using time stop to cast then delay it until its end.
The attack is four area dispels. You all roll 1d20+20 as normal against all spells active on you, four times. The first four spells to fail to resist are removed.

[Karsh]

Saint Albrecht DelaCroix the Platinum

Some of the holy light emanating from the saint dissipates briefly as the Dispel Magics find their mark, but the platinum aura almost immediately resurges, as if it were retaliating against the monsters. If he can, he takes a step to position himself between an Uvuudaum and another ally.

"Platinum Talon, strike true and fast!"

The oversized form of the saint blurs for a moment, and his first spear-thrust seems to double as he lunges towards the Uvuudaum, holy light streaking from the spear as he does. He proceeds to unleash a flurry of spear strikes upon the creature, each blow releasing a burst of holy light.

Swift Action to activate Bracers of Blinding Strike, granting an extra attack at my full attack bonus. 5' step to flank, if possible (rolls will not include flanking bonus). Senses include True Seeing and Blindsight, so most concealment should be negated. Platinum Talon is also ghost touch, so yeah.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]

[roll10]
[roll11]
[roll12]
[roll13]
[roll14]

[roll15]
[roll16]
[roll17]
[roll18]
[roll19]

[roll20]
[roll21]
[roll22]
[roll23]
[roll24]

Platinum Talon is Adamantine, Holy, and Epic for overcoming DR.

[Frog Dragon]

Slishye waves a hand and mutters an incantation as the fiends start to slip on their steps, in a few second he takes a decanter of endless water from his pack and says the command word for "geyser" blasting one of the fiends out of the grease. He finishes by invoking a snake of fire, sending it through the first fiend in the grease to the one he blasted out of it. "Burn"


Starting with quickened grease (DC 21) following up with taking the decanter and speaking the command word. I somehow doubt the thing's ability to stay up when blasted by a ton of water while standing in a pile of grease
Geyser Damage: [roll0]

Then I firesnake on them both (DC 24) for half damage
Firesnake Damage (Fiend 1): [roll1]
Firesnake Damage (Fiend 2): [roll2]

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Saint Albrecht slashes at the wounded abomination but his spear fails to penetrate.

Meanwhile, Shlishye's ingenuity of combining grease, water and fire against the other fiend proves quite effective: the fiend slips and falls over, thrashing helplessly even as Shlishye's fires burn away at its flesh.


Then reality fluctuates one more time: the two wounded fiends vanish and a single, less wounded one appears in their place. Seeing itself outnumbered, and despite its previous manipulations of reality its enemies still standing, it strikes with magic as its previous physical attack had failed:
Lightning dances across the darkness of the plane to Linteshar, lashing out at the rest of the group in cascading bolts of blue and silver.


Supernatural Chain Lightning, reflex DC 43 for half. 20d6 electricity damage at Linteshar, 10d6 at everyone else.

[Adumbration]

Winnowshade

Winnowshade lashes out with every appendage available at the remaining monster, moving faster than the eye.

Here we go... If it isn't in reach, he'll use Bloodwind. Considered Ghost-touch, magic, and tail is adamantine.
Bite #1 attack:
[roll0]
Bite #1 damage:
[roll1]

Bite #2 attack:
[roll2]
Bite #2 damage:
[roll3]

Claw #1 attack:
[roll4]
Claw #1 damage:
[roll5]

Claw #2 attack:
[roll6]
Claw #2 damage:
[roll7]

Claw #3 attack:
[roll8]
Claw #3 damage:
[roll9]

Claw #4 attack:
[roll10]
Claw #4 damage:
[roll11]

Claw #5 attack:
[roll12]
Claw #5 damage:
[roll13]

Claw #6 attack:
[roll14]
Claw #6 damage:
[roll15]

Wing #1 attack:
[roll16]
Wing #1 damage:
[roll17]

Wing #2 attack:
[roll18]
Wing #1 damage:
[roll19]

Wing #3 attack:
[roll20]
Wing #1 damage:
[roll21]

Wing #4 attack:
[roll22]
Wing #1 damage:
[roll23]

Tail slap #1 attack:
[roll24]
Tail slap #1 damage:
[roll25]

Tail slap #2 attack:
[roll26]
Tail slap #2 damage:
[roll27]

[MikelaC]

Linteshar cackles with glee at the abominations attack.

Never dealt with a demon before? Too bad, you would have learned we are immune to lightning.

With her Assay Resistance still in effect, Linteshar activates her Song of Arcane Power (move action), casts a quickened True Strike (free action) and then casts her Black Blade of Disaster to attack the abomination.

[Karsh]

Saint Albrecht DelaCroix the Platinum

The monster's lightning dissipated harmlessly as it came into contact with Albrecht, converting from deadly electrical energy to harmless platinum light.

Albrecht brings his spear around once more in a steel whirlwind, thrusting repeatedly at the Uvuudaum.

Full attack again, flanking if possible (not factored in)

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]

[roll10]
[roll11]
[roll12]
[roll13]
[roll14]

[roll15]
[roll16]
[roll17]
[roll18]
[roll19]

[Gorgondantess]

Kaisbel writhes a bit, then turns into a giant, wailing, screaming mass of wind and teeth, screeching, writhing, and oozing forwards to the nearest uvuus.