Aernum, Circle of the Grand (IC)

[Bobbybobby99]

It had been a year and a day, and each Grand has officially moved in with their residence. The entire plane is quite expansive in size, partly because each casting of genesis is just the slightest bit more effective than the last, in terms of square footage. All was going quite well, and everyone had delved into their pursuits quite voraciously, most having moved in a few weeks ago. The foundation of the plane was firmly set, and the six had experienced no particular internal conflicts of any note. Peace, however, was not perfectly well kept. Large groups of Grands didn't go without notice, and while the specifics remained cloaked in secrecy for the outside, there were just as many gossipy old Grands as there were gossipy old grandmothers. Hence came the following sending;

"I, alongside many others, hereby invite you to the Grand Winter Solstice Galla, occurring in one days time. It shall occur on the following continent."
And then a few moments later-
"The Diamond Turtle continent, located five continents to the west and one continent north of Noble Sir Jarvis's former home, in the country of Ghogandi-"
Another few moments later-
"In the capital city. If you wish to decline your initiation, please either commit suicide, kill the sender, or send an explanatory sending. Thank you."

The Grand Winter Solstice Galla is a select festivity of high ranking Grands, primarily evil or neutral (good and neutral leaning good individuals primarily celebrating in summer). Of course, they considered 'Evil' something of a synonym for 'Intelligent enough to evolve', and 'Neutral' as 'Meh, they aren't idiots', but still. Perhaps 200 Grands in total were going to be there, a mixture of orcs, kobolds, illithids, drow, and more common races; and invites to any of you have been rather hard to come by, due to repeated hilarious incidents that nobody much likes talking about. Having formed an alliance, you had, however, become far to powerful to collectively ignore. All of you received the sending at the same time, having heard different voices along with it, and a meeting was convened immediately on the plane within the designated neutral ground, to discuss whether or not you should actually attend.

The meeting area itself was well prepared, being a small field with an ornate table and several luxurious chairs. The field itself, in accordance with the aim of satisfying multiple desires, was covered with various, darkly colored flowers, giving off a radiant perfume, and happening to be both good for tea and rendering any undead being that consumed them euphoric. The discussion of whether or not to attend began, with the sun shining bright on the young winter day and an anxious air presiding. It was a potent opportunity to gain allies and form contacts, after all, but there was a one thing of note; there had not been a Galla to date where someone had not been killed, even if it was generally the weaker attendees. Every evil Grand that died, after all, was an evil Grand of roughly the same power born (within the next year or so), and that one might, perhaps, be more amenable to the assassins aims.

[Jack_Simth]

The cloaked human says "So. Seems we all go the exact same message. I'm thinking of attending, myself, but hedging my bets by way of Cloning and Astral Projection, and some crafted orders to my household staff. How do the rest of you feel about it?"

[7th son of sons]

Soleil smiled as she looked over the invitation. Call it an old womans foolishness, but I don't find myself too worried about these events as some you may be. 'Tis but an invitation. Where's your sense of Adventure? The Winter Solstice is a celebration of all that we are, a chance at meeting more of our kind. From what I hear, events within are quite the spectacle. She ran her hand through her mount, and second-in-command's, thick fur. And while I'm more fond of of the springtime, I assume that any gathering as famous, or infamous, as this one is more than worth a little genuine interaction. I always did prefer a personal touch to this sort of thing, leaves a better impression.

[Virdish]

Her verse cut short as the conversation began in earnest and Yira surveyed her fellows. She herself had never received an invitation to any such event before the alliance and she saw it for what it was, an attempt to survey this large alliance, probe it for weaknesses, and decide whether it needed to be "handled".

"I was wondering when our fellow Grands would attempt to get a measure of this alliance. I had truthfully hoped that we would have had an amount more of time but things move ever forward I guess. I believe that more then anything we need to show a united front. If one of us goes then we all should. If we choose not to go then none of us should. Any perceived weakness or disunity could be damning. I for one would like to attend, though may as well take such precautions as you, my friend."

[Sønderjye]

Jarvis has yet again chosen the form of a nymph. He seem to be fond of this particular form for social events.

"I will be attending the event in person," the intaking nymph almost sings. "Remember that while your silancrums are usefull, there is a chance that a sending won't work and I would assume that you have your items on yourself rather than a weaker version. Plus since we are in an alliance we are almost guaranteed to ressurect each other in the event of death."

[Jack_Simth]

"Astral projection, not simulacrum. The spell echoes equipment fully. The trouble with relying on a resurrection after the fact is that there are a number of ways to keep it from working. So I will probably be packing a Death Pact, an Astral Projection, a clone or twenty, and a few other instant return effects, plus minions with carefully crafted orders left at home. "

[Bobbybobby99]

It was a single day later, almost precisely, when they set out, utilizing astral projection, death pacts, and clones, as had been reccomended priorly, alongside a few other effects. They arrived just the slightest tad early, bedecked in the most stylish clothing that the Tea-maker could summon on short notice. There was a grandiose palace; the ruling Goblin Queen of Ghogandi (a level Lich 76 Fighter/Sorcerer) had, evidently, graciously agreed to host the affair to generate goodwill. The palace was a stark mixture of alabaster and obsidian, which really wouldn't be plausible without heavy magical reinforcement. That was the point, of course. You (or rather, the projections made of you) grandly entered.

The inside was even more spendid, and vulgar, than the out, having grandiose moving tapestries, tables seemingly made of solid platinum and emerald, waiters of animated skeletons that had been actually studded with cyan diamonds, and more. There was a subtle scent of lavender mixed with type O- blood, and it was positively tantalizing to the vampires in attendance, and pleasant to others. You spot Gavroche le Claire, the second most powerful man alive (a level 98 elven Rogue/Warlock), who had taken on an offended, top ranked Demon Lord one on one, and emerged victorious. His degree of charm was almost cloying; it took conscious effort to resist it, and you collectively turn your eyes (and thoughts) elsewhere. You then spot the following, eyes taking the notable assembled in within moments. There was Kriega McBarty, vicious knight (level 88 orc Paladin of Tyranny/Fighter), Sister Simplice, twisted psychopath (level 74 illithid Spontaneous cleric/monk), Henry the Red Paw (level 94 tibbit vampire Wizard/Sorcerer), and Johnny the Poisoned (level 69 human Evolutionist/Druid who is famous for his family connections, rather than his raw power). You also notice many other Grands whose features are more subtle or whose face unknown, but you have no time to discern them from your mind.

Then the moment was over, and Henry the Red Paw casually leaped from his ornate silk perch, and showed an extraordinary capacity for jumping, in that he landed directly on top of the head of one of the jewel skeleton waiters, before casually speaking, with no regard for a tibbit's normal inability to speak in cat form. His collar was ornate, he wore four earrings, he had multiple anklets, and there was a rumor going around that he was, in fact, wearing the skinned and enchanted fur of another cat.
"Why, how wonderful to see you six. I invited you myself, of course. Don't you just adore the decor? The Goblin Queen designed it herself, of course. Terribly stubborn, that one. I'm certain that we'll get along splendidly. Tell me, what's your primary goal, anyways? I'm simply curious.

[Jack_Simth]

Red chuckles, takes a sip of his tea, frowns, and mumbles to himself "Hmm... still not right... maybe some almonds?" then continues in an actual reply "It hardly matters what I say in response. You can never be sure of the accuracy of what I say. If we were planning something against your interests... we would likely say something that is not against your interests so as to avoid repercussions and let us go about whatever our plan was. If we were planning something not against your interests... we would say our plan in response. Which means you'd get the exact same response regardless of veracity... and you can never be quite sure whether or not we have a way around whatever verification method you might be using. That is, of course, assuming that we'd give up our purpose so easily, and that this was the appropriate venue for doing such if we did (that sort of information is generally best kept between small numbers of individuals, after all, rather than all the guests at a wonderful party). I suspect you'd be much better served by observing our character while we all enjoy the party."

[Bobbybobby99]

Henry smiled a bloodthirsty smile, practically purring as he lightly stretched.
"Oh, how silly of me. Still, you would be suprised how utterly excellent I am at discerning if people are lying to me, and you really wouldn't like what would happen if you were lying to me. There are a dreadful number of favors someone acquires once they've been around the block, after all. Of course, you were perfectly honest, and it's always quite telling of a man's character what he says to defend it, or what he does to deflect questions, much more so than what he actually says. I just know that I know what I need to know now; Thanks."
On that note, he suddenly blinked out of perception, regardless of the various divination techniques available. You can all breathe a sigh of relief, at least on the inside. Despite a strength in numbers, it was always good to be tense around Henry, since he was renowned for isolating his opponents, and none of them stood a good match for someone who had a solid three rank advantage. Now, it seemed, it was time for them to mingle.

(you can describe the person that you are mingling with in broad words (simply for convenience sake so I
don't have to write ridiculous amounts), and act out your actions towards them, but I'll be handling replies to whatever you say)

[Sønderjye]

Jarvis, today in the shape of a graceful Dryad, moves ever so slightly in discomfort seing Henry taking a life so casually.
"Thank you for the invitation, Henry", he says in a voice that in no way reveals his dislike of Henry's actions as the cat turns around, seemingly having lost interest in the group.

He walks around and mingles for some time before coincidently ending up beside Johnny taking the chance to talk about forms, shapes and evolutions with someone that he expects shares at least some of his entusiasm on that particular subject. He's hoping to both gather information in an area that genuinely interests him, getting an impression of Johnny's personality and goals and getting on his good side.

Wild shaped into an Paragon, Pseudonatural Low-imbued adamantine golem. Assuming "normal form" means the form before any magical alterations(which is fey): Alter self into a dryad, alter self(invisibility spell) into the same dryad to fool true seeing with friends.

Bluff to not conseal a strong dislike in casually killing things: [roll0]

Pheromones active: Causes NPC's starting attitude to be helpful if their HD is below 80 and their sense motive modifier is below 81.
I don't expect us to roll with the standard rules for diplomacy but I figure it can't help to roll: Towards Johnny [roll1]

[Bobbybobby99]

Johnny the Poisoned, with the general appearance of bipedal, anthromorphized, two headed hydra, was a curious fellow. He was wearing a spring green tuxedo, which matched the dark green of his scales, and contrasted with the devilish red of his eyes. The right head spoke, his voice high pitched.
"I'm not much into animal transformations, I have to say. Always thought the people that did that too often were a bit weird in the head. Like plants though. Lots of plants. Sometimes I just spend days on end as an apple tree hidden in an apple orchard. Very Zen. Then when people pick the apples, I change the biology so that the small amounts of cyanide present turn into big amounts of cyanide present, and then when they die I eat them. Very Tasty."

Despite having a rather annoying voice, Johnny seems relatively pleasant in disposition through your conversation. He seems to be quite fond of you; while he is sufficiently perceptive to avoid the pheromones you are exuding, and he is capable of resisting any charms you possess, he nonetheless finds you rather charming and witty. His primary goal is occluded; while he seems to be presenting a front of 'Bread and circuses', there is a certain subtle sophistication to his speech that makes you wary of his true intent. Your suspicions lean towards the subtly nefarious.

As your mingling leads elsewhere...

[Jack_Simth]

Rothight Enthiang Draissight sips his tea, and mutters "No, that's not quite it either... maybe some dryad bark?" and while doing so, the scent attracts a connoisseur - a warlord from a far eastern continent. The two hit it off fairly well, Red runs a full tea ceremony for the man, and afterwards, they get into a brief conversation about where Red gets his materials, noting that several of the items used for the impromptu ceremony were enchanted, but that they didn't seem to come from anywhere. The human lets the warlord know that no, they weren't from anywhere. He created them on the spot just for that purpose. The warlord comments "You could outfit an army with that fairly readily" to which Red replies "Well, yes, I suppose I could make a living as an arms dealer... but there's little point. What profit is there for me? An army is unlikely to be able to get me anything I can't simply make myself. I've no real objection to doing so, but in order for it to be worth the time, well..." to which the warlord considers, and replies "Let me think about it and get back to you...."

[7th son of sons]

Karlamine snorted with her center head, loudly clearing her throat to both announce her (slightly belated) arrival, as well as to awake the sleeping Queen who clung to her back. Venelana did his best to make her appear presentable, a few time-stops allowing him to advise her on a tasteful state of dress, before the three returned to the main timeline, entering the palace. Velour was never one for the indoor life, but she had to admit, something about the manor was quaintly charming. She would have to speak to the owner on who did her decorations.

Karlamine adjusted her size to be more suitable for the parties environment, some aid from her keeper making the process a bit quicker, and the three strode through, scanning the area for someone worth conversing with or, barring that, a garden or park they might spend some time lounging about in. Venalana continually informed Velour of who, exactly, was in attendance, what sort of scandals they were involved in, and what positions of power they held where. Velour nodded absent mindedly as she produced a small fox from her sleeves, running down her arm and into her lap, Velour scratching behind it's ears as Karlamine lead her through the crowded area.

[Jack_Simth]

Red waits patiently and tries to remain still through the time stops, keeping an eye out for others who have learned to hijack others' time manipulation magic.
Bluff to seem to be 'stuck' in the normal timestream, taking ten, for a result of 460
Spot to watch for anyone who isn't, taking ten, for a result of 102

[Bobbybobby99]

You're seemingly successful. Also, Yira and Arbor (especially Arbor) can post any day now.

[Jack_Simth]

The human considers for a moment, then Time Stops repeatedly, and uses the time to drop a Ring of Three Wishes on each place setting. They aren't cursed at all, but they do have a custom command word for their activation: "The Grand Winter Solstice Galla is the best"
Using at-will Quickened Maximized Time Stop repeatedly to stay in Time Stop for long enough to drop a Ring of Three Wishes, generated by at-will Quickened Enhanced Supernatural Wish, on each and every place setting I can find, added onto the napkins as a secondary napkin holder. Also imbuing the rings with a little extra Wish XP. Those Wishes come with an extra 6k XP each, in case they're needed to create minor magical items (those with a crafting cost of 3000 xp or less, which works out to most magic items with a market price of 75,000 gp or less per Wish); this brings the crafting XP cost per ring to 33,918 xp, which is within my reach. The rings come with no inherent indication of where they came from. Notes indicate about 200 guests, so 200 place settings expected, which would be 200 Wishes over 200 rounds. Use the last round in each Time Stop to invoke another Time Stop, rather than a Wish, and that's 50 invocations of the at-will Quickened Maximized Time Stop for 250 consecutive rounds in one swift action real-time.

This serves two purposes:
1) Bore anyone else who has Spell Stowaway(Time Stop) into showing themselves, seeing as how pretending not to have it means staying stock-still for a full 25 minutes. Doable, but most won't without very good cause.
2) Sooner or later, someone is going to want a large quantity of low-epic equipment for their minions, and getting someone curious to the point where they solve a puzzle to find me should do the job for advertising... but if the rings just say where they come from, they won't be curious, they'll just read it and forget it.

[Bobbybobby99]

After a few minutes, an old, albino Kobold woman, seemingly blind, begins loudly screaming every two minutes or so, though she doesn't seem very aware of her surroundings in general, and she doesn't move to stop you. You vaguely recall mention of her being an old Wizard/Spontaneous cleric, somewhere is the lower seventies in level, who decided to request an immunity to aging when forming a wish, but forgot to specify a halting of the steady increase in time perception and furthermore halted her aging at around sixty, rather than the present moment. Nowadays she has severe mental problems, and generally barely notes the passage of years, much less moments. You notice a kindly old yellow Kobold (non-grand, but brought along) gently holding her hand; her husband, for whom she made a similar wish one day long ago, and the screaming is likely because of the once soft grip turned to iron by the time stop, and the disruption of her routine.
After you began moving, he began gently sipping at his wine, sitting down in his chair and bringing out a book on 'Unique semi-balors and how to bind them''. His expression seems much less intimidating than prior, and when you drop a ring at his table, he murmurs 'I was looking for an excuse to do that' while flipping a very large emerald in your general direction. He doesn't seem to much care about the interruption, all in all, and seems to have deemed you a distinct non-threat compared to the people he is sitting with, who include the frozen Henry, Sister Simplice, and a few other particularly powerful and dangerous individuals. You still have to look away to avoid the urge to fawn and kiss his boots. (one of the dangers of knowing someone who specializes in diplomacy)
All five of the five wizards of Quince, a group of fairly minor Grands living from the ideals of the Archmage Quince (a famous, ancient, level 100 wizard/archivist) seem to have continued conversing at there little group table. Having already silenced and blurred everything outside of a small bubble (and vise versa) in order to discuss philosophy and metaphysics in private, the 'ironically' bearded, pointy hatted, wizards in RYGBV robes didn't even notice the rings discretely deposited in their places.

[Avalon®]

Some time earlier...

"Me and mine have our own protective wards to protect ourselves but additional layers of protection would be most welcome. Gentle Anna muses.

"Oh! Before I forget, I muuuust give you some lady fingers." Before anyone else can get a word in, Morri starts snapping off the fingers of one hand and handing one out to each of the other grands with a giggle. ♪♪ "Whenever you need aid, say a prayer to this lovely maid. She'll come on down with nary a frown and even come back from the dead." ♪♪

Raising a hand to cover her mask/face, Badb turns to Gentle Anna. "Tell me Morri didn't break out into song again."

"Oh but she did." Gentle Anna nonchalantly replied.

"I think I'll need something stronger than tea to get through all of this..."


At the gala...

Decanter of Endless Rashemi Fire Wine at the ready, the Arbor of the Sun crosses over to the actual gala alongside their fellow grands. Like Jarvis, they have chosen to don a smaller form to interact with the others at their own size. Clad in the sheerest green slip that could be called proper in polite company, the three stand a bit behind the others as they are graced by the presence of Henry the Red Paw. Gentle Anna looks on serenely while Morri begins to hum an old nursery rhyme that involves cats and Badb has her mouth firmly locked unto the opening of the decanter trying to drown out Morri's sickeningly sweet swinging from her short-term memory.

As the others make their own way through the gala, the Arbor decides to let Morri take control of their body as she spots a familiar figure relatively nearby. Count Video, that rapscallion of a grand, stood in a haze of ozone and television static clad in a haphazard suit that part ermine cloak, military parade regalia and terry cloth robe. He stood amongst a group of other beings, both grands and their companions, the sound of zaps, clicks and buzzing passing quickly in conversation. Morri and the other two quickly approaching the digital lord and lightly rapping on the crystal ball he calls a head. ♫ "Heya County! How are things out in Tee Vee land?" ♫

Hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of bringing in some crazy characters. I got inspired by the names you gave to some of the other NPCs already.

And yes, Morri is gonna do a lot more singing. Not all of them will be good. :smallbiggrin:

Now to find a way to make a party cannon for the place...

[Bobbybobby99]

Count Video (level 82 Artificer/Bard with an obscure prestige class or two), one of the sillier Grands currently in existence, but none the less rather respected, made a point of attending both the Summer and Winter gallas each year; and niether faction cared to alienate him. He was the developer of a unique, cheaply produced type of crystal ball which took the form of a metal box, rather than an actual crystal. He had developed an iron grip over a wide range of media, in both his country and neighboring ones; it would be unwise to upset him. Luckily, you two are old friends.
"Hey there Arbie, Baby!" He said, clearly announcing the individual words in the midst of the numberous clicks and bees of his strange enchantments. "Things are just grand, if you get my meanin'. Gotta love it!"

You and he, smiling and grinning, begin bantering, and stay talking to each other for a while. Catching up, talking about your alliance, his new mass production techniques; it was a grand old time, and some of the alcohol is catching up with your body in general. Elsewhere...

[Jack_Simth]

Once he lets time resume, Red generates a simulacrum of an advanced female Astral Deva, telepathic bonds with it, and mentally directs the fake Astral Deva to take the gem to his garden shed for now, while verbally telling her to take it to one of his vaults.Not touching the gem. There's an 8th level spell that makes me nervous about such large stones. Garden shed in case it's a different kind of trap - still have to get into the fortress that's Forbiddaneced and has no exterior entry... the Astral Deva isn't actually capable of getting in on it's own, and as such, isn't actually capable of following through on the verbal order. Not that I really expect the gem to actually be trapped or anything, mind, but caution is useful in general (sometimes harmful, but in general useful).

[7th son of sons]

It isn't long before Velour finds herself at one of the many tables designated for food. While, surely, most here did not require such frivolity any longer, the sensation and taste of true food had always held a certain appeal to the natures queen. Partaking in one of just about everything, and her loyal second in command helping herself to two. Venelana sighed audibly as he began issuing appollagies to any who happened to observe the unusual... vigor with which the two consumed their foods.

When finally she grew satisfied, Velour turned, eager for discussions, and perhaps insight, into the way of the high and mighty.

[Jack_Simth]

Red takes a moment to look around, just observing people's interactions. Are there those that seem to be avoiding each other? Clumps of people in groups? Odd bees in the mix?

Taking a Swift action to duplicate Divine Insight for a quick +85 to an arbitrary skill check, and using that on a Sense Motive, then taking ten, for a result of 103 if it matters.

[Bobbybobby99]

Velour attracts the attention of a dashingly handsome, yet somewhat older (and dwarvish) gentleman, whose face she places as belonging to Ricky Ronaldson (a dwarven level 77 Swashbuckler/Beguiler), a friendly yet conniving fellow. He had made the habit of being something of a brown widow when he was younger, but nowadays he mostly made the habit of quietly tending to his garden, occasionally check up on his lieutenants, and attending the Galla each year out of nostalgia.
"Why hello, most esteemed mistress of the green world. I have to say, you're even more lovely in person. Would you care to dance?"
Either he was actually that friendly, having softened in his old age, or that was exactly what he wanted everyone to think. As you begin to waltz to the music that the band began playing (he was a very persuasive sort), he leaned in close, and whispered, with a very strong illusion concealing the action.
"Be wary of Kriega and her allies. She despises upsets to the status quo."
He then resumed waltzing.

There are several minor groups, formed as if unconsciously, but you don't take them in. Besides the Five Wizards of Quince, who you already observed, you further notice the twin, blonde (half-elf) rogues Haley and Caleb casually conversing with Kriega McBarty, and the three Lizardfolk of Tenebri (an obscure three continent empire on the edge of Aernum) standing in a patch of artificial, heated darkness. In terms of individuals acting strangely, you notice that Sister Simplice has started staring at the slave she is currently devouring, rather than eating it, and an unknown man dressed in an easter green tuxedo has begun staring at the ring of three wishes, and has begun casting several rudimentary spells at it. While Kriega herself gives no clues, nor Caleb, a sly and thin sort of man, Haley has given Jarvis several glances in the last minute, and seems to be subtly sweating.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothight Enthiang Draissight uses the established Interplanar telepathic bond to relay a few things to his allies: Looks like we've got our first problem. Jarvis: You've got an admirer! Or more accurately, one out of a group of three is looking at you and sweating. The others are keeping it cool... but the one lady is nervous. I don't think it's the romantic sort. Seems more like someone's planning violence, and isn't too sure of the outcome. We've got... Haley and Caleb - two blond twin half-elf rogues, along with Kriega. I'll think on it for a bit.So rolls! Starting with Lore (functions as Bardic Knowledge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/bard.htm#bardicKnowledge))
Haley: [roll0]
Caleb: [roll1]
Kriega: [roll2]
Taking a swift action to activate my time stop for the rest. That gives me five rounds to play with.
Bluff to seem to be frozen in time in case anyone gets onto the Time Stop and is watching: [roll3]
First, swift action to duplicate Improvisation (Spell Compendium: Gives me a luck pool equal to twice my caster level that I can use on various things, but no more than 1/2 my cl on any given check.
Then taking another swift action to duplicate Divine Insight, and making a roll using that and the luck pool on: Haley: Knowledge: [roll4]
Then taking another swift action to duplicate Divine Insight, and making a roll using that and the luck pool on: Caleb: Knowledge: [roll5]
Then taking another swift action to duplicate Divine Insight, and making a roll using that and the luck pool on: Kriega: Knowledge: [roll6]
- Note that it really doesn't matter which knowledge skill is appropriate, as I have the same modifier on all of them.
- This leaves me with 40 points in my luck pool, and I've got 76 more rounds in which to use them.

General Knowledge Check (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm) DC is 10 + HD, with "For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information."

I'm taking on the role of party librarian. I'd like to know all about them, please, before the waltz becomes a tango.

[Jack_Simth]

After thinking on it for a short time, Rothight Enthiang Draissight snags Jarvis' hand, seeing as how the dryad form will make a good dance partner, and swiftly duplicates yet another spell as he verbally says "Dance with me," while explaining in detail over the interplanar telepathic bond to the entire party Plots are afoot, and I've got two reasons for this dance... one is of course to inform you all of what I saw; we've got a plotter - Kreiga, Haley, and Caleb seem to be plotting against us... mostly Kreiga, but dragging the others along... for the crime of upsetting the local status quo. That's the first reason. The second: when someone's plotting, and convincing others to go along with the plot... the simplest way to foil it is to convince the others not to go along with it. And many are swayed by performances... but it's not done that way often, and so most won't realize. The specific reason for grabbing you, Jarvis, is that you're currently the center of attention for at least one of the group.I'm taking some liberties simply because Sønderjye hasn't posted in over a week... but if Jarvis wouldn't go along with the dance, even with the explanation, then please, let me know and I'll edit.

Supernatural Wish to duplicate Divine Insight.
Perform(Dance): I'm claiming an Aid Another from Jarvis for a quick +2 (he can't fail the roll). Burning the last of the luck bonus from Improvisation (40 points) and using the Divine Insight on it as well. [roll0], making use of the Epic Usage of Perform (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/skills.htm#perform) for the "sway an audience’s attitude" function. I don't much care about the Fanatic state - it's not needed for what I'm doing, and everyone's probably straight-up immune anyway due to Mind Blank or similar; I just want everyone who's watching because they're evaluating us friendly enough that they won't go along with plans to hurt us.

[Virdish]

Yira had been doing her best to keep herself both part of the affairs and yet detached from them. She feared that some kind of attack may soon occur. They were a threat to most of the people seated here, if not alone then certainly as part of the whole.

As such she was completely ready when the telepathic message came over from Red. She grinned to herself at the show that was being put on and she decided to add to it herself. It had been a long time since she had been given the opportunity to sing to such a large crowd and so she took it. She stepped up and smiled a radiant smile.

"I can not simply allow my compatriots to sing to just any music, no offense to the playing of course. But for such a moment perhaps it is best that I sing for you."

As the music stopped she wove her voice into the brief period where the instruments got lower, forming a perfect seaway into her own sorrowful song. It seemed to resonate throughout the room. She poured every bit of her soul and her bardic talents into it but did not invoke a bardic effect.


Using epic diplomacy skill to effect the viewers in the room as well. Taking ten for a result of 449.

[Sønderjye]

Johnny the Poisoned, with the general appearance of bipedal, anthromorphized, two headed hydra, was a curious fellow. He was wearing a spring green tuxedo, which matched the dark green of his scales, and contrasted with the devilish red of his eyes. The right head spoke, his voice high pitched.
"I'm not much into animal transformations, I have to say. Always thought the people that did that too often were a bit weird in the head. Like plants though. Lots of plants. Sometimes I just spend days on end as an apple tree hidden in an apple orchard. Very Zen. Then when people pick the apples, I change the biology so that the small amounts of cyanide present turn into big amounts of cyanide present, and then when they die I eat them. Very Tasty."

Despite having a rather annoying voice, Johnny seems relatively pleasant in disposition through your conversation. He seems to be quite fond of you; while he is sufficiently perceptive to avoid the pheromones you are exuding, and he is capable of resisting any charms you possess, he nonetheless finds you rather charming and witty. His primary goal is occluded; while he seems to be presenting a front of 'Bread and circuses', there is a certain subtle sophistication to his speech that makes you wary of his true intent. Your suspicions lean towards the subtly nefarious.

As your mingling leads elsewhere...

At the mention of eating people Jarvis head twitched ever so slightly and she tries to his it by letting it appear as if it was caused by a second head growing from her neck. "Do you find that the cyanide adds to the taste?", continueing as if nothing had happened. "Could you elaborate on this Zen? I have been too distracted to look into it on a meaningful level and have only heard sparcely about it".

At some convinient point she'll mingle with Count Video, the 5 wizards of Quince, , mostly focussed on the topic of constructs. She's also interested in finding someone who she can talk to about population control.


Jarvis' face lights up in a smile that is almost blinding when asked to dance. "It would be my pleasure, Rothight", she answers in a voice that brings remindance of roses unfolding. She takes the offered hand and apologizes politely to her current conversationists before following Roth. <<I see>> she responds telepathically while giving Rothgith her brightest smile, <<Should we wait and see what they have planned or do you already have a plan?>>


Changing pronoun to "she" for the purpose of staying true to Jarvis' current form.
Diplomacy to appear intaking, taking 10 for 451. Taking 10 in perform for 401(including a +2 from aid another, thanks bud)

[Jack_Simth]

The human continues the dance, and telepathically talks to the party My current plan is of the 'an ounce of prevention' variety, and we're following through on it as we 'speak'. Kreiga appears to be soliciting help in taking us down. If those she's trying to convince like us sufficiently that they're unwilling to move against us, then her plan falls apart before it begins. I don't have enough specifics of her plan to preempt it beyond that, however. Who's best at eavesdropping while avoiding notice? It'd be useful if we knew exactly what she's proposing to people.

[Sønderjye]

<<Depending on how perceptive she is I could turn into something small and crawl into her ear>> Jarvis offers telepathically.

[Jack_Simth]

Red replies across the Interplanar Telepathic Bond while continuing the dance I can think of a few reasons why that path is not recommended. First, I need you for the dance. Second, we don't know how perceptive she is, and thus anything that relies on her being non-perceptive is very risky. Third, we're being observed, so if any of us vanish it will put her on alert. Nah. What we need is someone who's skilled at simple listening, and can pick out one conversation from across the room.Glancing through sheets, it looks like it's Velour's time to shine with that +794 Listen modifier.

[Bobbybobby99]

A gathered crowd of Grands has gathered around your almost magical waltz, several of the weaker and more brutish ones stunned and stupefied by the grace, the majesty of it all. In particular, Johhny seems like he's about to faint; an odd thing to say about a bipedal hydra. The Two Ladies of Pain, dressed in grandiose ballroom dresses (a Warlock/Fighter and a Rogue/Sorcerer, well-versed in torture, who served as Gavroche's personal fanclub) are both swooning at Red, while flapping their fans adoringly. More pertinently, the Grands in general seem to vary between appreciative, calculating, and amused, all feelings with a positive tinge, aside from a few select, lightly frowning individuals, including Kriega, Sister Simplice, and Caleb. The music is delightful, in a melancholy way, and all are enjoying it, sometimes unwittingly.

Then you spy, with your little eye; an old, little, albino kobold woman, who hadn't heard the music, nor seen the dance, for she had no senses to speak of. She chuckled, an odd, faraway chuckle, when her husband told her an old, classic joke. She lightly pressed a little rune on her cuff, as if in remembrance; you can't quite recognize the design.
There was a bright flash, a blinding light, a moment of total black; and you were back at the center of your demiplane, completely unharmed.

[Sønderjye]

<<Jarvis' report>> Jarvis telepathically command his other selves.

Has anything happened on his part of the plane?

[Jack_Simth]

Rothight Enthiang Draissight blinks his real eyes for a moment, and then relays over the interplanar telepathic bond And that, my compatriots, is why I like the Astral Projection spell. It's got some drawbacks, I will admit, but other preparations take care of most of them, and it's great for when you're surprised. Red then encloses himself in a wall of Ice via a quick spell to prevent anyone from sharing in his timestream, stops time, and begins the laborious task of checking everything.
It is a very laborious, boring task... that takes a single swift action real-time.
1) Have my symbiont (polymorphed BOB clone of myself) use a swift action to Wish up a Wall of Ice around myself (hemisphere version), so as to deny Line-of-effect to anyone else. This prevents other people's Spell Stowaway (Time Stop) from activating (except for my BOB clone, of course, as it still has Line-of-Effect to me, being in me).
2) Activate my at-will Quickened Maximized Time Stop.
3) Destroy Hemisphere in round 1 of time stop via Wish (Disintegrate).
4) Rounds 2-4 of Time Stop: Useable, see below for overarching actions.
5) Use Round 5 of Time Stop to repeat step 1 and continue the loop as often as needed.

In the repeated rounds 2-4, Wish transport to a location, Wish up an Analyze Dweomer (and a Greater Arcane Sight, if not already active; ditto for Find Traps and my usual buff routine), examine everything. I want to make sure nothing's been tampered with while we were gone. That accounts for swift actions. Full round actions are spent on Search and Spot checks to the same purpose. With Find Traps, I have a Search check of +386, with a take 10 result of 396. Spot is at +92, for a Take 10 result of 102. I'd like to claim a circumstance bonus for doing this, seeing as how I built all of our fortresses.

If I don't find anything of note, I'm not telling anyone I did this. I'm not sure I want anyone to know that I know a bypass for Spell Stowaway just yet.

[Bobbybobby99]

The Jarvis clones have nothing to report. As far as they're aware, everything is running smoothly.

You see very little out of the ordinary. You can just smell the plot afoot, but there is almost no sign that the explosion and subsequent anhilihation had anything to do with you in particular. Eventually, you're forced to give up, and assume that nothing has been tampered with. There is one, little thing, though; you notice a grand total of 66 small frog figurines, made from solid cyan diamonds, scattered around; which were most certainly not present before. They are not enchanted in the slightest, by any method you can detect. They have a small lettering inscribed on them, in an obscure dialect of infernal; it is a saying of the Enlightened Second Church Of Frog.
"Poison is grand, by the swamp and the creek, but marigolds wither, without much of a seep."

[Virdish]

Yira was not happy. Not because the old kobold had tried to kill them but because her song had been cut short. She was very proud of her own songs and to cut one short was to her the greatest of insults. She needed to take care of things though and so she looked to the others.

"I'll be back my friends."

She telephoned herself to the pocket dimension that she had prepared for her second in command and then as soon as she was there stopped time to talk to him.

"We were attacked. Go out and get reports from all the lieutenants and report back to me in the square. Anything out of the ordinary I want to hear about. Go."

Yira returns again to the others.

"Any word from your various searching? I have my minions looking into things in my territoy."

Gate to pocket dimension, time stop to converse with cohort and then gate back to the others.

[Jack_Simth]

Red shrugs, and says "I did a bit of looking already. Found 66 of these..." the human directs a Simulacrum Solar to bring one of the figurines, not touching it himself, then continues, "I honestly haven't figured out whether someone's trying to recruit us, intimidate us, or distract us. I know how I'd scatter something like this through defences - animate them temporarily, a quick Transport Travellers Wish or two, then let the animation spell expire; get any mundane object anywhere. Magical objects, too, by Dispelling them into a nonmagical state first... although that doesn't mean that's how it was done with these."

Rothight pauses a moment, then continues "As to who might have been behind the explosive end to the party, there's at least two people who could have - The Violet Wizard of Quince, or the Shining Sorceress of Brook could have pulled it off... it was done via spell, so it's pretty straightforward to narrow down... I'll get that started..."

Red Swiftly Wishes up a simulacrum of an Advanced Solar of The Whale, and another of The Worm, brings them up to date on how the party ended, and gives them both the same orders: Commune with their deities, ask if The Violet Wizard of Quince had a meaningful hand in it, ask if the Shining Sorceress of Brook had a meaningful hand in it, relay both answers to us, then transport themselves to their respective deities' realms and serve their deities to the best of their ability.


The description of them:

a grand total of 66 small frog figurines, made from solid cyan diamonds, scattered around; which were most certainly not present before. They are not enchanted in the slightest, by any method you can detect. They have a small lettering inscribed on them, in an obscure dialect of infernal; it is a saying of the Enlightened Second Church Of Frog.
"Poison is grand, by the swamp and the creek, but marigolds wither, without much of a seep."


As to the logic of my actions:
The Whale has the Spell domain, the Worm has the Magic domain, both are allies of my patron, The Rooster. Answering the question "Did so and so arrange for a particular spell effect to happen?" - specifying a specific spell event and a particular person, should be in the domain of either. Both are allies of my patron, both are good aligned. Solars get Commune as an at-will spell-like, so they can answer regardless of spell preparation or domains. I'm using Wish, not Miracle, to create them, so I'm not leaning on my patron's power to do this, just my own. I'm (indirectly) asking questions of the allies of my patrons, so they're unlikely to have reason to suppress knowledge... but I'm asking two different allies, just in case. These allies of my patron help me out, and get a decent - if non-healing and non-advancing - servant as recompense that doesn't otherwise cost them anything. I'm paying for services rendered with services, and working with allies of my patron; shouldn't upset anyone.

[Jack_Simth]

Is everyone waiting for the results of the Commune spell-likes before continuing?

[Bobbybobby99]

Since it has a casting time of ten minutes I didn't want to just skip to the end of it. If everybody is okay with skipping to the end of it, don't post anything else today. I'll do it tomorrow. Also, Woo! I think my fever has subsided :smallsmile:

[Jack_Simth]

Actually, come to that, I do have one more thing to do while waiting on the results of the Commune effects...
Red thinks for a moment, causes a hum to surround him, summons four fiendish dire bats, and then Wishes them off to the location of the party to check on things. After they arrive, he spends a bit of time directing them to look around, and then mentally directs them to get well away from anyone who might be nearby so that they won't hurt anyone or anything when he loses control of them.
Three swift actions:
1) Wish to duplicate Sonorous Hum (Spell Compendium, page 196).
2) Wish to duplicate Eyes of the King (Also Spell Compendium, this time page 87). Requires concentration, but that is what the Sonorous Hum handles.
3) Transport Travellers clause of Wish to send the four summoned creatures to the remains of the manor.

he reason for Eyes of the King: It's not a divination (and thus, is unaffected by Mind Blank and such), but is an extra sense that shares my visual enhancements - such as the True Seeing I keep up continuously - and feeds the info back to me.

The reason for using the Transport Travellers clause in Wish is twofold: One, it completely ignores local conditions. Putting up a Forbiddance spell doesn't stop it. Two: I might as well, seeing as how I'd be using it to duplicate some lesser effect otherwise.

[Sønderjye]

"I suggest that some of us go back while someone stay back to be sure that we aren't vulnerable here". Jarvis says seeing that Red starts to begin his investigation, as he summons scroll of time stop and use the time to summon scrolls to replicate the scrolls of the spells that they had used before going to the party. "Who'd care to join?"

Using wish to create scrolls of the spells.

[Bobbybobby99]

The entire glorious manor of The Goblin Queen, scattered remnants of obsidian and alabaster scatter about, with the occasional look of bone dust or powdered diamond. The obsidian is sufficiently sharp that the dire bats must purposefully remain in flight to avoid having their arteries forcibly disconnected, and the alabaster merely looks sad. There are quite a few individuals who seem to have returned (or perhaps never left in the first place) including Gavroche, Henry, Kriega, The Violet and Red Wizards of Quince, Sister Simplice, and the Goblin Queen herself, who is cackling in an oddly mournful and depressing manor simultaneous with crying, giving the impression that several potent magic items of hers have been destroyed. Henry is dancing in the blood of some unfortunate individual who had simultaneously been weak enough for the sphere to outright kill and had come in person. Gavroche looks deeply annoyed, sighing several consecutive times before levitating above the ground and getting out his Book On Balors. Sister Simplice is just staring off into space, and Kriega is completely expressionless. A short time and a few sending later, they managed to find a potent cleric with the Creation domain to re-erect the structure with the Goblin Queen watching carefully. Another woman, who was one of those in charge of the party but did not attend, Dahlia Star (a level 85 Shugenja/Monk), popped into the scene soon enough, and began apologizing to the GQ. Evidently over her mourning period now that the palace was being slowly rebuilt, she began shrilly yelling at Dahlia, up until Gavroche sent a crystal dagger in her direction, at which point she hushed up. The fiendish bats wandered away at that point, under your instruction.

[Jack_Simth]

You realize the only effect that actually got dispelled or expended would be the Astral Projection itself, correct? Oh, and please keep the astral projection at CL 80 or below. We could make it non-dispellable by simulacruming up an advanced Nightmare, but that actually causes more harm than good.The human in the party speaks "Yeah. We might want to go back for damage control. It looks like a fair number of people survived and have already returned. The party aspect seems mostly over, though. Still, it'll take half an hour to complete the Astral Projection anyway, so we may as well wait the few more minutes until the two angels give us the Commune results, no?"

[Sønderjye]

"How many casualties?" Jarvis asks almost before Red has finished speaking

If Jarvis is told about the casualties he'll spend a round on casting wish to create scroll of time stop. While within the time stop he'll conjure a couple wand of true ressurection before returning to the place and starting to ressurect the dead participants, in order of level.

[Jack_Simth]

Red shrugs, and replies "Unclear. It is not feasible to distinguish between those who evacuated from those who need to recast Astral Projection from those who died. The fastest way would be to Commune a few times and ask about every person attending if they succumbed to the spell effects and did not have their own recovery method that worked."

[Virdish]

"With an incident of this magnitude it may be best if at very least most of us appear back at the mansion. It would certainly seem a little suspicious if only a few of us were to return. However I would indeed like to hear the results from your solar allies. It is possible that the perpetrator already thought of a defense to this form of information gathering but it is worth a shot. As to the casualties. I doubt there will be very many. You don't usually get as powerful as we are and stay that way by being stupid enough to show up to something like this personally."

Yira waited to hear from her cohort over their telepathic link. He should be reporting any time now.

[Sønderjye]

Jarvis shrugs at Yira's reasoning. Without hard proof against casualties, his program gives him a mild preference towards trying to ressurect as long as it doesn't cost him anything significant.

"I think that two staying back, 4 going would be ideal", Jarvis says with the astral projection scroll in hand, waiting for the group to see who would join him.

[Jack_Simth]

Ah, right. We've got two apparent drops, so... yeah, leave two behind tidies things up fairly nicely.
The youngish human considers, and says "I'll come. I'm guessing... Arbor and Mircea would probably be well suited to standing guard. I suppose we can just brute-force try to revive everyone... anyone else able to hijack Time Stops? It'll go pretty quick if we have one person maintaining a stable time bubble and another bringing people back."

[Sønderjye]

<<Is it important that it goes fast?>> Jarvis asks, deciding to switch to telepathic communication, curious as to Red's sudden interest in reviving people. He hasn't gotten the impression earlier that lives mattered a lot to the young magician.

[Sønderjye]

With it having been decided who would stay behind to protect the place and who would stay back to ensure security in the realm of the united grands the group casts the needed spells (and wild shape) and astral projects themselves back to the mansion.

Looking around Jarvis notices the (presumably?) emotional instability of the Goblin Queen. If she judges her to be somewhat calm she'll walk up to her with an empathic look. "We're doing what we can to figure out who did this", she ensures, pausing for a moment to judge the Queen's reaction. If things seems calm she'll procede with her request: "I wish to raise those who died. However this being your territory I would like your permission to do so."


Sense Motive 10: 104
Diplomacy taking 10: 451

If given permission she'll engage in the suggested strategy by Red and cast time stop and letting him hi jack it. Keeping up the constant time stop she'll ask the group to search out the body of the old lady that detonated the bomb in particular.
Also the post above is assuming that nobody objects.

[Jack_Simth]

The human considers, and replies across the telepathic bond Of itself, no. However, we have multiple considerations whenever doing something in public. One of those is being impressive. Speed can help with that. A Time Stop does not usually last long enough to cast a True Resurrection spell. If we can arrange for a True Resurrection every few seconds, though, we will leave a better impression.

[Virdish]

Being impressive is in fact something that is beneficial in these types of situations. Aside from their other benefits it is why I have slaved these sunswords to my will. It shows that hint of flair. One simply must show the world their power. It scares off many of those who might intend you harm. As for the time stop games I shall have to allow you to do so yourselves as I can counteract such a spell but not take control of one.

[Bobbybobby99]

The Goblin Queen paused only a few moment from her rambling madness to respond to Jarvis...
In responce to the first comment- "Do some more!"
To the second- "Good, now do it!"

The Whale. No, the Violet Wizard of Quince Did Not Have a Meaningful Hand in It. Yes, the Shining Sorceress of Brook had a Meaningful Hand in It.
The Worm. Yes, the Violet Wizard of Quince Had a Meaningful Hand in It. Yes, the Shining Sorceress of Brook had a Meaningful Hand in It.
Repeated communes do not change these responses, and The Worm begins adding 'You Dunce' after the third try, if you do that many. It may be a result of their differing domains; Whale likely perceives the spell itself, while The Worm likely perceieves the whole of related magic.

[Jack_Simth]

After making a quick screen to block line-of-effect for the duration while they work, and after work begins on attempting to brute-force True Resurrect everyone on the guest list in the reasonably constant Time Stop produced by Jarvis, the young human sends a slightly annoyed thought at JarvisYou do realize that if the culprit has ears on site, you just invited an alpha strike against us, do you not? It's a valid tactic, don't get me wrong, but it is the sort of thing I'd usually prefer be discussed prior to implementation. Oh yes, and for practical purposes, you also just committed us to solving the specific event, and publicly handing out that information... without arranging for payment on completion. Might I inquire as to your logic while we work?

Guest list of about 200 means 20,000 rounds of casting off of scrolls of True Resurrection. Works out to a touch over 33 hours subjective... so I actually renew buffs a time or two during the extended TS, cast a few Wish-duplicated Restorations on myself to get rid of the fatigue, some prestidigitation cleaning, et cetera; call it 34 hours subjective time, which works out to about 5,100 scrolls of Maximized Time Stop produced and used by Jarvis, hijacked by me for the True Res spells (which I make scrolls of with swift actions)

[Sønderjye]

<<My logic is that we actually are trying to research who did it and since I have strong suspections that anyone who was involved in the event is trying to do the same then it means relatively little to share that information. Why do you think that me sharing that information obligates us to finding it? Do you believe that the other grands are not putting everything they have into solving the puzzle?>> She responds without stopping reading scrolls.

[Jack_Simth]

Red considers and responds telepathically as he works How do I put this... from a legal standpoint, it doesn't obligate us to do anything. However, we're not dealing with law, here, we're dealing with social expectations. Telling someone 'We're doing what we can to figure out who did this' is usually going to be treated as a reassurance that we're dealing with it and will get it taken care of, whether it's intended that way or not. While yes, other people will also be looking into it - not everyone, especially now; a lot of people are inherently lazy, and won't do the work if they think someone else is, so now that we've declared that we are, they wont. Those people will now be looking to us for answers, and blaming us if we don't have them soon. Moreover, in declaring that we're looking into it, you've set us up as the obvious target for anyone who doesn't want people looking into it - you know, the people who actually did the deed - which means we're liable to be targets for a while. A little late to be worrying about it now, though. We'll just have to follow through. Hopefully whoever did it isn't too high up on the social food chain.

[Sønderjye]

Jarvis let's his analytic self process the input for a split second before responding: I recognise your interpretation as valid and that I didn't think of all possibilities.
Let's look at our possibilities here. We wanted to figure out who decided to burst of to pieces or who thought it fine to let us be coladoral damage anyway so it doesn't change our course of action in that regard.
The goblin queen didn't express any gratitude but rather seemed commanding which suggests to me that she views kindness as weakness and don't recognise favoura for favours as an option. We should look more into her personality but it appears that the beat way to handle the eventuality of her commanding an answer later is by showinf that we are not scared of her.
On the other hand this might put us in a position of power. If we do find the answer then that is a sign of power. If so we can get the opportunity to share it, provide a false answer or exchange it. Conversely since others are lazy and expect us to find the answer If we don't find it we can act as if we did but wanted to keep it secret or we provide a false answer if that is beneficial.
Let's also keep in mind how this is affecting the power structure. There is one group who cling more to this than the rest and they would likely be very interested in learning who did this.
I think that you are overestimating the possibility of an outright attack. We are 6 grands, it would be dangerous to make us an enemy by attacking us. Rather I think it more likely that they would make a deal somehow if we did learn that who did it.
Which reminds me. We need the old goblin lady. I want to go through her mind."

[Jack_Simth]

The human mentally replies while working Yeah... our first main suspect is the Violet Wizard of Quince, who's rank 22 and has allies of his own. The other is Shining Sorceress of Brook, who's rank 23. We're rank 19. There's a pretty meaningful power gap there, and while victory isn't certain if either comes to a direct confrontation, we won't have favoured odds. Who do you end up contacting when you Commune? We'll probably want to go through the entire guest list to sort out who was the primary target, again for who was knowingly involved in making it happen, and probably a few sets of questions about motivations ... but every deity looks at things differently, so you'll get different answers and need to be careful of who you contact; that's why I used the Solars earlier, rather than starting by doing it myself - The Rooster knows many things, but magic isn't really his strong suit... we should probably finish this conversation when we've got everyone together, though, and in private. Rothight then continues with the brute-force attempting to True Resurrect everyone on the guest list to see who and how many people didn't have their own immediate contingency plans for such an event.... and I am actually curious. Some people will have handled it via Astral Projection, some via Clone, some via minions ready to cast Resurrection, various other methods, and combinations of all of the above. We may attempt to call in favours of the people we raise, and it's also good to know who's sloppy enough for Soul Bind (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/soulBind.htm) to work, and who isn't.

[Sønderjye]

<<I haven't committed myself to a particuar diety so I am free to contact whoever is convinient. Until now I haven't seen any perks of aligning myself with a diety. I applaud of using the solars.>> Jarvis responds

[Bobbybobby99]

The time stop ended, hardly three seconds passing in the main time-stream, but thirty-three hours (or so) passing in the seperate layer. Johnny the poisoned, Esmeralda the Midnight Mage (a level 79 Drow Favored soul/Spontaneous cleric, a fanatical worshiper of The Pangolin), Lance Terror (a human level 71 Fighter/Factotum), Elizabeth Violet (a lizardfolk level 74 Rogue/Ranger) Wendy the Indecisive (a changeling level 83 Sorcerer/Warlock), and a dozen other rather unimportant individuals, were ressurected. Johnny is just inexperienced, Esmeralda is somewhat suicidal, Lance is overconfident, Elizabeth would think it impolite, and Wendy probably couldn't decide on a protective method. It's likely they simply expected their loose allies to ressurect them in a few days.

After the time streams merge once more, their startled noises of suprised occur, before most of the involved begin heaping praise. In specific, Johhny is positively adoring Jarvis, Esmeralda is grudgingly giving thanks, Lance is thanking Red, Elizabeth is singing your praises in a very 'authentic way', and Wendy is staring blankly.

[Virdish]

Yira claps her hands together her face the picture of happiness.

"It's so good to see you all back with us. How I wish that I could have been part of your ressurection but alas my companions got that honor. I can't believe that someone would have the audacity to attack the entire party this way. It completely ruined the whole affair. Madame Goblin Queen you must be simply furious, the insult of these attackers to think you so weak that they could get away with such an attack on your lovely Estates. As Jarvis has said we are looking into it and I am sure that you are as well. Of course I'm certain that we can count on you to spare no expense in ensuring this task is accomplished. You are of course the most amazing host."

[Jack_Simth]

Rothight Enthiang Draissight replies to those thanking the party "We may eventually be in need ourselves. In the meanwhile...." Red conjurers an outfit for each of the people who ended up without after the magical bomb, and continues "Do we really want to let the attackers have the day by not continuing to enjoy the party? Let's see about rebuilding the ballroom..." and looks around as he takes a minute to Wish up a suitable (mundane) ballroom, just sort of looking around as things magically appear for no immediately obvious reason in his line of sight.


Note that True Resurrection, by default, makes no mention of restoring items... so most of these people probably came back with no equipment.

Craft is usable untrained; taking 10, I'm getting 366 doing this (10 + 345 Int + 1 Luck (Luckstone)) for relevant Craft(Clothing) checks. Using Swift-action at-will Supernatural Wishes to create stuff, of course. Making sure that the clothing incorporates a +15 Vest of Resistance effect, because they may need that very soon. Also quietly adding intelligence (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm), setting the item's alignment to that of the intended recipient (which I figure out via taking ten on Knowledge checks - result of 369). I'm deliberately making these, and each thing costs, so I should probably just be able to set stuff. I'd like the items to have:

Mental Abilities: High Int, Medium Wis, Low Cha, at the "Four primary abilities, three extraordinary powers, two awesome powers" entry.
Int: 30 (+30*400 gp market)
Wis: 30 (+30*400 gp market)
Cha: 18 (+18*400 gp market)
Communication: Telepathy (+5000 gp market)
Primary Abilities: Wielder has free use of evasion, Wielder can use see invisibility at will, Wielder does not need to sleep, Wielder does not need to breathe (4 instances of "increases its market price by 2,000 to 10,000 gp (average 6,000 gp)" - assume max, so +40,000 gp market for this line)
Extraordinary Powers: True Seeing at Will, Heal 1/day, Passwall at-will (3 instances of "increases its market price by 15,000 to 35,000 gp (average 25,000 gp)" - assume max, so using +105,000 gp market for this line)
Awesome Powers: Astral Projection 1/day, Gate 1/day (2 instances of "increases the item’s market price by 100,000 gp", so +200,000 gp market for this line)

This brings the market price (for the magical portion) of the clothing to: 15*15*10,000+30*400+30*400+18*400+5000+4*10000+3*3 5000+2*100000=2,631,200, which is within my single wish limit for Epic items.

They also end up with Ego scores of 62, but that's part of why I'm aligning them to the intended recipient - so there won't be conflicts.

The nonmagical portion of the clothing gives them a market value of 25k, and I set the theme to something that seems suitable to the intended recipient. Again: Knowledge checks to determine, taking ten, result of 369

This is my "Try not to die again" reminder to them, if they end up identifying the things. Or, you know, just talking to them and asking them what they can do.Making a suitable ballroom, building it to match the prior one... however, using layered walls, putting iron underneath the alabaster and obsidian so that it requires no magic to hold it up, but the iron doesn't show. Spending 10 Wishes on it, not bothering with enchantments at the moment, so 10 Stronghold Spaces worth of whatever I saw of the place from earlier.
Kn(Architecture and Engineering): Taking 10, for a result of 369.
Craft(Buildings): Taking 10, for a result of 356. Note that Craft is usable untrained.

[Bobbybobby99]

The Goblin Queen replies "Oh, finally someone with some respect around here. I swear, these bozos are getting on my last nerve! They can't tell an orange from a door hinge! They're utter fools! You'd better catch whoever hired Ruth (you finally recall the Kobold's name) to bomb my palace, my wonderful, glorious palace; I never liked her anyways! Back in the old days she was fun; mayhem, destruction, she went on with what I was plotting. But she was an idiot! A blathering moron of unprecedented proportions. You're a woman, you understand; when a fiend betrays you, you need to rip out their innards and slaughter their family! She was a *censored*"
Upon gentle reminder of a request for patronage, she responded-
"What am I supposed to help with! All my precious family heirlooms, my tediously bartered magic items; sha-bang! I'm going to go check up on the *censored* that consist of my employees!"
She stormed off, dragging an unfortunate and finely dressed goblin attendant with her while ranting all the while.

The Cleric of the Blue Chimera, specializing in Creation, began eyeing your construction, before sighing.
"I'm not very good at this job, am I."
He sadly walked away.
The recipients of the clothing (who also included the Ladies of Pain, among the others), also thanked you once more. Wendy the Indecisive's left earring began vibrating, but she tapped it to cancel the effect, before winking your way.

The various Grands began making their way back into the ballroom, chatting away. Kriega notices you once more, casually glancing your way and then looking away once more. Haley and Caleb are nowhere to be seen, nor is Ricky Ronaldson, or most of the guest list, for that matter.

[Jack_Simth]

Figuring they've probably harvested as many favours as they're likely to get, Rothight Enthiang Draissight tries to keep an eye out while he socializes, inviting Wendy the Indecisive into a conversation, and asking her "Just out of idle curiosity, how much do you remember of your time away from the living?"

Duplicating a few spells quietly while socializing, as swift-action Supernatural Wishes: Divine Insight (Spell Compendium) and Moment of Prescience. Both last hours/level, so I won't need to replace them unless I use them.

I figure I'll get into divinations in earnest for figuring out who & why after we're done with the party.

Note that I've no specfic goals of what to do at the party at this point, and am fine with anyone calling 'time for it to end' at any point.

[Bobbybobby99]

Wendy smiled absently, and lightly twirled in her lavender satin gown, offering her hand to dance, as someone thought to enchant a violin to begin playing a soft tune.
"Oh, I was in this lovely mountainside, with valleys and the tallest of peaks. My patron is Goat, personally; untamed wilderness is my favorite place to be, with the fey and the insects and the animals running free, that is the place I always see. Nothing to forget, nothing to choose, nothing to lose by not deciding. Goat herself appeared to me; a phenomena unique to Grands. She shook her head, for she knew that was my place to be, wild and free, but I would have to leave like the leaves on the trees in autumn in the breeze. That was where I was, and what I've seen, and where I'll be once more."

Soon enough, the somewhat renewed Galla ended, and it seemed an overall success. You returned back to your base of operations, everything seemed mostly unchanged and un-messed with, and you thus started the laborious task of doing what you had set out to do.

[Virdish]

Yira made small talk throughout the rest of the renewed party but no one really caught her attention and no one really seemed all that interested in her. It seemed that Red and Jarvis had stolen the limelight with their time stop mass ressurection but she was ok with that. It gave her time to survey the party looking for anything that was out of place or anyone that was acting funny.

When the party wound down she said her good byes and then left for home. As soon as she got there she telepathically told the others that she intended to wish the body of the kobold up and create a simulacrum for questioning. She then set out to do as she had said.


Use wish to recreate the body of the kobold and then use the body to cast a simulated simulcrum spell (using Miracle), taking ten on the disguise check for 370.

[Jack_Simth]

The young human considers the demilich for a moment, and says "Well, your simulacrum, your orders. You're going to need to take the lead on questioning... I'm thinking starting with what she thought that effect would do, where she got it from, and things of that nature."

After a bit of a pause, Red continues and says "Well, I suppose I can attack it from a different angle while you question her...." and begins Communing with The Rooster on his very long series of questions.

"Hail great and mighty Rooster, Keeper of History, All Knowing Oracle, Master of Fate, Ultimate Avenger of All Deeds: I have many questions about the recent past, specifically heavily metamagic'd spell bomb involving Disjunction, Sphere of Ultimate Destruction, and Explosive Runes at the party I recently attended; is now a good time for me to ask them?"

Rothlight works his way through the entire guest list of the party (including himself and his companions), plus the Shining Sorceress of Brook, and ending with 'someone I have not yet named in this line of questioning', asking the same questions about each person in turn:
"Did this person participate in the spell bombing of the party in question, knowing that the bomb would be used in such a manner at that party?"
"Did this person participate in the spell bombing of the party in question, not knowing that the bomb would be used in such a manner at that party?"
"Did this person consider the spell bombing an act of revenge or retribution?"
"Was this person specifically intended as a target for the spell bomb?"




I'm just making up a few titles based on domains to fill for flavour:

Keeper of History: Time.
All Knowing Oracle: Oracle.
Master of Fate: Luck.
Ultimate Avenger of All Deeds: Retribution
If you want to make them cannon, that's fine. If it's pointless buttering, also fine. If it matters, Red's normal Knowledge(Religion) check is +359, so taking ten, he'd get 369, +/- any circumstance modifiers for knowing titles of the deity he worships.

Of course, using at-will Supernatural Quickened Wish to duplicate Commune. Repeatedly, as this works out to a little over 800 questions (1 to confirm, 4 questions per person, person list of 'about 200 guests' +1 not guest + 'unknown person'= 809-ish, so 11 swift actions and 809 rounds concentrating, or about an hour and 21 minutes of straight questions) ... but that's why I start with asking if now is a good time.

Also of note: Getting a "yes, this person did it" doesn't necessarily make Red stop. There could be more than one person involved in such a manner, after all, and a lawful person contacting a lawful deity is expected to be both orderly and thorough.

[Virdish]

Yira looks at Red and nods. Jarvis was probably busy with his own investigations but she would be willing to have him help her as well if need be. She ordered the simulcrum to answer all of the questions asked of it to the best of its ability, withholding no information. She also put forward the same order for her other comrades. Ensuring that if the others had questions of the simulacrum they could ask them.

"Did you know what the necklace you wore at the party would do?"

"Who gave you the necklace?"

"Who else knew about the necklace?"

"Who created the necklace?"

[Bobbybobby99]

Duck is moreso the god of History, while Rooster emphasis timekeeping and the passage of time (one of his more lawful aspects), but close enough titles for plain old buttering. Smart, contacting a deity of Retribution. Less smart, in other ways. The first commune gives the following responce.
"Red, my dear, you are entirely overestimating the amount to which I will bend my principles for you. I know very well of the company you keep, and I have remained silent on that front, but asking me to help you obtain face with a bunch of wanton murderers; it's simply too much. I will not aid you in the task of obtaining retribution against the one that ruined the nights of those to whom I am primordially opposed, much as it pains me. Good night."
Further attempts at communication are met with the light and cheerful voice of a lantern archon-
"I'm sorry, but Rooster is currently unavailable. If you wish to discover a divine mission, please recite the first hymn of the church. If you wish to discover the location of a deadly artifact, please recite the second hymn...


I'll assume that someone casts healing spell.

Ruth's simulacrum slowly rose, making a pained sound in the process. She slowly got up, and looked directly at Yira. Her words were moreso croaks.
"I don't know..." "My husband...Where's my husband..." "My husband..." "I don't know"

In response to the question "Where is he", Ruth responds "Wellington's 81st island... Secret place... Right off of Wellington's continent..."
As far as you're aware, Wellington only discovered 80 islands. This seems like it's going to take some magic. When questioned further, the simulacrum knows nothing about it.

[Jack_Simth]

Red takes the first answer as 'no, it isn't, and won't be', and drops the attempt as ordered. He then says "Well, that could have gone better. Ah well. Still, I knew that might be one of the costs in arranging to avoid the fires below. Looks like I may not be overly useful on this one."

No, wouldn't use a healing spell. Rounds/level and can't repeat? Pointless. Something more like Chasing Perfection (PHB II) or a +6 Belt of Magnificience (Miniatures Handbook) to mitigate the ravages of old age, plus Telepathic Bond to handle the communication issues. Doesn't matter what shape the ears and throat are in when they're not in use.

[Virdish]

"This one is far less usefully then I had hoped. Oh well I did mange to extract some info so I guess she has served her purpose."

A few spells later and the simulcrum was destroyed. No reason to keep the creature alive longer then was needed. She was already an a front to the God of death. No need to further anger them by keeping this sad creature alive. She would ask the others if she should raise her as a dread warrior but Yira herself had no interest in the creature. She would be ill fit to serve her and other forms of raising would be equally useless. With her mind gone it seemed to the lich that she would be a liability. Next she decided she would commute with her diety as Red had done. She wasn't aware as of yet that Red had received no answers but she wanted to be thorough.

"Oh great Black Chimera, your humble servant Yira seeks knowledge.

"Would you be so kind as to give to me some of your time to assist in the gaining of such knowledge?"

If her God implied he would then she would ask the following questions.

"Which individuals at the party were in any way involved in the attack?"

"Which individuals not at the party were in any way involved in the attack?"

"Of the individuals involved in the attack who knew the nature of the attack?"

"Of those individuals not involved in the attack which ones knew of the nature of the attack."

"Is Wellington's 81st island a real place."

If it is "where is wellington's 81st island?"

"What was the intention of the attack and who specifically were the intended targets of the attack."


Casting as many commune spells as needed to achieve the desired answers.

[Sønderjye]

Jarvis takes his time to socialize with Johhny and reminds him to use protective meassures when attending events like these.

Seeing the goblin queen's obvious disrespect and demand for their group he reaches out to his group: <<It may not be wise to allow her to continue to show that disrespect. What is your stance?>>.

At home:
Jarvis dismisses the alter selfs and resumes the form of a giant construct.

[Virdish]

Before the events with the sumulcrum.

(Her disrespect has been noted and perhaps some form of retaliation will be necessary in the future but direct action at this time wouldn't be well informed. If we are going to confront her it should be in a more controlled environment with less chance of counter retribution. We as of yet have no direct knowledge of the alliances within the group and it would be easy for the others to unify behind the queen to weaken us. We are a threat to many.)

[Jack_Simth]

Before Simulacrum

The human pushes a mental sigh across the relay and replies Well, while we can do so - I have an idea that'll probably get her to and keep her in an area under our control... speaking of which, how well do you do in antimagic fields? It'll come up if we need to remove her - she'll have allies of her own. Before we do anything to take her out of circulation, we'll first need to either manufacture a reason for moving against her that her allies will consider acceptable, or separate her from her allies.
After Simulacrum

Rothight Enthiang Draissight considers the simulacrum's words, and says "Wellington's 81st island, right off of Wellington's continent? Eh. I've found things with less concrete descriptions. Let's see... " Red starts by duplicating a quick Permanent Image, making a detailed map of Wellington's Continent and the known isles. "OK... logically speaking, if it were within easy sight of the shore of any of the known isles, or of the main continent, then it'd become well known in short order. So we can rule out anything that'd be in normal line-of-sight of those..." the young human concentrates a moment, and updates the map with an outline around the known islands and the continent, based on normal line-of-sight for one of the local race standing on the shore. He then continues "And with it being 'right off' the continent, we can reasonably expect it to be within, say, a day's sailing of the continent proper." Mr Draissight adds another line, this time going around the continent, one day's worth of sailing out, then continues, "So we're looking to search between those two lines. Let's take a look at how much space we have to seach, shall we?" He then examines his map, looking for possible patterns to the islands that are known to see if there's a reasonable spot where a chain of islands might have continued and simply not been reported that would fall between those lines, and also to get a rough idea of how much area he'll need to search if he ends up needing to simply brute force the entire possible area.

Taking 10 all relevant Knowledge checks, for a result of 369.
Supernatural Wish, of course, to duplicate Permanent Image.

[Bobbybobby99]

You hear a feminine, yet barbed voice speak to you (recalling that the Black Chimera resembles an eight leged, eight eyed, almost loch-less monster like individual)
"Oh Yira, how is my little Lich doing for herself? Oh, good, good. Oh, no trouble. Just finished devouring a mermaid again. Delicious. All of them except for the people that were wandering outside, to 1, 3, and 4. No, you can't rephrase the questions. That little Kobold's hubby knew about it, and so did that annoyingShining Sorcereress of Brook and a few of her Next? Well, of course it's real, and it's right off Wellington's country. Really dear, that should be obvious. The intention; well, I can tell you it wasn't evil, that's what I can tell you. Same thing with the targets; I can't tell the intention without it being in my domain. Silly, but understandably mistake. No, you can't ask more questions just yet, I have to terrorize the remainders of these mermaids. Call you later, my little Lich. Don't forget to have fun!

After a careful moments thought, Red spotted a natural continuation of the first seven largest of Wellington's islands; logically speaking from predicted volcanic activity, it should be right... There! Right there! 18 hour's travel southwest from Wellington's Fourth Island.

As a fun fact, Wellington himself was a rare level 100 fellow, of similar fame and fewer followers compared to Quince. A Fighter/Bard, he made sufficient renown for himself that the continent he was born on and explored extensively was forever named after him. He was Chaotic Neutral, and Dwarvish to the bone.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothight Enthiang Draissight looks at his map, nods, then dismisses it, and says "Who all is up for a few quick Superior Invisibility spells, and then some skydiving... followed by maybe a hike, maybe a swim? I've got a candidate location for island 81."

[Virdish]

I'll not lie that I am ill prepared for antimagic fields. It is one of the things I have been unable to counter. I am fairly capable of combating them but once inside my abilities become far less usefull. I am able however, to bring threats forward that may be more capable within them. I also have the support of the Black Chimera by my side. So long as the queen herself does not worship as I do then I may be able to call for assistance.

After simulcrum.

"Thank you Black Chimera you are most kind to treat with me. I do hope that your morsels are to your liking. The mermaids, I think, are useful only as snacks. They are otherwise unholy pests."

Returning to the others she relayed the information she had obtained and in response to Red.

"I'm ready. It sounds like a marvelous use of a day."

[Jack_Simth]

Red nods, and replies "About what I figured... I've got a fairly quick way to shut down most casters - and turn off most magical items to boot - but it's got a rather large area of effect, so it's not overly useful without someone who remains a battle behemoth even without their items and spells. Ah well. There's still methods to use it as a strictly defensive measure, at least."

Rothlight considers, and continues "Oh, also: What's our endgame, here? Do we really have a reason to go after whoever instigated this? Personally I'm mostly just curious how it was done."

[Jack_Simth]

And... nobody else posting anything for two full days, so double-posting to get the game moving
Rothlight gives people a bit of time to mull things over, and then when nobody says anything, continues with "Well, I suppose we can cross that bridge when we come to it. You know my feelings on the matter at this point; mostly curiosity, no real compulsion to do anything other than find out how it was done, and maybe duplicate it myself. In the meanwhile, we might as well get to it..." ... and with that, the human quickly tags everyone with a Persistent Superior Invisibility, and then Transport Traveler's Wishes them all to a point... five miles above the target spot for the island.

Persistant Ocular Wish standard action supernatural At-Will for the Superior Invisibility, then swift-action Wish for Transport Travelers. Not a conjouration effect, ignores local conditions. I'm pretty sure we can all fly by this point. If not... meh. I did say skydiving.

[Sønderjye]

<<My ability in an antimagic field is dependant on a couple of factors. If I myself conjure the field then all my abilities work in it and I am excellent. If somebody else create it I am weakened but work better than most spellcasters.>> Jarvis responds to the question regarding anti-magic fields. <<Which is your method for shutting down casters and how do you yourself work in an anti-magic field?>>

<<My end game objective is to learn how exactly they penetrated my magic invulnerability and learn a way to counteract it.>> Jarvis adds in, <<so pretty much the same as you, Red>>

<<Out of curiosity can one of you conjure some form of environmental shelter? For my fastest form the environment will be cold in a 1000ft radius. I can go fast in other forms but considerably less so.>> he asks in preperations for the trip.

[Bobbybobby99]

As you begin swooping down, Jarvis having computed his answers to the questions and responding to them, you begin to take in the island. Wellington was born on, and explored, a rather interesting climate, in the form of a warm, yet only average in precipitation, forest, filled to the brim with foreign species. Several of those foreign species appear to be in bloom, while three peaks are located near the north end of the island. Once you're around 1,100 feet, you are abruptly subject to a rather potent earthbind spell, likely the result of an automated enchantment, and you feather fall the rest of the way down, in an effort to avoid setting off traps and alarms. This island seems to be of sufficient warmth so as to be unaffected by the wintry conditions outside it, likely another enchantment. There doesn't seem to be an antimagic field, but you do sense a sort of wired up detect magic surrounding you, which seemed to extend a fair distance into the sky.

[Jack_Simth]

Prior to Transportation
The young human sips the tea he wasn't holding a moment prior, quietly says "Hmm... maybe a touch of honey?" and replies "I usually operate fairly poorly, although I can pull off 4th level spells for a while... which is just enough to get me out of the Antimagic Field, usually. As to building the field? I build stuff. I was thinking a Stone Colossus."

Rothlight laughs at the question of 'can someone build a shelter' and asks Jarvis "Have you forgotten the palaces I built already, or perhaps the ballroom from earlier? Yeah. Shelters are easy. What colour do you prefer?"Sorry, ran out of time earlier; had to leave for work. Continuing...
At the island
The young human considers, and asks "So... shall we ring the doorbell - assuming we haven't already - or should we see about shoring ourselves up from accidentally triggering it?"

[Bobbybobby99]

Velour replied, clutching her two attendants somewhat, having been rather frazzled since her close encounter of the homicidal sort "I think... I don't think this whole thing is working out very well. I hardly did any of the work anyways. Find someone else if you want. I'll be ringing that doorbell and getting the heck out of here" She swiftly performed a Know Direction spell. In a flurry of movement and flashing lights of all colors of the rainbow, she had sustained an incomparable amount of damage, died as ashes, and was soul bound less than a second later. This triggered contingency spells on their local, silent type vampire, and their hungover sunny abomination, who then had repeat incidents. You spot the gems underneath each for a moment, but a quickened automatic spell later they were gone who knows where. The trees were undisturbed, and the birds had not stopped chirping.

There was a moment of silence.

[Jack_Simth]

The young human blinks a moment, and says "Well, I guess they don't like anyone ringing their doorbell. I suppose that means we'll need to use mundane or existing effects, and set ourselves up to not trigger the doorbell..." Rothlight considers for a moment, and then asks Jarvis "I know you're normally under a Shapechange" and interrupts the interruption before Jarvis objects "Look, I keep True Seeing up pretty much constantly, and you've used multiple forms around me - both nymph and dryad - which both seemed to register as your base form... which makes it pretty clear you're using something to foil True Seeing, most likely the Cloak of Kyber or some such - and what makes it clear that neither of those is your base form was the communication devices - or more accurately, docents - that you handed out when we first got together. You really should be sparing with secrets; they're corrosive to relationships. Even if you're never specifically caught, the simple act of hiding them colours behaviour, and people pick up on that eventually. Plus, of course, when it comes to close companions, you don't want us accidentally using the wrong effect, thinking it's harmless for you when it's not. But we can go over that later." Red takes a breath and continues "Anyway... I've got a solution for the doorbell - the 'wondrous absense' stronghold property, plus a few extras so it's mobile, comfortable, et cetera - but to safely implement it, I need to be out of the doorbell's range... the doorbell seems based on Detect Magic, an Emanation, so the simple method is a tunnel in the ground that curves around a bit. Say, twenty feet down at an angle for walking, a 90 degree right turn and level out for another twenty feet, another 90 degree right turn and straight for another twenty feet, will usually do it. Would you please shapechange into something that leaves a tunnel - perhaps a Dire Badger - and handle that aspect so I can work safely?"

Get away from the Doorbell.
Confirm I'm away from the Doorbell via Ex True Lore from Loremaster for the Analyze Dweomer option.

Cast an Invisible Spell Wish to create a single stronghold space with:
Walls: Layered: Hewn Stone (6k), Lead (2k), Hewn Stone (6k) (Mundane value)
Space itself: Luxury Auditorium (nice seating): 10k (mundane value)
Door: Secret (+300 gp, seach DC 35), Iron (500 gp base), with an Amazing (DC 40, 150 gp) lock.
Wall augmentations: Innermost layer is Airtight (7.5k)
Augmentations: Incredible Speed (25k) (10 mph), Burrowing (10k), Flying (15k), Plane Shifting *2 (25k*2), Submersing (7.5k), Teleporting * 2 (50k*2) (Greater Teleport of the entire thing, 2/day), Chamber of Comfort (7.5k), Chamber of Speed (15k), Hall of Hope (14k), Hall of Speech (4k), Illusory Landscape (14k - shows the terrain that should be there), Inscriptions of Concealment (45.5k), Inscriptions of Falsehood (45.5k - "nobody there" for the chosen illusion), Invisible Helper (1.5k), Greater Map of Tactics (36k - to get a map of everything within 1 mile of the stronghold....), Pantry of Preservation (3k), Proof Against Vermin (14k), Secure Chamber (60k), Wondrous Absence (3k) (one of the few things in here we actually need), Zone Of Elemental Immunity *5 (60k*5; once for each element it allows)

Works out to 24,950 gp in mundane stuff, and 778,00 gp in enchantments. Nonepic, and within my single Wish limit. Using Invisible Spell to make stuff makes the entire place naturally invisible. Obviously, it won't be able to fly until we get away from the Earthbind effect. But it should keep the doorbell from going off.
Note that it's all IC info that Red has. On the initial meeting, you used the form of a nymph: See here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19845944&postcount=12), and handed out the docents Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19856647&postcount=23), on which I used an analyze Dweomer Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19873526&postcount=33), and you used Dryad form here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19933229&postcount=10). There's no listed Knowledge check for knowing about Evolutionists on the class description, but Red has all standard knowledges, and the docent you use for communication is explicitly treated as an intelligent magic item, so....

[Wdwune]

Meanwhile, at a clearing on the same island...

Zeshmuun'Jin, the Old Troll, carefully observes the yellow mushroom he's holding with his fingers. After examining it, his concentrated expression changes to a smile of satisfaction; the soup will taste great with these chanterellas, so he has to find more.

But suddenly he's distracted by a loud noise similar to an explossion coming from afar. A lightning bolt? No... That sounded more like a magical blast. Does this island already has visitors?

His thoughts are interrupted when a green parrot comes flying to him. It's Ishimar, one of his animal friends. "Bwahahahaha!! Hey Zesh! You had to see that! There was this group of weird humanoids who landed, then suddenly this nymph freaked out, cast a simple spell and BOOM, she was turned to dust in a wink! Hahahaha...!"

Zeshmuun'Jin's face turned into a bitter expression of worriness. "Um... That's tragic, and not funny."

"Aww, where's your sense of humor, Zesh? Anyways, you should go check those weirdos out. There's one of them who I think it's made out of metal."

Zeshmuun'Jin grunts. "Lead the way then, you got my curiousity. I'll prepare the supper later."


-------------------------------------------

Later that evening...

As Ishimar flies, Zeshmuun'Jin follows it by foot at a steady pace. After climbing a gargantuan rock with no problem, his eyes narrow as he spots the visitors from afar and above. His face turns into a critical scowl when he senses how powerful they are.

"Go back to the campground," he says to Ishimar. "I'll take care of this."

Ishimar the green parrot doesn't agree. "Awww, c'mon Zesh! I wanna see!"

Zeshmuun'Jin grunts. "Fine, but stay out of sight and don't intervene unless necessary. If you see the hand signal, then warn the others as soon as possible, get it?"

"Yeah yeah," replies Ishimar as it flies away.


Zeshmuun'Jin is a large, old troll with a thin body, green skin, white beard, a large nose, big, pointed ears with earrings, and small, black eyes. He's dressed in simple clothes that only a troll druid would wear, and carries three weapons with him; an oversized axe, a large dagger of the size of a human longsword and a longbow.


He decides to take a risk and make a direct approach to the strangers by walking carefully. He overhears the human is about to cast a spell, and he decides to intervene speaking in the Aernian common tongue, in his natural, deep, guthural voice. "I wouldn't do that if I was you..."


To anyone wondering, Ishimar is not an animal companion, familiar, cohort or similar. It's one of many animals affected by the Awaken spell, which increases dramatically its Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Zeshmuun'Jin has thousands of them scattered around the world, but he always takes a few of them with him, just in case. :smallsmile:

[Raunchel]

Lernai sits cross-legged in the air, looking at herself. Her blue and purple almost translucent wings softly flutter behind her, keeping the small fey in her place. As always, she wears flowers in her hair, but something is off about her appearance as the playful little fey. Her other heritage shows, mostly in her dark eyes. Lernai likes to see herself as beautiful, which she is, but also alluring, which she truly isn't. Mostly because of her size. Unlike what the pixie always claims, she is not tall, she is in fact quite short. Her bare feet do not touch the ground, she might have taken this tower as her home, but she does not like the iron that it is made of. Everything has been covered, but still. She sits between the three large shards rising up into the sky above, meeting two hundred feet above her. She looks back at the mirror, blinking once.

Immediately it shows her the thousands of places she watches, spread throughout the planes. Many were blocked from her sight, but still she watches. Lernai yawns, she wants to do something more interesting, but she fails to see anything to really sparks inside her. But then she sees it, an island, a most peculiar island. She just has to visit it, to see it with her own eyes.

As she starts to move she smiles, going higher and higher until she is above the spire of her tower. Once there, she whispers some brief words and a small gate, just enough for a little fey like her, opens to the island. She whispers another few words, and a pair of ravens fly through, to ensure that it is a safe place.

[Jack_Simth]

The young human considers the old troll for a moment, then replies "There is no such thing as a perfect defense, nor is there a perfect offense. The doorbell seems to be based on Detect Magic, and while that gets a little ways through barriers, it doesn't get very far. It also appears to be based on new magic, not existing magic, so we can bypass the doorbell by using an existing effect to get out of range, and then using new magic. The shortest route for that is to dig down and take a few turns. One of us keeps a Shapechange spell running, so the doorbell is really only a minor inconvenience, now that we know about it."

[Wdwune]

"Ummmmm?" Zeshmuun'Jin grunts as his head turns towards the tower. "Doorbell, huh? So you are trying to reach inside of that tower, ummm..."

He tilts his head, staring at the human. "Why? What do you expect to find inside it?"

[Bobbybobby99]

Just as Zeshumuun'jin spoke (or just Zesh, as he was sometimes called) for the second time, a small warp opened in the fabric of space time. A few rainbow lasers seem to be trying to target it, but, as it's true location and area of casting are elsewhere, they see to have little effect, and you notice that they seem to be coming from the ground, now that they have a reduced intensity. It seems likely that they key their severity off of perceived threat, for whatever reason. Two ravens flew through it, the lasers ignoring them for the moment, settling on the troll and gently preening what hair they find. One of the ravens flaps back towards their creator, misses due to the small amount of hallucinogenic present in troll hair, and careens back through the hole, only for the lasers to to suddenly target the hole and the raven. After another lightshow, both raven and gate were disintegrated, the raven soulbound, and a certain fae shoved through said gate from the involved backlash.

[Jack_Simth]

The young human nods, and says "I don't suppose any of you already have a Shapechange or similar effect running, or perhaps have the capacity to deal with magical traps? If I can get under the doorbell, I'm pretty sure I can solve it, but I need to get there first. You can call me Red, by the way."

[Bad Wolf]

Nathair was flying at a breakneck speed, at a height that would've froze the bones of any lesser creature. Some Gold Dragon had shown up at his lair, looking for 'the abomination that had killed his children' (he didn't seem very happy when Nathair couldn't remember the incident. Anyway, he had incinerated the enraged parent, but not before it had sent out a distress call. So, he melted all his gold, froze it into a statue of his likeness, used an Animate Objects and a Permanency to animate it, and teleported it to the Astral Plane, before it was seized by the dragons's allies. Nathair was powerful, but even he couldn't fight off an army of dragons.

Which was why he was here, in some godforsaken corner of Aernum, looking for a new lair. A blast of colour below drew his draconic eye.

"Hmm...that's strange, I don't recall anything being here." Nathair swooped down for a closer (but still distant) look, but found his flight smothered like a candle under a cup when he got to about 1,000 feet. Nathair swore in Draconic as he started to pick up speed. This day kept on getting worse.

Nathair is fundamentally a human, covered in red scales with a pair of wickedly sharp claws. He is currently in the form of a Very Young Force Dragon.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight looks up on hearing the curse in draconic, and replies in Draconic "Yea, it might hurt a bit when you hit the ground. Try to avoid casting spells, it's liable to make it worse. By any chance do you have Shapechange active? It seems to ignore already-present effects, and I might be able to solve this if I can borrow a Dire Badger or something for a few minutes."

[Wdwune]

Zeshmuun'Jin got distracted by the sudden appearance of a portal, but didn't mind the ravens' preening and let them do as they please, just like a tree would. He noticed the fey creature emerging from the gate as well as the huge dragon slowly landing.

"Ummm, yes," the old troll replies to Red. "I happen to have that spell always active. Useful for exploring underwater."

Zeshmuun'Jin's voice turns gentler. "The name's Zeshmuun'Jin. Some creatures call me Zesh. I travel the world looking for interesting things, and ocassionally sell potions. I don't mind to help you, lads, but you must tell what you're looking for inside that tower."


I just noticed Zesh is the largest character in the party.

[Raunchel]

http://www.annestokes.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-satellite/Naiad.jpg

Lernair rolls from the gate, surprised by what happened. Her mind races, and she starts to giggle as she emerges, landing on her feet. She started to speak, fast and excited: "Hi! I'm Lernai! Have you seen my birds? They were just looking around, and then, zap! I was here, and they're not! Or one of them is not! And this is a nice place, there are colours everywhere! And who are you? Do you know what's happening here?"

She looked around, and noticed the tower, which looked like it was moving a little. It must have been the troll hair. "Do you live there? Or are you trying to get in?"

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight responds to the apparently hyperactive fey first "Well, there was a bit of a spell bomb at a party we recently attended, and I'm looking to solve it and figure out how it was done. Investigations led here, so yes, we're looking to get in. However... this place seems rather hostile to new magic, and so before we do too much, that's something we'll need to solve. Towards that end.,.." The young human turns to the troll "The 'hostile to magic' bit of this place seems to be caused by magic device traps underground. If we can get sufficiently past them that I can safely use magic, or perhaps get to them so I can analyze them, I'm fairly confident that I can neutralize them, or at least hide us all from them. The traps... mostly seem to ignore magic that's already in place and in effect, hence asking if you've already got a Shapechange up. Do you mind making a nice spiral downards? A Dire Badger can get through most things, once you get to bedrock, though... maybe a Delver?"

[Raunchel]

"OOh! That sounds like it is very interesting. But it only works against magic that is new? Not to any use of a spell that is already active? Can't you just jump right into the tower then? Or under it? And you can change shape? That is really nice! Can you show me? And are we going to explore the tower? I want to know what it looks like, and it was hiding from my magic! And that is really, really mean of it. Do you think that the tower is a meanie? Or that there are meanies in there?", the pixie maintains her barrage of words, she is truly excited, this might be a riddle to solve!

[Wdwune]

"I see," Zeshmuun'Jin says. "You come from that famous party, and now are trying to unveil a big plot. I can help with that. I was about to cook a mushroom soup, but I can do it later, once this island is safe."

"Two ravens I saw," he replies to Lernai. "Two gently landed on my shoulder. One of them was turned to dust by a hostile rainbow, little one. Sorry to tell you that."

He turns to Red. "Ummmm... How about an earth elemental? They can glide through stone as a fish swims in the water. They cannot pass through metal though."

[Jack_Simth]

Red reinforces his earlier statement for the benefit of the fey "It SEEMS to only care about new magic," before continuing discussion with the troll "Ah, but Earth Glide only really applies to the elemental. Do you expect to be able to derive a solution for everyone here once underground? If so, go for it. If not, then you need to leave a tunnel for someone who can. Yes, aberrations can be a little distasteful, but the Delver meets all requirements for the task."

It's in the mm 1, but not the SRD.

[Wdwune]

"Oh, delvers," Zeshmuun'Jin replies as he scratches his stomach. "I met a few of them in an underground adventure, long ago. I do not find them distasteful, but useful guides. Sometimes. For digging a tunnel, that will do. First I'll explore the ground in elemental form. That will allow me to make sure no obstacles are in your way. I'll return and dig back in delver form, creating a tunnel for everyone. Is that acceptable?"


The plan: First, use my already active Shapechange to transform in an Elder Earth Elemental and use the Earth Glide ability to move through the earth at a speed of 30 ft, memorize a safe path to the tower and see what's inside it from below, but not fully enter it.

Secondly, return to the starting point and transform in a Delver, diggint the same path I traced in my mind in the Elemental form. I'll use both, the natural digging speed and the delver's Stone Shape extraordinary ability if necessary to create a safe path to the tower. The Delver's size is huge, so everyone is welcome to follow me as I dig.

Needless to say, I'll make any necessary skill checks like Survival, etc.

EDIT: Alternatively, I could transform into a huge Elder Xorn, which has both a digging speed of 20 and the Earth Glide ability.

[Jack_Simth]

Mr Draissight shrugs, and says "They're not bad; however, a lot of people find people with strange biology distasteful, and delvers qualify for many. However you want to play it; you've got the spell, so it's your game for now."

[Wdwune]

Zeshmuun'Jin nods before turning instantly into a huge rock and earth made creature which everyone can identify as an Elder Earth Elemental.

He immediately sinks in the ground without leaving any tunnel or trace, and glides deeper and deeper to the bottom of the tower (the lowest basement if any). Once he finds it, he will find a way to glide through the walls (if they're made of nonmetal), take a brief peek inside, and glide back to report what he saw.

If the plan succeeds, then the next step is to turn into a Delver and carefully dig a huge tunnel to (and through) the safest spot at bottom of the tower.

[Bobbybobby99]

A single, weak rainbow laser targets Zeshumuun'jin for actively using the Shapechange, but it deals only a (relatively) small amount of damage (285 points), and the enchantment barely notices him. After a fair amount of searching, Zeshumuun'jin, finally locates the lowest part of the tower. The walls appear to be primarily made of marble, brick for filler, and small adamantine poles for sutures support. They are sufficiently thin, however, that you can seep through them. On the inside of the basement, there appears to be a storage area for junk and sewage, that appears relatively non harmful. On the trek back, nothing significant occurs, he transforms into a Delver, another weak laser targets him (another 285 points), and he begins digging. He did notice large deposits of Mithral, which may have been the reason for initial concealment of the island.

[Wdwune]

"Ummmm... Those two rays were weaker than the previous ones," says the troll now turned into a huge delver. As he digs the tunnel, the bruisings heal naturally thanks to the troll regeneration. "I hate non-elemental energy attacks; they're hard to block. I may be old, but I can still bear some punishment after all."

"I saw a storage area at the lowest basement where we can stop by. It looked safe, but don't lower your guard. There are lots of mithral veins that the master of the tower is warding with violent greed."

He keeps digging until he reaches the basement previously seen, and uses the delver corrosive slime (extraordinary ability) to create an entrance through the thin wall.

Once done he quickly reverts to his original form, but without finishing the spell. He doesn't enter the tower yet, waiting for the arcane casters to detect any threat. However, he'll keep at least one hand empty to block any incoming hostile rays.


Troll regeneration will heal me those 570 damage in about 11-12 minutes, minus the time I spent gliding and digging.

[Jack_Simth]

Partway through the tunnel, Red pauses a moment, and looks around to make sure there's no line-of-effect to the outside. Once he's far enough down to deny line-of-effect, and through enough stone to block most penetration profiles on spells - most especially detect magic - he looks around with True Lore to make certain that there are none of the traps nearby (and if there are, fully analyzes it). After confirming there are none nearby, he checks to see if he's out of the Earth Bind range by attempting to fly upwards slightly from the spell left running normally.

True Lore is an Ex analyze Dweomer, so should be fine.

[Bobbybobby99]

Your attempt to fly upwards slightly is successful, and you cannot detect any of the traps nearby.

[Raunchel]

Lernai lets go of her visibility as she flies into the tunnel, returning to her naturally invisible state. She also puts on her ring, hiding her even more thoroughly, when she is being sneaky, she is really, really sneaky. Not just a little. She doesn't say much, but she does look, and lets her mind work to find out the working of the rainbow lasers.

Lernai uses Spellcraft [roll0] and knowledge arcana [roll1] to work out how the lasers work, and specifically if they are rays.

[Jack_Simth]

Encouraged, Rothlight risks a Supernatural Persistent Wish to give himself the ability to Air Walk for the rest of the day, and stands ready.

Red Immediate reacts, casting Greater Celerity to give him the time to put up a Ray Deflection out of his spell slots before the rays can land.Rothlight then updates the Ray Deflection with a Supernatural Persistent Wish for a Ray Deflection, for the dispel insurance.Encouraged even further, the young human risks a second Supernatural Persistent Wish for a Ray Deflection, knowing that he'll probably be outside eventually, but keeps himself ready as well, just in case, with the same plan as before.Red Immediate reacts, casting Greater Celerity to give him the time to put up a Persistent Ray Deflection out of his spell slots before the rays can land.

Between being off the ground from Air Walk (no regular touch), the Shield of Great Reflection that's been on the sheet since start of game, and Ray Deflection, should now be fine from those traps.

[Bobbybobby99]

Most notable components of the lasers appear to be ray based, since the only observed damaging affects are that of a heavily Enhanced Maximized Non-elemental Polar Ray, and a Disintegrate. Or rather, lots and lots of those, with an occasional intensified or other metamagiced one thrown in for good measure, unless it only detects an expression of existing magic, in which case it's effect is lesser.

The lasers do not target you for either spell, and you are thus successful.

[Jack_Simth]

Successfully having not died, the young human says "The tunnel itself seems to be safe, everyone. Effects seem primarily ray-based... who all can simply ignore a zillion rays themselves, who all can cast Ray Deflection themselves, who all needs scrolls of it, and does anyone need a loaded Ring of Greater Spell Storing? There's reasonable odds that whoever built this place has more of those elsewhere."

[Wdwune]

"Hum?" Zeshmuun'Jin replies to Red as he scratches his stomach. "Fully loaded? You mean, with your spells? I will accept that ring but... Ummm... I'm not sure I can cast arcane spells even by that unusual path."

He examines the newly found room with his natural senses first, then casting Detect Snares & Pits.

"Ummm," he grunts, "are you looking for someone specific? I can help tracking it. I'm good at following trails."


Senses: Darkvision 70 ft, Low-Light Vision, Scent, Listen [roll0] (Keen-Eared Scout), Spot [roll1]

[Jack_Simth]

The young human creates a cup of tea in his hand without thinking about it, takes a sip, sighs, and quietly says "It's been too long... still not quite right, though. Hmm." before continuing "You can't use command-word items? That's uncommon, but eh, whatever." Rothlight creates and hands out the appropriate items to those who request them, and says "Well, let's find out what's at the end of the tunnel, eh?" Mr. Draissight lets how his studies of various peoples tell of the legendary explorer being reasonably intelligent go unmentioned.

Supernatural Wishes for the tea and any necessary item creation, of course; have to spontaneously cast out of slots if anyone actually needs a Greater Ring of Spell Storing filled with a Ray Deflection, as that requires a spell. Please let me know how many I end up using, not that it matters too much.

I've got all the basic Knowledges at +359, so when you add something like "Legendary Explorer" after your name... well... I'm pretty much the party librarian.

[Raunchel]

Lernai darts around, not making a sound apart from the occasional yelps of excitement when something catches her fancy. This mostly revolves around pretty stones, which she immediately picks up to take home with her. "I have everything I need! Ooh! Did you see that? That rock has a blue line in it!", she also picks up other things, such as small deposits of mithral, or even just completely boring rocks.

She keeps looking around, even though she is hidden from even magical sight. The little fey however is not hard to track, as she keeps talking, and makes no effort to pretend being elsewhere. Occasionally she lets herself become visible, just before she disappears again. Until she pops up flying right in front of Zeshmuun'Jin's face: "Really? that must be terrible. Can you use other kinds of magic? Please? I don't want you to be without magic, because then your life would be really boring."

[Wdwune]

"Hm?" Zeshmuun'Jin tilts his head, giving a curious look to Lernai. "Ah, um... It appears I chose my words poorly, little lass."

He scratches the back of his ear. "Um... I can use command-word items. In fact, these two weapons," he points at his oversized axe on his back and the large dagger on his belt, "require a command word to change their properties. What I meant, lads, is that I'm not sure how those arcane rings work, but it's fine if they work similar to other magic equipment."

He turns to Red, guessing his intentions. "Mmmm... Ray deflection enchantments. Look useful, but I don't need them for now. Gratitude for your concern, however."

He turns to Lernai. "Worry not, little lass. I can still use magic of the forces of nature. Useful for travelling the world and helping adventurers, like yourselves."

[Jack_Simth]

The young human nods as he finishes his cup of tea, then teleports it to a distant point on the ethereal plane. "Well, let's see what we can see, then, shall we?" he says, and continues down the tunnel. When they get close to the building, Rothlight poses a question: "Is anyone here skilled with traps? The proprietor of this island seems to be fond of them."
Cup disposal: Duplicate Teleport Object.

Somewhere on the Ethereal plane, there is a dirty, fancy china cup.
In a random tunnel, on a mostly unknown island, there is a spot glowing faintly of magic... and it's supernatural, making it difficult to dispel.

How annoyed will whoever finally gets it be?

[Virdish]

"Well now that the doorbell problem is solved I suppose we had better be going. Also, it is lovely to meet all you geourgous new faces. I always am fond of making new friends. I am intensely curious though as to what you all are capable of.

Yira quietly hums a tune that she had been working on for some time. She had the chorus down as well as the first three verses. The last 2 however were giving her trouble. Nothing seemed to fit correctly into the places she needed them without sounding just slightly wrong. In the middle of the fourth verse she had an acceleration she wanted to fit in the middle but it just sounded forced. In the final verse she wanted it to rise starkly in pitch until it reached the highest octave she was capable of but it just wasn't blending.

"Drat, that line never works."

[Raunchel]

"Yay! Life is far too boring without magic. Do you want to be my friend? I like having friends! Even if I'm not an adventurer, I just like seeing new things! And learning! And finding funny things, like the stones!"

Soon thereafter she bolts away again, hanging upside down in front of Yira: "Hi! That is really nice music! Do you also want to be my friend? I'm Lernai, and I love having friends! And I love music! Shall I sing a song for all of us? It will be a really happy one!"

[Wdwune]

"Yay! Life is far too boring without magic. Do you want to be my friend? I like having friends! Even if I'm not an adventurer, I just like seeing new things! And learning! And finding funny things, like the stones!"
"Ummm... Sure," replies the troll, offering his arm or shoulder for the pixie to land if she wishes. "I've known a lot of pixies, many of them as friendly and playful as you, little lass."


"Is anyone here skilled with traps? The proprietor of this island seems to be fond of them."

Zeshmuun'Jin scratches the back of his ear. "I'm not good at disarming complex mechanisms, but I can use magic to locate natural or primitive traps if that helps."

[Bad Wolf]

"Ah, so we can cast Spells again?" Changing form to that of a Choker, Nathair proceeded to then cast several spells in quick succession.

1: Wish to duplicate Persisted Ray Deflection
2: Wish to duplicate Persisted Starmantle
3: Wish to duplicate Persisted Ruin Delver's Fortune (CHA mod to will saves and immunity to fear)
4: Wish to duplicate Persisted Ruin Delver's Fortune (CHA mod to reflex saves and evasion
5: Wish to duplicate Persisted Ruin Delver's Fortune (CHA mod to fortitude saves and immunity to poison)
Standard action: Wish to duplicate Maximized Persisted Ruin Delver's Fortune (393 temporary hitpoints)
Standard action: Wish to duplicate Greater Luminous Armor.


Nathair scratched his aberrant chin. "I do not have any skill with traps, that was more of my mother's interest. However...we could just send something large and ugly down the hallway, like a troll."

Yes, that was deliberate.

[Virdish]

"Of course we can be friends. I am always looking for someone that is as interested in music as I am. Our other comrades don't quite share my love for the arts. Though red does have his fascination with tea that is intriguing. If only he could channel that artistic flair in a more interesting way I think I would like him even more, not that your tea isn't amazing Red. I do rather enjoy it. I wonder... if we were to harmonize it could be truly interesting. My haunting melodies with your more energetic voice... it could be quite the concert.

Yira then looked over to the one that spoke of using something ugly to check for traps and she got almost giddy.

"I can always bring one of my lesser minions to us. They take more tending then they are worth at times and they do love to serve their mistress, even if I ask them to do something clearly suicidal. It would also show us if with specific information we are able to teleport in and out of this place.

She concentrated for a minute, sending a mental command to one of her lesser spellcasting minions, a Level 20 wizard Dread Warrior. The command simply said to me, with a full description of her location.

"If this works I may need to bring along some of my more helpful minions. I often leave them at home and only bring them forth when I need one of their skills. Granted for some of them I could simply change myself into their form but that is so boring and unseemly. I just don't ever want to hide my beauty from the world. It would be a travesty.

Will update this soon with a full list of buffs applied before leaving the demiplane.

[Jack_Simth]

Standard action: Wish to duplicate Persisted Greater Luminous Armor.... you realize that actually shortens the duration at this level, do you not?
The human sighs at the suggestion of simply brute-force triggering them all, and takes a sip of a cup of tea he wasn't holding a moment before, quietly saying to himself "Still not quite it... maybe a touch of nutmeg?" before continuing "If I just wanted to set them all off, I'd use Summons. While yes, that's faster... it's also louder. Plus, of course, these ones seem to be of the instant-reset variety, so setting them off doesn't get rid of them. If nobody is up for doing it properly, I'll handle it...." and then he duplicates a few more effects.Persistent Supernatural Wish for: Find Traps, Greater Arcane Sight.

Plan: Search for traps (taking 10, with Find Traps, grants 396, and because of the Find Traps spell, can do so as a rogue), also watching for magical ones via Greater Arcane Sight. Harvesting found traps via duplicating Greater Stone Shape (or Wood Shape, or Fabricate, or whatever could be used to cut the magic device or mechanism out, based on terrain) and Teleport Object to send it to a 'safe' drop-off point for later study, transport, and installation.

[Bobbybobby99]

As you slowly re-enter the vicinity of the detect magic field, having gone upward and outward sufficiently, Red manages to find several laser emitters, in the form of cherry sized ingots of Mithral carved with a veritable Draconic dictionary, and the Dread Warrior is able to be transported (right before entering said detect magic field). Having found all of them in the general vicinity of the basement, he can find no other traps, of any sort, before the Dread Warrior called by Yira triggers them by a mixture of presence and running back and forth (most of said triggered traps being cold based (for whatever reason), and thus harmless to the travesty of life and death). The detect magic field fades with the last of the traps, and the tunnel to the basement seems clear.

[Jack_Simth]

Red quietly puts his new favourite set of marbles in a leaded sack so that they don't accidentally trigger. He then takes a sip of tea, and duplicates a quick Eyes of the King in the basement proper, and looks around the basement with his disposable eyes.

[Bobbybobby99]

There are piles upon piles of ruined magical junk; among others, you spot a water clock that seems formerly capable of time stops, yet now in ruin. It seems untrapped, with good sense; it was easy to distinguish between earthworms and humans, less so with rats. There is a conspicuous lack of dust, and two elder air elemental seem to be flying here and there, still tasked with cleaning. None the less, anybody not strictly bound to do so is unlikely to come often, considering large amounts of rat poop, combined with carelessly wrought poisonous grains that said rats seem to be avoiding. A large fireplace, connected to several chimneys, is located in the northeast corner of the basement, which several rats are warming themselves by, alongside a raggedy infernal dog. Light water trickles by the other end, which smells lightly of lavender and spices.

[Jack_Simth]

The human describes the scene he sees through the disposable eyes of his summoned Fiendish Dire Bats, and considers the creatures in the room... also, he has the bats look more closely at the fireplace, to see what it's burning.
Taking ten on any relevant knowledge checks for a 369.
We've got the rats, the dog, and the air elementals.... but what's running the fireplace? Also, how big's the chimneys that are running heat around the place, and what's everything actually made of? Materials can be important.

[Bad Wolf]

"Two measly elementals, a few days, and one dog...Most definitely a trap. Hurry up with the Scrying, human. It would be best to kill everything in the room as soon as possible." Nathair casted a Persisted True Seeing spell, just to make sure there were no nasty surprises coming their way.

[Bobbybobby99]

The flooring and walls are made of a mix of marble, brick underneath, and an unseen 'stitching' of adamantine. The fireplace, made of brick and another stitching of adamantine, appears to be run through an enchantment of True Creation, producing coal every so often, and a sphere of annihilation at the bottom destroying soot. Why they didn't simply bind a fire elemental, you can't say. The chimneys are many, and no more than 6 inches wide, appearing to run throughout the tower. The coal itself is purified, and supplemented by a small running of oil that often leaks out, to be licked by the rats. The true seeing doesn't detect any illusions within sight. The rats, and dog (aside from being fiendish) appear normal.

[Raunchel]

Lernai nods at Yira: "Yay! That would be a lot of fun! More than a lot even!"

She however does understand that she has something more important to do now than building up the perfect song, and instead hops onto the troll's arm: "Thank you! I like games, they are a lot of fun you know? But did you hear them? Are they going to kill people? Or hurt them? Because that is really bad, you can also ask nicely!"

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight replies to Nathair "That'd be a bit of a waste of resources. Think about it: The air elementals will have been here since the place was built. They were, in fact, probably bound here by the builder... AIR elementals, bound to a menial task, underground, in a small room, in poor conditions. They'll have no loyalty at all to their binder, and in all probability we can get a good description of the person who built the place and some indication of how long this place has been here, for the cost of nothing more than a Tongues spell and the asking. Afterwards, we Banish them, breaking their bindings and sending them home. I doubt they'll even try to resist. We get information, they go home painlessly, everyone wins. Might you consider information worth suppressing your bloodlust for a little while?"

[Wdwune]

"Fear not, little lass," Zeshmuun'Jin replies to Lernai, attempting to confort her. "Apparently we're avoiding unnecesary slaughter and are going to focus on information gathering instead."

He turns to Red, staring at him. "That sounds like a plan. You can ask the elementals. Then I will ask the stones of this building."

[Bad Wolf]

Nathair growled, but stayed his hand. "...Very well. I know the language of the air elementals quite well." He shifted his form to that of a Zodar, and walked confidently towards the closest elemental.

"Hail, masters of the wind! Might I enquire into what master has such glourious creatures as you trapped in this dank and dismal basement, instead of roaming your home freely? We can help you hasten your return to the Elemental Plane of Air as quickly as possible."

Diplomacy Check: [roll0]

[Bobbybobby99]

The elemental swirled towards you, but seemed compelled to continue cleaning while it talked. It's voice resonated in an odd way, and the echo became steadily more resonant as it became more fervent.

"I (I) don't like (like) being here (here). The wretch that bound me (bound me) had no respect (respect) for my talents (talents). I can invoke (invoke) spells of the sixth level (level), yet I haven't been able to (able to) for decades (decades). Wasted, bound, unblowing (blowing). Stagnant (Stagnant). Master, Bah! (Bah!). I know not his name (name) but he wears violet clothes (clothes), and spoke of Quince (Quince). He was accompanied (Accompanied) by an orcish woman, who aided him (Him). I've been stuck (Stuck) in this basement ever since (Since!), no more than a maid (Maid!). Now release me (Release me!), if you please (Please!!!).

[Jack_Simth]

Red quietly duplicates Tongues as Nathair shifts forms, and listens in to the conversation. He considers the descriptions - the Violet Wizard of Quince, obviously, but the other... Kreiga, perhaps? Very little description to go on, but the most likely choice.

After a moment, he considers: Regardless, they've got what information they'll have, steps up, then uses Banishment on the elementals... and everything else that moves in the room besides his allies, for good measure.

[Wdwune]

As Zeshmuun'Jin sits on the ground and starts a hasty ritual, he notices the activities of Nathair and Red with the elementals, but unfortunately, the troll doesn't speak Auran.

"Ummmm... What did the elementals say?" he asks Nathair and Red, as he keeps performing the ritual.



Rapid Persistent Stone Tell on myself. Will last 24 hours and has its casting time reduced from 10 minutes to 1 minute.

I'll ask some questions to the stone bricks after the ritual is done.

[Bad Wolf]

Nathair looked over at the troll, who was commencing some ritual. "They spoke of a master who wore violet clothing, and who mentioned a place called Quince and was accompanied by an orcish woman. I don't suppose anyone knows anything about that?" Nathair changed back into a Choker and wandered over to the fireplace, wondering how it had been maintained through all the dust and junk.

"Ah, a True Creation spell. Clever, but expensive." He notes the Sphere and alerts the others to its presence.

[Raunchel]

Bardic Knowledge: to determine who these people are, and knowledge (any) as well: [rol]1d20+496

Lernair listens, lounging on the troll's arm and thinking about who this might be. She looks at all of her companions, smiling.

[Bobbybobby99]

You recall that The Violet Wizard of Quince (early ninties, Wizard/unknown) matches that description, alongside all other knowledge located prior in the thread, and that one of his known acquaintances is Kriega McBarty, a well known orcish woman (Level 88 Paladin of tyranny/Fighter)

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight shrugs at the comment about true creation "There's a lot of ways to generate heat. An automatic reset trap of just about any fire spell with a duration, a permanent Wall of Fire, quite a few different bindable creatures... I tend to set my fortresses up with the Chamber of Comfort property, myself. True Creation is actually pointless extravagance - minor creation will do, and has the added bonus that the ashes and smoke dispose of themselves after a little while. But then, sometimes pointless extravagance is, itself, the point. Regardless, we should probably continue, now that we've got a pretty good idea who last laid claim to the tower." With that, Red continues, keeping an eye out for more traps as he goes.Note: There's no door or stairs up in the description, but I'm presuming there is one. I may need to search for it... note that my current search modifier is +386, and can find traps as a rogue, so taking ten, I get a 396. Also: Active Greater Arcane Sight

[Bobbybobby99]

Red begins searching for a door, or other stairway (no, there isn't one cleanly in sight, and it's absence from the description was deliberate), and finds one ever so subtly carved into the wall along the northwest corner, a winding stairway that likely proceeds to whatever is producing the wonderfully scented oil, and pauses for the old troll to speak with the marble floor.

Once the casting of stone tell is completed (a few moments before the door is found), the tiles and bricks beneath immediately burst out with loud chatter (having been bustled by the hastened spell). When hushed, one of the old, faded tiles rapidly speaks.
"That elemental is whack, dude!"
Another chimed in. "It was totally a woman!"
Then further "Totes!"
"She was wearing, like, this magenta."
"Not violet!"
"Wiggedy wiggedy whack!"
"That isn't groovy anymore!"
"Yeah, that's because we were sanded down a few decades ago."
"Not what I meant!"
When urged back on topic, they spoke again-
"She was the Shining Sorcereress, I just know it!"
"How they heck would you know that!"
"Papa boulder got me educated. And she, like, stepped on one of my ancestors."
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Further description matches the Shining Sorcereress to a tee.

[Wdwune]

After listening to the stones, Zeshmuun'Jin turns to everyone. "The stones have spoken. They mentioned a Shining Sorceress wearing magenta or violet, ummmm..."

He slowly and carefully stands up. "It is possible for that Sorceress to have witnessed the building of this tower. Or even participating on the creation. Ummm..."

Then he turns to the old stone, speaking in a respectful tone. "Say, oh venerable stone, how long have you been part of this tower? Was the Shining Sorceress there when you were merged into this building? Can you remember the name of the Sorceress?"

[Bobbybobby99]

Having calmed down a bit after their hasted ability to communicate was sprung among them, an old marble slab, hidden underneath the top layer of tile, spoke.
"Unlike these whippersnappers, I was here when this basement was laid. We're an addition, ya see; we got founded when they 'cided they needed a storage space for their magic whosiwhatsits. Don't know how long ago; don't exactly have a clock 'round. That there was done by this nice old bloke, Mr. Wellington, and a big ol' pack of earth elementals. Good fellas. We done saw that Sorceress when that newest layer o' tile was laid and those airy fellows got bound, 'companied by the orcish woman that air elementy described. I had to have it translated by that nice little pebble over yonder. Never saw no violet man, no sir."

There appears to be a conflict in the stones' and the elementals' story.

[Jack_Simth]

Mr Draissight considers the troll's words, and says "That's interesting. It means we've got some form of disguise effect in play that affects the air elementals but not the normal stone, or possibly vice versa, and maybe both. I suppose the simplest thing to do is a simple test... Zeshmuun'Jin, how do you feel about being the target of a quick Veil spell, followed by asking the stones to describe your appearance afterwards? That'll give us a good idea which group was fooled."

Stone Tell is personal, so all we catch of it is what the troll says. Still, he did mention the Shining Sorceress, so...

OK, I suppose this would also be answered by a quick spellcraft (taking ten: 439) or Knowledge(Arcana) (taking ten: 369), but experiments are more amusing.

[Wdwune]

"Ummmmmmm... The stone also said the Sorceress and the female-orc did not create this fortress, but someone named Wellington did," Zeshmuun'Jin contributes.

"Your idea is well accepted, human," he replies to Red. "I can change my appearance at will, but it will be easier if you alter my appearance while I pay attention to the stone's answer. You may cast your spell."

He turns to the stones once more. "The ones of you who witnessed the Sorceress, could you please describe her in detail?"

[Jack_Simth]

The human takes a sip of his tea and says "Still not right... maybe a little dandelion?" before actually answering the question with "Wellington was the bloke that did the original exploration of most of these islands. I'm less concerned with the original builder and more with the current occupant... although the discrepancy does mean there's the possibility of 'issues' with the tower that the current master is unaware of... not that we're likely to find any of use in time for them to be meaningful. An actual change of shape would of course be next, but the initial thought for the air elementals seeing one thing, while the stones see another, is that one of the two is immune to illusion... and towards that end..."Red duplicates a Veil spell, giving the troll the appearance of a high-society elf.My normal disguise modifier is +367, the spell grants +10, so taking ten results in a 387 before circumstance modifiers for race, size, et cetera as applicable... not that specifics matter much.

[Bobbybobby99]

The closer elder air elemental, still cleaning (and buzzing at it's binding not being somehow broken) continues to clean while briskly speaking. "You clearly (clearly) just changed (changed) that troll into an elf (elf)."
When you look upon the stone, one of the older bricks speaks through the stone tell.
"Once you been 'round so much magic junk it tends to make you more a' ya self, more earthy. Illusions and enchantins' be airy magics. We ain't bein' enchanted or illusioned any time soon, not by no regular magic tricks, no sir. We see people for the earth and light in 'em, and your earth still be all troll, yessir."
The marble slab from before spoke a bit.
"Well, she's as Aerni' as any else I've seen. Reddish, straight hair, green eyes, fair skin, lots'a freckles. Seemed magic, far as I could see. Wearing this magenta dressy gown; show'un far too much skin, that it did."

[Jack_Simth]

Red nods, and attempts another Banishment against the elementals.Did the first one fail? Post 131. Note that I've had an active Greater Arcane Sight for a while now. If something countered a supernatural wish to duplicate a banishment effect, I'd like to know what, specifically, so I can target it next.

[Bobbybobby99]

The other air elemental is whisked away, howling with the joy of freedom, having accidentally provided a key and unexpected resistance beforehand. The elemental located further away has already been banished.

The previous banishment was not countered, but one of the elementals rolled a natural twenty against banishment by accident, as it was forced to resist by the way it was bound.

[Wdwune]

"The stones cannot perceive enchantments and illusions, it's what they call Air Magic," the troll reports to the group. "Ummmmmm... However, one of them remembers the appearance of the Sorceress. Reddish, straight hair, green eyes, fair skin, lots of freckles, magenta dress."

He turns to the stones again. "Ummmmmmm... If I change my shape using non-air magic, would you notice my new form?"

[Raunchel]

Lernai flies past the tea-drinking human: "Cinnamon perhaps? Just a sniff of course. It really helps with the taste. I always drink mine with cinnamon. But I always asks all the plants nicely, I don't want to hurt them."

Again Lernai's mind works through all the little things the fey has picked up in her long life, she is eager to help, and is happy that the elementals are freed.

Bardic Knowledge: [roll0], all knowledges: [roll1]

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight shrugs at the fey as he takes another sip of tea "Oh, adding cinnamon makes for good tea, to be sure, but I'm trying to duplicate my great grandmother's recipe... catch being she's been dead of old age for about a decade at this point, so I can't just ask. Most of my ingredients I just straight-up create with wishes, so no harm comes to anything." The human waits patiently for the troll to complete his experiments, while searching the found door for traps.Taking 10 on Search for a 396 with current buffs

[Bobbybobby99]

Red detects one old trap rigged to drop an intensified and heavily enhanced sphere of ultimate destruction on the stairway, but it is easily disarmed by tapping "All hail The Great God", a vague religious phrase found in almost all religions, in at least some sects, in Dwarven Tremor Code.

One of the Marble Tiles replied "Transfiguration and Conjuration are like, totally Earth Magic, so we don't repel it. We're like, anti-magnets with magic or something. Totes cool, I know."

You know that The Shining Sorceress is the strongest Grand in Aernum, being a human, level 99 Sorcerer (Animal companion)/Druid (Spontaneous, Avenger), and Neutral good.

[Raunchel]

"Oh! I know her! The Shining Sorceress! She is the best mage in the whole world! And she is nice, and likes animals!", Lernai adds in.

[Jack_Simth]

Red shrugs, and says "Assuming it's actually her. Consider a layered disguise: I polymorph a disposable minion - preferably one not easily traced back to me - into the form of one person I don't like, then put an illusion over the minion of another person I don't like. I then toss a few effects on top to make penetration of either difficult, and have the minion do something that's liable to bring retribution against whomever a person thinks did it, in such a way that there's few direct witnesses. Most people will stop at the first layer they penetrate, and assume that whatever is underneath is the truth. If there's more layers than go down, then whichever one is thought to be the truth... I win. Reprisals go against someone I don't like, not me. If all are penetrated... well, that's why I used a disposable minion that's hard to backtrack. So, say, an Ice Assasin, mundanely disguised, then Polymorphed, then Veiled, with a Cloak of Khyber, Misdirection, Mind Blank, Nondetection, and whatever else I can come up with when I'm planning things. Three layers of deception to burn through, with one of them being strictly mundane, before hitting the actual disposable minion... who is also going to be an image of someone I don't like. If you understand the possibility of this sort of thing you can get past it, but it pretty much requires divine intervention and knowing what to ask, and that takes time. Well, OK, direct interaction with one of the lords or ladies of observation means that they'll know something's up, but not specifically what. I'll need to ask who all'y'all worship at some point, and arrange a list of questions for you for Communing with your patrons... and I can provide the means to duplicate the spell if you can't do it yourself. Well, if you're interested in actually finding out the truth, anyway. Does this all make sense?"

[Bad Wolf]

Nathair watched the others squabble over stonework, and returned his eyes to the Sphere of Annihilation sitting in the fireplace. A weapon capable of slaying gods, being used in the bottom of a dirty fireplace.

"Well, no one else seems to be concerned about this." Nathair willed the Sphere to fly through the fireplace wall, and then to bring it back to its original place.

Control check: [roll0] Have it go half of the distance through the wall, and then return.

[Bobbybobby99]

Your attempt control is successful,and it whooshes back and through the stonework. Also, note that a Sphere of Anhihilation, is this world, is essentially a stone enchanted with a continuous sphere of ultimate destruction, and thus not quite as absolute in power as normal, though the strongest ones might deal 2400 damage with a touch. This one likely only deals about 140 damage, still more than enough to disintegrate stone work. True ones still exist, as artifacts, but are unlikely to be used commonly.
Once you cease focusing as much, it is pulled forcefully back into place, by one enchantment or another.

[Wdwune]

"You say you know this Shining Sorceress?" Zeshmuun'Jin asks Lernai. "That would help. Ummmmm... Do you know her name too? Or what does she smell like? I can track her if you have something that smells like her."

He turns to Red and scratches his chin. "Ummmmm... That is very possible too. She can be cautious, but does she need to be? Maybe. She may be powerful, but not that powerful to face a bunch of Grands at once. So she is cautious. She needs to be. Ummmmmm... Well thought, human."

He continues. "My patron is The Cow, God of Nature's Blessing. Foe of none, ally of none. I by myself cannot Commune with It, but I would accept your offer gladly."

Then he turns back to the marble tile and the other stones. "Gratitude. I will now change my shape into that of the Sorceress. You tell me if I miss a detail and I change it accordingly. Is that agreeable?"

That said, the troll uses Shapechange to match his appearance to that of the description of the Sorceress, using the necessary guidelines provided by the stones. Once done, he will let the teammates memorize the appearance before returning to his normal troll shape.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight recognizes that the troll doesn't quite get it "Ah, but here's the thing: It's not necessarily that the Shining Sorceress needs to be cautious... it's that it might very well not have been the shining sorceress at all. Take a specific, completely hypothetical scenario. Suppose I'm Kreiga, and I have a couple of people I don't like. I want to set off a bomb to kill a fairly specific person, but I don't want it known I did it. So what do I do? I start by making an Ice Assassin of The Shining Sorceress. I then have the Ice Assassin mundanely disguise itself as The Violet Wizard of Quince. I have the Ice Assassin Shapechange into The Shining Sorceress, and then have the Ice Assassin Veil itself back into the Violet Wizard of Quince. Toss on some anti divination measures. Have the Ice Assassin make the appropriate spell bomb, and then give it to Ruth. That kobold was pretty much blind and deaf, she's not getting through the multi-layered disguises. She then sets off the bomb at the party. My target gets killed, Ruth gets the initial blame, anyone investigating initially hears all about the Violet Wizard of Quince, and deeper investigations show The Shining Sorceress. Meanwhile, I - Kreiga, in this specific hypothetical scenario - am getting no attention whatsoever. Which is what I want. Fallout hits either The Shining Sorceress or the Violet Wizard of Quince, neither of which is me. Divinations that bypass Mind Blank and ask if The Shining Sorceress was involved come back with a yes unless very carefully worded... because an Ice Assassin of someone is still a person of that name and title, although not the specific person intended by the question."

"So it's not so much that the Shining Sorceress needs to be cautious... so much as it might not really be her at all. But knowing such things are a possibility makes it possible to phrase questions for Commune around that. But that needs to happen when we're on our home turf, rather than a plane away on an island we haven't explored."

[Bad Wolf]

"That's...disappointing. I guess I shouldn't have expected an artifact-level Sphere to be used as waste disposal." Nathair walked back over to the group, shifting into a Chronotyryn.

"Ah, Ice Assassins. Always liked the form of an Aleax for them, just some extra insurance." Nathair conjured a cup of tea, taking a quiet sip. "Hmm...I don't drink tea..."

"Anyway, I think you said something about a base?"

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight replies with "Then you've never had a proper cup. I'll need to stop and prepare one for you properly sometime, rather than these quick crude experiments I keep doing to check individual ingredients." Red quietly begins the process of extracting the door trap while he continues "I actually said 'home turf', but yes, close enough. We have a demiplane, where the six of us... well, the three of us now, I suppose... kept residence. I suppose we'll need to see about getting replacements, setting them up with suitable housing, household servants, tweak the weather in their territory, et cetera, as well as dispose of the prior domiciles - the last bit is pretty easy, as I set them up to be mobile. Once we find the right people, the rest of it is just a day of my labour after figuring out their favourite architectural styles."

Yes, I am stealing the trapped door. Wish duplicate the appropriate material shape spell to isolate the components - this place seems to be mostly stone on the inside from what description we've gotten, so Greater Stone Shape. Then Animate Object to make it a creature briefly, followed by transport traveler's Wish to get it to the demiplane... outside the fortresses themselves, of course. Using Kn(Architecture and Engineering) to not collapse anything as I do.

Unless you want to eventually be facing an ice assasin of an aleax of someone completely unrelated to us that's disguising itself such that we can't tell what's underneath, I'd suggest staying away from stuff that TO.

[Wdwune]

"Ummmmmm," Zeshmuun'Jin grunts lowly while the stones debate on their answer. "I think now I understand what you mean, human. Shining Sorceress, easy target. Someone might use her image to do as it pleases. What is beyond my comprehesion is the reason behind it, even if I can guess that a Grand might be behind this impersonation you speak of, ummmmmmm..."

"So... What's the plan? Commune then investigate?" the troll adds slowly while scratching his ear.

[Jack_Simth]

Red shrugs "We've already started investigating this location. If we leave and come back, whoever currently runs the place will figure out that we've been here, and either clean up and move on - which renders anything further we'd learn from the place suspect at best - or set a trap of some sort for our return. From a practical perspective, we need to finish sweeping the place to find out what we can, pick up what toys we want to loot, and leave once we're done learning what we can here. We go through and play several games of twenty questions afterwards, not immediately. One of the things I'd like to know is did Kreiga arrange for the production of the spell bomb in question herself, or did she simply find it laying around as one of the many toys left behind by Wellington when he used this island. Which it is gives us a decent idea of the sort of minion she used in the deception - a simulacrum of a powerful person, an ice assassin of said person, or something else. And yes, I've mostly settled on Kreiga being the ... primary, I suppose is the best word... of the spell bomb at this point. Anyway, shall we continue?" Rothlight looks through the gap created by sending the door elsewhere, and continues his search for traps, secret doors, hidden compartments, and other interesting things, continuing on the way up.

[Bad Wolf]

Nathair shrugged. "Very well. A quick casting of Astral Projection from a secure place could save our lives, in case someone took extra pains to hide their traps."

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight chooses not to mention that he never really ended the second astral projection that he used to get back to the party after the bomb went off, nor does he go over the little issue that he hasn't expended his supernatural Death Pact, nor does he mention the clone waiting back at his base in a Pantry of Preservation that he prepared for the same party, nor does he mention that he's got quite a few advanced simulacrum solars back at home who can create diamonds via a Wish spell-like ability and use those to cast True Resurrection out of spell slots. Instead, he takes a sip of his tea as he looks over the area revealed by removing the secret door and associated traps, while he replies "Tell you what: If you die while helping me, I'll arrange a True Resurrection spell for you, AND I'll at least look into what it would take for me to replace any equipment you lost in the process. There's pretty good odds I'll be able to figure out how to duplicate most of it in a day or two."Search check, taking ten, of 396 for traps, secret doors, and the like. Currently able to find traps as a rogue due to Find Traps effect. Also of note is Greater Arcane Sight to spot magical doodads.

If I need a bluff check for the stuff I'm not mentioning, taking ten, for a 460.

[Bobbybobby99]

The staircase is composed primarily of an old, yet extremely refined, brick, and winds extensively, yet it doesn't initially appear to have any but the most rudimentary and easily countered of traps, primarily including an illusion covered spike trap every third step. There is also an occasional wall closing in, and red laser beams going in regular geometric patterns that you can flat out ignore (you are able to collect the small wall marbles that emit them, by the way, which grandly total 4 arrays). At the top of the stairs sits another door, made of cherry ironwood, and completely soundproof, which is triggered to produce a large flood of magma (which would likely deal half negative energy damage). You manage to disable it by tapping, this time in Kobold Code, "Sages are more than herbs.", a phrase used by any number of deities. You successfully collect the outer knob (source of the effect), and a quick divination reveals that the door connects directly to a rambunctious kitchen, filled with happily working elves.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight considers as he takes a sip of tea "No, that's not it either... perhaps a touch of maple?" and also considers the problem at hand "If we kick in the door, there's pretty good odds a few will escape and attempt to raise an alarm. Who all among us can cast Wish? If we Transport Travellers Wish them all into the Cabinets of Stasis in the various fortresses back home, and we all time it to happen at about the same time, there's pretty good odds we can do a full sweep, and empty the kitchen before anyone can react. We'll then also be able to pull them out of the cabinets of stasis at our leisure later for interrogations. Under normal circumstances, I can get off two in six seconds; each copy can hit about eighty people, and there should currently be thirty six cabinets of stasis back at home, six per fortress... we can probably clear the keeblers without too much hassle. Does this sound like a good plan?"
Plan:
Everyone readies actions to go at the same time, and uses Wish for the Transport Travelers clause, to send up to CL people "from anywhere, to anywhere, regardless of local conditions" to instantly whisk them all into cabinets of stasis - where they get no actions, and don't experience a significant amount of time passing (about a day a year, but they're unconscious for it, no save once inside).

This of course assumes they're mostly mooks - my save DC, for instance, is only DC 416. This won't work on someone near our rank unless we hit them enough to force a nat-1, and there's only the six of us.

[Bad Wolf]

"Sounds like a plan. I can manage about...800 of them in six seconds. I can easily take care of this, if there are no elves of high rank among them."

Currently in the form of a Chronotyryn, which gives me two creature's worth of actions a round. I can fire off five wishes a round.

[Wdwune]

"Linger," says Zeshmuun'Jin as he returns to the tunnel. "I will let some friends watch the tunnel entrance from outside."

With a grunt the troll crouches and touches the ground. Immediately six large plant-like creatures emerge from the earth. Zeshmuun'Jin then approaches them and imbue three of them with blessings intended to increase their perceptive skills. "Welcome, my friends," he greets the shambling mounds. "You three will be guardians. You will share your eyes with mine. Stay outside and watch for potential dangers. And you, other three, carefully walk behind us."

Once everything is set up, Zeshmuun'Jin returns to the group. "All done. Ummmmmm... That sounds clever, human, but I cannot cast Wish. I can contribute otherwise."


Quickened Maximized Extended Shambler: Summon 6 shambling mounds. Will last 14 days.

Quickened Extended Chain of Eyes, three times, each on one of the shambling mounds. Will last 150 hours.

Quickened Extended True Seeing on the same three shambling mounds. Will last 150 minutes.

Quickened Extended Owl's Insight on the same three. +37 insight bonus to Wisdom to each for 2 hours.

Two of the three shambling mounds affected by Chain of Eyes (and True Seeing) will guard the entrance of the tunnel and look at different angles. The third one will stay more inside of the tunnel. This will be useful to see if we're being followed (although I'm aware it's not an absolute method of watching, it's still better than nothing). The rest will follow the group as discretely as possible.

Also, I think I'm already fully recovered from the zap.

[Jack_Simth]

The young human nods at Zeshmuun'Jin and Nathair as he replies "All righty then... with that many, Nathair, you've even got something of a chance of catching a moderately-ranked elf, the big trick being repetition before they react. I suppose you'll need to lead, then." Rothlight hands out the n-space coordinates of the inside of the noted cabinets of stasis, takes a sip of his tea and mutters "Hmm... perhaps a touch of ginger?" and readies an action to cast a Wish to transport the elves when Nathair does.

[Bad Wolf]

"You know, i should really introduce you to some wine after this is over." With that, Nathair opens the door, walking confidently into the kitchen and starts firing off Wishes.

Ten Wishes, all used to transport the elves (800 being the max for me) into the stasis cabinets. CL 80, DC 371.

[Bobbybobby99]

All of the elves suddenly find themselves elsewhere, inside of a verily secure cabinet, and it appears that none of them were able to resist; the ones that resisted one from sheer luck did not resist another. The large, formerly bustling kitchen is now dsserted, as you a smell a mixture of sage and an old secret recipe of some old woman or another. There is a fresh batch of tea, whose ingredients are noted by Red for later experimentation. The closest thing to a trap that you can detect is the imminent threat of a few stoves boiling over. There is a door opening to a corridor of some sort off to the side.

[Jack_Simth]

The young Draissight quickly enchants the room with Inscriptions of Falsehood to make it seem a bustling kitchen again as he replies to Nathair "I've had wine. Good wine, even. It just doesn't satisfy in the same way." Red takes a moment to put out a few fires so that food boiling over and burning won't tip anyone off immediately. He then takes a sip of tea, and says "No... still not it. Hmm... maybe a touch of Angelica?" then considers, and says "Regardless, we seem to have cleared the room. Shall we continue?" as he double-checks for hidden doors and compartments, then (assuming none are found) starts checking the side hallway.



Search check, taking ten, of 396 for traps, secret doors, and the like. Currently able to find traps as a rogue due to Find Traps effect. Also of note is Greater Arcane Sight to spot magical doodads.


Have you heard the phrase "irrational obsession"? Red's is harmless, especially as he can get materials for free.

Inscriptions of Falsehood is from the Stronghold Builder's Guide, page 78. Sets up an illusion of whatever in the stronghold space. Scrying is automatically fooled, direct observation permits a save (DC 22). I'm of course setting it so it seems to be exactly what was going on there prior to our intervention.

Cabinets of Stasis are also from the Stronghold Builder's Guide, page 73. Whatever's fully inside goes into suspended animation - no save. Subjects are in a 'dreamless sleep', and feel one day of time's passage per decade in there (there's a specific note that starving to death is in fact possible while inside, but takes a long time). Everyone was instantly zapped in, so it's entirely possible they're completely unaware of what's going on.

I figure we can interrogate them later. Charm person, maybe dominate person, should do the job. We'll want to conceal our own appearances first, of course.

Good to know the expected ways it could have gone horribly wrong didn't materialize.

The pretend nothing happened game will of course be up when someone comes to check in on why dinner isn't ready yet, because you can't grab an illusion and there's nothing making them reactive, but it should buy a bit of time.

[Wdwune]

"Come," Zeshmuun'Jin calls one of the three shambling mounds that were following the group and imbues with an insightful spell. "Follow the instructions of this human until I tell you otherwise," he commands pointing at Red.

He turns to Red. "This one can help you thrace a path to safety. You command it, and it will do as you wish."

"I will help as well," he stats as he quickly changes his appearance to that of a bearded ogre and slowly steps into the room with his senses open, including his keen smell, and attemps to follow the path of origin of the elves.


Cast Quickened Extended Foresight on the shambling mound.

Change my appearence using A Thousand Faces class feature.

Use Scent to memorize the smells of the living beings that were in the room, then use the information gained to track by smell the path of origin of the elves (in case they accessed the room by a secret door). I have the Legendary Tracker feat, so it shouldn't be a problem. :smallsmile:

Spot: Take 10 for 432

Survival: Take 10 for 453

[Bobbybobby99]

Red detects a two additional secret doors within the room itself, aside from the one connecting to the basement; one seems to lead to a secondary storage area for cooking supplies and ingredients, and that is rather chilly. It doesn't appear to connect to anything else, aside from a fanciful contraption that seems to permanently conjure ingredients, so it isn't of much use. The other, more usefully, was comprised of a hardened glass staircase, and appears to lead directly into a currently unoccupied dining room, a few floors higher, but in addition to being the root scent of the rlves, is rather trapped. Namely, a near indiscernable one, which Jarvis carelessly walks over, before being subjected to an absurd amount of touch range, energy neutral damage, before being subjected to a soul bind and a teleportation of the involved gem. Being revealed by the dying convulsions of the construct (who had stayed strangely silent after having their secret revealed), Red was able to trick the trap into disarmament, though not locate it. Evidently, it triggered subsequent the foot steps of any non elf, and was easily enough fooled as to that condition (well, at least for a grand). There are no further traps evident in the regular hallway, and no further traps evident (even taking greatest care and caution) in the rest of the glass stairway.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight takes a sip of his tea, and shakes his head again "Still off... perhaps a touch of Elderflower?" He then considers the situation, and says "I'm going to need to research that situation when we get home. Still, the biggest treasure so far is the realization that magic device traps can be significantly miniaturized. I suppose I'll need to add tripping to my search routine, even though it's noisy. Ah well...." The young human shakes his head again, and continues with the now-modified routineNew routine:
Search for traps normally (search allows this to be done at a 10 foot distance if needed). Current search modifier +386, for a take ten result of +396.
Swift Wish Duplicate Conjure Ice Beast VI (Frostburn) to get 4 Ice Beast Medium Earth Elementals (from Conjure Ice Beast IV / Summon Nature's Ally IV), and have them walk over the searched area. Mindless constructs, so no ethical issues about making things suffer. They last 8 minutes, so unless they trip a trap, I don't need to replace them overly often.
All the time, watching via Greater Arcane Sight.
Then move forward and search the next area.

Of potential question is 'Does the trapped soul of a person count as a creature?' If it does, then Jarvis is theoretically retrievable if/when his player returns (Transport Traveler's Wish to retrieve the soul gem, destroy gem, True Resurrection).

I've been mapping out the resource cost and effects of making my own version of the micro traps... when building a Magic Device Trap and picking targeting spells, do all spells in the trap need to keep the same caster level, or can I mix it up?

[Bobbybobby99]

After adding the new routine, there continue to be no discernable traps on the hardened glass stairway, surrounding walls, and etc. Once you reach the door at the top of the stairway, you are able to discern a minor trap on the door, but it is easily disarmed (this time by tapping "I am an Elven chef" in a strange mixture of Kobold and Dwarven Tremor).

Information on the condition of soul gems as creatures is not currently available :smallwink:
You are able to mix up caster levels in traps.

[Jack_Simth]

As I said: Research when I get home. It's not overly unlikely that Sønderjye the player may have returned by then.

Fun note on the traps. Means I've got a second time when I can drop marbles and have them be useful, once I take a few minutes to stop and build the bag and contents.

Oh, incidentally: Raunchel responded to a PM I sent with:

Hi,

I'm sorry that I haven't properly notified everyone, but my internet at home has died rather completely, and someone will come to fix it at long last on Thursday. Until then, I only have public networks on my phone, and not even that on most days, as work is monitored. I'm sorry, but I intend to resume posting once everything is fixed.

Best,

Raunchel


At the upper door, Rothlight considers, takes a sip of tea and says "Still not quite right... possibly a touch of Kala zeera?" Then considers the door, shrugs, duplicates a quick Fabricate (plus creating any materials necessary) to put a spy hole in the door, and looks through to see what's on the other side.Using a duplicated Divine Insight for +85 Insight to the craft check, so that hidden peephole has a craft check result of 10 (taking ten) + 345 (Int) +1 (Luck) +85 (Insight) = 441. No illusions for True Seeing to detect, just hidden very well.

[Wdwune]

After Jarvis gets zapped into oblivion, Zeshmuun'Jin carefully observes the situation.

"Ummmmm... Ishimar was right. That human was made of metal," he slowly shakes his head. "A dining hall, a pantry. It appears these elves are keeping his recipe with jealousy." He turns to Red. "Perhaps it is here where you can find what you need to flavor that tea of yours."

He briefly closes his eyes to concentrate his sight on the shambling mounds he left outside (just to make sure the party's not being followed), then opens his eyes to return to his normal sight.

"Whatever these people are keeping here, are we certain you came to the right place? This could be a trap, or a decoy... Ummmmmm..."

[Jack_Simth]

The young human replies to the troll with " Certain? Not entirely. I am, however, reasonably confident that we are getting much of the correct information I am after here. Or at least, enough to convince the people I want to convince. Most things are repairable, so I am not overly concerned about losses thus far. I plan to sort out where the traps are sending people once we are done with this building, and look into who is still retrievable. That will likely require a trip to the beach."

[Bobbybobby99]

Peeping through the keyhole, you discern further (beyond it's status as a dining room, which was easily detectable through simple architectural knowledge) that it is currently occupied by very well dressed... Rocks. Whoever or whatever is currently sitting at the surprisingly homely dining table (surrounded by a faux-logcabin look), currently appear to be rocks. Very realistic sounding and smelling rocks, seeming to be primarily in a form of fused blue gravel, in a vague mound on the involved chairs. Looking closely with true seeing, you notice an invisible oddity. Not only are the seeming rock mounds oddly placed, they're bleeding. Cuttlefish blood. Simply oozing from the cracks and crevices involved, and pooling away underneath the table, made invisible by an enchantment on the fruit basket in the center of the table. The strangest thing? You can't sense a root magical effect for the bleeding.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight considers for a moment, and says "... that's odd. Hmm. I can think of a couple of ways such a circumstance might be arranged, the big question being why. Most people don't go to that sort of trouble without cause. The blood doesn't appear to have pooled too much, so either this hasn't been going on very long, or the blood is being drained away - most likely used for something, especially if they're hiding the presence of said blood. It's a dining room, which suggests something is eating it - well, drinking more likely, but still. Hmm. Zeshmuun'Jin, Nature seems to be your thing... mind having a look?"

[Wdwune]

"Ummmmmm... Yes. I can take a look," the troll replies to Red. "And use my nose as well."

Zeshmuun'Jin approaches the door and uses his keen scent to smell the air and notice any abnormalities. Following that, he peeks through the hole and analyzes the scene.


Scent allows me to smell the room up to 30 ft from my position.
• Spot check: [roll0]

Then, Knowledge (Nature) check: [roll1]

[Bobbybobby99]

You're keen sense of smell absorbs the intricacies of the scene, such intricacies including the magical nature of the wood involved (lacking the age rings present in true wood), and the slight wafting of the cuttlefish blood. Said cuttlefish blood, notably, appears to be stale by the time it's leaking from the stones, and subtly waxes and wanes, as if being pumped. The fused gravel gives the odd sense of being natural, rather than artificially created (namely having the faint lingering smell of earth, and being well worn). It doesn't, however, appear to be living, though it might very well be dead. There is a subtle, being both invisible (once again derived from the fruit basket) and recessed, pool for it on the floor, alongside small grooves by which the blood flows. The invisible pool of invisible cuttlefish blood is very close to overflowing.

[Wdwune]

"Ummmmmm... I smell artificial wood, made out of magic, not taken from a tree," Zeshmuunjin reports as he sniffs at the direction of the room. "There is a strong odor of cuttlefish blood. That seems natural. It's been there for a while and I can sense a pool full of it, but it is hidden by magical means. Invisible. The blood is being pumped by some strange objects."

He scratches his ear. "Other than that, There is a pile of gravel that smells natural, but it seems to be neither dead nor alive, and packed. Ummmmmmm... Could it be elemental or golem?"

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight nods, and says "Yes, but the biggest question is why. It's a fairly straightforward matter to put a creature in a container such that the creature is being sustained, constantly caused to bleed, and constantly repaired of the damage, to get a permanent blood flow... and put any magical components in use behind something that will block any auras involved. The big question is why, however. Stain for people going through so that they're favoured prey for something in a later room, feed for some creature, supplies for a ritual... I'll take a bit and think on this properly..." The young human then takes a sip of tea, and concentrates for a bit, thinking about the subject.Duplicating Improvisation (Bard-1, spell compendium) and then Divine Insight repeatedly. Knowledge checks:

Knowledge checks for associated questions:
Any rituals or spells that might require such blood? Kn(Arcana): Taking Ten, using luck bonus and Divine Insight for a result of 493. Also Spellcraft taking ten and using the same boosters for a final result of 563.
Any creatures that might attack someone flavoured with the fish over others? Kn(Any of them, really): Taking Ten, using luck bonus and Divine Insight for a result of 493.
Any creatures that favour cutlefish blood as a treat, food, aphrodisiac, or drug? Kn(Any of them, really): Taking Ten, using luck bonus and Divine Insight for a result of 493.

And, of course, Lore (functions as Bardic Knowledge) just because: [roll0]