PDA

View Full Version : [IC] The Burn of Holy Light (Over My Undead Body)



Anomander
2016-01-11, 05:13 PM
https://nanookofthenerd.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/dark-fantasy-landscape-free-desktop-8.jpg

Power ebbs and flows over the eons, little one. The whisplings - the mortals - might see a century or two and feel they have reached understanding; they see a kingdom collapse and feel they have seen the waves of the ages come and go. Ha! The little fools.

No, they have barely seen a ripple in the ocean.

Those who have seen the tides turn - we of the planes, the undead, the immortals - rarely bother to correct or enlighten them. Why should we bother? The next time some angel glances up, the great-grandchildren of their momentarily adventurous mortal companion are dying. No, our kind guide the tides through the millions of little ripples that are mortals, but the ripples themselves don't understand.

But be cautious little one. A few mortals reach for immortality and manage to actually lay hold. Some through great deeds are rewarded by deities, some through dealing with demons and devils, and others through the gate of undeath. They gain a little power and might know how to use it.

I like the ones who do it through undeath. They're my kind of folk - they have power and must fight for it at every moment. Everyone hates them; the weak are winnowed out, and the ones with cunning and power persist. I can work with them. They are usually foolishly conceited, as if even a few thousand years of existence gains them true power. I expect many of them are seeing the light about now.

Heh. Seeing the light.

They'll need my help. The tide has reached a very high point. Prepare some em-

Master! Master! I've spotted a scrying sensor! Someone is spying on you!

Really? Oh my. Well, you'd best destroy it and its caster. We can't have someone spying on -
--- Recorded words of an unknown demon as recorded by the Wizard Telemachus, recovered from the ruins of his tower eight years ago


The last ten years have been ... difficult even for those undead with great power, among which you stand. The greater undead have lived through the rise and fall of persecution and power. For a time the undead gain ascendency and take their rightful place at the pinnacle of society and power, while at other times the light of mortals and their righteous deities burns at the undead and they must go into retreat. At still other times it seems the dragons soar at the heights of power, or the demonic claws rake the Prime without apparent counter.

The long-lived of the undead have seen a rise or two of great tides of power and some have careful records which suggest previous rises of different power groups to dominance happening many times across ages too vast to reliably record.

This rise, though, seems to be far more complete than any other in even the recorded history of the undead. Undead are being hunted down, not merely when they cause "problems" with the still-breathing, but hunted down no matter how carefully hidden, disguised, or remote they may be. For over a decade, the undead have burned - vampires five hundred years old, the powers behind multiple kingdoms, burned, beheaded, staked, exposed to sun, and spread across running holy waters. Liches buried a mile deep content with their own studies have been dragged out, their phylacteries destroyed, and then themselves utterly erradicated. Dark fortresses crawling with wights, ghosts, shades, skeletons, zombies, and shadows have been seared clean by holy light.

Never before has the drive against undead been so extensive. Only a few pockets still survive, and the remaining undead have gathered to these locations.

The Fell, greatest of the fortresses of the undead, awash in the healing negative energy of a planar confluence, remote in the forbidding mountains between the Great Glaciers and the High Ice, and ensconced a legendary system of Forbiddance protections, it has gathered many of the powerful undead left in the world to its impenetrable safety.

Thay has become the second gathering place of undead, where the Red Wizards of Thay have proved to be a powerful deterrent to the forces of righteousness that do most of the scouring of undead. Powerful wizards and sorcerers have no desire to allow a bunch of ignorant, blinded, and obnoxious do-gooders into their realm, and so many undead have gathered, again in relative safety, but for how long?

Deep in the massive range of mountains separating the Great Glaciers and the High Ice, there is a 'confluence' of planes where the Negative Energy plane merges into the Prime Material. There are are many places around the world where other planes 'poke through' a little to the Prime Material, but most are relatively small and relatively weak. This one though is the largest and strongest of the Negative Energy confluences and Undead throughout the eons have gathered here. It is known as The Fell.

Roughly a mile in radius, everything in the confluence takes 1 point of negative energy per round - as wonderful for undead as it is deadly for the living. The effect also allows undead who are sensitive to the daytime and daylight to operate normally. Thankfully for the living, it is far away from any significant populations. Over the millenia, various undead have 'ruled' the place, though the 'rule' is very loose - more like a pecking order than a true ruler. They have slowly turned much of the area into a massive fortress for undead.

The greatest of protections is the Epic Maximized Forbiddance system set up. 10,000 castings of Forbiddance, each 60' square and 1800' high covers a square 6000' per side. Unlike most Forbiddance effects, it does not harm according to alignment, but instead harms any who are not undead. Each time someone moves from one casting area to another, they again suffer any damage they might take from the Forbiddance effect. Even if a casting is somehow dispelled, it reappears in just a few rounds. Otherwise it is a typical Forbiddance. Anyone wishing to teleport to the location must teleport to outside the effect and travel the rest of the way in through more mundane means.

The original caster is unknown, though on the exceedingly few occasions when a Disjunction has removed a casting, something or someone seems to replace the casting within a few weeks. Rumors abound among the undead as to what or who is maintaining the spells, but all are thankful. Only a few times have the forces of light assaulted The Fell, and each time they have failed.

The lesser undead have scattered the entire area with thousands of areas of Desecration. Miles of tunnels are carved under the ground. Hundreds of various mansions and towers fill the area, created by various undead inhabitants over the innumerable centuries.

To The Fell, many of the world's surviving undead have fled. A few have tried to hide among the living, and far fewer still have succeeded in hiding.

For two weeks, various undead casters abiding in The Fell have carefully scried on the mortal forces of Light as they have been obviously preparing a major assault. It has been carefully protected, and a few small strikes to disrupt the preparations were met with strictly mixed success.

Scrying is difficult with Detect Scrying and Scry Trap being liberally used on people in key locations. Several heavily defended and highly active areas are impenetrable to scrying with powerful Screen and Private Sanctum spells being used to blanket the entire areas. Twice, False Visions had set up traps into which the undead attackers neatly stepped. Several other places were left apparently open to assault, but upon the strike's execution, heavy forces appeared and destroyed the undead. Several strikes were successful, but they tended to be smaller strikes, and only caused minor delays.

The great dragon, Stahdim Aar, a great Warder of Bahamut has joined with the legendary champions of Pelor, the Astral Deva, Saint Cantar, and the Ghaele Eladrin, Rael Lightcaller. They have been gathering forces at several different strongholds about the land, and though they themselves are apparently protected by Mind Blank, their actions have been detected indirectly.

Perhaps even more disturbing, the current Lord of the Fell, a Lich servant of Vecna merely known as the Dark One, has been missing for nearly a year. His death had been announced by Saint Cantar and Rael Lightcaller a little over eleven months ago, and the announcement had been widely mocked among the undead - the Dark One has been declared destroyed hundreds of times over the millenia but has always reappeared. But as time has stretched on without his reappearance, troubled thoughts have washed among the refugees in The Fell.

Three days ago, a massive illusion of the Dark One appeared in the middle of The Fell and it made an announcement that all the residents of The Fell should attend three days hence.

It has been three days and the members of The Fell are eagerly gathered with reassurance in their expressions. The attempt of the Light has failed. The Dark One has survived and is still active.

You are gathered closest to the central amphitheatre where the illusion appeared as befits your status as some of the most powerful of the undead.

About you are hundreds of undead, a small pittance of the tens of thousands which might normally have attended such an announcement. Vampires, undead oozes, a few Liches, mummies, and almost every other type of undead are represented. Only a few of them approach your power, and none match it, but they are still powerful undead and it is ... disconcerting to see such normally commanding undead being ... anxious.

JNAProductions
2016-01-11, 05:34 PM
... Scarlet rests just above the ground, silent as the grave. She waits-not with anticipation, but more of a sense of grim determination-for the appearance of their nominal leader.

Doxkid
2016-01-11, 06:48 PM
A Horned Devil clad in pristine white robes watches from a perch atop a mindless hulking undead beast. It is surely as (un)dead as the other beings gathered here, as it shows no signs of discomfort within this place overflowing with negative energy, but its exact nature cannot be discerned with a glance; the rotten visible on its arms and the strong tang of decay about it suggest it may just be a common zombie, but there is devilish intellect to its gaze.

http://www.nwn2.fr/images/artworks_officiels/fielon.jpg

neriractor
2016-01-11, 08:58 PM
Oziereth stands at the outskirts of the group, careful to don´t crush any of the mindless pets some of the residents kept, an ocurrence that became more and more scarce as the numbers in the meeting was quite small. He remains silent, looking around at all the more recent residents of the fell, trying to remember what little he knew about them in order to pass the time while the dark one arrived...

Bad Wolf
2016-01-11, 10:45 PM
In stark contrast to the grim presence of the hordes of undead, Bram Belmont is practically bouncing around, humming a nonseical tune. Following close behind him are 5 Abeil Queens, their insectile faces devoid of any emotion. At his side, unusually, is a twisted evil mockery of a unicorn. Up on the ceiling, two vampires are keeping a close eye on him.

Seeing the rotting remains of a Horned Devil, he lept over, his curiosity piqued.

"Oooh...that's pretty. Now what are you supposed to be?"

The two vampires are a Feytouched Vampire 2/Ninja 9, and the Feytouched Vampire 2/Monk 9. Character sheets in the work.

Doxkid
2016-01-12, 12:40 AM
"We are Baron Harold, knight and forward guard of Master Zeto. I am here to determine how well, or poorly, this Lich as done in assuming control of this sanctuary and, if necessary, ensure the contract my master holds with those who control this realm is fulfilled."

His eyes glide over the posse following the undead creature before him. "I have heard of you. Or prehaps someone - something - similar to you. The undead spark to proverbial wildfire of vampirism spreading across the planes. It is unexpected that even you would be drafted to reinforce the warding of this place, Lord Belmont."

Valerem
2016-01-12, 03:48 PM
Perhaps one of the most obvious and eye catching off all the members of undead there, was a huge dracolich. Sprawled out across the ground without any care in the world... not at all, if his heavy snoring was anything to go by. Some might even say it was insulting that after being summoned by the Lord of the Fell, that one would appear sleeping so close to where his illusion was cast. But, that was what Tryndamous was like. One of the more recent members of great undead, Tyrndamous had made a name for himself for nothing giving a damn about anything but himself. Unfortunately, the undead status had robbed him of his prefered means of enjoying himself. Booze, and females. Hence, the main way he drew satisfaction now, was by pissing people off. So sleeping here? Made total sense for him.

JNAProductions
2016-01-12, 03:55 PM
Scarlet idly floated over towards where Tyrndamous lay, feeling some small affinity for the formerly draconic being.

Bad Wolf
2016-01-12, 04:46 PM
We? Was he referring to the undead beast also? Or was there a multitude of beings within the Horned Devil? Bram bowed deeply, as did the Queens.

"In the undead flesh. Undead may not be the most appreciative of jokes, but think about the way things would be if those celestials got their way? No more burning down churches and draining them of their blood. Speaking of which... "

Beckoning an Abeil Queen forward, he grabbed her and started draining her blood. When she was on the thrshhold of death, Bram released her, the Queen collapsing onto the floor. "Heal yourself." He turned back towards the undead devil.

"So, how is the Rakshasa Lord these days? Heard he died." Bram had a very bloody smile.

Abeils can cast as 16th level druids, so Greater Restoration.

Doxkid
2016-01-13, 03:03 PM
"Indeed he did, but I'm sure you of all vampires know how insignificant being destroyed or slain can be in the grand scheme of things. It should suffice to say we gained something valuable from the new experience." The Cornugon replies with a measured tone.

"We will see about arranging a meeting of great minds later, Lord Belmont. A tour of my lord's demesne is unfortunately out of the question for the moment for obvious reasons" the dead devil sweeps a claw out to indicate either the area around the two undead or the situation at hand, "but I'm sure we will be able to arrange something within the next decade. By then either our shared problem will be solved or Master will have finalized the defense of his domain."

A brief pause is allowed in the conversation. A nearby Death Giant haggles with a Vampiric Gold dragon over the price of an out of the way human village on the material plane; a 'secret farm' is it calls the place. A dracolich lounging near the center of the amphitheater attracts the attention of several noteworthy creatures (some especially unnatural phantom creature, a small group of vampire sorcerers, and even a mummified Minotaur), without the slightest action on its own part. Harold eventually continues as if he had never stopped talking in the first place. "Even before I became aligned with Master Zeto I knew of you. Even before I achieved the form now blessed by Master Zeto's power I knew of you. 'The Last Laugh', as some call you, has the respect of several high ranking Devils; that is no light praise and I can only assume others of similar stature recognize your ability as well.

And yet you came here instead of accepting that invitation of...Hmm..." For now Harold says no more.

Anomander
2016-01-13, 04:41 PM
Suddenly a massive form fills the air in the central amphitheater. Close to a hundred feet tall, the illusion is of a familiar form - the Dark One. He appears as he always has - a skeletal figure with leather-like skin stretched taught over the bones and lit from within the entire body by slowly flickering purple flames glowing through the skin. No items adorn its body other than a 'crown' of sparkling blackness; in person it was actually an emptiness which seemed to have constellations of stars within its depth, but the illusion seemed unable to capture this detail.

The massive illusion stayed still for a slow count of five, and every eye of the undead around you was riveted to it when it spoke.

"We, the undead, exist beyond the understanding of mortals, inspiring fear, and without bowing to the legalistic hypocrisy of the the gods of light, bringing their hatred. The fires of bigotry and fear are burning brightly, consuming many. This has happened before, and yet beings such as ourselves have proven stronger. Ultimately this shall pass, but which of us will be there to see it?

"There are events which require my focus elsewhere, even in the face of such a challenge as this."

At this, there is a muttering that breaks out among many of the undead around you.

"What could it be?"
"Probably he's been destroyed ...."
"He's hiding and leaving us to ...."
"We'll need to find ...."
"Wonder if his hoard is unprotected ...."
"He tweren't as tough as we thought if they destroyed ...."
"Hard to believe he was destroyed!"

The illusion pauses for a dozen seconds, allowing the words to pass, and then begins speaking again.

"I do not leave you alone; I give you information - the most potent of weapons."

The undead whispers break off instantly.

"There is an assault coming against The Fell. Overconfidence on your part will only ensure you are not here to see undead rise in power again - do not assume The Fell is an infallible protection. The expenses and effort being gathered is sufficient to destroy even The Fell if you are not prepared.

"They are bringing Celestial Brilliance to bear in numbers beyond anything seen in the past. Thousands of swords have been enchanted with spells like Sacred Item. Some of the greatest champions of Bahamut and Pelor have come together on this - Stahdim Aar, gold dragon Warder of Bahamut is joined with the servants of Pelor, Saint Cantar and Rael Lightcaller. Millions have been spent in preparation of the assault. Do not become overconfident in the strength of The Fell!

"With this information, I also give you some aides which are only used in dire times here in the Fell. I wish you well."

And with that the massive illusion ends.

There are a few mutters of puzzlement from among the undead and they last for only a few seconds until a sudden vibration is felt which quickly grows to a rumble as the ground at the center of the amphitheater breaks and cracks apart.

A colossal hand of black stone pushes up out of the ground followed by another, and then a body. And it keeps coming up out.

Finally, towering just as high as the illusion had stood, a roughly humanoid figure of polished black stone smeared with mud stands erect. A hundred feet tall, it is headless and has a rotund shape to its torso.

Doxkid
2016-01-13, 09:23 PM
"Interesting." None would know the threat of untold legions of holy forces quite like Zeto, but the Horned Devil representing him seems fairly nonplussed by the information The Dark One has revealed. The upcoming attack aligns itself perfectly with his expectations and projections, after all. Harold barely seems interested in the thing prepared by the Dark One to help hold off the siege.

Harold only has eyes for the masses around him. The ghouls chattering about assaulting the Dark One's hoard, and the foolishly 'young' wizard liches clamoring for a chance to take possession of this unique tool left to defend the Fell, and the spectral sages attempting to align themselves with more powerful undead. "It seems you will be meeting my Master much sooner than expected. After all..."

A small black ornament frees itself from Harold's chain and rises at his side. It hovers for a moment before black sparks and grains of darkness assemble a skeleton in a matter of moments. In seconds a diabolic skeleton stands besides Harold clad in identical white robes, the black ornament settled into one of the creature's eye sockets.

"...it would be rude to speak of such important matters through a proxy." The creature, that could only be the Lich Rakshasa Zeto, finishes. Its claws and the few visible bones are all delicate and thin things, but only yearling plane hoppers would consider that a sign of actual weakness.

"The holy army will eventually break through the defenses prepared for this place. Tools left to us by the Dark One can not make up for what this unorganized mass lacks: organization allowing for centralized Leadership and the Cunning to properly use the tools and oportunities presented to us. The Red wizards have thus far rebuffed my suggestions for our best to attack the enemy's chain of command and disrupt their ranks before they rout our group." Zeto's voice carries well despite his attention being focused solely on Belmont; whether this is intentional or he simply does not care is difficult to determine. "Hundreds upon thousand of spells and a like amount of arrows and even more swords would eventually destroy the body of any undead. A single dragon guarded only by a few dozen archons and paladins offers much better odds in comparison, does it not? Only the strongest in the Fell could possibly lend aid in this cause but the rewards of facing these enemies while they are relatively unprepared will be well worth the effort, don't you think?"

Bad Wolf
2016-01-14, 12:26 AM
"Well. That was unexpected. An army of the Light...this is not good." He turned his head back towards Harold, just in time to see the Lich appearing in front of him.

"Zeto. How good of you to join us." He listened to Zeto's plan, taking a long pause before speaking.

"It may be a dragon, but it is still a dragon. Stahdim Aar is a very powerful Sorcerer, as are all dragons. And it is most likely that his honor guard will compose of the strongest among the paladins.

My suggestions: We find the nearest village, and burn it down to cinders, converting as many as we can to undead of all types. Then we do the same to the next village. And the next, and the next. At the same time, some of our more...unassuming brethren perform quick attacks on the rank and file troops, converting them if they can, perhaps spreading diseases among them. They will have to use valuable resources fighting this, and will most likely send off troops to attacked villages.

Or, we could flee. Run to Thanatos, the realm of the undead in the Abyss. Even the forces of the heavens cannot stand against the infinite hordes of the Abyss. Of course, the demons may not be very happy about us bringing an invasion to their doorstep...

Or we could find out what ever that thing is." He pointed over at the headless humanoid figure with his scepter.

Where is the nearest village? I'm assuming it's miles away, obviously.

JNAProductions
2016-01-14, 11:07 AM
Scarlet continues to linger near the sleeping Dracolich. It debates about waking the undead dragon, and eventually decides to do so, placing an incorporeal limb on its wing and sending a sudden chill throughout it.

Valerem
2016-01-14, 12:27 PM
Strangely, when the giant illusion emerged and back to speak. Tryndamous’ eyes cracked open in order to pay attention to it. It was always as if the dracolich had only pretending to be snoozing away in apparent disrespect as he waited... he certainly didn’t miss anything that the lord of the Fell said, and was actually quite disappointed to learn that the entire thing hadn’t actually be a trap by the beings of the light in order to arrange them up neatly for an almighty attack.

Still, it was a rather enlightening meeting, if one could excuse the pun. After all, not only did the Dark Lord reveal why he hadn’t been seen for so long - that he was rather busy battling something else at this time - but he left them with a giant construct to aid in the defence of the Fell. And that the attack was imminent, an attack that actually could potentially destroy the fortress if they did not take it seriously.

“FUN.” Tyrdnamous growled with a grin slowly growing on his skeleton features. Yes, fun indeed. The dracolich was excited by the battle put in front of them... nah. This was no mere battle. This was to be a WAR. The voice of one lich caught his attention, likely intentionally, speaking of how it might be best for them to strike first, attacking Stahdim Aar, Warder of Bahamut himself was a rather audacious plan. But not one that the dracolich supported.

“FOOL. WHY CHALLENGE THEIR CHAMPIONS, WHEN WE CAN BREAK THEIR ARMIES APART?” The dracolich growled, raising himself up from the ground in order to address Rakshasa Zeto directly. Though his loud voice was certainly to attack a lot of attention. “THEY ARE ONLY MORTAL. THEY NEED SUSTENANCE AND SLEEP WHILST WE DO NOT. WHILST MAGIC CAN PROVIDE MUCH IN TERMS OF FOOD AND WATER, IT CAN ONLY GO SO FAR. THE LARGER THE ARMY, THE MOST INCONCEIVABLE IT BECOMES FOR MAGIC ALONE TO KEEP THEM FED. WE MUST RAZE THE SURROUNDING LANDS, SCORCH THEIR FERTILE FIELDS SO NO FOOD MAY GROW. DESTROY THEIR SUPPLY LINES AND EVISCERATE STOCKPILES. THEN THEY WILL CRUMBLE BEFORE EVEN REACHING THE FELL.”

JNAProductions
2016-01-14, 12:29 PM
Scarlet breaks its silence to voice assent. We will indeed. Burn the land and salt the earth.

Anomander
2016-01-14, 12:46 PM
The massive thing's size and power has kept most well back from it, but three vampires float into the air and approach it. You recognize them as a relatively weak vampire, Count Erik, who lives in The Fell and his two vampire companions. His ambitions outstrip his wisdom and several times in the last couple hundred years he has been reduced to gas and all his belongings seized by more capable beings of The Fell.

He studies the thing for a moment, and turns to his companions in the air, holding a quick, whispered conference. The three of them turn to gas and float toward the thing, each cloud separating to gather around joints on the thing. For a brief couple seconds, their clouds drift about the shoulder and arm joints, and then the huge construct moves.

One step back takes it twenty feet, leaving the mists swirling in the wind before clapping its hands in front of itself. Each hand eight feet across, and the wind sends the mists of the vampires swirling and blowing away, unharmed but rebuffed.

A dark, skeletal thing emerges from its stomach and comes floating down, wreathed in shadows and barely visible even in the open. A few moments later, another similar creation follows. And another. Each coming to rest on the broken ground at the behemoth's feet.

The Fell is in a mountain range between ice fields to the north, east, and west. There are a few tribes scattered about the nearby mountains within twenty or thirty miles. Highly mobile, they tend not to form permanent camps for fear of attracting the attentions of the undead.
The surrounding ice fields and glaciers have fewer inhabitants still, though again there are tribes on them as well.
The closest villages of any size and permanence are close to fifty miles by flight nearly due south, and even they are not more than a few hundred people in size, doing mining, trading, raiding, or other activities barely sufficient to support themselves.
Here's a link to the Forgotten Realms map. (http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/1/10/Map_-_Faerun_-_3E.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120201174035) (warning - large) Look at the area near the top - the mountains between the High Ice and Great Glacier. Expand those mountains some to more of the size of the Galena Mountains - a proper mountain range.

That's another reason that The Fell is so difficult to attack - it's remote and the terrain is inhospitable to exist in or cross.

neriractor
2016-01-14, 04:22 PM
many pieces of dead flesh fall to the ground as Oziereth smiles in the knowledge that he made the right choice coming to the fell, he stares at the enormous creature, even he wasn´t aware of it existing within the very ground he was standing on, he looks around at the loud dracolich and the others that stood out within the crowd, in particular a Rakshasa lich he had heard about on the streets...

he dragged black spiked chains across the floor, several pieces of bone still attached to them, mostly the parts too destroyed to be of any use for any undead worth making, a path forms behind him as he slowly makes his way towards the dracolich and stoping dead a couple of feets next to him.

he removes his helmet showing a swollen pale face with only a handful of hair left in his head, he moves his lips and in a harsh deep voice uthers: "If more of us shared that boldness this push of the light may have never gotten as far as it did or we might be even less in numbers that we are. Do you intend to work for this goal or are your ideas only as big as the relative safety of the place where you stand?

Doxkid
2016-01-15, 03:57 AM
"At this point their war effort should be too far underway for us to stop them by destroying the source of their supplies; the stockpile they possess at this time should be enough for the first month of protracted combat if they have already prepared magically enhanced weapons, as The Dark One informed us; I doubt It would purposefully misinform us when we are acting in defense of It's domain, after all. Therefor an attack on the their supply line will slow them some...but destroying each of the champions, along with every base of operations, will stop them in their tracks.

That is not to say we shouldn't slaughter villages. You are just suggesting we do so in the wrong place, as it is unlikely they depend on drawing troops or weapons or food from the mortals settled so close to our lands. If we can convert a dozen large villages over a reasonable spread near one of their bases it will give us the chance to destroy their food, their weapons and their champions in one go; we need only eliminate those who can vanquish the common undead we bring forth and the rest will fall into place, will it not?"
OOC- Larger Map (http://dc363.4shared.com/img/HPCtSVP5/s7/121ec8aec60/map_of_faerun)

Valerem
2016-01-15, 01:15 PM
“THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH FOOD ONE CAN STOCKPILE. AND EVEN WITH STOCKPILES, I DOUBT THAT THEY ARE RELYING PURELY ON THEM. WHILST IT WON’T HAVE AN IMMEDIATE EFFECT. DESTROYING AND ENSURING THEY CANNOT REBUILD THEIR SUPPLY LINES IS THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE THEIR DEFEAT.” Tryndamous replied, a scowl now crossing his features when the lich simply rebuffed him. How the hell did he think he was?! Yes, the dracolich suggestion might not give them IMMEDIATE results like attack the champions might do, but it was a lot less suicidal!

“DID YOU NOT LISTEN TO THE LORD’S INFORMATION? EVEN THE COMMON SOLDIER IS EQUIPPED WITH POWERFUL WEAPONS. THEY CAN EASILY TAKE DOWN THE COMMON MINDLESS UNDEAD. WE CANNOT SIMPLY DEFEAT THEIR CHAMPIONS AND EXPECT THE REST TO FALL INTO PLACE. THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE A MERE BATTLE, BUT A PROLONGED WAR. SO WE MUST TREAT IT LIKE ONE AND ATTACK THEIR WEAK SPOTS. BESIDES, WHAT BETTER WAY TO DRAW THE CHAMPIONS OUT FROM THE SAFETY OF THE ARMIES THAN ENSURING THE ARMIES DESTRUCTION?”

Anomander
2016-01-15, 02:24 PM
As you are talking, dark and skeletal beings continue to emerge from the towering colossus' torso and drift to the ground.

Ten of them eventually settle on the ground and you two are close enough to see them clearly enough, though their surrounding shadows make it impossible to see them fully. They are Shadesteel Golems.

As the tenth being finally emerges, the giant begins very slowly stepping away, each step sending a vibration through the ground that can be felt by even the most senseless of creatures.

The ten shadow-covered beings stand motionless.

Several groups of undead have gathered, quietly talking among themselves.

Bad Wolf
2016-01-16, 02:55 AM
"As much as I'd love to stand around to discuss the merits of annihilation of the light, perhaps we should attend to those shadowy creatures. The Dark One gave them to us for a reason, after all." Ten of them had just emerged from the creature's stomach, and were standing motionless.

Doxkid
2016-01-16, 02:49 PM
"I suppose we can wait to determine what our first course of action should be, if only for a few moments. The tools left to us by The Dark One should not be neglected." Zeto returns to Harold's body as he left it: first fading from reality, then disappearing in a swirl of incorporeal dust into the glass charm he is known for, before finally settling on Harold's head. The pair glide forward clumsily, knocking vampires and ghouls out of their way to reach the ten playthings left by the Dark One's massive contruct and spend a few moments studying the golems, looking for any signs of hostility.

Detecting nothing dangerous, the black charm that hold's Zeto's spirits rises from Harold's flesh and settles onto the ribcage of the creature.

Zeto attempts to possess one of the Shadesteel golems over the course of 3 turns. If interrupted, *Fiend of Possession class.* (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?232226-Dance-my-Puppet-Fiend-of-Possession-PrC-Re-write) *Permission for Incorporeal Form * (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20218683&postcount=236)
{Turn 1}
Zeto attempts to possess one of the Shadesteel golems. This is a Supernatural ability that does not allow Spell Resistance. Will Save DC 35 Prevents him from taking residence in that golem, and blocks any further attempts to possess it for the rest of the day.
{Turn 2-4}
Zeto attempts to take control of the Golem. Will save DC 37 negates. If the golem fails its save Zeto gains control over it. If it fails Zeto will repeat the attempt again until he either has control of the Golem or the Golem makes 3 successful saves in a row.

Should Zeto acquire control of the golem he automatically retains control for 22 rounds, with the option to forfeit control and then attempt to regain control again earlier. Each time Zeto successfully controls A particular golem the duration he can control that golem increases by 1 round.

{Turn Successful possession, or on Turn 5}
Zeto will use his Bestow Greater Curse ability (Will save DC 37) to curse the Golem's alignment into being Lawful Good. This will take a minimum of two days, and each day the Golem receives a will save DC 37 to avoid changing its alignment one step towards Lawful Good. This curse is persistent and is not removed by making successful saves against the daily change in alignment. There is no practical benefit to doing so at this moment, but having prepared the golem in this way will be useful later if he retains control over it.
---
Consequences of successful possession:
The Golem/Zeto increases in size by 1 step. Instead of the SRD size increase benefits the golem gains +2 strength, -2 dexterity.
+2 Natural Armor (Necromatic Might class feature)
DR 5/Piercing (Necromatic Might class feature)
The Golems abilities now use Zeto's ability modifiers.

JNAProductions
2016-01-16, 03:14 PM
Shadesteel golems. These will aid us well, Scarlet observes. What are you doing? it asks of Zeto when the undead approached the golem.

Doxkid
2016-01-16, 03:54 PM
"Master is ensuring we can make full use of these golems. Its abilities combined with his will be a great boon to our offensive power." Harold answers.

JNAProductions
2016-01-16, 03:56 PM
Scarlet shrugs, leaving the spirit to its business.

Valerem
2016-01-17, 05:11 AM
Trynadmous snorted in disgust when the lich decided against continuing their discussion and raced over to eager possess a shadesteel golem. While he agreed that they needed to put these potent weapons to work against the uneducated. The fact he rushed away to take them as his own just him lose any respect he could of had from the dracolich. “COWARD. RUSHING AWAY TO CLAIM MORE POWER BEFORE ANYONE ELSE CAN CLAIM THEM.”

Doxkid
2016-01-17, 09:50 PM
"Well yes. Obviously." Harold agrees. The horned devil is smiling serenely, an oddity in and of itself, but the fact that it doesn't seem insulted by the outright declaration that his master is a coward makes this especially unusual. "Master saw no reason to continue the conversation at this moment. Until we possess more information there would be no point; we must acquire more information, even if that information is merely which of us are willing to attack what places.

Thus he moved on to the next most important thing: ensuring the tools left to us do not fall into the hands of our lesser kin. The fools would not know what to do with these tools, and fewer have a method by which they can attempt to take control of the golems in the first place. Anyone here who knows of golemcraft, or the methods by which one can command a golem, should step forward to claim these rare finds." Harold smiles, clearly amused about something he knows better than to say.

neriractor
2016-01-18, 10:03 AM
Oziereth speaks this time to Harold, looking a little puzzled while trying to figure out how he can possess a golem? "Your master had a capital idea, it is probably the wisest course of action to make haste with our preparations, including the use of this golems, if your master can make them even more useful I´ll leave him to it.

slowly Oziereth contemplates the few sights of Harold´s master he could see between the crowd "mmm... your master... could he possibly be Zeto?"

Anomander
2016-01-18, 12:44 PM
The Shadesteel golems seem to react very little as the various undead gather around them, examining them. You hear several undead trying to give them commands, but they do not react.

The passage of Harold through the small throng of undead is accepted with scowls but nothing else - even those who do not know him see the company which he keeps and are not willing to risk offense.

After several seconds pass, the one Zeto is examining twitches a little, but no other sign is given.

After Harold speaks, most of the undead look uncertainly at each other, and a couple of vampires cautiously begin to stare at the golems, trying to use their powers of domination but to no apparent effect.

A mummy with a small group of mummies following him steps up to Oziereth, Harold and the others. You all recognize him as Anub-Bar, a vassal of the great wyrm dracolich Xavarathimius who was one of the earliest great casualties of the current war against undead. Anub-Bar is well known for his vast library of knowledge, though it mostly came from his dracolich lord's collection.

"My lords," he says with a bow and a distinctly draconian accent. "I would be more than happy to assist in seeking a way to bind these golems to our wish. I do not know what commands the Dark One might have left them, but he doubtless knows the predilections of our company and their likely behaviors with any tools he might give. They should be controlled by those with the greatest wisdom and cunning, not merely the first to get at them. With your support, it is likely ...."

His speech is interrupted by the sudden movement of a score of undead moving together after the retreating form of the colossal construct. The majority of them seem to be relatively minor undead, mostly unknown to you by reputation: a half dozen vampires with Count Erik, a massive zombie stone giant and three zombie hill giants, a few mummies, and a variety of other undead.

The colossus of a construct is continuing to stride ever so slowly away from you all.

The golem give a brief struggle against your possession and control, but its will is nothing compared to your own. It has no thoughts of its own - merely a magically animated set of structures which allow it to carry out basic commands. It is child's play for you to overpower its excuse for a mind and willpower, though its construct nature makes it immune to almost any spells of command or domination which might be attempted against it.

JNAProductions
2016-01-18, 03:43 PM
Golems-follow me, Scarlet commands, then slowly floats away from them, seeing if the commands are simple enough.

Anomander
2016-01-18, 04:06 PM
The golems don't so much as twitch at this command either. However, several other undead begin offering forward their own commands.

"Come here."
"Obey my commands. Now come to me."
"Tell me your orders."
"Attack the paladins."
"Tell me who your master is."

None of the commands gain any response until a halfling Lich, unknown and relatively 'fresh' to unlife by the look of him, says "There's a cleric behind you."

Nine of the golems instantly spin in place, arms slashing out and a wave of negative energy erupts from them. An unfortunate Wight happened to be behind one and the golem's metal claws shredded its face before the pulse of negative energy flashed out, instantly restoring the wight's health.

For several seconds they all turn about, looking all about, and then they return themselves to their previous state of waiting.

[roll0] and [roll1]

Bad Wolf
2016-01-18, 06:32 PM
Now that, was interesting. The golems seemed to resist all comands (perhpas they obeted the Dark One?), only looking out for their own safety. But if he informed them of the coming threat...Bram stepped up to the Shadesteel golems.

"There is an army of Clerics and paladins coming, headed by a gigantic Gold Dragon, to wipe us all out, yourselves included."

Anomander
2016-01-18, 07:13 PM
"We shall defend The Fell and protect the defenders," nine of them say in unison. "Where is the threat?"

Doxkid
2016-01-18, 10:45 PM
The tenth Shadesteel golem experiences an abrupt change if composition. Ribbons of rotten flesh surge over the surface of the construct from the black trinket imbued with Zeto's spirit, only to reach some odd waypoint and vanish from sight entirely. And then the golem swells.

The dark material of the golem's body splinters at the sudden influx of magic and flesh, and then to mends itself, and then cracks again a dozen times over. The end result is a massive monster of a construct; one that lords over the others and stands at what could easily be twice the height of a common shadesteel golem - if one could ever call such a rare creation 'common'-, with greater bulk to the creature's once slender limbs besides. All within seconds.

"Very interesting. This will prove to to be quite the boon; I can barely restrain my interest in the ancient construct used to create this one." Zeto's voice says, eminating from roughly where the golem's mouth would be. Hints of the emotionless, nearly mindless intonation of the original golem remains, but Zeto's wills that he to be heard as others are accustomed to hearing him and Zeto's will shalt be done.

"...Perhaps later. I doubt of those gathered here would take well to such a 'Cowardly attempt at grabbing more power' to paraphrase a recent acquaintance of mine.

For now I would recommend we at least commence with preparations for this place: strategic positioning of the golems, aggressively adjust the landscape to slow the attack, and so on. From there we can prepare offensive measures: attacking the champions, or attacking the troops before they are fully armed, or attacking certain villages to position undead behind enemy lines."

Harold produces a a white robe from a a hidden satchel and the Zeto dons the clothes with practiced ease.

"And yes. I command the undead fiend known as Harold Koss. My retirement from the service of Mephistopheles was not without certain perks."

Valerem
2016-01-19, 08:07 AM
“THE ENEMY IS SCATTERED ACROSS THE COUNTRYSIDE, GROWING IN NUMBER AND POWER EACH DAY.” Tyrndamous said, glad to see that someone had at least figured out how to get the Shadesteel Golems to communicate with them and be able to put them to use without simply grabbing them completely... waste of time and shows one had a sickening greed for power. “SHADESTEEL GOLEMS SUCH AS YOURSELF BEST SERVE THE ROLE OF SUPPORT AND HEALING FOR UNDEAD. BECAUSE OF THIS, I ADVISE THAT YOU DO NOT GO OUT ON OFFENSIVE MISSIONS AND STAY IN THE FELL TO PUT YOUR SKILLS TO USE.”

neriractor
2016-01-19, 12:27 PM
Oziereth lowers his head in a sign of respect and in order to look at the newcomer Anub-Bar "greetings, it seems like some of our own already have a... grasp on the abilities of the golems and how to command them in behalf of the city. Anyway I fully expect the Collosus to have its own orders so we may as well focus our attention on how to use the squad of golems present here"

quickly he moved a small bulge of blood on his torso that had bothered him for some time, after placing it slightly to the left he adressed Zeto, now occupying the golem "It is a pleasure to make an acquaintance of you, I had heard rumors that after your... choice regarding employment you had made some plans for the material, but I never expected you to come to the fell."

Anomander
2016-01-19, 07:41 PM
Off following the slowly retreating form of the giant construct, the group of undead gather around its slow motion, and sparks of magic flash as the group casts magic.

At an unheard signal the group of them lets loose a collection of assaults on the giant thing - plants exploding from the ground around the construct entangling it, the four giants all latching onto it to wrestle it to the ground, and several other spells bringing rock exploding up from the ground to surround it and then molding the rock to encase the construct's legs.

For a few seconds the giant construct was motionless, the rock apparently holding it still, but the giants even with all their strength didn't seem to be budging the thing.

Then a blast of green light exploded from the construct, its cone lighting over half the beings in the assault, and when the light vanished the undead were no longer there.

The massive construct effortlessly broke the stone encasing it and the three giants left quickly let go, darting away as quickly as they could.

Almost immediately, the giant which had disappeared in the light began emerging from the giant construct as it continued slowly walking away. The giant fell to the ground with a heavy crash, arms flailing as it fell.

Anub-Bar watches with worry and then amusement, but seems to have no urge to go to the aid of the undead assaulting the construct. He finally shakes his head.

"If I had known they were going to try that, I might have warned them it was a useless attempt. They have no more hope of affecting that than they do conquering the Mount of Celestia."

He turns back to you all.

"It is probably too much to hope they will learn from their mistake. I believe your wisdom," he eyes Zeto's new form with curiosity, "and abilities will be in need to curb such hasty behavior as they displayed.

"I have not revealed some of my own information here. I was afraid it would be used like they," and his words drip scorn as he nods to the reduced group of undead slowly regroup after their assault on the humongous construct, "just behaved - stupidly.

"Information, if not used well can be deadly to its possessor. I have contacts still outside the Fell who feed me no small amount of information, and I believe you will be able to use it well and may have the power to keep others from rushing about headless. I place my information at your service."

He gives a formal bow, and the mummies behind him follow his bow.

In the distance, the departing construct has extruded a second being, this one apparently a vampire as it halts its fall to the ground an wobbles about in mid-air, disoriented.

Valerem
2016-01-20, 06:01 AM
Wow... just. Wow. Tyrndamous knew that not all the undead was a wise as he was. But to actually try and attack the giant golem that the lord of the Fell himself had created? How on earth had they managed to survive this long if they were THAT stupid? In boggled the dracolich’s mind, and actually had him stalled out momentarily. Simply trying to comprehend the pure suicidal stupidity happening before his eyes.

Doxkid
2016-01-21, 02:03 PM
"We need to put those fit to bear arms in ranks and assess our strength; we will take measure of the magic we possess and the natural advantages we may press, then assign them to groups and prepare them for war. The greatest of us will reform the terrain of this place to suit our combatants and then move out to ensure we hold the advantage of pillage and slaughter behind enemy lines march.

Go and gather those who pursue the artifact-golem, Harold, and stop their unnecessary actions. With judicious force if you wish, but do not destroy any of them unless there is no better alternative. Then see about assessing the troops personally whilst I, and any who see fit to accompany me in this, shall speak with the student and servant of the fallen Dracolich. I will communicate further orders to you later." The Horned Devil takes to wing in pursuit of the Ancient Golem and the mob surrounding it without further question; Zeto can easily call it back with a mental command later and Harold has served under Zeto in Mephistolphele's service for long enough to know how the Rakshasa operates.

"Any who has something to offer in defense of The Fell should come forth, or send a representative forward. Anub-Bar is a worthy ally; knowledgeable in ways few can match and well informed beyond what most would expect, even for a being of his stature. Anub-Bar's information coupled with anything recent some might contribute will paint a full picture of what we will be doing.

And, perhaps, whether The Fell will fall and undeath will be purged from this place."
-
Every 2 minutes (give or take. 2 minutes makes things nice and regular and I don't mind losing out on a round or two) the golem gets to make another save against being controlled. Same will save DC of 35, so anything other than a 20 is an automatic failure still.)

Three saves in a row removes Zeto's control for the entire day. Not sure how you want to run that since Zeto has an interest in maintaining control basically forever.

neriractor
2016-01-22, 02:27 PM
Oziereth was about to run towards the fools that dared to attack a tool of The Fell and the Dark One, barely holding himself after seeing The golem advance unencumbered trough them. He looks Anub-Bar for a moment, he knew the mummy was an important ally but with a flow of information from te outside the mummy was key to saving the fell.

"I believe I cannot provide too much information on my own, The last contacts from the outside I kept after moving to The Fell have already been casualties in this conflict. I will accompany you if you don´t mind; I may not have much in the way of information but I do believe that the more minds the better when it comes to the planning of strategies for a war."

JNAProductions
2016-01-22, 02:30 PM
I will come with. I may not have my children any more, but I have the power to claim vengeance on them, she says.

Bad Wolf
2016-01-22, 09:30 PM
For the first time in a long time, Bram actually felt...what was that emotion? He so easily brought up in the hearts of mortals, in lesser undead, and even some of the celestials...Ah, fear. For the first time in centuries, Bram Belmont felt a tiny spark of fear in his cold undead heart. He closed his eyes for a moment.

Lord Orcus...your chosen people are facing war with your most hated enemies. Please grant us the power to survive, and continue to bring undeath upon them. Please accept this sacrifice. He opened his eyes and glanced over at his Joy Slaves.

"You in the middle, step forward, and don't move further. Oh, and don't try and resist. Everyone else, please step back. You too, Unicorn." Once his followers did, a cloud of poisonous gases descended on the lone Abeil Queen.

Cloudkill SLA, as a sacrifice to Orcus. Might not be worth anything, but roleplaying and stuff.

Valerem
2016-01-23, 11:00 AM
After Tyrndamous mind had finished rebooting, the dracolich just shook his head in disbelief. Then he dismissed them, turning his attention to the lich once more. The one that had so eagerly possessed the shadesteel golem for his uses. The one calling others forwards to share their abilites in this fight... and Tyrndamous did not like how he was taking a leadership position.

Still, Tyrndamous was not leader himself and he knew it. Too chaotic, too much of a free spirit... which was why he stood forwards, saying. “I AM TYRNDAMOUS. I MIGHT NOT HAVE THE SPELLCASTING POWERS OR MINIONS THAT OTHERS HAVE. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO ARMY ANNIHILATIONS, NO ONE IS MY EQUAL.”

Doxkid
2016-01-23, 10:21 PM
Zeto considers those willing to take action for The Fell: two liches of two different nearly immortal races, an ancient vampire who still pays respect to Orcus of all 'gods', an undead creation that is far more powerful than others of its kind, and a draconic spirit...thing. What really stands out though is who and what does not step forward: The remnants of vampire covens, the beings of raw negative energy given the form of undeath, the mages who sought out undeath only to squander their new gift and powers.

"Magic is useful, but it is not the only ability that has value in a situation like this. I expended no magic to gain control of this golem. It merely required the force of my willpower and the weight of power in my soul to bend it to my will." Zeto seems lost in thought for a few seconds - an all too common occurrence as those who have been paying attention to him will realize - but it passes as it always does. "Let us go then. I would appreciate any assistance you can spare in rallying and organizing our lesser kin, Lord Bram; Harold will eventually force them in line, but I'm sure it would take time we cannot spare if he alone works to do so."

With that said Zeto spends a few more moments studying his new body before departing for Anub-Bar's mausoleum. By coincidence he takes enough time in doing so to respectfully acknowledge Bram's response before leading the group onward.

Anomander
2016-01-24, 11:33 PM
For the first time in a long time, Bram actually felt...what was that emotion? He so easily brought up in the hearts of mortals, in lesser undead, and even some of the celestials...Ah, fear. For the first time in centuries, Bram Belmont felt a tiny spark of fear in his cold undead heart. He closed his eyes for a moment.

Lord Orcus...your chosen people are facing war with your most hated enemies. Please grant us the power to survive, and continue to bring undeath upon them. Please accept this sacrifice. He opened his eyes and glanced over at his Joy Slaves.

"You in the middle, step forward, and don't move further. Oh, and don't try and resist. Everyone else, please step back. You too, Unicorn." Once his followers did, a cloud of poisonous gases descended on the lone Abeil Queen.

Cloudkill SLA, as a sacrifice to Orcus. Might not be worth anything, but roleplaying and stuff.

Unholy Freaky Hells Yeah! This will most definitely be remembered for later. Muwahahahaha! I had forgotten you followed/worshiped Orcus. My grim little DM heart chortles maniacally at this.

As you accompany Anub-Bar toward a large white-marble mausoleum, you each hear some murmurs ripple out. Your cooperation has just made you, as a group, the most powerful bloc of power, by far, and Anub-Bar has joined himself to you. The giant construct continues popping out the beings which attacked it as it walks away, all apparently unharmed.

As you reach Anub-Bar's place, those with greater senses feel an unseen presence approach from the side, and thirty feet away ribbons of darkness pour up from the ground and a stunningly beautiful man with nearly pure black skin emerges, naked except for fluttering shadows that barely cover him.

"My lords," and her voice is honey and desire, even touching beings who have no carnal urges with a faint whisper of foreign desire. "I am Priath, son of desire, and father of lust. Mortal and immortal alike bow to my -"

"Yes, yes," Anub-Bar interrupts. "I've heard it before. We have work to accomplish. Leave." His following mummies move to interpose themselves between you all and the man being. Anub-Bar says softly to you all, "Umbral Incubus extraordinaire, indeed, but far too flighty for any to rely on it." Anub-Bar begins walking again.

"And you would not care to know what my worshippers among the warriors of light have said to me?"

That pauses Anub-Bar, and he looks to each of you. "My information is about their immanent attack, and it may be useful, if he is telling the truth." The last few words raised for Priath to easily hear.

"Oh, but I am, my lords. I will be most useful to you, and you will be most pleased with all I can bring to you." Somehow he manages to bring those echoes of desire to mind again. "The men and women of light have desires of the flesh; I sate and inflame several of them in secret."

Anub-Bar shrugs, leaving it to you. "It may be of worth, but it is not the most reliable of beings."

JNAProductions
2016-01-24, 11:52 PM
Give it a chance, Scarlet says.

Valerem
2016-01-25, 09:45 AM
The echoes of desire was both a comforting and a torment for Tryndamous. Feeling his body's’ desire once more was comforting. As the dracolich had believed he had lost the ability to desire forever... and yet it was a torment, knowing that he would never be able to follow though with such desire ever again. That he would never know the comforts of flesh... especially not from a male, which Tyrndamous shaking his head in frustration.

Still, despite that he had to speak, saying. “THERE IS TWO THINGS IN THIS WORLD THAT IS BEST AT LOOSENING TONGUES. ALCOHOL, AND THE PLEASURES OF FLESH. I AM SURE THAT PRIATH WILL BE ABLE TO GET US GREAT INFORMATION.” Just as long as they don’t tell such a flighty being any important secrets of their own.

Bad Wolf
2016-01-25, 11:53 PM
He spoke to the Incubus without taking his eyes off the corpse.

"I am no stranger to the all-consuming grasp of desire, as are many of my kin, both alive and vampiric, but the priests of Pelor tend to be made of stronger stuff than that. Many of us became undead for power, and know you quite well. But if you think you have the clerics with your grasp, by all means, tell us what you know. I will be back shortly. " He walked over to the rabble of lesser undead, which were regrouping after the attack on the behemoth.

"I have been witness to the infinite wonders of the planes, but I have never seen anything as stupid as this.", he spat out while gesturing to the monolithic being. "We were just delivered a message about an army on the march to destroy us, by the Dark One itself. And when he gives us a gift to defend the Fell, you fools squabble over who gets to control the shiny toy you barely understand!"

neriractor
2016-01-26, 09:17 AM
Oziereth keeps a serious expression when the creature appears and the rest of the time, a little confused by that itchy feeling he had never before felt. "So, are you going to wait for the army of the light to get here before telling us your information? ...as useless as it may be"

Anomander
2016-01-26, 12:57 PM
"You shall not regret it, oh great lords. Seeing you in command gives me hope for the future of our kind," Priath says as they walk into the Mausoleum.

One of Anub-Bar's mummy followers opens the doors for you, showing a comfortable and open area that everyone can fit in well enough with tall, vaulted ceilings nearly 30' high. Sandstone blocks, certainly from nowhere nearby, make the floor a cream golden that is sparsely decorated with just a few items such as excuisite rugs hanging about the walls. Permanent Torches dot the walls, each with a finely crafted hood able to be drawn down, blocking the light.

Anub-Bar leads you to a room the size of a reception hall, but instead lined with massive rows of shelves filled with books. "This is one of the late Xavarathimius' main libraries. I have information on almost every topic imaginable, and probably a few of which you have never thought. Both mundane and magical books are here." You hear the obvious pride in his voice. A score of invisible servants hover about the room, several dusting shelves, and others merely floating, ready to be commanded. A dessicated Vampire Spawn along one shelf closes up a massive magical tome and carefully fits a metal plate over it, locking it into place.

"Now, then," Anub-Bar continues, "Priath, what information do you have?" His tone certainly suggests he has low expectations of whatever Priath might have to offer.

Priath looks about, thoroughly unimpressed and vaguely uncomfortable in the erudite surroundings, but then turns to you.

"The forces of light have their desires as all others, and I am a master of both satisfying and stirring desires of all types, though those of procreation are the easiest to manipulate." He glides a hand down across his physique, shadows flitting away, showing just enough to draw eyes but not quite revealing all. It's not his physical look that seems to attract, for even non-humans feel their attention tugged.

"Two commanders are worshipers of mine, and they have talked over the last several months about a pending final assault here. Just two weeks ago, my peach said the assault was about to be launched, and the materials were almost ready to teleport to the assault points about the Fell. She begged me to not come here, and I assured her I would not be anywhere near, but ... well, their divinations are most annoying and if I am outside the Fell for longer than a week or two, they manage to track me down somehow. Even tried a bit of planar travel, but no go, so here I am."

"She is a part of the assault, my luscious little half-minotaur. They will come in by teleportation circles, appearing around the Fell. Each of them will have a shield with Celestial Light cast on it, and their swords are enchanted with some spell that destroys the first undead it hits. After that it is expended, but her squad has two hundred people in it."

One of the invisible servants has slid a chair across the floor toward him, and he dramatically falls into it.

"So there you have it, hundreds of people with powerful enchantments, ready to blow each of us into ash. We're doomed!"

The tone is remarkably flippant for such a statement, and his insouciant smile seems to care not at all.

Knowledge Arcana or Planes DC 25: He's an Nether Incubus.
At least partly, he's trying to get into your 'good graces' as you are the most powerful around because that's what he does. He doesn't seem to be worried, so he must have some sort of escape route.
He's putting on a front, looking like he isn't worried, but he is. He has likely barely escaped assaults by the light several times and is desperate to save his skin, but doesn't want to stay on the planes for some reason.

JNAProductions
2016-01-26, 01:05 PM
Sense Motive roll: [roll0]

You're a spineless, gutless worm. Show your true face, Scarlet commands, letting the others figure out how best to deal with the knowledge that he has provided.

Anomander
2016-01-26, 02:35 PM
Priath's face is the very picture of shock and alarm at Scarlet's words, shadows wrap around him opaquely, and his words skip and stumble whereas before they were smooth and honeyed. He bolts upright in the chair before dropping to one knee before Scarlet's ghostly form.

"I am sorry my lord. I do not, did not mean to make a, uh, light of the threat. I realize it is my, our, existence at stake."

There is a small pause, and he continues. "I do not command, er, great powers to strike the enemy, but so I do my best to support those who do, er, you. I - I, will do my best to serve in this time of danger."

Anub-Bar nods approvingly at Scarlet snapping the incubus to heel, and follows up. "Then ignore not our lords' desires. We'll have none of these dramatics - who is the other being you have infiltrated among the enemy?"

Anub-Bar's words may not have the same power, but the Incubus complies.

"He is a former priest who left Sune's church because he has proclivities they frown upon. To avoid punishment, he joined the forces united under Lathandir; he serves as a-a Corporal, I think. He is not in the half-minotaur's unit.

"He is part of their magical offensive team - they have a core of people in each unit with wands of some sort to be used in combat. He is terrified of the conflict to come, and has always worked to be part of support teams, but as casualties have trimmed their ranks, even those in support are drawn on to fight."

Valerem
2016-01-27, 07:04 AM
The Mausoleum did not impress Tyrndamous in the slightest. He cared not for places of the dead, there was no fun to be had with them after all. No battle or frustration to take delight in. Nor did he care about the fact that this was a great library. Books were boring. Oh, the dracolich was not dumb and he knew of their uses... but he was focused first and foremost on his own pleasure. And for that, he needed to survive. Though, Tyrndamous suspected he might rather enjoy the coming battle.

The news was alarming, to hear that the units would be under shields of Celestial Light, likely protecting them from the negative energy of the Fell itself. And that they weapons were designed to instantly destroy any undead they hit. A one-time Disruption Effect? Swapping duration for sheer power? And then those unknown wands...

“I SEE THREE OPTIONS IN REGARDS TO THOSE WEAPONS. FIRST. DO NOT GET HIT. SECOND. CREATE ARMIES OF MINDLESS UNDEAD TO ABSORB THEIR WEAPONS. ESPECIALLY PREVALENT IN THAT WE CAN RAISE THEIR OWN SOLDIERS TO DO SO. THIRD. DISENCHANT THEIR WEAPONS, AND PERHAPS THEIR SHIELD AS WELL. HOWEVER, I AM AFRAID ABOUT THESE WANDS. THEY COULD BE DESIGNED TO REPLENISH THE ENCHANTMENT OR THE SHIELD. IN THAT CASE, THE BATTLE WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY HARDER.”

Anomander
2016-01-27, 02:49 PM
The dark incubus slowly stands to his feet as Tyrndamous speaks.

"I, I", Priath settles himself a little, regaining some of his previous confidence. "I am under the impression that these wands are offensive in nature, and not particularly powerful by themselves, but they have an incredible number of them. He speaks of everyone in his entire squad having one of the magic items, and there are twenty people in his squad."

The incubus smiles ruefully. "]I have to be more careful than normal with their military - their divinations constantly check for anyone trying to extract information from their forces. I don't try to extract anything from him, I merely get him very relaxed and allow him to speak of the stresses of his days. He lives a horribly petty life, but there are bits of information here and there.[/COLOR]"

Anub-Bar frowns in thought, his bandages covering most of his face, but his dried skin's cracks gathering together around his eyes show the expression.

"This aligns with the information I have gathered. I have made a ... collection of spies over the years, and though most have been destroyed in my efforts in the war, there are some left keeping an eye on light's army. There are four main groups of soldiers being prepared for the assault - some of the best of their remaining forces numbering around a thousand people. Priath's, er, worshipers, are almost certainly a part of this effort.

"There has been a general increase in security over the last three or four months, even above what they had before. Especially with the Dark Lord's warning, I suspect their assault on The Fell is nearly ready. They almost certainly have plans above and beyond these platoons of Celestial Brillianced shields and, er, wand-armed, fighters, but they are being very cagey about it. I have only a little more information."

The dessicated vampire spawn caring for the books has been bringing over several folders with stacks of paper inside and Anub-Bar slides them out to you all.

"These are my reports from my own divinations and the spying of my few remaining spies. Priath speaks truly that their divinations are infuriatingly competent at rooting out direct spies.

"Regardless, here is what I have: four silver dragons from across Faerun have been supporting the forces of light. We managed to get a good look at them and what their magical protections are. They have a powerful Artificer based in Skuld who is creating many of their magical items, probably including these wand weapons. Finally, I have gathered information on both the Gold Warder of Bahamut, Stahdim Aar, and the two angels, Saint Cantar and Rael Lightcaller.

"I place it all at your wisdom."

Doxkid
2016-01-27, 03:28 PM
Zeto wastes no time in leafing through the information made available, focusing mainly on the Dragons and the operations taking place in Skuld; if he has his way each dragon and the base in Skuld will fall almost simultaneously and the enemy's attack will be stalled before the angels can have any real affect on the war effort; beings from the Holy Planes have a tendency of bringing much greater power to bare than they have any right to, and slaying 'mere' dragons and mages focused on developing magical devices sounds much more enticing to him than any other alternative.

"We will need to reinforce the main locations the enemy forces plan to teleport to before we leave." Zeto finally says, still looking for information on where each silver dragon resides and what forces those dragons lead. The Gold dragon can be dealt with later or perhaps even last; the other beings gathered here have no interest in fighting a champion of Light and even Zeto, as enthusiastic as he may seem about slaying Stahdim Aar, would prefer to accumulate assurance of victory before facing such a powerful being. Assurances such as a cadre of powerful Silver dragons backing up this team of Fell's unique and elite champions. "Whether our plans of attacking key points are successful, or even in time for our efforts to have an effect, it would be best to be ready on our home front; there is no reason to allow even a single enemy unit to rampage as they please within The Fell if such could have been prevented.

You have presented a little more information about 'how' they plan to attack and for this you have my thanks. However there is still more we need to know. When is the attack to take place, Demon kin? Where are they to attack from? And where, within or around The Fell, do they plan to transport their troops to before marching upon us?"

Zeto's distaste for the presence of a demon is clear but he maintains the decorum of a professional necromancer despite this; it is not the first time he has needed to work beside a being hailing form the abyss and he has had much practice staunching the reflexive urge to call up a contingent of his best warriors to disrupt the demon's movement while he and a select few devils and undead of his choosing maintain a constant barrage of long range attacks. Actually...

"How specialized are those Undead destroying enchantments? Would a pureblooded demon or devil face any difficulties if attacked by such a weapon? Are those weapons able to breath the control an undead being exerts upon another creature? If you are unsure I purpose we test the limitations of those enchantments as soon as possible...

It seems imperative that we eliminate the Artificer first; our successes or failures beyond there will not matter nearly as much with their main source of powerful magic weapons eliminated; even bands of common ghouls will be able to contribute if we can ensure the forces of Light do not possess their enhanced weapons. Then the dragons, starting with the four silvers; if we can raise them as powerful undead our forces will be bolstered significantly. From there we can determine how the rest of the war should play out."

neriractor
2016-01-28, 12:04 PM
I agree, a quick mission to take down the craftman that is giving them those damned swords will surely strike harder against the armies of the light that merely attacking their food sources will, and while I lack the means to turn the dragons to our side, I believe I can assist them for the first half of the journey he makes a gesture to his spiked chain and then stares into nowhere for a couple of seconds, remembering the old days when magic was a more chaotic thing and now just something to be mass produced at the will of such pitiful creatures...

Anomander
2016-01-28, 01:24 PM
Priath shrugs with a delicate moue. "Unfortunately I cannot ask those direct questions myself. Twice in the past decade a being from the armies of light has come to worship me, and I did ask for information, and they gladly gave me whatever I asked. Each time, within 24 hours I was forced to flee a squad of heavily prepared attackers. Whatever divinations they use tell them when someone is questioning their soldiers, and I do not have the means to defeat the divinations directly, and so I do not directly ask.

"I last saw him two days ago, and he was ..." the undead incubus shudders with a small smile at the memory, "exquisitely brutal with me. He told me that it might be our last time together before the battle. I see him once a ten-day, more or less. As to the exact nature of the enchantments on their swords, he mentioned that if it doesn't destroy them with a single hit, it'll send them fleeing. Beyond that, I do not know."

Anub-Bar shrugs at Zeto's words, giving a nod of agreement to the giant construct.

"I agree my lord. The masses of troops can be dealt with. We shall perhaps be forced to destroy them from afar, or some sort of protection vs their enchantments can be found.

"The greatest threat to us is the elite among them - the dragons and the two angels. Most of the powerful who have been destroyed were destroyed with the assistance of the angels or dragons. There have been many other metallic dragons who have aided in smaller ways over the years, but the five silvers and the gold, Stahdim Aar, are the core of the dragon's support."

He pulls out a particular folder and begins leafing through it quickly.

"Ah, here we go. Each of the silvers has several magical protections. Ummm ..." His cloth-wrapped finger runs down the paper.

"Resist Energy, probably against fire.
Protection from Evil.
Nondetection.
See Invisible.
Greater Magic Fang. Amulet.
Death Ward. Probably armor."

Anub-Bar looks back up to you all.

"Those were gathered by several of my spies with a spell of Greater Arcane Sight. We sacrificed quite a few forces to gain this information, several times purposefully sacrificing forces to draw the dragons out. Twice, my spies were detected and lost.

"We've tried the same for the gold dragon, but he doesn't seem to bother with smaller problems, only appearing for greater battles. We have only that he does not seem to be affected by any sort of negative energy, we have never been able to perform any sort of divination on him, and is immune to cold. There are also some disturbing stories of magical assaults completely vanishing against him, though how accurate that rumor is, I do not know. There have also been confirmed magical attacks that do affect him."

Anomander
2016-01-28, 02:17 PM
Anub-Bar looks eager when pulling out the next folder.

"Ahlam Sal'Akeem, greatest of the modern Artificers. Fascinating person, and in my own opinion, would be a likely candidacy to continue his existence into undeath - he is obsessively fanatical about the creation of magical items in the world. Has ideas about widespread magic to be used by all - says it will usher in a fundamental change in the world.

"His desire to create the perfect city - an entire city where every possible convenience is at everyone's fingertips, made available through magical items. He has a mansion hidden away somewhere that is rumored to be a wonder of magical conveniences.

"He is last known to be in Skuld at a temple of Lathandir. He has been a ... um, bait, I guess, for strikes a few times. They've sent shipments from Skuld out to other temples. Now we know it was false information, but many of us thought they were shipments of magical equipment. There was a major strike, just to find that it was a trap - hundreds met their final death in that trap.

"Many beings of undeath have been very leary of striking at Skuld or the Artificer.

"We have basic information - layout of the temple and their basic defenses, but little else. I have not devoted my few remaining spies in that direction."

Valerem
2016-01-29, 02:29 PM
And so the information was delivered. Tyrndamous listening all the while as others made their only comments. If he had blood still, it would no doubt be pumping at the thought of fighting these silver dragons! Dancing and twirling within the air, firing off their breath weapons against one another. Spelling being flung this way and that before one charged in to fight with claw and fang... ooooh it was how Tyrndamous enjoyed such fights!

Hearing that the Artificer was so well protected, and that his defences had such little information about them, made the dracolich snort loudly before finally speaking his piece. “THEN LET US STRIKE AT THE DRAGONS FIRST AS WE GET INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTIFICER'S DEFENCE. I HAVE NO DESIRE TO BE DESTROYED BY DEFENCES I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT. BESIDES... FROM THE SOUNDS OF IT, THOSE DRAGONS HAVE NO DEFENCES AGAINST ME.”

Doxkid
2016-01-30, 10:08 PM
"I have no choice but to agree. Pursuing the silver dragons, even if all four of the beasts are together, is likely to be a safer course of action.

Any information they make available to us alter will of course make the process of penetrating the craftsman's sanctum easier, discounting the added benefit of having four more to bolster our ranks and endure the worst of his defenses.

It is unfortunate we do not have more time though. Given a scant few decades and the aid of a few carefully positioned devils I could have recruited the artificer into our ranks without worrying over the fate of our kind or any risk of total annihilation; a lich of that caliber could do many great things."

No physical tells or facial expressions are leaked over from Zeto into the construct, nor does his carefully paced speak or calm voice belie any true regret that the artificer will most likely not be willing to become undead. His words ring true though; an artificer of such caliber that Zeto, Bram and the rest of this ragtag band much all be called upon to slay him would truly be a magnificent boon; the red wizards would leave Zeto to his own devices for at least two or three centuries and The Dark One, who could reasonably be considered Zeto's main employer at the moment, would aid Zeto in finishing the warding of his own private demiplane much sooner.

Many favors would be accrued and many, many debts forgotten...

JNAProductions
2016-01-31, 02:48 PM
We deal with reality, not fantasies of what could be. When do we strike? Scarlet says.

Anomander
2016-02-01, 05:23 PM
Anub-Bar sets the folder for the Artificer down with some reluctance, and you hear him sigh to himself. "Fascinating individual. Perhaps later."

He again picks up the folder of information on the dragons. "They are often with the various forces of light and extremely mobile, however, we do know they have lairs somewhere in the very broad area around Cormyr. Where exactly, no one knows, for they are as careful as all dragons with their hoards and homes. However, they have been seen in the area of Cormyr far too often for coincidence.

"When we have drawn them out to spy on them before, we have mounted uprisings in Cormyr, and they have always responded. Not always all of them at once, but they are the ones who respond. They are protected with Mindblank as most powerful beings are, so we cannot scry on them normally.

He sighs.

"Cormyr has always been highly prejudiced against our kind, and have strong forces prepared to strike us down. To make the strikes strong enough to require the dragons to respond we had to involve a great deal of our power. At the moment, we simply do not have the resources to send dozens of wights and other beings sufficient to cause a dramatic uprising. We might be able to scrape up enough here, but it would positively gut the forces here, and with an invasion pending I would hesitate to weaken ourselves.

"A small town would not work, as they might not receive word of the attack for some time. It would need to be a large city to be properly alarming - their capital Suzail, Arabel, or maybe Marsember. Those places are also strongly defended."

Anub-Bar frowns and his town is somewhat frustrated, "I am sorry, my lords. I do not see a way to lure the dragons out at this time. Perhaps your wisdom sees what mine does not."

neriractor
2016-02-01, 08:46 PM
Oziereth grunts, so the only way to hunt down the dragons was to spread chaos and there was no place suitable for it... if he had been a human sweating will be his answer to this situation, he knew the situation was dire and the words of the dark one had only made him worse in his head.

He took a look at the folders Anub-Bar had in his hand thinking trough what little information it had given and clinging to the hope that it was holding back information, and the mummy actually possesed a more useful insight on their enemies, after considering the options he spoke up, trying to make use of what little he knew about the incoming army "Sometimes, the fangs of the vipers are just too dangerous to cut off the head..." he said, remembering and old saying the drow used back when yuan-ti were commonly found across all of the underdark "if the most important parts of the army are so strongly defended we can just deviate from what they expect us to do, you have talked about strongholds across the region, a small strike group can attack the best, we will weight the quality, quantity and importance of the forces gathered there agaisnt the dangers, I´ll trust the magical might of the present to get us there quickly, and I have unmatched experience destroying the feeble buildings of the living..."

he stops to consider the implications of such an attack for a couple of seconds and keeps going "if the attacks delay the siege enough they will try to track us down or improve the defenses of the fortresses, in the later they will have to get resources from somewhere else, if we get lucky they will weaken the defenses on the targets we care about. Trying to kill us may be a safer bet for them, but they will have to send some of their elite forces agaisnt us, wich is still a more desirable option that having to fight them where they hold the advantage of knowing the terrain and already having defenses tailored to us prepared."

Valerem
2016-02-02, 05:25 AM
“OR PERHAPS, THEY WERE SIMPLY SENDING THE WRONG FORCES TO DRAW THE DRAGONS OUT.” Tyrndamous said with a fang-filled grin.... okay he actually just bared his teeth. Being a dracolich, every single grin he made showed of his fangs. It was kinda hard to hide them without any flesh. “I WILL BE ABLE TO DRAW THEM OUT IN AN INSTANT. TELEPORT ME TWO THOUSAND FEET ABOVE A CITY, AND I WILL MAKE THAT CITY BLAZE IS A RAGING INFERNO, BORN FROM THE FURY OF EARTH AND MAGMA. ALL SHALL BURN BENEATH THE SHADOW OF MY WINGS.”

Anomander
2016-02-02, 11:49 AM
Anub-Bar looks a bit puzzled at the statements of Oziereth and Tyrndamous. "I agree that their cities are not as strongly defended as their fortresses, but it's because they are not as important. Sure, the dragons might be drawn out to counter the attack, but I do not expect they would delay something as important as this invasion merely to add to some protections on cities. A few people might die, but -"

At this the Nether Demon Priath laughs.

"My dear Anub, you don't understand living beings. They aren't your dusty tomes. They'll be incandescent with fear and rage should a city be destroyed or harmed, and it is entirely possible, even likely, that they would delay the assault, at least for a little, to put in emergency protections for other cities."

Anub-Bar manages to look skeptical somehow, even with his face partially obscured by his wrappings, but nods - to Oziereth and Tyrndamous, not Priath.

"I defer to my lords' great wisdom. If you have not been to any of the cities of Cormyr before, I can provide you images sufficiently accurate for teleportation. I also have a scrying pool which lets me scry on locations instead of people. I can perform a full reconnaissance for you. Give me a day and I can get some spies there to check that there aren't any traps being set up. It should only take them a few days to listen in on the military leaders."

Doxkid
2016-02-02, 12:44 PM
"In that case the drakes methods will be satisfactory for the attack on the first city. From there onward it is my hope that will will be able to rebuild the number of lesser undead using the inhabitants of those cities: Mummify their priests and congregation, make vampires of their learned nobles and arcane mages, transform their best guardsmen into wights or Ghasts and their strongest prisoners into Mohrg. Their common people can be made into skeletons, zombies or ghouls as appropriate.

The first city, Marsember, will be an example; the relatively low population will not beget many quality soldiers anyway, and the wealth that can be salvaged would likewise be mediocre. If this drays the dragons out, then so be it. If not we move on to Arabel, where we spawn our new army. Then, and only then, do I recommend we march on the capital; the forces gathered in this room coupled with new undead soldiers from Arabel should be more than enough to eradicate any remaining resistance. If we have the time to bind the minds of the people there it might be worthwhile to keep a large amount of the population alive for those who crave the lifeforce of mortals, and to use as fodder against the armies of The Light.

Priath. You have had difficulty extracting information from your informants, have you not? Would you have any trouble warning them of their impending destruction by dracolich fire? A sudden attack on a single city may cause alarm but the knowledge of a dracolich raging across their land will certainly ensure they raise their defenses...in the wrong place. Please my pet, do not risk yourself defending Suzail. The ancient dragon Tryndamous wishes to demonstrate his power before the last bastion of undead falls and no army could possibly stand against him; only another dragon could possibly face this creature as an equal. So let the dragons fight. Stay safe until the day your return to my embrace..." Zeto imitation of Priath is interlaced with breathy sighs of satisfaction over whatever is currently occupying the Incubus and an imagined client/thrall.

"If we sack Arabel would you be able to coordinate erecting temporary defenses would you be able to coordinate temporary defenses there, Anub-Bar? it will need wards against scrying and teleportation, redistribution of guards, registration of the capabilities of our new soldiers, and so much more. I would do so myself but my power will be needed elsewhere."

Disguise check to imitate Priath's voice: [roll0]

neriractor
2016-02-04, 06:37 PM
Oziereth smiles, the dragon sounded confident of his abilities, and in this times such confidence must be backed up in something, he remained a bit sad that he wasn´t going to wreck the fortresses, but the safety of the fell came first.

He made a gesture of respect to Anub-Bar "I believe it will be better to start investigating their defenses then, assuming you are prepared to start immediately, that is. The sooner we know what we should expect from that city the sooner we can realize this scheme."

looking back at Zeto he asks "Lord Zeto, are your minion and Lord Bram done stoping our reckless kin? I believe they will be useful in planning the events to come."

Valerem
2016-02-05, 11:01 AM
Whilst Tyrndamous was more than happy to hear people taking his suggestion seriously, and in fact agreeing to that idea. The dracolich wasn’t quite content to how the lich was taking it and twisting it. Adding on all these complications and side things that made it a lot more complicated than teleporting to a city and setting it aflame in order to draw the silver dragons out. Admittedly, raising an army was a good idea... but....

“I THINK ASHES ARE GOING TO BE RATHER HARD TO RAISE. AND WHERE I GO, ONLY ASH REMAINS.” Tyrndamous rumbled in response to the lich’s desires to create all many of undead being from the dead... seemingly forgetting that Tyrndamous was quite focused on burning the cities to the ground. Which would make it quite hard to raise the dead to fight by their side once more. At least, from Tryndamous’ little experience in undead creation..

Doxkid
2016-02-06, 01:10 PM
Harold
"I command those pursuing the Golem to stop! Stop!" Harold quickly reaches his top speed while barely aloft with his claws and tail scraping across the landscape at the lowest point of each wingbeat. He does not slow even when he is almost upon the enemies. "Stop! You..." only at the very last moment does he adjust his flight in any way, quickly twisting to bring his tail to bear for a full speed tail slam upon the vampire that had been expelled from the construct. His body follows through on the motion, slamming the entirety of the undead devil into the vampire without any hint of hesitation or concern for his own safety.

"...Fools! Did you not hear the commands of your betters?" There is action and then there are words. He doesn't bother waiting to see if one will do more to get these simpletons to act properly; one of the two will probably work and he has full permission to almost destroy as many undead as it takes to force them to obey his commands. If there are a few 'accidents' along the way...

"By the the authority of Lord Zeto, Master of Impure Magic. You. Will. Stop. NOW!" He bellows to the mob. As he grabs the vampire he whispers to it and it alone. "And you will explode into fog and slink back into the shadows. Know your place."

Intimidate check: [roll0]

He runs/Flys the distance between where he took off and the golem's mobs, then attacks the disoriented vampire with a charge that leads into a Charging attack using his tail (because that's a cool visual).

Attack: [roll1] (32, with +2 from charging)
Damage: [roll2]

Current AC: 37 (-1 size, +6 Dex, +24 natural, -2 Charge), touch 13, flat-footed 30
If the attack lands the vampire's Fast Healing is stopped until someone makes a Heal Check to restore it, check DC 24.

That'll get its attention.

Anomander
2016-02-10, 05:06 PM
Priath bows deeply and looks up with a submissive bend to his body, tongue flicking over his lips, somehow conveying his readiness to serve any and every order of the powerful beings in front of him. The lack of other commands sent a minor flicker of annoyance, and perhaps disappointment, across his face, and then his body shifted to convey a servant receiving orders. If he couldn't please one way, he would please another way.

"Of course, my Lords. My little worshipers know I have connections, and neither of them will be suspicious if I am worried for their safety. They will need to be discreet about where they got the information, but I can supply a few hints for them as to how they can pass it along. Word will spread. Marsember is in danger. The dread lords of the undead are desperate and are lashing out."

With that, the dark, undead demon sauntered from the room. One of Anub-Bar's mummy servants' heads turned to follow Priath's departure until Anub-Bar coughed, and the mummy jerked its head back around. Anub-Bar gave a sigh of exasperation but turned to his own task.

In a couple seconds of consideration he answered, "A ... full defense of Aradel would be difficult to produce from scratch, but if we were able to seize control of the city and preserve its resources, I suspect it could be done in little more than a day or two, provided we are able to convert enough of the population into undead. Cities, even those in wars, never give all their ability toward combat, and if it were seized and put into work, Aradel would be reasonably well defended. We couldn't truly blanket the entire city, but key strong defensive points could likely be created."

He bows and leaves the room. "I shall begin scrying on Marsember and Aradel in preparation for your assault."

OOC: If no other immediate goals, I can jump forward a bit of time to when your plans are ready to go.

Anomander
2016-02-10, 05:24 PM
Harold
"I command those pursuing the Golem to stop! Stop!" Harold quickly reaches his top speed while barely aloft with his claws and tail scraping across the landscape at the lowest point of each wingbeat. He does not slow even when he is almost upon the enemies. "Stop! You..." only at the very last moment does he adjust his flight in any way, quickly twisting to bring his tail to bear for a full speed tail slam upon the vampire that had been expelled from the construct. His body follows through on the motion, slamming the entirety of the undead devil into the vampire without any hint of hesitation or concern for his own safety.

"...Fools! Did you not hear the commands of your betters?" There is action and then there are words. He doesn't bother waiting to see if one will do more to get these simpletons to act properly; one of the two will probably work and he has full permission to almost destroy as many undead as it takes to force them to obey his commands. If there are a few 'accidents' along the way...

"By the the authority of Lord Zeto, Master of Impure Magic. You. Will. Stop. NOW!" He bellows to the mob. As he grabs the vampire he whispers to it and it alone. "And you will explode into fog and slink back into the shadows. Know your place."

Intimidate check: [roll0]

He runs/Flys the distance between where he took off and the golem's mobs, then attacks the disoriented vampire with a charge that leads into a Charging attack using his tail (because that's a cool visual).

Attack: [roll1] (32, with +2 from charging)
Damage: [roll2]

Current AC: 37 (-1 size, +6 Dex, +24 natural, -2 Charge), touch 13, flat-footed 30
If the attack lands the vampire's Fast Healing is stopped until someone makes a Heal Check to restore it, check DC 24.

That'll get its attention.

The massive construct is treading on, still slowly expelling the last of its attackers one by one when Harold arrives, slamming into the vampire, who is still somewhat dazed from his recent imprisonment and release. Count Erik just barely manages to throw his arms up against Harold's charge and is sent sprawling down on the ground, his pale skin split to the bone by the force of the blow.

"Wha? Who? Who dares? Just who do you ...." As he get back up, he finally gets a better look at Harold and his mouth snaps shut, uncertainty and fear covering his face. His mouth opens and closes, and then his eyes widen in shock and alarm as he touches the side of his face where Harold's tail had left the skin in tatters. "Wha - ?" His hand comes back covered in ichor from skin that was not healing.

A zombie giant, towering over Harold finally notices what is happening and begins to step forward, anger evident on the dull face. "Hey. No attack Count!"

Count Erik, staring in shock at his gore-covered hand and then in terror at Harold, doesn't notice the Huge giant's actions until too late. "Wait! No! That's Lord-!"

The giant swiped his fist at Harold.

To Hit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Another Roll: [roll2]

Harold barely even has to move as the zombie's massive fist whooshed past.

Count Erik was already launching himself against the zombie's leg, enough to make the giant stumble just a little.

"No! This is the great Lord Zeto, you fool!" The vampire pushed against the massive zombie's knee again, but merely pushed himself back this time. He fell on his face, prostrating himself against the ground before Harold's feet.

"My Lord Zeto, we did not mean to anger you! We merely hoped to hold the construct to have it further serve us, um, The Fell, I mean you. Serve you! The construct would. Will. If you do. Order us, I mean. If you order us to. Stop the construct, that is."

Finally the vampire manages to shut its mouth, stopping the babble.

The zombie giant looks on in some confusion, but seems to be willing to obey Count Erik's commands.

JNAProductions
2016-02-10, 05:27 PM
I will listen to the plans of those with greater tactical and strategic mastery than I. But only if those plans allow my vengeance, Scarlet says. I will rest in my chambers now.

With that, Scarlet floats through the crowd, going to its small abode within the Fell. A simple room, with no doors, scored by countless blasts of flame in which pictures of her shadowed children are wrought.

Doxkid
2016-02-12, 10:49 AM
Harold

Harold doesn't even seem to notice the giant's attack, evading it without knowing or caring what he is evading in the first place. That...is not the reality ofthe situation, of course. He was more than ready for some form of retribution and takes great pleasure in showing off exactly how little the one attack launched against him could do.

"I expected better from you, Count Erik. We expected better. I thought that perhaps one of your newer vampires got away from you and that you were too busy attending to your duties. A Count holds power, and those above him expect that Count to use that power appropriately.

You are not using your authority and power appropriately, Count Erik. You can be assured there will be consequences for this misconduct, Count Erik." Zeto allows a claw to hover over the vampire's shoulder but does not complete the gesture and clap down on the vampire's shoulder or grasp the vampire's arm. "Later. For now you have a chance to prove your worth, a chance to lessen or perhaps even prevent your punishment. Gather the Ghouls, the zombies, the vampire spawn and your kin. We will determine which of you is fit to lead and which is fit to follow. We will assign you golems and fortify areas against attack and YOU will either prove your worth, or I get to have my fun... Remember how your flesh does not knit itself together. Remember how sharp my claws are, and how little your pet's attack did against me. Just imagine how much fun we will have if Master Zeto allows it."

This is not Zeto's will. It is the natural sadism of a fiend that has not been allowed to torture or main or ruin an enemy for far, far too long.

"Now then...Lord Bram, I would be obliged if you would address the rest of this mob. I may not possess the authority necessary to stop them without violence and it would be disastrous to destroy someone usefu if I become slightly...overenthusiastic."

neriractor
2016-02-12, 12:29 PM
Oziereth nods to the group "if our business here is done, I´ll come back tomorrow and we can make the choice about what city to attack." he starts walking towards the city and places his helmet on, roaming trough the streets looking for troubles to solve and counting the minutes until Anub-Bar gets the scrying done.

Bad Wolf
2016-02-13, 03:44 AM
"Thank you, Zeto." Bram clasped his hands behind his back, looking over the sorry excuse for undead. He began to pace, apparently in deep thought.

"What, exactly did you hope to achieve by this suicidal venture? This ally, a gift from the Dark One, has done its part. Who knows? Maybe it went to produce more golems in privacy. Or maybe it went to go have a tea party. How can we know for sure?

We can't. All we can do is trust the Dark One, the Lich that has stood by this Fell for longer then any of us. You might have ruined any chance we had of the Dark One's continued help. Normally, I'd have you all dragged into the sunlight and flayed by holy whips, healing you when you are ever so close to the brink of destruction... But I'm feeling generous today."

He stopped moving, turning to face the ragged group.

"I can't just let you all off without punishment however, that would just be silly. So what I'm proposing is this. Either one of you fools are punished, or all of you. This is a time of war, and I have no patience for escapades like this."

Valerem
2016-02-15, 12:37 PM
“JUST AS LONG AS YOU DON'T EXPECT ANY MORE UNDEAD ONCE I’VE RAZED IT TO THE GROUND.” Tyrndamous said with a huffed growl when Oziereth began to back away, saying that he was going to return tomorrow so they could decide which of the cities was going to be their very first target. The dracolich wanting everyone hear to understand with was going on in regards to himself and his power. “IF YOU CAN GUARANTEE THAT THERE WON’T BE MUCH THREAT, I SUPPOSE I COULD TAKE MY TIME DESTROYING A CITY INSTEAD OF DESTROYING IT IN ONE SHOT, BUT I BETTER HAVE A DAMN GOOD REASON.”

Doxkid
2016-02-15, 01:23 PM
"Excellent. I am sure both of your services will be invaluable. You have my thanks." Zeto's golem shell nods its head to Priath as the thingleaves and Anub-Bar. "For the time being I will go ensure my servant is not causing trouble for Elder Lord Bram."

Zeto/Harold are ready for a timeskip.

Anomander
2016-02-16, 06:43 PM
Harold and Bram

The undead have been recovering from their brief imprisonment and have gathered well outside of Count Erik's immediate area, not wishing to associate themselves too strongly with someone facing the wrath of superior beings.

At the demon Harold's words, Count Erik shudders and quickly buries his face in the dirt at Harold's feet. The other undead beyond him look sick at their possible punishment. Faint mutters of, "Damned fool," and "Why did you talk me into ..." sound among the undead who had been following Count Erik's lead.

Bram's following words whipsaw the audience back and forth, first to greater terror and then relief.

The undead around Count Erik betray they're lack of leadership as without Count Erik pushing them along they hem and haw, none willing to step forward. Count Erik eventually raises his head enough to at least look at Bram's boots.

"You have shown all of us the short-sightedness of our plans, great lords. It was only for the greater defense of this realm that we acted. We will, of course, take our chastisement as you in your great wisdom deem to be proper to improve the strength of the Fell."

[roll0]
He is certainly throwing in a lot of "we" and "us" in his statements, but his rather frantic use of inclusive terms sounds stilted, and you can tell he's trying his best to cover his ass - hoping that a shared punishment will be less severe for him and one that is focused solely on him. You're also quite certain that his actions were not "only" for the greater defense of the Fell. He stressed that WAY too much in his tone for it to be believable.

We don't need to timeskip them yet unless you have specific stuff for them! I like them rolling along as they are now - I'm curious as to the punishment you guys might have in mind and how you envision strengthening the Fell. If you need them in the future, we'll jump them ahead, but still continue this bit of side stuff! (as long as you don't make massive, world-adjusting changes with them)

Anomander
2016-02-16, 07:23 PM
TIMESKIP

Zeto, in his golem body, Tyrndamous, and Oziereth gather back together in a half-dozen hours. Three humans and an elf were spotted outside the Fell, apparently spying. Each had a small stone with Celestial Brilliance cast on it that they uncovered when the undead attacked them. They almost managed to escape, staying together, letting the light keep the undead away, until two of the Shadesteel Golems flew into their midst and unleashed their waves of negative energy. Unfortunately for questioning purposes, this thoroughly killed them all.

Anum-Bar greets you all with a quick layout of Marsember's defenses.

"As with most big cities these days, they have a collection of Celestial Lights scattered around the city, especially in the wealthier sections. Not enough to destroy any but the weakest or stupidest undead, quickly, but enough to be a bother. They also have a collection which they keep for their city guard. Each squad of four has one, and as they gather together, the accursed light does become dangerous. With such lights, just ten squads can annihilate any but the strongest undead in just seconds.

"Otherwise they are fairly typical - a collection of soldiers mounted on griffins patrols the area as a quick-response force. They keep six in the air at all times, and have a total force of thirty available.

"Their temples are not particularly well known for their combat capabilities, but they have probably a half-dozen clerics capable of casting spells of the third rank, and perhaps their holy fathers and mothers might be able to cast spells of the fourth rank. Not a threat individually to beings of our power, but as a combined force they are to be watched.

"Finally, they seem to have a group of paladins who have just arrived - three of them, I believe. I was unable to see them directly, but there are three paladin mounts in the stables of the Church of Kord. Of them I know little more than they are there."

Bad Wolf
2016-02-17, 08:16 PM
"Count Erik...why am I not surprised? You have an admirable amount of ambition, a shame you do not have the wisdom or the power to match it. What to do with you..." Bram noticed the corpse of one of his former Abeil Joy Slaves, and had a bright idea.

"As opposed to my lesser living kin, I can drain the joy out of even the most heartless of creatures and turn them to my service. Even the undead. My proposition: I drain you of all joy and meaning, and make you my slave until I see fit to release you. Or if you don't like that idea..." He snapped his fingers at the Abeil Queen closest to the dead one, pointing to the belt.

"You could put on that. The continual burn of positive energy, for a century. Soon you will beg to die, but your vampiric healing will not be so gracious. Nor will I. The choice is yours." He tossed the belt at Erik's feet.

Gray Jester monster class can use Charisma drain even on those immune with half the damage and turn them into joy Slaves, as long as his CR is 16 or lower. Also ready for the time skip after this. And Bram couldn't really care if the belt killed Erik.

Valerem
2016-02-18, 12:53 PM
Tynrdamous listened to the explination of the city’s defences with an expression of boredom on his face. The dracolich finding nothing at all that would be of interest to him in the slightest. Especially when the only real threat was some pathetic gryphons and those stupid stones which required them grouping together... which just made them an easy, easy target. “SO I JUST POP IN AND LET THE PLACE FEEL THE FIRES OF THE EARTH. JOB DONE. SHALL WE GET GOING?”

Anomander
2016-02-18, 06:21 PM
Anub-Bar pauses and looks around.

"Priath allowed me to scry on him. He has met with the minotaur woman and she was asleep, but Priath ... well, I can recreate the message with illusion."

A moment of concentration and an illusion spell appears on the table, barely a two feet tall. The shapes are crude, but recognizable - Anub-Bar's skills in imagining realistic people for an illusion is obviously not a particular skill of his. A dark-haired human male stands looking at you in the midst of a vague room. A table is in the room with impressionistic-seeming shapes suggesting objects on the table and a bed in the corner with a large form on it, mostly vague, but with a slightly more distinct face - perhaps the face being more memorable for Anub-Bar to recall for the illusion.

"Cupcake is asleep," Priath's voice says from the illusion as the male's mouth crudely moves. "Tell them that their time is short. She says they are preparing for the invasion to begin in two days. More numerous scouts have already been dispatched to watch the area around the Fell. She mentioned the name of the spell they are using on their swords - Sacred Item. However, the briefings have said their squads of soldiers are not the true strike force, but instead are merely support. Cantar, Lightcaller, and dragons will do targeted strikes while a special operations group is one of the main attackers, though she knows nothing about them or their method of assault."

Priath's voice is recognizable as Priath, but has none of its seductive qualities as recreated by Anub-Bar's memory and imagination. The voice now takes on a note of triumph here, and you don't know whether it is Anub-Bar's addition or a part of Priath's original message.

"I passed on the warning to her of the coming strike on a city in Cormyr. Buttercup appreciates my warning and will get it through to her superiors in the morning. She has promised to keep me anonymous from her superiors, but I don't trust that she will be able to do so. I am about to go visit my wicked little corporal and will pass on information to him as well once he is done using me."

The human male, obviously an adult even with Anub-Bar's crude recreation abilities, shifts shape to appear as a very young male human. The figure waggles its fingers, and Anub-Bar halts the illusion.

"That would be now," Anub-Bar interjects. "I scryed on Priath very early this morning. Depending on how quickly the minotaur woman reports, they could be getting their alert about now."

Anomander
2016-02-18, 06:38 PM
"Count Erik...why am I not surprised? You have an admirable amount of ambition, a shame you do not have the wisdom or the power to match it. What to do with you..." Bram noticed the corpse of one of his former Abeil Joy Slaves, and had a bright idea.

"As opposed to my lesser living kin, I can drain the joy out of even the most heartless of creatures and turn them to my service. Even the undead. My proposition: I drain you of all joy and meaning, and make you my slave until I see fit to release you. Or if you don't like that idea..." He snapped his fingers at the Abeil Queen closest to the dead one, pointing to the belt.

"You could put on that. The continual burn of positive energy, for a century. Soon you will beg to die, but your vampiric healing will not be so gracious. Nor will I. The choice is yours." He tossed the belt at Erik's feet.

Gray Jester monster class can use Charisma drain even on those immune with half the damage and turn them into joy Slaves, as long as his CR is 16 or lower. Also ready for the time skip after this. And Bram couldn't really care if the belt killed Erik.

Count Erik's body freezes at the choices laid before him and the seconds stretch on. The other undead seem to relax as it is apparent Count Erik will be the one suffering, and not them.

"My ... Lords, I - I, the coming ... I am needed. Surely you cannot, I mean, I ... I - I - "

He dares to glance up but sees no mercy and tentatively reaches out for the belt, his fingers carefully grasping the belt before him.

"As you command, great ones. I - I shall take this reminder of my hasty actions."

He shifts back to kneel on his knees and slowly latches the belt around his waist.

He reacts appropriately to the belt's effect. Is it on your sheet?

A sudden shriek sounds from the general direction the colossal construct went and a brilliant light suddenly flashes into existence not too far beyond the edge of the Fell. It begins moving away erratically. It is half a quarter mile away, and only the barest hint of a being is visible in the middle of the light of the incredibly bright torch. The being is running away.

It is night time, and nothing else is visible at that range, but the light is an obvious beacon. Something dark flits across the light source, too far away to determine even its shape.

Valerem
2016-02-22, 01:18 PM
Hearing that the Sacred Item using soldiers were, in fact only the back up to the main assault and attack force. Was honestly rather worrying. After all, Tryndamous knew that if such a large, trained and well-equipped army was only back up, then the main assault force had to be incredibly powerful. Just went to show that they needed to ensure they managed to divide and conquer, killing the silver dragons before the assault could begin in earnest and greatly cripple their forces.

Still, hearing that the alerts should be going out around now, Tryndamous shuffled impatiently, rumbling. “THEN HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WASTE BEFORE I CAN SHOW THAT ARMY THE MIGHT OF THE TITANIC TERROR TYRNDAMOUS?!” And no... that nickname wasn’t something that the dracolich had come up with on his own. Tyrndamous was just egoistic, not someone with a god-complex or anything.