[IC] The Trailblazer's League 2: Vespertilio Ex Inferis

[Lord Of Mantas]

The Lord of Mantas Presents
A Pathfinder Tabletop RPG Adventure

http://www.sailingwarship.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/The-Capture-of-Puerto-Bello-21-November-1739-by-George-Chambers-Senior-1836.jpg

THE TRAILBLAZER'S LEAGUE 2
VESPERTILIO EX INFERIS

Life was good in the Trailblazer's League.

In the six months or so since the fateful expedition to Woodshaven, business had been booming. Contracts from all over Andoran had been coming in, from the relocation of Falcon's Hollow and the expulsion of the Lumber Consortium, to the repulsion of a goblin invasion of Goblin's Hollow (though as it turned out, the circle of druids lead by one Jaeger Hackett took care of most of that), to saving the city of Carpenden from a bunch of evil sorcerors intent on corrupting the crops, to even exposing and capturing moles from Cheliax who had infiltrated the government of Alvis.

That last one, in tandem with the events at Falcon's Hollow and troubling news from Cheliax, had caused mass concern.

"thog is concerned. thog not in this story. thog feels he is unloved."

Thog, if you're not in the story, that means you need to QUIET DOWN. Now, if you'll excuse me...

As it turns out, gaining the effective alliance of an organization that has access to an entire dragon's hoard gains you enemies. Taldor, of course, did its usual posturing, but Cheliax was another matter altogether, the mighty nation sending massive mobilizations of troops close to their eastern border while publicly passing them off as 'training exercises'.

And so it was that six members of the League were once more called to Christoph's office.



***


Scarlett, as with the Woodshaven incident, was the one who broke the news, although there were several changes from the previous time. Her usual line-between-sultry-and-professional attire was replaced with a much more modest, but still rather attractive, dress and cardigan, a diamond ring was present on her left finger, and - most notably - her stomach and bosom were swollen in the tell-tale manner of a woman expecting her first child.

"So as you're no doubt aware, there's been a rumor going around that Christoph has been negotiating with the Supreme Elect to supplement and train the Andoran Army in key locations. That rumor is absolutely true. As part of that, you will all be accompanying Christoph and Codwin on a tour around the Inner Sea to provide security. Officially, it's a simple vacation for the Elect - in reality, they'll be testing out the efficacy of their new darkwood-less battleships."

Scarlett then turned Ian and Vylet.

"As you two are new to the rank of officer, this will be your probationary assignment. When in doubt, you are to refer to the orders of Stray, Brigitte, Auva, or Jamie. Succeed, and your station will be secure. Christoph and Codwin will meet you at the docks tomorrow - you will be on board the Andoran flagship, the Liberty Eagle."



***

Five days later, on the 15th of Lamashan, 4011, all six members of the newly-christened Team Draco were standing together on the forecastle of the Liberty Eagle, the clinking of champagne glasses and the dulcet tones of inoffensive lute music surrounding them. Waiters passed by, carrying trays full of wine and champagne and assorted canapés.

"Urrrgh... Pun-Pun wasss not made for the open ocean, Your Grace."

Lord Pun-Pun, as usual, was at Stray's side, the red kobold clearly more than a little sea-sick. Off on the other side of the forecastlee, the group could see Christoph and Codwin chatting animatedly. All around them, important members of the Andoran military and assembly also hobnobbed about.

A few indignant tones sounded from the right as Jean, Brigitte's Megaloceros, nibbled at a passing canapé.



What do you do?

[skypse]

Kiriel hadn't found the time to talk with Cristoph or anyone else for what happened to him during his journey. However he thought this voyage would be a good opportunity for the two of them to do some catch-up so he approached him, and politely interrupted his conversation with Codwin.

"Good day to both of you my friends! It has been so long since the last time we traveled together for a mission Cristoph. It brings back so many memories. I just hope you won't manage to get 4 opposing factions find peace between them because they realized they share a common hatred for us this time! Hahaha! Anyway, I am sorry to interrupt you, but I need to have a word with you privately Cristoph. Something happened during my travel in Almas and I need to discuss it with you. Could we go to your office?"

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray casually pilfered a wine glass from a passing waiter with telekinesis while perching himself on the forecastle's railing.

"Pick a cloud on the horizon and stare at it a while. Or summon a Dancing Light. The ship moves, but the light hovers in place," he suggests to Pun-Pun.

"What about the rest of you? Have you been to sea before?" Stray glanced to Vylet in particular. Ian he knew by reputation, but he hadn't yet become properly acquainted with the tiefling woman.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Brigitte watched Kiriel interrupt Cristoph and Codwin, but just shook her head. "He has no tact at all, Jean," she said, addressing the giant elk. Unwilling to leave her newest friend behind, Brigitte had insisted the megaloceros accompany them on their voyage, despite the absurdity of the creature taking ship. Brigitte snatched another pair of delicacies from a passing plate and fed one more to Jean, snacking on the other herself. She watched the others on the deck through half-closed eyes, her thoughts turning inward and to the token she kept to her heart. "Jean, I have an important decision to make." The giant elk, still savoring the canapé, turned an eye to look at Brigitte. "I do not think I can return to teaching in Absalom. I have seen to much of this world to be content in one place, and now I want to see more."

Just then a voice above her spoke up, "That's the spirit, Lestrade!" Her hat, which had taken to calling itself Hastings (ever since Stray had woken it up), after a fictional police detective, seemed to enjoy inserting its commentary whenever and wherever possible. It was useful, and indeed sometimes amusing, but had several bad habits, the chief of which was jealousy directed at its mistress, Brigitte. Any chance it could get to have her all to himself (it spoke in a masculine tone), it would do so, and spoke against ideas that involved sharing Brigitte with others, such as her idea of returning to teaching. The two exceptions to the hat's jealousy seemed to be Jean, who he regarded as a mere servant, and Stray, who he reverently referred to as "The Maker." Hastings' other habits included a tendency toward assuming he was intellectually superior to everyone else (except, perhaps his mistress), a sometimes annoying - sometimes amusing - habit of alluding to historical or mythological events without explaining them, and flat-out making up ludicrous stories and plans.

[Lord Of Mantas]

"Jamie"


Christoph looked toward Codwin, then let out a seemingly light-hearted chuckle.

"Forgive me, Your Excellency - duty calls."

Nodding toward Kiriel, Christoph lead him into a secluded area in the cabin below. A quick check to make sure no-one was eavesdropping in the room they had chosen, and he spoke.

"Is this about the warning you and Brigitte gave us three months ago? Because rest assured, we have NOT forgotten about that. That's half the reason we brought you and the others along. Honestly, I was concerned about Codwin coming along, but you can't really give detailed critiques on a warship's performance if you can't see it yourself - or so he claimed."

Because of the earlier confusion, and that it was not made clear, I'm ruling that Kiriel was, in fact, able to warn Christoph about the whole Asmodeus thing - Brigitte was given a similar warning, if you recall - and that Christoph and Codwin have been working on it on the down-low.

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet was dressed up her very best. She had her special golden bows on her horns, tail, and hair, and the brightest pink dress she owned. She definitely wouldn't fade into the background like this.

During the briefing and the initial questioning, Vylet stayed quiet. She needed to make a good impression with this group, but she was so nervous and excited at the same time! She couldn't resist hopping in place a bit. This was it! Her chance to prove herself! To show she was as good as her mother! So just as the woman (Bridgette?) finished her statement, Vylet burst out,"I just want to say how eagar I am to be working with all of you! Let's do this!" Vylet pumped her fist for good measure.

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva, following Stray's lead, snapped her fingers and nonchalantly inspected the wine glass that flew into her hand. As usual, she was dressed in an elegant ensemble that managed to be several shades of black at once, which made the tiefling next to her seem all the much more electric.

After several months of gallivanting around spinning tales by crackling hearths, it felt good to be at sea. Of course, she fully expected there to be at least one monster attack, but since they were still relatively early out the kayal decided she could enjoy herself.

She took a sip of her wine, then smiled at the overexcited tiefling's words. "As we all are, I'm sure. Lovely bows, by the way." The sorceror glanced to the side and quirked a brow. "Mistress Brigitte, are we not sufficient companions for idle talk? Or is your hat simply intruding again?"

[Jade_Tarem]

"What about the rest of you? Have you been to sea before?" Stray glanced to Vylet in particular. Ian he knew by reputation, but he hadn't yet become properly acquainted with the tiefling woman.

Ian shrugged. "A few times. Too many sea monsters for my liking." He still wasn't sure about the Trailblazers as an organization, but it was a living. Vylet's enthusiasm was catching, however, and he found himself grinning along with her. "What about the rest of you? Do you do this kind of thing often?"

[Nefarion Xid]

"Take to sea or do what Christoph tells me?" Stray smirked at Ian. "Either way, I try not to make a habit of it."

"I did own a ship for a while. I thought I would like it more than I did! It all seems very romantic, doesn't it? I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy my time at sea, it's just ... living in a castle on the river suits me so much more!"

Despite only being half finished, Stray had recently hosted a lavish gala for the social elite of Andoran at his chateau on the river Andoshen. Though raised in a matter of weeks with Stray's magic, rumors were already spinning that the dwarves of the Five Kings Mountains were weeping jealous tears at the masterful stonework. Fashion entirely of the local granite and slate, the vestibule housing the grand stairs alone towered over seventy five feet. The massive dining tables that flanked the ballroom had been carved from singular pieces of darkwood -- Stray assured everyone that he'd conjured the darkwood himself and that no preexisting trees had been felled to make any of the furnishings. All of the League's officers had received invitations (some out of courtesy). Of course, the sight of the castle itself somewhat paled in comparison to the grand entrance of thirteen nymphs descending the ballroom stairs, dressed in the latest Andoran fashion. That vision left most everyone else weeping and jealous.

[Othniel]

Brigitte


"Mistress Brigitte, are we not sufficient companions for idle talk? Or is your hat simply intruding again?"

"He is, yes." Brigitte poked the hat as if to remind Hastings to be polite. "Perhaps once the novelty of sentience wears off, he will quiet down and speak only when spoken to." The words were clearly meant for the hat as much as Auva.

"Take to sea or do what Christoph tells me?" Stray smirked at Ian. "Either way, I try not to make a habit of it."

"Perhaps now that Cristoph has married Scarlett, if my eyes did not deceive me, there will be less of the latter!" Brigitte grinned momentarily at the thought, though the mirth was driven away quickly by a slight feeling of sadness. She was mildly jealous of Scarlett's circumstances. Not her relationship with Cristroph specifically, as the investigator could never imagine getting along with the man. He was sometimes annoying, and occasionally too...Stray-like. But the other woman's being in a stable relationship, that was something she envied.

Jean nuzzling her neck for another canapé brought her back to the question at hand. "I have been to sea several times," the Galtan put in as answer to Ian's question, "Though only between Absalom and the mainland. I do not become seasick, though I dislike the lack of greenery. Also, the shifting deck is often unhelpful for alchemical pursuits."

[skypse]

Kiriel sighed as Cristoph finished his sentence.

"Very well. Excuse my worries my old friend. You know better than anyone that I am not the "believing in gods and fate" type of man, but when something like this happens, it kinda changes your perception about things. I am still a faithless man and the Mistress of the Graves knows it, but not preparing ourselves for even the most remote case scenario is something both stupid and unwise. Anyway, let's get back out there, enjoy our trip and the salty air. I'd like to get to know the 2 new members a little bit better. Truth be told, I'm not very sure about their motives for joining our family."

Kiriel walked out of the room right when Stray mentioned his castle.

"That thing again? Come on Stray admit it, you dream of retiring as an adventurer and be with the love of your life until you are both skeletons with her in that castle, haunting it afterwards."

[Nefarion Xid]

"I have no such aspirations," Stray intoned dryly before draining half his glass. "Death sounds terribly dull and love is a worse fate."

[Jade_Tarem]

"Ha! Fey prince is the wrong title for you. They should call you the Jaded Regent." Ian shook his head, but his expression indicated that it was all in good fun.

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray shares a sensible chuckle with Ian. "Ha! I've been to Minkai, but we were too preoccupied to see the capitol. I hear Takahiro's parties are legendary."

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet smiled widely, trying to hide how overwhelmed she felt. All of these people seemed to know each other, and she wasn't sure how to deal with that. Still, she was here, and she was going to be friendly, damnit! "Why thank you! These are my best ones." she first said to Auva before turning to Brigitte. "A talking hat? How did that come about? Where could I find one?"

[Othniel]

Brigitte

The investigator opened her mouth to speak, but Hastings beat her to the punch. "Well, you see, miss, I am actually one-of-a-kind. While my mistress, Brigitte Lestrade here, was traveling with The Maker..." Here the hat's words took on a hushed and awe-filled tone, "...or as you might know him, Prince Stray of...erm...Prince Stray of...oh, now what was it?" The hat made a noise of annoyance. "I cannot remember. At any rate, when their labors were over, my mistress was rewarded for her service by The Maker wherein he enchanted her pre-existing hat (I was already magical at that time, and of great use to my mistress, although sadly not self-aware), giving me the life you see now. Perhaps, someday, if you prove useful, you too might merit such a fine reward."

Brigitte let out an exasperated sigh and smiled apologetically to Vylet. "You really should not indulge him, mademoiselle. He already thinks far too highly of himself, and practically worships the ground Stray walks on. If he had legs, he probably would. And I am not allowing Stray to provide that enchantment," she added as she cast a glance upward. Brigitte extended a gloved hand to Vylet. "Please, call me Brigitte."

For those new to the game, Brigitte speaks in a Galtan accent.

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray smirked. "Hastings, I should make you a lord."

[Othniel]

Hastings

A long moment of silence passed, and then Hastings found his voice. "Th-the Maker has spoken to me! I would be a faithful vassal, O Prince Stray!"

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet turned to Stray excitedly. "Really? How brilliant! How did you accomplish such a thing? Could you teach me?!"

[skypse]

"Well, I'm sure Death has the same opinion about you as well so you won't be meeting each other soon boy!"

Kiriel laughed as he walked towards Ian.

"So, first timer huh? How does it feel to share the same boat as the great accidental Fey Prince?"

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian shrugged at the odd question, wondering just what it was the aasimar expected he was a 'first timer' to. "About the same as sharing a boat with any other royalty, really. It's how he treats his people that matters. Is it supposed to feel funny?"

[Nefarion Xid]

Vylet turned to Stray excitedly. "Really? How brilliant! How did you accomplish such a thing? Could you teach me?!"

"Your dossier says you're an accomplished arcanist. It's nothing you couldn't master with a week or two of study. If you really want to learn, I can teach you when we get back to HQ. Due to the limitations of my Lyre, I'm really only occupied one day a week, so I have the time to teach!"

While Kiriel called him "boy" again and implied his position and power were accidental, Stray merely occupied his mouth with more wine.

Ian shrugged at the odd question, wondering just what it was the aasimar expected he was a 'first timer' to. "About the same as sharing a boat with any other royalty, really. It's how he treats his people that matters. Is it supposed to feel funny?"

"Oh, the funny part is later. Codwin and I are going to get drunk and sing show tunes. Attendance is mandatory," Stray said dryly without a hint of sarcasm.

[Rysc]

Auva


Stray smirked. "Hastings, I should make you a lord."

Auva paused mid-sip to affect a look of shock. "Really, you'd make someone a lord who cannot even recall what lands you're prince of?" She tsked at the hat and finally sampled the wine.


"About the same as sharing a boat with any other royalty, really. It's how he treats his people that matters. Is it supposed to feel funny?"


"Oh, the funny part is later. Codwin and I are going to get drunk and sing show tunes. Attendance is mandatory,"

"You'll probably find the first half hour bearable," Auva said, eyeing the swordsman. "Though I personally wouldn't miss it for the world."

[skypse]

Ian shrugged at the odd question, wondering just what it was the aasimar expected he was a 'first timer' to. "About the same as sharing a boat with any other royalty, really. It's how he treats his people that matters. Is it supposed to feel funny?"

"Well, from what I hear people often feel awe when they are close to nobility or someone important. General observation suggests that the same would happen to you."

He turns towards Brigette

"Isn't that right professor? Hey, hi Hastings! Nice to see you again buddy!"

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray shuffled closer to Ian until they were standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Tilting his head to the side, he asked, "How about now? Do you feel awe yet? We could hold hands if you think that would help."

[Jade_Tarem]

"Only if I get to sing show tunes, too." Ian turned and extended his hand for a more traditional greeting. When Stray shook it, though, the warrior held on. "Huh, still nothing. Maybe if you were to help me balance on the bow railing so I can pretend I'm flying..."

[Othniel]

Brigitte


"Isn't that right professor? Hey, hi Hastings! Nice to see you again buddy!"

"I do not have that feeling with the nobility," Brigitte said, a slight iciness in her tone softening almost immediately. "But I have had that feeling, yes..."


"Why, hello, Jamie!" the hat stated, emphasizing the pseudonym Kiriel so often wore. "Taking a vacation from stabbing people to join us on this merry trip?"

Hastings' response assumes Kiriel is speaking in his usual cold and calculating tone.

[Estralita]

Vylet squeed in excitement on Stray-Prince Stray, that is- speaking to her and offering t teach her. And he'd heard of her, and apparently not for any of the bad reasons! She was so excited, she immediately began considering the best objects to enchant. Tieflings and hats didn't really mix normally. Maybe she could get one custom made, or a really big ribbon....

[skypse]

Kiriel laughed at Hastings's comment.

"Hahaha! You know I wouldn't miss for the world the orientation trip with our 2 new members! Plus, stabbing and forking all year long is a tiring process. We need to take a break every once in a while. Also, rumor has it that where we are going, there is that beautiful tophat! She's so elegant and slim! I hear she's a dreamy hat for hats like you. Hey, now that I think of it, if you ever need a wingman, you know where to find me!"

[Nefarion Xid]

"Only if I get to sing show tunes, too." Ian turned and extended his hand for a more traditional greeting. When Stray shook it, though, the warrior held on. "Huh, still nothing. Maybe if you were to help me balance on the bow railing so I can pretend I'm flying..."

Stray smirked approvingly at Ian's cheek. "You know, Pun-Pun could just cast Fly on you and you wouldn't have to pretend. Probably not as funny as the thing with the bow or piggy-backing on me. Or ..."

He clapped his hands together and spun around to lean over the railing and the main deck below. "Ladies! Flying lessons will commence in five minutes! Anyone feeling brave?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

As Stray called out his invitation, most of the women on the ship within earshot giggled and blushed, and several of them swooned. Three of them, in particular, mosied their way over - an Eagle Knight with a particularly stunning mane of blonde hair, a rather elegant-looking woman in noble dress, and what appeared to be a Warrant Officer - red-headed, to complete the trifecta.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ba/71/23/ba71238095bf47b2b5cbb270971f2026.jpg
http://img05.deviantart.net/ce03/i/2013/189/2/8/portrait_of_a_perfect_noblewoman_by_roman_de_la_cr oix-d6cn490.jpg
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The Eagle Knight spoke first. "If it would please your grace, I've always wondered what it would be like to soar through the sky. Ever since I was a girl, I would look on enviously at the warriors and heroes in the tales as they flew into battle on gryphonback."

"Now, then, Dame Viola, first come, first serve." The woman in noble dress spoke next, fluttering her eyelashes at Stray. "You remember me, don't you, your grace? I attended your party recently, at your palace? I thought we really made a connection there."

Thinking back, Stray did indeed remember her from the party at his island of Celonechor - she had been introduced as Lady Caltrix, the Assemblywoman for Augustana, and upon her introduction Stray remembered that she had gazed rapturously into his eyes perhaps just a few seconds longer than necessary. And at his derriere. All the while unconsciously licking her lips.

"Bah! Stand aside, ladies. Ye wouldn't know what to do with 'im if'n ye caught 'im." The red-headed sailor winked at Stray. "If'n ye take me up, I can guarantee ye'll hear no squealin' at heights from me."

In the background, Pun-Pun continued to moan slightly, but it was of a lesser volume, now - apparently, he had chosen to go the way of cloud-watching.

Codwin, noticing the commotion, chose to interject. "Whatever the decision, keep in mind the demonstration will begin in about 10 minutes, and the negotiations for the Trailblazer's Support and Didaction Act shortly thereafter - so don't dally overlong."​

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray threw out his hands in feigned exasperation. "Alas, I'm rather fond of squealing!"

"And Dame Viola, I'll try my best to secure a griffon for my New Year's Eve party. Em, not the one you're thinking of. The Fey celebrate on the night of the solstice! Loads more fun than your dreary old Night of the Pale. There's music and drinking and ... well, spoiler alert, but all Fey holidays involved music and drinking. The fauns are hard at work on a pear cider which, honestly, might just turn into a pear brandy. Either way, I hope you'll join us." Polite smile.

While the notion of seducing a stuffy paladin gave him a bit of a head rush, focusing his charms on the elegant assemblywoman was an easy choice.

He flung himself over the railing and landed lightly with his hand extended. He bowed politely. "Lady Caltrix, if you would join me on the forecastle where Lord Pun-Pun will provide the necessary transmutation?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

Taking his hand, Lady Caltrix giggled - half genuinely, and half with the clear expression of a cat who has just spotted an open bowl of cream. "You honor me, your grace."

Dame Viola and the sailor, in the meantime, looked on with clear expressions of jealousy on their faces, though Dame Viola's expression had, at the very least, looked mollified by the promise of a gryphonflight come New Year's Eve.

Pun-Pun, who by now was almost his normal shade of red rather than green, cleared his throat and performed the characteristic running-bird kata.

"<FLY!>"

And so, kicking off of the forecastle, Caltrix and Stray went flying through the air like a pair of eagles, whizzing round the ships of the Andoran navy and buzzing more than one of the crows nests, the assemblywoman laughing in glee all the while. As they eventually touched back down on the deck of the Liberty Eagle, she palmed something into Stray's hand and whispered in his ear.

"I shall await you tonight in Room 115 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0302.html), your grace. I'll be bringing a friend."


*** 10 minutes later, back in the present... ***

If you have any conversation threads you want to tie up, feel free to do so in a time-divided post, but I hope you'll forgive me if I say I'd like to get to the meat of the campaign - though I will admit it was very gratifying to see how much you guys were willing to RP amongst one another.

2500 XP for everyone for doing so well in that regard, and another 500 because it's mah birthday!
The demonstration, as was to be expected, went quite well. Fast, nimble cutters going ahead of the main navy released large balloons and flotsam into the air and water, which the warships then targeted with their ballistae and cannons. It was, all in all, a very impressive sight.

Eventually, however, the demonstration ended, and the next phase of the day began. Clearing his throat, Codwin began to speak.

"My fellow Andorans, we are at a turning point in our history. Thanks to the recent recovery and taxation of a dragon demigod's loot, our nation is the most prosperous it has been for many, many years. At the same time, however, we find ourselves under the watchful gaze of those who once dared to call themselves our masters - of those who consort with the forces of evil. And if our intelligence is correct, they have plans in the works that threaten not just us, but the entire world. As such, I have called you all here today to make a formal announcement - that as part of our efforts to strengthen our navy, we will be calling upon the services of-"

"Blah, blah, blah! So typical of you. All you ever do is talk without knowing jack squat!"

Heads whirled to see who dared to interrupt the Supreme Elect. It was, of all people, one of the assemblymen. Codwin narrowed his eyes.

"Is there an issue you have with my plans, Mr. Jenkins?"

"Hells yeah I have an issue with your plans! You talk big game about how we're under fire from Cheliax and s***, but what do you do about it? Cut off our immediate access to darkwood for a long-term bullcrap plan that may not even pan out, make us import oak from Taldor of all places at exorbitant costs to the taxpayers, throw your lot in with a bunch of rejects who couldn't even get into the Pathfinders! I'm telling you -"

The assemblyman stalked over to the railing.

"If this keeps going the way it's going, you'll lead us all to ruin! So I've called you here today to issue YOU a challenge - a challenge to say that I'm running for Supreme Elect..."

Over the edge of the ship, you spot a highly suspicious set of ripples making a beeline for the Liberty Eagle. Before you can do anything about it, however...
"...and I'm going to win, or my name isn't Leeroy JenkaaaaAAARGH!"

Right as Assemblyman Jenkins was finishing up his rant, a huge seaserpent lunged out of the water, and with a giant crunch, devoured him whole, with blood and guts and chunks of wood spraying everywhere. It gulped, let out a large buuuuuuurp, and then let out a massive roar.

"Civilians, Supreme Elect, get to shelter! We're under attack!"

The various dignitaries all made a beeline for the emergency hatches, only a few sailors left behind, flintlocks at the ready. From the water, and from the back of the serpent, a bunch of giant enemy crabs also leapt upon the forecastle.

"Stay together, men! Do not let your hearts quail!"

From the main deck, Team Draco could hear Dame Viola rallying the sailors as yet more sea monsters attacked there.


Begin Surprise Round.

Once I've completed the map, at least.

[Nefarion Xid]

Relatively nonplussed (and almost amused) by seeing the assemblymen devoured in a blink, Stray shot about to face the serpent. A few Sylvan words passed his lips and his eyes shone with a fell green light for an instant while he reached out with his hand.

[roll0] vs Will

[skypse]

Kiriel quickly draws his swords and takes a battle stance.

"Now now Stray, don't try to take the fun away from our new members! Ian! Vylet! Time to prove yourselves! Cristoph, take those unable to fight away from here! Auva, do your tricks milady! Let's show these idiotic beasts what the Trailblazer's League is about!"

[Jade_Tarem]

Ohhhhh by the Lady, we've got a prize on our hands here. Ian cared not for proving his worth to the aasimar, nor for proving the League's worth - as compared to three or four other organizations of glorified tomb robbers - to a mindless sea serpent. The way he saw it, his job was to keep the people on the ship from being eaten.

Ian scanned the inbound threat and stepped between Stray and Auva, pulling Belleflower from his back and letting the wrappings that served as its scabbard fall away. A lightning-fast twirl of the blade brought it around to a ready position. "Stick close to me, unless I go charging off at the serpent, anyway."

In the surprise round, Ian will five foot adjust and draw his weapon.

Alert for the GM:

Ian is a reactive and responsive fighter who can do a number of things off-turn.

- If someone makes a ranged weapon attack at him or at an adjacent ally, he will try to block it with Cut from the Air.
- If someone makes any other kind of attack roll at an adjacent ally, he will use an AoO (he gets nine) to attempt to Bodyguard. He will succeed on any attack roll except a natural 1, so it is necessary to roll a d20 to find out if it works. If he succeeds, he increases that ally's AC by 5 vs. that attack.
- If a very bad-looking attack is about to hit an adjacent ally, he will use In Harm's Way to take the hit for them. He can, I believe, do this after using Bodyguard.
- And of course, he can still make normal AoOs.

[Nefarion Xid]

Seeing his liege's spell fail, Pun-Pun extends a claw and fires a smoking black beam at the monster.

Ray Attack [roll0] vs Touch AC
[roll1] Negative Levels

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"Jean, kill the crabs." After instructing her companion, Brigitte moved into position. Meanwhile, Jean shot Brigitte a look as if to say, What crabs?

Aaaand I forgot this was a Surprise Round. Brigitte is just moving.

Brigitte Move to AB15.
Standard Action to use Dragon's Breath (60ft line of electricity) toward both crabs SW of her. Spell Attack vs reflex save for half: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Electricity.

Jean Full Attack vs the giant crab next to him (Power Attacking).
Gore: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

Hoof 1 Attack: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]

Hoof 2 Attack: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]

[Lord Of Mantas]

"Now now Stray, don't try to take the fun away from our new members! Ian! Vylet! Time to prove yourselves! Cristoph, take those unable to fight away from here! Auva, do your tricks milady! Let's show these idiotic beasts what the Trailblazer's League is about!"
"Way ahead of you, Jamie! Give that thing what for!"

To the fore, the emergency access hatch slammed shut as Christoph ushered the last of the dignitaries to safety.

As Pun-Pun's black ray hit the serpent, it growled, then let out another massive roar.


Roll for Initiative.

Enemies go first, then you, then the sailors.

The sea serpent, already riled up, was the first to act, and began spraying a huge cone of acidic breath all over the ship.

Now, let's see if I can keep from mucking things up, particularly where Ian is involved. As far as I understand, his bodyguarding ability doesn't affect Reflex saves.

Breath Weapon Attack (vs Reflex, half damage if miss)
Stray: [roll0]
Kiriel: [roll1]
Ian: [roll2]
Pun-Pun: [roll3]
Auva: [roll4]
Vylet: [roll5]
Brigitte: [roll6]
Jean: [roll7]
Sailor 2: [roll8]
Giant Enemy Crab 4: [roll9]

Damage: [roll10]
Remarkably, Team Draco was able to avoid the worst of the damaging acid, even one of the sailors who had been caught in the blast able to fling up a protective cloak to shield his eyes and face. Pun-Pun and Jean were not so lucky, however - nor was one of the giant enemy crabs caught in the crossfire.

As the air cleared, the giant enemy crabs, as well as the swarms of tiny crabs, moved in for the kill.

Crab 1 Attack (vs Sailor 4): [roll11]
Crab 1 Damage: [roll12]
Crab 1 Grab (on successful attack): [roll13]

Crab 2 Attack (vs Sailor 2): [roll14]
Crab 2 Damage: [roll15]
Crab 2 Grab (on successful attack): [roll16]

Crab 3 Attack (vs Jean): [roll17]
Crab 3 Damage: [roll18]
Crab 3 Grab (on successful attack): [roll19]

Crab 4 Attack (vs Pun-Pun): [roll20]
Crab 4 Damage: [roll21]
Crab 4 Grab (on successful attack): [roll22]

Swarm 1 Damage (vs Stray): [roll23]

Swarm 2 Damage (vs Sailor 3): [roll24]
The crabs who attacked the party found no purchase, as Jean and Pun-Pun were easily able to sidestep their grabbing claws (even if it was only just barely in Pun-Pun's case. The sailors who were attacked, however, had a much less fun time of it, finding themselves grappled in the huge crustacean's claws.

"I am never going to be able to eat crab again!"

You know everything listed here: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/dragons/sea-serpents-TOHC/sea-serpent-brine
Fight!

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Stepping slightly to the side so as to aim better, Brigitte finally let loose with her extract, sending a bolt of electricity across the deck. Jean, incensed at the crab assaulting him, struck at the creature.

Brigitte 5-ft step to AB14
Dragon's Breath vs C1 and C2:
Damage: [roll1] Electricity

Jean, Full Attack vs C3 (using Power Attack).
Gore: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

Hoof 1: [roll4]
Damage: 1d4+13

Edit: Rolled damage for this in the OOC: 16

Hoof 2:
Damage: 1d4+13

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva was a little taken aback when the sea serpent showed up--truth be told, she had been expecting the monster attacks later, when everyone was good and drunk. She recovered soon enough to dodge the shower of acid, and began chanting and tracing intricate patterns with her fingers. Once the spell was out of the way, she took a break from surveying the deck to glance at the aasimar. "Tricks? My dear boy, I dislike the charlatanism that implies."

Casting Haste, hitting Stray, Pun-pun, Auva herself, Ian, Kiriel, and Vylet. Unfortunately, Bridgette and Jean are a little too far away.

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray looked more annoyed to be waist-deep in crabs than anything. "Pun-Pun, are you all right?" he asked while producing his rapier and stabbing at the giant crab's mouth.

Attack 1 [roll0]
[roll1]
Attack 2 [roll2]
[roll3]
Haste Bonus Attack [roll4]
[roll5]
Archaeologist's Luck up 19/20 left

[Nefarion Xid]

Pun-Pun nodded weakly as he retreated towards Ian and Auva. He launched an array of magic missiles to finish off the most injured crabs.

At C4
[roll0]
[roll1]

at C2
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian scowled at the huge beast leering over the deck. He didn't know what had prompted its attack, but it would have to be put down. "Alright then, have it your way."

The mercenary vanished with little fuss or fanfare - just a brief flicker, and he was gone - and instantly reappeared right up against the railing, within striking distance of the serpent. There, he set himself into a wide stance, then hauled off and attacked the monster with a sequence of hard, fast blows designed to put it down quickly.

Ian's turn!

Ian is going to Jaunt with his Jaunt Boots to cross the 15 feet between his former location and the square adjacent to the serpent as a non-action (and in lieu of his five-foot adjust). He will then make a full attack. He will activate Power Attack and Combat Expertise on this attack. He will use 2 Stamina Points on each of his 4 attacks to raise his attack roll by 2 - in conjunction with Combat Expertise, this also negates 2 points of penalty, raising it by 4 compared to what it would have been without the expenditure. These rolls include Haste.

Attack and Damage Rolls
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Attack: [roll2] (Haste)
Damage: [roll3]
Attack: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]
Attack: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]

Possible Critical Confirmation and Damage Rolls. Ian only needs a 17 on the d20 to threaten a crit.
Attack: [roll8]
Damage: [roll9]
Attack: [roll10] (Haste)
Damage: [roll11]
Attack: [roll12]
Damage: [roll13]
Attack: [roll14]
Damage: [roll15]

Regardless of the outcome, the full attack with Combat Expertise (and Haste) raises Ian's AC to 39 and his touch AC to 26.

[Estralita]

Oooh! Things were happening. And Jamie was right! This was her time to prove herself. So without out a word, Vylet headed straight for the sea serpent, and moved to shove her katana right through it's throat.

Please don't miss.
Thanks to Iajitsu, Vylet already has her Katana out, s o she can run up, use a swift action to increase the Katana's bonus to +5, and then Cast Intensified Shocking Grasp and Attack. Do tell me if I'm wrong with any of this
And please don't miss. I only have one shot here.

Attack:[roll0]
[roll1]
SG:[roll2]

[skypse]

"Heh, good job newbies! I really like this enthusiasm of yours! Now slice what you can so you can gather some fish to combine with these delicious crab nuggets!"

Kiriel runs around Jean and the giant Crab he was fighting, and once in position he attacks the creture's vitals to finish it off.

Movement as shown in the map. 60 ft movement without provoking unless the crab has reach in which case Kiriel provokes 1 AoO. Standard action Attack: [roll0]
Confirm on 36-38: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Critical Damage: [roll3]
SA: [roll4]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Leaping forth, the two newest officers immediately proceeded to prove their worth in a flurry of blade blows. Ian, master swordsman that he was, began with a leaping sword thrust that cut down the right side of the serpet's neck. Using the momentum to leap up top of its head, he then followed it up with two more quick strikes to the back of its skull - resulting in a roar of pain - before a fourth plunged his blade through both of its jaws, nailing it to the deck. This put it perfectly in position for Vylet - her beautiful bows bobbing in the sea breeze - to follow up with a single devastating strike of her lightning-infused katana, completely decapitating the serpent.

A roar of victory emanated from the lower decks, as well as from nearby ships - which, upon looking around, were also dealing with their own serpentine and crustacean invasions, though thankfully not quite as bad as the liberty eagles.

"Onward, men! We've got them on the run!"

Emboldened, the sailors who had stayed behind with Team Draco opened fire...

Sailor 1 Attack (vs Crab 1): [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Sailor 2 Attack (vs Crab 3): [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

Sailor 3 Attack (vs Crab 3): [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]

Sailor 4 Attack (vs Crab 1): [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]
And with a roar of thunder, finished off the remainder of the giant crabs, the forecastle covered in gunpowder smoke. Sensing that their would-be prey was not of the sort that would make an easy meal, the swarms of tinier crabs instinctively withdrew, seeking easier sustenance elsewhere.

A second roar of victory came from the aft of the ship, as well as the other nearby vessels, similar reports of gunpowder and flashes of magic filling the air as chunks of wood and dead crustacean flesh flew everywhere.

You all gain 8260 XP.
"Sir, you can't go out there!"

"I was a paladin way before I was Supreme Elect! The soldiers need me!"

"We can't protect you if you're not in here!"

"I don't need protection from an oversized surf dish!"

Bursting out on to the main deck, Codwin emerged with a massive greatsword in hand - only to be met with a sense of calm as the majority of the ship was focused on mopping up what enemy crabs had survived the onslaught of projectiles. Dame Viola stepped forward and snapped off a salute.

"Your Excellency! The Trailblazers have finished off the sea serpent, and we've got the giant enemy crabs on the run, sir!"

Codwin looked around, saw that this was true, and drooped his shoulders, clearly slightly disappointed by the fact he hadn't gotten any action.

"Excellent work, Dame Viola, keep it up. And thanks to you, Trail-"

"Your excellency!"

Another soldier emerged from below deck, clearly out of breath.

"There are more monsters trying to break through into the carrier platforms! We've got them cordoned off but it's only a matter of time until they break through to the upper decks!"

Known only to the Andoran Military, those serving on the Liberty Eagle, and a few other people (namely the Trailblazer's league), the Liberty Eagle has been undergoing a retrofit in recent months to become one of the first ships of its kind: A carrier ship. Within its hull, the Liberty Eagle can carry a series of smaller, faster gunships, outfitted with ballistae and miniature cannons - and all powered by revolutionary magical engines that use amplifier crystals and decanters of endless water to 'jet' themselves forward. This capability was originally going to be shown off for the first time after the Act formally hiring the Trailblazers on was signed.

The Carrier Platforms, therefore, are the 'hangar' of sorts where all the ships rest and are kept in repair until they are ready to be deployed.

Codwin looked up meaningfully at Team Draco?

"Well, friends? If you were able to make short work of that serpent, I doubt there's much more that could withstand you."

[Jade_Tarem]

"What, did they get a bulk discount? 'Buy one group of horrible sea monsters, get the next one half off!'" Ian finished his muttering before yanking Belleflower free of the serpent's skull, though he frowned at Codwin's pronouncement. "Aw, man, now you've gone and jinxed it. There's always an even more obnoxiously durable beastie out there." He sighed and slashed his sword through the air, slinging the discolored serpent ichor off of it into a line on the deck. "Alright, just point the way."

[skypse]

"More food? Damn, with all that fish I'm going to miss some nice steak! Anyway, let's go Trailblazers!"

Kiriel rushed forward to reach the lower deck and see what's happening.

[Rysc]

Auva

As the serpent crumpled back into the sea and the remaining crabs were pounded to bits, Auva took note of the (apparently) orchestrated attack on the other ships. You'd think people would be able to tell if they were sailing over a sea serpent gathering ground. And what was with the crabs?

Any further musings on possible symbiotic relationships were cut short as the soldier brought word of another attack.


"Aw, man, now you've gone and jinxed it. There's always an even more obnoxiously durable beastie out there."

Auva glanced at Codwin. "You never learned in your paladin-ing days not to proclaim the worst was over?" Without waiting for a response, she segued into a spell and abruptly faded from view.

Casting Invisibility and following the others down.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Without a word, Brigitte uncorked an extract and downed it before heading in the direction of the new attack.

Extract of Haste for Brigitte!

[Estralita]

Vylet

"Yes!" Vylet said, as her katana sliced through the monster's neck. She did a little dance in place in excitement. And her excitement continued as she heard the announcement of more monsters attacking. "I'm on it!" she cried, before turning and skipping down the rest of the group.

[Nefarion Xid]

Aside to Ian, "So, do you just live at the gymnasium?"

Stray tossed off a curative spell to Pun-Pun for hustling along after the others, ordering his vassal to, "Hang back a ways until you're properly patched up."

[roll0]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Descending quickly down into the bowels of the ship, Team Draco began to feel the walls rattle and vibrate as whatever force they were to be put up against attempted to make its way into the carrier platforms. Soon enough, they arrived at the door.

"Quickly, get through! It won't be much longer!"

Entering the carrier platforms, the team was initially greeted by silence. All was still - for about 10 seconds.

Then, the walls splintered open, and a huge monstrosity entered. Pale blue, huge in size, and possessed with the upper head and torso of a beautiful woman with a lower body of snapping wolf heads and writhing tentacles, the figure pointed forward, two 'guards' composed entirely of what appeared to be a writhing mass of electric eels snapping to attention.

You recognize the blue woman monster as a dreaded Scylla (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/aberrations/scylla), and her 'attendants as creatures called Galvos (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/magical-beasts/galvo).

"Slaughter the surface-dwellers, children! Trash their boats, destroy their ship! Leave none alive!"


Roll for initiative.

For the purposes of buffs, we will assume it took 4 rounds to get to where you are now.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"Galvos, which are swarmlike, and a Scylla!" Brigitte snapped, noting the two kinds of monsters. She drank one more extract and moved ahead to confront the creatures.

Swift Action: Studied Target on the Scylla.
Standard Action to drink Ablative Barrier. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/a/ablative-barrier)
Move Action to move to U17.

Since we get 3 more rounds of buffing, I'm going to hand of Extracts of Heroism (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/h/heroism) and Freedom of Movement (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/f/freedom-of-movement) to Ian, and take Brigitte's mutagen, giving her +2 to Natural Armor, +4 to Dex, and -2 to Wis.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"Actually, I learned this from a halfling girl..."

The mercenary chased the war party down through the decks and across the massive ship, with the Galtan gal - Brigitte, he remembered - trying to shove a pair of potions into his hand. "You know, the last time a beautiful woman told me to drink something and not ask questions, it ended poorly." He chugged down the first of them and immediately felt more heroic. "It's too early for drinking, anyway."

Then he rounded the corner and saw the legendary sea beast and her backup dancer shocker eels, and immediately felt less heroic. She started blurbling something at them, and the eel-things snapped to attentive combat stances. He didn't speak Aquan, but it was probably 'Kill the surfacers and take their stuff' - that's what it usually was, anyway. Ian took a long pull of the other extract and saw his shadow start to flicker. That's helpful.

He got into his own combat stance. "Vylet, get you Kiriel and me in close? Like now?"

[Nefarion Xid]

Using the two preceding rounds, Stray casts Heroism and Vylet and Kiriel.

[skypse]

True Strike and Spider Walk. Also activate See Invisibility as a free action from the mask.

[Estralita]

Vylet

"Sure." Vylet giggled, grabbing hold of both their arms and activating the spell. Quick as a wink, they were all right next to the creature, ready to go. Vylet loved her job.

Casting Dimension Door. Vylet ends up at U 21, Ian and Kirel end up wherever their player's want them.

[skypse]

"****. Let's hope this thing dies before it hits us back!"

Immediately after he was teleported, Kiriel unleashed a flurry of attacks, as furious as he could. The assassin was no stranger to fear, and this was one of the very few times he had that feeling in his heart. The feeling that he might fall in the battle, or even worse lose a family member.

Full attack action

Attack 1: [roll0] (true strike + Heroism)
Critical on 59-60: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] (bypass Cold iron DR)
Critical Damage: [roll3]
SA: [roll4]

Two-weapon Fighting: [roll]1d20+18[roll]
Critical on 36-38: [roll5]
Damage: [roll6]
Critical Damage: [roll7]
SA: [roll8]

Attack 2: [roll9]
Critical on 34-35: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11] (bypass Cold iron DR)
Critical Damage: [roll12]
SA: [roll13]

Improved Two-Weapon Fighting: [roll14]
Confirm on 31-33: [roll15]
Damage: [roll16]
Critical Damage: [roll17]
SA: [roll18]

Haste Bonus attack: [roll19]
Critical on 59-60: [roll20]
Damage: [roll21] (bypass Cold iron DR)
Critical Damage: [roll22]
SA: [roll23]

Since SA is being added to the total damage for DR purposes, subtract 10 damage from each of Kiriel's attacks after calculating the total.
Let's hope for some good favor from the Dice Gods!

[Nefarion Xid]

Gliding along regretfully into the fray, Stray winks at Brigitte and replaces her likeness with that of a hulking, enraged fire elemental. The figment immediately sets its sights on the eels and rakes at the planks between them while screaming gibberish in what, for Stray, passes for Ignan.

SLA: Major Image +7 vs Will to disbelieve; Archaeologist's Luck up 18/20
Large Fire Elemental indicated with red outline on the map.

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva noted as three--well, technically four--of the others disappeared, three to reappear behind the scylla and one to conveniently be replaced by a very angry, very fiery elemental. Striding forward, she swung an arm and fired off a black tendril towards the sea monster.

Moving to W13 and casting Enervation on the scylla, using Dweomer's Essence to gain +5 on overcoming SR. (I'm assuming Vylet is still using Dimension Door.)

Ranged touch: [roll0]
CL check: [roll1]
Negative levels: [roll2]

[Nefarion Xid]

Quite emboldened by Auva, Pun-Pun scurried into the room to give the Scylla a second blast with an Enervation Ray.

[roll0] vs touch AC
[roll1] vs SR
[roll2] negative levels

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

Dimensionally dragged to the target by his magus companion and agreeing with the aasimar for the first time, Ian set up and began weaving through tentacles and wolf heads, aiming to keep the pressure on and put the creature down before it could strike back. He said nothing as he carved his way in to the writhing mass of sea-beast wrongness that only the depths of the ocean could spit up.

Factoring in Heroism and Haste. Spending 1 stamina on the first iterative attack and 3 stamina on the second iterative. Using Power Attack and Combat Expertise.

Attack 1: [roll0] (Crits on 38+)
Damage: [roll1]
Attack 2: [roll2] (Crits on 38+) (Haste)
Damage: [roll3]
Attack 3: [roll4] (Crits on 35+)
Damage: [roll5]
Attack 4: [roll6] (Crits on 34+)
Damage: [roll7]

Attack 1: [roll8]
Damage: [roll9]
Attack 2: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]
Attack 3: [roll12]
Damage: [roll13]
Attack 4: [roll14]
Damage: [roll15]

[Lord Of Mantas]

A flash of light from Vylet. A beam of black magic from Auva. A flurry of blades from the frontline fighters. Ian, with a series of hard, heavy, strikes, and "Jamie" with a series of lightning fast flurries, all aimed at vital organs. Screaming in pain, the Scylla, which had barely gotten a chance to do anything except look imposing, fell to the ground, unconscious.

Even as it lay there, however, the party could see its wounds closing quickly, and knew they had a precious few seconds to kill it for good.

The Galvos, on the other hand, upon seeing what damage the party could do, took one look and leapt in the opposite direction, swimming back beneath the waves in search of easier prey.

Galvos 1 uses the Run action to move quadruple its speed away from the the fight (30 land, 30 swim). Galvos 2 uses the Withdraw action to move double its speed, and avoid provoking AoOs, as well as moving down column S to stay out of the reach of Vylet, Ian, and Kiriel. Both have moved beneath the water.

The Scylla is now at -8 HP, but can be killed permanently via a Coup de Grace.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

Spinning Belleflower's heavy blade in one hand, Ian stalked through the mass of twitching tentacles and wolfheads, climbing up onto the Scylla's prone form as it lolled over to face the ceiling. With the wounds closing, he didn't waste much time, but he did talk as he made his way there.

"I admit that in the past I've been a novice,
they weren't kidding to dismiss me in the least.
But you'll find that week by week,
I've built up my technique,
I've trained and fought and now we've slain the beast."

He reached the creature's heart, wounds closing over it. Ian pointed the top edge of his sword down in preparation to stake it to the ship. "True?" He narrowed his eyes. "Yes."

Then the sword met the wooden deck beneath the creature with a thunk, and it stopped twitching.

Coup-de-grace damage: [roll0]
After factoring in DR, that number is also the DC of the Fortitude save the Scylla needs to make to avoid dying via 'Death Attack.' HP damage will kill it anyway, but it will prevent the Scylla from being raised with the Raise Dead spell, specifically... should anyone want to.

[Lord Of Mantas]

With a groan, the Scylla, impaled through the head by Belleflower, died for good, its tentacles ceasing to twitch and its body lying still upon its bed of splintered wood. A still breeze and the smell of salt wafted through the air, punctuated by the far-off sounds of battle and followed by a creaking noise as the doors to the carrier platforms opened once again, the sailors timidly peeking through.

"Is it dead?"

"It looks like it..."

"Well, open the door, ye damn gawper!"

The door came all the way open, and a small squad of sailors came pouring through, guns still half-raised as if in fear the Scylla would rise again. At the sight of the now-dead creature, all of them gasped, with those possessed of the knowledge of its identity quailing in fear and looking at the Trailblazers in admiration simultaneously.

"Supreme Elect on deck!"

And with that, Codwin came striding through the door. Taking a long, hard look at the Scylla, and at the destruction that had pointedly not been wrought, he looked at Team Draco in approval and admiration.

"The Scylla... I never thought I would see one of those creatures myself, let alone actually see one dare to attack the Andoran navy. If not for your presence... at a minimum, it would have wreaked massive havoc and destroyed the carrier platforms. At worst, it could easily have sunken the Liberty Eagle outright. The attack on us seems to be over, and we're maneuvering around right now to offer assistance to the others. But if you hadn't been here... we owe you a great debt, Trailblazers."

"Really? How big are we talking here? An extra 50% for shots fired?"

Codwin grimaced slightly, but nodded at the approaching Christoph. "I think we can arrange something."

"Plus a 2x modifier for sheer size?"

"Don't push your luck, boy."

10970 XP for each of you.

Also, combat will be done for the forseeable future, so feel free to RP safely.

[skypse]

Kiriel sheathed back his swords after whipping them in a cloth and removed his mask. He extended his arm towards Vylet and then Ian.

"Congratulations you two. That's the kind of performance we expect from our members. Really good job. You two seem to be able to be on par with The League's elites and not fall behind. I like that I know not only that I am in charge of two more lives, but my life itself rests upon 2 extra trustworthy shoulders"

[Othniel]

Brigitte

The investigator prodded the corpse of the scylla with her rapier. "I wish I could bring this to my lab and examine it," she said wistfully. "It is probably the first and last time I shall ever see one." Then she smiled. "But at least we are unhurt." Turning to whoever was in charge of the situation, she asked, "Are there any who require medical attention? We should see to them quickly."

[Nefarion Xid]

"That's it then? Are all the other ships clear as well?" Stray landed and sheathed his rapier.

"What could have coerced these creatures to act together?"

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Lord Of Mantas]

"That's it then? Are all the other ships clear as well?"
Codwin gave a nod of sorts. "We've been expecting trouble ever since you tipped us off, so thank the goddesses, we brought along a full contingent of soldiers on every ship. The Liberty Eagle is pulling around to give ballistae support to the other ships; it looks like some damage was done, but overall, we've had no loss-"

A sailor came running down from above, out of breath.

"Your Excellency! We just saw the Farflung Hawk go down, engulfed by a large fireball! ...apparently by her own hand, sir."

Christoph whistled innocently.

Stray, Brigitte, and Kiriel recalled that one of the 'Crazy Old Coots', the flabby and cheese-smelling Peter the Prick, had been stationed on there. They also recalled that, on top of his usual rather dubious competence, he had recently been researching a spell called Distant Inferno, which had been having some rather difficult problems getting the distance and the radius of effect transposed - the result being a rather large fireball that would usually engulf its caster and everyone within 200 feet, more than enough to destroy a galley like the Farflung Hawk.

"Damn it! Send lifeboats to search for survivors as soon as the water clears. On the double, now!" He turned back to Team Draco. "Correction: We've had losses that are well below what they could have been."


"What could have coerced these creatures to act together?"
Codwin looked very worried. "That is a question I have no answer to - and that worries me. I don't suppose you have any insight, Christoph?"

Christoph shook his head. "In my experience? Sea creatures like this almost never attack you unless they're extremely hungry and you wander near their homes, so I can't imagine anything that would make them swarm like this. And the Scylla? That I can't say anything about whatsoever - this is probably the first I've ever seen of one."

As Brigitte turned the events of the day over in her head, prompted by Stray's question, she recalled a few facts.

Scyllae, as it happened, were often seen along major shipping lanes - but almost never this far into the inner sea, and never this far away from land. Additionally, Christoph was correct about the behavior of the giant enemy crabs - and like Scyllae, they were almost never seen this far out at sea.

The only rationale Brigitte could possibly think of for this behavior is that they were being controlled magically - but the power required for that would be astronomical.
"Anyway, the point is, despite being in relatively good shape, we've still taken damage - and are in danger until such time as everything is once more at 100%." Codwin turned to the hole in the side of the hull, and at the remains of the lone ship the Scylla had destroyed. "I'm giving the order, once the battle is over for good, to turn around and head back to Augustana. Until then, everyone is to be on full alert."

The room resounded with a 'Yes Sir!'

[Estralita]

"Success!" Vylet said happily, as they took down the Scylla. To reinforce the point she spun around and sheathed her katana in a flashy manner Then she turned to the soldiers and listened intently. "So what do we do now?"

[Nefarion Xid]

"Your Excellency! We just saw the Farflung Hawk go down, engulfed by a large fireball! ...apparently by her own hand, sir."

Stray groaned, "If I find that moron, I'm going to Feeblemind him and see if he can puzzle out swimming with a lizard brain."

He didn't stick around for the rest of the conversation; not when there were people in the water and something he could do about it. Stray hurried up to the deck and took off flying in search of survivors.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Codwin turned to Vylet.

"Most important of all is that any damage to our ships needs to be fixed - however, that will take time." Codwin looked once again toward the hole in the hull."Once that's taken care of and we're good to move again, we make for Augustana. With a good tailwind, it should only take a day and a half, two at the most."

"In the meantime, the watches and patrols need to be doubled, and security tightened." Codwin stepped toward Team Draco. "In particular, I would ask of you six a favor - to act as my personal guards. I will be setting up in the top floor of the forecastle, and I will need you to act as lookouts - two in front of the main doors, and four up on the forecastle itself. And we will need advice from His Grace-"

It was at this juncture that Codwin realized Stray had left.

"...or not."

Pun-Pun, having re-entered the room, coughed.

"If his excellency pleassses, I know a ssspell that can help with the repairsss."

"That would be most appreciated, Lord Pun-Pun. Anyway, after you're all done, I suggest you get some rest - we'll be asking you to take the middle watch."


Stray


Flying out of the Liberty Eagle, Stray took in the sight of the battlefield. Codwin's report had indeed been accurate - apart from the Farflung Hawk, the fleet was largely undamaged and the casualties minimal, the largest of the intruders already dead in the water. Joining a serious of rowboats that were making their way toward the wreckage, Stray quickly put his talents to work finding those about to drown, hauling them toward assistance - soldiers and medics on hand to take care of the rest. All in all, by the time things were wrapped up, Stray had found a good eighteen sailors. Peter the Prick, surprisingly enough, was also found - what was left of his charred, exploded hulk, at any rate.

Any last RP you want, and then we'll move to the next scene.

[skypse]

"Personal guards? Who the hell does he think we are! I am not willing to babysit someone just because he pays us. Damn you Cristoph don't give me that "he pays really good" look. Hell, I'm pissed right now!"

Kiriel silently looked at Cristoph showing his displeasure at Codwin's words and expecting from his friend to save them the trouble, but realizing how important was this person to Cristoph, or at least this person's pocket, he grunted and left to go upstairs.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

The Investigator sheathed her rapier and headed up on deck, Jean following slowly behind. "What could have coerced them to work together? A good question. Neither the scylla nor the giant crabs are usually found this far out to sea." Brigitte adjusted her spectacles. "I suspect either a plot to destroy the ships, or one of assassination, if not both. What unsettles me most is the fact that such creatures would require more arcane power than anyone I know to control them."

"My Lord Stray, why not just kill him and be done with it?" Hastings offered helpfully.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

I thought we were already guards. Ian shrugged and wiped off his weapon before returning Kiriel's arm-gesture absently, fishing for a fist-bump. He nodded to Codwin, "Just point where you need me to go."

It wasn't that he didn't care about whatever forces had sicced gigantic legendary ocean monsters on them. He did. He just figured he'd wait until the more educated types had identified the most punchable among those responsible.

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva nodded somewhat absentmindedly. "We are going to be dealing with any further monster attacks on this ship if only for self-preservation purposes, so we might as well have a better position from which to do that." Making sure to stay clear of any monster bits, she followed the others up onto the deck.


"What could have coerced them to work together? A good question. Neither the scylla nor the giant crabs are usually found this far out to sea." "I suspect either a plot to destroy the ships, or one of assassination, if not both. What unsettles me most is the fact that such creatures would require more arcane power than anyone I know to control them."

The storyteller surveyed the rescue operations before turning back to the party still on deck. "I'm sure we'll find out the answer very soon. Fortunately, or unfortunately."

[Lord Of Mantas]

As the battle drew to a close, even in the wake of minimal casualties (the crew of the Farflung Hawk - which had thankfully been a rather small ship - not withstanding), there was a perceptible aura of tension in the air. The crew of the liberty eagle, newly motivated by the attack, went about their business with a noticeable hustle and bustle, the repairs thankfully few in number and aided by Pun-Pun's magic. In no time at all, the ship was back at 100%, save for a lone missing jet boat that had been smashed when the Scylla crashed through the side of the ship.

Knowing that they would be called upon for middle watch, Team Draco, as a whole, decided to turn in early.

Inserting the key into the lock on room 115, Stray opened the door to find, not just Lady Caltrix, but also a slightly younger woman with elegantly styled blonde hair standing before him.

Both were wearing what appeared to be very skimpy negligees, the fabric diaphanous to the point where they almost might not have bothered wearing them at all.

"You honor us with your presence, Your Grace. But, if you'll forgive our impatience, we're both rather eager to begin."

With a shrug of their shoulders, both womens negligees dropped to the floor, a mere scrap of cloth barely larger than the palm of a man's hand all that was shielding their lower halves.

"Of course, there's only one of you and two of us, but... my parents always encouraged me to share."

Roughly, Stray grabbed Lady Caltrix's heavy shoulders, pulling her down onto the bed and ripping off her- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MstyFwhLy4)


[PENTHOUSE LETTER MATERIAL CENSORED] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHEWeMFWdTs)

Stray's dreams were filled with a harmony and color all of their own, his adventures in slumberland a kaleidoscope of images and words that, put together, made no sense whatsoever... and yet did, at the same time. Fireflies dancing over ponds on the moon, elephants dancing in the reeds with serene grace to the strumming tunes of swans. It was all very reminiscent of when he had first awakened, really.
Closing her eyes, Brigitte dreamt a very pleasant dream, her thoughts filled with the caresses and gentle touch of Cayden Cailean. Among other things.
Auva's dreams were of an overall positive, if somewhat bizarre, nature, the sorceress dreaming that she was apparently the runner-up in a competition to see who could tell the most convincing story that combined talking pigs and the use of honeycomb as a Macguffin.
Kiriel's dreams were not altogether pleasant - for in slumber, he was haunted by the face of his old master.

"You may have killed me, little cub, but I am not the only one after you."

A yawning abyss opened up before him, dark red hands reaching for the aasimar.

"Keep your blades ready, ere you wish to see another day."
Ian dreamed a largely dreamless sleep, what little consciousness he had in slumber a simple endless plane of grey.
Vylet's dreams, sadly, were not kind to her, as the tiefling dreamed that she took last place in a beauty contest, where everyone made fun of her ribbons and derided them as being tacky.

*** Several hours later, during Middle Watch... ***


The cold fall night air bit into the flesh of Team Draco as they stood watch, even those standing inside by the main entrance to the Supreme Elect's quarters or by the side windows of the forecastle not immune from the chill. The night was overcast, a light drizzle slowly soaking the team as they stood with eyes peeled, the dim light of lanterns the only thing by which they could see.

The bell sounded, indicating that it was one o' clock in the morning.


Atop the Forecastle

Unshielded from the wind by anything save the rail, those standing guard atop the forecastle had the worst of it, looking out over the surf and waves with naught but the lonely ocean in front of them.

You will receive appropriate results when your selections are made.


In front of the Outside Doors

While not completely shielded, the walls of the forecastle offered modest protection from the wind and rain. It also helped that, scant though it was, there was activity to see here, sailors running up and down the rigging to ensure it was properly adjusted and tying things down, along with walking their own patrols along the deck.

Then, all of a sudden, the hatches down to the decks below blew open, and three sailors ran up to [INSERT PLAYER NAMES HERE].

"Quick! There's an attack going on down below, in the hold, near the carrier platforms! We need assistance at once! Every hand down there now!"

You will receive appropriate results when your selections are made.


In front of the Inside Doors

Of all the teams, those chosen to directly guard the Supreme Elect's quarters were perhaps the warmest - but not by much, so cold was the night.

You will receive appropriate results when your selections are made.

[skypse]

Kiriel woke up from his dream all sweaty. It wasn't the first time he had his previous mentor haunt his dreams, but after he killed him those dreams became much more vivid and frequent, as if his restless spirit was actually coming back from the dead.

He took his equipment and stuff and he walked around the ship looking for the rest of the Draco team.

"I'll hide in Codwin's chambers. I'm not giving him the satisfaction of believing that I'll be his personal lap dog, yet I'm not fool enough to leave him unguarded. Plus this way we can cover the chance of something attacking through his chamber's window. I'll be under his desk. Don't tell anyone; only our team knows about it."

After informing his teammates, he quietly sneaked in the elect's chambers and hid under the captain's desk.

Stealth: [roll0]
(if allowed to take 20 since I'll have some time alone in the room, Kiriel will take 20 until he is hidden as best as possible and then stay there taking 10 in Perception checks for totals of 41 and 30 respectively)

[Othniel]

Brigitte

The Investigator turned in early, wishing to rest and wake up with enough time to prepare a fresh batch of extracts before her watch. Considering the events of the previous day, she made a few deviations from normal before packing up her supplies, slotting vials into her bandoleers, and taking her place outside the doors to the Supreme Elect's room. Jean she stationed at the end of one of the side hallways, ready to charge in case anything came at the doors.

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet woke up angry. "Tacky? I'll show them."Vylet took particular care with her ribbons this time, weaving her longest ribbons in intricate knots and bows before heading to the forecastle to begin work.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"So... I'm new to this team." Ian had chosen the other inner guard post with Brigitte. He hadn't stood guard duty often, but he knew the rule - stay out of the blasted wind and weather if you can, especially if you don't really need a good view of the area. "Should one of us tell him that claiming he'll be under the desk wouldn't dispel any rumors about his services to the Elect - and could make several fun new ones - or do we let that slide for comedy purposes?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

As the clock of reality ticked away, the world let out a distinct *szzzzt-blorp!* sound as it finally snapped into place where it had previously been loose, the members of Team Draco now in position.



Stray and Pun-Pun
From the urgency and manner of his voice, Stray determined that the sailors were being truthful; however, he also recalled that the below-deck areas were currently under the watch of Dame Viola - and that to truly be legitimate, they would need to answer a challenge of "Beware the green monkey" with "He barks at midnight".

However, even as he listened to their words, Stray's eyes were drawn to their clothing. Almost anyone else would have been taken in, but looking at their uniforms, a few things here and there were out of place - a wrinkle here, a piece of fabric poking out someplace it shouldn't be - betraying another outfit underneath - a small, almost insignificant spatter of blood there.

And, almost imperceptibly, the handle of a weapon that was not standard-issue visible as a faint outline underneath the leader's clothes.


Brigitte, Jean, and Ian

Amid the creaking of the ships timbers, Brigitte heard something - faint, at first, but still rhythmic - coming from just outside both of the windows. Almost as if someone was climbing toward the portholes.
As Ian awaited for a response from Brigitte, he thought he heard something for a moment, but a look revealed it to only be a particularly loose board.


Auva and Vylet

Her keen eyes searching into the dark night, Auva's attention was drawn by rhythmic thunking coming from just below them. Looking over the railing, she saw one... no, two people climbing up the side of the ship, triangular knives buried into the wood as handles. After a moment, she realized what they were - ninjas. Legendary assassins from Tian-Xia, it was said that they were among the deadliest warriors to ever walk the earth, stealthier than the quietest whisper.

Although as Auva looked on, she found that, now he was aware of him, the fact that the ninja was able to do so made absolutely no sense, given that their gis were bright yellow and pink. It was almost as if the ninja were trying to take on an appearance so garishly offensive that the sorceress' brain would shut down to preserve its sense of good taste.
Between the drizzling rain and the dark night, even with Darkvision, Vylet couldn't see a thing.


"Jamie"

As Kiriel watched and waited under the desk, the Supreme Elect of Andoran none the wiser, his patience eventually paid off.

The front window of the cabin, seemingly as if jarred open by the weather, flew open briefly before smacking back into place, Codwin I grunting at the noise before turning back over. To any with fainter eyes, it would have seemed as though it had merely been the wind - but there, blurring into the shadows themselves, stood none other than a ninja. Legendary assassins from Tian-Xia, it was said that they were among the deadliest warriors to ever walk the earth, stealthier than the quietest whisper.

Although as Jamie looked on, he found that, now he was aware of him, the fact that the ninja was able to do so made absolutely no sense, given that his gi was bright orange. It was almost as if the ninja was trying to take on appearance so garishly offensive that the former Red Mantis' brain would shut down to preserve its sense of good taste.

[Nefarion Xid]

"That seems very serious. You'd better sit down tell me everything you know," said Stray, silently motioning to Pun-Pun while he kept the leader's attention. The subtle gesture was the proper finger positioning for the Fear spell.

Stray casts Suggestion vs Leader [roll0]
Pun-Pun prepares to cast Fear on the group if they turn hostile

[Rysc]

Auva

The kayal, herself barely visible in the gloom, sighed internally and tried to attract Vylet's attention. "Two ninja climbing up, right on schedule." she hissed, gesturing over the railing. The gestures quickly turned into something a little more arcane as she cast a spell on the invaders.

Casting Shadow Conjuration mimicking Web (with Tenebrous (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/metamagic-feats/tenebrous-spell-metamagic) and Silent metamagic), centered around AK41/AL41/AK42/AL42. The web obviously can't stick out over the edge of the boat, but I'm assuming it'll ensare the ninja as it falls over the side.

Since it's conveniently nighttime, Auva has +1 to effective caster level and a 50% miss chance from concealment in dim light/darkness.

Will vs. Ninja 1: [roll0]
Will vs. Ninja 2: [roll1]

Reflex vs. Ninja 1: [roll2]
Reflex vs. Ninja 2: [roll3]

If the ninja suceed on their will saves, there is only a 20% chance that they will be affected by the Web.

Ninja 1: [roll4]
Ninja 2: [roll5]

EDIT: And apparently both ninja have poor will saves.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Brigitte motioned Jean closer to her, positioning the Giant Elk for the opportunity to charge anyone coming in through the window. Then she moved next to Ian and offered him an Extract of Haste (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/h/haste), and then whispered in his ear, "Ian - something is climbing up the sides of the ship."

Going to assume handing Ian an extract is either a standard or move action, allowing Brigitte a 2nd move action to...move. :smallbiggrin:

Jean will move and ready an action to CHARGE!

[skypse]

Kiriel saw the orange ninja and remembered the crimson red uniforms and armors of the RMA.

"Now I know how ridiculous this color seems during night. Damn these people are stupid."

He charges out of his hiding place, attacking to pierce the intruder through his chest.

Full round Charge action if possible, otherwise move and attack.
Attack: [roll0] +2 if charge is possible
Critical on 39-40 (41-42): [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Critical: [roll3]
SA: [roll4]

No matter how adept was Kiriel in his movement and fighting skills, luck always beats skills. The ninja missteped on a wooden plank that was a little out of position and in his attempt not to fall down he dodged Kiriel's thrust by a hair.

"Welcome on board Liberty Eagle" he whispered. "I suggest you surrender now or my next attack won't be a warning"

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"This is the worst bleedin' voyage..." Ian took the extract, but instead activated his armor, levitating off the ground as he followed Brigitte.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray and Pun-Pun


The crewman promptly sat down on his hands and began talking.

"Well, the other attackers down below are from our clan, the Infernal Dragon Ninja Clan of Cheliax. While you hurry down to help them, our clan-brothers are going to fight with the Supreme Elect's other body guards as a distraction while our leader kidnaps the Supreme Elect, then disguises himself as him. He will then claim that he doesn't feel safe on the boat any more, and order a mass evacuation. Then after all the life boats have spread out he'll kill whoever's in the boat with him and paddle on back to Cheliax like there's no tomorrow, ready to be rewarded by Her Infernal Majesty Abrogail II, who will try to ransom the Supreme Elect back to Andoran for one million gold pieces as a cover for-"

But the ninja never got to finish spilling the beans on Abrogail's master plan, as he was promptly shanked through the throat by his fellows, his head flying off like the cork on a champagne bottle. The crewmen then struck a pose, crying out in a Tian-Xian accent so ridiculously thick that Stray could not help but suspect that it was the kind of accent one would use if you were a racist country bumpkin who'd never seen an actual person from Tian-Xia. In fact, upon close examination, they really weren't Tian-Xian at all - they appeared, in fact, to be ordinary Cheliaxians.

"FLYING POSSUHM HAS BROUGHT DISHONAH TO AH CLAHN! WE MUHST AHVENGE HEEM!"

Tearing off their disguises, the other two "Crewmen" revealed themselves for the Ninja they were. Although, as Stray looked upon their gi, he could not help but notice that they appeared to be rather garish shades of green and purple, respectively - as if their idea of stealth was trying to force their opponent's brains into shutting down to protect their sense of good taste.

"KILL AHLL THA FORAHGN DEVILS! GLORY TO THE DRAGON NINJA CLAN!"

As the final cherry on the casual racism pie, the Ninja then let out a 'battle warble' that sounded like someone was trying to strangle a turkey.

If you want an accurate mental picture of what these guys sound like, think Loo from the 'Fistful of Yen' sketch from Kentucky Fried Movie.


Brigitte and Ian

True to Brigitte's predictions, two ninja promptly came flying through the windows, glass flying everywhere. Immediately, they struck a highly ridiculous pose - then let out a battle cry in the kind of Tian-Xian accent would use if you were a racist country bumpkin who'd never seen an actual person from Tian-Xia.

In fact, upon looking through their face-masks, Brigitte was able to discern that they appeared to be of Chelaxian descent - not Tian-Xian.

"FEEBUH WEAHKLINGS! YOU STAND IN THE PRESAHNCE OF YAH BETTAHS!"

The two ninja waved around their swords in a manner that would have been intimidating to anyone under the age of about 7.

"KILL AHLL THA FORAHGN DEVILS! GLORY TO THE DRAGON NINJA CLAN!"

As the final cherry on the casual racism pie, the Ninja then let out a 'battle warble' that sounded like someone was trying to strangle a turkey. Then, Brigitte and Ian heard someone call from the Supreme Elect's room.

"Help! Help! Guards!"

Auva and Vylet

A flash of magic emanating from her hand, the two ninja that Auva had spotted were promptly enveloped in illusory webbing.

"Godsdammit! Alsof, kill that bint!"

"Harric, you fool! You're forgetting the accent! You've read the texts, you can't be a ninja without the accent!"

As they spoke, both Auva and Vylet noted that, far from the Tian-Xian accent that would be expected of a ninja, these two were speaking with distinctly Chelaxian accents. All of a sudden, a third ninja, previously unseen by Auva or Vylet, leapt up onto the railing.

"AH, PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT, FORAHGN DEVILS! YOU HEARD NOTHANG!"

As he spoke, Auva and Vylet noted that he was using the kind of Tian-Xian accent would use if you were a racist country bumpkin who'd never seen an actual person from Tian-Xia. The ninja then waved his swords around in a manner that would probably intimidate anyone under the age of 7 before letting out a final cry.

"KILL AHLL THA FORAHGN DEVILS! GLORY TO THE DRAGON NINJA CLAN!"

As the final cherry on the casual racism pie, the Ninja then let out a 'battle warble' that sounded like someone was trying to strangle a turkey.

"Jamie"

The ninja promptly side-stepped out of the way with ease, then glared at the former Crimson Mantis. As he spoke, Kiriel could not help but notice that, far from the expected Tian-Xian accent, his manner of speaking was distinctly Chelish.

"So they had the brains to post someone in the actual room? No matter. You will die, and then I'll get back to kidnapping and impersonating him as per the plan."

A noise came from the other side of the room, Codwin having awakened by the noise.

"Wha?.. Attackers! Help! Help! Guards!"

The ninja swore.

"Okay, Plan B! You both die! Makes no difference to me!"


Roll for Initiative.


Shows what you get from wasting the element of surprise acting like a ridiculous stereotype - but then again, what do you expect from Lawful Evil racist fanboys who have a warped view of what they're trying to imitate and a wisdom penalty?

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva smiled at the ninja in a very unassuring way."Now, don't be rude," she said--using an appropriately fake Chelish accent--as she strode around the webbing and cast another spell on the two (as of now) free ninja. Then, in her best orator voice, she yelled, "CHELIAX INTRUDERS! TO YOUR POSTS!"

Moving to AG40 and casting Slow (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/slow) on N2 and N3.

Will vs N2: [roll0]
Will vs N3: [roll1]

[Nefarion Xid]

"Now look, if you're not going to take this seriously, I'm just going to take my kobold and go home!" Stray yelled, entirely sincere. Insulted, he opts to permanently blind the loudest of the two before retreating to warn the others.

C1 [roll0] vs will
C3 [roll1] vs will

C1 [roll2] vs fort

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Brigitte brandished her sword at the ninja appearing inside the window and drank her mutagen quickly. "Come, Chelaxian!" Meanwhile, Jean aims at the ninja opposite and charged.

Standard action to drink mutagen: +2 Nat Armor Bonus, +4 to Dex, -2 to Wis. I have NOT changed her stats on the doc to reflect this.
Jean Charging (power attack) vs N5 [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet just stared at the ninjas in stark disbelief. A part of her wondered if killing them would be a mercy, not a punishment. But she had a job to do, so Vylet spun her blade up and charged it with lightning before bringing it down on the nearest ninja.

One intensified Shocking Grasp full attack, coming up!

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

[roll4]
[roll5]

Shocking Grasp: [roll6]

[skypse]

"CODWIN! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? LET ME HAVE MY FUN AND GO BACK TO SLEEP YOU IGNORANT SNOB!"

Kiriel turns back to the ninja.

"Now, where were we? Ah yes, I'm about to leave you handicapped."

Free action to activate Boots of Speed.

Full attack action:

Feint attempt: [roll0] VS 10+BAB+WIS mod / Sense Motive

Attack 1: [roll1]
Critical on 38-39: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]
Critical Damage: [roll4]
SA: [roll5]

Attack 2: [roll6]
Critical on 30-32: [roll7]
Damage: [roll8]
Critical Damage: [roll9]
SA: [roll10]

Attack 3: [roll11]
Critical on 33-34: [roll12]
Damage: [roll13]
Critical Damage: [roll14]
SA: [roll15]

Bonus from HastE: [roll16]
Critical on 38-39: [roll17]
Damage: [roll18]
Critical Damage: [roll19]
SA: [roll20]

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

Ian turned a lazy eye to the un-gored ninja and snorted. He drank the extract of Haste and drew Belleflower as he drifted down the hall, planting himself right in front of the Chelaxian. In perfect Tien, he delivered the age-old quip, "A headless caricature says what?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray, Pun-Pun, Brigitte and Ian

"Agh, my eyesss! I'm having enough problemsss with seasicknesss without your garish colors blinding me! <SLOW!>"

His spell warping the strands of reality around their opponents, Pun-Pun joined the fey prince as he ran down the hall.

"We're under attack by cultural appropriation! Also assassins! Racist assassins!"

"Gggeeettt bbbaaaccckkk hhheeerrreee yyyooouuu mmmooottthhheeerrr fff***ccckkkeeerrr! III'mmm gggoooiiinnnggg tttooo mmmaaakkkeee yyyooouuu iiinnntttooo aaa hhhaaattt!"

Their speech warped and slowed as if being played on a slowed-down vinyl record (not that any of Team Draco would know what that was, as they hadn't been invented yet), the two ninja - who had clearly given up any pretense of trying to be people from Tian Xia - slowly threw a couple of shuriken after Pun-Pun and stray.

Crewman 1 vs Stray
The shuriken are cold iron, and thus bypass Stray's DR.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Crewman 3 vs Pun-Pun
Attack: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]
Regrettably for the pair, the magic with which they'd been afflicted meant their shots both went wildly off-course. In the meantime, the ones battling Ian and Jean had their own problems to deal with.

"A headless caricature says you'll be dead, and the crew none the-"

And it was at that point that alarm bells began ringing in the background, shouts of people coming to arms coming alive.

"Oh to hell with it! Come with me, and I'll show a thing or look behind you, a distraction!"

Lashing out with his katana and wakizashi, the ninja attempted to strike at Ian's more vulnerable places as he made an attempt to feint the fighter. In the meantime, the ninja at the opposite end of the hall attempted to do the same to Jean, though this was considerably more difficult for him as he was currently being pressed up against what was left of the window by the megaloceros' antlers.

"Get off of me, you oversized piece of venison!"

Ninja 4 vs Ian

Feint (Bluff Check - Target is Ian's Sense Motive or WIS modifier + 10, whichever is higher): [roll4]
If successful, Ian is flat-footed and the Ninja can Sneak Attack.

Sneak Attack: [roll5]

Attack 1: [roll6]
Damage 1: [roll7]
TWF Attack 1: [roll8]
TWF Damage 1: [roll9]

Ki Attack: [roll10]
Ki Damage: [roll11]
Ki TWF Attack : [roll12]
Ki TWF Damage: [roll13]

Attack 2: [roll14]
Damage 2: [roll15]
TWF Attack 2: [roll16]
TWF Damage 2: [roll17]

Ninja 5 vs Jean

Feint: [roll18]
If successful, Jean is flat-footed, and the Ninja can sneak attack.
Sneak Attack: [roll19]

Attack 1: [roll20]
Damage 1: [roll21]
TWF Attack 1: [roll22]
TWF Damage 1: [roll23]

Ki Attack: [roll24]
Ki Damage: [roll25]
Ki TWF Attack : [roll26]
Ki TWF Damage: [roll27]

Attack 2: [roll28]
Damage 2: [roll29]
TWF Attack 2: [roll30]
TWF Damage 2: [roll31]
Though both managed to land a couple of strikes in rather vulnerable places, they were unable to connect with any of their other attacks.


Auva and Vylet

It seemed, after all, that Auva need have not yelled, for scarce had she called out than alarms started ringing. The ninja entrapped by her spells, swearing in slow motion, made their way ever so slowly through the webs.
As stated in the OOC thread, N1 made his check to move across the webbing, and N2 escaped. However, I forgot to account for the fact that both were hit by slow; As such, N3 will be unable to act next turn, to preserve continuity of actions.
The one in front of Vylet, in the meantime, fell into the water in a series of bloody pieces.

Don't forget to remove enemies from the map once you kill them.

"Jamie"

The Chelish ninja, caught off-guard by Kiriel's rapid attacks, was promptly impaled and fell to the floor, bleeding and unconscious - but still alive, if only barely. Codwin, hearing the sounds of battle, looked to Kiriel, a look of relief and gratitude crossing his face... which was then promptly replaced by one of anger.

"Now, listen here... Jamie, was it? I may have hired your team to protect me, and you may have just saved my life - which, make no mistake, I am very grateful for - but do not think for a SECOND that just because you're an adventurer means that you can get away with the disrespect you have just shown! I am the Supreme Elect of Andoran, the leader of her government, the guardian of her people, and I have been a Paladin of Iomedae and a seasoned warriors since you were nothing more than a gleam in your father's eye! And if you think that for even a moment I'm going to tolerate being called a snob by someone who is ILLEGALLY IN MY ROOM, than you've got another thing coming, boy!"
...yeah. Insulting the fantasy equivalent of the president. Not a smart move.
And it looks like things are going well for you, overall.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"Jean, kill the Chelaxian." Then, stopping near the door to Codwin's room, "Supreme Elect, are you all right in there?" As she spoke, she drew one of her extracts, but did not drink it.

Jean snorted a response and proceeded to ram the ninja stuck on his antlers up against the wall and beat him with his hooves.

Brigitte - readying action to use Dragon's Breath if anything breaks past Ian or Jean.

Jean - Maintain grapple: [roll0]
Not Power Attacking. Attacks include -2 to attack for being in the grapple.
Attack w/Antlers: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

Looks like Jean maintains the grapple, but misses his attack.

[skypse]

"My apologies Supreme Elect. I was trained very differently from what you may think and it is nearly impossible for me to keep my manners in the heat of the battle. My movements and actions require so much energy that my mind can't operate on an oratory level. Forgive my invasion in your private chambers but I only did that as an extra measure and by no means did I want to disturb your sleep. You are a person who has seen many battles and have witnessed the glory of a victory as well as fear. They say fear is a powerful emotion, one that can alter a man. Forgive me for letting my fears escape from the inner prison I keep them. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to you under my family's watch. As far as the insult is concerned, again apologies, I am a man with problem against authority figures mostly because I've never seen or met a kind-hearted one. At least until now that is. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me, if not then I understand. But please don't burden my family for my bad manners. Punish me however you see fit but they had nothing to do with my decision or actions in this room tonight."

While giving his speech, Kiriel sheathes his swords and uses his wand to stop the bleeding from the ninja, hoping he hadn't killed him. He will then walk towards Codwin, and take a slight bow when finishing his speech.

Cure light wounds: [roll0]
Diplomacy (if allowed): [roll1]

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva sighed as one of the ninja partially freed himself from the shadowy webbing, and squished an imaginary fly in the air in front of her. The effect of her gesture was painfully immediate to the Chelaxian...

Casting Boneshatter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/b/boneshatter) on N1.

Fort (halves damage): [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Nefarion Xid]

"Codwin's fine. I can hear Jamie monologuing instead of fighting, so I'm sure they're all right."

His shoulders slumped in complete dismay as a shuriken gently clattered to his feet. "How is it even possible to be this bad!?"

Fixing his eyes on the disguised ninja that hadn't been blinded, Stray couldn't even summon up the energy to make a grand display. Instead of making an imperious demand in his strange Fey language, he only sighed and lazily waved his hand.

Takes 1 round to cast.

Meanwhile, Pun-Pun shredded the blind ninja with magic missiles, mostly out of spite.

[roll0]

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

The mercenary sighed and ignored the ninja as his plate deflected the attacks. "I haven't been this disappointed in ninjas since my last trip to Kalsgard. You want to see something neat?"

Power Attacking, Combat Expertise Active, Hasted, and with Stamina spent at 2, 2, 3, 3

Attack 1: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Attack 2: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]
Attack 3: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]
Attack 4: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]

Critical Hit?
Attack 1: [roll8]
Damage: [roll9]
Attack 2: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]
Attack 3: [roll12]
Damage: [roll13]
Attack 4: [roll14]
Damage: [roll15]

"There. That's how you kill someone quickly." Ian wasn't sure whether the ninja had followed him, but he was sure he'd made his point. He turned away from the collapsing pile of limbs to see if Jean or Brigitte needed help. "'Oooh, we're conserving resources in case the Amatatsu heir shows up.' Seriously lame."

[Estralita]

Vylet

Seeing her success with the first ninja, Vylet smiled coldly. Very coldly. Vylet took a step back and hurled a compact ball of frost at the next one.

Attack: [roll0]
Fortitude Save [roll1]

Damage:[roll2]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray, Pun-Pun, Brigitte, Jean, and Ian

"No, I don't want to see soaaaargh!" Cut into small, chunky pieces, what was left of the ninja that Ian had been facing fell back into the Inner Sea. The one Jean had pinned, meanwhile, continued fighting.

Let's see if I can keep from screwing up this time.

Attack 1: [roll0]
Damage 1: [roll1]
Attack 2: [roll2]
Damage 2: [roll3]
The two faced by Pun-Pun and Stray began running down the hall, the one Stray had commanded skidding to a halt at the end as his spell broke through.


Auva and Vylet

Screaming in pain, the one Auva was facing lunged forward, katana at the ready, while the one Vylet was facing got caught again in the sticky webbing.

Let's see if I can keep from screwing up this time.

Bluff (to Feint, move action): [roll4]

Attack: [roll5]
Damage: [roll6]
Sneak Attack (if Feint succcessful): [roll7]
Luckily for the fetchling sorceress, the Ninja's attack went wide.


"Jamie"

Looking levelly at the former Red Mantis, Codwin looked from him to the unconscious ninja and back again.

"Whatever else one might say about him, Christoph knows how to hire effective people. And if not for you, it is very possible that I would be dead tonight, or worse. So if I owe anyone anything, it is you."

Codwin let out a weary sigh.

"I thereby accept your apology, and claim no punishment, nor will I mention this to Christoph. However - let it be known that this is your only warning."


"Supreme Elect, are you all right in there?"
Codwin turned and called out to Brigitte.

"I am alright, Miss Lestrade."

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray sighed. "Pun-Pun, kill the blind one. You, come here."

He gestured for the dominated one to follow him as he moved to open Codwin's door.

Magic Missile vs C1 [roll0]

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Jean kept at the ninja, trying to smear the assailant across the deck of the ship. Brigitte stood where she was, ready to spring if the Ninja came down toward her.

Maneuver to maintain grapple: [roll0]
Gore attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

Hoof 1 attack: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4]

Hoof 2 attack: [roll5]
Damage: [roll6]

Brigitte readying an attack, just in case.

[skypse]

"Thank you for your kindness. Now allow me to take my time to tie up this idiot over here. He isn't dead yet and I'm sure you would like to ask him a couple of stuff after he is awake."

Kiriel takes out his rope from his backpack and carefully ties up the unconscious ninja on the desk after stripping him to his underwear and takes all his stuff. Hearing Brigitte he shouts:

"Hey Brigitte! I guess since you have time to speak with us you are handling things out there without any problems right? Feel free to kill them or dump them in the sea. I got their leader here!"

[Rysc]

Auva

The kayal laughed as she took a step back, her hands working in arcane patterns. From the darkness behind her come the sounds of something far too large and with far too many legs. "Do you really want to keep at this game?" She held up her hand as if beckoning something forward, and a truly colossal spider emerged into the flickering torchlight, eight eyes and mandibles gleaming.

5-foot-step to AF. Casting Major Image and hoping that the ninja are arachnophobes. (Out of curiousity, I checked the Bestiary for giant spiders and so Auva is modelling her illusion after the second largest variety (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/vermin/spider/giant-tarantula-spider).) Area outlined on the map with "Sp" because I'm too lazy to fill it in.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

Ian glanced back at the mess he'd made of the ninja, a thin smile forming. "Well, I'm glad I got permission. That could have been trouble." He ignored the stag party going on at the far end of the hallway and instead floated his way to Codwin's door so he could see down each hallway or deflect any attacks made toward Brigitte or Stray.

Moving to be adjacent to wherever the most party members are - I can't get to Google Docs at work, so I think that's Stray and Brigitte at the door - and total defensing for the hell of it.

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet's grin widened, and she followed up that shot with another.

Snowball!

Attack:[roll0]
Save for Staggered:[roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[Lord Of Mantas]

In the interest of time, I will be wrapping this up right now, since you've all clearly won at this point.
Stray, Pun-Pun, Brigitte, Jean, and Ian


Skidding to a halt under the onslaught of Pun-Pun's magic missiles, the undominated ninja who had previously disguised himself as a crewman grabbed his katana, and spoke once more in his slowed-down-record voice.

I will not, however, be re-writing it as I did previously, as that got very annoying very quickly.

"I cannot allow secrets to fall into enemy hands! I have no choice but to commit ritual seppuku! Goodbye, cruel world!"

And with a schlick and a hlurk!, the ninja fell over dead, even as the other remaining fighter was smashed to a paste by Jean.



Auva and Vylet

His eyes wide as saucers, the ninja facing Vylet shrieked like a little girl. "GUUH! GAAAH! AIIIEEEE! THE HORROR, THE HORROR! I MUST COMMIT RITUAL SEPPUKU!"

And with a schlick and a hlurk!, the ninja fell over dead.

"Are you insane!? We can still wiaaaaiiieee!"

The ninja facing Vylet would never finish that sentence, as by sheer cosmic coincidence, a rather hungry great white shark spontaneously leapt out of the water and ate it alive, plopping back down into the sea with a complete lack of ceremony.



Kiriel

As the sounds of battle died down, Codwin cautiously approached the door and knocked.

"Trailblazers? Is the situation under control?"

7200 XP for everyone!

[Nefarion Xid]

"Yeah. Yeah, pretty sure they're all dead here. Except the one guy who's dominated. I'm going to call him Jeff for now. Let us in so we can have a proper interrogation. Ugh, what the Hells is the pass phrase? Something about green monkeys?"

Frustrated by the nonsensical and obviously ineffective precautions aboard the ship, Stray simply dropped to the floor to peek underneath the door before teleporting himself inside the cabin.

"Other than these mercenaries you've hired, your security is atrocious."

[Rysc]

Auva

The arachnid illusion dissolved behind her, and Auva sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. "Honestly, if these...ninja weren't so obviously incapable, I'd suspect some sort of double-trickery, refuge in audacity type plot. And please don't tell me that the Supreme Elect had so much faith in our abilities he simply neglected to post guards everywhere else."

She stomped her foot on the emergency hatch to Codwin's room and called down, "Is everything all right? Miss Vylet and I have just had to dispatch of a trio of idiots who thought they were ninjas."

[Lord Of Mantas]

It was a credit to Codwin's unflappability that he did not even flinch as Stray teleported inside.


"Other than these mercenaries you've hired, your security is atrocious."
"Really? Because as it happens, I think tonight proves I got my money's worth." The Supreme Elect looked between Stray and Kiriel. "Even so, tonight was far too close for comfort - and more security never hurt anyone. I'll have to see about arranging something when we get back to Almas..."

It was then that Auva called out.

"Is everything all right? Miss Vylet and I have just had to dispatch of a trio of idiots who thought they were ninjas."
"We've had similar troubles down here, Miss Vesari - but it's all under control now, thanks to the efforts of you and your comrades. Come - we must ensure that there were no other incursions into the rest of the Liberty Eagle."

All of a sudden, just as Codwin opened the door, the tromping of boots rang across the deck.

The familiar monotone of a dominated person rang through Stray's mind.

"A bunch of Eagle Knights just came up out of the main hatch of the ship. They are all covered in blood. I don't think it's theirs. Oh, bloody hell, they must have gotten the people we sent below deck. I thought for sure they'd be able to hold their own. Oh dear, they've spotted me. Oh dear, they're all rushing toward me and about to jump on top of ow, ow, not in the face, not in the face, oh my pancreas aaa-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The wailing of a man who has just been sacked in the nuts rang across the deck as none other than Dame Viola came rushing into the Supreme Elect's room.

"Your Excellency! We just had a bunch of Chelaxian insurgents disguised as ninja disguised as the crew invade the lower decks! They were trying to disable the alarms and kill the main security, but luckily one of our lieutenants spotted them in the act and raised the alarm before they could get too far. Minimal casualties, and we're mopping up the survivors as we speak. They've been fighting to the death so far, so, unfortunately, no survivors."

"Excellent work, Dame Viola. As for prisoners, that situation is well in hand - we have their leader captured right here, as one of what I can only assume must be a grunt out there - though I think your men are currently beating him into submission."

Glancing back over her shoulder, Dame Viola facepalmed. "Oi... Soldiers! Ease it up! He's been subdued enough already!"

"Owwww my jumblies... My precious babymakers... I'll never be able to have children after this..."
The crewmen below got good rolls, thanks to your efforts at fighting the Scylla and sea serpent. Next time, I think we'll move on.

[skypse]

After making sure that the "ninja" leader is tied up and he has nothing he can use against them or himself, Kiriel uses a couple charges of his wand to wake him up. With a scary smile he talks to him.


"Good morning sunshine! I hope you had sweet dreams. Don't worry about the headache, a worse one is coming now. Keep in mind you are an important person and you have 2 even more important visitors who want to talk to you. One is an actual prince and the other one is the authority of Andoran. Well, you might remember the second one cause you kinda tried to kill him, but I think he will be kinder than myself against you. He is a good-hearted person. Have fun you three and please be respectful. I would hate it if you embarrassed me. And you wouldn't like me to hate you!!"

Taking 20 on Perception (40) to search underneath his clothes (well his underwear since Kiriel stripped him) and in his mouth for any hidden weapons or poisons.

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray sunk his teeth into his bottom lip to keep himself from deriding the paladin and her security team. Instead he only said, "I think he's incapacitated."

Folding his arms, Stray watched bemused as Jamie gave their captive the business -- a wasted effort as he was about to turn the man's head into a decorative bowl.

"Refresh my memory," he glanced at the Supreme Elect, "Is the use of compulsion magic permissible in interrogations in Andoran? Oh ... well I'm sure we're still in international waters."

He didn't wait for an answer. In Sylvan he commands the lead ninja to, "Yield!"

[roll0] v will
Isn't the ninja still unconscious? If so, Stray uses CLW.

"Reveal the details of your mission and your employer. Are there any further imminent attacks? How does it feel to be so woefully inept?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

The ninja tried to spit at Kiriel, then shook his head in disgust as he'd momentarily forgotten he was wearing a facemarks.

"Hah! I'll never talk, and I know you Andoran cowards are too queasy to use torture-"

His eyes went wider, however, as Stray mentioned and subsequently used domination. Codwin, though he did not make any moves to stop Stray, frowned slightly, apparently mildly uncomfortable with Stray's actions.

"The use of domination in interrogations, though not forbidden, is generally preferred as a second resort to the use of Zone of Truth spells - for while both are mind-affecting, the latter does so with as little intrusion onto the prisoner's dignity and rights as possible. Still... drastic times call for drastic measures." Having said his piece, Codwin stepped back and allowed the interrogation to continue.

Now thoroughly dominated, the ninja answered Stray's questions in the usual monotone.

"We were hired by Her Infernal Majesty, Queen Abrogail II of Cheliax, to kidnap Codwin I and bring him back to Egorian. We were kept on a need-to-know basis, but I am relatively certain that there are no further attacks planned, as it was believed that our strike would succeed."

"The plan, as I know it, was divided into four stages. The first was to infiltrate Almas and ascertain a time when the Supreme Elect was most vulnerable. Thanks to Assemblymen Halroth and Foltrox, we were able to secure news of this naval demonstration in exchange for giving them the opportunity to say the following lines upon our inevitable success:

'The Supreme Elect has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the Supreme Elect?'

Now, thanks to you, the two of them will never be able to say such a cool phrase. You monsters."

You recognize the names of Assemblymen Halroth and Foltrox, as both were among those who voted against Stray's treaty. Both are also known as former directors of Andoran's Anti-Cheliax Intelligence Agency.
And yes. That is the entire reason I came up with this part of the campaign.

You're welcome.
"After determining that Codwin would be going on this naval demonstration, we sent news back to Cheliax, where we were told that they would arrange for an attack to weaken the fleet. We were then to strike under the cover of night, using stealth and deception to eliminate or distract the guards while I kidnapped Codwin, and used a shadow clone to replace him as an imposter. We would then abscond with him in our submersible underwater vessel while the shadow clone ordered everyone to abandon ship and evacuate in the opposite direction. Deceived by this and the notion that we were, in fact, Tian-Xian ninjas when in fact we are a bunch of Chelaxian assassins dressed up as ninjas, the Andoran government would then look in the completely wrong direction, leaving us free to make the week-long journey safely back to Egorian."

"That is where our part in the plot ended. I only know that after that, Abrogail planned to ransom Codwin I for..."

The ninja paused, and a musical sting rang out from an indeterminate location (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJR1H5tf5wE).

"One MILLION gold pieces. She did say when she thought we weren't listening that she planned to kill the ransom delivery team anyway, and that he would end up being some sort of offering to something called a 'Via', but I was nearly discovered when I tried to find out more. And I am NOT inept. My daggers have tasted the blood of hundreds, and will taste many more when I inevitably escape."

Codwin shook his head.

"That won't happen. You may be receiving a trial as per the laws pertaining to enemy soldiers, but there is a reason we've been stocking up on masterwork reinforced finger manacles. Especially since you've just admitted to trying to kidnap and-or kill me, both with and without magic. Dame Viola, take him away."

The paladin snapped off a salute, dragging the ninja out of the room. Codwin turned to Team Draco.

"Call me foolish for not executing a clearly dangerous assassin on the spot, but given the duration of Stray's spell, the fact that he said that they were expected to be successful and were not expected back for a full week, and the relative speed with which we can arrange a trial, I think we're safe."

"In any case, you have my thanks, brave adventurers, for all you have done this day. I doubt there will be any more trouble tonight, but I would still appreciate it if you kept watch until the end. Once that is done, however, get some rest - there will be precious little of it once we reach Augustana."


*** Two Days Later... ***


​The rest of the journey to Augustana had gone without incident, save for a bit of a ruckus down in the carrier platforms when a rather overzealous dwarven sailor had attempted to "Save tha Supreme Elect! In tha face!" (http://flintlockevshorde.thecomicseries.com/comics/89/) by shooting a moose out of a cannon at the submarine.

It now sat in the harbor, its inner workings (and the inexplicable yellow coat of pain) the subject of intense scrutiny by a team of Andoran magi, alchemists, and engineers.

The Trailblazers, on the other hand, were further up the cliff overlooking the harbor, ensconced inside the relative safety of Fort Constance, looking at Christoph and Codwin from across a rather heavy oaken desk.

"Further attempts at questioning the ninja have determined that he told us all he know the night of the attack. Still, it's enough, combined with your earlier premonitions -" Looks were made toward Brigitte and Kiriel. "To let us know that Cheliax is now actively moving against us. Combined with their so-called training exercises near our western border it can mean only one thing: An imminent invasion of Andoran."

Codwin leaned forward.

"I feel there is no need to point out that if Cheliax were to successfully invade Andoran, it would mean disaster for the forces of good. Thus, your mission - should you choose to accept it - is to infiltrate Cheliax and head off the invasion by any means necessary. Succeed, and you may name your reward, within reason, of course."

Upon seeing a rather questioning look from several faces (notably Stray's), Codwin continued talking.

"Here's the birds-eye view of what we know. Our spies have reported that there are two battalions of the Chelaxian army currently massed in two locations: Brastlewark, directly west of Alvis and the Southern Asphodellian Pass, and another in Lackastel, in the Bay of Deng. Each is approximately 1,000 men strong, and commanded by a platoon of Hell Knights and their devil masters. More worrying, however, is a piece of news we've recently gotten out of Egorian. For the past few months, random people off the street have been going missing without any sort of explanation - and then, about a week ago, we received word that she had sealed off the city completely, and begun rounding up several of the members of the lesser noble houses and people off the streets by the dozens. We've received no news since then."

Christoph stepped forward. "With the capture and defeat of the assassins that attacked the Liberty Eagle, we have five days until Cheliax starts to suspect something is up. That time must be used wisely - and to that end, there are a few methods I can suggest for insertion."

"The first, and most versatile, is the use of Dopethrone and Greater Teleport. With this method, you could pretty much insert yourself anywhere you wanted to within the entirety of Cheliax."

"Minor caveat, man..." Dopethrone, having formerly been silent, spoke up from where he had been lounging in the corner, puffing a rather suspicious-looking cigarette. "Where I put them down, it can't be too close to a big city. The Chelaxians ward those things like nothing else."

"Alternatively, if you wanted to help me save some cash, you could simply go in overland via the abandoned trade routes west of Alvis and south of the Asphodell Mountains. This would send you right into the path of the last known location of the Chelaxian army, for good and for ill. Finally, if you wanted to make for Egorian or Westcrown, but without the risks inherent to teleportation, you could always take one of the magic-powered prototype longboats from the Liberty Eagle. It should only take two days to reach the latter and three the former."

"Of course, we leave your method of insertion - and the acceptance of the mission - up to you. Though for all our sakes, I hope you will."

[Nefarion Xid]

"Sure, so we just infiltrate the most powerful country on Golarion and somehow disperse or defeat an army that's already been levied and marshaled."

Stray chewed on his lip and gave the Supreme Elect an incredulous look.

"Hold my beer!"

He holds off Codwin and Christoph with his patented don't-interrupt-me-while-I'm-mocking-you look.

"Before I agree to Hell Knight assisted suicide, can we confer? Brainstorm a little? Ian, how many soldiers can you take in an open field? Because if it's four thousand, we're in business."

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"It might be four thousand, but the number drops the more caster support they have. It's been a while since I stress-tested this." Ian scratched. "Though... there's a way we can fight an army without actually fighting an army. There's always logistics to consider. There aren't enough veteran clerics in Avistan to keep an actual army fed purely on magic. Logistics is always a weak point when you get enough angry guys in armor in the same place for too long."

He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "But Cheliax has another enemy - themselves. When your country runs on slave labor, there's always a hostile force within your borders. Couple that with hilarious centralized bureaucracy, and you've got a system that's good at oppression, bad for rapid response. I vote we start hitting towns, farming communities, and other soft target suppliers while killing officials supporting the invasion whenever and wherever we find them. We should also get in touch with the Bellflower Network as soon as possible to see what the halflings can do for us." The mercenary dropped his relaxed posture, standing up straight as he pounded a fist into his other palm. "Cheliax won't attack if they're facing a domestic crisis or three. Although if you want to be really nasty, wait until they attack Andoran and then start these shenanigans, making it a war on two fronts that they can't just back down from. Andoran could milk a lot of concessions out of them before it's all over."

Some of those concessions, Ian knew, would have to involve the halflings. He'd promised Nova that he'd find a way to help, and he'd killed a lot of idiots to get this far, but when the offer went out to join the Trailblazers at the same time that Cheliax started saber rattling, the proverbial torch had lit in Ian's head, and the gamble had paid off. Some of his ambitions were loftier than diplomatic niceties, but... well, that could wait until the team was more committed.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Brigitte was silent for some time as she listened first to Stray, and then to Ian. At last, she spoke, "By towns and farming communities, you are not implying that we cause suffering to the innocent countryfolk in hopes that they leap into action against their oppressors, are you?" Adjusting her spectacles, she continued, "It is a common tendency of the oppressed to quietly tolerate extreme tyranny before they rise up against their oppressors. The agitation would need to be severe. And to what end? Fomenting a revolution? Do you intend to change the government of Cheliax this way? If that is your aim, you must be exceedingly careful about how you approach it. I have already lived through several revolutions in my homeland, and like wildfire, they can spin out of control very easily!" The Galtan looked closely at Ian for some sign of his intentions. "And if we do spark something of this kind, we are not assured that Cheliax will not march her armies home, crush the revolt, and come back to assault Andoran all the harder for these actions."

Brigitte cast a glance over at Codwin. "With the failure of the assassination plan, the Chelaxians will be forced to rethink their strategy. No doubt they were planning upon the turmoil following the assassination of the Supreme Elect to make invasion easier for them. They will know very soon that their plan has failed and put Andoran on guard against further attempts or invasion. This must be taken into consideration. Furthermore, this planning is on short notice, and - speaking for myself, at the very least - given to those not in the practice of agitating foreign countries. Perhaps if the Supreme Elect had something in mind?"

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

Ian shrugged. "There's suffering and then there's suffering. Revolution established the country we're currently protecting. If you think Order is worth protecting regardless of the cost, then Cheliax is currently attempting reunification, and I'm sure they think it's for the good of the common people." He shook his head. "Slavery is slavery, and it's worth fighting to get rid of it. If it spins out of control, so be it. Despite what you seem to think, the individual citizens of Cheliax, whether it's a Hellknight Commander or Farmer Jeb, are not harmless. They're propping up a system designed to expand, crush, and oppress whatever a powerful few think it's okay to take a big legal dump on."

Ian wiped off his sword and rewrapped it before slinging it over his back. "At any rate, I wasn't suggesting we go slaughtering people in the street, but you're dreaming if you think we're going to take apart an army without the civilians experiencing a few inconvenient disruptions to daily routine."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Taking Brigitte's cue, Codwin spoke once more.

"I cannot lie to you, Miss Lestrade - nothing would make me happier than to see the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune toppled. Naturally, there will be chaos then and afterwards - but I would hope that it is for the better. If it comes to it, while I won't condone any sort of annexation, I would like to send in peace-keeping forces and aid to help the metaphorical wound heal cleanly."

"As to the 'agitation' I do indeed have something in mind. From what our spies tell us, times have been hard recently for Cheliax. Apparently, two rebel groups have begun popping up intermittently around the country - one called the Silver Ravens, and another called the Glorious Reclamation. They've not done anything of particular note as of yet, but they've got Cheliax hot and bothered enough that they've been cracking down on anyone suspected of associating with them - and as it turns out, that counts for a lot. As a result, morale is low, particularly among the troops, who the Silver Ravens have apparently been trying to infiltrate - and it's gotten a lot of people hanged on suspicion of treason."

The Silver Ravens, as Stray, Brigitte, Kiriel, and Ian recalled, were a rebel group that had its roots in the initial takeover of Cheliax by House Thrune. An insurgent group composed of devotees of Desna, Milani, and Cayden Cailean, they were a major force during the Chelish Civil War and during the early days of Thrune's rule, but the vast majority of their number were put down in a culling in 4641, a year after Abrogail I was crowned. Since then, intermittent reports of activity has filtered through the more obscure rumor networks - in particular, in recent years they seem to be making something of a comeback. Oddly enough, according to what you've most recently heard, they've mostly been active around Kintargo, supposedly staying away from the heartland entirely.
"This, in effect, is the reason behind the increased Hellknight and devil presence in each battalion - they're trying to tighten their grips. But there's an old saying my father once told me: The more you tighten your grip on something, the more it slips through your fingers. So it is with each of them."

"We have informants in each camp - disgruntled soldiers and lieutenants who have choked under Hell's rule for far too long. Assuming you should decide to deal with either battalion, they will be your way in - and once you are in, there will be a number of ways to tackle the problem, as it were. Sabotage their stockpiles, their armaments, or take advantage of the natural resentment to shatter the army. Or, if you're looking for something straightforward, gain their support and take out the Hellknights and their outsider companions - cut off the head, and the snake dies."

"That said, however, what concerns me most is the news from Egorian. People disappearing is old news, but the numbers that have been reported - particularly among the nobility - have never been this high. On top of that, what you and Jamie have told us gives me reason to believe that this may be the beginning of something much more nefarious than any invasion ever could be. If it comes down to it, we can hold off an invasion by Cheliax - but if what they're planning in Hell's citadel on earth is allowed to come to fruition, I fear the whole world may tremble. Of course, cause a little chaos on the frontlines, and their eyes may well fail to notice something sneaking beneath the hems of their robes."

"As for why we're asking you first, rather than someone else? The simple answer is that there are precious few so skilled as yourselves within Andoran's borders, if at all. If there's anyone able to thrive under such a harsh task, it is you. Though, obviously, since you're not part of Andoran's military, I can't give you an actual order to do it."

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva, who had been gazing off into an indeterminate patch of shadows opposite Dopethrone's corner, finally looked up at the others. "All wonderful suggestions, of course, but are we even certain we're fighting a snake? Decapitating a certain few reptilian creatures may result in twice as much problems as before. Whether we opt for a more clandestine operation or not, we will have to deal with our lovely infernal friends. And if this is just a small piece in something much bigger, as you imply, I hardly doubt that we will be able to curtail the forces of Hell just by killing a handful of their members and associates on this plane."

The kayal drummed her fingers on the table. "Of course, if we do manage to turn their own--or who they claim as their own--against them, that would do a little to even the odds. We just cannot count on stopping their plans by disabling their currently visible forces and sneaking in some more of our own. Perhaps that would work for a while, but that won't help if they're thinking in decades." She shrugged. "Or perhaps I'm just reading too much into your implications of darker plans."

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet briefly frowned as she thought over the situation. "While I wouldn't say no to fighting hydras normally, I really don't like the idea of letting the assassins go free while we attempt to deal with the problem. They kill too many people, and take out the bad people, we'll just have a dead headless snake that the vultures start feeding on. I don't think we want that either.

[Nefarion Xid]

"I'm not convinced some rabble rousing and sabotage can divert an army that's already mustered and two day's march from the border."

Stray glanced sideways at Brigitte and Ian. "I'm afraid your revolution will have to wait a week or two. Dealing with the invasion force is a priority."

He plucked the wand from the loop inside his coat and used it to poke the map on the table.

"An army of that size will be forced to pass within a few miles of Fort Dawnstrike," he said as if this were new information to Codwin. "I'll use my lyre to construct additional ramparts and I'll order my Swan Maidens to reinforce the fortress -- they're deadly archers and they can fly. You should have enough time to move siege weapons there as well with Eagle Knights from Almas."

It was unlike Stray to resign himself to a battle.

"I ..." he rolled his eyes, resigning himself to the aforementioned suicide, "I can try to sow dissent in the army. The rest of Team Draco (are we married to that name?) may be able to eliminate some of their leadership. If we're extremely lucky, we can prevent them from marching to Dawnstrike, or at least weaken them. If a battle is inevitable, we can hold them from a defensive position. Conventional armies fare poorly against arcane might -- Lord Pun-Pun and Dopethrone can combat the main force while our team goes after their command and diabolical heavy-hitters."

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Brigitte started nodding as Stray spoke. "If we are reinforcing this Fort Dawnstrike, there are additional things we might do," she offered. "In addition to my talents with alchemy, I am a trained engineer. Once we reach the location, while Stray attends to building ramparts, perhaps I will take a detachment of soldiers and see what kind of surprises we can arrange for our uninvited Chelaxian guests. I will need my own copies of detailed maps of the area, including topography, and access to the site's geological data if available. Anything we can do to frustrate, separate, and cause trouble for our foes will be helpful. Pit-falls, rock-drops, and the like can go a long way toward shifting the balance of the battle in our favor. I also agree with eliminating any of the force's leadership we are able - anything we can do to sow discord in the enemy's ranks will be to our benefit."

Brigitte would like a Perception and Knowledge (Engineering) check when she gets on-site to see if there is any rock-fall, bridge destruction, etc., that she might arrange. She will spend 1 inspiration to take 20 on the knowledge check for a total result of 44 (plus her free 1d6).

[Lord Of Mantas]

Having been asked off-screen which priority he thought was more important, Codwin turned to Stray.

"It's a very tough call, because you could make a good argument for either, but in the end I think taking care of the battalions is the more important priority. Our most recent intelligence suggests they've merely turtled up for the time being, but orders change all the time. More importantly, they may well use them to sow chaos prior to announcing my 'kidnapping'." Codwin made air quotes as he said the last word. "They are going to be very, very angry after they discover their attempt failed, and this would keep them on the back foot. More importantly, it ensures that there is a minimal chance of them actually getting inside our borders - if that happens, anything else we try to do gets that much harder."

"As for the name Team Draco, people only started tossing that around recently, so if you wanted to pick something else, now would be the time before that name gets entrenched in their minds."

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray stood for a moment with his coat parted and his hands on his hips as he stared blankly at the map. "Sure," he said after some time, "But we need at least a substantial sum in advance for supplies."

He turned to Ian. "You any good with a longbow?"

Since the mention of Furies in the army's ranks, Stray had been grappling with how to deal with the winged archers. His own Swan Maidens weren't a match for the devils, nor was he. But, with a little cash, they could put an enchanted longbow in the mercenary's hands and declare open season on evil outsiders.

Stray uses Lore Master on Erinyes and Hamatula for a Knowledge (Planes) check of 33 each.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"Pretty good." Which was a bit of an understatement, and his tone made that clear. While it wasn't his specialty, his aim was superb, to say nothing of his natural reflexes and dexterity. "And a substantial sum is right, what with us doing... pretty much all the work normally carried out by an entire military."

He turned to Codwin. "If you want to privatize national defense, you're going to have to either pay for it or provide some support. Asking a team of mercenaries to protect your people for you doesn't strike me as very paladin-ish - not that we won't do it, of course, but you could at least do a better job supplying us."

[Nefarion Xid]

All smiles, Stray quickly added, "And make no mistake, we are capable of replacing the national army here. Same price, thousands fewer casualties."

"Plus," he continued with a distinctly Fey grin, "Word will spread that the Hellknights were foiled by a half dozen mercenaries and some fairies. That can't be good for morale. A military victory is good. Crushing embarrassment is better."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Codwin almost looked offended as he turned to Ian. "When did I ever say that I expected you to carry out the work of a full-blown army? And certainly not for free, or without support! I mean, I was just about to get to that part! Honestly, Mr. Derecho, you wound me."

Reaching into his desk, Codwin placed a certificate of credit on the table, and pushed it toward the group. "Good for 10,000 gold pieces, to start with, and unlimited access to our armories here in Augustana. And there's this." He placed a sack of coins on the table. "An additional 4,000 for each of you - your share of the payment for services rendered aboard the liberty eagle, plus a bonus for saving me from kidnapping."

"As for my actions not being those of a paladin: A paladin is responsible for protecting those who cannot protect themselves. By procuring the help of heroes - heroes who saved an entire ship from a dreaded scylla, who talked a red dragon demigod into going back to his own plane, who hunted down a dread necromancer and brought him to justice - I am doing just that. I would have to be daft not to procure the help of such powerful warriors. And you will have support wherever you go - from other spies if you choose to agitate the armies or go to Egorian, from the Andoran army and myself if you go to Dawnflower. I do not ask you to bear this weight alone. I ask you to help us carry it."

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet pumped her fist and jumped a bit. "Alright! A mighty few against an army, and they we fight the hydra kidnapping citizens!" Vylet suddenly turned towards the others of her group, realizing they might have different opinions. "Unless a few people want to take it on while we fight the army. I wouldn't mind taking on an army alone."

[skypse]

Kiriel sighed.

"Damn rebels. People without honor and concept of order in their minds and hearts. Silver Ravens; more like Silver Rats. Anyway, I wouldn't normally prefer to go face to face against an army but I'll stay with my family. Which by the way is named The Trailblazer's League. We don't have secondary teams or factions within the League."

As Codwin took out the credit certificates and talked about the team's payment Kiriel responded:

"Thank you for the extra gold. I agree that a paladin should not be full of himself and having the mental and psychological capacity to realize and admit that one's forces would not suffice, is a great token of wisdom, fit for a right leader."

[Nefarion Xid]

"Four thousand? Oh, lovely, I'll add a half bath to my guest suite," Stray exaggerated, but less than one might think. The magical fixtures in his castle would have cost him five hundred gold apiece if he'd hired some enterprising hedge mage.

"Pretend I'm greedy. Pretend." He looked sternly at Codwin. "I would say we'd be better off tracking down the lair of the legendary sea monster we killed to plunder her hoard. Shame she didn't have pockets."

He shot a finger into the air. "However, I can't really ignore an existential threat to the country. I'm on board. I can't speak for the League, but I will do what I can: starting with contacting Queen Syntira and honoring your alliance with the Fey. While the treaty only specifies that my people help defend the North against Chelish incursions, I will ask for volunteers, both from the Queen's court and my own."

Stray plucked the cheque from the desk and deposited in the inner breast pocket of his coat while glancing over to Christoph. With a subtle (but pleading) look he tried to remind the man that he was in charge to these misfits.

[Rysc]

Auva


"Pretend I'm greedy. Pretend." He looked sternly at Codwin. "I would say we'd be better off tracking down the lair of the legendary sea monster we killed to plunder her hoard. Shame she didn't have pockets."

Auva cupped her chin. "That does actually sound worthwhile. However, unlike the Cheliax situation, the hoard will not be going anywhere. Would-be-plunderers will not know that the scylla has been dispatched--" she coughed and eyed Codwin "--and I trust none of the crews is so adventurous and skilled enough to undertake such a quest." She shrugged. "A little possibility for later. Maybe Stray wil be able to afford a full bath in each of his guest suites then."

"And really, even if warding off threats to this country is a reward in itself, we can consider further... discussions after we have sufficiently dealt with said threats." She flashed a smile and added, "Not that, hypothetically, I would be averse to any positive changes. For now let us focus on the resources that His Excellency has so graciously provided for our aid, and figuring out how to most efficiently deal with our Chelish problems."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Codwin eyed Stray levelly, blinking once. "I think that dragon hoard may have skewed your perception of wealth a touch. Most people would retire to the tropics with that kind of money." He then turned to Auva. "That said, however, I can confirm that an additional payment for services rendered will be forthcoming upon the successful routing of the army."

"As for the Scylla's lair, everyone on the Liberty Eagle has been sworn to secrecy, and considering their reputation, even if they weren't, I highly doubt anyone else is going to beat you to its lair. In any case..."

Codwin rang a bell, and a man of seemingly Varisian stock in a Lieutenant's jacket strode through the door.

"You are hereby hired as Battlemasters, to aid in the defense of Fort Dawnflower as you deem fit. Lieutenant Garafallo will now escort you to the master armory. Iomedae go with you, Trailblazers."


***


As the massive doors creaked open, the sunlight shone upon the gleaming, glittering weapons and suits of armor, metal reflecting in the light and sending a marvelous chill down the Trailblazer's spines.

"Magnificent, are they not? Among the most powerful magical weapons and armor ever recovered are kept here, along with the odd wondrous item or two."

The lieutenant gestured inward.

"You may have your pick of any of these items. We do ask, however, that you do not simply cart off everything and sell it."

Sorry for the delay in posting! Heck of a time for my laptop to crash, huh?

Anyway, you may choose one of the following:

Two types of Weapons, imbued with whatever special abilities you like,
One type of Armor, also imbued with whatever special abilities you like,
And two different Wondrous Items, along with select wands or scrolls. The lieutenant will then attempt to fetch something that meets your specifications, along with any ammunition, if necessary.

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray folded his arms and smirked. "Yeah, magnificent. An army would be cheaper, but I suppose there is a certain grandeur in a vault full of magic items."

"This will go a lot quicker if you just start a pile with all your Holy and Evil Outsider Bane weapons. Human Bane if we need to murder a small army of Hellknights. Em, scrolls for Dismissal, Banishment, Dimensional Anchor, Eaglesoul. I mean, this is Andoran, don't you have some kind of standard issue devil hunting kit? In case of emergency, break glass to summon Talmandor?"

Casting Detect Magic on himself, Stray went to poke around the bows.

Looking for a +1 Composite (12 Str) Holy/Evil Outsider Bane/Both Shortbow and a scroll of Banishment for Pun-Pun.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Deciding to leave the weapon and wondrous item procurement to Stray, the investigator started making a list of scrolls and wands they might need. "Let me see now: Protection From Evil, Obscuring Mist, Remove Curse, and Remove Disease could all be useful."

[Lord Of Mantas]

"This will go a lot quicker if you just start a pile with all your Holy and Evil Outsider Bane weapons. Human Bane if we need to murder a small army of Hellknights. Em, scrolls for Dismissal, Banishment, Dimensional Anchor, Eaglesoul. I mean, this is Andoran, don't you have some kind of standard issue devil hunting kit? In case of emergency, break glass to summon Talmandor?"
"In point of fact, sir, we do have Standard Issue Devil Hunting Kits, but I can neither confirm nor deny that those get regularly plundered by spies and other subversive elements seeking to destabilize Cheliax, as well as Special Operative soldiers and paladins. Nor can I confirm or deny that the materials for the emergency summoning of Talmandor are located in Almas."

"As it happens, there is one particular weapon you mention that fits the criteria that I think you would be interested in - Azata's Sting."

Pulling a lever, an ornate marble pedestal emerged from the floor, a magnificently carved bow seemingly made of ivory, of all things, emerging from the floor. The handle was inlaid with gold filigree, and the string of mithril thread.

"An ancient gift from a Lyrakien to a paladin of supreme virtue 100 years ago, it was just recently refurbished. Not only is it magically enchanted, but it possesses both holy magic and wards to issue a bane against evil outsiders within its core."

I gave you a 5% chance to get a weapon with both qualities. You rolled a 2. What are the odds?
"As far as the scrolls you and your friend mentioned, I can get you all of them... save ones for Eaglesoul. Never at the end of the season, sadly."

They have...

2 Scrolls of Dismissal.
1 of Banishment.
1 of Dimensional Anchor.
4 of Protection from Evil.
4 of Obscuring Mist.
2 of Remove Curse,
and 2 of Remove Disease.

[Nefarion Xid]

Genuinely pleased and somewhat surprised, Stray took the bow and appraised it.

"I wish I could say I had a more clever plan, but until I get eyes on the Chelish forces I can only speculate. Another bow will solve the problem of the Furies as we can engage them directly. If we can eliminate any flying devils early, that leaves us largely with just conventional soldiers -- extremely susceptible to unconventional warfare like flying kobolds and fireballs. Guessing by the size of their army, I would bet half their number are conscripts. Even Hell Knights won't be able to keep discipline in the ranks if we attack them from the air."

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva looked mildly surprised as the lieutenant revealed the probably obscenely expensive bow. "I don't suppose you'd have, say, something like a gray Robe of the Archmagi lying around?" She took another look at the treasury. "Hm, maybe not. A strand of prayer beads would also be beneficial, though just the bead of karma could suffice."

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet clapped in glee. "A Robe of Archmages? I'd want one too! And maybe a Super-Sharp Holy Katana?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

Lieutenant Garafallo let out a small sigh. "The situation with the Robes of the Archmagi that we had is... a complicated one. Recently, there was an attempted heist on the armory, and a number of artifacts and weapons were made off with. We attempted to recover them, and succeeded partially, but one of the robbers got away with a few things. A strand of prayer beads was among them, as was a White Robe of the Archmagi and 10 Greater Slaying Arrows."

Leading them down another rack of shelves, Garafallo pulled another lever, unveiling a well-stitched grey mages robe with gold dragons embroidered into the body, and a snow-white katana with depictions of angels seemingly set into the blade. To the left of the grey robe, an empty coat rack, presumably for the white robe, stood.

"We do, however, still have a Gray Robe of the Archmagi, as well as this keen katana, forged by a far-off paladin of Shizuru - the legendary white blade, Kamisori."

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva broke into a slightly unsettling grin as the lieutenant revealed the robe. "Perfect. I am sorry to hear about the loss of the other items. What a shame." She sighed as she contemplated the empty rack, and filed away the lieutenant's report of theft for later. "Security does not seem to have been a strong poing with the, ah, higher-ups here. Excluding the national variety, of course."

[Nefarion Xid]

"What kind of s*** thief only steals a handful of items? Arrows, robes and a stand of prayer beads? That's the most schizophrenic shopping list I've ever heard of."

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/e/ears-of-the-city
Stray casts Ears of the City to search for information related to the theft.
[roll0]
4 rounds of archaeologist's luck used

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"These scrolls will do nicely." Brigitte smiled as she tucked them away. "Perhaps I should request additional equipment, though I am not sure it is my place to do so. On the other hand, you are placing much responsibility on a small group of adventurers. To that end, do you have any rapiers that would be more effective than mine, or perhaps an item I have heard of that mitigates the negative drawbacks of a mutagen?"

Not being picky here, and I don't want to ask for too much, although it's hard to gauge the challenge of what we will be facing. Brigitte currently has a +3 rapier, which is enough to get past a fair amount of DR. On the other hand, a +1 Holy Rapier would do more damage to evil things. The other item is the Vest of Stable Mutation.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"Actually, a composite longbow with Holy blessings and a bane enchantment against evil outsiders would be a pretty solid anti-air weapon for me, as well." Ian cast his gaze around the armory. "Barring that, any Mithral heavy blade, or any heavy blade or bow with a really powerful enhancement bonus might also work, and if I can throw the blade, even better. I'm not really interested in an armor upgrade unless you can improve on what I've got on now, but one of the fancy rings that lets me dodge fireballs would be nice, as would any permanent method of flight."

Ian is requesting, in game terms:
- A Composite (Strength Rating 2) Longbow (Darkwood?) with +1 (+3 preferred), Evil Outsider Bane, and Holy on it.
- His backup choice is a Heavy Blade (something from that fighter weapon group) made of Mithral and/or heavily enchanted enough to bypass Devil DR. As many Devils have DR/Good, this would mean +3 Evil Outsider Bane or +5. He'd also take a Bow with those properties. He favors greatswords.
- He sincerely doubts there's enough time to upgrade his armor, but if someone corrects him he'll listen to what's on offer.
- His the first of his two picks for Wondrous Item are a Ring of Evasion, a Ring of Deflection, an Amulet of Natural Armor, or a Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone. The Ring or Amulet would need to be at least +2 to be stronger than what he's currently wearing. His other pick is a permanent flight method, such as the smallest Flying Carpet.

I realize these are all fairly expensive, but Ian has most of the cheap things that make him good at fighting already.

[Lord Of Mantas]

The lieutenant listened carefully as Ian and Brigitte made their requests, then lead the party down a series of shelves, consulting a list and pulling items off of special racks as they went.

"For you, sir, I am afraid that we don't have much in the way of items that enable flight, nor an ioun stone or heavy bow that meets your exact specifications. We do, however, have a composite bow with your specified strength rating that is imbued with holy magic - as well as a mithril greatsword meeting the terms you describe."

Pulling yet another lever, a glimmering mithril greatsword as wide as a man was raised from a vault in the floor.

"Yleruld's Talon. Treat her well. We also have an amulet of natural armor and ring of evasion as per your request."

Composite +2 Str +1 Enhancement bonus Longbow with Holy on it.
+3 Mithril Holy Evil Outsider Bane Greatsword.
Ring of Evasion
Amulet of Natural Armor +2.
He then turned to Brigitte.

"As for you, madam, I have a vest that meets the specifications you describe, but no rapier like what you ask fo-"

All of a sudden, a *pomf* sound rang through the air, and in a flash of magic, a rapier appeared in Brigitte's hands. Rose-hued steel formed the blade, with gold flowers blossoming in the filigreed basket-hilt, and a large ruby at the center. A small note was attached to the hilt, sealed with was and addressed to Brigitte.

You recognize the sword as a copy of Luthier's Rapier (http://www.archivesofnethys.com/MagicWeaponsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Luthier%27s%20Ra pier), the magical weapon of one of Cayden Cailean's closest mortal allies.


Brigitte,

I see that the troubles have begun. You will need a proper weapon for the fight ahead. Take this with my blessing - and my affection.

And a little something for those cold nights.

-Cayden

At the bottom, Cayden appears to have made a rather detailed drawing of himself completely shirtless, with rather dangerously low-riding pants.
Finally, the lieutenant turned back to Stray.

"To answer your... question, he was caught in the act and dropped some items to try and get away, hence the random nature of the items. As to how they got in there in the first place, we're still investigating that - unfortunately, they left little in the way of clues."

"Well, there was that one thing - but we're still not having much luck with it."

Turning around, the party saw another person in a lieutenant's uniform.

"Garabaldi. Still no progress on the note?"

"Yeah. It's the darndest thing! It matches no ciphers that we no of, no known language. It's like nothing we've ever seen before." Garabaldi approached the party.

"Garafallo telling you about the heist, eh? Crazy piece of work, that - the way they got in here was so advanced, so stealthy, that I expect it will go down in the history books."

Firing up the spell, Stray was beset by a multitude of changing voices.

"Godsdamnit, I'm bored!"

"Yeah, this shift sucks. Who'd try to steal anything out of here? It's smack in the middle of one of the biggest forts in Andoran."

"Yeah... Who in their right mind would try anything like that. I bet if we were to run off to the pub, nobody would even-"

"Oh, dear! I seem to have ripped my dress, revealing a ripe pair of swelling, heaving bosoms! Will someone help me put them back in?"

"Come to papa!"
"Honestly, if Garafallo hadn't come by, they probably would have made off with everything."

"Hah! I can't believe those horndogs fell for the oldest trick in the book!"

"You said it, sister! Now all we have to do is stuff as much loot as we can into these bags, then get the hell out of here! We'll live like queens!"

"We still gonna go by sea?"

"Nah, too dangerous. I've got an overland route, out East near Fort-"

"What's going on here!?"

"S***! Run!"
"We caught one of the thieves, but it slipped and fell off a roof - currently in the care of the clerics to try and reverse the brain damage. The other one got away, but left this note, written in an indescipherable code."

Presenting the note to the party, the Trailblazers immediately spotted the problem.

He was holding it upside down.

[skypse]

Kiriel remained silent at the corner of the room, thinking of what he could use in the upcoming battle. The assassin was new to open field battles of that magnitude and even though his skills with the bow were close to excellent, for a close-combat expert such as himself at least, he didn't want to miss any good opportunities to take out someone or something crucial so he could disorganize the attack and give the edge to Andoran. He also knew that Pit Fiends where extremely dangerous opponents that even all 6 of them would have a really hard time killing, if they managed to kill it at all. He decided to take a chance to strengthen his defenses an be ready for any opportunity that might present itself. He stepped forward after the others took their items, only to see Brigitte receiving a rappier out of nowhere.

He thought to himself:

"Let's see if the Goddess of the Graves would like to help me a little more so that the dead and the spirits can't harm me that easily"


Then he moved near the lieutenant and said:

"I would like a shortbow with the holy enhancement, if you still have another that is and about 20 seeking arrows but the important part is that I would like to enhance my armor so that it would make it harder for attackers to penetrate me with magic attacks like rays and touches."


I have no idea what to grab and every item that I might wanted is either too expensive or not so useful for the upcoming battle. Spell resistance is ridiculously expensive so I guess I'll go for a ghost touch enhancement on the celestial armor. So to recap:
1 Shortbow +1 Holy.
Ghost Touch on the armor. May Pharasma and the Gods of the Dice help me.

[Lord Of Mantas]

"Well, let's see if we can't-"


***szzzzzzt-blooooakraboom!***


A crashing tidal wave of reality distortion rippled through the material plane as the universe righted itself from the blip that had occurred in its fabric. The warehouse-like armory, with its racks of basic enchanted armor and weapons, lockboxes of rings and magic items, and floor-based vaults for particularly valuable artifacts, formerly austere and grey with laterns hanging from the cielings, now was lit up with the autumn sun.

This was primarily on account of the huge, gaping hole in the wall, around which heavily armed Eagle Knights stood guard as lower-ranking soldiers worked steadily, taking measurements and evaluating the damage.

Garafallo and Garabaldi, in the meantime, clutched their heads, looking slightly pained.

"You alright, Garafallo?"

"Yeah. I just had this strange, strange premonition. I imagined that it was an alternate timeline, where the attack on the vault succeeded basically because it was being guarded by a bunch of underpaid, horny idiots, and that you were so stupid you couldn't realize you were holding a crucial piece of evidence upside down."

"...I think you've been reading a few too many subpar screwball copper dreadfuls."

"It's not my fault that's all the corner store near my house sells."

"Because as we all know, walking an extra 4 blocks is completely out of the question."

Deciding he wasn't likely to win that conversation anytime soon, Garafallo turned to "Jamie".

"If you want an upgrade like that for your armor, you'd be better off tracking down Magister Heldrax. Ex-Pathfinder (if you can stomach that), retired adventurer, expert craftsman. Responsible for tracking down a lot of the more powerful items we have stored here, as well as creating a good portion of the more basic stuff. He lives in a tower in the forest north of Augustana, about half a day's travel away."

"We do have a shortbow of the description you asked for, however, along with... 14 Seeking Arrows."

Focusing his mind on the spell, Stray began sifting through the cacophony of voices, stitching them as best he could into a coherent narrative.

"Man down! Man down!"

"Sniper on the walls! Sound the alarm!"

An alarm, dutifully, blared, off in the distance.

"There are more of them! We need every available unit up there now!"

"We're out of alchemist's fire!"

"I think there's some in the vault! I'm going in - Who goes there!?"

Stray heard the far-off, but unmistakeable alarm of a thief who had been discovered.

"Back to the vault! It's a diversion!"

"Hah! Take that! Your illusions have no effect on - GET DOWN!"

The distant sound of an explosion.

"Pursue! Pursue!"

"I've got the other ones! You go after the wizard!"

The rest of the narrative drew to a close as the voices of guards past focused on tying up and escorting away the other prisoners who had presumably been captured in the raid.

His spell ended, Stray then set about scanning for valuable rings to steal. Eventually, his eyes set upon a rather strong ring sitting inside a box - a ring of X-ray vision (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/rings/ring-of-x-ray-vision), or so his spellcraft told him.

"Alright! Have we missed anyone?"

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray regarded the box suspiciously out of the corner of his eye, quickly searching for the telltale signs of traps or symbols. Now preoccupied by thoughts of larceny, Stray watched their attache and waited for him to blink. With a polite smile and a hand behind his back, he silently cast Pilfering Hand to simply deposit the ring, lockbox and all, swiftly into the waiting mouth of his haversack.

After absconding with the ring, he repeats the trick on the guard's keys out of criminal curiosity.

Stray preemptively casts Glibness.
[roll0] to notice he cast a spell
[roll1] Perception to check for traps
[roll2] to notice he cast Pilfering Hand
[roll3] the sleight of hand check to steal the ring
[roll4] second spell
[roll5] stealing the keys
Archaeologist's Luck 14/20

"Oh, I think you've been very helpful. Em ... what did you say your name was again?"

[skypse]

"So a full day to go and return here. Are there any teleport scrolls available so I can speed this up? One would suffice, just to get me there. I'll return on my own. Also, how sure are we that this *Kiriel spits a little* Pathfinder will co-operate and just upgrade my armor? Is he aware of the deal you made for us?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

"Lieutenant Jean Garofallo, at your service, Your Excellency." The lieutenant bowed to Stray, oblivious to his attempts to nick off with the keys and ring, then turned to Kiriel. "We have two scrolls of teleport, actually, so there's that. As far as Magister Heldrax, he has no inkling of this, but then again, he's no Pathfinder - he just worked with them in the past once or twice. Lot of mercenaries and adventurers do the same thing. He's a reasonably agreeable sort, doesn't charge much beyond the crafting costs - or you can always do it as a 'favor for a favor' kind of deal. He has a reputation for making those."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I do need to get back on the case of the Archmage's robe thief. Still only one lead at present..." The lieutenant shook his head.

You spot Stray steal the lieutenant's keys.
What would you like to do now?

[Nefarion Xid]

Nearly pleased with himself, Stray brushes past the Lieutenant and casually deposits his keys in his pocket, or on the opposite side of his belt.

"Your Grace," he corrected, bending at the waist to examine the floor, looking for the nearly imperceptible tracks of the thief on the stone floor. "No offense, really! I don't much care, but it's just that my stationary says "His Grace" and I'd hate to have to have to order more."

Turning to his cohort, Stray commanded. "Lord Pun-Pun, arrange a teleport with Dopethrone, please. Back to the castle to collect our archers."

[roll0] sleight of hand to deposit the keys
[roll1] Perception vs Tracks
[roll2] Perception vs Tracks second round!
Arch Luck used, 13/20 left

While stooping, Stray cleaned up Kiriel's spit with Prestidigitation. "I don't think you have time to get your armor enchanted, Jamie. That will take days and we'll need to act fast if we want to really take their leaders by surprise. I think Pun-Pun can manage that enchantment anyway."

[skypse]

Kiriel turns to Stray


"How many days do we have until the siege? Maybe he is one of those specialized in crafting wizards and can speed things up a bit. Or maybe he has an apprentice or two to help him. In any case, since the teleport scrolls are here, I might as well use them. It's not like I have anything to lose after all. I can teleport to the siege place and meet with you there directly. What do you think?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

You recall from the earlier briefing that it was estimated that the Chelaxian army would strike in about 5 days.

[Nefarion Xid]

"I don't intend for there to be a siege," Stray said curtly. "I'm planning for one, but only as a contingency. If we do our job and do it swiftly, we will remove the army's leadership and dismantle their ability to lay siege."

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet eagerly took her Katana and swung it around, getting used to the new weight and grip. Hearing the mention of the robe stealers, she turned to the Lieutenant. "If I find the thief, can I have the robe?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

The lieutenant looked quite surprised at Vylet's statement, but after a brief moment of consideration nodded. "If you can catch him-slash-her, then by all means you are quite welcome - but it won't be easy. We tracked the thief for a brief period after it escaped and left the rest of its fellows, but we lost it at the north end of the city. Undoubtedly a magic user, far as we can tell, but not much else. Thankfully it only got away with the robe."

He then turned to Stray. "And a thousand pardons, Your Grace. As you can tell, I'm used to dealing with the Supreme Elect on these matters."

Another aspect of the retcon - the thief only got away with the one item, rather than several.

I currently have Stray scheduled to teleport back to his palace with Dopethrone. Anyone else who wants to come may, those who wish to do something else should lock down their actions by the end of the day.
To Stray's eyes, the tracks looked clear as day upon the floor - no more than a day and a half old. Scurrying across the floor and toward the large hole in the wall being repaired by the Andoran army, they indeed checked out with Garofallo's story.

Stray also found out a few more things - the thief had been small, either a woman or a very slimly built man, and humanoid in nature by the look of the boot prints. And there, tucked away in the corner, was a small piece of fabric and a strand of hair - from the thief, perhaps?

[Nefarion Xid]

Scurrying across the floor, Stray gathered up the hair and fabric. While scanning for what in the room could have snagged the thief's clothing he carefully examines the hair, sniffs and even tastes it. He repeats the behavior with the fabric, trying to parse out any telltale scents that would give away a particular part of the city. Perfume? Tobacco smoke? Fish? Salt?

At the same time he wracks his brain for any rumors about a thief with long blonde hair and arcane powers.


[roll0] Perception
[roll1] Local Knowledge
Luck 12/20
If he recalls nothing, he casts Ears of the City again. +29 perception check 11 times to Gather Info about people matching the description.

After, he stooped to measure the size of Brigitte's shoe and then compare the hair's length and color to hers while squinting accusingly.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"Ah, Stray!" the Galtan replied with a sly smile, "the amusement of you casting a glance like that my way here and now is great." Brigitte had remained silent as Stray worked his sleight of hand, quietly amused at his antics. She shook her head and laughed, "I was not the thief. Surely you know me well enough by now that you can be sure that if I were to plan such a heist, I would be far more careful about leaving evidence behind, no?"

[Nefarion Xid]

"Of course not. I know where you were 36 hours ago. I'm just not convinced that's your natural hair color."

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Brigitte smirked at Stray. "You are welcome to inspect the roots, although I cannot say what a certain acquaintance of mine may say or do if he observed you running your hands through my hair."

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"That is a lot of hardware." Ian nodded as he examined the Andoran findings. "I have just one more thing to ask. A message I'd like to send to someone that might get us more information. You'd likely need magical means to make it happen, though."

The message is to Novaya Zemlaya, Halfling Swashbuckler, longtime flame of Ian's, and bigwig in the Bellflower Network mentioned in his background. Ian hasn't heard anyone mention them yet, so he's hoping to get some better numbers for who and what is coming at them - and to say that he might be coming soon to a Cheliax near her.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Garofallo turned to Ian. "We do have a couple scrolls of Sending."

"And I've got the skills to use 'em, man."

As Dopethrone appeared behind the group, Garofallo recoiled visibly, pinching his nose in a largely futile effort to block out the Electric Wizard's natural musk.

"Sweet Iomedae, is that you, man!? You smell like a rat that's been dead for a week!"

"Nah, man, it was only dead for two days before I found it. Besides, this is some prime quality dirt on here! I know farms who'd by this for a mint."

As Dopethrone duly brushed off a good handful of caked-on dirt/filth, Garofallo visibly turned pale green and promptly excused himself. The Electric Wizard then turned to Ian.

"Y'wanna take care of this now, dude, or wait for Fort Dawnstrike?"

In either case, feel free to begin your message.
After Ian had given his answer (and acted accordingly), Dopethrone motioned over Stray, Ian, Vylet, Brigitte, and Auva.

<GREATER TELEPORT!>


Everyone but "Jamie"

As the party prepared to teleport back to Stray's home on Celonechor, the Fey Prince thought hard on the evidence. He had, in recent months, heard of a thief that vaguely fit some of the criteria. No-one had as of yet seen or identified her, but the Mystic Moonlighter (as the press had rather unimaginatively named the thief) had struck at three other collections of magical artifacts in the past half-year. Identified only as a mage of some sort, likely female from the build, there were three clues pointing to the fact it was the same person. The first was that the thief tended to have a predilection for robes of various kinds. Second, as Stray had found, the thief was blonde. And third, the exit strategy of choice when cornered seemed to be the Fireball spell.

The fabric appeared to be a luxurious black silk that smelled rather heavily of perfume. A higher-class sort of thief, perhaps?

"Thank you very much, Your Grace. We will put this to good use." Still slightly green, Garofallo departed to share this information with the proper authorities as Stray and Pun-Pun vanished in a flash of magic.

Popping back into existence, Stray and the party found themselves in a rather lush part of the north of Celonechor, at the edge of a small inlet where his cadre of Swan Maidens liked to gather to bathe. Several of them, in their trumpeter swan forms, swam there now, bobbing their heads beneath the water as they feasted upon the rich fish offered by the river. One of them, spotting Stray, paddled toward the shore before changing shape into her statuesque human form, draped by a toga of swan feathers. Bowing low, she spoke to Stray in their native Sylvan.

"<Greetings, Your Grace. What is thy bidding?>"


"Jamie" (Kiriel)

Materializing several tens of miles away, Jamie found himself standing in the middle of a forest clearing, a rather rickety-looking stone tower right out of a children's storybook staring him in the face. Crooked and made of granite, colored smoke billowed out its windows, a fountain standing at the base with a deerchaser, of all things, located nearby, the calming donk sound echoing through the clearing.

Approaching the door at the bottom, Kiriel noted that in the center was a brass lion for a knocker - a lion with its eyes closed. For a second, he thought he saw it twitch, as if it were dreaming.

[Nefarion Xid]

Before departing ...

Stray passed the silk and the hair carefully to the Lieutenant and shared all he'd learned. "Show this to your superior and say you found it. Get yourself a promotion!" he whispered. "I doubt our thief is still in the city, but you might see if something or someone can sniff out that tacky perfume. You keep a few lycanthropes in the army, don't you Lieutenant?"

Teleported to the Silver Isle ...

Stray bowed his head to the Swan Maiden and continued speaking in Sylvan, heedless of his guests.

<"Chelish forces have gathered on the south western border. There's a chance they may march on Fort Dawnstrike within the week. We intend to preempt this invasion, but I've come to request volunteers for the defense if it comes to a battle.">

He raised his voice slightly, confident that there were eavesdropping pixies though he hadn't bothered to scan the trees.

<"Their force is four thousand strong with Hellknights and Furies. The Andoran army may only be able to field two thousand at best and the fortress is small. If my team is successful in dealing with the Furies, your sisters will prove ... efficacious against conventional infantry. The humans will be in our debt."> He smiles knowingly.

<"Ask for volunteers from your sisters and the pixies. I oblige none of you to join me. Those who chose to fight should meet me at Fort Dawnstrike four days from now.">

Dismissing the Swan Maiden, he turned to his companions with a big grin. "Would anyone be interested in touring the castle before we depart?"

[skypse]

Kiriel takes a look at his surroundings, trying to figure out where he is since he didn't get a map or anything like that from the lieutenant. His eyes caught what looked like a movement from the doorknob.

"Well, he IS supposed to be a great wizard and great wizards ARE known for the extremely cautious measures they take for their safety. Let's just hope that I haven't ended up in a madman's tower and that I actually am at the correct place."

He quietly approached the door, and placed his palm on it, trying to see what's behind the wooden gate.

Stealth to go near the door: [roll0]
Use Gloves of Reconnaissance on the door to see behind it.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Everyone but "Jamie"

The swan maiden's statuesque face took on a look of concern as Stray continued speaking, and she raised her hand to her chin as she stood deep in thought. The others, still in swan form, also approached, their curiosity piqued.

After about a minute or so, she bowed once again.

<"You will have our bows, Dear Prince, of that make no mistake. Where you go, there we follow.">

After bowing low, she returned to her sisters, talking to them animatedly as (barring anyone taking up Stray on his offer to tour the castle) Dopethrone once more cast Greater Teleport, whisking them away to Fort Dawnstrike.


***


Thanks to the miniature escutcheon Codwin had given them as proof of their mission, getting in to see the commander of the fort - one Captain Helrache - had been a simple matter. Much like they had been doing in Codwin's office, they now sat looking at each other across a war table, miniature pins stuck here and there in the parchment and lists of supplies and troop logistics piled high and haphazard.

Of course, the way in wasn't entirely without wait, and Dopethrone and Ian proceeded to make ample use of their ten minutes, the Sending spell promptly beaming a reply back to Ian's brain.

"Two thousand men, fifty hell knights, twenty-five devils. Twelve barbed devils, ten furies, three faceless. Cave in northern foothills for flank. You're buying."

"Thanks in no small part to His Excellency's sudden generosity with troops and supplies several months back, we're fairly well-fortified here. Walls are reinforced and polished to a sheen, enough cannons and trebuchets to devastate a midsized metropolis, and men drilled until they can't see straight. So at this point..." Helrache looked toward the Trailblazers. "We've mostly been working on securing the area around the fort, preventing advance scouts or spies from sneaking their way in."

"At this point, from what our spies tell us - along with a note or two from the Bellflower Network, of all things - the battalion at Lackastel is making its way toward the one in Brastlewark, where they'll link up before their planned assault. In the meantime, they've been sending saboteurs disguised as independent mercenaries to try and weaken the fort. They've been unsuccessful so far, but we've yet to definitively track down their staging area. Best we can tell, it's somewhere in the Asphodel foothills, off to the north - and believe me when I say there are a lot of potential hidey-holes in that region.


Jamie


Carefully approaching the door, the seemingly sentient door knocker continued to snooze, heedless of the approaching Trailblazer.

The magister, however, was not, as peeking through the door, Kiriel spotted an old man with a very large white beard, dressed in what appeared to be a bathrobe and fuzzy duck slippers, make his way toward the door, wand brandished.

"I done tell yeh childrens, I don't deliver pizzas or want no gosh-darned cookies! Get off m' lawn, yeh darn scallawags!"

Kiriel instantly sensed that the wizard appeared to be deliberately faking senility. Attempting to gauge a prospective opponent or lull him into a false sense of security, perhaps?

[skypse]

Kiriel takes a step back from the door and replies in a clear voice.

"Apologies for the interruption my lord! I believe you are mistaken, I bear no pizza or cookies and I am no child. My name is Jamie and I am here on a mission from Lord Codwin. Would you be so kind as to open the gate and let me in so we can discuss?"

[Nefarion Xid]

Before even acknowledging Captain Helrache, Stray cast See Invisibility on himself and scanned corners as they were escorted to the office.

"Are you confident you've rebuffed all of Cheliax's spies? They're not known to play fair."

He continued to search the room, Azata's Sting in hand.

"Because if I were an evil mastermind, I would send a handful of easily discovered human spies to lure you into a false sense of security ... and then send invisible imps."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Everybody but Jamie

Helrache frowned as Stray outlined a prospective method of attack by Cheliax. "This particular room, and a few others of particular importance within the fort, are warded by a permanent alarm spell. But we can't ward every place like that... so it is entirely possible that scenario could occur."

Stray, for his part, did not see anyone invisible inside the room.


"Jamie"

*later today*

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"A whole alarm spell?" Ian snorted. "Does Andoran just not have spellcasters? How do you keep your leaders and commanders from getting possessed or dominated? Who checks for shapeshifters and invisible opponents? How do you counter flying enemies and keep the rest from summoning reinforcements? Andoran beat Cheliax before, at least enough to gain independence." He waved his hand airly. "You're up against evil extraplanar reality warpers and the guys crazy enough to call them. Cannons and trebuchets are not going to cut it."

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"What have you done for outer defenses?" Brigitte asked. She had followed behind the others, eyeing the defenses with deep misgivings. "Surely you are not waiting for them to breach the fortress before fighting? Pit traps, rock falls, bridges that may be collapsed at a moment's notice, and other similar contingencies? Things that will not fool a determined enemy, particularly if capable of flight, but would be serious setbacks to the normal soldiers trying to march in."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Helrache turned to Ian and massaged his head.

"We're not complete greenhorns, Mr. Derecho. The whole fort is warded with anti-teleportation magic. As for the spellcasters..." A rather resigned look came upon his face. "I won't say that Andoran has no spellcasters. But very few of them are willing to enlist in the army, and those that do who reach high enough levels to be of much use on the frontlines are most often called back to higher-priority cities such as Augustana or Almas, as much to guard those targets as to provide training. So finding enough to guard this fort has been... an issue. Not impossible, mind, but we have fewer on staff than I would like. Mostly I'm thankful we have any at all - and I have no illusions that this, as much as anything, is why Codwin sent you our way."

"So, yes, we have magic up so people can't just pop in uninvited, and our officers have charms and rings to help guard their minds from intrusion - but anticipating and heading off every possible avenue has been a very tall order."

He then turned to Brigitte.

"As for the more mundane things you mention, however, we do have plenty of those. The river nearby is reasonably shallow, so there are only two bridges, but we do have contingencies in place to blow them. However, we only really anticipate this being an issue for any siege engines they bring. However, pit traps and rock falls are out in force, as is oil for when they inevitably hit the walls. And of course, our spies have their own nasty surprises for them as they get closer and closer... But speaking of pitfalls, let me give you this map. You'll need it to avoid the biggest danger zones."


"Jamie"

The wizard stopped and blinked, clearly taken aback by Jamie's words. Though he did not relax entirely, he began looking less hostile and more contemplative. When he next spoke, it was in a normal voice, a baritone.

"Codwin? What on earth does the Andoran government want with me? I thought our deal had expired."

A moment passed.

"Come on in. We should discuss this face to face. But I warn you, one wrong move and you're spending the rest of your life as a particularly exotic species of newt."

Opening the door to his tower, the Magister ushered Kiriel to a mildly dusty common room, the interior decked to the brim with rather ornately carved furniture with cushions of crushed red velvet.

"Now, exactly what is it that has had you search me out, of all people?"

[skypse]

Kiriel walked in the room and when addressed by the wizard he took a bow and began speaking.

"Given the chance for a formal introduction, my name is Jamie and I am one of the original founders of the Trailblazer's League of Cristoph Carloman. The League is a strong organization that helps people and we recently got rid of a Dragon Demigod that was called forth from a cult and tried to destroy the material plane. We are employed by the government of Andoran to help defend against an upcoming attack from Cheliax that is part of a far bigger plan regarding some Gods wanting to take over Golarion and who knows what else. I, personally asked for a specialized enough wizard that can enhance my armor with what is known as the "ghost touch" ability and lieutenant Jean Garofallo instructed me that you are the only one who might be able to help me in Andoran. He spoke very highly of your skills and past contribution.
The Chelaxian forces are four thousand strong, including Hellknights, Furies and who knows what else and they are marching towards Fort Dawnstrike. The Andoran army and The League will be there to meet them and defend and all this is going to take place in five days from now. I have 1 more scroll of teleport so I can spend all 5 days here if you need me and if you are in fact able of enhancing my armor. I have 6.000 worth of gold on myself, but if this is not enough for your payment, I hear you are the kind of man who likes to pay with favors and I respect and like that.
So, what do you think Great Magister Heldrax? Will you honor an adventurer, the Andoran government, Andoran and the whole Golarion continent itself with your services for one more time?"

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[Nefarion Xid]

"There, you see, their security is nearly as good as mine. Eh, minus the small army of dangerous ladies," he said aside to Ian. Of course, he was lying. Apart from an immensely heavy front door, there wasn't so much as a lock in his entire castle. Apart from the handsome darkwood furniture, there wasn't anything of value either.

"Which reminds me, said army of dangerous ladies is on its way here. The Swan Maidens and Pixies have agreed to aid in the fortresses' defense." Stray smiled, rapping his knuckles on Helrache's desk.

"If we're successful there won't be any need for intervening traps. Fighting a battle is Plan B here. We'll teleport there tonight, do some reconnaissance and be back before morning. The following night, we'll sabotage their siege weapons and target leadership. Night three? Pandemonium and devil hunting. I don't relish the notion of violence, but a few indiscriminate Fireballs in their camp will throw them into complete chaos. We'll knock them so off-balance they won't be able to march, let alone wage war."

Stray was cold, uncharacteristically mirthless now. He paused and sighed. "Captain, this army, while a legitimate threat to the border, is a feint. Egorian could sneeze out an army ten times this size on short notice. What do you think they mean to accomplish with this stunt?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray, Brigitte, Auva, Vylet, and Ian

Helrache furrowed his brow as he considered Stray's statement. "I've been wondering that, myself - the army is substantial, no doubt, but it would be inadequate for a complete takeover of Andoran. The first possible explanation, and perhaps the more obvious, is that they may simply want to test the border strength of Andoran before committing to a full-scale assault. But, in my opinion, the more likely is that they're trying to draw attention to it rather than, say, something else going on in Cheliax. Our spies from Egorian... Codwin may have already told you this, but there have been an alarming number of people going missing there. A lot of them have requested to bugger out and follow the army - ostensibly to evaluate the threat it poses, but I'm sure that the increased Hellknight scrutiny within the city is partly to blame as well. Hard to do your job when, if their attempts at poetry are to be believed, they've got a fiend and fighter/on every corner."


"Jamie"

Taking out a pipe and lighting it, Magister Heldrax listened attentively to Kiriel as he made his request, puffing on it idly. Finally, as the former red mantis finished, he took a particularly long drag and blew a rather ornate cloud of smoke, a small fleet of ships passing through a ring he had blown earlier.

"So... Cheliax is finally making another swipe at Andoran, is it? I'm surprised this didn't come about sooner, to be honest."

"Anyway. Ghost touch. Very useful enchantment, not often seen due to the sheer expense of it, to say nothing of the time consumption. But, as it happens, I pride myself-" Magister Heldrax stood up and cracked his neck. "On my abilities in that regard. And, more importantly, I have help."

He snapped his fingers. Steps came from the top of the stairs, and through the door came five beings in total - a young half-elf, who was dressed in a chemical-stained smock and had dark brown hair, an orangutan, who was dressed in wizard's robes and a pair of half-moon spectacles, and three tiny clockwork ravens, who promptled nestled upon the shoulders of the other three.

"Jamie, meet Leonard -" he pointed to the half-elf, "And Maktaba." He then pointed to the Orangutan. "My assistants, and great craftsmen in their own right. Ordinarily, enchanting a set of armor such as yours would take a whole nine days. We can do it in one and a half. But for this, I will ask a favor, as you mentioned earlier."

"Tell me, Jamie - have you ever heard of the substance iridium? It is a rather interesting metal, to be sure, and very rare. I have, as of late, been attempting to collect samples of it, as I believe that it could hold the key to granting me the power I need to develop a spell that would allow for decreased time in crafting wondrous and magical items. My condition for enchanting your armor, then, is this. I have no doubt that you will be soon heading into Cheliax, and I have reason to believe that the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune keeps some samples of iridium in the town of Brastlewark, near the Andoran Border. Obtain these samples for me for my own research, and I will enchant your armor for a mere 1,000 - and lend my aid to the defense of the border, should it come to that."

[skypse]

Kiriel took a deep bow after the introductions.

"Very nice to meet you craftsmen! My name is Jamie." He said smiling.

Listening to the wizard's conditions, a big grin was painted on Kiriel's face.

"Well, funny that you would need something that special although fully understandable. You see, I also happen to have some attached strings to some old acquaintances of mine, the very curious and full-of-information type."

Kiriel started walking around the room, his sight wondering around the dusty walls and furniture.

"These acquaintances, have proven useful in the past with their knowledge and sources on numerous different occasions. What would you say if I was able to deliver to you a much larger quantity of that iridium not only from the town of Brastlewark, but from other places as well? Noone will know you asked for it so there is no danger that a competitor of yours could perform more experiments and draw conclusions faster than you. It might take some time, and for sure it will start after the whole Cheliax invasion thing is over, but I am sure we can start building a strong relationship. Your expertise and skills as well as those of your friends here, can prove very useful to my organization. We are Pathfinders, we keep our promises without tricks."

He sat on a chair.

"Now that been said, I'll let you sleep over it and think about it. Meanwhile, I'm at your service so if you have any ways of precisely teleporting me to Brastlewark so I can fetch you the first samples or if you need anything else from me, don't hesitate to ask. I have 1 teleport scroll on me and I'll use it to get to Fort Dawnstrike as soon as my armor is ready."

[Lord Of Mantas]

"Jamie"

"Excellent! Let's get started-"

***szzzzt-blorp!***


But all of a sudden, as a ripple in the fabric of reality caught up with them once more, Kiriel found himself with the rest of the party, where he had been all along. He also found that he was absent a couple of teleport scrolls.

Wait, he had never had the scrolls at all, come to think of it. And he certainly hadn't gone gallivanting across the countryside for an armor enchantment that hadn't done what he or the grand tapestry weaver of the universe thought it did.

That would just be silly.

Helrache cleared his throat.

"Anyway... I suggest all of you get some rest. You're going to need it."



*** Later that night... ***


A flash of magic briefly pierced the darkness of the night sky from behind a hilltop about 5 miles away from Brastlewark, the people there keeping low to the ground as they crept toward the small town. Even from a distance it bustled, lights blazing from the windows of its many spires and sparks of color dancing in the sky - a little rainbow pinwheel with a canvas tumor on the outskirts, torches and fires illuminating the makeshift camp of the Chelaxian army.

The camp was arranged much like an onion, with the tents of the enlisted men in nested layers around a group of larger tents that could only belong to the men/women in charge. At the perimeter, siege towers apparently acted as makeshift lookouts, torchlight dancing on the edges of their vision.
Brastlewark is known, amongst other things, for being the largest settlement of gnomes in all of Avistan, perhaps even the entire world. Because of this high concentration of gnomes, the look of the city is constantly changing, and explosions/fireworks/reconstruction are common. It is also home to an unusually high concentration of bards, wizards, and alchemists.

[Nefarion Xid]

Prior to leaving, Stray empties the contents of his Bag of Holding and takes only his empty Bag (and not the Handy Haversack).

"Right. Sabotage only tonight. We're here to take away their ability to fight, not fight them ourselves. Agreed?" Stray said while scanning the skies for paroling Furies. He continued as if they hadn't discussed the plan in detail previously.

"Pun-Pun, stay with Dopethrone; stay hidden in the brush. Jamie, Lestrade, I'd like for you to target their siege weapons and wagons. You know the drill. Auva? Spot for me and let me borrow our bag. You're my distraction if I things literally go to hell." Stray had the brilliant idea of simply sacking the armory and leaving the Hellknights weaponless (or at least several hundred of them).

"Ian, Vylet? Stay with Dopethrone and look menacing and pretty. Feel free to decide who gets which job."

[Estralita]

Vylet

Vylet had stayed quiet through most of the introductions and sharing of information. She was new after all, and contented herself with imagining how her new katana would perform, and deciding what spells she would make the best use of it. Prince Stray's instructions brought her back to earth. "What? But I want to help! And use my new katana!" She blurted out, before realizing herself and blushing. "Nevermind, I'll stay here." She whispered.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"I find no fault with the plan," Brigitte remarked matter-of-factly.

"A capital plan, Lord Stray! Capital indeed!" Hastings sung Stray's praises loudly. "But what part do you wish me to play, my lord?"

"Shush, Hastings," Brigitte warned, clearly not in the mood for her hat's antics. She knelt in front of Pun-pun, dug in her bag, and pulled out a pair of scrolls. "Pun-Pun, these are scrolls of Dismissal. We obtained them from the Andorans, and I expect you to use them at Stray's discretion." Turning to Ian, Brigitte handed him a trio of extracts. "These may come in handy."

Brigitte gives Ian Extracts of Fly, Haste, and Heroism.
Also, I have a Quickrunner's Shirt up for grabs if anyone wants it.

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva nodded, her form barely visible in the dark. "If it makes you feel better, Miss Vylet, you have an equally important job and are doing a great deal of helping out. I would hardly want to have to walk back to the fort after all, much less spend the next few days as a Chelish prisoner. Plus, you'll get to look menacing." As she spoke, she handed her (definitely empty) bag of holding to Stray.

After a few moments of rearranging equipment, she chanted and lightly tapped several of the party members in succession. "It will be extremely handy to be able to see, I assume."

Casting Darkvision on anyone who doesn't have it, which I think is Brigitte, Ian, and Stray. Also giving her presumably previously emptied Bag of Holding to Stray.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"Got it." Ian nodded decisively, adding a winning smile that might have meant something were he not standing in the same zip code as Stray. "I'll look my best and work on a line that will convince the legions of Hell to spare us, or at least fight me one at a time. Should I appeal to their sense of mercy, decency, or fair play?"

[Nefarion Xid]

"Whatever shooting them in the throat counts as," Stray answered before turning back to regard the camp and the town beyond.

He coughed, slightly embarrassed. "Addendum: hunker down and wait appreciably closer to our objective so we don't have to run five miles. Talk and walk!"

Stray casts See Invisibility, duration is 110 minutes. He casts Heroism on Brigitte and Kiriel (also 110 minutes). He'll stay slightly ahead of the party and scout for traps and patrols, flying 30 feet off the ground. Stray's stealth bonus is +20 in plain sight, even if the observer can see in the dark or has True Seeing.

[Jade_Tarem]

"Fair play it is, then." Ian strode along on Stray's intended course, though he kept his new sword out rather than his bow. He made his own effort to be stealthy, but he made a greater effort to remain near his comrades.

[skypse]

Kiriel followed behind Stray along with the party, his shortbow in hand.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Winding closer and closer to the encampment, Dopethrone pointed out a particularly dense clump of brush atop a hill a little under a mile away from the camp.

"Close enough we can keep tabs on you without being too close for them to spot us, man."

And so each of the assigned teams leapt into action, with Jamie and Lestrade heading East, toward signs of siege weapon assembly, and Stray and Auva heading dead north - where supply wagons were, the armory would surely be nearby, assuming that they weren't in fact the de facto armory.


Stray and Auva

Creeping closer and closer to the edge of the camp, Stray and Auva halted, keeping a low profile on the ground deep in the shadows beyond where the torchlight of the camp could reach them. Their eyes soon spotted what they had been searching for - the telltale flapping of feathered wings and eerily graceful outline that could only be an erinyes. Two of them, in fact, hovering over the two siege towers farthest south, apparently talking with distinctly hellknight-looking figures. At the bottom of each tower, a pair of soldiers huddled, clearly rather apathetic towards their guard duties.

Past the towers, and the two tents immediately behind to the west, Stray and Auva also spotted the unmistakeable profile of supply wagons.


Brigitte and "Jamie"


Brigitte and Kiriel's task had taken them farther west, as it turned out, toward an area where it appeared the parts for several siege weapons were stacked up. Two siege towers stood tall above them, the unmistakeable black spikes of hellknight armor seemingly glaring toward them from the top even as they lay prone in the darkness beyond where human sight and torchlight could pierce. A pair of guards lay at the bottom of each tower, stock-straight and eyes keen, pikes at the ready. Looking past the tents immediately behind the towers, their objective lay in sight, with yet another hellknight (along with his barbed devil companion) seemingly hard at work berating a group of cowering soldiers.


Ian and Vylet

Hiding in the brush, Ian, Vylet, Dopethrone, and Pun-Pun watched and waited, their eyes peeled as they watched for signs of trouble.

And trouble came - but not from the direction of the camp, oddly enough.

On the hill behind them, coming from the south, footsteps were heard, the black-and-white figure of a halfling visible through magically enhanced darkness as it ran from a group of equally out-of-breath soldiers. Though the color of their uniforms was not apparent due to the limitations of darkvision, the make and shape was unmistakeably of the Chelaxian Army.

One of the soldiers loosed an arrow, and it struck the hobbit in the leg, a female cry piercing the night as she fell.

"End of the line, smuggler. You've got nowhere else to run."

If Ian has no other means of Darkvision, you may assume Dopethrone cast it on you.

[Nefarion Xid]

A few hundred feet from the watchtowers, Stray indicates to Auva what path he'll take -- rounding the base of the south western tower before making his way through the tent rows and to the nearest supply wagon. He then casts Invisibility and Heroism on himself and does as he says. Periodically, he takes teleports to cover, watches for Furies, then moves on.

[roll0] stealth check, +20 for invisibility (not applicable against Erinyes)

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva nodded, cast one last glance at the distant forms of the furies, and slipped off into the darkness looking for a better hiding spot.

Casting Invisibility on self (repeating as needed) and hiding where she can keep an eye on the guards/ towers.

Stealth: [roll0] (+40 from stationary invisibility)

Perception: [roll1], just in case Stray is found and for some reason there is not a huge and obvious ruckus

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"Remember, Jamie - sneak and disable," Brigitte whispered to Kiriel. "Kill only as a last resort; we do not want to reveal our presence." With that, the Investigator downed several extracts and slipped forward, making her way toward the siege engine supplies. Once there,


Using Extracts: Anticipate Peril, Heightened Awareness (will dismiss for +4 to Initiative if we get into a fight), and Invisibility.
I would like a Knowledge (Engineering) check to see the best and most efficient way(s) to disable the siege stuff, in case that gives me some sort of bonus on the Disable Device roll.
Disable Device: [roll0] (Including bonus from Heroism).

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray

Keeping far away from the furies circling over the other watchtowers, and as silent as he was from the perspective of the lonely, tired men standing watch, Stray had no trouble avoiding detection as he slipped up next to the supply wagons. As soon as he drew close, he knew he had hit the jackpot - half the wagons were bristling with swords, axes, bows, even a few flintlocks, all of them stacked and piled upon one another under tarpaulins. The other half, by the look of it, held rations and other supplies - flour, hardtack, water, bacon.

"Back to work, maggots! I want to see my reflection in those blades!"

Stray took a glance toward the tent next to him. Inside, a Hellknight stood with an Erinyes on a leash, of all things, her foot cruelly positioned atop the head of a soldier frantically scrubbing away at a rather rusty blade.

"Oh, Maximilian, please let me crush this useless worm. He has already taken long enough on this one worthless tool."

The hellknight gently caressed the fury's face.

"Patience, Yserova. All the blood you want will come soon enough tomorrow, when the halflings we captured will be released into the hillsides for your hunting pleasure. And then, we shall make love atop their corpses, the bedding made of tattered Iomedean texts."

The fury let out a moan - whether at the prospect of lust or violence, it was hard to tell.


Auva

All seems quiet on the western northern front.

[skypse]

Kiriel nods to Brigitte's instructions as an acknowledgement. He then drinks an extract of reduce person and casts some spells of his own on both himself and Brigitte and starts moving peripheral around the towers keeping away from the guards' sight.


Casting Spider Climb on both (duration 70 min)
Casting Invisibility on myself.
Casting Burrow on both (duration 7 min)
Casting Forced Quiet on both (duration 7 rounds)

Double move action to AV11 (counting each square as 20 ft)
Free action to activate See Invisibility from the mask for 30 minutes.

Stealth check: [roll0] (add +4 if being small as a result of the spell gives me the innate +4 bonus)

[Nefarion Xid]

"Very interesting," Stray whispered to himself, "But stupid."

He flitted into the first wagon and hid himself a moment while he silently cast Ears of the City to learn the location of the captive halflings.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

Looking at the wait group, Ian just shrugged and strode out to greed the interlopers, stopping directly in front of the halfling. He cleared his throat and idly twirled his new sword about - the thing was less than half the weight of Belleflower, he'd have to watch it - while waiting to see what their reaction was.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Brigitte and Kiriel

With her expert knowledge of engineering, Brigitte was easily able to identify the key components of he siege weapons on display, and - more importantly - how to best sabotage them without the effects being immediately obvious. With Jamie along, the work was quick, and completely silent, Devil, Hellknight, and soldiers completely unaware of their presence.

Once the men had scattered to do whatever menial chores the Hellknight had been ordering, the Devil began growling.

"Useless maggots. My patience grows short, Hellknight."

The Hellknight leaned down and whispered in the ear of the barbed devil, with words that the two Trailblazers might not have otherwise caught if not for their keen hearing.

"You'll get your fill of blood soon enough. At the Construct Joust tomorrow, you remember - that is when we will be set upon the Mayor and his retinue. The gnomes here have gotten too complacent, too restless - and we will be the instruments to bring them back in line."


Stray

A chorus of voices echoed through Stray's head as he hid among a bundle of halberds, those passing by none the wiser as to his presence. Filtering through it all was, as always, a chore, but one line stuck out.

"Take them to the rear tent immediately west of center. One of the Faceless shall guard them."

Recalling a page from the Andoran's Guide to Devils (and how to run away from them) :


Among the stronger devils an "average" adventurer may face are the masters of polymorphing, the Faceless Devils. Like most Devils, they are resistant to spells, immune to fire and poison, and resistant to acid and cold damage, as well as any weapon that is not enchanted with good-aligned magic. They are rather large creatures, having a reach of about 10 feet, but have no one set form, hence their name. One thing that is consistent from Faceless to Faceless is their mastery of knives, which they use to target weak spots on a body to cause Bleeding. Repeated strikes in quick succession have been known to kill men of lesser Fortitude. Additionally, they are also known to employ a Dazing Dance of Blades that makes men of lesser Will crumble, and are known to use the spells Bull's Strength, Charm Person, and Polymorph (self only) at will, and are known to be able to use Greater Invisibility, Nightmare, and Teleport once per day.


Ian


The soldiers looked up as Ian stepped forth, then brandished their weapons.

"An interloper, huh? Prepare to meet the same fate!"



Roll for initiative.

Your combat map is below the rough one of the war camp. The Soldiers have still not spotted anyone other than Ian.

[Nefarion Xid]

Leaving the weapons cache for now, Stray silently casts Detect Magic and sneaks towards the middle of the camp. Given what he knew about Faceless, a transmutation aura would give the devil away if he was trying to blend in by using polymorph.
Take 20 on Planes Knowledge for 33

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray

Stray's instincts and knowledge paid off in spades, as he promptly detected an aura of transmutation - which, upon further examination, proved to be a Polymorph spell - at the northeastern part of the tent, 15 feet away.

With location.

Examination with the ring of X-ray revealed a large wooden post inside. Three female halflings sat tied to it, rather despondent-looking. One made a rather token effort at struggling, but clearly did not have her heart in it.

There were no other signs of life within the tent, though there was a table nearby stocked with what appeared to be the halfling's gear.

[Estralita]

"Aha!" Vylet cried, seeing they were under attack. She jumped up and shot a fireball at the group to open things up.

Because when in doubt, fireball!
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[roll4]

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray pursed his lips in that way he did when intrigued. He teleported inside the tent and began using Message to inform the halflings, "I'm here to rescue you. Don't make a sound. We're going to take a little trip in my bag of holding. Don't worry, there's plenty of air for three halflings."

After that he cuts their bindings with his dagger and helps them into his bag. Their gear goes in the second bag. Once the ladies are secured, he teleports out and makes his way back to where he left Auva.

Presuming that happens without trouble, he returns to the wagon with the weapons and steals every ranged weapon he can find. After looting all he can carry (500 pounds) he sees about sabotaging the wagons nearest the fire pit and gives them a solid push if they need it.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"The same fate? You mean an arrow to the knee? How will I go adventuring?" Ian's grin intensified as the fireball crashed into the conversation. He wanted to charge in, but that would mean leaving the halfling unprotected. Instead, he set himself to meet an attack. "Come one, come all. Pond's open, water's fine."

Ian will Total Defense.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray and Auva

As Stray cut their bonds, the halflings - who, quite notably, were lacking pretty much anything except their rather spartan skivvies - looked at first surprised, then supremely grateful, then quite conniving. Jumping into his bag without complain, the ride went rather smoothly, as Stray's second attempt at humiliating the Chelaxian army also went off without a hitch.

Apparently, the highly drunken foot soldier the faceless demon had disguised itself was too 'inebriated' to really notice that someone had nicked off with its magical weapons.
With a flash of light, Stray reappeared next to Auva - and then, leaping out of his bag, three female halflings along with him. Keeping their voices low and their rustling to an absolute minimum as they quickly donned their gear once more, the apparent leader turned to Stray.

"I don't know who the heck you are, but if not for you we'd be hunting trophies by this time tomorrow. You can call me Halo - I'm with the Bellflower network. I've been following these guys for some time, reporting back on their movements, but we slipped up and got caught. Obviously, you were just in there, so I think I don't need to tell you that the farther we keep these guys away from the border, the better."

Grabbing something out of her pant pocket, Halo pressed a large, grapefruit-sized clockwork device into Stray's hands.

"If you're going back in, consider taking this with you. It's a gnomish device, uses ambient magical energy to create a huge explosion. You set this off, one minute later everything in about 100 feet goes kaboom."

Stray then teleported away, leaving Auva with the three halflings, who promptly huddled down and waited.
Regardless of whether or not he had decided to accept Halo's gift, the next stage of Stray's plan had also gone off without a hitch. Longbow after longbow, crossbow after crossbow, and even a few flintlock muskets found their way into his bags.

You gain 250 Masterwork Longbows, 200 Masterwork Heavy Crossbows, and 50 masterwork muskets.

Then, the carts rolled into the fire - and, due to also having a barrel of low-grade gunpowder on them, promptly exploded, what weapons were left now rendered completely useless and several of the nearby tents showered in burning embers.

"Fire! Fire!"

Immediately, soldiers began swarming the area, the Hellknight and Erinyes who had previously been inside the nearby tent also emerging.

"We have an intruder! Find him! Kill him!"

It was at that point that a rather hideous monstrosity also joined the group. With three masklike faces and eight legs, it was unquestionably demonic, and had come from the north, in the general direction of where Halo and her friends had been imprisoned.

"The halfliiingsss are missing! They have escaped!"
About a minute later, a series of explosions go off, and a fire starts spreading. The Erinyes, previously patrolling the border, swarm toward the noise.

"Well, whatever he did, it has made them mad." Halo grinned in the dark. "Think we should get going?"

Ian and Vylet

A soft, yet high-pitched screech of alarm issued forth as Pun-Pun joined the fray.

"Not so flashy! Not so flashy! You'll give usss away!"

Pun-Pun then loosed an arcane bolt of energy at the guards, hoping to dull their reaction time and prevent them from blowing the horns that one of them even now was dashing to unclip from his belt. Apparently on the same wavelength, Dopethrone sent out a stream of magic missiles.

Pun-Pun

Pun Pun casts Slow. Soldier [roll0] will sound the alarm if not slowed.

Will Attack vs S1: [roll1]
Will Attack vs S2: [roll2]
Will Attack vs S3: [roll3]
Will Attack vs S4: [roll4]

Dopethrone

Dopethrone uses a wand to cast Silence focused on square O45.

Use Magic Device: [roll5]

Will Attack vs S1: [roll6]
Will Attack vs S2: [roll7]
Will Attack vs S3: [roll8]
Will Attack vs S4: [roll9]

Actually, he casts magic missile and deals 20 damage to number 4.

Unfortunately, Soldier 3 was unaffected by Pun-Pun's spell, and, unclipping a signal horn from his belt... was promptly gored to death by the now-charging Jean, who tossed his corpse into the air and down the hill.

The other three soldiers charged toward Ian, greataxes raised.

However, that is all they can do, as Slow did hit the other three.

And you're about to have a bunch of angry guards on your tail in a minute, so I suggest you wrap it up fast.


Brigitte and "Jamie"


As Brigitte and Kiriel began making their way toward the nearest siege tower, a large explosion came from the Southwest corner of the camp, Erinyes and Barbed devils swarming toward it. With everyone distracted, it was child's play to slice an axle and exploit a strategic defect in the tower, rendering it on the verge of collapse the next time someone tried to pack it up.

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray probably needs to refresh Invisibility before sending the wagons into the pit. He'll do so Silently.

As soon as the wagons started moving, Stray was headed south. A quick teleport and a briefly hastened flight would take him out of the camp. Once clear of the perimeter watch, he darted towards where he'd left the party and the evacuation point.

Used quick runner's shirt to move 3 times in a round. Teleport covers 110 feet, then fly 60 feet twice.
[roll0] Stealth, using Archaeologist's Luck liberally until he knows he's clear.

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva, who had decided to stay visible once the halflings had been brought in, looked slightly unimpressed by the explosions. "It is a definite distraction, but you are absolutely correct about the latter part. Hold hands, would you?" After a final check on the guards' positions, she grabbed the chain of halflings and promptly shifted their location by several hundred feet.

Dimension Door to get the maximum distance possible (880 ft). Then slapping Haste on everyone and heading towards the rendezvous point.

Stealth: [roll]1d20+15 Well, that obviously didn't work. Roll in OOC if needed.

[skypse]

With everyone distracted and the first siege tower messed up, Kiriel made a run for the second nearest tower so he and Brigitte could sabotage it as well.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray and Auva

Moving quickly and quietly, it proved to be little trouble for Auva, Stray, and the halflings to escape the conflagration that was forming in the camp. Moving further south, however, they eventually arrived back at the rendevous point to see a steaming mound of bodies...


Ian and Vylet



*** A few minutes earlier, at about the same time Stray exploded the wagon... ***


A large explosion rocked the hills, the noise coming from the direction of the camp.

"Well, dudes, if they've struck, no reason for me to hold back anymore."

Lightning shot from Dopethrone's fingertips, the electric wizard truly living up to his name.

Dopethrone will cast Chain Lightning.

Vs S4: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Vs S1: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]
Vs S2: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]
Combined with an onslaught of missiles from Pun-Pun, the remaining soldiers fell, and their side of the hill was silent once more.

I'll award XP tomorrow.
The halfling looked up at Ian.

"Thank Cayden you came along when you did. If you hadn't been here..." She then cocked her head to the side. "Actually... What are you doing all the way out here? I don't suppose I can know my rescuers names?" She grimaced. "And maybe something for my calf?"


Brigitte and "Jamie"

Moving toward the next tower, Brigitte and Jamie quickly ducked behind a tent as a Hellknight emerged from the base.
"Iala!"

An erinyes descended from the sky.

"Yes, Hell Knight?"

"Let us look to the north. Whoever did this may be attempting to flee into the city."

Stealth checks, please.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Brigitte's breath caught in her chest as she heard the voices, and the investigator sank as low as she could to provide the smallest profile.

Stealth! [roll0] and either 20 or 40 more, depending on whether you are counting me as standing still or moving.

[skypse]

Kiriel ducked instantly, his blood boiling in his veins, fortunately able to see Brigitte by his side through his mask. He held his breath and touched Brigitte's arm so she could acknowledge his presence being still there so she wouldn't worry.

[roll0] If this thing sees me without magic, I'm deleting the character. :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"Ian, with the Trailblazers. We're here to fight off this Chelaxian nonsense." He waved the others over. "I don't have much for healing, but we can get you out of here regardless."

[Rysc]

Auva

Once she was sure that all of the corpses were good and dead, Auva strode quickly towards the others. "See, you did have a bit of excitement." At the sight of the fourth halfling, she briefly turned to Halo. "We apparently had excellent timing, coming here when we did. An associate, I presume?"

The sorceress then knelt beside the injured halfling, produced a wand, and set to work healing her wounds.

Auva finally gets to use her CLW wand! Rolls in OOC because I forgot.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Brigitte and Kiriel

A long breath passed, which seemed like forever.

"Onwards!"

And Hell Knight and Devil passed them by, leaving the tower unguarded and the league members unmolested.


Stray, Auva, Ian, and Vylet


Halo nodded. "Yeah, we're all part of the Bellflower network. We've been working with the Andoran army, trying to-"

But then the halfling stopped in her tracks, and locked eyes with Ian.

You recognize the halfling - the one Auva referred to as Halo - is none other than Nova.
"Ian!"

The halfling promptly glomped the Sun Dog, his ribs creaking audibly.

"Ian Derecho, you dog! I should have known it would be your friends coming." Nova looked him up and down. "Still looking stylish as ever, I see - and I certainly can't fault your choice of friends."

Dopethrone looked around worriedly. "Speaking of which, has anyone seen Brigitte and that Jamie dude?.."


Halo frowned. "If they're still back at the camp, they'd probably best hurry and split while the getting's good - that explosion really stirred up the hive. But listen." Nova beckoned everyone close. "It took a bit of doing, but before we got captured, we got into Brastlewark itself, and we picked up a couple rather juicy tidbits of information. As you know, this city's mostly gnomes, so it's pretty much a given that at any time, they're working on something big and exploderiffic. The Hell Knights, keen on invading Andoran as they are, have apparently determined that the gnomes here have been developing this sort of armed-to-the-teeth siege construct thingamajig, and are trying to get their hands on it. So far, they've apparently been content to settle for a more delicate approach, but the gnomes are resisting, and the Hell Knights are running out of patience. There's a festival on tomorrow, and the Hell Knights got themselves on the list as guests of honor. If the gnomes still won't give it up, they're planning on slaughtering the lot and taking it by force - and after your performance tonight, I think they're going to be very, VERY desperate."

"Anyway. Me and the girl's cover is blown, but assuming that no-one's seen you, you might be able to get in, take advantage of the Hell Knights all being in this one place, and execute a decapitation strike on the whole thing. No Hell Knights, no leadership - no leadership, army scatters like flies and is easy pickings. The big party starts tomorrow at 4:00, and is going to continue well into the evening, culminating in this huge banquet, and they will be in attendance for sure. I can share more details once we get somewhere safe - maps of the city, blueprint of the building where they're planning on holding the festivities, routes to get in, all of that."

Nova can provide a map immediately of the Festival Hall where the banquet will be held, and can provide more specific information upon request.

The Festival Hall Map is now up on the Doc.

[skypse]

Kiriel raises back on his feet and takes a careful look around. After seeing that everything is fine, he runs towards the tower to finish the job with Brigitte.

Perc: [roll0]

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Following after Kiriel, Brigitte stayed low and quiet, making her way toward the next tower. There, she did what she could to sabotage the siege engine, hoping their work would be enough.

Full confession: I have absolutely no idea where Kiriel and Brigitte are supposed to be on the map. I was intending to go for the tower at R13 in initially, and move to the one south next. At any rate, here's a stealth check to remain unseen: [roll0] and a disable device check to sabatoge the tower: [roll1]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Brigitte and "Jamie"

It was my understanding that that was, indeed, where the two of you were - so don't worry, we're all on the same page.

With the camp distracted by the theft of the weapons, along with what was left of them going up in flames - to say nothing of the fire spreading to other parts of the camp - Kiriel and Brigitte's attempts at sabotage were unimpeded. Looking at their work, they had the feeling that it had gone off without a hitch.


Ian, Stray, Auva, and Vylet

"...anyway, as long as we're waiting on your friends, if you have any other questions, I'm happy to share what I know."

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"Nova!" Ian didn't bother guarding as she cannonballed into him. That was... considerably more enthusiasm than he'd expected, though, considering the terms they'd parted on. "What are you doing out of Egorian? Well, I guess that's obvious, but who's running the operation with you out and about? Did your father come out of retirement for this?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

Ian, Stray, Vylet, and Auva

Nova looked rather uncomfortable at the mention of her father, but nodded nonetheless. "Egorian... the situation there's gotten pretty bad, Ian, to the point where it's been all hands on deck just to stay ahead of Thrune. That's part of the reason they sent me away, actually - they hoped I could get info from the inside back to Andoran before it was too late to get anyone out. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone, I saw these guys, and I thought 'Hey, maybe I can get some intel on them into the bargain!' And I did, but like we just established, I got caught in the process, and if you and your friends hadn't come along I'd be toast. So yeah."

[skypse]

After finishing with the sabotage, Kiriel whispers to Brigitte they should rejoin their companions before the enemy's forces return. He started running back to their camp, away from the enemy following the same route they followed when they first came. Avoiding any guards he sees before his invisibility expires. Once Kiriel and Brigitte rejoined the others, he dispelled the magical effects off and saluted the group and the Halflings. He then turned to Stray:

"Noone has any idea of our existence. The siege towers are useless and they most probably will collapse on their heads when they try to use them. I bet they can't even tell they are tampered."

[Nefarion Xid]

"Lovely," Stray said, taking note of the scorched grass and burnt bodies. "Come on, we can chat back at the fortress. I can't believe no one saw you casting spells."

"Right! Everyone shorter than this," Stray held his hand up to his ribs, "Get in Jamie's bag. Jamie, Brigitte and Jean first, then pop back for the rest of us. Dopethrone, do the thing!"

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

The mercenary's eyes narrowed. "Who lit a fire under the butts of the Hellknights, then? I generally recall 'Bang, crash, this is a state-sanctioned search of your home for illegal activity; blah blah blah we don't think halflings are smarter than particularly dimwitted children so we're only going to look in obvious places, stomp stomp stomp, okay see you next time.' What changed?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

"On it, man."

Giving a mildly resigned sigh as she climbed back in the bag, Nova looked toward Ian. "I'll tell you once we get back."


***


Several teleports later, as well as a quick jaunt back into Dawnstrike Keep, the party, plus Nova and the other halflings, huddled around a table in a private room, close to the fire.

"So, first things first. To answer your question, Ian, the main thing lighting a fire under the Hellknight's spiky black asses has been a mystery for a while now. Luckily, about two weeks ago, we finally caught a break - not a big one, mind, but better than nothing. A couple of us nearly died infiltrating Citadel Demain to get this information, but as it turns out, Egorian has been infiltrated by a cult of some kind - a bunch of Rovagug devotees known as the Oculus Ira. They've been infiltrating all ranks of society, in particular the upper echelons, to try and hit Thrune where it hurts, and casting decoy leads onto the Bellflower Network and other groups like ours in the process to throw the Hellknights off their trail."

"Although, there's something even more troubling. The Hellknights... even among the nobles who haven't been found to be infiltrators and doppelgangers in disguise? They've been making a lot of property seizures, trying to accumulate some sort of vast sum. They're desperate for cash, and we have no idea why."

Citadel Demain is the headquarters of the Hellknight Order of the Scourge, and is located near the Chelaxian capital of Egorian. Dedicated toward combatting the lawlessness within men's hearts, the order specializes in hunting down 'criminal' organizations and is known for both its vast network of informants and its practice of publicly drawing and quartering its victims as 'an example to the rest'.

"Second, on to the matter of the festival in Brastlewark tomorrow. Here's what we know about that."

"The festival is a Brastlewarkian tradition, about as old as they get in a town run by novelty. They call it the Automatfest, and it's dedicated entirely to showing off crazy constructs and other contraptions, including the big, explodiferous, armed-to-the-teeth one that the Hellknights are interested. There's stalls, demonstrations (both with and without audience participation), festival food, street vendors, all sorts of stuff, and it's all capped off by a grand Inventor's banquet. The latter is strictly invite only, and several of the Hellknights have gotten themselves on the list - publicly. The others, I was able to find out, are going to be disguised, and, if the Hellknights can't convince the gnomes to give up the construct? They have infiltrators who will be in the main kitchens for the feast, and they are going to drug everyone and spirit them away with the aid of their diabolical friends, right before they declare martial law and bring in what's left of the army and subdue the rest of the populace. And since several guests at the feat will be members of what passes for government around those parts? An already chaotically-disposed populace will have no chance against the Hellknight's machine-like precision."

"So, there's only one thing to do - get into the festival, take down as many of them as possible, and then expose them before they spring the trap. Without the element of surprise, they'll stand no chance against an army of angry gnomes."

"Getting back into Brastlewark was comparatively easy when we did it, as the girls and I used the time-tested method of entering via the sewers - however, it's logical to assume that, in the wake of our capture, they'll be trying to beef up that avenue of entry. On the other hand, the army will have taken a huge blow to morale this night, and I bet you that they'll not be very enthusiastic about having to guard a smelly, eye-watering sewer, so it might or might balance itself out - that is a gamble. Alternatively, depending on how confident you all are in either your or my skills at making up disguises and forged papers, there is always the option of trying to stroll in through the front door - although, on the flipside, if we try that, after last night, we'll have to have one hell of a good story to get in."

"Either way, once we're inside, getting around the festival will be easy. There are often taller folk who come to gawk and stare at the wares, so you'll all fit right in, and if we take the sewers... well, as it turns out, there's actually a dedicated entrance from them right into the festival hall. And speaking of..."

Rustling around in a bag of her own, Nova pulled out a map, which, upon close inspection, turned out to be a floor plan of the place where the Festival would be held.

"I have this map of the building, along with a rough one of the festival, and some leads on where many of the Hellknights will be stationed before the feast. If you have any questions while I'm trying to get those out... Cayden's ****, I really need to clean this out..."

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva tilts her head to the side and shrugs a shoulder. "No one actually saw us, however, or rather no one lived long enough to tell." She shoots a Right? look at the other party members. "I am also sufficiently confident in...certain of my associates' abilities to produce disguises or lies, so we also do not need to worry that much about you. And we do have a variety of magical means to get inside, should all else fail."

The sorceress watches as Nova struggles with the map then adds, "Since infiltration seems to be so in vogue, what would you say are the chances that we'll also have some Oculus members at the feast? Our enemy's enemy is decidedly not our friend, but assuming we are unable to expose the Hellknights before the feast, knowing if there's any further oppostion may be helpful."

[Nefarion Xid]

Still dumping out pilfered weapons from his bags in the corner, Stray muttered, "My handsome face is still on wanted posters all around Cheliax. No amount of make-up will get me through a security check point and they'll have Erinyes who can see through illusions and even transmutations. And that's, you know, that's if we leave all of our gear at home. It's not like we can sneak a hundred pounds of magic armor and weapons into the festival."

He shook one of the empty bags of holding at the party before returning it to Auva. Mimicking two Westecrown accents, he added, "'Oi Dave, you think we should look inside their bags?' 'Nah mate, I'm sure he's just brought a big magic sack for popped corn.' 'But don't we work for a brutal autocracy? I think we should be thorough!'"

Removing the two hell-forged kukri from his belt, he gave them an experimental twirl and went on, "By morning they'll have divined that they're under attack from opponents who are capable of overwhelmingly and hilariously ignoring normal security precautions. Normal by devils' standards. They're going to step up their game."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Thinking hard on what they knew of the group, Stray and Brigitte each managed to remember some things about Oculus Ira - not that there was much for people to know.

The only reliable source of information regarding Oculus Ira had come from a report made by a bunch of Iomedean Inquisitors who had attempted, with varying degrees of success, to infiltrate the group approximately a year ago. As Nova had reported, they were, indeed, one of a scant handful of organized groups to worship the Rough Beast, Rovagug - the monstrous deity of Destruction sealed within the very core of the planet of Golarion. In keeping with this worship, their primary goal, as reported by the inquisitors, was to reawaken their deity in order to bring about the end of the world. To accomplish this, they made use of disguising and illusion magics in order to infiltrate particularly wealthy groups or families, murder the occupants, and steal their goods, with the end goal being to fund an expedition to locate the fabled spawn of Rovagug known as the Tarrasque and reawaken it. After completing an expedition to Qadira, they had almost succeeded, only to be dismantled at the last minute through the work of the Satrap and the inquisitors.

Since that incident, Oculus Ira had gone mostly silent, with those that survived fleeing. Rumors had surfaced in recent months of possible activity within Cheliax, but these had been unconfirmed.
Taken aback by the revelation of Stray's wanted status, as well as his reaffirmation of the difficulty they would face getting back into Brastlewark, Nova's face faltered for a split second before she pressed on. "You'd definitely got a point, but Brastlewark is not a small city - they can't possibly cover everything. They're real tough bastards to go up against, true, but there are bound to be some chinks in their armor - if not those routes of entry, then something else has to turn up."

The party got the distinct impression she was trying to convince herself as much as them.

"A-ha!"

Pulling out a second map to add to the first one, Nova placed it on the table.

"And here we have a map of the festival itself, as well as the buildings they'll be commandeering for it. I've circled the ones I know that other Hellknights will be covering or investigating in green; I wasn't able to find info on the reasoning behind their choices, sadly, but hey, better than nothing, right?" The halfling shrugged nonchalantly before continuing. "As you can see, before the stuff at the festival hall goes down, they'll be investigating these three stalls: Auto Arms (& Legs), Geological Golems, and Better Religious Practices Through Robotics. Seems a little obvious for them to investigate, if they're trying to catch Oculus Ira, but hey. City Hall should also go without saying, as a couple of them will undoubtedly be trying to talk to the Mayor beforehand. Chrome Clothes and Fashions... I don't think any of them are going to try and go there, specifically, but if we infiltrate via the sewers or some other route and want to play up the 'clueless tourist' vibe, what better place to go than there to grab some duds?"

Nova paused, proud of herself for a moment, before completely realizing that she had forgotten about Auva's question, and turned to her.

"There's no reliable info to suggest Oculus Ira is out this far east, but we can't discount that possibility. This is a fairly high profile event, and from what I've been able to gather about them, that attracts them like flies to dung."

All of a sudden, the party then felt a rather delightful tingle go down their spines. As it ended, they could not help but feel that they were somehow more experienced in the ways of the world.

For sabotaging several siege towers, crippling the weapon supplies and siege weapons, rescuing Nova and the other halflings of the Bellflower network, and doing it all without being detected, you gain 14000 XP. Enjoy. :smallsmile:

[Jade_Tarem]

Ian

"Not to play into crude stereotypes, but have we considered doing away with subtlety and just going on a strike mission to hit the hellknights near Brastlewark? I mean we are at war. A war they started, no less."

[Nefarion Xid]

"Ian's right. If we attack their camp again in the morning, they'll be too distracted or broken to go through with their plans. And we eliminate the possibility of civilian causalities."

Stray fished out the strange device he'd been given by one of the halflings. "Plus if this thing actually works, I can just dump it in the middle of their camp during brekky."

His lip curled. Clearly he found the idea indiscriminately killing hundreds of soldiers distasteful. "Not a particularly elegant way to go about things, but when your order names itself after Hell, you've exhausted my sympathies."

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Surprisingly eager about the possibility of attacking the enemy, Brigitte piped up, "It sounds like a fair plan to me. I have a new cocktail of extracts I have been meaning to try, and this could be the perfect opportunity for a field test." The Galtan woman adjusted her spectacles and grinned rather wickedly.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Nova considered this plan of action before shrugging.

"If you guys think that you can pull it off, I'm behind you. And I do mean that literally, since, well, you probably already guessed this, but I'm more of a subterfuge and distractions and hit 'em from behind kind of gal. Not much for direct attacks."

[Nefarion Xid]

"I'm fairly confident we can metaphorically break the army's kneecaps." Stray looked at Nova. "You can use our diversion to slip into town and alert the Mayor. Maybe you can convince the gnomes to go ahead and field test this construct of theirs."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Nova rubbed her chin.

"It'll be hard to convince him without a lot of physical proof... but it sure beats just sitting on the sidelines providing moral support." She grinned. "Count me in for that."

[Lord Of Mantas]

The night passed by quickly, the party trying to squeeze every last ounce of rest they could out of the time they had allotted themselves. The plan to assault the camp may have required them to get up early and hit the camp before they were prepared, but they still had their own energy levels to mind.

6:00 hit, and the fort was a whirlwind of activity as last-minute supplies were gathered together. Four teleports in rapid succession were fired off, the party dropping themselves off much closer to Brastlewark than before, a mere half-mile away from the city on a hill just beyond the camp.

"Wish us luck."

With Nova and the other Bellflowers scampering off to try and bring the city to their aid, the Trailblazers were left to begin their assault against the camp. Cresting the hill and keeping their heads down, the party looked over toward the camp - it had been several hours at this point, and yet the scars from their initial assault still remained, tents disheveled and smoke rising into the sky.

Damage: 15d6+30 Cold Damage.
Effective Radius: 100 feet + 50 feet 1/4 damage
Detonation Method: 5 minute timer with optional remote for immediate detonation.

[Nefarion Xid]

Once the party located a suitably concealed location near enough to the camp to begin their assault, Stray passed his magic lyre to Brigitte.

"We were lucky last night. They've probably stepped up their patrols and it won't be long until they spot us. Go ahead and get started with the defenses while I plant the bomb. Hopefully their camp will be in such disarray as to buy you some time to build."

Scanning the sky for Furies, he went on, "No heroic sacrifices today. We're here to break their kneecaps, not defeat the entire army ourselves. Let the enemy come to you and fight defensively. If you're overrun, teleport out. I really don't want to have to rescue any of you from an Egorian prison."

"Right then! Colonel Hastings is in charge while I'm gone." He pointed to Brigitte's hat. "Also he's been promoted to Colonel. Also Colonel is now a League rank."

Before the talking hat could graciously accept, Stray vanished from sight and hurried west.

Stray casts Invisibility and Heroism. He flies close to the ground, using Long Step to teleport to cover (110' range). He watches carefully for Erinyes and always takes cover when they're near and waits for them to pass. He'll deliver the bomb to the indicated location on the map and detonate it as soon as he's out of range.

Stealth [roll0]

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"A Colonel? Me?" Hastings repeated. "I will try to live up to your confidence in me, sir," he added, his voice taking on a peculiar, almost authoritative tone. "But shouldn't Lady Lestrade be a grade above? I mean, she is my owner and all that."

Brigitte sighed and shot Stray a glare even as she accepted the lyre. "Fortifications and cover should do nicely," she offered. "Oh, and pits if we have time. Snakes in the pits would be nice, but perhaps another time with more planning..." she trailed off as she realized that musing about deadly traps might be taken the wrong way by some.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray

It was immediately apparent to Stray that at, at least in one regard, the Hell Knights had stepped up their game.

Easily twice the number of Erinyes that had been present the previous night were now there (likely sent ahead from the other portion of the army that was still on its way north), patrolling the outside and inner circle of the camp. Their eyes, blessed with the gift of True Seeing, scanned the shadows and corners, searching for would-be interlopers.

Perception: 40 vs 49.

Stray is unseen.
However, thanks to years and years of practice, even with their supernatural advantage, Stray was able to slip past them toward his primary target - the tent at the center of camp, where a host of devils and their Hellknight handlers huddled together.

Slipping past the hundreds of soldiers cobbling together their equipment as best they could (particularly given that Stray had earlier destroyed the overwhelming majority of it), Stray peeked into the tent.

Inside, a host of Hell Knights stood, 24-strong in all. The barbed devils once the primary member of the throng, were now lesser, about 8 in number. 4 Devil Steeds stood at the ready, along with 4 of the Erinyes, 2 pink-tendriled monstrosities that Stray immediately recognized as the true form of the faceless devils, and 2 of some brand-new monstrosity that, after some effort, Stray recognized as a Levaloch Devil.

Each Hellknight is decked out in +1 Armor, a +2 Belt of Strength, a +1 Cloak of Resistance, and a +1 weapon - half are equipped with Halberds, the other with Greataxes.

The barbed devils carry ordinary glaives, as well as what appear to be bags carrying nonmagical treasure at their sides.

One of the faceless devils carries his own +2 Kukri.

The levalochs carry masterwork tridents.

The Erinyes carry +1 longswords, +1 flaming composite longbows, and a rope that seems to be permanently enchanted with animate rope. You know, thanks to your knowledge of them, that this rope will only work for them.
One of the Hellknights pried his greataxe out of a corpse that had been in the middle of the tent, the gnome's eyes rolling backward in his head as a death rattle escaped his body.

"Now I'm going to have to sharpen the bloody thing all over again." The hellknight groused, wiping the blood gingerly off the blade of his axe. "You'd think they'd understand the importance of what we're doing, why we need that damn Steel Cog or whatever." The Hell Knight began to speak in an almost mocking tone. "Oh, no, Lieutenant, the integrity and right to own a personal death machine far outstrips the need to rescue the freaking-"

"Quiet!" One of the more senior-looking Hell Knights stepped forward. "Walls have ears, these days. In any case, we've done all we can now the easy way. I anticipated this would happen, and so I've sent our infiltrators disguised as the local constabulary to ransack his house. They should be done searching his domicile any minute now, and will soon report back to us on the location of the runestones necessary to command the construct. We will then send you and a few others to escort it back to Egorian, where it is needed. Now, you all know your assigned tasks for the day, and which items need to be retrieved at all costs. As such, if you will join me in a quick prayer to our Dark Prince..."

The Hellknights bowed their heads and began chanting in Abyssal, all as the devils looked on rather dispassionately. One of the Hellsteeds turned his head toward the door of the tent, flaring his nostrils...

Perception: 46 vs 49.

Stray is able to plant it without being noticed.
And, promptly deciding it was nothing, turned back to observing his summoners.

Carefully sliding the bomb into place with an expert flick of the wrist, Stray promptly teleported stealthily back out of the camp...

And depressed the trigger.

Cold Damage: [roll0]

Perimeter Damage: [roll1]

All those inside the bomb's radius who survive must dodge a Fortitude Attack or else be fatigued and slowed for 15 minutes.

Fortitude Attack: [roll2]
All the barbed devils, levalochs, and hellsteeds are killed, as are all the Hellknights.

The only survivors, fittingly enough, are the 4 Erinyes in the tent, who survive with 10 HP to spare each.

Additionally, due to its proximity to the center of the camp and the unusual early-morning concentration of the men, 614 of the 1000-strong men there are killed.
The center of the war camp was ensconced in a wave of ice and shock as a large BANG promptly destroyed a good chunk of the Chelaxian attack force. Immediately, those surviving began to scream and flee into the hills, the 6 Erinyes who had been patrolling the outside rising into the air and screaming at the cowards to return.

Then, they spotted the fortifications of the party off in the distance.

"GET THEM!"

As they rushed off toward the party's impromptu fortifications, the soldiers suddenly stopped fleeing. Clutching their heads, their eyes suddenly glowed red - and as if controlled by some outside force, they too began rushing toward the fortifications. The Erinyes, in the meantime, settled down, beginning the ritual to summon a retinue of barbed devils to their side.

From what Stray can tell, all of the surviving men are fairly inexperienced fighters, and likely no match for the Trailblazers even en masse. None of them have weapons, some of them are unarmored, and he's fairly certain that the only reason they're charging is the spell that apparently has them under control.

He recalls that a similar effect to what is now present in the soldiers is mentioned in a rather old myth about Aroden and his followers facing off against an army of Devil Worshippers, who had conscripted many unwilling bystanders into their ranks. To use them as cannon fodder, one of the Dukes of Hell (which one it is changes depending on who's telling the story) unleashed a spell of Domination not unlike the one used by mortal mages, except for two things - a) it could enslave the minds of many more than a mortal ever could, and b) it had, as a side effect of the sheer power and source of the spell, a tell-tale red glow of the eyes - just like the soldiers you are seeing now.


Everyone Else

As Brigitte strummed the harps strings, a fortification began to form itself from the ground, creating itself from the image in her minds eye.

It will be a blank template of where you are; you may feel free to construct the result of the Lyre on this map, within reason.
The center of the war camp was ensconced in a wave of ice and shock as a large BANG promptly destroyed a good chunk of the Chelaxian attack force. Immediately, those surviving began to scream and flee into the hills, the 6 Erinyes who had been patrolling the outside rising into the air and screaming at the cowards to return. Looking toward the east and spotting the party's fortifications, they immediately began rushing their location, empty-handed, mostly unarmored, and seemingly heedless of their own safety.

Use it wisely.

*rubs his hands at the impending idea he has for mass combat*

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Brigitte spent most of the time while the bomb group was away hastily constructing fortifications. Settling on a classic small keep, the Galtan woman constructed a four-sided stone structure, complete with ten-foot walls, pits, high gates pointing away from the soon-to-be oncoming forces, and crenelations. Once finished, she stood atop the battlement and sorted out her extracts, setting aside several for Ian to use in the upcoming skirmish.

Setting aside Extracts of Fly, Haste, and Heroism for Ian.
Brigitte will drink the following once the enemy is in sight:
Heightened Awareness (120 min)
Resist Energy: Fire (120 min)
Heroism (120 min)
Mutagen w/Preparation Ritual (120 min)

Then, as the clock ticks down, in the last minute or so, Brigitte will drink the following:
Anticipate Peril (12 min)
Shield (12 min)
Bull's Strength (12 min)
Vine Strike (12 min)
Fly (12 min)
Haste (12 min)
Monstrous Physique II (12 min) and turn into a Four-Armed Gargoyle (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/monstrous-humanoids/gargoyle/four-armed-gargoyle)

[Nefarion Xid]

"Ladies, it's not too late to negotiate!" Stray said to no one in particular as the surviving Furies teleported out. Supposing the Constable could presently use his help more than the Trailblazers, he immediately left for the town, not bothering with stealth (though he was still invisible).

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva couldn't do much else but watch as Brigitte magically built the keep, but as the enemy came closer she prepared to do a bit of last-second casting.

At the last possible moment, Auva will cast an extended Haste (24 rounds) (actually, since Auva gets +1 CL in dim light this would be 26 rounds), and presumably everyone will have gathered close enough to be targeted.

EDIT: Aaaand everybody who needs it also gets Darkvision (13 hours), which I think would just be Ian.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray


Slipping into the city was child's play for the Fey Prince, particularly with the hubbub going on around him. Surprisingly, as he slipped through the early morning crowds, he found that very little, if any, were concerned about what was going on outside, with almost all of them attributing it to "those damn young'uns setting off early morning fireworks before my batch gets done". More important on everyone's mind was the palpable excitement of seeing one "Steel Cog" in action.

Also, chocolate-coated soft pretzels with caramel.

Making his way to where the map said the Constable's office would be, Stray found himself facing a dark and ominously quiet building with the door locked and shades pulled.

With Stray's keen senses, hearing what was going on inside was equally simple.

"You can't do this! You can't just take Steel Cog from us! We have rights! We have laws!"

"I AM THE LAW! The embodiment of Thrune's Order! And you have violated THE LAW in so many ways, Constable, that I would be well within my rights to summarily execute you, your men, and all of your families!"

"But Steel Cog! That wonderous, explodiferous, chromed-steel Cog! It was to be the centerpiece of the festival! A symbol of our town for days, even weeks, to come! It is our sweat, our tears, our labor, our lives! And you're just going to commandeer it to go gallivanting off into the d-"

"Silence!"

A slap.

"Your sweat belongs to Thrune! Your labor belongs to Thrune! Your lives belong to Thrune! Thrune gives you order so that you might live! And you, you keep such an important advantage to yourselves... for what! To serve as a glorified lawn ornament?! No, Constable, it is you and your men who, by refusing such a noble purpose to serve Thrune, and by trying to arrest us - the instruments of her will - who are in the wrong! And for that, you will pay!"

"I admit that I may have been a touch hasty when I found out you were going to kill our mayor if we didn't hand over Steel Cog, but -"

"Enough! Now, here is my final ultimatum. If you do not answer this question, you, your men, and all your families will die. Where? Are? The runestones? To activate Steel Cog?"

"...alright. I'll tell you-"

A loud hissing noise suddenly filled the air, followed by coughing, choking, and a series of dull thuds.


Everyone Else

Looking over the dim horizon, the swarm of soldiers advancing on their position, the party stood on the ramparts and posed dramatically, the first streaks of red beginning to color the morning sky as it rose at their backs, perfectly complementing their dramatic pose.

Auva would probably want to know that.

20% miss chance for everyone who doesn't have darkvision.

Then, about 1 minute before the horde of soldiers could reach firing range, an Erinyes poofed into being, just feet in front of the ramparts.

"Worthless fools! You should have run when you had the chance! Do you have any idea what you have interfered with? Now you shall suffer the consequences. But... I am not unappeasable. Surrender yourselves now, and I shall grant you a quick death. Otherwise..."

The Erinyes brandished a longbow.

"I can guarantee that your death will be slow AND painful, as even the likes of Citadel Demain will look like a countryside vacation!"

Immediately, looking around, Kiriel noticed something. Or, more accurately, ten somethings, nine of which - three Erinyes and six Barbazu - had just poomfed into the fortifications with them - and, judging by Jean's lack of a reaction and the red aura around them from his mask, meant they were invisible.

The tenth thing, another Erinyes, had appeared on the northern edge of the hill, and was ducking behind a conveniently placed bush as she concentrated intensely on the Erinyes in front of the party, her hands gesturing in what was a spell of some kind.

[skypse]

Kiriel talked quietly, making sure that his mates around him could hear him though.

"This creature is not alone. There are more of them invisible, same like her, as well as some kind of demons."

Noticing the spellcasting in progress, he continued in a more anxious tone.

"And one of them is ready to cast a spell on us. Take cover everyone! Prepare for battle!"

[Nefarion Xid]

Once again baffled that his pilfered Ring of X-Ray vision would be useful, Stray immediately utilized it to peer inside the through the building's facade and locate the source of the angry voice.
Should the voice belong to a humanoid, Stray casts Dominate Person: [roll0]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray

Peeking inside, Stray was greeted by the sight of a rather trashed-looking guardhose, furniture overturned and smashed with a small clearing in the middle of the room. He watched as a rather burly human in Hell Knight regalia interrogated a bearded gnome - undoubtedly, given his dress, the constable. He was tied rather securely to a chair, as were four other rather despondent-looking gnomes.

Peeking out from a door to the back of the building, he saw a tiny sliver of a halfling peeking through - Nova?

As he attempted to cast the spell, Stray felt it washing over the Hell Knight, his efforts having no effect.

I do need a more definitive set of actions.

[Othniel]

Brigitte

"Cease your prattle and return to Hell," Brigitte muttered. She eyed the Erinyes carefully and passed one of her extracts to her lips. Rather than having curative or similarly beneficial effect upon the Investigator, a bolt of lightning shot speedily from the Galtan's mouth toward the Erinyes.

Swift Action Studied Combat on the Erinyes speaking.
Spell Attack vs Erinyes: [roll0] and immediate action to use a point of inspiration to add [roll1] to the roll.
Caster Level Check: [roll2]
Damage (Electricity): [roll3]

I forgot to add 1/2 my level on damage rolls. So, assuming I overcome SR, Brigitte does 50 damage before the reflex save halves that to 25.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray

As it turns out, when an unaware person resists an enchantment spell, they do feel that someone is trying do so, but they are not aware of the location or nature of the attack. That information took a lot more tracking down than you would think.

As Stray's spell failed, the Hellknight whirled around, clearly on edge and aware of something attempting to dominate him. His hands flexed, clearly about to shoot to the magic cold iron fauchard on his back. "Who's there!?"


Roll for Initiative.

But only by a hair.

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray casually rapped his knuckles against the window and announced, "Hi, we're here from Junior Hell Scout Troop Number Seventeen! For every box of cookies we don't sell, we're tortured for one hundred years in Cania, so buy some f***ing thin mints, man!"

Still able to see clearly through the wall, Stray pouted in the Hell Knight's direction before snapping off a baleful sounding word.

[roll0] vs Fort
If the spell fails, he teleports onto the roof and makes a stealth check

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray

"You piece of s***!"

Roaring in anger as the blindness took effect, the Hellknight charged toward where he had last been aware of the door. Scrabbling for the doorknob in the dark, he attempted to open the locked door...

42 vs DC 50 - success!
Unfortunately for him, the Halfling rogue, now spotting her chance, slunk out from the shadows and made a shanking attempt at his vital organs.

Nova attacks the Hellknight!

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Sneak Attack: [roll2]
Unfortunately, her attack failed to pierce the Hell Knight's armor, her dagger blades scraping across his plate.

In the name of both keeping this game from stagnating and of keeping my promise to have the army part wrapped up within a month, I am going to start Round 1 and bot those who have not taken actions tomorrow.

[Nefarion Xid]

"Listen, buddy, I pretty much just spit in Asmodeus' eye so I don't have time to ... you know what? I've been wanting to use this all day."

Stray plucked two arrows from his quiver and let them fly, aiming for the for the slits in the knight's helmet.

Attack 1 [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
Holy Damage [roll2]

Attack 2 [roll3]
Damage [roll4]
Holy Damage [roll5]

Archaeologist's Luck 19/20

[Estralita]

Vylet

"You thought you could fool us?! Time to make your last mistake!

With that, Vylet drew her new Katana with a flourish, holding it up above her head busting with power and light. She followed this display of power by shooting a small burst of glitter where she thought their enemies might be.

Spending the turn casting Glitterdust around GD 33. If possible, I'd also like to spend pool points making Vylet's Katana a +5 keen holy katana (if she has a swift action available

Do I make a Spell attack for the save?

[Rysc]

Auva

Auva hisses, "Where's the spellcaster?" at Kiriel, then turns her attention to where she thinks the rest of the devils are.

Assuming that Kiriel gave a better indication of where the massed devils are, Auva will cast Shadow Conjuration (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/shadow-conjuration)-ed Spiked Pit (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/spiked-pit) centered around GD32/GD33/GE32/GD33, using dweomer dust for +5 to checks vs SR.

Erinyes can fly and are obviously unaffected.

SR vs B on GE31: [roll0]
SR vs B on GE33: [roll1]

Reflex vs B on GE31: [roll2]
Reflex vs B on GE33: [roll3]

Will vs B on GE31: [roll4]
Will vs B on GE33: [roll5]

Devils only need a will save if they fail the reflex; if they make the will save they only take 20% damage but they're still stuck in a 50ft spiked pit.

Damage for B on GE31: [roll6] falling + [roll7] spikes
Damage for B on GE33: [roll8] falling + [roll9] spikes

EDIT: There's no column for SR but I'm fairly certain that Auva made it. Both devils are trapped and fully spiked, yay, but I also think there's probably DR involved so I'll let Mantas handle the damage.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Stray

The Hellknight roared in pain as Stray's arrow hit his eye, and feeling Nova at his back, desperately attempted to hit her, even as she attacked him in a flurry of knives.

Hellknight Commander
Attack 1: [roll0]
50% Miss Chance: [roll1]
Damage 1: [roll2]

Attack 2: [roll3]
50% Miss Chance: [roll4]
Damage 2: [roll5]

Nova (Here's hoping I get the sneak attack rules right)
Attack 1: [roll6]
Damage 1: [roll7]
Sneak Attack 1: [roll8]

Attack 2: [roll9]
Damage 2: [roll10]
Sneak Attack 2: [roll11]

Two-Weapon Fighting: [roll12]
Damage TWF 1: [roll13]
Sneak Attack 3: [roll14]

Improved Two-Weapon Fighting [roll15]
Damage TWF 2: [roll16]
Sneak Attack 4: [roll17]
But it was all for naught, as the blindness sent both his swings wide, and with a rapid series of stabs into his vital organs - flat-footed as he was by the blindness - Nova sent the Hell Knight toppling.

And thanks to Stray, everyone gets 6400 XP!
"Quick! Help me get him inside!"

Hissing at Stray, the rogue dragged the bleeding corpse further in and locked the door. The gnome stared incredulously at what was going on.

"What is all this? Who are you two? And not that I'm ungrateful for the rescue, but... did you really just kill one of the Hell Knights?!"


Everyone Else

Auva and Vylet's spells descended on the area where two of the bearded devils were, one falling to blindness and both falling down an illusory spiked pit. Brigitte's attack, however, had far less success - for as it dissipated, it revealed that the Erinyes in front of them had all been an illusion!

Nat 20 on Will Attack by Erinyes 4. :)

"Slaughter them!"

Roll Initiative.

Have fun!
"So not chill, dude. Take some of this!"

His fingers crackling with lightning, Dopethrone fired a shower of electricity at the Devils.

Chain Lightning Reflex Attacks:

Erinyes 2: [roll18]

Erinyes 1: [roll19]

Erinyes 3: [roll20]

Barbazu 5: [roll21]

Barbazu 6: [roll22]

Barbazu 2: [roll23]

Barbazu 1: [roll24]

Damage: [roll25]
"Now that's why they call me the Electric Wizard!"

8 rounds.

[Nefarion Xid]

Stray once more glance down the street to make sure no had heard the Hell Knight before loosing two more arrows.

Attack 1
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Attack 2
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

And then hopped over the pile of absurd black armor and blood to drag the body into the room and shut the door. Producing his dagger, he quickly freed the hostages. "Yeah, but you lose count after five hundred, honestly. Like I said, I think I pretty much declared war on Asmodeus, Thrune and all the Hell Knight orders simultaneously. If you were harboring any last affections for Queen and Country, let me be clear that they had already decided your fate, compliance or no."

He gave a reassuring smile to the gnome's family before continuing. "I think you'll be safe now. They'll all be distracted by the battle to the south. Just tell me, do you think anyone else in town might be in danger?"

[Othniel]

Brigitte

Brigitte drifted around to line up another attack, this time on a different Erinyes. Jean eyed the glittery form of one of the monsters and charged.

Move to GC28 and...Dragon's Breath! Line of Electricity toward E3, which should also hit E1 and (maybe?) E2.
Spell Attack vs E1's reflex: [roll0]
CL Check vs SR: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

Spell Attack vs E2's reflex: [roll3]
CL Check vs SR: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]

Spell Attack vs E3's reflex: [roll6]
CL Check vs SR: [roll7]
Damage: [roll8]

Jean Charge (power attack) vs E3: [roll9]
Damage: [roll10] plus Powerful Charge damage of [roll11]
And attempt to Grapple with Impaling Charge vs CMD: [roll12]

Edit: Aaand I forgot to only roll damage once, so I guess we'll assume the first damage roll. Editing in the doc now.