The Crax IC

[Jack_Simth]

Nobody is quite sure who settled on the name "The Crax" for the invaders, but that is what they came to be called. They seem immune to direct divinations - not even the gods are able to answer direct questions about them - and very little is known about them as a result. What little is known about them is not very happy: They're hungry, they're smart, they breed quickly, and they're spreading. They don't seem very particular about their diet; so far, it's known that the Crax have devoured villages, forests, prairies, golems, and several undead... including a lich, which has several other ancient undead panicked simply because it's been three weeks since that particular lich was eaten, and it still hasn't reformed... and a few of the ancient undead knew where that particular lich was keeping it's phylactery (they're not getting specific, but it's well out of Crax territory). One thing is clear: If The Crax is not stopped, it'll be the end of Golarion.

With real information on The Crax being very hard to come by, a notice catches your eye. A simple piece of parchment with a few words written on it which, thinking back, you saw at a few other places in the city. The parchment reads as follows:

I have seen The Crax in action. Those wishing to fight the Crax should meet me at the newest arena in the Jawbone district of Ilizmagorti on Sarenith 27th; I've rented the place out for the purpose.

Checking briefly, you note that it's currently Sarenith 26th.

[Maugan Ra]

Citadel Drezen
North-Eastern Sarkoris
(Reclaimed Worldwound)

The meeting hall was a somber, serious place at the best of times. One used for prosecuting the war against the demons, now it largely saw action coordinating the immense rebuilding efforts. But on this day, talk had turned to the newest foe to blight the material plane - the mysterious Crax.

"So, in summary... we still know almost nothing." Matthias Hulrun, Hero of the Fifth Crusade and Knight-Commander of Drezen, says in a low voice. In his hands he holds a scrap of parchment, where a hand-written message has been scrawled. "And this message remains our one solid lead."

"I wouldn't call it that." Anevia Tirablade, Drezen's spymaster and veteran infiltrator, says in a dry voice from her seat at the table. "A few words and an invitation? Ilizmagorti isn't on the other side of Avistan. About the only things the town is known for are pirates and the Red Mantis assassins."

Matthias sighs. "True. And yet... I think I must go." The others gathered simply nodded, variously accepting and resigned. They all knew of their commander's personality and obligations, and if he thought that the Inheritor would best be served by going, then he would go. There was little else to it. "I trust you can all continue the rebuilding and mustering without me, for however long this takes?"

"Of course we can." Horgus Gwerm, the Treasurer and one of the most influential nobles in the country, said with a grunt. "Go be a hero. We'll take care of the important stuff while you're gone."

Matthias just smiled slightly.

-/-

An hour later, his wife came to find him in the temple. Knowing better than to disturb him, she waited while he finished his prayers, studying his armour frame with fond nostalgia. When he fell silent, she smiled and approached. He heard her, of course, turning to face her with a smile.

"How long has it been?" Arushalae said in a quiet tone, drawing her husband into an embrace. "Since you had to put on that armour and save the world."

"Close to five years now." Matthias replied softly, holding her close. "All things considered, I think my Lady has been gracious with my holiday allowance. But it seems the world needs me once more. Stay safe while I'm gone, OK?"

Arushalae laughed slightly, pushing him away as she stepped back. "I should be the one telling you that." She glanced down at the weapon belted at his waist. "Keep him safe for me, Radiance?"

"Naturally, ma'am." The sword replied in an arch tone. "Though doubtless he will not make it easy."

"All right, enough out of you both." Matthias says lightly. "Time to go and see what this is about. My Lady, if you would?"

There is a momentary pause... and then he is elsewhere.

Clad in shining plate armour, a legendarily powerful blade at his side, the Hero of the Fifth Crusade appears at the gates of Ilizmagorti in a flash of divine light. He looks around, frowning slightly at the taint of evil he can feel hanging over the town, then begins making his way towards the Jawbone district.

Using Miracle to duplicate a Greater Teleport and get me there.

Though I will also have used Commune beforehand to confirm it's probably not a trap and that Iomedae thinks I should go. Which is only likely to be a concern if this isn't actually a genuine lead.

[whoiam]

Desssria was at home when she first encountered the note. One of the librarians she'd mentored (there were an awful lot of them over the years...) had spotted the brief note, and brought it along to show her colleague. Desssria had that towering reputation as an adventurer, after all, surely this was the sort of thing she'd be interested in?

The librarian was right of course.

Desssria knew nothing about this threat, beyond the fact it existed. And that... was an unfamiliar situation to her. Sure, there were people she hadn't known, but it was centuries since she'd last come across a truly unknown thing...

Surely, it was time for some investigation.





Calling her Raven and her Psicrystal to her, she ran briefly through her mental list of taverns. She knew a place in the Jawbone district, of course. She knew a tavern everywhere.


What came next was a gate spell, aimed just outside. Most tavern-keepers, in her experience, preferred her not to punch dimensional portals through into their taprooms. It had a habit of startling the drunken people. And that was the last thing she wanted... After all, the whole purpose of aiming for a tavern near her destination was to get the locals talking about whatever she'd be walking into in the morning...



Desssria's Diplomacy checks are made at +69 while taking 10, so if there's any public information about what's coming up, she'll find it with [roll0] hours of asking around.

[Necroticplague]

Firbu takes a look at the poster, a slight smirk on her face. She'd heard quiet a bit about these things. Heck, some of the things might even be true. Practically seems too much like her MO. Ride in, fight the unfightable, ride out. Well, except that she had long since lost any mount capable of keeping up with her unrelenting pace. The idea still stands, even if a noble steed had to be replaced by mastery of moevement that allowed her to outpace one. Hmmm...Firbu takes a moment to contemplate where she thinks she had seen this before. A quick drip that starts in the Material and ends in it while moving in the Astral puts her at where she thought. Huh. One poster can be a paranoid nut, two must be onto something. At the very least, it was worth checking out. Thus, she heads out towards Ilizmagorti , her own focus on her movement letting her rapidly cross grounds by taking shortcuts through the Astral when needed.

Survival if needed to avoid getting lost: [roll0]

[Jack_Simth]

Nobody has any trouble finding the place. Seems the arena was built on a major roadway, and everyone knows where to find it.


1) Does the individual who left this note intend me harm?

2) Is this note an attempt to lure me away from Drezen so as to lower its defenses?

3) Am I likely to find allies if I attend the proposed meeting?

4) If I go to the meeting, will there be combat?

5) Does it serve the interests of the Church of Iomedae if I attend this meeting?

6) The note claims that the author has seen the Crax in action. Are they telling the truth?

You get a obviously useful response only to the third question, and that one is a "yes". The rest come back with simple silence, not even the normal "unclear" that you'd get for for future events that are sufficiently hotly contested amongst the gods that the outcome is in doubt even to them.Roll Spellcraft, if you would.
You spend a few hours, buy a few drinks, and while no one person seems to have the entire picture, a number of rumors seem to converge:
Everyone knows that particular arena is reserved for a private function; it's posted clearly enough in multiple places. That's really all most people know. You do, however, find a few people with other tidbits of information. One of the Red Mantis 'tax collectors' mentions "The arena master wasn't around when it came time for me to collect his protection money... place was empty. If he's not dead he'd better be ready to pay with interest when we find 'im... haven't been able to track him down, though, nobody's seen him in a week. His staff 'neither." When you ask about it, a farmer relaxing for the day pulls out a journal, and says "Can't say as I know much about it... but the signs started cropping up every here and there on ... Sarenith 20th."

Mostly, though, nobody seems to know anything you haven't already gathered.

[Nightraiderx]

"hmm..." Dazeneth looks over the paper. He was training in the monastery when a few of his fellow disciples brought in the paper to show him. "What do you think, Sensei Aggoron?" He handed the papers to Sensei who looked over the papers. The old dragon with a long body and beard that jutted out looks over the papers.
"Ah Dazeneth it is what I feared. The horde is growing stronger, we have been fortunate to hold back the horde of evil creatures for now but we must find out what drives them. Dazeneth, I will be sending you to check out the lead, but be careful. We do not know if this is a trap, scout out and find out as much as you can, and update us." The other students get loud starting to feel left out but Aggoron raises a hand to silence them. "Dazeneth has honed his body in such a way that you have not, his research into the abyss will aid him greatly in understanding the monstrosities. Do any of you have a problem with that?" The group quiets down. "Now, Dazeneth that is an order do you understand?" Dazeneth gives a long bow, "I understand."

[Implied travel to location specified in the flyer.]

[Triskavanski]

Izzy yawned softly as she began making her way through the streets. That last run of rum netted her a huge profit, a profit she had yet to properly spend. Sleepily she looked around the stores and shops for small trinkets and the like, looking for where she could find the best sales men and crafters in order to commission more.

Outside of town was Izzy's Airship, named Probably Nothing. She couldn't think of a better name, papers were strewn all about in the cabin as she tried to come up with names. But she was terrible with them, completely utterly so. "Huh? Crax?" she wondered staring a bit too closely to the paper. Clenching her eyes she stumbles back a little, an errant breeze blowing her long, multihued scarf. Yet, nothing else stirred, and nary could the moving air be felt. And yet her scarf blew around, rapidly so, as if some great winds were only blowing for the scarf and nothing else.

Adjusting her site again, she rubbed the back of her head. "Whatever, she remarked begining to walk towards the arena now, yawning once more. "Tink, we're gonna go kick something's ass.. I think." Lazidly she continued walking. It would be a terrible thing if all this booze would go to waste. As she walked, she pulled up a tankard, holding it into her right hand from a bag. Moving to a local pump she filled it, with far too much water for rough brass tankard. A task of making sure one was properly hydrated completed, she continued walking drinking heartily from the cup.

[Maugan Ra]

Matthias draws plenty of attention as he makes his way through Ilizmagorti. This is no surprise, considering his appearance and his fame, and nor is it unintentional. The paladin has never been much in favour of hiding outside the bounds of tactical necessity.

He ignores the hidden glances and quiet whispers he draws, instead mulling over the unusual responses he drew from his divinations earlier in the day - and what they might mean...

Rolling Spellcraft as requested.

[roll0]

[Jack_Simth]

As hard as it is to believe, it seems something is interfering on the divine channel when you ask about the topic. It's unclear if the question never reached Iomedae, or if the answer never got back, but something is clearly messing up the communications channel. You've no idea how that might be done, but clearly, that's what's happened.

[Matamane]

Dempsey approaches the arena. His forehead glistens with sweat from his travels. Not wanting to stay still too long, he executes some jabs, and begins eyeing the crowd that has formed.

[Jack_Simth]

You all make it to the arena without much hassle. It's small as far as arenas go - the arena proper is only a fifty foot diameter circle with what is (on the surface, at least) a sand floor. The majority of the structure is wooden (the most notable exception being a glass ceiling), and there's only about ten rows of bleachers going back another 25 feet from the ten foot tall inner arena wall... although they are progressively raised, so that those in front are unlikely to block the view of those behind. There's one announcer's box, raised five feet above the top of the inner arena wall and at the north edge of the arena. The announcer's box is empty when you first spy it.

You are all ushered in, along with quite a few other interested parties in various states of dress: six people dressed up like they're playing at nobility in this no-man's land, draped in velvet, silk, and gold; six standard "trophy spouses" that go with such excesses; ten high-ranking military types with their weapons and armor - presumably captains and generals of various natures, allied or not; and a few hundred of what appears on the surface to be interested peasantry as well.

There are ten ushers, who size everyone up as they come in. The "nobility" are lead to the announcer's box, the interested peasantry get crammed into the bleachers, and the high ranking military sort (as well as yourselves) are politely escorted to the arena floor and given a space next to the wall.

An usher briefly speaks to each of you in turn as you are directed to your seats: "Once everyone has reached their places, the speaker will come out and say his peace. After that, you will have the opportunity to ask questions."

The place is packed in fairly short order, and the ushers return to their places at the entrances to watch for newcomers. After the place is full, however, they do start politely turning people away.
Anyone wanting to make knowledge checks on the various people you can see, perception checks to hear what the ushers are saying to others, spells to cast, NOT go to your assigned place, request more detail on specific items, or take any other actions? Please make sure to specify what you're examining with perception checks, knowledge skills, spells, etcetera. I plan to continue in about a day real-time whether or not anyone posts, and may reply to specific action posts earlier.

[whoiam]

Knowledge checks on the other guests - taking 10 gives 89 for Local or Nobility.


Hmm... quite the crowd they'd drawn, here. Some familiar faces within it, even. Izzy, Matthias and Firbu she would have even called friends... And young Dazenth! My, he'd come a long way since the youth asking her questions about psionic theory and the other planes. Hmm... she'd have to see if he still remembered her. A quick dip into her pocket produced quill and paper - a quick note was produced, and handed to the Raven sitting upon her shoulder.

"Take this to Dazenth," she thought, and the Raven complied, launching itself into the air above the crowd, slip of paper clutched in her beak.


Crowd's too tall, no-one can see me past all these giants. Silaquee will show you where I'm standing. Come over and say hi!

--Desssria


But while that was going on, she had closer friends to contact. No familiar to carry notes this time, so she went instead for a little light telepathy.


Each of the three can feel a familiar touch on their minds, as Desssria's sends the mental equivalent of a knock on the front door to each of them. It's up to them whether or not they accept - Desssria cannot force people into her collective, after all.

[Necroticplague]

As Firbu glances around at the little spectacle, she feels an odd sensation, like the one her hat sometimes give her when she concentrates. She focuses on this sensation until she can feel a metaphorical door opening. Man, no matter how long she had these weird brain-powers, she always had a hard time explaining this type of stuff. Thus, her oddly weak mental voice as she joins the collective.
"Er...to WHOM mAY i bE speakING to? SorRY if i doN'T souND thE BEst liKE THIS. DoN't use mie mined two speAK OFTen"

[Matamane]

Dempsey looks around to see if he notices any familiar faces.

Taking 10 on perception, so 68

[whoiam]

Out in the real world, Desssria's sporting a mysterious little smile.

In the collective, she's openly laughing.

Silaquee (collective): "That was a touch loud, wasn't it?"

It takes Desssria's mind a few moments to regain its composure.

Desssria (collective): "I'll let you off not noticing me over this crowd, dear. Not your fault I'm so short... and it'd probably be rude for me to sit on the wall.

In future, remember: I'm doing the work of actually moving thoughts between minds. So you don't have to try forcing it... just think kinda ...openly.

Anyway... have you remembered me, yet? I can always give you a hint..."

A...familiar... voice raises itself in the form of a kasatha folk tune, above the sound of the expectant crowd. It gets an entire couple of seconds to itself before a Raven begins caw-ing along, a long way out of key.


Desssria's perform (sing) check: +69 (taking 10)
Silaquee's perform (sing) check: +54 (taking 10) (but deliberately trying to screw up Desssria's performance).


Faced with this competition, Desssria quiets down again. Mostly in the hopes of getting Silaquee to shut up before someone complained about her.

Desssria (collective): "....Honestly. With all the time I've spent feeding her, you'd think she would be more helpful."

And then it's Silaquee's chance to laugh across the collective.

[Maugan Ra]

Well, I see you two haven't changed. Matthias' thoughts come over the link, the paladin having accepted the invitation as soon as he recognized it. Still, it's good to see a familiar face again. Were you also summoned by way of mysterious notes posted to public places?

[Necroticplague]

A slight look of confusion crosses the gunslinger's face as she looks around before seeing the catgirl. A, the bard from years back! Can't forget someone that helped set her straight like that. She again tries to communicate within the thought network, with marginally better results. Not thinking about her own thoughts ends up with them racing, probably a bad side-effect of a mind used to rapid reflexes.
"ahyessorryit'sbeenyearssuprisedyourecognizedmeiwas tallerbackthen(minorspellspoilscanbuy,findithelpsm yaim)yeahisawtheflyersdon'tassumeyouknowanythingel seaboutthesef***ers"

[whoiam]

Silaquee (Collective): "Oh, you know Desssria. You could summon her to the ass-end of the abyss using nothing more than a library index card."

Desssria ignores her bird that time, likely an attempt to not get ejected from the front of the crowd for arguing with a small bird. ....Heh. Normal people had such boring social problems.

Desssria (Collective): "I tried a few times. Most divinations turned up nothing. A few, deceptive visions. One, a group of cute little cubs tearing each other apart. I stopped at that point. It's kind of worrying when your scrying attempts are teaching the target more than they're teaching you. I was trying to decide if it was worth trying to talk someone into mounting another expedition when someone brought me one of the flyers. Figured this was probably a touch safer..."

[Triskavanski]

Despite her nature, there was the fact that Izzy herself was also a psionic spellcaster. Its something that really isn't brought up much, as she tended to battle enemies more with her bare fists. To get them something more of a sporting chance. She also tended to solve issues with more mundane methods, though be it, her methods bordered a bit more supernatural.


"Uh.. oh hey. I think they look like butt cracks. Flying around in the air, but like.. not the grabble type. The type with boils and sores and more ass hair than a shaggy dog."

She throws out into the collective, still in a very lazy, slow method of speech.

[Nightraiderx]

Dazeneth reads the note and recogonizes the name, "ah so she's here to hm? alright lead me through the crowd." Dazeneth follows the bird back to Desssria. "hm, so what brings you to the arena?"

[Jack_Simth]

You can clearly tell that 'playing at nobility' is mostly correct. One of the nobles technically is in fact nobility... however, his lands are among those that 'went dark' from The Crax, and he probably doesn't have any real resources to speak of anymore. One of the others is actually a representative of the local assassins' guild - or more accurately, a recorder; he's got a perfect memory and is quite skilled at mimicking what he saw with illusions later. Seems the assassins' guild thinks it's well within possibility that this is a trap, but also considers it too tempting to simply ignore... and so, they sent someone disposable who will be capable of making a very detailed report.

There does not appear to be a representative from the Red Mantis here; the most likely case is that they're buying a report from the Assasins' guild. The generals are all from mercenary companies, other than one pirate.

To all appearances, the crowd of interested peasantry is exactly that - locals who wandered in off the streets. A few merchants of some skill, but none where you couldn't simply buy out their entire stock with your pocket change.


The room warms up with all the people inside, and after a short while, a man in leathers armor with a very nice telescope hanging on his hip walks onto the sands, and takes position in the middle of the room. He looks human, and has a jagged scar on his left cheek that starts at his blue eye and ends somewhere under his unkept brown beard. He is sweating slightly as he looks around, sighs, and quietly says "So... these are the only ones brave enough to risk it, eh? All right then. To business." before continuing in a voice meant to be heard by all "Greetings. Yes, I've seen The Crax, and they are many and varied. I was out ... hunting... and looking through my telescope for my favourite prey, when I spotted a mess of them devouring a tree. The only constant I could see is that they all seem to be coated in weird purple crystals; everything else? They looked like a mishmash of other creatures. A bear with an elven torso sticking out of it's back. A giant eel with a scorpion's legs, arms, and stinger. A giant eagle with an elephant's trunk. When the bear knocked down a tree and started eating it - quickly, too, it didn't take long to make work of it, and it grew, visibly, as it did - I noticed that behind them was little more than bare rock, coated with a dusting of purple crystals... and after a few minutes, it became clear that the crystals on even the rocks were growing... at the expense of the rocks." the man shudders "So... that's what seemed immediately relevant. Does anyone on the floor have questions so far?"

[whoiam]

Desssria doesn't reply to Dazenth's question, but winks at him as she extends a fourth Collective invitation.

Desssria (Collective): "Is it wrong that I want to heckle him? I just have this urge to shout out 'Yeah, why did you call us into an arena just to recite a description?'. Even though I know that's not all that's coming tonight."


Desssria: "Yes. Back to those descriptions a moment. The creatures. Did they look alive, or like reanimated flesh? Did they look continuous (despite the incongruity of their construction), or did they have the appearance of being assembled from their disparate pre-existing parts? And did the crystals appear to be a simple covering, or were they actually a part of the creatures?"

[Necroticplague]

With something to focus on, the fourarmed gunslinger's stream of consciousness becomes more focused and punctual as she tries to think of possibilities.
Hmmm...Multiple Organisms. Apparently Seperable. Possible Symbiosis. Likely Parasitism. Crystal Spreads. Mobile Hosts, Animated To Help. Immobile, Used To Feed Crystal. Heard Of Fungus That Does Similar. Not As Grand A Scale. Dying Hosts Likely Unnaturally Sustained. Last Moments Are Either A Frenzy To Spread, Or Rapidly Being Consumed. Possibly Forms Collective Masses. Like Lichen. Fusions Possible Results Of Collective.
However much her mind be racing, her sharp eyes merely stare impassively as her old habit of listening before acting remains. Neverhteless, something about this puts her on edge as she leans forward both to listen better and prepare for flight if need be.
Entering Stance of the Ether Gate and Unfettered Movement.

[Nightraiderx]

Dazeneth gives a nod and joins the collective. "So are you here because of the lead to?"
He asks Desssria.

[Maugan Ra]

You can clearly tell that 'playing at nobility' is mostly correct. One of the nobles technically is in fact nobility... however, his lands are among those that 'went dark' from The Crax, and he probably doesn't have any real resources to speak of anymore. One of the others is actually a representative of the local assassins' guild - or more accurately, a recorder; he's got a perfect memory and is quite skilled at mimicking what he saw with illusions later. Seems the assassins' guild thinks it's well within possibility that this is a trap, but also considers it too tempting to simply ignore... and so, they sent someone disposable who will be capable of making a very detailed report.

There does not appear to be a representative from the Red Mantis here; the most likely case is that they're buying a report from the Assasins' guild. The generals are all from mercenary companies, other than one pirate.

To all appearances, the crowd of interested peasantry is exactly that - locals who wandered in off the streets. A few merchants of some skill, but none where you couldn't simply buy out their entire stock with your pocket change.


The room warms up with all the people inside, and after a short while, a man in leathers armor with a very nice telescope hanging on his hip walks onto the sands, and takes position in the middle of the room. He looks human, and has a jagged scar on his left cheek that starts at his blue eye and ends somewhere under his unkept brown beard. He is sweating slightly as he looks around, sighs, and quietly says "So... these are the only ones brave enough to risk it, eh? All right then. To business." before continuing in a voice meant to be heard by all "Greetings. Yes, I've seen The Crax, and they are many and varied. I was out ... hunting... and looking through my telescope for my favourite prey, when I spotted a mess of them devouring a tree. The only constant I could see is that they all seem to be coated in weird purple crystals; everything else? They looked like a mishmash of other creatures. A bear with an elven torso sticking out of it's back. A giant eel with a scorpion's legs, arms, and stinger. A giant eagle with an elephant's trunk. When the bear knocked down a tree and started eating it - quickly, too, it didn't take long to make work of it, and it grew, visibly, as it did - I noticed that behind them was little more than bare rock, coated with a dusting of purple crystals... and after a few minutes, it became clear that the crystals on even the rocks were growing... at the expense of the rocks." the man shudders "So... that's what seemed immediately relevant. Does anyone on the floor have questions so far?"

"Why call us here?" Matthias says in a calm voice. "You apparently had the resources to post invitations across settlements in multiple nations. Sending your observations out in written form would have accomplished much the same... and might have drawn response from those who were either unwilling or unable to journey across the length of a continent in a day to hear you out."

Over the communal link, his tone is somewhat sharper.

For the record, something about the Crax interferes with divine communication. I had thought that silence from the heavens on this matter implied a lack of knowledge, but I have reason to believe that my enquiries on the topic are simply not reaching the Inheritor. An... unusually specific defense, if so. We may wish to look to the Titans, or perhaps the Asura, for further answers.

[Triskavanski]

"So bears ate a rock, the rock ate the bears, the rocks ate other rocks. Aaaand?" Izzy calls out herself. "We just need some good no rock solution. If its anything like diamonds though you can't just wack it alot. It just becomes dust. And mummy dust can still make mummies."

[Jack_Simth]

The scarred man tries to answer the rapid fire questions from the party and the military men "They didn't have the pallor of death, but I was a bit far for details.. I didn't see stitches, but between distance, fur, and scales, I might not have. Seemed to be a part of them, but hard to say..." "Ah, no, exactly what I was hunting isn't germane here...." the main trails off when Matthias points out the absurdity of his method of gathering people, and a moment later, chuckles "Well, I suppose that's what I get for playing with my food: A bit of a mess. Not a big deal, I'll do it better next time. Learning and adapting is what I do... well, that and eating..." as he dismisses the polymorphic effect, and a Colossal lizard with claws, a long neck, and wings, coated in tiny purple crystals densely enough that it's hard to determine the underlying color, stands in your midst as the crowd starts to panic...Initiative, A Fort save, and a Will save (vs. fear) for everyone (immunities currently apply to the fear will save), please.
Giant Lizard: [roll0]

Kn(Arcana) to ID the lizard's underlying nature.

Edit: Oh yes: And Damage types, spell descriptors, spell schools, and so on are EXTREMELY important with The Crax. Please make sure to list them all when taking actions that interact with them.

[Maugan Ra]

Matthias... blinks.

Well, that was unexpected. His mental voice sounds rather dry over the link, as he stares up at the gigantic monster looming over them. If any of you have an idea as to what precisely this is, the information would be appreciated. And... I think moving this elsewhere would be my first suggestion. I would hate for the town to become collateral damage. Unless any of you have an alternative, I believe I can take care of that.

Going to roll Knowledge (Arcana) here just in case I get anything. Desssria has a much better result than I could ever achieve - if the telepathic link allows me to just give her an Aid Another boost, I'll do that. If not...

Knowledge (Arcana): [roll0]

Also, I forgot to factor Cunning Initiative in when I rolled OoC. My initiative should therefore be 20.

[Triskavanski]

Izzy rolls her eyes, moving to stand up. "That is a Crax." she announces "Seriously, all of you dumbasses are going to start panicing now that the enemy is right on front of you. You know if you live through this, you should offer drinks and refreshments. Kicking your ass is going to be a pain in mine. I wonder if punch you with my fist.. do you fart?"



Init - [roll0]
Fort Save [roll1]
Will Save (As I don't think I've drunken any alcohol yet) [roll2]

First turn Action - Swift Generate Tiger Fork
Use 5 points to give it a +5 bonus to Attack and Damage
Spend another 11 points to Add in Calamity.
This gives me The weapon which may eventually become to be known as the Paper Tiger.
56/56/51/46/36 for its attacks
2d8+36 Physical Damage
+3d6 Force Damage
Crits 17-20/x3 dmg

[Necroticplague]

Alternative: Kill it quickly.
With her short opinion on the subject given, Firbu tries to minimize the possible collateral damage by taking this hulking monstrosity out with one blow, if possible. Instead of her typical hail of rounds, she takes a moment to put a well-placed shot into what she hopes is it's vitals to take it out as she herself seems to fade away into barely more than a ghost. As is always her way, though, instead of aiming directly for such a point, she shoots at the ground, where it then bounces off of, into a wall, and then into the beast crystalline hide.
Non-action: Gunslinger's Initiative to draw a weapon when initiative is rolled.
Swift: Change Stance from Unfettered Movement to Spiritual Weapon Stance
Move: Change Stance from Stance of the Ether Gate to Spiritual Weapon Stance.
Standard: Use Twisting Wind Shot (augmented by Richochet Shot Deed (version normally requiring a grit, reduced to zero by true grit), Called Shot to the heart, Deadly Aim (+16/-8),Deadeye (reduced to 0 grit by Signature Grit+Deadeye Vest)) with (effective) +5 Flaming Shocking Ghost Touch Pistol of the Infinite Sky against the lizard-crax. Defensive Shot prevents the AoO from attacking with a ranged weapon.
Attack:[roll0] (Note: Is against his touch AC, ignoring Deflection Bonuses to AC, ignoring all cover or concealment (Firearm Penetration, Gunner's Lenses, Ricochet Shot))
As per Twisting Wind Shot, if this hits, the attack is an auto-crit. If it actually crits normally (meaning it falls within my crit range, since I auto-confirm crits), the target is additionally Dazed for a round, no save. The extra damage is being exchanged to use Death's Shot, resulting in a DC 46 FORT save or die. And since it would be a critical called shot to the heart, it would also cause exhaustion and 1d4 CON bleed (unless they succeed a FORT save with a DC equal to the attack roll, which reduces it to fatigue and 1 CON bleed). Blinding Critical and Staggering Critical would also activate, making it DC 40 FORT vs. permanently Blinded (successful saves reduces it to 1d4 rounds dazzled) and DC 40 FORT vs. [roll1] rounds of stagger (success means only 1 round of stagge)
Damage:[roll2] (Bludgeoning and Piercing, base weapon damage)+[roll3](Fire, Flaming enchantment (originating from Helm of Brilliance enchantment on hat))+[roll4](Electricity, Shocking enchantment (originating from Helm of Electric Radiance enchantment on hat))+[roll5] (Force, from Spiritual Weapon Stance)
Virulence, Sun dips Low, Fivefold Hydra Sting, Sting of the Cobra, Dimensional Strike, Fading Leap, Dispersal Strike, Fade Through, Lunar Penumbra, Twisting Wind Shot, Phantom Wind Ray, Blinding Ray Shot
Twisting Wind Shot, Phantom Wind Ray, Shrug it Off, Bloody Riposite, Sanguine Perfection, Stunning Solar Flare, Blinding Ray Shot, Feel the Wind, Unbreakable Panthera Guard, Phantom Sunstorm, Solar Storm

[whoiam]

Step 1: Time stutter. It gives her a precious few seconds to think before the fighting starts.

So, what does she know? She recognises the Dragon. Poor Levethix. How much of him was still in there? She doubted she'd know until she ran into a few more Crax. That 'playing with his food' bit would have fit the dragon fairly well...

Anyway, not important right now. First thing they'd need to do is disable or destroy it, without too much damage to the others.

Some of the others would be charging in. Matthias, Izzy, Firbu and Dazenth, certainly. Personally, she was going to be running back, but only to the limits of her 'firing' range. No point in putting herself in too much danger if she could help it.

What else could she do to help? She could attack what was left of Levethix. She could... do something about clearing the crowd out, probably. Bad as this situation is, it's only going to get worse if the civilians get infected as well...


Time Stutter to gain a free round. Spend it gaining Psionic Focus (energy type: Cold, in case it comes up.)


Time was almost up. She'd have to act now. Golems to handle the crowd. Disjunction to remove any other prepared surprises Lev... the Crax had on its person. Then try and keep it from casting anything else while her colleagues gutted it.

Desssria (Collective): "I knew that dragon. Can't say getting infected has improved his disposition much. Stick clear of fire effects and you should be fine. But watch those crystals... I get the feeling you don't want to get any of them on you."

Standard Action: Cast Perfect Persistent Wooden Phalanx (summons 20 advanced wooden golems in a ring between the fight and the civilian crowd sitting outside of them, then returns to her prepared spells in the same slot, without the 'Persistent' tag)
Move action: Command the Golems ('Evacuate the civilians!') - they won't be taking much part in the battle unless it drags on long enough for them to finish. Or the Crax attacks them instead of us, for some reason.
Free action: Quickened Mage's Disjunction (aiming for a point over the crax' head, so that her allies on the ground won't get hit but it will)
Multispell: Anathema Perfect Quickened Polar Ray [roll0] to do 300 points of 'Spell Power' damage + 8 points' Dexterity Drain (SR applies, [roll1])
Second Move Action: Nomad's Step (backwards 100', upwards 100')

[Matamane]

Dempsey looks around, not particularly surprised, and assumes a fighting stance

Inti: [roll0]
Fort: [roll1]
Will: [roll2]

[Jack_Simth]

As Izzy lays into the beast, it becomes apparent that this THING is not normal. The first blow greviously wounds it and the purple crystals flash red. The second lands, and the purple crystals flash pink as Izzy wounds the beast... but not nearly as badly as it should have been. On the third blow, the crystals flash white and the beast seems unaffected. On the fourth, the crystals flash a light green and the wounds on the beast start closing up, filling with purple crystals... on the fifth, the crystals flash a dark green, and the wounds on the beast become completely sealed with a vein of purple crystal, the remainder of the captured energy slightly thickening the outer crystal coating.

The horror is ended rather abruptly, however, as Firbu's shot strikes true to the heart of the beast; with its last breath, it speaks "Well, that's it for this puppet... ah well, I'll need to use more than just a dragon next time... perhaps two... but eh, I'll still win eventually. I always do... Mwahahahahaha" it trails off laughing... and when the light goes out of its eyes, the crystals collapse in on themselves, chewing through what's left of the body in a vain attempt to sustain themselves, and all that's left on the floor is a pile of purplish dust, plus an oddly-untouched circular strap of leather sitting slightly buried in the middle of the pile.

The golems have little trouble shuffling everyone out, as the vast majority of them were running away in full panic anyway from the frightening aspect of the dragon, and very soon, the place is empty, save for you.

[whoiam]

Desssria Nomad Steps back down to where she'd started, and glances around at the others who'd remained behind. She wasn't surprised by four of them. The fifth....

Hm.

Desssria waves one of her golems over, and points it towards the strap of leather. "Retrieve that, " she orders it, before walking over to the person she didn't know.

Desssria (Collective): "Don't step on the dust until we've seen if it does anything to the golem."


Desssria: "I don't think we've met before, but I've definitely seen your face. You're a prize fighter, aren't you? I've seen posters up... Dempsey, isn't it? You know, I wouldn't have expected a sportsman to stand his ground against a Dragon. I'm impressed!" Desssria grinned at Dempsey and stuck a hand out for a shake. "I'm Desssria, an experienced adventurer. The others brave enough to stick around are Matthias, priest of Iomedae and chronic hero, Dazenth, experienced soldier, Izzy, likely the most dangerous publican in all the planes is the lady who charged it and the Kasatha who just killed a Crax Dragon with a single bullet is a serial revolutionary known as the 'Firestorm'. Oh, and the little Raven flapping around is called Silaquee. She's my familiar, and I apologise in advance if she steals any food from your plate later. Please don't let her get her beak into anything alcoholic." Desssria points each one out with her other hand as she introduces them. Then glances back at Izzy to add, "That warning goes double for you, Izzy."

[Triskavanski]

Izzy's eyes held a sharp expression to them, devoid of the usual aloofness as her spear fades from existence, its power returning to her. "The crax is not many things. Its a single thing. It has the ability to rapidly alter the abilities of whatever plays host to its crystals, allowing it to quickly and rapidly develop immunities to the attacks. Its likely the next time you won't be able to do that.. Even if we take down its puppets the main host body will continue to keep living." yawning for a bit, she begins to walk a bit away. "At least.. That is what I assume."

Then looking to Desssria she shrugs, "I'm not the one in control of her. If she drinks, she drinks. If she doesn't, she doesn't."

[Jack_Simth]

The wooden golem does as ordered, and doesn't appear to have any immediate problems from contact with the dust, although it does get some on it.

[Necroticplague]

When her name is mentioned, Firbu holds the back of the barrel to her forehead and nods in a salute "Glad to see my reputation proceeds me." As she watches the golem do it's work of retrieving it, she keeps a pistol trained on it, then adding to the running commentary of what exactly they're up against. "Fortunately, it's immunity seems very specific. Overcoming your weapon didn't seem to stop mine. And it seems that it was fortunately lying about eating through non-living materials. Otherwise, we'd have quiet a mess on our hands. Anyone here know enough about magic to try and figure out what that does, since it's the last thing left?" The last sentence is said while waving her pistol at the strap the golem holds.

[Maugan Ra]

"Well, that was somewhat anticlimactic." Matthias says dryly, the whole fight having been concluded before he needed to so much as draw his sword. "I wonder... is the immunity acquired or applied? A foe that can choose to be immune to a singular form of attack is dangerous, but one that develop more immunities as a fight progresses is even worse."

Shaking his head, he turns and regards the rest of their impromptu gathering. "'Chronic hero'? You make it sound like some sort of illness, Dessria." He says with a wry smile. "But yes, I am Matthias Hulrun, Second Sword of Iomedae. A pleasure to meet you all. Given my position and my church's emphasis on opposing threats such as this I have a certain, hmm, vested interest in learning all that I can about the Crax. From that perspective at least this trip has already been worthwhile. From others... my lady did tell me that I could find allies here, if any of you are similarly interested in opposing this... being."

[Matamane]

Dempsey accepts the handshake, and nods in accordance.

"I'm a prizefighter, but we've all heard the rumors, and anything that can go toe to toe with a lich and a dragon is at least worth my curiosity. And, something that went to all that effort to gather a group of people capable of going toe to toe with it is definitely worth my attention. In the meantime, what's your take on all of this?"

[Nightraiderx]

"It seems there are many who have gathered here. The lead wasn't all in vein. I am Dazeneth Longtail, I hail from the Drakkon Monastery.
It seems the powder left behind may be inert for non organic creatures, otherwise we may have seen the substance ressurrect itself, or maybe that
the organism doing this can choose to infect things when it wants with it's conscience. Many questions indeed...." Dazeneth puts a claw on his thumb pondering.

[whoiam]

"No, 'Firestorm'. None of us possess the magical knowledge required to examine a potential magic or cursed item. Those eight centuries I've spent shoving my whiskers down every ancient ruin in Golarion weren't magical research, I was only there because the prehistoric dusts make my fur shine.

Just try not to leave any alcohol sitting around untended, Izzy. Unless you really want to hear what bawdy drinking songs sound like when rendered in the language of crows..." There's a quick shudder on Desssria's part. "...I know I don't.

And Matthias, heroism so is... you've been infecting people for decades, you know! I've been doing the same, if I'm honest. Why, I bet a few more minutes in our company and even Izzy will be feeling the need to go rescue fair maidens from trouble! --For the record, if any of you do feel the need to rescue maidens, try and remember I'm technically a Crone with access to some really, really good anti-ageing spells." Which was entirely true. She looked in her 20s because... well, if you were going to fix your apparent age for the rest of (anywhere up to) eternity, why would you choose to look old?

"On a more serious note: do remember that we don't know for sure there's only one of them. We know *this* Crax was a singular entity with an existence beyond that of the dragon it was inhabiting (and the crystals embedded therein). But it's still entirely possible there's more than one such consciousness involved, each with similar capabilities, and we just happen to have encountered only one to date.

I'm not sure if that possibility would be better or worse, honestly.

Anyway, yes, we have seen it adapt to assault. I think the most pressing question at this point is whether the immunities persist indefinitely - requiring different techniques to down each body as every method is rendered ineffective - or if switching to a new set of immunities. Or, in simple terms, we need to find out if growing immune to the Firestorm's bullets makes it vulnerable to Izzy's punches again."

Desssria calls the golem with the strap back to her, and settles down to examine the strap when it gets to her. "Ten gold says it scans as completely magic-free, whether or not it actually is. None of our other divinations worked on it, why would these?"


Perception check: 62 (taking 10)
Desssria also has continual Identify and True Sight effects active, which she'll use on the strap.
She'll also use a Detect Magic (from her Bard list) on it.

[Triskavanski]

"Well its good for that. I'd have had to try a lot more. Izzy says to Firbu. And I have a feeling this is a creature you don't want to try harder with.. I really hope it can't just become immune to anything it takes more than once.. And the annoying this is that its puppets will let it live longer. Even if we can destroy the central, if it keeps functioning we'll have to destroy every little thing it might have infected."

Turning to Matthis, Izzy rolls her eyes. "Of course I'm interested. I doubt something called Crax could make a good brew of liquor! Besides that, I like the people who already brew out some of the greatest liquors out there. Now we need to make sure that the dust pile over there doesn't infect anyone or anything else. Any ideas?"

[Jack_Simth]

You figure out the item itself easily enough; the aura is practically overwhelming, although pretty much everything else in the room registers as completely dead, magic-wise - you're not even seeing the lingering aura you'd expect from where the wooden golems were summoned into existence. It's a +12 Belt of Physical perfection.

[Necroticplague]

"Indeed. Questions, but not answers. He said he was out hunting. However much a lie that may have been, it does give an idea. What if we simply start looking for more of this? I'm sure that if we fight them, especially on their own grounds, we could learn more."

Taking a moment to prepare for the hunting expedition, Firbu takes a deep breath to focus her energy internally, then focusing it to a venomous point. She was caught having not made this preparation before. She will not repeat that mistake.
Standard to refresh maneuver. Swift to use Virulence to boost Fivefold Hydra Sting.

[Jack_Simth]

Let's see... not seeing any particular world-interactions... so ... nobody's asking about the results of the identify, nobody's commenting on the hunting suggestion, nobody's talking about alternative ways to research The Crax, nobody's following up on the suggestion from earlier of possible non-divination routes to magically gain knowledge about The Crax, or other things? Note that after a point, if I get bored, there will be a 'random' event.

[Nightraiderx]

"Find anything from those analysis?" Dazeneth asks Dresssria.

[Matamane]

"Well, there's no question that the Crax are sentient, or at the very least are capable of thought. What I find interesting is they possess vanity and in this case, are prone to hubris. I'm curious whether or not those are inherent traits, or something it picked up from the host."

Turning to the group, Dempsey adds.

"It seems some of you were familiar with the host. Is that a possibility?"

I don't suppose I can sense Ki, can I? It's not really something that's ever discussed in Pathfinder, but if you'll allow it, I'd like to try that.

[whoiam]

"I recognised the dragon whose body it was using, yes. Though I can't really say we were close friends or anything - you just learn to recognise a lot of scale patterns if you wander the world long enough. From what I know, though, Levethix would have been prone to acting somewhat similarly given a similar perceived advantage. Then again, so would plenty of chromatic dragons. Ego's kinda an ancestral thing for most of them.

Well, the bits I can detect on the belt are pretty standard for a Belt of Physical Perfection, not too dissimilar to the ones that you, Matthias and I are wearing. Except it's reading as about twice the strength as the belt I made for myself. And I wasn't exactly holding back when I created mine..."


Desssria's attention shifted back to Dempsey quickly, and he finally also got his invitation to the collective.

"Well, I've no particular need to grant myself the strength of a warhorse, so if one of the rest of you wants to try their luck wearing this, you're more than welcome..."

[Matamane]

"If there aren't any other takers, I wouldn't mind taking that off your hands.:

Dempsey ponders for a bit before adding.

"I might have an inkling as to the nature of how these things adapt. Nothing I can substantiate just yet, but I have an excellent idea where we can find answers."

Dempsey accepts the invitation to the collective. Although he has observed similar abilities during his travels, he has never experienced one first hand, and decides to use the opportunity to experiment. As he opens the door to his consciousness, he decides to try something, and attempts to visualize a landscape in his mind.

Again, this isn't something that's ever covered in the materials, but I'd like to try creating a mind palace, a mnemonic device that someone who is prone to long bouts of meditation might develop over a long period of time. Essentially, I'd like to create a mind space to host Desssria and the collective. In this instance, a landscape. No real mechanical benefits, but perhaps this is how an ability like Still Mind would function in game.

[Triskavanski]

"Uh.. well, I don't know if wearing that belt is a good thing. Again.. We've got a big pile of dust just sitting there.. and we have no idea if it could start infecting things again. We should somehow clear it out. " says the drunkard, the voice of reason.

[whoiam]

Desssria: "Unfortunately, we've got a bit of an issue there, namely if it's capable of infecting things as well as people, it's kinda hard to find something we can safely store it in."

Desssria (Collective): "Best idea I've come up with so far involves making a fresh demiplane, giving it no air, no contents, and no solid walls to brace or build against, giving it only one permanent portal (on the opposite side from the pull of gravity) as access - and even that only leads to another demiplane, then setting the entire thing to 'permanent', 'timeless' and 'null magic'. Then we put a gate from here to the 'intermediary' demiplane, and have the golems carry the dust through and dump it into the timeless null magic one. Then we complete the cleanup by torching the golems and dumping the ashes through the portal as well.

Only drawback... It'll take a while to set up. Several hours, at a minimum, longer if we want a bigger storage facility. It'll also need a lot of diamonds if I'm to make the entire set permanent in one go. But that's the most secure rubbish dump I can think of off the top of my head..."

Desssria: "As far as I can see, the belt is clean. But... well, I can't detect the Crax' presence or influence at all. So there's no guarantee that there aren't other, less positive, enchantments on it... But you're welcome to try it, if you like."

[Nightraiderx]

"I'm going to pass on that item, could be risky. (collective) But what was interesting was during the fight the color of the cysts on it. It would change every time an attack hit it, and I wonder if the Crax can't adapt to multiple elements at the same time. Figuring out what each color represents and we could possibly anticipate what it's trying to become immune too... we should try to record the types of damage we do to them and see how they react if they react the same way or differently. "

[Triskavanski]

"Well on creating dimensions and the like, I can help some with that. Also my armory knows very few bounds, so I can fairly rapidly switch between different kinds of elements and types of weapons. Man this is a real pain in the ass.. Izzy rubs the back of her head. She was already putting in more effort than she'd want to.

[Necroticplague]

"I have next to zero clue as to what you all speak of, elements and dimensions. What I do know of is courage. And the awful lack of it you show about one mere belt. A lot of thinking and talking, not enough action." With this, she undoes her own enchanted belt and tosses a it in her portable hole before walking over to the golem carrying the belt, snatching it out of its hand, then putting it on her own waist.
"Now, with that out of the way, I will be going to test these things for weaknesses. We are near the border of where they live, correct?" She grabs her own cape by the hem before seeming to throw it over her head as it seems to turn into a set of bat-like wings. She also switched out her hat for a nearly identical, if plainer, one that she was keeping on her person.
"I will going to look for them. You can armchair strategize and prepare while I'm gone. Or follow me, if you feel like being useful.." With this, she takes to the sky with her wings and soars over and out the town, looking for anything that might indicate the Crax was there.
gonna take 10 of my rolls to go looking for trouble. That gives me perception 69 to spot any tracks, survival 59 to follow them, and 71 stealth to get the drop on any (note since I'm incorporeal right now, I don't make unintended noise)

[Jack_Simth]

The town seems normal enough on the surface for such a . There's ships in the harbor, "guards" "patrolling" and "collecting taxes"... really, soldiers bullying the populace, terrorizing the relatively legitimate merchants and pirates alike, and taking their money. They seem to be careful to not take quite so much that their victims will decide not to return ... for the most part.

In the immediate area of the arena, people are simply fleeing from the carnage. The only apparent exceptions to that are the ushers from earlier - who seem to be walking at normal speeds to various places. Off to the north, many miles away, you see a forest that has a slight purple tint to it.

[Necroticplague]

Firbu contemplates for a moment how she probably doesn't nearly as often as one would think, given her oppurtunity to. Of course, it's a rather immediate consequence of her own alacrity, and skill with stepping into and out of the Ethereal making it redundant in many cases. The next moment is making mental notes about what she sees. Some of her wondering thoughts and observations end up leaking over to the mental network her mind's been wired into, providing a bit of reconnaissance. After the noting the corruption she'll need to investigate more later, and about the rather suspiciosuly calm folks that don't appear to harm anyone, but who might know something, she set off for the most obvious place to look for Crax: The slightly purple forest seemed promising.
Hm. Ushers calm. Like they expected it. People most likely to have know that pile of dust. Possible collaborators? No physical signs, but neither did that thing.

[whoiam]

Desssria (Collective): "....Interesting, but not very surprising. I spoke with one of the 'tax collectors' yesterday. Didn't even try and hide the fact they were collecting 'protection money'. As to the unconcerned.... well, I also know that the arena's old owner disappeared a week ago. Which probably means the Crax reached town a week ago, and it's had plenty of time to surreptitiously infect other puppets. The terrible part is that, since we can't get accurate divination results and it can mask its physical symptoms, we've no reliable way to telling how many were... infected. We should get the dust out of the way (just in case) and then mount a proper hunting expedition into Crax territory."

Out loud, Desssria calls half her golems back from the exits. "Gather that dust into a pile in the centre of the arena, " she commanded them. Then she pulled out one of her spellbooks, and sat down a foot above the ground to prepare a little magic...

Desssria (Collective): "I'm going to need about six hours, one of you who isn't Dempsey or Firbu, and some rope to get this dust properly secured. While I do appreciate the offer to help, Izzy, unless you can throw out a demiplane in under a half an hour it'll be faster for me to do them myself. It's setting the plane to be magic free and timeless that takes up most of the time, and we can't easily share that duty between us...

Anyway, I should be fine with one helper and the golems, so if the rest of you want to join Firbu running experiments, I've no objections..."

[Maugan Ra]

Desssria (Collective): "I'm going to need about six hours, one of you who isn't Dempsey or Firbu, and some rope to get this dust properly secured. While I do appreciate the offer to help, Izzy, unless you can throw out a demiplane in under a half an hour it'll be faster for me to do them myself. It's setting the plane to be magic free and timeless that takes up most of the time, and we can't easily share that duty between us...

Anyway, I should be fine with one helper and the golems, so if the rest of you want to join Firbu running experiments, I've no objections..."

"I'm not much one for random experimentation, but do you particularly need to create a fresh Demiplane for something like this?" Matthias asks, studying the dust. "The golems can apparently handle the remnants safely enough. So... I could just open a gate and dump it all into the Abyss or the Farlands or something. Maybe into a star?"

[Triskavanski]

To the collective "Actually.. there is an easy way to figure out who is a puppet. We just scan people in the town with whatever detection magic you might want. Then whoever doesn't appear, is likely crax. Or just someone who has anti-detection magic, but that s typically easy to figure out with the right threats. Also, I don't think roping it off is going to do any good. Rats could run through it. I do have the ability to pull out a gauntlet of annihilation from my armory."

[whoiam]

Dessria (Collective): "To date, we've seen scrying attempts on the Crax displaying both 'no result' and 'deceptive results'. So, no, relying on things not showing up in magical scans to detect the Crax isn't a comprehensive method.

If you want to try it, go ahead - catching some Crax is better than catching none, after all - but we cannot consider a population clean just because we've wiped out the blanks.

As to the dumping locations, no, I'm not going to dump it into a random outer plane. If you think the situation's bad now, imagine having to fight off a plague of Crax-infected Daemon Princes. I can't think of any safe method of dumping it into a star - opening portals to those isn't exactly safe for the world you're inhabiting at the time you do it. I'm also not yet sure this stuff can be destroyed by heat, so...

...that's why I wanted a timeless, null magic demiplane whose entry point can be destroyed from the outside. I can't think of anywhere safer to put it with less access to energy, magic or potential victims.

Oh, and the rope wasn't for securing the dust. I've never tried this before, but I don't think my levitation will work once I set the plane to null magic. The rope was so I could be hauled back out again once I was finished preparing the demiplane, since we probably won't be able to retrieve me by supernatural means."

[Nightraiderx]

"sigh, Firbu is probably going to need some help and I'm more suited for on the spot observation than theorizing, keep in touch and I'll start trying out different techniques."Dazeneth spreads his wings and follows Firbu towards the forest.

[Maugan Ra]

Matthias shrugs. Very well. I will stand guard and assist as needed. I am probably the least suited to scouting out of all of us. If we all remain in the link Desssria and I can move to assist rapidly should it become necessary..

He pauses, thinking privately for a moment, then resumes. If further conflict looks likely, I can provide healing and enhancements as required, but those rely on foreknowledge of an impending threat. I will have to trust in the discretion of our scouts whether such support is necessary, depending on the enemies they encounter.

[Jack_Simth]

From the ethereal, when you look around you find little of note - just that the trees and (deeper into Crax territory) the rocks are coated in little purple crystals. You have a constant prickling on the back of your neck like you're being watched, regardless of whether you're material or Ethereal, although you can't see or hear anything. There's tracks almost everywhere, however, although they seem to be mostly going around in circles.

Also, roll Fort when you're in Crax territory.

[Triskavanski]

"Great! Well if you two have it, and the other two are off scouting, I'll go back to my airship, maybe have something to drink after all this work. Picked up some fine elven wine the other day. Got to be careful with that stuff.. Drink it too fast or slow and you sour the drink." Izzy says, putting her arms behind her head as she lazily begins to walk out.

[Necroticplague]

Was wrong a moment ago. Can grow on sheer rock. Noticing it in forest. Not noticing creatures. Suspicious lack if creatures, actually. Tracks aren't useful.
Trying to make heads or tails of the situation, Firbu takes a moment to center hersef as she steps off of the ethereal to focus her own weight on it's balance before trying to test some things out on a random patch of crystal growing on a tree, sending 4 rounds into it to see if it react remotely like the crystalline dragon did.
Changing Stances to Scarlet Duelist's Attitude and Battle Dragon's Stance
Fortitude:
Attack1: , 2d6+63. Vs. Touch AC, ignores deflection bonus, damage is piercing and bludgeoning.
Attack1: , 2d6+63[/roll]. Vs. Touch AC, ignores deflection bonus, damage is piercing and bludgeoning.
Attack1: , 2d6+63[/roll]. Vs. Touch AC, ignores deflection bonus, damage is piercing and bludgeoning.
Attack1: , 2d6+63[/roll]. Vs. Touch AC, ignores deflection bonus, damage is piercing and bludgeoning.
Hammer the Gap adds an additional damage for each previous consecutive attack that hit.

[Jack_Simth]

I missed that Dazeneth followed the first time around. Adding what he sees.
While scouting, you manage to spot a creature skulking around through the trees; from a distance, you manage to hide from it well enough that it doesn't seem to react to you, although it is running circles around Firbu, staying out of sight while following Firestorm without much hassle.

Literally circles around her. The Gargantuan beast is a fast one - between the four scaled legs, eight bony legs, and four furry legs, it apparently gets enough traction on the ground to outrun most - but not all - dragons in flight. The beast's coloration subtly shifts to match the environment as it moves, and it has four wings (two scaled, two feathered) that look like they might be functional... along with two side arms ending in wicked claws, and three different tails - one pointed and armoured with bony plates, one solid and scaled, and one with spikes hanging off of it. The same purplish crystals that cover everything in this area cover the beast.
And you'll need a Fort save as well.

"Scouting" was mentioned, so I'm assuming you're trying to mostly avoid detection. Please let me know if that is an incorrect assumption.

If you'd like to make Knowledge checks, you're looking at Arcana, Arcana, and Nature for the three component creatures.



The first shot to the tree does about what you'd expect a bullet to do to the tree: Leave a meaningful hole; the crystals on the tree flash red when it does... as does everything infected with the purple crystals that you can see, although the flash is progressively dimmer the father the crystals are from the source of the impact. The second shot does some damage - but not nearly as much as would be expected if the tree were mundane - and causes the crystals to flash pink (again, including the ones on nearby trees). On the third shot, it's a white flash, and you can't see that your firearm left any new mark at all. On the fourth and final shot, the crystals flash a light green, and the crystals grow in to fill most of the 'wound' leaving only a small dent behind to mark where the bullets landed.

[Necroticplague]

Hmmmm.....the tree does seem to react completely identically to the way the dragon did. Now to see if there's some form of attack that can overcome this built-up immunity. Her shot went through after the dragon had built up resistance, so there's clearly a way, just now to figure out what the key is. To that end, she sacrifices some of her balance in order to root herself partially in the Ethereal, her weapons taking on an insubstantial quality as she fires away.
Changing stance from Battle Dragon's Stance to Spiritual Weapon Stance
Full-attack:
Attack 1:[roll0], [roll1](bludgeoning and piercing)+[roll2](force)
Attack 2:[roll3], [roll4](bludgeoning and piercing)+[roll5](force)
Attack 3:[roll6], [roll7](bludgeoning and piercing)+[roll8](force)
Attack 4:[roll9], [roll10](bludgeoning and piercing)+[roll11](force)
Hammer the Gap for extra damage for each consecutive hit.Weapon is now Ghost Touch.

[Jack_Simth]

The first shot to the tree causes it - and the surrounding trees - to flash a dark green with just a tiny amount of a dark red for a moment. On examination, it doesn't look like the tree was hurt at all, and it's clear that the crystals love it, as they've completely filled in the gap from the original experiment, and given the tree a hefty coat of crystals besides. The second shot causes the trees to flash a dark green with just a tiny amount of a light red for a moment. The coating gets thicker. On the third shot, the trees flash a dark green with a tiny amount of white in the mix, and the coating gets thicker still. On the fourth shot, the trees flash a dark green with a tiny amount of light green in the mix, and the coating gets thicker still. At this point, you can't see the original material of the tree for the coating purple crystals, and the tree's effective diameter with the crystals included is about half again the diameter of the original tree.Have you considered the significance of the surrounding trees flashing as well?

[Necroticplague]

The first shot to the tree causes it - and the surrounding trees - to flash a dark green with just a tiny amount of a dark red for a moment. On examination, it doesn't look like the tree was hurt at all, and it's clear that the crystals love it, as they've completely filled in the gap from the original experiment, and given the tree a hefty coat of crystals besides. The second shot causes the trees to flash a dark green with just a tiny amount of a light red for a moment. The coating gets thicker. On the third shot, the trees flash a dark green with a tiny amount of white in the mix, and the coating gets thicker still. On the fourth shot, the trees flash a dark green with a tiny amount of light green in the mix, and the coating gets thicker still. At this point, you can't see the original material of the tree for the coating purple crystals, and the tree's effective diameter with the crystals included is about half again the diameter of the original tree.Have you considered the significance of the surrounding trees flashing as well?

Yes, I have. I at first dismissed it, because the cause seemed self-evident: I imagined the Crax crystals being a small coating over the whole area, so it was basically just one creature. Wouldn't matter if I shot the rocks, the tree, or the other tree. Of course, you drawing attention to something like that is the second most suspicious thing I've ever heard (the first is, of course, nothing happening when I roll a 2 on a fort save).
That gives me in mind that it's possible that The Crax, when in proximity to each other, are considered one creature for some purposes. Share developed immunities, need to surprise all to suprise any, ect. Course, solid experimenting on that will have to wait until later for a proper test. For now, I have a different aspect that is critical to know.
With how they react to imbuing ethereal forces into an attack solved, Firbus flies over until she can find a patch of crystals that seemed to be unaffected by the color change her earlier attacks caused. Then, re-balances herself in this world before she tries throwing a few meager punches and following up with a shot to see how they react to a more two-pronged assault.
Changing back to Battle Dragon's Stance from Spiritual Weapon Stance.
Moving however far may be needed
Attack 1:[roll0], [roll1] Bludgeoning
Attack 2:[roll2], [roll3]Bludgeoning
Attack 3:[roll4], [roll5]Bludgeoning
Attack 4:[roll6], [roll7]Bludgeoning
Attack 5 (only made if at least one of the previous unarmed strikes was enough to make crystals flash):[roll8], [roll9][71]Bludgeoning and Piercing

[Jack_Simth]

Finding another patch of crystals in the area proves to be no problem, although 'unaffected' might be - there was never a definitive 'stops here' demarcation on the flash, it was just a slow fade with distance. Still, you go a ways, set down, and pound on a seemingly-helpless chunk of crystal, this time on a rock.

On the first hit, the crystals flash pink (again, both on the target and all the surroundings)... although with the blow not being hard enough to do much to a rock anyway, nothing much happens. On the second, it flashes white; the third, a light green, and the purple crystals grow slightly. On the fourth, a dark green, and the crystals grow slightly. The follow up gunshot rings out, the crystals all flash green again, and they grow quickly enough to almost seem to jump out at you on the specific target.Straight up: The template is no fair at all (but then, all'y'all are epic triple gestalt, so it mostly works out)... but I'd kinda rather you not run out of usable effects prior to the next encounter, because then he's got no reason to use that other option...

[Nightraiderx]

Dazeneth Keeps to the shadows, weaving in-between the trees of the forest. Dazeneth keeps an eye on the beast.


OOC: I will switch to my Hooded Killer's stance, adding +20 competence bonus to stealth checks as a swift action:
Fort Save
[roll0]
Stealth roll
[roll1]
Perception
[roll2]

[Jack_Simth]

Keeping an eye on the beast as you hide amongst the purple crystal encrusted trees, it becomes clear after a little while that while the beast doesn't seem to be able to spot you... it somehow knows exactly where you are anyway, but would rather you not know that it knows, for some reason. It keeps twitching just slightly every time you move, and always in the direction that you're hiding, as though it's suppressing an urge for now.

[Necroticplague]

The sudden massive growth at the end, while one of those things that should have been seen coming in retrospect, still catches Firbu off-guard slightlyHmmmm....That last one was somewhat surprising. It appears that merely getting used to being punched prepped it for gunshots, somehow. There must be some correlation with how those two work.
"Well, I think I've gotten all that I can from beating on trees. Seeing how the animals have given up the ghost, I'll be heading back now. You guys gotten anything done?"
With that, her wings flap to get her above the treeline, looking disappointingly at the ground well she heads back towards town.

[Jack_Simth]

As Firbu starts to leave, a form steps out of the shadows - it is a Gargantuan beast, and a fast one - between the four scaled legs, eight bony legs, and four furry legs, it apparently gets enough traction on the ground to outrun most - but not all - dragons in flight. The beast's coloration subtly shifts to match the environment as it moves, and it has four wings (two scaled, two feathered) that look like they might be functional... along with two side arms ending in wicked claws, and three different tails - one pointed and armoured with bony plates, one solid and scaled, and one with spikes hanging off of it. The same purplish crystals that cover everything in this area cover the beast. It speaks "Aww, leaving so soon? I was enjoying letting you exhaust your options against me on the least of my puppets... why, between that and the first puppet you ran across, I'm pretty thoroughly charged up... pretty sure I can work this one into taking you down..."Init and a fort save, please, both of you.

Beast Init: [roll0]
Arcana, Arcana, and Nature to ID the components if you'd like.

[Nightraiderx]

"Ready for some on-the-field testing? Let me know what types of damage you deal and I'll follow up with some other types to see how it reacts."

"Always puppets with you isn't it? My options haven't even been exposed yet." Dazeneth Gauges their distances, preparing to move very swiftly when the time came.

[Triskavanski]

"What? You've already found some more? Think its where this one came from?" Izzy lazily asks, letting out another yawn, having exited the arena. The others had everything under control she assumed. The two doing testing and the two sealing away the crax. Izzy begins making her way towards the city to spend off a bit more of her finances, particularly to see if she could get a few items to deal with the situation.

[Necroticplague]

Ug. This f*** again. Won't be the first time Firbu has had to kill someone more than once to make it stick. Doesn't make it a slightest bit less annoying. More curious as to how this thing continues to work, she prepares and looses a shot intent to skim along the bones to the vitals with less gruesomely massive amounts of damage. Of course, she knows the cystals would feed off this, but important to know if it's possible to effect a body underneath the crystals

Standard: Use Twisting Wind Shot (augmented by Richochet Shot Deed (version normally requiring a grit, reduced to zero by true grit), Called Shot to the heart,Deadeye (reduced to 0 grit by Signature Grit+Deadeye Vest)) with +5 Pistol of the Infinite Sky against the Abomination-Crax. Defensive Shot prevents the AoO from attacking with a ranged weapon.
Attack:[roll0] (Note: Is against its touch AC, ignoring Deflection Bonuses to AC, ignoring all cover or concealment (Firearm Penetration, Gunner's Lenses, Ricochet Shot))
As per Twisting Wind Shot, if this hits, the attack is an auto-crit. If it actually crits normally (meaning it falls within my crit range (17-20), since I auto-confirm crits), it's additionally Dazed for a round, no save. And since it would be a critical called shot to the heart, it would also cause exhaustion and 1d4 CON bleed (unless they succeed a FORT save with a DC equal to the attack roll, which reduces it to fatigue and 1 CON bleed). Blinding Critical and Staggering Critical would also activate, making it DC 40 FORT vs. permanently Blinded (successful saves reduces it to 1d4 rounds dazzled) and DC 40 FORT vs. [roll1] rounds of stagger (success means only 1 round of stagger).If this is enough damage to deal more than half it's hit points (HAH! I kill me sometimes), then it's also a Debilitating Called Shot to the heart, requiring a FORT save, DC=This attack roll vs. death (from having heart destroyed). Success merely mean exhaustion, 1d6 CON damage and 1d4 CON bleed. Also restores a point of grit and let's me recover a stalker maneuver (In this case, Twisting Wind Shot itself).
Damage:[roll2] (Bludgeoning and Piercing, base weapon damage)]x4 (crit modifier)+[roll3] fire (stance of piercing rays
Move: Use Fading Leap to teleport 140 feet back towards the town.

Virulence, Sun dips Low, Fivefold Hydra Sting, Sting of the Cobra, Dimensional Strike, Fading Leap, Dispersal Strike, Fade Through, Lunar Penumbra, Twisting Wind Shot, Phantom Wind Ray, Blinding Ray Shot
Twisting Wind Shot, Phantom Wind Ray, Shrug it Off, Bloody Riposite, Sanguine Perfection, Stunning Solar Flare, Blinding Ray Shot, Feel the Wind, Unbreakable Panthera Guard, Phantom Sunstorm, Solar Storm

[Jack_Simth]

The beast's crystals flash white, pink, and dark green as the shot hits it; the shot does not seem to have harmed it at all, and the crystals grow just slightly from the attack. It laughs and says "I'm familiar with that trick. While I'll admit I can't keep track of everything forever... this kind of thing sure lets me focus. Here, let me show you..." A pulse of black energy goes through the crystals on the beast and the surrounding terrain, and the beast charges Firbu, flying through the sky far faster than anything of its bulk has a right to. It unerringly hits Firestorm, over and over again with tooth, claw, tail, stinger, ripping deeply into the gunslinger's magical defences and gripping him tightly. The movement sets severe winds spinning around the creature, hampering ranged attacks and people approaching.
Burning some immunities to break some rules for a round (six of them)... on the plus side, it looks like you've got enough temp HP to survive a round or two of this, and your gun will work well again... for a little while...

Charge attack, full attack at the end of the charge. Firbu takes 934 damage from 2 claws, a stinger, a bite, a tail slap, two wings, and two constricts (one on each claw). If you survive, you're auto-grappled (freedom of movement does not apply), and need to make a fort save (DC 58) vs. Poison (2 points of strength damage initial; 1d2/iteration thereafter, every round for 6 rounds, single save cures; immunity to poison applies as normal to the poison). No, he's not making attack rolls, grapple checks, critical confirmation checks, et cetera this round.

Severe winds in 30 feet (-4 to ranged attack rolls targeting the critter), "and medium creatures must make a DC 10 Strength check to approach the creature. Small or smaller creatures in this area that fail a DC 15 Strength check are blown away. See weather for further details on the effects of severe winds."

Edit: Oh yes, and Firbu: Your DR 5/- still applies, and nine times at that. So that 934 goes down by 45 from the DR.

[Nightraiderx]

As the dragon began it's assault, Dazeneth focused as the psionic Energy Slowed down his movements, moving towards the beast at an increasing rate as he
begun infusing himself with psionic power. As time resumed, Dazeneth positioned himself above the dragon, smashing some of the crystals on it's back and then forcing his claw to go through the beast's vitals

Str Roll Vs Wind:
[roll0]

Dual Strike 2/3
Adamantine Knuckle Sunder (Hardness Doesn't Count for this)
[roll1]
[roll2]

Crit:
[roll3]
[roll4]

Slashing Damage: + Brutal Dragon's Stance + luck bonus to damage
[roll5]
[roll6]

Precision Damage Deadly Strike
[roll7]

Force Damage:
[roll8]
Critical Force Damage:
[roll9]

2nd Sunder Strike
[roll10]
[roll11]

Crit:
[roll12]
[roll13]

Piercing Damage: + Brutal Dragon's Stance + luck bonus to damage
[roll14]
[roll15]

Precision Damage Deadly Strike
[roll16]

Force Damage:
[roll17]
Critical Force Damage:
[roll18]

3rd Sunder Strike
[roll19]
[roll20]

Crit:
[roll21]
[roll22]

Bludgeoning Damage: + Brutal Dragon's Stance + luck bonus to damage
[roll23]
[roll24]

Precision Damage Deadly Strike
[roll25]

Force Damage:
[roll26]
Critical Force Damage:
[roll27]


Deadly Dragon Strike:
First Piercing Claw Fort Save DC 33 Or Instant Death from Precision Damage on Each attack
[roll28]
[roll29]

Crit:
[roll30]
[roll31]

Piercing Damage: + Brutal Dragon's Stance + luck bonus to damage
[roll32]
[roll33]

Precision Damage Deadly Strike
[roll34]

Force Damage:
[roll35]
Critical Force Damage:
[roll36]

2nd Attack
[roll37]
[roll38]

Crit:
[roll39]
[roll40]

Slashing Damage: + Brutal Dragon's Stance + luck bonus to damage
[roll41]
[roll42]

Precision Damage Deadly Strike
[roll43]

Force Damage:
[roll44]
Critical Force Damage:
[roll45]

[Necroticplague]

With herself now in the beast's claws, she couldn't do much but but smirk at her own predicament. Glad I keep all these stone, in case worse comes to worse like this.There's then a sudden lightening of the beast loads as she slips out of fingers between planes before landing nearby. Taking stock of the situation, she takes a moment to try and imagine all the possible routes from her barrel to whatever this monster might have for vital organs, not all of them necessarily ballistically probable.

Swift: Enter Stance of the Ether Gate.
Move: Teleport 70 feet away.
Standard: Manifest Flexible Trajectory (Augmented up to 20 PP, 6 to ignore all miss chances, 9 to increase range increment by 30)

[Jack_Simth]

As firestorm slips the beast's claws, the creature starts to follow, but changes it's mind when when death from above pounds into the back of the bizarre beast. The creature flashes a multitude of colors as Dazeneth digs into it - red, pink, white, light green, and dark green all make a showing - and the routine leaves the beast with some noticeable wounds and and it grunts several times during the onslaught... however, compared to the creature's bulk, the wounds are relatively minor, and afterwards the wounds start to visibly close up somewhat on their own. The Crax screeches out "You should learn to mind your manners, mortal!" as it again pulses black, and unleashes the same flurry it did on Firestorm, hitting the Wyvaran over and over again with tooth, claw, tail, stinger, ripping deep into the hero and reducing him to bloody ribbons and holding on to the remains.
Burning some immunities to break some rules for a round (six of them). No charge needed, so switching the full attack at end of charge to ignoring DR (he noticed it on Firbu, and doesn't see you as all that different). Specific list of ignored rules, if you're curious: Auto-hit, auto-crit, auto-CMB, max damage, ignore FoM, ignore DR. This puppet natively has True Seeing and Blindsight, so miss chances really don't apply.

Dazeneth takes 934 damage from 2 claws, a stinger, a bite, a tail slap, two wings, and two constricts (one on each claw). If you survive, you're auto-grappled (freedom of movement does not apply), and need to make a fort save (DC 58) vs. Poison (2 points of strength damage initial; 1d2/iteration thereafter, every round for 6 rounds, single save cures; immunity to poison applies as normal to the poison). By any chance do you have a counter for dying here?

The wings being used in melee cause severe winds in 30 feet (-4 to ranged attack rolls targeting the critter), "and medium creatures must make a DC 10 Strength check to approach the creature. Small or smaller creatures in this area that fail a DC 15 Strength check are blown away. See weather for further details on the effects of severe winds."

[Necroticplague]

Even as one eye closes so the other may take aim, Firbu's expression of disappointment at the apparent foolishness of her ally is aparrent. Yes, run into one of the few things around here that carries more weapons than I do. Just a brilliant idea. Since it's bravado let her know it's vulnerable after it flashes black, she takes careful before letting loose. While shots to the hearts weren't effective, a round to the gut should slow it down a bit. The unusual path it takes through the air if further obscured by the illusions of it that seems to spiral around it to follow it into the wound.
Move: Change stance from Stance of the Ether Gate to Stance of Aggression.
Standard: Use Twisting Wind Shot.
Swift: Boost Twisting Wind Shot attack using Phantom Sunstorm.
Attack: [roll0]
Augmented by Richochet Shot Deed (version normally requiring a grit, reduced to zero by true grit), Called Shot to the vitals,Deadeye (reduced to 0 grit by Signature Grit+Deadeye Vest), Deadly Aim (+16/-8), with +5 Pistol of the Infinite Sky against the Abomination-Crax.
As per Twisting Wind Shot, if this hits, the attack is an auto-crit. If it actually crits normally (meaning it falls within my crit range (17-20), since I auto-confirm crits), it's additionally Dazed for a round, no save. And since it would be a critical called shot to the vitals, it would also cause Nauseated for 1d4 rounds (Unless it passes a FORT save, DC= this attack roll),4 CON damage, and sicken for [roll1] minutes . Blinding Critical and Staggering Critical would also activate, making it DC 40 FORT vs. permanently Blinded (successful saves reduces it to 1d4 rounds dazzled) and DC 40 FORT vs. [roll2] rounds of stagger (success means only 1 round of stagger).If this is enough damage to deal more than half it's hit points , then it's also a Debilitating Called Shot to the vitals, requiring a FORT save, DC=This attack roll vs.[roll3] CON drain, [roll4] round nausea . Success merely means the drain is damage, and nausea is only 1 round. If they fail by 5, they are disemboweled, taking 1 CON bleed. Also restores a point of grit and let's me recover a stalker maneuver (In this case, Phantom Sunstorm itself). Phantom Wind shot means it deals max damage.
Damage:(12 (maximized base damage)+82 (various modifiers)*6(crit modifier)+24 (maximized stance of aggression)+60(maximized Deadly Strike). All is piercing and slashing, deadly strike is also precision.

[Jack_Simth]

As the beast rips into the flesh of the noble warrior, Dazenth struggles and attempts to get out of the way... but the beast sees what he's doing, and it is of no avail. As the many limbs of the bizarre creature tear into Longtail, it becomes clear that the warrior is dead ... and something odd happens: the warrior's corporeal form starts to merge with that of the beast. As that process begins, a thought briefly surges through the network; a contact with a powerful mind that seems to sear the channel with one overwhelming thought:

Huh, that's new.

... which comes through the mental network with so much force behind it that the connection collapses and no more can be heard... and the collapse of that channel on the network seems to be a good thing, as even that brief contact is mentally painful for everyone involved.
Fort and Will save for everyone on the network. Will DC 40 negates [roll0] Int damage.

Note: I'm delaying resolving Firbu's actions until the other PCs have a chance to react to the input via the network, seeing as how the shockwave was on the Crax's turn.

Additionally, anyone arriving in the area needs to make a Fort save.


The integration of Dazenth Longtail's body into the beast does not take long at all. The severed pieces of his corpse - as well as his equipment - just seem to soak into the limbs of the creature. The beast can be heard to say "Tasty... so tasty..." it then looks in your direction ad says "Hmm... you'll probably be equally delicious..."

Leaving off resolving Firbu's actions until the other PCs have a chance to react to the input via the network, seeing as how the shockwave was on the Crax's turn.

[whoiam]

Something I forgot: Fort save for Silaquee, who's also in the collective:

[roll0]


Desssria, part-way through casting Create Lesser Demiplane (to create the 'intermediary' plane they'd be filling the timeless plane through) is walloped right in the mind by the contact with the Crax. Luckily, she's run across telepathic assaults many times before, and manages to keep her wits about her.

The part-cast demiplane, however, is a writeoff - not because she'd been hurt too much to continue the casting, but because with one member of the group down, she wasn't going to sit around for a half an hour before responding.

Desssria (Collective): "I think the Crax just got Dazeneth. Sorry, Izzy, you'll have to find your own way to the fight, I don't think we have time to wait for you."

Instead, she Nomad Steps' across to Dempsey and Mathias (Move action 1), grabs both of their hands, and casts a Quickened Greater Teleport (Swift action 1) aiming to hit a point around 50'-100' away from where she'd sensed Dazeneth's loss. When there, she Nomad Steps' about 50' directly up (Move action 2), uses her Quickened Perfect Polar Ray on the Crax monster (Swift Action 2), and then manifests Biofeedback (standard action).


300 points of Cold Damage + 8 points of Dexterity Drain if Desssria succeeds at a ranged touch attack.
[roll1]
[roll2]



Augmented to 36PP, it gives Desssria a DR of 13/-. The PP are drawn from her Tactician pool.

[Triskavanski]

Izzy shrugs and in the same motion, Time just simply stops. Or her sense of time was warped to the point that it seemed like it stopped for her. In an instant she was out of the market, and jumped back aboard her airship, setting down her shopping, as pyshic energy pulses to life in her hand forming a new weapon. The last weapon was too.. singular to be effective against the beastie. This one however, wouldn't fall into the same failures as the last one did.

Letting out a soft sigh, as she reads off a scroll in her other hand, her life forcing binding to her body more completely, another over her walking out from behind carrying the same monk spade before teleporting off.


The real her sits down on the ground holding her weapon, while the duplicate air drops from the sky. Air was no worry to her, Gemstones embedded in her body saw to that. She races out of the sky looking for the nasty, preparing to charge it from high above.

[Maugan Ra]

Matthias frowns slightly as he feels the sudden flurry of thoughts over the mental link. It appears that combat is currently ongoing... and that it has not gone well for at least one of his newfound allies. The massive, thundering roar of what he can only presume to be the Crax's thoughts is not exactly welcome either, for that matter, though he is far too strong willed to be adversely affected by it.

As Desssria looks up, he simply nods and holds out his hand. The wizard takes it, there is a faint sensation of movement, and then they are elsewhere.

Ugly thing, isn't it, he thinks calmly as he observes the foe. Above, Desssria unleashes a wave of utmost cold, sufficient to freeze the very blood in a man's veins. Matthias takes note, and then draws Radiance.

"Ready, old friend?" He murmurs to the weapon.

"Always. I suppose some variety is in order?" The blade responds mildly, and Matthias nods. Then they attack.

The first swing unleashes a solid wave of flame, one that races across the ground and engulfs their enemy, swallowing it whole. The raging firestorm meets the area of frigid cold left by the wizard's spell, allowing the Crax to experience the unique sensation of being frozen solid and then super-heated within a fraction of a second. The air itself screams in pain from the sheer amount of energy passing through it, a strong wind picking up as the flames devour all of the air in the surrounding area.

A heartbeat after that Matthias swings again, and the Crax is struck by a writhing column of electrical energy that melts the ground into polished glass.

I don't believe it costs me any actions to be teleported by Dessria, so upon arrival I am going to cast a Maximised Firestorm and then a Quickened Maximised Stormbolts.

End result is 120 points of fire damage, 160 points of electricity damage and the Crax is stunned for one round. A DC28 reflex save will half the fire damage and a DC28 Fortitude save will half the electricity damage, as well as removing the stun.

Oh, and that Fortitude save: [roll0]. If it matters I have Stalwart, so there's no effect at all if I pass this, rather than a reduced one.

[Jack_Simth]

Firbu's shot twists and turns, and lands a rather nasty gutshot on the beast; in grimaces, but keeps going as it flashes red.Beast AC: 63, wasn't noted as touch or anything, so... that's a miss.Further, on the polar ray from Desssria, the beast screams in pain as it flashes a very dark red and the ice tears into the beast's body. It replies with "YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!" just in time to get a bath in fire ... which, despite the red flash, it seems to ignore... only to get bathed in lightning, which causes it to flash pink and sears the beast's flesh, but it shakes it off. It's easy to tell the beast is nearly dead, but not yet down.

As the bizarre creature's flesh slowly stitches itself back together, Dempsey arrives, and hits the beast, his black-shod hands slashing into it's flesh with his bare hands via Dragon Style; the creature is utterly annhiliated by the blow... however, by insane coincidence, a gate opens at the exact spot at that exact time, intersecting Dempsey's hands... utterly destroying the weapon, which, as it's part of Dempsey's body, is Dempsy himself. Not even a trace of dust is left, although there is a pile of equipment and a few bloody pieces of and it is difficult to sort out what came from where.it suddenly flickers out of sight for just a fraction of an instant, appearing immediately adjacent to Desssria, in much better shape - still injured, but in much better shape - before flashing black and seemingly-unerringly unleashing it's fury on the caster with a flurry of blows and far more precision than anything should be able to bring to bear in the heat of battle - Claws, bite, tail, and wings ... plus a rather nasty grip with the claws.[/I]

Psicraft to ID the specific effects.
Kn(Arcana) and Kn(Nature) to ID component creatures.

Self-healing: [roll0]

And it's burning six immunities again to slam Desssria, HARD, as she's done the most damage recently and is currently viewed as the biggest immediate threat.
Specific list of ignored rules, if you're curious: Auto-hit, auto-crit, auto-CMB, max damage, ignore FoM, ignore DR. This puppet natively has True Seeing and Blindsight, so miss chances really don't apply.

Desssria: Take 934 damage from 2 claws, a stinger, a bite, a tail slap, two wings, and two constricts (one on each claw). If you survive, you're auto-grappled (freedom of movement does not apply), and need to make a fort save (DC 58) vs. Poison (2 points of strength damage initial; 1d2/iteration thereafter, every round for 6 rounds, single save cures; immunity to poison applies as normal to the poison). By any chance do you have a counter for dying here? Perhaps an Immediate action spell or a Contingent Teleport?

[Jack_Simth]

A few moments after the unfortunate incident with Dempsey, a golden circular hoop opens up a few feet to the side of where he vanished. A Large humanoid creature with topaz eyes, shining bronze skin, and three pairs of white wings steps through and looks around. She has what appears to be a simple tunic covering herself - with a strapless back, of course, because of the crowding from the sheer number of wings - and a pair of simple sandals. She takes a moment to observe the area, not yet speaking. She has a greatsword and a composite longbow, sized for her, available but not currently in hand.

In the debris from the fight, you spy what appears to be Dazenth's equipment - seemingly intact - and what appears to be a strap of leather with a buckle.
As the beast was killed prior to the time stop, per request, this also means that Desssria never got hit by the full attack.

[Necroticplague]

Still somewhat twitchy from the instense, if short, fight, she react to the sudden appearance of a stranger by twitching violently to turn to face it and pointing a barrel straight at her, one eye peering straight down the sights. Of course, the calm demeanor of the creature steadies her trigger finger, but she's still raring to go as she shouts out "One down, another pops up right afterwards. This thing's good at calling for backup."

[whoiam]

"Keep away from the crystals, " Desssria calls to the celestial stranger. "If they're as dangerous to you as they are to us, you're much better off keeping your distance. So, what can we do for the denizens of the higher planes?"

As she speaks, Desssria moves closer to where the monster fell, and starts retrieving the dropped belt via her ring of telepathy so she can identify it.

[Jack_Simth]

The angel nods, and flies up a few feet, hovering over the ground, kicking off her sandals as she does so. She replies to Desssria "It would be useful to know what happened to this place. It was recently noted as a 'blind spot', and so I was sent to investigate after the first few scouts did not return."

[Triskavanski]

Suddenly Izzy streaks past the group hurtling down to the ground. But there was no boom. Instead she softly lands and yawns, her weapon disappearing as she begins to head back to her ship.

"Oh wait.. I'm already there." she remarks as a big frothy mug of ale appears in her hand, and then the ale disappears. And reappears.. and disappears again.


Meanwhile back on the boat, the real one of her was pouring herself some ale into a tankard and then chugging it down.

[Necroticplague]

The angel nods, and flies up a few feet, hovering over the ground, kicking off her sandals as she does so. She replies to Desssria "It would be useful to know what happened to this place. It was recently noted as a 'blind spot', and so I was sent to investigate after the first few scouts did not return."

"Well, here's what we know: 1.Those crystals are all one big organism. Even disconnected, they seem to share a mind. Side note: Said mind in an insufferably smug prick, from our own interactions. 2.They get used to anything you do them after a little bit. The same trick will work once at full effect, once at reduced effect, and then further to no effect. Keep doing the same thing makes it grow rapidly. 3. It appears to spread much like a disease of some kind, as it can 'infect' others. 4. It appears to be able to use infected bodies as raw material to build stronger, more complex forms. 5. infected/built forms crumble to dust when unable to sustain themselves. I'm unsure as to what exactly that means, but I suspect it's like a mushroom spore. That's about the extent of what I know. If any scouts went missing investigating this, assume they're dead. And/or combined with something else."

[Jack_Simth]

The angel closes her eyes for a moment, sighs, and says "Thank you. Not what I was hoping to hear, but the truth is always preferable, no matter how unpalatable. That suggests that I will need to be quarantined on my return; I will make arrangements for that before I leave, and make certain to pass messages along by an intermediary ... Greater Scrying and Message seem the safest way to make those arrangements. By any chance are you aware of the incubation period or infection vectors?" After hearing whta Firbu has to say to the angle, your familiar whispers to you, off the network via the special language that you developed from close association "Quick! Kill it now! Before it can report back and doom us all!"

Kn(Religion) if you want to figure out what she means will happen.
Sense Motive as well, please.

[whoiam]

"Sadly, not much. We're pretty sure it can infect by proximity. But this investigation only really got started this morning, so things like the incubation period are still unknown to us.

To add to the good news, I have this horrible suspicion the Crax either managed to infect my familiar, or managed to infect my mental collective. Probably the familiar, but I've no immediate means to be sure. Silaquee's recommending we kill you. I can only assume because the Crax doesn't want to risk the Gods destroying this plane while it's still inside it. But, frankly, I can't think of a better solution. While I'd prefer some time to investigate first - in case there is a way to save this world - I don't think sentimentality is a good enough reason to allow the Crax to endure."

Desssria glances around sadly at her remaining friends and allies.

"That destruction... will probably have to include us, if they do it. Now that we've encountered the Crax, we probably shouldn't travel to any plane further than my house until it's destroyed. And if that means dying with this world... at least we won't have killed any others."

Then back to the angel.

"You may also want to find a way of reporting back that doesn't involve travelling to the upper planes. We don't know if you're safe, and we really don't want to take the risk that you're not."

[Jack_Simth]

The angel closes her eyes for a moment, and a tear trickles down her cheek "So much death... and probably due to one person's attempt to bypass mortality. There is an order to things for a reason." she pauses a moment to compose herself, and continues "Yeah. I figured on quarantine the moment you mentioned it was infectious... but yes, you're quite right on what the final result of the divine bureaucracy would be on this one... annihilation. It's straightforward enough to arrange a report without infection risk... Sending to arrange a target, Greater Scrying on a suitable lantern archon, and a Message through the scrying sensor will do the job. I was expecting to Wish-transport to a null magic plane to spend quarantine... but I suppose that would be bad if I am infected at this point, wouldn't it?" She sighs again, and says "And the worst part of it is we lose someone who actually understands. Well... arranging safe communication is going to take a day, as I need the right spells, and it'll take a few days after that for the bureaucracy to finish going through the hoops. Well, that's the best I can do right now for telling you when things will end. Heh. Unless you mortals can figure a way around it, that is. Well, you've answered my questions quite well, it's only fair I repay you in kind. Is there anything you'd like to know in the short time we have left? There's some things that are classified, of course, but I'll be as honest as I'm permitted... and anything that directly pertains to the current situation, of course, falls under the situational need headings, if you expect to be able to do something about it."