Sins of Celestia (IC)

[meemaas]

Your friend has fallen. The Hordes are upon you. You've fought bravely, but you've finally met your end. You kneel down and place your final prayer to Bahamut, praying for the strength to acquit yourself, and for the preservation of your soul. With the last words, you stand back up, drawing your blade as you charge in....and everything goes white.

You come to in an environment you've never before seen. A quick look around appears to place you in a small park. The roads are made of some strange blue material, and the buildings come in a lighter shade of blue themselves. No matter what direction you look, you see buildings. Even some floating in the sky, well above your head. There are people walking the streets like any other city you've ever been to, but every person is dressed far nicer than you've seen the commonfolk dress, and there isn't a single sign of any kind of armed guard anywhere.

What do you do first?

The two of you have been in Ellicia City for a good week already. In that time, you've gotten yourselves put up in the inn, and gotten your bearings with the area. While having your morning meal in the local diner, you've found one that makes some of your favorites from the world you came from, a man approaches you and holds out a flyer.

WANTED: Mysterious Attacker.
A bounty has been put out on a Mysterious Attacker who has discovered a means to bypass the laws of Celestia. This man is known to favor Fire magic, and has been responsible for 14 deaths within the boundaries of Ellicia City. Any information about the attacker will be met with a reward, and a bonus will be offered for capturing this man alive.

What do you do?

After much time, you feel like you've caught up to the mysterious Villain you have been tracking for some time. Under the cover of your natural abilities, you sneak through the sewers, to what you believe may be the Villains lair, only to find a...unique creature that you didn't expect. (See Valpuri)

What do you do?

You've followed the fell creature that has left you fairly uneasy within your own home. Following your instincts leads you to what appears to be the creatures lair, but while investigating it, you find no sign of the creature. As you search, you get an unusual chill, like something may be coming up on you.

[lostsole31]

Jacen is confused by what he sees. He looks into the hearts of those walking around just to get an overall sense.
Divine Sphere ... Divine alignment. Looking for the prevailing alignment and strength.

[lostsole31]

Pawn takes the flyer, scans it, then shows it to Rook. Rook looks at it and then the man, "Are you just passing out the flyers, or do you know anything about this matter?"
Detect thoughts, Will DC 21

[lostsole31]

Anna (CG) sees the strange creature, not quite knowing what to make of it. It is like a hideously muscled troll runt, only 7' tall, and partial troll features ... but not claws. The colors are a complete enigma to her. She invisibly studies this creature while creeping up the side of the wall with the heritage of the spider.

Valpuri is reduced to Medium size. She shivers from the feeling, and she does not feel cold often. She looks around carefully, sniffing the air, but smells nothing amiss ... for a sewer.With Anna's invisibility, obscene stealth, and masking from scent, Val doesn't have a chance to detect her.

[meemaas]

Jacen is confused by what he sees. He looks into the hearts of those walking around just to get an overall sense.
Divine Sphere ... Divine alignment. Looking for the prevailing alignment and strength.

After some amount of time your gaze ferrets out an idea of the area. The people around you generally seem to be Good aligned, but none of them carry a particularly strong aura. While studying the people, you search your mind for any memory of this area, but find nothing you recognize thus far. After a moment, you realize that someone has been watching you. You match your gaze with him, and after confirming that he's seen you, he approaches you.

The man holds out his hand and speaks calmly to Jacen, almost as if he's done this several times before. "You must be a new arrival. My name is Doran, and on behalf of the Archmages, I welcome you to Ellicia City, of Celestia."


Pawn takes the flyer, scans it, then shows it to Rook. Rook looks at it and then the man, "Are you just passing out the flyers, or do you know anything about this matter?"
Detect thoughts, Will DC 21

The man looks taken aback, but his surface thoughts are quite straightforward as he answers you. "I'm just one of many asked to pass the flyers out. All I know is this has never happened before. If you'd like to talk to someone with more information, the Captain is in his office waiting for anyone who wants to talk. Would you like directions?"

You don't detect any variation between his thoughts and his words.


Anna (CG) sees the strange creature, not quite knowing what to make of it. It is like a hideously muscled troll runt, only 7' tall, and partial troll features ... but not claws. The colors are a complete enigma to her. She invisibly studies this creature while creeping up the side of the wall with the heritage of the spider.

Valpuri is reduced to Medium size. She shivers from the feeling, and she does not feel cold often. She looks around carefully, sniffing the air, but smells nothing amiss ... for a sewer.With Anna's invisibility, obscene stealth, and masking from scent, Val doesn't have a chance to detect her.

As the two of you study the area independently of each other, a loud noise rings out in the distance, drawing your attention towards it. While neither of you see anything, you both get a chill down your spine now. Something is coming, and you're unsure of what.

[lostsole31]

The problem with toting around the legendary bastard sword of an ancient frost giant jarl ... is that it is a bastard sword sized for a frost giant jarl. The Demon-Quelling Sword rests in scabbard and held in fool's guard with his left hand. Since this handshaking gesture would be disingenuous with a sword in hand (even if sheathed), Jacen stands at attention and holds up his right hand - upper arm straight out to the side and in a line with his chest - and shows an open palm with fingers to the sky. Of course, as if to further punctuate why it would be a bad idea to shake hands are the silvery claws that are as long and sharp as any claws one might find on a hunting cat his size.

"I am Jacen Silverheart, Bahamut's Barrister of Battle, Draconic Knight and Guardian of The Demon-Quelling Sword, Warrior of Holy Light, and former Shield of the Crown of the Kingdom of Furyondy of Oerth. You seem practiced in your salutation to such an abrupt interloper as I. I will not ask the questions, for I trust the answers to the ones I would otherwise compose are forthcoming."


"Yes, please, and thank you," answers Rook to the man's offer of pointing them to the Captain.
Anna doesn't have time for this, and she's confident that this solitary creature is not her prey. A curiosity for later, but a distraction for now. She trusts in her invisibility should her silent step fail, and she double-moves towards the sound.
Stealth w/ -5 penalty [roll0] ... only affects hearing, since she is invisible.

[lostsole31]

Val's Perception check [roll0]

EDIT: Right on the money.
Hearing nothing, Valpuri hustles towards the noise.

[meemaas]

Doran smiles at Jacen, and then starts speaking, having since rescinded his attempt for a handshake. "I'm actually only here to greet you and show you to where you can make lodging while you get accustomed to our land. I'll answer any questions you have, but where to start is impossible, and i've since given up on trying to explain everything to every new visitor."

The man gives you the directions, and after finishing your meal, you head off towards the Captains office. As you arrive, you find a small crowd, mostly built of Adventurers, all clamoring to be next in line to speak to the Captain.

What do you do?

The both of you, separately, yet together, head towards the source of the noise, only to find a blue-skinned goblinoid hurridly picking up some materials. The creature seems to be whispering to itself, which you have to strain to make out, but you get the opinion that the creature is commenting about needing to meet with its master.

[lostsole31]

Jacen goes with him, but presses him a little. "What is the means by which I was transported hither? I was as good as doomed as my kin-in-arms. Is this the Celestia referred to more as Mount Celestia, oft thought of as Heaven or the Seven Heavens?"

Of note, without having to try for it, Jacen senses dragons within 6 miles.


Off-handedly to Pawn, Rook says conspiratorially, and yet a hair too loud, "If this is any less than the 20,000 gold offered by the mercenary captain at the Barbary Arms in the northern ward, at least we have that to look forward to."

Of course, this was backed up ahead of time with a group charm for four adventurers towards the front of whatever queue is there. Of course, the words themselves might suffice to clear out others from this place.

1 spell point, it's a suggestion, so lesser suggestion + group charm, Will DC 27 negates. His charms have the Subtlety talent, so even if they save against the magic, the words themselves might move them as they might move others.
Bluff is a +14 modifier.

Anna is a careful enough to simply observe and not to tip or hand. Val, on the other hand, comes barrelling without stealth. "Who are you? What master?"

[meemaas]

"Those who arrive do so by the will of the Gods, or occasionally purely by accident. It seems your God smiled favorably upon you, to have rescued you from what would have overwise been your doom. This Celestia is not one that is known to other realms. The Archmages made sure of that, for if the perfection of our Utopia were to come to light among the other realms, it would soon become a place of conflict."

Many of the men take to the comment, and start off, but several still remain. As everyone remaining collapses the line together, you can count a total of five other people still remaining. Make that four, since the front of the line got let in to speak next. The man in front of you, a well dressed Human, turns and smiles at you. "That was a good show of words there. How long do you think it'll take for them to figure out you were lying?"

The creature turns to Valpuri and hisses. "The monsssssteerrrr. It comes for me. Masssster, you mussssst helpsss me!!!" With that it starts to run away from Val

[lostsole31]

"I shall follow then. To your purpose, sir, and I mayhaps, to learn mine own."

Rook smiles. "It was a lie made to expose the truth. Though we are here for a job, such as it might be, what little I've gathered is that there is an agency that seeks to subvert the rule and power of a Council of Archmages. It is possible I saved their lives. I don't worry about when they find out. If they return, it will become obvious to any who work here and have observed this that they are committed to money, but not the cause."


Val moves up to it (if necessary) and throws out a slam to take the fight out of it and possibly take ahold.
Slam with a -4 penalty to do nonlethal damage. Speaking of which ... since it is nonlethal, does the "Fire" damage do NL as "heat exhaustion?"
Attack [roll0], damage [roll1] nonlethal + [roll2] fire
Anna tips her hand by moving 30' along the ceiling and then casts a web (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/w/web) across the tunnel in front of the blue goblinoid to catch it or at least block its movement.Ref DC 19 negates.

[meemaas]

"I see you're still relatively new here. The Council of Archmages is the ruling power of Celestia. It's said that each of the mages has powers to rival those of the Gods themselves, and that it is their power combined that allows Celestia to exist as it is.

That's what makes this case such a scary one. Who or what is making these attacks is defying magic that can rival the Gods. We've never had a cause for actual destruction and death within the city limits."

As he speaks, the line continues to enter the building, and finally it is his turn. He gestures for the two of you to join him as he goes in, saying simply to the guard, "They're coming in with me, alright?"

Valpuri catches up to the Blue and easily smacks it, causing it to stumble, and a Web erupts from seemingly nowhere, capturing the Blue and entangling it as it sputters helplessly. "Masssstttteerrrrrrrr, savessss ussssss"

As if in response to its call, a deep green mist erupts into the area, coming down the tunnels and enveloping the Blue quickly, it starts to hack and wheeze, trying to breathe properly within the mist. Valpuri, while noticing the mist coming her way, hasn't suffered any ill effects from it. (Surprise surprise)

I'd say that unless you have a feature like Gentle Touch or Merciful, the Fire damage would be lethal.

[lostsole31]

"Oh, that would be fine, thank you," says Rook, as curious about the man as he probably is about them. Pawn attends the chair, but takes in whatever scents he notices from whatever is around.

Val has scent and cloud vision ... what does she see/ notice? She concentrates very briefly and while still green, her body emanates an orange glow. She throws a fist out at the goblin to quiet it, and then shouts out, "Who's there?"
Perception to notice CG since invisibility is gone, let alone notice anything else outside of scent: [roll0]
FA: Control color emanation, auto-success. Orange = acid immunity.
SA: Power Attack+Slam blue goblin [roll1] against entangled opponent, damage [roll2] nonlethal + [roll3] fire
* Grapple [roll4] ... fluff is a hand around the goblin's neck, but no special game bonus for doing this (she has no special ability to stop it from breathing or talking).
For her part, CG (who is no longer invisible but hiding on the ceiling trying to blend in) sees this strange mist and tries to to get a clue about whatever the mist might be. She does creep in closer (10' behind Val, and on ceiling).
Stealth (continuation) [roll5] (includes opposed roll bonus). Assuming that it is dim or dark down here (Val only sheds a glow), add +2 to Stealth.
Try to figure out what this mist business is. Knowledge roll is flat. Look at sheet to determine appropriate modifier to add for applicable Knowledge [roll6].
She also has scent (automatic), but to see anything interesting (despite not having cloud sight) [roll7]

[meemaas]

As the three of them sit down, the man sitting at the desk, a powerfully built warrior with a sword hanging on the wall that was longer than any of them were tall begins to address you. "I see you are interested in this case. I'll make it short and sweet. The knowledge we have of him so far is that he is a distinct pyromaniac. Somehow, he has managed to break the laws of Celestia that protect our citizens and buildings from harm. By the time we arrive to try and stop him, he's gone. Therefore I'm looking to recruit extra hands to respond to the possibility of his attacks." The man leans back and sighs a little. "However, I cannot gift you immunity to our laws in order to fight back, but we theorize that his ability to ignore them also denies him the protection from them. It is our hope that even if not, some Adventurer may be able to keep him occupied long enough for myself or one of the other guards to show up, but should you be able to capture him, or provide proof of his death, we will grant you a handsome reward. Any questions?"

Val quickly shuts the Blue Goblin up, as it falls unconscious and begins to gargle a little, its breathing already impaired by the fog. Looking further into the cloud, Val cannot see anything in the area. After a moment of looking though, a light opens further back, near where the cloud appears to have originated.

Anna recognizes the fog as some variation on the spell Acid Fog, but you are sure it's not exactly right. In fact, based on how it is spreading, you are sure that it is being actively controlled, but you have no clue where it is being controlled from.

[lostsole31]

"What are these protections?" asks Pawn. "We get into a scrap, it's nice to know how not to waste our time."

"What information can you provide on this man himself?" asks Rook.

"I'm Crimson Guardian," she calls, "intros later. Allow me." With concentration, the webbing disappears and the blue goblin flops to the ground.

Val, maintaining orange color, zooms down to the portal/door and even through if she has the time (60' double-move).

[meemaas]

The captain looks at the two of you like you're speaking another language, then the stranger speaks up. "They seem to be relatively new here, so they probably haven't learned the full extent of it yet."

The captain laughs for a second. "Ah, I see. I should have expected someone new would show up. As I'm sure you may be aware, Celestia in general is a conflict free area. Powerful magic prevents attacks from making contact with any individual within the bounds of a city, unless a Duel has been called upon in the proper manner. This protection includes magic and even accidental attacks. If it is in any way dangerous to someone, it won't be able to effect them. Despite this, whoever is doing this is able to harm others like it was natural here."

This was actually stuff I should have had in your first post, but kept forgetting to update into it, so here you are. Don't worry though, despite that there will be plenty of things to do.

Val disappears into the portal and finds herself in a strange new environment. Despite her previous location, she is now in the middle of a city, in broad daylight, in the middle of what seems to be a park. As far as she can see, the buildings are impressively large, and made of some strange blue stone. Behind her is the portal she came through, and while the fog seems to spreading into this area too, it seems to disperse quickly rather than persist.

[lostsole31]

Rook looks thoughtfully and then presses. "Define 'harm.'"

Val has already played this game, and while this place looks nicer she was making her way in her new home. She turns around to face the portal she came through ...

[meemaas]

"Physically, Mentally, basically any way you can imagine harm except emotionally."

The stranger turns to Rook, "That spell you used outside the office wasn't blocked because it was effectively protecting them instead of harming them. But if you had used it in a hostile manner, it would have fizzled or possibly even reflected back on you. I dunno who decides what qualifies how in edge cases like that."

The captain pipes up, "It's the magic itself that makes that decision."

The portal remains open, and the gas inside spreads further out, as she starts to try to enter though, she finds herself being repulsed. It doesn't seem to be the portal doing that, but rather the gas cloud itself pushing her back.

Attempt a strength check to force your way back in, if you so choose.

[lostsole31]

Rook nods slowly as he digests the information. "If we take this case, we will obviously need to know everything you have on this person. What is being offered as compensation, benefits, perquisites, and the like?"

Not understanding the dramatic irony of plot devices, Val grits her teeth in confusion and attempts to bull her way back.
[roll0] EDIT: Not that great, but for story purposes, it probably works out better this way.

On the other side of this, Crimson Guardian climbs down to the floor and over to the blue goblin and swings him over her shoulder. Assuming the master left out the portal, her next round's actions will be heading that way.

[meemaas]

"A sizeable amount is being offered, but the actual total is dependent on the circumstances leading up to his capture or death. Unfortunately, we have no physical description of him, the only real information is that he uses an overwhelming amount of fire as his weapon of choice."

Valpuri pushes against the portal, fighting the fog that is pushing back, but to no avail. It feels like the fog is pushing harder against her than she can against it, keeping her from escaping back into her previous locale.

I'll be honest, the DC was only 20. I expected Val to make it easy, lol.

With no other clue as to the escape of the master, the Crimson Guardian heads out the portal with the Blue in tow, avoiding the other creature as she tries to bulldoze her way back into the portal. Once outside, she takes a look around, and sees no real sign of the master she had been searching, but notice that the portal behind her is starting to break apart.

[meemaas]

After a short walk, with an amount of small talk that amounts to nothing important, Jacen and Doran arrive at a small housing complex. "This is the place we have set out for new arrivals. After a week of being here, you will be able to request housing on one of the other levels of the city, although looking at you, it would be best to get one in the Adventurer's level."

After finishing their conversation with the Captain, the three leave, and the stranger, whose name you never got, promptly takes his leave, leaving the two of you on your own. After a quick exchange with one of the other members of the office, you do get an idea of where the man last struck.

What is your plan? Do you see out the last scene, or would you rather just patrol the city for information?

With the Blue in tow, the Crimson Guardian and Valpuri watch the portal back to their home fade away. With it, the both of them get a sense of a creature slipping out at the last second, but fail to see anything.

Looking back at the city they are in, the two look at the people watching them. While there seems to be a sense of fear among the onlookers, nobody seems to be cowering, as if sure that they were safe even amongst the strange creature.

[lostsole31]

After a short walk, with an amount of small talk that amounts to nothing important, Jacen and Doran arrive at a small housing complex. "This is the place we have set out for new arrivals. After a week of being here, you will be able to request housing on one of the other levels of the city, although looking at you, it would be best to get one in the Adventurer's level."
Jacen bows his head slowly in respect, but also as much in thought. "Thank you, Doran."


"A sizeable amount is being offered, but the actual total is dependent on the circumstances leading up to his capture or death. Unfortunately, we have no physical description of him, the only real information is that he uses an overwhelming amount of fire as his weapon of choice."

After finishing their conversation with the Captain, the three leave, and the stranger, whose name you never got, promptly takes his leave, leaving the two of you on your own. After a quick exchange with one of the other members of the office, you do get an idea of where the man last struck.

What is your plan? Do you see out the last scene, or would you rather just patrol the city for information?
Rook & Pawn will survey the last scene.


Valpuri pushes against the portal, fighting the fog that is pushing back, but to no avail. It feels like the fog is pushing harder against her than she can against it, keeping her from escaping back into her previous locale.

With no other clue as to the escape of the master, the Crimson Guardian heads out the portal with the Blue in tow, avoiding the other creature as she tries to bulldoze her way back into the portal. Once outside, she takes a look around, and sees no real sign of the master she had been searching, but notice that the portal behind her is starting to break apart.

With the Blue in tow, the Crimson Guardian and Valpuri watch the portal back to their home fade away. With it, the both of them get a sense of a creature slipping out at the last second, but fail to see anything.

Looking back at the city they are in, the two look at the people watching them. While there seems to be a sense of fear among the onlookers, nobody seems to be cowering, as if sure that they were safe even amongst the strange creature.
Valpuri gets into a guarded position, but there is a flump-ing sound as CG drops the Blue onto the ground.

"Well," CG says to the green woman, "I guess you and I - and our passenger - need to get a read on what just happened, but I'm thinking a planar portal."

"You!" Val points at a random onlooker, "Where are we?"

[meemaas]

The onlooker steps back a step, clearly shocked by the creature addressing him, before stuttering out a response. "T-t-this is Ellicia City, one of several within Celestia." The onlookers, now that one has been addressed in such a manner, all watch Valpuri carefully, almost as if sure that something more was going to happen.

[lostsole31]

The masked red-and-black-garbed woman steps forward, putting a calming hand on the green woman's elbow (because at 5'8", she can't reach the 7-foot-tall woman's shoulder without being unnatural). Surprisingly, the instinctive creature stays on guard but does seem to step back. She does note that the people here do speak the Common tongue of her home, but from the names of the city and the realm, and the very style of architecture and the dress of the denizens, she has been removed elsewhere.

"I believe I and the green woman just came through a portal. Be so kind as to fetch the local gendarmes. I have a potentially dangerous person in my custody."
I don't know if you want me to roll my own Diplomacy (and other interpersonal) checks, or for you to do it. For this time, and feel free to do it "behind the screen" anyway, my Diplomacy is [roll0].

[meemaas]

The person seems taken aback for a moment, and then relaxes. After a moment the fellow answers. "Its safe here, he's unable to attack anyone, so....wait. The heck is a Gendarme?"


As the two of you head to the scene of the last attack, you catch a crowd surrounding a strange trio. The first is a Blue-skinned Goblin, the second a masked Red-and-Black-Garbed woman, and the last an 8 foot tall green colored...woman? Maybe a giant? It's hard to tell.

[lostsole31]

CG says, "Les gendarmes ... the garda ... the guard ... "
"Professor," mutters Pawn. "Looks like dangerous folk surrounded by scared-looking people and some unconscious blue thing. My instinct tells me he didn't swoon at the 'beauty' of the troll-woman.""... local law enforcement ... the constables ... the sheriff ... the bobbies ... "

Rook nods. "Even if there is no correlation with our job, it seems that there was violence ... in a place that can't do violence. I would say it might be them, but the Captain defined a masculine term for the terrorist."


"... the police ... the cops ... the heat .. the fuzz ... pigs (though that term is not nice) ..."


Pawn wheels Rook over to the crowd. They should be enigmatic and strange (or dangerous-looking) enough for the crowd to part.

" ... the po-po ... five-o ... Johnny Law ..."

Rook looks to a citizen who seems more steady than the rest and calls to him. "Excuse me, sir, can you please fetch the watch? There seems to be some trouble."

"The watch!" CG facepalms. "I know there was a simpler term I was missing."

[meemaas]

It only takes a few minutes for that man to return with a few members of the Watch. (Do your two groups speak with each other during this time?)

After arriving, the members of the Watch reach for their blades, holding them tight as they start asking questions. "What happened here? I'm told there was no duel in place, so what did you do to that creature?"

[lostsole31]

Rook will hold off interacting with these persons. He has a sense they are not part of his case (yet). They look as lost as he and Pawn did when they arrived, and they definitely look like they are from elsewhere. He wants to see how the smaller, costumed woman deals with the law enforcement she was looking to have come.

"This wretch is my prisoner, and I am the Crimson Guardian. I assist the law in my home city and heard there was a new criminal hiding out. I found these two fighting, and this blue one was calling for its master. Though at first glance the troll-woman here might be as bestial as her kin, she didn't use claws on this blue goblin. In fact, she went out of her way NOT to use deadly force, so I assume she has a more peaceable temperament than her brutishness might suggest. She saw a door open and went through and I followed after picking up this blue one's sleeping form, we found ourselves here, and a strange fog held us back before the portal shut and the fog dissipated. As for dueling? One look at this behemoth and you'd be an idiot if you had 'duel' in mind."

Valpuri mulls over what CG just said, balancing the backhanded compliments and says, "Thanks. I think."
Understand that Valpuri isn't attractive and green like She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters). She takes on some of the physicality of her water-troll heritage, which is one of the most bestial forms of all advanced jotun. She is 7' tall, rather than 8', but when you're that tall no one cares. You're just TALL!

[meemaas]

The guards nod softly. "I simply needed to hear it. If you will follow us, we'll take the creature into custody and arrange for your stay here. Welcome to Celestia, you're probably never going home." With that, the guard starts to turn, before hearing an explosion come from a building not too far away. A quick look shows that a fire has broken out inside one of the windows, smoke already billowing out.

What do you do?

As you gain your bearings to the temporary housing you have been given, a loud explosion ensues. You rush out to the sound, only to find it happened a few floors above you.

What do you do?

[lostsole31]

Pawn: 20.
Jacen: 17.
Val: 11.
Rook: 10.5.
CG: 10.

Pawn knows that burning buildings aren't Rook's forte, so he goes bounding off that way ... how far? what type of building? anyone seem to be in trouble?

Jacen prays to Bahamut that the power of cold increases upon his scales and skin to help protect against fire and heat. As he prays, strange mathematical symbols and geometric designs - all linked with symbols of holy draconic mysticism - show forth brilliantly. The formulae are physics-based dealing with specific heat and exothermic heat transfer. Jacen then takes a good breath of fresh air before flying up and into the conflagration to investigate.
Energy Resistance [Fire] - Protection aegis upon himself, for resist fire 19. 1 spell point. Lasts 9 hours.
Painful Magic, sickened on a '1' [roll0]
Fly check [roll1]
"I can help," says Val simply. And she turns into a misty form of herself and flies directly towards the fire.
MA: Turn into mist form.
MA: Fly 30' (perfect), using whatever direct-angle is necessary. Fly check automatic since she doesn't have to go straight up.
Rook teleports 75' (or less) towards the building. He will stop 10' back from the building, and 10' offset from the largest whole that might be there.

Crimson Guardian is a bit behind on reactions, considering that her mind was focused on the implications of the watchman's words, "... you're probably never going home." Anyone that turns to look at her after they instinctively look at danger realize she is no longer there. She is shocked to see all of these incredible powers - not the least from the ugly green woman. CG shrugs and sets forth, double-moving as necessary. Of course, double-moving means if she gets there with time to spare she will continue up the wall.She hasn't attacked for a round, so allows herself to become invisible ... takes no action, automatic.
Double-move, using spider heritage (spider climb) from Night Fang. Intention is to go up the wall, enter a few windows over, then out into the main hallway and around. Just intention. Unfolding events might change that.

[meemaas]

Jacen is obviously the first to arrive, and the first thing he sees is a strange human, throwing fire from his hands while singing. "~Excitement abounds, I almost can't wait..." The contents of the room are mostly on fire, but thanks to your protections, the burning fires don't seem to bother you at all. Besides that, the room is a mess, and he is facing away from the window. After just a moment of taking the picture in, he flings another ball of fire at the door, blasting it off its hinges.

Jacen, you are up first.

[lostsole31]

Jacen moves forward so he is 20' from the firebug. "Stand down, villain, or feel the kiss of the Lord of the Skies!"

Jacen readies his breath weapon if the arsonist tries to cast a spell or takes any other hostile action.

[meemaas]

The man turns around and draws up his full power to launch a bolt of Fire into Jacen, but Jacen lets out his freezing cold breath weapon to envelop the man dealing 39 Cold damage. He stumbles in shock, losing his focus and causing his spell to fizzle. He immediately turns and bolts out the door, turning the corner with surprising speed.

It is Jacen's turn again. Your place in the initiative order has changed due to your readied action.

[lostsole31]

With a surprising rate of speed for a man in medium armor, Jacen goes after him, drawing The Demon-Quelling Sword as he goes.
Double-move action w/ a 40' speed (80' base before terrain). Draw sword on the move.

[meemaas]

Jacen rushes after the man, drawing his weapon along the way, and finds that he can easily catch up to the man. Closing in on him with ease, the man, in a burst of what appears to be fear, bolts further down the hallway, deftly avoiding the strike Jacen lets loose at him, and stops at the stairs turning towards Jacen. With a deft movement, the man lets loose an explosion of what appears to be flaming crystal shards that covers the hallway and, more unfortunately, Jacen himself. Jacen takes 18 piercing damage, but his Aegis absorbs the rest of the damage. As the dust from the explosion clears though, Jacen can tell that the hallway is now littered with Crystal shards, clearly making it difficult terrain to cross normally.

[lostsole31]

Does Jacen's DR 5 help?

Jacen's mathematical prowess is in geometry, not in divining the vast array of spell theory, but he has some training. He tries to get a quick sense of what he sees.
Spellcraft [roll0]

Action will be determined based upon (lack of) information gleaned. Rusty knows, and it's a cool talent, but Jacen might not.

[meemaas]

Yes, take back five health since I forgot (didn't check) that Jacen had DR.

Jacen recognizes the attack as a Destructive Blast, augmented to full power, using the Explosive Orb shape and a mixture of both the Crystal Blast and the Searing Blast types.

[lostsole31]

Jacen will plow through on a double move ... 8 squares of movement in a MA, but each difficult terrain squares costs 2 squares of movement.

[meemaas]

Jacen closes in on the man, attempting to pin him down to finally get another good attack in, but after struggling through the difficult terrain, the man slides back just out of reach and prepares another attack, an unusual bolt of fire, shaped like a Lightning Bolt that shoots directly through Jacen dealing 5 Fire damage (After fire resistance). After the bolt fades, Jacen finds that the man has vanished, and twists around to see that the man is now on the far side of the hall, making a rude gesture at Jacen.

By this point, Pawn has already made it into the building and up to the second floor, ready to go up the stairs to the same same floor as the combat has been happening. Do you have any preparations before you join the combat, knowing that your enemy is somewhere on the next floor.

Rook has made it to the outside of the building. You do have line of sight to the room that is on fire, mostly thanks to the destroyed window, and assuming you choose to fly instead, are about 25 feet below the window, and ten feet out from it.

Jacen can recognize the spell as another Destructive Blast, using the Searing Blast talent and the Energy Leap talent (In case you're unaware, Energy Leap lets you teleport to the end of the Blasts range)

If Pawn wishes to charge in ready to fight, he is roughly 30 feet from making it up to the top of the stairs, and (metagame knowledge, but ease of posting) will find himself about 10 feet away from Richard. If Pawn doesn't, it is Jacen's turn.

[lostsole31]

That last bit surprises Jacen as he hisses from the sting of fire. He doesn't recognize the power used, but he recognizes warping magic when he sees it. Energy wall won't cut it. He seeks a quick blessing from Bahamut as he channels energy to his burns. He then calls on the spirits of dragons of battle that have gone before him, and draws to his own wings the power of theirs. With one .... two ... THREE snaps of his wings an incredibly powerful rush of air is sent towards the man to hopefully bowl him over. Jacen then flies the intervening distance to close with the man.
SwA: Lay on hands [roll0]
SA: 1 spell point to increase damage. Cast air blast. [roll1] RTA, damage [roll2] nonlethal damage.
* If target is struck, then CMB check of [roll3] and treat as a Bull Rush, pushed from the point of origin. If target is knocked down, he suffers 1d6 bludgeoning +1d6/ 5' of movement he would have continued.
* Painful magic saving throw ('1' fails): [roll4].
MA: With Demon-Queller in hand, close 80' (or less) with flight to face the man ... whether he stood his ground or got knocked down.
Jacen levels the massive sword at the man, the inherent cold of the blade keeping flames from getting too close. "I am St. Jacen Silverheart of Bahamut. Yield or my next blow will not be nonlethal."
Coming closer to where the unknown enemy might be, Pawn now slows to a lope, using intuition and a type of free-running to get him to the battle carefully.
MA: Likely double-move. He doesn't want to waste a lot of time with "preps" since his best friend will be the shifting lights of flame, the blocked sightline of smoke, and the sound of the fire. Move half speed/ per MA (25') so the may approach with Stealth [roll5].
Perception [roll6]. Also, scent.

His anti-gravity (flight) already engaged, Rook can't take the time to fly the old-fashioned way (it's a bit of a chore for him) any more than he had the time to do so to get to the building. He teleports to just outside the window and looks in.
SA: Teleport.
MA: Hover. Auto-success w/ Take 10.
Perception [roll7]

[meemaas]

The man appears to be fighting against the gust of air, but ultimately holds his ground as Jacen approaches. Seemingly unaware of Pawn behind him, he tilts his head back and laughs. "Oh my. You're the best challenge I've had since I arrived. Not relying on the protections of those Archmages to save your skin." He slides back from Jacen, and flings a quick ball of flame at his feet, the explosion of flames enveloping him, and the moment they fade, he was gone.

You recognize that as a form of the Warp Sphere's teleport, which means that he can't have gotten too far.

Rook looks inside the window, seeing the flames inside the building and the damage that had been wrought. While he's surveying the situation, he notices a burst of flames upon the ground, a man emerging from them.

[lostsole31]

Pawn moves forward. Knowing they were in battle and hearing the man's taunts to the man-dragon-thing ahead, it's a safe bet that whether or not this new player is an enemy or friend, he is an enemy to the flame-user ... and a flame-user is the description we had gotten. "Where did he go?"

Jacen looks at the newcomer, not sure of him but looking to see if his questions illumine his purpose. "He's primarily a fire-mage, but he has shown skill in various warping magics - you might call them---"

"Yeah, I know what warping is, just not how it works," barks Pawn. "Do you know where he went?"

"He is just a man, albeit a man with stamina. He might control fire, but I doubt he can do well in smoke and limited vision. Still, he is here with a purpose. I shall hold my breath and go back upwards in case that purpose is above. I should be fine. You should work your way below. He only went a limited distance, I am sure."

Without more, Jacen speeds his way back to where he found the man in the first place, being sure to keep track of his surroundings as he goes.

Pawn, meanwhile, takes a second. Though fire and carbon can mask scents, it also has the ability to lift scents out of an area that would otherwise be harder to detect. He takes a good listen while sniffing the air.
Jacen hustles in flight (double move at 80' speed per move action), however he may need to slow that down in the confines of a building. He only has a Fly of +7, so even hovering is difficult. If he can't fly, then it will be his 40' land speed. Do both if he can .... whatever he needs to cover ground more quickly.

Pawn is going to spend an entire round using his senses - scent for any useful smells, listening for the cries of anyone in trouble, whatever. This will also include anything he might be able to scent or see that makes a good clue for tracking, a la lens of detection.
Perception [roll0]
Survival, if anything track-worthy is noted [roll1]
"I'm sorry, my friend," comes a mental voice into the man's mind, "but we'll have to sort this out afterwards."

A powerful wave of lethargy rolls over the man, in combination with the heat to place him unconscious.
FA: Telepathy 100'. (Not to be confused with a Mind-sphere power.)
SA: Sleep (w/ Subtlety, Expanded Charm), boosted to Greater Charm, costs 1 spell point ... p 44. Will DC 27 negates. Failure means target is zonked for 9 minutes.
* Being a firebug, I have faith that he has fire protections that will keep him from suffering heat damage.
"Jean!" Rook calls out, confident that his friend can here him. "He is up here on the [insert floor # and compass facing]."

[meemaas]

The man, upon hearing the voice looks surprised, but quickly falls flat on his face snoring, fairly comically at that.

Jacen and Pawn separate, until they hear Rook call out. Both make their way outside and down to the ground level where the man is currently sleeping, where I assume they are joined by Rook, and likely Anna and Val. Three others also come to the mans location, two guards, and the man that Rook and Pawn had met at the captains office.

What do you do? I am acting under the assumption that combat initiative is over, thanks to "Save-or-Lose, the Sphere" (lol), but of course you're welcome to Coup de Grace him.

[lostsole31]

Jacen will tie him up. At Rook's direction, Pawn will use his obscene Perception (and Rook's own Sense Motive) to determine at what point the man's breathing and pulse begin to change consistent with waking up. At that point, Pawn will coup-de-grace nonlethal (if that's allowed) to knock him out cold.
Think of movies where a hero or villain are trussed up. No matter how much punishment they take normally, a well-placed rifle butt to the helpless, hapless hero zonks him. If you don't like a non-lethal CDG, let me know.
To be clear, did Jacen see him use any manner of casting? or, did this man simply freely use sphere magic without the restrictions of voice, movement, or obect? Either way, Jacen will be clear to tell the guard officer that this man will be hard to contain because he can teleport.

[meemaas]

Jacen did see him making gestures, along with the obvious flames that accompany his magic. Once the man is tied up, Jacen explains to everyone about what he has seen involving the man, and the group begins to debate their plans going forward. When the man starts to come to, Pawn knocks him a few times in the face, causing him to pass out once more, almost as fast as he had come to.

[lostsole31]

Rook looks to the watch officer. "Sir, my colleague here" - he gestures towards Pawn - "were hired by the Captain to bring him in. As such, Pawn and I will be accompanying you to make sure he is properly processed before delivering our report and your own statement."

He looks to the big, scaly man. "Jacen ... Silverheart, was it? Please accompany us and the guard. Since this matter is of importance at the highest levels, we would like you to debrief the captain personally."

Sensing something of the powers of the others, Rook wheels his chair to look at the "short" troll and the woman in the full red-and-black costume. He saw the green woman form out of a small cloud. "The two of you seem new here, as we were a few weeks ago, and likely you as well, Jacen. If you two ladies would accompany me, perhaps we can get you sorted out here in Ellicia City (sp?)."

Crimson Guardian slowly nods her head, still ruminating on the description of the strange use of magic the man had, other than the typical effect of a flame-lover. This Silverheart seemed to have more than a passing sense of it, though she had never heard of anything quite of its sort ... it sounded like just another offshoot of sorcery, though. "That is fine. I would like some answers."

Val, surprised by this seemingly open invitation instead of revulsion or loathing at the outset, is taken aback. She lowers her head some while giving a little nod of consent.

[meemaas]

The guards follow Rooks order, and the group, including the strange man who seems to not be affiliated with either the guards or the group, return to the captains office. Once there, the captain takes the captive and shoves him into a cell, closing the door. As the door closes, a barrier seems to envelop the room, which is easily (I'm playing narratively here) recognized as an Antimagic Field. Once closed, the captain draws up a few extra seats and gestures for everyone to sit down.

Once everyone is seated, the captain speaks. "I appreciate the work you have done for us. Ortega tells me he was very impressed watching you fight the man off Mister Silverheart." He gestures towards the one remaining man as he speaks. "Now, I've met you two, but we never did get your names, and the two of you..." He looks first at Pawn and Rook, and then to Val and Anna, "Are new faces. Shall we introduce ourselves? I am Captain Ran Denti of the Ellicia City Guards. You five?"

[lostsole31]

"My name," begins the bald man confined to a chair, "is Professor Karl Laroque, but you can call me Rook. I have spent my life studying the phenomena of those whom have been gifted far in advance of a normal member of their kind - whether graced with incredible strength, agility, force of will, or supernatural powers. Even heroes tend to fear people like us, unless they need us, calling us 'mutants,' 'freaks,' 'aberrations,' and even less conversation-appropriate names, though 'mutant' is the most scientifically correct term. It has been my mission to bridge the gap of fear between mutants and non-enhanced on our home world of Golarion.

"My particular mutation stems from a significantly developed cerebral and sixth-sense capacity, which in turn leads to powers of telepathy and telekinesis. I was able to incapacitate the arsonist simply by stimulating the adenosine centers of the brain and causing him to fall asleep.

"As you can see, I am confined to this chair. While it has been fitted with technological and supernatural engines, the very act of locomotion is extremely taxing and requires extraordinary effort as I am cybernetically linked to it. Even turning or stopping takes great effort. Luckily, through practice I have learned to warp space to travel much more freely simply by teleportation.

"I and a team of my students were attempting to apprehend a dangerous mutant and his minions, but when we split up my colleague and I were caught up in some type of planar-teleportation trap, which in turn brought us here. We've been here for a few weeks. And this is my colleague ..."


A little uncomfortable with having been called on, but just as laissez-faire, is a short plug of a man with a wiry frame that yet bristles with tightened sinew that doesn't stand. "My name is Pawn; but not because I am treated that way by Professor Laroque. I don't know anything about my life before I was turned into a weapon. My laboratory name is 'Jean Pont-Dix,' which translates to 'John .10' ... or Version 10. Version 10 of what I don't know. I know that before I was experimented on I must have already had my mutant healing factor and endurance, because I doubt I would have survived what they did to me. My entire skeleton has been magically fused to adamantine, including another of my mutations - bone claws that come out of a housing along my wrist. I have the senses of an apex predator that the Professor says borders on the precognitive, including enhanced reflexes, and I am resistant to injury ... and what harms me is normally regenerated anyway."




"I am Jacen Silverheart," says the powerful-looking, silver-scaled half-dragon. "I am a dragon knight and a warrior of the holy light, but even before that I received powers from Bahamut, Father of Dragons, and the Lord of the Skies. I was never a cleric, though I am similar to one. Rather, through flashes of insight at the very essence of battle the Platinum Father grants me powers of life, protection, and when enemies warrant it ... destruction.

"My sword's name is Demon-Queller, and was once a sword protected in a frost giant fane. I am from Oerth, if you know where that is. I and my companions were fighting minions of the Demon-Queen Lolth, and only I remained. I was at prayer for the souls of my fallen friends when the fourth wave of enemies came. I asked the Gleaming Scale to allow me to acquit myself well in life, and be accepted by him in death. My senses changed and I came here sometime within the past day."



"I have not heard of Oerth, but I have heard of Lolth," states the woman in the red-and-black costume as she stands. "I am well acquainted with her evil.

"I am known as the Crimson Guardian, though it seems that some refer to me as Firefly Anna - which is interesting because I really don't use fire often at all, and even then only via mundane usages such as with alchemist's fire. I come from a world called Abeir-Toril, of the city of Waterdeep. I am a protector of the people of my adopted city, though I do so from the shadows and through disguise and intrigue. I am a detective and a bounty hunter. I was chasing down leads that led me to observe this troll-like woman here, only to find that she is just a denize of the sewers. We both cornered and captured a blue goblin that shouted for an as-yet-to-be-revealed master. A door opened down the hall. This green woman here went in first. I scooped up the blue goblin and followed. We ended up here, the mist pulled back in through the tear in space and now we seem to be stuck. My .... mutation, if that's what your calling it, includes powers of invisibility and optical displacement. At the end of the day, though, after all is said and done, I am a scholar and a scientist much as yourself, Professor. Through that learning, and not through powers, I have catalogued a host of vestiges and spirits with whom I make pacts and then benefit from their powers over the course of the day, using whatever is needed for the mission at hand. Nothing so like what the rest of you ... what with super-smarts, draconic strength, telepathy and telekinesis, healing factors, or even turning into a cloud. Just useful things here and there."


The Crimson Guardian ends there, and all eyes slowly turn to the green elephant in the room. At 7' and 297 pounds, she is easily the most massive thing in this room. Better looking than a true troll, to be sure, she is still uglier than any normal creatures because of those obvious troll influences. Though she is currently not glowing, CG saw her doing so earlier (not these others). "Talk, talk. I'm a Jotun, not a true troll, but I have an affinity with the water element, so my heritage comes through as a troll. I just want to be left alone and live in peace instead of people screaming when they see me, so I lived in a sewer, eating what refuse I could. City didn't know how many times I might have helped ... what with monsters down there. Heard there was big bad in 'town' (the undercity, called Skullport) that was interested in finding me for some kind of spear-mints. I came close to finding him first with that blue thing, but I'm here instead. I don't have powers beyond those of my people until a necromancer/ al-come-its did stuff to me, and other stuff happened to me. I still crush and smash and scald like before, but better."

"Oh, name is Val ... Val the Verdant."

[meemaas]

The last man starts to speak after the introductions. "You can call me Ortega. I am the Watcher of Celestia. It's a complicated thing, and really, I would be considered self appointed, although Ran and I have been good friends since early into my time here." He nods softly to Pawn and Rook.

Captain Ran cuts him off before he can continue. "You can tell them more about yourself later. For now, I need you to fetch Doran for me. He will be needed soon." Ortega nods and heads out the door quickly, while Ran continues. "It is nice to meet you five. I appreciate the work you have done, or attempted to do, in service to Celestia. What can you tell me about this prisoner? I'm certain that with the Antimagic cell active, he won't be able to escape."

[lostsole31]

"His magical stylings are similar to mine - at least in the mechanics of casting," admits Jacen. "It's called 'sphere magic.' He uses a combination of the destruction sphere, with an obvious penchant for fire; and the warp sphere, which is varying range of teleportation based on focus. He has even managed to combine the two. I wouldn't doubt if he were some manner of spellcrafter - a sphere user able to mix and match various sphere talents (talents = spell effects, for simplicity's sake) so as to create unique effects. As with myself, to facilitate his power he uses incantations and extremely precises gesticulations - to the degree of fine control of a wizard or sorcerer. I surmise that he also has some skill with the sphere of protection, the better to withstand the ambient of the fires his own powers cause."

[meemaas]

"So his powers were indeed magic. It doesn't explain how he was able to defy the laws of Celestia like he was though. But I see that his ability to cause harm to others also refused him the protection that he would have otherwise been afforded, am I correct?"

[lostsole31]

"But I see that his ability to cause harm to others also refused him the protection that he would have otherwise been afforded, am I correct?"
"What is this protection you're talking about?" asks Crimson Guardian. "How does it work? What is the mechanic?"

[meemaas]

"Ah right, you are new here. I'll explain this in detail for all of you. The cities within Celestia are protected by powerful magic, put in place by the eight Archmages that rule Celestia. It was done to further the goal of a city where all can be safe. It does so by preventing any form of hostile contact between any party within the city. Indirect effects are deflected before they can harm something, while direct effects fizzle. Actual fighting with a weapon will not make contact, no matter how hard you try. The only exception to this rule is the Right of the Duel, which creates a field in which the rules are suppressed, but still protects from death, recalling the loser before his untimely demise and dispelling the field." Ran takes a deep breath. "As you can see, he somehow ignored that law, a spell that required eight of the most powerful mages ever to walk this place or any other."

[lostsole31]

"First, Captain," says Rook, "This does not always lead to that. What I mean is that you theorize that whatever means he used to bypass Celestia's protections likewise keep him from being protected by the same. It's a sound theory, but let's not apply that as fact just yet.

"I am thinking that two options, currently, with what limited information we have; these are theories, and not necessarily the only ones we will find. First, he possesses an item - or was 'charged' by some item - that acts as a form of dispelling field. Second, he is a minion of someone more powerful who possesses the actual power to circumvent these protections. If we are expecting the ability to overcome these legendary protections were put in place by someone - even with my power - who was put to sleep, I think something is amiss."

"Actually, there is something else," admits Jacen. "I opened up with a freezing breath to try to put out the fire. The cold energy of my breath weapon wasn't deflected from affecting the surrounding area, even if it might have had any effect on the man. That seems to already throw some credibility to a 'field effect' like the professor was mentioning ... that within a certain distance of the man, however this inversion of protection occurred, both allowed and denied the protections of this place to the man and the surrounding area."

[meemaas]

"Without further information, it is hard to make a determination one way or another. It is possible either way, seeing as how utilizing your freezing breath on the fires could be considered a positive effect instead of a destructive effect, it cannot be quite determined based on that. It is certainly plausible that there is a more powerful being that is behind him, but that brings up a question. What motive would such a being have? This man seemed to be satisfied with random destruction, but if someone was behind him, what would be the motives behind backing him?" Ran looks over at the cell, where the man appears to be awake, but silent, sitting on the ground moving his finger along it as if drawing in it, despite the fact that the stone is perfectly clean. "I will make sure to keep him under heavy surveillance until we have more information. This situation is highly unprecedented, and we will have to check on the laws necessary to see about any execution anyways. Are there even laws in place for that?"

[lostsole31]

Ever the voice of common sense, Pawn asks, "So what was the building he was burning, anyway?"

[meemaas]

"You could think of it like a hotel. It's a safe place to stay when visiting from another city, should the need come up, and more often a temporary place for newcomers to Celestia." As he speaks, Ortega and Doran, a man familiar to Pawn, Rook, and Jacen most recently, enter the room, and quietly take seats, waiting to be addressed so as to not interrupt the conversation at hand.

[lostsole31]

"Part of my mutant powers is that I can see into someone else's mind to see what secrets they might be hiding," says Rook. "I may be able to help interrogate this man."

[meemaas]

Ran shakes his head. "I will remember that when we are ready to interrogate him. I'm sure you must understand. There is a large amount of paperwork that needs to be done before I'm allowed to interrogate him, especially using supernatural powers of any kind."

[lostsole31]

"Captain," asks Crimson Guardian, "can you think of a reason why a waystation for people ... well, like us ... would be targeted for arson?"

[meemaas]

"I can't think of why anyone would target that. The worst I can come up with is preventing newcomers from staying, but there's several buildings likes that, and several more cities just like this one here in Celestia."

The man sits up and looks over to the group from his cell. "Some people just want to see the world burn. That's all I want, to burn things."

[lostsole31]

Rook has Pawn mentally wheel himself over to the cell (or whatever). "And what else have you burnt so far?"
Detect thoughts DC 21, Will negates.

[meemaas]

The man laughs. "Only a few buildings. I pick and choose based on what I think will burn best." Despite your attempts, you find that you cannot read his thoughts.

Ran walks over to Rook and interjects. "You're not gonna have much success with that. We've got him in an antimagic cell, remember? That is part of why I need to go through major paperwork to allow you to interrogate him with your abilities."

[lostsole31]

Rook nods and he and Pawn return to the "part of the room with the main group for more exposition/ plot continuance."

[lostsole31]

Crimson Guardian speaks up. "Captain, any chance you could give us a list of known and alleged (separated as such) crimes committed, as well as any known accomplices of Firebug?"

[meemaas]

"There really are no known accomplices of this man. To be honest, there really are no crimes around here. The only place where crimes are even really possible are in the Wilds, and that's such a lawless place that I'm unsure if we can even call it crime. Well, excepting what he's managed here, that is. That said, I will be contacting the other cities to find out if there is anything going on there. I promise. In the meantime." Ran turns to Ortega and Doran. "Doran, I would like you to provide these fellows with their own dwelling. I'm sure you fellows were given one already, Pawn and Rook, but we can provide a better location for the entire group if you are willing. No matter what else, I feel like you five are already in too far."

[lostsole31]

"In too far..." CG muses. "In too far to be able to do what otherwise?"

[meemaas]

Ortega speaks up, paging through a book as he speaks. "Ran and I both believe very strongly in the concept of fate. Everything happens for a reason. Three of you arrived here today, two of you were drawn to the others. Of all the people to react to the attack, you five were the only ones who made it and stayed long enough for the guards to catch up."

Ran interrupts Ortega. "I feel like there's more going to happen and whether you split up or not, you all will be involved. If not because of fate, then because of your personal natures."

[lostsole31]

Individually, with some discussion, the five will agree. Rook turns to Ortega. "Captain, we'd like to take you up on your offer."

[meemaas]

Sorry for the weeklong delay. Shouldn't happen very often.

Ran turns to the group and smiles. "Ortega will be your guide then, he has been in Celestia for a long time, and that is on top of his previous occupation as a Watcher. Doran will lead you to your new home, and will see about having your current belongings moved, Pawn and Rook."

Doran starts for the door wordlessly, and Ortega starts to address them, causing Doran to stop. "Jean Pont-Dix, Karl Laroque, Firefly Anna, Valpuri the Verdant, Jacen Silverheart. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and I hope to learn much about you and your history. I am what is known as a Watcher. I mentioned it earlier, but it bears repeating. You five have each intrigued me, starting from the moment I met Pawn and Rook this morning. I hope we can become good friends."

Doran coughs. "We have places to go."

It takes some time, but Doran leads you underground to a well maintained, yet empty home. He shows you each to a room, and promises Rook to get some renovations done to make his room more accessible to him, and asks if there is anything he can get them.

Assume you have a day or two of downtime to prepare for going forward.

[lostsole31]

I don't know if you want to do this day-by-day, or on days it matters. Regardless, until more information about any potential threat is known, Vandrae is favored for her vigilante/ stealth aspect overall anyway. One thing I had forgotten before is that with Vandrae I chose (and will continue to choose for now) the spider familiar vestigial companion since as a racial ability she already casts deeper darkness AW. The spider familiar will always be in a pouch on person. She would RARELY send a familiar out from her. (No, her familiar's name is not "Robin." :smalltongue: )

Night's Fang might seem like an underpowered vestige for 5th level, but for general purposes the utility can't be beat for being an ATV info-gatherer. It's not being a combat mensch.
Bind Vandrae [roll0]
Bind Night Fang [roll1]

Both require DC 20, so auto-good pact, and as a Capstone Binder she needs to make a DC 25 to get the capstone.

EDIT: No Capstone for Vandrae the next "active day."
In the meantime, not really having specific direction, she will focus on the issues back at home. Since the sewers likely lead to some terrible underwater business, she is going to try to track down that elusive information on the personality of the Tentacles of Dagon. Should take a week of study.

[meemaas]

Basically, any time the day is over, a roll for the next active day will suffice.

Ortega arrives at the house about two days later, and calls together the group calmly. Once they've all gathered in the living room, he starts to speak. "The paperwork has come through, and Ran has gained approval to allow Rook to help the interrogation. We would also like at least one of you on site to help for security. Ran is a formidable fighter on his own, but we can't be sure that he won't attempt to escape when we removed him from the Antimagic Field. Any volunteers?" You notice as before that Ortega is still holding tight to the same book he had before, the bookmark doesn't even appear to have moved.

[lostsole31]

Val stands and nods to volunteer.

[meemaas]

Ortega leads Val and Rook to a location within the Civilians Layer (Ground Level) where a few of Ran's men, and Ran himself, have gathered, leading the man they had captured previously. Despite being out of his cell, he seems to be making no effort to escape, and Ran waves you over.

"We have him cuffed with Antimagic Shackles, but we have to unlock them to allow you to use your powers on him. Once you're ready, we'll restrain him and release the shackles to allow you to start the interrogation. Since its your mental powers that will be vital to it, I'll even allow you to lead the interrogation."

Once Rook is ready, the group ties the man up, and then releases the Antimagic Shackles, while all of the guards ready various weapons in case he attempts to do something. One of the Casters even casts Arcane Sight, watching him for the slightest attempt.

Please start your interrogation. (Ask as many questions as you wish)

[lostsole31]

In Common: "Good morning, my name is Rook, and I am the one who put you to sleep so that you would not be killed. Can I have your name? Feel free to give me any name right now, just something I can call you." He holds out his hand for the man to shake if he felt so inclined.
Via telepathy at the same time he speaks: "My name is Professor Karl Laroque. If you feel that you are being monitored by an outside force not known to us, and you are afraid to answer, you may answer me 'in here.' What shall I call you?"

At the same time, detect thoughts (DC 21). Understands that he has this running almost unconsciously and unless otherwise specified he doesn't "dig" or "pry" for information. However, in addition to detect thoughts here, I am curious about his INT score (because detect thoughts gives you that). I will not append detect thoughts after each and every post ... in fact, assume that anytime Rook is not fully pre-occupied (with game-mechanic "actions") detect thoughts is going. This is the same thing as Professor X "accidentally" picking up stray thoughts that might be embarrassing.

[meemaas]

The man laughs hysterically at the voice in his head. "We're all being monitored by forces unknown to you and I. What did you expect, living in a city rules by mages? They don't trust any of you, they've had you under surveillance ever since you first stepped foot in here!!!"

He has clearly failed his save, as those are matching his thoughts as he speaks. His Intelligence is surprisingly high, at 28, although obviously not as high as yours.

He calms down after that outburst, which derives looks from most of the guards, although Ran doesn't seem to do anything in regards to that. "My name is Richard, and you really should have just killed me. It's the only way off this god forsaken plane."

[lostsole31]

"Richard, I am going to hold your hand to learn a little more about you." He takes Richard's hand.
Do the following psychometry: detect chaos/ detect evil/ detect good/ detect law.
In the meantime, he continues talking (and detect thoughts is continuous). "Richard, are you currently working for another person or group?"

[meemaas]

Richard pings as NE, with a tinge of Chaotic in there.

"Work for someone? Are you kidding? I do what I do because I like it."

He's not lying either. He doesn't work for someone, although you do catch a few thoughts about allies.

[lostsole31]

"It's possible, and even happens often, that one can pursue a field they love, doing what they love, and still work for somebody. Richard, why were you burning down the housing for newcomers?"

[meemaas]

"Because I wanted to. I mean yes, they told me I shouldn't, but it's not like I answer to any of them."

[lostsole31]

"Who told you that you shouldn't?"

[meemaas]

"My comrades of course. Not that you'll be able to find them anymore. They'll have relocated when I didn't return, after all."

[lostsole31]

"How many ... confederates... have you?"

[meemaas]

"There are five of us altogether. And they are all flammable."

[lostsole31]

Rook can't help but betray the tiniest smirk. "As are we all. Do the six of you have any overall goal?"
Remember detect thoughts, and killer Sense Motive. I am specific in my questions so that it is easier to catch surface thoughts.

[meemaas]

"Isn't it obvious? We want out of here. Don't you?"

I've taken that into account, and so far, everything Richard has said has been either truthful, or at least he believes it, and Detect Thoughts agrees with that.

[lostsole31]

"Who are these friends of yours?"

[meemaas]

"What, names? Descriptions? How flammable they are? I don't get what you're asking."

[lostsole31]

"Names first, then descriptions."

[meemaas]

"Well, in less than a minute, none of this is going to matter, so I think I'm done answering your questions."

[lostsole31]

"I'm sorry, my friend, but we can't have you running around again quite yet," Rook says at the same time as he pushes Richard's mind into a deep torpor.

"Ran! Ortega! I think we can expect dangerous company. Valpuri, get ready!"
SA: Sleep + Powerful Charm (3 SP), Will DC 27 negates.Powerful Charm: The target is placed into a deeper slumber. Whenever the sleeping target takes damage or another creature attempts to wake it as a standard action, the target does not automatically awaken, but instead makes a new Will save to wake up with a +4 bonus.
Val, recognizing that if anyone comes here directly, the bald man in the chair will be exposed and weak. She goes to him if she is able. She releases her self-suppression of her glowing form.
MA + SA: Whatever movement is necessary to get to Rook.
FA: Release control on her prismatic nature. Current color is [roll0]
* If '8', then [roll1] and [roll2]

EDIT: Makes perfect Sense. 2 = orange = immune to acid, her big fear, anyway.

[meemaas]

Richard falls asleep, not even seemingly capable of resisting.

The guards surround Richard, putting a wall between them and any possible attackers. Ran draws his shield, strapping it tight to his arm, and places himself opposite Valpuri on the other side of the prisoner.

Ortega opens his book, the pages flipping on their own until they stop, transforming into a large blade of his own as he moves next to Rook. "You're the smart one, what do you expect?"

You get one last round of prep time before the combat starts, if you wish to take it.

Yes, I may or may not be stalling, lol.

[lostsole31]

Valpuri grabs the anti-magic shackles and puts them on Richard. Meanwhile, Rook manifests mind blank on himself.

[meemaas]

After enough waiting, one of the guards scoots away from Val and suddenly casts a large area of Darkness upon the area. The moment it happens, several of the other guards start to cough, as if the darkness is draining their life.

Rook can recognize this as a Hungry Darkness effect. Val and Rook passed their saves.

Valpuri is up.

[lostsole31]

Val scoops up Richard and throws him over her shoulder, keeping him held fast with that arm. She moves out of the dark cloud and moves adjacent to the traitor-guard.
MA: Pick up object (i.e., Richard). A helpless/ dead creature isn't grappled, but carried like an object. She's holding him with one arm.
FA: Choose color, auto-pass DC 15 Concentration check (+15 mod).
MA: Clear cloud, close to be adjacent to traitor-guard, making sure to be offset so the area behind him is clear while she is also not creating a target that is a line or cone to others, if possible.

[meemaas]

Valpuri grabs the prisoner and moves closer to the guard who had betrayed them, holding tight onto Richard while she does. As she does, another guard moves in behind her and attempts to stab her, but misses dramatically.

Rook, it is your turn, what do you do?

[lostsole31]

Wow, I totally missed this. Musta' checked my phone in my sleep, and then never thought to double-check. Otherwise, I would have updated at some point in the last 10 days.
Rook tries to put both the spherecaster and the other guard to sleep.
2 spell points for Sleep (Greater Charm) + Group Charm. Will DC 27 negates.

[meemaas]

Rooks powers envelop both of the confirmed traitors, causing them to collapse to the group, now useless. The darkness doesn't seem to fade, obviously already persisted beyond his conscious control.

Ran looks around for the possibility of an attack, angry at the confusion that has been caused thus far. "Why are my men betraying me?!?!?" He turns to the next one of his guards, and slams it in the face with his shield, knocking the man out with one quick gesture. "Knock them all out Rook!!!"

A blast of air shoots into the darkness at Ran, but he quickly knocks it away with his shield. It clearly came from the outside, and from above. Both Rook and Val can see that it a Spherecaster is flying in the air about 100 ft away from the edge of the darkness, about fifty feet into the air.

Two more guards move towards Rook and attempt to strike him down, but find it harder to hit him than they thought.

Ortega bolts out of the darkness, and takes his measure of the surroundings, before preparing himself against another attack from the flying Sphere caster.

The last three guards involved attempt to surround Valpuri and try to beat her down with their lack of skill, but Valpuri doesn't even have to dodge, they just cannot manage to strike her if their life depended on it.

Valpuri, you are up. Rook is on deck.

[lostsole31]

Valpuri releases her control and grows to full height of just over 11' tall.

[meemaas]

And Rook is up next.

[lostsole31]

Rook touches all enemies' minds to put them to sleep.
Sleep [Greater Charm], Ranged Mind (760' max range), Group Charm (the three on Val and the distant blaster). Will DC 27 negates, else sleep 9 minutes.

Costs 1 SP.

[meemaas]

Valpuri grows to her full size, causing a few of the guards to recoil in surprise. It doesn't last long, however, as Rook touches each of their minds and causes them to collapse alongside their comrades. Despite his power, however, the other enemy in the distance seems to be powerful enough to resist that power.

Ran growls and moves out of the darkness, looking up at the attacker. "Get down here you coward!!" He shifts his stance and prepares himself for the next attack.

The enemy caster moves up higher in the air and launches a counterattack on Rook's mental attack, causing plants to sprout from within the ground and quickly wrap themselves around Rook, holding him in place.

Nature Sphere: Grow Plants, followed by Entangle. You are Entangled and may attempt a Strength check or Escape Artist check to break free as a move action.

Ortega falls to his knees in surprise suddenly, as a flaming wound opens up in his side dealing 29 physical and 6 fire damage. He recoils and retreats, trying to find the attacker.

Valpuri is up next, followed by Rook.

[lostsole31]

Val creates a solid fog (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/solid-fog) that acts as a roof and LOS/LOE blocker to the flying threat as well as a relatively semi-solid barrier for incoming attacks to impact on. It is 20' off the ground (i.e., 20' to the bottom-most part of the fog).
Awaiting word regarding OOC before taking Rook's action ...

[lostsole31]

"Mr. Ortega, to me," tepes Rook, "I will see to your wounds."

Otherwise, Rook delays ...

[meemaas]

Valpuri forms a large fog, protecting herself and her comrades from the aerial caster, and Rook calls out to Ortega.

Ran turns to Ortega and growls, then back up at the aerial caster. He moves over to the side that Ortega had been attacked from and slams his shield into the air by it, hoping to get the invisible attacker. Unfortunately for him, his action seems to only find empty air.

The enemy caster moves farther into the air, casting one last spell, he warps away from the fight.

Warp Sphere, there's no sign of him up in the sky anymore.

Ortega retreats to Rook, and starts looking around. "I don't get their plan, what do you think? You're the smart one, right?"

Valpuri is up, Rook is on deck, there's no real sign of anything left now.

[lostsole31]

Richard is still in Val's grasp though, right?

[lostsole31]

"Well, their long-term goal is disruption and chaos, preferably with the loss of power of your council of mages," says Rook. "We need to get Richard back into antimagic area right now and have that area under guard."

[meemaas]

Ran looks over to Valpuri. "Can you keep that cover going as we return to the prison? We need to get moving before that invisible attacker comes back."

[lostsole31]

Valpuri nods and keeps watch, grabbing the table (possibly absent-mindedly ripping bolts out of the floor) to use as a "thrown rock" if needed.

[meemaas]

Valpuri and company move through the town with the cloud cover, and don't seem to have been followed. Ran gets you into the guards building and Valpuri quickly shoves Richard back into the cell. Ran then addresses both Rook and Valpuri, sending Ortega to take care of his guards. "Ok, that's taken care of. We're going to have to be careful about this one, but...why did they abandon him? Whoever it was that hurt Ortega was still around, and that flying one probably could have pot-shotted us all day with the advantages they had, surprising us. What do you think happened?"

[lostsole31]

Rook thinks about it. "That was actually very clever on Valpuri's part. She robbed the flying one of line-of-sight and - since it was partially solid - line-of-effect as well. Any attack made would have impacted on the solid fog. And without LOS no spell could be made to bypass the block to LOE. Very, very well done, Valpuri."

Valpuri shrugs.

"Anyhow," Rook continues, "it was probably a probing attack. Val had the sense to grab Richard, making him an 'unattractive option' to try to free, and based on Richard's own thoughts of his comrades, they are more confederates to a cause than necessarily 'allies.'"

[meemaas]

"That does sound about right. I'll be sure to keep him under extreme guard from this point on. The last thing I need is for that maniac on the loose. Until something comes up, you guys can do your own thing. Ortega and I will keep guard on him personally."

With that said, Ran takes his seat. If you have anything you want to say or ask Ran, feel free to do so, in bulk in necessary. Otherwise, let me know what your next plans are. It's only a few hours after noon, so you've still got some time before nightfall.

[lostsole31]

Here are the binding checks for the next "active day" for Anna...
Binding Vandrae (DC 20, capstone 25) [roll0]
Binding Night Fang (DC 20, capstone 25) [roll1]

Constellation aspect is the same for both. She has the medium spider familiar, which can be creepy fo' sho'.
Kind of at a loss for the other four, since it is more of a reactive group. Anna is the only real proactive.

[meemaas]

It's going to be a while before you will hear back from Captain Ran. In the meanwhile, you are welcome to take on quests from the bounty board (minor to major quests, usually out in the Wilds, outside of the city, rewards are almost always in gold), explore the magical dungeon Midlights Deep (Legendary dungeon that is connected to the city, rumor has it that the person who makes it to the bottom floor will be gifted with unimaginable rewards), or attempt to prize fight in the Noble's Arena (Duels against other Adventurers, can be done solo or in groups, and tends to have occasional rewards in the form of money and political favors). If you are interested in none of these, then give me some rolls for CG's studies over the next two weeks.

[lostsole31]

1) It's going to be a while before you will hear back from Captain Ran.

2) In the meanwhile, you are welcome to take on quests from the bounty board (minor to major quests, usually out in the Wilds, outside of the city, rewards are almost always in gold), ...

3) ...explore the magical dungeon Midlights Deep (Legendary dungeon that is connected to the city, rumor has it that the person who makes it to the bottom floor will be gifted with unimaginable rewards), ...

4) ...or attempt to prize fight in the Noble's Arena (Duels against other Adventurers, can be done solo or in groups, and tends to have occasional rewards in the form of money and political favors).

5) If you are interested in none of these, then give me some rolls for CG's studies over the next two weeks.
1) Downtime! :smile:

2) This is a strong possibility. Gold is always good, of course, but Val and Pawn are relatively self-sufficient, and the other three - wh3ile finding wealth useful - "adventure" for different motivations, all revolving around helping as their gifts dictate. Rook does want the group to do "something" together to learn how to work together in extremis rather than simple, controlled environments. Since the bounty board has set up these quests, there is assumed to be bonuses to reputation and avenues to favors - or at least meet-and-greets - to come from this.

3) The only one that has the vaguest interest would be CG, but only because she is more at home in a "dungeon" if she can't be in an urban environment. Ideologically, nobody is interested in normal "fame and fortune" ... nice to have, but not what gets them out the door. Remember, these folk are all effectively Superheroes with a capital "S".

4) Ideologically, this is only vaguely interesting to Val and Pawn, but this actually may be the #1 choice, just increasing over a bounty board job. A bounty board job might be the follow-up. This, however, is a way to "set a baseline" on working together. Since it is done for that purpose and not for "winning" ... the ideas of waiting until the team is a well-oiled machine is unnecessary, and being Celestia no doubt the duels are not to the death, or have some manner of death-defeating caveat. If not, then nobody wants a part of actual, deadly bloodsport. Killing to make a name is no fun. Note that the concept of "being killed" or worries that arise from that is not a factor. Some of that might be derived from confidence (or arrogance), but the preservation of, all life is more important than the preservation of one's own life ... cowardice is no part.

5) Well, CG wants to study anyway if there's any chance. Actually, so would Rook and Jacen. The latter to beef up on the laws of the land, the movers and shakers, and religion; and Rook for normal intellectual advancement and study. Of particular note would be studying the whole Archmage Council, the "construct" of the laws of Celestia, and the like.

So ... #4 (primary), #2 (secondary, and as follow-up), and #5 where able. As far as #4, I am fine with splitting into individuals or smaller teams if it is more manageable, but I am not interested in me fighting ... me.

[meemaas]

As a group, you guys head out to the bounty board and look over the bounty's available. After some deliberation, you pick out a job requesting some manner of centipede parts. It gives a location, and has a few notes regarding swarms of centipedes, and notes that the parts you need are found upon the larger ones.

Please list any preparations you wish to make before setting out. Assuming that you can find any mundane equipment fairly easily, most magical equipment isn't too difficult to find, and magical consumables, while easily found, need to be requested.

[lostsole31]

First, Pawn and Rook still need to collect the bounty for capturing Richard in the first place. I don't remember if you rewarded it, but if you missed it.

[lostsole31]

The group is now ready to head out ...

[meemaas]

The group spends the next day preparing for their first trip out into the Wilds. The five of you start out into the Wilds following a crude map you were given by the woman who posted the job.

One thing that stands out about the Wilds, compared to the wilderness from the worlds you have hailed from. The Wilds seem....dead. Not so much that there is no sign of life, as there are plenty of plants and other creatures, but the creatures seem extremely hostile and on guard. A few of them approach you, but stop a fair bit away, as though deciding that they are afraid of you.

The environment is just as bad. You're mostly traveling through what appears to be wasteland, but there are forests and mountains. No matter what though, it feels dead. Like the creatures and environment don't have any real life in them. Like they kinda just exist. It's hard for you to put your finger on it, but you know that it's wrong.

It takes you two days, but you reach the relative location of the Giant Centipede Warren, and you stop a fair distance away to make your plan. That said, what is your plan of action?

[lostsole31]

So, this may sound silly (because I am actually quite familiar, personally, with the normal varieties), but what do the PCs know about giant centipedes. What can they draw based upon what they know of the area and the map given - as far as flora, fauna, the types of terrain that might entice them or protect them, what they feed on and that could sustain their size and where such prey might be, etc.?


K: Dungeoneering [roll0]
K: Geography [roll1]
K: Nature [roll2]


K: Dungeoneering [roll3]
K: Geography [roll4]
K: Nature [roll5]

I only posted the two highest skill sets ...

[meemaas]

My answers are not accurate and I know it. But they'll pass. No nitpicking.

A thorough study, and colluding with each other, brings you this information.

The area tends to be a large nest for regular centipedes primarily, in the form of swarms, but there are a number of significantly larger centipedes that appear to go a fair distance out to feed. Much of the Warren seems to be underground, in tunnels dug out by the largest ones.

[lostsole31]

Alright, start searching for warrens where the holes are at least big enough for folks of our size ... or even natural caverns.

[meemaas]

It's not hard to find a large enough cavern, since there's at least one large enough for a colossal creature. Do you go in, or what is the plan?

[lostsole31]

Invisibly, Anna will go first. She will be 20' ahead of the party.

Next is Jacen with the Demon-Quelling Sword out and in his hand, it's blue-white light glowing.

Jean attending Rook 10' behind him.

Val in her natural Large size (gosh, that feels so good to stretch) right behind those two. She is not controlling her colors, so she is kaleidoscopic right now. She has a rock in hand for throwing.

[meemaas]

As you start down the tunnels, you hear what sounds like a lot of skittering further on. Not a single one of you misses out on the sound. It is definitely coming your way, but it is unlikely that it is either aware of you, or intelligent enough to act on such knowledge.

Within two rounds the Centipede Swarm(s) will be in sight. You will have the surprise round, and actions will be in the following order (to save time for the surprise round) When in sight, they will be within 20 feet of Anna, just after a bend in the tunnel.

Pawn, CG, Rook, Val, Jacen.

[lostsole31]

As Pawn reaches into his haversack, thinking of what he needs so it is waiting at the top for him to grab, he is holding it up by Rook's eye-level as he takes out a flask of alchemist's fire. "It figures we'd deal with a swarm of them. I only have a couple flasks of acid and fire ... not enough to stop them, but maybe dissuade while one of you magical types figure out how to drop them. My claws are useless against thousands."

Crimson Guardian creates a web (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/w/web/) to block off the tunnel, hopefully about 20' ahead or so. "That won't hold them long, but might be confusing to them if they are use to spiders as predators. Otherwise, I don't have anything at all to affect them. The best I can do is levitate to the mid-height of the tunnel and set there, unmoving - invisible to tremorsense, sight, and smell. But not doing a single useful thing."
How wide is this tunnel, anyway? It will determine if it takes her 1 or 2 rounds to web off the tunnel.
Rook takes out both flasks of acid. "It's a perfect chance for three of us who are used to more proactive roles to learn to accept support actions against specialized creatures. Other than throwing this acid, I can't be of much help, either ... I'm a telepath," he smirks. "Jacen, Valpuri? You're up."

Valpuri, at full height, strides up to the front of the group (with CG telling her where she is so she doesn't get squashed!), and right up to the web (or the forming web, based on how long it takes CG). "I shall breathe them all to death."

Jacen just takes that in and nods. He walks up next to the great green galoot. "Well, we'll let you start off. Anything that gets through I can create a wall that will harm the lot of if them if they get through whatever you do."

[meemaas]

Posting will be done tomorrow when I'm more awake.

The Tunnel is about 30 feet wide.

[lostsole31]

Pawn sets the flask on Rook's lap, then grabs the final flask from the haversack.

Crimson Guardian finishes webbing the rest of the tunnel. "Won't hold them long, but it will slow down what gets through. Hopefully."

Rook is at the right height that he flasks he holds on his lap and puts the haversack on Pawn's back.

Valpuri, waiting until the last minute, breathes out a cloudkill (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/c/cloudkill/) which drifts away from her and down the corridor. It fills the width of the corridor, going 20' high so as to only allow the top 1/3 of the tunnel to be unaffected. It moves 10' a round. The Fort DC is 21.

Jacen delays ...

[meemaas]

The swarms approach slowly, but find themselves caught in the web almost instantly. The Cloudkill envelops them, and the second Swarm is clearly damaged by it.

Pawn is up, CG is on Deck.

[lostsole31]

Pawn takes one of the flasks of alchemist's fire in hand and delays. CG will hang back with Pawn and Rook.

[meemaas]

The first Swarm attempts to break free of the web, but too many of its members are caught within it, and it fails to make any headway.

Rook is up, Val is on deck.

[lostsole31]

Rook gets an acid flask ready to throw.

"Step back," says Val to Jacen. "I am about to burn the very air."
As soon as Jacen et. al. clear the forward area, she will turn into scalding steam.

[meemaas]

Rook and Val prepare their actions, and the Cloudkill starts to drift away from the Swarms, but not before another pulse of damage is let out from it, causing one of the swarms to completely fall apart, nothing but dead centipedes in its wake. The other swarm seems similarly damaged, but it still remains in place.

As Val was at the back of the group, I assume she moved up closer to the front to breath her Cloudkill, but due to the nature, the rest of them will still have to back up to avoid her Scalding Form.

Jacen is up, Pawn on deck, CG in the hole. There is still one swarm up and trapped in the web.

[lostsole31]

Jacen guides the rest of the group back away from Val, with Pawn wheeling Rook and CG falling back.

[meemaas]

The rest of the group retreats from Val, in order to avoid her destructive power, as the Swarm struggles in vain to escape from the webbing. Now that it is clear, Valpuri transforms into what can only be described as intense steam, moving to the swarm at a fair pace, it quickly incinerates what remains of the swarm without a second thought.

Victory is yours, keep going? The steam did of course incinerate the web, being fire damage, so the path is clear.

[lostsole31]

Yup. Regroup and keep going. This time, Val will be up front, followed behind by 10' by CG ... Pawn and Rook behind her ... and Jacen in the rear.

[meemaas]

The party progresses further through the caves, mostly ignoring the tiny individual centipedes that they pass as not being a threat. After a while, you hear a loud rumbling, but after a moment, it appears that the rumbling is moving away from you. A short while later, you come across a point where the path splits five ways, and a thorough study tells you that one of the ones adjacent to the one you arrived from appears to have been traveled extremely recently.

Do you follow that lead, or go on down one of the other paths?

[lostsole31]

Follow the most recently traveled one...

[meemaas]

Traveling down the path you chose, you realize after some time that you're seeing humanoid tracks. It's unclear when the tracks changed from Centipede to Humanoid, but it's clearly happened. By your reckoning, there's at least four different sets of tracks going in, and three going out.

If you have anything you may want to do before continuing on, now that you recognize this fact, please list it.

[lostsole31]

Once this interesting wrinkle is realized, Pawn and Val will both attempt to identify the scents. Likely not knowing them, they at least catalog those scents for later. All trackers try to draw what information they can from the scene. Instead of doing things haphazardly, they all discuss what clues they can see and feed it to the top tracker, Pawn.
CG's, Rook's, and Val's Survival (tracking) check to Aid - automatic +2 each.
Jacen's Aid [roll0]
Pawn's Survival (tracking) check, including Aid bonuses from the others (except Jacen) [roll1]

[meemaas]

After enough discussion and study, Pawn is able to draw upon the following facts. The missing set of tracks leaving is the smallest set, as if belonging to a small size humanoid or a child, while the remaining show two heavy or bulky medium creatures, and the last one appears to be light on their feet, possibly a caster based on what appears to be robe trails following after their prints.

The prints are two or three days old going in, and a day or two old going out.

[lostsole31]

Well, now we are in rescue mode, possibly.

Head deeper in ...

[lostsole31]

From time to time, Pawn *pokes* the rock walls with his adamantine claws, believing that his claws will go through the fabric reality and poke Brandon-Thor in the belly.

[meemaas]

Aside from a few smaller centipedes (which you easily crush and/or eviscerate with no trouble) you make it through the tunnels safely. When you make it to the end of the tunnels, you find yourself in what appears to be a man-made cavern. There appears to be nothing of note in the room, except for the small child chained up to the wall, clearly unconscious, or possibly dead. What do you do, how do you act on this?

[lostsole31]

[Not at phone right now, so basic strokes...]

Rook will use detect thoughts on the boy, while the others search the area for any traps (or, for that matter, illusions).

[meemaas]

The young girl's (it's a girl, for what it matters) thoughts are completely blank. Which makes sense, since she's unconscious. A thorough check of the room finds that there's no source of magic, traps, or illusions. In fact, there's LITERALLY nothing in the room besides the girl and her chains. She does appear to be malnourished and likely Dehydrated, based on your expert opinion.

[lostsole31]

Firefly Anna - naturally invisible - tells Rook she's going to make a safety sweep.

She'll move towards the girl, searching for traps the whole time.Since several rolls might be involved, it is just easier if you roll "behind the screen" and so I don't meta.

[meemaas]

Anna's searching as she approaches carefully finds nothing of note. She makes it safely to the imprisoned girl without any complications. A quick check over her chains shows that they are just strong enough to prevent a reasonably powerful creature from shattering them, but they are relatively low quality beyond that. There is no note of tampering.

[lostsole31]

Rook will nod to Anna (which will actually annoy Anna ... like, who the hell is he to say "Go ahead," right?), and Anna will try to undo whatever locking mechanism is on the chains.
Disable Device [roll0]

[meemaas]

It takes little effort for the chains to be undone, and Anna catches the girl easily as she falls once the chains are undone. A quick check shows that she's still alive, just dehydrated and obviously unconscious. Nothing else seems to happen when she is freed.

[lostsole31]

"This changes things," says Rook with concern. "Bring her to me, please."

Firefly brings her over to Rook and sets her on his lap. He begins to probe her mind - his fingers on her temples - to sift what very basic information she can.Detect magic ... poison ... chaos/ evil/ good/ law.
He will then look her over medically to see if he can determine the cause of her unconsciousness.
Heal [roll0] There is a big gap between alive and fully unharmed ... and uconscious. What is her state of health?
Finally, assuming there is no cause for alarm, he will attempt to wake her, possibly with telepathic prodding (but gently).

[meemaas]

She detects as clearly Good aligned, with no obvious magic active on her. She also does not appear to be poisoned. His study reveals that she is unconscious from dehydration primarily, although it does appear as though she hasn't eaten for a few days. Other than that, she does not appear to have any injuries.

His telepathic attempts to wake her take some time, but finally she opens her eyes, and then quickly snaps them back shut, as if hoping nobody had noticed.

[lostsole31]

"It's okay," says Rook's reassuring telepathic "voice" in her mind. "You're safe now. My name is Professor Karl Laroque, but you may call me Rook. We just freed you from the chains, and we have some food and water to give you, but it's dangerous to try to feed someone who is sleeping. Three of my group are particularly fierce-looking, and the other one is mysterious to say the least - but only if you can catch a glimpse of her. But don't worry. We are here to help you. What is your name?"

[meemaas]

She speaks up quietly. "My name is Wynn. I'm...an Adventurer from Ellicia City." She starts to look around, slightly more reassured.

[lostsole31]

"Aren't you a little young to be a stormtrooper adventurer?" asks Crimson Guardian.

Rook ignores the question posed by his comrade. "How did you come to be here, Wynn?"

[meemaas]

"I took on a request to collect Centipede parts. It wasn't supposed to be too hard. But I got attacked when I got here. A couple of strange men. I think I killed a few of them. But they beat me and next thing I knew, I was here. I don't know how long I've been here. Did you come here to save me?"

[lostsole31]

"Well, our original motivation was the same as yours, but from a karmic standpoint, yes ... it seems we were meant to save you, Wynn. Can you describe the men that attacked you? Did they have anything that might be an identifier? Some similiarity in clothing?"

[meemaas]

"They did wear the same clothes, all black, I think. I think there was one woman, and the rest were men. I've never seen their magic before."

[lostsole31]

With that, our mercenary mission is scrubbed. Unless stopped, we find the closest exit point to the surface and start heading back to Ellicia City (sp?) with Wynn.

[meemaas]

The party with Wynn in tow (she chooses to walk once she's completely functional) start off on their ways back to the city. Unfortunately, as they make their way back to the exit, Valpuri stops the party, hearing the sounds of people approaching. They appear to be walking quietly, no chatter, but do not seem to be expecting to be attacked. Some quick judgements say you have a minute, maybe two, before they reach you. What do you want to do?

[lostsole31]

CG will telepathically let the others know she is going forward to investigate.
Do you want me to roll things like Stealth, or do you want to do that? Remember that she is naturally invisible, still using stealth as carefully as someone who might normally be seen, crawling along the ceiling (spider climb), and has no scent.

[meemaas]

I will roll it behind the scenes, I'm duplicating your DM style since it is what you are used to, and because I do the same stuff at my table as well.

Remind me, does CG have any special senses?

[meemaas]

The rest of the party steps back a little to allow CG to scout ahead. She quietly sneaks ahead and spies on the visitors, seeing three Human Males, all dressed in black, moving as a group. They are clearly armed to the hilt, but don't appear to notice you or be ready to attack.

[lostsole31]

Crimson Guardian telepathically relays this back to Rook and the others. Rook telepathically (non-bond) asks Wynn if she knows anything about the men tht Crimson Guardian has described.

[meemaas]

"They sound like the same people."

[lostsole31]

With Crimson Guardian following in the rear, she will telepathically coordinate with the group to close in on and ambush this group - to include reporting when the opposition seems to take note of the main body of her party (since they will likely hear our group beforehand).

Valpuri (now full-sized) in front, Jacen follows with sword in hand. Wynn walking alongside Rook, and Pawn in the rear.

[meemaas]

As the party approaches, CG notices the enemy readying themselves for combat after a short moment. She directs the party appropriately, and the moment they come into sight, Pawn is ready for action.

Pawn is up.

[lostsole31]

Pawn moves in front of Rook, baring his claws. He looks the group over, and gives some advice on how to bring down the lead human.
MA: 10' to go from behind Rook to in front of him, bringing claws out as he does.
MA: Use Hunter's Bond, so for the next 7 rounds all allies that can see or hear Pawn get a +2 FE [Humans] bonus to attack that lead human.

[meemaas]

Pawn moves into position and shares his advice with the party.

CG is up

[lostsole31]

Crimson Guardian (invisible) walks up the wall and will web the group just as they get to a threshold area (DC 19) in front of the group.

[meemaas]

CG moves along the wall and creates a web to encase the enemy party (All of them are in close enough formation and less than 30 feet away from the party), entangling all four of them within the Web. While they are clearly not fully caught upon the Web, the enemy party is clearly hampered by its effect. The lead warrior struggles through the web making it out closer to the party as he draws a Longsword and readies himself for action.

Rook is up, Jacen on deck, and Val in the hole.

[lostsole31]

Rook gives the others a clue what he is doing.

In the minds of the four men his voice can be heard. "Hello, my name is Rook. My friend here chose something that wasn't a deadly attack so that you can see that we mean no real harm, but we do have the means to visit it if pressed. This little girl here says you had captured her and made her prisoner. Please believe me when I say that if you continue hostilities, the less civil members of my group will be only to happy to freeze you, burn you, bludgeon the remains, and cut others to pieces. I hope it doesn't come to that."

[meemaas]

The man in the lead snarls. "You really must be stupid, if you thought that would work." The men behind him start laughing, almost as if on cue.

[lostsole31]

Jacen steps forward five feet and draws The Demon-Quelling Sword. With its mass and a sharp flap of his own wings to snap the air, he incants something in proto-Draconic and then pronounces: "All persons dressed in black currently in webs shall surrender to me!"
He is using the Fate (judgment) (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/fate#toc10) talent. Will DC 23 negates. Cost 1 SP.

[meemaas]

Jacen draws forth and makes his powerful declaration, and two of the men immediately cower back and drop their weapons. The others appear to brush it off and are unaffected.

Val is up.

Two of the followers still within the web are affected, but the man in the lead and one other made their saves.

[lostsole31]

Val (who is large size) steps up and roars in the face of the man in the lead.
Intimidate (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/intimidate) to demoralize, with +4 bonus for size difference [roll0]

[meemaas]

The man in the lead is clearly shaken by Val's roar. The two in the back holds up their hands and call out. "I surrender!!" Meanwhile, the last one struggles against the web, failing to make any headway.

Pawn is up, CG is on deck. The leader is in the hole.

[lostsole31]

Crimson Guardian moves adjacent to the man who seems least affected and caresses his face with the back of her hand.
Using the sleep toxin ability of Vandrae.
* MTA [roll0], target must make a Fort save vs. DC 21 or fall unconscious 1 round. Frequency: 1/rd for 4 rounds; Cure: 1 save.
This is a poison effect.

Capstone Ability (which she has today): Target that succeeds on a save vs. sleep toxin suffers a -4 penalty on Perception checks and on attack rolls.

[meemaas]

CG moves up to the lead man and caresses his face, causing him to slump to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Rook is up, Jacen on deck, Val in the hole, and Pawn is delaying?

[lostsole31]

Pawn moves forward, taking out his 100' of silk rope.

Rook and Jacen and Val delay ...

[meemaas]

A female voice can be heard from behind the group, the annoyance heavily apparent from it. "You useless trash." After the sentence finishes, a bright glow envelops what appears to be a figure beyond the web, quickly vanishing with the outline. The last man, the one struggling, sighs and stops, clearly having given up.

[lostsole31]

Okay, the heroes will tie up the men after removing any magic from the men, as well as any weapons that Pawn might find on them.The DC of Escape Artist checks is the CMB of the person doing the knots + 20. So, with Val doing it (CMB +21), that's a minimum DC 41 Escape Artist, plus as many as you think I can get to assist, but I wouldn't do more than two (because one is looking for danger and another is covering the men).
After that, the general plan is to take them back to the city. On the way, some interrogation is desired, of course, but I don't know how step-by-step you are taking this part.

[meemaas]

You successfully tie them up fairly well, and start off on the way back to town. While you do, you start interrogating them.

List any questions you may want to ask in bulk, and I'll respond appropriately. If more questions arise from the answers, we can repeat this a few more times as needed.