A Destiny in Dachai (IC).

[Bobbybobby99]

Normally, the city of Abhainn had a population of about 270 thousand people; on the day of the Winter Solstice, there were nearly twice that number, crowded into local inns, taverns, and streets. There were solstice lights strung up from every tree and lining every cobblestone street, made possible by the giant fireflies that lived in a large forest nearby being harvested for their bioluminescence, as they were every year. An inch of snow had fallen recently, and it coated the city in a pale, frosted blanket, showcasing the beauty of winter. One could almost forget the momentous nature of what was about to occur; if the scattered records they had were correct, whatever it was would occur at or around midnight.

That is, one could almost forget, if they ignored the steadily growing Aurora Borealis effect that was growing in the sky.

In spite of the influx of new people into the city, business had been only average, families terrified that an accident might leave them separated forever (they hadn't determined either way if temporarily messing up resurrection somehow would be one of the effects of the event, and nobody wanted to find out). The streets were packed with those less concerned with that sort of thing, and those who were fascinated with the increasingly pretty sky. As the clock struck 12:00, people anxiously looked at their steadily melting candle clocks.

Nothing happened.

Thusly, gradually breathing a collective breath of relief, people began to mill back into their homes, hurry their children to bed, and generally act as a city does after midnight. The aurora, as some noticed, seemed to be getting steadily stronger, rather than fading, so a fair contingent remained outside to watch, presuming that it would continue doing so until morning, and then fade. Very few considered the possibility that people 9,000 years ago in Dachai had used a radically different language, and that their word for 'midnight' translated equally well as 'deep night'. Even fewer realized that the darkest time of night was generally right before morning.

It was thus around six in the morning that things began to get a touch... strange.

All around, people noticed small circles floating everywhere in the air, seemingly holes in the fabric of reality, opening to foreign realms; in several cases, they opened to watery locals, turning on like faucets. At first, they were the diameter of cherry cores; then, they were the diameters of marbles... and soon enough they were full blown portals, flooding streets and shining sunlight in the night. Animals and creatures more magical came flapping through, friendly, harmless. People discovered that touching one of the portals made them fade from existence, and in this fashion many of them were closed. It was around eight in the morning, right as the sun began to rise and the aurora began to fade, that all hell truly broke loose.

In the center of the city, a lightning bolt struck the manor of one of the higher ranking noblemen of the city, and said manor then proceeded to explode in a fury of light. For a moment, everyone in the city was blinded, and, when they were once again capable of seeing, a gigantic beam of spiraling light stretched into the sky, continuing on beyond the clouds, poised beatifically alongside the sunrise. Far less positively, some of the remaining portals had grown large enough that... things began to come through. Less than savory things, as evidenced by the shrieking that began shortly thereafter.

Outside of the local Abhainn Academy of Wizardry, a portal had opened up to a sunny, tropical area, and out of it came two humans, both of whom were positively psychotic. The man was maniacally slitting the throats of nearby commoners using a straight razor, and the woman appeared to be raising the corpses as some sort of undead, who resembled gigantic meat pies, and who in turn were starting to devour even more commoners. The pie zombies were starting to bang against the door of the academy, and they were apparently intelligent enough to resist the efforts of the local necromancers; either that, or they simply considered eating people a neighborly thing to do...
(1 man, 1 woman, 15 undead meat-pie monsters).

In one of the city streets, nearby where Varia Starflier was watching with a telescope, another portal appeared, a darkly aspected yet handsome man walking out of it, with a horde of cubical black oozes accompanying him. Whenever one of the oozes devoured someone, their corpse oozed out another, smaller ooze. In order to reach the man in question, you would need to dispatch several layers of ooze, and they were swiftly overrunning the streets...
(1 man, 30+ large oozes).

On top of the roof of the blacksmith shop where Matukal was helping out this morning, there seemed to be some sort of demon prancing about, playing a sharp fiddle tune. This would normally have been rather innocuous, but the peasants outside the shop were starting to kill themselves in increasingly gruesome ways, and it seemed to be the influence of the fiddler. This wasn't to mention that three Gorgons had also come out of the same portal, and were assisting the melancholy crowd in their actions...
(1 fiddler, 3 (enhanced) gorgons, all except the fiddler within 60 feet).

At one of the 500 taverns in the city, a portal had opened up right in the middle of the bar, and in had walked a walking, talking flytrap, complete with prehensile vines, and several smaller flytraps accompanying it. They had promptly begun to try and devour the assorted early morning patrons, while the small one's began creepily singing (in spite of a distinct lack of vocal cords) about how they would conquer the entire disk...
(1 'large flytrap' and 15 'small flytraps'. The large flytrap is about 60 feet away from you, and the 15 small flytraps are scattered throughout).

By a local temple of the Dadga, Maighe Oc Ingech had been patiently doing a morning sermon, but was rudely interrupted by the blinding flash, followed by the opening of a portal, which a green woman wearing traditional witch attire had rode through on a broomstick, cackling and beginning to throw around bolts of magic, which killed the worshippers they struck. Close behind her were a horde of flying monkeys, who were killing even more people...
(1 witch, 20 flying monkeys).

Inside a formal breakfast, Nivalis was chatting amicably with a few politicians, who had had been waken up by the blast of light. The room over was faced with a shabby looking girl who almost absently walked in, sweeping the floor. Upon closer inspection, her eyes were radiating pits of pure darkness, and her very breath chilled the room. "Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow..." she darkly chanted, as soon the frailer politicians in the room began to collapse from the negative energy she radiated. A gang of similarly entropic dire wolves soon followed the girl in, biting and ripping as they screamed for aid...
(1 girl, 3 dire wolves, each seem to be some enhanced form of entropic, anyone who gets within ten feet of any of them takes 2 points of negative damage per round, stacking).


The monsters each targeted someone else last round, so for convenience each of you can go without rolling initiative. You can also feel free to describe the scene of your battle to a certain extent.

[Jyssika]

Ophelia had continued to read text throughout the night and into the early morning. Her and a small group of students, which she had quite easily convinced to aid her, had setup a reading rotation searching historical logs and magical journals in search of any pertinent information. As the situation turned bleaker she quickly took control of the situation, walking quickly and calmly to the second floor window and throwing open the latch with her mind before stepping into the light. She reached out into the minds of all those within her Telepathic range.
"Childen and Visitors of Abhainn! If you can fight protect those who cannot, if you cannot then proceed quickly and calmly to places of safety."

She grabbed the two humans outside the Wizard Academy with her mind and attempted to stop any further killing.
"Open the doors and let the people in! All students capable of combative magic prepare for your most important exam in your lives thus far!"

Presuming I am allowed to have Telekinesis up; reduced all stats by 4 due to being in daylight.

[roll0] Grapple vs Knife Man.
[roll1] Grapple vs Pie Lady
[roll2] Grapple #2 vs Knife Man.

[Deadguy]

"This place is not yours to destroy with no intention on reconstruction." The hell-forged construct stepped out from behind the shop window and into the street.

There seemed to be a moment of calculation as it viewed the gorgons and demon, internal mechanics spun and sparked as it processed the scene. Raising the larger of it's two arms and leveling it at the demon fiddler, the core of it's chest vented magma through tubing and into a gravity projector located within the palm. The projector warped the magma into a ball and inverted the polarity to cause the glob to fly toward the creature inflicting the most damage, splitting in two as it was released.


Knowledge (Planes) - Fiddler [roll0]
Knowledge (Arcana) - Gorgon [roll1]

RTA (Twinned) [roll2][roll3]
Damage - 180 per orb (1/2 vs fire immune) (fort dc 25 vs daze)

[KingFrog]

Jarrah finished off his ale in a single pull and stood, finally understanding why his fortune-cast had pointed him to this tavern for the event: Cian obviously wanted him to protect these people. Sending out a soothing message to the tavern's patrons, Jarah assures them telepathically "I am here to help. I am sending you somewhere safe." He then invokes his magic to bring them to safety, sending them to the temple of Cian where the High Guardian and his Thornguard could keep them out of danger while Jarrah dealt with the incursion here.

That done, Jarrah swept towards the largest of the plant creatures to begin the fight on HIS terms, with no innocents in the way to worry about. Jarrah was surprised to find himself singing quietly as the battle-rhythm came over him; he didn't exactly enjoy killing, but he always felt closest to Cian when his opponents were clearly the aggressors. Dodging swinging vine-appendages, Jarrah jumps from table to table in a fluid, dancing motion, coming to rest on the table nearest the large plant and bringing his scythe down in a rapid succession of blows.


Knowledge devotion-- Assuming these are really plant creatures, using knowledge nature [roll0]. A 36 or higher gives +5 att/damage, otherwise it is only +4. Future calculations for this round will assume the 36 or higher, since it's far more likely. If it turns out to be lower, just subtract 1 from att/dam rolls.

Take 10 on casting defensively checks and tumble checks as needed, automatically succeeds.

Free: spend 3 inspiration points for a standard action, activate a wish spell from scroll ("I wish for everyone in the tavern except myself and the portalspawn creatures to be transported to the nearest safe temple of Cian.")

Swift: Use one charge of Belt of Battle to gain a move action

Move: Tumble to table position near large plant. If possible, he also positions himself next to the portal, the door, or both, but the primary goal is to get next to the large plant.

Full-Round Action: Full attack action, power attack -5
Attack 1:[roll1]
Damage1: [roll2]
Attack 2:[roll3]
Damage2: [roll4]
Attack 3:[roll5]
Damage3: [roll6]

Crit confirmation if needed (for triggering bodyfeeder, not for extra damage:
Confirm 1:[roll7]
Confirm 2:[roll8]
Confirm 3:[roll9]

[Morcleon]

Varia looks down at the sudden carnage from her rooftop perch and groans. She stands up reluctantly, brushing the dust from her clothes and picking up her umbrella. With a small hop, she lifts into the air. "This certainly looks like a premeditated attack... damn. I'm actually gonna have to put in some effort for this..."

"Melanie, Phoebe, you two stay back this time. Lock down his mind if I give the signal, but stay here." Varia gives both of them a smile and pat on the head before soaring off in the direction of the invading horde of cubed ooze. With a snap of her fingers and a whispered "amethystium stellation", two bright gems of vibrant violet arc toward the horde, exploding in sparkling, pulsating light.

"Hello, Mr. Elf." Varia smirks down at the grey elf in the middle of the pack. "As much as I don't care about you, I will have to object to you attacking this town, especially as I know not why. Would you care to explain your actions?"

Move: Fly over to within 65ft of the mass of cubes.

Standard: Manifest Amethyst Burst (augmented to 17 PP), targeted at the group of oozes closest to the civilians (20ft radius). DC 30 Reflex half.
Damage: [roll0]

Swift: Manifest Quickened Amethyst Burst (augmented to 11 PP), targeted at the next closest group (20ft radius). DC 27 Reflex half.
Damage: [roll1]

Melanie:
Standard: Ready action to manifest Ego Whip (2d4 Cha damage, daze for 1 round) on the grey elf should I say so telepathically, or if they attack me. DC 19 Will halves the damage and negates the daze.
Damage: [roll2] Cha damage

Phoebe:
Standard: Ready action to manifest Ego Whip (2d4 Cha damage, daze for 1 round) on the grey elf should I say so telepathically, or if they attack me. DC 19 Will halves the damage and negates the daze.
Damage: [roll3] Cha damage

[Zylas]

Nivalis puts puts down her cutlery in a poised manner, and glides up from her chair, sending a breeze across the breakfast table. With eyes fixed on the horror unfolding in the adjacent room, she bids the diplomats caution and urges them to seek safety.

“I suggest you vacate this room and seek shelter, ladies and gentlemen. I'll see if I can help these people.”

She follows through by flying into the assaulted room, allowing her presence to wash over the terrified victims.

“I'm sorry to say it's going to have to stay a day away, Red.”

With an angelic voice, she sends ripples of force across the cosmos, which she then slings out at the wolves and the entropic waif with a hand gesture that betrayed no small amount of concern for the lives of the innocents in this room.

“Run, people! And grab those that can't. Get behind me, and don't stop running until you are safe. I'll try and delay these creatures as best I can.”



HP 212/212, DR 10/cold iron or evil, Speed 50, fly 100 (perfect)
AC 59, Touch 46, Flat-footed 52, Fort 40, Ref 42, Will 41

Actions:
Free: Tell all bystanders to get as far away as they can.
Swift: Change marshal aura to Determined Caster, +18 on checks to overcome SR.
Move: Move into the room.
Standard: Arcane fusion for a 4th and a 1st level spell.
4th: Wings of flurry, [roll0] Only harms enemies. DC 32 Reflex save for half damage and negate daze. CL 36 for overcoming SR.
1st: Improvisation

Auras active
Marshal: determined caster (+cha to overcoming SR)
Marshal: resilient troops (+1 to saves)
Paladin: aura of courage (+4 morale on saves vs fear)
Spells: snowsong (Allies: +4 morale to Cha, +4 insight to AC, fast healing 1, cold resist 15. Enemies 20% spellfailure. [Compulsion] and [mind affecting] effect.

Active Spells
CL 29: Greater Resistance, extended, 48h
CL 29: Longstrider, 29h
CL 29: Algid Enhancement 24h

CL 26: Elemental body (Air), 26h
CL 26: Nixie's grace, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Snowsong, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Create magic tattoo (shadow conjured), extended, 48h

CL 18: Improvisation, 18/18 points, 18 rounds

[Bobbybobby99]

Ophelia: The man seems to slip out of your telekinetic grasp, merrily continuing his slaughter, while the woman becomes affixed in place, struggling angrily for a few seconds before glaring daggers at nothing in particular, before becoming absolutely still, muttering a few foreign words, and watching in satisfaction as a nearby commoner began screaming holy terror while an amorphous blob began tearing away at him, said commoner promptly dying from the shock, eyes wide and spread to the sky. The other individuals in the courtyard began to flee, but the man seemed to be far faster than any of them, moving with an almost feline grace.

Matukal: The fiddler appears to be some sort of unusually mighty Incubus, playing more on madness than lust, while you know absolutely everything relevant about Gorgons. The fiddler is unharmed by the warforged's attacks, but not out of any particular durability; a number of commoners in the crowd did their maddened best to intercept the blasts, even trying to tackle you, and, while you managed not to hit any of them, the distraction in your aim was sufficient for the fiddler to dodge the two balls of magma. Several of them seem to be climbing onto the roof to defend the fiddler, crowding around him. The gorgons, meanwhile, have seemingly decided to start targeting you with their stone breath; all three send a wave of their breath at you, and while you effortlessly shrug it off (already made out of a mineral), quite a few of the commoner's who had been in the midst of being suicidal are turned to stone instead.

Jarrah: You manage to position yourself next to the portal as well as the large plant, whose capacity to dodge seems fairly meager, but its capacity to withstand damage cannot be doubted, as it remains standing, and seems to only have been moderately worn out. It screeches, and all of the smaller flytraps spit at you; only one of those spits connects, and it does a fairly meager 8 acid damage, as eight of the smaller flytraps take the moment to surround you. The larger flytrap seems to cough for a few moments, before emitting a similar type of acid, only in a sort of gaseous form from it's mouth. Being unable to evade the gas, which swiftly permeates the tavern, you take an additional 18 damage.

Varia: The elf, shouting angrily and its words slightly muted by the sheer number of oozes oozing about, replied in a strangely accented version of Dachai Common- "Mannanan mac Lir, god of the ooze, chose me to be his prophet! He appeared to me, told me to do as I would do, and do as I would do I did! That portal was a sign, a sign I tell you! ALL SHALL BE OOZE!" While your attack does harm quite a few of the umbral oozes, none of them are killed by it. You can see that the lunatic seems to be muttering a spell of some sort, and most of the oozes caught in the attack subsequently seem to heal somewhat. After the elf cast the healing spell on them, several of the oozes promptly flew up to your height, surprisingly fast, and formed a sort of box around you, though they didn't yet start to actually attack.

Nivalis: The three wolves are each bedraggled after that spell, but they remain standing; you suspect that another spell of that nature would be sufficient to take them down. The small girl appears similarly ruffled, but managed to dodge the brunt of the spell; nevertheless, she's clearly much more durable than she looks. Humming a depressing tune, a small orb of pure cold emerged from her fingertips, and manages to strike you, dealing 43 damage ( that you're immune to). The three wolves, running in your direction, surround you on three sides, and try to take bite; none of them connect, but you would take an additional 6 damage just from being near them if you weren't immune; in addition, being exposed to each other's auras seems to be healing them.

[Deadguy]

"Fire purge you from this place." The construct focused on the threat he had the capability to currently deal with. Targeting the gorgons with his plasma generator, orbs of the molten fire were generated at dizzying speed.

Without waiting to see if his attacks were successful, Matukal took to the sky, engaging his built-in heat venting thrusters to keep him from the reach of the crazed citizens and grounded gorgons.


Gorgon 1 - RTA (Twinned) [roll0][roll1]
Damage - 180 per orb (1/2 vs fire immune) (fort dc 25 vs daze)

Gorgon 2 - Swift action: Belt of Battle (2 charges) | RTA (Twinned) [roll2][roll3]
Damage - 180 per orb (1/2 vs fire immune) (fort dc 25 vs daze)

Gorgon 3 - Cunning Surge | RTA (Twinned) [roll4][roll5]
Damage - 180 per orb (1/2 vs fire immune) (fort dc 25 vs daze)

Move Action: Fly 30 ft vertical.

[KingFrog]

Coughing from the noxious fumes, Jarrah realizes how lucky he was to have gotten the tavern's inhabitants away before the fight began in earnest. Seeing that the bulky plant creatures have difficulty avoiding his blows, he commits fully to his swings, seeking to bring the portal-spawn down quickly.



HP: 270/266

Full round action: Full attack against big plant, full power attack
Attack 1 [roll0]
Attack 2 [roll1]
Attack 3 [roll2]

Damage 1 [roll3]
Damage 2 [roll4]
Damage 3 [roll5]

Crit confirmation rolls to see if bodyfeeder triggers (no extra damage):
Attack 1 [roll6]
Attack 2 [roll7]
Attack 3 [roll8]

Immediate Action: Will use abrupt jaunt to avoid the first attack from big plant and place me out of it's reach if possible or, if Audrey II is down after my full attack, the first attack against me from the other plants.

[silphael]

Opening his clawed hands, Maighe utters a few words of power, tentacles appearing around the monkeys and the surviving villagers.

"Stand still, followers of Dagda, those will not hurt you, and simply ensures you're not getting hurt. And you..."

He turns toward the invaders, then speaks with a thundering voice.

"Surrender! There is no hope for you anymore now!"

Free actions : speak, and draw weapon during my move.

Standard : Cast Black Tentacles on the biggest group of monkeys to keep them from moving and attacking the worshippers.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

Move : flying toward the green witch, or near enough to allow all of them (that is, not entangled) to come near me.

[Jyssika]

Ophelia skips forward in one swift movement up onto the ledge and out of the window onto the street below.
As she falls she simultaneously draws a small silver chain from within the folds of her dress whilst also drawing a collection of wooden stakes from the folds of her dress with her mind.
"Midnight Evokation, Serpentia!"

The wooden stakes streak across the short gap between Ophelia and the female assailant at the same time she conjures a large black serpents with the head of a dog in the middle of the pie zombies it immediately begins snapping at the ankles of the nearest or those attempting to flee out of its reach.

Move Action - [roll0] Tumble check to step out of the window and drop to the floor. (DC 15 reduced fall by 10ft, presuming 2nd story window is ~10ft)
Standard Action - re-Casting Telekinesis as Factotum due to Vampire SU/SNA not working in sun & Using Telekenesis Full Attack.
[roll1], If hits [roll2] & Starts Fleshgrinding.
[roll3], If hits [roll4] & Starts Fleshgrinding.
[roll5], If hits [roll6] & Starts Fleshgrinding.
[roll7], If hits [roll8] & Starts Fleshgrinding.

Spend Inspiration - 19/22 (3) - Extra standard action.
Standard Action - Casting Shadow Evocation (Howling Chain)
208 HP, AC 20, 15ft Reach +12 Melee touch attacks that cause +15 strength trip attempt, if hit free melee non-touch attack.
4 Attacks of Opportunity per turn. (Rolling now for ease, just use them if they are used.)
[roll9], Opposed str check for trip [roll10], If succeeds trip free melee attack [roll11], If hits [roll12]
[roll13], Opposed str check for trip [roll14], If succeeds trip free melee attack [roll15], If hits [roll16]
[roll17], Opposed str check for trip [roll18], If succeeds trip free melee attack [roll19], If hits [roll20]
[roll21], Opposed str check for trip [roll22], If succeeds trip free melee attack [roll23], If hits [roll24]

[Morcleon]

"...well, at least you're straightforward." Varia smirks down at ooze prophet, telepathically signalling her twins to attack. She closes her eyes for a second, letting her chaotic mind settle and snap back into the crystal clear focus she preferred. Stretching her arms slightly, the vampire mage yawns and snaps her fingers. "Still, I would prefer it if neither I nor this town were changed to ooze, so you still need to stop. And if you won't listen to words, listen to fire!"

Partial Stellation! Hellfire!" She sweeps her hand out toward the crowd of oozes, sending an unstable gout of insubstantial flames spreading into the undead swarm.

Note that Varia has Foresight up, so anything that would be a threat to her she would know about shortly beforehand. Also, assume that everything she manifests is done so defensively if needed since she autosucceeds on the check.

Readied Actions Triggered:
2 Ego Whips, dealing 5 and 7 Cha damage and dazing for 1 round (DC 19 Will for half damage and daze negation)

Move: Meditate to regain psionic focus.

Standard: Manifest energy wave (fire) (Reflex DC 28 half). 120ft cone pointed so that it covers the elf and as many of the oozes as possible.
Damage: [roll0] fire

Melanie:
Standard: Manifest ego whip on the grey elf, dealing Cha damage and dazing him for one round. DC 19 Will save halves the damage and negates the daze.
Damage: [roll1] Cha damage

Phoebe:
Standard: Manifest ego whip on the grey elf, dealing Cha damage and dazing him for one round. DC 19 Will save halves the damage and negates the daze.
Damage: [roll2] Cha damage

HP: 208/208
PP: 261/314

Conditions:

[Zylas]

Nivalis walks right into and throught the orb of frost, not pausing until the wolves surround her.

Relieved that most of the non-combatants in the room had made it out, she attempts to finish off the wolves as quickly as possible. She buffets them and the girl with a second blastwave of force. As the force flies, a thin coating of ice rushes up from the bottom of Nivalis' dress towards her crown, until it covers her whole and she appears first translucent, almost glass-like, and then fades from view entirely.


HP 212/212, DR 10/cold iron or evil, Speed 50, fly 100 (perfect)
AC 59, Touch 46, Flat-footed 52, Fort 40, Ref 42, Will 41

Actions:
Defensive casting everything, auto success.
Full round: Heightened (7th) Wings of Flurry
[roll0], only harms enemies.
DC 35 Reflex for half (and negate daze, but they're immune). CL is 36 vs SR.
Swift: Swift invisibility

Auras active
Marshal: determined caster (+cha to overcoming SR)
Marshal: resilient troops (+1 to saves)
Paladin: aura of courage (+4 morale on saves vs fear)
Spells: snowsong (Allies: +4 morale to Cha, +4 insight to AC, fast healing 1, cold resist 15. Enemies 20% spellfailure. DC 36 Will save, [Compulsion] and [Mind Affecting] effect.

Active Spells
CL 29: Greater Resistance, extended, 48h
CL 29: Longstrider, 29h
CL 29: Algid Enhancement 24h

CL 26: Elemental body (Air), 26h
CL 26: Nixie's grace, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Snowsong, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Create magic tattoo (shadow conjured), extended, 48h

CL 18: Improvisation, 18/18 points, 17 rounds
CL 18: Invisibility, 1 round

[Bobbybobby99]

Matukal: Two of the Gorgons are hit by at least one of the orbs, melting from the inside out, while the other one taking shelter behind a newly formed statue of a commoner, which is promptly blown to bits. Rather wisely, that remaining Gorgon quickly climbs to the roof, amongst the commoners still raptly obeying the fiddler. Said fiddler, you notice, rapidly fades from view, only his fiddle remaining visible.

Jarrah: The large flytrap shrieks further upon your attack, as all of your blows hit, and continues to emit the noxious aerosol; this round, you take 36 acid damage. The eight smaller flytraps that surround you try to attack, but you abrupt jaunt out of their way; while the remaining flytraps attempt to spit at you, none of their acid connects.

Maighe: The witch cackles further, before replying in a deranged voice, "I'll never surrender to the likes of you!" Rather than throwing another simple eldritch blast, the green skinned woman cackles further, a hellish flame appearing in her palm, which promptly sped it's way over to Maighe, connecting for a total of 63 damage. You also notice a slight ripple in her form, and she stops moving. As far as the monkeys go, you successfully grapple six of them with the spell, and three more, grunting furiously, are distracted trying to free their comrades; the other eleven are unhindered, and continue sowing chaos.

Ophellia: Two of the wooden stakes hit the woman, who mutters a strange incantation, turning herself (and the stakes that were currently grinding against her flesh) invisible. The serpent you array against the pie zombies is brutally effective; it trips four pie zombies up that tried to escape from its reach, and brutally whips their doughy tops, causing three of the four involved to effectively explode, in a rather gory fashion. The fourth one, still lying on the ground and looking battered, is very, very still, and appears to be slowly healing. The man, still merrily killing the fleeing commoners with an alarmingly fast movement speed, seems to be ignoring you.

Varia: The elf appears dazed as a result of the attack; though he hasn't yet been knocked into unconsciousness by it; you can feel secure that he won't be casting any more spells. Each of the Umbral oozes that had formed a box around you attempts to hit you with its strength attack; while you are sufficiently proficient to avoid most of their attacks, you are inevitably hit by a single one of them, taking 5 strength damage (or she would, if she wasn't undead). With the attack of fire, you destroy about half of the oozes total; the rest rippling and seeming unaffected... but several more oozes are spawned from the corpses of the oozes victims.

Nivalis: The three dire wolves, experiencing severe blunt trauma, die, and the girl takes the full might of the spell this time, looking increasingly bedraggled. The girl, noticing that the dire wolves are dead, screams loudly, as the wolves corpses begin to emit an odd glow...

[KingFrog]

White foam begins to form on Jarrah's exposed skin as the acrid vapors eat into his flesh faster than this body's natural healing can repair itself. This could be troublesome if he let the plant creature survive much longer. Repositioning himself, Jarrah strikes at the weakened portalspawn, hoping to end the beast before its acid cloud could weaken the building enough to bring it down on his head.


HP: 237/266

Free: Jarrah will try to 5-foot step back into range of the big Audrey. If this is impossible, Jarrah will delay action, then use abrupt jaunt into position after his initiative count, and then take his turn.

Full Round Action: Full Attack at Big Audrey, Full power attack

Attack 1 [roll0]
Attack 2 [roll1]
Attack 3 [roll2]

Damage 1 [roll3]
Damage 2 [roll4]
Damage 3 [roll5]

Crit confirmation rolls to see if bodyfeeder triggers:
Attack 1 [roll6]
Attack 2 [roll7]
Attack 3 [roll8]

If Audrey II dies before Jarrah unleashes all 3 attacks, just apply the leftover attacks to one of the small Audreys if there are any within reach.

[Zylas]

Nivalis fails to recognize the spell being cast, but does realize it means trouble. She closes to the urchin, turning visible again whilst she glides past the glowing wolf corpses, and asks in a sincere tone:

"So, before you force me to end this.. Would you care to tell me why it is you're throwing your life away here?"

Once she is past the wolves, Nivalis kisses the air, and a cloud of frost descends on entropic timebombs. With a wave of her hand, the avatar of frost shapes the cloud into a thick icy dome, in hopes of shielding the building from whatever might be coming. While the dome takes shape, Nivalis turns to glass-like ice again, disappearing from view a second time.


HP 212/212, DR 10/cold iron or evil, Speed 50, fly 100 (perfect)
AC 59, Touch 46, Flat-footed 52, Fort 40, Ref 42, Will 41

Actions:
Move: Move past the wolves, closer to the girl. Ending movement about 10 feet away from her. Preferably beside her, not in between her and the wolves.
Standard: Wall of ice to create a hemisphere over the wolf corpses at CL 18.
The dome has 54 hp. I'm worried about this being death throes. But at least the wall should only take half damage from that.
Swift: Swift invisibility

Auras active
Marshal: determined caster (+cha to overcoming SR)
Marshal: resilient troops (+1 to saves)
Paladin: aura of courage (+4 morale on saves vs fear)
Spells: snowsong (Allies: +4 morale to Cha, +4 insight to AC, fast healing 1, cold resist 15. Enemies 20% spellfailure. DC 36 Will save, [Compulsion] and [Mind Affecting] effect.
Firre: (Su) Magic Circle against Evil, CL 11

Active Spells
CL 29: Greater Resistance, extended, 48h
CL 29: Longstrider, 29h
CL 29: Algid Enhancement 24h

CL 26: Elemental body (Air), 26h
CL 26: Nixie's grace, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Snowsong, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Create magic tattoo (shadow conjured), extended, 48h

CL 18: Improvisation, 18/18 points, 16 rounds
CL 18: Invisibility, 1 round

[silphael]

Taking the hellish blast, but his flesh already closing the wounds, Maighe turn his sight toward the remaining monkeys. His eyes glow briefly even more golden for a second, as he unleashes the power of his blood, targetting the monkeys.

"Enough of this. You will not kill anyone anymore here."

He then moves toward the witch, his mace in hand, ready to fight her and smite her.

HP 257/312, DR 10/Evil and Silver, Speed 40ft/80ft fly (good)
AC 68, Touch 43, Flat-footed 60, Fort 35, Ref 30, Will 35, Base Attack Bonus 16

Actions breakdown :

Automatic : recover 8 HP from fast healing. (already accounted)

Standard action : casting Mass Charm Monster as an SLA from Half Celestial, targetting only the monkeys out of the tentacles. I can only affect 32 HD of those.

Free action to talk to my newfound friends.

Move action toward the witch.

[Deadguy]

"No more." The ghostly warforged floated through the hoard of fanatic citizens. Once he was close to the now invisible demon, he activated the anti-personnel defense measures, vented noxious ash and volcanic gas from his chest.

His components quickly rearranged to produce noise deadening pulses, creating a sphere of silence around him.

Move Action: Fly into crowd on roof.

Standard Action: Activate dust of sneezing. [roll0] rounds of stun.

Swift Action: Spell Storing Infusion - Silence

[Morcleon]

Glaring in annoyance at the cold caresses of the cubes, Varia flies upward out of the gathered cubes and sets up a wall of fire between them and the civilians, then sends another blast of fire at the swarm. "Ugh... why can't you all just die?!"

Swift: Manifest quickened energy wall (Reflex DC 24 half). It will be set so that it cuts through as many of the oozes on the front line, and will radiate fire toward the swarm.
Damage (oozes in the front line): [roll0] fire
Damage (oozes within 10' of wall): [roll1] fire
Damage (oozes between 10' and 20'): [roll2] fire

Standard: Manifest energy wave (fire) (Reflex DC 28 half). 120ft cone pointed so that it covers the elf and as many of the oozes as possible, focusing on the ones that are closest to the civilians.
Damage: [roll3] fire

Move: Meditate to regain psionic focus.

Melanie:
Standard: Manifest ego whip on the grey elf, dealing Cha damage and dazing him for one round. DC 19 Will save halves the damage and negates the daze.
Damage: [roll4] Cha damage

Phoebe:
Standard: Manifest ego whip on the grey elf, dealing Cha damage and dazing him for one round. DC 19 Will save halves the damage and negates the daze.
Damage: [roll5] Cha damage
HP: 208/208
PP: 243/314

[Bobbybobby99]

Jarrah: The plant shrieks again, this time in agony, as one of your blows pops its acid sack, causing the large flytrap to hiss, burble, and melt onto the floor. Unfortunately, it seems that, in it's last act of defiance, the last remnants of its acid escape into the air, reinforcing the acerbic smog, and dealing 72 acid damage. You can hear the wooden support beams of the structure creaking, and suspect that it's about to collapse. The small flytraps have collapsed onto the floor, mewling pitifully and half heartedly spitting acid at you.

Nivalis: The girl's scream halts abruptly, and she stumbles slightly from the sheer force of her scream, before replying in a dark tone, "Cast a spell, did a dance, for a chance to be with ma' and da', died yesterday, have to die today, might as well take more people away, from the world that took them away. Have to die today, before the sun comes out tomorrow, might as well take you with me." In spite of your concerns, you notice no explosion from the wolves... but a strange mist has congregated above each of the wolves bodies, and seems to be taking on a wolfy shape. After her brief dialogue, the girl apparently takes a cue from you and turns invisible as well.

Maighe: You manage to affect a total of 8 monkeys, who heed your words and obediently flap their wings in place; the remaining three that are free to act begin trying to attack you from your front, though they land no blows. The witch you see fades from view, and you suddenly notice the witch right behind behind you; she had, apparently, used a quickened eldritch blast last round, and then used flee the scene. You may have noticed a touch too late, however, as said witch has already thrown another hellish blast at point blank range, this one dealing a larger total of 80 damage, and used another immediately after, which you luckily manage to dodge.

Matukal: The commoners and invisible demon begin sneezing heavily, and inaudibly, as the sound of the fiddle ceases to emanate. The commoners in the street stop in the middle of their self harming acts, most shell shocked at themselves. You suspect that you've won the battle, and the remaining gorgon is easily finished off, lying on the roof vulnerable. While the demon doesn't return to visibility, some careful prodding determines his sneezing location, and he goes down with a single shot. The portal closes with a snap and a glancing touch, and the commoners on the roof stop sneezing shortly thereafter, though several of them appear to have choked on the volcanic dust. Several of the commoners on the street are heavily injured from both the Gorgons and themselves, and crowds of them have been turned to stone. A number of clerics from a local temple of Danu are soon contacted, and they begin the laborious process of raising some of the dead, restoring those made of stone, and healing the injured. The head cleric of the temple thanks you, and you are off on your way. Almost subconsciously, you are drawn in your flight to the gigantic pillar of light in the center of the city, where a number of onlookers are staring.

A classic wizard, prodding at the large pillar of light, is startled by your approach, and then looks relieved. "Good sir, it is among the most serendipitous and joyous of events that you happen to happen by this delightfully peculiar location. We've been waiting for someone of your... nature. From our rudimentary testing, we've been unable to determine what affects touching this magnificent phenomena might have on a living being (one of my apprentices is fetching a frog), but we're reasonably certain that it would not be harmful to a being of metallic nature. Would you mind making contact with the radiant column to my right, for the purpose of proving a theory of mine? I'm willing to trade you a single spell cast of the greatest degree for your compliance thereof."

Varia: The elf faints, looking distinctly charred, and you manage to down a single ooze on the front line (likely one damaged previously). Once more, roughly half of the remaining oozes dissolve in the ray of fire, with only nine remaining. Two more oozes spawn from the corpses of those that the oozes recently consumed. The eleven oozes fly up above the wall, knowing in a primal sense that they could easily be consumed if they spent any more time in its range, and begin flying over the wall, and the civilians.

[Jyssika]

Ophelia catch's the wooden stakes from the floor with her mind where they fell having failed to impale her victim, with no mind-sight she is unable to see the woman but she can still detect the aura of her invisibility as-well as the auras of the embedded stakes with her arcane sight, thus she targets the man instead choosing to deal with the woman in a different manner.
As she does so another very beautiful dagger flies from an ornate scabbard by on her waist belt.

Tucking the chain away Ophellia scoops a strange rubbery piece of string from her pouch.
"Eve Noir Tenticular!"

And a whole field of black serpents tails squirm up from the ground, grasping and grappling at the zombies and their masters.
The dog headed serpent continues its snapping whilst snarling angrily, it prioritizes the zombies that manage to escape its vile tails.

Swift Action; Activate Divine Wrath using 1 Turn attempt.
Standard Action; Full Telekinetic Attack.
, If hits [roll1] + [roll2]
[roll3], If hits [roll4] + [roll5]
If either of above hit [roll6]
[roll7], If hits [roll8] + [roll9]
[roll]1d20+5p 12, If hits [roll10] + [roll11]

Flesh grinding dagger stakes from last turn. (On female)
[roll12] & [roll13] (Dp more dmg due to FGridning adding Str Bonus)

Spend Inspiration - 16/22 (3) - Extra standard action.
Spend Turn Undead - 15/16 (1) - Activate Divine Wrath.

Concentration Check to maintain Telekinesis whilst casting. (Auto-success)
Standard Action; Cast Black Tentacles in a 20ft radius on where the woman used to be. (Since Opellia is 20ft away the aoe should reach just in-front of her and thus impede the woman from continuing forward towards her or raising any more zombies! :o
They have a grapple mod of +24. (Suppose I might as well make some rolls... made lots in-case you need them.)
[roll14], [roll15], [roll16], [roll17], [roll18], [roll19], [roll20], [roll21], [roll22], [roll23].

Howling Chain;
208 HP, AC 20, 15ft Reach +12 Melee touch attacks that cause +15 strength trip attempt, if hit free melee non-touch attack.
4 Attacks of Opportunity per turn. (Rolling now for ease, just use them if they are used.)
[roll24], Opposed str check for trip [roll25], If succeeds trip free melee attack [roll26], If hits [roll27]
[roll28], Opposed str check for trip [roll29], If succeeds trip free melee attack [roll30], If hits [roll31]
[roll32], Opposed str check for trip [roll33], If succeeds trip free melee attack [roll34], If hits [roll35]
[roll36], Opposed str check for trip [roll37], If succeeds trip free melee attack [roll38], If hits [roll39]

[KingFrog]

Crimson blood begins to mix with the foam of Jarrah's dissolving flesh, forming a sickly pink paste. Hoping to avoid ending his days ingloriously crushed beneath a common tavern roof, Jarrah takes flight, passing a shoulder through the portal on his way to the door, hoping to collapse it before leaving the cringing plant-things to their fate. Once outside, Jarrah uses his spell-wrought wings to lift himself high into the air, looking for other groups of portalspawn.


Double Move: Fly (230' poor) to the tavern exit, passing partially through the portal to attempt to disrupt it. Once outside, use remaining movement (460' total minus what I have to use within the tavern).

Perception check to spot other trouble-spots:
Spot = [roll0]
Listen = [roll1]

EDIT: Adding HP total: 168/266

[Zylas]

For a few seconds, Nivalis considers paralyzing the girl. Not so much to spite her, but because clearly the girl knew more about this whole thing, and making Annie watch the sunrise might loosen her tongue. But then she considers the other hotel guests and decides to end this as quickly as possible instead.

When she hears the girl, she fires off a blast of force, and just to be on the safe side, she borrows time to fire off a second blast, dazing herself with the backlash.


Posting this from my phone, so not copying in the auras and buffs, but nothing really changed.

If I need to move to get within 60 ft of Annie, I will.
Std or full action to use a (heightened if full action) wings of flurry.
Immediately after turn ends: celerity for 2nd standard action, for an arcane fused wings of flurry and improvisation.

DC 32 reflex, 35 if heightened.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[silphael]

Ignoring the monkeys for now, all claws and fangs out, Maighe leaps on the witch with all the might his wings allow. Smashing, tearing, biting in a wild blur, trying to catch the witch and impede her powers, first by gnawing her, then by slashing her, all this while roaring at the same time.

"That's enough!"

So... basically, either I can do a 5 feet step (as I was flying low enough to walk) and have her within my reach, or I can charge and pounce at her. I'll suppose she was 15-20 feet away, and go with the latter. If I'm mistaken, remove 2 to each attack roll. Throwing a Smite on the last mace attack to make good measure.

So basically : either free action to move 5 feet, then full-round action to full-attack, or full-round action to charge with all my attacks. After the 4 initial mace attack, free action to stop wielding it two handedly.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

[roll4]
[roll5]

[roll6]
[roll7]

[roll8]
[roll9]

[roll10]
[roll11]

[roll12]
[roll13]

[roll14]
[roll15]

If my bite hits, initiating a grapple as per improved Grab.

[roll16]

If I gets an hold, she's pulled into one of my squares, and suffer my two rakes attacks (yes, again, apparently) :
[roll17]
[roll18]
Edit : Also, 185/312 hp remaining.

[Bobbybobby99]

Ophelia: The dog headed serpent manages to trip four more of the pie zombies, through it only explodes one of them, and many of the pie zombies, not being particularly agile, are easily ensnared by the black serpents, though neither the man nor woman were in range; only two pie zombies remain free to act. The man easily dodges all of the stakes, smirking, pausing a moment in thought, and then moving with unnerving speed back through the portal from whence he came (it seemed that people who came from the portals didn't have the difficulty of said portals popping out of existence upon contact). The woman, as far as you can tell from the aura of her spell, is doing the same, and ends up roughly thirty feet from the front of the portal.

Jarrah: The portal shuts, and you get out of there before you take anymore significant damage, the tavern collapsing behind you with a grandiose groan and a cacophonous crash. You don't see any other portalspawn, aside from a few green rabbits merrily hopping along (it's a rather big city), but you do spot a place where another incident had seemingly occurred. As you zoom closer, you notice a heavily bloodied dwarven warrior, slowly crawling away on the ground, in the vague direction of (you stop and think for a moment) the Temple of Dian Cécht. He doesn't immediately notice you, but you can sense the determination in his eyes.

Nivalis: The blasts of force knocks the girl over, returning to visibility from the sheer shock of it, and her eyes become blank and glassy, while a slowly growing pool of blood stretches behind her. It doesn't seem to have stopped whatever she was doing with the wolves... who have misty copies of themselves perfectly formed above their corpses, looking quite a bit like ghosts. In spite of that, said ghostly creatures don't seem to be, well, doing anything; they appear perfectly frozen.

Maighe: You needn't have grappled; for all of the power of her magic, the witch remained a witch, and thus relatively frail; the mace knocked her brains out onto the grass with its fourth swing. Apparently, she hadn't thought that particular maneuver through very well.

[Zylas]

"May you find peace, now that you're with your parents."

Kneeling beside the girl, Nivalis closes the poor thing's eyes. Then, she looks at the wolves and frowns.

"I suppose I'd better destroy you too, and return your bodies to where they came from.."

She removes the dome of ice, and conjures a couple of large icy gorillas to help her carry the dead wolves and then blasts the ghosts with two more force attacks, dazing herself in the process again.

If that destroys the ghosts, the ice-apes will pick up the corpses of the wolves, and (carefully/gently) throw them through the portal. Nivalis will carry the girl herself, and send her through as well. After that's done, She'll try to close the portal by having a ice gorilla touch it. If that doesn't work, she'll try touching the portal herself.


Standard action to dismiss the wall of ice.
Conjure Ice Beast 7 for [roll0] Dire Apes (from SNA IV list).
If that doesn't get me at least 3, casting it a second time.

Then, 2 wings of flurry, one of which is heightened to 7th. Casting the DC 32 one with a Celerity, so that dazes me.
Saves are DC 32 and DC 35 reflex. Damage is force.
[roll1]
[roll2]


kn. local with inspiration up, to figure out how to get a high level cleric here for resurrecting.
[roll3]

[Bobbybobby99]

Nivalis: The ghosts peacefully fade into oblivion, and touch of the Ice Gorilla seems sufficient to close the portal. You recall that the local head priest of the temple of Aengus was a level 16 favored soul//swashbuckler//beguiler (it said a great deal about that particular church that their leader was a dashing retired pirate), while the local high druid was a level 16 druid//shugenja//monk. Technically speaking, neither of those divine casters were clerics; the heads of the temples of Ecne and Brigid were level 15 clerics (and other things), while the head of the temple of the Morrigan was a level 15 favored soul (and other things). The leader of the largest rival Druidic circle was level 15, and the leader of the thieves guild was a level 15 Rogue//Ranger//Spirit shaman.

[KingFrog]

A sharp intake of breath is audible as jarrah sprays down his face and torso with the too-cold contents of a waterskin, wiping away the last traces of the acid and the effluvium it made of his skin. Bare muscle is exposed in some areas on his hands and neck, but the flesh is visibly knitting itself closed over these wounds. Jarrah sweeps down to the injured dwarf, "Be calm friend, and let me tend your wounds. There are fell beasts in the city this night, and I would have you able to stand at my side if the need arises."

With a rushed incantation, Jarrah heals the dwarf of his most egregious injuries and helps him to his feet. "Now, I believe we shall arrive faster if you allow me to carry you. The Céchtun Temple adjoining Silvrin's Square, is it? We can trade stories of our heroic deeds this night along the way," Jarrah finishes with a smile. He has known only a few dwarves, but they have all been stalwart warriors and rarely missed a chance to detail their exploits.


I think we're out of combat on my end here, but just in case round-by-round is still important, I'll break down my actions:
Move: Descent to dwarf, speak
Standard: Sacrifice the unchosen 4th level spell (XXXXX on my sheet) to spontaneously cast cure critical wounds on the dwarf
[roll0]

Next round(s): Carry dwarf to the temple.

After that: If the temple of Dian Cécht is safe, and there is no immediate need of my assistance, I would inquire after any news of the Cianic Temple or places where other folks might need assistance.

This is multiple rounds worth of action, but I wanted to give you plenty to work with if you wanted to move the plot along.

[Zylas]

After dismissing the Ice Beasts, Nivalis floats down the hotel's stairs, and looks for a receptionist. She leans in over the counter, quickly checks for a name-tag on the receptionist's chest, and says in a soft voice soft enough that the other guests couldn't hear it:

"I'm sorry to bring bad news, but a large portal just opened in one of your dining rooms, about a minute and a half ago. Sadly, a few entropic beings made their way through and started attacking your hotel guests.
The immediate danger has passed, the beings and the portal are dealt with. But could you close down that dining room until I can fetch a priest to raise casualties? Thank you, [name]."

If she sees a crowd of scared people, she will address them too.

"Dear people. I know you must be worried... I'm happy to inform you that the immediate threat has been dealt with. But, for your own safety and that of your fellow guests, please remain calm and follow the instructions of the hotel staff. I'm going to request aid, to raise the fallen. I'll be back shortly.
Stay brave, this will all be over in a little while."

On her way out, she shakes the hand of one of the civilians that dragged another injured civilian out the room. "Thank you for your help. You really helped me out, there." She leaves him with a smile, and once outside she turns into a pillar of icy white fire. She speeds off towards the temple of Aengus. A dashing retired pirate, she grinned to herself. That sounded like her kind of guy.


Changing marshal aura to add to Cha, diplomacy skill mod is +65 at the moment.

Using alternate form racial ability to turn into a pillar of frost, which is Su and gives me fly 90 perfect. That's slower than my normal speed, but sometimes you need to go for style points. I kind of imagine it like those twirling orbs of frost that you sometimes see in cartoon intros. I forgot where they're from, though.

Anyway, taking run actions to get to the temple of Aengus.
Will stylishly return to normal form mid-landing.

[Morcleon]

"Hey, I put that wall there for a reason, dammit!" Varia turns on the spot and lashes out with two more blasts of violet light. "Melanie! Phoebe! Catch some of them!"

Standard: Manifest quickened amethyst burst on the largest group of oozes in 20ft radius area. DC 30 Reflex half.
Damage: [roll0] force

Swift: Manifest quickened amethyst burst on the largest group of oozes in the same area as above if they aren't dead yet, otherwise, aim at the second largest group. DC 27 Reflex half.
Damage: [roll1] force

Move: Meditate to regain psionic focus.
Melanie:
Standard: Manifest ectoplasmic cocoon on the closest ooze not caught in the blast, DC 18 or be encased in an ectoplasmic shell for 9 rounds.

Phoebe:
Standard: Manifest ectoplasmic cocoon on the second closest ooze not caught in the blast, DC 18 or be encased in an ectoplasmic shell for 9 rounds.
HP: 208/208
PP: 214/314

[silphael]

Pouncing at the remaining monkeys, Maighe plans to finish that masquerade as soon as possible to help with the fallen worshipers.

Do I need to roll here? Not like I could miss them, or they could survive one of my blows. Except if they are disguised as monkeys, but as I seem to have charmed 8 of those...

How many commoners are dead?

[Jyssika]

Ophelia allows both her protagonists to leave unhindered, it was not her way to kill without learning why she was under attack.
With a final thought she yanks the wooden spikes from the female with her mind; each of the stakes flying back towards her although time had been flipped into reverse and back into the folds of her dress. She then turns to the zombies that had managed to escape the field of Tentacles and her Howling Serpent.

Using her mind to grapple and bull-rush them back into the the field so that they might be finished off.
Once this is done she rounds up any injured or dead and makes sure they have somewhere to go to be looked after.

I presume I don't have to many any roll's to finish off the Zombies.
She can make a Full round of Telekinetic Bull Rushed (4) and then if need be use a +Standard action from Factotum to do 4 more.

[Bobbybobby99]

Jarrah: The dwarf's most grievous injuries knit themselves together, and he reluctantly allows you to carry him. As he explained it, a portal had opened in his poor daughter's bedroom, while a number of monstrous termites had crawled out, swarming and killing her. He had finished them off easily enough, enraged, but while he had been distracted, several of them had been busily gnawing on his house framework, leading to the ceiling collapsing on him, and his present condition.

After you reach the temple of Dian Cécht, a number of clerics descend upon the dwarf, primarily healing over time spells (you recognize an extended vigor). Most of the clergy here are, technically speaking, in the lower end of the alignment pool, but even selfish people can be altruistic when their pride is on the line; you notice an elaborate sign saying "GIVEN THE EMERGENCY SITUATION, ALL HEALING FEES WILL GO ON A TAB, AND ARE 50% OFF. THANK YOU." The dwarf, slowly returning to peak condition, salutes you, and you notice the presence of the head priest of this particular temple, a level 13 cleric. The head priest, a halfling woman dressed in silver robes and an officious hat, seems to notice you, and abruptly strides over in your direction.

"I can see the magic on you, and it seems we are... in need of some assistance," she grinds out, clearly unhappy about having to ask for help. "One of our communes just registered a large, loud warning that the pillar in the center of the city is about to do something wonky, and that I was supposed to send the first high potency individual I saw in that direction. I'm sending you in that direction. If you go over there, you can have this. "

She fiddles with a pouch she has underneath her ceremonial garb, and throws a card at you, which you easily catch, saying "LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP.", before hurriedly going off in some direction.

Nivalis: You soon arrive at the temple, which appears to have a brothel of some sort connected to it on the side. Ignoring the brothel, you enter the temple, which seems to be kept at a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit and has entirely too much incense, and swiftly manage to locate the man in question, Julius Sinclaire, who was in the middle of casting a Raise Dead spell for a naked elf with dreadlocks. You manage to persuade him to come with you after he finishes the spell (he had been trying to get an audience with a few notable politicians about lowering the local drinking age for a while now, to little success), him delegating further raising duties to a random cleric, and swiftly heading over to the hotel where Nivalis had been socializing with a Wind Walk, alongside a few other, less distinguished members of his clergy.

After finishing up the tedious task of raising everyone, the former pirate seemed to pause for several moments, being the recipient of a sending. Briefly pouting, a flash of inspiration seemed to strike his eyes, and he turned to you with a grin.

"Say, would you mind going over to the pillar in the center of the city? One of our diviners just got a divine message that someone high powered is supposed to go over there, and, well, I haven't had a chance to talk to these bozos yet. I'd consider the favor here repaid."

Varia: You finally manage to get rid of the oozes; nine of the oozes, already damaged, are killed by the two blasts, and the remaining two are caught by the ectoplasmic cocoons. The elf, notably, doesn't seem to be dead, merely being knocked unconscious.

Maighe: You almost effortlessly manage to kill the remaining monkeys, but the battle was not without its costs. Nearly fifty people had been killed in total.

Ophelia: You manage to finish off the pie zombies without much fuss (the commoners that had been used to create them are going to be devilishly hard to raise, given that their bodies had been reduced to chunks within bloody pie crusts). One of the Wizards had sent for the nearby Temple of Tailtiu, and they were well on their way. When they arrived, they promptly began raising the numerous deceased, though they ran out of spell slots with the promise to come back tomorrow. One of them remained behind, an elven woman of elegance.

"I was told by my superiors to inform you that your presence is likely needed nearby the beam of light in the center of the city. If you would proceed in that direction, we would be deeply thankful."

[Zylas]

Nivalis raises an eyebrow at the brothel. "The god of lust indeed.." She'd shake her head and smirk if she had a head right now.
When she arrives inside the temple, she appreciates the temperature, but not so much the incense.

Back at the hotel, she returns the grin.

"Very well, Julius, you go socialize. But please do consider my offer. I'd love for you to give guest class at my school. I'm positive my students would adore you."

She pauses at the window and turns to frost again. "You might even get a few new acolytes out of it. Think of it as advertising. Oh, and next time, you must tell me what happened to your ship. Ciao."

And with that, she flies off towards the huge pillar of light in the centre of town. On her way there, she buffs up a little more, just in case.


HP 212/212, DR 10/cold iron or evil, Speed 50, fly 100 (perfect)
AC 71, Touch 46, Flat-footed 64, Fort 40, Ref 42, Will 41

Actions
Casting:
Greater luminous armor, extended
Magic vestment
Foresight
Harmonize, extended

Luminous armor does [roll0] strength damage
Lesser restoration to remove that: [roll1]
If that doesn't remove it all, a 2nd lesser restoration to remove the rest. [roll2]

Auras active
Marshal: determined caster (+cha to overcoming SR)
Marshal: resilient troops (+1 to saves)
Paladin: aura of courage (+4 morale on saves vs fear)
Spells: snowsong (Allies: +4 morale to Cha, +4 insight to AC, fast healing 1, cold resist 15. Enemies 20% spellfailure. [Compulsion] and [mind affecting] effect.

Active Spells
CL 29: Greater Resistance, extended, 48h
CL 29: Longstrider, 29h
CL 29: Algid Enhancement 24h

CL 26: Elemental body (Air), 26h
CL 26: Nixie's grace, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Snowsong, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Create magic tattoo (shadow conjured), extended, 48h

CL 25: Magic Vestment, 25h
CL 25: Greater luminous armor, 50h
CL 25: Foresight, 4h10m

CL 22: Harmonize, extended, 44m

[Morcleon]

Sighing and flying down to the downed body of the elf, Varia pokes him cautiously. Confident in his unconsciousness, she handcuffs his hands and ankles together, then gags him. "Melanie, could you come make sure this idiot doesn't escape?"

The two sisters hops down from their perch and walk over, sighing. "Yeah, sure..." "Make us do your dirty work, why don't you..." They roll their eyes and take the elf, smirking down at Varia.

She stares back up at them and pouts slightly. "Oh shut it, both of you." She glides over to the portal, staring up at it. "Wonder what this is..."

Knowledge (arcana): [roll0]
Knowledge (the planes): [roll1]

[KingFrog]

Staring after the rather.. brusk.. priestess for a moment, Jarrah pockets the card and mutters under his breath about opportunists taking advantage of others' misfortune for profit. Shaking his head at the crassness of their behavior, Jarrah exits the temple and climbs into the air to get a view of the pillar of light he was asked to investigate, hoping its brilliance is not drowned in the graying light of early morning.

Jarrah steps outside and flies into the air to get a better vantage point from which to locate the pillar.
Spot check: [roll0]
If the pillar is within ~2 miles, Jarrah will spend the ~1 minute simply flying there with the run action. If it is much more than 2 miles, Jarrah will use one of his teleports to get there faster.

Unless told otherwise, I will assume enough time has passed for my Fast Healing 3 to bring me to full HP in case we get into another fight soon.

[Jyssika]

Ophellia begins her stroll towards the pillar, choosing not to fly but instead to make her way by foot and thus give herself time to take in the situation on the ground and have time to also raise some wards and magical buffs.


Walk to pillar; on route casting. (50ft move speed)
Expediant Retreat, Last 16 mins. (cast first)
Greater Magic Weapon (x5 on Each Dagger), Lasts 16 hours.
Detect Thoughts, Lasts 16 mins. (cast last)
Divination, (Hopefully can cast this whilst walking) [roll0] vs 89.
Anticipate Teleportation, Lasts 16 hours.

[Bobbybobby99]

All: The warforged named Matukal, with an inquiring glance towards the wizard who was urging him to make contact with the pillar, laid a single hand upon it, before suddenly stopping, and beginning to glow. The warforged is paralyzed, and the glow brightens, and brightens, until 'he' appears to be no more than a silhouette of sunlight. The wizard is furiously scribbling down notes, and the pillar itself is growing brighter and brighter, an effect likely noticeable throughout the city.

Ophelia, Jarrah, and Nivalis all arrive at the scene in their turn, but nothing else has happened yet.

Varia: You can recall relatively little about the portals, given that they appeared last 9,000 years ago (and very few immortals, even, reached that age). You can, however, make a few educated hypothesis. One, they are formed by the stress of planar formation and division; the new planes are essentially dividing away from the old planes, much like a bacterium undergoing mitosis, and the connection the involved outer planes have to the material is causing the planar fabric of the material plane to be drawn taunt by stress. This drawing taunt results in holes opening up, gaps in the magical energy that keeps everything separate; when a living or magical creature makes contact with a portal, they likely 'fill in the gap', so to speak. You also, upon careful examination of the magical energies involved, can theorize that they might actually act as an attractant to the people or beasts on the other side of the portal; as a gap in magical energy, it likely attracts the magically energetic as a structural self-repair mechanism.

[silphael]

Witnessing the slaughter done by the monkeys and the witch, Maighe starts praying.

"Abraxiel, Herald of Dagda, Bearer of Glory, Champion of Valor, hear my call ! I, Maighe Oc Ingech, Glorious Servant of Dagda requires your help. Show yourself in front of me so that those believers might get a glimpse of Dagda's Glory!"

After those words, a rift starts opening in front of Maighe, and he kneels in front of the intruding creature, immediately starting uttering his request.

"I ask you to bring those worshipers of Dagda back to their life, so that they may keep worshipping him and spread words of His Glory. I remain, as always, a glorious servant of Dagda."

[Zylas]

"Wait! Don't touch th-"

Dimension dooring in and shouting, just half a second too late, Nivalis has no idea what is about to happen, but the brightness of the glow is unlike any levels of energy she's ever seen - and she's seen a lot.

"What are you doing? Get him loose!" she yells at the wizard, angry with him for taking notes at a time like this.

Then she notices a dark skinned man in white robes in the sky, and a dark robed girl with snow-white skin on the street below.

"Did the churches send you too? Help me if you can!"

Nivalis incants arcane words of frost, and huge snakes made of ice begin to form on the ground around the pillar.

As the snakes form, she adds. "I'm going to try to use the snakes to pull the warforged free. Do any of you know more about this pillar?"


Actions
Full round: Conjure Ice Beast VII for [roll0] Giant Constrictor Snakes (from the SNA V list). All of them have the engulf special ability.

Auras active

Friendly auras - these get shared to Jarrah, Ophelia and possibly Matukal, as well as my summons once they're formed.

+18 to overcoming SR
+1 untyped to saves
+4 morale on saves vs fear
+4 morale bonus to Charisma
+4 insight to AC
fast healing 1
cold resist 15

Enemies

20% spell failure. This is a [compulsion] and [mind affecting] effect

Active Spells
CL 29: Greater Resistance, extended, 48h
CL 29: Longstrider, 29h
CL 29: Algid Enhancement 24h

CL 26: Elemental body (Air), 26h
CL 26: Nixie's grace, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Snowsong, extended, 8h20m
CL 26: Create magic tattoo (shadow conjured), extended, 48h

CL 25: Magic Vestment, 25h
CL 25: Greater luminous armor, 50h
CL 25: Foresight, 4h10m

CL 22: Harmonize, extended, 44m

[KingFrog]

Descending quickly to land near the avatar of ice, Jarrah responds, "I've only just arrived. I'm afraid I have no more information than you, it seems."

He stalks toward the wizard scrawling his notes, "What do you know of this pillar? Why call for help and then send a lone fool to investigate instead of waiting for assistance?"

Jarrah thumbs the runestones in his pocket, silently cursing the wizard's haste that lured him into beginning whatever this experiment was before he had a chance to consult the stones.

[Jyssika]

Ophelia recoils from the totem of light, as a Vampire she had grown to a stage at which light was no longer fatal to her but such abundance still irritated her very much.
She takes a look around at the others who seem to be key players in discovering its purpose before realizing one of them had spoken to her directly.

"The Churches?"
She was not quite sure exactly who everyone was but she had heard of a few of them.

These -4's really hurt deu to sunlight.... :o
Specifically rolling to see if she knows anything about the pillar.

Knowledge Arcana [roll0]
Knowledge Religion [roll1]
Knowledge The Planes [roll2]

[Bobbybobby99]

Maighe: The solar rumbled it's assent in a titanic voice, the words coming less from pronunciation and more from raw meaning, and promptly raised the involved deceased, before stepping back through the gate. As it stepped through and the gate closed, you had the sudden realization that opening up a whole in the fabric of the universe may not have been the wisest decision at a time like this... where the portal closed behind the solar, another gate formed, seeming to open with a direct gaze upon a pillar of light. Another portal forms to the same location, and another, and another, until they form a hexagonal dome above you, and seemingly blend together, forming an odd sort of teleportation for you and the cobblestone below you.

Ophelia: You don't have the faintest real clue about the pillar, but it does seem to be attracted to population centers, given where it is located.

All: The brightness of the pillar seems to be increasing, and increasing, and increasing... until everyone involved is completely blinded. The snakes are ineffectual at pulling the warforged free, and the wizard seems to be ignoring you, while scribbling harder and harder. After a few moments, the light dims, and you find a thin, moonlight bright pillar behind you.

You're standing in Marché, the capital of Endroit, with a massive portal in front of you. The wizard, abandoning his notes, claps with a childish glee, and hurries in front of it while you're a bit too shell shocked to do much. A single multicolored tail pierces the wizard through the heart, a towering creature coming out after him. It seems almost physcadelic, and you find that your eyes can't focus properly on it.

"Who has disturbed my slumber of the ages???

[Zylas]

Raising an eyebrow, Nivalis replies "Look, we can do two things here. Option 1: We go through the whole Fee Fi Fo Fum thing and you end up fighting us anyway. You get tired, we both probably get hurt. I think neither of us wants that. Or, option 2: You accept that you've just killed the culprit by skewering him and you go back to your slumber. Your choice."


Free: Spellcraft ongoing effects: [roll0]
Swift: Change Marshal Aura to +Cha
Full round: Hasted Diplomacy, using 9 inspiration for a total of +74, -10 for hasted. [roll1]

[Bobbybobby99]

The huge psychedelic... thing seems to pause in consideration for a moment, it's tail with wizard still skewered curving around to a face that you couldn't quite look at. It seems about to speak again, but another voice seems to come from behind it, as another thing... you couldn't quite tell if it was crawling or walking or what, but it came out of the portal. The new thing spoke, with a strangely feminine intonation.

"Marve, why are you ought here in the inner planes? Oh, are you terrorizing these poor souls again? Dear, I know it's hard to find good souls these days, but could we go back to our nap? I want to be well rested, a new episode of my favorite soap is coming on in an hour. "

The other eldritch abomination seemed to turn from you, starting to grumble slightly (which came out more as a localized earthquake), but... it's companion interjected again before it could say anything.

"Now, don't grumble or mumble, you know how I hate the mumbling. If you don't come back in the next 90 seconds you're sleeping on the agdndybekod tonight, buster."

The towering abomination grumbled further, was quelled with a look by its companion, and turned again to you, intoning in an ancient voice cold and rhythmic.

"Very well, nobleman or woman of ice, of which I can never really tell. I have one sacrifice today by a wizard who will serve my court, but I require payment of a differing sort. Bring me a thousand souls by four days time, alive or dead, from outer planes or those within, I care not of what kind, and they will serve as payment for this wizard's crime, and serve far more than mortal time in my own court undivine. Arrange them in a circle here, around the remnants of this portal mere, or else. This is a kindness, for indeed, ten thousand souls should I take if my ranks remain unfilled. "

"Marve!"

"I'm coming, ghjrjrkkja!"

On that note, the two psychedelic abominations left as soon as they came, through some method of transport that you couldn't quite focus on. The only remnant of their presence was a small, glowing orb, where the portal used to be, and a warning.

Shortly after they two left, one of the ice snakes touched the moonlight pillar, and was gone in a flash, though some examination indicated it was a teleportation effect, rather than any sort of evocation.

[Zylas]

Nivalis tries to speak, but is too stunned to utter a word before "Marve" is called back into the pillar by whatever his "ghjrjrkkja" was.

The rhyming psychedelic creature had just asked her to deliver a thousand souls to him to fill his undivine court, and had threatened to take 10.000 otherwise. In four days time.. Which, apparently, was a kindness.

So, she'd have to tell the worlds that they'd either have to doom 1000 souls, or that they'd have to try and stand up to whatever this thing was.

She just hung in the air, defeated, and unsure of what to do next. She looks around at the others present, to see if they were as stunned as she was. Or if, perhaps, they had an idea of how to proceed from here.

[PersonMan]

It had been an interesting night for Shiva.

Arriving in Abhainn, she had found a great deal of experiences awaiting her - crowds of people from all around the disk, foods both exotic and familiar, a sky filled with light, the air full of expectation. The snow is soft beneath her sandaled feet. A bit of it stays on her toes, melting slowly as she makes her way through the city. She had spoken to several dozen people, brief exchanges, and had uttered a few words to over a hundred more; never before had she had to maneuver through such crowded streets. People were everywhere in the city, and she spent much of her hours of time before midnight and after her evening meal looking for a relatively empty space to watch the sky from. Eventually, she found it - a small patch of trees near a frozen pond, housing only a few dozen onlookers due to the lack of nearby inns, taverns or homesteads. As the hour came and went, Shiva went inside with a charming young woman who had come from Corrán to see the event.

It was a few hours later that Shiva returned to the streets, her companion asleep, as the streets filled with light. She closed a portal or two, watched others, and waited expectantly for more to occur. She was startled, if not surprised, when the sky erupted and several of the others on the street were quickly killed. That's when things became especially interesting.

By the time Shiva had made her way to the pillar of light, this time passing through the air, hoping to investigate, her attire was covered in splashes of swiftly-darkening crimson, the remnants of those she had cut down on the streets. She was late, it seemed - landing as the light grew impossibly bright and she was unable to see, catching only a few glimpses of several others before they were suddenly elsewhere. Before she could properly get her bearings in the unfamiliar city, one of the others is killed as a massive, multicolored creature emerges from the portal. A bargain - if it can be called that - is made, as it demands a great sacrifice in order to be appeased.

Certainly, Shiva considers, as the beast disappears, this newly-ending night had been quite unusual. As always, Daravaana had been correct. The events of the night would have great significance.

Finally there's time to react. Shiva turns away from the closed portal, to look at the others gathered around it. It was an odd group, to be sure. But that fit in well with what had happened so far - other unusual beings like herself. Perhaps they were on similar paths as she was, or perhaps they looked in a different direction. Either way, she could learn much from them and these events. More experiences, more wisdom to share when she returned.

"That was interesting," Shiva says after a few moments, silently rising into the air, closer to the more charming members of the group. "Perhaps we can all come down to earth and discuss the night's events?"

[Zylas]

"I think we.. probably should" Nivalis says as she swallows.

She floats down with a hanging head, still shell-shocked by what had just happened.

"Sorry if I seem distracted. This was.. not what I had expected. My name is Nivalis. It is a pleasure to meet you. Though I wish it were under better circumstances."

She dismisses the remaining ice snakes with a wave of her hand, causing them to evaporate into tendrils of mist behind her, and gives the mage the warmest smile she can manage under the circumstances.

[PersonMan]

"Given the circumstances, distraction is excusable," Shiva replies, returning the woman's smile. "My name is Shiva Talavaar. If I seem distracted, it's because you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met," she continues.

[Zylas]

"Thank you, that's very kind." The response is calm and friendly, but it's clearly not the first time she's been given that compliment.

[PersonMan]

"It's not," Shiva replies with a shrug. "It's a statement of truth. Speaking of which, I take it you were fighting some of the portal denizens before coming to the pillar as well?" She asks, indicating the bloodstains on her own clothing.

Once on the ground, it becomes clear that Shiva is quite short - Nivalis is several inches taller than she is.

[Zylas]

"I was, yes. An entropic girl and two wolves. She told me she 'had to die today, before the sun comes out tomorrow' for a chance to be with her mother and father, who had died yesterday.

I wonder if that's what drew out some of the other creatures as well."

She looks at the bloodstains for a moment. "Seems like you ran into more trouble than I did, though. I didn't realize it was quite as bad out here as too.."

For a few moments she gets a worried look on her face. She hopes her students are doing alright. Then she looks up at the rest, to see what's taking them so long to fly down.

[silphael]

"My invaders were a green witch and some flying monkeys, and they started killing in the middle of my religious speech. They are now dead, and Dagda's folk are back to the land of the living. But to the matter of that... creature, there is no way I'll accept giving it souls. No matter their origin. Also, I'm Maighe Oc Ingech."

His half-roared voice is, oddly enough, heart-warming.

[meemaas]

Regault approached the group from the air, landing calmly a small distance away, but still within earshot. He had heard from the creatures, even where he had been, and had come for information. Once he takes in the entirety of the group that had gathered, he speaks to them. "I know not what happened here, and in fact have only just arrived, but if someone would bring me up to speed, I would gladly offer my services to the cause. Whatever that thing was, I'm sure you'll need all the help you can get with it." Any who turned their eyes to the man, now that he spoke, would see a robed human, clearly oozing magic. Around his head floated several sigils that glowed on their own, and followed his movements as though part of it, while he leaned upon a sturdy staff. What is most noticable, though, even to those not trained of magic, is that he is constantly flickering, as though only partly there, which somehow seems to not effect his speech at all.

Couldn't think of a better way to enter.

[KingFrog]

Alighting near Maighe, the dark skinned man introduces himself as Jarrah. He ha been quietly considering the ethical quandary and finally had a solution worth contributing.

"The idea of giving them souls sounds unpleasant, but many souls are already bound for terrible fates due to their weak moral fortitude. Does anyone here truly believe a soul would be worse off with this .... Marve... than in the Thrashing Torment, or whatever has or will replace it this cycle?"

Jarrah pauses a moment to let the others consider this before moving on, telepathically this time, seeking to avoid being overheard by those who would look ill upon such a plan, "And even more, think on this: even if we are not improving the fate of the souls we would gather, the new Destinations are likely still vulnerable. A strike at this moment to harvest some of the Thrashing Torment's successor's inbound souls could weaken it sufficiently that the Higher Destinations have an advantage for this complete cycle. How much would that improve life in all the worlds, a weakened evil for 9000 years? I propose we give Marve what it wants, from souls that would be in at least as much eternal discomfort, and in so doing tilt the balance towards the forces of order and good for the next nine Full-Spans. I propose, in other words, that we rob one of the new Lower Destinations of souls."


Thrashing Torment: one of the previous cycles lower destinations, probably the CE one
Destinations: the afterlife planes
Higher Destinations: the good aligned afterlife planes
Lower Destinations: the evil aligned afterlife planes
Full-Span: the lifespan maximum of 1000 years

[Zylas]

To Regault:

"We know just about as much as you do. Portals started appearing around 6 am. They popped out of existence when touched. At about 8 a.m. larger portals appeared, and aggressive creatures started pouring through. The three of us," she points to Maighe and Jarrah, "were in Abhainn at that time.

Personally, I did some cleanup before I was directed by a High Priest towards the Pillar of Light that had appeared in the centre of town. That's where I saw them," nudges at the other two again "and also where I first saw that wizard that just got skewered.
Just before we arrived, the yellow robed wizard had told a warforged to touch the pillar. We were too late to stop that from happening. Pillar started glowing. We all get teleported here. Mister Psychedelic came out, and made his demand for souls before going back to his nap."

To Jarrah, telepathically, with the request to relay this to the rest:

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but theoretically the outer planes are infinite, correct? That would mean there are also an infinite amount of souls bound for the Trashing Torment at any given time. If that's the case, then a 1000 souls won't make a dent. So the ethical argument for tipping the scales might not apply.
We would, however, be making some very powerful enemies. I am willing to risk that.. but are the rest of you?

Also, let's not forget that there is a third option here. We could try to fight Marve to a standstill and not give him any souls altogether. That would have been my first instinct just now, had it not been for the fact that he came out of something that may very well be critical to the continued existence of our multiverse. We simply don't know what this 'Marve' is. I would suggest we try to find out before we act.

The plans don't bite each other though. We can collect the souls from the Trashing Torment, and then decide not to use them.

We also need to decide whether we're going to tell the leaders of this disk what just happened here. Because if they find out secondhand, we're definitely going to be detained and prosecuted.

They have considerable resources, and we need all the help we can get. So if they could be convinced to aid us.. My vote is to at least try to get them on our side."

[meemaas]

Regault shakes his head softly. "I do agree that we should speak with the leaders before we make any decisions for ourselves. I don't believe we should be taking souls from the afterlife, no matter which one though. I feel like the consequences for that may be more dire than we can possibly understand."

[Bobbybobby99]

By the time Regualt had finished speaking, a crowd had begun to gather, filled with a diverse mixture of Lizardfolk, Kobolds, and Yuan-ti, alongside the less prominent Orcs, Humans, Elves, Drow, and other miscellaneous races. This city had not, it seemed, had quite the same circumstance as in Abhainn; you could not detect any large portals nearby, and there wasn't the air of destruction that came from being invaded by assorted villains, though there were still a number of portals around the size of marbles; you suspect that the larger invasion was a result of that wizard's actions. If you recalled correctly, the city of Marché was actually a touch larger than that of Abhainn, as a consequence of the countries overall larger population. One of the yuan-ti, wearing an elaborately pink parisian ensemble and clutching two smaller children to her, both dressed in suffocatingly stylish outfits, slithered angrily in your direction while hissing. She hissed angrily for a few moments, and then began loudly shouting and ranting in a heavily accented (from your perspective) version of Dachai Common.

"My poor hatchlings were woken up from their basking rests by all of the rumbling; when I listen in, what do I hear! Anti-Devilish or demonic conspiracy by you foreigners! Pacts with entities eldritch and elucidative and- and eldritch! My poor little hatchlings watched whatever you foolish fumbling foot-walkers summoned scintillatingly skewer that wizard! My poor babies! Now you talk about raiding the resting repose of the Thrashing Torment! Just because it's unduly uncomfortable while you're working your way up in the local demon lords esteem doesn't make it right to hand those souls over to that, that thing! My uncle just got promoted to chief dretch! He could lose his position!"

[silphael]

On the tone of joke, Maighe starts with :

"Well, if that's the problem, we can take some from the demons as well...", he continues with a more serious tone toward the others, "but I still don't think we should do this creature's bidding."

[PersonMan]

"We should destroy it," Shiva agrees with a nod. "Fighting the thing has only positive outcomes for us, and with time to prepare we can tip the scales further in our favor."

[meemaas]

Regault looks at the Yuan-Ti speaking, then back to the others with a look on his face as though to say 'what did I tell you?' before starting to speak again. "Maybe we can speak to the leaders about using those who may be sentenced to death anyways. I know making deals with whatever...that was, is a bad idea no matter how we look at it, but whether or not we can defeat him is a hard prospect to figure out in the first place."

Time for an appropriate Knowledge check [roll0], for whichever is accurate, Arcana, Planes, Religion, or Nature.

[Bobbybobby99]

Slithering away in a huff, the yuan-ti takes out a whistle from one of the folds of her ensemble, which she blows, summoning a gleaming white stallion that she then proceeds to mount, which she then rode away, clinging to her nearly suffocated hatchlings.


You can just barely recall the psychedelic creature that you had seen, 'Marve', from a deeply obscure text that you read at one point. Every thousand years, on a demiplane connected to one of the inner planes a member of the unnamed species to which he belonged was born from the kaleidoscopic remnants of their shattered predecessor, struck down by the Mandate of Longevity. Throughout their lifetime, they crafted a magnificent, magically imbued item which then bloomed into an outer plane. The author had been a good friend of one, and had reveled that the species was heavily resistant to spellcasting, absurdly durable, capable of dismissing most magic as it pleased, capable of interplanar transportation as it desired, and, when angered (an unpleasant experience on the author's behalf), could enhance its psychedelic properties into reality, dealing immense damage equally distributed between heat, cold, electricity, and acid, while striking with a potent tail. Their life cycle did not perfectly align with the creation of the new planes, and, with some deduction, Marve would be some 975 years old, and currently crafting the artifact that would spring into a chaotic evil plane 9000 years in the future.

That's a bit more than a 49 would normally obtain for something this obscure, but I'm pretending that this knowledge check had a critical hit range of 19-20 for plot purposes.

[KingFrog]

Jarrah considers a moment, and then chimes in, "There are those that traffic in souls as trade commodities. They might also be obtained that way."

His dark skin pales a shade as he realizes how what he said might be taken, continuing in a slightly rushed voice "I'm not saying we SHOULD do this, of course, only that it is good to consider all our options." Gathering his composure again, he continues, "We can, I think, summarize our options as fighting, capitulating, or ignoring Marve's demands altogether. In case of fighting, I think we should expect his mate to join in and plan accordingly. If capitulating, we can gather the souls by trade or by force, locally or imported, or we can rely on the rulers of the city to do the leg work, as their citizens are the ones in danger. Finally, we might simply let things take their course without intervening. We may not even have legal standing to act on behalf of the city yet, and attempting to do so could put us first among those the city offers Marve."

Jarrah takes a moment to catch his breath and consider their options, before concluding "I confess, I do not like the idea of handing over the souls of sentient beings to the gods alone know what fate, but there are some fates for which it would be a near-certain improvement. If we are to fight, it would be best to know now, so I can begin using my divinations to help us plan. What are your opinions? Should I begin casting the runes?"

[meemaas]

"I don't know that we even stand a chance against a creature like that, but I suggest we as a group draw upon every amount of Divination that we can draw upon to prepare for him. I wonder what he even wants the souls for.." He thinks calmly for a moment. "We may need to ask that with one of our spells. Based on my recollection of his legend, we may be able to figure out if his plans are dangerous to the souls he's asked for."

I THINK that he wants the souls for the crafting of the artifact, and it may be an honor to Chaotic Evil beings to form into some major Chaotic Evil plane

[meemaas]

After he finishes speaking, Regault begins to cast Legend Lore, looking for more information from Legends on Marve.

[KingFrog]

Following Regault's example, Jarrah begins casting a commune spell to learn what he can about Marve's vulnerabilities, asking the following questions.



1: Is it possible to affect Marve with ability damage?

2: Is it possible to affect Marve with negative levels?

3: Is it possible to affect Marve with ability drain?

4: Does Marve have true spellcasting ability?

5: Would souls taken from the lower final destination planes experience a reduction in suffering if taken and given to Marve?

6: Does Marve have magical divinations of his own?
6a: (If yes to 6) == By the time the deadline Marve set has passed, will Marve have used these divinations?

I'll add more questions in a later post depending on the answers to these.

[Bobbybobby99]

"Ah, what a dread desire the thing possesses,
Never to be demurred,
In every bargain the price never lessens,
For souls to make a diamond box ensured,
The one named Marve does not require,
What he eternally requests (alone),
But rather wishes for a court never tired,
To complete his millennia long quest (unknown).
Only the foolish summon him,
Oh Marve, Dread Marve, when dates align,
For he grants no wish nor changes plan,
Oh Marve, Dread Marve, speaking in only rhyme."


1. Yes.
2. No.
3. No.
4. No.
5. Varying. The lower planes are initially unpleasant, but satisfy the 'values' of those within them long term. Giving those souls to Marve would remove initial suffering, but reduce overall afterlife satisfaction.
6. Yes.
7. No.

[meemaas]

Regault repeats his words to the rest calmly, and then starts to approach this analytically. "Any opinions on a plan going forward, with the knowledge we have? We can possibly approach souls in the lower planes and make them the offer, allow them to willingly go."

[KingFrog]

8: Does Marve expect the souls to be surrendered willingly?
9: Will Marve's mate join in if the fight is going badly for him?
10: Are the answers to questions asked previously in this exchange also applicable to his mate?
11: Are there written or remembered records on this disc of any successful combat with a creature of Marve's species?
(The last 3 questions will be used to narrow down the possible locations if the answer is yes)

[Bobbybobby99]

8. Yes.
9. Possibly.
10. Yes.
11. No.

[KingFrog]

Rules Question #1: Trap the Soul requires a gem as material component of 1000 GP per HD of the creature. Given how we're doing wealth here, it seems like the gem value itself is unimportant, but the cost has to be from our set-aside money to cast spells. Is this a correct interpretation of how the rules work here?
Rules Question #2: Trap the Soul mentions research can determine how much GP value is needed to serve as a vessel for a particular soul. Did the "critical success" knowledge check earlier give that information? If not, what would be the amount of time needed to attempt such research (i.e. do we have enough time to attempt to research it before Marve returns?)?
12: Is Marve susceptible to the Trap the Soul spell?
13: Is Marve able to naturally pierce illusions such as if an array of gems were magically made to appear as though they held souls?
14: If we set out an array of gems and other objects we convincingly claim to be soul vessels, would marve gather them by physical touch?

[Bobbybobby99]

1. Yes.
2. 40,000 GP equivalent.
3. Yes.
4. No.
5. Unknown, but likely.

[KingFrog]

Continuing his divinations, Jarrah tosses his rune-inscribed long bones to help prepare for Marve's return.



Step 1: Cast Augury to determine if making further decisions about the name to use for this plan based on the following divination is a good idea.
Reasoning: Marve might have magic that foils divinations or gives false answers about his name. This is a question about Jarrah's own actions, so it should sidestep the protections.

Step 2: Cast Divination, "What name for the entity that demanded the thousand souls of us this morning will most effectively bind him via a Trap the Soul spell?"
Reasoning: Instead of just asking "will the name 'marve' be sufficiently precise for a Trap the Soul spell," this will also get the true name if successful.

Both spells have an 84% chance of success. I'll let you roll the chances so I don't know the results.

[Bobbybobby99]

1. Weal.
2. Marveluciobachus.

[KingFrog]

His divinations completed for the moment, Jarrah gathers the rune inscribed bones and packs them away in his pack. He communicates his plan to trap Marve with his own greed to the others telepathically, with an admonition to tell no one. Gesturing to a large, four-story establishment with nine silk banners marking the upper row of windows, Jarrah speaks to his companions out loud, "I will attempt to procure us rooms at the House of Nine Silks for the coming week. I will meet there with those of you stalwart enough to join me in this."

With that, Jarrah resets his pack on his shoulders and heads toward the market in the light of early morning to do a little shopping for his plan.


Large smoky quartz crystal (hexagonal spindle, 8 inch x 14 inch faces)
A competent jeweler to construct the setting
A wizard to teach Jarrah the Polymorph spell

I also made up a name for what I hope to be a high end inn/lodge, where Jarrah would pay the guest-fee for all those who join him. If you're ok with this sort of setting contribution, I can continue. If you'd like me to knock it the heck off, I can stop. Your call, boss :smallsmile:

[meemaas]

Regault smiles at Jarrah, and shakes her hand before she leaves. "I will see you in time. While you prepare the souls, I have some research I should do. Contact me if you need anything while I'm gone." He starts off on his own, looking for the best library he can, looking for more information on Marve and his kind beyond that from the Divinations.