Epic PF - The Drow War

[paradox26]

The war with the drow winds down, and the heroes gather at the royal court of Prince Nuskahm. He speaks up to the group as they arrive, even before you manage to find lodgings or food and drink. He seems harried, and his voice is a little breathless.

You may know that in the land of Kahoor, in the principality of Jasmal over which his Royal Highness reigns, there is a beast more great and terrible than any other on Ashfar. It is the Royal Beast, the ancient ravager of kingdoms. No warrior has ever prevailed against it, for its hide is stronger than steel and its maw has devoured armies.’

As Mal’Rannuz speaks, you get the feeling that he is rather proud of this beast, as if it were somehow a national mascot. ‘The Royal Beast slumbers for centuries, then when it awakens, it ravages the land. We propitiate it with offerings – cattle, barrels of good wine, unwed maidens – which it devours, and when it has eaten it returns to its lair. This is the way it has always been. We have not sought to slay it, for legends say that it cannot be killed. Our scholars predict its awakenings. We know when to expect it to arise, so we have many months to prepare the offerings. The beast’s appetite is terrific, so such lengthy preparation is absolutely necessary.

‘We know not why, but the Royal Beast has awoken early. There is no offering. The Beast has become enraged and is turning Jasmal into a wasteland. You will know that Kahoor is a mighty kingdom of fierce warriors who know no fear. Many of our finest have ridden out to confront the Beast but when they attempt to slow its progress or turn it back to its lair, it pays them no heed or devours them before they can even make a dint in the creature’s hide. Thus it is that we turn to you.

‘We have heard the tales of your stand against the dark ones. Our minstrels have made tales of you. Artists have rendered your likenesses in carpets that hang on the walls of the most exclusive spice-houses. Even His Celestial Eminence, King Parhay the Thirty-First, has spoken your names in the Hall of Ancestry and burned olibanum in your honour on the Feast of the Nine Orbs. We need champions. We need heroes.’

'I will even offer you a part of my principality to govern as your own, if you can return the creature to its slumber.'

[samduke]

Kamyrn listing to the tale of the beast amazed at the story. Could it be true something that could devistate an entire army, and yet we are instructed to return it to it's sslumber not to slay the beast outright. This would be a challenge no matter what she thought.

Your highness if I may request, in order to fully prepare for this might we have access to the royal discount at the merchants so that we may obtain anything that we do not already have that we think might be needed for such an undertaking?

[paradox26]

The prince considers this. "The merchants are private businesses, but I can likely entreaty them to offer a discount. I am sure they will give you ten to twenty percent off. But they are unlikely to offer more than that."

[kjelfalconer]

"It's less a request to spare the beast, and more an entreaty for us not to waste our time. No known method exists that can actually permanently harm the Tarrasque, to give it it's proper name. It could perhaps be permanently neutralised if you could separate it's soul from it's body, but a means that could do that is beyond me, at least within the time frame we have available."

"Besides it's immortality, the main issue is it's carapace. The beast is functionally immune to magic, and only the most powerful of weapons will do more than chip it. Give me an assistant and a week. Unfortunately, time is something we are sorely short on. I may need the rest of you to draw it away from civilisation while I fashion the means to harm it." He pulled out parchment and charcoal, roughly sketching out what was clearly a gun, surrounded by a vast array of notes and numbers. "Hmm... At the absolute minimum I can get by on four days."

He turns to Mal’Rannuz. "Get together what offerings you can. I'll supplement them with my own people's reserves - this is as much my problem as yours." He remained cordial, though he also hoped the statement would remind the pretentious little twit that he was dealing with an equal who had no need for the unwanted scraps of the man's kingdom.

[samduke]

"It's less a request to spare the beast, and more an entreaty for us not to waste our time. No known method exists that can actually permanently harm the Tarrasque, to give it it's proper name. It could perhaps be permanently neutralised if you could separate it's soul from it's body, but a means that could do that is beyond me, at least within the time frame we have available."

"Besides it's immortality, the main issue is it's carapace. The beast is functionally immune to magic, and only the most powerful of weapons will do more than chip it. Give me an assistant and a week. Unfortunately, time is something we are sorely short on. I may need the rest of you to draw it away from civilisation while I fashion the means to harm it." He pulled out parchment and charcoal, roughly sketching out what was clearly a gun, surrounded by a vast array of notes and numbers. "Hmm... At the absolute minimum I can get by on four days."

He turns to Mal’Rannuz. "Get together what offerings you can. I'll supplement them with my own people's reserves - this is as much my problem as yours." He remained cordial, though he also hoped the statement would remind the pretentious little twit that he was dealing with an equal who had no need for the unwanted scraps of the man's kingdom.

turning to her companion, looking at the drawing,
Time may be something that we do not have much of. Time I do not think is available to craft such a gun, I carry such weapons that I believe that I could harm the Tarrasque, but I believe a powerul spell is going to be needed to force it back to its slumber
turning back to the prince,
Your Highness if I might ask just for te sake of knowing, just how soon are we to subdue the Tarrasque?
(OOC,hours,days,weeks?)

[redfeline]

Alani considers the families of those already lost to the beast and the kings willingness to sacrifice people to its appetite. I am a very far from home indeed, and like always there is evil. With some distaste for the king she looks on concealing her thoughts as best she can. The people are not evil even if the royals act evil on occasion.

"Perhaps we are being over confident in our abilities. The beast is legendary for its immortality, only one such horror has ever existed in this world, the thoughts of beating it with magic are speculations from wizard towers, rumors not fact.

What fact we do know its pattern of sleep is unbroken in remembered history, until now. We find what has disturbed it such and that may give us a clue as to return it to slumber.

Turning to the dragon knight, Folke. "My concerns are always for the people, unless we have means to protect them from harm for a week, I do not think you will have that time. Perhaps we can acquire an elixir or oil from a merchant to make your weapon powerful enough to pierce its hide. I would benefit from such an item as well. Alani remembers her brief experience inside the belly of a green dragon, she no longer has the small blade she cut her way out with.

[kjelfalconer]

He shook his head. "The design principles that I used for this gun are completely different to what I'd need to pierce a hide like that. Temporary magics wouldn't be able to bolster it enough, or at least not anything you'd find on a shelf. You'd need something potent and specific, and by that point you may as well just make the new weapon." He hadn't stopped sketching, despite the fact he was maintaining eye contact.

"Do you have maps of the area it's currently in? We may be able to slow it with the terrain, and we also need to consider local populations. You have evacuated those in the surrounding area already, yes?"

[samduke]

listening to both of her comrades spoken thoughts.
A map of the area would prove useful to some degree, yes but to move the very earth itself or some sort of man made object to form some sort of barrier to slow it down is not very practical in my opinion.
Yes Alani finding that which disturbed the beast is important and if we can do that and deal with it in short order that is great. but then my concern is the Tarrasque will still be awake and still need to be dealt with, it might be just as well to deal with the Tarrasque first, figure out what caused it to wake, then go find that which woke it and deal with that second. because if we do not, the Tarrasque will continue is ravaging and even more lives will be lost to the beast.

[redfeline]

Alani sighs to herself, the group wishes to take the direct and dangerous approach. Your majesty, if we are to remove the beast we will need magic aide. Do you know of a powerful spell caster that we can ask to watch the fight, teleport in and use magics to exile the beast?

[Nightraiderx]

Tadashi was only half-listening to the group, cleaning out his ear and flinging away the wax ball on it.
"As far as I see it, even if we can't kill this monster, we still should be able to beat it up and keep it temporarily knocked out no?
And I wouldn't worry too much about piercing it's hide, I know plenty of techniques that will get through it's thick hide.
If it gets up we keep beating it down and by time for the magic people to figure out a more permanent solution. What do you all say?"

[redfeline]

"I am still not sure beating on an immortal creature, until some one has a better plan is the wisest move. However I have said my piece already, and if no one agrees. We can try some one else's approach first.

[Storyteller_Arc]

Arcantos listened to the others talk, with crossed arms and a small frown on his lips. He knew of this ‘Royal Beast’ that Prince Mal’Rannuz Nuskahm talked about, and of its true nature, its true name. That it was more than a creature that would ravage the land until it had consumed its fill, that fed itself on the offerings of blood and win, and would then fall into a deep slumber. No. This beast. This creature. Was the Tarrasque itself.

The Tarrasque. The Armageddon Engine. The Destroyer of Ninshabur. Herald of Destruction and Spawn of Rovagug, The God of Disaster. To say that this beast was a threat to Jasmal, was an understatement. If this creature was not stopped, it would ravage all of the lands. All of the kingdoms and nations of this world. Both on the surface, and those found beneath it... one might argue that it was a threat only to this plane, only to this world, as it could not travel from world to world, from plane to plane. Yet, as the Heard of Rovagug, Arcantos feared if left unchecked, it could eventually free The Rough Beast from its prison... and Rovagug’s ambition was no less as terrible for this multiverse, as that of The Dark that they had faced one year ago.

... Honestly, though, could they have not come up with a better name for that thing than, ‘The Dark’? Like ‘The Eternal Abyss’ or ‘The Consuming Black’ or even just ‘The Void’ worked better than ‘The Dark’... at least their title ‘The Starborn’, was cool as hell. Even if none of them had any powers or abilities related to the Stars or Light at all. So it really was a bit of a misdemeanour.

Shaking those thoughts aside, Arcantos decided it was time for him to join the conversation at last. “Alani is right. Any potential means of slaying, or perhaps banishing the Armageddon Engine, are entirely theoretical and requires magic outside of our capabilities aside. The use of Scrolls might allow us to attempt to circumnavigate this issue, but the use of such items is beyond my talents. Our best bet is to try and force it to return to its slumber, even if that means simply beating it into a state of unconsciousness so many times that it simply gives up and goes back to sleep. Which sounds like what Tadashi has in mind.”

Not the most elegant or cunning of ideas. But honestly? Arcantos liked it. No fiddly magic. No potential sacrifices or battles of armies. Just him, and the others, fighting against an all-power beast. Either they won, or they did not. It was as simple as that.

“... Also, seriously? The Prince said it was tradition. He didn’t say that he actually has, or was planning on sacrificing any unwed maidens to the creature. Don’t pile on your hate and distaste on him due to centuries-old tradition.”

[paradox26]

The prince nods, and says, "We have tried to clear the area, but many villagers will not leave, so there are still people there. I do have a basic map of the area, but your best option is to simple travel North along the main road, to a village named Zubunti. That is the nearest civilisation to the Beast's lair. I fear the terrain will not help you much. That area is mostly either farmlands and meadows, or wooded."

At Alani's question, he shakes his head. "No spellcaster in the Kingdom will risk going close enough to the Royal Beast to be able to cast a spell. Magic usually fails against it, and they would count it suicidal to try to face it. I am sure they can offer you some assistance from here if you require it, though."

[redfeline]

Alani nods "Thank you, your highness." Alani considers for a moment shrugs and says "Okay, we may as well try the magic scrolls than. Let's go purchase them and if they do not work we will go with Arcantos's plan of beating it until it gives up." Alani notes to herself the need of a weapon to cut her way out if swallowed, a strange precaution for sure, but it has happened before.

[samduke]

once the group is dismissed from the prince. Kamryn will go into the market and magic areas seeking merchants who would sell scrolls.

[Storyteller_Arc]

Hearing that none of the Kingdom’s spellcasters where willing to come with them to try and stop the beast, Arcantos would just shrug his shoulders. Not at all surprised, or bothered by this fact in the slightest. He still disliked the idea of trying to use magic on the creature to get rid of it in the first place, but he did grudgingly admit to the wisdom of it either. Still... he could not help but think that it would be rather... coincidental, if one of the spellcasters just happened to have the scroll for the precise spells they were looking for.

“That’s assuming they have the scrolls we’re looking for.” Arcantos would note to Alani when he suggested that they best go and collect some scrolls then go and face the beast head-on. “Considering how lacklustre the spellcasters of this kingdom have been thus far, I find it rather unlikely that they would have the correct scrolls on hand in order to face the beast. Chances are that we would need to have one commissioned, or reach out to a more magically inclined kingdom in order to buy the precise scroll we need.”

That, however, would slow them down... and the slower they dealt with the Tarrasque, the more damage it could wreck upon the land, and the more people of the kingdom it could kill. Hence, he would soon follow up his disagreement with a suggestion. “Why don’t we split up? Only one of us is needed to go and fetch or commission the necessary scrolls. Whilst the rest of us can head north immediately in order to delay the creature for as long as we can. Folke wants to remake his firearm, and has a dragon friend, so he's probably the best choice to handle the scroll whilst the rest of us head north.”

[redfeline]

Alani shrugs That does make the most sense, so we should probably do that.

[samduke]

Kamyrn listening to the discussion of her allies: well then it seems we have a plan that could work

[Nightraiderx]

Tadashi punches his hand in a palm. "That settles it then, lets see how long this beast can stand up to our combined might!"

[paradox26]

Kamryn heads to the market, and finds dealers in low level magics. But none who would work in a mere market would have scrolls of spells as powerful as what you require. One does, however, tell you that the Prince has a court mage who may have what you require. She is a woman by the name of Vara, and she is known to be willing to offer her aid to those who require it. From what you can figure, facing the tarrasque would certainly count as being in need, and doing it for the good of the kingdom would certainly help in the request.

How are the rest of the group planning on getting to where you need to go?

[samduke]

Kamryn on learning the new information, reluctantly returns to the royal court and asks for an audiance once again to speak with the prince about Vara a court mage whom might be able to craft a scroll to help deal with the royal beast.
unless she can talk diretly to Vara the court mage and ask directly about the scroll
(OOC: as to how she can get about: options long distance: Heavy Warhorse 50 ft, scouting Land 40 ft, fly 50 ft)

[paradox26]

Kamryn is quickly and courteously invited back into the Keep, recognised instantly from her appearance and accepted as a hero who was trying to save half the kingdom from destruction. Word had quickly passed around the castle about the return of the Royal Beast. She is ushered into a rather spacious antechamber, populated with several young mages. An apprentice, acting as a secretary, approaches and asks Kamryn's name and needs. He then bows and heads off into a nearby door. He is replaced around a minute later by an older woman, who approaches. In a strong voice, she says, "I am Vara, Royal Court Mage. I would say it is a pleasure to meet you, but I fear I know why you are here, and that you are headed into danger, which grieves me, though I do not yet know you. Come into my office and we can speak of your needs." She leads Kamryn into her private study, then takes a seat at her desk, indicating that Kamryn should also take a seat opposite. "What do you require of us to face The Beast? I fear whatever magic I might possess may not be enough to harm it. It rises very rarely, but from what I have read in my predecessors' notes, it is immune to much magic."



--------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the party fly by magic carpet towards the village they had been told of. The description you were given proves accurate enough that you have little trouble in finding what appears to be the village of Zubunti. The houses are simple wooden buildings with thatched roofs and chickens in most of the yards. The tarrasque has not driven through the village yet, as from what you could tell from the air, it has found easier pickings finding cows and pigs in the outlying farms, judging by the damage caused to the farms themselves. The villagers gather around in wonder on seeing a magic carpet landing in their village. They look fearful and nervous, but do not run away.

[redfeline]

Alani lands her carpet at the edge of town. She gazes around the town, it looks similar to where she had grown up, although the dress of locals is very different. She commands the magic carpet back into her backpack. "Remember I keep my healing slaves in this pouch." She points to a pouch on her belt that is easily accessible.

She moves to the front of the group next to Arcantos. "Once more into the breach?" She smiles at the friend, the pair had proven there quick reactions and resistance to pain serve the party better than any armored phalanx could ever do.

[samduke]

sitting as asked, looking at Vara, thank you for seeing me, yes I undestand that a great many magics may have failed to harm the beast. However the spell I seek I have heard of and the spell is one that does not actualy harm but rather would cause the beast to leave our plane of assistance, and with luck not return. I know the scroll of the spell is not easy nor cheap and I have come prepared to pay for your efforts in the matter. The spell I seek to be placed upon a scroll in know to arcane users as Gate. my question for you is are you able to put this spell on a scroll and then what price would you ask?

[Nightraiderx]

Alani lands her carpet at the edge of town. She gazes around the town, it looks similar to where she had grown up, although the dress of locals is very different. She commands the magic carpet back into her backpack. "Remember I keep my healing slaves in this pouch." She points to a pouch on her belt that is easily accessible.

She moves to the front of the group next to Arcantos. "Once more into the breach?" She smiles at the friend, the pair had proven there quick reactions and resistance to pain serve the party better than any armored phalanx could ever do.

"Think it's a good time to exercise and warm up I'll see you guys at the battle sight." Tadashi stretches his legs, gets into a stance and gets a good running jump, clearing over many buildings as his inhuman jump clears a lot of area.

Diving Thunderbolt Stance, gives me twice my initiator level on jumps (+40), so 36 +4 for a feat than another 40 = 80 ft jumps + 30 ft running start.
That should be two move actions with jumps, 30 + 90 (taking 10), 110ft x2= 220 ft per round. and no I don't take falling damage while in this stance.

"Oy!" Tadashi gracefully lands in front of the group, panting from having jumped all the way there. He puts away his spear, "Let's ...get this... over... with. I... wonder who... will... get the .... last blow... who cares to make a wager?"

[redfeline]

Alani smiles at the open ended bet. "I'll take the wager. I bet my life the final blow is not made by the beast. Any one care to match my wager?" Alani Adjusts the straps on her adamantine gauntlet and draws her large blade from her back.