NKotB: All Hell Breaks Loose

[Ancient]

New Kids on the Block
Chapter 1: All Hell Breaks Loose

So there you were, going about your monstrous lives, when *pop*, you were plucked away from your existences and into a summoning circle.
You found yourself in a huge round cavern, or at least it appears so, slightly damp as underground spaces go, it appears to be hewn from solid rock, has no windows, has no natural light, just eldritch sconces on the walls. This cavern is of exquisite craftsmanship, perfectly round with a smooth domed ceiling, it gives an impression of dwarven construction. Frescos and murals look to have once adorned the walls, now defaced and covered with the graffiti of Chaos.
The floor, once polished black granite, has had an enormous unholy pentagram trenched and engraved into it. This ugly scar ripped into the floor like a jagged wound is filled with blood. The blood of five oxen that were sacrificed at the tip of each of the pentagrams points. Overlooking each of these points, is a shrine of sorts, each a monument to one of the cardinal sins.


The Shrine of Lust has four cultists dressed only in masks, partaking in some sort of orgy of carnal delights.
The Shrine of Wrath has two pairs of masked pit fighters chained to each other at the wrist, slashing at each other with razors.
The Shrine of Greed has four Cultist picking over a pile of trade goods and coins, counting and bickering at each other.
The Shrine of Gluttony has four morbidly obese people feasting at a table.
The Shrine of Envy has four richly dressed nobles, drinking wine while sitting in thrones looking at all the other shrines.

In the center is all of this is a High Priest and a Headsman. Presumably, judging by his bloody great axe, the Headsman is the one that decapitated the cattle whose blood fill the pentacle.The High Priest is a tall proud serious human. He is dressed in robes of ebon silk, adorned with gold. His golden mask stares impassively at you as he chants and burns rare herbs and spices in the central shrine.
You, are held in individual circles at the points of the pentacle. You feel yourselves strangely transfixed by the scenes playing out before you, and feel helpless, slothful even.
More robed figures are interspersed chanting, “Grazz’t! Grazz’t! Grazz’t!” in a rhythm that you find placating and soothing. Then you notice the blood in the pentacle, it is pulsing, beating in time with the chanting. The mood and tempo become more and more intense, the pulse quickens, the delights heighten, and soon the domed ceiling gives way to a hellscape of stars on fire. From this, a horned behemoth crawls forward, unnaturally from an impossible angle, one moment it is on the horizon and then the universe twists to put is on the ceiling of the chamber. It approaches, like some great cat slipping up to a pool to drink. The high priest nods to the headsman, who drags up a monster from one of the circles. A quick swipe of a dagger and it’s neck is slit, the life blood filling a huge saucer, milk for an enormous cat to sup. After It drinks, it allows the priest to touch it, and there is a transfer of power. Once, twice, thrice, four more times the sacrifices come, and soon you realize every time the Beast feeds, it loses a finger. Eventually, Beast notices it too. It pauses and stares curiously at its stump of a hand, like a child admiring something it has never seen before.
It glares at the priest, and then its gaze goes to one of the gladiators on the shrine of Wrath. The gladiator seems to enter a frenzy, it drops its razor and headbutts the opponent he is shackled to. Stunned and weakened by blood loss, the opponent staggers back to the limit of the chain, stretching it taunt. The frenzied gladiator kicks him viciously in the side of the head, HARD. The sweet sound of the stunned gladiator’s neck snapping is followed by another powerful roundhouse kick to his chest that SNAPS THE CHAIN and sends his lifeless body flying off the platform. The bloodied broken mess lands in a crumpled heap IN THE BLOOD TRENCH.
The body blocks the flow of blood, and the pentacle abruptly stops pulsing. A horrified look overtakes the High Priest’s face as the chanting stops. The cavern’s abrupt silence is filled with a horrible laughter, whose echoes seem to penetrate your very mind. The black demon takes it’s stump and plunges it into the priest’s chest and then rips in out, the still beating heart of the priest in its newly formed hand. It gently takes the sacrificial dagger out of the Priest’s hands, kisses it, and embeds it into the top of the Priest’s skull. Demonic power flows through weapon and into the priest as random bolts of energy fly out of the standing corpse striking some of the cultists.
The maddening laughter, the bolts, and the death of their leader are too much for the cultists. They break into a panic, and run for the double doors of the chamber. Frantically, they pound on the doors, which seem to be locked. All of a sudden, you realize, that the laughter has stopped, and the black demon is gone. All of a sudden, you realize you are no longer entranced. You take a tentative move towards the circle that has contained you during all of this, and it does not block your way.

YOU. ARE. FREE.
https://i.ibb.co/xh5QdLJ/summoning-by-remarin-dc122f6-350t.jpg

[Ancient]

Here is the basic screen capture of the battlemap:
https://i.ibb.co/CBmsKv8/chamber-thumb.png

[Armonia13]

Center of the Circle, in the High Priest's Head

Blood. The essence that gives all things life. It courses through every being in some shape or form, filling them with power they could never achieve without it. It is intoxicating, the feel, the taste, the strength one gets when imbibing it. And there is so much more in this place....so much more that can feed me.

This was the first thought to come to the newly awakened mind of the sacrificial dagger. Even as its blade still courses with the dark god's power, the taste of the priest's blood consumes all of its focus. As the darkness of inanimacy fades, and the room opens up in its mind's eye, Hoja de Sangre notices the other two standing so close to itself. A shiver goes down its hilt as it tests its new voice for the very first time. "Claim me......". A red mist begins to swirl around the corpse, the center of it seeming to come from the pommel of the dagger. The drider nearby feels a strange sensation, as if the dagger before her is attempting to establish a connection.


Standard Action: Blood Control.
Hoja de Sangre attempts to establish Blood Control on Chesstra. DC 15 Fort save if she is unwilling

[Spore]

https://i.imgur.com/PRy37XF.jpg
Tyrol Cheddar the Grate; the Cheesy Grin Cat (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482236)
Cheshire Cat Oracle
AC: 15 (19) HP: 24/24
touch: 15, ff: 11 (15), CMD: 13
Conditions: Mage Armor (3h), Moonlight Bridge (30 ft. semicircle)

Cheddar shakes the comfortable confusion off that occupied its mind for the last day or so. The cultists caught him, enchanted him and brought him here, but their smile, their fervor were much more insane than anything the young cheshire cat has seen before. Even the antics of his favored fey, the Jester, were comparatively tame when one saw this bloodbath.

Tyrol stopped smiling as he saw the gore around him. No elegance, no joke, just honest to demon slaughter. Huddling around him, there were dozens of cultists, and his first action was to protect himself. He meandered, even jumping, and enclosed the northern batch of cultists within a quasi-real veil of of moonlight, of a miasmic ever-shifting sheet of glowing colors, like one caught the northern lights inside two thin sheets of glass.

The cat smiled a wide grin into the faces of the now caught cultists.

Move up to the northern cultists (I assume Moonlight Bridge, much as Wall of Force has a range of close, so 25 ft. plus 5 ft. per 2 spell levels), casting Moonlight Bridge as a semicircle encasing the cultists.

[Cassus]

One moment, a pleasant cafe. Then a sudden snap.

Keno regains consciousness lying in a pool of blood. He straightens, finding himself much closer to the ground than he remembers. And he can't feel his legs... or arms... for a moment, his nose itches.

It takes a moment to realize that the semi-reflected image of something pink and gooey does not have a tall, handsome elf in the background. Suddenly, Keno feels very, very naked. More naked than he's ever felt before. And defenseless-- he's surrounded by corpses and monsters, there's a demon lurking around, everyone but him is holding a sword... and his face is gone! His face!

There's nothing for it. Keno inches his way across the ground, subconsciously pulling twisted bits of metal towards him on his way towards shelter. Scraaaape... Scraaape.. He doesn't see it, but the metal lattice forming around him starts to collect the virulent, acid-green fluids dripping endlessly from his brain.

The oddly metal spider-like thing inches towards shelter. Three feet away. No one seems to notice.
Two feet away. Is that a Keeper? Are there devils too? Inch faster!
One foot away. Finding a tailor is going to be a LOT more complicated after this...

Splurch.
The brain heaves itself up off the floor towards the nearest shelter-- the bleeding corpse of the ox on the ground nearby. It burrows into the skull as if the flesh and bone were soft cheese. There is a faint noise as Keno pulls a layer of skull back across his hiding place. A moment's silence. Then...

The ox's eyes open, and green light spills out. More lines of iridescent green flow along its body, pulsing with a new heartbeat. Its muscles ripple, pulse, and swell as the creature rises to its feet as if dragged by invisible strings. Then it continues to rise and swell. In a matter of seconds, it stands larger than any ox has stood before, its body preternaturally decayed and half empty space, its horns practically scraping the ceiling of the cave. It looks around with a furious expression on its bloody muzzle, which opens to release a scream of all the agony of a displaced, nearly-dead elven necromancer who knows he will never taste food again...
"MOOOOOOOO!"


https://i.ibb.co/jkDjWj4/avatars-000071366760-8dup82-t500x500.jpg


Standard: spend 1sp for Active Possession on the ox-corpse on the floor, raising it as a fast zombie with +1 size and a +6 enhancement to Strength/Dex (twisted reanimation, superior reanimation, edited when I saw its cha mod).
Swift: Telekinetic Exoskeleton (Dampening Field) for +5 temp HP.
I'm off to update the statblock post in OOC now [[EDIT: It's done! Some trouble with Trample calculation]]. The only ox-like statblock I could find was the Aurochs, which seems to be the template for herd animals. Please let me know if I should use something else!

[QuadraticGish]

Lyra's mind snapped into attention almost immediately the fog that had clouded it had cleared. She carefully looked around to take in her surroundings. the princess felt her inner rage flare up at the situation- her plan now was entirely in shambles and now she didn't have any idea where she was, how she was going to get home, or how she would explain to her father how made it all the way home.

Granted she was entirely capable of taking care of herself much like any other dragon her age, but the image was important for playing the court.

She took a deep breath and let practicality take the wheel. The dragon walked towards the the closest shrine to her, the shrine of greed, her tail swaying as she approached the cultists who appeared to not have a clue.

"Could any of you intelligent men be of service to me?" she asks, using the sort of meek demeanor she had been playing with in court.

"I am a foreign princess in need of aid. I'm positive that we could create a deal if you were willing to parlay."

Move action: Move towards the shrine to the south of her, presuming that it's the shrine of greed since specific shrines aren't defined.
Diplomacy roll(She's essentially trying to recruit them as followers for the Leadership Sphere): [roll0]
Also considering her prior situation, I'm considering everything aside from her clothing and tome from her class features to be part of the bonus loot she accumulates.

[Lord Foul]

Chesstra is a flurry of motion, muttering a mantra to cause her psychic energy to flow through her body and mind, increasing her awareness of her immediate surroundings for a combat edge. She doesn't stop there though, grabbing the knife as she steps back from the still standing cultist, animating the priest under her command with a gesture and a spell.
Swift action enter battle mantra stance, providing +1 insight bonus to AC, move action pick up knife, five foot step action to hopefully be out of the herdsman's reach, standard action lesser animate dead

[CasualViking]

https://i.ibb.co/vkf87W3/Orlob-smtoken.png
Orlob (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482559)
"Such opportunity! Truly do I see the jiggling extrusion of Jubilex in these events!". Orlob had been in the Temple of Watery Death, praying for Jubilex to deliver more prey, more knowledge. And what a bounty! By Orlob's count, there were four humanoids to the southwest, another group to the east, and sounds promising the presence of even more morsels nearby, just beyond the reach of its more accurate senses.

A shiver of power runs through Orlob, as loosens the bonds of space on itself. "Eat the closest things first", its base instincts are screaming. It briefly considers other options, but decides that it should realize present options before pursuing hinted-at opportunities. It appears next to one of the humanoids, and reaches out with a crackling pseudopod.

Swift: 1 fervor to Teleport next to a cultist, Standard: Energy Strike [roll0], [roll1]+[roll2]+[roll3]+ Paralysis, fort DC 16.

[Ason]

Karashotep's head lurches and swivels until it is firmly upright at last, as she shakes off the dregs of the spell that had gripped her mind. She looks up at where the demon was, resentful that her deliverance came at the hands of a beast of chaos, and then she scans the cultists surrounding the pentagram, eyes glaring red with rage at her would-be executioners.

Surveying the other monsters in the circle, the mummy wonders to herself, "The cloaked figures are my foe, that is clear. But the others? Are they tools for my use, or foes for the slaying as well? Irrelevant: my opening tactic remains unchanged." Resolving on an initial course of action, the mummy then reaches into the linen wrappings on her back and pulls forth a thick, black falchion from its coverings.

Now armed once more, the mummy shambles in its funereal armor toward the nearest cultists as she gives them a final chance to surrender. "Well done, child, unleashing me from my tomb. That earns you pardon for your dead master's indiscretions. I may even spare your life, if you say where we are and why I am there."

Swift Action: draw +1 Tomb Blade falchion out from its body wrappings (mummy class feature)

Move Action: move 20' from 18,10 to 15,7

Standard Action: Intimidate check (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/intimidate), DC = 10 + cultist HD + cultist: to demoralize and/or bully cultists into revealing info quickly.

Immediate Action (maybe): Opportunity Attack if opponent ever triggers one: Attack Roll ([roll1]); Damage Roll ([roll]2d4+7+1+3); power attack but penalty negated by furious focus

[Toliudar]

Weft

Throughout the ceremony, the gold-skinned slender figure next to the stands nearly still. It doesn't even look around as the demon-cat appears, feeds, and then turns on the high priest. The face, mask-like and with huge goggles concealing the top half, reveals little of what the figure might be feeling.

My goodness! How dreadfully inefficient. I mean, say what you will about the baatezu, they have a sense of proportion and precaution. The lack of contingencies in place here is most distressingly - messy.

The chest of the nattily-attired figure barely rose or fell until the priest fell and the imprisoning circles fell away. Its arms reached up gently. One hand grew a complicaed serrated blade, while the other remained delicately hand-like.

Assessment is correct. No backup containment in evidence.

Weft monitored the progress of the pink blob adjacent, which seemed to take over the remains of the slaughtered ox and cause it to expand and explode back to life. Intriguing.

The arm that had begun to form the serrated blade seems to shift again, forming instead a kind of flexible loop into which a weight forms. The loop begins to spin around, slowly at first and then faster and faster.

An attempt at collective re-capture is projected to be 78% probable. Evasive action recommended.

It turns to the quartet of cultists watching the golings-on carefully. Weft's voice, calm and cool as ice wine, emerges from somewhere.

"Please excuse me. I really should go to hell now."

Her legs begin pistoning in a strange and distinctly un-human rhythm, and the golden figure moves to the wall in between the lords of envy and the cultists guarding the doors. Once it reached the wall, three of its limbs formed climbing spikes, and it shimmied up the wall.

Swift action: form one of her hands into a sling.
Move action: Move to 39/17, about half way between the cultists at the doors and the lords of envy.
Move action: Climb 20' straight up.


Toliudar (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2484158)
Female, nominally LE (LN Keeper Keeper Racial Class / Psion (Egoist), Level 3/3, Init 3, HP 20/20, DR 1/-, Speed 40' / Climb 20
AC 22, Touch 13, Flat-footed 19, CMD 17, Fort 4, Ref 6, Will 3, CMB +4, Base Attack Bonus 3, Power Points 17/17
Double slings +6/+6 (1d4+1, x2)
Twin Gandasas +4/+4 (2d4+1, x3)
+1 Mithril Chain Shirt (+5 Armor, +3 Dex, +4 Deflect)
Abilities Str 12, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 19, Wis 10, Cha 8
Condition None

[Deadguy]

The woman appeared out of place in this chaos. Her demure figure was naked, yet her hair fell in such a way as to maintain a modesty despite the vulnerable position. The emerald eyes focused as the circle was broken, regaining a sharp brightness. She looked down at her current state before taking in the surroundings.

With a wave of her hand, a fine gown covered what was exposed. While not so gaudy as the trappings of a royal court, the material and design were exquisite in their simple elegance. Her head canted slightly as she recalled all that had just happened and tested the wards with a dainty bare toe that slipped out from the hem of the skirts. Determining if it was safe to move, who held them, and what they were attempting were all important.

Glancing around the chaos, she noted several monsters... and another woman. A princess, according to her own words. But that wasn't important at this moment, the closest monster to her was a hulking brute. It was exactly what she needed. She addressed the twin-heads simultaneously. "It seems we've been captured, but are free. I'm no warrior, but I'll assist you."

As arcane energy wove itself around the giant, altering reality ever so slightly in their favor, the woman couldn't help but giggle. She had either lost her mind or found comedy in the sheer absurdity of her current situation.


⯎ Knowledge: Arcana - [roll0]
⯎ Knowledge: Religion - [roll1]
⯎ Knowledge: Planes - [roll2]

Standard Action: Fortune hex - targeting Gorr-Thrax (reroll 1 ability check / attack / save / skill per round)
Move Action: Cackle hex - extending Fortune


https://i.ibb.co/f8n203Y/gisela-smtoken.png
Gisela
Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482772)

Tiefling | Witch
Player: Deadguy

DEFENSE
⛨ HP 27/27
⛨ AC 18, Touch 13, Flat-footed 15 || CMD 15
Fort 7, Ref 7, Will 9
Speed 30 | Init +9

OFFENSE
Base Attack Bonus +3

MELEE
⯎ Dagger

STATISTICS
Abilities Str 8, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 8, Cha 14

Condition
None

[Triskavanski]

The odd fusion between catfolk and gnoll, stood on the catfolk's hands as easily as if they were actually feet. With an odd grace, Vanessess moved the hybrid towards the closest group of cultists, careful to try and avoid as much of the gore under her as she possibly good.

"Ew.. gross. Seriously need to think about proper decoration and the unsanitary conditions that this place is in for crimes against good interior decorating..

"We punish you with Death!

The last word barked out from a technique inherited by Shezra's uncle 'Fool King', a gnoll bard who didn't quit efollow the whole slaughtering thing... usually. The sound rippled the air around the catgoll, dealing damage to everything around them.



Explosive Ululation (shout)
Prerequisites: Warleader sphere, Diplomacy 1 rank.

You may perform an ear-splitting scream. All targets within the area of effect suffer 1d8 sonic damage, +1d8 per 4 ranks in Diplomacy you possess. In addition, the targets become deafened for 1 round, +1 per 4 ranks in Diplomacy you possess. Targets are allowed a Fortitude save to halve the sonic damage and negate the deafened effect.

You may expend your martial focus when performing an explosive ululation. If you do so, all targets who fail their Fortitude save (as well as unattended objects) are immediately subject to a bull rush combat maneuver performed as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, using your ranks in Diplomacy + your Charisma modifier as your CMB. Targets are pushed directly away from you, and you cannot move as part of this maneuver. There is no size limitation on what creatures you may bull rush in this manner.

You may spend a free action to warn your allies before using this effect protecting them from the shout’s effects, but doing so grants all other creatures a +5 circumstance bonus on their saving throw. This is a supernatural effect.


15 foot radias around Shezra takes [roll0] sonic damage. DC 15 for save

[zlefin]

Kob was going through an ordinary day, looking through the shrubs in the forest for berries and useful herbs; hoping that he might find a rabbit or something to make a decent meal. He was a bit hungry of late, after all it's not like others would help him much; and if they found something larger to hunt, he wouldn't get much of a share for whatever his contribution was to catching it. Then it became a far less ordinary day; he was in the middle of some strange ritual, and he could feel his mind numbed by its power, making it hard to concentrate and figure out what was happening. Still, the basics were apparent enough: a blood magic ritual, and he was one of many to be sacrificed. Sacrifice was a decent way to get power, especially for those had little themselves; he'd considered using it himself in the past, but decided the risks were too high with his limited training and information. A decision well demonstrated by the present situation, one mistake in the ritual, and the apparent cult leader was slain by what they were summoning, and the whole ritual is falling apart.

As his faculties return, he makes a quick assessment in his head; how was he summoned, can he reverse it? one of a number of questions he quickly dismisses, first deal with the immediate threat, then think about the various other questions he will have. Trying to ally with the cultists would not go well; even if he could convince them to consider it, they would surely turn on him as soon as they could. Best to kill them all now before they can manage something. The other summoned beings might be threats, but they're not imminent threats and can be addressed later.

Actions: [I can't read the names on the map, so I can't tell where I am, and the map isn't zooming in well on my system]
Kob will move within 30' of the nearest living cultist, then use destructive blast on them, spending a spell point for extra damage. When choosing where to move exactly, he will favor being near the outer walls, and keeping distance from the other summoned folk.


to hit, ranged touch
[roll0]

damage
[roll1]

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Gorr-Thrax

Gorr-Thrax gives his heads a shake. He appeared to be momentarily confused.

Gorr observes "Dis ain't ma forest. What in the 11 hells.."

Thrax retorts "Seems the demon has given us a tactical distraction. Kill these fools quickly, who ever they are and feed them to the cube thing."

Gorr says "well duh!" Gorr looks over towards the Lady to his right. "Don't worry NICELADY just stay behind me."



Gorr-Thrax prods towards the closest altar and swings his double axe in a loop at the puny humans.





Move action : Gorr-Thrax will head 3-4 squares south east, so he can reach 2 enemies.


Standard attack : use maneuver 'swift claws' (make 2 attacks, no TWF penalites)


Use the fortune hex from Gisela on the first attack he makes and switch targets if he is lucky enough to drop one.


Attack 1: Better of [roll0] and [roll1]
Damage 1: [roll2]

Attack 2: [roll3]
Damage 2: [roll4]


Status:

HP: 37
AC: 21
Stance: Inner Sphere stance
Fortune hex (expended)

[Ancient]

Round 0

Hoja de Sangre

The Drider’s touch feels so alive. Your sense delight at this first connection as you feel the link grow. Now, What to do with it?

OOC: You can add an effect with the link, what do you want to do?

Tyrol

You weave beautiful moonlight near the doorway, trapping most of the cultist’s banging on the door. While you could not completely enclose them all, their panic seems to be doing most of the work for you, as they clamor in fear and beat more frantically on the door.

Keno

You claim your new body, and it feels strong. Your scream of triumph seems to make quite an impression. The cultists in the shrine before you clamor in fear.

Lyra

The group before you, the gladiators of Wrath, look like capable warriors, if their heaving well muscled chests are any indication. The largest, a half-orc, the one who kicked his opponent into the circle, glances from side to side and then eyes you up and down.

“Why would we follow you?”

The large youth that was imprisoned next to you moves to the flank and drops one of the gladiators with an eldritch blast. They seem to think the youth is one of yours, and seem to reconsider.

"We listening"

Chesstra

The fallen priest rises under you command, smoking slightly from his previous wounds. The headsman turns his attention to his newly risen “friend”. Meanwhile, the dagger pulses with life in your grasp.

Orlob

Such fragile things, these fleshlings. Your pseudopod caresses the human, and it screams and bleeds in a most satisfying manner before collapsiing, a fitting tribute to Juiblex. A dead thing next to you seems to be assisting.

Karashotep

You begin your parlay with the Gluttons. They mewling, one begins to speak, when the giant cube of protoplasm pops into existence nearby and lashes out at one with a crackling pseudopod. This triggers a rout, to cut one of the cultist down in disgust as it tries desperately to flee.

OOC: Consider the Gluttons, well shaken

Weft

You have gained the high ground. The ceiling seems quite solid now, the portal to the Abyss appears closed.

Make a perception check please

Gisela

The giant seems to appreciate your gesture, it strides forth and pastes a cultist in a one two combination.

Shezzra/Vanessa

Your ulation seems effective, the cultists around you reel in agony, some more than others, they appear all wounded, some more than others.

Kob

You rush forward as the woman next to you seems to begin a parlay. You unleash a destructive blast that strikes a bare-chested gladiator squarely in the torso. As the sizzling body hits the floor, the remaining gladiators seem to take the lady’s offer more seriously.

Gorr-Thrax

Emboldened by the nice lady’s hex, you stride confidently forward and engage the lead cultist. You first strike lands solidly, but is not quite enough to finish him, judging by the screams. The backswing sends his head skittering across the floor.

END ROUND 0

[Ancient]

Round 1 The Cultists Strike Back?

The Headsman - Hoja and Chesstra

Chesstra commands the freshly slain High Priest to rise, and the mangled corpse eagerly obeys, lurching to its feet with a hissing gasp. The heavily muscled headsman in front of Chesstra (and Hoja) seems to swell with outrage

“BLASPHEMY! THIS IS THE PRICE OF YOUR WEAKNESS, BELLOK!”

The executioner swings his axe with an unnatural ease and splits Chesstra’s newly minted minion in twain.

Team Door Cultists

Startled by the gleaming moonbeam bridge, the mob at the door pounds frantically at the heavy doors. They so some, but little damage.

Team Envy Cultists - Shezra and Tyrol

Harmed by the ear splitting ulation of Shezra, the Envy Cultists run towards the door.

OOC: Shezzra gets 2 and Tyrol get 1 opportunity attacks at the fleeing cultists.

Team Lust Cultists - Gisela and Gorr-Thrax

The scantily clad cultists flee, skirting their adversaries in a circumspect route to the door.

OOC: Gorr-Thrax, 1 attack of opportunity

Team Wrath - Lyra and Kob

The Gladiators of Wrath patiently wait to hear Lyra’s proposal, but their nerve is eroding with the general panic.

Team Gluttony - Karashotep and Orlob

The two remaining plump Gluttons cower before you.

Please! Please! Spare us!

Team Avarice - Weft and Keno

The cultist seem strangely concerned that you are going to rob them. Two of them are huddled around the mound of equipment and coins at the shrine, while two go to flank the doom ox. Unfortunately, they misjudge the huge reach of the rotten bovine, and wander too close. A snap of the horns, and a mangled cultist is thrown through the air. The remaining flanker swipes feebly at the carcass, missing.

"GET AWAY! IT'S ALL OURS!"

Sorry Keno, I made your AoO for you, had to determine if they would slip past your reach from a sneak attack

END ROUND 1 TEAM CULTISTS, YOUR MOVE!

[Toliudar]

Weft

The gold-skinned figure clambers up on the wall, and then its bones twist and turn in an elegant and hard-to-follow dance that ends with it 'sitting' on the wall, facing out into the room, with its legs splayed like a grasshopper's.

The figure's second hand, which had been gripping the wall, now also forms a loop. Stones drop into the loops from somewhere in the figure's body. Holding its arms out from the wall, the two forearms begin to spin in a distinctly improbable manner, then release their charges toward two of the cultists at the main doors.

Calling down to the, er, newly animate cow below, Weft seeks for appropriate language.

"Ah, excuse me? Mister ox? Perhaps we can work together to clear a path out through those doors."

Perception: [roll0]

Swift action: form her second hand into a sling.
Full round action: full attack the nearest door-cultist with her slings. The Keeper Sentry feat specifies that you can "reload such weapons without problem even though your hands are transformed, if you have ammo available", so I'm taking that to mean that I can reload as a free action. If that's not your understanding, I can form a bow instead, but I like the visual of the dual slings that somehow drop sling bullets through her arms into the waiting pouches.

Left Arm Attack: [roll1] Bludgeoning Damage: [roll2]
Right Arm Attack: [roll3] Bludgeoning Damage: [roll4]

[Deadguy]

Gisela continued to giggle, covering her mouth with her hand as the giant smashed the nearly naked Lust cultists. It was a fitting end for bringing her into this against her will and so distastefully presented. She spoke again between the fits of laughter. "How deft you are with the blade! I picked my partner well."

The giant could feel the twisting of fate renewed once more, as the witch began to weave an incantation. An explosion of webbing, reminiscent of a widow's nest to those most familiar with arachnids, erupted into existence to snare the cultists in place for his / their ease of disposal.


Move Action: Cackle hex - extending Fortune on Gorr-Thrax
Standard Action: Cast Web on Lust cultists - center so the edge is their squares.


https://i.ibb.co/f8n203Y/gisela-smtoken.png
Gisela
Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482772)

Tiefling | Witch
Player: Deadguy

DEFENSE
⛨ HP 27/27
⛨ AC 18, Touch 13, Flat-footed 15 || CMD 15
Fort 7, Ref 7, Will 9
Speed 30 | Init +9

OFFENSE
Base Attack Bonus +3

MELEE
⯎ Dagger

STATISTICS
Abilities Str 8, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 8, Cha 14

Condition
None

[Spore]

https://i.imgur.com/PRy37XF.jpg
Tyrol Cheddar the Grate; the Cheesy Grin Cat (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482236)
Cheshire Cat Oracle
AC: 15 (19) HP: 24/24
touch: 15, ff: 11 (15), CMD: 13
Conditions: Mage Armor (3h), Moonlight Bridge (30 ft. semicircle), Partial Invisibility (grinning face, 20% miss chance)


Tyrol's body vanishes from sight as the small striped cat smiles and laughs at the panic of the cultists that wanted to murder them just seconds ago. Why are you afraid? You're not the ones in a room with a demon. Tyrol asks before venturing casually into the middle of the ritual circle.


Activate partial invisibility and venture 30 ft. into the center of the circle.

[Armonia13]

The hilt of the dagger vibrates softly in the drider's hand, almost happily as the undead priest is cut in twain. A strange voice, deep but smooth, suddenly echoes into the mind of Chesstra. "A lovely body....so full of life! Yes...I think you'll do nicely......" A slight pain, uncontrollable twitching, as Chesstra's body suddenly moves without her say. The dagger in her hand ripples and grows, glowing a dull blood red as it extends into a long, gilded spear, blades branching off like leaves on a flower. "A fine weapon to stick a pig, wouldn't you agree?" With both hands now on Hoja, Chesstra thrusts her new weapon at the executioner.


Since Chesstra accepted the Blood Control, I'll spend 1 sp to maintain w/o concentration for 2 hours
Free action to transform into an Elven Branched Spear
Using 10ft, I attack the executioner with a Bloodied Exsanguinating Strike.
[roll0] subtract 4 if I can't use Chesstra's Proficiency to make the attack.
If successful; deal [roll1] establish Blood Control on executioner, deal 2+1 bleed damage, and Absorb Blood to give Chesstra 3 temporary HP

[Cassus]

Keno stretched, feeling the unfamiliar musculature of the quadruped flexing around him. He'd never done this before-- animated a corpse, certainly, but he'd always watched from a safe distance before.

Now he peered down on the cultists from the height of a decent-sized house, and he found the feeling rather enjoyable. He'd need to do this more often!
The devil above was talking about getting out the door. Hmm... He scanned the room.
The creature with slingshot arms heard a mental voice. There is a wall of energy across those doors; it would take too long to break. Your implied plan to leave is a good one, though. Breaking the caster will just be easier. Tell me more; I will meanwhile stretch my legs.

Yes. Negotiating with the cultists was insane with so many unknowns. You needed a position of strength to negotiate, and...
Alright, honestly? Keno admitted in the privacy of the ox's skull that he was just REALLY made about losing his face.

Rationalization aside, exfiltrating and regrouping definitely seemed like a much better idea. And hey, either a really competent disguise artist or an undeniably Lawful creature was thinking the same way!

Keno lowered his head to keep his horns from catching on the ceiling. He glowered at the flailing cultist nearby. Then, with another enormous bellow and a series of wet crunches, "Mr. Ox" began to charge. His hooves slammed into the flailing cultists as they ran about the room, breaking bones everywhere they touched.

As a full-round action, Trampling in a curve that sweeps through the remains of Avarice, curves around to the Envy people running towards the door, then continues through the other fleeting cultists. I'd give an exact path, but the map is on round 1, so instead just move the Huge (15' wide) undead ox along the 80' line (it's fully shapeable) that hits the most enemies without taking an attack of opportunity from the axe man or stepping in the web or stepping on a PC.
All creatures that he moves through take [roll0] damage. They either get an attack of opportunity with a -4 penalty in reply (so basically they have to hit AC 23) or they can make a Reflex save (DC 23) for half damage from the trample as they try to dive out of the way.
Then as a swift action reset Dampening Field.

[QuadraticGish]

Lyra nods to the gladiators. "Would you all kindly sit aside until we resolve..."

She turns her head to glance at the mayhem happening behind her before turning back.

"Whatever that is going on behind me. It will be easier to talk when we do not have such a distraction." she says with a smile.

Diplomacy roll if necessary: [roll0]

[Ason]

Karashotep's eyes glare at the sniveling Gluttons before her. As she advances and swings her falchion at one of the cultists, the mummy hisses her demands a second time, "Thou hast not answered my question! Where am I?! Any why?! Answer or die!"


I forgot that I intended for Kara to speak with thees and thous as a passive way to indicate she's from a far older time. I'll correct that going forward.

Move Action: move toward one of the cultists as needed

Standard Action: Attack Action with Power Attack (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/power-attack-combat) (Furious Focus (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/furious-focus-combat) negates to-hit penalty)

Attack Roll: [roll0]
Damage Roll: [roll1]
Bone-Breaker Brutal Strike (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/berserker#toc27): if attack roll hits, target is battered (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/using-spheres-of-might#toc9) (-2 CMD, can't make AoOs against combat maneuvers) and gets -1 to all attack and damage rolls until end of Kara's next turn

[zlefin]

Kob pauses a moment to think quickly; this odd one trying to negotiate in the midst of a battle/sacrifice seems naive. Who would seriously try to negotiate in a situation such as this? Then again, they're doing a lot of talking, and the gladiators aren't moving, perhaps it's some sort of mind magic.
While fighting is better than dying, he'd still rather not take on those gladiators in a fight if it can be avoided, as he's really not that tough himself. Since they seem inactive for now, he'll let this other summoned being deal with them; if they die they've proven themselves a naive fool, if they live then they knew what they were doing.

Actions:
Kob will head toward the nearest group of cultists other than the gladiators that looks to still be a threat (ie he'll ignore ones that are dead/dying/being slaughtered by someone else). He'll attack if in range, if there isn't one in range then he'll focus on examining the ritual carvings for useful information about how it works and where best to disrupt it.

He'll also keep an eye out for any weapons dropped by dead cultists nearby (or otherwise available), as on a future turn he may wish to pick one up.


If he's within the 30' to use destructive blast, then that
[roll0]
[roll1]

if not, then the check to examine the ritual:
[roll2]
with either a +7 from Knowledge Arcane, or a +9 from spellcraft, depending on which would be applicable here.

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Gorr-Thrax

Gorr-Thrax swings his axe wildly trying to catch one of the fleeing cultists as they flee.

"Kill them all and let none live to repeat this stupidity!" Thrax shouts pointing to the crowd gathering at the door.


"Kill the unarmed semi-naked people first - hahahaa! Its like stabbing fish in a barrel ! Hahahha Die human scum!" The best kind of enemies! Gorr instead points to fleeing cultists.


Thrax frowns deeply and begins to object and motion towards the door with 'his' arm. When suddenly their shared body charges towards the fleeing humans - interrupting his train of thought. Gorr-Thrax waves his axe around like a frenzied maniac.


"Blood for the demon gods! " He shouts at the top of his lungs.








AoO :
Attack : [roll0]
Damage : [roll1]


Gorr-Thrax will charge towards the nearest (preferably) unarmed enemy.

Charge: [roll2] (+8 and +2 from charging) OR Fortune Hex re-roll [roll3]
Damage: [roll4]





Status:

HP: 37
AC: 19 (21-2 from charging)
Stance: Inner Sphere stance
Fortune hex (expended)

[Triskavanski]

Shezra/Vanessa

Shezra take a swipe at one of the cultists, though they stand their a bit perplexed after they run away. "Really. Summonings and sarcrifices. But..." "You're not prepared to die for the fung shway?

Shezra grabs a bottle of wine, and two cups from the shrine, "Whatever at least" "This looks like it can compensate."

[CasualViking]

https://i.ibb.co/vkf87W3/Orlob-smtoken.png
Orlob (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482559)
Orlob's voice vibrates in a warbling, deep bass register, right next to Karashotep. "You are very dry, walker. Not like these other walkers. Why is that?"

It casually stretches out another crackling pseudopod at one of the mewling figures.

[roll0], Damage - 18

[Ancient]

Round 1 Players

Weft

The dead quadruped seems amicable to your plan, and surprisingly intellectual. You can’t quite be sure, but you registered an anomaly in your optics, something that possibly resembled batwings, off in a corner of a ceiling buttress obscured by shadows. Meanwhile, your slings strike true, the impacts causing the nearest cultist to coil in pain and look around puzzled.

OOC: Your sling style interpretation is fine, I am all about a cool visual.

Gisela

Your spell takes hold, a beautiful web erupts in the chamber, trapping two of the Lust Cultists. As the webbing binds them, they writhe and struggle in...suggestive manners, apparently the restraint is something they find appealing.

Tyrol

You saunter towards the center of the circle. No demon to be seen, just a huge axe wielding maniac in a hood chopping an undead priest in half, quite boring really. A spider lady is nearby, her wicked looking dagger just changed into a pretty spear.

OOC: Perception check if you please.

Hoja

You stretch and revel in your pretty new form. Urging your new playmate forward, you strike at the maniac in front of you. Your strike is true, you sink into the brute and begin to drink, transferring the sweet vitality to your wielder. You are so caught up in the sensation you are slow to withdraw, and the hulk yells in rage and grabs your shaft, trapping you in the wound.

OOC: You are grappled. Opposed Strength to strike again, though you can automatically bleed him every round.

Keno

Your new body is an engine of destruction, you tear a path through the temple of greed and find a gap in the in moonlight bridge trapping the cultist by the door. You squeeze your bulk through the breach, and the cultist have nowhere to run. Bellowing, crunching and the spatter of blood on a moonlight bridge follow.

OOC: Your doom charge ends in the corner near the door.

Lyra

The gladiator’s look wary, but are reassured by your words. They begin attending the many cuts they received during ritual, keeping a watchful eye on the carnage.

Karashotep

“Where…? What…? Arrrgh!” The lead Glutton feels Karashoteps impatience and her blade slices open it’s prodigious belly, spilling entrails on the floor.

“Veldrath! Veldrath!” The last survivor is quick to say. “You are in the Veldrath Valley!”
The groveling continues. “Please, spare me, ancient one!”

You may feel mercy for this pathetic mortal, but your amorphous ally doe not, a crackling pseudopod ends his mewls for mercy.

Kob

The behaviour of the gladiators seems puzzling, but they don’t appear an immediate threat. The cultists seem primarily armed with daggers, wavy bladed affairs that seem more decorative and intimidating than practical. You direct your attention towards the center of the chamber where the ritual occurred. You don’t immediately recognize any of the symbology involved, but it definitely looks Abyssal. A huge man is brandishing a large axe at another captive, an elf arachnid hybrid that you had seen dragged up to the altar earlier. You snap off another blast at the headsman, and are rewarded with a satisfying sizzling wound in the man’s shoulder. If seems to be enough of a distraction for the spider elf to wrench her weapon free of the man’s grasp and plunge it into his chest.

Gorr-Thrax

Another sensualist tries to flee the area, and you cut them down handily, your first strike hamstrings them, and the follow up drops them into a wet pile. The witch has trapped two more in a web.

Shezzra/Vanessa

The rout fully in effect, you savor the anarchy and watch the hapless envy cultists flee, only to be cut off by the moonlight barrier/bridge. This gives them an excellent view of the carnage that ensues when a huge undead ox squeezes into the gap in the barrier and tramples the cultists beating on the door in a gore fest that resembles bizarrely like someone squeezes a tube of tooth polish. The four Envy cultists seem to have enough, they turn to you and seem to be offering a formal surrender.

“We wish to parlay the terms of our surrender…”

Disappointing, but the wine at least, is quite good.


Orlob

The last fleshbag makes throat sounds about the “Veldrath Valley”, before your pseudopod caresses it. It begins to dissolve noisily in a heap. There are many nutrients to consume.

Chesstra

The weapon you have gained is full of suprises. First it metamorphs into a fine branched spear, and virtually leaps at your hulking opponent, burying itself into his flesh. As it does so, you are filled with an elating sense of vitality, as if the very lifeforce of the brute was flowing out of the wound and into yourself. The berserker grabs the spear, pinning it in the very wound while it draws back his huge axe, somewhat awkwardly one-handed. The sensation of the lifeflow is almost overwhelming in the ecstacy it brings you. Fortunately, you compose your will and prove eight telekinetically reinforced legs are better than one gigantic arm, wrenching the spear free of the berserker. An eldritch bolt flies into the scrum from behind you, wounding the headsman in the shoulder and giving you an opening. You thrust, plunging the spear into the executioner’s chest, killing him.

[Spore]

https://i.imgur.com/PRy37XF.jpg
Tyrol Cheddar the Grate; the Cheesy Grin Cat (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482236)
Cheshire Cat Oracle
AC: 15 (19) HP: 24/24
touch: 15, ff: 11 (15), CMD: 13
Conditions: Mage Armor (3h), Moonlight Bridge (30 ft. semicircle)

Cheddar laughs at the situation, but is seemingly bored. The creature's smile vanishes too, and if it had found no exit, it wouldn't show that it was trapped with you.

[zlefin]

Once the mopup ends; Kob will speak loudly, so that all may hear him if they wish to.

"Fellow summoned; while some of us might not have common cause in a more typical situation, here we do. I propose a truce and alliance between us all, at least for now. While it's unlikely there are more cultists within this compound; we know nothing of the surrounding area. Are there tribes that will seek these caves? Local villages that might send a militia? Adventurers seeking treasure or the deaths of our kind? Until we know more, there is a risk of being slaughtered by a superior force; so working together for now seems sensible.

I assume all of us here cannot easily return to where we came from, or else they will promptly do so. I recommend the following:

First, we loot this place to better equip ourselves.
Second, we explore the rest of this cave and anything right outside for immediate threats.

Once that and any other immediate goals are done, we can move onto longer term ones. I would like to hunt if the local area is suitable; I am suspicious that this ritual might have tainted the meat of the cultists, so I would rather not eat them myself if other food can be found.

Study of the rituals used here may yield a way to reverse the summoning and return us.

Scouting the larger area for villages, towns, nations, and any forces of note. As well as sources of food and water.

If we are on the same world, I would like to return to my home, but that would require stockpiling supplies for what would surely be a very long journey, and one on a path I do not know.

[Ason]

https://i.imgur.com/NHx56pg.png

Karashotep flicks cultist blood off her falchion and looks over at the gelatinous cube that somehow manages to speak to her. She rasps out an answer: "I am a mummified queen. The nutrients thy kind desire long ago withered from my flesh: all my treacherous embalmers left me with are my will and my wrath. I care not for the flesh of the living, so feast on them as thou wilt, ooze. If thou and I may strike a covenant of truce, methinks there are more of these fools outside we must deal with soon."

As the battle winds down and the monsters begin gathering to discuss strategy, Karashotep checks her gear while listening patiently to the hill giant. "Thy initial plan is sound. Dawdling is foolish until we know our summoners are fully dealt with. However, I have no intention of returning home. These fools have freed me from a would-be eternal prison, and I intend to resume in undeath the conquests I was denied in life."

Gesturing at the gelatinous cube, Kara offers, "Before the ooze devoured him, I coerced one of the churls into stating we are in 'Veldrath Valley'. While thy and mine ultimate ends may differ, for now the means to those ends align. I consent to thy stratagem."

Knowledge (Georgraphy) check to see if Karashotep knows anything about Veldrath Valley. [roll0], max result is 10 due to untrained skill.

[QuadraticGish]

After having finally calmed down who she can, the princess turned to Kob and listened silently to his words. One he finally finished, the dragoness cleared her throat and spoke gently.

"I Lyra, Princess of the Burning Blood, echo your sentiment for forming an alliance against the unknown. We can only be strong by banding together."

She then glances towards the remaining cultists.

"Left to me, I believe i can make these cultists act more cohesively and work as a backbone for our labor and maybe monetary needs. I also have a way with words and look more... favorable to the average villager. While I too, have a desire to return home I would not dare make the trek until it would be known that the path is known and safe."

[CasualViking]

https://i.ibb.co/vkf87W3/Orlob-smtoken.png
Orlob (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482559)
"We will work together. I will not eat you. There is much to study here. I am Orlob", the cube warbles.

It casually rolls over a corpse, dissolving meat and bones but keeping a particularly shiny piece of armor intact.

[Toliudar]

Weft

The gold-skinned figure fires bullet after bullet into the increasingly despondent cultists. When Kob and Karashotep begin speaking of working together, Weft raises an arm in agreement. Quickly, the flopping band at the end of the arm reforms into a hand.''

"I'm in as well. Call me Weft. I'll check on those doors."

The other hand also becomes a hand again, and Weft scurries down the wall. She picks her way nimbly between the remains of cultists in order to get closer to the main exit.

IS there an energy field in front of the door? Are they trapped or locked? Perception: [roll0]

[CasualViking]

https://i.ibb.co/vkf87W3/Orlob-smtoken.png
Orlob (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482559)
Orlob circles the chamber to get a sense of dimensions, and see if there is any interesting writing on the walls. As it comes across the body of the high priest, it eats his arms off to get at the shiny trinkets he wears, and stores those inside itself as well.

[Cassus]

The undead ox smashed its way through the mob of cultists behind the bridge of moonlight. The combination of shimmering moonbeams and arterial spray created a translucent, delicately patterned screen not unlike what might be used for changing.

Behind that screen, Keno ground his large, flat teeth. The glasses-thing had wandered off without responding. Perhaps it could not hear telepathy? He'd need to work on that, then. A single fist-sized glowing green eye peered around the room, looking for something...

Outside, Gisela might have felt the focused attention of the eye on her through one of the gaps in the shimmering crimson screen.

Behind the screen, there was a squelching, popping sound not unlike air bubbles being forced out of a custard bag as the ox's torso bent inwards, collapsing down to a more natural size before using sudden arm-like protrusions to pick up various bits of armor from the floor and shove them into its chest cavity... then grab a human-sized feathered hat and balance it on its head at a jaunty angle. There! Now drop the arms. A few tweaks to the voicebox, anddd...

A much smaller cow, now wearing a hat but still with glowing lines of green ichor just below the surface of its skin, stepped out from behind the barrier and looked around the room. It... gave a very good rendition of a humanoid smile that absolutely did not make sense given the normal shape of a cow's face.
In a deep baritone voice, it said, "Greetings, I am Keno. Certainly, no reason to fight any of you if you don't want." It began to walk through the room slowly, various small objects floating out of the general carnage and landing inside its reinforced "storage chest" with a clink. "So... anyone know what Veldrath Valley is?" A pause, another clink. "And are we just splitting the loot evenly or does someone have a more complicated system they're going to argue for?"

[Deadguy]

The completely normal appearing woman stopped her incessant cackling and cleared her throat lightly as others made their introductions.

"My name is Gisela, a pleasure to meet each of you. It is quite an interesting gathering required for their ritual."

She dipped her head slightly to the group as she tried to recall any information on the place, Veldrath Valley, that Karashotep made mention of.


Knowledge: Local - [roll0]
Knowledge: Geography - [roll1]



https://i.ibb.co/f8n203Y/gisela-smtoken.png
Gisela
Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482772)

Tiefling | Witch
Player: Deadguy

DEFENSE
⛨ HP 27/27
⛨ AC 18, Touch 13, Flat-footed 15 || CMD 15
Fort 7, Ref 7, Will 9
Speed 30 | Init +9

OFFENSE
Base Attack Bonus +3

MELEE
⯎ Dagger

STATISTICS
Abilities Str 8, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 8, Cha 14

Condition
None

[Lord Foul]

Chesstra glowers at the slime for taking the slime for delibritly grabbing at the magical items of the priest. She had been examining the marvelous spear, or dagger. Whichever one, it was clearly the greatest loot from this encounter. Let them bicker over the rest. "I am Chesstra Tlin'orzzai. Honored priestess of the great goddess, Lolth the spider Queen. May her webs be ever full. I will work with you, but should any of you betray me I will not hesitate to destroy you." She warns

[Armonia13]

Hoja revels in the blood as it spills over its blades, the red ichor spiraling along its shaft to feed its new wielder. Such a lovely sensation, Hoja almost doesn't notice the slime approach the fallen bloodsack.


"Such a fine warrior.... I am the Blade of Blood, though I prefer Hoja de Sanguine. I do hope you'll continue to feed me, as it would sadden me to have to claim a lesser being for myself.

The long spear retracts back into a dagger, clearly sated for the moment. It extends its gaze around the room, taking in the sight of the other monsters, blissfully enjoying the gruesome carnage many of them are covered in.

[QuadraticGish]

In the back of her mind, Lyra could only feel annoyance at some of these people, but nonetheless they were willing to cooperate. She turns to the gladiator.

"Please begin gathering the corpses and disposing of them after we take everything of value." she asks of them

She then begins scourging around the bodies herself. She began recovering pieces of armor- armor that she hopefully would not have to use, but Lyra wasn't going to bet on it. From there, she noticed the jewelry and words of her father echoed into her mind. The princess recalled what her father said about beginning a horde. She didn't want to start one in this foreign land, but she needed to leverage every advantage she could get. So, Lyra began eating various bits of jewelry she found on the bodies as she was going through them. Less preferable than actual food, but it has to be done so she can begin bonding with treasure.

[Triskavanski]

Shezra and Vanessesa lounge a little, taking a break off both their hands. "I'm Shezra," said the gnoll half of the two headed creature "And I'm Vanessa. We're not sure about.. " "Our situation or why we're like this. "But what are we going to do about those cultists? They..""Wish to submit to us."

They sat there, testing the wine, "If we need to, I can work at setting up some traps and defenses around places. Though I'm not too good at direct conflict." "For me, I'm not as good at direct conflict either, but I'm a little better. I'm more into tactics and war."

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Gorr-Thrax


Gorr-Thrax continues to hack down any of the living cultists not on 'his side'. He was clearly still upset at being kidnapped. "We are Gorr-Thrax." he says simply. While the others begin stripping the bodies, Gorr-thrax turns towards the door and examines it. He seemed far more concerned with getting out then grabbing bobbles.

[Ancient]

Tyrol

As the laughter of the big cat fades, so too does the soft glow of the moonlight bridge.

OOC: Farewell and good luck.

Kob

Your words seem favorable, but somehow, you have a strange sense about you that this is truly another world, it seems almost the same, but something is off.

Karashotep

The Veldrath Valley is unfamiliar to you.

Lyra

The gladiators form up apprehensively behind you, they look very...respectful of your companions. Following your orders, they dutifully stack the bodies on the southern edge of the chamber. What valuables they find are put into two chests which are slung on poles, ready to travel.

Orlob

You continue “tidying up”. The chamber is quite large, some 200 feet in diameter. The runes carved in the wall remind you of the droll stylism of dwarves, though no dialect you are familiar with. Your absorption of the priest’s bracers is favorable, you feel somewhat more robust.

Weft

Your inspection of the doors shows no traps or locks, but it does appeared barred, from the other side.

Keno

Your dressing screen quietly winks out behind you.

Gisela

The Veldrath Valley does not sound familiar to you.

Shezzra/Vanessa

The four cultists that submitted to you seem quite cowed, if you have no immediate use for them, they help the gladiators move bodies, gather loot and refresh your wine.

Gorr-Thrax

The survivors of the initial assault seem well submitted to you and your “allies”, they give a wide berth, obviously respectful of your prowess. The door is being inspected by your golden comrade as well. It appears barred, soaked in gore and slightly damaged by the bizarre zombie ox’s charge.

[Toliudar]

Weft

As the others get organized, take slaves or otherwise assert dominance over their new environment, Weft completes her assessment of the doors. Her head turns to address the room, not quite causing her shoulders to turn with it.

"Excuse me! The doors are safe to open, but have been barred from the other side. Perhaps someone in the cult had less than complete faith in the capabilities of the leaders in this room. Ah, Orlob, is it? Do you think that you could either dissolve a door or squeeze part of yourself through to lift the bar from the other side?"

Acting on her own suggestion, Weft forms her left hand into an exceedingly thin blade and attempts to insert it in between the doors, low down, so as to lift a bar as she pushes upward.

[CasualViking]

https://i.ibb.co/vkf87W3/Orlob-smtoken.png
Orlob (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482559)
"Remove the door? Yes. I will". Orlob presses itself against the door, which starts dissolving rapidly.

3d6 per round, ignoring up to hardness 15, should make quick work of a door.

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Gorr-Thrax

Gorr-Thrax pulls an arm back as if to bash the door.

Thrax says "Hold up you big oaf. This calls for finesse."

Gorr-Thrax steps back to give the blob room to work, but remains close and 'ready' in case more combatants appear on the otherside.

[QuadraticGish]

"Please set the chests down relatively close to the door and be ready to help in case we face trouble when the door is defeated." she asks of the gladiators.

After belaying her order, Lyra herself moves to sit on one of the chests and cautiously wait.

The gladiators should sit the chests close enough to the door that Lyra can affect most people at the door with Resilient Momentum, which is a 30ft radius. Lyra is readying a standard action to cast Resilient momentum if something on the other side tries to attack. If it does go off, [roll0] Fort Save vs DC 12 painful magic sickness. After the save, anyone within 30 feet can spent a point out of the momentum pool when hit to reduce damage by 4. Momentum Pool: 6/6 "Take care!"

[Ancient]

Weft's appendages locate the bar, but it the bar does not yield to your probing. Orlob's digestive processes are much more effective, and make short work of the bar, and part of the doors (It will need to be repaired if you ever want to close them again). Opening the doors, you see the bodies of two cultists, their bodies riddled with crossbow bolts. It appears someone had chained the bar and shimmed the doors from the outside. A short passage leads to a ten foot "T" intersection, with corridors going left and right.

[Toliudar]

Weft

The slender gold skinned figure nods.

"Efficient. Bravo, Orlob."

Ignoring the dead cultists, she formed one hand into the flexible pouch again, and strolled along the ceiling of the passage to find out more of what lies ahead down each arm of the passage.

Perception: [roll0]

[QuadraticGish]

"Very good." the princess compliments.

Lyra then looks toward her men.

"Please pick up the chests and follow behind the group. I'm sure my form resting on the chest wouldn't slow down able bodied men like you in the slightest."

Lyra will be making a perception check as she herself gets sights of the hallway. Perception: [roll0]

[zlefin]

Having gathered some decent gear; Kob will equip it, and switch weapons to the bow.
It's quite clear that some of these people are far sturdier and tougher than he is; so he'll let other take the lead on choosing paths to check out. Kob will follow ready to provide support.

Also, I put down an invigorating totem at the doorway.

"This magic provide us a small amount of protection, so long as we're within about 50 feet of it. I can place it again easily, if we choose to move forward slowly."

So while we're peeking around corners, or opening doors and such; I place an invigorating totem to protect us in case we find something. Just using concentration to maintain it, so there's no spell point cost. Given a couple rounds to build up, it'll mean having 2 temp hp for each of us.

[Lord Foul]

Hoja revels in the blood as it spills over its blades, the red ichor spiraling along its shaft to feed its new wielder. Such a lovely sensation, Hoja almost doesn't notice the slime approach the fallen bloodsack.


"Such a fine warrior.... I am the Blade of Blood, though I prefer Hoja de Sanguine. I do hope you'll continue to feed me, as it would sadden me to have to claim a lesser being for myself.

The long spear retracts back into a dagger, clearly sated for the moment. It extends its gaze around the room, taking in the sight of the other monsters, blissfully enjoying the gruesome carnage many of them are covered in.

Chesstra projects firmly towards the blade You do not have to worry about lesser beings. My form was crafted in the image of the goddess, my will and strength place me well above lesser wielders

Chesstra grabs some of the wine the cultists we're offering to the one that cowed them for herself before taking point on exiting the door, her telekinesis providing a small sheen of protection around herself.

[Ancient]

You all feel invigorated by the magic of Kob's totem. Peering to the right, the passage seems to slope downward, turning left some 60 feet distant. The right passage feels noticeably cooler. The left corridor has 2 doors, on south, one north, along its 120 foot expanse before turning right. It slopes upwards. A faint flickering of light can be seen from the end of the right passage.

[Ason]

https://i.imgur.com/NHx56pg.png

As the others introduce themselves and set about opening the door, the mummified warrior takes in the situation and her newfound comrades. "Thou may call me Karashotep. It is not my full title, but an active raid like this calls for less ceremony, so that shall suffice for now."

As Orlob works on the door, Karashotep gathers what equipment she can from the cultists. When the barrier at last falls, the mummy queen slowly clomps behind the front line through the door. Gesturing at the dim glow of light in the cooler, right-hand passage, she offers, "I know not where the other paths lead, but freedom or foes must be there. Let us seize the gates of our enemy, if we can."

However, the warrior-queen herself does not lead the way, instead preferring a lighter and less noisy-walking monster brave whatever path the party ultimately selects.

She's a heavily armored frontliner, so while she's happy to jump into the fray, if we want any semblance of stealth Kara is going to hang near the back until it's showtime.

[QuadraticGish]

Lyra speaks up from atop of the chest being carried. "I can part with this blessing; hopefully we will not need it."

By chanting and burning her blood away, she creates a visible aura around herself stretching out before it fades.

Fort Save vs DC 12 painful magic sickness. [roll0]

Momentum pool is established. Any allies within 30 when they take damage can spend a point from the pool as a free action to reduce damage by 4.
SP: 9/10
Momentum Pool: 6/6; lasts 2 hours.

[zlefin]

Kob ponders the choices for a moment.

We should question the ...
Kob pauses for a moment, pondering what term best to use to describe the cultists; captives? survivors? slaves? The exact status of those who had been spared was uncertain, but they seemed to be under the command of some of the other fellow monsters, so one would not want to insult them.
survivors. Surely they must know something of the layout of this place, even if only the path they took to enter the chamber. Aside from their info, I favor paths that lead up, as they seem likelier to lead to an exit. Does sunlight pose a risk for any of us? It does not for me.

[CasualViking]

https://i.ibb.co/vkf87W3/Orlob-smtoken.png
Orlob (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482559)
"No. See everything. Take everything". Orlob turns transparent, and stats making its way slowly down the right corridor, the one sloping downwards.

[roll0], no cover required.

[Toliudar]

Weft

At the intersection, Weft steps to the side to let Orlob past, because to do otherwise seemed both unnecessarily obstructive and plain suicide. Instead, she walks calmly after the transparent cube along the ceiling, seeming to have no difficulty in tracking Orlob even in this state.

[Triskavanski]

Shezra and Vanessa get up after a minute of sitting there, this time with Shezra using her hands to 'walk' well the catfolk Vanessea was above. "Well sneaking is a bit of what..""We'll need to do, we suppose. Though we don't.."have the ability of the cube to nearly vanish like that."

[Techwarrior]

Namara stretches their wings, testing them against the resistance of the plane they currently are on. After a brief moment they pick one of the dead cultists and takes on their form. (Change Shape ability)

It would seem that only a shadow of myself has been pulled to this place.

Namara had only just begun to find themselves conscious amongst the others. There must've been something holding their mind from fully inhabiting this shell.

"If we need someone to stealth ahead, I'm more than capable. At this point though, there's enough of us that swift violence is more likely to be the superior solution."

Namara thinks back on what they know of any place by the name of "Veldrath Valley."


Knowledge: Local 1d20+7

If Namara doesn't get high enough to have much useful information then they'll use their Memory Subdomain ability Recall to reroll. Hopefully this will return a bit more than just the name of the plane. I'll keep track of the number of uses, but Namara has 9 uses so it's unlikely to matter.

Reroll if necessary: 1d20+13

[Lord Foul]

Namara stretches their wings, testing them against the resistance of the plane they currently are on. After a brief moment they pick one of the dead cultists and takes on their form. (Change Shape ability)

It would seem that only a shadow of myself has been pulled to this place.

Namara had only just begun to find themselves conscious amongst the others. There must've been something holding their mind from fully inhabiting this shell.

"If we need someone to stealth ahead, I'm more than capable. At this point though, there's enough of us that swift violence is more likely to be the superior solution."

Namara thinks back on what they know of any place by the name of "Veldrath Valley."

Knowledge: Local [roll0]

If Namara doesn't get high enough to have any usable information then they'll use their Memory Subdomain ability Recall to reroll.

Reroll if necessary: [roll1]

"Useful ability indeed. Go and and be quick about it. search, shapeshifter. Return with news of who I shall smite" Chesstra says, impatiently

[Ancient]

@Karashotep
They party seems generally amicable to your reasoning.

@Lyra
As you gather your power, you feel a wash of nausea, but you are able to harness the forces to your will. Your aura is heartening.

@Kob
The "survivors" are mostly busy. The rage cultists are attending to Lyras’s demands. The Envy cultist seem to not hear you, but you think perhaps their smug looks say they do. One of the Lust cultist’s timidly approaches you.

“Many pardons, mighty one. We...are...new to the temple, we have not visited it before, those that brought us here you slew...quite easily...we came from the left passage, though we were not permitted in the other rooms, only the main corridor. We were expressly forbidden from going further than the Grand Chamber. It has been...long since the ritual began, I could not tell you if it is night or day outside.”

@Orlob
You stealthily make your way down the corridor. As you near the turn, you spot something curious, a wire across the hallway strung between two empty wine bottles. You can hear voices ahead.

@Weft
You follow Orlob quietly along the ceiling when you see the barely perceptible block of acid pause, he appears to be contemplating a tripwire of some sort. You hear mutterings from around the corner.

@Shezzra and Vanessa
You follow along with the madness, the near invisible cube leading the way. It pauses.

@Namara
The Veldrath Valley does not seem to ring any immediate bells. You pause and reflect upon it, drawing upon the eons of your damned existence. Veldrath Valley….You seduced a young satyr in a Veldrath Valley innumerable centuries ago, it was in a world called Aegarath.

@Chesstra
The Demoness seems preoccupied, as if pondering something herself.

[CasualViking]

https://i.ibb.co/vkf87W3/Orlob-smtoken.png
Orlob (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482559)
Orlob quietly teleports to the other side of the wire, continuing down the corridor to listen in on the conversation

[zlefin]

Kob ponders this information, then comments to his fellows

"Hmmm, this seems strange to me. The ritual looked to be fairly important. It also seems they wished to keep it at least somewhat secret. Bringing people in always carries some risk. That someone wouldn't mind bringing people here for the actual ritual, but wouldn't want them to observe the other rooms seems odd, as the ritual is the thing that would seem most worth hiding. Do they not worry about spies? Or adventurers infiltrating? Perhaps they intended to use the other 'cultists' as additional sacrifices? Perhaps someone sabotaged the ritual to make it likely to fail? A rival cult or a rival sect perhaps?

With a magical ritual this long, I'd be reluctant to have so many people taking part for the first time. While their particular roles might have had some flexibility in how they are done and not be that important, errors in magic have grave consequences. I would want to do practice runs first to make sure everything would go smoothly. While people sometimes make foolish mistakes, the need for caution when dealing with dark forces is well known.

I'm not sure what to make of all this, except that it seems like there's something more involved than what is apparent."

Action-wise I've nothing notable to do. I'll stay well back ready to provide ranged support as needed, while the scouts and/or front line moves.

[Toliudar]

Weft

As Orlob pauses in front of the wire and teleports past it, Weft nods silently. The gold figure turns back to those following and points at the trip wire. Anyone too stupid to trip over a wire should probably be eliminated now.

Since Weft was already well above the wire, she simply continues to walk softly along the ceiling. She listens carefully to the exchange ahead.

Weft manifests Synesthete to feel sound, and listens carefully to the conversation happening ahead.
Perception: [roll0]
Weft moves forward as quietly as possible: [roll1]

[QuadraticGish]

"Proceed forward with caution and be careful of that tripwire. If you see trouble, set the chest down and proceed to the frontlines." Lyra informs her men.

As they move, Lyra silently listens to the conversations among the party.

[Ason]

Karashotep nods at Kob's question. "Thou reason well. Regardless, their precise aims and failures may be a mystery for now, but our course of action remains clear."

Approaching the trip wire with Lyra's words in mind, the mummy pauses for a moment to offer, "Observe why my subjects called me Scarab Queen." She then discorporates into a swarm of shining beetles, flies over and around the tripwire, and then reforms on the other side.

Kara uses the Alteration sphere swarm shape (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/alteration#toc27)'s gaseous body trait to bypass the tripwire, using concentration to avoid having to spend a spell point to maintain the form.

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Gorr-Thrax

Gorr-Thrax slows down a bit to let others lead as he prepares to watch the back of the group. He gingerly steps over the trip wire that was pointed out to him. He tried to keep quiet in case there were more enemies ahead.

[Techwarrior]

"Useful ability indeed. Go and and be quick about it. search, shapeshifter. Return with news of who I shall smite" Chesstra says, impatiently

Namara bristles slightly, but responds in a respectful and terse tone.

"I am a Tanar'ri, not some mere shapeshifter. If you must refer to me by something other than the name I offered you, please refer to me by my rank: Mistress of Pleasures."

Namara follows behind the others, lightning cracking between their fingers. They sniff the air, finally recognizing the scent.

"It's been a long time since I've been on the plane of Aegarath. I suppose that satyr has likely passed on at this point. He lived in the most lovely forest though. Perhaps his dryad friends are still alive."

Knowledge: Planes [roll0]

If Namara doesn't get high enough to have much useful information then they'll use their Memory Subdomain ability Recall to reroll. Hopefully this will return a bit more than just the name of the plane. I'll keep track of the number of uses, but Namara has 9 uses so it's unlikely to matter.

Reroll if necessary: [roll1]

[Ancient]

Orlobb teleports over the wire and into bend. Around the corner are nine men, heavily armed. The majority of whom have there attention on a set of double doors that one is apparently trying to pick by guttering torchlight.
"Hurry up, Jazrit", one says to the man working on the door. "We don't know how long those other doors will hold."
Two of the nine have their attention on the hallway bend, keeping a look out. One is close enough to the intersection that Orlobb's teleportation displaces enough air to blow the human's hair back. He appears confused, and looks like he is about to say something when the other says, "What was that? Did you fart, Tolivar?"
Tolivar turns to address his partner, his back turned to Orlobb,"I didn't do nothing, Boyt."

[CasualViking]

https://i.ibb.co/vkf87W3/Orlob-smtoken.png
Orlob (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2482559)
Orlob wobbles into the room, intent on sucking up all the succulent flesh. 30' movement, ref DC 12 to void being engulfed, 2d6 acid + fort DC 16 vs paralysis for those who fail to dodge.

[Toliudar]

Weft

Still following Orlob closely and stealthily, Weft senses him lunge forward to engulf the guards, in the same way it had back in the ritual chamber. Weft quickly evaluated the strange mix of creatures following them. It seemed likely that most, if not all, either had darkvision or else didn't rely on light at all. While the men in the room ahead rely on those guttering torches.

But not for long.

Weft's head tilted, and the firelight ahead dims. And dims. And the room goes completely black.

Weft manifests Control light and plunges the room into total darkness. Hello miss chances!

Weft then takes a move action to move 30' toward the door, on the ceiling. Stealth: [roll0]

[Techwarrior]

Namara is also following behind, and upon peering around the corner the ghost of a smile touches her lips.

They are but lambs for the slaughter. And we are the wolves.

Namara begins a ritualistic dance. With each motion lightning crackles along her skin, which slowly pools into her hands. The energy expands quickly as the dance comes to a crescendo. At the dance's apex, she extends her arms and the energy arcs out towards the center of the group before exploding outwards.

"I will not be caged like some mere mortal."

Namara is going to manifest a Destructive Blast, modified with the Sculpted Blast and Electric Blast Talents. She is also going to manifest this as a Consecrated Spell. The Destructive Blast will take the form of either a Close range cone, or a 10 ft burst, whichever will affect more targets. Ideally I'd like to go before Orlob to avoid hitting them.

Perform (Dance) DC 18 for Skilled Casting. [roll0] by each 2 she fails by the caster level drops by 2.

Damage is maximized versus Evil targets (12). For non-evil she deals: [roll1]

Reflex DC 18 Half.

[QuadraticGish]

Hearing the sounds of the start of combat, Lyra looks to her men.

"Take avoiding the tripwire and bring me relatively close to the fight before dropping me to join the front lines yourselves."

They should drop her off 15ft away from the front lines and then join the fight themselves. That way people can access momentum.