Bad gestalt: part 1: the sunless citadel

[Feathersnow]

The weather is fair and the trees and undergrowth are in full bloom as insects sing in the woods around Oakhurst. Some of you are travellers come here to help. Some are natives. All are aware of the rumors of humanoids lurking in the caves and ruins said to be in the deep woods.

Kerowyn Hecrule, an older human woman and dowager of a local gentry family, has put out a warrant for the return of her lost twins, adult adventurers that went out to find the secret of the local goblins. They haven't been seen since.

The goblins come every summer solstice to sell a magic, blessed apple to the village. One with healing properties beyond that of any natural fruit. Every tree grown from the seeds grows malformed and is stolen away. Presumably by the goblins, seeking to keep their monopoly.

Lady Kerowyn has called you all to the town hall. She offers you 125 gp, each, for the return of her children's signet rings, and double that if the owner is alive.

[JNAProductions]

Lady Kerowyn, you know me, Liliana says. You don't have to pay me to try to find your twins. I promise-I'll do my damnedest to get them back, come hell or high water.

[Unavenger]

Stormwatcher Amruth looked, in every way, to be devastatingly powerful.

In case illumians having glowing eyes and striking red hair wasn't enough to sell the image, so many shining runes swirled around her head that she couldn't remember what half of them even said. One of them, the shimmering Naen sigil, held within it the knowledge of a thousand things, all borne within its form. She wore an outfit that was clearly made for exploring but one couldn't help but see as Amruth was also strikingly beautiful, although she wore no make-up, as for an illumian that was a sure sign of wishing to be left alone. On the armour she wore, atop the interlacing lamellar scales, was the borad tarwaskul aeshari, the eye-in-the-eye-of-the-storm, symbol of Cabal Stormwatcher... and to those who knew, it was that which gave the lie to her appearance of power.

Cabal Stormwatcher was not the most powerful of cabals. In fact, it was barely a cabal at all. It was not a proud skyship of a vengeance cabal, ready to destroy the enemies of the illumians, nor was it a studious and magnificent quill cabal, nor a secretive eclipse cabal: it didn't follow any of the cabal designs at all. In theory, the old Stormwatcher tower had been an ascension cabal, but there was scant chance of any of its members becoming deities now. Apart from anything else, many of those who had sought divinity had instead found death. Most of the researchers were still digging through the rubble of the tower for copies of old texts that had been lost with its falling. Fortunately, as each cabal had its final seeds, illumians who lived apart from the cabals and had enough key texts to rebuild the libraries if need be, much was preserved anyway. The upside of this was that Stormwatcher Davraoul had managed to remake Cabal Stormwatcher. The downside was that it was remade in a cave on the side of a windy crag, atop what might charitably have been called a rocky hill but was touted as a mountain by the Stormwatchers.

Well, good on Davraoul, but Amruth had another job. The Stormwatchers had curiously given up on any notion of total independence from human society - and even a fool could see why, with them in their current state - and Amruth was their representative, there to build good trust between the illumians and the people of Oakhurst. That, and make occasional sacrifices to the infernal powers for her personal benefit, but she wasn't going to tell them that.

She listened intently to the lady, and smiled just enough to seem sincere without seeming excited at the thought of missing adventurers. "Of course, dear lady, we shall do our best to retrieve your children, and I have every hope for their survival." She didn't mention that, her motives being infinitely more mercenary than those of the aasimar, her hope was mostly founded in the potential for a double reward. She almost risked a glance askance at the dragon aspirant, but decided better of it.

[QuadraticGish]

The serpent lady listens intently, with her lower half coiled up as the lady explains her plight.

"I'll see to the return of the children if possible. Client satisfaction, is a top priority." Nagahime says softly.

She finds it very unusual that the job she was ordered to take on a search and rescue operation of all things compared to the usual search and destroy mission, but she elects not to question it. She occasionally glances at the unusual others gathered here today.

[Feathersnow]

Having your mission, you may opt to head immediately outwards. If you do, you eventually reach a ravine where the forest valley abuts the great mound where the Barrow of the citadel was buried. The forest seems calm... too calm. Roll perception.

If you wanted to do anything else in town, mention it now and I will deal with it retroactively.

[Unavenger]

Amruth looks around...

Spoiler

Show

(1d20+3)[21]

[QuadraticGish]

"Hm...?" Nagahime looks around as all sound seems to have drained from the forest.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Nagahime is good to roll out immediately.
Perception: (1d20+4)[9]

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I suck at perception!

(1d20)[6]

See anything? Liliana asks.

[Feathersnow]

You do not see the dire rats surrounding you and moving into position.

They get a surprise round and use it to make standard action to charge at one of you each.

Spoiler: dire rat on Lilliana

Show

[ roll]1d20+3[/roll] to hit
(1d20+3)[20] if critical threat
(1d4)[3] damage if hit
Make a fortitude save if hit.

Spoiler: dire rat on Nagahime

Show

[ roll]1d20+3[/roll] to hit
(1d20+3)[21] if critical threat
(1d4)[2] damage if hit
Make a fortitude save if hit.

Spoiler: dire rat on Amruth

Show

[ roll]1d20+3[/roll] to hit
(1d20+3)[14] if critical threat
(1d4)[3] damage if hit
Make a fortitude save if hit.

[Unavenger]

Amruth takes a step back and grins, then yells into the void, bringing down the power of death itself upon the rat. Needless to say, this is not entirely healthy for the poor critter.

Spoiler

Show

Mortalbane feat applied to a reversed Lesser Word of Nurturing utterance, applying damage instead of healing and then slapping on 2d6 extra damage.

Truespeak: +18 bonus vs DC 15 => no contest.
Damage: (3d6)[12]

Free intimidation if it dies: (1d20+4)[19]

[QuadraticGish]

As Nagahime brandishes her rapier, flames come off of the blade that flow behinds the rat and form into an elemental. With the added distraction, the lamia strikes at the rat with her blade.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move: Draw out her rapier.
Swift: Distracting Ember.
Standard: Attack: (1d20+8)[15] Damage: (1d6+5)[7]
Crit confirm and damage just incase: (1d20+8)[27] Damage: (1d6+5)[11]

[Feathersnow]

One Dire rat dissolves into a puddle of sludge as reality no longer permits it to exist.

One Dire rat is seriously hurt and spooked and uses a withdraw action to get away from the suddenly burning snakeperson. It then takes its move to get another 40 ft into its burrow.

The third hesitates, but its little brain is still locked into trying to get meat. It bites Lilliana again.

Spoiler: Bite!

Show

Attack (1d20+1)[20]
Extra roll in the event of critical threat (1d20+1)[2]
Damage (1d4)[2]

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler: Fort Save

Show

(1d20+6)[19]

I forgot to add my base saves on my sheet! Good thing I made the save last time.

Liliana feels a smidge of pain from the bite, but nothing too serious. You made a bad decision, little buddy, she says, and then breathes fire on it.

Her throat catches, though, and the resulting stream of fire is meager enough for the rat to avoid.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

(1d3)[1] fire damage
Entangled for (1d4)[4] rounds, if it takes ANY damage from this, and takes a further 1d6 fire damage on each round it remains entangled
In addition, next round, it takes half the damage it initially took, unless it takes a full-round action to try to get the fire off, requiring a Reflex save against my Breath DC to negate it. (Rolling on the ground offers a +2 bonus to this save.)

If I may, I will roll the rat's Reflex save here-add the modifier as appropriate.

Rat's Save: (1d20)[16]

Edit: At DC 14, that rat passed the save. Does halving 1 damage result in 1 damage or 0?

[Unavenger]

(EDIT: Never mind the actions I was going to take; didn't realise the rat would run away out of sequence)

"You two doing okay? They didn't hurt you too badly, did they? Impressive pyrotechnics, by the way. Very handy if we're ever part of a travelling carnival."

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[Feathersnow]

The third rat gets stuck in burning goo and seems like it will cook alive. But it suddenly jumps out of the mess and runs away in the same direction as its friend.

Edit: it doesn't get far before it fizzles into nothing

[JNAProductions]

Well... That wasn't as impressive as I had hoped, Liliana comments. Glad I've got you guys with me, she says with a smile.

[Unavenger]

"Happy to help. Shall we move on?"

[JNAProductions]

We've still got kids to rescue, Liliana says. So onwards we go.

[QuadraticGish]

"Let's continue." Nagahime says plainly.

[Feathersnow]

With no further incident, you find the entrance to the barrow that holds the sunless citadel. There is no door and the light peters our after only a few feet.

[QuadraticGish]

Nagahime observes how quickly the light seems to disappear within the entrance.

"Does someone have a light?"

[JNAProductions]

I can cast a powerful spell to illuminate the area, but it'll only last ten minutes, Liliana says. But I do have a weaker spell I can cast more freely, she adds, grabbing a rock and casting Light on it.

[QuadraticGish]

"Seem we'll likely need it for this."

After having said that, Nagahime, actives her natural cloaking and gradually fades from sight.

"I'll follow closely. I can see better than most in the dark."

[Unavenger]

"A light. A light. You're asking me if I have a light." Amruth indicates the swirling runes around her head which glow like flickering candles. "Are you for real?"

She sighs. "Although I suppose that adding in the mighty glowing rocks to the bargain might be helpful. Chuck them down corridors or something, to make it easier for us to see everyone else rather than them to see us."

"C'mon, let's go in I guess."

[Feathersnow]

As you advance, you quickly realize that what you at first took for a halway was the top of a staircase. You go down without incident, passing several landings that switchback your path.

Eventually, you reach the bottom, and realize what is now the entrance was once a tower of the keep before it was buried away. In the holes in the crumbling masonry, you can see that there is a courtyard, although the light does not extend to its walls.

[JNAProductions]

Spooky, Liliana comments. You guys see anything nasty lurking? Think we should toss a lit rock further in?

[QuadraticGish]

"No time for sight seeing; let's move on ahead." Nagahime briefly comments before continuing forth.

[Feathersnow]

You exit the ruined tower. From outside, you can see four very dead goblins leaned against the wall you just came through. You can tell they died of violence, as one is still impaled to the wall by a spear. Their bodies have been looted and gnawed upon by rats, but their weapons were left in place. You can see runes behind the impaled goblin, but you can't make them out.

There are obvious doors to the north and south.

[JNAProductions]

Liliana takes a closer look-can she tell at all what might've killed them?

Spoiler: OOC

Show

(1d20)[6]

I have NO IDEA what skill would be appropriate here. So feel free to use or discard this roll as needed.

[Feathersnow]

Upon closer inspection, these goblins were clearly killed in a battle with other humanoids. The size and race of them, however, you cannot guess

When you move the spear, the goblin impaled on it slumps to the ground. This reveals the meaning to anyone who speaks Dwarven or Draconic.

Spoiler

Show

You recognize it as a proper name. "Ashardalon"