Serpent's Skull [SMOOCH]

[lostsole31]

R1T24: Focused, Xhanfaerd gets closer to the east room where Fronaldo went and grabs him. Fronaldo is completely paralyzed, though there isn't anything to verify how that happened, whatever Xhanfaerd's suspicions may be.

R1T23: Pim, what do you do?

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. GRABBING Fronaldo.
Pim: 23.
Tor-ber: 17.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R8T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8.

[lostsole31]

R1T23-22.9: Surprised, but ready to listen to Fronaldo, Pim gets closer to them and pulls out two cards. He looks at them, nodding, and then tosses them down on the other side of the doorway from the group into the room fron was just pulled from. A majestic winged collie appears, empowered by the cards, and Pim will quickly say, "Find the stinky! Go get the ugly monkey men, boy! Who's a good boy? Yes, you!"

Spoiler: Harrow Cards

Show

The two cards pulled are:

The Lost (chaotic evil, Wisdom) is the card of emptiness and loss of identity. The bodak shown is forever mad, lost in a world of lunatics, insane asylums, and mass killers. For those under its influence, the world makes no sense. It evokes times where all is babble, as when meeting someone who speaks only in another tongue. Misaligned, it can indicate clarity of mind under duress.

The Rabbit Prince (chaotic neutral, Dexterity) is a quirky fellow who represents the vagaries of hand-to-hand combat. The Prince is battle personified and nothing if not capricious. As his broken sword symbolizes, any combatant can fall in battle, no matter how brave or skilled. This card sometimes stands for younger members of royalty or other powerful households.

The winged collie summoned seems to have very sharp teeth, a lean look, and very alert eyes. It looks in the direction that Pim is looking (to the east) and does a flying hop past Xhanfaerd and Fronaldo. it lands next to Fronaldo, sniffs its nose in disgust, and begins to bark at Pim and Fronaldo.

R1T17: Tor-ber shakes his head. "I doubt your dog knows what a monkey is, but I'm pretty sure Fronaldo is stinky from the monkey-puke from before." He concentrates, and there is a sound of static from behind the half-orc, increasing in volume until just before it might become painful, when the noise ceases with the tell-tale momentary shimmering in front of him that cues that he has put up a psionic protection. He then moves into the other room. "Well, I found the other side of that door we couldn't open!"

R1T16: Gelik, you are still boosted with heroism. Nobody has eyes on an enemy. What do you do?

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. GRABBING Fronaldo.
Pim: 23.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6).
Tor-ber: 17. Force screen for 6 minutes. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R8T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8.

[lostsole31]

R1T16:

Spoiler: Gelik >>> Collective

Show

"Going to try a different tack..."

Gelik then shouts out loud in a terrifying and horrific-sound language...

Spoiler: Abyssal

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"Friend, fear not! We are but simple explorers and wish you no harm. Come out so that we may speak with you and learn something of each other. Help us to learn about this place and we may be able to help you in turn!"

R1T13: It was a shot in the dark, right? Not likely to succeed, and yet, a voice in the dark answers, also in Abyssal, and the sound of the voice sounds like in its a tunnel at first and then "opens up" as if no longer in a tunnel.

Spoiler: Abyssal

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"You say explore. But I claimed Tazion for my own. Which means that you are here to establish dominance, and take Tazion away from me."

Tor-ber (whom Gelik knows speaks and understands Abyssal) pipes up, "I see him!"

R1T12: Fronaldo, roll a Will save!

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. GRABBING Fronaldo.
Pim: 23.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Force screen for 6 minutes. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R8T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8.

[lostsole31]

R1T12: Fronaldo is still paralyzed!

R1T8: Aron says, "In Taldane, please?" but otherwise delays ...

End Round One, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T24: Xhanfaerd, you've grabbed Fronaldo (who is still rigid). Now what?

Pim on deck, Aerial dog in hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. GRABBING Fronaldo.
Pim: 23.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Force screen for 6 minutes. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. DELAYING!!!

[lostsole31]

R2T24: Xhanfaerd pulls Fronaldo inside the relatively safer room, before walking inside, his earthbreaker low. He then calls out, in the hideous language,

Spoiler: Abyssal

Show

"We do not claim this place, nor any other, because no one has that right!"

In going into the room, Xhanfaerd sees a charau-ka on the stairs to the south. But this charau-ka has a dagger out and pouches at its side. Something about it definitely seems to mark it as NOT like the other charau-ka.

R2T23: Pim, what do you do?

Aerial Dog on deck, Tor-ber in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Pim: 23.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Force screen for 6 minutes. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. DELAYING!!!

[lostsole31]

R2T23-22.9: The poor pup is confused and barks at something to the south ... barks at the still paralyzed Fronaldo ... and barks/ checks-in with Pim.

R2T17: Tor-ber calls out, "Sorry, Aron. Charau-ka, do you speak Taldane, or at least polyglot? I only ever studied the language of demons to get insights into fiendish telepathy as it might affect psionic powers. Our party diplomat would like to speak with you."

R2T16: Gelik, what do you do?

Charau-ka on deck, Fronaldo in the hole, Pim/ Aron delaying ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Pim: 23. DELAYING!!!
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Force screen for 6 minutes. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. DELAYING!!!

[lostsole31]

R2T16: Gelik will continue to pursue his diplomatic course...

Spoiler: Abyssal

Show

"Come, friend, we know you have taken up residence here and we have no intention of remaining. My companions and I merely wish to learn and leave. Do you perhaps speak another language so we may all understand one another? This need not come to more violence. Come out and speak with us. The sooner you do, the sooner we'll be on our way and leave you alone."

R2T13: "I do speak many languages!" calls out the charau-ka in response. "But so many of you, and the language to be learned could make you rich men, your names known for generations. How can you share such knowledge amongst yourselves?"

Tor-ber looks like he is having some type of internal struggle and then finally seems like himself again.

R2T8: Aron will goes into the room, taking out her whip and then casts a spell, and shrieks louder than she normally does since her voice began to soften. Razor sharp notes of sound barely catch a little bit of the charau-ka for only 1 .... more of a warning than a damaging attack. "Had you spoken and naught else, you're right. But you obviously tried mental magicks on my friend, likely to suggest he kill us to take the glory for himself. No, your body will be a relic we study with this room unless you yield."

End Round 2, Begin Round 3 ....

R3T24: Xhanfaerd, what do you do?

Aerial dog on deck, Torb-er in the hole, Pim delaying ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Pim: 23. DELAYING!!!
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Force screen for 6 minutes. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8.

[lostsole31]

R3T25-22.9: Pim, utterly lost, mentally re-engages and activates his defensive card property.

For now, Xhanfaerd waits, getting ready to counterspell a potential spell, letting the diplomacy go further.

The aerial dog, still confused as to what to do and to whom, barks at Pim for guidance.Tor-ber also delays ...

R3T16: Gelik, since you are doing a lot of the diplomacy, do you go into the room to east? What do you do?

Charau-ka on deck, Fronaldo in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. DELAYING!!!
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Force screen for 6 minutes. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8.

[lostsole31]

R3T16: Gelik will cross into the room to the east and switches to Taldane. "Friend, surely you can see that we are not without our strengths here. I can only see one solution that does not end with you ceasing to be. Stop your attacks and come forth and parley. I know you grow weary of this as do we. Soon it will be too late. My friends won't let me ramble on for too much longer. Surely we can come to some sort of agreement?"

R3T13: "You misunderstand me," says the charau-ka with wildly unexpected dexterity of language, with none of the gruntiness of a voice of any of the shrieking charau-ka you have met thus far, "it is you who will 'cease to be.'"

With that, he takes out a wand and silvery-gray energy sprays forth as he activates it, and webs shoot about and fill the room. To everyone's credit, nobody is caught fast in the web, not even Air Bud, but that doesn't stop the fact that the webs take up almost the entire room with the heroes in it .... meaning movement through these very thick, sticky strands will still be difficult. He then says something in an unknown language, but consists of a lot of sibilant hissing.

R3T11: A colorful snake appears pretty much from nowhere to climb into Gelik's square (who was not expecting that at all). It bites the gnome in the shin for 1 NL. It is not a lot of damage, no real injury, but it does burn from a function of pain. His gnomish constitution protects him from the poison some, but not the pain.

R3T8: Aronnahar casts a quick blessing on Gelik.

Spoiler: Gelik

Show

She cast guidance on you.

End Round 3, Begin Round 4 ...

R4T25: Pim, you saw the webs splatter out everywhere in the other room. What do you do?

Xhanfaerd on deck, Air Bud in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. DELAYING!!!
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Force screen for 6 minutes. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. Guidance til R13T8.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8.

[lostsole31]

R4T25: Shuffling closer to get a look at the source of the web, Pim peeks in, and yells at the dog, ”Now, kill it!” He points towards the enemies general direction, since Pim’s view is somewhat blocked he prepares himself by holding onto a command spell. He will cast it on the first enemy he sees.

R4T24: Xhanfaerd, you were delaying, but that was when there was a hope of diplomacy. That hope is gone. Please note that this entire room is difficult terrain because of the webs. What do you do?

Air Bud on deck, Tor-ber in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. READIED to cast command on first enemy seen, with 1 AP spent to boost DC by 1.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. DELAYING!!!
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Force screen for 6 minutes. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. Guidance til R13T8.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8.

[lostsole31]

R4T24: Struggling through the web, Xhanfaerd takes out his earthbreaker, and aims at the harmony of the charau-ka magic user. "Well, we tried."

Xhanfard completely misses as this charau-ka is vastly more agile than any of his kin that you've met before.

R4T22.9: Air Bud can't get to the baddie from the stairs (now that Xhanfaerd is on them, so it pushes forward through the webs to look up and then bite up at the little monster, but completely missing.

R4T17: Tor-ber slogs through the webs to get to the base of the stairs behind Xhanfaerd. Seeing how difficult this opponent might be, Tor-ber concentrates for a second. Sparkling crystals swarm around him, changing color as they fly about before disappearing, and Tor-ber looks at the charau-ka with and increased bloodlust.

R4T16: Gelik, you have guidance on you right now, for when you choose to expend it in the next several rounds. The charau-ka is next to you, but above you on stairs. You are in webs, but not held fast by them, with the terrain being difficult (so, 2 squares of movement to move every 1 square). What do you do?

Charau-ka on deck, Fronaldo (held) in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. READIED to cast command on first enemy seen, with 1 AP spent to boost DC by 1.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first) - either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls).
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. Guidance til R13T8.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka.
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8.

[lostsole31]

R4T16: Gelik tries to step 5' back away from His Monkeeness and the viper, but the webs are difficult to move through, enough for His Monkeeness to kick Gelik in the head for 15, way more powerful than expected. Gelik does get away, though. He directs a sonic shout at the monk, but the pain is enough that he misjudges the distance. But after doing so, and allowing his head to clear, something that didn't seem right suddenly makes sense.

Spoiler: Gelik

Show

I'll PM you in Discord.

R4T13: It should be noted for all that there is some visual strangeness going on with the monkey-man, several images weaving in and out and an overall blurriness to his outline become more noticeable with his kick to the gnome. But little time for that as he hisses something as if he were a snake down to the viper. He pulls out a greasy mix of something from a pouch and defensively casts a spell. Directly above Xhanfaerd's head and falling down is a 5-foot-wide ball of fire! Xhanfaerd is able to duck enough and deflect with his earthbreaker that the ball sort of softly lands and bounces near the bottom of the stairs, burning away the webs in the spot by Tor-ber, Air Bud, and Gelik (but not the webs in their actual squares. It didn't burn anyone, but given the nature of the battlefield, it might prove to be a daunting obstacle.

R4T12: Fronaldo gives his most valiant effort yet, but still cannot move.

R4T11: The little viper moves into the Air Bud's square. Gelik didn't have a weapon out with which to take advantage of its movement, and Aron didn't either, having recently given to diplomacy. The viper is too fast for Air Bud to respond to, even with the webbing and then bites the doggo for 1 NL. Not so bad, and it resists its venom.

R4T8: Aron takes out her short sword so as not to miss another opportunity, but she prays to the powers of the moon to equalize Gelik's internal tides, giving him 13 + 1 NL healing.

End Round 4, Begin Round 5 ...

R5T25: Pim, you are sure now that without actually going into the webbed room that you aren't going to get a beeline to the enemy. You don't even see your pup right now or the battle he's having. What do you do?

Xhanfaerd on deck, Air Bud in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. READIED to cast command on first enemy seen, with 1 AP spent to boost DC by 1.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6, 1 NL). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls).
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. Guidance til R13T8.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R5T25: Pim, noticing things are coming to a stand still, will drop out of his spellcasting stance, putting his cards together. "Don't worry Fron, I brought a plan B."

Pim retrieves a scroll from his bag of holding.

R5T24: Xhanfaerd, what do you do? You are faced off against what appears to be a far stronger, faster, smarter, more capable charau-ka than you've met yet.

Air Bud on deck, Tor-ber in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6, 1 NL). Will disappear on R11T23!!!
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls).
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. Guidance til R13T8.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (3 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R5T24: Xhanfaerd refocuses himself, before trying to go for a nasty gutstrike, and it is a really good attack, but his earthbreaker seems to thwock off of super-harde charau-ka fur. Which is .... confusing and disturbing.

Spoiler: Xhanfaerd

Show

See Discord PM I will send after I post this.

R5T22.9: Air Bud reacts to the creature attacking him, but puts itself off-balance instead.

R5T17: Tor-ber shakes his head.

Spoiler: Tor-ber >>> Collective (Xhanfaerd)

Show

"Shoulda let me go in front, X, so you could ablate whatever he hits me with. You go down, we lose that for the group."

He concentrates. Small leaves and roots sprout from the manifester’s hair or from his feet, burrowing into nearby soil, but soon rot and fall away, but the roots and leaves in his hands coalesce, grow together, and lengthen into a longspear to allow him to attack past Xhanfaerd since this is how the battlefield is laid out now.

R5T16: Gelik, what do you do? You still have guidance on you.

Spoiler: Guidance

Show

Please do not "hoard" the guidance effect like a precious, desperate resource. This is an orison for Aron, like a cantrip, meaning it doesn't cost her an expended resource.

Chara-ka on deck, Fronaldo in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Xhanfaerd refocuses himself, before trying to go for a nasty gutstrike.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6, 1 NL). Will disappear on R11T23!!! On Round 6, can only take a SA.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. Guidance til R13T8.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (2 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R5T16: "Friends! This is no monkey... He is some sort of snake-like creature using illusory magics!" Gelik attempts to attack again with his sonic blast. The creature sinuously dodges just out of the way, but an image is destroyed in the process.

R5T13: Now down to only one decoy image, it defensively casts a spell, focused on Gelik. Gelik's mind now has to fight against his body locking down, even as Fronaldo now feels himself free to move.

Gelik, roll a Will save. You get your compulsion bonus (+1).

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Xhanfaerd refocuses himself, before trying to go for a nasty gutstrike.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6, 1 NL). Will disappear on R11T23!!! On Round 6, can only take a SA.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (1 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

Gelik, this was probably the most herculean success you've ever had as you throw off the mental paralysis. Enough so that you now understand why Fronaldo was never able to free himself.

R5T12: Fronaldo, the mental paralysis has finally worn off. What do you do?

Viper on deck, Aron in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Xhanfaerd refocuses himself, before trying to go for a nasty gutstrike.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6, 1 NL). Will disappear on R11T23!!! On Round 6, can only take a SA.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (1 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
Fronaldo: 12. Hold person til R5T13!!!
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R5T12:

Spoiler: Fronaldo >>> Collective

Show

“I am going to circle around behind. Keep it occupied.”

Fronaldo pulls a small vial of orangeish fluid from his kit, adds a bit of his magical essence into the vial before quaffing it. He then moves quickly out past the stone column and into the hallway making for the stairs to the top floor. He picks a opaque vial from his bandolier and applies it to his magic dagger on the move.

R5T11: The viper bites Air Bud for another 1 NL. This time, however, Air Bud whines about something, its paw where it was bitten seeming to be in more pain than the bite would indicate.

R5T8: Aron will cast another cure on Gelik to fully heal him, but she otherwise stays in place.

End Round 5, Begin Round 6 ...

R6T25: Pim, what do you do? You have your Summon Monster VI [Lillend] scroll in hand.

Xhanfaerd on deck, Air Bud in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Xhanfaerd refocuses himself, before trying to go for a nasty gutstrike.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6, 2 NL). Will disappear on R11T23!!! On Round 6, can only take a SA.
* POISONED by viper til R11T11. Currently "Weaknened" on CON Poison Track.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (1 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
Fronaldo: 12. Expeditious retreat til R65T12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied).
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R6T25: "Well done," Pim happily sighs as he sees Fron shake off the paralysis. As his friend runs off to flank, Pim nods, and turns his head back to the action. This time, he will hold an action to move into the webby room, as there are bodies still blocking the way. To the collective, he will simply say...

Spoiler: Pim >>> Collective

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"Swap places with me if you need to, we shouldn't let it get away at any cost."

R6T24: Xhanfaerd, what do you do?

Air Bud on deck, Tor-ber in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
* READIED to move east 20' total (before webs) once the way becomes more open, or someone indicates that they need to take a break, and swap with him.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6, 2 NL). Will disappear on R11T23!!! On Round 6, can only take a SA.
* POISONED by viper til R11T11. Currently "Weaknened" on CON Poison Track.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (1 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
Fronaldo: 12. Expeditious retreat til R65T12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied).
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R6T24:

Spoiler: Xhanfaerd >>> Collective

Show

"I can't really fight from far away!"

Focusing his mind toward multiple possible paths, Xhanfaerd makes sure to find the best possible path to hit and chain the creature with doubt. The creatures completely dodges, however, and Xhanfaerd doesn't even get a consolation prize of removing its remaining illusory image.

R6T22.9: Air Bud pushes through the webs to get away from the viper and then turns around to bite at it, but the little viper is too quick for it.

R6T17: Tor-ber nods.

Spoiler: Tor-ber >>> Collective (Xhanfaerd)

Show

"You're right. I'm sorry. We just don't normally find ourselves in this position. I just thought you'd have spells for this."

Tor-ber concentrates, getting a better sense of the heft of this weapon. Feeling confident, he reaches past Xhanfaerd to stab the "charau-ka" in the chest with a light crit for 19. He nods again. "Yeah, I see it now. Normal height of a man, folks. Don't let the small illusion fool you."

Spoiler: Tor-ber >>> Collective

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"I could be wrong, but I think this looks like one of the ancient serpentfolk, enemies of ancient Azlanti colonies! Our first order is to protect ourselves, so don't hold back, but if we can capture it alive, we could learn a lot."

R6T16: Gelik, what do you do?

Serpentfolk/charau-ka on deck, Fronaldo in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R7T24.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
* READIED to move east 20' total (before webs) once the way becomes more open, or someone indicates that they need to take a break, and swap with him.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
Aerial Dog: 22.9. (6:6, 2 NL). Will disappear on R11T23!!! On Round 6, can only take a SA.
* POISONED: Currently "Weaknened" on CON Poison Track. NO more rolls.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace and mirror image (1 images) active. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
Fronaldo: 12. Expeditious retreat til R65T12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied).
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R6T16: Feeling the searing heat rolling off of the ball of fire next to him, Gelik nervously moves away so that someone with more combat prowess can step up. He can't think of any stories related to whatever the Maelstroms it is that he's looking at, so he goes with an old standby speech to give pluck to his fellows.

R6T13: The "charau-ka" uses gestures to move the flaming sphere towards Air Bud, but the winged doggo doesn't know how to dodge the thing. The fire moves into that area with the doggo and incinerates Air Bud (who disappears with a heart-wrenching yelp) and the webs in that square. The enemy then hisses to the viper. Finally, it concentrates carefully to cast a spell, and then attacks Xhanfaerd at point-blank range with a scorching ray. Xhanfaerd responds with a counterattack, but only succeeds in getting rid of the creature's last false image. The first ray hits Xhanfaerd in his lower left arm for 17 fire, whereas the second ray rakes Xhanfaerd across the left side of his face and head for 14 fire.

R6T12: Fronaldo, zooms all the way up the stairs, to the western end of the top of the ziggurat, and starts towards the southern set of stairs.

R6T11: The little viper begins moving, and acrobatically enough to get past Tor-ber's warding longspear and into Aron's square where it bites at her.

R6T8: "I see it!" calls out Aron, not caring - even challenging - the enemy with the group's knowledge. "It looks like one of the Azlanti's ancient foes brought to our time - a serpentfolk. But I don't know much about them beyond recognizing them from Pathfinder depictions. And it seems that this one can heal really quickly, too! And let's see if I can't get rid of that dagger in its hands!"

She casts a spell, looking at the "charau-ka." "Now that'll give it something to do for the next five minutes!"

End Round 6, Begin Round 7 ...

R7T25: Pim, Air Bud is gone. (I mean, what is it with you and your pets with flaming sphere! ) What do you do?

Xhanfaerd on deck, Tor-ber in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R7T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
* READIED to move east 20' total (before webs) once the way becomes more open, or someone indicates that they need to take a break, and swap with him.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!!
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
* Dagger greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Expeditious retreat til R65T12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied).
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R7T25: Pim will replace the dog with almost no emotion, this time summoning another winged snake of his own. The summoning card is tossed towards Gelik, bringing the creature into existence just south of the gnome. He then directs the couatl-like summons to attack the other snake, a good ol' fashion snake fight. Pim will exclaim, "Let's rub our snakes together, and see who's is bigger shall we?"

Spoiler: Harrow Cards

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The Cyclone (chaotic evil, Strength) is a force that tears through whatever it meets. This disaster does not come in the course of natural order but is one that comes from the plots of intelligent beings. The Cyclone signifies war, arson, or other plans that destroy everything they touch. Misaligned, this card can indicate renewal after a blustery trial.

The Demon’s Lantern (chaotic evil, Dexterity) is the card of traps and tricks, sleight of hand and sleight of mind. These will-o’-wisps and the man who sought their light represent an impossible or intractable situation. Misaligned, it represents an opportunity or a guide arriving at a perfect moment to show the way.

R7T24.9: Couatl-on-the-Cheap enters Aron's square (who really has to keep from her repulsion urge to stab it). It bites at the wingless viper.

R7T24: Xhanfaerd, what do you do?

Tor-ber on deck, Gelik in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R7T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
Aerial Viper: 24.9.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!!
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (Gelik has seen through it).
* Dagger greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Expeditious retreat til R65T12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied).
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R7T24: Studying the possible paths again, Xhanfaerd strike, with a silvery hammer strike this time, striking the enemy square in the chest for 32 while Xhanfaerd heals 15.

Spoiler: Xhanfaerd >>> Collective

Show

"It is recovering from its wounds!"

R7T17: Tor-ber does a miserable job trying to attack with the longspear past Xhanfaerd.

R7T16: Gelik, continue to inspire courage? What do you do?

Enemy on deck, Fro in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

Show

+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R7T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
Aerial Viper: 24.9.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!!
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection). CAN'T Regenerate until R8T13!!!
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (All except Fro and Pim have seen through it).
* Dagger greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Expeditious retreat til R65T12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied).
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R7T16: Gelik will continue to use his inspirational wordifying but will seem to be studying the foe very closely, assessing him.

R7T13: The serpentfolk rolls the flaming ball back towards Gelik. The gnome deftly keeps from getting burned by the ball. However, what Gelik can't stop is the burning of the webs in his area that would have burned Gelik, were Xhanfaerd not taking the 4 fire onto himself. He concentrates on a spell, and puts his hands together, to have a gout of flame wash over Xhanfaerd and Tor-ber, both of whome take 11 fire.

R7T12: Fronaldo, you double move through the overgrowth above and down the stairs in a double-move to now be flanking the enemy with Xhanfaerd. You don't know what the hell everyone else is talking about, because you just see a charau-ka with blurry features.

R7T11: The enemy viper nips at Aron, ignoring the winged viper.

R7T8: Aron ignores the little viper, stepping past it and fighting through the webs to get to Xhanfaerd. She concentrates carefully and then casts a spell on Xhanfaerd to give him 17 healing.

End Round 7, Begin Round 8 ...

R8T25: Pim, what do you do? You still have the SM6 scroll in hand, and now Aron has finally moved.

Aerial Viper on deck, Xhanfaerd in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R7T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand.
Aerial Viper: 24.9.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Will apply Martyrdom on the first attack that deals more than 1 NL damage an ally would take, redirecting all the damage to myself.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!!
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection). CAN'T Regenerate until R8T13!!!
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (All except Fro and Pim have seen through it).
* Dagger greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Expeditious retreat til R65T12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied).
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R8T25: Pim opens the scroll, and begins to read it aloud.

R8T24.9: Cheap Couatl bites at the viper.

R8T24: Xhanfaerd, what do you do>

Tor-ber on deck, Gelik in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R7T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand, currently casting from the scroll.
Aerial Viper: 24.9.
Xhanfaerd: 24. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Will apply Martyrdom on the first attack that deals more than 1 NL damage an ally would take, redirecting all the damage to myself.
Tor-ber: 17. Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!!
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection). CAN'T Regenerate until R8T13!!!
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (All except Fro and Pim have seen through it).
* Dagger greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Cat's grace til R68T24. Expeditious retreat til R65T12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied).
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R8T24: Kind of in a combat trance, Xhanfaerd further analyses the creature's moves, trying to chain it again, but completely misses.

R8T17: Tor-ber misses the enemy with his longspear.

R8T16: Gelik moves 5' to the south to be closer to his team and continue to inspire them with wordy words of wordness.

R8T13: The enemy heals 5 without any action. It then directs the flaming sphere to follow Gelik. This time, Gelik is not as quick to avoid the sphere, and he takes 8 mod fire from the burning sphere but no pain from the webs burning in his square. Though Gelik initially feels the burning, the pain is suddenly abated as Xhanfaerd's body shows the pain of the burns and Gelik is unharmed (by that event ... he isn't healed from previous wounds). Xhanfaerd took the 8 fire instead.

as much from direct contact with the burning webs as super-heated air in his lungs. The enemy seems to concentrate on something, and then his disguise seems to melt away as waves of terrible power emanate from him so that all may see him. "My name is Issilar, and I am a god here!"

R8T12: Fronaldo, what do you do? You are at the top of the stairs, 25' from the enemy who you can now see clearly in his "natural" form (though there is a blurry effect to him from a magical defense).

Viper on deck, Aron in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R7T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand, currently casting from the scroll.
Aerial Viper: 24.9.
Xhanfaerd: 24. SHAKEN til R9T13!!!
* Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Will apply Martyrdom on the first attack that deals more than 1 NL damage an ally would take, redirecting all the damage to myself.
Tor-ber: 17. PANICKED til R19T13!!!
* Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!!
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (All except Fro and Pim have seen through it).
* Dagger greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Cat's grace til R68T24. Expeditious retreat til R65T12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied).
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R8T12: Moving with purpose, the diminutive green fellow skips lightly down the stairs to flank the scary snake dude with Zhan, drawing another dagger from his bandolier on the move. Taking careful aim, he slides his poisoned dagger home with practiced ease, stabbing the creature in the back for 24. “Now it’s your turn to not be able to move, snake breath!”

R8T11: The enemy's viper tries to acrobatically slither away from Air Viper and into Aron's square. Air Viper scores a light crit for 3 + 1 electricity. Aron also scores a light crit for 11. Of note, this is the first time the viper has been hurt in combat. It bites at Aron, who dodges with incredible competence.

R8T8: Aron tries to cast defensively, but fails. She then tries to acrobatically move away from the viper and the serpentfolk, though the enemy does lash out at her with a bite.

End Round 8, Begin Round 9 ...

R9T25: Pim, where do you "land" this summons? What do you direct it to do, and then what do you do yourself?

Cheap Couatl on deck, Xhanfaerd in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R9T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand, currently casting from the scroll.
Aerial Viper: 24.9.
Xhanfaerd: 24. SHAKEN til R9T13!!!
* Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Will apply Martyrdom on the first attack that deals more than 1 NL damage an ally would take, redirecting all the damage to myself.
Tor-ber: 17. PANICKED til R19T13!!!
* Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!!
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (All except Fro and Pim have seen through it).
* Dagger greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied). Normal dagger in off-hand.
* Cat's grace til R68T24. Expeditious retreat til R65T12.
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R9T25.1-25: As the scroll reading is completed, the vellum page burns itself into dust indicating that the summoning magic is now cast. Pim will concentrate on the center of the webbed room, one space west of Gelik. As the light of the Lillend's summoning shines, Pim conjures a beautiful snake-like being with the upper torso and limbs of a woman. Her gracefulness is a direct thematic opposite to the foul snake beings in combat.

"I bring forth Lillend, the only true serpent worthy of reverence! Lillend, we must capture our enemy dead, or alive; please, help us," Pim cries out in Draconic (the only language he shares with this species).

The creature speaks in her own language, and yet each person that can hear her speak hears the language that most represents their own "native" mother language. "Show that evil to me, summoner. For I am Thadinhel, servant of the spheres, but I have no knowledge that can help me point the way. I can not see into the hearts of the arrayed creatures to know who that enemy is. Be not afraid, step in with me that I may protect you and you may point them out."

Now, Pim activates two face down cards! Two cards from his deck are quickly revealed, but do not seem to empower the azata at all.

With the next few moments, Pim throws his hands up and from his palms are created four small orbs of differently colored lights. The lights bounce up and down in an a-rhythmic pattern around the "web room", creating a disco ball effect. How pretty. Pim grins.

R9T24.9: Aerial viper moves, flying up a little bit, to then attack the other viper with a height advantage and bites, doing 1 NL +1 electricity.

R9T24: Xhanfaerd, you are actually afraid of the serpentfolk now, but not so much as to run away. What do you do?

Tor-ber on deck, Gelik in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R9T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Thadinhel: 25.1. (105:105). She will disappear R15T25.1.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand, currently casting from the scroll.
Aerial Viper: 24.9. 5' altitude.
Xhanfaerd: 24. SHAKEN til R9T13!!!
* Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Will apply Martyrdom on the first attack that deals more than 1 NL damage an ally would take, redirecting all the damage to myself.
Tor-ber: 17. PANICKED til R19T13!!!
* Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!!
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (All except Fro and Pim have seen through it).
* Dagger greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied). Normal dagger in off-hand.
* Cat's grace til R68T24. Expeditious retreat til R65T12.
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R9T24: Shaken but not fleeing, Xhanfaerd keeps studying the possibilities before aiming at the serpentfolk with his shining hammer, missing.

Spoiler: Xhanfaerd >>> Collective

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"I can't add her to the collective now, and it regenerates!"

R9T17: Tor-ber drops his longspear, screams in terror, and hightails it out of there. In passing Pim, Pim sees Tor-ber squeeze past the southern pillar and then JUMP FROM THE ZIGGURAT!

R9T16: Gelik, what do you do? Keep inspiration? Anything else?

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R9T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Thadinhel: 25.1. (105:105). She will disappear R15T25.1.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand, currently casting from the scroll.
Aerial Viper: 24.9. 5' altitude.
Xhanfaerd: 24. SHAKEN til R9T13!!!
* Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Will apply Martyrdom on the first attack that deals more than 1 NL damage an ally would take, redirecting all the damage to myself.
Tor-ber: 17. PANICKED til R19T13!!!
* Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!!
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage. Disguised as a charau-ka (All except Fro and Pim have seen through it).
* Dagger greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied). Normal dagger in off-hand.
* Cat's grace til R68T24. Expeditious retreat til R65T12.
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R9T16: Gelik continues his oratical extempore, though he takes a quick breath to to winged snake goddess. "Pim, our enemy is a serpentfolk in red robes and his unwinged viper! Tell her that."

He then takes out a wand, and tries to dispel the flaming sphere with it. Sure enough, it winks out of existence!

R9T13: The serpentfolk keeps his hand on his wand, despite the continuous grease effect. He tries to concentrate on something, but Xhanfaerd and Fronaldo flanking him are too problematic. It hisses in frustration.

R9T13: Fronaldo, what do you do?

Viper on deck, Aron in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R9T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Thadinhel: 25.1. (105:105). She will disappear R15T25.1.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. SM6 scroll in hand, currently casting from the scroll.
Aerial Viper: 24.9. 5' altitude.
Xhanfaerd: 24. SHAKEN til R9T13!!!
* Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Will apply Martyrdom on the first attack that deals more than 1 NL damage an ally would take, redirecting all the damage to myself.
Tor-ber: 17. PANICKED til R19T13!!!
* Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!! Wand of dispel magic in hand.
Issilar: 13. Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage.
* Wand greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied). Normal dagger in off-hand.
* Cat's grace til R68T24. Expeditious retreat til R65T12.
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.

[lostsole31]

R9T13: Fronaldo presses his attack, using both daggers to slash at the wily serpent. His mouth continues its assault. “Good thing you wore your red robes, snake!”

The first attack is a thrust along its jawline for 22, bewildering the enemy. The next attack is a slash along its left leg for 19.

Pim calls out, "Thadinhel, the gnome..."

R9T11: The smaller viper uses a power strike to hit the aerial viper for 5, enough that the aerial viper disappears.

"...speaks truly. Attack ..."

R9T8: Aron concentrates carefully, casts a spell, and touches Xhanfaerd's ankle to fully heal him.

"... the serpentfolk!"

End Round 9, Begin Round 10 ...

R10T25.1: Thadinhel nods to Pim. "Thank you. Goodness comes in many forms, as does evil. I held that creature suspect, but did not truly know."

She is locked out of closing unless she hovers over everyone, so instead attacks with spells. She concentrates, likely casting something, but if it went off, nothing happens. "It shrugged off my charm spell as if it were of no concern to it," she says .... with concern.

R10T25: Pim realizes that being totally out of the loop isn't going to help but he doesn't like the idea of not being protected, so unbeknownst to him he puts up a similar defense as the enemy had earlier, casting mirror image on himself for 3 images, having boosted the spell a little with raw arcane power. He then moves into the room under the lights he formed previously.

R10T24: Xhanfaerd, you are still a bit terrified of this creature, though Fronaldo has been carving it from the other side. What do you do?

Gelik on deck, Fronaldo in the hole ...

Spoiler: Battle Tracker

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+2 morale bonus to attack for party until R9T24. INSPIRE COURAGE: +2 morale vs. charm & fear; +2 competence weapon attk/ dmg.
Thadinhel: 25.1. (105:105). She will disappear R15T25.1.
Pim: 25. AP: +1 defending til R13T24, bonus to AC. Mirror image (3 images).
Xhanfaerd: 24. SHAKEN til R9T13!!!
* Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes.
* Stance: Infernal Dominion of the Sleeping Goddess. Activate 1/rd (whichever comes first): either reroll failed save, or force foe just hit (or succeeded w/ CMB) to reroll, worst of 2.
* Will apply Martyrdom on the first attack that deals more than 1 NL damage an ally would take, redirecting all the damage to myself.
Tor-ber: 17. PANICKED til R19T13!!!
* Inertial armor for 4-3/4 hours. Force screen for 6 minutes. Offensive Prescience for 6 min (+4 insight damage rolls). Longspear called for 6 min.
* Martial Flexibility til R16T17: WF [Polearms].
Gelik: 16. Heroism (skills not updated) remaining 30 minutes. INSPIRE COURAGE!!! Wand of dispel magic in hand.
Issilar: 13. BEWILDERED til R11T13 (-2 AC, but -4 AC vs. Fronaldo's attacks).
* Blur, cat's grace. Spider climb. Protection from arrows: DR 10 vs. ranged weapons (100 pts. protection).
* Protection from energy [fire] will provide immunity to fire for up to 110 fire damage.
* Wand greased til R56T8.
Fronaldo: 12. Magic dagger in hand (dose of blue whinnis applied). Normal dagger in off-hand.
* Cat's grace til R68T24. Expeditious retreat til R65T12.
Zsahtlihill: 11.
Aron: 8. Short sword in hand.