Good Strikes Back (IC)

[Aracor]

Tessa will gladly cast Greater Magic Weapon through the Rod. That means up to 21 other weapons gain a +5 enhancement bonus, so unless some of us are running around with giant arsenals, I think that should cover every weapon and a backup weapon for each character.

[Toliudar]

Otrera

Otrera sits down to partake of the meal. She nods appreciatively, and gestures for Hillock to join her. He does so, hesitantly with first, but soon with an appetite and enthusiasm that seem remarkable.

Otrera looks around at her new colleagues.

"I should mention that Hillock and I specialize in transforming into a variety of forms, as the need arises. As we have already shown. While your magics are much appreciated, and will be gratefully received, our contributions may be more varied.

"For example, Raodan, should you desire others with you on a scouting run, Hillock and I could accompany you, either invisible and silent above ground, or intangibly underneath."

[Debatra]

Mulcri will also partake of the offered meal, offering a few thoughts when she feels she has something relevant to contribute.

"I have a spell that can turn the lot of us invisible, though it has some restrictions. For one, it will break for all of us if [/i]any[/i] of us do anything that would break a standard invisibility spell. It will also break for any one person who moves more than one-hundred eighty feet away from the nearest other person in the group. With that in mind, I can also cast some individual invisibility spells for those who might end up going off on their own, or perhaps the ones we would expect to strike first. In particular, might I expect that the invisible gentleman might appreciate a spell that will keep him unseen even after he begins striking, or do you have one already?"

"I should also like to know who here can't already see in the dark."

"It may not be necessary for any of us to be excluded from the bond. Tessa, if Miss Solaran may borrow your ring; I can anoint her, or anyone else that wants it for that matter, with a mark that can make up the rest of the difference."

[BelGareth]

Raodan dismisses his invisibility, it was almost a habit now a days, perhaps he shouldn't have remained invisible, and spoken up before hand? ah well, it was done with, no use in hashing it out a thousand times.

He smiled and bowed to the group of women, "I am Raodan the White hand, pleasure to meet you all, I am at your collective wills. I am a capable scout, and thief, capable of getting into and out of places where others could not. I prefer to avoid fighting, but I am able to help out if the need arises." he says simply, he has a simple blade at his hip, but that is it, his clothes are nice, new, and a dark purple with black lace highlighted edges, with intricate patterns of macabre scenes, where skeletons are fighting various humanoids.

Turning to Mulcri "I am able to see in the dark, and I am curious about this spell, I have a magical ring, as you have seen, and the ability to step into the aether." he takes a seat, and a little bit of the food, waiting to eat until he is answered.

[Toliudar]

Otrera

"Blessings on this meal, and all those who partake."

After a moment of silent thanksgiving, Otrera pulls back from the table. Hillock, on the other hand, reaches for another slice of bread.

"While neither Hillock nor I have the ability to see in the dark in our natural state, most of the seemings that we take on will give us that ability. Tinac, thanks so much for that astonishing food. It satisfies like a cool spring in the desert."

[Cavir]

Sora turns to Mulcri . "Yes you may borrow it momentarily when the time comes. I do not have magic to see in the dark."

[Auranghzeb]

Atalanta:

Never one to refuse a good meal, Atalanta partakes heartfuly of the feast --except for apples which she doesn't like--- and listens carefuly to the tactical discussion. She would prefer to take a more direct approach: strike fast and hard, even at her age and experience, she still thought that spellcasters tend to overthink situations.

The best laid plans. But let them strategize.They seem powerful and competent, they wouldn't be here if they were not.

She gulps down a goblet of wine---this food is really good--- and obliviously starts to make sure her bow is perfectly strung while mumbling a nice little tune.

Spoiler: Perform

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[roll]120+12[/roll]

[MikelaC1]

So, are you ready to go?

[Toliudar]

Otrera

The desert chief gently tugs Hillock to his feet. The big man reaches down to grab a handful of roasted carrots from the table.

"Yes, ready and waiting."

[Auranghzeb]

Atalanta:


Atalanta grabbed an apple and delicately cut a couple of slices. She didn't enjoy them, but theye were great to clean one's teeth. She rose and looked at the others.

I'm always ready to cause some trouble in Hell's plan. Shall we go?

She said it all calmly, in fact she was not a fan of teleportation. It tingled.

[Cavir]

Sora

"Yes, I am ready. Does someone want to do the greater teleport, or shall I?"

[Aracor]

Tessa

My teleports aren't of the Greater variety, so if you can manage exact pinpoint accuracy, that probably makes more sense.

[BelGareth]

After eating his modest fill, Raodan stands and bows to everyone.

"I am ready" he says simply.

Spoiler

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Changing speech to bold

[Cavir]

Sora stands and moves to a space where everyone can gather. As she waits on the others she takes a final look at the map, for both the teleport destination and the direction to the tunnel entrance from there based on any landmarks.

"When we get close to the mine entrance I have a summon spell that takes a few minutes to cast, but will be most helpful underground."

She casts a few spells on herself, one of which may be surprising for those expert in identifying spells. Once everyone is ready Sora casts Greater Teleport for the group.

Spoiler: OOC

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Good thing Hillock doesn't count as natural size here (I hope...)

Casting:
Protection from Arrows (19 hours)
Moment of Prescience (19 hours)
Split Ray Disintegrate (SL9) seemingly on herself even though there are no rays shot, but is the setup for her Retributive Spell.

Greater Teleport with the whole party to the designated arrival spot.

[Debatra]

The meal finished and spells prepared, Mulcri will begin casting her longer-duration spells.

Spoiler

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Mass Darkvision, targeting everyone because why not. - 18 hours
Chain of Eyes targeting herself for now, but can be passed freely among the group. - 18 hours
Create Magic Tattoo via my Shadow Illusion ability with Major Image, giving Sora a +1 to caster level for all spells. - 48 hours (Mulcri auto-Extends all of her Illusions for free. It stacks with Extend Spell, but three days seems somewhat unnecessary for this.)

"Yes, I believe that's it for the moment."

[MikelaC1]

The group gathers around Sora, hearing the word Tele and then a whoosh of wind along with tingling, followed by port. The group finds themselves standing in a small group of trees. They immediately see a path that looks like it was made by wagon wheels, closer inspection reveals that it has been worked on so that any wagon would roll on it perfectly but it would not be totally obvious except for someone looking for it. Not only has the party covered a dozen time zones in the casting (leaving at 10 in the morning and arriving at 10 at night) they have also changed seasons, going from summer to winter. Fortunately, Corsada does not have overly harsh winters, and the party is only minorly inconvenienced by the change in temperature. Getting their bearings straight (seeing as the stars are all in the "wrong" place) the group heads south and true to Tiffany's word, after half an hour they see the entrance to the cave. The group is still 60 feet from the cave, under tree cover, but the last 30 feet to the cave is out in the wide open. Standing in front of the mine entrance are 4 cloud giant guards. They are not aware of the party (yet) but are clearly on alert, that probably comes from the fact that their "boss" wont just fire them for incompetence, he will literally send their souls to Hell.

[Debatra]

If nobody else did by then, Mulcri would stop the group long before they got anywhere near being only sixty feet away. Probably closer to six hundred. Let's call it five hundred or so.

"Alright, this seems to be a good spot to start casting our shorter-term spells. I'll remind you all just in case, this spell will break for all of us if anyone does something that would break a standard Invisibility spell. Anyone who moves more than one hundred eighty feet away from the nearest member of the group will also become visible, but only that person. With that in mind, does anyone not want to be included in the spell? Raodan, for instance? I have that other Invisibility spell ready if you still want it. Perhaps to scout ahead if you're so inclined? And if you do, I can also give you truesight, as well as a spell that will allow me to see through your eyes. Redundant with the Telepathic Bond perhaps, but it couldn't hurt anything."

Spoiler: More Spells

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Also, from here on out, all of Mulcri's spells will include a Sleight of Hand roll to attempt to cast unnoticed. (Races of Stone, page 133)

Greater Prying Eyes, creating (1d4+18)[22] eyes that will simply wait there until ordered otherwise (18 hours)
SoH: (1d20+35)[44]

Extended Stoneskin on self (360 minutes)
SoH: (1d20+35)[42]

See Invisibility (180 minutes)
SoH: (1d20+35)[43]

True Seeing on Raodan if he goes to scout (180 minutes)
SoH: (1d20+35)[47]

True Seeing on Self (180 minutes)
SoH: (1d20+35)[49]

Spell Matrix, prepping Slow and Unluck to be cast Quickened for the duration (180 minutes)
SoH: (1d20+35)[46]

Extended Superior Invisibility on Raodan, even if he just wants it for the fight and not to scout (54 minutes)
Also using that touch to transfer Chain of Eyes to him if he's willing.
SoH: (1d20+35)[45]

Mass Invisibility on those that want it, excluding Raodan and herself (36 minutes)
SoH: (1d20+35)[46]

Superior Invisibility on self (36 minutes)
SoH: (1d20+35)[41]

EDIT: Forgot one. Just gonna take ten for a 45 on the SoH to not mess with the post's rolls.... Which I could have saved some effort on by just taking ten for everything, but oh well.
Extended Shield (36 minutes)

EDIT2: She will also hold off on making people invisible until other spells have been cast for the sake of targeting.

EDIT3: Just as she is about to cast the first Invisibility spell, she suddenly stops and looks down at her feet. "Snow." The word comes out as if it were a curse as she turns to look back up at the group. "I don't suppose everyone here can already fly somehow?" With that, she rises to about a foot in the air, hoping against hope that everyone else is able to do the same.

[BelGareth]

Raodan takes the teleport like the stoic soldier he was, he instantly turned invisible, and starting scouting.

Holding the group up as soon as he saw the guards.

He alerts the others that he will be heading out, keeping to cover and concealment as he went, you never know if an enemy had something clever up their sleeves. Would anyone be able to let me know if cloud giants can see invisible creatures? he mentally asks as he takes off. I will gladly accept these boons. He thinks to Mulcri

Spoiler

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Move Silently - (1d20+34)[48]
Hide - (1d20+34)[36]

Invisibility from his ring is active (so +20 to hide if they cannot see invisibility). He'll get as close as he can (30ft), and then reassess.

[Auranghzeb]

Atalanta

She was at home. Taking a look at the south hemisphere constelations she had seen so many times, Atalanta didn't seem to bothered at all by the cold, even in her light robe, her bare feet didn't even touch the snow and her skin didn't show any signs of cold. She playfuly threw a couple of snow balls into the air.


Right before becoming invisible a wand and lightly touched her forehead.

Spoiler

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Embrace the wild from wand CL 3, 30 minutes blindsense.

She then moved along Raodan, keeping a few feet befind the ninja and to the left and airwalking at 20-25' high and close to the trees. Once there she took a long deep look around.

Spoiler: Spot

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(1d20+28)[31]
Extra +9 vs outsiders
eXTRA +5 Undead and Magic Beasts

Spoiler: Atalanta

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Atalanta
Female CG Human Amazon Wild Heart, Level 18, Init 15, HP 251/251, DR 2/Cold Iron, Speed 50/50' air walk
AC 30, Touch 26, Flat-footed 22, Fort 24, Ref 21, Will 20, Base Attack Bonus 18/13/8/ 3
Warning +1 Quarter Staff & Bite +26/+21/+16/ +11 & +20 bite (1d6+3 / 1d6 +2, x2 )
Power Shots, Hunting, Bane Bow (Infinite force arrows) +30 or +28/ +28 / +23/ +18/ +14 (2d6+5, x3)
Bow vs Outsiders (Evil) +32 or +30/ +30 / +25/ +20/ +15 (5d6+21, x3)
Bracers of Armor (+4 Armor, +8 Dex, +1 Deflect, +7 Misc)
Abilities Str 14, Dex 26, Con 26, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 25
Condition Continuos Effect like Displacement but only 20%
Initiative +2 Belt, +5 Warning weapon
Endure Elements
Airwalk
Invisible
Freedom of movement
Darkvision
Blindsense 30'

[Aracor]

Tessa rises from the ground in her large, wispy air elemental form.

Invisibility is always good, even if it only gives us a bit of an edge momentarily.

Raodan, my recommendation: Assume there's someone around who can see through invisibility. Worst-case scenario, you're pleasantly surprised. Best-case scenario you're not being watched as you walk exposed through the middle of a cavern or whatever.

[Cavir]

Sora

"I have spells to cast too. Mulcri thank you for the spells. you may want to wait on Mass Invisibility. If there are guards at the entrance the spell will not last long. Your choice of course. I need ten minutes for this summons." After the Swarm spell is complete she'll wait for the scouts to meet up again for the other Mass spells.

Sora orders the elementals to earth glide to stay with the party and out of sight as they move towards the mine entrance.

When the group sees the mine entrance she orders the elementals to glide underground into the mine entrance then stay out of sight until the group attacks. At that point they are to prevent any enemy from entering or leaving the mine.

"The elementals will block the entrance once the fight starts. I can hit the giants with an empowered acid ball and let you all finish them off. The blast will hit anything just inside the tunnel too. Any other ideas?

Spoiler: OOC

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Telepathic Bond. CL19 leaves us short one person. Lasts 190 minutes (180 after swarm spell).

Elemental Swarm. Ten min casting. Lasts 190 min. 2d4 Large earth elementals appear when casting complete. Ten min later 1d4 Huge earth elementals. Ten min after that 1 Greater earth elemental.

Absorption. Lasts 190 minutes.

Mass Resist Energy, Fire 30. Lasts 190 minutes, includes Large elementals.

Chained Keen Edge (on all). Lasts 190 minutes.

Accuracy on Atalanta's bow. Lasts 0 minutes. Range increment for the bow is doubled.

Large earth elementals: (2d4)[5]. Will call them L1-Lx, each with 88hp

[MikelaC1]

(It would have been hard to stop that far away from the cave as the path twists and turns through the forest and you would not have seen it sooner. However, I am fine with you backing off after seeing it without alerting the baddies. Remember that if you turn everyone invisible, they wont be able t see each other)

Raodan creeps closer to the cave entrance, at one point he thinks he might have made a noise as one of the giants looks in his direction, but nothing more happens and he is pretty sure he is still hidden. Scanning the area with his now enhanced sight, he does not see anything more than was first spotted, 4 cloud giants standing guard over the entrance. One thing he does notice, cloud giants have a reputation of having weapons and armor of the finest appearance, but these 4 take it to the next level, their morning stars and chain shirts positively glisten.

[BelGareth]

He frowns, something was off These cloud giants are exceptionally armed, can you see through my eyes Mulcri? he thinks to them I will attempt to go past them, into the mouth, so we can ambush them

[Cavir]

Sora

"Raodan, my earth elementals can take them from the rear. I'm hoping to blast the whole area to catch the four we see and any that might be inside the tunnel. Assume anything within 40 feet of the entrance will get hit, inside and out. Perhaps charge at them after the blast?"

[Debatra]

Since they need to sit tight for ten minutes before moving on anyway, Mulcri will take that and then another five on top of it before casting her above-listed spells to IC correct a minor mistake I made OOC instead of me just asking to handwave it away. (Said mistake being a minor goof while prepping spells.) She will prepare a Greater Arcane Sight, casting it when they are closer to the Giants due to its lower duration compared to her other spells.

"Yes, I'm seeing clearly. And keep in mind that I can only see through you, not hear. For the moment, I will need my own eyes to make full use of one of my other spells. Let us know if you think anything needs my attention."

Mulcri will study each of the Giants in turn through her Greater Arcane Sight, attempting to determine what spells they have active upon them, as well as if any of them might be spellcasters, and relaying that information to the others. When that is done, she will switch to looking through Raodan's eyes until the group is ready to strike.

Spoiler

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Greater Arcane Sight (18 minutes)
SoH: Take ten for 45

And since I'm re-prepping anyway, throw in a Spell Turning after all the other buffs are settled. (180 minutes)
(1d4+6)[10]
SoH: Take ten for 45

Also, I forgot to roll the damage I have to take for casting Spell Matrix. (2d6)[10]

[Auranghzeb]

Atalanta watched the giants from her position 40' away the entrance and mingled in the tree branches.


She sent suggestions through the telepatic link.

Elementals or a wall of force behing them would be of great use and would cut reinforcements. I could also try to lure them into an ambush. My concern is that there could be other defensive positions along the perimeter. Could your magic eyes take a quick look? Raodan, stay outside the open area. When we are ready for the attack let me know.

Spoiler: DM

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I'll act under the assumption that she is subject of the telepatic bond and the invisibility. I also have another concern, if the ground is snowy, Raodan shouldn' come into the open space, as the giants may see his footprints. Atalanta has Blindsense so anyone 30' away would be on her "radar". She has scent when on her wild frenzy.

[Debatra]

"They have See Invisibility. Don't worry though, it can't penetrate the spell I put on you and I."

She will send six of her eyes forward with instructions to "Search the area. Stay hidden. If you see anything noteworthy, observe it for ten seconds and then return. Stay within one mile of me."

Spoiler

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"Ten seconds" actually being IC-speak for "two rounds" because twelve seconds would be an odd thing to specify. They will take ten for 26 to Hide, plus whatever modifiers are appropriate for what cover the forest can provide.
30' Perfect flight, +18 Spot, True Seeing, and can see 120' in all directions.

And while we're here, I'll just put Mulcri's own perceptions in a nice convenient spot:

Spot/Listen: Both +3
Superior Low-Light Vision
See Invisibility
180' Darkvision
120' True Seeing and Greater Arcane Sight
90' Blindsense
40'-radius Detect Scrying

[ngilop]

Tinac nods his head and to no one in particular Sounds, about right. These guys most likely have various magical effects to enhance their capabilities for a job as important as guarding the mining of sargentum.

[Toliudar]

Otrera

As the group back-tracks to pump up, Otrera joins the buff-a-thon.

*Hillock and I can join in the efforts to block off retreat into the cave. We'll come up from underground, waiting for your signal.*

Once the others are ready, Otrera and Hillock become shadowy humanoid figures and float into the earth.

Spoiler: OOC

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Otrera casts the following, all shared with Hillock:

Greater Blindsight
Barkskin

When we're ready to move forward, Otrera and Hillock will transform into Greater Shadows, sink into the ground, and move together to position themselves just under the ground at the cave entrance.

[Debatra]

Mulcri's Prying Eyes return to her, and she withdraws from Raodan to review what they've brought her. "The surrounding area outside the mine appears empty, though there is plenty of evidence of the land being well-travelled. If they usually have outside patrols, they either aren't there at the moment or are well-hidden."