[Game Thread] Chapter 2 - Deathless

[RonarsCorruption]

Alder's tentacles dance on the battlefield, and as the others continue to tear into the zombie horde and they fall one at a time, the tentacles have more room to move, and soon they will have little difficulty immobilizing the few zombies that remain. In the meanwhile, he flies up, out of the cloud of stinging insects, and into the air, a good hundred feet above the battlefield, directly above where Othel had been, and where his corpse now lays, beneath Vanagand's mighty talons.

Mouse transforms herself into living flames, and bravely begins to march towards the thinning mass of undead. Not needing to breathe, she finds that the damp air merely feels unusual and uncomfortable on her now flaming skin, instead of suffocatingly thick.

Dusan coughs, water streaming from his lungs like he had drank far too much, but at least he was alive. With the amount of water he had supposedly inhaled in those few moments, he was very glad of the form of Cael he can see above him, even as the other man returns to the fight.

Cael, of course, moves blindingly fast, and once Dusan is safe in the snow a hundred yards away, he is just as quickly back in the fray, amid the same chokingly thick air. It was like he was trying to breathe underwater.

Hildr turns around to where Magus had been standing a moment before - and noticing that he isn't there again, she blasts a ray of blindingly bright energy into the crowd of undead - and several of them fall. It seemed whatever force was holding them together creaks, and snaps, and the twenty or so heavily damaged zombies that remain no longer work with one purpose, think with one mind. A dozen zombies this strong were still a huge threat, but far less than a wave of zombies as strong as this was. (the mob is dead!)

She picks up Vanagand's reins, and directs the griffon towards where Magus had been, not noticing immediately Vanagand's coughing. When the beast lands where Magus had fallen, Vanagand collapses in exhaustion, feebly coughing up water... ((Vanagand is unconsious and at 0hp!))

While Magus and Vanagand were collapsed, they were at the edge of the mob, which was a considerably safer location than in the middle of it. And Mouse was only a dozen feet to Hildr's left, which was much safer again.

Then, even as Hildr had intended to bring Magus to safety, he is suddenly transported back into the thick of the fight. Necrothesis and Magus swap places, and Magus' unconsious form is twenty feet away again, now ironically laying next to the very necromancer he had spent so much of his own life fighting against. Necrothesis mauls at the mob of undead, tearing a half dozen of the remaining zombies to shreds as the army arrives, but this fight is not yet over. Even with Necrothesis' huge strength, there were a dozen zombies left standing, several of them approaching Magus...

 

Flat-footed attacks versus Magus

Dice Roll:

1d20+12	(16)+12			Total = 28
1d8+12	(2)+12			Total = 14

Dice Roll:

1d20+12	(12)+12			Total = 24
1d8+12	(6)+12			Total = 18

Dice Roll:

1d20+12	(4)+12			Total = 16
1d8+12	(7)+12			Total = 19

 

Dice Roll:

1d20+12	(9)+12			Total = 21
1d8+12	(6)+12			Total = 18

Dice Roll:

1d20+12	(17)+12			Total = 29
1d8+12	(4)+12			Total = 16

Dice Roll:

1d20+12	(17)+12			Total = 29
1d8+12	(3)+12			Total = 15

The swarm of insects - the reddish fog hangs in the air for only a moment before turning around and heading back to the battle. Soon, it would be atop the fight once more.

mechanics new round starts now! @Dragonarmega, do your tentacles distinguish friends from foes? If not, Magus has taken ~15 damage, and Vanagand takes 7. Which would put Vanagand the Huge griffon at -7 behind enemy lines. Another thing I forgot to include - that mob you've been fighting? It should have had fast healing ~200. Be glad you have a scatterbrained DM. To clairify things, as I haven't been drawing diagrams or anything: Othel had been in the very center of the mob. Necrothesis was ajdacent to that location. Magus had been 5ft into the mob, about 15ft from Othel's previous location. That teleport just moved Magus further into the fight. Now, Magus' mob and the remains of the other mob (13 remaining individual creatures) are overlapping. Mouse, Hildr, Vanagand, and Necrothesis are all in those same squares. The tentacles are overlapping the entire area the mob had been in, including those squares. Cael is 20ft above Othel's body, Magus is 5ft to the left, Alder is 100ft above. Dusan is 100ft to the right. Dusan and Alder are far enough away to not be affected by the aura, Mouse, Magus, Cael, Hildr, Vanagand are within the aura. The swarm is 5ft above Magus' mob, which is just far enough away to not affect anyone this turn. Next round it will start causing lots of chaos, especially as it's still at full HP. Any other questions? Okay, Fort saves: Cael, make a DC10 fort save or fall unconscious Hildr, make DC 11 save or fall unconscious. Vanagand, make a DC 11 save or 'get much worse'. Magus, make a DC 16 fort save, or also 'get much worse'.

[DraconigenaArma]

Alder continues his arc across the sky, stalling slightly when he's directly above Magus and Othel. His motion shifts and feet first he begins to fall towards the ground. As he falls his body freezes in mid air, turning to look at the red cloud of bugs. At that same moment Alder's shoes sink into what's left of the slushy mire of snow between the prone bodies of Magus and Othel. Now there are two Alder's one in the air and one on the ground. Neither pay attention to the other. Taking to a knee the Alder in the snow gathers a handful of the clothing of both bodies, one in each hand.

OOC No, the tentacles are undiscerning, until I dismiss them or the invocation expires they will attack everything, even myself. That's why I shaped it around Duscan, otherwise I'd have just killed him instead of helping him. As an aside, Dragonarmega is one of the most entertaining 'I can't remember what the eff his handle is' to date. Move action, fly 30 ft straight down. Standard action Flee the Scene, dimension door the remaining 60 ft to the bodies. A Major Image remians for one round.

[dirkoth]

Mouse sees the griffon falter and fall. Her heart sinks, feeling for the brave animal. However, before she can act, she beholds the magical switch of Necrothis and Magus, and sees his form now fallen in the midst of the crowd of tentacles and zombies. That's as good a cause for fight as any other, she says to herself, and with just a about time i used some abilities:
swift action to dimension hop to the unconscious Magus' side.
Then, activating the whirling feature on her weapon,
she attacks anything that threatens her or her ally, Zombie, tentacle or other.
With the morphing of her weapon, she could get (DM rule) an attack on everything in 5 foot reach, and 10 foot...
her weapon can change between normal and pole arm at will.
thought and a word, dimensions herself to stand in the thickest part of the fray, near the downed ally.

Her flaming body seems to spin and dance, as her weapon twirls in rhythm, and she moves among her foes in a complicated dance of strikes and blows, never seeming to stand still.

 

standard attack, at normal base bonus, against any opponent in reach: If there are more than 12 squares I can hit, let me know. Her knowledge devotion tells her that zombies suffer less from slashing weapons, so she converts her weapon into a heavy flail, and a footman's flail, as needed. She will attack the tentacles, if they threaten her too.
Attack 1

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(15)+47

Total = 62

Damage 1

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(8)+21

Total = 29

+

Dice Roll:

d6

3

Attack 2

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(18)+47

Total = 65

Damage 2

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(8)+21

Total = 29

+

Dice Roll:

d6

1

Attack 3

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(11)+47

Total = 58

Damage 3

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(8)+21

Total = 29

+

Dice Roll:

d6

6

Attack 4

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(1)+47

Total = 48

Damage 4

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(7)+21

Total = 28

+

Dice Roll:

d6

6

Attack 5

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(14)+47

Total = 61

Damage 5

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(10)+21

Total = 31

+

Dice Roll:

d6

4

Attack 6

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(2)+47

Total = 49

Damage 6

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(10)+21

Total = 31

+

Dice Roll:

d6

1

Attack 7

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(9)+47

Total = 56

Damage 7

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(7)+21

Total = 28

+

Dice Roll:

d6

4

Attack 8

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(18)+47

Total = 65

Damage 8

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(4)+21

Total = 25

+

Dice Roll:

d6

4

Attack 9

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(16)+47

Total = 63

Damage 9

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(1)+21

Total = 22

+

Dice Roll:

d6

4

Attack 10

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(10)+47

Total = 57

Damage 10

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(3)+21

Total = 24

+

Dice Roll:

d6

1

Attack 11

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(20)+47

Total = 67

Damage 11

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(8)+21

Total = 29

+

Dice Roll:

d6

6

Attack 12

Dice Roll:

d20+47

(2)+47

Total = 49

Damage 12

Dice Roll:

d10+21

(5)+21

Total = 26

+

Dice Roll:

d6

6

[Talekeeper]

Alarmed at Vanagand's sudden collapse, Hildr quickly chants a healing spell and places her palms on the beast, restoring some of it's vitality. She was about to order Vanagand to once again move towards Magus to clear him out of the battle, but realizes that Alder had beaten them to the punch. Unwilling to subject either herself or Vanagand to whatever was causing everyone to collapse, the pair begins their ascent upwards and out of harms way for the moment.

 

So I'm not really sure how drowning works, exactly. As a standard action, Hildr is casting Heal to bring Vanagand back to 143 HP, which should mean he's conscious and good to go. She should still be in the saddle, since there's no possible way for her to fail a DC 5 Ride check, so that'll be her actions. Vanagand, assuming he's no longer... umm, near dead, will fly directly upwards 80 feet.

[rypta]

In the blink of an eye and with a flash of steel, Cael swoops down and dashes through the ranks of the shambling dead, his blurred form leaving a sanguine trail as rotting viscera spills from the abdomens of two adjacent zombies. With the horde's numbers rapidly diminishing, Cael is mindful of the reaper's warning regarding Othel's persistent longevity. After a brief incantation, a delicate green ray springs forth from Cael's outstretched hand, enveloping the necromancer's corpse in a shimmering emerald field as it strikes and anchoring Othel's body against any magical attempt to remove it -- whether by way of contingent spells or the action of some unseen servant.

 

Full round Action: Cael will use the bounding assault feat to move his full speed (80 ft.) while making an attack against two adjacent zombies (preferably two that look injured already). He will end his movement as far above the the horde as the circumstances allow. He power attacks for -17/+34, sacrificing a 10th level haste spell via arcane strike for +10 attack, +10d4 damage on each attack.

Dice Attack 1:

d20+27

(13)+27

Total = 40

Dice Damage 1:

d10+49	(1)+49			Total = 50
2d6t	4, 2	Running Total = 56		Total = 6
10d4t	2, 3, 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, 2	Running Total = 81		Total = 25

Dice Attack 2:

d20+22

(12)+22

Total = 34

Dice Damage 2:

d10+49	(9)+49			Total = 58
2d6t	4, 2	Running Total = 64		Total = 6
10d4t	2, 2, 4, 3, 1, 4, 1, 1, 1, 4	Running Total = 87		Total = 23

Standard Action: Cael casts dimensional anchor on Othel's corpse. Ranged touch attack:

Dice Roll:

d20+23

(9)+23

Total = 32

(32)

[dr green]

Kast
Eyeing Necrotheosis in the way a man would eye a rabid dog the undead wizard gathers himself up on Drang's saddle, tapping the large beast roughly on the neck. 'Your master is in trouble Drang. Protect him," The wizard shifted his weight out of the saddle to watch as the two undead dragons opened their mouths and unleashed fire upon the sodden undead, watched as the flames surrounded Magus in a ring, charring the undead to a crisp. For his own part Kast began to fear for his master. He hadn't risen yet, but he wasn't dead yet either. What was going on down there? "Fyurm! Land and defend your master!" The second dragon instantly swooped out of the sky and landed with it's bulk directly over the True Dread Necromancer, protecting him with undead flesh. Necrotheosis continued it's raging and Veronica was beginning to tighten the ring of Magus' undead on the last surviving knot of Othel's own creations. This battle was over. What would Magus want done now? .... He would want Othel.

ooc Veronica tightens the noose. The mobs get a single attack on the remnants of Othel's mob. Not sure what the rolls are for that. Necrotheosis continues his craziness.   Dice attacks: d20+51 (15)+51 Total = 66 d20+51 (14)+51 Total = 65 d20+46 (13)+46 Total = 59 d20+41 (3)+41 Total = 44 d20+36 (12)+36 Total = 48 d20+51 (13)+51 Total = 64 d20+51 (14)+51 Total = 65 d20+46 (16)+46 Total = 62 d20+41 (8)+41 Total = 49 d20+36 (9)+36 Total = 45 Dice damage: 6d6+33 (5, 4, 2, 5, 2, 3)+33 Total = 54 6d6+33 (3, 6, 5, 2, 1, 3)+33 Total = 53 6d6+33 (5, 3, 5, 5, 3, 5)+33 Total = 59 6d6+33 (6, 1, 2, 6, 2, 4)+33 Total = 54 6d6+33 (3, 4, 6, 1, 4, 5)+33 Total = 56 6d6+33 (2, 6, 3, 2, 5, 6)+33 Total = 57 6d6+33 (5, 5, 5, 1, 2, 6)+33 Total = 57 6d6+33 (5, 6, 4, 5, 4, 4)+33 Total = 61 6d6+33 (5, 2, 6, 3, 4, 4)+33 Total = 57 6d6+33 (3, 6, 6, 4, 6, 6)+33 Total = 64 Fyurm lands directly over Magus after breath weapon on zombies surrounding Magus for Dice Roll: 6d10 5, 4, 4, 2, 5, 5 Total = 25 (25) fire damage. Drang breath weapons zombies encircling Magus for Dice Roll: 6d10 1, 6, 7, 4, 7, 6 Total = 31 (31) fire damage. Kast casts True Seeing on himself.

[DrakeFlame]

Sputtering Dusan managed to climb to his bony knees clearing the last of the water from his lungs. He was still alive, even if he didn't feel like it at the moment. Still Dusan had been through worse and while he knew the battle was coming to a close it wasn't done yet. Standing the shadowkin gives one last feeble cough before looking out across the battlefield. It seemed as if just as quickly as Cael had rescued him he had also jumped back into the dwindling hoard.

Taking in the sight of battle for a moment, Dusan watches as the others rip through the remains of the zombies but just as soon he picked out what he could only assume to be motionless form of Magus. Cautious after his own collapse, Dusan slowly raises back into the air assessing the situation. While his own methods would be rather ineffectual against the mass of creatures, he knew that a well placed spell from one of the spellcasters would be their best bet against the threatening cloud of insects. Gathering his strength Dusan starts to close the distance between himself and the battle, careful however to stay out of reach of the vicious swarm.

OOC Move Action to stand up, Move action to fly up 40 ft and move to about 30 ft at the edge of the swarm. Since he activated travel devotion he should have plenty of movement to get close.

[RonarsCorruption]

The mob thinned, the heroes have little trouble eliminating the remaining undead creatures. Tough though they are, Mouse, Cael and Necrothesis, eliminate the few standing creatures in a matter of moments. The swarm of biting and stinging insects only lasts a few seconds beyond that as the spellweavers flood it with magic - effectively stopping the swarm in the simplest way possible.

Vanagand was back in the air with the aid of Hildr's magic, though the armor and normally well-groomed chest and face of the magestic creature are flecked with snow, ice and spatters of undead ichor. No doubt the gryphon would be preening itself for weeks to get rid of it all.

Magus's army closes in, and though none of the undead were standing, only the mindless undead would be thurough enough to make sure that they were all properly destroyed so as not to rise again. Even as they close the ring to where Magus' and Othel's bodies lie,

Alder flies into the middle of the carnage, intent on grabbing the bodies of both Necromancers, Othel and Magus, and bringing them to safety. Alder's form winks out and then back in, far faster than Fyrum or Drang could hope, and though the air is still chokingly thick where he lands, it is less so than when he had pulled Mouse from this same fog a short time ago. His hand closes on the back of Magus' collar , and his other hand closes on the back of Othel's. But Othel was not simply dead, but already crumbling into dust even as Alder starts to lift him up. The robes cling to the dust like you were pulling the robe by the collar from the earth itself, and before Alder's eyes, Othel is gone, completely and utterly.

mechanics Everyone gets 3000xp for this encounter. Amid the dust that was once Othel, you find: Ring of Protection +5, Amulet of Natural Armor +5, and Unholy Robes (which are robes that constantly grant the effect of Unholy Aura on the wearer)

[RonarsCorruption]

Magus' army clears away, giving the group space to see the results of the carnage. Over a hundred corpses lay in the snow, now heavily packed and soaked nearly down to the frozen ground beneath it. All of them had been stripped naked, and were already starting to freeze in the cold, especially the bloated ones - they seemed to be mostly water.

In the center, the beast that had been absorbing the other corpses lays like a skeleton, mangled corpses tied together in such a way that it would have been nearly impossible to identify one piece for another. Large furrows of snow lead to it's body where bodies had been dragged as if my invisible arms towards it, before it devoured the corpses into itself. And in the center of it's mangled corpse, the pile of ash that had been Othel.

[DraconigenaArma]

Alder releases Magus and stands up straight, bringing with him the robe of Othel. His boots and pants are stained and coated with powder as it rains down from arm holes and neckline. Holding it out before him he watches the last bits of dust settle onto the snow.

"What a waste." Alder mutters. His eyes get a characteristic blue sheen on them and from his pocket he fishes out a manacle, placing it over his right eye. Studying the robe, closely he tosses it onto Magus's prostrate form. Though powerful, it does him to use and he's sure Magus would never allow it to be fenced. Kneeling back down to the soot he pulls out a sack and begins shoveling handfuls of Othel into it. Once he's got as much of it as he can, and a sizable amount of slush, into the sack he tosses that on top of the robe on top of Magus. The ring and necklace are likewise inspected, and discarded onto Magus when they are found amid the remains. Whoever is nearby that can't see him when Alder is finished can hear the sound of hands patting themselves free of dust and his voice ring out, "Good thing I showed up. A lesson in starting without me."

[dirkoth]

Still in her primal form, Mouse speaks to the others so blessed by their telepathic bonds. I have the perimeter, she says, as her flaming body moves through the piles of death. She stops here and there to thrust a finger of fire into a creature, just to make sure it is gone beyond recovery. Or magic. A few of them still quiver with remnants of unlife at her touch. She kicks away weapons and crunches some bones under her feet simply because she can. Parts of the creatures seem to be half sunk in the earth beneath them, as Mudd works to keep up with his mistress, pulling parts of bodies into the ground and letting it solidify around them.

Othel is gone? she asks from the far edge of the pile of creatures. For good? Can we be sure? How is Magus, I saw him go down, I think? and Hildr, are you okay?

[rypta]

Landing at the center of the ruined field with a predatory grace, Cael wipes clean his blade with the sleeve of his already bloodstained robes. Sheathing the sword with practiced swiftness, he approaches the location where Othel had fallen with a mixture of caution and curiosity. Though he cannot truly see him, Cael can sense the nearby presence of the invisible warlock and upon hearing a familiar voice, Cael greets Alder. "We are fortunate you arrived when you did." There is a distance in his voice and as he speaks to his companion, Cael's eyes remain focused on the necromancer's particulate remains. "How did you know where to find us?" he inquires, crouching low to the ground in order to better examine the mound of ashes. Reaching into the pile with one hand, he slowly raises it, allowing the dust to fall between his fingers. "This is powerful magic...I have never seen anything quite like it..." Retrieving a small a pouch from a pack hidden beneath the folds of his robes, the wizard collects the small amount of ash that remains in his palm.

[DrakeFlame]

As if the creatures had suddenly vanished the battlefield was quiet again, the only sign of the presence the bodies littering the snow now. Twirling his daggers idly in his hands Dusan swoops in among the others gently landing besides Cael. Slipping out of invisibility Dusan looks out, gazing over Othel's remains, "Well that was certainly interesting." For a second he thought about commending Alder's return and Cael's rescue but Dusan was never one for such talk when there were questions to be asked. Besides he knew that most likely not only they would brush it away but point to the fact that there were more important matters to attend to. Besides Alder's well-founded ego didn't need any more padding.

Flicking a dagger into the pile of ash, Dusan deftly raises the flat of the blade to his eye as he examines the remains. Content with his examination the shadowkin unceremoniously dumps the ashes back to the ground, before wiping his daggers clean and placing them back in their respective sheaths. "It certainly was like anything I've ever seen. He was guarded against my attempt to leech his magic, I know that much. Two ways I see it, either he was aware of me and prepared for my attack, or Othel wasn't all he seemed. Either way Cael I believe you'd do best with this, like you said this is some powerful magic. Perhaps after such a battle however we should venture into the water? If that was a large portion of Othel's army we might be able to get by and see if we can't learn anything else while his forces are weakened."

[RonarsCorruption]

The next few hours are spent cleaning the battlefield and tending the group's minor injuries. All together, that part was unspectacular.

What is more spectacular is what Cael finds out as he begins some inital examinations of the dust. It was extremely fine, almost to a point where it was a liquid, and it was smooth. Moving it around was as easy as it was to move about a flask of water - though it didn't stick to the flask in droplets.

At least, until after a few hours, when it started to harden. It seemed, at first, that the dust was simply scattering to the snow below, slowly growing more glittering as time passed - but Cael was being careful, and after a few minutes he realized that it wasn't falling from his hands or the phial, but actually coalescing out of the air around them. And as the sun set, the pile of dust began to harden into an almost crystaline structure, very brittle, and lightly glowing.

This strange dust turned crystal was settling on the surface of everything in the area - the snow, the bodies, even the heroes. And there was a lot of it, and it responded flawlessly to magical manipulation - barely requiring magic at all to manipulate it once it began to crystalize.

[rypta]

Recognizing this to be unique magical phenomenon, Cael's eyes flash with magical insight and he is immediately consumed by his study of the crystalline structures. Pressing his boot down with gradually increasing force, he first tests the strength of the regions that were the first to solidify, comparing that with the strength of the regions that had only just done so. Next, he invokes elementary magic in order to draw a portion of the crystallizing material into his hand, separating a small section from the growing mass in order to determine if the crystallization process and luminescence will continue after the portion is removed.

Wondering if the phase transformation might have been triggered by the growing darkness, Cael then launches himself skyward with terrific speed. Reaching an altitude where he is once more bathed in the sun's light, the wizard examines the segments of crystal that had formed on his robes, paying particular attention to the progress of their crystallization.

 

Cael casts Detect Magic and concentrates on the crystallizing dust. He will also expend his Moment of Prescience on a spellcraft check to "understand a strange or unique magical effect." He then casts Prestidigitation to manipulate the material (I'm assuming that will work?).

Spellcraft:

Dice Roll:

d20+59

(11)+59

Total = 70

(70)
Knowledge (Arcana):

Dice Roll:

d20+37

(17)+37

Total = 54

(54)