CELESTIAL  CAPER

October 30, 2010


Day 3  (cont.)  <date TBD; late spring>

10:00am  

We are still in the pass -- which is more than just a saddlepoint rift in this mountain range, but rather a fairly long and narrow valley between two adjacent mountains -- but have come far enough in that we feel sure we won't be violating Granthis's oath.  Stop while those who used up memorized spells during the arena contest refill their slots.  Tarva also wants Zeln to cast Identify on the Iron Flask, to discover its Command Word, plus anything else that Granthis wasn't able to tell us about it.  

While Zeln is doing that, Tarva asks Hearts Reach whether HR thinks that tossing Aunt Millicent's Amulet into Darinthalus's gate would disrupt\destroy it, and thus prevent any more monsters\guardians from being brought here.  

HR says that from what he's felt, at this distance, the gate is not being opened in a controlled, normal fashion, but rather is being cut or ripped by disrupting the fabric of this plane.  He can't explain it any clearer than that.  If we could open Aunt Millicent's amulet, then yes having an open gate inside another open gate could have very, um, exciting results -- to the point that it would be very good to not be the person close enough to cause the gate-within-gate occurance.  However, he thinks that, when we get closer, there might be a way to use Aunt Millicent's Amulet to provide some control - more to our liking - over how that gate is working.  That sounds promising.

He also says, as do Velia and Rowan, that the gate is being opened more frequently, with less time between each subsequent pair of openings.  

Zeln reports that the Command Word for the Iron Flask is "Pic-ko'ne"; and that it can be used once a day to try to entrap an outsider, who will get a Will save.  If a first attempt fails, a second (third, etc.) can be tried, but each time the outsider's save becomes easier.  Once entrapped, the Command Word can cause the outsider to come out of the flask for one hour per day and do the owner's bidding.

After that, we are ready to proceed north along the pass again.

12:30pm

A second Vasuthant (Granthis told us the name of the creature, when we described it to him while chatting over dinner), this one much larger and with roughly 120' radius of darkness around it, appears ahead of us; this one's "tentacles" of darkness are about 15' to 20' long.

1.  Tarva moves 240' towards it, shouts, "archers shoot it; fighters defend the archers", casts Magic Missile for 12; V-1 casts Anti-Gravity and tosses Tarva 100' into the air, moves 30' towards Rowan; Velia activates boots for Haste; for Flying, moves 30'; Rowan moves to the side, shoots for 19, 15, 20, 16, 18; Ninalyn flies closer; Surune runs forward 240'; Axe activates boots for Flying, moves 90'; Zeln casts Lightning Bolt for 42.

2.  Tarva, hanging in midair, casts Magic Missile for 13, casts Magic Missile for 19; V-1 Teleports to behind Rowan, hits twice for 49, grapples successfully and absorbs Rowan for 1 & -3 Str; Velia flies to Tarva; Rowan uses her dagger for 10, 10, 9, 9; Ninalyn moves 40', casts Deific Vengence for 39; Surune moves 120'; Axe charges for 32; Zeln casts Ice Knife for 15 & -2 Dex.

3.  Tarva puts up HR, draws bow, shoots for 22, miss, miss; V-1 crushes Rowan for 4 & -4 Str, hits Axe for 26, grapples successfully and absorbs Axe for 2 & -3 Str; hits Surune for 16, grapples successfully and absorbs Surune for 2 & -4 Str; Velia grabs Tarva and starts flying away with her, when they exit the zone of Anti-Gravity, she can't keep hold of the suddenly not-weightless Tarva - who falls for 25 - then flies on to Zeln; Rowan strikes with her dagger for 7, 6, 7, 7, yells, "someone hit this thing with a cure spell"; Ninalyn hears her, casts Heal as a Ray for 150, moves away; Surune misses; Axe hits with dagger for 10, 9, 9, 9; Zeln casts Lesser Orb of Acid for 24.

4.  Tarva shoots for 24, miss, miss, uses the R charm on her Bracelet of Friends to bring Rowan to her;

4a. V-1 crushes Axe for 4 & -4 Str, crushes Surune for -4 & -4 Str, touches Zeln, who stands without moving; Velia uses Spellcraft to recognize a Temporal Stasis spell was cast on Zeln, moves away; Rowan shoots for 15, 18, 17, 19, 15, 17; Ninalyn casts Cure Critical as a Ray for 37 ...

4b. V-1 decides that things are not going as it likes, and casts Reset Time (or some such name) to the beginning of its last action, crushes Axe for for 5 & -5 Str, crushes Surune for 7 & -7 Str, Teleports to behind Rowan and Tarva, hits Tarva for 21, grapples successfully and absorbs Tarva for 5 & -6 Str, misses Rowan; Velia reserves for rescuing someone; Rowan takes a 5' step, shoots for 20, 22, 20, 21, 17; Ninalyn moves, casts Cure Critical as a Ray for 34 -- V-1 tries for less damage -- Ninalyn's spell instead does 39, V-1 killed.

A -37    N  0    R -54    S -23    T -52    V  0    Z  0
    -10                   -27          0        -25                            Ninalyn casts Cure Moderate, Mass for 27
        0                    -3                       -1                            Ninalyn casts Cure Light, Mass for 24
                                0                         0                           Tarva uses Laying On Hands

A  -8    N  0    R  -6    S  -11    T  -6    V  0    Z  0         (Strength drain)
      0                     0            0          0                              Ninalyn casts Restoration four times

Tarva resets the "T" charm on her Bracelet of Friends to "R" (for Rowan).  

We go north again.

1:00pm

Some of us see a bright dot in the air ahead of us; Velia says that it is Dragon-shaped.  We know that Brass Dragons can breathe in two ways: either a line of Fire, or else a cone of Sleep (much more powerful than the Wizard spell); can sometimes control Winds or Weather; and are vulnerable to Cold.

1.  Zeln casts Fire Shield, Mass on all of us: if we are struck in melee the striker takes 1d6+15 in Cold damage; and if we are damaged by Fire, we take only half damage - unless we are allowed and make a Reflex save, in which case we take no damage; Ninalin casts Blessing of the Righteous, giving us each an additional 1d6 of damage when we hit with weapons.  BD dives, going from 1,300 feet away to 500 feet away.

2. Tarva moves 150' forward, yells up in Draconic, "Please, can't we just talk this over?"; V hides; Rowan moves to behind a rock for concealment; Ninalyn reserves to see if BD is really a foe; Axe reserves for BD to come in reach; BD swoops to just in front of Axe, 20' up, breathes a cone of Sleep: Axe saves, Surune saves, Ninalyn is slept; Zeln casts Wall of Force, as a cylinder 30' high, 10' diam, directly behind Axe (and thus in BD's flight path); Surune reserves for a target in reach.

3.  Tarva casts Magic Missile for 11; Surune and (sleeping) Ninalyn are Shaken; Velia activates her boots for Flying, moves to BD -- AoO for 31, BD suffers 17 Cold -- uses Flick of the Wrist and hits for 47; Rowan shoots for 22, 17, 20, 22, Velia AoO on ally's attack for 10; Axe activates his boots for Flying, charges but misses; BD Wing-overs to attack Velia on his right (thus missing the Wall of Force cylinder) for 29, BD suffers 20 Cold, flies another 200'; Zeln casts Ice Knife for 11 and -0 Dex; Surune taunts.

4.  Tarva moves to Ninalyn, shakes her awake; Velia grounds, hides; Rowan shoots for 20, 21, 26, 19; Ninalyn gets up; Axe reserves for a chance to attack; BD flies back, breathes Sleep on Velia and Axe, Axe falls asleep, falls to the ground for 3, wakes; Zeln casts Orb of Electricity for  53 & Entangled for 1 round, BD falls to ground; Surune charges for 45.

5. Tarva charges BD, runs into Wall of Force cylinder for 6, feels way around cylinder, BD gets AoO on Tarva for 21, BD suffers 19 Cold, dies.

Tarva casts Detect Evil on body, feels Evil fading away but still there.  Rowan carves into the carcass to reach the heart - which is a twisted solid thing like we've seen before; Ninalyn touches it with her Holy Sword to get rid of it.  Ninalyn studies the BD's body and records all the identifying attributes she can find, for the purpose of later finding out who this Brass Dragon was, and notifying its next-of-kin.

A  -3    N  0    R  0    S  0    T  -32    V  -60    Z  0
                                                                   0              Tarva wand Cure Light four times
      0                                                                            Tarva wand Cure Light one time
                                                    0                              Tarva wand Cure Light three times

We move on north through the pass.

2:00pm

We are now out of the pass, and have felt the Gate open again.  The land here is open forest.

Rowan, Velia, and Tarva get an impression of flames, off to our right and ahead.

0.  Humanoids with horns curving up from the backs of their heads, medium sized, and causing a foul stench appear at the four corners of the group.  They are recognized as being Babau, one of many Demon types belonging to a subtype called Tanar'ri.  Babau are often footsoldiers or assassins for leaders from the Abyss, with Damage Reduction and Corrosive Skin; Tarva shouts that info, moves to 5' from the nearest Babau (B-2) and in Infernal tells it "leave now and you won't get hurt"; V hides from front two Babau; Rowan repositions herself into the center of the group.

1.  A Balor, surrounded by a malevalent darkness, appears in the middle of the group and casts Blasphemy -- Zeln uses his Ring of Spell Battle to identify the spell, and then to try and counterspell it, but just barely fails -- all but Zeln and Tarva are Weakened for four rounds: Axe -3 Str, Ninalyn -2 Str, Rowan -3 Str, Surune -6 Str, Velia -7 Str; Tarva SpringAttacks Balor, but misses, casts Blur on herself; Velia reserves for a chance to flank; Axe on Balor misses, hits for 31, misses; Rowan on B-1 crits for 46, hits for 20, 15, 14,15, 14; B-1 through B-4 Teleport to new places: B-1 on Rowan misses; B-2 on Tarva misses; B-3 on Ninalyn misses; B-4 on Zeln hits bites for 11; Ninalyn defensively casts Holy Word on Balor, B-3, B-4, B3 & B4 die, then are banished, then she moves away; Zeln recognizes Balor as being a greater Tanar'ri with damage reduction except for Cold Iron AND Good weapons, immune to electricity, fire, and poison, resistant to acid and cold, and spell resistant, shouts that, casts Timestop:
1.1 casts Tactical Teleportation to move: Velia flanking Balor with Axe, himself into Velia's hiding spot, Rowan out of melee attack reach of Balor B1 and B-2, Surune to north side of Balor;
1.2 casts Bull Strength, Mass on Rowan, Velia, Axe, and Surune for +4;
1.3 casts Wish to remove the Strength damage from the Balor's Blasphemy spell;
1.4 casts Summon Monster VII for a Celestial Elephant, to flank Balor with Surune.
Surune hits Balor for 37 but suffers -6 Str, miss, miss, miss; Velia (reserved for flanking) hits Balor for 46 but suffers -6 Str.

2. Balor casts Firestorm: Rowan, Tarva, and Velia take 38, Ninalyn, Surune, Axe, and Zeln take 77; Tarva strikes T-2 for 39 (HR saves vs acid), miss, miss, casts Magic Missile at Balor but doesn't overcome SR; Axe on Balor for 30 but suffers 18 fire & -4 Str, miss, miss, miss; Velia AoO on Balor but misses; Rowan on B-1 crits for 58, kills, shoots B-2 for 15, 20, 17, 15, 17; T-2 on Tarva misses; Ninalyn moves, casts Blessing of the Righteous on everyone; Zeln -- Celestial Elephant hits Balor for 45 but suffers 20 fire & -4 Str -- casts Resist Energy, Mass (Fire::10) on himself, Rowan, Velia, and Axe; Surune on Balor crits for 63 but suffers 20 fire & -5 Str, miss, miss, miss; Velia on Balor hits for 51 but suffers 27 fire & -6 Str, bloopers and drops weapon, picks weapon up.

3.  Balor Teleports -- Axe AoO for 33, Surune AoO crits for 59, Velia AoO for 60, Celestial Elephant AoO misses -- to behind Zeld and hits for 34, dropping him to -18 out of -25; Tarva notices this, takes a 5' step, double moves to Zeld -- Balor AoO crits and beheads Tarva with his Vorpal Blade; Axe charges but misses; Rowan shoots Balor for 17, kills -- Balor explodes for 100 damage to all (but Tarva and Zeln) (50 if save) -- shoots B-2 for 16, 17, 18, 15, 19, kills.

Velia uses her Heal skill to stop Zeln's bleeding.  She asks Heart's Reach if he can bring Tarva back to life.  HR responds by asking if anyone else in the group can do this -- because if he does it, the energies involved will bring him - and by extension our group - to the attention of some very bad people.  Ninalyn says that she can do this, and burns one of our 10,000gp diamonds to cast Resurrection on Tarva.  Tarva is back to life with full hit points, stats, and spell slots, but suffering from One Negative Energy Level.

Velia searches the four Babau bodies (the Balor's explosion destroyed its body and all of its possessions, including the vorpal blade) to find -- four times: 1,100 gp; 2 gems; one flask Cure Light Wounds.  We dump all of that into a bag of holding.

Tarva thanks Ninalyn and promises an offering to Kord when we get home.

A -95    N -167    R -87    S -192    T  0    V -53    Z -122
    -60        -132       -52        -157                  -18         -87       Ninalyn Cure Critical, Mass for 35
    -26          -98       -18        -123                     0         -53        Ninalyn Cure Serious, Mass for 34
       0           -70          0          -95                                -25        Ninalyn Cure Serious, Mass for 28
                    -47                      -71                                  -2        Ninalyn Cure Moderate, Mass for 23
                    -19                      -43                                    0        Ninalyn Cure Moderate, Mass for 28
                       0                                                                          Ninalyn Cure Serious
                                                -13                                              Ninalyn Cure Serious
                                                   0                                               Tarva, wand Cure Light, twice.

A  -4    N  0    R  0    S  -11    T  0    V  -12    Z  0                    (Strength drain)
      0                                                                                          Ninalyn Lesser Restoration
                                        -7                                                       Ninalyn Lesser Restoration
                                        -4                                                       Ninalyn Lesser Restoration
                                          0                                                       Ninalyn Lesser Restoration
                                                                 0                                Ninalyn Restoration (5th level slot)

Tarva consults with Zeln and Ninalyn.  She feels strongly that if we stop now and rest up to regain spells, Darinthalus will have time to put so many more monsters in our path that we'll end up even weaker than we are now, when we get to him.  But if either of them is really down, then we will wait.  Both of them say that they have a fair number of powerful spells left.  Tarva therefore declares that we are moving out immediately.

End of run.