carborundum
Adventurer
"down but not dead" - how did that go again?
-
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Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)
- Thread starter Rackhir
- Start date
shilsen
Adventurer
Pretty simple, actually. A PC who goes down to -10 HP or below doesn't die, but can't be revived until after the end of the encounter. The only way they would die is if an enemy subsequently tried to coup de grace them.
Aren't there also long term repercussions? The PC suffers a negative level until the group levels up, and then they are restored to normal?
shilsen
Adventurer
We used that at one point, but not throughout.
Ahh, I didn't realize you got rid of it.
The unfortunate side of going down in combat, is that combat lasts hours. Typically what happens:
Luna - Goes to sleep
Nameless - Plays WoW or goes home (lives within walking distance of me)
Korm - Pays attention to the game, or plays on his iPhone
Gareth - Surfs the net, calls a girl, goes into his bedroom and takes a nap, or gets a snack for people (it's my place)
shilsen
Adventurer
There is no visible effect as Nameless' hand touches the rough surface of the Madstone, but the Guardian Angels—their minds connected via the telepathic bond—instantly sense a response. The consciousnesses—or, according to the alienist, facsimiles of true consciousness—contained within it leap forth, attempting to seize and control Nameless' mind. However, unguarded though it might be by a mind blank, the alienist's sense of will is far too strong to be thus ruled, especially thanks to his familiarity with creatures and things of Xoriat, as the gigantic hunk of warpstone is. And, to his amusement, he realizes that the entity which is the Madstone, being simultaneously comprised of and used to the various humanoid and other mortal minds that it has fed on, is struggling to comprehend his consciousness. With an internal chuckle and a mental effort*, he shrugs off the attack.
The Angels all hear the equivalent of an angry roar inside their heads, wordless and containing myriad tones within it, and momentarily sense the Madstone questing back and forth, like a temporarily baffled beast seeking out easier prey. Its touch flashes over the surface of Korm's and Six's minds, both warded by mind blanks, and then over Gareth's, shielded by the Silver Flame against possession and control. Finally, it comes to Luna, benefiting from none of these protections – and it springs.
The Gatekeeper staggers back, grabbing at her head as a sharp pain shoots through it**, feeling her thoughts go fuzzy. Luckily, the mental link provides the others with certain options as well. Feeling the mental attack on Luna, Gareth hurriedly interposes, instinctively using his training as an exorcist and drawing on the touch of the Silver Flame within each of them. After a struggle that only lasts a second but feels much longer, the Madstone again draws back.
The angry roar within the Guardian Angels' conjoined minds is much louder this time – and it comes with a more obvious retort. A spiderweb of cracks quickly runs up the sides of the Madstone and, with a rumbling sound, two large segments of it come free and tumble to the ground. A moment later, their surfaces flow and reshape as they begin to rise, reforming into vaguely humanoid shapes that resemble earth elementals, each forty feet tall and proportionately broad.
Gareth immediately grabs at the Endless Blade, using it to call down a dispel magic that strikes the area within which the Madstone-elementals are rising, but there is no effect. “Damn!” Hurriedly he calls forth a blur effect to protect himself too. Six too takes the defensive option, hurriedly pulling out a scroll while the shadows stream out of his armor, activating it and increasing his speed.
Korm, conversely, takes the offensive route, albeit pausing to cast a swift greater blink before he rushes in. His meteoric sword strikes with less effectiveness that he hoped, but it still bites deep into the rocky surface of one of the creatures, causing drops of gray fluid to leak from the wound. New allies appear around the Gatekeeper as Luna calls forth three huge earth elementals to try and hedge off the ones brought forth by the Madstone.
One of the Madstone's servitors swings back at the summoned elementals as they hammer at it, clearly hitting with more power. The other brings its massive fists down on Korm with terrific force, cracking ribs with the impact.
Nameless, meanwhile, has remained where he is with one hand touching the Madstone. Despite the abrupt change in the situation, the alienist smiles thinly. Only pausing to rasp, “Keep them off me for a few seconds,” he then enacts what he called his cunning plan. With a single word, Nameless activates the contingency spell that he had prepared and cast earlier this day for just such a moment, bringing forth the linked magic. Though he remains aware of what is occurring around him, part of his consciousness leaps across vast gulfs of space, drawn by the contact other plane he activated. From somewhere in the endless depths of Xoriat, he feels Cyäegha's will touch his.
“What are you doing?” asks Gareth, as he casts a righteous wrath of the faithful to empower the group, followed by a swift divine favor. Near him, Six echoes the question, while he hastes everyone. Luna, attempting a targeted greater dispel on one of the creatures and achieving nothing, while she sees one of her summoned elementals crumbling swiftly under its blows, growls, “Yeah! We need help here.”
“I'm,” Nameless replies, his gaze slightly glassy from the effort of balancing all of the sensory input he is receiving from many quarters, “calling in some backup!”
“I hope it gets here quick,” grunts Korm, spitting up blood as he speaks. As another tremendous blow almost drops him, the Gatekeeper emits a frustrated growl, “Sorry – I'm out!” Then he calls forth a rejuvenation cocoon around himself.
Within his mind, Nameless feels the All-Seeing Eye gaze through him at the surrounding scene. It seems to be, for lack of a better word, amused. The alienist is mentally attempting to ensure that none of the terrible sensation of being in contact with Cyäegha's will filters through to his companions, but he makes no such effort where the Madstone is concerned, and he feels the myriad consciousnesses that constitute the latter trying to retreat as it realizes what he is doing.
Simultaneously, the Madstone commands its protectors to destroy the greatest danger to itself. They surge forward toward the alienist. Luna hurls herself into their path and, with the aid of her elementals, manages to halt one of the creatures. The other, however, smashes the interposing figure of Gareth out of the way, utterly ignores a blow from Six's chain and reaches Nameless. Looming over him, it brings a tremendous blow down on the alienist.
Nameless collapses to a knee, feeling as if his left arm is broken, but he keeps his right hand pressed to the Madstone. Looking up at the monolith and its giant protector, the alienist grins viciously. “Here!” And he opens up his mind utterly, forming himself into a conduit. And Cyäegha reaches through him into the Madstone.
Nameless feels an instant of incredible pressure inside his mind, as the two consciousnesses meet. There is a tiny second of what can only loosely be called conflict. The entity that is the Madstone is the result of hundreds, if not thousands, of minds leaving their imprints on a stony form that is the crystallized essence of chaos. And Cyäegha is one of the Great Old Ones, existing beyond time and space and rational meaning in a dark space of the plane of madness where even the 'normal' denizens of Xoriat fear to go. There is no contest.
The alienist hears a shriek inside his head as Cyäegha blasts past the Madstone's defenses without effort, greedily rummaging through the memories and information contained within. And then he is flying through the air, flung far away by a giant paroxysm that runs through the Madstone. As he hits the ground, Nameless sees the shivering stone fall quiescent. Simultaneously, the two creatures it had called forth collapse to the ground, dissolving swiftly into sludge.
As Nameless climbs back to his feet and walks back toward the Madstone, the other Guardian Angels look around warily. Finally, when certain that the threat is ended, they sheath weapons and look at the alienist curiously. Korm, having emerged fully healed from his cocoon, asks, “So what was that all about?”
Nameless touches the surface of the Madstone and smiles at what he senses—or rather fails to sense—within. “Oh, nothing,” he answers. “Just educating it about who's boss. And obtaining us a giant piece of warpstone.”
* * *
Once they have the Madstone under their control, the Angels discuss what to do with it until they need to call on it. After some discussion, they decide to store it in a remote location of the Frostfell, the frozen wasteland far to the north of Khorvaire.
Though none of them have been there previously, Luna is able to use a move earth spell to transport the group to an area of the Frostfell, after having taken the form of a tendriculos and strapped the now quiescent monolith to her giant back.
The Angels arrive in the middle of a frigid waste, bereft of any visible life. Not wanting to take any risks of discovery or of having the Madstone tampered with, Nameless casts an antipathy on it, designed to keep animals away from it.
“Aren't there anything besides animals here?” asks Luna curiously, quickly growing impatient of watching the alienist cast the hour-long spell. “What about … ice elves?”
“Maybe,” grins Gareth. “Who knows?”
“Ooh!” Luna promptly turns and moves away, calling out in elven. “Is anyone there? Ice elves? Yoohoo?”***
“So,” says Korm, looking after her, “this is probably the first time the Frostfell has seen a tendriculos walking around it, especially one looking for ice elves.” Then he frowns thoughtfully. “Are there actually any ice elves?”
“I do not know,” says Six flatly, “but with our luck, she'll probably come back with a collection of ice gnomes.”
“Aaah!” Korm hurriedly draws his sword and looks around, only half-joking in his response.
Luckily, Luna finds neither ice elves nor ice gnomes, and Nameless eventually finishes his spell. Once he is done, the Angels pile snow over the Madstone and then depart the spot.
Before returning to the Gray House, they proceed to their home—or, more precisely, ruined estate—in Karrnath, which they have not visited in a long while. Its undisturbed status is still exactly the same, but just in case anyone comes there seeking to attack them, the Angels place a series of traps there. Nameless sets up the most powerful of them – a well-concealed teleportation circle, designed to transport anyone walking over it to an underground cave far away, which has no exits.
Then they finally return to Sharn and settle down for the night and the supposed arrival of Essirise from Argonnessen.
* * * * *
The next morning, the Guardian Angels do receive a sending from Essirise: “Reaching Khorvaire today with Light of Siberys battalion. Need to arrive in secluded place. Find one and I shall scry you there in six hours.”
“Ooh – a battalion from the dragon army? This should be cool!” says Luna excitedly. “Ask her how big and secluded the place should be!”
After the question is asked, another sending arrives a dozen minutes later, saying that the main thing is for the Angels to ensure that nobody but them will be available to see them. The Angels decide to pick a location on the Brelish border with the Mournland, since that is an area that the dragons will presumably accompany them into.
After the Angels arrive at the chosen spot, they are joined five minutes later by Essirise, who is in the elven form that she usually wears when not in her own. Accompanying her are four individuals – a female orc, a male human, a male elf, and a female dwarf. The new arrivals look around and then the orc asks, speaking in draconic, “Is this them?” When Essirise confirms that these are the Guardian Angels, the orcish woman says brusquely to them, “Stand back.”
Then she begins to transform, growing swiftly and dramatically until a huge gold dragon stands in her place, looming over the Angels. Essirise does so as well, taking on her natural shape of a silver dragon. The remaining three become huge red, bronze and green dragons. Naturally, their clothing disappears, but each of them is left wearing some magical items. Nameless, thanks to his permanent arcane sight, picks up very powerful auras on them, ranging from embedded gems that protect them, to enhancements on their fangs and claws, to a ring of three wishes worn by the gold dragon.
While the alienist is studying the dragons and their possessions, Luna says excitedly, “Hah! We can do that too!” She promptly transforms into a huge fire elemental, causing Korm to scoff and change shape as well. Cloaker wings spring from the Gatekeeper's back and his face lengthens, its lower end extending into tentacles like a mind flayer.
Nameless looks quizzically at Korm for a moment and says, "You know you look just like ... ah, never mind."
The gold dragon, which is slightly larger than the others, sniffs disdainfully and then rumbles, “You may call me Bhirali. Who is your leader?”
Luna promptly raises a flaming hand, causing Korm to chortle and Gareth to choke just a little bit.
“I see,” says Bhirali, eyeing the other Angels for a moment. “What can you tell me about the situation and your plans?”
Before Luna can respond, Nameless rasps, “If I may speak for our leader …?” Luna chuckles and waves her hand in permission, so the alienist continues, providing a quick summation of what the Angels have discovered and the resources they have at hand, as well as their plan to enter the Mournland and disrupt the ritual as best they can.
When he is done, Bhirali snorts, causing tongues of flame to appear at her nostrils. “This seems disorganized. So you have no real plan?”
“Disorganized?” Luna yells, waving her giant flaming arms in great dudgeon. “What the hell?! We're fighting a planar invasion of crazy, weird aberrations, dropping islands here and tsunamis there, and … and you just got here and have done nothing and you say we're DISORGANIZED?!”
“Oh, man!” mutters Korm, “She's going to get us eaten.”
Bhirali does seem about to respond poorly, but Essirise hurriedly interposes, actually stepping between the gold dragon and the giant fire elemental. “Excuse me, Bhirali, but may I speak to the Angels?” Without waiting for a response, she steps forward, literally shepherding the Angels away from the other dragons.
Once they are a short distance away, Essirise hisses urgently, “Listen – you have to be patient with Bhirali. Remember, the Light of Siberys very rarely works with non-dragons, and the Conclave certainly doesn't send battalions off to work with anyone. So Bhirali has no real experience working with people like you, and she's expecting to work by her own rules. But she and the others will be very helpful.”
“Yeah, well,” Luna grumbles, “she could be more polite! And I thought you said you'd bring a battalion?”
Essirise chuckles at that. “They're four dragons, all a few centuries old. Trust me – that's a battalion!”
“She does have a point,” says Korm. “Remember Xagygyrag? That guy alone was an army!”
Luna grunts, but agrees to try to bear whatever Bhirali says with patience. As she is doing so, Gareth asks, “Where's Six?” He looks around. “And … why is he chatting with Bhirali?”
The five of them turn and hurry back to the Argonnessen dragons, who are standing around and listening to Six. As they approach, they hear the warforged saying, “So, you see, there is a plan. But, for the sake of your sanity, don't ask about it or try to explain any of your plans to them. Really!”
A couple of the listening dragons snort, but their amusement is clear in the sound. The warforged inclines his head to them and then walks over to his companions.
“What were you doing?” asks Korm curiously.
“Oh, just warning them about all of you,” Six replies.
With the tension between the two groups of allies significantly lower, Essirise begins to speak quickly, explaining more about the situation from the Conclave's side. She says that in view of the news she took back about Mual-Tar and the demise of the Silver Flame, the Conclave decided that they would send this particular battalion to aid the Angels, with orders that no other dragons from Argonnessen would get involved in the war against Xoriat.
She also says that while the daelkyr and Xoriat have never been an issue for the dragons, she and others in the Chamber have been able to do some significant research on these subjects. This research has been facilitated by gaining access to some of the information obtained from the Black Well, for which she thanks the Guardian Angels, since it was their actions that led to the recovery of Khesavuthir. Thanks to this research, she corroborates what the Guardian Angels know about the timing of the upcoming ritual, saying it is a particularly propitious day for powerful magic, even in Argonnessen.
Essirise then says that, based on what she has seen and been told, even with the presence of the dragons the Angels will need to mobilize large forces at short notice, so to that end she has obtained a powerful magical item that will help.
Having said that, Essirise transforms into her elven form and produces what looks like a large pair of interlocking platinum rings, each about a foot in diameter. Four smaller platinum rings are interlaced with them, two in each of the larger rings. All six rings are set with tiny dragonshards in intricate patterns, and Nameless immediately detects them to be of overwhelming power.
Lifting them in her hands so that the others can see clearly, Essirise pulls on the rings and they smoothly come apart. She says, “These are called gate rings. They are immensely powerful, but you can only use them once, so you will need to think carefully about how—and with whom—you do so.” Handing the larger rings over to Nameless, she continues, “A mage like you, who can cast a gate spell, can keep one of the large rings and place the other in a location where supporting forces exist – or give it to an ally who will be there. When you cast gate into the ring in your possession, it will open a gigantic portal linked to the location of the other ring, one large enough for at least hundreds, if not thousands, of your people to pass through at once, though the portal will only last for a few seconds.”
“These,” she adds, lifting one of the small rings, “can be given to four individual allies. When you use the larger ring, a smaller portal will appear next to each of the people who bear these rings, allowing them—and only them—to pass through to your location immediately.” Handing them over, she concludes, “I suggest that you use these to bring allies into the Mournland, bringing them right where you need them.”
Bhirali rumbles, “Make certain to use them wisely. The crafting of those rings took longer than one of your lifetimes.”
“We will,” says Nameless succinctly, studying the artifacts while he visualizes the long list of powerful individuals that the Guardian Angels know and considers who might be the best options for the small rings.
Bhirali nods. Then she says curtly that she and the others will establish a camp in this area and remain in contact with the Angels via sending, since she has absolutely no intention of staying in a human settlement, especially since that would require taking on humanoid forms again, which some of the draconic party cannot naturally do and must use spells for.
She also asks for information about the Mournland, saying that she and her companions will scout into the area. The Angels spend a short time trying to explain why that is a bad idea but quickly give up when it is clear that she is not to be persuaded.
After a little more discussion, the Angels take their leave of the dragons and teleport back to the Gray House. There, they make some plans for the next day, contact some of their allies via sendings, and then settle down for the night. Clearly the next couple of days are going to be very busy.
* Two natural 19s on the Will and Int check I asked for.
** Natural 1 on her Int check
The Angels all hear the equivalent of an angry roar inside their heads, wordless and containing myriad tones within it, and momentarily sense the Madstone questing back and forth, like a temporarily baffled beast seeking out easier prey. Its touch flashes over the surface of Korm's and Six's minds, both warded by mind blanks, and then over Gareth's, shielded by the Silver Flame against possession and control. Finally, it comes to Luna, benefiting from none of these protections – and it springs.
The Gatekeeper staggers back, grabbing at her head as a sharp pain shoots through it**, feeling her thoughts go fuzzy. Luckily, the mental link provides the others with certain options as well. Feeling the mental attack on Luna, Gareth hurriedly interposes, instinctively using his training as an exorcist and drawing on the touch of the Silver Flame within each of them. After a struggle that only lasts a second but feels much longer, the Madstone again draws back.
The angry roar within the Guardian Angels' conjoined minds is much louder this time – and it comes with a more obvious retort. A spiderweb of cracks quickly runs up the sides of the Madstone and, with a rumbling sound, two large segments of it come free and tumble to the ground. A moment later, their surfaces flow and reshape as they begin to rise, reforming into vaguely humanoid shapes that resemble earth elementals, each forty feet tall and proportionately broad.
Gareth immediately grabs at the Endless Blade, using it to call down a dispel magic that strikes the area within which the Madstone-elementals are rising, but there is no effect. “Damn!” Hurriedly he calls forth a blur effect to protect himself too. Six too takes the defensive option, hurriedly pulling out a scroll while the shadows stream out of his armor, activating it and increasing his speed.
Korm, conversely, takes the offensive route, albeit pausing to cast a swift greater blink before he rushes in. His meteoric sword strikes with less effectiveness that he hoped, but it still bites deep into the rocky surface of one of the creatures, causing drops of gray fluid to leak from the wound. New allies appear around the Gatekeeper as Luna calls forth three huge earth elementals to try and hedge off the ones brought forth by the Madstone.
One of the Madstone's servitors swings back at the summoned elementals as they hammer at it, clearly hitting with more power. The other brings its massive fists down on Korm with terrific force, cracking ribs with the impact.
Nameless, meanwhile, has remained where he is with one hand touching the Madstone. Despite the abrupt change in the situation, the alienist smiles thinly. Only pausing to rasp, “Keep them off me for a few seconds,” he then enacts what he called his cunning plan. With a single word, Nameless activates the contingency spell that he had prepared and cast earlier this day for just such a moment, bringing forth the linked magic. Though he remains aware of what is occurring around him, part of his consciousness leaps across vast gulfs of space, drawn by the contact other plane he activated. From somewhere in the endless depths of Xoriat, he feels Cyäegha's will touch his.
“What are you doing?” asks Gareth, as he casts a righteous wrath of the faithful to empower the group, followed by a swift divine favor. Near him, Six echoes the question, while he hastes everyone. Luna, attempting a targeted greater dispel on one of the creatures and achieving nothing, while she sees one of her summoned elementals crumbling swiftly under its blows, growls, “Yeah! We need help here.”
“I'm,” Nameless replies, his gaze slightly glassy from the effort of balancing all of the sensory input he is receiving from many quarters, “calling in some backup!”
“I hope it gets here quick,” grunts Korm, spitting up blood as he speaks. As another tremendous blow almost drops him, the Gatekeeper emits a frustrated growl, “Sorry – I'm out!” Then he calls forth a rejuvenation cocoon around himself.
Within his mind, Nameless feels the All-Seeing Eye gaze through him at the surrounding scene. It seems to be, for lack of a better word, amused. The alienist is mentally attempting to ensure that none of the terrible sensation of being in contact with Cyäegha's will filters through to his companions, but he makes no such effort where the Madstone is concerned, and he feels the myriad consciousnesses that constitute the latter trying to retreat as it realizes what he is doing.
Simultaneously, the Madstone commands its protectors to destroy the greatest danger to itself. They surge forward toward the alienist. Luna hurls herself into their path and, with the aid of her elementals, manages to halt one of the creatures. The other, however, smashes the interposing figure of Gareth out of the way, utterly ignores a blow from Six's chain and reaches Nameless. Looming over him, it brings a tremendous blow down on the alienist.
Nameless collapses to a knee, feeling as if his left arm is broken, but he keeps his right hand pressed to the Madstone. Looking up at the monolith and its giant protector, the alienist grins viciously. “Here!” And he opens up his mind utterly, forming himself into a conduit. And Cyäegha reaches through him into the Madstone.
Nameless feels an instant of incredible pressure inside his mind, as the two consciousnesses meet. There is a tiny second of what can only loosely be called conflict. The entity that is the Madstone is the result of hundreds, if not thousands, of minds leaving their imprints on a stony form that is the crystallized essence of chaos. And Cyäegha is one of the Great Old Ones, existing beyond time and space and rational meaning in a dark space of the plane of madness where even the 'normal' denizens of Xoriat fear to go. There is no contest.
The alienist hears a shriek inside his head as Cyäegha blasts past the Madstone's defenses without effort, greedily rummaging through the memories and information contained within. And then he is flying through the air, flung far away by a giant paroxysm that runs through the Madstone. As he hits the ground, Nameless sees the shivering stone fall quiescent. Simultaneously, the two creatures it had called forth collapse to the ground, dissolving swiftly into sludge.
As Nameless climbs back to his feet and walks back toward the Madstone, the other Guardian Angels look around warily. Finally, when certain that the threat is ended, they sheath weapons and look at the alienist curiously. Korm, having emerged fully healed from his cocoon, asks, “So what was that all about?”
Nameless touches the surface of the Madstone and smiles at what he senses—or rather fails to sense—within. “Oh, nothing,” he answers. “Just educating it about who's boss. And obtaining us a giant piece of warpstone.”
* * *
Once they have the Madstone under their control, the Angels discuss what to do with it until they need to call on it. After some discussion, they decide to store it in a remote location of the Frostfell, the frozen wasteland far to the north of Khorvaire.
Though none of them have been there previously, Luna is able to use a move earth spell to transport the group to an area of the Frostfell, after having taken the form of a tendriculos and strapped the now quiescent monolith to her giant back.
The Angels arrive in the middle of a frigid waste, bereft of any visible life. Not wanting to take any risks of discovery or of having the Madstone tampered with, Nameless casts an antipathy on it, designed to keep animals away from it.
“Aren't there anything besides animals here?” asks Luna curiously, quickly growing impatient of watching the alienist cast the hour-long spell. “What about … ice elves?”
“Maybe,” grins Gareth. “Who knows?”
“Ooh!” Luna promptly turns and moves away, calling out in elven. “Is anyone there? Ice elves? Yoohoo?”***
“So,” says Korm, looking after her, “this is probably the first time the Frostfell has seen a tendriculos walking around it, especially one looking for ice elves.” Then he frowns thoughtfully. “Are there actually any ice elves?”
“I do not know,” says Six flatly, “but with our luck, she'll probably come back with a collection of ice gnomes.”
“Aaah!” Korm hurriedly draws his sword and looks around, only half-joking in his response.
Luckily, Luna finds neither ice elves nor ice gnomes, and Nameless eventually finishes his spell. Once he is done, the Angels pile snow over the Madstone and then depart the spot.
Before returning to the Gray House, they proceed to their home—or, more precisely, ruined estate—in Karrnath, which they have not visited in a long while. Its undisturbed status is still exactly the same, but just in case anyone comes there seeking to attack them, the Angels place a series of traps there. Nameless sets up the most powerful of them – a well-concealed teleportation circle, designed to transport anyone walking over it to an underground cave far away, which has no exits.
Then they finally return to Sharn and settle down for the night and the supposed arrival of Essirise from Argonnessen.
* * * * *
The next morning, the Guardian Angels do receive a sending from Essirise: “Reaching Khorvaire today with Light of Siberys battalion. Need to arrive in secluded place. Find one and I shall scry you there in six hours.”
“Ooh – a battalion from the dragon army? This should be cool!” says Luna excitedly. “Ask her how big and secluded the place should be!”
After the question is asked, another sending arrives a dozen minutes later, saying that the main thing is for the Angels to ensure that nobody but them will be available to see them. The Angels decide to pick a location on the Brelish border with the Mournland, since that is an area that the dragons will presumably accompany them into.
After the Angels arrive at the chosen spot, they are joined five minutes later by Essirise, who is in the elven form that she usually wears when not in her own. Accompanying her are four individuals – a female orc, a male human, a male elf, and a female dwarf. The new arrivals look around and then the orc asks, speaking in draconic, “Is this them?” When Essirise confirms that these are the Guardian Angels, the orcish woman says brusquely to them, “Stand back.”
Then she begins to transform, growing swiftly and dramatically until a huge gold dragon stands in her place, looming over the Angels. Essirise does so as well, taking on her natural shape of a silver dragon. The remaining three become huge red, bronze and green dragons. Naturally, their clothing disappears, but each of them is left wearing some magical items. Nameless, thanks to his permanent arcane sight, picks up very powerful auras on them, ranging from embedded gems that protect them, to enhancements on their fangs and claws, to a ring of three wishes worn by the gold dragon.
While the alienist is studying the dragons and their possessions, Luna says excitedly, “Hah! We can do that too!” She promptly transforms into a huge fire elemental, causing Korm to scoff and change shape as well. Cloaker wings spring from the Gatekeeper's back and his face lengthens, its lower end extending into tentacles like a mind flayer.
Nameless looks quizzically at Korm for a moment and says, "You know you look just like ... ah, never mind."
The gold dragon, which is slightly larger than the others, sniffs disdainfully and then rumbles, “You may call me Bhirali. Who is your leader?”
Luna promptly raises a flaming hand, causing Korm to chortle and Gareth to choke just a little bit.
“I see,” says Bhirali, eyeing the other Angels for a moment. “What can you tell me about the situation and your plans?”
Before Luna can respond, Nameless rasps, “If I may speak for our leader …?” Luna chuckles and waves her hand in permission, so the alienist continues, providing a quick summation of what the Angels have discovered and the resources they have at hand, as well as their plan to enter the Mournland and disrupt the ritual as best they can.
When he is done, Bhirali snorts, causing tongues of flame to appear at her nostrils. “This seems disorganized. So you have no real plan?”
“Disorganized?” Luna yells, waving her giant flaming arms in great dudgeon. “What the hell?! We're fighting a planar invasion of crazy, weird aberrations, dropping islands here and tsunamis there, and … and you just got here and have done nothing and you say we're DISORGANIZED?!”
“Oh, man!” mutters Korm, “She's going to get us eaten.”
Bhirali does seem about to respond poorly, but Essirise hurriedly interposes, actually stepping between the gold dragon and the giant fire elemental. “Excuse me, Bhirali, but may I speak to the Angels?” Without waiting for a response, she steps forward, literally shepherding the Angels away from the other dragons.
Once they are a short distance away, Essirise hisses urgently, “Listen – you have to be patient with Bhirali. Remember, the Light of Siberys very rarely works with non-dragons, and the Conclave certainly doesn't send battalions off to work with anyone. So Bhirali has no real experience working with people like you, and she's expecting to work by her own rules. But she and the others will be very helpful.”
“Yeah, well,” Luna grumbles, “she could be more polite! And I thought you said you'd bring a battalion?”
Essirise chuckles at that. “They're four dragons, all a few centuries old. Trust me – that's a battalion!”
“She does have a point,” says Korm. “Remember Xagygyrag? That guy alone was an army!”
Luna grunts, but agrees to try to bear whatever Bhirali says with patience. As she is doing so, Gareth asks, “Where's Six?” He looks around. “And … why is he chatting with Bhirali?”
The five of them turn and hurry back to the Argonnessen dragons, who are standing around and listening to Six. As they approach, they hear the warforged saying, “So, you see, there is a plan. But, for the sake of your sanity, don't ask about it or try to explain any of your plans to them. Really!”
A couple of the listening dragons snort, but their amusement is clear in the sound. The warforged inclines his head to them and then walks over to his companions.
“What were you doing?” asks Korm curiously.
“Oh, just warning them about all of you,” Six replies.
With the tension between the two groups of allies significantly lower, Essirise begins to speak quickly, explaining more about the situation from the Conclave's side. She says that in view of the news she took back about Mual-Tar and the demise of the Silver Flame, the Conclave decided that they would send this particular battalion to aid the Angels, with orders that no other dragons from Argonnessen would get involved in the war against Xoriat.
She also says that while the daelkyr and Xoriat have never been an issue for the dragons, she and others in the Chamber have been able to do some significant research on these subjects. This research has been facilitated by gaining access to some of the information obtained from the Black Well, for which she thanks the Guardian Angels, since it was their actions that led to the recovery of Khesavuthir. Thanks to this research, she corroborates what the Guardian Angels know about the timing of the upcoming ritual, saying it is a particularly propitious day for powerful magic, even in Argonnessen.
Essirise then says that, based on what she has seen and been told, even with the presence of the dragons the Angels will need to mobilize large forces at short notice, so to that end she has obtained a powerful magical item that will help.
Having said that, Essirise transforms into her elven form and produces what looks like a large pair of interlocking platinum rings, each about a foot in diameter. Four smaller platinum rings are interlaced with them, two in each of the larger rings. All six rings are set with tiny dragonshards in intricate patterns, and Nameless immediately detects them to be of overwhelming power.
Lifting them in her hands so that the others can see clearly, Essirise pulls on the rings and they smoothly come apart. She says, “These are called gate rings. They are immensely powerful, but you can only use them once, so you will need to think carefully about how—and with whom—you do so.” Handing the larger rings over to Nameless, she continues, “A mage like you, who can cast a gate spell, can keep one of the large rings and place the other in a location where supporting forces exist – or give it to an ally who will be there. When you cast gate into the ring in your possession, it will open a gigantic portal linked to the location of the other ring, one large enough for at least hundreds, if not thousands, of your people to pass through at once, though the portal will only last for a few seconds.”
“These,” she adds, lifting one of the small rings, “can be given to four individual allies. When you use the larger ring, a smaller portal will appear next to each of the people who bear these rings, allowing them—and only them—to pass through to your location immediately.” Handing them over, she concludes, “I suggest that you use these to bring allies into the Mournland, bringing them right where you need them.”
Bhirali rumbles, “Make certain to use them wisely. The crafting of those rings took longer than one of your lifetimes.”
“We will,” says Nameless succinctly, studying the artifacts while he visualizes the long list of powerful individuals that the Guardian Angels know and considers who might be the best options for the small rings.
Bhirali nods. Then she says curtly that she and the others will establish a camp in this area and remain in contact with the Angels via sending, since she has absolutely no intention of staying in a human settlement, especially since that would require taking on humanoid forms again, which some of the draconic party cannot naturally do and must use spells for.
She also asks for information about the Mournland, saying that she and her companions will scout into the area. The Angels spend a short time trying to explain why that is a bad idea but quickly give up when it is clear that she is not to be persuaded.
After a little more discussion, the Angels take their leave of the dragons and teleport back to the Gray House. There, they make some plans for the next day, contact some of their allies via sendings, and then settle down for the night. Clearly the next couple of days are going to be very busy.
* Two natural 19s on the Will and Int check I asked for.
** Natural 1 on her Int check
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carborundum
Adventurer
Wow - totally missed that update! Great stuff - and nice shiny toys too - can't wait to see what you do with them
Wow - totally missed that update! Great stuff - and nice shiny toys too - can't wait to see what you do with them
They don't come into play 'till the big fight, but things like them are essentially always just window dressing. They may make things somewhat easier when the big fight comes, but they never determine the outcome on their own.
From what I've observed, their real effect is almost always after the fight and how things play out once the main battle is decided.
Like with the Tsunami we created to wipe out the main aberration army. It made precisely no difference to the outcome of the fight or what happened with the battle in the Silver Flame chamber, but it did mean that the main aberration army was shattered and didn't threaten anything else once it was all done.
Another good example is the Planetar we went to a fair amount of trouble to summon with the staff we got from the dragon. He was removed as a factor in the fight essentially immediately. I'm not sure exactly how things would have played out afterward with Aunty (the Daelkyr), but if we had won that fight, it might have been him coming out with Aunty's head, instead of the other way around.
i suspect that we are about 2 posts, maybe 1 from my second favorite moment of the campaign though. Shil is quite busy with a summer course he's teaching for at least another week or two. So I wouldn't expect an update any time real soon.
shilsen
Adventurer
What he said. I'm going to be busy with stuff for the semester till about the 18th of August, so it'll be a bit after that before I can update next.
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