The Undiscovered Frontier (Finished!)

[Voda Vosa]

OOC: Same as Animate Dead wizard spell but at will. I'll like to have my 3 skeletons please =) I can have my level x2 of undead Hit dice under control, that's 12, hence 3 4HD skeletons. I'll also require the base stats and natural attacks from the risen creatures to apply the skeleton template. Will post later depending on how many skeletons I can rise.

 

[Queenie]

OOC: Fenris and I are on vacation until next Monday August 27th. Sorry for the short notice. We've been dealing with family issues for the past three weeks and not really able to keep up. We'll catch us as soon as we can upon return!

 

[Deuce Traveler]

OOC: The battlefield was cleared, so Sarpot can animate the gnoll into a zombie, but there are no other corpses at this time. Voda Vosa, I thought Warlocks only worked through invocations. If so, can you direct me to the source material for your new invocation. If Warlocks can create new invocations to any wizard spell, can you direct me to that source material instead. I need to review it and see if there is a duration associated with the invocation or whether your new gnoll zombie lasts awhile.

Queenie, no worries. I'm about to post an update, but I doubt combat will start until next week.

 

[Voda Vosa]

OOC: a skeleton actually, if he has flesh, then it falls apart leaving the skeleton. It's not that I made a new invocation, Complete arcana has animate dead listed as a warlock invocation, and in the description of the invocation it reads: "as the wizard spell Animate Dead." As te spell reads, it is a permanent creature, I can only dismiss it from my control; or an evil cleric can outrule my control through turn undead.

 

[GlassEye]

That's not exactly how it works if you are referring to The Dead Walk invocation, Voda. For reference:

Lesser; 4th
You can turn the bones or bodies of dead creatures into undead skeletons or zombies (as the animate dead spell). Unless you include the normal material
component for the spell (an onyx gem worth 25 gp per Hit Die of the undead) as part of the process, undead created by this ability crumble into dust after 1 minute per caster level.

 

[Shayuri]

[sblock=The Dream]Mellisande was dreaming. She knew that, with the unspoken understanding that is so common in dreams. It was perfectly normal that she was dreaming, and that she knew it, or so it seemed. In the dream she was watching the mushroom man recite what were, to him, legends of the fall of his gods. A woman was standing behind her.

As the fungal fossil spoke, Mellisande heard herself ask, "I was a goddess of music?"

The woman behind her leaned down a little to speak quietly into her ear. "Yes. In as much as any of us were gods of anything. But 'gods' is just a word, and words are only as good as their ability to communicate meaning. Other words could have been chosen. More precise ones. But they wouldn't have had meaning here. Imprecise meaning was judged to be superior to complete lack of meaning."

Mellisande frowned a little, and supplied what wasn't being said. "And it served your purpose."

A low chuckle. "Yes."

"My spells are kind of musical, but..."

The woman interrupted, "The Myconids weren't mine, and I was not theirs. He's telling you what he saw, what he believed. I was a goddess of music, but not ONLY of music. And, to be honest for a change, what I was is less important than you think."

Suddenly thick, glowing pinkish goo flooded down from the ceiling and engulfed everything. Somehow Mellisande and her companion were untouched...a bubble seemed to surround them. Before them, in the dim coral glow, something twitched and moved.

"Changes had to be made," the woman said. "Choices. You'll understand more soon. While you need to learn from the mistakes of the past, you can't start thinking of yourself as anyone but who and what you are. Use your gifts, learn from the past, but find your own way forward. If you ever find yourself tempted to follow our footsteps just remind yourself..."

"You lost," Mellisande says quietly.

The bubble keeping the goo away 'popped' and Mellisande was suddenly buried in it, struggling and paddling in the viscous syrup to find her way to the top...[/sblock]

Mellisande awoke with a gasp, exactly as she had in that cool, gooey cave. For a moment she was disoriented, then it all came back with an almost audible snap. The Myconids. Tales of the gods, of great trees and planet spirits. Of war.

She'd been a goddess. A goddess of music, but not JUST of music. And now she wasn't a goddess of anything, but that could change. Her head swirled with implications, half-remembered fragments, and a lingering but vague sense that the past could and should be discovered, but it had to remain the past.

Melissa Athens was dead. Long live Mellisande!

The thought banished any grogginess and filled her with energy that she expended in a whirlwind of washing and dressing, then bounding out to find something to eat. The grey mist in her mind had receded a little, and she understood what she did a little better. She could do more, using that understanding. Was it magic? Was it some complex science of mind and manipulation? Was it something else, perhaps connected to the ailing spirit of that tree?

Mellisande had no answers yet, but even knowing the right questions had power...

(OOC - Level 6! 3rd level spells! Yay!)

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Mellisande
[sblock]
There is something familiar about the woman in the dream. She is familiar to you... comforting. Being with her makes you feel, for a brief moment, as if you were coming home. The dream is sweet, the short duration of it quite bitter.
[/sblock]

Sarpot's new follower doesn't last long. During your march to the Gallery it begins to fall apart, first by rapidly withering skin which turns to powder and is blown away by the ill winds of the Land. When the creature is only a skeleton, bits of bone begin to fall off and crumble until finally the animated gnoll loses a knee and falls face first to the ground, shattering into tiny pieces.

When the Gallery of Sleeping Golems comes into view it is underwhelming; a large, but simple gray building made of concrete. What is not underwhelming are the two steel golems that guard the large double doors. Each heavy, steel golem is squat and sitting upon two elongated wheeled tracks that allow them to move well on the irregular terrain, although they are less agile on a turn. A dome that serves for a head allows each golem to swivel their look in a 360 degree arc. The golems are six feet tall and lack human-like arms, but a fireball-shooting staff replaces the right arm and a buzzsaw replaces the left arm of each.

The two mushroom men guides point these out to you as you continue hiding in the jungle vegetation, 100 feet away from these golems.

 

[Voda Vosa]

The hobgoblin scratches his ear in confusion. "So much for the new recruit. I need to find some onix to make them last longer."
Upon reaching the golems, Sarpor exclaims. "Boy, those could come in hand for any kind of battle. Solid, and packing some punch. We could try to hit them from the distance, using our own fireball staffs. Or we could circle the building and look for another entrance, or make one perhaps..." the tactician is lost in his own thoughts, staring at the metal creatures.

 

[GlassEye]

Arkos looks out of the underbrush towards the Gallery of Sleeping Golems.

"A shame your dead-man didn't last longer, Sarpot. We could've sent him out there to draw those things' attention and see if they are sleeping now or not. Anyone have a plan on gaining entrance? Your idea of finding a back entrance sounds good to me, Sarpot, but I think Myconid would have known if one existed."

[sblock=Mini Stats]Arkos Stoneborn
Initiative: +1
AC: 12 (11 flat-footed, 12 Touch) [14 w/ Barkskin]
AC: (Predator) 16 (15 flat-footed, 12 Touch)
AC: (Aerial) 14 (13 flat-footed, 12 Touch)
HP: 56 Current: 35
Fort: +8 Reflex: +3 Reflex: (Aerial) +5 Will: +9
Speed: 30 ft., burrow 10 ft.
Speed: (Predator) 50 ft.
Speed: (Aerial) fly 40 ft. (good)

Current Weapon in Hand:
Current Conditions in Effect:

Attacks
Spear +9 (1d6+7 /crit. x3)
Sling +5 (1d3 /crit. x2)
Bite (Predator) +13 (1d4+8 /crit. x2; as magic)
Talon (Aerial) +12 (1d4+7 /crit. x2; as magic)
Breath Weapon (1d8; bludgeoning; Ref 15 for half dmg.)
2 Tentacles (while in Predator) +11 (1d8+7) 10 ft. reach

Spells Prepared:
Spell Save: 14 +SL
3rd level: 3; cure moderate wounds, evard's menacing tentacles (PHB2), evard's menacing tentacles
2nd level: 4; barkskin, bull's strength, heat metal, resist energy
1st level: 4; cure light wounds, faerie fire, goodberry, produce flame
orisons: 5; create water, cure minor wounds, detect magic, light, purify food & drink

Backpack: healer's kit (x2), sunrod (x2), thunderstone (x2), tanglefoot bag (x2), smoke stick(x2), bedroll, 2 wand CLW, 19 pebbles of CSW & 5 pebbles of Remove Disease. food and water.[/sblock]

 

[Deuce Traveler]

"Another entrance is not known by us, but we would be willing to provide a distraction if needed. We can go to another hill and use our wands on the things and run off to lead them away." Although your guides are eager to help, you doubt very much that they would have the ability to get away if chased. The mushroom men partly shamble in their slow walk.