Aeon (updated 10/9/14)

[Justin]

The main sticking point is that I need a description of a character to send to an artist. Has Tahl ever been described, except as "the Incorruptible"?

For some reason, I've always pictured Kevin Bacon.

 

[Lela]

Demons can be transported directly to the Material Plane by a demon lord, but doing so requires a significant investment in energy by the demon lord (IIRC, the stats on the game mechanics involved are in the Rogue's Gallery thread). I don't know if Sep has ruled that demons don't have the ability to go to the Material Plane or if the demons are just afraid that celestials will find out and come smack them around.

That last point is vague. It's spoken of as the Celestial Interdict, though whether that's Oronthon threatening to squish them or an actual barieer I'm not sure. I'd guess the later based on how a Demon Lord gets around it and the former based on how a mortal can let them through. The two are not unequal.

Big G does have to give up something significant and "extremely taxing" to send something through.

From Lady Despina:

Most fiends can only enter the Prime Material Plane under special circumstances. They can be

1) Invoked through magic or ritual, which allows a sojourn upon the Prime;
2) From the Astral Plane, possess certain individuals by means of a ‘Magic Jar’ or similar ability, or
3) They may, with the intervention of their overlord (a Demon Prince, Arch-Devil etc.), visit the Prime for a particular purpose. This may be a fact-finding mission, an attempted temptation of a specified individual, or to create general mayhem. Such an intervention on the part of the fiendish overlord is extremely taxing and represents a large investment in terms of personal energy, and is generally only undertaken if a modicum of success is assured. The succubus Nehael (Despina), who was appointed to seduce the Paladin Eadric, could only have made her planar transit with the aid of Prince Graz’zt.

Later Sep defines the cost when he stats out Graz'zt. Basically, our favorite angry prince loses 1 point of Str, Con and Dex for every 2HD of the fiend he puts through.

From Heretic Part 1:

Facilitate Translation (Sp): as a Demon Prince, Graz’zt can open a gate to allow another fiend to reach the Prime Plane. The Demon Prince suffers temporary ability damage equal to the loss of one point of Strength, Dexterity and Constitution for every 2HD of the translating creature, rounded down. This temporary damage can only be healed naturally, at the rate of 1 point per day for each ability. Graz’zt himself may not enter the Prime unless called.

 

[Yavathol]

Re: rescuing rurunoth

Thanks, all for pointing out the restrictions on outsiders coming to the prime, at least in Sep's campaign. I wasn't sure if there was an official WoC equivalent, for Greyhawk, for example, otherwise it is hard to envisage how the standard medieval/fantasy world would be changed if fiends could just pop in and wreak havoc.

Coming back to the story, I guess Feezuu or Rimilin would have been able to rescue Rurunoth, so the explanation that his absence wasn't missed is possible. A more fiendish possibility might be that Grazzt was willing to sacrifice Rurunoth in order to enable Feezuu to assassinate the Archbishop, in some form of Cosmic balance. The meeting of Ainhorr with the celestials (Urhoon & Enitharmon) is described subtly and does not make explicit the reasons behind what is said. Which is one reason why I love this story hour; it requires thought and operates on multiple levels, with complex personalities

On a meta-level, to what extent does Sep plot out the whole chain of events? It might be that he planned Nahaels change of heart, and the Oronthonian schism that this would cause, but the PC's plan to get Rurunoth was unexpected and he handled it by ignoring that side of things, just maintaining the planned sequence of events?

 

[tleilaxu]

Grazzt will immediately notice his absence, and knows who Eadric is and his part in Nahael's atonement. The characters haven't bothered with Mind Blanks, or even Nondetections, maybe they decided it wasn't worth it. Point is, wouldn't Grazzt have ordered a rescue attempt?

there are two answers for this question: in-game and out-game.

in game, when the heroes are discussing how mostin's extradimensional space is vulnerable to graz'zt astrally projecting, one of the characters asks (sic) 'if it isn't safe now, wasn't it not safe before too?' the response is that now graz'zt is 'turning his eye' fully on them or some such. IE, only now do they warrant such great attention. graz'zt has enormous power, but he also has multiple worlds to worry about and has limits.

the out-game explanation is of course that the party wasn't high enough level to cast mind blanks etc. the game at that point was a game for 15th level characters, with challenges and enemies designed to fight against 15th level characters. a balor is a worthy opponent, the unbound hordes of zelatar are not.

get it?

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

The main sticking point is that I need a description of a character to send to an artist. Has Tahl ever been described, except as "the Incorruptible"?

I thought he was described at the beginning of the story, when we first meet him at Eadric's keep. But then, that could just be me imposing that memory on the story. I'll give a look and see what I can find.

For some reason, I've always pictured Kevin Bacon.

Ewww...

 

[Avarice]

I thought he was described at the beginning of the story, when we first meet him at Eadric's keep. But then, that could just be me imposing that memory on the story. I'll give a look and see what I can find.


Here's a bit of the scene in question. Still somewhat vague, really. The Kevin Bacon image works as well as any, I think.

Just before noon on the next day, Tahl, together with his retinue of Templars, thundered through the gates of the castle and into the inner bailey. Their bright armour, polished to a remarkable sheen, peeked from beneath the unblazoned white surcoats of the Inquisition. Their cloaks were white, their banner a plain white field, unadorned. Each bore a lance, a burnished shield, and the consecrated weapons of Oronthon: the greatsword, symbolic of cutting through deception, and the scourge, representing the meting out of their deity’s proper justice. Here were great knights who, foreswearing their estates and taking vows of poverty, had entered the service of the Fane. Some rode horses with celestial blood running through their veins...

Tahl reigned in, dismounted and removed his great bascinet. He was a handsome man in his late thirties - a year or two older than Eadric – with a serious expression, but a face that did not seem humourless. He strode up to Eadric, and the two embraced.

 

[Lela]

I think the players had a lot to do with the schism. Around there Sep went to them and said he was looking for ideas. What happened next is "what they came up with". Not sure how much was them and how much was Sep. I find it's fun to get ideas from the players and then twist them hard before--or while--introducing them in game. I'd guess that Sep did much the same.

 

[Lela]

Would someone mind putting together Ainhorr's attacks for me? An advanced, epic, outsider is a little beyond me.

He's 3.0 in this btw. Mainly I'm just looking to get the math for his Attack and Full Attack worked out. BAB would be nice too.

Ainhorr

Balor, Huge Outsider (Chaotic, Evil, Demon)
Hit Dice: 30d8+180 (315 hp)
Initiative: +4 (+4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 40 ft, fly 90 ft (average)
Armor Class: 31 (-2 Size, +23 Natural)
Attack: +42/+37/+32/+27 (huge +4 Unholy Celestial Bane Flaming Burst
greatsword), +37 (whip) or +39 (2 slams); Dmg 2d8 +15 +1d6 (greatsword), 1d6+5 and entangle (whip) or slam 1d8
+11 + Fear Effect; Special Attacks: fear, spell-like abilities, entangle, body flames, summon tanar’ri; Special
Qualities DR 30/+3, SR 28, tanar’ri qualities, death throes. SV Fort +20, Ref +14, Will +19; AL CE; Str 33, Dex 11,
Con 23, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 16.

Languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal

Skills: Bluff +38, Concentration +39, Diplomacy +37, Hide +23, Knowledge (Religion) +23, Knowledge (Philosophy)
+23, Knowledge (Planes) +43, Knowledge (Fiendish Politics) +45, Listen +36, Move Silently +13, Scry +39, Search
+25, Sense Motive +35, Spellcraft +36, Spot +44

Feats: Ambidexterity, Cleave, Improved Initiative, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (Greatsword), Improved
Critical (Greatsword), Sunder, Power Attack.

Spell-like abilities (at 20th level): At will-, blasphemy, deeper darkness, desecrate, detect good, detect law, fear,
greater dispelling, polymorph self, pyrotechnics, read magic, suggestion, symbol (any), telekinesis, teleport (self
plus 50 pounds of objects only), tongues (self only), unhallow, unholy aura, unholy blight, and wall of fire. 1/day –
fire storm, implosion. Save DCs are 13 + spell level.

Special Qualities: Fear, Entangle, Detect Magic, See Invisibility, Summon Tanar’ri, Death Throes, +8 Racial bonus to
Spot and Listen checks.


Ainhorr is advanced from 13HD to 30HD, and represents one of the "great" Balors—he is scarcely less than a Demon
Lord in terms of power and influence. Of the six Balors in Graz'zt's service (Ainhorr, Uruum, Choeth, Rurunoth, Irzho
and Djorm), Ainhorr is by far the most potent.

Ainhorr is Graz’zt’s majordomo, the foremost general of his armies, and his most trusted servitor. In the initial revolt
in Heaven, the Balor was one of Graz'zt's closest allies and his confidant, and fought next to the Prince on the
Celestial Plains prior to the Fall. During Graz'zt's prolonged absence from his own planes, Ainhorr acted as steward
of his master's realm.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Would someone mind putting together Ainhorr's attacks for me?

I'll give it a shot.

Outsiders have BAB = HD, so through 20th level, Ainhorr has BAB +20.
At the Epic levels, BAB slows down to +1 every odd level, so +5 by level 30, or BAB +25 overall.

So:

+25 (BAB) +11 (Str) +1 (Wpn Focus) +4 (magic greatsword) = +41

Hmm. This is off by one from what is listed in Ainhorr's stat block. Umm... not sure why.

 

[Shieldhaven]

...ummm, what about his attack penalty for being Huge?

Haven