I think Psyche probably won't summon a weak demon and as supernautral creature, it's possible they will have a strong Psychic Ability. So I decide to drop Sheet Lightning and Enthralment from Esmeralda's mind, and replace them with Sword Thrust. I don't expect the fight to last more than two rounds, but each of them should count.
Round 1:
Demon moves one step westward, closing in with Winny and Trixie.
Trixie attacks (11) and misses.
Winny attacks (9) and hits for 10 damage, reduced to 6 by the demon's tough hide (54).
Salvia remembers she had Exorcist training but didn't bother to use it when facing a bona fide Demon... Sigh. With such an AR, her bow is near useless so she pass her turn.
Esmeralda casts Nemesis Bolt (5+5=10) and sears the demon for 44 damage, reduced to 40 by the demon's fried hide (14).
This is turning out even better than expected.
Trixie uses her extra action to Defend.
Round 2:
The Demon attacks, and, being adjacent to both Winny and Trixie, focus on the lowest Fighting Prowess of the group, so that's Trixie. Who is defending so the Demon rolls 3d6+1 against his FP. It's a 13, and he misses Trixie.
Trixie keeps defending, which means sommersaulting around the demon, jedi-like.
Winny attacks and hits (10) for 4 net damage -- the demon is reduced to a tenth of his initial HP.
Salvia keeps quiet.
Esmeralda casts Sword Thrust (9+3=12, it's still cast successfully) for 11 damage, reduced to 7. The demon has 3 HP left.
Round 3: (yes, there wasn't supposed to be a round 3...)
The demon hits Trixie, who is safely jumping around (13).
Trixie keeps defending just in case.
Winny beheads the demon with a mighty chop of her blade (9, for 11 damage, reduced to 7).
We emerge of the fight unscathed.
Since technically the fight is over, we memorize two counts of Servile Enthralment and proceed to the couryard. My bet is that, like other spellcasters we've fought before, Psyche will alternate calling spell to mind and casting them, which means reducing her psychic ability and lowering her odds of resisting our spells.
Where Psyche (PA 8, Awareness 7, AR 0, HP 45) has the common sense of standing behind a wall of human shields, cscimitar-weilding slaves (FP 8, PA 6, AR 0, HP 15 each, 1d6+2 damage, Awareness 6).
The fight will be much easier than the one before, as Psyche PA is indeed lowered by a spell she takes 3 rounds to cast. Curiosity killed the cat, it's a Mass Polymorph Other spell called the Cantata of Shapes, in which everyone must resist by rolling under PA or be turned into a small monkey and fleeing to live in the jungle happily thereafter. Which could count as a non-standard positive ending.
Round 1:
Trixie hits her slave (8) for 9 damage.
Winny hits her slave (9) for 9 damage. Both stands heavily wounded...
Psyche chants in her Yamatese tongue of magic and concentrates on her spell.
Salvia fires an arrow (there are unarmored targets...) at a slave and misses (8), complaining about her lack of magic bow.
Esmeralda casts Servile Enthralment on Psyche. The spell succeeds (6+5=11) and Psyche misses her save roll (9). She's out of the fight. I elect to let her in this state instead of trying to make her attack her own slaves -- she would have another save.
The Slaves attacks our martials, one each... both scimitar connects, the first doing 2 HP to Winny and the second 5 HP to Trixie.
Round 2:
Both Trixie and Winny kill their opposing slaves with ease before they can act.
The other slaves don't seem interested in defending their dead mistress. One of them points to a tower of the villa, saying Kinuz Trezir to us. And repeating it loudly for good measure since we don't get it the first time.
Salvia appears to have a deep case of amnesia. Not only did she forget she was an exorcist but now the no longer remember being fluent in the local tongue.
Since looting is what we do and Trezir sounds too much like Treasure to me, we decide to investigate. The tower is decorated with glazed mosaic fragment and topped by a copper minaret. The door is a slab of blank, black stone.
Usually called a wall, not a door.
A Sage, a Trickster or a Warrior could try to do something here, but "if you're a lone Enchanter, you will have no other choice than going back to bed". There is some Brennan-esque dialogue sometimes.
Since usually having Winny act involves someone being unexpectedly murderer, and there is no one around... Let's try this.
She pushes on the black stone to make it yield... Rolling 4d6 under FP. Each attempt costs 1 HP as her muscles are strained.
I notice we're bound to succeed, since there is a loop that allows us to retry. In our usual way, we will loop and heal at the same time, hopefully ensuring a painless victory against the Damn Door of Doom.
The odds of us succeeding each time are quite low, but there is nothing that preclude us for casting spells outside combat at will, as per the rules. So it's time for Esmeralda to cast the little-used Eye of the Tiger, to add 1 FP to everyone in the group for the next four rounds.
Luckily, it only takes 2 attempts to force the door open. During which Salvia can't heal anyone but herself. Looting will be scheduled at section 279.
Round 1:
Demon moves one step westward, closing in with Winny and Trixie.
Trixie attacks (11) and misses.
Winny attacks (9) and hits for 10 damage, reduced to 6 by the demon's tough hide (54).
Salvia remembers she had Exorcist training but didn't bother to use it when facing a bona fide Demon... Sigh. With such an AR, her bow is near useless so she pass her turn.
Esmeralda casts Nemesis Bolt (5+5=10) and sears the demon for 44 damage, reduced to 40 by the demon's fried hide (14).
This is turning out even better than expected.
Trixie uses her extra action to Defend.
Round 2:
The Demon attacks, and, being adjacent to both Winny and Trixie, focus on the lowest Fighting Prowess of the group, so that's Trixie. Who is defending so the Demon rolls 3d6+1 against his FP. It's a 13, and he misses Trixie.
Trixie keeps defending, which means sommersaulting around the demon, jedi-like.
Winny attacks and hits (10) for 4 net damage -- the demon is reduced to a tenth of his initial HP.
Salvia keeps quiet.
Esmeralda casts Sword Thrust (9+3=12, it's still cast successfully) for 11 damage, reduced to 7. The demon has 3 HP left.
Round 3: (yes, there wasn't supposed to be a round 3...)
The demon hits Trixie, who is safely jumping around (13).
Trixie keeps defending just in case.
Winny beheads the demon with a mighty chop of her blade (9, for 11 damage, reduced to 7).
We emerge of the fight unscathed.
Since technically the fight is over, we memorize two counts of Servile Enthralment and proceed to the couryard. My bet is that, like other spellcasters we've fought before, Psyche will alternate calling spell to mind and casting them, which means reducing her psychic ability and lowering her odds of resisting our spells.
Where Psyche (PA 8, Awareness 7, AR 0, HP 45) has the common sense of standing behind a wall of human shields, cscimitar-weilding slaves (FP 8, PA 6, AR 0, HP 15 each, 1d6+2 damage, Awareness 6).
The fight will be much easier than the one before, as Psyche PA is indeed lowered by a spell she takes 3 rounds to cast. Curiosity killed the cat, it's a Mass Polymorph Other spell called the Cantata of Shapes, in which everyone must resist by rolling under PA or be turned into a small monkey and fleeing to live in the jungle happily thereafter. Which could count as a non-standard positive ending.
Round 1:
Trixie hits her slave (8) for 9 damage.
Winny hits her slave (9) for 9 damage. Both stands heavily wounded...
Psyche chants in her Yamatese tongue of magic and concentrates on her spell.
Salvia fires an arrow (there are unarmored targets...) at a slave and misses (8), complaining about her lack of magic bow.
Esmeralda casts Servile Enthralment on Psyche. The spell succeeds (6+5=11) and Psyche misses her save roll (9). She's out of the fight. I elect to let her in this state instead of trying to make her attack her own slaves -- she would have another save.
The Slaves attacks our martials, one each... both scimitar connects, the first doing 2 HP to Winny and the second 5 HP to Trixie.
Round 2:
Both Trixie and Winny kill their opposing slaves with ease before they can act.
The other slaves don't seem interested in defending their dead mistress. One of them points to a tower of the villa, saying Kinuz Trezir to us. And repeating it loudly for good measure since we don't get it the first time.
Salvia appears to have a deep case of amnesia. Not only did she forget she was an exorcist but now the no longer remember being fluent in the local tongue.
Since looting is what we do and Trezir sounds too much like Treasure to me, we decide to investigate. The tower is decorated with glazed mosaic fragment and topped by a copper minaret. The door is a slab of blank, black stone.
Usually called a wall, not a door.
A Sage, a Trickster or a Warrior could try to do something here, but "if you're a lone Enchanter, you will have no other choice than going back to bed". There is some Brennan-esque dialogue sometimes.
Since usually having Winny act involves someone being unexpectedly murderer, and there is no one around... Let's try this.
She pushes on the black stone to make it yield... Rolling 4d6 under FP. Each attempt costs 1 HP as her muscles are strained.
I notice we're bound to succeed, since there is a loop that allows us to retry. In our usual way, we will loop and heal at the same time, hopefully ensuring a painless victory against the Damn Door of Doom.
The odds of us succeeding each time are quite low, but there is nothing that preclude us for casting spells outside combat at will, as per the rules. So it's time for Esmeralda to cast the little-used Eye of the Tiger, to add 1 FP to everyone in the group for the next four rounds.
Luckily, it only takes 2 attempts to force the door open. During which Salvia can't heal anyone but herself. Looting will be scheduled at section 279.