stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. I [IC]

[James Heard]

Janis stands her ground to allow her necromancy to take full effect, but slips her favorite Cyran wand out of its place at her side and uses it to cast her spell of multiple images.

"Don't touch the pillar!"

OOC: Pulling out the Eternal Wand of Mirror Image and using it on herself.

 

[pathfinderq1]

Taking Janis's warning to heart, Tessa gave a worried glance into the cave. It was awfully dark in there- and not all of her friends could see in pitch blackness. She knew that her own crossbow was much less deadly than most of her friends' weapons, and she could help in other ways.

OOC: Casting Nimbus of Light (Cleric 1, from CompDiv); then move forward to N 10 (being careful to avoid getting too close to the pillar; slinging cross bow while moving- will draw "Milosh's wand" next round.

 

[stonegod]

Forest Trials: Round 5

Lips snarled in fury, Marot slams another bolt into the beast, this time through its left eye! The creature crumples lifeless, the Voice singing in time with the green thrumming of the pillar all along. [10hp; dead]

Ladreth, hoping to protect the Stormhand and others, pushes through the rubble to the cave mouth. Though he can see clearly into the cave mouth, he is not in deep enough to get a lock on the shifer's location, though he sees glimpses of something behind a series of spikes to the north and hiding behind the cave wall to the south.

A warm glow now surrounding her, Tessa cautiously approaches the southern portion of the cave. Nothing new comes to eye, however. Janis, meanwhile, protects herself with multiple copies of herself.

Stepping forth into the shadow, Ladreth and Marot can plainly see the source of the silvery voice---an unnaturally beautiful girl in the flush of womanhood, her femininity hardly covered by the cloak that follows her movements. But her eyes tell a different story, a story of madness.

Mad or no, the power of her presence washes over Ladreth, the cloud in his one good eye preventing him from glancing at the too perfect form. [Fort save succeeds vs. gaze-like attack] She giggles in a too high pitch, singing, "Eye of white, look you not! For you shan't like what you wrought!" With that, her cracked stare bores into Ladreth's skull, and the image of it knocks him senseless as his sword clatters to the ground! [Fort save fails; stunned 6 rounds]

A shuffling sound comes from within the cavern, slowly approaching the mouth.

Not knowing what awaits her, Ashlyn rushes to the fore. In the shadows, she just makes out the third were-creature hiding to the north, but as she turns her head, her gaze falls upon the feminine fey. She manages to snap her head back just as she felt the unearthliness of it try to burn her sight. [Fort save just makes it vs gaze-like ability]

The Bear roars in confusion.

Forest Trials: Round 6

Shadowy illumination are the transparent clouds.

M: 22
L: 13 [33/41; 1 Con damage; stunned 6 rounds]
T: 11
J: 9 [34/42, mirror image (4 images, 30 rounds)]
V: 8 [decomposition]
H: 7 [E5: dying; C5: dead, decomposition]
A: 5
b: 3

Map Key: A: Ashlyn, b: The Bear, J: Janis, L: Ladreth, M: Marot, H: Shifter Werewolf, T: Tessa.
Conditions: Green Border: mirror image, Pink Border: Prone, Yellow Border: Stunned

 

[James Heard]

Janis fires a bolt of electricity into the pillar. If the these creatures are congregating around these formations then she must deny them to them.

 

[Stormwind]

After a glance at the obviously insane, skimpily dressed girl, Ashlyn takes a couple of steps into the cave towards the shifter and strikes with the spiked head of the morningstar.

[Move to R5 (move action)]
[Attack shifter +9, damage 1d8+4 (standard action)]

 

[s@squ@tch]

Marot the Deadly

Not denying a surge of arousal at viewing such a beautiful feminine form, Marot tempers this emotion with his searing hate that has surrounded him.

"Ah, you must be the source of this vile curse on the wood -- and you will burn for your transgressions!"

Marot shakes his gloved fist at the woman and causes his hand to become wreathed in a ring of flame. He summons forth the eldritch from within him and combines it with the flame, and launches it towards the woman.


OOC: Move to O7 -- eldritch spear against fey creature, use one charge from gloves of eldritch admixture (2 charges left) for +7 ranged attack, 5d6+1.

 

[pathfinderq1]

Tessa continued to make her way forward, drawing the wand they had recovered from the crypt as she moved.

OOC: Move to Q 7, drawing wand while moving. If not blind or stunned, fire Milosh's wand at the fey creature.

 

[ethandrew]

AC: 21; HP: 33/41; 1 Con Loss; Stunned

Ladreth's mind swam with incoherent thoughts, each one screaming in his head. All he wanted to do was bring his hands to cover his ears, and lay down to sleep it all away. Amidst the chaos, forming in his head was the dual image of beauty and horror, pounding at the front of his skull. He could do naught but look, look to enjoy, look to die. A bitter ironic thought coalesced subconsciously into the back of Ladreth's mind, and for the first time in his life he was glad to only have one working eye. He almost screamed aloud at this, and would have if not for his complete lack of control over his own body.

 

[stonegod]

Forest Trials: Round 6

Marot, confident in his rage, storms forward, preparing to end this madness, fair form or no. But as he gets closer, and glimpses the tree scope of what he faces, the otherworldly nature of her strike him blind! [Fort save fails; blinded] Wailing in futile fury, the warlock blasts the location where he last saw the fey, but the tittering giggles indicate the uselessness of his action. Only the others see how the bolt is bounced away by the girl-creature's glance. [Miss]

Conflicting thoughts roil in Ladreth's brain, but not even a finger twitches.

Tessa's brow furrowed when Marot and Ladreth were seemingly struck senseless, and cautiously she drew her new wand wand. But as she turned the corner behind Lady Ashlyn, she looked directly at the unearthly, insane beauty before her, and too was rendered sightless. [Blind]

With the light from Tessa's spell vanishing the shadows, the Stormhand clearly sees the Thanalis-borne creature before her. Eldeen rangers spoke of them often, both desiring and fearing their blindness causing beauty. A single glance once close enough.... the otherness of the nymph. [Kn: Nature] Hoping to shatter them by taking away their focus, Janis throws lightning at the pillar. But the material is too strong for the weak blast. [4hp does not overcome hardness]

The tainted nymph giggles and cackles at once, a sound entrancing and agonizing. "So many eyes, so many eyes! Pay the price! Pay the price!" Seeing the Lady paladin neither blind nor stupefied, she focuses her ill will there. But Ashlyn's divine fortitude shrugs off the power. [Ashlyn succeeds on save]

The stalking were-creature continues forward, its twisted snout sampling the air. It is then that Ashlyn sees that its eyes are closed, shut against the foul fey's curse. But even its keen senses are not enough, and a rouge spike causes it to flinch, spoiling its swing at the paladin. [Miss]

Ashlyn forces herself to focus on the beast before her, glancing away from the naked form. The beast's keen sense allow it to react even when effectively blinded, though the paladin's morningstar managed to find purchase with a glancing blow. [7hp with decomposition; lightly wounded]

Unsure what to do, the bear lumbers back to protect Janis.

Forest Trials: Round 7

M: 22 [blinded]
L: 13 [33/41; 1 Con damage; stunned 5 rounds]
T: 11 [blinded]
J: 9 [34/42, mirror image (4 images, 29 rounds)]
V: 8 [decomposition]
H: 7 [E5: dying; C5: dead; R5, lightly wounded, decomposition]
A: 5
b: 3

Map Key: A: Ashlyn, b: The Bear, J: Janis, L: Ladreth, M: Marot, H: Shifter Werewolf, T: Tessa.
Conditions: Green Border: mirror image, Orange Border: Blinded, Pink Border: Prone, Yellow Border: Stunned

 

[Stormwind]

Ashlyn takes a step to the side, and seeing the sightlessness that came over Tessa, she voices her advice, "Tessa, take a step back, you're too close to the fighting here."
Then Ashlyn resumes her attacks upon the shifter, striking out with two fast, successive blows with the gleaming morningstar in her hand.

[Full attack vs shifter +9/+4, damage 1d8+4/1d8+4]