The chamberlain, the king, and the dragon (drobe)

[LostSoul]

Let me confirm your intentions here:

You will pledge fealty under the conditions that the dryad abandons its bargain with the dragon, has the army retreat, and leaves the city in peace.

Is that all correct?

Yep! Hopefully Lucann will be able to bring her back to the light; I'll take on her patron and we can use that connection to our own ends (hopefully!). Since Quinn doesn't have rage in him (only emptiness, at least now), he figures he can deal with it. He's probably wrong, but we'll see...

"You must pledge more than just to me for my blessing means nothing. It is my patron who must accept you and that can only be done with a binding. If you wish to pledge yourself to her, you must seek out the deepest, most open darkness and open your heart to her knowledge. She will find you if you are worthy. Though I can feel her anger at the suggestion that I let these vermin draw further breath; perhaps you can feel it too? And my Lady does not harbor fools amongst her agents and a foolish thing indeed would it be to betray a mighty Red Dragon...especially when your goals are not at cross purposes.

You are of no small strength. The power you wield is significant. You will have to prove your worth...I want to watch you extinguish this weak-minded, betraying fool (nodding at your companion/lackey)."

Quinn feels the emptiness in his heart, the dark place where nothing has meaning. Consumed with this feeling, he calls out to his new companion. "Leave this place," he says, "and go in peace." He points to a set of stairs at the edge of the gardens; stairs that only exist in his mind.

[I'm using Hypnotism to get him to walk over the edge. Hypnotism (1d20+18=37)]

 

[Manbearcat]

Yep! Hopefully Lucann will be able to bring her back to the light; I'll take on her patron and we can use that connection to our own ends (hopefully!). Since Quinn doesn't have rage in him (only emptiness, at least now), he figures he can deal with it. He's probably wrong, but we'll see...

Understood.

Quinn feels the emptiness in his heart, the dark place where nothing has meaning. Consumed with this feeling, he calls out to his new companion. "Leave this place," he says, "and go in peace." He points to a set of stairs at the edge of the gardens; stairs that only exist in his mind.

[I'm using Hypnotism to get him to walk over the edge. Hypnotism (1d20+18=37)]

Yikes!

He looks at you dumbly (the look of a dog confused by its master), turns slowly and deliberately and walks off the edge. No scream. Just the sickening sound of a body breaking against the earth. Then nothing.

"Good. Her Lady approves. You will make for her a fine agent."

As Lucann begins his attack, she turns to you: "I will take no comfort in destroying this one. But there is no middle way. You have proven yourself useful against gutter rats. Show me your mettle against a true warrior..."

Initiative will be engaged at this point.

[TABLE="width: 500"] [TR] [TD]1 Success
[/TD] [TD]1 Failure
[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
Depending on how Thurgon's and Theron's situation winds up, they will join combat with you guys in a number of rounds. Now I don't have to scribe the lackey companion character I guess! I'll post the map tonight or tomorrow and all the relevant info.

 

[Manbearcat]

I've been busy as of late so I haven't been able to post. I'll get the battle map up for the Court Mage scene with Lucann [MENTION=16586]Campbell[/MENTION] and Quinn [MENTION=386]LostSoul[/MENTION]. The battle map will have a labelled X (letters) and Y (numbers) axis for easy reference of positioning. I'll be making target numbers readily available for reference, making hazards and terrain features mechanically transparent.

The scene regarding the Fate of the King is almost finished. Its pending Thurgon's [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] action in the dreamscape with the King and then the climax will be immediately after that as we're down to the last few successes or failures.

 

[Manbearcat]

Alright, I wanted to get the combat map out to you guys and give you some information before I continue so that I can answer any questions.

THE LOCALE

This is the Royal Garden. It is a holy site to Sehanine and is currently being defiled by the Dryad and the Dark Fey's mocking presence. The Queen was a devout worshiper of Sehanine and while the King pays homage to Kord as his patriarch, the two of them would take walks here together to mutually worshipe and seclude themselves. It is a place of Feywild augmented splendor and natural beauty as well. The trees where you see the M's (Feygrove Choker Minions) are richly covered in

1) Brambleweed: Feywild-borne finger-length thorns, sharp and sturdy enough to rend flesh. The plant’s thick vines spread across an area, hindering any who enter it.

Effect: Brambleweed squares are difficult terrain. A creature that starts its turn in a brambleweed square takes 5 damage per tier. A creature that ends its turn in a brambleweed square is restrained until the start of its next turn. Creatures with "forest walk" are immune to it.

The squares that those trees inhabit all have Brambleweed. It is hindering terrain and you may choose to make a saving throw to fall prone just outside of those squares should you be forced moved into the area.

Directly to the West is

2) A steep, 100 ft cliff overlooking the city proper. This is the cliff that Quinn's lackey just took a nosedive off. You may choose to make a saving throw to fall prone just outside of those squares should you be forced moved into the area.

3) The fluorescent green squares are various wild (or Feywild harvested) flora of many varieties; flowers, ferns, bushes, et al. They all come up to the knees (sometimes up to the thigh) of a medium sized creature and offer partial concealment to small creatures. The tangling nature of the flora make these squares challenging terrain. Moving through them requires an Athletics check at Medium DC (20) or Acrobatics check at Easy DC (14). Failure in this check means your movement action is spent and you are in the first square of the challenging terrain.

4) The pool is filled with blessed holy water of Sehanine. This does Radiant damage to any creature vulnerable to Radiant damage and is hindering terrain to any such creature.

5) As a standard Action, the running waters that roil down from a mountain lake can be blessed by a holy man that can infuse it with Divine energy (Medium Religion check). Doing so turns the running waters into holy water; Radiant damage to any creature vulnerable to Radiant damage and is hindering terrain to any such creature. Otherwise, these waters are knee to thigh high and challenging terrain as the foliage in 3 above.

6) The trees are blocking terrain.

7) The stone benches surrounding the pool are difficult terrain.

8) There are hanging lanterns about the interior whose motes of light moderately illuminate the place. The moonlight provides secondary lighting. The recesses between the trees are dark indeed and offer total concealment to those without low light and partial to those with.

9) There are several areas of partial to full cover throughout the area.

Ok. That is the battlemap.

@Campbell Your passive (take 10) Nature check gives you all the relevant info about the flora. Your passive Religion check lets you easily discern the nature of the holy site (and its waters). Your Arcana is low and although you have plenty of experience in the Feywild and can identify these creatures by name, your understanding of all the gory details is limited. You may ask me one question and I will answer it truly.

@LostSoul Your passive Nature is limited and you can't identify the bramblethorn; but it clearly looks nasty! Your passive Arcana exceeds the High DC. You can ask me 2 questions (beyond the information I give to Campbell) about these creatures and I'll answer it truly.

Three things you both know right off the bat that is common to the Dryad:

1 - Brambles (Aura 2) Any creature that ends its turn in the aura takes 5 damage.

2 - Tree Stride (move 8) as an at-will Move Action to another tree/plant.

3 - Deceptive Veil as an at-will Minor Action to take on an illusory image of a medium sized creature (Insight at Hard DC).

INITIATIVE, DEFENSES, ETC

Here is the initiative order. To make things easy (for lettering purposes), I'm using C (Campbell) for Lucann and L (LostSoul) for Quinn. When Thurgon and Theron make an appearance (2nd to 4th round depending on how things go above you), I will slot them in and use P (pemerton) and T (sheadunne gets his T because the Swarms are using S!). The present initiative order and defenses (AC > FORT > REF > WILL):

[TABLE="width: 500"] [TR] [TD]Q (Quicklings)[/TD] [TD]25 (29 VS OA)[/TD] [TD]21[/TD] [TD]25[/TD] [TD]21[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]C (Lucann)[/TD] [TD]30[/TD] [TD]19[/TD] [TD]21[/TD] [TD]23[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]D (Dryad)[/TD] [TD]26[/TD] [TD]23[/TD] [TD]24[/TD] [TD]26[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]M (Minion Feygrove Chokers) - Readying[/TD] [TD]26[/TD] [TD]24[/TD] [TD]24[/TD] [TD]21[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]S (Swarms)[/TD] [TD]22[/TD] [TD]22[/TD] [TD]21[/TD] [TD]21[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]L (Quinn)[/TD] [TD]25[/TD] [TD]24[/TD] [TD]28[/TD] [TD]27[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Relevant Swarm info:

A) Resist half damage from melee and ranged attacks; Vulnerable 10 against close and area attacks.
B) They can occupy the spaces of other creatures. Their square is difficult terrain. Swarm 1 (S1) is occupying Lucann's square.

@Campbell Please give me two OA against AC 29. One thing that you are sure of as your blade sinks into the shadow-wrought plant flesh of the Dryad...she recoils at the burning Radiance. She has Vuln 5 Radiance (I've already added it to your total).

@LostSoul As I stated above, your Action Economy for your Skill Challenge efforts are going to be Standard Actions within the Action Economy. Any offensive action against the Dryad and her minions will obviously trigger the failure condition for the challenge. Pay attention to her directive (outlined above). Failure to adhere (or at least appear to adhere) will move your DC effort up a step. You're already at the Hard DC for most checks. Also note Lucann's buff he has given Quinn in his post outlining his action.

I've already got the 1st round actions finished (you're effectively up LostSoul). Once we've gone through these details, you've asked your questions and I've answered them to your satisfaction, I'll continue.

 

[LostSoul]

[MENTION=6696971]Manbearcat[/MENTION] : A few questions.

1. What kind of creatures are the swarms?

2. What skills are available that aren't at the Hard DC? Are implement attacks against a target's Will or the Hard DC?

3. Can I call on advantages?

I think that's it. As for the dryad...

1. How does she commune/connect to her patron?

2. She said that Sehanine betrayed her. How so?

2a. Since that last one seems out of the scope of Arcana, here's a backup: Does she pull her magical strength from the Feywild or her patron? Is there a difference?

Okay, so Quinn's action:

"There is always a middle way, my Lady of the Dark Wood," Quinn says, trying to remember long-forgotten otherworldly honorifics. "I am that middle way.

"Do you still doubt my mettle? Here is an example of true power." Quinn casts a horrible spell on Lucann, wrath twisting his mind.

Charm of Misplaced Wrath (1d20+18=36) (I screwed up on the power I wanted to use; I wanted to get Lucann out of the swarms and get a free attack. Sorry about the daze!)

Quinn drives Lucann towards the nearest quickling (G7) and has him attack the fey (Q2). [It's a free action basic attack with a +2 power bonus on the roll.]

As the words of power fly from his mouth, Quinn turns back to the dryad. "Or do you doubt my intentions? My Lady, that is not for you to decide. Your Mistress will judge me, and I do not fear Her."

 

[Manbearcat]

@Manbearcat : A few questions.

Ok.

1. What kind of creatures are the swarms?

Venemous spiders, centipedes and other small insects.

2. What skills are available that aren't at the Hard DC? Are implement attacks against a target's Will or the Hard DC?

She respects power and rightful subjugation/death/misery of those who are of less power. Display that theme with your usage and the DC will be knocked down (such as your last two acts...both are perfect).

3. Can I call on advantages?

Negative. This is a complexity 2 with no advantages available (those don't come into play until 3). You need 6 successes before 3 failures. You are at 2:1 after your last action.

I think that's it. As for the dryad...

1. How does she commune/connect to her patron?

Through proxies (very rarely) and possibly directly through a Ritual on occasion. She is a Warlock so the initial bargain would basically be a contractual obligation that is understood and in-line with her personal aims/ethos.

2. She said that Sehanine betrayed her. How so?

2a. Since that last one seems out of the scope of Arcana, here's a backup: Does she pull her magical strength from the Feywild or her patron? Is there a difference?

Generically I'll answer 2: From an ethos perspective, she followed all of the tenets perfectly except for stay away from the "evil" inherent to absolute darkness. From that one failure she senses she was abandoned even though "in the doing" of observation of that failure it propagated the other tenets all the more.

2a: Both. She is a dryad so she is still naturally connected to the primal world (she would still have primal keyword in some of her powers). The spirits hear her pleas and generally observe them. The spirits who are twisted by darkness (the Unseelie) definitely observe them.

With respect to her patron, it is unclear at this point if her Unseelie patron is some (i) dark archfey like The Queen of Air and Darkness (the Witch in the Wood) or perhaps (ii) Lolth (who would formally reside in the Demonweb Pits in the Abyss but would certainly have domains elsewhere) or (iii) Lolth posing as something else and deceiving her or (iv) other.

Okay, so Quinn's action:

"There is always a middle way, my Lady of the Dark Wood," Quinn says, trying to remember long-forgotten otherworldly honorifics. "I am that middle way.

"Do you still doubt my mettle? Here is an example of true power." Quinn casts a horrible spell on Lucann, wrath twisting his mind.

Charm of Misplaced Wrath (1d20+18=36) (I screwed up on the power I wanted to use; I wanted to get Lucann out of the swarms and get a free attack. Sorry about the daze!)

Quinn drives Lucann towards the nearest quickling (G7) and has him attack the fey (Q2). [It's a free action basic attack with a +2 power bonus on the roll.]

As the words of power fly from his mouth, Quinn turns back to the dryad. "Or do you doubt my intentions? My Lady, that is not for you to decide. Your Mistress will judge me, and I do not fear Her."

Perfect. That will be a success and put you at 2:1.

However, 2 things:

1) I will need a perception check at DC 22 from you as the small Quicklings are stealthed in the partial concealment allowing fauna after their strafe runs on Lucann. They take a - 5 to their stealth (hence the 22). If you cannot see them, you can certainly have him attack the swarms (although his single target attack won't be very successful!).

2) Although forced movement ignores difficult terrain, it does observe challenging terrain. I would typically need a check from Lucann but his high Acrobatic skill automatically passes the easy DC so we're good here.

3) You can apply your + 5 damage that you gave to Quinn to the attack that he brings to bear through you [MENTION=16586]Campbell[/MENTION]

So I need (i) 2 OAs from Campbell @ 29 AC on the Quicklings, (ii) a Perception check from LostSoul, (iii) the MBA attack versus either the Quickling (assuming successful perception) or other (assuming failed perception).

I will update the next post with the intervening enemy actions and a new attachment with the respective positioning of all members on the map.

 

[Manbearcat]

duplicate post

 

[LostSoul]

Thanks for the answers!

I like how the DC is set, it keeps me from having to track skill uses.

On a side note, my PC in a 3.5 game killed The Queen of Air and Darkness, married her daughter, and took her throne. (It's a pretty crazy story.)

1) I will need a perception check at DC 22 from you as the small Quicklings are stealthed in the partial concealment allowing fauna after their strafe runs on Lucann. They take a - 5 to their stealth (hence the 22). If you cannot see them, you can certainly have him attack the swarms (although his single target attack won't be very successful!).

Perception (1d20+12=19) Looks like I don't see them, so I'll have him move out of the swarms. If [MENTION=16586]Campbell[/MENTION] wants to attack the swarm I'll move him to L9, otherwise he can have a dip in the pool. Or something else; I'm sure I know Lucann's tactics well enough to know where he'd like to go. (I don't think it'd be a good idea to have him attack the dryad... yet.)

 

[Manbearcat]

Thanks for the answers!

No problem!

On a side note, my PC in a 3.5 game killed The Queen of Air and Darkness, married her daughter, and took her throne. (It's a pretty crazy story.)

What an odd coincidence!

Perception (1d20+12=19) Looks like I don't see them, so I'll have him move out of the swarms. If @Campbell wants to attack the swarm I'll move him to L9, otherwise he can have a dip in the pool. Or something else; I'm sure I know Lucann's tactics well enough to know where he'd like to go. (I don't think it'd be a good idea to have him attack the dryad... yet.)

Couple things:

1 - Lucann has directly interposed himself between the Dryad (Court Mage) and her aims. As such, despite their past together, he must die. Its as simple as that.

2 - You have caused collateral damage to her plot but you have made an intriguing offer and you would be a perfect Unseelie Agent. As such, she is entertaining your offer.

3 - With respect to 1 and 2 above, you cannot overtly aid Lucann. Any overt aid will automatically yield an accrued failure in your Skill Challenge.

a) If you overtly attack the Dryad or her minions, it will be yield a total failure.

b) * If you further her interests (kill him) or appear to subvert his interests (keep him from killing her) directly, and/or are successful with a skill as a Standard Action, you will earn a success.

c) If you do something 50/50, it will be a push and earn neither accrued success or failure.

Keeping him where he is and dazed (near the swarms where their combined auras will do auto damage on his next turn and he will be in a very disadvantageous position where everything can attack him easily), even with a (likely lame) attack on the swarms will fall under (b) I think. Moving him out of the immediate danger he is in (specifically out of the swarm auras) and over toward the holy site of Sehanine. I will give you a push (c) for that as, even with the daze, it has too many advantageous considerations.

So, consider your choice and let me know. Once I know what you are doing, I will update the battlemap with new positions at the end of this round. I will then do a post by post for each actor in the combat, allowing folks to review and use immediate actions as they see fit.

Mechanically and within the fiction, the first round is basically as follows:

Quicklings * 2 - 2 * Quick Cuts (move speed and attack @ - 2 at any point...+ 2 for CA on this effort) on Lucann @ + 15 vs AC 30 (14, 13) = 2 * miss. Move to challenging terrain (auto-pass Acro check) and stealth.

The small shadowy creatures are all fangs, large and lifeless eyes, nasty dagger in eager hand and terrible speed. Their movement is preturnatural but Lucann adeptly deflects their strafing run (possibly wounding them?) and they slink back into the concealing flora.

Lucann - As he has outlined.

Dryad - Shadow Claws on Lucann @ + 15 vs Fort (3!) = Miss. Thorny Vines on Lucann @ 15 vs AC 30 (17) = Hit; 14 damage and slide 3 onto Swarm 1.

Necrotic thorns, dripping with black death encase her body and extend outward some 10 feet. Anyone who engages her will be at peril. She whispers a terrible promise and claws of pure shadow-stuff reach out for Lucann. Whatever their promise is, it is unfulfilled as Lucann's faith bulwarks him against their deadly massage. Simultaneously, thorn-wrought vines shoot out from her in multiple directions. * See below

Swarm * 2 - 2 * Swarm of Fangs and Stingers on Lucann @ + 13 vs Reflex (10, 14) = 2 hits; 19 damage and ongoing 5 poison damage (save ends).

* Lucann brings his spear about and parries the grasping tendrilsl but in the effort he is driven back and a swarm of spiders and centipedes entomb his lower half with stings and bites.

Quinn - As he has outlined.

 

[LostSoul]

3 - With respect to 1 and 2 above, you cannot overtly aid Lucann. Any overt aid will automatically yield an accrued failure in your Skill Challenge.

a) If you overtly attack the Dryad or her minions, it will be yield a total failure.

b) * If you further her interests (kill him) or appear to subvert his interests (keep him from killing her) directly, and/or are successful with a skill as a Standard Action, you will earn a success.

c) If you do something 50/50, it will be a push and earn neither accrued success or failure.

Okay, makes sense. Hopefully I can change some of that through my actions later on in the challenge.

I'll use Hypnotism to bring him next to me and slap him in the face, showing my mettle against this true warrior.