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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 9363961" data-attributes="member: 6696971">The large, spectral-themed figure floats around her on the cavernous floor as it smoothly pulls from the ample folds of its cloak a piece of colored chalk and a sizable, steel-framed hourglass.  Clearly they are bargaining.  The Duchess scrutinizes the figure, taking in its offering.  The powerful Djinn places her hands on the stoney earth to consult with her true lord and master; Vezzuvu.  An angry, earthen tremble and magma seeping up around her.The Burning Mountain is not pleased.She rises and nods, disregarding the Primordial's rebuke (trouble in paradise!).Placing the hourglass at what would be 12 o'clock, the Aspect of Nerull begins a rune-scribed circle around her to resolve a ritual...====================<smash cut back to your location at the shrine>Chanvati materializes back at the shrine with a cane of ancient wood floating in the air before him.  The cane floats around the group of heroes.  One amongst you will receive a great boon (ceremonial knight motiff with a tap on your shoulder) from the absent goddess (see below and choose).You'll then be whisked to her shrine in a hidden overlook position, well-above the cavernous floor and unknown to the Duchess.[HR][/HR]NERULL-BASED COMPLICATION, DECISION-POINT, XP, LOOT* As stated, I'm including an Aspect of Nerull (level 12 Elite) and the below ritual which is both a burden and a boon (pending how you handle things)!* Below will be a ritual circle to bestow a curse of unlife should she fall in the coming battle.  (a) At the end of round 4, the ritual is completed.  (b) After that point, if she hits 0 HP, she will crumble to dust and that dust will materialize again.  She will regain all of her HP, the undead tag, and her burning aura will change to necrotic tag.  (c) During the 4 rounds of the ritual, she cannot leave the circle, will grant combat advantage, and will take 7 necrotic damage at the end of each of her turns (Zone Effect:  Any creature that enters the zone or ends its turn there takes 7 necrotic damage and grants combat advantage until the end of its next turn. A creature can take this damage only once per turn.).  (d)  The ritual will be of-level (12), Complexity 2 (6 Successes, 3 Failures, 2 Secondary Skills, 1 Hard DC, DCs 14/20/28) with two of the actions (including the Hard DC) to resolve it requiring being within the zone of the ritual itself.* Do you guys want to (a) downclimb from your perch and disrupt the ritual before it begins?  Its 100 feet or 20 squares up in a hidden nook above the cavern floor.  If all 4 characters are downclimbing, it would be a Group Check vs Hard DC of 28.  Failure would mean you still get down in time to disrupt the ritual (so the ritual dynamics above aren't in play), but all participants would begin the combat down 1 healing surge worth of HPs.  (b) If you only had 3 characters involved, we'd step down the Group Check to Medium DC (and then the 4th character would have to figure out their way down...20 sq of downclimbing = 40 sq without a climb speed...at Hard DC...).Alternatively, (c) you guys could let The Aspect of Nerull scribe the circle while you carefully downclimb.  In that case, we start the combat with all characters on the ground and entering the scene as the ritual is beginning (with 4 rounds to foil it...or not).Let me know your choice!  Or if you have something else in mind!* Level 14, C5 Skill Challenge = 5000/2 = 2500 XP apiece.* Take 1 x art object worth 1500 coin, and one character receives the below boon.  After this conflict is over, Avandra will return to this world in diminished form with the aim to wrest Time (at least) from Nerull as it was taken from her so long ago.Pick one PC to receive the Divine Boon below:[HR][/HR]Make your decisions about all of the above (including who gets the boon) and feel free to vignette any consequential interaction in the "knighting" (consecrating).</blockquote>

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