“You'll see.” you say, smile on your face. You're rather curious about what her reaction to Cygnis-as-Cygnariassis will be.

“Very soon, in fact.” Cygnis says from the edge of the corridor. “I also brought an additional member for our... boarding action. Cibach, this is Sigurd, you may recall him from the attack on the temple a few weeks ago.” Sigurd's face is familiar, though his gleaming plate armor and warhammer are not.

“And the Sealord's ball, I believe.” you say, standing to greet him. You aren't particularly enthused, but he does look battle-capable. “You danced with milady Asmora.”

“Indeed I did, an excellent dance.” he replies with a bow. No small feat in full armor.

“Sigurd has apparently been opposing the cult for some time as well, tracing their activities here.” Cygnis explains. Perhaps there is a method to her madness. “He had found out that we were planning an attack, and requested to assist us.”

“Ah... I see.” you say, diplomatically. You really aren't to happy with this surprise addition, but would not want to embarass Cygnis publicly with a dispute or condemnation.

“I hate to cut introductions short, but the wind is picking up.” Asha interrupts. “I'd rather not be in the air with higher winds than necessary.”

“A reasonable precaution.” Sigurd agrees, “Some of us are likely to fall harder than others.”

“Very well.” Cygnis states, and reverts. Asha literally jumps backwards, drawing her knife, and Sigurd takes a few steps backward himself, though you get the feeling that he's being polite and providing room, rather than anything else. Asha pauses, knife drawn, before turning to you.

“The flight you mentioned?”

“Indeed.” you reply, amused. She curses in a foreign tongue, possibly calling you names, but there's no real venom in it.

“Next time, tell me.”

“Of course.” you acquiese. “Cygnis, the scrolls, if you please?” you ask, and continue as Cygnis starts passing out the scrolls to those present. You take one and stuff it through your belt, Scinnari passes, and both Asha and Sigurd take one. The sight of a massive Gold dragon passing out individual scrolls is somewhat incongrous.

“The plan is to approach from the top. Cygni-ariassis will fly us in, and we'll bail out. Fall, use your scroll, and aim for the ledges. Cygnis, will you be joining us?”

“If I am able.”

“Very good. Hit the stone, and we ought to be fighting as soon as we land; they should mostly be on or near the top level for the ritual. Any questions?” you ask, your briefing short and informal. Your query is mostly to Sigurd and Asha, the two newer additions to the plan. Well, the two newer additions who can't fly on their own, you correct yourself.

“No.” Sigurd says, and Aisha shakes her head as well.

“I've arranged for the contingency of blowing the cliff, should we fail. If we don't, though, this-” you say, holding up a small wooden rod “-should be broken to signal them of success. In case I am unable to myself.”


“A wise precaution, thank you.” Cygnis says. “Aisha's point still stands. If we are ready to go, we should do so. Cibach, was there anything else you wanted to do, and will you be bringing the crystal?”

If it is on us we bring it, I don't see any point leaving it here for just anyone *cough*Az*cough* to pick up. If it is safely tucked away in warded chests at home then no need to run back and get it.

Do mention to them that they should attempt to avoid cultist chaff and go for the spellcasters as fast as possible.

If we can visualize an item Az carries with him we should try locating him, I'm concerned he isn't around.

rolled 33 = 33

Wooooo dragon quest!

If you were female WD, I'd so have your lovechilds!

>>12730122
I'm basically giving us a chance to decide. Options are "No, I left it somewhere safe." and "Yes, I have it with me."

>>12730140
################

You pause for a moment, concentrating on Azdukashen's distinct (and somewhat flamboyant,) clothes. Docks. Water. Invisible, you're pretty certain, watching the lighthouse.

"Cygnis, have you informed Az?"

"Az?" Asha asks, and Sigurd looks mildly interested.

"Yes. He's standing by should we need the distraction or assistance. As are a small army of adventurers and blades-for-hire." she replies. Good, she's got her part done...

rolled 81 = 81

Left it somewhere safe

last quest I suggested charging the crystal twice asking it some questions the first time to find anything that could benefit us, and saving the second set for the lighthouse to use in case of emergency, such as information on weaknesses, ways around obstacles, identification of traps/ magical items etc. I'm guessing we never asked the questions, but I hope we still charged it. that orb is pretty much a gigantic i win button, if it can tell us what we need to know.

The only question would be how many charges does it have, and can we trust it, what with being a sentient artifact possibly with its own agenda.

realistically, there isnt any reason not to bring it. even if it cant tell us what we need to know, it might be useful. voting to bring it.

>>12730239
I think... we left it somewhere safe. Carrying a razor sharp multipronged and awkward object with us into battle would be ungood, and if the cultists get their hands on it it would be plusungood. If it turns out we need it we can send Scinnari to get it with her teleportation.

>>12730289
It's sharp, big, and awkward. It would impede us in battle if we brought it. That's a reason IMO.

I vote bring it. I rather have the option of using it to shut down the ritual in the worst case scenario. I'm aware of the huge pain it'll be but it'd be a nice trump card to have.

>>12730289
>>12730366
Guys, if we don't bring it then we can just have Scinnari pop back and get it if we need it.

>>12730411
You don't know that for sure. I rather walk in assuming the cult has measures to stop such magic from working rather than them being silly enough to let it go on as normal.

>>12730294
>>12730294

point, it might be a pain to carry around, and we could have Scinnari teleport out to grab it if we really need it, assuming she can(I'm pretty sure there is a spell that blocks teleportation). Just saying that it would be useful to have access to, especially if the cult has some especially nasty surprises waiting for us. if we don't want to bring it we should still ask it at least one pertinent question before we head off, like for any useful loot we might be able to nab, the best way to interrupt the ritual, etc.

The crystal did say that switching it with the cultist's gem would allow it to permanently lock the summoning to itself, but then again, for all we know that would actually complete the summoning. At the very least, we should ask it about the thing they will misguidedly summon, the Dead One I think it was called.

As for carrying it? hell, wrap it in leather or something else, it shouldn't be that hard to deal with. the cultists getting their hands on it would be bad, but we don't even know if they could work it while its still keyed to us.

>>12730440
No, but I do know hauling around a razor sharp rock artifact as large as our head (I think?) will be a hindrance to our swordplay. And honestly, I'd rather not get it anywhere near the summoning site.

>>12730469

we could hold it easily in one hand, i think it was closer to softball size.
wrap it in leather, and put it in a bag
( we do have a bag for loot right?)

>>12730493
Did we ever buy that bag of holding I suggested? We really need that for loot hauls.

>>12730294
Ah, but did you show Scinnari where you stored it? The bit from the previous thread was over the lip of the chasm, which is only accessible from our sooper-secret evil lair that she doesn't know about.
##############################

"I'm afraid I decided it was too... risky, to bring into an actual combat. Though it might have been worth hitting someone with, considering how sharp it is." you tell her. "I think we're ready to go... and should, in case the storm decides to hit before sunset."

"Not going to happen." Cygnis says, while stretching out, and lowering herself to the ground. You lightly climb up her side, and help Scinnari and Asha up to join you.

"Ah... Sigurd... Cygnis?" you ask, as he approaches.

"I agree." Sigurd says, guessing what you were driving at.

"Indeed. I'll carry you." Cygnis says, standing.

"Probably a good idea. Two people would be bad enough, three people is already too much." you agree, as Cygnis stands and gives a cursory beat of her wings.

"I have four claws. You four can be carried instead." she replies ominously.

"Shut up before she makes us." Asha mutters at you, "I don't wish to spend the ride looking down."

"Of course, Cygnis. You're already doing much for us this way; I'm sorry." you apologize, taking Asha's advice.

"I'll follow separately." Scinnari says, lifting off with a flap of her wings. Just you and Asha, then.

You're almost thrown off as Cygnis rears, casting a spell. Moments later, she vanishes from sight, but you can still feel her beneath you. She picks up Sigurd, and you hold on as her wings ripple, threshing air, and lifting you off the ground. Aisha has wrapped her arms tightly around you, and is staring downward in horrified fascination.

[dice 2d10]

rolled 4, 9 = 13

>>12730548
dice

rolled 5, 9 = 14

Dice gods smile on me...

> Aisha has wrapped her arms tightly around you

It occurs to me that having all three of our lovely ladies in the same place at the same time could lead to some rather awkward situations.

>"I'll follow separately." Scinnari says, lifting off with a flap of her wings

Wings out in front of the old dude? Well, whatever, he probably won't know what they mean.

>>12730633
And who's responsible for that?

>>12730586
>>12730563
You are carried up, in slow circles, as Cygnis finds a pair of thermals. Afternoon heat radiating from a dark stone ruin. At what looks like a thousand feet, she levels off, and you start moving towards the lighthouse.

Scinnari, aided by her teleportation, is much faster. She appears nearby.

"The lighthouse is guarded. Demons, vrocks. A small murder of them around the upper levels."

"And nobody has noticed?" Asha asks incredulously.

"Illusions. They look like a flock of crows circling the lighthouse window to them."

"I am glad you know so much about the lower planes, Lady Asmora." Sigurd calls from below. This really is a fairly awkward discussion. "Do we change our course of action?"

"We hardly have any other options." you reply, "We have to stop the cult, so we should head there anyway. Hmm... Cygnis, can you signal our mercenaries to attack? The demons would probably be obligated to defend against them, allowing us our entrance."

"They'll be back for us just as quickly I believe... but yes. Azdukashen is waiting for us, he'll give the order when I signal him."

"Well, we knew it wasn't going to be easy." Aisha says philosophically.

[2d10 vrocks; 13. Final battle tactics, and a brief break for me while I go get food. Starving.]

>>12730703
>Asha
then
>Aisha
then
>Asha again
Is that intentional? Driving me nuts.

>Wings out in front of the old dude? Well, whatever, he probably won't know what they mean.
>"I am glad you know so much about the lower planes, Lady Asmora."
Heh. Whoops.

>13 Vrocks
Holy shiiiiiiiiit. One of those is CR 9.

Ask Scinnari about their attributes, notably do they have truesight. No, they don't, so we just all go invisible and proceed as planned. Cygnis already is, both we and Asha can cast it, and we can give Scinnari the emerald.

When we rule our empire, there should be a special, elite military unit trianed for opperations like these. We shall call them... Dragonborne.

And any ideas for fighitng through a flock of nasties? If our distractino doesn't work, I've no clue what we can do.

rolled 11 = 11

Lots and lots of fire.

Also - I have no idea what a vrock is. Someone care to inform me?

>>12730703
13 vrocks could take over the city by themselves. That's like 65 level 9 adventurers worth of vrocks. More if they don't just do the standard maim, kill, burn tactics demons usually use.

>>12730838
It was originally Asha. Then someone emailed me referring to her as 'Aisha'. Like a memetic virus, is spread, infecting everyone who came into contact with it-

See. This is why you learn to spell, people. Or else shit like this happens.

And, yeah, it's almost like they don't want to be stopped...Still, we're toting heavier artillery than your average adventuring party.

>>12730859
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/demon.htm#vrock

We are so fucked. Blow the lighthouse, there is no way we can take that many mid level warrior demons.

>>12730879
>>12730922
If both Cygnis and Az stayed in dragon form they might be able to take the Vrocks, but it would clearly tip our hands and show that dragons are involved.

Illusion of some sort?

[incredibly naive] I mean, the GM would never give us an encounter we couldn't win, right?[/incredibly naive]

Scinnari has greater invisibility at will from the emerald, flying, and a longbow. We've got this.

It might take a while, but she can probably lead them on a merry chase.

>>12730042
>“Some of us are likely to fall harder than others.”
was that a paladin falls joke?
might be a broadin...

>>12730922
>>12730879
Don't overstate it, guys. This is going to be a tough fight but Az could handle this on his own. Without dragon forms, however, it would be very touch and go.

>>12731029
At the time, it was a reference to the fact that he's wearing plate armor. As it is, probably not.

>>12731031
> This is going to be a tough fight but Az could handle this on his own.

And if he can't, well isn't that a shame. Nothing we could have possibly done to save him. Really, a tragedy.

>>12731029
I like him better already

>"I am glad you know so much about the lower planes, Lady Asmora."
The Lady has a particular distaste for demons, as I understand it. Heh.

>13 vrocks
We cannot take these guys. At all. We'd lose even in dragon form. Need to sneak past them with invisibility, or call in heavy support.

>>12731076
it sort of would be... sure pragmatically it would be better but if he dies now then we wouldn't be able to run his face in it after we fuck his sister (which, at this time, seems to be the prime reason that we are considering her for our little harem)...

I'd say Illusions and sneak past

Dragons in WD's world have been consistently more powerful than 3.5e, and demons/devils (judging by Scinnari) consistently less so. Which is very appropriate in my opinion, seeing as 3.5e has no balance what-so-ever. 4e this same encounter would be moderately difficult for a solo mature adult gold dragon but not nearly the suicide 3.5e rules would make it. Glad WD is taking things like that into account.

Still, getting past without showing the town that here be dragons is going to be tricky. I say invisible and drop right down since they can't see us.

>>12731114
Well, that plus the fact that she's probably the best we're going to do in terms of other dragons.

rolled 73 = 73

>>12730922

I have no idea what all of that means xD

"13? Are we capable? I am up to a good upfront fight, but I do not think that is our best option to cancel the cultists' ritual right now."

"If we ruin the summoning, I do not think the demons have any reasons to stay."

"Except to cause more mayhem and destruction, of course."

>>12731197
I seriously doubt that. I mean, we've met a grand total of two dragons. All we have is the stereotypical version of other chromatics to go on, and we are clearly not stereotypical. And dragons are not stupid. I think we should go for another red if we want a dragon mate, wasn't there one mentioned as taking over a city up north on the mainland?

>>12731220
yeah but that one seems to be Chaotic Stupid
but let's not get this thread bogged down with waifu arguing, I think we had enough of that in the last thread

>>12731143
Dragon stats are pretty weaksauce compared to what they are touted as in 3.5. That has always bugged me. It forces you to modify them and give them lots of minions.

>>12731202
The relevant bits:
DR 10/good, so they take 10 less damage from all hits.
Dance of Ruin, letting them totally fuck anything stupid enough to stay within 100 feet of them for twenty seconds running. Note that with this many vrocks they can stagger their dances so that one goes off every single round, as soon as stealth stops being a factor.
Mirror image, making them significantly tougher to face in melee.
Greater teleport, obviously, so they can be anywhere.
Summon demon, which means that we're facing 13*1.35=17.55, or probably 18 vrocks. Five more than they have out at the moment.
Five attacks on a full attack, which is almost as many as we get. Most of them have a decent chance at hitting us through our armored scales in dragon form, which means that they'll carve us up like nobody's business when polymorphed. And they have enough damage to get through our piddly DR 5/magic without many problems.


Basically, vrocks are nasty bastards.

>>12731260
We're taking over a city too, you know. All she did was levy a tax, and the heroes don't even want to fight her. It's entirely possible that she is a mastermind and this is a step in her plan. It's possible she's chaotic stupid too. We just don't know, all we know are secondhand rumors. We are jumping to conclusions about what we will find in other dragon mates without even seeing one.

>>12731294
Spores, aura damage, and on-going damage
Stunning shriek, well, it stuns...

>>12731310
Don't forget they each do 1d8+1d4/round (10 rounds) as a free action every 3 rounds and can chain-stun us 18 times with screech if they stagger it.

>>12730916
My bad...

I'm not sure if WD is just sadistic or really thought that 3.X vrocks were anything other than a full course of pain with a side dish of rape.

>>12731314
I was under the impression that dragons didn't mate for life anyways. So couldn't we have a gold now and a red somewhere down the line?

"Vrocks..." you say, trying to bring them to mind. There was a sketch of one in one of the texts you browsed at the temple library.

"More than I think we can handle. Massive. Dangerous. Warriors." Scinnari says.

"Warriors? Not soldiers?" you ask, an idea forming.

"Demons? Work together? Hah!" Scinnari replies, mocking. "That would be the day."

"That all the hells fall. Right... Scinnari, here." you say, reaching up to hand her the emerald. It's tricky, but she manages to avoid Cygnis' wingbeats.

"Snipe a few. Let them see you. Taunt them, draw some off, all if you can. Maybe lead them to the Sealord's residence. If they're calling up powerful demons /and/ casting a ritual, ideally they won't be able to keep too tight a leash on them. Teleport back when you've got them suitably distracted." you order. "Aisha. Sigurd's invisible, but only because he's being held by Cygnis. Fix that. And yourself. I've got me, and you, should you need it." you add for Cygnis' benefit.

"I..." Aisha responds, voice faint with terror, "I'm not sure I can.

"Look-" you reply, almost snarling. You turn to face her and see her very pale. Ah. Right. You let go of Cygnis' neck with your right arm, and twist back. "I've got you. I won't let you fall, and you can stop a fall anyway. Close your eyes if you have to. Just cast the spell."

>>12731542
Aisha nods faintly, and begins casting. You wait until she's finished, then take over, casting for her and you. The moment she's finished, she returns to clutching you tighter than ever.

"What, I thought they flew in Tashz? Carpets, or rugs or something?" you say lightly, trying to make her relax.

"Yes... but those are stable. And solid. And visible..." Asha replies, unmoved.

"Last time I checked, I am solid too." Cygnis observes dryly, "But regardless, your plan seems to have a chance of working. If it goes horribly wrong, I'm sure Azdukashen will assist us. We should proceed."

"Yes." you agree as Scinnari vanishes from sight, and presumably teleports away. The wind of the flight keeps you from hearing the sound.

[2d100 First for Scinnari, if she gets high enough, the second will be easier. Our boots, their skulls; let's do this.]

>>12731535
Remember, we rolled this. Never thought I'd regret a high roll.

rolled 87 = 87

>>12731551
One roll for moi.

>>12731539
Some do, some don't. Some are monogamous and others are polygamous. It's completely up to the dragons in question, there is no rule for that just generalizations. The majority of reds don't mate for life. The majority of golds do. The majority of reds are polygamous. The majority of golds are monogamous. There are many of both types that violate these "rules".

rolled 70, 70 = 140

>>12731551
Plz don't screw up

>>12731587
Hey, not bad.

rolled 98 = 98

Looking like good rolls to me :D

>>12731640
> 98
DARN!

>>12731703
Well technically it's best of two, and we have two rolls needed. So for the first two we have 87, 70; then 70, 98. Leaving us with 87, 98. Though I've noticed sometimes WD just grabs the first two for convenience.

>>12731725
It's meant to be best of two, but what happens when you need two dice and 2 people roll one, and one two? Best two of four is rather different to best 1 of two, twice. Much less chance of failure. I'm guessing he takes the first few for more 'interesting' results.

Perhaps people should just roll what's asked...

>>12731761
Some people just roll one die so that everyone has a chance to participate in the rolling.

rolled 27 = 27

>>12731761

I'm just too lazy to remove the dice 1d100 from the email feild.

>>12731761
Let's reassure Asha. She's looking pretty worried.

>>12731791
Indeed. I am one of those that only roll one die so that others can participate in that area of the quest.

rolled 45 = 45

>>12731808

Seconded.

>>12731808
We can use a line like "You should look into getting a wing cape, so that you can fly under your own power like the Lady Asmora. Likely you would find it far more comfortable." That subtly implies (for the paladin's benefit) that Scinnari isn't actually winged. Though Cygnis probably filled him in already, with our luck.

>>12731294
>DR 10/good, so they take 10 less damage from all hits.
Uh, guys. Last I checked, we weren't good, and neither is Scinnari (Not sure on Asha, probably chaotic neutral.) Pretty sure this means our natural weapons and weapons we wield aren't affected by that particular type of DR. If Cygnis and Sigurd have trouble harming them and we don't, things might get a little dicey if anyone figures out why.

>>12731920
That's... you don't play 3.5 do you?

10/good means that a weapon has to be good aligned to penetrate the resistance. Like 10/+1 has to be enchanted with at least a +1 bonus to penetrate, or 10/fire has to be fire damage to get through.

>>12731587
>>12731575

Cygnis flies closer, and you actually are passed by Scinnari and several vrocks, you count six. It's a lightning exchange of teleporting and airborne maneuvering that fluctuates without warning. All in all, you're very glad that Scinnari is leading them off. The vrocks look incredibly nasty, and you'd hate to fight six, let alone thirteen.

As they pass, Cygnis stops flapping, slowing to a glide, to remain silent. As they leave, she resumes flying, accelerating towards the docks.

On arrival, she dives, leveling off over the end of a pier, and climbing again. Right. Azdukashen was down there, the flyby, even invisible, must have been the signal.

Ascending once more, she starts circling a few hundred feet above the lighthouse, in tight loops.

"Alright, Sigurd. Go." she says, and you hear an intake of breath and rasp of scales on steel as she releases her grip. There's a momentary sound of spellcasting, before either he finishes or is taken beyond earshot.

"Asha." you order next, trying to loosen her arms around you. "Asha! Go!"

"I- right." she says unsteadily. She doesn't move, though.

"Go, go!" you order, trying to avoid shouting. You give her a half-shove, and you feel her pull out her scroll and slide around Cygnis neck, and drop with a quiet yelp.

"My turn..." you mutter, attempting to follow before Cygnis passes over the lighthouse again. you stand up on her back, and leap, slowed by the air. Your scroll is next, and you fall downward, a bit more rapidly than you intended. It is, however, almost empty; three vrocks remain, the rest either lured by Scinnari or down below, in the swarming melee between the guards and adventurers. Ideally not too many of them will die, if only because it would be inconvenient. With the appearance of the vrocks, both sides seem to have let up on each other to combat the demonic threat.

>>12731920
You have two kinds of wrong, there. You should learn how DR works, and come back.

>>12731967
After we touch down (if we have time) we should go over to Asha and make sure she's okay, ask if she's feeling okay now and all that and put on a winning smile. Maybe, uh, offer an apology for pushing her off. We don't regret it, but it would make her think better of us.

>>12731967
You evade the loan guard, and manage to land, albeit a little clumsily, on the lighthouse's balcony. Something smells horrible, like meat just starting to rot. Disgusting. The top level is abandoned, beyond the smell, and a feeling of concentrating magic, and staircase curving and descending into the structure. The three vrocks are around you, flying in short circuits around the tower. You think you can hear one.. sniffing. Tasting the air, whatever a demon does.

[dice 1d100]

rolled 58 = 58

>>12732035
Eeek.

rolled 72 = 72

>>12732035

Hoping for a good roll

rolled 75 = 75

>>12732035
Evade, evade!

rolled 94 = 94

>>12732035
Am I rolling for sneak or for the deamon
LOW OR HIGH
LOW OR HIGH?

Had a picture I meant to post.

>>12731952
>>12731978
Yep, not a 3.5 guy. Point still stands, but in reverse. If we can't do shit to them, it might be suspicious.

Gotta admit, just seeing DR X/[type] makes me think that the thing listed would be the thing that they would be resistant to, but yeah. Thanks, folks.

You know, if you think about it... we just parachuted off a dragon's back, onto a cultist's tower, through a ring of demons, with multiple hot bitches in tow.

The only way that could have been more badass is if we were on fire at the time.

>>12732080
Neither.

>>12732063
>>12732060

With a soft impact, you hear Cygnis land. Good. You wish you had chalk, or something, so you could write a question, but you figure you'll have to settle with hoping that everyone is here. Moving down the stairs, to the door set in the stairway, you attempt to open it, and fail. Locked.

You resist cursing to yourself, but are happy to notice that the sniffing one seems pacified, at this point, and is circling idly with the rest.

[Door. What now?]

>>12732119
The night is young.

>>12732142

Surely A(i)sha has some way of opening locked doors

rolled 6 = 6

>>12732035
Boots, meet heads. Heads, meet boots.

>>12732097
What part of learn how DR works before... ugh, whatever. Be stupid if you must.

>>12732142
Asha is an assassin, surely she knows how to pick locks or at least cast Knock. Flail around until we find her and then guide her to the door, put her hand on the handle, and show her it's locked.

>>12732198
Just feel around for the one with round ears and no plate armor.

>>12732216
At chest level.

An important note, magic circle against chaos or good would hedges out summoned creatures. It'll be inconvenient for scinnari if it's a circle against evil, but not an issue at all for the rest of our group. Either would very effectively prevent any vrocks from getting through a choke point if we place the circle strategically.

>>12732235
>An important note, magic circle against chaos or good would hedges out summoned creatures.

This should read Magic Circle against chaos or evil would hedge out certain summoned creatures (like demons)

>>12732235
>>12732265
You... do know they have greater teleport, right?

>>12732284

They can't teleport into the protected circle.

>>12732309
No, but the circle is not going to cover more than a 20 foot radius. They just teleport past it. There's no point in putting it at a "choke point" when there is no such thing for a creature with teleport.

>>12732177
I got it figured out after the first guy explained it; the last paragraph was just saying that the way that DR is presented typographically seems counterintuitive to someone who didn't bother to look at the mechanics behind it.

>>12732330
How big do you think the rooms on the inside of a lighthouse are going to be?

>>12732344
Big, the thing is huge. That has already been stated.

>>12732363
even so, if we can place the circle at the site of a fight, like where the ritual is happening, we can engage the cultists and stop the ritual while the vroks are standing 10' away looking angry. Any usage of spores or screeches will just as likely, or even more likely, hurt the cultists than it will our side. Granted, the hostile casters can countervene it, but a single spell can shut down a lot of the summoned muscle. Similarly, the level 1 version of the spell will protect anyone from the natural weapons of the vrocks. There's absolutely no reason to discount such a potentially effective spell.

>>12732415
Not discounting it, just saying that using it to block vrocks from coming through a chokepoint is kinda... useless. We are the attackers, that means all they have to do is surround us and wait for the ritual to finish if we hole up.

>>12732198
>>12732167
Excellent reasoning.
############

Carefully, you tap quietly on the wall. Quiet. Steady. Some sixth sense tells you as some of the others approach.

"Locked. If you can't open it, make way for someone who can." you whisper,doing your part to prevent the remaining vrocks from taking notice. A few bodies brush by you, you aren't quite sure who, though you feel what you think is Sigurd's plate armor brush by you. At least he's quiet... though his landing was probably what sent the demon searching. Hmm.

A moment later, the door creaks open, and you absently nod in thanks to however managed it.

The stairway descends downward, turning sharply at each corner of the tower; the door offers you some cover from the rest of the room, though if your invisibility isn't working, it probably won't be enough.

Below you, the ritual you were planning on crashing is taking place. The stairs wind around the tower twice before hitting the floor, and the room down there is much wider than the tower shaft up here. A large group of cultists, snakemen, mostly, stand in a circle. Invocations, and the smell of too much blood-sacrifice fill the air. The floor looks slick with blood. Strange runes flicker strangely, green, in the light, and you can sense an overwhelming amount of magic being channeled, worked, use here. Directed.. upwards. At the top level.

A trio of individuals, two of which you recognize, stand behind the circle, talking quietly. You tap the wall twice, then step down the stairs, trying to signal your advance. Descending the staircase.

"...almost halfway." The Sealord says, "It should be unstoppable soon. Inertia. Switch out for the next group of channelers when the rift opens."

rolled 42 = 42

>>12732234
Seconding

>>12732508
"You are overconfident, Drac. And remember the warning; I'm not even certain we're summoning the Unspeakable One."

"You doubt. Doubt is lethal." the third, an actual serpent creature, says ominously.

"I do not. But we are not certain; we have not enough information. We should not have rushed this. This is exactly what our enemy wants us to do! And what is this about the Binder /and/ the Unspeakable One? I thought they were the same. WE thought they were the same; now we're being told that they oppose each other? That the Unspeakable One is dead?" High Captain Wallace says.

"I find your lack of faith..." the serpent begins, but Brock cuts him off.

"Ominous, I know. Potentially fatal, you said. But it needs to be said. After that prophecy, I'm not even sure we know WHAT we are doing here."

"We are donig what we intended to do, before we are no longer able. Now, if you're quite finished... We have passed the halfway point, and if we wish to retain control, we should switch out the channelers before they are overwhelmed." The Sealord interrupts smoothly.

rolled 76 = 76

damn too late, I hope that Sigurd is all smity smity with his paladin abilities

I hope that we can pull off being able to be a "seasoned" adventurer with our swordplay. Other than that we don't have much going for us besides our high Int, Cha, and ability to organize/stumble on things.

rolled 24 = 24

>>12732508
Murdalize the Sealord, then the rest.

>>12732336
No, you still don't understand. Unless Sigurd's weapon is good, no-one in the party can bypass the vrocks' DR. Creature alignment is not relevant in this.>>12732508

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#damageReduction

>>12732522
This is where we kill the leaders or the new channelers. Either way, it's time to stop them from doing the ritual and killing them in the face will likely do that.

>>12732522
Sigurd, take care of the High Captain and screen for Asha as she kills the priest. I will take Drac. Cygnis, I trust there is enough room for you in there to transform and give them a... warm greeting?

>>12732546
I had kind of assumed that
>A creature with an alignment subtype (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful) can overcome this type of damage reduction with its natural weapons and weapons it wields as if the weapons or natural weapons had an alignment (or alignments) that match the subtype(s) of the creature.
meant that both Sigurd (if he is Good) and Cygnis (who is almost assuredly Good) would bypass the DR due to their own alignments, regardless of whether their weapons are aligned in any way.

>and if we wish to retain control, we should switch out the channelers before they are overwhelmed.
My first instinct is to try and handle the replacement channelers before they have the chance to switch them in, but that might actually be a terrible idea which will lead to the summoning going completely apeshit and flooding the immediate area with bad things that we can't do anything to stop.

Do we see a crystal anywhere in the room? If it's above in the top of the lighthouse flame room all we have to do is smash it... and in such a small room the guards would be far fewer.

>>12732592
They don't actually have that alignment subtype. An alignment subtype is something where a moral outlook is fundamentally part of a creature; it's what you get with monsters that literally cannot change alignment. Angels, demons, that sort of thing. No one here except Scinnari is alignment-locked that way, and her subtypes are [Law] and [Evil].

>>12732546
Well I'm not rolling any more.
>>12732592
And what's that old saying about assumptions?

Definitely kill the Sealord, but I agree that the 'fresh' channelers should be a high priority. Interrupting a summoning is never a good plan; excretion's headed for rotating blades anyway, and I prefer [Enemy Everywhere] to [DEAD GOD OF DESTRUCTION/lol-I-mindcontrol-dragons bitch]

rolled 79 = 79

>>12732647
Ok, THAT'S the piece of the puzzle I was missing. Thanks.

>>12732652
Cygnis can breathe fire on the snakemen and fry them.

With no other recourse, you turn to open communication.

"Cygnis, fire would be nice. Sigurd, take the priest. Asha, kill the channelers." you say, quietly but clearly. You're forced to raise your voice as the three spin, searching for you. The priest begins to cast something, and you dart forward, blade aimed at the Sealord's heart. He dodges back, and while you pierce the skin, the wound doesn't look fatal.

Either way, though, your invisibility is compromised, and you start wondering whether perhaps you haven't been as religious as you should have been... Being locked in a two-to-one duel is not exactly healthy. You parry two blows, backing up rapidly, unable to launch an attack of your own as the two councilors press you. The priests sibilant hissing grows triumphant, and you feel your enchantment on Asha dissolve...

The battlefield changes rapidly. Suddenly, Cygnis, in all her glory, is standing across from you, preparing to wipe out the circle of summoners. Sigurd is revealed, a moment before he brings his hammer down on the priest, knocking the elderly snake to the ground with a sickening impact of metal on flesh. Yielding, fragile, flesh. Asha is decloaked on the stairs, still following downward. Seeing her coming, you try to catch her eye as you rotate the engagement, turning the backs of your attackers to her.

[dice 5d100, no best of two. Us, Cygnis, Sigurd, Asha, and Scinnari.]

rolled 82, 36, 23, 100, 98 = 339

>>12732844

Dice gods, don't fail me now.

>>12732863

Because FUCK YOU, that's why.

rolled 37 = 37

>>12732844
This will rock face.

>>12732863
Anonymous, I fucking love this set of rolls. Team us wins, team our good-aligned allies loses. Fucking beautiful.

>>12732863
Wow, that's not bad. Sigurd failed pretty hard and is probably dead, but Cygnis is tough enough to recover from a 36, plus she's a dragon so won't fail as hard.

>>12732876
I would agree, except that Cygnis was supposed to burninate everything.

rolled 19 = 19

>>12732844
Rollan for Sigurd

rolled 97 = 97

>>12732863
Shit, that's bad news for Sigurd and Cygnis
Still- critical successes for our devil and assasin
Perhaps that will compsenate

>>12732863

Go assasin! Assasinate them all! At once!

>>12732863

You manage your rotation, bringing them around with their backs to the staircases' base. The Sealord himself disengages, leaving you fighting only 'Captain' Brock, much more favorable odds.

"Ah... Cygnariassis. The gold. Brother Eidomon told me so very /much/ about you." the Sealord says, remarkably calm for someone who's addressing a dragon that appeared from nowhere.

"Cygnis! Get the 'casters! " you shout, parrying and riposting at Wallace. His saber sings against your rapier as you lunge back and forth, engage, deceive, parry, riposte.

The snake creature Sigurd brought his hammer down on proves far more resilient than you would have given it credit for. It hisses vilely, and lashes out with it's tail, hard. Sigurd's knee-joint is bent and dented, rending him partially immobile. The creature lands several hard blows on Sigurd with his staff, catching his head with a sickening crack. Asha shouts from the stairs, though, jumping over the edge of the last case with cat-like grace. A bolt of fire flies from her position, blasting the snake-priest away from the injured Sigurd.

"The proud dragon." the Sealord continues, addressing Cygnis with a mocking tone. "I'm told he broke you in days. You begged and whimpered, offered him anything, if only he would stop... yet you were utterly worthless, knew nothing of value. The priest we lost far outweighed such a... pitiful creature." his voice is pure contempt. Whatever you feel for the Sealord, he IS busy talking down to raging dragon... and deliberately trying to enrage it further.

>>12733107
"Cygnis, don't go after the Sealord! He-" you try to warn her, but are cut off in a wash of fire. What is a warm zephyr to youcooks your opponent, his quickly-airless screams echoing in the interior of the building. Unfortunately, both the Sealord and you come out of it singed but unharmed. He has fire resistance of some sort as well.

"You cannot even kill a perfectly normal human... Truly a shame upon your kind." Milton Drac adds calmly, standing before Cygnis. She roars in hatred, a deafening sound that blasts masonry dust from the walls and drowns out the sound of the ritual's chanting- or any other sound, for that matter.

"Wha-" a voice starts from the stairwell, falling from your hearing as Cygnis roars. Another individual, human, and obviously a magus of some kind, stands in the stairway, looking on in horror at the combat raging. Asha throws a knife at him from across the room, catching him in the belly. He grasps it, and falls to his knees, a pained expression on his face.

A dim ringing sound is slowly emerging in your ears, though you aren't sure that's deafness or the echoes of Cygnis' roar.

[5d100]

rolled 62, 34, 1, 91, 57 = 245

Feets don't fail us now.

rolled 76, 45, 32, 6, 3 = 162

>>12733116
"Cygnis snap out of it! Remember what we came here for!"
or
"SHUT " (Parry) "UP" (Riposte) "YOU" (Slash) "MOUTHY" (Stab) "BASTARD!" (STAB)

rolled 85, 62, 59, 37, 11 = 254

>>12733131
Holly hells that's bad

rolled 84, 68, 40, 80, 43 = 315

>>12733131
Oh man, Asha is kicking ass and Sigurd is dead.

Let's hit the Sealord with our stabby. He obviously has some sort of reason to be taunting Cygnis. We must stop him.

>>12733131
>>12733134
I disapprove of your rolling. Anyways, don't we have a 78 die to throw away? Could replace that crit failure with it.

And we have a few other dice saved up, to the best of my memory. May as well use them for the climactic ending.

rolled 57, 4, 45, 85, 83 = 274

>>12733116

He might be fireproof, but i do wonder if he's dagger proof

>>12733131
>1
And with this, Sigurd tries to stand back up, trips over a loose cobblestone and cracks his head on the ground.

>waistan sufficient
We certainly are, capcha.

>>12733157
I'm in favor of replacing critfail with 78

>>12733157
I disagree. Let the 1 stand. He is hardly our ally, though he might be useful in the future for his support. But I don't think we should waste a stored roll on that off-chance.

>>12733157
Don't do that. Why save some mortal's life when it could be ours that roll preserves?

>>12733191
>>12733180
Well, just that, right now, things ain't going to hot for us, and we can use all the help we can get IN THIS FIGHT

>>12733200
Things are going GREAT for us. We just took down two mages and a captain of the guard for a single injury to some guy we don't even know.

Dont use the roll we will need it later prob

>>12733224
But that THING is going to get summoned any minute if we don't finish fucking around with the sealord and Cygnis doesn't get her shit in gear
We will probably need Sigurd in action

>>12733131
What's this? More of the evils winning and the goods losing? You've done it again, Anonymous! Kill that paladin before he has the chance to work against us!

I, myself, would prefer to keep as much help as possible in the fight. That not-very-high die we have saved up could be put to use NOW, while it could be very helpful.

>>12733231
>>12733231
Ah, the old "BUT I'LL NEED IT LATER," argument, bane of gamers everywhere
I still say we replace critfail, because critfail is no good for anyone, including ourselves

>>12733265
It was only halfway done, and we still have the crystal if we really really need to stop it. I hardly think we will disrupt it any quicker with one roll changed.

>>12733292
WE DON'T HAVE THE CRYSTAL
WE HIDE IT, REMEMBER?

>>12733281
He's not even engaged with a foe anymore, though. Asha blasted the snake into the wall. He might still be alive, but casting shape I doubt.

Plus we would be spending a roll to save a PALADIN who now knows Scinnari is a DEVIL and that she is our CONSORT.

Real smart guys.

Sigurd is a paladin? And paladins can heal right? could be useful, perhaps?

>>12733301
So? We can tell Scinnari exactly where it is. Yes she finds out about the cave. Oh well?

>>12733319
Cygnis is a priestess, and can heal too. And we have potions of healing. Not a viable argument.

>who now knows Scinnari is a DEVIL and that she is our CONSORT.

Since when? who told him that?

>>12733320
Goddamit, What if she can't find it in time though?
Look, all I'm saying is we should use the preroll now to fix a crit because THAT IS THE REASON WE SAVED IT FOR!
(Plus Sigurd's Paladin abilities like Heal could come in handy)

>>12733320
Is scinnari even back yet though? and we don't know that she'll be able to teleport.

>>12733328
Did you not notice where he saw her black wings and commented:
>"I am glad you know so much about the lower planes, Lady Asmora." Sigurd calls from below. This really is a fairly awkward discussion.

I'm thinking when he puts two and two together with her bowing out from the dance early and the black wings it's pretty obvious.

>>12733352
This!
Look, at the end of the day, we need as many bodies in this fight as possible
If you want to be cocky and overconfident, be my guest
but not when our balls are on the line

>>12733326
How about, we may need him to actually smite something soon. Like when the vrocks realize that there is fighting going on inside

>>12733345
we have healing potions, we dont need mister goody two-shoes.
stop being a white knight, we're chaotic evil, remember!?!

>>12733345
Seriously dude? We can tell her EXACTLY where it is. It's not hard to find once you know where to look, it's openly sitting on a ledge. That ledge just happens to be over a vast bottomless pit. Thankfully she can fly.

And like one anon already said, we have both potions and Cygnis to heal with.

>>12733366
>>12733374
But we DON'T NEED HIM. We are WINNING this fight quite handily. Crushingly so, in fact.

>>12733383
What is it with you and chaotic evil?
We're not chaotic evil!
If anything we're neutral evil!
And we have to be pragmatic- in this situation, we need the Pally, if only for smite evil and the fact that he'll be able to keep enraged cultist off our backs for five minutes longer
Stop being chaotic stupid

>>12733392
Look, at this point we're about fifty fifty, with the favor falling steadily on the sides of the cultists
The longer the fight goes on, the harder it will be to stop the summoning
All it takes is one bad roll on our part, and then we'll be fucked

>>12733404
But he's not keeping enraged cultists off our back. If anything, Cygnis is the one doing that with huge blasts of fire, while Asha schools all the mages.

What the fuck? Why are we white knighting for a literal white knight?

>>12733422
No, the question is why are you wasting valuable resources?

>>12733392
Winning my ass, Cygnis is practically out of control, The paladin is down, we still have yet to deal with our original opponent and we have no idea how many reinforcements the cult can bring to bear.

Also vrocks.

>>12733417
It's not 50/50 at all. One is dead, one critically injured, and the third severely wounded. Only Drac is still fine. ONLY Drac. Against all of us.

>>12733392
We're not winning!
Not even a teensy bit!
In fact, this entire thing is five minutes from going pear shaped!
We need all the help we can get!

>>12733428
The exact question I want to ask you, spending a valuable free roll like a moron.

>>12733433
Drac
And the cultists
And the vrocs
And whatever else he may have lying around downstairs

rolled 26 = 26

How about this, we don't save the knight, I don't think he will die outright, but if he does, oh well. We need to use save the dice for us when we REALLY need it. This situation not being it. We can still come out on top of this without the paladin. If anything, maybe save he 73 for Cygnis, but damned if we use it on the pally........

>>12733440
Are you looking at the same fight I am? Our alpha strike destroyed them. Stop being faggots.

>>12733422
The pally could take the sealord from behind right now and everything would be much better if we used the 78.

>>12733429
>>12733428
What they said, just again voicing my approval. A 78 is little to spend to keep more muscle up.

>>12733445
We're not wasting it!
We're using it in a situation that calls for it!
You're being a moron for discarding an ally when we're in the middle of a fight

>>12733449
Cultists are nothing, a few blasts of fire will off most of them.

I do know one resource we can use, though, and I don't think anyone will object to it. Throw the ridiculously poisonous dart we salvaged from Kazmiri's manor at Drac.

WD, just make a decision, neither side is going to give and we are just eating up the thread rageposting.

>>12733458
There is still chanting going on. we are not winning while there is still chanting. And once again, we still haven't managed to finish off our first opponent. That's lame.

Take your fumbles like men, pussies. It's not even us that rolled that critical failure.

I say we should probably keep the Pally on his feet for this

>>12733501
How about no? It's not even a 78, it's 75. Oooh, big difference you say. But you don't even know what you are talking about.

>>12733483
Blasts of fire from who? Our dragon is otherwise occupied and Asha is taking forever even though we told her to go for the channelers.

>>12733515
It's a really big difference compared to a 1.

>>12733517
Look, you aren't convincing anyone. At least not me, and it looks like not the other guys either. Let's stop posting warpspeed into autosage, okay?

>Throw the ridiculously poisonous dart we salvaged from Kazmiri's manor at Drac.

I just want to take a moment from the argument to second this.

>>12733515
>How about no? It's not even a 78, it's 75. Oooh, big difference you say. But you don't even know what you are talking about.
....
you lost me
Are you in favoring of subbing the roll, or not in favor, or....
What were we talking about again?

>>12733529
Yeah, we'll probably want to use that, I third it

>>12733532
I'm saying you're just following the crowd and quite possibly were not even around when we got that free roll since you have no idea what it actually is, thereby making you quite a bit less familiar with how these threads have been progressing. Namely, we conserve super valuable things like a free 75.

two important things: One, there was no mention of Scinnari this entire fight, and two, the ritual is continuing because the Sealord aggro'd Cygnis the first round and probably is gonna keep screwing with her for the next round, so somebody has to stop them, unless we want to use the orb to try and stop the ritual after it becomes inevitable due to inertia, which if you remember the Sealord said it will reach that point very soon. So the priority is fucking the ritual, because lets face it, an angry dragon will be plenty capable of squishing the remaining enemies like bugs, so they are pretty much a non-factor.

>>12733538
but, you just said that the seventy five was less then seventy eight
And really, I've been following this quest since it started. I don't see how that has to do with anything though

"Bastard." You growl under your breath, leaping at the Sealord. Your own voice seems to be coming from a very long ways away. Drac sees you coming, and turns to meet you, parrying your strike.

"Hah. And you are the adventurer? The great 'Free Captain Cibach'? A pity you didn't follow my advice. I did warn you that adventuring would get you killed." he replies, trading blows. His voice seems incredibly distant too. He scores on your shoulder, not deep, but painful. You start bleeding, but try to avoid thinking about it.

Cygnis, for her part, seems to have lost it completely. She roars again,thankfully not as loud as the first, and slams her claw down at the Sealord, following it up by snaking her neck forward, and trying to bite him. The fact that you two are locked in combat is lost on her; in fact, the Sealord almost manages to leave you under her jaws, you rolling to the side just in time.

Sigurd is on the ground, and not moving. His armor looks rusted and tarnished where he was hit, and he looks in desperate need of assistance. When three vrocks teleport into the room a moment later, his prospects have not improved.

"Don't shriek! And no harming the ritual! Do NOT interfere!" the Sealord cries his orders at the vrocks. They don't acknowledge him, but seem to obey him.

The first came out almost on top of Asha and Sigurd, and moves quickly to confront her. Asha stumbles backward, terrified. The creatuer advances, releasing a cloud of spores into the air around it; where they touch Sigurd and Asha, their skin twists and looks almost to mold, being shredded or consumed by the spores.

>>12733550
Asha then proceeds to draw a dagger from her cloak and duck under it's sweeping claws, planting the dagger in the cleft of it's bony armor. She twists the dagger, and yanks it out, retreating rapidly. The demon screams in rage and follows her, closing one of it's massive pincers around her wrist, beginning to crush. She starts to scream, but it lets go almost immediately, reaching instead for it's throat. Gasping... Asha wastes no time in backing up, climbing up the stairs, and keeping her back to the wall.

The other two spread out, flanking Cygnis. From what you can tell of their expressions, they are cautious but confident.

Your attention is forced back to Drac as he assails you. You attack, are parried, dodge his counter, lunge. Overextended, though, and he makes you pay for it; as you parry Drac's attack, you slip on the bloody floor, falling backwards. You roll back with it, trying to come up, but hit the stone wall of the room. Only your reflexes and speed at throwing yourself to the side keep you alive, as Drac's cutlass smashes down where you were, hard enough to send up sparks.

[5 more d100]

>>12733538
The first one to mention the free roll >>12733157 said 78. Like everyone is going to remember the exact number.

>>12733555
>>12733550
So, can we sub in the 75?

rolled 40, 3, 14, 84, 98 = 239

>>12733555
Now let's use that poison dart.

Well, nothing horridly bad happened. Onward with the melee?

Might be worth it to try calming down Cyg again.

>>12733550
Captcha be stealan' mah pictures!

>>12733555
>>12733550
Deamons?
Oh wow- I did not see this coming
gee, it would be really useful to have a PALADIN right about now

>>12733555
>>12733550
Wait, I thought we were going to use the seventy five?

>>12733574
You see, faggots? This is why we needed to save the roll.

NOW we can sub in the 75 for Cygnis's 3. She is a gold dragon priestess and can cast Magic Circle Against Evil, rendering the vrocks null.

>>12733602
What?
On a gold dragon
WE ARE CHAOTIC EVIL
WE NEVAR HELP GOLD
WE MUST SAVE ROLL

>>12733589
no, it wouldn't. no need to whine. plus,>>12733602 got the right idea

>>12733602
No way she can come out of her rage and cast in the same round. But at least Asha and Scinnari are doing well. We are kinda boned though. Chanting is still going.

Maybe we should try throwing the pally a healing potion.

Didn't more people want to use the sub roll?
Why didn't we just vote?

>>12733602
Thirding. This is a better use of the die then the paladin.

>>12733614
Hmmm. Okay, if you think so. I agree, save it.

We are gonna have an unstoppable ritual very soon, Scinnari is still nowhere to be seen and Cygnis is pretty much failing to do anything useful, all the while the ritual is still uninterrupted, and we now have demons, capable of summoning more demons piling in.

We really have to start going after the main objective, aka stopping the ritual, get a lot of 100s, or we might be forced to show our dragon-form, and with Cygnis like she is, thats probably going to send everything straight to hell, as well as give Az a reason to fuck us up even if we succeed.

I also get this bad feeling that the plan to blow up the lighthouse is not gonna stop the ritual if it comes to that. Magic of the level we might be seeing tends to say fuck you to the laws of physics.

>>12733618
or maybe we could revert to our true form and level the playing field a bit? or would it be cramped in there with to dragons?
just sayin'....

>>12733602
Nnnnope
Not with her coming out of a rage
Welp, looks like we're fucked seven ways to sunday
OH WAI
WEREN'T WE WINNING
WITH OUR ALPHA FORCE STRIKE?
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

>>12733622
Because samefag votes happen, like it or not. And I don't think more people favored it. It seemed about equal.

>>12733638
Not if we tripfagged

>>12733574
now use the 75

>>12733614
No! Nononononononono! PLEASE! We. Are. Not. Chaotic. Stupid. We're neutral evil at worst. Lawful evil, more like. What do you think this is, 4e? It isn't! We can get along with other dragons.. Cygnis lives.

If you insist on only supporting a lol-evil agenda, I would point out that if she dies, we would not be able to tell her brother we nailed her, and her brother would likely kill us for allowing her to die. We can't take him yet.

>>12733630
If we blew the lighthouse right now we might have a chance but that just isn't possible.

>>12733636
>>12733614
Looks like someone is both butthurt and samefag.

>>12733638
I think more people were in favor of using the 75 before then there were not in favor

>>12733648
Don't mind him, he's just being super butthurt that we didn't save the paladin who we don't even know.

>>12733651
Regardless, most people seem content with using the 75 on Cyg.

fucking stupid Chaotic evil fags
How many times does OP have to tell you
WE'RE NOT CHAOTIC EVIL
we don't have to do anything based on our racial profile!

>>12733666
True
But she won't be much help, what with her coming out from rage
Maybe we should use it on the other crit fail in that roll

>>12733670
Before you get upset about that dude, I would simply take note that no two lol-chaotic posts have been within the same minute of each-other this entire thread. Probably a samefag.

Anyways. Awaiting next post.

>>12733670
U mad?

I'm thinking the guy saying samefag is right. These posts look exactly the like and have the exact same tone.
>>12733670
>>12733636
>>12733614

He was probably stacking the votes too.

>>12733670
i remember the first quest thread he linked something about that, i'm gonna check and see if we are or not, just keep your wining down please.

>>12733690
But we haven't come up with a decision yet
Jezum fracking crow this is way more complicated then it should be

>>12733691
Yes, I mad

>>12733698
Actions should dictate alignment more than alignment dictates your actions.

We've been acting Lawful Evil (loosely), thus it would make sense that we are Lawful Evil. If we weren't to start, we certainly are now.

And on the saved rolls front, I suggest we burn one on Cygnis so as not to have her fucking stomp on everyone in a rage regardless of whose side they're on.

Hey, guys... I thought you said we were winning. We are winning, right?
Right?

>>12733729
We are about to be as soon as we use the dart and Cygnis gets her shit together with that 75.

>>12733727
but she'll be completely useless and will come out of rage the next time she has a better roll

>>12733735
but she won't- she'll use this turn to cool off, and then she'll probably just get angry again in the next round
Also, who are we using the dart against?
Weren't we supposed to use that dart last round?

>>12733727
its no use anyways, archive only has from 3rd onward

>>12733555
Even if you guys hate him, can we please toss the Pally some healing potions?

>>12733736
And in the meantime, she'll be breathing fire on anything that moves, our allies included. Even if we knew for a fact that our next roll for her would be awesome, I would STILL be in favor of snapping her out of it because otherwise she'll have yet another post worth of combat in which she's acting completely irrationally, to our detriment. (One wherein we're being raped to death by vrocks, no less.)

>>12733736
She's not a barbarian guys. Rage was a figure of speech. We go all DRACONIC RAGE mostly because that's what reds do, it's in our blood. She has a bit of that too, but golds are very even tempered.

And even in a rage, she can kick some serious cult ass.

>>12733763
NO! never! i think we'll be needing it for ourselves soon anyways...

rolled 43, 98, 27, 95, 43 = 306

Everyone is in a pretty fucking bad way.

Why don't we scream "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?", or something similar, take on our true form and wreck shit, then change back? Goldie is busy going berserk and everyone else is having their shit handed to them. Hell, we change back fast enough and they might not even notice we were gone.

"wtf was that shit"

>>12733784
I don't think there's enough room

Replace cygnis's 3 with the 75.
If we don't do that, Cygnis is most likely going to eat us in a rage.
Focus attacks on that Vrock, people! That thing is a summoner, it hits like twenty trucks and is currently chewing on Asha.

>>12733783
You sir are an unreasonable dick

>>12733784
this, minus the "what are you doing to me" part.

>>12733784
Hell no. Berserk or not, a giant red dragon in the middle of the room is going to be noticed.

Why is everyone acting so retarded?

>>12733800
and you aren't!?!

>>12733784
Yeah, a red dragon appearing suddenly with an enraged gold in the room.

THAT will sure help things along.

Really guys, just give the Paladin some healing potions and use the reroll for Cyg
Not that complicated

>>12733784
Probably a good idea.
When Cygnis gets distracted by the Vrocks, red dragon time!

>>12733813
I don't use multiple exclamation points in one sentence, so no

>>12733815
Paladin can lay on hands himself, we're too busy defending against Drac. There's something unnatural about him. I wouldn't be shocked if he was a dragon too.

This, and hope everyone thinks they're hallucinating. Have our erinyes try to muddy the waters... somehow. Before those Vrocks start dancing. RIP AND TEAR AND EAT.

And maybe fly away grabbingf someone in our claws, then drop them in the sea to drown and dive after them. Then change back. "help me, help me, the nasty red dragon dropped me."

>>12733815
Give pally healing
Reroll Cygnis
Wait for a while before going red dragon (going red in LoS of an enraged gold is bad)
Kill cultists
Fuck girl
Eat pizza
Sell bike
In that order.

Can we just call tonight on account of Derp?

>>12733784
That is a bad plan, and you should feel bad

>>12733832
I wish, but it seems that every now and then nicefag (see, he tries to make us be nice and is a samefag: nicefag) shows up and shits all over everything. I'm just ticked he picked the climax fight to do it.

>>12733847
you know, you can be evil AND pragmatic. They're not mutually exclusive

>>12733828
I'll second that. Except the part about the pizza and the bike.

>>12733821
its called expressing emotion, now stop being a dick and get back to voting.
>ignoring from now on.
i came here to enjoy the thread, not argue

>>12733847
Hey, I don't samefag! Just couldn't contain all of my ire in a single post is all. If you want, I'll namefag from this point forward, just to dispel any vistiges of samefaggotry

>>12733825
>>12733784
This is a bad idea. Really dudes, it would be better to turn invisible and flee, leaving everyone to their deaths as we explode the tower than reveal ourselves. Not only do we risk having Cygnis turn on us in her blind rage, but we make ourselves a huge target and can't get out of this room due to size.

>>12733832

I feel bad for WD, who has to try to translate this into actions. And this was meant to be the climax of the arc!

>>12733858
Yeah, fuck the bike, eat the girl, sell the pizza.

>>12733867
Kill yourself.

>>12733866
I know, but then it turned into something worse then alignment argument

>>12733862
But that does absolutely nothing. You can post as anon or a different name just as easily. It's the nature of the image board, samefaggotry of sufficient skill is unstoppable.

>>12733888
Look, scouts honor
I don't samefag
I promise not to post in anything other then this trip in expressing myself in this quest
Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye

>>12733867
Heh, 4chan.
Anyway, let's see how this resolves.
I'm not interested in GTFOing while invis just yet.

>>12733888
I could argue that the samefaging so far has been pretty blatantly obvious. Plus everyone is a bit on-edge due to the climax.

Restating my vote to use the 75 for Cygnis, and then let's try to dart that bastard while we're at it.

dudes, this a co-operative quest. If you disagree, let the votes settle it. Don't samefag.

If he's a paladin he can heal himself. Vote the 75 be used on cygnis' roll.

For actions: Shout, "On your feet, Sigurd! Cygnis, /the casters!/"
Standard action: Throw the dart at Drac
Movement: Rush to the Vrock that has Asha to give her a flank/support.

>>12733828
Yeah, I support this
with poison dart put in there between sell bike and eat pizza

>>12733913
I want to vote
....
Nobody's really interested in my ideas though

>>12733906
It's a good idea.

Don't be a red dragon
Dart sealord
75 Cygnis
Heal Paladin
Help Asha
Fuck bike
Eat girl
Sell pizza

in that order

rolled 88 = 88

>>12733913

goddamn dice

rolled 87, 1, 42, 38, 14 = 182

>1
>23
>14
>5
>47

>>12733932
No, they aren't stop FUCKING SPAMMING THE THREAD GOD DAMN. You have made at LEAST 10 posts with absolutely no content and are probably the one most responsible for careening us into such a high post count so early.

Post ONCE or TWICE and condense all your fucking arguments into a single, large, and descriptive post you ADHD fifteen year old.

>>12733959
No, they aren't stop FUCKING SPAMMING THE THREAD GOD DAMN. You have made at LEAST 10 posts with absolutely no content and are probably the one most responsible for careening us into such a high post count so early.

Post ONCE or TWICE and condense all your fucking arguments into a single, large, and descriptive post you ADHD fifteen year old.

This is somewhat difficult to figure out what people are choosing. That, and that I'd already written the post when I saw the 'save Sigurd' votes.
>>12733574
>3 replaced by 75
#####################

"Aaaahgh." you growl lowly. Standing again on a drier patch of the bloody floor, one that Cygnis' breath flash-cooked, you start fumbling in your belt for a certain token that someone once tried to use on you. It's difficult to get out, and you only manage due to keeping the Sealord on the bloodslick, while you hold the dry ground.

"Cygnis! The vrocks! The cult! We need your help!" you shout, sparing a moment to glance at your belt, guiding your searching fingers. The Sealord presses, lunges, and you break off to his left, forcing him around. Now his back is once again to the room, and you have a view of the fight over his shoulder.

The vrock that Asha stabbed is crawling now, and still gasping, heaving, trying to breath. In vain, it seems. Asha ably avoids it's grasping search, and it's spasming wings fail to lift it into the air. Asha dodges by it, jumping around it, then leans her shoulders into it, and shoves it off the stairs. I plummets, landing with a heavy, bone-rending crunch at the foot of the stairs. Beyond some more tortured gasping, it doesn't move. One down.

Cygnis, for her part, seems to be calming down some, now that you have the Sealord occupied and unable to taunt her. The vrocks on either side of her have begun to summon up lesser demons, dretches, you think. Small packs of them, around half a dozen each. Cygnis spins, unleashing her breath on one group in a beautiful conflagration, and the lashing out at the other with her tail. While she badly burns the vrock, and seemingly incinerates the dretches it summoned.
Her tail blow isn't so lucky, the vrock easily dodging it by leaping into the air, and the dretches ducking under it.

>>12733968
No, they aren't stop FUCKING SPAMMING THE THREAD GOD DAMN. You have made at LEAST 10 posts with absolutely no content and are probably the one most responsible for careening us into such a high post count so early.

Post ONCE or TWICE and condense all your fucking arguments into a single, large, and descriptive post you ADHD fifteen year old.

>>12733969
"I am going to kill you." you snarl, flinging the dart on the final word. Either through bad luck, or active attempt on the Sealord's part, it only catches his cloak, snaring and falling to the ground.

"I'm afraid you'll have to try better than that..." you can hear the Sealord say, hearing coming back a little more. Behind him, you can also see a train of snakemen ascending the stairs from the lower levels. They look baffeled at the battle raging, and you see them eying the ritual circle, looking for a way across. Presumably, the extra channelers Drac was mentioning, judging from their intent and magical-looking jewelry.

[Status report: One vrock dead. One wounded. One unharmed, summoned minions. Sealord unharmed. Asha slightly hurt, but still very capable. (crit, crit, crit,) Cygnis seems to be recovering herself somewhat, and the cult is being hindered, but not stopped. Channelers have arrived, ritual has only minorly been disrupted, though.]

>>12733969
Dart Sealord
Heal Paladin
Stab Sealord
Asha kills Vrock
Cygnis kills Vrocks
Please tell me Scinnari is okay =[

>>12733992
Second this

We have been rolling for Scinnari right? is she just invisible and stabbing, or is she doing something else altogether?

>>12733999
Obviously this is where Scinnari betrays us after foiling the cult and using the ritual for her own means. Duh. Heh.

rolled 83, 60, 87, 9, 48 = 287

>>12733992
Dart is used. Scinnari has rolled 2x 98s so I'm sure she's fine.

We could try to recover dart, I guess, but we really just need to keep hammering the Sealord. Tell Asha to focus on the summoner lizards. Cygnis can handle the vrocks.

>>12733999
She's dodging Vrocks.
Hopefully they haven't been smart enough to chain-stun her with their shreiks by teleporting next to her. Or perhaps she's KiTed them into the adventurers.

>>12734023
They can't shriek, it will destroy the ritual. Lucky for us.

>>12734022
....
you had to go and jinx it man
Didn't you?

>>12733999

Playing tag with six or seven vrocks, I think. I'm glad we've been rolling high, since the alternative would likely involve, at the very least, us losing her for ninety nine years. Or rape, depending on how demons work. That might be worse or better, twisted as it sounds; at least if she survives, she wouldn't be banished.

>>12733968
>>12733972
Reported.

>>12733992
Not sure where we're at at magic, but can we muster up some telekenesis and force push the dart through his cloak and into him?

>>12734022
That 9's asha, isn't it?
Bugger. Hope she doesn't fall down the stairs or something. Oh well, rest of the rolls are good. Go for it!
And someone get that damn pally a healing potion.

>>12734034
It's just a 48 after two of the best rolls we've ever had in combat. Plus, she's used to fighting demons when severely outnumbered. She's a devil, that's mostly all they do.

>>12734039
>Somebody's a little bit butthurt
>...So am I
Sorry bro- can we put this behind us and just focus on not dying in the next ten minutes of combat?

>>12734053
I hope she's okay.
I bet she'll come back soon and be all like "VROCKS ARE INCOMING".

>>12734044
We don't have telekenesis, but we DO have Mage Hand. It can easily do what you just said. Heh heh... let's do it.

We should say something witty when we do, like "Oh, you mean like this?" *poison dart into side*

>>12734023
>into the adventurers
Or into Azdukashen. If she's done that, she needs a bonus. I don't care what, we need to do something REAL nice for her.

>>12734053
Oh, right. 3.5 means there's still a blood war. Cool

rolled 6 = 6

>>12733981
(one anons request: can similar status updates be applied to our allies? Is Sigurd completely down or is he trying to pull it together? Still no sign of Sinnari?)

"Try this then!"

Make a show of swordplay trying to maneuver the Sealord between either Asha or Sigurd and continue to keep him distracted away from Cygnis. Make a valiant show of fighting and hope he's something of a righteous fiend and takes the bait. With any luck it sets him up for a hit from one of our allies or we get a lucky strike. If things continue to go badly from here, dragon form will be a necessity in subsequent rounds.

>>12734078
That is an awesome idea and it fits with the roll for us.

>>12734091
Man, this is nothing personal, but
.....
Please don't roll
Please

>>12734078
>>12734088
>>12734097
How much do you want to bet the frakker is immune to poison?

>>12733992
>>12733999
Considering that our rolls for her have been 98, 57, 98, I think she's doing just fine, wherever she is.

Asha should probably go see if Sigurd is fucked (unless her current position is keeping the channelers from reaching the ritual circle, then she should stay put.) After that, they should concentrate on clearing out stray Dretches and harrying the wounded Vrock, but mostly stay focused on keeping the ritualists from doing their job.

The Sealord is ours, though. We've still got our pride.

>>12734098
Why are you doing this? Just stop. Please. You are adding nothing to the discussion when you do it. You know low rolls don't matter to future rolls, right? It's random every time.

I say we push the dart into the sealord with magehand and then go attack the new summoner stuff. The poison should take care of Drac.

>>12734091
... i cant stop laughing at how bad of a roll that was.... shit, i think im having an asthma attack...

Might want to toss a healing potion to the paladin or something.

>>12734125
I can't help it if the dude is covered in bad juju!

>>12734127
To be fair, if we were doing DH rules, that would be an awesome roll

>>12734141
true, ture...

rolled 20, 21, 72, 76, 30 = 219

>>12734127
No bro, this is the worst roll

>>12734107
>>12734098
>>12734074
>>12734034
>>12733998

5 posts in the space of 24 total. That's over 1/5th of the total posts. If we extrapolate that to the rest of the thread, your incessant idiocy has generated sixty+ posts... and counting. Cut it out.

>>12734127
>>12734098
>>12734125

*bow* hey, I can admit when I make a shit roll. But logically this just means my next glorious act will be statistically more grand, right?!

>>12734158
Not all me brah
Brahman, why you gotta be harshing my chill
Look, I know that you're a little upset- hell, I was VERY upset five minutes ago, so I can understand
But, hey, you can't blame a brother from chatting, now can you? If you want, though, I'll just keep myself to a single post once every ten anonymous posts- that cool?

rolled 7, 30 = 37

>>12734174
>>12734178
Hey you two fags
First dice is for 1d100 guy
Second dice is for Badhand
Whoever rolls highest wins the argument
Whoever rolls lowest concedes

>>12734174
That's the attitude brah!
Shitman, that makes you lucky- we gotta save your roll for something super important now

>>12734193
...
Wow, I won?
Yeah man! I never win at, like, anything!

>>12734178
Are you really... what? Seriously, what? Every post I just referenced had your trip on it. They had to have been you, unless you are claiming your trip just got bruted for no reason.

God, I wish this quest was in an IRC room or something.

>>12734193
well, that solves it, bad hand wins

>>12734194
OP does the honors of saving dice for us, and it normally happens when a really good roll is done for some useless action. I also recall something about a 1:10 ratio of posts.

rolled 38 = 38

>>12734203
Rolling for anon
30 is the number to beat
Whoever rolls highest wins the argument
Whoever rolls lowest concedes

>>12734210
I will gladly concede the argument and say he is my fucking lord and master who I worship as a god if he will keep his commentary to two fucking posts per post W-D makes.

>>12734210
Well, my mother never raised a sore loser
I concede anon- it was a valiant struggle, but in the end I was outclassed

rolled 34 = 34

>>12734228
Now I'll roll a dice for myself to make things even
38 is the number to beat

>>12734228
>>12734225
on with the thread then

>>12734225
>>12734228
I don't know if this is hilarious or depressing

>>12734248
Anon beats me. =[
Oh well. Let's get back to the thread. Your move, anonymous.

5d100 to determine how long Op takes to eat his noodles

Anybody want to start up a rousing chorus of "A modern major general," or "With catlike tread," To pass the time?

>>12734294
or, we could learn another language!

Parla Voste' Catala'?

>>12734273
Hmph. I was just pausing after writing up my post to check up on responses.
#################

>>12734022
Distraction.. You think you can finish this duel, but you need a bit of a breather to cast a spell. Luckily, it seems to have found you. Sigurd is rising, a bit unsteady, but up. His hammer is coming up too, and you see him look around, searching for a target.

"Sigurd!" you shout, pulling one of the potion bottles from your belt and tossing it to him. He glances, fumbles the bottle, then catches the loop around it's neck.

"Really? Getting help? I had hoped better of you. Perhaps it was just luck when you managed to defeat Eidomon and K'ral..." the Sealord says, keeping his jaw occupied while he presses the attack. Sigurd stands, and starts moving to assist you, though, so he breaks off, backing away, then turning to run.

Unfortunately, spellcasting prevents you from offering retort, at least, until you 'grab' the dart in his cloak, and force it it into his leg. It's viciously sharp, and drives through into his leg.

"Aaah! -!" the Sealord cries, choking on his attempted curse. His body seizes up and he falls to the floor, paralyzed. You pause, testing to see whether he's faking it, but aren't convinced anyone could manage a total limb-lock so convincingly.

"Cygnis, then!" you shout to Sigurd, but your plans to assist are cut off again as another vrock teleports into the room. In front of you. You and Sigurd spread out a bit, preparing to face it. At the least you have backup for this fight.

rolled 6, 31, 87, 57, 24 = 205

>>12734273
Rolling for minutes

>>12734294
Badhand, I have a quest for you. Go aquire patience. Don't come back till you have succeded.

>>12734306


Cygnis, for her part, casts her own spell, and a golden circle appears on the floor. The un-vurned vrock leaps at her, passing into the circle. He doesn't seem hindered inside it, but screamed and almost stopped as he broke the edge. Cygnis roars back at him, then closes her jaws on the already burned one. Perhaps without the jaw-strength of yourself, or perhaps, unwilling to risk her teeth on it's bony armor, Cygnis bites into it, then snaps her head back and forth, shaking it like a rat, before flinging it into the air. It smashes heavily into the wall, but remains standing, even taking to the air after a few mom-

A scream of agony splits the air, not necessarily a novel sound here, but this one human, and Asha's. Edging around your vrock, feinting to the right, then dodging left, and thrusting at it's neck, you catch sight of her. She stands on the first stair landing, but a crossbow bolt protrudes from her chest and leather armor, blood oozing around the wound. The vrock Cygnis threw has seen this, and is moving to finish her off.

Your attention is drawn back by the vrock you and Sigurd are facing, as it attacks Sigurd, sensing a weak target. Sure enough, Sigurd falls back, and down to one knee, failing under the barrage of talons and claws. You leap, cutting at it's neck in an attempt to take the pressure off of Sigurd.

An unearthly feeling, not even physical sound, but magical feeling, rings out like a blastwave from the ritual. Though you can see no difference, the smell of rotting meat is suddenly present again, and stronger. A cry goes up among the cultists.

>>12734253
beta males.

rolled 77, 70, 83, 79, 79 = 388

>>12734322
Much annoyance is present at this. At least Drac is down. Tell Cygnis to blast the summoners, for crying out loud.

Move to help Asha, healing potion yet again. Let the paladin handle the vrock.

>>12734339
Hell yes.

>>12734339
Fuck. You. Cult.

>>12734339
Finally!

>>12734339
That was a good roll and you should feel good.

A bit worried as to where the crossbow bolt came from, though. Vrocks obviously have no need for projectile weapons, and I don't know why the ritualists would be carrying weapons, let alone bothering to stop and take potshots while they've got a job to go do.

It seems we've got more company than we had hoped for.

>>12734339
A roll that has no low numbers in it? Who's been sacrificing small animals to the dice roller?

>>12734466
erm... *shifty look*

We need to take out the vrock, then start disrupting the cultists. The crossbow bolt may have come from the new shift of cultists.

>>12734339
Cygnis eat Vrock
Cibach Azaldon help Asha
Sigurd tank Vrock
Asha keeps limping along. Give healing potion to Asha.
Everyone get in the safe zone!

NO.

NO, NO, NO, NO.
>NO
NO. GODDAMMIT.

FUCK.

FUCK FUCK FUCK.

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

rolled 76 = 76

God damn some decent rolls at last!

>>12734546
What's ... No? What's wrong?

>>12734546
Chill, bro, what's the matter?

"Asha!" You shout in anger. You make a final thrust at a cleft in the creature's bone-armor, then dodge past towards Asha. "Cygnis! Fry the cultists!" you shout over the din. Dashing up the stairs two at a time, you move to Asha, but cannot tend to her as the damaged vrock descends upon you from above. It crashes down across from you, leaving you the advantage in height, but Asha between you. It grunts something in gutteral abyssal, almost painful to hear, and holds and grabs Asha's whole chest in one of it's massive pincers. While you can't understand it, it's meaning is clear.

"Ci... ba-" Asha moans, cutting off in a sharp breath as it's pincer squeezes down. Toying with her. you do, however, notice her extending a blade towards you, the one she killed the previous vrock with. Clutched very carefully by the handle, with traces of a faint, greenish muck on it.

Meanwhile, Cygnis smashes the other injured vrock with her tail. Though a direct hit, it doesn't seem to do much, the vrocks are tough creatures. Her assault on the ritual circle, though, is an overwhelming success. Her fiery breath sears the circles attendants, leaving a swath of charred skeletons and flaming corpses, as well as bodies writhing in agony from fatal, but not lethal burns. Glorious carnage, almost worthy of a Red; the superheated air wafts up past you, a warm breeze, redolent of incinerated enemies.

I don't think winning this fight is going to win this fight, if you get my meaning.

>>12734573

You take advantage of the demon's glance at the results to kick Asha's hand; not the nicest of things you could do, but the best considering the circumstances. Her knife flies from her hand, scoring a long and shallow cut along the demon's leg. It turns to snarl at you, but finds out that it can't breath...reflexively it grasps at it's throat, unhanding Asha. You take advantage of your height advantage, and stab at it's eye. Where your rapier has previously been extremely tough to drive through it's hide, the eyes are not armored, and you half blind it with your thrust, twisting the blade as it stumbles back, flailing.

As it backs up, you spare time to glance down at the rest of the room. Among other things, you get enough warning to swing your blood-crusted cloak, and block a second crossbow bolt from the arrived channelers. They're moving towards the ritual circle, a foolish course if ever there was one, and see Sigurd taking on the vrock just past them. A pale blue light rings him, so faint you aren't sure it isn't just a sheen on his armor. Whatever the details, he is driving the demon back with a rain of blows from his hammer. As you watch, one connects solidly, with an impact like a massive drum. The demon screams in agony, and teleports away.

Make sure is Asha is ok, then go help Cygnis.

>>12734578
Work that Smite Evil Siggy!

rolled 16 = 16

Oh yeah! I made a facebook fan page just on a whim.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_115869585143426

I'll add archive links etc.

Everyone seems to have things in hand, we should make looking after Asha number 1 priority at the moment

>>12734573
>>12734578
Adding status report, then.

Medium-rare vrock.
Blinded vrock
Group of serpents, moving in on the ritual circle. Have a few crossbows.
Ritual circle has a few survivors, you can feel them desperately trying to hold together the spell. Think four people trying to keep a strainer from emptying with coffee mugs.
Sealord (paralyzed)
Smell of burnt creatures: strong and fresh
smell of burnt feathers (vrocks and dretches): somewhat faded.
Smell of (old) dead meat: stronger than ever

REmind me if I forgot anything.

>>12734646
How long will the sealord remain out?
If it's longer then fifteen minutes, kill the remaining cultists, then coup de grace his ass

rolled 16, 80, 56, 3, 32 = 187

>>12734578
Potion to Asha, we don't want our assassin dying on us. Maybe a joke too, like "I hope all this doesn't mean you'll be wanting a raise."

Then finish the Vrock and stop the cultists.

>>12734646
this anon wonders why smells are so important.
>realises that they're summoning a dead god
That's an awful lot of carrion...

rolled 1 = 1

Summoning circle needs to be disrupted first. Get asha a healing potion.

>>12734634
Why, exactly?

Not to get too deep into the "lol sekrit club only kool kids aloud" mentality, but I can't even comprehend why you would think "oh, a niche fantasy quest on /tg/, this is totally social network material."

>cannot obilbara
Neither can I, capcha.

Had meant to ask how many healing potions we have left; would hate to have our answer to everything be "oh, just give 'em a healing potion" and then all of a sudden run out of our magic bullet of choice when we REALLY need one (e.g. now.)

>>12734661
We have no idea, but that dart was supposedly some pretty nasty stuff.

>>12734634
Cool!
I'll join!

>>12734665
A 3? Really Asha?

Well, at least with the potion she won't be dead. But I imagine she's down for this round at least.

>>12734686
She rolls crit sucesses and crit failures, with only so much in between. We havn't had an ally die yet, I guess we'll just have to hope WD isn't feeling particularly sadistic this evening.

>>12734665
So, 16? I think we're about to get backstabbed.

>>12734665
"Cygni-" you call out, but are interrupted as the partially blinded vrock uses your words to home in on you. With a raging bellow, it attacks you, driving you back up the staircase. You try to hold you ground over Asha, but are forced back, falling down and scrambling bacwards, trying to prevent the demon from ramming it's talons through your chest and into the stone beneath you.

This time, Sigurd saves you. With a bellow, he hurls his hammer, which smashes through the vrocks back, literally picking it up and throwing it into you. The only thing preventing it from crushing you is that it is /dead/. It melts away, leaving a strong smell of brimstone and sulphur on you.

Winded, you get to your feet, and watch as Cygnis' flames spew out, sweeping though the mob of cultists, and the few surviving ritualists. Not waiting for you to tell her, she swings her tail again, knocking the focusing gem out of the center of the ring. It slams against the floor and wall, coming to a stop at the base of the stairs. Almost-silence reigns for a few seconds, excepting the crackle of burning flesh, and the labored breathing of the survivors. The other vrock seems to have fled himself.

You're brought to action by a faint whimper from Asha. Pulling out your second-to-last healing potion, you hold it to her lips, trying to coax her to drink it. Once she's got some of it inside her, you splay the wound, and pull the bolt out as gently but quickly as you can. She screams in pain, but you manage to feed her the rest of the potion, and she seems to be stabilized, though in pain.

>>12734812


Damn.

Double-gods-damn.

A loud roar echoes from above, whatever released it much larger than you are. The whole tower shakes.

"Please... tell me that's what your brother sounds like." you say levelly to Cygnis.

"I... Can't. Not at all. Oh..." Cygnis says, searching for a word, before settling on a particularly vile and untranslatable draconic one. Fitting, though.

"The sorceress is injured, I may be able to help." Sigurd says, moving past you. You nod and step aside absently.

"What are we going to do?"

>>12734744
Yeah, pretty much. Though those cultists are quite toasty with that 80 from cygnis.
Scinnari should be teleporting back in sometime soon.
How's Azdukashen doing outside? Has he eaten many Vrocks?

>>12734817
Well, first we have to see what is causing that. We have no idea what it could be, but it's possibly a dragon. A very old, ancient dragon. Called the Binder.

Either way, grab the Sealord for later and haul him behind us as we exit downwards.

>>12734836
What time is it? I say we break the rod. No point in blowing up the tower now. I doubt whatever it is would die from a fall.

The ritual can't have completed. Which means whatever it is might not be very strong.

>>12734817
I do believe we get everyone together in the Ward Against Evil circle Cygnis casts. Get everyone in a stable condition and able to run.
Call Scinnari to get in here, too.
We're going to get the fuck down the stairs.

Also, you know that "blow this shit up" stick we have? I'd suggest signalling a blowing up of this shit as soon as we're out of the lighthouse.

>>12734836
Summoned stuff is downwards, right? Shouldn't we exit up? Especially if we are going to stop that thing whatever it is?

Then again, we don't have much of a way to get down other than in Cygnis's claws.

>Either way, grab the Sealord for later and haul him behind us as we exit downwards.
Dragons. They can loot ANYTHING.

Grab focusing gem. Leave tower, get to kobolds in tunnel, blow the foundation up.

Handle new enemy.

>>12734850
I was actually worrying about that. If we had to break it outside, I could see a scene like that rush to the white house roof in CoD2. (that'd actually be kind of awesome...)

Uh, send Sigurd down carrying Asha and dragging the Sealord, take Cygnis up, see what the hell we're facing?

>>12734868
33 strength and fire immune, so we can take it even if it is nailed down or on fire, bitches.

>>12734836
>>12734868
Oh, right. Sealord too.

You have mail.

we may have to revert to fight this thing, whatever it is. along with az and cygnis.... yes it would be a nasty surprise to them, but our survival is paramount to keeping such a secret. just saying. find out what it is first perhaps? it would probably be able to see right through any invisibility spell we do, but it wouldn't hurt to try.... note, reverting would be a do or die sort of thing in this situation.

>>12734817
You know, it bugs me that I was so focused on the cultists that I completely forgot that the ritual could be prevented much easier by knocking over that stupid focus.

> A loud roar echoes from above, whatever released it much larger than you are. The whole tower shakes.
>Summoned stuff is downwards, right? Shouldn't we exit up? Especially if we are going to stop that thing whatever it is?

Cygnis is pretty much unharmed. And we still have Az-douche outside. If push comes to shove, we can either turn red, or fly away. :p

Get an observation on Sci first. Send the puny humanoids either down or up accordingly.

>>12734892
Face it. It wasn't the cultists that took your mind of that tiny fact. It was the Hivemind fighting itself.

+mutters+ Could have snatched the focus while they were chanting and we were invisible...

Grab Gem
Grab Sealord
Sigurd stabilises Asha
Everyone gathers together
I'd say we SHOULDN'T look at whatever it is. Chances are it'll kick our ass harder than 13 vrocks.
Just get the fuck down the stairs and get out.
Tell everyone ahead of us to get out too
Break the rod; no point blowing up the tower any more now that we've disrupted the summoning ritual.

I'd like to know how Scinnari is doing.

Hurtin':
Sigurd (low hp)
Asha (low hp)
Sealord (paralysed)

Have fucked off:
Vrocks

Are fine:
Cygnis
Cibach

Unknown:
Scinnari
Azdukashen
Adventurers
Summoned god

Dead:
EVERYONE ELSE

>>12734907
>Break the rod; no point blowing up the tower any more now that we've disrupted the summoning ritual.
If whatever is up there IS big enough to kick our ass harder than 13 vrocks, we probably want to drop a tower out from under it so that it doesn't just decide to come down there and wreck our shit.

Also, we should PROBABLY check out what, exactly, it is.

And no touching the ritual focus with our bare hands: grabbing weird ritual objects from this cult hasn't always worked out too smoothly, and this thing is DEFINITELY a bigger deal than a sacrificial knife.

We need to:
A) Gut the Sealord.
B) Use a fallen weapon to nudge the focus, then see if we can break it. If not, ask Cygnis to fire it. If not, wrap it up in someone's corpse-clothes, then transform back into a red dragon and sodomize her until she begs.
C) Find out what the fuck is looking to kill us this time.
D) See where Az is.

>>12734930
Second, also, we can scry on Sci to check out the conditions outside. Though how we redirect the information to our current allies needs some discretion and fast-talking.

>>12734876
That we can.
###################

"Sigurd. Can you carry Asha?"

"Of course." he replies. Paladins are generally fairly reliable, in their ways.

"Good. Get her out of here, bottom exit. If you can, drag the Sealord behind you. She needs better help than either of us can give." you order, thinking quickly.

"Certainly true. You're going to deal with that?" he says. His question is conveniently punctuated by another roar.

"Yeah... Do or die, and all that." you say, without much enthusiasm. "Cygnis. With me?"

"You haven't lead me wrong yet." she replies. You nod and turn to begin climbing the stairs again. Cygnis polymorphs and catches up.

The door is shut again, but not locked this time. You pull it open and look through, then, not seeing anything, cautiously advance up the stairs, looking for the source of the noise and quakes.

First of all, you walk into a almost-solid stench of rotting meat; spoiled, unpalatable, decaying. Followed by a chill feeling of undeath. Like a lich, or a mummy. Cygnis signals you to pause as she casts a pair of what you assume to be protective spells. When she nods, you start climbing the last few stairs. As your head rises over the top platform, you see the source. A massive rift, as if someone tore a window between the lighthouse and some ancient prison... and it's prisoner.

Composed of yellowed bone and rotting flesh, scaled only partially, and surrounded by a slightly diminished but still chilling aura of death, a massive forearm reaches out of the portal. Another claw, a hate-filled, rotted face, both trying to shove through, as if it can physically rip the portal wider. Perhaps it can; the rift seems to be slowly growing.

>>12734962
I feel cold! That means fire! Ask Cygnis to burn shit. And maybe put a circle against evil down. It might make it recoil just enough, and without it reaching trhough the portal might knit together. Ask, also, if there's anything she can do about knitting the portal - or maybe we can throw the focus gem through. It might be acting as an anchor, if we can hold the portal closed for long enough to get the gem and come back.

>>12734893
Turning red fucks up our manipulation of the golds, though. And even if transforming back DOES let us (with Cygnis and Az-dick) take down the big ugly thing, we're still going to have to contend with two extremely pissed off golds afterward.

Discretion is, I think, the better part of valour here. If we can kill it without transforming, then great. Otherwise, we should get the fuck out of Dodge and plan our next move.

>>12734962
Fantastic. A dracolich at least, maybe something worse.

At least it doesn't look to be the Binder, which is what I am afraid the Crystal would have summoned.

So guys... how do we stop it?

>>12734962
Damn it we should have dropped the tower first thing.

Now it doesn't matter, I doubt this thing will mind a fall.

>>12734978
Did we take the gem with us?
Get Az-douche here. And Sci, too.

>>12734978
"Cygnis! See if your flames will affect it! Or lay down another ward against evil! I have an idea, if you cannot knit the portal!"

Run downstairs and use the clothes from a corpse to get the gem. We'll toss it through and hope it explodes. Or seals it off as the anchor is through. At least, I hope it's an anchor.

>>12734995
No crystal, and even if we did have it we don't know if it could free the Binder by being placed there or not. We did find it in the Binder's secret vault.

>>12734980
If you take the answer to a certain question we asked earlier into account it could be that we'd only have one truely pissed off gold to deal with.

Wrap the focus gem in leather. Have Cygnis smash the fuck out of it, or if that's impossible, throw it through the rift.
Kill the shit out of the Sealord.
Sigurd can protect Asha.
Have Scinnari get the FUCK back here ASAP.
Tell everyone to get the fuck out of the tower - Scinnari can assist in this, as can Cygnis and Az.
Get everyone the fuck away from the tower, except for Scinnari, us, and Cygnis.
Cygnis flies away
Scinnari teleports away
We jump and use the last featherfall spell
Then the tower blows the fuck up.

>>12735001
Only if the crystal was telling the truth.

>>12735008
Best to leave the tower standing. It won't fall without getting through the portal, and if it gets through we might NEED four kegs of dwarven blasting powder.

Everyone get the fuck out, blow up the tower.

>>12735016
Well, we're autosaging. Maybe we can close the portal or shove the damn thing back before everyone gets out.
Still, I'd say stopping this thing is priority one, whatever it takes.

I wonder if Cygnis can focus divine energy through the crystal and thereby feed it into the portal and close it...

>>12735016
Wait.

Instead of using kegs of those exploding powder on the tower... Why don't we use them on the rift/monster?

>>12735030
And there's the paladin too, now that I think of it. If we can get both of them channeling gods then we might heal the portal a bit. Especially with all those focuses in the room.

>>12735031
We'd have to... oh, run down, get them, and run back up, it seems. Maybe substitute 'fly' for run, but we've been awful reluctant to show Cygnis our 'bolds.

Still, possible.


1d100 needed to determine Scinnari's status.

>>12735031
Besides the fact that they're all underneath the tower right now, and thus would probably be pretty damn hard to get up to the top of the tower before this thing crawls through, this actually seems like a pretty awesome plan.

>>12735009
It didn't lie about the forces we were up against.

I'd really like to know how Scinnari is doing at the moment.

rolled 76 = 76

>1d100 needed to determine Scinnari's status.
Well, time to see if a lot of dudes are gonna be mad at me.

rolled 96 = 96

>>12735040

>>12735050
Congrats, you saved her.

>>12735030
>>12735039
Guys, let's try this. What could it hurt at this point? Maybe the two of them plus whatever adventurers capable of channeling divine energy there are can hold it together long enough to get priests from the town.

>>12735066
Will that stop the portal though?
Also, I'm not convinced that whatever's inside this portal is susceptible to fire. Have Cygnis fry it first before blowing it up with dwarven blasting powder.

Have we killed that bloodeh sealord yet?

>>12735074
It might not stop it. But what could it hurt at this point? When you have a dead god clawing through the barriers between reality, well, you should probably try just about anything.

Autosage

>>12735085
Yeah, a long time ago. But we are sort of about to die here, so...

Thinking back on it, you know what we should have brought? The dragon slaying artifact sword.

>>12735091
Does Scinnari know where it is?

>>12735050
>76

Incidentally, I saw you, cheater. Deleting a 54? Huh. Kids these days. Back in my day, we took our losses like a man! Or at least like a male fire-breathing-winged lizard.
############################
Stepping back from the massive claws, you pull Cygnis after you, and put one of the arches between you and it.

"Cygnis! Get your brother, we need help!" you shout, the cold 'dead' aura feeling like it dampens sound.

"He is!" she replies, pointing behind you. You spin, and get just long enough to see Azdukashen swooping in on the stormwinds, and unleash a torrential gale of fire upon the entire upper level. As the fire washes over the entire platform, you are briefly thankful as it drives away the stench and gives you time to think.

Scinnari. Scinnari, you needed all the help you could get right now. Where is she? Focusing on your ring as you duck out of sight of the rift you locate her... Flying towards you... right next to you, it changes abruptly.

"Cygnis!" you call through the raging inferno. Az seems to be leisurely circling the tower, maintaining his blast, "can you force it shut? I have the focusing jewel!" You thrust the gem you picked up into Cygnis' searching hands.

"Maybe... Yes, I can slow it. I can't... stop it." she says, focusing. "I've bought us time..." she says distantly.

>>12735098
Yes, it's in our hoard.

>>12735099
Strongly suggest getting everyone the fuck out and blowing up the tower.

>>12735099
Kind of like this, but less flesh, and more rotting.

>>12735099
Scinnari, teleport down to the adventurers and send any priests or paladins up here immediately, then get the sword. You remember the one. From the stash. Hurry!

>>12735106
I strongly suggest breaking the rod and stopping the tower from being blown up. It won't help seal the rift, and can only stop us from reaching it. We need the tower as a platform to attack the dracolich.

>>12735099
>I've bought us time..." she says distantly.
No.

Nononono.

Please tell me she didn't go all heroic-sacrifice on us. Please.

>>12735137
It sounds like she's just using her divine powers through the focus gem to counteract the gate expanding.

>>12735099
Perhaps you're right. I change my opinion to keeping the tower intact.
We need to find that focus gem. Identify it, wrap it in leather, and take it up near the Dracolich. It may hold a way to stopping it.
While we're down there, kill the sealord.
Have scinnari, Az, and Cygnis direct any divine-classed adventurers to the top of the tower. Also, broadcast that -BAD SHIT- is going down in the lighthouse.
Break the signal rod, to signify that the lighthouse is not to be blown up.
If anything, we might need a barrel of the dwarven stuff to blow up the dracolich.

>>12735137
Why? With her gone, we can hunt down her hoard, continue to gain entirely justified vengeance for insults heaped upon us by Az-dick, our trolling of him can take on new angles ("she sacrificed herself for ME over YOU"), we don't have to deal with her down the line (when we want to get rid of her meddling in our assumption of political power), and also allows us to trollface about how we manipulated and suckered a paragon of goodness (a gold dragon) into sacrificing themselves to further the plans and ambitions of a red.