Raichel shoots and misses again. >.> "....sorry, guys." she stands there trying to get her lightning to spark again like Violet Incredible trying to get her forcefield powers to work.

---

Lightning Strike. Miss(16)

Timothius throws a seal at Thanuu and says, "Not like we're really hurtin', Raichel." Tim then answers Thanuu, "This light is the sign of your defeat! Surrender and the pain will end!"

---

Astral Seal v Thanuu. Hit(28)!
 -2 defenses, next ally who hits him gains 5 hp.

May smacks the downed Thanuu with her stick. "I'mma beat you with this stick until you submit, DOG!" she then readies to interrupt him with nasaly impersonations of what he told Sarshan earlier about the team being invaders and such.

---

Panther provokes AoO. May hits(20)!
 dmg: Enough
Standard: shield feint v Thanuu. Hit(27)!
 dmg: 10

Panther 1 HP: 2 - w/e = KO
Thanuu HP: 130 - 10 = 120

  Kyle fires an acid dripping Crossbow bolt into the fallen Thannu's chest.  Meanwhile, his morningstar swoops down for some amateur dentistry.  Morning! Kermolar!  "Star!  Kerincisor!   "Hey, remember when they were threatening us like they mattered?  Good times."

---

Standard: Scouring weapon, hits.
Double Minor.  double morning star hits.

Boss HP: 81 HP left. Bloodied.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:32, Tue 08 Apr 2014.

"Nnngh!"

The badguy gets back up, teleports to be next to Mits and Kyle, takes a swing at them both, misses Kyle and barely nicks Mittens.

"Noooo!"

"Yeah I wouldn't want to be you right now," Mittens says, zapping him good as she backs away fast enough to make it look like a teleport, "Flanked by my sis...  Mmm.  Yeah.  Prepare for some pain."

Raichel says, "Tim?"

Timothius nods. "Sure." he looks at Thanuu and blasts him with light, then says, "The left side, Rai."

Raichel SLAMS her left foot into Thanuu's left kidney, which mysteriously got exposed just at the right time for her foot to land. When it does, it sends thunderous shockwaves through him. Her kick seems to NOT CARE that he's all ghost-like.

---

Timothius uses Solar Enemy and Prophetic Guidance. It was very effective.

Raichel uses Twin Thunders. Hits(25)!
 dmg: 22

Thanuu HP: 56 - 22 = 34
This message was last edited by the player at 06:49, Tue 08 Apr 2014.

  "Aaaaar!"  The dancing weapon flies over, swings low and ooooh, it's a good thing Thannu is insubstantial.  Right in the euphemism.

  Kyle just looks upon the Shadrakai with disdain as he pulls a spare Morningstar, and rests it on his shoulder simply waiting.  "Soon."

---

  dancing weapon, 22 / 2 = 11 DMG.
Readied for after insubstantial magic weapon.  16 DMG.

Boss HP after dancing:  21 HP</red>

May steps over to him. "Sounds like we beat him senseless. He isn't even capable of speech now." WHAM! she slams him with her carrikal. "Give up already. Seeing you this way is pathetic."

---

Weapon Master's Strike. Hit(26)!
 dmg: 19/2=9

Thanuu HP: 21 - 9 = 12

  Taking a cue from Raichel, once whatshisname the Shadrakai phases into full physical existence,  Kyle slams his armored punchfist into their right Kidney.   Uselessface let's out a high pitched wheeze like a deflating balloon and falls over.  "Well, that was-"  The enchantment on his flying morningstar fails and it falls, bouncing off the fallen idiot's skull.  Dull moaning suggests they are still alive.  "...I got nothing.

Mits suppresses a snicker upon hearing the Wham Wheeze Crumple Thump Moan finishing combo.

"That was almost musical.  Would make for good song titles too.  'Morningstar Melody' 'Rhythm of Ruin' or 'Beat of Defeat.'  Love that spell, Kyle.  For a moment your dancing weapon sounded like a pirate!"

She peeks down the direction Sarshan and his men went.

"I can understand wanting to deal with exploding foundry right away, but how could he have expected one guy and his two pets to be more likely to kill us than his entire tower's guard?  What a villain!  'Everyone has a price!'  'You owe it to me to join me!'  'I'm such a nice guy for killing you!'  Yeesh."

She takes a look out the windows.

Any PCs peering out the eastern windows can see
the foundry being consumed by ongoing explosions
of shadow and flame. Although Modra didn’t complete
his sabotage in a way that would destroy the
tower, the foundry’s systems have failed, releasing the
arcane energy that fuels Sarshan’s dark experiments.
From the south windows, chaos can be seen in the
camps as mercenary bands try to pull back from the
destruction. The pens of the slave bazaar have been
broken open, and the slaves have overthrown their
masters and started fleeing to the north.

  Kyle get's to examining the portal.  After a moment, he says while digging through his pack "This is a very elaborate, and old, portal structure."  He pulls out a hammer of the tool variety, and whacks the portal with it causing the destination to come into view.  "Old as in outdated."

 OOC: Kyle is basically Auto success on Arcana and History checks.  We need 4 successes to activate portal Safe Mode (can pass without losing a heal surge).   You are allowed to make two successes on eah of the skill checks soooo, Kyle can solo this if need be.

So, we have two options.  We can just say "Kyle turns on the portal" and get on with it.  Or we can have other alts chip in, since I want to give you guys the option.

So people don't have to backscroll:  short version of skill challenge.
DC 14 on all.  Arcana,  History,  Perc, Thivery.  Max of 2 successes per skill.  Need 4 successes to win.  3 failures botches it.  Botch is "portal works, but drains a Surge or Level in HP."  Props to writers, this is not a save or die situation.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:16, Sun 13 Apr 2014.

Raichel says, "Had a feeling when he said 'everyone has their price', but you don't have to be evil to believe that."

May says, "Such a nice guy for killing you is... probably more a product of being from this place than his villainy. Seems everyone loves death here."

Timothius asks, "...does this mean we can leave now? Or are we still going to try and hunt down Sarshan and stop him?"

May says, "Thanks to his 'emergency', we have free reign of his tower. I say we do a quick search. Maybe we can stop his plans quicker by undoing a spell or something."

Timothius curiously watches Kyle.

---

My alts are perfectly fine with Kyle soloing this skill challenge. Especially since the only skill any of them might be good at is Thievery. Which would be May and ironically Raichel.

"Yeah I got that 'very old' feeling about this place when we found an ancient shrine the current residents weren't aware of," Mits says, "Searching for self-destruct switch sounds like a good idea.  Once we all figure out this portal.  If we don't find something to spoil his efforts, I say we have our prisoners carry as many books and notes as they can through the portal then we burn the rest."

She'll aid Kyle with the portal if only to be helpful.  If the group tries her plan they'll soon discover that while the researchers can be intimidated into cooperating, all the combatants refuse.

  "The place is already on fire with the surrounding people fleeing the area.  I think this tower is not going to be doing very well soon." ...  There were researchers?  Literally everyone they have run into in the past day was a combatant.

  Maybe they researchers were hiding inside the desks?

May, Rai and Tim immediately get to searching and/or asking the researchers how best to thwart Sarshan's plans. If both asking and searching yield no results, they will, of course, do as Mittens suggested. Rai is sure to make sure the team remains aware of the urgency, instigating her allies.

---

(OOC: Yes, there was a module paste somewhere in the thread that mentions certain rooms contained researchers who did nothing but cower if attacked or abruptly tell you to stop being an interrupting person while they assume you work for Sarshan.)

The PCs pass through the teleportation portal from
the tower and arrive back at the Shadowfell gate that
can take them home. From the cavern entrance, they
see the destruction of Umbraforge in the distance.
The guards normally stationed here have returned to
the tower, giving the PCs a chance to take a short rest
if they wish to.
When the big tremor hits, the PCs are likely to
flee at once. Interrupt or paraphrase the read aloud
text according to their actions, but make sure the
characters see the six specters emerge before they slip
through the arch.
6 specters (S)
When the PCs have completed a short rest, or
if they are intent on immediately activating the
Shadowfell gate, read:
A skittering fall of rock down the rift gives a split-second’s
warning of another tremor, bigger this time. The cavern
pitches around you—a crack like thunder echoing as the
northern wall splits and heaves. And with a groan, the
archway you just passed through crumbles and falls as a
blast of arcane energy slams out across the chamber. Where
it strikes the Shadowfell archway, a flare of black erupts
from the stone, congealing into six humanoid
forms.
It is most likely that the PCs will flee
through the arch in the hope that the
specters cannot follow. In that case, this
encounter uses the tactical map and features
of the white shrine (page 21), below.
If the PCs choose to play out the
encounter entirely in the Shadowfell’s black
shrine before returning to the world, use the
tactical map for the white shrine, rotated 90
degrees and altered as per the area description
(page 21). When the PCs finally cross
through to the world, have a tremor burn out
the Shadowfell gate as they pass through it
for the last time.
When the specters emerge through the arch in
the white shrine, read:
The boiling field of shadow within the archway is suddenly
rent by the five figures as they claw their way through it.
With a shriek like shredding steel, the black mists within the
Shadowfell gate are torn apart, the six specters seeming to
absorb the darkness as it fades away.
The Shadowfell gate has just burned out and the six
specters have consumed its power.

Two of the specters float forward and blast the group with a spectral barrage, knocking everyone but May over!

Raichel hops up as quickly as she was falling, rushes around to the side of the group of ghosts and turns into her archon form again! A ghost gets dragged over to her and electrocuted!

---

Minor: Stand
Move: To west of ghosts.
Standard: Shocking Magnetism. Miss(13) Hit(17)!
 dmg: 16/2=8

Specter 1 HP: 30 - 8 = 22

Mits stands back up, eyes ablaze with white fire!  Her staff transforms into a crown made of solar fire and floats over her head almost like an angelic halo.  She then crouches into a Bushido pose, a radiant sword appearing in her hand.  In a flash, five ghostly copies of her burst forward, slashing several ghosts into oblivion!  They shriek as they vanish!

One survives long enough to float over to her and burst with psychic energy only for one of the ghostly Mittens to finish it off with another slice!

Timothius stands, gives his prophetic guidance, and waits for the fireworks.

May hops up to see most of the ghosts gone. "Thanks for leaving me one, Mitts!" May says, hopping over to the ghost and smacking it decent.

---

Tim prophetic guidance.
MAY!
Move: Stand
Minor: Shift to ghost
Standard: Shield Feint
 dmg: 14/2=7

Ghost HP: 12 - 7 = 5

Raichel slams her electrified fist into the ghost. The camera zooms in on the ghost's face to show it being punched in slow motion, its skeletal cheek wobbling like flesh before suddenly speeding up to get thrown into the next existence.

---

Five Storms. Miss, AP, CRIT!
 dmg: 21 (not divided because ghost strike ki focus)

Ghost 3 HP: 5 - 21 = somewhere no longer in Shadowfell

  Kyle sees that by the time he gets back up, the ghosts have been exploded.  "Well, that was a pleasant change of pace compared to the last time."

Mits blushes a little from May's comment, rubbing her head.  "Uh...  you're welcome, May.  I'm impressed how much you shrugged off their psychic attacks.  I guess you're a bit more mentally tough than you were giving yourself credit for."

She nods to Kyle.  "If you mean 'over in under 20 seconds,' I agree.  But those attacks hurt like crazy."

Rubbing her head for the pain as well as for the bashfulness.

Timothius proceeds to do his healing thing. Though his heals are comparatively weak this time, he still heals himself and Raichel to full and Mitts nearly to full.

May says, "We have GOT to find a way to kick butt and not get our butts kicked while we're in the Shadowfell."

Raichel says, "We're alive. That's all we can ask for now."

  Oh right, it is so easy to miss the non-violent flavor text when so much of your time is taken up by the violent flavor text, and violent action text.

  "Well, let's get back and seriously suggest the city splurge on the budget for closing this portal.  Unless they like having a backdoor for shadowfell mercenaries and wildlife to come through."

  Not like they would spring for making their OWN base to take advantage of the Shadowfell.  Portals to other realms are never allowed to be for your long term military benefit, noooo.