You stand within a teleportation circle atop a rocky knoll surrounded by the skeletal boughs of a vast forest. Three forlorn, sickly, leafless tress stand upon the knoll. Dark clouds hang motionless overhead. Looking back through the portal, you can see the shadowy outline of the chamber in which you defeated Arantor.

First order of business: Arcana checks for those trained, please. If you auto-succeed on a DC 29 somehow, don't bother to roll--just post this fact here to show off.

Gromley was on his disk, examining his new amulet and modron toy. It looks like a metal box with strange designs on it, and Gromley has already figured out how to change its configuration. Then he glanced around and sighed.

"Well, well, well. Another lovely vista for us to enjoy! I must say, travelling with you all is a an experiences for the senses...its makes me wish I was blind, deaf, and unable to smell..." He sighed theatrically.

(OOC-08:44, Today: Gromley Underhill rolled 9 using 1d20 with rolls of 9. Arcana. Total 34.)

"Aye!  Dragons comin' oot the woodwork and vampire Lords wi' magic swords" chortled Harald.  "And as for the smell, are you talkin' aboot ma socks again?"

He laughed loudly.

"Anyhow." He took off his new-found helm and examined it closely.  "Ah fair like this helmet but it means Ah hae two o' them noo.  Wad anyone like this ither wan or should Ah just keep it in case?"

He held up his Casque of Tactics and replaced the Phoenix helm on his head.


OOC:Levelled up to 22 including new items.

Zog snorts. "Complain to the being who sent us here. I've slept in far worse places than this." he says off-handedly.

Arcana rolls sent via PM, Pete.
This message was last updated by the player at 02:05, Sun 27 July 2014.

Agon looked around with the weary familiarity of a professional planar traveler. This plane might lack any positive qualities, but at least the air was not acid, the ground was not on fire, and nothing was trying to kill them at the moment.

"We stand in the Twisted Forest of Vaerothim. Somewhere nearby is the Mantled Citadel, lair of the arch-lich Irfelujhar, a faithful ally of Tiamat and one of the greatest ritual magicians in history.  His Citadel is hidden entirely within a hollow mountain, where the halls echoes to the screams of the endlessly tortured.  The forest around us is full of spirits; liars and deceivers all, but beings who's games can reveal truth to the trained mind."  Agon smiled slightly, lecturing was one of his highest pleasures. "Needless to say, they will pose little challenge to our skills."

The Great and Terrible Bone Witch burps and scratches her head, to test whether Agon's short speech has kicked loose any memories of her own.


21:50, Today: Great and Terrible Bone Witch rolled 34 using 1d20+21 with rolls of 13. Arcane.

Nemeroff started laughing at Gromley's comment. "It could be worse and we ended up on the Plane of Horrible Death. Oh what a minute, we're here but in the minor version." he said, surveying the area. "Well now, from the looks of it, I think we are standing in The Twisted Forest like Agon said. If I remember correctly it is the remnant of a forest (abet warped) that stood about the Mantled Citadel of Irfelujhar. It is hidden within the hollowed-out interior of a huge spire of black rock. He is an extremely powerful and ancient lich famed for his ability to craft rituals of incredible power. He had originally worshiped Vecna, but Tiamat seduced him away from the Lord of the Spider Throne. Shortly afterward, Irfelujhar’s lair disappeared along with much of the surrounding woodland. " he said, looking around.

"There were many spirits of nature in the woodland but they seem to have disappeared from here. I am not sure whether they were destroyed or had been imprisoned elsewhere. It looks like haunted spirits of sentient creatures now inhabit the trees and the strongest of these spirits have given strange powers to the trees they possess, so be careful. Irfelujhar was a bit careless in his work, leaving fragments of rituals he had done all over the place. I should be able to access various minor effects if I can activate one of the fragments that swirl through the forest..." Nemeroff explained, shaking his head at the waste of magic then turning curious as to the experiments that had been conducted.

"He is served by Mornujhar, one of Tiamat’s most trusted and powerful servants. She has five exarchs, one for each of her heads. Mornujhar is her Black Exarch and emulates many of the abilities of that species, so be prepared to get attacked by acid, just like a Black Dragon. He is a bloodthirsty sadist who delights in capturing enemies so that he can torture them. He doesn’t especially care whether his "Guest" knows anything important."

"Concering this location, Vaerothim is a small demiplane, and it can be accessed from Monadhan in the Shadowfell. It shares many similar characteristics of the later, but is much smaller, say, 20 miles in diameter or so. Here Irfelujhar’s betrayal of Vecna, as a consequence, manifest themselves in several ways. Fear or Psychic powers are harder to resist in this area while charms are easier to avoid. So use those magic that can cause fear or attack the mind, rather than charms if you can." he added

While Nemeroff shares this, several in the party see something move on the periimeter around them. The plants themselves seem to be moving!

Roll initiative! And if you want to adjust your starting position, go ahead and do so. No enemies are visible.

Map: https://docs.google.com/drawin...Q50-wFOAK6P78Lk/edit
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:46, Mon 28 July 2014.

''Huh.'' The Great and Terrible Bone Witch utters, and is gone. From sight, sound, whatever.


OOC: Using my armor to become invisible, Stealth 53 to be hidden. Changing my position on map.

19:02, Today: Great and Terrible Bone Witch rolled 53 using 2d20+34, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 19,17. Stealth.
19:01, Today: Great and Terrible Bone Witch rolled 27 29 using 1d20+1820 with rolls of 9. ini.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:34, Mon 28 July 2014.

"Looks like the plants are moving!" Nemeroff said to the group

OOC:13:46, Today: Nemeroff rolled 19 using 1d20+13 with rolls of 6. Initiative check.

Once again-Gromley is no where to be seen. The Gnome has vanished from sight before any violence has begun. The group knows by now the little fellow is around somewhere...

(OOC-
14:44, Today: Gromley Underhill rolled 21 using 1d20+13 with rolls of 8. Initative.
14:44, Today: Gromley Underhill rolled 35 using 1d20+21 with rolls of 14. Reactive Stealth.)

Zog blinks. "Nemeroff, surely you are mistaken. I didn't notice anything--oh, wait, what was that..."

Remembered Nemeroff's initiative bonus this time, and got a nat 1. Funny.
15:01, Today: Zog the Faceless rolled 18 using 1d20+17 with rolls of 1. Initiative + Nemeroff.

"Ah mighta known" grunted Harald as he stroked the haft of his axe.

12:38, Today: Harald Gaptooth rolled 21 using 1d20+17 with rolls of 4. Initiative check.

What could motion in the trees conceal? Agon freed his hands for action, preparing to lay waste to the area round them.

Initiative +26

Four beings carved from hunks of basaltic rock suddenly appear among you. The four platemail-clad knights heft their greatswords and attack. They divide their attacks among those of your party that they can see, and none of you escape their blade, taking a blow that only your superior skill in staying alive reduced from a grave wound to a mere gash.
Okay, four beings teleport into your midst. Harald, Nemeroff, Zog and Agon are all hit for various amounts, see your stat block below for how much, and all of you are each marked by a different K.

Roll Arcana checks or Religion checks to identify the creatures. Just pick one skill to roll on your turn.  If you get some info for free because you auto a check, I’ll post something to you in a PM, but you all need to roll if you want the full stat block.

The GTBW, Agon and Harald are up. Gromley, just in case you are wondering, there were three of you (Harald, you and entity T) tied for initiative with a 21. Harald goes with the prior group because he had the highest initiative modifier, while entity T goes second based on its initiative modifier, moving you into the same initiative group as Nemeroff and Zog.

Initiative:
Ks
GTBW, Agon,Harald<==
T
Gromley, Nemeroff, Zog
Other thing

Map: https://docs.google.com/drawin...OAK6P78Lk/edit?pli=1

''Goes aways.'' The raised voice of the Great and Terrible Bone Witch, otherwise only heard as a whisper, suddenly shakes the knoll, and the light grows dim around her.
The stone knights are pushed away like chaff.


NO ACTION: regenerate 0
MOVE     : walk
MINOR    : activate sword aura, dim light in aura 2
FREE     : Raised Voice (crits at 19-20, dazed ueomnt)
STANDARD : Admonishing Whisper vs
            K1 hit Will 42, 29 dmg, push 2, deafened
            K2 hit Will 37, 29 dmg, push 2, deafened
            K3 hit Will 44, 29 dmg, push 2, deafened
            K4 hit Will 39, 29 dmg, push 2, deafened
           pushing everyone 2 squares SW (have to redo this in case of misses)

22:57, Today: Great and Terrible Bone Witch rolled 42,37,31,39 using d20+27,d20+27,d20+27,d20+27 with rolls of 15,10,4,12. attack roll bennie.
22:51, Today: Great and Terrible Bone Witch rolled 29 using 3d6+19 with rolls of 4,5,1. dmg.
22:51, Today: Great and Terrible Bone Witch rolled 42,33,44,30 using d20+27,d20+27,d20+27,d20+27 with rolls of 15,6,17,3. Admonishing Whisper vs K1-4, w/RV w/CA.

"Ah wish ye hadnae done that Boney" snarled Harald!  "Ah'd have tae fight through thae twa tae get yon bugger an' Ah dinna think that's a very good idea.  Noo Ah'll need tae try somethin' else."

Taking a firm grip of his axe the dwarf hurled it through the air towards the creature that had attacked him.  The axe struck and then miraculously appeared back in Harald's hand.

"Hah!  Ye didnae expect that, did ye?"


01:27, Today: Harald Gaptooth rolled 38 using 1d20+29 with rolls of 9. Special RBA vs K1.
01:31, Today: Harald Gaptooth rolled 31 using 2d10+16 with rolls of 6,9. damage vs K1.
01:36, Today: Harald Gaptooth rolled 36 using 1d20+29 with rolls of 7. Bennie re-roll (leaving 2).
Two bennies left

Agon ducked back, hurt but mostly annoyed. "Iron and strength is nothing compared to mastery of magic. Too bad you have wasted your unlife." He chided his opponents. Sheer Force hit the Blackstar Knights like syrup poured from above, entangling their limbs and freezing several in awkward poses mid-motion.

[Move] Shift back 1
[Standard] Crushing Titan's Force
1: +29 vs Reflex.
2: +42 vs Reflex.
3: +38 vs Reflex.
4: +30 vs Reflex.
HIT: 36 Force damage and Immobilized UEoMNT
EFFECT: Zone of slowing UEoMNT. Squares in Zone take 4 extra movement to enter.

The Great and Terrible Bone Witch's jarring whisper affects all the constructs, causing them to reel a bit. Agon's force-dump affects a couple of them, while Harald's blow flies wide.

A huge, leafless tree strides from the forest. Patches of bright green moss cover much of its vast trunk, and it swings two huge branches from side to side. It moves with malign purpose toward you. Its roots leap out and try to trip up the Great and Terrible Bone Witch, who nimbly dodges the superhumanly fast roots, but that puts her in position to take a smack from the treant's very long arm.

Harald, you actually had 4 Bennies to start the battle, so you only burned one. You missed your target. Agon hit K2 and K3; GTBW hit all his targets.

T is a kind of treant--you all pretty much recognize it as a Blackroot Treant, a Huge natural magical beast (plant, undead). Nature or Religion rolls to know more.
T hits GTBW for 11 hp untyped, and GTBW takes ongoing 5 necrotic damage (save ends). It hits even if you have total concealment.

GTBW, I need to know whether you are still invisibile.

If you haven't given me an Arcana or Religion roll for the black knights, let me know.

Gromley, Nemeroff & Zog are up!

Initiative:
Ks
GTBW, Agon,Harald
T
Gromley, Nemeroff, Zog<==
Other thing

Map: https://docs.google.com/drawin...OAK6P78Lk/edit?pli=1