Timothius says, "I'll wait and see if any of that was useful before I pass judgement on her spite move." he pets her eyes closed and his expression goes from sad to "if looks could kill." "I get the feeling I am going to begin a personal collection of souls. Please ready that ritual, Kyle. Thanks."

Raichel says, "So as usual, it all is going to boil down to beating the enemy into submission and words are meaningless."

Timothius nods. "When it comes to our enemies, yes. I love the coalition if for the fact my words matter at all with them."

May shrugs. "Sorry Timothius. But you can't say Sovacles would be the most word-friendly person anyway." she then looks back to the gnome and smiles all friendly-like. "Well I understand that, sure, but why were you caught in the first place? Bad luck? Or did you find something useful?" If the gnome doesn't have anything useful to offer, May lets him go.

  "I'll do it for you, Timothius.  Though with their mind gone beforehand, there is likely no reason to."

  He looks over to Mittens, and asks "Still want to try for that night rest? Or improve the odds of it with the treehouse ritual?"

Mits offers her sibs a group hug.

"My family is still alive, kicking, and very healthy I might add.  So I'm grateful for that fact.  If our enemies didn't at least annoy us, I'd have to wonder if they're really enemies at all."

Mits shrugs to Kyle's question.  "I dunno.  What do you all think?  I think we'll do just fine without whatever daily powers we've used up by now.  I've hardly broke a sweat all day."

Kimdal looks disappointed.  "Useful?  I wish.  Best I can offer is you'll likely find a few coin inside those snakes' bellies.  That's how they carry money without pockets.  You guys and your beating up dragons and kings are way outta my pay grade.  I'd like to offer you something...  Oh!  If you didn't know, the king's glass floor is actually a magical trap door.  If he doesn't like what you say, Poof!  The glass vanishes and you get dropped into the arena.  Stay away from the treant if you can."

Mits chuckles.  "That's more than most offer.  Thanks."

Kimdal smiles.  "You're welcome!"

The cyclops speaks up.  "I'll tell you all I know in case it is helpful."

✦ Sovacles arrived about three months ago and
quickly ingratiated himself with Cachlain. Soon
after that, Talyrin was imprisoned in the middle of
the night. She was imprisoned by Cachlain’s order,
and no evidence or even accusation is needed
for the king to imprison someone.
 Sovacles arrived about one month
before the PCs encountered the fey in “The Temple
Between” (Dungeon 161).
✦ Talyrin believes Sovacles has supernatural power
that lets him control Cachlain. This is the first of
the Stone-Skinned King’s advisors to wield magic
openly. Fearing its power, Cachlain was unwilling
to choose anyone but sages and powerful warriors
as advisors in the past.
✦ A rival of Cachlain named Sangwyr has long
coveted the Stone-Skinned King’s caverns. For
decades now, the upstart has fought both Cachlain
and the eladrin of Frostwhite Forest. Talyrin hears
that Sangwyr’s forces are growing, bolstered by
allies from another plane. (She doesn’t know they’re
githyanki.)
✦ Under Sovacles’s guidance, conditions have gotten
worse in Cachlain’s realm. The troops moving
through secret complexes deep below ground take
food and resources that would go to those who
live in the court. The cyclopses collect more and
more slaves, and Sovacles sends them to assist the
githyanki soldiers.
✦ After the eladrins in another cell told her that
Inzira seeks an alliance, Talyrin came to believe
it’s a good plan—if Sangwyr is truly becoming
dangerous. She fears the rumors of his power might
be lies spread by the eladrin to trick Cachlain, and
she hasn’t seen evidence that an attack is imminent.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:01, Sat 23 Jan 2016.

Raichel says, "I dunno... I haven't really used any of my best today. I think? The days meld anymore and it gets hazy..."

May says, "I am relatively sure I didn't use anything major today also."

Timothius says, "I won't be able to bless the arena as holy ground like you saw at the dinner table until I've rested a while. Other than that, no major powers used up from me."

  "We were assuming as much about the glass floor, but it is good to know for certain.  Hopefully he forgot the extra precautions I've often heard about in such cases." 'PS Flying turns off' is often a disclaimer in things like that.

  "While I'm still doubtful about Cachlain's quality as a leader overall, it is true the alternatives are much worse.  Though I doubt any would take the copper bet he'll at least tempt us to beat him with his own throne before this is over."

"Let's just finish dinner then kick butt," Mits suggests.

When the group exits, one of the cyclops throne room guards motions to them.

"Um...  Cachlain wants to talk to you.  Should I let Him know you're available, or...?"

Timothius says, "So much for dinner." he nods to the guard. "Sure. We're available."

Raichel says, "Knowing our luck, he'll talk to us for exactly 5 minutes so the potion will wear off. So just be ready to drink it the moment the floor opens."

May nodnods. "Got it."

If the others in the team are ready, they head for the throne room. Rai readies her flight movement for when the floor opens. The others ready drinking the elixer for when the floor opens.

  Better living through magical chemicals.  Shame about the expenses, but then at this point it's less than pocket change territory for these ones.  (It's chucking +3 level items that Kyle is thankful for being able to handwave one into existence per encounter).

  "Wishful thinking for an anticlimax, where he merely wants to ask about that Dwarven Ale keg."  If only.

"Alrighty, then!"

Mits is ready with the flying as well.

Sovacles commands the doors to the throne room, and they
slam closed behind you. The advisor, clearly angered, yells,
“The gracious king invited you into his palace, and you
use trickery and deceit to compromise the security of his
domain. You aid his great enemy, Sangwyr, and you plot
against our brave, wise king! At every opportunity, you’ve
allowed them into the king’s domain and led them in their
assault! Now, submit to imprisonment and the king might
spare your lives.”

"It's something that I didn't hear much of in the storybooks about heroes, but apparently it's an ongoing theme that, 'no good deed goes unpunished,' - for enemies of truth to accuse the heroes who risk their lives for them of wrongdoing.  Well I say again, 'when you point a finger, three more point right back at you.'"

May says, "Called it! Instant accusations even with evidence completely opposite of what he's saying. Also, slamming doors is rude and I could easily kick those doors open."

Timothius says, "We defeated every last enemy that burrowed their way in. Every single guest you had is our witness. And if they are all "lying" as you like to point out, then you don't have any friends left, Sovacles, in which case you don't have a kingdom left, so what's the point?"

Raichel says, "Spare us your filthy lies, Sovacles, and just get on with the fight you want so badly. At least then the king will be happy watching us fight... and we will tear you apart for tricking the king and treating us as you have."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:05, Sat 23 Jan 2016.

  "Simple question, King Cachlain.  When was the last time you were giving the orders to your adviser, instead of obeying Sovacles's every command?  Or do you have nothing to add at all while he makes demands of your guards and us?"

  OOC: Elixir is Fly 4, slow controlled safe fall if flight wears off/gets canceled above ground.

If the PCs try to reason with the king and his advisor, they quickly find that logic won’t work, and
that Cachlain follows the irrational hatred Sovacles
demonstrates for the PCs. Once the PCs become
aggressive or anger Sovacles with their persistence,
the advisor leads Cachlain in an attack against the
PCs

"You dare challenge the great king?!" Sovacles screams, "You had your chance to surrender peaceably!  Cachlain!  They want to kill you!"

"AAACK!"

Cachlain hops out of his throne, and hulk-slams most of the team into the corner!  He follows up by glaring at May, sliding her over to Kyle, and forcing her to take a swing at him!

May resists the urge to hit Kyle! And then raspberries Cachlain!

Raichel's scythe glows and she drops it before coursing with lightning and then fires a lightning bolt at Cachlain, but misses. "We didn't challenge the king, we challenged Sovacles!"

---

Minor: Activate Blood Fury Weapon
Minor: Lightning in the Blood (Rai can now do +1 die dmg)
Standard: Lightning Daggers v Cachlain. Miss(22)
Intimidate: 29 success!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:43, Sat 23 Jan 2016.

"I'm right behind you, great king," Sovacles says, "My alchemy shall hinder them for you."

He tosses a bag of coal dust at Timothius.  He's forced to clump up with the others.  Sovacles then tosses two small clay pots.  They explode with poisonous shards flying everywhere followed by a thick cloud of poisonous gas!

Release Cachlain’s Mind Level 18
Skill Challenge XP 6,000
The fomorian king is fighting against Sovacles’s control, even
while attacking you. He squints his eyes and shakes his head
as though he were trying to banish unwanted visions.
While they fight the Stone-Skinned King and Sovacles, the PCs
can attempt to free the monarch from his advisor’s control.
Each PC can attempt a skill check as a minor action once
per round to contribute to this challenge.
Complexity
2 (requires 6 successes before 3 failures).
Primary Skills
Arcana 25, Diplomacy 20, Insight 20, Intimidate 25.
Other Skills
Heal 13

Special (1 success, maximum 1 success)
If the PCs succeeded on the skill challenge in “Audience
with the King,” they gain an automatic success.

"Is that all?" Timothius asks as he stands up. Sovacles can see Timothius wave a hand and cause ALL of Mittens' wounds to vanish and simultaneously, Tim's wounds all vanish! "Sorry, but you will have to try harder than that." and with that, he walks forward, eyes closed and opens his blood coin purse. "Pay in blood." and with that, their blood begins getting sucked out. "The pain will stop for you when you stop licking Sovacles' boots, Cachlain." His eyes open and he looks right at Cachlain with a stern look.

---

Tim takes 5 damage
Move: Get up.
Minor: Healing Word on Mittens: 64
 Save Throw: 1 fail.
Free: Cord of Divine Favor. Tim spends a surge.
 +2d6+5(Pacifist): 14
 Save Throw: 8 fail.
Move: Walk to position
ACTION POINT! +4 to all non-damaging attacks.
Standard: Penance of Blood v Sov, Cach. Hit(42)! Hit(39)!
Save Throw: 19 success
Timplomacy: Auto-success

Mittens HP: 47 + 64 = 84 + 5
Timothius HP: 54 - 5 + 25 + 14 = 88+5
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:59, Sat 23 Jan 2016.

  "Sovacles, you are an affront to your profession.  Hiding behind your king, treating him like some grunt.  Even if any of your laughable accusations were true, it would not change how little you care for your king compared to your own safety."  Hey, they were hiding behind the king before the blind zone.  Kyle doubts that changed.

  He gropes for May to be sure where she is, toughens her up, then blindly walks in a straight line until he bumps into the fallen Raichel.  He helps her get stronger rather than help her up, sorry for the poor manners.

  Now that he is no longer blinded... Yup, baby Sovacles still hiding behind the kind.

OOC:
Arcana success.
Saves vs everything.
Minor: Resistive for May (+1 AC. free cash in for Surge+10 THP, and to an ally within 5).
Move: blind stumble to Raichel.
Minor: Sigil of luck for Raichel (+1 hit, +5 DMG rolls for Encounter).

May hops to her feet says, "Come ON! Tell you what. Help us take out Sovacles and we'll do a beautiful arena performance for you later! I'll show you what I can do and you won't have to get hurt for it!"

She jets past Cachlain and whacks Sovacles hard before whacking him again even harder! Cachlain can hear the bone crunching sounds of the hits. She gives a very wicked grin to Sovacles. "You brought this on yourself, you slithering, dishonorable worm!"

---

Move: Stand
Minor: Quicksilver Stance
 Effect: May can shift her speed and make a basic melee as a Standard every round.
Standard: Shift to Sovacled + Maysic Melee v Sovacles. Hit(35)!
 dmg: 28 (thanks vulnerable!)
May Diplomacy: 24 success (5 successes. 0 failures)
ACTION POINT! May resists 10 ALL
Appalling Crunch v Sovacles. Hit(32)!
 dmg: 40
 Both Sovacles and Cachlain are marked!
Save throw: 18 success
Free: Turning in resistive and giving spare to Timothius

Sovacles HP: 340 - 28 - 40 = 272
This message was last edited by the player at 23:44, Sat 23 Jan 2016.

Mits shuffles over into flanking with May then blasts both the king and Sovacles... but misses.  She sighs and chugs a potion.

"Poison alchemy theme?  Ok.  Potion of resist poison.  Take that!  We know all about Sovacles' mind control.  Notice how unconcerned we are at being attacked?  Honestly.  A fomorian should be able to shake magical mind control on his own.  And then the baby won't be able to hide behind him anymore."

---

Mits intimidate: 33 success (6 successes. 0 failures.  Retroactive success for Rai intimidate.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:44, Sat 23 Jan 2016.

"M...magical?" Cachlain stammers, "Mind control?!"

Sovacles, wounded and angry, snarls, “You have no idea
who you’re dealing with! My queen has given me the power
to destroy you easily! Tiamat will have all that you possess
and more, and your blood is my gift to her! And I’m sure
Cachlain’s replacement will be more amenable to our
commands.

Cachlain responds quickly, shouting out that he’ll
never let the god of greed steal what belongs to him.
He gestures at the floor and his evil eye flashes green.
Then, the plates of glass flutter away, opening a hole
that drops the PCs and Sovacles to the gladiatorial
arena below. The fall is 40 feet (4d10 falling damage).
Remember that a character trained in Acrobatics can
make a check as a free action to reduce the damage
by half the result of the check.

"You'll pay for thiiis!"  THUD!  Sovacles hits the floor of the arena below.

Cachlain hovers in the air, blinking in surprise that he's not alone.

"You can fly?!"

  "You are hardly the first government official we have dealt with that was either replaced, mind controlled, or otherwise indisposed.  You are the first where it was so obvious the entire time to everyone around, however. Which I suppose is why Sovacles spent so much time killing, arresting, or kidnapping everyone in sight who ever so much as saw him or you.  A bit like trying to cover your tracks with signposts, really."

  He checks his crossbow.  It's a free action like talking.

In the gladiatorial arena below you, a handful of eladrin
gladiators fight an undead treant bound in place with
massive cold iron chains. A crowd massed in dozens of cave
mouths along the towering walls takes in the bout.
You see Sovacles plummet down and hear his body snap
as he hits the purple crystal of the arena floor. The crowd
cheers! Just when it appears that the advisor’s threat is
ended, his body evaporates and forms into a wispy green
cloud with smoky wings.

“You have destroyed my human guise! Still, I have four
more forms that can defeat you easily! Now you know
you face Virizan, exarch of Her Dark Majesty Tiamat!
All in this room will take my secret to their graves!”

The cheering crowd falls silent.

Raichel answers, "Yes. We can all fly." which she demonstrates by flying over Sovacles (but nowhere near him yet) and shoots lightning down at him before landing next to the throne. "Any gladiator down there who wants out, I can bring you up out of there! But only if you don't attack us while we take out Virzan!"

---

Minor: Activate Razorclaw Shifting
Minor: "Stand" from prone
Free: Lightning Daggers v Virizan. Miss(25)
Move: To near May

Virizan transforms into an enormous, coiled serpent with
a humanoid face. A row of green quills run down his spine,
and longer spines jut out from the tip of his muscular tail.
Peals of thunder sound at his command.

Raichel says, "Umm.... hate to tell you this, but I am a STORM sorcerer. Your thunder means nothing to me."

Timothius says endearingly, "Lookit the cyooot li'l exarch! Throwing a temper tantrum like a widdo babyyyy... Mitts, I want a Virizan plushy!" He waves a hand and Kyle gets healed back to full and feels uber-tough for a bit. "Attack again and I will fill your mind kindness and goodness and such cyootifulness so as you can't do anything."

---

Standard: Pacify v Virizan. Hit(36)!
 If Virizan hits or misses with an attack, he becomes stunned
Minor: healing word on Kyle: 56
 +7 Kyle's defenses

Kyle HP: 67 + 56 = MAX 112+5thp
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:01, Sun 24 Jan 2016.