Kassius sends a pair of silver arrows into the gaseous form of the werewolf and actually manages to hit with one of them (10 hp). Mange screams, then stars swirling up into the air. Logan and Alohan join the combat just in time to take great jumping lunges into the air - they achieve nothing. Celene sends her flame wide.



OOC: Huh? Quotes?



That was rounds 7 & 8.

Vrinn looks at the oracle with dismay. "Mistress Lidu, your niece is up on the roof of the old bell tower that stands directly beyond these doors. But you will never reach her! After Victor threatened to kill her with the 'Chimes of Midnight', he set out to do it very literally. Zelina Lidu is chained to a large bell which he has jury-rigged on the roof and he has set it up so the bell will be knocked off the tower with on the final stroke of midnight. I assume that if you make it close to the top before that time, he will merely set the mechanism in place a little earlier, and as his little band of crooks is reforming as we speak, they will be healed and ready for you again.  So there is no way to make it to the top of the tower and save her. And now... as I said I am a 'lover not a fighter' so I wish you good night and adieu."

Vrinn starts walking to the exit of the room, but the tears streaming out of Angati's face stop him. He stops. He bows his tall gangly frame a little, looking to all the world that he is going to cry as well. "Okay, just tell me what to do. What is the plan?"

Meanwhile, up on the roof of the bell tower, Victor is giving his team a pep talk - sociopathic murderous madman style.

"This time you all fight to the death!" he screams, red-faced and with spittle flecking out of his mouth. "No excuses! If you run, I will find you and skin you alive."

His gang of misfits are chugging down potions of cure moderate wounds, except Rrregle who did have much to heal and is now puffing on a cigar. "Hey boss, I did just like you planned. I grabbed that blonde bimbo and was squeezing the life out of her. She didn't have much breath left in her, then that cleric turned up. Somebody else should have been taking care of the Lidu auntie."

"Yes, yes, she has some minor powers to cause fear. That was in the information pack I provided," mutters the super-sleuth darkly.

Mange gulps down a potion, swallows and then belches. All his wounds are now healed. "And that archer has silver arrows. Silver! He needs to be taken out. That was YOUR JOB Scimshaw." The werewolf looks at the ivory gargoyle and snarls bestially.

The gargoyle shows no signs of being intimidated but his eyes glow a darker red in the night.  He answers in a dull hiss. "I prioritized the barbarian as per the plan. The rogue was next, but proved a little more agile than anticipated. Then their mage hit me..."

"Forget the barbarian," bellows Viktor. "Focus on the little sorceress and the oracle. And the archer of course. And the rogue This was all in the info pack!!"

Grimgraj looks up, his potion of healing finished. "We need a defense in depth. We need to pick our targets carefully and take them down fast - isolate them as possible. I will stay up here with Victor and hold them at the top of the stairs. The rest of you do you thing... oh, and Mange... watch out for the silver, damn it! I saw that the archer has a whole quiver of those arrows left."

Mange paled and studied the marks from where the arrows had hit. Despite the healing, scars remained. "Frak it. If I get hit by one more silver weapon I swear by the gods I am out of here," he mutters.

"Die or be skinned alive!" bellows Victor. "I. SWEAR. IT," he adds, forgetting that the objective is actually to win.

The choker takes a deep drag on her cigar and puffs our a plume of noxious smoke. "Hey boss. Why not just get this over and done with." A barbed tenticle stretches up, up to the exposed neck of Zelina Lidu who lies pinned by adamantine chains spread-eagled over a large brass bell. The young woman tries to pull away from the creature's grasps but can do little more than issue a muffled sob through her gag.

"No!" commands Viktor. "This must be done properly. On the stoke of mid-night with the chiming of the bell."

His team give a collective sigh. "At least give us some backup then!" pleads Mange. "There just aren't enough of us!"

Victor smiles and pats his coat pocket. "Don't worry, I have a little surprise here for them. Oh, and of course there is also my new pet." He reaches out his arm and there is a piercing screech from somewhere out in the darkness. A noise like a large arrow in flight starts from across the square and then narrows in on the roof, suddenly a large silver shape appears out of the murk and lands on Victors wrist. The sleuth bends his elbow to bring the creature close to his face.

It is the Lidu falcon, the symbol of the greatest family in the city, but now alive and alert and with deep red eyes that seems to emanate menace. Victor begins laughing. A deep, hysterical laugh that just keeps going on and on. His men look at him.

"Fraak," mutters Grimgraj.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:18, Mon 12 Dec 2016.

OOC: So smart players, what plan must you guys have come up with for the preceding dialogue to make sense? :D

Hmm, yeah, that was supposed to thugs or something.  I think that was a strange autocorrect or something.

Logan looks to the shapechanger and starts to think.  "I wonder...I'm not sure anyone actually saw us kill Grimgraj.  You could sneak in, disguised as him, and turn the tables when we charge in.  I think we could mount a two-pronged assault.  We have some way of climbing the exterior, so one group could attack from inside the tower, one group from the walls.  Or maybe you could use the distraction from our attack to free Zelina from the bell tower."

Celene stepped up along side Logan she looked at the changeling "You seem ill suited to direct confrontation." she said to Vrinn "Are you capable in battle? How could you take advantage of them from within?" Celene directed her questions to the one eyed humanoid hoping he was more capable than he proved so far.

"What? You're nuts!" exclaims Vrinn. "When I said 'let's make a plan', I didn't think it would be one that involved me committing suicide. Viktor is a maniac and the rest of them are unpredictable murderers, I'm not going up on that roof!"



"Ho, ho, ho!" laughs Vrinn. "Is this some sort of poor attempt at reverse physiology? Anyway, it is true that I don't usually get into direct physical confrontations - I am smarter than that. But I can take care of myself if I need to. And just let me add, if I get to strike first then whoever I hit isn't usually alive afterwards to start a 'direct confrontation'."

"As to how else I can help... well, I think I could put a spanner into the works of that bell contraption. I would need a bit longer to pick the lock or completely disable it mind you, but I could slow it down enough to allow the rest of you to get to the top."

"I should point out to those of you considering climbing the tower that it is quite a climb - eighty feet straight down Viktor said to torment Zelina. And that madman has made some sort of golem out of the Lidu Falcon. It flies around like a wasp, moving in and out of the darkness. It can apparently see very well in the dark and you would be sitting ducks while you climbed the tower..."

Celene seemed pleased with the changelings response she moved towards the dead hobgoblin and knelt down removing his boots "I assume we'll need these clothes to make the transformation convincing?" she said as she fell back onto her butt when the boot finally popped free. "I might be able to clean some of the blood away. There's far too much here for someone who hasn't bled out." Celene cast a spell quickly before she started on the other boot.

Also casting detect magic to see if the dead have anything useful on them.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:40, Thu 15 Dec 2016.

Angati sighed, nodding "You are right, that would be unfair to ask... but if you can just pose as Grimjagg and jag the trap for Zelina so that it gives us the time we need... well, I think that is all I could hope to ask for...  just a second, before you go...".

Angati used a charge of Shield of Faith on Vrinn, "and... here, I think this may come useful if you need to convince them of anything, you will see it will be much more... hmmm convincing" she said putting a bit of the perfume on Vrinn.

Angati knew she was taking a big risk, trusting Vrinn so much, but she didn't have an option and she had always felt bad about what had happened to him in the first place.

OOC: Using 1 charge of perfume and 1 charge of the wand.

All Alohan could muster for Vrinn was a wink. The world continued to swim for the Native and he was having problems focusing but from what he could recount of the plan Vrinn would be important. With aid of his weapon, Alohan leveraged himself up and peered at the tower above them. 'How many stairs did he say?' he asked himself. This was going to be a physical test.

---

Would appreciate the minute or two it takes for my fatigue to wear off but for the interest of time, I can understanding going in immediately
This message was last edited by the player at 00:30, Fri 16 Dec 2016.

OOC: So there is damage to be healed. Celene, do you want to use your channeling for the last time ever? :D

Alohan 12
Angati 1
Logan 6
Celene 0
Kassius 8
Kibeti 12

- Other than shield of faith and fancy perfume on Vrinn, are there no more buffs?
- I'm going to say that you wait the next 4½ minutes (45 rounds) for Alohan to recover from the fatigue, even if Angati fumes about it. Vrinn has made it clear that the madman intends to execute his plan on the stroke of midnight so they will still have 240 rounds to get to the top after that. I hope that will be enough :/ This also gives time for Vrinn to quickly change and then carry out his deception, and gives Ron a chance to have a decent level of participation in the combat.
- Normal matching order? Alohan, Angati, Logan, Celene, Kassius & Kibeti. Any particular plan for entering the next room? Bursting through at high speed or slow and cautious?

"<sigh> Fine. Life was getting boring anyway. Just make sure that you come and back me up after that nutter figures out who I am."



Vrinn wrinkles his noise at the bloody garments. The hobgoblin monk wasn't wearing much - black silk pants and a dark cloak plus a pair of bracers. The silk pants have a long dark red stain on them from where Grimgraj's arterial blood spilt out of his chest. "Well, I have worn grosser clothes, but not often!" With a sigh he quickly puts on the pants, cloak and bracers, and then disappears through the door. The party hopes they can trust him because otherwise this is going to be the mother of all ambushes.



None of Durok's possesions shine, although his warhammer, studded leather armour and wooden shield look to be of good quality.

The only thing that shines on Grimgraj's body are his bracers. (Bracers of Armour +2). Of course Vrinn needs to put these on as part of his disguise. I will adjust his AC accordingly.

Celene calls upon Wee Jas to heal her allies once more. Seeing that both Kibeti and Alohan are still injured she uses her spells to heal each of them.

---

Free :  | Swft :  | Move : | Stnd : | Full :

Total of 8 hp healed for Kassius, Angati, and Logan. 11 hp for Alohan. 15 hp for Kibeti.

10:28, Today: Celene rolled 6 using 1d6.  Channel.

10:28, Today: Celene rolled 2 using 2d6.  channel x2.

10:31, Today: Celene rolled 3 using 1d8+1.  Cure Light Wounds - Alohan.

10:32, Today: Celene rolled 7 using 1d8+1.  Cure Light Wounds - Kibeti

Celene will also cast Bless when they are at the bottom of the tower. Or further up if we can get closer before we are attacked.

---

HP:  25/25 |  AC: 14/14/14  | CMD : 15 | Saves: +4/+2/+9

Special Notes:

  (De)Buffs : Mage Armor 3 Hours
 Conditions :
  L0 Spells :
   - Unlim. : Detect poison, Dancing Lights, Daze (DC15), Flame Burst,
              Mage Hand, Message,
              Guidance, Read Magic, [empty slot])
   - 1/day  : Detect Magic, Light , Prestidigitation
  L1 Spells :
   - 7/8    : Burning Disarm (DC 16), Burning Hands (DC 16), Cause Fear,
              Charm person (DC 17), Grease (DC 18), Sleep (DC 17),
              Summon Monster I
   - 1/day  : Bless, Command (DC 14), Protection from Evil,
  L2 Spells :
   1 4/5    : Glitterdust (DC 19)
  Abilities : Flame lance (5/7), Divine Vessel (5/5), Copycat (5/5),
              Channeling (0/7, DC14), Blessing Faithful (-),
              Wand of Magic Missile (41)

Celene heals them all up and casts bless on the party just before they head out with Alohan leading the way.

On the other side of the door they find a 40' by 25' room that rises 80' to a ceiling a dizzying height above. This must be the bell tower, but the original bells have long since fallen to their deaths, their rafters eaten away by the mould and termites that still plague this room. At the far end of the room is a rickety old metal spiral staircase. Its metallic materials mean that it has survived a little better than everything else in this room but not by much - it is covered in rust and is missing many uprights on the guardrail.

Without hesitating, they charge onto the stairs (I guess the party does this, I didn't get any information on this so I assume they try to get to the top as quickly as possible).

Viktor times the ambush perfectly. Once the final party member is on the stairs he screams out the command word to activate the two figures of wondrous power that are positioned on the 5th and 7th step. These expands into fully grown ferocious lions, which force their way either side of Logan - they immediately attack the thief. The rogue sees the lion above (#1) and dodges, meaning the animal misses him entirely... he doesn't see the lion behind him (#2) at all. The creature jumps on his back and bites down on his shoulder, crunching it with a hungry roar. The beast shows no sign of letting go soon. (16 hp - Lion #2 confirmed critical hit even with an MF reroll. As it hit with bite attack, it got a free grapple attempt with no AoO and was successful. Logan is now grappled).

Two arrows fly out of the darkness and thud into the metal stair an inch from Alohan's foot. The barbarian looks up as he continues running up the stairs and see two glowing red eyes staring back at him. Scrimshaw is somewhere up in the rafters 80' feet odd above him. Of course the crafty gargoyle has positioned himself so that even once Alohan gets to the top, he will still be safely out of reach.

Manage appears at the bottom of the stairs - another potion of invisibility no doubt - and tries to squewer Kibeti with his rapier. Even flatfoot, the cat manages to dodge.

Rrregla also appears... she is actually hanging off the outside of the spiral staircase about 10' above the ground. Her long arms reach for Celene and the sorceress has to push herself hard up against the central column of the stairway to avoid being entangled (grapple attempt unsuccessful! - due to Rrrelga's position, she may not take AoO's).

Here is the ground floor of the room. I can't show positions on here unless your are on the ground.


Here is a schematic of the spiral staircase. The top is at altitude 80', i.e. segment #32 at 160' distance.

You can jump off the staircase very easily since the guardrails are low and flimsy - just find our your altitude and make the necessary acrobatics checks and damage rolls. Round the altitude up when doing this.

You have line of sight two steps up or down from your current position. If there are friendlies in your light of sight then the enemy gets soft cover fi you're using missile weapons.

<END OF BAD GUYS' ROUND SIXTY>

HIT POINTS & MISFORTUNE
Alohan  HP: 45/45 <MF NOT USED>
Angati  HP: 46/46 <MF NOT USED>
Logan   HP: 17/33 <MF NOT USED> <GRAPPLED>
Celene  HP: 25/25 <MF NOT USED>
Kassius HP: 33/33 <MF NOT USED>
Kibeti  HP: 36/36 <MF NOT USED>
Vrinn   HP: 25/25 <MF NOT USED>

Lion #1 AC:15/T12/F12 <MF NOT USED>
Lion #2 AC:15/T12/F12 <MF USED> <GRAPPLED>

Mange (Werewolf) AC:18/T13/F15 <MF USED>
Rrregle the Gasper (Choker) AC:21/T17/F17 <MF USED>
Scimshaw (The Ivory Gargoyle) AC:19/T15/F14  <MF NOT USED>


(De-)Buffs
Whole Party
Bless until round 115

Alohan
Mage armour

Angati
Protection from Evil to round 100
Divine Favour to round 70
Time Flicker to round 110

Logan
Protection from Evil to round 37
Barkskin to round 300

Kassius
Gravity bow to round 110

Kibeti
Barkskin to round 300

Celene
Mage armour

Omi
Shield of Faith to round 300

Vrinn
Shield of Faith to round 360
Fancy perfume
Bracers of Armour +2

<START OF PLAYERS' ROUND SIXTY>

Angati, your protection from evil, divine favour and time flicker have expired. Just let me know if you want to recast before you go into battle.

Likewise for Kassius, your gravity bow expired, and Logan, your protection from evil has also ended.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:15, Sun 18 Dec 2016.

Kassius, Angati & Alohan, can you please add your flatfooted and touch AC's to your status block.

Logan can you please add your CMD to your statblock.

"I'm supposed to be doing the flanking, not caught in the middle!"  Logan hops over the railing, falling to the ground and maneuvering to put Mange between himself and Kibeti, drawing his silver dagger in the process.  "Hey, Wolfman!  Want some of this?"

---

Move: Jump off, use acrobatics
Move: Draw Silver Dagger, move to Flank Mange

---

HP: 27/33 (1 NL) AC: 23/16/19 CMD:17  F4 R11 W6

Abilities: Invisibility, Resiliency
Barkskin (+2 Natural AC)

---

20:53, Today: Logan rolled 15 using 1d20+12.  Acrobatics check for fall.
20:54, Today: Logan rolled 1 using 1d6.  Non-lethal falling damage.

OOC: Woah! Hold on there sport! You are the defending in a grapple started by lion #2 in the last round. This savage beast is currently hanging off your back, trying to tear your throat out with its bite and racking its claws along your stomach. Your options are:

A) attempt to become the controller in the grapple using a standard action.
B) attempt to break free as a standard action
C) do any action that doesn't require two hands, i.e. you could attack with a one handed weapon such as your rapier. You'd make this attack at -2 to hit, don't forget you are blessed
D) although it is not explicitly mentioned in the rules, you could 'play dead'. Don't lions only attack live prey? Shit, or is that bears? Anyway, it could be worth a shot.

I have changed the status blocks to show that lion #2 and Logan are grappled.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:12, Sat 17 Dec 2016.

OOC: Carrying out Beni's orders here.

Angati starts casting a spell. This creates an opening for lion #1 to spin around from Logan and attack her (AoO) but Angati just bashes it away with her shield and continues her spell.

From its position on top of Logan's back, lion #2 roars and then lets go of the thief,. It leaps off the stairs (3 hp non-lethal damage) and starts running out of the room. (It triggers an AoO from Logan Celene if you guys want to take it).

OOC: This lion will be <FRIGHTENED> for two rounds.

OOC: Dang. So now Logan's move is totally valid! Okay, please ignore my earlier post John, you can now jump down and go after Mange.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:28, Sat 17 Dec 2016.

Excellent, all my plans are falling into place perfectly.

I would have re-cast gravity bow before entering the room.

Kassius hates fights like this. Cramped, chaotic, and close-range, he has a great difficulty finding any targets. The one foe he can see is the choker, hanging next to him outside the stairs. Bracing against the railing, Kassius stumbles awkwardly, causing the first shot to go awry. The second fires true, nailing Rrregle.

Kibeti meanwhile attacks Mange furiously, despite the werewolf's resistance to his attacks.

---

Kassius
17:54, Today: Kassius rolled 11,28,8,12 using 1d20+8,1d20+8,2d6+4,2d6+4.  Rapid shot attack, damage.
17:54, Today: Kassius rolled 19,24 using 1d20+8,4d6+8.  confirm crit.
Swift Action: Activate Animal Focus
Full Round Action: Rapid Shot

---

HP: 33/33  AC 19 (FF=14, Touch=15), Saves+7/+10(11)/+5
Spells Slots: 1st: 3/5; 2nd: 1/3;  Animal Focus Minutes Left: 3/5, Door Sight 6/6
Current Buffs: Gravity Bow, animal focus (tiger)

---

Kibeti
17:57, Today: Kibeti rolled 6,10,20,12,11,14 using 1d20+5,1d20+5,1d20+5,1d6+10,1d6+10,1d6+10.  full attack (smite still active).
Full Round Action:Full Attack M

---

HP: 36/36AC 19 (21) (FF=15(17),Touch=14), Saves+6/+8/+5
Current Animal Focus: bull(+2 str)
Current Buffs: Barkskin

The second shot hits Rrrelga's throat and passes right through, some of the fletching being stripped off as the arrow as it rips out the back of her head. A confused look appears on the choker's face as she tries to breathe but can't. She lets got of the railing with both hands and clutches frantically at her throat, falling slowly unto the floor below. Once there she becomes a writhing patch of tentacles.

OOC: Nerve reaction only. Very dead.

OOC: Roger that.

Kibeti attacks ferociously, but does little damage (4 hp).