Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Amber did the grisly work of killing the creatures, releasing blood that glowed with an unreal light and which radiated heat almost as strongly as the magma pools, at least at first. It cooled quickly, and after a time she felt comfortable lifting a section of the creatures' hides. It seemed oddly cool, at least compared to the rest of the corpse. She added her own shredded armor to her burden, and headed quickly back to the water.

The seawater and especially shifting back to her natural form seemed to do a lot for the mermaid's injuries. After an hour or two swimming lightly near the island, she felt ready to continue, however she wished to proceed. She also had studied the island more thoroughly. The creatures of the sea seemed to mostly avoid the place, though she saw one relatively normal-looking crab. Or it was normal looking until it moved sideways into one of the spots where magma vented into the water. It broke through a thin shell of rock and slipped into the liquid fire inside, apparently with neither concern nor harm. Normal creatures avoided the place.

The slightly odd thing was that the island didn't seem magical. The rock was real rock, really formed by cooling magma, at various speeds and with various compositions, but completely natural. It wasn't until she was nearly healed that Amber was able to feel a magical oddity. It wasn't a spell so much as the memory of a spell. Magic had been used here once. Or... near here. A lot of magic, to be felt years after the fact, even in a much-reduced form. Amber could hardly be surprised to realize that it seemed to have been used in the general direction of the smoking rise.

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

The exceptionally hot blood bothered Amber, though she supposed it went without saying that the creatures on this volcanic island would take on characteristics of the volcano itself. Regardless, once the corpse cooled down to a more manageable temperature, the mermaid steeled herself and began the grim work of skinning them. It was unfortunate that she couldn't just let the creatures rest in peace, but she needed funds, and armor.

Getting to the relative safety of the ocean and shifting back to her mermaid form, Amber rested awhile, recovering from her disastrous first foray into the island. She took the time to observe her surroundings, being surprised by the crab's absurd tolerance, or perhaps it was a preference, for heat. Determining the island was distinctly non-magical, except for the smoking area that had drawn her interest initially, Sara reaffirmed her decision to venture to that place to find out just what the place was.

However, there was the matter of her battlemage's robes to attend to... Remembering the merchant, a strange, sort-of deity who's powers were not entirely known, at least by those she had talked to, she sought to summon him by thought as she had learned this was the way to summon him to barter goods. Should he appear to her underwater, she would furnish the skins, requesting a set of battlemage armor and a health potion should the skins be worth enough, and taking any leftover as denarii. Once that was done, it would be about time to try her luck with the island again...

OOC:

Spoiler

I'm not 100% sure what she looted, though looking at the item list I figured it was probably small skins, worth 20 denarii each. In that case Amber will buy 1 battlemage armor, worth 10 denarii and one health potion worth 10 denarii, taking the remainder of the skins' worth as denarii.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Assuming you drop your buffs to recover SP. Not that you used a lot, but you were resting and aren't immediately re-entering combat. Also, those hides will be a unique item that only drops from foes in this volcano. They'll function as small hides if you want them to, but they may serve some other magical function. And the merchant will buy them for 25 denarii each, instead of 20.

For a long moment it appeared that nothing had happened. No mysterious person appeared, her items didn't mysteriously vanish out of her hands, her coin purse didn't get any heavier. Suddenly a voice called out, clear despite being underwater, and not the telepathy mermaids typically used. "Over here, Stranja."

A figure stepped out from behind one of the newly-formed rocks that were strewn about the seafloor. He - it had sounded male, at least - wore a long leather coat that came up over his head in a hood, shrouding his eyes. A mask nearly met the hood coming the other way, only the Merchant's eyes visible in the gloom. The water didn't seem to bother him. In fact, it didn't seem to interfere with him or his clothing at all. He walked on the sea floor rather than swimming, and this seemed to take no more effort than walking on the surface.

He accepted the skins, gloved hand rubbing thoughtfully at them before paying out a total of 50 denarii for the pair. More than the mermaid had expected, but the almost birdlike monsters hadn't exactly been your average beasts either.

Then one hand grabbed his coat and pulled one side open, revealing a variety of odds and ends in little pouches and hoops, as he spoke again. "Got a selection of good things on sale, Stranja." One small glass phial full of dark red liquid was a health potion, which Amber bought. And... there was a near-exact copy of her armor there. It hung on the inside of his coat, and looked dry until it left his hands and passed into the mermaid's.

The transactions concluded, the daemon ducked behind a rock and was suddenly gone. With her health potion and new armor, plus 30 extra denarii, Amber went back towards the shore, ready to try the island a second time. She could try the same way again, or try to find a better place to start. It was well past noon now, if she started immediately she could probably make it to the smoking hill and back to the sea by nightfall.

Spoiler

51 HP, 62 PP, 67 SP;

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Amber exhaled in relief when the merchant showed up. If he had been no more than a myth, she would be in a tight spot indeed. Still, she couldn't help being a little wary of a being capable of walking around on the ocean floor, as if totally immune to any affect the water might have on him...or it...

It intrigued her that daemon paid her so much for the skins, perhaps there was more to the creatures of this island than she had thought. It did make a certain amount of sense though, when she thought about how different the creatures here were from their more...run of the mill cousins. Normal crabs couldn't just walk into magma, and the avian, lizard-beings she had fought were a fair bit different from other similar creatures she had heard tales of that inhabited the mainland. Perhaps she would save a skin or two if she came upon any more, they might have some hidden value to them. Of course, that would entail more fights, but then, perhaps that was just the trade off for fewer traps...

After donning her new armor and resting a little longer, Amber felt ready to attempt to explore the island again. Though she didn't relish another encounter with the lizard things, she resolved herself to the fact that she had to go. This time she would try to ensure they couldn't take her back while she was walking.

Reaching the surface and regretfully shifting back to human form, she donned a spell to boost her perception, hoping to notice the inhabitants of the island before they could attack her. Additionally, she decided to disguise herself as one of the lizard creatures in an attempt to discourage the local monsters from attacking her. Conscious of the difference between the creatures and herself, Amber did her best to maintain the illusion around her in such a way that it would appear to move as the creatures did, rather than as she did.

Her spells in place, Amber set out towards the smoke and magical remnants, eyes peeled for another lizard ambush.

Magic:

Spoiler

Radience (lv 2 Light): +16 perception 2EP
Alter Self (Utility) [The caster can alter their appearance using an illusion, effectively disguising themselves. They still possess their original dimensions beneath the illusion, and creatures touching them may make a Resistance check against the caster in order to disbelieve the effect.] 6 EP 8 EP spent

OOC:

Spoiler

Oh okay, I had just assumed it was a normal item drop from standard raptors, but if they are special, and more importantly magical.... I'll probably hang on to any more if I happen upon them. I guess it makes sense giving the way the creatures have adapted to volcanic conditions.

Also, Resident Evil 4?

PS: Yea, my bad I should have specified, thanks.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

OOC:

Spoiler

Yea, I had to make up my own volcanic monsters, and I decided to give them a unique drop with one or more magical or alchemical properties. I'm sure you'll be able to find enough of them that selling two won't really matter. >.>

Also: yes, the Merchant is from RE4. Which I haven't played (yet).

As the transformed and disguised mermaid made her way away from the shore and towards the smoking mountain, changes started to become apparent. The air grew hotter, and an odd red moss started to cover a wide area around some of the magma vents in addition to the strange plants that seemed to nearly hug the molten rock itself. A few of the crabs she had seen underwater skuttled straight into the pools when her illusion got too close.

She didn't see any more of the fire raptors, at least not yet. If this was because of her disguise, or luck, or because she was still too close to the territory of the pair she had killed, or if they were simply better at hiding than even her enchanced perception could penetrate was impossible to know. There was also no way to check how effective her illusion was. Amber did her best, but only a proper test would prove its efficacy.

She was at the foot of the smoking rise when she found the next new thing. It had been in a hidden cave which she had stepped in front of before she realized it was there. Deep in the cave something glowed, giving light, and heat rolled out of the entrance. Inside, a pair of eyes opened, and the mermaid just had time to adjust to the dimness of the cave before the thing moved. It was another scaly monster, much like the raptor but on all fours, low to the ground like a lizard, with a less avian head. A long, spiny frill stood up straight from its back, with glowing red veins.

The thing took one look at Amber's disguised form and started toward her, opening its mouth as if to roar. As it moved, she saw a cluster of small jet-black ovals that the thing must have been curled around. But instead of a roar, only a sort of coughing sound came out as it worked its jaws. After a few times there was a spark deep in the thing's throat. And then a lance of white-hot flame shot out of the mouth of the cave, narrowly missing the illusory raptor's head.

Spoiler

51 HP, 62 PP, 59/67 SP; +16 Perception, Alter Self

Enemies:
Fire Drake: fine, ~20 feet away down the mouth of the cave.

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

While she picked her way through the desolate landscape, Amber made a point of avoiding large rocks and ravines and anything else that might give raptors another chance to ambush her. She trusted her illusion to accurate enough to fool the raptors, however she didn't know how strong their other senses might be. It was completely possible they could discern something different about the way she walked, carried herself, smelled, or anything else that might give away the nature of her illusion.

Despite the danger, she still found herself amazed at the completely alien nature of the landscape around her. The lava flows, magma pools, bizarre lava crabs, even the plant life had taken on the aspect of the volcano. It truly was something amazing. And still Amber pushed on, determined to make it to the center of the island where the smoke and magical auras were the strongest.

Looking to the top of the rise and wondering what lay at the top, she didn't see the cave until she was directly in front of it. What was inside had no trouble attracting her attention from the landscape around her. It was big, scaly, and very angry looking. Her eyes widened in supplies, taking in the sight of the creature before her as it shifted, giving her a view of the small stone-looking things. Eggs? She couldn't be positive, but as she ducked away from the flames it shot out of her mouth it seemed possible. She cursed her luck at stumbling upon a drake when she had been trying to avoid conflict.

Backpedaling away from the drake, she decided the way to deal with this creature would be to overwhelm it with numbers while she got into a better position to attack the creature with more powerful magic. The problem was, she didn't have anything to overwhelm it with, so she had to make it think it was being overwhelmed. What she was now contemplating was extremely risky, but she didn't see a way around it. If this thing got close to her, she was likely done. She had to keep it at bay. Channeling the magical energy within her, she increased the amount of energy she was throwing into her spells in order to speed up the rate at which she cast them. If she couldn't get these off in time things would get really bad for her.

First she attempted to use her greater illusions spell to cause what appeared to be a large pack of the raptors she was currently disguised as to drop down from the mouth of the cave, and run around the sides. Several of them would stay in front of the cave, hissing angrily at the drake while the rest of the pack ran back and forth irritably in front of the cave in an attempt to make the drake focus on anything other than Amber herself.

After that illusion was cast, Amber attempted to summon a low powered water elemental. In the event that the drake saw through the illusions, she wanted something of actual substance standing between the two of them, and while a stronger ice elemental would have been preferable, she summoning one so soon after casting such a powerful illusion would have been too taxing on her for the situation she was in.

OOC:

Spoiler

Tries to avoid raptors, finds a drake... Nothing she can't handle though!

Base Casting: 32 for arcane, light, and water

Defensive fighting (casting): 14 points from attack and dodge to add 7 to BC

Activate Magic Feat, Quicken Spell: Pay 4 EP, penalty of 10 to casting, cast additional spell.

Cast Greater Illusions: Light (lv 4) utility, EP 6, Casting check 30, BC 29 Resistance check: +34
[Can be used to create more powerful illusions, including large numbers of creatures with sound, create images of oneself that can spread out and seem to attack on their own, ect. Creatures get a Resistance check against the caster to disbelieve an illusion that they try to interact with.

Cast Call Water Elemental: Water (lv 2) summon, EP 2, casting check 10
This creature gets the Grapple Expert and 2x the Pain Resistant Talents

Water Elemental Stats:
Body= 24
HP= 24
Resistance= 12
Speed= 15
Dodge= 12
Armor= 12 AV
Perception= 15
Grapple= 36

 

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Errors: base casting for arcane/light/water after all penalties and bonuses should be 29.
The non-casting version of defensive fighting can't be used if you don't make an attack roll (otherwise you'd not be sacrificing anything). Since you *are* still sacrificing dodge with the casting version I'll temporarily rule that you can use it regardless. I'll inform you if I get a clarification that contradicts this, otherwise assume it's fine.

Spoiler

Amber spends an additional 4 EP for trying to cast 2 spells this round.
Casting Check (Amber, Greater Illusions): (32+7-10=29)+2 = 31 v 30 -> Success!
Casting Check (Amber, Call Water Elemental): 29+20 = 49 v 10 -> Success!

Casting (Drake): 23+9 = 32 v 20 -> Success!
Attack (Drake): 32+3 = 35 v 12 -> Hit!
Damage (Drake): (4+5)*3 = 27-(12-10) = 25
-> The water elemental is defeated.

Resistance check (Drake vs Amber): 16+9 = 25 v 39 = 5+34 -> Amber wins

The drake backed somewhat into its cave at the sudden appearance of a dozen more raptors, its tail lashing back and forth, but after a few steps it stopped and stood its ground, making the odd coughing sound again. Though clearly outnumbered, it didn't seem willing to give up or flee.

The water elemental formed out of the air a little less quickly then Amber might have wished, not aided by the complete lack of moisture this far onto the volcanic island. Nevertheless, it stood firmly between the drake and the illusory raptor that concealed the mermaid.

The drake's beady eyes fixed on this oddity immediately, and its next cough was directed at the elemental. This time it seemed a little more forceful, and Amber could see the sparks form in the thing's throat in the instants before a bead of fire flew from the beast to the ground at the feet of the only solid defense she had. The bead exploded in a fireball, and when it cleared there was only a quickly-drying patch of rock where the elemental had been.

Several of the illusory raptors were caught in the blast as well, and while Amber was a little slow in having them react - and for that matter she couldn't be sure how the things should react to magical fire - the drake didn't seem to notice, at least yet.

Spoiler

Perception: 37+19 = 56

Though it had only lasted a few seconds, the lack of a direct attack had given Amber the chance to study the situation a little more. The objects behind the drake were clearly the eggs of some large creature. None of them were obviously broken, and the drake was holding itself between the raptors and the eggs in much the same way that Amber's elemental had been placed between the threat and herself.

Spoiler

51 HP, 62 PP, 47/67 SP;37 Perception, alter form, greater illusion

Allies:
a dozen illusory raptors

Enemies:
Fire Drake, fine

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Affirmative, that makes sense.

Amber winced as she watched the sparks form into a raging inferno that blasted her water elemental into water vapor and disappointment. Despite the heat of the blast, the elemental and her illusory raptors bought her enough time to further assess the situation. The drake was clearly guarding the eggs. It was a sentiment she understood, the desire to protect her young was perhaps one of the most ingrained instincts a female could have. Still, she knew she couldn't leave an angry drake behind her. Another thought troubled her as well, she didn't know if this was a mommy or daddy drake, or what their mating habits might be otherwise, and she knew she didn't want to be caught between this drake, another drake or large creature, and those eggs.

Amber decided to end this as quickly as possible. She knew she would need something big to take down the drake, but first she needed to get it to stop breathing fire all over the place. If the situation permitted, she would try to sooth the angry drake with her telepathy, however she wasn't overly optimistic about the chance of that happening. Sighing, she dropped her perception buff so that she could focus on her chains of light spell to bind the drake up, making sure to attempt get some chains around its snout to keep it closed.

OOC:

Spoiler

Drops perception body buff, maintains alter self and greater illusions
Casts Chains of Light: lv 4 light utility, CC 30, 6 EP to cast, 1 EP upkeep
The character may choose a creature within line of sight of them. That creature is hit by an effect identical to the Binding Spirit Power with an effective value of X equal to 1 + Mind/6 X= 8

Spend 6 EP and upkeep

Binding
-One target creature within line of sight must win a Resistance check equal to 6X or gain the Bound Status. Powers and Spells that could normally be used even with the bound status cannot be used while the creature is bound with this power. All active Powers and Spells on a creature that fails this check are deactivated. The creature bound in this way can attempt a new Resistance check every round in order to escape at the same DC so long as the character pays the upkeep cost.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Casting (Amber): 32+2 = 34 v 30 -> Success!
Resistance Check (Drake): 26+3 = 29 v 48 -> Failure

The binding set easily on the creature, encountering greater resistance than might have been expected of a typical wild animal, but still not enough to cause any problems for an experienced mage. The beast found itself unable to move, and though it tried again to breath fire, it managed nothing more than to cause smoke to pour briefly out of its nostrils. It did not look happy, but it wouldn't easily move.

Spoiler

51 HP, 62 PP, 41/67 SP; alter form, greater illusion, chains of light

Allies:
a dozen illusory raptors

Enemies:
Fire Drake, Bound.

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

It occurred to Amber that the drake was likely trying to protect its eggs. She felt a pang of sympathy, perhaps even empathy, for the creature. It was just trying to protect its family from the threat it perceived, she had just had the bad luck to walk right past its nest.

She decided to back off rather than kill it. She started to move herself and her illusion away from the cave and further on towards the center of the island. If it broke free and started attacking her she would be forced to reengage and try to put it down, but if it didn't then once she felt herself get as far as she could without loosing hold on her spell she would release the chains. If the drake still came for her then she would have no choice but to deal with it more permanently.

Spoiler

Going to move Amber and her illusion to the edge of the range of her binding spell before releasing it. If the drake breaks free early and tries to attack her or comes after her after she releases it she's going to attack with magic again. She is sympathetic to the drake trying to protect its home from invaders, but not sympathetic enough to risk getting burned to a crisp by it. She has her own home to look after after all.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

The drake roared in frustration as it failed to shake itself free of Amber's spell, and continued to struggle as she and her illusions both backed away. Only once they were well clear of the cave mouth did it seem to calm down. The mermaid continued moving away, until she was nearly out of sight to one side of the cave, and barely able to hold onto her spell binding the drake. Finally, she released it.

From the sound, it moved immediately towards the cave mouth, but as she continued to back away Amber didn't see it actually pass the entrance.

She turned to look back at her situation. The slope continued upward towards the column of smoke near the heart of the island, and the broken landscape continued in every other direction to the sea, dotted with magma pools. There wasn't anything else of particular interest in her immediate environment aside from the Drake in its cave.

Spoiler

Sorry, might take me a post or two to really get back into the grove of things. If you notice any errors, tell me. It's been long enough that I'm almost certainly going to remember some things wrong.

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Satisfied that the drake was no longer a threat, Amber turned and started to pick a path across the broken and hazardous landscape towards smoke at the center of the island. Not feeling a strain from maintaining the illusory raptors, she decided to keep up the illusion in the hopes of springing any traps or ambushes early.

Believing that the drake would have attacked anything that came close to its nest, she decided to try her earlier strategy again of disguising herself as a raptor and increasing her perception. Stopping behind a boulder, she took a pause to cast a body buff to increase her perception before casting an illusion to make herself look like the raptors that inhabited the island.

Once her spells were cast, she would continue forward, keeping an eye out for anything that might be indicative of the wizard who had once resided here, as well as keeping an eye out for raptors and now anything that looked like it might be home to some local creature, caves in particular.

Spoiler

Maintain greater illusion,
First: cast lesser body buff, perception (lv 2), costs 2 EP with 0 to upkeep.
Second: Cast alter self (lv 4 light), costs 6 EP, no upkeep. Both should be auto-success.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Casting: auto-success.
Resistance: 1d20+22 = 4+22 = 26 vs 25 = 20+5 = 20+1d20 -> Amber wins!
Resistance: 1d20+22 = 8+22 = 30 vs 59 = 56+3 = 56+1d20 -> Amber fails.

Her various buffs and illusions arranged to her satisfaction, Amber continued up the slope. She passed nothing that looked like it might hold more local creatures until she reached the top, and had so far seen absolutely nothing on the island that indicated it had ever been home to even a single human.

Until she looked over the lip at the top of the hill. With her enhanced vision it wasn't too difficult to make out. A sphere of glass glinting in the light almost directly across from Amber. Hanging twenty yards above the enormous pool of bubbling magma that lay in the center of a bowl at the top of the rise. If she looked closely, the mermaid would just barely be able to make out a glint of red at the heart of the sphere of glass.

And to her magical senses what had happened here suddenly became obvious. There was little enough sign of magic on the rest of the island, but here at its heart someone had opened a hole to the planet's fiery heart. The required power and expertise was unfathomable, all the more so because it hadn't actually exploded. At least not very much, or recently.

A sudden sound made Amber spin around, and she found a pack of half a dozen of the firey raptors almost on top of her, running along the rim of the caldera. They didn't seem to realize that she wasn't a raptor, and they treated her other illusions as if they were real. Unfortunately, their first instinct seemed to be to fight rather than to flee. Though at least they all seemed to be going for members of the fake pack rather than Amber herself.

And if that wasn't enough, there seemed to be something going on in the magma lake.

Spoiler

51 HP, 62 PP, 33/67 SP;35 Perception (lesser Strength), Alter Self, Greater Illusion.

Foes: 6 raptors advancing quickly.

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Seeing the source, or rather the end result of the magic wrought on the island was rather awe-inspiring, and she had a suspicion that the object contained in the glass that levitated over the pit of lava was the gem she was searching for. However, her attention was diverted by the sudden attack by the lava lizards. Fortunately they were busy with her illusory raptors, but there was no telling how long they would be fooled.

She knew she needed to even the odds, and decided her first move would be to summon a more potent ally, an ice elemental to start beating on the lava-raptors. She had considered using a light spell to blind the raptors, but given the their likely resistance to the damage those spells would cause she decided to wait until more of them were in a group so she could blind a number of them at once. Her interest was piqued by something happening in the lava, but she didn't really have time to investigate it at the moment. The way things were going though, she assumed it wasn't good.

Spoiler

If summoning counts as an active affect and she would be penalized for trying to summon with three spells already active, Amber will drop the perception buff. Otherwise she will keep it this turn.

Summon Ice Elemental (lv 4 water) 30 to cast (should auto-succeed):
Stats:

Spoiler

Body: 56
HP: 56
AV:14
Dodge:28
Perception:24
Speed:24

Talents: Heavy Hitter (+8 dmg melee), Skill with unarmed (+12 unarmed atk roll), Exceptional, pain resistant 2X (+10 AV), +10 cold damage with unarmed attack

Mutations: Natural Attack: 2d12+body/3

Attack: d20+68
Damage: 2d12+26+10 cold dmg

 

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Casting: success! A water elemental is summoned!

Roar: (3,4)*6 = 42
-7 = 35
-14 = 28
-11 = 31

(Also, I accidentally put the Dragon's resistance check in the previous post.)

The ice elemental seemed to resist forming for a moment, but it did finally appear, blurring into place as if revealed by shifting mist. It seemed to surprise the raptors, two of which darted between her illusions to move towards it.

Before they made contact, however, and just as the her illusions were effortless dodging the attacks of their real counterparts, a jet of flame shot out at an angle from the pool of lava. A large portion of which then pulled out of the pool and into the air. Bits dripped down to the ground, hissing and cracking on the rocks, and Amber saw what had been hiding below the pool. It wasn't quite so large as the biggest whales she'd seen, and it was much more leanly built... but it was still easily twenty yards long, with wings spreading nearly twice as far on either side, leathery tips fluttering in the wind as it turned upward towards the rim of the hill.

As it passed directly above the group, the great red dragon let out a roar that shook the earth and very nearly knocked Amber to the ground. She felt something wet running down from her ears, and could only hope it was melted earwax rather than blood.

The thing turned with impossible agility, another snort of flame almost absentmindedly coming out of its nostrils, and turned back towards Amber. The raptors - the real ones - had abandoned their attack in the instants after the roar, and were fleeing down the hill as quickly as they could. The dragon completely ignored Amber, her elemental, and her illusions for the moment, and adjusted its flight to intercept the raptors in the next few seconds.

Spoiler

16/51 HP, 62 PP, 33/67 SP;35 Perception (lesser Strength), Alter Self, Greater Illusion; roar (-6 to all non-damage rolls until end of encounter)

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

#fuuuuucked
*notices that summoning water/ice elementals seems to provoke dragon rage, decides a change of tactics might be in order*

Six raptors would be a serious pain to deal with, even two had been a handful. However, upon the exit of the red dragon from the lake of magma Amber decided that six fire raptors really weren't so bad. One thing was sure, she was really going to be over reptiles by the time she could leave this island behind for good. Then it roared, nearly laying her low with sound alone.

Staggering back upright, she saw the dragon chase off the real raptors and knew not only that she was on a serious clock now, but she had a sinking feeling it didn't believe her illusory raptors at all. She pulled out a health potion and quaffed it, recovering her strength as she made for the lake, determined to make use of the dragon's current distraction to grab the gem and make a quick exit. Failure and death weren't options at this point. Her people were counting on her!

On her approach to the lake she split off a little from her ice elemental and dropped her alter self spell that was disguising her as a raptor. The elemental was going to serve as a guinea pig for any subtle magical defenses the orb might have. Once she got within range of her telekinesis spirit power, she cast it on the suspended orb, hoping to bring it to land. Of course, if that worked she would set it down near the ice elemental and have it touch the orb and attempt to open it. In the meantime, she was crouched behind the largest rock she could find, attempting to conceal herself in the event the dragon returned.

Spoiler

Use 1 health potion
Drop Alter Self
Use telekinesis on the glass sphere with the pretty red gem inside. Size costs in accordance with reshape power for alchemy: 3X EP (human size or smaller X=1)

 

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

I'm ruling that the ice elemental takes 4 damage a turn for being so close to a magma lake, and 8 for touching the sphere. Amber takes (would take) half that. Also that it's now been a total of 2 turns close to the magma.

Oh, and that telekinesis is limited to 100 feet. The sphere is 20 yards up, and at the center of a 50 yard lake. That puts it 96 feet from the shore.

Even as Amber turned to move to the lake, the dragon dove from the sky and hit one raptor. It ripped the lesser beast in half under a stream of flame, and ripped a chunk of meat off before throwing the remains to the ground. Five raptors remained, still fleeing.

The magma lake was, unsurprisingly, hot. A few large boulders offered something like shadows against the heat, but that would put the mermaid in clear sight of the dragon if - or when - it returned. Instead she pressed onward. The heat was almost unbearable, and getting worse with every step. Before she reached the edge of her power's range she was sure that her skin was burning as if she'd spent hours in direct sunlight. Her elemental was starting to melt. Amber pulled out a potion and drank it, feeling the damage the dragon's roar had done fade.

The last step was the worst. Another yard or two of magma would have meant she had to be literally over the pool to grab the orb. Fortunately she only had to stand on the shore a moment before the orb was close enough that she could start backing away. The mermaid backed up to one of the larger boulders, crouching down and waiting for the orb to get close enough for what was left of her elemental to grab. Well behind her there was the sound of a gout of flame, followed by several sharp cracks.

The orb floated in at Amber's mental command, and as it approached it became clear that there was indeed a small red gem floating inside. She wouldn't know for sure if it was the right one until she had it in her hand - if then - but it certainly looked right.

As it reached the rocky ground near her, the ice elemental reached out to lift it. Its hands melted off. This close the reason became clear - the sphere itself radiated heat almost as intense as the magma. There were runes carved on the inner surface of the sphere, all the way around, and no clear joins or openings. But it did appear to be fairly ordinary - if particularly fine - glass, and relatively thin. Inside, the gem seemed to be floating on a column of air created by the delicate manipulation of heat within the sphere. It tumbled slowly.

Still, while the sphere was too hot for either her or her ice elemental to carry, there hadn't been any release of magic when the elemental had touched the thing. Further examination with her magic might reveal more - it didn't look so complicated as the other works these eight magi had left - but it would also take time, and the scream of another raptor dying was a reminder that she likely didn't have long to contemplate.

Spoiler

47/51 HP, 62 PP, 30/67 SP;35 Perception (lesser Strength), Greater Illusion; roar (-6 to all non-damage rolls until end of encounter)

Ice elemental: 12/56 HP

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Makes sense to me. Those lake dimensions are incredibly fortuitous. Not complaining, mind you haha

Now that the orb was on the ground, Amber realized what defense the orb had as she felt the intense heat radiating off of it. She commanded her elemental to move back to the caldera with her, but to maintain distance so the orb wouldn't melt it. In the meantime she used telekinesis to move the orb without touching it, trying to keep it a fair enough distance from her so she didn't feel like she was being cooked alive, and made her way back to the rim protecting the lake.

Once she got out of the worst heat, she cast spells to examine and dispel the orb in quick succession, wanting to disarm the spells protecting the orb and get away from the lake as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the roar still echoed in her ears, making it a little more difficult than to focus on her casting than it should have been. There was also the new problem of not being very many many raptors left...

Spoiler

Move orb back to caldera 1 EP telekinesis
Use quicken: costs 4 EP, 10 penalty to BC for turn
Cast examine (lv 1 arcane, should auto) 0 EP
Cast Greater Dispel (lv 3 arcane, check should be 30 with a bc of 26 because of the roar) 4 EP

Assuming the dragon doesn't come back or something else major doesn't happen during this you can do all actions in one post

 

[thetwo]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

(That's X=1 Telekinesis: still 3 EP.)
Casting: 26+13 = 39 -> success
resistance: ???

Moving quickly, Amber got away from the burning heat of the magma pool. Her ice elemental didn't look good, but the magic holding it together seemed to be stable now that it wasn't quite so hot.

And now that she could spare at least a few seconds, the mermaid took a closer look at the orb, under her magical senses.

It still wasn't possible to tell for sure if this was one of the Keys she thought, but she was as sure she could be without trying it out in the lock. The shape was right, the enchantments were right, and it was on the island she'd been directed to.

The sphere itself was, as she suspected, not the same jumble of absurdly complex enchantment that she'd seen from Victor Sabin's tower or Elan Finare's magical traps. There seemed to be only three effects, spread over the entire inner surface of the sphere. The most obvious was the one that kept the gem floating in the middle, using the intense heat to create a column of rising air that varied in speed as required to keep the gem still. The second and third were both triggers, activating... something... elsewhere on the island. One if the sphere were broken. The other if the gem should touch the sphere.

A quarter of the way around the rim, the dragon suddenly appeared, coasting upward in a lazy spiral. Its back was to Amber at the moment, but that would change in seconds. She hastily cast her most powerful spell in an attempt to strip the enchantment from the glass sphere before it did... whatever it was that would happen upon the trigger. Unfortunately, the rune-carved symbols wouldn't have been washed away with that sort of spell even if Amber had the strength of will to match the man who may very well have cast the entire island from molten stone.

Which left the mermaid getting low on energy, as the dragon began the turn that would leave her in its sights. And if things weren't bad enough, she saw the gem in the sphere began to tumble more roughly, and start dropping lower towards the glass. Without the heat of the magma to maintain it, the windstream was faltering. On the bright side, the same fading heat would be leaving the sphere itself cool enough not to badly injure anyone picking it up.

Spoiler

47/51 HP, 62 PP, 19/67 SP;35 Perception (lesser Strength), Greater Illusion; roar (-6 to all non-damage rolls until end of encounter)

Ice elemental: 12/56 HP

 

[sturm]

Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Whoops, my derp.

Amber muttered a string of curses to herself as she failed to eliminate the enchantments, apparently a simple spell wasn't enough to disenchant runes, though she hadn't really had much hope of overcoming the power of enchantments placed by a wizard capable of creating his own island out of magma. Given that she couldn't leave without the gem, and she likely wouldn't be able to figure out a way to remove the runes before they triggered something undoubtedly bad somewhere on the island, she would need to get off the island with the sphere-ensconced gem. First she had to distract the dragon.

Crouching low in the lip of the caldera she decided to cast a spell to fill a portion of the caldera with mist, obscuring the area and hopefully tricking the dragon into investigating that, giving her time to escape. She doubted the mist would last long in this environment, but she just wanted to get over the lip of the caldera and to the ocean. Well, she might need a little more time, but this was the best way she could think of to throw the dragon off her trail.

Looking out, she cast her spell as far away from her as she could against the rising side of the caldera, aiming to keep the fog in the bowl-shaped terrain feature to coax the dragon into the bowl where it wouldn't be able to see the rest of the island. She then bade her illusory raptors to head to the mist and surround it in a defensive posture. This wasn't about tricking the dragon into thinking they were real, it was about convincing it that she was trying to discourage the island's inhabitants from entering the shrouded area.

If the orb was still too hot to touch, she would drop her perception buff and bring the orb with her by using telekinesis, otherwise she would just pick it up and carry it with her.

If the dragon took the bait, she would wait for its back to be to her before heading over the lip of the caldera and making tracks for the ocean, however she would leave her ice elemental on the down-slope of the outside of the caldera. If the dragon followed her over flying low enough, she planned to try to launch the elemental at the it with her telekinesis.

Spoiler

Cast Roiling Mists (lv 2 water) 2 EP fills 200 square foot area with mists, all creatures in mist take -20 perception.

If orb is too hot to touch: Drop Perception buff, use telekinesis 3 EP