Madness in Crawling Flesh IC

[Sallera]

<Just the interior, then? That makes things simpler, thank you. If you have any surfaces you can manipulate freely, I will place wards on them you can bring into direct contact with an intruder on the outside.> Flipping the stone upright again, Yulie addresses everyone except Rygar's agent; her employee she could inform later. <The password to enter outer doors, once I finish the wards, will be Genius Loci. For inner doors, Summer Frost. Bypassing a section of floor marked with a small, symmetrical ink blotch will be Present Time. Do try to check your surroundings and cover your mouth before speaking a password; foolishness will break a ward as fast as spells.>

Yulie gives Quincy an enigmatic smile. "It seems you will get some additional benefits from accepting the contract. For my part, I look forward to seeing the next time you 'sweet talk' one of the storms in our path."

---

"Sylph, darling, let's not get any closer for now." Yulie's voice has an almost liquid quality, muffled by the constant fog, as she responds to the lookout's first sighting of the temple.

"I don't suppose I could borrow that mist eye of yours, Razia? Projecting my senses is rather difficult if I don't know where I'm supposed to put them."

Spoiler

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Yulie can comfortably craft four wards a day while maintaining her daily buff routine and an emergency reserve of pp, so six days of travel should be more than enough for her to complete the warding scheme to her satisfaction.

Any door or hatch connecting outside to inside gets a Disintegrate glyph.
Doors within the inner section get, roughly at random, Dominates with the second creature type augment and the second duration augment (these ones Overchanneled out of necessity) or sonic Blast Glyphs (it's not much damage, but they have the advantage of being loud when they go off).
Random patches of floor get Dispels.
Her own cabin gets a Psionic Lock on the door in addition to the standard wards, of course; she'll pick the most centrally located cabin.

Come temple day, she'll throw a whole barrage of Clairvoyant Senses at the temple from miles out if she can borrow the fog-ignoring item to know where she's putting them, using the earlier ones to better target the later ones. In addition to layout and enemies, she'll try to locate any apparent authority figure(s). Say 30pp worth of scrying, as an initial commitment (unless, of course, something blocks or otherwise interferes with the first few), since each individual scry won't be able to see that far in the fog.

[Mahrke]

Razia is...well, while some would play steadfast and dutiful lookouts, orderly and fastidious, Razia -relaxes-. The layabout is up top in the crows nest, and has set up her own little refuge. A cup of constantly-steaming 'tea' that she never drinks (though often smells) is upon a makeshift table. A rich, black wood guitar is snug across her lag as she reclines in what can only be describes as a hammock, with her head poking over the side of the nest. She's been strumming all evening, playing jaunty little variations until she's sighted the temple on the horizon.

"See? Told you I was paying attention," she taunts, tossing down the newly-minted headband to the elegant and orderly soul that seems a polar opposite to the succubus in disguise. She sticks her tongue out for good measure, and goes back to inhaling tea fumes and playing the guitar. "I thought we were having Madgirl do the scouting. Where is she, anyway? Probably still cooped up in her little shop."

Spoiler: Craft: Alchemy (DC 25) or Poison (DC 15)

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Her 'tea' is a drug called Vodare. An addictive substance that is toxic if ingested, but instills a sense of confidence and euphoria if the vapors are inhaled.

[Jeff the Green]

Arabella is not, in fact, in her workshop. After spending several days in the cramped space she felt the need to fly—after all, if one is going to almost kill yourself installing wings on your back, ought not one use them? This morning she'd flown nearly straight up, above the clouds, past the point where she could no longer breathe and had to hold her breath, until the sky was no longer blue but a brilliant black with only the Ring of Siberys for light. There she could marvel at the Ring, the emptiness beyond. She could even see the curvature of Eberron itself. It was glorious.

But eventually she had to leave. The thin air was hard to fly in, and though she could hold her breath for a great deal longer, that didn't mean it was comfortable.

So as Razia speaks her name she is in fact about two hundred feet above the demoness, plummeting toward the ship. She alights on top of the mast, sitting cross-legged. "Yoo hoo!" she calls down to Razia. "I'm right here, silly." She giggles a bit; the plummet has made her a bit giddy.

[Sallera]

"If possible, I would prefer to learn the major details before we send in anyone vulnerable to attack. Our little butterfly is still physical, however stealthy; projection does not share that weakness," Yulie informed the lounging paladin, before being interrupted by the diving girl in question.

[Jeff the Green]

"I certainly have no objection to scrying beforehand," Arabella says. "Normally I'd do it myself, but Yulie is considerably better about it than me." She drops down to Razia's "crow's nest" and takes a brief sniff of her tea. She wrinkles her nose. "Why doesn't that surprise me. I suppose you're not likely to suffer the side-effects, at least."

[Mahrke]

Razia startles at the sudden appearance of the butterfly, moving to hop up but tangling herself in her little hammock. It spins round and the succubus is hanging upside down, bracing herself on the crow's nest with a palm. She slowly extricates herself, and manages not to tip over her makeshift table in the process. She lays back down with guitar...playing it cool. Yeah. "Getting the freshest air possible, then?" Razia calls up, silently wishing she could stretch her own wings. She picks out a jaunty tune as she looks up at the mechanical butterfly above her. "I do like the idea of using magic before bodies."

[stack]

"Staying at a safe distance and divining sounds wise to me as well. Let me know if you would like the clouds altered."

[Sallera]

Yulie hums as she projects her senses across the gap between the ship and the temple, a task that encounters more resistance than she would expect for a blank expanse. "Well, they are not complete amateurs, but their initial wards leave something to be desired. Curious decorations; I have seen few of those creatures before. One open entrance at the top, over a hundred feet wide at the base, and it continues down into the water. A few boarded up entrances on the lower level. Three of the cult guard the top."

Focusing once more, she shifts her viewpoint to a more precisely targeted location, peering down into the interior.

Spoiler

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Yeah, we'll throw a couple more out there. One at the top, just above the entrance to get a good view inside. One more after that just inside one of the boarded tunnels to see if there are any obvious traps or guards at those entrances.
CL: (1d20+11)[14]
CL: (1d20+11)[31]
If they fail, up to two retries:
CL: (1d20+11)[29]
CL: (1d20+11)[29]

Had initially intended to make use of Remote Viewing, but then realized I have nothing worth casting through it until next level.

[Jeff the Green]

Arabella giggles at Razia's reaction to her sudden appearance. "Really, Razia, you should be more observant," she teases her. She drops her voice to a whisper and smirks at the Succubus. "How on Eberron—or Mabar—did you last so many centuries?"

She jumps down to the deck. "I can't speak for Yulie, but I'd prefer a good cloud cover when I pay our cultists a visit," she tells Quincy. "I appreciate the information, but some things you need to be there to see. And it's hard to observe them if they can see me"

[Sallera]

"Well, there is a great deal of very ugly statuary inside to conceal you, as well as another fourteen of the cult. One apparent leader in red, bones on the altar; nothing unusual there, at least." Yulie shows a faint smile. "And access to the water below. I wonder what they might be keeping down there, aside from the obvious?"

Spoiler

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Onnne more, roughly ten feet below the wooden cover, in the water. Rather not be surprised by an Aboleth if we can avoid it. (Of course, if there were an Aboleth, I could hardly trust my eyes, but eh.)

[Mahrke]

"Hey, I wasn't told to observe an adorable clockwork butterfly hybrid. I was told to observe a temple, and I did. A hundred miles away. Through fog. In the middle of a vast, featureless ocean. I think I deserve some adulation." She riffs her guitar a bit, and sets it down to leans against the side of the crows nest. She crosses her legs, knee over knee, and -relaxes- in her hammock, grabbing cup of 'tea' and wafting a bit of steaming vapor towards her face with a pleasant sigh. One eye opens to Arabella, a smirk painted on the paladin's lips.

Spoiler: Telepathy to Arabella.

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<You've found me out. I'm an inept, vulnerable, non-threatening succubus that you can get close to without worry.> Razia makes the mental equivalent of puppy-dog eyes.

[Sallera]

"Nothing visible, at least, which means little. I would advise testing their responses carefully on your approach; if they have one ward, they likely have others, and presence alarms can be dreadfully annoying to avoid."

[Jeff the Green]

Arabella nods to Yulie. "Thank you for the forewarning," she says sincerely. "I'm not exactly new to this, but it's good to know that they will have wards rather than wonder whether they do."

---

After a couple hours of waiting, Arabella fetches the headband she'd made from Razia. She pulls out her hairpin, allowing her black hair to fall in loose curls to her mid-back, then binds it back with the headband. She casts a quick spell, causing her eyes to briefly glow blue, and then darts off.

Shortly before reaching the temple she veers into a steep climb. Better to approach from above; humans tend not to watch above them. She scans carefully for signs of magic wards before coming down on them from above.

Spoiler: OOC

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She has arcane sight. Also trapfinding, if it's relevant.

[Jeff the Green]

Sensing no wards, Arabella darts down behind the columns. She sizes up her opponents. It's a knack she learned fairly early in her military career, and one that has saved her life before.

As it turns out, the caution is hardly necessary. She could probably take out these three herself, if need-be, but Razia would probably be miffed if she stole her entertainment. Instead, she reports back to Yulie. <The three cultists you saw outside are barely worth our effort. I'm fairly sure that one of them can cast spells of the first grade. I'm going in the pit to look at the others.>

Not waiting for Yulie's response, she does a curious bit of footwork, spins her cloak about her, and seems to vanish into the mist. She zips past the guards and quickly hides behind a statue and begins sizing up the cultists inside. She ticks them off in her mind, particularly the leader at his altar. <The cultists inside are about the same quality. The leader has some significant casting ability, but that's it.>

Just before she leaves, Arabella hovers for a moment at the ceiling. She murmurs a command to her goggles to reveal true nature of those inside, to something of an anticlimax. She does the same little dance once more and flies up and out of the gazebo into the mist.

<I'm out and on my way back,> she relays to Yulie. <I'll give a full briefing when I'm back.>

Only a few minutes later she touches down on the deck of the ship.

[Sallera]

Yulie greets Arabella with a gentle wave as she comes out of the mist, not quite smiling. "Welcome back, darling. It does rather sound as though Rygar's excess of caution was just that, doesn't it? I do hope we can learn some interesting secrets from these apparent amateurs."

[stack]

Quincy waits patiently as the spells are cast. "Let me know if you want more than clouds. Could just blow the place down, lighting through the roof, drop some holes in the ceiling. Wards do little to stop a tornado, most of the time."

[Sallera]

"While that is undoubtedly true, our employer does have plans to claim the location," Yulie says with a hint of reproval. "And it is much more difficult to coax answers from a mangled corpse than a living cultist."

[Mahrke]

Razia opens an eye from above. "A handful of religious types, minding their business in a temple. By all account none of them can pose a threat to us, excepting perhaps the 'high priest'. There is no need for bloodsh-" She yawns, stretching. "-ed. We can knock them out hand-to-hand. No lightning. No fireballs. No recklessly decapitating people like you're on some kind of jihad for the Silver Flame."

[stack]

"Yes, employers never want me to do things the easy way."

[Jeff the Green]

"Give me a minute and I'll show you the layout," Arabella says. She reaches into her satchel and pulls out a jug from which she pours a great deal of sand onto the deck. She puts a hand over it and a model of the gazebo rises up from it. "The three guards are here. One can cast spells of the first-grade—the one with the dagger." Then she changes the model to the nonagonal inside. "Fourteen in here. There are seven more that can cast first-grade spells and six with none. The casters have daggers, the others spears. The leader in the red robe can cast fourth-grade spells.

"The one unknown is the shack here," she says, indicating it. "I didn't think I'd be able to get in without being detected, so I didn't. Yulie, we might not be remiss if we scry there. It's probably an overabundance of caution, but..."

[stack]

"I could do snow too. Nice snow drifts to keep them from escaping." Quincy tosses in, half joking. Subtlety isn't exactly in his repertoire, as is becoming apparent.

[Khosan]

Kacper rises from the floor. Not through the floor, mind, just from it. He'd spent the better part of the morning practicing being a rug out of boredom. It takes him a moment longer to reconfigure his face and put it back where it belongs.

"So," he starts with a sigh, "wouldst thou prefer I take the high priest? If no bloodshed is thine wish, I can make them welcome thee with open arms. Would barely even require any exertion on my part - I'm quite adept at taking the bodies of the living for my own."

[Mahrke]

Razia pulls herself up from her hammock...begrudgingly. It was nice, relaxing in the stiff breeze, far out amongst the clouds. She slips her guitar beneath her cloak, and slings the cupful of 'tea' over the side of the ship, before jumping down. She lands on the deck with a painful-sounding 'thunk', and rises to her full stature, canting her head at Arabella's sand sculpture, before her gaze comes to Kacper. "This sounds like a good plan. If your possession fails, we can rush in and knock out the alcolytes and priest forthwith. Now, the question of approach. Wings, or teleportation?"

[Jeff the Green]

"Wings, for me," Arabella says. "I have some short-range teleportation, but my long-range options are somewhat inaccurate."

[Mahrke]

"Wings it is. Who here -cannot- fly? Holly will carry me over, I know Kacper can...float. Arabella, can you carry anyone or are those things a little too delicate? We can drop off on the exterior, put any sentries to sleep, and leave leading the cult to the ghost most suited for the job." She jerks her head in Kaceper's direction, folding arms over her chest.

[Sallera]

Yulie raises an eyebrow, but prepares to project her senses once more. "I suppose it cannot be any uglier than those statues, but you are fortunate I do not project my sense of smell."

"I can create a pair of wings if needed, although the pattern is not one I prefer. It is rather inelegant."

Spoiler

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Yulie just assumed that was a privy, but for the sake of thoroughness, one more scry.

I'm pretty sure there's a winged elf or somesuch somewhere for Alter Selfing into?

[stack]

"I can fly myself for short distances if needs be. Warping all at once keeps us together though."

[Lateral]

Quincy's magic quickly whips up a storm, and you all fly in under cloud cover. The guards posted outside don't seem to have noticed you yet.

Spoiler

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You guys get a surprise round. Go right ahead.

Map map map map map

[Jeff the Green]

Arabella doesn't particularly like the few seconds before battle. Anxiety quivers through her nerves, coupled with dread. Worst, though was the giddiness, an eager anticipation for the battle. You are an engineer, godsdammit. You are not a warrior. Her reminder to herself doesn't help.

Soon enough, though, she sees the guards. "Well, hello boys," she says with a wolfish smile on her face. She begins the incantation, using the wind to hide her words, and just another thunderclap sounds. This one, however, detonates right in the middle of the triangle of guards.

"Your turn, girls," she tells Holly and Razia. A shrill giggle may have escaped her lips, but if so it's covered by the weather enough to give her plausible deniability. Thank goodness.

Spoiler: OOC

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Standard: Cast great thunderclap. DC 29 Reflex or prone, Fortitude or deafened 1 mintute, Will or stunned 1 round.

[Mahrke]

Razia look different, post-preparation. Most notably, she sports a second pair of arms beneath her first. Hair, no longer a short-cropped mop of purple, whips in the wind. Cherry-red locks are long enough to reach to her butt, and give her a wild, intimidating appearance in the harsh weather. The grasp of her top pair of arms releases from Holly's grasp, and she's lands with a forward roll, lower pair grasping the hilt of her blessed sword. She grins, viciously, and dashes forward with a speed for suited for arrows in flight. Her gleaming blade flashes three times in the howling gale as she pirouettes by each of the cultists and slides to a halt at the end, spinning her sword in an elaborate routing as they crumple to the ground. She sheathes it upon her back, and turns to her companions, giving a low, sweeping bow, eyes flicking upwards between whipping locks as she flashes a superior grin.

Spoiler: ACTIONS

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Weird Immediate Action during Initiative: Nerveskitter (+5 initiative)

Spoiler: Standard: Dance of Death

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ACTION TRIGGER: Use an action point for (2d6)[6] bonus on the first die roll of 2-6.

Attack on S2: Mercy at (1d20+29)[44] (+2 against humans) for (1d10+22)[24] + (1d6)[1] nonlethal damage, with (2d6)[7] additional damage against evil targets and (2d6+2)[8] additional damage against humans.

Attack on S1: Mercy at (1d20+29)[48] (+2 against humans) for (1d10+22)[31] + (1d6)[1] nonlethal damage, with (2d6)[7] additional damage against evil targets and (2d6+2)[10] additional damage against humans.

Attack on C1: Mercy at (1d20+29)[45] (+2 against humans) for (1d10+22)[32] + (1d6)[5] nonlethal damage, with (2d6)[3] additional damage against evil targets and (2d6+2)[8] additional damage against humans.

Spoiler: Razia's Short Buffs

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Haste: +1 Attack/AC/Ref, one extra attack on a full attack, +30 enhancement to speed.
Weapon Augmentation (Bane): +2d6+2 damage v. humans, +2 attack v. humans.