Othniel's Ironfang Invasion II

[Nefarion Xid]

"Oh, what a handsome boy you are! Who's my handsome little man? You are!" Septimus flung a hunk of leftover sandwich into the owlbear's den and edged towards the door. Detect Magic!

[Othniel]

Outside Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

"Come on, Hillmer. Leif. Thurt. You boys know me." Bessa's voice sounded small and timid as she inched forward with Torg and Septimus. Hillmer stopped and tilted both heads, looking at Bessa for a moment. The huge creature sniffed deeply of the air the adventurers had brought into the cave and when Septimus tossed in the sandwich, the great beast lumbered over to scarf it up off the floor. With a snort of dismissal, Hillmer returned to a position just outside the door and lay down, clearing the way for the group to proceed. The other two owlbears remained standing, but made no move toward the party.

Around the corner, Septimus, Torg, and Bessa could see the entrance to Navah's tower - what was left of it. What had once been a pair of reinforced oak doors was now a pile of splinters and metal banding scattered across the threshold. From inside the tower, they could see the flickering light of torches casting their glow into the cave.

Looking inside, the group could see a sort of foyer area. A few simple trophies—a shredded Molthuni banner, a few monster skulls, and what appears to be a dented shield—hung from the walls of the otherwise bare, high-ceilinged room. A heavy double door stood to the west opposite the tower’s shattered front doors, while a smaller door led north. Spiral stairs to the south lead up.

Spoiler: Map Link

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Map!

[Nefarion Xid]

Confident that the blasted door was not trapped, Septimus crept into the threshold and knocked. "Hello? Navah? We're from Longshadow! We brought Bessa! And biscuits! Can... can we come in? Are you all right?"

He motioned for Bessa to call out too.

[Jade_Tarem]

Glancing around, Nora began invoking divine enhancements to her senses before moving forward.

Spoiler: OOC

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Casting Perceive Cues and Heightened Awareness before trundling forth. I don't know how far I'm allowed to go before things happen.

[Othniel]

Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

Nora pushed open the northern door, and discovered a storage room. Shelves stuffed with dry goods and alchemical supplies lined the walls of the musty room. A well sat in one corner, and Nora could see it drop down forty feet to what looked like clean, fresh water. A hole in the ceiling above the well seemed to lead to a well access one floor up. As she scanned the shelves, in addition to a the food supply, she noticed a cache of potions, and buried behind a few spice containers, two dusty bottles containing diamond and gold dust.

Spoiler: LOOT!

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8 x Potions of cure moderate wounds
3 x Potions of cure serious wounds
1 x Potion of gaseous form
2 x Potions of neutralize poison
1 x Potion of nondetection
1 x Potion of remove blindness/deafness

You also find two dusty bottles stuffed back among the spices: one containing 1,000 gp worth of diamond dust and the other containing 750 gp worth of gold dust.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Torg walked carefully over the shattered threshold. He kneeled near the broken door, and motioned for Veric.
"Any sign of tracks? I don't think the owlbears did this..."

Spoiler: OOC

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Torg can auto-aid Veric on a Survival check to see if there's any tracks or other signs of who forced their way in here.

[PepperP.]

Veric came to kneel down alongside Torg and used his keen ranger eyes to pick up any signs of tracks while Rollo sniffed the area carefully for clues.

Spoiler: ooc

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Survival tracking
(1d20+20)[37]

"There are humanoid tracks but they seem several weeks old."

[Nefarion Xid]

After consulting with Bessa, Septimus cast Locate Item to look for the nearest Headband of Vast Intelligence.

"Navah's still here. Or at least her headband is. A wizard wouldn't leave home without that. And if someone attacked her, they didn't take her stuff. Mmm. Feels like 30 feet that way." He pointed to the ceiling and considered teleporting there, but then jerked his thumb towards the stairs.

[Jade_Tarem]

Nora proceeded up the stairs.

[Othniel]

Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

Those in the lead climbed the stairs without issue and were met with a pair of doors: one to the north, and the other to the east.

"The alchemy lab is through that door," Bessa said, pointing north. "If we're taking the direct route, you'll want to go east, through the mutation lab. There are often weird things in there, but they'll be behind glass. Hopefully. After that, bear southwest to reach her chambers."

[CockroachTeaParty]

"With the front door in the state it was, somehow I don't imagine the mutants will be where they're supposed to. Come on, Ulva, mayhaps you should take point."

Torg readied his axe and shield, a grim look on his bearded face.

[Nefarion Xid]

"Nora can see auras," the sorcerer cautioned. "So if there's a magic trap, she'll see it before the whole room goes fwoosh."
Septimus didn't think it was wise to put a fireball trap in your living space, but he didn't put it past other arcanists to resort to lethal levels of home security.

[Tychris1]

Ulva walked over to the eastern door, her mind racing with images of fantastical mutants in a wizards tower shunned by the world, and trained to use their powers only for the good of mannkind.

A small part of her doubted they would be in matching unitards.

Her hand hovered over the door handle as she looked back to Nora for confirmation that the door wasn’t going to boom. If she said the coast was clear the Heroic Fighter swung forth the door and gripped both hands onto Valkyrie.

[Othniel]

Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

Ulva found herself starting at the shattered remains of three glass cylinders which lined the southeast wall of a large room. A thick layer of greasy, slippery-looking orange slime coated the floor. Hallways lead to the north and southwest, while a heavily barred double door was set in the wall to the east. More importantly, her eyes were drawn upward to a pair of manta-like creatures silently clinging to the room's stone ceiling.

Spoiler: Map Updated

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Map

Note: The entire floor in here is slippery as if it were effected by a Grease spell:

Any creature in the area when the spell is cast must make a successful Reflex save or fall. A creature can walk within or through the area of grease at half normal speed with a DC 10 Acrobatics check. Failure means it can’t move that round (and must then make a Reflex save or fall), while failure by 5 or more means it falls (see the Acrobatics skill for details). Creatures that do not move on their turn do not need to make this check and are not considered flat-footed.

After Nora identified the creatures, Bessa blinked and one of the lurkers fell asleep...just in time for Ulva to catch the creature and lower it gently down. Its associate incapacitated, the remaining creature seemed to come alive...

Spoiler: Initiative!

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You all win initiative.

[Tychris1]

Power sliding through the viscous orange goo Ulva caught the slumbering phallic monster and slowly lowered it to the ground. Her mind was flush with warnings and barking commands at Valkyrie to not comment at any point during this combat. Snapping her one good eye towards the slowly rousing secondary aberration she quickly formed an unspoken link with Bessa and the two of them worked in conjunction to slumber and gently tuck and roll the second disgusting abomination. Bringing Valkyrie close to her face, Ulva took a deep breath inward, and when she exhaled it coated the glaive in a faint celestial mist of human grit and unfaltering domination. Gripping the sentient weapon in both hands she thwacked it down over the first monster and then swung it in an intense golf power drive to the other one and watched as the magical slumber was replaced with her far more lengthy and effective mundane slumber.

Cracking her neck she peered into the wizard's bedroom, found it unsurprisingly wizardless, and then tried the incredibly locked door. Shrugging she proceeded up the stairs.

[Othniel]

Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

With the two lurkers put to bed, the Fangbreakers continued down a short hallway to the southwest, which ended in an alcove within a tower. The stairs led upward, while doors stood to the west and south. "That'll be Navah's room," whispered Bessa. "And the washroom." And then she called out, "NAVAH! I'm here with some friends. We need your help!"

Silence.

[Nefarion Xid]

Septimus urged Ulva forward, effectively using her as a human shield as they moved upstairs. He tugged Bessa after him.

"Navah? Longshadow is in danger. Crawbert sent us to get help. Uh. I gave Hillmer a roast beef sandwich! Anyway, we're coming into your room because we think you might be hurt! Please don't be mad."

[Othniel]

Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

"NO!" came a shriek from the back corner of the study as the first of the Fangbreakers made their appearance. “You can’t be here! I’m a monster! I’ll eat you!”

Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the circular walls of the cozy study room. Tables, chairs, and a reclining sofa occupied the center of the room. Torn pages lined the floor, and both they and the walls were covered in confusing scrawls of ink and charcoal. The speaker was standing with her back to a row of bookcases, holding her hands up as if to ward off the intruders (there were sharp claws on the ends of each finger).

Spoiler: Navah

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Spoiler: Nora, Ulva, and Veric

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You identify Navah as a Changeling.

Changelings are the offspring of hags and their lovers taken through magic or madness. Dropped off on doorsteps of prospective foster parents, changelings are raised by strangers. Typically tall, slender, dark haired, and attractive, changelings otherwise resemble their fathers’ race. They are always female, and their mismatched colored eyes and abnormally pale skin hint at their true heritage. At puberty, changelings receive “the call,” a hypnotic spiritual voice that beckons them to travel and discover their true origins. Changelings who ignore this call choose their own destiny; those who heed it discover their “mother” and may come into great power by transforming into hags themselves.

[Nefarion Xid]

"Okay... well, we brought a tin of biscuits. Would you like to eat those first? And Bessa's here! Say hi! Um. You look fine to me. A little stressed, but, you know, human. Changeling?"

Septimus glanced to his human shield as he was corrected. He shrugged, then continued to make placating gestures with the cookies. "I don't know what that is, but you look fine and you're not putting us in any danger. Unless you prepared Dominate Person, then we're... not important! Someone blew open your front door. Did they hurt you? Did they cast a spell on you? We can help!"

[Othniel]

Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

“Are you really so stupid you can’t understand?!” Navah shrieked, waving her arms at Septimus. "I've become one of them! Flee!" Her eyes swiveled to Bessa. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Spoiler: Nora and Veric

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As you note the state of the room and its occupant, you conclude that Navah is suffering some sort of mental delusion, possibly schizophrenia.

Spoiler: Nora

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Combining her state with her words, it seems to you that she believes she has become a monster, quite possibly a hag, given her race. Something must have caused her mental break, and your thoughts go back to the state of the tower.

"Septimus," Bessa said, tugging at the sorcerer's cloak. "I don't think we should agitate her further."

[Jade_Tarem]

"Something has led her to a psychotic break. It's quite possible that she thinks she's a hag now. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that it's probably whatever blew in the doors. She'll come back to her senses... eventually. Restorative magic would make the process faster, but it would require a stronger spell than I've ever cast before. I can pray for it, but... no promises." She looked around at her companions. "There may be a way to calm her down besides that. Any ideas?"

[Nefarion Xid]

Septimus set down the tin of cookies along with a sandwich wrapped in wax paper, then nudged them gently across the floor as far as he dared. "Why don't you search the tower for something that might help? Maybe she has a scroll," he whispered. "Bessa and I will stay here on the stairs and to keep her calm."

He spoke up. "When's the last time you ate something, Navah? Some aberrations broke out of their containers in the lab below and it looks like they've been loose a while. So, I bet it's been a long time since you've had something good to eat."

Spoiler: Diplomacy

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(1d20+25)[34]

[CockroachTeaParty]

Torg tugged on his beard, whether out of frustration or contemplation it was hard to say.
"Hm, aye, searching the tower might be prudent. That said, if Navah's safe enough for the moment, I could make the journey to Crystalhurst. I'm sure there's a druid powerful enough there to scribe a heal spell. That'll take time and money, but I've got plenty of the later. If searching the tower turns up nothing, we'll get Navah fixed one way or the other."
He gave Bessa a reassuring nod.

[Othniel]

Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

With Navah located and (for the moment) relatively secure, if disturbed, the Fangbreakers sans Bessa turned their attention to searching the tower. Their path led them first to the Alchemy Lab. Opening the door slightly, Nora could see that the eastern half of the room held the bulk of the apparatuses. There was a table crowded with alchemical implements, clay jars, glass vials, and arcane implements, while a large still took up much of the floor. Notebooks and alchemical reference manuals filled a bookshelf next to the eastern door. A Clockwork Mage stood at the table, busily mixing reagents.

Spoiler: Map Updated

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Map

[TheDarkDM]

Aidan

Following behind the party at a leisurely pace, Aidan had taken a keen interest in the workshops of another explorer in the unknown of flesh. With little to add as the party deduced the nature of Navah's affliction, he tapped Septimus on the shoulder before blinking out of view.

"Guide me to the magic in the room - I shall retrieve it without alerting the construct."

With that, he slipped inside the alchemy lab, a song in his heart as he caught the whiff of every friendly and familiar odor.

Spoiler: OOC

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Stealth: (1d20+47)[54]

Perception to search the room: (1d20+20)[39]

[Othniel]

Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

Many odors there were, for Navah's alchemy lab was extensive, though the supplies seemed to have been running low of late. As Aidan crept into the room, he could see along the south wall a scorched streak in the stone wall as if it had been quickly, but momentarily, exposed to high heat. Nora's examination from just outside the door pointed to the clockwork mage as the source of the room's magic, and Aidan could see a shining dark crystal embedded in its chest.

[Othniel]

Navah's Tower,
17 Neth 4617

Eschewing violence and - at least for now - larceny, the group pressed onward. Or, more correctly, downward. Back down the stairs they went until they returned to the double door that stood shut opposite the exploded entrance. A small, thin line of red-gold light shone from underneath the door.

Upon opening said door, the party was greeted by the warm, though subdued, glow of a forge in the northwestern corner of the room. Worktables occupied the north of the room, and near the forge stood a squat iron anvil. Tables and shelves filled with tools and half-finished projects of metal and leather lined the edges of the room. Strange animal hides were stretched along the western wall, and to the south, a humble kitchen was squeezed in among the industrial setting.

Sticking Valkyrie into the room as a sort of scout, Ulva found the area to be quiet, warm, and to her craft-mind, rather inviting. Septimus and Nora laid eyes upon one of the animal hides stretched upon the wall: the source of magic previously detected.

Spoiler: Nora

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Strong Aura of Enchantment!

No sooner had Ulva stepped into the room, than the forge seemed to flare up, and out popped a strange creature resembling a smoldering mass of metal-encrusted goo sporting half a dozen pseudopods, each tipped with a burning-hot sword blade.

Spoiler: Nora and Ulva

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You identify this as a Shard Slag. Shard slags are living mounds of magic-infused iron. They dwell within the iron-rich molten cores of worlds, the hearts of active volcanoes, or any location where the borders of the Material Plane and the Plane of Fire are thin. Though they’re not sentient, shard slags are skilled hunters and have developed a bizarre method of hunting and defending themselves. When a creature is near, a shard slag spontaneously alters its molten body to produce a number of razor-sharp blades. The shard slag then mindlessly attacks until the other creature is stabbed, burned, and then consumed.

Shard Slags are Oozes! They are immune to fire and vulnerable to cold and water. You also know that they can burn what they attack and have an aura of heat strong enough to damage any creature within 5 feet.

Spoiler: Nora

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You know that they are also immune to electricity and acid, and have DR/magic.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Literally everyone beats the Shard Slag's initiative, though it did get a surprise round and used it to move. Ulva will take 1d6 fire damage at the start of her turn.

[Nefarion Xid]

"Why can't anything in this tower be normal? I get why Torg feels this way about wizards. I'm killing it! Screw whatever this is!" Septimus snapped up his new magic rod and blasted the slag lump monster with a Snowball.

Spoiler: Intensified Snowball

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(1d20+5)[16] ranged touch
(10d6)[41] cold damage

[PepperP.]

Veric and Rollo

Following his cousins lead, Veric whipped his bow into position and fired several arrows in succession at the odd monster while Rollo bared his fangs and barked ferociously at the thing by Veric's side.

"Woof woof woof woof!"

Spoiler: ooc attack actions

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Full attack at the furnace creature.
Manyshot, Clustered Shots, Point-Blank Shot, Rapid Shot
Attack 1
(1d20+13)[21]
Arrow 1 Damage
(1d8+4)[6]
Arrow 2 Damage
(1d8+4)[6]

Manyshot
(1d20+13)[33]
Damage
(1d8+4)[7]

Iterative
(1d20+8)[14]
Damage
(1d8+4)[10]

[CockroachTeaParty]

Torg muttered something about 'wizards' in Dwarven before seeing what would happen if he doused the slag-ooze in a gout of water. Several gallons splashed down upon it.

Spoiler: OOC

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Torg casts Create Water to dump 18 gallons of water on the ooze. NO SAVE NO SR