Age of Ruin OOC: Facing down destiny

[Ozzy_G]

I do enjoy these conversations between the characters. I wish one of my NPCs was there to talk with you.
But you just had to go and kill them all, didn't you. Tut, tut.

[knewsom]

hey, it's not OUR fault Azakan ran away and Saigon was evil... and besides, YOU killed Khorik and Tharok, remember...? ;)

[NobleSavage]

exactly, how could they have leveled up 3 or 4 times since we got out of hell if I've only leveled two times total? Doesn't make any sense unless they were right on the verge of leveling when we died.

No, I missed a leveling up somewhere, my PHB got lost in one of my recent moves.

Kaleff just goes up the 1 level, but I'll bear it in mind that he was so close.

Aww that stinks. Knew I should have killed off those guards.

[Ozzy_G]

YOU killed Khorik and Tharok, remember...?

Hey, if you'd all just attacked the Qusans then you wouldn't have split your attacks, and they would have died quicker, and the Davethran guys wouldn't have attacked you at all. You can't blame me for this.

So, what level is everyone now?

[Lycar]

Yuh, that 24 points of elect is nasty for a caster to soak, left me at 9. 9. Don't forget Draven's fast healing, everybody, get you to half then calc what you need.

Uhm.. what fast healing? Oh wait, Draven is a Dragon Shaman, right? These guys get a healing aura or something, but only up to 1/2 hits.

Hmm okay, so Orin has 38 full, 14 now. Draven can heal up to 19 with his aura, then 10 for a night of sleep leaves 9 to be healed by Draven's healing hands... if he feels so inclined.

Also Ozzy, it would appear to me that you are not entirely sad about getting rid of the ex-PCs that way. Kizima, Lucidae... Tharok and Khorik... the list grows...

Also, Orin reached lv. 10 now. Or technically, he will have reached lv. 10 after a good night of sleep. Yay for 4 more HP, he was down to 10 after that shocking experience himself, mind you. He just ain't no melee bard.


Lycar

[knewsom]

Draven and Ismal are now level 10

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner is at Level 11, although what specific blend of class/prestige class remains to be revealed
EDIT: Interesting. Sumner started at level 6, I believe. Although to be fair, he's died at least twice since the beginning.
I likewise chuckled at the reference, Knewsom

[NobleSavage]

10 for Kaleff.


Twice for Sumner? Kaleff was killed once and sent to hell once, though he doesn't really consider that dying as there was no Imshaeroth there.

Also, how y'all want to divvy up the stuff? Kaleff has all the mobility stuff he needs.

[Toliudar]

With the exception of the bat-cloak, Ismal could make use of any of the stuff, but also has mobility options via polymorph that make her a less good candidate for any of the mobility-related items.

She does, however, have a recent vacancy opened up in the amulet slot... And if no one else wants the nasty-looking-but-not-magical dagger, she would certainly take it.

[knewsom]

Hmm. Not sure if I could really make much use of a cloak of the bat, but boots of speed would be pretty keen for Draven as he's kinda slow in all that armor. As for the other objects, I'm really not sure what any of them are.

Daven's open slots are: cloak, boots, an amulet, a ring on either finger, a belt, an ioun stone, a helmet, heh, pretty much everything except bracers/gauntlets.

[The Great Skenardo]

You might want to hold off on divvying up the stuff for a bit; Sumner's becoming increasingly of the opinion that it was a mistake to attack and kill pretty much everyone that wasn't us.

[knewsom]

I'll definitely agree that killing the Qusans was a mistake... But those priests and Saigon gave me the willies.

[Lycar]

I might also point out that Tharok was wearing a slightly singed vest and an Amber Amulet, which Livina had been wearing. But i believe that those items belonged to someone else.

So if one of you used to have a magic vest, singed or unsinged, that probably is the one.

Also, as a not-melee bard, Orin really doesn't get much out of that heavy steel shield he is lugging around. But a cloak that lets people flee battles with a fly speed, well that is just his thing.

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Interesting. Sumner started at level 6, I believe.

I can't remember, but that's probably correct. I often start games at level 6, as it's the beginning of mid-levels, when you're powerful enough to take some punishment and have plenty of options, but also not powerful enough that things are too easy/random.
Also, with the way saves and feats work, it works out well.

Also Ozzy, it would appear to me that you are not entirely sad about getting rid of the ex-PCs that way. Kizima, Lucidae... Tharok and Khorik... the list grows...

Which way? They've died all sorts of ways. Also, they weren't all ex-PCs.
Let's see:
Karzash, Ruchion and Kaleff were killed by a tentacle monster
Dylan was taken over by something or other, and stabbed up by Sumner
Ruchion was killed a second time by another tentacle monster falling on him
Cofaos was killed by a dragon
Gareth got killed by the exploding pub... perhaps (his body was never found)
Sumner, Draven, Ismal, Khorik, Kaleff and Hern were also killed by the exploding pub, and sent to Goramesh... or were they just teleported?
Kizima was killed by a golem
Lucidae was killed by a Mind Flayer
Krashnix was killed by Tharok
Tharok was killed by a wizard
Khorik was killed by a wizard
Ismal was killed by a priest

That's 20 deaths over the course of the campaign. Not too bad, eh? I've probably forgotten some anyway.

[Ozzy_G]

Would anyone believe that but a mere week ago, i met Khorik Nhulliop, son of Barris Nhulliop in a tavern? Tasked to find a time and world-shifting artefact to deliver it to one of the 9 betrayers?

It was a bit more than a week ago. It was, oh, nearly 3 weeks ago (not counting the time travel/stasis of course).

[The Great Skenardo]

Now, let's try that
Survival Check - (1d20+8)[26]
To find a defensible unobtrusive place.

So if one of you used to have a magic vest, singed or unsinged, that probably is the one.

That's Ismal's old vest of resistance, I believe. Rather stained and singed at this point, but still highly functional.

[knewsom]

so is Sumner walking around looking for a suitable campsite? Or just standing there looking?

[The Great Skenardo]

Waiting on one last thing from Ozzy, but then starting to walk away, yes.

[Toliudar]

Ismal can claim the vest, but is also happy to pass it along if someone else might need it more. Mind you, with her recent track record of saving throws...

[Ozzy_G]

I'll give you the results of the survival check after you've finished here, and go and look for a place to sleep.

[Ozzy_G]

Knowledge Religion checks for everyone but Sumner.
Tell me if you're trained or not.

[knewsom]

knowledge religion trained (1d20+1)[5] that's right, I put one of my whopping two skill points into a skill for which I have no bonus. Why? well, it made sense, and I had a hunch I'd be using it. EDIT: Not that it's doing me any good, of course.

[Toliudar]

Pretty sure that Ismal has already had her shot at this one. I'm hoping the rest of you come up with something more!

[Ozzy_G]

Alright, for Draven we have:

Spoiler

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Uh, who? Aren't those like the Mokai Gods? You've got occasional rumours up in the Wastes, they have a few gods, who each do different things. Apparently they're really evil. At least, that's what Davethrans say. You don't meet many actual Mokai in the wastes.
When Draven was living in Davethra with Ismal, sometimes he'd see the Mokai having street festivals for their Gods, all dressed up in masked costumes. Never really talked to them much though. They never try to convert other people or anything.

[NobleSavage]

Trained Rel (1d20+5)[10]

[Ozzy_G]

For Kaleff

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The Kael Vorn are the Gods of the Mokai. There are 5 of them: one for each season, and one who's in charge. Their priests wear masks, and you've seen their festivals, where Mokai dress up as their gods, or make big paper effigies of a young Mokai woman, an armoured Mokai man, a centipede with a human face, a wolf, and a robed woman. These are the five Gods, though you don't know which one's which.

[Lycar]

Untrained Know, Religion: (1d20+3)[18]

And in case it makes a difference:

Bardic Knowledge: (1d20+11)[14]

... apparently not.

Oh and do any of you know about one Isana, Lady of fire (see post #513)?

Lycar

[NobleSavage]

And which mask of these was the priest who was murdered (in Ch1 of our adventure) wearing?

(1d20)[1] +2 if Wis check +4 if Int


You have no idea how long I've been hoping this would tie in.

[Ozzy_G]

And you'd know too, if you hadn't rolled a natural 1...
You remember that there was a Mokai, and he did have a mask, but you can't remember at all what the mask looked like. It's probably because of all the dramatic and crazy things that have happened since then.
Maybe you should ask Sumner when he returns?

Oh, and Kaleff notices that

Spoiler

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Orin's shield has a picture of a Phoenix, the symbol of Isana, the Ilsharei, or Elder God, of inspiration, rage and madness.

Orin knows

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the Kael Vorn are the Gods of the Mokai. There are five of them:
Cilnara, normally represented as a naked or scantily-clad young Mokai woman;
Emvael, normally represented as a towering armoured Mokai man carrying a massive spear;
Malsharak, normally represented as a massive centipede with a human face;
Veldaera, normally represented as a huge white wolf;
A fifth one, normally represented as a feminine figure, robed and cowled, holding an hourglass. You don't know her name.
The worship of these Gods was illegal under the Davethran Empire.
Priests of the Kael Vorn wear masks when performing ceremonies, with different masks for different ceremonies.
At certain times of the year, Mokai hold big festivals where they dress up as these Gods. At the beginning of each season, they all dress up as one particular God, but they have other festivals where they are mixed.
The Gods each have particular portfolios of influence, including the seasons. But you're not sure what those areas actually are. Or why there are five Gods but only four seasons, yet you've been told they each have a season.

Orin has heard several famous stories about them, including the tale of how they defeated and slew the First Dragon, from whose body they formed the world, and of their long war against the Demons, whose leaders they imprisoned in big tomb complexes, which you can still see the top of in various places in the south.

[Ozzy_G]

'Something strange is going on here' may be the understatement of this decade and the one we were shot out of, via chaos sea.

why did they all have to be so damned cryptic all the time? "I have a name, but I can't tell it to you", "Oh, talk to this other pantheon, they can tell you what to do. Oh, why can't I? Oh, I could, I just don't feel like it..."

These gave me some chuckles.