Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

[Vulaas]

Ireth flashes her most winning grin at Dot. No nuance is hidden, I just think we ought get as much information from our foes as we can. That, and I hope to get close enough to Ka'Rishta that she will be caught in the admittedly small, but intense blast that my berries produce. Though, to spread the knowledge, the word to make them burst is," to prevent the premature burst of the berries, she switches to telepathy, "I am berry sorry"

[Toliudar]

Dot shrugged.

"Witty, and I hope it's effective - although demons are known for being significantly flame-proof. Still, I think that if this demon is as formidable as she sounds, we should all be there to greet her."

[Debbie_D]

Originally Posted by Kalirren

"If we survive this ordeal, please tell me some time, Talbot, how you came to have mined this vein of Abyssal political history. You were clearly a very resourceful man,"

TALBOT

I know it because when I still inhabited a corporeal body, there was no one in this universe that matched my intellect.
If a staff could sound smug, one would say that the previous statement would be how it would sound.

The door opens to reveal, as the warrior said, a hall that runs straight from the room and then turns. However, the ribbon of the path for Melinda does not follow the turn, it insteads runs to a door in the wall that would open to continue the straight path.
Even from where the party stands, the door is impressive, made of solid oak and ornately carved with magical sigils, and a huge personal sign of the god himself. The door itself is huge, easily 15-20 feet wide, enough for 4 people to enter at the same time.
From here, the party can see as well that there is a series of levers on the door, the party can see 11 of them. At the distance the party is, they cant tell much more about them, and since the warrior mentioned that the door was locked, they would surmise that these levers were the locking system.

[Toliudar]

Dot carefully examines the door and its surroundings, then has the elemental drift back to give others room to look as well.

"I would suggest that we confer telepathically, so as to minimize the chance of the Marilith hearing us. The door is sealed using the same magics as the Cup tournament. If this kind of magic would be within the reach of mortal casters, I'd know about it. It follows, then, that this is a divinely powerful ward.

"I'm sure that there's some combination of the levers that will open this door. But I'll also suggest that, in trying to find the appropriate combination, we're very likely to alert the demon to our entry.

"So, what I'm suggesting is that, when you're all ready to proceed, I blow a hole in the wall."

[Ason]

Telepathically talking to the others as they wrap up in the training room, Tallesin says, "Hm... good Talbot's description of the demoness gives me greater pause than our dominated chap's words. I would be willing to speak to her, but I lack your various charms and persuasions, mi'ladies. Martial prowess may have to carry the day. I can offer a few enhancements, should any desire. Mistress Peridot's plan may be the most feasible, if this door remains as perplexing as it at first seems"

As the party nears the door, Tallesin looks down the turned corridor for threats/danger, and then if things are clear, he inspects the lever door, attempting to puzzle out its solution [without touching the levers/door itself].

Spoiler

Tallesin casts Extended Protection from Evil and Animalistic Power [PHB2] on himself and offers the same to anyone who wants it

EDIT: I had Tallesin roll a spellcraft check (in case he used Detect/Read Magic) but deleted it in light of Dot's suggestion for quiet, which precedes Tallesin's inspection but was accidentally overlooked by me. My bad.

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[Debbie_D]

Ason sees that the corrider continues on for another 15 to 20 feet and ends in a door. If the warrior's information is correct, this door would open into a conservatory. There do not appear to be any threats in this hall.
Upon checking the levers, Ason sees that there are indeed 11 levers as the party surmised, and now that he is closer, he can see that each lever can be set in any one of 20 positions. At the moment, the levers are all in a neutral position.

[PSinger]

Atareth casts aid and see invisibility on herself and on Sword. Just before going in, she'll cast holy aura on herself and turns invisible. She'll also be hovering above the group, ready to fly up.

Her aura is fully glowing ... it may make the evils in the group feel uncomfortable, but doesn't actually hurt them. Every one is buoyed against fear.

Atareth then casts golden barding on Sword. The warhorse is limned with a golden field of force that looks like chain barding.

She is totally digging the boost in might from the amulet and belt!

Spoiler

CURRENT SPELLS AND SUCH
Haste (+1 dodge to AC, +1 Reflex, +30' speed, extra attack for full attack actions)
Holy Aura (struck by evil, baddie Fort save DC 25 or blinded)
Aid, made near-constant at max for +18 temporary hit points.
See Invisibility
AW Concentrate, as time and opp permits: detect evil, discern lies.
Invsibility

On Sword:
Aid, near-constant for +18 t-hp's.
Golden Barding (CD-166, +5 force armor).

On group, w/in 20':
* Protective Aura (Su): Against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures, this ability provides a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saving throws to anyone within 20 feet of the angel. Otherwise, it functions as a magic circle against evil effect and a lesser globe of invulnerability, both with a radius of 20 feet (caster level equals angel’s HD [17th]). This aura can be dispelled, but the angel can create it again as a free action on its next turn.

W/in 10': +4 morale bonus on Will saves against fear.

"Tishtina, grant us success against the servant of one you helped depose, just as I help that ally you helped and Sabrina as well."

[Debbie_D]

If you cast buffs on yourself, or take magic items for yourself, please make changes on your sheet. I use the AC listed on sheet to determine hits and misses, and its a bother to write up a description as a hit, when its actually a miss.

[Toliudar]

Looking closer at the walls, Dot sighs.

"Ah, my mistake. The door, walls, ceiling, everything...it's all made of plotium, an unbelievably hard substance that will resist every effort to damage it."

[Kalirren]

Originally Posted by Peridot

"Or is there some nuance to your plan that I'm missing?"

"No," Melinda admits. "I have no such conception."

"A elder marilith prepares for centuries for this moment, for her eventual stand against champions of the Prophecy who just happen to be us. A demon more ancient than the entire tradition I sing has been willing to endure all those years in this forgotten corner of the multiverse, willing to let herself be used as a god's handmaiden. Does she view this as her last service? I...her determination is frightening."

"We may be able to talk her into something, but we won't be able to talk her out of a fight. The only reason I suggest that we talk is that we let her know what she is defeating, or is defeated by. I don't know. At this point I should be thinking tactically. I'm not. Pay me no heed," she requests, her countenance showing deep sadness. "It just seems so...savage...to so casually bury history, that is all I feel. Let me be more useful. Who else wants a death ward?"

Melinda gazes up at those forbidding levers, wondering what inspiration she might receive. Under normal circumstances, the divination would reveal even the precise combination itself that would be necessary to open the door. Yet even with as much faith as she held, the bardess was not optimistic for the capability of Sabrina's sight into the forbidden to penetrate a fellow deity's arcane protections on his innermost personal study.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

She's a demon; she'll end up back in the Abyss if we win. We're not destroying any history here. As to your question, I'll take a Death Ward, please.

[Kalirren]

"Right, and she would end up exactly where Nocticula will find her, kill her, and scatter what remains of her soul among countless dretches," replies the keeper of Sabrinite tradition. "History is lost every time it's rewritten by victors. Our only chance to get her slice of history is now. I daren't presume we are powerful enough to get it after we defeat her."

A smirk grows on her face. "Congratulations, Tali, I think you just made me admit that I want power." Melinda seals Tali's ward with a kiss on the lips, holding it for just that extra moment. She is worried. "...All right, I asked a silly question. Is there anyone who -doesn't- want a death ward? I don't know a mass version. I should learn one."

[I'm confident she has the slots for everyone, but I need to tally up Melinda's spell slots - it may well matter in this fight.]

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Hey, then I must b... Taleira's thought trails off in surprise at the unexpected kiss. Sensing the worry behind Melinda's action, she encircles the bardess in her arms and gives a reassuring squeeze. This is our only option. I'm scared too, but I can't walk away now; that would mean walking away from everything we've done and stood for this whole time. Whatever happens in there, it can't be worse than never having tried, for us and for our faiths. This is one of those times that decides what happens to everything we care about, and we've got this one chance to make a difference. Gods and mortals, angels and demons, what we do here affects them all. They're counting on us, and we can't let them down now.

[Toliudar]

Dot

Dot turns back to Melinda with a faint smile.

"Unless you attain power, you will never know what you are like with power. And if you are concerned about the loss to posterity of this one demon, consider that it takes years for demons to reform in the abyss. If we are successful, Nocticula will not be Nocticula, but part of a triune. Who knows how she will choose to view old enemies?

"Oh, and I'd be very grateful for a death ward. Now, as for the doors. The magic of your spell should be telling you the correct configuration right about now, right?"

[PSinger]

Atareth looks at Melinda. "It is funny that most mortals think of us angels as im-mortal. While we won't die of old age, sadly the 'im-' is untrue. I'll take a death ward as well if you please, but I'm willing to wait until all others have been served."

[Kalirren]

"And so we have our duty, and everything else is out of our hands, not for lack of grasping for it," concurs Melinda, standing by the doors. "I'm still waiting for the inspiration. It hasn't come yet. If it doesn't come in another half a minute or so I say we move to the conservatory."

Originally Posted by Atareth

"It is funny that most mortals think of us angels as im-mortal. While we won't die of old age, sadly the 'im-' is untrue."

"Would you prefer 'never-yet-dead', then? As opposed to undead?" she quips. "Sounds just as creepy to me. Here." Standing on her tip-toes, Melinda gives the deva a kiss on her left clavicle above her heart. She moves through the remainder of the group. With Dot she shares three quick kisses on the corners of the mouth, and to Tallesin she graciously offers her own hand. For Ireth also three, on alternating cheeks, and for Lil one long, enigmatic one on her right clavicle.

"Yes, Sword, you too." She presses her face close to his snout and blows a few puffs of warm air across his nostrils like horses do.

She finishes with herself by adjusting her own hairpin. If the inspiration comes, she'll put her hands on that first lever. "Whatever we do, let's end up on the same side of the blade barriers this time, all right?" ...And if not, she'll give the whole mechanism one good, close look, then turn right and start walking towards the conservatory.

[Kalirren]

Melinda takes about four typical steps towards the conservatory before her stride noticeably shrinks. Within another two it grinds to a halt. "Stop. Right where you stand. I feel a profound wrongness," she warns. She reverses direction on a single turn of heel, and gazes dreadfully into the space she just left.

She knows it what feels like for her spell to have ended. It has not. Indeed, the cord burns as brightly as ever, as if to chastise her for her lack of faith. The fact that she had just taken six steps off the path divined catches up with her quite rapidly.

"Everyone freeze. Back to the door. Retrace your steps as best you can. Everyone, back to the door. In battle formation."

Melinda looks back at the door, all eleven levers in neutral position.

"The path lies straight through," she explains nervously. "Like it did with any other door. Even an unlocked one."

"Bring it, Kotep." Her temptation is to plant her foot where it would need to go to maximally desecrate the symbol, and kick the door open. Defeated pre-emptively by her diminutive stature, she settles for pushing it open instead.

And if it's sufficiently massive that her 55 kgs of body weight won't quite do it easily, she'll cast Righteous Might.

[Debbie_D]

Even boosted by the addition of the Righteous Might spell, Melinda is not able to open the door. She can easily feel that the door is locked, and will not open by the simple application of force. She also gets the strong feeling that given how heavy and solid the door is, that whatever might be on the other side (if there is even anything), is not hearing their efforts against it.

[Kalirren]

"Or a nonexistent one," Melinda continues to reason, undaunted.

(Disbelieving at Will: (1d20+33)[47])

[Debbie_D]

Either her will power is not enough to disbelieve the illusion, or, more likely, the door is quite real...because Melinda still sees it in front of her.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Taleira takes a good look at the symbols on the door, hoping that maybe there's something to them that will give the group a clue to the secret of the lock.

Spoiler

Spot: [1d20+18]
Search: [1d20+5]
Sense Motive: [1d20+4]

[Toliudar]

Dot

The little mage shifts around, and there is a subtle shift as one elemental is replaced by a virtually identical one. She clunks her forehead with the heel of her palm!

"Of course, I'd forgotten that Thibault cancels out Capa Ferra, assuming that the mage has studied her Agrippa...which I have. Ladies, Ason and Sword, I think that I CAN get through the wall after all. No need to stand back, but if you can assemble yourselves in the same order in which you'd like to enter, and finish with any last minute preparations, we can proceed. Do remember, folks, that we think that this might be the spot where our soul - or souls - are kept."

Her eyes flare blue for a moment, then return to their previous orange.

Spoiler

So that's Death Wards from Melinda and Haste from Dot. Once everyone's in position (may I suggest that we leave Sword at the back for the moment - up front with a demon wielding six swords sounds like an unfair place to put a horse, even one as special as Sword), Dot will disintegrate a 10'x10' section of the wall to one side of the door.

[Ason]

Tallesin chimes in, "My lady Melinda, I would be most obliged for a Death Ward as well, thank you kindly. Mistress Peridot, upon your signal, I shall be ready."

He finishes his preparations by drawing his sword and then summoning a Bralani just before Dot blasts open an entrance, and he quietly informs it: "Our party is about to challenge a very powerful fiend lurking on the other side of this door responsible for many vicious deaths and involved in the trapping of an innocent woman's soul. Please use your arrows and healing to help us prevail over her and rescue a good woman's soul from imprisonment. Those surrounding me are allies to this cause."

[lostsole31]

Lildorrinene pops a greater magic mirror on herself and revs it up to 8 images.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Taleira casts a Dispel Magic into her sword to fill up it's spell-storing capacity. "Ready as I will be. Let's do it."

[Debbie_D]

The door is blasted away by Dot's magic, revealing a room that the party would think of as a well appointed study. Except for the fact that along the far wall is a huge golden sarcophagus. Standing, or rather floating, just beside the sarcophagus is the ghostly form of a woman, even from here, the party can see her beauty, she is clearly of amazon heritage. In between the party and her however is a problem, a BIG problem, in the form of angry marilith.

Roll initiative.
Dot has blown a 10 foot wide section in the door, this will allow two people per round to enter into the room. The marilith is currently about 15-20 feet away from the party.

[Toliudar]

Dot

The little mage and her eight copies become a blur of motion. At the end of that blur, she's floating in the air where she had been, but the air elemental is gone. A black ball, about two feet in diameter, has appeared above the marilith's head, and swiftly drops down onto her. A 10' tall craggy earth elemental is standing behind the demon, swinging wildly - and probably vainly - at her. To the demon's left are an indistinct number of floating lantern-lights, each of which fires a bolt of white light at the six-armed horror. Dot casts a final spell, and tries to incapacitate the mighty mind inside the mighty body.

Those with see invisibility/true seeing/etc:

Spoiler

Dot is now standing to one side of the new hole, her back to the wall. True Seeing: The image of her floating in midair is an illusion.

Spoiler

Dot has Greater Arcane Sight, True Seeing and blindsense active, so if the marilith is not where she has been stated to be, or looks different, or if there are specific spells on her (say, for example, spell immunity, or freedom of movement) that Dot would know would invalidate these actions, please just let me know and I'll adjust Dot's actions accordingly.

Main round of actions:

Swift action to activate her Boots of Temporal Acceleration (2 rounds of time stop).

Time Stop Round 1:
Swift action: Cast Sphere of Ultimate Destruction, using her Major Esoterica power to quicken it. Place the sphere above the Marilith for the time being.
Standard action: Summon a Large Earth Eelmental beside/behind the marilith. This causes her air elemental to vanish.
Move action: Pull Greater rod of Quicken from her pack.

Time Stop Round 2:
Standard action: Use Summon Monster V to bring in (1d3)[3] Lantern Archons, placed 15' to the left to the marilith.
Move action: move to a section of the wall on which the door had been, so that I am no longer in line of sight with the marilith.
Swift action: cast a quickened Project Image, placing the projected image where Dot had been at the start of her action. Will DC 28 to identify it as an illusion, once interacted with.
Free action: switch to perceive through the projection's eyes.

Resuming main round of actions:
Move action: drop the Sphere of Ultimate Destruction onto the Marilith. CL check to beat SR: (1d20+29)[46]. Marilith makes a DC 33 fort save or takes (40d6)[136] untyped damage. On a successful save, she takes (5d6)[13] damage.
Standard action: Cast Feeblemind on the Marilith. SR check: (1d20+26)[41]. Marilith makes a DC 27 will save or her int and cha drop to 1, she loses access to int and cha related skills, spells and SLA's.

A reminder about Dot's current active spells. Please note that, with Gr. Anticipate Teleport active, if the Marilith tries to teleport closer, or out into the hallway, it ends up delayed for three rounds.

Spoiler

Anticipate Teleport, Greater
Dragonsight
Ectoplasmic Armour
Energy Immunity (Electricity)
Energy Immunity (Cold)
Endure Elements (from wand)
False Life
Heart of Air, Earth, Fire and Water
Mind Blank
Moment of Prescience
Superior Resistance
Death Ward (thanks to Melinda)
Greater Arcane Sight
Freedom of Movement
Mass Resist Energy (Acid)
Mass Resist Energy (Sonic)
Mirror Image, Greater
Shield
Spiderskin
True Seeing
Haste

[Toliudar]

A bulky earth elemental pounds on the marilith, and three bobbing lights hit her with lasers beams of light.

Spoiler

Large elemental slam attacks, with full power attack:
Slam 1 attack: (1d20+8)[21] Damage: (2d8+15)[24]
Slam 2 attack: (1d20+8)[12] Damage: (2d8+15)[22]
The earth elemental is AC 18, with DR 5/-, and HP 103.

Lantern Archons:
Ranged touch attack 1: (1d20+2)[19] Damage: (1d6)[2], overcomes all DR.
Ranged touch attack 2: (1d20+2)[11] Damage: (1d6)[5], overcomes all DR.
Ranged touch attack 3: (1d20+2)[16] Damage: (1d6)[1], overcomes all DR.

Also, the Marilith makes 3 DC 12 will saves (hey, she could roll a 1!) vs the archons' aura of menace or takes a -2 penalty on attacks, saves and AC for 24 hours.

The lantern archons are each AC 15, DR 10/evil & magic, and HP 33.

For purposes of dispelling, all of these creatures count as CL 29 spells.

[Debbie_D]

The sphere of ultimate destruction drops on the marilith, but with a dexterity that is surprising for something so big, she manages to pull herself to one side, and the sphere only grazes against her. Meanwhile, the earth elemental pounds with rocky fists on her, but totally fails to connect. Likewise, the little beams of light from the archons fail to find their mark, and the marilith does not seem menaced by them at all. Then, its her turn. Time seems to stand still for a moment, and then the marilith undergoes a number of changes.
Spellcraft DC: 20

Spoiler

She casts Time Stop

Now, to the horror of the party, there are 7 identical copies of the marilith (8 total), she seems to have a blurring about her, and her skin seems to have hardened even more.
@Dot, and anyone else with Greater Arcane sight active

Spoiler

Mirror Image, Displacement, Bite of the Werebear

Come on, you daughters of the bitches, come get some

Lil up

[Debbie_D]

Also, should have noted this....before you entered
@Dot, and anyone with G.A.S.

Spoiler

Shield, Greater Mage Armour