Eyes of the Lich Queen IC

[TheFallenOne]

"Oh great, so the whole temple turns out to have been a delayed deathtrap." The dwarf exhaled audibly. "You said one of the group had a true dragonmark. Was it Jheamast? One true mark, one who outlived the others... Might be something there. The true mark held the corrupting force in check to say it simply without the fancyful words casters throw around. Now if only I knew whether this only applies to the true mark or also the imitation of the true mark." He regarded the pattern resembling the Mark of Warding, and for a moment he wondered whether amputation would save him, but then quickly pushed the thought away; the time for such desperate measures was still far enough away.

"Do we have any disguises available for Daiya and me? I just got a new armor, so that's a plus already. Different clothes would be good as well, as are any magics to change my appearance like hair color. I'm more used to not being seen at all than blending into a crowd, but I think I'll manage.
It's best we pretend we stay in this inn, Shard going out on some pretend business. Is there some exit from this building they might have overlooked so Daiya and I can leave unnoticed?"

[Postmodernist]

"I can aid with disguises," Xaxhan says, a smile creeping across his lips. "While my training in the discipline is amateurish at best, I've always had something of a flair for it. I even know a few minor magical enhancements that might help keep you and Daiya appear other than you are. Your strange warforged friend," Xaxhan nods, indicating Shard, "on the other hand, might be out of my capabilities. Fortunately, I am unknown to be associated with you, so I could make a few clothing purchases on your behalf. This should help your ruse succeed."

[TekHed]

Shard looked pointedly at the Seren.

"One of the warforged, I am not. Would attempting to disguise me not be at odds with the intention to use me as bait?" It asked.

[TheFallenOne]

The dwarf grimaced at Xaxhan's announcement of knowing magic. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person on the world who can't cast spells... bah."

At Shard's comment, he chuckled. "You got that right buddy, disguising the bait would be at odds with the intent.
All right, get us some new clothes, then we play a little dressup and track down these bastards." He removed the two small leather bands parting his beard in the middle. "Need to change my hairstyle a bit too... Braids perhaps?"

[Sallera]

As Shard casually browses the stalls, shadowed at different distances by the rest of the party, Grimmgang and Daiya are slowly able to pick up a pattern in the movements of the crowd. The tails are very cautious, and you start to realize why you never noticed anyone after you before; there are two men among the crowd who simply walk by one at a time, observing but not following, as though they were patrolling the town as a whole rather than tailing a specific individual. Were it not for the fact that you keep seeing their faces from time to time, and yet they never seem to buy anything, you might never have noticed their presence. But it doesn't matter how long you linger; one of them continues walking by at regular intervals, and their gaze always follows Shard.

As the crystal warrior moves into a less populated area of town after a few hours of shopping, the tails silently fade away, leaving and not reappearing. Grimmgang manages to follow one unnoticed; he wanders the town for a while, but eventually returns to a small building in the warehouse district as sunset approaches.

[TheFallenOne]

a malicious grin showed over the dwarf's newly braided beard. Got you now, bastards. He returned to the inn, entering the same way he left.
"Small building in the warehouse district", he announced. "There should be little activity at night and they expect us to be retired for the night. It's perfect. I don't think they're shadowing us now, though we have to consider the possibility they just had a shift change and someone else now has an eye on this place. We need to obscure Shard and Drasil from their sight as well just to be sure."

Spoiler

I'd reccommend invisibility castings if you're fine with sacrificing the spell slots Postmodernist

[Postmodernist]

A malicious grin forms across Xaxhan's face as the plan coalesces. "Did you happen to get an estimation of their numbers, Grimmgang? I can render us invisible as we approach, though it will only last a few minutes. It should be enough to cover our approach, but the spell will break once battle is joined."

Spoiler

A short distance from our target, Xaxhan will use two 2nd level slots to cast Invisibility, followed by 3 uses of Bardic Music exchanged for another 2nd level slot via the Lyric Spell feat, and finally one last one will be cast in exchange for two 1st level slots via the Versatile Spellcaster feat. This leaves him with one 2nd level spell, two 1st level spells, and two 0 levels, since he probably used Minor Disguise earlier.

[TheFallenOne]

"Not yet", Grimmgang answered. "I'll go ahead a little to stake out the place when we attack. The assault should happen in the dead of night, when the city sleeps.
Invisibility? Nice one, I can open the frontdoor lock that way unnoticed and if everything goes well we're already in their midst before they notice what happened.
Keep in mind though, I'm no expert at lockpicking. May well be above my capabilities."

Spoiler

I can beat a 25 with take 20(2 minutes), hope that will be enough. If not we need to go through windows or burst the door or lock with damage.

well, since we do have some time left I reccommend disguises for Drasil and Shard as well, just in case they still have an eye on the inn

[MoleMage]

Daiya nods.

"After the invisibility I may be able to work some tricks of my own. I can't block us from view or silence us, but I can block us from detection by magic if we feel it will be necessary. I also will be able to locate traps and hopefully disable them. Locks I have no knack for though. Perhaps we could find some scrolls to open doors? I don't know what spell would do so off-hand but I think I've heard of it being done."

[Sallera]

Studying the hideout carefully, Grimmgang can find no other exits; the one-story, likely one-room building is a rather unimposing edifice. Creeping in under cover of invisibility and wards, you find the door locked; it takes some time, but the dwarf manages to open it quietly. The inside of the building is dark and dusty, lit only by a single candle set on the wall, and a few empty boxes are scattered about the floor. A slightly less dusty section of floor leads to a trap door leading downward; it too appears to be locked, and rather carefully.

Grimmgang:

Spoiler

You're not sure what exactly it was, but you're certain you saw one of the shadows in the far corner... twitch, just for a second.

Spoiler

Roughly three and a half minutes of invisibility remaining on the first casting.

[TheFallenOne]

DM

Spoiler

hm, posting openly would give things away the others aren't supposed to know...
Sneak over to where I think I saw something at full speed, Hide and Move Silently 18 with take 10 and -5 speed penalty. Hunter's Sense is active.

Drasil is guarding the door.

[Sallera]

Grimmgang:

Spoiler

A thorough inspection of the corner behind the cracked box reveals only dust; as far as you can tell, if anything was there, it is no longer.

[TheFallenOne]

"I could swear I saw something", the dwarf's voice said in a low tone, betraying he had wandered off into one corner and was now coming back towards the trap door. "Can't smell or see it now and there's nowhere to run in this small room. Daiya, use your magical sense, maybe you have better luck. I'll take care of the lock." Silent clicking noises were coming from the locked trapdoor now, though he was unsure whether this one might prove to be beyond his abilities.

[Sallera]

This lock proves just as stubborn as the last, but eventually yields to Grimmgang's efforts with a satisfying click. The door itself is somewhat heavy, and looks like it would be quite difficult to open quietly.

Daiya:

Spoiler

None of your senses detect anything unusual about the room; all you can feel is your companions.

Spoiler

Just over one minute remaining on the first casting of invisibility.

[Postmodernist]

"We should hurry, the spell hasn't much longer." Xaxhan whispers. He is otherwise silent.

Spoiler

Move Silently is a 17, taking ten and accounting for armor penalties.

[TheFallenOne]

Then grab the thing, and put your back into it. They'll notice us soon enough, so be ready." Grimmgang took a hold of the trapdoor and heaved with all his strength.

Spoiler

strength check - (1d20+3)[15]

[Sallera]

The door springs open with a scrape and a thud, and you can see a ladder leading further down. The next room is unlit, although Grimmgang can see the floor roughly ten feet below; what he can see of the room appears to contain yet more old crates.

[TheFallenOne]

"Don't waste time, they may be onto us." Not even bothering with the ladder, Grimmgang jumped down, softly landing in a crouch and readying axe and shield while his companions moved down as well.

Spoiler

soft fall autosuccess

[Sallera]

Grimmgang:

Spoiler

The room contains several piles of crates and barrels, stacked haphazardly all around. Free to examine the area, however, you once again catch sight of something odd in the shadows - especially odd, this time, since there aren't any shadows in the darkened room. Still, cast against the wall, sheltered by yet more boxes, is a human's shadow.

[TheFallenOne]

DM

Spoiler

Well, now I know something's wrong here... Deciding the best way to find out the nature of the shadow was to attack the darkness, he swiftly went at it while it held position, bringing his axe around in a wide horizontal chop.

Spoiler

Mountain Hammer
Dwarven Waraxe - (1d20+8)[22]
Slashing damage - (1d10+4)[13] + Maneuver damage - (2d6)[11] + Skirmish damage - (2d6)[6]
Concealment - (1d100)[46]

Invisibility ends if attacking a creature... At least I'll learn that much from the try.

Are there other exits from the room or does it look like a dead end?

[TekHed]

Even moving as slowly as was practical Shard still made a lot of noise, each step tingling like wind chimes as his crystal body shifted and moved.

Spoiler

Taking 10 on Move Silently nets me a 7.

[MoleMage]

Daiya whispers silently to the party in the first room.
"I still can't sense anyone around here. At all. It's too quiet. I wonder if maybe they knew we were coming."

As they continue she keeps ear, nose, and touch to the wind, trying to find the targets wherever they might be hidden.

Spoiler

Wow. I go away for less than a day and you guys just explode.

Take ten move silently nets me a 14.

If the pace keeps up, assume Daiya will alert as silently as possible when she senses something. Also recall that I have blindsense 30 ft, so even non-moving things I am aware of. Tremorsense 30, magic sense 60 feet (including number and location of all auras), blindsense 30 ft, scent. In short, if something is tangible, I can probably find it once I'm within thirty feet.

[Postmodernist]

Hearing Grimmgang tear open the trapdoor and leap down, Xaxhan makes his way down the ladder, looking out for danger.

Spoiler

Desperate, bonusless Spot: (1d20)[17] and Listen: (1d20)[6] checks.

[Sallera]

The axe thunks heavily into the wood, and as the dwarf shimmers into view, the human-shaped shadow peels itself off the wall, sliding through the axe rather than casting itself on the metal. Not quite two-dimensional, it is nonetheless difficult to distinguish it from a mundane shadow, although if it had an expression, it would probably be rather surprised.

Spoiler

Initiative:
Grimmgang: 23
Shadow: 14
Shard: 6
Xaxhan: 6
Daiya: 4

Grimmgang got a surprise round, so it's still his turn.

Shard, Daiya and Xaxhan are still invisible; Daiya is unable to sense anything, including whatever Grimmgang just swung at.

[TheFallenOne]

"We got company, some kind of... living shadow!" Grimmgang wished he could give a better description of what they were up against, but his mind hit a roadblock trying to explain what he saw. This thing had no smell, and it passed right through his axe... Does this thing not have a body? Oh please, not that again.
Using the surprise advantage, he hopped onto one of the crates to make room for the others and swung his axe downward.

Spoiler

hop onto B2, assuming the crates aren't stacked too high for that
regain maneuvers
(1d20+9)[20] +1 high ground (1d10+4)[12] (1d100)[9]

[Sallera]

Grimmgang's blow once again passes harmlessly through the shadow, its quasi-real substance slipping around the blade like a particularly resilient egg-white. Two more shadows emerge from the darkened corners, flitting nearly unseen past the invisible party and converging on Grimmgang. Reaching out with wispy fingers, they grasp at the dwarf greedily, searching for something to make their own.

Spoiler

Shadows surround Grimmgang.
Touch attack: (1d20+5)[20]
Damage: (1d6)[5] strength
Touch attack: (1d20+3)[13]
Damage: (1d6)[5] strength
Touch attack: (1d20+5)[23]
Damage: (1d6)[4] strength

Party's turn. Daiya still can't sense anything.

Paint-map (at work, sorry ):

[TekHed]

Seeing Grimmgang in mortal danger, Shard saw the face of Daiya as she was struck down, of Trunk falling to a fiery death. Each time it had been forced to watch a friend perish, impotent to save them.

Not this time.

It's cloak dropping as it stepped forward, Shard stopped holding back it's divine might. With a high pitched sound, the room exploded with brilliant light as Shard's unleashed holy power washed over the creatures of darkness.

[MoleMage]

After Shard's brilliant display of energy, Daiya pulled her blindfold off so she could see the shadows moving.

"Well all this seeing is distracting from my other senses, but here goes..."

And with a loudly spoken incantation, she fired a series of magic missiles at the nearest shadow.

Then, she pulled out her wand and held it out to Xaxhan. "Can you use this?"

Spoiler

(3d4+3)[13]
The wand is a CL1 magic missile wand.
Magic missile, all on one.

[TheFallenOne]

The shadows sapped the strength from Grimmgang and he gasped helplessly. The weight of his gear suddenly too much to bear, it felt like a mountain pressed down on his shoulders, almost making him collapse. He felt the lifeforce leaving him and knew how preciously little he had left; desperately, he enveloped himself in mist and prepared to evade the immaterial creatures as much as he could. The holy energy of Shard's light washing over him, he hoped his companions came in time, or at least diverted attention away from him for now.

Spoiler

oopsies, forgot I act again

activate Mithralmist for concealment
Full Defense

[Postmodernist]

Xaxhan, wondering how Daiya could look directly at him despite his invisibility, grabbed the wand and drew his longsword from its scabbard, a thin hum emanating from the crystalline blade. He moves in, attempting to distract one of the horrid creatures from Grimmgang long enough for the dwarf to make his escape. The wand in his left hand, he attempts to activate it, coaxing the magic out so that it might aid their cause.

Spoiler

Move to D2 to flank the shadow, which will help Grimmy a little. Use Magic Device (1d20+13)[15] to cast magic missile on the same target Daiya had. DC should be twenty.