Adventures in Sigil - OOC - Part III [4E]

[Orsik Vondal]

Ahhh. Then I shall wait until this evening. Time has slowed down IC. Ash's head is ever so slowly turning to regard Zyrr. The gelugon like a glacier leveling his spear at the crew.

[Hzurr]

Originally Posted by Orsik Vondal

Time has slowed down IC. Ash's head is ever so slowly turning to regard Zyrr. The gelugon like a glacier leveling his spear at the crew.

Adventures in Sigil Part III - directed by Zach Snyder.


*sigh* so much slow motion...

[Nai_Calus]

We could all just quit our jobs and play via google hangout all day, will that work?

Alas, not everyone has a magical pocket rectangle and a job they can sneak posting on. :(

[Nai_Calus]

Actually, Eltain did propose setting up an ambush and nobody objected...

Although nobody has posted since to coordinate it with, so I'll assume for now everyone else is playing slave.

Eltain at least is hiding behind some miscellaneous cargo with his sword ready. Frank is also down here, although in a more obvious location to serve as a distraction. (Wait, what the hells, is that a winged mule?) Eltain took his cloak off before hiding and put it back on afterwards and had the others get rid of/cover the frost it left beforehand.

If the others are playing slave, Eltain will remain hidden for now, though with a readied action to use Eldritch Strike just in case someone comes looking about. If everyone else is ambushing, then obviously he's going to join in and stab a mother.

Also scouting out better hiding places in the event that I need to hide more, with a tarp on hand to throw over the frost I'm leaving on the floor right now.

Besides the spelljammers flanking us, what else is nearby? More ships? Earthmotes? How long does it look like it will take reinforcements to arrive? Anything we can hijack/use in our favor when this inevitably all goes to hell and ends up in a pitched battle?

How likely is it that Eltain will end up just completely making something up once things happen?

[Hzurr]

Originally Posted by Nai_Calus

Actually, Eltain did propose setting up an ambush and nobody objected...

Although nobody has posted since to coordinate it with, so I'll assume for now everyone else is playing slave.

Eltain at least is hiding behind some miscellaneous cargo with his sword ready. Frank is also down here, although in a more obvious location to serve as a distraction. (Wait, what the hells, is that a winged mule?) Eltain took his cloak off before hiding and put it back on afterwards and had the others get rid of/cover the frost it left beforehand.

If the others are playing slave, Eltain will remain hidden for now, though with a readied action to use Eldritch Strike just in case someone comes looking about. If everyone else is ambushing, then obviously he's going to join in and stab a mother.

Also scouting out better hiding places in the event that I need to hide more, with a tarp on hand to throw over the frost I'm leaving on the floor right now.

Cool, not a problem

Besides the spelljammers flanking us, what else is nearby? More ships? Earthmotes? How long does it look like it will take reinforcements to arrive? Anything we can hijack/use in our favor when this inevitably all goes to hell and ends up in a pitched battle?

There are a few earthmotes, but barely big enough for more than a handful of creatures to stand on. Other ships are nearby, but it'd most likely take several rounds minimum for them to reach you (say...2d8 rounds). As far as anything you can hijack/use, you've got fiendships, and whatever is on them. Plus the entire hell armada in front of you, so whatever you want to try and take from them, you're more than welcome to attempt. Anything in particular you're looking for?

[Nai_Calus]

Mostly just taking stock of what's nearby for the sake of figuring out what we can use to get out of here.

So at this point we probably aren't going to have any luck at rescuing Alluvius or anyone else for that matter, I figure. We've got too big a search radius and any of those people could be anywhere in this mess, and the longer we play along and the further we go in, the more we're at risk. Eltain hates this, but he's concerned with saving the maximum number of people here, which means creating some sort of distraction and getting the hells out of here to regroup, and we can't do a damn thing about any of this if we're enslaved/dead. (Eltain will not work with them or allow Pavick to be sold into slavery, or anyone else for that matter.)

Fortunately, if anyone can distract a bubble full of fiends, it's actually Eltain. His cloak has a Weekly power that allows for creating a big friggin' blizzard anywhere within a hundred miles. I say we give them some nasty dangerous weather they weren't expecting here and haul out in the chaos before too much in the way of reinforcements can arrive. If we can manage to create some extra chaos and destroy some enemy ships on the way out, so much the better.

[Orsik Vondal]

The Gelugon motions towards a squad of the Legion Devils, and barks a sharp order in Abyssal.

Not to be Mr. Picky or anything, but why would devils be speaking Abyssal? That's the demon tongue. If that's what you meant, by all means, go right ahead. Ash will just find it odd that devils would give orders in the language of creatures they have had a continuous war with since the beginning of Time...

Also I say we either
1) follow the crumbs and let Pavick get sold. Possibly convince this devil that we could find more slaves of Pavick's caliber, and gain an audience with the main kidnapping boss. (Presumably Belial.) We may lose contact with Pav for a bit, but I think Zyrr and ash can talk their way into an audience with the boss. And we could make a lot of gold off this sale and just steal Pav back!

or

2) Refuse the sale and get out of dodge. Although Zyrr has made it clear that everything is for sale on his ship. This may be difficult without fighting. We may have to zoom away and fight the devils onboard then the devils in the two remaining ships when they catch up.

Ash would rather not ambush a squad of legion devils with an ice devil commander. It doesn't seem like a good idea. If Eltain decides to go "Red Dawn" on those guys, he can and Ash will be right there to "subdue" an unruly slave. Starting a fight while you are flanked by two ships may cause more casualties than it prevents. I would rather not have the entire armada of the Nine Hells after us.

[Hzurr]

Originally Posted by Orsik Vondal

Not to be Mr. Picky or anything, but why would devils be speaking Abyssal? That's the demon tongue. If that's what you meant, by all means, go right ahead. Ash will just find it odd that devils would give orders in the language of creatures they have had a continuous war with since the beginning of Time...

Oops, brain fart. I'll correct this momentarily.

[Nai_Calus]

Exactly how are we going to steal Pavick back? As I've noted, going further into this would be even more foolish than you think an ambush is, then we *really* wouldn't be able to get out. Eltain isn't willing to risk it IC, and I'm not willing to risk it OOC. ;) (For one thing, it's kind of rude to take dariathalon out of the game like that, even temporarily. :smallsad: )

As I've noted, for now Eltain is merely lurking anyway, and we've got a good distraction to plop in the middle of the fleet while we get out.

[Orsik Vondal]

Ash isn't thinking of losing sight of him for more than a couple of minutes...

[Nai_Calus]

So instead of getting the drop on them now, you want to wait to assault them until we have a party member in actual chains and they're on their ship and we're deeper in this mess? ;)

No.

Asheroth is already on thin ice with Eltain. ;) (Gah, another cold pun)

[dariathalon]

I guess the real question is what do we need and want to get out of this? If it is just getting out with our skin, Eltain's plan seems best. If we want more out of this, then we might have to go in a little deeper. My question is what do we hope to accomplish, and is the chance worth the risk?

So, what good would this audience be? I somehow doubt we'll learn much from such a secretive individual, but if you've got an idea I'd be happy to hear it.

While I'm not enthused about Pavick seperating from the group again, I'm not 100% against it either.

[Hzurr]

That's a good point, dariathalon. Are y'all trying to capture Lu, are you trying to gather intel, are you trying to escape with your lives, or are you trying for something else?

It changes things a bit.

Also, I'm glad you spoke up, because I was just about to start telling Orsik/Nai that maybe they should ask you before deciding whether or not to let you be sold to an ice devil

[Orsik Vondal]

This is the way I see it.
Running away
Pros: most likely stay alive, party stays together, get to kill some devils (exp yay!)
Cons: we get no more info, 'Jammer gets put on the Nine Hells Most Wanted List so we can't use it in any more fiendish dealings, the Nine Hells will be after us for finding and crashing their party (no loose ends), we will be back in Sigil talking about what we want to do...again.

Staying and fumbling through a half-baked plan
Cons: we could ALL die if they smell a rat!, we could be forced into service for an archdevil (no dental, boo!), the group may be split for a bit (rhymes, but tough for DM), Zyrr and Ash will have to Bluff their patoots off the whole way, probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.
Pros: we can find out where they keep the captives, we could understand more about what the devils are doing and why they need the prisoners, we could work for a devil (no dental, but man, they have some nice toys!), it will be very interesting, and, hey, you guys have done this sort of thing before (not the pretending-to-be-slaves-so-you-can-get-a-better-look-at-an-operation-thing, but the let's-have-a-plan-but-if-something-happens-we-can-always-change-it-up-on-the-fly-thing )

My thought was that we came here for information, let's go find some information. And I was not thinking of letting the devil take Pav alone. We are a packaged deal.

[Nai_Calus]

Working for devils is not a pro. Ever. :p Asheroth is the only evil PC, recall. ;p (Working for devils intentionally is an evil act, full stop)

I'm ok with not being able to use the ship for dealing with fiends, given that both I and Eltain are completely against that anyway. ;p

And we actually didn't come for information, we came to find Lu, but we're not going to locate her in this mess.

I am against splitting the party and having most of us have nothing to do. The risk here is too great.

[Hzurr]

Originally Posted by Nai_Calus

Working for devils intentionally is an evil act, full stop

*Psst.* You guys all did that once, remember?


However, you do raise some valid points (as does Orsik).

That being said, I think we know where both Eltain & Asheroth sit on this. I'm curious to see which way Zyrr/Aramil/Lucan are leaning.

[Mando Knight]

Originally Posted by Hzurr

*Psst.* You guys all did that once, remember?

We thought it was a necessary evil in order to accomplish our goals, at the time. Except for Eltain, who was probably right.

[Nai_Calus]

Originally Posted by Mando Knight

Except for Eltain, who was probably right.

Eltain, God of I Told You So.

"Hey, fey guys, don't start a war, our enemies will rise against us in our moment of weakness." What happens? Yep.

[Hzurr]

Originally Posted by Nai_Calus

"Hey, fey guys, don't start a war, our enemies will rise against us in our moment of weakness." What happens? Yep.

Where else do you think I got the idea?

[Nai_Calus]

I actually kind of figured that was what had happened. Actually I figured it would end up happening when I wrote that speech. ;p Eltain is still right and still gets to say I told you so.

Oh, Orsik, lest you think I'm picking on the new guy or don't like Asheroth, I'm not and I do. :) I just like to debate things and tend to get a bit passionate. :) Nothing was meant or taken personally.

Asheroth does annoy Eltain at times, but that's entirely IC and just Eltain. Eltain's very young(He's now just a bit past his 18th birthday, he was 16 when the game started), and still a bit immature and hot-headed. Also very chaotic, heh. Also deeply good, even if he is more than a bit mad. ;)

[Orsik Vondal]

I have never been one to leave an opportunity untried or untested. And Ash is a lot like me. It's not that he is evil or anything. He really wants to save Lu, who is like his surrogate mother. If he thinks that serving up his new friends in jest will afford him an opportunity to rescue Lu and possibly others, he will want to investigate that opportunity.

Nai, don't worry your pretty little head. Hzurr knows that I'm a laid back guy. It's all good in the neighborhood. IC Ash definitely thinks Eltain is an uptight stick in the mud. But that's your character. You don't have to apologize for playing your character.

[Toric]

I'm personally of a mind that we should keep up the facade a little longer. If the group wants out, I can probably bluff our way back to a safe distance and escape with knowledge of this devilish armada. Surely that info's worth something. If we want to press further, I can string the ice devil along in a trade negotiation. No, I don't plan on accepting any quests or favors from the devils. And no, I'm not signing anything. Yes, I really wish we still had the Shepherd to sign something for me.

[Orsik Vondal]

I really should go back through all the previous OOC and IC threads so I can get to know this Shepherd character.

[Nai_Calus]

Shep was cool. I miss him. :(

Not on Y!IM tonight, Toric?

[Hzurr]

Originally Posted by Toric

I'm personally of a mind that we should keep up the facade a little longer. If the group wants out, I can probably bluff our way back to a safe distance and escape with knowledge of this devilish armada. Surely that info's worth something. If we want to press further, I can string the ice devil along in a trade negotiation. No, I don't plan on accepting any quests or favors from the devils. And no, I'm not signing anything. Yes, I really wish we still had the Shepherd to sign something for me.

Have you tried calling for him 3 times in game? That works for most creatures.

...


Well, it works for Pazuzu. But it may also work for Shepherds. You should try it. Don't respond to the devil, just call out "Shepherd Shepherd Shepherd" to see what happens.

-edit-

Oops, this rule also applies to Beetlejuice.

[dariathalon]

Pavick is inclined to go above deck, but I was mostly waiting on the others. If one of them takes the lead in attacking the devil or something like that Pavick will go along with it. Since no one else has posted about doing anything to the contrary, I guess I'll go for it. IC incoming.

Also, definitely go back and read about Shep. Great character

[Hzurr]

Originally Posted by dariathalon

"No, we're below decks now," Pavick says as if speaking to a confused child. "Though if you'd like I can go up top in a moment, but I certainly can't be on the top deck now. And especially not back then, at the moment ago that you asked me. And if I was, I wouldn't have been here to hear you make the request, so I wouldn't even know to be there in the first place. Ah, wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, enough to drive even the craziest amongst us sane if you think too hard about it," Pavick muses. "You should try to remember that in the future. Remembering things in the past is ever so bothersome anyway."

I really love Pavick.

[Toric]

I'll hold off on posting in-character just yet, since this is kind of a big thing I'm pondering.

I'm strongly considering taking the devil up on that wager, and entering Pavick, Aramil, and Lucan into this fiendish tournament. ...Plus possibly Private Not-Ash since I'd hate to send them in without a striker.

Pro's: It'd get us into the thick of things, and the fighter group could occupy the devils while those who are left investigate the whereabouts of Lu and the devilish situation in general.

The fighters will provide a perfect distraction to make the devils all nice and complacent while the others sneak about.

Zellora's back, and this will give us a clue what she's up to so long as she doesn't recognize us.


Con's: It splits the party. Some of us will be fighting and dealing with life as arena slaves. The others will be wading through intrigue and plot. Pavick, Lucan, and Aramil don't get to choose which of these two they'll be doing.

It puts us even deeper in enemy territory. Pavick has no ritual components, so he can't teleport us out without some setup. We'll probably have to sign some sort of contract (Curse you contracts!) that will make scramming non-trivial.

Zellora will probably recognize the fighters, unless they're disguised quite well.

Eltain may or may not stick out like a frostbitten thumb should he not stay in hiding.


Okay, so that's what I can think of. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on this before I proceed. This ploy could be either really awesome or really terrible.

[dariathalon]

Me too. After reading what Zyrr had said about him, I figured I had to have a little fun with this.

I really wanted to work "Shep Shep Shep" in there somehow, but couldn't figure out how to do it.

[dariathalon]

Your plan is certainly big risk/possibly big reward. I'm okay with it if its what others want to go for.

I should point out that you're wrong about Pavick. He has a few components (but those will probably be left on board the Jammer). Even still he has the Quick Portal spell from his paragon path, see below. Splitting the party may make it more difficult to use this effectively, but it is an option at least.

Spoiler

Quick Portal (Planeshifter Utility 12)
No one can open a portal quicker than you.

Encounter
Arcane, Teleportation
Standard Action
Ranged 5

Effect: You create a portal in an unoccupied square within range that lasts until the end of your next turn. The portal leads to a permanent teleportation circle on your current plane. You must know the teleportation circle’s sigil sequence, and you lose three healing surges when you create the portal. If you have fewer than three healing surges when you use this power, you take damage equal to your healing surge value for each healing surge you don’t lose.

Sustain Standard: You lose a healing surge or take damage equal to your healing surge value when you sustain the portal.

Published in Manual of the Planes, page(s) 145.