The Temple of Anuberith, Kamarn-Quse, Har'Akir
August 19th, 761, 3:11 PM; Day 155 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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PC Actions
Andre casts a Sound Lance at the Cerulean Obelisk for 36-8=26 damage, destroying it.
Kuzan casts Fly and moves straight up.
Tomas runs up.
Charles runs up and hits the Golden Obelisk for 5 damage.
Otto fails his will save and plummets.
Lia flies away and drinks a potion to heal herself for 15.
Sascha climbs up.
DocBeard wrote:He. he. "no." Tomas breathes, forcing himself through the complete Otherness of the world of pain that's opened up around him. "...that's what he's...you're trying to bring another place here? Why? Professor, this is hurting us? This is killing us! I...I'm sorry that I'm not your friend all of a sudden but why? You know better than to listen to ominous voices in cursed lost cities-you taught me that rule! Please, stop!"
"Yes, it hurts. The truth always hurts. But it is the lies that make that so, that make the truth cut the deepest." Charles Devereux said, his eyes twin, violet suns. You couldn't make out the pupils any more. "We live in self-delusion, lying to ourselves in the hopes it will save us. And our chains choke us so slowly we don't feel the pain anymore."
"Kamarn-Quse... shows the truth. And all the pain and lies that we hide comes crashing down around us." The entity beneath the corona of light said. Its voice still had Devereux's intonations, perhaps even Devereux's mannerisms. Perhaps it was even Devereux in truth. "But it's only the chains that are breaking."
"I can see it hurting you, Tomas. Look inside. You don't
have to be chained. That's what I learned in Kamarn-Quse. Reality will accept you."
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Lances of sound played across the lightning-blue Obelisk, though it warped and seemed to
shift in the unnatural distortion surrounding the Cerulean Obelisk. But then something came through, some symbol failed, and the glow pulsed, then died. Where once brilliant, electrical color shone, now was just dead, black stone. One down, three to go.
The other three Obelisks continued their reality-bending assault. The Golden Obelisk pulsed, and once more Charles felt the world tumble and turn, swiveling like a top, trying to force him into the unreality behind him. The Grey Obelisks pulsed, and the air around Andre ignited and froze simultaneously, freezing and burning him at once, filling the air with a hazy fog as a side-effect of the bizarre forces involved.
Then the Green Obelisk pulsed
twice, and did something different. Whispers murmurred in the minds of the two knights and perhaps Charles, whispers of murder and madness...
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Kuzan caught his breath, safe from the stone gaze of the Obelisks behind the polished, black-marble column. This city was
entirely too disturbing. Still, a chance to rest for a moment in the fight and figure out what to do was likely a very good idea, as Kuzan took cover behind the column.
Then something moved inside the polished stone. It was as though the black marble was now a semi-translucent pane of black glass. Before Kuzan's eyes, something pale reached towards the surface of the marble column. A hand, a pale, ghostly hand.
Enemy Actions
The Golden Obelisk attempts to Telekinesis Charles again and throw him at square Z16, right in the middle of the Unstable Reality. DC 18 Will Save negates. If you fail it, then you take 1 damage and effectively get to start your turn in the Unstable Reality (with all attendant fun).
The Cerulean Obelisk has been deactivated.
The Grey Obelisk casts Hostile Reality. This deals 39 damage (half fire, half cold), DC 19 Reflex save for half. This hits Andre. This also leaves a zone (see below)
The Emerald Obelisk casts Psychosis. This affects Sascha, Tomas, and if he fails his save against TK, Charles. This is a DC 18 Will Save negates, or else you must move towards the nearest creature (Obelisks don't count, though Devereux does), and attack them with whatever weapon you have in hand. If you cannot reach a creature by the end of the round, you simply move towards the nearest creature by the most-efficient route. You do not need to set up sneak attacks or power attacks or what-not, but you do make a regular melee attack. This spell lasts one round. In this case, the courses of actions are:
-Tomas: Enter the Void and either hit Otto or join him in plummeting.
-Sascha: Either move and attack Charles (if he saves versus TK or has not yet moved) or enter the thorns after him (if he fails his save)
-Charles (if failed TK save): Move towards the nearest PC (either Sascha or Tomas, depending on how the order works out).
Basically, you go and kill someone. Pick your own neurosis to mentally justify it. Have fun!
PC: Prayer (+1 Luck to attack, saves, damage, and skills)
Lia: 30/34 HP, Greater Mage Armor (+6 Armor AC)
Charles: 48/48 HP,
Andre: 55/31 HP, Amulet of Tears (+24 Temp HP)
Tomas: 57/91 HP,
Sascha: 88/92 HP
Otto: 62/62 HP
Kuzan: 64/83 HP
The Golden Obelisk: -26 HP
The Cerulean Obelisk: -48 HP, Destroyed
The Emerald Obelisk:
The Grey Obelisk:
Ending Conditions
-The Obelisks are all destroyed or dispelled, OR
-Devereux is incapable of finishing the ritual (dead or unconscious or Feebleminded or whatever), OR
-Devereux finishes the Ritual. This occurs in 1 minute, which is 10 rounds, if Devereux is still directing the Ritual and at least one Obelisk is powering it.
Columns - The two squares immediately south of any given Column provide Cover. Columns also block Line of Sight.
Sphinxes - You can clamber onto them with a Climb Check. They are considered Difficult terrain for the purposes of moving over them.
Unstable Reality (The green) - Basically, this is a Wall of Thorns http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wallOfThorns.htm, with a slightly different movement requirement.
The gist is this. If you enter a square of Unstable Reality, or begin your turn in a square of Unstable Reality, you take 25 damage minus your Flatfooted AC (if your Flatfooted AC is 25 or higher, you take no damage). This happens every time you enter a square, so if you move through three squares of Unstable Reality, you take the damage 3 times.
To move through the Unstable Reality, one must succeed on a DC 15 Strength or DC 15 Wisdom check as a Full Round Action, and this moves you 5 feet through the wall (you don't need a check if you are in the wall and move out). For every 5 points by which you exceed DC 15, you move an additional five feet (so a Wis check of 20 lets you move 10 feet).
Hostile Reality (red area) - This is identical to Fog Cloud http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fogCloud.htm, with a few additions.
The Hostile Reality obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target). This means that you cannot cast any spell that requires sight on anything beyond 5 ft. (This includes Mass Cures)
The red terrain is now Difficult (that is, two squares of movement to traverse a single square).
False Void (blue area) - Every creature that enters the False Void, or is within the area when it is cast, must make a DC 19 Will (Disbelief) save.
Those that fail their saves fall prone and are unable to take any action except clawing desperately at the floor in the hopes of stopping their apparent fall. An attack on an affected creature frees it from the effect of the illusion but leaves it stunned for 1 round. Likewise, when the spell ends, creatures that believed they were falling are stunned for 1 round. Flying creatures passing over an illusory pit are unaffected by the spell.
Move to U10, drawing the dagger, and then "attack" for 5 damage. Disable Device is a full round action, so that will have to wait 'til next turn.
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