Part 5

Calderion’s Journeys Part 3:

The Tower in the Slithering Deeps

(A Solo Pathfinder Game)

Scene 23

   After searching the remains of the monsters, I was about to move into the tower.  I decided to ask the GM Emulator “Is there pit trap in the entrance?” and got a “Yes.” answer.  I also got a “Scene change: A positive alteration” alert. Since it came up after I asked about the trap, I modified things so the trap was revealed, and thus easily avoided. (As a side note: After that last fight I boosted the Emulator’s Chaos factor up a notch to 8, meaning I should be getting even more “Random Event” alerts than before.)

   The group stepped into the blasted ground level of the old keep. The corridor upon which they found themselves was blackened with ash and stank of smoke. Just inside was a partially open pit lined with corroded but still dangerous metal spikes. The concealing cover of this old defence work had been blown open, revealing what would have been a very nasty surprise for the invaders otherwise.

    “There might be more stuff like that.” Ralvor commented quietly. “Let me check the way ahead a bit.” Kushear nodded and gestured for the human rogue to take the lead. I used Cal’s Engineering skill +9 to see if he could discern anything about the style of the ruined fort. According to the PRD’s Pathfinder Table: Knowledge Skill DCs  this takes a DC roll of 15 or better. Calderion’s roll of 22 more than suffices. So it was back to the Emulator with the question “Does the keep layout appear to be typical of the style of a Border Fort from the old Imperial era?” The answer I received was “EXCEPTIONAL Yes!”. I’ll have Cal identify this as an almost text-book example, meaning he’ll know the basic floorplan already.

   “So far the layout of the old keep appears to be exactly the style I studied for Imperial border regions.”  Cal notes. “That being the case, there should be defensive murder holes or archer slots along this way, and ahead a large hall. It was typically used as a ceremonial center: feasts, audiences, celebrations, that sort of thing. But it also doubled as a choke-point. If it stays true to form, an open corridor runs around it above, allowing defenders to fire at anyone entering the hall. Several rooms should be up there off the closed side of the corridor: offices, function rooms, high-ranking officer’s family suites and the like.”

   Ralvor stops just beyond the pit at Cal’s words and looks back at him with exasperation, and then glances upwards. Sure enough, he can see openings in the corridor ceiling ahead.  “Just thought you’d mention that now, Wizard?” he says caustically.

   “Well the place IS a ruin, and there was a margin for error, after all.” Calderion replies defensively.

   I went back to the Emulator and posed the question “Are the murder holes along the corridor manned by any defenders?” and got a “No.” in response, with “Involves a large amount of creation.” in the details. Well that’s rather cryptic. Why are there no defenders? They may have been killed in the blast- that far is easy to get. But “large amount of creation” is harder to translate into game terms.

   OH! I got a perfect solution. I just looked over the Hero Lab file for the wizard enemy, Argren the Dark. I created him as a 6^th level necromancer. One of his toys is a wand that casts the “Lesser Animate Dead” from the Ultimate Magic source book. If most of his lizardfolk minions are dead, and he knows the adventurers are coming (and given the blast and fight in the courtyard, he certainly must) I can have him prepping by sending his remaining living minions to delay the group while he uses the wand to animate the dead ones as zombies…that explains the sudden arrival of the lizardfolk during the fight with the ogre in the last scene. So how many zombies could he have? I’m ball-parking it at a minimum of 5 or 6, with possibly a lot more- Zombies aren’t that tough, after all, so numbers will count. I decide to roll 1d20+5 and see what I get. Hm. 21. That’s alotta zombies. Four per team member. This could be a challenge- especially since I planned to have Argren casting spells from the mezzanine above while the zombie horde and the leaders of the renegade Lizardfolk confront the group in the main hall. Meh- I’ll go for it- it will be interesting to see how it plays out.  

   With a last biting glare at the young mage, Ralvor edges out further down the corridor, carefully watching the holes above as he equally cautiously probes the way ahead. He gets to the great doors at the corridor’s end without incident and motions the others forward. He cracks open the doors and peers beyond. Inside is a hexagonal hall longer on the sides, & angling back at either end. Ralvor decides the further inspection of the chamber’s specifications can wait, however, since the way forward is blocked by a horde of walking corpses. A wave of undead lizardfolk, at least a score in number, shuffles towards the doorway.   

   Scene 24

   When I entered the new scene description into the GM Emulator up popped another “Scene Altered! Something is unexpectedly positive.” alert. I reasoned that after everything the lizardfolk have had thrown at them, and then having the necromancer violate their dead to create the zombies, the two leaders have decided that it’s time to end their service to this dark mage. At the start of the encounter these two are going to abandon this place and run via the flooded room to the right, diving out into the swamp.

   The undead Lizardfolk advance upon the group. They are followed by the living leader and his mystic advisor. Suddenly the live Lizardfolk turn and make a run for a side door to the right. Before they duck inside, the leader makes a rude gesture to the necromancer on the mezzanine above, then dives into the space beyond, leaving the black wizard and his zombies behind. At this point I think it would be a good place to play the Paizo Plot Twist card “Wrath” that I drew the last time Calderion leveled up. It causes the victim it is used upon to be so angry that (s)he is unable to perform any action that requires concentration for a round. The lizardfolk betrayal is a perfect reason for Argren to go into a mindless rage. I’ll shuffle the card back into the deck. The wizard above them screams with anger as they disappear, almost foaming at the mouth with fury. The mindless zombies continue to move to the attack, uncaring about the drama playing out. Ralvor draws his sword and comments to those behind him “I think we found the person we’re looking for.”

   “Indeed. Time to end this affront to the Gods of Light.” Kushear answers grimly as he and the others also ready for battle before stepping into the hall. Cal activates the same defences he used in the fight versus the ogre (his mage armor spell & shield spells) plus, since Argren has now revealed himself, Calderion will also use one of his prized potions of displacement. As a side note, Cal has no more shield spells now- this was the last one he had prepared for today. In addition, he only has 1 more potion of displacement. Both of them should last long enough for this fight, but after this I’ll need to remove the shield spell from Cal’s defence numbers if he gets into any more fights. Something else to note- Argren has partial concealment from the bannister of the mezzanine, which gives anyone targeting him from the hall below a 20% chance of missing. As they move to engage, Cal pulls out his Burning Hands (x3) scroll once more, looking to use its area to his advantage.

   Combat! The final battle?

   Initiative rolls: Cal(+4)’s total is 23. Kushear(+0)’s total is 12. Myrlia(+5)’s total is 16. Fannen(+1)’s total is 14. Ralvor(+3)’s total is 18. For the bad guys I’ll roll for the zombies as a group for initiative, but divvy them up into 4 groups of 4 plus 1 group of 5 for actual combat, & then Argren separately. So, Argren(+1) get a total of 12, and the zombies(+0) get…a one. Well, I guess the zombies are last. Argren & Kushear tied, but Argren has the better bonus so he goes first.

   Speaking of Argren, I need some more information. Time to consult the GM Emulator again. Q: “Is the stair up to the next level locked?” A: “Yes.” This will be an average quality lock that will require a Disable Device roll versus a DC of 25.

    Wow. Got another random event from Emulator. This one is a negative event targeting Fannen. The details says it involves “The beginning of lies.” I think I’ll interpret this as meaning Argren will target Fannen with his Cause Fear spell when he get the chance. The spell causes a fake emotion, thus the “lie”.

   Anyway, moving on to the next Emulator question. Q: “Is the stairway trapped?”  A: “Yes. Exceptionaly!”  I’ll put a poisoned spike trap just at the foot of the stairs. I’ll add a hidden bypass switch on the wall just inside the stairwell (this can be spotted with  Perception check versus a DC 15 roll).

   Aaaand we get another random event. This one is a positive one, specifically targeting Calderion, with the details saying it involves “the oppression of the military”. Well that’s vague. Is the military being oppressed or is it doing the oppressing? And how will this benefit Cal? Okay, so working it out, we got a small army of zombies- there is the “military” part of the details. The thesaurus lists that “Brutality”, Cruelty” and “Suffering” can all be used as synonyms of “Oppression”. I would say that setting a creature on fire and letting it burn to death is a pretty cruel thing to do. Extending that to Calderion, I could have him use his Burning Hands spell scroll on the zombies, but give him an automatic maximum on the possible damage (16 points fire damage, before the reflex saving throw to possibly cut that in ½) . I think that will fit the criteria of the Emulator details nicely. Now, onward!

   So the initiative order will go like this then: 1^st Calderion, 2^nd Ralvor, 3^rd Myrlia, 4^th is Fannen, then the bad guy, Argren is 6^th. Argren is out for the 1^st round, due to his inability to concentrate, rendering him unable to cast his spells this round.  Kushear is 7^th and the zombies shuffle in at last place. Okay- got the order recorded on the Combat Pad. Let’s see what happens!

Round 1

   The group enters the hall and fans out, with Ralvor on the right, Calderion on the far left and Kushear with Myrlia forming the center of the skirmish line. Fannen takes up a position behind this line, just inside the doorway. Before them shamble a mass of undead, 3 rows deep, 6 zombies per line with 3 stragglers lagging behind the main troop. Above them on the mezzanine the necromancer is rendered incoherent as he chokes on his own rage.

   Calderion doesn’t hesitate. He snaps open the scroll in his hand and extends his left hand, fingers spread, towards the corpses before him. The zombies attempt an Attack of Opportunity against him as he readies the scroll. Of the 2 that can get at him 1 fails to overcome the effect of the displacement  potion & misses. The other rolls an 18 total to hit respectively. Nice roll. But not good enough to beat Cal’s Armor Class of 19. He succeeds with getting the spell finished. The flames will hit 7 of the zombies before him. The moaning corpses reach hungrily for him as he speaks the final word of the spell on the scroll, completing the magic written there and unlocking its power. With a roar, searing flames rush outward from his hand, expanding and engulfing the mindless enemies before him. Two managed to successfully save against the spell for ½ damage. The other 5 take the full 16 points, which destroys them. (Can’t say it kills them, since…y’know…zombies.) The ones that saved take 8 points damage, leaving them with 6 out of 14 hit points left. Oh-something to note I guess: these are Lizardfolk zombies built using Hero Lab. They’re actually tougher than the Zombies I linked to above. They have 14 Hit Points & an Armor Class rating of 16, instead of 12 Hit Points & a 12 AC.  A handful of the monsters drop to the ground as blackened husks, fouling the air with the smell of their burnt flesh, but 2 remained standing, smoldering in the dark hall. They had been partially shielded by the ones in front of them, and did not take the full brunt of Calderion’s magic.

   Ralvor thrusts his sword at the nearest of the zombies as they swarm towards them, but his blade merely slides off its desiccated flesh. Even with his +2 bonus to hit, he only rolled a 13. That isn’t enough to get past the zombies Armor Class of 16. Since it’s a melee attack, the zombies aren’t entitled to an Attack of Opportunity, so essentially this turn is finished for Ralvor.  He probably wouldn’t have done much anyway- the zombies have a Damage Reduction of 5 versus anything but energy and slashing damage. His short sword does piercing damage, so automatically does 5 points less damage. That’s off of a possible 1d6+1, so it doesn’t leave much chance of doing any good even if he DOES hit.

   Myrlia presents the symbol of her goddess towards the mass of zombies, praying aloud “Arshea, Goddess of Freedom, help me to release these bound souls!” A golden aura envelopes the hall, delivering a feeling of euphoria and goodness across the broken stone. Faced with such an onslaught of of the Goddess’ power, the black magic controlling the dead lizardfolk seethes and recoils, causing damage to the whole troop of undead in a massive show of the power of the Gods of Light. Such power proved to be too much for the ones that survived Calderion’s magic, and they shrivel away and drop to the floor.  Myrlia used one of her 4 remaining Channel Positive Energy abilities to deliver 10 points of damage (2d6 roll) to ALL of the zombies! That drops them down to just 6 Hit Points each left, and destroys the 2 that had survived Calderion’s flames. BOOM!    

   Fannen still held 2 of the 3 magic stones he had enchanted left from the fight with the ogre. Although they had proven useless against the giant, he hoped they would fare better against the undead. With the magic enhancing its force, he hurls the rock at the zombie confronting Ralvor. It seemingly impacts with the force of a catapult, decapitating the creature and sending its head flying back into the crowd behind it. Fannen rolled 19 to hit, which beats the zombie’s Armor Class of 16. He did 11 points of damage (2d6+2), minus 5 for the zombies’s damage reduction. Since the zombies all only have 6 points left, this was just enough to take it out even with the damage reduction taken into account.  

   Above the hall, the necromancer clenches his fists, his mouth struggling to articulate his rage at the change in his fortunes and the interference of his plans. Argren is prevented from casting spells, since that is something that involves a concentration check. He’ll be able to act next round, though.

   Kushear raises his longsword and hacks a vicious stroke at the zombie directly in his path. He rolls a 14. That’s a miss. Sigh. The zombie next to his target grabs at his sword arm, negating most of the blows’ force and deflecting it away. Kushear grimaces in frustration, and pulls back to ready another strike.

   The mob of undead press towards the group, grasping and moaning at them as they shuffle forward. The ones in the front pummel at the champions with all the power they can muster, their haunted hatred of all life pushing their mindless actions to attack. Calderion’s attacker swings wildly at nothing as the mage’s magic fools the evil thing into thinking he is a meter or more from his actual location. Myrlia is not so fortunate. Both her opponents pummel her with their undead fists, leaving her battered and hurt. Kushear takes his first attackers blow on his shield, protecting him, but falls victim to the attack of the second & takes a bruising hit to his right side. Ralvor too is menaced by one of the undead lizardfolk, but his quick reflexes allow him to dodge the attack. Only those at the front of the mob can reach the heroes to hit them. That means currently Kushear, & Myrlia are able to be struck by 2 each, while Ralvor & Cal can be reached by only 1 at each edge of the crowd. The one attacking Cal rolls a 43% and is confused by his potion’s displacement effect. It needed to get higher than 50% to locate him correctly otherwise it would miss. The 2 attacking Myrlia hit with a roll of 23 and 22 respectively (her Armor Class is 15). They do 7 points damage each (14 total) dropping her to roughly ½. (13 out of her 27 Hit points remain.) Of the 2 zombies attacking the paladin, only 1 hits Kushear. It delivers 5 points of damage, putting him down to 16 remaining from his total of 21. The lone zombie able to attack Ralvor missed. Fannen is beyond the zombies reach.

Round 2  

   Argren has recovered from his rage enough to be able to cast spells this round.

   Calderion decides to repeat his attack using the scroll. He takes a quick step to the right so the blast will encompass as many of the zombies as he can reach with his magic and avoid catching his partners in the blast. He rolls the scroll to the next spell and begins his incantation. The animated corpse tries to follow his movements but is unable to track Calderion through his magic. The young wizard completes the casting unimpeded, & once again a blast of flames blasts out from his hand and engulfs the zombies. This time only 4 are caught in the conflagration. 3 drop to the floor as charred husks, but one remains standing. Even it is badly blackened and burned and appears to need only a push to drop it to the ground. The lone zombie able to reach Calderion rolled a mere 17% to try to hit past his displacement effect, and was unable to complete its Attack of Opportunity. The Burning Hands spell delivered 11 points of damage. Only 1 managed a successful Reflex saving roll to reduce that by ½ . The zombies only had 6 Hit Points remaining each, so three were destroyed outright. The fourth received 5 points of damage, leaving it with a single Hit Point left.

   Ralvor strikes at the zombie before him but its flailing arm knocks his sword aside, causing the blade to miss. Yeah a roll of 5 total just doesn’t get the job done. Ralvor is not having very much luck in this battle.

   Myrlia once more calls upon Arshea’s power. Again the holy light of her Goddess flows through the ruined hall, forcing the darkness to flee before her power. Bereft of the evil that animates their dark unlife, ALL the remaining zombies crumble to ashen lumps. Kushear’s booming laugh echoes off the walls at the end of the evil things. “Thus the Gods of Light prevail!” he announces. Myrlia used another of her Channel Positive Energy abilities (leaving 2 left). She rolled the maximum 12 on a 2d6 damage roll. Even though the zombies managed to save for ½ damage it was still enough to destroy them, since they only had 6 points left.

   “There still remains the heart of this blackness yet to deal with.” Fannen says. “His creation of these undead abominations is an affront to the natural order. It must be ended before he can spread his evil somewhere else.” Fannen then begins to chant in the secret language of his faith, calling the power of the storm to his aid. Slowly he begins to build a charge to fire a lightning blast at the dark mage above them. Fannen readies his Call Lightning spell. It takes a full round to cast so won’t go off until Fannen’s turn next round.

    “You blasted interlopers! You’ve ruined everything!” the necromancer yells at them. “You think you know power? I’ll show you true power!” He points at the muttering Druid below him and says “You! You brought these ‘heroes’!” He sneers the last word at them. “I’ll teach you to mind your own business, you muck-dwelling primitive! Have a lesson about whom you should fear in this wretched place!” He gestures in the air and rattles off the words to a spell. Argren casts his Cause Fear spell upon Fannen. Fannen must make a WILL saving throw roll  versus a difficulty class (DC) of 21 to reduce the Frightened condition effect to Shaken instead. Fannen has a bonus of +9 & gets a 23 total, so he succeeds in reducing the effect. However, he must still manage a Concentration Check roll versus a DC of 24 (the Cause Fear spell save + the level of the spell he’s attempting to cast, which is 3^rd level) Fannen succeeds this roll as well, maxing it out at 29. He maintains his focus and doesn’t lose control of the spell he’s casting. He’ll still suffer the penalties of the Shaken effect next round, though. A tendril of emotion tries to intrude upon Fannen’s mind. For a brief second he experiences a shock of terror at this outside invasion of his very core. Then his long years of meditation and mental clarity allow him to push it aside, leaving him shaken but able to maintain his connection to the Power he draws from the very natural life of the wilds surrounding him. He gives the dark wizard a cold stare as the power he draws builds around them.

   Kushear, unable to reach the wizard above, turns his attention to the well-being of his sword-mates. A swift touch from the holy warrior eases some of Myrlia’s pain. “It’s little enough I can do. My focus lies elsewhere than the healing graces. But what small measure Iomedea grants is yours.” he says to the priestess beside him. “We may follow different Goddess, but still call the Light of Goodness to our hearts.” Kushear uses his Paladin Lay on Hands ability to heal 5 Hit Points of damage for Myrlia. “Thank you, cousin. Your efforts relieve some of my pain. Freedom from pain is as welcome to my Goddess as all other forms of freedom. You honor me.” Naming them cousins just occurred to me now, although since both are ½ elves it fits nicely in the narrative. I like it.

Round 3

   Calderion switches his scrolls, replacing his almost-spent Burning Hands one for his Snow Ball spell scroll from the bandoleer. Quickly unraveling the prepared magic the youngster mutters “Let’s see if this will freeze that mouth shut, you evil bastard.” He then speaks the final arcane phrase needed, and again an orb of magical coldness crosses dimensions to his hand. Magic swirls, drawing moisture from the damp air around them, and creates a hard ball of unnatural ice that steams in the warm swampy atmosphere. Cal pulls back and launches the ball up at his older rival above them. The spell uses a Ranged Touch Attack to deliver its damage. Calderion rolled 86% to beat the 20% miss chance Argren is awarded by the concealment provided as he hides behind the stone bannister. Argren’s Armor Class versus touch attacks is a mere 11. Cal rolls 14, and delivers 20 points damage to the necromancer. Additionaly, Argren must now succeed at a Fortitude saving roll versus a DC of 16 or have the Staggered condition applied to him. Argren makes this save- he rolled exactly 16 and has a +1 bonus to add in addition so got a total of 17. However, Argren has only 9 Hit Points remaining. There is a loud “CRACK!” as the stone-cold projectile connects with the dark wizard’s skull. Blood flows from the right side of his head from a severe impact wound.

   Ralvor drops his sword to the ground to draw his bow from his back. He snatches an arrow from his quiver and snaps out a quick shot at their enemy above, sending the shaft flying across the space between them. The rogue got a 55% roll to beat Argren’s concealment, and then rolled a 23 to hit him versus Argren’s Armor Class of 16. The arrow hits for 4 points, leaving Argren with 5 left. This guy is SOO dead. The next hit should finish this. The arrow buries itself deep in the wizard’s chest, barely missing his heart. He clutches at the feathered shaft and gasps in pain, blood frothing out from his mouth.

   Myrlia brings the icon of her Goddesss to her chest and prays aloud “Arshea, Spirit of Abandon, aid me to finish what was started and free me from this pain.” A golden aura surrounds the cleric, closing her wounds and healing her body. A moment later the damage inflicted by the necromancer’s undead is nearly undone. Myrlia casts her Cure Light Wounds spell upon herself, and receives an additional 5 Hit Points restored. She is now only down 4, leaving her current total at 23 of a possible 27.

   At this moment Fannen’s spell completes its charging. The static charge that had been steadily building since the attack upon his mind by the necromancers reaches its full power. With a “BOOM!” of storm thunder, A lightning bolt flashes into existence and paints the inside of the old tower briefly silver as it streaks down to strike the dark mage hiding above them. His hair ignites with fire as his flesh crisps under the electricity grounding through his body. So swiftly does his death come that for a moment he remains standing, not comprehending that he is indeed ended. Then his soul leaves this world to face Pharasma’s judgement, dropping the body to the floor. Fannen’s lightning hits for 12 points damage. I didn’t bother to roll Argren’s saving roll to cut that in half. Even if he makes it, he’ll still take 6 points. He only had 5 left.

   Thus ends this adventure- at least the major combat. The team must still get to the upstairs, find & free the imprisoned Azata Lyrakien  that they were sent to rescue, and return to Bottle Bay. Incidentally, it looks like Calderion’s Experience Award score from this jaunt will come out to about 2600 points. That’s just enough to put him 100 points over into the next level, making him now Level 4. I’ll adjust Calderion’s character accordingly once they get back to town.