Dramatis Personae
Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 12).
"Jake" aka Alex, the actual character name but I refuse to go back and edit the old entries (Human Wizard/Rogue 12).
Zai (Human Tetori Monk/Lore Warden Fighter 12). MISSING PLAYER, PLAYED BY GLORY.
Glory, aka the Righteous Fury of Heaven (Aasimar Synthesist Summoner/Bloodrager 12).
Getting stoned, Session 20.3 - 12/13/14
Day 51-52
Walking and walking and...
The party and their captives march through the Desolation, the captives being miserable as they are not properly geared for anything beyond being city boys; the still dominated gang leader is the only one who is undisturbed by the hike. As they trek they hear and see the usual sights and sounds of the Desolation: The incessant wind, sometimes carrying screams of both the damned and the dying (which the party is used to, but the new guys? Not so much), shambling corpses roaming in the distance.
By the end of the first day the gangsters are exhausted from the desert heat and the walk. The party decides to camp at the Crossroads and Jake created some magical cabins for everyone including the captives... unfortunately for them not all can fit. Yay, several get to sleep under the undead Mallerix for protection! Those few are especially unhappy about this but all pass out almost at once. Guess they won't be taking watches, but who would trust them to anyway?
Being the only one here who knows of the Dweller at the Crossroads, Beltin says he will take the midnight watch. He doesn't want anyone getting any stupid ideas. Like clockwork, the Dweller appears at midnight directly after a feeling of intense static electricity and growing power. It stares at Beltin and beckons to him, but he refuses to approach. It continues to stare at him for a few minutes and then departs.
The next day the walking continues. Occasionally creatures from the Desolation approach, but none are any match for the party. This does not reassure the captives and some are beginning to freak the hell out. No one in the party is concerned at all besides Glory who gets the feeling something is wrong here.
Day 52, dusk
Come on in
The group arrives at the walls of Tsar. The captives are awed by the sight and filled with dread. They don't want to go there, but since when did they have a choice? Glory takes on his eidolon form and carries several of the men and Jake and Beltin magic the others; they fly up to the roof of the fortress and a few hundred feet away is the Tower of Weeping Sores.
It looks inviting. Really. The doors are open and everything... and perched along the tower are 10 collared vrocks. They begin cawing, mocking, when they see the party but they make no moves to stop them from approaching. The party is expected it seems.
Jake orders the captives to go first... they disagree with that plan and say the big angel thing should. Jake sighs and orders their dominated leader to go first, then Glory, then them. As they climb the steps up to tower's entrance, a magical rune above the door glows and black energy ripples out toward the party! Symbol of Fear! The party and the gang leader make it, but the other 11?
Straight fails. Morale is broken. They flee.
The vrocks on the tower cackle as they watch but stay at their positions. The party considers trying to corral the fleeing captives until the magic wears off, but decide, "meh." The 11 gang members run off in different directions away from the central tower and will most likely never be seen alive again. Jake is glad he went through the effort of kidnapping these guys for cannon fodder now.
The party continues and Jake tells the remaining gangster to charge and he does. And directly in front of him in the entryway is a large spiked pit. Too late to stop! He goes over the edge and... doesn't fall? Oh, it was just an illusion of a pit. The party wonders why that would be there, and then slits open on the walls. Spears come out and their last captive dies horribly. Oh, it was a distraction so that could happen.
By now Glory has had enough. He buffs the hell up, blood rages, and charges in, right down the entryway to the secured set of doors at the end. Smash! More token resistance from arrow/spear slits along the walls but he keeps charging, battering down doors in his wake. The undead follow, then the rest of the party. They clean up the weak, token defenders.
Glory continues. He's buffed to hell and some are only rounds per level after all. Crash! He finds himself in a large kitchen with mysterious dark stains on the floor. Dead end. Back down the hallway and to the other side of the hallway. Crash! More hallways! He runs down them and sees two doors. He chooses the furthest one at random and it splinters under his might.
Inside are a couple empty tables and in the back corner are a few lockers. Standing in front of one of them is an incredibly realistic of an armored hobgoblin with his hand on of the cabinet's handles. Glory rushes forward and breaks open the lockers and shatters the statue with one blow; he ain't got time for any of this and he's trying to find his lost gear.
The d20 gods show their displeasure
But yeah about that. The hogoblin statue? Not a statue. Flesh to stone victim actually. Seems there was a trap on the cabinet. A trap that has been reset since that hobgoblin failed, probably hundreds of years ago. Glory makes a fortitude save! The only way he can fail is by rolling is a 1! Glory rolls a 1!
Glory, in all his furious, large-sized might, gets turned to stone!
And then Jake's cursed wound burns and the pain is almost enough to bring him to a knee. He feels an intense feeling of amusement that isn't his own and he knows that their enemies know what just happened. Jake knows they are coming. Soon. Less than a minute most likely. Things are not going well.
Jake and Beltin realize they have no way to actually un-Flesh to Stone Glory. Yep, Break Enchantment doesn't fix that. Well shit.
The party buffs up and preps. Jake puts an Invulnerable Globe around the exquisitely crafted Glory statue. Due to the narrow hallways and the size of the room, Beltin had to keep Mallerix stored in his scepter. Yay, narrow spaces!
And then the enemy Greater Teleports among them, but to their displeasure realize the room is rather packed and one of them has to teleport in on top of the magical globe over Glory, meaning he has to squeeze if he wants to be part of this fight. Yay, narrow spaces!
A chaaor demon and three baregara. The same fiends who the party were fighting when Jake got them captured by triggering Getaway, and the same ones who watched as the party walked out the front door later that day. What's left of them anyway.
One of baregara has a crooked arm, like it was badly broken and then healed improperly. That one stares at Zai with a look of intense hatred. Oh yeah, this time they are pissed. This is their chance to redeem themselves.
Long story short: They don't redeem themselves. The fight is vicious, but they are clearly outmatched even without Glory in the picture. The fiends give it their all but it is not enough. They die horribly and now there is even less space to move around in the room.
With that done, the party members wipe the sweat from their brows and now wonder what the hell to do with the several thousand pound angel statue... yeah, this whole tower raid isn't going well.
End of Session. Casualties... it's complicated. Not dead, but Glory manages to turn himself into several thousand pound stone statue by botching a fortitude save. It is truly an impressive failure.
