Death of an Artist - Game Thread

[Kuroimaken]

"I'm afraid the time I've spent in hibernation has weakened my power beyond that. However, if anyone could provide me with a magic circle, I might be able to summon something that could."

[PhaedrusXY]

"I doubt Anna has that prepared... and none of the rest of my crew could cast it. I don't know about Lemmy... He can do about anything, given a bit of notice... but maybe not off the cuff.

Eh, we don't need them, anyway. I think we have enough firepower and bodies to take care of most things. And we can run away from the things we don't." Eddie chuckles.

[PhaedrusXY]

Those on board feel the ship swing back in the direction they just left. "Wish we'd have thought of this before we left. I hope we don't need that couple of minutes we just wasted... I fear we might..."

[spoiler]Heading back to the first site to drop off at least Anna, Nax, and Probe, and whomever else wants or needs to stay there to animate some new friends for us. And maybe a couple of expendable thralls to turn into shadows... [/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

The Judas speeds along, reaching the mountain pass within minutes. The two kalashtar head to the upper decks and helpfully point out the precise locations of the projectors, in case they're needed.

[PhaedrusXY]

"Yeah, we might want to grab those..."

After letting those disembarking off, Eddie swings the ship over to pick up the projectors.

[Bozwevial]

A very entertaining few minutes later (involving William, a rope, and a poorly timed bout of arthritis), the Judas is airborne once again, speeding along towards the broadcast monolith, visible as a speck on the horizon.

[spoiler]So, this is preparation time! What are Nax, Anna, Probe, and the people who may or may not be back at the outpost doing? If you're on the airship, telling me what you're doing is also helpful.[/spoiler]

[Kuroimaken]

[spoiler]Nax won't be doing much of anything until he can get a living creature to shadowify by killing it with another shadow. Too bad summoned monsters don't actually die.[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

[spoiler]Nax won't be doing much of anything until he can get a living creature to shadowify by killing it with another shadow. Too bad summoned monsters don't actually die.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Eddie can help with that.   I have 50 1st level minions, most of which don't even have any stats at all, and all of which are expendable. That's why I didn't explicitly say who exactly I dropped off... I wasn't sure how many we wanted. I could easily spare 35 or so without even noticing they were gone... [/spoiler]As the ship rises, Eddie's voice speaks to those who were dropped off with Anna and Nax saying "It is your time to join the ranks of the unliving. You have earned your place alongside those who have been found worthy before you. Now go forth, and strike down our enemies when they arrive, and your ranks will swell ever more."

[Bozwevial]

Eddie's thralls crowd around eagerly as the first shadow is summoned. From the air, the change is swift--a ripple of darkness spreads from the center of the mass as each follower succumbs to undeath, leaving only Nax and Anna unchanged.

Lemmy, however, seems bored by the spectacle, lighting a cigar and heading below decks. "Wake me up if anything exciting happens."

[PhaedrusXY]

Eddie turns the ship back towards the broadcast monolith, and turns on the Cloudgathering Orb to generate a nasty storm 2 miles in radius around it, and the Veil of Obscurity to make the ship appear to be part of the cloudy storm. He also begins setting a destination for the Planar Sails, in case they need to make a quick getaway.
[spoiler]
He can take 10 on the DC 20 Knowledge (Planes) check to set the Planar Sails, since he has a +15 bonus. It takes 5 minutes to "dial in" a destination. I don't know enough about Eberron cosmology to suggest a decent plane for us to go to, though.[/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

[spoiler]We'll handwave that and say you made a decision at the time. Besides, I think you guys have it narrowed down to two or three planes anyway.[/spoiler]

The Judas is quickly enveloped by the gathering storm, elemental ring crackling with energy as flashes of lightning strike it. Though those onboard the ship can see through the clouds to the ground below, Nax and Anna can only see the storm from their vantage point.

[Agita]

[spoiler]

"Wake me up if anything exciting happens."

[/spoiler]

"Lemmy! Look, look!" Trying to attract Lemmy's attention again, Lucy does a handstand out of boredom, clumsily walzing around the deck on her hands with complete disregard for the storm, as if nothing was wrong witht he world.

[Bozwevial]

Cyril looks away quickly when Lucy does a handstand, face coloring quickly. Eleanor laughs scornfully, watching the little girl play.

Within minutes, the Judas has reached the broadcast monolith. Although it is incomplete, the framework stretches nearly to the clouds wrapped around the airship. Tiny figures moving over the massive structure appear to be workers, with the occasional overseer floating nearby. The workers appear unperturbed by the fierce winds and drenching rains, and one worker slips from the scaffolding and falls as the ship draws nearer. The nearby overseer makes a negligent gesture, and the worker's fall slows to a safe pace.

[Kuroimaken]

Tipping his top hat, Nax smiles. "Time to start mayhem, I suppose?"

[PhaedrusXY]

Eddie says "Should we install those Force Field generators around the area to block reinforcements before we unleash the shadows?"

[spoiler]Is there a decent place for it? The other place was surrounded by cliffs I gather, which made it convenient to use them.[/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

[spoiler]You can rig them to throw up an ectoplasmic dome over the monolith with a Psicraft check. I doubt that'll be a problem, of course. [/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

[spoiler]Eddie takes 10. [/spoiler]

Eddie says "Let me get these things set up and steer us into position...


Eddie steers the ship to within range (680 feet), and telepathically instructs Probe to head over to the jaunting platform while he sets up the force field.


"There!

There is a jaunting platform that the shadows, and whomever else is going, can use to hop over to the monolith.

I'll send the psicrystals in to scout and find the broadcast mechanism."

[PhaedrusXY]

Two psicrystals scurry over to the platform. One has a folded black cloth wrapped around it like a sari, and their surfaces change colors as it they walk along, like a chameleon's. They step onto the jaunting platform and disappear with a slightly audible popping sound.

[spoiler]The black cloth is the Enveloping Pit, and it is wrapped around Eddie's psicrystal. The Ring Gate is inside the pit. Felix manifests Chameleon on his psicrystal before it jaunts. Eddie uses Feat Leech on Felix (borrowing two of his Expanded Knowledge feats after Felix is finished manifesting Chameleon on his psicrystal, and also borrowing Burrowing Power). He uses the Expanded Knowledge feats to learn the powers Chameleon and Read Thoughts. He manifests Chameleon on his psicrystal before it jaunts, and also a Burrowing Read Thoughts on it. Both psicrystals jaunt to an area near the top of the monolith, where no creatures are visible to Felix (he uses Remote Viewing to "scout" an area), and attempt to hide immediately upon arrival.

Felix's Psicrystal's Hide: 1d20+29=41
Felix's Psicrystal's Move Silently 1d20+8=14
Felix's Psicrystal's Spot and Listen: 1d20+4=7, 1d20+4=17

Eddie's Psicrystal's Hide: 1d20+27=38
Eddie's Psicrystal's Move Silently: 1d20+9=28
Eddie's Psicrystal's Spot and Listen: 1d20+6=22, 1d20+4=7

Both psicrystals have Darkstalker and Mindsight (20' range). Eddie's psicrystal also has Synthesete going (feel light, giving it normal visual range), Psionic See Invisible, and Burrowing Read Thoughts.

Psicraft for Burrowing Read Thoughts: 1d20+38=41 (This would let the power "see" through up to 23 feet of unhardened stone, for example.)

Will deduct power points used for this stuff later. [/spoiler]

While preparing the psicrystals for "launch", Eddie says to Cyril "So where's your girlfriend? We might as well start planning ahead, and that seems to be where we need to go next."

[Bozwevial]

Phaedrus:
[spoiler]The two psicrystals appear with a faint pop on a scaffold covered with scraps of leftover metal and crystal near the top of the gigantic structure. The psionic link shows Eddie and Felix that there are workers and overseers barely visible working on the walls here and there. Suspended in the center of the massive chamber is a metal sphere nearly large enough to contain the Judas.[/spoiler]

Cyril smiles wryly. "In the tower. Nah, that'd be too convenient, wouldn't it? She's hidden in a cave not far from where I found you--hidden pretty well, I think. I have a useful little device a bit like your storm camouflage; she should be safe until we get back." His face darkens slightly. "She won't be happy about it, but you've already proven you don't need me to go along with your plans in order to succeed."

[PhaedrusXY]

The small, spider-like crystals pause while one of them makes several low frequency clicking sounds and waves its ectoplasmic antennae in the air towards the giant sphere.
[spoiler]Probe makes a Knowledge (Psionics) check to see if he knows what the sphere is.
Taking 10 would give him a 24 (26 if Eddie can use Aid Another). If that's not enough: 1d20+14=19 (Well... if that's not enough, Eddie will try...)

He also "sweeps" the area around the sphere (including it) with his Burrowing Read Thoughts. [/spoiler]

Eddie says "Hmm... that's good that she's close. Maybe someone should go ahead and retrieve her, in case we need to leave in a hurry... I've set the coordinates of the Planar Sail for a remote plane, so it shouldn't be easy to follow us, even for those who are capable of it. I expect us to be screaming out of here with our asses on fire when this is over... "