[OOC: Spot check for both Ian and Encharma, please...]
Game: Great minds think alike (Part II)
The gnoll puts away his weapons and slowly starts his decent back to the ground.
"That's good. I think it'll be better with a large rock, like a boulder or something..."
He brings a large hand up to his chin as he ponders the possibilities...
Naruk giggles. "I'd say forget about it to everyone else, but with you, I can actually imagine you'll develop your very own intimidation style with rocks and boulders, and maybe even childrens' songs..."
Spot: 18 + 11 = 29
Spot: 18+3= 21
Only two arms' lengths away, Ian spots Encharma in the fog. His new companion hasn't noticed him yet.
'Painting your wings black or red might help. Yelling "I'll rip your head off!" with a backdrop of colorful green and sparkly blue would make the other think yer a barmy. Although that could be intimidating in its own right... being threatened by someone obviously strong and unpredictable.' Saath chuckles while he considers this.
''Course, that would work better on 'zu than on 'ri.'
Meanwhile he converses with mr. Catvoice.
So how do I control this then? Try it out while I'm concentrating?
How did you learn to control your mind powers in the past? Cat replies to Saath.
Ian is going to use his ring to rise into the air and pass OVER Encharma, rather than going around. If possible, he will land a little ways ahead of him.
[OOC: Yes, that's possible. How does Azure react to this?]
[OOC: Yes, that's possible. How does Azure react to this?][/QUOTEI suppose that depends on what Azure sees ...
[OOC: Umm.. I assumed that, when Ian saw Encharma, Azure noticed it and also noticed Encharma then. I see now this was a rather quick assumption, but by the power of the DM , I rule that things happened just like that. A moment later, Ian rises into the air and moves around Encharma.]
Azure stays just in sight of Encharma, hiding invisibly in the fog. Depending on Encharma's reaction to Ian, he may do one of a few things.
1) Just watch and Wait for a signal from Ian.
2) If Encharma does run fron "Xanarox" Azure will try to cut him off and become visible so Encharma can 'run into him'.
3) If Encharma sees through the illusion, he gives himself away as an ally of Xanarox, or if this ends up being an Encharma look-alike (trust no assumptions) Azure will ready an arrow.
[OOC: Fine, then. Next thing is that Encharma comes to where Ian-Xanarox stands now. Fidrikon, your description please ]
Ian will simply stand ahead of Encharma in the fog, mimicking Xanarox's body language as best he can. Waiting for Encharma to come to him.
Encharma: you see a young man in plain leather armor, he looks overly normal. You could see him in any crowd on any world and never notice him.
[OOC: venjr: How does Encharma react?]
Encharma will take no chances
i believe anything i see in thsi fog is a lie, and well there is a good chance that this is this xanarox fellow showing up for a proper good trouncing, but just to be safe
"who are you?"
Ian-as-Xanarox simply smiles, and starts to walk toward Encharma.
OOC: sense motive 13 + 7 = 20 to confirm that Encharma isn't fakeing his ignorence.
Also, on the off chance that Encharma is a bit trigger happy, Ian readies an action to telekinetically thrust himself upward the moment it so much as looks like Encharma is pulling a weapon or casting a spell.
As far as Ian can tell, Encharma's reaction is as honest as it can be.
Encharma still standing there as "xanarox" aproaches makes no motion put at the same time shoot rays out of his eyes
OOC: eldritch blast against "Xanarox's" touch ac
i rolled a 13 +9 = 22
i am allowing the dice roller for planewalker to roll damage if i hit
OOC: Like I said, the moment Encharma begins to cast a spell, Ian telekinetically thrusts himself upwards. If you're going to debate the timeing, while I'm all for dressing up spells and whatnot, I don't think you can change the description of your spell to give you an in game advantage.
[OOC: Initiative roll for Ian and Encharma, please. Ian gets a +3 due to being prepared, and the Dexterity modifier as quick reaction bonus. If Ian's initiative is higher than Encharma's, he gets away from the spell quick enough, otherwise Encharma succeeds in targeting the spell on Ian.]
Well, let's give it a shot then... Saath thinks to himself, and sits down again with his legs crossed and eyes closed. With the same level of concentration he uses to mold psionic energy into a stable weapon, Saath now tries to find Ian with his mind's eye.
OOC: I'm not entirely sure what you mean about the dex being a quick reaction bonus. Does that mean I add it on to my roll?
If not, my initiative is: roll: 13 + 9 + 3= 24
It so, my initiative is : roll: 13 + 9 + 3 + 5 = 29
Edit: Whoop! My bad, folks. To early for me to being doing math. That should be a 25 and a 30.
[OOC: Yes, it means you get your Dexterity modifier as a bonus for this roll.]
[OOC: Finwe, please make the following checks for Saath:
Concentration against DC 25 to focus on the glimpse impression Saath gained of his ability.
Knowledge:Psionics against DC 15 to basically understand how to use the ability.
If both of the above succeeded:
Concentration against DC 15 to focus on Ian.
Saath can repeat trying this every five minutes; every attempt takes one minute of concentration.]
OOC: my initiative is as follows
17+9 = 26
OOC: Here goes:
Concentration DC 25: 8+17=25 check
Knowledge (psionics) DC 15: 4+4=8 aww
Saath recalls the feel of the glimpse he had, but before he understands what to do with it, it slips away.
Frustration almost rears its ugly head, but Saath long ago got the meaning of the words 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try again' beaten into him during his training, making sure he remains calm so as not to ruin the following tries.
OOC: I suppose Saath will try again after a few posts
[OOC: Next try, then ]
Encharma casts his spell, but before he can even finish it, the man before him flies up into the fog and disappears. The spell hits the fog without further effect.
Ian waits a few seconds for his ring to start working again, and uses it to control his fall, bringing him safely to the ground about 20 yards behind Encharma.
After he reaches the ground, he dismisses his disguise self, and walks back toward the rest of the group.
Quickly realizing that Ian just flew up into the fog out of sight, Azure (still invisible) will stay by Encharma and watch his reactions very carefully.
"hmmm perhaps i should just continue towards the tower, while still on my guard, yeah that sounds like a good idea"
Encharma walks through the fog and out of sight
Walking through the fog, Ian suddenly bumps into something large. The whatever-it-was pushes him backward, and Ian falls to the ground.
As he looks up, he sees a fifteen-feet large fiend before him, with leathery red skin, obviously female (the fiend is naked, though it lacks even the least bit of female grace), large dangerous claws, and massive curled horns of shining silver protruding from its forehead.
The imposing figure leans down to Ian, foul warm - almost hot - breath hitting his face.
With an astonishing - and utterly unfitting - beautiful female voice, the fiend speaks: "You! You have broken my prison. Your spell cracked the Abyssal Isle within which I was imprisoned. As I never leave a debt unpaid, spell your wish now, and I shall repay your favour."
OOC: thats kind of funny
Ian stands up and dusts himself off.
Lomax, I'm debating how I want to handle this. What race of fiend would you say she is? Bataazu, or Tan'ari?
As far as I can sense it, Lomax replies, you stand before a female balor. Debate fast, she might get angry.
Ian drops to a knee, and kneels before the Balor.
"My lady, I am honored to be in the presence of one with such power."
Ian looks back up at her, still in the kneeling position.
"Soon, my comrades and I face a powerful foe. Xanarox, the apprentice, ambassador and personal assassin of Juiblex. I request from you any assistance in this battle that you choose to lend."
"Your wish is fulfilled," the balor replies. "The gift is given, the debt has been repaid."
All of a sudden, the fog surrounding the tanar'ri begins to sparkle, then burns up in a flame that vanishes as quick as it came. With that, the balor is gone.
Encharma is still wandering about through this fog and well being that nothing has been found yet, Encharma is starting to become very doubtful if he will ever see this tower.
[OOC: Does Azure do anything? Is he still following Encharma?]
Out of the fog, stairs of marble come into Encharma's sight. As he comes closer, he realizes he found a large building, possibly a palace or something like that. It's improbable this is the tower the group was speaking of.
Due to the limited range of sight - no more than ten feet -, it takes a while to get a really good impression of the building, if Encharma wants to take a closer look.
[OOC: Azure knows this building, it's a half-destroyed palace that's the last point before the tower comes, no more than a hundred yards away.]
Out of the fog, stairs of marble come into Encharma's sight. As he comes closer, he realizes he found a large building, possibly a palace or something like that. It's improbable this is the tower the group was speaking of.
Due to the limited range of sight - no more than ten feet -, it takes a while to get a really good impression of the building, if Encharma wants to take a closer look.
[OOC: Azure knows this building, it's a half-destroyed palace that's the last point before the tower comes, no more than a hundred yards away.]
Azure will fade back into visibility as Encharma is examining the palace. He will do his best to sneak up on Encharma if possibe, but when he is close, he will speak.
"Well? Did you see anything Alfen?"
Meanwhile, Ian reaches the group again.
[OOC: Saath can make another try in a moment...]
Ian walks up to the group.
"So, did I miss anything?"
Encharma jumps a little
"hmmm i do believe i have found something, is thsi the tower your friends were speaking of?"
without waiting for an answer Encharma begins to examine the building/ stairs
"No, this is not the tower, but it is our first landmark. The last time I was here, I could see the tower we're looking for from the upper levels of this ... palace. We should return to the others and lead them here."
"Did you encounter anything else on your way here?"
'No, nothing happened here. As you can see 'Thornes is even taking a nap.' Saath points at Blackthornes.
'So, I see you made it back safely. How did it go? And where's Azure?'
"The plan went well, all things considered. In the from of Xanarox, he didn't seem to recognize me. He asked who I was, and then tried to kill me when I approached. Speaking of which..."
Ian walks over to Blackthornes and gives him a light kick. "Wake up."
"Blackthornes, you spoke with Encharma the most. Did he mention anything about being of mixed race?"
Not waiting for Blackthornes reply, Ian says to the group. "He tried to attack me by shooting rays out of his eyes. Luckily I had been prepared to evade an attack, but it didn't resemble any form of mortal magic I'm familiar with."
'Could be psionic. Psions don't need to wiggle their hands and babble like spellslingers to make things happen. You don't need to wear robes neither, armor is fine.'
'Ofcourse, many creatures don't need to do that either. Even I can create darkness with just a bit of effort.' Saath shrugs.
'At least we can ask him once we head to the tower, since he doesn't appear to be Xanarox's puppet.'
Saath closes his eyes and concentrates on something.
OOC: Second attempt. This time he'll try to have a look at Azure.
Concentration: 9 +17=26
Knowledge: 10 +4=14
Oh, so close!
Encharma turns from examining the building to look at azure
"yes, but it was really nothing i couldn't handle"
"so i guess we should get back then"
what was that, oh it must be that blighter Xanarox playing tricks on me, or perhaps the great order of things has finally realized how great i can be to the cause of good, nah it's that bloke Xanarox playing tricks