Tombs of Scoria: Episode 85

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== Synopsis ==
The fate of Mistrya hangs in the balance as Tyrael, Anton, and Imrik, fight to the death against King Guilder and his Kingsguard. Further, with each passing minute, Scoria rapidly closes in on Crownhold. Each Brother is gravely wounded in the fight, with Anton nearly lost forever in Othertime. The Brothers ultimately prevail, slaying King Guilder and his Kingsguard in a harrowing battle won by the thinnest of margins. The Brothers loot the fallen combatants of their magical gear as Scoria flies ever closer towards Crownhold. Tyrael and Imrik plead with Anton to save their mother, but Anton insists with a grim resolve that their mother cannot be saved, with Scoria arriving as quickly as she is. The Brothers slay the remaining defenders of Crownhold Keep and successfully exfiltrate moments before Scoria arrives at Crownhold.
==Recap==
The Players discuss pinning rules. The rules note that a Player Character may opt to force his attacker to release him upon critically striking his attacker. In the last Round, Tyrael was knocked down by an overbearing attack and critically struck the Kingsguard pinning him. Accordingly, the game state is ruled as follows:
* Tyrael is released from the pin, but he is still in place and grappled; the Kingsguard regains 2 HP.  
Stoneskin has been historically played as a modified rule, whereby Stoneskin is destroyed upon an attack that exceeds a roll of 10+Magic+Dexterity. The Players argue that Stoneskin has been changed in the current combat, treated as requiring only 10 AC. The Players opt for a rule where any attack disperses Stoneskin, but critical strikes do not destroy further Stoneskin charges.  Accordingly, the game state is ruled as follows:
* Anton returns to 19 HP and is without Stoneskin. 
* Imrik regains an unknown number of Stoneskin charges and returns to full HP.
Play resumes.
===Combat Continues: McGarys vs King Guilder and the Kingsguard===
Round 4
Imrik goes first. Imrik with Ifan, blinking 15 feet into the air over the stairs, flat against the ceiling, 12 feet off from the ground. Imrik moves back, clearing the zone as he wields the Staff of Thunder and Lighting, dealing 27 on the damage roll.
S Kingsguard-2 saves, taking 13 and is deafened.  DW Kingsguard-3 fails to save and is stunned, taking 27 and is deafened. S Kingsguard-3 is struck twice and saves, taking 13 and is deafened. King Guilder saves on the first strike and then fails his save, taking 27 and barely survives, not stunned but deafened.  DW Kingsguard-2 takes 27 but is not stunned.
The Arcmage casts onto Tyrael and S Kingsguard-1. Imrik’s resists being dispelled. King Guilder’s Dust of Appearance is dispelled. Imrik’s resists being dispelled. Anton’s resists being dispelled. S Kingsguard-1’s potion effect is dispelled.
The Cleric of Terrasa casts at Imrik. Imrik rolls a 1 on his save, but manages to evade the magical coercion as the Silence zone nullifies the cast.  
Tyrael stands up wielding the Moonblade and his Dagger +3, leaving his Defender Sword behind. Tyrael activates his Cloak of the Cheetah and sprints across the room to the Arcmage Apprentice, critically striking for 14, interrupting her spell, and then critically strikes with his dagger, slaying the Apprentice. 
King Guilder, barely alive, takes his turn, his ears ringing; he retreats back into a room.
S Kingsguards-1, 2, and 3, all retreat to cover King Guilder.
The Arcmage's spell, taking the form of Atropos, floats over to Imrik, swiping at him but missing her attack.
In , Anton casts a number of healing spells and heals himself to full HP, then casts on a stone, moving into the alcove on the right side of the room, where the spellcasters are.
DW Kingsguard-2 runs over to confront Tyrael. 
Tyrael attacks DW Kingsguard-2, dealing 12. Tyrael turns and positions himself for a strike against the Cleric of Terrasa.
Round 5
The Arcmage acts first and casts at Imrik, sending 5 waves of missiles at Imrik.  Imrik resists two missiles, taking 9 damage, which destroys his remaining charges.
Imrik with Ifan behind Atropos, discharging a lightning strike from the Staff at her, missing. Imrik then strikes with Ifan, rolling a natural 20, but not critically striking, dealing 7. Atropos appears to be completely unaffected.
The Cleric of Terrasa goes and casts a spell. Imrik succeeds on a Spellcraft Check, determining that the Cleric casted .
King Guilder goes, taking an action out of view. The Shieldbearing Kingsguards take an action out of view.
Tyrael attempts to open the door King Guilder retreated behind, but cannot open the door. Tyrael sprints back over, Invisible, to the Cleric of Terrassa, critically striking her and apparently slaying her. Tyrael moves over to the Arcmage and attacks, but misses.
Atropos misses her attack due to Imrik’s Improved Blink.
DW Kingsguard-2 attacks Tyrael, striking him twice and destroying and dealing 35.
Tyrael fights back against DW Kingsguard-2, dealing 11, then attacks again, dealing 15. Tyreal goes Invisible and positions himself behind the Arcmage.
Round 6
The Arcmage goes first, attacking Imrik with ; Imrik resists two of the missiles, taking 12. Imrik has regenerated 2 HP.
DW Kingsguard-3 strikes from the ledge at Imrik, double-critically striking him and critically striking him again, dealing 35.
Imrik Improved Blinks and attempts to disbelieve Atropos, and succeeds on a Spell Save; Atropos disappears from existence. Imrik shouts out that the Cleric is feigning death.
King Guilder steps back out with his Shieldbearing Kingsguards surrounding him, and yells a battle roar. 
S Kingsguards-1 leaps from the ledge to strike Imrik, hitting him for 14 damage. Imrik retaliates with Ifan, stabbing the Kingsguard for 6; the Kingsguard saves versus poison and takes 20 damage, then falls, taking 2 more damage.
Tyrael attacks the Arcmage, dealing 17. 
DW Kingsguard-2 attacks Tyrael, dealing 12. 
Tyrael faces DW Kingsguard-2, decapitating her and turning Invisible after slaying his adversary.
 
Round 7
In an exceedingly improbable stroke of bad luck, Anton is trapped in (deciding 77 is his death number, then rolling 77 on 1d100 die) and is unable to rejoin the fight; his Luckstone fails to protect him (picks 2, rolls 2 on 1d5). 
The chance of failure was 0.2%. 
The Arcmage casts at Imrik, which Imrik evades with .
Imriks has his spell interrupted.
King Guilder produces another section of bone and casts Dust of Appearance where he last saw Tyrael, but fails to hit Tyrael.
Realizing he is trapped in Othertime, Anton casts , the only spell capable of saving him.
DW Kingsguard-3 sees Imrik in the air but cannot strike at him. She moves over to defend the Arcmage, attacking Anton as he reappears, dealing 27 to Anton.
Tyrael backstabs DW Kingsguard-3, dealing 17, then swings with Moonblade, dealing 11, and turns Invisible.
DW Kingsguard-3 attacks Anton, missing him.
Tyrael re-emerges from Invisibility, critically striking the Arcmage, slaying him, then steps forth slaying DW Kingsguard-3.  Only King Guilder and his Shieldbearing Kingsguards remain.
Anton detects Scoria, and detects that she has passed over the Wyrmwood and is now over the planes between the Wyrmwood and Crownhold.
Round 8
S Kingsguard-2 moves forth and attacks Tyrael, dealing 15, then attacks again, dealing 12, taking Tyrael down to 5 HP.
Imrik unleashes the Staff of Thunder and Lightning, dealing 37.  S Kingsguard-2 saves, taking 18. S Kingsguard-1 dies. King Guilder saves, taking 18. S Kingsguard-3 fails to save, taking 37 and is stunned.
King Guilder casts Dust of Appearance, coating Tyrael. 
Anton attacks with Vengeful Smite, dealing 13, and Smiting again, dealing 12.
Tyrael attacks, missing with his Moonblade but stabbing with his dagger, dealing 6. Tyrael, with ghastly wounds, realizes the next strike he suffers could kill him outright. He drops his dagger and assumes a defensive One-Handed Fighting Style.
S Kingsguard-2 lashes out, but Tyrael narrowly avoids what might have otherwise been a killing blow due to adopting his One-Handed Fighting Style (Tyrael was fighting at 26 AC and raised his AC to 28 by changing to his One-Handed Fighting Style; the Kingsguard rolled a 27 to hit on their second attack).
Anton attacks S Kingsguard-2, dealing 8. 
Tyrael attacks, finishing off S Kingsguard-2, then retreats into a corner.
Round 9
* Anton detects Scoria again, and senses her barreling down the open planes past the Wyrmwood, where she is now much closer to Crownhold compared to when Anton last detected her. Imrik does some mental math, and realizes Scoria is flying with alarming speed and will arrive imminently.
* Imrik unleashes one final blast with the Staff of Thunder and Lightning, slaying the stunned and defenseless King Guilder and remaining Kingsguard.  
Combat End. Vultus Stiros and Niar are dead. King Alex Guilder is dead. The McGary brothers are alive.
=== Race Against the Clock ===
The Brothers begin to heal their wounds, but Scoria is inbound. Imrik casts on Tyrael and hands Tyrael Ifan. Imrik steadily regenerates. Tyrael retrieves his swords. Imrik finishes off the Arcmage who was unconscious, but not dead. Anton severs the head of the slain King Guilder and takes his sword. Imrik uses his Wand of Detect Magic and sweeps the room, and the Brothers loot the bodies of the Mistryan defenders of their magical items (the items looted are referenced in a section below). Anton is traumatized by how close he came to death, and promises himself that he will always carry a rod attuned to the Third Material Plane and always have Plane Shift prepared.
Anton casts to find the quickest way out of Crownhold Keep; Tyrael and Imrik spend the three minutes of the casting time searching for items of note. Tyrael finds 10 potions and some miscellaneous documents; Imrik finds nothing of note; Anton’s spell goes off. 
Imrik casts on everyone and the Brothers begin their exfiltration. Tyrael chugs a healing potion as they run, healing himself for 19. Anton casts for 7 on Tyrael. The Brothers make their way to the false door leading to the Throne room. Imrik the door, where the Brothers see the remaining defenders of the keep huddled in discussion.
The assembled defenders see Anton wielding King Guilder’s Sword of Sharpness +1 and carrying King Guilder’s head. The Men-At-Arms break rank, but the Wizard and elite Knights hold firm.
=== Combat Start: McGary Brothers vs the Crownhold Interior Guard ===
Imrik calls to return to him. Imrik casts at the wizard, dealing 18, interrupting their spell.
Tyrael slays the wounded Wizard. Tyrael moves up a Knight and then attacks with Ifan, slicing cleanly through their armor; the Knight instantly dies after failing his poison save. Tyrael attacks another Knight, dealing 15.
The Knight attempts to retaliate, but misses Tyrael, though still destroying a charge of . 
Anton attacks the wounded Knight with the Spear of Rohanna, critically striking for 13, then swings with the Sword of Sharpness, but misses. Anton attacks again with the Spear of Rohanna, slaying them. 
The next Knight moves up and destroys a charge of Anton’s .
Anton continues his onslaught, dealing 9. Tyrael slays the Knight.
Combat End.
=== Duty Over Love ===
The sole remaining Knight throws down his weapon and pleads for his life. Tyrael demands the Knight takes them to and he complies, but the Knight warns them the dungeon is trapped, though he knows not how, only that it is trapped. Anton pleads with his brothers, saying he loves their mother more than anything, but that she cannot be saved with Scoria's imminent arrival. Anton says that prioritizing saving their mother now would imperil all of Drekis. Imrik hopes that their mother may yet be spared and that they can come back for her in the future, but Tyrael and Imrik ultimately relent. 
The Brothers arrive at the entrance of the Keep. Imprik returns, relaying that he has seen defenders outside: twenty goblins armed with leather armor and short swords, two trolls, and two knights. Imrik open the keep entrance. The assembled defenders are caught completely by surprise, expecting to hear news of King Guilder's victory and instead seeing the McGary Brothers emerge.
=== Combat Start: McGary Brothers vs Crownhold Exterior Guard ===
Imrik casts at the surprised defenders, dealing 44 and immediately vaporizing every goblin. One Knight dies outright; the other saves, and barely survives, tumbling to the ground. Both Trolls fail their saves and are obliterated.
Anton executes the wounded Knight. 
Imrik into a Pegasus. Tyrael and Anton hop on. As they fly off, the Brothers begin taking bow shots. Imrik suffers 3 damage from the arrows as he flies through Crownhold's magical illumination zone.
Combat End.
Imrik flies three miles away from Crownhold, clearing enough distance from Scoria's anti-teleportation wards. Anton detects Scoria and feels she is immediately outside Crownhold. The Brothers back home safely.
=== The Magical Might of Mistrya ===
Note: while the following list is quite accurate, any one single item may be placeholder or otherwise incorrect, and the list is subject to future revision. The items listed represent the magical items the Brothers looted from the defenders of Crownhold in the minutes after slaying King Guilder before hurrying off to escape Scoria's arrival:
Armaments
* (3) Shield +2
* (4) Longsword +3
* (6) Longsword +2
*Sword of Sharpness +1
*Plate Mail +2
* Wand of Magic Detection
* Robe of Useful Items
Rings
* Ring of Protection +5
*Ring of Protection +4
*Ring of Protection +3
*(3) Ring of Protection +2
* Ring of Protection +1
* (2) Ring of Free Action
* Ring of Mind Shielding
Amulets
* Amulet of Proof Against Detection
* Necklace of Adaptation vs. Gas
Cloaks
* (2) Cloak of Displacement (+2 Magic Saves)
* Cloak of Protection +3
* Cloak of Protection +2
* Cloak of Protection +1
Boots
* Boots of Speed (+2 Dex AC)
* Sandals of Speed
Gloves
* (5) Gloves of War
Bracers
* (2) Bracers of Defense +6 (Set AC to 16; does not stack with other forms of armor).
* Bracers of Defense +8 (Set AC to 18; does not stack with other forms of armor).
Scrolls
* (2) Scroll of Fireball
* Scroll of Hold Person
Potions
* (10) Unidentified Potions
Category:Tombs of Scoria Episodes