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He should have fallen on his sword. That would have been the sensible thing to do.
Punched his ticket for Elysium right away, no waiting around.
He thought they'd only kill him.
Why did he think that? How stupid was he? Why in the world did he think that?
And now instead of his next great adventure he's flubbed a save against dominate person.
If Anyone is listening and wants to help me wrangle these poor idiots, wipe out the shadows or solve material scarcity, put stitches in the Worldwound, take out Tar-Baphon, get a grip on Geb, iron out the Iron Gods, foil Rovagug's evil plan, monitor Those Fucking Guys and keep them from destroying the world, if there is a god out there of holding this all together when no one ever listens to you, that Anyone should give me cleric or inquisitor or paladin powers and five wish diamonds and a pony; I need to get to work.
With her Standard Action she'll 1d20+13 = 23 pull the Initiative Group Blue roustabout off of Spellmaster Hestrigsen with one enlarged hand and fling him to the ground with a warning to stay there.
With her Move Action she hurries the length of the table towards where Arkona is beating Irevotnin.
To AVOID one possible MISUNDERSTANDING I have included a「LIGHT HORSE」in ADDITION to your「PONY」
The sudden appearance of a「LIGHT HORSE」and「PONY」is the fifth most interesting thing that's happened in the last five seconds, right after the sudden appearance of thousands of spiders.
The startled equines appear where there's (barely) space and immediately start whinnying and thrashing and trying to make space for themselves; these things happen, in civic brawls.
Any Korvosan would recognize them at a glance as summoned horses. Unless summoned by a custom version of the spell,「LIGHT HORSES」and「PONIES」summoned with mount or summon monster all look pretty much identical. The horses are brown with a somewhat darker brown mane and slightly lighter brown socks and a longsuffering face that'd be utterly unremarkable if it weren't so uncannily familiar, the ponies have bigger heads and lighter coats and are otherwise the same.
(Korvosa as a city went much heavier on wizards than it did mundane stable-masters, and as both mount and communal mount last hours per level and don't require hay and oats or anywhere to sleep, the city in truth contained very few horses who had of mares been born.)
This particular horse and this particular pony are resolute creatures, and don't look exactly like the model summoned by mount. Still, there's a strong family resemblance.
Mounts come with a bit and bridle and riding saddle. They don't usually come with saddlebags, but, like, if someone cast a version of the spell that included saddlebags that would not actually be more interesting than the spell that summoned thousands of spiders.
Saddlebags aren't interesting.
What it feels like to be a cleric varies, because if you perturb a part of a human's brain the rest of the brain will generate all kinds of explanations of what just happened. It's not outside the space of experiences that people report without, in fact, actually being a cleric, because they're fasting or on drugs or just meditating very intensely, but this doesn't usually produce a lot of confusion because afterwards you either have spells, or you don't.
Commonly reported: a feeling of being seen by a penetrating beam of light. That feeling that you sometimes get in a dream where you see someone and hug them and know as a sort of background fact that they are the love of your life and you are reuniting after a long separation, even if your awake mind is pretty sure that person doesn't exist. A feeling of noticing there's something in your chest, or in your arms, that's been there your whole life but which you just realized you can move. A sense of being showered in transcendent divine love. A really intense variant of coming out of subspace. A moment of all your sensory input sending 'THE DIVINE' instead of their usual format of sensory input. A feeling of opening your eyes, except they were already open.
- Mad Investor Chaos and the Woman of Asmodeus
It feels like she's... known and appreciated and approved of by The Universe or at least by something vast and vastly knowledgeable. She might describe it by saying that the world makes more sense now (but does it correspond to anything that now makes more sense...?). Shivers run down Cressida's spine and there are warm arms around her and she gasps in surprise and her eyes feel watery and there's Someone else walking with her trying to hold the world together when it seems no one else can make the time to prevent their own destruction she's not alone never alone and she and She are old friends met at last for the very first time she feels a soaring rush of affection towards whichever understanding shithead motherfucker cast this spell to make her feel like they were the biggest pea in her pod.
It is teeth-grindingly infuriating that a wizard would make her feel this way in an attempt to suborn or debilitate her. She would much rather be hacked to pieces with a battle-ax, and she speaks here from experience without hyperbole. It is violating to stab someone's brain in the part that makes them feel transcendent joy or buddy-buddy with you. Not to mention illegal to do to a civil servant with her security clearances!
The member of Group Red who'd held his action is going to move and attack the adventurer who dropped the guy who attacked the self-styled Arch Megapope of Korvosa.
Like the great majority of panache-y people with three levels in Swashbuckler, pretty Percell Peltherianon is an Evil plug-ugly who's used to winning duels and streetfights.
His foe today's a better fighter than most, but she's an adventurer and he's a swash. She'd do better than he against manticores, but his art is slaying men.
Both have over twenty hitpoints, and (if they hit) do ~1d8+6, so this fight could take a round or five to reveal its winner.
She's pretty sure she bombed the Will save here, since alongside her anger she still feels extremely affectionate towards whoever the caster is. (For some reason her brain insists that she'd love to work in their office or have them as an employee. She feels certain that they write meticulous reports.)
Lady Leroung: 1d20+0 = 13
What an absolute clusterfuck.
House Leroung as a culture and institution is opposed to struggling for power. Every time Korvosa has a bumpy patch or outright civil war, of the Dock Families you'll find House Jeggare playing both sides and House Leroung playing neither. Leroung isn't the biggest winner of the Great Houses, but neither does it suffer any catastrophic losses - steadily gaining wealth and influence through one administration after another.
Now, five tenths of not making yourself a target is never being in the same room as anyone hot-tempered and picking them, and another tenth is not being in close quarters with wizards casting area of effect spells, and another tenth is not being a woman in the same room as a group of rambunctious men who just won a fight and may or may not hate nobility on general principles.
So, for her part Lady Eliasia Leroung is inclined to get out of here.
The one problem is, that there's fighting between her and the door.
Oh, two problems, actually, and the other problem is that shipping by sea possibly isn't going to be a thing anymore and her terrestrial assets have all been overrun by shadows and there's no strong reason to believe that after this power struggle anyone will come crawling to House Leroung for loans or legitimacy and she feels like maybe a lot of the people in this room (including her, half the time, it's so hard to wrap her mind around) are living mentally in an entirely different world than they're living physically in.
How silly of her to forget that.
Delay initiative.
(...But that they're not very good at presenting those reports to Castle Korvosa or City Hall. Cressida Kroft needs to champion her enchanter's ideas to King Eodred and shelter them from office politics, apparently(??).)
(Not entirely unlike the dwarf with 5 Splendor the Bank of Abadar lent her as a liason and she refused to ever return.... and that's a painful memory, because - Groduk's heroism last night won him +4 Charisma, as with most of her most favorite people.)
Altronus: 1d20+8 = 12
I was gonna pop the one who stabbed Barry, but it looks like he's been handled.
People should wear uniforms, so we know whether to kill them before their initiative.
"Wear our Foeman's Full-Dress Uniform to be absolutely certain that the heroes don't accidentally not kill you!!"
At least Cressida knows that she hasn't been Dominated or Confused, since those would have slagged her Mind Sentinel Medallion.
Kroft has ever before arrested a wizard through the effect of a Charm or Compulsion, and while it's not something she'd like to rely on it's not exactly like it'd be more helpful here to recuse herself.
So do I, and he's cheating with Boots of Speed.
If he's a chained monk, he must be at least eighth level but weaker than eleventh...
Seriously, though, who would be dumb enough to try and Enchant her.
That's a brisk walk to the Longacre Building and a very long round trip. And like as not you'll do your time and leave bereft a wagging wizard's tongue.
Maybe it was an AoE that caught her by -
Cressida Kroft CR 10
XP 9,600
Female human aristocrat 1/fighter 9/cleric-inquisitor-paladin 1
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +0; Senses Perception +19
Defense
AC 22, touch 10, flat-footed 22 (+10 armor, +2 shield) (+1 dodge if the only character threatening an opponent)
hp 118 (1d8+10d10+55)
Fort +13, Ref +3, Will +14 (+2 vs. fear, +2 resistance vs. mind-affecting spells, spell-likes, Su)
Offense
Speed 30 ft. (30 ft. in armor)
Melee mwk longsword +15/+10 (1d8+4/19-20), or mwk longsword +15/+10 (1d8+5/19-20),
or mwk longsword (power attack) +12/+7 (1d8+10/19-20), or mwk longsword +12/+7 (1d8+14/19-20),
or dagger +12/+7 (1d4+2/19-20)
Ranged mwk composite longbow +12/+7 (1d8+3/x3),
or thrown weapon +10/+5
Special Attacks channel positive energy 5/day (DC 13, 1d6), judgment 1/day, smite evil 1/day (+2 attack and AC, +1 damage), weapon training (heavy blades +2, bows +1)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st, concentration +6)
8/day – caging strike, touch of law
at will – detect evil, lorekeeper
Cleric spells (CL 1st, concentration +6)
1st – open domain slot, open slot (x3)
orisons – open slot (x3)
D domain spell; Domains knowledge, law
Inquisitor spells (CL 1st, concentration +6)
1st (3/day) – alarm, heightened awareness
orisons – detect magic, guidance, read magic, sift
Inquisition imprisonment
Tactics
Cressida Kroft prefers to fight at range if possible, only taking the risk of hand-to-hand combat when it can't be avoided - either because arrows would be too lethal, or because they wouldn't be lethal enough. And when she has allies with fewer hitpoints than her, she'll almost always try and take the hits for them.
Kroft likes to use her net or bolas to soften a target before engaging them in melee.
She keeps wands of cure light wounds and protection from evil in her spring loaded wrist sheathes.
She uses her shrink item'd barricades and bonfire to control the battlefield or provide cover from ranged attacks.
Against enemies that she has outmatched, Cressida fights defensively and tries to arrange a surrender. She uses combat maneuvers heavily, and will attempt to pin the poor sod and apply her manacles. When Cressida has allies with which to flank a foeman, she uses Dirty Fighting to avoid provoking attacks of opportunity with her combat maneuvers. Otherwise, she'll try and take away their weapons so they can't resist.
Against enemies that outmatch her, or are close enough to raise her concern, Cressida prefers to fight with numerous powerful allies, using specialty equipment acquired for the purpose and following a plan that's been gamed out and drilled extensively. When that's not possible, she tries to make up the difference with consumable items (if she thinks they'll make the difference); applying her oil of magic weapon to bypass DR, or drinking a potion of silence to thwart spellcasters that rely on verbal components, or poisoning her weapons with blue whinnis.
Statistics
Str 14 Dex 11 Con 20 Int 22 Wis 20 Cha 15
Base Atk 10; CMB +12 (14 trip & disarm) (+2 if using a heavy blade to trip or disarm (hey, but nandwich, earlier didn't (shut UP Altronus shut up shut up shut up))); CMD 22 (24 vs trip & disarm)
Feats Artful Dodge, Dirty Fighting, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Iron Will, Lunge, Mobility, Persuasive, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Spring Attack, Whirlwind Attack
Skills Appraise (3 ranks) +12, Craft (alchemy) (1 rank) +10, Diplomacy (11 ranks) +19, Handle Animal (1 rank) +6, Heal (1 rank) +9, Intimidate (11 ranks) +20, Knowledge (local, history, nature) (5 ranks) +14, Knowledge (arcana, geography, religion) (1 rank) +10, Perception (11 ranks) +19, Profession (11 ranks) +19, Ride (1 rank) +1, Sense Motive (11 ranks) +20, Stealth (11 ranks) +11, Use Magic Device (10 ranks) +12
Special armor check penalty -3, monster lore (+5 to knowledge checks to identify the abilities and weaknesses of creatures), stern gaze (+1 intimidate, sense motive)
Combat Gear +1 arrow-catching living steel quickdraw shield, oil of hold portal, oil of magic weapon**, potion of cure light wounds, potion of delay poison, potion of expeditious retreat**, potion of gaseous form, potion of silence, wand of Abadar’s truthtelling (26 charges), wand of protection from evil (21 charges), wand of cure light wounds (14 charges), heightened continual flame locket (4th-circle), shrink item'd bonfire (6 days remaining), shrink item'd pedestrian barricade (x2, 6 days remaining), shrink item'd rowboat (6 days remaining), bolas (x2), net, blue whinnis (4 doses), tanglefoot bag, smokestick;
Other Gear +1 fullplate, +1 spellstoring mithral longsword***, +1 adaptive phase locking longbow***, mwk longsword, mwk composite longbow (+2 Str) with 20 arrows, dagger, bag of holding type I, belt of mighty constitution +2, headband of mental prowess +2 (intelligence and wisdom, keyed to Stealth), mind sentinel medallion*, ring of mind shielding*, ring of sustenance, bandolier, marbles, manacles, signal horn, spring loaded wrist sheathes (x2)
Bag of Holding wand of detect magic (34 charges), 200 arrows, bear traps (4), bullseye lantern, chalk, cloth sacks, crowbar, drill, grappling hook, greatclub, hammer, inkpen, keys**, lamp oil, parchment, paper, pencils, rations, reference library, rope, sack of flour, sealing wax, signet ring**, shovel, steel mirror, twine, everything else she logically should be carrying but which doesn't come to mind, not a polearm though she doesn't want to risk puncturing the bag of holding, I guess she could saw the point off a lucerne hammer, and sand the sharp edges, actually she'll just have a custom case for a glaive-guisarme with latches she feels confident in, 100 gp, 1000 gp*
*items marked with an asterisk are on loan from the Korvosan Guard
**these items don’t exist because they were expended last night and not yet replaced
***these items are not part of her regular loadout and were commandeered last night
The setting doc says that the Arkonas are a notorious band of criminals, with sorcerous powers. I bet he's an arcane trickster or maybe a barbarian.
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