Min/Max Boards

Verdant Reaver
image would go here

HD: d8

BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Feature
+0	+2	+0	+0	Verdant Reaver Body, Wooden Strength
+1	+3	+0	+0	Wooden Strength, Woodland Stride
+2	+3	+1	+1	Verdant Growth, Wooden Strength
+3	+4	+1	+1	Growth, Improved Woodland Stride, Wooden Strength
+3	+4	+1	+1	Improved Verdant Growth, Verdant Rend, Wooden Strength

Skills: 2 + Intelligence modifier per level, quadruple at first level.
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge: Nature (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Search (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis)

Proficiencies: Natural weapons only.

Features:
Verdant Reaver Body: A Verdant Reaver loses all advantages of its base race, and its type changes to Plant. Verdant Reavers breathe, but do not need to eat or sleep. Verdant Reavers are medium size, with a Base speed of 30’. The Verdant Reaver has two slam attacks, that each deal 1d8 bludgeoning damage, and critically hit on a natural 20 for x2 damage. The Verdant Reaver also gets a Natural Armor bonus equal to its Con modifier.
Wooden Strength: A Verdant Reaver gets +1 Strength and +1 Constitution at each level, for a total of +5 Strength and +5 Constitution at level 5.
Woodland Stride: At second level, a Verdant Reaver can move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at its normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect it.
Verdant Growth: At third level, squares adjacent to a Verdant Reaver are covered in brush and roots, even if they were previously bare stone. It costs 2 squares of movement to enter a square of verdant growth, and the DC of Tumble checks increases by 2 in such squares. This growth also imposes a -2 penalty on Move Silently checks. Squares of Verdant Growth revert ot their normal state as soon as a Verdant Reaver is no longer adjacent.
Growth: At fourth level, a Verdant Reaver grows by one size category, and gains all of the benefits and penalties associated with that. It does not gain any stat improvements. If all five levels of Verdant Reaver are taken, it grows another size category at 13 HD.
Improved Woodland Stride: At fourth level, a Verdant Reaver can even move through magically manipulated undergrowth without being impeded or harmed.
Improved Verdant Growth: At fifth level, the Verdant Reaver's Verdant Growth spreads to all squares within a 10-foot radius of the Verdant Reaver. The Verdant Reaver also gains a small degree of control over it, such that the Verdant Growth does not impede its allies.
Verdant Rend: At fifth level, if both of a Verdant Reaver's slams hit a single target that is touching the ground and in a square of Verdant Growth, the Verdant Growth tears at that target, dealing an additional 1d8 + Strength Modifier damage, with no save.

The Fun Finds Compilation's first post - where I tried putting a [tablesort=rows] inside of a spoiler tag. It's pushing the signature on my posts over (which is weird in and of itself), but I also can't expand the spoiler.

Happens in both Chrome and IE on my computer (no firefox, so I can't check that). Happens even when I force-reload or moved my cache. Is it just me?

Discussion for the Fun Finds Compilation - currently done with the v3.0 thread, and two pages into v4.0.
Handbook is here.

Formatting is currently horrible; it'll be the new sort of table (with the nice shaded rows!) and I'll split of Dragon eventually...

Right now I'm just trying to catch up to the thread.

--

I also didn't have book or internet access while doing this, working off of a HTML save of the threads, so that's why there's a lot of missing information - people didn't always give sources or ability text in the threads.

As context: I'm playing the party's main tank in a guns-heavy setting (which by Pathfinder rules, always attack touch AC within the first range increment... and in this setting, that's about 50' or 60' feet it seems like), and just dipped Fighter/PsyWar (gestalt) on my fourth level to pick up Heavy Armor Optimization and Deflective Armor.

From my perspective, Deflective Armor is helping against the critical weakness of a heavily-armored character - touch AC - and in this setting, it's easily exploited by guns attacking touch AC almost always. From the DM's perspective, it's doing exactly that - removing the main drawback of having heavy armor.

I'm just wondering what the forum's opinion on this feat is.

Feats

General Feats

Always At Hand
Prerequisites: None
Benefit: The character always has something around that can help with just such a situation. If he spends one round crafting a tool, he can then gain a +2 untyped bonus on his next skill check. The tool then breaks.

Artisanal Creation
Prerequisites: Craft 4
Benefit: When crafting an item, you no longer need to make checks for mundane or masterwork items, and any mundane or masterwork item you craft grants the user a +1 competence bonus on any rolls using the item. However, the time needed to craft the item is 1 hour longer.

Custom Fitment
Prerequisites: Craft 6
Benefit: When crafting an item, you design it for a single individual, tweaking it so that it fits them just so. However, this usually makes it more difficult for anyone else to use. A custom fitted item grants the individual it was designed for a +1 competence bonus on any rolls using the item. Anyone else using the item takes a -1 penalty on all rolls using the item.

Handwright
Prerequisites: Craft 6
Benefit: When you take this feat, select a single category of magical items (using the old crafting feats), such as Rings, or Arms and Armour. When crafting an item from this category, crafting takes only 75% of the normal time, and you pay only 75% of the cost of the item.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time select a new category of magical items.

Spellsong Feats

Blatant Performance [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs, Obvious Performance
Benefit: Your Spellsongs now have a range of 100' + 25' per point of effect modifier, and can target creatures any distance apart.

Deceptive Art [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs, one other spellsong feat
Benefit: The spellsinger confuses the target of the spellsong as to what the end result will be. By taking a -10 penalty on her spellsong check, the spellsinger causes the target of the spellsong to have a penalty on the save equal to the spellsinger's charisma modifier.

Easy Performance [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Spellsong 9 ranks
Benefit: You may maintain Spellsongs with a faster action than normal; instead of normally using a full-round action, you may use a standard action; a move action instead of a standard action, and a swift action instead of a move action.

Editorial Performance [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs, two other spellsong feats
Benefit: If the spellsinger maintains a spellsong for more than one round, on the second round of maintaining increase the check result by her charisma modifier or half her caster level, whichever is lower.

Final Performance [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs
Benefit: So long as you are maintaining a Spellsong, you do not go unconscious at negative hit points, and you automatically stabilize at 0 or lower hit points. If you are not maintaining a spellsong at the end of your turn, you immediately fall unconscious. If you are at or below 0 hit points, increase the effect modifier of the spellsong you are maintaining by 2. You still die normally at -10 hit points.

Lingering Performance [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Spellsong 6 ranks
Benefit: Your Spellsongs linger far after they should have dissipated; the effects of your Spellsongs last for two rounds after you stop maintaining them.

Moral Support [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs
Benefit: The spellsinger gains a +1 bonus on her spellsong check for every ally within 10 ft.

Obvious Performance [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs
Benefit: Your Spellsongs now have a range of 100' + 10' per point of effect modifier, and can target creatures up to 60' apart.

Orchestral Performance [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs
Benefit: The spellsinger draws strength from playing to a crowd, as listed on the table below. She gains a bonus to her spellsong checks based on the number of people in the audience. Members of the audience must be indifferent or better to provide a benefit, and have an intelligence score of at least 8. This does not stack with any use of Aid Another from any listeners.

Audience Bonus
––––––––––––––
1-5      +1   
6-10     +2   
11-20    +3   
21-40    +4   
41-80    +5   
80+      +6     


Practiced Performance [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs
Benefit: Select a number of Spellsong Effects equal to your intelligence modifier. You gain a bonus on the Spellsong checks to use the selected Spellsong Effects equal to your Intelligence Modifier plus 3.

Reckless Creation [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs
Benefit: The spellsinger may choose to receive a +10 bonus on her spellsong check, but if so, the targets of her spellsong are determined randomly from all legal creatures.

Two Faced [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Able to use Spellsongs and cast Divine spells
Benefit: You add one half your Spellsong caster level to your Divine caster level. This cannot increase your Divine caster level above your total class levels.

Voice of the Elements [Spellsong]
Prerequisites: Spellsong 6
Benefit: Whenever you affect a creature with a spellsong that deals elemental damage, they take a penalty for one round based on the type of the element. Acid they take a -1 penalty to AC, Cold a -1 penalty to Fortitude saves, Electrical a -1 penalty to Will saves, Fire a -1 penalty to attack rolls, and Sonic a -1 penalty to Reflex saves. These penalties apply after any saves required by the spellsong.

Racial Feats

Focus on the Challenge
Prerequisites: Chanwyr race
Benefit: The benefit from his Daily Challenge racial feature is increased by +1.

Talent Surge
Prerequisites: Chanwyr race
Benefit: A number of times per day equal to his Intelligence modifier, a Chanwyr can treat a single additional skill as if it were affected by his Talented racial ability. This benefit lasts for one minute.

Er. I missed this actually starting. Is it too late for me to still hop in?

Edit: Aaaand I thought this was the subforum for the other game that was starting.

;a; So much for going by player names. I apologize.

I can't find anything that grants Mettle (or a similar thing) in Pathfinder, other than the Gun Tank (Gunslinger Archetype)'s 15th-level replacement deed, that only grants it for FORT-based effects.

Anyone know if Mettle exists in pure-Pathfinder? Or did it get cut?

In the Stealth^PF/Hide^3.5 skill, you can "snipe" by making a ranged attack and taking a penalty to your Stealth^PF/Hide^3.5 check, to stay hidden.

Is there a way to do this in melee? If not, what would you think is an "acceptable" / "balanced" ad-hoc penalty to the Stealth^PF/Hide^3.5 skill?

Yes, I'm looking for things both PF and 3.5.

This is a campaign that my group is running; a gestalt 3.P in the DM's homebrew setting, beginning at level 1 and planned to go Epic. (Yes, we know Epic is stupid-broken.) I've been writing this journal as an in-character object for my character, Ophelia Xilos Rex, and decided to post it here to see what you lot think of it. If you have any questions about the world / other characters, I'll do my best to answer - both in and out of character.

As context about the character, let's start with the main part of the world; I'm just going to do current (not the past) to keep it... uh... short(er). Xilos is a Human empire, notable for its conquest of the majority of the known world (except for Nied, which is overrun with undead, and has struggling human cities, and the Trade Company lands (which are 'protected' by a massive desert)). They are led by an incarnation of their deity (to them, the only deity; all others are heretical, and not truly gods), Hadeus, who leads in a trinity - the Pater, Imperator, and Draco; each semi-autonomous, but parts of Hadeus. Hadeus is the god of War, Glory, Sex, and Song. And... a few other things, that I can't remember. Anyhow, Xilos is led by Hadeus in a human form - a god at the head of their army, and as such, they conquered most of the world. Xilos is led by its three "royal" families - House Xilos, House Grandius, and House Corvus.

When you die, your soul is - unless one of the Gods takes enough of a shine to you, a rare thing - sent to the Shadow Plane, where (generally) one of three things happen. One: Your soul is consumed by Ethersilk Reapers, giant spidery outsiders that spin souls into cloth. Two: Your soul survives long enough to become a spirit. Three: Your soul makes its way to Dis, the city of the dead, where Armenon gives you a bargain - worship him above all others, and he'll let you return to life - albeit as an undead disguised as what you used to be. In addition, he'll give you a Deadline - fail that, and he'll summon you back to Dis, where you'll work as one of the Shackled until the end of time.

Ophelia Xilos Rex is (as her name indicates) a member of House Xilos, and "Rex" - a member of House Xilos by blood. That makes her, quite literally, a princess. However, she died during a mission for one of the Xilosian Legions (again, making things short here) and came back as a Revenant - reasons being that it wasn't her time to die, and Hadeus could not have truly cared for her, as she wasn't allowed into his afterlife/ heaven. This is bad for her in that she no longer holds Hadeus as the only god - she can't, per the terms of her resurrection, which makes her a heretic in Xilosian eyes. Not a good position for a princess. She also got a Deadline - to find the notorious airship pirate Fex, kill him, convert his crew to Armenon (and kill those that don't), then burn his ship and crash it into the ground.

That said, she's setting out on the CAS Lissania to try and make a new life out in the Free Wastes, in a little town in a neutral ground between Xilos and the Trade Company - Dania.

[Journal Begins]

(Pages here are torn and burnt; you'll see why in a bit)
however, I appear to have found a friend (dare I call him that?) on the ship. His name is Donovan – and he holds a secret much as I do. He... er... checked up on me, after the events of this morning. He has a little bird, and walks with a limp; he said he was Niedschien, too. I’ve never been to Nied – and I don’t think I ever want to. He uses a cane, too; I don’t think he needs it, but it certainly seems to help. Plus, it gives his little blackbird (at least, I think it’s a blackbird) a place to sit, when it’s not flitting around or on his shoulder.
   The bird, Matthew, is an interesting case. I thought he was just a pet – much like those kept by the falconers back in Selanus – but it would appear that he’s intelligent and has his own will? He resembles the familiars taken by most wizards, or the occasional sorcerer, and can talk; surprised me more than the end of a Fourth-House Tale, at first. Just up and started talking to me, as if it was perfectly normal. I managed to keep my composure, though it was a close thing. I don’t think Donovan expected to hear him talk, either; he looked as shocked as I did. Maybe just that he didn’t expect Matthew to reveal himself. The bird has quite an attitude, as well, and a raspy voice. Seems to have an affinity for shiny things too; he went pecking at my chest. Er. Not like that, you know. My trunk. With the shining lock.
   The rest of the day was uneventful; I remained in my cabin for the rest of the day, to not further exert myself in case of emergency, and needing to deal with people at a moment’s notice – much like Donovan.

Sardae the 23rd of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Today was.... long. And complicated. I guess I should start from the beginning, shouldn’t I? We – that is, most of the passengers – were in the parlour, waiting for some sort of announcement. I managed to talk to Thorn – a bounty hunter, I guess? – and her automaton robot, without seeming to be anything more than a curious noblewoman... I think. I asked her about Fex, after a bit of roundabout to get to that point, and she gave me some information:
1.   He operates out of Char-Merag
2.   He never fights or raids the Imperials (as is right)
3.   He’s not a pushover! Thorn fought him, and he fought hard.
4.   Thorn saw him fall off his ship – no-one would survive that – about nine months ago... he was operating again 6 months ago.
5.   Once in a while, he shows up in Imperial Towns to sell his loot.
6.   He follows a Pirate’s Code, which means his ship is slightly democratic; they can outvote Fex and veto him.
7.   He’s cunning and reckless; and he disregards danger.
Thorn also told me that “If you see his ship, lay down arms and spare yourself the bloodshed” – he seems to be merciful to peaceful victims? Or at least, as merciful as a pirate gets. But she did say something about a man named “Lanster” in Char-Merag. If I can work up the courage to go there, of course. Lastly, I asked about her automaton helper – it turns out she built it! They’re incredibly complicated; I don’t really have a hope of understanding them, but I understand enough to know how they run, which is an accomplishment, I suppose.
   They finally made the announcement. It turns out that someone was murdered; a helper or some sort of mechanic, down in the maintenance halls. Donovan tells me that Helena Xilos Vrane is likely a mind-mage, and he knows because he is. She’s a little waif of a thing, leaning heavily on a big wooden staff, and that does remind me of mages. She’s also got a brother – Trask Xilos Vrane – who’s wearing heavy armor, and seems to talk for the both of them... Helena is mute, as far as I can tell. Regardless, we made an early enemy of them when we accused them of being the murderer. Oh, I haven’t said anything about Hemlock Resteaux, have I? He’s the investigator on the ship – but he appears to be incompetent. His methods are... odd. He spent almost a minute just sniffing Helena’s staff while making her lean on Trask.
   Continuing on, Helena and Trask were deemed innocent, and then Mr. Winston was accused – I can’t remember his first name. Resteaux took his briefcase, to which Mr. Winston protested... until it exploded in green fire. I can’t remember anything after that; I woke up again, splayed on a massive bronze gear, amid the flaming – normal fire, red fire – wreckage of the OCAS Lissania. Tried to get a look at the dead; amongst those I recognized, there was Torgue, a half-orc, can’t remember much about him. His stomach was troubling him earlier, I think. Jorlin died too; he was a nice, strong Asgardian. He didn’t bother wearing a shirt, either. Gaius Grandius Carrus (nice man, had two kids) lost one of his sons to the wreckage, which was heartbreaking to watch.Thorn lost a leg to the crushing weight of the wreckage; I remembered just enough to turn on the automaton – it must have been deactivated during the crash – so that it could free her, then burn the wound shut. Probably not the best way to deal with it, but we didn’t have a surgeon on hand, and Thorn seems... thankful, at least, if not content. Deputy Huck Fairweather, Hemlock Resteaux, and Mr. Winston all vanished. We didn’t find their corpses, they just... vanished. We’re presuming they’re dead, but I’m not sure. It just seems too convenient that Mr. Winston and the two people leading him away both vanished. Lastly, Septus Xilos Tyrus died – and with his dying breaths, informed us that he was a High Inquisitor. He charged us with delivering a sealed letter to Deaconess Vera Xilos Keael in Aristes, a town about two days’ walk from Dania. He also said, and I quote, “Avoid the Knight-Captain”; perhaps this Knight-Captain is a heretic of some sort, and the target of this Inquisition? Regardless, Septus insisted that it was of utmost importance, and that the fate of Xilosia – perhaps of the entire world – hung on this letter, and his mission... now our mission.
   There wasn’t much time to ponder his message; a small group had formed. Myself and Donovan – and Matthew – were there, of course, along with a Ravoleck Xilos Morsa (his family are very famous arms dealers), and his bodyguards, Jinzo and Jimmy Gibbs. Ravoleck appears to be a spellcaster of some sort; he’s got a little pet that Donovan says was summoned from another Plane. Jinzo, the first bodyguard, is fast and unarmored; he strikes me as one of those monastery guys, with the odd chants and strange almost-religious devotion to their “Path”. On the other hand, Jimmy is a fighter and a spellcaster; he saved my secret from Jinzo, made him forget with some sort of spell. Marshal Falls (the Marshals are a group that guides and protects people in the Free Wastes) charged us to collect the survivors and set out, which we did.
   Leading hundreds of people across a desert to a colony-town, from the wreckage of a burning airship... A bit more exciting than I felt like this trip would be. At least the retinue of servants I have weren’t hurt, for the most part – a couple perished, but they overall did far better than the average.

Nysdae the 24th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Today we kept marching; we didn’t make much progress yesterday before nightfall. I stood watch, and haven’t removed my armor; I fear revealing my secret to the masses would scare them off. While we led the pack of survivors, a Seraphim stopped us, and asked for the letter. Thankfully, Jinzo didn’t hand it over, protesting that it was a mission granted to us by the Inquisition. Furthermore, Severus (the Seraphim) promised not to hurt us until the morning; I pray that we did enough.
   We kept marching, and ran into some gnolls; thankfully, I managed to notice them before they could get the drop on us. It didn’t help much though; we didn’t have time enough to get into position before they were on us. Ravoleck is definitely a spellcaster, I know that now, and so is Jimmy; Jinzo appears to focus on outflanking and taking advantage of his foe’s divided attention, which I happily helped with. During the fight, an Elioud, Castor, rode up to help. He’s a healer of some sort, so I had to warn him not to heal me, under the pretense of being self-sufficient. One of the Gnolls – a priest – used his staff to attack myself and one of Ravoleck’s summons with negative energy, which was... Helpful. Hah.
   After the fight, I pocketed the gnoll’s staff, and then gave it to Donovan; he lost his cane in the crash, and seems to be happy now that he has a new one. The gnolls were carrying holy symbols, and Castor said that they were holy symbols of Krakota, an evil spirit-god of hyenas. I doubt he’s an actual god though.
   The rest of the day passed without incident; simply hours more of marching. Castor appears to be far more proficient than most clerics or healers with his spells, as is right; he tells us that he is descended from a Saint, which gives him his Elioud heritage.
   Nearing the evening, we arrived in Dania, along with the rest of the survivors. The town seems... almost abandoned. There aren’t many people in the streets.
   We went to City Hall – I changed first, of course, back into my Romagoni clothes, as is befitting of a Princess of Xilos – to meet the man who called us here, one “Hector LeBeau”. His secretary, Susanne, almost didn’t let us in, but we eventually convinced her to let us. We entered his office to find one of his two daughters, Lissania, throwing a tantrum over not having a city named after her (Apparently Mr. LeBeau named Dania after his eldest daughter, and the airship after Lissania). She broke a very expensive crystal paperweight, which Jimmy began to mend while the group talked.
   We gave Mr. LeBeau the bad news, and he was crushed; we thought it was the loss of the extremely expensive airship, but apparently it was carrying a cure for the plague currently affecting Dania. He explained that he had called us here as part of a task force, to perform duties around town – first and foremost, dealing with the plague. Having said that, we were able to own properties in the town, as stipulated in the letter he sent each of us. I chose a warehouse, better to house my cadre of servants and let them work; the only other one I paid attention to was Donovan, who now owns a small house across from the inn in town, the Blue Star.
   Finally, each of us got a small stipend; I immediately set mine to the costs of constructing a pair of Alchemy Labs in the warehouse. Mr. LeBeau also seems indebted to us; I’m sure that influence will come in handy.
   Jinzo’s brother, Tenchi, offered to work as a manager for my people while I’m out of town; he’ll be getting a stable wage from me; perhaps less than he would normally earn, but it’s certainly more than this small town can offer him, and it benefits me as well, ensuring that my followers remain working hard if I’m ever out of town for a while. After all, isn’t it a Trade Company saying that “Money makes the world go ‘round”? It’s certainly true in my experience, at least.
   We all met another Niedschien man today, one “Alexi Geistheim”, who is a Special Agent, the Niedschien equivalent of a Hadean Inquisitor, I suppose. That’s the closest analogue I can think of for him. He attempted to enlist the group in hunting down his target, one “Gustav Gauss”, an alchemist formerly in the employ of the Niedschien government, who embezzled funds in order to fuel his own – illegal – arcane magic. He was found out and ran, murdering officials in the process. Deadly business; he can also apparently change his appearance. I have to wonder if he’s a Changeling. Donovan had a conversation with him in Niedsch, though I couldn’t understand a word of it. Donovan is terrified of the man – he seemed alright to me, but Donovan is from Nied, so I trust his judgment on this. Regardless, we’ll keep it in mind. The reward could be useful, as could connections to the Nieschien government.
 
Soldare the 25th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Not much to speak of today; I spent the day setting up the Warehouse. Also spent some time watching Donovan work in the Inn, then in his house; he voiced his ability to tell fortunes through dreams... not that I have any for him to work with. He seems to be at least amicable to the idea of me acting as his bodyguard.

Terdae the 26th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Work on the Alchemy Lab formally began today. In addition, we left for Aristes, in order to deliver the letter at earliest possible time.
   We met a figure of legend, as well. It was... it was... words cannot begin to describe. As we walked, there was just a door in the middle of the road. When we opened it, it was a jazzy, warm room, the home of Doc Tuesday – he’s a famous Vodan priest, from the swamps in the Southern part of Nied. He gave each of us a vrina, a little bag full of spiced nuts – Matthew petulantly took Donovan’s, and I’ll explain why in a moment.
   He told each of our fortunes by using tarot cards, as well; I didn’t think to memorize the predictions for any other people in the party, but he told me that “You will know information when you see it, make sure you do not ignore it”. Matthew, by way of being a bird, was glossed over and didn’t get his fortune told (which is why he took Donovan’s vrina).
   After that, the rest of the day was uneventful.
 
Ibdae the 27th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Today was terrifying. Horribly, astoundingly, terrifying. We ran into another group of gnolls; I charged out to meet the one that resembled the caster from before, though he was wearing different robes. That was a major mistake; he grappled me (normally not a problem, thanks to using my gauntlets to fight), then his friend charged at me, the blade striking just between two parts of my armor and right in the critical point of my neck.
   I feel like I might have died, there. I saw the coldness of Dis, and the eternal slavery that awaited me... but the Vrina given to me by Doc Tuesday saved me. Burst open, and the nuts healed me, I suppose. Not going to pretend I have any idea how that works.
   I ran, of course. Castor rode over, and blessed me; so long as I didn’t attack anything, he said the magic would protect me. Later, he gave me enchanted berries to heal me; those were a true godsend. After the battle, we looted the bodies (we hid their equipment, so not to ride into Aristes with it and draw attention), and moved on. We realized only too late that the caster had been embraced by a Seraph, and swore not to reveal it.
   Before entering the town, Matthew scouts ahead for us, and returns with nothing of note; normal patrols. We arrive in Aristes, and realize why we were told to avoid the Knight-Captain (named Ralis); he is terribly insane. Paranoid and power-hungry, a frightening combination, especially in the hands of one with so much power. He is second only to the Deaconess we were sent to, but no-one respects him; if he removes the Deaconess, Aristes is likely to fall into anarchy. I introduce myself as Ophelia Xilos Heris while in town, hiding the fact that I am a blood member of one of the Three Houses.
   We go to the Church – they have quite an extensive library, and it seems that our party is very interested in returning to it when time is less pressing. We found the Deaconess in a state of some distress; apparently  Ralis had begun an informal Inquisition on the poor thing. The letter from Septus, however, assayed her fears; it contained a key inside of the parchment (don’t ask me how, I don’t know), which she said was to the tomb of an ancient Hadean warrior; if we could retrieve his sword, it would prove her innocence.
   That said, we set out to do just that; she gave each one of us a reward of five hundred gold (!) with which to silver our weapons; she pointed out that ghosts apparently guard the tomb, and only silver – or magic – weapons will be able to strike the ethereal things. I silvered both my clawed and spiked gauntlet, and most of the remaining members of the group did as well – though Donovan did not, having a magical staff with which to defend himself.
   That’s all for today; we rented a place in a fine inn, and slept through the night.
 
Holdae the 28th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Today was even busier than my first day in the Free Wastes. We left early this morning for the Tomb of the Fallen Hero, hoping to evade the Knight-Captain Ralis, which we successfully did once more. Castor stayed in Aristes with our other goods and the cart, though not before furnishing us with as many of the enchanted berries as he could create in a day. I’ve been holding on to those. He says that the magic leaves after a day, so I’ve also got the leftover ones from yesterday with me. Outside Aristes, we met up with Torsus Xilos Brae’En (one of the Deaconess’ assistants) and a cavalier named Aurus Xilos Rex – my cousin. I haven’t introduced myself yet, and when I do, I will use Ophelia Xilos Heris, as was agreed while in this town.
   We arrived at the Tomb with no incident, and found that the entrance was an ancient, moss-encrusted, iron gate. The golden key, though, cleaned off the moss and detritus of ages with some sort of magic, and climbed down a tower to reach the initial chamber.
   In the first chamber, there were four vaguely shaped statues; each was marked with ancient text, proclaiming that each was a statue of one of the four Elder Gods – Hadeus, Mystras, the Masked Fool, and... Ximatia. Now, each statue had a door behind it, but we’ll get to that soon; there was a massive door, which obviously led to the actual tomb, but it was locked. First we would have to venture into each of the gods’ rooms, and deal with their puzzles.
   First was the door behind Mystras, which had a box and a statue of Mystras herself, in fuller glory. Around the walls were murals of ancient Hadean soldiers fighting, and a box lay in front of the statue. Ravoleck’s eidolon opened the box, and received a blast of magic to the face for its trouble. Inside the box was an ancient stone axe, which we could not pull through some sort of barrier around the room; magical inspection (a spell to detect auras; how useful, I wish I could use it) found the room was warded with some sort of abjuration, and there was another enchantment on the murals. We found ourselves unable to take the axe, until Ravoleck solved the puzzle – being the axe of Ximatia, we needed to use it to slay the statue of Mystras. So saying, he beheaded the statue, and while the barrier dropped, four ghosts of the ancient warriors stepped out of the paintings. We dispatched them with little trouble, thanks to our silvered weapons and a little magic – Jimmy’s missile spell appeared to strike them with no regard to their incorporeality. We placed the axe in Ximatia’s hands in the initial room, and watched that statue come back to color, as if only made yesterday.
   Second was the room behind the statue of the Fool. There was a small clay doll, and a statue of Hadeus, with the same enchantments on the room and painting. After some deliberation, we bled on the clay doll – blood being sacred to Hadeus, as shown with Cruor magic – and the room allowed us to leave with His sword, which we gave to the statue of Hadeus in the first room. Again, the statue came back to color.
   Third was the room behind the statue of Ximatia; a replica of Mystras stood in the center of a pit, gripping her holy bow and arrows. Around the room were nine altars; through much trial and error, we managed to activate each one – one altar per school of magic, as deduced by the group during much debate – and a path opened, before we brought the stone bow and quiver back to her statue in the main chamber.
   Last, of course, was the room behind the statue of Hadeus, which was a chamber to the Fool. Nine statues of the Fool were around the room; four on each of the side walls, and one in the center; each held a stone version of a Fool’s Staff. Ravoleck and Donovan both managed to reply to riddles written on the bases of the statues, though Ravoleck was struck by the statues a couple times when he read the riddles out loud. Donovan took one of the stone staves for his own, and brought a second back to the main chamber.
   At least, it was time for the Forgotten Warrior’s actual tomb. When we entered, the murals were of a giant battle between an ancient version of the Xilosian Legions, and a seething, chaotic mass of Orcs. We stepped up to the sarcophagus holding the Fallen Hero, and Aurus and I opened it, so that Torsis could – as the most devout of us – take the Hero’s Sword back to the Deaconess. When he picked it up, though, he suddenly went berserk – only later would we know that the sword was possessing him. Both I and Jinzo attacked him, seeking to knock him unconscious without killing him, but Ravoleck stopped his rampage by casting a spell that protected the recipient from possession; a literal Protection from Evil spell, or so he said. I had heard of such things in my studies back in Romagon, but never seen them in action. Finally, Donovan put the poor man to sleep, and we carefully wrapped up the sword before picking it up and attempting to talk with it.
   Through Donovan’s telepathic abilities, we managed to find out the sword’s name – Arenusii – and explained to it our mission, including the insanity of the Knight-Captain and our duty to prove the Deaconess innocent, and even our mission from the Inquisition. The sword agreed to go with us, and even told us to take what we would from the other four sarcophagi, as long as we did not take the armor of the Fallen Hero.
   Reclaiming the things in the four sarcophagi took no more than a couple minutes; I claimed a pair of – yet unidentified – boots, soft and supple, and a plain +1 Magic Longsword, which I then gave to Aurus. Donovan took a Cloak of Resistance +1 for his own, and Ravoleck picked up a Ring of Arcane Mark, though his eidolon inhaled some corpse-fungus – I don’t know quite what it was, though we’ll see if it becomes a problem.
   The trip back to Aristes was uneventful as well, though the arrival was not. Tarsis rode on my horse with me, and Jimmy rode with Aurus. The rest were left behind – though Donovan revealed that he followed us with Matthew. When we reached the town, it was barren, but for the sounds of a hymn from the church. It appeared that a sudden mass had been called, and because Tarsis didn’t know about it, it was obviously a surprise. Jimmy, holding the sword, entered first, with me and Aurus flanking him, and Tarsus behind all of us. We advanced slowly, taking one step for each beat of the hymn, until we stood before the Deaconess – and then Jimmy presented Arenusii to her. Ralis and the other Legionnaires among the walls of the church took that as an excuse to call her even more of a heretic, for invading a holy tomb; I countered by recounting the story, from the crash of the airship to our mission from Septus, from the encounter with the Deconess to finding the sword in the tomb – but nothing about the challenges or ghosts, and certainly nothing about the Embraced. Both I, and Aurus, both using our full name and rank as Xilosian Princess and Prince, pledged to the authenticity of the tale, which seemed to cow Ralis.
   Arenusii, then, apparently asked to talk to Ralis, though the blade was ignored while Ralis apologized and pardoned us, though he warned us not to be seen in his town the next morning. As he turned to leave, Jimmy gave him the sword – he seemed to talk with it for a moment, and then was given hope. I only learned later, from Donovan, that Arenusii had apparently said “It's worse to be wielded by someone who may one day wield me honorably than it is for the weakest of worms to touch me".
   He left, and the congregation broke apart. Vera thanked us again, and apologized for not giving us more of a reward, which we denied. Finally, she spoke about the Tomb for the Orcish hero being important as well, and I remembered a landmark – a hill with a crevasse in it, Hero’s Hill – that pointed to the location of this other tomb (which seems to be near Dania, of all places). We are likely to visit it soon enough, though Vera insinuates it is not a priority.
   We visited the library in the church for one last time; the others took some books out, while I spoke with Donovan, and then simply memorized an old Xilosian manual on military tactics; it gave me ideas for a new type of martial maneuvers, ones that rely on the power of the Dreamscape, the place from which Donovan’s dreamtelling powers come from. Eventually, we left the church for the inn, preparing to leave town in the morning. Aurus is apparently coming back to Dania with us, planning on joining the task force.

Ferdae the 29th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Today it was revealed to Aurus that I am a Revenant of Armenon, and not a worthy candidate to call myself a member of House Xilos. He accused me of lying to him, in public – inside the inn, yes, but still public – to which I simply stood, turned, and walked out. He chased me, of course. Laid a hand on me to stop me. I turned, angrily, reminded him that he would do better not to lay a hand on his equal, and he merely replied that he loved me as a sister; what was wrong? he asked. To reply, I simply stalked off into an alleyway, and collapsed – I suppose you could call it sitting, but it was only just – onto a wooden crate. Pulled off my helmet, revealing the skull-face Armenon saw fit to give me, and just asked “Why do you think I don’t count myself among the Xilos?”
   What followed was me having to justify my choice in the depressing, morose wastes of the Shadow Plane, and then my reasons to hide – chief among them being contractually bound to worship Armenon instead of Hadeus, primarily. Eventually, Aurus decided that – although he doesn’t feel good about my choices – he wouldn’t reveal me, or persecute me, and understands why I lied. I had to thank him. By then, it was time to leave; we met up at the gate, and began traveling back to Dania.
   Donovan revealed that he sold his magical staff, and left some money with Vera – though it appears that she protested, from what I guessed. I don’t know if she actually did, though.
   The traveling passed mainly uneventfully, though I believe Donovan was doing more dream-telling during the days.

Keydae the 30th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Today was uneventful.

Sardae the 31st of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Donovan was panicked this morning. He apparently had some sort of terrible dream, which foretold Trask Xilos Vrane hurting Dania – of which we all are irreversibly a part of. The dream was apparently about some sort of unnamed child bringing Arenusii to Donovan, and telling him it was for him, sent by a man with white hair and red eyes (a seraphim?).
   While ranting about this to Hector LeBeau once we got to Dania, he revealed to the present group, in addition to Mr. LeBeau, his secretary Susanne, and a newcomer, Ulrich, that he was a changeling – the secret I wrote about back on the Lissania, remember? – which I believe speaks volumes about how concerning this dream was to him. I mean, while the rest of us went straight to LeBeau, he made a beeline for his house (and presumably more accurate dreamtelling references) telling us he would meet us later.
   Ulrich seems to be a happy fellow, if a bit simple. I couldn’t get much of a read on him.
   Hector LeBeau (yes, I will continue to use his full name; he seems to deserve it), meanwhile, wants us to continue our job, which mainly seems to be curing the Plague – perhaps it’s related to the Tomb for the Orcish warrior? In addition, he seems to have a supplier for Entropium – a valuable metal that will help me make far more maneuverable armor... or at least, will let my cadre of crafters make far more maneuverable armor for me.
   That said, I’ve began working on the first maneuver for the In Dreams discipline I had an idea for – it would let me draw forth a weapon made of dreamstuff, which will be a valuable asset if we must fight more ghosts, or if I find myself surprised and without a weapon.

Nysdae the 32nd of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Today, as two days ago, was uneventful. Progress on the maneuver continues apace, and my two Alchemy Labs should be finished tomorrow.
Soldae the 33rd of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   The alchemy labs are finished, and I have enough money to buy the load of Entropium from Hector LeBeau, when he has it. In addition, I’m halfway through making this maneuver work, which is a wonderful thing.
 
Terdae the 34th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Donovan woke us all up early today. Asked me about Alvean Wine, too... on a “curiosity”; said he found it while he was reading. Sounds a bit suspicious, to be honest; I have to suspect that he’s found it at some point in his research – I’d love to taste some again, I haven’t had any in a long while. Thorn’s apparently asked him to bring “his friends” to her, for some sort of questions.
   Thorn is inviting us to work with her bureau as bounty hunters for the Board when we have free time; both I and Donovan seemed interested, though the others may be as well.
   Mr. LeBeau, on the other hand, would like us to investigate the water plant – which doubles as a power plant – to see if someone has been poisoning the water to cause the plague. Both I and Aurus will be asking Thorn if she would care to join us, as the plant is apparently run by automata.
   Back at the Bounty Office, Thorn decided not to go with us; after all, she hasn’t constructed her prosthetic for her... ah... missing leg – though it does appear to be a fine amputation; the plate looks just fine.
   Tenshi and Jinzo are both going to oversee my Warehouse while I’m gone. Should only be a week, or so.
   After we leave, the travel seems to be uneventful until nightfall, when Aurus had a creepy vibe; something was following us. I caught a glimpse of a shadowy, hooded figure with a hint of metal by its hand... but when we tried to call out to it, it vanished. Rest of the night passed uneventfully, though I am now more than half-done with progress on the maneuver.
 
Ibdae the 35th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   An uneventful day of travel.
 
Holdae the 36th of Sanguas, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   We are scheduled to arrive at the Plant tonight, gods willing.
   It became clear that today’s trek would be just the same; we came upon a massive built into the side of a mountain, which we know from the map to be the Plant. Our key – provided with the map – opened the front door easily; it being around 6pm
   Stairs down lead us to an antechamber with a section of exposed river flowing in the center, lowered from where we currently stand. The place was infested with rats – at least thirty within ten feet of us, and probably hundreds more. After capturing a rat, we examined it; it carried filth fever, a disease which makes the affected parties sluggish, slower to react, and overall physically weaker – however, it’s not the same as the plague in Dania. In Dania, the plague attacks the stamina, slowly causing the targets to get exhausted, sleep for longer, and eventually fall into a deep sleep that leads to death.
   Following one of the five doors, we found a large automaton repairing a copper pipe, screwing a bolt in with its hand. We turned back, not wanting to risk scalding. The next corridor opened to a wider room, which was thick with warmth – we could feel it on our face; the heat came from four large tanks suspended above holes in the ground, large boilers. They were heated by lava underneath the room. It opened into a dark room – surprising in that the other rooms were lit up. This resembles the original room, but has two channels of running water instead of just the one. The automaton that we encountered earlier finished its job, but had its ‘head’ bashed in by... something.
   We found a hunchbacked wererat, and two dire rats – once we hurt the rats a bit, the wererat, calling himself Deatric, protested and wanted us to stop hurting the rats. He just... he was just lonely, and wanted a friend, which I’m happy to provide – I know that feeling, being alone since my... return. We convinced him and his rats to leave, and I’ve given him half of my warehouse to stay in.
   Donovan wants him to make a circus – and I’m fairly sure he’s going to make a ridiculous amount of money from it; he’s got the rats trained exceptionally well. Hopefully, hopefully it will go well when we return to Dania.
 
Ferdae the 1st of Verr, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Today was uneventful, though it was the first day of travel back to Dania.
 
Keydae the 2nd of Verr, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   We were traveling, nothing important occurred.
 
Sardae the 3rd of Verr, Year 127 of Man, Summer in Court
   Today is the day we are due to arrive in Dania.
   

Trying to come up with a way to make a ring of Deeper Darkness, with a circle of Daylight on the inside.

I was looking at Sculpt Spell, but that's only 4 twenty-foot cubes (when I'd like to make something like a ten-foot radius of Daylight surrounded by a further ten feet of darkness). Any ideas how you could do this?