[Jean] Chapter 1: Summons

[Throndir]

In your head the status screen popped up.

Jean Valois
Herald of the Old Ones
Level 15

Condition: Healthy

HP: 43/43
MP: 10/28
STR: 18 +
DEX: 18 +
CON: 28 +
INT: 16 +
WIS: 10 +
CHA: 8 +
MAG: 18 +

Blessings: Quick Learner, Mana Sensitivity, Translate All, Personal Status, Weight Control, Summon Tentacle

You have 3 unspent ability points.

It looked similar to how it did before. However this time, you only had 10 MP, instead of 22 MP. Being instructed to stand at the ready, the tentacles seemed to let go of the mage girl. They didn't do it as quickly or with as much vigor as you knew they could however.

"Y-you need to tell them to stop that..." The girl said, tidying her clothing up and shivering. She said something under her breathe then.

Perception if you want to listen, DC 15.

"We... might still have time to teach you something about magic... But usually that takes awhile to learn."

Rounds since escape: 10

[pringerbeam]

Perception check to hear mumbling

Rolled 1d20+3 : 3 + 3, total 6

[Throndir]

Perception: 6
You swear you keep seeing her mumble, but you can never figure out what she's saying...

[pringerbeam]

     "Well... Can I get the short version?  I don't know how much time we have...  Or how much I can even practice.  I think I'm only able to use so much power at a time."  Jean was thinking about his MP.  Summoning the tentacles really took it out of me...  Not sure how much experimenting I can do if the demon is on its way. Clearly he needed to manage his resources, he only had so much that he could devote to experimenting with his new abilities.  "Oh! The book!"  He puts his hand on the embossed leather cover, getting a feel for the intricate design once again, and flipped open the book, hoping that maybe it would have instructions on how to use his abilities.

Jean reads the book.

[Throndir]

Opening the thick tome, and looking at it again, all the words this time started to make sense! You remembered back when you first had found the book, you could barely understand or read any of its text. As you flipped through the pages, looking at each of the symbols that made up the words, you realized that the book was written in multiple languages. Though there was chunks written in Latin, there were many others that did not conform to any language you were aware of, not to mention that some of the symbols didn't even look like anything you've ever seen as a written language.

The mage girl began explaining how magic worked, at the same time you began perusing through the book itself. You had to both concentrate on reading, along with listening to what the girl had to say.

Requesting Intelligence check

"The best way is to show you... But we don't have that luxury now. Let's see. You have no clue how magic works, so you're pretty much learning it from the basics."

"First to gather mana... When you start casting a spell. You need to imagine an energy within you, and once you find it, you imagine holding it, and bringing it out. Usually it helps trying to focus the mana within you to a specific place before making use of it. Most people would recommend gathering the mana to your hands, it's simply more effective that way."

"I already described how incantations work to give form to magic, correct? And keywords are what unleashes it? There is more to it than that, incantations are words that come to mind when you are trying to picture how to cast the spell, or what it will look like."

"For example, lets take my Conjure Flames spell, that's the first spell most people learn for the fire attribute. Picturing creating flame, would be different than creating flame so that is circles around me, like my Flame Torch from earlier. In that case, the incantation and the keyword will be different. When first learning a spell, incantations are something that is personal. My incantation for Conjure Flames might be totally different than someone else's, but they will produce a similar result, most of the time. Sometimes they can be exactly the same too! When we begin casting the spell, the words pop into your mind, and you simply repeat saying them. Memorizing the spell's incantations work too, which is something every mage would recommend once you figure out your personal incantations, especially during combat."

"No one is actually sure how, or why, the incantations simply pop into your mind, but they do."

"While you are casting a spell, it is also when you decide to put how much mana within yourself that you use for it. That said, some spells simply require a lot of mana to use. For example, if I use Fire Tunnel, a combination of Fire and Wind attribute magic, that will use up a lot of my mana, more than a simple Conjure Flames spell. However, if I decide to create the largest, and most powerful Conjure Flames in existence, that would need to be my intention from the beginning, and gather loads of mana during my incantation. If I decide to use every drop of mana I have, it will be even more costly than the Fire Tunnel."

"Sometimes though, once you end up deciding what kind of magic to cast, and then trying to use it, you realize then that it might become a different spell altogether. Let's take that mana-heavy Conjure Flames for example. If I imagine a very large fire, instead of a normal Conjure Flames, it will become the Bonfire spell instead. If a large fire is what we are thinking of, the new incantation for the Bonfire spell will appear in our heads. We can sometimes try to force the spell to become Conjure Flames, we would then ignore the incantation that comes to mind, then go by memory to cast the spell we actually want."



Going through the book, you realize that this itself was some sort of magic book. You read as fast as you can, skimming through the first few pages that made up a quick introduction to what the book was about. It seems to describe magic as something called 'magicka'. Along with a variety of different systems and mechanisms to make it work. There was a section on what kinds of magic it described, and it seemed to include a lot from many different disciplines and types. Contractual magicka, weather magicka, Kabbalah numerology, alchemy, Hermetic Astrology, star divination, tarot card divination, Cabalist magicka, Taoist numerology, witchcraft, sorcery, wizardry, among many other topics.

Randomly flipping deeper into the book, you notice that is describes in detail the applications of specific systems of magic, and there were even sections on the creation of magic, and in some cases, a set of instructions on how to go about it. It was like a real life version of a spell book.

Unfortunately, whoever wrote this book did not include any sort of table of contents, nor were there any page numbers either. This was a type of book to sit down and study.



You manage to hear what sounded like rocks smashing walls somewhere deeper in the catacombs. The demon was getting closer.

Rounds since escape: 20
The demon is just a few rounds away. The most you can do are final preparations, or testing spells.

[pringerbeam]

Intelligence Check

Rolled 1d20+3 : 8 + 3, total 11

[Throndir]

Intelligence: 11
You had to slow down your reading in some parts in order to concentrate on what the mage girl was saying.

Demon arrives in 1 round.

[pringerbeam]

     Jean could hear the demon's arrival drawing near.  "Well I guess this is it.  Just one last thing to try."  Jean concentrated on himself and thought about the other ability he had acquired.  Focusing on his body, he imagined making himself lighter, investing the smallest possible amount of mana as the girl had described.  He invoked the power: "Weight Control" and jumped up and down a few times to test the effects.  Hopefully, this will let me out maneuver this beast.  It's probably the only chance I have...

Activate weight control to decrease weight.  Spending lowest possible amount of MP possible.

[Throndir]

《Weight Control》
Focusing on yourself, you stated the keyword with the intent of reducing your weight. Once you jumped a few times to test it, you found that you were indeed a bit lighter.

+5 ft movement, +1 to Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Swim, +1 Dodge AC, +1 Agility

"Reducing weight... A hero's ability, huh. A bit jealous."

At that moment there was a loud crash again near the entrance of the catacombs, and a large piece of the catacombs walls came flying out of the entrance into the night sky. The mage girl shrieked. Just barely peeking out was the demon.

Roll Initiative, then state actions if you wish. Though you can withhold til turn order is resolved.

[pringerbeam]

Initiative

Rolled 1d20+4 : 5 + 4, total 9

[Throndir]

The demon roared, and immediately after it threw the stone slab. It began running forward with one of its fists clenched. One of the tentacles was ready however, and it blocked its path. It took a hit from the demon as the creature slugged the tentacle hard. That would have killed anyone back in your own world, but to your surprise your tentacle shook itself, but continued to stand - though you can tell that the hit severely wounded it.

At that moment the mage girl began chanting as well. You recognized it as the same spell she had cast earlier that day.

"Oh Earth! Gather and Transform! Become a tremendous power to pierce my foes! Stone Shears!" The mage girl chanted her incantation. Like before, you noticed specks of brown light float around her hands. The more she said her chant, the more motes of light appeared. Suddenly, when she said 'Stone Sheares', the motes of light shot forward, along with various shards of earth aimed straight towards the demon - as if it was the motes of light themselves which guided each projectile.

State actions.

[include u=2]
Tentacle 1: -16
Demon: -19
[/include]

[pringerbeam]

    "Alright its on!"  Exclaimed Jean in an attempt to psyche himself up.  He willed 3 of the tentacles to begin attacking the demon while the other 3 attempted to bring the demon to its knees.  Then he rushed to the right of the demon hoping to get around it and strike it from its flank while the tentacles assault it from the front.  When he got within the reach of the demon, he dived forward to avoid the burly arms of the demon, trying to roll into a crouching position from which to try and punch the demon from behind.

Free Action: Instruct 3 tentacles to make melee attacks against the demon

Free Action: Instruct 3 tentacles to make trip attacks against the demon

Move Action: Move to flank the demon, making an acrobatics check to avoid an attack of opportunity if doing so requires passing through threatened space
     Acrobatics

Rolled 1d20+8 : 17 + 8, total 25

Standard Action: Unarmed attack against the demon
     Attack

Rolled 1d20+7 : 15 + 7, total 22

     Damage

Rolled 1d3+4 : 2 + 4, total 6

(Battle music!)
https://www.youtube.com/v/8iDXDB5DmbQ

[Throndir]

First the mage girl's earth spell took effect, filling the demon with a new set of wounds and a new set of needle-like stone shards.

The first three tentacles came at the demon, striking the demon's thick hide. The natural armor of the creature was too thick for the tentacles to do any real damage. Though, one of them managed to slightly damage it.

The next wave of tentacles attempted to grab and trip up the demon, but the demon only just barely slowed from the attempts. It attacked one of the tentacles then, bruising its second tentacle.

At the same time you came in from the back, managing a hit through where your tentacles' attacks simple glanced off of it. However, as if there was a thick aura of evil around it, your fists did no damage to it.

"Be careful! It's hide is thick!" The mage girl called as she unleashed another spell.

"Oh Earth! Stop those who dare cross your boundaries, hold them still and prevent their movement! Stone Prison!"

Around the demon stone pillars started to appear attempting to track the demon inside. However, the demon smashed two of the pillars of earth, and with its large jaw, it attempted to bite one of the nearby tentacles, grabbing one in its mouth, it clenched hard.

Rough Status
Tentacle 1: Badly Wounded (slammed)
Tentacle 2: Injured (slammed)
Tentacle 3: Badly Wounded (bitten)
Demon: Injured (2 rounds of Stone Shears, and smacks from tentacle and you)

[include u=2]
Tentacle 1: -16
Tentacle 2: -11
Tentacle 3: -16
Demon: -22
[/include]

[pringerbeam]

     Jean instructed the three tentacles that had attacked the demon to continue their assault.  He continued to punch into the flank of the demon but felt as if he was making no progress. "I need some kind of weapon!  Can you summon up something with your magic?"  His punches were fast but he felt like his strikes were hardly making any headway on the tough hide.  Fortunately it seemed that the demon was preoccupied with the tentacles and was paying no mind to Jean's punches into the monster's back making Jean wonder if he was even managing to cause the monster the mildest discomfort.  Jean decided to try and make the best of his non-threatening status to instruct the tentacles that had been trying to trip the demon to aid the other 3 in their attack while he himself tried to kick into the back of the demon's knee in hopes of bringing it down.

Free Action: Instruct 6 tentacles to attack the demon

Standard Action: Perform Trip combat maneuver (assuming the demon isn't bigger than large, also forgot flanking bonus in previous attack)

Rolled 1d20+9 : 6 + 9, total 15

[Throndir]

The demon retaliated and attempted to attack the tentacles, it threw two punches, and attempted to bite another tentacle.

The tentacles continued to rush at the demon, attempting to smack it around. The appendages had surrounded the demon, making movement for the demon harder, and each tentacle had a first attack, followed by a weaker second one. Among all the attacks, only 4 of them managed to hit. However, the first two were just glancing blows, the hide of the demon was simply too thick. While the other two strikes at least did some damage.

"Y-yes, I can make one!" The mage girl called out at you. She immediately began casting.

"Oh Earth and Fire! Gather stone to be the foundation. Feed the fires to sharpen the blade! Be the sword that strikes in flames of wrath! Fire Blade!"

You saw both brown and red motes of light gather around her. Once she spoke the keyword the motes of light sped towards you and gathered at your hands as well. With that a black blade appeared in your hand, though you realized its edge looked like molten lava.

Base damage dice for the blade is:
1d8+1
+4d6 Fire

Also +1 attack due to magical weapon. If you miss any of your modifiers I'll catch it, so no worries.

Rough Status
Tentacle 1: Badly Wounded (x1 slammed)
Tentacle 2: Injured (x1 slammed)
Tentacle 3: Badly Wounded (x1 bitten)
Tentacle 4: Injured (x1 slammed)
Tentacle 5: Injured (x1 slammed)
Tentacle 6: Injured (x1 bitten)
Demon: Injured (x2 Stone Shears, and smacks from tentacle and you)

[include u=2]Order: Demon, Girl, Tentacles + Jean
Tentacle 1: -16
Tentacle 2: -11
Tentacle 3: -16
Tentacle 4: -13
Tentacle 5: -12
Tentacle 6: -11
Demon: -24

Eloise MP: -28
Jean MP: -18
[/include]