As a note, we’d like to apologize for the long wait and thank you for your patience. We will be making a conscious effort to get responses out to all of you during the finale at a much more reasonable pace.
Upfront, here are the main combat modifiers that we gave each member of this team and Lucretia after considering each component of your strategy:
Lucretia: DC 14 to hit her • Changing DC to hit her thorn construct without catching Lucretia in the crossfire • +3 STR from the Hunger curse • -1 to attacking the CTA team due to the battlefield awareness from the Sex Pistols, Nick Jr, and Mia's Scuttlebuddy • -1 to attacking Maya because of Maya's magitech wolf companion
Mista: DC 12 to hit him • +1 DEX from archetype • +2 to ranged attacks from the Sex Pistols • +1 from the volcano team's success • = +4 total to his standard ranged attacks (sorry, Mista) • +1 to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair because his Oathed is nearby
Mia: DC 13 to hit her • +1 STR from archetype • +3 STR from Darkside • +1 from the volcano team's success • = +5 total to her standard melee attacks • +1 WIS to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair
Maya: DC 16 to hit her, higher due to the cover provided by Mia & Mista as well as her teleports • +1 CHA • +2 from Mista's Emphatic Duty • = +3 total to her attempts to get through to Lucretia • +1 WIS to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair • +1 to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair because her Oathed is nearby • +1 to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair because of persistent positivity • = +3 total to resisting the aura of despair
Honoka: DC 16 to hit her • +1 CHA • +2 from Mista's Emphatic Duty • = +3 total to her attempts to get through to Lucretia • +1 to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair because of persistent positivity
Any modifiers given in addition to these will be specified in the write-up, but for readability it's easier to give these main numbers upfront! We'll see how all these bonuses treated you.
Thanks to the success of the volcano team, the group makes their way to her chamber with plenty of energy to spare for the confrontation that awaits them (+1 to their attack rolls). Maya sets up Conjure Bulwark (-3 to Lucretia's physical attacks against Mia, Maya, and Mista) and Honoka rallies the team with Bardic Inspiration (+2 to push failure to success). It seems like a good start. Unfortunately, the...explosive way that the last thorn barrier was destroyed seems to have Lucretia on edge. The moment they cross the threshold into her circular chamber, a wave of anguish pours off of her that nearly brings them all to their knees. (DC 11 on acting first: 2)
Mia can feel as that anguish eclipses her own heart. (DC 16: +1 WIS; 3+1=4) Her Purity of Body expels the foreign emotion, but she now knows firsthand the strange waves of despair the volcano team contended with on their way in. Maya shrugs it off as easily as she tends to shrug off her own pain (DC 16: +3 for WIS, proximity to her Oathed, and general genki; 16+3=19). Mista (+1 Oathed; 9+1=10) and Honoka (+1 genki, rerolled with Fortuna Fatalis; 7 10+1=11) aren't so lucky. Disoriented with such powerful sadness, they no longer feel as prepared to act. (-2 on Mista & Honoka's next rolls)
Nick Jr. swoops in with Forbicino to begin their steady work on the vines that make up Lucretia's massive thorn construct. Maya's magitech wolf beast prowls protectively in her orbit as she implores that there's no need to fight. Lucretia doesn't even seem to hear her. (DC 18: +1 CHA, +2 Emphatic Duty; 6+3=9) A thorny torso with Lucretia at its heart leans out from the pillar-like structure in the middle of the room. Gnarled, thorny vines form a pair of arms and tendrils both; they unfurl as Lucretia and the construct roar as one.
Mia's Darkside aura flares (+3 to STR) as she strikes the construct's outstretched arm. (DC 12: +1 STR, +3 Darkside, +1 volcano success; 7+5=12). Sadness darkens his heart, but with the Pistols at the ready and the radiance of his Aura of Courage (x2 effectiveness on the thorns) lighting the way, he shoots a thorned limb as it reaches for Maya (DC 12: +4, -2 failed save; 15+2=17); there's a feral hiss from the construct as it recoils (DC 16 vs Maya: 11-2=9). Honoka, still rattled by anguish, meekly calls out, but is drowned by the chaos. (DC 18: +3, -2 failed save; 2+1=3)
However...it seems that this time, Fate has her back. (Rerolled with Fortuna Fatalis; 19+1=20)
With Message, she reaches out to Lucretia's mind to plead with her. They know now of the burden Lucretia carries, but as Honoka peers telepathically into her mind, she gets a first-hand sense of how wrong it is in there. How dark, how guilty, how angry and shamed and sad Lucretia is, and how it's completely eclipsed her rational mind. And Honoka gets a vision — just for a second — of an inky black abyss dotted with white eyes and streaked with veins of shifting color. She's lucky to escape such close contact with Lucretia's curse unscathed.
But she sees the change in Lucretia's expression, and the construct hesitates for only one moment. Honoka spoke to Lucretia's heart — and Lucretia's heart heard. Unfortunately, the curse runs deep. It's not enough to stop the battle. But it is enough to give the team hope that their words still have power.
Hesitation gone, Lucretia lashes out with her thorny limbs, catching Mista (DC 12: 19-1=18) and Honoka (DC 16: 19-1=18). They both suffer lacerations from the thorns and bruised ribs. Mia, though? Mia is ready. Lucretia's arm hurtles at her and the dark tendrils of Mia's aura lash out. They catch the huge hand, take it by its horrible pointed fingers—
And rip it right off the construct. (CRITICAL FAILURE on hitting Mia)
Lucretia howls as she recoils; the obsidian vines reform around the wrist of the construct as if to close a wound, but they can't rebuild the hand. (-2 on melee attacks with that arm) As Mia (18+5=23) and Mista (15+4=19) attack the construct, Honoka pops a Goodberry and focuses on undoing some of the damage she and Mista sustained with Healing Word. Maya speaks to Lucretia, but again, she doesn't listen. (DC 17: 8+3=11)
Then there's another wordless cry from Lucretia, and the party feels that awful psychic impression of the darkness inside of her. Maya (19+3=22) and Honoka (19+1=20) don't let it get to them. Mista is unlucky again, maybe it's all those +4 modifiers (5+1=6) and is staggered by the debilitating wave of shame. (-2 to his next roll) Mia's Purity of Body is spent, but Honoka calls out with encouragement, and something happens inside of Mia's heart. (13+1=14, +2 Bardic Inspo=16) She takes all that anger and pain in stride — feels it, acknowledges it, and masters it. Her Darkside aura grows larger, stronger, as the emotional boost empowers her further. (Darkside bonus rises to +5 STR for 2 rolls)
Mia (6+7=13) and Lucretia (14-1=13) exchange blows, Mia heedless of the thorns cutting into her arms. Lucretia can't hit the others while occupied with Mia (vs Mista: 11, vs Honoka: 12, vs Maya: 14), and can't hear the words of Maya (DC 16: 10+3=13) or Honoka (6+3=9) either. Mista takes advantage of her distraction and lands another radiance-charged shot on the construct. (11+2=13)
Realizing the Bulwark protects them, Lucretia whips the construct's limbs to fire off magic blasts. Honoka narrowly dodges (13+2=15 vs Honoka), but Maya and Mista are hit hard. (vs Maya: 18, vs Mista: 20) Ribs and organs bruise as Mista is knocked flat against the wall, and Maya's shoulder rattles in its socket as she loses the Bulwark. (DC 14: 3) Threatened by Mia, Lucretia reaches lightning-quick with a tendril, but Mia's Darkside aura whips it away before it can grab her. (Lucretia's 14 vs Mia's 18)
Lay on Hands and Goodberries dampen Mista's soreness. (Perhaps after he’s pestered by Maya, who is presumably acting in place of Mista's non-existent self-preservation instinct.) As one, Honoka sets up a Globe of Invulnerability while Maya pops enough Goodberries to begin to channel the Bulwark again. Mia (12) and Mista's (18) offense finally begins to loosen the densely-packed vines. (-1 to Lucretia's melee attacks; higher DC to hit the thorns) Maya pleads again with Lucretia, but her summoning distracts her. (DC 15: DIS, 15 7+3=10)
The sounds of the words draw Lucretia's attention — she strikes the Globe once before focusing on Mia and Mista. Mia fends off a tendril (3) only to be snatched up by a thorny hand with Lucretia’s NATURAL 20. Mia can feel as the thorns dig into her and she's struck by a spell that just drains her, makes her feel heavy in her brain and body. (1/2 effectiveness on 2 successful attack rolls)
However, the dice are capricious, and as Lucretia lashes out towards Mista— it's another CRITICAL FAILURE. In a fraction of a second, Mista works out the perfect angle for the thorny tendril coming at him, and with the aid of the Pistols he lines up a Piercing Shot, firing through the construct in three places with the same bullet. (DC 14: 1st hit autopass; 2nd hit ADV 13+2 Bardic Inspo=15; 3rd hit ADV 23)
Honoka calls out to Lucretia, and even occupied with the Globe of Invulnerability, there's no speaker quite like a Bard. (DC 15: DIS, 22 13+3=16) Lucretia hesitates; her swipe at Mista wings wide. (7) The Bulwark is conjured again, and Honoka drops the globe and gets to work healing Mia and Mista and speaking new words of encouragement.
Mia needs it; she wrestles with the construct's grasp, but is too drained to break free as the thorns cut deeper to drain away the health Honoka gives her. (Mia's 9 vs Lucretia's 16) Healing Word bolsters Mista — he fires at the tendril and it releases Mia. (DC 14: 11+4=15) Maya and Honoka keep on their power of friendship thing, to solid success. (DC 15: 18 for Maya, 17 for Honoka)
Frightened by their sincerity, Lucretia's awful emotions assault the team. Maya (DC 15: 21) and Mista (17) fight through, but a drained Mia can't resist the anguish (3)...and though Darkside offered her a boon in mastering these feelings last time, now the wayward despair causes her to lose control of her own emotions, and her Darkside grows more difficult to control in kind. (DIS on next 2 rolls) Honoka wavers (12), but the guiding hand of Fate steadies her soul one last time. Standing tall against the fear and grief, Honoka pleads desperately with Lucretia, so easily able to empathize with her after feeling her pain firsthand and witnessing what darkness allowed the Hunger to creep in. She counters that darkness with words of light—
And sees the softening of Lucretia's expression as the curse's hold on her loosens. (NATURAL 20, rerolled with Fortuna Fatalis; Lucretia's rage bonus lowers to +2)
The woman who became Madame Director is still in here. She's trying to listen. However, though she may want to believe in Honoka and Maya's words, she still doesn't believe in herself. Trying to shut herself off from the kindness, she lashes her tendrils out towards Honoka and Maya. But perhaps her heart isn't in it, since she misses both of them. (13 vs Honoka, 14 vs Maya) Mia and Mista are the next targets, each taking a forceful blast of magic that knocks the wind from them, and there's a sharp pain in Mista's arm that lets him know one of his bones might be cracked. (14 vs Mia, 20 vs Mista) And then something new happens — with a ragged, enraged cry, Lucretia seizes one of the party with horrible necrotic energy.
And with a CRITICAL FAILURE to save against it, Maya falls to the floor, knocked unconscious by the pain of death and decay.
The Bulwark vanishes. Mista and Nick Jr. rush to Maya's side. (-1 to Lucretia's attacks against Maya & Mista) With Mista aiding Maya, Honoka heals the battered Mia — who is enraged and out of control, barreling unthinkingly at Lucretia and missing with every angry, imprecise strike. (DC 14: DIS, 16 7+5=12) There is one small boon: Forbicino and Nick Jr. have been making just enough progress on whittling away at the thorn construct that one more snip at its foundations further weakens it. (-2 to Lucretia's melee attacks)
Seeing opportunity, Lucretia reaches with all four limbs while the party is down. Mia fends off the attempt (5 vs Mia), but her out of control aura spoils her counterattack. (16 3+5=8) Though they’re at an impasse, Mia can finally feel her blind rage ebb away as she wrestles the tendril off. Closing in on Mista, meanwhile, was a mistake. He reacts immediately with a Pistol Whip-Shot, lashing out at the appendage with the butt of his revolver and then shooting it straight through as it recoils. (DC 14: +1 STR, +2 whip-shot bonus, +4 standard bonus; 11+7=18) The arm reaching for Maya suffers the same fate (19+7=26), and the fury of Mista's retaliation distracts Lucretia from Honoka entirely. (9 vs Honoka)
The construct pulls half apart under the radiant damage, looking more like a humanoid cage for Lucretia and the Bureau employees than a solid creature. Lucretia starts to look less angry and more...tired. (-3 to Lucretia's melee attacks; higher DC to hit the thorns; lower DC to appeal to Lucretia)
Between the healing and protection, Maya comes to. Goodberries take the edge off of the latest injuries; Mia and Mista remain fairly wounded, but Maya and Honoka only have minor damage left. Nick Jr. returns to working at the thorns as Mia regains control of her aura and lands a weak parting shot on the tendril with Honoka's encouragement. (DC 16: 14+2 Bardic Inspo=16)
Also cheered on by Honoka, Mista's Bullying Shot sails disorientingly past Lucretia's face. (DC 10: 8+2 Bardic Inspo=10; Lucretia takes DIS on attack rolls) Honoka and Maya speak to her again, but she's still spooked from the Bullying Shot and doesn't respond at first. (DC 13: 10 for Honoka) It takes Maya's offer to share the elderflower macarons she brought to catch her attention for a second. (DC 13: Macaron ADV, 9 15+3=18)
But...the offer seems to remind her of something painful, too. Again, a wave of terrible emotion. Once more, Maya pushes through it (DC 15: 19+3=22) and Mia uses it to strengthen her Darkside. (16+1=17) Mista and Honoka are hit, and they struggle under manifestations of hang-ups Lucretia can't let go of. (10 for Mista, 3 for Honoka) Mista experiences an uncontrollable tremor, temporarily losing his +1 DEX bonus. Honoka is seized with the compulsion to constantly correct her outfit, as if she were getting ready for a live show. This renders her unable to perform her somatic spellcasting components, and thus temporarily unable to cast magic. Luckily Bardic Inspiration isn't magic.
1/2
Upfront, here are the main combat modifiers that we gave each member of this team and Lucretia after considering each component of your strategy:
Lucretia: DC 14 to hit her
• Changing DC to hit her thorn construct without catching Lucretia in the crossfire
• +3 STR from the Hunger curse
• -1 to attacking the CTA team due to the battlefield awareness from the Sex Pistols, Nick Jr, and Mia's Scuttlebuddy
• -1 to attacking Maya because of Maya's magitech wolf companion
Mista: DC 12 to hit him
• +1 DEX from archetype
• +2 to ranged attacks from the Sex Pistols
• +1 from the volcano team's success
• = +4 total to his standard ranged attacks (sorry, Mista)
• +1 to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair because his Oathed is nearby
Mia: DC 13 to hit her
• +1 STR from archetype
• +3 STR from Darkside
• +1 from the volcano team's success
• = +5 total to her standard melee attacks
• +1 WIS to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair
Maya: DC 16 to hit her, higher due to the cover provided by Mia & Mista as well as her teleports
• +1 CHA
• +2 from Mista's Emphatic Duty
• = +3 total to her attempts to get through to Lucretia
• +1 WIS to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair
• +1 to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair because her Oathed is nearby
• +1 to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair because of persistent positivity
• = +3 total to resisting the aura of despair
Honoka: DC 16 to hit her
• +1 CHA
• +2 from Mista's Emphatic Duty
• = +3 total to her attempts to get through to Lucretia
• +1 to resisting Lucretia's aura of despair because of persistent positivity
Any modifiers given in addition to these will be specified in the write-up, but for readability it's easier to give these main numbers upfront! We'll see how all these bonuses treated you.
Thanks to the success of the volcano team, the group makes their way to her chamber with plenty of energy to spare for the confrontation that awaits them (+1 to their attack rolls). Maya sets up Conjure Bulwark (-3 to Lucretia's physical attacks against Mia, Maya, and Mista) and Honoka rallies the team with Bardic Inspiration (+2 to push failure to success). It seems like a good start. Unfortunately, the...explosive way that the last thorn barrier was destroyed seems to have Lucretia on edge. The moment they cross the threshold into her circular chamber, a wave of anguish pours off of her that nearly brings them all to their knees. (DC 11 on acting first: 2)
Mia can feel as that anguish eclipses her own heart. (DC 16: +1 WIS; 3+1=4) Her Purity of Body expels the foreign emotion, but she now knows firsthand the strange waves of despair the volcano team contended with on their way in. Maya shrugs it off as easily as she tends to shrug off her own pain (DC 16: +3 for WIS, proximity to her Oathed, and general genki; 16+3=19). Mista (+1 Oathed; 9+1=10) and Honoka (+1 genki, rerolled with Fortuna Fatalis;
710+1=11) aren't so lucky. Disoriented with such powerful sadness, they no longer feel as prepared to act. (-2 on Mista & Honoka's next rolls)Nick Jr. swoops in with Forbicino to begin their steady work on the vines that make up Lucretia's massive thorn construct. Maya's magitech wolf beast prowls protectively in her orbit as she implores that there's no need to fight. Lucretia doesn't even seem to hear her. (DC 18: +1 CHA, +2 Emphatic Duty; 6+3=9) A thorny torso with Lucretia at its heart leans out from the pillar-like structure in the middle of the room. Gnarled, thorny vines form a pair of arms and tendrils both; they unfurl as Lucretia and the construct roar as one.
Mia's Darkside aura flares (+3 to STR) as she strikes the construct's outstretched arm. (DC 12: +1 STR, +3 Darkside, +1 volcano success; 7+5=12). Sadness darkens his heart, but with the Pistols at the ready and the radiance of his Aura of Courage (x2 effectiveness on the thorns) lighting the way, he shoots a thorned limb as it reaches for Maya (DC 12: +4, -2 failed save; 15+2=17); there's a feral hiss from the construct as it recoils (DC 16 vs Maya: 11-2=9). Honoka, still rattled by anguish, meekly calls out, but is drowned by the chaos. (DC 18: +3, -2 failed save; 2+1=3)
However...it seems that this time, Fate has her back. (Rerolled with Fortuna Fatalis; 19+1=20)
With Message, she reaches out to Lucretia's mind to plead with her. They know now of the burden Lucretia carries, but as Honoka peers telepathically into her mind, she gets a first-hand sense of how wrong it is in there. How dark, how guilty, how angry and shamed and sad Lucretia is, and how it's completely eclipsed her rational mind. And Honoka gets a vision — just for a second — of an inky black abyss dotted with white eyes and streaked with veins of shifting color. She's lucky to escape such close contact with Lucretia's curse unscathed.
But she sees the change in Lucretia's expression, and the construct hesitates for only one moment. Honoka spoke to Lucretia's heart — and Lucretia's heart heard. Unfortunately, the curse runs deep. It's not enough to stop the battle. But it is enough to give the team hope that their words still have power.
Hesitation gone, Lucretia lashes out with her thorny limbs, catching Mista (DC 12: 19-1=18) and Honoka (DC 16: 19-1=18). They both suffer lacerations from the thorns and bruised ribs. Mia, though? Mia is ready. Lucretia's arm hurtles at her and the dark tendrils of Mia's aura lash out. They catch the huge hand, take it by its horrible pointed fingers—
And rip it right off the construct. (CRITICAL FAILURE on hitting Mia)
Lucretia howls as she recoils; the obsidian vines reform around the wrist of the construct as if to close a wound, but they can't rebuild the hand. (-2 on melee attacks with that arm) As Mia (18+5=23) and Mista (15+4=19) attack the construct, Honoka pops a Goodberry and focuses on undoing some of the damage she and Mista sustained with Healing Word. Maya speaks to Lucretia, but again, she doesn't listen. (DC 17: 8+3=11)
Then there's another wordless cry from Lucretia, and the party feels that awful psychic impression of the darkness inside of her. Maya (19+3=22) and Honoka (19+1=20) don't let it get to them. Mista is unlucky again,
maybe it's all those +4 modifiers(5+1=6) and is staggered by the debilitating wave of shame. (-2 to his next roll) Mia's Purity of Body is spent, but Honoka calls out with encouragement, and something happens inside of Mia's heart. (13+1=14, +2 Bardic Inspo=16) She takes all that anger and pain in stride — feels it, acknowledges it, and masters it. Her Darkside aura grows larger, stronger, as the emotional boost empowers her further. (Darkside bonus rises to +5 STR for 2 rolls)Mia (6+7=13) and Lucretia (14-1=13) exchange blows, Mia heedless of the thorns cutting into her arms. Lucretia can't hit the others while occupied with Mia (vs Mista: 11, vs Honoka: 12, vs Maya: 14), and can't hear the words of Maya (DC 16: 10+3=13) or Honoka (6+3=9) either. Mista takes advantage of her distraction and lands another radiance-charged shot on the construct. (11+2=13)
Realizing the Bulwark protects them, Lucretia whips the construct's limbs to fire off magic blasts. Honoka narrowly dodges (13+2=15 vs Honoka), but Maya and Mista are hit hard. (vs Maya: 18, vs Mista: 20) Ribs and organs bruise as Mista is knocked flat against the wall, and Maya's shoulder rattles in its socket as she loses the Bulwark. (DC 14: 3) Threatened by Mia, Lucretia reaches lightning-quick with a tendril, but Mia's Darkside aura whips it away before it can grab her. (Lucretia's 14 vs Mia's 18)
Lay on Hands and Goodberries dampen Mista's soreness. (Perhaps after he’s pestered by Maya, who is presumably acting in place of Mista's non-existent self-preservation instinct.) As one, Honoka sets up a Globe of Invulnerability while Maya pops enough Goodberries to begin to channel the Bulwark again. Mia (12) and Mista's (18) offense finally begins to loosen the densely-packed vines. (-1 to Lucretia's melee attacks; higher DC to hit the thorns) Maya pleads again with Lucretia, but her summoning distracts her. (DC 15: DIS,
157+3=10)The sounds of the words draw Lucretia's attention — she strikes the Globe once before focusing on Mia and Mista. Mia fends off a tendril (3) only to be snatched up by a thorny hand with Lucretia’s NATURAL 20. Mia can feel as the thorns dig into her and she's struck by a spell that just drains her, makes her feel heavy in her brain and body. (1/2 effectiveness on 2 successful attack rolls)
However, the dice are capricious, and as Lucretia lashes out towards Mista— it's another CRITICAL FAILURE. In a fraction of a second, Mista works out the perfect angle for the thorny tendril coming at him, and with the aid of the Pistols he lines up a Piercing Shot, firing through the construct in three places with the same bullet. (DC 14: 1st hit autopass; 2nd hit ADV 13+2 Bardic Inspo=15; 3rd hit ADV 23)
Honoka calls out to Lucretia, and even occupied with the Globe of Invulnerability, there's no speaker quite like a Bard. (DC 15: DIS,
2213+3=16) Lucretia hesitates; her swipe at Mista wings wide. (7) The Bulwark is conjured again, and Honoka drops the globe and gets to work healing Mia and Mista and speaking new words of encouragement.Mia needs it; she wrestles with the construct's grasp, but is too drained to break free as the thorns cut deeper to drain away the health Honoka gives her. (Mia's 9 vs Lucretia's 16) Healing Word bolsters Mista — he fires at the tendril and it releases Mia. (DC 14: 11+4=15) Maya and Honoka keep on their power of friendship thing, to solid success. (DC 15: 18 for Maya, 17 for Honoka)
Frightened by their sincerity, Lucretia's awful emotions assault the team. Maya (DC 15: 21) and Mista (17) fight through, but a drained Mia can't resist the anguish (3)...and though Darkside offered her a boon in mastering these feelings last time, now the wayward despair causes her to lose control of her own emotions, and her Darkside grows more difficult to control in kind. (DIS on next 2 rolls) Honoka wavers (12), but the guiding hand of Fate steadies her soul one last time. Standing tall against the fear and grief, Honoka pleads desperately with Lucretia, so easily able to empathize with her after feeling her pain firsthand and witnessing what darkness allowed the Hunger to creep in. She counters that darkness with words of light—
And sees the softening of Lucretia's expression as the curse's hold on her loosens. (NATURAL 20, rerolled with Fortuna Fatalis; Lucretia's rage bonus lowers to +2)
The woman who became Madame Director is still in here. She's trying to listen. However, though she may want to believe in Honoka and Maya's words, she still doesn't believe in herself. Trying to shut herself off from the kindness, she lashes her tendrils out towards Honoka and Maya. But perhaps her heart isn't in it, since she misses both of them. (13 vs Honoka, 14 vs Maya) Mia and Mista are the next targets, each taking a forceful blast of magic that knocks the wind from them, and there's a sharp pain in Mista's arm that lets him know one of his bones might be cracked. (14 vs Mia, 20 vs Mista) And then something new happens — with a ragged, enraged cry, Lucretia seizes one of the party with horrible necrotic energy.
And with a CRITICAL FAILURE to save against it, Maya falls to the floor, knocked unconscious by the pain of death and decay.
The Bulwark vanishes. Mista and Nick Jr. rush to Maya's side. (-1 to Lucretia's attacks against Maya & Mista) With Mista aiding Maya, Honoka heals the battered Mia — who is enraged and out of control, barreling unthinkingly at Lucretia and missing with every angry, imprecise strike. (DC 14: DIS,
167+5=12) There is one small boon: Forbicino and Nick Jr. have been making just enough progress on whittling away at the thorn construct that one more snip at its foundations further weakens it. (-2 to Lucretia's melee attacks)Seeing opportunity, Lucretia reaches with all four limbs while the party is down. Mia fends off the attempt (5 vs Mia), but her out of control aura spoils her counterattack. (
163+5=8) Though they’re at an impasse, Mia can finally feel her blind rage ebb away as she wrestles the tendril off. Closing in on Mista, meanwhile, was a mistake. He reacts immediately with a Pistol Whip-Shot, lashing out at the appendage with the butt of his revolver and then shooting it straight through as it recoils. (DC 14: +1 STR, +2 whip-shot bonus, +4 standard bonus; 11+7=18) The arm reaching for Maya suffers the same fate (19+7=26), and the fury of Mista's retaliation distracts Lucretia from Honoka entirely. (9 vs Honoka)The construct pulls half apart under the radiant damage, looking more like a humanoid cage for Lucretia and the Bureau employees than a solid creature. Lucretia starts to look less angry and more...tired. (-3 to Lucretia's melee attacks; higher DC to hit the thorns; lower DC to appeal to Lucretia)
Between the healing and protection, Maya comes to. Goodberries take the edge off of the latest injuries; Mia and Mista remain fairly wounded, but Maya and Honoka only have minor damage left. Nick Jr. returns to working at the thorns as Mia regains control of her aura and lands a weak parting shot on the tendril with Honoka's encouragement. (DC 16: 14+2 Bardic Inspo=16)
Also cheered on by Honoka, Mista's Bullying Shot sails disorientingly past Lucretia's face. (DC 10: 8+2 Bardic Inspo=10; Lucretia takes DIS on attack rolls) Honoka and Maya speak to her again, but she's still spooked from the Bullying Shot and doesn't respond at first. (DC 13: 10 for Honoka) It takes Maya's offer to share the elderflower macarons she brought to catch her attention for a second. (DC 13: Macaron ADV,
915+3=18)But...the offer seems to remind her of something painful, too. Again, a wave of terrible emotion. Once more, Maya pushes through it (DC 15: 19+3=22) and Mia uses it to strengthen her Darkside. (16+1=17) Mista and Honoka are hit, and they struggle under manifestations of hang-ups Lucretia can't let go of. (10 for Mista, 3 for Honoka) Mista experiences an uncontrollable tremor, temporarily losing his +1 DEX bonus. Honoka is seized with the compulsion to constantly correct her outfit, as if she were getting ready for a live show. This renders her unable to perform her somatic spellcasting components, and thus temporarily unable to cast magic. Luckily Bardic Inspiration isn't magic.