The First Sarrukh

April 29, 2008

The group spent a few hours coming up with a strategy on how to fight the sarrukh.  Scrying again showed a Prismatic Sphere, a very powerful defensive spell, as well as guardians on the site.  They modified their plans a bit, cast their defensive spells and songs, and then teleported there.  Lisha and Julia joined them, wanting to help however they could.  Being hasted, they all took part in bringing down the Prismatic Sphere.  This revealed the sarrukh at an altar, casting the ritual.  There were several Elder Elementals with him as guardians.  There were also eight staves leaning against the altar.  Notch grabbed Finn and transported them next to the sarrukh to attack. 

Notch and Finn attack for all they are worth.  They do damage the sarrukh but not nearly as much as they hoped.  Further, Notch's stunning fist didn't work.  Finn notices that for some reason the sarrukh is levitating a bit but held down by silver chains.  Finn then attacks, also not doing as much damage as he hoped.  Then, the reason for the chains becomes apparent as for a second, Finn and Notch feel themselves starting to fall up.  However, having teleported to the air above, Jaden had cast Mass Fly and so with a thought, Notch and Finn stayed where they were. 

Deuce launches a disintegrate at the sarrukh and then, due to haste, readies another spell.  That's when he notices the disintegrate bounced off the sarrukh and is coming back at him!  Deuce manages to cast a counterspell to his own spell before it hits him. 

Julia and Lisha attack the guardians but don't do much damage to them. 

Reece sends his singing sword to attack and then uses a mage hand to grab a staff to him.  The staff is covered in carvings of instruments all along its length. 

The guardians attack and between all seven guardians and a fair number of attacks, perhaps one or two connect.  For the rest of the battle, while they are a force, the characters ignore them and concentrate on attacking the sarrukh. 

The sarrukh attacked.  Being a staff master, he activated many of the staves he had.  The group that had remained flying are attacked by sound as the staff Reece pulled activates.  Five of the staves still down tied to the altar activate, sending powerful damaging spells in all directions.  After all of that, the sarrukh then casts a spell.  The characters are hurt but still standing. 

Jaden then heals the ones who were hurt most, Finn and Notch. 

This was repeated several times, happening the same for the most part.  Notch did manage to stun the sarrukh which stopped a round of attacks.  The guardians got a few more hits and Finn nearly collapsed from attacks but managed to make it.  After some more fight, the sarrukh was defeated. 

And that's when the energy from the ritual he was doing was released.  The guardians the sarrukh had were killed in the blast as were Deuce, Lisha and Julia.  Their bodies are collected, along with the treasure the others found, and the group went back to Arabel.  Deuce was raised first.  Lisha came back as well.  Julia came back albeit reluctantly.  Julia announces she won't be adventuring with the group anymore.  She wasn't able to help them in the fight at all and found she didn't want to die again.  Lisha agrees with the sentiment and won't be adventuring with them anymore, either. 

They divide up their treasure and talk about what needs to be done next. 

Notes

• The players all thought the battle was easy but that's because they planned and had a good plan.  Notch's AC was 50 or so, Finn's was 43.  The guardians of the sarrukh could only hit 15% of the time.  It did matter, as Finn was down to 4 hit points at one point and another hit would have dropped him but they missed.  So, the two people in melee were mostly hit by spells. 
• The sarrukh was able to activate the staves near him and that caused quite the havoc.  Unsure of how to get past the spell turning, Deuce and Reece kept stealing the staves and getting them away from the sarrukh. 
• The sarrukh had prepared the area with a reverse gravity and then tethered himself and given his guardians cloaks to levitate.  However, since the PCs had come in with mass fly, it didn't become a factor. 
• All in all, it was a good fight because they prepared well.  I think their attacks were in the 30s, so rarely missed.  It was amazing when they did!  And it did happen, with Notch missing three of six attacks in one round due to bad rolls.  Otherwise, they rolled pretty well.