Aria studied the runes with the monocle, and when she activated her blink ring and spoke the command word, an awful stone grinding sound echoed from within the doors - probably their flush setting in the walls had been compressed or otherwise affected by the fall. As the doors tried to move telekinetically like the others, they stood stuck for a moment, vibrating unnatually, almost painfully to look at, like when a wounded animal tries to utilize a broken limb or wing. Then one of the two door-blocks cracked and its upper half fell forward into the room, causing aria to jump out of the way. Then the lower half, and the other door, sank back and began to slide aside into the walls, like the other sets of doors had before.<br/><br/>The pair of doors facing the other rooms were having similar problems, and as they slid aside, stopped short of opening the entire wide doorway - but not too short for the girls to slip through (in fact, Aria realized, it might prove to their advantage if they later retreated, by arresting the passage of larger beings.)<br/><br/>They found a third chamber of like dimensions to that hosting the mithral golem of Hashmal - a third quadrant of the pyramid's first level (which occupied half its height, and thus most of its volume), again with six columns - two of which had also collapsed in this room; the cornermost and the middle one diagonal from it.<br/><br/>The murals of the chamber depicted men engaged in various selfish or debaucherous acts - theft, murder, rape, sacrilege - with the panels scrolling to show punishments meted out upon these same men (often consisting of thematically relevant amputations, or their skulls pulled asunder by the tentacles of mindflayers).<br/><br/>This chamber's floor was not all flat stone, but rather, bore a series of coffin-size recesses over which locked metal grates lay flat. Skeletons lay at rest in some; the recesses appeared to be like cramped prison cells, set in the floor rather than walls, and meant to be walked right over when closed. Redoubling the nature of the chamber were the many chains which'd been bolted into the stone pillars and ceiling, dangling down like lifeless vines. A few skeletons were strung up amongst the links, dangling from cruel hooks that once had affixed flesh to chain. One skeleton was crucified conspicuously close to a mural image of a man crucified for speaking sacrilege.<br/><br/>At the far end of the chamber, between the two lines of columns, stood what seemed both throne and altar; a mirror image of that which the earth-lion had sat in while watching the mindflayers submerge Anya.<br/><br/>This one sat empty. The room's five occupants were gathered in a frustrated-looking semicircle around another pair of doors (the chamber, like the others, harbored four, and one set in the ceiling right above the one just opened by Aria). One of four kytons appeared to be triggering the door blocked by command word, and was having trouble getting them to open properly, moreso than Aria had just experienced. The door-blocked rattled and vibrated, with hairline cracks spreading, yet held firm.<br/><br/>Two other of the four kytons argued in Infernal; Aria could make it out as a debate over whether to try to make the doors work or just smash them, as well as musings over why the pyramid had fallen and what had become of their fellows in the other chambers. Aria and Kass would notice that the kytons didn't appear wounded at all from the fall - but would recall that, they had had struck their fellows in their previous battles in and above the pyramid, the devils had exhibited regeneration of their wounds; slower than a troll's, but faster than the healing from Aria's wands.<br/><br/>A fifth creature stood amid them - an elephantine ram which seemed to burn where it stood, or perhaps more properly, a fire elemental in the shape of a ram. It stood on its four flaming hooves had a cockeyed angle, probably injured from the fall, although its elemental nature made such things harder to discern.<br/><br/>The ram and the devils had not missed the noisy opening of the doors Aria had triggered - their Infernal argument had tapered off by the time the doors were even open and an eyeful of this chamber had been gleaned. For from angry at the intrusion, the devil's faces seem to light up - for a moment with relief, perhaps thinking their fellows had freed them from the other side - and then with sporting bloodlust and an eager rattling of their own body-draping chains.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Initiative<br/>Aria 30<br/>Anya 18<br/>Kass 17<br/>npcs 9<br/><br/>Aria will delay 'til after Kass (as always she can just delay back if she prefers Aria to go first.) I'll assume Anya stays around the side of the wall (to be out of line of effect from the new chamber) unless she's posted for otherwise.<br/><br/>A Aria<br/>K Kass<br/>C chain devil<br/>R fire ram<br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: courier;"><br/><br/><br/>                                                             X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/>                                                             X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             X . C . R R R . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             d . . C R R R . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             d . . . R R R . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             d . . C X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             d . C . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                                             X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                       X X X X X X X X X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>                                       d . . . . . . . . . . d . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>                                       d . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                       d . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>                                       d . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   1         6          12          18 X . . . . . . . . . . X X X X X X d . . d X X X X X X X X X<br/>24 X X X X X X X X X d d d d X X X X X X . . . . . . . . . . X X X X X X d . . d X X X X X X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . . K A . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X X X X X X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>18 X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>12 X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . d d . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . d d . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d d . . . . . . . . . . . D D D X X X X<br/> 6 X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . D D D X X X X <br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . D D D X X X X<br/>   X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X . . . . . . . . X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/>   X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X . . . . . . . . X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/>   X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X d d d d X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/> 1 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X d d d d X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/></span><br/><br/><br/><br/>Love the bardic music buffs! Aria esp. appreciates the bonus on fear saves (one of her most glaring weaknesses) and probably enough time to do the whole place...(would've been enough for the whole Sharran temple).<br/><br/>Yes, you can retro switch her L20 stat increase from Dex to Cha if you prefer. One way to make the Dex 21 req for Battle Dance is a manual of Dex, like Aria consumed recently. (Combined with her slippers, which I allow for meeting the prereq, she'd reach 21.) I'd even be fine with you toggling her original point buy (Dex 14 to 15 could be offset by -2 to str, dex, int, or 2wis, or -1 to Con. Maybe -2 Wis since Force of Personality covers most Will saves, the most important thing about Wis.) Since she has so much Cha synergy, I'd say put all her points in Cha rather than Dex, unless you wanted the Dex 16 to be able to reach 21 with a manual (i.e. have Battle Dance not rely on the slippers).<br/><br/>In fact - I'd be fine with you retroswitching her<em>race</em>to feytouched (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a) (I might've mentioned it when you were coming up with her, I forget, since it fit both thematically and mechanically), as she's already fey blooded so it's not really an in-character inconsistency. That gives +2 Dex and, more importantly for her, Cha, and a few other things. The downsides are -2 Con and the loss of the human bonus feat and skills points. Although I alllowed Flaws (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm) (I think I mentioned at the outset of the campaign, I apologize if not) so that'd be one way to 'keep' the feat.<br/><br/>With both feytouched and a manual of dex +5, I guess she could even reach Dex 21 without level increases or the slippers (although there's not much need - it would only make a difference in an antimagic field - and the manuals are expensive.)<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>I thought the last battle (the giantess) would be a fun solo for Kass, with Aria being mazed off the bat, but then Aria made the first Int check...of course, IMO Kass still did most of the work by blinding her (most enemies are not very threatening when blinded, and fairly easy to kill). And in several battles Kass has stunned a bunch of stuff, which is also basically killing them (hp-damage-killing something stunned is the easy party). I figured in the sky battle she was gonna nuke a lot of things with Heaven's Trumpet after Feather Falling Anya...the mindflayers have bad Fort saves (as aberrations and sorcerers) and stunning would probably make them freefall into the ground (from that height it'd take 2 rounds). I'm not saying you did badly, just that it wasn't like a battle situation that implicitly 'favored' a type of character like Aria...and in that case the battle really wasn't designed by me at all, but an interesting natural outgrowth of the mindflayers' capabilities and natural reactions to the pyramid falling. And of course she has nerfed hordes of enemies in other fights, like the sirines behind the theater (which saved our butts since we couldn't see - and Aria couldn't sneak attack - them otherwise) and the priestesses in the sanctuary.<br/><br/>She's been an extremely good jill-of-all-trades, even by bard standards: bardic knack (it's amazing to have someone who is good at EVERY skill in a party size of 2), the runestaff spells like teleport, amazing attack/damage for a bard (even by the standards of a fighter-type, actually), the stunning surge (better than any of Aria's attack-status-effects) and a good variety of spells (utility spells, and attack spells that target each of the 3 saves, or don't allow a save.)<br/><br/>Aria does do a lot of damage, but that's about all she does (and lots of things can negate sneak attack). She has decent variety by fighter-type standards I suppose....lotta skill points including use magic device, and the permanencied divinations have utility usage...but full spellcasting like Kass's will always provide much more versatility, and of course Bardic Knack gives her more overall skill moddage than a typical 4 person party. IMO Kass has been as effective at Aria - it's probably just that you tend to notice the direct-hp-damage more than other things, since that's typically the 'end' step of a fight (after debuffing, buffing, and whatever skills or spells were used to reach the enemies).<br/><br/><br/><br/>Kass can certainly got a lion's charge item when they go shopping (Aria's sheet has an example of a way to do one at-will, by having it cast a metamagically Persisted LP spell 1/day....the advantage of a regular charges/day item is that for a L2 spell it's cheaper up to about 20 charges, and not vulnerable to being dispelled for the whole rest of the day, but psychologically it is nice to not keep track of charges).<br/><br/>Other suggestions for item or tactics:<br/><br/>Belt of Battle: would give her a free move action 3/day, for situations where you want to move + full attack but don't meet charging conditions, or wish to circle around to flank, or you can spend 2 of its charges for an extra standard action or 3 for a full, if you want to cast two spells in a round or something (although her Circlet of Rapid Casting is a better 'deal' for that use case). Also gives +2 initiative.<br/><br/>And/or quicksilver boots for swift-action move (less versatile than the belt of battle, but a better deap. Also gives concealment vs AoOs from moving, not that it matters with the tumble.)<br/><br/>Use Kass's Haste spell - an awesome buff, and combines well with full attacking. With the  Rod of Extend (lol, sounds dirty) it'd last 5 minutes, and she hasn't used her L3 slots much anyway. Also good for Aria since she runs out of boot-haste charges. The increase to move speed (IIRC doesn't stack with slippers, both enhancement bonuses, but is 30' instead of 10') will also help getting to enemies with charges or into flanking position. Haste + lion's charge or other free-movement is a fairly simple way to increase her melee damage a lot.<br/><br/>Augment crystals of return so she can free-action draw weapons (details in Aria's sheet). Not a big deal since they can be free-drawn as part of movement and you usually hafta move to melee attack anyway...but the least crystals so darn cheap by this level.<br/><br/>Badge of Valor - IIRC it increases inspire courage by 1, and is quite cheap. Can grab details for you if interested.<br/><br/>Tome of charisma, since Kass has sooo much charisma synergy (spells per day and spell DCs, some bardic music effects, 2x attack and 2x damage with slippers/gauntlets/snowflake, stunning surge DCs and uses/day, some of her favorite skills, and even more bonuses with Battle Dance).<br/><br/>For the max Dex armor thing, there is the Nimbleness property (+1 base price bonus, or 11,000 gp for a currently-+5-equivalent item) which increases the max Dex bonus of the armor by 2. That'd raise the max Dex bonus of a mithral breastplate to 7, which should as much as she has (even if she consumed a dex manual or became feytouched).<br/><br/>Adding spells to the runestaff. Maybe one or two L7, 8, 9 spells. The only suggestions off the top of my head are Gr. Teleport, Gr. Plane Shift and//or Gate, for uber traveling without the resource expenditure of the staves (the succubus staff costs about 1,500 gp per charge and the scrolls were about 2.5K), maybe Discern Location (an uber hunting-stuff-down divination spell), although I'm sure if I looked through the spell lists I could think of more suggestions. For direct nuking, Horrid Wilting us good (very long range and large area, nonelemental, doesn't hit allies, goes up to 20d6. It's Fort half, so evasion doesn't apply, but OTOH monsters on average have higher Fort than Reflex. And Heaven't Trumpet might actually be better since she and Aria are good at mopping up stunned things.) Meteor Swarm can also be good since the 'primary' target gets no save (ranged touch is usually easy to make). OTOH MS is up to 32d6 which averages 102 - and Kass can do more than that with a regular full attack, without expending a L9 spell! (For combat spells, buffs and debuffs may be better than direct damage, since Kass and Aria can do a lot of that physically.) Runestaff pricing is 400 gp x spell level squared from the staff's highest level spell, plus half that for each other.<br/><br/>(btw one advantage of the using of a higher level slot for a lower level spell *not* increasing the spell level is that those metamagic rods, which have spell level limits, can still be used. A higher spell slot also means higher Concentration DCs, although Kass can take 1 on all those anyway.)<br/><br/>A +30 spellcraft item/ability (added onto her circlet, maybe) like you said, once she has ES.