Ambush?

Yeah, he shows up: Teleports right in. I hear the whisper in my head: ‘Teleport’ when I see the result… which is important, as it means he's not using the much more reliable seventh level version. It pegs him somewhere between 9th and 12th, inclusive. The two human sized animated wooden mannequins - wood golems - he comes in with make me think he's on the higher end of that. The man himself is gray haired, human, pale skinned, about six feet tall, and a little on the portly side. He's wearing expensive-looking cloak, gloves, a headband, and ring, and for some reason is carrying a great axe. He has a belt festooned with potions and scrolls, and has an amulet around his neck.

Okay… tough fight… but I think we can do this…

I react before he does, popping out a Shield spell for myself and a Protection From Evil spell for Charles. That should give us some insulation against whatever he has planned…

The wizard starts to get a spell off… Black Tentacles, I identify it easily… but Flexible Counterspell has his number. By a curious quirk of the Spheres of Power transparency rules, I can spend a point of Mythic and a couple spell points to counter even ninth level spells… and the only roll I need to make is Spellcraft, which I can ace via Divine Providence.

He raises an eyebrow, “Lucky Dispel Magic? Seems pretty advanced….” As Charles orders his pets into the fray. The three oversized cats go after the wizard, quickly surrounding him… but only one manages to bite him, which does make him cringe. The golems lay into the cats, killing two of them outright. and the Wizard laughs.

Then Brian charges in, ignoring the golems and targeting the Wizard… and soaking a hit from one of the mannequins in the process. He shouts in a very feminine manner… and then it's the Wizard's turn to squeal as the claws on Brian's Eidolon dig in, making jagged wounds that just keep bleeding.

Having just counterspelled the man as an Immediate Action, my options are slightly limited… but not by much. “Ignore the stupid wizard, I have him locked down.” I go after the creatures I can't neuter so easily: The two wood golems. One casting of lesser Orb of Fire… and of course, I crit the spell automatically, and just for giggles, maximize the dice as well. Eight of my twelve no-rolled dice one one spell, but the look on his face when one of his wooden mannequins goes from untouched to a burned out log with a single first level spell? Priceless.

“Okay, I'm gone…” he casts Teleport… which I identify and counter. He purses his lips as the spell fizzles, “Umm…maybe we can talk about this?”

Charles laughs, “Why would we cut a deal with the guy pulling strings to enslave us? Just die so we can have your XP.”

“My wha…” his words are cut off by his screams as the surviving war cat claws and bites… and Charles casts a spell launching a small flame… which reappears in his hand after it hits the Wizard. Produce Flame spell, nothing much.

The remaining wood golem continues to mindlessly attack its last target, the warcat… killing it, too. Brian carves into the golem, finally reducing it to splinters.

And then I launch another amped-up Lesser Orb at the wizard… and he doesn't just die: He melts into a puddle, which quickly evaporates. ‘Simulacrum’ the voice in my head informs me as it also tallies up the experience from the encounter. Enough for level four… nice, that's one of the big break points in my build.

“Sell everything?” I suggest as the thing leaves behind its gear, “We don't know if it's marked for tracking, and I can craft magic items.”

“You took that Mythic ability too?” Adam smiles, “It's handy.”

“I think we all did?” Brian laughs, “Magic is really nice.”

“Heh. Well, let's level up…” Charles shakes his head.

I get to work. For my regular Freelancer side, I continue casting (it costs more every spell level, but is worth it), pick up Nature's Whispers (I get to use Charisma for my armor class and CMD rather than my dexterity), and a few hoops to get a Shaman Hex to let me change all of the Intelligence based skill checks over to Charisma. For my Monsterkin side, I get Unearthly Grace from a Young Wyrgrove Nymph (it's numbers boosting: I get to apply my Charisma bonus as a bonus to my saves and armor class… again), Primordial Lore from the Dark Walker (it gives me all the Mythic versions of any spell I know, and also lets me ignore immunities), and the real reason this is a big breakpoint in the build: Technological Wonders. What does it do? It makes all of my abilities nonmagical and Permanent. So when I cast a spell balanced around the fact that it doesn't last long, I keep it. When I use Borrowed Power to grab a Mythic path ability, I keep it. When I cast a spell, it stays forever. So when I use Secret of Magical Discipline to cast Enable Function to get a feat… I keep it. Forever. Then I use Inspired Spell and infinite Mythic Power to cast Heroic Fortune and use the hero point to recover the use of Secret of Magical Discipline… and get ANOTHER free feat. These feats can be spells, metamagic, magic talents… well. There's a lot of things that most characters never grab because there's just so many better options… but I no longer need to choose, and all of those little boosts add up to massive power.

Which, when you're being hunted by a guy who can apparently make Simulacrums that can cast Teleport, is kind of important.

Even better, I can share a lot of it….