Okay, the GM's responses to some things.
Regarding Raji -- he will do whatever he is commanded to do. In his new large body he is fairly fearless, though he may still find some creatures 'distasteful' if you know what I mean. But he might be better off not getting bit by large numbers of poisonous snakes...
Regarding Magoun using Great Throw to relocate the HNO out of her own Globe, well, it might work, but he can only relocate thrown characters to locations within his threat range, so it might depend on (a) getting adjacent to her and (b) at the same time having a location next to him be outside the globe. Since the globe is immobile once created, but the caster is not immobile, she could be in a 'back corner' so to speak, and difficult to relocate outside.
But it IS an 'evil' (i.e. nasty) thought... :)
Sort of going through the plan Zenako has outlined:
Weapon Bless targets:
The Wang-liang may be likely to remain within a globe -- remember that his weapon of choice seems to be a normal sized Naginata, assume that gives him an effective strike zone at 10' and 15' -- i.e. his natural 10' reach gets shoved out 5' more by using a normal sized reach weapon, he couldn't use it to attack foes immediately adjacent but he could certainly stay within a globe and attack some decent portion of the area not covered by a globe.
The creatures you think might be most likely to fight outside a globe would be the warrior types -- some of the 4 tsuno, the 4 rokuri-buko, and the 2 yuan-ti half-bloods. On the other hand, they may just 'sit back' within a globe occupying the spaces next to their mistresses (HNO being primary charge to protect, hannya and nagas being secondary. SO it isn't clear what exactly the enemy battle plan might be.
However, one target that may well be outside a globe and be a decent target for Weapon Bless is a giant constrictor -- some of the scrying shows that there is at least one snake in there that has ~ 15'x15' coiled 'face', similar to the huge vipers that the Hannya out in the fields had as animal companions, but a constrictor instead of a viper. Probably the 11 HD variety...and if there IS just one (only saw evidence of one) then the spell would work.
And the Wang-liang MIGHT end up outside of globes -- and is certainly a single individual, easily identified for the spell's purpose, unlike trying to focus on a specific tsuno, rokuri-buko or yuan-ti, which all look much alike (within each type that is) to you so you might risk firing at the wrong individual in those cases.
Finally, the Hebi-no-onna herself is certainly a single individual, and IF she was tossed out of her globe by Magoun, you might have an opportunity to nail her with such weapons.
Daikyu:
Zenako, unlike your ancestral katana and wakizashi, although a family heirloom, the daikyu you have is not linked to your soul. If you feel that Mulan would not disgrace your family when firing it, it would be perfectly acceptable for you to honor her by allowing her to use it for a specific assault such as this one. (Letting her carry it around all the time would not be appropriate, but if she is properly respectful of the weapon, no problem in this situation or others like it.)
Nope, the barbarians here do not seem to have any daikyus. All the bows you have seen them carrying are yumi's -- and most of them do seem to have them, use them for hunting all the time.
Scrying:
The HNO was unable to be scried -- it just didn't work, period. Which meant either she was inside a full Globe, or else has some means of protection from scrying. Which means there was nothing for her to notice as far as a scrying focussed directly on her... Neither the wang-liang nor the rokuri-buko appeared to notice any scrying upon them, so far...
Without more specifics, I will assume some additional scrying on other creatures has resulted in a few more tidbits:
a) At some point, you scry a creature that seems to be involved in a game of Mahjo with some of the others -- a game played with ivory tiles with various symbols on them, often used for gambling but sometimes simply for friendly competition. It seems to be being played in the area that the HNO would be occupying, i.e. along the back ledge, and within a globe -- which means that globe is also a Minor one, at least as far as the permanent version is concerned. You also get the impression that, although you cannot actually sense Her, She is probably nearby -- and that several others are crowded around watching as well. Various coins and some small gems seem to be the stakes.
b) Yep, there is a big constrictor sort of lounging in the middle of the floor... Occasionally other snakes slither by it without it reacting much, and there are some cracks in the floor into which they slither.
c) You do get the impression that at any given moment, there are at least some guard types pretty close to the back ledge area where the HNO is believed to lounge...they may be able to physically surround her. One technique for guarding a charge is to simply make sure nobody who is a threat can get next to the charge, so there maybe some necessity to clear a way before being able to get next to the witch herself.
Incense:
Actually, Noku has Located Object on the Incense he seeks more than once -- and although it has been a while, he seemms to recall that the spells gave two different possible locations, one in each meditation hall... :)
Divinations:
Specific questions?
One thing of note is that a Divination does indicate that there is unlikely to be any opposition above ground in the inner courtyard, in either Meditation Hall OR the main shrine. So although the plan accounts for the possibility, it is likely that splitting up to grab Incense from the Halls will work -- especially if some Detect Magic spells are cast to quickly locate the Incense. Worst case, there might be a few venomous snakes here or there, that may or may not be in position to strike at a fast moving, mostly flying invaders... But the spirits indicate that there are no sentient/organized foes up top.
Holy Aura:
Good news! A preliminary casting of the Coins has been made, or else a Divination has been cast, with the spirits indicating that reading the scroll is likely to be a major boon to the efforts of the party! (I actually just flipped a nickel multiple times, with heads good, tails bad, and it kept coming up heads...sigh...so it really was a casting of a coin...)
Now for some questions that need to be resolved -- if the spellcasters would be so kind as to do some research on the GM's behalf:
1) If a creature has SR from Holy Aura, does it get that SR to avoid setting off a permanent Alarm spell? If so, I am assuming that the minimum level caster for the Alarm spells would be 14th, i.e. when the HNO initially cast them and permanented them she was 14th level, say. (Assuming of course that the HNO was Evil when she cast them.)
2) If a creature has SR from Holy Aura, does that give the creature a chance to avoid being affected by a Minor Globe, and thus keep its previously 3rd level and lower buffs within a Globe? (Assuming of course that the HNO was Evil when she cast them.)
3) For the purposes of area Dispel Magic, I presume that the Holy Aura would be the first targetted effect, based on the caster level of the Scroll, rather than based on Isaku's caster level? IF a caster succeeded in their caster level check to affect a specific character, then I presume also that the Holy Aura would be the first targeted effect due to the caster level of the scroll? And if that failed, then the next targeted effects would be those spells cast by Ashiko (the 9th level caster), followed by those cast by Hatori and/or Noku?
I note that the dispel check is d20 + caster level, max d20+10 -- so the naga and/or hannya might be slightly less effective than the HNO with respect to dispels, but not that much. And the HNO might accidentally dispel her own Permanent spells (it is only guaranteed if the caster chooses to automatically succeed against her own spells), while her minions don't have that chance. So IF they have dispel magics as part of their defense plans, they are likely to be cast by the minions, which doesn't bode well against a caster-level-15 effect such as Holy Aura, even if they get past SR 25. But the HNO probably does know Dispel Magic, and if she figures out what that Divine Radiance surrounding the invaders is all about, accidentally getting rid of a few Permanent Alarms probably is the least of her worries... :) So she may decide she has to use a spell to try to counter that, depending on her Spellcraft roll to assess the situation once the party is in sight, so to speak. And of course she might have an automatic reflex to Dispel Magic on invaders in any case -- Permanent Alarms aren't THAT expensive in terms of experience. (And it is thinking like that which leads to never getting 9th level spells!)
The DC for a dispel check is 11 + the spell's caster level, so would be 26 vs the Holy Aura -- even the HNO would need a 16 on the d20, but at least she can get past the SR 25 on a natural 11 or 10 depending on her exact level... So IF she cast a Dispel Magic over the entire party, she would get past the SR about half the time, and for those she managed to get past the SR, would have about a 1/4 chance of taking down the Holy Aura, with the rest of the time almost certain to take down something lower in the caster-level chain, such as an Ashiko's Extended Delay Poison or Fly or whatever.
Am I missing anything here? Sigh -- if only that first or second coin toss had been tails... :)
Note that Holy Aura is like a superior version of Magic Circle Against Evil with respect to the charm/control deal too...
Magoun:
Magoun indicates that he will bring Ravool as far as the inner gate, with instructions to maul any gaki foolish enough to bother him. (He seems pretty certain that gaki would not be a significant threat to the mighty abyssal dire tiger.) Ravool 'only' moves 40', but he pretty much can do that all day long over pretty nasty terrain if necessary... Anyways, Ravool will guard the exit and provide Magoun, hopefully with at least one and as many as four rokuro-kubi in his entourage, with a ride back out of the complex.
Also, he does accept that some or all of the rokuro-kubi may need to be fought. As long as they are given appropriate chances to surrender -- and if they fall, are not slain outr of hand afterwards -- he thinks that will be acceptable. If necessary, he may have to 'boot to the head' his beloved snake-lady to get her to see reason...
One other thing -- from watching them, and from Magoun's recollections, one favorite tactic of the 4 sisters is apparently the karmic strike (IIRC) -- i.e. they can lower their guard in order to be able to strike an opponent simultaneously with being struck or touched in melee, as well as getting their normal attacks. And they have combat reflexes as well, which means in a duel they can get all their regular attacks, and strike back every time they are hit as well... And they are all elite specimens of their kind -- no 'ordinary' rokuru-kubi these, no indeed. Strong, agile, and tough, that's his girl! And her sisters... Clearly the HNO values this willingness to take a little more damage in order to be able to inflict more...
Dealing with Posion:
Does Hatori know any summonable creatures who have the aility to Neutralize poisons? Any one poison source may be dangerous but not deadly -- however it is quite possible that some might suffer multiple bites...
I think that is all I have on the various subjects, at this time at least.
-- Ernie III / DrakaraGM
Update -- I realized after some at-home research that Dispel Magic is not stopped by Spell Resistance -- so although it may be tough to dispel the Holy Aura itself, the poor oppressed NPCs may actually have a chance to dispel some of the other buffs y'all may have on you. As PCs you'd probably expect that as one of the enemy's options -- as players, be ready to go down a list of buffs/active spells at any time... :)
Sssome GM quessstionsss and resssponsssesss regarding the round-by-round plansss --
How many rounds are being spent on the planned searching/detecting for Incense?
Search skill takes 1 round to search a specific 5'x5' area. So if looking for hidden stuff that way, may take multiple rounds to find stuff.
Detect magic will take a few rounds --
1st round -- Yes or No to presence
2nd round -- # of auras and the strongest one present
3rd round -- strength and location of each aura, spellcraft checks for school, and if there is a magical area or strong local magical emanation that may confuse things (for example if there were, say, Permanent Alarm spells in the Halls...)
Locate Object is probably the best way to find the stuff fast -- can determine direction to nearest item of that type ("block of incense") immediately and point the Searchers to the right 5'x'5 location or at least narrow them down some.
SO -- you may want to just bypass the Halls and plan on collecting the Incense later, assuming you survive. That would cut down on the number of rounds spent aboveground -- especially since you know there is (at least as of the most recent divination) no real opposition upstairs. Which would in turn mean fewer rounds for the downstairs to prepare -- if as some suggest the HNO has magical alarms or else minions to warn her of invaders. (And if you were her, wouldn't you have an early warning system? Maybe there is a reason nothing is normally moving around in the inner couryard...)
In response to the divination question Hatori posed, "should we prepare for any other significant opponents in the entourage...", rolling, rolling, rolling....the spirits do indeed reply:
"Snake lady can with arrogant snigger, make her entourage a little bit bigger, men of fire and apes most dire, come and go at her desire."
I am sure Hatori can figure out what that means...though the spirits may consider such expansions to the HNO's entourage more 'significant' than Hatori might, any creatures that simply just occupy spaces can still make for a more difficult tactical situation for the PCs...
So that leaves up to three more divination attempts available -- wording of those?
Results of Scrying to come later -- lots more to roll for, including Scrying checks by targets depending on INT etc. to see if they notice you yet...
NOTE -- you left out the two Yuan-Ti -- they DO tend to be smart snaky buggers, was that intentional to avoid notice or just an oversight? If you catch sight of one with one of your scries, do you want to check 'em out too?
Also, I'll assume Noku is watching all of these but that Hatori is providing the mental juice -- then if you have any follow-up scries Noku will handle those. I think the ones hatori listed were his allocated scries for the 19th, leaving a few slots for the early evening for Noku to utilize the crystall ball for.
Regarding the Neutralizing of Poison -- the Mirumoto have no real means of taking care of poison either. Those characters with Knowledge (Spirits) should check to see if the Master of the Garden (half here, half in the spirit realm) can Neutralize Poison...if so he might well be willing to do so, especially if y'all gave him something out of respect.
Regarding Scroll spells -- don't forget to note their caster level for potential dispel checks. The crafty among you figure that with 3 Dark Nagas (7th level sorcerers = 3rd level arcane spells) and 2 Hannyas (probably 3rd level spells of some kind if they are 'worthy' of being in the HNO's entourage, even if the HNO doesn't cast a bunch of dispels, her minions probably will, as long as there are decent targets in the non-globe areas to go after... And that also means, if using dual-shield-spell 360 degree cover, need to know which direction each is facing, higher caster level vs lower caster level. Higher caster level spell would be checked sooner in an area dispel situation, but would have a better chance to not get dispelled in a targetted dispel situation...
Finally, a system question -- does See Invisibility allow one to see such normally invisible spells such as Shield, Wall of Force, etc.? Or just creatures and objects as the spell description says? I think I let it see the angled canopy of walls of force over the inner courtyard area before, and that would also mean that you could tell when someone had a Shield spell up, and similarly they could (if they have that spell active) see your Shield spells. And you could also avoid charging into a wall of force, or trying to cast spells through such a wall (which just doesn't work) if you could see it there in your way, say... If it DOES let you see such effects, it would not do so within a Minor Globe's radius, as previously discussed -- but while within such a globe you could still see Invisible things outside the globe's area...
-- Ernie III / DrakaraGM