756 - The Hammer Falls
Solvei, the ground! Freeze the ground!
Yes, Master!
Not hesitating, Solvei lowered her jaws as she breathed out again, calling upon the ice magic she’d received as a result of bonding with her master. Knowing without being told that he’d meant for her to create a slippery patch of ice beneath White Wraith’s hooves, she had the satisfaction of watching the gangly stallion snarl as he struggled to keep his legs under him, no longer able to move so easily.
The ice elemental that Akna had summoned, however, had no such problems. It was with grim satisfaction that Solvei watched as the frozen giant lifted a leg and brought it down in a heavy stomp. White Wraith managed to scramble out of the way of the blow, but wasn’t able to completely keep his balance in doing so, swearing under his breath as he fell to his knees.
But just as Solvei allowed herself a smile from seeing their enemy put on the defensive, White Wraith swung Breakdown again.
The hammer arced upward in a tight swing, coming down to strike the ground hard.
The last time he’d done that, when the guard captain had been posturing in an attempt to frighten them off, the impact had been heavy enough that Solvei had needed to actively keep her balance despite being twenty feet distant from the stallion. This time, the blow was much stronger, hitting the ground with such intensity that the ice that Solvei had laid down immediately shattered, reduced to particles in an instant.
But Solvei had no time to marvel at the destructive power of the pony’s hammer, grimacing as she hit the ground, thrown off her paws by how much the earth beneath her was shuddering from Breakdown’s strike. Nor was she the only one, as Akna’s ice elemental wobbled and then collapsed.
The giant immediately moved to right itself, rising up without hesitation. But that was enough of an opening for White Wraith, bringing Breakdown around to impact the icy behemoth directly in the chest.
If Akna’s ice elemental had been a creature of flesh and blood, the strike would have been immediately fatal, collapsing its entire torso inward. As it was, the goliath didn’t seem to notice that its entire midsection had just been crushed, raising its fists as it stood up again, White Wraith already bringing Breakdown back into a ready position.
That was when Akna muttered something in her own language, and a snowstorm enveloped her elemental and White Wraith both.
Solvei had just enough time to feel confused – with both combatants completely obscured from sight by the sudden blizzard, it would be that much more difficult to target White Wraith – before she felt a sudden rush of emotion from her master. The sudden sense of exultation that came from him then lasted only for a moment, but given that she could see him casting a spell, it was clear to her that he had some plan which involved keeping White Wraith out of sight.
A second later, Lex finished casting his spell...and nothing happened.
Solvei’s earlier confusion returned in an instant; she’d been certain that her master had been about to unleash some sort of unstoppable spell that would immediately lay the hammer-wielding pony out. She had seen him do just that during that horrible vision, when he’d struck down those winged unicorns one after another. But now there was no visible effect-
Solvei, I need you to distract White Wraith. Reinforce your armor and move in. You should be able to take a few hits before you’re in serious jeopardy.
Unable to help herself, Solvei felt her tail start to wag. Yes, Master!
Normally, the prospect of fighting such a dangerous enemy – one who could shatter a large chunk of her armor in a single blow – would have filled her with grim determination. Now, however, she found her heart soaring. That he was confident in her ability to stand against someone so powerful, trusting in her ability to protect not only herself but also him and his plans, made a powerful sense of affirmation well up in her.
I promise, I won’t let him near you again! she vowed over their telepathic link, her eyes glowing as she focused on repairing her armor; it would take only a moment for the black crystals to regrow, filling in the breach that Breakdown’s last strike had caused. Even then, she was already padding forward; she couldn’t see exactly where White Wraith was in the driving gale, but she’d hunted in snowstorms plenty of times in her youth. If she could get close enough to catch his scent-
“TARGET THE STALLION,” thundered White Wraith’s voice from inside the driving sleet, followed by a crunch that could only be the sound of his hammer impacting the ice elemental again, “AND FIRE AT WILL!”
For the briefest instant, Solvei wasn’t sure who he was talking to. Then the sound of crossbows being readied made her eyes widen as she looked up at the wall, where the guards were pointing their weapons toward Lex.
MASTER! NO! Her eyes changing back to normal as she abandoned all thoughts of repairing her armor, Solvei instead concentrated on her ice magic with everything she had.
The value of being creative with what her ice magic could do was a lesson that Solvei had learned in the minutes before her death, when she’d created a ramp of ice underneath Grisela in order to dump the winter hag into the tangle of burning vines that Sissel had created. The inspiration for that had come from the wall of ice that Grisela had created to save herself from being blown into the poison fog that had been the byproduct of the magical duel between Lex and Sissel. This time, though, Solvei didn’t bother trying to come up with a variation on a theme, instead copying the winter hag directly.
The wall of ice that she conjured rose up in front of the guards lining the wall just as they opened fire, a chorus of surprised cries accompanying the sounds bolts harmlessly impacting the barrier.
The relieved gasp that burst forth from Solvei’s lungs then almost made her collapse, but the feeling lasted only a moment: although the wall was tall enough – barely – to block the guards on the wall from targeting Lex, it was only a few dozen feet wide. It wouldn’t take them very long to move past its edges and target him again.
Master, I stopped those guards’ first volley, but I won’t be able to do that again! relayed Solvei telepathically, unable to hide her nervousness. Creating that much ice at once had required her to dip into the reservoir of power she’d gained along with her ice magic. While she could produce relatively mild uses of supernatural cold without limit, her ability to enhance them was sharply limited, being able to do so only a few times a day. Prior to this, she’d used most of her reserves charging up her breath weapon against White Wraith – having almost nothing to show for it, since he’d shrugged off most of the damage – and now she had nothing left to create another wall.
Across from her, Lex was already casting another spell. It’s fine, Solvei. Stick to the plan, and this should be over before they can reload, reposition themselves, and fire again.
R-right. Turning her thoughts back toward the gap in her armor, Solvei focused on repairing-
Another heavy crunch came from within the snowstorm then, and a moment later White Wraith surged out from the edge of it, coming to a stop beyond the boundary of the localized blizzard. Glancing back over his shoulder, his lip curled as he took in the sight of the ice wall blocking the entrance to Eigengrau, the guards on the wall scrambling to move past its edges. “Useless, every single one of them,” he spat.
Then he turned and charged directly toward Lex.
A rush of panic surged through Solvei then. The course of the fighting had placed her and Lex on opposite sides of where White Wraith had been battling Akna’s elemental. The result was that his rush toward the unicorn was taking him directly away from her...and with how fast he was moving, the short distance to his target, and how far back Solvei was, she knew she’d never be able to catch him before he got to Lex.
And if what had happened before was any indication, White Wraith wouldn’t let her master teleport her to his side.
“Akna!” screeched Solvei as she ran for all she was worth, despite knowing it was futile. “Use it now!”
The adlet didn’t need to be told twice.
For all that Akna had fretted and complained about her attire, there had been one article of clothing she hadn’t had any trouble with. It wasn’t even really clothing, being more of an accessory than anything else, and while the adlet had been nervous about wearing it, she’d nevertheless obeyed when Lex had told her to put it on. “Anyone who looks at you and Solvei will expect you to fight with cold magic,” he’d explained. “They won’t anticipate you using fire.”
And as Akna pulled a bead off of Bolverk’s necklace – the one where each of the decorations was a fireball waiting to be thrown – and threw it, Solvei fervently hoped that Lex had been right.
An instant later, her faith in her master was proven correct as a conflagration exploded around White Wraith, the stallion screaming in pain as the flames scorched his body.
But he didn’t stop his headlong rush toward Lex.
Nor did Lex stop casting his spell.
Her heart pounding in her chest, Akna watched as the distance between the two ponies shrunk. White Wraith was barely fifteen feet from Lex now, bringing Breakdown up in preparation for a swing, and this time Lex couldn’t set himself to receive the blow, being too busy making the proper gestures for whatever it was he was casting. Ten feet now, the hammer raising higher. Five feet.
Lex stopped chanting, rearing up as he reached out with his undamaged foreleg...
And White Wraith dodged to the side, abandoning his charge in favor of avoiding Lex.
Inwardly, Solvei cheered. She didn’t know what her master had just cast, but it had been enough to scare the other stallion off! Even better, his stopping his sprint meant that he was open! Solvei darted forward, intent on pouncing at distracted guard captain-
This time Breakdown caught her right in her unprotected ribs.
He...knew I was chasing him... realized Solvei dimly, the thought struggling to make itself known through the white-hot agony as the world spun around her. He aimed...at the break...in my armor...
Then she couldn’t even keep that thought in her head as she struck the ground, momentarily blacking out from just how badly it hurt. When she came to a second later, managing to suck in a wet breath of air, White Wraith was speaking, and as she somehow managed to turn her head, she saw that he was standing just outside of Breakdown’s range, his eyes focused on Lex as he talked, his voice as casual despite the readiness in his stance.
“-admit I didn’t expect that,” announced the wispy stallion, sparing Solvei a quick glance before looking back at the unicorn. “Equipping an intrinsically-cold creature with fire magic, that was smart. Tell me, did you have them use all those ice-based spells in order to get me to lower my guard?”
“It was more to test your capabilities than anything else,” answered Lex flatly, still having reared up on his back legs, his right hoof held at the ready. “A fight, like any other form of confrontation, is won by whoever can better control information. Hence it was necessary to acquire tactical data on you.”
White Wraith clucked his tongue. “Information is only as good as your ability to act on it. Knowing what’s going on won’t help you if you don’t have the resources to do anything about it. And between the two of us, it’s easy to see who’s more resource-poor.”
Master... Each breath was painful, and every movement sent a new wave of pain through her, but Solvei couldn’t bring herself to do nothing, even if all she was good for now was sending her master a warning. He’s trying to stall for time. Right now, the guards are aiming their weapons-
I know, Solvei. Just focus on restoring your armor. White Wraith isn’t likely to attack you while I’m still a threat to him, and it’s unlikely that the guards will be able to shoot through the black crystals. I’ll heal you once this fool is defeated.
“In fact, you’ve actually had one of your assets turned into a liability,” continued White Wraith casually, canting his head toward the downed winter wolf. “Given my proximity to her, not to mention you, I doubt your adlet can throw another one of those fireballs without inflicting some literal friendly fire. Whereas the ponies under my command...”
He glanced back at the wall then, smirking as he raised his voice. “TAKE AIM AND PREPARE TO FIRE ON MY ORDER!”
The sound of bolts being drawn into place made him smirk as he returned his gaze to Lex. “...are all trained to place their shots quite precisely.”
Lex’s lip curled, his derision obvious. “So you’ll allow your underlings to do what you couldn’t?”
“Oh please,” snorted White Wraith, laying Breakdown over his shoulder in a relaxed position. “The entire point of having subordinates is so they can do things on behalf of their leader. And you have no right to say otherwise, since you hung back and let your wolves do most of the fighting. The only attack spell you’ve even bothered to cast is that one you’re holding on the end of your hoof right now.”
“That’s because it’s the only one I’ll need in order to defeat you.”
“I’d say ‘in your dreams,’ but that’s a bit of a faux pas around here,” chuckled White Wraith. “I’ll admit that spell is an impressive one. From what I saw of your casting, it transfers your wounds to an enemy’s body, healing you and harming them, right? That’s an excellent tactic, but I also saw that you need to touch your opponent in order to activate it.”
“Just so,” admitted Lex. “Which is what’s going to happen in the next few seconds.”
Smirking, White Wraith gave Breakdown a casual spin as he shook his head. “I don’t think so, now that I know what’s going on. You were planning on taking a hit in exchange for activating that spell, right? That’s why you didn’t move out of the way when I was coming at you. But you didn’t hide your spell well enough, and now I’m not going to give you the chance to use it.”
“I don’t need you to give me a chance,” replied Lex, taking a single step toward White Wraith, foreleg held at the ready. “I’ll make my own.”
The gangly stallion scoffed. “You know, even if you have some plan to pull that off, a single mangled leg isn’t going to be enough to take me down anyway. So, in recognition of your determination, how about I help you out there?” He didn’t wait for an answer before raising his voice again. “SINGLE SHOT, LEFT KNEE!”
The words had barely left his lips when a loud snap came from the wall, and an instant later a crossbow bolt went through Lex’s kneecap, causing him to collapse with a snarl of pain.
“Hm, that doesn’t seem like enough either, does it?” mused White Wraith, not moving from his current position. “Let’s add another. SINGLE SHOT, LEFT SHOULDER!”
Another snap from the wall, and Lex – who was just starting to pick himself up – bit back another scream as a crossbow bolt suddenly sprouted from the shoulder of his mauled foreleg.
“What do you think?” continued White Wraith, his tone easygoing. “A few more? Or should we-” Stopping abruptly, he turned at where Akna had been creeping toward them, her hand close to her necklace. “That’s close enough, whore. One more step and I’ll have my guards turn you into a pincushion.”
From her vantage point, Solvei could only whimper as she watched the situation unfurl, her heart breaking as she was once again rendered powerless to help Lex. Master, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!
Don’t be, answered Lex, and to her surprise there was a dark chuckle in his mental voice. It’s time to end this farce.
Even as he said that, Solvei caught sight of something rising up out of the ground directly behind White Wraith. Blinking, she could make out the ghostly image of what looked like a disembodied hoof, and even as she watched it floated closer toward White Wraith’s back leg, reaching out-
Spinning in place, spitting out a rapid string of syllables and motioning quickly with his free hoof as he whirled around, White Wraith brought Breakdown onto the spectral hoof, and Akna witnessed it shatter into tiny motes of light that flickered out a moment later.
At the same instance, Lex gave a sharp intake of breath, his eyes widening as a horrified expression crossed his face.
White Wraith burst out laughing. “Did you really think I didn’t see that coming?” he chortled, giving Lex a triumphant grin. “Did you actually believe for a second that I didn’t know you’d cast that spell?”
When Lex didn’t answer, he took a step forward, apparently no longer concerned with being in Lex’s reach. “I’ve learned how to use swords and spells in equal measure, so I’m not worried about casting something that I need to get up close to use,” he explained, his voice patronizing. “But most spellcasters only focus on their magic, eschewing martial pursuits. A spell that requires them to get within range of being stabbed, or skewered, or bludgeoned is anathema to them. Hence why the spectral hoof spell is so popular, since it can deliver touch-range spells remotely.”
Crouching down, he gave Lex a mocking grin. “And since you were content to hang back the entire fight, letting your servants get in close, it was easy to figure out that you were exactly that kind of wizard. So I have to ask, what exactly made you think I wouldn’t be on the lookout for something like that?”
He waited a minute, but when Lex made no reply except to glare at him hatefully, he shrugged. “Now, if I had to guess, I’d say that you put that one into play when you had your two-legged tramp conjure that blizzard. The sleet blocked out sight, and since it was magical you were probably hoping I couldn’t sense you casting that, right?”
Again he waited for an answer, and this time when he received none, he stood back up. “I’ll confess that it almost worked, since I knew you’d used that opportunity to cast something – why else have your slut use a spell that hid me from view? – but I wasn’t sure what. Like I said though, I’ve seen spellcasters like you before, ‘Your Highness,’ and when I saw what sort of spell you were casting when I charged you, it was easy enough to put two and two together.”
Up on the wall, the guards were cheering again, and White Wraith took a moment to nod at them in acknowledgment, ignoring that he'd been disparaging them a few moments prior as he continued speaking. “Oh, and in case you’re wondering why you can’t still use that spell of yours, since it should have gone back to you once I destroyed the spectral hoof you were projecting it through, that’s because of the spell I cast when I did. A little-known design that lets me siphon an active spell and take it for my own. Which means that the next hit I get on you...well, just be grateful your wolves couldn’t hurt me that badly, since you'll be feeling the few injuries they were able to inflict on me.”
Tilting his head to the side as though working out a crick, White Wraith moved so that he was standing perpendicular to him, facing the wall as he stood over the downed stallion and lifted Breakdown. “And now that you understand exactly how completely I’ve beaten you, I think it’s time we bring this to a close, don’t you?”
This time, Lex did answer. “I’ll give you one more chance,” he hissed through clenched teeth, his features tight with pain. “Surrender now, and I’ll spare you.”
To Solvei’s surprise, the other stallion actually paused. “You know, I was going to pulp your head and end it quick. But while a leader who refuses to surrender is showing their faith in the Night Mare, so is a leader who makes an example out of those who defy their betters.” Slowly, he lifted Breakdown above his head. “In other words, you brought this on yourself.”
NO! screamed Solvei, making one last, desperate attempt to get up...only to collapse in place a moment later, too hurt to move.
Then White Wraith brought the hammer down.
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Breakdown can still hit Lex as usual in Shadow Form? Or is he going to use Blink or very shallow crystal spike to deflect Breakdown? Or Even use his spikes to move himself?
Well, suffice to say, I have severely underestimated White Wraith so I'll give him points for that though his near constant gloating, while probably well deserved due to his actions so far feels like pointless posturing so I'm deducting points for that. Still, given his wealth of experience, he's probably a veteran of many battles, both for when he was among the living and undoubtedly even more in the Darkest Night.
It also explains the guards' own impressive accuracy, they've probably also honed their skills to reach such a level...well that and the enchanted gear probably helps out a bit or is a +1 to accuracy not a thing in Ponyfinder?
Putting that aside, I am quite curious at what Lex has up his sleeve this time to be confident enough to say those words to White Wraith. My first guess is that he had prepared another spectral hoof with the 'healing' spell attached but I'm not sure if that's even possible within the game mechanics.
check and mate. Lex walks away and White Wraith just caved in his own head...
got to love a loop hole and Lex did not kill him so the Nightmare can't be mad at him
sorry if i gave out a bit of a spoiler.
11367234
Well, if it's what's end up happening kudos to you man, But I just don't see how he would be able to do it. I don't remember him having any spell capable of doing that unless it has something to do with the charismata and something something about him being in the nightmare realm of power and White Wraith being one of her followers.
11367566
time will tell how this all plays out.
11367020 Unfortunately, Lex is – if not completely out of dark magic – at least so depleted on that score that he's can't accomplish much. Remember, he was already too drained to turn into a shadow before, and then he used what little remained in order to deaden the pain of having his foreleg crushed in the last chapter. So it's unlikely that he can make use of it now (and considering how easily breakdown broke Solvei's black crystal armor, I doubt the spikes would help Lex much now anyway).
11367028 White Wraith is indeed a formidable foe, likely due to his having a lot of battle experience. I suspect that he's be a credible threat even if he didn't have Breakdown at his disposal; as it is, he's certainly having little problem handling Lex and company...or is he?
Speculation aside, he does seem inclined to brag, but in this case I suspect that's an aspect of his being in a command position in the Night Mare's realm. I suspect that her religion tends to attract, shall we say, outsized personalities among those who would lead, and given that his subordinates are watching, showboating is probably the sort of thing which the Night Mare approves of. After all, power has to be displayed and recognized in order for it to be put to use. To that end, it's unsurprising that White Wraith is taking his time with Lex...which is an opening that I'd be willing to bet Lex is more than willing to exploit, given that he doesn't seem particularly worried, despite his situation.
As for the guards themselves, they're clearly benefiting from some bonuses. No doubt their gear has at least a modest enchantment on it, and they get another +1 for attacking from an elevated position. Normally being in dim light would give Lex and the others some degree of concealment, but if they can all see in the dark (even in an area of shadowy illumination, like at the edge of the lights) then that won't apply. And if they have feats like Precise Shot, then it's perhaps no surprise that they can place their hits so accurately.
Hopefully that won't matter if and when Lex makes his move.
11367234
11367566 Well, there are spells such as sympathetic wounds and shared sacrifice which transfer damage you take to someone else, but unfortunately, they're not on the sorcerer/wizard spell list from which Lex draws his thaumaturgical spells (and while he does have a smattering of clerical spells, we've seen no indication that either of those are among them; of course, he's out of clerical magic at the moment also). Given that he doesn't have enough dark magic left to curse someone...well, hopefully he has some other plan in mind.
11368677
Hopefully
If I remember, you roll the fights yes? If Lex was going to die in a battle would you fudge the dice or let him die? I am extremely curious about this because I just don't know what I personally would do in this situation. In one part I recognize that I am a creature of comfort and I would probably fudge the dice a little bit but on the other side I can be quite hard on myself on some insanely inane things and this theoretical situation could qualify for my brain to go ham on me.
11368717 Your questions made me smile, because it gives me a chance to talk about the intersection of the fiction with the game mechanics that I base it on, which is something I enjoy doing. So thanks for that!
With regard to rolling the dice, that particular query is technically moot; while I've gone on at length about this story's use of game mechanics on many occasions, I don't actually roll dice (either physically or electronically) when resolving the actions that the characters take. Part of that is purely for issues of practicality (i.e. there'd be certain sections of the story with a lot of rolls), but the larger reason is that – while the dice do act as a randomizer – the interjection of a chance-based determinant in developing the story is of limited value when I'm the person picking what the characters do beforehand. Which is a long-winded way of saying that the dice rolls don't actually make that much difference when one person decides everything else. This is especially true since, in many instances, the various modifiers and target numbers would make the rolls fairly lopsided anyway; when the target number is 27, and someone is rolling 1d20+6, then unless they get a natural 20, we can be fairly safe (if not absolutely guaranteed) in assuming that they'll fail.
And really, that's what I use the game mechanics for (well, that and charting out the precise nature and limits of how the characters' powers work anyway, e.g. delineating exactly what Solvei can do). Getting a firm grasp on the relative probability of how well an action works by calculating "die roll plus modifiers versus target number equals X chance of success." Which isn't to say that I then have such actions only succeed at a fractional value equal to that percentage (that's the gambler's fallacy), but rather that I take that into account in framing how a success or failure is presented in the narrative.
For instance, if a particular guard has a +4 to attack, and is facing a monster with an Armor Class of 22, he's only going to hit it on an 18 or better (i.e. 15% of the time). So if the story then says that he gets two hits in a row, they'll be described as "incredible shots" or with terms like "amazingly" or "incredibly" when describing how the blows land, and will often be characterized as hitting a weak spot that can't be easily struck. Conversely, if that same guard is facing an ordinary robber with an AC of 10, he'll hit on a 6 or better, which means he'll connect 75% of the time. Hence, the blows he's raining down on the poor thief won't be described as anything special, and it will be the thief's attempts to avoid them, which won't work very well, which will be presented as being lucky, superlative or otherwise fortunate in nature.
Now, there's a catch to all this; characters can (and do) defy the odds, making incredible die rolls that they should by all rights fail. By itself that isn't a big deal; I've been playing tabletop RPGs for decades, and I've seen some truly incredible rolls (and sometimes incredible streaks of rolls; three natural 20s is a one-in-eight-thousand-chance series of rolls, but I've witnessed it more than once) over that time. So these strokes of unbelievable fortune/seemingly supernatural competence do happen...but insofar as using the mechanics to inform the story goes, relying on that too often starts to defeat (a large portion of) the purpose of using them in the first place. If every die roll Lex makes "just so happens" to be a 20, and his enemies consistently roll a 1, then I'm ignoring a lot of what the numbers are telling me.
Of course, this also runs into the issue that characters regularly benefiting from spectacular runs of luck or otherwise engaging in seemingly-random bouts of hyper-capability tends to damage readers' suspension of disbelief, but that's a separate consideration from using the game rules to inform the structure of the narrative.
So what's the answer to that particular issue? As it turns out, it's that if a character wants to routinely defy the odds (i.e. the dice) or otherwise have some way of turning an unfavorable situation on its head, then they need to have an ability under the game rules that lets them do so. This is where Eclipse: The Codex Persona really shines, and is the supplement I used to build Lex, Solvei, and several of the other main characters in this story, as its point-buy method of character construction (as opposed to using the character classes of standard D&D/Pathfinder) has several abilities that allow for this, both in terms of situational control in general and dice-modification in particular.
For instance, the Luck power (which isn't actually an ability to control luck; the names of the abilities in Eclipse are just placeholders) allows a character to either re-roll a d20 that's just been rolled or simply take a "natural" 20 on it without rolling. Lex purchased five uses of this ability, limiting them to only for saving throws and only against magical effects. This is representative of his magical senses, abilities, and aptitude giving him a leg up where avoiding/resisting/fighting off magic is concerned.
Similarly, Lex has put more than a few ranks into the Foresight occult skill (which, while not specifically outlined in Eclipse, is one presented on the co-author's blog as an example of what a character can take if they buy an Occult Skill), which is what lets him effectively have what he needs (if the GM thinks he's had a reasonable chance to prepare it ahead of time) in response to a situation. The most obvious use of this skill (as outlined on the linked page) is with regard to spell selection; he might not get to recharge his thaumaturgical spells very often, but it's no coincidence that he often seems to have the right combination of spells to let him do something that will turn a particular situation in his favor. More generally, this lets him have plans seemingly at the ready for any situation, to the point of coming up with them on the fly when things happen (albeit within the limits of what he could reasonably know about/prepare for).
Of course, this doesn't always mean that he'll win a fight; sometimes, despite all of these advantages, his disadvantages (e.g. not being able to easily replenish his thaumaturgical spells) will be more overwhelming than what he can turn around, especially in the face of an intelligent, prepared adversary. For instance, Lex was at the nadir of his power when he went to fight Dark Streak; not only was he low on thaumaturgical magic, but he was also blind with regard to sensing magical effects, and Dark Streak had made sure to study up on him and prepare the battleground ahead of time, in addition to being a smart combatant with a lot of alchemical tools at her disposal. As such, Lex lost that fight, and would have died if the Night Mare hadn't personally intervened to save him.
...which, for that matter, is another issue about the dice eventually turning against a character; the high-magic/high-power nature of the d20 System (at least at mid-to-high levels) means that death doesn't have to be the end. Particularly powerful characters can treat death as a debuff more than anything else, if they've made the proper preparations.
Now, there's a corollary to this in terms of constructing the narrative, which is that abilities like Luck and Foresight are somewhat "meta" in that they're not conscious powers or abilities that the characters use (Foresight arguably is, but it's treated like a characteristic more than a resource to be managed). So in that case, what's the control mechanism to prevent rampant abuse of these powers so that things don't just always go the character's way? Being able to buy enough Luck so that every d20 roll can be treated as a natural 20 gets us right back to the problem mentioned earlier, doesn't it?
Well, yes...and no. See, the operative word in that previous sentence is "buy"; characters in Eclipse only have so many Character Points to spend, and buying one thing means that many more points that you're not spending on something else. Lex could buy large amounts of Luck, but that would mean not buying say...spellcasting (and in fact, this is the reason his most powerful spellcasting is so limited; that weakness cuts down on what would otherwise be a prohibitive cost...but in turn, the weakness is sharply limiting), which would have its own problems, since he relies heavily on his spellcasting abilities when it comes down to a fight, such as what's happening with White Wraith.
At this point, I suspect I've rambled on far in excess of what you originally asked, but I hope this gives you some insight into the setup behind how this story progresses.
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Thanks for writing all of that, It did answer a lot of questions I had on how you wrote and I will without shame copy past some of that in my list of things to remember when writing because holy hell does it makes sense. I have started to read your blog posts because I wanted to know more about the through process and the world building but mainly how did you integrate a playable table top character into a story without having hiccups in the flow, I tried to do it but it just didn't seem to click for me and this comment actually made reconsider how I was writing somethings.