GM Aarvid PFS #6-15: The Overflow Archive - CORE (Inactive)

Game Master GM Aarvid

Meredith, still not convinced, brings the nixie down with a final slash with her iron blade.

** End Combat **

One of the stuffed meadowlarks floating in the cage is actually a highly realistic feather token.

Once freed, Virml tells his story...

Thhhannnk you all! he continues.

After escaping from imprisonment within the fey scroll, a fox-man fascinated me with some spell while he searched the vaults for resources that might help him contact the fey of the First World who imprisoned him and demand a rematch. Once he found the books he sought, the nasty creature left me trapped in this cage, and assumed my appearance.

He looks a bit ashamed, still nursing his sore jaws where teeth are missing.

After a bit, there is an explosion in the corner, where the tiny tooth fairy disappears into a cloud of sparkling white fairy dust that clings to creatures within 5 feet. This glittery substance has a stench so foul that it sickens any creature coated by it.

What next? Water is still pouring into the area from the stairs above.

"So the young man we met outside is an imposter, and you're the real one? Is he the one who caused all this water?"

Meredith sheathes her scimitar and climbs down. "The problem with fey. They claim to be capricious, but they always have a plan. And if you're in the way of their plan, that's it. Momma pulled out your teeth and left you to drown."

"So this fox man lost a fight, got kicked out, and he wants a rematch no matter the cost." she shakes her head in disgust. "Yeah, I know that feeling."

"You alright, Saldoc? Don't feel bad, fey are really good at tricking people."

“Virml, sir,” replies the sodden Pathfinder.

“Virml says he sneaked into the archives on a dare,” summarizes Shaine, painfully emphasizing the initiate’s name with scolding disdain.

“Presumably, he thought the holdings would be harmless. Instead, in his naivete, Virml triggered some dormant curse or other. So, yes, thanks to Virml here, the archives and the vaults below continue to flood, threatening all the books therein.”

Miserably, Virml holds up an armload of soggy manuscripts. “I salvaged a few, sir.”

Sighing, Shaine leads Virml towards the stairs. “Take them up to the scriptorium. Start making dry copies.”

"So, he's probably in the scriptorium. Maybe he's finding more books?" Meredith moves through the bog. "I guess that's where we go next."

"Blegh." Meredith walks through the foul glitterdust. "Thanks for the goodbye present... If we smell this bad, they'll know we're coming."

Saldoc seems to come to his senses but is happy that he didn't try to hurt anyone. What a strange feeling that was. I wouldn't recommend it.

Virml replies to the comments.

Yes, he must be stopped...but...but what of all this water?
The VCs will have me in chains for all of this! I am ruined.

He covers his face in shame and follows your group out of the hall.

"Hmm. Not sure what we can do about the water. Maybe we can head upstairs and stop the source?"

"Yes lets move to confront this impostor and stop this mess before it gets worse." Before leaving the room Ruth grabs the feather token floating in the cage.

You move up the stairs to the source of the water. Once you reach the summit, you see a curious sight.

This wooden floor rises 10 feet above the originally entered area of bookshelves and overlooks the stacks.

An iron staircase connects the two levels. Most of the water generated here flows freely through the railing, so not enough accumulates to impede movement.

In the south east corner of the mezzanine you see a fish-looking creature with tentacles. It produces gallons of water.

See creature and area on map slide #3

"Well here's the problem. Do you suppose it speaks our language?" Goldur calls out to the fish. "Hello there! I'm going to have to ask you to stop all this water."

Meredith stares blankly at the fish who must have coughed up a lake of water and draws her shield. "What"

Knowledge(Nature): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Trying to keep her anger in check, Meredith simply calls out. "Yeah, this isn't a good habitat for fish. We could move you to the ocean, I guess."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Saldoc will move south and quietly as he can, hoping to conceal himself from this... fish. What is the movement like in here? Would I be able to take a 5' step if combat occurs?

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Meredith is not sure what type of creature this is, but it does not seem natural...or maybe not even from this plane of existence.

The fish-like creature sees that Goldur is talking to her, but it does not understand.

It calls out in a few languages, one that Saldoc may understand.

Saldoc- the water flows out of the room, over the rail so fast that it is not deep here. The creature is creating large volumes of water, but not much stays on the floor, so 5' step is possible

Hearing it speak, Saldoc returns to the party. Still trying to stay out of sight Saldoc tries to keep his voice down as he addresses the others.

It speaks Varisian! He's asking who we are and what we are looking for. Do you want me to tell him something? I mean, I guess we are looking for him since he's the source of all this water.

Saldoc would have preferred to stay hidden and let someone else do the talking, however.

"I'm not good with languages. Or conversation. It sounded like 'glub glub glub' to me."

She looks to the party. "Can you ask it to stop coughing up water? It's destroying the archives. Maybe we can relocate it to the ocean or something."

"You may need to put your usual tactic on hold for now," he tells Saldoc. "It seems you're the only one who speaks Varisian. Tell him we need him to stop all this water."

I was afraid of that. Saldoc steps out, hands up in a friendly yet passive position.

Ruth peeks around the bookshelf to see the fish then back to the group. She quietly says. "What a strange fish. It seems fine being out of water. It must be magical."

In Varisian

"My name is Mistress Koi. I'm looking for ... Whatsisname — that dreadful, haughty fox. The kitsune outwitted her with some fiendishly clever magical ruse and now runs riot in the vaults below. Flooding the vaults is the only way to catch him. If you want me to stop the flood, I agree only if you promise to recover all the fragments of The Name of the Fox and bring them to me. Its magic can recapture the fugitive kitsune. Furthermore, I vow to remove all the water I have already released so long as you can deliver ... Whatsisface — that whiskered riddler - alive."

Seems like a reasonable request to me. Saldoc will confirm with the party before issuing the statement to the... fish.

Meredith nods. "Well, we plan to catch the fox, anyway. So it makes sense to me." She looks at the papers they have collected already. "I guess this is the name of the fox she's talking about? Virml must have read it."

Seeing that Mistress Koi has stopped flooding the area, Meredith puts her shield away. "So. Let's look at the scriptorium- maybe the impostor is still there."

Saldoc translates the party's plan so that the creature can hold up her end of the bargain. OK Meredith, sounds like a good idea. Lets go.

In Varisian

"I just need those fragments so we can re-bind that fox. I say, did he not leave any fragments? Did you already find fragments? May I have a look?" the grodair asks.

Well, each rhyme is one piece, but I need them all!
I will stop the water for now, but if you don't return I will have to flush the cat-dog out of his hiding place. Now don't dilly-dally."

Meredith hands her pages over. "I guess we'll need to get the pages back from those Gilthankis fishermen."

Ok, so where to? You currently have 3 fragments and know where a 4th was. She said there could be 6

It looks like there is one more room on the bottom slide we haven't investigated yet.

"Back downstairs we go. Thank the Mistress for her understanding." Meredith turns to head back down.

Ruth follows Meredith back down into the archives. "This is new, we are following the orders of a fish." She shakes her head as she stomps thru the water.

You head back down the spiral stairs, and true to her word, the water has at least stopped gushing down the stairs. The silence is almost deafening...other than some drips and splashes below.

"Well, the birdmen aren't here...let's head down some more."

Meredith heads downstairs and makes her way Southwest.

Actually the bird men were surprised by the stoppage of the deluge of water and went behind a bookshelf but are still in the main room where you are now and first saw them.

They peek out behind a shelf to see what you are doing.

"Uh....hmmm. Hey... there." Meredith is a bit awkward.

"Do you still have that strip of paper we warned you about? About the fish eating the fishermen? We...need it back. Turns out you can put all 6 together and it solves a riddle of some kind...I'm not good with these puzzles." She scratches her head.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

"I'm totally out of my element, here."

Goldur smiles. "What she means to say is that it'd be a great service to all of us if we could have that parchment you found. We could clear up all this water, and you wouldn't have to worry about that giant fish it mentions."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Poop.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Exactly. What they say is true. Look, this place isn't supposed to be a lake. The creature responsible needs that parchment in order to be able to get rid of the water for good. Could you help?

Diplo: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 Good grief.

I might as well jump on the sinking ship. lol

Ruth moves forward trying to give the two small creatures her best smile. "What my friends are trying to say is. That if you would please let us have the paper back we will make sure to help you get back to where you came from."

Diplomacy: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (7) - 2 = 5

Wooo! Quadra fail. This should be fun for the GM.

LOL. Oh oh.

The two birdmen to talk to the party.

“We have not seen the smarty-pants dogcat since he splashed down in our fishin’ hole, scarin’ away the bestest fish. But if the water goes away, how are we supposed to fish, sillies?”

The owl adds.

Hey! We do not to get eaten by the sleeper fish! That is why we are hiding down here. But we ain't just gonna give you our paper.
How about you trade us back the first one we gave you?”

"Which way did the fox- I mean, dogcat go after he made a mess?"

"Couldn't you fish better back home or something? We already gave the paper away, and we need all 6 pieces anyway." Meredith shakes her head. "How about I buy you guys a huge fish or something?"

I'm willing to buy or summon a fish with Summon Nature's Ally for them in exchange for the paper. With our awesome diplomacy checks, I'm pretty sure we won't get it back for free. It sounds like Mistress Koi needs to hold all 6, so trading wouldn't solve our problems.

Yes, you need all 6. If you want to try and summon a fish, they may be willing to trade for it....for as long as it lasts at least :)

Hey, it's not our job to keep track of the fox-man. He splashed around downstairs, scared away our fish."

They look at Virml and the owl adds..

The fox man has not come back. The only other person to come through here was THAT man...and he went out the same doors you came in. But looks like you already found him.

Albatross finishes

So could you keep moving? We are trying to fish and all this jibber-jabber is scaring them away!

"Uhh..." Meredith turns to her companions."You guys have any ideas? Or should we come back later?"

If there is a fish here, I could try to charm it with Charm Animal. Otherwise I'm out of ideas, here.

Charm a fish? We have to try that. See if you can and then we can attempt the trade. I can't say I've ever been in a game that had to charm a fish and then barter it away.

Look, I'm thinking we can get you guys a nice fish for that paper. Let Meredith do her thing and you'll see what I mean.

Diplo to barter?: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Druids continue to surprise me. And here I thought Charm Animal would be a waste...

Meredith wades into the water, looking around for the biggest, tastiest morsel she can spot. Or at least one that will keep these two occupied.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

As she sees one, she calls upon nature to befriend it.

Casting Charm Animal. Will DC 14 to resist.

If she managed to charm it, she walks up towards the Gilthanis. "I got your fish. Could we get the paper back?"

This is awesome.

Ruth stands in the back mouth agape.

Totally Awesome!

LOL - nice. Actually, even though these birdmen are fishing, it does not say if there are any fish other than the one upstairs...but I will allow it due to ingenuity - since it does not say they don't have fish either.

Meredith scares up a nice catfish and charms it into her direction. It will follow her like a puppgy towards the two birdmen.

Yes, that will work. Here is your lousy piece of paper. We just want fish!

The owl adds

That is a beauty. We gotcha now!" as he grabs a net and scoops up the unsuspecting catfish.

The Albatross hands you the paper, while the catfish somehow shows the sad face of one betrayed and dismayed. :(

Let's scale this thing and get to dinner!

Ok, you have the paper and the two birdmen are getting out cutlery and seasonings.

Saldoc smiles as the plan comes together. OK, where to now? Find the fox? Saldoc will follow wherever the party decides to head to next.

"Sorry kid..." Meredith scratches the back of her head and looks away from the catfish.

"We'll hold onto the paper, thanks." Meredith takes the page back.

"They said he went downstairs. I think there was one more room we didn't look at, down there. Southwest, I think."

Virml mumbles something about...I thought those birdmen said I...or rather someone looking like me...well, probably the Fox...he went out the way you came in? How did you get here?

"We went in through the front doors. Is that the way to the scriptorium? I guess we should give chase first."

Yeah, good idea. Let's do that first then.