GM Blood's Age of Worms in Golarion
Game Master David James Olsen

"What trap on the beam" Rowna ask, giving the ghost a suspicious look.

Alastor says, "You were wise to jump down first, otherwise while you cross the beam more of these iron balls come shooting out of the wall." He points at the honeycomb of geometric patterns on the wall. "Then the Grick would have had the jump on you from below. The iron balls got me so many years ago" The ghost looks down towards the far end of the pit with a sad look on his face

"I'm sorry. Of course we will bury your bones. If you don't mind me asking, what brought you here in the first place? Any what do you know of this cairn? We were called by Ragathiel, but we're still not sure why or what this place is. And are your bones beneath the balls? And what can you tell us of your farmstead so we may find it? I'm sure the rest of our exploration can wait."

"I ran away from our family farm 30 years ago and ended up in here. When I crossed the beam the balls knocked me off the beam and I died. I can't believe I abandoned my family when they needed me. My little sister Gertia probably missed me to no end! And my older brother Coldaran is probably furious at my running away.

I can't leave this room so I do not know what else there is around here or what this place is. No one has been up here in at least 10 years. I can tell you however there is something you'll find interesting on the other side of this door."

He give you the directions to his farmstead which is east of Diamond Point about 10 minutes, and their family burial plots to the west of the farm.

He points to below the door, beneath the iron balls to where is bones are at.

"We will be happy to help put your spirit to rest. Thank you for not posessing our companion. If you can indeed help us finish exploring this area, we will be able to deliver your bones to their final resting place as soon as possible."

"Yes, of course we'll do that for you." Quintus murmurs a prayer for the dead as he goes looking through the balls for the boy's body.

"Ragathiel, protect us and this boy's remains. Guide us to his final rest." Kelkzar goes over by the door and helps Quintus look through the balls to recover the boy's remains. Once we find them, he will help Quintus recover them as carefully as possible. "Does anyone have a blanket or anything that we might be able to wrap the boys remains in? Perhaps a cloak?"

"If you were in possession of somebody's body, would you be able to leave this place? Perhaps to say good-bye to your brother and sister?"

The ghost responds to Rowena, "I don't know as I have never tried before, but I have tried to leave this place and have not been able to get very far. I fear I am tethered to this spot no matter what."

Digging through the iron balls you soon find a couple of bodies underneath there, but one clearly belongs to a boy. On the other bodies you find 47gp, 1pp, 7sp, a rusty longsword, and a suit of masterwork banded mail. Added to campaign tab

"That armor is very fine and too heavy for the rest of us. It will offer much better protection than your leathers. You should consider it unless you are concerned with your mobility. I'm ready to go to the boy's home so we can lay him to rest. We can explore the rest of the cairn later."

Quintus (and likely Kelkzar) reverently wraps up the boy's body. "I give you my word as a priest of Sarenrae that I'll take your bones to your family's farmstead, Alastor."

"If you wish, you may try, provided you give me your word you'll release it once your good-byes have been said."

Any thought to disabling the trap so you don't forget on the way back?

The ghost thinks about Rowena's offer and says, "I'm just not ready to face them. If they are willing maybe you could bring them back here to see me after you bury my bones?"

"I believe that it is too dangerous to bring them here."

The ghost seems sad once again, "You are probably right. I doubt they would want to see me anyways."

OK, what is the strategy from here?

Once the remains are collected, Rauno will have them passed up to him at the mouth of the corridor they came from. He will lay them there with reverence, so they can be ready to retrieve when we come back this way. Once we are sure we can get back up to the corridor pretty easily, Rauno will lower himself as to the floor of the room carefully and join the others. He'll make his way over to the other door. Does it have a platform or anything to stand on other than the beam that crosses the room?

"I'm sure they want to see you Alastor. Perhaps when we have buried you, one of the Empyreal Lords will take you to visit them one last time."

Map of Room

The beam goes over the pit to the door on the other side with no platform. The only way to get to the door is over the beam and the ghost warned of a trap there which has not be found/disabled.

Trevor's eyes are filled with tears as the youth's tale brings back painful memories. He takes off all his weapons and gives them to Kelkzar, then walks to the ghost: "I allow you to control me for a bit. We're in no rush here. Enjoy the time, but promise to leave me be after at most 10 minutes, okay? And if you think you know how to disarm the trap, use my body to give it a try!"

The ghost goes inside Trevor and walks around for a bit, very excited about feeling alive again. While he has no skills in trap detecting or removing, he shows others the spot on the beam where the balls first came out to aid in anyone skilled to find the trap.

He tries to see how far he can go from the room but doesn't get more than 10 feet down the hallway. After his ten minutes are up he leaves the body and thanks Trevor for the experience.

"I'll see if I can find the mechanism for the trap, but I have no skill in disabling such fiendish devices."
Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

You figure out where the trap is and how it works no problem.

Lessien give me a Disable Device check, success means everyone reaches level 2. A roll of 7 or less you set off the trap, 8-11 you get a retry, 12+ success.

Pressure is on, Lessien :)

Lessien wishes her mutagen was still working, but needs must! She carefully examines the trap, and thinks she finds the simplest way to disarm it.
Disable devices: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

While disarming, Lessien sets off the trap. An iron ball comes flying at her.

Attack by Iron Ball 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Damage 1d4 ⇒ 3

If hit, Reflex DC 16 or take 1d3 ⇒ 2 falling damage

You may try again to disarm if you like

Meanwhile, Trevor approaches Kelkzar: "That's a nice set of armour, no? Do you intend to grab it?"

He jumps when Lessien triggers the trap: "Ouch! Are you all right Lessien?"

Quintus hurries over as best he can to check on the wounded alchemist. "If you want to try again, I can cast a guidance spell on you, to enhance your skill."

Reflex: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

(I thought 12 or higher was success? I rolled a 14)

"Thank you, it appears I can use all the guidance I can get..."

After Quintus prays for her, Lessien tries again.

Disable devices: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Keep trying

Lessien fumbles, and gets frustrated. She fiddles with the device again, finally finding what she thinks is the pressure plate that is setting it off. She pries it up, and then tries to snap it with the handle of her weapon.

Disable devices: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

The first time she sets off the trap, the second time makes no progress, but the third time she is confident she has neutralized the trap and made it safe to cross the beam (Other than keeping your balance}

Congratulations everyone, level 2!

Good timing since this will be a slow weekend more than likely. I'll assume you will be heading to Alastor's farmstead next or will you be doing more searching in the Whispering Cairn?

"Let's go to the farmstead first, and then we can stop in town and talk to Allustan afterwards."

Thank you, GM Blood. It's been fun so far. How do you want to handle HP for the next level?

When Lessien disables the trap, "Nice work Lessien. Do you need any healing? I still have a couple spells available today as well as the healing potion."

Once the trap is disabled, he turns to Trevor, "Trevor, sometimes I'm such a dolt. My comment earlier about it being too heavy for the rest of us was intended for you. That armor would be a big improvement over your leathers. You should definitely have it."

And when Quintus speaks, "Yes, I agree with you Quintus. The farmstead and then a return to see what Alastor is talking about behind that door. But, I wonder if we should see Allustan and get some rest before heading to the farm. My gifts from Ragathiel are nearly exhausted today."

I'll see about throwing the Level 2 Kelkzar up on the profile later today.

Trevor puts on the big armour, visibly impressed: "That armour's great! I don't mind if we come back tomorrow, but I'm ok also to keep going."

"I still have much of the Dawnflower's grace from my morning prayers...." Quintus' voice trails off for a moment as he gets a sort of faraway smile on his face, then he clears his throat, looking rather more serious again. "Of course, we'll be better off with all of us at our best. Besides, we can ask Allustan if he knows Alastor's family."

I could certainly use a night's rest. I apologize if I am holding the rest of you back, but even the regular calisthenics at the academy were poor preparation for this sort of exertion; I hold you all in higher esteem than I already did. I certainly won't abandon you if you push forward, but I may be of far more use to you rested. Besides, what is down here has waited for years, perhpas decades or more. An evening to see to the lad's remains should not compromise anything.

On the way out, Rauno will suggest taking key components with us. The lamps, perhaps. That will make sure no one follows in our path that shouldn't, including more children.

Rauno's profile is updated.

"Good thinking Rauno." Kelkzar helps by packing a couple of the lamps into his backpack, making sure they are not visible. "I think we had best also remain quiet about what we have found, except with Allustan."

So was the consensus going back to town or going straight to the farm? If going back to town what would be the plan?

My vote would be to go see Allustan. Fill him in on things so far. Then rest for the night and head for the farm in the morning. I'll have to double-check if there was anything else Kelkzar would want to do in town, but he's going to plan a pretty low profile for now so probably nothing to buy/sell right now.

You have almost 100 gold and some pp and sp so that won't be an issue to stay at the inn

Allustan is at home and greets you warmly, asking about all that you found. An unseen servant brings you tea and freshly baked rolls.

"I don't care what anyone said, the place hadn't been looted before. We found a few Pathfinder's bodies, some wolves, some beetles, a water elemental, and some other monsters. And one helpful spirit, it seems. He ran away from his family's farm thirty years ago and died in the cairn. Now he wants us to bury his body in his family's burial plot and tell them what happened to him." As best he can, Quintus repeats where the farm is. "Do you know anything about these people?"

Lessien stops in at the store on the way over, to pick up a few raw materials to try to craft alchemist's fire.

Must pay 6.67gp raw materials
Craft(alchemy) (+2 alchemist bonus) DC20: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17 = fail by <5, no progress today

Trevor sits in obvious discomfort in his newfound armour. He remembers how Kelkzar showed him how to adjust the other one and hopes he gets to ask him to help with this one. He listens to Quintus, nodding a lot: "Yeah! And Kelkzar was AW-some!"

Trevor smiles and listens to everyone, then: "Oh yeah, and we found a ring too!" He shows the ring he picked on one of the bodies, still not knowing what to make of it.

Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Mental note, help Trevor with his new armor later.

Kelkzar smiles while listening to his fellows recount the tale of the cairn. "Nothing but what is expected of a soldier in the field. We'll return to the cairn later today or tomorrow, but feel we should bury the boy's remains properly before continuing. So far no sign of Smenk's men either unless they go disguised as Pathfinders."

"I don't care what anyone said, the place hadn't been looted before. "

"Common knowledge is that everything has been looted, but obvuiously there could be areas hidden that no one else has found, quite intriguing. I bet those ancient pathfinders kept the hidden areas a secret so no one else would go looking for treasure there and their secret died with them."

"And one helpful spirit, it seems. He ran away from his family's farm thirty years ago and died in the cairn. Now he wants us to bury his body in his family's burial plot and tell them what happened to him." As best he can, Quintus repeats where the farm is. "Do you know anything about these people?"

"I have lived here for over 6 years and do not have any idea who that could be. There are a number of farms out there though and not all of them come into town."

Seeing the lanterns taken from the Cairn, Allustan says, "I have seen that make of lantern before in town. Seems like there were extras or somehow more were made"

"So far no sign of Smenk's men either unless they go disguised as Pathfinders."

"You'd know if they were Smenk's men, they are definitely not Pathfinders. Magnimar didn't truely have a lodge here until a decade or so ago, so they must have been from another lodge far away."

Trevor, remind me which ring that was on the loot list in the campaign tab

I believe he is referring to the ring found on one of the bodies in the sleeping/dreaming room. A silver ring.

In that room was a silver ring. Allustan looks at it and says it is a pathfinder ring and worth about 75gp.

The gold ring found on the ghoul underwater he says indicates that was probably the leader of that group of Pathfinders and is worth around 200gp.

The short sword underwater he indentifies as a +1 short sword.

The pearl found is a pearl of power (1st level)

Potions are cure light wounds

The armband found is worth about 75gp but its elven craftsmanship may fetch a better price to an elf, he suggests that the mine manager Ellival Moonmeadow would have the money and maybe interest at the higher price.

The other ring in the beetle room was feather falling, which I think you identified already

"Thank you very much Allustan. I think we're off to rest and then to the farm in the morning. Once we've laid the boy to rest, we can return to the Cairn and finish out exploration."

Once we have left Allustan, "I don't think we're desperate for gold right now. We have money to pay the inn. I think we should wait to sell the rings and armband until we've finished with the cairn so we don't draw attention. I would suggest that Rauno take the pearl. Trevor, you could take the sword in case we run into another foe like the grick that is resistant to ordinary arms. It is not a weapon I am familiar with."

Fast forward to next morning? Unless GM Blood has anything in store for us in town or anyone needs to make additional purchases...

If you want to keep your profile low and not sell anything you should be OK.

I forgot one more thing, the shards of black glass found early on, Allustan is interested in and will give you their value (20gp) if you are interested in selling them to him.