GM Chadius's Twisted Circle (4-5) (Inactive)

Game Master chadius

"Oh, that's an interesting opinion! It could be easier if we find her body again. Well... What now? Could you follow us?" says Pierre to the doll.

"I don't know to whom this staff belongs but there is the symbol of Nethys, the all-seeing eye on it. Does that remember anything to you? Amenira used to work the temple of Nethys."

"I will follow you, but I do not want to scare the people of Mercy. It would be easier if you carried me around town."

"The staff does seem familiar, but without more information, I don't remember. I'm sorry."

This is about all Nira knows. Where to next?

Perhaps those at the temple might know something about what happened.

"That's a wise proposition, Nivik. Let's go there and try to see if they know anything about Nira and about the staff."

"Perhaps we should disguise Aminera. If the townsfolk recognize her, word might spread and her killer may try and trap us."

Bom makes sure to grab the defoliant paste.

Zandric offers to carry her if need be. "The temple seems like a good choice for our next stop. Shall we be on our way? Does anyone have a good way to hide or disguise Amenira so that we do not frighten the populace or alert the killer?"

How big is she? I am under the impression she is the size of a child?

"I look like the dolls," Nira looks at the items from the cave. "He can carry me. There is no need for a disguise." Upon picking her up, Nira nods and suddenly goes limp, like a doll.

The temple is the largest building in Mercy. Wooden pews line the east and west side of the building, with a garden on the south. An enormous, twisted tree takes up the north side of the building. A pleasant walkway snakes around the tree up to the temple opening, which has no door. Animals made of twisted twigs adorn the branches, and vanilla orchids flourish in the shade.

You've never heard of Robori before. This diety must be local to the town of Mercy. Zuri is the high priestess, and just finishes up talking to some villagers.

Bom invokes his wayfinder as he examines the animals.

Survival (T10: 10 + 10 = 20

Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Hmmm. Blight, is it? Bom? Nivik looks for confirmation from the human. The wizard then calls out, So who's in charge here?

Bom responds, "Yes. Perhaps offering to heal the tree might gain us some favor."

"Interesting. A blight? How does it work? Do you think positive energy can remove the blight? Maybe a "remove curse" spell would do, however, I don't have any. Nevermind, let's go to this temple." says Pierre before the tree, heading towards the temple.

"Once again, elven intelligence to the rescue. I agree with Nivik, we should head to this temple."

Bom responds to PIerre, "Perhaps a remove disease spell might work."

Does Bom recognize the tree as normal to the area?

Rackle looks around, eyeing the little animal fetishes with a shudder, before turning his attention to the temple proper. He moves softly up to the doorway and peers in.

Stealth up to the entrance and look and listen.
Stealth: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33
Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15 +2 more vs Traps

Rackle observes several acolytes cleaning the temple. He notes one human woman who seems to be in charge.

Bom takes a look at the tree and notes that it's very old- perhaps older than the town.

The rest of the party walks into the temple and the woman walks up to them. "Greetings everyone. Welcome to the temple of Robori. My name is Zuri, I'm the high priestess in charge here. Are you looking for a blessing? I can certainly offer you one."

A good diplomacy check will help get more information out of Zuri.

Nivik remembers the suggestion of healing the tree and gets straight to the point. Your tree looks ill. Perhaps we can help. Do you know the remedy to cure it of its blight?

"Greetings, brother. My name is Pierre and I'm a follower of the Inheritor. Indeed, we were wondering about the blight affecting your tree and we were looking for some infos about this staff. Do you know who was its owner? Did it belong to Amenira?" says Pierre, handing the staff and glowing with Iomedae's glory.

Diplomacy (ToG): 1d20 + 20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 20 + 6 = 37

"Huh? What do you mean about the tree is ill? That's Robori, the god of trees." The party shows the damage done to the tree and she seems surprised. "Oh no...I-I think I have a way to clean this up. Thank you all so much for telling me about this."

This will earn you a bonus to diplomacy checks with the people in Mercy.

"During the nighttime we have a ritual where we soak the tree's roots in oil." She shakes her head. "Obviously we need to change that...embarassing!" Zuri ushers everyone back inside.

"Yeah, this is Amenira's staff, Pierre. I'd recognize that weird eye anywhere." She looks up, handing the staff back to Pierre. "Amenira...I haven't seen her for about two months. We're all a little worried about her. At first she stuck out with all of those eye motifs, but she wanted to blend in more, so she ditched that and started wearing simpler garments."

She frowns. "I'm gonna be a bit frank with you, here. She came up to me and started asking about this, uh, Nethys fellow. Said there he was a god of magic or something. Now, Robori is the only god and I told the sheriff about her false rumors. He told me he would keep an eye on her, but sometimes that man says things he doesn't follow through on. He's missed too many sermons for my liking."

"So...I decided to follow her once. She broke curfew, too. I hid in the bushes near her house, I thought I had a good vantage point. The sheriff tapped me on the shoulder and asked what I was doing- I was so embarrassed! She wanders the Mana Wastes on some nights, keeping to herself. I hope I didn't anger her with all that Nethys stuff. Besides that, she was pretty nice."

The sheriff... why else would you suspect him of not being trustworthy? Did he say anything to you that night? Again, perhaps we could be of some service.

And where in the Mana Wastes, do you know?

"Amenira never gets too specific about where she goes, she just returns the next day, saying she found 'research'."

Zuri doesn't have much more information beyond what she told you. Where to next?

Nivik thanks the woman for the information. He then suggests to his colleagues, To the Square, maybe the smiths there know of something. While we are in the town some of you social types can see what these villagers might know.

Once at the square, Nivik will find one of the craftsmen. He will describe Amenira and ask if she ever had any business in the Square.

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I spilled coffee on my laptop.

While Nivik looks for one of the craftsmen, Zandric tries to talk to the people of Mercy in the Square to see if any of them know where Amenira regularly conducted her "research," or any other information that might be helpful.

Diplomacy (gather info): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

Ghrezzd does his best to add to Zandric's inquiries. "Perhaps there is something that you remember about Amenira that stood out in your... mind," the elf says with a smirk on his face while adding feeble, little mind to his question by the nasty voice in his head.

Diplomacy, Aid Another: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5 yep, that seems appropriate.

Rackle is rather quiet as they ask around the town, keeping his eyes and ears open.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15 +2 more vs. Traps

Bom and Ulfur pace along behind the group, Bom lending his skills and invoking his wayfinder when he can.

Diplomacy(T10): 10 + 10 = 20

Pierre follows the group which seems to know where he's heading.

Pierre is always an auto-aid for gather info

As you approach the townsquare, you hear a heated argument between two major
groups: the blacksmiths and the carpenters.

"We carpenters build and repair the walls! Everyone needs us more than you!"

"Oh yeah, and who provides the nails and tools to build these? Blacksmiths like
us are much more important than you!"

Egos clash as the craftspeople argue over who is more useful for the town, overall.

Normally a Diplomacy check is required here, but with the rolls you made...

The party manages to break up the quarrel quickly. The blacksmiths are first to break the silence. "Huh. These outsiders make some sense. We gotta calm down a bit before we continue this discussion."

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

"yes, gentlemen. It is best to consider things with a cold head."

He then puts his best smile on his face and waves in the children's direction. "Do they need healing? I'm skilled at tending wounds, my friends. But I don't wanna interfere with your customs."

He says, trying not to be too inquisitive about it.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 27

Now, enough with your quarrels. What do you know about the woman called Amenira? Nivik simply gets on to business.

Perception (T10): 10 + 13 = 23 Added +2 for Human and +2 for Urban

Bom sees the injured children and aids Pierre's diplomatic gestures.

"What ails these young'ins? Surely we can help?"

Diplomacy Aid: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13 Don't know what modifiers we got from surrendering weapons and fixing tree.

"Nothing to worry about. Just a few scrapes. Some kids were playing outside of town during a storm." The lead carpenter steps up. You can tell that isn't remotely the truth, but it's also clear no one in town wants to talk about it.

As a side note, Rackle is wearing a blue sash.

Rackle squawks softly as he notices the sash he's wearing all of a sudden. ?

"I like it, but where did I get-get it?" he says.

I wasn't wearing it before?

You were wearing it when you entered Mercy, I rolled randomly. Notice the rules of Mercy.

Screeches fill the air, accompanied by the sound of thousands of wings crashing through leaves and branches, and the occasional thud of something hitting the ground from a great height. Some of the people in the square start, slinging rocks into the trees to frighten away the mass of bats attacking the town.

A swirling collection of shadows appears along the wall of the carriage house. As the people in the square cry out in surprise, the shadows collect themselves into distinct forms. A figure wearing a large cape rushes past the bats into the square as even more bats enter. The frightened townsfolk flee back to their homes.

After about a minute, Nira opens her eyes and you notice she becomes very determined. She looks around and whispers a single word: "Murder."

You remember there are four lit torches in the scones of the wall outside the guesthouse. Move action to detach

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 Ok then!
Dungeon: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28 Good thing I don't use attack rolls much.

There is something strange about a black tarp covering a market stall. It's some kind of creature? Yes, the tarp is actually a cloaker in disguise. How interesting...

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

And I'd say the noise and swirling motion of the bats is no coincidence. It's more of a "performance" than anything. A distraction, perhaps? A summoning?

Nivik then looks at Nira. Murder? What about it? What does all this have to do with? Explain!

You were wearing it when you entered Mercy, I rolled randomly. Notice the rules of Mercy.

I somehow missed this and haven't been able to find it scrolling back. What are you referring to?

Bom draws his wand of lead blades, "A cloaker? Sounds like something we need to kill"

K. Dungeon (on Cloaker since Nivik told us it was a cloaker): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

General Perception (includes Urban): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Know(Dungeoneering): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

Want to see if we can get more info on the cloaker

I somehow missed this and haven't been able to find it scrolling back. What are you referring to?

Someone gets a blue piece of clothing. I thought I saved the post where I rolled who got it, but I can't find it either.

The tarp on the market stall comes to life, and flies into the air, hovering in place.
The white underside hosts a barbed stinger, two beady eyes and several rows of
sharp teeth. It moans, and the swarms of bats try to surround the party.

Round 1
Nivik
Rackle
Cloaker
Ghrezzd
Zandric
Pierre
Bom
Bat Swarms
Nira

Nivik and Rackle quickly ascertain the situation, and notice the bats are clumped into three groups. Nira plops down and glares at the cloaker. Wooden splinters emerge from the doll.

Nira is with the party and has a yellow outline on the map. The cloaker is outlined in red on the map.

Engage the cloaker. I'll try to handle the bats. Nivik decides that Fireball would be much too destructive inside the town square and instead will use Flaming Sphere, DC 19 on the center one: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 3) = 11

Do we any more info on the Cloaker? We got a 22, 28, and 31 on the k checks.

Rackle, seeing the danger erupt around him, takes the roguish approach and... hides! He dashes up to the nearest stall and ducks inside.

Stealth: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

Do we any more info on the Cloaker? We got a 22, 28, and 31 on the k checks.

Anything in particular you want to know? Strengths, Resistances?

And CR or HD. I figure we should know how tough it is to kill if you've identified it.

Cloaker's Perception, 70 feet away: 1d20 + 14 - 7 ⇒ (17) + 14 - 7 = 24
Rackle hides behind a stall.

Bat Swarm's Reflex Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
The bats briefly scatter as a ball of flame erupts around them, burning a few of them in one cluster.

Fly: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22
The cloaker flies on top of a building, its serrated stinger scrapes off some of the roof tiles. It lays flat on the roof.

Round 1
Nivik
Rackle
Cloaker
Ghrezzd
Zandric
Pierre
Bom
Bat Swarms (Green 7 damage)
Nira

The rest of the party gets ready before the swarms do.

After waiting for any group buffs to be cast
Bom casts Lead Blades on himself and moves behind an adjacent stall with Ulfur. Bom commands the wolf to follow and Down Wolf goes into Total Defense

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
Perform: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Ha! Didn't manage to make any of them.

Zandric whirls about in confusion as the bats bombard the town. "What the... hey! Get outta here!"

He gathers his wits and looks around, finally seeing the cloaker when it flies up and draws his allies' gaze. He draws his bow and says, "Come, friends! We must protect the people from these monsters... not to mention protecting ourselves! Give them everything you've got!"

Begin inspired rage, move forward and draw bow. 1/18 rounds used.

Ghrezzd seeing the cloaker, forms a magical ball of ice intensified by the reagent he draws from his haversack and throws the sphere at the beast.

Intensified Snowball versus Touch AC: 1d20 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 2 + 3 = 23 Fort DC18 or staggered 1 round.
for cold damage of : 6d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 2, 5, 2, 5) = 25

Ghrezzd, Snowball has a range of 35 feet. You can't get close enough in one round.

He could probably move and cast in the same round, yes? He'd just have to forgo using the reagent.

K. Nature (Identify Bat Swarm): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14 Need to confirm whether my weapons can damage the swarm. I'm guessing no if the creatures are diminutive or tiny.