Clement Twice-Born |
Clement returns to the others wearing a pair of reddish-brown boots, which he seems to gesture at with a broad grin.
"Magic. In case of more of those... huggers."
Rubbing his hands together, he checks his dagger, mace and shield before giving everyone a nod.
"So, we're ready?"
Rhesus Ghawn |
Rhesus spends his time shopping, looking for a shiny new dagger and other odds and ends.
Returning to the group freshly armed and ready, he nods at Clem.
"Let's do it."
He thrusts his hips forward.
"What do you think of my new belt?"
Rhesus Ghawn |
Rhesus watches in disgust as Spasi scratches himself.
"Uh, Spasi? Don't they have spells you can buy at the temple to keep the oozing down?"
Yuck.
GM Fanguar |
Often called simply the Great Library, the Threassic Spire is believed by many to be the oldest repository of written knowledge in Varisia. A circular tower eight stories tall, the structure is rumored to extend an equal number of stories below ground. The librarians who run it re reclusive sect that lives within its walls, and part of the library's fame comes from the fact that all knowledge is welcome, no matter how trivial, dangerous or profane, though finding it in te twisting, bizarrely organized stacks is another matter entirely.
When you are ready, Vargun brings you to the library. As you approach, you can help but notice that the huge, iron-bound doors of the library are sht tight and a small, meticulously lettered sign announces tha tthe library is closed until further notice. Vargun ignores the sign completely and pounds on the door with a meaty fist, keeping it up for a full minute. At last, a panel in the doors slides open and a pair of beady eyes stare out through ornate metal grill work. "If you can't read the sign." a prim voice says, "then there's nothing in here for you anyways."
Spasi Gaten |
Spasi looks at Vargun expectantly.
"C'mon, Vargun, we had a deal," Spasi says, not expecting this reaction from the troll or library. "Get us in." Spasi says. He waits about 5 seconds before deciding to help.
1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 Bluff
"We're Pathfinders, we know what we're doing," Spasi says, lying convincingly through his teeth. "We're here with the trolls, so you know we're okay. Now open up."
Clement Twice-Born |
Clement looks to Rhesus, shrugs, then turns back to look at the door, a cautious smirk on his face as he's unsure if Spasi's tricks will work as effectively at getting into a library as they will at getting into a Calistrian "temple".
GM Fanguar |
Vagun sticks her tusked face in front of the window's grill. "These folks are looking for a shard of the Sihedron. I know that you and the Council of Truth are looking for it. Open up or I will bring the might of the Augers against you."
You a hear a muttered, "Well why didn't you just say so...", as the window closes and you hear a bolt being drawn. The door opens to reveal a hunched human woman in red robes who waves you in.
Vagun bids you farewell at the library's threshold. "Good luck with your search and thank you again for rescuing my brother."
Once you are inside, the woman closed and bars the door. She gives a critical look over before saying, "So you are looking for a shard? Some things are best left buried. Why do you seek a fragment of the Sihedron?"
Spasi Gaten |
"Yeah, we're getting paid to. Like I said already, we're totally competent and good Packminders," Spasi says, pointing to one of the many symbols of the Open Road around. "Oh, and we have Wayfinders. That's how you know we're what we say we are."
Spasi waits for the realization to hit the woman.
"Now, we need to find the last shard. Would you want to help us?"
GM Fanguar |
The librarian gives you a look of disapproval, "Mercenaries working for the Pathfinders. I guess you'll have to do. I am Koifa, head librarian. Follow me, listen and don't interrupt."
She heads deeper into the library, not looking to see if you follow. "While most people believe that we represent the original scholars to take up residence in Kaer Maga that couldn't be further from the truth/ Far below us is a subterranean real called Xavorax and there dwells a race of telepathic extraplanar researchers and historians known as the Caulborn. The city and these creatures predate the empire of Thassilon and they served the runelords for generations before being driven below ground by the calamities of Eathfall."
"Over the years, we have occasionally made contact with the Caulborn in order to answer specific esoteric questions. These requests were always made as an effort of last resort, since the payments are always in the form of consumed memories." She shudders. "Afterwards you don't even know what they've taken."
"Anyways, several weeks ago we were contacted directly. The Caulborn offered to help us to recover an artifact of great power, a shard of the Sihedron, from another legendary realm below the city called the Dark Forest. They revealed to us that this tower contained a secret door which leads down into an undiscovered portion of the Undercity that contains one of Karzoug's many workshops. We were instructed to send our group to rendezvous with emissaries from Xavorax in "the chamber of the black menhir, beyond the River of Memory." The Caulborn would then aid in transporting the retrieval party to the heart of the Dark Forest where the fragment rests."
"Who can say what these creatures true motives are, but this opportunity was too good to pass up. We hired a group of adventures and resurrected the Council of Truth to find the article. This whole endeavor, sending the recovery team down through the lost workshop to the meeting point with the Caulborn, then into the Dark Forest for a quick snatch-and-grab, was supposed to take only a few days at most."
"Something has gone terribly wrong. The group hasn't returned, but neither have they met up with the Caulborn. Gods know what they might have awoken beneath the city. At this point, I just want to wash my hands of the whole affair. What I propose is that you complete the mission. Go rendezvous with the Caulborn and do what they want. You can keep everything that you recover, I don't care. I'll even sweeten the pot. I'll pay to recover the members of first expedition. 1000gp dead and 2000gp if they are recovered alive."
A this point she stops. The maze of cluttered bookshelves has been cleared away from the wall in this storeroom far under the Spire's ground floor. In its place, several wooden reading tables have been overturned and stacked to create a curved barricade surrounding a portion of the stone wall. A light patch shows where a tapestry once hung, now crumpled and forgotten on a nearby shelf, and a stone door, so perfectly made that it would be almost invisible when shut, hangs slightly ajar.
A full dozen librarians, old and strangely stunted humanoids of various races, all in red robes, sit on cushions and chairs around the barricade, keeping watch against anything that might come through the door. Several have wands or staves close at hand.
Koifa turns to yo, "So do you agree?"
Spasi Gaten |
"So, do you agree?"
Spasi doesn't answer directly, moving forward to look at the humanoids and the door they watch.
"What's going on here? I gotta be honest with you, whatever is happening here is *much* more interesting than some stupid shard," Spasi says. "What are you afraid of here? Is this something we could fix for you? You know, you're wasting a lot of time just staring at a stone wall."
Spasi looks at Bibic and Rhesus to see if they are similarly intrigued.
Rhesus Ghawn |
Rhesus scratches his head at the scene.
"Maybe they're waiting for whatever killed the first group? Hey, how'd you know they didn't meet with the cauldrons? You got a way to talk to them?"
Clement Twice-Born |
Clement simultaneously claps Rhesus and Bibic on the pat. He then leans over somewhat awkwardly to give Spasi a pat to ensure the arcanist isn't left out.
"What luck! It's a two-fer! Shard-retrieval and prior-party retrieval, bounties for both!"
Clement beams, realizing what luck he's stumbled into. He gives a glance down at his fancy new boots, knowing they'll keep him almost as safe as Rhesus does, or rather they'll keep him safe in those odd cases when Rhesus pulls out a bow.
"So Caulborn? What's that mean? Were they born in a cauldron, and someone decided to shorten the 'dron' part from their names? Somehow I feel strangely intrigued if they were Cauldron-born..."
GM Fanguar |
"Well at least the big guy has some brains. This door leads to a Runelord's abandoned laboratory and to the undercity. Who knows what is down there, or what the first group awakened or activated. I assure you they were qualified for the mission, but we're talking a Runeload here. Could be demons, sinspawn, giant mechanical spiders and who knows what else down there. Needless to say, we're a little worried about what might come up out of there."
Bibic |
Knowledge History: 1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 13 + 2 = 21
Bibic shudders a bit and stands behind Rhesus. "They say it's the home of the Dark Rider, a headless undead horseman that once a year, appears to claim a victim somewhere in northwest Avistan."
"Why he travels from here to there to do his work no one knows, but hopefully he's out while we're in there."
He hesitates, and then does some math in his head. "How may folks were in the first expedition?" Could be a tidy sum!
"Look here Spasi, clearly these folks are in need. Let's at least check it out for them, shall we?"
Spasi Gaten |
Spasi scratches his chin, intrigued.
"So...you're afraid of whatever could come through that door? And whatever team you sent before hasn't returned, right? And you guys think the shard is down there? And also, we get to keep the shard and get a nice reward if we find your missing party? I just want to be sure I understand things, Koifa," Spasi addresses Koifa, but looks to Clem and Rhesus to see if they understand the same.
Clement Twice-Born |
Clement nods, believing Spasi's tidy summary to be the case, and in the slight chance he misunderstood, hoping that his conviction in nodding helps make it so, realizing that sometimes when misunderstandings like this happen, the person offering the reward ends up in a social snag where they need to go forward once enough people believe the terms have reached a certain point.
"That's what I hear. We are risking our lives against rather tough odds, after all. In fact, I'm not even sure if the promise of the 2000 gold is enough, if this Dark Rider truly lives down there... I mean with our magic, we could probably sneak past all this stuff and just get the shard, right?"
Clement turns to Spasi, and just barely holds back from winking to see if the arcanist is catching on with his attempt at negotiating.
Rhesus Ghawn |
Rhesus beams at the compliment.
"Here that guys? I've got brains!"
He moves towards the door, completely missing the obvious in the conversation around him.
"So, we ready or what?"
Spasi Gaten |
Rhesus beams at the compliment.
"Here that guys? I've got brains! So, we ready or what?"
Here? I'm assuming that's an in-character typo. ;)
"I've never doubted your brains, Rhesus," Spasi says with confidence. "You're smart in muscles, you are."
Presuming that what Spasi said above is agreed to, Spasi is ready to go down and do what needs to be done. He motions for Rhesus to lead on, ready to get it on.
Bibic |
Weapon Equipped = Bow
Cold Iron Arrows = 25/25
Silver Blunt Arrows = 10/10
Adamantium Salted Arrows = 10/10
Ghost Salted Arrows = 10/10
Reptile Bane Arrows = 5/5
Bardic Performance = 20/20 (+2 round lingering)
Boots of Speed = 10/10 (+1 attack, +1 bonus on attack rolls, and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves)
Shard Major Image = 1/1
LoreMaster = 1/1 (take-20 on any knowledge check)
Bow Attack Mods: BAB +6/1, Dex +4, Weapon Focus +1, Bow +2, (Rapid Shot -2), (Deadly Aim -2)
Bow Damage Mods: Composite Bow +3, Bow +2, (Deadly Aim +4)
Bard Spells: (First: 5/5)(Second: 3/4)(CL 8, Con: +11, SR +10, DC: 13+)
0) Detect Magic, Light, Mending, Prestidigitation, Read Magic, Spark
1) Cure Light Wounds, Feather Fall, Grease, Unseen Servant
2) Calm Emotions, Cure Moderate Wounds, Glitterdust, Heroism
Bibic slips his glasses on, granting him darkvision. He also casts Light for those for whom that will be useful.
After checking his arrows one more time, he draws his bow, and casts Heroism on himself, hoping he’s not casting too soon. He then follows Rhesus into the darkness.
GM Fanguar |
Koifa confirms that Spasi's summary is correct and gives you the details of the missing members of the first expidition: Hasari - Human female monk, Perotus - Male halfling rogue, Luonim the Vast - Male gnome bloatmage and Silasni - Female dark naga.
With Rhesus in the lead, the party passes through the door and enters a narrow, dark passageway of rough stone. The hallways twists and turns, ever downwards, for hundreds of feet before ending at another cleverly disguised stone door. The room beyond is bare save for a single ornate, high-backed wooded chair against the wall. in the rooms center, a head-sized blob of condensed purple fluid slowly pulses and warps, like a drop of heavy oil suspended underwater.
As soon as you enter the room, the blob pulses and a pleasant female voice speaks, Thassilonian "Please state your query."
I've updated the map for your reference.
Bibic |
Bibic tells the group, in common, "It's speaking in Thassilonian and wants to know what we want. I'm going to tell her we want the shard."
He looks happy, Maybe this will be a quick trip! he hopes idly.
Clement Twice-Born |
Clement smiles and nods, realizing how great it is to be surrounded with clever elves and brilliant arcanists.
"Good thinking, Bibs. I'm sure this will be easy."
Clement begins to stow his green-tinted dagger, completely confident that openly requesting the shard will lead to its instant obtainment...
Spasi Gaten |
Spasi nods, agreeing with Bibic's Thassolono-speak and what he's asked for.
"We could be outta here in a few minutes then. This was an easy one, I'd say," Spasi says, totally correctly (I'm sure of it. Totes.)
"Just hope that they don't have lots and lots of shards around here...then we'll have to hunt for the right one. That one might take minutes...or tens of minutes."
Spasi waits for the voice to respond.
Bibic |
HP: 46/46; AC: 16 (T14/FF12)
F: +6, R: +9, W: +5
Location: Back Row
Opponent: None
Full: Longbow (cold iron): 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 1 = 14 (point blank) damage: 1d8 + 9 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (8) + 9 + 1 - 5 = 13 (point blank, strength)
Longbow (cold iron): 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 1 = 12 (point blank) damage: 1d8 + 9 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 1 - 5 = 7 (point blank, strength)
iterative Longbow (cold iron): 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 1 = 22 (point blank) damage: 1d8 + 9 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 1 - 5 = 7 (point blank, strength)
Weapon Equipped = Bow
Cold Iron Arrows = 22/25
Silver Blunt Arrows = 10/10
Adamantium Salted Arrows = 10/10
Ghost Salted Arrows = 10/10
Reptile Bane Arrows = 5/5
Bardic Performance = 20/20 (+2 round lingering)
Boots of Speed = 10/10 (+1 attack, +1 bonus on attack rolls, and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves)
Shard Major Image = 1/1
LoreMaster = 1/1 (take-20 on any knowledge check)
Bow Attack Mods: BAB +6/1, Dex +4, Weapon Focus +1, Bow +2, (Rapid Shot -2), (Deadly Aim -2)
Bow Damage Mods: Composite Bow +3, Bow +2, (Deadly Aim +4)
Bard Spells: (First: 5/5)(Second: 3/4)(CL 8, Con: +11, SR +10, DC: 13+)
0) Detect Magic, Light, Mending, Prestidigitation, Read Magic, Spark
1) Cure Light Wounds, Feather Fall, Grease, Unseen Servant
2) Calm Emotions, Cure Moderate Wounds, Glitterdust, Heroism
Fort: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 2 = 17 (heroism)
Surprise, surprise... Those are some high DCs!
Bibic says, ”That was... uncool you!” and he shoots a few arrows at the blob though in his current condition they do much less damage than they might have - if they hit anything solid at all.
Rhesus Ghawn |
Fort DC 20: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21
Rhesus shrugs off the wave of wrong answers.
"Blech. Tastes like coconut. What'd you do Bibic, offer it Noya as a wife?"
Spasi Gaten |
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 Fort
"Blech. Tastes like coconut. What'd you do Bibic, offer it Noya as a wife?"
Spasi snorts, enjoying the larf and completely unaware of how close he came to snorking dust and sucking the odor of Clem's feet.
"Good one, Rhesus. Say, whatever happened to Noya? Do you think she ever found people that didn't hate her silly?" Spasi asks as he tries to make sense of the response from the blob.
1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 Int check
1d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 27 Know (Arcana)
1d20 + 17 ⇒ (8) + 17 = 25 Know (History)
Looking to figure out what possible good questions might be or what answers the blob might offer.
Clement Twice-Born |
Fort DC20: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Clement shudders as something happens, clearly from the blobgirl.
"Ugh... what was that? Rhesus -- you okay?"
Clement tries to lift Rhesus up, watching his friend stumble slightly.
We can move to restore that, although -- are we in combat?
Bibic |
Bibic is frustrated he can't take out his rage on the inert thing. He takes out a couple scrolls of lesser restoration to take the edge off.
"I have four scrolls, which won't do much. But we'll have to pass this gateway again, so I don't know that going back is worthwhile unless we're going to buy a wand or something..."
"Do we go forward? Back? What's the plan? We're in no particular hurry..." he holds up the scrolls.
Rhesus Ghawn |
Rhesus slumps against Clem.
"I got a plan. Let's go back, get healed up quick, then beat the $#*% out of them librarians fer not tellin' us about this blob, then come back and get the shard."
Spasi Gaten |
Spasi nods, agreeing with Rhesus, but he's not really sure what the problem was.
"Yeah, we should at least warn the ijits back there what's here in case they need to send someone to get our bodies," Spasi confirms and begins to walk back.
"I wonder how long that's going to last."
Clement Twice-Born |
Two of us took 11 Strength damage?
Lesser restore (Bibic): 3d4 ⇒ (1, 3, 3) = 7
Lesser restore (Rhesus): 4d4 ⇒ (1, 3, 3, 4) = 11
Clement gets right to work restoring the strength sapped away from his allies by "Blobby".
"That's about all I can do today..."
He pats Bibic on the back.
That's all the 2nd level slots. Although I can't recall, I think I could use a 3rd level slot on a 2nd level spell, even without metamagic applied?
Bibic |
Bibic asks the assembled old men if they wouldn't mind casting lessor restoration - if any of them can. Assuming not, he would want to buy two more scrolls of lesser restoration (all he can afford right now). He then tries to cleans himself and Rhesus of this burden.
Lesser Restoration: 3d4 ⇒ (1, 3, 3) = 7
He uses his other three scrolls on Rhesus
Lesser Restoration: 3d4 ⇒ (3, 2, 2) = 7
"I have two potions still, but I'd like to save those for an emergency. Let's head back in tomorrow at least so we heal a bit overnight. This place better pay off Spasi - I just spent a lot of money and we've got nothing to show for it." he says bitterly.
GM Fanguar |
@Bibic: I'm sure that either the librarians or the Augers will provide you with the spell casting free of charge.
@Clement: I'm reasonably sure spontaneous spellcasters can sacrifice a higher spell slot to cast a lower level spell.
Next day:
The room is bare save for a single ornate, high-backed wooded chair against the wall. in the rooms center, a head-sized blob of condensed purple fluid slowly pulses and warps, like a drop of heavy oil suspended underwater.
As soon as you enter the room, the blob pulses and a pleasant female voice speaks, Thassilonian "Please state your query."
Bibic |
Bibic says nothing, but barrels through the room and quickly into the next one. As he runs, he hopes the trap doesn't trigger!
Thanks for the casting Fanguar! I'll keep the scrolls then. Bibic would have re-cast heroism as he came in.
Spasi Gaten |
Spasi freezes, unable to quickly join his companions and watches from a distance away.
If nothing bad happens, he'll join them. If something else happens...well, we'll see....
Clement Twice-Born |
Clement opens his mouth to ask the others what the plan might be this time around, but as he watches Bibic and Rhesus charge ahead in silence, he turns towards Spasi, shrugs, and then follows quickly after Rhesus.
Lifelink and Shield Other up on Rhesus.
Bibic |
HP: 51/51; AC: 16 (T14/FF12)
F: +6, R: +9, W: +5
Location: Back Row
Opponent: None
Action: Run!
Weapon Equipped = Bow
Cold Iron Arrows = 22/25
Silver Blunt Arrows = 10/10
Adamantium Salted Arrows = 10/10
Ghost Salted Arrows = 10/10
Reptile Bane Arrows = 5/5
Bardic Performance = 22/22 (+2 round lingering)
Boots of Speed = 10/10 (+1 attack, +1 bonus on attack rolls, and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves)
Shard Major Image = 1/1
LoreMaster = 1/1 (take-20 on any knowledge check)
Bow Attack Mods: BAB +7/2, Dex +4, Weapon Focus +1, Bow +2, (Rapid Shot -2), (Deadly Aim -2)
Bow Damage Mods: Composite Bow +3, Bow +2, (Deadly Aim +4)
Bard Spells: (CL 9, Con: +12, SR +11, DC: 13+)
0) Detect Magic, Light, Mending, Prestidigitation, Read Magic, Spark
1) (5/5) Cure Light Wounds, Feather Fall, Grease, Timely Inspiration, Unseen Servant
2) (3/4) Calm Emotions, Cure Moderate Wounds, Glitterdust, Heroism
3) (2/2) Dispel Magic, Haste
Bibic sees the blob slowly take shape as he runs through the room… I’m not gonna make it!
Will: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 2 = 8 vs DC 19
He turns around and flees out of the complex. When his panic subsides, he rushes back through, hoping it doesn't instantly reset.
Rhesus Ghawn |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Will DC 19: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Rhesus resists the wave of fear, and instead grabs Bibic and carries him into the next room as he attempts to run past.