GM Kate's Ruins of Azlant (closed) (Inactive)

Game Master Kate Baker

As Purpose and Silt examine the small skeletons, the answer becomes immediately apparent: they were killed here. Each skeleton bears the same slashing marks.

Unfortunately, Toby notices nothing off as he bounds up to the buried skull.

Surprise Round
Purpose
Silt
A totally normal pumpkin vine

No one made the check to spot the critter, but the encounter specifies that anyone who made the check to notice the bones can act in the surprise round. Purpose and Silt beat it in initiative, so you can either take an action that doesn't depend on knowing where it is, or delay until after it goes.

A totally normal pumpkin vine suddenly transforms into a blood-colored plant! It lashes out at Toby with a vine.

Hmm, I guess if I didn't know it was around I'd delay 'til after it goes!

After delay:
Purpose Creche whips around at the sudden motion: churned soil, lashing plant creature, Toby's shocked face.
He places a hand on his sword and turns inwards for a moment, mind questing for the iron around his waist.
Wooden arms covered in sap and flecks of green. Small, still forms and featureless iron-banded faces crouching in a thicket.
The weapon thrums at his touch, and he takes a step forward.

5 ft. step, and assuming the Azlanti longsword does indeed have a +1 enhancement bonus, it now has the plant bane special quality for 1 minute!

You wouldn’t know where it is to attack, but I think you can call this your spidey senses going off to let you know that something dangerous is here. Given that your action doesn’t involve an attack, you do not have to delay.

Spiney-sense tingling, but not knowing exactly what's going on, Silt will draw his spear and step cautiously forward.

know(nature) for next round: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

I think that's one question? What's one of its special defenses, if any?

I think that's two questions. You get one for hitting the target, another for every 5 you beat it by.

You can use this skill to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities. In general, the DC of such a check equals 10 + the monster's CR. For common monsters, such as goblins, the DC of this check equals 5 + the monster's CR. For particularly rare monsters, such as the tarrasque, the DC of this check equals 15 + the monster's CR, or more. A successful check allows you to remember a bit of useful information about that monster. For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information. Many of the Knowledge skills have specific uses as noted on Table: Knowledge Skill DCs.

Thannks Dennis! What are its preferred climates and/or habitats, Kate?

Cedar has no clue so he's just hanging out until something happens.

Regular Initiative

Purpose
Silt
Blood Maize
Toby
Cedar

In addition to plant traits, the blood maize can root deep, hooking a vine deep into the soil to give it a bonus against bull rush and trip attempts.

They are found in temperate climates, and like gardens and farms, thanks to the tilled soil and frequent visitors. They're almost non-existent in the Inner Sea, found more typically in Arcadia and surrounding islands.

Also, the corn is totally edible, and definitely won't give anyone a taste for blood.

Yum.

Silt moves forward 10'.

Spear+4: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 He wonders if it tastes like those wretched "raspberries" while watching his spear fly wide of the mark.

Purpose Creche, oblivious to the aggressive corn's properties—and yes, the experience of taste in general—steps forward and swings his glowing sword at the swaying red mass atop its body. Just before the weapon impacts with the creature, a deep yellow sheen springs into being around the blade. It bites deep, and Purpose Creche pulls it free to step back and take a defensive stance behind his shield.

Swing: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23 (+3 normally, additional +2 from bane)
Damage: 3d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 6, 4) + 4 = 16 oh dip, that's a whole lotta damage for 1st level

Purpose stabs the Azlanti sword deep into the stalk of the blood maize, nearly slicing the plant in half. In response, it releases a cloud of pollen that stings the eyes of the three right next to it.

This functions as obscuring mist, but is not a spell or SLA, so no AoO. Also...

Toby's injury deepens.

bleed: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Purpose
Silt
Blood Maize -16 hp
Toby
Cedar

Purpose Creche stands resolute, his artificial constitution unaffected by the plant's emissions. Woo construct traits!
Just making sure—Toby and Cedar get to go, right?

fort: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

YUM

Yes, we're at the second half of round 1 and first half of round 2 before the plant goes again.

"Toby, hang in there! Jerome help us!"

Cedar steps forward and calls forth Jerome!

"Skreee!" Jerome dives at the plant!

Talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11 damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Beak: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15 damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Silt 5' steps forward. When he sees the plant outlined in the green gloom, he stabs at it.

Spear+4: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

He sneezes, and doesn't even even bother to roll miss chance.

I'm afraid I need a Fortitude save from Cedar and Jerome, too, now that they've entered the pollen cloud. Also, apologies for the circle getting off; it's in the right place now.

Purpose Creche dances forward, and though he has no lungs to fill, the shifting clouds of pollen still confound his vision; his ochre-limned blade skitters off the creature's husk.
Sworderize: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 2 = 13 (assuming flanking with my boy Jerome!)
Miss chance, 21+ hits: 1d100 ⇒ 23
Damage: 3d6 + 4 ⇒ (5, 2, 1) + 4 = 12

Cedar Fort save: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (8) + 0 = 8
Jerome Fort save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Fort save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Toby whines as he stumbles backwards, nearly tripping over an ignored plant. He draws a potion of cure light wounds and quickly drinks it, hoping to stem the flow of blood from his wound.

clw: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

5ft step, move action to draw potion, standard to drink.

Cedar and Jerome move in, both immediately blinded by the cloud of pollen.

50% miss chance, high is good for Jerome: 1d100 ⇒ 56

Nevertheless, Jerome nips the blood maize solidly, getting a mouthful of delicious corn, his jaunty scarf just visible through the cloud of pollen.

As Toby moves back to drink a potion and stop the bleeding, Purpose strikes again, completely cleaving the vicious plant. The cloud of pollen clears, and the battle has ended.

Well done, guys! The next field has another one of these things but a repeat of the same battle seems anti-climactic. The next field after that has some ankheg holes, but you're able to work out that the ankheg there was the second one that joined your earlier battle (Karla). As far as you can tell, you've cleared out every danger present in Talmandor's Bounty.

Congratulations! This is the end of Part 1. You will level to 2 the next time you sleep. Speaking of which, checking out all the fields took another couple of hours, so it's probably early-to-mid afternoon now. You can head out to the rest of the colony, but it will be dark by the time you get there. Also, as a little nudge from the GM, you're certainly aware now that this island has many dangers, and you may run into some on your journey. It is however, up to you whether you want to head out now or sleep here and go tomorrow.

I'm having trouble finding that group inventory sheet, but I had a potion of clw in my starting inventory. I would like to hole either one of the ones Ramona gave us or one of the ones we found to make sure I have one available.

I'll put up a bigger post later, but Purpose Creche can now identify items! Picked up detect magic, plus

EDIT: whoops, yep! If traveling overland today means trekking through the dark, Purpose Creche votes for sleeping here.

Should I take that to mean that you are sleeping here?

Yeah, I vote for that, too.

Yeah, I agree too. Let's sleep here.

Cedar shields his eyes as he looks toward the afternoon sun.

"Considering it's getting on in the day and that it's going to take us six hours to get to the second site, I think we should spend another night here. Otherwise we're going to end up hiking in the dark, and who knows what we may encounter."

I don't necessarily need to RP out another night though, unless you guys want to, 'cause I'm ready to level!

Silt's eyes boggle at the spare potions. We had more of those, and I've been eating those "raspberries" this whole time!?

Llyu-Llyu's fin slaps him on the head. Oh. These fields can still be harvested at the planned time, with some extra work.

"My apologies, Silt—a quartermaster should know what supplies are available." Purpose Creche sits cross-legged in the field, meticulously cleaning his sword. "A good day. The colony mostly secured, and the promise of provisions for the future," he says without looking up from his work. "We can arrive at the landing sight tomorrow, with good news."

He stops wiping the blade. "Well. Small good news. Larger bad."

Yeah, I'm fine handwaving the RP. I'll do a snapshot of the funky occult stuff that happens when Purpose levels, but other'n that I don't have anything pressing!

Before heading back for the night Silt will take some meat from the smokehouse and pay tribute to Karl. He can't try to improve Karl's attitude again 'till tomorrow, which he would like to do in the morning if possible.

Walking back, he mutters to himself, I need a surer way to make friends… Karl is so grumpy.

Karl wiggles his hindquarters happily as Silt brings dinner. He chows down on the new hunk of salted meat and belches contentedly.

The evening passes quietly, with no interruptions by goblins, bugs, or spirits. Everyone awakes the next morning feeling slightly more powerful than before.

Magic items:
+1 longsword
+1 holy reliquary composite longbow (+2 Str)
+1 darkwood buckler
wand of color spray (12 charges)
lesser talisman of good fortune
ring of protection +1
quick runner's shirt

When the morning comes, Toby rises and looks out the window. "What a beautiful morning! Who wants to go swimming?", and with that he bounds out the door, heading for the water.

Cedar strips off his shirt and pulls off his boots, hopping as he chases after Toby.

"Last one in cleans up after Karl!"

Silt will take the quick runner's shirt — possibly the Ring of Protection if that's cool unless someone else wants it. Otherwise, nothing else he wants.

Silt sits at the beach as before, performing his morning meditations. He feels the grains of sand gliding inevitably into the fathomless deep while Llyu-Llyu frolics in the cold ocean with Toby and Cedar.

Silt has a plan and he memorized a special new spell for today. Before that, though, he gives Karl a morning accolade of salted lamb shank. Wild Empathy -2 -4(magical beast): 1d20 - 6 ⇒ (5) - 6 = -1 (edit: I would prefer to keep the original dice roll of 16 for a net 10, which I accidentally posted and then removed in the discussion forum! It's still not enough but it wasn't a horrible roll.)

While his straw hat trails tiny puffs of acrid smoke, Silt quietly stalks the fringes of the village, looking for a raptor, deer, or other such animal to talk to. Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 (the original roll was 1 higher but this should still be enough to find a creature I hope?)

If/when he finds a suitable animal, Silt would like to bribe it with some tasty meat or nuts and berries, cast Speak with Animals, and question it about recent events.

Suggestions welcome; he can converse for 2 minutes with an animal. This is, of course, assuming the animal won't give completely inane answers. Questions so far include:
1. Where did the two-legged creatures who were building and planting things go? What direction?
2. Did they leave in a herd or flock? Or did they leave alone?
3. Were some of them hurting each other?
4. Did you see any creatures come out of the sea, or other things that don't belong, come into this territory?
5. Have you heard of a very smart and handsome bird named Irp?

Toby dives in and then...doesn't resurface. A minute passes. Two minutes. Still nothing. After five long, worrying minutes, you see him come running toward you from a few hundred yards up the beach. He moves faster than you've ever seen him move before (as if he suddenly has a 40ft move speed on flat ground), a small wave seeming to follow by his feet. "Woah, did you see how far I swam underwater? It was easy, like I could stay down there forever! The ocean here is so cool! There's all sorts of neat fish and shells and stuff, not like our creeks back home." Oblivious to any concern he may have caused, Toby will happily frolic and play with Llyu-Llyu and Cedar.

Silt, your original rolls are fine. You can definitely find an animal, but I will have to give some thought to the answers. :)

Cedar slicks back his wet hair as he bobs in the ocean.

"Toby, that was fantastic. I didn't know you could move so fast underwater!"

"Me neither! It's like the water was carrying me! I think there must be something about the water here."

Mechanically, Toby is now constantly under the effects of slipstream and can breathe underwater.

Cedar bobs in the water and watches Toby intently.

"Toby, I have something I want to show you as well. Remember when I told you I love swimming in the ocean too? Poodles and eagles aren't the only things I can call to for help. There is someone else, even more powerful. Watch."

As Cedar concentrates, mist and water begin to swirl around him, blue and green and white, taking on serpentine shapes and tendril-like forms. Cedar's eyes flash. "Hakkuho, fuse with me!"

When the mist clears, a white sea serpent with a green mane and long whiskers stares at Toby from the spot where Cedar once swam.

"Hello, Toby," it says in a melodious voice. "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Hakkuho."

This plus This equals Hakkuho!

Silt is able to find a deer who accepts the berries happily.

1. They left on a big wooden thing in the water.
2. They left in a herd.
3. I don't know.
4. Only the two-legged creatures.
5. No. Does he have berries too?

Toby instinctively starts to sniff at the creature before him, catching himself quickly. "Oh! Hi Hakkuho! It's nice to meet you but, um...where did Cedar go?"

Sorry for the short post, folks, big deadline and other stuff. I really like the RP here, though!

Purpose Creche is even quieter than usual during the evening. He surrounds himself with the various items of note that Team Bugfriend the party has collected so far. At some point, he seems to slip off into a trance, and anyone getting close detects faint smells of ash, green wood, turned soil, and blood.

In the morning, he explains the equipment's magical properties. He also approaches Sil'tchaak and asks, matter-of-factly, "Could you describe the olfactory senses? How they work? What the sensation is like?"

I figure he hasn't seen Toby or Cedar yet, but will be hella intrigued by this Hakkuho business!

Hakkuho swims in a circle around Toby.

"Cedar is right here, Toby. He and I are one."

As Hakkuho loops playfully through the ocean waves, it is not difficult to see Cedar through the translucent flesh of Hakkuho's belly. Cedar's eyes are closed as though he is sleeping peacefully. A glowing rune on Cedar's forehead matches the symbol on Hakkuho's.

"How wonderful," Hakkuho says as he admires his arms and hands as though seeing them for the first time. "I've evolved."

Hakkuho is medium, but his tail has reach, so I imagine he's long. He only has a 20 foot swim speed, so he's probably not as fast as Toby! Their rune is of course the astrological symbol for Mercury.

Back with Purpose…

What's "olfactory"?

After Purpose teaches Silt a new word, he explains:

Smell is a part of the whole of some things. You cannot understand the whole unless you know all its parts.

He gingerly examines a raspberry. Smell is like a wave. He crushes the raspberry, staining his fingers red. The slimey juice of these seed-pods covers over your mouth like a wave, and that is "taste." But invisible little pieces also break off and infect the air. They fly on the wind into your nose like salt-spray off a wave.

Sometimes these pieces hurt, like little knives stabbing you from the inside — these "raspberries," for example. And like a plume of mud spreading in the water, there is no escape… you are lucky to miss such a thing.

Gazing out to the South, he continues. Sometimes, though it's nice. The "smell" of Karl's special drool, wherever he goes. To be reminded of burning things, or other pleasant sensations. This is an important part of the Karl Experience.

The invisible pieces of the thing enter you, and memories live again inside you. It is like magic: you better understand the thing, and you better understand yourself. So, I also feel sad you can't "smell."

Toby's swim speed is entirely from slipstream, so it is also 20ft.

"Hey, you guys wanna swim to the other side of the island instead of walking? This is fun!"

With deep musical laughter, Hakkuho splashes and rolls through the waves with Toby and Llyu-Llyu, until Toby mentions the other side of the island. In Hakkuho’s belly, Cedar’s brow furrows.

Arching, Hakkuho falls backwards into the water, his fins and tail and mane quickly dissolving away until only Cedar, slowly sinking, remains.

Cedar rises from the waves, slicking back his hair.

”You’re right Toby. We still have to meet up with Ramona and the others. We should probably pack up and head out soon,” Cedar says, and makes his way back to the shore.

But as he wrings out his long dark hair on the beach he adds with a smile, ”Don’t worry, I’m sure Hakkuho will be back.”

As you pack up and head out, I have a couple of questions.

1. What are you doing with Karl?
2. Are you taking any special precautions, either in town or as you travel?

If karl will follow, Silt would love to take him with

Maybe trail some meat on he fishing line the whole way back…