Mummy's Mask

Game Master Samy

You leave the priests and Sebti after having heard that your Necropolis exploration thing is pretty much done. You make your way down to the quartermaster, whom you can locate fairly easily (Turel for example can point the way, as he knows the building best.) At the quartermaster's, you find out that the church, after some deliberation over the last 24 hours, has come to echo Polux's attitude.

"As it turns out, the priests felt that items used in pursuit of a violation are considered forfeit", the quartermaster explains. "And since it was you who discovered these forfeit items in the Necropolis, the church has decided to award them to you. Although I should warn you that this was done over the strenuous objection of the Taldan woman. But legally, these are now yours." The quartermaster hands over a couple of sacks rattling with armor, weapons and other sundry.

I will make a full list around Thursday. I'm in the process of tallying up all you found in the Sanctum and adding it all to your treasure document.

Edit: I'll list the items now but I may not get around to responding to identify queries until Thu-ish.

"She would object I guess" - Polux chuckles - "And truth be told" - he adds, turning to his companions - "I wouldn't mind returning some of their gear if I thought they would appreciate the gesture, but I guess they probably think after all they have done it is probably our obligation to turn back everything to them, the arrogant idiots" - then shakes his companion and plods through the stuff, looking for something interesting.

"We could ransom some of their items, such as the spellbook and the arcane bond. It is likely of greater value to them than it is to us or any merchant we might sell them to."

"I...kind of felt a little sorry for Azaz," Aleris admits. "I wouldn't mind giving him some of his gear back so at least he's not completely defenseless and broke after all this."

As they look over the confiscated items, Aleris attempts to help in identifying what she can.

Are the various scrolls and wands the only things that ping as magical?

The quartermaster requests that if you're going to start perusing the stuff in more thorough capacity, you do it elsewhere than at his porch. In other words, he politely suggests you relocate somewhere. Do you follow his suggestion, and if so, where to?

Magical pings: potions, scrolls and wands all ping as magical. Spellbooks and spell component pouches if they normally do (not sure if they normally have magical auras or not). In addition to that: the two torches, Idorii's armor, Velriana's bracers, Velriana's apple.

Spellbooks only normally ping if there are some magical protections / wards on them. Writing a spell into a book doesn't make it magical.

Kito helps carry the items, suggesting "Shall we adjourn to the Tooth and Hookah?"

Once there, she will ask if anyone has Read Magic available today. If required, she can memorize it tomorrow along with identify -- if required. She doesn't think it likely any of the items are cursed, and at least one of the wands will be an arcane bond.

Smiling, "Wizards sometimes tie themselves to a particular item, concentrating their magic there rather than allowing it to flow through a familiar like Harmose and I do. Seems really foolish to me, as without the item they have difficulty performing their magic."

Kito will concentrate on identifying the items that Aleris couldn't.

Harmose grins. "What kind of sorceror would I be if I could not read magic?"

Go ahead and have someone bot my spellcraft rolls -- I have IRL issues to deal with today.

Aleris' spellcraft rolls identify the following:

Azaz:
Potion A = cure light wounds
Potion B = hide from undead
Scroll A = burning hands (CL 2nd)
Scroll B = unknown
Scroll C = unknown
Scroll D = levitate
Scroll E = magic missile
Scroll F = shocking grasp (CL 2nd)
Wand A = unknown
Wand B = vanish (9 charges)

Khelru:
Scrolls C = unknown
Scroll D = unknown
Scroll E = effortless armor
Scroll F = unknown
Scroll G = unknown
Scroll H = unknown
Wand C = cure light wounds (26 charges)

Velriana:
Scroll I = unknown
Scroll J = unknown
Scroll K = unknown
Scroll L = unknown
Wand D = scorching ray (6 charges) <-- very likely Velriana's arcane bond
Wand E = shield (9 charges)

Botting Harmose's Spellcraft

Azaz:
Scroll B: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 flaming sphere
Scroll C: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 identify
Wand A: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 see below

Khelru:
Scrolls C: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24 2 bless scrolls
Scroll D: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18 cure moderate wounds
Scroll F: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16 hold person
Scroll G: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19 magic weapon
Scroll H: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26 sound burst

Velriana:
Scroll I: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21 charm person
Scroll J: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11 invisibility
Scroll K: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 magic missile
Scroll L: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 warding weapon

Read Magic always decodes scrolls, so no need to roll for those in Harmose's case.

Wand A: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

Thanks, Kito! Forgot that! I will edit the previous post and add in all the scrolls.

Wand A = grease (10 charges)

Magical pings: the two torches, Idorii's armor, Velriana's bracers, Velriana's apple.

Botting Harmose:

Spellcraft Torch 1: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27 everburning torch
Spellcraft Torch 2: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 unknown
Spellcraft Idorii's armor: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22 +1 leather armor
Spellcraft Velriana's bracers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 unknown
Spellcraft Velriana's apple: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18 unknown

You make your way to the Tooth and Hookah, where you put the Scorched Hand's equipment on a table and start sifting through them and identifying them as best you can.

While you're sitting at the Tooth and Hookah, Farhaan tells you that due to the influx of artifacts and expensive items that the various adventuring groups have brought in from the Necropolis, certain people are working on setting up an auction where people with surplus stuff can connect with interesting collectors. This upcoming auction will take a few weeks to arrange before it materializes, however.

Congratulations! You have completed Mummy's Mask Adventure Path Part 1: The Half-Dead City!

Spellcraft, Torch 2: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
Spellcraft, Bracers: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
Spellcraft, Apple: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

"I will get the other items tomorrow!"

Kito's spellcraft reveals nothing new.

"Wow, so many scrolls...I'm sure we can make use of most or all of these!" Aleris smiles as they pore over their newly-acquired goods. "And we've found plenty of other things that should fetch money at the auction, too. That should give us plenty of money to operate on while we decide what to do next."

As Kito works to try and identify the last few magical items, the sylph decides to try her hand at it too.

Spellcraft (Torch #2): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Spellcraft (Bracers): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Spellcraft (Apple): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

"Aw...I guess I need more practice," she sighs after she comes up blank as well.

"An auction? That will be interesting. I bet there will be all sorts of strange tomes that were discovered by the other groups. With all this information, we might actually have enough gold to bid on an item or two."

You will have approximately 2-4 weeks of downtime between The Half-Dead City and Mummy's Mask Part 2: Empty Graves. If anyone is interested in constructing buildings of any sort, or recruiting organizations of any sort, the downtime rules in Ultimate Campaign (also on PRD) are available for those sorts of pursuits, but they are not mandatory.

Spellcraft, Torch 2:: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
Spellcraft, Bracers:: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
Spellcraft, Apple:: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Quietly following after the group back to the Tooth and Hooka. Taking a moment to look over the few items they are unsure about but nothing stands out. Though the golden apple is rather intriguing.

The next day, Kito memorizes four identify spells and read magic. She checks all the items again.

Identify, Take 10: 10 + 11 + 10 = 31

The duration of Identify is 3 rounds per level. Since it takes three rounds to get the spellcraft check, this should come out to one item/level.

For the upcoming auction, you can try to influence the auction slate to have items that you are interested in. You can do research beforehand to make sure you know to pounce upon items you want, and you can plant the word on the streets that you are on the lookout for so-and-so.

Each of you may state three magic items that you would like to be available at the auction. For each one, roll Diplomacy, Local or Appraise. The better the roll will be, the more likely the item will show up. (Though it's not guaranteed even with a natural 20.)

The bracers are bracers of armor +1.

The torch (#2) is an ioun torch. (Which actually doesn't resemble a torch, I goofed there.)

The apple is an alluring golden apple.

Kito contacts the twin witches in the Daughters of the Desert adventuring group, Siena and Shara, to discuss exchanging spells.

Roll Diplomacy to see how you get along with them.

Diplomacy, gather information about what they like: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Use information gained by above to select and purchase a small gift for the two of them, 20 gp or less. A bottle of nice wine, perhaps some exotic fruit or a gift for their familiars.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23 Plus any bonus for the gift.

Deciding that she would really like a greater selection of spells, Kito spends some time talking to people trying to find out more about the twin sisters Siena and Shara.

She then spends a bit of time in the market using that information to find a small gift for the two of them or their familiars.

That night, she brings the gift with her and asks to join them at dinner.

Kito's information gathering turns up that the two of them are really into different kinds of veils and smartly Kito figures that they probably already have bought the most obvious veils in Wati, so she scours the back alleys a little for a pair of veils that are more rare in nature. The legwork turns out to be a big hit, as the rarer sort of veil, as well as Kito's demeanor, establish a good rapport with the ladies. They spend the evening having dinner at a restaurant that has some outdoor tables, so not the Tooth and Hookah. The two of them have had a bit too much of fellow adventurers recently so they just want to mingle with the local ambience instead. Siena and Shara are well disposed to Kito's request to exchange spells. The two of them always share spells, so their spell lists are identical and Kito can only exchange spells one-for-one (as opposed to getting two-for-one if the two of them exchanged separately). Siena has a fennec familiar and Shara has a sloth.

Is Kito looking for any spells in particular, or is she just out for whatever she can get?

She has no interest in inflict spells, Infernal Healing, or any others with the [Evil] descriptor.
Spells she would be most interested in by level:
1st: Detect Secret Doors, Ears of the City, Air Bubble, Lock Gaze
2nd: Summon Monster II, Alter Self, Euphoric Cloud (Thera would convince her this is fun), False Life, Frost Fall
After that, it is most any spells she can get.

Kito spends a lovely evening with the two ladies. Having grown up in the area, she provides some details of the local history and places to visit in Wati. Since they are intent on spending a night away from such things, Kito suggests they could trade spells the next day if that is better for them.

The witches agree that hashing out the spell trading would be better the next day so they won't have to ruin the chill-out night by talking business.

During the next day some spell comparison is made.

Roll 1d20+0 to find out which of your listed spells are available. Roll separately for each spell.

90% chance/DC 3: Core Rulebook spells
75% chance/DC 6: APG/Ultimate X spells
50% chance/DC 11: Other Paizo RPG line spells
25% chance/DC 16: Other Paizo spells
5% chance/DC 20: Non-Paizo spells

Are there any spells in Kito's repertoire that she's not willing to trade away, or are all available for trading?

Kito has 3-6 spells that the twins do not have. Roll 1d4+2. You may pick that many spells from a pool of those where you succeeded at the above DC.

She has no spells she is unwilling to trade, but Mirror Image and Animate Rope are from her patron so the sister's probably can't learn those.

CRB: Detect Secret Doors: 1d20 ⇒ 15 Success
Heroes of the Street: Ears of the City: 1d20 ⇒ 19 Success
Ultimate Combat: Air Bubble: 1d20 ⇒ 11 Success
Ultimate Combat: Lock Gaze: 1d20 ⇒ 13 Success

CRB: Summon Monster II: 1d20 ⇒ 20 Success
CRB: Alter Self: 1d20 ⇒ 4 Success
Advanced Class Guide: Euphoric Cloud: 1d20 ⇒ 14 Success
CRB: False Life: 1d20 ⇒ 4 Success
Ultimate Combat: Frost Fall: 1d20 ⇒ 16 Success

Well, that was impressive! Good thing you said low was bad!

Number of spells: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

The next day Kito meets with the sisters and trades for Ears of the City, Detect Secret Doors, Euphoric Cloud (at much urging from Thera), Summon Monster II, and Frost Fall.

How much should I deduct for the gift, and are there any other costs? I do not believe there is normally a cost for trading spells between familiars. The problem for a witch is if the familiar dies you lose all the 'extra' spells you had collected.

The cost of the gift is negligible/trivial at level 4 wealth, so ignore it. No other costs.

The sisters in turn take Glitterdust, See Invisibility, Web, Enlarge Person and Identify.

Okay, time to get the ball rolling again.

Polux works on obtaining an alchemy lab. There's no suitable available quarters at the Tooth and Hookah, but he manages to locate a vacant apartment in a building only two blocks from the Tooth and Hookah, which he obtains and begins to renovate and furnish for his purposes.

Deseri spends time with the Naahn couple, whose husband takes a turn for the worse. It's starting to look like it's going to be only a matter of weeks, perhaps even days, before Bentu will go to Pharasma's graces.

Kito's request to study the Sanctum with the Grand Mausoleum's scholars is approved, and she spends some additional time there, telling them what Discoveries Unlimited found at the site, and in return receiving the scholars' input on what certain things might mean.

Ra-Khefer continues to be approached by Meehr Zet, as the dialogue the two shared at the Okhenti party seems to have encouraged the dwarven woman. Subject to Ra's approval, the two of them will spend several evenings around sunset time walking along the shoreline of the river and sharing their personal histories with each other.

Turel will presumably visit the Grand Mausoleum now and then, and/or meet with the priestess Bal Themm. These visits will often touch a previous topic, which I don't remember if it's secret or not so I'll put it in spoilers.

Harmose receives a letter from his family that announces that his mother and his younger sister are on the way to Wati.

I don't have anything actively going on for Aleris or Qari -- would either of them like to pursue anything in particular that we could open up as a subplot?

You may all make 14 relationship rolls to cover two weeks of downtime. Polux may make downtime rules rolls to obtain materials for his alchemy lab.

Turel, are your relationship rolls all for Bal Themm?

Deseri, roll Fortitude.

Kito, roll Spellcraft and Diplomacy.

Turel will spend a couple of days (7 and 8) with the two witches from the Daughters of the Desert Siena and Shara.

Encouraged by Meehr's interest, Ra continues meeting with her. Walking along the river path, visiting the great monuments and taking a gondola along the river, he continues to fumble his way through intimate conversations.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25 Does the +1 for self-taught scholar apply

Diplomacy: 10 + 7 = 17

Relationship rolls...these have always been tough for her.
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 17
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 12
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 3
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 13
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 4
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 5
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 1
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 2
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 5
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 6
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 17
Terhk Fourwinds: 1d20 ⇒ 16

Turel:
Bal Themm +4 ---> 13 Fellowship unlocked! (600XP+600XP gained)
Siena +1 ---> 5
Shara +1 ---> 5

Ra-Khefer:
Meehr +2 ---> 6 Friendship unlocked! (200XP+200XP gained)
Ra-Khefer still has two more rolls to go if he wants to use them.

Kito:
Terhk +1 ---> 8
Self-Taught Scholar doesn't help this time, but great that you asked!

Polux finds his time taken almost completely by the lab setup, but he always pauses when he comes across Sigrun, and most definitely goes out of his way to do so - her presence is light and intoxicating, she is jovial when he is morose, and happy when he is fuming for one reason or another.

Qari again confides in Faarhan, her closest friend in the whole town.

Relationship rolls

Fort: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Waving goodbye to her friends and letting her soft squishy heart lead her feet back to the Naahn's. Spending her free time getting to know them both better.

Do I just make two weeks of roles for them? If he is that ill Deseri would not willingly leave.

Relationship Roll:
Tarouk Diplomacy: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14
Tarouk Diplomacy: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10

Polux, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to reroll those relationship rolls. While they were very good, I think you will understand what I mean. :)

Deseri, yes make two weeks of rolls. They may be for them or anyone else. Deseri can of course stay at their house as much of the time as she wants, but she is totally not expected to be housebound, not stepping a foot out the door for two weeks. She's not a prisoner. :D

Ra-Khefer:
Tarouk +2 (Friendship unlocked, 200XP)

Qari:
Farhaan +8 (Fellowship unlocked, 600XP+600XP for first time)

I assume the xp awards are for the whole group.

Crap... Can't I just keep those? :D

I guess I finish worse than I started?

I assume the xp awards are for the whole group.

I don't track XP per character, everything goes into the party pool, so the answer is yes. :)

Polux:
Sigrun -5 +7 = +2 final total, so no, not worse than you started. Polux pushes Sigrun up to 9, gradually but inevitably working his way towards Fellowship level.

During their sudden bounty of free time leading up to the auction, Aleris does many things. She makes sure to spend plenty of time with Harmose (both inside and outside of their room at the Tooth & Hookah) now that they actually have the time. When he tells her of his mother and sister's imminent visit, she can't help but feel nervous - she certainly wasn't the high society woman that his mother likely wanted for her son. But there's not much to be done except prepare and on that she defers to Harmose's wishes on how he wants things to be handled.

In addition to spending time with Harmose, Aleris also spends her time being a messenger of Shelyn. Her early morning dances and rather exotic (for Osirion) appearance seemed to have garnered attention from some of the locals and she's happy to share the teachings of the Eternal Rose with any who show an interest in learning.

A few days after finishing their exploration of the Sanctum of the Erudite Eye, the sylph gets a pleasant surprise - a letter from her adopted sister, Nella! To her surprise however, it arrives postmarked from Absalom instead of Magnimar like she'd expected.

And of course she also spends time with Teht over at the Whispering Stone as well as Sigrun - when she can catch the redhead without intruding on the time that Polux spends with her!

And in spite of one instance of inadvertently being a third wheel to Sigrun and Polux as well as a another instance or two of having butterfingers with Teht's dishes, the two weeks pass with Aleris feeling that she's grown closer to both women.
______

I'm going to delay on responding in-depth to the imminent family visit until Harmose has a chance to actually post and respond to it.

Aleris has some excellent dice luck:
Teht +10
Sigrun +5 (Friendship unlocked, 200XP+200XP for first time)

I've updated the Relationship document with color coding to make it easier to see which first-time bonuses have been obtained by your character.

Aleris spends a lot of time at Teht Blackblossom's Whispering Stone tavern, which is essentially The top rumormongering place in Wati. The Tooth and Hookah is a nice little adventurer hangout, comfortable and welcoming, but for the real gossip, the Whispering Stone is the place, and Aleris has been really making it her home these past few weeks. She really tunes into the heartbeat of Wati and gets a feel for the pulse of the city, especially the shadowy whispers that people want to keep secret. While hanging out with Teht, it catches Aleris' eye that a necromancer of some repute has recently arrived in the city. Nobody seems to know where he lives, which has led some to speculate that (perhaps because they both begin with the same word, and to the lay people that is association enough) the "necro"mancer is staying in the "necro"polis, steering clear from prying eyes there.

I also cross-referenced the Relationship and Experience documents to double-check the XP awards for each relationship. There were some missing that should now be up to date. You should now have all the XP for all relationship thresholds (including the first-time awards, you can check the PRD for rules on those). This brings you to exactly 48,000XP which is exactly and precisely how many XP you need for level 4, so there is no need for any advance XP. You'll start earning full XP from the start of Book 2. The relationship XPs were enough to bump you to level 4 during these two weeks.

Sigrun accompanies Aleris for a few of her early morning dances, providing musical accompaniment with a harp.

Although Aleris would normally be alarmed by the news of a necromancer being in town, she reminds herself that if she's hearing such a rumor then it's likely that the guard as well as the Pharasmins are probably aware of it as well.

"So, a real necromancer here in Wati," she says, mingling with some of the Whispering Stone's patrons. "Does anyone know what his...or her...real name is?" she asks, hoping for a little more information.

Freely trapped with the Naahn's for much of her free time before the auction. Bentu has so little time left in the world. More than willing to leave when the couple wants to spend time with just each other. Anything need to make this painful experience a little easier on the two.

Deseri ran from responsibility and the promise of a marriage bed, all the horrors that it could entail. Curled up in someone else's marriage bed night after night hopping and praying for a child to come of her actions and that she was worthy of their dreams. This was not the future she saw for herself a few months ago, though there is nothing that she would change.

Everyone seems so busy in what should have been easy relaxation. Though that works out rather well. The only person outside of the group is Farhaan at the Tooth and Hooka. It is a perk that there is a liberal amount of alcohol to drink her worry away and that Farhaan is a kind man who makes sure that she does not get into too much trouble after a few to many drinks.