DM Beckett |
There really is no reason to split the party any longer (and it's a lot of extra work, really).
Jagged Stone |
I'm imaginging we're all together now based on DM Beckett's latest post and we're just kind of nodding "yeah" with regards to the verisimilitude when we were split up earlier. I'll try to say something in character here to go along those lines.
Jagged Stone watches Ekira begin her patrol and hopes that the Iomedean woman finds her path again if she has been led astray by anything recently.
He gives Scissors a nod to take to the sky above them and keep his roc-eyes set about the town in ways that the other Pathfinders can not do from foot.
Upon hearing about the balding man who has been identified as townsfolk as a Pathfinder, he voices his latest concerns.
"Jagged Stone wonders if this is even a real Pathinder, or the people's fears making them think all questionable men are Pathfinders."
He glances skyward to ensure his companion is still in sight.
"Jagged would suggest we show we are Pathfinders and try to do some good, but no opportunity hasn't presented itself yet. It would be best to wait for that. Perhaps we all stick together now?"
Gesturing to his companion to return, the oread provides further instructions to Scissors based on the latest clue.
If this is a new day, he'll simply use Speak With Animals to do so. Otherwise, he'll use the Seek trick to have Scissors seek a bald man matching the description of this "Pathfinder".
"Siz'ahs take to sky. Look for balding man. Return when found."
The second murder site is high on Jagged's list to investigate, if we have the ability to decide to go there now.
Jagged Perception (requested): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
Scissors Perception (requested): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
[dice=Scissors Perception (seeking "Pathfinder")]1d20+6[/dice]
DM Beckett |
Yes, everyone is together. There is no longer any penalty for staying together, and that was only at certain points anyway, not the entire scenario. But that segment in now over, (it should have lasted longer, but so many people rolled high you have already completed it all). If you look up at the top of the page, you will see "the Town Sentiment Track" and the "Opposition Track", (which are sort of DM only things as far as what the number mean). From this point onwards, certain events will begin happen. (The tracks are not bad or an indication of failure at all. Just when certain event take place.) So basically, you rolled extremely well all together and are speeding through this. No need to worry, just enjoy now, as it is basically like any other scenario from now on. Actually, think about it like this. Imagine the Investigation phase was a Chase Scene, and as a group you blitzed to the end for rolling so well, skipping many of the steps and getting to the end of it. Now it's back to a normal game, and you have a lot more time to do everything.
Now, if you want to split up, that's fine, too. You have basically 2 full days, (unless you do something that escalates things, like attack the mayor). The mechanic of breaking up into phases was supposed to last 2-3 days (in game), but you have already maxed it out. It is not supposed to last the entire out of game scenario, though. So there is still plenty to do.
DM Beckett |
That's odd. I could have sworn a made an OOC post about this yesterday or the day before (not as long), but I don't see it now.
Hawk Lifebinder |
DM Beckett wrote:...attack the mayorYou heard the man.
That's all I heard as well
Preception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Hawk will be keeping his eye open for the bald man, let me know if additional perception rolls are needed.
I agree with Jagged on this. Though I don't know yet if we should go looking for him, he seems to be following us. Lets go to the other murder site.. Keep your eyes peeled.
DM Beckett |
That's correct. The 1st murder site was out at Otto's Farm. The second one was outside the General Store, where you discovered that there had been a trail, but it's been covered up recently.
Saarai Shae |
Saarai follows the group, watching intently for any sign of this mysterious 'Pathfinder'.
perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
"I think we should talk with the 'eye-witness' who is prone to hyperbole. Perhaps if he were to back down from his story, that might persuade Ekira to postpone the executions."
DM Beckett |
Jagged Stone |
Communicating that much detail would take a Speak With Animals on Day 2 for Jagged and Scissors.
Jagged, upon seeing his companion return without any clear indication he has discovered the balding Pathfinder, once again works to communicate with his roc.
This would be him using his second Speak With Animals on Day 2, I believe.
After listening to the caws and sqwacks, Jagged nods sagely.
"Siz'ahs is right. A stork is a silly animal."
Looking about to the other Pathfinders, it seems they are waiting for more details than such an odd observation.
"Siz'ahs has seen a stork watching the general store. I wonder if there is another druid about with an interest in the murders. Or an interest in us? Perhaps the balding man? We can try to capture this stork and ask it? But sadly, Jagged Stone would not be able to talk to the stork until the tomorrow unless he used a scroll to speak today."
Jagged would also be okay with asking around the town about the stork to see if the locals or visitors associate it with anyone in particular, like they may associate Scissors (which is a he) with Jagged Stone.
DM Beckett |
Thats perfectly fine. You have plenty of time so just let me know.
Nixkamich Otaktay |
Nixkamich turns to the others.
"Why don't we split into two groups? The first can thoroughly explore the two murder sites for additional clues, whilst the second can go to speak with the Sheriff, and the 'eye witness'."
I nominate Hawk and Nixkamich for the latter group, and Jagged and Mohok for the first, but other than that, people can go with whomever they prefer :-)
Jagged Stone |
I'm not sure about the time required, but perhaps Mohok and Hule can "Take 20" at both murder scenes. We hit DC20 checks on earlier looks, but those two can hit 28 and 27 on their Perception checks for anything we may have missed.
Nixkamich Otaktay |
@Jagged: That sounds reasonable to me :-)
Nixkamich heads to the Sheriff's residence, and after politely introducing himself (again), pleads his case:
"I am terribly sorry to disturb you, sir, but as a paladin of Andoletta, I have some grave concerns about the case against the accused. Were you aware that there has been a rash of similar murders in other settlements in the area, and in each case the 'culprit' was 'found' and killed? I find that quite worrying, and wonder if we have a serial killer (or killers) on our hands...
The rumors around town have been, well, mostly rumors - Orug claims to have fought the murderer, but then again, he is prone to exaggeration, but I did hear mention that you had an 'anonymous letter' and some other evidence implicating the accused. Would it be possible to see this evidence?
I am not trying to set the guilty free - I just want to make absolutely certain that we don't have some innocents being blamed for things that they did not do..."
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25.
Saarai Shae |
Saarai joins Nixhamich at the sheriff's residence. She stands behind the paladin and nods approvingly at the comments the wise paladin makes.
What piece of the puzzle are we missing here? What is this rogue 'Pathfinder' doing in town? How do we get Orug to back off his claims at the risk of losing face?
aid diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Hawk Lifebinder |
And I as an Oracle of Sarenrae believe the same. I fear that the mood has nearly reached a fever pitch and that cooler heads must prevail if we are truly to find the guilty party.
Aid Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
DM Beckett |
I'm not sure if you have split up again or not. It seems that some are wanting to, and others are not.
For those that go to speak with the Mayor, he greets you at the door cordially, and allows you to enter, going to a room that is serving as his office this week. Once away from the guards, he offers you a seat and asks your business.
Sort of responding to the various things said.
"I have only recently gotten word of these other murders, and I must say, if the Pathfinder Society is behind them, it will not go well for these three. But, in all honesty, there has not been time to investigate that possibility just yet. I have sent a rider to these other town, and hope to receive any eye witnesses from those town if there are any. If so, I will have them testify to what they saw, but there is little time. The execution is in two days, and can not be postponed at this point, " he stops and motions with his hand out one of the windows, showing the influx of people that have come to town just for that.
"What you say is true about Orug, and all things considered, at the trial, I am not sure if that particular testimony will hold water. And yes, we did receive a letter, alerting us to the murders in the first place. It, itself is not evidence. Care to read it? It's not particularly informative."
Mayor Luin confirms that that very night, he heard a pounding on his door, but when he arrived, he only saw the letter on his porch, and a small girl running away. At first he thought it was some sort of prank, or dare. But as he read the letter, he immediately set off to find the victim, just in case.
Also, just want to point something out. You are still in day 1 of being in town. A brief timeline:
Day 1 You where summoned by the VC for the briefing, make preparations
Day 2: Set of for Dawnton
Day 3: Travelling
Day 4: Travelling
Day 5: Arrived at Dawnton, begin Investigation You are here
Day 6: ?
Day 7: ?
Day 8: Trial and Execution begin early in the morning.
I'd ay it's reasonable to assume that after finishing up with the mayor, it's probably late enough into the day that you would want to retire, grab dinner, and get a god night's sleep. Still not sure if the other party members are doing something, and if so, (assuming it's not too long), I'll go ahead and present that too, (basically happening at the same time the rest of the party is speaking with the Sheriff/Mayor. If not, we can pick that up tomorrow (in game).
Mohok |
I'd vote for not splitting up at this point. We did it earlier because the mechanics of the scenario made it more likely we'd be successful by doing so, but I'd rather stick together from now on.
Mohok looks at the sheriff in disbelief, his reddish eyes narrowed, and says, "You would execute a man at a particular time, because the crowd is eager for it, when you are not sure of his guilt? That is madness, and weakness! But we will do what we can to prove these poor fools innocent if that is what they are."
He looks to his companions and asks, "Any more questions for the mayor?"
Nixkamich Otaktay |
Actually, historically, people in the medieval period were executed on flimsier evidence. 'Due process' is a very much modern construct.
Linguistics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16.
Nixkamich frowns as he looks up from the letter, and does his best to mollify the Sheriff after Mohok's inflammatory comment.
"As outsiders, we should respect the legal traditions of other settlements, as we would expect them to respect ours if they were in our lands. The best that can be done is to work within the framework provided by those laws, to reach the correct verdict."
DM Beckett |
Mohok looks at the sheriff in disbelief, his reddish eyes narrowed, and says, "You would execute a man at a particular time, because the crowd is eager for it, when you are not sure of his guilt? That is madness, and weakness! But we will do what we can to prove these poor fools innocent if that is what they are."
"I will not be sure of their guilt until after the trial. But I am not willing to postpone that trial any longer to avoid the possibility of these people becoming a mob. We where not prepared for so many, nor for this whole ordeal to become a spectacle. And I would appreciate it if you could control yourself, unless you would like to spend the night locked up with the prisoners."
"I won't be spoken to like that in my own home, nor will I stand by and be accused of negligence of my duties."
Nixkamich Otaktay |
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19.
Nixkamich raises his hand in a sign of mollification.
"Sheriff, please, do not take offense at the words of a crusty half-orc; he does not come from around these parts, and does not understand the delicate balancing act that one such as yourself must undertake in order to keep the peace. I am sure that you do the best job that you can, considering the rather trying circumstances..."
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30.
Hopefully, that should do it ;-)
Mohok |
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Mohok's stare grows less intense and his voice shifts from a low, growling tone to a more gentle rumble as he speaks again, "I'm sorry, Mister Mayor, I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying you would not wait to execute the three suspects you're holding, but what you meant was that you would not hold up their trial. I bet you're worried the mob will take justice into their own hands if you wait too long, and you are right to fear that." He pauses a long moment to consider his words and says, "I have been judged in my time, harshly and quickly, and I feared the same fate awaited your prisoners. I now see that you want them to have a trial soon to protect them from the whims of the mob, not to give in to the mob's desires. Again, I'm sorry about the misunderstanding. This is a difficult situation you're in, and you don't need me making it harder."
Edit: ninja'd by Nix, but the point stands.
DM Beckett |
"Your'e right My job is to keep them safe, to keep everyone safe until the trial. Not to choose their guilt or innocence. I apologize, I hear that Ekira is considering settling down here, and with her growing popularity, there is talk of her trying to run for office. It's grating to feel that by doing my best, I'm also working towards loosing my livelihood. There's rumors that there are more Pathfinders around here. And demon-cults. Trouble makers, Varisian' charlatans, and on and on. The local farmers are starting to complain of petty theft of their crops at night. Folks holing up in their barns without permission or trespassing. They are just worried that if things here take too long, it might start to affect the next harvest."
Mohok |
Mohok's shoulders relax in obvious relief at the sheriff's reply. "I'm glad we see eye to eye, Sheriff. As far as Ekira, I think she's jumping to conclusions about the suspects, and when folk here see she's wrong, they'll back you as the best man for the job." He lets the sheriff consider this a moment, then continues, "So if you can think of anything that'll help us figure out what really happened, remember, it'll be helping you too."
Jagged Stone |
Jagged Stone stands in the back, knowing that the other Pathfinders seem to be doing a good job of talking with and befriending the mayor.
He considers the contents of the letter and tries to picture the scene that he investigated with Mohok earlier to ensure the facts all seem to line up correctly.
Did the letter's statement of details contradict at all with what Jagged and Mohok saw at the farm?
I am also fine with resting at the inn at some point. I imagine we'd all share a room but nonetheless post a watch just in case someone wants to do us harm for looking around.
Saarai Shae |
linguistics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
After examining the letter, Saarai addresses the group.
"I have some experience with forged documents and handwriting," she says.
"It is clear to me that this letter has the exact same handwriting as the letter we received from Venture-Captain Jorsal of Lauterbury, which he claimed was what alerted him and the Society to the executions in the first place. That letter, however, is clearly marked as being to the Pathfinder Society, and bears it's seal, the glyph of the open road. The accused Pathfinders have been set up..."
Hule |
Hule thinks for a moment. "They weren't the only ones. I think the real setup is for us." Hule then pauses to see if anyone else catches on.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Mohok |
A look of alarm crosses Mohok's face as the scale of the plot become clear to him, Did someone frame these Pathfinders and then send a letter to Jorsal, trying to make the whole Society look bad?
He turns to the sheriff and says, "There's something bigger going on here, and we need to get to the bottom of it. But it seems more and more like there's a plot here, and not just a murder investigation."
Hawk Lifebinder |
My, this is getting a bit interesting
If the plot is as big as we think.... I wonder if we should even consider the inn safe. Someone has gone through a lot of trouble to get groups of Pathfinders together.
DM Beckett |
Just to be clear, the original letter sent to the PFS was the one marked with the glyph of the open rode. Not this new one.
(I only included that so you could decide if you where going to alert the Sheriff if you where Pathfinders or not by bringing it up)
Nixkamich Otaktay |
*NODS* Which is why, although I made the check, I did not say anything - at this point, I still don't want to alert anyone that we are Pathfinders ;-)
When Saarai begins to say something, Nixkamich steps on her foot, hard.
"We can finish this conversation later, when we have some privacy."
How about we say that the rest of that conversation happens when we are in our room, back at the inn?
Saarai Shae |
Hmmm, I thought it was fairly obvious we were Pathfinders...I must have missed we were trying to keep this secret, though I suspect it's out anyway.
DM Beckett |
It's fine to retcon that back with the foot stomping. I was posting from my phone and meant that more like "Are you sure you want to do this?". On the other hand, alerting him to the actual evidence might help. Or might not. It's up to you (as a group).
Anything more with the Mayor? If not, I'm going to assume that it's time to rest. (And yes, you are all sharing one room.)
Saarai Shae |
Okay, my bad. Though I do think the sheriff might be a good one to involve...he just seems overwhelmed, not part of a plot.