[PFS] 8-04 Wardens of Sulfur Gulch by GM Upaynao (Inactive)

Game Master Upaynao

Must it be "in an area?" I have a wand of cure light wounds and some holy water. I could also blast it with fire or ward against it with protection from Evil. Do I know how well any of these would work?

The wand of ClW would have to be applied to a portion that is part of it. While there is a chance for failure, I trust that my description has given you a target rich environment. However you are also restricted by your action economy here. With regards to the vial of holy water, your only issue with that is that you would need to uncork it and douse the contents around, requiring a move then a standard.
So, much like the wand of ClW, you don't have enough actions. Now, a protection from evil might give you a bonus if it attempts to possess you or go after your AC. Blasting it with Fire might prove futile, unless you decide to go after something you think will impair it. The pipes aren't really that great of a target, but those cameras, old as they are, could prove to react poorly to damage.

"Alright, O scrying eye...ready for a show?"

Suddenly, a tiny, flaming dragon swoops and whirls at dizzying speed around the room and smashes into the "camera," exploding in a riot of light and color!

I cast snapdragon fireworks, DC 17, augmented by magnesium (for +1 round of duration), ginger extract (+1 to overcome SR), and saltpeter (+1 damage) and hurl one at the camera!

fire damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

@Eadie: I thought I'd cast shield for you.

Insidion waits to see how the scrying devices react to the spell so he can decide whether to attack them, as well.

Amestra hurriedly slaps her free hand to her chest, grabbing the top of a green glass vial wrapped with cold-iron filaments and etched with strange runes. Though her allies cannot see the vial while it remains in its pouch on her bandoleer, within roils a small wisp of white vapor, churning as if caught in a miniature vortex of air.

Without bothering to draw it, she pops the cork of the vial off with her thumb sending it flying across the room. Immediately, the white vapor expands outward in a ripple of positive energy.

"A stubborn soul, indeed, V. It's unhappy about being trapped here and is haunting these cam'ra's. Something's about to happen, though I don't know what."

Haunt Siphon: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 6) = 14

That certainly deals with it.

The tendrils of positive energy turn green with the corruption permeating the area, and quickly sneak back into the bottle. Amestra quickly caps it back up as Vanzetti destroys one of the cameras, the contents of said bottle now glowing a bright phosphorescent green.

"What was that?" asks Isirah, looking visibly perturbed by what just occurred. Suddenly, a waft of air rushes from the western corridor as a troupe of ghostly robots, looking very much like the ones you've destroyed marches down from somewhere down the northern corridor to turn into the hall you now stand in and dissipate into nothingness.

"What happened to those security robots? And why is there a breeze coming from my room? It was nowhere near the hull of the ship."

Amestra lets out the breath she didn't realize she was holding, and looks down at the glowing green bottle in her bandoleer.

"WHEW! I'm kind of surprised that worked so well," she says aloud, but obviously more to herself than to the group.

Turning to the group, and specifically toward Isirah, she explains as well as she can. "I'm sure you've heard of haunted objects or locations. Well, there's one right here." Nodding to V she continues, "As our Amazing V said, it was (actually still is) a stubborn soul; one that's died but for whatever reason hasn't passed on. There's usually some ... action ... that has to be done by the living to release it to the afterlife."

She pauses in thought as she looks around at the room, the cam'ra's, and then back to Isirah.

"I'm sorry, Isirah, but I don't know enough about your ship or your people to even begin to guess at what we might need to do to release the troubled soul."

Knowledge(Religion) or (Local) or (History)? Or more likely none of the above given the technological nature of our surroundings. But I had to ask.

Then looking back down at the strange bottle, she sighs and says ruefully, "That's a one-time use item, and the only one I had. Hopefully we won't encounter any more of these."

“That was so weird.”

Eadie lowers her blade, still confused by recent events. “So you and V sorted out a space ghost, Amy? Thanks …”

The warrior stands rigidly for a while thinking. “Isirah, did you say the ‘you’ we’re speaking to now is some kinda copy or part of your whole self which is stored in … another core, was it?”

“Where would this core/'original you' be stored now? Maybe we should head there, guys.”

A thought strikes Eadie and as usual she just blurts it out. “Could the original you be the Ghost-Master that’s behind all these strange hauntings? If so … could you, the Isirah in the blue gem, be a danger to us when we find the original you?”

Kai was still too deeply engrossed in figuring out the ethics of leaving Isirah with the Ghost Wolves to notice the rising of the spirits. Before he realised it, fireworks were flying, corks were popping and negative spirits were being trapped. By the time he came to focus, the troop of ghostly soldiers had already passed and everything had settled down to a modicum of clam.

"Your room is to the west? Would the ... original you be there? If it was nowhere near the hull, then it is a mystery that bears investigating."

Insidion, feeling fairly useless against the haunt, commends Amestra for solving the problem.

"We should find out what happened to your physical form," Insidion suggests. "Surely you are LONG DEAD."

"I... don't know either. My people didn't really have ghosts back in the day. And religion... Well... Religion was a complicated thing" replies Isirah.

There is no check you can make to try and identify any method of laying these spirits to rest. Partly because they are from another planet, and also because you don't even know what it is that you dispatched; yes it was a haunt, but what exactly it was is a mystery. You shouldn't worry about it coming back to kill you soon though.

"Yes, technically speaking I am just a copy of ... Well... Most of the Isirah who died over there. I'm not sure if my flesh body did have time to copy herself to another Core before I came online. If I did, maybe I left the extra copy in my old quarters? I mean, it would make sense if my hardware was flawed and she didn't have time to fix me to upload a complete copy into another core. But I don't think I'm a danger to anyone. I mean, I can... Nope, didn't even upload any curse-words or witticisms. Poo. So even if I wanted to, I can't even make you feel bad about yourself or your self image."

"But I don't think my original me can really do anything. I can't be a ghost, and my body has become dust. You saw Karl pick up my old suit didn't you Lin? I... Or I should say my old body didn't have time to take it off."

She sighs. "Decomposition is pretty gross. Oh well, it was a good body while it lasted. I think I miss touching people most."

Where to?

“I can't even make you feel bad about yourself or your self image.”

“Don't worry. I can do that just fine all by myself.”

So our options are west, north and east? Yeah?

Sense Motive on Isriah’s speech: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

Eadie is happy enough to take ‘portable’ Isriah at her word, but is not convinced about the innocence of Isriah’s ‘original copy’(?)

“I agree with Kai and Insidion. I vote to head west and check out Isriah’s old chambers and see if we can get to the bottom of these breezy ghosts.”

You move towards what were Isirahs', and doubtlessly many others, quarters, as she tells you about how cooped up she felt traveling through the stars, yet allocated so little space. "At least we had the recreation center. Although it always made me think of our briefing room, just in the way they laid out the screen. Do you have recreation centers Lin? Karl? You both look a little tense. If the massage chair still works, I'm treating you to a... Well that's a bummer" she moans as you arrive in a vestibule of sorts, it's western end shattered as if what lay beyond had been wrenched away, revealing a wall of collapsed soil. The earth is loosely packed, and the air circulates gently as if stirred by a light breeze.

"Well I guess if the whole dorm module was ripped off then that explains the breeze" she chirps.

Suddently, everyone but V and Isirah notices a uneasy sense of weightlessness. As if you were falling. And the two cameras in the room begin to faintly glow red.

As I'm a lazy person at heart, this one goes on initiative count 0 and noone here can POSSIBLY roll below on initiative, everyone except for V can take a surprise round action. And if you need my blessing to infer that something bad, in the same line as what happened earlier is about to happen, yes; you can make that inference.

"But I don't think my original me can really do anything. I can't be a ghost, and my body has become dust. You saw Karl pick up my old suit didn't you Lin? I... Or I should say my old body didn't have time to take it off."

Looking down to the Chameleon Suit, so whatever I wiped clean was not really dust, but Isirah's bodily remains? Karl shudders at the thought.

Suddenly, everyone but V and Isirah notices a uneasy sense of weightlessness. As if you were falling. And the two cameras in the room begin to faintly glow red.

Arrow to string, pull harder, let go. Almost reflexively Karl shoots at one of the ca'mras.

Attack +PBS -Deadly aim: 1d20 + 11 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 11 + 1 - 2 = 20 for damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15 +1 Keen Composite Longbow (STR+2)
If the camera is not within 30 feet, that's -1 to each roll.

With the unusual sense of vertigo and the red cam'ra's setting off warning bells in her head, Amestra calls out to her fellows, "If this is anything like the normal Golarian haunted effects that I've encountered before, it's usually limited to a certain relatively localized area. I can't say that these are for sure, but I'm retreating."

And with that she backs up down the hall the way they came, calling upon a bit of luck to boost her speed and take her as far as she can go in the limited time available.

Spending a panache point to boost her speed to 50' for 1 minute. And as long as she moves more than 30' in a turn she gets a +4 untyped bonus to AC until the start of her next turn. This is a class feature of her Sleuth investigator archetype.

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Surprise Round.

At Amestra’s cry, Eadie doesn’t hesitate to rush 20’ after the fleet half-elf.

"Amy, do we come back if we defeat the Ghost Master in another part of the Compound?"

Kai nods at Amestra's advice and retreats, spreading out from the rest of the team at his maximum speed. (40 ft)

Insidion snarls and follows after the others as quickly as he can.

Also 40' movement.

Karl, Eadie and the amazing Vanzetti can feel the walls shake, the rending screech of torn metal and finally the screams of dozens of people as you relive the last moments of many, long, long ago. The bone-breaking impact knocks you down, and an extreme feeling of weariness threatens to engulf you.

Potential damage: 9d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 6, 5, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1) = 29

I need Eadie, Karl and V to roll me some fortitude saves, DC 18. Should you succeed, you will only take 14 points of damage and only be fatigued for 9 minutes. If you fail, you take the full amount rolled above, and you are exhausted for 9 minutes.

Fortitude save, Sacrificial Boon: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

V clutches his head as few bloody teardrops fall from his eyes, but he otherwise manages to remain a degree of grace.

"Oh, the mortality...!"

Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

"I have knowledge that has been passed forward through generations, but pain... seeing this pain first hand..." Karl's voice keeps going down until he's not heard anymore. Until, "May their souls find peace and shade in Erastil's Reaml"

He'll cast one of his CLW on himself while he regains his composure, and offers one to V and Eadie. If time allows.
CLW: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 Make that 2...
CLW: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Fort DC 18: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20

Man, so this is what it feels like when a star falls to Golarion!

Knocked to the metal floor by the reveberating memory echoes, Eadie waves away Karl's offer of healing, but reaches out with a hand to both the monk and V.

"Time for that later, Karl. For now, let's get outa here!"

"Is everyone alright?" Insidion asks from farther down the hall.

"Why all the yelling?"

The walls cease to vibrate, and as you pick yourselves off of the ground your gaze goes over the otherwise undisturbed walls and dirt.

As Karl is about to join a rather panicked Eadie, he spots the haft of a wand sticking out of the collapsed dirt. A memento? A leftover of other explorers? Who can say.

"Well, whatever that was, that looked bad. Is that what those ghosts do Amestra?" asks Isirah, seemingly concerned.

Karl points in the direction of the wand, puts his finger to his mouth in a 'hushing' motion and cautiously starts getting closer to the wand in the rubble.

“Haunt.” is Eadie's simple response to Insidion’s enquiry, as she wobbles to her feet.

The fighter begins retreating towards party's main body, when Karl’s hushed actions check her progress. Guessing he must have found something, she pauses to casually unstopper a vial of holy water.

Amestra steps back toward the group's main body to stand beside Insidion. Karl's hand motion and cautious movement catch her eye, so she stops there and waits to reply to both Eadie's and Isirah's questions.

But she takes a moment to withdraw her secondary Wayfinder, that one that lets her see magical auras, and aims the area of effect toward the item Karl is approaching.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (16) + (4) + 9 = 29

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Karl gently pulls the wand out. It is old, but not as old as the crashed ship. In the handle, the words "Sharp as a blade" are carved.

Amestra identifies the item as a wand of Fog Cloud. "Looks like you won't be able to find anything in my quarters. Maybe there's more to found along the other way, towards the briefing room" suggest Isirah.

"Is this wand of any use to any of you? Not seeing far into the distance is a bit counterproductive for an archer." With a smile on his face, Karl extends the wand to the first taker.

“Swap ya, Karl!”

Eadie hands Old Deadeye’s inquisitor her wand of CLW and a scroll containing five lesser restoration spells, in return for the new old discovery.

“Hey, this inscription is written in Taldane. I’m guessing it belonged to the ‘Amazing Gojan’ or ‘G’ as he was known to his friends.”

“I’d wager VC Smine will be interested in it.”

Eadie hands the wand of fog cloud on and waits for Karl to heal her. “If you or V want a lesser restoration from my scroll, feel free Karl.”

CLW: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (7, 5) + 2 = 14

"Maybe there's more to find along the other way, towards the briefing room."

“Lead the way, Izzy!”

V draws on a trick he learned in Razmiran to knit most of his wounds (infernal healing), then uses his wand to fix himself up most the rest of the way...

Use Magic Device: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33
cure light wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Making your way back through old starship corridors, you finally come to what would have been in it's hayday a set of doors that denote something of importance being kept on the other side. Unlike the others, its opens, seemingly on it's own.

The room behind said doors is stepped downwards, with rows of seats all facing towards a central pane of black "glass" pinned or suspended on the wall. Two cameras look directly at you. "Briefing room! At least that's still there" exclaims Isirah cheerfully.

Back to you; you are here in the Core Facilities map

"You recognize this place Isirah? Anything different or dangerous." Says the monk almost inaudibly

"I think so! I mean... This looks like the briefing room. But I can't spot ghosts. At all. So ... "

She tries to crane her neck. "Apart from that, I can't see anything wrong with the place. But I'm limited in what I can see. Lin is going to have to move on up if you want me to give you a more thorough assessment."

"I'll go first."

Eadie dumps her pack just inside the strange doorway, and leads the others in. Her enchanted falchion follows the movement of her head from left to right, as she scans the room for traps and threats.

Take 10 Perception: 10 + 15 = 25

"Which room controls the serve-veil lance cam'ras, Izzy? I think that should be our goal."

Insidion looks at the briefing room with a smirk.

"It looks like a place we would receive our own missions, in a way," he says.

When Eadie suggests finding the room these scrying devices are linked to, he agrees. "Like a crystal ball, I suppose," he says. "Lead us there."

perception: 1d20 + 15 + 2 + 2 + 1d8 ⇒ (18) + 15 + 2 + 2 + (2) = 39

Kai has been hanging back, uncertain about this alien place. "No Eadie let me go first." He quickly moves into the room and looks around, carefully checking to look for anything unusual that might be of concern. But with everything so alien, he is uncertain what exactly is of danger or not.

Feeling uneasy, Kai decides to whip out his vial of mutagen and downs it with one quick gulp. His already muscular form seems to gain more bulk. Grasping his longspear, he turns to Isirah. "Any advice?"

Kai moves up to the pane of glass to examine it closely, glancing at the two ca-me-ras uneasily.

Sorry got a bit swamped this week.

"Eadie makes a good point. It seems to me that both times we've encountered the haunts (or whatever they are exactly) the cam'ra's came alive and glowed red. Should we take these two out, proactively?"

With that purpose in mind, Amestra moves carefully into the room and heads for one of the boxy little devices.

Are the cameras within normal reach of a person once adjacent? Or if they're mounted high up on the wall, she'll spend panache to give herself reach with her rapier.

I presume we took more than 9 minutes after that last one for the fatigue and her speed boost to wear off, yes?

Perception: 1d20 + 1d6 + 16 ⇒ (19) + (1) + 16 = 36

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"No Eadie let me go first."

“ ‘K.”

The warrior ‘inverts’ her search technique, reversing slowly back-to-back with Kai. Eadie ensures she scans the ceiling and each aisle.

“I can smash the cam'ras if you want, Amy.”

There are only two cameras in this room as Insidion and Amestra can confirm; both are on the wall at a high of about 9 feet. The room itself is only ten feet in height, space being at a premium in an interstellar vessel.

The video cameras are within reach if you decide to go and break them. I would assume that a rational player/character would go slow and wait out the fatigue. However, I really don't like making calls like that, so please say something to that effect. Trust me, if someone disagrees, they will post that they don't want to do that.

Isirah replies, her worried tone contrasting with her usual chipper mood: "I... I don't remember... I don't remember where the observation room is..."

While she allows herself to wallow in self-pity for a few moments, she quickly snaps out of it for Lin's benefit. "I would check the area thoroughly; I don't remember much but this area is imp..."

"Nativvvvvvves..."

The black glass on the wall above Lin suddenly lights up, fizzling as if showing a snow-storm before resolving into the image of a dark-skinned woman surrounded by clouds of yellow-green smoke. Her gaze is cruel and imperious, and she exhales poison gas with every breath. She smiles wickedly, her voice hollow and cold with the hint of a gurgle. "Lay down your weapons and surrender, and perhaps I will permit you to live."

The cameras' red lights pick up and both swivel to focus on the group up front.

Eadie, Amestra and Lin, you do notice that the vents in here are in the open position, but with Isirah's help you could perhaps close them.

I would assume that a rational player/character would go slow and wait out the fatigue. However, I really don't like making calls like that, so please say something to that effect. Trust me, if someone disagrees, they will post that they don't want to do that.

I assumed/hoped that was what we were doing. Consider that course of (in)action spoken for.

"We aren't very good at surrendering," Insidion snarls back at the image. "Perhaps you could DIE...come show us."

Now who does she remind me of …

“Thank the Compound-on-High we have found you! Are you the High-Tech goddess Isirah – the one for whom the void-ship Divinity was named?”

Archbanker Tuttle thought he was a godling – and shameless flattery never went astray with him! Perhaps I can buy us some time to get these gas-trap doors shut ...

“We’ve been searching for you for hours!”

Eadie sheathes her falchion and bows. “Mighty Isirah, what would you would have your Native servants Amy, Kai and Eadie do to re-direct your holy golden breath to where it will benefit our tiny world the most?”

Aid Diplomacy: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14

Confusion spreads across the woman's face. "Oh my... She looks just like me... Sort of..."

"You look like a summer ptarmigan next to a winter one, when you know it's the same bird" the monk says with a tone of amusement.

Is tablet Isirah or TV "Isirah" the confused one?

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Kai turns to whispers to Insirah. "The vents! How do we close them before poison descends?"

Tablet Isirah is the confused one.

The figure on the screen snorts at Eadie's words and looks directly at Lin. "I am Isirah. Among others. So; we have the schizophrenic one here threatening us, the simple minded-one cajoling us. What do the brains of the group have to say? Clearly, they are interested in the ventilation system. For whatever reason. I would have them speak to us. Inform me of the actual decision made by your puny, flesh pods."

Tablet Isirah whispers as best she can: "I can help you, we'd have to fiddle with the engineering station over there." Louder, she asks "I thought I was Isirah! What do you mean? What is my meaning? And what is this place?"

I will answer Isirah's questions to herself in my following update, just to give you time to ask your own questions if you so wish to.

If someone should attempt to sneak over to the engineering station, would that be a stealth or bluff? And to actually fiddle with the engineering station, would it be disable device or knowledge(engineering)?

It'll be a bluff to get closer to the station, and either for manipulating the console. Just bear in mind that the DC to bluff your way to that console will be pretty high. Mind you, a good RP might lessen that to an extent.

"You think I'm the schizophrenic one?" Insidion asks. "You seem to be having some identity issues yourself!"

The tiefling continues looking around the room. "You are...a magical projection...a programmed image...of the same person?" he says as he walks through these strange things and tries to understand them in terms he is familiar with.

bluff aid: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11