[PFS_CORE_Aerondor] 06-04 Beacon Below (Inactive)

Game Master Aerondor

"Paragon?" The dwarf spits out, not at all surprised by the things attitude. "Cut out her heart and turn her into an undead ... thing. Seems you and this sage have the same idea of kindness."

"All of you are nuts." He growls.

So we have two petty children throwing hissy fits at each other for thousands of years... and now we have to decide which one to off, so we can use their 'heart' to get into the lower archives and stop whatever is making all the inventory disappear?
That sound right?

OOC, My votes to side with the one that didn't ask for it! (And so we don't have to use up my wand to open all the doors! =))
IC, Doubtful's lawful nature would have him stick with the original deal... but knows both options are going to suck, so can go either way if others decide to. =)

"The wards? No." it says blandly.

"They are to protect the complex."

To Doubtful the doll almost offers a smile. "I am pleased you think so! I have modelled myself upon him."

@Doubtful That is pretty much it

Lem wants to stick with the original deal. In fact he pretty much insists.

Quite the oversight I'd say, especially if you truly value the knowledge of this place. Turning to the party Lem quips. My friends we face a spellbound mannequin. Its not alive and seems to have misplaced its ventriloquist. It will resist your weapons unless they are enchanted. Beware of its grapple and expect spell like abilities.

Performance begins as a move action:Inspire Courage. +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls

For his standard he will haste the party.

And with that I think we are into initiative.

Status, bold may post. Haste and inspire are active
Lem
Doubtful
Badru
Irzati
Jail
Numair
Pyra

Level 7 Bard's inspire is +2 btw.

No map? Don't know where to go! =)

map revealed.

Hrmm... well, was going to try grabbing him, but Lem said that was bad... but not why...

Doubtful frowns, as Lem forces the issue... not because he is concerned that the halfling did so, but more because he's sure it will turn out to be a mistake.

He resists his initial urge to grab the strange creature, so it can't use whatever magics it has on hand, and instead steps in close and throws a series of punches and kicks almost too quick to follow... sure that it will inevitably spirals out of control soon enough, whether he does so or not.

OK then, 5' step. Flurry of blows, spending a ki point for an extra attack. All attacks count as magic, silver, and cold-iron, if relevant.

flurry1, haste, bard, PA: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 11 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 29, for 2d6 + 4 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (3, 2) + 4 + 2 + 4 = 15.
flurry2, haste, bard, PA: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 11 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 29, for 2d6 + 4 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (5, 4) + 4 + 2 + 4 = 19.
flurry3, haste, bard, PA: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 6 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 23, for 2d6 + 4 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (6, 6) + 4 + 2 + 4 = 22.
flurry4, haste, bard, PA: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 10, for 2d6 + 4 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (1, 2) + 4 + 2 + 4 = 13.
flurryKi, haste, bard, PA: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 11 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 24, for 2d6 + 4 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (2, 2) + 4 + 2 + 4 = 14.
HastedAttack: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 11 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 20, for 2d6 + 4 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (4, 2) + 4 + 2 + 4 = 16.

Don't think I've gotten to attack 6 times before. That's a lot of dice!

And in a complete anti climax, the flashing fists of the doubtful dwarf reduce the figure to rubble.

And, ouch. Nice rolling. Why are you doing 2d6 rather than 1d10 base damage? And where does the extra +4 damage per attack come from?

the monk robes move my damage up 5 slots on the monk chart (so from 1d10 to 2d6)
The extra +4 is from power attack.

But that really is enough? Ouch... ok, perhaps I shoulda gone with the grab, sorry.

Numair frowns at Doubtful.

"Just so you aware, as soon as we have gotten what we need out of the mummy upstairs, I intend to Fireball it. I would have been more comfortable letting a construct run around, than a self-willed undead..."

Oh yes. 86 damage is enough to take him from full to nil. You actually did more, as the inspire courage would have added still more.

On the figure there is a scroll, and a pair of wands. Both are magical.

@Doubtful: Just to be clear, it is *Numair* that is annoyed, not me ;-)

Numair casts Read Magic to identify the scroll.

The scroll is of glitterdust.

@GM, the inspire courage numbers were included in that.

@Numair, Hey, it wasn't me that started it! =) I just won init! Is common knowledge that core monks are overpowered.

Doubtful looks at Numair with a frown.

"Self-willed?" He growls, shaking his head. "Then you ain't been paying attention."

"Was your sage friends that did that to her. No self about it. Now you want to betray her like they did?" He snorts. "Guess you'd be one of them too, then."

He shrugs, clearly expecting no different.

"She may not have chosen her existence, but she is definitely self-willed - she has chosen to act against the Sages, after all... As for myself, 'betray' implies I had reached an accord with her in the first place. You will recall that I stayed silent throughout the negotiations with her..."

Well done doubtful, as always says a smiling Jair.

As for choosing the undead, I thing a sphinx is more of my liking than a doll. But, a choice had been made, let's stop these thefts with its heart and go below.

Jair looks at the pair of wands, calling for her god's help each time.

Spellcraft (+guidance) wand #1 : 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 27
Spellcraft (+guidance) wand #2: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 18

Lem, about to act, can only watch as Doubtful dismantles the construct.

Yes Inspire should have been +2. My bad. I was confused thinking Lem was level 4 and was pondering how he could start a performance with a move action. Sometimes I think my brain just misfires.

"She may not have chosen her existence, but she is definitely self-willed - she has chosen to act against the Sages, after all... As for myself, 'betray' implies I had reached an accord with her in the first place. You will recall that I stayed silent throughout the negotiations with her..."

Numair, you are either a fool or have not been paying attention. The sphinx is chained to this life and wishes death. I think completing this mission will free her from her prison of that undead body. She did not desire or seek her current existence, unlike the thing Doubtful so easily put down. Now let us gather its heart and bring it back upstairs. There we can expect both a tour and the creation of a gem to allow us below.

The dwarf merely snorts in response. He already expects the worst from everyone... so Numair's response only confirms his life view.

@Numair, Hey Luke, have you done any of the followup scenarios in this storyline? (Ancients Anguish or the new Salvation of the Sages one)

The first wand is of "Make Whole" and the second "Mirror Image"
No hurry here, important discussions happening.

Numair snorts.

"Tall words. Don't be so naive. If she truly wished *solely* for death, she would have asked us to kill her. I remain unconvinced, but I don't wish to jeopardise our mission here, which is why I was planning to wait until we have acquired what we need, before doing what I consider to be needful."

Since Numair is neither Good, nor Lawful, I see no problems from his perspective.

Once again, and just to be clear, this is IC tetchiness, not IRL tetchiness ;-)

Lem seems no longer interested in what the sorcerer might have to say and moves to try to find this construct heart. Its all good. Hope moving us along was ok. We seemed stuck there. Lem can use the wand of Mirror Image. Heck we can pass that around some. He can use the glitterdust scroll as well.

You find a gem in the middle of the dolls chest without any difficulty.

Although finding this thread in the brave new world may post more problems.

Got it. Strange new world indeed.

I agree.

Seems like the key we are looking for! Well done Lem. says a smiling Jair when Lem find the gemlike heart of the creature.

Lets finish our search here and quickly go look for what's stealing the knowledge of this place.

Irizati stares at the broken golem for a moment then begins to search the room while the others examine the magic items.

perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (12) + 14 = 26

Irizati notices some movement out of the corner of his eye, probably something slinking off into the darkness of the cavern accessed through the corner of the room.

There are a lot of creepy looking dolls in the room, all looking like Badru, but none moving.

Jair, we need to take the gem-thing to Saruna, and have her do something to it, so that it can fake being a sage jewel... only then can we access the part of the archive where things are disappearing.
Dunno how long that's supposed to take.
At least that's what it seemed like from the previous conversation... hard to tell with a sphinx =)

Yep. Doubtful his it right. Back up with the gem heart to visit Saruna. She did promise to show us around when we returned with the heard but I have no idea if that is a good idea with the imposed time crunch. Likely not. But I always worry that there is some item or piece of knowledge that we might miss that will turn out to be key later.

So back upstairs?

After a Detect Magic sweep of the room, just to be on the safe side, sure!

"I think I saw something move over that way."

*unseen shrug*

"Probably nothing. Come on Baloo."

Who is carrying the gem from Bardu as a matter of interest

You take the gem-heart up to Saruna. "A gem it is, but also a curse. Before a baby walks, it must crawl, and before this can be a key, it must be purified. Can any of you remove the taint?"

Anyone got the ability to remove curse? Otherwise we move on to plan-b

Sorry not a spell I've prepared unfortunately. I will not be able to remove the taint on this object.

Lem will carry the gem. Best he can do is dispel magic about half a dozen more times.

"Cursed?" Doubtful mutters, with a snort. "Typical."

"Alas it would seen the student prepared for the wrong exam. The moon sits low in the realm of Thoth. While many think it harbinger of curses such as lycanthropy, others know better."

She leads you to the temple and has you lay the gem heart on an altar.

"In the life of an elf this will take but a heartbeat. For the rest, slightly longer."

You eventually tease out the ritual will take an hour or so, so if you want to explore further while she is doing that, now would be an excellent time to do so. Or we can fast forward to the end of the ritual.

Buffs are still up. Let's explore.

Can she open the doors for us?

I agree

Lets take this time to explore the rest of the complex

Propose Jair

"The doors I can open are many. But who will go through them? And whilst the doors are being opened, the heart is not being cleansed, and the thefts continue."

We will go through and as soon as the heart is cleaned we will look after the thieves!

Says Jair who hopes that the doors of the complex will be open to them now!

Wait, she can't take a minute to open 3 doors? We can just hold them open, then do our cataloging while she does the ritual? (Assuming nothing is going to jump us in there, I suppose.

Maybe she is just lazy :-) If you press her I don't see why she wouldn't open them for you.

A8: Librarian's office.
This neatly kept office once doubled as living quarters. A basin in the northwest corner continuously refills with water and an ancient cot stands nearby. Magical illumination provides bright light. A tidy desk and workbench hold ancient quills and dried-up ink

A10: Ritual chamber
The architecture here still bears the scars of experimentation. The smell of burnt flesh still permeates the chamber, and now indecipherable runes drawn in blood long since reduced to powder line the floor. The walls are slightly cracked and in several places even seem to bow outward as though pushed apart by a powerful force.

Feel free to take whatever actions you wish in either of these rooms.

Len will certainly maintain a Detect Magic as the group looks through these rooms. He will focus on the desk, and workbench and encourage the group to toss (search) them.

The endless flow of water in A8 certainly has a magical origin. And in A10 Lem detects the faint echos of very powerful magic used long, long ago.

The desk draws are locked.

Locks are our nemesis!

Doubtful frowns at the office, finding the mundane appearance of it somewhat out of sorts with the rest of the place... and highly suspicious!

He points out the damaged walls with a scowl.

"Whole place looks like it's thinking of coming down." He mutters.

Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26

It is the ritual chamber that has cracked walls, not the office.

In the office Doubtful casts around the room, his keen eyes locating a stone that doesn't seem quit right underneath the cot...

Someone should bust open these drawers. Lem suggests.