[PFS CORE] GM Alias 0-13: Prince of Augustana (Inactive)

Game Master Jon A

The party moves deeper into the Emporium. Suddenly, three creatures appear in the doorway to the western vault. The creatures’ bloated frames shudder with each heaving step, yet despite their shape, the things move with surprising quickness.

Initiative:
1st: Taerel, Evarice, Aloisius, Varian, Imrana
2nd: Creatures

The party is up!

Varian happily strides into the room, and attempts to bean one of the blighters with his quarterstaff!

Quarterstaff: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18, for 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9 damage.

"Halt!" She calls, to no real effect.

Glaive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Damage: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Evarice flails with her glaive, to no real effect.

Knowledge(planes), untrained: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (7) + 0 = 7

"I don't know what these foul creatures are, but we should let them come to us!"

Taerel fires a acid splash at the one in front of Varian. Since initiative was higher, I am assuming Taerel fires before Varian moves, and therefore not taking the penalty for in combat, ok?

Ranged Touch Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Acid Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 2

Aloisius moves into the adjacent room with the crown still atop his head and points his favourite wand at the green thing in the next chamber.

Magic Missile!: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Imrana moves up closer to get a look at the enemies. The name of the creatures is juuuuuust on the tip of her tongue, but she can't quite grasp it.

She casts a spell on the untouched creature farthest away from the party. The blue one.

"Run in fear! We will destroy any evil creatures that persist in fighting!"

Cause Fear (DC 16 to be shaken for 1 round instead) Duration: 1d4 ⇒ 3

Round 1

Taerel fires off a glob of acid at one of the creatures. It connects, but has no effect, splashing over it as if it were water. Evarice swings at one, but her glaive arcs wide. Aloisius conjures a bolt of magical energy that flies into one of the creatures, causing it to stagger. Varian wields his quarterstaff, putting a solid beating on the creature in front of him. Imrana admonishes the creatures, imbuing her words with her arcane power. The creature panics, and rushes headlong through the party, attempting to escape from the battle.

Everyone except Evarice gets an AoO on the blue creature. Evarice, I used your rolls from above.

Two of the creatures move to engage Varian and Evarice. Despite a flurry of clawing and biting, they are only able to do minor damage to the party. Varian takes 1 hp damage.

Round 2

Initiative:
1st: Taerel, Evarice, Aloisius, Varian, Imrana
2nd: Creatures

The party is up!

"I won't leave you to die, Varian! Stay strong!"

With Green in the way, Evarice can't strike Red accurately. And Green is too close to strike him with her glaive. Out of options, Evarice does the unthinkable:

She drops her Glaive.

"Sheyln, forgive me." She draws her longsword (all elves know how to wield Longswords for some reason. Elf Training School is strict) and strikes at Green!

Longsword, Flanking: 1d20 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 1 + 2 = 15
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Taerel, also an elf trained in the use of a longsword, but holding it in much higher regard, tries to slice apart the foul beasts.

Start with Red, but if by some miracle he falls, then blue
AoO Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

AoO (quarterstaff): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Imrana draws her Magic Missile wand and fires, ignoring the one running away for the time being.

Magic Missile on Green: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Utterly unfazed, Varian continues to attack the creatures.

AoO: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10, for 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14 damage.

Quarterstaff: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12, for 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11 damage.

Aloisius is not armed with a melee weapon, so no AoO.

The blue-haired gnome maintains his position and fires at the green thing again, safely protected by the corner of the doorway from any sort of retaliation from the beasty.

Magic Missile!: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
BOOM! goes the dynamite!
....Apologies, I will never say that again.

Round 2

The party was so surprised by the frightened demon charging through the group, that no one was able to land a blow. It runs out the door, and takes off at a run down the sewer tunnel. You have a feeling it won't be back.

Taerel could not reach the red one from where he was located. I had him attack the green dretch, and adjusted everyone’s targets as appropriate.

Seeing that his magic had no effect on the creature, Taerel draws his longsword and swings at the beast. He connects, doing major damage to the demon’s torso, but not quite killing it. Evarice swaps her weapons, drawing her longsword. Her swing manages to finish off her opponent. Varian swings at the remaining creature, but is unable to land a blow with his quarterstaff. Aloisius and Imrana team up, spraying the final creature with bolts of magical energy until is succumbs with a primal scream.

End of combat!

So this whole damn thing I spent 3 charges from my wand? No, 4, think I used one in that very first one.

Aloisius stows his wand and puffs out his chest, strikes a pose, and raises his hands to shout, "Yes! All shall fall before the magical might of Aloisius Rudolpho Atama Ymerawdwr Lanlen the Mashugana Master gnome, the holy power of Evarice the Evangelical, the foresight and wisdom of Lady Reza, the royal power of Varian "Aran" Jeggare, and the amazing power which flows from the hands of Taerel Morga... Morgen... Morgenstern? Ummm.. Taerel the Magnificent! This 'kingdom' is cleared for the glory of the Society and our friends! Rejoice in this victory! And... and.... Yeah, that's all I got. Hey! What's in there??"

Varian brushes himself off.

"Right. Now that that is sorted, let's see what we can find out..."

He then conducts a careful search of the area.

Perception 'Take 20' = 30.

Imrana claps for her companions.

"Mighty foes have fallen!"

She holds up a hand to her mouth as she chuckles at Aloisius's theatrics.

"Hehe, it is sweet, but I do not have any titles, so you do not need to call me Lady Reza"

Knowledge (nobility): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

"Also, the proper style would be Lady Imrana, unless of course I am the wife of the person holding the title, but I am not married. Well, the rules are slightly different if it is a Brevic or Ustalavic or Chelish title, as opposed to a Taldan one. Oh! I mean titles, not marriage. I would not be married anywhere, um...that I know of anyways. But anyways, it would be okay in Ustalav--saying 'Lady Reza' that is--unless you are in the Ardeal, which goes by Taldan rules--

She stops completely, holding her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, I am rambling again! I am most sorry. I get excited to talk about things I have read sometimes...."

She quickly turns away and begins searching an unattended part of the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Evarice puts away her Longsword as the creatures fall, then reaches for her glaive, almost hugging it as she stows it away. "Forgive me Sheyln. I shant do that again."

"Evarice the Evangelical? Hmm, I can live with that." She smiles and prepares to search the room. She nods along with Imrana as she talks about titles, pretending to know what she's talking about. "No time for marriage, so I never paid attention-" She shakes her head, caught up in Imrana's rant.

She aids Varian with his careful search for the next clue. Well, she tries to.
Aid Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

After the party defeats the legion of demons, they have time to thoroughly search the Emporium.

The charred corpse sitting on the crude throne is surrounded by a faerie court made from scrap and discarded materials. Amidst the furniture is a desk with several log books and journals. Most of them detail the day-to-day transactions of the Emporium, but one is the personal journal of Relios Skytower. It details the goings on of many of his wealthy clients, as well as Relios’s personal life including the details of his ancestry and his son’s (Gandros’) birth. One of the last ledgers mentions that Relios was falling on hard times and intended to sell his wayfinder back to the Pathfinder Society, especially since it had been some time since he had been actively engaged with the Pathfinders. The ledgers also show that Relios was selling a steady stream of yellowcap mushrooms to members of the pre-revolution high society in Augustana.

The next rooms are vaults lined with shelves thick with growing yellowcap mushrooms.

More faerie effigies hide among the mushrooms, and on the very back wall, there is painted a “portal”, a large circle of swirling color patterns. On the floor lies an open and empty scroll case next to a slightly charred, blank piece of parchment.

The party is able to make their way safely back to the surface. After hearing the account of your investigation, Venture Capitan Wallace lets loose with a huge guffaw. ”HA! I knew it. I knew this guy’s story didn’t add up. All a big waste of time. Well, I’m glad that’s over and done with.”

Aside from any suggestions you have for what to do with Gandros, the scenario is essentially finished. I will get the game reported, and get the chronicle sheets up later today.

Nature: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Aloisius is busy going about his naming game to be too distracted with searching the lair. But when he sees the mushrooms, he gets even more excited. "Yellowcaps! I didn't think anyone used these anymore! Hooboy! These things pack a whallop! Just one will make you see all sorts of things! Why, I knew this one gnome who insisted he was a porcupine with a mohawk and went to dance with the purple treestump that sang to him. Poor fella. But that may be why this guy thinks he's nobility; too many visions from the shrooms!"

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Evarice takes a look around the room as Aloisius talks about the hallucinogen. "That poor man. Thought he was a king." She looks at the parchment, but isn't able to make much of the scroll.

Back in the inn, she grimaces as Venture Capitan Wallace laughs at the spectacle."I wouldn't call it a waste of time."

The next day, Evarice returned to the Almsman's home, and brought herself a guest. "King is not a title. It represents honor, strength, humility and above all, altruism. Let us help all we can and show everyone what a true king would do for his subjects." She smiles at Gandros, then prepares some bandages to apply some aid.

Perform(Wind): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Sheyln clearly agrees with her decision.

"Whilst he may not have been an Emperor, or a Pathfinder, he is the son of one of our own, fallen on hard times. At the very least, we should refer him to the Almsman, to make sure *someone* takes care of the poor soul..."

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Imrana nods at Evarice's words to the Venture-Captain.

"We uncovered the truth, protected the Almsman and his wards, and prevented evil creatures from running amok in the sewers. We did good work, even if we did not find much treasure to speak of."

She shakes her head at Varian.

"I do not see Gandros could not just go back to his own--"

Imrana stops mid-sentence as she contemplates the "portal" and the scroll near it.

"Um...yes, perhaps it is not so good to let Gandros run about on his own. He does not need to be finding any more scrolls again."

"I will be glad to escort him to the Almsman. I have much time to spend there."

The group escorts Gandros back to the Almsman. He is willing to take in the hermit, and care for his well being. They also discuss clearing out the Emporium, and using it to expand the Alsman's mission of caring for the poor.

On a side note, there have always been rumors of strange things living in the sewers underneath Augustana. Some have even imagined demons on the loose. The frequency of those rumors have seemed to increase lately, for some reason.

Can't imagine why ;-)

Aloisius starts laughing, as if finally figuring out the punchline to an old joke. "Waste of time! *Waste* of time! Get it? Sewers? Covered in muck? Waste of time? Varian, my friend, you get it, right?" Aloisius claps Varian on the back.

Thought about using Laughing Touch on Varian, but figured now's not the time to be THAT mischievous.