[PFS] GM Rinaldo's Echoes of the Everwar (Inactive)

Game Master The Great Rinaldo!

Xichi quietly moves up the stairs to where he can just barely see the orc.

He signals that he's ready.

As Garmit starts to move in, the orc turns and smiles a toothy, orcish grin. "I thought I heard something downstairs ... want some soup?"

He does not appear hostile, and is holding out a ladle of the liquid from the pot he is stirring. If you want to charge, you can do that as a surprise round action.

I've moved everyone's tokens onto the 2nd floor map.

Garmit is a little taken aback by the orc's 'friendly' greeting. Initially all prepared to charge at the first sight of being seen, the tengu stumbles a little as he stops in his tracks. "Ah, no I...thanks, I just ate." He turns back to the group. "Any of you guys, hungry down there?"

The rogue pauses, still caught between attacking this guy and relaxing completely. He hopes that Rhuul might pipe up with a good soup joke or something, anything to relieve the tension a little.

Xichi stays quiet, hoping to be Bravely Out Of Range and Heroically Unnoticed.

"I'm not hungry either." Herrick says with barely any hesitation in his voice. Then after an awkward moment he adds, "Thank you."

With his brow furrowed in apparent thought, he tilts his head slightly to the side and looks to Garmit and then back to the orc.

Quickly straightening himself, he asks, "Who are you and what happened here? It's a wreck outside, with huge craters all over."

Might as well make the most of the situation.

NB: If the encounter starts to turn into a conversation, Garmit will drop out of his swordmaster trance.

Princess Xen moves fully into the room asking What is that wonderful smell? When she sees the heads in the cauldron she says That looks delightful. You must tell me where you got such fresh ingredients. When offered some of the soup she declines explaining that its it a holy day for her church and she must not eat meat.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (9) + 17 = 26

Rhuul gives a shudder as he approaches, wary of the orc.

"Hello there, I'm not sure if we are hungry for food, but if you could tell us what happened here that would be most neighborly."

Auto succeeds on a diplomacy aid

"What, no 'waiter there's a fly in my soup! That's no fly, that's a human head!' jokes?" mutters Garmit under his breath as Rhuul walks up beside him.

Garmit follows along beside Xen if she approaches the orc, maintaining a clear path straight towards the chef should things take a turn for the worse.

"Yeah, we've got some nice fresh bone dust that might add that special zing to your lovely soup, if you're happy to tell us what you know about what's going on around here!"

Diplomacy (aid):: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Kai is taken aback when he hears a conversation struck between Garmit and some stranger upstairs. He paces up carefully together with the rest and almost inadvertently, his grip tightens on his longspear when he sees the human heads in the pot. He takes a few deep breaths to calm down, and clamps down his teeth, fearing what he says might disrupt the plans of his team. He understands what they are trying to do, but he can't bring himself to help.

Sorry, Kai is not going to aid here. Just not in his character.

"Oh, I completely understand about holy days. Today is one! At least, that's what I think he said ..."

He trails off a bit, staring into the distance, then starts back up as he resumes stirring the pot. "What a wonderful day that was, when the plants fell from the sky. We had just come to kill the human rabble, you know, and the slaughter was glorious! But then, the entire area shook, knocking everyone over. We went outside to see what has happening, and saw a huge rock flying down from the sky. It broke into three parts, and landed here in the fort, knocked part of the tower down and exposing some tunnels below. I took a group down to see what was there, and found one of the rocks had opened, and a giant plant came out. Foolishly, we attacked, and one by one it either smashed or ate most of my warriors, including me."

He smiles and says, "Then my rebirth came, and I saw that while most of my warriors had become children of the Master, I was left intact to serve him! Sometimes it is hard to understand what he wants, but I do my best. Like you said, holy day!"

He hums a bit more, then looks back at you. "You are welcome to join me here in service to the Master, if you like. If not, go ahead and take what you like, I don't need it anymore."

I've moved everyone into the room. He doesn't seem at all hostile, and ignores you moving around, so place yourselves wherever you like. There are two doors out of the room, plus the stairs you came up.

A plant master from the sky! How wonderful. You are truly blessed. Where can we go to meet the mater? Xen asks. we saw the places those rocks landed outside. Do you mind if we have a look around here. You see we are looking for my brother. He looks a lot like me. Have you see hmm? Xen takes a moment to look about.

[Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22

Xichi mutters under his breath about cults led by plants that fall from the sky, but otherwise remains mostly silent.

He's ready to follow wherever the party goes next.

The orc looks at Xen and answers, "Was he one of the invaders who were occupying the fort? I'm pretty sure we killed all of them, and any we didn't probably died from the mind-burn. You can look around and see if you see him. Oh, and don't forget to check in here." He points into the pot as he adds the last comment.

"If you want to meet the master, I can take you to him after the soup is done. He lives in the caves under the tower."

Xen offers to take the ladle for a moment to look through the soup. May I? she asks. If allowed she will make sure the person they seek is not partially in the cook pot. Mind Burn? That sounds unpleasant. How does that happen? she asks nonchalantly.

Xen examines the grisly pot; the heads are in pretty bad shape, but she's reasonably sure Heralt's isn't one of them.

"It happened when the rocks fell. I haven't felt it since, so it might have been the Master announcing his arrival."

Ok. You stay here and finish cooking. We are going looking for our friend. He is not in the pot. Xen explains as she casts Detect Magic and looks about.

Herrick also casts detect magic and takes the time to look around at whatever the "take what you like" comment might refer to. His bow is still firmly in hand, with an arrow held in place with a hooked finger, as he opens pots, looks around and under the stove, and in cupboards, never letting his guard down around the strange orc.

Take 10 on Perception for 34 to look for what he may have been offering us.

He was eaten and reborn. Sounds like undead to me. I wonder what this *Master* plant from the sky is.

"What exactly does the Master look like?" he asks flatly.

know religion: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25 Is the orc undead? if so +7 to determine abilities and weaknesses for it. If we find others below,
they might be the same.

know nature(or planes) vs plant from space?: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29 +5 to identify abilities and weaknesses/or if it's planes add +3 more

Garmit peers over Xen's shoulder as she inspects the pot for Heralt's head. "Mmmm, looks tasty! How do you get the eyeballs to get that nice glaze?" he says with a shudder. At least it wasn't chicken legs or other bird pieces floating in there. Now that would have been really disturbing!

When the rest of the group have finished checking around the room, the tengu decides to check out the door to the west, carefully opening it to see what lies behind it.

Usual perception and stealth checks then open door to the west.

"Mmmm, looks tasty! How do you get the eyeballs to get that nice glaze?"

"I'm not sure ... I think they were like that when I started ..."

The "soup" appears to pretty much just be three human heads in simmering water, with some random items from the pantry thrown in. Oddly, one of those items appears to be a small, iron-bound wooden chest.

Other than ransacked kitchen supplies, there isn't much else in the room.

Garmit, you said west but your token is at the south door. Given that the compass is rotated but isn't marked on this map, I'm assuming you're where you want to be.

Garmit opens a door and sees a mostly empty hallway with a rug that stretches the length of the floor. The rug is scorched and tattered in places and has a few blood stains, as if someone were slain and the blood drained away into the rug. There is a large window at either end and several doors.

Assuming we scoop out the chest and then leave, waiting to inspect it's contents away from the orc...

Herrick whispers to the group once out of earshot of the strange, yet friendly orc.

"I recall something from Riddleport back a few years, where meteors fell that carried plant creatures called Moonflowers. That isn't something I've ever heard before or since, and this Master could be similar to those things."

He then goes on to tell the group what he know about Moonflowers, including their large reach with tendrils and fronds and their ability to cocoon targets to either devour or enslave. He makes sure to include information on their immunity to electricity and resistance to cold, as well as their vulnerability to fire.

Garmit clicks his tongue anxiously inside his beak as he listens to the description of the mooonflowers from Herrick. "Great! Is it just me, or would anyone else prefer it was a lich behind this, after all?"

Garmit will wait until everyone has finished what they are doing in the kitchen and until the chest has been opened, but once everyone's ready to keep up the search, he'll move down the hall and open the door at the bottom of the map next...quietly trap checking and listening at the door first, as per his usual ways.

Guess I picked the wrong week to be an electricity-focused Sorceror. :-)

The orc notices you looking at the chest. "I've probably got all the flavor I can get out of it ... you want it?"

He uses an iron hook to fish it out and set it on the floor. Eventually it cools enough to carry. In it you will find a rather spectacular amount of coinage, reflected on your chronicles. ;-)
-----------

Starting at one end, you start searching the floor. Two rooms turn out to be pantries: sacks of flower, grain, and sugar, shelves lined preserved food and racks hanging with dried meat. The center contains several water barrels.

The room on the southwest corner once served as servant’s quarters, as evidenced by the shoddy state of the beds and bedding. There are several small chests here, all opened and empty, and the room is covered in scattered clothing and miscellaneous garbage. A set of stairs in the southwest corner of the room lead up and down.

The chambers in the south were once filled with very expensive furniture and rugs, but all of it is now smashed or weathered. Most of the eastern half of this room lies open to the elements and the entire floor tilts slightly toward the opening.

The small room off the kitchen is empty save for another tattered rug. Stairs lead up and down.

I realize now that the description of the kitchen did not include a mention of the fact that the stairs up from below continue on up to the third floor. Love that editing! ;-)

The map has been notated so you can tell which room is which. You have three stairs up (one from the kitchen, one from the room off of the kitchen, and one from the servants' quarters).

"Everybody found what they want from this floor? That charming orc did say to take what we need...what a nice fellow he turned out to be, so glad I didn't skewer him before we got a chance to have a chat." Garmit gets ready to scout out the next level.

Once everybody is ready to head up, he'll proceed quietly up the stairs at the top right (northwest?) of the map.

"Friendly or otherwise, reborn or otherwise, he led his tribe to slaughter all the inhabitants here. But first thing first. The Master seems to be the greater threat here." Setting aside his disgust for now, Kai moves up behind Garmit, ready to proceed.

GM, how much time since we entered the tower? Asking re our buffs.

Let's call it 2 minutes to search the ground floor, about 5 minutes chatting with the orc, and another 2 minutes to search the rest of the 2nd floor. 9 minutes total.

Xichi renews his Shield and Reduce Person buffs.

Kai similarly downs another extract of shield before proceeding.

Xen comes back to talk the the orc. Smelling good. Likely it'll be ready in only a couple more hours. Keep it simmering. she says, hoping to keep the orc occupied. After she and her bodyguard take up position in the small room behind Garmit.

Leading the way upstairs, Garmit and Herrick peek into what was clearly the bedroom of the master of the tower. This room appears well appointed despite some damage to the southeastern wall and what appears to be a thorough ransacking. Most of the furniture is damaged, either slashed or smashed, and anything of value was long ago taken away. A body lies discarded near the fireplace. A set of stairs in the northwest corner of the room leads down.

Nothing immediately dangerous appears, so you step in. Xen quickly confirms that the body here is that of the missing Pathfinder, Heralt.

Beyond that, the floor is empty. Rooms that were probably quarters for a butlers and/or maids contain basic furniture; the few chests have been forced open and emptied.

One room was destroyed by the falling meteor, and whatever was in it tumbled into the crater below. The floor here is steeply sloped. A set of damaged stairs begins about 5 feet above open space to the crater below and leads to the roof. Two orc corpses, stripped of armor and weapons, lie against the east wall. The stairs appear to lead to the roof, but getting to them would require some care due to the sloped floor and the drop into the crater.

Third floor map is up. Let me know your next plans. Searching this floor and Heralt's body took about a minute.

The princess is saddened but not surprised when she finds Heralt and bends to examine the body. I don't see any wounds. Can someone trained in the healing arts see if they can find the cause of death and perhaps how long ago he died? As she looks over the body she exclaims quietly What have we hear? A secret pocket. She recovers the note and the letter, looking at each for a moment before passing them around.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23

Once the next floor has been searched, Garmit carefully moves over to the edge of the open space and looks down into the crater, letting out an audible gulp. "So, ah...I s'pose we need to check out the roof as well then?" He looks back at the group to make sure they're within sight. "If this doesn't work out, just promise me I won't end up in that soup!"

The plucky tengu reaches up and climbs up to the stairs, to head up to the roof.

Take 10 on Acrobatics for where it is needed, for +27.

Xichi renews Shield and Reduce Person, and casts Detect Magic as well.

I also see no marks on him. I hope it was an honorable death.

No ranks in Heal. All dead bodies look the same to me.

healing: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 2 = 20
Auto Success on perception

Herrick looks over the body of Heralt, and instantly notes the ligature marks on the man's neck.

After a bit more time, he determines the cause of death to be strangulation. "The signs indicate he was strangled, unlike most of the other bodies we have found that appeared to have been either stabbed or slashed to death."

"You have my word Garmit, you won't become soup as long as I draw breath. Beyond that, I promise nothing."

The human then follows the tengu as he heads to the roof.

Xichi hurries along after Herrick.

It is supposed to take a DC 10 Climb check, but I think 20+ on Acrobatics is also good enough. ;-)

The roof is surrounded by a walkway protected by wood crenellations. The roof itself rises another 15 feet to a sharp point above the tower. A set of stairs in the southeast corner leads down to a chamber but ends in destruction, hanging out over empty space to the crater below. Anyone on the roof can see the entirety of the motte-and-bailey and the low river valley beyond.

You've been everywhere you can find to investigate in the tower. Checking the roof took less than a minute.

"Ok, nothing to see up here, guys...well, apart from a spectacular view!" Garmit calls back down to the rest of the group. "So, I guess it's time to go dig up some weeds? Can't say I've ever been much of a gardener. I hope one of you has got a green thumb...either that or a packload of alchemist's fire!!"

I think now we must go below

"Yes, I guess we have to go down into the caves." Garmit agrees, not looking all that pleased by the prospect. "Our friend, the orc, offered to show us the way to his 'Master'. Did we want to take him up on his offer, or just try and find it ourselves? Might save us time but then again not sure I want our buddy down there at our backs once we start doing some pruning on his precious plant."

I agree. I suspect he would be forced to fight us if we must fight the plant master. Best to keep him cooking.

We have found the Pathfinder. Lets arrange to bring his body back. What exactly was our mission?

"I need you to locate Heralt, and either rescue him or complete his mission of locating Akila's ring."

"With Heralt confirmed as dead, it's up to us to complete his mission and locate Akila's ring." Herrick answers the unvoiced question on the princess' mind.

The group then finds their way down to the lower levels...

Krug smiles at you as you pass through, apparently content to work on the Master's soup.

You make your way back to the ground level, and inspect the crater. You can see where Krug apparently scrabbles up and down; the crater’s slope is rocky and sloped at about 45 degrees, making it a small challenge to descend.

The only light in the cavern is what comes through the hole. In the part you can see from your current angle, bulbous vines snake around the cavern floor

The floor of the cavern appears to be about 15 feet below your current level; you can either use a Climb check to pick your way down (requires both hands free) or just jump with an Acrobatics check (take 10 is allowed for either). Whoever decides to be first down (one person or several going down at once), let me know and I will move your tokens onto the map and reveal more, based on who goes in and what sort of light / darkvision they have.

Confused. Is there a way down the stairs into the tunnels inside the keep?

We had to go back down to the ground level and the crater that destroyed a corner of the keep, I believe. I think we can either access it through the destroyed part of the tower or from outside?

Garmit activates the light spell on his Wayfinder and peers down into the crater. "Yep, plenty of vines down there. Who's coming with me?" Generally more than happy to scout off ahead, the tengu looks a little apprehensive about the current situation this time.

Garmit has light on his Wayfinder and lowlight vision. He'll just take 10 on Acro to jump in once anyone else who's coming in with him pipes up.

"If I may add on about Akila... She was buried in caverns deep beneath Skull Hill’s timber tower lest someone find her ring and figure out how to activate its power. A Pathfinder once resided in Skull Hill a hundred or so years ago, apologies I seem to have forgotten his name, reported Akila’s cavern as a rumor in one of his reports back to Absalom."

This seems to indicate that the caverns below ground were not part of the fort construction despite being right below it. Any entrances might be somewhere else and even then they were likely hidden or sealed away because it was only rumored to even exist, and we only have access now because the meteors hit. Time to go face some killer plants from outer space.

"I will accompany you, but I think it wise to use the Princess' puppet to lead the way in case these vines prove to be part of a larger, more aggressive plant such as a moonflower. I did mention they are known to have a large reach with their tendrils and fronds."

Acrobatics take 10 for a 21 to jump in after we see what happens to the undead?

It looks...interesting down there.

Xichi is happy to follow Garmit into the hole.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Presumably that's a fall.

As he starts to fall, Xichi casts Feather Fall on himself, including the rest of the party as well, and floats serenely down.

Spells 1:5/8 2:7/7 3:6/6 4:4/4

"Happy to let our skinny friend go first, sounds good to me!" Garmit agrees with Herrick's suggestion. "How are we going to get him down there? Just give him a gentle push or lower him down? Don't want him to break something. He doesn't look in great shape, I doubt he works out!"

Sorry, caught without network access last weekend

"So... it sounds like this flower might be a bit of a hazard. Who is good with a bow? Speaking of plants, did you know it was impossible to keep a secret on a farm?"

Rhuul tags along with the group, they all seemed to know what they were doing and he waits the chance to say...
"The potatoes have eyes all over them."

And the corn all have ears. Xen adds with a smile. []bI can shoot well enough but I worry that piercing damage might not be ideal for putting down a plant.[/b] she adds as she wonders how to climb down while maintaining her dignity.And look at those vines on the floor. Will they alert the plant we are coming? Are they a threat themselves?