Thod runs Carrion Crown - Trial of the Beast
Game Master Thod

Wren examines the gravestones after she follows Mr. Hastur's lead and casts Feathermage Armor upon herself.

Galadan keeps an eye open as he slowly approaches the gravestones. He casts...

Detect Undead and then looks around with sharp eyes.

1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17

Kevin takes a long drink from his prized flask and draws his sword.

Andrea joins the other casters in casting Mage Armour.

Some parts are repost

The sad remains of a broken building lie on a spur of land jutting into the river. The burnt timbers of a large house sag into the undergrowth of nettles and thistles. Nature is taking back this charred ruin, as if trying to erase dark memories. Nearby, a small cluster of gravestones jut from the weeds.

Though called an island, Karb is actually an isthmus and is connected to the mainland. There are a total of 12 graves along the cobbled track to Lepidstadt. The ruins of Sanctuary  are choked with fallen debris and count as dense rubble. 

You notice a 3-foot-wide hole on the south side of the ruins. 

Wren chitters as she looks about.

"...and then the court guy said that...blahblah blah blah...and so I said, "Let me try sticking it in,"...blah blah blah...not one, but *two* different colored gopher familiars, so...blahblah blah blah...and that's why I always dip my bacon in dretch mucus."

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13 Perception

Wren also looks for tracks near the hole.

1d20 + 0 ⇒ (11) + 0 = 11 Survival

"Look at this hole, Kevin, dearie! We might want to take a look inside?"

Kevin makes his way over too the hole and begins to check for tracks. Great a fargin hole, I wonder what foul monster is going to jump out and try to eat my face.

Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

1 minute/level duration, so 4 minutes?

Galadan also takes a moment to pause and examine the soft ground near the hole(s).

Survival (Track)
1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23 (+2 vs undead)

Wren scratches her armpit, sniffs it, and then wipes her hand on her feathers.

Rash is back. I should tell Andrea. She loves to hear things like that. We women share the important details.

Mage Armour-5 hours

Andrea stands ready to repel anything that threatens the group

There are several humanoid tracks from the hole in the ground. As if it is used like an rat infested hideout.

Galadan bends down closer to the ground, lifting some of the soil from the tracks to his nose.

"Undead. Walking corpses of some type in any event." He turns to the others. "Be prepared."

If I stay in one place long enough, can I use the detect undead spell or survival skill or knowledge (religion) skill to determine the type of undead these tracks might belong to?

'Aldous' eyes the 'rabbit hole' dubiously.

"It looks like it might be a bit of a squeeze... We will definitely have to go single file. Do you want me to go first?"

"Undead? Really? Here? How strange." Kevin looks at the hole and mutters something about someone paying to clean his clothes after this and pulls the cursed hand axe before crawling in head first.

"One moment, please. Let me prepare."

Seeing as they are about to go in the hole, Wren pulls out her spellbook and quickly learns another Magic Missile spell.

I do love my magicks! Where would my friends be without me!?

"After you, Kevin."

The cellar

The hospital's damp cellar, which contained Dr. Brada's private workshop, escaped the fire remarkably unscathed. A pair of large water casks sits beneath the entrance shaft to climb upon. The cellar itself is some 15 feet high, and is a mess, as the remains of Brada's workshop have been f lung about and otherwise thrown into disarray. A ghastly trophy made of burnt heads dangling on chains from an iron candelabrum hangs from the ceiling near the shaft.

You notice four humanoid creatures that are alerted when Kevin gets down into the cellar.

We have a 25 by 50 feet large room.

Initiative:

Undead 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Wren 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Aldous 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Kevin 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
Galadan 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Andrea 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Initiative modifiers from memory - please correct what I got wrong.

Two creatures charge at Kevin. The other two go fr the next intruders

Wren 1, Aldous 2, Galadan 3, Andrea 4

1d4 ⇒ 3
1d4 ⇒ 1

On Kevin 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 5 + 2 = 17 Damage 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 bite

On Kevin 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 2 = 11 Damage 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 claw

On Galadan 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 5 + 2 = 12 Damage 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 bite

On wren 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 2 = 22 Damage 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 bite

Wren is +7, but ain't no thing here. Play on.

Round 1, Init 17

Wren looks at the humanoids with a weary eye.

1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19 Knowledge: Religion

"Don't worry, Plumie, I'm sure they are friendly."

Wren will share what she thinks about the creatures. Actions to come after Kevin.

Suprised by the onslaught (flat footed due to faster initiative) two of the creatures take out bites from Kevin and Wren.

Galadan's warning - this are Ghasts - comes to late.

Two fortitude saves each please. Paralysis and Ghoul Fever

Ninjaed -Wren should have easily identified them as well - just why she thinks they are friendly is beyond me ...

Especially as her knowledge will tell her that these nastier cousins of the Ghouls also effect elfs who otherwise tend to be immune.

'Aldous' wrinkles his nose in disgust.

"Charming. Just what we needed to make our day even more fun..."

Round 1, Init 17

Wren stops talking in mid-babble as the ghast's bite freezes her.

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8 Fort save

Wren *chooses* to pass her turn without acting.

Oh, that's too bad, my friends love to hear me talk.

Round 1:

On the other hand, things are suddenly looking up.

'Aldous' breathes a sigh of relief, and steps-up, ready to unleash his primal fury on the undead, his fists surrounded by a corona of flame which sears their flesh!

Claw #1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11, for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 Magical S/B damage, +1d6 ⇒ 4 Fire damage.
Claw #2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19, for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 Magical S/B damage, +1d6 ⇒ 2 Fire damage.
Claw #3: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24, for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 Magical S/B damage, +1d6 ⇒ 6 Fire damage.
Claw #4: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27, for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 Magical S/B damage, +1d6 ⇒ 3 Fire damage.

HP: 40 / 44
AC: 20

Fort SV 1 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Fort SV 2 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Kevin drops the axe and quick draws his dueling sword.

Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Crit Confirm:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Damage: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
Crit Damage: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12

Two of the Ghast go down from the onslaught by Kevin and Aldous.

(waiting for Galadan and Andrea)

Galadan lifts his heavy mace and swings at the ghast that attempted to bite him.

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
1d8 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Andrea blasts one off the Undead with a Lightning bolt

5d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 6, 2, 4) = 18Reflex Save DC17 for half

Reflex Save 1d20 ⇒ 6

Galadan fells the third Ghast while the lightning bolt takes care of the last.

Silence erupts in the room - not even disturbed by the prattle of Wren.

Paralyzed Wren keeps speaking until it wears off.

...so I says to the flutist, 'Which end goes where?'....blahblahblah blah...unknown origin, but that was fine...blahblah blah blah blah...two gnomes, one halfling, and a half-ogre...blahblah blah blah blah...blahblah blah blah blah...super sized melons, I mean hers were huge! And so she...blahblah blah blah blah...

"...jumped right over and said 'Mom, it's my body and I can do what I want with it."

Wren looks around to make sure everyone had heard the full story.

* * *

With the battle over, Wren will search the ghasts for some indication of where they came from or what they were before unlife took them.

Wren needs a second fort roll

"Wren stop moving about and ..shut up..I need to check the wound in case it has become infected"

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 Fort Save

"Oh...the rash is over here, Andrea. Look here."

Wren holds up her left wing and helps Andrea find the itchy rash.

"There it is," Wren itches again and then smells her fingers.

After a good sniff, Wren offers the fingers to Andrea.

"You want?"

We ladyfriends share everything.

You have the feeling that the Ghast have wondered into this place after the fire. The remains of the people here can be found as gnawed on bones scattered among the floor.
More disturbing is the sight of several heads - dangling from iron chains on a candelabra in the ceiling. Likely from the former patients here.

I knew that it was too good to last...

'Aldous' conducts a search of the room.

'take 10' Perception = 24.

The heads on the candelabra all look partly burned. All apart of one seems to show some deformities - like a hole in the head where the eyes should have been, a misformed ear that looks to belong to a pig rather then a human and similar.

Buried among the debris of the cellar are 12 silver crossbow bolts in a quiver, a slighly melted gold belt buckle (worth 15 gp) and an iron bracelet with silver filigree work depicting a moon eating an owl - worth 75 gp.

You also notice numerous shards of charred and broken glass. After some more time you find an unbroken vial that has rolled into a corner. The stopper is missing and the content already gone. But the damp label finds your interest.

"Vorgstag and Grine, Chymickal Bleach" is still clearly visible.

"Well, at least we have more proof of the connection to Vorgstag and Grine..."

'Aldous' then has a closer look at the one head that is not deformed.

"Do you think this was a worker, or simply an unfortunate traveler...?"

Knowledge (Local)
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

"I fear I honestly do not know. But would anyone know if chemical bleach can start fires?"

Galadan sniffs hesitantly at the bottle, careful not to let any noxious fumes overwhelm him.

Perception
1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19

Craft Alchemy1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22

"Bleach?..No it is dangerous to the skin and eyes..and to your lungs if you breathe in too much off the fumes but it is not a fire risk"

Sorry for slow posting, running PFS @ Pacificon this weekend. Currently hanging with Greg A. Vaughan playing in Return of the Slave Pits of the Undercity (via Dwarven Forge, Thod)...Vaughan wrote book 4 of Carrion Crown. I'll be pumping him for insight on how to survive that. ;)

1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18 Know Local

Wren coos out some more bird babble and is ready to move on.

You have the feeling Aldous has found everything that can be found down here.

The Bleach surely isn't the cause of the fire - but there are enough other broken vials and it is well possible that one of them dropped and started the fire.

Wren looks around one more time for another avenue of exploration before backing out of the hole.

I don't see any other exits/doors or anything from the description above. Might have missed it or this might have been a "dead" end. Hahahahahahaha. :)

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 Perception

"The chemical reagents are interesting, and point us in the right direction, but it is not conclusive proof of what started the fire."

Galadan looks at the other shattered bottles.

Perception
1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29

"Andrea, I may have to ask you for your expertise here. I don't really know what I'm looking for."

There seems neither an opening nor more information to be found down here. You realise if you missed something than more likely in the rubble above as you went quickly down.

Wren goes upstairs and begins to slowly sift through the rubble for clues.

Take 20 Perceptions=26 Perception

"Sometimes little birdies like to hide things from me. Let us go find them, Plumie."

'Aldous' searches around in the ruins above...

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24.

Being slow and meticulous in his search, Galadan also surfaces and searches the ruins.

Perception (20)
20 + 14 = 34

The search above in the ruins turns up a charred metal strongbox, warped by the heat of the fire. The lock is fused and Galadan reckons this is beyond his skills with picking lock. Only force will prie the box open.

'Aldous' retrieves a crowbar from his pack, mutters a brief benediction to the Keeper of Gates (casting Guidance), and sets about levering it open...

Strength check: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 2 + 1 = 24.

Galadan attempts to pry the box open as well, assisting 'Aldous'.

Aid
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7