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You are clustered in the courtyard, about to leave the villa when there is a loud knock on the gate. Rayhan's servant, Eramin,hurries to attend, opening the portal to reveal a single male dwarf. The dwarf is obviously well known to Eramin who lets him right on through.
Sorry for the delay goods, looking to go through Javell's background and update tonight.
Rayhan seems pleased that you accept his offer, the diviner mentioning in passing that he will waive his usual fee for such studies given the scroll's potential importance. You settle into the villa, those who wish to availing themselves of Rayhan's luxurious and seemingly magically enhanced bathing facilities (a two foot deep pool of water magically heats itself in line with rocks placed into several heating bins). After weeks on the road you all have a restful sleep. At breakfast Rayhan repeats that it will take him a few days to get his notes on activating the real scroll of Kakishon together so it appears you have some free time to yourselves.
Okay dokey. Will wait and see but do have a think yourself about how he might be introduced to the party.
Javell, any thoughts on background for Emercy?
So Rayhan's offer is out there. Are you guys going to take him up on accomodations and so some checking at the docks or do something else.
Crunch issues for Emercy. - Do you want to just note that his init is +1 with his ioun stone out, +2 otherwise.
Crunch looks pretty good, just a few issues I'll note later. In terms of background the big issue is why he is in Katapesh. Does he live there, is he a visitor etc. In terms of tie-ins to existing characters (which will help with introducing him) here are some possible options to consider: 1. Leveraging his master merchant trait, he is a family friend of Zeladiel's who were local merchants before they ran afoul of a gnoll raiding party. 2. He is a client of Rayhan's the diviner who the party are currently visiting with. He may know Rayhan well under 1 also. 3. He is a contemporary or ally of the church of Sarenrae and knows Linah (the PC cleric of the leaving player) and/or Khalid (the PC inquisitor of Sarenrae). Perhaps he's an anti-slavery crusader and they know him that way. These all give at least some of the party reasons to trust him which will be an advantage.
Linah makes a pained noise. We are all in this together Zeladiel. You need help and you need the rest of us. Besides with Zayifid potentially about, should anyone be doing anything alone?
Yeah Torag is fine, we'll make it work. Any two traits are fine. Oh and it was a 20 point initial build.
Hello and welcome Javell. A dwarf cleric is fine. Worshipping Sarenrae or Abadar are the most appropriate for the setting but really any good or neutral god is OK. We are half way through chapter 3 of the AP so the character will be 7th level with 29,500 GP worth of gear. Feel free to make what you want, the character you are replacing was a specialised healer but you don't need to be quite so rigid. With two barbarians and a melee focused inquisitor the party does have melee combat pretty much covered. An evoker wizard rounds out the group so general divine caster really is the niche. Once you have something fleshed out we will have a think about how to work you into the party. Unfortunately the group is in rather a paranoid state about a shapechanging genie that keeps trying to mess with them and steal their stuff so introductions might be a bit delicate.
Yep. Katapesh!
All looks good.
The falchions will come at higher levels, believe me. Anyone currently over 29,500 gp can keep what they have. We will consider selling everything you currently have as excess to make up that amount and go back to individual recording moving forward. Put Tempest at its current +2 value, I think it jumps to + 3 at 8th level which will be a big free boost. Joana do you want to approach your contact? Adding a new character right now might be tricky but its only going to get trickier moving forward. Agree any main divine caster should be fine without necessarily being the fully specialised healer Linah is.
So we are basically at the point where you guys have some potential downtime. Your also at the place where you can pretty much buy everything. Addressing the game pause, loss of players etc what I want to do is abstract your treasure a bit before we return to a list. Basically what I'm thinking is that everyone upgrades to a total of 29,500 GP exclusive of party items which is essentially half way between 7th and 8th level by the numbers. Treasure from the rest of this chapter should put you between 8th and 9th which is pretty much where you should be. If you want extra party items then you should agree to debit your individual shares. The actual buying will take some days game time but you should be thinking now about what your after. I'm also going to give Zeladiel the opportunity to copy extra spells from Rayhan, lets say at 3/4 scroll cost excluding necromancy and enchantment spells which are his opposition schools. This partly reflects lack of spellbooks to date as treasure and issues he will have with getting new spells in future. For Nuveril I'm thinking we treat her hammer at least for now as kind of a legacy weapon ie you spend the money and it magically grows in power. This will help her from falling behind Khalid and Grall with Tempest and a bazillion magical falchions. We should also have a think about what to do re replacing Linah. She's perfectly fine as a DMPC healbot for a while at least. Do you guys want to keep things that way or recruit another divine caster? Does anyone have anyone in mind if so or should we do an open recruitment? Metawise replacing her in the near future is probably going to be a lot easier than replacing her once you hit chapter 4 of the AP. Replacing any characters at that point becomes a bit of a mission.
Passing through the Twilight Gate is much easier than the Dawn Gate as the only possible new traffic (unless it can fly) is from the few docks at Castle Clarion. On the way out you are simply waved through with a few more hard looks at Grall. As you ascend the cliffs the Obari Ocean stretches out even more clearly to the east, blue-green water spreading out endlessly. From here though you can see the great main City docks, over a dozen long, maze-like piers jut out from the cities sandy eastern shore each of them capable of holding numerous seagoing vessels. Of the boats themselves there could easily be a thousand vessels in view from great trading caravels to simple fishing boats. Some are at rest while others form a constant stream in and out of the docks like a horde of ants. Rising from the shoreline, a massive copper statue of a horned giant stares menacingly out to sea as if to ward away enemies. Huge crenellated towers flank the Docks, the city walls spreading out from them in either direction to surround the city.
Somewhere near here is the great Slave Block but politely or not Zeladiel avoids that route taking you further south into the Lower City until you find the Jackal's Gate, a newer piece of construction that leads to the Twilight Gate District which forms the south west part of the City. The outer walls that ring the southern portion of Twilight Gate date back to 3725 AR when the Pactmasters reshaped Katapesh to their own vision. Today Twilight Gate is a mixture of ancient and modern architecture and the site of many ruins that have become tourist attractions. You pass the Pathfinder Society Lodge, an elegant three-tiered building which is the local base of operations for the world-spanning Pathfinder Society. Zeladiel explains that it also serves double duty as headquarters for Katapesh’s local Explorers’ Guild (mainly due to city ordinances that require Pathfinder Society members to also be members of a city guild). Then the Grand Alchemist’s Tower. This soaring crenellated tower is home to Katapesh’s most accomplished alchemist and the guildmaster of the Order of Alchemists and Potion Makers. Finally you arrive at the Twilight Gate itself, the smallest of the cities portals but still a large entrance to the suburb that lie directly outside the cities southern wall. Named after Castle Clarion, the home of the powerful Clarion family, the area features a collection of wealthy villas and eateries perched at the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Inner Sea. Zeladiel explains that it is here that Rayhan's villa lies, no more than half an hour from the Twilight Gate, close enough to the city to enjoy its conveniences but far enough to grant some relief from the bustle.
Zeladiel arranges for porters to deliver the other goods you had stored on the merchant's wagon and leads you deeper into the district. Where the horde of people becomes a vast, rapidly moving flood. While Keleshites dominant obviously, practically all of the races are Golarian are present in some measure. You pass a trio of Ulfen mercenaries following at least a dozen Garundi pilgrims to Gozreh. A quartet of Vudrani merchants argue with an even number of Katapeshi ones. Two Chelish nobles make their way gingerly, skirted by a squad of guards. Human, dwarf, half-orc, elf,cat-folk, halfling. The halflings seem to come in two varieties; the first elaborately dressed and conspicuously ignoring the second, men and women in slave smocks rushing at one task or another. Halflings in total make up about 3% of the population but at least two-thirds are slaves. The smell of pesh is everywhere although even the sweet scent is insufficient to mask ranker smells. To the south the ground rises steeply toward the Inner City, itself surrounded by pale sandstone walls. Many ancient marvels dating back to the city’s earliest existence two thousand years ago rival each other in their size, grandeur, and mystique. From the Grand Coliseum, the Marble Sphinx, and the Golden Oasis to the Glass Pyramids and the Screaming Obelisk, all of these and more can be found in the Inner City. The Inner City is also home to the walled palace of the Pactmasters, its soaring towers easily seen from anywhere in the city. Nonplussed, Zeladiel leads you east instead into the Lower City. Sandwiched between the Inner City and the Docks, this is easily the largest section of Katapesh, and the most densely populated. The Lower City contains possibly the world’s largest bazaar — a collection of kiosks, tents, huts, carts, or simply rugs on open spaces of ground displaying a few odds and ends. The Lower City Bazaar stretches the entire length of the city, and nearly anything can be bought or sold here. You pass the stepped, pyramid-like temple of Nethys the building towering over every nearby structure like a brooding giant. A multicolored flame that burns endlessly without fuel hovers over the topmost tier, marking this as a house of the god of magic.
Sorry for the delay guys. I'm actually in Cyprus and thought I'd have much more time to post than the ten month old has permitted (including one trip to emergency). Back at the end of this week and I'll try to get back in the groove. Dan
Zeladiel: You know the constructs are golems each made with the souls of multiple slaves or capital prisoners. They can be commanded by the zephyr guard with an appropriate talisman in times of extremis.
The official opens his mouth as if to say something but takes another look at Linah and closes it again. He pauses and begins again with the tone of someone who repeats something a hundred times a day. As you say. Please note that entry into the City is deemed acceptance of all of its laws and lesser regulations. Ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse. Of particular note, assault of a guild member, Zephyr Guard, or government official is a crime punishable by one year imprisonment. Murder of the same is punishable by execution. Stealing is punishable by branding and loss of a hand. Do you understand these laws? The last is perfunctory and he starts waving you along before you can answer.
Linah channels several times that evening and again the next morning, restoring everyone to full health. You store as much of the loot as possible within Khalid's haversack while those items that won't fit (mostly armour and bows) are stowed onto the wagon with the merchant's goods. If Radi Hamdi was somewhat cowed before the battle he appears entirely subservient afterwards and the merchant seems almost pathologically eager to assist. Thankfully, your final day's travel is without incident. By mid-morning the top parts of the cities great sandstone towers are in view and by noon blue glimpses of the Obari Ocean, stretching endlessly to the east. Katapesh sits within a narrow fertile crescent and by afternoon you have made it. Pesh fields are the first things you see, well-worked and well guarded. But other fields as well, barley, sorghum and even wheat, a very small part of the vast network required to feed over 200,000 souls. Zeladiel leads you south toward the city itself and the trail becomes a wide hard-packed road heading for the Dawn Gate in the cities northern wall: not the busiest of Katapesh's portals perhaps but busy for Katapesh is a horde for anywhere else and you soon find yourself part of a great stream of wagons and travelers, farmers, workers, soldiers and others. Sitting directly outside of the Dawn Gate is Dog Town, easily the dirtiest, most rundown area of Katapesh. Home to the largest portion of Katapesh’s gnoll population, the community is also home to many of the city’s indigent citizens, ne’er-do-wells and small-time business owners, all attracted to its low-income housing despite the high crime rate. Neatly bisected by the northern road, Dog Town squats almost all the way along the wall, a mass of tents and more permanent dwellings. A hundred eyes seem to follow you from a hundred alley ways as you walk. You arrive at the Gate (which in reality is more like five separate passages) where the traffic divides by purpose and method of conveyance. Things move efficiently and its only half an hour until you are facing a dour looking official dressed in blue and grey. He bows low to Linah. Sun's blessings Priestess. And looks to the rest of you. Before you may enter the City, I am to assess any dutiable items you are holding in your possession. Under Katapashi law, you must declare any class 1, 2 or 3 items. That is to say any poisons, drugs or slaves. Anything else is your own business. Do you have anything to declare? The man looks sideways at Grall.
Guys away for my birthday til Tue. Next update then.
You build a giant pyre for the bodies, adding fallen timber from the many spells thrown around. Black smoke spirals away into a grey sky that turns to black as evening falls. Tomorrow you will arrive at Katapesh and the next stage of your journey, Zeladiel's master Rayhan.
Aside from the sorceress, the group quickly handles the remaining archers, still stuck in their pit when the magic expires. Over the hill you find the bodies of the few other raiders who tried to flee, clearly slain by the gnolls who were standing by. That leaves only the Guard Captain and his hyenadon as the sole survivors of the Sons of Carrion. Gathering and searching the bodies of the dead is a time consuming process given the carnage but you have time. On the gnolls you find only a handful of coins each. The raiders are a different story, each bears stacks of disparate gold coins, clearly their wages for the bloody affair. All together you rake in 1,800 gp worth. Each of the Carrion Guard (11 killed) was wearing enchanted studded leather and carried an expensive masterwork composite longbow (+4 to strength) and masterwork scimitar. The giant carried two large masterwork flails. Shiz wore an enchanted ring, bracers and cloak and carried a magical longspear.
Grall rises into the air as Zeladiel readies his arrow. Shiz notices and grits her teeth. She looks west, presumably to the fleeing gnoll Captain and then back to the battleground. No, no rretreat you need to pay for what you've done. Pay trraitor ... She begins to cast another spell then groans as Zeladiel's arrow hits her square in the breast. Concentration spent, the sorceress spirals slowly down to the dirt. She is clearly bleeding out and will die soon without urgent healing. Trraitor ... cough .... trraitor to yourr people. Grrall yourr motherr would be ashamed .. cough
Khalid's first strike takes off three of the gnoll's fingers and the second drops it to the ground, the Guard bleeding out. With all enemies down or fled bar the sorceress, Haleen flings a ball of her rapidly diminishing flame at Shiz. The fire hits but seems to do no damage to the flying gnoll.
The stomach cut is probably enough but it's the bite that seals it, the giant expiring noisily and messily with Grall's teeth clamped around it's throat. The flails fall out of lifeless hands and drop to the ground with a dull thump followed by the body itself as the barbarian finally releases it.
The Sons / Daughters of Carrion Round 11 Ordered Initiative Raider Bowman
Effects Bless All
Linah follows Khalid's direction heading toward the western battle. The giant unloads on Grall and Nuveril simultaneously, its left flail striking at the halfling, its right the gnoll, with near perfect co-ordination. Grall is clouted on the arm although a follow up strike again misses due to his illusionary magic. Nuveril is hit several times, the giant managing to stun her with a wide swing that clips her head and a follow up to the stomach which steals her breath. (higher ground, power attack)
(higher ground, power attack)
(higher ground, power attack)
(higher ground, power attack)
Grall resists Shiz's enchantment with aplomb. Nuveril ducks right under another huge swing from the increasingly frustrated giant before planting her hammer against its shins, bringing a deep grunt from the creature. The last Carrion Guard steps back out of Khalid's reach before shooting a desperate arrow at the inquisitor which goes high.
Shiz casts another spell and this time she seems ready for Zeladiel's somewhat weaker response although the missiles still clearly hurt the gnoll sorceress and she is now bleeding freely.
Grall feels a wave of paralysing energy threatening to hold him in place.
Grall cuts up the left hand side of the hill upon which the giant stands. The ugly thing swings its right hand flail at the barbarian as soon as he enters range. Or what it thinks is the barbarian. The creature blinks stupidly as its flail passes right through where it only thought the barbarian was, the barbarian's illusionary enchantment fooling the attack. (higher ground, power attack)
The giant doesn't have long to ponder though, Grall's return strike cutting it deep in the thigh. On the other side of the battle, Khalid's size allows the inquisitor to get close enough to the remaining hyeneadon to attack it freely. Khalid takes full advantage, his first strike slashing across the beast's eyes and the second opening its throat. Though this time its rider at least manages to get out of the saddle without injury.
Haleen throws one of her fiery bolts at the rider, hitting him in the side.
Linah replies. No but I can get someone in the air if I can touch them!
Grall drops the Carrion Guard rider with a single looping cut which sends the gnoll crashing back to the ground, scimitar flying.
The Sons / Daughters of Carrion Round 10 Ordered Initiative Raider Bowman
Effects Bless All
Linah slices at the hyenadon attacking her with her scimitar and strikes it along the right forepaw.
Haleen moves up beside Linah and flings a small ball of flame at the northern hyenadon which strikes it in the head, sending it rearing backward.
Shiz begins to cast another spell, gesturing toward the air between Grall, Khalid and Nuveril when Zeladiel's missiles hit her in the body one after the other. She shrieks with rage and frustration as she loses her spell.
Nuveril strikes the Carrion Guard leader several times with hammer and shield, injuring him badly before stepping backward out of reach. The northern Carrion Guard spurs his mount around and down toward Linah, the hyenadon reaching out to bite at the priestess but missing. The Guard himself shoots an arrow at the retreating Khalid but the missile goes high and wide.
The Guard leader, blood flowing down his chest, looks at the lightly wounded Nuveril and spurs his mount westward. He calls out to the flying sorceress as he flees. Gnoll:
It is overr Shiz, the battle is lost. Die herre if you wish! The last Guard regains his feet and trades bow for scimitar.
The southern hyenadon manages to get a grip on Grall's left forearm, worrying at the skin but fails to knock the gnoll barbarian off his feet.
With his bow out, the rider can do nothing but watch Grall's strike in return, a vicious cut to the hyenadon's torso that has it roaring in pain and tumbling to the ground in an unconscious heap. The hapless guard spills out of his saddle and falls awkwardly, ending up prone. vs DC 25
Zeladiel has Grall up to ground level, the gnoll able to find a passably firm footing on the edge of the pit. Still caught in the tentacles and pulled this way and that, Linah closes her eyes and whispers a quick prayer to her Goddess before incanting a spell of dispelling. vs DC 26
Perhaps the prayer was heard but either way the Priestess yells a quick shout of triumph as the tentacles vanish as if they had never been!
The hyenadon also has 10' reach. Their riders have 5' in melee.
Figured it was something like that.
The Sons / Daughters of Carrion Round 9 Ordered Initiative Raider Bowman
Effects Bless All
Nuveril and Khalid move into position while Grall regains his feet and manages to climb most of the way out of his pit. Haleen incants a spell, flame forming its way around the woman's fist. Shiz casts another spell, a glowing pea-sized bead streaks from her hand to a point just above Grall's head before exploding with a roar of flame that engulfs the gnoll, Zeladiel and Khalid. DC 17 reflex for half
The giant stays in position under the flying sorceress while the hyenadons move forward. The top beast moves around the pool, heading for your back lines while its rider shoots accurately at Linah, immobile in the field of black tentacles.
In the center, the leader changes bow for scimitar and spurs his mount directly at Nuveril crying a challenge. Yet its the halfling who has the better of the exchange, Nuveril just striking the gnoll in the side with her hammer while escaping injury.
The southernmost beast tramples over a carpet of dead hyenas to get to Khalid and attempts to take the enlarged inquisitor off his feet.
Its rider shoots at Zeladiel, exposed at the lip of the pit, but is put off by her mount's movements and the arrow goes well over the elven wizards head.
30 feet deep. I have you with 20 feet of move for an accelerated climb.
Okay all good. You just need to use the first move action to recover from prone. So you will be 20' up and Zeladiel can move you all the way out in his action.
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