Divination Results re Shadow Clock and Xanesha? (Skinsaw Murders)[Spoilers]


Rise of the Runelords


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

My group will be heading to the Shadow Clock next time. They killed all the cultists and spared Ironbriar (for now) in case they need more information. They were able to figure out that he was charmed and they managed to dispel it. They then successfully interrogated him and learned everything he knew--which didn't seem to be a whole lot from what I could tell. With the spell broken, he realized that he had been charmed. It wasn't clear if he'd ever seen Xanesha in her true form, so I had him figure she was human as she appears. He revealed the fact that they've got a flesh golem and several faceless stalkers, and the location of the Shadow Clock. I don't think he knows what Xanesha's real purpose is, though, or the full extent of her power.

The party just reached 7th level (actually long overdue, because I gave them a side quest related to the back-story of two of the PCs). If the party Cleric (of Desna) casts "Divination", any suggestions about what she learns? The description of that spell is awfully vague. For a 4th level spell it should be pretty darned helpful, I would think. But I don't want to go overboard.

If it makes a difference, I'm mostly referencing the Anniversary Edition, although I have the original adventure path volumes as well as the deluxe Sihedron Tome version (collector's edition?).


Kelvar Silvermace wrote:
The party just reached 7th level (actually long overdue, because I gave them a side quest related to the back-story of two of the PCs). If the party Cleric (of Desna) casts "Divination", any suggestions about what she learns? The description of that spell is awfully vague. For a 4th level spell it should be pretty darned helpful, I would think. But I don't want to go overboard.

I imagine who knows what varies a little bit from campaign to campaign... but I figure the first and biggest limitation on the Divination spell will be the questions your Cleric thinks to ask - chances are she doesn't know enough yet to ask the 'right' questions. You might want to privately ask her to write them out for you in beforehand so you can figure out how to best answer them so that she gets good information but doesn't reveal anything that might derail the story. Do this as a general rule rather than specific to this moment in the campaign or this particular Divination. That way you can give her the answers in-game without having to shoot from the hip.

Ongoing Divinations can be a bit of a Pandora's Box, but remember that behind all of this is an incredibly powerful wizard, and when he starts getting wind of the PC's, he may make moves to obfuscate or mislead their divinations, either himself or through minions.

Designer

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Just give a cryptic poem! Like this one:

The hand of greed lies in the shad'w of time
The stolen heart behind the bleeding stars.
The reaper's scythe may end you in your prime
Ascend the way that crafted malice bars.
The path to evil climbing up like stairs
To put an end to one Pharasma cursed
The bells toll death for those caught unawares
Elastic twists the knife; expect the worst.
A cunning trick, but faith will see you through
A sister path will start your search anew.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Story Archer—Thank you! That’s good advice! I like the idea of having the player write it down beforehand, so I can (1) carefully consider how much to reveal and (2) maybe do it with some style. (Like Mark’s excellent poem below). The “problem” is that the Cleric is an NPC. (I figured they needed a healer when we started. She has grown as a character (more than some of the PCs), but I make every effort to ensure she *never* steals the spotlight from anyone. So while I make sure she’s purely a supporting character, I do try to make sure she acts rationally. Having just gained the ability to cast Divination, and with the party deciding to take a couple of days off to gather information, it would be hard to explain why she wouldn’t make the effort to learn what she can. I think I can have her ask a question that elicits the response proposed by Mark.

Speaking of which—Mark: This. Is. Awesome!

I love this. I’ve always considered myself to be a strong writer (especially in the professional context) but I’ve never had a gift for poetry. This actually inspires me to try my hand at some Tolkienesque poetry about Shalast and Bakrakhan.

So, while I think I get most of it, I’m curious about the meaning of a few lines:
“The stolen heart behind the bleeding stars.” Is this referring to something, or just being poetical? *Edit* I'm an idiot. This is a reference to the Sihedron runes and what they are being used for by Karzoug's agents.

“Ascend the way that crafted malice bars.
The path to evil climbing up like stairs” I assume we’re talking about literal, rather than figurative, stairs here—the stairs in the tower. But I’ve been trying to work out what it is that crafted malice bars. To me, “crafted malice” sounds like “premeditated evil deeds”. What is it that “bars” or prevents premeditated evil? Premeditated righteousness? Preparedness? Stalwart vigilance? Maybe this part just means to prepare carefully and be ready for anything? *Edit* Ooh! Does this mean to *avoid* the stairs?

“Elastic twists the knife”? Just being poetic, or is this a specific reference that’s lost on me?

The reason I ask about these is that everything else seems to have a very specific meaning, and if these do as well, I really want to know!
This is all kinds of awesome, though. I’m guessing you didn’t just write that for my benefit? (If so, I’ve got a whole slew of requests for you!)

Designer

Divination spells are handy for the GM because they "provide you with a useful piece of advice in reply to a question concerning a specific goal, event, or activity that is to occur within 1 week." and "it might take the form of a cryptic rhyme or omen".

So they should be asking about a specific goal, event, or activity, and that's probably going to be pursuing their lead on Xanesha from Ironbriar, which will be fine for that sonnet.

@meanings:

"Stolen heart behind the bleeding stars" is there for a few reasons. Since Desna is the goddess of the stars and the night sky, at first it might seem like bleeding stars refers to her own dominion over stars in some way, but in fact it refers to the bloody carved sihedron runes, as you surmised. The stolen heart refers to the soul energy used to power them but also to Xanesha's style of charming her way into a position of power by stealing hearts, so it means both that stolen hearts are the reason why they carved the stars and also that the one who steals hearts is behind it.

"Crafted malice" indicates the methodical nature of the antagonists' plans, but it also directly refers to the crafted henchman who guards the stairs, the Scarecrow.

"Elastic twists the knife" refers to the elastic nature of the faceless stalkers, something that they've probably seen before in the townhouse while fighting the stalkers. They're going to twist the knife by potentially doubling down on the party if they get really messed up by the bell trap.

I wrote the poem on a lark because at the time it was a good way to clear my mind. I generally take a minute or two to write such a poem whenever my PCs cast divination, and as you can guess, I've run this AP before (in the case of Skinsaw Murders, twice).

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