(5) MDT's Revivified Kingmaker (Inactive)

Game Master mdt

Con damage: 4 (-12 hp, -2 fort), Str damage: 5 (-2 CMB, CMD, To Hit, Damage, str skills)

"Ugh ... Seduced by the faë wasn't all that nice as the hype says ..." Fhârn comments wearily as he shoves the unconscious/dead faë away from him, while holding a hand to the wound she had been snacking trough.

He attempts to summon a ball of ice to aid in the battle, but he snags one of the veins as he makes the motions, swearing instead.

Concentration, DC 16: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

I need a roll from Natalia to avoid being entangled again.

Round 7
Init, Anastacia: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 - 2 = 18 Entangled
Init, Fharn: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 - 2 = 2 Entangled
Init, Gorruum: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Init, Natalia: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Init, Wilhelm: 0 = 0 Unconscious, stable

Init, Elf Man: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
Init, ???: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (7) + 0 = 7

Elf Man, Everyone else

The elf man looks around, and curses in Sylvan. "I will avenge her, you misbegotten mortals! You will die cursing this day..." And then he withdraws up the wall and into the foliage in the top of the tower, climbing up the wall rapidly.

Combat over unless you want to try to follow him up the wall...

"Blech." Fhârn spits "Sooo, what about that fire...?"

reflex: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

"I wouldn't mind a nice camp fire right about now!"

Shortly after the elf leaves, the plants on the wall shudder again, and part of them detach and move up the wall and into the denser foliage.

As it departs, the rest of the plant life settles down and those who are entangled are released.

"First things, first." Anastacia hurries over to Wilhelm. "Lady of Graves, Mighty Pharasma. Close the gates of the Spire to this one. His life's journey is incomplete."
Anastacia places her open palm on Wilhelm's chest, sending a flow of life energy into his unconscious body.

Rebuke Death: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Gorruum hurries over to Wilhelm, "So sorry Wilhelm. Couldn't stop. Seemed right." The boggard immediately reaches into his things and starts pulling out all manner of moss, bark and grasses. Aghast at the terrible wound he has inflicted, he begins looking for a place to start. Having no idea where to begin be just kneels by Wilhelm's side. A lone tear trickles down his smooth cheek. Ubagub gives him a sloppy lick. Seeing Anastacia begin her magic, he tentatively asks "Not dead? You make Wilhelm better?"
Heal to treat deadly wounds: 1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 5 - 4 = 3

"He'll live. This time..."
Anastacia beckons to the others. "Gather round. Let Pharasma's power heal your wounds."
With a short prayer, Anastacia invokes the healing power of her goddess.

Channel, healing: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 4) = 10

Then again, a few seconds later.

Channel, healing: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 5) = 8

Gorruum solemnly nods, "Oh. Good." He continues to kneel beside Wilhelm while Anastacia heals everyone.
hp 44/67

Waking and groaning in pain, Wilhelm sits slowly, gritting his teeth as his wounds threaten to reopen painfully. He lays hand to his chest and a white glow envelops him.

Lay on Hands: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 2, 6) = 13

Standing more steadily, he catches the edge to Anastacia's voice and smiles disarmingly, "Pharasma didn't see fit to call me to be judged it would seem. Things were looking dire for a moment here, but I'm glad that Her judgement will wait. I have things I would like to accomplish yet here." He turns to Gorruum, laying a comforting hand on the boggard's shoulder. "There is no need to apologize, Gorruum. Her magics were potent and it caught all of us. I am alive, so there will be no lasting damage.Now all should stand close as I finish healing us of our wounds." Recovering and sheathing his blade, he touches his holy symbol and chants for a moment before he channels.

Channel: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 4) = 14

"I see that the elf-women lies dead. I will have to make amends for that. My indiscretion was unwarranted, even if her response was disproportionate. What of the other ghoulish creature and the plant?"

I'm up to 47/52 and my channel should get us close to topped up. I'm at 1/5 uses of Lay on Hands remaining. I can prepare a few castings of Lesser Restoration to help Fharn out at dawn.

Fortunately for all of you, Gorruum's hit took her to -16 HP, otherwise you'd have healed her as well. :)

"Thank goodness we survive this thing." Natalie says kicking at the woman thing. "I would have liked to kill that annoying elf witht he claws. I think he poisoned me, I seem to be moving with less grace then useal. Thanks both for the healing, it was most welcome"

Natalie begins to look around the room, checking for anything that could be usefull now or later.

Preception, 10: 13 + 11 = 24

That reminds me, another Fort Save DC 14 for Natalie, and DC 16 for Gorruum for the poison.

Gorruum fights off the last of the poison and rises with Wilhelm. "Gorruum glad Wilhelm all right. Elf woman dead Natalie."
Fort: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
Hp 58/67

Fort: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

"I don't think this was the sort of 'elf' that has anyone we could make amends *to*, unless you want to sacrifice a goat or something ..." Fhârn remarks dryly. "I would suggest we try and find the plant-man however, else it will most likely come back and stab us in the back somewhere..."

"Amends to all of you and to my goddess, I think. My action was rash and greatly endangered your lives. If not for your quick thinking and action, we might well be in the afterlife. We should track that man down, I agree, but I doubt he will be sticking around. It seems prudent to search through the tower to see if there is any indication of who the woman is." Wilhelm mouth twists in distaste and he shrugs, "Oh well, it will make for a good song. The foolish Baron saved by his noble courtiers. In any case, I apologize to all of you and to you particularly, Gorruum. Is your tongue alright?"

Will do this if no one objects. I'm thinking whatsisname is long gone, off to plot revenge.

Wilhelm searches through the room, looking for anything to identify the dead woman. He takes particular care around the table and throne.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Hurray character growth... less impulsive, more thoughtful, less likely to get us all killed (hopefully). :)

When the group searches the area, they find...

1) A life-sized alabaster statue of a nude, dancing elven woman (weighing almost 500 pounds)
2) A masterwork harp, a small, carved jade statuette of a coiling snake
3) An ancient filigreed elven water clock (weighing 200 pounds)

4) The Lady’s bed is covered with a snow-white bearskin coverlet.
5) A finely carved, wooden wardrobe beside the bed holds
a) Two royal outfits
b) three courtier’s outfits
c) and several other tasteful, once-expensive articles of clothing
(heavily stained with blood and now worthless).
6) A small wooden coffer atop a rosewood table contains
a) Three vials of exotic perfume
b) a gem-studded tiara
c) an elixir of some type
7) A nearby chest holds 431 sp and 370 gp in leather sacks.

Wilhelm hit the DC to find everything, so no need for others to roll, assume it's a group effort though.

"I don't think that'll be a song I tired off to soon, but make sure they get our titles right! Anyway we'll get these urges to endanger others from time to time, just glad we didn't loose anyone today!" Natalie says with a grin while she looks around

"May Pharasma's wisdom guide my sight." Anastacia casts detect magic to aid in the search, and cataloging of the towers contents.

Appraise: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Once that is done, Anastacia pauses to contemplate the green, leafy canopy of the forest.

"This reluctance to finish the feral elf-creature off, has not paid off in the past."
Anastacia turns to face Wilhelm, her green eyes are cold and determined. "Wars are won by generals who chose the time and place of their battles. Now, here, we don't have the luxury of choosing the place, but we do get to decide when. And later will not be better."

Anastacia smiles grimly. "I don't think I'll sleep easy in these woods till that fellow and his viney friend are properly dead."

Wilhelm returns Anastacia's gaze calmly, but he is first to break eye contact. "This is true, and I thank Iomedae for the level headed advisers I seem to have stumbled upon through no effort of my own. Fate seems to have turned a kind eye to me. Praise to the Mistress of Fate -the Lady of Graves- for her kindness." Wilhelm chuckles, lost in thought for a moment. Only Salvi could ever wither me with a stare like that. I shouldn't be surprised by a Pharasmin priests mettle though. Realizing that his mind had wandered, Wilhelm returns to matters of practicality, "My apologies for that. You're right, of course, we should hunt the creature down. The tower seems to be secured, so let us be after it. I'm not any kind of tracker though. Gorruum, can you follow that sneaky assassin of an elf-thing through the forest?"

For those not in the know, Salvi is Salvianna Garess née Orlovsky and Wilhelm's sister. She's a candidate for my leadership feat next level (Bard or other skills class). Wilhelm had a discussion with Lanya in one of the other threads about his siblings. Links to some other pivotal events in history are also in Wilhelm's profile.

"I think the elf creature has some kind of tough skin, I noticed while fighting that my rapier didn't seem to have the biggest effect on it." Natalie shares with the others knowing it could be important when we meet it again. "Anastacia, does Pharasma offer any help in tracking down our prey? Otherwise I think Gorruum might be alone in doing it." Looking over the stuff that has been found in here she adds. "I can see some perfume bottles, but that last vial does not look like that. Think it can maybe help Fharn?"

"Can track. Easier in swamp. But will try." You can still see the boggard moving stiffly as he looks over the area where we last saw the elf man and the vine to see if he can pick up signs of them that he could also find elsewhere around the keep.
Not sure how to best do this mechanically. I think its Perception to find evidence, then Survival with the tracking bonus to track. I think I can take 20 on the Perception to find a starting point, but then would roll for the Survival. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Gorruum is going to need to climb up into the vines to try to deal with this.
Assuming Take 20 for 32 for Perception
Survival to Track: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 5 + 2 = 18

The boggard spends some time looking for tracks and then shakes his head adding, "No good. Elf man and vine better in woods than Gorruum."

Appraising #2, though it looks like 2 items. If so, make it the snake statuette.

"Here, Fhârn. You don't look so well." Anastacia calls on Pharasma's healing power to restore some of Fhârn's life force.

Lesser restoration: Con: 1d4 ⇒ 2

While she is close to Fhârn, Anastacia comments in a low voice. "The question is: Did they run off completely, or are they lurking, watching? Perhaps they can be lured in. Illusion's not something I can do..."

Anastacia then walks over and crouches by the fey dancer, who is clearly dead. "This fey lady is not dead, just mostly dead. Tomorrow I can heal her, so we can bring her back for justice. She will surely be found guilty and beheaded. Maybe tortured too."

Anastacia delivers these false pronouncements in an overly loud voice.

Bluff: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

There are 12 items total, see the list I gave. If an item has an a, b, c etc after it, then it's a container that has those things in it. You can appraise the container as well, of course, but none of them are anything special. You are correct, that the harp and snake statuette should be on separate lines. Call them 2A and 2B.

Anastacia looks at the statuette, and decides it's probably worth about 75gp.

"Clever ..." Fhârn grins. Once Anastacia casts her spell, Fhârn straitens and nods. "Thank you priestess, your aid and cunning is a honour for your goddess!"

"Well then, since she won't need her stuff after the beheading, lets take a look!" Once the commotion has died down, Munin returns from wherever he hid and lands on Fhârn's shoulder.

@mdt - Anastacia hit the stuff with Detect Magic in an earlier post - I assume it is all mundane : )?

Appraise 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

"Uhum. A bit scandalous perhaps? Maybe bring it out on late-night parties ..."

Appraise 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

"My little sister was always the musical one ... But the snakes are certainly a nice touch!"

Appraise 3: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

"Simply marvellous engineering on this one!"

Appraise 4: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

"... Not sure I would rest in that one ..."

Appraise 5: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Not exactly sure what item these rolls are for, so no more comments : )

Appraise 6: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

Appraise 7: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Appraise 8: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

Appraise 9: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

Appraise 10: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

Appraise 11: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Appraise 12: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

Appraise Aid Another 1: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

"Would be better with feathers *caw*!"

Appraise Aid Another 2: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10

"I tried to tell you this last time you sang *cHaHaHaw!*"

Appraise Aid Another 3: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

"Meh. Maybe a door-stop to your latrine?"

Appraise Aid Another 4: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5

"*Caw?* It's soft and plushy, to touchy about dead things ..."

Appraise Aid Another 5: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

Appraise Aid Another 6: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

Appraise Aid Another 7: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (8) - 1 = 7

Appraise Aid Another 8: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (14) - 1 = 13

Appraise Aid Another 9: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (18) - 1 = 17

Appraise Aid Another 10: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9

Appraise Aid Another 11: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

Appraise Aid Another 12: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (19) - 1 = 18

Everything but the elixir, which is magic.

Statue : 900gp
MW Harp : 100gp (sells for 50)
Waterclock : 1000gp
Bearskin Coverlet : 50gp
Royal Outfits : 200 gp each
Courtier's Outfits : 30 gp each
Blood stained clothes : Worthless
Three bottles of Perfume : 100gp each
Tiara : 350gp
Elixir : Unidentified

"NOT DEAD?!? No Ana! Cannot heal. Elf Lady trick Gorruum again. Kill friends!" Gorruum grabs his halberd again and springs toward her corpse, intending to be sure she can't come back.
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

"I had worried that it might be the case. It's a shame that we can't pursue them immediately, but I have a feeling we'll see them again. We'll just need to keep a careful watch for the foreseeable future."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25

Wilhelm looks at Anastacia with a bemused smile, he is about to speak when he catches on to her ruse. Taking hold of his falchion with one hand, he lays a gentle hand on Gorruum's shoulder, "You don't need to worry about that friend. I've means to protect you from her foul magic. As for her, she pays for her crimes with her life."

Anastacia looks at Gorruum with alarm. "She won't be able to trick you again. That power is gone."

Anastacia's expression changes to apologetic. "I'll explain why tomorrow."

Sense Motives: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
"I'm not sure I understand, but if you are sure about it, I trust you Anastacia." Natalie caught the ruse but wanted to play along.

"I don't like that we can't follow the elfman and stop him right away. I'll sleep better once we have stop or caught him and his creepy friend."

Anastacia's reuse seems to have fooled only Gorruum and the GM!. The rogue feral elf seems to have been long gone.

By the time the group searches the room, finds loot, and Fharn spends time appraising each one, it's getting closer and closer to sundown. The tower seems very defensible (as the PCs can attest!).

Looking over it, it's actually in decent shape, and if they don't burn it down, it would provide a Castle for any city they wanted to found here. There's a permanent 'one way illusory wall' spell on the keep's central tower, to hide the windows from the outside, so it provides secure sight to the surrounding, if overgrown, forest.

"Should we make camp in here? It soon to dark to track anything and this place doesn't look to hard to defend and we would also be safe from the elements for a change."

"That seems sensible, though if we camp here, it would be best to block that skylight. I dislike the idea of that clawing bastard crawling back in with his pet plant to strangle us. Perhaps we can block it with that rough door we found on that tower?" Wilhelm glances up at the skylight. "Having someone on watch is also something we'll want. We should also bring our mounts in to the castle to defend them against wildlife and anything else that might hunt them."

"That seems reasonable, but I have a hard time figuring out how to get the door all the way up there... Hmm. My armour still contains some magical energy to fly, but I fear that the cursed woman's embrace have left me a bit on the weak side. Perhaps if someone borrowed it ?"

Someone of Fhârn's statue* might be able to equip his armour and fly up to block the skylight, but since how much one can lift while flying depends on the fliers own Str Fhârn will probably not be able to lift the door

*Raw - Full Plate requires a 2d4x100gp resize for each new wearer, but someone of a similar statue as Fhârn would probably be able to strap it on well enough to use the magic

"Good idea, I think I could reactivate the trap we found at the entrance to the ruins, as an extra layer of defense."

"Seems like a better place to spend the night, than most."

"Not as good as Gorruum empire, but all right. Ubagub and Gorruum go up. See if glass close." Gorruum and Ubagub will climb up the vines and have a look at the area at the top of the tower to see if it can be secured.
Ubagub should be automatic. I suspect that the vines are easy enough to climb that with Gorruum's +9, he should be able to do so safely, even without attempting to ride Ubagub up the wall.

The sky light is gone, not open. The frame has been removed. There are vines and leaves over it, but it's obvious something recently climbed through it. Probably then down the side of the tower. The view from the top of the tower is very good. Much better than the view inside the tower.

Ubagub finds a trap door leading back into the tower as he's snuffling around waiting for Gorruum to finish up, but it's rusted shut.

Fhârn looks up after the climbing frog-something duo and strokes his chin, a somewhat indeterminable expression on his face.

"Yeah, that does it too ..." Hmph. I feel that I'm getting more and more blinded to the functional but mundane solutions. Mayhaps I'm trusting my magic too much?

With a shrug he looks around and points towards the exit.

"I'll start fetching our stuff, no need in leaving it outside more then needed."

Once everything has been moved safely inside, he'll fetch Anastacia so that they could take a look at that elixir.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

Gorruum and Ubagub return to the ground, "Stuck door in roof. Window broken. See far at top. Gorruum and Ubagub could guard up there. Or block with wood door." Assuming we want to stick with the plan, Gorruum will harness the door to Ubagub and go up with him to set that in place.

The window is 10x10, the door likely won't fit. But a tent would, although someone might want to sleep up there, like Ubagub, to be a watch...

Wilhelm speaks to the boggard looking down at them through the skylight. "I don't think that door will fit, on second thought. Perhaps someone has a tent? I've not traditionally carried one, but if we cover the hole with it then Ubugub could sleep there on guard, we should be well. We'll also likely want to take turns at watch. I can take mine in the middle of the night to allow the rest of you a chance to rest."

I intend to prepare 2 castings of Lesser Restoration for tomorrow to heal Fharn and others. That averages 5 ability points healed, so we'll likely need another 2 castings or so.

Sounds about right I took 3 dex damage also.

"I don't have a tent, but I could mount my everburning torch in one of the holders to allow light in here to help the watcher with some sight." Natalie looks through the skylight at Gorruum "Will the two of you be able to sleep up there without falling down?"

"I have a small tent."

Sure, I'll prep a couple of Lesser restoration as well. Not sure why we want to try plugging the hole with a tent. It won't stop anything but rain. Knife > canvas usually. I thought about reducing the door to its component boards then crafting a grill-work, but I'm thinking that would take way too long. If we had a net with some little bells attached, that would work best, I think.

"Ubagub and Gorruum sleep up there. Take turns. Watch. Breeze is nice."
I'm fine posting Ubagub and Gorruum up there. Should be able to still get enough sleep.

"If you're comfortable atop the tower, then I suppose I can't complain." Wilhelm assists by taking a shift of the watch, allowing Ubagub and Gorruum a chance to rest.

Nothing happens throughout the night, Gorruum and Ubagub have a nice hot rain shower about 2 in the morning, but given their natures, it's a welcome respite from the dryness for both. The tent over the window keeps the rain out of the tower, at least from above. The bed is in the section where it doesn't rain inside, as is the desk. The rest of the tower floor gets regular rain when it rains, and the rest of the party (whoever didn't take the bed) get's awakened by water dripping in their faces. It's a short order to put up some tarps and covers though, or to move under the skylight where it's dryer.

The next morning the rain has turned into a drizzle, rather than the hard heavy rain that hit at 2AM, and the skies are still dark though.

Next steps?