Aardvark's "Nothing Venture Captained, Nothing Gained" Shattered Star Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Troy Malovich

"How long does it take for you to reconjure him?"

"No less than 10 minutes. A small amount of time, honestly, but more than enough for people to surround us. However I can merely hide away and do it, but I'd prefer to be able to summon unmolested." she points out.

"I'm truly useless otherwise, and I do apologize..."

Actually...

A summoner can summon his eidolon in a ritual that takes 1 minute to perform.

Really? I could have swore I read 10, but I'm not gonna argue against that idea. We'll pretend she said 1 minute then.

Faedrin shoots Esmeralda a blank look. "Are you waiting for an invitation? 'Please get on with calling Penance back to your side.'"

Once Esmeralda is feeling comfortable once more and no longer impotent, Faedrin leads the group onward and back through the chambers he and some of the others had passed through yesterday. "I'd rather press through the Crow to see if any Tower Girls are still here. Once we're confident the structure is empty, we can sweep back through and thoroughly search the place."

"Agreed"

"I as well. I can scout around - loudly, of course, but I'm not that afraid of any wererats left here - if we need to remain in place for more than a few moments."

With that, while Esmerelda summons he hoists himself into the next room and takes a quick look around, just taking a peek through each door in the next room.

As penance Dissipates in the distance, Esmeralda looks to the rest of them as she seems to remember something of rather astute importance. "One of you is going to have to catch his weapon before I let him fully dissipate. There's no sense in going over to grab it if he can just gently toss it, but the thing is awfully bulky." she points as she whispers the order in Infernal.

"Actually I'm foolish. He can merely toss it whilst it's bandaged. Shouldn't hurt too much..." she says as she braces to catch the weapon.

Penance Sword underhand: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Having caught it, ? she allows the Eidolon to fully disperse and proceeds to resummon him immediately, using his sword on the ground as a focus, keeping her chanting to a whisper as she tries to remake the symbol upon her forehead.

Kascio stops the human, and points toward one of the doors. "I'll take this one, you take that one, eh?"

"Sure." replies Dareon shortly.

Hyperlinked with original room descriptions.

Once the group has crossed the ropes to the platform, and made their way through the hidden tunnel in the ceiling, they all drop into the room that looks like a mausoleum for the builders. It was just up this hallway that the previous excursion had them meet with the first of the Tower Girls.

The space is bare, the only sound is that of the trickling water of the magically replenishing water fountain. The group is easily able to continue unmolested up the hallway, past the crumbled room where they found the ancient coins and bronze statuette, and down the stairs.

They finally come to the large room where the long battle waged with most of the Tower Girls proper, bodies still litter the floor. The two that had not been finished by Uriah earlier, at Tanjvats behest, look like they were given that service nonetheless. Faedrin can confirm that it was not Uriah's doing.

With a quick reconnoiter of the large area and the connecting rooms, they discover almost all as they left it, excepting the two Girls with slit throats. To the east are the rooms with the stored goods and the mural, which also happens to be the room Dareon threw himself unwittingly out of.

To the south lies the only way the group has yet to go. First they must pass the tabled room with the large statue in it, to follow the south hallway before it turns sharply to the east.

Esmeralda and Kascio, remain cognizant of the task you were given (Mysteries of the Crow) under 'quests' on the Campaign tab. Also, you may roll any of the checks from the linked rooms if you want the spoilers. Just be sure you clarify what the check is for.

Knowledge (History) DC 35 check: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
Knowledge (History) DC 25 check: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

That's a nope and nope.

"I suggest that we keep moving, and quickly if we can." says Dareon, as he takes point in exploring the Crow. To his frustration, he still doesn't recognize either the statue or the mural in the farther-in rooms.

"I agree. I still think ensuring the place is empty serves us best. Once we know that, we can come back through and be more detailed in our search of the place."

Faedrin turns to Kascio and Esmeralda and further clarifies, "Natalya found the first shard in a hidden compartment or alcove before she ran off with it. It's safe to guess the other shard that's still here is hidden similarly."

For my sake, and the sake of clarity, what does each of your statements mean specifically? 'Keep moving', and 'Ensuring the place is empty', means you intend to do what? Just so I know for sure.

Briefly look for lingering Tower Girls in each room and, if none are noted, move on to the southern hallway. I figured I'd open it up for conversation and group consensus before railroading us on that course though.

We're not extensively searching each room yet. Instead, we're just rushing through the whole Tower, checking for Tower Girls. If we don't find any, we'll backtrack, searching extensively. If we do, we'll probably end up killing them.

Agreed. Let's move on, and make sure nobody is here before we start making rubbings of the friezes, or whatever.

Kascio is satisfied that his comrades have learned what they may from the rooms, and continues onward.

With her Eidolon resummoned and it's sword nicely placed back in it's appropriate hands, Esmeralda ventures with the rest of them. However, as the majority of what seemed valuable has been looted from the rooms so far, she abstains from really giving any of them a closer look, save for the large statue of the unknown figure. She gives it, at best, a courtesy glance, however, as she knows next to nothing about historical significance and seems more worried about what kind of price it could fetch.

Unfortunately, again, it seems far too large and far too heavy to be concerned with, but she makes a mental note of it all the same while following the rest of the group silently.

Back

So far, every room the group has come across has been cold, quiet, and lifeless. The only signs of any inhabitants are their corpses littering the floor, and the various goods left stored.

The final hallway, the one to the south, runs that direction for only about ten to fifteen paces past the opening to the statue room before turning to the east. Following the hallway east a bit further sees the hallway branch. One passage goes a few steps north before opening into a room about thirty feet long and twenty wide. The room is empty and undisturbed. The hallway itself, though, angles away from the room's opening and continues to the south-east.

The south-east hall runs for a decent ways before turning south, then back to the west, where it ends at a set of stairs leading down.

Faedrin nods to those up front (Kascio and Tanjvats? like our previous formation?) and gestures to the stairs. "Let's secure the place as entirely as we might before we start searching for what we came for in earnest."

Kascio nods and begins to move forward at half speed, moving as stealthily as possible.

Tanjvats agreed, too, and started slowly down the stairs, trying to match Kascio's stealth.

The stairs lead down, what the group has learned to be, about the height of one floor. At the bottom, the stairs open up to a hallway leading back toward the west, and almost longer than the limit of Tanjvats' darkvision. At the end of the long hallway is an odd convex wall, built to be curved out toward the hallway, with a single door in its center.

Tanjvats crept forward a bit to spot any obvious danger. Once the way seemed clear to him, he motioned Kascio to his side.

"This must be the place on the map where Natalya wrote 'Odd Door'. Do you see anything dangerous?"

Kascio studies the door. Taking 20 +10=30 on a Perception check.

Kascio, one of the listed house-rules, no taking 10/20.

Doh! Apologies, forgot!

Kascio studies the door! Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

So, with the die roller, you take ten instead. :)

Kascio examines the door, but there doesn't seem to be anything odd or dangerous about it. The oddest thing is the design idea of the wall it sets in. I mean who makes a convex wall to bow into a hallway?

Kascio shakes his head. "I don't see anything, but traps are not my strongest suit. I much prefer stabbing. Still, I'll see if I can open it. You might want to stand back." Waiting until everyone is a safe distance (15-20') away, he opens the door.

"This place is strange. Ancient statues, odd architecture - it's little surprise shards might have been hidden here for so long and never found." At Kascio's nod, Faedrin drifts back to a presumably safe distance (20 ft) and watches the newcomer examine the door and the strange wall in which its set.

Once everyone is safely back, Kascio opens the door, prepped for whatever may come. Nothing does, however, and instead merely opens into a very large chamber In fact, large chambers seems to be the running theme of this ancient Thassilonian edifice, but this one is shaped rather oddly.

The room is very wide at its western end, tapering to a point at east end. The widest point is about the same size as the longest, both roughly at the edge of Tanjvats darkvision.

A massive pair of double doors dominates the western end of this spearhead-shaped chamber. These doors are made of a silvery metal decorated with images of burning eyes that look inward toward two sets of runes carved onto the face of each door.

The walls bear the remains of complex mosaics that once covered much of them, but which has crumbled and collapsed in heaps of colored tiles and debris around the edges of the room.

A single door sits opposite the one you just opened, across the width of the room, while two more doors to the east each rest in one of the angled walls of the 'spear-tip' portion of the room.

So there are four doors? One of which is an elaborate double door?

Tanjvats stepped warily into the room, scanning it with his darkvision for any obvious threats.

Yes, four doors other than the one you entered. One across the room, two to the east, and very elaborate double doors to the west.

The room, despite both its size and capacity, is markedly empty. There is no sign of any threat, animate or otherwise.

"Thassilonians." The word is hissed like a curse as Faedrin spins around to take in the strange room. He looks from Tanjvats to Dareon, then to Kascio and Esmerada, "People don't just make angular rooms for no reason, right? Why would this room be designed like this? Any ideas?"

Kascio raises an eyebrow. "I know very little of these 'Thassilonians'. Is the shape of the room special?"

"Perhaps? I don't know. They have windows obscurred by illusory magics higher up in the structure, I can't imagine a people who would do that would build a room with a lot of extra angles for no purpose. At the least, it's awfully strange, don't you think?"

Tanjvats nodded along with their conversation. He was starting to get even more nervous.

Kascio shrugs. "Rich folks are all the same: make the room as gaudy, as useless as you will, just to show you're rich. If these Thassaloonies were rich, undoubtedly they're the same, too."

Faedrin regards Kascio with narrowed eyes but lets the slight pass with a dismissive shake of his head.

"Rich? The Thassilonians were the single most powerful force on Golarion for thousands of years! Their accomplishments dot Varisia even today, millennia after their disappearance."

Dareon seems almost offended at Kascio's lack of education. He sticks his chin out and wears a big frown. "You know what? Nevermind. Why don't you take a look at that big, shiny door. See if we can pry it out and take it with us, maybe even sell it for some gems and some whores."

Dareon scoffs.

Kascio shrugs and grins at Dareon's frown. "You grow up on the streets, you learn to cut through the unimportant stuff. There's them that have and them that don't; when you don't have, you realize the crazy measures rich folks go to ta make themselves feel special." He moves forward, keeping an eye out for any suspicious triggers. Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30

Faedrin watches the exchange with a blank look, He's not entirely wrong about ostentation, but still. Does he realize my family sits on the Council of Ushers?

Faedrin shakes his head again, banishing the thoughts. He tries to call up any memories of Thassilonian architecture he might have studied at the academy, but his inattentiveness then rewards him with very little now. He looks to Tanjvats and Esmeralada and shrugs.

Kascio, with the house rules, you just got a 40 perception.

Tanjvats notes nothing of interest or markedly different when seen with his racial eyesight. Kacio, however, almost absorbs the room. He notices that the ornate double-doors shimmer almost imperceptively, with the slightest waves of emanating heat. Also, the runes set in it each have a distinct outline, as if they are not actually carved into it as much as set in it like gemstones into fancy jewelry.

He also feels the ebb and flow of the most miniscule of breezes coming from under the doors to the east. Each breath that whispers past the closed portal carries with it just the slightest hint of salt air.

Kascio stops and seems to hold his breath. "The doors. They're radiating heat. And the runes, they're like jewels. And the eastern doors, they smell of sea air."

Dang, Aard. That was one the more well written posts to describe a scene/reward a perception check that I've seen! Very nicely done, sir!

Thank you. I was just trying to offer at least something for the nat 20 in a room that has absolutely nothing to notice.

Esmeralda takes a moment to hear out Kascio as he explains the situation. Raising a brow she smiles. "Didn't take you for the sentimental type, Kascio." she points as she enters the room with Penance directly behind her.

"The runes.... are like jewels?" Faedrin turns, scratching his head. "What does that even mean, Kascio? You mean valuable?"