And Then a Skeleton Popped Out: subSPUF Carrion Crown

Game Master Rynjin

No spies here, unless the other two priests sweeping the floor and "subtly" listening in on their master's conversation counts.

" I won't Mince words. The Raven's Head. We are fighting an enemy that wishes to retrieve it and use it for great evil. We are constantly fighting said evil. We need to hide it. "

Discern Lies on him

Will: 1d20 ⇒ 10

The priest's eyes widen in shock.

"But it's been lost for decades...how did you find it? I'd be happy to take it, assuming it's genuine, of course..."

The DC was 19 I believe, if that matters. Also apparently my skills are missing my last level up weird.

Darius scrutinizes the man's reaction.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (17) + 20 = 37

His orcish features scrunch in disgust as best he could manage, " I see, but you do not seem wholly committed to my suggestion. Boy, know that you speak to Darius of House Ral'algul, part of a family of esteemed Monster Hunters. Many of our faction are also expert Inquisitors, so hiding your true motives does not bode well. Who is your superior? "

SM: 1d20 + 1d6 + 17 ⇒ (6) + (2) + 17 = 25

Jones seems just as suspicious of the head priest, but lets Darius handle the situation.

Autopass that sense motive check.

"And remember - failure to actually put it beyond reach could result in literally the end of the world."

"The Pharasmin church is above your authority, boy." the middle-aged man says.

He then puffs up even further.

"I have no superior here. If you want to hand over the artifact that is rightfully ours, you'd best do it now. Otherwise I'll consider you a thief."

" The Church, not yourself. That is only if I answered to such a goddess. Mine is Sarenrae. Worse yet, you make empty threats as you have no proof I am even in possession of such a artifact. How do you know I am not simply sent here to test your faith and evaluate you behalf of your superiors from elsewhere? You don't and as such you would fail. We are leaving. "

Darius turned his back on the man and proceeded to begin leaving. " Consider me a thief but you will never have the opportunity to see the object in your lifetime as you are. "

I'm unclear as to how this would constitute a failure in the eyes of his faith, and he seems equally puzzled. Remember, Pharasma is not a Good deity, and cares little for the end of the world (it's going to happen eventually, so if it happens without anyone stopping it it was meant to happen then). Not saying it's a good idea to give it to the man (which a quick scan of his Alignment would have told you), but hardly a failure of his faith.

Not Good doesnt mean stupid. And you seem to be misremembering. Pharasma very much does not want the world to end. She keep Groteus at bay for that very reason. Even moreso, an artifact like the Ravens Head is used to destroy undead, and Pharasma above all else abhors undead. As such placing such a device in danger to be used by her enemies to flood the world with it? Yeah no. His mindset is cancerous to what is needed.

"Very well, then!" Jones says, speaking somewhat more dramatically than usual.

He then unsheathes his rapier, showing it to the priest with a flourish.

"Behold, the Raven's Head! The legendary weapon that pierces through undead with the sharpness of a raven's beak!"

Bluff+insp: 1d20 + 10 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 10 + (1) + 2 = 20

Basically trying to convince him that we're a bunch of overdramatic idiots who didn't do our research and wound up with the wrong weapon.

Not Good doesnt mean stupid. And you seem to be misremembering. Pharasma very much does not want the world to end. She keep Groteus at bay for that very reason. Even moreso, an artifact like the Ravens Head is used to destroy undead, and Pharasma above all else abhors undead. As such placing such a device in danger to be used by her enemies to flood the world with it? Yeah no. His mindset is cancerous to what is needed.

Not according to James Jacobs, who says she didn't decide to lift a finger to put down Rovagug despite being powerful enough to kick his ass solo.

Groetus, on the other hand, will end the UNIVERSE, which is a bit different. Basically, she couldn't give two f&@*s less about a single planet as long as the universe keeps spinning

Besides which I think you've made a weird logical leap where "isn't just going to bury it and forget about it" and "Is just going to hand it over to the bad guys" have miles of nuance between them. He'd have taken it to a bigger temple and bartered for a higher position within the Church.

Anywho, the priest takes 10 on Sense Motive.

"And now you mock me? GET OUT!" he yells.

I do not, There is no weird logical leap. Someone who is not going to do what is needed and weaker than us is likely to be found out and thusly killed and the Raven's Head stolen. Darius made the right decision.

Darius goes to find a different Church while selling the loot.

You did, but I still think for weird reasons. Taking it to a bigger temple is basically YOUR plan at this point though, so it's still confusing.

There are no other Pharasmin churches in Thrushmoor.

Churches in general. I still need Restoration, but the loot has to be sold... kinda want that.

Yeah we gotta get da $~$~$~$~$~$~$~MONAAAAAAY~$~$~$~$~$~$~$

and the well-being of our friends I guess

Churches in general. I still need Restoration, but the loot has to be sold... kinda want that.

The largest temple in town is that of the Old Cults, people who worship Old Ones and Outer Gods like those you fought in Illmarsh.

A scattering of smaller temples to Gozreh, Nethys, Norgorber, and Abadar are around as well.

Micheal Bay said it best.

Abadar seems fine.

"Anywhoo, y'all have a nice day. Also, finders keepers "

The temple of Abadar is staffed by a single priest, and is more a shrine than proper temple or church. Nonetheless, you are greeted warmly.

"Welcome, supplicants!"

Detect wheel on him

" We have need for your services. Restoration and another Scroll for later. What is the highest level of spells you can accommodate? "

I flipped a coin and he's Lawful Neutral.

"Yes, of course. Give me a moment in prayer and I will ready myself for the casting. However, first I must confirm...you do have the payment required?"

Did we sell our loot? Because I made that clear we did.

Gimme that scroll and I can add it to my formula list.

Yeah, but I don't have time to work up exactly what you could and couldn't sell ATM (the town isn't large enough to take in all that stuff).

Gimme that scroll and I can add it to my formula list.

This does consume the scroll, just to be clear, so if you go this route I suggest the cheaper version of Restoration.

Yeah we arent using the expensive one I need for his formula book

" Yes we do, Brother. Adventurers of sorts we are. "

Where is the next town that can take our loot then?

You could travel all the way back to Lepidstadt?

Just thought I'd save us some trouble later. Is there an alchemist I could copy from?

You could travel all the way back to Lepidstadt?

I guess we have to. We arent exactly on a time crunch, then again we don't know if the ritual will be delayed by our meddling. Regardless Darius needs a week to recover. Whelp its time to Shadowwalk spam. As we dont have teleport.

I have an idea! What if we DON'T do that?

Really though, what have you got against horses?

Well I'm not going to go through everything but I'll hit the highlights. One, we are 10th level at this point travel becomes a chore and takes either too long or its assumed you have the capability to get there much faster. Two, Horses past a certain level become a liability instead of a boon due to threats able to kill them thereby slowing you, this is assuming you have the Ride Skill to even utilize them without the animals, running away, freezing up or anything else possibly annoying. Three, certain characters I don't imagine like such animals period. And Four, above all they only increase your speed by a bit but must be fed and protected to do so and if they die you are out gold, resources and return to the speed you had prior.

Kay, but why are we suddenly in such a hurry that we're willing to risk traversing the Plane of Shadow, which we decided earlier would be almost certain death? The scroll we found makes it pretty clear that the Whispering Way NEEDS the Raven's Head to complete the Carrion Crown.

I mean, I guess they'll come looking for the mace soon enough, and Shadowwalking will make it harder for them to track us down...

You decided it would be certain death? I remember discussion of POTENTIAL dangers on the Plane of Shadow but your chances of running into a Great Wyrm Umbral Dragon there are the same as you running into a Great Wyrm Red out here...you're definitely boned either way, but it's not a contingency you can plan for.

If you die on the Shadow Plane it'd be pretty hard for them to retrieve it, which is a plus.

Hm, I somehow remember us making a bigger deal out of it.

Or maybe that was just me.

So what are my chances of being able to buy an Elixir of Shadewalking here?

Chances are good for most consumables. Whether you can get multiples of the high end stuff is iffier.

Allocation, laddie! I only need one!

...That being said, I can't afford one right now.

Ok I know you didn't want to work out exactly what we can and can't sell here, but we don't have enough cash in the party fund to carry out our Shadow Walk plan. Right now, all we can afford is one Restoration for Darius.

Can't we just sell the non-magical stuff here?

It wasn't that I wasn't going to do it, it's that I didn't have time yesterday, and was unexpectedly called in to work today. I just got back.

- Gold-threaded chausable x2 (100 gp)
- Gold Unholy symbol of Dagon x2 (100 gp)
- A pretty pretty tiara x2 (300 gp)
- 3 Statuettes (1500 gp total)
-Fishgold bracelets (450 gp)
-Assorted opals and pearls (50 gp)
-An Unholy symbol of Shub-Niggurath
-An assortment of fishgold jewelry (750 gp)

-Fishgold carvings (1200 gp)
-A beautiful diamond (500 gp)
-155 gp

= 2815 gp

Ok, if we put all of that in the party fund, we can get an Elixir of Shadewalking and have 1063 left. Then we can travel to Lepidstadt to sell the rest of the loot and pay for Darius's restorations.

Z remained quiet during the conversation with the Cleric of Pharasma, her brow furrowed, lost in thought.

Who does this dumpy little man think he is talking to Darius like this? We should burn him.

But if we burn him, Darius might be upset with us.

Darius doesn't know what's best for him, and this Cleric is disrespectful. He needs to be taught his place.

Maybe the Cleric doesn't know he is addressing Darius though.

Ignorance is no excuse. He must burn.

The flames in Z's arms travel down to her fingertips in an instant, preparing to shoot the white hot lances of fire into the unsuspecting Cleric.

Darius is still wearing our braids.

He is! He must have really liked them!

We did pretty great work on them if we're being honest.

It's true.

What's Jones talking about?

No idea, I think we're leaving.

Huh, I guess so. Darius is much taller in this new form.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Sure.

Yeah.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Sure, though I can get one now so I am Less boned.

Darius would take peeks back at Zin from time to time, seemingly to check up on her mental faculties. She was unusually quiet though he could have sworn there was a time where he smell a flame or two in the air.

You walk the shadow Plane and reach Lepidstadt in a little over 4 hours. You see creatures creeping in the darkness as you pass, but none can quite catch you. You sense that repeated trips through certain areas (the Shudderwood especially) might be dangerous, but arrive safely this time.

Jones copies Restoration into his formula book (420) and sells the rest of the junk.

- 29 Masterwork daggers
- +1 Scale Mail x2
- +1 Mithral Shirt
- +1 Morningstar x2
- 20 sling bullets
-+2 Greataxe
-Masterwork Chain Shirt
-A +4 Chain Shirt (Taken by Sledge?)
-A Masterwork Dagger

- Rope of Climbing
- Unidentified Magic Ring (RoFF)
- +1 Cloak of Resistance
- +1 Amulet of Natural Armor
- +1 Ring of Protection x3
- +2 Headband of Vast Intelligence
- Unguent of Timelessness
- Pearl of Power I x5
- Marvelous Pigments (4k gp)
- Fish boat Feather Token
- Ring of Swimming x2
-Unidentified Magic Helmet (HoUA)
-A +1 Amulet of Mighty Fists

-Wand of Spider Climb (34 charges)
-Scroll of Remove Disease
-Wand of Animate Dead (10 charges)

Last call for any of this stuff before it's liquidated!

I don't need any of that.

Jones also asks around town for anyone who has an interest in alien technology.
Gather Info, take 10: 28 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ 28 + (3) + 2 = 33

He offers to sell them the two Mi-Go devices - the Mist Projector and Electrical Pulse Emitter.

Count Caromarc is the obvious choice. The University might be able to pay as well, but likely not the full price (at least not at once).

Didn't we, um, take everything of value in Caromarc's home? Or has he had enough time to get back on his feet?

No, you hardly cleaned him out. Even if you'd sold everything in his house down to the adamantine door hinges, he's still a wealthy nobleman with deep reserves of personal wealth. It might take him a day or two to pull together the funds to buy tens of thousands of gold worth of stuff though.