And Then a Skeleton Popped Out: subSPUF Carrion Crown

Game Master Rynjin

" I don't know what you are insinuating but I enjoyed no part... Wait.. Dont leave me here with the..... witch " Darius sees them go off and sighs.

He turns to Zin and grimaces, " It's not wise to separate to much after what we are about to do and what has happened recently. So let's get your venture at the library done so we can venture forth and talk to Daramid soon. I suppose not everyone need be there... likely those two will not remember after they have imbibed so much alcohol. "

"Just a moment...I think I should report to Daramid before the night is over. I'll meet you at the tavern."

Jones heads to Daramid's house...and on the way, prepares a Sobriety Polupurpose Panacea once he is out of Sledge's sight.

"You've had trouble in this town, right? We'd better stick together."

"True, all of us have incurred the wrath of the ignorant townsfold by defending the Beast from their fruitless attempts at destroying him. But with that in mind, would it not be wise to forgo alcoholic beverages altogether, thus leaving ourselves less vulnerable to potential assault?"

Sledge chuckles, and shakes his head. "I fight just fine when drunk. But c'mon, live a little!"

Jones sighs.

"I don't doubt that. But to be frank, I am more concerned about my safety than yours. Not only do I lack your...resilience...but I also possess the distinct advantage of being a race other than human in Ustalav."

"Even Darius, a half-elf himself, showed signs of prejudice and discrimination when he first met our previous cohorts, a tiefling and a duergar. I belive that is why he hasn't been made a target himself - his behavior is accepted as suitably "human", by their definition."

"Clearly, the Ustalavian mistrust of foreigners is an affliction that is highly contagious. And I doubt its symptoms would be lessened by the ingestion of alcohol."

"In short, I am not particularly eager to "live a little" while surrounded by drunk, angry villagers who would just as soon hang me by my ears as give me the time of day."

wow such reverse racism

"I find alcohol brings out the best in people."

Hey, Darius hates everyone equally.. its a class feature

It really is. Though Half-Elves are probably the most accepted of the non-Human races. In Ustalav it kinda goes Human > Half-Elf > Halfling > Dwarf > Gnome > Elf > Everyone Else can suck it.

Once drinks are imbibed and bickering resolved, the crew can meet up with Daramid.

Is there anything in particular you want to say to her, or just relay the facts? I.E. do you want to RP out the whole scene or do the expeditious thing and skip to the new info?

Really? I don't recall Cassiel (elf) getting nearly as much shit as Jules (half-elf).

That's because Jules, as a character, was obnoxious.

Preach it.

Touché.

Jones chugs his Sobriety extract before knocking on Daramid's door.

"Well, the lack of handrails was an inconvenience, but turned out to be the least of our concerns. The Whispering Way had invaded Caromarc's home, and released his creations. Steef and Bulldozer, I'm sorry to say, were victims of those creations."

"The Beast is safe from the townsfolk for the time being, but it seems the Whispering Way intend to capture him for their own use. Caromarc has asked that we pursue them to Ascanor Lodge and put an end to their nefarious deeds."

Zeke and Bulldozer. Not Steef and Bulldozer.

"That is...worrying."

"I suppose now is as good a time as any to come clean, so you know exactly why when I ask you to do one final thing for me: I am a member of the Order of the Palatine Eye. Have you heard of us?"

Right, right. I can't keep the original cast straight anymore.

Kn. Arcana: 1d20 + 15 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 15 + (4) + 1 = 30

Adding the quote from the book because it's a good summary and it also sounds cool:

They are the true masters of the old world and the powers behind thrones. In secret they meet to judge the fate of Ustalav in strange whispered tongues. In ritual are they reborn, and in mystery they forever remain. Engraved in keystones of buildings old and new, the Order’s blazing eye sees all. We do not understand their bizarre contemplations, but we know without them all would be lost, as they are the saviors of our lands.

—Professor Breverius Trusdale, On Secret Societies

The Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye got its start as a secret cabal of mystics searching for foridden knowledge, centuries ago. They have since evolved into what they are today, sort of the "secret protectors" of Ustalav, an organized network of gentleman (and lady) philosophers who almost universally rise to the most influential positions in Ustalav. Judges, Deans, landed aristocracy, and even high ranking members of the Pharismin church hold positions in the Order as well.

They are credited with a great many good deeds. In a general sense, they promote divine enlightenment through secret rituals and exploration of various philosophies.

On a more worldly level, they are the benevolent rulers behind the scenes in Ustalav, and are the main reason the land is no longer ruled by the aristocracy, and are instead ruled by a democratically elected council. Order arcanists are also credited with such feats as the defeats of the dragon Kazavon that terrorized Scarwall years back.

The superstitious members of Ustalav (read: most of them) acknowledge these as true, though also attribute many other, darker deeds to the Order...though without any proof. The Order's policy on not commenting on accusations or accolades alike has not helped this perception.

In addition to their humanitarian efforts (or, I should say, their humanitarian efforts are in addition TO this) they are one of the largest gatherers and protectors of knowledge of all kinds on Golarion. As one of their oft repeated sayings goes "Nib Imnet Hem Maa", an Osirian (or Egyptian, it's explicitly the same language) saying roughly meaning "Remember what you've learned", denoting their dedication to preserving ALL knowledge. What is trivial to one may be of life and death importance to another, so all knowledge must be treated with the same respect.

TL;DR: They're the Illuminati. There's more, if you're interested , on the formation of the Order, and its membership, Codes, and even how to join. It's all pretty interesting, but constitutes five whole pages of the book, so it's hard to paraphrase it all.

"I do know of it, and I understand why have kept your membership a secret."

Jones gives the group a quick summary of what he knows.

"I must say, I find the preservation of knowledge to be one of the noblest efforts one can pursue."

"Good. What may not be common knowledge, however, is that we are opposed to the Whispering Way at a very basic level. Wherever they are involved, we get involved, because wherever they appear, death follows."

"The Whispering Way has a special tie to Ustalav in particular, as it is here in this country that the Whispering Tyrant, Tar-Baphon, was defeated and sealed away during the Shining Crusade. The Whispering Way ever seeks to free him, seeing him as a paragon of their beliefs, that undeath is a transcendent form of existence the entire world should know."

Daramid shudders.

"He was powerful enough when he was alive that he drew the attention of the god Aroden himself, who slew him. When he rose as a Lich, he was powerful enough to kill Aroden's herald, Arazni, without breaking a sweat and fight Iomedae to a standstill when she was a demi-goddess. It was only through a fluke, a sheer stroke of luck that he was temporarily defeated long enough to be sealed underneath Gallowspire. Based on the tales of his might as a Necromancer, nobody alive today would be able to match his power."

"And so, I ask you, please follow the Whispering Way to Ascanor Lodge, and beyond if need be. Stop their plans. We of the Order will help you where we can. I can provide you some funds to purchase supplies before you leave town."

"Undertaking this would leave you in the Order's debt. We could even offer you membership on completion. You would have earned it."

She wipes her brow.

"Though I'd understand if you were reluctant. You've already done more than enough for me personally to earn my eternal friendship for handling the Beast problem. But Ustalav needs people like you, adventurers with skill and integrity. You would be invaluable."

"Sure, sure. I imagine ya'll have access to some significant amount of money?"

"Yes, though I've given you most of the money I can spare already. Nevertheless, I am prepared to pay you a substantial sum to continue."

"I already had every intention of stopping the Whispering Way. You have only affirmed my belief that this is the ideal course of action."

"And what Sledge meant to say is that we will graciously accept whatever you can afford to give us. Isn't that right, Sledge?"

"Don't put words in my mouth. I'm sure this Whispering Way is a collection of bad dudes, which is why I'm sure someone sufficiently loaded will be ready to pay me to deal with them."

"Hey Daramid, does your little order know anything about demonic curses that slowly burns you until you die? I imagine it looks something like this." says Z, holding up her arms.

"Also, I agree with Sledge, if we're going to be killers, we may as well at least be hired ones."

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Likely we do, tucked away somewhere. But only members get to see our archives."

Z's eyes narrow at once and she reaches out and snatches Daramid by the shirt, "F#%$ you b%&$@! If you know something you damn well better start talking, you're not the one who is burning alive."

"You want some people dead, that's fine, but you better understand that I'm no one's pawn to be coerced or blackmailed."

Z looks down to her burning arms, "This Curse is a more the merrier type, did you know? So unless you want a more personal experience with it, I suggest you find out."

Intimidate : 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 15 = 31

"Threatening me will get you nowhere. You have seen the nice side of our Order. Cross me and you may get to see the other."

"Zin, chill out. I'm doing business with her. Touch my customer again and you will be in for a world of hurt."

Sledge stretches a little bit, getting ready to pull Zin back if necessary. Martial Flex into Improved and Greater Grapple.

"Extortion is the nice side of your order is it? Don't try to play yourself up, you're an old woman only worth as much as the gold you carry, and if the order you were apart of had any real sway you'd already have agents working on this. So don't try to act like you have options, we are your option. So cut the crap of trying to bully me into working for you through vague insinuations that you can help my condition."

Turning to Sledge, "Sledge, I don't have any issue with you, but you try to touch me, and you'll wish you hadn't."

Spell readied.

"My Order has more important matters to deal with at the same time. Adventurers like yourself are valuable, but you are neither unique nor are you irreplaceable."

"Help us, and we will help you. I do not know if there is a cure for your condition, and have already said as much. The Archives are vast, and contain more lost knowledge than one person could hope to learn in lifetimes of dedicated study."

"I already told you acceptance into our group would be a likely reward on the completion of this task. If that arrangement does not please you, you are free to leave."

You can't ready actions outside of combat. Believe me, I've tried.

"Lass, you have an issue with me so long as you're threatening my customer."

"Daramid is being gracious. You do the same."

What? You absolutely can ready actions outside of combat you just need a particular trigger that can happen within the same round. I ready a fireball against an ambush isn't a proper ready. Readying an arrow against a spellcaster the party is talking to, who I think is about to betray us, is a very real ready action.

SKR: combat doesn't start until (A) one creature initiates an attack against another creature, or (B) a creature is anticipating an attack from another creature.

Just a note that "Likely we do." and "I do not know if there is a cure for your condition, and have already said as much." are decently opposite of one another lol

Z releases her grasp of Daramid, "I'm starting to get really pissed off. I'm going to go get a drink before I start burning things to the ground, come find me whenever we're leaving this place."

Assuming Zin lets go of Daramid, Sledge will not try to restrain her.

"Be warned, lass. You can't go threatening people we're trying to help. It's bad business, and it's bad manners."

Cleaned it up.

Context for the others: I ninja'd Zin's post saying she would release Daramid by a minute or two with Sledge grappling her. Almost had to roll initiative and start + end a fight with Zin in a grapple.

You definitely cannot Ready an action outside of Initiative. It is even called a "Special Initiative Action". Regardless of which yes, you would have to still cast the spell, and then make a Touch Attack to deliver said spell, before he needed to make a save against it. Bestow curse is melee touch, and Readying does not mean the spell goes off automatically without you casting it.

Just a note that "Likely we do." and "I do not know if there is a cure for your condition, and have already said as much." are decently opposite of one another lol[

No, it really isn't. "We likely do" does not mean "I am sure this is the case". The word "likely" inherently means there is doubt, though there is a high probability it is the case.

You're free to take a swing at her if you want, but then we're getting into bad territory and initiative needs to be rolled.

I would say the bad territory was reached once you decided to cast a hostile spell on Sledge, so if there's "bad territory" to be reached, you are the instigator.

You definitely cannot Ready an action outside of Initiative. It is even called a "Special Initiative Action". Regardless of which yes, you would have to still cast the spell, and then make a Touch Attack to deliver said spell, before he needed to make a save against it. Bestow curse is melee touch, and Readying does not mean the spell goes off automatically without you casting it.

Zin wrote:

Just a note that "Likely we do." and "I do not know if there is a cure for your condition, and have already said as much." are decently opposite of one another lol[

No, it really isn't. "We likely do" does not mean "I am sure this is the case". The word "likely" inherently means there is doubt, though there is a high probability it is the case.

Zin'Retatarianna Mor wrote:

You're free to take a swing at her if you want, but then we're getting into bad territory and initiative needs to be rolled.

I would say the bad territory was reached once you decided to cast a hostile spell on Sledge, so if there's "bad territory" to be reached, you are the instigator.

Just to be clear I wasn't going to slap Sledge with Bestow Curse, but Oracle's Burden. I want a thematic way for Zin to give varying degrees of her curse to people.

I've heard arguments against defined readied actions outside of combat before, they make no sense to me and I don't run my games that way as it basically forces you to assume your players are stupid / monsters always get surprise rounds off conversations, etc. That said, it's fine.

Monsters won't get surprise rounds off conversations barring extraordinary circumstances, because generally I don't do a Surprise round unless one side is entirely unaware of the other (or at least, some peple involved are unaware). So unless you're unaware a monster is actually a monster to begin with, and it suddenly leaps out of its skin or some such to attack, nothing of the sort will happen.

But fair warning (for everyone) for the future, I don't do PvP. Grappling is borderline. Casting a hostile spell is just over the line. Anything lethal or permanent gets you the boot, probably.

As Z leaves Daramid's house she sticks out her tongue and a particular finger to Sledge.

Im gunna give my opinion right now, One side CANNOT threaten the other and it be fine If one side can grapple and one side cant that is in no way fair to assume its fine.. because they would know this. Both sides would be the instigators and both sides would have to get booted. Now Characterwise Darius wouldnt be for it happening to Daramid and he would whip the shit outta Zin and she knows it. Grappling cant get a pass just because it is an option.. it falls over the line just as well. I will note on the Readied action thing.. that you had did similar with Vorkstag a while back.. where he got a readied.. before init.

Darius frowns and narrows his eyes, " Im going to have to teach her some manners it seems. She has gotten spoiled enough, needing to be watched You continue with the meeting I'm going to handle this now. " Darius unfurls his whip and follows Zin out.

" You... what do you have to say for yourself?? Are you an ignorant child? Did you clearly not be disciplined enough in youth? Do you need to be taught NOW?! That was both foolhardy and asinine. There was literally no reason to threaten that woman. Your impatience and inability to think will NOT be a boon to us so unless you shape up you are going to be left to rot here. Do not test me. "

Darius made a merciless face and cracked his whip on the ground.

"Daramid, we owe you apologies beyond measure for Zin's behavior. This will not happen again - I believe Darius is quite capable of, ah, persuading her to suppress such violent outbursts in the future."

"I hope that this unfortunate incident has not marked us, in your eyes, as unfit to carry out the task we have been given. Despite some...quirks and disagreements among the four of us, I believe that we are quite capable of putting an end to the Whispering Way's menace."

A wry grin crosses Jone's face. "We may have to tie Zin up and repurpose her as a Fireball-spitting cannon in the process, but rest assured that one way or another we will complete this mission or die trying."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 15 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 15 + (6) + 1 = 41

There's a reason I give grappling a mostly-pass in any game I run, and am fine with other PC's grappling mine as "PvP" - it's the least lethal option available. That's why you use it on charmed+tricked/compelled friendly characters if at all possible.

In this particular case, it would have allowed Sledge to prevent Zin from threatening Daramid within two rounds - the first round to grapple (succeeding on a 4+) and the second round to pin and tie up (succeeding on anything but a 1). Zero damage - even of the nonlethal variety - dealt, and nothing long-term done at all. The ability of the other character to resist such a form of assault has no bearing on how "fine" it is - all that means is that the situation is resolved more rapidly.

"Yeah, abundant apologies. It was very unprofessional."

Z raises an eyebrow at Darius, "Is that your drinking face?"

-Posted with Wayfinder

II will note on the Readied action thing.. that you had did similar with Vorkstag a while back.. where he got a readied.. before init.

Right, which you had some objections to, as I recall, and much retconning was done (I changed it to a Surprise round, I believe, or something. It was all awkwardly done regardless). While in the future there will likely be more such scenarios, I will make sure to roll Initiative first so everyone has a chance to act in Init before such actions go off.

Daramid frowns.

"Just keep her on a leash. I can understand her frustration, but doing that to the wrong person could get her, and maybe you with them killed."

" Yes, it is also my ' Having to deal with a womanchild who doesnt realize how stupid she acted in front of a greater power ' And if you werent aware that person is you right now. "