DM Bigrin's Shattered Star (Group B) (Inactive)

Game Master bigrin42

You gather surprisingly little attention as you make your way back through the city, Natalya slung over Harbug's shoulder. The orc was puffing heavily by the time you reach Heidmarch Manor. Along the way, a gaggle of kids were following behind, pretending it was a parade, and taking turns carrying one another over their shoulders, as Harbug carried Natalya.

As you entered the Capital District, a guard there asked your business, looking warily at the woman slung over Harbug's shoulder. Upon mention of Shiela Heidmarch's name, however, he let you pass unhindered, even sending a corporal ahead to let her know you were coming.

Shiela Heidmarch met you at the door herself and ushered you into the same library where you had your first trial. "Thank you for finding her, and relatively in one piece. I hope that you didn't have too much trouble." She glanced over your filthy and torn clothes, and the semi-healed wounds. "Although apparently that wasn't the case. I'll send for someone to help get you cleaned up and patched up before we questions Miss Vancaskerin."

She rang a tiny bell and gave a whispered message tot he servant that appeared. Less than a minute later, a man appeared, wearing robes of a rough cloth of an orangey-red color. He carried a tray with several bottles of light blue liquid on it. Placing the tray on the table, he said "I am Marcus Belby, a wizard in training here. Venture Captain Heidmarch requested that I make myself available to any who wished to clean up after a mission. I have spells prepared that will mend torn clothing, and remove mud...and other things." He wrinkled his nose as your smell finally hit him.

The Catfolk woman walks over to the tray and grabs a few vials and hands a couple of them to Angelica, Harbug, and Krass. Taking a draught herself, Tialara felt the wound in her side seal up and, after a moment, pain free.

Once finished, the Druid turned and asked, "Care to inform us what this woman had that was so important?"

Krass thanks Marcus for his assistance and happily takes one of his medicinal brews. He then waited till he was done with his companions before asking for his mending services. The muscles of his shield-arm were already starting to ache, but a good meal and some rest would take care of that. Most of it anyways.

"I believe she found an artifact. A fragment of one, really. One of vital import to the region. You remember a few years ago, when the would-be Runelord Karzoug began his rise to power, before he was thwarted? If this artifact had been in his hands, we would likely be bending to his will now. From her erratic behavior before she disappeared, I believe Natalya found a fragment of this artifact.

"The Sihedron was first crafted by the founder of Thassilon, First King Xin, precursor to the Runelords. It was fashioned as a seven-pointed star, each made from a different skymetal, and given vast magical power. When the Runelords overthrew their master, the resulting cataclysm shattered the star. The Runelords knew that the only way to fully destroy the shards was to reunite them, and that to do so would be to return Xin from death, so they hid them. Some carried their shard with them, while others buried theirs or hid them in dungeons guarded by magical beasts and intricate traps.

"What I want to know - need to know - is whether Natalya did indeed find one. Did you perchance happen to find a triangular shard, about a handspan long?"

As Angelica is handed the potion by Tia, she just gets a smug look of approval on her face. Listening to Shiela, she gets an irritated look on her face. "That may be something you 'need to know', but I need to know that I am getting my reward for bringing the woman in alive. If she did have a piece of an artifact, I think it deserves even more than what I was originally offered."

She looks around, a look of deep thought on her face, "Besides, if I did find some chunk of artifact, which you didn't bother to mention before, it would belong to me now. Whether you think you 'need to know' or not." She crosses her arms, a stern look on her face, chin held high.

Little girl, in over her head., is what Krass thinks. The blatant disrespect for the established hierarchy of the Pathfinder society bothers him and he makes sure to take a few steps away from Angelica as her temper gets the better of her. The girl had gone through a lot in their venture to retrieve Natalya..

Shabbezz looked up from where Marcus had been mending her robes and cleared her throat (a surprisingly loud sound amplified by her amphibian physique) and interjected:

"Ms. Nenaviste..." she said carefully, "I am certain that the vaunted reputation of the esteemed Pathfinder Society would be worth as much not to risk tarnishing by withholding our rightful payment for services rendered in good faith."

"Besides, if Ms. Vancaskerkin did indeed possess such an artifact when we apprehended her--"

And here she shifted her eyes meaningfully toward Heidmarch, stressing the "if".

"--it would be in the collective care of the group as a whole, and in such a case I would vote that it be studied intensely before we determined what should or shouldn't be done with it."

Angelica rolls her eyes at the little one. "Rendered in good faith. Hah! I was expected to return the girl and I did. She wanted to question her, but told us nothing of an artifact. Whatever was found on the girl is mine to determine, collective care my ass. I got the info from Zograthy, I got Fenster to talk, I was the one making all the important decisions. At best you guys hung around like a bunch of lackeys. Krass too afraid to cross the rafters? You the wizard just shooting your crossbow to no avail? I braved the fall to close with Natalya, I was the one that knocked her unconscious. Heck, I could have persuaded her to just give herself up if you guys didn't go straight for the offensive. I'm not quite sure if you guys aren't just more of a liability than help. I carry this team!"

Her breathing rapid, a smug look on her face, "I'm the only one that found the shard, and probably the only one fit enough to use it to any greater purpose than studying or handing it over for some paltry sum to the 'esteemed Pathfinder Society'!"

This is going somewhere, just bear with me guys.

"Our plan was flawed from the get go. From the approach to the extraction to the withdrawal, our path was littered by mistakes. It is that I deem it below my dignity to respond to your accusations, but what I will say is this: I rather have this dangerous magical item in the hands of those who know what to do with it. And that ain't us."

Krass pulls an ugly face as he mouths the word 'magic'.

Tialara listened as her comrades 'debated' heatedly. Something isn't right here. The Druid passed her right hand in front of her face and said something in a language no one understood. *Casts Detect Magic* Her vision began to swirl as magical auras became visible on various objects. I'm assuming that Sheila and Marcus might have a few on them, as well as any other things that might be in the room.

Shiela looked at the arguing companions and pursed her lips. carefully she said "I may have a solution to this dilemma. From my research, i suspect the shards are based on Azlanti magic, similar to how Wayfinders work. Ioun stones can often enhance an Azlanti artifact's performance." From a pocket she pulled a scarlet and blue sphere the size of a large marble. "If you have the shard, it should have a slight indentation on it, near the base opposite the point. " She held the ioun stone, for that is what the marble was, out towards Angelica in the palm of her hand.

Harbug, who was slightly confused by Angelica's unusual outburst, had stood silent. Upon seeing the stone, however, Harbug growls slightly. "We Pathfinders serve the Decemvirate, and collect various artifacts for them, but we should be told what it is we're collecting and be provided the tools to get it. All due respect, Venture Captain, Angelica, though rude, is right--we were left thoroughly unprepared on this last venture. Perhaps some hazard pay is due when we hand over this artifact we may have found in addition to the simple street thug we were sent after."

Angelica looks at the stone suspectly, before moving forward and picking it up. She turns the thing over in her hand, appreciating the value of the gem. She backs away, slowly, giving herself some space away from the others. She looks at Krass, responding first, "My plans were perfect, it was the failings of the rest of you being unable to carry out the plans, that caused you to make mistakes."

To Harbug she adds, even though he agrees with her, "Speak for yourself Buggy. If you were unprepared, you should have told me, so I could have covered down on your failings. It's not rude if it's true."

Feeling relieved to have clarified where they failed her, she draws the copper-colored shard out from where she stashed it, "I had already found the indentation, and know a stone is supposed to go there. I don't need you to tell me what to do with this thing. I have a connection with it that you others couldn't possibly comprehend." With that said, she finally places the stone within the recess, certain that she already knows what it will do. She waits for the incredible power to be hers, so she can show them all that she doesn't need any of them anymore.

Krass feels out of his depth here as it becomes painfully aware that the artifact is doing something to her. Only too recent had he experienced what it was to be overtaken by magical powers.

His tone is aggressive and harsh when he pushes himself up and walks over to the woman he thought charmed. "Angelica, you sound like an idiot. In fact, something is making you sound like an idiot." The hobgoblin gets all up in her face and is sure to bare his fangs, eyes gleaming with malice. "You better listen to me and drop that damned copper piece of crap or I'll make you. Drop it and we can continue to talk.."

The muscles of his neck tightened and his posture reeked of incoming violence.

I don't like the idea of using the intimidate skill on others, if that's even possible, but for what it is worth, Krass has a +9 on intimidate.
Krass readies a Dirty Attack to blind her with a simple finger-poke to the eyes if she does anything.

Shabbezz's glare of annoyance had quickly been replaced by a look of urgent worry at the sight of the artifact.

"N-now let's all just take a brief moment and calm ourselves," she said in what she hoped passed for a soothing voice, palms forward. "There's nothing here that can't be resolved through peaceful discourse...Nenaviste, you damned fool, don't--!!"

She practically leaped backwards towards what seemed like a defensible position the very second that Angelica placed the stone in the indentation.

If it's necessary to declare, total defense (+4 dodge bonus to your AC for 1 round; AC improves at the start of this action), and moving backwards away from Angelica and Krass.

Harbug swats at the copper shard in Angelica's hands. "Get a hold of yourself woman!" he yells at her.
Disarm attempt; provokes if Angelica threatens (improved unarmed strike/weapon in hand/the shard counts as a weapon); may be against her flat-footed CMD if she doesn't expect it (no DEX to CMD) 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

I would like to think that she is not close enough to be disarmed since, she specifically moved away from the others before she even pulled out the shard.
If not, then I would imagine it would be a surprise round (only one action) to act before she puts the stone in the shard.
Failing that, I could see rolling initiative to see who goes first. Beyond that, if none of it matters, she takes an AoO with her claw.
Claw 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20, damage 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Tialara just stood there stunned at the turn of events, she didn't know what to do. Once again, she heard her mentor. "Young apprentice, remember that there are many forces in this world that can control ones mind and body. Sometimes they may be your friends and allies, so keep in mind not to harm too much, or they may resent you after they snap out of it."

The events below preclude some of the previous posts. Those are the dangers of PbP

As Angelica placed the ioun stone in the depression in the shard, it glows with a coppery light and fuses with the shard. The red and blue mottled coloring is replaced by the same coppery sheen as the shard.

In the chair, Natalya stiffens for a moment, then slumps into a more relaxed posture. Angelica too is affected. The overwhelming feelings of pride swirl away, like sudsy water down a drain. Her eyes widen as she returns to normal, and then partially close in a wince as she reviews her behavior from the last hour.

Seeing the effects, Sheila clears her throat and speaks. "What you have found, my friends, is nothing short of a miracle. Varisia has seen her share of miracles of late, but this discovery may well be remembered as equal or greater than the rise of the Runelord Karzoug. This is indeed a shard of the Sihedron. The Shard of Pride, made of horcalcum and possessing great properties. By activating the shard with the ioun stone,Miss Nenaviste has deactivated its curse, and now is bound to the shard. She should be able to wield its full powers by simply concentrating."

"According to lore, there is also another affect. The shards are said to call to each other. Miss Nenaviste, if you would hold the shard and concentrate on the entire sihedreon," she pointed at a drawing of a seven pointed star pinned to the wall, "and tell me what you see."

Krass doesn't like this talk about mumbo-jumbo at all. Not one bit. Knowing that he's in the minority here when it comes to arcane magics, he sits back in a corner of the room and simply observes.

I'm going to assume Harbug's disarm attempt didn't happen, as it was a bit after she picked up the stone (like right when Hollywood would have put in the mad cackling... Cackling is MY job!). As you say, the vagaries and dangers of PbP.

From her defensive postion behind an empty chair, Shabbezz peeps over the back, eyes wide with academic curiosity.

"Incredible..."

Angelica looks sheepishly at the others, shrugging and holding up the shard to indicate she wasn't exactly in control of herself. She examines the shard over, accepting the connection she has with it, and what she's sure she can do with it. At Lady Heidmarch's suggestion, she concentrates on the shape she is shown, not sure what exactly she is supposed to discern from it, but certain that the Venture Captain knows what she's talking about.

Is there anything I need to do to 'concentrate'? If so, I'm just going to throw a roll, and if you need to add something, go ahead. 1d20 ⇒ 9

The Druid watched with bated breath, as Angelica furrowed her brow in concentration. The aura of the shard seemed to flicker slightly, indicating some sort of activity.

Concentrate is simply an act of will, and works just like concentrating on a spell. Basically, it's an auto success unless you are in combat or some other strenuous activity.

As she concentrates on the sihedron shape, Angelica receives a vision - well, several, really. She sees Magnimar from a brid's eye view, the Irespan glowing softly. As the view swoops in over the harbor, one of the Irespan's pillars took clearer focus. It is covered with bird motifs, and Angelica recognizes it as the piling known as "The Crow".

As she reports what she saw, Shiela nodded. "Each shard of the sihedron is bound to another in sequence. Holding an activated shard and concentrating on the whole sihedron gains the user the knowledge of where the next shard in the sequence is located. From what you saw, it seems that the next shard is located somewhere in The Crow, though I am not sure how that can be. The place has been picked clean over the last few hundred years. There must be some hidden chamber or chambers that no one has yet found."

She positively glowed with excitement. "I have been searching for shards of the Sihedron for half my life, and to have two pop up in my city in such a short span...well, it is a miracle indeed. My question to you is simple; do you dare to recover the other shards and reach for glory? Having a complete sihedron in hand would provide a powerful defense against the evils moving in our region. I can't promise that it would be easy, or that your reward would be great - though in reputation and glory alone it would be worth a thousand struggles. What do you say? Will you endeavor to recover the next shard?"

Krass seems reluctant, but a sly grin appears on his face when he says, "Shouldn't we call in reinforcements to secure the piece we already have? Collecting more pieces seems to be an invitation for trouble. But, than again, I love trouble, so I guess I'm in."

Weighing the options carefully, Tialara responds, "While I do not favor exposing ourselves to these artifacts, it would be far better that they lay in our hands than some other fiend. I pledge my services."

Angelica examines the thing, her brow furrowed, thinking about all that happened "Well, I'm definitely intrigued, and it sounds challenging and exciting. Normally, I would jump at the chance to prove I can, but I think we're going to need a little info first. Now, when the shard had me, you mentioned that putting it together will destroy it, and bring this Xin guy back. Do we really want that?"

"Also, what if the other ones have the effect that this one had on me, how do we prevent that from happening to anyone else? WHat all can you tell us about these shards that will help us find and handle them safely? Unless the rest of you have questions, the last thing I want to know is if we need to leave right away. I could really use a night's rest, a warm bath, and maybe a salve for where those big bugs bit me. The whole area itches like nobody's business."

"Agreed," Shabbezz chirps up, sidling in from her hiding spot. "I should also like the evening to prepare new spells for the journey, as well as to spend some time examining the artifact more closely, if I may. This is quite a discovery!"

"I do not think that having Xin back would be a bad thing - and to be honest, I don't believe that it would resurrect the ancient king. However, there is a very great chance that another Runelord will arise in the next century or so. Having the sihedron to defeat him before he gains power would be extremely beneficial. Make no mistake, I believe that the Runelords are constantly struggling to arise, and if one can, why not the remaining six?"

"As for the curse attached to the artifacts, you saw how they can be suppressed by an appropriate ioun stone. I cannot tell you what ioun stone to put in the next shard, however. You will have to determine that once you find the next shard."

"I'd like to say 'time is of the essence' and boot you out the door and on your way...but the reality is that you can take some time to prepare and recover yourselves. There are a few open rooms in the lodge. Feel free to avail yourselves. If you need anything mended, ask Marcus."

She glanced over at Natalya and seemed to make up her mind about something. "Do any of you wish to stay and hear what Miss Vancaskerin has to say?"

"I am rather curious to hear her words," Tialara replied. But her inner voice was screaming for her to go and rest. Her curiousity proved the stronger though.

"Of course. Her dealings with the shard might tell us more about to handle the one we're looking for. And hearing where she found this one might also give us some clues."

Harbug has remained silent for quite some time; he nods once and says "I'll help get these shards. Even if no runelords rise, they clearly hold great power; we should ensure they fall into the right hands. As for Vancaskerin, after all the trouble we went through to get her, I'd like to hear if it was worthwhile."

Angelica adds, "Yeah, I want any info she can give us, I just didn't know how long she'd be out. If you expect her to wake soon, then let's do this."

"As if it needed to be asked," says the grippli. "Please, let us hear what she has to say."

"Heh, wake soon. I'll make that happen as long as you're ready to interrogate her." Harbug says with a smirk.
Harbug will use the healing hex on her if Venture-captain Heidmarch says she's ready to question the captive. Roll in case it happens: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

"That would be most efficacious, thank you Master Harbug." Sheila indicated that the orc should indeed sue his divine magics to pull Natalya from unconsciousness.

The Tower Girl woke with a sudden jolt, and immediately began patting her pockets and clothes, obviously looking for the shard. When she couldn't find it, she slumped with a mixture of relief and chagrin on her face. That expression morphed to morose despondence as she glanced around at the room and those assembled.

"I take it you've got the artifact, then? Best be careful. I think it has some kind of evil influence. Made me want to conquer the world, but all I got was a few goblins and monkeyboys who owed me money."

Shiela said, not unkindly, "Well, it seems you find the big score you were after. I wish you had brought it here. We could have prevented...well, it's done now. My main question is where in Magnimar did you find it?"

Natalya started to answer with a rude sound, but instead looked at Shiela's eyes and gulped audibly. "The Crow. It was on a skeleton I found there in a hidden chamber. The other Tower Girls thought it was just broken junk when we moved there, but I knew it was something special. They are all there now, trying for the big haul. Ayala's got all her little rat-girls scurrying all over the damn pillar, looking for more treasures and secret passages. I wish now that I'd grabbed some of the other loot before I scarpered."

Harbug whispers to Krass

Angelica listens with an air of guilt as the girl mentions the shard taking over. Being familiar with the nature of gangs and their hideouts, she decides to ask a few questions "So, how many other Tower Girls are there, and what kind of defenses do you think they have set-up? Any traps, guards, or tricks up their sleeve. Also, there was a woman that wanted us to hand you over. She had a whip and three male thugs, were they all Tower Girls, and will these count against the total left at the Crow?"

Shabbezz leaned in closer as she rested against her staff, her interest piqued.

"This chamber you say that you found...can you describe it for us? Its contents, dimensions, relative location, any writing you may have found, that sort of thing?"

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Even though her cat ears picked up Harbug's whisper to Kass, she didn't understand what he said. Shrugging it off as inconsequential, the Druid felt exhausted. "Well regardless what the rest of you do, I'm off for some rest." With that she turned and went back to the pond in the garden. Once settled, entered The Rift Walk.

"It sounds like you met Terisha, the b#%!@. She's one of the reasons I joined the Tower Girls, but she changed. The thugs were probably hired muscle, or maybe they just owed her a favor. Sounds like they paid way more than they borrowed. I hope you slapped her around a bit."

"As for the rest of the Tower Girls, I'm sure you know that Ayala Jeveski runs them. What you may not know is that she's a wererat, and has turned a lot of the others as well. I don't remember the layout of the place too well. That...thing clouded my memories. I just wanted to leave and set up my own crew."

"There's probably about a dozen Girls with Ayala at any given time, with more out on jobs or securing supplies. The only way to reach The Crow is by boat, or by flight, and if you go openly during the day, you're gonna get seen by the lookouts. There's a couple of sea-level entrances, and a few more than you can climb to. Ayala's on the second floor, in the chambers next to the room where I found the shard. Here, I'll draw you a map of what I remember."

"There's 4 floors in all, but I only vaguely remember the top two. This area here, at B is where we came in first. We broke through a secret door into the main chambers. There are a number of alcoves and entrances high up the walls here that require a bit of climbing skill and gear. Over here at C is the otehr sea-level entrance, and it leads to these stairs A that go up to the second floor. Ayala's chambers are here at D. That's really all I can remember."

"So we got our entrance and exit points, an idea of what is required - climbing gear and skills, chalk and flour to mark down the areas we've searched and to line things out, healing supplies in case our Tower Girls ain't too happy with us and .. what weaponry works versus were-rats?!"

"Let's also not forget to bring some source of illumination this time," she adds. "As for the wererats...hrm...Let me see if I can recall..."

Knowledge (Nature) to remember the weaknesses of wererats: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Shabbezz smacks a webbed fist down on her palm in a moment of recollection.

"Right! Silver! Virtually all lycanthropes are vulnerable to silver weapons--something related to their sympathy with the moon if I am correct. Normal weapons won't fare well against them, so we'd better be ready to compensate."

Angelica looks intently at the quickly scrawled map, and listens to the suggestions of the others. "Well, looks like we need to do a little shopping. If the Tower Girls aren't going anywhere soon, we can try to get some coin for all the stuff we scavenged, and I think we still got a sweet little reward coming for accomplishing our mission, with the offered bonus I might add." She hopes it takes a few days, because she will need to sleep off some of the abuse she suffered from the mission itself.

She has 3 Con damage, so will need at least 2 nights rest to remove any penalty. Also, at one point she rolled 3 Fort saves (not all that well mind you) when she hit the filth with stirge holes in her. Guessing she might come down with something soon.

"Maybe someone can watch over Angelica for a few hours of rest while the others take care of the shopping and get a little sleep?" Harbug suggests.

With long-term care (DC 15 Heal check) "treating a wounded person for a day or more ... the patient recovers hit points or ability score points lost to ability damage at twice the normal rate: 2 hit points per level for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 hit points per level for each full day of complete rest; 2 ability score points for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 ability score points for each full day of complete rest." Taking a night at least will give spellcasters time to get spells back too.

"I wouldn't mind doing that, but I sure hope that there are more qualified people here for that job." Krass offers Angelica an apologetic smile. "Besides, I best find myself a silvery sword in case I need to slice and dice up some unco-operative Tower Girls."

Guess I had Tia go to bed too early. Lol.