DM Brainiac's War for the Crown: Table 1 (Inactive)

Game Master Brainiac

Current Date: 21 Kuthona, 4718 AR

Maps on Google Slides


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Stavian's agent moves towards Sara, ending up a few feet away from her. He swings his bastard sword in a brutal chop, cutting down a panicked servant next to the resurrectionist. Blood sprays on the man's armor and spatters Sara's clothes as the grizzled soldier turns his attention to her.

After a moment's confusion from most of the Ulfen Guard, the viking warriors attempt to close ranks around their emperor, cutting down anyone—black-clad warrior and panicked senator alike—who approaches. Masked soldiers guard the doors and make wide-arc slashes with their swords to keep the crowds at bay. Within mere seconds, the senate floor becomes a killing field, as Stavian III looks around in deranged wonder at the butchery he has ordered.

As the conflict escalates, other members of the crowd pull hidden weapons from their clothing and engage the Stavian agents. You recognize Kathann Zalar, the helpful guard who inspected you upon entry to the gala, as she leaps into combat, shouting, "Lion Blades! To your duties! Defend the senate! Defend Taldor!" Even Martella Lotheed and Princess Eutropia draw their weapons to fight back against the assassins!

Everybody may act in the next round now!


Female Human Fighter (Cad) 13, Brawler 2 | HP: 55/185| AC: 19/17 (11 T, 17 F)| CMB: +19/+28, CMD: 28| F: +19, R: +12, W: +7| Init: +7| Perc: +17, SM +12, Dip +45, Intim +39| Speed 35ft| Martial Flexibility 3/4, Serpentine Tattoo 3/3, Beast Form 2 (Lion) 1/1, Terrible Cost 5/5| Active Conditions: N/A

Face and dress covered in blood, Sara blinks in shock. However, it doesn't last long. Her eyes narrow and she does what she does best: verbally lambaste the man.

"You literal garbage person! I hope you die an embarrassing death and that your mother laughs during your eulogy. I hope a sheep kills you," she starts as she sees him heft his sword.

"You're lucky this is a red dress, f@&ko, or I'd cut off your dick as payment. I normally wouldn't accept reimbursement so small but I know you ain't good for the money."

Intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25


RETIRED - happily married and ruling Taldor.

Melodie is carried through the crowd by Zhi, her eyes wide at the carnage being wreaked before her. "What? Why?" Is all she can manage.


ADVENTURE PATH COMPLETE

"NOOOOO!" screams Zileska as Kalbio is cut down. She pulls her pack up on to her shoulders and glares daggers at Stavian, smoldering with the burning vengeance of her goddess. This event will be long remembered.

"We can't win this fight," she says to her comrades. "We need to get Eutropia and Lotheed out of here. The servant's passages!"

Zileska turns in a broad circle to see if the guards are covering the servant's passages as well, or just the usual exits.


Pre-Marriage Alias

Hearing Zileska's suggestion about the servants passages, Zhi changes direction to make for the hidden halls keeping Melodie in tow.

"Don't you even have a dagger?" she asks in frustration.


Female Rakshasa-spawn Tiefling Investigator 17 | HP 103/105 | AC 34 T 17 FF 29 | Fort +11 Ref +20 Will +16 | Initiative +9 | Perception +20 (free Insp) | Sense Motive +23 (free Insp)

With a twist of her wrist, Maria drew her blade and moved up with Sara. "We need to clear a path to the servant's quarters, get Lotheed and whoever else we can out through there."

Move action to draw weapon, move to back up Sara.


Zileska and Zhi start moving towards the servant's passages, dragging Melodie through the crowd. It's hard to see if the path is clear or not, with everybody screaming and running in every direction. The clash of steel and the cries of the dying fill the air.

Maria draws her blade and moves up next to Sara, who unleashes a torrent of insults at the black-cloaked soldier. The grizzled man seems taken aback by the vitriol she spews!

"I'll cut that sharp tongue from your mouth, b#+%!!"

Bastard Sword, Shaken: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16

As the mercenary raises a gore-soaked sword and begins to swing, there is a blinding flash of light, and when it fades, only blackness and the smell of cold earth remain. It is pitch black and ominously silent.

You are no longer on the senate floor--but where are you?

Perception DC 20:
You caught a glimpse of your allies' senate aide badges glowing a split second before the light blinded you.

Spellcraft DC 20:
You were all just the subjects of a teleportation effect.

Maria and Melodie:
You can see the room with your darkvision. Faded wallpaper lines the walls of this thirty-five-foot-by-thirty-five-foot room, peeling up at the seams. Six beds line the western wall, each pristinely made but caked in a thick layer of dust. Eight closed wooden lockers line the northeastern corner of the room. A few unlit candles stand on a small table. Two doors exit the room: one to the north and one to the east.

A panel of brass and green glass is set in one wall. A bathroom is also attached to this chamber.


RETIRED - happily married and ruling Taldor.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Melodie lands in a dark room, she can see the forms of her companions in the darkness as well as the trappings of what must have once been a very nice place. Taking a deep breath she steels herself, trying to fight down the rising feelings of panic.

Reaching out in the dark she takes Sara's hand. "What happened? Where are we?" Strangely she sounds calmer now than she did on the senate floor... "Is anyone hurt?"

I have darkvision too! Also self implanting Mask Misery - hence the calm!


Female Rakshasa-spawn Tiefling Investigator 17 | HP 103/105 | AC 34 T 17 FF 29 | Fort +11 Ref +20 Will +16 | Initiative +9 | Perception +20 (free Insp) | Sense Motive +23 (free Insp)

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

"Our badges started to glow just before we arrived here," Maria said, taking in the room, "so either they teleported us to safety, or were sabotaged and we're all stuck in a giant illusion. Since I doubt anyone had time to tamper with our badges, I'm willing to assume the former."

She kept her blade drawn, though, even if this was a safehouse of Lotheed's she'd prepared ahead of time, she felt it would be a bad idea to rely on too many assumptions when the halls of power were being drenched in blood. In the meantime; she took in what she could see of the room, examining the furniture and decor, trying to deduce where they might be in the city, or if they were even still within the city.

Profession PI; deductive reasoning on the room: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21


RETIRED - happily married and ruling Taldor.

"Light!" Melodie suddenly says, as she realises that she and Maria are the only two people who seem to be able to see properly.

As she speaks four tiny lights flicker into existence in the middle of the room, jiggling around as though dancing with each other. In the new lighting its easy to see that Melodie looks slightly surprised at this new arrangement - but only slightly.


Melodie's dancing lights illuminate the chamber for all of you to see.

Between the faded wallpaper, the musty smell in the air, and dust caking all the surfaces, it doesn't look like anybody has been in this chamber in a long time. The bed frames and lockers are too simple to really help in placing where you might be located. Since the badges seem to have been responsible for transporting you here, Maria surmises that this chamber might be linked to Senator Voritas, whose servants these badges belonged to before his family line died out over a century ago, as Martella explained to you earlier.

As Maria investigates the scene, your badges buzz and you can hear Martella's voice in your heads. "Where did you go?! I just saw you and several others in the senate vanish into thin air!"

You each may respond with up to 25 words if you would like to.


Female Rakshasa-spawn Tiefling Investigator 17 | HP 103/105 | AC 34 T 17 FF 29 | Fort +11 Ref +20 Will +16 | Initiative +9 | Perception +20 (free Insp) | Sense Motive +23 (free Insp)

"Decent-sized chamber, six beds, long disused. Our badges brought us here, may be old Voritas holding."

She tried to think of where the old Voritas holdings were as she answered.
Know Nobility w/ free Inspiration: 1d20 + 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (18) + (3) + 8 = 29


Albio Voritas was somewhat obscure, but Maria remembers his family's holdings were in Oppara. It's likely you're still in the city somewhere.


ADVENTURE PATH COMPLETE

Zileska blinks and readjusts to this disorienting shift, then she tosses her pack to the ground. She crouches to dig through it, removing an armored yellow-and-black bodice.

"Armor up, ladies," she says. "No idea what's between us and the surface."


Female Rakshasa-spawn Tiefling Investigator 17 | HP 103/105 | AC 34 T 17 FF 29 | Fort +11 Ref +20 Will +16 | Initiative +9 | Perception +20 (free Insp) | Sense Motive +23 (free Insp)

”If we’re even underground, though the lack of windows makes that seem rather likely.”

Maria thankfully didn’t need to get changed; these were the same clothes she wore when working, albeit with extra touches and such for formality’s sake, and we’re designed under the assumption that the wearer would get into a fight.


Female Human Fighter (Cad) 13, Brawler 2 | HP: 55/185| AC: 19/17 (11 T, 17 F)| CMB: +19/+28, CMD: 28| F: +19, R: +12, W: +7| Init: +7| Perc: +17, SM +12, Dip +45, Intim +39| Speed 35ft| Martial Flexibility 3/4, Serpentine Tattoo 3/3, Beast Form 2 (Lion) 1/1, Terrible Cost 5/5| Active Conditions: N/A

Sara jumps as Melodie grabs her hand, disoriented from the teleportation and then again from the lights.

"I thought we were dead. I thought-" She lets go of Melodie's hand and runs to the toilet, violently ill.

As a result, all she thinks back to Lotheed is Aaa, I feel terrible! I hate vomiting so much. I'm never drinking this much again. Never teleporting again, neither, if I can help it.


After a minute or so, you hear Martella's voice again. "Gloriana Morilla's allies from the Pathfinder Society secured us a way out of the senate building! This is an organized force."

You can respond again if you'd like.


Pre-Marriage Alias

Dropped into darkness, Zhi's first response is to freeze and listen.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Noticing nothing indicative of where she is or if she's alone, she takes a deep breath in relief when she hears the others speaking. She's even more relieved when light is produced.

Zileska Vestalina wrote:

Zileska blinks and readjusts to this disorienting shift, then she tosses her pack to the ground. She crouches to dig through it, removing an armored yellow-and-black bodice.

"Armor up, ladies," she says. "No idea what's between us and the surface."

Zhi smirks and looks down at the disheveled green dress she's wearing.

"Yeah, like I'm hiding armor in this dress."

She reaches to the side of the dress and with a few pulls and twists, slides her way out of it.

Wearing nothing now other than a dark-colored, close-fitting shift and a leather pouch strapped to the inside of her thigh, she squats down and folds up the abused green garment with care. She unwraps a large bag from around her waist and places the folded clothing as well as her shoes into the bag and hangs it on her back.

She then begins to explore her surroundings.


A cursory examination of the room doesn't reveal much of interest. The internal plumbing in the small bathroom still functions (which is fortunate since the toilet is still full of Sara's vomit). One locker contains a grooming kit, a moth-eaten change of clothes, and a simple hand mirror, but the rest are empty.

The purpose of the brass and green glass panel on the wall is unclear. Doors lead north and east.


Female Human Fighter (Cad) 13, Brawler 2 | HP: 55/185| AC: 19/17 (11 T, 17 F)| CMB: +19/+28, CMD: 28| F: +19, R: +12, W: +7| Init: +7| Perc: +17, SM +12, Dip +45, Intim +39| Speed 35ft| Martial Flexibility 3/4, Serpentine Tattoo 3/3, Beast Form 2 (Lion) 1/1, Terrible Cost 5/5| Active Conditions: N/A

Sara flushes the toilet and washes the blood off her face and chest in the sink, ruining her makeup.

She dries herself and looks around for a candle. "Melodie, did you do this?" she asks, gesturing at the lights. "I didn't know you had any magical talents. Thank you. I hate the dark."


There are four candles on a nearby table.


Pre-Marriage Alias

"That's neat," Zhi says gesturing towards the lights. "Father tried to teach me something like that, but it never worked for me. How long does it last?"

Removing the parasol remnants from her hanbo and tossing them to the ground, Zhi moves to examine the door to the north.

Perception (Trap Finding): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

If she doesn't find any traps, she'll open the door.


Zhi does not find any traps. Opening the door reveals a short hallway leading to another dark room.

Assuming Melodie sends the light to check it out.

A wooden counter juts from the northwest corner of this thirty- foot-by-thirty-foot chamber. Open cabinets of dusty liquor bottles stand behind the bar, while one cabinet remains tightly sealed with a visible lock. Three tables with adjacent chairs fill much of the room. Portraits of posing nobles and historical scenes adorn the walls, all faded with age. Doors exit to the south (back to the room you are in) and east.

Another brass and green glass panel is on one wall.

Knowledge (history or nobility) DC 14:
Each of the portraits on the wall represents a notable figure or scene chronicled by Taldor’s Fourth Army of Exploration.

Map updated.


Pre-Marriage Alias

There's no door in the wall between the hall and the room. Is that just a map oddity?

Sparing a glance at the locked cabinet, Zhi shakes her head and moves quietly through the room towards the eastern door.

Knowledge (nobility): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Her plan is to examine this door as well, but I'm not sure if I should wait for the others to post.

Perception (Trap Finding): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18


Female Human Fighter (Cad) 13, Brawler 2 | HP: 55/185| AC: 19/17 (11 T, 17 F)| CMB: +19/+28, CMD: 28| F: +19, R: +12, W: +7| Init: +7| Perc: +17, SM +12, Dip +45, Intim +39| Speed 35ft| Martial Flexibility 3/4, Serpentine Tattoo 3/3, Beast Form 2 (Lion) 1/1, Terrible Cost 5/5| Active Conditions: N/A

Sara lights a candle and carries it with her. Seeing the liquor, she starts towards it. "Oh thank the gods," she says as she tucks away any full and unopened bottles.


Pre-Marriage Alias

As Sara begins collecting the liquor, Zhi calls out from examining the door, "Sara, Forget the booze and stay focused."


Yes, just a map oddity.

The other door doesn't appear to be trapped. Many of the liquors here have soured or evaporated away, but two bottles of whiskey remain sealed in wax. A magic wand and a magic spoon rest in a drawer under the bar.


Female Human Fighter (Cad) 13, Brawler 2 | HP: 55/185| AC: 19/17 (11 T, 17 F)| CMB: +19/+28, CMD: 28| F: +19, R: +12, W: +7| Init: +7| Perc: +17, SM +12, Dip +45, Intim +39| Speed 35ft| Martial Flexibility 3/4, Serpentine Tattoo 3/3, Beast Form 2 (Lion) 1/1, Terrible Cost 5/5| Active Conditions: N/A

"Hey! I've had a long day and it looks like it's going to get longer. I'll stay sober for now, but when we get out, I want expensive," she lifts a bottle and blows the dust off it, "delicious," gently, she places it in her purse, "well aged sipping whiskey. You'll thank me." She does the same with the other bottle and opens the drawer, finding a wand and spoon.

"Oh? Can anyone use a wand?"

Sara picks up the spoon and drops it into an empty tankard, disgusted by the thick layer of dust and grease on it.


Pre-Marriage Alias

"Fine, rummage the bar," Zhi replies, "But once you're done, bring that light over here."

With that, she slowly opens the eastern door.


Heavy wooden bookshelves line the walls of this opulent bedchamber. A posh chair sits in the northwestern corner alongside a small circular table. A massive bed and an adjoining table rest along the eastern side of the room. An open bathroom fits into the southwest corner, with a bathtub matching the room's opulence, but adding an ignoble odor. Doors exit to the west (back to the common room you are in) and south.

An ornate golden key sits in the table near the sofa. Another panel of brass and green glass is on the wall.


Pre-Marriage Alias

"Keys usually open doors," Zhi muses to herself as she slips the gold key into her tool pouch.

"What the hells was this place?" she asks as she moves towards the southern door.

She doesn't bother to check for traps this time as she opens it.


Stacked wooden crates cover the southern wall of this room, and more crates occupy the northwestern corner. Wooden shelves fill much of the eastern half of the room, each tier filled with dust-coated bottles, crockery, and glass jars. Another brass and green glass panel is on one wall.

A door to the west leads back to the room you arrived in. These four rooms only seem to connect to one another. There's no exit!


Pre-Marriage Alias

As Zhi re-enters the southwest dormitory room, she looks around in surprise.

"What the ... ?" she says in frustration. "If the only way in and out of this place is magical teleportation, then we're really hosed."

Pretty sure she knows what the answer is, she asks, "Melodie, can you do any kind of magic like that?"

"There has to be some other way out of here. Maybe it has to do with those odd glass panels on the walls."


ADVENTURE PATH COMPLETE

Zileska ruminates as she puts on her armor and says haltingly, "I think it's a panic room? Made for just this sort of event - an emergency escape in the case of civil war or a massacre in the Senate?"

"Remember, Martella said she saw us and several others vanish. This may be an old contingency tied in to the Senatorial aide badges. People could be appearing in secure rooms all over."


Pre-Marriage Alias

"Ok it's a panic room. So why would you make it non-obvious how to leave?" Zhi responds, her annoyance clear.

"Some arrogant wizard made this. Secure in his assumption that anyone worth anything would have the magical knowledge needed to leave."

Zhi moves over to examine one of the glass panels.


When Zhi touches the panel in the servants' quarters to examine it, magical lights in the ceiling illuminate in the common master suite. Touching it a second time causes the lights to deactivate again. Experimenting with the other panels reveals that each one turns the lights on and off in different rooms.

The panels toggle the lights in the following rooms:
Servants' Quarters: Common Room and Master Suite
Common Room: Master Suite
Master Suite: Common Room and Storage Room
Storage Room: Servants' Quarters and Common Room


Female Rakshasa-spawn Tiefling Investigator 17 | HP 103/105 | AC 34 T 17 FF 29 | Fort +11 Ref +20 Will +16 | Initiative +9 | Perception +20 (free Insp) | Sense Motive +23 (free Insp)

Know Nobility w/ free Inspiration: 1d20 + 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (1) + (3) + 8 = 12


ADVENTURE PATH COMPLETE

"It's non-obvious how to leave because whoever originally had it made knows how," says Zileska. "It might be tied to our badges. It might be something else that we have to activate to get an exit to appear. It might rely on the assumption that whoever enters has the ability to teleport out - or an item might be stored here that provides that ability. But if the latter, it presumably also has a way to scry on the outside, to make sure you don't teleport out to somewhere dangerous," says Zileska.


Female Rakshasa-spawn Tiefling Investigator 17 | HP 103/105 | AC 34 T 17 FF 29 | Fort +11 Ref +20 Will +16 | Initiative +9 | Perception +20 (free Insp) | Sense Motive +23 (free Insp)

"No-one builds a panic room that they can't leave on their own - if they fear for their life enough to build a place like this, then they're not gonna rely on someone else letting them out. Best take out time looking this place over."

Taking 20 on Perception check to search each room - current Perception mod is 5, I need to update the details at the top of the post.


ADVENTURE PATH COMPLETE

"May I take a look at the wand? Perhaps I can discern its function," asks Zileska.

"Also, Melodie, you may borrow my dagger for self-defense, if you like."


Pre-Marriage Alias
Maria Greyson wrote:
"No-one builds a panic room that they can't leave on their own - if they fear for their life enough to build a place like this, then they're not gonna rely on someone else letting them out. Best take out time looking this place over."

"There's a locked cabinet in the bar; I'll take a look at that," Zhi says.

--

Looking over the cabinet, Zhi reaches into the leather pouch strapped to her thigh and pulls out some slender metal tools. She then sets to work on the lock.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (17) + 13 = 30


While Maria begins to scour the chambers, Zhi works on the lock, deftly picking it open. Inside the locked cabinet is something that resembles an immovable crystal ball built into the wall. There is a rectangular hole in the top of the device, as if a piece of glass is missing.

Maria doesn't find anything in the servants' quarters or the common room. She moves on to the master suite. There are dozens of books on the shelves, most about various historical topics. It will take a few hours to look through them all by herself. A circular, coin-sized niche is obvious on one wall, but it connects to no obvious mechanisms.

In the bathroom, she finds a hand mirror and a frayed brush. She also spots a scroll case hanging from the railing of the bathtub. This bronzed and pitted case opens to reveal a tattered note that reads: "Fourth bed from the north. Comforter. Backup key."

A routine check of the storage chamber reveals changes of clothes, condiments, pickled vegetables, preserved delicacies, salted meats, and a well-stocked toolkit. While all the foodstuff here has long since rotted, the toolkit is well stocked and in excellent shape, counting as a masterwork tool related to carpentry, metalworking, or stonework.

Rearranging the boxes and searching through all of them will take half an hour by herself, unless others aid her.

If You Move the Crates:
Inside, you find three daggers, two longswords, a halberd, a masterwork rapier, 12 masterwork darts, and a masterwork suit of studded leather. Moving the crates reveals a beautiful fresco painted on the southern wall, depicting a gallant knight battling the dwarves of the Five King Mountains. A brass plate identifies the fresco as "Noble Galitian Maramaxus, hero of the Fourth Army of Exploration, champion of Taldor."

Going to bed now, which is why I posted the spoiler. :)


ADVENTURE PATH COMPLETE

Once she's armored, Zileska moves to the storage room to aid in cataloging the necessities.


Female Human Fighter (Cad) 13, Brawler 2 | HP: 55/185| AC: 19/17 (11 T, 17 F)| CMB: +19/+28, CMD: 28| F: +19, R: +12, W: +7| Init: +7| Perc: +17, SM +12, Dip +45, Intim +39| Speed 35ft| Martial Flexibility 3/4, Serpentine Tattoo 3/3, Beast Form 2 (Lion) 1/1, Terrible Cost 5/5| Active Conditions: N/A

Sara offers the wand when asked, having no patience or use for such things. Likewise, when called upon to help move the crates, she diligently does so. Upon discovering the armor, she offers it first to Melodie and then Zhi. "The others have armor, but we three are near naked. You especially, Zhi," she giggles, examining her shift. "Can either of you make use of this? I know it's vain but I don't want to wear such a thing."

After uncovering the fresco, she scratches her head and groans, departing to redo her makeup in the bathroom.

"Call me if anyone figures things out or you need more heavy lifting."


Pre-Marriage Alias

"This feels nice," Zhi says as she takes a few practice swings with the rapier.

"I think you might want to put that on," she says to Melodie, indicating the armor. "It might keep you alive a little longer."


Female Rakshasa-spawn Tiefling Investigator 17 | HP 103/105 | AC 34 T 17 FF 29 | Fort +11 Ref +20 Will +16 | Initiative +9 | Perception +20 (free Insp) | Sense Motive +23 (free Insp)

"The note in the scroll case mentioned a backup key in a comforter on one of the beds. Assuming we arrived facing the same direction we were while in the senate, that would make North... that way."

With north sorted, she moved to the fourth bed down from that direction and grabbed the comforter, feeling for anything hidden inside.


Maria finds an inelegant brass key sewn into the lining of the comforter. It fits the cabinet in the common room, though since Zhi already picked the lock, it's a bit unnecessary now. Closer inspection shows an inscription etched in the side of the key: "Look in the book."

Martella sends you another message. "Out of senate. Stavian's soldiers still pursuing. Fighting throughout the entire senate building. Wherever you are, keep your heads down!"


ADVENTURE PATH COMPLETE

Zileska responds this time. "Teleported to an abandoned safehouse. Fine for the moment. Is Eutropia still alive?"


Martella does not immediately respond. You can imagine it's probably pretty hectic back there.


Female Rakshasa-spawn Tiefling Investigator 17 | HP 103/105 | AC 34 T 17 FF 29 | Fort +11 Ref +20 Will +16 | Initiative +9 | Perception +20 (free Insp) | Sense Motive +23 (free Insp)

"'Look in the book.' Very informative. Well since it sounds like we shouldn't be out in the streets at the moment, may as well take our time checking the books. Give a shout if any of them stand out at all."

Matching action to words, Maria started to go through the books, while dearly hoping that the person who set this up was part of one of the longer-lived races so that she might be able to still punch them in the face for such a roundabout escape method.

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