DM Carbide's PFS Emerald Spire

Game Master John Woodford

Senja descends the shaft behind the rest of the party, warning them quietly, "Watch out for the humidity!"

Heh.

Asvald ponders the question as he descends hand over hand.

"How do you fend off humidity?"

The party's lights glint off of reflective surfaces in the chamber below. Asvald realizes that it's also reflecting off of something else--something wet and transparent that he's climbing down towards.

Hey, it's lethal humidity!

More seriously, Asvald recognizes it as a larger-than-normal gelatinous cube.

Asvald immediately stops climbing. "That's a big ass cube. Senja can you do something about it?"

Asvald will describe the distance in case Senja can't spot it.

Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30 I'm gonna assume that gets me pretty much everything about this critter.

Senja floats down next to Asvald and considers the strange cube before them. "As long as you don't climb straight into it, it shouldn't be able to hurt us up here," he offers. "You can probably just slash it to bits from here on the ladder, and it'll kind of break up into little harmless blobs. Cube-lets, perhaps. Cubits? No. Anyway, just don't climb into it. Because then it will engulf you, then paralyze you, and you'll probably suffocate before its digestive acids kill you."

Sound about right, Carbide?

It can slam at targets within 5', even if they're above it, so unless you're using projectile or reach weapons it can attack you as well.

Eva can get out her bow and shoot it if Acrobatics will let her hang on with her feet. Alternatively, we can acid splash it to death.

You could also pull a JCvD move and brace against opposite walls of the shaft in a full split. AFAICT, none of you can cast acid splash.

Asvald can light Eva's arrows on fire with spark... DM, does 1d4 fire damage seem reasonable for that? Not as good as magical flame, but better than nothing.

Want me to roll a bunch of attacks? Hopefully 30 crossbow bolts are enough... :P

It's AC 4, so you miss on a 1. You mean Asvald still hasn't bought a bow?

Doesn't look like it, the slacker. Senja and Torque each have one, though, so maybe they can help with the plinking.

Pew!: 10d20 ⇒ (15, 12, 8, 18, 9, 4, 1, 16, 7, 4) = 94
Damage: 9d8 ⇒ (4, 2, 4, 8, 3, 8, 2, 8, 8) = 47
Fire Damage?: 9d4 ⇒ (2, 1, 3, 3, 1, 4, 1, 4, 2) = 21 Y'know, just in case. :)

After 10 bolts, the cube is still there.

Another three or four should do it.

Pew: 4d20 ⇒ (7, 1, 6, 10) = 24
Damage: 3d8 ⇒ (2, 1, 7) = 10
Fire Damage?: 3d4 ⇒ (1, 1, 1) = 3

Four more bolts finish the job. The ooze slowly melts away, leaving a puddle of slime on the floor of the room.

The chamber walls are made of the same glassy material as the building on the surface. There are doors in the south and west walls, each made of green glass reinforced with rune-inscribed copper bands. There are no handles--just a handprint engraved into each door. Senja and Asvald can tell that the handprint matches the grasping member of an emerald automaton.

It will not be a great hardship for you to return to the previous level to get an arm off of one of the automata you fought there.

"Back it up. I think we need a hand from one of those constructs."

Linguistics vs South Runes: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
Linguistics vs West Runes: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

Eva can't get any sense of what the runes mean, although they appear to be in the Azlanti language.

Oh hey, Senja knows that one!

"Senja, can you make these out?" asks Eva, directing the wayang's attention to the runes.

They're maker's marks, and have as far as Senja can tell no arcane function.

The room is dimly lit by a glowing globe hanging from the ceiling, roughly fifteen feet up.

Was there a new map?

With the ooze dispatched, Asvald drops down into the dimly lit room.

It's in the campaign header. I haven't updated my DM header yet, though.

"Look around. Maybe the cube left something behind from its last victim."

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25

Asvald finds nothing of interest.

Eva takes her own look around the room, and checks the doors for traps while she's at it. If nothing is found, let's go west.

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23

Torque puts his keen eyes to work.

Perception: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (1) + 22 = 23

Senja joins the others in looking around for anything of interest in the room, then steps away from the western door to let Asvald lead the way.

Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24

I support Eva's suggestion to go west.

After his companions have checked the western door thoroughly Asvald opens it to check out what's behind it.

When Asvald sets the emerald automaton hand on the door pad, the west door opens smoothly to reveal a narrow hall leading west. There's a door on the south wall, and at the end of the hall is an opening to the south.

The opening is apparently a small foyer. Patterns of shadow, reminiscent of ripples on water, pass over the green glass walls. No light casts them--they seem to be illusions. The chamber surrounds a low platform engraved with an intricate symbol. A pair of double doors, decorated with a scene of people relaxing in a pool of water, is set into the wall across from the platform.

Eva casts a sharp(?) eye over the room.

Knowledge (Arcana) (ki mystic): 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 2 = 6
Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24

Senja gives Eva a little time to study the intricate symbol on the wall, then clears his throat. "Mmph. Well. As I'm sure Eva noticed, based on the symbol engraved there, the platform is an anchor point for teleportation magic. Obviously, though, it is inactive and damaged."

He considers the decorative doors a moment, then says, "I guess we go that way?"

Asvald shrugs and tries the decorative doors.

Senja thinks he might be able to repair the teleporter.

The doors swing open as Asvald nears them. The room on the other side is pleasantly decorated. A richly upholstered couch sits by a crackling fire, and a massive painting above the fireplace depicts some sort of arcane caster human battling a dragon. There is a small door to the west, and a large set of double doors to the east. Place settings are laid out at a round table. The centerpiece on the table is somewhat odd: it appears to be the head of an emerald automaton, or some sort of related construct. As the doors open, the eyes of the metal head light up, and it speaks in Azlanti in a creaky voice.

"Well, that's interesting," Senja exclaims as the automaton head speaks. It said, "Welcome, honored guests. We have long awaited your return. Server Two! Guests for tea!" He looks around expectantly, then studies the small, western door, presuming the tea will come from there.

Carbide - what would the check be to fix the teleporter? I have all the Knowledges and some Crafting, I'll make a roll and you can tell me what skill it is or just look at my sheet to apply the right bonus.

Skill check to repair teleporter: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Well, that's what I get for skimming over the entry. The final step requires Disable Device, which is not what I would have expected. Fortunately, repairing the teleporter isn't a requirement to finish the level.

"This is easily the strangest level here. I did not expect to be served tea here. Is the construct a threat?"

The head's eyes track back and forth, looking at the party, then flash rapidly. It continues in acceptable Common, "It has been very long indeed, Patrons. I am Steward."

Is anyone going to reply to the head?

"Indeed, very long," Senja parrots back to the talking head. "Remind me, if you would, just how long it has been? And were any other, um, Patrons, around before we came back?"

"I have no way of knowing how much time has passed. Very few humans have come here since the Patrons, and all have told me that they were not the Patrons."

The small door opens, and a dilapidated-looking construct shuffles in. It has a thin build, and it's missing some parts--armor plating and one eye. It carries a tray on which are a steaming kettle and a tea service, but comes to a halt as it enters and looks around at the party. It speaks in a buzzing voice.

Eva narrows her eyes as a sudden suspicion occurs to her. "And what happened to the humans who told you they weren't the Patrons?" she asks, slowly moving into a more defensive position.

Apparently ignorant of the tension in Eva's voice and stance, Steward replies, "Some departed the way that they came, and some went on to the palace of the prince. That was before the Reclaimers misinterpreted their mandate from the Patrons, though."

"Ah. And this... mandate... what was it, and how did they misinterpret it? And could you describe these 'Reclaimers', please?"

Eva quietly eyes the newly-arrived tea-bearing construct, wanting to try the tea but hesitating at its unintelligible jabber.

Senja murmurs distractedly, "The tea-bot asks if the Patrons have returned. He seems pretty excited about the possibility." His interest, however, is focused on hearing the response to Eva's question about the 'Reclaimers,' as they sound like their attention could be harmful, or at least unwelcome.

"Who are the patrons?"

"The Reclaimers are the servants of the Iron Creche, which the Prince devised to create his machines of war, and maintain this place. A long time ago, the Iron Creche decided that we of the Sanctum were no longer necessary, and turned its servants loose to break us down and recycle our pieces. If you could bring me to the Creche, I could redirect their aggression."

"Ah. That sounds useful," remarks Eva. "What do they look like? Should we expect them to attack us on sight, or is there some password or something we can use to prevent that?"

Almost as an afterthought, she adds, "Is the tea safe?"

In response to Torque, the head blinks. "Why, you, and those who look like you. You are cast in the image of the Prince, after all."

Then it turns to Eva. "They are a magical mechanism, many small things that can join to become one large one. While they were not designed to break down organic beings such as yourselves, that will not prevent them from trying. The tea is excellent, or so I have been told."

Does anyone have any other questions?