DM Zyren's Heart of Darkness (Inactive)

Game Master Zyrenity

Large beads of sweat form on his forehead and you somehow think that his new followers rather unsettle the man than give him security.

So you know nothing, huh? Whoever finds the riddle golem and brings it back to the guildmaster will be promoted in rank...will even get his daughter's hand! Hear my words: I will give everyone of you 500 gp if you just leave the golem to me.

"You walked in here and threatened our lives, and when the fortunes of war turned against you, you have the hide and gall to come mealy mouthed and plead with us instead about your needs. You disgust me, and I have had enough of the pompous high handed manners I have thus far encountered. You are a wretch and a coward, the rabbit threatens the lion and then cries for clemency?"

"I'm instead going to give you just a few seconds of opportunity to explain why I shall let you live more than five more heartbeats...one...two..."

"I'm not so mercyless like my elven companion, but he is right.If you are so desperate as to try and bribe us there must be something else behind"

"Mercy is to be offered to the deserving, this wretch barges in when favoured with what he thought was superior numbers and threatens us with murder, yet now his fortunes have turned he has the hide to beg succor. Should the fates once again favour him I have no doubt the worm would once again put his boot to our throats and offer us only lingering death. What 'mercy' did he offer? Stand by and be robbed or killed or both? Perhaps it is his turn to experience his own justice"

"...three..."

Nox looks towards Alcheringa as she gestures at the coward who threatened she and her newfound companions. death is too good for this coward. the sad miserable life he lives is punishment enough. in fact, i believe that the act of ending his life would be countless times more merciful than the act of actually sparing it. she looks towards the man, you pay 'each' of us that 500 gold, and 'i' will personally spare 'your' miserable life. but recieve the riddle golem you will not. were we back in Alkenstar, headmaster Molotov would have your head on his rack.

Intimidate Check

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

What are we playing? "Good cop-Bad cop" routine?

i guess so.

Still in Shadows, readying crossbow to fire the moment he appears to be casting or activating an item. If I can I will attempt to get within 30 feet first if there is appropriate cover. If there isn't I will stay where I am.
Stealth roll if needed 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23

Alexite watches the interaction with a small smile.

Nox pauses, waiting for the coward to reply.

During your heated discussion, the knee joints of one of the zombies breaks and the creature falls on its face.

The Ardoc looks down on the sobbing abomination and sighs

OK! No fight today. I will let you go with the golem in your posession, but I won't pay you anything for sparing me. Leave now and I will not command my minions to hunt you down!

He isnt't very convincing...

"Why i don't believe you ?"

Sense Motive 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

good point

Sense motive 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

No choice for no one of us. Either you trust me...and I trust you, or we have to spill blood, which I really don't want.

He steaps back making way and shoos his minions also out of the way.

"I would really like to solve this in such way"

Zyren...you better roll initiative, I have no intention of letting him go

"Blaze... kill"

Blaze was sneaking in position before their arrival, not sure what the lay of the land is.

sense motive

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

i beleive the little weasel is hiding something. he might as well 'fess up' and tell us what it is. 'Alice' is Hungry Nox Gestures towards the fanged rabbit. who foolishly bares her fangs and fails to look scary.

Nox's Intimidate Check

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

Alice's Aid another

1d20 - 3 ⇒ (5) - 3 = 2

the young prosepctive loremistress may have sounded convincing, but her familiar didn't seem quite so effective at putting up a show. at least Alice tried.

Initiative (in case a fight occurs)

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Thorne hears the word to go and lets fly.
Assumption: Not within 30', surprise round.
One shot 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
If it hits 1d10 ⇒ 8

Assumtion: Within 30', surprise round.
Add +1 to hit and damage (point blank)

Assumption: Within 30', surprise round, flat footed by my attack
Add 1d6 ⇒ 4 to all of the above

Followup initiative 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Just as the sturdy Ardoc starts his reply, Thornes crossbow bolt sinks deep into his throat, smothering the man momentarily.

He sinks down on his knees, disbelievingly eyeing Thorne and Alcheringa.

The zombies, not being commanded anymore just stand still. You don't think they will be aggressive as long as they're not attacked.

Esfana is surprised as much as the Ardoc by this turn of events.
However she reacts instinctively and readies her shield and sword.

"He left us very little choice, it was us or him. We need no repeats of Worsch and the ambush he set for us, learn from past mistakes or see them repeated"

"Excellent aim Thorne."

Thorne spits on the ground and wryly states "I was aiming for his right eye ..." With a smooth motion he works another quarrel ready and aims again at the prone figure. "Someone check to see that he is actually down and out. We'll cover you."

Just tell me, when you are ready to leave the riddle golem's lair.

I noticed all his actions, but as a Neutral Good i don't think i'll kill someone on the spot on the basis of some intuitions.After all, all that we saw were some behaviors any evil character would do, but not all of them get killed on sight until they actually do openly CE actions in front of LG characters.More, all he did (again in my judgement) were actions even a CN could do, but you cannot be sure until you cast Detect Evil.Not complaining anyhow;we completed the quest

"Let's look around a bit more just in case, then back to the temple"

Perception 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

C***O maybe i won't look anywhere

Go back and read the spoiler. he displayed several openly CE actions, including the attempt of armed robbery (and implied threat of murder), with his stated purpose being personal gain and glory - supported by a pile of animated undead - thats not 'intuitions' thats direct evidence... I just can't see how much more CE and/or direct you were looking for. He wasn't KOS until he tried to rob us, and as he didn't surrender when afforded the chance he was fair game.

Similarly he could be the nastiest baby eating hannibal lecter serial killer demon worshipping CE alive, but if hes only level 1 or 2 your Detect Evil wont work

"Good idea, there might be something we missed."

Perception1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Detect Magic

let's leave the 'weasel' to drown in the sewers. we could blame the crossbow bolt on a drow patrol unit. but first, lets strip him of any useful possessions he may have and toss him into the sewers completely naked and exposed to the elements Nox will search the 'weasel' and strip him of every valuable or useful posession he either carries or wears, strips him naked and toss his nude exposed body out into the unclean water of the sewers. the 'weasel's' clothing will be 'disintigrated' by a simple predestigitation spell and the prospective loremistress will split the goods with the party.

search check

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Lo ho letto lo spoiler - I did read the spoiler

All he did were just assumptions and spoken threats.We never saw him actually killing or robbing.We know usually necromancer are of evil alignments, but that i saw in Pathfinder a necro can be CN or even LG...as wizards have no alignment restrictions, and necro is a school specialization

Ummm unless that was a dream sequence he walked in and tried to rob US!

We know usually necromancer are of evil alignments, but that i saw in Pathfinder a necro can be CN or even LG...as wizards have no alignment restrictions, and necro is a school specialization[/ooc]

Not entirely true, the Animate Dead and similar spells are classed as Evil, and have the evil descriptor in the spell description... therefore their use is directly classed as an evil act per RAW. So you can be a Necro, but you may never create undead (or any other 'evil' listed spell) if you wish to be a Good or even Neutral character.

Alcheringa notes Nox going over the body.

"I have no interest in his coin or possessions, and have no crime to hide. The earth shall claim him, and reclaim these walking flesh mounds that have been cheated from her"

Anyhow, that guy was guilty as sin, and frankly we already have one set of assassins after you, at least its now not two sets.

I also said, i didn't want to surrender to him, and i'm happy we did the quest.I'm just asking opinions on alignments of others.But my point of view is much different.

the only alignment where you have to show mercy to everybody who tries to rob you and begs for thier life afterwards is 'stupid good'. 'stupid good' is also known as the 'purity sue' alignment. even paladins are not required to be that dumb. and those guys were explicitly given combat abilities for a reason. a paladin can get away with coldheartedly executing those who oppose the teachings of his/her faith in front of the masses. and these guys are more morally restricted than druids. so i would beleive that there is nothing wrong with a druid of any alignment taking the life of a man so vile that they deem no possible chance of redemption. and i don't beleive druids are that 'dull' anyway. these guys have to be wise to survive the harsh enviroments they do. especially when natural selection could turn against them the same way it brought them favor. the closest thing i can find to recreate an acceptable purity sue is an underage neutral good milani worshipping aasimaar oracle of life with the lowest wisdom score possible and a maxed out diplomacy. and even with this corner case, you would have to find every excuse you can to justify it such as borrowing 'Flonne' flavor left and right. and such a character would be ill suited for adventuring.

And that is reason why i never play paladins.To tell the truth, my favourite alignment is chaotic neutral

Sorry I upset the apple cart - lets continue chat in the /ooc if need be :p I guess my view is that some people react very poorly when threatened with bodily harm - Alcheringa IS wild, and from the wilds, and when the hyena threatens the lion it ends badly for the hyena.

my favorite alignment is lawful evil but i am quite willing to settle for true neutral or lawful neutral. and i have played a 'Flonne' clone before. she was a throwaway character used to prove a point that alignment doesn't matter and that even good aligned PCs can harm a group. my evil PC that came later was roleplayed much less annoyingly. and he was much more helpful as well. of course, the DM and i recently arranged his plot based death. the guy had informed the party that he cannot survive certain higher levels of excitement without his body spontaneously bursting into flames, 15 minutes of continuous combat or high speed pursuit can cause this to happen.

We should really move this in OOC thread

back to action

You can't find anything else in the chamber, it seems like it was only the golem on the throne.

The Ardoc guildmember carried with him:

an assortment of mineral shards in a small bag.
a pouch with 250 gp.

"This ring and this hammer have traces of magical force, I shall examine them a moment to divine their nature..."

Spellcraft on Hammer 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
Spellcraft on Ring1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

"This hammer is a solid utilitarian tool, and its minor magics might make it handy to have around for those who might need...this ring on the other hand is one of the more fascinating magics I have seen. I creates a magical force protecting the wearer as a very good shield, it springs from the ring on command so good to be worn around without appearing obvious, and wont get in the way or tire the wearer with its weight..."

He looks quite obviously impressed with the workmanship, his elven eyes reflecting the soft magical glow of the items.

Thorne approaches the body to see if his bolt is salvagable.
Reusable 50% 1d100 ⇒ 43 yup!
He takes it and replaces it in the clip

"We can discuss later how to share this loot.Would like to go back to my restrooms now"

It's about early evening now-back to the Ardoc factory or to the Revive for a better Life or to the Trideon Temple?

I think, it will be best to go directly to Mr. Ardoc

"We can discuss later how to share this loot.Would like to go back to my restrooms now"

Just an fyi; restroom = bathroom/toilet

Right,i saw the error when it was too late

"yes we need to return this to the Ardoc before anyone else gets tempted by greed and repeats what we saw in that sewer."

After leaving the Riddle Golem's lair and the sewers below Ankar Te, even the wretched atmosphere of this most filthy district of the most villainous city of Golarion is a relieve.

Warned and ever cautious you make your way back to the ARdoc Guildhouse in the Bis District.

During your walk you don't encounter any further problems, nevertheless you feel being watched all the time.

As you reach the Guildhouse, Perdar and two other men step out of the shady entrance of a nearby inn. He points to you and comes over.

Alas! You've made it back. Abadar be praised, I can sense you found what everyone Ardoc looking for. Tell me, did you encounter any unpleasant situations?

He seems very relieved, while his two companions look rather stressed.

'That is an odd question, Meister Ardoc. What did you fear?'

Shifting from one foot to the other the sturdy Ardoc replies

Word has spread that some of my fellow guild members might have got wind of the Riddle Golem's whereabout. So I was quite worried about your safety!