A powerful local gang in Kaer Maga demands that you end the threat of the Shadow Lodge at once as the Lodge's very existence upsets the delicate local balance of power. Refusal means both the expulsion of the Pathfinder Society from Kaer Maga forever and your untimely deaths. The choice is yours.
Halfling Warrior 4 | HP 30/30 | AC 16 T 12 FF 15 | CMD 16 (18 vs bull rush) | Fort +7 Ref +4 Will +9 (+4 against fear) | Init +1 | Perc +6 | smite (+2 hit/ac, +1 dmg): 1/1
Lod finds himself suddenly in the middle of the action... in fact, the action is happening all around and before he knows it his fellow agents have scattered about fighting against the would-be ambushers! He draws out his axe and moves in on the half-orc.
Lod, I don't believe you added the +2/+2 from the Bull's Strength Silgil cast on you. Also there is an inpire active for an additional +1/+1. I believe your to hit is 19 as a result and your damage 16.
Blend shoots two arrows at Muminah, the cleric, and one pierces her gut while the next finishes her off, piercing her heart. She stands there for a moment stunned, already dead as she falls to the ground. Chip moves up and scores a nasty gash across Bega the half-orc's chest, and zipper also manages to bite the fighter's leg, bringing the hulking man to the ground, dying. Silgil buffs Lod's strength with magic. Lod, seeing the half-orc fighter go down, rushes toward the caster and embeds his axe in the man's neck. Garrett maneuvers up to Todor, the caster, and slashes the man, supplying the last damage needed for him to pass out from the pain. Prisim casts a protective spell.
Mickey the gnome, the only one left now, says, "Piss on all of 'em. I ain't dyin' fer this!" He is hampered by the press of people, and is trying to flee, but the continuous bodies fleeing the combat get in his way.
Bold may act.
Active party buffs: inspire courage +1
Round 2
HP 45+0/47(+10); Reroll @+4 1/1;SPELLS: Lvl 1 5/8; Lvl 2: 2/6; Lay on hands (2d6) 0/1; CLW wand available 44/50 Gnome CORE Sorcerer-5: AC 13 (17 mage armor); Fort +5; Ref +4; will +3; Perc +7; Init +1;
"Can one of you guys, who is like, good with ropes, tie up my cousin over there?" asks Prisim as she tries to save the life of the half orc. She kicks away his weapon and taps him once with her wand.
CLW:1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 What a waste of an eight
Gnome Ranger 6 (CORE) | HP 54/58 (1 NL) | AC 22* | T 15* | FF 19 | CMD 23* | Fort +7 | Ref +8* | Will +6 | +2 vs. illusion, +1 vs. mind-affecting spells/SLA (+2 if psychic), +1 vs. disease, +1 vs. distraction of swarms | Init +2 (+4 urban) | Perception +10 (+12 urban) (low-light vision) | Sense Motive +5 | Reroll 0/1 | Active Conditions:Haste(*), Longstrider
"I see no reason to kill them. Wonder who they are honestly... well other than Shadow Lodge obviously," Chip begins to pick up weapons and put them away.
Halfling Warrior 4 | HP 30/30 | AC 16 T 12 FF 15 | CMD 16 (18 vs bull rush) | Fort +7 Ref +4 Will +9 (+4 against fear) | Init +1 | Perc +6 | smite (+2 hit/ac, +1 dmg): 1/1
Sorry, missed the buffs earlier. Been working 10+ hours a day (15 yesterday!) and must have been tired.
"Good with ropes? Not me, in particular." Lod shrugs as he puts away his axe. "And I also prefer not to kill our captives. But certainly they are Shadow Lodge agents and can tell us something so let's wake one of them up and see what we can find. Maybe they can help us find the root of the problem, the ringleader or something."
You manage to heal and tie up all of the Shadow Lodge agents save one. The leader, Muminah, still lay dead on the ground.
"Piss on 'er," Micky Ticklefeet says, recently woken from his stupor. The gnome is overweight with folds of skin cascading down his neck, with a hunched back, sitting tied up on the ground and in the foulest of moods. "You the ones askin' bout the Lodge, neh? Well I'll tell ya where they are, govs. Ya just let me go. Can do what you like with the other piss-drinkers, but let me go and you'll never hear from me again."
Blend looks down on the gnome with a look of disgust. Your commitment to your team mates and lodge is commendable. No deals gnome, spill your guts before one of my friends here spills them for you and then we will think about what we do with you...
Micky says, "Fine! I s'pose I don't really have a bargaining position." He lifts his hands to show off the bindings. "Shadow Lodge hideout's in The Bottoms. An abandoned prison called The Temple."
Micky looks over at Muminah's corpse. Street urchins and thieves have already begun to prowl close, eyeing her belongings. Fasch is seen amidst the crowd, but she stays back, evaluating the scene. Micky becomes strangely sullen for a moment. "S'pose a bit'a mercy's out of line in a place like this."
You have two unconscious Shadow Lodge agents and one conscious one, let me know what you want to do with them, and if you want to make any preparations before we head to the Temple."
Halfling Warrior 4 | HP 30/30 | AC 16 T 12 FF 15 | CMD 16 (18 vs bull rush) | Fort +7 Ref +4 Will +9 (+4 against fear) | Init +1 | Perc +6 | smite (+2 hit/ac, +1 dmg): 1/1
Lod shrugs and looks to his fellow agents. "Well, we know what our next stop is. As for these," he waves his hands at the unconscious Shadow Lodge agents, "I say we turn them over to the nearest Venture Lieutenant or keep them in custody ourselves until we can get them back to the Society. I'm sure the higher-ups will be interested to learn more about the Shadow Lodge."
---
As the party nears the Temple, Lod applies mage armor and says, "I expect this will be rough."
I don't think this dung heap has anything approaching a guard and we don't have no lodge here. I don't fancy dragging this lot all the way back to Magnimar. They pissed off the Commerce League, I say we leave them for Dahkar to deal with.
As the group approaches the Temple Blend will activate his wand of blend and start to sneak.
Gnome Ranger 6 (CORE) | HP 54/58 (1 NL) | AC 22* | T 15* | FF 19 | CMD 23* | Fort +7 | Ref +8* | Will +6 | +2 vs. illusion, +1 vs. mind-affecting spells/SLA (+2 if psychic), +1 vs. disease, +1 vs. distraction of swarms | Init +2 (+4 urban) | Perception +10 (+12 urban) (low-light vision) | Sense Motive +5 | Reroll 0/1 | Active Conditions:Haste(*), Longstrider
Any loot on the dead or unconcious bodies?
Chip prepares as the party approaches the Temple. He uses his Wand of Longstrider on himself, casts Longstrider on Zipper, and asks for Prisim to use his Wand of Mage Armor on Zipper.
"Prisim, would you mind zapping Zipper with this wand?"
On Todor: potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of invisibility, scrolls of magic missile (5)
On Micky: potion of cure light wounds
On Bega: potions of cure light wounds (2)
On Muminah: potions of cure light wounds (3), scrolls of doom (2),
scrolls of obscuring mist (2), elixir of love, key to the temple
Following Micky's directions, you deposit the Shadow Lodge agents with the Commerce League or the Duskwardens and strike off for the Bottoms. The cliffside district teems with people, but they are of a different sort than the ones you have seen thus far. Not so downtrodden as the Warrens, and not so aloof as Bis or Highside Stacks, the Bottoms and its people seem shaped around not simply survival, but freedom. Everywhere you look craftsman ply their trade, merchants shout for goods on the street, and people talk of the town hall meetings that go on in this place, with the government leaders actually listening.
The road turns ruddy and broken, however, as you near the Temple. There is no need for prisons in Kaer Maga anymore. The factions that rule the City of Strangers dispense their own justice, and more often than not it does not require manacles.
The Temple is exactly as described—a trash heap. It may once have been a model of beautiful prison architecture, but its facade is faded and cracked, piles of windblown trash hug its walls in drifts, and what may have once been manicured landscaping has since devolved into a tangled, swampy mess. A single path of cracked, wet bricks links the street to the entrance of the Temple, which appears to be a brand new, iron-braced wooden door. Above the door is a decayed carving of a human man on his knees, his arms raised toward a rising sun.
You found a key matching the same symbol on Muminah's body, and now stand outside its front doors.
Blend also taps himself with his wand of longstrider.
Sneaking up to the door he checks it for traps and listens to see if anyone might be on the other side. If all seems clear he will try the key and open the door.
Male Halfling 5th level Bard | HP 37/37 | AC 21 | T 14 | FF 18 | CMD 15 | Fort +5 | Ref +9 | Will +6 | Init +5 | Perc +10 | Bardic Per 15/15 | Spells: 1st - 5/5, 2nd - 3/3
I think one of our melee fellows should take the CMW pot and a few of the CLW pots, but looks like there's enough for all of us to partake in at least one each.
Garrett looks about at the building. "I feel we should do a bit of scouting first before we rush headlong in there. I am fairly stealthy and will offer to take a lap around the building."
Back with Micky, as you untie his bonds he says, "Never would'a thought I'd be thanking Pathfinders again for saving my life. But, well, thank you." He gives you a stubby little bow and then runs off into the Warrens' depths.
---
@Blend: Sorry, I boxed out the front door's actual location, as it was two squares north of your position. Let me know if this changes any of your preparations and we can retcon it.
At the Temple, Blend checks the door and finds nothing amiss save the lock. He uses the key and opens the door and immediately finds a massive troll seated at the desk in the room beyond! It stands as the door swings open and roars a frothy roar at the assembled Pathfinders.
The troll should be flatfooted. If for any reason it isn't the first shot should still get sneak unless it saw through his stealth. Attacking ends the blend spell.
With a 20, Chip definitely knows that trolls' regeneration is stopped by acid or fire.
Blend fires two shots, one that thunks right into the beast's belly, and the other that sails past its ear. Chip moves in and delivers a brutal slash across its lower intestines and Silgil fires off a spell and the troll is covered in fine golden dust that gets in its eyes, blinding it. Prisim shoots a jet of acid at it, and it lands right across the gash that Chip opened, stopping the wound from knitting.
The troll swings down at Chip with its large claws and brings its maw down as well for a bite, but only one of the claws gets through the gnome's defense.
Male Halfling 5th level Bard | HP 37/37 | AC 21 | T 14 | FF 18 | CMD 15 | Fort +5 | Ref +9 | Will +6 | Init +5 | Perc +10 | Bardic Per 15/15 | Spells: 1st - 5/5, 2nd - 3/3
Garrett quickly conjures a box of roaring, illusionary fire all around the troll! "Hopefully that will delay him for a moment to allow everyone a chance to move into position." He whispers to his companions.
Casting Minor Image on the troll with the above description. If the troll interacts with the spell he receives a Will save DC 16 to disbelieve.
Male Halfling 5th level Bard | HP 37/37 | AC 21 | T 14 | FF 18 | CMD 15 | Fort +5 | Ref +9 | Will +6 | Init +5 | Perc +10 | Bardic Per 15/15 | Spells: 1st - 5/5, 2nd - 3/3
Silgil did you add in your Hardy bonus and additional bonus for knowing it is an illusion? That should be enough for you to make your save. Also, I'm pretty sure that you guys would know its an illusion and not require you to make a saving throw vs the spell. PRD says this "A character faced with proof that an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw."
Yes, I did add hardy, but no, I did not assume Silgil would know it was an illusion. That being said I have no problem sitting back for a while. At some point it will become more obvious to him as the other PCs wade into the wall without apparent harm, but his contribution to the fight will probably be minimal after the glitterdust anyway.
Halfling Warrior 4 | HP 30/30 | AC 16 T 12 FF 15 | CMD 16 (18 vs bull rush) | Fort +7 Ref +4 Will +9 (+4 against fear) | Init +1 | Perc +6 | smite (+2 hit/ac, +1 dmg): 1/1
"Oy! I can't leave you all to be fighting that thing on your own!" Lod shouts as he takes out his axe and moves into the tight room to help out Chip and Zipper.
If there's ambiguity I usually try to rule in the most favorable way to the party. But here I don't think there's a problem with assuming everyone in the party save the animal companions will know it's an illusion. After all, Garrett performed the same trick in The Shadow Gambit, so your characters would know it's not real.
Lod runs to the aid of his comrades, and delivers a chop across its back. Chip manages to get a good cut in on the troll with his short sword, slashing its massive forearm. Garrett maintains his spell, Silgil watches the burning illusion, and Prisim tries another jet of acid but just barely misses the mark. Sorry, blinded troll has a touch ac of 7.
Male Halfling 5th level Bard | HP 37/37 | AC 21 | T 14 | FF 18 | CMD 15 | Fort +5 | Ref +9 | Will +6 | Init +5 | Perc +10 | Bardic Per 15/15 | Spells: 1st - 5/5, 2nd - 3/3
Thanks for the ruling, GM. I would have been okay either way and I'll do some research into this in an attempt to get a better understanding on the Illusion spell rules. I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the rules, but I may not understand them as well as I thought. Also, that was my thought as well, GM, that since Garrett has does such things before that the party would have an idea it was an illusion.
