EM - [PFS] 4.15 The Cyphermage Dilemma (Inactive)

Game Master Evil Minion

Should Masym realize what is being proposed here, he would quietly shake his head in response.

I think that is too risky a move, while it MIGHT work...IF Alejia makes the save she would realize a spell was cast at her and may respond appropriately :(

If she kills her hostage, she knows she's dead where she stands. We can't let her get away, she'll takeother ships hostage and kill the crew.

Edit: Jones puts his bow away.

Keep in mind our primary mission is to keep her hostage alive by any means necessary. If it means letting Alejia go then so be it...especially since we know what ship she is on, we can send for help to take her down once we have secured him safely.

Guys, you don't get a free 'go' at her. If you want to try to stop her, say so, at which point, its all about initiative as to who goes first.
Though Jones has the right of it, in that it will be all about stopping her from doing what she is threatening to do in the single round it will take her. =)

And no, charm is not a good idea. That just makes her like Phoebee... she will still be hostile to the rest of you, and really act no differently, all tolled.

Oh, and by the by: Welcome to the 'Dilemma' mentioned in the scenario title =)

Nella thinks back on their mission briefing, recalling that they were tasked with keeping Hirako Gurukaza - clearly Alejia's current hostage - safe from harm if at all possible.

We can't let him be killed...I know Tammerhawk and maybe even Sheila would like to know about Alejia's plans but surely not at the cost of Hirako's life.

"Let her go," Nella whispers to her companions. "Her hostage is who we're here for, not her."

Even if she gets away, we've taken away one of her places to hide - she won't dare come back to Viper Cove anytime soon.
______

Nella is obviously going to advocate the 'reserved' approach but if we should fall back into initiative, then so be it.

"But Nella," Malusha whispers back, "How do we know she won't kill the hostage just to spite us once she no longer needs him? The leverage works both ways."

Ok, for now, letting her move! But then Jones' action will kick in =) To init it goes!

With angry shouted commands, Alejia starts to herd you in front of her down the hallway, back out into the docking area. Her two crewman keep themselves between you and her, weapons ready, though one of them is having some problems with the arrow sticking out of his chest.

All of them stop with surprised exclamations when they see the Lionfish.

"Well now." Alejia mutters, for the first time sounding almost impressed. "It would seem there was more to our being short men then just general tardiness."

She pushes her prisoner forward, as they continue to move towards the Topaz Titan

"I do hope you put a knife in that damned frog." She adds, with a frown. "Will save me the trouble of hunting him down myself, for his betrayal."

Things are tense on both sides, until suddenly Jones decides it for everyone... as he lunges towards Alejia and her prisoner as they try to move past at a narrow point.

"Treachery!"

Suddenly chaos breaks out once more as nerves, already wound tight, suddenly snap!

The two pirates move to protect their captain, and Alejia's tightens her grip on both her cutlass and the prisoner...

The die is cast!

- Round 1 -------
Nella, Masym <--------- We are here
pink (-15)
Jones, Phoebee
yellow (-11), Alejia
Wei Tchak, Malusha

Well, that could have ended up much worse! Good Luck!
Jones, you can keep your roll if you want, but you'll have to wait 'til your turn, assuming its still valid then.

Go team go!

I dunno, between Nella's command, Jones and Masym with disarm, and Phoebee using grease... I think they have a shot at making her lose that sword =)
Though I might get a few AoO's during the attempt!

You IDIOTS...! Masym thinks as hostilities resume. She was going to let him go! I am sure of that!

Maysm knows he has to act quickly to save Hirako's life, lunging in quickly to knock the cutlass out of her hand with his own blade.

Round 1:
Immediate action: Study Target on Alejia.
Move: move to position on map.
Standard: attempt to Disarm Alejia. Disarm: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 1 = 21
.
STATUS: Study Target => Alejia.

Studying is a move action! Though you could have done that at any point during their exodus, so that's fine =)
Same will be true for Jones' martial flexibility

Oh dear...let's see...Nella's actions are rather contingent on the results of Masym's disarm attempt so here are two possible actions. Y'all are making me have to gamble here!
_______

"No! What are you doing!?" Nella cries as Jones suddenly lunges at Alejia with Masym following suit. With little time to react, she steps around Jones and...

As everyone reacts, Masym and Nella beat everyone to the punch!

Masym rushes in, trying to knock aside the woman's blade before she can use it on her prisoner... unfortunately, he has a hard time getting at it without hitting the prisoner, as she pushes him in front of her to block his attempt.

Nella goes for a similar tactic through magic, calling on her goddess, and shouting a single word. Alejia, snarls and shakes her head slightly as Nella's enchantment tries to take hold of her mind... but does not drop the weapon, resisting the spell!

The guard with the arrow in his chest tries to drive Masym back, hacking at him with his cutlass, but his wounds are bad, and he doesn't put much force into it.

At which point Jones finally finishes pushing past her crewmen, coming in on Alejia from the side. He grabs her elbow, squeezing tightly, as he pulls her arm back and away. Her grip suddenly numb, Alejia gives a cry of anger and pain, as her cutlass drops from her suddenly dead fingers, clattering to the hard stone.

Heh, Masym missed by 1. Jones hits it exactly =)
Alejia is disarmed! (for now!)

- Round 1 -------
Nella, Masym
pink (-15)
Jones, Phoebee <--------- We are here
yellow (-11), Alejia
Wei Tchak, Malusha

Phoebee's up!

I was unarmed when I disarmed her, so I believe her weapon is now in my hand. Or is that an old 3.5 rule?

Edit: Without a weapon, not unarmed.

Think that's a 3.5 rule that didn't make it through.
Did you take the -4 penalty for disarming unarmed? =)

I'm a brawler, so I'm not unarmed. From CRB: "If you successfully disarm your opponent without using a weapon, you may automatically pick up the item dropped."

ah, there it is! Not sure how I didn't spot that.
But for now, I'll say you don't get the best of both worlds. Either you're armed or not. If armed, you can't take the weapon, but don't the penalty. If not armed, you take the weapon, but with the penalty!
Mostly cause I don't want to retcon my description! =)

Keeping up her inspiration the bard begins to play a little tune on her mandolin at the captain, the sounds of people laughing in the background seem to emerge from the playing of the music

With a giggle she says I wonder if you mean orphan frequently or orphan, a person who has lost their parents?

Casdting hideous laughter at the captain.

As she loses her weapon, Alejia cry of dismay suddenly turns to a completely inappropriate giggle of mirth, as Phoebee says an arcane joke that makes no sense to anyone at all, yet still seems to hit just the right note with the pirate-lady. Before she can help herself, she's stumbled back, rolling on the ground laughing hysterically. Her captive, a blade no longer at his throat, falls back with her, stumbling against the cliff wall, unable to stop himself due to the stocks.

Alejia's crewmates look back at her in dismay and confusion.

"Cap'n, what are you doing?! Snap out of it!" One of them cries, as he steps over to flank with his other crewman. He jabs his cutlass deep into Masym's back. (17 damage to Masym)

Whatever words he said, however, seems to snap Alejia back to reality. Unfortunately, that reality is a joke that wasn't that funny, no weapon, and laying vulnerable on the ground!

- Round 1 -------
Wei Tchak, Malusha <--------- We are here

- Round 2 -------
Nella, Masym (-17)
pink (-15)
Jones, Phoebee
yellow (-11), Alejia (prone)

Bold can go!

Hey, that joke is funny in Pirates of Penzance

Malusha watches the intense sequence of events unfold around Alejia and the hostage. When she falls to the ground he jumps in excitement and pumps an arm in the air. "Yeah!" he shouts. Seeing that the pirate henchmen are still a threat he focuses momentarily. He steps a few feet closer and then casts a spell. The metal blades held by the two pirates begin to get warm.

Cast Heat Metal. Round 1 -- Warm

Masym grunts in pain as the blood washes over his back. Gritting his teeth against the pain he spets back and proceeds to return the favor.

Round 2:
5' step.
Immediate action: Study Yellow Pirate.
Attack Yellow Pirate. longsword, Flank, Study: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 2 + 1 = 28
slashing damage study, SA: 1d8 + 2 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (8) + 2 + 1 + (4) = 15
.
STATUS: Study Target => Yellow Pirate.

Tchak takes a flank attack on the yellow pirate, spending a point from the blade's arcane pool to enchant the damage bonus on his blade....

to hit: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 8 + 2 = 18
dmg if hits: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 1 = 9

Then he steps closer to Alejia... IF yellow goes down, he moves one more step to be adjacent to Alejia

The yellow one went down after Masym's attack...
Which means your attack can be vs either of the other two (sans flanking)... your choice!

Alejia then... no +2 so only a 16 to hit, but -4 to her ac for being prone...

With Alejia temporarily helpless on the ground and one of her goons down for the count, Nella dashes forward and attempts to pull the shackled Hirako away from the melee and to something resembling safety.

"Hold on, I've got you!"

Reposition? (If Needed): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
_______

Nella moves to her current position; she'll snake around to avoid Pink but she might take an AoO from Alejia if she wants to try grabbing for her ankle or something as she tries to run by.

I hope she stays down, lol

Can't make an AoO unarmed, so you're good!

Malusha calls on Sarenrae to focus the heat of the sun on the two crewmen's weapons, and both cutlass' begin to heat up, though their wielders don't immediately notice in the heat (heh!) of battle! In fact, one of them never will, as Masym steps in to flank with Wei Tchak, and returns the favor of the stab in the back he received only moments before. The sailor goes down with a cry and does not get back up. His path now clear, Wei Tchak then moves up to Alejia where she lay on the ground, and slashes her once with his katana. She curses his name and heritage.

Nella stays on mission, and immediately hurries around to where the prisoner is, still shackled in the stocks, and pulls him away from immediate danger.

Alejia's last remaining man, still sorely wounded from Jones' arrow earlier, gains a certain desperation as he takes a wild swing at Masym, that the Pathfinder only barely deflects.

- Round 2.2 -------
Nella, Masym (-17)
pink (-15)
Jones, Phoebee <--------- We are here
Alejia (-9, prone)
Wei Tchak, Malusha

Bold can go!

Jones picks up the cutlass and looks at Alejia, "You've lost. Its your choice wether you leave dead or alive."

Jones will ready an action to hit Alejia with her own weapon if she does anything but surrender.

Readied Attack with Cutlass: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26 +4 if she's still prone.
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Confirm Crit: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Crit Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

I forgot to add in Phoebee's inspire damage... so that should be 11 points instead of 9... sorry

Keeping up her inspiration the bard will play her slippy shoes song to make the grease come under the baddies.

My favorite shoes so good to me
I wear them everyday
Down at the heel, holes in the toe
Don't care what people say
My feet's best friend, pals to the end
With them I'm one hot chicky
Though late one night
Not much light
I stepped in something slippy

Slippy shoes, slippy shoes
Always makes me smile
Slippy shoes, slippy shoes
Next time I'll avoid the piiiilllle

Tchak, its only +1 =)

Phoebee starts to add her slippery shoes song to the one she's already singing... like some sort of odd musical mashup... the greasy substance covers the back cliff wall and the stone beneath both the prone Alejia, and the crewman standing beside her. He is not standing for long though, as he quickly joins his captain on the ground!

Jones grabs Alejia's weapon off of the ground, and stands ready to use it, if she does not listen to his ultimatum.

The crewman, seems more then willing to be reasonable, knowing he's in a tough spot... but Alejia, she is not so willing to concede, instead getting to her feet with nothing but defiant rage on her face!

"I would sooner die, then yield to Tammerhawk's lapdogs!" She cries, as she starts scrambling to her feet on the slippery surface. Jones is true to his word, and cuts two vicious gashes along her side as she stands. Wei Tchak too manages to slash her once while she's vulnerable...

But to her feet she gets, teeth bared in anger, especially at Jones using her own weapon against her. In response, she carefully steps back and away, waving her hands in an intricate arcane pattern. Suddenly a sheet of multi-colored light shoots out from hands, assaulting the vision of Nella, Wei Tchak, and Jones!

Need a DC 13 Will save from Wei Tchak, and Jones (already rolled Nella's)!

- Round 2.2 -------
Wei Tchak, Malusha <--------- We are here

- Round 2.3 -------
Nella, Masym (-17)
pink (-15)
Jones, Phoebee
Alejia (-38)

Active buffs: Inspire Courage (+1 to hit/damage)

Bold can go!

Will save pending from Jones and Tchak!

will save dc 13: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
will save dc 13 folio reroll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Tchak casts his shocking grasp, steps forward and slashes at Alejia.

to hit: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 1 = 22 +2 more if in metal armor
dmg if hits: 1d8 + 4 + 4d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 4 + (6, 1, 2, 3) + 1 + 1 = 26

Question before I roll my save: Since she's standing in grease isn't it a move action to move at all (even 5') since you're required to move at half speed through Grease? This would mean she wouldn't have enough actions to cast.

All terrain stuff, is moving into squares, not out of them.
Though this particular scenario has been debated ad nausium, with folks on both sides. I decided to go with the dramatic last stand option =)

In fact...Wei Tchak reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

The tengu goes down!

Wei Tchak casts a spell of his own, stepping into the grease... but he is unable to keep his footing, and suddenly is upended, falling to the ground in a gentle spinning motion.

Her teeth red and gritted in defiance, Alejia spits out blood and smiles at his misfortune.

"And someone make her stop that g+% d&#ned music..." Whatever else she was about to say is suddenly cut off, as Wei Tchak, from the ground, slashes out at her legs. Suddenly thousands of volts of electricity are coursing through her body! She convulses for a moment, before her smoking corpse collapses to the ground beside the tengu.

Still laying on the ground, the other pirate's eyes go wide. He immediately drops his weapon.

"I's done." He says hastily.

Combat Over

For some reason, I always did difficult terrain backwards. I just read I've been doing it wrong. I just pictured that stepping from normal ground was easier than stepping from difficult ground.

Will: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

Aw, too bad. Without Tchak's reroll it would have been a whole different fight with both of you stunned for 3 rounds! =)
Was her Hail Mary... almost worked!

but now 'tis done!

With Alejia defeated, and the last injured crewman throwing down his weapon to surrender, you are able to remove the shackles and stocks from the tian prisoner.

As you suspected, it is indeed the man you were sent here to ensure the safety of: Hirako Gurukaza.

"By my ancestors, thank you!" He exclaims, finally free. "That horrible woman!"

Tchak: You will find a single scroll of blur on her, which you can scribe.
She also has a spellbook with all spells you can cast (as she too was a Magus!)

Let me know which ones you are going to scribe, if any, and I'll mark them on your chronicle at the end.

We are sooo bad, sooo good she says with a smile. [B] See slippy shoes work every time! [/ooc]

Actually she got a gravewight with them too!

Tchak stands up with a little shrug of chagrin at his clumsiness in the grease.

reflex to stand up without slipping: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15 ... If that succeeds, he'll step very carefully out of the grease with a little glare at PHoebee, but with a chuckle as well, to show the glare is meant in jest. If that fails, he'll curse softly in Tien and then say in common, "Enough grease please Phoebee, make it go away?"

Eventually, you are able to get everyone loaded back aboard the Lionfish under the watchful impassive eye of Smulwarts.

You don't have enough people, or skill, to take both ships back, so leave the Topaz Titan behind, out of necessity. Hirako doesn't seem to care, just wanting to be away from the island.

The trip back to Riddleport goes pretty smoothly as you get more comfortable in your jobs aboard the ship, such that by the time you sail back into port, at least in your minds, you're all seasoned sailors. Though the dwarf might disagree... if she ever expressed an opinion about anything openly.

With Alejia's assaults on the Order of the Cypher's ships finally put to a stop, business in Riddleport returns to normal rather quickly for Tammerhawk and his academic associates. Hirako and Iatha are quick to spread your names, and word of what you did, to the rest of the Order, promising any aid they can offer in the future in recompense. Tammerhawk too promises the help grease the wheels of the city, should you ever be in need of more sensitive information while in town.

You spend a few more days in Riddleport, before a vessel becomes available to return you to Magnimar. During that time, you realize you've become quite the topic of local conversation. Your defeat of Alejia and her crew appearing to have spread. For now at least, you've earned a small amount of respect among the criminal element of the city.

And so, a few days later, you set sail once more, bound for Magnimar to report back to Sheila on your success. Pirates in your past, the unknown in your future!

"You know, I'm glad we were able to put a stop to Alejia and all but I still wish we could have taken her alive," Nella muses one evening at dinner during the return journey to Magnimar. "We never did figure out why she was attacking the ships and all, did we?"

She sighs, picking at her food. "I guess it's not that important in the grand scheme of things of course, but you know how curious I am...ah well..."

Then she looks up, smiling. "Another successful mission, though! Maybe they'll pair us up again sometime..." she says with a glance at Malusha.
__________

To Be Continued...?

Some of what Alejia was up to will come up during the debriefing back in Magnimar.

Sheila Heidmarch is pleased with your success, and over the next few weeks, you will learn that Alejia's attacks were all targeted at ships specifically belonging to, or associated with, Elias Tammerhawk and the Order of the Cyphers. The latest in many such attacks against the organization by the vudrani woman.

Her theorized goal was a long game to undermine his power-base, with the hopes of eventually moving into his position as one of the crime lords of Riddleport.

But... given she was directly opposing the current overlord, Gaston Cromarcky, by doing so... has Sheila scratching her head slightly. She assumes there was a bigger game afoot... and given the players were all seasoned criminals, it is likely no one outside of those organizations would ever have the full picture... even Tammerhawk is apparently being cagey with his answers now that it is 'resolved'.

"Well, I'm not sure taking her alive would have stopped her for long... She was pretty adamant about not backing down in our fight, so it's unlikely she would have backed down from her long term goal either. I'm not glad she's dead, but I'm glad we put a stop to her intentions." He looks from Nella to Malusha with a twinkle in his avian eye, then glances at Phoebee and Masym as well. "Something tells me pairing up is in your futures. I hope we all meet up again, perhaps for just a reunion, perhaps on Society business... who can tell?"

Malusha nods at Tchak's comments. "Yes, I agree. I don't see that she would have let us bring her back alive." Then he catches Nella's eye at the mention of another mission together and a smile splits his face. "Of course! I hope we do have a chance to do another mission. You know, you still have an invitation to visit me in Osirian."

"I wonder who will take possession of the Topaz Titan... that would have been a nice prize if we could have claimed her ourselves."

Masym smiles easily as he idly strokes Phoebee's hair. "I am sure you would want to spend your hours repairing the rigging or swabbing the deck, or even cleaning out the bilges right?" He asks jokingly, "Not everyone can be Captain, ya know! Let Smulwarts find a captain and crew for her...I suspect she will be advancing far in the ranks of the criminal lords there he he."

As the slayer plays with her hair the bard, barely able to keep back her tears, grabs her mandolin. I told you I was working on a song her voice full of emotion as she raises her voice

They say we're young and we don't know
We won't find out until we grow
Well I don't know if all that's true
'Cause you got me, and baby I got you

I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe

Perform 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (11) + 20 = 31

Not a bad roll for a perform check. Extraordinary performance according to the rules :)

I'm tempted to have Malusha respond to this song but I know we should be wrapping up this scenario so I think I'll leave it.

No one wants to hear his poetry, lol but hopefully it is better than his aim with a crossbow. :)