GM Aarvid PFS PbP : The Devil We Know Series (Inactive)

Game Master GM Aarvid

Holman, seeing the half-orcs, rushes past them and yells, "Hey! I found the crew, but I don't think they're happy to see us!"

Moving as indicated on the map.

Looking over the book -

Well they are leaving soon but that does not explain where everyone is now.....

Surprised Kath hears the crys of the halfling.

Well that might explain it

The logbook does not help at all. I wonder if...
What's that noise?

Holman rushes past the two halforcs yelling.

One of the half-orcs partial charges Holman, trying to strike him down.

fist of fury, charge: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 2 = 24 for 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 fort vs stun DC 11

The half-orc lands a fist into the temple of the halfing.

The other moves up on the Halfling, avoiding the barrels in the lower hold. Holman is in near darkness at this point.

===Round 1===

25-Kath
20-Morvius
18-Jacen
17-August
15-Nguyen An
10-Holman (stunned?, dark)
8-Half Orcs

Party up...only August can see opponents and the Halfling at this point.

August will attack the one that struck the halfling!

Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Crit?: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Holman's ears ring from the blow to his head. He drops his dagger and grabs his head in both hands.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

...well, that could have gone better...

Since Jacen cannot see what is occurring he will hold actions.

Kath is coming with a light source and has higher init, shouldn't need to hold

Scimitar in hand Kath moves quickly, his light ahead of him and leading the way.

Double Move

Since his scimitar was his light source it was being held torch like - let me know if you disagree GM

Kath rushes down the stairs, past August, holding his glowing blade before him.

The magus sees a pair of half-orcs standing to either side of Holman. Further in, he sees about a dozen other figures shackled and lying in the far end of the hold.

An moves down the stairs looking for his friend.
"August! What is happening? Where are you?"

Moved down into the hold after Kath

Morvius moves downstairs following the sounds of combat.
Double move

Holman is bein' attacked by some ugly half-orcs! And there's more people down here! Come help me teach these fellas a lesson!

moving

Morvius and Jacen follow the Magus down the stairs past the dwarf. Finally, August barrels down the stairs after the Halfling and lands a blow on the closest of the two half-orcs. The dwarf's weapon connects solidly with a crunch of skull. The thug drops to the floor motionless.

Nguyen An hears his friend call out and rushes down the stairs.

Holman, stands still, eyes glassy, and he starts to recover his senses (stun ends at end of turn).

The remaining half-orc looks at August and unleashes a flurry of fists.

"You mash my brodder, now you pay dorf!"

fist, stun: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 for dmg: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 DC11 fort
fist: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14 for dmg: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

But both fists miss August as his armor deflects the blows easily.

===Round 2===

25-Kath
20-Morvius
18-Jacen
17-August
15-Nguyen An
10-Holman
8-Half Orc

Party up...

Now I'll mash you, orc.

Attack: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 8 + 2 = 18
Damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Imbueing his weapon with a fraction of his power Kath will circle around the room a bit, looking to gain an advantage on the lumbering half-orc. Gripping his scimitar with two hands he brings it down against his enemy.

Swift Action: Arcane Strike
Move Action: Circle around the orc (exactly 30' of movement)

Standard Action Attack + Flanking: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 3 + 2 = 25
Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Confirming Critical: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 2 = 24
Extra Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Before anyone can move, Kath circles around the remaining half-orc and in one swift stroke, slashes the creature across the neck. It lets out a gurgle and falls to the ground.

Morvius comes near the shackled men.
Its alright, we are pathfinders and we have come to help. Who are you people?

The shackled men respond to Morvius questions..

"Oh thank you kind sirs. We thought we would be killed or sold into slavery. We never expected anyone would rescue us. How did you know we were here? Oh, can you please unlock us. Although they did not hurt us, those orcs were not kind. We are cramped from being down here for days."

They all smile and rub their wrists and ankles.

Holman retrieves his dagger from the ground, wincing at the wave of pain from his temple. He proceeds to sit on the floor and looks weakly around. "I don't suppose I could get someone to help me out? That bastard almost knocked my head clean off."

Down 9 HP, if there's healing available :-)

While sitting dazed on the ground, grabbing for his dagger, Holman notices one of the half-orcs has a wayfinder tied to his belt with a ring of keys.

Wow go away for one evening and the combat is through before An can even lift his weapon!!

Holman peers over at the half-orc's body. "Hey - not that I would mind the practice, but it might be worthwhile to try those keys there," he says, pointing, "in those shackles."

Horray for crits

A wayfinder... Kath muses. Is one of these prisoners a pathfinder?

An will stoop down and pickup the keys and start to unshackle the crew.

Did any of you see a pathfinder taken prisioner? Morvius asks the captives before approuching Holman and casting a cure spell on him.
Here.
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

As Nguyen An unlocks the captives, they dozenmost of them prominent Cassomiran citizens. Among the slaves are Orfeo Bozbeyli, the arrogant young nephew of Cassomir’s governor, and Creighton Nish, a former Andoren Eagle Knight who now works in Cassomir as a relics dealer for interests back in Andoran.

"Thank you thank you! We have not seen any other Pathfinders in here. We could not understand since we do not speak orcish, but they kept saying Luscilia during their conversation. Could that be your friend? The one halforc was carrying that wayfinder since yesterday.".

As a reminder, you are looking for a male pathfinder named Cestis.

We need to figure out what happened to Mr Cestis. Having said that the oracle checks the half orcs for vital signs.
Taking 10 on heal checks. Are they alive? If so Morvius will cast Stabilize on them.

One of the halforcs is dead, while the other was bleeding out from the cut. Morvius uses divine healing to stop further blood loss. Holman is still in bad shape.

Holman got a decent sized heal, unless there was something else wrong with him?

No, that name does not mean anything to me. However that does not bode well for our missing fellow Pathfinder.

Any other doors/rooms to check on the base of the ship?

Sorry, I was writing when he was healed. Should be good.

There are a couple doors, one foreword, one aft.

So these guys aren't who we was lookin' for? How many guys do ya think they kept as prisoners? How's it that nobody seems ta know anybody's missin'? August starts to head for the foreward door and will open it.

August looks into the forward compartment. This is where cargo would ordinarily be stored for passage, but aside from several empty barrels
and a few broken crates, this room is empty of cargo.

As August is in the forward compartment, and speaking to Nguyen An, the rest of you hear a noise. A voice rather. From topside.

You hear a female voice on the top deck shouting,

“WHERE in Asmodeus’s chamber pot are my bloody slaves? ORCS! Front and center! NOW!”

Holman thanks Morvius for his assistance, then whispers, "Sounds like we should figure out what's going on out there..." He motions the others to keep their voices down, then heads up to the top level of the ship.

Stealth (Take 10): 10 + 12 = 22

looks like more orcs on the way. Give all of us a chance to practice our craft this time please.

Healing Holman if he still needs it
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

An joins August in looking in the room, when he hears the voices outside.
"Shsssh..I think I heard something!"

I guess it would be too much to hope that an entire ship would be crewed by two lowly orcs

Then upon seeing how quiet Holman moves

I wish I could move like a halfling.

He gives a small sigh the follows Holman, hoping that he doesn't do anything crazy like before.

Take 10 on stealth: 10 + 1 = 11

August looks as if he was about to say something but hears An's instruction and freezes in place, trying not to move. He whispers, What do we do? Is it more orcs? We can take them!

"I don't know...lets see what the others are doing."
An slowly moves out of the room and back into the main hold where the others are located.

August will simply go where An goes, not knowing what else to do.

As you move up the stairs to the middle deck, you can hear footsteps above you on the main deck.

You hear the woman scream "By the blood of Vol, where are you already? You know I do not like to wait. I need my orcs to report to the deck at once!"

As Holman reaches the foot of the stair to the topdeck you hear her scream, “I’m bringing a crew in tonight and we’re sailing this thing out of here tomorrow. You better not be down there beating my slaves to death!”

You amass below the deck. She does not seem to be aware of you yet. I am going into rounds for actions once you make yourselves known, but you will have a surprise round once you engage.

August whispers to the group, Who is that woman? Sounds like she is the one that took the people as slaves! We should get her now!

Luscilia I presume, things are about to become interesting. We can ambush her here or charge to the upper floor. Morvius whispers while sheathing his sword to hide the light.

Holman looks to the rest of the group, confirming that they're ready.

Jacen - don't worry about healing Holman any more, Morvius got him up to 9. That should be plenty.

An waits for the signal to rush up onto deck and signals August to get ready as well.

Kath nods and is ready to burst onto the deck.

Try and leave charge lanes for our frontline fighters

Well, I'm assuming a day is long enough to wait.

Holman rushes onto the deck and moves to engage the nearest opponent.
Move action: Not sure how movement is supposed to work between levels, but I'm hoping I can move as indicated on the map as single move action. If not, then perhaps a charge?
Standard action: Attack
Attack (Dagger): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Damage (Dagger, Sneak Attack vs. Flat-footed): 1d3 + 1d8 ⇒ (1) + (7) = 8

I have moved as well, looks like 40' for a double move. I don't think I can charge up the stairs, can I? I'll leave myself there in case a human might be able to use that lane as a charge.