Skødir will go over to the north door and wait for Rose to position herself nearby, at which point he slightly cocks his head sideways towards the door.
Ah, holding something...the second easiest way to handicap yourself. Someone wanna open this door? =P
The north door swings open. Beyond, desks sit empty, a few scraps of meaningless paper littering the drawers. A weapon rack in the southeastern corner of the room, which likely used to house a significant cache of weapons lies empty. Only the tattered remains of an old cot and manacles remain in the room.
Before Rose opens the next door, Untir calls on his ancestral spirits for sight of the arcane as well. cast detect magic
If he finds nothing, he follows Rose and examines the door for traps or anything untoward before allowing her to open it.
perception, heightened awareness:1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 13 + 2 = 16
Moving to keep up with the others, Lenora takes a moment to cast detect evil, wanting to be on her guard for any... less than savory sorts. There was no telling what might give them an advantage, after all.
Once that's sorted, she'll double check her crossbow to make sure it's loaded and settle her feet shoulder-width apart as Rose checks the door, ready to fire if necessary.
Rose moves up to the door and hears nothing but the quiet of the world around her. Untir too looks to see if the door is trapped, seeing nothing. Even Lenora's detection from evil sees nothing.
The door creaks open with the snapping sound of breaking ice. Inside there appears to be an intact apartment with the frozen corpse of a dwarf slumped against the wall in a perfectly preserved block of ice. He wears a hexagonal hematite beard clasp with a single dwarven rune inscribed on the face. Lenora does sense some aura of evil from within the room.
"Ware, there is evil lurking here," Lenora warns the others, a frown on her face as she attempts to concentrate on the aura of evil she senses - how many are there? What is this new foe's strength? She doesn't bother with the rune until she is convinced she's learned all she can of this evil aura.
Lenora focuses harder. She begins to sense only one faint aura in the room. Focusing a moment longer, it appears to be coming from within the block of ice.
Lying on the table is a dwarven waraxe. You also see that the dwarf seems to have a rucksack of some sort.
Lenora, this being likely her first adventure, let alone encounter with a dead dwarf in a block of ice in the middle of Irrisen (a country filled with evil ice witches) and a strange melon-balled room, has little knowledge of what may or may not be going on.
"Hmm, a dead dwarf that is radiating evil... There seems to be one possibility." Untir again starts casting a spell, this time calling his ancestral spirits to open his eyes to those creatures that defile the living by clinging on via undeath.
Use spirit magic to cast detect undead. This is the first time Untir has used this! So excited if it is indeed an undead.
"Be careful! That's an undead!" Untir calls out as he retreats a few steps away. He almost suggests leaving the place, but he suspects that the frozen dwarven undead has something to do with their mission here to find the Sky Key. He turns to the rest of the team, uncertain how best to proceed.
AC 19, T 14, FF 16 hp 20/20 Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +1; +2 vs. fear F Hafling Panache Pool 1/3 Swashbuckler (mouser) 2, Init +5; Senses Perception +6
Undead? I wonder if he has anything to do with the reason where here? I"ve never faced undead before. What do I do? Anything special beside stabbing it?" She readies her rapier.
After laying divine protection on whoever requests for it (I'm assuming Skodir and Rose), Untir readies his wand of bless and follows behind Skodir and Rose in entering the room.
Waiting for Skodir and Rose to take the lead in approaching the undead. :)
Grimacing, Lenora follows the Ulfen, preparing her crossbow, settling a bolt in and ready to shoot the dwarf if it shows signs of, um. Unlife. "Welp, I guess I'm about as ready as I'm gonna get...?"
Did a little map adjusting based on stated actions in the order they came and available movement speeds out of combat.
Untir taps Skødir , followed by Rose with his wand.
Skødir at 9 rounds, Rose at 10
Just as he finishes his second tap, and begins putting the wand into his pocket, the huge tree begins to lumber into the room.
Skødir at 8 rounds, Rose at 9
Skødir, seeing his opening, follows the tree, which also prompts Rose to make a bee-line for the desk. Unfortunately her stubby legs prevent a lot of movement. Untir recovers his wand and Lenora follows, drawing her crossbow as she goes.
As Skødir approaches, the creature seems to shudder, and shards of ice fly through the room as it breaks free, lunging at the Ulfen.
The 2 damage is from this post. She took 9 from an AoO, but was healed 7 from a channel. I didn't see any healing since then (or may not have accounted for it?) so I think she's at 10/12. c:
Grimly, Lenora calls upon Sarenrae and let's a bolt fly. "Let's do this," she half-mutters to herself, reloading as she eyes the creature warily. If they're doing it, they're going to do it well, gosh darn it.
Untir immediately activates the wand of bless in his hand, laying divine assistance on everyone in the party. He then drops the wand and draws his wand of healing.
bless: +1 attack, +1 save vs fear
Skodir, don't forget to update your AC for barkskin. +2 natural armor. Also resist cold 10. Doh, we forgot to heal up.
First Lenora's bolt lands true, followed by a solid clubbing with the torch. The creature falls to the ground without even acting.
Examining his pack, the group finds a personal diary, written almost entirely in Dwarven.
Only one passage in common stands out, "The cold winds howled fiercely last night. I fear that the cataclysm may truly be as great as the strange sorcerer Hao Gin warned. She has been knocking at our doors every morning, and today, I made the decision for the clan—better to take the risk of letting her whisk us all away into her mysterious realm than the certainty of freezing to death. Unfortunately, Bardak didn’t agree. My son is far too stubborn for his own good. He ran off, and I couldn’t find him anywhere. Now it’s too late; Hao Gin spirited away the rest of the clan, and I’m stuck out here in the last few rooms that she left behind. Even worse, a giant block of ice froze over the only way out of here. I could swear I heard cackling laughter from the other side of the ice, before it grew thick enough to seal off all sound from the outside world. I can only pray to Torag that Bardak changed his stubborn mind and accompanied his kin."
The remaining tunnels hold frozen rooms, and little else.
"There's no sky key here. Maybe it's in that Hao Gin realm?" Skødir shrugs before continuing, "let's take this stupid book back to the Venture-Captain and be done with this place."
perception:1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 13 + 2 = 25
Untir takes one last scan of the area with his arcane sight (detect magic) to satisfy himeself that there is nothing of interest, he replies to Skodir, "I believe you are right. Whoever this Hao Jin is, she must have taken the sky key inadvertently when she took the rest of the clan." He turns to look at the corpse of dwarf. "The poor man. I guess he never found his son. Sigh." Looking to the rest of the party, he adds. "Yes, let's go."
"That's... Pretty dark," Lenora winces at the diary. If nothing else, at least we've confirmed we're in the right place. Dwarves, after all, had been a clue.
AC 19, T 14, FF 16 hp 20/20 Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +1; +2 vs. fear F Hafling Panache Pool 1/3 Swashbuckler (mouser) 2, Init +5; Senses Perception +6
"What a sad story. Poor man left here to freeze without the rest of his clan." Rose puts her rapier away, and waits for the rest of the group to be ready to go. "Too bad we couldn't find a piece, but at least we have some information."
Satisfied their mission is complete, the party collects Uliyara and begins to leave. As they pass the corner into the main exit corridor, they are met with a booming female voice, "Outsiders ransacking our lands, not a surprise at all. Why are you here, and what are you doing? Answer, or prepare to defend yourselves."
Beyond, a striking and tall female dressed in similar garb as Uliyara stands dominating the entrance. She is flanked by a guard wearing Irisani dress, a small ice bear, and a small elemental that appear to be made of ice. They stand, weapons drawn and ready, but not taking action.
Map not set up yet with baddies, assume outside the entrance of the cave.
Untir steps forward, without any weapons drawn and keeping his shield lowered. "We mean no disrespect, madam. We are explorers, seeking to uncover the history of this place. We are no robbers. Look, all we have discovered and taken is this journal in the body of a frozen dwarf from hundreds of years ago. If this belongs to your people, we will return it, but only beg for your permission to make a copy of its contents first."
Going to take 10. Think a 19 should be enough? Been recently reminded at another pbp that we keep forgetting to use that. :P diplomacy, take 10:10 + 9 = 19
She's not, ah, particularly confident about the situation, considering the number of times she's managed to stick her foot in her mouth (or, well, the number of times she felt she'd done as much).
"Truly, we mean no harm," Lenora adds, looking at the woman and her companions earnestly. "Might we ask whom we have the honor of speaking with? I am Lenora Glass, a servant of the Dawnflower." Diplomacy:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
Untir begins to address the woman, stepping forward honestly describing the situation with Lenora's help. The woman scowls, the frown growing at the mention of Sarenrae, "Likely story, and likely all lies. Guard, Shatter, I want you to shackle them all - if they resist, kill them. We will let the queen sort all of this out."
The guard begins to step forward, manacles in hand when Uliyara moves through the party to stand beside Untir. "Please cousin, none of this is necessary; they speak the truth. I have spent a week with these people and they, even the Ulfen in his way, are honorable. They defended me from a group of Ulfen raiders, and prevented my return to the village of Whiterook. I would have surely been killed there had they known who I was. They entered Dalun peacefully, negotiated passage here with my mother, and have set up trade routes to make our city stronger. And finally, they protected me from Baroness Urgalaena's winter wolf sent to kidnap me. They represent everything mother is looking for in allies, and I think we should give the Pathfinder Society a chance. One old journal and knowledge is all they desired in payment."
The guard stops and looks over his shoulder. Kiryena's features soften. "Stand down. Baroness Nadya wanted to make sure." She turns to the Pathfinders, "Your motives were not entirely clear. You are lucky that you befriended Uliyara and she was here to vouch for you."
The party returns to Kalsgard via Dalun leaving Uliyara behind at her home. She thanks you profusely for helping her find her calling as the next leader of the small village and promises you that you have a "Warm friend in a Cold Land".
Arriving aboard the Grinning Pixie Venture-Captain Benarry appears disappointed though when you inform her you did not recover a piece of the Sky Key as expected. When handed the journal though her eyes perk up and her face breaks int a wide smirk. She laughs heartily, "To think, Naldak's piece of the Sky Key has been in the Hao Jin tapestry all along! Well, easy enough. I’ll just have to have a chat with the Master of Spells about sending a group of agents in to pick it up. The tapestry is vast, and we never would have known where to look it weren’t for you. To top that off, studying the section of Naldak’s Point that Hao Jin’s magic narrowly missed ripping out of Golarion could teach us more about the tapestry itself. Well done, Pathfinders!"
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