HP 67/67; AC 24, T18, FF16; F+7, R+11, W+5; CMD 24; Perc+14; Init +7
Jeb relaxes a little as the others calm the gnome mob. "We was attacked by little fey types in the forest, who said they tore poor Hemzel limb from limb. We got them calmed down and then came to investigate and darn near got shanked by the fey inside the burning hut. We was too late for Hemzel, but we hoped we could stop the violence before it went any further."
The one who attacked us first, Gire, I think the name was, did not want to fight us. She told us she was sent by Cyflymder. We were told that the Cyflymder wants to destroy the Lorestone.
"You're saying the fae are doing this?" His face takes on a look of worry for a moment. "I know there have been issues with some rowdy spirits as of late..." He then looks to Baz. "Are you planning on hunting down this Cyflymder? While our numbers are many, there have been a number of scattered attacks going on around the woods, reasoning our patrols."
AC 16 / T12 / FF14 | HP 28/[28] | F+5 R+6 W+4 (+2 vs fear, +1 vs enchant) | Perc +10 (+2 urban areas) Init +2 (+2 urban areas) Half-Orc Ranger 3
Attacks by whom? Hunting Cyflymder is not our ultimate goal, but we understand that he-, sh-, um, Cyflymder may be headed to the Druidic Circle north of here to destroy the Lorestone. It is the Stone we are looking for.
AC17(21* Shield Spell)/Touch14/Flatfoot15/CMD 19 |Init +2| | HP 12/[30] | Fort:+7 ;Ref:+2 ;Wil+3|Percept +6/Sense Motive +5|Magus Pool 3/[3] Male Minkai Human Samurai (sword Saint)/1 (Order of the Dragon) / Bladebound Magus 2 Favoured Class
We'd be grateful for a peace between us while we track this murderer and I for one am seeking honourable representatives for this part of the world.
Note the secrecy part of your mission letter, unless this is going to be a "I don't really care about Qadira" statement.
@Baz/Harboth: "We have no idea about the alpha of this predicament. We know Hemzel himself sent us many requests to investigate this situation. We did as such, stood at the ready to help the forest, and upped our patrols, but..." He looks towards Hemzel's hut's direction. "... clearly it was not enough." He turns around and digs in a sack that has been tied to his wolverine and pulls out a stick. He rides over to Baz and hands it off. "This is all I can offer, sadly. I must apologize, with the trouble the last group of Pathfinders caused in our area, I assumed you were behind the attacks. I can only hope I was wrong, and this is not some clever ruse for your escape."
He backs off a little, to give some personal space. "If the lorestone is going to be destroyed, you'd best hurry north; While it would only take us a few hours to get there, I imagine only those at peace with nature can get there easily before sunrise."
After all the questions and interactions which can still happen until we decide to progress, he orders his men in Gnome to move south.
Baz accepts the wand gratefully and hands it to Kyo or Chelsea, (someone who has actual ranks in Spellcraft) before asking. What does it do.. the wand? Do you know of paths we can take to lessen our journey length?
AC17(21* Shield Spell)/Touch14/Flatfoot15/CMD 19 |Init +2| | HP 12/[30] | Fort:+7 ;Ref:+2 ;Wil+3|Percept +6/Sense Motive +5|Magus Pool 3/[3] Male Minkai Human Samurai (sword Saint)/1 (Order of the Dragon) / Bladebound Magus 2 Favoured Class
Kyoshiro allows one of the others to accept the stick but approaches the representative with a bow.
May we speak quietly one with another? I have something of a personal nature to discuss with you and is best said on a one on one level. I would have us withdraw a bit where you and I can talk quietly. I am happy to fully disarm before conversing with you if there is an issue of trust.
AC17(21* Shield Spell)/Touch14/Flatfoot15/CMD 19 |Init +2| | HP 12/[30] | Fort:+7 ;Ref:+2 ;Wil+3|Percept +6/Sense Motive +5|Magus Pool 3/[3] Male Minkai Human Samurai (sword Saint)/1 (Order of the Dragon) / Bladebound Magus 2 Favoured Class
GM
Spoiler:
I haven't mentioned any party other than myself so as far as anyone is concerned its a mysterious or personal matter but Qadaria or trade etc hasn't been mentioned - secrecy hasn't been breached
The stick is a Wand of Cure Light Wounds, 50 Charges.
---
@Baz: "No, the dangers you would encounter on any shortcuts are those that even Hemzel avoided. Likewise, the swamps there would slow you even further. The main path is likely the fastest for you kind."
The gnome shrugs uncaring at the armament mentioning. He even dismounts and follows, leaving behind his far more capable mount.
Kyo:
He accepts the letter and reads immediately. "Again, I apologize for the accusation. Know that by your city contract with this Satrapy, should you or your leaders be in these woods that you will have the aid of Boomroppel and his riders."
Its more of a "every measure against scrying," since this was made back when the Shadow War for Absalom was going on. As long as nobody jerks their way into your 12-second private meeting (which I don't see why they would), you're good.
Additionally, in case you were curious, the formatting to make spoilers with special heads is as follows, with brackets instead of parentheses;
(spoiler=text next to the clicky box)SECRET THINGS(/spoiler)
After half-a-minute, Kyo returns with the leader. The leader remounts his wolverine and rides off to the south.
AC 16 / T12 / FF14 | HP 28/[28] | F+5 R+6 W+4 (+2 vs fear, +1 vs enchant) | Perc +10 (+2 urban areas) Init +2 (+2 urban areas) Half-Orc Ranger 3
Harboth replies to Baz, Indeed. To answer your question, my goal is to discover the fate of one Thaven Lumberbeard and his band of forest- Stopping mid-sentence, he has a flash of realization and calls to the leader of the gnomes, or any other gnome close enough for him to get their attention.
HEY! Hey there! Before you go - did any of you see a group of foresters in here recently? Perhaps led by a strapping man who carried a wicked-looking red-and-yellow axe?
@Harboth: The one on the wolverine stops and rides back within shouting distance. "I believe I know your man of whom you speak. We've been warning loggers about the fae attacks for a few weeks now, and the last group to ignore our warning stayed about a fortnight ago. Leading them was a man with such an axe. We found most of their bodies a few miles away about 3 days later, riddled with holes and many of them seemingly murdered in their tents." He thinks to himself. "The number of bodies were less than that of the men there. How many there were, whether they ran, were taken by wildlife, or worse, I do not know."
AC 16 / T12 / FF14 | HP 28/[28] | F+5 R+6 W+4 (+2 vs fear, +1 vs enchant) | Perc +10 (+2 urban areas) Init +2 (+2 urban areas) Half-Orc Ranger 3
That is grim news, but no more so than I had expected. I'm sure their bodies have been taken by the beasts of the forest by now. Do you think it was indeed the fae that slaughtered them?
After hearing the gnome's response to this last question, Harboth will hustle back to the group, not wanting to delay them any further.
Anything with a piercing weapon. Bites do all damage types, and aside from tail stingers, there are not many natural attacks that do piercing only. Imps are one for planes, outsiders often have weapons, not many golems have lance-arms, etc. etc.
AC17(21* Shield Spell)/Touch14/Flatfoot15/CMD 19 |Init +2| | HP 12/[30] | Fort:+7 ;Ref:+2 ;Wil+3|Percept +6/Sense Motive +5|Magus Pool 3/[3] Male Minkai Human Samurai (sword Saint)/1 (Order of the Dragon) / Bladebound Magus 2 Favoured Class
I'm going to run on the assumption that you guys are gonna take free pokes from the CLW wand to heal up the whole way. It doesn't adversely affect gold, and is kinda dumb not to do. Get those rolled out before we get an order, and you get the free healz.
---
The thick trees, brush, and brambles of the Verduran Forest take hours to traverse, marching through the moonlit forest. They finally give way to a glassy lake with a small tree-studded island just thirty feet offshore. An improvised bridge of mossy logs stretches toward the island from the near shore, though some of the trunks have tipped nearly vertical into the water, leaving gaps along the makeshift bridge. Daybreak is upon you, as the sun will soon be cresting over the hill.
Give me an order and an urgency in movement speeds. I understand that Chelsea's in the back, though, do ho ho.
AC17(21* Shield Spell)/Touch14/Flatfoot15/CMD 19 |Init +2| | HP 12/[30] | Fort:+7 ;Ref:+2 ;Wil+3|Percept +6/Sense Motive +5|Magus Pool 3/[3] Male Minkai Human Samurai (sword Saint)/1 (Order of the Dragon) / Bladebound Magus 2 Favoured Class
I am only 1 hp short so I'll take a free tap
Kyoshiro suggest that Harboth and Grits take the lead and set a fast pace.
AC 16 / T12 / FF14 | HP 28/[28] | F+5 R+6 W+4 (+2 vs fear, +1 vs enchant) | Perc +10 (+2 urban areas) Init +2 (+2 urban areas) Half-Orc Ranger 3
Did I not post late yesterday? Guess not. Sorry, folks.
Harboth and Grits each take a poke or two with the healy stick.
Harboth CLW:1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 Grits CLW:1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Harboth then sets off at the head of the group, bow in hand. He keeps up a quick pace (maybe 7 on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being a group of preteen girls at the mall and 10 being a run - think walking with a sense of urgency, not quite or maybe just a light jog), looking back occasionally to make sure that no one is lagging too far behind. He uses no light.
AC17(21* Shield Spell)/Touch14/Flatfoot15/CMD 19 |Init +2| | HP 12/[30] | Fort:+7 ;Ref:+2 ;Wil+3|Percept +6/Sense Motive +5|Magus Pool 3/[3] Male Minkai Human Samurai (sword Saint)/1 (Order of the Dragon) / Bladebound Magus 2 Favoured Class
AC17(21* Shield Spell)/Touch14/Flatfoot15/CMD 19 |Init +2| | HP 12/[30] | Fort:+7 ;Ref:+2 ;Wil+3|Percept +6/Sense Motive +5|Magus Pool 3/[3] Male Minkai Human Samurai (sword Saint)/1 (Order of the Dragon) / Bladebound Magus 2 Favoured Class
I'm still around; just got blasted at work. Most of my posts so far have been from my phone, waiting for elevators. Plus, Jeb's got a Mission here, and he hasn't really chimed in recently.
Harboth (moving half-speed and taking 10 on Acrobatics to do so) makes his way across the rickety bridge-like structure. As he reaches the point on the map, there's definitive snap!
Reflex for Harboth:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
The snap was most likely the snare that has now lifted Harboth 10 feet into the air from an overhanging branch!
Suddenly, a familiar, high staccato voice cackles maniacally and calls out from the island. "Too too late, filthy intruders! All your prancing through my beautiful forest, and nothing for you remains! The beautiful, beautiful sun will do my job for me, destroy your precious lorestone as soon as it rises, and you are failures, humans are always failures, always always!"
@Baz, Harboth, Jeb, Kyo, & Opal:
The voice has a slight tin to it, it's not really emanating from something.
AC17(21* Shield Spell)/Touch14/Flatfoot15/CMD 19 |Init +2| | HP 12/[30] | Fort:+7 ;Ref:+2 ;Wil+3|Percept +6/Sense Motive +5|Magus Pool 3/[3] Male Minkai Human Samurai (sword Saint)/1 (Order of the Dragon) / Bladebound Magus 2 Favoured Class
is the rope in a position where I can cut it? If so I cut it with my pole arm with a power attack
Don't worry, Kyo; I'm sure you're going to re-prioritize that attack after they surface. The bride is stuffed with players right now and requires a DC 10 Acrobatics to move on at half speed. Otherwise, you'll fall in. The growth around the bridge is, like, moss and stuff, and likely not walk-on-able, unless you can walk on water.
Jeb reloads!
---
As if history desired to repeat itself, a large gator bursts out of the overgrowth that covers the water! This breed of crocodile, however, seems different than the one encountered in the Museum (as if it came from some era long ago...) It is unable to reach Harboth, though it snaps at the next closest thing; his dog!
Baz's speed is only twenty, so can he move half speed to end up under Harboth?
Correct. Just note that being there with either result in you catching him if he falls or just removes one more "good place to land."
As a side note...
Steven Robert wrote:
Creatures caught in the snare cannot move, lose their Dex bonus to AC, and suffer –4 penalties to attack and AC. They can free themselves as a full-round action by cutting the rope with a sufficiently long slashing weapon (AC X, X hp) or with a DC XX Escape Artist check; in either case they fall 10 ft. into the lake.
AC17(21* Shield Spell)/Touch14/Flatfoot15/CMD 19 |Init +2| | HP 12/[30] | Fort:+7 ;Ref:+2 ;Wil+3|Percept +6/Sense Motive +5|Magus Pool 3/[3] Male Minkai Human Samurai (sword Saint)/1 (Order of the Dragon) / Bladebound Magus 2 Favoured Class
Did not have the axe out before, so my full-round escape action should end next turn. Cutting my way out of a trap isn't my favorite way to use a critical hit, but I'll take it.
AC 16 / T12 / FF14 | HP 28/[28] | F+5 R+6 W+4 (+2 vs fear, +1 vs enchant) | Perc +10 (+2 urban areas) Init +2 (+2 urban areas) Half-Orc Ranger 3
That's RIGHT! ARGH! (argh more for forgetting the extra 1d12 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8 when it's on my character sheet than for wasting the extra damage) At least I break free from the trap, que no?
