GM Endless Forms' PFS 03-10 The Immortal Conundrum (Inactive)

Game Master Mike Tuholski

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
Knowledge (Planes): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

Endless - if you think it's been less than 10 min for us to get here I've still got comprehend languages up. If not I'll use another scroll.

Sahar looks at the writing and shares it with her fellow Pathfinders. The Celestial reads, "The dawn brings new light." The Infernal reads, "The kingdom shall be his."

"If we put a light or fire on Asmodeus the gem will drop?"

I think you cast comprehend when you guys first got in here. It's definitely been more than 10 minutes since then.

Wait Sahar, can we read them at the same time? Maybe as a chant?

"The... compass... makes... light... and... I can... make... a spark..." Wayfinder with Light and Spark as a cantrip prepared here.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Edit: Not that the Light SLA can actually be used on anything other than the compass, but still.

Nodding at Peri's suggestion, Sahar says "I'm still not quite sure I understand the relevance of the iconography and the words to know if one is better than the other, or as you say perhaps together they accomplish what we seek. Thought I believe in my heart that Sarenrae will triumph over Asmodeus in the end."

Sahar beings reading the celestial words over and over again.

Peri has the right idea. Assuming someone joins Sahar:

The ring begins to glow as the party finishes chanting the dual phrases. The glow continues after the words are spoken and the party is able to softy cross the barrier. Tsusoku is able to use his hair to reach up to the ceiling and remove the gem.

On to the southern room I suppose?

When you open the southern door, a rushing torrent of sand spills into the hallway, hitting everyone.

overrun: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24

All is difficult terrain in the chamber after that. . . not that it matters.

Having recovered from the rush of sand, the party moves into the final room. Coarse sand fills this earthy chamber to a height of three feet. Unworked, vine-choked walls form a canvas upon which are daubed crude paintings of powerful-looking, purple-skinned humanoids. Several thick roots droop from the ceiling at varying heights, and a musty smell permeates the air. In the room’s center, suspended from a dangling root, sways a large onyx gem.

The onyx is firmly entwined in the root’s grasp, but it can be untied with a DC 20 Escape Artist check. Otherwise you can hack the gem out of the root (hardness 5, hp 15, break DC 18)

Sahar looks at Amiri's large sword and smiles under her veil.

Amiri nods at Sahar's knowing glance. She withdraws her sword and makes her way through the sand to the dangling vine. She does her best to take a swing at it, hoping to loose the onyx gem from the tangled vine.

Power Attack Damage: 2d8 + 9 + 6 ⇒ (4, 5) + 9 + 6 = 24

Amiri easily cuts the gem from the vine.

This room has an optional earth elemental fight but I generally don't do optional encounters over PbP for time reasons-also because Shin is waiting on us for Wonders in the Weave.

Moving back to the mechanical orchid in the crossway of the hallways, the party works at setting the gems in their appropriate petals. the diamond belongs in the north petal, the garnet belongs in the east petal, the onyx belongs in the south petal, and the aquamarine belongs in the west petal.

Each of the gems glows slightly when placed into the petals and when all four are in there is a mechanical whirring as the petals open up to reveal a stair downwards.

Pause for buffs before descending?

In an attempt to not become insane, Tsusuko is not refilling his Amulet of Mighty Fists with his current Vampiric Touch or casting anything else (as bad of a strategic choice it may be.)

Sahar pauses, calling the fox to her. She bends down and whispers in it's ear and it begins to crackle with electricity. She hands a scroll of shield to Peri and says, "If you don't mind dear." stowing her own mithral shield and drawing her longbow.

Cast shocking grasp for the fox to deliver. Shield spell raises her AC +2 to 20.

Is my mage armor still active?

With a sly wink and a seductive grin Peri answers Sahar

"Of course darling"

Peri casts the shield spell as directed

Yep, mage armor is probably still up.

The party readies themselves and heads down the stairs. A narrow, forty-foot-long stairwell opens into a vast chamber stretching over a hundred feet from end to end. Spread throughout the vault are a series of massive columns, each rising twenty feet from the ground, leaving ten feet of open space between their beveled capitals and the domed ceiling above. Each column is covered from plinth to capital with shelves sized for books and scrolls alike.

Standing in the room are two creatures with cold-eye falcon's heads and great wings adorning an otherwise leonine frame.

Initiative:

1. Guardians
2. Amiri, Tsusoku, Peri, Sahar

The two creatures clumsily take to the air, one of them moving up to the party.

bite power attack on Amiri: 1d20 + 11 - 3 ⇒ (11) + 11 - 3 = 19
damage: 1d10 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 6 = 20

bite power attack cleave into Tsusoku: 1d20 + 11 - 3 ⇒ (11) + 11 - 3 = 19
damage: 1d10 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 6 = 17

The second creatures lets out a piercing shriek.

Sahar DC 16 Fort: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Peri DC 16 Fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Tsusoku DC 16 Fort: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Amiri DC 16 Fort: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
or be deafened for 2d4 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4 rounds

Initiative:

1. Guardians
2. Amiri, Tsusoku, Peri, Sahar

Guardian 1: -2 AC for 1 rnd
Guardian 2:

You guys are up!

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Sahar moves over and puts an evil eye on guardian #2. The fox moves around the other side staying near the column. (Brown box on the map)

DC 16 Will vs. -2 saves for 7 rounds or 1 round.

Hmm, roll20 isn't loading for me right now.

Amiri screams at the pain inflicted upon her ears, but she cannot hear herself, which drives her into a rage. She draws her sword and swings at the creature that struck her.

Raging Power Attack: 1d20 + 15 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 15 - 2 = 33
Damage: 2d8 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (1, 5) + 12 + 6 = 24

Crit?: 1d20 + 15 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 15 - 2 = 23
Damage: 2d8 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (6, 4) + 12 + 6 = 28

4/18 Rounds raging.

Also, GM - check the rage spoiler for my current HP.

Guys I am in Disney World for the next week with no laptop, I do have my phone and will continue to post. GM please move me into what you would consider the best position.

Peri casts haste on the party.

WIll: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Sahar gives one of the sphinxes a nasty look while Amiri gives the other one a nasty wound. Peri hurries her party up and then goes off to have way more fun than the rest of us.

Initiative:

1. Guardians
2. Amiri, Tsusoku, Peri, Sahar

Guardian 1: 52 dmg, -2 AC for 1 rnd
Guardian 2: -2 saves for 1 rnd

Tsusoku is up!

Tsusuko reels from the damage, but attempts to focus fire by allowing the outer planes to invade his mind for a brief moment.

hair, damage, grapple, constrict: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 271d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 31d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 241d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

-Posted with Wayfinder

@Sahar: you are right. I rolled Fort for some reason. Doesn't matter on a nat 20 but thanks for catching it.

hair confirm: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 no confirm

Tsusoku's hair whips out and smacks the sphinx but is not able to grab ahold of the creature. The guardians retaliate.

bite power attack on Amiri: 1d20 + 11 - 3 ⇒ (8) + 11 - 3 = 16
damage: 1d10 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 6 = 13

claw power attack on Amiri: 1d20 + 11 - 3 ⇒ (14) + 11 - 3 = 22
damage: 1d6 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 6 = 15

claw power attack on Amiri: 1d20 + 11 - 3 ⇒ (19) + 11 - 3 = 27
damage: 1d6 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 6 = 14

The other one lets out another shriek.

Tsusoku DC 16 Fort: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Amiri DC 16 Fort: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
or deafened 2d4 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8 rounds

Initiative:

1. Guardians
2. Amiri, Tsusoku, Peri, Sahar

Guardian 1: 52 dmg
Guardian 2: -2 saves for 1 rnd

You guys are up!

Fox sneaks in for a touch attack on guardian 1:

Touch: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 5, 1) = 12

Sahar puts a misfortune hex on guardian 2, DC 16 Will (and should be -2 from evil eye this round).

Will: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 4 - 2 = 17

The fox delivers a jolt of electricity and the first sphinx falls to the ground. Sahar tries to bring misfortune on the second sphinx but it resists.[/ooc]

Initiative:

1. Guardians
2. Amiri, Tsusoku, Peri, Sahar

Guardian 1: -4 and bleeding
Guardian 2: -2 saves for 1 rnd

Amiri, Tsusoku, and Peri are up!

Tsusuko continues to be deaf for 8 more rounds now, though his hair need not hear to work! He'll step out of cleave adjacency (if possible) and try to hit #2 now!

Hair, damage, grapple, constrict: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 161d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 61d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 281d4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 Doubting a 16 hits, so a miss.

Amiri is still unable to hear anything, though she scream of pain as the guardian viciously claws at her. She knows that she is deaf, but cries out to her companions that she's hurt. She works through the pain to keep the attack on the sphinx.

Power Attack+Haste 1: 1d20 + 15 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 15 - 2 + 1 = 20
Damage: 2d8 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (6, 5) + 12 + 6 = 29

Power Attack+Haste 2: 1d20 + 10 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 10 - 2 + 1 = 11
Damage: 2d8 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (5, 8) + 12 + 6 = 31

Hasted Power Attack+Haste 1: 1d20 + 15 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 15 - 2 + 1 = 22
Damage: 2d8 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (3, 4) + 12 + 6 = 25

And it's dead.

Amiri makes short work of the sphinx and the party is free to explore the chamber. All of the columns are sealed magically, save for a lone column containing only a single shelf of books, but it is easy to tell that many more books once stood here but have been removed. The remaining books are written entirely in Tekritanin.

The bottom shelf of the column contains an unlocked chest full of platinum, gold, gems, and magical items. Atop the small trove rests a handwritten note saying simply, “To get you started.”

The chest contains coins and gems worth 1,500 gp, a +1 longsword, a candle of truth, a javelin of lightning, a set of masterwork chainmail, a vial of oil of keen edge, one potion of remove blindness/deafness, a scroll of fireball (CL 8th), a spined shield, and a wand of cure moderate wounds with 15 charges.

San Check, 30%: 1d100 ⇒ 69

Tsusuko stays sane, though deaf, for at almost a minute. He sits down on the floor until his hearing returns. "Can you... use... this... stick?" Tsusuko asks, attempting to hand Peri his CLW wand.

Any more doors or anything?

Amiri quaffs her two potions of cure moderate wounds.

2 CMW: 4d8 + 6 ⇒ (7, 5, 1, 7) + 6 = 26

Nope, no more doors. Just bunches of columns, most of them being protected by permanent, airtight walls of force. There's just the one open column that you found with lots o' stuff written in Tekritanin.

"Uhhh...wasn't there supposed to be some kind of Golden Orchid punch or something?"

Here's Ofarah's monologue from earlier. I agree, it sounds like she's giving you the elixir but remember the auction isn't happening for some time. . . and there still needs to be a legitimate auction. Really she's just giving you the information found in the vault, which details previous auctions and the winners and hopefully helps the Society to figure out what they need to do to win.

“Thank you again for your noble efforts in preventing my untimely demise. As recompense for your deeds, I offer you the prize that motivated this entire party.

“Every year, villains and madmen, generally rich from their own evil ways, bid against one another for the sacred sun orchid elixir produced and distributed solely by my homeland of Thuvia. I tire of seeing the people of the world suffer because those most able to win our auctions are those who wish to do their subjects harm. This year, however, I’m going to ensure that a noble and worthy candidate has a true shot at winning a draught of the elixir, stealing it from the lips of the vile.

"Each Lamasaran city has a secret vault in which it keeps records of past auctions and other valuables. The locations, names, and contents of these vaults are kept hidden even from other Thuvian cities to ensure no one city ever gains more power than the others. Lamasara’s vault is called the Conundrum, and were one to gain access to it, the information one would find within could prove invaluable. If one could navigate the tests and traps therein, and survive the guardians placed there to watch over our most treasured secrets, the information in the vault would be available to do with as one pleased. It would be illegal for me to divulge this information to anyone, but there are some situations the law does not cover.

“Here, each of you take one of these potions. It will turn your form into that of mere vapor, and will allow you to pass through this ring gate to the Conundrum. There you will find a set of identical potions to allow you to return. More than this I cannot offer you. I simply wish you luck, and send you on your way.”

Oh, I totally remembered that and was just playing dumb in-character. Yeah, that's it... :-)

No, it's ok. We made the same mistake when I played it too. It's not totally clear. Even as the GM and knowing what was going on I don't think Ofarah's monologue makes it that clear that she's not handing the elixir over to the Pathfinder Society.

With the auction records secure, you may now exit the Conundrum through the ring gate mounted on the wall near the orchid, using the vials of gaseous form Ofarah waiting for you. When you arrive back at the Thuvian Embassy, you find yourselves in an empty guest room with a ring gate fixed to the wall. Upon exiting the austere chamber, you startle a passing guard who had no idea that any guests remained from the night’s festivities. She escorts you out of the embassy, informing you that Ofarah herself shortly after the attack on her life, boarding a ship bound for Lamasara.

When you report to the Grand Lodge, Kreighton Shaine greets them with an eccentric bow and squeals in delight at the information they present him. He seems less interested in the actual contents of the books, however, than excited about the challenge of deciphering the codes that are used within.

That about does it, folks! Hope you all had fun with this one and look forward to seeing you all in Wonders in the Weave!

I'll get chronicles out tomorrow morning; I'm pooped right now after GMing Eyes of the Ten Part II tonight. I'll also submit this as a Gameday event so you'll get put in for prizes.

I like prizes, though I'm not registered as anything but a potential GM with Cabuo. And, ha, Part II. III is the best, but that's just 'cause that kind of scene is my favourite. Thanks for running!

Yeah, my players had a blast (and a real struggle) in Part I but they didn't find Part II as challenging or interesting. I haven't read through Part III yet, we're doing that one next Thursday.

You're getting a PM about a fight in part 4 (spoiler, there's fights in PFS scenarios); there's a thing about how to handle a specific encounter that my DM burgled (and thus will burgle 4 U 2.)