GM_Foxy's 2nd Carrion Crown

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

Are you comparing your brothers chants to Spugnoir's breach of article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

"He told me to release the spider and lure it to the lodge building. He didn't tell why." Paucy replies.

So it looks like we need to suit up and pay him a visit.

I'm not sure a direct approach will work here. After all he could just throw us out if we threaten him.

Well you and Darius are pretty good with talking and convincing people, how about you turn on the charm? If that doesn't work, time for the truth spells

"Lets just go ask him. I'm in a persuasive mood." darius says grimly and starts off to find Estonian.

Estovion is like he told found in his office.

Stam will follow quickly after Darius and the rest.

"Is this advisable to go in so hot tempered? I understand a murder happened but taking a moment to cool down might be best." Stam keeps pace with Darius

Before he goes in Grergof says to Stam: Do not worry, I will make sure Mr. Redgrave does not go too far. That said, I plan on using all my senses to aid in this ivnvestigation. Maybe you would want to come too and see if Estovion is enchanted?

Grergof slows the others as he heads to Estovion's office. As he slowly walks through the lodge he is actively detecting evil and is especially careful searching for any signs as he nears the office.

Anyone want to drink some extracts or cast some spells before we go in? Just in case.

1.Shield,CLW,Shield,Targeted Bomb,CLW
2.Barksin,Ironskin,Vomit Swarm,Ablative Barrier
3.Displacement,Heroism

Are available

"I must as Spugnoir, if I drink the potion of Vomit swarm is it some sort of prank are pulling?" Stam will nod at Grergof's handle on the situation.

"Once we go in I am going to attempt to hypnotize Estovoin, then I will try to get him to tell us why."

Stam will Detect Magic upon the door to Estovoin's door and in the room once they are inside.

"He has magical items on him nothing overly powerful, Mr. Estovoin we need to talk."

Hypnotism DC 15, burning a Reservoir Point to increase the DC to 17 will save

"Please listen to my voice, and only my voice, We need to know, know why you used pour Paucy like that, who told you to do it?"

Will Save: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23
Initiative: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Assuming no one will start hitting him with a club immediately and Stam not being first.

"What dare you!" Estovion shouts. And you suddenly find yourself in a cloud of green stinking fog.
DC17 Fort save or nauseated.

The highest point of the lodge building is the South Tower, which holds Estovion’s office and his private library. Its shelves hold the lodge’s most valuable and protected texts.

Estovion seems to be cleaning up his office and some papers smolder in the burnt down fire of the stove.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Stam recoils away from the smell, and Estovion. "We know what you did, just not way. That is all, we must subdue him."

Fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

Grergof moves forward out of the cloud, drawing his scimitar as he moves around the desk.
No SiR! How dare you! Killing an innocent maid, setting a cripple up to die, probably destroying evidence and using unreasonable force!

Grergof looms over the man with his scimitar poised to strike in both hands
Now you will dismiss the cloud and tell us exactly what we want to know or I will drag you out of here and show you exactly what the Dawnbringer thinks of those who Aid the Whispering Way.

Ready action to attack with his cold iron scimitar (non-leathal) if the man does anything but talk or dismiss the spell. Note he is the target of my smite.
Ready Attack - Non Leathal - power attack + Furious Focus + Smite: 1d20 + 12 - 4 - 2 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 12 - 4 - 2 + 2 + 3 = 31
Damage (2 hand) + Power attack + Smite: 1d6 + 6 + 6 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 6 + 6 + 7 = 25
Confirm Crit: 1d20 + 12 - 4 - 2 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 12 - 4 - 2 + 2 + 3 = 28
Crit Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 6 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 6 + 7 = 22

Ok maybe a little overkill

Before they head in, Spugnoir drinks a few extracts

Shield (+4 shield AC 7 Minutes)
Barkskin (+3 Natural AC 70 minutes)
Heroism (+2 attack rolls, saves, and skill checks. 70 minutes)

Fort: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Spugnoir has smelled far more foul things and manages to keep his food down while Varsk threatens the man.

Holding

Estovion is heavily wounded.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18 YASS!

Darius walks through the cloud unfazed, rage on his face. He draws his longsword and it's edge shines brightly and says "Estovion!! Iomedae's justice will not be denied. For what you have done you will pay and seek redemption by telling us all you know. Or by Iomedae's wrath I shall slay you and get the information from your corpse!"

Estovion disappears in front of your eyes.
No AoOs

K. Arcana: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17

Isn't it Spellcraft? They are the same bonus, Foxy your thread is cursed against me rolling knowledges and such.

"I am not sure where he went, he didn't go invisible I know that."

Stam will put his back against the door keeping it closed.

We should try to search the place!

You recover the papers from the fireplace. They are a part of Estovion's journal and read:

Just Over Two Weeks Prior to the PCs’ Arrival:
It appears that my past has come back to haunt me, in the form of unexpected visitors who
arrived last night. Ostensibly nobles from Courtaud, they bore invitations from Adivion Adrissant
in Caliphas, and Belik admitted them to see me. Their leader, a disturbing man named Auren
Vrood who carried a sinister-looking, twisted homunculus on his shoulder, confided to me that
they were agents of the Whispering Way, come to finally collect the debt I owe them for
helping me with the spirit I discovered at the Stairs so long ago. Vrood “requested” that I
arrange a meeting between him and one of the werewolves of the wood. Though I would prefer
to have nothing more to do with them (for my youthful indiscretions were just that), I saw no
choice but to acquiesce to their demands, lest they reveal my secrets to the Palatine Council.
As Mathus is my sole ally among the packs, I will speak to him and arrange a meeting, and
hopefully I can wash my hands of this whole sordid affair.
Two Weeks Prior to the PCs’ Arrival:
Vrood and his fellows have returned. Though I made my office available to them, they declined
and requested a meeting with Madame Ivanja instead. Mathus arrived shortly after and went
straight to Ivanja’s tower as well. I was somewhat surprised by their choice of location, but I
suppose even necromancers and werewolves have their needs. I spoke briefly with Mathus after
the meeting, but he was unusually withdrawn and gave no hint of what was said at the meeting.
Two Days Prior to the PCs’ Arrival:
A grave threat has befallen the Shudderwood, and I fear its origins lie at Ascanor. Unknown
forces, almost certainly agents of Vrood and the Whispering Way, have attacked the Stairs,
butchered Kvalca Sain, and stolen her heart for some dark purpose. Although their motives remain
a mystery, this single act has thrown the entire hierarchy of the Shudderwood’s packs into
disarray and violence.
I know that it is customary when a packlord dies for her successor to consume the fallen
packlord’s heart. With Sain’s heart gone, the position of packlord shall fall to whoever can claim
the title, either by recovering the lost heart, or more likely through force, by slaying the leaders
of the four rival tribes and adopting the surviving wolves into his own pack.
Mathus has spoken with me before of his desire to become packlord, and I now wonder if his
secret meeting with Vrood was the impetus behind these events. Without Sain’s heart, however, I
doubt the other tribes will accept Mathus as their leader. He might find allies with the Sczarni
or the Broken Ones, but the Vollensag and Jezeldans will never bow to his rule.
Mathus’s concerns doubtlessly lie with his pack, not with me, however, and I worry my
alliance with the Mordrinacht shall soon be forfeit. I fear greatly for the safety of the lodge,
for if Mathus moves to take Highthrone without Sain’s heart, or if it becomes known that his
ascendance is due to the Whispering Way’s interference, civil war will soon erupt among the packs
of the wood, with Ascanor caught in the middle.

Grergof detects evil in the area.
Quick! Find out what his is burning! Eventually we should search his records. While you all do that I'm trying to find him. He sticks of the shadow.and I may be able to find him because of that.

Where are you going to search?

Spugnoir puts out the flaming papers and show them to everyone. This Whispering Way again. Seems we are either too late or early to find them.

With Estovion all detectable evil is gone from the room. Hurrying to the window of the room you notice Estovions voice and shortly see him reading a scroll while standing close to the shed. Then he is gone again, simply disappearing like from the room you are in.

Darius closes his eyes and when he opens them again his eyes glow a soft blue and he scans the room. Casts Detect Magic
And tries to locate all magic items in the room.

Stam will read the note over a few times while the others race around the room.

"So the current leader is dead, now the Silverhides are aiming to take the title by force I would think. It is odd since we learned that they don't follow the typical pack structure." Stam will leave the note on the table.

Page with the stuff about the wolves, under the spoiler for Stam

Looking out the window Grergof exclaims:

Damn, with teleport magic he could have gone anywhere. We will have to be on the lookout for him in the future.

He relaxes a bit and says:
Stam, at least now you can research our question in here undisterbed.

Then he reads the note.
Oh, that answers what the heart is. And tells us the stairs are a place. It also seems like Estovion is a bit player, but this explains why he attacked us, if we were getting too close. But for the wolf stuff, this is not good. Really not good.
Do we stay and try to sort this out, as the wolf civil war could kill a lot of people, or do we persue this Vrood character?

"If we can prevent any more deaths then I think Sarenrae and Imoedae would wish it so."

The question is which way pevents more deaths. The way is clearly gathering materials for something big. If by stopping to save tens of people from dying here the way pulls off something that kills tens of thousands, was it right to stop and save the tens of people?

We should investigate the werewolves, maybe hire a guide.

Interlude: You still don't know where the stairs of the moon is - even though the options to know are available to you. You have no clue, where the whispering way went. And no one to ask. This should help with your decision.

"we need to find the location of the stairs, I can go do some more research if you gentlemen want to talk with others here." Stam will wait for an answer.

Some of the guides here for hunting expeditions might know.

The hints are still there in the public library. Searching with Perception. Or the one guy you could find who knows.

Kroitzer probably has the best chance to know where these stairs of the moon are.

Once in the Library Stam will take his time gong through all the books.

Taking 20: 20 + 6 = 26

"The answer has to be here somewhere." Stam mumbles to himself.

Stam looks through every single book in the library to find something. And indeed he finds a journal with an interesting note in it. The journal’s author, an unnamed worshiper of Desna, recorded several entries describing his pilgrimage to an ancient, abandoned temple of Desna and observatory in the Shudderwood known as the Stairs of the Moon. The journal includes a description of the temple, but the details of its exact location are frustratingly vague. These pages are bookmarked with a folded piece of paper, scribbled with a faded note reading: "See ‘Halo of Dreams’ on page 322. Filed under Religion upstairs."

The Halo of Dreams is found in Estovions library. It is a text about the Desnan faith, and its spread from Varisia throughout Avistan. The book contains, among other things, references to a sacred Desnan relic known as the Dusk Moth, a sacred Desnan relic hidden in the stonework of an ancient temple called the Stairs of the Moon. Legends speak of priests transporting the relic to the temple, but all knowledge of it was lost when the Whispering Tyrant conquered Ustalav and the temple was abandoned.

On page 322 is a marked passage: The origin of the Dusk Moth can be traced back to pre-Thassilonian Varisia, though the role it played in those ancient times has been lost to history. During the Age of Enthronement, Desna’s priests recovered the relic from the ruins of Thassilon, and carried it into the Shudderwood during the founding of Ustalav. There the priests constructed a temple to the goddess of dreams and disassembled the Dusk Moth, incorporating its parts into a great observatory atop the temple, which they dubbed the Stairs of the Moon. High atop the observatory, during the twilight hour, the faithful enacted a sacred ritual of communion to activate the power of the Dusk Moth, placing them in a heightened dream-state in which they could commune directly with the Song of the Spheres.

As Grergof walks down he finds Kroitzer cleaning up the room. Besides removing the dirt and smear from the removal of the corpse several taxidermy exhibits were thrown over or damaged.

"I have heard of this Stairs Of The Moon, but I have no idea where it is." Kroitzer replies. "I can tell you which areas of the woods I don't go, so you have at least something where to start searching."

"Pffft. If you want to know where to find things related to werewolfs, you got to ask someone who is an expert on that topic and not the lodge's huntsman." Duristan comments from his seat behind a scotch.

So you are saying you know where this Ruin is? I figured if you did, you would have already have raided it.

"I know where it is. But try to find a crew willing to come with all these sissies. If you go I can lead you." Duristan boasts.