GM Fuskee's PbP - #4-18 Veteran's Vault

Game Master Maar the Volcano Monk

The ramshackle tenement outside of Korvosa softly echoes with the sound of light rain as Venture-Captain Sir Canayven Heidmarch begins his briefing.

“For this mission you will have to venture into the sewers beneath Korvosa. Sascha Antif-Arah,” he announces, gesturing to a haggard human woman who is past her prime but whose posture expresses confidence and experience, “requires access to a particular vault. The society is going to help her.”

Sascha eyes each Pathfinder in turn then nods to herself with some satisfaction and steps forward gracefully. “Some years ago my friends and I had made quite a name for ourselves around Korvosa, and our adventures earned us a considerable amount of gold. We stashed most of it in one of the Vaults after evicting the cult that had already claimed it.”

Sascha pauses for a moment, smiles, and shakes her head as if recalling particularly amusing details of the raid. “Anyway, I retired from the business after that, started up a shop, and lived peacefully until I got into trouble with the Hellknights. I can’t show my face in Korvosa because I don’t fancy spending my retirement in shackles, but I’m willing to cede my share of the loot in that Vault to you. It’s no dragon’s hoard, but it should be more than worth your time. The only thing I want from there is an old locket—nothing magical or worth fencing, but it means a lot to me. Once I have it, I’m getting out of this place and off to somewhere the Order of the Nail has no sway."

“The entrance shouldn’t be too hard to find, assuming you know what to look for,” she remarks as she fishes several folded papers from her haversack. “There’s an old service entrance into the sewers about a quarter mile north of my old shop in Midland; I wrote down directions that should lead you to the vault. There’s a big room inside, and I stashed my share under the flagstones in one of the small chambers nearby.”

She extracts a few more items from her bag and holds them out. “I hope you don’t need these, but you never know. I certainly won’t be using them in my retirement.”

Sascha identifies the items as three +1 aberration bane arrows, two antitoxins, a vial of antiplague, and an alkali flask.

"I'm sure you have some questions for me before you embark on your treasure hunt." she says while handing over the extra equipment.

Go ahead and do your introductions as if you were all meeting up before the Venture Captain and Sascha show up. I'll give you until the end of today to chat and do whatever introductory things you wish to do and at the end of the day we'll pretend that first post just happened and you guys can go forward from there.

A proud gnome walks into the room, early as always. One thing he takes pride in is his punctuality. He is wearing a dark blue robe that appears to have recently been patched.

Hello everyone! I am Nigel Flit the third. It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. He takes a moment to look around the room at his new companions and notices that none of them are the same as his last adventure. I guess that this society isn't great for making long term friends. Well regardless, The Exchange gave me this wand as a present for my last mission but they must not of known that I can not use this particular wand. Can anyone here use it? Nigel draws a cure light wounds wand from his backpack.

I have a CLW wand that I will lend to anyone who can use it this adventure for healing me and anyone else who lacks there own means of healing. I'll keep it written down on my sheet and remove the charges as they are used.

Cork turns his face up towards the sky, eyes closed, and takes in the feeling of the soft rain landing on his skin. His imagination fills in the rocking of the boat deck below his feet and the salty smell of ocean air for miles around. The ever present creaking of sails, masts and rigging are like music to his ears.

A sudden splash of mud by a passing cart startles Cork out of his reverie and reminds him that he's not on his ship at sea. Instead, he's just outside of bustling Korvosa. Apparently he would be meeting other Pathfinders here to start on another assignment.

He shakes the muddy water off of his leg and moves towards a ramshackle tenement where he's supposed to meet the others. He enters just behind a gnome who promptly introduces himself.

"Hello Nigel. I'm Cork." Cork examines the wand. "I'm afraid I can't do much with that either. We'll have to leave it for someone else."

A merry gnome cartwheels his way into the room. "Hello, fellows!" He giggles at his own rhyme then looks askance at the hovel. "Korvosa isn't as nice as I had expected."

Upon seeing Nigel's wand, he laughs and produces his own. "They must have been getting rid of inventory. I was just given a brand new one as well! And of course I can't make very good use of it either."

I have +9 UMD but someone with the spell on their list can handle the wands hopefully.

A green-scaled, golden eyed nagaji enters the room with an impressive display of martial finesse grunting and roaring as he goes. He takes his seat with a satisfied grin and takes a moment to look at his fellow Pathfinders.

"You receive greetings from the great Sky Dragon Rayquaza! I am a scion of a legendary offspring of Nalinivati, and I come to help the Society protect Golarion from otherworldly threats. Speaking of which," he points at the items gifted to us by Sascha, "are we expected to fight any of those? If we do, would it be safe for me to Dragon-punch them?"

Finally, he looks at the wands and smiles understandingly, drawing a jade wand with dragon-scale decorations.

"The Dragon needs magical protection too. If anyone can activate this wand of Mage Armor, he'll receive infinite draconic blessings."

Nigel looks at Rayquaza funny. last adventure they put me on a team with a frog and now this weird dragon like thing? This society has some weird members.

Well Mr... was it Rayquaza? Sorry, I am not good with other languages and weird names. I'll get It, don't worry. Darn what was I saying. Umm ohh Yeah, while I have no talent with my wand or Jerbrick's wands, I happen to have some ability with your wand. Just let me know when you want it and I'll use it. I may be a bit busy in combat but I can see what I can do.

as a side note, what adventure did you do that gave you the boon to play a Nagaji? I am assuming a special?

"I am Rayquaza! Ahem. Combat? This wand works for an hour, use it when we enter the vault and forget it."

You don't need a boon to play a nagaji.

Well my scaly friend, I would be glad to help you out with the wand then. I hope it protects you well. I hope there is more than the 3 of us going down there, no offense but... let's just say I hope the rest of our friends show up soon.

You are correct. I didnt remember them on the list but sure enough it's there. Thank you.

Waiting to see if the two others are going to post, if not we'll proceed with just 4 and I'll make the proper adjustments in enemies for it. Also two of you haven't posted up your information yet in the Discussion thread, no rush, just get around to it when you can. As for the question about Day Job rolls, I know most GMs throw that up there but I prefer just waiting until the end.

I'll give the others until the end of today and we'll start.

A half-elf walks into the room. He is wearing a chain shirt but doesn't seem to have any weapons on him. His hair seems to be frosted white and his arms are very muscular for an elf, he must take after his human parent when it comes to his physique. His eyes are an intense blue which he uses to stair at all of you before speaking.

"Sorry I am late. I am Vello Tiskan. I look forward to working with all of you and hope all of us return safely."

Looks like Jerb will be our out of combat healing wand user unless our last friend shoes up and can use it. Hopefuly we wont need any combat healing.

Yeah that's some bad luck on the wand users, haha.

Alright we'll go ahead and start with 5 since that's a good group size and if the last guy happens to join in the next day or so I'll allow it, until then let's proceed. Do you guys have any questions for Sascha? Now would be the time to ask.

Cork turns towards Sascha. "The way you describe this, it will be like pulling fish from a net. Just follow your map, enter the vault, and lift the flagstone." He shrugs his shoulders and looks at his companions. "Somehow, though, I think it's not going to be so easy. Are there dangers in this vault that you're not telling us about?"

Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 14 Is she holding back info?

Vello follows up Cornelius questioning to Sascha with his own questions. "How long ago did you abandon this vault? Just curious, because if some time has passed then something or someone else may have moved into the vault. In fact, the treasure might not be there anymore."

Also, I have heard some nasty things about this city. Are the sewers a safe way to travel? Or should we expect to encounter some of the roughians that this town is known for? I have never been here before so this will be a learning experience for me.

A man wearing the colours of Sarerae almost stumbles into the room.Terribly sorry I'm a bit late...the ship I was on got caught up in a storm...added a few days on to our journey back home. I am Goran, servant of Sarerae. Excuse my shirt being open...I have to let this new tattoo heal a bit more...got it on my last mission. Hurt, but worth it...very well done, I must say. The tattoo is done in the Wayang fashion, and is a stylized symbol of Sarenrae over Goran's heart.

Now, what did I miss.... he says as he catches up on facts. He nods and ponders the information given.Any traps we should know about? I highly doubt you left a small fortune down there without some...discouragement to snooping parties?

sorry I'm late...been busy last few days....I was gonna bring in a half orc slayer, but thought we might need the healing....

Sascha addresses Cork's concerns. "The vault isn't far from the entrance to the sewers so it shouldn't be difficult to reach. Korvosa’s
sewers have lots of blackboil alligators, so I wouldn’t go for a swim unless you really have to. My group ran into some other strange creatures years ago, but our scholar usually identified them for us; I don’t remember what they were.”

She turns to Vello, "It has been a few years now, but my comrades were a loyal bunch and while they’ve no doubt claimed their own shares over the years, they know well enough to avoid taking any of mine. The vault is pretty out of the way and should still be a secret.”

"As for the roughians of this town, as long as you keep your head down and avoid conflict you should be able to reach the sewer entrance without any problems. I don't remember any traps the last time we went down there but I would still keep a keen eye for such things. The hidden location of the vault should be enough to prevent unsuspecting bandits from finding my stash."

She looks around to see if there are anymore questions and gives the group a nod, "That's all I know, good luck Pathfinders."

You can make a Knowledge (Dungeoneering) check to see if you know about the likely dangers of the sewers and you can also make a separate Knowledge (History) or (Engineering) check to see if you recall any of the history involving the Korvosa sewers.

Nigel smiles and nods his head at Sascha, Thank you ma'am for your information. That answers everything I had to ask. We will be back shortly with the goods.

I lack any of the knowledge so Nigel is ready to move on when everyone else is.

"This shall be a whimsical journey I'm sure!"

No knowledge here. Ready to go.

Vello nods to himself before responding to the others, "I'm good to go too. Let us hope we all make it back to celebrate with some nice spirits at the local pub."

Knowledge (Dungeoneering) not available here.

Waiting on Goran, Cork and Rayquaza to see if they have a knowledge they want to roll or ask any other questions, she's pretty much answered all she can.

Goran, make sure you go to the Discussion tab at the top and post up your information too, for the chronicles.

Cork smiles with a quirky grin. "So just a bunch of alligators and unknown dangers. Sounds like business as usual."

Knowledge(dungeoneering): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25 If this gains me any more info then just assume I share it with the group.

"Well then, Vello, I think you are reading my mind. We're ready to cast off." Cork heads to the exit.

Cork knows EVERYTHING about the Korvosan Sewers! He shares this bit of information from what he knows about it.

Korvosa’s sewers shelter an immense number of rats—dire and mundane. In addition, goblins, wererats, and otyughs all exploit the immense amount of refuse discarded by the city’s citizens.

The garbage also provides nutrition for a wide variety of fungi and shade-tolerant plants. Most are not dangerous, but a rare few supplement their diets by capturing live prey.

Several types of oozes are known to prowl the Korvosan sewers, particularly oozes that use cunning camouflage to get close to prey.

Sounds dangerous!

Nigel has disgusted face on and says Wow I knew this city had a bad reputation but these sewers sound awful! Guys I may not be as prepared as I could be. I guess I should of expected this from this city but my last adventure, I found some fluid that's good for kill oozes. I am sure we can still handle this.

I am assuming that it is too late to go shopping?

No knowledges or questions for the Venture-Captains, but Rayquaza will ask the smart guys in the party if fists work against oozes and aberrations.

"Hmmm... The rats and goblins should pose no problem. The oozes, I don't know but I think my Cold Blasts should work okay with them. And most plants wouldn't like the cold either."

"There's no reason to wait. We'll find danger everywhere. So let's go!" Cork beckons from the doorway for the others to follow.

I think all we are waiting for to advance is Goran

Nigel moves behind Cork to show he is ready to move on with him.

There is no real time limit on this adventure and Magnimar is a big city so I'm sure you could stop at some various shops and stores on the way to the alley that hides the entrance to the sewers. Go ahead and do any purchasing you need and I'll move you all to the map Korvosan Sewers and you can start exploring!

Some of you decide to shop a little on your way to the sewers but nonetheless eventually you all follow Sascha's directions and make it to the entrance of the sewers.

You're all on the map now, go ahead and move yourselves near the red arrow which is where you came down into the sewers. Be careful when moving, some of the black areas behind your characters are to hide the rest of the map so try not to drag them. IF YOU DRAG THE BACKGROUND just click on the UNDO button at the top left, it's the 2nd button from the left under Edit.

crap i posted but might have gitten eaten by the web goblins...

I wish I knew more, but my education lies mainly in the healing arts and some arcane training... i have no pertinent knowledges unfortunately. if anyone needs any gear i have some money if its important...also can someone put me on the map...im on my phone until i fix my router later today...ty!

Nigel stops at a small alchemist shop on his way. Picks up a Alkali Flask after a few moments of trying to bargain the the shop keeper down and cursing him for only having one.

Buffoon of a merchant, only selling me one of this flasks! They are known to be like pour salt on a slug to oozes.

Shopping done, ready to go

Cork helps guide the group to the sewer entrance. Once inside his nose twitches slightly at the smell. "Well. Not the most pleasant place I've been." He grins at the others.

Seeing that the passage goes left, right, or straight, Cork asks for opinions on which passage they should take.

I thought the woman we are doing this for gave us directions to this vault. If not, my vote is for left towards the top of the map. .

Well, let's look at that paper she gave us...if the map isn't much help, I'm with Nigel

Velli wrinkles his nose as he steps into the sewer, "I should've bought some perfume to put under my nostrils to mask the smell. Oh well. Left is good as any direction if the map doesn't help."

Velli is a range attacker, so he will likely try to stay in the middle of the group. Avoid front line battle and being ambushed from behind.

A rusty, slime-encrusted steel ladder descends into the Korvosan sewers, whose tunnels stretch to the north, east, and south like roads in an underground city. Curtains of fungus and mold hang from the ceilings, which rise roughly ten feet above the tunnels’ walkways, which run along either side of the sewage channels. Occasional dim patches of light filter in from the streets above providing minimal illumination. Despite the sickening smell of decay, the tunnels are free of garbage, waste, and the other byproducts of Korvosan life.

The water in the center of the path is deep enough to require swim checks if you try to traverse in them. (So position yourselves on the sides.)

Sascha's notes say to go North from the ladder that takes you down into the sewers. As of the moment you entered the sewers, you don't seem to see anything around.

I don't think it's an actual map she gave you, or else I'd just reveal the whole area, but it seems to be more like just a list of directions, at least that's what it seems like from my side. It does say to tell you to go north so I'm guessing the "map" or letter is more like "When you enter the sewers, head North, turn this way, etc." just to clarify how her instructions work.

Rayquaza and Fantasticork we still need you to move your guys on to the map.

Nigel is disgusted by the smell of this area. Gods, this is awful. Let's head north first and follow her directions. Without a map, I would hate to get lost in this place. We must be careful though make sure you all watch were you step. We know some of the plants come alive down here and that oozes like to hide.

Jerb doesn't like the sound of the sewers at all. As they approach, he becomes noticeably more somber.

"Yes, north it is. I will stay behind you strong fellows!"

Yes. North. Shall we proceed?" Cork begins a slow and careful walk along the edge of the smelly water. He draws his cutlass and holds it at the ready.

Vello turns north and follows a few steps behind Cornelius, keeping an eye out for any trouble that might jump out at Cornelius' back.

Staying 5' (2 squares) behind Cornelius.

Just checking because I am unclear right now, is there something the GM is waiting for us to do, or are we waiting on the GM?

Two people still haven't moved on to the map yet so I was kind of waiting but I'm posting something now. Fantasticork posted but needs to move on the map, and Rayquaza hasn't posted or moved. Make sure you guys are staying active so we can try to move at a decent pace or I might have to drop you.

As you head north you see a large green plant looking thing with long barbed tentacle arms turning the corner. It spots you and opens its mouth, filled with sharp teeth as it lashes its long tentacles along the walls of the sewer, carving deep lines in the stone.

Okay, I am sorry if that post came of sassy. It wasn't meant to. I was meaning it to just ask if I was missing something. I didn't check the map (I don't normally until combat) so I didn't see that people weren't on the map. Is there any knowledge checks to we can make to identify this or is it combat time. In which case do we roll initiative? I would assume plant monsters don't speak so I would think combat. What do you want us to roll?

Nigel is started by the unexpected monster. Everyone on your toes we may have a problem on our hands.

Nigel readies himself to cast a spell.

Oh, just great....nice start to this mission... Goran gripes as he grips his blade a bit tighter and prepares for combat.

Don't worry I didn't take it sassy at all. I'll roll initiatives when combat starts but it turns out, combat hasn't started just yet. You can roll Knowledge Dungeoneering if you want to know more about this creature.

Umm hey Cork... You were really smart about what we would find down here. Would you happen to know anything about this... thing?

Sorry, I was unexpectedly away from my computer and phone for a while.

Rayquaza marches at the front of the group, his large nostril-slits trembling at the terrible stench of the sewers. He stops next to Cork, looking at the monster's flailing tentacles and gnashing maws.

"This looks bad. The Dragon's fists are prepared."

Spotting the creature, Vello tenses up. The air around him starts to get cold and fogs up a little bit. Velli holds his right hand out as the cold fog condenses into a gaseous sphere in his hand that forms small shards of ice. He looks at the creature in anticipation of it possibly attacking but holds his hand to see what the rest do.

Readies a Cold Blast.