GMG's PbP: Quest for Perfection Table B (Tier 1-2) (Inactive)

Game Master Magabeus

The Pathfinder Society has turned its attention to the Ruby Phoenix Tournament—a world-renowned fighting competition, held once every ten years in the city of Goka on the eastern continent of Tian Xia. More specifically, the Decemvirate is interested in the incredible prizes available to the tournament’s winner—a choice of treasure from the legendary vaults of Hao Jin, the Ruby Phoenix herself. As part of the preparations for the tournament, Pathfinder Society agents have been deployed across the Inner Sea and beyond to seek out forgotten lore, allies, and magical items to be used by the Society’s tournament representatives.

Venture-Captain Amara Li, leader of the Lantern Lodge and Goka native, has uncovered information about one such item hidden amid the reaches of the Wall of Heaven—an Iroran relic known as the Braid of a Hundred Masters. Organizing the search from her base in the Dragon Empires, she intends to send a group of Pathfinders to the high mountain range in search of the braid’s ancient home: the Clouded Path Monastery.

The two-week-long journey to the mountains began in the cosmopolitan city of Goka, passed through the surrounding villages and farmlands, and led thousands of feet up into the tallest mountain range on Golarion; all that remains is the final day’s journey up from the base camp.

Obviously the pathfinders have prepared well for this journey and consulted with several people about what you might expect.

You can make a Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (local) and /or Diplomacy check to see what you know. If you are untrained in the knowledge then let me know.
Please introduce yourself in character to each other

Korug, new to the Pathfinder Society, was recently recruited after a brawl in a tavern where he left two other half-orcs and an orc on the verge of death. A tall lanky elf had witnessed the whole thing, from the insult to Korug about being "too human", to the tattoos covering his body that began to glow as he savagely beat his hecklers. Korug towered over the slim elf as he approached him in the street, offering an opportunity to provide some muscle to the Society, and maybe learn about his latent powers. He had explained to the elf how he was born of a human father who had raped his half-orc mother, and how she was too ashamed to keep him and handed him over to an orc shaman. The orc shaman had performed magical experiments on him, branding him from head to toe with ritual tattoos. Until one day when Korug snapped and flew into a rage, killing the shaman and escaping.

And now Korug finds himself with a group of unknown adventurers, on top of a mountain, searching for some Iroran relic. But what he really searches for is a way to control the power he know he has inside himself.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Zobmaggle smiles toothily at the agents he has already intoduced himself to.

"Zobmaggle Ronk is ready to find secret treasure with real Pathfinder agents!"

Zobmaggle not know anything about this land. Only travel from Irrisen to Absalom. Zobmaggle did see books with nice maps once...

Knowledge Geography: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18 ... untrained

"Well hello cuties", Folium greets the agents with a wink.

He is a lean, young man with long blond hair and a constant smirk on his face. His bow is slung around his shoulders, and several quivers full of arrows are hanging from his belt. He is playing with one of the arrows, swirling it in his fingers, and occasionally making it disappear into his sleeve.

"I am looking forward to discover some secrets with such charming group of people."

Knowledge(local): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Likewise, and greetings to you all

Modekai offers a polite nod to each present. His arms are crossed and his face conveys no emotion but his nervous excitement is given away by the rapid tapping of his fingers.

Mister Ronk, are you saying you are not a real Pathfinder?

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Geography: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Korug always seems to be keeping an eye on Zobmaggle, not trusting other orcs because of his past.

This one seems very different than others of my kind. Does not seem to know or care about the old ways. I might actually enjoy this ones company.

A tall, stern yet welcoming human is present with the group. He is dressed head to toe in white, with traces of gold embroidery on the hems--nothing too ostentatious, he likely couldn't afford good thick gold embroidery. But despite the simple adornment, his outfit still gives an air of impregnability. Thick white leather gloves, sturdy boots, high collared tunic clasped tight around his neck and held in place by a hardy tabard and apron. He is always friendly and willing to talk, but still seemingly unapproachable in his outfit.

Looking around at the group, he begins, "The name is Aurum Geld. This is the first time I've been to Tian Xia. I can only imagine what an enterprising team of dwarves would find in mountains of this size! It sounds like we're all in good company, and ready to look for that secret treasure!" He nods in acknowledgement towards Zobmaggle and Folium.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Know (local): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

A slight figure in dark grey armor, with a veil covering his face and dark cloak wrapped about him adds in a distinctly non-halfling voice,"

I have studied Tien, the language of Tian Xia. I will be able to translate should we have the need.

Forgive me, I am called Kivuli. I look forward to forming a loyal cooperative with you all so we may see much success.

Mister Ronk, are you saying you are not a real Pathfinder?

"Zobmaggle real Pathfinder, too.

His excitement is obvious as he holds up a wand of cure light wounds.

Yea, I spent some time picking rice in Wanshou. Some years to be honest, I kind of messed up and got enslaved there. So I can speak tien. Some good from that at least, Folium mutters back, bitterly.

Standard marching order: (just spitballing here, i haven't looked closely at your characters)

1 Korug
2 Zobmaggle
3 Folium
4 ...

1 Korug
2 Zobmaggle
3 Kivuli
4 Folium
5 Modekai
6 Aurum

This should work out.

I am good going second or third. Need to be close for combat, and I am a bit slow (curse these darkly adorable legs!)

"Zobmaggle real Pathfinder, too.
See? Dark Archives give important magic wand to Zobmaggle!"

His excitement is obvious as he holds up a wand of cure light wounds.

indeed, I'm sure your story in particular is an interesting one, but for now, perhaps we all should discuss the mission at hand.

I was selected to join you at something of the last minute and my research time was limited. What do we know about the monastery and this Braid we're looking for?

I'm fine wherever. So long as I can reach people for healing and buffs, and still get a little action besides.

Before you left Goka and on your way to the base camp Zobmaggle shared what he knows about the Wall of Heaven:

The Wall of Heaven —the tallest and longest mountain range on Golarion— creates a formidable barrier, separating Tian Xia from the west, save for a natural gap located near the city of Goka.

Likewise Kivuli knows quite a few things about the Clouded Path Monastery:

Nobody has seen the monks of the Clouded Path Monastery in years. In the past, the monastery often sent a small group of them to the mountain’s base camp to trade for the goods the monks could not produce for
themselves in the harsh mountain environment.

A demon of ice and snow made flesh, called Shang Xu by locals, prowls the mountains. Since the monks disappeared, it has come down to raid the farms and villages on several occasions.

The “demon” is not a demon at all, but rather a raving yeti that has established its territory well below the icy altitudes in which its kind normally hunt. With increasing regularity, the beast has attacked travelers in the low mountains and even settlements high in the foothills of Clouded Path Monastery’s peak.

At the evening you arrive at the base camp. The camp site, only a few hundred feet above the forest line that covers the lower reaches of the Wall of Heaven, offers a panoramic view of the surrounding farmlands,
far below. The half-flooded terraced farmlands appear silver and mirrored in the late afternoon light. The camp itself is little more than a trio of unmaintained wooden shacks surrounding the remnants of a large firepit and a fallen wooden corral fence to the east.

You have been led here by two guides, Xue Ho and Hai Xuan, who are
locals from the farming villages below. The two are experienced mountaineers and are familiar with this stretch of the Wall of Heaven. The two men, both well under 6 feet in height, have lean frames and skin
prematurely aged through exposure to the mountain winds. The pair, though only capable of broken Common, have proven to be friendly and knowledgeable guides. They point to the area ahead of you and say "This rest place for dark"

You can place your icon on the map and describe what you are doing

We should be very wary of this snow beast. No one should leave solitarily, take a companion beyond these stones. I will watch for his coming.
I have placed myself on the map. I am concerned about this yeti, so I will try to keep an eye out for it while trying to keep myself well hidden.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Stealth: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34

I am good going second or third. Need to be close for combat, and I am a bit slow (curse these darkly adorable legs!)

Zob wears light armor, so If you want to go ahead of him-- that's fine, Zob can get to the action fast enough. Though I tend to think of him as a tank, he's not really a better "tank" or "heavy" than most of you until he drinks his mutagen. We might put him in the rear to take ambushes and get the cleric closer to the middle.

"Yay! Zobmaggle miss the snow in Absalom. Lot of snow where Zombaggle grow up."

Zombaggle begins to cook supper. If asked he will explain that Cooking is a sub-branch of the Art of Alchemy.

Korug stays near the middle of the camp near the fire, trying to stay warm under his cloak.

"If I knew I would have to deal with this cold, I may have thought twice about joining this Society. I've always wanted to explore new lands but maybe I was better off in a warm tavern with plenty of mead flowing."

He turns towards the guides, "How much further to this Monastery?"

Modekai stows his gear, bemoaning his haste in packing and lack of climbing equipment beyond a hempen rope. Shrugging his shoulders, he approaches Korug and Zobmaggle near the fire and sniffs the pseudo orc's concoction any good? before sitting down.

well aren't you full of surprises? what's for supper?

Folium tosses his gear into a tent, and lies down, resting. He picks some of the greener grass leaves around the tent and feeds them to a rabbit that has been following the team.

"Oh, this is Boole, he's my sneak bunny. I can sense when he's in trouble, so I send him ahead to sneak around."

well aren't you full of surprises? what's for supper?

" Zobmaggle make stew of goat meat and beans." In spite of his efforts it isn't any better or worse that the average trail meal.

"Zobmaggle make chit-chat. How you become Pathfinder?"

"Mainly just a healthy sense of exploration and searching for treasure. I'm a merchant by trade. I'm always on the lookout for new sources and new markets. How about yourself?"

" Zobmaggle make stew of goat meat and beans." In spite of his efforts it isn't any better or worse that the average trail meal.

"Zobmaggle make chit-chat. How you become Pathfinder?"

He picks up an errant branch and stokes the fire.

The usual way, I suppose. I met a field agent in some tavern or another. We had both traveled extensively and were discussing the merits and flaws of various ports of call. It came up that my devotion and connection to the philosophical ideals of Travel and Knowledge were such that I had been granted divine powers equal to those of a gifted priest. It was him who suggested I make the trip to Absalom and wrote my letter of introduction.

I would like to learn more about this new collective I have joined, but I cannot fail them. I must maintain my position.<stomach grumbles> I will resist the temptation to leave my post. Though the aroma from the pot beckons me, I fear it may serve to call forth the "ice demon".

... and where has the little gray man gone, he disappeared about the same time Aurum's rabbit showed up?
He looks around and raises an eyebrow speculatively.

Aurum shakes his head. "That's not my rabbit, that's Folium's rabbit, Boole. Lovely little guy, isn't he?"

Aurum continues standing at attention, with a relaxed smile on his face.

my mistake. But still...

Folium is lying down, using his bag as a pillow.

"Yes, it is my friend. Go, Boole, look if they have something nice for you."

The rabbit hops to meet the other pathfinders, snuggles against them and sniffs around if any of them has tasty treats.

Modekai plucks a long blade of grass from the ground next to him and offers it to Boole while he strokes the rabbit's back and scratches its ears with his other hand.

Do you know where Mister Greyfeather has gone?

perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

"Little grey man say he watch... but Zobmaggle not see him.

Zobmaggle offers the rabbit some leftovers from his cooking.

"Little gray man" Is that how they see me? Do they not realize that it is my darkness fading? My kind have no color. The shade of our skin is relative to the ties of The Dark from our creation. Many of my kind carry this as a corruption, as an excuse to forget the clan-bond of family, to do harm. That is not me, everyday my soul moves to darklessness. I know not if I will live to be the "little 'white' man", but on this day, in this place, I continue to be a light in the dark. You cannot have a shadow in pure darkness, my life is to be the candle of hope to guide the others.

"Does little rabbit fight? Does he have big, sharp teeth?"

Perhaps we should take this down-time and talk about tactics and what our characters do in battle.

I see Zobmaggle, as a melee striker with a few tricks up his sleeves. He can use a mutagen and/or enlarge person extract to increase his strength for a limited time, which i'll try to save for important fights.

He has a few bombs for crowds and swarms, and will usually leave one extract slot unassigned for utility purposes.

Zobmaggle also might have mentioned that he has a wand of CLW. I'm happy to use it to keep people in the fight, when the situation calls for it. Though sometimes it is smarter to just spend my turn trying to kill the monster.

My plan will be to try and sneak up or get into flank. Not very shocking for a rogue, but what are ya gonna do? I have a few Alchemist's Fire for swarms and a Wand on Infernal Healing should the need arise, perhaps as a buff before a combat so it will act as fast healing/auto stabalize.

Trying to play Kivuli as new to 'society', not just new to the Pathfinders. This may make for awkward interactions or misreading intent of others (not to screw anyone, and probably not in combat). This may make him come off as anti-social, but he really wants to be accepted by the Pathfinders and views them as his family.

Korug is pretty straightforward since Bloodragers don't get much til lvl 4, he's basically just a barbarian at this stage. He does use a reach weapon so he can control the battlefield a bit more.

My guy's a pretty standard cleric. I chose the domains of Travel for the sake of mobility and Knowledge for the sake of well knowing stuff. He's good for spot healing and for buffing the party as he gets stronger of course. Normally I'd have taken the scribe scroll feat and started churning them out early to improve his versatility. Obviously that option's not available here, and we may wish to pool resources for the sake of collecting a variety of scrolls and wands. Otherwise he's an adequate melee character. Also note he has relatively low charisma, so don't expect him to take out swaths of undead on his own

"No, but he can watch the rear and run to warn if someone comes. Pretty fast, those feet."

There's not much variance available for archers at this level. Stay back and shoot arrows. I bought him a wand of infernal healing, but that is more for off-combat healing. His wizard spells give a tiny bit of boost, but nothing fancy.

Right now, Aurum is more of a drop-Bless-and-stay-back support character.

While you are preparing for dinner and investigating the area Aurum suddenly notices a cat crawling on it's belly towards him! At the same time Folium's arcane senses also warn him that something is going on.

Initiative - surprise round
People above the first - - - can act = Aurum
Aurum - surprise round!
- - -
Cat - surprise round!
- - -
Folium - surprise round!
Start Regular Round
Modekai
Aurum
- - -
Cat
- - -
Korug
Zobmaggle
Kivuli
Modekai
Folium

Aurum snaps to attention. "There will be a cat. Look sharp. See the possibilities."

The party's attention focuses suddenly, cleansed of extraneous detail.

5' step towards the rest of the party, and casting bless.

"Look out Boole!" Zombaggle shouts, clearly only concerned for the rabbit.

Just flavor. I don't expect it to have any effect.

Been checking in all weekend. Looks like I will not be going for a while.

pending the outcome of the surprise round, even if it draws an AOO
double move action: Modekai stands and draws his mace

Posting the surprise round action, as I cannot see why the action would be different after the cat acts

Folium notices the cat, just as it comes, and draws out his bow.

"Boole, hide!"

The rabbit darts into the nearest bush.

Aurum casts a spell and moves back to the fire, the rather large cat leaps forward, attacking it's nearest target which happens to be Aurum. The creature tries to bite the oracle and lashes out with it's four paws, only hitting once! Folium yells to his pet rabbit and draws his bow.

Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Claw: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Damage: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Claw: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Damage: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Rake: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Damage: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Rake: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Damage: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Initiative - regular round
Bless active! +1 to attack rolls
Modekai
Aurum - 3 damage
- - -
Cat
- - -
Korug
Zobmaggle
Kivuli
Modekai
Folium

wait a minute... when I hear "cat" without any qualification, i think "Felis domesticus". Is this something else, or some magical weirdness is going on-- or is the legendary "a cat can kill a commoner" extra true in PF?

Large cat, as in young snow leopard... Sorry for the confusion caused

Large cat, as in young snow leopard... Sorry for the confusion caused

No harm. I haven't wasted a turn giving it warm milk or anything. The battle map image makes it clear.

"BAD KITTY!" the alchemist shouts. He rushes around it, but his axe does not come free easily, so he snaps at it with his mouth full of oversided teeth.

Bite (primary): 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 1 = 12
damage): 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

EDIT-- sorry, i missunderstood the initiative list. Not my turn yet, but I'll leave it up incase it is valid.