GM Kate's Ruins of Azlant (closed) (Inactive)

Game Master Kate Baker

Cool, thanks!

Silt looks around the room to make sure everyone is in position, then slides off the panel.

Silt opens the panel, and a wave of the smell of rot and decay washes over him. Fortitude save from Silt, please. Inside the box is a curled-up body of a man.

Just then, the chalice on the table seems to hurl itself at Purpose.

attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22 for 1 point of damage

A voice calls out "Whyyyyyyyyyyyy? Rayland, whyyyyyyyyyyy?"

Suddenly, appearing out of nowhere, a ghostly, skeletal figure stares at all of you.

It is very spooky! Will saves all around, pleased.

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?"

This time, a ceremonial rod in the corner hurls itself at Cedar.
attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22 for 1 point of damage

The benches start to vibrate threateningly.

Not-so-friendly ghost
Cedar
Purpose
Toby
Silt

Ok, I don't want to hide this bit behind a knowledge check. This is a poltergeist, an incorporeal undead creature. You know that poltergeists are tied to a specific place, so if you don't think you can hurt it, running away is totally an option. DC 12 Knowledge (religion) for additional questions.

fort: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

To be fair, I doubt Silt has time for a heal check unless he made the fort save.

Immune to mind-affecting effects, so no Will save here (o'-')b

Purpose Creche is unfazed by the spirit's sudden appearance, nor does he show any signs of pain when the chalice cracks against the side of his head. The impact does, however, jolt him forward; he stumbles a step, his spiral pendant slips out from beneath his coat. Are we so different in the Lady's sight, I wonder?

He raises his voice over the unearthly wail and shaking pews, and the ringing sound suddenly building in Cedar and Sil'tchaak's ears.

He moves to the locathah. "It has lost its place in the cycle of souls. Only magic can affect its substance." When he taps the dark splinter against Sil'tchaak's speak, the ringing sound crests and disappears. "There." (+1 enhancement bonus on Silt's spear)

He lifts the wand and glowing sword, and turns to face the poltergeist. Will banishing you alter her view of me?

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21, defenses and any special ways it could get banished, please!
And I'm super glad I rolled high on that, otherwise I wouldn't have in-character justification for any of this stuff! I went out on a limb and assumed it had the standard incorporeal traits, and if that's the case I think we've got a good shot of taking it out—at least 3 of us now have ways to hurt it.

Will save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

"Ah! I knew something didn't smell right in here! C'mon, we gotta get out of here!" With growing panic in his eyes, Toby runs out the door and cowers outside.

Frightened 1/3

Will Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

"Hank, I call for your aid!" Cedar says. "Help us put this poor soul to rest!"

With a puff of air that smells like freedom and liberty, a celestial eagle appears!

"Skree!" Hank cries, as he attempts to smite the ghostly skeleton, but to no avail...

Smite alone apparently doesn't affect incorporeal creatures. So, Cedar will step up and cast magic fang the next round if he has a chance!

Silt feels no ill effects from the smell, and both Silt and Cedar stand strong against the terrifying sight.

Standard incorporeal traits. Natural invisibility (though as you just saw, they can drop that at will). When you destroy a poltergeist, it comes back after 2d4 days. You have to find out how to put his soul to rest to make him never come back.

Also, for some reason, I can't figure out how to make the image borders round :S

heal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

Silt hisses at the gruesome revelation. Knifed to death!

He pulls a tiny wooden replica of a fishing spear from his spell pouch and chants in Aquan. Finished, he drops it and pulls out a flask of holy water with his off hand.

Standard action: Cast True Strike; Move action: retrieve flask of holy water.

Cedar grimaces when he hears the cause of death and his mismatched eyes steel themselves.

Rayland

The bench next to Cedar upends itself, but he easily darts out of the way as it comes crashing down. FYI, the telekinesis is a supernatural ability, so no AoOs for using it.

bench attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Not-so-friendly ghost
Cedar
Purpose
Toby
Silt

Everybody up!

Is it still visible? If not, do we know which square it's in?

I'm pretty sure it's visible just east of the altar.

Purpose Creche ducks low behind the altar and shuffles past the desecrated statue of Old Deadeye. Focuses as he is on the floating apparition, he barely notices Toby run through the door.
The light of the Azlanti sword casts a ghostly green pall over his face, quickly overpowered by the glowing splinter he raises towards the poltergeist.

Ignite.

The light and heat burst from the dark wood in a garnet streak that pierces the creature's abdomen.

Energy ray: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 vs touch, for 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6 fire damage.

Cedar casts Magic Fang, steps up, and touches Hank.

”I’m sorry Felton, if that’s who you are. I know this wasn’t your fault.”

”Skree!” Hank claw, claw, bites, while smiting.

Talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15 damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2
Talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2
Beak: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Only the beak has Magic Fang though. I’m just posting all the attacks to be thorough.

Yes, he's still visible! He had to drop his invisibility to get the frighten effect. I'll remove his token from the board if he goes invisible again.

Purpose's blast of fire goes straight through the creature, somehow singing the ghostly skeleton! The celestial bird moves in, and while his claws move fruitlessly through him, his magically enhanced bite finds purchase.

I'm going with half damage on a spell attack from a corporeal source, but let me know if you think otherwise. Likewise for Hank's bite.

I just double checked — Silt doesn't have holy water! I usually buy a couple flasks on new characters but strangely didn't this time, probably because I wanted some underwater gear.

Back to sleep. +1 Club +4 w/True Strike: 1d20 + 5 + 20 ⇒ (17) + 5 + 20 = 42

Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

halved to 3 damage

Toby cries out, in a panicked voice "What are you doing?! Get out of there! Get away from that thing!" and continues to cower outside. It's my understanding that with the frightened condition you do not have to keep running once you're out of sight.

Frightened 2/3

The undead creature glides away, straight through one of the pews.

"WHYYYYYYYYY?"

The statue next to Purpose topples over.

statue attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

Not-so-friendly ghost -7 hp
Cedar
Purpose
Toby
Silt

Silt and Hank both have attacks of opportunity, and everyone is up!

Purpose Creche tracks the moaning being with the splinter as it drifts through the chapel.

Burn.

The heat from the ancient fragment builds in his hand, almost unbearable, before erupting as another searing jet of flame.
The splinter goes inert in a register that Purpose Creche long ago learned to hear.
Thank you.
He secures it in a coat pocket and grips the Azlanti sword with both hands.

Energy ray: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19 vs touch AC, for 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 fire damage.

And yep, 50% magical damage from a corporeal source looks right from my reading!

You hear an audible whine from outside.

Why aren't they listening? Why won't they run?

Toby glances at the door, then immediately looks away, unable to work up the courage to even look inside.

Frightened 3/3

With a piercing screech, Hank continues to attack!

Talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1
Talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15 damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Beak: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

But fails to connect!

5 foot and full attack

Cedar calls out, ”Can anyone use that longbow on the wall? I detected magical properties on it!”

Silt double moves around the pews, hoping to pen the thing in.

It can take an AOO if it can/wishes to.

He does not, but also Hank and Silt both got an attack of opportunity when he moved!

AOO +1 club +4: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Given an opportunity, Silt flails uselessly!

beak: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14 damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

The creature backs up into a bench. The bench across the aisle flings itself into Silt.

bench attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

He groans at the miss, and fades out of sight. Last known location is marked with a black square.

Not-so-friendly ghost -11 hp
Cedar
Purpose
Toby
Silt

Silt will move alongside the bench and swing in a fit of frustration.

+1 Grrrr: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Kate, you can roll the miss … if it's even in that square.

miss chance, low is a miss: 1d100 ⇒ 20

Silt swings forcefully, but without visual cues, he has trouble connecting.

Grrrr....dammit, you can't sit out here and cower while your friends are in there getting hurt! Quit being a scaredy-cat and get back in there!

Look out scary ghost, I'm comin' in!"

Toby psychs himself up to return to battle and charges around the corner ready to fire, only to find...nothing. He stops short and scans the room for any sign of the thing.

Toby was out of the room and thus didn't see the last location. Move action into to the room, standard action to ready an attack should he get some indication of where it is (even if it's still invisible).

"Toby, welcome back!" Cedar says. "I suspect it will appear again soon enough. In the meantime though, let's see if we can't do something about Felton's body here."

Cedar takes the body out of the wooden box and gently lays it out on the white sheet.

"The colony wasn't supposed to be like this..."

Kate does Cedar have enough actions for that? He's next to the box already.

Hank, without anything to attack, will do nothing this round. I don't think he can ready to attack, as Cedar has no way to communicate with him.

Yeah, that seems fine. As you lay out the body, you realize that the clothing looks more like a farmer's than like a priest's.

Oh! Plot twist!

Purpose Creche steps next to the altar, sheathes his sword, and puts one hand on the body.

"We must find a way to put his soul to reset. Maybe..."

He inspects the body and its possessions, hoping for signs on how they might banish the poltergeist. Mother of Souls, guide him back to your spiral.

Rolling things that seem like they might be appropriate:
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Heal: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

I may not have been descriptive enough. The creature is still there; he's just invisible.

The wailing continues. "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?"

Looks like speaking effectively negates the bonus to invisibility for a moving creature, so you're all able to track him by sound, although there is still no visible indication of his presence.

The bench under Hank suddenly thrusts upward toward the ceiling.

bench attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19 for 2 damage to Hank

Not-so-friendly ghost -11 hp
Cedar
Purpose
Toby
Silt

At the first sound from the creature, Toby wheels and fires, his blast going wide. Readied action going off, so technically after Silt in initiative now.

Hearing the wail, Toby tries to draw a bead on the invisible creature and fires again. "Get it! It's over there!"

kinetic blast, PBS: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 1 = 9
damage, PBS: 1d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 1 = 10
concealment, high hits: 1d100 ⇒ 85

Upon seeing the corpse is a farmer's, the red spines on Silt's forearms flare out; he swings his driftwood club in a blind fury.

can someone move silt to the appropriate square? On mobile and can't interact with the doc.

To defile those who'd feed them, the very seabed of their community -- the most of their own...!

Club +5: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
miss%, same as Kate did, low is bad: 1d100 ⇒ 96

Silt swings his club through the source of the wail, and something connects.

Silt, is there a reason you're not swinging your club with two hands for Strength-and-a-half damage? I don't see a shield in your gear.

Whoops, I thought it had phased out temporarily or somethin'

Purpose Creche's ministrations are prevented by the continued rattle and crash of flying pews and splintered wood. He moves to his allies, clustered around the unseen source of the commotion, and swing at the air.

Azlanti longsword: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13 for 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8 damage.
Concealment, high hits: 1d100 ⇒ 16

You're right, Kate — thanks! I got crossed up here because Silt was going to keep some holy water in his off hand. He would be using the club 2-handed otherwise! Can we add 2 damage (for 1 total, halved), to the above? If not, I will remember for next time.

You absolutely can! And with that...

The wailing ends. The furniture goes still. The poltergeist seems to be gone, at least for now.

Purpose, you now have time to examine the body at your leisure. Your observations agree with Cedar's: this looks more like a parishioner than a priest, particularly given that most farmers worship Erastil. You also notice the same cause of death that Silt spotted: multiple stab wounds. With the body laid out and time to search, there is new information: a crudely stitched monogram on the man's shirt pocket that reads "SW."

When the wailing ends, Cedar turns back the body.

"I think we need to give this poor farmer, whoever they may be, a proper burial." Cedar says. "Does anyone know how to do funerary rites?"

Purpose Creche shakes his head. "I understand Erastil's domain, but do not pay him particular respect. The farmer should be buried according Old Deadeye's ways."

He looks about the room: the pews in disarray, the damaged statue, the body laid out on what amounts to an altar. His companions, and Toby in particular. I understand his fear. But I don't know how to reassure him.

He goes back to consider the corpse, inspecting its wounds and belongings. When he discovers the monogramed initials, he traces them with a fibrous finger just hovering just barely above the stitching.

Still bent over the corpse, he speaks. His whispering voice drifts through the dust and odor of old flesh. "S. W. ... Is there a name in the charter that matches those initials?" He stands. "The copy of the 'Parables of Erastil' was burned, but Eamon Caranth should have one. It should contain funerary rites. The spirit will stay gone for a time—maybe we can settle his soul in the intervening period."

Purpose Creche stands perfectly still behind the altar and the body, staring (if he even does such a thing) into the middle distance. "The other pile of ash was 'On Government.' That lends further credence to a power struggle in the first wave." He shifts. "Excuse me. I was rambling."

With 1 rank in Knowledge (religion) and being a Pharasmin, would Purpose Creche perhaps know other funerary rites? He's not a priest, but there's some info her holy text on burial practices.

It makes sense that you could do a reasonable burial for followers of major deities.

"I....I'm sorry I ran away" Toby says, quietly, avoiding eye contact. "I don't know what came over me."

Silt takes a few deep breaths to calm himself, then glances around the room for any other evidence of what went on here. Running may be better for all, after all. Wise? Maybe. He gestures despondently at the corpse. This sad farmer, he comes back to ask endless stupid questions, throwing furniture forever, unless we can put him to rest.

Silt takes a ratty cheese cloth out of his bag and empties its contents in his hand; there are two magical red raspberries left among a handful of mundane ones. These strange pods seem like poison but can heal bruises, Cedar. Toby, perhaps they can also clear your mind. Here, have some. He holds out his colorfully webbed hands; a single berry in one, a dozen in the other.

We know the bow is magic — anything else in the other altar or in the room, now that we can search? May be worth taking 20 on a search either before or after we bury the farmer — something Silt will gladly do. There were tools in A4 — is there a cemetery?

Cedar pops the berry in his mouth with a nod of appreciation.

"It's been a challenging day," he says. "But we're working together and getting through it." He claps Toby on the shoulder, smiling.

How are we doing time-wise? Is there time in the day to bury the body and still explore?

The bow is the only magic item. There is nothing else of interest beyond what I've already described. No cemetery that you've spotted, though you can certainly find a suitable location for a grave. It's definitely into evening now, and starting to get dark. Your use of time is up to you.

Also, oh my god, I'm giving everyone's characters existential crises!