GM Lari's Labyrinth of Hungry Ghosts (Core) (Inactive)

Game Master Dhenn

Thorn eyes Imiri and Jair, curious as to what information their attempts produce, "This has a dodgy scent. We better not be walking through a pillory hole here."

Dunkel pulls out his shovel, giving the others a knowing look.

"Ah'm gonna start diggin' right? Ye think a simple 3x3x3'd be enough if we contort 'im up? Ah'm sure 'td be dandy!"

Dunkel sinks his shovel into the ground while whistling and working to overhear the how the questioning progresses.

Jair, my understanding is that unconscious targets are only automatically willing for harmless spells (so that your unconscious ally doesn't resist being cured or teleported, etc.). Rather unsurprisingly, there seems to be table variation on the question. I didn't give him the +5 for being threatened or attacked, though.

The staff is a +1 quarterstaff, the potion is a potion of invisibility, and the scroll greater magic weapon. This is a pretty lightly armored party, so I don't think anyone will end up wearing the breastplate, but it's just a +1 breastplate. VC Tolal can ID that if it ends up making a difference.

Will: 1d20 + 3 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 5 = 15 This time he fails, though.

The man's face softens. Though he's speaking more softly, his voice still sounds strangely deep.

"Why is your friend shouting at me? And why aren't your other friends speaking Common?"

Doubtful will just gather up all the unconscious thugs into a neat pile, while Jair grills the Razmiran.

He'll also pocket a smokestick.

I wouldn't say no to the breastplate - It will bump Amiri's AC by 2.

OK. Any questions for him, now that he's cooperating, or for the others?

sorry long week-end

For the Living God sake ! Why did you ambush us my friend ? Are you working with elves or an varisian man ?
We are looking for them as they tries to uses the Church for their own twisted purpose...

Will take 10 for bluff and diplomacy for a 20 and 17 respectively (+1 if he could be attracted to Jair)

"if we were to politely ask your boss a question and compliment him on your work here.... where would we go?"

-Posted with Wayfinder

"No elves that I've seen, but a Varisian and his half-orc companion were my first points of contact here. They left and a woman in charge. How she manages to continually be covered in dirt is a mystery to me."

He pauses for a moment, continuing,

"We've always met in different spots outside the city, sometimes to the north, sometimes to the south, sometimes along the river. We never use names. I do not know why the all-powerful Razmir wishes to deal with these rude and impious heathens, but I guarantee that you are mistaken. Razmir, in his infinite wisdom, will use these scum for his own purposes, which are beyond the comprehension of mortals like you and I"

"I've eaten my fill of the mess. Let's get back and prepare for our uncle coming to dinner."

Jair turns toward her companions and says A woman ? That's new right ?
We have two days before Uncle's arrival, it could be of use to continue asking question during this time about this woman.

Going back to the Razmiran she asks him Could you describe me that filthy wench ?

Dunkel keeps his arms crossed and leans on his shovel alongside the partially dug grave.

He leans over conspiratorially to Doubtful.

"Ah heard tha' Livin' God was jess a mortal like th' rest o' us... so th' good news is ah dun think we need t' worry about bein' struck down by an angry deity t'day.."

"She dresses in tattier rags than most of these peasants, smells like she sleeps in a barn, and I doubt she's ever cut her nails. Once these people adopt the faith, they'll be able to dress themselves in silk and mink."

He shoots Dunkel an angry glare.

If anyone else has questions, now's the time. Otherwise, you can head back to the lodge and rest for the night.

Thorn makes eye contact with everyone once, then heads back and falls asleep quickly, despite having just ended a man with two pieces of quick blade work.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Imrana diligently writes down everything that the Razmiran says, word for word, humming to herself and occasionally pausing to count something or make a comment to herself about some completely unrelated subject.

"What skills might this dirty woman have in combat? For example, does she carry weapons, and if so what, and/or perhaps a spell component pouch or holy symbol?"

no more question for Jair

My friend, I'm sure you know that the Gray Master is behind the Living God ? Pray Him in the night, pray Him in the dark and He will answer you.
I give you His blessing.

Tries to convince him to follow Norgorber :P

"Had a few bags and such, but didn't carry any weapons far as I could see."

Opposed Charisma Jair: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
Opposed Charisma Razmir: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
"I will look into this Grey Master you speak of."

Any final questions can happen as flashbacks.

-------------

With that done, you return to Ashfall Lodge for a night of rest. Oriah and Reginar have a large breakfast prepared when you wake, a mix of local produce, cheeses, and freshly baked bread.

Halfway through the meal, a bell rings, and the venture-captain steps outside for a moment, returning with Guaril Karela. He takes a seat, quickly re-applies a bit of wax to his moustache, and begins to speak,

"I heard you had a bit of an altercation last night, my friends. I hope that means you've uncovered some information, for my investigation was only partially successful."

He butters some toast as he continues, "My sources tell me that the filthy weasels stealing my cargo are hiding in an abandoned fort. Which fort, they could not say. I would have learned more, but some men…well...they cannot tolerate pain, eh? Sadly for us, the Nirmathi abandoned many forts after the last Molthuni invasion. I was hoping you'd be able to figure out where their base might be."

He'll be delighted to see the map Imrana found, as it narrows down the places you'll have to search.

Fast forwarding a bit. Technically you still have two more days in Tamran, so if you'd like to do anything else here, feel free. Shopping and Faction Card targets seem like the most likely options. When you're ready, Guaril has secured transportation, ready to take you to whichever fort you want to investigate.

Rock on!

Once everyone shares their information, Thorn makes a mental note to find that fat man in the marketplace. Once yed, Thorn approaches, "Hey my friend. I hear you've left the family. Look, I know things haven't been nice since you opened up your trade to other purveyors. Come back to the fold. The Exchange is growing ever powerful, and can take care of their own..."
Merchant DC 20: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

Back at the lodge...

Thorn walks in, happy with wandering the area, making contacts, and what not. He sits down, and of all things, starts reading a book on economics. If approached he simply says, "I'm ready when you guys are."

Have we narrowed down a target destination yet?
Went back over what we have... and there are reports of north in the swamps (Faelon and Machema?), and up river to the west (Ursoss and Dreja?). But not much to narrow it down further.

We're also still missing one Varisian, a half-orc, and elf, and the dirty lady (some sort of druid?)

Don't seem to be up north as it was the Razimran priest who was there.
Their operation is on the river, so I suggest the forts on the south. Which one, I have no idea.

Says Jair.

"Ursoss looks wetter, which also fits the clues. Let's start there."

Dunkel returns from his morning shopping with a few new shovels and pickaxes.

"Ah've brought some more diggin' gear jess in case we need ta' dig below th' fort!"

The dwarf follows the logic and gives everyone a smile and nod, adding his vote to Thorn's deduction.

"Ah agree, t' Ursoss!"

Thorn makes Gilligam an offer he can't refuse. "Karela will take me back after all this? Of course I'll move his product once it starts coming through again! Thank you! Thank you!"

A bold move towards ensuring Guaril's continued control of the Tamran drug scene. Hooray!

Once you're all ready, Guaril leads you to a small riverboat he's hired to take you to Ursoss. You disembark a short distance from the ruin, and proceed through the marshy terrain on foot. Soon, a ruined stone structure appears in the distance. About 300 feet from your destination, Guaril suddenly seems distracted, wandering a short distance from you as he speaks.

"You know, many of these old forts had secret escape tunnels. Wouldn't want to get captured by the Whispering Tyrant, after all. Most likely you'd end up turned into something foul and deciding to snack on your old comrades." He punctuates this statement with a stomp. His heel clangs on something metal. Clearing away some brush and dirt reveals a heavy iron hatch, with no apparent means of opening. Guaril continues,

"Perhaps you lot should try the direct approach. I'll stay here and make sure nobody slips away while you're attacking"

It's possible, though quite hard, to get through here and into the fort that way if you wish. Otherwise, you'll approach to ruins directly. The below assumes that you follow Guaril's advice.

Scorch marks mar the stones of this dilapidated keep. Vegetation hangs loosely from holes in the partially collapsed ceiling, and the floor is sunken and cracked in several places. A charred wooden door lies on the ground in front of an archway leading west. To the north, a stone trap door peeks out from behind a pile of rubble. Which you wouldn't see yet, but is marked with a T.

Two translucent figures drift around the ruins. Both are dressed in some sort of military uniform.

Figures have different icons/colors to better distinguish them, though they look very similar to one another. This map is a bit awkward (I added the filp mat to give more space to work with), but it should do OK. We're not necessarily in combat yet, but it seems likely that we will be soon, so I've rolled initiative. I expect the next few days will be busy for many of us, so posting will likely be slow.

I know I'll be spotty for a few days. But thank you GM and good call.

Thorn nods and agrees to what ever the party wants, so long as he gets to sneak in stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

-Posted with Wayfinder

Imrana stops completely as she spots the spectral figures in the ruins, drawing her wand of magic missile.

Imrana keeps her voice low. "There are some manner of translucent creatures ahead, maybe some kind of undead?"

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11

As Imrana Jair looks at the translucent figures, trying to recognize what it is.

knowledge: 1d20 ⇒ 12 +9 religion, +3 local, +7 planes

This is the next day right? From the encounter with the Razmiri fellow.

"Doesn't matter which way we go." Doubtful sighs gloomily as the choice is decided.

When they finally come in sight of the ruins, he doesn't look happy.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

"Those look worse than mosquitoes." He adds, clearly wishing they'd taken the secret way all the sudden.

He suddenly starts doing his best not to get noticed, as he eyes the surroundings warily.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

He also tries to use his wand of mage armor, waving it around cursing quietly to himself until a small puff of smoke comes out of it, and it stops even pretending to work.

10d20 ⇒ (10, 5, 2, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8, 8, 1) = 80

With a surly frown, he gets Imrana to use it on him instead... whereupon it works immediately.

Dunkel grumbles as nobody seems keen to avoid the ghosts and instead dig their way below the ruins.

He grabs his own wand with stubby, dirty fingers and taps himself with it as they approach.

Mage armor.

Dunkel looks at Doubtful as his kin asks Imrana for aid using his wand, shrugging as he tucks his own back into his belt.

I'm pretty much back from the holidays (with the exception of a PFS game day IRL on the 30th. Meanwhile I've added an arrow showing Thorn's stealth (check was a 26).

I'll be back to my normal rate by Wednesday, but around at least a bit until then.

Doubtful, I assume the full minute of waving around the wand and cursing happens before your stealth check? And yes, you've had the chance to rest and such.

Imrana, Dunkel, and Jair recognize that these ghosts appear to be wearing the uniforms of soldiers in the Shining Crusade, the great war against the Whispering Tyrant. Jair knows that ghosts are incorporeal undead. They have a wide variety of abilities, often thematic to who they were in life or how they died.

@GM Lari did these ghost have more HD than Jair ?

Jaïr asks Imrana and Dunkel.

Did one of you could cast message to be able to communicate stealthily ? I could also casts invisibility on one of you to increase our chance to follows Thorn and Doubtful.

I have also a scroll of hide from undead

Jair will uses another charge of her wand of disguise self to appear as a varisian woman.

Disguise: 1d20 + 1 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 1 + 10 = 21 then store it back and draw her wand of bless

Assuming Imrana or Dunkel casts message or accept Jair's invisibility spell.

Jaïr tries to keep up with Doubtful and Thorn and moves as stealthy as possible towards the ghost.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Thorn will hang out until everyone catches up.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Imrana bows her head.

"That is very kind of you to offer an invisibility spell. I must confess I did not prepare Message today. I would happily accept your invisibility, though, with my apologies."

She pauses, holds a finger up in a request to wait, then quickly roots through her scrolls, finally producing one.

"Ah, yes! I have a scroll of invisibility as well that we could use."

Amiri really can't stealth, so she will wait for the others to get into position, and then charge in.

Dunkel, lacking any heavy armor, does his best to hold his breath and silence his ordinarily heavy dwarven breathing.

As several of the Pathfinders silently glide through the forest, Dunkel begins trudging forward, heavy boots snapping branches with every step. One of the spectral figures turns its head directly in the dwarf's direction.

They're both more or less identically dressed, though blue appears to be female. Green is the one who seemed to notice.

With this, we're entering proper initiative (treating your stealth as a surprise round). Doubtful and Imrana are up

I 100% understand. That's why I did the arrows.

Do they seem translucent even this close?

Sorry, still kinda on holidays, forgot to check! =)
No one managed a knowledge roll? Are we where we are on the map, or were we able to make any forward progress before the jig was up?

@GM Lari : I've proposed to cast invisibility on Dunkel or Imrana. Imrana has a scroll ready, so I could cast it on Dunkel

Dunkel trotted off without invisibility. I've decided to go with at least at this juncture, he's opposed to illusion magic more than just mechanically... he just doesn't like any spell from that school.

Dunkel looks down at the snapped twig and grumbles a bit.

"Could'a dug up n' under 'em quiet..."

Swinging his arms in a gesture at the camp, he shares his observations at regular volume.

"Ain't somethin' right 'bout them! Them ghosts ain't wearin' th' right clothes fer how old they're s'posed t'be!"

Spellcraft to identify a spell that would allow someone to appear like a ghost that isn't? A bunch of vile Aspis with ghostly disguise??

Spellcraft or Arcana (both +6): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Dunkel grumbles something else under his beard about magic...

Imrana will just take the invisibility from Jair and save her own scroll if Dunkel is not using it.

Imrana bows to Jair as she accepts the spell.

"Thank you very much, kind friend."

Imrana sneaks forward, having practiced movement while invisible many times under the tutelage of the Great Nex.

Stealth (invisibility while moving): 1d20 + 2 + 20 ⇒ (18) + 2 + 20 = 40

As she moves into position around a couple of tree stumps, she hears Dunkel's rather unsubtle skepticism and begins questioning the ghosts herself.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Doubtful, you didn't make a lot of progress thanks to a combination of moving half speed and Dunkel not exactly being subtle. Jair knew a bit about ghosts (though the particulars of these were hard to determine), and Dunkel turned out to be that guy in your RPG group who knows all the minute details of historical military uniforms.

Well crap... too far away to do much of anything but move. so...

Doubtful moves quickly forward, ducking behind a tree.

"Shoulda took the underground passage." He mutters.

"Probably just be more leeches down there." He adds.

Still trying to be stealthy, but moving a bit quickly now... so not so much

Fast Stealth: 1d20 + 6 - 5 ⇒ (11) + 6 - 5 = 12

Spellcraft (what has she cast): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Jair moves, letting go of her stealth and concentrate to channel negative energy to control undead.
May secret be revealed, or undeath be controled

Channel Negative Energy (Command Undead DC12) against blue

Jair, I moved you. Going to treat that wall as low enough for line of effect.

As far as Jair can tell, the green figure didn't cast any sort of spell. At the very least, there were no obvious somatic or verbal components.

Her negative energy doesn't seem to have any effect on the ghost. As she ponders this, she watches the translucent aura fade away, revealing an unarmored elven man in its place.

So far Jair's the only one seeing him as a living elf, though if Jair shares this information, you can all get a save to disbelieve with a +4 bonus.

J: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Then I guess we are waiting patiently for Jair to say something ;-)

Dunkel continues to rumble ahead with the delicacy of a yak in heat in a Tien china shop. (Double move)

Assuming Jair shares..

"Wha's tha about th' elf, now?"

Will: 1d20 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 5 + 4 = 25

Illusion ! They are not ghost but mere elf ! Without armor, some arcanist I suppose !

Says Jair seeing the illusion fades away after her channel.

Spellcraft DC 17 identifies as flaming sphere

After doing so, two men, dressed in the uniforms of Red Kestrels, come out from behind the wreckage, loosing arrows at Dunkel and Jair, both of which strike true despite the intervening rubble.

6 damage to Jair, 11 to Dunkel (7 fire, 4 piercing)