GM Lari's Wounded Wisp (Gameday IV) (Inactive)

Game Master Dhenn

First Steps Part 1: In Service to Lore

Fresh off your induction into the Society, and the completion of your basic training within the organization, you find yourselves in the office of Ambrus Valsin, the Venture-Captain in charge of daily operations in and around Absaolm's Grand Lodge.

A number of other agents are seated in the office with you, waiting for Valsin to arrive.

We aren't starting just yet, but you're welcome to post here with either an IC introduction or a simple "dot".

"Well, hello there. Who all are you lot?"

Wailan shifts position, crossing his legs over one arm of his chair and fiddles with a scrap of paper.

Hello!

Dot?

Dravil shuffled in his seat, looking down at the papers in his hand. They were rules and regulations of the Society. Most was understandable, yet some required more application in the field to see what some of the text actually meant.

"You may call me Artix, Dravil Artix."

Before you is the ugliest tiefling you've ever seen. He's large, muscular, covered in scars, with huge tusks, ram-like horns, and a tail that won't stop moving. He wears scale mail armor and carries a greatsword, both of which are somewhat dented, as if from excessive use. He eyes the other Pathfinders in the room, occasionally growling if someone looks back at him for too long.

"Pleased to meet you, Artix"

Wailan continues folding and unfolding the scrap of paper in his hands. Occasionally tearing off small pieces and letting them drift to the floor.
He steals a few furtive glances toward the tiefling before deciding he'd rather spare himself and pretend it wasn't there.

The tiefling looks back and forth between Wailan and Artix, eyeing the papers they're both carrying.

"Why you both have papers? Is half-elf thing? Venture-Captain Valsin say Molos should come here, but nothing about paper. Have blank paper in backpack for write down adventure. Explore, report, cooperate, as they say. But nothing written yet."

He pauses for a second, then gives a look of recognition, as if remembering something.

"Guess Molos should introduce self. I called Molos. Molos Pinktusk. I grow up in orc nation, Hold of Belkzen. Orcs call family Pinktusk, cause we have pink skin like human, big tusk like orc."

"You think Valsin send us to exotic land? Molos want to try new foods all over world. That why I join Pathfinders."

"Nothing just rules, some regulations and reports."

He leaned back in his chair, Well that's is the Society for you in a nutshell. Now where is Valsin at?

Can I make a Perc check?

"Mmm... Pleasure."

Wailan examines Molos briefly before returning to his idling.

You're welcome to make Perception checks whenever you want (pretty much any skill check really). In the case of surprise rounds and things like that I'll roll for you.

Drivel looked around the room, for a moment, glancing around at others and the room they were in. Something was nagging on him but he didn't know what it was.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

"Hmmm... We early for meeting. While wait for venture-captain, think Molos should go buy better armor? Saving money for full plate, but maybe buy breastplate for now. Better than beat up scale mail."

The tiefling also unsheathes his greatsword and examines it.

"This sword seen better days, too. Maybe ask favor from Venture-Captain Valsin, get Molos masterwork greatsword."

Molos has 2 chronicles from earlier adventures, so I have 900 gp and 2 prestige points to spare. Saving up 1650 for mw full plate will take two more scenarios. So it might be worth it to spend the 200 gp on a breastplate now, and sell it back for 100 later, just to have that extra +1 AC for this and my next adventure. And spending my 2 prestige to get a masterwork great sword would let me get that +1 on hit rolls 3 adventures sooner than waiting to save up the cash.

"Don't expect us to wait around for you."

I personally wouldn't bother with the breastplate, your AC is pretty high already. The masterwork greatsword is pretty nice to have, though.

Dravil hears the booming laugh of Marcos Farabellus echoing down the hallway,

"So Ambrus, you'll never believe what happened next..." The Master of Swords goes into a story about a gunslinging Pathfinder in the Almas lodge, who made a spelling error and accidentally requisitioned a crate of Bulettes. You know that once he gets going on his stories, it seems like he can talk for days.

Or until the others are ready...

If you like, you can assume any shopping already happened, or you can shop after the briefing, or do a bit of both. Your choice.

Dravil sighed, more stories from that damn man would drive even a deaf man insane. He checked his coat pocket for any spare pieces of jerky to pass the time but found none.

"So who are you all signing with?"

The tiefling wanders out, and you hear him yell to Venture-Captain Valsin in the hall. You hear him asking the venture-captain for a favor, and realize he must be loyal to the Grand Lodge, not any of the smaller factions within the Pathfinder Society.

Right after Molos has left the room, small man with a viper around his neck slips into the room. He is wearing fancy clothes that would fit for merchant at a bazaar. His disproportionately huge crooked nose and wide teethy grin along with white featureless eyes might seem unnerving to some, but those with more worldly knowledge among you recognize that these puppet like features could only belong to a wayang. He lets out low raspy chuckle and tips his hat politely.

"Please excuse me for being late. I had a..." wayang takes a pause to pet viper around his neck "...busy day with my patron." as the wayang speaks you notice only right side of his face seems to move, left side of the face has apparently the twisted smile stuck on it. In fact you might notice that his right hand is asymmetrical as well with it having elongated and twisted hook like fingers compared to left hand.

"I am called Raharjo and this is my little business partner Ular. It is excellent to meet you."

Hooboy, I hope I did that right X-x; I also need to find wayang avatar for Raharjo... BTW, is it alright to have just single name alias? Anyway, I hope I didn't fail the character xD I imagine him being kinda like a creepy curio shop type of merchant. And his asymmetry being kinda like half broken marionette.

Is the following way too much? New to this whole thing.

A man who is clearly a Taldan noble with very expensive tastes enters the room. He is wearing clothing more fitting to an elegant party than to a business meeting. In an easy to remove baldric is a rapier and he also has a couple of visible daggers. Amongst his several pieces of jewelry a holy symbol of Ioemedae can be seen.

He speaks in a Taldan accent. Which, in my mind, is pretty much an upper class British accent

Good day gentlemen. It is nice to make your acquaintance. I am called Shallya. I was fortunate enough to recently acquire some quite satisfactory cigars. Would any of you wish one?

If any of you take a cigar and know quality, they aren't bad. But they are NOT of a quality you'd expect from a man so well dressed

I understand that we are to be working together this day. Perhaps it would behoove us to share a little of our backstories and our abilities. I am from the northern portion of Taldor and have the honour to be the second son of a house that has fallen onto somewhat difficult times. As a result, I have to make my own way in the world. While I am skilled with this sword my real strengths lie in my ability to interact socially with others, regardless of their status in society

At this point, his posture and accent dramatically shifts and his clothes change to that of a lower class workman

Oi, times are I needs to get somewheres I ain't supposd to be. Got several ways of doin just dat

At this point, his posture and accent returns to his original and his clothing now is that of a noble wandering around town

My powers of disguise are formidable, especially if I am given but a moment. It is unlikely that you will recognize me. It is probably best if we establish a phrase by which you know me. How about if the person uses the word "anchovies" in a sentence you will know that it is me.

"Okay.... you both seem fun. We got a snake person and some magical actor of disguise. You probably passed the walking fortress, and ya have us."Artix laughed.

"Fun people all-around."

Wayang images are hard to come across. You might have to get creative.

At Molos' call, Valsin makes his goodbyes to the Master of Swords,

"Excuse me, Marcos. Can't keep these young'uns waiting forever."

As he walks back down the hall, you see him mouth a relieved thank you, before briskly walking into the office and slips behind his desk, his manner immediately businesslike.

"All right, Pathfinders! Listen up. I know you are new recruits eager to make names for yourselves in the organization, but first we need to make sure you are up to snuff and won’t get yourself killed out there. I have a number of small assignments for you and your team, and it would be best if you could finish them before the day’s end."

With scarcely a pause for breath, he continues, “Every day we get some doe-eyed hopeful or some sniveling bootlicker willing to do anything to join up with the Pathfinders. Most of them are good kids, but not all of them have the salt to make it in a world like this. It’s rough out there and I’m not just talking about the ruins, tombs, and wilderness Pathfinders find themselves in on missions. We’ve got people who look down their noses at us, folks who think we squander our resources, and agents who want to take everything we have collected.

This wealth of knowledge and these items of lore make us the most powerful organization on the planet. That said, since we are fractured and widespread, it’s difficult for that power to light on anything for too long. For every friend of the Society, there are two enemies.

Your first mission, to test your mettle and loyalties, sends you to meet a few people important to the Society living here in Absalom. These are other venture captains or close allies of our organization, so follow their orders as you would mine. I’ve prepared a list of things I want you to do. They’re not arranged in any particular order of importance, but I want them all completed as quickly as possible. Only report to me once you complete them all. Included in this envelope the list, complete with the name of your contact, and directions to the meeting location.”

He produces an envelope, and offers it to whoever takes it first.

Going to give TigerClaw a chance to check in before we get too far, but you can start to figure out where you'd like to go first. The contents of the note are linked at the top of the page. Let me know if you have any trouble accessing it, as I'll be using a similar setup for maps.

Wailan reaches for the envelope, suddenly eager for the chance to meet and hopefully impress some powerful people in the Pathfinder Society.

"Let's see what we've got here."

He opens the envelope and strides toward the door.

"Do a favor for merchant, deliver medicine to orphans, ahh... official business with an Osirian noble, and retrieve an item from Paracountess Dralneen. Where should we start?"

Raharjo strokes his mustache and says "All of these tasks involve making a contact with powerful people which will definitely be useful for our career.. Well, I haven't heard of this merchant, but I assume he is interesting contact to have as well. And gaining a favor with merchants would definitely be useful for my business.. But I don't really care about which task we will complete first as long we don't tarry too long. Time is valuable after all." he finishes with another chuckle.

Molos follows Valsin into the room wearing new chain mail, with a nicer greatsword sheathed on his belt. Surprisingly, he's looking at an open book as he walks in, and barely pays attention as the venture-captain gives the group their assignment.

As Wailan heads for the door, Molos looks up from his book.

"Huh? Where we going? Sorry, was distracted looking through new cookbook I buy while getting better armor and sword."

"Let's start at the very top and meet with that merchant. Just go from top to bottom on the list." Dravil stood up, putting his armored coat on and strapping his axe to his back.

He looks to the Teifling, "We just got our orders, time to move out."

"It makes very little difference to me what order we do the tasks in. Unless anybody objects, I'd agree with Sir Artix that we should just start at the top. "

"Very well. Let's get going."

"We have four task. No matter to me what order we tackle. What merchant we go meet?"

"What are you waiting for, then? Get going!" Valsin says as he shoos you out of his office.

You make your way through the Foreign Quarter, where the diversity of the City at the Center of the World is on full display, as you pass restaurants serving exotic dishes from every corner of Golarion, stores selling clothing of every type imaginable, and buildings ranging in style from traditional Minkaian to Neo-Jistkan Revival to Taldan Baroque.

Making your way towards The Docks, the atmosphere becomes decidedly more dismal. Barred windows are more frequent, and vibrant street performers are replaced by beggars and drunks. You soon find your way to The Pickled Imp, a run down little building virtually indistinguishable from its neighbors.

This creepy shop contains myriad odds and ends, most bereft of any discernible use. A number of malformed creatures and creature parts bob in jars on a long, prominent shelf, a tiny fetal devil centered in this macabre lineup. The shopkeeper, a greasy-haired Varisian with a thin mustache, shouts from behind the cluttered counter:

"Ah yes, I see the Pathfinders have arrived. I’m glad Ambrus was able to lend a few of his new recruits to help me. Please come in and let me tell you what I need.”

Looking around as if to be absolutely certain no customers are browsing the aisles of knock-off Thuvian burial urns or supposed Azlanti porcelain, he begins again.

“Well met. I am Guaril Karela. A friend of mine has a warehouse near here and he received a parcel on behalf of me and some of my associates, but there’s a problem. See, Master Gelbane had to leave town in a hurry and our shipment is still waiting at his warehouse. Rumor is he ended up in trouble with the law and the place was seized. I heard tell from someone down at the docks that some creep was snooping around his warehouse just the other night, so I want to make sure nothing of mine was taken. He keeps all kinds of things, from beer to nails, in that old pelican, but every now and then he stores something really special.

Most people don’t realize what they have and frankly many don’t deserve to have it, so sometimes we help take the goods off their hands. If things work out well and you get this done, I’d be glad to talk with you more and help you out with any future endeavors, as long as you help me out too. I’m good at returning favors, trust me.”

Dravil looked around the store as he followed the merchant in. Scratching his head as he listened to Guaril, "What of security? The place was seized, and is there any details on the supposed creep?"

"Big crate, three crow in triangle. Ok, we get books and paper for you. You have key to warehouse?"

Molos picks up the jar with the fetal devil floating in liquid, and holds it up to show Guaril.

"How you serve this? In cream sauce?" He thinks for a second. "Maybe go good on toast." Molos unscrews the lid and sniffs it.

"Sir Artix, I'd be quite surprised if there is any security at an abandoned warehouse."

I then attempt to pass a secret message to Guaril letting him know that he should go along with me to fool the silly paladin. If I can take 10, that is a bluff of 22. If not, then its bluff: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Shallya heads over to Guaril, speaking as he does :

"As the appointed executor of the warehouse, I'm sure that you have the key. If you'd give it to me I'd appreciate it"

Raharjo whistles as he looks around the shop. This is right type of shop for his tastes. He eyes Molos and his devil fetus jar and laughs little "You have fine tastes indeed."

Well, time to get to the business. "Now now, I wouldn't be surprised if nobody left in the city has a key to that warehouse. I'm sure authorities have more important things to care about than one abandoned warehouse and I'm sure that his friend with legal problems won't be returning so he doesn't have any need for spare keys left around. Let's just go and get what belongs to our friend here."

Ular hisses at this point. "Ah, that right my friend." He turns to Karela "Would you kindly give us directions to the warehouse?"

Artix was annoyed, "Excuse me for making sure we don't walk into some sort of trouble with the law. I don't feel like explaining that to the Society right off the bat."

"No, no. You are quite right, Artix. If there is a key, we should use it.

"But if not, well... we shall engage in a bit of creative problem solving."

"Ah, I'm going to ask you not to eat the namesake, thank you very much." Guaril says, moving to gently take the jar from Molos' hands. Especially as I'm sure that will somehow offend both the Asmodeans and the Iomedaeans, and that's more trouble than I need. No offense, he adds, glancing at Dravil.

I'm sure you can find a nice little snack down at the warehouse." He moves behind the counter and starts searching through some drawers.

"My associate down by the docks didn't get a good look at the guy, but he had the demeanor of a guy casing the joint. Unattended property doesn't stay that way for long around here."

Finally retrieving an old brass key from a drawer, he presses it into Shallya's hands.

"Well, Old Tom did leave me a spare key ages ago. Of course, he may have changed the locks since then. In that case, I'm sure enterprising folks like yourselves can work out a solution" He says with a wink to Wailan.

"Oh, I not want to eat now. Just want to learn for future. Molos train to become chef", he declares proudly.

"For warehouse, if key not work, you no mind if break door? Molos have crowbar, if need."

"We'll take the keys then just in case. If they work, we'll be sure to return them to you," He looks to Molos, "Molos, why don't you hold on to them."

He really didn't like being in the store. It was sort of cramped with everyone in here, and objects in the room creeped him out in a way. He gave a small prayer to Iomedae to himself, while trying not to knock over the item on the shelf with the end of his axe.

"Don't worry. I'm confident that the keys will get us in and we won't have to resort to anything quite so crude as a crowbar"

He turns to Molos

"So, you want to be a Chef do you? What are your current specialties?"

And then turns to Artix

"My apologies if I upset you. I assure you that none of us want any trouble with the law"

He doesn't make any move to hand the keys over to Molos, acting as if he didn't even hear Artix's suggestion.

Molos responds to Dravil's suggestion that he hold the key.

"Shallya have key. Molos have crowbar, just in case." He gives a toothy grin, apparently enjoying Dravil's discomfort at the suggestion, as he pulls out his crowbar and holds it up for all to see. Those who are nearby probably notice that it's made of cold iron.

"Anyway, even if key work, will need crowbar to open crate. Better to have tool and not need than not have when need. 'A prepared Pathfinder is a good Pathfinder'", he quotes one of Ambrus Valsin's favorite sayings.

I think that I don't really want to know what Mr. Pinktusk likes to eat

"Indeed, I'm glad you came prepared, Molos."

"We'll have those books to you promptly, Guaril."

Wailan looks eager to leave. Preferably before anyone asks the tiefling anything more about his cooking.

Dravil didn't like Molos's answer and Shallaya's apology, but decided not to pursue. They had to start moving towards their task and time was of the essence, quickly making his way to the exit.

"Alright then, lets get this over with."

"That's right, better safe then sorry. Now get going! Time is money!" Guaril says as he moves you towards the front door.

He gives you quick directions to the correct dock, and sends you back out into the dockside streets.

It doesn't look like TigerClaw will be joining us. I'm rounding up a replacement now.

Also, if anyone wants to do anything for faction cards, let me know and we can work that in.

"You lot there. Stop!"
Turning, you see a Chelish Knight with the sigil of House Dralneen hurriedly chasing down the street after you.
"Here is your sixth.
Don't stare at me like that. Valsin's orders...
and my lady's."

Turning, he steps aside and reveals a small, pale girl wearing little more than a smock.

"Greetings to you," Daravil says to the new arrival. He gives a slight bow and looks toward the girl, "Now who must you be?"

He keeps an eye to the crowd of drunkards making their exit from the nearby bar for a moment, before training it on the new arrival.

The girls cocks her head to one side, then looks up and down at herself, and points to the middle of her chest.
Confused, she looks at the knight beside her with an imploring look.
"Come on, child," he says, "no games today."

"Cara! Cara Cara...Cara!.. cara..."
The child looks sheepishly at her feet and tugs nervously at her smock.

"Very good. Verrry good! Let's be havin' ye, then! Off you go!"
The knight rolls his eyes, fixes you with a stare and says,
"Good luck with this one. No idea what Her Nibs wants with this one, but I'd ask you to look after her little poppet."

"Welcome little one. We're headed to the Docks. Would you like to see a dolphin?"

Wailan gestures for the girl to join the group and starts heading toward the dock in question.

Molos eyes the new arrival.

"You Pathfinder?" he asks the child, incredulously, then shakes his head. "They starting younger these days. Too small to be warrior. Must have serious magic power, yes?"

"BEEEE a dolphin!"
Cara pantomimes a breaststroke gesture and falls in behind the adventurers.
"MEEE BEEE Pathfinder!"
Cara removes a compass from her pack and starts pretending to follow a trail while sniffing like a dog.

"uh, nice to meet you Cara."

I haven't a clue what is going on but there is no way a child her age is a Pathfinder. Probably is some demented devil or something masquerading as a child. Damned Chelish and their devil masters. Going to have to watch it closely .

Shallya drops a little behind the others, allowing them to get ahead of him.