GM Leinathan's Jade Regent (Inactive)

Game Master leinathan

Clara is relieved when they manage to make it to the door undetected. She drinks two fizzy drinks in close succession. The first turns her skin a neon yellow color, makes her skin look tougher, and makes her seem a bit twitchy. The second makes her ears and eyes double in size.

With a "Buuuurp!" she wipes her sleeve on her chin and grins. "OK, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I'm happy to bomb them before folks charge in. Heck, if I do it right after Tallak makes it quiet in there, my fizzy pop won't even raise an alarm."

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Drink Mutagen + Heightened Awareness extracts. Both have 50 minute duration.

I will take one of the initial spots as well. I'm quite tanky.

Vashta stands back as the others prepare to enter, though she's ready to move up and support them as best she can.

Calder readies his axe and joins those making the charge. Best stay with us Saadru, stay with Shalelu and watch our rear. I'm getting sick of people being kidnapped the moment our backs turn!"

Sandru nods to Calder before pulling aside the door suddenly. What is revealed beyond is a kitchen, with four people inside chopping, stewing, or cutting. They appear to be the same sorts of people that have been assaulting you - greasy thugs.

Tallak calls upon his ancestors to dampen the sound in the room while Calder and Ursus charge into the room, and Clara flings a bomb.

Calder (FE, PA): 1d20 + 12 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 12 + 2 - 2 = 14 Damage: 1d12 + 9 + 2 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 2 + 6 = 26
Ursus: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24 Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
Clara: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19 Damage: 3d6 + 4 ⇒ (6, 2, 4) + 4 = 16

Three of the four people die pretty immediately, and Shalelu hits the fourth with a pair of arrows, sending him sprawling silently to the ground.

Shalelu (RS, PBS): 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 11 - 2 + 1 = 17 Damage (PBS): 1d8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 1 = 7
Shalelu (RS, PBS): 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 11 - 2 + 1 = 30 Damage (PBS): 1d8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 2 + 1 = 11

It doesn't seem like anybody's noticed what happened. There is one door which exits from the kitchen, to the north.

Tallak looks to the others, namely Shalelu, and points to her, then to his eyes, then to the door. He clearly trusts her keen elven vision more than his own.

Clara listens at the door, and checks it it's locked.

Perception+heightened: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 9 + 2 = 27

Shalelu goes in with Clara to the door and puts her long, pointy ears up against the door.

Shalelu Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

Both Clara and Shalelu are satisfied that nothing lies immediately beyond the door. It is not locked.

Clara opens the door and peeks out.

Tracking:
Mutagen 50 min
Heightened Awareness 50 min
Bombs 10/11

It opens into what appears to be a maintenance closet. It's a very cramped hallway absolutely full of various mundane tools like shovels, mops, buckets, and other random things. There are three doors that exit from this hallway - one heading north to the left, one heading north to the right, and one heading east to the right.

Following the others, Vashta enters the building, looking around. She shakes her head sadly at the bodies, but can tell her companions aren't in any mood for other solutions.

"If no one has any better thoughts, dears," she says, "shall we try this one?"

She points to the eastern door.

I assume Clara and Shalelu will listen first, but if they don't hear anything to make us pick otherwise, one's as good as the next.

Only the door to the left has any sounds coming from it. They are the sounds of rowdy conversation and play from several people, speaking in Skald. They appear to be playing hneftafl.

Door open towards us or away?

In this hallway, all towards you.

Based on the way the door is made, could we by chance use some of these mops/shovels to quietly barricade this door so that they'd have a hard time getting out?

Sure!

Tallak holds a finger to his lips, then points to the various tools in the hallway. As they are handed to him, he places them quietly within the door so that they will wedge the door shut fast the moment anyone tries to exit the room with the loud jubilations. He then moves to the eastern door Vashta suggested.

And open it? It's not locked.

You said we heard nothing...so sure.

This room has been hewn from the rock of the crag, and a wooden stair rises along the walls to the north. Tables and workbenches fill the chamber, holding all manner of alembics, crucibles, burners, and assorted tools, as well as a large glass case holding what appears to be a humanoid body. A variety of dried herbs and plants dangle in profusion from hooks on the bottoms of the stairs, and sacks and chests holding additional equipment and components have been shoved underneath the stairs. A torch mounted on one of the stair posts illuminates the chamber with a flickering glow.

"OOooooh" Clara coos, and she starts to sift through the room, looking for anything of alchemical interest (at least for as long as her comrades will let her before they remind her that they're on a mission).

Per: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 9 + 2 = 22

Even a cursory search of a minute or two turns up a few useful things in this room:

First of all, the room is a fully stocked alchemical lab, and has spell components for many spells all around the room. It's over 100 pounds of random spell things, but it would probably be valuable to the right merchant...

In addition, Clara finds a bag of malyass root, which she could use to make malyass root paste, a magic ring, a vial of stone salve, and a box with six gold ingots inside.

Throughout her search, Clara scoops various components and reagents into her bag and several empty vials, muttering, "Ahh, this could come in handy. And this!..."

When she's done Clara happily narrates her discoveries, "This is malyass root. When prepared just right, it makes a paste that can deaden reflexes and dull agility. This here vial has stone salve in it. We could use it to take someone who's been turned to stone and bring them back to flesh, or use it to make someone's skin stony and very hard to hurt for a couple hours. Looks like enough to use twice. Oh, and some gold and a magic ring. Anyone have any idea what it does?

"The ring, I mean. I know what the gold does!"

Sorry, forgot to specify - the malyass root is enough to make five doses of root paste.

"Hmm, let me see, dear," Vashta says.

The pretty Varisian frowns after studying it for nearly half a minute.

"I'm afraid it's beyond me... That salve sounds useful, though. It could well keep dear Calder or Tallak safe."

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Another thing I should specify - the staircase in this room goes both up and down. I just saw the lower levels on the map, and I was like, how do you get down there? and had to scan through all the room descriptions to double-check.

Clara nods. "Yes. It's a pretty cool salve. I guess I could give the ring a look myself, now that I've finished sifting through all the fizzy drink supplies."

Clara looks the ring over, and then gives it a lick. "Aha! This is a ring of Counterspells. If you cast a spell into it, and then someone tries to cast that spell on you, it fails. Once, and then again after the next spell you cast into it. You kinda need to know a lot about what's coming your way, but I guess if you do it could be handy.

"Now shall we head up? Or down?"

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

Can we tell from having seen the keep from the outside, how many levels to expect up? Or down for that matter?

You are currently on the ground level of the keep's tower. It looked like there were two or three levels above you, but you cannot tell how many might be below you.

"Dungeons are usually down, aren't they? If we want to see if anyone else is being held, that could be where to look. But everyone else is probably up."

I just realized I'm not 100 percent sure what our goal is here.

I'm sorry, Vashta! Here, let me explain:

The party has been hounded by this mercantile guild, the Rimerunners, ever since they were in the Land of the Linnorm Kings. This is the Rimerunners' base, where Ameiko was being taken after being kidnapped.

I guess the goal is to end the Rimerunners as a threat to you, which probably means killing Thorborg Silverskorr, the shadowy leader of the guild who's behind all of the attacks on the PCs' caravan, and Goti Runecaster, the guild's chief enforcer.

Secondary goal: Investigate why these attacks have been happening.

Tertiary goal: Find the intelligent katana Suishen, stolen from a contact's house and brought to this castle. The katana is an ancestral possession of Ameiko's family, and probably has some answers about the foes that she might have to eventually face.

"So, the leaders will most likely be in the upper levels. Prisoners down below if they follow tradition. I vote for cutting off the head while we still have surprise."

Calder votes for going up and taking out the leaders first.

I'm back home and posting daily. Thanks for your patience.

"Agreed. The prisoners, if there, shouldn't be going anywhere. Let us finish this plague on our lands so that we do not need worry about it on our journey," Tallak's tone turns somewhat melancholy as he finishes his statement, but only a moment as the old rage of Asvig, the loss of his son, and the trouble these Rimerunners have caused him returns, as he ushers Ursus up the stairs, following directly behind.

Clara nods and pads up the stairs behind the Ulfen and the bear.

The group proceeds up the stairs, Tallak and Ursus in the lead with Shalelu taking up the rear. The stairs loop up and around once, and then come to a little landing. There's just a cloakroom (with nothing in it but hay and tanned hides) on this landing, and then the stairs continue up.

One more level up and there's a door which is unlocked. With no reason to delay, Tallak throws the door open to reveal a small multi-room complex. Over to the left is a room filled with cages, that has a wide balcony. A few ravens flit to and fro on perches set up for them.

Ahead is what appears to be an office or war room, with a big wood table in the center covered in maps and various detritus. Standing about the room, battleaxes held in casual positions, are four Rimerunners thugs. Standing at the table is a giant green man with a pickaxe holstered at his belt. He looks up as the group barges into the room and scowls. "Security must be slacking," he says. "Well?"

"What have you got for me?" he asks, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

Vashta looks the man up and down Swift action, hypnotic stare on greenie; -2 to Will saves and attack rolls as she waits to see if any of her new companions recognize him or intend anything other than violence.

Sorry, I really want to push more here, but I think Vashta would still take a back seat at this point until she feels more a member of the group. That said, if others want to parlay, she'll be happy to pick up the thread and put her powers of persuasion to the test. This could be a good area to try to find out the location of our goals.

Remembering Matin and Irissa's stories of the half-troll sorcerer, Clara's eyes go wide. Her finger twitches slightly as she stands ready to huck a bomb in Goti's face.

Clara is no diplomat, though she'll hesitate long enough for others to try conversing with Goti. Otherwise, I'm all for a bomb to the face. Speaking of which, leinathan, is there space in this area to hit Goti with a stink bomb without smoking out our frontliners?

This tower room is only 20 feet to a side, so... not really, no.

I'll update the map soon.

EDIT: Map updated with lil' tower-top map.

I'm not sure Vashta would be in the front at this point in a room that small (she's not likely to push past Calder here. So I guess ignore the stare in that last post, unfortunately).

"Oh, right, we came to give you this!" Clara hollers and hucks a fizzy drink at Goti's face.

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Fire bomb+mutagen vs touch: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 2 = 18
Damage: 3d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 3, 4) + 4 = 12

Tracking:
Bombs 9/11

Thug Reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Clara hucks a bomb, searing both Goti and one of his guards - the whole group leaps into combat, with Goti sneering in a very displeasing way.

I'm not sure why I thought there wouldn't be combat XD I'm rolling for initiative. Vashta comes up first.

Tallak snarls and says one word to Ursus, in Skald.

"Attack"

The bear growls and steps up, lashing out with fang and claw!

Bear: 5' step onto the square with the C21 on it, and Full Attacks. Focusing on upper left one until it drops, then to the one below that square.
Bear Bite: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Bear Claw 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Bear Claw 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Tallak: Charge into square below Calder, attack Ulfen left of that.
Tallak Attack, Charge: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Damage, if Hit: 1d6 + 3 + 2d6 ⇒ (5) + 3 + (1, 1) = 10

I had wrote this up before Initiative roll was made...so...ya...um...I guess just insert this into my action slot when the time comes?

Assuming I can see into the room...

"Swords again, then? Watch your feet, everyone," she suggests lightly.

A moment later, a slick sheen covers the floor of under the green man and one of the others in the room.

Swift action, hypnotic stare on the green man; -2 to Will saves and attack rolls
Standard: Cast grease (DC 14) on the green man and the figure to his northeast.

I moved you to a spot where you can see Goti - unfortunately, standing on a staircase below a room doesn't allow you to see where he is.

Vashta dashes up the stairs and into the room, casting a spell to summon a veritable torrent of slippery sludge. One of the thugs falls prey to her spell, falling to the ground, while Goti stubbornly keeps his feet.

Goti Reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Thug Reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

He growls, summoning his magic. "Intruders!" he bellows, before his word choice turns to arcane formulae. The ground drops out from under Calder, Tallak, Ursus and Clara's feet, leaving it its place nothing but a pit, thirty feet deep, filled to the brim with spikes.

Calder Reflex: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12 Damage: 3d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 6) + (5, 1) = 17
Tallak Reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 Damage: 3d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 6) + (2, 2) = 18
Ursus Reflex: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Clara Reflex: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Calder and Tallak fall into the pit, getting cut and sliced by spikes on the way down and again upon impact on the bottom, while Ursus and Clara manage to scramble out of the way - Clara down the stairs, and Ursus into the room.

Ursus roars and tears into one of the warriors with claws and teeth, and that Rimerunners thug falls to the ground, dead, while Tallak finds himself prone at the bottom of a pit...

Goti smirks with self-satisfaction, and the wounds from Clara's opening bomb begin to heal.

I took Ursus' action, but I think I need a new one from Tallak. The rest of the party is up as well.

It is a DC 20 Climb check (as a move action) to climb in the pit, and each check deals 1d6 damage to you and moves you 1/4 of your speed.

Tallak grumbles as he gets to his feet. He says a prayer to the spirits of the land, and a spear appears at the top of the pit. It stabs at the Ulfen there, but fails to connect.
__________
Move: Stand.
Standard: Cast Spiritual Weapon and it attacks.
Spiritual Weapon Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Calder growls with rage and gets to his feet. Looking up he comes to a decision, looping his hands he readies to boost Tallak out of the pit first.

What do I need to roll to give Tallak enough to reach the lip of the pit? Str 18 should let me lift him. Clader has the climb skill so can get up by himself next.

Into Calder's looped hands drops a familiar looking fizzy drink. "Drink this, Calder. We can pull Tallak up on a minute but in the meantime his spells work from down there; your sword not so much!"

Pass levitation infusion down to Calder

Tallak nods, "Go. I will ask our ancestors to bolster you from here. This troll actually provided me a relatively safe haven to work the magic of the land."

Glug glug.

Calder nods and drinks the fizz.

Clara drops a fizzy drink down into the spiked pit for Calder to catch, which he does and then drinks. The ground around the pit is slippery, though, and Clara is in danger of falling into the pit as well..

Clara Reflex (circumstance): 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 9 + 2 = 21

Fortunately, she keeps her feet and steps upright.

Tallak summons a protective weapon wielded by one of his ancestors and it strikes at the prone thug, though the thug's armor just barely manages to deflect it.

The thug on the ground attempts to stand, but Ursus is ready and lashes out with a bite against him.

Ursus Bite: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10 Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

He rips quite a bit of flesh out of the leg of the man, though the man isn't down quite yet... He stands unsteadily and he draws his axe, weakly battering at Ursus.

Thug vs. Ursus (critical): 1d20 + 5 - 3 ⇒ (7) + 5 - 3 = 9

He doesn't even lunge far enough to come close to hitting Ursus, and the other two thugs draw handaxes and hurl them at Vashta.

Thug vs. Vashta: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Thug vs. Vashta: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18 Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

One of the axes strikes a glancing blow on Vashta, though it doesn't wound her enough for anything terrible to happen.

Shalelu stays back, quoting that they left enemies behind them and that there is no room to fight, while Sandru gathers his courage, dashes forward, and attempts to leap over the spiked pit to Vashta's side, using the opposing walls in the staircase to brace and get additional speed.

Sandru Acrobatics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

He leaps high and fast, wall-running for part of the journey, and he lands in a stagger next to Vashta, shifting over to her right, sword at the ready. He grins at her roguishly.

Round 2 is up, Vashta is next!

Sorry, should have said that I'd activate my mesmeric mirror if I were attacked; will do so on the next attack.

Vashta winces as the axe slashes across her thigh, though the pain seems to go away as she watches Sandru cross the pit, her heart leaping for a moment.

Damn, he really is prettier than I remembered...

"Careful, sweetie, that step's a doozy!" she warns him as she steps away from the pit. Resorting to her favorite spell in such situations, she closes her eyes for a moment, conveying the resulting darkness to the green man.

5-tt. step to southwest; maintain stare on green man.
Cast blindness (DC 15 Fort save) on green man