GM Lorenzo's #2–11: The Penumbral Accords (Tier 4-5) PbP Gameday VI Session II (Inactive)

Game Master Lawrence Smith 2

Splintered Spear at Red into Melee: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 6 - 4 = 16
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
It has bleed 1 if it hits

Myrd throws another splinter at the fetchling that he can easily see

Our flight out of Dublin left late, so we missed our connecting flight. Spending the night at a nice hotel near Heathrow, courtesy of British Airways.

Myrd hurls another supernatural splintered spear, this time at the red-eyed fetchling. Striking the creature in its shadowy gluteus maximus, it shatters, and the jagged splinters leave gaping, bleeding wounds. She screams in pain and hatred, "You will all suffer for slaying my brother. We won't kill you. We'll add you to our slave pens, worms."

Map

Round 2
Bold may act.

Red Fetchling (-6; Bleed 1)
Green Fetchling
---
Gweld the White Owl
Myrd Sharpclaw
---
Yellow Fetchling
---
Zavubak
Tera
Honey
Ptehp

Zavubak, Honey & Tera, and Ptehp, you're up!

Tera will move and attack in the closest manner

Patk Bite flank: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 2 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Trip if hit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Honey will move, and if Tera didn't trip Honey will Imp Trip

Imp Trip: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

if tripped, Honey will strike

Scythe: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Damage: 2d4 + 7 ⇒ (1, 2) + 7 = 10

Tera combat-lopes over to the red-eyed fetchling, sinks her jaws into her bony ankle and trips her.

Honey moves in and swings her scythe, mowing down the fetchling. A dark pool of blood expands from her eviscerated, unconscious body.

The green-tongued fetchling snarls in anguish at the cruel murder of his siblings.

Map

Round 2
Bold may act.

Red Fetchling
Green Fetchling
---
Gweld the White Owl
Myrd Sharpclaw
---
Yellow Fetchling
---
Zavubak
Tera
Honey
Ptehp

Zavubak and Ptehp, you're up!

"If you wish for this to end, drop your weapons and throw up your white flag," Zavubak commands. "Otherwise... Well, this." Zav begins raging and swipes at the remaining fletchling with both claws.

Claw: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 191d6 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Claw: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 101d6 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Zavubak rips furrows of deep gashes across the chest of the green-tongued fetchling.

The creature drops his longsword and holds up his empty hands. His grief at the loss he has suffered is palpable. "What will my life cost me, death-dealers? What price would you exact from this simple mercenary?"

End of combat. Victory is yours.

In the quiet that follows, you hear sounds from behind the two doors in the north wall of the room. From the northwestern door, you hear a low whining and rumbling growl. From the northeastern door, you hear the faint sound of sobbing and whimpering.

What's next? You have a prisoner before you, and something awaits you beyond each of the two closed doors.

After a bloody mist settles, Gweld wipes the fetchling's blood off the blade.

"It is a wise course of action, my friend, you should have started with that question. You can start by telling us your name, and the name of your comrade so I could contemplate his unnecessary death each morning for the rest of my life."

Gweld hides the blade into the sheath on his back.

"After that, you will need to give us some more answers. What's behind these doors? Where are the Blakros daughters? I am sure we'll have a lot of questions, so you might as well just try and tell us everything you know. I am sure that my companions and I, as Pathfinders, can guarantee you an honorable treatment until we leave in the morning."

While talking, Gweld downs another flask with the the Extract of Heightened Awareness.

Myrd kneels down at the fallen fetchling and attempts to stop the flow of blood.

Heal Red: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

"Can someone help me? We should not let them bleed to death."

Ptehp shrugs: "We do not know they would have wanted this... but I will do your bidding".
Ptehp will cast Stabilize on the downed enemies, when Myrd asks for help - before healing himself if that came at that time.

You disarm the prisoner, and Ptehp stabilizes the red-eyed fetchling.

The green-tongued fetchling answers your questions in exchange for his life.

"My name is Green Tongue Shadowspawn. These are--were--my siblings. Blondie you slew; yon half-orc just treated my sister, Red. We are mercenaries, hired by Uthil Mak to guard his slaves. Behind that door," he points to the northwestern door, the one from which you heard the whining and growls, "is a shadow hound, trained by the Onyx Alliance to guard Wightir House."

Green Tongue points to the other door, the one from which you heard faint sobbing and whimpering, "The slaves are confined there. Some of them might be called Blakros. We were not hired to question them."

Searching through the fetchlings' gear, you gather up the following: alchemist’s fire (6), liquid ice (3), masterwork studded leather (3), masterwork light wooden shield (3), masterwork longsword (3), slings (3) with 28 bullets, manacles (3), and 126gp.

The red-eyed fetchling had a key in her belt.

Searching the rest of the room, you spot a green dragon hide and a display of dragon hide flasks and pouches on display near the obelisk.

You disarm the prisoner, and Ptehp stabilizes the red-eyed fetchling.

The green-tongued fetchling answers your questions in exchange for his life.

"My name is Green Tongue Shadowspawn. These are--were--my siblings. Blondie you slew; yon half-orc just treated my sister, Red. We are mercenaries, hired by Uthil Mak to guard his slaves. Behind that door," he points to the northwestern door, the one from which you heard the whining and growls, "is a shadow hound, trained by the Onyx Alliance to guard Wightir House."

Green Tongue points to the other door, the one from which you heard faint sobbing and whimpering, "The slaves are confined there. Some of them might be called Blakros. We were not hired to question them."

Searching through the fetchlings' gear, you gather up the following: alchemist’s fire (6), liquid ice (3), masterwork studded leather (3), masterwork light wooden shield (3), masterwork longsword (3), slings (3) with 28 bullets, manacles (3), and 126gp.

The red-eyed fetchling had a key in her belt.

Searching the rest of the room, you spot a green dragon hide and a display of dragon hide flasks and pouches on display near the obelisk.

"Green Tongue, what can you tell us of the shadow hound?" Zavubak asks, examining the room idly. "A green dragon hide... This place baffles me. You know, a black dragon somehow bred with one of my ancestors. It is what gives me the ability to use these claws." He runs his hand along the dragon hide. "Green Tongue, who is, or was, Uthil Mak? And what of this dragon hide?"

perc: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27
Detect magic
Spell Craft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

Honey grabs the dragon hide flasks, and mentions about one having a fluid in them, and attempts to Identify the fluid, letting the group know its basically an elixir of fire breath.

Honey then will grab the green dragon hide for later, for a set of armor if possible.

"Blondie Shadowspawn... Blondie Shadowspawn..." Gweld murmurs while locking the manacles taken from the slain fetchling's corpse on his brother's wrists.

Gweld than looks around the pain laboratory looking for anything others could have missed.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 11 + (6) + 2 = 35

"So, shall we just release the slaves now and see if the princesses we seek are there?"

"Green tongue, do you have a safe place to go to? Or should we knock you out? Your employers might be upset once we are done here. Talking about your employers, what can you tell us about Uthil Mak and this Wightir House?"

Gweld doesn't find anything more in the east exhibit hall and pain laboratory.

Green Tongue answers Zavubak, "Uthil Mak keeps the hound on a long leash. It's gone near rabid trying to get at the slaves. As for Uthil Mak, the Onyx Alliance calls him an overseer. He's a fetchling, but we never met him before this job."

He glances at the green dragon hide the druid is stuffing into her rucksack. He shrugs. "Dragon hide. Probably fetch a nice price, you find the right buyer."

He turns to Myrd, "Uthil Mak is a tough one. Carry's a fancy dagger, but never saw him use it. Prefers to beat things to a pulp with his fists. He's quick."

He thinks for a moment, "Not sure why the Alliance calls this place Wightir House. Seems like it's a place for getting their high-value slaves. Uthil Mak doesn't talk much to the hired help."

He looks at Myrd with resentment and despair. "Yeah, better make it look good. If you don't survive, Uthil Mak might let us live, if it looks like we put a good fight."

What's next? Hound, Slaves, or back out into the hallway?

Gweld comes closer to the door leading to the slave pen and knocks on it. "Do not be afraid. We are here to help you"

He looks back at the rest of the group before listening in at the door for some kind of a response.

Perception (Listen through Door): 1d20 + 11 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 11 + (4) + 2 = 26

Vote for Slaves

"Let's free these slaves"

Gweld hears the muffled sound of two or more people call out from behind the door, "Please don't hurt us. Just let us go. You've got the Blakros girls. Why do you need simple folk like us?"

Gweld finds no evidence the sturdy oaken door is trapped, but it is locked.

At all the yelling through the door, the sounds of growling and animal whining emanating from the adjacent room to the northwest has become louder and more strident.

"So, no traps?", Ptehp asks has raises his metal-made boot: "Then, let's knock on the door". He smashes his armored foot into the door--

Trying to kick the door in with a STR check
Knock Knock: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

The door's hinges and the lock's bolts screech at the powerful blow from Ptehp's boot, but it holds.

The agitated hound in the nearby room begins howling, and you hear the sounds a chain might make as a heavy weight strains against it.

Gweld draws his sword and moves closer to the northwestern door, alerted by the sounds of the raging shadowhound.

"Maybe the slaver's key will fit the lock on the door?" he asks Ptehp bashing at the other door.

After a brief consideration, he pulls out a long metallic tube and twists the top off. The acidic smell fills the room. Gweld downs the contents of the container and his veins start to bulge, becoming black under his quickly paling skin.

Gweld drinks a Dexterity Mutagen, 40 minutes, +4 alchemical to Dexterity, -2 to Wisdom, +2 natural armor.

Myrd knocks the green-tongued fetchling unconscious, then moves toward the northeastern door to the room holding the slaves.

Unable to break down the northeastern door with brute strength, Ptehp hears the cries of the slaves beyond.

Gweld approaches the northwestern door and downs his mutagen, while reminding his colleagues of the key found on the red-eyed fetchling. The shadowhound howls within.

Hound, Slaves, or back out into the hallway? Once a door opens, we can advance the action.

"Use the key and let's be on with it," Zavubak says, beginning to lose his patience. He reaches down to nab the key from the red fletchling's belt, then puts it into the lock and cranks it to the left.

Several stalls stand against the east wall of this dank, stone room. A large grate in the floor collects a steady stream of water coming from one of the stalls. The rattle of chains echoes through the chamber and the stench of frightened, unwashed bodies fills the air.

While visitors to Blakros Museum use this room on the Material Plane as a public restroom, the Onyx Alliance uses the similarly shaped stalls as holding cells for the many slaves that cycle through its doors.

There are currently five slaves here, four men and a woman, spread between the four stalls on the eastern wall. All are chained to the wall with masterwork manacles. Two of the slaves display a rune on their foreheads, a dark tattoo that seems to suck light toward it.

The slaves look miserable and filled with despair. The two rune-marked slaves are in the worst shape, weakened, listless, their clothes reduced to soiled rags.

Seeing Zavubak open the door, they press themselves against the walls of the stalls, cowering in fear, trembling at their ordeal.

Gweld taps the other door lightly with a tip of his sword. "That one seems sturdy enough, I think it should hold the beast all right."

To his comrades, Ptehp states that: "we can probably send them to wait in the entrance room we cleared?".
Then he calls out: "We come as friends. To release and heal you".

The slaves are eager to be rescued and hold out their manacled wrists, chained to the wall. "Please free us! Liberate us from this strange place!"

The woman says, "Their leader had a key when he locked us in here. Have you seen him? Did you kill the blackguard? One of his minions called him 'Something-something' Mack, I think."

On of the men, sporting two black eyes and a swollen cheek, adds, "Brutish mother. I started to protest when he laid hands on the ladies. He slugged me. Just once. Enough to knock me senseless."

The two men with runes tattooed on their forehead stare at you, listless, as you speak to the other three slave.

One of the other men notices your glance. "We were brought here tonight, along with the two Blakros young ladies. Those two were already here. Said they'd been here weeks maybe, lost their sense of time."

Myrd comes closer "We will get that key and come back for you. Unfortunately none of us is skilled at opening locks without the key. You must hold out a bit more."

He then casts detect magic and moves towards the two men with runes on their forehead.

Knowledge Arcana: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

[b]"Until we get the key to unlock you, do any need healing?"[b]
Ptehp looks at them, to see if any seem wounded.
Heal: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Gweld follows the only source of light into the slave room, trying to light the Wayfinder once again.

The slaves beg you not to leave them to certain doom. "Swear by all that's holy, you will survive and get us out of here!"

Myrd turns a critical arcane caster's eye on the two rune-marked slaves. The runes were likely tattooed on their foreheads by an expert alchemist. They probably have something to do with a creature's tether to the Plane of Shadow. Whatever the nature of the effect, these two seem now more attuned to Shadow Absalom than to the Material Plane.

Ptehp performs a quick physical examination of the slaves. The rune-marked slaves are slow to respond to stimuli and have lost all track of time in the sunless realm of Shadow Absalom. They show signs of malnourishment and neglect. Only the man struck by Uthil Mak is injured. The wound looks like blunt force trauma, delivered by a skilled expert who knows what he's doing.

As Ptehp examines the woman, she says, "After we were left in this room by the courier who escorted us from the Blakros estate, we experienced a strange rippling of reality. I can’t fully explain it. The whole world got darker. And that's when we first noticed the other two prisoners. Not before, though they must have been there the whole time. How very odd."

The woman's comment is a eureka moment for Myrd. His knowledge of the arcane enables him to put a few pieces of the puzzle together. Something is causing this eery duality of existence on both planes simultaneously. If destroyed, the two planes would again diverge. The implications for the slaves are uncertain. Would any of them be left behind on the Plane of Shadow? An important question.

Gweld tries to activate the light on his wayfinder, but it still won't work.

Honey and Tera are more listening though keeping an eye out for anything else that wants to come at the group, though still listening in for what has been said

perc Honey: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
perc Tera: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Ptehp will use his Wand of Cure Light Wounds to see if this heals the man struck by Uthil Mak, and, if it does, he will use it until the man is healed.

Seeing that these people might be stranded on the Shadow Plane, Ptehp is not happy leaving them behind.
He checks the manacles and chains, to see if they can be cut somehow, so that, even if still manacled, the people can move around.

"Does anyone have an Adamantine weapon perchance?"

Ptehp would try using his whip, but that is 7 to 12 damage only, to see if it does some damage to the chains

"Allow us to help you. We've no reason to leave you chained up here, and you've already given us enough insight into this odd place," Zav says, clanging his axe against the chains. Sparks fly off the metal as he does so, with little damage to the restraint. "Damn it, breaking this could take some time."

Given enough time, can we not simply smash them with the efforts of those who would like to participate in doing so combined?

Zavubak takes a look at the manacles and the locks. They're all masterwork craftsmanship. The bloodrager estimates they would be very tough to break, but could be broken if stuck hard enough, probably with several good blows from a heavy weapon.

His low brow furrows into a crevasse of deep concentration as he starts counting on his clawed fingers the number of slaves, the number of locks, the number of heavy slashing or bludgeoning weapons available...

Myrd rolls his eyes and shakes his head, weighing the decision to help the half-orc with the calculation.

(Hardness 10, HP 10, Break DC 28)

Ptehp looks at Zavubak, and nods: "I too am one for breaking these. We are not in a hurry that we cannot break these, are we?"

Unless some move to stop him, which Ptehp is ready to do, he starts hitting the locks to break them.

Hardness 10 means Ptehp's 7 to 12 dam' (1d6+6) will only deal 1 or 2 dam' every few rounds (1 dam' 1/6 rnd, 2 dam' 1/6 rnd) meaning under 2 mins' to break 1.
But Ptehp is up to taking a few minutes to do this and I imagine Zavubak will break them way faster

"Unfortunately, I would say that we are in a hurry." Gweld says looking at the lock on the manacles.

Gweld uses Disable Device: 1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 13 + 2 = 18 to try and understand how good the locks are and how long taking 20 on opening them would take.

"Returning Blakros daughters is our priority, and if the captors leave the museum while we are here clanking the iron against iron, we'll definitely lose that opportunity. Let's hope that wherever those girls are, we'll find the keys to their chains as well."

"We can spare less than five minutes, since it is not only about finding the keys, but also about not letting them change Planes... Let's at least all hack away or use lockpicks while we discuss it, and by the time we make our mind up, it'll be done".

Should be 2 minutes for Take 20, so that'd be 1
In less than 2 minutes Ptehp can do 1... so that's 2 done in that time I'd say
Others can probably do more (Zavubak does 13 to 20 damage? Can do an average of 1 every 2 or 3 rounds?

Over the next few minutes, the party opens the locks and breaks the manacles binding the slaves. The shadowhound in the adjacent rooms bays in longing and frustration at the clanging blows of metal on metal.

The joy of the unshackled slaves is short-lived. "How can we leave this place? Can you keep us safe? Uthil Mak might return at any moment. He'll do to us whatever evil he did to the Blakros girls."

Where to next? Try to get the slaves to the doors you entered in the atrium/entryway? Leave them here? Take them with you? Any plans for the shadowhound chained behind the other door in the east exhibit hall/pain laboratory?

"I would say the safest might be coming with us... for though we will face Evil, at least you will not be attacked all alone, weak and unarmed as you are".

"Let's see if we can lead them out of the museum, shall we? Failing that, we can't just leave them here as we found them." Zav helps the slaves up and motions towards the entrance. "Come on. You're coming with us."

One vote for having them tag along, one vote for trying to get them out of the museum now. Anyone else have a preference?

"Shy of a direct exit plan, they are just as safe here as with us, though something we don't have to keep an eye on them, we can come back for them later"

My vote would be to try to get them out - but I thought we had seen that the doors we came through were now blocked - I'm up for trying to get them out, and if not working, have them tag along

"Let us help you all to the exit," Gweld says. "If it's still open, you'll be back out in Absalom. If it isn't, that'll be the best place for you to wait for our return."

Having freed the slaves from their chains, the party escorts them back to the entryway and atrium.

You find that a shadowy wooden door stands closed against you, occupying the same place as the doors of the Material Plane’s Blakros Museum. The doors are locked.

I think we could use a GM hint. Are we way off in even attempting to do this? Is this a proper logical step in what to do next, or are we spinning our wheels?

"Well, there's little else we can do," Zavubak sighs in defeat as the doors budge and the lock catches. "You will have to stay with us. It's the only way to be safe, after all. Gweld, if we leave them here, Uthil Mak may have his way with them upon his return."

"I agree with Zavubak. Weaponless and feeble, they would be easy prey for any that comes across them. Come with us".