GM Silbeg's PFS #8-05 Ungrounded but Unbroken (Inactive)

Game Master Silbeg

The two shorter members of the team make their way to the captain's office. They think they have made it there unseen...

"That lady sure has something against us... I wouldn't be very surprised if she had an Aspis badge is her pocket. But how to prove that?"

Roudantaimi is hurt and annoyed about the summon. His mind races trying to come up to prove the captains schemes against the Pathfinders, and thus he does not notice Lucky and Prizm disappearing somewhere. Instead the gnome goes around, asking for fellow recruits to speak on their behalf about the Captains unfairness.

Diplomacy : 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Roudantaimi learns nothing new

are Lucky and Prizm entering?

Prizm while invisible looks both ways as if he were maybe.. no invisible.. he nods at Lucky then realizes the Halfling can't see him..

With a childish carefree shrug he pops the key into the lock and slinks into the office while waiting for Lucky.

From there he surveys the room with a mischievous smile.

"Now what is that big meanie hiding...."" he whispers.

Lucky hears the key enter the lock.. looks around for any potential observers before slipping into the office and quietly closing the door behind them. He casts detect magic and begins searching the office for evidence.

Per PM, the two take 20 and toss the office.

The office is cramped and contains a walnut desk, a hard-backed chair, and a bookshelf.

The two take their time casing the place, safe in the assumption that the captain is asleep in her bed.

In the desk you find a letter bearing an etching of three stony hands grasping a roughly spherical faceted gemstone. Each of the hands has three fingers. Handout #2

Then they find a hidden compartment in the stone wall of the office containing a vial of dusk agate extract.

Finally, in the bookcase, you find a hollowed-out copy of Tactical Engagement that contains a bronze Aspis Consortium badge and a missive from Krayler Cauchemar. Handout #1

You also find:
several calligraphy pens
a pot of invisible ink
two scrolls of [ROLL IT!] scattered among the papers on the captain’s desk.

A magical gray fur cloak from a hook on the wall. [ROLL IT!]

Finally there are magical bracers in the hidden compartment.

Lucky will use bit of luck repeatedly on prizm as he identifies

"Naughty captain .. Aspis.. heehee we should make her do a million push ups and yell at her.." the gnome giggles. Seeing the items the gnome nods at Lucky.

Spellcraft on Cloak: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
Bit of Luck
Spellcraft on Cloak: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

Spellcraft on Scroll 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Bit of Luck
Spellcraft on Scroll 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

Spellcraft on Scroll 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Bit of Luck
Spellcraft on Scroll 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

Spellcraft on Bracers: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
Bit of Luck
Spellcraft on Bracers: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

"Neat" whispers the illusionist.

Lucky observes Prizm at work... makes an attempt at the missed item

spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7 or
spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

"i dont blame ya. But i think we can get sweeter payback tomorrow with this info. Let's make sure to hide these goods until after we're headin home... let's lock up and get some sleep."

A lot of things happened while I was sleeping.

Gridger is snoring soundly after a long day's work. He knows nothing going on outside of the four walls that surround him.

Prizm sleeps uneasy wondering where his Dodo has ran off to. Knowing only that he can feel that there is a sense of joy in his little friend. When the gnome wakes he will prepare his spells and walks over to Lucky with a smug happy look on his face.

"So, what now Lucky? I prepared some fun magic for today incase we need it."

Lucky prepares himself the next morning. "I think we face our accuser and let her hang herself."

Lucky checks their evidence before departing for the hearing.

Prizm awakens to a sad, ruffled dodo cuddling with him. In his mouth is a piece of cloth, looking like it has some chevrons on it. The bird doesn't let Prizm know where he got it, but he definitely has an aroma of cheap gin to him.

When the Pathfinders arrive, General Faiza bint Hanif and Captain Othis are seated on opposite sides of a mahogany desk in a spacious, immaculate office. Glass cases along the walls display medals, ceremonial armor and weapons, and framed commendations granted to former and current members
of the Ungrounded, including General Hanif herself.

"Good day, recruits.

"I have to say that I am impressed with how well you have made it through you training. It does credit to your Pathfinder Society that they sent us such good candidates. That being said, I have to note that you have received two demerits during training... I am sure you know when they happened. Your captain reported a few more," she says, looking at Prizm, "But I thought they were a little frivolous."

She looks to a binder of thin, mica sheets on her desk. "Recruits, I need you to describe your training, and how it went."

So, you'll want to describe what happened, but when you are presenting evidence we'll be slipping into a slightly special mechanism I am going to describe in the next post.

Lucky stands at attention and salutes the general upon entering... similar to the casino.

He sits back and allows his allies to give descriptions while collecting his thoughts regarding the evidence in his pouch.

As the General doesn't want to hear from “truth-spinning silver tongue,” you will all be required to talk in turn. Each person must present at least one piece of evidence before any can present twice.

Each time you present evidence, you will need to make a diplomacy check. Luckily, you did not receive 4 demerits, mostly thanks to Lucky, and do not receive a +2 DC on the checks. You also did not accuse the General of being Inyasha, so do not receive a +2DC for that, either.

Each successful check will add a cumulative +2 to the subsequent checks. This makes it important to make the early checks, so that those with poorer diplomacy skills still have a chance.

Each piece of evidence has a bonus to its diplomacy check. I'll list the obvious ones out below, in order of their strength, but feel free to add other pieces you think are important.

• Dell Darkblade’s Testimony
  
• Slagcrusher's Note
  
• Aspis badge and Cauchemar's Note
  
• Poison samples
  
• False description of Inysha
  
• Elemental tattoos
  

I would suggest discussing in the discussion thread the order you are presenting, and who is presenting. Then that person will present, and wait for the general and the captain to respond.

Roudantaimi takes a step forward, ready go first in the party's defence.

"Thank you for your kind words, general. We are aware of accusations against us, and we stand here to prove there is no truth in those claims."

The gnome stands on his toes, trying to gain authority for his words. He speaks in surprisingly serious tone, and is clearly struggling to focus in the topic.

"During our time here, we've come learn Captain Othis has something against us, and has over and over again sabotaged our tasks. And when we've succeeded against all odds, she is now trying to demerit us in her report"

"In our early training, we were put to fight a friendly combat against other recruits. But this fight was turned against us from the very beginning! We were given ARCHAIC and PRIMITIVE weapons - nothing that warriors of modern age would think of using! For this outrageous deed, I have evidence..."

Roudantaimi takes Dell's testimony, and is about start quoting it, when he actually starts reading it the very first time. His eyes quickly dart from line to line, his mouth hanging open mid-sentence.

". . . "

". . . "

". . . "

"...buuuut I'm not going to show you THAT evidence - since there was much, much worse foul play going on! A heinous deed, almost unspeakable! Captain Othis had the opposing team poison their weapons! Use POISON against us! In a friendly, training combat! Here in my hand I have a testimony from one of the members of that team! He felt so guilty about what he was made to do, he felt the truth must cone out."

Roudantaimi hands the paper to the general, and starts move back into the line with the other Pathfinders.

"(oh, and the paper says something about sabotaging an obstacle course, which is quite unpolite, too). Lucky, over to you!"

Diplomacy : 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

"I must in fact, concur with my Gnomish friend here. The captain has put us through a grueling training - to the point the general mess hall chatter was it was obviously tilted against us but for unknown reasons. The obstacle course, with its traps and our orders not to use all our abilities made for a real challenge, yet overcome it we did.

To accompany the affidavit from Dell, we also acquired a vial of poison from the Captain's private office - the same poison used by the opposing recruits at her orders."

diplomacy, luck: 1d20 + 7 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 3 = 27

FYI - these are single checks per evidence... I am working with Roudantaimi's presentation on the poison - that's what you get, I guess, having a gnome paladin as your presenter. I will then take Lucky's on the affidavit.

The General follows what Roudantaimi is presenting, but is confused by the change of tactics. When Lucky starts to talk, she merely holds one finger up, with a look of 'I wouldn't if I were you...' She does take the poison vial from Lucky.

Captain Othis says a counter, "General, this poison, as they call it, is as harmless as salt to beings such as ourselves with a connection to the earth. Even for such inferior beings as these humans, gnomes, and halflings, it merely renders them temporarily unconscious. If they cannot handle weapons treated as such in combat, what good are they to us as mercenary combatants?"

I will ask this, however. Roudantaimi, do you want to keep that roll?

The confused General moves on, now allowing Lucky to present the information on the affidavit.

Captain Othis counters with, "Dell’s recruits were not up to the task of providing an adequate challenge to the Pathfinders without assistance. Because Pathfinders are notorious for lacking humility and respect for their superiors, I needed to provide them with challenges that would 'wipe the smug grins off their faces.'"

The General reads over the affidavit, and then turns to Captain Othis. "Regardless of the hubris these recruits may have, your job was to train them in the methods of the Ungrounded. The sabotage that you performed undermined the training of the recruits. Additionally, this teaches the recruits you had perform the sabotage the wrong lessons. This is not behavior becoming of an officer in the Ungrounded."

Obvious success... +2 for the next check.

Gridger looks very confused at the presentation from Lucky and Roundantaimi. When did all this happen?. When it comes to his turn, he hesitates knowing spoken word is not his best trait.

"Erm..Erm..Well, here you see." As he unfolds the crumple up paper, to exhibit a horrendous picture of the General. "It has come to our attention that the captain clearly is attempting to sabotage us at all times. This was the illustration she had provided us when asking us to look out for a known thief while we were on duty at the opening night of the Casino. Same one that you attended! This is clearly not the picture of the con-artist, had we been allowed to follow the captains orders we could have caused a scene and bring great dishonour to the name of the Ungrounded!"

diplomacy: 1d20 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (10) - 2 + 2 = 10

even though the general is a female,
I'm assuming military protocol would be similar to the Star Wars mixed species forces: everyone is called "sir" regardless of gender, or lack thereof in the species. If this is incorrect, assume Arxus is using "ma'am" or the other correct term
" Sir! General Hanif, sir! I have spent most of my life in training to fight the forces of the Abyss. Training and fighting, that is, until I joined the Pathfinder Society, which required their own training. The things we have faced in our 'training' were not 'challenges' meant to better us, but acts of sabotage to defeat or deter us.
While we were sent on a mission that the Captain assured us was completely safe, we walked straight into an ambush!
As my companion Prizm is able to illustrate for you, this ambush was more than mere coincidence. See even that the elementals have these distinctive 'tattoos' denoting their involvement with a group known as the Slagcrushers."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

c'mon, Prizm! Swing big!

In response to Arxus, the Captain responds, “I don't see what bandits attacking a caravan has to do with me. Attacks on that route may be rare, but they still happen often enough for caravans to hire guards.”

To this, the General stats, "But, Captain, that may be true, but these bandits seem a little more organized than most,don't you think?t"

success! Now a +4 on the diplomacy checks.

Prizm loudly pushes a stool to the center of the room, its feet making loud scraping noises on the floor. With some effort and a push up from his near equal sized dodo bird – the gnome stands tall with his arms out.

He smiles and waves at the captain before beginning. ”Hello all! So… the Slagcrushers… yes.. yes.. maybe it’s best to show .. than tell?”

With a flourish of his tiny arms an exact replica of Captain Orthos’s desk appears floating in the air turning end over end, its drawers creaking and sliding. Once the desk reaches a certain point the contents of its drawers fall onto the floor.
Silent Image, Effortless Trickery

Bert dashes out doing a little jig, miming along with his master for dramatic effect. He reaches down and appears to pick up one piece of information in particular and with a tiny flick of his avian head and a shuffle of his feet the note is tossed to Prizm.

”Thank you my fine feathered buddy!” The gnome then flicks his fingers and one of the Slagcrushers rises out of the floor, the tattoo that Arxus indicated in his statement plain for everyone to see. The image of the creature slowly rotates while the gnome continues.
Another Silent Image, maintaining both
Prizm fishes out a scrap of paper from his pocket and reads it aloud. ”Othos, Thanks for the gem location. Friends picking up gems at pass. Stupid mercs won’t see it coming. Will help serpents sometime if gems good like you say. Question: Why help slagcrusher?”

With that the slagcrusher in the middle of the room points at Captain Othos and tilts its head as if to accentuate the question.

Prizm continues ”Why indeed Captain? And help the serpent? Hmmm serpent… serpent… maybe that leads into why we found an Aspis badge in your drawer? That organization very much dislikes the pathfinder society, and it would make much sense as to why you were pitched against us…”

With that Bert plucks up the Aspis badge and runs over while dancing this way and that – depositing it in front of the general. The image of the desk which is still floating highlights the image of the badge moving from the captains drawer to indicate the location it was discovered.

With a flick of the gnomes wrist the sounds ”DUN DUN DUNNNNN” echo forth.
ghost sound, slagcrusher illusion continues for 3 rounds then finishes, the desk maintains with effortless trickery

A wide smile of victory spreads over the little fey’s face and he bows to the general and then to the captain. He then hops off his stool and walks proudly back to stand amongst his friends.

Diplomacy, +4, assist +2, Illusion bonus: 1d20 + 1 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 1 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 21
DoDo aid using dance!, illusion bonus: 1d20 + 1 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 4 + 2 = 10
Berts Diplo with the badge, cumulative bonus, illusion bonus: 1d20 - 2 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (19) - 2 + 6 + 2 = 25

Jack adjust anything you should on the dice, I just made a guess on the illusion bonuses.. and did the final roll as Berts roll for evidence

Bert leans on Lucky trying to look very cool and proud of himself, he nods at the others and gives a resounding..

"bert!"

In response to Prizm, the Captain laughs. "First, this recruit openly admits to breaking in to my office. The second time this hearing one of them have done so, in fact!" she says, looking right at Lucky. "This one," indicating Prizm, "is obviously a forger and a charlatan. His magic is all about illusion and deceit, why would you believe that this note is anything but that? These Pathfinders obviously can write in their common tongue, so such a forgery would be trivial for them to make!"

The General listens to what both have said, and she simply nods her head after Captain Othis has finished. She sighs, and then looks back to the party.

Then, Gridger presents his evidence, the drawing of the false Inysha. The Captain quickly counters, "If these Pathfinders couldn't pass my test about this with such an obvious deception, then perhaps they the Ungrounded doesn't need them. Soldiers must always be wary for false information the treacherous efreet slip into legitimate channels, and that providing a description of our esteemed general was a way of teaching that lesson which should humiliate only the most incompetent of recruits."

The general nods at what the Captain has said. "Yes, they should have been able to figure that out. And since they did not accost me when I entered the casino it seems that they did. Certainly that was a good test that they passed."

The general then asks, "Is there any more evidence to present?"

Lucky grimaces under the pressure... the sweat dripping down his face help me Cayden...

"General Sir. The captain has an excuse for each of these individual happenings... but as a whole you must admit it is highly suspicious. Why does the captain have it out for us? Why would the captain do these things contrary to the Ungrounded's reputation?

It is very simple. She has been compromised. She is an Aspis agent, and has chosen a path that subverts the Ungrounded's mission in favor of her Aspis loyalties. The badge found in her office, the Slagcrusher's reference to owing the Serpents a favor.. and finally this letter that was found with the badge detailing her targeting of us for embarrassment. "

Lucky hands the Aspis letter over. "We were sent here to bring honor to the society and the Ungrounded. We are not here to subvert and deceive, but to align our goals and bring mutual respect. The captain on the other hand, betrayed you to undermine us."

Diplomacy, luck, cummulative: 1d20 + 7 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 7 + 3 + 4 = 23

He salutes and returns to the group.

The captain responds with "My membership in the Aspis Consortium in no way interferes with her fulfillment of my duties to the Ungrounded, but that it has taught me the valuable lesson that Pathfinders are not to be trusted."

The General looks at her askance, then turns to the Pathfinders. "Thank you for your honestly, recruits. You have presented some very compelling evidence.

"As for you," she says, turning towards Captain Othis with an icy glare, "We will talk in a moment."

"You mean you..."

"Silence, Othis. You will waste no more of my time."

A pair of shaitan officers move in to escort Captain Othis out of the office and the General orders a formal investigation.

Once the captain is gone, she asks, "Do you have any additional evidence that you wish to present against your former Captain?"

Prizm just mutters the word "trickster" and snorts a bit..

"None from me sir, she is a meanie and I hope you see that now. Her organization has been nothing but a bunch of troublemakers to the society - and this seems par for course!"

"To be clear, my little friends here is only referring to the Aspis and Slagcrusher organizations. We look forward to continuing pleasant business with the Ungrounded."

Arxus states while placing a hand on Prizm's shoulder, and showing a pleasant smile.