GM Silbeg's PFS: Eyes of the Ten (Inactive)

Game Master GM..Silbeg

I have a potion of tongues, I'll let Scott use it since he is more diplomatic... and that I can't type well in the phone for much :p

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Have we exhausted all of our language options before we use the potion? I don't want to use it if it isn't needed.

Ok For the hour. And maybe the naga can talk Polyglot.

I'd say 20 minutes before we start talking about plan B, an hour before we enact it. By the way, aren't you technically still dominating him?

Releasing him was part of the deal, so if a dispel magic was needed, that's fine with me.

Twenty minutes or an hour sounds fine - for plot purposes it's about the same.

It's alright, go use it Scotty. It was just 2PP.

"Yo, Scots-worth. Try using this to talk to them; figger you'd get more mileage out of it than I, 'specially since I was the one who shut 'em up last time.", the half-orc handing the Sarenite a vial filled with a light green fluid. "You should be able to conversate with them if ya chug it."

Okay, responding to people's questions:

Scotty: going after Kyalla is a wonderful thing to do... in Part 2. As much as I'd love to put you through 2 parts of EotT in one shot, Ralph might complain about no rest. :p Also it's technically not Society legal

Also, if you drink the potion of [i[tongues[/i], then you can go ahead and read the Polyglot spoiler, since they're basically going to keep repeating that.

Ralph: Yes, you know what door the Red Raven went through, both from watching him and the really obvious trail that you've been following in the first place. He goes in through a heavy wooden door that seems to be hinged directly into the hedges.

After listening to Geatan and Ralph, Volyanni will nod her head in agreement. "Yes, I imagine that whatever happened to Kyalla will not be changing in the immediate future. Finish your investigation first, and then Kyalla!"

I think I caught all the loose threads I needed to cover. Did I miss anything? I am like super tired right now. Busy week.

I think that's it. Now we wait for the Red Raven, or wait till his hour is up.

Scotty raises an eyebrow at 'Scots-worth' but will take the potion offered to him by Koraq and raise it in a polite toast before drinking it. After he gets over the taste, he listens to the men before replying.

Scotty will be doing his best to actively translate the conversation so I'm not going to bother with spoilers

In polyglot: "Calm yourselves, you are in no danger here. My name is Scotty McBride. I am a Seeker of the Pathfinder Society, Silver Crusader, and Sword Arm of the Dawnflower. These are (he introduces the party and Volyanni). I understand that you are confused, but it is critical that you tell us everything you remember up to the moment that you woke up here. Once we know that, we will fill in the missing details as we are able."

Diplomacy if needed: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (12) + 21 = 33

The warriors acknowledge Scotty, and one stands up to speak to him. “Adril Hestram is the cause of our problems. He wanted us to come with him and help with his schemes, but our shaman said no. He then took our idol. We had to do what he said – he had our god. Otherwise it would break. We followed him into this maze and were then stoned by the medusa.”

Meanwhile, the Red Raven doesn’t seem to be coming back after an hour.

These two things are fairly unrelated to each other, so if you want to keep interrogating these guys while also planning on what you’re doing about the Red Raven not returning, feel free. They can be simultaneous without effecting too much.

Assuming Scotty translates for us, Ralph will take advantage of the fact that they do not speak common.

"Scotty, you should ask them about their god. Volyanni mentioned that Hestram was making deals with the cult of Angazhan. Angazhan from what I know is the Demon Lord of Apes and Jungles. We also found a greenstone idol in Hestram's room, which may well be the idol these people speak of. It is also an idol to Angazhan."

"What I am saying is that we may be dealing with a members of a cult of a Demon Lord here. I would tread lightly."

"We also need to move on. Our feathered 'friend' is...late, and I am most displeased. Even if we give him the benefit of doubt that he is held up for reasons beyond his control, we should seek to investigate. If there is a battle ahead, I would like to conserve my power and would prefer to hold off on scrying until we see what is going on behind this door. I propose we enter the Raven's lair and see what has transpired. If Adril's allies have attacked him, we will help. If he has double-crossed us... then I will quickly tire of the gentle approach with him, as it seems to get us nowhere."

Ralph will activate his ring of invisibility and prepare to proceed.

Scotty will go ahead and detect evil on the men. Finally remembering how to Paladin...

Again, Scotty will actively translate for the party. Anything you want to ask you can ask by way of him. He'll go ahead and translate Ralph's inquiry (who is their God?).

At the 20 minute mark:

"I fear it may be time to begin discussing plan B. As much as I dislike the man, the Red Raven seemed sincere in his intention to return. I am concerned that there may be other powers at play here.

"Are we prepared for an attack on the Red Raven's compound?"

"Well, unless you think we need that green thing, might as well give it to them if they'll just go away."

"I'm good to fight. Still got Ralph's protections and if need be, I can scout ahead, too."

The cultists describe their idol. From their description, it is pretty clear both that they worship the greenstone idol as the child of Anghazan.

Are they evil though? Never got anything for my detect evil.

While I'm thinking about it, I'd be interested to know if there are any other evil auras in my range (60ft.).

Oops, sorry.

Each of the cultists detects as faint evil. Da'Tunga and the medusa detect as moderate evil. The idol if you have it on you detects as moderate evil. Anything else pinging would be stuff that PCs have on them.

The medusa and ape thing are dead right? Like dead dead? I shouldn't be detecting an aura from them at this point. Moderate auras linger for a max of 6 minutes after death. Does Scotty need to go slit some throats?

In common: "Ralph, can you please tell me if there is any magic lingering on that idol you found? It has a significant evil aura around it, as strong as that of a shadow demon or succubus, and may be dangerous.

"I am sorry, but I don't see an option where I do not confront them with who I am. I believe I can end this without violence. If not, they are clearly no threat to us. I do not ask that you to endanger yourself on behalf of my convictions, only that you are prepared so they do not cause you harm."

Sorry if this is venturing towards the classic "lawful-stupid" Paladin. This isn't something I normally make a habit of, but I don't see how I can justify letting them go without any confrontation, especially if Scotty thinks there is a chance to turn one of them away from demon worship. Even with Scotty's Grey Guard-esque interpretation of his Paladin code, I don't think he has a lot of options here.

GM if Ralph isn't readily available to be in character can you tell me if/what magic is on that statue? That is going to affect how I handle this. I wouldn't ask except that I'm going to need some time to type this and I don't want to hold up the scenario with Paladining.

Ah, I was too busy looking at the table to classify their auras based on HD that I forgot that auras don't linger that long. In that case there is no longer an aura on the ape, but there is still one on the medusa.

There is a moderate enchantment aura on the idol - you know what it's magical properties are. It's on the handout Ralph linked.

I'm here. I linked the url to the image of the idol with the description.

"The idol is indeed magical and seems to incite anger. A tool for those who channel their rage into strength, though they also run the risk of losing control for a moment. As for the cultists, it could just be that while they venerate their ape-demon-lord, they do not know his lore well enough to recognise his enemies."

"Feel free to do what you must, Scotty. I would no more judge you than you me. As a general rule, if one can't say that to a paladin, one runs a real risk of being by all objective standards, an ass-hat. Where a paladin proves himself as reasonable as you have, that rule applies all the more. In fact, I divulged what I knew because I suspected there would be things you needed to do here. If things get... difficult... I doubt they will be much of a threat in their current condition, but I will be at hand to assist. If they get aggressive, feel free to remind them what my fireball feels like. I trust they have not forgotten."

In that case there is no longer an aura on the ape, but there is still one on the medusa.

"Koraq, it seems that there is still some... life in that medusa. Would you be so kind as to break her neck lest she rise again and try to turn us to stone, or unpetrify more unpleasant creatures to attack us?" I just remembered that we already did this. If the medusa is still alive after Koraq's CDG, something really strange is going on here.

Medusas usually don't have regeneration. Ralph will study her with detect magic to see what it is that is keeping her alive.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (12) + 23 = 35
knowledge arcana: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (11) + 28 = 39

"Koraq, it seems that there is still some... life in that medusa, even after you broke her neck. Would you mind standing by beside her whilst I study her? I would hate to have her rise again while Scotty is trying to talk to those cultists."

Wow, I did not realize that was a link, I thought it was out of character. So full disclosure, Scotty is planning to destroy that idol. I don't think that matters for the purpose of chronicle sheets but just in case this is your opportunity to tell me not to do it. I'll be checking the thread while I'm typing up what Scotty plans to do.

Scotty politely asks for the idol.

Ralph hands it over.

Assuming I was holding it since I was probably the one who identified it and no one took it from me afterwards.

"Even if I am suprised with our guest aura, it shoudn't be of our concern. We could have them allies in the future. Let's other's the job of causing chaos in that. and we cannot judge them from thier alignement.

Don't forget, the statue is their god not the demon. And they are not attacking us."

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After studying the medusa, Ralph is pretty sure that there is some effect on the medusa that is keeping still at the point where breath of life can revive her, which is having the side effect of her aura continuing to linger. But as far as he can tell, there is nothing that will actually revive her, just keeping her at that point indefinitely. As far as he can tell, that effect seems to be coming from the maze itself.

"Superb," Ralph exclaims as he ascertains the source of the medusa's sustenance. "I am beginning to think that being able to study this place is its own reward. When this matter is concluded, I shall have to request a leave of absence to properly study this place. A treatise on the mysteries of this place alone would immortalize me in the Society's chronicles. However if my deductions about the connection between this place and the Decemvirate are accurate, I doubt I would be granted the opportunity, or at least be forbidden from publishing my findings."

"Koraq, it might be a good idea to tie up the medusa nonetheless. Whilst there is no reason to think that the medusa will spontaneously revive, there is no reason to think otherwise either. I doubt that this place would keep her at the brink of death without also having a means of reviving her, so some caution would not be amiss. Would that I had more time to properly study it..."

If the medusa isn't going to spontaneously rise before we depart, I guess just tying up the body will do for now. If I had more spells left to squander, I'd use stone shape to encase her body up to the neck. After Scotty is finished with the cultists, we will probably have a small army of Adril's goons to deal with...

"That's... disappointing. I know it's been a while since I snapped a neck, but you think it wouldn't change that much.", he jests "Already got a bag over ugly's head, why not some rope, too?", Koraq using his rope to bind the medusa.

Ridiculous CMB for her to try and get out :)

"Yannow, Scotsman, if yer gonna break that thing, ya need to replace it with something else; trade one addiction with another kinda thing. Or religion in this case, same thing for some people."

At Geatan's comment, Koraq nods. "Well, they did fight alright; I mean, not near as good as myself, but they had good pack tactics an' a lesser man woulda been ripped apart by those chains. Of course, using a demon idol to bribe some guys to fight for you is probably not in the paladin handbook."

Medusa is in not-getting-out territory.

So at this point we need Scotty to deal with the Cultists and you guys to determine if you're doing anything to prepare before you jump through the Red Raven's portal.

Gaétan shift his quivers of place.

Sorry for the lack of updates; busy day today. I'll post tomorrow.

Sorry for the delay. I got distracted by school stuff. I'm typing my update now.

Scotty briefly examines the idol in view of the cultists. He lets out a quiet laugh when he feels its power try to take hold of him. He hangs the idol from a loop under his belt before turning to address the cultists.

Scotty grasps the hilt of his scimitar and slowly draws it from its black leather sheath. When sunlight strikes the adamantine blade it bursts into blue, holy fire.

Scotty takes a few steps back from the men and pulls the idol from his belt.

In one swift motion Scotty throws the idol on the ground in front of him, raises his scimitar high over his head, and sunders the idol.

I'm guessing this is going to take a few hits since he can't crit an object or apply his weapon's holy damage.

Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Repeat as needed.

When the idol is destroyed, Scotty sheathes his weapon and walks towards the cultists.

Scotty extends his hand to them.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (10) + 21 = 31

Phew, pally rant. I hope that didn't get too preachy. Hopefully his intention to discredit their 'god' didn't come across as intimidation and the diplomacy roll still applies.

The cultists stand listening to Scotty’s speech. The beginning part they stare at him with eyes glazed over. Once he pulls out the idol however, the cult snaps into greater attention, watching with wide eyes as Scotty brings out his scimitar. When Scotty smashes the idol to pieces, the cult stares at directly at him before slowly turning their heads to each other. Once Scotty finishes his speech, the cultists nod at each other, then turn back to Scotty, bow down, and start chanting “Sar-en-rae. Sar-en-rae. Sar-en-rae…”

Oh right, cultists. S~~~... give me a minute.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

"Well it's an improvement from worshiping demons..."

"I'm sending them back to the lodge until we have finished with our mission. They will be a distraction to us otherwise. I'm sure Eliza will understand and may even be able to make some use of them. Plus, I am confident that it will annoy Osprey which I am not regretful of."

Scotty writes a letter to Eliza detailing the progress of their mission and with an explanation for the mob of cultists showing up at her doorstep (also a few apologies for the inconvenience). He takes a moment to ensure that the cultists can say "For Venture-Captain Eliza" (or just "For Eliza" if they're really not getting it) in common before giving one of them the letter.

If they understand what Scotty has told them then he will give them directions out of the maze and send them off.

Do I need another diplomacy check to make them do this or are they compliant at this point? The least I can get is a 22 on the check.

You may have redeemed some cultists there :P At least they aren't worshipping ape demons now.

Don't know what he said but it seem impressive.thinks Géatan.

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"Plus, I am confident that it will annoy Osprey which I am not regretful of."

"I once encountered an agent who opined that one should never settle for the path of least resistance to Osprey. I have found that many share that view to varying degrees, though none have expressed the view quite as colourfully."

"Well then, now that the matter is concluded, let us see to the next matter at hand."

Gaétan Émond turn to the full blooded elf.

"You are right. probably they are waiting for us, but this time we will be ready.

I have scroll of removed disease and a potion of fly I can give."

-Posted with Wayfinder

The cultists listen patiently to everything Scotty says. You’re not sure that they picked up 100% on the “do not bow to me” message, but they seemed to have picked up well enough on the “don’t harm anyone while at the lodge” message, so there’s hope for them yet!

Redemption is not a fast process. You’ve got an in with them, and with time and effort Scotty would bring them to the light. Just not right now in the maze.
------
The door that the Red Raven went through stands quietly, inset into the hedges. When one of you opens it, the door creaks, moving slowly thanks to massive weight. On the other side is a swirling mass of purple which Ralph will easily confirm is a permanent portal that will take you to a fixed place. Given the strength of the portal, it can’t be taking you that far, so it is likely that this keeps you in Galt or its neighboring countries.

Once you take a moment to cast any buffs, you’re all able to hop into the portal together. Despite hopping in together, you quickly find yourself alone, catapulting through random patterns of purple. It’s hard to stay upright as you tumble over and over in the void, constantly being pulled throughout the spectrum of purple. After what feels like forever (but is only a minute of in-game time), you feel yourself being sucked out of the void, and you find yourself upright, standing on your feet again.

The winding tunnel opens onto a high platform overlooking an enormous chamber lit by distant torches and small clumps of phosphorescent fungi. A relatively flat floor about 20 feet below falls away into a black abyss at the center of the huge chamber, bridged by a thin natural span at the center of the room about 40 feet away. Several torches light the bridge, illuminating a tall human warrior in red plate armor pacing nervously, sword in hand. You can just make out the forms of archers along the far ledge, and lurking shadows near the close edge suggest skulking humanoids somewhat larger than an average man. Immediately east of your high platform, about 20 feet below, is a pool of dark liquid, perhaps fed from some natural spring.

From out in the back you hear a sneer. “Ah yes. Who else do we have visiting us today?”

If you had any buffs you wanted to do before running in the portal, please feel free to post them in your next post. I’m just moving forward to regain momentum.

Also, map is updated. The big black section in the middle is a chasm, the smaller ones throughout are columns.

Before entering the portal, Ralph will make sure that Scotty has been thoroughly briefed on the previous events at the lodge, including the passcode for parlay "Remember the Vernal Key", the second-in-command Geppa, and the over-zealous elven wizard Cale.

The only new buff he adds before entering the portal is that he activates his ring of invisibility every minute to renew the duration.

Active buffs (taking one hour off for our time in the maze):
Heroes' feast (CL12) - 2 hours
Life Bubble (CL16) - 6 hours
Overland Flight (CL12) - 14 hours
Mage Armor (CL12) - 14 hours
Phantom Steed (CL12) - 14 hours
Heightened Awareness (CL12) - 2 hours
Raiment of Command (CL12) - 11 hours
Abalative barrier (CL10) - 9 hours, 50 points

When they emerge from the portal, Ralph whispers to Scotty. "You handle the talking. I'll... be on standby."

If we spent a minute in the portal, my invisibility should still have 2 mintues on duration.

Under the cover of his invisibility, Ralph flies over the pool, draws his metamagic rod of empower and readies an action to drop a fireball on anyone who appears to be casting a spell or otherwise about to produce an obvious magical effect.

Maintaining 20ft elevation

Can I get Scotty's horse added to the map (her avatar is under the Mount spoiler on Scotty's character page) and control of her and Scotty?

Scotty casts bless weapon on his scimitar and uses one of his pearls of power to refresh the spell before entering the portal. If anyone has a buff that will improve on his +2 enhancement to STR or his +1 holy scimitar he'd appreciate that. He doesn't do a lot of damage in combat unless he can smite something.

Once Scotty is through the portal and gains his bearings he will quickly get into Merena's saddle (assuming he couldn't stay in the saddle when entering the portal) and activate detect evil. If nobody objects, he will take position at the front of the party to give the others some cover.

When he hears the sneering voice, he answers in a loud , confident tone: "Those who remember the vernal key." making sure to emphasize the passphrase.

You hear Cale calling from the back "What's this b@&*@#*% about a Vernal Key then? Who are you?"

Everyone else seems to tense up, like they're getting ready to fight. The guy on the bridge is nervously fiddling with a ring on his finger, while the bugbears flex, trying to look intimidating.

"Fourth, who leads your allies in your absence? How would one get to speaking with this person without having to slaughter a path through your precious underlings? Be as specific as possible, especially since we might inadvertently kill some of them otherwise."

The Red Raven answers each question in a terse fashion.

“Geppa. She’s on the other side of the portal. Say the phrase ‘Remember the Vernal Key.’

Red Raven was under mental compulsion when he revealed that pass phrase, so it should be genuine. It's possible these are imposters? But if that's the real Cale, it's also possible that he was not trusted by Red Raven and so was not told the pass phrase. Does not explain the reactions of the others though. Perhaps Cale has led a coup against the Red Raven?

Another possibility is that Red Raven told his allies to be wary of anyone if they came with the pass phrase, since Red Raven was compelled to give it to us and knows we have it. This would likely be the case if he has actually double-crossed us.

Ralph considers the various possibilities behind their curious actions. He also notices the man fiddling with the ring.

"That looks important," Ralph thinks to himself.

Unfortunately, I can't use pilfering hand to steal a ring. There's a good chance that it triggers either a powerful buff on himself, or a deadly trap or aoe blast over the portal exit.

Changing my readied action to a dominate person on the ring-guy if it looks like he's about to activate the ring in some way. I do not need to take my readied action, but I think having that option might be a good idea.

GM: Is Scotty getting anything off of his detect evil? He has the knight and the bugbears in range.

This is a long shot but will knowledge nobility tell me anything about the knight in red armor? A decent check should at least give me an order (if he has one).
Knowledge(Nobility): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Scotty repeats loudly and clearly: "REMEMBER...THE VERNAL...KEY!"

He pauses to take a breath before continuing: "You speak to The Sword Arm of the Dawnflower, Scotty McBride! I am Sarenrae's mortal blade on Golarion. My companions and I come bearing words given to us by the Red Raven himself that he assured us would allow us safe harbor to parley with him or his second in command, Geppa.

"I can see the tension of men preparing for battle but I give you my word as a Paladin of Sarenrae that there is no need for conflict here. Agree to peace and you shall have it. Do not betray your men by sending them into a needless battle that they have no hope of winning. Give us the quarter we were promised, bring us to the Red Raven, and allow us to leave in peace so we may destroy whatever legacy remains of the man who wronged your people."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (13) + 21 = 34

Sorry about forgetting the detect evil! The bugbears detect as moderate evil, but the armored guy doesn’t detect. K(nobility) won’t get you anything on the guy in red armor.

Also a reminder that dominate person is a full-round action, so you can’t ready it.

The guy on the bridge looks nervously back to Cale. Cale thinks for a minute, and then yells out “Wellllllllllllll look who we have here. Faaaaaaaaaaaancy paladin boy. That all sounds fake to me. Blast ‘em boys!”

Init – Round 1
Scallywag 12 - 1 special arrow used
Scallywag 13 - 1 special arrow used
Géatan
Koraq
Teko
Bugbears
Scotty
Cale - 50% miss chance, 2 – 1, 3 – 3, 4 – 1, 5 – 1
Ralph

Technically, Ralph gets a surprise round because the other people don’t know he’s a combatant. My assumption would be that he keeps readying, but it’s up to him.

The two scallywags try to get to places where they can see you clearly and take their shots.
Scallywag 12 Vital Strike vs. Scotty’s Flat-footed AC: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22 miss
Damage: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (4, 6) + 2 = 12 plus 1d6 ⇒ 1 fire
Scallywag 13 Vital Strike vs. Scotty’s Flat-footed AC: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13 miss
Damage: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (5, 1) + 2 = 8 plus 1d6 ⇒ 1 fire

Géatan and Koraq are up!

Technically, Ralph gets a surprise round because the other people don’t know he’s a combatant. My assumption would be that he keeps readying, but it’s up to him.

Hmm...that depends. Do I get a normal surprise round (as in standard and swift action), and can I hold it off till just after Geatan or must it be before the Scallywags?

I'll wait to see if Ralph is doing something in his surprise round first; may change the battlefield depending on wizardy stuff.

It's a normal surprise round, so if you want to stop readying and instead delay until after Géatan, you can do that. If you decide to stop readying, then you do in fact have a swift and a standard.

Shall i shoot? There only bugbear i can see. That freaking Cale is being those walls. Reading a trap and there are his gnomes somewhere.

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You should be able to see the armored guy called 'Teko'. See if you can take him down first.