GM Sior's Confirmation PFS Game (Inactive)

Game Master Sior

Zlata climbs down one rope, picks her way carefully around the spikes, and up the other rope taking 10 for both climb checks.

Looking at the cloak, she attempts to detect any sense of evil from it i.e. Detect Evil.

No evil emanates from anything in the pit.

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"I'll take the barkskin, CLW wand, sunrod and an alchemist's fire if noone minds."

Teric takes the wand of Burning Hands and the scroll of Mage Armor from Janria's pack. "Quite useful."

The Varasian follows Zlata down the rope and then up the other side. He casts a detection spell on the cloak.

Cast detect magic

The cloak is indeed magical.

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Eldren allows both alchemist fire vials to be taken by his friends but will snag the acid for sure.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

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Prothero waits as his colleagues plunder Janira's pack and Teric studies the robe, then says, "Let's keep moving. Who wants to go first, now that we're not madly fleeing a minotaur?"

Marching order? How about something like this: Zlata, Allosaurus, Castiel, Prothero, Arcana, Teric, Eldren

It's a cloak of resistance +1.
I have put the list of goods in the Campaign tab along with who has claimed what for easy reference. The cloak is also there. Apologies if I missed anyone.

So Zlata and Teric climb down and up the ropes as Eldren and Prothero easily hop over the hole. Arcana is meanwhile still down in the pit as Castiel considers his options.
Again, I know it's tier 1, but silly low DC's make me wonder why this is even a thing...

Once Castiel manages to get through the pit (assuming climbing? Unless you want to roll to jump?), the party continues through the caves.

The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos Mounts until they eventually open into a large cavern. What must have once been beautifully carved reliefs and inscriptions have since weathered heavily, their features dulled and softened to the point that it is hard to distinguish what each once depicted. A wide tunnel exits the cavern on its far side, and blue-burning torches line the passageway’s walls.

Map

The DC 10 obstacle was an interesting choice. Maybe at some point it was a pit trap? It does have spikes...Anyways, Arc will wait till everyone crosses, then retrieve her rope and jump across. I suppose the cloak should go to Zlata or Cas.

Acrobatics VS DC 10: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

"Perhaps that pit was the evil master of this cave. Our ultimate test."

Take ten on perception for a total of 18, examining the carved walls and looking for anything out of place.

The carved walls appear to be 12 different carving of some similar topic. The images are worn on many of them, however the writing on the few ligible ones appear to be a mix of languages. Know (religion) or (history), +2 if you know Azlanti, +2 if you know Aquan. Alternatively, you may Appraise or Perception with a -2 on it. That last bit said...

Arcana looks about and notices one of the images represents the hunter. The Hunter is depicted slaying a giant serpentine creature and then parading a trophy through the city streets—a sign to all humanity that the wilds are safe to inhabit once the monsters are slain. Suddenly it clicks. These must be bits from Aroden's History and Future of Humanity holy text! However, this is slightly different than the current phrasing of this section of holy texts, so this may actually be an earlier version of the manuscript.

1d12 ⇒ 10

Prothero ponders the images a while, even absent-mindedly scratching his head in puzzlement over them, as they are not bringing to mind much from his studies. After a while, he just focuses his attention on the images, looking for anything he recognizes or has heard of.

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Perception: 1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 9 - 2 = 23

Perception: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 6 - 2 = 21

Teric wanders through the cavern paying little attention to the carvings. He had never been very religious and he didnt much care. Power was either doled out or taken. Religion just seemed a way of asking for it. And Teric didnt enjoy asking for things.

He slowly approaches the burning torches, trying to look farther down the cavern.

I love being able to replay this. The first time I played a religious researcher, and I was all over this. This time Teric has nothing to contribute!

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perception: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 6 - 2 = 17

Castiel moves around to study the stone engravings.

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"Oooh, contradictory history. Exciting. We're supposed to..uh...record, report, report, right?"

She takes out her writing apparatus and notes the differences between the engravings and the official texts.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 1 - 2 = 15

Zlata briefly looks over the carvings on the wall, making a mental note to learn more about the religious history of the world, before moving to take the lead position at the exit of the chamber.

Zlata will happily take point; the cloak would be useful if none else has a burning desire for it?

4d12 ⇒ (4, 2, 4, 6) = 16

As the party continues to look at the writings, you decipher the beggar, farmer, and soldier aspects of the carvings. The rest are too far gone, lost to time.

The Beggar is depicted kneeling with an alms bowl raised high, representing Aroden espousing humility in all, lest they forget their shared humanity.

The Farmer is depicted plowing four lines in a field, retelling Aroden’s prophecy that humankind would prepare the rocky earth for planting and over generations wear the pebbles down into fertile soil.

The Soldier is depicted bearing a lantern through the streets of a city, following the dead god’s prophecy that the vigilant shall carry light to the darkest corners of the world to banish the shadows.

Prothero looks about for any other carvings they haven't studied, in case there are any clues about the presence of the gillman in this place.

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Perception: 1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 9 - 2 = 19

He then nods toward the hallway to the south and tips his head towards Zlata to lead the way.

Looking down the hallway, Teric sees a faint illumination coming from a cavern beyond. He also hears the babble of flowing water.

Seeing there is nothing else of note within, the other carvings worn to oblivion, the party moves on.

The soft light of the surrounding fungus mixes with the flickering glow of the nearby torches in the hall to reveal a grand chamber. A large pool of water along the chamber’s southern edge reflects the blue and green radiance to illuminate the massive stalactites that cling to the ceiling overhead. Two other tunnels branch off from this area, leading to the east and west.

Rising up from the pool is a column of rock with steeply sloped sides and a flat top, as if someone had sawn off the top of a massive stalagmite. A miniature city carved from this same stone occupies nearly the entire surface. Tiny trinkets such as ancient coins, polished semiprecious stones, and ornately braided loops of string are scattered throughout the diorama, and pale cave frogs clamber atop it. The smooth cavern floor is covered in gravel and pebbles along the edge of the pool, and several foot-long centipedes prowl among the gravel in their search for prey.

Within the pool is what you can only guess to be a gillman, sitting serenely in the shallows, eyes closed in meditation. He does not move at your approach.

Unless someone objects...

Arcana calls out to the figure.

"Excuse me!"

Teric spots the gillman and motions to the others in some overly elaborate gestures. When Arcana calls out, the man rolls his eyes, but simply shrugs and continues into the southern part of the cavern.

"Good day, sir. I hope you forgive the intrusion."

At both the call of Arcana and Teric, the gillman does not react.

Prothero slips an arrow out of his quiver and sets it to his bow, moving closer to the gillman and waiting for some reaction from him.

How close is Prothero going?

Not sure how close we are now, but I'll get to about 20 feet, if nothing happens will get to 10 feet away.

"Perhaps he does not wish to be bothered."

Prothero nears the gillman, still yielding no response. Getting closer still, his boot touches the water's edge, sending gentle ripples into the pool. The gillman's eyes flash open and look up at you, though he remains silent.

Arcana waves.
"Hi, friend! Can we ask you some questions?"

The gillman stares at Arcana as she speaks. In a sort of mumbled Taldane, he responds, "Can you? Are you capable?"

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Either annoyed or indifferent, he replies, "Listening to the water."

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What does the water say? The elf can't help but ask.

"That which your ears cannot hear. Why do you come to desecrate this place?"

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

"We've no wish to desecrate, only to learn."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

The gillman's eyes furrow and narrow at the half-orc. "Your type come here uninvited and disturb my meditations and you have no wish to desecrate? You bring defilement with a simple step. Perhaps those steps should take you from whence you came."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Prothero's eyes narrow briefly in thought before he turns slightly to face away from the gillman. "I'm fairly sure he's deaf," he says, taking care to position himself so the gillman can't read his lips, "and for some reason he's looking pretty interested in that cloak we found in the pit, that Zlata's wearing."

Arcana puts her back to the man.

"This guy's mean. He's not gonna tell us anything. We should move on. And it's our cloak now, we got it out of the hole."

Ignoring Arcana, Zlata unfastens the cloak, folds it neatly, and places it at the water's edge. Taking two steps back, she sits and addresses the gillman. "Erastil teaches us to live in balance with nature, the land and the water. If my ears cannot hear its words, will you teach me how to listen?"

Go ahead and do another Diplo check on that. With a +8 bonus.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 8 = 19

Anyone want to assist that? =\
Obviously Arcana's not interested, hahaha.

Looking squarely at the gillman so his words are clear, Prothero says, "As my friend so eloquently put it, we have no wish to defile this place, with our steps or with our words."

Diplomacy, Aid Zlata: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (14) + 0 = 14

"Hmph!"

Arcana leans against the wall and pouts.

assist diplo: 1d20 ⇒ 7
"Listen mate, we only came to explore and report. Return some balance to this place if possible."

can we all add the +8 bonus here?

Teric waves his hands, hoping to defuse the tension. "Perhaps we can come to an arrangement. Sir, you appear to be interested in the cloak we found. We would like some information about this place. Would you consider telling us more if the cloak was yours?"

Diplomacy, aid: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Yes, could you teach us to hear what can not be heard?

Diplo: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (14) + 0 = 14

No, just the single bonus for Zlata's roll.

Seeing that he probably jumped to his conclusion, the gillman seems to relax a little, indicating a dry spot for the cloak to be placed. "Perhaps I judge you too harshly. Being outsiders I doubt you will take much from our ways."

That was close, hahaha.

Teric places the cloak where he points. "Pardon our intrusion. You were meditating? Is this a holy place?"

"'Outsider' I shall forever be," Zlata agrees sadly, "but I have spent my life listening to the wind in the grass, feeling the rhythm of the sun, smelling the life in the earth. Surely the ways of the water are not so different?"