GM Woran's Crypt of the Everflame (Inactive)

Game Master Woran

"The mayor's name is Uptal, and Jurgen identified the corpses of Gerol and Vark we found in the entrance of the crypt. Jurgen identified them too," adds Araklifest again.

diplomacy (aid another): 1d20 ⇒ 15

Rolling for Zoma-Khat

diplomacy, aid another: 1d20 ⇒ 17

"M..mayor Uptal? Gerol and Vark? Ok. I'm opening the door, but if you are some undead monstrocity I will shoot you!"

You hear a click coming from the door, and then the sound of someone scurrying backwards.

Pushing open the door slowly, you see a small room, with a few boxes in it. On the ground is a bedroll and a single torch burns on the wall.

Pushed in a corner, crossbow aimed at the door, is a haggard looking man. One of his eyes twitch and he had a haunted look in his eyes.

Heir sheepishly puts his skull on a stick off to the side.. for now. Letting one of the more normal looking compatriots stick their head around the corner.

Jurgen steps in, with exaggeratedly calm movements, showing his human face.

"It's going to be okay, we're here to rescue you." He rummages a bit in his backpack and retrieves a bottle of whisky. "Here, looks like you need it."

Eyes wild, the man shakily lowers his crosbow. "You... you are real, arent you? Not some trick to get me killed..."

He cautiously approaches Justin. But one sniff of the bottle has him convinced and he takes quite swig of the bottle.
Then breaks down crying.
"They.... they came while we were sleeping. I didnt know what happened to Gerol and Vark, but the dead one, one with the voice of death, who stalks these halls in ancient mail, he took my sister! The walking bones took Dimira! Please, please save her!"

He sags on the ground sobbing, rocking back and forth, clutching the bottle to his chest.

Jurgen watches him for a moment, letting him have some more. "I'm afraid Gerol and Vark didn't make it. But for Dimira there's still hope, we didn't see her. We will go on and find her. But what is mailclad undead creature you speak of?"

Jurgen recognises the man now as Roldare, the towns cobbeler.

Roldare snifs and wails a bit. "The dead one! The dread one! With the glowing eyes! He commanded the walking bones! Blood, so much blood!"

Its pretty clear that Roldare has lost his mind.

Jurgen looks at him sadly, then turns to the others. "He's going to need more help than we can give him here and now. We'll bring him back with us, but first we need to go after Dimira. It sounds like the leader of the undead is intelligent though, so be careful of being overheard."

When I ran this scenario they sent in a scout with Hide from Undead, and then stood in the door opening discussing tactics. In full hearing of the boss. They got a surprise...

"Dimira, Dimira!"

Roldare keeps quietly wailing to himself.

The door to this room looks quite sturdy and has a bolt on the inside. You think you could pretty effectively barricade yourself in here if the need arrises.

Jurgen mutters quietly to the others "I'd tell him to lock himself inside until we come back, but we might have to go through the whole thing again to convince him to open up. Do you think we can just make sure nothing can get around us to this room? It looks like a dead end."

"We could rest and recover here as well, should the need arise," observes Araklifest.

"Yes, if we have to. But I'd rather not lose time while Dimira is in danger. Let's go."

Jurgen starts down the tunnel to the west, examining it for noteworthies, traps, and magical auras visible through the door.

Jurgen checks the hallway and the door. Finding nothing suspicious, he opens the door.

The small chamber is mostly empty, save for the body of a
villager sprawled in the center. Perched atop the corpse is a man-sized brown and yellow beetle, trying to push the corpse into the corner where a pile of trash and filth awaits.

Spotting Jurgen, it waves its mandibles aggresively.

Initiative

Round 1

Heir
Araklifest
Beetle
Zoma-Khat
Jurgen

Araklifest attacks fast and vicious. He tries to attack not just up front from the beetle, but from the side, making room for another attacker.
He uses his arcana pool to make his rapier +1 and attacks. Due to his haste he misses his first attack, but draws the attention from the beetle.

Heir has computer trouble, so I will bot him for now.

Araklifest: moves into the room, making sure his fellow Pathfinders can follow after. His strike at the beetle however is a miss.

Heir: follows Araklifest's lead, moving in with room for Jurgen. He strikes at the beetle.

unarmed strike: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

But Heir has not much luck either.

Beetle: Chitters angrily and bites at Araklifest.
bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

The beetle chops down with its powerfull jaws, tearing big chunk of flesh out of Araklifest's leg.

I didnt know if you refeshed Shield, so I assumed you didnt, if you did, my bad, and the attack is a miss

Initiative

Round 1

Heir
Araklifest 10 damage
Beetle
Zoma-Khat
Jurgen

Zoma-Khat and Jurgen are up!

Jurgen lines up a shot at the beetle from behind Araklifest, then readies his cestus-hand and steps up to give Araklifest some cover to withdraw.

To hit, PBS: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
damage, PBS: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Jurgen: shoots at the beetle. The arrow bounces of the beetle's hard carapace.

Zoma-khat: Moves into the room, making sure there is room for others to retreat if necessary.

Electric Blast (vs touch): 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 1 = 8
Electricity damage: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 + 1 = 7

But Zoma-khat's attack also misses.

Initiative

Round 2

Heir
Araklifest 10 damage
Beetle
Zoma-Khat
Jurgen

Heir and Araklifest are up!

Heir steps up to start the flankolympics and throws two snap kicks at the creatures legs and attempts to top it off with a bite

kick 1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
kick 1 damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

kick 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
kick 2 damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

bite: 1d20 ⇒ 18
bite damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3

Completely surprised by his own stupidity to forget to cast shield on himself and by the nasty bite of the beetle, Araklifest steps one step back, out of range from the monster.

Heir's: kick and bite tear a sizeable chunk out of the beetle's carapace.

Araklifest: Retreats to a saver position.

Beetle: turns towards the soure of its agony and takes a bite at Heir.

bite at Heir: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Initiative

Round 2

Heir
Araklifest 10 damage
Beetle
Zoma-Khat
Jurgen

Jurgen and Zoma-khat are up!

Jurgen tries to take advantage of the beetle's distraction by stepping behind it and trying to punch at the joins in its carapace.

mithral cestus, flank: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

That stuff is tough though.

Jurgen: is detered by the beetles hard carapace.

Zoma-khat: Maintains his position, and sends out another blast.

Electric Blast (vs touch): 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 3 + 1 = 19
Electricity damage: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6

The blast hits this time, sending shudders trough the beetle.

Initiative

Round 3

Heir
Araklifest 10 damage
Beetle 6 damage
Zoma-Khat
Jurgen

Heir and Araklifest are up!

Araklifest casts Chill Touch on the beetle, delivering the touch attack with an attack of his rapier, using Spellstrike.

As this is the very first time I use Spellstrike, it is very well possible I do it wrong.
I miss the damage Heir inflicted on the beetle 6 posts earlier?

kick: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 3 + 2 = 17
kick 1 damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

kick 2: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 2 = 11
kick 2: 1d1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

bite hit: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Bite damage: 1d3 ⇒ 2

@Araklifest: it isn't necessary to spoiler your dice rolls, the text coloring is clear enough :)

Ah, thats what you get when you rush. I've taken Heir's earlier damage into account.

A coordinated assault by Heir and Araklifest finishes off the beetle. First Araklifests spellstrike pierces the beetles shell, then Heir finishes it off by cracking what is left of its carapace.

[ooc]We're out of initiative

With the beetle subdued, Jurgen gives Araklifest a couple of taps from his healing wand to bring him back to full strength again.

Then he motions everyone into position to explore the stairway.

The stairs descend for 15 feet, ending in a flat corridor, before rising again.
Peeking into the room on the other side, you see that one half of this lofty chamber has a lowered floor, with stairs on either side to reach the bottom. Standing opposite the door is a tall wooden statue of Kassen grasping a gigantic wooden shield in each hand. One of the shields is inscribed with the word “home,” while the other reads “family.”

"Hmm. The guys at Absalom taught me that a statue is never just a statue. Especially when it's standing there as suspiciously as that one. And I don't see any crushed bones here, so the undead didn't fight with it. Maybe we should look for another route first."

There are two doors in the room. One behind the statue, and one on the opposite side of it.

"Greetings noble Guardian, we are here to bring your family home, may we pass? "

Nothing happens.

Fully refreshed from his wounds thanks Jurgen, Araklifest leaves the room, but not before he has searched the body on the floor, looking for something that could identify it as a villager or one of the culprits.

Upon entering the room with the statue, ha casts detect magic on the statue.

The statue is magical.

The beetle has nothing. Its nest contains nothing but rubbish.

"Well. It's not talking back. I don't trust it, and I don't know if we really need to go there. Let's cover the rest of this floor first, make sure we don't get attacked in the rear by more skeletons."

Jurgen directs the team back a bit to the side tunnel that didn't appear to have a door closing it off.

Jurgen takes the party trough the other corridor.
It takes a weird turn in the middle, going south for a few paces, then turns back west again. The corridor ends in another door.

Seeing closed doors at the end of every hallway (except the one with the suspicious statue), Jurgen figures it's time to try one. He takes a moment to thoroughly examine this one (take 20 perception to check it for traps and to listen for sounds on the other side; results in a 25).

Examening the door, Jurgen notices it has no lock, or handle. Its a plain slab of wood.
It does not appear to be trapped. There are no sounds from the other side.
When pushing it, it does not budge.

"It looks like a one way door", suggests Araklifest. "No short cuts I presume."

"Strange. Maybe it's part of the test? We'd best keep exploring."

Jurgen leads them back to the door in the beetle room and examines it likewise.

After studying the door for a while you deem it untrapped and unlocked.
Opening it, you see a short hallway, ending in a broad chamer.
The remains of a small fire smolder in the center the room, letting off a plume of oily smoke. Fed by a heap off burning gear, debris, and more than few bones, the fire casts a flickering light across the walls of this room, partially obscured by the veil of smoke.

"What in Deadeye's Name happened here?"

Jurgen cautiously steps a little closer to peer into the room and casts Detect Magic.

Jurgen sneaks forward, peeking around the corner. The acrid smoke stings his eyes painfully.

–2 penalty on Perception checks and on attack rolls while in the room

There is the aura of a magical object in the fire, but its hard to make it out due to the smoke.

Jurgen cautiously circles into the room, hugging the north and east walls with his back, peering deeper into the room to see what's going on, and closing in on the fire to see what's in it.

"Guys... there's something in the fire. Apart from the bones that is. Anyone have some water to douse it?"

He motions the others to get a bit closer and back him up.

Araklifest enters the room and joins Jurgen at the fire. With the point of his rapier, he spreads the fire a bit, trying to separate the thing Jurgen indicated from the rest.

Smoke stinging their eyes, Araklifest and Jurgen poke trough the flames. Its hard to see, but a glowing hot dagger rests between burning rubble.

perception Jurgen: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 5 - 2 = 20
perception Araklifest: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 4 - 2 = 19
perception Zoma-Khat: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 5 - 2 = 23
perception Heir: 1d20 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 1 - 2 = 10

1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

Surprise round:

Zoma-Khat: Sees something moving from the corner of his eye. A shadow stepping out of the wall, moving towards Araklifest.
"Whatch out everyone! Some kind of monster!

Instinctively he tries to blast it.
blast: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 3 + 1 = 24
blast confirm?: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 3 + 1 = 24

blast damage: 2d6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (5, 3) + 2 + 2 = 12

Not as effective as he would assume, Zoma-Khat none the less blows a sizeable hole trough the shadow.

Shadow: Stetches out a tattered limb, and moves as if to caress Araklifest.

incorporeal touch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Initiative round 1

Jurgen
Araklifest
Zoma-Khat
Shadow 6 damage
Heir

Jurgen and Araklifest are up! I'll continue to bot Zoma-Khat
Its a know: religion to identify the creature.

Knowledge Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

"Some sort of shadow... it does't look like it has any substance, we will need magic weaponry against this!"

Jurgen eyes the dagger lying in the fire.

"Like that perhaps..."

When the shadowy thing comes forward and on the call of Jurgen, Araklifest charges his masterwork light mace with one point from his arcana pool making it a magic weapon.
He attacks immediately, hitting the insubstantial creature square in the chest.

Attack with light mace +1: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Damage has to be 1d6+3 because of magic weapon, so damage is 6 in stead of 5.

Taking a deep breath to brace himself, Jurgen snatches the dagger out of the fire in his cestus-protected hand. Shout-chanting loudly to cover the expected pain he starts his Weapon Song;

"HOLD YOUR GROUND! WE FACE DARKNESS BUT WE ARE ARMED WITH STRENGTH AND COURAGE! OURS IS THE FURY!"

I'm using the Weapon Song to make the dagger Ghost Touch. I'm not 100% sure if it's possible to use it on Araklifest's class-enmagicked weapon, if possible then I also make that one Ghost Touch.

It also enhances Heir's unarmed strikes with a +1; his Iroran Paladin archetype copies the Monk Unarmed Strike ability which lets him treat his unarmed strikes as manufactured weapons so I can enhance them.

Finally, it'll enhance Zoma-Khat's club.

Forgot that while you CAN crit undead, you cant crit uncorporeals unless with Ghost touch, so the Shadow would only have 3 damage after Zoma-Khat's attack.

Araklifest: Connects with his mace to the torso of the shadow. While the attack hits, it feels soft, as if he hit a soft pillow. Some of its shadowy form gets hacked off, but its not nearly as effective as you would expect.

Jurgen: Snatches the dagger out of the fire. Glowing red hot, his cestus doesnt fully protect him from its heat. fire damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

His song reverbrates trough the room, making the dagger glow with more then just heat.

I'll go and look up what the effect would be on Araklifest's weapon.

Zoma-Khat: Looks questioningly at his weapon. "Thanks Jurgen, but I'll stick to blasting. Know your own strengths and all that.

blast: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 1 = 23
damage: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 + 1 = 8

Initiative round 1

Jurgen [ooc]3 damage
Araklifest
Zoma-Khat
Shadow 10 damage
Heir

Heir is up!