Gameplay thread. Dot in. We will begin on Monday. Head to discussion and place character info there.
Recently, Venture-Captain Nieford Sharrowsmith disappeared on an expedition to explore dwarven ruins in the Bandu Hills. Concerned for his welfare after his prolonged absence, his business associate Aya Allahe dispatched a team of Pathfinders to track the errant Sharrowsmith and provide him support if necessary. clues found in the Bandu Hills suggest a powerful guardian lairs within the ruins, yet the dwarves left a powerful weapon capable of disabling the creature in the hands of a nearby grippli tribe known as the Krihirik.
The journey from Fort Bandu to the Kaava Lands is oppressively hot, but it gets easier as the days go on and the terrain transitions from rugged foothills to open grasslands before giving way to dense jungle. Following the directions from Fort Bandu’s garrison captain, it is not difficult to find Krihirik village, which lies approximately ten miles inside the jungle’s border— and twenty feet off the ground. Narrow rope bridges connect a few dozen tree-dwellings overhead, forming a small but secure community. Bright-skinned, bulging-eyed gripplis go about their daily business nearby. Crates and sacks of trade goods litter the jungle floor, and several gripplis busily inspect a bundle of swords, throwing down their spears and nets in favor of freshly forged steel.
A blue-and-brown-skinned grippli in practical traveling clothes bounds forward and holds out his webbed hands in welcome. “More visitors come to trade with the Krihirik? You are most welcome here, though I fear we have little to offer at this time. Or perhaps there’s some other reason you came all this way?”
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Sabni is a half-elven man of Osirion decent, but strangely with bright red hair. He wears a breastplate and carries a longsword and buckler by his side. You see a spell component pouch as well.
"I am Sabni Kabaan, a carpenter who hails from Sothis. I lived there for most of my life just making furniture for a living until one day I discovered the hammer I used for carpentry started taking on magical properties, enhancing my work. I didn't know what was happening at first, but found out that I could then focus my power into items, I decided I wanted to take up training this skill, and hence I joined the Pathfinder Society."
"I am not so proficient with weapons, but you will find that if you use weapons, I have the ability to enhance them in combat, as well as enhancing other combative abilities."
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A most primitive society, yet it works.
Sabni waits for someone much more fluent in social interactions to speak up.
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Saphera moves up to the grippli and smiles warmly. "Well met, my name is Saphera. We have come in search of something left by the dwarves many years ago. We have been told, the item that we seek will help us destroy a great evil in the world. Who would we talk to about something as important and old as this?"
"I'm guessing you are here for a weapon to take down the guardian. Follow me, I shall take you to the elders."
He then lets out a couple croaks and several Gripplis lower rope ladders down to the forest floor for the PC's.
Rickety rope bridges connect half a dozen grippli tree houses to one another, though to the north, many more appear overgrown and abandoned. One dwelling is larger than the others, hangs over a small pond. Inside, three gripplis with mottled gray-brown skin pass a finely crafted short sword back and forth with admiration. Gwellik announces the PCs to the grippli elders, and introduces them to the PCs: Mother Bogwynne, the lorekeeper and chief elder; Finyik, the hunt-master; and Diblop, the chief brew-mistress and miracle worker.
Mother Bogwynne, the largest of the gripplis, slowly gets to her feet and hands the sword to the trader. “Thank you Gwellik. You have done well in our time of need, bringing both weapons and travelers from afar to lend aid to the Krihirik.”]/b] She pauses and looks over her guests in the meetinghouse. [b]“So, you seek a weapon to fight against the guardian of the Bandu Hills? Word of our tribe’s secret seems to have reached many ears of late. The Krihirik have such an object, but it is a treasured possession, entrusted to us long ago—one we could not surrender lightly. However...” She looks to Finyik, the hunt-master, whose old bones creak as he gets to his feet to speak.
“We are fewer in number with each season, for we are hemmed in by enemies on all sides. Those who would seek our remaining weapon would do well to bring us one in return, and this is the same opportunity we gave to those who came before you. Travel to Deepblood Ridge, where two beasts of the Kaava Lands reign, and bring back one or more of their eggs. These we can nurture as our own, far from the hungry talons of the lizardfolk who fear the beasts and would eat their young. Do this while surviving the dangers of our forest home, and you shall have our gratitude and our respect.”
Finyik sits down, and Diblop, by far the oldest and grayest of the three, speaks. “The great scaled ones are mighty creatures, the king and queen of the Kaava Lands’ many beasts. But the lizardfolk may curses haunt their breed to the ends of the jungle—chased them off, leaving the nest vulnerable. Now is the time to strike! Those who can defy the lizardfolk and aid us now will be most fit to wield the weapon the dwarves gave us so long ago and end the vile guardian’s threat once and for all.”
@Sabni, “It would take far too long to tell you all the possible dangers you might face. Since you say you are worthy of carrying our tribe’s treasured weapon, we assume you are quite capable of handling yourselves out there… and if not, then it was simply not meant to be.”
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"Your request sounds more than reasonable. Could you give us any more information on the scaled creature?" Saphera respectfully waits until what information the elders can share about the scaled creature is disclosed.
" How about the others that have come asking about the weapon, can you give us any information about them?”
“And lastly, how much do you know about the Lizard men? It would be helpful to understand their nature, motivations, and rituals. Is it possible to reason with them, or is diplomacy off the table.’
About the other group, “They are a small group of explorers Gwellik brought back from a recent trade expedition. They seemed eager to help us with our problem.”
About the scaled ones, “Your kind calls them dinosaurs. They are the mightiest creatures for miles in any direction, dangerous and untamable. The lizardfolk must have suffered great losses in chasing them off.”
About the lizardman, [b]“They are cruel and disgusting creatures who eat the flesh of anyone they can get their claws on—including us. We have warred with them for many generations, but now they have the upper hand. They think only of resources, and any threat to their food sources is their enemy. If they find the eggs first, they will simply eat them as a way of eliminating a future competitor. I doubt you would be able to talk reasonably with them”
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Tatiana adjusts her shield and then rests it on the ground next to her leg. After taking a deep breath, she continues with a few more questions. "Do you have a relative idea where to look for one of these eggs? One egg is what you are expecting, correct?"
After rubbing her chin a moment she comes up with two relative question. "What type of dinosaur? Can you describe them?"
"That is correct dear. Just one egg. And you can definatly find them in Deepblood Ravine. The scaled ones are gargantuan, have small arms and a massive head with a mouthful of teeth the size of swords.
@Saphera, you realize what they are describing is a Tyrannosaurus.
After the comment from Favian the Grippli start croaking to themselves.
Knowledge Geography
Knowledge Local
The Kaava Lands teem with wildlife, from squawking birds and stinging insects to humongous trees that create a dense canopy above. Vines, roots, and large-leaved plants cover much of the ground. The gripplis’ directions lead northwest through the dark, virtually trackless terrain. The myriad sounds of the jungle grow louder, and the undergrowth grows thicker, as the Krihirik village vanishes into the distance.
First Check- I will need everyone to roll survival checks. I will take the highest roll as the main. Everyone who gets above 10 will be aiding.
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Sabni pushes suddenly remembers so much. "Deepblood Ravine runs from northeast to southwest in the eastern Kaava Lands. Most of the ravine’s western half is close to lizardfolk territory, and the eastern half is generally considered less dangerous. Deepblood Ravine was once the home of a large tribe of lizardfolk, but the arrival of carnivorous dinosaurs in the ravine drove them out. Ever since, the lizardfolk have aggressively expanded their territory in every other direction."
"The lizardfolk of the Kaava Lands are generally more open than others of their kind when dealing with non-lizardfolk. Nonetheless, they are highly unpredictable, proud, and violent—a combination that has resulted in a many deadly encounters over the years. The lizardfolk of Deepblood Ravine, in particular, are aggressively pragmatic survivors. Their conquest of the Krihirik village is inevitable unless the gripplis can secure some advantage. Based on the Krihirik gripplis’ descriptions, a human with terrible scars on his arms leads the explorers. He carries numerous daggers, seems to know his way around the jungle, and wore a strange metal badge with a snake insignia. His colleagues sometimes referred to him by the nickname Fiveknives."
Sabni is so busy explaining that he forgets that he's in the woods.
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Saphera listens quietly as Sabni shares his extensive knowledge of the area and the Lizardfolk. Once the Half-elf finishes, Saphera pipes in with a couple comments.
"Sabni, your knowledge of the area is quite impressive. Its good to have you along. As fare as the dinosaur is concerned, it sounds like he described a Tyrannosaurus. From what I can remember, those are quite aggressive. This could prove to be an extremely dangerous mission if we run into one."
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Oleander has kept quiet during the talk with the frog-folk. She found them unsettling, but on the plus side, they seemed simple and less officious than humans. Once out in the jungle she was happy to lead the way.
Saphera however was most impressive in her own jungle-abilities, and the elf vowed to do better next time.
Along the way you find a set of tracks. Showing a group of at least six medium humanoids and a smaller set of tracks which shows a barefoot humanoid missing two toes on its right foot.
About four miles from the Krihirik village, the terrain suddenly drops off into a deep ravine. The far side of the ravine is sixty feet away, and its craggy faces descend one hundred feet to the ravine floor below. The gap in the jungle allows a glimpse of the sky above, but the trees grow to the very edge of the ravine, and their dense canopy still blocks out much of the light. Several of the trees have massive, shaggy-barked trunks sporting countless twisting limbs. The trees’ strong roots grow deep into the earth and some even dangle over the side of the ravine.
Knowledge Nature
If you free climb using the roots, cracks and crevices, it will be a DC 10 climb check. You may use rope, it will be at least a 100 feet worth.
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Oleander opens her pack and extracts fifty feet of rope from it.
"Anyone else bring some? We should have thought to buy some after the frogs told us there was a chasm."
Her mind flicks back to the kobolds and the ravine the group crossed there.
"I hope there are no more Krenshaw in waiting... I wonder if this crack meets up with that one eventually?"
<- +2 if humans.
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"Although I think we have enough rope to make the climb, I'm concerned about retrieving the rope when we have completed the climb." Saphera looks out over the ravine for a moment. "We might need the rope at some point down the rode. Do we have anyone who is adept at climbing, that can easily make the climb without the rope?"
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"I can either hold off on climbing down until we have everyone but Oleander safely down. This would allow me to help with the lowering process, or I could go first in case there is anything down there to be concerned about. I will leave it up to the group to decided if I go first or almost last. With Oleander willing to make the climb without the rope, we will at least have the rope going forward. Only bad thing about removing the rope, is the fact that we wont have it in case we need to quickly climb back up."
Fallen trees, rocky streams, hanging vines, and other obstacles litter the ravine floor, making travel through this area just as difficult despite the sparser foliage. After several hundred feet, the terrain gives way to a natural trail running through the middle of the ravine. In most places the trail is a mere five feet wide, though it widens to fifteen or even twenty feet in some areas. The ravine walls and the distant canopy still block out most of the natural light along the path.
Where the path narrows again, a humanoid corpse—one hand stuck in its vest as though desperately trying to reach for something—lies sprawled in the dirt next to a thick, thorny plant. Countless biting ants swarm over the corpse, making its features difficult to discern.
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Saphera moves back a bit to accommodate Favian's request. After her last episode with a swarm of spiders, she doesn't seem over thrilled about another horde of insects.
"From the tracks that I am seeing, it looks like a half dozen humanoids have move through this are. I don't see any returning footprints. Let me know when its OK for me to move forward."
Sabni unleashes an icy spell that completely deep freezes both swarms in place.
On further investigation of the body you find a standard rapier, a composite longbow of masterwork quality, 2 potions, 2 oils, 2 arrows, 2 flask of Alchemist Fire, and a special rope around his waist.