Godsmouth Heresy - PFS - Presented by DM Eric S (Inactive)

Game Master Eric Swanson

Uriel scans the empty chamber and quickly determines, in addition to the magical items you each carry, each of the bronze seals on the three stone doors radiate a strong abjuration aura.

"The symbol of Pharasma...I bet you need the chime to open any of these doors," Lucina mutters, frowning. "But we need to be careful to save one to open the way out when we come back...so that leaves us with four opportunities to open a door down here."

She ponders the meaning of the strange scrawl that Lady Mae had spotted. "Do you think it's a clue for which door to try? Normally people's hearts are on the left side of their body...to be on the 'wrong' side it'd be the right side."

Uriel alerts the team, "The bronze seals on the three stone doors radiate a strong abjuration aura."

Then he examines the graffiti, after Lady Mae points it out. "I think it's a reference to that song by the great R&B bard of the 70's, Luther Ingram, you know the one."

♫If loving you is wrong I don't wanna be right
If being right means being without you
I'd rather live a wrong doing life... ♫

"Well it's gotta be this door then, obviously!" Ruby pads up to the door on the left and sniffs around the seams, and Damien prepares to open it. "I don't know what yer talking about with this abjoorashun aura stuff. Let's git in there!"

"Any door seems as good as the other. But our small friend here is eager to go left." Annilda walks up to the door. "So, let's try this one out. Who has the chime?"

"That'd be me," Lucina says, raising her hand. "This door, then? Okay, let's see what happens..." she says as she pulls out the chime and walks to the left door. Once everyone is ready, she holds the chime up and rings it just once...

Mae covers her ear things as the chime rings "That is very high pitched. My ears are sensitive, I hope Sunny's ok." Sunny doesn't even flinch, eyestalks wandering about and acid dripping from her mindless maw.

Lucina takes out the precious Chime of Opening and, standing in front of the left-most door, points the chime at the door while striking it firmly. A clear tone emanates from the chime and with a shuddering groan, the seals holding the door tight snap open.

**ENGAGING DUNGEON MODE**

The door opens into a 10 foot wide corridor which heads for a short distance before ending at a set of stone doors, thankfully not sealed like the previous set of doors. Not finding any traps in the corridor you proceed cautiously forward. A strange statue of a half-snake, half-human creature stands in a wide alcove to the south of these doors. Comprising the lower body of a coiling serpent and the upper torso of a human woman, the statue has six wings and a disk containing a seven-pointed star in place of its head. Its crossed arms hold a quill and whip, and the entire statue is covered in verdigris. The faint outline of strange runes can be made out beneath the patina coating the statue.

Uriel does manage to detect a faint magical aura emanating from the statue...though the closer he gets to it he sees it is coming from a specific point on the statue, the quill it looks like.

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MAP updated. Also I noticed no one has Trapfinding as a class skill, so disarming (but not detecting) magical traps will not be possible.

"Intriguing. Does anyone know what this is?"

Knowledge(Religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

"Anybody recognize the creature the statue represents?" Uriel asks as he looks at the half-snake, half-human woman winged figure with a seven-pointed star instead of a head. "The quill it's holding has a faint magical aura."

He apologizes, "I'm sorry, I lack the skill to identify enchanted items. Perhaps one of you could examine it?"

Mae nods at Uriel "I have some training with magical creations. I can try." She casts her own version of detect magic, complete with a few low croaks and ribbits as she closes one eye and the other opens widely.

Spellcraft if needed/useful: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

"I am sorry, but I do not always understand the magical ways of you Northerners." She returns to petting Sunny.

Damien marches Ruby forward into the next room, where rather than examining the statue, he pulls out a pack of berries and almonds. "No idea what thiff thing is about," he says, mouth full. "Kinda cool though!"

Lucina makes a face when the group is confronted with the half-human, half-snake statue. "Surely they could've picked a better decorator than this," she muses as she peers curiously at the seven-pointed star.

Kn. Religion: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Then, a bit of nearly-forgotten text that she'd read in a book once comes surging to the forefront of her thoughts and she snaps her fingers. "Oh! No wonder! This's supposed to be Lissala; she was a deity of runes, fate, and the reward of service."

"You say the quill's magical?" Lucina continues, glancing at Uriel. "Um, let me see, I might be able to figure out the aura now that I know it's there..."

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

"...aaaaand no, I have no idea what this does."

"Oh well. My armor is secure, and my faith is strong! I will risk it." Annilda takes a look and walks up to the quill. Sensing no danger, she takes it.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

As a reminder, I have Combat Reflexes.

As Annilda reaches for the magical quill, her arm bumps into the statue of Lissala which flashes brightly...

...and Annilda feels her life force bolstered by the statue's magicks! As she steps away from the statue she also sees the quill consists of a feather that does indeed detect as magical.
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Status:

Annilda (14 (+1 temp)/14 hp, Mage Armor)
Damien (18/18 hp)
Lady Mae (15/15 hp)
Lucina (8/8 hp)
Uriel (19/19 hp)
Ruby (13/13 hp)
Sunny (16/16 hp)
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Current Effects: Uriel Light spell, Damien Light spell, Annilda *Virtue spell.
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Chime of Opening: 4 charges left.
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Annilda is granted the benefits of a Virtue Spell.

"Fortune favors the bold." Annilda bows to the statue. "Come and pray at the statue for good luck, if you wish. I suggest we move ahead."

I'm ready to proceed to the next room.

Gripping his bastard sword and light wooden shield, Uriel steps closer to the door unsealed by chime of opening. "If you're all ready, I'll open it, " he whispers.

(Engaging our party's Door SOP.)

"Huh," Lucina remarks, looking bemused. "It feels a little strange but sure, I'll pay Lissala a little lip service if she's feeling generous."

Lucina moves to the statue and carefully places one hand on it as she bows her head.

Mae keeps her distance from the statue "Strange spirits and their magics? I prefer the spirits of the jungle."

"More for me and Lady Lucina then. Ho ho ho!" She chuckles.

Seeing the statue bestow its blessings upon her fellow Pathfinder, Lucina decides to also partake of the statue's blessings. Reaching out to touch the snake-like torso she feels a jolt pass through her body...

...as Lucina glances up at the statue it suddenly flares into a bright halo of light leaving an afterimage burned on her retinas.

Lucina needs to make a DC 10 Fortitude save or be Dazzled for one minute.
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Status:

Annilda (14 (+1 temp)/14 hp, Mage Armor)
Damien (18/18 hp)
Lady Mae (15/15 hp)
Lucina (8/8 hp, Dazzled (?))
Uriel (19/19 hp)
Ruby (13/13 hp)
Sunny (16/16 hp)
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Current Effects: Uriel Light spell, Damien Light spell, Annilda *Virtue spell.
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Chime of Opening: 4 charges left.
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I will wait to see if anyone else takes advantage(?) of the statues blessings(?) before moving us along here.

Mae watches Lucina's reaction as she touches the statue. She blinks a few times before licking each of her large eyeballs with her tongue. "Yes, strange Northern spirits." She herds Sunny along with a spare banana leaf as bait.

Uriel makes a warding sign against evil, more than ready to continue the mission.

Fort (DC 10): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

"Gah!"

Although the flash of light catches Lucina by surprise, she's somehow able to resist the worst of it as she quickly backs away from the statue.

"Ow ow ow...too bright!"

The little halfling closes her eyes and then opens them again, blinking a few times. "Ooh...going to be seeing spots for a bit," she groans. "But it could've been worse, I guess."

"Last time I'm listening to you," she adds, shooting a reproachful glare at Annilda. "Come on, we're wasting time. Let's see what's behind this next set of doors."

"Ah, the Lady giveth, the Lady taketh." Annilda grins. "Perhaps another time I will be the loser. But not today!"

Damien continues to gorge himself on berries and bread. "Count on the halflings ta always git the short end of the stick, huh Lucina! Gah!"

Deciding to leave the fickle statue behind you you move into your dungeon exploration formation and slowly pull open the doors.

The 10 foot wide passage continues west for a sort distance before it comes to an end at a 'T'-intersection branching north and south. You do see a side passage heading to the north, and also a door in the south passageway wall on the opposite side. Following your previously discussed plan of exploring the Ossuary you head into the northern passageway. The corridor travels north past your range of light spells yet a pair of 5' wide doors bisect the corridor. The passage continues further along and you do see another pair of doors further up the way, but you first stop at the right-facing door.

Seeing the door does not appear trapped you open the door, which opens easily. This room appears to have been an embalming room previously, judging by the wooden cabinets containing embalming tools, and wall carvings dedicated to the rewards of rule and the afterlife.

A large circle of tarnished silver powder, surrounded by arcane symbols, has been laid down on the floor in the center of this room. The center of the circle is empty.

Current MAP.
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OK a lot to unpack here. Keep in mind each one of the spoilers needs to be rolled separately.

btw, I do have guidance. That's a +1 bonus to any skill check, provided you're willing to wait for me to cast it.

Perception vs DC 10: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 1 = 10
"A gap in the circle of powdered silver. I wonder what that means..."

Perception vs DC 15: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 = 6

Perception vs DC 15: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

As the wolfrider moves about the room, Ruby sniffs curiously at the cabinet. "Whattaya got there, gurl?" The halfling dismounts and steps around the side of the cabinet. "Ah! There's one of 'em magic scrolls." He extends his stubby arm behind it and grabs it by a corner. "Wut's it say, Lucina?"

Flip that DC 15 spoiler

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Knowledge (arcana) re the circle: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Perception DC10: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Perception DC15: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Uriel examines the scroll he and Damien found. "It's a scroll of remove paralysis." He offers it to his companions. "If no one else can use it, I can."

"Remove paralysis? I can use that scroll as well. But you should hold onto it." Annilda replies.

Kn. Arcana (DC 20): 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 6 + 1 = 25
Kn. Arcana (DC 23): 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 6 + 1 = 27
Perception (DC 10): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Perception (DC 15): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Lucina peers around the embalming room, eyes wide. "This may sound crazy but I'm almost positive this place was dedicated to the sin of sloth," she murmurs. "Sloth is associated with the conjuration school of magic, you know..."

Her voice trails off as she peers down at the circle of silver powder. Bending down very close, she takes a sniff and then nods to herself before looking up at the others. "This's what's left of a Magic Circle against Evil spell. On top of this room being dedicated to sloth and conjuration magic...well, we'd better keep our eyes peeled because there might be things running around down here that aren't of this plane."

"Why would creatures of sloth exist in a mausoleum?" Annilda shakes her head. "Messy."

"I don't know...but considering that stupid statue, I don't think this place was always dedicated to Pharasma," Lucina responds. "At least not this section. It's more like...well, like what we were told - the church decided to re-purpose the upper levels of the Ossuary for its own ends but left this bottom part alone and sealed off."

"Sloths? In here? I doubt it. They prefer to be up high in trees in the forest, eating leaves. They are very slow, almost as slow as Sunny." She investigates the area with the others.

"What?" Annilda is quite confused. "No, the sin of sloth. An example would be resting instead of working. Of course for some of my fellow clergy, both activities go together!" She pats the symbol of Calistria by pure instinct. "The refusal to act out of pure laziness, even when it would be beneficial to act. It's... complicated to explain."

She exhales carefully to regain her composure. "Shall we move on?"

After making a final sweep of the room and finding little else of interest, you decide to head over to the door on the opposite wall.

Another embalming room greets you here though it is decorated nothing like the other room you saw. Brightly painted carvings along the walls of this room vividly depict mighty dragons in flight over shining cities, while below, winged angels kneel and serve human masters. Peacock-feather motifs dominate throughout the chamber, and a faint, pleasant perfume drifts though the air. Several humans lie supine atop biers draped in rich cloth—if they are dead, the bodies are perfectly preserved and have the appearance of relaxed sleepers, showing no signs of corruption or decay. There is also no indication these sleepers have reacted to your presence.

However as the spellcasters bring their detection magicks into play, they do detect a strong illusionary magic emanating all over the room.

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Status:

Annilda (14 (+1 temp)/14 hp, Mage Armor)
Damien (18/18 hp)
Lady Mae (15/15 hp)
Lucina (8/8 hp)
Uriel (19/19 hp)
Ruby (13/13 hp)
Sunny (16/16 hp)
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Current Effects: Uriel Light spell, Damien Light spell, Annilda *Virtue spell.
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Chime of Opening: 4 charges left.
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Current MAP.

Knowledge (arcana) DC20: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
"An illusory aura of magic permeates everything in this room. Perhaps if we interact with something, we might see through the illusion."

Demonstrating what he means, Uriel examines the closest 'body.'
Will Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

"Be wary, Uriel." Annilda walks alongside him to examine one of the bodies.

Will Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

A reminder that I have Combat Reflexes.

While Uriel firmly believes the entombed bodies are real, Annilda soon demonstrates these are nothing but figments, images from a lost age. The warpriest demonstrates this fact to her fellow Pathfinders and soon the real contents of the room are revealed...which is nothing, save for the accumulated dust of the ages, and a single word carved into the center of the stone floor: “Xavorax”.

Damien looks upon the word. "I'm not even gunna try ta pretend I can pronounce what that says. Kinda weird though. I coulda sworn those were real people a minute ago!" He looks in awe at the now dusty area of the room where the well-preserved bodies were.

Kn. Arcana (DC 20): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

"I haven't the foggiest either, but we should write it down or something in case it's important later," Lucina advises. "So that's conjuration and now a room of illusion...sensing a theme, here..." she mutters, glancing around nervously.

"We may as well record it." Annilda shrugs. "We should press on before we grow wrinkles and turn to dust."

Leaving the mystery of the strange word carved into the floor behind you, you all move onto the next door, a mere 30 feet north of this one. Getting into position Damien pulls the door open...

Shockingly graphic depictions of orgies with all manner of creatures decorate the walls of this embalming chamber. Five humanoid skeletons lie in state on biers—though the bodies appear human, their skulls are those of some monstrous creature. A pile of bloody bones and feathers is all that is left of a recently killed creature.

As you take in the scene movement behind the bloody feathered corpse draws your attention as a humanoid creature rises to its feet, formed of an anatomically correct female human torso, but with arms that are unnaturally long and end in three wickedly curved talons. Its lower jaw splits into two monstrous halves lined with sharp teeth, below bulging red eyes, which turn to gaze at you with a raging hunger!

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Round 1:

Lady Mae (15/15 hp)
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??
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Ruby (13/13 hp)
Sunny (16/16 hp)
Uriel (19/19 hp)
Annilda (14 (+1 temp)/14 hp, Mage Armor)
Damien (18/18 hp)
Lucina (8/8 hp)

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Current Effects: Uriel Light spell, Damien Light spell, Annilda *Virtue spell.
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Current MAP. Lady Mae is UP. Feel free to arrange yourselves on the map, though keep in mind no one has entered the room yet.

Kn. Arcana (DC 17): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

"What the-" is all Lucina manages to get out of her mouth before she sees the thing stand up from behind what looks like a bloody down cushion or something.

"My eyes! I'm too young..." she groans, though whether it's objection to the depicted orgies or the anatomical correctness of the thing's upper half (or both) is anyone's guess.

Annilda arches an eyebrow. "Did everyone in this painting join the circus? Or are they natural acrobats?"

"Oh, what is that thing?" She tries to put up a fighting stance, but she's too slow to react.

Knowledge (arcana) DC17: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Uriel recognizes the strange creature. "She's a sinspawn, a mockery of flesh created from raw soul-stuff by the rune lords as shock troops for use in their endless battles. This one is a lustspawn, crafted from the souls of lustful individuals to serve the Runelord of Lust."

"Em... Uhn... Use protection!" Uriel cautions his companions.

"Of course. That's the first lesson you learn at the temple." Annilda replies bluntly. "I can smash it to pieces, yes?"

Mae's eyes grow large as she takes in the scene, curious on how the other races 'do it'. "Mating rituals of you Northerners are quite interesting. Amphibians also often engage in multiple partners at the same time. It really is quite chaotic."

Seeing the angry creature she quickly arms herself with her shield, summoning a ball of fire in the other. Produce flame. "Defend us Sunny if that thing attacks!" A look of rage starts to build in the slug's eyestalks, a tendril of drool dripping down her face.

Sunny will attack next round if it attacks. I can't imagine you can 'ready an attack' without proper training, especially with a mindless pet!

Lady Mae quickly prepares for a fight by summoning a fiery ball of flame, and also instructing her faithful mount Sunny to attack, which it seems more than willing to do so.

The sinspawn springs from its feet launching itself at the closest person, namely Damien, while completely ignoring the wolf companion.

Sinspawn Claw #1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22 vs Damien FF AC, Hit.
Sinspawn Claw #2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22 Hit.
Sinspawn Bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 Miss.
Claw #1 damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Claw #2 damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Like a flash of lightning the lust spawn tears into the halfling in a frenzy of claws and bite, its jagged claws tearing a pair of shallow gashes across his body. The wily Damien manages to anticipate the lunging of its neck, twisting away from its jaws at the last moment!
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Round 1:

Lady Mae (15/15 hp)
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LustSpawn
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Ruby (13/13 hp)
Sunny (16/16 hp)
Uriel (19/19 hp)
Annilda (14 (+1 temp)/14 hp, Mage Armor)
Damien (14/18 hp)
Lucina (8/8 hp)

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Current Effects: Uriel Light spell, Damien Light spell, Annilda *Virtue spell. Lady Mae Produce Flame (2 minutes/uses).
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Current MAP. Everyone is UP!