A curious adventurer unlocks a gateway to another place, another time, and sets in motion a ripple that threatens the very fabric of his reality
Current Encounter Map
Gruul and Moq follow Captain Hermione Kellorian to her office, a small room on the second floor of this watch tower.
She reaches the door to her office, opens it, and waits for the two of you to go in, and then she slams the door behind her as she storms past you and moves to stand behind a large red desk. The room is bare except for the desk and a single heavy wooden chair behind it. She kicks the chair behind her, pushing it back and then slams her fist down on her desk.
”There’s nothing I hate more than people putting their noses where they don’t belong,” She shouts, ”unless it’s one of my people’s noses and I’m telling them where to put it. Do you understand me? Good! Now listen up. If you haven’t written a report on what you’ve been doing today, DON’T! Keep it to yourself, better still forget about it. That cathedral is off limits from this point on until I get some answers. And the answers I want won’t come from any greycloaks like the two of you snooping around that place anymore. I’ve had more strangers visiting me today then I’ve had in the last six months and it started with a batch of Clerics from that Cathedral.”
She raises her hands off of the desk and rubs her temples.
”Now,” she goes on more calmly, “here is what I want you boys to do, and I mean quick like bunnies. According to this dwarven woman, Kudzu you met a few other explorers in a chamber off of one of the main passages in the catacombs. First, go see this Kudzu and make sure she is safe. Then I want you to track down these other people you encountered and bring them directly to me, here. Now, get out of my face before I decide that there are better people I’ll let ruin my day and send you two to frog town on a rail.”
I’ll let you finish out Sunday, resting, and then Moonday (yes I figured out what the days are called on Golarion, yippi skippi!) you can work on identifying the wand and deciphering the spell book. The DC to identify the wand, using Spellcraft is 29, so good luck. There are 9 spells recorded in the spell book, 3 first level spells, 3 second level spells, 2 third level spells and 1 fourth level spell
Gruul & Moq
It is late Sunday afternoon, and you go back to the Cathedral looking for Kudzu. When you arrive, a Woman at the cathedral informs you that Kudzu was sent to a garden behind the cathedral with three other young clerics to do daily chores.
You thank this woman and circle around the large building toward the garden in a plot of ground behind it. When you get there you find three clerics, two humans and one Halfling (all female) unconscious on the ground in various places among the rows of growing vegetables, and no sign of Kudzu.
You can make Skill checks (or take any other actions you think are necessary) immediately upon discovering the unconscious clerics.
No, I've generated a list of the spells, and I miscounted before, there are only 8, only 2 second level spells, but you have to make spellcraft checks, DC 20 plus the spell level, to decipher them (know what they are) and each takes an hour of work, or you can use Read Magic to automatically know what they are. If you fail the check you can try again after 24 hours. You can copy the spells, once you have deciphered them into your own spell book, or simply keep this one as your own, after you have deciphered all of the spells. I'll check the rules once more to make sure i didn't miss anything.
I don't know if you've been following the posts, but you might not get to work on the spell book as much as you want to. And speaking of that, how do you think I should handle the search that Gruul and Moq will be making for you. I am open to suggestions as to how much effort you've put into hiding yourself in this location where you, Krevek and Ryko are hiding? For know I will give you Day one’s spells : Alarm, Shield, Lightning Bolt
Male Human Fighter 2(Weapon Master) HP 22/22 AC 19 FF 17 Touch 12 CMD 17 (ff 14) Fort +4 Ref +2 Will +0 Init +2 Perception +6
While Surana is engaged in her studies, Krevek will see about sparring with Ryko to pass the time. He will also prepare meals, assuming the location has supplies. Nothing fancy, just basic food and drinks.
F Samsaran Wizard 1 [ HP 7/7 | AC 10 Tch 10 FF 10 | Fort +3* Ref +0* Will +3* | CMD 10 | Init +0 Perc +3* | Effects: none ]
DM:
Well, considering we didn't tell anyone where we were going, took pains to avoid being seen, and wouldn't have left tracks on the cobblestone of city streets... I don't see how they'd be able to find us, honestly.
I agree with that, but then again, it is a game and I should give them at least some kind of chance. I'll have to think about it. I mean there had to be at least a few people who saw you leave the cathedral in a large city. I could give you a d20 with +6 modifier (plus any skills you think are relevant) or something like that to at least set up some kind of target. Don't you think?
F Samsaran Wizard 1 [ HP 7/7 | AC 10 Tch 10 FF 10 | Fort +3* Ref +0* Will +3* | CMD 10 | Init +0 Perc +3* | Effects: none ]
DM:
Shrug, it's your call. You seem to want them to find us early. I certainly don't think that the DC should be at all random; it's a very concerted effort to be hidden and undiscoverable for that period, which to me is basically taking 20. Of course, they can take 20 to find us as well... which is why I don't think it fits as a skill check at all. If we all take 20 on Survival to hide ourselves, and aid each other, we'll end up with a 24, while they'll end up with a 22 to find us.
I think that I will leave the two of you in hiding unless the other two players take some very drastic measures (like paying for some powerful magic) to try and find you. I hope you will be okay hanging out for a couple or ten posts
Gruul immediately notices a large feathered dart protruding from the arm of the first cleric, and similar darts, in the neck, and then the leg, of the other two clerics. He feels for a pulse, on the third cleric, a young human female, but cannot be sure he can feel one. However, her flesh is still warm and pliable, dry and otherwise feels normal.
Moq spots what appear to be three, small, blue, metallic cylinders on the ground near a low stone wall at the north end of this small garden. The cylinders are about the same size as one of his “cartridges” and about three inches long. The cylinders are on the ground at a break in the garden wall that leads to a paved path that leaves the Cathedral grounds.
This garden is about forty feet wide, north to south, and about one hundred feet wide, east to west. The south side of the garden is open to the grassy grounds of the Cathedral proper, and the west, east and north sides are bounded by a low (three feet tall) stone wall. The east and west walls are continuous and unbroken, but the north wall is broken by three openings, spaced equally along its length, that are five feet wide and each have paved paths leading away from the Cathedral into a section of the city that is dominated by row houses that are closely placed and are a mixture of single and two storey structures.
When Gruul stands he can see on the ground at the western most opening in the north wall, that some of the stones from the wall have been knocked off of the wall, and the dirt of the garden there shows signs of a struggle taking place recently.
Male Goblin Gunslinger (Musket Master) 2 [18/18 HP | AC 20/Touch 17/FF 14 | LOADED
Mog abandons his 'post' to investigate the empty cartridges. Pulling out the strange pistol from earlier, he tries to see if this is the kind of ammo it uses.
Moq can easily tell that these cartridges are too large to have been fired from a gun similar to the one he found below the Cathedral, but they have the same “feel” as the metal that the small hand gun is made from.
Gruul looks closely at the paved stone path leading away from the garden into a part of the city that is densely placed houses and cannot see any tracks to follow.
"Well, should we quickly go tell the miss in the Cathedral before searching for Kudzu? These folks might need medical attention." Gruul suggests to Mog.
Male Goblin Gunslinger (Musket Master) 2 [18/18 HP | AC 20/Touch 17/FF 14 | LOADED
Mog stares off into space, thinking to himself. After a short while he answers. "Aye. And take the halflin' wiv yer, it'll be quicker that way. I'll stay 'ere."
Gruul nods, and moves to the halfling. He scoops her up gently in his arms and hurries as quick as he can while being careful not to jostle her. He returns he way they came around the building and enters the cathedral, looking the woman they spoke to or anyone else they can find. When he finds someone, he explains quickly what they found, leaves the halfling girl, and then rushes to rejoin Mog.
Three clerics of the Cathedral follow quickly on Gruul's heels. They go straight to the fallen clerics on the ground, and begin examining them, making them comfortable, and generally getting ready to move them into the cathedral as soon as someone arrives with stretchers.
It is late in the afternoon, and the sun is getting low in the western sky, casting long shadows across the city. At this point you have almost no clues. How do you want to begin to looking for Kudzu?
Male Goblin Gunslinger (Musket Master) 2 [18/18 HP | AC 20/Touch 17/FF 14 | LOADED
"Wotcher ffink, Gruul?" Asks Mog, walking over to the half-orc as the clerics rush past him. "Absalom is a big place, we can't just go askin' if anyone 'as seen a she-dwarf."
Gruul scratches his head for a moment before replying. "Well, we can search from here, whoever assaulted this group may have taken Kudzu down one of these paths... maybe the one with the bricks knocked from the wall. Other than that, I'm not sure I have any good ideas..."
"Well let's try this path then." Gruul suggests, motioning to the path next to the dislodged bricks. He walks towards the path, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
You hurry down the narrow cobblestone path, it turns around the corner of a small cottage, and then again it turns around another, but when you round the second building you run into something that might be a clue.
Three men are standing in the street. They are all old, human men. It looks as if two of the men are just finishing helping the third get to his feet. There is a small two wheeled cart in the path and it is overturned. Scattered across the path are cantaloupes and honeydew melons.
”Yes, yes, we’re fine here. Thank you. Stupid people running through the streets knocked over Claudio’s cart and nearly trampled him,” one of the men says. ”Here now just a moment, are you fellows part of the hired city watch around here? Are you Laurel Lamps or maybe you’re with the Fiftyman Brigade or the Rouge Guardsmen, well if you are I want to make a report. Six men just ran past here carrying a suspicious looking bundle, and by suspicious I mean they was carrying a dwarven woman who either had too much to drink or something worse. They ran down there.”
He points just down the street to a side alley on the right.
"Thank you citizen. We are Greycloaks.. please if we don't come back this way, make an official report of this incident. You may have witnessed a kidnapping, and we must pursue them immediately." Gruul says in a hurry and gives a nod towards Mog beside him to say let's go.
With that, the ranger runs towards the alley in pursuit.
As Gruul rounds the corner ahead of him with Moq following close behind, his heart sinks.
The alleyway is empty. There are no telltale signs, no dropped clues, and no swinging doors, just an empty alley for a hundred yards with openings to the left and right every so often. Far down the way, the alley empties onto a wide street of the city and Gruul can see people pass by going in each direction.
The shadows of the late afternoon are growing. It will be night soon.
At this point it doesn’t seem like there is any hope of finding Kudzu
Dejected, Gruul turns to Mog, "They could have gone down any of these alleys, or to the street beyond. I think we'd better see if those men can tell us anything further."
Gruul jogs back the way they came, hoping to find the men still in the street.
Assuming they are still there, still straghtening themselves and the cart...
Gruul approaches the men and helps them in their efforts to collect the items scattered from the cart. "Seems like they've vanished. Please, can you tell us anything further about these six men? What did they look like? Anything unusual at all? Even if it seems insignificant, anything might help..."
The men are picking up the melons that were not ruined in the fall when Gruul return to them
"They were all humans,not very tall, or big fellas, and they were wearing dark brown clothes, kind of plain shirts and pants. There wasn't anything special about them," one of the old men says.
"Except maybe their hair, Martin," one of the others says.
[b]"Yeah, Martin what about their hair, and their faces. They all had the same face, if you ask me they could have all been brothers. Long fat faces, with small eyes, thin lips and long straight noses. They all looked alike." the last of the three men says.
Moq:
Unless these old men are using powerful magic, and you can't detect it, they appear to be just old men, hardly capable of abducting, let alone carrying off, a dwarven woman
Male Goblin Gunslinger (Musket Master) 2 [18/18 HP | AC 20/Touch 17/FF 14 | LOADED
Mog turns to Gruul after the men are done speaking. "Well, Gruul. Wiv a description like that, we might be able ter nab some sort of scryer 'oo could find them for us. It could be expensive fough."
At this moment, you are convinced it would take days, even weeks, to chase the leads and visit all the places where informants hide out, to even begin to have a chance of finding Kudzu.
The sun is setting on Sunday. Was there something else you were supposed to do?
"I doubt the captain will want to spring for that... and I certainly can't afford it." Gruul says to Mog after they thank the men and take their leave.
"So, if we can't go any further with this, maybe we should try to find the blue lady and the others. I'm not sure how we might find them earlier than the planned meeting, except old-fashioned street work. We could cavass this area, asking about them and about Kudzu too. You got any better ideas?"
If you are willing to risk making the Captain very agree, I know I don't mind, do you want to lay low until Wealday morning and meet with Surana at the Cathedral and tell her then what you have learned?
Male Goblin Gunslinger (Musket Master) 2 [18/18 HP | AC 20/Touch 17/FF 14 | LOADED
Actually, says Mog, digging into his bandolier and pulling out a small gemstone. "I've got a bit of work ter do on me own, right? I'm gonna go ter pawrn it off somewhere, I'll tell yer 'ow much I get." The Goblin smiles, quickly returning the gem to its place.
"Heh. Maybe if we cop enough, right, we could afford a scryer, or at the least, I could cook up sumfink special. Yer know, should them free turn out ter be, how yer say, untrustworffy." He laughs, grinning from ear to ear, before moseying his way down the street, waving goodbye to the Half-Orc.
On Toilday, you finally track down a strange man with a serious body control issue who goes by the name of Kyan. He claims he knows the woman, Surana, and the Elf, Ryko, but does not know Krevek. He explains that he made an arrangement to meet Ryko and a city watchman named Refan later this week to explore the catacombs below the cathedral, but when he went to ask Ryko a few questions this morning, Ryko was not staying in the Inn where he had been staying, and no one had seen him since early Sunday Morning. You tracked down Refan, and he confirmed Kyan’s story. Refan does not know Surana, or Krevek, but he does know Ryko. Refan seems concerned that Ryko has not been seen for two days. At this point your leads go cold again. Tomorrow is Weilday, and you are supposed to meet Surana at the Cathedral.
Weilday, morning (day 4 of the adventure)
It is Weilday morning. The sun has only just risen over the roofs of the buildings on the east end of the city.
Surana, Krevek, and Ryko arrive at the Cathedral before Gruul and Moq.
Already the streets are busy with merchants pushing wagons this way and that, callingout their wares, selling milk, eggs, breads, flowers, and small trinkets. Another woman pushes a cart hanging with knives, and she calls out, ”The sharper blade, the sharper blade, quick work, only a crown for a keen edge.”
When you are ready, please make a Perception Check
As you approach the Cathedral, you notice two men, both human, with strangely similar faces, and the same close cropped, dark hair standing a short distance down the street from you. One of the men lifts his hand to his face and talks into a small black box he is trying to conceal in his hand, then he moves his jaw in an odd way, and with his free hand touches his jaw line repeatedly, as if he is suffering a toothache. Both men look at you directly, and then turn away. You feel confident that they did not notice that you had already noticed them.
While Krevek is checking out the surroundings, keeping an eye out for the Half-orc and goblin, Surana, notices a group of children running down the street. They are all dressed in similar looking clothing, and she realizes that these children are going off to school, and then it bothers her that something so normal and obvious held her attention for so long.
Gruul and Moq should be approaching the Cathedral about now.
F Samsaran Wizard 1 [ HP 7/7 | AC 10 Tch 10 FF 10 | Fort +3* Ref +0* Will +3* | CMD 10 | Init +0 Perc +3* | Effects: none ]
That's assuming you live long enough, Jimmy... and based on the GM's already-manifest evil predilections, I'd put your chances as "not very good". ;) (I'd put all our chances there, actually. 'specially with no healer.)
"Kyan! I've been worried," Ryko says, looking over Kyan carefully. "You seem...okay. Have you made a full recovery then?" His voice is somewhat doubtful.
It's that, or Ryko and Kyan sit in limbo until things are resolved.
Plus, this way the party comes together as a unit.
If the GM doesn't like this line for Ryko and Kyan, they can say so, and we'll just go for a simple walk around the block and then crash back at the inn.
F Samsaran Wizard 1 [ HP 7/7 | AC 10 Tch 10 FF 10 | Fort +3* Ref +0* Will +3* | CMD 10 | Init +0 Perc +3* | Effects: none ]
How many of you are still around?
Seems like this adventure was originally started due to another thread in which the players were looking for a GM for some sort of homebrew Azlant-based game... my thought is that if the group is up for it, we might be able to find ourselves someone willing to run a similar adventure for the group.
Edit: Kyan's here, and I'm in other games with Krevek and Jimmy. Will PM Ryko, then write up a "GM Recruitment" thread.
F Samsaran Wizard 1 [ HP 7/7 | AC 10 Tch 10 FF 10 | Fort +3* Ref +0* Will +3* | CMD 10 | Init +0 Perc +3* | Effects: none ]
Just heard back from Ryko; he won't be able to join us due to RL. I'll go ahead and post a new recruitment note a bit later, and link it here... hopefully we can get a few good GM applicants and all decide who we'd like.
Kyan – there is a possibility that you were trying to capitalize on information that your character would not have known, but let’s let it go for now, and call it a bad dream. Please be careful in the future and if you have questions on the way a player manages “player knowledge” versus “character knowledge” please ask about it in the discussion thread.
I was leading us out for a walk to give the GM a chance, if they wanted to, to bring the party together as a cohesive unit. If the GM would rather we not encounter the fight, then we just walk through the streets for an hour, and then return to the inn and sleep.
Kyan is new to Absalom, so it's all still new and exciting to his country bumpkin self. :)
Okay, fair enough, that was a noble intention, but can we call it a dream instead? I've got an idea for Ryko that kind of neccesitates him, and you, not meeting up with Refan, just yet.
