Iron Gods - PFS (Inactive)

Game Master Andrew L Klein

"Yes, let's go do so. And clean ourselves up. Not all of us prefer to lick our fur clean, my friend." Miranda says with a smirk.

Iantha smirks back. "Miranda, I've seen you pet every single cat you've run into in your life. I'd figure you have no problem with spit covered creatures."

There's two main points of interest for relaying your information from the cave, as well as many places in town you may visit. There is Dolga Freddert 1st the council hall in the southeastern section of the city, who sent all of you down to find Baine in the first place. Then you have Val Baine, Khonnir's daughter, who you last saw at the local tavern the Foundry.

Or, apparently, Miranda might just want to go pet cats for a while ;)

"You guys take the lead, I still have no idea who sent me down there. I just remember I was doing someone a favor. Maybe my memory sparks again when I meet that person. Might be the same one who sent you guys down there."

With a few last rubs over her fur, Iantha stands up. Finally satisfied with her clean-ness.
I'd say, lets visit miss Freddert first. See if she has any idea. I'd rather show up on Val her doorstep with some kind of a plan, instead of just no good news."

"An excellent suggestion, Iantha. After a bath." and Miranda proceeds to head straight to the nearest place with water and privacy to clean up.

Iantha sticks her tongue out at Miranda. "At least *I* am clean already"

Gathering her stuff, Iantha talks to Smith and Forlen. "While I dont need to bathe, I do want to let my parents know I am allright. I dont know if there are things you want to do, or maybe you want some time to collect your thoughts. Lets say meet up again in about half an hour in front of the council hall?"

Smith nods in ascent "Take your time, a full hour may be more appropriate."

Forlen nods in agreement as well.

"Yes, it's important to let your loved ones know you're all right. I have some business to attend to as well. See you in an hour."

He then confidently strides off in a seemingly random direction.

Now, if anyone could tell me what on earth I'm doing here...

Forlen you do know that the councilwoman Dolga Freddert is the one who sent you down there, as she did the rest of the party. My apologies for struggling to bring you in with the right information. You came in at a point where the group doesn't have much information, but is starting to pick up more, and it's tough at the moment to give the right info without giving out too much.

I'm typing up the guide for the Torch map at the moment so you all can just reference it on Google Drive instead of needing to keep the player's guide around for that. I'll also try to finish up the summary I started a while back, and keep it up to date, and this should help Forlen catch up easily as well.

Don't worry, I get it, it's part of the game. I'm having fun being an amnesiac.

Iantha scurries off towards the Ratfolk left their wagons.

Anyone observing can see a very intimate welcome, at least measured by human standards, but they have no problem displaying this affection in public.
There is lots of sniffing, hugging with her parents and brothers, and Iantha also gets a cleaning session by her mother.

(MOM! I cleaned myself you know!)

After the exitement settles down, Iantha climbs into the wagon and talks with her parents for a while, letting them know she'll most likely head back into the caverns later.
She shares everything that happens, taking care to describe the doors, in case her parents know anything.

When the hour is nearly up, she clambers out of the wagon again and heads to the council building.

Smith kinks his head to the side and back, recalling the earlier events of the day

Smith heads to the tavern with the malfunctioning robot from earlier.

Miranda - The closest place to sit down and clean up a bit would be one of the two nearby taverns. The Copper Coin (number 5 on the Torch Map in campaign links), or the Foundry, where Smith is headed and where you met Val Baine earlier (number 12 on the Torch map) Being that you're from Torch, your own home would always be an option in the northeastern section of town (where the high -teens and low twenties are on the map), but would also be further.

Iantha - Your family doesn't seem to know anything, as unfortunately nobody has returned from below the lake before as deep as you and your allies went.

Smith - You don't seem to find Val at the Foundry Tavern, but the robot is laid out upon one of the tables. It looks like Val tried to take some of it apart to learn more about it. While everything does look organized, upon closer inspection it looks more like the removed pieces are just sorted by what looked similar, and she probably wasn't entirely sure what she was doing.

Forlen - Most of the places on the map are various inns, taverns, and temples (Torch apparently is big on drunken clergy who temporarily visit their town :P). If there's anywhere in particular you'd like to check out for a short time before meeting at the town hall (number 15 on the map), let me know, or you can just explore the town in general.

Forlen goes off to find a doctor, or at least someone with medical knowledge.

"Doc, I woke up this morning in a cave and I can't remember how I got there. I also found out the guys I woke up next to don't have much respect for personal space. Would you mind if you gave me a quick check-up to see if my... personal privacy hasn't been invaded?"

I have 17 GP left in savings, how much do I need for a diagnosis? Also, I don't mind visiting a less reputable fellow if it means a quick and quiet diagnosis.

Looking for medical assistance, you come across the local temple of Brigh. As you approach, an elderly man steps out of the temple.

"Ah, Forlen my friend! I had honestly not entirely expected any of your group to return! Did the men you left with return as well?"

After hearing of your predicament

"Hmm, I may be able to work some sort of mixture to help with memory loss. I'll need to find a friend's daughter though, as she knows more about creating potions than I, but I can do a quick checkup now. In the meantime, though we only met two days ago, I suppose I can tell you what I know about you, as little as it is. Councilor Freddert had sent you to look under the lake for Khonnir Baine, who went missing recently with his expedition party. You weren't the first group to go looking, and I've volunteered my services to the town for any basic medical assistance I can offer in regards to finding my friend Baine. As for payment, I will not take any. Short of extreme maiming or death, it's the least I can do for those assisting to find the expedition."

He spends some time checking you over, asking some simple questions to verify it's not just your memory that's at issue.

"Yes, I certainly believe my mixture will be able to fix this, if it hasn't remedied itself by then. I don't see much more than some scrapes and bruises, as far as physical condition goes. I can't say how long it will take though, I will send for you if you are still on the surface. If not, I will find you when you return."

Smith helpfully rearranges some of the pieces while waiting for Val to get.

technologist+know engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Eventually Smith will head off for the meeting though if Val doesn't come back by then.

Val doesn't return while you're there, but you're able to sort out the parts more reasonably, in a manner that would actually help her in determining how the machine worked.

Currently have Smith and Iantha headed to the town hall. Miranda, anything you want to do between cleaning up and heading over?

"Thanks a lot, Father. I'll get going now, there are other people waiting for me. We're supposed to report to someone and then head back. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess. Maybe the day after, depending on how much cave there is still to explore."

With that, Forlen shakes the priest's hand and walks to the meeting point.

After cleaning up, Miranda meets back up with the others. "What did I miss?" she asks, looking pristine.

Approaching the hall, you see Councilwoman Freddert inside, standing at a table and flipping through lose pages. Looking up, she greets you as though she'd seen a ghost.

"Oh my... how... you're alive?! Only one person has ever returned alive from that lake. Well, two I suppose, I think I saw your orcish friend back in town earlier this afternoon. I had assumed you all dead and he a lone survivor. Do you bring good news?"

Iantha scratches behind an ear.
"Wel... we have good and bad news? The good news is, we're alive, and it looks like others are alive down in the cave? The bad news is, we did not find mister Baine yet, and we found a door we cant open so we could not go any further."

Iantha takes the time to tell Councilwoman Freddert about how they went down in the lake. Found the beetles, found the body of the half orc woman. The weird creature with the lantern eyes. How they found the mold and then encountered the skulks. Who needed the little creatures taken care off before letting them pass on.
And then the door. And Forlen. And the stupid door...

As you describe the area with the door beyond the skulks, Freddert begins to look as if you've reminded her of a place she'd been to long ago

"Wait, an impassable door? Wait here a moment."

She goes back to her table and returns with a single sheet of paper with short notes written on it. The size and shape looks just a bit off, but it certainly seems to be the layout of the area beyond the door you crawled through.

"Does this look the location of the door? Khonnir found a satchel by the footprints he saw leading into the lake, and this was part of what we found inside."

Iantha nods exitedly. "Yeah! That looks like it a lot actually. Its pretty much what we saw behind the door we had to crawl trough. How weird that the drawing was next to the lake."

I doubt anyone was expected to be there, let alone an inquisitive mind like Baine. The lake isn't exactly pretty to look at, and certainly nobody had gone in before recently. Without knowledge of what's below, the other notes and maps aren't very helpful that we found.

I don't suppose... you would be willing to take on some cartography work while you're down there? What we found looks like some of these would be connected, but it sounds like this one here isn't quite accurate to what you saw with the detail one would hope. If you all could map out the areas beyond your strange door, I'm sure we could find a way to thank you. Khonnir I know would be excited to see all of it once you find him.

Without even waiting for an answer, she turns to her table and begins rolling some of the pages into a scroll case.

As Iantha and the Councilwoman converse, a familiar grey-skinned youth emerges from the crowd. His form-fitting armor and clothing looks recently cleaned. Flipping his long black bangs away from his face, he smiles in the direction of the party.

"Iantha! Miranda! Green-eyes! Oh-my-gosh, you guys made it back!"

Then, as if a sense of worry suddenly occurred to him, his excitement disappears.

"Oh, no... Where's Pops?"

"Oh Dromer, it is nice to see you! How are you?"

Freddert smiles

Ah, I knew I'd seen you about young one, glad to see you made it back as well! You all have already been more successful than anyone else who tried, perhaps we finally found the right group for this mission after all... almost makes me want to join you, if I didn't think Torch would fall apart with me gone for 5 minutes

She begins to fiddle with the handle of the greenish-black warhammer hanging off her back.

Smith looks Dromer up and down. "You seem to be in better shape than we had feared."

Dromer awkwardly rubs the back of his head; a nervous gesture.

"Yeah. Uh. Sorry. Those guys in the cave made me so angry, I figured I needed a walk. Then I found more beetles getting close to Parda's body, so I thought I'd bring her to the surface."

Dromer glances to the Councilwoman, then back to the party.

"I guess I just needed a break. Sorry to leave you guys down there."

Iantha gives Dromer a hug. Or at least, his leg.
"Yay Dromer you're OK! And its OK. Parda deserved a good burial, instead of being eaten by bugs. Or that weird lantern eye thing. I'm just happy you are all right"

About this time, a nervous-looking, poorly dressed young man comes into the hall, sweating -- whether from running in the heat or from fear, you can't quite tell. He looks surprised at the variety of races among you, and manages to stutter out

Uh... uh... yes... yes you must be them. Mister Ulreth requests your presence at his hall sometime. Please take these.

He forces a small stack of papers into Forlen's hands before rushing off. There's five small slips, finely decorated credits for 100 gold for somewhere called Silverdisk Hall. In the middle of the credits, there's a small note with a shoddily drawn map to a house in the northeastern quarter of Torch

Dromer ruffles the hair on Iantha's head as she hugs his leg.

"Heh, thanks. It's good to see you, too."

Then, turning towards the other youth, and seeing the handover of credits, Dromer looks the Skinwalker up and down.

Man, good thing we fed him those beetle legs...

"Oh, hey. You must be that Forlorn guy. Umm, my name's Dromer." He pauses to glance at the group, and then grins. "Looks like we have some mutual friends."

Iantha beams up at Dromer. "I am just happy you are ok."

She looks confused at the coucilwoman. "Who is mister ulreth?

"Who is mister ulreth?

Dromer flips his hair away from his face.

"Ugh. Drama. Pure and simple."

I couldn't have said it better myself, young orc. Garmen Ulreth runs a local gambling hall, the Silverdisk Hall, although we've for some time suspected it is little more than a headquarters for his goons, the Ropefists. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. It's in the western region of our town, near the Foundry Tavern. Number 3 on your map

Unfortunately he has quite an influence on Torch and it's people, even though he holds no position on the council or as a legitimate merchant. Most of the town owes him in one way or another, and he has learned to take advantage of that. Rumor has it that some of the Ropefists have even been seen by the lake in recent days, but we have yet to find any evidence they're involved in whatever is going on... not that I would be the least bit surprised.

Forlen looks at the notes shoved in his hands.

"I guess these are... credit vouchers? I don't know where that is, but Ulreth probably wants us to dress nicely if we're meeting him."

He then sticks out his hand to the new arrival.

"Hi, my name is Forlen. I gather these were your companions a short while ago? Well, I owe them a debt, as they found me in the caves and brought me back. I was the first group sent down these caves to find mister Baine." His chest puffs up with pride, then deflates. "But most of my group met their end down there. As far as I can tell, I'm the only one left. So now I'm accompanying them as a way of saying thanks. Besides, I need to be down there anyway to fulfill a taskfor my tribe."

I'll be gone until Wednesday afternoon, feel free to bot me. As for a character bio, I don't have a lot, but I'll type it up when I'm back. Feel free to ask me about the "task," Forlen's the kind of guy who'll tell you all about his secret mission. :P

Iantha frowns. "He doesnt sound like a nice person at all. I wonder what he wants with us then."

Smith ponders silently for now.

Ugh... For-LEN... Not For-LORN... Stupid, stupid... Eh, he didn't seem to notice...

Returning to the topic at hand, Dromer blows a bang away from his face. "I don't know much about him, and I've never been inside his place. I'm not old enough to gamble. Not that I'd want to anyways. Get enough of that already just by living under the League."

Iantha strokes her fur in thought. "I doubt any of us owe him anything. I know my family doesnt. But if his thugs have been up at the lake, he might know something we dont. And might try to sell it to us or something. While I think we need to listen to what he says, as we're more or less stuck ourselves, we should be very carefull with what we promis this man."

If he wants to see you, I can only imagine two reasons why. Either he heard of your return when all others have failed and he wants to recruit you

She pauses a moment before continuing a little more quietly

Or he heard of your return when all others have failed, and considers you a threat to whatever he has planned at the lake.

If you choose to speak with him, be careful. He will certainly do what he can to get you all to drop your guard, no matter what his plans for you are. If you don't owe him, any plans he has that involve you leaving alive will include changing that. I only hope that when the sun goes down, I can still count you among we few who Garmen has no control over.

"Well, we should go meet with him, I think. We will be cautious."

Forlen's eyes narrow as Dromer mentions the League.

"League? Do you mean the Technic League? You're involved with them?"

Calm down, Forlen, he's an ally. You need him for your mission.

Dromer lets his hair hang in front of his face, but it doesn't completely obscure a "Seriously?" sort of glare.

"Oh. You're not from around here. All us here in Torch live under the League's thumb. That's why we went into that disgusting lake to begin with. Because if we don't start up that Flame, the League will take it out on us."

He then flips his hair away from his face, and relaxes his posture.

Smith nods "While I've been here before as an assistant I came to forge my first blade. The League has taken this away from me, the League has taken this away from everyone."

My auperiors have a... quarrel with the Technic League. I'm sent to deal with the higher-ups. If they've got this entire town under their thumb, I definitely need to hurry up. Before everything gets out of hand."

Is this guy delusional?

"Uh. How about we NOT poke the bear? I hate the League as much as anyone else, but they're the ones in charge. Those who don't lay low..."

Dromer lets his thought trail off. Then he sighs.

"Let's go see this Pit Boss."

Iantha pats Dromers leg, resisting the urge to groom him. Grooming works wonders on other Ratfolk to calm them down, but a lot of other humanoids dont appreciate it for some reason.

"I guess we will have to. If he's involved in the lake somehow, he might be our only chance to pass that door. We just need to be really, really carefull."

The councilwoman steps forward and shakes each of your hands

Best of luck to all of you with Ulreth. I'll set up rooms for you at the Evercandle Inn so you don't need to split up at nights during your mission.

Will you be going straight to Silverdisk Hall to find Ulreth?