Ith's The Beggar's Pearl (PFS, IC) (Inactive)

Game Master ithuriel

Yes mam,Careful it is then. I will stay to the back as soon as I am sure there is no mechanical or magical traps.The elf raises and winces. Perhaps I will wait for those more qualified to rush into battle and support them with range. I have to agree with hanging on to the potion, I would hate be healthier as one of you needed it to live. Dakram moves toward the south west with a quiet step and his eyes open wide.

perception1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Stealth 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Your elven scout clings to the shadows silently sneaking up the stairs. The stairs are lined with alcoves containing life-sized statues of dwarven craftsmen holding the tools of their trade. By the second landing the steady sound of low erratic drumming bleeds into the shrieks and screams above. Black candles sit on the head of each statue with runnels of wax flowing down over their heads. Sputtering red light dances in the hall casting a dim shifting light over stairs absent of the blue fungus growing throughout the rest of the complex.

On the turn leading into the last flight of stairs Dakram comes face to face with another of the white haired tiny men. He is laid upside down on the stairs, half dressed in a pair of leather pants and one boot, a trail of vomit spilling down beside him. His white bulbous eyes are unfocused and one hand trails out wavering, reaching for something unseen. White eyes seems oblivious to the elf standing only ten feet away.

Not sure if Dakram is still having internet issues or was just out for the holiday. Either way assume that he creeps back down and whispers what he has seen to the rest of you so that we can keep the pace up.

"Oooo, that sounds really interesting. And maybe evil. We have to go investigate this," Alie says quickly. "Dakram, good scouting, but you need to get to the back for the next little bit, til you heal up some more..."

"Alie, I agree with you but also it could be an ambush. Since our scout is still not fully recovered, then let me go first, and I will examine the creature, Kayluss should come along in case it is an ambush." Wadi looks to the group, seeking approval of his plan...

Khedon shrugs, "Look at him if you wish, but kill him as quickly and quietly as possible...one less to worry about later."

Kayluss nods to Wadi and begins to follow him down the hall readying his spear as they approach the figure.
Perception:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

"I have no objections to that plan, Wadi; just be careful!"

Sekhemre then follows Kayluss.

Perception 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

My apologies, RL is on the rampage for me,I'll try to be much more attentive. but please don't let me hold up the game.

Dakram nods his thanks to Alie and moves to the back of the line letting the others proceed.

Wadi creeps up on the incapacitated figure, who is now laying still with an eerie smile. He is mumbling half formed words and statements that trail off into nothing- that much is evident even though you can't understand the language. Kayluss slowly edges in behind when suddenly there is a cacophonous crash from above which nearly makes the both of you jump out of your skins before you realize it was something like cymbals. One by one shrieking reedy wind instruments join in followed by erratic drums, and some kind of stringed instrument sawed at wildly out of tune. The growing effect is like an orchestra out of hell with all the players playing against each other trying to drown one another out.

The figure on the stairs lifts one finger with a half smile and unfocused eyes which traces a path unsteadily through the air like he was directing the whole affair while lying upside down on the stairs in another room covered in his own vomit.

"That... is disturbing." Sekhemre shrugs "It looks as if the creature is intoxicated!" He then gives a brief smile "Of course, if they are all as inebriated as this creature, they should not provide too much resistance..."

Sekhemre will continue to move forward, with his mutagen vial in one hand, and his other on his bomb-belt.

Wadi nods wordlessly at the alchemist, more that a little disturbed by the scene unfolding before him, he continues onwards, however...

The sparse and sputtering red candlelight make it difficult for the humans taking the lead to make out specific details but it is easy enough to make out dozens of whirling, twitching humanoids dressed in outlandish costumes waltzing through a massive hall. Masked humanoids madly waltz about in halting stuttering steps ducking in and out of the light shed by a few battered candelabra. Others wave banners of tattered cloth or whirl feeble, guttering torches, their dim light an unnatural blood red. Some mites wind between the legs of the taller kin of the torturer in a chaotic mimicry of peasants’ country dances, while other intoxicated mites awkwardly gather dirty plates and goblets from tables. The vast majority of those in attendance are either passed out in various states of undress, or stumbling unsteadily on their feet. Some seem to have forgotten the dance entirely and stand frozen mid-pose swaying slightly. The waltz carries on around them.

More creatures crowd an elevated gallery at the halls' east end and perform in the mockery of an orchestra assaulting your ears in a thunderous cacophony.

A handful of bodies lie sprawled among the dancers, blood spreading out from them in a large pool.

(I'm assuming you are covering up the sunrod and the object of the light spell for now since you were trying to sneak.)

"What...is this place?" Alie asks, for one of the first times in her life, not knowing what to say next.

"I don't know, Alie, but I think we should avoid disturbing them, even if most of them are inebriated, it only takes one to sound the alarm. Let's backtrack to the other room."

Dakram pipes up in a whispering tone, "It looks like a drug den or maybe a bar. Maybe these white eye just like to party. If we are to encounter a large group perhaps we should take the advantage we can get?"the elf's wounded pride obviously needs a bit of mending and he is willing to attempt it her. He then looks to Wadi " then again you have a valid point."

"I know these creatures look like they won't put up much of a atruggle, but if one calls an alarm..." Wadi lets the sentence go unfinished. "I would like to find what happened to Torvig's companions, first."

Sekhemre shrugs. "I don't mind what we do; I agree that starting something here will probably set-off a general ruckus, but we will probably eventually have to come back here anyway..."

"Very well, then. Let's move quickly back while they continue their debauch. Perhaps we can return later to find them all unconscious."

The pathfinders are able track back down the stairs without incident and find themselves back in the mad man's lab.

So from the torture lab:
-East by cutting your way through a hall choked with mushrooms (10 feet of fungus) to a set of double doors.
-Or you can backtrack to the room with the fountain and head down the eastern hallway. From there you can see:
-double doors south,
-then north,
-then a narrow hall leading south,
and finally the hall ends at rubble from a cave-in.

Sekhemre eyes the fungus blocking the way to the doors.

"I would prefer to find an alternate entrance to that room, if possible; I would like to limit my contact with that strange fungus... Let's try the other corridor."

First set of double doors to the South? Any objections?

"I say we go back to the fountain room , and check those southern double doors out, unless you feel like hacking through all of the fungal growth, here"

"The double doors it is!"

Winding back and forth through the footpath through the fungal colony, the sound of the mad revelry above fades until you can't hear it at all. Only the steady trickle of water lapping from the fountain breaks the silence in the long hall but it too recedes as you walk.

The doors to the south are massive silver-gilt iron fortifications. An intricate hammer details the twelve foot panel of one door and an equally detailed chisel marks the other. The dwarven knotwork theme borders each door. Luckily one of them is standing partially open- wide enough for Dakram to squeeze through while scouting. The elf has to sneak down a short hallway to get a full view of the room which rises to a height of twenty-five feet.

Patches of dimly glowing fungi reveal a complex dwarven workshop. A wall of kilns, ovens and forges divides the workshop into two vast chambers, each crowded with unfinished sculptures, cobweb-covered tool racks and tables heaped with rusted detritus. The workshop’s ancient,
splintering floorboards sag beneath heaped debris. Holes and cracked planks reveal an open space below the cluttered chamber, evidently accessed via stairways on the southern half of the room. Twenty feet overhead, cobweb-covered booms and racks support hanging crucibles and massive chains for hoisting quarried stone.

Roaches swarm over the central foundry table where unfinished plates of food molder. A blue skinned mite takes a break from tinkering with a bear trap to grab a handful and pop them in his mouth. In fact, the floor of the room as a whole seems to move as a living carpet of vermin scurry back around and over heaps of broken rusted implements and pieces of machinery.

Between the heaps of jagged rusting scrap cluttering the crumbling stone
walkways which ring the exterior of the workshop and the rot of the floorboards in the interior sagging under broken machinery and swarming with vermin, this room is terrible terrain for a normal sized adult to fight in.

There are a couple of smaller doors leading out of this room to the south, and another set of massive double doors to the West (most likely the ones blocked by mushrooms from the torture lab). Two bodies are slumped near one of the southern doors.

Stone = difficult terrain
Wood = grease spell (although from mundane effects, not magical)

Dakram-> Give me a stealth roll and beat this DC:
1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25 or else you were noticed while sneaking a look.

Dakram

crosses fingers

Sneak?1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Dakram works his way through the room along a wall cringing as he realizes that the roaches would crack as he stepped on them. He lowers his foot ever so slowly pain stakingly making his way forward.Hecringes slightly as he looks up to see if the blue noticed the crunch.

...and about that time he notices the mite, who was happily chewing a second ago, has frozen mid crunch and is staring right at him.

Inits everyone!
Mite 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Init.1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Initiative 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

With Dak in the scouting position when init went off, there will be a surprise round where only he and the mite act. So Dakram, when you roll init include either a move or standard action for the surprise round. I'll see about getting the map up here soon.

Ok here's a map. I didn't have time to add in coordinates yet, but imagine alphabetical across the top and numbers going down the side.
The mite is at H14 standing on the crate you can see there on the map.

Ini:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Am I correct that it has been less than an hour since the fight with White Eyes? (trying to figure out Mage Armor is still up)

Much less than an hour. I'd say about 15 minutes.
Also- regarding my ad hoc poison ruling earlier, I think it is meant to be one dose = one weapon whether it be an arrow head or a sword. It seems weird, but it messes the pricing scale up if you can buy a single sword dose and split it into 10 arrows or vice versa. So you have 8 doses with one used.

Dakram 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Dakram 25
Alie 18
Khedon 16
Sekhemre 15
Kayluss 14
Mite 6
Wadi 5

So Dakram gets a move or standard action in the surprise round, then the mite gets the same, then back to Dakram. If you want to post both of your action and your intention for the first real round together, that will keep us moving.

Dakram is currently in survival mode, so while he'd like to go slit the little buggers neck he flees instead. Moving toward the group. Once he towards the group he will draw his ranged weapon and load it.

"What did you see up there, Dakram?"

Once Dakram flees, the mite hops down from his perch and hides.

Mite-> Stealth : 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (13) + 18 = 31
Alie is up.
Dim lighting (20% miss) until some light is uncovered and brought to bear.
Let's assume Dakram isn't trying to kill you all by omission ;)
He spotted a pit trap just inside the main room 5 feet to the west of the hallway.

Without knowing exactly the situation ahead, Alie waits until Kayluss and Sek head into the room first, following close behind them. Hold initiative until 13, then move into the room after the guys.

Sekhemre will down his mutagen potion (motivating Strength), and step up to the doorway, rapier drawn...

Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

" Cockroaches everywhere and another blue boy, I would have tried to take him out but, I'm still not feeling tip top." in spite of the statement he just made he stays near Alie as he is sure that the blue thing will have a hatred of the gnome like the last ones.

Here is an update of the map with coordinates added[/b]

All the PCs start from where they are huddled just outside the doors (L-M/3-4), except Dakram who has just run back there.

The pit trap is I-J/10-11.

Moving on the wooden looking rectangles in the center of the room works like Grease. (Move at 1/2 speed with Acrobatics DC 10. Failure = no move and Reflex DC 11 to avoid falling. Failure by 5 or more = you fall prone)

Moving on the stone walkways is considered difficult terrain from the point where you enter the room (not the entry hall from the door). The hall (L-M/5-9) is still normal movement.

The forges/kilns in the center of the room are 10 feet tall and block line of sight / can be used for cover. They are a rough surface "brick and natural stone" so require a DC 25 climb check to scale. Climbing from a space where there is something to potentially stand on (any of the icons on the map that are against the wall of the forges will lower the DC to 15.

Any of the intact "junk" icons on the map can potentially be used for partial cover- for example the crates in D14-15

Dakram 25
Khedon 16
Sekhemre 15
Kayluss 14
Alie 13
Mite 6 (last seen in H14)
Wadi 5

Khedon is up.

Sekhemre holds up his sunrod and scans the room. No sign of the little mite. He strains his ears for anything to give it away, but other than the silence all he can make out is some muffled moans from behind one of the doors to the south.

Khedon shucks his pack, readies his quarterstaff and (if dropping the pack didn't take an action} moves forward into the room as far as possible.

Puts you in L or M 9. Pick one of those so we know what's free for the other PC's. Dropping the pack is free, yes.

Sekhemre drank the mutagen. He was already at the door though. He can also move down the entry hall for his move action if he wants.

Kayluss is next

At Dakram's return and description of the situation Kayluss nods and moves down the hall.
Alright follow me in!
Double move to M,11
Perception 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

Alie follows Sek and Kayluss to about L8, if she can make it that far as they move into the room. She is still unable to make out most details of the room at this time.

Khedon> I wasn't thinking before and listed distance for a single move. You can move further in by taking a double move if you wanted .

Kayluss> Last square is in the grease effect. Acrobatics DC 10. As it was only one square within, failure won't halt your move but could trigger a reflex save (DC 11) to stay on your feet.

Alie> L8 is a single move for Alie. She can take an action or another move if you like.

Once we resolve those things, the mite is up.

In that case, move Alie to L10.

Alie takes a quick look around the room, to determine exactly where the threat might be.

Perception 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Double move to J11, taking the difficult terrain into effect