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The boat trip does take a good three weeks, and they let you off near the area of Sulfur Gulch.
With in an hour of following the map towards the Gulch, your party is approached by a small band of Ghost Wolves warriors arrives with weapons sheathed and silvery mail partly hidden by their rough cloaks.
"Aye, who goes there?" He calls out as they approach. "I am Jala Spirit-Eye, who are you travelers?"
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***...Keepers of the Secrets of Lost Azlant, Spire Seers of the Approaching Starstone and Saviours of All Elves, reveal thy knowledge of the Numerian constructs and how the Ghost Wolves Kellids have eluded their depradation...***
[dice=Ancestral Memory 80% chance]1d100
[dice=If direct memory fails, Knowledge check, +5 insight bonus]1d20+16+5
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Ryster wanders the streets of Tymon, making a few purchases.
traveler's anytool: 250
feather token (fan): 250
elixir of hiding: 250
elixir of tumbling: 250
oil of silence: 250
snapleaf: 750
pathfinder pouch: 1000
antitoxin (x2): 100
Upon returning, he grimaced when informed of the boat trip, but dutifully boards the boat. Along the trip, the dwarf is mostly tight lipped and slightly green.
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Once arrived at the destination, Ryster makes haste to disembark and stands near the rear letting the other speak.
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***...Keepers of the Secrets of Lost Azlant, Spire Seers of the Approaching Starstone and Saviours of All Elves, reveal thy knowledge of the Numerian constructs and how the Ghost Wolves Kellids have eluded their depradation...***
[dice=Ancestral Memory 80% chance]1d100
[dice=If direct memory fails, Knowledge check, +5 insight bonus]1d20+16+5
Part of this was me missing it, the other part is I'm used to people using it when they see something.
I'm going to give you all three of them but you clearly get the impression that this is massive information overload they are attempting to make palatable to you. So your getting a bunch of flickers and flashes that are highlighting important things. You also get this is from their discoveries as well, that this crashed before any of the elves got to this area.
You note that the ships, have lights, and the surprise from seeing something that they don't understand as magical. Spells randomly coming from the walls without casters (i.e. lasers). Traps or what seem to be traps from those that don't understand them are plentiful.
You get the feeling that you see it as a point on the map, but no one that has walked there personally (honestly your the second-third party that would ever be in this place, you have records of the other non-elves), you kind of get the I haven't been *here* but I've been close to *here* this might help. You see vents spewing out various vapors of all colors in different places. Many of them acting like various types of acidic reactions to items and people.
Again you get the I haven't been here feeling, but here's helpful ness. Constructs you see being hit with lightening bolts and almost crumbling into pieces. You also see what looks like the dwarven barbarian jumping down on one, and making it fall to pieces with a well placed hit. (Weakness to critical hits and electricity). You get flashes of Ghost Wolves drinking potions and this disapearing and walking through the halls without being harmed.
As for divination, the gods are finicky and more omniscient than your GM, even if its in an ooc addition, tell me what your looking for with them. I don't think you need contact other plane unless you looking for something specific from that, otherwise I don't mind divination, but be specific with what your asking. I'm not going to go here's everything with vague inquiries.
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"Ah good Pathfinders then!" Jala looks pleased when someone mentions they are a Pathfinder. He appears to be looking you all up and down as if assessing your strength, eyes noting on weapons, larger muscles.
“You must be confident that you can gain Xol-Nomag’s favor.” He laughs, his stoic look becoming one of friendly amusement. “Confidence is good. Come, come along. We will take a meal together at our camp, and then you can present your case to her.”
The Kellids are eager to share tales of battle against the Technic League, especially with obvious warriors like Favian and Hania, even spending time speaking with Ryster about battle. Some will show interest in the spell casters but you can tell they are a bit wrong footed in what to talk about as they are mostly brute warriors.
"It will be good to hear your tales of battle over the meal and if Xol-Nomag does give you favor there are great advantages to working well together your society and our tribe." Jala remarks as you get into the camp. "Xol-Nomag is out with the scouts, please spend time, get to know us while you wait. We seem to have much to teach each other."
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Hania chats with the warrior for a moment, so that they do not feel a lack of respect, and then seeks out any musicians or bards. She tries to trade songs with them. If they are interested, she sings them a song of praise to Shellyn.
Lady of Gracy
Muse of song
Teach our tongues to move.
Lady of Grace,
Muse of dance,
Teach our feet to move.
Lady of Grace,
Muse of art,
Teach our hands to move.
Lady of Grace,
Redemption's heart,
Let us be your hands and feet,
Bringing your love to the world.
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Draa will gladly inquire as much as he can about the Technic League on the walk there. "The Society has been at odds with them at times as well. Small skirmishes rather than open conflict."
Draa will easily gravitate towards the spell casters and elder storytellers. "Nethys encourages the expansion of knowledge and trading of spells as a form of trust building."
Draa will gladly show his spellbooks to casters capable of such usage.
"What process to you prepare your inks? do you find natural resources as a community or does it fall on a small group of the tribe to acquire and prepare them? Perhaps i can assist you with your methods, or you can teach me and i can refine my method."
he pauses a moment.. "Do any of your tribe have the Crafter's Fortune spell? very useful tool..." cast crafter's fortune via bonded item
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Hedra with Aroden's gift takes her time to talk to the elders about their stories.
She seems quite interested to listen to them and asks the permission to record them.
She is interested not only by those about Sulfur Gulch but also these stories about the life of the tribe, their taboo or their way of life.
She also talk about Aroden, not to proletize but to make them remember that Aroden is the First god of humanity and that he must live trough their stories as she share her own stories with the elder tribe as she often talk about the twelve guises of Aroden and the lessons we can learn from them.
She also tries to help the wounded or the sick with her first hand knowledge of medicine or her healing power, gift from Aroden.
At last she amuse the children with Gamin, the sword that talk ! Making them remember that something broken could still be useful.
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Yanndu goes in the middle of a group of particularly large barbarians and gives one a shove. Before the bewildered muscleman reconciles the reality that a weakling like Yanndu dared to do this, Yanndu casts greater invisibility and walks away stealthily. He then casts fly and rises 30 feet above the group. Then he proceeds to start poking various barbarians with a mage hand to observe their battle tactics or reactions. Yanndu plays this cat and mouse game for a while until the barbarians stop trying and/or erupt in laughter.
After the mock 'invisibility' trial, Yanndu reappears and bows to the best warrior of the group, and comments on his skill. He then offers him and his best warriors to discuss battle tactics against Numerian Robots.
"I can connect our minds together if you wish. It makes for a much faster learning. Do you accept?"
If the warriors accept, Yanndu asks them to sit in a circle and he proceeds to sit in the middle before telling them everything he knows about Numerian robots via telepathy. After the robots seminar, Yanndu telepathically imparts to all of them the visions he received from his ancestors in the last three weeks:
***...the ships, high in the sky, have lights... wide-eyed the early men understood these mighty vessels were not magical... and it scared them... spells randomly flashed from the walls with no shaman or witches to launch them... hard light of lightning and fire bored holes in anything it touched... traps protecting the mighty ship that fell were seemingly countless...
...then my ancestors showed me little about Sulfur Gulch... only vents spewing out various vapors of all colors in different places... many of them acting like various types of acidic reactions to items and people...
...then my ancestors showed strange mighty constructs that think... but they can be brought low... lightning bolts... crumbling into pieces... then this image of a brave dwarf jumping down on one, and making it fall to pieces with a well placed hit...
...but, most amazingly of all... this image: the mighty Ghost Wolves... disappearing like angry spirits... walking through the halls without being harmed... THIS!!! THIS, is what we are here for mighty warriors! show us your ways of DESTRUCTION against the automatons that can think! they are an abomination on the laws of nature... and as I am fond of Lady Death... I loathe constructs that prey on living and have no respect for the life and death circle of ancestors' souls!!***
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Favian arranges for a bit of training with some of the warriors of the tribe.
After watching some of them spar for a while, he picks out one of the younger adults among his "pupils", likely someone brash and sure of himself.
I've heard you value invisibility, as do I. But I caution you as swordsmen, the blade you wield must always be the tool you rely on. Never assume because you are unseen, you are invincible. An attacker that cannot be seen, can nonetheless be detected, even without magic. Sudden shifts in the currents of air, smell, sound, vibrations along the ground and even just plain old intuition can foil the invisible attacker.
Favian fixes a blindfold over his eyes and draws his blade, assuming a defensive stance.
Now, pick up you weapon and try to strike me.
Favian begins a demonstration of blind-fighting techniques. As he deflects each incoming attacks, he hurls some pointed insult at the student to display exactly where he'd gone wrong. In a way, he was trying to entertain the others while teaching them some important techniques.
Bathing the musk of a hundred beasts may impress the ladies, but I could smell your stench from twenty paces!
Did you think stomping towards me like a herd of oxen was going to work or are you just a lumbering oaf?
Despite being blind-folded, Favian delivers a stinging slap with the flat of his blade to get his point across.
After the demonstration, Favian pairs up the warriors and blindfolds each of them and lets them face off against one another. As before, he addresses errors with cutting remarks.
Do you even know how to handle your weapon or do your hands normally stop working when you close your eyes? Come on! Pick your weapon up!
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Ryster watches his companions as they attempt to impress/mingle with the Kellids. Lips pursed as he tries to come up with a to integrate with the tribe. Eventually he seeks out the tribes healer and offers to help create healing ungents and salves.
Looking through the healers herbs and ingredients, he fishes out his mortar and pestle, and begins grinding up selected reagents.
As he begins to warm up to his task, he becomes a little more verbose and questions the healer about local flira and fauna traditionally used for reagents.
Eventually he pulls out a bit of black powder, describes its creation, and demonstrates its use in cauterizing wounds in an emergency.
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Yanndu mentally casts detect thoughts and wanders the tribe, evaluating the barbarians' intelligence levels, as well as his fellow Pathfinders'. Already aware of Draa's vast albeit tainted intellect, Yanndu however does a double take at Favian, noting the clarity of thoughts... and getting a sense that the man has the favor of the Mother of Souls herself...
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Once Favian tires of playing drill sergeant, he decides to put the warriors through a different sort of paces.
You all appear to be quite strong, but strength won't save you from an oncoming hail of arrows or some sort of technological ray device. You all need to work on your agility if you are going to come back alive.
Favian converses with Desmond in a series of odd gestures and chitters and Desmond begins to take off.
Everyone, follow the monkey.
Favian follows Desmond who takes a series of leaps and acrobatic rolls through some rough terrain as they jog through the camp and into the nearby wilderness. Favian keeps up with his familiar while looking over his shoulder every once in a while to see who is still with them.
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Hedra clearly avoids Yanndu as he wanders through the tribe concentrating.
But when not avoiding Yanndu she shares her knowledge about the History of Golarion, the Rise of Aroden and his numerous fight against the ennemies of Humanity. She emphases on the famous battle between Tar-Baphon - before he named himself the Whispering Tyrant - and her God which leads to the death of the future Lich.
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All of the villagers are eager to learn more and interesting things from the outside world and gladly learn but also share their own knowledge as well.
As evening sets in, the Ghost Wolves begin preparing a communal feast of dried fruit, hard cheese, and meat carved and roasted from the immense boar. Entertainment takes the form of tales both solemnly historic and vividly comedic, including a lively story Jala tells of a bumbling spine dragon. A few look to you as visitors between stories to see if you are also joining in but don't push the issue, you've also given them stories earlier in the day.
Xol-Nomag is present at the meal, but she does not approach or address any of you, instead observing them sternly from afar. Even her own tribe treads carefully around her, treating her with a blend of awe, devotion, and fear. As the meal ends, Jala approaches you and offers to escort you formally to meet Xol-Nomag.
The barbarian chieftain sits crosslegged upon a tall heap of spread furs, her spiked club resting across her knees and her eyes partly closed as if in meditation. She lifts her head and fixes each person with a piercing stare as they approach.
“We know why you have come, Pathfinders. Long ago, one of your kind did a service for us, and now you hope to turn that debt into an open invitation to explore our lands.” Her eyes narrow, and she gives a predatory grin. “You cannot think we are so simple. We know what you are here for. No technology leaves our lands, and our debt does not change that.” She leans back, as if waiting for a response.
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Hedra bows to Xol-Nomag.
Greeting, chief of the Ghost Wolf, and thank you for the invitation. We are most honored to be in your presence.
You fear, with justification, that we want to smuggle out something from your land. But I can assure you that this is not our mission.
We are here to explore the place. Find out what it’s about— what was it for, who lived there, how it all worked. Rest assured that if you don't want us to get things out we will not.
As Aroden says in The History and Future of Humanity "The vigilant shall carry light to the darkest corners of the world to banish the shadows".
Something dark could be hiding there and we will be the Light.
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"Very well, we owe your kind a debt that we will not forsake. We look forward to hearing of your tales of exploration, and talks of the destruction of the technology you find within Sulfur Gulch." Xol-Nomag sits back down. "As a sign of our favor we will send out a band of warriors to accompany you tomorrow into the Gulch."
Jala walks back up. "We have made accommodations for you for the night." He looks up each pc intently as he leads you off to your sleeping tents.
He's casting detect magic and technomancy checking for what each of you carry.
~~~
You set out in the morning, and as promised a band of armed warriors and Jala accompany you and help you decipher Gojan's weathered notes.
Sulfur Gulch is part of a network of wind-weathered arroyos partly obscured by shaggy scrub grass. A chemical smell lingers in the air where the trail descends, leaving the land virtually barren for several hundred feet. The only visible gas is a faint, greenish vapor that wafts from a foot-wide crack in the gully that leads to the open crevasse ahead.
You feel the ground trembling faintly, and an increase in the green gases come from the cracked landscape.
~~~
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Favian easily recognizes the divination that Jala performs but says nothing of it.
As they approach the crevasse, Favian makes sure he had Desmond both have mage armor spells active from his wand and then he casts his ablative barrier spell on himself.
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In Hands:
Logical Rod
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Spells Active:
mage armor
shield
endure elements
fly
telepathic bond: Favian, Hania, Ryster.
telepathic bond: Hedra, Draa.
message: Jala and all his warriors (max 10 creatures)
false life:
see invisibility
detect thoughts (60-foot cone)
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Alchemical Stuff Consumed:
antitoxin
antiplague
vermin repellent
"Hedra, shall we enact the first life bubble scroll?"
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B
G
U
O
targets
As the group approaches the hill, the trembling grows that everyone here can feel it. A green gas billows out from the hillside crack with greater pressure with a high pitched whistling sound. Out of the green gases that have been around the cave entrance, are four metal creatures, followed by an even larger metal creature behind it.
These are advanced gearman robots. They are Medium construct robots. Ask your questions if you get them and I'll answer.
He is a Warden Robot, Large Construct robot. Ask your questions if you get them and I'll answer.
One of the robots starts to approach further out as if coming to engage the group. The smaller ones do carry metal spears.
Initiative Order
Gear Blue
Ryster <- Active
Gear Green
Favian
Warden
Draa
Yanndu
Hedra
Hania
Gear Orange
Gear Unmodified
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Before entering the place, like Yanduu Hedra prays Aroden to gift her with His blessings.
First, she links three of her comrades with her
I will know if some of you are hurt or worse.
She asks Aroden to give her the gift of Vision May your Eye opens Mine my Lord and the gift of protection
Just before entering as Yanndu asks her to use the life bubble, she agrees.
Yes.. but she's interrupted by the arrival of five metallic figures.
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On the trip there while buffing Yanndu imparted this to the group telepathically:
***...my visions speak of mechanical creatures that are weak to lightning and design flaws against physical damage... I also saw visions of Ghost Wolves turning invisible and walking these halls unmolested... invisibility should be your first priority at first sight of any construct...***
Upon seeing the robots, his mind connected to all others, Yanndu coordinate the knowledge gained:
- AC, weaknesses, senses, special abilities, immunities.
- special abilities.
***...Favian hold a second I will make you invisible for 60 seconds during which the invisibility will persist even if you attack... Hedra I will also turn you invisible if you run into trouble... same for the others: do not wait - I will find you, as applicable... if you have a potion of invisibility, don't plan to attack and can do it sooner, do it as soon as possible...***
Yanndu's turn:
[delays until after Hedra casts Life Bubble]
[standard action: greater invisibility on Favian, 10 rounds]
[move action: 30 feet to the east]
[kneels behind boulder and cliff for total cover]
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Ext Mage Armor 16 hours
Ext Endure Elements 24 of 48 hours left.
Heightened Awareness, pearl to re-mem, 80 minutes
Ext See Invisibility - 160 minutes
Ext Delay Poison - 12 hours
Comprehend Languages - 60 minutes
Ant Haul - 12 hours
Lesser Versatile Rod in hand
Draa looks around as Yanndu suddenly asks about the scroll... not sure why.
Until the creatures appear...
Draa muses silently at the current situation.