Legacy of Fire

Game Master Megan Robertson

Raulzig bolts off whilst everyone else is still getting his bearings. He runs into Krafty in the passageway, who says he'll try and find a shovel and scampers off.

The rest of you are in the dormitory, apart from Samuel who has followed Raulzig.

Jengren, there does not appear to be anything magical here.

"Hold up there, Raulzig. I see something moving; perhaps we should wait for the others to catch up."

After Jengren makes a cursory look at the dormitory, he moves out into the courtyard.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

"These 'Pathfinders' are always finding paths." Pashaj speaks in a long breath, then follows Raulzig and Samuel.

"These 'Pathfinders' are always finding paths." Pashaj speaks in a long breath, then follows Raulzig and Samuel.

"Better than a lost Pathfinder," he chuckles.

Most of you are now in the courtyard, which has a heavily overgrown central garden with cloister-style walkways around it. The walls are carved with historical/religious scenes, it's obvious a lot of care and attention was lavished on creating them... and equally obvious that in later days a fair bit of damage was done to them!

There is some more rustling from the overgrown area, then with a beating of wings a large white and brown bird takes off and flies away, heading south.

Krafty arrives bearing a shovel.

Raulzig gets the shovel and plunges it into the ground, trying to follow the strange urge which has guided him to this place.

Raulzig, you feel the urge to dig in a particular spot. Your archaeologist instincts kick in, and you find yourself unearthing an old shortsword that just feels so right in your hand that you cannot imagine relinquishing it!

"Wow, would you just look at this? This must be a veritable relic, no less! And still usable!" Raulzig takes a few swings and thrusts, revealing that his fencing is surprisingly decent, although overloaded with decorative flourishes.
Since Raulzig is a gnome, does it still count as a short sword for him?
He can't help giggling with excitement as he examines his new (toy) weapon.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Knowledge History: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

"That is what all the fuss was about? There must be more to it than a simple relic. Something or someone wanted you to find it, and that is both promising and worrying at the same time." While he's here, Samuel will look around for clues as to what kind of bird has made this courtyard it's home.

Knowledge (history) 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
Spellcraft 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15
Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Knowledge (nature) 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Survival 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

"Well at least your determination paid off Raulzig." Detects magic on the sword.

"Perhaps we should examine the box found earlier a bit closer it contained some magic."

The shortsword (and it appears, one suited to a gnome's hand...) is... not magical... or is it? Samuel's never had quite such an inconclusive result to an investigation of an item.

The bird, from what you saw of it, appears to be some kind of large vulture. Krafty says he doesn't know what manner of bird it is, but it sure lays tasty eggs! He's stolen a fair few out of its nest which is in the middle of the undergrowth.

Zahir would have followed the gnome and hearing about the bird is greatly interested in it. Sounds like if a giant bird then maybe having an egg could lead to a companion later down the road.

Pashaj holds a troubled hand to his chin. "There is a sign in this, and one that we will not quickly understand." He moves around the gnome in a half-circle. "An object should not be master of heart nor hand. Samuel has said that you were meant to find it, yet what is to be found in this meaning?"

"Krafty those eggs my be delicious but..." a long pause, "an angry mother may hunt you in your sleep." Jengren's fingers in a steeple before him. "Just a thought to consider the next time your stomach grumbles."

"If there is an egg there now, perhaps we should leave it for Lady Almah to decide what to do with it. It would be a good peace offering to counter the continued presence of the pugwampis, which may take some in the caravan some time to get used to. In the meantime, we should finish our investigations of the building. What spaces have we not yet been to?"

After having played with the sword a bit, Raulzig finally sheathes it and begins inspecting the magical box.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Disable Device: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Use Magic Device: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Zahir waits as patiently as he can. He is curious about the bird and eggs. He really wants to know more about them.

Samuel can help with Raulzig with a guidance blessing; otherwise he stands back to watch.

What areas do we still have left to explore?

Raulzig reluctantly puts his new toy away and contemplates the box. It's a small teak box emblazoned with the holy symbol of Sarenrae, and it is not locked. When he opens it, he finds that it contains a wooden holy symbol of Sarenrae suspended from a silver chain and a rather beautiful silver and enamelled brooch in the shape of a butterfly.

Further examination reveals that it is a fully charged brooch of shielding.

As for your explorations, here is the monastery map.

You are in the cloisters at the moment (A4-A8) - a wild central area (where the bird nests) surrounded by walkways with loads of carvings on the walls.

You came in through the nave (A1) and have visited the kitchen (A16) where you met Krafty, who took you to the chapel (A2) where you impressed the pugwampi into surrendering en masse. You then went to the chapter hours (A10) and killed off some stirges, then went into the shrine next door (A12) and found the stairs down to the undercrypt which you explored before returning to the surface in the south-east corner and coming through the dormitory (A18) and back to the cloister.

What would you like to do now?

I would say A13 first, than in some order, A15, A15, and A17, based on information we get from Krafty about which ones, if any, are being used by the pugwampis.

Samuel turns to Krafty, "Are you using any more rooms by the kitchen, or was your occupation contained to the kitchen and the chapel?" He moves back to the apparent living space to finish off the search of the monastery.

Jengren waits for Krafty to respond to S.W. Keeping a eye out for any sings of danger.

perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Never said I was good at keeping watch/

Krafty says that they used the dining room (A17), across the hall from the kitchen, to eat in. The rest of that area was inhabited by baboons - "Nasty, smelly creatures!" - you may recall seeing them running around in the nave then diving off down that corridor, you were following them when you found 3 pugwampi in the kitchen & killed two of them, the third was Krafty who was 'persuaded' to take you to the pugwampi King.

Back to A13 then?

A13 sounds good; finding and containing these baboons seems like the next task.

Jengren takes his position towards the rear of the group, rolling his sleeves up a bit and feeling the magical energy flow through his blood. "Lead on."

A13 it is, then. This large but plain interior hallway leads to the various chambers of the monastery's southern wing. A weatherworn statue of a winged woman stands in the middle of the hall. Enormous holes in the ceiling would make it an unpleasant place in the rare instances of desert rainstorms, and who can guess what they might let in the rest of the time.

"Have you found faith, Raulzig?" Pashaj addresses the gnome, but his eyes wander up to the large holes in the ceiling.

Perception - 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Samuel takes a look at the statue.

Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Knowledge (history) 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
Knowledge (religion) 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Jengren is keeping a look out for anything unusual.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

He looks over at the statue and detects magic.

The statue is of Sarenrae, a convention depiction familiar to anyone who has visited one of her temples. It does not detect as magical.

A baboon peers out of the door of A15, and grins broadly at you all, grunting.

Pashaj slides his mace from his belt as his eyes meet the baboon's.

Samuel quickly casts guidance on himself, prepares his crossbow, and speaks to Raulzig, "Think you can talk them out of fighting with your ability to speak to them?"

Jengren readies himself for battle.

"Faith - no. Not yet. But what I may lack in faith, I make up for in knowledge."

Raulzig stares back at the baboon, then snarls his teeth and jumps around, waving his arms.
speak with animals
"Why are you not out in the wild? We are the new masters of this place. Go back in peace or be driven out." Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

The baboon looks amazed at being addressed thusly (I leave to the rest of the party what they think about Raulzig jumping up and down gibbering and grunting!).

The baboon recovers his composure and grunts back at Raulzig.

Raulzig continues to ape the baboon's demeanor.

Nope, your first roll will cover the entire conversation, Raulzig.

The baboon and Raulzig continue to make monkey noises at each other for several minutes. Then the baboon calls over his shoulder and three more come out, knuckle-walking quietly.

[spoiler=Raulzig]The baboon says, "These are my brothers. Where is this god Calain? We have not heard of him before, but will obey in return for food and a place to stay"

Jengren takes a deep breath as three more baboons knuckle walk into the room. Eyes focused on the situation.

The baboons seem curious rather than hostile.

Samuel watches the scene quietly, clearly used to the talents of his fellow pathfinder.

Pashaj allows himself a smile.

Jengren steps up to S.W. and Pashaj and asks, "Interesting companion there," motioning towards Raulzig, "do you know when Lady Almah will be arriving?" Making obvious small talk since the baboons seem to have mellowed out. "I've yet to meet her."

"I do not." Pashaj replies, not taking his eyes off the baboons. "Sand stir as they will, when they will. So too do those that walk upon them."

"She is currently waiting for us to clean this place out. Once we have secured the monastery, we need to send word to her, and she will join us at that time."

Samuel is quite correct: the arrangement was that you would send to the encampment once the monastery was secured.

Finished communicating with the baboon, Raulzing glances incredulously over his companions, as if he's just been somewhere else.

"Oh, hi. I forgot I wasn't alone here. These apes are working as scouts and watches for the pugwampi. I think it is more useful to keep them here and let the pugwampi take care of them, rather than fight them. I have promised them that the pugwampi king will introduce them to Calain, so we have to go and find him."

He scratches his armpit as he finishes speaking, clearly the baboon mindset has left an imprint.

The baboons grunt a bit, then return to the room whence they came.

Jengren nods approvingly as Raulzig speaks. "It seems that our pugwampi allies are quite resourceful in their ways. Befriending baboons and using them as scouts. Calain should be pleased." His looks around the room taking in the details that he may have missed earlier.

"The reaction from the princess should be interesting to see. It will be quite a tale to tell in the lodge over the evening fire, that is for certain."

Are you ready to send word to Lady Almah yet, or are there other things that you want to do first?