Luke's Shadow in the Sky Thread (PFRPG) (Inactive)

Game Master Luke

Wait a second, are you saying that he had the cash you slotted for our debt and our donation to the local gendarmes. Or does he just have last nights take?

"Okay, let's be systematic about this. Check every where here first. Then we'll split up and check houses. Was he friendly with Samaritha?"

Can we get into the vault, or whatever it is that the money is kept in? Maybe he's there. Okay, I just finished Sarah's Key so excuse the thought.

"He left last night at closing. He's handled all the dealings with our agent. We borrowed 2000 gold pieces against the casino to help fund the cleanup and payroll. Larur carried 500 pieces back to the moneylender last night on his route home."

"The agent's name is Lymas Smeed. His office is on Rat Street down in the rotgut district. Larur rents a flat not far from there." He writes down both addresses and hands them to Brenin.

"He can't have run, can he?" This question is more directed to himself. "Larur and I go way back. He wouldn't do that to me. Besides, if he wanted, he could clean us out and run. Something must have happened to him."

An exhaustive search of the casino yields no dwarven floor manager. His office is locked up, but Saul produces a key. The place looks exactly as it normally does at the end of an evening. The same is true for the vault.

"Alright, let's get moving. We'll check his place first then Lymas Smeed's." How much longer until opening?

Lia, why don't you stay with Brenin since he's new in town. I could go with either group, or I can stick if you guys think we need someone here to hang out till opening.

I'm assuming that Isegrim is not going to split from Trystan so it probably makes more sense to stick Brenin and Lia together.

"I think we should all stay together and go figure out what in the hells is going on here. Larur's place first makes sense.. I mean, he might just have a bad cold."

"Let's all stick together. The addresses are fairly close. Let's start at his flat and then move on from there. We've got about four hours before we have to open for the night. Let's move."

The addresses are marked on the town map here.

They're also on the zoomed in map of the Rotgut District, here.

The building highlighted in blue is the address given for Larur's flat. The building highlighted in red is the address of the moneylender.

Your group works its way through the busy side streets of the waterfront to get to the cluttered ghetto known as the rotgut district. There's hardly anyone on the streets this morning. It's already hot with hardly any breeze blowing, and the air buzzes with the vanguard of this year's summer midge swarm.

The address leads you to a closed - possibly abandoned tailor's shop. A small door from the street allows access to stairs that climb to a second floor landing. From the landing are two doors, one bearing the number of Larur's flat.

Though you knock rather loudly, no one comes to the door. The door is locked.

Oh man, the maps look awesome! More than happy to do any imagemap work if you want me to

Isegrim looks around at the group, "can anyone open this up quietly?"

Lia sighs. "That would be me. You just stand there and look big." She produces a set of tools from somewhere on her person and gets down to business.

Disable device roll is 9 + 8 for a total of 17. I'll take 20 if need be. I got peoples watching my back and all...

Lia's opinion of Larur's street-smart is boosted by the complexity of the locks guarding his front door. The group stands there in an uncomfortable, try-to-look casual kind of way while the half-elf fiddles with the lock. Finally there's a sequence of satisfying clicks and the locks are defeated.

Inside is a dark and messy one-room flat. The one grimy window over the bed has its curtains drawn. The bed is not made, which lines up with the general state of the apartment. Cast off clothes lie in a pile in one corner, along with some old exotic-looking mining gear. There's a dilapidated bureau, a table and chair, a shelf with some cooking utensils, a cold fireplace with a pot of cold soup suspended over it. No sign of a dwarf.

Lia looks around for some clue as to what has happened.

11 +7 for an 18 perception. Again, I could take 20 ifn' I have too, right?

"Well, he didn't have any plans to leave town by the look of this place. Let's take a quick look and get moving."

Perception check is 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Sorry guys. Power supply on home PC crapped about a week ago, Newegg shipped a broken replacement, still waiting on 2nd shipment and paizo.com blocked on school computers. Should be up and going soon. I'll post where I can till fixed up.

Wow, I thought my last place was bad, and I would bet this is normal for him. While Lia is looking around,I pick up some things and fiddle with them.

I'm drawn to the mining gear. I have this intense need to put it on but can't understand why??

No problem Trystan. I had a similar experience with a hard-drive once. Got two replacements sent to me before I realized it was a failed IDE cable.

All the items of Larur's daily life are here in the apartment. If the Dwarf is here, he's well concealed.

You file out of the Dwarf's home with as much measured nonchalance as five armed adventurers can pull off. The second address is down in the ass-end of the rotgut district. Most of the people living in this part of town make their living at night, and traffic on the street is thin.

The moneylender's house sits at the end of a lane affectionately know as Rat Street. The door to his business is a strapping reinforced thing with an access slot and a eye slot.

Ummmm, will knocking get us killed? Maybe Lia should just do her thing first.

Isegrim looks around to see if it looks like there is a back entrance and if so, if it is accessible. It wouldn't do to knock on the front door and have someone go running out the back.

In a low voice, "I think we're better off doing a quick scout of the area and then knocking. Anything more direct will probably end badly." I'll walk with Isegrim around to the back. Perception is 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

There are no windows on the side of the house facing the alley (south side), but there are narrow windows on the second story on either end of the house (east and west). Circling around back there's a narrow rear entrance, equally reinforced and apparently rarely used judging by the pile of refuse around it. On the second story above the rear entrance is a larger window. All the window curtains are drawn.

Whose going to knock on the door and do the talking?

Rees has the cleavage....

Rees has the cleavage....

I was thinking the same thing. "Let them see the feather when you knock Rees."

I'm fixed and I'm back. Sorry for the delay. Need to read this page when I have more time later tonight and catch up. Not that we all don't love Rees cleavage, but if there is talking to be done Trystan has a 15 (+2) charisma and +6 diplomacy. You guys make the call, I'll check back later.

All right, I'll knock you talk and we will see what we see.

Knock, Knock

After a moment, the eyeslot opens and a pair of dark eyes and bushy brows appears. The man behind the door takes in the three of you in the alley. He snorts his derision at you, "Saul sending his gang along to renegotiate the terms of his loan, huh? Or are you three carrying the payment he owes?"

"You already know we don't have our payment. You are a business man and one smart enough to know that our presence at the Goblin changes things. It's time to negotiate with us."

Diplomacy 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

"You can negotiate with Croat! His money backs Saul's loan. He stands to gain the Goblin if you fail to pay. You can deposit Saul's payment here - right now, or you can deal with Boss Croat's brand of justice."

"That's your choice and your business. If you don't have a payment to make, this conversation is ended."

Perception check
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

We know Larur was supposed to have already made this payment. I'm thinking Croat has the payment and has done something nasty to Larur. We'll try diplomacy, then I think it's time to kick some rude doorman butt. Sense motive roll to see if this guy is full of crap: 10 =1 for a whopping 11. Diplomacy roll 18 + 5 for a total of 23. Let's try and talk our way out of this.

Lia steps up to the door. "Look, we all know Larur dropped the payment off on his way home last night. Are you going to admit to Croat you "lost" it? I wouldn't want to be in that position if I were you." She waits a few beats for this to sink into his thick skull. "How about you open this door and we can discuss exactly who has Croat's payment where there are less ears to hear?"

Let's see where this gets us.

Brenin - Naw, that was my way of trying to explain why a ranger in a somewhat tense situation would have such a crappy perception score. I'd blame the feather, but it's on the other side of the building.

It seems to Isegrim like the few folks who were in the street have made themselves scarce. Maybe you and Brenin have spooked them, maybe it's just hot.

Gonna dispense with the Brenin/Isegrim spoilers here. Isegrim and Brenin are watching the backdoor and the street behind the place, and are not aware of events in the alley.

The pair of eyes answers with another laugh. As the slot slams shut, his voice comes through the door. "Sounds more to me like your pal skipped town with Saul's money. Tough luck for old man stumpy."

Before you can even respond, another voice calls out from the mouth of the alley. Four thugs - one of them a bruiser of a half-orc - have closed off the mouth of the alley. They're armed and look like they mean business.

"Time to remember ol' Stumpy a lesson he's apparently forgotten. Stick your fingers where they're not wanted, and you're liable to lose them."

New map is located here.

Lia swallows a wave of nausea as she recognizes the newcomers. "Well, well, Gars. What, no young maidens around to rape? Couldn't find a beggar woman to beat?" Lia takes a second to gather herself, then moves slightly closer to Trystan. "Trystan, Rees, meet my scum-sucking half-brother, Gars. Gars, go diddle yourself, and take your playmates with you." Under her breath she whispers, "These guys are bad news."

"You're on the wrong side of this one girly. Didn't expect you to be here. You run back to pappy now and beg for him and we'll forget you was here."

Badeye (the half-orc) chuckles. "B@&*#%*# we will." He hefts a morningstar he was carrying low under a cloak. Gars has a loaded crossbow. The other two men have short swords.

Initiatives please.

Just in case it's needed. Init is 1d20 ⇒ 1

Initiative 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

I just looked at my rolls...not feeling very inspired or perceptive today. Might just go back to bed before I hurt myself.

With that perception check does Isegrim hear the conversation out front? Or would another be needed? Initiative in case

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Yeah your rolls have sucked ass. No grey area there. City's not agreeing with the ranger? It's been awhile now since you've seen a tree.

I think the distance and obstructions are enough to muffle the conversation up to the point where Gars called out. You wouldn't have made out words, but you're alert enough to react to someone yelling. The only punishment for being 'out of place' at the beginning of combat is the distance you have to cover. Same for Brenin. Then again, there is still a back-door...

So yes, both Brenin and Isegrim's initiatives are good. I witnessed Pam's roll of 6 + 4 = 10. Rees, don't make me throw poo at your house. You know I'll do it.

my poop roll is a 7 total, I will try to read and post later tonight.

It seems like all you needed was my total.

Hey Lia, are you okay with your brother becoming one with the earth, or do we have to play nice with him? I also give a good yell for our backup to come quick.

Initiative sequence is...

Badeye the half-orc 23
Gars Smythe 18
human thugs 14
Lia 10
Rees 7
Isegrim 6
Trystan 5
Brenin 1

The half orc and the thugs close ranks and advance down the alley towards Trystan and the ladies. Gars lets fly a crossbow bolt, apparently aimed at Rees. The bolt buries itself in the wood between Rees and Trystan's shoulders.

Akward distances allow them to close but not to attack this round. Map is updated. Lia's turn.

is the alley we walked down along row 10? I can't tell if there's room to walk there under the eaves of the houses or what. Or do we have to run all the way around?

So, I looked at all my moves and I didn't like any of them. I'm moving to (17, 14) and drawing my rapier.

"Gars, you pigfaced bastard, put away the toothpick thrower and come fight like a real man!" As Lia screams this out loud, she lifts a prayer toward the blotted sky. She mentally kicks herself for coming closer to Badeye.

Sorry, I'm letting the picture do the talking and not giving you guys enough description of the immediate surroundings. The moneylender's house is the one with the smoking chimney. The door with the eyeslot is at (18,11). The backdoor is at (23,17). Isegrim and Brenin needed to come down to row 5 or (obstructed) 6 to join the fight. There is a gap between the buildings along row 10, but it is filled with rubbish and is effectively impassable.

By my count, Isegrim can use a run action and take about 105' of movement to get to (8,5) or the vicinity. This would take his entire turn (full round action). Also, he can't make the turn and continue toward Gars per the rules of the run action.

The straight-line rule really kills Brenin, because of where I placed him (by the beetle :). Brenin's reduced to 60' double-moves to get into the action.

It's Rees's turn. Isegrim may go ahead and declare his action as I doubt your outcome will hinge on Rees. You hear her calling for help clearly.

Isegrim runs to (8,5), drawing the Raven Blade along the way.

Trystan casts bane on the three opponents in range, draws his rapier and takes a 5 foot step to 16/12.

"Time to get your claws out ladies!"

You shot at me. You are a cursed man. I'm going to... Hopefully my eyes are turning yellow. aiming my eye at Gars I try to cause doubt and a -2 to his armor class.turn your innards into slime.

How about some insight into what these buildings look like. How tall are they? Seems to be a lot of junk piled around the perimeter. Anything that would give ready access to the roof of one or the other?

Rees your curse doesn't appear to sink in. And your eyes don't glow either. Dm's die is hot.

Trystan your prayer causes the despair of stale ale to soak the hearts of the two thugs. Badeye didn't seem to be impressed, though.

Brenin - All these buildings are two-storied, with rather steep roofs. I'll rate the climb DC at 12 owing to the boost you get from standing on a barrel or whatever. DC 8 to get to an upper story window. Or you can put your skeedaddle socks on.

Before I go and do something stupid, let me make sure I have my facts straight. Climb is a move. I move at one quarter my speed once I actually reach the wall. Roof is 15-20' high? This means it takes 2-3 climb rolls to sucessfully reach the roof at which I'm at a -2 for my armor check penalty unless I drop my shield and then I'm at a -1? Close?

Obviously I check this thread so much more now...

Yeah, the tabs are a nice addition. I should use them better. I went through and corrected some of the assumptions the tool made regarding former players, etc.

I'm also really happy with the original-Isegrim's campaign site template and what I've been able to do with it so far. It would be nice if you could do something with maps here, but I think the IP thing really gets in the way of that (not to mention storage, if that's an issue).

Alright folks, I'm winding this adventure down. Participation is low enough that the game is no longer scratching my gaming itch. The time is right from a plot perspective to wrap it up and call an end to Shadow in the Sky.

The adventure ends in a manufactured natural disaster. The drow have pulled a stone from the sky. Each of you has a chance to tell what happens to your characters during the ensuing calamities, if they survive, etc. I thought this would give everyone a chance to gracefully wrap up their characters if they choose - to give them a noble death, move them on in a different direction, or to prep them for the sequel 'Children of the Void', which I do intend to run. But I want to get a higher participation rate from the players in the next game and to do so I'm inclined to open a recruiting thread to bring in some fresh blood.

So everyone give it some thought and let me know what you plan to do. The next adventure is an out-doorsy thing for the most part. Characters will begin at 4th level.

That was cool. Do it again. Seeing as my character was hoping for a flood to wash the filth out of this city and even alluded to building a boat on the roof of the Goblin, I'll take the time to write up something up for the end.

Umm, I live with the DM and didn't see that one coming. I'll be sure to write something up, given a spare moment.

That was awsome. Nothing like a natural disaster to livin things up. I'm in for the next adventure. I'm diggin my witch and will keep her depending on what the love of my shadow life decides. If he decideds to go down with the water, I may go down with him. Maybe not as I am a fickle bi$$$. Time will tell.

Some guidelines for the inter-chapter posts...

Saul's fate is to remain a mystery. Samaritha's fate is entirely in your hands. She can play a role in the next adventure, or if it suits your narrative, you can write her death into your post. She could play a role as a henchmen in the next adventure, or even as a player if someone wanted to play a bookish sorceress. Kwava survives the flood and is an NPC in future installments of the adventure path. You can use him in your posts, just don't kill him. He will be featured in the opening posts of 'Children'. Likewise, steer clear of involving Zincher in your posts. His actions during the calamities will feature at the beginning of the next adventure.

Riddleport as a setting for the adventures is pretty much finished. The town itself will survive of course - it will just play an increasingly marginal role in the plot.

Let me know if there are other questions concerning setting or plot.

Okay, I did my wrap up. I think I followed all of the rules. If you're not into my the battered and bruised Brenin as a hero and gets the girl ending, tough. It's my story and I'll live happily ever after if I want to. Fun campaign. If we continue with this, I want to keep my character. I hate starting over. Besides, I'd have to pick a new name. Probably be Renbin or something like that.

Chris throws down the gauntlet with an awesome post! I know Pam wants to answer the challenge, but her homework is killing her right now (using 3D modeling software of all things!).

If I can figure out how to extract our posts from this gameplay thread and get them on the campaign site for reference, I will. I have Brenin's vote to start a new thread for 'Children'. Other opinions?

I'll open a recruitment thread and keep it open for at least a week. We'll see what we see...

Starting work on the opening post and whatnot. Brenin should advance to 4th level. I'll work with Pam and Melissa to get Lia and Rees done.

Awesome! You had to go and set fire to my new shiny armor didn't you? :) Nice work.

And thats my ending. It may not be as eloquent as some but that ill do donkey that ill do.

Trystan sorry I forgot to email you. I think you can still do what you want with your characters ending as I left you hanging :)

It was fun gaming with you all. Hope the next one will be as enjoyable.

All your epilogue posts are splendiferous. I'll post something from Kwava's perspective, and we'll leave it there in case Trystan or Isegrim want to post.

The recruitment thread for Children of the Void is here. We'll vote on Friday on who gets in. Two rounds of voting. 'No more characters' is a valid vote. I guess I'm the tie-breaker if we end up hung.

Rees and Lia are advanced to 4th level. Character sheets online are updated, though I don't have Rees's most recent spell list, so I can't update that part. Otherwise, that inter-chapter task is done...

Dang...everyone is advanced and we'll be picking new members on Friday...I got to tighten up. Been a crazy week. I'll work on updating my character over the weekend.

Team, we have a slew of awesome submissions to choose from. I can't manage a thread with thirty characters though, so we're going to have to make a collective hard choice here. Please send me your votes via email. You can use my business email since I'm going to be on the road.

To summarize, we have the following choices:

Gabbro - Half-orc fighter (Gladiator)/Oracle
Tusk - Half-orc fighter/Inquisitor OR Cleric
Joll - Inquisitor of Asmodeus
Yrkurt - Magus (think fighter/Mage)
Dorian - former executioner Alchemist
Daniel - Cleric of Iomedae
Dugard - Paladin
Unnamed Inquisitor
'No more characters'

Backgrounds are available on the other thread. I encourage you to read them as it will give you a better sense of how the personalities might gel with the current bunch on convicts.

Sent you my vote. Sorry for the delay.

Man the Gator game was a kill-joy. Felt bad for Brantley. This was his chance to beat Georgia, but I'm afraid we should have sat him in the 3rd. Dude couldn't plant to throw on the bum ankle.

I'm happy with defense and special teams though. Muschamp's gonna have us ready to play defensively. I wish he'd start acting like a head coach.

Trystan, baby, sweetcheeks, love of my online life, believe me when I say I was never creeped out. I had lots of fun with our characters. I have been waiting for your end of our post and our happy ever after. I hope you will write something interesting for our dynamic duo. Glad to hear you don't live with your parents,but fyi I own a rag on a stick...well maybe its not a rag but I hope you get the point. ;)

I think a skype game would be fun. I was showing half the Potter clan how it works today. A little birdie told me today that our relationship may be long term. I hope your up for it.

The nature of the medium makes this a slow game no doubt, but that being said, it moved at a serious crawl. We started this in Dec of 09' and in game time, moved less than two weeks. I was tired of it and when the big fireball streaked across the sky, I was happy. As much as I enjoyed the campaign, waiting a week for someone to make a post just took the fun out of it. I really enjoyed Trystan and the way you fleshed out the character. I'm fine with you being part of the next adventure, but Luke's comment about checking daily and posting when appropriate is a valid one.

Boomwrangler, I think the whole party is unanimous in liking the character and the way he's been played, I just don't want to NPC either him or Isegrim. I think if you look over the last couple of months, you'll see that the posting rate has been really low.

I welcome Trystan back to our game, as long as you're willing to re-commit to the posting ground rules. I don't want the game to turn into a chore for anyone. I also think we need to part ways with Isegrim at this point. My hope is that we've added a new active player to the game who has a strong grasp of the rules.

So let us know what you want to do and we'll go from there. The party starts the next adventure somewhat scattered and confused, so there's time to mull this over and let us know.

Thank you all. Glad to hear and sentiments right back at ya.

Just finishing out year one in a new career. Definitely was a major distraction but it's settling down. Not worried anymore that I'm going to press a button and the town's water tower is going to fall over.

How 'bout this. Holiday slowdown is coming and you are incorporating some new players. How's about Luke picks a moment in early '12 where T's reappearance would fit the plot and until then I'll just appear in a few dream sequences as I follow along?

Catch up with us on the discussion thread of Children of the Void when the time is right.