MOTFF pbp startup- my experiment

Game Master JERRY WAYNE 073

Dot

K'Coro is here.

Victor Von Schwarzerwald is ready to step into the darkness!

Haranum and Esdras at your service!

Ayana ready to assist!

The tall nagaji paces slowly around the room, his corded muscles flexing beneath his scaly green skin. A careful observer would catch that, while he appears to just be examining the room’s contents, he is actually more of a caged animal, feeling somewhat tense to be confined to this cramped indoor space, instead of out on the open road. A closer look would reveal that the purple ridges running from the top of his head and down his back form a pattern that looks suspiciously like a butterfly’s wings. He addresses the other Pathfinders in the room in a deep, gravelly voice.
”Please excuse K’coro. He does not wish to seem rude. He just prefers moving. Staying in one spot is not pleasant for him. Shimye, the North Star goddess, wishes for him to be free, travelling and exploring.” His eyes dilate slightly as he recalls the first time he heard Desna’s call.
Shaking his head, he continues. ”K’coro comes from Nagaja. He travels the world where ever his feet take him. They led him to the Pathfinders.” His scaled lips pull up, revealing small sharp teeth, the nagaji’s equivalent of a smile. ”He likes that he is paid to explore and travel.”

Haranum smiles politely at the Nagaji and in slightly accented common, says "Do not worry, I am accustomed to the impatient."

His companion, a broad shouldered hound Archon, crosses their arms and looks severely at the Nagaji. "Therefore when the Dawnflower hath delivered them into her servant Charlabu, he did burn their flesh with the fires of redemption."

The Kelishite apologies, "Esdras often will speak in a dramatic fashion. Even simple greetings will go far beyond what is necessary. Please do no take it personally."

The Archon grips it's own forearms, and flexes it's muscles, muttering "...ood of fiends...wet our..."

Haranum ignores the Archon.

OOC - I imagine Esdras looking a lot like this pawn.

A disheveled human walks into the room, his eyes, and his dirty brown hair are covered in a thick viscous goo. His armor looks like he took great pains to keep it clean. A Pharasmin Holy symbol dangles from his neck.

The mans jaw moves unnaturally as an airy sound whistles from his lips.
The man points at his ears, and moves his hand left to right in a chopping motion. He motions to a chair, and makes a lowering motion with his open palm to the seat of the chair.

He waits patiently for someone to address him.
He looks around somewhat anxiously. Licking his lips in anticipation.

With a slight jingling sound, a small elven frames slips in after the strange human. Her appearance is a little too bright for her own good. A mop of blood red curls bounce lightly as her large lilac eyes shift to glance around the room. It was obvious that she was born with a touch of magic. She is dressed in a long silk robe, bright with yet another vibrate color, this one a teal. The most prominent item on her is her large, pink floral hair pin in which two bells slightly sway on ribbons...

A smile graces her lips as her hands fold in front of her, "Excellent, very excellent." she says, glancing about the few that have gathered. She gives a slight bow, "I look forward to tending to you all." With that, she will quickly find her own place to sit. Her posture is bright and focused, almost like her is ready to jump and move as a moments notice....

K'Coro looks quizzically at Damion. While not too familiar with human customs, he is sure that filthy hair and meticulously clean clothing and armor are rare to find together on the same person. Having never before seen such a spectacle, he approaches the enigmatic man.
"Hello. Are you alright? K'Coro sees you and wonders if you are where you meant to be. Perhaps he can help you."

Damion Looks at K'coro. His eyes strain studying the creatures face as it speaks. It nods and points at his ear... and then shakes his head.
He takes out some parchment, and writes a small note. He hands the now slick note to K'Coro.

Damion quickly bows his head in humble apology. His note is covered in a slightly slimy substance. He takes a small cloth and wipes his brow, as well as wipe off his hands again.

K'Coro reads the note. "Our friend here is deaf. He can read mouths, though." He gestures to Damion, indicating he has nothing to write with. When Damion hands him his quill(?), K'Coro writes something on the parchment and hands it back to Damion. Looking Damion directly in the eyes, he slowly repeats exactly what he wrote down. In common.
"K'Coro... asks... if... you... are... lost. Can... K'Coro... help... you?"

Damion watches and looks very carefully and nods. He hands K'Coro a note from his bag. It's a Pathfinder summons for service. Damion touches his holy symbol. Then to the Note.

He takes out an ink quill and writes another note on the previous bit of parchment.

Damion waits anxiously. His eyes focus on everyone in the room for a brief second, then looks back to K'Coro, as he has the note.

The hound archon says to Damion, "Whoever sheds mortal blood, by mortals shall their blood be shed."

Haranmum turns to face Damion and says "My friend, you are in an interesting situation. Esdras will be just as inscrutable whether or not learn to read their lips."

Damion's gaze shifts to Esdras. His brow furrows. Damion shrugs as if defeated. Damion locks his eyes when he sees Haranum's lips move. He follows slowly, and nods.

Damion points a long index finger at Haranum, and points to Esdras, and makes arcane gestures with his hand, then points to his own forehead. Damion's hand gesture then moves to both Esdras and Haranum.

He's gesturing to your summoner runes.

Damion then creates two circles with his thumbs and index fingers, and locks each between them. Then looks at you with a facial expression of inquisitively.

Nodding and handing the parchment back to him, K'Coro addresses Damion, making sure Damion can see his mouth as he speaks. "You are a Pathfinder? There are no worries. K'Coro has met many in his travels. The only ones who were a burden allowed themselves to be such. You have a way around your inability to hear? K'Coro does not count you as a burden, then. K'Coro does have a question, though. How do you communicate if there is battle?"

Damion nods. He points at K'Coro lips, and he points at his eyes.
He glances around quickly, and nods. He bows gently to you, and gestures you forward. Damion gestures with his hands a few quick "battle hand signals".
Caster, Follow.

He smiles, sure that you understand. Damion sets a backpack on the ground next to a chair and sits.

He pulls out some ink and parchment. He waits patiently.

Haranum smiles happily and slows his speech just a bit.

"Correct, my friend! Esdras and I are linked through that rune. You clearly are well read, or have encountered the likes of us before."

He smiles at the lady standing silently. "Please excuse our manners mylady, we have been ignoring you. You are a healer of some skill?"

Ayana smiles with a soft head tilt and a little jiggle, "Oh that is quite alright. It's good to see such a lively group. Living alone for so long with a few social interactions, just listening to so many conversations is nice." she say. "And that is correct. My name is Ayana Isilme, the Night Hearted, born into a long line of witches dedicated to the healing arts to atone she who fuels our magic...."

"I have seen few adventures in my time, but you are definitely some firsts. A deaf caster is very much new. I have to mediated and converse with my rat, Sun. If I couldn't talk to him, I would have a terrible time...and a Nagaji working with humans is a nice change...and a summoner. It shows a strong control of the arcane to form such a bond. It is impressive......I see good things with this group...."

Damion's eyes peer at Ayana. He nods and smiles. Comforted that the fellows here aren't viewing him as a burden. A Witch, a Summoner, A strong looking Nagaji, myself. Who else can we expect on this expedition.

He waves at Ayana, greeting her. He offers a small part of food for her Familiar. An offering to her and her magical insights. Damion notices there is a bit of mucus on the food from his skin. He whispers a small prayer over it, and casts a small cantrip to clean it off.
Damion casts Purify Food and Drink on the small bit of ration he offers the rat..

Damion's eye looks at Esdas, and offers a bit of food to it as well. Unsure if he's going to insult the Eidolon with a small offering.

Turning from the conversation, K'Coro eyes the dhampir standing silently in the corner. Having never met a dhampir before, he is unsure what to make of the humanoid. He makes sure his mouth is visible.
"Greetings. Are you Pathfinder as well? You are quiet like this man. Are you also deaf?"

Ayana waves back and gives a nod. She moves a little closer to him and extends her arm out, palm up. With a little shake, a small bump appears on her upper arm and starts moving down towards the end of her sleeve, where a white rat with beady, red eyes pops out. She extends her hand out the little farther so that the rat can sniff the food he was presented, in which he takes gleefully.

"Thank you for the kind gesture. Sun normally does like being out and about but he will do anything for food."

A bearded man steps through the doorway of the waiting room at the Pathfinder Lodge in Absalom where you have all gathered. He walks past until he takes a seat behind a large desk, then addresses the assembled adventurers.

"My thanks for answering the summons for this exploration trek you will partake in. My name in MacGuffin, Venture Captain MacGuffin, though that's not important in the least. Each of you come highly recommended for your skills but are also somewhat new regarding your standing in the Society. Hence, I have a job for you that should be suited for your abilities and also put you to work making names for yourselves here. A ruined siege castles lies outside Absalom and has long beckoned adventurers looking to make a name for themselves. Now an earthquake has cracked open this particular ruin, and its lost mysteries and fantastic treasures lie exposed for the first time in centuries. Can you find a way to get inside its shattered walls? But be wary of what ancient dangers and fresh threats you might encounter inside its crumbling chambers?"

The venture captain with the unmemorable name reaches to the side of his desk to pick up a conveniently stashed bottle of sweetened tea to quench his thirst. After recapping the bottle, he turns back to the group. "So, any questions before you head just north of the city walls and go exploring? Bear in mind, the archives have practically zero information on this specific previously-sealed siege tower."

Figuring the man knew who was supposed to be there for the briefing, and if they had all arrived, K'Coro asks,"What is known of this place? Are there known dangers we might encounter on the way?"

"Countless abandoned siege engines and constructions of war from the numerous failed attempts throughout history to take the city by force lie scattered throughout the surrounding countryside in what has become known as the Cairnlands. In addition to these rotting relics of war, the landscape is scattered with stone barrows, shallow graves, and makeshift tombs for those who fell in battle far from their native soil. This particular fortress had no manner of entrance but the aforementioned earthquake caused a portion of its exterior wall to crumble away. it appears to have five above-ground levels and perhaps a below-ground structure but this part is unconfirmed."

Damion looks concerned. He writes a notes during the explanation. He writes a note and slides it to the venture captain.

The note reads:
How old is this castle?
Do we have a way out?
You mentioned that other adventures have attempted to get inside, but did any of them succeed and make it out?

Damion waits for the response.

"So, let me zis straight. You vant us to go und explore zis siege castle, but you haf next to no information about eet? Zis is not a wery promising endeawor et ol, eez eet?" The pale "human" with a strong Ustalavian accent asks with a wry grin, the barest hint of a fang appearing.

Esdras flexes their muscles and their fists clench.

'All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sarkoris, Dyinglight and Storasta, it fell to the filth of the Abyss.'

"I have to agree with Victor and Esdras on this. This lack of information is unusual."

The venture captain looks at Damion then picks up a set of index cards and begins flipping through them before settling on a specific one. "Ah, yes, 'Bogtouched'. Well, it is estimated that this particular fortress is centuries old. Perhaps you can find more information in your exploration of it to report on, if you'll cooperate. Your way out should perhaps be the same way in, the big crack in the exterior wall. And we have never had any Society agents get inside."

Victor looks quizzically at the half-elf."How vere you able to divine that from your canine friend's response? Truly you must be some master of vords!"

MacGuffin turns his attention to Victor, again referring to his index cards and then chuckling when he reads a specific one.

"Ah, heh, heh. 'Von Schwarzerwald', Zarta warned me about you. Well, now Von, can I call you Von? You see, Von, you and the others are what the vee-sees like to call a 'C.M.C'. That is to say, a 'Coal-Mine-Canary'. We lack info, you fix that. I would have thought Ambris Valsin would have covered thoroughly during your Pathfinder Academy days. Perhaps you missed some of those classes while getting 'private tutelage' of a 'dark' and 'archivous' nature. Well, bucko, you're not going to find any back massagers on this mission. There might be a goat or two. Can't say for sure. Guess that will be on your C.M.C. report if you make it back."

Victor turns about to look at the Nagaji, clearly realizing that he hadn't responded yet: "I assure you, despite my minor rudeness, I am indeed capable of hearing. Vile I drum more by feel than by sound, it vould be hard indeed to tune a drum while deaf!" He says with a rakish grin.

He then turns and gives a grave look to Ayana: "If you vish me to continue striking fear into ze hearts of our enemies and courage in our allies, I vill politely ask you to keep your healing magics away from me. They vill do me no good, I am afraid."

Victor looks the Venture Captain in the eye and grins "You may call me 'Von' if I may call you Venture! Victor vould be preferable to calling me 'of'. He also looks confused at the mention of a Zarta and continues: And who is zis Zarta? Lady Gloriana haz not told me about her yet. I am relatifly new here, after all."

K'Coro, who had been listening to the conversation while staring longingly out the window, straightens up and moves toward the door, stopping before actually leaving the room. "Go to ruined castle, go inside, move through castle and explore. Return with things found and report what is found inside. Much moving and going. This will please Shimye. K'Coro is ready when all are ready."

Responding to Victor, "Yes, Understanding an Archon with a penchant for violence. My mother claims it is my only talent."

Damion reads the venture captain's lips intently. Focusing hard.

He writes one more note for the venture captain and slides it over.
Are we getting any mapping equipment to map the inside?
Do you expect other potentially adversarial adventures attempting to get in?
In other words, do we have exclusivity to the site in question?

Unable to hear the chatter of his allies. Damion's eyes are on the Venture captain.

K'coro, feeling his wandering spirit yearning to be on the way, makes a conscious effort to stay calm. These smooth-skins always want to talk. K'Coro wants to go! Talk is good... when it is not idle. K'Coro wants action.

"Venture Captain MacGuffin, is there more you wish to tell us?"

Noticing K'Coro's restlessness, Victor agrees "I am ready to head tovwards this ruin vonce the Wenture Captain has answered Damion qvestions."

The Venture Captain reads over Damion's notes aad then responds. "Oh, you don't already have mapping materials? Maybe you should buy some before you head off. Or perhaps if you can replicate the interior on material here upon your return. And no, shouldn't be other nosy looters sniffing around, we're supposed to have looky-loo rights. Doesn't mean you shouldn't be on your guard, right?

MacGuffin then stands up and claps his hands together. "All right, my sweet little canaries, off to your coal mine! Me and some of the other VC's have our money in a betting pool to see who makes it and who doesn't, and I know you're not going to disappoint me, eh?" He then casts a sidelong look and grins at Haranum. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have another meeting to attend to, something about some disgruntled Pathfinders and this thing called a 'Shadow Lodge'. Probably nothing important."

He then exits the room. A map with directions to the siege tower is left on the desk.

Damion stands. Gets together his pen, ink and paper. Stands looking at everyone. He gives a thumbs up.

Looking at everyone already read to go. Damion looks himself over. Pats down his face and hands again with a cloth. He picks up his bag. And points in his bag, gesturing with an open upwards palm towards you all.

Inside his backpack he has the following:

Damion points at the straps of other's bags. A curious look creases his face.

K'Coro, sensing Damion is wanting to know what supplies the party has, looks directly at him and speaks load enough for all to hear.

"Yes. "K'Coro has a blanket, a pot, flint and steel, torches, a rope, a waterskin and soap. He also has his weapons."

Figuring the others can converse on the way what they have, he grabs the map, then turns and leaves the room, the open road and the call of his goddess beckoning him to the point of rudeness.

Victor laughs a hearty laugh following K'Coro and shares "I have my bedroll, some food and water, and my trusty drum! Vat more could you need?"

Damion stands from his seat. Packs up his bag. And starts to walk after K'coro. His eyes darting around. He then rushes back to the chair, takes out a small cloth and starts to wipe away the built-up mucus on the chair.

He cleans it off and turns and begins to follow K'Coro. He has the map. His eyes dart around to the others. His eyes zip between each person. He doesn't want to miss any more information.

Esdras declares: "The sword of Iomedae, Herald of Aroden, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one."

Haaranum says to the Eidolon, "Mayhaps. He seems fine to me. The best way to find out is to follow them."

Ayana nods, "I should probably pick up some supplies before we go then." She holds up Sun to her face, "Then, you and I can talk about spells for the day."

I wish to buy a witch's kit.

"Oh yes! That reminds me!" Victor snags a piece of paper real quick, and sends a letter off to Lady Gloriana requesting a "healing" wand.

"Okay! Now I am ready for adwenture!"

I'm spending 2 PP on a wand of Inflict Light Wounds.

A small friendly looking Grippli stands, ready to leave for the tower. "Sorry I'm late, fellow Pathfinders. I'm glad you have not left without me. My name is Quogup. Venture Captain MacGuffin filled me in what was going on and I'm ready to go!"