Heward decides to accompany Goldroth to West Naos. It's unlikely that there will be trouble there, but you never know. He grabs his halberd on the way out. "Markiv, I'll tag along with you."
I have a good feeling that Calatin will choose to head to Irefoot Hall, given how everybody else is going, so I'll chance it and advance things. If I'm wrong, I'm sure Megan will send me a cyber-slap instead of one of her famous hugs!
Awgin and Laya arrive at a modest, three-storey structure, which, like the buildings you are investigating, houses more than one business. You climb the stairs past the architect and design company on the first floor, and past the investment company on the second, to Guards and Wards on the third. There, you enter into a small but pleasantly furnished waiting room. Several doors lead off into the interior, and a smiling, professional-looking man in his middle years sits behind a desk. He was quite obviously expecting your arrival (or at least, somebody's arrival). His eyebrow arches slightly as he takes in the pair of you.
"Good morning. Are you looking to hire the services of Guards and Wards, or seeking employment with our company?"
Markiv and Heward have an easy time through the mid-morning traffic and arrive at the address given to you by Captain Percival. There, you behold a scene of curious devastation. A polished bronze sign welcomes you to the West Naos Market, and the plaque beneath it advertises all the businesses found on the Captain's list. The building itself used to be a two-storey stone structure, faced in white granite, with a gently-sloping roof of red clay tiles. Now, only one corner still stands mostly intact, while their opposite walls have collapsed outwards into the alleyways beside and behind the building, and the ground floor is now littered with broken tiles and flooring from the second storey.
Several people pick their way through the rubble, sifting out merchandise or scroll records that are salvageable, while a perimeter of bored-looking City Watchmen stand guard against looters. They snap to quizzical attention at the sight of your badges and can easily direct you in the direction of Thora Rumblemountain. Picking your way through roof tiles, crushed furniture and shards of glass, you find a stocky dwarf on her knees examining some foundations and making notes in a small journal. Dust and grime cover her clothing, face, and balding scalp. Smudges of dusty ink stain her nose and left thumb. She looks up as you approach. "Watch your step, sirs. I've been telling these other fools time and time again these walls are still not safe, and the whole thing might come crashing down on our heads at any moment, but they're still picking through the dirt. How can I help you?"
Calatin and Erodel take the coach and proceed to the address given to them by Captain Percival to Irefoot Hall, at the base of the Irespan itself. There, they find a large crowd of spectators gawking at a scene of curious destruction. What used to be a grand, single-storey stone building of pale golden marble is now a partial ruin. The northwest corner of the building is a pile of rubble, and several other spots of the slate-tiled roof are sagging dangerously. The main entrance opens in to what used to be an open-aired courtyard, from which customers gained entrance to the five businesses. A perimeter of watchful City Watchmen stands guard against looters and curiosity-seekers. They peer at your credentials, look between themselves for a moment, before shrugging and letting you pass.
Awgin produces his badge. "We need to talk to somebody about Brynder Flynn."
Awgin & Laya:
The man looks at the badge for a moment.
"I see. This is pertaining to the matter at Irefoot Hall? I'll let Mr. Sallerno know you're here."
He gets up and goes to one of the doors, knocks, and enters. A moment later he returns and waves you in. "Mr. Sallerno will see you now."
I'm not worried about different groups acting on information from other groups before they get a chance to compare notes, but I'll keep spoilering things for each group just to keep it clear to which of the three threads the post pertains.
Laya and Awgin are lead into a cozy yet luxurious office. The large window shines light on the back of the balding little man with slicked-back hair sitting behind a carved mahogany desk. Vinnet Sallerno's clothes are rich velvets which seem to match his smile. He stands and comes around to shake your hands, and with his thick Varisian accent, says, "Please, have a seat, um, officers? I'm sorry, but I am unfamiliar with MSI."
Once you are seated, he returns to his desk and sits."My assistant tells me you wish to enquire after poor Mr. Flynn and the collapse of Irefoot Hall. Of course, I and all of my employees will co-operate fully with the Watch to bring this matter to a close. I will tell you all I can on the matter."
"Mr. Flynn has, err, had worked for me for a little over a year, and had been assigned night guard duty at Irefoot for the past five months. He has no family on file with us, and shares a small flop with two other night watchmen who work for me. I have never received anything but the best reports concerning Mr. Flynn's honesty and dedication to his job."
"As for the collapse itself, none of the building's silent alarms were triggered until the collapse broke the wardings, so no penetrations of doors or windows, and no pass wall spells were employed. If the building just collapsed, as it seems, we saw no evidence that it was happening, and if it was sabotage, again, our system gave us no warning."
"Watch your step, sirs. I've been telling these other fools time and time again these walls are still not safe, and the whole thing might come crashing down on our heads at any moment, but they're still picking through the dirt. How can I help you?"
Heward steps back from the wall. He feels comfortable enough to handle basic introductions, "Sorry, Mrs. Rumblemountain. I'm Heward Wallas. This is Markiv Goldroth. We're looking into the collapse of this market and Irefoot Hall for the City Watch. We're not trying to step on your toes, but when the watchman was killed -- well we have to look into the possibility of murder if the collapse was intentionally triggered."
"Do you have any theories on the cause of the collapse?"
Markiv Diplomacy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21
Heward Diplomacy: 1d20 ⇒ 11 "Theories!? I got plenty of theories, and not too few facts neither. Oh, it was intentional all right, no doubt about that. What I can't figure for is how the blazes it got done! Come on down here and have a look at these foundations stones. Don't worry, these walls are mostly stable."
She points out some cracked foundation stones nearby. "What do you lads make of these? See the tiny cracks on the outside of this one, and again, tiny cracks on the inside of the same stone. Now you're saying to yourselves that these tiny cracks can't be enough to bring this section of the wall down, and you know what, you folks are pretty smart. Here's where it gets strange." She digs her pick into the top of the foundation stone where a cut has already been made and pulls the two fragments apart. "So now how inside the stone, the cracks are freakin' huge? And look at these dents. What do they look like to you? Fist prints! I know, right!? Somebody was punching the bloody foundation stones, from inside the stones, weakening them and making the walls collapse. Now I have seen a lot of collapsed buildings, and I've seen termites, I've seen poor maintenance, I've seen one bloke who bloody sawed through the timbers holding up his ex-girlfriend's house, but I've never seen anything like this. You?"
Laya stands on her chair rather than sit. "You mention your company's system, Mister Sallerno," she says. "Can you tell us about the system? I take it you use alarm spells since you mentioned silent alarms, but what other protective measures do you use? Has anybody ever successfully beaten your system before, and if so, how did they do it? Assuming you know, that is."
"Derivatives of alarm spells, actually. No system is perfect, and some of our systems are better than others, depending on how much you're willing to spend. Irefoot's, for example, wouldn't prevent somebody from teleporting inside, and wouldn't make a peep unless said person started messing with their safes or vaults, which were never touched at Irefoot, not even after the collapse. I'm sure that some of my systems have been beaten before, though I can think of no instances at the moment, and certainly we've had alerts before, though never at Irefoot."
"I do hope you find that this was all an unfortunate accident. Irefoot Hall still owes thousands of gold pieces on their system, and if it turns out that this collapse was sabotage, we'll have to forgive the rest of their debt. Can't very well charge them for a security system that doesn't prevent their building from crashing down. Of course, if you do find that it was a deliberate collapse, I would very much appreciate you letting me know the identity of the blackguard...so that I may persue certain legal financial actions to recoup my losses. You understand, I would be very grateful indeed to have that opportunity. I stand to lose thousands, after all."
"We'll need to have word with his flop-mates, of course." Adds Awgin. "I'm sure you know of the collapse of the West Naos Market. Did they also contract with you?"
"Theories!? I got plenty of theories, ... but I've never seen anything like this. You?"
At her invitation Heward clambers down next to the dwarf. He looks at the rocks, but even with her commentary theire appearance signifies nothing. He answers, "No, ma'am."
Then he hopes that Markiv says something intelligent.
The Watchmen point you in the direction of the body.
The map on the website has several letters. I'll give you a map legend to help you out.
A: This used to be a grand entrance hall, all of the local businesses with entrances along the walls, identified by carved mahogany plaques. A classic piece of sculpture sits in the centre of the room, with benches provided for resting and viewing the art. Several expensive oil paintings line the wall, clearly for sale before being ruined by dust. The northwest walls have collapsed, leaving mounds of debris. Protruding from beneath several large pieces of rubble are a pair of human legs.
B: Madame Ivana’s Boutique is a shambles, her inventory destroyed. While most of its walls still stand, the silks and dresses have been completely coated in marble dust from the collapsed walls and ceiling.
C: The Cherished Chelish has sustained the most damage from the collapse. Many fine antiques (furniture, art, jewellery) lie in pieces or mangled beyond recognition. Gaps in the ceiling let in beams of dust-laden light to highlight the destruction.
D: Not so much a store front as an office, Leaps and Spells won’t be in business again any time soon. Invoices, receipts, and travel logs lie strewn about the floor, mixed with the pungent odour of exotic arcane material components.
E: All That Glitters is certainly not glittering now. While debris crunches underfoot, shafts of light from windows sparkle off of colourful gem stones mixed in with the dust and rubble.
F: Taking the least amount of damage, Kovesna’s is practically untouched by the collapse of the building around it. Thick dust coats the pieces of gold work, but a bit of polish and elbow grease (and maybe a new wall), and the gold seller could be back in business.
With Erodel's help, Calatin is able to spot a pair of furrows in the rubble leading toward the body, and another larger, winding trail. Also, the rubble over top of the body doesn't look like enough to crush a man to death.
"Was there some way to turn off the system at Irespan? Other than Mr.Flynn, who had authorization to bypass the system and how does is the system made to recognize them?"
"Turn off the system? The system doesn't turn off, and if it did, trusted or not, we would never give a simple night guard such authority. The system would still be active, but the wall collapse broke the warding lines. If and when they rebuild, the wardings would have to be recreated anew. All the Irefoot system did is tell us if a door or window was opened. If you use the keyed gemstone, we get a green signal, if not, a red and we dispatch security forces. The magic simply wasn't built to withstand a collapsing wall!"
"Please excuse my ignorance. I figured that at the start of business the magic would allow more free access to the site. But what you are saying is that the magic was focused on the exterior doors and windows along with some important interior doors? It sounds that, apart from the obvious, the magical protection is similar to mundane defenses."
"Please excuse my ignorance. I figured that at the start of business the magic would allow more free access to the site. But what you are saying is that the magic was focused on the exterior doors and windows along with some important interior doors? It sounds that, apart from the obvious, the magical protection is similar to mundane defenses."
"Yes, pretty much. They could have had wardings on the inside that would have detected unauthorized presences, but those are expensive, so they instead opted for a security guard. Mr. Flynn had an enchanted crystal with him which he could have easily broken to signal a problem. For some reason, he didn't do it. The collapse must have happened before he could."
Getting the body clear is more a matter of sliding it out from beneath the heavy beams than removing debris, but strangely enough it's quite easy to do, with Erodel's help. The beams obviously didn't crush or even pin the man.
As Erodel helps Calatin check the body over for evidence, he finds two pairs of puncture marks on Flynn's scalp beneath his hair, one pair on the top of his head, the other behind his right ear. The puncture wounds don't look to be fatal, however. vSearching his body, you find the weapons and armour you'd expect a night guard to have, a flaming stone which creates no heat (continual flame on a rock), a few silver and copper, and a clear crystal about three inches long.
Checking over the body for injuries, Calatin finds many crushed, dislocated, and broken bones, suggesting very strongly that he was crushed to death.
Male Human (Chelaxian) Urban Ranger 5 | HP 23/52 | AC 18 T 13 FF 15 | Fort +7 Ref +8 Will+4 | Initiative +3 | Perception +12 (+14 Trapfinding) | Conditions: None
Calatin & Nazard:
"Calatin, I think you may be on to something with the body being moved, but I believe that it was moved into this location after death. It was entirely too easy to slide the body out from under the debris to have been what crushed this man."
Investigating the body further..
"What in the Nine Hells are these puncture marks?he says, pointing to the marks on the man's scalp and behind his ear.
Do you have any way of detecting poison? It is a trick I've always meant to learn, but have not done so yet."
Looking through the deceased's possesions...
"Any idea what the crystal is about?"Cast detect magic on the pile of items
"I think we ought to follow the trail and see if we can figure out where the guard was at the time of his death."he says, fully convinced that this is not where the man died.
The flaming rock and the crystal are both magical. You have plenty of time to analyze so I'll let you take 20. The rock is what it seems, a rock with continual flame on it, and he identifies the crystal as some sort of signal device, activated upon breakage (have a peek at the un-spoilered post to Laya and Awgin above).
Following the trail proves difficult, as much debris has been shifted about. It would seem to head in the direction of the most serious damage (North West corner), before becoming completely obscured.
As the two of you are following the general line of the trail, looking for further instances, Calatin stumbles over a bit of debris. Erodel manages to catch him before he falls any further, and in doing so, notices a tiny scrap of blue paper which had been hidden beneath the rubble. Snatching it up, he sees a few markings: part of what looks like a logo, and the corner of a square. There is no writing.
Congrats on making the DC 30 Perception check!
Erodel Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
The bard doesn't recognize the logo.
Why hasn't Markiv spoken up? He wanted to come here. I thought he had some ideas. Is he testing me? Is he going to bail me out if I make a mistake?
Bigger cracks on the inside?
Heward scratches his temple, then hazards, "What if water got into the cracks and turned to ice? I did a rotation at Hook Mountain. Ice broke some huge chunks off the cliff and they dropped into the perimeter."
"And if it were Abadius, I would already be checking for signs of a water leak, but since it's early Rova and it's been too hot to wear jammies the last few nights, ice doesn't seem likely. Unless it was magical cold. That still wouldn't explain the 'punching' marks, though."
Laya frowns slightly. "I'm a bit confused. You said earlier that no passwall spells were used, but now you've just said that all your system did was detect whether a door or window was opened. If that's the case, there really are a lot of ways to bypass your security. The system informs you if a door or window is opened, and if a crystal is used, you get a green signal that all is good. If not, you get a red signal. Does the system let you know how many people enter?" She starts pacing, but realizes quickly that there's not enough space on the chair and stands still again.
"I mean, if it just indicates an open door, then Mister Flynn might enter the building and use his crystal, telling you that everything is fine. But unknown to Mister Flynn, there's an invisible villain right behind him, and that villain slips in while the door is open, completely undetected by your security system. Or someone could teleport in. Or perhaps even dig in from underground. Or even use a passwall on a section that doesn't have a door. Yet you said a passwall definitely wasn't used. How do you know this? What else does your system detect? I'm sorry to press so hard, but if someone did manage to break into the building, we need to figure out how they did it."
"I apologize. I misspoke," Mr. Sallerno says, starting to sound a little exasperated. "The system at Irefoot does detect passwall spells used on the outer walls, and the walls around the courtyard. An invisible villain is a possibility, as is teleporting, as is digging in from underground. The owners of the building likely didn't have anything they felt was worth stealing to somebody able to employ teleportation services, and digging in from underground would likely have alerted Mr. Flynn early enough that he should have broken his alarm crystal. If an invisible villain followed him inside and overpowered him before he could alert us, well, that would be unfortunate, but then if somebody did do that, why did they cause a building collapse? Is it not much more likely that, if this was deliberate, that somebody caused the collapse from the outside?"
"Marks coming from inside the stone you say? At least it will be easy to tell if the same phenomenon occurred at the other building..." Markiv takes a seat somewhere that looks safe, weary from the journey over. "Sir Wallas, why don't you take a look around the area. Maybe a pair of fresh eyes will uncover something that was missed by laymen. I need a moment to dwell on how this could have happened."
Knowledge checks to dredge up any thoughts on what sort of cosmic events, spells, outsiders, or what-not might have had a hand in this strange destruction.
Laya nods sagely. "I would agree," she says. "However, we have to check every possibility. If we can eliminate the possibility that someone got inside, then we can narrow our options down considerably."
She hops down from the chair. "Well, thank you for your time, Mister Sallerno. You've been very helpful. If we have any more questions, we'll be sure to come see you again." She walks round his desk and holds out her hand, taking a quick glance at everything on, behind, and under the desk that she can see.
Calatin is just absorbing information like a sponge at the moment.
(Apart from a small corner of his mind that is, for inexplicable reasons, thinking of sponge cakes!)
"The puncture marks might be from a serpent or insect. Either to kill or to incapacitate"
You said the body looked like it had been crushed to death, only not by the beams under which it was found. Do the injuries show signs of bleeding or bruising?
If an injury is inflicted after death, there is little bleeding or bruising because circulation has already ceased... :)
"Marks coming from inside the stone you say? At least it will be easy to tell if the same phenomenon occurred at the other building..." Markiv takes a seat somewhere that looks safe, weary from the journey over. "Sir Wallas, why don't you take a look around the area. Maybe a pair of fresh eyes will uncover something that was missed by laymen. I need a moment to dwell on how this could have happened."
Knowledge checks to dredge up any thoughts on what sort of cosmic events, spells, outsiders, or what-not might have had a hand in this strange destruction.
K. Arcana 1d20+7
K. Planes 1d20+7
After resting for a minute he stands and joins Heward.
Perception 1d20+4
It's always possible that some mage has researched a spell that would do this job, although you'd have to wonder why bother. A shatter spell wouldn't work from the inside of the stone like this, at least not ones that big, and no punching marks. Several magical creatures are able to move through stone, although they usually leave a tunnel. Earth elementals don't leave a trail, so they might be able to inflict this kind of damage. All in all, he can't really come up with a definitive answer.
Heward Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Heward gives the area a thorough going-over and finds no further clues, though he does find tons of merchandise from various shop keepers. Every time he pulls something out, the owner is immediately there with a 'thank you' and a hand out. By the end of his search, the other owners have realized what a good searcher he is and have been following him around, ticking items found off their various lists of inventory.
Calatin is just absorbing information like a sponge at the moment.
(Apart from a small corner of his mind that is, for inexplicable reasons, thinking of sponge cakes!)
"The puncture marks might be from a serpent or insect. Either to kill or to incapacitate"
You said the body looked like it had been crushed to death, only not by the beams under which it was found. Do the injuries show signs of bleeding or bruising?
If an injury is inflicted after death, there is little bleeding or bruising because circulation has already ceased... :)
Do you mean, is the bruising peri- or antemortum?
Calatin finds very little bleeding around the crush sites. He also finds very few scratches or lodged debris.
Laya nods sagely. "I would agree," she says. "However, we have to check every possibility. If we can eliminate the possibility that someone got inside, then we can narrow our options down considerably."
She hops down from the chair. "Well, thank you for your time, Mister Sallerno. You've been very helpful. If we have any more questions, we'll be sure to come see you again." She walks round his desk and holds out her hand, taking a quick glance at everything on, behind, and under the desk that she can see.
Perception: 1d20 + 5
Slightly surprised, he nonetheless shakes her hand. "Of course. Anything I can do to help."
On his desk are several leather folders, all closed, although the top folder is labelled "Irefoot Hall". There is nothing behind the desk, but from her unique vantage point she can see a loaded and readied light crossbow secured to the underside of the desk.
Looking for some direction on how various pairs wish to continue investigating. I gather that Laya and Awgin will next be heading to the flophouse to question Flynn's roommates, but I don't know about the other four. There are lots of watchers/rubberneckers around the Irefoot Hall site, and lots of shopkeepers at the West Naos Market site.
"Marks coming from inside the stone you say? ..." Markiv takes a seat .... "Sir Wallas, why don't you take a look around the area. Maybe a pair of fresh eyes will uncover something that was missed by laymen. I need a moment to dwell on how this could have happened."
After resting for a minute he stands and joins Heward.
...
Heward Perception: 1d20+5
Heward gives the area a thorough going-over and finds no further clues, though he does find tons of merchandise from various shop keepers. Every time he pulls something out, the owner is immediately there with a 'thank you' and a hand out. By the end of his search, the other owners have realized what a good searcher he is and have been following him around, ticking items found off their various lists of inventory.
Heward digs through the rubble. A kind of childlike delight fills him as he plays a rather rewarding game of hide and seek with valuable lost items. At least he's being of some use, and the reputation of the Watch is being bettered. Still he feels a twinge of regret as each piece, especially the antique silvered dagger, is claimed by its owner.
Seeing Markiv rise, he asks, "Are you ready to go, Markiv? We could check Irefoot Hall for those marks in the stone."
If they are leaving, he asks the City Inspector, "Mrs. Rumblemountain? Will you be examining Irefoot Hall, or will someone else from your office be there?"
"Marks coming from inside the stone you say? ..." Markiv takes a seat .... "Sir Wallas, why don't you take a look around the area. Maybe a pair of fresh eyes will uncover something that was missed by laymen. I need a moment to dwell on how this could have happened."
After resting for a minute he stands and joins Heward.
...
Heward Perception: 1d20+5
Heward gives the area a thorough going-over and finds no further clues, though he does find tons of merchandise from various shop keepers. Every time he pulls something out, the owner is immediately there with a 'thank you' and a hand out. By the end of his search, the other owners have realized what a good searcher he is and have been following him around, ticking items found off their various lists of inventory.
Heward digs through the rubble. A kind of childlike delight fills him as he plays a rather rewarding game of hide and seek with valuable lost items. At least he's being of some use, and the reputation of the Watch is being bettered. Still he feels a twinge of regret as each piece, especially the antique silvered dagger, is claimed by its owner.
Seeing Markiv rise, he asks, "Are you ready to go, Markiv? We could check Irefoot Hall for those marks in the stone."
If they are leaving, he asks the City Inspector, "Mrs. Rumblemountain? Will you be examining Irefoot Hall, or will someone else from your office be there?"
"Somebody else?" she asks, cackling with glee. "That's a good one! Just what kind of budget do you think we have anyway? There's me in the field, and the two kids in the office. Good lads, not the brightest, though. Lost the blueprints for the Market here. How you can lose blueprints from a shelf of file folders, I don't know. Probably means they misfiled it, or don't know their alphabet or something."
Seeing Markiv rise, he asks, "Are you ready to go, Markiv? We could check Irefoot Hall for those marks in the stone."
If they are leaving, he asks the City Inspector, "Mrs. Rumblemountain? Will you be examining Irefoot Hall, or will someone else from your office be there?"
"Somebody else?" she asks, cackling with glee. "That's a good one! Just what kind of budget do you think we have anyway? There's me in the field, and the two kids in the office. Good lads, not the brightest, though. Lost the blueprints for the Market here. How you can lose blueprints from a shelf of file folders, I don't know. Probably means they misfiled it, or don't know their alphabet or something."
Heward looks for a graceful recovery. "So, have you had a chance to examine Irefoot Hall at all then?"
Seeing Markiv rise, he asks, "Are you ready to go, Markiv? We could check Irefoot Hall for those marks in the stone."
If they are leaving, he asks the City Inspector, "Mrs. Rumblemountain? Will you be examining Irefoot Hall, or will someone else from your office be there?"
"Somebody else?" she asks, cackling with glee. "That's a good one! Just what kind of budget do you think we have anyway? There's me in the field, and the two kids in the office. Good lads, not the brightest, though. Lost the blueprints for the Market here. How you can lose blueprints from a shelf of file folders, I don't know. Probably means they misfiled it, or don't know their alphabet or something."
Heward looks for a graceful recovery. "So, have you had a chance to examine Irefoot Hall at all then?"
"Thank you Mrs. Rumblemountain, that will be all for now. We're going to join our colleagues at Irefoot Hall, perhaps we will meet again." As they leave the collapsed building Markiv speaks to Heward, "I'm curious about those missing papers, we'll have to keep that in mind. For now I think it would be best to find out what the others discovered and look for those marks at the hall."
"Thank you Mrs. Rumblemountain, that will be all for now. We're going to join our colleagues at Irefoot Hall, perhaps we will meet again." As they leave the collapsed building Markiv speaks to Heward, "I'm curious about those missing papers, we'll have to keep that in mind. For now I think it would be best to find out what the others discovered and look for those marks at the hall."
Before letting Markiv and Heward know about what they find at Irefoot Hall, I need to know if Calatin and Erodel are planning on any further investigation of either the scene or the onlookers/locals. If they're finishing with the body, they'll be gone by the time Markiv and Heward get there.
Laya nods sagely. "I would agree," she says. "However, we have to check every possibility. If we can eliminate the possibility that someone got inside, then we can narrow our options down considerably."
She hops down from the chair. "Well, thank you for your time, Mister Sallerno. You've been very helpful. If we have any more questions, we'll be sure to come see you again." She walks round his desk and holds out her hand, taking a quick glance at everything on, behind, and under the desk that she can see.
Perception: 1d20 + 5
Slightly surprised, he nonetheless shakes her hand. "Of course. Anything I can do to help."
On his desk are several leather folders, all closed, although the top folder is labelled "Irefoot Hall". There is nothing behind the desk, but from her unique vantage point she can see a loaded and readied light crossbow secured to the underside of the desk.
Guessing that there's nothing forthcoming here...
Laya and Awgin say their goodbyes and head to the address of the flop house they received from Mr. Sallerno. It's in a slummy part of the Marches, though certainly nothing as bad as the hovels of Rag's End or Underbridge. There, they find Misters Parko Finderal and Jom, Flynn's short-haired, thick-necked roommates. They let you in to the sparsely-furnished apartment and offer you a seat. Jom looks like he's been crying.
Auriel, I actually went and looked up the street performer archetype, looking for the "Call for Help" ability, thinking maybe it was an actual thing they got, before I realized your little joke!:)
Don't forget her summon Taverson ability. That one worked out pretty well on her last action. ;)
Joana, summon taverson is working out well. That guy is dynamite.
Only 7 hp left, sadly. One more round of 3d6+4 constriction damage, and he'll be dead, too.
Seven 1st-level characters, plus Taverson, who's at least 4th-level, versus one summoner, and we're getting destroyed. I stand by my opinion about summoners. :P
Joana, summon taverson is working out well. That guy is dynamite.
Only 7 hp left, sadly. One more round of 3d6+4 constriction damage, and he'll be dead, too.
Seven 1st-level characters, plus Taverson, who's at least 4th-level, versus one summoner, and we're getting destroyed. I stand by my opinion about summoners. :P
Actually, six, since Auriel hasn't really done anything except stand around and berate other people for not doing anything.
Hey, she summoned Taverson! And floured the summoner and sauced the snake! And pretty much did everything one can expect out of a PC with 9 hit points and no weapons! Just because she has nothing useful to bring to this fight doesn't mean she's not participating.
All Garidan did was miss and then get taken out with one blow, so I guess there's really only five characters. ;P
The problem is that Auriel was built as a support character for a larger party (c'mon, she's a bard), but she keeps getting caught by herself where none of her abilities are of much use.
Auriel actually gave us a fighting chance with her actions before the fight. Plus she summoned Taverson. It looks like the rest of us have failed to do our part.
Auriel's summon Taverson ability has definitely come in very useful for the group! :)
Seriously, I'd say Auriel has accomplished more than Laya has in this battle. Laya's attempt to distract the elementals was a complete failure. Her attempt to get the golem maid involved was a complete failure. Her attempts to battle Veristan have so far been a complete failure.
Laya's another character who was not designed for combat, and she has even fewer hp than Auriel (only 8). :)
Hey, she summoned Taverson! And floured the summoner and sauced the snake! And pretty much did everything one can expect out of a PC with 9 hit points and no weapons! Just because she has nothing useful to bring to this fight doesn't mean she's not participating.
All Garidan did was miss and then get taken out with one blow, so I guess there's really only five characters. ;P
The problem is that Auriel was built as a support character for a larger party (c'mon, she's a bard), but she keeps getting caught by herself where none of her abilities are of much use.
Agreed to all of the above. However, she's a support character who's used to having to make it on her own in life, so keeps running off by herself with her own plan, thereby robbing herself of the rest of a party.
No worries. I'm sure Percival will want a debrief when this is all said and done. :)
And agreed also with Navior. Laya is really useless!
While I agree that Laya has not been as successful as Auriel (failure is such a harsh word), she has been as successful as the rest of us so far. That is probably why we aren't doing so well right now.
Admittedly, if it weren't for that annoying protection from arrows spell, Laya would have done a whole 1 point of nonlethal damage to Veristan. That's gotta count for something. :)
Honestly, after her last meeting with the snake, Auriel had no delusions she was capable of fighting it. Her entire agenda for tonight was to evacuate the house if Veristan showed up to minimize civilian casualties and leave the actual fighting to people who had some ability to do it. That's why she was downstairs instead of waiting around upstairs with the others. And by her own standards, her evening was a wild success: she got both guests and kitchen help out of the house safely! If she'd been in the library upstairs with everyone else, there probably would have been more people in mortal danger than just Taverson and the MSI team by the time the elementals and eidolon made their way upstairs.
Honestly, after her last meeting with the snake, Auriel had no delusions she was capable of fighting it. Her entire agenda for tonight was to evacuate the house if Veristan showed up to minimize civilian casualties and leave the actual fighting to people who had some ability to do it. That's why she was downstairs instead of waiting around upstairs with the others. And by her own standards, her evening was a wild success: she got both guests and kitchen help out of the house safely! If she'd been in the library upstairs with everyone else, there probably would have been more people in mortal danger than just Taverson and the MSI team by the time the elementals and eidolon made their way upstairs.
Very true. Of course, now she 's doing an excellent job of pissing off a very powerful noble who already hated you and is really mad that the exalted MSI unit was unable to protect his daughter's party from a simple Shoanti barbarian.
If it helps at all, Veristan is about to make the mistake iconic to all classic police drama villains. Auriel's opportunity to be useful may be imminent.
I know what you're all doing, making Heward out to be the hero to make him feel better about going down atvRimblesnuffin's.
Awgin's not that kind of guy. He's more of a kick-them-when-they-are-down kind of fella. I had planned to have Awgin say something to Heward like, 'isn't it time for you to take a nap', at the beginning of every fight until he went down. Unfortunately, Awgin didn't get a chance.
Yeah, the melee squad has not been the most effective, but that's the dice. Awgin and Heward are trying. And Awgin did crunch elemental 1 pretty good before he went down.
I made Heward a melee guy because I remembered how poorly we came off in the other CSI game's combat. Not that it's working out real well.
Nazard's point about Auriel depriving herself of a party is funny and accurate. But perfectly well roleplayed. The team hasn't had time to come together. I kind of like it in a frustrating way. So often a party of four total strangers meshes into a well-oiled combat machine without any character interaction. Maybe Nazard should have started us out solving candy thefts.
Oh, and sweet dreams, Prince Awgin..... Just sealed Heward's fate
My Dad was rushed into hospital a little over a week ago (just after my last round of posts!) when his aortic aneurism ruptured. Thankfully with some luck and the really quite excellent people at the NHS his operation went really well, and he's now back home (sporting a scar down the whole of his stomach, with just a little detour round the belly button - they really weren't messing about when they opened him up this time!). Being the only one of his six children who lives anywhere near, I get to volunteer for all the trips up to the hospital and stuff, so I've not really had any time to get on-line.
Hopefully I'll be able to get back to a better posting routine now, but it may still be a little spotty, as I'm sort of on call to rush up and help out at a moment's notice, so if everyone could bear with me that'd be great!
"We need Laya in here," Heward mutters. He stands, steps to the door, and opens it. "Laya! Garidan and Awgin need you."
Aid another would be good strategy, but Laya's a sure bet.
But you don't lose anything by trying, and it may take a few rounds for Laya to get to you.
Yeah, she's kind of in the middle of a climactic confrontation with the BBEG right now. Can she get back to you on that?
There's also a big table in the way, which will block her channelling and stop her reaching anyone with a touch healing spell. And if she tries to move past it, the villain will likely no longer stand idly by.
So, if stabilization is the plan, somebody shoo or call Heward back to it. And he should help Calatin, cause Calatin has the better roll.
Well, the only person there who can do it is Calatin, and I think we can safely assume that he does so without having to wait until tomorrow morning for Megan's usual posting time. Go ahead and make some stabilization rolls. Like many things, I do these kind of aid another rolls without the need for deciding in advance who is the primary and who is helping. Everybody involved make a roll and the best roll is the primary, with the others helping.
... and then I come online late, on account of my player happens to be a school board member and was chairing a panel hearing a complaint from a parent this morning... :/ (Seems to have been resolved amicably in the end.)
... and then I come online late, on account of my player happens to be a school board member and was chairing a panel hearing a complaint from a parent this morning... :/ (Seems to have been resolved amicably in the end.)
Parents really are the bane of a teacher's existence sometimes...
Yeah, I was hoping that the big guy may get some healing and back into the fight before the enlarge person wore off, but no such luck.
As for the cats... to be fair to 'em, I only asked that they be on the lookout for an invisible guy which the stupid non-cats weren't noticing - since that's what we thought the perp's M.O. was at the time. Since it turned out that he's actually using mundane disguises, which no-one saw through, and only did the vanishing thing when it all kicked off anyway, I think we can probably forgive our feline friends this once... ;)
Seriously, I want to apologize for the quality of these "jokes." A comic I am not. I'm just desperately googling for something germane, non-anachronistic, and vaguely recognizable as meant to be humorous. Sadly, hideous laughter is her one offensive spell.
Sadly, for a bard, her communication skills are really bad, at least in terms of telling her own teammates crucial bits of info. However, apparently Shoanti are really keen on bad puns. Would be good to remember when dealing with Garidan.
By the way, on of the reasons the bad guys' saves are there in the combat stats is so that players can roll their saves for them to adjucate and resolved their own spells without having to wait for me. It speeds up combat a bit to not have to wait for me, and gives you narrative power over your own spell results. If you come up with a reaction that the NPC would not give, i'llfixit.
Far too nerve-wracking to be responsible for rolling saves for the bad guy. It's bad enough I have to roll my own!
Then you get into situations where you're constantly saving for the guy you're trying to kill and failing your own, and that way leads madness.
By the way, on of the reasons the bad guys' saves are there in the combat stats is so that players can roll their saves for them to adjucate and resolved their own spells without having to wait for me. It speeds up combat a bit to not have to wait for me, and gives you narrative power over your own spell results. If you come up with a reaction that the NPC would not give, i'llfixit.
Far too nerve-wracking to be responsible for rolling saves for the bad guy. It's bad enough I have to roll my own!
Then you get into situations where you're constantly saving for the guy you're trying to kill and failing your own, and that way leads madness.
By the way, on of the reasons the bad guys' saves are there in the combat stats is so that players can roll their saves for them to adjucate and resolved their own spells without having to wait for me. It speeds up combat a bit to not have to wait for me, and gives you narrative power over your own spell results. If you come up with a reaction that the NPC would not give, i'llfixit.
Far too nerve-wracking to be responsible for rolling saves for the bad guy. It's bad enough I have to roll my own!
Then you get into situations where you're constantly saving for the guy you're trying to kill and failing your own, and that way leads madness.
You don't get out much, do you?
I just know the Paizo dice roller has a grudge against me and a twisted sense of humor.
Energy Attacks: Energy attacks deal half damage to most objects. Divide the damage by 2 before applying the object's hardness. Some energy types might be particularly effective against certain objects, subject to GM discretion. For example, fire might do full damage against parchment, cloth, and other objects that burn easily. Sonic might do full damage against glass and crystal objects.
Characters exposed to burning oil, bonfires, and non-instantaneous magic fires might find their clothes, hair, or equipment on fire. Spells with an instantaneous duration don't normally set a character on fire, since the heat and flame from these come and go in a flash.
Characters at risk of catching fire are allowed a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid this fate. If a character's clothes or hair catch fire, he takes 1d6 points of damage immediately. In each subsequent round, the burning character must make another Reflex saving throw. Failure means he takes another 1d6 points of damage that round. Success means that the fire has gone out—that is, once he succeeds on his saving throw, he's no longer on fire.
A character on fire may automatically extinguish the flames by jumping into enough water to douse himself. If no body of water is at hand, rolling on the ground or smothering the fire with cloaks or the like permits the character another save with a +4 bonus.
Those whose clothes or equipment catch fire must make DC 15 Reflex saves for each item. Flammable items that fail take the same amount of damage as the character.
As it says under the "Additional Rules" quote Joana gave above, under DM's discretion, you can make some energy types more effective against certain things. I've played with many players who would vehemently argue that fire against wood should be one of those more effective things.
However, I'm going to argue otherwise. People overestimate how easily wood burns because they're so used to the image of a wood fire. But there's a reason you need to use small bits of kindling to get a fire going. It takes a while to ignite a thick piece of wood. Once it starts burning, it burns well and keeps burning for quite a long time before it finally burns through. Now, the wood of a table is not as thick as a log you would use in a fireplace or on a campfire, but it is quite a bit thicker than kindling. I would rule that the elementals would have to remain in contact with the table for several rounds before it actually catches. (By a strict reading of the rules as written, if their per round damage divided by 2 isn't enough to get past hardness, then it should never catch fire; however, that's a bit absurd too. It should catch eventually. Just not immediately.)
Yeah, I had to take a break to go put the kids to bed, but I was going to point out that if I dropped a lit match on my wooden dining room table, it wouldn't burst into flame. Would mar the finish before it went out but not reduce it to a pile of ash. So I don't think fire damage should bypass wood's hardness. Parchment, cloth, etc., like the CRB specifies, sure.
So that would mean you'd need at least a Medium fire elemental to burn down a house. Small could burn up the curtains and papers and such.
Dice roller hates me when I'm Heward; hates when I'm DMing too. It's pretty impartial that way. (Of course when I actually do hit and score some decent damage, it feels really good. Nice and warm and toasty. Fist pumps and knuckle bumps all around. )
ProfPotts: thanks for the boost from the table. Inspired thinking there.
Now if Taverson would just pump some quarrels into Veristan, we would worry less about him summoning elementals.
ProfPotts: thanks for the boost from the table. Inspired thinking there.
No problem! To be honest, Garidan is really un-optimised for this sort of thing... but at least he's got enough Strength to lug furniture around! :)
What we really need is someone with a whip - 15ft reach and can trip spider-boy off the wall so we can all pound on him. Is there a Bard in the house? With only one guy able to attack at all we don't really stand much of a chance (unless Heward gets a lucky critical hit or two in with the spear)...
I don't suppose anyone has a grease spell handy?
If Garidan makes it to level 2, I really need to see about weaponizing his spell list a bit...
In the first incarnation of the game, we were all under designed for combat. That's why I didn't reprise Foggy in this game. I figured we would want somebody to be able to duke it out with the bad guys sometimes.
In general I think Awgin's shown better in combat than Heward. With two decent front line fighters I think the casters can take a modicum of combat spells. Even though Awgin and Heward get beat up, we should be OK.
Yeah - I haven't really geared the guy towards being a big de-buffer, which is where Witch characters can excel as far as offense goes, but gone for investigation and support. The enlarge person is his best combat spell, and that got shut down pretty quickly... Still, if he lives, at least Garidan can fill his spare slot with what's sure to be a much needed cure light wounds... ;)
Quote:
*waves* Why would I use a whip, though? Sounds more like an elf dominatrix. :P
So... that's where your mind instantly goes, huh? Not a certain Doctor Jones? I won't judge... ;)
... But yeah, Bards get proficiency with the whip for free, and it's such a useful and versatile (and easy to conceal, and cheap) weapon that all Bards really should carry one 'just in case'... IMHO...
So... that's where your mind instantly goes, huh? Not a certain Doctor Jones? I won't judge... ;)
... But yeah, Bards get proficiency with the whip for free, and it's such a useful and versatile (and easy to conceal, and cheap) weapon that all Bards really should carry one 'just in case'... IMHO...
I have a really hard time justifying her knowing how to use a whip. It may be a free weapon proficiency, but what about growing up in a shoe shop and then becoming a bohemian artsy street-performer type says 'knowing how to trip someone with a whip?' The mechanics might justify it, but the fluff certainly doesn't. 'Knowing how to hit a handsy guy over the head with a sap and run like heck,' sure.
If you are a 'street urchin' character, you might have played with a top as a child. If you know the history of children's toys, you might have come across the 'whipping top' - dexterity with one of those might translate quite readily to using a whip in combat in later life.
Don't you like trig? It was the bit of mathematics I enjoyed the most, even better than algebra and calculus!
Actually, I enjoy trig immensely, especially teaching it, which I've done for several years, now. I was more worried that if I actually did it out, it would turn out that Calatin was actually out of range, and I didn't want to rob him of something to do, just for the sake of a few decimal places...
However, here goes. It's not really trig, just a combinatino of Pythagorean calculations (my 3D trig is not up to snuff, so I'll do it the old-fashioned way). The diagonal is calculated as 15 feet to the wall and 10 feet north, so the root of 325, which is about 18. Squaring that distance and going up 15 feet, we get a new hypoteneuse of 550, which the root of is about 23.5. So Calatin was 1.5 feet with range of his close ranged 1st CL cantrip.
But he still missed; the cantrip probably just didn't have enough range to actually strike the wall behind the summoner.
If you are a 'street urchin' character, you might have played with a top as a child. If you know the history of children's toys, you might have come across the 'whipping top' - dexterity with one of those might translate quite readily to using a whip in combat in later life.
She actually had a boring lower-middle-class upbringing, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't have played with a top. Still doesn't explain why it would make her proficient in the whip when she grows up when all the little commoners- and fighters- and clerics-to-be who were playing with the top right along with her don't get the same benefit.
Honestly, I've never been a big fan of the bard class in general and think some of the mechanics are odd. Even if she had been trained at some bardic college somewhere, I have no clue why they would teach their students how to use a whip. Temple of Calistria, yes.
