PFS 03-13 - The Quest for Perfection III (Defenders of Nesting Swallow, Tier 1-5) (Inactive)

Game Master Baerlie

What do you want to do with the remaining Tengus?

You refer to the others that didn't participated in the fighting? They are still there?

The those weaklings be, they are waste of time. Shall we continue?

"Wun Lao, a pleasure. I'm Ishingka and these bunch are my friends. Yes, we are indeed on our way to Nesting Swallow. May we accompany you and your family?" Ishingka shrinks down to a smaller, tireder version of herself.

She still turns around and bellows at the tengu. "Oi! Brigands! We have a poor family who needs a small donation for their lodging in Nesting Swallow. Let's see what you've got in your purses. Come on now, give it up." She swaggers menacingly over to them. "I'm sure you'd much rather give it to us voluntarily...and while still alive."

"I'm sure Sinashakti would approve this act of justice, blessed Sinsashakti guide my hand, may thy mirthful laughter fill this place," she mutters as an afterthought.

Yes, they are still there. The two of the you "intimidated" and the one you knocked out, the last one is dead.

Nervously the conscious Tengu stare at Ishingka but suddenly start to empty their pockets. Each of them carries one potion, a leather lamellar, a shortbow with 20 arrows, a masterwork wakizashi and 44 gp.

"Just leave this slag out of our way", told him to the others, referring to the remaining tengus.

"Wun Lao, I'm Tûrak and as Ishingka told you, we are going to Nesting Swallow too. We can escort you and your family to there, if you want".

The half-orc keep his eyes over the tengus, while speaks.

"Just leave this slag out of our way", told him to the others, referring to the remaining tengus....

The half-orc keep his eyes over the tengus, while speaks.

Slag!? @^%$%# %$*!$#@ !%&#@ *@ $#@& *$%@ *@!$$!!

Ishingka gathers up the potions. "Tûrak, Serpent, any clue what these are?" She hands Kraww the wakizashi wordlessly, but gives him a grin, then takes the money and gives it to the family.

"Thank you for your generosity," she growls at the other tengu. "Now be off."

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 Hmm...not entirely sure what it is, this more Turak's area of study.

The potions are potions of cure light wounds.

You leave the Tengus behind and accompanied by the family you continue your journey to Nesting Swallow. It's only 10 miles to the village and you arrive a little bit before sunset. After some time on the road, they can detect the scent of cooking fires in the distance.

From atop one final hill, the object of your quest comes into view. From this height, the village of Nesting Swallow is laid out almost like a map. The small town consists of little more than a few dozen huts encircling an open common area. Rolling hills surround the village to the north and west, while the east is bordered by a light forest. South of the village, the brush has been cleared, and a long string of paddy fields stretches out into the distance, webbed with irrigation ditches branching off from a stream that separates the village from the farmlands.

Once in town you are met by curious stars and whispers. The Xien family escorts you back to their hut where they invite you to relax. They offer you what food they have, mostly rice and millet.

"If you want to meet our council, I can arrange a meeting with her." Wun Lao offers.

Bernard gruffly nods and says Make it happen, we will wait

"If you want to meet our council, I can arrange a meeting with her."

Tûrak only nods in a sign of agreement.

"We would love to, Wun Lao," says Ishingka, trying desperately not to ask for seconds (or thirds). She misses the yak soup of the highlands.

Kraww pecks at his food.

*Peck peck peck.*

After a short while, you are escorted across the village common and into another building. This hut differs from every other one in the village only in size, easily twice as large as most of the other dwellings. Otherwise, it is identical, being another slightly elevated circle of bamboo and wicker walls surrounding a packed earthen floor. The interior has some rooms partitioned off the main one, and the collection of furniture and possessions indicates that this is another family home when not in use for official purposes. Against one wall stands a simple shrine with a collection of clay tiles hung from it, each bearing a different name. The lowest hanging tiles look quite new, a few months old, maybe. The highest and oldest tile on the shrine, however, bears the name “Li Yao.”

The center of the room is cleared, and an assortment of cushions has been laid out in a semicircle. A dozen or so old men and women sit on the cushions, Xien Wun Lao among them. A woman standing in front of the shrine finishes a prayer and turns to join the seated elders; she is clearly the youngest among them, not even middle-aged, in spite of a face beset by worry and a hard life. Her youth is attested by the fact that she is greatly pregnant; six or more months along. After settling down into an empty place among the council, she motions to several empty seats opposite her.

Once you have settled in the young woman starts to speak. "I welcoming you to Nesting Swallow. What manner of business brings you to these parts of Shokuro?"

"Thank you for your hospitality. I am Ishingka, and my friends and I have a sacred braid from the Clouded Path Monastery, far to the west. We have been told that the descendant of Li Yao can give it power again, and we have the materials to make that ritual effective." She bows.

"That's what brought us here, although I must say I would be happy to get some more bandits off your backs," she says in a far less formal voice, winking at Wun Lao.

Bernard grunts his assent to Ishingka We're just here to make sure it all goes off without a hitch - after all we've been through this part should be pretty easy. Show us the way

Tûrak just watches perplexed by the sincerity of his companions.

*peck, peck, peck* Kraww looks up from his bowl for a moment then- *peck, peck, peck*

Anyone want to make a Diplo or Sense Motive roll? :D Ishy's may look good, but she's not really the face. Unless it's biting off faces. With her face.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20As my dear companions have said we are at the right place at the right time, so hopefully this goes smoothly as well. Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Bernard looks closely at the situation
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

"We're here to help, only this", Tûrak adds.

Diplomacy (Aid Another): 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (9) - 2 = 7

"With that in mind, permit me to introduce myself. I am Je Tsun, and the last of Li Yao’s descendants." She rubs a hand across her swollen belly as she says this and smiles slightly. "At least for now. So, perhaps you look upon me and see the end of a quest. I look upon you, and I see hope. Hope for my village, my family, and our future. It seems you have become familiar with the troubles facing us."

"Whether you are here in answer to the prayers of our people or simply here at this time by happenstance is beside the point; you are here. And it is within your power to help us. I tell you now, we have little to offer as incentive. This is a poor village even when not beset by misfortunes, and this year has been less fortunate than most. If you can save us from these tengus, we can offer you food, shelter, and whatever other aid we may give you. But as for a reward, the only thing I can offer is that which you came here for in the first place. Defeat our enemies, and I will bring this relic of my ancestor’s to life for you. I am sorry we do not have more to offer than hospitality, but our need remains: are you sure you want help us?"

"More sure than ever", the half-orc answers. "Where can we find these tengus? I cannot wait to set fire in the feathers of these buzzards speakers."

Waiting anxiously Kraww's comment. LOL

"Hey, don't forget we have Kraww here," says Ishingka with a smile. "Je Tsun, it would be an honor to rip your enemies into small, still-twitching pieces. I volunteer to help gladly." She glances at the woman's abdomen and whispers conspiratorily, "I hope it's a girl. They're better."

Kraww looks up from his empty bowl and passes back to Je Tsun. He opens his mouth wide as if to speak--*BUUURRRP!!!*

diplomacy (aid): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15

"Seconds please. WARK."

Its settled then, my friends and I will dispatch these enemies for you... [i]Mr. Dang glances at Kraww.After we have filled our bellies of course. Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

"We are not sure where to find the tengus. They are called the Thundering Eclipse. In past seasons, they always arrive soon after a harvest. After all, there is no point in milking a cow before she calves. The barley crop is ripe; we need to bring it in this week or lose it. Soon after, the crows will descend upon us." Je Tsun answers.

"Don't look for them, they will come once time is right and in the meantime we can set up a defense like barricades, train our villagers and bring in the harvest."

You are offered the use of the Xien family hut for yourselves to rest and draw up plans. In addition, the council provides you with the small supply of four healing potions they have. potions of CLW

This portion of the adventure is a matter of resource management; each day, you choose how best to use the workforce you have at your disposal. There are 50 able-bodied villagers, men and women, available to you daily (all of the other villagers are too young, old, or infirm to be of any use). You can supervise or oversee specific preparations; doing so adds you own abilities to the workers’ and results in a stronger defense.

These are the tasks:
- Bringin in the harvest (takes 6 days with 20 villagers, -1 day for each additional 10 villagers, one PC counts as 5 farmers/10 farmers with a kn. nature or prof. farmer check DC15)
- Archery training (takes 1+ days, 10 villagers are potential archers and are a unit, if 1 villager is missing from this unit there is no archery activity for this day, training requires one PC with at least +1 BAB and proficiency with crossbows)
- Combat training (takes 1+ days, up to 40 persons in 10-person units, training requires one PC with at least +1 BAB for each unit)
- Constructing the barricades (takes 6 days with 30 villagers, -2 days for each additional 10 villagers, fewer villagers increases the time, PCs aiding in the consctruction speeds it up, Kn. engineering or prof. woodcutter DC15 allows 10 villagers to assigned elsewhere)
- Flooding the fields (can only take place after the harvest is completed, takes 2 days, Kn. engineering DC15 reduces it to 1 day)
- Posting scouts (every 5 villagers a day get a +1 bonus on perception checks to spot the bandits)

@GM Baerlie, can we take '10 on those checks?

yes, you can

Yes and Serp will wonder mindlessly and do absolutely nothing.

Its worth noting that Bernard doesn't actually have a +1 BAB.

Its worth noting that Bernard doesn't actually have a +1 BAB.

How about the friendly ghost? Or Serp-OH MY GOD! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!? YOUR EYES, WHERE ARE YOUR EYES!?

Serp has bab +1. :)

So, just change Bernard for Serpentfang and we can do this in the way I suggested? Do you have any other ideas?

No villagers are needed for flooding the fields.

No villagers are needed for flooding the fields.

So, at day 1 we trained 40 villagers: 30 for combat (by Serpentfang, the gladiator) and 10 for archery (by Ishingka, falcon eyes). With that, will remain only 10 "untrained" for the days 6 to 7. My idea is training them in archery at day 6 (or if can't be archery, can be in combat), then at day 7 those 20 villagers could be "posting scouts".

What do you think, fellows?

That now Bernard gets to sit around and supervise. ;) Howzabout he helps with the scouting? We're dealing with tengu bandits, Sneaky is a racial trait for them. We can't have them sneaking up and watching us ready our ambush for them.

And the website just ate my post again....

Archery! Archery?! Ishingka likes to rip out throats with her tusks! Ok, ok, she'll do archery. But she'll armwrestle Serpentfang each afternoon just to make him pay for it.

That reminds me, I gotta d/l my Humble Bundle. I've been waiting for the site to calm down.

i can do archery too lol so if you want to swap we can, no difference mechanically but makes more sense role play wise.

I don't mind either way. It does make zero difference mechanically and I find humor in our roles being reversed for some reason. (the gods decreed it? :D)

Yeah Bernard can do scouting

not sure if it's clear, but you can do villager training for more than 1 day if you like

Knowledge (nature) aid Taruk: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10 Just.

not sure if it's clear, but you can do villager training for more than 1 day if you like

Training the villagers for more than one day will improve their combat skills?

yes, up to 2 days per unit

Ishy leads the troops through archery maneuvers for two days, barking out orders like a giant greenish crazed sergeant, and laughing uproariously when they take breaks, offering to arm wrestle anyone (and losing at least once). Her troops also double as defense and offense as Serpentfang sends his crack unit of infanty against hers, resulting in deadly serious charges and again, some rather silly outtakes. "You're dead!" she shouts to a careless 'warrior'. "No rice wine for you at break! More for me!"

Kraww trudges out into the mushy fields with a contingent of farmers in tow.

Kraww stops and shoots a sideways glance at a sad-looking scarecrow. He makes a harsh guffaw that sounds like a human hawking up a good spit. Scarecrow. He stops in his tracks causing the farmers behind him to stop short. A sudden crazy gleam comes to Kraww's otherwise cold reptilian eyes.... "Scarecrow."

Pinky, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

would Ishingka roll intimidate, please :)

if there are no objections, I'll take Tûrak's tactics plus the amendments in the last posts

Do you want to roleplay the days or shall I just do a fast forward?