[PFS] #5–08: The Confirmation (Inactive)

Game Master JDLPF

"Not to worry! My grammi showed me an' old family secret to curin' Malaria! Tomorrow mornin' I'll gather up some leaves and anthill dirt and see if it works on scaly folk the same as us 'Lings."

By taking 10 on the Heal check Pelotita grants Nagagorjo a +4 competence bonus on his next save vs Disease.

As the group gather themselves after the battle, Janira smiles and looks pleased at their cooperation.

"Not bad, not bad at all! There's plenty of more ground to cover before we get to our destination, however. We'd best get moving."

Janira shakes her head as Too-tuk offers her back the wand, pressing it back into his hands. "Keep it for now, it worked out well for you. I think there's only three charges left anyway, and it's not a device I can use without a lot of difficulty."

She moves over to where Pelotita is examining Nagagorjo, a worried expression on her face. "Are you okay, Nagagorjo? You look a little... green? (Oh sweet Desna I hope that's not racist!)"

"You should hang onto that flask of alchemist's fire too, Pelotita. Might be useful later. I don't think I've got anything that will help with whatever Nagagorjo's got in his system, but it doesn't look too serious right now and we should be back in the next day or two. Once we're back I'll make sure to introduce you to a few healers I know that can do a better job than me at getting rid of it."

Janira gathers the group and sets off through the wilderness. She becomes increasingly frustrated as she finds trails blocked by fallen objects, shortcuts overgrown, and other minor delays that cost more and more time. She turns to the others, hoping for their guidance.

Please make a Survival DC 15 check. You can either Aid Another at DC 10 to add +2 to another player's result, Take 10 for your own check, or try your luck with the dice. If choosing to Aid Another, note you must roll this check and declare your target before the other player tries their roll or Takes 10. Janira will attempt to Aid Another if requested.

"Lost? Hmm," the tengu trills softly in thought. "It cannot be worse than the Spirit Woods. I think I can get us back on the right path if some of you help me look for a couple landmarks to orient us. Janira, when did you last see the peaks of Kortos?"

Requesting Aid Another from one or more of you (including Janira) and then I'll be able to make the DC easily.

Agreed, you have the best odds of the four of us, with automatic success on a 10 with any one person's Aid. I'll attempt to Aid Too-Tuk.
Aid Another: Survival: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17 (Success!)

"The path looks easier this way, I think," the tengu decides, "and should get us to our goal."

Take 10 on Survival with Vaetta's Aid = 15

"Lead on, my friend." And Nagagorjo follows Too-Tuk into the brush.

Together with Too-tuk and Vaetta's assistance, Janira manages to find the path once more, gratefully smiling at her charges and making good time through the wilderness.

The dense forest opens to a wide clearing at the base of a sheer cliff. Thick vines cover the surface of the cliff stretching 30 feet overhead. “Here! The cave entrance is behind those vines,” Janira says with a broad smile as she walks to the cliff’s face. She pulls back several layers of vegetation to reveal a narrow crack in the cliff’s surface. “This is where I saw the gillmen enter.”

As she motions toward the aperture, the surrounding woods come alive with the sound of small animals fleeing some unseen danger and a large creature crashing through the undergrowth.The halfling worriedly remarks, “Quick, take cover before whatever it is spots us!” As if she’d summoned the creature with her words, a massive horned monstrosity emerges from the trees. Standing eight feet tall on a pair of cloven hooves and wielding a tremendous axe, the bull-headed creature roars with unbridled anger when it spots the group.

Wisely assessing that a minotaur is beyond her charges’ capabilities, Janira screams, “A minotaur! There’s little chance we can stand against it. Take this bag,” she continues, pulling off her backpack, “and head deeper into the caves. Finish your mission. I’ll lead it away from the caves, lose it in the forest, and join you as soon as I can. Now go! GO!” She heaves her backpack into the cave, casts a spell, and darts off toward the minotaur before turning to lure it away.

You have a choice to either fight the minotaur or flee into the cave. If fleeing, you may take Janira's pack with you. If fleeing, make a Survival check, DC 15.

Survival: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

"Holy cow!! Err... Minotaur? Yikes! Let's get outta here!"

Pelotita grabs the discarded pack and easily jumps through the crevice.

"Vark! Oni!" the tengu exclaims when the minotaur bursts from the forest.

"What? Teacher, no!" Too-tuk binks rapidly as he states in disbelief at Janira's foolish bravery. Once he regains his wits, he scurries into the cave. "We could have pinned it down inside the cave," he murmurs, mostly to himself.

Survival: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Survival: 1d20 ⇒ 7
Nagagorjo looks down at his chest and arms, "Damn, he's even bigger than me. and he dives into the cave with the others.

Little known rule: you need an actual rank in Survival to follow tracks when the DC is higher than 10, so even if we had the time to Take 20 we wouldn't be able to find these ^^.

Vaetta bites her lip. She was tempted to disobey Janira's orders and attack the beast, but she was sure her mentor knew what she was doing. Vaetta turns and follows her peers into the cave.

Too-tuk runs his clawed hand against the rocky walls as he presses deeper into the cave. After a while, he pauses to rifle through his pack. "Hmm. Does anyone have a light? I appear to have lost my lamp."

Pelotita giggles and casts Light.

"One of Benorus's mottos is 'Be Prepared'!"

She then waits a moment and peeks outside to check on Janira. Hearing nothing, she returns to the group and opens up the overloaded backpack.

"I wonder if Janira left us another light..."

What's in the bag?

"I can provide some light as well." Vaetta says. She concentrates for a moment, and manifests four small spheres of light which hover in a wide circle around her.
Vaetta casts Dancing Lights. She'll recast the spell every minute until otherwise noted.

With the cave illuminated, the tengu carefully makes his way deeper into the cave.

You pause as the sounds of battle fade, watching Janira flee the minotaur and escape into the jungle. Ahead, the cave system stretches deep below the foothills of the Kortos Mounts, accessible only through a narrow keyhole tunnel before you. Advancing forward, the tunnel narrows and widens between 3 and 10 feet wide and varies equally in height, forcing you to crawl through the narrow sections, though it soon widens into a comfortable 7 feet wide in each dimension. The caves are damp, water dripping from stalactites. The distant rushing of underground streams creates an eerie echo of noise as you explore. The caves’ walls are patterned with blue-green luminescent fungi that provide dim light.

Petroglyphs—most depicting marine animals or spiral shapes—periodically decorate the tunnels’ walls, becoming increasingly frequent as you progress. The rough surface of the carvings provides a natural platform for the fungi, causing it to grow thicker and making the carvings glow slightly brighter than their surroundings.

As you cautiously move forward, the narrow tunnel twists and turns for several hundred feet before slowly opening to a wider passage. The tunnel here is 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall with a ceiling mostly devoid of stalactites. A large hole 10 ft. deep with spikes at the bottom spans the cave’s width and stretches ten feet down the path. In a corner at the bottom of the pit lies a small bundle of cloth.

Pit: 1d6 ⇒ 6

You may attempt a Knowledge: Dungeoneering or Survival check to know more about the hazard ahead.

{Vaetta takes 10 on the DC10 Knowledge (Dungeoneering) check for a result of 13.}
"Hmm, such an unusual place for a pit such as this... we must be close to something we are not meant to see. I fear the distance might be too great for me to leap across safely." Vaetta says, looking around for a way to cross the chasm.
{Are there any stalagmites or outcroppings of rock on either side of the pit which Vaetta could tie a rope to? Or anything similar on the far side of the pit which she could secure a grappling hook against?}

Too-tuk pauses in the tunnel to make notes about the petroglyphs. "Interesting how the fungus makes these glow," he murmurs to himself.

Once they reach the pit, he comments obviously, "Well, that is a predicament."

Survival: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

"This pit has been here a while. I wonder how the gillmen get around it."

I'll allow a 10% chance of a conveniently placed stalagmite to tie a rope onto or secure a grappling hook against, with a die result of 1-10 being success.

Vaetta searches nearby, trying to find a way to secure a rope.

Search Result: 1d100 ⇒ 31

The search ends fruitlessly, as it would seem the creator of this pit had thought of this possibility and removed any natural protrusions from the walls. All Vaetta finds for her troubles are marks on the stone where the surfaces have been smoothed.

"I do not suppose one of our more athletic companions would be willing to climb or jump across with a knotted rope and the other support us more academic initiates?" the tengu asks, blinking his yellow eyes several times as he looks at Nagagorjo.

"I would be happy to jump over there myself, but I may be the only one capable of stopping the blood from pouring out of the gaping hole through your liver if, in the very unlikely chance, you fall into the pit." He opens his beak slightly in the tengu equivalent of a grin.

"Hmm, I might be able to make the leap if I remove my armor and leave my backpack and belongings here. I have silk rope and pitons I can use to create a makeshift rope bridge. However it will be quite noisy; we will most likely lose the element of surprise." Vaetta says, looking to her comrades for their opinions.

"I do not know that we need to surprise anyone, but I do know that we need to not be impaled," the tengu thrums deep in his throat after he answers and bobs his head.

Nagagorjo looks at the others and says "Ok, let'sss sssee about this jump. Back up, I'll jump acrossss and then you all can throw me the rope and I'll find a way to sssecure it ssso you all can crossss more easssily. Ssso watch out." He then takes a sew steps back and sprints towards the cliff edge. Right as he reaches the edge he jumps with all of his might...
Acrobatics (Jump) Check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
and easily lands safely on the other side.

"Impressive!" Too-tuk exclaims as the nagaji makes the jump look easy.

"I hope you have something to secure the piton with..." Vaetta calls across the chasm. "Because I saw nothing to secure a grappling hook to from here, and I do not have a hammer which I can give you."
Nevertheless, Vaetta produces a bundle of silk rope, a grappling hook, and several pitons from her backpack.

Nagagorjo pulls out his Morningstar and says "This will probably be sssufficient." and prepares to play catch.

"Make sure you knot it so that it is easier to hold onto," the tengu advises Vaetta without being asked. "It would be terrible if Pelotita lost her grip. Very bloody." His black tongue licks the edge of his beak.

Vaetta uncoils about 30 feet of silk rope from the bundle, knots it every few feet, ties off the end of the rope securely to the Piton, and tosses it softly to Nagagorjo.

Do I just get to catch the rope or do I need to do like a dex check to see if I drop it?

The piton with a knotted rope attached clinks to the ground on the other side of the pit. Nagagorjo is able to hammer it into the stone with no small difficulty using his morningstar as an improvised hammer. With this accomplished, the group feel confident the crossing will pose no difficulty provided the other end is secured in a similar fashion.

The knotted rope now bridges the pit, requiring a mere DC 5 Climb check to cross. Unless anyone else has further actions to perform, we'll progress the scenario in 24 hours.

Vaetta likewise secures her end of the rope using a piton and a psychically manifested magic hammer. She offers to either go first to test the rope, or go last to guard to rope while they cross; she is perfectly happy to do whichever her comrades seem to prefer.
While Vaetta crosses, she'll carry the trailing edge of the rope across with her so that the majority of the bundle is on the far side of the chasm with them. Then she'll attempt to use Mage Hand to retrieve the small bundle of cloth from the bottom of the pit before the party moves on.

"I will go first. If I fall, I can float." He makes a sound like a chuckle before kneeling down to grab the rope and lifts his clawed feet onto the rope as well. The tengu scuttles across quickly. His feathers, ruffled as he crossed, slowly settled down once he is safely on the other side.

When Vaetta tries to magically snag the cloak below, Too-tuk offers her a fishhook. "Try this."

The cloth floats through the air in the grasp of Vaetta's magic, and she unfolds it to reveal a dirty and dishevelled cloak. It appears to have once been of fine design, though the years have not been kind to it. Nevertheless, it it still functional if the wearer does not care overly much about the grime soaked into its fibres.

"One of the victims of the pit?" Too-tuk peers into the pit, looking for bones. "No? Carry on."

Nagagorjo looks at the tattered cloak and says "One of you cassster typesss might want to sssee if that hasss sssome magical abilitiesss. I've heard sssome of the more experienced adventuresss talk of pretty powerful cloak they've picked up in their travelsss and even in this ssstate it might ssstill do sssomething."

On the off chance that it is more than just a grimy bit of cloth, Vaetta casts Detect Magic and examines the cloak more closely.
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

The cloak detects as magical, and Vaetta's keen intellect identifies it as a Cloak of Resistance +1.

The group progresses forward, turning a corner of the cave to discover a long plank of wood 3 ft. wide and over 10 ft. long, presumably used to pass this pit, propped up against the wall at the next bend.

The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos Mounts until they eventually open into a large cavern. What must have once been beautifully carved reliefs and inscriptions have since weathered heavily, their features dulled and softened to the point that it is hard to distinguish what each once depicted. A wide tunnel exits the cavern on its far side, and blue-burning torches line the passageway’s walls.

MAP

"Interesting." Too-tuk heads to the cave wall to inspect the ancient carvings, clicking his tongue in thought. "I wonder if these might show better if I rubbed them with chalk. If we find any that we can make sense of, I am certain the Lodge will want to know about this."

Too-tuk examines the walls, his keen eyes picking out details that seem vaguely like language.

Too-tuk
Random Result: 1d12 ⇒ 11
Appraise: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 (-2 circumstance penalty applied)
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7 (-2 circumstance penalty applied)

The walls seem to outline some kind of story in their carvings, but there isn't a clear enough pattern to let the tengu pick up the thread of the narrative.

"This looks like some kind of story, but I cannot make out the images well. Are there any clearer sections?" the tengu asks the others.

With no one else showing interest in the carvings, the tengu meanders through the cave and follows the torches into a hall.

Vaetta follows close behind Too-Tuk, not as interested in the reliefs as he is. She silently keeps an eye out for possible danger, concerned that their efforts to cross the chasm must have drawn some attention.

Vaetta and Too-Tuk advance forward, wary of danger.

The soft light of the surrounding fungus mixes with the flickering glow of the nearby torches to reveal a grand chamber. A large pool of water along the chamber’s northern edge reflects the blue and green radiance to illuminate the massive stalactites that cling to the ceiling overhead. Two other tunnels branch off from this area, leading to the east and west.

Rising up from the pool is a column of rock with steeply sloped sides and a flat top, as if someone had sawn off the top of a massive stalagmite. A miniature city carved from this same stone occupies nearly the entire surface. Tiny trinkets such as ancient coins, polished semiprecious stones, and ornately braided loops of string are scattered throughout the diorama, and pale cave frogs clamber atop it. The smooth cavern floor is covered in gravel and pebbles along the edge of the pool, and several foot-long centipedes prowl among the gravel in their search for prey.

Too-tuk Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Vaetta Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

They both spot the humanoid figure half submerged in water at the base of the miniature city at the same time. It appears not to have noticed either of them.

MAP

Expecting imminent conflict; Vaetta takes a few steps forward and to the right, so that she is right beside Too-Tuk, sets her backpack down (bringing her to a light load), and manifests a psychic falchion.

Nagagorjo follows up behind Vaetta and whispers "What are you two looking at?"
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

"Greetings, creature of the lake! We seek to understand the purpose of this place." He raises his arm in greeting. He speaks more softly to Vaetta, "Look at that miniature city. We should definitely note this in our report."

Too-tuk offers a greeting at the figure, but it seems to be unresponsive. The humanoid is almost completely submerged in water, though its head remains above the surface. Nagagorjo sees it clearly from his new position, and Vaetta errs on the side of caution, manifesting a weapon in hand.

"There is a man--I think it is a man--in the water. Maybe a gillman?" he points to the figure as he answers Nagaorjo's question. "We should interview him."

Too-tuk picks up a pebble from the ground and tosses it into the underground pool.

The humanoid is startled by the sudden ripples that spread from the surface of the pool where Too-tuk's pebble lands, turning towards the group. He stands until you can see his form, his webbed hands and a series of gills along his neck leaving little doubt as to his race. He eyes you cautiously but does not appear hostile.

NPC attitude is indifferent, you may attempt Diplomacy if you wish to improve his attitude.