PFS # 6-09: By Way of Bloodcove, with GM Pendrak (Inactive)

Game Master Pendrak

Woodthorne hugs the wall while casting Shillelagh on his staff and closing in on blue brigand.

Nigel takes an arrow to his shoulder and it is bleeding pretty badly. Owwhhhhhh!!! There is an ambush! He looks around to see that everyone else already knows of the ambush. He quickly draws a circle in the air, Come on flock of eagles... I need you to help here.

Number of Eagles: 1d3 ⇒ 1

But the look of disappointment is clear on his face when only one eagle flies through that circle.

He then starts to move, hoping to get into a better spot for cover.

An eagle flies through the circle in the air, still in the process of forming. It finishes forming right next one of the ambushes. It gets the picture and lays into the bad guy, after smiting it with the power of the celestial plane.

I do not know if smite evil works on it so I will leave the bonuses off the rolls. If it can be smited, add 1 damage to each roll.

talon (red): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
talon (red): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
bite (red): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Swift action to smite and full round action to full attack.

Thaia blasts the bandit leader with her musket, and the Mwangi woman doubles over in pain.

Meanwhile Nigel summons an eagle, which viciously mauls one of the bandits on the roof with beak and talons.

Velinov is up.

Oops, I forgot about the smite evil. The brigands are all neutral evil, so red actually took a total of 14 damage instead of 11.

Just for spell calculation purposes, how high are the archers on the roof? 10' high? More than that? I've got 7 10' cubes to play with; I wanted to make sure that if I spent that along the proposed line that it could block visibility between the south side and the cart.

It isn't specified anywhere in the adventure, but I was imagining about ten or fifteen feet. Let's go with ten.

The brigands all seem shocked when the wall of bees appears, believing it to be real, save the leader, who narrows her eyes. Nonetheless, her men continue their bloody work as best they can. The man on the rooftop drops his bow, unsheathes his longsword, and cuts the celestial eagle out of the air. The heavenly bird disappears with a "SCHREEE!" and a POOF, returning to it's home plane. The riffraff that Kahwen attacked draws his sword as well, as does the one nearest Woodthorne, but neither are able to land their blows. The final one, who is right next to what he believes to be a massive swarm of stinging insects, backs away into the alleyway.

"Oh, no, not the BEES! Not the bees!" he shouts, clearly in a panic.

By now, the streets have been completely cleared of pedestrians, as the mad melee manifests.

I'm not sure what sort of illusion Velinov created with minor image (the spell I assume he cast) but I'm assuming it's a brick wall or some such. Suffice it to say that it blocks the red brigand and the leader's view of Velinov and Nigel at least, probably Haska. The leader is the only one who immediately disbelieved the illusion, barely. I'll leave the exact nature and appearance up to him, but for now I'll move on to the brigands.

There is no longer difficult terrain or cover from the crowds. Haska and Kahwen can act.

Edit: Making some quick edits because I just saw Velinov's post which is way cooler than what I imagined. Much will stay the same.
The next attack the green bandit uses will use the roll from this round that didn't get used.

Velinov casts minor image, creating a wall of dense bees with accompanying buzzing per the line on the map. I went for a "soft" wall to reduce the chances of disbelieving if they decide to try to shoot through it.

Barely noticeable at first, one of the boxes on the cart appears to slowly open on its own. Slowly crawling out along the now exposed edge is the easily recognizable pattern of yellow and black. The bee moves erratically along the vertical plane, it's wings vibrating occasionally and sending out a low hum a few times, as if signaling the all clear, before taking off. Within seconds, more of its kin start to crawl out and take off. The lone speck on the battlefield quickly transforms to flakes of fallen ash, continuing to darken as the box unleashes the horde, culminating in a dense wall of angry buzzing between the cart and the southern buildings.

Haska moves forward pulling a clay ball from his pouch. He crams something into it and lobs it at the brigand attacking Woodthorne.

bomb 1, cover but pb and precise shot: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 7 - 4 = 21
dmg excluding square of Woodthorne: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 6) + 4 = 11

Haska manages to turn the bombs inert side towards his companion.

if it misses, 6 hp splash dmg, reflex dc14 for 3 and Woodthorne would be affected also depending on impact location.

A second BOOM erupts, even louder than Thaia's musket shot, as the bomb blast rips into Haska's target. The elf's shot was so perfectly aimed that the brigand's body completely shielded his ally Woodthorne from taking any damage. The Mwangi cuthroat writhes in pain, but is still standing, sword in hand, determined.

That's a hit. Kahwen can act. I also still need, I believe, a DC 11 Fortitude save for the black adder poison.

By the way, Velinov, the bee thing was much more entertaining, awesome, and useful than what I expected. And well-written.

Woodthorne lashes out at the off balance bandit with his magic infused staff.

Shillelagh:
to hit 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26 Damage 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (5, 4) + 4 = 13

If the brigand falls, Woodthorne moves to the barricade so he can start to tear it down enough for the wagon to get through.

In the heat of the moment, Kahwen often forgets that he is not some brawny tough guy who can take a beating and keep on dishing out damage. Two well placed arrows are quite enough to remind him of the truth and he's feeling woozy after they hit.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

Fortunately, whatever the green stuff on that arrow tip is doesn't seem to have an effect.

Still, he has to be careful so his next swing is intended as much to keep him safe as it is to down his opponent.

Elven Curve Blade minus Fighting Defensively: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 8 - 4 = 13
Slashing Damage: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Kahwen has 3 ranks in acrobatics so he gets a +3 dodge bonus to his AC for fighting defensively.

Nigel watches as his eagle gets destroyed and then suddenly a wall of bees shows up. God, I hate bees! Nigel decides to try to move around the wagon the find the other enemies.

Double move

Kahwen, though in a defensive stance, is able to take down his opponent with a devastating blow, severing the brigand's arm at the elbow with his curveblade as the miscreant raises his sword to attack. The man will certainly die from rapid loss of blood if he does not receive immediate medical attention.

The leader of the ambush drinks a potion of some sort, then follows Thaia's example and hits the deck.

Woodthorne wallops another bandit on the head with a loud CRACK, sending him sprawling, unconscious, and moves to the barricade. He too may never wake unless helped. The wood oracle quickly realizes that it would take a few minutes at least for him to clear the road (less if everyone was working on it, but still at least 10 rounds).

Thaia and Velinov can act.

While still prone Thaia reloads.

Velinov focuses on his artistry, weaving the characters menacingly across the stage wall.

Velinov continues to remain invisible and concentrates on minor image.

By the way, Velinov, the bee thing was much more entertaining, awesome, and useful than what I expected. And well-written.

Thanks for the compliment. That's part of the fun of playing an illusionist :)

One of the remaining brigands moves around and takes a shot at Kahwen, which misses badly. The other climbs down the side of the building, and goes to try to join his ally.

The bandit whose arm was amputated by Kahwen does not survive the surgery, and he bleeds out in the street. The one felled by Woodthorne continues to bleed to death nearby.

Kahwen and Haska can act.

Perhaps Kahwen should feel some remorse about having a man bleed to death at his feet from a wound he inflicted. He is comforted by the fact that he's certain the man would have done the same to him, if he had the chance.

He's still quite hurt and is worried about getting hit again, so he begins a slow, swirling, precisely choreographed dance to put himself and his sword into the proper alignment to enhance his defensive abilities. When it is done, he seems more birdlike than ever, though his pose and movements are much more like a long necked wading bird than the bright eyed crow he resembles.

Kahwen is taking a full round action to go into Crane Stance. It's a feature of his Swordmaster Archetype and gives him the same effects as if he had the Crane Style feat. It lasts up to 5 rounds and will give him the following effects:

-2 penalty to Attack Rolls. +4 Dodge Bonus to AC when fighting defensively, + 7 for full defense.

Haska moves over to peer over the barricade. He then readies a clay ball and prepares to throw it at any of the brigands approaching with 20 feet.

The leader, who was expecting more musket shots when she went prone, realizes her error, and stands up so that she can take her own shot with the shortbow, this time targeting Thaia across the rooftops with another of her magic arrows. She can't seem to get a bead on the gunslinger, however, and the arrow sticks into the wall of the building.

Woodthorne, Velinov, Nigel, and Thaia can act.

Thaia doesn't stand up she just rolls onto her belly takes aim, and squeezes the trigger on the bow-woman.

BOOM! (ranged touch): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14 damage: 1d12 ⇒ 7

Thaia lays more lead into the leader, and she is led to surrender. Seeing her allies falling, and bleeding from a couple of gunshot wounds herself, she senses imminent defeat.

"Parley!" she shouts, "Parley, I beg of you. You have the best of us. Let us talk."

She keeps her bow at hand, but lowers it, and draws no arrow. Her remaining men stop what they are doing, looking up at their commander, and then over to the adventurers to see how they react. They also cast several sidelong glances at what they believe to be a massive swarm of bees, larger than they've ever seen or heard of.

Regardless of any doubts they might have, the figment is too real for them, and they still think the bees to be real.

Woodthorne, Velinov, and Nigel can act, if you choose not to accept Ungala's effort to surrender.

Velinov will keep the spell up until after the negotiations have ended. He also chooses to remain hidden as an extra wild card in case of any chicanery. RE: That's part of the fun of playing an illusionist :) Just to expand, using illusions tends to bring back a sense of whimsy and wonder to magic in the game that long time players have lost. Or at least it forces a good description rather than sounding like an artillery unit firing off fireball after fireball.

Oh, I love illusion magic. It really makes a GM have to think though, about how creatures would react, and what should be counted as "interacting" with the illusion. Hope you thought the way I handled it here was appropriate.

I am not going to lie, I have played this game for probably close to 8 years (started society play about a year ago) and have never really seen someone play an illusionist. I feel like I am going to need to familiarize myself with the rules before the end of this adventure haha

Nigel looks around, not sure what is going to happen. She didn't drop her weapon... it is hard to take a parley seriously if she is going to keep her weapon ready... maybe I should make her drop it. But he decides that it would be safer for one of the more diplomatic members to speak first.

"Damn to the depths whatever man what thought of 'Parley'.... Right! Drop the bow and anything else you might be hiding, and then climb down. Otherwise, I'll see to it personally that you get down a lot faster."

intimidate (influence): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29 Well, she should be glad I'm not using that roll to shoot her with. There's a X4 crit mod on musket. Note: this takes time (a minute or more). It is possible that she might not listen to Thaia's entire spiel.

As a side note I have acouple of illusionists on the boards here one's an arcane sorcerer while the other's an illusionist illusionist who lives in a sort of waking dream state unable to separate illusions from reality. The thing I always find challenging about playing either of them is coming up with new illusions (it's no fun repeating yourself in a game), adjudication is (as noted) tricky to adjudicate, and then of course you have to make sure you aren't messing up your teammates who are likely as fooled as anyone by the images and sounds you are creating. The challenge is, I think, part of the reason you don't see too many in games. Still they are a lot of fun play.

Woodthorne starts to dismantle the barricade.

The Mwangi woman carefully sets her shortbow and quiver down on the edge of the rooftop, and unsheathes a shortsword as well, depositing it beside her other weapon. Then she carefully but nimbly descends the front of the building, walks right through the illusion of the bees, and stands in the midst of the yard near the wagon.

She glares at the Pathfinders.

"Do you even know what you're carrying?" she implores.

"And I just learned how to do that!" Kahwen mutters as he comes out of his self-induced trance. He was disappointed that he wasn't going to get to try it out, but these seemed like run-of-the-mill robbers and not Consortium thugs so they deserved to be arrested at worse if they would surrender rather than killed.

He keeps an eye on them, though, not at all trusting that the fight is over, even as he sheaths his sword.

"Can you use this, Friend Woodthorne? I seem to have been shot," he asks, holding out his Wand of Cure Light Wounds before helping the man with the barricade.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Nigel gives Woodthorne his wand as well. I also got shot in the shoulder. Mind helping me out as well?

Woodthorne will help all who've been hurt. If you have a wand roll it. If not, he'll use his own. Just let me know.
He will only help the bandits with someone else's wand though.

Oh no, those guys shot at us. They get to bleed out.

Also, you can use my wand on anyone who doesn't have one.

cure light wounds wand: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
cure light wounds wand: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Woodthorne uses Nigel's wand twice, making his shoulder feel a lot better. Thank you, friend.

Turning to the Ungala, I do not know what is in the boxes. But it isn't my job to know. Are you Aspis?

The woman spits at the mention of the Aspis.

"I am no snake. I am against the Aspis Consortium, House Cartahegn, and all other foreigners who look to make a profit from the history of Garund while stealing from its people."

She scoffs, "The Consortium had my brother killed on trumped up charges that didn’t even make sense. I, Ungala, swear by my life that I will see them driven out of these lands one day.” There is a fire in her eyes as she says the last part, which sounds almost like an oath.

She gestures towards the wagon. "Open the crates, gnome, and see what stolen artifacts you are taking to be sold to Chelaxian devils."

Hey, at least we agree on something. I hate the Aspis too and it is good to see that this whole town is not full of those rats. Now about the creates, I think I need to speak to my colleagues before I do anything so brash as to break the deal they struck to guard this wagon.

"What if we open the crates and find no artifacts? What if its wood or cloth or spices or something? Would you continue your crusade?"

"You are asking us to betray our employer, one of the only friendly groups we know?" "A friend of mine was a benefactor of their help in the past." "Now you want us to ... what? Give you the cargo?"

Haska shows some color. He is building in anger.

"What proof do you have? Who gives you your tips about the caravan shipment?" "You obviously knew where and when for this shipment."

Haska thinks back to other Aspis dealings.

"I bet one of the Aspis agent's is feeding you the information to hurt our friend. It is just like them to turn enemies at each other." "In the past raids what have you found?"

As he hears voices rising, Kahwen turns his attention away from the barricade. He comes to join the rest of the Pathfinders as they confront Ungala.

"Friend Haska is right. This is probably all some Consortium trick to turn you against someone who can help you. Why don't you attack their caravans, instead?"

"Yes," she says, "I would prefer if you give the artifacts to me, so I can see them go to the right hands. We have spies everywhere. It's not difficult; everyone hates these foreign interlopers, be they Aspis, Cartahegn, Barzoni, or any other mercantile crime family. These spies let us know when stolen goods are being shipped, and we attack the caravans, whoever may be running them. I don't doubt the Aspis would do as you say, and they are truly the worst of this city's leeches, but I tell you now, open the crates and see for yourselves."

She thinks for a moment, "The last time we hit one of Cartahegn's wagons they were carrying spellbooks and history books from the time of Old-Mage Jatembe. Those books belonged in the Magaambya in Nantambu and they were going to be shipped off to Cheliax or Absalom to be studied by people who have no connection to them."

She looks at her men, and continues, "With these men as my witnesses, if the contents of these crates are not what I say, I shall never attack a caravan of House Cartahegn any more."

"The crates prove nothing." "They could be salted to appear nefarious for one." "You yourself said spies are everywhere."

Haska shakes his head and sighs, "Where did the artifacts come from and who is behind the thefts at the source is more the issue." "Attacking the middle man does little good."

Haska still red and warming says, "These rightful owners you speak of, who determines who qualifies?" "You?" "I have gone down that road and had the 'rightful owners' turn around and sell them to the highest bidder once you return them."

Haska still red and warming says, "These rightful owners you speak of, who determines who qualifies? You? I have gone down that road and had the 'rightful owners' turn around and sell them to the highest bidder once you return them."

At that Ungala becomes slightly more angry, "The people whose ancestors made these things should be the ones who profit from them, if anyone. I have to make a living, same as anyone else."

"As to where they come from, well, groups like the Aspis Consortium and their rivals, the Pathfinder Society, go and dig them out of the ground in the interior or in ruins along the coast. They go and nearly get themselves killed to rob tombs and dig up graves. There are many who call themselves adventurers who plunder these lands."

Look, we can debate on who is right and who is wrong all we want. But we have a stance we agree on, that the Aspis are the worst enemy of this city. If you are spreading your resources fight every enemy at once, you are going to fail against them all. We are here as enemies of the Aspis. We are working towards goals to that end. Helping the merchant family is hurting the Aspis. So please, work with us. Once the larger threat is taken care of, work on fighting the next largest evil but to save this city, we need to take out the greatest evil first. Set your disagreement aside for a moment, please, to fight for the good of the city.

"The truth is that the merchant houses and the pathfinders are here. Doing this will only get more of your people killed. I mean, you will kill many of the outsiders, but many of yours will die too. And, in the end, it won't help. Have you thought of making a deal with them instead? What if you and your people make an agreement to help the Pathfinders and House Cartahegn find and excavate the sites? You could insure that the right people do get compensated and you would have allies to fight the worst injustices you come across. Would that work?"

Woodthorne opens two of the crates to see what's inside. "If showing you the contents of some of these can prevent further issue, I'll show you." We weren't told not to open them.

Thaia hops down before the wand of jump's charge fades. She takes a round to reload her musket, and when the argument starts to circle about to the beginning again helps, Woodthorne open some crates.

Woodthorne and Thaia each open a crate, and each find it loaded with statues and idols crafted in the native Bonuwat style, packed gently in straw. They appear to be several centuries old at least, early examples of a style that is prominent in the region now.

"Pah, House Cartahegn is as bad as the Aspis. The Pathfinders aren't so bad though, I could see myself working with them. In fact,", she says, looking the group over and saying, with purposeful irony, "If you happen to run into any Pathfinders, tell them to come see Ungala. I hear they need someone to smuggle supplies and personnel though Bloodcove. My organization could do it more affordably, and more effeciently, and then they wouldn't have the stench of slavery and mercantilism on their hands, though they would have some blood on their hands."

Ungala seems unwilling to relent. She views House Cartahegn and the Aspis Consortium in the same light. However, she does offer an alternative to working with House Cartahegn, if you prefer to work with the local people (even if they are criminals). If you prefer to work with more professional business people (even if they are corrupt), then staying with your original contract with House Cartahegn would be your option.

The choice between Novaria and Ungala is important for members of the Exchange faction. Although the former embraces the honest businessperson persona so important to faction leader Aaqir al’Hakam, her latest choice of commodities may trouble more upstanding faction PCs. Meanwhile, Ungala’s intentions are relatively pure but are tarnished by her criminal approach, which might appeal more to the high-ranking Exchange officer Guaril Karela and many former members of the Sczarni faction. Neither choice is right or wrong, but the choice helps to establish the Exchange’s reputation and allies in the region.

Ungala has Kahwen's sympathies right up until she lumps the Pathfinders in with the Consortium. That makes him reach for his sword, though he doesn't draw it.

Given that she's wrong about that, he assumes she's going to be equally wrong about their allies.

His smug look turns to dismay as the crates are opened and it is revealed that her accusations are quite well founded.

"We shouldn't deal with anyone in this accursed city," he comments quietly.

As I'm not part of the Exchange, I have no opinion about who to pick. I'll leave it up to the members of that faction.

Nigel is extremely torn on the issue. I am not sure what to say. He looks over to his group, then back to Ungala. May we discuss our best course of action privately for a moment?

If she is okay with us talking privately, Nigel says Look I am really on the fence about this one. I normally champion the idea of good clean business, but neither seems to be a clean route.I think I am leaning with Unglala personally. If we are to rid this city of Aspis, I think having the support of the locals will be a bigger boon than aid of from an outside noble. But as I said, I am really torn and will listen to the other side if someone disagrees.