[PFS_Aerondor] 00-03 - Murder on the Silken Caravan [Tier 1-2] PbP Gameday 4 (Inactive)

Game Master Aerondor

Myrd does not care about the heat and looks at the approaching creatures
"Good day to you! Surely we can resolve this without bloodshed! Please lower your weapons so we can have a talk"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27
I am aware that a normal diplomacy roll takes at least one minute, however it seems to be the skill suited for the occasion. I assume this counts as Myrd's action for the round

The desert folk have weapons drawn and are closing fast. No time for diplomacy sorry.

No problem

Seeing no reaction to his shout Myrd decides to take action. Moving past Iron Feathers he casts color spray at five of the raiders. DC14

Iron Feathers moves in the opposite direction, readying his polearm against the first bandit that approaches.

Using a reach weapon, so 10' radius on my readied attack

Readied Attack against bandit: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Damage on hit: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

will: 5d20 ⇒ (17, 3, 9, 6, 2) = 37

Four raiders go down for the count from a spray of colour
And while I know they could survive, for the purposes of the combat, they are gone, so I'm removing them.

Myrd in turn slices up a raider approaching from the north.

Audyn displays his skills with the blade, making the closest raiders look worried, or maybe that is why they decided to lie down in the sands, its hard to tell ready.

Status, bold may post
Luralee
Parker
Raiders
Audyn
Myrd (readied action already taken effectively)
Iron Feathers

@Myrd- can you roll me an AOO as you'll get one of those on the goblin as it closes.

Oh sure, can't tell the two tengu apart. We all look alike, huh? :P I'm assuming you're referring to me :P

Felling one, Iron Feathers twirls his blade into a wide arc as another approaches.

AoO: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Damage on hit: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Oh sure, can't tell the two tengu apart. We all look alike, huh? :P I'm assuming you're referring to me :P

Treat it like a compliment (for you)

Well I ... wait a minute :P Well, originally Iron Feathers had the same avatar you have for Myrd, so it could be just some random memory taking over :P

That can't be it...

Hmm... one of you (Myrd?) want to change icons back to another one?

Iron feathers takes out another raider.

Status, bold may post
Luralee
Parker
Raiders (yellow and blue are shaken)
Audyn
Myrd (readied action already taken effectively)
Iron Feathers

Sure, just having some fun at your expense

And it was Iron Feathers who had the readied action. Myrd is the diplomat spellcaster, Iron the unwashed Barbarian

The grime provides the DR

I guess that's what he tells the chicks.

Hens; I'm no pervert.

Luralee advances towards the shaken opponent and trikes out with her Shortspear

Shortspear: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10..DMG: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

The short raider easily avoids Luralee's spear.

Status, bold may post
Parker
Raiders (yellow and blue are shaken)
Audyn
Myrd (readied action already taken effectively)
Iron Feathers
Luralee

Given it is Thanksgiving, I'll hold off having anyone NPC Parker until tomorrow (my time!) If he hasn't posted in 24 hours from now, one of the other players can NPC him for a round

Posting for Parker

Parker takes a few steps back and then fires a snowball at one of the figures. See red arrow on map

Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 5, 3) = 16

The expression "A Snowballs chance in hell" isn't common in these lands. Here they call in "A snowball's chance on the silk road. The heat sends the snowball way off target, smashing into the sand and giving the raider a shock, but not hurting him.

The northern raider in black fires at Iron Feathers
attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
The Tengu contemptuously knocks it aside.

To the south east, the black raider with a blow aims at Myrd, who is obviously powerful having taken out a load of the raiders with a single spell..

attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Lastly the one targetted by Parker tries to return the favor
attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5

The two raiders in blue attack from the northeast. One goes for a camel and one for a drover. There is blood on their blades and cries of pain from the drover and his beast.

The last raider in yellow attacks Luralee
attack: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 - 2 = 17
damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3

Status, bold may post
Audyn
Myrd 1 damage
Iron Feathers
Luralee - 3 damage
Parker -5 damage
Raiders (yellow and blue are shaken)

Luralee has 20 AC so not quite sure how the 17 rolled hit her.

Audyn makes his way around the camels and drovers to attack one of the raiders in blue.

Rapier attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Rapier damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

"Here is your arrow back" Myrd says as he breaks of the arrow, picks a splinter and shoots it back at the archer.

Ranged Touch Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

your call whether it was the left or right bottom black one. Bleed 1 if it matters

"Well, ain't that just great!", shouts Parker as he's being struck. He takes a step back from the raider and raises his fingers again. "Told ya ya shoulda backed off, folks."

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 6, 4) = 20
4 spells remain.

The snowball flies off again, as the heat is almost melting it before it reaches its target.

Finally got my laptop working, folks! And thanks to Myrd to taking control of Parker as I wasn't able to. I'll be back to at least a post a day now.

@Luralee because your GM made a mistake :-)

Audyn kills a raider, while Myrd takes care of an archer.

Parker again finds that his snowball is no match for the desert heat.

Status, bold may post
Iron Feathers
Luralee -
Raiders (yellow and blue are shaken)
Parker -5 damage
Audyn
Myrd 1 damage

Iron Feathers moves to the next goblin blue and swings!

@Blue: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Damage on hit: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Crit confirm: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Extra damage on crit: 2d10 + 8 ⇒ (1, 4) + 8 = 13

Iron feathers finishes another raider.

status, bold may post
Luralee -
Raiders (yellow and blue are shaken)
Parker -5 damage
Audyn
Myrd 1 damage
Iron Feathers

Luralee once again stabs at the goblin with her shortspear...
Shortspear: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10..DMG: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

The goblin in blue continues to hack at the camel in front of him. Heck, it is better than getting close to those adventurers.

The one in yellow.. well. He tries to stab Luralee again.
attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

The last raider left with a bow continues to put down suppressing fire on Parker.
attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
crit confirm: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Status, bold may post
Parker -8 damage
Audyn
Myrd 1 damage
Iron Feathers
Luralee -
Raiders (yellow and blue are shaken)

Luralee stabs at the goblin once more while calling for help from her companions...
Shortspear: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19...DMG: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

And the goblin goes down...

On mobile, can someone move Audyn one space Northampton?

Audyn steps up to engage the last blue raider. "En garde!"

Rapier attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Rapier damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

I moved Audyn

Myrd throws another splinter at the last archer

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Plus Bleed 1

And the last two raiders go down. Hard. The last raider turns to flee feel free to take an AOO or missile round on him into the storm.

After a few minutes the sandstorm somewhat abates, leaving no trace of the where the raiders came from...

Unfortunately while you managed to follow Hokama’s, he lost track of the caravan ahead..

Plans ? It is early afternoon and you have no idea where you are or where the caravan is. You do know your destination is roughly north west. But which way is that?

"Now ain't that just great.", mutters Parker through his teeth. "Anyone can tell his way from 'lotsa sand this way' and 'lotsa sand that way?' He sighs and sits in the hot sand. "Well, ain't no use standin' 'round. I still got some o' the ol' magic in me, an' I reckon I can get us a couple o' steeds for movin' round faster. Gonna need to fit two of us on each, but it should help." Dream assignment my burning arse..., he thinks as he stands up.

Suggesting to cast Mount with my remaining spell slots, minus one. It's going to let us catch up to the caravan, if we can find where it is.

Audyn sighs and wipes sand from his face. "Surely one of you rugged types knows how to navigate in the wilderness. Right?"

Luralee inspects the sandsPerception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 and then the sky to determine which way is north...Survival: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

"They said a northernly direction for the caravan travel correct?"

Luralee point the team and water merchant in the northwesterly direction and you head off.
random: 1d8 ⇒ 3
I guess I could make you all roll fort saves, but nothing happens that afternoon.

Evening comes, and the group things they might just about see a smidgeon of hills in the distance in the direction they are travelling.

Doing anything special that night>?

"Shall we establish a guard list for the night?" Luralee asks her companions.

"I would like to get a full night of sleep to be able to cast spells tomorrow. If I don't get a full night of sleep I won't be able to concentrate enough to memorize them. Therefore I prefer to take the last watch, I can then tuck in early"

Audyn nods. "Sleep sounds great, yeah."

random: 1d8 ⇒ 8
The night passes without incident. Next day the sun gets up, just as it did the day before and the heat starts again. If anything today is hotter!

Luckily before it gets too hot, you get a good view to the northwest. Mountains! The Silken Way is known to pass through the Zho mountains near the river, and Hokama recognizes a nearby peak that he knows to mark a secondary pass that connects to the Silken Way - on the opposite side of the mountains.

However before that, you notice some birds circling a spot in the desert maybe a kilometer away...

Luralee casts endure elements again, grabs her gear and waits for the others to stir. "Shall we go to the secondary pass?"

"D'ya think we oughta check out them vultures? Could be some poor sap left ta die or somethin'. Plus, I doubt it's much of a detour, is it?", he says as he puts on his baggy robe. Holy, the stuff you can conceal under them clothes...

"I agree with Parker, we should check what those vultures are so exited about"

Half buried in the sand is a body. Somewhat eaten. Myrd's keen eyes detect a glimmer of metal in the sand.. an ornate dagger buried in the figures back. Nearby is also a fez, somewhat squashed. This looks like Mahmoud, and it would appear he was killed by his own wares...

"Hmm... perhaps it is good we were separated.", Iron Feathers comments about Mahmoud's state after Myrd points it out to the party.

"Poor soul. Let us bury him."

"I don't think burying him in sand would be as effective or fitting as we think. In fact, I'll wager if we could ask him, Mahmoud would much rather we set off immediately to avenge him."

The day grows progressively hotter. However by mid-morning you are in the foot hills. While still hot, the pure baking heat of the desert is broken up by small patches of (still hot) shade, and the occasional breath of cooler air from the higher peaks of the mountains.

So long as you don' wear armor, there is no need for the fort saves

Hokama points out The Sultan's Nose (not its official name!)- a prominent peak that marks the pass he knows.

The canyon you follow through the mountains opens onto a wider vale, and should connect to the main route of the Silken Way not many miles ahead. However, your attention is arrested by a breathtaking sight: one wall of the mountain valley is occupied by a massive monument. A natural prominence in the red- and brown-veined strata of the rock walls ahead has been sculpted on a grand scale into a gargantuan idol depicting a man seated in the lotus position with a tall, pointed crown
on his head. Though the years have worn the features of this sculpture into a nearly smooth finish with cave openings where mouth and eyes should be, there are enough details of face and clothing remaining to recognize the distinctive Eastern features and garb that the statue once bore. An eerie, forlorn song floats on the breeze that brings to mind a sense of bone gnawing loneliness.

And a will save DC 16! Those lonely songs always have a will save

Map is updated with picture of the figure.

And if you make the well save, then

Will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

"What strange, sweet music..."