[PFS_Aerondor] 00-20 King Xeros of Old Azlant (tier 7-8) (Inactive)

Game Master Aerondor

Herrick steps into the room, but nothing happens...

Favian also feels that the lines engraved into the crystal along these walls give the chamber a sense of motion toward the terminus of the bulkheads.

"Well that was disappointing." sighs Herrick.

"There must be more that we are missing. Anyone notice any other passages? Maybe if we search the bodies we will find a clue." he says, turning​ back to his group.

He walks over and gives the creatures a thorough search.

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"I learned on a mission to the jungle one time that if you think its important, but not certain what it is, you should write it down or take a rubbing. It may not help us now, but someone back at the Society may have a better idea when we get the words back. That way, we can move on."

The creatures are armed with longbows (two of them) and short swords (four) - non of which were drawn. It appears they were hoping the ghost would slow you down more than it did.

Clandelve observes the creatures to see what they are.

Are they the same things we just faced?

There are no new creatures, that is just what Herrick found when searching them.

Aside from the small room at the prow, there seems to be no other obvious areas unexplored in the ship.

How about room 2. I never saw a way into there.

You have not found a way into the area marked "2"

From the outside it looked like a complex and towering superstructure of crystal that rises above the topside decks at the ship’s stern. A great, convex lens of opaque crystal seems to take up most of its forward face, flanked by facet-cut segments of the hull that serve as focuses for the lens. Wide, sail-like extensions of crystal extend out from the command structure perpendicularly—parallel to the water.

But you get a feeling that the way forward is through the secret room you discovered.

knowledge(pick one): 1d20 ⇒ 20 that is a 35 for Arcana/22 engineering/I can't get higher than Favian on his planes roll

Search/perception roll: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (9) + 23 = 32 Looking for any other hidden doors in the rest of the cabin, behind them, since we don't know how to go forward...

Aeris scratches his head, trying to puzzle out how to get to other parts of the ship. "Hmm, these lines give such a strong sense of motion, I wonder if this whole little room moves, maybe along the engraved lines? Could the lines serve as tracks for it or something?" He looks at his companions and says, "I've no idea how to evaluate such a thing, aside from just trying to push the thing. Anyone got a better idea?"

No idea if this is a fruitful direction to pursue, but our noble GM seems to be emphasizing the phrasing about the lines giving a sense of motion towards the terminus of the bulkheads.

Has anyone actually touched the engraved lines yet? If not, Caduceus will try that.

Caduceus touches the lines... nothing happens straight away, but as he runs his hands up them.

random: 1d100 ⇒ 24
He vanishes, in sudden pop of displaced air.

Not wanting Caduceus to be alone, Herrick rushes to do the same, hoping nothing has happened to his new friend in the interim.

"Well, that's not exactly what I was thinking..." Aeris says, reaching out to run his hands up the engraved lines, hoping to follow Caduceus wherever he's gone.

One by one the first three pathfinders pop out of existence...

How about the rest of you? And who has played S1- The Tomb of Horrors?

Favian casts detect magic and starts observing the magical effects as people pop out.

Arcana: 10 + 14 = 24

I've played Tomb of Horrors, but it was 30 years ago, so I'm not making the connection.

Any chance of a description of what the disappeared ones see, or are we just gone from all planes of existence?

Also played it many (shakes head in disbelief) <sigh> decades ago. Missing the connection as well.

BTW, this was so not the plan, lol. Thanks for joining me.

"This place is just full of surprises," the sword says.

Silas ignores it. "Whatever happened to them will happen to me.".

Silas will follow suit.

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Tomb of Horrors - At the end of a hall is the face of a Great Green Devil, it's wide mouth opening into a dark space beyond.

People who entered the space were "whisked away" in an instant. But in reality the dark space was a Sphere of Annihilation and anyone who touched it was irrevocably destroyed.

Tomb of Horrors - At the end of a hall is the face of a Great Green Devil...

As soon as I read these words I remembered the illustration from the module! Gamer geek points: I used to play with Erol Otis, who did that drawing!

Never played it, but I've heard of it. Insane!

Clandelve spits as several of the Pathfinders vanish.

"Ah hate thes place," he murmurs.

I'm not doing anything until those with some magic skills figure out what is going on.

Never played it but that sounds pretty brutal. I really hope we haven't just vaporized ourselves.

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You met Eril Otis! Wow, that is serious gamer geek points. He did heaps of the early art. And I think if you mix up his name you get some spells and magic items as well. And yes, that was the reference I was going for. But enough scaring young pathfinders.

One by one the group appears in another crystalline room. It is small and has steep steps leading upwards.

I've not moved you on the map, as the room is quite small and it would be messy with your icons. But you are all crammped into a small area with a single obvious ..

Once he appears in the new room, Favian will move towards the only exit.

Not sure where that would put me.

Favian climbs the stairs, along with a few of the other pathfinders.

map updated

This feels like the heart of the strange ship, and the pulse of its energy is almost palpable. The cabin is dominated by a cube composed entirely of brass that balances on one point atop a 3-foot crystal plinth, where it rotates slowly counter clockwise. Every inch of this cubiform monolith is covered in cramped script, symbols, schematic designs, and glyphs. Blue tracers of power flash across its surface every few seconds and are absorbed into these etched characters.

Know, Religion: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Know, Planes: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Know, Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Uncertain what else to do, the paladin takes out his kit and begins to take rubbings of as many symbols and glyphs he can for later study.

Favian carefully examines the cube.

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25
Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17
Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4

The box acts as a giant puzzle box of which various parts can be slid around to create new configurations of the characters on its sides. This is easily ascertained by Caduceus. However, the meanings and functions of doing so are less obvious.

The cube is able to be manipulated like a three dimensional puzzle. Caduceus gets the feeling that it can be used to control various aspects of the ship. There are two particular function that Caduceus thinks he might be able to work out - though what the consequences of getting it wrong are he is unsure of - unlikely to be good.

The first is the ability to release something. No clue as to what or where. To try and activate that will be a know(arcana) or raw INT check.

The second is the ability to open something. Again no clue as to what or where. To try and activate this function you can do either a know(engineering) or a wisdom check.

Do you need me to make another or use the one I just rolled?

Ninaj'ed- that depends on whether you wanted to activate the release function. If so, I'm happy to take the roll.

Why not? As a Taldan (and one of those quite ready to talk all about how great Taldans as descendants of the Azlanti) he would of course want to be the first to make a discovery.

The room pulses for a second, and then an old crone emerges from the crystal bulkhead of the ship.
stuff: 7d20 ⇒ (9, 10, 16, 11, 3, 10, 19) = 78

Status, bold may post
(LL)Clandelve - 12 damage (12) ;
(LL)Aeris
(LL)Favian -
(LL)Herrick
Silias - 6 damage;
crone
Caduceus

Favian will see if he can identify the crone that was released in case she isn't human.

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29
Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17

Action TBD based on what I learn or don't learn.

Favian doesn't think anything particular of the old woman. He can't place her race though. Obviously that is very suspicious.

Unsure whether they've just freed a captive or unleashed an opponent, Aeris waits to see what the old woman does.

Is it obvious in any way that she's going to attack? If not, I'll delay.

All that is obvious at the moment is that an old lady has emerged from the crystal hull of the ship.

Drawing his wand, Favian looks at the old crone.

I hope you have some reasonable explanation of why you are on this ship. So far everything here has tried to kill us.

"Excellent, Favian!" Silas says approvingly, not caring that he doesn't recognize the old woman's race-- what Silas doesn't know could fill libraries. "You've freed a captive!"

"How do you know she isn't a demon?" the sword asks in an amused tone.

Silas pauses, unsure. "Iomedae will show us." He closes his eyes in prayer. "The Inheritor's light dispels all shadows," he mutters, and opens his eyes.
Using detect evil and focusing on the crone.

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Silas certainly detects an evil aura to the old woman.

I'll do an update hopefully later today if others have not yet posted.

Lol, I'm not going until first next round (saying last this round just sounds so negative!)

"An enemy of my enemy perhaps."Herrick says quietly to his friends.

Then in a more audible voice he addresses the old woman, "Stay there. We wish you no harm. If provoked, we will respond in kind. Tell us who you are and how you came to be here." Herrick says, with his bow held low, ready to snap up and fire should the woman prove aggressive.

Know Arcana: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24
Know local/humanoid: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (19) + 20 = 39
Know Planes: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (6) + 20 = 26
Know Religion: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (15) + 19 = 34

Deadly Aim, PBS, Heroism/arrow type depending on Know check
Readied attack: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19
Damage: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Herrick recognises the woman as a night hag. A wicked outsider. Immune to extreems of both cold and heat, they live on fear and are highly resistant to both magic and weapons that are not made of enchanted cold iron.

"You wish me no harm?" she sneers.

"An old lady. I'm so glad you are worried for my safety. How should I know how I got here. It seems you know more of this place than me. One moment I was swarmed by four armed devils, and then... nothing until now."

Glad he has held his shot for the moment, Aeris responds to the hag, "It seems this odd boat - for that is where you are, on a crystal ship - has bounced us all around. As my friend says, we mean you no harm, and simply want to understand why the ship is here."

"And I simply want to understand where here is." she snaps back.

"Oh, bring an old lady a chair will you. This is all rather too much for me."

I'll drop us out of rounds for the moment, which means you do have time to try a diplomacy check on her if you wanted to.

In a cold voice Herrick says, "There are no chairs here so you will have to make do with standing. To answer your question of where here is, you are in the harbor of the city of Absalom. Given that we believe this ship is incredibly old, you may not know that name. Make no mistake, we know your kind night hag, yet we are willing to speak with you still. Share what you know of this ship and your captors. We have already encountered and defeated a few of the four armed devils ourselves and we stand a good chance of helping you survive this."

With a slight narrowing of his eyes, Herrick searches her aura for dishonesty. As other questions are asked by his group, he continues to search her aura for signs of deception.

Herrick will use discern lies(DC18 Will), as the at will inquisitor spell like ability.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Aeris is better suited to aid a Diplomacy check, I'll just figure what I said previously counts as my contribution to that.

Diplomacy, Aid Someone More Charismatic: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Of course, Caduceus and Silas, likely our most diplomatic types, may have no interest in making nice with her. We'll see.

rolls: 5d20 ⇒ (18, 8, 14, 7, 11) = 58

"No chairs?" scowls the hag.

"And I know your type, human. Just as not all humans are alike, neither are all of my kind. You should think on that before spouting accusations."

"I can't tell you much about this ship, but it would appear I have been here for some time. I had strange dreams. I assume there are a lot of other creatures also captured. I know that recently however long that is, my confinement changed, and the ship started to suck out my life forces. Slowly but surely."

She spits on the group. "The four armed devils are not smart enough to control this ship themselves. They must have another way to do it. I had dreams of a strange crystal tree... I felt its presence as the ship sucked my life force from me.

Nothing obvious in the way of lies so far as Herrick can tell.

Since the woman makes no attempt to attack, Silas keeps his flaming sword in hand but pointed down. "You say you're different than the others, but the truth of the Inheritor is telling me you have an evil past. But the Acts says, 'Even the wickedest can know the Inheritor's mercy.' Do you reject the evil in your heart and turn to the Lady of Justice?"

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"I see no need to serve any other lady." snarls the old woman, who seems to take a degree of offence to Silas's words.

"Now you nice young folk should really just show me the way out of here. No need to keep pointing your flaming sticky things around. I'm sure the young lady lizards are most impressed with it, but I'm a bit beyond that."

She pauses for a moment. "And you should know that my type, no matter what may be in our hearts, will always be seen as evil by you."

She sighs. "But I can see you are a mercenary lot. I suppose you want to be paid for helping out an old lady. Well, I do have some small stones I put aside for my old age."

She fishes out a pouch from within her ragged clothes.

"I suppose you want to take all my retirement money. Well, if that is what the world has come to, then so be it. Better an old lady begging on the streets, than to have my life slowly sucked out of me by this crystal prison." she glances nervously at the sword.

"or quickly removed by your burning sword. Really, you can put it away."
She tosses the pouch to Herrick.