[PFS_Aerondor] 05-11: The Library of the Lion PbP GameDay 3 (Inactive)

Game Master Aerondor

The wall nearby swings away, and a passage extends out, into darkness. After a moment or two, you can make out what appears to be a spiral staircase at the end, maybe fifteen feet down the passage. The stairs go down into an inky blackness.
2

Excellent! Grimbli, are you carrying and capable of setting the cards under the chairs to take our place? Let us see what we shall see.

Where it me, I would be tempted to set an immobilizing trap at the entrance. Once Malaika sees some one setting the cards, he will begin to carefully examine the revealed entrance.

perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

And there goes my future in code cracking. Kath thinks jokingly.

Kath will assist with setting up the cards and will prepare himself to go down, retrieving his buckler from his pack and strapping it on his arm, sword as always ready on his waist.

After about half a minute of checking Malaika suspects there are no traps the entrance to the corridor

1d6 ⇒ 6
2.6

I light my lantern. I will try to take the second position.

Kath sets the cards under the chairs, and very realistic illusions spring into being.

Eissen lights a lantern, which shows the 15' passage much more clearly now. It ends in a spiral stair, heading downwards.

On the inside of the secret door there is a catch, which allows it to be opened and closed from the inside quite easily.

"Well, that is certainly not your standard fare in a library." Grimbli pauses, thinking, then continues, "...or perhaps it is, and I just haven't been looking hard enough. This will require some further consideration on my part." With that, he proceeds down the corridor, casting a spell to light the way.

Grimbli will cast light on his cestus to help with illumination.

Kath will glady take the front or the rear.

Ready to walk down Periel trusts his nightvision more than the lamp but takes rearguard.

The stairs descend 20' to a 10x20' room. A pair of double doors (shut) lead out of it. Illumination is by Grimboli's magic light and Eissen's lantern.

Now is a good time to let me know what, if anything, you are doing in the way of stealth and such. Remember using the 'stealth' skill means moving slower.

3

BTW, map has been updated.

Think it would be worth Stealthing? In my opinion probably not with the time constraints. Additionally assuming taking a 10 the entire time, I think Periel would be around a 5. Also I find this might be - relevant :).

Kath will open the double doors at the bottom.

Yes, for a time pressure situation, where I'm assuming we have to spend it searching as well means that anything that takes a lot of time to do potentially isn't a very good idea. This doesn't seem like a scenario that rewards out of the box thinking, since it seems to be heavily focused around the time constraint

This long stone hallway stretches from north to south with
several sets of doors along its east and west walls. The south
wall bears a 10-foot-square field of carved divots that create no
particular pattern. An inscription above the carving reads “The
keenest eyes cannot see everything. Always remember to see
the big picture.”

3.3

I'm a poor choice for front of the line, but I do have a pretty high perception along with darkvision. So I'w willing to be close to the front.

Oh, btw, Grimbli left Fluffy back in the room with strict orders to stay - I doubt there was a card for him...

Handle Animal (Stay, Link): 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 9 + 4 = 24

Grimbli turns to the others. "I don't suppose any of you know what that drivel means? No? Well, let's see..." He walks up to the square of dots, touching some of the lower ones - those he can reach without Fluffy under him - and looking at them from different angles (mostly lower ones), and finally - when and if all else fails - crossing his eyes at them in a final show of defiance.

Grimbli will opt for next to last in line.

Grimbli may want to make a perception check

I completely missedFluffy. Normally animals are not allowed in the library. LEts assume you talked Tobias around. Fluffy sits calmly in the rate books section of the library.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Yep, there's a wall there...

Hmm... Let me have a look.

perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
Do the divots look like something intentionally carved or impact marks from something hitting the wall?
How deep are they?
Do any of them look more like a hole that something could come out or or that something like a key could be inserted into?

Is the south wall the one farthest from the stairs we came down?

I guess it's time to check out the doors.

North is at the top of the map

The divots do look intentional.

This long stone hallway stretches from north to south with

several sets of doors along its east and west walls. ...

North is at the top of the map ...

Something doesn't match ;)

Bah, north is at the right of the map.

Got to check these things.

Alright, I walk up to the first door on the right and try to open it.

Eissen opens the door and peers in.

Thousands of books line the dozens of shelves in this high ceilinged
library. Several tables and chairs near the center of
the room provide a place to read quietly, and five rows of pewlike
benches nearby face an immense lion’s head carved from
the eastern wall.

Okay, anything in particular you want to do before you start looking for books?

Everyone should read the discussion thread, for a note about searching for books.

Looking in from the doorway, Malaika cast Detect Magic through the door into the large room.
I think we should have a quick look through to be sure no one is down here to find us where we are not supposed to be.

Malaika goes over to listen at then open the first door on the west wall.

No magic within 60' of the door way of the large room. but you realise that the far wall is probably about the limit of the spell

Looking through the western door, Malaika sees another sight.

This well-lit room holds many chairs aligned towards two giant
chalkboards that hang on the north wall. Along the opposite
wall, several shelves hold books on sundry topics. Simple but
colorful tapestries hang along the north wall, giving the room
a bright appearance despite the lack of sunlight and the dour
portrait of Grand Prince Stavian III affixed to the south wall.

For searching purposes this room (b3 on the map) is a Small room

4

Detect magic in this room also. Then if no magic, look at a few books in each room before starting a detailed search. Does there appear to be any sort of organization? Time frame, subject, part of the world, politics, whatever?

Periel will assist Malaika searching Aid: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (18) - 3 = 15

Kath would like to search for the book.

Preception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

A minute looking at the shelf near the door shows that there is an order to the place, but there are a lot of topics.

hold up. As noted in the discusison thread, there are particular rules for searching. Also there is no need to make a specific aid roll, everyone can search, and I take the best roll, everyone else auto aids. When you decide you want to search let me know the room you are all searching, and either roll, or I can do a mass roll for everyone.

5

Big Room First, then Small room

While starting to search the main library, Cathetel keeps getting a feelng of being watched. Once, when he turns his head fast, he is sure he sees the lions head on the wall quickly move back into it's 'normal' setting.

Malaika also thinks he sees the head move. When he mentions it quietly, with Eissen and Grimboli also catch glimpses of movement from it...

Pausing the search for a moment, or you can just continue searching if you want.

6

Let's keep searching, it must have been nothing. Kath, would you mind looking at that shelf over there. He points to some shelves over near the lions head.

Not really having seen the movement Kath doesn't mind going to those shelves and looking around a bit.

What? Yeah, sure I suppose.

While making notes on what he's looking through, Malaika writes "The lines head statue on the wall may be moving. Please be ready if something comes out of it." on a piece of paper and passes it to Kath.

Cathetel glances over at the note, and nods in confirmation, before tentatively returning to searching, while being on guard for something unexpected to occur.

The team of Pathfinders searches the main library.

The team turns up four books of interest, and thinks there may be yet more to find. (another search would only take an extra ten minutes and will turn up one extra book of interest).

The texts found include:
A cross reference: A book refernces another promising text. If only you could find where that other text is.... (you can use this to get a +3 bonus on single skill check to find texts)
Some hand written notes: There are extensive notes scribbled in the margins of this book. These hand-written insights could be key to your next big discovery. (again, you can use this as a +3 on a single skill check made to find texts)
Prolific Author: It appears that a long-dead historian wrote more than a dozen books on the topics you're researching. Perhaps you can find other insightful books by this author. (again, +3 to another check)
Bibliographic references: Several relevant books have extensive indices and bibliographies that might point to even greater discoveries. (surprise, surprise, this one gives +5 to another search).

During the searching, each of you feels eyes on you from time to time.

26

Kath would love to use one of those to find the cipher he's been looking for.

They will help in the generic search sence, which could find a cypher in the right room.. but you can't use them to just 'find a cypher' unfortunately.

Grimbli sighs, "Well, as much fun as this might be, I'd prefer to not be down here all day, if it's all the same to you." He turns to the others, "Let's go check out the rooms on the other side of the hallway." He indicates the door that the group arrived through.

During the search of the main library room, the group could hear odd bits of music filtering through the complex. At one stage the group could hear some especially loud music. If you wanted to do something noisy, being able to time it to the music would be...helpful.

Returning to the hallway, the group once again finds itself in the oddly decorated hallway.

GM, those things we found in the large room can only be used once. Correct?
If so, I suggest we save them until we have an idea of the organization and have a good guess where is best to really concentrate our search.
.
Let's go check this smaller room next. Same searching in B3.

Yes, each can be used once.

The pathfinders head into the smaller room to the north.

This well-lit room holds many chairs aligned towards two giant
chalkboards that hang on the north wall. Along the opposite
wall, several shelves hold books on sundry topics. Simple but
colorful tapestries hang along the north wall, giving the room
a bright appearance despite the lack of sunlight and the dour
portrait of Grand Prince Stavian III affixed to the south wall.

A brass plaque on the frame of the portrait reads, “To
serve Taldor, I must first learn the history of Taldor.”

It only takes the crew a few minutes to search this smaller room.

Aside from an hourglass on the desk, the team does turn up a couple more interesting finds.

A hidden gem Right next to one great discovery, you make another incredible find! (when you find a text in a room, you can use this to find an additional one, if there is one to find, if there is none to find, then you can play it again in another room.)
A card catalogue This aging card catalog system notes where one
might find various types of information. The reference is somewhat dated and inaccurate. (you can use this twice to learn how many useful books may be discovered in a room)

32

Well I guess we should check the next room on this hallway before heading across the large room.

Grimbli nods, and begins making his way down the hall.

The team checks out the last door from the main passage.

This room’s well-worn wooden floor sets it apart from the others.
The west wall is lined with shelves that support books, a variety
of instruments, and dozens of rectangular baskets that contain
loose sheaves of paper. Several chairs are pushed against the
wall, and a portrait of the Grand Prince hangs to east, surveying
everything in the room with magisterial authority.

If you want to search this room, you may also use the perform skill. Let me know if that is your wish, otherwies I'll use the standard rolls I have above should you want to search.

33

This is different. I wonder why?
Yup, I want to search.

Anyone want to use perform as the basis for their search rather than their normal search? Given it is the weekend, I'll probably update this tomorrow, if I get time.

What the heck, just to be different, I'll try a performance check untrained at +4. You want to roll it with the others or want me to roll it?

You can roll it.