[PFS CORE] GM Alias 0-13: Prince of Augustana (Inactive)

Game Master Jon A

"Sirs. We mean you no harm." Evarice starts as she sheathes her glaive. "We had heard stories of the Almsman, and wanted to thank him, or her, for helping a friend of ours. He says he was terribly wounded but the Almsman's efforts gave him another chance."

She nods to her allies, hoping they will chime in. "May we see the Almsman? I don't know how to greet this person."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

"Come, let us try to help each other." Taerel says, trying to reinforce Eva's attempt.

Diplomacy Aid: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (18) - 2 = 16

The old man eyes the group warily as they approach. He listens to what the party has to say. “If yer intentions be peaceful, Abadar makes you welcome.” He allows them to pass.

Beyond the door, a short flight of steps leads up into what appears to be the basement crypt of a church of Abadar. Perhaps two dozen beggars huddle among sarcophagi, some sleeping, some haggling over bits of junk or scraps of food laid out on blankets.

A tall man in clean robes wearing a plain copper mask walks among them. As the group enters he regards them coolly and says, “If you respect this sanctuary, I offer you what sanctuary I can. Otherwise, begone!”

Varian raises his hands in a gesture of peace.

"Good Sir! We have no intention of visiting violence upon you or your charges, unless it is visited upon us first. We simply seek information - a beggar apparently passed through here, calling himself Gandros, the lost Prince of Augustana, and we are simply seeking to back-track his route, to work-out where he came from."

"First off, thank you all you have done to help the people of Absalom. I wish I were capable of your altruism and generosity." Evarice starts. "After my investigation is over, I would like to help you help others, if you would allow it."

Evarice shakes her head. "I'm getting ahead of myself, though. As Varian mentioned, Gandros mentioned that you aided him when he floated here, wounded. Did he mention anything else about himself? Do you know where he came from?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 d'oh!

Evarice is excited to finally meet the Almsman. In fact, she's so excited she is gesticulating wildly, like a giddy girl!

As she finishes observing the scene, making occasional notes, Imrana starts then bows deeply.

"How very nice to meet you. My name is Imrana. I believe my companions have already told you everything of importance to our current investigation."

”Yes, I know where Gandros used to dwell. But I am dealing with a bit of a crisis here, and don’t have time to give you directions. The Steel Wyverns have given us until two hours hence to come up with a hefty payment for “protection services”. Not only do we not have the money, but I’m afraid if we pay them off, it will just embolden them to demand more in the future. I have convinced several of the faithful here to help defend our sanctuary, but these are not fighting men. I fear things will go very badly for us. So unless you have the willingness or the means to help in our defense, I suggest you move on and let us face our fate.”

He then turns to a small group in the corner who appear sick. Looking around at the men in this room, you can tell they will be no match for several armed thugs.

"Charity and I get to rough up some thugs?" Evarice smiles. "Sheyln has given me a chance to help those who need it the most. My friends and I will do our best to drive those thugs away."

She nods to her companions, assuming they'll agree with her.

Varian nods.

"I think that we would be happy to engage in a a little quid pro quo... We've already dealt with one bunch of these thugs, so another should not be too much trouble."

Aloisius nods and bounces about. "Yup! As long as they stay away from me with those spikey chains of their's, I'll be fine!"

"Your offer is much appreciated. If you are able to remove the threat of the Steel Wyverns, I will aid you in whatever way I am able."

You have about two hours until the gang shows up. Map is linked at the top. The grey rectangles are immovable sarcophagi that are 3 feet high. The doors are sturdy wooden doors. The secret door at the top leads to the church on the surface.

Formulate your plan, and let me know when you are ready.

Ooo, Tower Defense! I'm good at that!

"If they are coming from the sewers." Evarice notes, "I'll stand watch at the door, glaive ready. They'll have to get past me first. I can protect myself for a few seconds and force them to waste time thinking about attacking me. That should give you time to wear them down from afar."

In game: Evarice has a reach weapon and Sanctuary. She'll cast Sanctuary first to force them to make will saves before they can attack her, then she'll keep them boxed in with her glaive. This should give you a round or two to zappy zap with magic.

Bad news: Evarice's attack is +1, so she'll have trouble hitting anything reasonably. And she's at a squishy 8 HP...Elves.

Imrana takes up a position to the west of the entrance.

"I will stand to the side and prepare to use Color Spray, if they come in grouped-up. If that is...um...okay."

"I have a wand that can hit 'em every time to help you out! Oh! Oh! Color spray! Gotta love that one. When it works, that is..."

Imrana flips through her spellbook, humming to herself.

"I hope I can still do it correctly. It has been four-thousand- one-hundred-forty-years since I last cast it."

"Sounds reasonable to me. I'll wait to see whether they survive that onslaught, before committing myself to melee."

"Would one of you reinforce this magical armor on me? Every bit helps."

Can anyone cast Mage Armor? We don't actually know when the attack will occur, so I guess we'd have to spend 2 castings.

"That I can do!" Aloisius can either cast it now and again or just wait for closer to two hours, whichever is preferred.

Imrana raises her hand.

"Um...do not forget that I have a wand of Mage Armor!"

"I can do that, too!" Aloisius' hands are starting to get full of wands....

"As can I, helping with the use of the wand. I also prefer to keep the protections up when battles seem likely."

"Since they won't be expecting us, I say we keep this simple. Let's hide around the corner, and wait for them to enter, and then we can surprise them. Any who do not want to risk a sword in the face can hide back in the room behind sarcophagi, and the rest will come up from behind them."

Ok plan? Let's rebuff Mage armors as needed, not knowing exacly how long it will take.

Hint: You could have one of the beggars serve as a lookout. That way you only have to use the wand when it is effective.

@Aloisius and Varian: Please position your icons on the map. If there are any other last minute preparations, get those posted. Once that is done I will start the encounter.

Great, a lookout should work wonders. In that case, once the lookout signals, Taerel will also cast magic weapon on his longsword.

Aloisius awaits by the others until the signla is given, brandishing his wand like a fencer would an epee. Clearly, he has an issue with doing nothing but waiting...

When the signal is given, he helps cast Mage Armour before running behind a sarcophagus, pulling out his own wand of Magic Missile.

So is that 4 mage armors then? lol

Well, we *are* an arcane-heavy party ;-)

No armor for Aloisius. He will just help fascilitate all of you. =)

The party hurriedly makes their preparations for the gang’s attack. Roughly two hours after you entered the sanctuary, you hear footsteps and laughter approaching from the west. A voice calls out “Almsman! What say you? Are you resisting or giving us what we want? I hope you’re resisting!”

You have enough time to cast your preparatory spells before you engage.

”Ah, so the mystery man invited some guests. Let’s show them what it’s like to get stung by the Steel Wyverns!”

Initiative:
1st: Randalan (thug leader)
2nd: Thugs; Varian
3rd: Taerel, Imrana, Evarice, Aloisius

"Get in there you lousy bums, and show 'em what you're made of." The leader of the gang stays out of sight around the corner, urging his men on. Bardic Performance: Inspire Courage

Two of the thugs move up and attempt to attack Evarice with their spiked chains. But the holy emanations surrounding her prevent them from attacking.

A third thug (red) moves up and swings his chain at Varian.

Spiked chain, AC 16: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

But in all the excitement, his swing goes wide.

Initiative:
1st: Randalan (thug leader)
2nd: Thugs; Varian
3rd: Taerel, Imrana, Evarice, Aloisius

Party is up!

If Varian doesn't close into melee, Evarice will take a five foot step to block off the red thug.

She concentrates, praying to Sheyln for protection.

Concentration DC 17: 1d20 + 1 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 2 + 2 = 9

But Sheyln does not hear her prayer.

"Well, it was worth a shot." She keeps her glaive ready.

Taerel will happily attack the (red) thug in front of him.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

After Taerel takes down the closest (red) thug, Varian loads his sling, and fires a bullet at the next one (purple)...

Sling: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22, for 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 damage.

Crit Confirmation: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19, for 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 *ADDITIONAL* damage.

...the stone hitting him right between the eyes!

Round 1

Taerel takes a big swing at the thug in front of him, driving his sword through the man’s chest. Varian launches a stone from his sling, nailing one of them, dropping him in his tracks. Evarice attempts to complete a prayer to Shelyn, but is unable to maintain her concentration.

Initiative:
1st: Randalan (thug leader)
2nd: Thugs; Varian
3rd: Taerel, Imrana, Evarice, Aloisius

Imrana and Aloisius are up!

Imrana bites her lip slightly as she calculates angles in her head, then she steps back to fire off a Color Spray.

DC 15 Will Save. The area is marked out in the bright cyan

@Imrana: Red and Purple are unconscious, so at present, you are only really hitting one target. However, if you 5' step in front of Varian, you will hit more of the conscious foes ;-)

K, fixed

Aloisius peers around to see the man who is leading these guys and points his wand at him. Despite the cover, the missile of magic heads toward its target!

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Round 1, continued

Imrana steps up and casts a spell. A spray of vibrant colors leaps from her hands, engulfing the gang. The two remaining thugs drop unconscious. The leader, while still awake, is stunned and unable to act. Aloisius points his wand at the leader, zapping him with a bolt of magical energy.

Two thugs are unconscious from wounds, two are unconscious due to the color spray, and the leader is unable to act for two rounds. Combat is effectively over. Let me know what you want to do with the gang members when they revive.

"Good job, Imrana!"

Tie them up, and hand them over to the Church of Abadar? I am sure they would be perfectly willing to throw the full weight of the law at them ;-)

Go Arcane Onslaught!

"Phew. Let's disarm and tie these guys up. Maybe we can remind their boss not to mess with this territory."

"Ooo! Yes! That sounds like a plan..."

Varian immediately begins riffling their pockets to see what interesting loot they have.

The party quickly subdues the group of thugs, and is able to disarm and bind them. The Almsman approaches you, saying: ”Thank you for your assistance with our problem. We will turn these men over to the proper authorities. It will be some time before we have to deal with their kind again.”

The leader is wearing +1 studded leather and has a masterwork whip. The thugs aren’t carrying anything of interest.

The Almsman then gives you directions to the prince’s dwelling. ”You must travel east to the next branch south, then look for a mossy, overgrown door marked “Skytower” along the south wall. Here, these may aid you in your endeavors. Go with the grace of Abadar.” The Almsman gives the party two vials of oil of bless weapon.

The Almsman’s directions lead to a heavy wooden door. A sign on the door is partially obscured by grime and moss, and the word “Skytower” is still barely legible. The door is unlocked, and leads to a small room.

This room was once the basement of a building above, but the stairs in the far corner are now choked with charred rubble and seem to lead to a new stone foundation of the new building above. Odd furniture and knick-knacks of all description fill the remaining space, and strange winged effigies made of wood and broken pottery are arrayed in a bizarre diorama. The focal point of this display is a pair of chairs standing on different-sized piles of old crates like thrones on a dais. A charred and shriveled corpse dressed in rotting and burnt finery and wearing a tin crown is propped up in one of the chairs while the other, lower chair, sits vacant. His tin crown bears a crude inscription that reads “Emperor Relios.”

Everyone can hear shuffling and snorting sounds coming from the farthest vault to the west.

New map at the top. Please arrange yourselves in any of the chambers except the one furthest west.

If no one minds, Evarice will take the +1 Studded Leather Armor, putitng her AC at 17. She won't need Mage Armor anymore for this adventure. She'll also take an oil of bless weapon.

After the Almsman gives instructions and aid, she offers to shake his hand. "Thank you for your help, Almsman. I will return afterwards to aid your mission to the best of my abilities. Sheyln be praised."

In the Skytower, Evarice leads the way, wielding her Glaive.

I'll also happy take an Oil of Bless Weapon.

Varian winces when he sees the crude display, and the corpse propped-up on the throne.

"So much for the Emperor..."

When he hears movement ahead, however, he moves forward to back-up Evarice.

Aloisius slaps Varian on the thigh as he walks past him. "Just means there's room for a new one. Since anyone can grab a crown and be emperor..." Before anyone can stop him, the gnome jumps and grabs the crown from atop the corpse's head, placing it on his own head. This proves no easy task with the plumes of blue hair coming out the top of his wizard's hat. "Bow before me!" he jests softly before turning towards the direction of the noises.

"Pssst, Varian, what's the elven word for 'emperor'?"

Varian regards Aloisius curiously.

"Well, in Old High Elven, there is no word for 'Emperor'... the closest approximation would be Aran, which means 'King'."

"Hehehehe! You are quite the jokester, Aloisus."

Imrana investigates the various knick-knacks spead about with a curiousity completely devoid of judgment, until she comes to the corpse. She takes special care to investigate it for signs of undeath.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

"Old High Elven, huh? What about just plain current Elven? Isn't it somethin' like.... oh what was it.... Ymerawdwr? And what is makin' that sound?"

"I fail to see how this proves anything, surely this is not the real corpse of an emperor, right?"