[PFS][Core] GM Socrates presents Master of the Fallen Fortress (Inactive)

Game Master caps

Please ninja-dot into the Gameplay thread. A ninja-dot is where you delete your dotting post after making it

A wide field of shattered weapons, barrow mounds, and mass graves surrounds the city of Absalom, a vast plain known as The Cairnlands. Rising from the war-torn earth like the grasping arms of the dead are countless siege castles, towers, and fortresses constructed over the millenia by would-be warlords who tried to take the great city and inevitably failed. Like forgotten monuments to failed conquerors, the siege castles of Absalom beckon the brave, the fearless, and the foolish with the promise of adventure and untold treasures, ever ready to create heroes or to entomb the fallen.

--

Venture Captain Drandle Dreng summons you to his office. You find him in the middle of a meal. "Ah yes, come in come in." He says as he takes a moment between bites. He takes a gulp of wine and then smiles at you. "Ah, what a vintage. Thank you all for coming!" He says and takes another bite of food, gesturing for you all to sit down. "One of our agents, Balenar Forsend, brought a fortress in the Cairnlands to my attention recently--more of a tower really, but he liked to call it a fortress." He takes another gulp of wine and continues "I gave him permission to explore it by himself, but I haven't heard from him in a while now and I'm beginning to feel concerned. I'd like you all to check it out, find out what happened to him. You shouldn't have trouble recognizing him, he had a wayfinder after all. Of course, while you're there I'd like you to make sure the whole place has been explored." He takes another bite of food and then scribbles on a piece of paper while he chews. He swallows and hands the paper over to one of you. "These instructions should get you there. Now, out of my office! I have other things to attend to."

"What kind of foes should we expect?" says a heavily armored woman.

The small halfling's face lights up at mention of the wine- one that slowly turns to a frown as the Venture Captain fails to elaborate on the vintage or vinyard of his drink.

"Aside from more information about the wine- of which I am very interested- I do seek just a few clarifications. Why was this agent Forsend so intrigued by this particular tower?

A tall, brown-haired elf-lord armed with a longsword, shield, and stony expression gives the Venture Captain a formal nod at the dismissal, then turns to exit the room. After all, he had been dismissed, had he not?

Zekuli glumly watches the Venture Captain smacking his lips and munching away in front of them. His stomach aches slightly and he wishes he'd taken a larger meal himself before coming. But he reaches out to take the offered piece of paper without comment. So, find this missing guy and then look around while we're there? It sounds like an uninspiring task, but then there are always those missions from time to time. He sighs mentally and prepares to leave.

Pietro doesn't say much--involved as he is with his eating and drinking and merrymaking--and yet he seems the loudest person there. The fact, that he is the size and general temperament of a good-natured avalanche down out of the high country for a little bit of the old 'rough and tumble' helps of course.

"HA-HA-HA-HA!" is his general response to everything.

Confession: I wanted to display Drandle Dreng as an eccentric, but I think I overdid it on the rude side--I'm not sure I've ever seen him be *rude*. Oh well.

Having already turned to the next task, Dreng seems a little surprised to find some of you still standing in his office, but he sets down the paper he had picked up and gives you his full attention for another moment.

"What kind of foes should we expect?" says a heavily armored woman.

"Foes? I haven't the foggiest idea. For all I know Balenar fell and broke his leg and there are no foes."

"Aside from more information about the wine- of which I am very interested- I do seek just a few clarifications. Why was this agent Forsend so intrigued by this particular tower?

"I'll keep the vintage to myself" Dreng says with a twinkle in his eye. "As for the tower, well, if unexplored ruins don't fill you with curiosity and excitement for their own sake, perhaps you are in the wrong profession."

The Venture Captain looks at you expectantly, as if to say anything else?

”Of course I am filled with wonder and excitement! I just thought you might know of some secret history associated with this particular fortress. With so many scattered about the Cairnlands I can never seem to keep them all straight” Her voice brims with energy, specifically emphasizing the ‘secret’ part of history. ”Ya never know when you are about to walk into the ancient stories of Absalom!”

No need to extend this any longer on my behalf- if there isn’t more background info that would be relevant to our quest I am quite content to keep moving on

Dreng looks at you with a blank smile and nods a little, then gives you all a little wave and returns to his work.

If Seelah/Qstor has any further questions, I am happy to answer them, but I'm going to move us forward.

--

You make your way out to the Cairnlands and manage to decipher Dreng's scribbles enough to find the ruined siege tower he described. There are no doors or windows on the smooth surface of the walls. The quatrefoil tower is exposed to the open air due to a dramatic collapse of the eastern wing. The top floor appears intact, but its eastern portion hangs over the large pile of rubble left by the collapse. As you approach it more or less from the east, you can see a gaping hole in the building that should let you inside the tower.

As you near the tower, you hear some barking. To the south, a small pack of dogs are running towards the party. Emaciated, snarling, and barking, they do not look like they are here to make friends.

Initiative Order
Zekuli <= Up
Caelreth <= Up
Pietro <= Up
Hap <= Up
Dogs
Seelah
Arisira

Pietro pulls a wrapped bit of salted pork from his bag (what would have been a part of his dinner, listed as meat in his inventory ), waves it about before the wild canines and then tosses it away from the tower. Might delay until they draw close and the rest of the party has moved nearer the ruins.

"Go get it! Go get the meat! Go get your meat before it's all done!"

untrained handle dogs: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Caelreth unsheathes his sword and readies himself to face the dogs. Ready vs approach.

The dogs, realizing what Pietro has offered them, redirect their attention to the chunk of meat. Between the meat and each other, they are more than occupied.

This is probably letting you off a little easy, but... it's a filler fight anyway. COMBAT OVER

Turning their attention from the dogs (who have taken their squabble over the meat off into the distance) the party can now see that the opening in the second floor should be reachable via challenging climb. On the other hand, the pile of rubble slopes down into a dark opening on the first floor...

As the dogs move off, Pietro points to his head and in a deep, serious, baritone says: "Wisdom... HAHAHAHA!"

He slaps a palm down upon Caelreth's shoulder.

“Well, good thinking!” Zekuli looks at Pietro with genuine respect. “We should move in before they come back looking for more.” He turns to look at the ruined tower and instantly decides he wants nothing to do with climbing up to the second floor. He points to the sloping rubble and suggests, “How about down there.”

As the door slams shut from Captain Greng's dinning room, Arisira lets out a sigh- visibly becoming a little more annoyed. "Ugh! I hate having to appease people just to get what should be freely offered. It's not like we are his servants or anything! Come on, perhaps we will still find stories and treasure...".

---

Seeing the dogs, Arisira quickly draws her bow and nocks an arrow- before realizing that they have run off after a scrap of food. Glancing over at Pietro, she laughs as the tension of looming combat fades from her face. "You know Pietro, the hero's in all of the great stories usually FIGHT their enemies". Laughing, she turns back to the keep. "I guess now the adventure can really start!"

The elven paladin nods and removes a torch from his pack, ready to light it as they decend the slope. "One way is as good as another to me."

The party descends to the first floor entrance. The doorway to the southern wing is completely blocked from the inside by fallen rubble, so the party turns to the right. Seeing the north room is pitch black, Zekuli casts a spell that brings forth light from his shield, while Caelreth lights his torch.

Caelreth, your EQ lists both a sword and a shield. You can only hold one of those at a time while also holding the torch. Let me know which

Standing in the doorway, Caelreth can see the floor is covered in rubble and stone dust. Cobwebs coat the walls and the ceiling. He can also see a door to another room in the southwest corner of this room. After an initial look, Caelreth steps into the room. Before the party can follow getting him and begin to search the room, a web shoots out from the ceiling and lands on some of the rocks near Caelreth! In the corner of the ceiling hangs a man-sized spider!

[u]Initiative Order[/u]
Arisira <= Up
Spider
Zekuli
Seelah
Pietro
Hap
Caelreth
the Spider acted alone in the surprise round. Arisira is up to start the first full round
NOTE: the *entire room* is difficult terrain

As the lighting got poor, Arisira would cast dancing lights and move them in front on the party. Duration is one minute, and she will recast as needed.

Seeing no room to move forward, Arisira calls out to her fellow pathfinders. ”Fellow Pathfinders! Today we will be covered with Glory! Onward for fame and fortune!”. She moves forward to the left of the doorway.

Perform (Oratory): Inspire Courage: +1 to attack and damage. Round 1/7

On my phone, can’t move my token at the moment

Arisiria inspires the party and moves closer to the action. A moment later, another web sticks on to the rocks by Caelreth...

[u]Initiative Order[/u]
Arisira <= Up (for round 2)
Man-sized Spider
Zekuli <= Up
Seelah <= Up
Pietro <= Up
Hap <= Up
Caelreth <= Up

Notes:
the entire room is difficult terrain
the spider is hanging from the ceiling, which is 15' high
Inspire courage is active for this round; +1 to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, and saves against fear

Hap enters through the door, reaches over his back, draws an arrow from his quiver and nocks it into his bow. He fires up at the spider.

Longbow+Fovoured Enemy+Inspire: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 22 Damage+Point Blank Shot+Favoured Enemy+Inspire: 1d8 + 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 + 2 + 1 = 12

Cael stowed his shield when he lit a torch.

With no easy means of reaching the spider from its perch, Caelreth tenses and waits for a better opportunity. Delay.

Seelah in her heavy armor moves slow.

"I can take it. I believe"

double move

Seelah moves into the room, ready for the spider to come down while Caelreth waits. Hap goes into the room and fires an arrow into the spider's abdomen. The spider quivers, clearly in pain.

Initiative Order
Arisira <= Up (for the next round)
Man-sized Spider
Zekuli <= Up
Seelah
Pietro <= Up
Hap
Caelreth
Notes:
the entire room is difficult terrain
the spider is hanging from the ceiling, which is 15' high
Inspire courage is active for this round; +1 to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, and saves against fear

also, the spider is not an animal

Seelah in her heavy armor moves slow.

"I can take it. I believe"

double move

Before Seelah gets too far, Pietro grasps her shoulder and says "Careful now."

Casts resistance on Seelah.

I can attack it if I can get into the room, but with difficult terrain the only square I can reach is where Caelreth is standing. Would you be able to move further in? Otherwise I'll double move to enter the room.

Two questions: Does inspire courage end at the beginning of my turn, or at the end of my turn: AKA, if I choose not to continue it as a free action would it benefit an attack I made this turn?

Does Arisira have a shot at the spider where she is? I certainly would expect it to have cover if the answer was yes. Also... I HATE maps that orient the major walls/doors on a diagonal.

The spider is 15' up off the ground so not sure what good moving into the room further does, but...

Caelreth takes a step forward and tenses, ready to attack should the spider come in range. Ready vs approach.

Zekuli clambers over all the rubble to enter the room, and as soon as he passes through the doorway he sees what all the commotion was about: an enormous spider hanging onto the ceiling. "Well, that's no good," he grumbles, and sends his morningstar flying magically out of his hand to give the spider a good whack and convince it to leave them alone. The weapon then soars neatly back into his grasp.

Attack, with inspire: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 1 = 18
Damage: 1d8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6

Stopping her speech, Arisira instead focuses on trying to position herself well for a shot at the creature.

Caelreth steps forward and makes room for Zekuli, who sends his morningstar magically sailing through the air to strike the spider. It smacks the spider squarely in the eyes and it tumbles to the ground, a heap of legs.

I'll post anything you find in this room and advance you to the next room per the SOP later tonight

"Dangit Zekuli... you got him before I did! But, that's a pretty neat trick you got there, spider killer!"

After some thorough searching, the party does find the remains of someone's pet dog in the spider's webs. It bears a collar with lapis lazuli stones and a tag that says "Kita." It's probably worth something back in town. Unfortunately that is all you find; the western wing is mostly choked with rubble. There is a door in the western wing into a stairwell in the center of the tower, but it is completely blocked by rubble. There appears to be no way to ascend the tower from this floor.

Hap looks at the walls to see if there are any hand holds or anything that would assist in scaling the wall.

Do you see anything that can hep us climb up. Or even a place to anchor a rope?

Zekuli is thoroughly charmed by Arisira’s nickname for him, and he says graciously, “Only with your inspiring call to action, tale spinner! Next time I’ll let you take first shot.”

He determinedly avoids the increasingly obvious fact that they’re going to have to climb something to continue.

From atop the rubble, Hap can make out what looks like adequate handholds and footholds leading up the remains of the eastern wall. It looks like a patient climber could probably make it to the open eastern room on any of the floors through the fourth.

I just realized i put a square yard of silk on hap, rather than a silk rope. Do you mind if i switch it in my profile?

Hap looks up and tries to see his route up to the next level.

Climb: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

"Hey Hap, let me give that a try!"

Without really waiting for a reply, the hafling grabs the rope and begins to try and navigate her way up the eastern wall.

Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Moving purposefully, she manages to make some headway, looking for the first place that she can slip into the tower and tie off the rope. Aware of the potential surprises awaiting her- she attempts to be as careful as possible.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

If she can find a place to tie off the rope, and isn't in any immediate danger- feel free to advance the story. I don't have to RP every step of the stealth/explore
I am going to pay for those rolls later...

"Let me try..but I'm more armored than Ari!"

Seelah tries to climb up.

climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

hehe, yes that's fine Hap.

Arisira, Seelah, and eventually Hap make their way to the open room on the second floor. Although they don't see anywhere to tie off the rope, they're able to anchor it themselves for the rest of the party to climb up.

After taking a moment to gather themselves, they go through the door non the left. Like the rooms on the first floor, this windowless room is completely dark. Once Zekuli lights his shield and Caelreth lights his torch, it is easy to see that the room is completely empty and even appears to have been unused for a very very long time; the floor is covered in dust.

Or perhaps not: Hap makes out some reptilian tracks in the dust in front of the northwest door.

let me know when y'all are ready to go through the next door

Arisira will also continue her dancing lights, in the form of 4 torches- and move them ahead of the party into the room once the door is open.

Assuming Hap points out the tracks

"Some kind of reptile? You'd think this was a menagerie, with all the critters making themselves at home." He readies his morningstar, prepared to face whatever is ahead.

Arisira, Seelah, and eventually Hap make their way to the open room on the second floor. Although they don't see anywhere to tie off the rope, they're able to anchor it themselves for the rest of the party to climb up.

'Climb?'

"Alright now, alright! NOW HEAVE!! WHOA, CAREFUL NOW! CAREFUL! THERE'S AN OUTCROPPING! Alright a bit to the left. Good good.... QUITE YOUR BELLY-ACHING YOU'RE MAKING TOO MUCH NOISE!!"

Minutes later.

"Right! Now what?"

"I think Pietro just announced to the reptile where we are!"

With all the ruckus she smiles at Pietro.

"I had mentor, back in the day, that used to have the perfect trick for these sorts of adventures. He could make a whole area be quiet, even when people were being loud... "

"So! Are we goin' or not? There is no sense standing around at this point. You don't win treasure or find glory standing around in an empty, dusty room."

She flourishes for extra emphasis, kicking up a little cloud of dust- causing her to have a mild coughing fit before pulling herself back together.

Caelreth heaves a sigh and rolls his eyes at Pietro. "Well, no sense in being stealthy now, is there?" He moves to open the next door.

As Caelreth steps in front of the door, he triggers some kind of hidden trap; a javelin springs out and catches him square in the chest.

Unfortunately, the javelin confirmed its crit; Caelreth takes 10 damage

With both hands on the javelin and one foot on Caelreth's chest Pietro removes offending weapon before applying a pair of applications of his magical wand of healing which has the appearance of a small broken umbrella.

clw: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
clw: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

"Here, you should be more careful." the big man scolds.

Wand stowed and cludgel in hand he opens the door just to show how easy it is.

Caelreth scowls at Pietro. "Thanks," he says regardless.

"After you." says Pietro holding open the door, and smiling.