[PFS/DMK] 6-10 The Wounded Wisp - Table IV (Inactive)

Game Master Kludde

Going to assume nobody is assisting

The dead have paid their dues, and should remain undisturbed. the priest says.

Of course, a donation to the church would provide the necessary compensation that we require for a visit. I do ask that you leave all remains undisturbed.

Where with 'compensation' he means a tithe of 30 gp

"That sounds fair. We do not mean to disturb any remains here and you can come with us, if that may ease your mind." Jan gives a smile as he attempts to be a little diplomatic, but failing to give a smile.

Diplomacy: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (9) - 2 = 7

With this kind of charisma he's more like Doc Martain.

"Finally, we're speaking a language I understand," the Varisian says as he begins loosening the strings of his belt pouch. "We'll just add this expense to his next-of-kin, if there is one."

Split six ways, that's 5 gp each.

"Call it what you will, but here is my payment. It is the cost of doing business."

Lini donates 5 gold pieces of the 30.

Abaal, arms crossed staring sternly at the attendant, weighs cutting the Pharasmin in twain or paying the bribe for a very long moment. He's lost out on playing in pbp games because of Pharasmin inquisitors before and with the exception of the riddle he's come to believe this little escapade is some sort of ongoing curse.

"Fine! Take it!" He tosses the coins and turns his back in a huff.

As a side note, I like the fact that the espionage orientated Pathfinder mastermind picked a bunch of loud, blunt, uncharismatic fighters-types to cause a distraction so he could do whatever it is he has to. At least that's what I figure his plan is. Then again, he might just be a smelly drunk.

The cleric of Abadar is also not so sure why he is letting a bunch of drunk louts in, but at least he's not getting killed.

The priest smiles and clears the way for the pathfinder to move the stone slabs and gain access to the mausoleum. The inside is a rather bland affair: the only thing of note is an open sarcophagus, with a skeleton inside that has a silver coin clenched between its teeth.

Abadar, Pharasma, Azathoth; who can tell without Knowledge (religion)?

Abadar, Pharasma, Azathoth; who can tell without Knowledge (religion)?

I'd argue if it's a common god then most people would recognise it, unless it's a unusual symbol, faded symbol or a uncommon representation.

Samuel will also contribute his 5 gp.

With a short sharp whistle, Soft-Paw bounds into the crypt looking for anything moving or living.

Samuel will follow shortly behind.

"Thank you priest... we assure you, that this crypt will remain in its current state... pending nothing is moving about of course."

Oh, he wouldn't have been killed, DM. I was only thinking about putting him in a sleeper hold. And yeah, one of the big 20 should be a DC 10 Knowledge (religion) check at worst to know, which means anyone can make it.

Nikolai frowns as he enters to crypt, his eyes alighting on the silver coin held by the skeleton. "Now that screams trap," he says, shaking his head. "We should look around - this guy was an architect, so he might have hidden something inside here. Oh, and can someone pretend to cast that spell we were supposed to be casting?" With that, Nikolai starts poking around the walls, looking for a loose brick or a depressible flagstone.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Nikolai pokes around a bit, but doesn't find anything out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, the corpse remains perfectly still...

Oh, he wouldn't have been killed, DM. I was only thinking about putting him in a sleeper hold. And yeah, one of the big 20 should be a DC 10 Knowledge (religion) check at worst to know, which means anyone can make it.

Just kidding about the gods bit, though if you hold the attendant still, I'll come in off the top turnbuckle and deliver the big elbow. Then you can go get the steel chair and....

Perception (Indiana Jones-style): 1d20 ⇒ 14

Abaal taps on the walls of the place with his sword, listening for differences in tone.

Nikolai frowns as he enters to crypt, his eyes alighting on the silver coin held by the skeleton. "Now that screams trap," he says, shaking his head. "We should look around - this guy was an architect, so he might have hidden something inside here. Oh, and can someone pretend to cast that spell we were supposed to be casting?" With that, Nikolai starts poking around the walls, looking for a loose brick or a depressible flagstone.

"What spell? Something to find traps? I can help with that."

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Lini cast Detect Magic and then uses her normal senses to detect danger.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Nikolai pauses a beat as Lini talks about magically finding traps. "Forgot, I'm with a bunch of rubes," he says at last, a hint of annoyance in his words. "Our cover is that we're debt collectors here to speak with the corpse. Someone should start doing some sort of ritual, real or not, to talk with the body. You're our connection to the divine, so I nominate you."

You know, after you're done showing the rest of us how to toss a joint. :-P

Lini notices that the silver coin is magical, though she does not discern its exact meaning - it's got a faint divination aura.

Abaal probes the architecture of the place, but it seems solid.

"Right. I need to stop eating those stinky mushrooms. They're affecting my memory. The coin has divination magic."

Lini places a circle of 10 pebbles (sling bullets) around the corpse and casts Light on the coin.

"Poor spirit...we come in peace...but we desire our debt to be repaid in full...can you hear me?"

Bluff?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

"Magic coin, eh?", Nikolai scoffs, finally turning his attention to the sole feature of the tomb. "Ask him if we can take the coin." He begins moving closer to the sarcophagus to retrieve the silver piece once Lini's played her part for anyone that'd be listening in.

Lini echoes Nikolai's suggestion. "May we take your coin for repayment?"

"I saw him nod, good enough for me," Nikolai says quickly, reaching in to snatch the coin away from the skeleton.

This is going to end poorly, isn't it?

I trust you weren't intending to procure that oblate uncompensated, were you? the priest says, looking on. An exchange, like for like, would be appropriate.

"Maybe if his ledgers were clear," Nikolai says, a bit exasperated at this point. "Like we said, we're collecting on his debt, and this clearly belonged to him, so it's being repossessed."

And I made it abundantly clear that this man's books are closed, and his balances cleared, the priest says sternly. Do not try my patience. You may take this pathfinder coin, but only if you replace with a silver coin. A fair trade, I would say.

Lini puts one of her silver coins in its place and proudly states, "The ritual is complete."

You can roll spellcraft if you want to determine the function of the coin

I apologize for the misunderstanding, sir. A new silver for the old is fair.

Sorry, I was away from any networks pretty suddenly. I'm back.

Spellcraft, ID: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Line find out that the silver coin is a pathfinder coin.

This apparently simple coin, usually styled to resemble ancient currency, hides intricate gold and platinum wires within. This matrix, carefully modeled after fragmentary Azlanti coins, causes the Pathfinder’s coin to rise an inch into the air and slowly spin in place if placed atop a wayfinder. In addition, when levitating above a wayfinder, the coin can be given a message of 25 words or fewer. This message repeats in the speaker’s voice the next time the coin is floated above a wayfinder. Only one message may be stored at a time, and once it is triggered, the message is expended and a new one may be recorded.

Lini whispers to the group after examining the coin.

"Very interesting! Does anyone have a wayfinder in their possession? There is a message hidden in the coin, but we should listen to it in privacy. If not, we could go back to the Wounded Wisp and borrow one."

Lini hands the coin over any companion that produces a wayfinder.

"Not yet," Nikolai grumbles. "Still waiting on taking my Confirmation."

"Unfortunately I am in the same boat. Perhaps we could stop back by the Grand Lodge and find a fellow Pathfinder there that will lend us theirs for a moment."

Lini whispers to the group after examining the coin.

"Very interesting! Does anyone have a wayfinder in their possession? There is a message hidden in the coin, but we should listen to it in privacy. If not, we could go back to the Wounded Wisp and borrow one."

Lini hands the coin over any companion that produces a wayfinder.

"Here." Abaal kneels down to offer the grass-haired gnome his.

A simple message plays from the pathfinder coin:

The path and chamber are complete, hidden behind the nameplate of the requested aspirant and guarded by the word you requested. Fimbrik will add more.

"Hidden behind the nameplate of the requested aspirant," Gustav repeats. Is there a monument to Starstone aspirants?

Kn (religion or history): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Gustav know the Shrine of the Failed, next to the starstone cathedral, that pays a last honour to those who have tried the test of the starstone, and who have failed.

...Ah, I remember now. In One Drunken Night; A Tale of Debauchery and Divinity, the author mentions just such a monument, the Shrine of the Failed. He says it is just west of the Starstone Cathedral. I think we may have our next destination!

"Wonderful deduction Gustav! Let's get out of this damp crypt immediately."

I'm imagining Gustav pinching and twirling his mustache when deep in thought.

At the centre of the Ascendant Court, the Starstone cathedral looms over the city. Next to it, the Shrine of the failed. As the party arrives, the place is completely empty, and it soon becomes clear why: Sir Reinhart has mae it clear he will attempt the test of the Starstone. As the valiant— and utterly doomed—knight prepares to charge his steed across the chasm outside Starstone Cathedral, everybody has moved into position to look - giving the party free reign of the Shrine of the Failed.

Past the entry, a monumental chamber stretches eighty feet from end to end, with a ceiling suspended thirty feet from the floor by great pillars. Seven arched passages lead to humble rooms, each of which contains a polished stone altar dedicated to one of the failed aspirants who attempted the Test of the Starstone.

Each of the niches contains a small stone altar to one of the failed aspirants. Each altar stands upon a raised dais and bears a small brass nameplate identifying the aspirant and the would-be-god’s areas of interest.

There's Demuren, who would be the god of sacrifice, Gobru, who aspired to be the god of fish and bountiful sea, Mellag, acolyte of rot, Oggo of the sixteen poses, Plokkis of spoiled food and wastefulness, Silmor, of blades, and Spuchasta, who aspired to be the god of Hallucinatory incense and herbs. (E2a-g)

Nikolai watches as the armored warrior spurs his steed into the Starstone Cathedral for a moment, shaking his head. "Fool," he mutters to himself. "Apparently, tilting at windmills is out of fashion."

He looks around the Shrine of the Failed with the rest of the group. "Hey, what were those embossed words again? 'Rot,' 'blade,' and 'silence and serenity,' right?" He steps back a bit and points towards Mellag and Silmor's altars. "Well there's two of them. Where's the third?"

"hmmmm so we know the password, but I don't believe we know the correct aspirant. I suppose we can just try the password in each of the alcoves and see what happens."

"Oh yeah, he wrote 'Evil Grin's' name on the back of his note, too. So," he says, lowering the finger pointing towards Mellag's altar, leaving the one pointing towards Silmor's up. "That's the one we want, right?" He heads over to the altar, and kneels in front of it. "Wiffle, wiffle, wiffle, wiffle, wiffle," he repeats, checking the nameplate for some sign of a secret behind it.

Nikolai wiffles low and wiffles high, but as nothing happens, he checks the nameplate on the altar, and finds that it easily slides aside. Behind it is a small cache, that holds a miniature chalkboard and a piece of chalk.

"Well, now what?", he asks. "Any of this magic?"

One moment, Nikolai.

Gustav reaches out to the unseen fabric of the universe for his most used application of the occult energies. Detect magic

The tablet seems to be enchanted with some illusion magic, as is the wall.

Good guess, my friend. It would seem that Fimbrik may have been involved in the creation of this part of the Shrine. It is cloaked in illusion.

With the knowledge that something will not be as it seems, Gustav inspects closely. Specifically, he tries to find sensory discrepancies.

Will: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 (+2 more if Mind Affecting)

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

It would seem that reaching out to dark energies has weakened the man's mind, leaving him vulnerable even to illusions of which he is aware.

Nikolai wiffles low and wiffles high, but as nothing happens, he checks the nameplate on the altar, and finds that it easily slides aside. Behind it is a small cache, that holds a miniature chalkboard and a piece of chalk.

Abaal picks up the chalk and asks: "How many 'f's in 'wiffle?'"

Once he gets an answer, (and if he doesn't he figures two sounds like enough) he inscribes the board with 'wiffle' in his best calligraphy.: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

With elegant strokes, Abaal writes down the strange words: w-i-f-f-l-e.

As soon as the last 'e' is on the tablet, a passage to the west opens, leading to a tunnel. The tunnel leads deeper and deeper into a cavern, until it ends at an alcove.

Several desks are arranged along the northern and eastern edges of this small stone alcove. Whereas the stonework leading to this chamber is rough, the walls in the alcove are polished. A single gem rests among the neatly filed papers on the desk, emitting a soft luminescence that brightens the small room.

Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

"This passage is unnatural, shaped by magic."

Can't move from work on my phone but Abaal will, if it's dark, retrieve his wayfinder, hang it from his neck chain and using its light to see by lead the way in.