[PFS/DMK/EMS] The Emerald Spire Superdungeon

Game Master Kludde

The ladder’s shaft ends in a wide staircase descending into darkness. On the floor at the top of the stairs, a dead moon spider lies on its back, its legs drawn up and frozen in a curled-in position. An unpleasant rotting reek emanates from a sunken hole in its belly.

The next level starts here... I'll leave it up to you where you want to go. If you want to RP going back to town, just state you're going, otherwise I'll assume you're headed down.

"Fellgrim, you dabble in alchemy correct? Maybe we should compare notes."

Caranthir stands at the lip of the pit. He casts light on a pebble and tosses it down in an attempt to gauge the depth.

"Strange that this is the only way down," he observes.

"I would like to head back to town. I cannot tolerate undead, and am requesting transfer to another assignment. You should wait for another Agent to replace me," Skaarr announces to the group. I've had enough of this place. I've grown rich enough off it for now. I'll move on to something less gloomy perhaps.

I love role play for the fun of it, but as long as our dm is good with the rest and purchases, I am good with hand waving past that part. I am ready to delve deeper!

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"Fellgrim, you dabble in alchemy correct? Maybe we should compare notes."

"I do indeed ... and would love to talk shop and compare notes; although I am still very new and do not have much yet."

Let's just delve deeper then, and assume the shopping happened off-stage...

Broad stone stairs open into a small, irregularly shaped chamber lit by oil lamps. To the east, a short flight of steps leads up to a sturdy door set in the middle of a wall and flanked by arrow slits. To the north, a wide gate of iron bars blocks an archway leading to a larger chamber filled with the eerie green glow of the Emerald Spire.

I've put up the map. I'll need Jelani to replace the token for Skaarr...

Jelani is a hulking Mwangi warrior, dressed in a torn and faded Andoran uniform. He carries a beautifully crafted earth breaker hammer with a shattered chain and manacles wrapped around the upper half and forged to the head of the hammer. He wears Tian style medium armor over the uniform, which is also of exceedingly high quality. He wears his dreadlocked hair pulled back into a pony tail of locks. His exposed arms are roped with muscles, scars and iridescent blue tribal tattoos.

He happened to be in the area and was contacted to replace Skaarr on the team. "I'm Jelani," he says to the rest of the Pathfinders nodding to them. "Anything I should be aware of going into this place?"

"Hi Jelani. I'm Fellgrim. I am sort of new too as this is only my second trip. Last time we fought lots of spiders and some undead. And there was this creepy alchemical lab that looks like some dude was swapping body parts to create weird creatures. Oh ... and there is this column of crystal with an emerald glow that runs through each level I think. And to get to the next level, we have to go down something that looks like a huge well where we fought off two spiders."

Bruce drinks his potion of heightened awareness extract to enhance his knowledge and perception. He will move ahead looking for traps.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (13) + 10 + (4) = 27

Bruce now has trap spotter. Which is going to take a little extra effort from the GM. Bruce's perception is now +10+1d6 for traps.

Jelani grunts in response. "Don't sound that bad. Let's get to it then."

"Might be a good idea to let me go first, someone went ahead last time and fell into a pit trap."

Caranthir nods at Bruce's suggestion that he go first. He had proven an adept trapfinder.

"Lead the way," he says.

To be clear, we lowered ourselves into the pit with the spiders, and below is the hallway we are in?

There was actually a ladder in the side of the pit, that led to a staircase, that led here.

Bruce investigates the area, and finds a secret passage just before the landing. The landing itself has arrow slits to the east, and there appears to be some kind of presence behind it.

Bruce will write on the wall with his chalk, Possible enemy in here. Then he will open the secret door.

"This seems much wiser than going through the next area...where there are arrow slits, there is bound to be an area someone would rather guard and protect," Caranthir agrees.

Weapon racks and wooden wardrobes line the walls of the room behind the secret door. The dummies in the center of the room wear suits of armor. Masks hang on the wall near the door; each consists of a brass nosepiece with cheek guards, from which a veil of red silk hangs.

The racks and arming dummies contain 10 short swords, 12 daggers, four light crossbows, three composite short bows (+2 Str), two suits of leather armor, and three suits of padded armor. The wardrobes contain 15 blood-red ceremonial robes. There are also 12 masks, whose nosepieces contain some strange dispensing mechanism.

Caranthir casts detect magic on the weapon racks to determine if there is anything special here.

Looking around at the robes, he says "We may have been presented with an opportunity to infiltrate and bypass certain areas with these trappings."

Caranthir detects for magic, but finds that none of the items are enchanted.

Thistle looks at the large warrior who has joined the group, measuring him up.

Looks capable, we will see when the battle begins...

Thistle nods as Bruce conveys the danger ahead, eager to perhaps get the jump on the hidden adversaries.

As they enter the secret room, he reviews the weapons. Nothing I need...

Fellgrim is fascinated with the masks and will examine them carefully ...

Knowledge Engineering: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

"Ooh I'll take one of the red robes. I think they match my hair color." Asuna says joyfully while taking a twirl in her new outfit.

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Jelani enters the room that Bruce opened. "If y'all are ready I'll open the next door."

Jelani will open the door if everyone signals they are ready. He will wait for Bruce to check it, if Bruce wants to.

Thistle observes Asuna grabbing the red cape and garb. Thinking this could be useful later, in line with Caranthir's suggestion (though he did not hear it) Thistle also grabs one of the robes. Realizing his scaly skin would give away any disguise he might try, he grabs one of the masks and dons it to see if it might work, just in case it is needed.

If this hampers his attacks or spells in anyway, he will take them off as soon as we get in a fight. Also, seeing that these masks have some sort of dispensing system, he will take a moment to wrap a cloth over his nose and mouth.

As the group gets ready to move into the next room, Thistle grips his new, magnificent shield a little tighter, along with his silvery, masterfully crafted morningstar. He nods to Bruce and Jelani in their methodical ways that he is ready.

Caranthir also takes a robe and mask, and encourages everyone else to grab one...just in case. As his companions prepare to open the door, he says "The direct path has worked for us so far."

He nocks, once again, an arrow with light cast on the fletchings and prepares for battle.

Fellgrim notices there is some actually a vial connected to the dispensing system. The vial seems to slowly trickle out some kind of antitoxin. It seems the mask is built to neutralize something in the air.

The door opens to the room behind the arrow slight. It's a long, narrow guardroom with a heavy wooden door in the western wall, along with a row of arrow slits that look out over the landing of the stairs to the levels above. An iron lever is set in the northwest corner, and a pull rope hangs on the northeast corner. To the southeast, a corridor continues on, deeper into the dungeon.

In the guardroom, two armed guards move to sound the alarm immediately. Only Jelani is quick enough to be faster.

---
Jelani
---
Guard
Guard
---
Fellgrim
Thistle
Caranthir
Bruce
Asuna
---

Jelani grabs a mask on Caranthir's advice before continuing on. When he sees the guards he says, "Oh, no you don't!" His words muffled through he new face-gear. He runs around the corner and swings Chain Breaker at one of the retreating guards. His hammer caves in the man's back, shattering most of his ribs with a wet crunching noise.

Move on red line.
Attack (PA, FF): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 282d6 + 14 ⇒ (4, 5) + 14 = 23

Before opening the door Bruce would have grab one of the composite short bows, a mask and a uniform.

...and leaving him a sprawled, dead mass on the floor. The other guard spends the round to ring the alarm bell.

---
Fellgrim
Thistle
Caranthir
Bruce
Asuna
Jelani
---
Guard
Guard
---

Asuna slso grabs s mask when it becomes apparent that they hold antitoxins.

When they come across the guards, Asuna casts a minor cantrip which could daze the poor guard(dc18). She sends Kirito after him.

bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
dmg: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

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Will: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Asuna's sends forth a flash of light, causing the guard to be distracted. Kirito tries to use the opening, but his bite only hits leather armour.

---
Fellgrim
Thistle
Caranthir
Bruce
Asuna
Jelani
---
Guard - Dead
Guard
---

Taking the mask with him, Fellgrim follows Jelani into the next room and fires his crossbow at the remaining guard.

Lt Crossbow: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 for Piercing: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Unable to reach the remaining guard, but noticing that he is doing something besides attack his companions, Thistle deduces that reinforcements may be on their way. He sets himself in the hall to protect his companions from being attacked from the rear.

Once the combat is over, Thistle will return to the armory and grab a crossbow and some bolts. I suppose having a ranged weapon for occasional use wouldn't be so bad...

Post my action now if it's needed.

Jelani moves to the remaining guard who is sounding the alarm. "Damn it. Why'd you have to go and do that?" he asks, swinging his hammer at the man.

Attack (Power Attack, Furious Focus): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 192d6 + 14 ⇒ (2, 6) + 14 = 22

Bruce moves next to Thistle and readies an arrow in his new composite short bow.

Caranthir moves into the hallway as the alarm bell sounds, knowing reinforcements will soon arrive.

He draws an arrow back to his cheek and prepares to fire at any enemy that comes into view.

readied attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 131d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9 Bruce, probably speed things up to pre-roll the readied attack...

Looks like that edit didn't go through.

ranged: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Which is good because I like that roll better.

Jelani moves up and cracks the skull of the last guard, silencing the alarm bell with it.

Meanwhile, Bruce and Thistle have moved into the hallway, past a statue of a woman carrying an urn. Though nothing seems amiss, they don't feel so well

Can I have a fort save from the both of you?

Combat over - for now

Fort: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

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Fort: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 +2 vs Mind Effects and Poisons

Just FYI - I did mention above that I put one of the masks on, not sure if that matters... or maybe thats the cause!

How exactly did you mean that part with the cloth? Do you want to block anything being dispensed?

I guess I mis-understood when I originally posted. I was thinking I was going to protect myself from anything in the air with the cloth, but I suppose I can't do both. I will take whatever happens to me for not having the mask on properly (covering it up with the cloth), and chalk it up to not being able to hear/understand my companions as they talked about the function of the masks. Its supposed to be a curse for a reason right? :) Maybe one of my companions can see me struggle and help me fix my problem... :)

Fellgrim looks at the mask in his hands ...

"These appear to be made to protect you from something in the air."

Fellgrim will put his on and try to adjust it so that dispensing device is working to see how he feels with it on.

Assuming these function similar to filter hoods in that you suffer a -2 perception hearing/vision?

Once he is satisfied that they are safe and working, he will go back and grab a few more. If needed or desired, Fellgrim will help other party members with their masks.

Thistle has put some cloth between the mask and the nosepiece. Unbeknownst to him, it doesn't hamper the functioning of the mask. In fact, he doesn't notice anything happening at all. Bruce feels a little disoriented for moment, but the moment passes.

Certainly no odourless, poisonous gas being released. No sir! FYI, Bruce, I rolled the perception check in a spoiler a while back.

Fellgrim tries the mask, and finds it doesn't impair his hearing of vision in any way.

Seeing the others put their masks on, Caranthir does likewise. Further, he dons the robe over his clothes.

"Perhaps it will prove useful," he says. "I had anticipated more guards rushing this way...is this some kind of trap?" he asks.

Asuna also puts on a mask to have a complete ensemble.

"Ahem excuse us? Lady?" Asuna calls after the woman.

Pretty sure he said statue, not an actual woman...

Thistle moves forward down the hall in a defensive posture, ready for someone to turn the corner at any minute. When he reaches the end, he peers down to see what the rest of this room might hold.

The statue of the woman doesn't respond, but further down the hall, footsteps can be heard. When thistle peeks his head around the corner, he sees three more masked men, just like the previous two.

---
Caranthir
Fellgrim
---
Scout
Scout
Outlaw
---
Thistle
Jelani
Bruce
Asuna
----

Caranthir, seeing Thistle's signal, readies an attack should anything come around the corner.

Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28 for damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Feeling a bit woozy Bruce puts on his mask and cloak as well.

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