[PFS] GM Mjolbeard's "In Wrath's Shadow" (#4-02) (Inactive)

Game Master Mjolbeard89

@GM. Kelumur and Flyn will be actively stealth-ing and perception-ing, I will hold off rolling until you ask me to.

Flyn removes his wayfinder ready to shed light into the darkness but before he does, Kelumur ask the group to maintain silence through whispers.

The Half-orc then moves towards the opening and glances around the corners.

Kelumur will take a peek with his darkvision, should he assume coast is clear and safe for light, Flyn will proceed to use his wayfinder for light.

Orophin will follow behind, using his darkvision to avoid making it too obvious he is there.

Every now and then he will humm a little tune to himself.
And use detect magic, especially near things like those "art" works

Bartolomey cast light on his sap and follows with Brun others.

I'm back...will be able to post on a limited basis till Sunday as we're driving back in the morning...Flyn can use darkvision in 10 minute increments three times a day, if this helps our current situation....

Good job botting me Kelemur, I really appreciate it!

Cade moves with the rest of the reserves once the signal is sent.

Arnold continues forward, lance and shield at the ready.

Kelumur peeks out into the hallway beyond the breach in the eastern wall and finds it empty. It appears the coast is clear for now. To the north, however, Kelumur does notice a humanoid figure standing in an alcove. From his current location, and looking through the darkness, it appears to be dead, but it also stands upright.

Inside the entry room, Orophin hums a little tune to ease his nerves and scans the room for magic. The walls here appear to emanate a moderate abjuration aura. Thinking back on it, he realizes there was a similar aura in the exterior walls of the main temple building above as well.

Bartolomey comes to the aid of those without the ability to see in the dark and puts a light on his weapon when the all clear signal comes from Kelumur.

"The walls here... are magic. Probably protected against the ravages of time.." he surmises.

Flyn looks to Kelumur, whispering, "Which way do you think? North or South?"

"Why would one need the walls to be protected? Perhaps to keep something from getting out?" the half-orc ponders intently but soon turns to a more pressing concern. "A dead man lies beyond the alcove..." Kelumur points out, "We should investigate, it might shed a bit more light on this place." Giving the signal to Flyn and Arnold to head down deeper with him.

Let's go to the dead figure! Unless anyone takes exceptions.

Stealth: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

Flyn nods in agreement and sets out with Kelumur, bow drawn...

Stealth: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (10) + 18 = 28

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (17) + 17 = 34

Survival (Tracking Only): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28

The mention of another corpse making him feel no less leery about all this, Arnold follows along.

Stealth: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Moving toward the north, you find a raised platform, on which stand leathery brown statues of withered and emaciated humans poised as though attentively observing passersby. The statues have a grim, realistic appearance, and each one is flayed and modified in a unique way.

WARNING: The spoiler below contains graphic description of the "modifications" performed upon the statues. If you would rather avoid the description, do not open the spoiler.

Flyn shakes his head in disgust. "Whatever foul creature, or creatures, performing these desecrations must be stopped..."

He tries to study the butchering see if he can figure any reason to this madness...

Heal: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Bartolomey follows the rest of the team.

Can I look!?

perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
heal: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

"Disgusting!" says the emotional and somewhat distraught Orophin.

"Life to be ripped from them in such a way. What type of beast could do such a thing?"

"Unless the statues give us answers, I suggest we continue moving." Kelumur doesn't react to the gory sight and maintains his serious demeanour. He turns and starts moving around the corner deeper into ruins holding his shield high should danger jump on him.

GM, Kelumur will be actively stealth-ing and perception-ing, let me know if I need to roll perception or stealth.

Flyn will stealthily follow Kelumur, keeping an eye out as well as covering him with his bow...

With only quick examinations done in the light of Bartolomey's spell, Flyn and Bartolomey are unable to find anything else of interest about the bodies, and so Kelumur moves along, his orcish blood allowing him to see through the darkness into the room beyond.

The wall decorations of cultists engaged in horrific rituals continue into this large chamber. Ages-old blood stains the floor and walls in dusty flakes. A mosaic similar to the one in the temple above covers the floor, partially obscured by dozens of naked corpses scattered across the floor.

Kelumur, if you choose to move fully into the next room, please give me a perception check.
The same goes for anyone else who enters with a light source.

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (9) + 17 = 26

Orophin will enter the room, but not for a round or three, so the others can try and spot anything while still semi-stealthy.

Orophin whistles to himself. I suppose it could count as 'art' in some twisted manner. But surely even Shelyn must disapprove of this.

perception: 1d20 ⇒ 2

The half orc scans the room for the unusual.

perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24 +2 to hidden objects or +3 to traps

Naked corpses? As in fresh corpses littered about or more preserved victims?

perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

Who's holding a light source/can someone cast light please?

Realizing that Cade will have some difficulty, Orophin sings a lovely pure note and a small mote of light appears at the end of his weapon.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Disgusted by what he sees, Arnold tries to block everything from his mind and follows along. He approaches with a cautious eye, likely missing some things as a result.

Bartolomey enters the room and looks around.

perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Brun follows Bartolomey.
perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Naked corpses? As in fresh corpses littered about or more preserved victims?

More preserved victims, but not "styled" in the same way as the ones standing on the platform. These ones are just piled up on the floor.

Entering into the room and picking your way carefully through the bodies, several of you notice that the western wall of this chamber is a doorway barricade of irregular stone held in place with dried clay, similar to the barrier you broke down in the southwestern alcove on the temple's main level up above.

Same situation with this wall. It can be broken, but will take some time unless you have some way to bypass hardness.

Showing no emotion, the half-orc turns to the group muttering, "More secrets, we've made it this far and I don't intend to leave any stone untouched."

Let's break it down! Unless anyone takes exception of course.

Just to check, these are all very old corpses, rather than the bodies that may have come from above?

"Is it possible that all of these barricades were meant to keep something in?"

"It is not out of the realm of possibility, but it could also be hiding the true nature of this temple." Kelumur responds. The half-orc then proceeds to press his right ear against the false wall attempting to listen intently to what may lie on the other side.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

He turns to Orophin shortly after to ask for a favour. "Orophin, would you be able to identify if there is any magic beyond these walls?"

If there is no unusual finding, Kelumur will continue to press to break down the wall.

I can try!
Bartolomey tries to detect magic.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

@Orophin: these are very old corpses, like the ones in the alcoves you just passed. There is also no fresh blood anywhere to indicate that these would be victims from the dig crew.

Kelumur hears a faint sound of wind as he presses his ear to the wall and calls for someone to check for any magic beyond the the barrier. Bartolomey answers the call and senses the same abjuration magic Orophin had perceived before. With nothing apparently stopping them, Kelumur leads the group in bringing down the barrier.

With the whole group working together, you are able to break down this wall much more quickly, and the barrier finally falls to reveal yet another dark passageway. This one, however, appears to be of unworked stone - it appears to be a cave. Suspended upside down from the roof of the cave—thin, spiked wire cruelly wrapped around them from ankle to neck—are many brutalized corpses similar to those in the previous chambers. As air eddies out from the cave, carrying with it an unsettling odor of ancient decay, the dangling mummified faces, three feet off the floor, stare back.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

Heal: 1d20 ⇒ 4

"How long has this gone on...?" Arnold stares upward at the awful spectacle, hoping he'll develop a resistance soon.

GM, just to clarify, are those metaphorical stare backs or literal? Trying to figure if those faces have sentience or not.

Orophin steps forward and gently nudges one of the bodies with his morning star - to see if there is a reaction.

"We should probably cut them down. Can anyone say a few words?"

Flyn grimaces yet again. "We are dealing with an evil I can hardly comprehend...we should clear the area before cutting them down...no telling what may be residing in that cave, ready to strike us unaware..."

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35

Survival (Tracking Only): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26

Flyn will cautiously approach the cave and enter, eyes and ears alert for any signs of danger...

"Words, as such, are not my strength. But I will sing a song for the departed."

So saying, Orophin breaks into a folk song. The song of a fishing village, long abandoned. It speaks of the brave men of the village, a terrible storm, and the boats that never came back. Of children growing up without fathers, and wives with no husband.

"What happened here? This is terrible."

"We need to continue!"

@Kelumur - I'll say this much: the bodies didn't seem to turn and stare at you deliberately.

Orophin carefully steps through the breach in the wall and prods one of the hanging corpses. The body swings gently back and forth, but there is no other movement.

Peering inside with the help of a few much-needed light spells, Flyn and Arnold see that the
wire-bound corpses hang by chains suspended on hooks fixed in the cave ceiling 40 feet overhead. If you were to attempt to penetrate deeper into the cave, you will need to crouch beneath or push aside these veritable curtains of dusty cadavers.

Flyn will attempt to go further into the cave, keeping his senses alert...

Perception: 1d10 + 17 ⇒ (9) + 17 = 26

"We can have a moment of silence, but we best leave the bodies the way they are. It is uncertain what caused this or why it is this way." Kelumur sternly points out. And as the caves echo with song, the half-orc stans silently to pay his few moments of respect before pushing deeper into the cave with Flyn pushing aside the corpses with no emotion.

Perception & Stealthing...

RE: "If you were to attempt to penetrate deeper into the cave, you will need to crouch beneath or push aside these veritable curtains of dusty cadavers.", is that true for halfings as well?

Bartolomey follows Fly and Kelumur to provide light.

RE: "If you were to attempt to penetrate deeper into the cave, you will need to crouch beneath or push aside these veritable curtains of dusty cadavers.", is that true for halfings as well?

The bodies are hanging upside down with their heads about 3 ft off the ground. If you're shorter than 3 ft, then you can pass under without even worrying about crouching.

Orophin follows along as well, sticking to the side of the passage, and moving the bodies aside with his morning star, if required.

3'1"... finally, a perk for being a halfling ;)

Cade lowers his head slightly as he follows the rest of the part.