[PFS] GM Rinaldo's The Golemworks Incident (4-03) (Inactive)

Game Master The Great Rinaldo!

North of the Irespan, a cluster of warehouses harbors one of Magnimar’s best-known industries—the Golemworks. The shouts of laborers who dredge fallen segments of the Irespan compete with the clamor of artisans: the sculptors, jewelers, woodcarvers, and arcane artificers whose secret skills breathe life into their constructs.

At the outer edge of the Golemworks' sprawling complex, you easily locate the office of Sheila's contact. Reemis is a pudgy, balding Chelish man in his mid-fifties, who welcomes you with a salesman's smile.

"Greetings! Welcome to the Golemworks! How can I be of assistance today?"

Mutahir winks to antonella and mouths "Bad cop, worse cop?" before he walks up, a wide smile on his face as he puts his arm around Reemis's shoulder. Up close, the smile... does not reach his eyes.

Why hello Reemis, it is Reemis isn't it? Reemis, My name is Mutahir, and I'm an employee of Ms. Sheila, as are my... colleagues!

He gives a expansive wave to his fellow pathfinders.

We received your shipment today of Angel Guardians... I'm afraid there is a minor... flaw... with them.

He then shows the edge of his singed cloak.

Upon being unpackaged, they tried try to kill us. Most upsetting. To top it off, they are missing their makers mark! Now we have all this pent up anger and frustration, and no where for it to go. Perhaps YOU can give us some... direction?

His tone of voice suggests that was not actually a question.

Reemis’ eyes widen in shock, and drops of sweat appear on his brow, as if conjured by magic.

"Oh ... my ... um ... that ... that is not right at all! I ... I have never heard of such a thing happening in all my years here! I assure you, you have my sincere apologies! The Golemworks will of course make full restitution, including replacing the golems with new ones ..."

He looks at Mutahir withe the clear expression of someone who expects his head to be removed from his body at any time. "Allow me to step into the file room here for a moment ... I will find out who worked your order!"

Hands shaking, he steps into a small side room, and returns shortly with a large box. After a bit of searching (made more difficult as the man keeps one eye on Mutahir the entire time), he finally pulls out a folder with a stack of pages.

"Ok, here we go ... Pathfinder Society, care of Lady Sheila Heidmarch ... three Angelic Guardians ... accept orders from anyone bearing either Lady or Lord Heidmarch's personal wayfinder ..."

His eyes scan the page, and begins to look puzzled. "That's odd ... it appears that order was taken by one of our top artificers, Chrysalis Black. He's not the sort to forget to sign his work. I'm not sure what to make of that."

Mutahir gives a knowing eye to the group and says...

Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind taking us to Mr. black so that we can find out directly from him what happened? Now?

"Yes, seriously, take us to Mr. Black." sorry, couldn't resist

Antonella nods to the Rahadoumi. “Perhaps this is all a misunderstanding, and the Golemworks are not the root cause of the problem, Master Reemis.”

The priestess looks genuinely confused. “So how does the order to manufacturing process occur?”

“Does the artificer construct and program the golem on-site at your factory, or is that arrangement flexible? Do you do any Quality Assurance or Quality Control on the final product before it is shipped?”

Oh, boy. Chrysalis Black – the Black Butterfly?? Don’t think I’ll mention to Mutahir that that’s the name of the Empyreal Lady who serves Desna.

“What is Mr Black’s background, Master Reemis? Also does he have any apprentices? Do you know how many?”

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

After the incident at the manor, Nergi remains silent while paying attention to the discussion happening, but seems in thought. She nods politely to Antonella after channeling, but finally speaks out in the factory.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd.. Erm - WE - yes, we would also be interested in knowing the name of the person who handled the shipping process."

Diplomacy, Aid Antonella: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

Marduk just stands here, looking tall and muscular with her weapon put down. She looks at the different party members, trying to understand what is the point.

IZ DERZ FAULT. DEYZ MUST DIE.

She looks angry but doesn't say a word, as she has learnt to keep her mouth shut in such occasions.

Rocky is the strong silent type when it comes to these matters.

“So how does the order to manufacturing process occur? Does the artificer construct and program the golem on-site at your factory, or is that arrangement flexible?"

"All the work is done here on site. Our golemancers and artificers have offices and workshops here."

"Do you do any Quality Assurance or Quality Control on the final product before it is shipped?”

"Well ... all of our people are consummate professionals, and they stand by their work. Since most golems are designed to function only for their intended owners, there isn't much testing that can be done once we have vetted the golemancer's initial work when they are hired."

“What is Mr Black’s background, Master Reemis? Also does he have any apprentices? Do you know how many?”

"He is a native of Magnimar, studied with several of our older golemancers before starting to work here independently. He is something of a loner. He's never had any apprentices that I know of, certainly none here at the Golemworks."

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd.. Erm - WE - yes, we would also be interested in knowing the name of the person who handled the shipping process."

"They would have been crated up and delivered by a local company we contract with. I'd have to search around to find out who did it."

Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind taking us to Mr. black so that we can find out directly from him what happened? Now?

"Of course, right this way! He stepped out a short while ago to acquire some new components, but said he would return within the hour. I'll take you to his office, you can wait for him there."

Taking a set of keys from his desk, Reemis leads you through the maze of workshops, warehouses, and foundries that make up the Golemworks to a moderate sized wooden building he identifies as Black’s workshop. He unlocks the door, and lets you inside.

"I'll just be in my office looking for that delivery information for you. Feel free to have a seat."

You enter into a large L-shaped room. Several tables and chairs offer spots to relax, and a sturdy bar of cherrywood displays all manner of exotic drinks. A golem crafted from mahogany and other fine woods stands in the corner. A door near the bar is marked "Private", while a pair of double doors past the fireplace stand slightly ajar, revealing a large table that might serve as a meeting area.

sense motive on Reemis: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Rocky will go knock on the door marked private.

Reemis seems nervous about having upset an important client, and genuinely confused about what happened. You don't get any sense that he's being deceitful or that he's up to anything.

There is no response to your knock.

Mutahir scans the room, his eyes flashing slowly in different shades as he looks for the telltale aura's of alignment, Antonella of course glowing a nice deep healthy shade of green, shifting into a orderly clean ridged flow of fractals.

Antonella, why don't you give a look around. Your sight into the spectrum of souls is keener than mine when it comes to evil.

Detect each alignment in turn, but I cannot sense faint aura's.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
sense motive: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

You detect no alignments beyond those your party members might have.

Mutahir starts exploring the room, walking up to the golem in the corner and rapping on it's forehead with the back of his hand. He glares at it for a moment, mumbling...

Will have to watch this thing if we're attacked.

He then looks over the exotic drinks, trying to see if any stand out to him in any way.

Knowledge local: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Knowledge religion: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

The drinks seem to be fairly typical for the tastes of a moderately well-off Chelish person who enjoys such things. Nothing stands out.

Rocky will enter the room with the table through the double doors.

If a quick search reveals nothing then suspecting foul play he will open the door marked private.

disable device if needed: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35

Since you've decided to snoop around, I'll describe the whole building, then everyone can respond as appropriate to what you see and find.

With Rocky's "take 10" perception at 30, I'll go ahead and reveal anything under that level that doesn't require searching a specific location or doing a particular thing.

Moving around the building, you notice that none of the doors appear to be locked - apparently Black trusts his front door lock to keep people out when he isn't there.

-----------
The bookshelves are fairly well stocked with a variety of topics.

Let me know if you are do any of the searches above that require time. I'm trusting you not to peek if you don't spend the time! ;-) If you want to go into more detail or have specific things you want to look for let me know. I am tracking time spent, as Black is expected back sometime "within the hour".

"He isn't here. Do we go look for him or search here for clues?"

Nergi doesn't notice the conversation happening, as she is fascinated by the diagrams on the table. Her eyes fall on the note and she looks around the room before paying more attention to it.

"Oh that's sweet! This fellow's mother must be an artist or something. She probably sends him her sketches to remember her by."

She looks at one of the other papers again: "Not that she seems very good at it, however. These are some weird stills. Is that an apple?"

She picks up one of the smaller papers, tilting her head left and right to get a proper angle.

linguistics: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 8 + (4) = 32

know engineering: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 8 + (1) = 29

"diagrams on how to make angelic guardians... how appropriate, but why are they in his mother's handwriting? Perhaps she is somehow the engineer behind the strange behavior of the golems?"

Mutahir looks around, but he is a cleric hunter, not a golemn maker, and most of the items fall outside his specialty. After a while he leans up against the door, intending to use himself a human interruption if Black came back unexpectedly. A simple "Woops, shouldn't have stood there." might buy the others precious time if needed.

Antonella, why don't you give a look around. Your sight into the spectrum of souls is keener than mine when it comes to evil.

“Certainly, brother.”

A short time later, Antonella raises her bowed head. “One soul amongst us is a little dark, Mutahir. It is starting to brighten though.”

"Maybe it’s the company they're keeping?"

The paladin shakes her head disapprovingly at the party’s snooping. “It would be a very trusting assassin that keeps his doors unlocked, UNLESS he had a …”

She stops dead in her sandals as she spies the wooden statue. “… guardian golem.”

“I think we should wait for Mr Black outside, brothers and sisters. Now.”

Chrysalis Black … maybe he’s undergoing some kind of transformation???

Antonella ponders the others’ words. “I saw a play about a psychopath that masqueraded as his own mother.”

“If Brother Black doesn’t show up, we may have to check on him at home.”

"Trusting, incompetent, or in a hurry.", Nergi adds. "In any case - I'm sure more than one person in the world constructs these angelic guardians. Let's not jump to conclusions. These are golemworks, after all. For all we know, his schematics might have been tampered with and the poor sod was none-the-wiser."

Marduk looks at his companions, visibly lost.

"Wat you doin'?" she asks, clearly not getting the point.

As others look through the papers Rocky will investigate the wooden golem for identifying marks.

You spend about half an hour waiting for Black, with curiosity getting the better of most people. Eventually you run out of things to look at, and are starting to wonder if you should leave just as you hear the sound of a key in the door. You have just enough time to look nonchalant before it opens.

A chelish man in his mid-thirties opens the door and seems surprised to find you there. "Er, hello ... I could have sworn I left that door locked ... may I ask who you are and why you are in my office?"

Picture of Black added to the slideshow.

Mutahir looks the man over as he purposefully shuts the door behind him, cycling through the alignment spectrum to see if he registers at all.

Mr. Black... good to finally meet you. We are the pathfinders, employees of Ms. Hiedmarch. We just became very, very well acquainted with your angel guardian golems. Sadly, you seem to have accidentally left your maker's mark off them. How dreadful for you not to get your proper credit. I don't suppose you know how it happened that you left your mark off those golems?

I call badcop. Just trying to convey a threatening presence with my tone and body language, getting to close to the guy, bumping him with my sword, all that minor body language stuff to read very hostile and dangerous.

Intimdate: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

"I certainly didn't leave them off on purpose ... I must have just been in a hurry to deliver. It was a rush order, as I recall."

Black seems taken aback, and moves around the bar, where he starts pulling out glasses and a bottle of wine.

"Please, everyone, have a seat. Certainly you didn't come here just because you didn't know who had made your golems."

He indicates the chairs seated around a couple of low tables near the bar.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Rocky checks his outfit to see if something is stuck to him then looks back at Black.

"Have you not met an Oread before? We don't get out much but a few like myself seek life beyond the caves."

Mutahir distinctly does not take a seat, and instead stands up close and personal to the golem maker, following around the bar.

So you confirm that the Angels where you work then? Then would you mind explaining why they where programed to kill whoever activated them?

He slams down his palm on the bar, making glass shudder as he growls out.

I'm gonna require some convincing, and fast, as to why I shouldn't gut you right here and now for attempted assassination!

Marduk doesn't take a seat either and watches the scene with a wary eye.

OK, so that was a fairly aggressive move. :-) Whether combat breaks out depends on how everyone else responds, so I'll give everyone time to decide what you are doing. I have put up a map and arranged people based on their previous actions: Rocky is near the wooden golem, Kel and Nergi are arriving back from the conference room (having been looking at the papers), Mutahir is behind the bar with Black, and Antonella and Marduk are in the reception area. If you disagree with my placement, let me know along with your response to Mutahir's threat.

Rocky wouldn't be happy if someone criticized how he fights. He isn't going to complain about how Mutahir talks. No one is actually attacking Black so no actions from Rocky yet. Has it been less then an hour since we got to the golemworks?

You spent about 10 minutes in Reemis' office, then you have been in Black's office about 30 minutes or so.

Mutahir is, essentially, a high ranking police agent from another country. I figured he's use to "interrogating" with the full weight of the law behind him and he would be fairly aggressive in such dealings. After all, he's the guy they send in after they've already confirmed religious activity in a region.

Kel takes a few steps forward as if to engage the man in conversation, but pulls up short suddenly when Mutahir goes all 'bad cop'... he wants to see Black's response, but doesn't wait to add, ... of course this could be just a misunderstanding, put perhaps you do want to answer Mutahir's question before he loses his temper. Then we can try to get to the bottom of this mystery."

diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 blah

Antonella remains standing. She gestures with open hands. “Master Reemis let us in, Ser. He implied customers as valued as those from Heidmarch Manor were welcome to wait for your return.”

“Does my brother Celidrian have the right of it, Mr Black? You have explained the absent maker’s mark. Can you tell us how the first example of your normally superb work could have gone awry?”

“The city cannot afford to have the reputation of one of its favored sons besmirched.”

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

*SNAP* Kel!

Deciding to give the man the benefit of a doubt, Nergi stands quietly, observing the discussion.

Placing's good for me.

"Ya be more convincing, Black!" says Marduk without moving.

"Oh, bother." Black sighs and takes a quick step back. "At least I'll get a nice trophy out of this. Kill them all, but don't break the stone one!"

Black is subtle, but not subtle enough for most of you. Everyone except Kel and Antonella will get a surprise round action.

Order of combat:
22 Antonella [surprised]
19 Rocky
19 Kelidrian [surprised]
18 Riddywhipple
---
17 Black
---
15 Mutahir
11 Marduk
---
06 ???
---
01 Nergi

Rocky and Riddywhipple may take a single surprise round action.

Riddywhipple lets out a little surprised "EEP!" and disappears. improved invisibility

"Ah not so innocent after all."

Rocky isn't sure who Black is talking to but the golem seems like a safe bet. So swift action to enter Dragon Style and Rocky will try to grab the wooden golem.

grapple vs flat-footed (Or maybe completely inanimate) golem: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (8) + 17 = 25

At Black's words, the faerie dragon disappears from sight, while Rocky grabs the wooden golem.

Black moves quickly around the edge of the room, getting a table and chairs between himself and the group, and holding his walking stick high.
Move action, using the fact that everyone he passes is flat-footed to avoid AoO. He is considered armed with his walking stick.

The golem Rocky grabbed suddenly comes to life and beats on Rocky, hitting the oread hard.
Because you and he both have the grappled condition, the penalties negate each other.
Attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21 damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 2) + 4 = 8

Mutahir and Marduk may take a surprise round action!

AC is 25 due to the Mage Armor I applied right before we got here. That is why I asked about how long we were here.

Fair enough. Please make sure to note temporary adjustments like that either in your stat bar or your posts to help me remember.

Mutahir swears in Rahadoumi as he draws his blade, leaping over the bar in a one handed vault acrobatics: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25, and bounding across the room before holding the tip out towards black.

Just try it.

Attempting to identify Black's faith through items we've rummaged through and other clues.

knowledge religion: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Marduk steps closer and says "OH! Dat I understandz." as she tries to smash her axe on the man and her eyes flicker with anger.

+1 Orc Double Axe (Single attack), Rage, RA: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 14 + 1 = 17
for Slashing: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

RAGE/RECKLESS STAT BAR| HP: 82/82; AC: 17/10/14 ; CMD: 25 ; Fort save +13 ; Will save +8 ; 7/9 rounds

Mutahir springs over the bar, quickly stopping Black's progress around the room, while Marduk goes for the simple solution. Her axe bites into the man's skin and leaves a horrible gash.

Suddenly, one of the chairs near Kel starts to move. Leather straps that had been previously hidden under the seat reach out toward the wizard, trying to pull him in.
Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14 damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1 grab: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Kel, I can't tell from your stat bar what your AC is currently ... what is the 12 12 10 in parentheses? Please confirm your current AC and CMD and let me know if you are hit, and if so whether the grapple succeeded.

Nergi can take a surprise round action, and Antonella, Rocky, Kel, and Riddywhipple are up for regular rounds.

parentheses are the current numbers (haven't had time to buff ac yet), so the attack hit, but the grapple failed... (missed me by 1)

"You enchanted your chair? Are you mad? a CHAIR!?!" He barely twists away from a strap before it wraps around him, but not quite quick enough to avoid a small wound.