[PFS] GM Skipper's Echoes of the Everwar series (Inactive)

Game Master SkipperD

I'm going to pause to see the outcomes of those attacks. I was considering a defensive spell, but I suspect it would be pointless.

By the way, Baubles init was 4 lower since I forgot to have him cast heightened awareness, but he still beat the baddies init.

Reflex, red: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Reflex, blue: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Reflex, green: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Torvald and Naur both recognize the plants as moonflowers, but none of them survive the forceful blast.

-----Combat Over-----

So speak to us of Moonflowers oh kind and patient GM. What are they and would our knowledge of them give us an idea why they are in this pit? Edit: Wow, I don't feel bad about nuking that encounter, Those things are nasty.

"Good thing we have Life Bubble going. The fumes in here are probably unpleasant."

Nuar will Detect Magic the area.

After a low "wooowww" after the fireball clears the room of veggy matter, Bauble looks for hidden passageways and the like. Or shiny gems laying about on the floor. He likes those too.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 2 = 15

He finds some pretty rocks! And he'll snag a few splinters from the big black rock too, assuming there are any.

Bauble takes a few samples from the rock and spots an 8 foot wide tunnel that winds further down.

Knowledge (Nature), Secrets of the Sphinx: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (1) + 19 = 20 >:(

Torvald raises an eyebrow at the devastation. Looking at the tunnel leading out he dismisses the righteous might spell so that Ka can fit down it.

We should find the source of these problems quickly and put a stop to them he says as he heads into the tunnel.

Bauble casts a Heightened Awareness from a wand on himself before heading down the hallway with Torvald. He will also throw in 8 minute mirror image and shield spells since he has two and things are coming to a head in this adventure. Then he will recover the shield spell using an arcane pool.

Nuar uses a charge from his wand of Heightened Awareness then takes a last look around while the rest of the group begins to leave the room.

Take 10 on Kn Nature for a 30.

"Hmm. Still some vines left, Growing from the rock. I'm not sure how but I think there is enough left to grow anew if we don't stop it."

This can't be a case of me not doing enough damage to kill them. Does Nuar think the rock needs to be broken?

"Seems we have to do some gardening..."

Eolowyn starts to remove vines.

@Naur: It's just a matter of chopping the few vines that survived.

After severing the vines's connection to the strange rock, you head down the tunnel which descends a few turns and then enters a large cavern glittering with the light of phosphorescent algae growing on the eastern wall. A small lake, fed by an underground stream that flows south through the cavern, occupies most of the west side of the room. The vines from above stretch across the cavern and wrap around an enormous stone coffin, solidly perched atop a well-carved stone dais.

"Akila I presume. We must be weary of whomever activated the ring. And possibly traps as well. Who's first?"

Torvald will take the lead, checking for magic and traps as he heads towards the coffin.

Perception: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (7) + 24 = 31

"I wouldn't be so sure. Heralt spent weeks here and never figured out how to breach Akila's tomb. Whatever this place is, we've literally just dropped in."

Torvald sees nothing amiss.

Shel followed behind the cleric. "Can one of you check this thing for magic?"

While the casters did their thing, she also inspects the tomb closely, taking her time as she looked for any traps.

Perception vs Traps 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 27

Assuming nothing happens when his allies approach the coffin...

"Sure."

Nuar moves up and casts Detect Magic. He also inspects the coffin for any markings. Perception: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (8) + 22 = 30

Vladek studies the coffin from a safe distance.

detect magic/Spellcraft: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (11) + 29 = 40 +2 to identify it if it is, per se, a "magic item"

Bauble is right behind Torvald, poking vines as he goes, not a care in the world, muttering to his sword.

The stone coffin is neither trapped, nor does it radiate a magic aura.

Placing his hands on Ka's shoulders Torvald mutters an incantation before directing him to try and lift the lid from the coffin. He will be careful not to damage anything in the process.

Casts Bull's Strength

Str check: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

Ka levers off the lid with some difficulty, revealing the skeletal remains of a body still clad in a brilliantly colored red-and-orange robe. A solid, simple, silver ring adorns the left hand’s ring finger and the other hand holds what appears to be a wand. Other grave goods lie spread out around the bones.

Nuar makes all of those on a take 10.

"The ring is divination and necromancy. Strong aura but I would think the ring we are looking for would be more powerful."

"The wand is used up."

"The pearl is for recalling second level spells."

"The hand is a Hand of Glory. It lets you wear an extra ring. It also grants the Daylight and See Invisibility spells once a day."

"A ring of Counterspells containing Dispel Magic. Handy if you have many buffs."

"And some very old Osirian trade bars."

"Quite the haul. Maybe the ring is lower in power now because it was used recently. But by who? There is still a mystery here."

Nuar sets the magic items aside carefully after he identifies them. "I have no need of any of these. Should we do a careful search of the cave?"

Bauble pokes the mummified corpse with the sword then picks out the hand of glory from the loot and starts playing with it. When he goes so far as to lay the hand on the hilt of his sword he visibly jerks.

Sword: I am the BLACK LORD. Do not suffer me the indignity of your childish games with these dead things.

Bauble: Oh come on. Its GOT to get boring sitting in that sheath all the time in the dark. Whats wrong with a little fun?!"

Sword: Well it wouldn't be so bad if you would just buy me a better sheath with a way to peek out. Why don't you grab those coins instead of that stupid hand.

Bauble: Fine. I'll get you a nice sheath soon. I promise.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 2 + 8 = 27

After his brief argument with the sword he puts the hand down and joins the search.

As Naur tries to take the silver ring, he realizes it's completely stuck to the skeletal hand.

Bauble finds nothing else of interest in the cave.

Vladek looks at the mummy, its ring, and the trade bars with a concerned expression.

"This seems too easy...."

I'll take the pearl and/or ring if nobody else wants them more.

"Its nasty, but I could use the Hand of Glory. Being able to see invisible things would help me out a great deal..."

Bauble eyes the colorful robe.

Is the robe in good condition, or is it just a colorful mess?

It the robe is in good condition, Bauble will proclaim,

"Now there's a puzzle. The robe is not magical, yet it still is so colorful and nice. Can I have it?"

If it is decayed and tattered he will say nothing.

Torvald takes another look around the cave to make sure nothing has been missed.

Well, our instructions were to find out what happened to Heralt and find the tomb of this Akila. This looks to be here, we should probably bag everything up and get out of here? What do you want to do with our orcish prisoners?

Take 10 on Perception for 34

"If they are still alive they may have calmed down enough to question. We should also check the buildings we missed so we can give as complete a report as possible. Plus I want to be very sure no undead remain."

The robe is in surprisingly good condition.

Torvald can't find anything else of interest either.

We're basically done with part 1, but I just need to know what you do with the wand and the stuck ring.

"The Venture Captains would probably want us to return with that wand and ring also. They will want to find out what functions they have. However I will defer to your opinion there Naur, you know a lot more about magic than I will ever know"

Eolowyn has her dagger ready, she is willing to cut of the finger wearing the ring and take it like that.

"If it can help the living we should not let it stay in a crypt. You never know who might come next and make a use out of it. Better it be us than a bunch of Aspis agents."

We could just bring the whole lot back with us, body and all? says Torvald. After all, that would also give us the chance to speak with her spirit which could tell us a lot more about what happened back then.

"That's probably a better idea than cutting off her finger. She might not like that. Of course, I have an idea of my own that might help...."

Vladek and Qadathra sit down facing each other and looking into each other's eyes, Vladek taking out a single small candle clock coated in gold leaf and lighting it. When the candle has burned down (10 minutes), Vladek speaks:

"How may we, most likely and with least harm, remove the ring from this mummy's finger?"

This is, of course, a divination spell, with an 80% chance of success. My offering cost 25 gold, which I will accept contributions in remuneration for, if anyone is of a mind.

1-80=succes: 1d100 ⇒ 36

When three faithless sisters, not of blood, are rejoined, and the timemonger is forever ash, then shall the bindings wither, and the Boneyard claim what belongs to it.

Any appropriate knowledge checks?

"Among the deceased who eventually face Pharasma’s judgment, true atheists—the faithless dead—impact the very solidity of their souls, disrupting their natural ability to migrate through the Astral Plane to their final reward. Those who reach Pharasma’s Boneyard are locked away in the tombs and graves of her palace to await their fate at the End of Time. But those who resist or flee Pharasma’s judgment remain behind as ghosts or spirits on the Material Plane, hiding themselves in places or objects—often emotionally driven to finish some incomplete task."

"I suspect her soul resides in the ring."

"Oh, then we better not cut her finger of. Bringing back her body and all sounds like a better idea. I am certain we can lash her body to Arrano's saddle and have him ferry her back."

"Unless anyone knows a way to talk to the hand I say we take it home for study. Let's grab some samples of that big rock as well."

"For a moment, I was worried 'the timemonger' referred to me," Says Vladek, giving Qadathra a mildly reproachful look after his eerie prophecy. Vladek gives him a small hug as Qadathra hops back onto his shoulder. "I can try contacting her tomorrow."

[dice=Knowledge (History) regarding "faithless sisters, not of blood"]1d20+26[/dice]

And the wand?

What's to know about a wand that isn't magical? I suppose if we're taking the whole mummy, we're taking it too, for what it's worth.

We may as well take everything if we are taking the body.

Yes, it all goes. Things are not always what they seem and a powerful entity can easily place a non-detection enchantment on an item.

Like a cloak that is in amazing shape after all this time. Yes we have no reason to leave anything behind. Though currently we have no reason to use any of it yet either.

Yep, agree. And when she comes back alive she will probably want to use that wand in some way against us ;-)

Agree. If we need to go rent a wagon, that's fine. We should take everything back with us.

Good point about the wagon. We'll want to bring her body. Possibly for a proper burial. Nit sure if we can get the coffin out.

Between two very large, very strong, Roc's I think we can probably transport anything we want out.