[PFS] Master of the Fallen Fortress for Newcomers (Inactive)

Game Master GM Red

and Dentesila, dancing around the creature's flailing strikes, lures him into overextending himself then chops her blade down aiming to leave his forearm on the floor: Flanking Chop!: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 2 = 15 damage: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

-Posted with Wayfinder

Regaining his footing, Irvine nearly vomited, the contents of his stomach shifting the closer he got to the last Troglodyte but he quickly swallowed it back down. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, holding it there until his was sure he wouldn't expel anything, then raised his sword as he readied an attack.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 3 - 1 = 21
Damage: 2d6 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (4, 4) + 5 - 2 = 11

Care to confirm that crit? :) Either way...

Konner manages to poke the lizard in the side, and then Irvine stops messing around and decides its time to behead the beast. He lines his blade up with its neck and carves the creature's head from its spine, sending it tumbling into the coals. The smell of burning troglodyte flesh fills the room.

Combat is over!

On the larger troglodyte's corpse, you find a key. There's also a rusty iron chest in the corner of the room that doesn't seem to be locked.

Konner quickly checks for traps and opens the chest. perc: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

"Well fought, companions! Though there will be others yet to fight, they must by now fear our coming".

Dentesila uses the party's wand of CLW to cure herself (take 10 on use magical device) cure: 1d8 ⇒ 8 "Anyone else need healing?

After this, she moves to the unopened door in the room with the brazier, and listens against it: perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

Caitlyn congratulates the others, and moves to the doorway of the room they are in, readying a shot versus the northern door of stairwell, as before.

Irvine holds up a hand with an odd look on his face as he rushes over to the nearby wall and braces himself on it, proceeding to evacuate the contents of his stomach to the floor. There wasn't much left in it at this point but the smell had effected him more than he had expected it would. He was used to worse but something about this place was effecting him more than usual. "Uhhg..." he groaned, wiping his mouth on his sleeve again. "Check the chest and for the love of whatever god you believe in, lets get out of this room.

I don't think you can take 10 on UMD. Anyway, Caz could always activate it.

After verifying the chest is free of traps, Konner opens it up and finds a veritable stash of loot: a suit of masterwork studded leather armor, a masterwork buckler, a masterwork rapier, a shortbow with 15 arrows, a scroll of cure moderate wounds, a scroll of invisibility, a wayfinder, and a climber's kit.

Dentesila hears a strange moaning coming from the eastern door. The moaning is accompanied by the sound of metal chains occasionally dragging across the stone ground.

A wayfinder? These belong to a Society agent. We should be on the lookout for one...or his body. Konner says as he grabs the rapier.

Might as well make use of it....Let's carry on... he says as he makes his way towards the sound of the groaning. He quickly chrcks it fir traps and opens it

perc: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24

Konner finds that the door is free of traps, so he pushes it open to find the source of the groaning. A malnourished, bruised man lies in the corner of the makeshift jail, bound with manacles and chained to the ground. He cowers in fear at the sight of you. "N-no.. please.. no more.. don't hurt me.." Bruises line his arms and blood drips down fresh claw marks in his chest.

Irvine peers into the room seeing the man and raising a brow. "This was not what I was expecting to see..." he said to himself. He reached into his pack pulling out some of his trail rations and walked over to the man slowly, holding out a surrendering hand. "Hold on, easy there, friend." He said, trying to ease him. "We're not going to hurt you. We're here to help...Here, friend. Eat this. It will help...go slow..." Irvine looked back sternly to his group. "Can anyone help heal him...?" He examined the man's wounds. "Friend, tell me what happened...How did you get here...?

After seeing everything he had as a slaver and being the cause of it on countless occasions, it pained him to see another being in this state. There was always something in the back of his mind that told him he was the cause of it. "You did this." "You could have stopped this." "Have you even changed?" "Can anyone really trust you?" These were the nightmares that haunted him regularly. Only time would tell if his past would continue to haunt him or if people would accept his attempts at atonement.

Diplomacy: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (12) - 2 = 10

The man peeks between his fingers, then scurries back against the wall as Irvine approaches. "No.. Not again.. Oh?" When he sees the rations, he throws his hand out to grab it, but his manacles catch and hold him fast. "You're not going to hurt me? Please, can you release me? I've been trapped here for days. I would explain, but..." he looks down at his wounds and coughs up some blood.

Irvine nodded, moving closer to him and handing him the rations. "Yes, of course we'll release you but right now you need to relax. Your hurt and if you try to move without being healed you won't get two steps from where you sit now without falling over dead. Now eat." Irvine looked back at the group with urgency, waiting for one of them to offer their healing.

"I believe we have the key," Cazithiel says, asking for the iron key the large troglodyte had.

Dentesila unslings her pack and retrieves her blanket. Approaching the battered man, she holds out the blanket, and if he lets her, wraps it around his shoulders. Gripping the wand of CLW in the way that Caz showed her, she gives him two charges of the wand, and a third if required.

use magical device: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 172d8 + 2 ⇒ (3, 3) + 2 = 8

"This wand will repair his physical frame, and we can undo those manacles, but I expect the mental trauma he has experienced may prove harder to recover from.". To the man, "There - how do you feel? We're here to help you. Can you give us your name? Do you remember how you came to this sorry state?"

Listening in from the door, Caitlyn maintains her watch over the far door and stairway...

The man grabs the rations from Irvine's hand and shoves them down his throat. As he's distracted by his savage hunger, he allows Dentesila to wrap him, and breathes a sigh of relief as the wand closes up his wounds. 1 charge will do it "Thank you so much," he says as he finishes the bread. "I thought I was a goner. I'm Balenar. Balenar Forsend, a Pathfinder from Absalom," he says, even managing a slight smile. "I came here to check out this tower, but before I could even enter, two of those troglodytes grabbed me. I know their language, and I heard their boss talking about sacrificial rituals. I think I was their next victim." He shudders, then realizes he's still mostly naked. "Um, have you seen my equipment?"

Irvine listened and nodded. "We found it locked away... But you should still rest. We can get you to safety after we're done here. But we need you to stay close and follow orders..." Those words tasted bad as they exited his mouth but if the man was going to survive he would need to. "Unless you feel confident enough to go out on your own but we left some nasty creatures behind..."

Konner sheepishly hands the man his rapier. Nice blade...I was just keeping it....warm? We might have a few nasties ahead of us...feel like coming with us?

"Guys how are we doing in there?" yells Caitlyn from the doorway "That creature hasn't come back, but it's not run down and away either. They must have something prepared for us. Do we clear this level now, then head up? No sense in giving them longer than necessary to get organised"

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Perhaps you would relish the opportunity to inflict some unhappiness upon these creatures, in return for their mistreatment of you" says Dentesila, softly. "Do you have any idea what awaits us atop the tower? Who or what commands these creatures?"

Straightening, she looks back at Caitlyn and the remaining door on this level."Let's get on with this. These creatures deserve to be put down for their torture of this man."

-Posted with Wayfinder

"A Pathfinder is a Pathfinder, and if we don't work together towards our protection, who will?"

"Perhaps you would relish the opportunity to inflict some unhappiness upon these creatures, in return for their mistreatment of you" says Dentesila, softly. "Do you have any idea what awaits us atop the tower? Who or what commands these creatures?"

Balenar gazes past the group as he considers the request. "I'm not feeling particularly vengeful. I'm sure these creatures did what they had to out of fear for their lives, but I agree with the elven man in working together. It is in the spirit of the Society, after all." He takes the rapier from Konner. "Thank you. What about my armor and wayfinder? You said it's locked away?"

"As for what commands them... It seems the lizardmen are lead by a sort of heretic druid. He keeps a vicious white crocodile with him, truly a thing of nightmares, you know."

Balenar will join you for the remainder of the adventure so long as you tell him where he can get the rest of his gear.

Glancing at the others, Dentesila shows Balenar the chest holding his belongings. Once he dons his armour and indicates his readiness, she heads (with the others?) to the northern door, and listens against it: perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

-Posted with Wayfinder

Konner heads towards the door, rapier in ine hand and bow in the other, ready to use either.

Balenar throws on his gear and gives Dentesila a thumbs up. "Much better. Who knows what else is in here? It's best to be prepared," he remarks as Dentesila listens on the door. "I'm something of a storyteller, and what happens here just might end up in my repertoire... Should I live to tell about it."

Dentesila doesn't hear anything through the door.

"I can most likely only ask my lord one more time today about what is beyond the door. Shall I check here, or upstairs?"

"Upstairs I suspect, Caz. We know we have a spellcaster and a pet croc to tackle up there. Let's save that one more use. Anyway, if there were foes in here" she grasps the door handle "they would have emerged before now."

Deep breath now, Dentesila yanks the door open, and steps smartly back, wary of traps. If the door is locked, she in frustration shoulder barges it, too impatient to wait for Conner's delicate lockpicks to work their magic.

If the door opens (either way) she peers in, sword drawn...

Strength check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 [ooc]owch that's a sore shoulder! I hope it opened first time...

-Posted with Wayfinder

Dentesila warily pushes open the door to the next room. Cracks in the walls and ceiling of the chamber have allowed more rainwater to collect here, flooding the room and giving rise to a profusion of mold and fungus along the walls and ceiling.

In the center of the room is an enormous frog, who slings his tongue out at the intruders as the door swings open.

Balenar peeks in with hesitation. "Silver linings, I guess. At least it does not stink as much as those troglodytes."

Chamber of the Frog, Round 1
Irvine, Caz, Dentesila, Caitlyn, and Konner are all up
Frog
Balenar

"Gahh I tire of reptile and amphibians! Let's be done with this!" Impetuous as ever, Dentesila charges in....
Charge! Elven blade: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 for damage: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

-Posted with Wayfinder

Konner darts in and stabs at the frog with his blade.

heading to right beside the square with 8 in it..

attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 161d6 ⇒ 21d6 ⇒ 2

With the urgent need to protect the new companion, Irvine grips his sword tightly and moves in for an attack. "I haven't had frog in a while!" He grinned.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Damage: 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (3, 5) + 5 = 13

dude that's a crit chance...

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Damage: 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (1, 2) + 5 = 8

Cazithiel delays to see how everyone else's success is before acting.

Before anyone else even has the opportunity to act, Irvine charges in with his blade held high. Dashing up next to the frog, he swings the greatsword down hard into its waxy green skin and deep through its organs. His blade hits the cobblestone ground underneath and the creature slumps over, now lifeless.

Well that was fast. It's deader than dead. Combat's over.

Panting heavily with his sword gripped in both hands, Irvine slowly turns to the group. "Anyone hungry...? I call the legs!"

Cazithiel goes up to examine the corpse. "Well done. A pet of the lizard-things, perhaps? I wonder what's around here."

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Underneath a broken table, Cazithiel finds a jade statue of an angelic being stashed in a pile of rubble. The statue looks to be intact and is likely valuable. Other than that, an open door joins a room to the southeast. Past the door is a landing facing outside, the view from the landing providing you with a one-of-a-kind landscape sketching opportunity of the surrounding lands.

Otherwise, you've cleared this floor.

While looking over the landscape, Cazithiel comments, "Does anyone have a smokestick? Perhaps we can disperse the bats below us and convince them to fly off."

"Huh" Dentesila grunts, as she prods the two severed halves of the frog with the toe of her left foot. "Invine, I have to admit that was pretty showy. Even one of the gladeguard back home would be proud of that move. I guess there's something to be said for raw power, when wielding a beast of a sword like that. Good work!" She flashes him a grin.

"I'm afraid I have no smokestick or anything similar, Caz. Plus, looking at this view, I would worry that any smoke column would be seen from far and wide. I don't want us to draw more trouble than just the bats. There are those who might seek our hard-won treasure." here she glances at the figurine Conner is examining "They avoid the danger of adventuring themselves, yet are well prepared to rob those who do on the journey home."

She glances aprehensively up towards the next level "Come on then, let's do this. We have a date to keep with the leader of this crew. Let's not keep him waiting. Or his crocodile..."

DM, I assume that the hole in the tower does not extend upward to the level above? If it does, is there an opportunity to look / listen/ climb upward? If not, then up the stairs we go.

I agree...smoke might be a bad idea right now...although it is a valid way of dispersing the bats. We should head up and see what we can do about righting the wrong done to Balenar here....

Irvine glanced over his shoulder at Dentesila as he was attempting to remove one of the frog's legs. "Well I'll say, it wasn't intended to be showy...but that's what constant training will do when you have nothing else to do at sea. We did find other things to do while we were docked at port to put that raw power to use..." he grinned back at her.

He hefted his beast of a sword over his shoulder, gripping it tightly in his hand. "I'm with Dentesila. Last thing I want is to lose what we have. Plus if we get ambushed... lets just say I have a little bit to live for... I say push onward."

The uppermost level hangs over the rest of the tower, and the DC to climb up the other wall is several times higher than the DC was lower down. The stairs are much more direct, but how would you like to proceed up to the top floor? The stairs are only wide enough for single file. I assume Irvine or Dentesila would lead.

Cazithiel is still willing to creep up the stairs to ask for vision if there is a door at the top of the stairs (and to sprint back down if there is not).

Peeking up the stairs from the bottom of the fourth floor, you see dim light.

It's your lucky day

As Cazithiel creeps up the stairs and peeks over the top, he sees a grand chamber with an arched ceiling and a throne in the eastern wing. Behind the throne is a scaly humanoid peering out over a window, and a large albino crocodile standing guard next to him. Before they can notice Cazithiel, he turns and runs back downstairs.

"Well this is it. We can safely assume this will be no easy fight. We need to talk tactics." Dentesila holds her chin in her hand as she considers. Softly, out of earshot of the room above, she whispers to the others:

"I suggest we rush them - we need to get all of us up there fast, to maximise our attacks against the two of them. Irvine, it has to be me and you against that croc. We need to flank it and take it down as fast as we can. Watch out for those jaws."

Remembering some advice her uncle gave her, she adds, "Konner, I suggest you and Caitlyn target the druid with ranged fire; if he's a spellcaster try to hold your shot until you see him preparing a spell and maybe we can disrupt his casting. Even better, if you're outside the room, you won't get so affected by that terrible stench."

Looking at the cleric, she says "Caz, do you want to use your speed to get up close to the druid, or hold back and support us against the croc? We have to assume that one of us will take some serious damage from that armoured beast."

This said, she limbers up, stretching and flexing her muscles, ready for the trial to shortly come.

"I can still call on the powers of darkness to fill the room with mist, but perhaps that would hinder you as well. My other thought would be to try to instill darkness in the crocodile to stymie its senses."

Caitlyn leans in and whispers "Balenar, how do you think you are best deployed in this battle?" She slaps her forehead, "Wait! I recall, " she looks sideways at Balenar apologetically, "that before we knew it was yours, we found a scroll of powerful healing, and of invisibility! Balenar, surely you are happy we use these now?"

She looks at Caz "Do you want to take the cure scroll, to use on whomever needs it first?" To Konner, "Do you want to use invisibility to go ahead, gather information, and finally to sneakily knife the druid from behind as we attack?"

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Hmm. I can invoke certain minor powers to understand their language," muses Dentesila, "but only once per day, without the power to communicate back. And, we have no indication that the druid will talk to us anyway. It's probably not helpful."

-Posted with Wayfinder