[PFS][PBP Gameday VI] 3-21: The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment (1-5) (Inactive)

Game Master Dennis Muldoon

Arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

"Interesting use of Dancing Lights. Is it for visitors or for telling the passage of time in this strange place? I am sure further study will give us answers." Fialka says as she sketches the intricate spiral and mote of light. Following the others, she is taken aback as they a greeted by an unexpected dweller but quickly recovers herself and smiles softly, her mis-matched eyes shining.

"Wonderful! Thankyou dear, Korada is indeed honoured through your compassion." Fialka replies, "We apologise for our intrusion and poor manners, we were lead to believe this place deserted on our pilgrimage. Us? There are several here? We would not want to intrude if it stretches your resources."

diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

"We mean you no harm. My name is Di Duang. Please sit down, food is ready in a moment. We spend all our lives here in this temple. Our leader, Dakang, runs this temple for generations now." the woman says.

And while you talk to her and ask questions more people enter the room, some of them spinning crystal clear glass speres in their hands. Most of the worshipers are missing fingers or sections of fingers. Humans and halflings of various ages take their seats at the table and with a command word the table produces fruits, grains, nuts, and juices sufficient to feed 24 creatures.

One of the halflings piles three plates with food and takes them outside the room.

Pa Us enters, slipping to the side of the door, and coming up to the table.
He bows before the lady: "Greetings Di Duang. I am Pa Us. So, Dakang is an Elder?".
Pa Us checks the food out.
"So, what are these spinning spheres? Are they what snips the fingers off?".

Seidr discretely elbows Pa Us, I have found that once one has gained a certain level of mastery in a topic, the only way to improve is to teach what you have already learned to others. As we are shamefully ignorant of the virtues of your way of life, I would ask you to use us as a whetstone to sharpen your wisdom.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

Tellerin looks at Seidr and Pa Us in confusion. "I don't get it!" Despite his confusion he steps on into the room and makes an elaborate bow in the woman's direction.

"Nice to meet you Di Duang. We don't mean you any harm either. I'm Tellerin Thrombast, storyteller extraordinaire, and part-time adventurer. Uh, please excuse me..." He looks a little awkward as he mutters a few words and focuses on the room and its occupants, trying to discern their magic auras.

KN Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

A flicker of confusion crosses his face before he ceases concentration on the spell. "Sorry about that. Before we came here we were warned about gnome eating demonspawn, but I guess maybe that Zey fellow overstated the danger." He clears his throat awkwardly and looks around for an empty seat on the table. "In any case, thank you for the offer, I'd be glad to join you! I've never been to a temple of Korada before. Is there anything we should do before eating?"

Hmm. Still seem suspicious. The timing of this 'meal' starting was just too good. But it doesn't look like there's any harm to just joining in to eat. We might learn something?

Vagantem looks at the magic food with a little suspicion.

"Don't you ever want a bit of real home baking?" she asks the person she sits next to.

When the plates of food are taken by the Halfling she asks. "Where are they going? Is someone missing from the feast?"

Smiling broadly to the woman, Fialka takes advantage of her mental discipline to try and pierce any auras without raising the same suspicions as her companions. Her eyes momentarily flash as magical auras are revealed and she studiea for a moment, as if in deep thought or Prayer. When her eyes open again, the Student of the Arcanarium ponders the make up of the magic.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

"You have surely been blessed with such an artrfact. I apogise for all the questions, but the food here is for around two dozen people, are there so many here? It is just we have our own food if we are extra." Fialka smiles sweetly and sits down anyway, partaking of some nuts and berries if told there is plenty to go round.

Sosuke eyes the group with suspicion and slowly dismounts to join the others at the table.

Sosuke coughs nervously attempting to fill the long awkward silence...

Since Di Duang seems distracted, Tellerin steps over to talk to his allies. He tugs at Sosuke's sleeve, whispering "Ah, Mr. Rengu. Any idea what we're looking at here? There's no way all these people have been living here all this time, right? It's kinda..." He rubs his eyebrows with both hands "fascinating?"

"There has to be a strange story behind this!"

"Indeed, if this place has been here as long as the society believes then any inhabitants are ether illusion, part of the traps or intruders..." His voice is low but not quite a whisper. " Though they could be wrong about this place completely."

Turning to their hosts he raises his voice to be clearly heard over the bustle of the meal. " Prey tell how you cam to be here in this temple. We had heard that it was abandoned long ago."

"Yes, Sosuke-san, it was abandoned long ago... and still seems nothing much is happening here these days".

"Dakang is old, that's true. He's not going to join us for the meal, he needs no food because he is sustained by the holy will of Korada alone. You may speak to him at the upcoming service in the chapel." Di Duang answers to Pa Us' question.

"I'm afraid teaching you what I know may take years, but feel free to ask whatever you want and I'll try to answer your questions." she answers to Seidr. "And there's nothing to do now, just sit down and eat."

"Our bodyguards are missing. Every day somebody else gets them their food." a young halfling next to Vagantem answers. "This food is what we are used to. This is our home."

"There's enough for everybody. We are only 15 people here. Join us!" Duang answers to Fialka's question.

"We use the spinning spheres for meditation. Some of us lost parts of their fingers in a rite sacred to Korada. This rite provides inspired visions to the pure of mind, but those with impure thoughts painlessly lose a finger as a penalty for seeking enlightenment while they are yet unclean." You see that the worshipers with missing fingers express a modicum of shame.

Who actually tries from the food?

Vagantem, always interested in different types of cooking will delicately sample the fare of offer.

"What happened to your bodyguards? When did they go missing?"

I think that's some kind of a nom-native-speaker-conversation-misunderstanding. They are not missing in terms of disappearing, but missing from the table and not joining the others.

With a smile the halfling answers "Oh, they are on duty. They guard Dakang's chambers. They don't have time for a meal. There are three of them." before putting a piece of an apple into his mouth.

Pa Us smiles, and joins his hands in front of his face to bow: "I prefer to meditate, and do not wish to partake in food for now. Let us meet Dakang".

Seidr will have some of the food to be polite. Can you tell us about the services you hold at your chapel?

"Thank you for the... generosity, but I fear I must decline to partake. Pathfinders, we do have a task at hand, perhaps after looking around, we might be able to enjoy a meal like this. "

Seeing that there are no special rituals to observe, Tellerin hops up into a seat and begins to dig in. He samples a little of everything. With his mouth full, he responds to Sosuke "Waff you meem, pathk at hand?" He swallows "We have time. C'mon!" He pats the seat next to the one he's taken.

Eying the halfling, he winks and whispers "It'd be polite. And maybe they'd open up to us?"

Happy that someone is eating this, so they may find out if this food has any negative properties, Pa Us smiles at Tellerin: "Eat up, eat up, who knows where the next meal will come from".

Grumbling Sosuke will pick at the food, after trying it through his halfling appetite will get the better of him as he eats heartily.

Some of you eat from the fruits and nuts at the table, but for some reason it does not taste like fruits and nuts. Instead, it is flavorless and not nourishing at all. Fort save, please, DC10

"Several times a day we pray to Koroda. There's a special ritual we do. Come and join us if you like." one of the worshipers answers to Seidr's question.

"Let us see what ritual this is..."

FORT: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

Tellerin stops mid-munch, swallows, and sets the rest of the food down. He seems to have an internal battle for a moment about commenting on it, and then just says "Thank you for the food." in a quiet voice.

What in the gods' names is this? Ghost food? Are these followers some kind of ghost?

Surreptitiously, Tellerin bumps an elbow against the side of the worshipper next to him. He's ready to apologize if he hits something solid.

"The ritual sounds very interesting. Are you starting it now? If so I'd like to see it."

Tellerin's ellbow hits something solid.

The ritual starts in about an hour, after we finished the meal." the solid worshipper next to Tellerin answers.

Fort DC10: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Sosuke frowns clearly bothered by something, "Do you eat like this all the time then?"
I would have been far better off eating my rations then this... Why do I let myself get talked into these things?

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (13) + 0 = 13

Tellerin smoothly follows up with "Oh, sorry there." to the person he elbowed.

Maybe they've been deprived of good food for so long that this is good for them? How terrible! At least they're not ghosts though.

He turns to the rest of the party "In that case I guess we have some time before the ritual. If you're all not too hungry, maybe we can look around a bit before this ritual."
He makes a small bow to Di Duang "Thank you for sharing with us. Would it be alright if I look around a bit before the ritual starts. There is a lot to take in and appreciate here, in such a fine temple."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

"Yes, we eat like this every day. Leftovers are kept for later." another worshipper answers.

"Of course, you are welcome to have a look around. If you need a guide one of us can show you around. Only Dakang's chambers are taboo."

waiting for the others to catch up before continuing

Pa Us will follow Tellerin if some exploring is done.

fort: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

"The food maybe could do with some....seasoning." she offers.

As the others get up to see the prayer ritual, Vagantem follows them.

Assuming you are scouting without a guide, where do you want to go next?

"I would be happy to check what is behind us... before going in deeper. Checking the room or rooms just to our West, then the ones on the South end of the building".

To Di Duang, Tellerin replies "Thank you for the offer, but it looks like my friends here would be happy to just wander and observe until the ritual. If it's alright, I'll be back later to talk to you some more. Its really quite fascinating..." How people could be living stuck in this tapestry and eating the worst trail rations ever! "-uh, the temple that is. Very fascinating." He coughs, gives another bow, then hops out of his chair to join Pa Us.

He responds to the suli with a "Yes, a good idea not to miss anything. We uh." He lowers his voice "We do have a mission here after all. Back in the entrance room there was a door to the south, how about that first?"

Seidr is increasingly concerned about the nature of their hosts, and follows after Pa Us.

Vagantem, knows the first rule of exploration is not to let the other pathfinders get out of sight, because that is when they get into trouble.

"Sounds like I'd best be off too then. Nice... room you have here."

Before leaving she quickly asks. "And how long have you all been here anyway?", she pauses for the answer before following the others.

Sosuke gets back to his wolf and follows the others. After leaving the room he whispers to the nearest pathfinder, "You get the feeling something is very wrong here?"

Pa-Us nods: "Any group condoning removing fingers from people is very wrong. I did not look further than that".

Seidr hedges, Sometimes sacrifice is necessary. Giving up something of value can be a legitimate test of devotion. I don't think they're people though if that's what you mean.

Tellerin tugs Sosuke's sleeve and replies "Oh absolutely. It's great. I'm really curious to find out what strangeness is going on here. It'll make a great story to tell once we get back after all."

He scoots over to the southern door in the entrance room then puts an ear up to the door to hear if the room beyond might be occupied. He also checks if the door has any of those ancient traps that shear off gnome-fingers.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Assuming there aren't any dangerous things on the door or dangerous sounds on the other side, he opens the door.

You leave the worshippers alone with their untasty food and move on to investigate further. Tellerin moves up to another door and listens carefully to any signs of danger on the other side. It's calm on the other side so the gnome opens the door.

This room on the other side contains mundane stores used by the temple’s inhabitants. These include blankets, bandages, tools, empty barrels and crates, some wooden stools, several empty shelves, and rolls of the same white cloth the worshipers’ robes are made of.

"Have a quick look in here, and then, if nothing, try the double-doors on the south side of the entrance?".
Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 20 if we look around inside

If you look inside
You find nothing.

"Try the double-doors on the south side of the entrance, comrades?"

"Just a normal supply room in here? No grisly stash of severed digits?" Tellerin pokes around a bit with Pa Us just in case something is hidden. Eventually he crosses his arms, unsatisfied. Once people exit, he closes the door neatly behind the group. "These folks here seem particular about order and neatness, I wouldn't want to leave anything out of place."

"Nothing interesting here so far. To the south side!" He follows along and repeats his effort at the previous door. First checking it for traps and unpleasant sounds, and then giving the handle a try.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

"I wonder what they make that cloth from?" muses Vagantem.

"It is not like there is a textile industry operating here..."

"OH, good thought! Hmm" Tellerin scratches at his eyebrows "If they don't throw any cloth away and magically repair and maintain it, maybe all this cloth has always been here?"

"If no traps, Tellerin, let us try the door...?".

Tellerin checks the door to the south-east of the building. There are no signs of a trap or anybody behind the door and he opens it.

Some tack and blankets for horses lie discarded in this stable. It has not been used for centuries, and any straw that once covered the floor here has been long since cleared away. Over time, the smell of horses has dissipated, and only the empty stalls and remaining equestrian equipment reveal the room’s original purpose.

Pa Us nods: "Not much have we found... Shall we continue? The room to the south of the banquet hall?".

Impatiently Sosuke begins to wander down the western hall, convinced the only thing left to the south would be the kitchen or something similar.