[PFS] PFS Scenario 1-55: The Infernal Vault (Inactive)

Game Master Deane Beman

It is the 10 foot area directly in front if the party. The area directly in front of the mercenary pertains to the higher tiers.

Lucian will stand back, waiting in case an ally gets wounded.

Before the mercenary has a chance to feel the pain of Gaius's crossbow bolt sinking in to his shoulder Jorus buries a charkam into his jugular...fatally wounding him.

Combat over...but there's still the matter of that trap between you and the fallen mercenary.

"Nice throw Jorus!" Balak says, clapping him on the shoulder.

Trying to keep his stance after the thunderous gratitude of the tiefling,
"It's all in the wrist Balak, haha. Now I need everybody step back and give me a little space to disarm this trap." Jorus warns the rest of the group as he pulls out his thieves tools. "Let's see what we got here, hopefully this ones as easy as it looks."

After everybody has stepped back.
Disable Device Check:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

Jorus is easily able to disable the trap now that the fear of being shot with a crossbow has been alleviated. A thorough search of the fallen mercenary reveals that he must have held a high rank within the organization. In addition to no small amount of gold bars he carries the following:

-potion of cure light wounds
-chain shirt
-masterwork heavy crossbow
-10 +1 bolts
-short sword

Balak stands over the body of the fallen mercenary, impassively noting his belongings. "I'll hold onto that Crossbow if nobody else wants it." he says.

"Take the bolts and potion too, big fellow. You're as likely as any of us to need both before we're through with this adventure." says Gaius.

A5: Crypt (Map)

A perpetual thick gray fog covers the floor of this ancient stone room to a height of six inches. Four alcoves extend from a small circular center. The north and south alcoves are lined with ceremonial slabs on which rest skeletal bodies garbed in old finery, the west alcove contains a spiral staircase that winds down from the room, and the east alcove contains only a simply wooden door in the east wall.

Two mercenaries loosely stand guard here. As you enter the room the stop talking with one another and address you. "Looks like you made it past that fool Janks. I hope you didn't hurt him too bad." The mercenaries share a laugh before continuing. "Plenty of empty coffins here...I'm sure we can cram that idiot into one of them!"

Gaius steps forward, a look of polite curiosity on his face.

"Janks sent us on this way, we're here for the job doing guard work... " he pauses and frowns slightly, looking the men up and down. "Well, this is a bit awkward. You guys are still working here? That's just an unprofessional employer..."

Bluff: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

While one of the mercenaries seems ready to believe Gaius's tale, the other is not so convinced. "Come now...I'll admit you've got the look of hired swords; but certainly not the type that would take up with the lot of us." He grips his sword before continuing. "We've no love for that fool Janks. A poor excuse for a commanding officer if ever I met one. But he does owe us some coin...so if he's no longer breathing all we ask is to spare some of the gold you took from his body and we'll be on our way." His companion chirps up "But if he's alive and dangling by his feet I'll gladly give you all the gold I've got with me." Both guards laugh at the quip.

"Ah yes, I believe our attire is against us. You're quite right. Very well, I do have your wages here..." Gaius trails off, putting his hands in his pockets. "Had it somewhere..." He closes his eyes in apparent concentration, rummaging around in his breast pocket before checking the inside of his robes, followed by the pockets on the sides of his breeches. "Here we are, your payment." he says, taking his closed hands out of his pockets. As he does so he opens his eyes. A faint yellow light streams out from them. His hands open toward the men and vivid prisms of light erupt from them, dazzlingly bright.

Cast Color Spray (DC: 16)

The two guards look upon Gaius with suspicion as he fumbles around in his pockets but soon find themselves convulsing on the floor as an array of dazzling colors bursts forth from the sorcerer's hands. As you begin to secure the guards Balak and Jorus here some rustling sounds from about the room. Six skeletons have arisen and are closing in on the party!

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Round 1 (Map)
Skeleton 4
Skeleton 2
Skeleton 6
Armaranti
Skeleton 3
Skeleton 1
Gaius
Skeleton 5
Jorus
Balak
Lucian

Skeleton 4 closes in on Gaius doing minimal damage with a rusty scimitar while skeletons #2 & #6 begin clawing at the fallen guards.

Skeleton 4 vs. Gaius: 1d20 ⇒ 13, Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Armaranti is up!

"Walking dead!", Amaranti shouts. Where these come from? They are no friends of the guards, either!
"Let's Protect Gaius!" Amaranti directs Kaisharga, leading the way.

Lance attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Amaranti stabs at the skeleton harassing Gaius.

Serpentine form moves past the Pathfinders in first row, and attacks the skeleton. Sand smashes against bone, as Kaisharga's jaws connect.

Bite attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Amaranti and his minion are able to dispose of the lead skeleton as two more join the fray and attack Amaranti and Gaius. Neither are able to penetrate the defenses of their respective foes.

Gaius is up.

Amaranti: 1d20 ⇒ 11, Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4
Gaius: 1d20 ⇒ 6, Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Gaius steps back a few paces and casts Magic Missile on the Skeleton closest.

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

As Gaius returns yet another skeleton to its undeath the final one lumbers up and swings his rusty scimitar at Kaisharga.

Attack: 1d20 ⇒ 15, Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Jorus, Balak & Lucian to close out Round 1.

Lucian will cast bless

Jorus slipped under Amaranti right side, drawing his spiked morning star as he moved. He swings wide at the skeleton.

Morningstar attack:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Damage:1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

BTW, Amaranti and Kaisharga have reach, so they should get AoO if an opponent moves close. Although I don't know how this would be best handled in forum play...

In general I will either prompt you to make AoOs (as there may be some moments when you do not want to make them) or make them myself in the interest of time (if the desire to do so and the targets are fairly obvious.) In this case I'll admit that I forgot the two of you had reach...luckily we're dealing with mindless undead so that wouldn't alter their actions.

Amaranti and Kaisharga lash out at the oncoming skeletons; taking each out handily.

Amaranti AoO: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23, Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Kaisharga AoO: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20, Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Balak to finish Round 1, and then....

Round 2 (Map)

Skeleton 2
Skeleton 6
Armaranti
Gaius
Jorus
Balak
Lucian

Balak makes his way through the front lines and advances on one of the remaining Skeletons. "Let's finish this!" he rumbles, readying his fists for a strike. He swings at the skeleton's skull.

Move to attack Skeleton 6 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

As the skeleton devouring one of the guards has his bones smashed by Balak, the lone remaining skeleton spontaneously collapses into a heap of bones. Even with DR...I just figure 6 PCs vs. one skeleton is not something we need to play out!

Each of the mercenaries carries a short sword and a chain shirt. Mundane but serviceable.

A6: Archives (Map)

Great, upright stones dominate this room, evenly spaced out to allow for easy passage between them. The stones have been perfectly carved to form bookshelves, each with six different shelves containing various books, notes, maps, and other crammed-in documents. A perpetual thick gray fog covers the floor of this room to a height of six inches, and most of the documents on the lowest shelves of the bookcases appear to have rotted away because of condensation from this fog, giving the room a pungent, musty aroma.

A lemure and a woman (presumably Celina Deckhand) are in the room. "Attack the intruders!" the woman orders. How rude!

Round 1
Celina
Armaranti
Gaius
Jorus
Lemure
Lucian
Balak

Hiding behind a bookcase the woman mumbles a few words and casts a spell at Jorus. Jorus can feel the heat of the magic pulse as it squarely strikes the bookcase next to him.

1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 3 - 4 = 9

Armaranti, Gaius and Jorus are up.

"Again these devils..." Amaranti sighs as he moves forward to strike the lemure, with little effect.

Lance attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Unspoken command sends Kaisharga crawling towards enemy's flank.

Gaius casts Ray of Frost on the Lemure.

Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3

Amaranti's lance attack just misses the Lemure…but Gaius's Ray of Frost hits squarely. Jorus is up before the Lemure.

Jorus squeezes past his the summoner drawing his axe, raising above his head and bringing it down on the lemure.

Battleaxe strike:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Damage:1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

The mindless lemure strikes back at Jorus, who is able to deftly dodge each claw attack. Lucian & Balak are up!

Lucian moves up and takes a shot at the lemure with his sling, attempting to shoot around Amaranti's head but ends up completely off mark.

Sling Through Cover: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 31d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

I'll leave the close quarters to you Balak, not much room in here for us to fight!

Balak moves around the bookshelves, trying to get within striking distance of the woman they are here to get.

Round 2 (Map)
Celina
Armaranti
Gaius
Jorus
Lemure
Lucian
Balak

"Thieves!" the sorceress shouts. "This vault belongs to my family! You have no right to be here!" She fires a bolt of force at Kaisharga. Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Back to Armaranti, Gaius & Jorus.

"Better to be a thief then some devil's Harlet! Sorry but your boyfriend here is going down!" he remarks to the witch. With that comment Jorus raises his axe and plunges it into the beasts shoulder.

Battleaxe strike:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Damage1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Gaius turns the corner around the bookshelf. Seeing the Sorceress facing the other way he raises his hand and summons an arcane projectile from his outstretched finger.

Cast Magic Missile at the Sorceress

Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

With no silver nor magic to pierce the lemures otherworldly defences, Amaranti tries to rely on brute force. With a primal scream he shoves his lance deep into the creature's chest.

Lance attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Reeling from the magical bolt, Kaisharga raises, it's green eye glowing with fury. Pouncing from the archive wall, it charges the sorceress. In it's anger, the charge falls short.

Bite attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

As the lemure is sent back to the hells that created it, Gaius sends a magic missle at Celina, who is preoccupied with Kaisharga. Lemure down, Lucian & Balak are up.

Lucian stands ready to heal anyone if they are injured, while also keeping out of close quarters to leave room for the front-liners.

The big Tiefling walks around the corner of the bookcase and reaches for the Chelish woman. "Don't struggle. Though I'm permitted to hurt you, I don't really relish doing so." he says.

Grapple attempt 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Celeena struggles against the monk's grapple; but his grip is much too strong for the slight woman. "Fine. Have it your way."

With Celeena stopped and the documents secured or destroyed, Absalom is once again safe from invasion. Celeena is turned over to the Absalom authorities, she’s put on trial for treason (a family tradition, it seems) and sentenced to a lengthy prison term. Over the next few days various members of the Society catalog the unique items in the vault and brings in a cleric to consecrate the remains of the Deckland family interred in the crypts, and properly restore the crypts to a manageable status.

...and that about covers it. A link to your Chronicle sheets is posted on the campaign info tab. I'll set up The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch & send out invites ASAP.

Thanks for the game! Sorry I can't join you for the next scenario!

I wish you could. I'm sure I'll see you for another game at some point...maybe even on the same side of the table!

Cheers for the game guys, heaps of fun! Looking forward to the next one