PFS PbP Gameday 5: Feral's #4-12 Refuge of Time (Inactive)

Game Master Feral

Aeris gives an invisible snarl as Naroth falls to the ground, then calls out to his fellow Pathfinders, who can see neither the archer nor his target at the moment, "He's dead - and I'm halfway there. The restoration spells I used on Sihir aren't likely to undo the effects of Naroth's spell on me - anyone have any other ideas?"

He then moves closer to the dead mage and searches him quickly.

Not sure we ever answered the question of restoration and whether we've got the material components, but Aeris is going to be pretty vulnerable with three negative levels on him. Would be great if we could fix it.

Sorry for missing a post yesterday...got sidetracked by work and family...crazy!

Crowe comes down from his raging frenzy, looking very tired. Breathing hard, he says "Good work. It seems we killed the main guy here, right?"

He looks around for anything of interest.

perception take 10: 10 + 10 = 20

Wiping his blade on the sinspawn's clothing, Miklos looks around.

"Well, that wasn't wholly unpleasant. So, is it here these refuge tokens are?"

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

When Miklos and Crowe approach the golden statue to get at the fallen Naroth's remains a powerful voice emanates from it.

“Prostrate yourself and mark your flesh in honor of the Lady of Runes. Your service will be rewarded.”

The voice speaks in Thassilonian but the duo seem to understand it clearly.

Going on a hunch, Miklos gets down on his knees and, wincing, carves a seven-pointed star into his arm.

"This better work, or I've made quite the fool of my self."

The right-eyebrow of the tiefling raises as he examines Miklos quizzically, but his curiosity prevents him from actually stopping the fighter.

A moment after Miklos finishes his self-mutilation the statue emits a soft hum and a tiny clay token appears floating in front of him.

Sihir zips over, looks to Miklos, then to the statue.

detect magic and Spellcraft: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (17) + 17 = 34

After a bit of magical examination Sihir determines that performing certain actions causes the statue to instant summons a refuge token from some other location.

A disembodied voice says in Shihir's little grey ear, "Can you figure out where they're coming from? Think we can trace the magic back?" After a pause, he adds, "Or I guess we can just go check the other doors and hallways, back the way we came."

Raising the question again: do we have any way to restore Aeris' three negative levels? They'll heal with time - but not if he's dead.

Azzik knows Restoration and is willing to cast it, but the DM would have to hand-waive the fact that I forgot to purchase diamond dust (or allow someone else to provide it as a material component). DM?

I'm okay with hand-waiving the diamond dust purchase but I wasn't kidding when I said that the scenario was just about over with.

Sihir is not able to determine where the tokens are being summoned from. He is confident that such summoning is limited.

You guys can take turns carving yourselves up until you've nabbed all the tokens.

On Naroth's remains, in addition to his assorted magical trinkets, the party finds a letter from his Lissalan allies informing him that the ally’s followers have discovered the location of Krune’s runic archive and will soon have the keywords to activate the refuge tokens.

***

With the cache of refuge tokens and Naroth's former slaves in tow the party prepares to the temple and return to civilization. They're immediately stopped at the temple's entrance once again by angel duped into service by the late Lissalan mage.

"Halt! You bring with you a great evil. I will not raise arms against you but I suggest you leave such things behind lest they taint your very souls!"

After a bit of trial and error the party determines the angel is referring to a satchel of smooth ocher stones taken from Naroth's body.

Feel free to roll spellcraft checks but you need to roll very high.

detect magic and Spellcraft: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32 +2 to identify illusion spells...not that that's likely what it is....

Sihir believes the stones to be ocher ioun stones. Equipping one fills the user with new skills and abilities. You get a bonus feat of your choice.

"The souls of the damned are bound to those stones", the angel warns. "Keeping them will surely start you down the path of darkness."

Taking one counts as an evil act. If you take one your alignment shifts one step towards evil. This shift can be balanced out by paying for an atonement.

I'm willing to dish out the two prestige points for an Atonement. You can never have to many feats.

I need an answer from everyone else.

I'll also take one. 2 PP for a feat sounds like a great (evil) deal!

I'm uncertain. Will the atonement let us keep our initial alignment? This sounds kind of like too good of a deal...it has "classic infernal bargain" written all over it. Another consideration: Will we still need to pay (a great deal of) gold to keep them beyond this adventure?

Aeris studies the winged figure a moment, uncertainty clawing at him. An angel, perhaps even a distant relative, counsels me against taking the stone. But I can feel the power in it, and its use in Milani’s service would be for good, just as it was when I carved the seven-pointed star in my arm to recover the token, keeping it out of the hands of the Lissalans. Do I follow the dictates of my blood, or the path I have chosen in life? It seems Milani would want me to act with the freedom of choice – and taking the stone will make me an even more effective enemy of tyranny.

Though he does it with some trepidation, Aeris picks up one of the ocher stones.

I completely agree with Sihir, it sounds like too good of a deal – but the RP implications are kind of fun, so I’m going for it. I’m also curious if the atonement will revert us back to our original alignment.

Yes, it's free (monetarily). Yes, you keep it past this scenario. The only cost is the alignment hit (unless you also pay for the atonement) and the fact that you're toting around an incredibly evil trinket.

And the atonement is really just 2 Prestige???

It's two prestige base. If you're a divine caster it's two prestige plus 2500 gold.

I would have posted this earlier, but had a connection problem: I don't suppose there's another Scenario/Module out there where taking one of these bites us in the ass?

Possibly...

I had a feeling.

"I've walked the path of darkness all my life, thank you. It is fear of the dark that leads to damnation. Some angel you are, not knowing that!" Sihir says huffily, as he turns away from the bag.

I'll Just Say No.

Azzik shrugs, taking the stone from the bag.

"Evil things can still be used for good acts."

Seeing as Azzik 'ate the waifer' in another scenario a long time ago, it seems fitting for him to indulge in this as well. I'll pay the atonment and the gold for the divine caster part.

The angel shakes his head in disappoint but steps aside allowing the party passage.

The shoanti braves are eager to return to their tribe but Haywood and Wattlee are grateful for the escort through the dangerous Wyvern Mountains back to Kaer Maga. Eventually making their way to her lodge, Venture-Captain Heidmarch congratulates the party on a job well done. In addition, she promises to keep them abreast of the Society plans regarding the Lissalan cultists as now that the party has found the hidden cache of refuge tokens, the keywords to activate them is all that remains before the Pathfinders can mount a direct assault on Krune’s hidden location.

That's it guys. Thanks for playing. The game's been reported and chronicles are going out now.

Thanks for running. It was a quick and easy one, but fun none-the-less.

Thanks as always, Feral!

Hmmm.... I haven't received the chronicle. Could you please send again?

I just resent it. You're bbrown at moodybrown.com, right?

Yes, got it! Thx!!!