[PFS PbP Gameday V] GM Alias' 7-12: The Twisted Circle (Inactive)

Game Master Jon A

SenseM+2if human: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
"Well we are pathfinders. Not obey-the-laws!"

"I like that idea," Yamino says, "I am not the one to do it, however. I'm prefer more of a straight forward way of getting information."

Once the group has finished asking the sheriff questions, he escorts you to the guesthouse, a large building at the edge of town that the people of Mercy leave open for visitors. No one else is currently visiting Mercy, so you have the building to yourselves.

Before he leaves, the sheriff points out a large box near the guesthouse’s front door with an orange flag in it, and explains that it is their message box. He assures you that the townsfolk always provide for their visitors, and that they will deliver food to the box three times a day. Additionally, he tells the group that if you need anything outside of curfew, you should place the orange flag on the box to signal him or someone else to come over.

You have about an hour before curfew starts. Possible areas to explore include Aminira's house, the temple of Robori, the artisan's square, or any of several random villager's houses.

"I would go first to Aminira's house. In any case I'll let the talk for you. Mi sword usually speaks for me, and I'm not even able to use her now..."

I will be listening and rolling for Sense Motive. I'm not so bad with that...

The group is easily able to find Aminira's house. This well-kept wooden building, painted in festive shades of orange, is the only painted structure in Mercy. A pair of cashew trees flanks its front entrance.

The interior is a mess of workbenches, tools, toys, and dolls in varying stages of completion.

perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

AFAIK, knowledges can be rolled if difficulty≤10 even if they are untrained.

Know(engineering): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

"The house is of recent construcion... and it seems that Aminira left in a hurry"

Perception: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (11) - 2 = 9

"This is a strange place, Allafaz has not seen its like. An odd assortment of baubles."

Bardic Knowledge: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

"Do you think she saw the storm coming and tried to escape?"

Further search of the bedroom reveals a journal and a spellbook. The journal has not been written in for some time.

The bed shows clear signs of a small child sleeping there and also contains small pieces of snapped twigs.

The spellbook contains the following spells: alarm, burning hands, comprehend languages, dispel magic, enter image, feather fall, flaming sphere, floating disk, glitterdust, hydraulic push, identify, locate object, mage armor, memory lapse, resist energy, and sleep.

perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Goran shows the page to the rest of the group.

Can anyone make sense of this? Seems like they are a little on the fanatic side of their religion...very peculiar.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

"No idea Goran."

I take the spellbook if no one else wants it

Perception: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (16) - 2 = 14
Perception: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (10) - 2 = 8

"Allafaz is also unable to discern anything from that."

Perc: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Looking around the ranger is also unable to find anything

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Yamino holds up his hand and whispers, "Wait, I think I saw something moving."

He gets down on all fours and in a soothing voice says, "Hi. We didn't mean to scare you. We didn't realize anyone was in here."

As Yamino bends down to look under the bed, he sees a small figure recoil back into the shadows. After another moment, and a few kind words from the Professor, the figure crawls out from under the bed.

The figure is a large wooden doll. Her head hangs at an odd angle, and she has little bits of twig growing out of some of her joints. (See new image on slide 6). She moves with an odd jerking motion. She has a scroll in her hand, which she gives to Professor Yamino. The scroll turns out to be a scroll of enter image.

"I am Nira. I do not know you. You are not from Mercy. You find Mercy. You find murder." The voice emanating from the doll is made creepier by the fact that her lips remain still while speaking.

"What the heck?" Espada looks surprised to the living doll, instinctively trying to reach her sword's pommel, only to find thin air. "You... do you know anything about Aminira... was she killed?"

"That is a peculiar thing, Allafaz has never encountered its like. Admittedly, his sample size of experiences is small, however."

"I am Nira. Murder in cave. Find murder."

She talks hesitantly, as if struggling to recall each word.

The ulfen woman is a bit shaken but just nods."Will do!" and moves carefully forward. Looking left and right and up and down she prepares for bad things to come.Perc: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Geirahod scans the room for anything of interest, but nothing else draws her attention.

After a moment, the group hears a large bell ring three times, signaling the start of curfew.

What's the plan?

Well, looks like we look for the cave in the morning....unless....

"I agree," Yamino says then turns once again to Nira, "What cave are you talking about? Can you show us in the morning if you come along?"

He reaches out his hands in a gesture to pick her up without actually approaching her. If she's agreeable, Yamino will carry her back with the rest of the party to the room they are staying in for the night.

Nira points off towards the road the party took coming in to town. "Murder in cave." By her gestures, you think this is the cave you explored on your journey here.

She allows the Professor to pick her up and carry her back to the guest house. The box in front of the house is filled with food - fresh raw vegetables, berries, onion bread, cashew milk, and cashews, as well as jugs filled with fresh, clear water. There is enough here for everyone to eat their fill.

What's the plan? Wait for sunrise, and curfew to be lifted? Or sneak out? If so, where to?

What's our plan folks?

I've already said my piece. I can't sneak out, but would be fine if someone else wants to.

I'm fine with not going out also, I'm not a sneaky person.

yeah, not exactly a stealth priest...lol...in is fine with me

I would vote to sneak out, but I'm also not very stealthy. So it looks like we will observe the law.

The evening passes peacefully. In the morning, you find the food box on the front of the house with the same types of food that were available the night before.

What's next? Options include the temple of Robori, the artisan's square, or any of several random villager's houses. Your weapons are still in the carriage house.

Yamino pulls the others aside when the doll is off doing something.
"I think this is who we're looking for," he says in a hushed tone, "She keeps saying she's 'Nira' and we're looking for 'Amenira'. Plus, the scroll she gave me was for Enter Image."

"An interesting choice of spell."

As the group sets out for the day, they pass by several village homes. One lies close to the roadway.

Three sets of orange robes hang from the clothesline outside of this simple cottage. Two of them are sized for adults, while the other one is sized for a child. The orange flag on this house's message box is raised. Orange curtains cover all of the windows.

There is a small clay pot in the message box, along with what looks like a letter. The two adults are hard at work in the garden. There is no sign of the child.

Apologies for this, but we've dragged along a bit, and I fear that I've lost the bubble on what we're supposed to be doing again. Can you give us a précis please?

The artisan’s square is just to the south of the guesthouse. As the group makes its way into town, you hear what sounds like a heated argument coming from that direction.

As you approach, you see two groups of craftsmen standing in the street, yelling back and forth at each other. It seems like the carpenters of Mercy have something of a long-standing rivalry with the blacksmiths in town. Something about who provide a more valuable service to the townsfolk.

Thus far, the argument has only involved shouts and insults, but if something isn't done soon, it looks like things might escalate.

"Hear now, that is an absolutely silly argument to be having. Each of your crafts both harmonize and synergize with the other. Does the carpenter not use metal implements to work his craft? Do not the blacksmith's tools have wooden handles? One cannot make a house without both sets of craftsmen. Of course, I suppose wooden dowels can be used instead of nails, and good woodjoinery can obviate the need for metal brackets and such, but still! In general, both of your crafts are necessary and important."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

I rule!

You people need to realize that you need each other...I cannot think of two trades that are so conjoined....act like civil people.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Oooooh...so close. Anyone else want to assist Goran?

Neither group quite seems convinced by your outsider's arguments.

Perception: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (14) - 2 = 12

Yes, well, it's first level, I'm not very skillsy.

perc: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Goran nods towards the children, pointing them out to his colleagues

AssistDiplo: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Yamino nods in acknowledgment to Goran, then turns to the quarrelers and says, "Please calm down. I realize there might be some long standing tensions behind this, but please, this doesn't need to come to blows right now. Especially not with the children watching."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

The dispute between the two groups peters out, and they seem to come to some sort of resolution, or at least a truce.

When a couple of adults realize the party has seen the children, they quickly gather the youngsters together, and hustle them off to another part of the village, out of sight of the group.

"So that was strange."

"Yeah. Did you see the way they whisked the kids off like that?" Yamino asks the others in a voice just above a whisper so as to not be heard by any townsfolk that may be nearby, "Did they not want us to see the kids? or not want the kids to see us?"

"Or not want the kids to see us seeing them!"

There is something definitely odd about this place...we must be careful, we have no idea what or who we are dealing with.

After easing the quarrel in the Artisan's Square, the group wanders through the streets of Mercy. All the houses are simple, but well built, and each has a garden associated with it.

The group comes across a young man working in his garden. He approaches the group, and tells them his name is Allet. When asked about the recent mana storm, he replies: "Robori saved the town from the mana storm."

When pressed further, he explains, “Robori is the God of Trees. He lives in the tree at the center of town, and protects us all from harm, and makes the plants grow. Talk to High Priestess Zuri at the temple if you want to learn more.”

"So, that is handled, shall we ask around to some of the villagers and see what they have to tell us?"

I will go with a "gather information" check...

[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+5

Apparently I stuck this in the Discussion thread on Friday! You had given us the option of chatting up random locals. Can I use the 24 I rolled for doing exactly that?

@Allafaz: I took that roll into account with my last post.

Let me know how the group wants to proceed from here.