[PFS PbP] Scenario #43: The Pallid Plague (Inactive)

Game Master Deane Beman

Inor offers to escort you to the flamebloom grove if you'll agree to help him get to town to see Laurel, Falcon’s Hollow’s herbalist, for a cure. "There are too many sick here, and only more will become infected as long as this madness continues. We will need to stockpile a cure."

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The party heads through the forest towards the flower grove. It takes just under an hour to reach the location. Man-made rows of bright flowers paint this wide glade in hues of red, orange, and yellow. A warm breeze blows out of the field, and the pleasant odor of the countless blossoms fills the air and permeates the whole forest.

Several gardeners tend to the field and raise up a shout of alarm as you approach.

Round 1

1. Calchas, Iowyn
2. Gardners
3. Vincent, Balon, Saera, Kiyan

Well that didn't take long to upset the neighbours...

Move Action: Moves 25 ft north.
Swift Action: Uses Tail to retrieve crossbow.
Free Action: Switches crossbow to hands.

Iowyn strides towards the farmers and casually fires a bolt at the weapon arm of the closest one who is causing an alarm. Called shot on the arm of the one in blue directly north of me.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 3 - 2 = 21 Gasp! Yay!
Crit Confirmation: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 fairly certain it does not confirm...

damage: 1d8 ⇒ 4
Target takes a -2 penalty to attack/skill/ability checks using that arm for the next 1d4 ⇒ 2 rounds.

He clacks his beak in annoyance as the farmers sound the alarm. Idiots. As far as I was concerned, you could've lived. He dashes forward, drawing a javelin and hurling it at the further of the two.

Javelin (flat-footed): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + (2) + 2 = 7

What do the gardeners look like? Humans? Any weapons? And do the gardens they are tending look to be full of the flowers that exploded out of the zombies earlier?

The gardeners are human...if a bit deranged. The flowers are indeed the flowers that were stuffed inside the zombies.

Both Calchas and Iowyn land solid shots on their respective targets. The gardeners drop their sickles and draw slings; loading them while hurling insults at you.

Round 1

1. Calchas, Iowyn
2. Gardeners
>>>3. Vincent, Balon, Saera, Kiyan

Seeing the gardeners drawing weapons, Vincent closes are rapidly as possible, drawing his sword as he approaches the gardener.

Are you daft man? We've not even approached you and you would already draw arms? Are these flowers addling your brains, or were you already deficient?

Double move, draw sword, Arcane Strike

Balon double-moves forward, ready to send a wave of negative energy at the gardeners in the next round.

"You men should lay down your weapons... you will not be able to defeat us, and we really have no wish to kill you."

Intimidate: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Saera moves forward while drawing her pistol. She takes a position in the flower beds, and shoots a bullet at one of the the farmers.

Shooting at the blue one. Using a grit point to still shoot versus his Touch AC despite him being outside of my pistol's 1st range increment.

Shoot!: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 5 - 2 = 13 Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Eek, do you really want to dive willingly into the patch of plague plants? :)

I'm gonna go ahead and post my round 2 actions because I doubt I'll be posting again until tonight.

He dashes quickly toward the other farmer, drawing his sword and slashing downward, hoping he and his allies can make short work of all of them before any help arrives.

Move to close into melee with the green one, assuming he's still around and within 30 ft of where I am now.

Elven curve blade: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Damage: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Kiyanetikert moves up with the others, staying clear of the flowers.
Double move. Too far and no clear shot

As Vincent and Kiyan reposition themselves, Balon attempts to intimidate the gardeners to no avail. Calchas closes in and deals a nasty gash to the westernmost foe.

Iowyn may act before the gardeners.

Round 2

1. Calchas, Iowyn
2. Green Gardener (12), Blue Gardener (10), Red Gardener (7)
3. Vincent, Balon, Saera, Kiyan

No longer having a clear shot on the gardeners, Iowyn instead hexes the green one giving his attack rolls a -2 penalty to match the blue gardener. Evil Eye (DC 15 vs Will to reduce duration to one round)

The gardeners engaged with Calchas and Vincent drop their loaded slings and begin fighting with their bare hands; weakened by Iowyn's hex. The furthermost gardener closes in and looses his sling bullet at Balon.

Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Attack vs. Calchas: 1d20 ⇒ 18, Damage: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Attack vs. Vincent: 1d20 ⇒ 15, Damage: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Attack vs. Balon: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16, Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Vincent, Balon, Saera, Kiyan to close out Round 2; Calchas and Iowyn may also post their Round 3 actions.

Unluckily for the poor gardeners, they are all within 30 feet of Balon.

Unfortunately, he can only selectively remove four of his allies, so he'll move forward to the spot I've moved him so that Saera is not within 30 feet. Then he'll use variant channel negative energy to hit all three of them.

channel energy: 1d6 ⇒ 1 negative energy and a DC 15 Will save. If they fail the save, they are sickened for 2 rounds, if they make the save, they still take full damage but are not sickened.

The sturdy gardeners fight off the secondary effects of the negative energy…but the fella in green pants suddenly looks a bit unsteady.

Saera takes a step toward the red gardener, reloads her her pistol with a paper cartridge (move action instead of standard), and shoots at the red gardener.

1st range increment so shooting versus Touch AC.

Shoot: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22 Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 8

"Boom, headshot!"

If that downs him Saera will regain 1 grit point :)

Saera deftly takes down her target!

Arcane Strike, Attack

Vincent engages his opponent, but fails to strike a meaningful blow.

Nodachi: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Kiyanetikert moves up into field and tosses a bomb at the gardener in green.
Bomb, Soft Cover: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 - 4 = 4
Not so good.
Splash Weapon Miss: 1d8 ⇒ 8
That puts it down next to Calchas. I'll use Splash Weapon Mastery to move it up one, between the gardener and Vincent, then exclude both Vincent and Calchas.
Splash damage is 5 to both gardeners. Reflex Save DC 14 for half.

Green: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Blue: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

The green gardener dodges most of the splash damage from the bomb...however what minimal burning gets through is enough to send him unconscious to the ground. The blue gardener takes the full brunt of the splash damage and collapses.

Combat over

"You made quick work of that!" Inor exclaims. "Don't touch any of those flowers!" Close examination of he gardeners reveals pustules covering their entire bodies...clearly victims of palepox.

Balon will quickly go over to the gardeners and see if he can stabilize one or more of them with a heal check.

Heal: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Then he'll check them for useful items.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Any of the gardeners can be stabilized for questioning. Their gear is in the spoiler in my previous post.

Balon will tie one of them up after stabilizing him, then will use a charge of infernal healing on him to get him conscious.

"We have some questions for you. You'd best answer them. Why are you growing these plants that spread a malady to those who do not wish it upon themselves? The gifts of Urgathoa are meant for those who understand and appreciate the transition into undeath that can be afforded from those gifts."

While Balon ties one up to prepare him for questioning, Calchas slips between the trees to the west and finds a hiding spot, waiting to see if more of them answer the call.

Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

Iowyn helps Balon ensure all of gardeners are stabilzed in time. They may have attacked us, but they don't deserve death... or undeath as the case may be.

As Balor questions then, the witch reloads her crossbow, Also we should make this quick. We don't know if more will be coming soon.

The gardener spits at Balon's feet. "Kill me if you wish...it will do you no good. The plan is unfolding perfectly. How many of you will look like me in a few day's time?"

Diplomacy/Intimidate may get him to reveal a bit more.

Kneeling down beside the bound man, Vincent looks the man squarely in the face as he talks. If it will do us no good, surely there is no harm in telling us what it is you have already done. Mayhap you will have the satisfaction of seeing our reaction before you die.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Diplomacy aid: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
"My friend speaks the truth. And we really have no wish to kill you. I'm sure you don't really WANT to die, do you?"

"We're all dying friend. Some of us just choose the more expeditious path." The gardener continued and describes the cult’s plan to infect the people of Falcon’s Hollow through flower pollen. "We've been cultivating these flamebloom flowers to hand out to the people of Falcon's Hollow while disguised as beggars. By tomorrow the whole town will be infected just like him." The gardener points at Inor. "You lot may be as good as dead just by standing in this field as long as you have been."

"While I can appreciate that you wish to spread the gifts of Urgathoa to the world, you are going about it in the wrong way, I'm afraid. The Pallid Princess wants willing lovers, not slaves. You will learn this, eventually, if you study the writings of our faith."

Balon turns to his allies. "We will get nothing else of substance from these men. Let us go stop the unwanted spread of disease to the townspeople."

Vincent turns to address the group, We cannot leave these flower behind. This entire field will need to be razed. Balon, nobody embraced the Pallid Princess today, willing or not.

"That is a reasonable decision, Vincent. I agree, the field should be burned."

I concur. The fields must be burned. We should search these men to ensure they have have no other dangerous materials on their persons and turn them over the town's authorities to be dealt with.

1d4 ⇒ 4

Inor leads you further into the forest to Falcon's Hollow, a small little village some ways away. He takes you to a small building. Creeping ivy and full window boxes cover the facade of this rugged-looking, two-story shop, which bears the faded sign “Roots and Remedies.” The small, mud-tracked shop smells of burnt earth and spicy incense. Bunches of dried herbs, dangling pots, and drawstring pouches hang from the ceiling,and a cauldron bubbles softly on a table next to strange presses and alchemical apparatuses.

Inor leads you inside to where a wizened old woman sits before a recipe book where a few leaves of parchment are overflowing with notes and cryptic formulas in ancient, scrawled handwriting. "Oh, hello there." After simple introductions and a quick explanation of the problem, Laurel comments, "Oh, yes, I've seen a lot of that going around. Caught it, have you, Inor? Well, I haven't had much luck finding a cure as of yet. I'm not going to let you leave here until you are better. Perhaps everyone can pitch in to help me here." She spares a glance at Calchas as well. "You don't look so hot yourself…you sure you haven't come into contact with the disease as well?"

Here's where things deviate from the norm. Laurel is trained in Heal and Craft (alchemy) but she is at a penalty because this is a rare disease she has never encountered before. You can use various skills to aid her but you can only use each skill once. Craft (alchemy), Heal, Knowledge (nature), Survival, and so on all have obvious applications but you could also use Perception to help her find some wild herbs or use Appraise to buy some needed ingredients from other grocers in town.

So basically everyone picks a skill they can use in a creative way to help her; if you make the DC you essentially aid her on her check to heal Inor and Calchas. If she then makes the check to treat his disease, they're cured! If she fails, you'll need to find new ways to help her. Your previous aids are retained but you can not use that same skill for the second round of aids.

Ok, so we'll start off with everyone making one skill check for the first round. Try to keep them reasonable but feel free to be creative to play to your strengths.

Balon's knowledge of disease granted by his goddess may give Laurel some clues.

Knowledge(religion): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

"I'll go check outside. I think I saw some medicinal herbs on our way to this place. Perhaps they're useful." Having said so, Saera goes outside and tries to find the herbs she saw earlier.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

His stomach churns at the woman's words. "I did come into contact with it, yes. Was hoping it was brief enough that I hadn't caught it, but... Maybe it wasn't. What can I do?"

He's then sent out to try and find ingredients. So far he's only ever used such things for poisons, never to heal, and he only hopes he finds the right ones.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

"Well obviously I'll help Laurel with the alchemy side of things. I don't know enough about healing to know what we're looking for, but I can probably make it once we've got an idea. I've also got those samples of the changed pollen grains, that may help."
Alchemy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17

"Someone should also warn the rest of the village about the disguised beggars and their flowers. Or find out if they've already been here."

I'll ask around town and see in anyone has the supplies you are looking for.

Knowledge: Local: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Iowyn tries to see if she can recall anything useful as she examines the plants closely and mulls over her horticulture knowledge.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

"Alright....let's see what we have here."

1d20 + 9 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 20 ⇒ (14) + 9 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 20 = 15

"No...that's not quite right. Back to the drawing board!"

Another round of assists using different skills than in Round 1.

"I know enough about the human anatomy to know that that herb you used right there is actually poisonous to about 5% of the population. I would try it without that one."

Heal: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Vincent carefully reviews the materials gathered so far, checking to see if anything was missed.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Kiyanetikert studies the pollen grains more closely. "Perhaps if we strip the outer layer of these off with a mild acid bath, we can use them in the serum to counteract the harmful ones." Insert techno-babble here

Know(nature): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Craft (Alchemy): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

"Let me take a look at what you made..."

Saera looks at the medicine that doesn't works and is quick to shake her head and point at two different ingredients. "No no no, never mix these two things..."

Oops... I cannot seem to follow simple directions :)

If it is ok, let's say my perception check was the round one aid check, and my knowledge check was my round 2 aid check.

That was the plan…you were just thinking ahead!

1d20 - 20 + 9 + 24 ⇒ (11) - 20 + 9 + 24 = 24

"Yes…yes I think that should do it! Now you two get over here and lets see if it works. And…say hey dark, brooding fellow. You're looking a bit clammy…you'd better take some of this as well."

As Inor, Calchas and Balon painstakingly gulp down the horrible tasting concoction it is clear that it is either waging war on the disease or on their respective digestive systems. "You'd all best stay the night so I can keep an eye on you! No arguments…grab a pile of hay and make yourselves at home!"

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The next morning Laurel thanks you greatly for your help and tells you that she should now have a combatant should the disease start to spread further throughout the area.

Finally, Laurel now divulges some more information on you. Laurel is familiar with the nymph queen Syntira, as she occasionally treks into the Wood to trade baubles and trinkets for rare herbs. "If anyone would know about this disease-where it is coming from or who is causing it-that's where you should head." She can provide you with a map to the nymph queen’s grove.

In gratitude for your help, she gives you 2 potions of cure light wounds. She also gives you two dozen vials of her antiplague concoction that you just helped her create.

Saera snickers when Balon is told to also take the medicine, then quickly gets out before she also has to.

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"All better?" Saera asks Inor, Calchas and Balon the next day, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Let's go when you're ready."