PFS PbP - Thornkeep - The Dark Menagerie (lvl 5-7) (Inactive)

Game Master Revvy Bitterleaf

After Samuel grabs one of the swords (and finds out it's not really stone, but a "normal" masterwork long sword) and takes a quick look around he sees that other then the 2 sets of doors leading out and the glass plate, there is an infinite number of statues along the walls and 3 small windows high on the east wall.

As Grimdoc mentions the grinning face you all look at the vantage point behind the glass inset into the wall to notice that the face has melted back into a yellowish fog.

Well, I guess mister happy face is gone for now. Unless one of you can fly up to those windows, what say we keep heading south?

"South then." Snow Adder takes a long look at the doors for traps, then gets ready in case of another unpleasant occupant in the next room.
Take 20 for 36 Perception on door. Use wand to cast aspect of the falcon.

Marcel picked up one of the swords as well, it wasn't something he could put to much use, but if his Aldori dueling sword took much more damage it would be better then nothing.

Calistan heals himself twice with the wand and Marcel once, patching up any wounds before following Snow Adder into the next room.

CLW: 2d8 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (8, 2) + 2 + 4 = 16

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 @Marcel: You are at full health.

Snow Adder notices an intricate locking mechanism similar to the other door in this room when he takes a close look at the southern door, but it's unlocked right now.

As you open the door and look through you see;
Eight statues of regal figures garbed in ancient finery line each wall of this wide hallway, peering southward down the hallway. Each bears a
brief transcription on its base written in an ancient script. The stairs to the south lead up to a ninth statue, taller than the others. This figure holds a mighty glass sword above its smooth, featureless face, and its other hand juts outward, palm upturned as if seeking alms.

The faceless statue's armor, sword, and pose suggest the old god Aroden

There is am human male in this room who seems to be praying to the last statue. When he turns around as he notices that you opened the door he doesn't look friendly and has a scowl on his face.

He has black hair with grey at his temples and he seems to be missing one of his front teeth. He's wearing leather armor with a buckler strapped to one arm a short sword at his belt and a short bow strapped to his back

Calistan waves at the man jovially!

Kn:rel : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Grim passes on the knowledge about

In a half whisper to nobody in particular
"Now who is this fella and why is he here? ."

The man seems pretty unfriendly and just scowls at Calistan without returning the wave

But feel free to roll diplomacy to go along with your waving

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20

Calistan is a very diplomatic trade prince.

"Don't know, but he doesn't look happy to see us." Snow Adder's lips twist at Calistan's enthusiastic wave. "I suppose we should see what he's about though." Snow Adder raises a hand in peace. "Greetings. We didn't expect to meet anyone other than monsters and old traps down here. You seem as wary as ourselves. We are agents of the Pathfinder Society, sent to explore these old chambers. Who are you?"
Diplomacy (presumably to assist Calistan's wave unless you care to bump me to primary): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Samuel nods in agreement with Grimdocs assessment of the statues.

"This is quite a site."

The Andoran tries to further impress their peaceful intent on the stranger.

"You're a servant of Aroden, yes? We too are servants of civilisation. Perhaps we could talk in peace."

To support his statement the Lance Corporal sheathes his sword.

Diplomacy to further aid.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27

-Posted with Wayfinder

Calistans friendly waving doesn't seem to make the man like you any better, but Snow Adder's and Samuel's word pull him just over the edge

"My name is Rozimus. I was exploring the area here for ..hrm...archaeological purposes along with some companions when I got separated from them. I haven't heard from them in a while now..and I'm starting to fear something bad might have happened to them. It seems there's strength in numbers. Maybe we should team up while we explore further?"

Snow Adder hesitates before answering. He is pondering how the man and his companions might have gotten here and whether this is all a setup.
Sense Motive (assuming he is human, subtract 2 otherwise): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Grimdoc is having problems with some of the story not making sense.

"Rozimus, your pals, they just left you here? That is horrible. If there are strength in numbers, I'd be less worried about your friends than yourself. Have you encountered any hostiles down here?"

Grimdoc move into the room and will call upon Erastil and scan the room for evil.

Snow Adder thinks the man might be holding something back (which when you think about it isn't that odd when you meet a bunch of armed random strangers) and seemed to have to think a bit when he mentioned it's been a while like he had to think about the time (which when you think about it isn't that odd when you meet a bunch of armed random strangers) but what he has told you so far has been the truth.

"There is a room back there that shows you your worst fears..I ran away from my fears in this direction..my friends must have run some where else, that's when we got separated"

Neither the man or anything else in the room is detecting as evil

"What ever their original purpose, this man and his allies need our help."

Samuel moves towards the explorer, extending a hand in greeting.

"My name is Lance Corporal Samuel Deland. My friends and I are agents of the Pathfinder Society. We have been exploring the various levels of Thornkeep for some time now. Where do you and your allies hail from and who do you serve?"

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Might I suggest an alternative Samuel. We know that a room such as Rozimus faced is a minor threat compared to those we have seen in these halls. We should escort him back to the surface for his own safety and then continue looking for his companions."

@Snow Adder; just pointing out here that you are aware of the fact that other then Grimdoc..none of you managed to get out of this level..so escorting him to the surface will be....challenging.

Rozimus reluctantly takes Samuels hand and shakes it

"We don't serve anyone but ourselves and we hail from Oppara"

"Do we have a deal?"

An excellent reminder Revvy! Grim, you get him out of here! :)

"From Oppara you say, what brings you to the River Kingdoms?" Marcel asks, making sure to note the clothing the man was wearing.

Knowledge: Local: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14 Do his clothes appear to be from Taldor?
Knowledge: Nobility: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21 Does anything about this man appear noble or seem to connect him to any known noble families?
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13 Anything else I can notice by looking at the man?

Since I was making up the backstory bevause you asked him for stuff and it was the only city I could come up at the time; Yes, his clothes appear as if he could come from Taldor (all though he could have bought his clothes anywhere I suppose) No, he doesn't seem noble. He seems well suited for dungeon exploring as he carries a bunch of supplies including an magnifying glass

"This dungeon" Rozimus says in a gruff tone of voice
"The same as what brought you guys here I assume"

"I'd like to leave now...that guy mentioned escorting me to the surface." He points at Snow Adder "If you don't want me along to explore further I'd like to take him up on his offer..I wouldn't mind to be gone from this place at all. I feel bad for leaving my companions ..but I'd feel even worse being dead."

Still a little unsure of whether the man is telling the truth, Snow Adder asks "Which way did you enter? Through the yellow fog or through another passage?"
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Grimdoc offers to take the man up.

SM: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

"Sure, I will take you back. It ain't that far or nothing.
We can get you to safety. If we see your buds, we will let them know what happened to you."

Assuming the man can leave...or Grim can still leave for that matter. Not quite sure why in either case.

Hopefully its not because you're a dwarf :) Maybe alignment? Or Erastil? Or something you possess? I really want to see if he came in this way. If there are other entrances to the level we don't know about, we might be able to take him out a different way.

Assuming there are no problems escorting the man out, Grimdoc will return to the party with or without their new friend.'

"Ok, I am back. Now what? Did you find anyone else while I was gone?"

Just to check, does anyone join Grimdoc on his way back to the mists to escort them man out or are you going to let him walk out of this room by himself with Rozimus?

Why do I not like the sound of that? :)

Did the man ever answer whether he came in that way or some other? Snow Adder would go as far as the mists, but if the man came in another way, he is going to suggest escorting the man out the way he came in because of our problems witb the mists.

@Snow Adder;Sorry, missed that

"Yeah, through the fog filled corridor..why? Do you know of a different way out?"

Rozimus glances at Snow Adder

Just to keep things moving, I'll assume you all escort Grimdoc and Rozimus at least till the mist filled corridor

As you exit this room Samuel, Logain, Marcel, Snow Adder and Grimdoc make it into the room with without any trouble then when Rozimus starts to cross the doorway the door starts to slam shut with alarming speed
Reflex save Rozimus: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12 which locks Rozimus out of the room

Also a DC 16 reflex save for Calistan, if failed you are in the room with Rozimus. If made you can choose the room you want to be in

As the door slams shut behind most of you;
The yellow smoke roils and seethes as it slowly begins to take on the image of a giant face. The smoky image seems to look forth from its vantage point behind the glass inset into the wall, scowling hatefully. It speaks in a raspy, disgusted voice. "Foolish apprentices," it spits, "how I should have predicted your betrayal at my most critical moment. Seek to escape into some unwritten time, eh? By now you must have realized your ioun stone array has failed. You now stand marooned in time, living a day, an hour, a single moment stretched into an infinity over countless centuries yet to dawn-one final lesson in obedience from your very, very disappointed master. It does my heart proud to know that your last, eternal moments will see you hunted like animals. Farewell, my faithless friends. Test all I have taught you against the blades of Azlant!"

As the giant face finishes it's now familiar speech the floor's rectangles shifts to a slightly different angle, making movement from one rectangle to another count as traversing difficult terrain and 3 statues step forward from between the other statues and raise their swords as they advanced towards you.

Init Samuel: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Init Grimdoc: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Init Marcel: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 8 + 2 = 14
Init Snowadder: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 11 + 2 = 19
Init Calistan: 1d20 - 5 ⇒ (12) - 5 = 7
Init Logain: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Init Statues: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

init
Samuel, Grimdoc, Marcel, Snow Adder
Statues
Party

"This again?"

Samuel sheathes his sword and draws the masterwork sword he retrieved from the last experience.

-Posted with Wayfinder

I guess these guys cannot get it through their hard heads...get it ? Hard heads! Haraarrrh...I still got it. . Grimdoc once again drops his lucern and wields his adamantine weapon against the statues.

Adamantine Nodachi, PA/FF: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
for dmg, PA: 1d10 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 7 + 6 = 18

Hmm, I gotta work on my weapon transitions. Never quite get the weight right on the first swing.

Revvy, I already have the +2 for having panache factored in for Marcel's init, as I don't plan on letting panache = 0.

Marcel was not excited to see more of these statue creatures, they had after all already broken his Aldori Dueling Sword, and he was not going to risk it becoming unusable, he might need it later before he could return to the surface to get it fixed. Knowing this, he sheathes the Aldori Dueling Sword and takes out the masterwork Longsword he had gotten from the previous statues, it wouldn't be nearly as useful a weapon, but he did not mind breaking it or having it destroyed.

Due to not having his Aldori Dueling sword out, Marcel's AC will decrease by 2, additionally he will be unable to use any deeds which require the use of a piercing weapon, and will not be able to benefit from weapon finesse. Additionally he will not be able to gain Panache.

"Well, we knocked them down once, we'll do it again." Having learned his lesson last time, Snow Adder fires off a trio of cold iron arrows toward the red-tinged statue.
Attack 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13
Damage 1: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Attack 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
Damage 2: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Attack 3: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Damage 3: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

@Marcel, adjusted the init copy&paste. Doesn't atter in this case..you are still before the statues

Samuel sheathes his sword and draws the masterwork sword he retrieved from the last experience

Grimdoc once again drops his lucern hammer and wields his adamantine weapon against one of the statues, hitting it before it can fully emerge from the surrounding statues (hit's flatfooted AC)

Marcel sheathes the Aldori Dueling Sword and takes out the masterwork Longsword he had gotten from the previous statues

Snow Adder fires off a trio of cold iron arrows toward the red-tinged statue, hitting with 2 of the arrows but only managing to chip of a tiny sliver with each of them

The statues fully emerge.
The one next to Grimdoc swings his sword at Grimdoc
Yellow To hit AC Grimdoc: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
but Grimdoc easily sidesteps the clumsy attack

Another statue walks up next to Samuel and swing his sword at Samuel's head
To hit Samuel's AC: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
but Samuel just dodges the attack by lowering his head

The last statue moves forward and attacks Logain
To hit flatfooted AC Logain: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
To confirm: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
slicing him in the shoulder before he can react to the attack, but it doesnt take his arm clean off
Damage Logain: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

init
You guys
Statues

Damage Yellow: 13
Damage Red: 2

Grim adjusts his grip an swings again.

Adamantine Nodachi, PA/FF: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
for dmg, PA: 1d10 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 7 + 6 = 21

now that's a bit better!

Grimdoc smashes the yellowish tinted statue with his adamantine nodachi sending chuncks of the statue flying towards the wall behind it

init
Samuel, Marcel, Logain, Calistan, Snow Adder
Statues

Damage Yellow: 29
Damage Red: 2

Samuel swings down with the well made blade twice at his assailant.

Masterwork Longsword Attack 1: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 181d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Masterwork Longsword Attack 2: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 151d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

-Posted with Wayfinder

Reminder, please roll 3d6 for damage to your weapon when attacking to see if it get's broken. Damage > hardness = broken, which effects your further attacks (masterwork long swords have a hardness of 10. Broken = suffer a –2 penalty on attack and damage rolls. Such weapons only score a critical hit on a natural 20 and only deal ×2 damage on a confirmed critical hit.)

Samuel manages to hit his target
Damage weapon: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 2) = 8
and scrapes of a sliver of stone without damaging his own weapon
before hitting the statue again but not even scratching it surface
Damage weapon: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 1) = 4
but luckily without denting his own weapon either.

init
Marcel, Logain, Calistan, Snow Adder
Statues

Damage Yellow: 29
Damage Red: 2
Damage Blue: 3

Reflex: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Calistan sees the door slam in his face and he grows sad. He knocks on the door a few times to see if it opens, not expecting much. When it fails, he turns to the other man and shrugs. Just then, a shooting pain courses through his gut as Logain sees his wounds heal.

As Rozimus unlocks the door, Calistan pushes it open and see the group fighting the statues again. He waves at them.

+5 HP to Logain; -5 HP to Calistan.

Hold Action

Masterwork Longsword: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 101d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Masterwork Longsword: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 171d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Damage Weapon: 3d6 - 10 ⇒ (1, 5, 1) - 10 = -3

Shifting up beside Logain, Marcel attacks the redish statue, but only manages a scratch on the statue.

As Rozimus unlocks the door, Calistan pushes it open

@Marcel, moving between different rectangles counts as difficult terrain, so no 5ft stepping (unless you can ignore difficult terrain somehow, but I don't think so?) - so that means no full attack, not that it matters much in this case since your first attack doesn't hit and your second doesn't do enough damage to get past the DR

Marcel moves up next to Logain and slices his newly acquired sword at the statue only to have it almost drop from his hands as he gets used to the difference in weight and balance to his own sword

No clue what happened to Logain, but NPC-ing him in for now since I haven't seen a post from him a while.

Logain goes completely on the defensive as he sees the statue lumbering in front of him

Snow Adder would most likely shoot another 3 arrows, so he can take an extra round when he posts again, going to take the statues turn now to keep things moving

The statues next to Marcel decides to attack him back
To hit AC Marcel: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17 but Marcel proofs to be to nimble.

The one attacking Samuel keeps swinging away at him
To hit AC Samuel: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
but Samuels armor is too though to let the blade pierce through

And Grimdoc continues his dance with the statue facing him
To hit AC Grimdoc: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
but Grimdoc dodges under the swing just at the right time

Rozimus walks into the room and draws his short sword
"What's going on?"

init
You guys
Statues

Damage Yellow: 29
Damage Red: 2
Damage Blue: 3

Grimdoc manages to nimbly dodge the statue despite his girth.

"Bet ya didn't think I could move with the speed of a cat-ninja thingy, did ya stoney? Hahhah."

Adamantine Nodachi, PA/FF: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
for dmg, PA: 1d10 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 6 = 16

He hacks down hard on the statue, trying to finish it.

He turns to lumber back to his companions.

"Hows it going back here, guys?."

Snow Adder continues a barrage of arrows against the statues. Easily spotting tiny openings among his comrades to shoot through, he peppers the statues.
Starting with red. If red goes down, switch to yellow. If yellow goes down, switch to blue. 6 attacks for the 2 rounds I owe you.
Attack 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Damage 1: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Confirm 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Extra Damage if Confirmed: 1d8 + 5 + 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 + (7) + 5 = 24
Attack 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Damage 2: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Attack 3: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Damage 3: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Attack 4: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
Damage 4: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Attack 5: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
Damage 5: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Attack 6: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Damage 6: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

After Grimdoc smashes through the statue in front of him he lumbers back to help out the rest.

Snow Adder fires a barrage of arrows which takes down another statue and scratches the last standing statue.

The giant face made from smoke has a scowl on it's forhead and doesn't seem happy with you right now

init
Samuel, Marcel, Calistan, Logain
Statue

Damage Blue: 10

Samuel swings down against with the acquired longsword.

Mwk Longsword: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 301d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Critical confirm: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 281d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Damage to sword: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 6) = 17

Samuel lands a telling blow, but the impact causes heavy damage to his own blade. Unrelenting, the Andoran swings again.

Mwk Longsword: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 5 - 2 = 201d8 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 4 - 2 = 8

Calistan sees everyone is fine and waves happily at the statue.

Hold Action.

Logain holds his sword tightly and wants to avoid damaging it. Instead of full on attack, he helps his allies distract the enemy.
Assisting Grimdoc for his next attack
aid grimdoc: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Samuel manages to hit the last statue quite hard as he breaks his found long sword on the statue

Just to point out that you still need to roll damage even after the sword get's broken, it still does damage to the object and once it's out of hp's it will break and become useless.All though in this case that doesn't matter since a long sword has hardness 10 and 5 hps, with the 17 damage it took from the critical you did with it it get's destroyed 17-10 hardness = 7 damage > 5 hp, so it's destroyed. Which also means no second attack, unless you want to punch it with your hand? (Still not that bad of deal, critical hit vs loosing a found weapon)

Seeing no damage to his party members Calistan watches the action from a distance.

While Logain waves his sword in the air to avoid damaging it, managing to distract the statue
Moved you closer, since you can't reach the statue otherwise

Since it's been a day, NPC-ing Marcel in
Marcel goes fully on the defensive

Rozimus seeing Calistan just stand there doesn't feel inclined to join in either and also just watches for now

The statue swings for Logain
To hit AC Logain: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26
hitting him on the side of his left shoulder
Damage Logain: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

init
Party
Statue

Damage statue: 28

Grimdoc will move around using the distraction caused by his teammate

"Good on ya! Somebody upstairs is not happy. Lets finish this ."
Adamantine Nodachi, PA/FF: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 9 + 2 = 25
for dmg, PA: 1d10 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 7 + 6 = 21