pouch.
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Hanging from the same bough of the tree that supports the swing is a leather pouch. As you stare atit, you begin to perceive a green aura around it. You place it on the ground before you and pull it open. Immediately, you hear a voice from within.
"Well, now, what would you be doing opening the Pouch of Chu Chahulain on such a fine day as this?", it asks. "Might I be telling you of a wonderful offer I can be making? All you need to do is put a magical weapon in me, and I'll be returning it to you as clean as you like and all sharpened like the keenest blade the gods could ever devise. It will even have increased powers. Now, will you be taking me up on my offer?"
You find yourself a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of words that have poured forth from the pouch, but you give serious consideration to the offer.
Do you:
A: Place a bladed weapon into the pouch to get it sharpened?
B: Hang the pouch back on the tree and check out something else?
Place our sword of nightmare control in the pouch. It is after all the only sword with powers.
Since when do magic weapons need to be cleaned and sharpened?
I sure hope our only magical weapon doesn't lose its ability to control nightmares... or get eaten.
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You place the sword of nightmare control into the bag, marveling at how this small pouch can somehow contain a full blade without being pierced. You pull the pouch shut and settle down to wait a minute. You wait, and you wait, but nothing happens. Finally, you ask, "What happened to my sword?"
"Hmmmm, the magic seems to be taking a little longer than usual," the pouch replies. "I tell you what - why don't you put another weapon in me, and I'll work on them both together. Yeah, that's the ticket! Give me another weapon."
Do you:
A: Stick another weapon in the pouch?
B: Refuse the pouch's offer?
What the crud? You ate our sword. Why would we give you another?
... Our poor sword. I wonder if magic tastes good. There needs to be better options here, like slice the bag into confetti.
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You stare at the pouch in stony silence, and finally exclaim in exasperation, "This blasted pouch ate my sword!" You kick the leather sack as far as you can, and it soars off into the trees as you shamefacedly accept that you ought to be kicking yourself for falling for the bag's act. You turn your attentions to finding some way out of this mad place.
Do you investigate:
A: A sizable mushroom?
B: A pouch hanging in the tree?
C: A wrought-iron gate?
D: The swing?
E: A bottle held by two flying faeries?
F: A path through the flowers?
The mushroom. I’m feeling hungry.
The mushroom first. At least if it tries to eat us, we still have mushroom disintegration powder.
I’ll take a bite. What’s the worst that can happen?
Ha ha... the worst that can happen? Death, getting kicked out of the mound, getting turned into a cockroach, or maybe getting turned into a giant or a troll and trapped down here for the next adventurers to casually kill. Plus, mushrooms are nasty.
I say leave it alone. No choice to use mushroom disintegration powder unfortunately.
Ha ha. Hey, if we are opening up new possibilities, there are A LOT of things that I want to do differently. This limited choice thing is killing me. :)
... On the other hand, wouldn't regular Pathfinder be a little bit more exciting if there were more cursed items floating around? More good ones too, but it was a total crap shoot about which it was? I like the idea... although I would likely be frustrated by that too, in the moment. :)
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You briefly think about using the mushroom disintegration powder on the fungus, given your track record with vicious ambulatory fungi, but think better of it. Instead, you find something else to investigate.
Do you investigate:
Do you investigate:
A: A sizable mushroom?
B: A pouch hanging in the tree?
C: A wrought-iron gate?
D: The swing?
E: A bottle held by two flying faeries?
F: A path through the flowers?
The swing, I suppose. :)
Study the writing, then decide whether to sit or not.
Hmm. That's cool. I wish I could remember all the "choices not taken." Maybe we want to go back to the king, although we only have the one potion.
For now though, I think I want to back off and check out the gate, and then maybe the path before moving on... or are you saying our only choice here is to teleport somewhere?
Investigate the carvings.
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You run your hands gently over the deeply incised carvings on the pillars, and as you do, a strange new sensation comes into the air. Magic fills the room, and suddenly you find yourself transported to a large chamber filled with weapons of all types. An elf stands with his back to you, naked blade in hand.
"So...you have aligned yourself with this...mortal, Zade," says the elf before you, turning slightly. From here, you can see an enraged look upon his face.
"He is not your concern, Edaz!", Zade says, pulling his own blade. "The mortal only seeks passage through our domain for an item from his world."
"I know what he seeks, brother!", spits the other elf. "He seeks an item that belonged to the man who made a cuckold of our king! He and all his line deserve the death he will receive!"
While Zade distracts his brother, you pull Cwythia out, and pipe a mournful tune. Almost instantly, Edaz's demeanor changes. He hears the melancholy tune you pipe, and a single tear wells up in his eye. "I cannot destroy someone who creates such beauty," he says softly. "Go, both of you. I'll trouble you no more."
Suddenly, you find yourself back before the gate.
"Well done," Zade says, a bit guardedly. "Edaz has always hated your kind. I would have gladly fought him to aid you, but I thank you for making it so I did not have to raise a hand against him."
Do you investigate:
A: A sizable mushroom?
B: A pouch hanging in the tree?
C: A wrought-iron gate and go through it?
D: The swing and swing on it?
E: A bottle held by two flying faeries?
F: A path through the flowers?
Ugh. ... I guess the path through the flowers. Why does everything have to be a trap? I'm suspicious of FLOWERS. Getting Wizard of OZ flaskbacks... poppies...
Lets run through a field of flowers.
Why does everything have to be a trap?
it just makes my paranoia correct.
I'm suspicious of FLOWERS.
Welcome to the way i play pathfinder IRL. Especially after B6, with it’s gluttongrass
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You start down the path leading out of the meadow, and as you do, the very air tingles with energy. You have a distinct feeling that a major step in your quest is about to be accomplished, so you hasten your steps along the way!
As you run, you see a faerie alongside the path. It begins to rise as you pass, but given how faeries have generally treated you, you give it no time and soon leave it behind.
With relief, you discover that there is no one you have to fight immediately in the new chamber you find yourself in. And it is with delight that you realize that the pool that dominates the center must be the one that will lead you to the faerie queen! But dismay cancels the delight when you see the water in the pool whirling and plunging downward so violently that it could destroy you!
The gardenlike setting is certainly beautiful. Everywhere you look, flowers bloom abundantly. You hear birds whistling in the colorful trees, and the scent of blossoms is carried everywhere on the gentle breeze. But in the center of it all, coming from the pool itself, is a mysterious feeling - not necessarily evil, but of something inexorable taking control of you.
Do you investigate:
A: The pool?
B: The carvings on the wall?
C: The flowers?
D: The gate?
E: A freshly dug hole in the ground near the pool?
F: A forested path?
The freshly dug hole.
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The mound of dirt beside the hole you stand over is fresh and loose, as if the hole had just been dug. And yet when you touch the soil inside the hole itself, it's hard and feels more like a rocky tunnel than a hole through the soft dirt.
Do you:
A: Crawl in and see where it leads?
B: Examine something else in the room instead?
Something else... the carvings
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Near the pool is a high ivy-covered wall. Carved upon its flat surfaces are some pictures - rings, bottles, and a larger picture of a person beside the pool. As you stare at it, the person - who bears a striking resemblance to you - appears to move a ring and a bottle from his pocket and leap into the pool! In the blink of an eye, he disapppears.
The swirling motion of the pool stops briefly, then begins again, this time swirling in the opposite direction. You blink again, and the figure - younger, stronger looking, and more vital now, but clearly the same person - emerges from the pool.
If you didn't have them before, you now have severe doubts on the probability of safely leaping into a whirlpool on the word of a capricious faerie king!
Do you investigate:
Do you investigate:
A: The pool?
B: The carvings on the wall?
C: The flowers?
D: The gate?
E: A freshly dug hole in the ground near the pool?
F: A forested path?
the flowers.