PbP Game Day #3: PFS #5-99: The Paths We Choose. (Inactive)

Game Master Silbeg

The party hides themselves around the temple, hoping to catch Halmont as he leaves the bank, with as much incriminating evidence as possible.

Eolowyn, Hiko. and Hyrgan pick out Halmont entering the bank, and then a few minutes later, the nervous Andoran exits the bank, carrying more than he entered with. One of the temple guards also gives a signal that this is your man, but you get the idea they won't tolerate lethal force.

Oh, not that it matters now, but I always figured that there was an entry at the pillars... and have arranged you thusly.

He sees you all, and looks ready to run, but you have him surrounded.

"Sir, I would suggest that you simply surrender to us. You've caused much trouble for myself and my colleagues already, including the uncomfortable situation you put me in... death. If you surrender, you will not be injured. If you do not, I can guarantee that we will not kill you, but you may wish for the release before we are finished."

Intimidate: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Damn. Anyone wanna aid me on that? LOL

Wembly is not very intimidating, but will attempt to assist to get the man to surrender.

"Be reasonable man, give it up...we have you surrounded and there is no reason for violence."

intimidate assist: 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (1) + 4 - 1 = 4

Assists: I am going to use my reroll on Balon's roll.
Intimidate (GM Reroll): Balon: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Intimidate: Eolowyn: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Intimidate: Hiko: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14
Intimidate: Hyrgan: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Intimidate: Clerics: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Halmont looks to flee, realizes that the Pathfinders are not going to take no for an answer (and seeing that the Abadarans are also not going to let him back in), he surrenders.

You bring him back to Major Maldris, who takes all of your evidence (including his retrieved bank roll), and makes arrangements for Halmont to be taken back to Andoran for trial.

When that has been completed, he addresses you all. "There are many who have flocked to Andoran’s freedom, yet in the passing years I have come to learn that a great number of these individuals see not love in our movement, but selfish opportunity. I fear that the direction our politicians have led, while on its surface seemingly inspired and courageous, has ventured little from the rule of our exiled nobility. Class warfare remains and much of our nation’s political power is controlled either directly or indirectly by the wealthiest members of our society. Many are formal nobles who publicly renounced their titles, but privately held onto power. For these individuals, renouncing their titles permitted them even greater opportunity and upward mobility, especially those who worked their way into trade and politics.
"I find the irony of fighting tyranny and corruption as an agent of a government that harbors the tyrannical and corrupt difficult to stomach. We may have captured a few of the snakes, but there are at least ten more villains for each one we have brought to justice. As it struggles with itself, Andoran cannot combat tyrannies as it should, so I am stepping away from Andoren politics to deliver its unadulterated philosophies to other lands. I, and anyone who is bold enough to join me, shall remain enemies of slavery and tyranny, yet without direct national ties, we shall be able to engage in even more daring actions abroad and cleanse even my homeland of its malaise without the oversight of those we seek to purge!"

Realizing he has crescendoed into a booming speech, Maldris more quietly reinforces the sincerity of his beliefs, thanks the you all for their assistance, and wishes them a pleasant remainder of the festivities.

It is evening, and you can make your way back to the Grand Lodge, and recover from the day's adventuring.

You are able to attend the Preinaugural Feast the next afternoon, where there is much speculation over who Grayrain's successor will be. Near the end of this event, two Sczarni toughs approach you all, dressed more for a shakedown than a formal event. Slightly out of breath and visibly on edge, one says to you, "Come wit' me. Youz are needed, now."

"Can you provide us with any information on WHO might be requesting our presence? We have learned caution over the past few days, to say the least."
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

The Sczarni tough looks at Balon, flashing him an identifying Sczarni sign. He looks around, apparently sizing up the location. "Dis place ain't safe. Too many ears. Youz gonna come wit' us to a safe location. One where we can talk." He looks directly at Balon, "Your 'Uncle' needs you."

"I see. In that case, let us follow these young men, my friends. We are needed."

"Sounds exciting." Wembly says with a glimmer of curiosity and a grin on his face.

The two thugs lead the you through Absalom, doubling back on their path and taking several snaking turns to a brightly colored ledge wagon parked in the Docks district only a few blocks from the Pickled Imp. Your escorts signal to several other Sczarni guarding the wagon as well as to a few street vendors positioned on opposite ends of the block (lookouts, as the Sczarni explain).
Once cleared to approach, you can enter the wagon. The interior is dimly lit by small brass lamps that spread the faint odor of lamp oil, only partly masked by incense. The only other occupant is faction leader Aaqir al’Hakam, who makes an effort of standing to greet you in the low-ceilinged wagon.

"I suppose you’re surprised to see me? Sit. I wish I could say I have called you here for a more celebratory reason, but such isn’t the case. We have a desperate situation on our hands: Guaril Karela is missing.

"Despite their appearance, I have no connection to these vandals. In fact, they may even have been attempting to implicate me and eliminate yet another one of Guaril’s friends. Apparently Guaril did not take the news lightly, and I’ve been informed that he grabbed his weapons, ordered all but two of his subordinates to stay behind, and set off after the criminals. It seems this was just one of many contingencies he had prepared, for he had written instructions ready. It seems that part of the plan," he notes aloud as he extends a sealed missive, "Involved recruiting your help in particular.

"I suspect that the Gael family is behind this, and Guaril sees this as an opportunity to finally do in the rivals who have worked to undermine and kill him for the past year. This has the potential to be very dangerous, but apparently he wanted you to be present for whatever he has planned."

He then hands you the following letter, penned in Guaril's hand, bearing his personal mark:
.
.
.

I stood high ‘pon Beldren’s Bluff,

And gazed out to the west.
Just south of the storm of stone,
Silver Wren sleeps in her nest.
Stole I to her side,
Stole I to her side,
But her fledglings cast in flight.
Past three black whales,
And three black whales,
And half way to the light.
And there, beneath the waters green,
Drowns the maiden without a name.
Still it is her gaze.
That finds refuge in the graves.

The Trade Prince waits for you to read the message, and for any questions you may have.

"Sounds as if Gurail has left instructions on how to follow him in this cryptic message. I am not familiar with the area, do you know of a Beldren's Bluff nearby? That would seem to be our starting point."

al'Hakim replies, "That’s in the Precipice Quarter, which collapsed into the water years ago. I believe its one of the low hills there is known as Beldren’s Bluff."

"Well then. If you have any other suggestions for us, please let us know... otherwise, we will leave post-haste to find Gurail. I expect that there will be monetary reward for this assignment for myself and my colleagues?"

"I am sure that Guaril will be appropriately rewarding you, or his contacts in the Pathfinder Society will be. If you have need of me, you can send a runner to find me, I am not typically hard to find"

Hiko, completely taken by surprise with the thugs and local, stays quite and mostly watches the conversation as it unfurls. She does pipe up at the request for them in particular, "Forgive me if I am being rude, but I am assuming ths request was for Balon here as I have barely heard of Mr. Karela much less met him... and id oudt very much he has heard of me. I am glad to help though, I hate it when people throw plans into chaos... Also was the Precipice Quarter to the west of these hills? It would make more sense that way."

"I apologize friends.... this is a Pathfinder Society matter in either case, but it is of specific importance to those of us who know Gurail personally through our dealings... if you'd prefer not to take part, I will understand."

Wembly adds to the conversation

"Guaril gave me my start with the Society when I first arrived from the Sanos Forest and had no one in the area. Whiskers and I will help even though we have drifted from the Sczarni in recent months ."

A little crowded Hiko stands up, barely having enough clearance for her small height and states. "Well, I am ready to go and feeling a little stiffled. I'll be outside the wagon when everyone is ready."

So, what are you doing? You have your note, and you know where Beldren’s Bluff is

Map of Absalom

al'Hakim pulls out a map of Absalom, and says, "Perhaps you'll need a little help to start. Check here on the map. When you look west of Beldren's Bluff, you can see the Puddles district, and Fort Tempest. I'll bet that that is the 'storm of stone'. Perhaps that is where you should start. And, of you need a rowboat, that can be arranged."

"Uh yes. That sounds like a good start. Not sure what the three black whales are...are they hills or sunken towers or more like 3 nights or something like that. Riddles always fascinate me but I am not particularly good at them . "

Wembly calls whiskers as they get ready to board the rowboat.

"will this be big enough for all of us? . "

The boat looks plenty big for all of you. You board the ship, and head out into the harbor. The water is relatively calm, and as you get to south of Fort Tempest, you notice a partially submerged ship, the Silver Wren, a ship whose painted figurehead remains above water and in fairly good shape.

What do you do at this point?

"From the letter, it sounds like we need to get close to that submurged ship. How close can we reasonably get without it endangering our own vessel? I am no sea-faring man myself."

"I have had a couple of adventures at sea in my short career. None have been a cup of tea, but we managed. Whiskers, like his cousins from this plane, is not particularly fond of water. I wonder if we can cast a rope and pull our boat close and climb aboard the part still above the waterline?"

Wembly will dig a rope out of his pack and start along that line of action unless another is suggested.

Hiko, in the prow of the little rowboat, has little to add. She helps Wembly secure and pull the boat in.

The harbor is calm, and you can easily make your way up to the Silver Wren. She is relatively stable, and her mast still looks solid (and you can see a crows nest, where you would be able to get a good vantage point from).

If you want to go from the rowboat to the submerged ship, or climb the mast, you'll need to give me acrobatics and/or climb checks, respectively.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Whichever action that required the Acrobatics roll Hyrgan will do it, then try to look around the deck of the ship.
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30

Acrobatics was part of the move action to climb from the boat to the ship.

When Hyrgan looks around, he sees a line of six ships... all black, not too far off. He points this out to the others.

Perception: Balon: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 2 = 10
Perception: Eolowyn: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 11 + 2 = 32
Perception: Hiko: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 11 + 2 = 31
Perception: Wembly: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 + 2 = 14

Hyrgan Kn: Local: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
He has heard of these ships before... they are collectively known as "The Black Whale", an off-shore prison operated by the City. Past that, the party can see (well, all but Balon and Wembly) Pilot Island's lighthouse. Between the light, and The Whale, you can see the silhouette of a ship of some sort.

"Well, what do you see Hyrgan? "

"So I guess we should head on over to that silhouette that kind of like a ship."

"Are there six of them? There should be 'six black whales' and then a light, which we need to go halfway to."

"It might have just been a repeated line... possibly to balance out the earlier repetition? Hyrgan might know if there are supposed to be six or more ships to this prison. And I, uhh, realize it might take some time but maybe we should go arround the ships, I don't know if there are any laws about approaching a 'black whale'..."

There are six "black whales", and the other ship being spoken of is definitely between the black whales and the lighthouse.

Sounds like we need to do some diving.

Bladedadeda completely failed to remember that earlier post... Sorry.

You make it over to The Fool's Pride and on board, you see Guaril Karela, who has already killed at least a dozen Gael assailants, with traps and ambushes.

As you climb aboard the port side of the ship, you are startled to see three assassin suddenly appear on the starboard side.

Guaril yells out, "More of you Gael scum! How many of you are there left for me to kill!?" He looks at you all, and leaps forward into action.
Guaril dagger attack, vs Flatfooted, bleeding attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29 dealing: 1d4 + 1 + 6d6 ⇒ (2) + 1 + (4, 6, 4, 3, 2, 2) = 24 +6 bleed. The assassin drops, bleeding.

Wembly, Eolowyn, Whiskers are up

"Master Karela! We are here to aid you!"

Wembly and Whiskers both move up. Wembly casts mage armor on the green cat.

"Here you go friend. Attack if either of the assassins approaches."

Whiskers readies to attack an assassin.

24-hour bot for Eolowyn

Since she has to pull her bow, anyway, Eolowyn moves up for a clear shot. She then fires once. Bow, PB, DA, FE: 1d20 + 11 + 1 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 11 + 1 - 2 + 2 = 20 dealing: 1d20 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 17

One of the assassins tried to move by Guaril, taking up a flanking position. acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11. He fails to tumble by, and Guaril takes his attack of opportunity.
Guaril dagger: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16 dealing: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 He hits doing a little bit of damage to the Gael. That assassin then waits (readies) for his buddy to flank. His buddy then moves in, and the two sneak attack Guaril.
E attacker,flank: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 2 + 2 = 19 Just missing Guaril.
The other attacks.
W attacker, flank: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 2 + 2 = 11 He doesn't just miss.

Hiko, Hyrgan, and Balon are up.

Hiko glides over next to the one assassin who has yet to move or at least I hope so... and tries to hit the surprised man.

Attack, v. FF(?): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

She swings for the poor man's knees, hoping to hobble him.
Scorpion style! DC 16 fort to avoid 5-foot movement speed for 4 rounds.

Hyrgan charges the closest assassin with his shortsword. Mithral Shortsword+charge+flank: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 6 + 2 + 2 = 161d4 ⇒ 4

Balon also charges at the nearest assassin, swinging his scythe wickedly.

scythe: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 4 + 2 = 20
damage: 2d4 + 1 ⇒ (1, 3) + 1 = 5

"Are you injured, Master Karela? I will heal you if needed."

All of you can see that Karela is covered in wounds... some partially healed, others not so much.

Suddenly, a fourth assassin appears, flying over the water next to the ship! She is casting a spell, and a bolt of fire leaps from her fingers to hit Guaril Karela!
Ranged Touch attack, Flatfooted, into melee: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 - 4 = 19
fire damage: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 2, 5) = 18 He is scorched heavily, but his anger only seems to get hotter! "Pathfinders! Balon! The only thing that matters is that these damned Gael not survive this attack!"

He then turns to attack the flanked assassin.
Dagger, Flank, Sneak: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 14 + 2 = 27 dealing: 1d4 + 1 + 6d6 ⇒ (1) + 1 + (4, 2, 3, 5, 3, 5) = 24 -- dropping this assassin. He turns to the other, and attacks Dagger, Flank, Sneak: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 9 + 2 = 12, but misses, horribly.

"Finish them, my friends, and we will dance on their graves!" Guaril calls out.

Suddenly, a pair of purple, seven-armed octopoid monstrosities the size of a horse, with hook-lined tentacles and cold, blue eyes flank the ship, reaching out to attach Hyrgan and Eolowyn!
tentacles vs Hyrgan: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25 damage: 3d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 2, 3) + 4 = 11 grapple: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31 bite attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 (misses with bite)

tentacles vs Eolowyn: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 Eolowyn is luckier, being missed by the large cephalopod!

Wembly, Eolowyn, and Whiskers are up!

Seeing the flying magician appear Eolowyn quickly dives to the other side of the ship, rolling to stay out of the octopus' groping arms. She stands up again and calmly fires an arrow at the flying woman.

Acrobatics, half speed: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Deadly Aimed Point Blank Attack vs Human with cover: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 1 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 11 - 2 + 1 + 2 - 4 = 21
Deadly Aimed Point Blank Damage vs Human: 1d8 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 = 15

Cold iron arrow: 1

Wembly points to the octopoid and commands Whiskers.

"Attack that thing Whiskers!

Whiskers bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17 for dmg: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Whiskers claw: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 for dmg: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Whiskers claw: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 for dmg: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Wembly steps back down the stairwell, trying to get cover from the thing. He pools his fist and hurls a splash of arcane acid at the creature.

Wembly touch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 for dmg: 1d3 ⇒ 3

Eolowyn deftly moves out of the way from the devilfish, and fires an arrow into the flying spellcaster. Wembly also moves out of the way, ordering his eidolon to attack. Whiskers lands three attacks on the seven-armed creature! Wembly's spell, however, misses wildly.

The remaining assassin attacks Karela:
kukri: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 2 = 23 damage: 1d4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 2 = 6 damage: 1d4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 2 = 6 damage: 1d4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 2 = 6
Guaril looks heavily damaged, and is swaying as he stands, barely able to remain conscious!

Hyrgan (grappled), Hiko, and Balon are up!

Balon steps over to Gurail, pulling out a wand as he moves, and casts infernal healing on him, giving him fast healing 1 for 10 rounds.

Fast Healing is a full round cast, and as you are moving, this will also take your standard action on the next round. You are welcome to change to pulling Cure Light Wounds wand instead, just let me know.

"Gah!" Hyrgan cries out. Knowing that he won't be able to break out of the octo's grip, he strikes at it with his weapon. Shortsword: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 181d4 ⇒ 1

Totally missed that it's a full round cast. Cure light wounds instead it is.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Hiko is still up. Guaril to follow.