Ahmandé walks around, trying to see through the skylights but it seems that the oiled paper and the steel grates there hindered his vision. Before he could make a more intensive inspection (read take '20), Hádanka unlocked the door with a key that he found with the bleeding ulfen, and silently motions the others to stack up at the door while he gets ready to push the door.
Once you are all prepared (please, place your tokens on the marching order outside the warehouse), the barbarian kicks the door and open it revealing the interior of the warehouse to you.
The warehouse is mostly empty, as it is not being used for storage. A stairway leads up 20 feet to a loft and under the stairs are several bedrolls. A section of the warehouse floor is open to the harbor, and a small ship is docked there.
You notice two ulfen warriors relaxing down below the loft, and a ulfen at the loft, with a huge bullseye lantern beside him. When you enter they look at you with a face of "what a hell is going on here?"
You have a surprise round.
Turn order (bold may act) - Surprise round Grams, Ahmandé, Evarice, Tahltria, Hádanka
Ulfens (2), Bengeirr
Zachorius
"You are all under Citizen's Arrest for the assault on Skelg's manor!" Evarice declares before casting Bless. "May the ever graceful Shelyn guide our hands!"
Casting Bless. +1 to attack rolls and vs +1 morale bonuses against fear.
Ahmandé comes around to the front of the building, and waits for the others before he enters the warehouse. He prepares himself to start an inspire courage bardic performance if either side starts combat.
Elf Female Fighter 1 | AC 17 (T 14/Fl 13) | hp 12/12 | Init +4 | Fort +3 Ref +4 Will +0 | Perception +7 | Conditions:
Tahltria smiles at the enthusiasm displayed by the half orc as he charges into the house. Not knowing what to expect she moves in to the building with a little more caution than her companion.
HP 10/10 | Male Human (Ulfen) Cleric 1 | AC 18, T 12, FF 16 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +4 | CMD 15 | Init +2, Perception +2, Sense Motive +2 | Combat Reflexes + Reach
Hadn't checked the map til now, so I moved Zach up like I'd stated in my last post.
Zachorius moves into the room to support Hádanka, making a wall of reach the enemy must pass through. He raises his spear and gets ready to strike at any that advance through his threat range.
"Who the hell are you? How dare you...?", the ulfen at the upstairs shouts to you, just before curse you in a strange language, while the other at the downstairs turns to you raging on a battle cry.
Turn order (bold may act) - Round 1 Grams, Ahmandé, Evarice, Tahltria, Hádanka
Ulfens (2), Bengeirr
Zachorius
Elf Female Fighter 1 | AC 17 (T 14/Fl 13) | hp 12/12 | Init +4 | Fort +3 Ref +4 Will +0 | Perception +7 | Conditions:
Never one to back down from a battle Tahltria surveys the scene and sees her target. Drawing Dirgesinger from its sheath the now familiar sound hauntingly pierces through the room as she races up the stairs for Bengeirr.
Move 30 ft. That should place me around mid way up the stairs. I will ready an action to attack Bengeirr if he moves into range. If someone could move my token that would be great. Thank you.
Ahmandé continues his inspire courage performance (free action) while moving into the warehouse (move action). He draws his bow, readying an arrow to fire (move-equivalent action).
Inspire Courage:allies that can perceive the performance receive a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls
Also, Cover provides a bonus to AC, not a penalty to attack rolls, so attackers never have to calculate cover into their roll when making an attack.
Grams, I wasn't sure what 'advances cautiously' meant. So I just moved you a little ways in. Let us know if that is not acceptable.
Fools! What made you think pups like you could get away with attacking a Pathfinder? Hadanka attempts to split the foe with this pole axe. Then races for the stairs to eliminate the leader.
Ahmandé and Grams went deeper inside the first floor.
Hádanka easily eliminates the other ulfen and runs upstairs.
"You bastards! You will pay for this insolence with your lives!!!!", Bengeirr cries as he directs the light of the huge lantern in Tahltria's direction...
rgd touch atk:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
...but he clearly doesn't have any ability to deal with the lantern, and the light hits the roof.
Turn order (bold may act) - Round 1
Grams, Ahmandé, Evarice, Tahltria, Hádanka
Ulfens (2), Bengeirr (4 dmg)
Zachorius
HP 10/10 | Male Human (Ulfen) Cleric 1 | AC 18, T 12, FF 16 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +4 | CMD 15 | Init +2, Perception +2, Sense Motive +2 | Combat Reflexes + Reach
Zachorious calls on his patron for increased agility, "Hail tha Lucky Drunk, feet donnae fail me now!" He then joins the parade heading up the stairs, brushing past the others as he mounts the steps as quickly as if he were sprinting along level ground. He closes on the man, longspear at the ready. "How's about ya move away from tha lantern nice an easy now?"
Free action to expend a use of Agile Feet to ignore difficult terrain. Double move to close on the man upstairs. He is now threatened.
The bard continues his performance, granting inspiration to his allies. (free action) He lifts his bow, knocking an arrow and taking aim before loosing it at the Ulfen on the platform.
Inspire Courage grants allies who can hear or see the performance a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls
Elf Female Fighter 1 | AC 17 (T 14/Fl 13) | hp 12/12 | Init +4 | Fort +3 Ref +4 Will +0 | Perception +7 | Conditions:
Tahltria watches as the ulfen fails trying to use the lantern's magic against her. Moving swiftly she races past the others positioning herself close enough to strike the ulfen with dirgesinger.
This time, Evarice's arrow flies away from its target.
But Ahmandé's arrow was precise, despite the partial cover that is benefiting the last ulfen.
By his side, the dwarf runs up the stairs to meet his comrades.
Tahltria swings dirgesinger and cuts deeply Bengirr, who howls in pain as his blood floods the floor.
When everyone thought that Hádanka would finish with the northman, the light from the lantern hindered the half-orc's vision, making his guisarme not hit the target this time, giving the ulfen a chance to breathe for a while.
The ulfen takes a deep breath, holds a symbol in a hand and heals some of his wounds. "You will pay for this...", he said, aware that those could be his last words.
Turn order (bold may act) - Round 2
Grams, Ahmandé, Evarice, Tahltria, Hádanka
Ulfens (2), Bengeirr (16 dmg)
Zachorius
HP 10/10 | Male Human (Ulfen) Cleric 1 | AC 18, T 12, FF 16 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +4 | CMD 15 | Init +2, Perception +2, Sense Motive +2 | Combat Reflexes + Reach
"Ah, but it's yer payment come due now!" Zach cries out before jabbing with his spear.
Evarice will cast stabilize as necessary to stop the bleeding. "Well done." She looks at the lantern Bengeirr carried. "This must be it. We don't have much time to take them into custody- just tie them up and we can arrest them later."
Evarice eventually checks for the missing arrow.
Even is good:1d2 ⇒ 2
Finding it mostly intact.
Evarice stabilizes the wounded ulfens and you eventually find some ropes at the ship's deck, and tie up those northmen. Now you have the huge bullseye lantern. To where now, Pathfinders?
HP 10/10 | Male Human (Ulfen) Cleric 1 | AC 18, T 12, FF 16 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +4 | CMD 15 | Init +2, Perception +2, Sense Motive +2 | Combat Reflexes + Reach
"Let's give tha place a good once over before we give it tha laugh."
Zach is suggesting we search the warehouse thoroughly before we head back to Skelg.
Ahmandé joins in the search of the warehouse. When done, he suggests their next course of action. ”I think we need to return this lantern to Skleg’s house and see what it does with that painting.”
"Best we do it quickly and leave" as he too joins in the search.
Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16 "This lantern should be brought back as soon as we are done here."
After tie up the ulfens, you search the entire warehouse and find carpets, urns, sculptures and other works of art, and a box containing 2 potions. You conclude that those items were stolen from Skelg's vault when Bengeirr's men went there.
Grams will take them all. He'll search to see if anything can be taken before trying to identify the potions.
Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Ahmandé will take a look at the potions and other items found.
Spellcraft DC 15:
Detect Magic: 1st Round: Presence or absence of magical auras.
2nd Round: Number of different magical auras and the power of the most potent aura.
3rd Round: The strength and location of each aura. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Knowledge (arcana) skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura: DC 15 + spell level, or 15 + 1/2 caster level for a nonspell effect.) If the aura emanates from a magic item, you can attempt to identify its properties (see Spellcraft).
If other items are revealed to be magical, please feel free to make the Knowledge & Spellcraft rolls for those, too.
Ahmandé examines the door, trying to see if they can lock it behind them. "If we can lock this, we can leave the mundane goods behind for Skleg to recover later. Our objective is to find a way to save the man from his unnatural affliction; the lantern is somehow key to that. And we should certainly bring the potions and any other magic with us. I don't want to leave his goods unprotected, but recovery of stolen goods is also outside of our mandate."
Ahmandé and Grams identified the potions, they are potions of cure moderate wounds.
Ahmandé :
This is what you discovered for now, inspecting the lantern: The Beacon of the North is a huge bullseye lantern designed to be hung on the prow of a ship. To activate its powers requires a special lamp oil that only the white witches of Irrisen know how to create. It can hold enough oil to burn for 8 hours, although it currently has only 2 hours of oil remaining. When lit, the lantern burns with a cold light, and if the burning oil is used as a weapon, it does cold damage instead of fire damage. The lantern also opens portals under the right circumstances. Creating a portal of any size consumes 10 minutes of oil.
So, you took the lantern and the potions, then went back to the Greydog Manor.
"It's good to see you back, Pathfinders. You found that bastard?", Skelg looks at you with hope, but still freezing.
You will stay with the box and the potions, or will give them back to Skelg?
Ahmandé explains to both Skleg and the rest of the party what he's discovered about the lantern. (read spoiler)"So I think that we can use this to open the portal in the painting; maybe through there we can find a cure to the illness this has caused?"
Holding the two potions, Ahmandé begs a favor of Skleg. "I believe these are yours, Skleg. They could prove most useful if we're to venture through the painting. Would you be willing to allow us to take them with?"
"Sounds fair to me", Skelg tells to Ahmandé about the potions. After a short farewell, you went to Greydog Manor's basement and shines The Beacon of the North on the tapestry there.
Once you do this, a portal is opened in front of you... and you cross it, to find your answers.
As you step through the portal, you find yourself in a strange ice-cave. Sunlight filters through the walls and ceiling, and three braziers give some warmth to this otherwise chilly space. Directly ahead of you, a tunnel leads through the ice, sloping steeply downward. Behind you, a shimmering portal hangs on what appears to be a main mast embedded in the ice. Following the mast downward, you can barely make out the blurry outline of a ship’s deck below.
