PbP Gameday VII - #4-07 Severing Ties - GM NOWRUZ (Inactive)

Game Master noral

Conney, sensing the tension in the room, much like his fellow alchemist, holds a vial in his hand, ready to throw it, or worse, do something more drastic. He did perk up when another offer was made, but Conney knows why he is here and who he (ultimately) works for.

Turning to Reidog
"Your form of negotiations are not required here at this time"

Turning back to Mistress Pamodae
"My apologies Mistress, Some of my help are a little impatient and haven't quite learned the pleasures of the art of discussion."

After reading the scroll and hearing the offer.

"Your price may seem fair to many, since what is a name on a paper. But I find it still a little high, perhaps if you added, lets say some information to it. We both know that while some of your patrons are...expressing themselves to the gods that they may talk about other things. A whisper here a ...slip of the tongue there, I am sure you know what I speak of. The information that I am asking about is just of a cult, the Lissara cult?"

She eyes you suspiciously "What exactly are you referring to?"

Oh don't play coy. It's unbecoming a woman of your stature. Sapper says as the vial dances across his knuckles.

”I have heard about your little arrangement and the fallout as well. Do not drag me into this! Now sign and stamp so that we can return to our individual businesses!!“ says the beautiful and at the same time very dangerous Tiefling slightly annoyed.

Reidog slumps back into his chair, crosses his arms, and grumbles to himself.

After a moment, embarrassment sets in, and he mumbles "Sorry, Mistress" to the priestess, then scrapes back his chair to go over and start picking up the broken glass.

Gru'Gar smiles and spreads out the scroll

"Like you said, It couldn't hurt to ask"

He sign's his name as Thestil Shadowtogue and uses his badge for the stamp.

Do you have a piece of cloth we can wrap the dagger in? And perhaps the next time I have the pleasure of your company it will be under less official business. I really did enjoy our little talk.

Gru'Gar is being truthful of wanting to return

At Mistress Pamodae's reaction to Reidog's attempt at intimidation, Pai's stomach sinks in disappointment. She was really hoping to put on an intimidating show of her own, but it looks like the tiefling is unlikely to be cowed by any such display.

Not surprising. An easily intimidated whore wouldn't be in charge for long.

Pai contents herself with following the conversation and rolling her eyes at the males who are clearly wishing they could mix work and pleasure right now.

She looks at you as if she is slightly surprised.

”Please note that I have encased this dagger into the box that you have in front of you and that I do not intend to open it! Your employer is well aware of the possibility to open the case and therefore I hope that you understand that this is all that I can do for you! I hope to meet you again under better circumstances so please do me a favour and leave my temple now!!“ she says and stands up to leave.

Myth ponders quietly, thinking, This woman views the Aspis as an enemy...I wonder what she thinks of Pathfinders? Ah, well, best keep to the script...

Myth bows deeply, smiling as he says, "'Twas a pleasure meeting you, ma'am, sorry it was under such circumstances...maybe another time..."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

"Yes, naturally it was a pleasure for you - should you seek more pleasure in the future please beware that our service depends on adequate payment that I will expect given that our debt is now settled. Since I don't know what your boss will be after next time I want to warn Jenk that I will start my revenge with public humiliation ... other, more nefarious acts, straight away; will follow if he bothers me again.", Shofara responds, and has that predatory smile on her face again.

Cal precedes the rest of the group, uncomfortable to the point of blushing visibly. He'll wait outside for the rest to emerge.

Where to next?

Sapper makes a mental note of the matron's disdain as he exits. That could be useful later.

"Shall we head to The Fish Bowl? I believe it is closer than the Publican House."

The Fish Bowl is at the southern bank of the northern river separating Riddleport. It stands along the river atop a high stone base.

As you walk to the ferry, a large, bowl-shaped stone structure catches your eye. It is built right against the riverbank on a stone platform, with a narrow set of stairs ascending the base and leading into the bowl.

A chain has been drawn across the stairway to prevent easy access, and a small sign reads, "Closed". From the information you possess, this may be the so-called "Fish Bowl", temple to the minor goddess Besmara, the pirate queen.

Well-worn stone stairs ascend the stone base to access the temple above, but a chain has been drawn across the bottom of the stairs to block easy access. From the street, it is difficult to see anything occurring in the temple at the top of the platform.

Only a few dim lights flicker up in the temple, and a narrow tower or lookout post rises above it. As you regard the building from street level, a shrill scream pierces the night.

Passersby seem to take no notice of the sound, which is followed almost immediately by a deeper yell, and a pair of young voices screaming in terror. The sounds seem to come from above street level from within the large bowl-shaped building.

Gru'Gra yells out.

Ahoy, permission to enter! Arrr.

He looks at the party and surges his shoulders
I thought talking ship talk might work.

Myth, acting on instinct, draws his bow and discretely heads towards the sounds of the screams...

Stealth: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

Conney walks with the group. Maybe we should have headed back and at least turned in the dagger, least something bad happen to it, or us. Hearing the scream, he reflexively grasps a bomb on his side ready to hurl it at the first sign of trouble.

Cal leaps over the chain and runs into the building.

"Calvert, wait! Oh, for the love!" Turning to Gru'Gar, she asks with exasperation: "What now, fearless leader?" Then, in a lower voice: "And how will we do in these negotiations if we show a soft spot now?"

I guess we should fallow him in. Even though everyone around here finds the screams as normal. Oh well, we'll play it by ear, maybe it might be time for Reidog's negotiation skills. Just remember we are trying to get that fool to trust us be for we slam a wedge in.

Gru'Gar chases after Calvert

"Yes, sir!" Pai chirps as she dashes after Gru'Gar. And maybe I can show them a thing or two about intimidation!

"Besmara is a god of pirates. Brutality is prolly part o' tha daily rituals. All the same, I don't like it."

Reidog readies his shield and starts lumbering after Calvert.

"Idiots", Conney mumbles under his breath as he chases after everyone else. "Wait for me!"

With no response, you hesitantly (some of you, at least) climb up the stairs. The doors on the temple are wide open, and it seems that nothing prevents entering besides the large chain behind you.

Narrow spiral stairs connect the temple to a small lookout post 30 feet above ground level.
As you approach the doors themselves, a pre-teen girl shows up in the window, pale as death, with tears running down her cheeks.

"HELP!", she shouts into the distance. She notices you and turns to you. "Please, help us! They want to eat us! They already killed the two temple servants!"

She turns her head back into the the room to respond to someone, and pops her head out of the window almost instantly. "Please! Help! My father is injured!"

You rush into the door to find a wall blocking your way. There are openings on each side, however. When you walk inside, you can see a large pool of water in the middle of the room, and wet tracks leading from the pool to three creatures at the opposite end of the room.

The man and his daughters have fled up the stairs to the lookout post, but from there they have nowhere to go.

The three creatures seem like someone cross-bred a shark with an otter just for laughs, but forgot to get rid of the set of razor-sharp teeth that each creature is putting to good use tearing the two former acolytes into shreds. The creatures look at you, and seem to fancy the look of freshly-arrived dinner.

Please place your icons on the map and please announce your first round action. YOU ARE ALL UP!

Sapper follows everyone up, but is the first to react to the monsters. Whoa! Ugly! He shouts as a vial flies through the air!

bomb!: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
fire, splash is 6: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 6) + 4 = 12
miss direction: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Conney follows the group up the stairs and follows Sapper's lead and tosses a bomb (Blue)...

Bomb: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 8 - 2 = 17
Damage: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (2, 4) + 3 = 9
Miss: 1d8 ⇒ 4
-USE Precise Bombs Ability to not splash onto friendly location(s) depend on where Conney goes on Init order.

Myth will fire twice at the flat-footed beast to the south...

Shortbow w/Magic, PBS, Rapid Shot: 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 7 + 1 + 1 - 2 = 20

Magic/Cold Iron Damage + PBS + STR + Sneak: 1d6 + 1 + 1 + 2d6 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 1 + (2, 6) = 11

Shortbow: 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 7 + 1 + 1 - 2 = 19

Magic/Cold Damage + PBS + STR + Sneak: 1d6 + 1 + 1 + 2d6 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 1 + (6, 2) = 11

Targeting Blue. Sorry.

Drawing his axe, Reidog growls and steps into the doorway to block the movement of the shark creatures.

He readies an attack for when one comes near.

Cal moves into the room, summoning a pale green sword in his right hand.

Gru'gar moves up drawing his bow.
Taking aim with his short bow Gru'Gar launches an arrow at the beast (Blue).
Bow Attac: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
If they are caught flat footed
Sneak Attack Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9

"Anyone have an Idea what they are? I am sure that I have seen them before but can't remember"

Skittering toward the right as she enters the temple, Pai drops to a knee so Myth can easily shoot over her head.

"Oh, wow! These guys'll give you nightmares!" With an incredulous chuckle, Pai unleashes a bolt of lightening at the green shark-otter-thing.

Electric blast vs. Touch AC: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 191d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

"Aw, I should've aimed for its butt! Hehe!"

I am so sorry guys but I just spent 45 minutes to prepare a post and it was swallowed! Ahhhhhh!! End result is that all creatures are dead except of the last red one which has 4 points of damage as Pai's attack was directed on a dead beast and she chose the red one instead!

You see the last creature move to you very slowly as its body is not made for land. Blood-red spines run the length of this frightening creature, which resembles a lobster in the front and an eel in the back.

Round 2
1. All PCs -> GO
2. Sea monsters

#Sea monster red: -4 HP
#Sea monster blue: dead
#Sea monster green: dead

Myth will fire two more at the remaining beast...

Shortbow w/Magic, PBS, Rapid Shot: 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 7 + 1 + 1 - 2 = 22

Magic/Cold Iron Damage + PBS + STR: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 + 1 = 7

Shortbow: 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 7 + 1 + 1 - 2 = 19

Magic/Cold Damage + PBS + STR: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 + 1 = 7

Myth's arrows pierce the small sea monsters body and you how he is hurled back and suddenly starts spasming and attacking the air in its vicinity.

* * *

You look around and see that the two dead acolytes both have rapiers and medium sized light armors. Each of them carries a scroll as well. One of them, conveniently, wears a bicorn matching the description of the one you are after.

* * *

Then you only hear silence and shortly later the cry of a little girl. It comes from behind the locked door to the lookout.

Myth will secure the bicorne hat and then quietly approach the locked door and attempt to pick it...

Disable Device: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33

...then opens it, saying softly, "You can come out now, little one, the creatures are dead..."

"Well, that was almost to easy. Whoever had these guards here didn't get good guards."

Been having to select all and copying what I type as the Forums have been eating a lot of posts lately.

You hear the door's lock klick. Suddenly the door opens and faces of two young girls appear, both eyeing you curiously, and then looking at the room to find the remains of the Sea monster. After confirming that the creatures are disposed of, they wave to you and open the door fully.

A set of stairs leads up to the watch post. On the upper floor, a man is sitting in a corner with a crude club close to his right hand, used to support his weight from keeling over. His left hand is on his belly, holding back blood that soaks his shirt. He looks at you, pale, and coughs out a quiet "Thank you."

He then looks at his daughters, and calls them over. "Come here, girls. It's gonna be alright."

The younger child does so, but the older one continues to ask for help for her wounded father. "I'm too young to be an orphan with a younger sister. Please, help us!", she quietly asks as tears start rolling down her eyes.

I had used ‘copy’ to save my long post but when the site crashed and I went back to the last page and there were four words that I had previewed and instead of posting my long post I ‘copied’ those four words and deleted my post! :-( my fault!!

Pai's eyes widen at the sight of the gash to the man's belly.

"Does anyone have a curing wand?" She calls out to her comrades as she kneels beside the man. All thought of their mission escapes her mind as she focuses on the pain and anguish of this man and his daughters. Placing her hands on his shoulder and the hand that grips the club, she assures him with sincerity: "Hang in there. We're going to make sure you'll make it. It's going to be okay."

Myth tries to stabilize the man...

Healing: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

...and then looks to Pai. "I have a wand...but can't use it...if one of you can, you're welcome to use it..."

Either of the Alchemists can use the wand. I have one too, for future reference

"Oh, I can! Here!" Pai exclaims. Quickly plucking the offered wand from Myth's hand, she activates it immediately.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 111d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 (fail)

Frustrated that it didn't work, she tries again until the man is healed.
As I don't know this NPC's HP, I'll aim to cure 6 HP unless directed otherwise by our fearless GM.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 101d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 (fail)
Cure Light Wounds: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 161d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6 (fail)
Cure Light Wounds: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 221d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Conney has 2 if need be, and has plenty of charges

Conney watches Pai poke and thrust with Myth's wand. "Come here kids, let a real wand user heal you."

Will us wand to heal them both up.

Myth’s heal reveals that the man has no damage that can be cured but ability damage from mistreatment and torture - typical signs of an interrogation.

Myth shakes his head. "He was tortured...but he should recover..."

Looking to the girls, he gently asks, "Who did this to your father?"

The girls hug their father and the older girl speaks before her father can stop her in his weakened state.

”These priests did that!! They wanted our mother but ...“ and these are the last words before the girl realises that her father pulled her in his direction to silence her.

Myth smiles. "We will harm neither any of you nor your mother...if you wish to tell us of her, we will listen...if not, we'll be on our way..."