Andrietta Ebonfeather |
"At the sake of being gloomy about this, does this red-haired fellow have his nose bashed in or look like it? He might be the one we're looking for?"
The grandmother will look over the body worriedly.
Stali One-Penny |
"I'm pretty sure it is Elias Kyle." Stali grimly replies. "I'm not sure which is Shel's friend Pauli though."
Pausing in his digging, Stali looks to Hikaru and says "I'm pretty sure that there are innocent people here. Viorec and Ornigaard seemed to be good people. I'm sure there are others who believed the lies about people going to Riddleport."
He wipes his brow before resuming the dig. "The problem will be sifting out the good from the bad. I'm still worried about some of them transforming like that pig did!"
GM Hmm |
Having done your sad duty of digging up the bodies, you realize there is one room left to explore: the one with the trapped floor. Do you do anything with it, or let it go? Also, do you use any of the myriad potions or Andrietta's wand before leaving? What about costumes? Do you don them or leave them? And where to next?
Sarano Snowfeather |
Heal: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25
Nodding sadly at the poor sods fate, "They mentioned something about the sacrifice being in the maze out back right? Perhaps we should dress up and try and sacrifice Hikaru again, we have even more costumes now from the ones in the other room,"
Stali One-Penny |
Wiping his hands, Stali agrees. "Sounds like a plan. How many are here, and have you searched the whole place?"
Gesturing upstairs, Stali says "Let me look at the other side of this trap door. I'm curious what they are protecting with the trap."
Detecting I'll try three times, Perception +10 +1 for traps. Then I will try a take 10 on the Disable for 22.
Gallako Tenkarlyion |
"We should definitely clean out all of this house before proceeding. And the outbuildings.
Should I send Vralk out to scout? He should be able to fly high enough that there is no chance of him being noticed"
Stali One-Penny |
Since Stali's knowledge: nature is better than the players, I did a bit of checking. It seems that there is little difference between crows and ravens. On the other hand, normal crows have poor night vision which probably means they don't go out at night. Corrections welcome!
Puzzled, Stali asks "Wouldn't it be odd for a raven to be out at night? Given how many are around this town, the residents likely know their patterns."
Andrietta Ebonfeather |
"Definitely explore the rest of the house and if we can have the element of surprise in dealing with the remainder of the cultists we might even be able to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. So let's figure out the costumes, examine the houses, then get moving because the sacrifice can't be too late or they'll get suspicious."
Andrietta attempts to summarize the party objectives, hopefully not missing anything.
GM Hmm |
The Weak Floored Room
Stali peers into the weak-floored room. Broken chairs, old straw-filled mattresses, and water stained, moldering quilts litter this room. A few lit candles sit next to the boarded windows, making you wonder for a moment how Alizna or the cultists got them there.
I am sure that Stali will have theories, though!
Stali's Perception: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 1 = 15
Stali's Perception: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 10 + 1 = 16
Stali's Perception: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 10 + 1 = 24
Stali sees the whole outline of the trap on the first try, but his paranoia makes him search again. Using boards and other items from the basement and attic storage, he quickly bolsters the floor and makes it stable again.
He also spots a heavy steel chest that was placed behind where the door opens. It's heavy, locked and with no traps that you can detect upon it.
What do you do?
@Andrietta: Otherwise, you are now in possession of a grand total of 18 full cultists outfits along with other survival gear. You could outfit everyone but Vralk.
Stali One-Penny |
"I think we just found the tax money!" Stali proclaims on seeing the chest. I wonder if Elias brought the chest with him or they had it here all the time.
Stali quickly gets to work opening the locks on the chest.
Take 10 for 22, when that most likely fails roll three times. Still not open, take 20.
GM Hmm |
The formerly locked chest has a ton of coin in it, mostly in small coinage and personal jewelry. There's a note inside tallying names of what appear to be village families with amounts of coin and a final tally: 550 gp.
Andrietta Ebonfeather |
"Hmm."
Why would they keep this here? Why not work it back into the village treasury as 'unexpected blessings'?
"Seems for each question we answer, we get two more. Well, let's get it packed up and keep investigating as much as time permits. And don't forget to take some antitoxin at the very least before we go to deal with the cultists, especially if they're using poisons."
Stali One-Penny |
Stali looks over the note with interest. "I wonder who's names do not appear here..."
After quickly looking it over, he gives the note to General Chak. "We will want to go over this with the new village leadership, refund the excess monies and determine who hasn't paid their share."
Looking to Hikaru, he asks "Do we all dress up as cultists, or do you want to play the part of the sacrifice again? I think either plan could work."
I'm ready to put a costume on and head into the maze. If it has been over an hour, I would ask if there is more antitoxin.
GM Hmm |
So is everyone in costume now? Or everyone but Hikaru?
Chak Yuen Chen |
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Chak dons a costume. The thought of having to rework the taxes for the village excited him, but now was not the time. Now was the time to extract a different kind of payment from those responsible for these crimes.
Gallako Tenkarlyion |
"I think that we all should wear the costumes. It might help and it seems very unlikely to hurt.
Stali, my thought was that Vralk would fly high enough so that he couldn't even be seen from the ground. If they don't see him then they won't care that a raven shouldn't be flying at night. He DOES see fairly well at night"
Stali One-Penny |
With a shrug, Stali answers "You know his capabilities better than I. I just wanted to point out it would look strange if he was seen. Provided it doesn't alert them to something being wrong, I'm fine with it."
Andrietta Ebonfeather |
Andrietta will don a costume/check to make sure that hers hasn't been too horribly damaged.
GM Hmm |
There are undamaged costumes from the box in the basement. You can find one without gaping sword wounds. So, it sounds like Vralk is running aerial reconnaissance, and everyone's in costume, yes?
Sarano Snowfeather |
Sarano dresses up in her Shel costume, it was the best fitting one for her size after all, "How do I look?"
Disguise: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
GM Hmm |
Alright, Vralk, where are you flying? Does anyone cast message spell and on whom? Are you aiming for the outhouse first or the big broken down barn?
Stali One-Penny |
Stali takes one of the costumes and tries it on. He hides his sword, sheathing it and hanging from his back under the 'wing flaps' on the costume.
Disguise: 10 + 1 = 11
"Let's go. You can tell us what you found in the other parts of the house as we look through the barn."
K'Kei Hikaru |
"Unless you need me to play sacrifice again, I'll wear a costume too, but they might wonder why we are all coming if we don't have a reason." He holds a costume and pauses before putting it on.
Andrietta Ebonfeather |
"How creative are we? We could say that we needed to bring the sacrifice sooner because 'the other bird-folk came looking for him'?" Andrietta offers as the best she can come up with.
GM Hmm |
Hikaru, if you want to wear a costume, wear one.
K'Kei Hikaru |
Hikaru dons a costume like the others unless someone comes up with a good reason for him to play victim again.
Vralk, master of all |
"I will check up on our enemies. For none can spot Vralk the Stealthy!!"
Vralk will fly up to about 100 feet (well out of the range of Darkvision) and fly over both the outbuildings and the crops to the north (from which we heard chanting earlier).
He has low light vision but NOT darkvision (not that the latter would help :-)).
perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
stealth: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34
Wow. When I said Vralk the stealthy apparently I meant it :-)
Gallako has message and will cast it on Vralk. Unfortunately, won't be of any use until Vralk comes very close again (Gallako has to be able to see Vralk to point at him :-(
GM Hmm |
Vralk flies high overhead, sailing over the maze. He sees tons of insects, and a large number of cultists draped in mosquito robes. He can also see the entire pattern of the maze, and that many cultists are lined up along the paths and passageways.
In the center, it looks like there are a couple bonfires, and a chanting Mayor Kriegler, who oddly is not wearing a mask. There are clouds of insects everywhere flying over the maze, and the cultists are swaying and dancing. There also appears to be a small and crumpled body, either drugged or fast asleep lying near Mayor Kriegler, but from your vantage point you cannot quite make out whom.
GM Hmm |
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The rest of you head out in yur costumes towards the barn, but en route you see three horribly deformed creatures shuffling out the broken wall. Two are male, one female. Their arms and legs are all out proportion, and their faces... Their faces look like they've been patched together out of more than one race. It's as if some deity picked a bunch of features that did not go together, jumbled them up, and then threw them on these people. There are weird bits of non-humanoid anatomy here and there too... Tusks, chitinous skin in places... These poor sods are all mixed up.
One has a stirge in its arms, the arrow still sticking out of its belly. It looks up at you with tears in its eyes. "Someone killed Stingy!"
[A picture of the one talking to you may be found on Slide Nine. Only, he's now sad-looking.]
We are still on SLIDE FIVE.
Stali One-Penny |
Kn: Local: 10 + 6 = 16
What is it with this town and their fascination with vermin? Ick!
Bluff: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21 Wow!
"We heard the noise and were just coming out to check! Are all of you alright?" Stali asks them. Gesturing towards the barn, he adds "You might want to go back in until we have taken care of any intruders."
GM Hmm |
The girl pats the crying one on the back, and then says, "We're okay. Can we get Sammy a new stirge? A baby?"
The third nods eagerly. "We'll take care of it! We promise!"
Stali One-Penny |
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"As long as you take good care of it!" Stali says, waving them along. Guess I'll have to talk with Ornigaard about how to get them a baby stirge. I wonder if the village knows about them yet?
Sarano Snowfeather |
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Shuddering at the sight of such a horrific creature, "Yes, that is really a shame, I don't know why someone would kill such a gentle little bitty stirgy-wirgy guy, might be best to gather up any other stirges and take 'em into the barn just in case, be sure they stay safe that way"
I can think of like 10 ways why someone would kill these gross horrible insect monster. . ew ew ew
Bluff: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
GM Hmm |
"Okay." They nod trustingly at you. The girl shoos a few stirges from the pond into the barn, and the other boy takes his crying friend's hand, leading him gently back into the barn.
You tour the rest of the buildings and find an outhouse with exactly the sort of contents you expected inside, and a pen that was clearly meant for pigs, but has none currently. Outside the barn, near the edge of the maze, are a number of crudely made toys and what appears be the handle of something sticking out of the mud. The handle is well made and smooth. When you pull it out, you find a masterwork light mace with the symbol of the City of Magnimar on it.
It's time to go into the maze. May I have a marching order? Any special preparations before you go in? Also I would love for you to describe your path.
Andrietta Ebonfeather |
Andrietta keeps quiet during the discussion with the deformed humans.
Sarano and Stali seem to have that well under control at the barn and raising any sort of concern could completely derail this sort of situation and turn it into a bloodbath.
Grandmother! They're nothing more than kids. May that we find some way to help the poor dears if they've fallen away from goodness.
The toys near the entrance of the maze catch her eye, though.
Why would those be here? Is this where they brought the kids that were captured?
The paladin will try to be towards the front but not THE front, because if someone truly EVIL is in this mess, she might very well stick out like an unpreened feather.
Stali One-Penny |
Good! I'm glad we were able to convince those three to go back into the barn. We don't know their situation and I would rather wait until tomorrow to sort that out.
Even better! They are taking away those icky stirges!
Kn: Local: 10 + 6 = 16
Seeing the mace, Stali says "That no doubt was in Elias Kyle's possession. It is issued to official tax collectors. We will need to return it to Ebrylis."
Stali suggests he hangs in the back, but is willing to take other positions.
Just to speed things up, I'll suggest an order so others can pick it apart. If you disagree, please suggest a new order.
Hikaru, Andrietta, Chak, Sarano, Gallako, Stali.
Chak Yuen Chen |
Chak, still injured, holds out his wand for someone to use.
Could someone cure, treat and heal my wounds before we proceed, continue and venture forth?
The order is fine, though if Hikaru doesn't want to be in front, Chak is willing to do it.
Vralk, master of all |
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Vralk would, for once, allow discretion to overrule his arrogance and return to the group without going any closer
"I'm back. There is a maze. LOTS of people. LOTS and LOTS of bugs. Blood sucking bugs. Mosquitos. LOTS and LOTS. Oh, and somebody tied up and sleeping.
Chanting and singing. Badly.
But I can lead you to center!!!!"
K'Kei Hikaru |
Hikaru takes his place in the lead with Andrietta and Chak right behind him. "Shall we say, always turn left so we don't get lost?" but when Vralk offers to lead the folks to the center, he says with a smile, "Or better yet, we let Vralk lead us so we don't get lost... that works too!"
Andrietta Ebonfeather |
"Seems we're only going to be able to get so close without drawing attention. Alchemist's Fires should deal with the bugs, but as soon as the first one fires, that's going to tell folks something is going on, right?"
The grandmother considers the remainder and isn't quite sure how to handle that issue first.
Yes, please assume the folks what can hit you have hit you with your stick! Or someone else's! That means for your ability damage too, everyone that has it (1d4 on Lesser Resto Wand)
Chak Yuen Chen |
Chak is only down 1 Str and 1 Con, which doesn't have any affect on his abilities. Are you sure you'd want to spend charges from the wand now or wait until it becomes a penalty?
Sarano Snowfeather |
Looking around, "Disguised as cultists, we should have no problem bypassing the bugs, right? I'm sure we can talk our way through the other cultists,"
Sarano would like to be in the middle. something like xxxSxx
GM Hmm |
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Would use 3 charges of CLW from my wand (assuming you allow taking average out of combat)
Okay, I have never done this... In Minnesota, we ALWAYS roll the charges. Is that how it's done in Canada? Taking the average? Also, Chak offered his own wand. I don't care who counts the charges, just don't double count!
___Following your ever intrepid guide, the MIGHTY Vralk, you go into the wildly overgrown corn maze. The chanting of many voices, perhaps a little drugged and off-key, echoes through this area. The sound is only slightly muffled by the plants.
"Gossamer King, Gossamer King,
Weaving lies in the ring,
Spiders with bite and sting,
Moths and stirges on the wing,
Power come to us through this offr'ing,
Gossamer King, Gossamer King."
All around you is the buzzing of insects and an entire cloud of mosquitoes descends upon you, temporarily blocking your vision and muffling your hearing as they drone around you. It's a thick and terrifying cloud... but as they land upon you, they lie quiescent, buzzing happily. They coat your clothes in layers, becoming another moving, writhing robe over your cultist's clothes...
K'Kei Hikaru |
Hikaru is down 1 con, which does affect his hp and his fort save so he wouldn't mind a charge from the wand and no need to roll because a 1 is all he needs and you can't roll less... but if you don't want to use it for only 1 point, I understand
Hikaru tries his best to ignore the blanket of mosquitos that land on him, stifling a shudder of disgust. He keeps walking toward the muffled chanting, intent on stopping any sacrifice about to happen.
Andrietta Ebonfeather |
One point could kill Hikaru. Fort saves in THIS environment? COULD KILL Hikaru. I will mark off the charges accordingly because I would much rather spend one charge than see Hikaru perma-dead. That's what expendables are for! :)
The 'take average' is 4/5/4, if memory serves, and it's done to speed play and not waste a bunch of time (or good die rolls, in some people's luck) on out of combat healing. It's sort of like 'Take 10' but not quite for healing. It's one of those 'grey' areas that I've seen done both ways.
Andrietta isn't quite sure what to make of the bugs. They're bugs. But... they're not attacking, just hanging out on the robes. Huh. Never seen anything like that. I wonder if the robes have something to them. And we should be ready in case they decide to wake up, because having a whole bunch of swarms on us when they decide to wake up could be a bad thing...
Chak Yuen Chen |
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1 Ability damage doesn't do anything.
For every 2 points of damage you take to a single ability, apply a –1 penalty to skills and statistics listed with the relevant ability.
This is different than it was in 3.5. You don't have to track whether your score is odd or even to begin with.
Sarano Snowfeather |
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The first time I encountered the average rolling was on these boards, I personally don't allow it, takes away the awesome nature of rolling dice and having to deal with Lady Luck
As she walks through the forest, she does her best to not have a panic attack as the swarm of mosquitos land on her, quite fearful of the swarm, her breathing becomes quite intense
I don't know whats worse a 1000 normal sized mosquitos or one mosquito the size of a dog, I don't know if I can go on
Stali One-Penny |
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At the mosquitoes descend, Stali tenses slightly. Seeing that they are just resting on the outside of the robes without biting, he manages to continue forward.
Vermin repellent. Next time I'm in a large town, I'm going to find an alchemist and buy vermin repellent. I no longer care how bad it smells.