Heading south the party finds a small recess. A single small palet heaped with furs sits against the south wall of this cave.
An aged kobold, his green scaled dull and eyes shut tight, lies on the palette. As the party enters, the kobold's eyelids flutter open to reveal milky, blind orbs. In a low raspy voice he calls out to all that will hear.
"I can tell by your scent that you are strangers here. If my nose tells the truth, y ou will bring the destruction I foretold. Good...good. I had hoped to see our ruin before journeying into the afterworld, but I will settle for listening to it.
Beware the great scaly beast, strangers. He seems to speak reason, but his words are poison. And his bats, the ones he called from the darkness... they are harbingers of lunacy and chaos... Dread Lord Aeteperax will surely be your doom as he has been ours."
As if the act of speaking was to much, after delivering his message the venerable kobold dies. In his claws he clutches a tiny box with leather cord attached to two ends.
Nighttail & Hak bow their heads in solace at the old priest's passing.
"His name was Jakkol. He was the Blood Vow's priest until Churgri came in a moon ago. A deadly shelia that one. Ran Jakkol out and left him to die. Both followers of Vapula there are. We tried to make him comfortable in his last days. But us 'bolds don't make it to old age.
"As for the Dread Lord, that's a sticky wicket. The Chief has everybody believing they should be following this new lord instead of Vapula. It has the tribe divided. Making them do things they most likely wouldn't do. Visions of madness to me."
Male Knife Master lvl 3 [27/27 - 0NL] | AC 15 T13 FF 12 | CMD 17 | F+3 R+6 W+1 | Init +3 Per +5]
Well, this is a very unusual lair of kobolds, Haruf says after the blind elder died. He asks Kale for the box to examine it. Although dramatic was the elder's death, Haruf reflexively searches the box for traps.
Upon hearing the name Aeteperax, something clicked in your mind. Throughout your resent travels stories mentioning Aeteperax & Belhaim are paired together. But not as Belhaim the town, Belhaim the person.
Aeteperax was the name of a great dragon slain more than a thousand years ago by Belhaim's founder, Lady Tula Belhaim.
Treasure Witch 2 | HP -3/14 | AC 11 touch 11 flat 10 | Fort +1 Refl +1 Will +4 +2 vs. enchant | Perception +5, Sense Motive +9
Sense Motive:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
"Older than Elvish, silly. It's Draconic, the language of magic." She looks the parchment over, and reads it aloud.
"Hail Vapula! Deliver us from chaos so that we may serve you in eternity. Seize what you can, tear it apart, and savor its sweet bloody taste." The elf-blooded woman shakes her head. "Charming; a prayer of some sort.
"Now what really has me worried is talk of Aeteperax. I've no idea what "summoning bats from the darkness" is all about, but that name is a Dragon's name or I'll be hexed. In fact, it's the name of a dead dragon - one slain by the very same Belhaim that the town is named after!"
She turns to Nighttail. "Now come on dear, we're all on the same side here. You should let on to what sort of things this Dragon imposter is having you and yours doing. Holding secrets back hurts all of us here."
Male Knife Master lvl 3 [27/27 - 0NL] | AC 15 T13 FF 12 | CMD 17 | F+3 R+6 W+1 | Init +3 Per +5]
Haruf shrivels at Iulia's words.
How do you know so much?, he asks somewhat envious.
Anyway, this should make things easier. If it's a dead dragon the mad chief wants to worship, we can convince him to die to meet his master. Clearly, Haruf isn't skillful at lightening the mood.
"That's why I didn't want to bother you with all that noise. A dragon, around here, bonkers. I think the Chief is off his rocker. He's not actually speaking to dragons. I haven't actually seen this Aeteperax. Supposedly the Chief has. And a few others. It was 'Aeteperax' that had the wizard killed, ya see. Not everybody was for it. Bang the bees nest if you, ask me. And here you are, the bees ready to bite!"
"Lots of ways ta know things," Calli chimes in. "Readin's one, talkin' ta folks an' listenin' are others. As fer dragons..." she shudders. "Ah sure hope there ain't a dragon runnin' around! Ah've already had my fill."
Alex glanced briefly over the words Iulia read in draconic, intrigued by what was written, but more so at the fact that draconic was a language she had chosen to learn. "of all the languages to learn, you chose one of the ones most harsh on the throat." He pointed out with a smile, trying to hide the intrigued and playful tone in his voice. "though a live dragon, hmm? Better to deal with this chief as soon as possible if he has plans like these with a dragon"
"It could be worth a shot," Calli nods approvingly at Haruf's suggestion. "Ah've seen it work with people - ya take out the big boss an' it takes the wind right outta the peons' sails. Then again kobolds could be a whole different story, so we might wanna be ready for a big ol' fight just in case!"
Nighttail tries to smile at Haruf's question. "That is the idea; there are enough kobolds upset at the chief's recent actions that with his death, I can take charge of the tribe and return to our ways sans 'dragon'. And for your help, we'll leave your bigfoot village be."
She pauses for a second and wicked smile comes to her face. "But any of them too stupid to realize that the chief should no longer be wouldn't be fit for my tribe, either."
Where to, group? You have paths to the east, west, and south. Nighttail can provide some information if asked, too.
"Or at least what passed for a plan." Kale smirked as she followed close behind her lover. "Is it too much to hope that the chief will be easy and/or rather lazy?" She asked as she looked back to Nighttail.
Also, just to make sure, HP are what's in the profiles correct, so Haruf is currently at 8 and Calli at 12?
Haruf takes the party past Jakul's room. The passage quickly opens up into another chamber with a wooden barricade blocking a path to the west while the tunnel continues around to the southwest. Obvious sounds of scuttled feet and ravenous squeaking can be heard from the other side of the barricade.
"That's the breeding grounds for some new nasty battle rats Chief wanted to raise. They've been harder to manage, so they've been locked here for safekeeping.", Nighttail mentions as she points to the barricade.
Through the barricade or continue southwest? Or back into another tunnel? Or something else interesting and unexpected? :)
"Ah agree," Calli shudders. "Let's leave 'em be for now unless we wind up with no other place ta go." As they continue southwest, she does glance back at the barricade. "Might wanna do somethin' about 'em before too long though - else they'll get power hungry an' break outta that pen an' eat up every livin' thing they come across!"
She looks at the others. "Read 'bout somethin' like that in a story once."
And yes, Calli's current HP total should be accurate.
Kale gave Calli and Haruf a nod. "There is no reason to run into a fight we don't need to do. Though... maybe when this is over." Kale said as she agreed with Calli. "Don't need them coming back to bite us..."
"Wait. We're almost at the bottom level where Chief will be lurking. Everyone should be in tip-top shape as you bigfoots say.", Nighttail taking a wand and sing it upon Calli and Haruf.
Assuming the party gave Nighttail all of her equipment back, which includes the lovely heal stick :)
Haruf takes the party farther along the path that seems to circle around as it seems to eventually head north again. To his right, the tunnel turns to a chamber with a comparatively lofty ceiling of twelve feet. The cave floor seeps to drop along a slender pathway, but Haruf cannot see the end of the passage from the intersection.
K Black Percep:1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (20) + 5 - 1 = 24 K Blue Percep:1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 5 - 1 = 12 K Green Percep:1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 5 - 1 = 21 K Purple Percep:1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 5 - 1 = 20 K Red Percep:1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 5 - 1 = 23 K Yellow Percep:1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (20) + 5 - 1 = 24 Haruf Percep:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Haruf sneaks forward, finding the path has 10' deep pits on either side. A curtain of rock filled with various cracks lies to the east, while straight ahead is a hole in the ground with a rope that descends deeper into the darkness.
However, before he can report to the others, the yipping of kobolds is audible behind the rock curtain and a bevy of sling bullets are hurled at him!
"Son of a succubus!" Calli exclaims as Haruf hurries back, sporting a couple of new bruises. "Nothin' for it now though...but that there passage is tight, they'll be able to pummel us good until we can all squeeze through," she says grimly. "Can we get 'round 'em somehow an' surround 'em?"
Alex looked towards the path that haruf just came from in frustration, cursing slightly in his mother's tongue, while also hoping that those with the knowledge of the elvish language were not overhearing his colorful words since he wasn't being all that quiet about it either. "we have to get by them somehow. Can we get behind the defenders in any way to level the playing field?" He inquired as he moved within range to use divine healing to try to get haruf to a safer fighting strength should the group have to venture headlong into the opening.
"Haruf!" Kale gasped when her love came back wounded. She stands close to him as Alex works on healing him. "If Nighttail says this is the only way down to the Cheif, I doubt there will be ways to get around them." She told the group.
Male Knife Master lvl 3 [27/27 - 0NL] | AC 15 T13 FF 12 | CMD 17 | F+3 R+6 W+1 | Init +3 Per +5]
Haruf thanks Alex for his healing and suggests: I don't think Kale's armor would protect her from the arrows. It's cursed! We gotta all run in together so they don't know who to attack. Then we can walk around the trench.
I'll just say that I held my action for Round 1 since all I did was speak.
"Ah think yer right Spider," Calli agrees, a tense look on her face. "Iffin' there's no other way in then we'll just have ta bum rush 'em an' hope it'll throw 'em outta kilter!"
As she speaks, Calli readies herself. "Ah oughta go first, ta draw them arrows an' stones offa Kale an' so Spider an' Alex can do their thing too."
Assuming no one objects, Calli will lead the charge into the room once everyone is ready.
I'll say this is the end of round 1, before the kobolds get their initiative. But then it'll be the entire party up, so charging in drinks-a-blazing is fine which will open up to round 2 :)
Calli gives her strategy while the party finishes their analysis of the kobold threat. The kobolds in the chamber do not make any noise, but one can only assume that they are ready to launch another bevy of sling bullets at the next thing to walk in.
[ooc]Give you guys a bit of time to confirm that charging in and trying to overwhelm the kobolds is your plan
Init Order (bold = up)
Haruf (6 damage)
Kale
Alex
Calli (1 damage)
Kobolds x6
Iulia
Nighttail
Male Knife Master lvl 3 [27/27 - 0NL] | AC 15 T13 FF 12 | CMD 17 | F+3 R+6 W+1 | Init +3 Per +5]
As Calli leads the party, Haruf follows bringing Kale after him, leaving the two casters to follow suit. The three heroes in the front must endure the kobold attacks to go around the wall and deal with them.
Focused on her goal of taking down some kobolds before things get any worse, Calli manages to dodge the incoming stones and rounds the corner...coming face-to-snout with one of the little runts!
"Aiiiyeee!" she cries as she attempts to crack the kobold across the jaw before falling back a pace.
Hello friends and thank you for joining me on this grand adventure.
Let's start off with a few housekeeping issues.
Those of you "in the family" that wish to trade out an traits or feats, you may do so. But in reviewing the sheets, I don't think this will be an issue. If the players want to know each other before hand, I'm find with that.
I'm not seeing anybody that selected Drawbacks, so we can skip that.
Hero Points:
The use of Hero Points I'll leave up to you guys. I've never played with Hero Points in Pathfinder, but I've played in systems that use a similar mechanics (Savage Worlds & FFG Star Wars). In those games, such mechanics definitely add a flare for the dramatic and the gamerunner doesn't have to worry about pulling punches.
There would be some modifications however. The Bonuses would be average than which is listed. So +6 to d20 rolls when used and +3 to aid another. Also, some enemies would have access to Hero Points. Typically it would just be a handful throughout the module, the Named Bad Guys.
If we do agree to include Hero Points, PCs can switch out any feats or spells now to accommodate this. However, there will probably not be access to the magic items that relate to Hero Points.
Please discuss your thoughts on this matter.
Quests:
As The Dragon's Demand proceeds, the party will uncover numerous quests that can earn them additional rewards in the form of experience points, treasure, or reputation. I'll list them in the campaign tab and notify you when a new quest has been unlocked. Not all of them are required proceed through the campaign, they can just provide XP to assist in your journey.
Treasure:
The party needs to keep track of their own treasure. I recommend dividing it up as soon as its obtained. That way encumbrance can accounted for. Again, the "haul and liquidate" method really won't work for this adventure. Outside of material goods, spell casting services and henchmen could be purchased as well.
Gameplay OOC:
Try to keep most OOC comments out of the gameplay. A little here and there isn't a problem. But when a field of blue crops up, it takes away from the tone I'm trying to display.
Prologue:
I'll have the Gameplay up shortly, but I have a few ideas I have to craft before we get this adventure started. I've wanted to run this type of Prologue for a few years now, so you guys are my lab rats =v). If you don't have time to do a proper 1st post on gameplay, at least do a stealth dot (post something, then delete it).
Keep this in mind: you cannot stand toe-to-toe with the dark horrors you are about to confront. Only rapier wit can even the odds.
PFS?:
Do we have at least 3 PFS players that want credit for this module? Remember the module must be completed in its entirety to get the credit. The official game date will be our ending day.
I think that's it for now. If there is anything else, I'm sure I'll bring it up. If there is anything on your end, please don't hesitate to post it here or PM me.
Huh, I got in! Sweet! I've been down with strep throat for the past few days, hardly even posting on the games I'm in already though I did give them a heads up, I was worried my absence from the recruitment board might hurt my chances on getting in. Though it seems it did not. Well now with the antibiotics and steroids in my system for 48 hours I feel pretty good! So let's do this! ^_^ I look foreword to playing with all of you.
As for the hero points, I've only ever used them once in a game and it was pretty cool! I'd be up for using them again.
Male Knife Master lvl 3 [27/27 - 0NL] | AC 15 T13 FF 12 | CMD 17 | F+3 R+6 W+1 | Init +3 Per +5]
Thank you for the invite, Mr. Nebten! I'm actually quite excited about this adventure.
I do have this character as a PFS alias, but quite frankly, I'm new to PbP and don't have that much of a care towards PFS points. In short, if there are PFS point, I'm going to be "Hurray", but otherwise, "Ok, cool, let's dive into this".
I'm not the biggest fan of Hero Points because I like the idea that making a terribad decision can have dire consequences. However, I also understand that its existence can allow the DM to be a little bolder. So, my stand is: it's cool if it's there, but if I have the deciding vote, it'll be 'no'.
Male Knife Master lvl 3 [27/27 - 0NL] | AC 15 T13 FF 12 | CMD 17 | F+3 R+6 W+1 | Init +3 Per +5]
I've been reading through the other player's sheets as I like to know the characters I'll be relying on. I mean no offense to anyone, please note.
Xylas, I loved the idea of your character, the good Pilgrim. You're very brave running with little AC and HP! I've only been confused with your prepared spells... Shield isn't a priest spell and you don't need to prepare cure spells, as you can spontaneously cast them!
Kale, you scare me and I hope to always be on your good side.
Iulia, I'm just wondering how you got to 11 Diplomacy. I counted 1 rank, 3 class skill, 1 trait, 3 skill focus. What am I missing? Loved the cupid theme though =)
Calli, maybe someday we'll have a drink. I don't know much about the monk class, so I didn't read your sheet thoroughly, but it seems to me that you'll be joining me, Guillaume and Kale on the front line. That's great! Another target and flanker!
Guillaume, it seems to me that you also had to learn to live without a rich family, huh... Nice to see yet another melee!
Finally here, thank you selecting me and I'm looking forward to playing Calli (again)! :)
Calli can definitely help with flanking and she'll also be pretty good at grappling if we want to take people down using non-violent means. With the way I built her, her damage won't be quite as hefty but the Sensei archetype gives her a few rounds of bardic performance each day so she'll hopefully make up for it with some support abilities.
This is also my second time attempting to play a monk. I briefly played this character as a 3rd level monk a couple of years ago but the game sadly folded pretty early. So...bear with me while I get the hang of it :)
Hero Points - I'm neutral on those. I'm in a few games that use them, but most of my games seem to do okay without them. Then again, they're all still rather low level as well.
PFS - I do have a couple of PFS characters so I'd be happy to get chronicle credit for this if everyone is cool with it.
M Half-elf Cleric (Devout Pilgrim) of Erastil 2, AC:16, 0/4 channels used
Haruf "Eight-arms" Sefka wrote:
Xylas, I loved the idea of your character, the good Pilgrim. You're very brave running with little AC and HP! I've only been confused with your prepared spells... Shield isn't a priest spell and you don't need to prepare cure spells, as you can spontaneously cast them!
Spider- Ouch! way to point out a lad's inadequacies. Note, I do intend to keep at least half an orc between myself and danger at all times. Also, the shield (of faith) may help (but see the following).
As for praying for CLW, why even maintain the facade that a L1 cleric is going to get to cast anything other than CLW?
Treasure Witch 2 | HP -3/14 | AC 11 touch 11 flat 10 | Fort +1 Refl +1 Will +4 +2 vs. enchant | Perception +5, Sense Motive +9
Xylas:
Although it matters almost not at all, the actual name for your classes archetype is Varisian Pilgrim, not devout pilgrim. d20pfsrd had to change the name for legal reasons. You don't, of course, actually have to be Varsian. Awesome archetype, by the way.
I can potentially be the tracker of treasure, if nobody else is keen. I have intimidating google sheets for tracking treasure for other games. ( They even use regular expressions :D )
That would be great if you already have a general format that you can use. If you host it on Google Drive I'd be happy to try and help keep track of things too if need be; I'm a note-taker for a couple of other games and treasure tracker for another so I understand how much work it can be :)
So it looks like Gully will be the tie breaker for Hero Points.
Game play is now up. There will be another post in about 10 hours (or when ever I get up in the morning). I want this first post to sink in a bit so you don't feel as if you are being slammed with walls of text. And I like to build suspense. I ask that you DON'T post in game play until after my second post. Not even lingering dots, please.
Spell casters, you can go ahead and have spells memorized as if you were exploring and expecting danger (like caravan guards =v)
M Half-elf Cleric (Devout Pilgrim) of Erastil 2, AC:16, 0/4 channels used
Ah, I was reminded that my archetype is properly called Varisian Pilgrim in ISM. I'd forgotten. It's changed to devout pilgrim on the srd. I'm not sure why they didn't just go with pilgrim for the sake of brevity...
GM- weapons like sling, quarterstaff and club are free sooo can we have those?
i'll take magic stone either way so I have some sort of weapon.
Or if you use Chrome or Firefox, get the Lazarus add on. A life saver for PPB DMs/players. I would recommend reducing the time retaining time to 1 to 2 weeks because any longer can put a strain on your system from caching so much information. At least it does for my PC.
OK, game play is now open to react to the Second post.
Male Knife Master lvl 3 [27/27 - 0NL] | AC 15 T13 FF 12 | CMD 17 | F+3 R+6 W+1 | Init +3 Per +5]
Quick question:
We're assumed to know each other, I suppose, as in the prologue we're in the same house/inn/place, talking to the same people. How well do we know each other?
Male Tiefling Bloodrager 4 (Primalist, Steelblood)
Hey folks, sorry I'm late. For some reason I hadn't seen any new posts in the recruitment thread in a couple of days and thought we were still in a holding pattern. Will try to get something up in the IC thread momentarily.
I'm not really familiar with hero points. How do those work?
Male Tiefling Bloodrager 4 (Primalist, Steelblood)
Haruf "Eight-arms" Sefka wrote:
I've been reading through the other player's sheets as I like to know the characters I'll be relying on. I mean no offense to anyone, please note.
Xylas, I loved the idea of your character, the good Pilgrim. You're very brave running with little AC and HP! I've only been confused with your prepared spells... Shield isn't a priest spell and you don't need to prepare cure spells, as you can spontaneously cast them!
Kale, you scare me and I hope to always be on your good side.
Iulia, I'm just wondering how you got to 11 Diplomacy. I counted 1 rank, 3 class skill, 1 trait, 3 skill focus. What am I missing? Loved the cupid theme though =)
Calli, maybe someday we'll have a drink. I don't know much about the monk class, so I didn't read your sheet thoroughly, but it seems to me that you'll be joining me, Guillaume and Kale on the front line. That's great! Another target and flanker!
Guillaume, it seems to me that you also had to learn to live without a rich family, huh... Nice to see yet another melee!
I'm thinking more "prestigious" than rich. The very bottom rank of the nobility, knights whose wealth was most likely largely tied up in weapons, armor, horse, etc. A title in front of their name, and they get to party with the cool kids, but not exactly House Lannister.
Male Tiefling Bloodrager 4 (Primalist, Steelblood)
Hmm. Who buries someone with gear that makes no sense for them? I guess we're supposed to be confused, we just woke up in a strange place wearing strange clothes, etc. It's certainly working. lol
Male Knife Master lvl 3 [27/27 - 0NL] | AC 15 T13 FF 12 | CMD 17 | F+3 R+6 W+1 | Init +3 Per +5]
I'm guessing I don't have to ooc my round. It's supposed to be evident that it was a move action to the unobstructed exit and a perception check, which is a move action.
Heck, she already gets a +2 vs. fear saves from a trait and it still didn't do much...probably should've activated the Advice ability earlier but hey, hindsight is 20/20 and all that. We'll just say that she's still disoriented enough from the whole experience so far that it didn't occur to her. Don't worry, she'll kick herself for it later ;)
Male Tiefling Bloodrager 4 (Primalist, Steelblood)
Well, here's hoping one of y'all has the right skills to get him to open the door. Between no ranks in any of them and a Charisma penalty, I'm afraid we're doomed if it's up to me.
Male Knife Master lvl 3 [27/27 - 0NL] | AC 15 T13 FF 12 | CMD 17 | F+3 R+6 W+1 | Init +3 Per +5]
Guillaume Coeur-de-Lion wrote:
Well, here's hoping one of y'all has the right skills to get him to open the door. Between no ranks in any of them and a Charisma penalty, I'm afraid we're doomed if it's up to me.
