The Pact Stone Pyramid (Inactive)

Game Master Pact Stone GM

"Speaking Orc? What self-respecting Halfling speaks Orc? Er, no offense Reaver. You'll die a sixth time if you don't explain your presence here right quick!" Hal hefts his axe into a comfortable swinging position.

-

"I'm raiding the frickin place! What do you think I'm doing? I got an employer whose paying me to clean out the traps and undead guardians - same as you."

Then a sly look plies across his face. "Only my employer's got a permit to lawfully acquire. I'm guessing that ain't the case with you lot, is it now. . .?"

Hurgah leans in, so his face is a few inches from Xaven's. His lips part in a grim smile that allow the halfling tomb raider a front row view of the pointy tusks that tore the still-beating heart from Deca-Jaws. Then Hurgah lets out a deep, rumbling chuckle. Tiny wisps of smoke curl out between the teeth, and Xaven suddenly feels like he is sitting too close to a hot forge.

"With such fine mastery of orcish curses, you are most likely familiar with the art of Radbraekh*. Before my tribe sold me into slavery, I witnessed our chief's head torturer spend a whole six days on a prisoner, before he finally died. I may not have his skill, but I promise you, you will wish for death many, many times over before I am done with you, and when it finally comes, you will beg Pharasma never to let your wretched soul return to Golarion ever again. Now, my companions asked you questions. Answer or bleed."

The halfling is clearly shaken by the terrifying giant. Nevertheless, he seems to bear up well.

"Sure. What else do you want to know? I got nothin to hide. Unlike you types, I reckon. I smell Pathfinder."

"The dwarf wants to know why I speak orc? First it's called Orcish. Second, my best buds a half-orc, one every bit as big as you, and if you guys make the mistake of burying me in some corner of this tomb, he'll never stop comin for you."

"So back off!"

"He does have a half-orc associate who is quite fond of him," supplies Donkor. "But it would be quite a stretch to say he's anything like the size or strength of the Reaver."

"Is Rhokon here?" he asks.

While Neversword is getting up the nerve to answer (or bleed), I don't suppose a knowledge arcana roll reveals any more info about those glowing tattoos he's sporting?

[dice=Knowledge arcana]1d20+6

-

Crypthugger's tats are not actually glowing. They might even be non-magical. The symbols don't match any arcane lore Hurgah's familiar with.

Knowledge (history) might assist.

"Is Rhokon here?" he asks.

-

"As tombs go, this place is getting more crowded than the Malhitu Bazaar in Sothis. Who else came in here with you? Those devil monks?

Perception 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27

Engineering 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

" I am here based on an authority much greater than any secular ruler could ever dream to be. You think any of us fear a half orc? Your bravado is misplaced. You have given us no cause to kill you but certainly we should tie him up and leave him, we do not need him interfering with our goals here".

"As tombs go, this place is getting more crowded than the Malhitu Bazaar in Sothis. Who else came in here with you? Those devil monks?

-

"But we did bring in a ton of cannon fodder," he answers as he takes a step back from Hurgah. "Our employer had a ton of labor just sitting around after unearthing the place so we convinced her to put them to use."

Seeing the half-orc's deadly stare, Xaven adds more: "But most of them have been cut down. A bunch by that monster trap you guys left behind and a number from a teleporting demon that has a thing with counting."

Gandel's Discovery

As Gandel runs his quartet of lights around the room he uncovers a few things.

First, the chamber is indeed a giant circle.

Second, as suspected the room contains an archway exit at each of the four points of the compass: north, south east and west. (You entered from the south.)

But the detail that Gandel finds most fascinating is this:

There are a number of hairline fissures between the floor and the walls. By itself, that might probably mean nothing other than shoddy workmanship. But Gandel has not seen such poor craftsmanship anywhere else in the pyramid - the floors have always been tightly fitted with the walls.

This causes him to investigate more closely, at least in as far as he can from the center of the room.

Gandel has determined that the walls are not actually attached to the floor. At least not by motor or by interconnecting blocks or any other conventional method. Instead it is as though the floor and walls were two entirely different independent structures. That is to say, the walls and ceiling were constructed separately and placed on top of the huge white floor.

Very curious. This would be a serious design flaw, unless it were done deliberately. Gandel is certain it was.

"I am here based on an authority much greater than any secular ruler could ever dream to be. You think any of us fear a half orc? Your bravado is misplaced. You have given us no cause to kill you but certainly we should tie him up and leave him, we do not need him interfering with our goals here".

-

The halfling continues to slowly step back from Hurgah, but he has no more room to go. Another step and he'll walk backwards into Karek.

" I am here based on an authority much greater than any secular ruler could ever dream to be. You think any of us fear a half orc? Your bravado is misplaced. You have given us no cause to kill you but certainly we should tie him up and leave him, we do not need him interfering with our goals here".

I feel like I've seen this con before in another game. The halfling impresses us as a straight shooter-type with his honesty about his rougishness and then rogues us. I'd be cool with just eliminating him now while we have the upper-hand. but I get that there might be alignment issues for some of you so I'd understand if you prefer some half-measure. If we battle him later, it'll be just as fun. It's all good. Just make sure our rear's are totally watched. Besides, if I'm right this is a "pet" NPC of the GM and those are notoriously tough to kill.

Xerissa rolls her eyes at the feisty halfling. "As you wish," she says to Halstadt. "But I buy none of it."

More important though...Did Gandel just discover that the entire pyramid above is rigged to fall down on us or something? Should we get the frick out of this room?!

Actually, I suspect we just found the Pact Stone...and it's a bit bigger than expected. As in, big enough to build an entire pyramid on top of.

"I'm not letting this one out of my sight. He strikes me as the type who can slip out of a bind before we even left the room. And he will likely run straight to his half-orc buddy and his slave-army to bring them to us." Hurgah grumbles. He maintains a close watch on Xaven, but does not strike at him.

"And you, halfling. Focus on answering questions, instead of asking them. So - you encountered the cowardly fiend too. When and where was this?"

"And you, halfling. Focus on answering questions, instead of asking them. So - you encountered the cowardly fiend too. When and where was this?"

-

First in what I call the ground level in a corridor shaped like a semi-circle. Then a second time in a room with four-pillars. He waited for me to remove a trap for my party and then appeared with a banana grin and said 'Thank you'. One of our group blasted him pretty good though and he vanished. A platinum says he has a way to heal up."

"You get any good hits in? My guys are working on a plan to deal with him."

Karek, silently appraising the halfling until now, and apparently ignoring the room! speaks up. We god a few good cracks ad'im. Karek volunteers. Whad's da plan?

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17 for general party-and-halfling shiftiness.

Knowledge (Engineering): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32, plus dwarf bonuses, as I won't have any halflings upstaging me!

Xerissa rolls her eyes at the feisty halfling. "As you wish," she says to Halstadt. "But I buy none of it."

"I must agree with our fair companion. This mercenary is not to be trusted. We should search him well, tie him up good, and incentivize him not to escape. I'm sure Xerissa and Gandel can rig a bomb to keep him still. When we are finally done with the cursed tomb we can decide to be merciful and let him go...or not."

Karek, silently appraising the halfling until now, and apparently ignoring the room! speaks up. We god a few good cracks ad'im. Karek volunteers.

"Glad to hear! Hate to think we're doing all the work round here."

Whad's da plan?

"Why? You want in?"

Karek is now aware of all the information in the post above titled "Gandel's Discovery".

He believes the two separate structures are both independently stable and doesn't see any indication it is rigged to come crashing down - then again he is not a professional trap detector.

Karek thinks Xaven is indeed a shifty type, but as far as his detective training goes, he can't see any indication the tomb raider has been anything other than truthful. His attitude seems to be that he has nothing to hide.

I re-rolled your Sense Motive off screen.

As for the rest of the party, Karek can sense the Dune Squad is starting to get a bit edgy. The constant pressure is starting to wear on them. They could use some R&R but will likely have to go without for some time.

Lydia lends her thoughts in support of Halstadt:

"If this man is who I think it is, " she says referring to Xaven, "then I also agree he's a maverick who can't be trusted - but he's not a murderer."

"According to our journal reports, he's one of the very best delvers around and has looted some of the most notorious ruins on record. But he explores for adrenaline and cares nothing for the preservation of lore."

"Now, now, let's be fair," Xaven shoots back at Lydia. "I also raid tombs for money."

He flashes a smile at the half-elf.

"I'm not sure I would agree he's not a murderer," says Donkor darkly.

"But if he's not, then his associate Rhokon is."

"Why? You want in?"

Anyding to end a demon we can'd bin down.

"Glad to hear someone here is a pragmatist."

"So what do you wanna do then? Rendezvous our two groups and coordinate a strat? After the bastards gone we can go our separate ways and everything that entails - no strings attached."

Actually, I suspect we just found the Pact Stone...and it's a bit bigger than expected. As in, big enough to build an entire pyramid on top of.

Holy Schmidt! We're sitting on top of our goal? or one of em, at least? I guess we sorta forgot to cast detect magic, eh? And maybe a few other stuff. Not sure how we'll keep it out of the bad guys hands if we can't put it in our pockets and run away with it. Or how will Hal destroy it. Anyways, Xerissa doesn't know about this so she won't comment yet. it looks like Gandel and Karek are keeping it quiet for now, possibly to hide this discovery from Xaven.

"I must agree with our fair companion. This mercenary is not to be trusted. We should search him well, tie him up good, and incentivize him not to escape. I'm sure Xerissa and Gandel can rig a bomb to keep him still. When we are finally done with the cursed tomb we can decide to be merciful and let him go...or not."

Xerissa is happy that one of the party has finally notice what a knock out she is."Can do wizard! Breach helped me rig it up last time." She steps forward, ready to ply her deadly trade.

If we're doing this team up on Suekahn thing first let me know and I'll obviously hold off. Otherwise I'll prepare a bomb for Breach to tie to his bindings. Personally, my vote is we slit his throat and move on, but I remain cool with anything, including this plan or the team-up the halfling is obviously trying to slow-play us into. I could accept the devil is the greater threat.

"Glad to hear someone here is a pragmatist."

"So what do you wanna do then? Rendezvous our two groups and coordinate a strat? After the bastards gone we can go our separate ways and everything that entails - no strings attached."

"And does your group include a surly lout with a penchant for using wands?

Xaven smiles coyly at Donkor and then answers Moonpate.

"Yeah, he's upstairs somewhere, I would think."

". . . And between you and me and these wide wide walls, I think he's got something going on the side. He seems pretty uninterested in treasure."

". . . Penchant for wands," mutters the Scarab, "Who are we talking about here?"

"Is it that cowardly dung-heap who likes shooting off lightning bolts in the dark - that Sceptre fellow?"

Gandel practically gasps with excitement. He turns to Karek, giving Xaven a wide berth and whispers in his ear.

"Coordinate our efforts and then have a dagger shoved in my back? No thanks. Let's get him wrapped up already and get on with what we came here to do. We are allowing his allies to catch us with every breath we waste talking to this silver tongued tomb robber. Who has rope? My line got left behind, nevermind, let's just use what he has on him".

Hal will approach the Halfling with his axe out in front of him and begin to search him.

"An aggressive action would be less than wise at this time Halfling".

"An aggressive action would be less than wise at this time Halfling".

-

"You know what?" he adds. "There's some mithralic cord around my belt I use for tripwire. Try that. It's tough enough to hold Mr. Ugly over there." He looks up at the hulking Hurgah.

"Just do us all a favor and keep out of my backpack, okay?"

Hal will approach the Halfling with his axe out in front of him and begin to search him.

-

Morgrym finds the halfling has a lot of equipment dangling on his body with straps or held in quick access pockets and belt pouches. Much of it is strange gear-like contraptions, which are beyond Hal's ability to identify. His best guess is it is an elaborate collection of thieves tools.

Halstadt has though found six stoppered flasks so far, and Hal knows enough to know that's a good sign - unless they're poison flasks of course.

There's also a thunderstone, a smokestick and a tanglefoot bag.

All of this without searching the halfling pack - does Halstadt's search include his pack?

"Is it that cowardly dung-heap who likes shooting off lightning bolts in the dark - that Sceptre fellow?"

"Yes."

Hal will nod his head at the Halfling. "We are incapacitating you, not robbing you. I'll respect your wishes Halfling".

Hal will pull off all of the fancy thieves tools from Xaven and collect all of his things in a pile with the exception of the straps which he will use to bind the hands and feet of the Halfling. "More rope anyone?"

Hal will nod his head at the Halfling. "We are incapacitating you, not robbing you. I'll respect your wishes Halfling".

"Gag and blindfold the bugger too. We don't need him crying out, chewing our ears off with his yammering, or observing our actions. Stuff his ears with something unpleasant as well. Or better yet, knock him out and then gag and blindfold him. He is in league with that assassin who has been stalking us, so I have no sympathy or trust for this blackguard. When he is adequately secured we can then more freely discuss our next steps."

Xaven gives Halstadt a look of surprise and for the briefest of instants, actually shuts up.

Perhaps he is stunned to see the cleric is not a money-grubbing hypocrite as he expected. Or perhaps he is just surprised to see the dwarf is so foolish as to leave his gear behind.

In any event, Halstadt uses the halfling’s own armor straps to bind his hands and feet in front of him. He then dumps all of the halfling’s equipment in a pile a good seven feet away from him, including his (unopened) backpack. It sits in a heap in the middle of the floor.

Moonpate then joins in providing Halstadt with a gag and blindfold. The halfling does not resist. But just before the blindfold goes on, he looks to Halstadt and says:

“You know what? Should our positions ever be reversed, I think I’ll remember this and return the favor.”

“I’ll guess I’ll just have to hope Rhokon finds me before Suekahn does. Cause I won’t have much of a chance against him like th—“ The halfling’s voice is cut off in a muffle as the gag goes in next.

Don’t hesitate to let me know if I’ve got any of those details wrong. In particular, let me know if someone wants to knock him out as Moonpate describes. Or perhaps this ear stuffing. I’ve seen softened candle wax used.

And where to next?

Hurgah the Reaver wrote:

"Is it that cowardly dung-heap who likes shooting off lightning bolts in the dark - that Sceptre fellow?"

"Yes."

"If that one crosses our path, he will not survive. I will feed his heart to the devil before I kill it."

Hurgah keeps careful watch as the others tie up Xaven. Once that is done, he scans the room and looks to the others.

"So...now what?"

I have no idea of hoe long it's been, but I suspect both Hurgah's shield spell and the enlarge might be on their last couple of minutes, even considering their metamagic extension.

Halstadt pauses for a moment. "By Angradd the Halfling is right. We cannot just tress him up and leave him to be slain by the likes of this Demon. Certainly we should knock him out and carry him with us, we would be no better than the Chelexians if we leave him to die here".

Halstadt pauses for a moment. "By Angradd the Halfling is right. We cannot just tress him up and leave him to be slain by the likes of this Demon. Certainly we should knock him out and carry him with us, we would be no better than the Chelexians if we leave him to die here".

"Carrying around the dead weight of this halfling may put us in danger, nor would it better protect his sorry hide if we are attacked and he is left bound, unconscious or not. His fate should not be our concern, but I understand your reluctance to not leave him should danger come, though he would just as soon knife us all in the back and not think twice about it. Still....I have it! Let's turn him into one of those magic fireflies and stick him in a bottle. We can then carry him with ease and ease your admirable conscious at the same time. Oh, how the gen would chuckle at such a fate for this miserable mortal."

Karek appears to have been distracted by the same thought as Gandel, and wanders away with the halfling while another halfling is getting bound up.

Wicked idea wizard!!! Using the dungeon as a permanent polymorph other spell on tap. Love it. Do it!!

Xerissa compliments Moonpate on his sudden inspiration and pulls out an empty alchemy flask and hands it to him for him to use. She might even poke an air hole in the top of the cork with a sewing needle. She too can't help but chuckle at the halflings fate. Maybe she's just a gen at heart.

But sorry bout this guys, but as soon as Hal isn't looking or the Dune Squad is moving on, Xerissa is going to quietly pocket the flasks from the Xaven equipment pile. There's no way she can pass on what might be 6 potions. We need this stuff. She will attempt to identify them of course, which should be a snap for her, unless this is another debacle like the gaseous form pool thing. Let me know if you need any rolls.

Speaking of identifying things...

Hurgah smiles broadly at Moonpates suggestion.

"I like your thinking, Potentate. I just might have a suitable container. I took this potion flask off one of the devil monks back in the big tent. It is full of some foul black liquid, though. Can any of you tell what it is?"

Gandel overhears the Potentate's suggestion. "While I hate to split us up again, I do want to explore this chamber, perhaps Hurgah, the Potentate and Hal can bring our friend to the relief for his temporary transformation while the rest of us get a feel for the layout of this room. Once you return we should have an idea of where to go to next".

OK! So we have "Team Polymorph" (Hurgah, Moonpate and Halstadt) headed back south to the lower level firefly bas relief in order to transform the tied, gagged and blind-folded Xaven and then re-capture him inside a flask, possibly Hurgah's fang flask.

The balance "Team Conspirators" are going to remain in the giant chamber next to Xaven's stuff and continue to examine the strange chamber and discuss what to do with what they think they have found.

I have no idea of how long it's been, but I suspect both Hurgah's shield spell and the enlarge might be on their last couple of minutes, even considering their metamagic extension.

-

As he watches Hurgah hoist Xaven up with a single giant hand to carry him back the way they came, Donkor expresses a farewell:

"Till we meet again then - and soon I hope."

Then looking at the apparently helpless Xaven he adds, "Remember, he's slippery that one. Don't take your eyes off of him."

"What is this place?" the Scarab asks to no one in particular. She squints in the darkness at Gandel's lights as they fly and flicker about the edges of the gigantic room. "This strange flooring makes me somehow feel like I am standing in the center of a stage or an arena. I just hope we're not part of the show."

Karek provides to tap around the floor and walls, getting nice and close to see if he can find any more information. He'll travel towards the western arch first, looking through the arches, then proceed clockwise.

He's also looking out for any, y'know, creatures. Like vampires, or demons, or monks, or Sceptres, or whatever.