[AP] The Shackled City Adventure Path by GM Rutseg (Inactive)

Game Master Balacertar

Maxim chews on his stogie as Maavu's ire is drawn;

"Best listen to your Foreman Arlintal an' hush up. Trade more words with me and I might just take ye in myself... being a good citizen o' Cauldron an' all."

The dwur looks to his companions;

"Hell's Teeth - this feels like a wild goose chase to me, but if y'all are committed then so am I. Best beware tho, I get the feelin' we're takin' sides in a war we ain't yet been privy to see who its betwixt nor what its being waged. High stakes on a clandestine meeting with folks we don't know..."

"What ruins?" asks Honest Minstrel "Alek never said anything about some ruins. Which ruins might be he picking up the artifacts from?"

"Are there any ruins that might hold artifacts as the ones Honest Minstrel talked?" asks the Foreman looking at Mikimax.

Mikimax shrugs "I do not know about any ruins"

"No one mentioned ruins specifically however you did mention Aleks selling artifacts he's found, and those typically come from ruins. Especially when you mention him disappearing into the jungles surrounding Redgorge. "

"The F-Foreman...I think he r-really wants to h-help," Marigold whispers to the others. "Not j-just Cauldron or R-Redgorge but the whole r-region. And I think he r-really wants our help d-doing it!"
________

Postin' from the plaaaaane! Wifi's about $8 but I seriously needed a distraction from the turbulence ;_;

Kikinnin takes the accounting from Oliron, then Ekaym, and sits and thinks as the others speak their concerns.

"So from the Chisel, we know something of Alek and the Red River. With Alek and Jenya, we may know something further in consulting with our priestess. As Alek is JJ's uncle, I see little doubt that we're going to search for the missing man. We have had some success in searching for folk, though the last one we tracked ended poorly." The black beard takes a long sip, before he speaks again.

"I don't condone your secrecy, but I will respect it, if it means that lives may be protected. If you suggest that the government is corrupted, and must be opposed, I am open to a proper investigation. I don't know enough to know where to begin, and have been too busy focusing our efforts with one difficult task at a time. If this next task is to find a family member and possible ally in this investigation, I'll say my 'aye', and ready myself for riverboating."

Kikinnin doesn't look thrilled with the idea of traveling on water, again.

"I wouldn't mind speaking with Jenya. Her divinations haven't steered us wrong in the past."

He nods to Ryan "I doubt he found them sitting on a branch of a tree in the jungle. And rivers are obvious means for travel. I suspect if he was in a boat, we would do well to follow his trail and keep our eyes open for where he left the river. We may spot a sign of his artefact source, or just his boat pulled up on a river bank. It does seem the best lead..unless" He stops and turns to Ryan.

"It would take a day to head back to Cauldron to see if Jenya could divine anything..." notes JJ. "Ryan, could you not ask Abadar yourself?"

Observing the group is willing to look for Alek, the Foreman calls for the meeting end "There is not much else we can say at this point. It is late night already, we probably all deserve to rest now"

The Foreman leads you on a short night walk along the Basalt Bastions before the group breaks out. At some point in the middle of your night walk he looks intently west toward the Demonskar, then sighs and says philosophically, "Surabar's spells raised this wall in seven days, but his guidance has failed to build a righteous society in as many centuries."

Short after everybody says goodbye and Mikimax walks the south road with you to the Readhead's Miner Inn.

Maxim listens to the Foreman's lament, making his own wry observation;

"Pity the same magick couldn't repair Redgorge eh?"

"A big pitty. Maybe one day you or Jurran will be able to fix the walls as easily as Spellmason made them." suggests JJ, his mind elsewhere as they head back toward the inn.

"He is right about a good nights rest though. I was hoping to track down where my family lived, but that might have to wait. Tracking down Uncle Alek is looking more important. And how knows, maybe he will be here in the morning. If not... how do we go about finding a boat?"

Kikinnin takes in the sights, following along with Chiselmen. When Oliron speaks on Demonskar, the black beard feels a small wave of unease wash over him. For their time binding together in the face of adversity, it feels like the adversity continues to be more Faceless than he'd like, though it seems to grow in power, possibly faster than he and his clan gain in power.

He pinpoints his unease then and there. The growing threat in the region always seems to have the advantage, and their allies can't muster enough intelligence in their investigations or numbers in the fight, so the struggle feels a perpetual landslide. The Eyeball is out there, orchestrating its plans, showing itself only when it chooses to do so. The Face-Marked they've come to discover are being targeted for something sinister...

Abadar, give Ryan a good talking to, would you? We're blind mice here, groping in the dark for the next piece of cheese, and there are feral cats about. If You would have us strike down the evil, help us here and now, before the evil grows too powerful. We'd kill it in its crib if we could, but it's grown older than that.

Returning to the Inn, Kikinnin is barely out of his armor, before he's fast asleep, wine still on his breath.

"But J-Jenya's all the way b-back in Cauldron," Marigold sighs, restating what she feels is a very valid point. "D-do we want to r-risk going all the way b-back and then c-coming back out here? I th-think we should j-just see to the R-Red River first..."

But regardless of what the group ultimately decides, Marigold heads to her bed that evening resolved to do what she can to help JJ track down his uncle and bring him back - alive.

"I have studied the rituals, but I have never requested direct answers from Abadar, it is possible that he will answer but I must spend the evening preparing. Before this I have only spoken to Abadar conversationally, but with no expectation of a direct answer, more just asking for guidance when I feel conflicted with the world surrounding me. Which here lately seems to have been quite often."

As they walk the bastions, Ryan offers this as well. "I have fought against Alek in the training yard enough that I may be able to locate him through his sword, the gods know I've spent my fair share of time massaging the nicks out of the blade after loosing a match to him. Granted I'd need to be around 700 feet away from him for it to work, but in the jungle a hundred feet could be as good as a mile."

"Well, long odds are better than no odds, Ryan. It's worth a try."
"Oh well, I'm knackered too and need a bit of a rest. Night-night, all!"

With that, Juraan goes straight to bed.

Maxim also takes his leave, heading to bed;

"I'll have a gander at the spell book Arlintal donated to the cause. Might be something in its pages that will be o' use..."

@GMR: You never did clarify what spells were in the book gained from Maavu. Maxim did read magic to discern the contents back in Cauldron...

"True, I will try in the morning. Master Oliron, I need to find some incense for the ritual, would you have a suggestion where I could find some at this point late in the evening or early in the morning."

Turning to the others as they prepare to relax for the evening. "Unlike the Commune ritual Jenya performed for Kikinnin I will only have a single question that I can ask, it is something that has the possibility of occurring within the next week. Help me to determine the best question to ask."

A groggy Kikinnin wipes his mug with a gloved hand. "Jenya would be able to provide a chance to speak to Abadar, and pull from Him more than one answer to more than one question. A day's travel back to Cauldron doesn't seem too much time to invest in securing her services. I'll grant that we're not guaranteed to gain an audience with her. She could be busy. But we'd have access to more shops to stock up on river travel essentials, I'd think. I'm pretty sure that the Chisel will give us a boat, seeing as how they're encouraging us to follow Alek. Can't imagine we'd have to buy a boat here in Redgorge, let alone secure one from Cauldron, and drag it all the way back here." The black beard blinks his eyes a little, as the night's blur begins to slip over them.

"Nothing personal, Ryan. I look forward to the time when you can Commune with Abadar yourself. That's where you're headed, looks like. I'll not argue further if we want to ask one question, and rock the boat tomorrow morning. I just get the feeling the denizens of the jungle will be better prepared than we are. I'm not much for wild goose chases, let alone blind wild goose chases through a jungle, just off the river. Just how deep is this river again? Guess it doesn't matter all that much. As long as there aren't perils in the water, and we can travel steady in a flat-bottomed boat, rather than that frogfolk canoe..." Kikinnin feels his words rambling a little too long, so shuts up, closes his eyes, waiting for others to speak.

"I think we need to know where exactly they last saw uncle Alek in the boat. And whether they can provide us a boat to get to the same spot. " suggests JJ.

Ryan knows he surely can secure some incense in the Shrine of Serenrae.

The next day the group is received with one of the well-stocked Redhead Miner's breakfasts. Mikimax prowls around as the group talks, serving pancakes and goat milk "There is little more I can help in your investigation, but about the boat... There is a small boat business at the river just past the cascade to the west. Old Yangrit mainly devotes himself to repair fishermen boats, but he probably can sell you a rowboat once you are prepared to begin your journey. If you find out where to search for Alek"

"W-well...at least g-getting a boat won't b-be hard," Marigold mumbles through bites of pancake the next morning. "B-but will it just be as easy as r-rowing or d-does it take more w-work to m-maneuver it?"

Kikinnin indulges in a plentiful breakfast, leaving plenty of leisure time to see the others to the table and well-fed. "Good to know, about the boat. When you saw Alek depart, Mikimax, which direction did he head? Where on the river did he board his boat? Ekaym said he went deep into the jungle- which direction from here would that be?"

"Just so long as the water's not too rough!" Juraan jokes at breakfast.

"Shame Alek, didn't let anyone know exactly where he did is poking about in the Jungle."
"That'll make it a bit harder to find him."

"Old Yangrit told me he rebought a boat west into the jungles as he had done in other occasions" answers Mikimax "I guess Alek was concerned others might find his source of money at the beginning, and lately he did not know whom to trust, nor he wanted this sensitive information about Cauldron slipped in the wrong hands. I met him getting out of his manor just that very same day and he did not say a word either"

"Out of his manor?" asks JJ.

"Which is his mannor? I wonder if he might have kept maps, note or a journal. Half an hour investigating that may save us days later."

"Surabar's manor is the abandoned mansion in front of the bakery at Spellmanson's District" Mikimax points through the window to the northeast while he finishes pouring goat milk at JJ's cup "The house is in bad conditions and unfurnished, but Alek was sleeping there during his Redgorge stays. The paladin seems a bit tightfisted to me, you know. I punned at him multiple times, why to sleep on cold stone when you can comfortably do it by the Redhead Miner's hearth?"

"I definitely want to go there and have a look. That will be my old family home probably. Who lived there before Alek?" asks JJ.

Maxim finishes tapping a shot of liquor into his goat's milk, then nods toward JJ;

"Visitin' yer ancestral hearth lad, that's no light thing. Investigatin' the place is a sound notion, might be ye find more there than just scribblings and notes though..."

He looks toward the innkeep with a wry smile;

"Mikimax here was jes' tellin' me o' the Surabar spirits that haunt the place..."

Mikimax smiles as Maxim pours the liquor into his milk, but his expression changes when the spirits and who lived is asked "Rolard Surabar and Hurlira lived there until that rakshasa killed them"

---------------------------

Once out of the inn, the group easily locates the old Surabar's manor. The windows are boarded and the façade is taken by vines, but the door seems just closed with a padlock. It is an easy task for Maxim to force the padlock allowing the party in.

Inside the dust can be seen floating in the air on the thin dim light filtered within the boards and the ragged curtains. Besides a large living room, a library and a dinning room in the first floor, the manor has two other stories.

Within the second floor you find a room that has seen some use as of recent. The bed is properly made with new blankets. Next to it, a wooden table has on top a figure representing a golden key, and next to the key there is an empty metal glass.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something killed them?" Kikinnin pauses from eating a cut pancake piece. "What's a rakshasa? Anything like a wild baboon?" Kikinnin looks to the others to explain what they might eventually cross paths with.

"Rakshasa? I thought my parents were killed by demons.." says the astonished JJ.
know(planes): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30 What does he know about rakshasa?

He offers a glower at Maxim. "Not funny. That is my family you are talking abut."

"Did you know Rolard and Hurlira?" he asks, his eyes speaking of a hope for a glimpse of the past he was too young to remember.

skipping ahead to the mansion bits:

"Bit of a recluse, that uncle of yours", Juraan comments to JJ.
perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18 … darn!

"Would he keep maps and such in this bedroom?
"This looks the least unused room here ...

Perception (DC 25): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (17) + 13 = 30
Kn. Arcana (Rakshasa): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

"D-don't worry, we'll g-get to the bottom of it all, one w-way or another," Marigold murmurs, giving JJ an encouraging pat on the arm. As they make their way into the abandoned mansion and begin looking around the bedroom that Alek seemed to have made his own, Marigold's eyes are drawn to the floor underneath the bed.

"H-hey..." she says, kneeling down to get a closer look, "...there's a l-loose board under h-here!"

Without thinking, she reaches out to open it...

"A rakshasa" asserts Mikimax to Kikinnin before turning to answer JJ "Indeed, that's another kind of fiend"

When the young boy relates the manor with his parents assassination something suddenly strikes Mikimax "Wait. Of course, how I have not noticed, you are exactly like Rolard when he was young. You are the small baby of Rolard and Hurlira!"

The innkeeper becomes dull as he remembers the past "Those days were dark. Nabthatoron had promised to slay all the Surabar line after his defeat. Spellmason's magic keeps him trapped far away from here. But it seems the demon found a way to send one of his assassins. Zaur Sza. He alone managed to slay all the Surabar's guards, Rolard and Hurlira. If not for Tercival and the Honest Minstrel, many in Redgorge would have died that night" Mikimax smiles wide "And thanks to your mother, who hide you in a closet where Tercival found you, you are here today. Good thing that rakshasa did not know about your existence"

Kn. Planes (DC 20): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Ick...figures a creature like that would be in league with demons!

Marigold looks from JJ to Mikimax and back to JJ. "B-but...would he know about JJ's existence now?" she asks, suddenly sounding quite worried.

------------- Surabar's manor -----------

Marigold opens the loose slat and founds a large cache of artifacts well concealed in a space between the wooden floor beams:

Earlier in the morning
Ryan rises from his night's sleep and crossing over to the table begins to arrange the incense and several types of coins and gems. Intent on spending time in prayer before the day begins.
"Abadar, we search for one of our own, who is also one of your own. Mentor for me, Family for JJ, fellow Paladin of the faith for Kikinnin, Sir Alek Tercival has gone missing. Rumors abound and are tearing Cauldron apart, and I fear Alek plays some part in this, yet I feel for the betterment of Cauldron. All we know is he has traveled into the jungles surrounding Redgorge, where can we find Sir Alek"

Ryan settles back from the table very aware that this was his first attempt at a Divination and it might very well fail.....%>21: 1d100 ⇒ 93

At the mansion

Ryan studies the room where Alek had been sleeping concentrating on the table with the key and the glass.

kn:Religion + Church: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

-------------- Morning -------------------
Ryan sets a small symbol in the floor with the incense lent in the Shrine. As he completes his spell, the cleric eyes go white and he starts to talk with a thundering solid voice "Late on the path of justice, trapped between glass and stone, he weeps where many can see him, but he can see only himself"

-=-=-Before exploring the manner -=-=-=-
"The good minstrel helped Uncle Alex defeat this assassin? This Zaur Sza?" queries JJ. "What happened to Zaur Sza?"

-=-=-=- the manner -=-=-=-

"Wow... good spotting Marigold. This is an odd set of things for Alek to have gathered together. I wonder a bit about their significance. Are they family.. or just odd items he gathered from his wanderings?"

He shakes his head, marvelling at the well made bed left behind my his uncle. "He was always on at me to have tidy corners and pull the blankets straight..."

Marigold is floored by the wealth of items concealed beneath the loose plank, her eyes growing wide.

"L-look at all this s-stuff!"

Appraise (DC 20): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
Kn. History (DC 30): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16
Appraise (DC 20): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Can't make the Kn. Local + Kn. History check.
Appraise (DC 20): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Kn. Religion (DC 20): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Appraise (DC 20): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
Kn. History (DC 25): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
Appraise (DC 20): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

"W-wow...this is really p-pretty goose c-carving...it's like the Volcanic G-Gosling," she marvels as she carefully lifts it out of its hiding place. "I b-bet it'd f-fetch 250 gold easy!"

Sadly, she has little luck in diving anything useful about the rest of the items. "D-do you think your uncle s-saved these from the h-house, JJ?"

"I have no idea. None of this makes any real sense. But them, Uncle Alex hunting the jungle for Relics to sell doesn't really seem like something the champion of Abadar would be doing either."

He shakes his head in confusion.

"Wow, Ryan, those words were weird. Trapped between glass and stone, and able to see only himself. Like he is in a mirror, or an hourglass..."

He thinks. "The river when still looks mirror like sometimes. But tapped where many can see him... that would be like on an island maybe? Or is it figurative... his public image?"

"Late on the path of justice, trapped between glass and stone, he weeps where many can see him, but he can see only himself."

Kikinnin remains still for a while longer, waiting for Ryan to become Ryan again. The man's blessed, alright. He'll be a worthy peer to Jenya one of these days, for all his experience. The words themselves don't make much sense, but that doesn't stop him from chewing on them.

"Doesn't really give us a place to start looking. We have the River, and a boat, likely, and either upriver or downriver, to begin. Ryan's words sound like a place we'll end up finding, more like. The gods certainly encourage independent thought." The black beard waits to hear what might cross the others' minds.

...

Kikinnin remains outdoors, when the others enter the Surabar Manor. It feels like an incursion, and he'll leave JJ to his investigations, while he keeps an eye out for those who don't take kindly to home invaders.

@Redhead Miner's Inn

When JJ fails to see the joke, Maxim's own eyebrows furrow, but he bites his tongue;

Huh. Seems the lad's a might touchy bout his kin. Duly noted...

@Surabar Central

Maxim's eyes glitter as they uncover the hoard under the boards;

"Mighty generous o' your kin to leave all this for us Surabar! We can do alot o' good (an more than a little bad) with this lot!"

DC20 Appraise (Painting of Knight): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23
DC30 Knowledge (Local) (Painting of Knight): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

"Seem to recollect the paintin' is o' The Knight In Brown... Worth maybes 150 Gold Suns."

DC20 Appraise (Mask): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

"This here is The Baboon Mask - worth around 350 gold. Ain't sure if any o' ye righteous lot 'ill know its significance?"

DC20 Appraise (Morkoth Bust): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
DC25 Knowledge (Local) (Morkoth Bust): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

"Ain't got the foggiest on this..."

DC20 Appraise (Plate): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

"Nor this. Perhaps its the breakfast tray o' the Surabar Dynasty har!"

"I think we should put this stuff back for the moment. It probably belongs to Uncle Alex.." sighs JJ, admiring the picture of the knight.

"This is a nice quiet town. I wonder if Sara and Tessa would consider moving out of Cauldron until it quietens down. Set up a tavern here. Might be good to have more than one watering hole in town."

"R-Redgorge does look like it could use m-more business," Marigold offers at the idea of sending friends and loved ones out to the small town. "B-But there's got to b-be opportunity and a n-need. D-do you think the town r-really needs another w-watering hole?"

"A-Anyway, if you w-want to leave these things we c-can - your f-family home and all," she continues. "P-probably not a good idea to b-bring this stuff on a j-jungle cruise anyway..."

Earlier
Shaking his head slightly as the presence of his god departs from him, Ryan is both grateful that his request was answered but confused as to the meaning of the answer. "Late to the path of justice, dunno what that means. Unless he trusted the wrong one and has been trapped by them. Cages have been part of this from the beginning. Some glass is so reflective it is like a mirror on one side yet can be seen through from the other. Could he be imprisoned as a trophy?" shaking his head Ryan realizes he just making guesses at this point.

Mansion
Ryan takes some time to study the items after investigating the glass and the key

kn:Religion(mask-DC20): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Flipping the mask over in his hands "I've seen this mask before but I can't recall where, the library at St Cuthberts or perhaps while flipping through tomes and scrolls at the Cusp of Sunrise."

Apraise(fish head-DC20): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
kn:History(DC25): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16 "Nothing"

appraise(plate-DC20): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Holding the plate in hand, "This is a Hedgemonic plate, easily worth 400gp, but it should be smooth here. I wonder...." holding the key at his neck, Ryan speaks the word "revelare" while holding his hand over the plate. cast - Comprehend Languages, last 80 minutes

" These scratches they form a type of map, this says River, Headless Demon, Home, Gnoll Path, Round Cave, and something called Vaprak's Voice." IF Comprehend Languages also suffices for the linguistic check Ryan will tell about that part as well

As Ryan completes his spell the scratches suddenly make sense to him. As coarse and clumsy as the Giant language it might be, once he understands it, it becomes even more clear to him it is a map. Probably scratched by a coarse and clumsy giant behind the Hegemonic Plate.

Ryan does not understand though the runes and they probably require someone with skill to decipher codes before something else can be understood about the plate.

JJ looks at the writings. "With a bit of time I might be able to solve this.. but .." he shrugs awkwardly.

Even taking twenty, JJ is one point off being able to make that check.

"But this is another clue pointing toward the river. I wonder if these landmarks would mean anything to the Chisel. Who is Vaprak?"

Kikinnin sits down on the front stoop of the Manor, and gives himself to cleaning his Axe, while he waits for the others to exit. He occasionally looks up from his work to observe the comings and goings of the townsfolk, if only to allow his eyes to relax from the closeness of his cleaning.

When the others return, he tucks away his cloth, and sheathes his Axe.

"You find what you need? Anything point to us needing to hurry? We still have the option of returning to Cauldron, and consulting with Jenya. Otherwise, we'll need to shop for our travel on the river. I don't like the idea that we'll be open to attack while we're on open water. Not sure what can be done about it, though."

Maxim taps the spell book obtained from Maavu;

"Some o' Arlinter's spells could be useful for the journey. Can probably prepare 'em from his book, leastways try as time is o' the essence... But preppin' for the river-ride sounds a savvy notion..."