The Stolen Empire

Game Master Vethcyr

Hahahahahahahahaha! What song do the lyrics fit to?

Michael Jackson

And that makes it just so very much better. Haha!

I logged on and saw 9 new posts and was excited... and then none of the spoilers were for me QQ

YES! YES I DO! Is there some reason Peter McHealbot isn't over here blessing me with his healing powers? :P But actually, it doesn't really matter, since it probalby won't affect gameplay. Just teasing a bit.

Oh s+%$, i Just realized, my last post was supposed to be for everyone, not just Klinn. Please read!

This is my daily post. Everyone please read my spoiler with the long title, I think we are all together again.

Very well, you have met up and are in the center of the camp, along the path running north-south. You may dispense with spoilers for the time being.

Karina, Nitina, and Klinn (when he wakes): You avoid the bear traps by a combination of luck and good eyesight, and, dragging Klinn's unconscious body (bear trap and all), you meet up with the others. Pete lies on the ground, heavily wounded by a devastating blow to his back and missing three fingers. Vlad has a wounded leg, bearing the tell-tale marks of a bear trap. Arastine appears to have been shot in the arm, and she is applying a bandage to the wound as you arrive.

Arastine, Vlad and Pete: Karina and Nitina soon arrive, dragging Klinn's unconscious form with them. Both Karina and Nitina are wounded as well - Karina appears to have taken an arrow to the leg, while Nitina has a gunshot wound on her torso. Klinn stepped in a bear trap - you know this because the trap is still fixed around is leg and trails its uprooted stake. He also appears to have been shot.

Full Map

Dead bandits are strewn about the area, and you find a cache of crates and bags beneath the east tower (K2 or coordinate P22). On the trail itself, there is a wooden wagon piled with coins and jewelry (S5).

"You all look almost as bad as I do. Now, if anyone who isn't Vlad wants the heavens' help, get your ass over here, because I sure as the abyss am not going to move around in this condition 'less I have to. Also, I'd take that thing off first." Pete attempts to move around a bit, just to see if he's capable of doing so.

Did Karina help me out of the bear trap before or after I woke up? I'll just assume after.

Klinn wakes up. "Uuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh" he says, clearly in a great deal of pain. "What happened? Everybody ok? $&!#, why is this trap still on my leg?! Come on, help me out of this thing sis." Klinn sits there helplessly, too injured to make much use of himself. As Karina finally succeeds in removing the bear trap, Klinn says "Well, I could do for a blessing." Klinn grunts. "Have it your way, you grand old coot." Klinn staggers over to Peter's side, limping badly and stopping halfway to cough up some blood. He gingerly sits down beside Ol' Pete and offers him his badly damaged leg.

Karina walks with a slight stagger, but tries to conceal her pain (5/10 HP). "I'm hurt but I'll be okay. You two look worse off anyways..." As her attention focuses towards the nearby wagon of wealth, her eyes widen. "Say, while y'all are resting, why don't we take a look around. Ya know, see if any of these bastards left us some presents."

Karina walks off towards the wagon by herself.

Karina goes and examines the pile of treasure heaped in the wagon. She begins to dig through it, when suddenly a shower of coins erupts as a bear trap hidden within the pile of treasure slams shut around her arm (11 damage and held in place - you know the drill).

Proof that this is actually written into the adventure

Hahaha f$~+ that should have been pretty obvious.

You hear a yelp from the distance as Karina starts to look around. (-6/10 HP)

Roll to Stabilize:1d20 + 1 - 6 ⇒ (15) + 1 - 6 = 10 Success!

Vlad picks Pete up and begins taking him to Karina. "Fine you lovely old coot. Don't heal me. But you better save some of your power for Karina over there." Vlad says this over the protestations I assume Pete makes.

Perception to spot where any other traps might be: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Strength: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7 Wow, that is not the best roll ever.

Peter grasps Klinn's legs firmly, murmuring a prayer both of healing to Klinn and of burning in the hellfires to the bastard who crippled the old man even more. He attempts to reassure Klinn, "Well, 'least Karina's all ri--" It was then that Karina shrieked, and Vlad carried him over to her. "Eh, at this point I'm feelin' pretty numb anyway. But like I gods damned said, you probably want to get her out of the trap first." Assuming they do so, Peter heals Karina.

Anyone else who needs a heal should probably speak up.

Heal Klinn1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Heal Karina1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Klinn HP: 5/11
BTW, What is Nysro's HP DM? also, I have no idea why Klinn was coughing up blood after being shot in the thigh...
Also, ability damage heals 2pts per day if the character takes the whole day to rest. Does this apply to Nysro if I do not summon him for a day?

"SIS!!" He limps over to his sister as fast as he can. He looks under the wagon for a place that the trap might be fixed too through the wood. He quickly finds a branched stick near the treasure does his best to sweep the gold out onto the ground, checking for more traps. If he finds any more, he will trigger any traps with his stick. As soon as all of the gold is on the ground and he finds no more active traps, he pries his sisters hand from the trap taking 20 on CMB. He carries her over to Pete to be healed. After she is awake again (with 1HP) he tends to her for a moment and then summons an unconscious and oddly fragmented Nysro. He lays his hands on the monster and his wounds begin to close.

Rejuvenate Eidolon: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 to a max of 6/6 HP

Nysro gets up and lets out a low growl and begins roving around the compound. He carefully inspects the crates under the tower without touching them, looking for traps Take 20 on perception for 24

While Nysro does this, Klinn detects magic on the gold and on the crates.

Karina finds herself lying down in front of the rest of party. She murmurs, "Whaa... what was..." then immediately feels a throbbing pain in her hand, which jolts her into remembering the shock of a bear trap latching on her. She shakes her head, "Ughh... the cart. Of course the cart was trapped! Why would it be so far from their camp? Acting before thinking again, Karina." She sighs.

Collecting herself, she goes back to focusing on the task at hand, but does not get up from the ground. "Klinn, check that cart for rings. The one Oleg's wife lost. And the crates too."

Vlad looks around. "Well if Pete is willing to rescind his healing embargo I would love to help you search the treasure. As it is, one bear trap and I am gone. If he is not I think I will search the bodies of the bandits where it is less likely that there are traps."

If Pete doesn't heal Vlad he will begin by searching the bodies of the bandits beginning with those that he killed in the forest to the west and working his way east.

Pete folds his arms like a petulant child, except one of his hands' grip slips because there is only one finger and one thumb. "So yer sorry for laughing at this calamity, then?"

Vlad smiles looks right at Peter and says, "I'm sorry that it happened to you and I am sorry that I laughed at you. Now will you heal me?"

Pete grimaces. He wasn't sure if Vlad was sincere, and he did like that the laughing man shared just a bit of his pain with that bear trap wound. But he apologized, one way or another. "That's right. Beg for it." He somewhat violently pokes at the wound and heals it.

Sense Motive (at night) 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18 Lucky you
Cure Light (1 left, any takers?) 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Klinn, that seems fair if Nysro isn't summoned for a day. He was at -3, so he's now fully healed.

I think Nitina's in a bad way...

There are no more traps in the cart, and Nysro finds none around the crates under the tower.

Spoils:

Beneath the eastern tower:
3d100 ⇒ (27, 22, 96) = 145 silver pieces
1d100 ⇒ 100 gold pieces
One pair of silver earrings
One silver necklace
One wooden music box
Five crates of furs and hides
One case of liquor (contains 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8 bottles)

In/around the wagon:
3d100 ⇒ (24, 92, 36) = 152 silver pieces
2d100 ⇒ (42, 5) = 47 gold pieces
Three copper rings
One brass amulet
One black gemstone

On/around the bandits' corpses (all twelve of them included here):
4 rifles (broken)
6 long bows
2 short bows
4 long swords
8 short swords
12 suits leather armor
3d6 + 22 ⇒ (3, 5, 1) + 22 = 31 bullets
6d10 + 32 ⇒ (5, 1, 6, 9, 10, 7) + 32 = 70 arrows
9d10 + 43 ⇒ (3, 6, 3, 5, 7, 1, 10, 3, 3) + 43 = 84 gold pieces

This post has been edited a few times

I think Nitina is really low right now, but if I'm wrong about that, I'm also at 1 from my trap extravaganza.

Sense Motive:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Karina faintly chuckles at the exchange going on between Vlad and Pete. Ignoring the fact that she is younger than both of them, she remarks "You two children get along now. Play nice." She is still clutching her left hand and still rests on the ground.

Edit, since I got ninja'd
Appraise checks gogogo:
Earrings1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Necklace1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14
Music Box1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Furs/Hides1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Liquor1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Rings1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
Amulet1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13
Gemstone1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

I will detect magic on all of them too.

Once again, despite her injuries, Karina takes interest in collecting all of the coins and dividing them up into perfectly equal piles. When she's done, she'll yell out, "Come and get 'em!" Each pile has 38 gold pieces and 49 silver pieces.

"I could use some more bullets," Arastine says, claiming 10 bullets if no one objects.

Btwz, my previous post was edited slightly.

"Well, we sure put our lives on the line, but by the looks of things we got ourselves a nice haul here." When examining some of the loot, Karina mentions, "This gemstone is magical, Klinn."

She then suggests, "I'll take one of these bows and some arrows if that's alright with everyone."

"I could use about a month's rest." He pauses, on his back. "And the money. Maybe I can buy my back... back."

Klinn: 5/11
Nysro: 6/6

Klinn casts guidance before he begins to look around, but he then uses it on trying to figure out if Vlad is lying
SM on Vlad: 1d20 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (14) - 1 + 1 = 14

"It certainly does seem like we could use some R&R. What do you say, we should spend the night here and move on tomorrow morning? Back to Oleg's where we can sell some of this stuff off?" Klinn says, apparently sightly happier now that his sister is ok, he is feeling a little better, and his pockets are full of loot.

As his sister sets down each item, he also looks at it, seeing what information he can glean.

Appraise:
Earrings 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Necklace 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Music Box 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
Furs/Hides 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Liquor 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Rings 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Amulet 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Before he examines the gemstone, he casts guidance on himself.
Spellcraft:
Gemstone 1d20 + 1 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 1 + 5 = 22

He turns to Arastine. "Hey, could you fix these guns? I wouldn't mind having one, just in case. The don't look too tough to use. Point and shoot, eh?" Klinn picks out his favorite rifles and 15 bullets. Rather than giving his gun to Arastine to fix, he casts Mend on it. The gun clears and he says "Hm!" He then goes back to where the group tied up the horses with Nysro and brings them back.

After he gets back with the horses, he examines the cart carefully with Nysro.

After he comes back, he says "So what's the watch order? We should probably pair the healthiest with the unhealthiest, yes? Karina, how about we take the first watch?"

EDIT: Were there any rations?

Vlad's smile grows very, very wide before he speaks "Karina, exactly how much did you just pocket? Because I am fairly certain that 6 times 38 does not equal 231. And the silver doesn't add up either. These facts are....concerning to me" As Vlad says this the smile continues to spread wider across is face as his head tilts ever so slightly to the side as he stares straight at Karina. "I am not so much concerned with the 3 gold as both what it portends and whether you have pocketed anything else both now and along our journey. So have you my little lamb?" Vlad's yellow eyes seem to glow in the darkness and the light of his cigarette.

Perception for Karina's hiding something (I'm assuming a slight of hand occurred or something that a perception check works on in the last action): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14If it is high enough the DM can just write me a spoiler telling me what I saw I guess.

Vlad continues to look as strange as ever as his eyes stay on Karina as he speaks "On another note I would also like a rifle and ammunition. Since three of us want ammo and there are 31 bullets, how about Klinn gets 11 and Arastine and I each take 10. Arastine, might you fix this gun?" Vlad continues to look straight at Karina as he finishes speaking.

Anyone who beats perception DC 8 may open the spoiler in Karina's penultimate post. It should have been labeled as such.

Klinn, your spell has no effect on the rifle.

Mending only removes the broken condition from an item if the condition is due to actual damage to the item. It does NOT remove the broken condition if that condition was gained due to misfire or because the weapon is a granted firearm (and therefore treated as broken by all but its owner). In this case, every rifle here is a granted firearm, and as such, the broken condition cannot be removed by anyone who lacks the Gunsmithing feat. No, not even Arastine or Nitina can fix these weapons.

The bandits had some game cooking by the fire, as well as some salted meat stored away (12 trail rations).

Klinn retrieves his, Karina, Nitina and Vlad's horses. Arastine's is with her, but Pete's is nowhere to be seen.

So Vlad, were you there the whole time counting the number of coins that were collected? :/

"Oh, you're talking about these?" Karina produces three silver and gold coins from her pocket. "These were the leftover coins. The piles were equal and I couldn't think of a fair way to divide them up. I figured I'd hold on to them for future party expenditures. And no, I haven't taken your... little lamb?" Karina looks quite confused about the mention of a little lamb being missing.

Vlad had been thinking of doing the same thing so he happened to have made a full count of the number and what an equal division in the party would be. Although now I will probably be counting.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20 Dang it to heck! Oh well. I would have had to roll a 20 so that my bonus could push it high enough. There was pretty much no chance. But still darn.

Vlad's smile becomes a little smaller and the tilt to the side a little less pronounced. " I was calling you a little lamb. Not a literal lamb of any size." Vlad shakes himself for a second. "That doesn't matter. Let's let someone with less slippery of fingers keep hold of the party gold. Might I suggest Arastine. I don't like the idea of a person just declaring themselves holder of excess gold and pocketing the party gold like it is their own." Vlad takes a few steps closer to Karina until they are right next to one another.

Vlad takes a few steps away, from Karina and speaks much more loudly. "Back to more important things: Arastine do you think you could fix one of the rifles for me and would that ammo divvying work for you two?" Vlad says this to both Klinn and Arastine.

"Not to put too fine a point upon it, but those rifles are very old and worn out," Arastine says after examining one of them. "I can't restore them. At least, not without an expert's assistance. Mind you, they're still functional - they'll just misfire more frequently, and you'll have accuracy problems at long distances."

The rifles are broken and will misfire on rolls of 1-5, and you take a -2 penalty to attack and damage rolls with them. Also, they deal only x2 damage on a crit.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Arastine takes no notice of Vlad and Karina's... discussion. In fact, she probably doesn't notice that they've moved at all.

Karina blushes at Vlad, seeming to be more at ease with the situation. "Oh, hehe, I must have misheard you. And I'm sorry to everyone if I've done anything that's made you trust me less. If someone else wants to do the honors of divvying up the loot, then, well, be my guest."

She then says softly...

She then turns to Klinn and says, "I'll take first watch with you, bro. Hell, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep a wink tonight after what just happened."

lol, just checked my spell list and Klinn doesn't even know mending, so it is a non-issue.
Klinn perception 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0
Nysro perception 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

If Klinn or nysro noticed Karina's crafty move, the make no mention of it. Klinn was fetching the horses for Vlad and Karina's conversation.

"This wagon looks like it is in good shape. What do you think about using it to head back to Oleg's in the morning? Oh and about the ammo, I don't really want any if the rifles aren't going to work well. I've got better things to do in combat than fight my weapons."

Klinn loads all of the unclaimed equipment and goods into the wagon in an orderly manner. As he does so, he asks Arastine "Hey, what do you think these goods are worth on the market? Think we could sell any of them at Oleg's? And sis, what do you think? I've seen a music box like this sold by a traveling merchant, he was selling his for 99 gp, so I'd guess the music box is worth about that much." i.e., let's let the character with the highest int make some appraise checks too... :P

As he is reshufling the equipment, he comes across the translucent dust they found on the mites. He sits down and studies it for a bit. spelcraft 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

EDIT: I've re-done the party inventory on Klinn's page again. They are now in spoilers so that the information is easier to find.

At this point, Nitina returns from scouting. She's a little woozy from blood loss, but has a determined set to her jaw.

HP 2/11

I've taken a look around, and it seems we got them all. Not much of a fort, I guess, just a camp. Might be a good place to lie in ambush for Kressle and her band. She looks around. Everyone still alive, it appears. Good.

She stumbles over to the wagon and grabs a few handfuls of bullets (11, I believe), then sits down and begins carefully, painstakingly putting them into her ammo pouch.

Appraise Checks:
Earrings: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Furs/hides: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Liquor: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

"I'd bet we could get as much as 150 gold for these earrings," Arastine says. "I don't know much about the fur or liquor trades, though."

Karina adds in her input, "I reckon that necklace could get you around 50 gold. Pretty decent quality silver. And then probably 25 for each of the copper rings. The amulet isn't as nice, but it's probably worth around 10 gold. As for everything else, beats me."

"Well I'm looking forward to selling all of those items then. And since it seems everyone has agreed on the bullet count." Vlad then reaches down and collects the 10 bullets and a rifle. "Oh and what you were saying before about sleeping shifts sounds good to me. I'm ready to settle in for the night."