The Twisted Closet (Inactive)

Game Master I'm Hiding In Your Closet

Fort save: 1d20 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 1 - 2 = 7

I'll just use my Character Folio reroll to get the second save then. I just don't want to deal with a disease.

Now we just need to see how Jack and Corwyn do....

fort save: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 - 2 = 14
fort save, folio reroll if nec.: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 - 2 = 18

Sorry, got busy with the holidays and the couple of days back to work right after!

Corwyn coughs as the pungent odor overtakes him, and he makes his way out, covering his mouth with his arm.

Fort Save DRR: 1d20 ⇒ 14
No modifier, as the -2 washes out with the +2 I get from my CON modifier

Ehhh.... I'll stick with that roll. No guarantees a reroll would be any better!

Re-roll?

Corwyn coughs as the pungent odor overtakes him, and he makes his way out, covering his mouth with his arm.

I didn't say anything about an odor....

Re-roll?

You may smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Re-roll?

Yes, in society play there are a number of things that will provide the opportunity to make a reroll once per chronicle. Very handy to have if you stare into the eyes of that medusae by accident.

I am a one star GM, does that count?

I am a one star GM, does that count?

Why, I believe it does!

Thornberry manages to take the slenderest of cuttings from the Spark. As he does so, the more perceptive party members notice the vines in the chamber writhe and twist ominously, and a pungent odor seep up from the floor...

...but it passes.

You heading out?

This was the odor to which I was referring - it was mostly for flavor as I have no idea ICly if it was responsible for having to make the saving throw - but the timing seemed about right, anyway...

Thornberry seems ok and scoops up Nira Well let's go collect our adulation for saving this town from its Vampire....and then do the hard boring work of pathfinding.

Hooray!

Here goes nothing

"Agreed, it seems that it is time to leave."

1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 8 - 2 = 20 using dm re-roll for a re-roll on save

This was the odor to which I was referring - it was mostly for f****r as I have no idea ICly if it was responsible for having to make the saving throw - but the timing seemed about right, anyway...

I wish people would stop using that word. The game belongs in your head, not in your mouth. That said, I see what you mean - but it wasn't that. That was an allusion to the yellow musk monsters that would have come up to attack you if you'd uprooted the Spark.

Sheriff Molume is a bit surprised to see you've returned, but pleased to hear of your success. He gives you the improvised reward of a couple bushels of cashew apples (the delicious fruity byproduct of cashew nuts that so many foreign consumers don't even know about - except that the 'nuts' are really the 'fruits,' and the 'apples' are more like 'stems'...it's compicated; it turns out that cashews are a very strange plant), and sends you on your way.

The return journey to Alkenstar is uneventful, though Nira attracts strange looks and mutterings from other people who see her. You get an adequate night's rest in the city before setting out to find a boat back to Katapesh.

The itching you felt in the Verdant Spark's presence turns out to be abnormally persistent, but most of you manage...except for Ardain, who wakes up with several smelly, itchy, yellow plant-like growths bursting from his skin.

Charisma damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3
Constitution damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3

Ardain, make another Fortitude save. You'll need to make 2 consecutive saves to shake this off, and the boat ride to Katapesh will take a few days. How does the party choose to handle this? Find a healer, try to treat it yourselves, what?

My fault for not being clear enough but Kristoff would have stopped by the temple again and sought out the priestess, I was gonna have her clean up Amenira’s corpse and would have payed for her body to be wrapped in linen if it was ok with Nira. I’d assume before we all left for the boat we’d have asked the priestess to check out Adrain as well. I can’t speak for him though it would be the most practical choice to make.

Thornberry, after getting a chance to rest, will prepare diagnose disease and Remove Sickness.

So he can both know what's happening to you AND give you a +4 on the saves.

I am willing to do that until you succeed.

I also recommend using an antiplague. If it can't wait you could use Yanda's and reimburse her with a new one when we get to civilization.

My fault for not being clear enough but Kristoff would have stopped by the temple again and sought out the priestess, I was gonna have her clean up Amenira’s corpse and would have payed for her body to be wrapped in linen if it was ok with Nira. I’d assume before we all left for the boat we’d have asked the priestess to check out Adrain as well. I can’t speak for him though it would be the most practical choice to make.

Zuri is sorry to hear of Amenira's fate, noting what an exceptionally good guest of the town she was, but not too shaken, given that caring for the dead is part of the temple's duties, and travelers in the Waste die all the time. She agrees to journey to the cave and embalm the corpse (given that Nira had already decided to leave her body there as both a testament to her travels and a warning to others). Given what you've done for the town, it is the least she can do to do so for free - besides, it's a use for some of the oils that had been poisoning Robori!

Of course, as the party leaves town, it occurs to some of you that you've just set the High Priestess of Robori up for a close encounter with The Verdant Spark, and you wonder what you've done....

As for having her checking out Ardain, I'm going to say that since there was no obvious injury or other difference between him and the rest of you, and that the disease has an incubation period of 1 day, you don't have any way of knowing at the time that he needs checking out - besides, she's actually just a 1st-level Adept whose default prepared spells are bless and cure light wounds, there wasn't actually much she could have done.

Jack, having no healing skills, will observe Thornberry's treatment of Ardain on the journey back, learning what he can... and lamenting his lack of an antiplague tonic. Once in Alkenstar, he will seek out a healer who might be able to help Ardain fight off the progression of the disease. If Ardain is unwilling to pay for the aid, or unable, he will contribute toward any fee required... and ask the rest of the party to chip in as well.

Corwyn is glad to have helped the villagers and relaxes for the remainder of the journey - though he gives Ardain a wide berth, just in case the disease is contagious...

Thanks for the game, folks! I have no problem chipping in to help cure Ardain if it's needed.

Once in Alkenstar, he will seek out a healer who might be able to help Ardain fight off the progression of the disease.

It turns out that Alkenstar City is an exceptionally risky place to be sick: Half the city (the filthy, crime-ridden industrial district called Smokeside) is in a permanent antimagic field, and the other half (the exclusive home of Alkenstar's most wealthy and established called Skyside) is dominated by primal magic, as is the local stretch of the Ustradi River that separates the two halves and is the way back to Katapesh. Finding healers on Skyside is not hard (as opposed to Smokeside, where anything beyond mundane medicine and the most basic alchana is impossible); Alchemists and apothecaries can be found in abundance, and there are several temples to Brigh and Abadar with powerful clergy - but their services are exceptionally expensive here.

You have a few choices: Continue upriver and try healing Ardain with your own abilities and resources, buy alchemical products and/or potions for the normal price, commission your pick of Alchemist infusions and Cleric spellcasting at a +50% markup of normal (so a full-on cure disease spell cast at CL 5th will cost 225 gold, a CL 3rd lesser restoration spell will be 90 gold, et cetera), and/or spend Prestige to get the spells from a Society-friendly healer.

Fortitude: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Well, that sucks.

Edit: Thornberry's +4 boosts that to 8. Still not enough, I would imagine.

Well Thornberry's Remove Sickness does also suppress the disease for the duration, so you still get your fort save....you can still make this save! Alternatively, it is just 1 PP to clear the condition in Alkenstar. Also someone gave you an anti-plague so you get an additional +5. So you have a 14 total, which judging by Corwyn.....makes the save.

So just purchase another anti-plague and we will do it again. you literally only need to roll a 4!

Luckily, the Pathfinder Society doesn't just find paths, it opens doors; one of the temples of Brigh sports a shiny electrum gear on its front door bearing a remarkable resemblance to the Symbol of the Open Road. The Cleric on duty looks at Ardain with a surprised grimace, and sets to work...

remove disease: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
remove disease, sketchy sympathy DM folio reroll: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

...though nobody else seems to, Ardain could swear he hears the clockworks that are all over the temple begin grinding to a halt, only to resume with a discordant *SPROING!* noise that shakes the growths right out of his flesh!

Keep the antiplague(s). :)

@Ardain: Would you like me to mark off the Prestige point for you on your Chronicle?

That taken care of, you find a boat to take you back up the Ustradi River to Katapesh, where Venture-Captain Roderus appears a bit surprised to see you back so soon.

"Well, what did you find? What happened to Amenira? How is an isolated hamlet in the middle of the Mana Wastes shrugging off its worst magic storms? Tell me everything. I want *details.*"

Yeah, you can remove the PP. Thanks for running it.

Kristoff takes a moment to think, then says: Well, I single handedly slayed a cloaker that was harassing the townsfolk, it was also responible for killing Amenira...sort of? Eh and there was some kind of radiant glowing plant thing that protects the the town and it wants to wake up, I dunno Thornberry was talking to it, and what else oh the town grows cashews and and their kids turn into plants, and umm lets see oh yea Talondreal kicked a squash in someones yard because he thought it was evil so yea thats about it. Kristoff stands there confidently with a grin waiting to see if he missed anything. I pretty much covered it all right?

Venture-Captain Roderus looks at Kristoff, then at the rest of you.

"Is he on pesh? I know that's considered a local favorite, but I really don't recommend it...."

Thornberry nods enthusiastically recounting his role in the tale.

Yes sir. The source of the safety in that Mercy town is owed to the Verdant Spark. It was apparently some kind of experiment these plant people did to try to reproduce (I guess they cant natirally mate for some reason) but then was abandoned for some reason in this cave. It protects the people of Mercy by blanketing them in this green energy but its too pure for us humanoids to withstand. It makes us really sick instead. As you can see from Ardains skin it turns em into weird plantlike people. I guess the Mercyites have been forcibly evolved to withstand it. The children in particular seem to be mostly plant. If left unchecked the Spark could turn the whole wastes - maybe the whole world green and all the people into plants. It seems it has done all of this while in a dormant state.... If it were to ever awaken it could cause real problems.

But removing it by force could kill the people of Mercy and all the plant life since apparently thats what happens when you uproot the spark. so as you can see its a real moral conundrum and that's why we left it there. The people of mercy should welcome pathfinder agents now though since we killed their vampire. It should be noted that nobody can wear yellow or eat meat or any of a dozen other local customs while there and to NOT MAKE FUN OF THEIR FAKE GOD TREE, Robori. That parts important.

Thornberry hands over his sample fro. The Verdant spark and small path of Ardians diseased skin from back when he treated him dor further study.

He also produces Nira who he has been doing maintenance on all the time. She should probably be allowed to remain at the lodge to help unravel this mystery.

It should be noted that nobody can wear yellow....

"Blue," Nira quietly corrects Thornberry before he hefts her onto the Captain's desk.

Anyone else want to add anything before the Captain responds?

"We found more questions than answers, I'm afraid. The Verdant Spark's ultimate intentions are unclear. At least to me."

"Is the god Robori actually the Verdant Spark? The Verdant Spark may be the real power behind the myth of Robori."

"At any rate, the Verdant Spark is dangerous. It can cause disease, as Thornberry mentioned. Also, of greater concern is the power it seems to wield. It seems to have a child-like intellect, so the wrong stimulus could warp it into a force of great evil. It would be good if the Verdant Spark had a permanent team that could guide, study, and protect it. They would have to be able to resist the disease causing... Uh, radiance? Not really sure of the vector, but the effects are bad. Anyway, any team would need to be shielded from the effect."

Yanda looks at her notes and up at Thornberry,

Huh? I missed most of that. Of course she WAS the one that could talk to the plant.

With a grimace she snaps her notebook closed with a look of annoyance, her mouth stretched tight in displeasure, not liking the fact that her notes were so incomplete. And Thornberry didn't even have notes! Then she shrugs, opens her notebook, and starts writing furiously.

Better now than never.

Corwyn is still feeling a bit lost on exactly what happened back in Mercy. "Uh... yeah, and Amenira is a doll now, by the way. She came with us, so she's around somewhere. Spooked me a little bit when we found her lurking under the bed. The townsfolk are a strange bunch, they worship a big tree that was apparently dying because they were accidentally poisoning it, or something like that. Not sure how it relates to this Verdant Spark plant we found, I trust Thornberry's opinion on that - she was talking it after all. Oh yeah, and there was some kind of mutant gnoll we fought on our way to Mercy. That's where we found the cave where the cloaker thing - the villagers called it a vampire - killed Amenira. There was some kind of shrine there too. Azthoth, right?" The swashbuckler glances around to confirm his memory. "Anyway, I guess she somehow transferred her soul into the doll? I'm a little shaky on the details, there. Either way, she somehow got to Mercy where we found her."

The Venture-Captain's jaw gradually lowers as you unload your tale on him like thick slices of ham onto an undersized plate.

When Thornberry presents him with the cutting of the Spark and Ardain's whiffy rind, and then hefts Nira onto his desk where she is nearly at eye-level with him, you could swear his jaw looks ready to fall off its hinges.

"That is quite a tale. If I am not mistaken, the 'plant people' to which you refer would have been the Ghorans - they're a bit like sapient anthropoid melon-vines. An ancient Nexian Druid by the name of Ghorus is said to have used great magic to create the race in order to provide a food crop that could grow where no other crop could. Their life cycle is quite strange, and their numbers are quite limited. It sounds like they might have attempted to recreate the magic that created them in order to not just perpetuate, but propagate themselves. It sounds like their results were...a bit dubious. They're not known for being particularly bright."

He weighs the cutting and the diseased rind against each other, one in each hand, as if not at all sure what else to do. "I don't believe a tiny cutting and...whatever this is...will be of much use on their own, and honestly, I don't know how easy it will be to send another expedition down there any time soon, but just because one has been assigned a task, does not mean it is always best to complete it. I commend your wisdom in this matter. And this..." He stares at Nira. "Amenira the Nethysian, I presume?"

"Amen...Nira. Yes, that was my name. I remember now."

Roderus gives a start, but his shocked expression rapidly gives way to a massive smile. "A pleasure! We shall have much to discuss! MUCH! And as for you, Pathfinders..." He reaches under his desk and withdraws a fat pouch of coins. “I told you I would compensate you for the success of your investigation, and I am a man of my word.” He begins measuring out your rewards. “Well done. It’s good to know I can rely on you for future missions.”

Amenira turns to face the party.

"You have my gratitude. It has been a long, strange, and often painful journey...but it does not end here. Here's to new beginnings!"

Happy New Year, adventurers!

THE END

Thank you so much for running this and to my fellow players for playing!