DM Eric's PFS - The Midnight Mirror (Gameday VII) (Inactive)

Game Master Eric Swanson

Rilia listens to Radu taking his measure, then if allowed to takes a moment to examine the victims. Basically she wants to know things like species, symptoms, the conditions in the room (lighting in particular), what treatment is being administered.

sense motive v Radu: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

heal (diagnosis, guidance): 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 1 = 19

sense motive (general feeling in the sick room): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20

Hoprah comes staggering in, clutching her stomach and moaning in pain. "Oh my, the food in this country! It's done me wrong! You wouldn't believe what I've been doing - it feels like it's been *days*!"

I am so so so sorry to have fallen so far behind. I hope it hasn't delayed the game. I'll do my best to get caught up on the current state of the game and jump back into the conversation. Thanks for your understanding.

Barley shrinks away from Hoprah's sudden return from the outhouse and mention of stomach flu. ”Perhaps you've contracted Tallowthroat!?”, pinching his nose, ”Who have you touched?”.

Radu shakes his head, "What the Baron does is not my concern. Now was there anything you wish to ask me? My time is short and I have already wasted enough of it!"

Rilia sees the patients are being cared for as best the priests of Zon-kuthan can, considering the situation they have been thrust into. She notices there are no fetchlings among the victims; nearly all are human. The general mood is a surly one as none of the patients are being particularly cooperative, certainly an unusual trait!

Hoprah does not seem to be displaying any of the symptoms of tallowthroat, which includes sweating profusely, giving their skin a waxy appearance, and their throats swell as though suffering from goiter.

”I be... believe it is ti... time to speak to the ba... baron. Thank yo... you Mr. Priest!“ Setare says and she is very sad that she has to leave the patients in their current state of distress.

Etienne will also try to see what he can deduce from the sick.
Heal check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

"Before we go back to the manor, let us visit the crypt of the Baron's father and brothers, which we passed on the way in I believe."

Again at Radu, "So this Tallowthroat is contagious by contact with those affected. Why do you think these patients are so resistant to care - I mean it seems like they don't want to be remedied?"

"How would I know?" Radu shakes his head at Barley, "I have never heard of such a disease before in my life!"

When Etienne mentions visiting the crypts, Miklos gets a perturbed look on his face. "It is not you which I am annoyed with, but rather at the Baron, who claimed their funerary rites were performed in the family shrine in Boroi Manor. A highly unusual situation but I did not press the case with him. I dealt only with the gravedigger, Fustra was her name, regarding interring their coffins in the family crypt." He waves you off indicating your time with him is over. "Leave me. I have business to attend to. Fustra is out in the graveyard tending the graves there. She will help you out."

Kit returns from her 'successful' skit, disturbed by the inhuman reaction of the patients and hearing the tail end of the conversation.

"That is an odd disease, not like any I've ever seen before, and, believe be, I've see a bunch. Well, I guess it's time we got our of your way, uh, father? Mr. Priest? What is it we should call you anyway?"

Without waiting for a reply she goes on

"I think we should visit Fustra now and see what we can dig up. Right, Kane?"

Kane rises onto his hind legs, makes shoveling motions, and nods.

"You le ... lead the way Ki ... Kitoro! Always go ... good to see you bri ... brighten the mood!" Setare says smiling.

Kitoro pulls out a few squeaky toys and starts juggling as they walk, humming a marching song in rhythm to the squeaks. Well, one of them actually sounds more like a fart which she sometimes uses for appropriate fart jokes, a few of which you have undoubtedly heard on the long trip here.

Such is the burden of travelling with a comedic bard. At least with THIS comedic bard. Did I mention that she enjoys ALL kinds of humor?

As they walk to the gravedigger, Etienne ruminates aloud to the group,"So the timeline is a little different in the versions we've heard. Radu insisted the sickness started after the Baron fired the fetchlings; but Gavril said the opposite, the fetchlings were fired as a result of the sickness. That order of causation seems central to the whole affair."

”You are suggesting revenge of sorts if the fetchlings were irked by their dismissal?”, Barley asks Etienne as they leave the church, ”Yes, I was confused by that as well”.

It is not too late. Let's visit the graveyard.

Leaving Radu to return to his priestly duties, you hurry outside the Temple and have little trouble finding Fustra in the graveyard tending to a hedgerow between two Boroi family mausoleums. She readily agrees to talk with you but when you mention the Baron's brother's funeral, she says to you, "Look, I was paid to inter those coffins, and that’s what I did. However," her voice lowers to a conspiritorial tone, "I've buried a lot of coffins, and those that supposedly had the baron’s brothers in them didn’t have people in them. Ya see, I kin tell by the weight and how they feel when you pick them up.The late baron—Stepan’s father—well, his funeral was just as you’d expect, but the other two?" She shakes her head, "Something not right about that!"

"This story is getting more awful, moment by moment," Barley says quietly to his companions. "Now the missing dead - or worse - undead?"

Setare is slightly confused.

"So ... does that mean tha ... that no bo ... bodies were in the co ... coffins? Wha ... what did they do wi ... with the older bro ... brothers?" she asks silently.

"No bodies! Does that mean they might still be alive? Where would he be keeping them then? I've heard the shadow people will suck the light out of someone and turn them into shadow people too. Do you think that might have happened? Maybe the bodies were sucked dry and that's why they were so light!"

The fact that her reasoning makes absolutely no sense does not seem to slow Kit down.

"We need to dig up the bodies and see!"

Kit pulls out a miniature shovel and frowns at it.

"But how?" Looking at Fustra she queries, "Hey, you have shovels, right?"

As the topic of conversation turns to exhuming the bodies from the graves, Fustra's brow furrows in anger. "Hey! I not be allowing ye to desecrate these graves upon yer own fancies!"

I will need a Diplomacy check to convince her to allow you to dig up the graves.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Barley tries to recover the conversation.

”Fustra - if anyone finds out you buried an empty coffin, or at the very least knew it was empty - they're gonna blame you when the bodies turn up walking down Karpad, right?”, he gives her a knowing look, ”We'll take a respectable peek, you can be witness?”

She's probably Indifferent, gonna need at least two Aids

diplomacy aid : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

”Fustra, I co ... completely understand you! I would ne .. never do something li .. like this but there is no ... nobody in these coffins ba... based on your experience so we are fi .. finding clues and are no ... not disturbing the pea ... peace of the dead!“

"We just HAVE to look. Just think. They could have turned into shadow creatures that can move right through solid earth. Any day, any time, they could come out and get you - you - the only one that knows the truth! Are you absolutely SURE you want to take that risk?"

diplomacy aid: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Two black clad finger puppet molest a brown clad finger puppet on the other hand, enveloping it, and when they are done... A black clad finger puppet is left where the brown one once was.

Oooohhh! Spooky.

"Besides if they are not interred then where are they?" Rilia looks around the room.

diplomacy (aid, +1 if Fustra is attracted to her): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18

Hoprah has been silent for a long time, as if her stomach malady has really been preoccupying her, but after yet another trip to the privy, she finally seems to be herself again, and she joins the efforts to cajole and persuade the grave digger.

"Now look, my friend, you are quite right to wish to make sure that no desecration happens. But, on the other hand, if there is some foulness connected with the burial of the brothers, well it will surely come out sooner or later and that will be quite the desecration, won't it?!? And, even worse, people might blame you for it. But if you will let us - respectfully - check their graves - under your watchful eye, of course, then we can testify to your good intentions. And you do understand that we've been asked to look into things by the Baroness herself, right?"

Diplomacy, Aid Another: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Ok, finally managed to get caught up on everything I've missed and should be back and fully functioning now. Sorry again for all the delays.

Nice! 31 Diplomacy

Your words have a persuasive effect on Fustra, as the curiousity wars with her sense of duty here. Eventually curiosity does win out, and she motions for you to follow her.

"OK I'll lead you to their graves, just keep this under your hat OK?"

It does not take long for you to unearth the two coffins, and exhuming the contents shows both Iozif and Henric’s coffins contain heavy rocks bundled in rolls of burlap to keep them from rolling around. No sign of the corpses can be found.

______________________

Status:

Barley (43/43 hp)
Etienne (20/20 hp)
Hoprah (27/27 hp)
Kitoro (31/31 hp)
Rilia (25/25 hp)
Setare Katsu (32/32 hp)
_____________________

Current Effects: None.
_____________________

Day 1: Appx. 4:30 PM

Barley looks at her, gauging the reaction, "Looks like you were right, Fustra..."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

"I think we need to replace everything and get back if we are to make dinner with the baron. I'm not at all sure we should just announce that the graves were empty."

Kit has somehow managed to avoid any of the dirty work. Citing costume damage and the like as excuses. Kane, on the other hand, pitched right in - as best a 5 pound mongoose cane help.

"And you may want to clean up a bit if you don't want him asking questions."

"Fustra, your trust in us will not be misplaced. And, as you can see, your suspicions were correct. Can you tell us anything more that will help us determine who might have done this? Who originally brought the bodies? Who would have had access to the caskets? And what can you tell us of the boys' deaths?" I don't think we've learned yet how they died, have we?

We don’t even know if they died at all. :-)

"One more question, Fustra: in your memory, which arrived first, the sickness or the Baron's dismissing his fetchling servants?"

Fustra shakes her head at Hoprah, "I have no clue! Your best avenue would be to check with the Baron, since he arranged the funerals."

Fustra thinks for a moment in response to Etienne's question, "Well, I believe the tallowthroat started showing up in town after the Baron let go all those fetchlings. Almost right afterwards, as I recall."

"Tha ... thank you so muc ... much! Let us all go to the ba ... baron then, ok?"

"Agreed - we should talk with the baron. I also think that when we have a chance it would be a good idea to visit the fetchling neighborhood and see what the residents there think about all of this."

"The sun has not yet begun it's full descent. While we are out, perhaps we should visit the fetchlings. I am more inclined to believe them over the Baron, and at the very least would like to hear their tale of this troubled town."

4:30 pm seems early for dinner, let's hit one more place

"The sun has not yet begun it's full descent. While we are out, perhaps we should visit the fetchlings. I am more inclined to believe them over the Baron, and at the very least would like to hear their tale of this troubled town."

"And yet you have met neither the Baron nor the fetchlings yet. Truly, you are a wonder." Rilia says looking slyly at the witch-wiggler.

"Let us away then we will need time to clean and change into something presentable later for dinner-" She stops. "You all do have a change of clothes right?"

4:30 pm seems early for dinner, let's hit one more place

Obviously you haven't retired to Florida. ;)

"I always err on the side of the people over the nobility. Even more so in this shadow-cursed land. I have rarely been wrong."

"We can't be running around afraid of the dark, especially in this place. I agree with Etienne - lets visit the fetchlings."

"Well, with all that dirt on you, you almost look like fetchlings. I suppose it will work out. But you will still need to clean up before dinner or the Baron won't let you attend, I'm sure. Still, I would prefer we get back and get ready for the meal before we visit the town."

How long to fill in the graves, travel to town, question the townsfolk, walk back, find a creek to wash up in, and prepare for the meal? I'm thinking that would take hours.

Could always just pay the gravedigger. This is the burial that just keeps giving. ;)

If the GM thinks we have enough time to visit the fetchlings and still make it to dinner on time, my vote is that we do that.

Barley takes a moment to inspect the coffin, feeling for hidden spots; and the bag of rocks.

Take 10+6 Perception

After Barley does indeed confirm there are no hidden compartments in the coffins, you quickly bury them again, mindful of the rapidly approaching evening. Heading out of the graveyard you look for the location of the fetchlings, who reside in a part of town known as Shade Row...but a disturbance in the town square catches your attention...

Making your way towards where you hear the din of a shouting crowd fills the air, coming from the main square in the center of Karpad. The streets are mostly empty save for a few stragglers rushing to see what’s going on. As you hurry to see what is going on you see an unsettling sight: An inn, a smithy, and a carriage house mark the three sides of a town square paved with cobblestones. A gnarled, leafless oak grows in the northeast corner. Ropes dangle from its branches above a low platform to make a crude gallows.

A mob of about 30 people, all human, surround what looks like a family of three fetchling farmers, their arms bound behind them, who look positively terrified for their lives. Leading the mob is a large, well built man dressed in the garb of a soldier. As you listen further the man bellows loudly, "Aye, I gotcha now. I know ye all stole my daughter away from me. Bring her back to me! Bring back my jewel Olya!" Turning his attention to the crowd he bellows in a commanding voice, "How many of you have lost sons, daughters? Husbands? Wives? Lost someone you love to these," he motions towards the poor fetchlings, "monsters??! To be sold as slaves or meat to night hags?? Murdered for their body parts used for witchcraft??!" The weak protestations of the fetchling farmers apparently fall on deaf ears, and indeed other members of the mob answer his calls with accusations of bringing a plague upon the town and fomenting a fetchling revolution against the humans of Karpad.

Facing the fetchlings again, he intones, "Return her to me NOW, else ye will hang 'ere the night falls!"
______________________

Status:

Barley (43/43 hp)
Etienne (20/20 hp)
Hoprah (27/27 hp)
Kitoro (31/31 hp)
Rilia (25/25 hp)
Setare Katsu (32/32 hp)
_____________________

Current Effects: None.
_____________________

Day 1: Appx. 4:45 PM

OK let me know if you wish to intervene here and, if so, who you wish to talk to: the leader or one of the other mob members.

Kitoro turns to Rillia and asks, "Shall we fascinate them?"

Hearing Kitoro’s suggestion, Hoprah adds, ”If you can fascinate the crowd perhaps the rest of us can get these poor farmers away to safety.”

Setare first looks quite frightened but suddenly she zones out and starts running towards the mob and the well built man leading the mob.

"Halt!" she shouts in a thundering voice.

She steps forward to the man and addresses the crowd.

"I understand vengeance as a tool! But the power fueled by vengeance has to hit the one responsible for your loss! If I see these innocent families harmed in any way you can be sure that the sadness in your hearts will take a very different form!"

Intimidate: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

Kit stares at the usually timid cleric as she dashes forward to confront the crowd.

"Awe, crap. I guess she didn't like the idea of a nice quiet, entertaining solution."

Kitoro taps Barley with a heroism spell, knowing what is coming.

Etienne, once he realizes what Setare is up to, follows closely behind, and gives his best intimidating evil eye to the crowd.

Intimidate aid: 1d20 ⇒ 1

well at least this isn't PF2 where that would actually HURT the chance

Kitoro turns to Rillia and asks, "Shall we fascinate them?"

For a moment Rilia is stunned at the thought of combining her sensuous gifts with Kitoro's disturbing weasel-in-my-trousers routine. She shudders and is only shaken out of mad vision by Setare's shouting.

She snaps back into action.

"As I understand it" she says to the leader of the mob, "this is a land of laws, and very, very, harsh punishments. Do you have a bailif's permit to organize an unruly mob? Well?" Rilia demands. Quietly to Etienne she adds: "And I have cure for pink eye if you need it."

intimidate (aid): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Returning her attention to the unruly mob, Rilia says: "Elsewise, I shall have to have my little girl here take you apart. She may look small, and spindly, but she has a sharp, nasty bite like a very small, but very game terrier."

"Stand down, my friends, we have been deputized by the Baroness and we will look into your complaints. But if you take matters into your own hands it will not go well for you!"

Intimidate, Aid: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16