Johnny Brom
|
Jale flinches at the CRUNCH of the yeti's spine as Juno takes care of business. I guess he won't be listening to the whispers now... Desperate for a distraction, the small wayang goes to examine the mosaic.
| GM Rinaldo |
Juno sees nothing immediately on a cursory glance around the courtyard.
Sadaf Kargar
|
kn geography : 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Brakkik
|
Panting, Brakkik wipes his brow before the plants in the corner catch his eye. "Oh? Vhat do ve have here?" he says with a grin as he pulls out a bottle from his cheek.
Johnny Brom
|
Knowledge (Geography): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15
Jale examines the mosaic and frowns. "It's pretty. But just ornamental, I think." The wayang shrinks back into the shadows, crawling over to the hedges.
Knowledge (Nature): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Gronkh Maha
|
Gronkh hurries up, fiddling with the goggles and ashamed to have missed the entire fight. "These darn spectacles! You'd think someone would make 'em so they were a bit faster to put 'em on..."
| GM Rinaldo |
Jale goes to the hedges, and realizes that it is a very hardy and somewhat rare variety of tea leaf that seems to have adapted to the high altitude.
There are multiple doors you can go through.
Brakkik
|
Regardless of whether Jale says what these are...
Brakkik delicately twists several leaves off the plants and wraps them in a cloth before stuffing the entire bundle back into the bottle. "Do you think we could take a whole plant?" he asks Jale excitedly.
After collecting as many samples of the plants as he can, Brakkik turns his attention to the double doors closest to him. "Vell, vell," he says, bottle safely back in his mouth, "Vhat do ve have here?" He looks over the doors for signs of danger.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
| GM Rinaldo |
Brakkik picks a door, and seeing no signs of danger, looks in. Two large, corroded cooking pots dominate the center of this otherwise unadorned, long, tiered room. Shattered ceramics that may have one been serving or dining ware are strewn about the floor.
Juno Berik
|
Juno stomps over to the nearest door and listens through it, curious if she can hear anything moving on the other side.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
If she hears nothing she opens the door.
Gronkh Maha
|
Gronkh moves up with Juno, falchion in hand, ready to lend a hand if another yeti gets the jump on the group.
| GM Rinaldo |
Juno and Gronk open another door. This room appears to have once been the quarters for the temple’s master. A pile of filth covers the once-fine mats laid upon the floor.
Poking around, you find buried in the refuse an antique Iroran silver holy symbol, four jade gemstones, a magnifying glass, silvered armbands depicting pouncing tigers, and a ceremonial masterwork temple sword. In addition, a long braid of hair looped into a necklace is hidden among the various sticks and bones.
Brakkik
|
Disappointed at not finding anything remotely explosive, Brakkik moves to the next door and examines it.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Juno Berik
|
Juno picks up all the random stuff she's found and brings it out to the others. "Any of this important?" she asks. "It's not this nasty hair, is it?"
Zelrora Emeraldsky
|
Zelrora will move into the room and start to examine it's contents.
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
She will also cast detect magic and scan the room and items presented to her or around her.
Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14 to identify schools of magic and strength if she does detect magic. I prefer to find out schools before handling to identify, as some items are dangerous.
Johnny Brom
|
Jale looks over the shrubs closely. "Looks like tea leaves! Yes, we should take as much as we can carry! If we're spending any amount of time in these mountains some tea will do us good!" He takes a quick look into the shadows behind the plants before following the group.
---
In the third room, Jale helps the group collect the items. He responds to Juno in an uncharacteristic boldness. "We must take it all! You never know what might be valuable or interesting to the right scholar! As for this hair..." He examines it closely. It looks like an amulet of an ancient god. We must treat this with respect.
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Gronkh Maha
|
Gronkh isn't knowledgable about such things, but he suspects that at the very least his horse will enjoy the taste of the tea. He gathers some and stashes it in his pouch.
| GM Rinaldo |
Standing back a bit, Zelrora notes that the only thing in the room that exhibits a magical aura is the braided loop of hair, which has a strong aura of transmutation on it.
Jale examines the braid more closely, and to the non-magical senses it is fairly ordinary, if well-preserved. It has no special markings or decorations, but is clearly humanoid, probably human, and the entire loop is from a single thick lock, as if cut from a long ponytail.
Gronkh gathers as much tea as he can from the courtyard. And successfully completes the Cheliax faction mission. ;-)
- - - -
With only a single door left in the courtyard, you gather together. This large room seems to have escaped the destruction found throughout the rest of the monastery. A statue, leaning against the northern wall, appears out of place among the rest of the room’s contents—clay pots, ruined sacks, and aged tools. The statue, made of finely carved stone with jade inlays, depicts a man with a serene face, standing in a meditative stance.
Several scroll cases rest in the corner of the storeroom, but time and the elements have weakened them. They are written in Tien.
Brakkik
|
"Fashinating," says Brakkik breathlessly. "Mediationsh and trade agreementsh. Bah." He shakes his head and stuffs them in his pouch before turning to his companions. "Hash anyone found that Braid of rah Mashtersh thing we were shent to retrieve?" he asks.
Sadaf Kargar
|
Sadaf nods. ”Probably it is this thing that was magical!“
Spellcraft to identify : 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Johnny Brom
|
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Jale reaches out tentative gray hands, and picks up the hair. "This aura. It seems... familiar."
Gronkh Maha
|
Gronkh watches the magical gestures of the others with the puzzlement of someone who has spent too much time in the stables with the horses.
| GM Rinaldo |
Jale and Zelrora puzzle over the braid. While it has a strong aura, whatever magic is on it appears to be dormant, as if it needs something either combined with it, or something done to it to awaken.
Sadaf Kargar
|
Sadaf is a little disappointed.
"So what is going on? Do we have the right item? It does not look like much."
Juno is not available at the moment so assuming she tells us about the statue ...
"What? Really ... Danduun go forward to that statue!"
Sadaf follows directly behind Danduun and they approach the statue.
| GM Rinaldo |
Ah, I missed her note.
The statue of a man in a meditative stance is clearly old, yet strangely well preserved relative to the other items in this monastery.
Sadaf Kargar
|
If it does not attack when Danduun and Sadaf approach then Sadaf will inspect the statue.
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
| GM Rinaldo |
Sadaf gets close to the statue and begins inspecting it. It seems like an ordinary statue, until his hand brushes it.
Gronkh Maha
|
Gronkh moves near to the others, keeping a close eye on the statue in case it tries any stony tricks.
Sadaf Kargar
|
Sadaf steps away.
"This statue is somehow alive! It talked to me. I heard a voice in my head that said 'My name is Jiang Dan, a simple servant of the Master of Masters. I foolishly asked for wisdom. In response I was given time to find that wisdom myself.' Come over here!" he shouts.
Sadaf touches the statue again.
"I am Sadaf of the Pathfinder Society. I have no idea what you were talking about so if you could enlighten us about what you are we would very much appreciate that!" Sadaf says.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
Juno Berik
|
Juno stomps her way over to the statue and glowers at it.
"Oi... You're right creepy, pal. You know that?" Juno tells the statue. "You sure you're not some trapped statue or something?"
Very... very... VERY hesitantly, Juno pokes the statue with a single finger.
Johnny Brom
|
Juno approaches the statue with a reverence. Tentatively, he speaks. "It speaks to you? In your mind? " A personification of his Unknowingness, perhaps? Let us discover the truth. The wayans approaches it carefully, bowing before laying two hands on the creature. " Hello, ancient one. What wisdom have you found? "
| GM Rinaldo |
Those of you who touch the statue hear the voice in your mind.
"You wish to hear my tale?
As with most Iroran temples, the master was the individual closest to achieving self-perfection. Each successive master of the Clouded Path Monastery inherited the Braid of a Hundred Masters from the previous master and, with it, was better able to help guide the rest of Irori’s faithful along the path to perfection.
Eleven disciples trained under Li Yao’s guidance. Each of them showed great promise and potential, but I was the best among them—physically stronger and fitter than most, though lacking in humility. As the years passed, I became even more skilled and powerful, yet he could never defeat my master in physical combat or at a game of wits, despite the master’s aging. Frustrated and impatient, I foolishly proclaimed that Li Yao had violated Irori’s teachings, arguing that it was only the Braid of a Hundred Masters allowed Li Yao to maintain his superiority. I challenged Li Yao to remove the braided necklace and compete in a series of tests, each trying a different aspect of the self. It should come as no surprise that even without the braid, Li Yao defeated me soundly in every contest.
Once my foolish challenge was over, Li Yao placed the braid upon the ground next to the me before turning and leaving the monastery, never to return. Only the youngest student, Ying Pei, followed him. At first, rest of us fought over the braid, but quickly discovered that the it provided no benefit when worn. Ultimately, the students realized their folly one by one left the monastery in search of their personal paths.
I chose to remain at the monastery. Initially, I thought that Li Yao had left the braid to taunt me, but over time, I came to realize that there had to have been more to the master’s gesture than a simple provocation. I continued my training alone, all the while contemplating the meaning of my lost master’s gesture. I never solved the riddle, and with my dying breath, I whispered one last prayer to the Master of Masters, asking for a final insight.
My prayer received an answer, but not in the manner I expected. Rather than an instant of inspiration, I found myself turned to stone. I have remained aware of my surroundings and conscious of the passage of time and his own thoughts. Through Irori’s wise intervention, I was given the time necessary to reach the answer on my own."
Johnny Brom
|
Jale looks to the others and whispers, "Do we give him the braid?" Then, turning back to the statue, he calls out respectfully. "You reaches the answer? What did you learn?"
Sadaf Kargar
|
Sense Motive : 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
What does Sadaf think about his words?
Juno Berik
|
As soon as Juno pokes the statue and starts to hear words in her mind she yanks her finger back as if it's been burned! "Oi! Outta my head, you!" she bellows. She takes a step back and holds her axe up and ready!
As the others seem to keep touching the statue and communicating with the unnatural thing she frowns. "Bah! Blasted statue! Rock should have the decency to stay silent!"
Brakkik
|
Brakkik supports the plan to put the braid on the statue. For Science!
Gronkh Maha
|
Gronkh also touches the statue when the others do, and listens to its story with amazement. "So you mean you are stuck in this statue for centuries!?! What can we do to help you get free?"
| GM Rinaldo |
"I have yet to realize the wisdom I need, and my freedom is my own to achieve. I will remain here until the Master of Masters sees fit to release me."
As you discuss placing the braid on the statue, it responds, "I have not earned that, nor would it work. Only the master of the monastery would know how the Braid of a Hundred Masters functions. The last master, Li Yao, left the monastery and the braid here many, many years ago. Perhaps, if you search for the master and his last disciple, you may find what you seek.”
Brakkik
|
"Vell, vhich direction did zhey go?" Brakkik asks. "Or did zhey shay vhere zhey might have gone?"
"Alsho, do you need anything? Dushting, polishing, shunshine, fresh air?" he asks concernedly.
Johnny Brom
|
Jale bows and backs away. "Not what I was seeking, but interestly nonetheless." The little wayang goes back to the statue. "What was the name of this last disciple?"
Sadaf Kargar
|
Sense Motive : 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
What does Sadaf think about his words?
Any vibes that Sadaf felt?
* * *
Sadaf listens and smirks.
"So tell us statue man ... what does this story have to do with you? And what can we do make this hair item work again?"
Juno Berik
|
"So we need to find Li Yao or Ling Pei's descendants? Got it. Good. Can we... uh... move on now?" Juno asks the her companions, clearly disconcerted by the cursed statue man in front of her.
| GM Rinaldo |
"I do not have any knowledge of what passed after everyone left. You will have to search for what happened to Li Yao and Ying Pei. Only they or their descendents will be able to restore power to the braid."
"As for me, I am content to remain here contemplating the master's wisdom."
The statue grows quiet, apparently having imparted to you all it knows. You take the braid and the few items of value you located, and begin the trek home.
Traveling back down the mountain is a simple matter, as the slope works in the your favor and all threats along the way were cleared on the ascent. Venture-Captain Amara Li personally thanks the you for the recovery of the Braid of a Hundred Masters, and asks you to remain nearby as she researches what may have become of Li Yao and Ying Pei.
END OF PART 1!
Gronkh Maha
|
When the group returns to Goka, Gronkh decides that this might be a good place to get a merchant's license and duly files his application and pays the 25 gp fee.
Profession (merchant) DC 16: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Checking a box on the Exchange season 7 faction journal card. Gronkh can now purchase mundane items in Goka at a 10% discount.
Sadaf Kargar
|
Almaas would try to Create a new trade route, either by mapping a legitimate path or opening doors to a smuggling enterprise.
Faction card: Doing so requires a successful Intimidate, Knowledge (geography), or Survival check with a DC equal to 15 + your character level.
Taking 10 Survival results in 19 vs DC 18. So successful.
Juno Berik
|
Juno spends her free time being pampered and spoiled rotten while she boasts constantly about her exploits, and self-worth.
Johnny Brom
|
Jale heads off to a shadowy corner of a tavern, preferring to take some time to himself. As you pass by his table, he can be seen fiddling with bits of string, tying nooses and complex knots. Jale’s traps, the best there could be. The best there could be, Jale’s traps.. He can later be seen quietly negotiating with a hunter over the price of his finished trap.