Saga of the Sages

Game Master Nathanael Love

From very far away
"Is it safe yet?!"

Drea takes the vial of water from Pirro.

"Thank you," the sylph manages as they pour the holy water over the haunt.

With the gate fixed, and holy water applied, the sounds of battle fade an the fear dissipates!

You now have doors North, East, and West to investigate and choose which direction to go.

Once the haunt is expelled, Dmitri drifts over to the double doors to the east, and, if not locked, opens them for further exploration.

Nadric nods in satisfaction. "Well handled, Drea. Hey, you can come back now!" he shouts to Penthesilea. He follows Dmitri in the inner room and its eastern door, drawing his bow in readiness for something to jump out at them again.

Kenji follows as well!

A spacious yard fills the compound east of the house. To the east, several small stone outbuildings have been built right into the compound’s outer wall. A well stands between two of these outbuildings, opposite a stone table and benches that sit in the shadow of the house. To the west, two sets of steps, both flanked by columns, lead up to doors into the main house. To the northwest, an open doorway leads into
an extension of the house, next to a small structure with a domed roof.

Drea replaces their armour and shield before drifting into the courtyard, spear in hand. The sylph moves to the corner of the nearest outbuilding and places their hand on the corner nearest to the main building, concentrating as their pupils glow purple.

Taking one minute to use ruin reading again. 30 ft radius should get me some info about the east side of the main house.

Knowledge History Check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Penthesilea hustles back to join everyone, completely unfazed by her momentary cowardice. "Cool gate! So, Drea, what's the word?"

Kenji silently walks into the first outbuilding to see what awaits ... his greatsword is in his hands.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Pirro follows Kenji into the courtyard but waits as the ifrit enters the smaller of the buildings.

Drea: You get the sense that the servants who lived here are long dead and gone, but you think one of them left behind his cherished possessions, buried perhaps. You also feel the presence of a series of wild beasts across the years who've made their lairs here. . .

As Kenji looks into the next room:
This small, one-room structure is devoid of features, save the ruined remains of furniture that have all but disintegrated with the passage of time.

A creature lurks in the corner; it looks up, seeing you a rabid hunger flashes across it's face- it feels like a meal has just arrived!

Round 1

Turn order:

1. Drea 22
2. Zarisha 21
3. Creature 16
4. Penthesilea 14
5. Nardic 13
6. Dmitri 13
7. Pirro 12
8. hidden creature 9
9. Kenji 8

Drea and Zarisha will go before the dog, but everyone else can cue/declare their actions as well.

Zarisha drifts into the building to provide a distraction for the beast. [b]"Even the beasts here fail to surrender to the inevitable,"[/bj she moans.

Form: Incorporeal

Drea drifts towards the entrance to the shed at Kenji's shout, dropping their shield as they go. At the entrance, the sylph flings their atlatl dart at the canine creature.

15 foot move. Drop shield as part of move action. Standard attack. I'm specifically not attempting to miss Zarisha as she is incorporeal (always, per Drea's understanding).

Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 221d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 CRITICAL THREAT!
Critical Confirm: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 61d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 Unlikely confirm.

Round 1

Drea fires at it and strikes!

Zarisha moves over next to it.

The creature steps up to attack Kenji-
Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Trip: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Trip: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

Both misses!

Turn order:

1. Drea 22
2. Zarisha 21
3. Creature 16
4. Penthesilea 14
5. Nardic 13
6. Dmitri 13
7. Pirro 12
8. hidden creature 9
9. Kenji 8

Death Dog- 9

That brings up everyone else- the hidden creature doesn't exist yet this round so everyone can act again.

Kenji takes a 5 ft step to flank and strikes with his greatsword!

MW Greatsword, flank : 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 7 + 2 = 10
Greatsword, sneak +d6 : 2d6 + 9 + 1d6 ⇒ (4, 3) + 9 + (3) = 19

As his allies face off against the dog, Dmitri shoulders past Drea and enjoins the melee, stabbing at the angry canine.

Dmitri dueling blade: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Dmg if hit: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Nadric cranes his neck around to look into the small building, but he can't see well enough to figure out what the creature is. He can tell when someone is being attacked, though, so he steps toward the doorway and lets fly an arrow.

Attack, PBS: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 1 = 13
Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 = 4

Pirro concentrates on drawing Zarisha more fully out of the ethereal plane, trying to take advantage of the two-headed beast's negligence.

Full Round: Switch Zarisha to ectoplasmic form.

I hadn't moved myself on the map to reflect my narration, so...
Penthesilea races to catch up! Double move

Concentrating on the double-headed dog, Drea unsheathes the great sword hanging on their back and steps forward, bringing the purple-tinged blade down heavily.

5 foot step. Draw as part of move action. Standard attack.

Melee Attack, Cold Iron: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 252d6 + 5 ⇒ (4, 5) + 5 = 14 Critical THREAT!
Critical Confirm: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 212d6 + 5 ⇒ (1, 2) + 5 = 8 ????

The sylph lands a telling blow.

Round 1
Penthesilea moves.

Nardic's arrows strikes the dog!

Then Dmitri's chop, cuts off one of the heads and finishes it off!

Pirro switches Zarisha to ectoplasmic.

The commotion has drawn the attention and anger of an asp that had been hiding under the table! It bites at Pirro:
Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

With the Death Doge Dead, Kenji and Drea move the other way to react to the new threat- Kenji misses, but Drea cleanly slices it in two with a single well aimed stroke!

Asp=- dead
Death Dog- 23, dead

Wow, big round for crits there! Combat ends and you can now continue exploring the room B6 and the other exits from B5/

Your crits are going to come as well GM!! ;-)

”You are all so professional!! I am eager to learn from all of you!“

Kenji searches the room they are in and then moves into the next room. See map.

"Thank you," Pirro says to Drea as the androgynous sylph slices the poisonous adder striking at his ankle.

He takes a moment to release a portion of Zarisha's essence back into the ethereal plane and then moves into the small outbuilding to search for trinkets or items of historical relevance.

That might be a waste of a good active search check.

Zarisha moves over to the well and then descends just inside the ground. Assuming that she reaches the bottom of the well before her link to Pirro begins to unravel (50 ft), she examines the bottom of the well.

Form: Incorporeal

"That's more like it," says Dmitri as he delivers the final blow to the two-headed dog and Drea finishes off the asp in one blow. He wipes the blood from his blade, and uses a whetstone to finish the edge, as the others search around.

Drea nods curtly with satisfaction as they end the threat of the serpent. The sylph then pokes around the small building, sword out for safety.

Perception Check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

”What was that two-headed dog?” they ask no one in particular.

"Probably twice as good at Fetch"

Nadric stifles a laugh, and then wonders aloud, "But why was it here? Was it guarding something?" To pursue that line of thought he looks around the small shed and it surroundings. "I hope we didn't just slaughter someone's pet."

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

After this I'll follow Kenji into the house.

you find: 7 gp, 3 sp, and 12 cp, and a turquoise
earring worth 15 gp

Zarisha sees nothing interesting in the well, just water.

As Kenji opens the door to the next room:

A large tiled pool sits in the center of this chamber, surrounded by sloping tiled floors. A few steps descend into the basin, which has accumulated a deep layer of sand on its bottom. Faded murals on the walls depict scenes of life along a river, with recurring themes of running water and aquatic life running through the artwork. In the northeast corner, a tarnished bronze spigot juts from the wall just above head level. Archways lead north and west, and a stone door stands
in the eastern wall.

Kenji observes the walls and then continues forward to the next room.

Pirro helps to collect the random artifacts and then follows Kenji into the main house. He spends a moment appreciating the artistry of the bath.

"It's lovely. This must have taken forever to make."

”I would appreciate it if you would allow me time to thoroughly search instead of opening doors that we’re not ready to go through yet,” the sylph says irritably as they enter the bath-house. ”I need time to sort things out. The sands of history do not part swiftly. For example, I have received a vision that one of this mansion’s servants has buried his prized belongings; I have not had time to look for them.”

Drea levels a flat stare at Kenji.

If allowed, Drea will use ruin reading again in the bath-house.

After Kenji gets berated by Drea, Dmitri pulls back from going through the archway to the west. Instead, he merely peers around the corner, keeping under cover as much as possible, to see if there are any immediate threats that direction.

Kenji looks at Drea incredulously...

”I ... I want to understand everything too! But ... eh ... what if someone is around the corner and ... and you know attacks us?! Look ... no door ... would be dangerous not to be careful, right!“

:-D

Based on map positions and the open nature of the doorways-

DmitriBrightly colored columns stand in the four corners of this
foyer. Hieroglyphs cover the walls and tiled floors, obscured in places by piles of dust and sand. Open archways lead to the north, east, and west, while a set of stone double doors exit to the south. Three skeletons stand at attention here, but have not reacted though they appear animate

Kenji:This appears to be the privy; there is a headless corpse sitting on one of the stools here. Ahead you see some hieroglyphs you can't make out without being closer.

Drea- you sheet says Ruin reading is 1/day, is that correct?

Heal : 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (6) - 2 = 4

”Only an old corpse on this side. Continue searching the room - no immediate danger!“ Kenji says relieved.

Pirro move in to evaluate the corpse on the privy. "This person died relatively recently," the usher says. "Roughly three years ago. Where is the head?"

He carefully inspects the corpse's possessions.

"Let's maybe leave the Headless Crapper out of the tales of this expedition, okay?"

Penthesilea gives a quick scan for any magical auras before drawing closer to the hieroglyphs.

Dmitri calls to the others softly, but urgently. "There are walking skeletons in this room. Do we need to go bash them to bits?"

He maintains his vigil, ready to attack if any of the undead move into the pool room.

You are correct, GM. Once per day - my mistake!

Drea stands at the doorway to the bath-house with their greatsword out as the group look through various doorways. At the mention of the headless and relatively recently-dead corpse, the sylph mutters a word of power that causes their eyes to glow purple.

Cast detect snares and pits.

"There are undead guardians in the room to the west," Drea says to the group as they move north towards the privy. "We should rid ourselves of foes that we know of before engaging further with things that we do not." The occultist glances over the privy and the bath-house, looking for traps.

"I can deal with them or weaken them, at least, when we are ready," Pirro says.

Brandishing his sword, Dmitri says, "I am ready now. Weaken them if you like, my friend. But Kenji and I will dispatch them in a quick moment either way."

Once everyone has gathered in the room, Dmitri will nod to Pirro signaling he should do his thing.

Kenji is ready to charge forward with his greatsword.

Penthesilea prepares herself with a brief incantation, then gives a quiet nod. Gravity Bow

Had to move Dmitri for line of effect.
Hopefully, I won't botch this roll.

Pirro leaves his investigation of the dead archeologist to stand in the grand archway. He makes a simple gesture and unleashes a wave of purifying energy. "Return to your rest," he says quietly.

Channel Positive to Harm Undead: 1d6 ⇒ 1 Will DC 11 for half

...cries.

Surprise Round

You activate your buffs, and the skeletons seem unaware of you, or uninterested.

Then when Pirro channels energy, they snap to attention and look ready to charge- you think they were instructed to only attack if someone entered that room, or attacked them.

Roun 1
The skeletons move first, rushing the source of their pain!
Claw: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Claw partial cover from door: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 - 2 = 20
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Confirm: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 - 2 = 12
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Claw partial cover from door: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 - 2 = 16
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Two hits!

Initiative order:
1. Skeletons
2. Pirro
3/4. Penthesilea & Nardic
5. Dmitri
6. Drea
7. Zarisha
8. Kenji

Status:
All skeletons- 1 damage taken
Pirro- 7/17

That brings up the party

Kenji strikes with his greatsword at the green skeleton!

MW Greatsword , power attack: 1d20 - 1 + 7 ⇒ (7) - 1 + 7 = 13
Greatsword 2H, power attack : 2d6 + 9 ⇒ (5, 2) + 9 = 16

Pirro clutches his bleeding arm and withdraws into the sand-filled pool behind him.

Full Round: Withdraw

Acrobatics vs. DC 15: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19 In case I misread the room description and the pool is 10 ft deep or more.