GM supervillan's #10-13 Fragments of Antiquity [Outpost II] (Inactive)

Game Master supervillan

Deldri follows Naruhito.

"I hope we find what we need. This place is SO big. I wonder if they have books on gnomes. Oh wait...the librarian said be quiet. I don't think I should be talking!"

Daedîn moves up a flight of stairs into another part of the library. Orst, Deldri and Naruhito follow close behind.

This section showcases a great variety of book sizes and binding methods, with everything from sheet music, pamphlets, and scrolls up to weighty compilations. Art with poetic captions and works of calligraphy hang between the bookcases.

You spot another fragment of amber glass on the floor ahead of you.

Daedîn catches sight of his own reflection in the railings.

The elf notices that his reflection is looking intently at a particular section of one of the shelves. Marked on map

Daedîn will cautiously move towards the shelf area his reflection was staring at, wary of another trap...

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (11) + 17 = 28

Sure enough, Daedîn spots a large jar precariously balanced on the top of the bookshelf. The slightest vibration nearby could cause it to topple.

Daedîn will carefully try to disarm said trap...

Disable Device: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36

Watching Daedin work carefully Kett smiles and relaxes, "I'm sure glad you are with us Daedin, normally I'm assigned to traps..."

Daedîn works confidently on the trap - there is a glimmer of light from the glass railing...

Deldri recognises the manifestations of a Mage Hand spell, originating from the glass.

Deldri, you have a surprise round action before the spell completes.

We really need to figure out these glass fragments.

Orst follows not far behind Deldri. His brain still preoccupied with the weird amber shards and the mirror. "There is something important we are missing with these fragments. I just feel it."

Naruhito goes back, looks around pretending to know what he is doing.

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Deldri casts bless on the party.

Deldri works a minor magic in anticipation of a fight perhaps - and then sees the large jar topple off the bookshelf onto Daedîn, and realises that that was the purpose of the spell he saw cast.

Daedîn, the jar smashes and douses you with potent acid! Unless you can dodge it in time of course. You take acid damage: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 3) = 8, or half if you pass a DC 20 Reflex save or no damage if you have Evasion and pass the save.

Even worse, the burning acid gives off highly toxic fumes that spread from the point of impact. The acrid vapours begin to eat away at the fragile, ancient papers stored in the bookcases.

Daedîn, attempt a DC 18 Fortitude save.

I will now place you in a sort of initiative - although there are no enemies (that you are aware of) the acrid vapours are destroying valuable books and artworks.

Pathfinders vs vapour cloud, round 1

Daedîn (Saves needed)
Orst
Kett
Deldri
Naruhito
Dresden + Murphy
vapour cloud

The bold may act!

I'm confused...did Daedîn set off the trap somehow?

Daedîn tries to dodge the jar of acid...

Reflex: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

...and does so with no damage... (Evasion)

Fortitude: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

...but he can't avoid the fumes...

Daedîn did not set the trap off. Someone or something observed you, and cast a Mage Hand to topple the acid jar onto you. It takes 2d4 rounds to use Disable Device, and whilst you work on disarming it, the bad guy pushes the jar over with magic, the rotten cheater.

So a trap that basically couldn't be avoided...I should've just shot the jar...almost did but since it looked like a mechanical trap...

ETA: Oh, should've mentioned this above:

Daedîn will try to move away from the fumes if he can...

So a trap that basically couldn't be avoided...I should've just shot the jar...almost did but since it looked like a mechanical trap...

It can be avoided, with difficulty. First you have to spot the trap, which you did. Then you have to identify the casting of the Mage Hand, which is an SLA and thus has no components, only the spell manifestations. This needs Spellcraft. Deldri succeeded at this, gaining a 'surprise round' action which he used to cast Bless. And to be fair I don't think he has a way to counter the SLA; so the only other way to avoid the trap is to avoid the trap, ie not go near it.

Daedîn moves out of the vapour cloud, coughing up blood and retching.

Pathfinders vs vapour cloud, round 1

Daedîn
Orst
Kett
Deldri
Naruhito
Dresden + Murphy
vapour cloud

The bold may act!

Orst will cover the shard with a sack from his belt so that who or what just did that can't view them anymore.
"Save what you can."

He then holds his breath and moves over to save as many of the books as he can carry out of the acid zone. He closes his dominant eye while in the acid cloud.

I assume there are items in the cloud currently that can be saved. Not that the cloud will grow and harm other things in the room. If that later is the case, Orst will not enter the cloud, but will grab whatever looks valuable not in the cloud yet rather than things already doomed in the cloud.

"No!!! The lost knowledge!!!" Kett sucks in a deep breath before charging in to bullrush an entire bookshelf out of the acid cloud.

Rage, +13 CMB or +8 STR. Holding breath.

Narihito stops breathing and rushes to collect as many books as possible.

Kett becomes enraged at the thought of the damage being caused to so much irreplaceable lore, and smashes into the bookshelves to try to save as much as he can.

Naruhito and Orst take less dramatic measures to achieve the same goal.

Kett, hold breath: 1d100 ⇒ 87
Naruhito, hold breath: 1d100 ⇒ 36
Orst, hold breath: 1d100 ⇒ 59

Naruhito's swordsmanship exercises must've taught him how to control his breath efficiently, as he avoids breathing in any of the vapours. Orst and Kett however, cannot escape doing so. DC 18 Fortitude saves for Orst and Kett please.

Pathfinders vs vapour cloud, round 1

Daedîn (poisoned)
Orst (poisoned, save needed)
Kett (poisoned, save needed)
Deldri
Naruhito
Dresden + Murphy
vapour cloud

The bold may act!

I'll adjudicate on the effectiveness of your actions once everyone has posted for this 'round'

Deldri holds his breath and grabs as many books as he can.

Listening to my buddy, I know we should move away from the stink.

Murphy uses his nose and leads us away from the stink. We move to where the #6 is on the map.

Deldri helps with moving books and scrolls out of the vapour.

Deldri, hold breath: 1d100 ⇒ 55

He is unable to prevent the toxic gas from entering his body.

DC 18 Fort save please Deldri See spoilers above for results.

Dresden backs away with Murphy, and notes that a three-tiered pyramid dominates the 'southerly' section of the library the square 'ziggurat' like structure with stairs ascending the outside, to your 'east'.. Each tier is draped with ancient maps and flags. This is the Warfare section of the archive.

Efficacy of pathfinders efforts
Kett: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2
Orst: 1d4 ⇒ 2
Deldri: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Naruhito: 1d4 ⇒ 2

The pathfinders work hard to clear the treasures from the damaging acid cloud, and are able to preserve most of the relics. Your measure of success here affects your ability to salvage useful books and documents in your search of the area. After a minute or so the toxic cloud disperses, leaving you free to search through what you have saved along with the rest of the contents of the Poetry section.

Daedîn (poisoned, saves needed; 1 failed)
Orst (poisoned, saves needed)
Kett (poisoned, saves needed)
Deldri (poisoned, saves needed)

You now just need to deal with the poison that has affected you. Those of you named above, please roll 6 Fort saves, DC 18 vs poison. Daedîn you only need to roll 5. If you want to use spells, boons, equipment or the like, you may of course - this is over the space of 6 rounds. You are not in combat.

Once the effects of the toxin are known, I'll post search skills for this library section.

Daedîn tries to cough that crap out of his lungs...

Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

reroll: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

"Ugh"

Will rage until the poison passes. Hmmm, no antitoxin in my gear.

fortitude: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24
fortitude: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
fortitude: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18
fortitude: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34
fortitude: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
fortitude: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17

Hope it only needs one save...

fort save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
fort save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
fort save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
fort save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15
fort save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
fort save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Sorry guys that I lead astray. I really thought holding your breath was an adequate defense. Something similar to the rules for holding breath underwater was more what I was hoping for. Anyway, sorry.

It wasn't an awful idea, Orst.

"Creatures can attempt to hold their breaths while inside to avoid inhaling the toxin. Creatures holding their breaths receive a 50% chance of not having to make a Fortitude save each round.

Daedîn expels the rest of the poisonous fumes from his lungs with no further ill effect, though he is left wheezing and weak.

Deldri's gnomish constitution is too strong, and he comes to no harm greater than an unpleasant taste at the back of the mouth.

Kett, having charged straight into the fumes, suffers for it.
CON damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1
But not too badly. Anything but a '1' there and you'd have failed 3 more saves, as this needs two consecutive passes. You have used 4 rounds of rage.

Orst's heroics also come at a price. 1 CON drain, but no further damage.

Nasty little trap/trick that one. Search options for Poetry section coming up presently.

With the toxic cloud dispersed and most of the antiquities saved by your heroics, you can now go about searching for useful or important texts.

The appropriate skills in the Poetry section are Linguistics or Perform (any). As with the previous search, inability to understand Tien is a serious impediment, one PC can mitigate that impediment by using Kett's dictionary.

"Hmmm, メアリーは小さな子羊を飼っていた? Must be relevant."

linguistics: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (15) + 0 = 15 Trained!

Daedîn finally coughs it out but still feels the effects of the noxious fumes...

He looks to his companions. "Did none of you see what caused the jar to fall? A little warning would've been appreciated..."

After getting over the worst of it, the rogue searches this area for the documents and books the Society seeks...

Linguistics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

"Hmmm, メアリーは小さな子羊を飼っていた? Must be relevant."

Looking at Kett's book, "I don't understand what this says ... 雪色の白いフリース. Maybe you read us some later."

Nirion starts to translate whatever is needed to be translated.

How do you don't understand this. It means .........

linguistics: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (2) + 0 = 2 Untrained

"Everyone OK that stuff tasted worse than kobold stone soup!"

Deldri looks over the books using the dictionary.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Deldri has Kett’s wand to use.

Dresden you may attempt an untrained Perform check here, if you wish.

Orst still to roll.

Party status after poison:
Kett: 1 CON damage
Daedîn and Orst: 1 CON drain

The poison was Burnt Othur Fumes - failing the initial save causes 1 CON drain, failing subsequent saves causes 1d3 CON damage, 6 rounds duration, 2 consecutive successful saves to end.

Deldri you did not need to use your reroll against the poison, your first two saves were enough to clear it.

Orst will attempt an untrained Perform(oratory) check using trying to look for structure and outlining technics or anything he as ever seen of what a bard's notes would look like. Unfortunately he is late in asking for the Tian to Taldon dictionary.
perform oration: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
"Looks like the stuff is important or a speech or something."
"But I can't make any sense of it."

You find a very large, impressive tome entitled "Vogon Epics", which you decide to add to your collection.

Dresden's untrained skills would not affect the outcome of this search now.

Where next? Up to section "2", or explore the Warfare section? Please move yourselves on the map as appropriate.

I vote room 2 and then continue on clockwise...

thanks GM

Deldri uses the wand from Kett.

2 looks good. But someone needs to get Dresden and Murphy.

"Don't forget Dresden and Murphy if we head out this way." Orst points towards 2.

2 is fine with me

I am ok with 2

Daedîn will be much more wary of traps from here on out...he retrieves the fragment of amber glass he saw before traveling alertly into room 2...

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27

You proceed down the stairs, back towards the entrance hall but along the elevated section.

The shelves on the platform here serve as an index detailing the rest of the library’s collection. Unfortunately, most of the catalogue seem to have been badly damaged by one or more small explosions. There is a cleared spot on one bookshelf (which was marked by the kobolds as 'acid drop'). It appears as if something roughly the size of a bucket had rested there until recently, then removed.You've found where that was moved to - the Poetry section. A half-scorched sign written in Tien hangs next to the bookshelf: “Please allow our librarians to help you reflect upon the lessons of antiquity.”

The sign bears paintings of several Tian-Shu humans, along with names and titles. Half are completely illegible, but you can still make out the following:
Warfare: Ming Lien
Poetry: Zhang Kato
Planar Cosmology: Jan Huo
This last portrait looks very like the librarian whom you saw manipulating the orrery.

On the table, scattered papers include a list of books Hao Jin had checked out and speculations on where she might have gone, but it seems whoever was compiling the notes purposefully spoiled their own work. “Don’t try to find her!” is written large over everything else.

These are the books that Hao Jin took out and then returned:

• The Manual of City-Building
• The Application of Justice in a Well-Ordered Society (Someone read Rawls, clearly.)
• The Eagle’s Twin Hearts
• Walls and Ditches in Siegecraft
• Administering to Public Health in Large Cities

You find a series of notes written by the librarians. All in Tien, but since most of you understand the language I won't spoiler the text here, you can translate for those who don't understand.

Deldri points at the mirror "Ugh guys did you see that? It was the librarian. He gave the death across the throat mark. Do you think we messed up the books? Maybe we should leave?!? I wonder if the kobolds double crossed us!" He moves towards the notes "We should get these"

Almost expecting a trap everywhere after the last room, Daedîn eyes the room for whatever trap may be found here before searching/reading documents...

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (16) + 17 = 33

Daedîn finds no traps, but your collective search confirms that Hao Jin visited the library. According to the library’s guest records, she took out books from the Philosophy, Religion, and Warfare sections before moving on to the Outer Planes collection.

You realise that now that you have the names of specific tomes that Hao Jin borrowed, you might locate those tomes in the library.

You can revisit the Philosophy and Poetry sections to check for the named books.

Cool! let's do it.

"Boy I wish we had found this earlier. Might have explained the mirrors. From now on let's cover the mirrors prior to examining."