[Outpost II] GM Silbeg's 10-04 Reaver's Roar (Inactive)

Game Master Silbeg

"So...this is a puzzle? Maybe the sun wheel fits somewhere? Like the middle, it is almost noon after all."

Easy to play a low INT character with puzzles. Seriously though, do the hollows at either end and center eliminate any possible statue due to size and/or shape?

They do not.
Kn:religion or history to start
Then kn:religion to identify the statuettes

"I was wondering the same, Bo," Aeris replies. "I fear it's up to us to sort this out, as the closest thing we have to religious scholars on this mission. And I know very little indeed about Sarenrae."

Perusing the loot taken from the fallen orcs, Aeris continues, "I'd bet that the lioness and sword go with the other figures into this puzzle somehow. But do we order them by their color, as they're made from different metals? Or are they aspects of the goddess? I've no idea."

Knowledge (religion)to start: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Knowledge (religion) to ID statuettes: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

DM - when you say there are 'seven figurines in total' does that mean there are spaces to place seven of them, but only four nearby? With the two that the orcs had (assuming they're part of the puzzle), we'd have six out of seven?

Bo hears the word 'scholar' and pauses a moment. Never has he been referred to in such a fashion. He briefly swells with personal pride as he begins to contemplate the statuettes.

Religion (to start ~ AID Aeris}: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Religion {Statues}: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Funny post, fellow scholar! I hope we're up to the task at hand...

Truk contributes by not playing with the delicate figurines.

Oops. Did I sat 7? You have apparently found 6. And there are 5 slots.

Note: If you've already rolled, you are done for now

"Oooh, pretty little toys! I's wonders what games they's for..."

How are we fixed for those other skills? If we're looking short Nana can burn a boon (Scholar of Ashkurhall) to use Perception in place of appraise, knowledge or linguistic checks when examining 'architecture, objects, or writing' for the rest of the scenario. I'll wait to see how other PCs can help before I burn the boon.

Eager to earn his position as a scholar, the archer shares his discoveries with the team.

Feel free to open the spoiler.

Aeris scratches his head, hoping the others can figure out the puzzle.

You can look at my spoiler too, it's good for a laugh.

Horacio examines the library for clues spending some time going through the books before coming to any sort of conclusion.

know planes: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22

Rufeo peruses the stacks, hopefully stumbling across something that will help.

perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (18) + 21 = 39

Nana will burn her boon and assist in the search.

Perception, Scholar of Ashkurhall: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19 Boon means this is treated as a Knowledge or Linguistics check, so should get the easier DC.

"Ooooh. I doesn't like books."

Truk picks through the books with the best pictures. "Me neither..."

Perception: 10 + 15 = 25

Rufeo finds a wooden holy symbol of Sarenrae in some of the stuff piled around in the room.

The team spends fifteen minutes digging through the stacks.

What do you do now?

Aeris waits alongside Bo, his fellow scholar, to see what the others have been able to sort out about the figurines.

Horacio points at Rufeo's holy symbol, quoting from the opening inscription of a book “She is the Dawnflower, the heart of light, hope, and redemption.”

Horacio also notes "I think the Amber wheel of sunlight is Bryla Sacred Fire has thrice answered prayers, and manifests as a glowing halo."

Finally Horacio adds "The gold hound sounds similar to Izorai the alabaster lioness, although the color isn't quite right. She is known to sniff out villainy, yet het killer jawscan also recover the abused and carry them to safety.”

Horacio turns to his companions "I have studied the holy words of Iomedae and know words in praise of the sun, but do not know Sarenrae's rites. Does anybody else know, or found anything in their books?"

”Ooh, is this like in the nursery in the Grand Lodge? We’s got to put all the toys away in the right places. Then we’s can have sweeties!”

I suspect there is an order to the placement of the objects, based upon numbers or positioning. The wheel mentions three prayers answered; thalacos has four arms. Something like that?

See slide #3
Please arrange the tokens where you want them. Let me know when you are satisfied.

I've taken the liberty of assuming that we all share what we discover, and so I've read the other PC spoilers; please read Nana's.

"Oooh, the thing with the four arms is supposed to welcome the sun. The sun comes up over that way - " Nana points to the east. " - so maybe these toys go where the sun goes?"

Nana places Thalacos in the eastern extremity of the ankh.

I've also placed other figurines on the slide where they might match locations of the sun, as follows:

The sword in the west: "Her rose-gold fur reflects the last rays of our goddess before night"

The amber wheel in the north, at the head: "a glowing halo"

The dog to the south, at the foot: "the foundation upon from which redemption arises."

The holy symbol in the centre: "the heart of light, hope, and redemption."

Any opinions?

"Makes sense to me," Aeris observes, his head swinging from side to side watchfully as he awaits the outcome of Nana's attempt at the puzzle.

Once the last figurine is placed, radiance pours from each extremity of the shrine towards the center hollow and into the symbol of Sarenrae, which now radiates a soft, golden light. The holy symbol now sheds light as a torch with magical glow.

Spellcraft?

Aeris studies the magical forces emanating from the now-glowing holy symbol.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24 Also have detect magic if it applies

Horacio looks at the now glowing holy symbol.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28

Horatio thinks that the holy symbol will cast breath of life on whomever has it automatically the first time they are reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, but only within the Bastion of Light.

"I has got to get me some of these toys for the Grand Lodge nursery! Maybe when we've freed the little reaver I's can come back for these?"

Best to give the glowy symbol to a front-liner I think. Truk maybe?

Agreed

"I'm thinking if we're aiming to return this temple to the Sarenrites, they may want their toys to come with it, Nana" Aeris responds to Nana's curious suggestion. "But who knows, perhaps their gratitude will extend to giving away their treasures."

Yep, giving the life-saving doodad to Truk makes sense to me.

Not going to say no to a free breath of life.

"Oooh! That's a shiny toy alright."

Assuming standard marching order...

The party first goes into to what looks to be a workshop for maintaining artifacts. They see more of the nasty fungus, but are able to avoid it.

Then, entering the next room 2 Boh notices creaking of the floorboards when he and Truk first enter. Boh thinks that he may be able to tumble past the creaky boards.

DM - anything of interest in this room, so we can judge whether there’s a reason to go further inside, in spite of the grave danger of creaking boards? Just a description of the room would be helpful.

The monk feels the floorboards shift underneath his feet. Years of training provides the instinctive reflex to dive forward to the other side of the room.

Acrobatics (jump): 1d20 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 6 = 31

This room appears to have once been a storage room, but now there is little but piles of ash and charcoal intermingled with glints of shiny somethings.

Oooh, now that is tempting. Shiny somethings!

Bow at the ready, Aeris calls into the room, "Bo, how about you take a look at those shiny somethings before we move on? And maybe the rest of us will go around, instead of all chancing those dicey floorboards."

The archer ensures the floor is stable before taking a closer look at the reflective debris in the soot.

Perception: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (9) + 25 = 34

The archer seeks out magical auras.

Detect Magic. Not digging through the pile.

After his investigation, Bo steps to the door, listens for a moment, then swings it wide open. He once again looks for arcane energy.

Perception {Listening at the door to Room 3}: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (10) + 25 = 35
Perception {Looking into Room 3 w/ Detect Magic}: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (17) + 25 = 42

Horacio nods, glad that Bo could avoid the creaky boards.

Horacio ponders going around instead.

Bo pokes his head into the next room. This appears to have been a food preparation area for the Bastion of Light. No magical auras are to be seen in either place, other than those that exist throughout the Bastion.

The monk walks through the former kitchen and back into the main room, then heads to the next agreed upon doorway. Again, he listens, if clear, opes the door ans looks for the tell tale sign of magic

Perception {Listening at the door to Room 4}: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (10) + 25 = 35
Perception {Looking into Room 4 w/ Detect Magic}: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (15) + 25 = 40

What is everyone else doing?

Going back through the library into the main room to follow Bo without going through the scary creaky plank room. Listening for Reaver noises or sings or more orcs.

perception: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (20) + 18 = 38

Aeris joins Horacio in going through the large, central room, rather than tumbling past the creaky floorboards. Once in position, he covers Bo's back as he explores the next room.

Likewise, Nana and her entourage eschew the creaky floorboard room and go via the main hall.

Truk hustles forward with the others.

Rufeo will go the same route as the others. Especially after the last time they crossed creaky boards, the Red Reaver came through for a visit

FYI - the game has been reported - if I guessed wrong on the outcome, I'll be able to edit it.

Bo makes his way to room #4, which is appears to be some sort of prep area. On the north side of the room is was once a long glass curio. However, much of the glass has been shattered, and the relics that were once stored there are missing. Along the eastern and southern walls are hooks for hanging tapestries, though they are missing as well. The room has three doors, one to the west, one to the southwest, and one to the south.

Joining Bo in the room, he nods to the door to the south and says, "Let's check that out before we go to the room where the reaver tore Truk's leg off."

On to room 5, same drill - as long as Bo concurs.

With a nod, the archer moves to the southern door his scholarly associate advises. He repeats the process he has adopted for clearing the rooms.

Perception {Listening at the door to Room 5}: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (17) + 25 = 42
Perception {Looking into Room 5 w/ Detect Magic}: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (7) + 25 = 32

The room contains several small benches, some still upright and intact, arranged around a large reliquary at the far end of the room. The reliquary is an oak-and-brass stand containing a two-foot-tall marble statue of a soldier in armor, kneeling over a shallow bowl. The soldier’s face wears a pained expression, and they appear to weep over the bowl. The bowl, made from a black, lacquered wood, contains a clear liquid.

Bo sees a severely wounded orc lying the in western corner of the room. Around his neck is a holy symbol much like that around Truk's neck, though it is broken. Bo can tell that the orc's right arm and leg are badly mangled, much like Truk's was. The orc grimaces at you, and grasps his scimitar in his left hand.