GM Dak - Shattered Star 1

Game Master Dakcenturi

Sapher can get a +2 by flanking, an 11 might hit a pinned enemy.

Did you use your judgment already today? And screw nonlethal, hit her!!!

yep. did it when charging the goblins, since I misjudged oddly enough heights (goblins being too high for her to hit).

Mokhasi approaches the lady and almost apologetically attempts to punch her in the face.

unarmed strike: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19
nonlethal damage: 1d3 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2

...

"This is not my area of expertise."

Esrisi pins the woman down and the others come to try and knock her out. The women, though is either really stubborn or hard headed, as the daze wears off, she tries to wrestle free of Esrisi's grip.

Escape: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

She manages to slip free of Esrisi's grasp with her nimble maneuvering and stands their defiantly for a moment before turning to run.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

Vel you are the only one that gets an AoO. Updated to a generic map to give us space if needed. Also, pretty sure Bless has worn off by this point.

Round 7
Mokashi/Drask/Sapher, Thugs, Terisha, > Vel, Caroliss/Esrisi
Round 8
Mokashi/Drask/Sapher, Thugs, Terisha, Vel, Caroliss/Esrisi

Can’t see map

Vel takes a swat at the woman, but misses horribly. She grits her teeth and drops her sword a moment as she knocks an arrow, sending it after the fleeing Tower Girl...
__________
AoO, FE, Nonlethal: 1d20 + 3 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 2 - 4 = 2
Attack, FE, PBS: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 22
Damage, FE, PBS: 1d8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 1 = 9

Esrisi curses when the slipperyness of her muck covered body allows Not-Ayala to squirm free. That's Veltariel's fault.

She spins to face the fleeing one and grunts "Awwww no you don't, get back here!" as she begins to hoof it and dig out after her. She doesn't take the safe path around and throws caution to the wind, running directly alongside of her. When she positions herself in front of the woman, she tries to grab a hold of her again but is winded by her effort and only succeeds at grabbing thin air.

Grapple, Sickened: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 - 2 = 1

I have to admire her refusal to give in.

At this point, Caroliss feels confident that the others have the situation in hand despite this woman's persistence so she sticks around the area to guard Natalya's body. She looks around the bodies for a potion to feed Drask.

Caroliss has a change of heart and decides she'd better help Sapher before this fight drags out even longer!

Aid Another (Sapher): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (17) - 1 = 16 Giving Sapher a +4

At first Sapher is happy this mess is over. Enemy running, meaning Enemy is gone... but something tells her this woman will be serious trouble if they let her get away.

Be easier if she wasn't so freaking fast.

At work, can't see map, so charge if possible... otherwise Sapher will never catch her
attack charge bless aid non lethal: 1d20 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 3 + 1 + 2 + 4 - 4 = 24
damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

YAY SAPHER! You have a charge lane, but I can't move you on the map even though I feel like I should as your task manager. ;)

Vel lands a solid shot on the woman hitting her in the back, but she keeps on running. Esrisi tries to grab a hold of her again but misses completely. Sapher rushes after the woman, moving faster than you have seen her move this whole time and smashes the woman in the back of the neck, knocking her to the ground unconscious.

Out of Combat.

Seeing the woman fall, Veltariel quickly picks her sword up and sheaths it as she moves to the fallen half-orc and kneels beside him. She places a hand gently on his chest and gives him a light shake. ”Wake up, warrior. It is not your day to die.”

With the combat finally over, Caroliss comes up beside Vel. She pulls out a bottle from her belt pouch, uncorks it, and waves it under Drask's nose.

Smelling salts. Drask wakes up, though he may be staggered. (Or he may not be staggered if he's hitting level 2 and gaining HP.)

"Don't do anything strenuous, Drask. Come and I'll heal you along with everyone else."
She does so once she's sure she won't heal their enemies too. Channel: 1d6 ⇒ 2 Not very impressive.

As she goes about her work, she seems to be actively avoiding looking at Esrisi.

As Caroliss helps revive the half-orc, Veltariel nods to her respectfully. If he allows, she will even help him up by letting him lean an arm over her shoulders.

Sapher's panting and huffing can be heard from fifty feet away as the young dwarf takes a moment, bent over with hands on her knees to curse the very existence of this person that made her run. Running is not meant for any sensible creatures, like dwarves.

Then she busies herself tying both of the unconscious women up, “Is he okay?” she calls out to Vel and Car, concerned about fallen comrade.

”I think he will be alright,” Veltariel replies in accented Taldane. ”Your bravery likely saved his life.”

Drask's body lulls and does not stir when Vel rouses him. But as Caroliss opens the bottle under his nose his back arcs and he inhales deeply, eyes shooting open. He snarls and begins to stand with his axe, then relaxes when he sees Caroliss and Vel above him. "Oh good, we won." Drask gladly accepts Vel's help in getting up, and although he's got a lot of weight if she sets her feet right she's able to support him. He glances around for a moment to take in the carnage and gives an approving nod. "Well done." The healing washes over him and barely seems to effect the brutal bruises on his face and chest from the blunt weapon strikes, which somehow manage to make him look even less pleasant than before. But after a moment he starts laughing. "Ahhh...AHHHHH!!!" He shouts before coughing up blood. "A good fight! Ah..." He spits out a large globule, wiping his mouth and giving a bloody grin.

It’s a good thing I was able to block her off so Sapher could take her down.

Esrisi is satisfied when Not-Ayala goes down. She says to the group at large ”Bind her, we will take her with us as well, there are questions to be answered. Let’s search the bodies of the goons and then head back to the lodge to rest. We can regroup in the morning.”

The oracle does her best to avoid eye contact with both Veltariel and Caroliss, still furious with one and overflowing with hatred for the other. She walks towards a fallen body of the assailant and begins to search him when a strange sensation washes over both of her hands. She grits her teeth as the feeling quickly turns into a searing, burning pain.

At first she gasps in surprise, pulling her hands out her muck covered gloves and flipping them over as she tries to identify the source. Her gasps and rapid breathing of anxiety quickly turn to screams of agony as she falls to her knees, arms trembling and shaking. Staring at her hands with disbelief, the black veins along her arms pulse and begin to writhe under her skin, warping the flesh around them.

Dark textured material bursts forth from the underside of both of her wrists. The dark material begins to move up her hands in a slow spiraling pattern, as if a snake had been buried under her skin and was fighting its way out. The scales begin to envelope her hands with an emerald colored scale-like substance. As the emerald skin begins to mold around her hands, the oracle falls to her back screaming, writhing around in pain.

Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3

”I would have preferred a bit more tactical movements, but the result was a victory,” Veltariel replies to Drask as she feels her jaw men’s a bit from the magical healing. Drask is surprised to find that she is not as meek as she appears.

When Esrisi begins her overly-dramatic tantrum, Veltariel eyes her antics frustratedly. ”Perhaps we should see you Pathfinders and your prisoners back to your Manor for recovery and questioning?”

Searching the bodies of the thugs and the two women you find the following:

Thugs x5
Chainmail, light wooden shield, light crossbow with 20 bolts, morningstar, 12 gp.

Natalya
1 scroll, 1 wand, smokestick, tanglefoot bag, masterwork mithral short sword, cat burglar’s boots, climbers’ kit, second story harness, masterwork thieves’ tools, 55 gp

Not-Ayala
5 potions, tanglefoot bags (2) masterwork chain shirt, masterwork hand crossbow with 10 bolts, masterwork short sword, masterwork whip, climber’s kit, grappling hook with 50-foot silk rope, second story harness, thieves’ tools, 4 pp, 47 gp

Note I have a loot sheet if you all want to use it. It's your job to keep track of loot though. If someone wants to make their own loot sheet I can link it up top instead, just let me know.

Will identify what I can - remember that Sapher and I actually do want to go deal with the slavers if nobody is too dead. Will bring it up in character.

Drask frowns when Esrisi starts screaming after the battle was over. Oh come on, how badly could you have gotten hurt? It doesn't even look like you were hit at a- He sees the warping flesh. "Damnit. Does anybody know what that is?" He absentmindedly touches his axe. "That something a healer can fix?"

”Perhaps we should cut it away, before it spreads?” Veltariel asks seriously. ”What if it overtakes her wholly?”

Drask stares on with a grim look, not rebutting Vel's idea but waiting to hear from a healer first.

The dark green scales spread upwards from Esrisi's wrists and cover swirl around her palms and fingers, tearing away an replacing the flesh on her hands. She unleashes a shrill scream of "NO! AAHhhhh!" as she holds her hands in front of her face, lying on her back on the ground. Her body shakes and thrashes about from either extreme pain or fear. Probably both. Definitely both.

NO! Please stop! Stopstopstop! Nonononono.

It only takes thirty seconds for the process to complete, her wails of agony replaced by incoherent sobbing and moans. She now emerald scaled hands tremble as she holds them in front of her, rotating them to behold the horrific transformation of her already cursed hands. The dark veins that previously accented her forearms now traced with inlays of emerald scales up through her elbows.

She climbs slowly to her knees, kneeling now and still holding her trembling hands close to the ground. She mutters to herself helplessly, unaware of the commentary provided by her companions. "No-no-no-no."

Veltariel looks to the half-orc, who was even more battleworn than she was, and thento the dwarf. ”Priestess. I think you will have to aid the human woman back.”

She looks at Drask. ”I will try and carry this Natalya back. Do you feel up to carrying the woman who was hunting her?”

Drask grunts unhappily, turning away from Esrisi. He flexes back his chest for a moment before wincing. "Honestly, no. Think that last shot broke some ribs."

Since we don't gain the benefits of leveling up until we have a chance to rest, Drask is still at -2 HP and will start bleeding out again if he does anything more strenuous than a move action.

Bah!!! Of course you had to suggest aid Vel...

Realizing she had been putting on something of a show, Esrisi sheepishly hides her hands and looks around for the gloves she dropped earlier. Scooping them up, she is relieved when they still slide over her strange new ‘skin’.

It’s not skin, you’ve got scales like a snake!

When Veltariel says that Caroliss should assist her, she shakes her head furiously. She turns away from the group and furiously wipes away her tears and clears her throat. Folding her now gloved hands on her chest, she spins back around and walks over to Not-Ayala. ”I don’t need any help, I’m fine. I’ll carry this one back.”

If approached for help at all, she holds out her hand to stop them before they can close in. ’I SAID I’M FINE!’ she blurts out while wiping away another tear.

She reaches down tentatively with her hands claws and trembling a bit at first, she scoops up the unconscious leader and slings her over shoulder with a grunt. Again she refuses any offered assistance and starts off towards the lodge. She calls out without looking back ”Let’s go.”

She will not accept any assistance with the body under any condition.

Sapher is stunned, even more than she has been with the human woman's behavior. She does try and help, when screaming, when trembling, when anything, but stops eventually. But as Ez starts to walk off, Sapher stands in front of her.

"Do you mean to walk through the city, all of us covered in blood and sewage, carrying two wounded, unconscious women who are tied up? I think any sane people would call the guard as quick as possible." she looks around. "Maybe not in this area of the city, but even late as it is, we should get transportation." she looks past Ez, to Car. "Me and you could go get one quickly, after maybe Mok cleans us up, while the rest of you wait... just a bit."

Perfectly okay if she is overruled on this to move along.

She'll smile up to Darsk when she can, telling him "You were missed."

Not in a rush at all! We can let the others chime in.

Esrisi does stop and listen to the dwarf explain herself. Who does she think she is giving ME orders like this? Her stomach churns and she nearly vomits in her mouth, raising her hand to her mouth to stop the gagging just before it happens. The sudden movement causes the heavy body to slip and fall to the ground. Esrisi looks down and rolls her eyes, letting out a sound of exasperation. She kicks Not-Ayala out of frustration.

Turning back to the dwarf she responds "I should go. I'm not staying within 100 feet of the elf after she just tried to kill me. Besides, I am clearly best suited to do the talking among all of you."

Busted lip and nose, covered in vomit, muck, and scaled like a snake. Yep, you're perfect Ez. Everyone should be marching behind you.

Stop it!

Good luck convincing them!

Esrisi shakes her head and grinds her teeth, groaning.

Pointing back to the warehouse, her breathing quickens as she relives the fight a few minutes ago. "I don't know if ANYONE SAW IT, but she pushed me into the pit, climbed on top of me and beat me until I blacked out."

Exasperated, she raises both of her palms to the sky "Anyone? Did ANYONE see that happen?"

"No? Of cou-"

The oracle's words cut off abruptly when she doubles over due to her stomach churning, bile raising in her throat again. She raises her hand to her mouth, but it's too late. She spins and falls to her knees, vomiting on the cobblestones.

”Like you clearly didn’t deserve it, with your domineering human attitude and your betrayal by literally shooting me in the back. Even if it was due to incompetence with your weapon, it was still a literal threat on my life. You had it coming. And keep it up, and I will be more than happy to oblige you with a second helping. I may be wounded, but I’ll die before I let you treat me as your inferior,” Veltariel says sternly, though her own legs are shaky from the nights combats.

She gives a look to Sapher, adding ”A wise plan. I will contribute to the cost of needed.”

Sapher thinks maybe keeping the two of them separate might be a good idea. "Okay. Esrisi and I... and maybe Caroliss?" hoping the woman's friend might help her with... this. :)

To Vel, she thank her but say "They are paying us for this, so we can take the price out of that. Maybe..."

Identify

Detect Magic + Spellcraft - Scroll DC16

Spellcraft to Identify: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24

Detect Magic + Spellcraft - Wand DC20

Spellcraft to Identify: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

Detect Magic + Spellcraft - 3 potions DC18

Spellcraft to Identify: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

Detect Magic + Spellcraft - 2 potions DC18

Spellcraft to Identify: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Esrisi steps in front of Sapher, clearly not finished her conversation with Veltariel.

Esrisi finishes losing whatever was left in her stomach, spitting the bile from her mouth and shakily pushing herself back to all fours before climbing to her feet. She takes a handful of steps towards the elf and points to the warehouse "Have it coming? Are you serious? All I ever tried to do today was help you. From the moment you first laid eyes on me this morning I have been nothing but a piece of human trash."

Throwing her hands up in the air, she shakes them back and forth while she says "An inferior race, right?"

Lowering her arms she pats her chest once with her gloved right hand. "You are inferior Veltariel, you are just too obnoxious to realize it. Yes, I hit you with the bolt. It was an accident! I was trying to protect you from the threats, not attack you! I never instigigated violence or admoninshment first. You are nothing but a worthless elf who is down on her luck with a sad history. Boo Hoo. You had some terrible thing happen to you that makes you sad?"

Esrisi turns red in her face and screams "JOIN THE CLUB!"

Her breaths are coming quickly as her chest rises and falls in rapid succession, clearly worked up over the discussion with her non-Pathfinder associated.

Anyone gonna break us up this time? Need to know before I start posting assumed actions...hahaha

Veltariel’s has clenches through the pain. ”You know NOTHING about what you are talking about. NOTHING of what your kind have done to me! You. Know. NOTHING!” she says as she gets up in Esrisi’s face. She considered teaching her another lesson in manners, but doing so again so quickly would just seem overkill.

Ok one more post, then the others can get involved :)

Esrisi has lost too much today to get scared of this elf now. She walks up to her and puts her face against her. "I know nothing? What's it matter? Your story is somehow sadder than mine? Your loss is greater than others? You don't have any more details than I do and yet you constantly feel the need to tell me that I'm nothing!"

Let it go Ez, this isn't the right time and you clearly aren't in the right frame of mind.

NO

Huffing quickly now, her body shaking with anxiety she spits out venom laced words "I. I. I bet whatever it was, it was your fault because of your egotistical approach to everything in life! It was YOUR FAULT and you blame everyone else!"

Mokhasi would say something but I can’t finish my longer post atm!

I'll stop here and let some others get some words in now.

"SHUT UP!!!" Sapher yells Loudly. Like a hammer slamming into a sheet of metal but more jarring. "Please. For all that is holy stop fighting for one minute so we can get OUT of here!" she grabs the back of Esrisi's shirt and tries to drag her toward getting away from the elf and off to find a carriage.

Veltariel snaps. She goes to slap Esrisi across the face, but Sapher pulls her away just in time!

She moves to amend that mistake...though...

Slap, FE: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 3 + 2 = 17
Damage: 1d3 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 2 = 5

Someone stop me...lol!

Esris lets the dwarf pull her away as the slaps nearly connects with her cheek. She raises her hand and points at the elf, lowering her voice to a whisper that Veltariel can hear "You and I? We're not done."

* * *

Once Sapher pulls her away from Veltariel and it's clear that they aren't going to re-engage, she pulls away from the dwarf, clearly frustrated. She starts walking with Sapher and potentially Caroliss?. She folds her hands across her chest and lowers her head, watching the ground as she walks. She tries to calm her breathing, but thoughts are racing through her mind too quickly to allow her time to calm down.

Just to be clear are you just trying to find a cart or something to stow the bodies in or are you going all the way back to the lodge to get help?

Thinking cart or hire a carriage. That's why Sapher needs a local, cause she has no idea where to go.

"I'm not staying within 100 feet of the elf after she just tried to kill me."

Drask chuckles, although it is broken up by bloody coughs. "She didn't try to kill you. If she wanted you dead you'd be dead." He painfully jabs his thumb at the men on the ground. "They tried to kill you. Us. Got pretty damn close on me. Ha, haha..."

Pointing back to the warehouse, her breathing quickens as she relives the fight a few minutes ago. "I don't know if ANYONE SAW IT, but she pushed me into the pit, climbed on top of me and beat me until I blacked out."

Exasperated, she raises both of her palms to the sky "Anyone? Did ANYONE see that happen?"

"No? Of cou-"

Drask recovers, wiping the bloody spittle from his lips. "Yeah, usually have to pay to see two girls rolling around in the mud like that."

To be clear, for the future, I can post quickly but can't always respond immediately. I don't want to discourage fast posting but if some people post too quickly that can also hurt a game. I'd prefer for things to not devolve beyond the point of repair because I had to eat dinner IRL. Esrisi I appreciate you stepping back to allow us a chance to respond.

"Enough, f%$~ing enough." He shakes a hand wearily. "I only got one swing in me but if you two don't stuff it I'll give you a real wound to b@@!* about. Bunch of children." He growls. "What if Esrisi was still unconscious when we got jumped? What if Vel was hurt worse? What if next time we don't..." He stops, bending over to catch his breath. "Ahh, f!&#. I don't mind dying with a blade in my hand but if I die because of your bloody pride by the Mother of Monsters my brother and I will both haunt you."

"Now either get me where I can numb myself with drink or finish the damned job, I'm not gonna stand here and bleed to death while you compare cock sizes."

Understood and received Drask. Vel and I were just pushing to the point of confrontation and then waiting for others to chime in. Since we are essentially surrounded, it's not realistic for us to start brawling with everyone so close.

Esrisi waves off Drask's comment with a grunt of acknowledgment and frustration. Or disagreement. Or something. He saw it and didn't intervene? Why is everyone taking her side in this?!

And I was purposefully gonna let it hang so that someone could step in and stop me. Just was curious who would be the one to do it. Hehehe

Sapher pulls Esrisi away and the two of them go off to find some way of discreetly lugging two bodies through town without drawing too much attention.

It doesn't take them long wondering the streets of underbridge to find a serviceable wagon that two people could pull and hide bodies in. It has a cover and everything. Lifting up the cover you see some blood stains on the wood and quickly realize the wagon was likely used for just that purpose.

Sapher and Es return with the wagon and once the group gets the bodies loaded up, there is still enough room for Drask to sit off the back if he wanted. The group makes their way back through town without incident and eventually make it back to the Pathfinder lodge. You see Sheila standing in the doorway waiting for you. It's likely Troy saw you coming and alerted her.

Feel free to RP along the way, just wanted to give you the framework of what happens next.

Drask carefully hauls himself up onto the wagon, then relaxes and let's his weight come down. He places a hand over his bruised and sunken ribs, and spends the rest of his mental force on trying to ignore the pain.

Searching for wagon

Esrisi points out a few possible locations in the shadier section where they are likely to find a wagon. Once she points out the location however, she lets the dwarf do the talking. She's in no mood to be nice to people and she'd like to screw it up anyway.

After they pick up the cart and start they way back, Esrisi talks to Sapher about the 'incident', trying to sway her to the side of good. Desperate to find someone who took her side in this mess she pleads "You saw what happened though, right? She's been a b$#&# day long! I tried to find a way to nice and helpful and she was having none of it! What would you have do if she pushed you into the pit and started wailing away at your face! Did you see my lip?! I bet my hair is all bloody and muck covered too!"

She sighs and lets Sapher do all the work with the cart, only piping in to guide them back to the group. Sapher gives her guidance that people suck and try to be nice. She lets the dwarf talk for now, her mind stewing on what is going to happen next.

* * *
On the wagon

Once they return with the cart, Esrisi secretly hopes Val isn't around. Much to her dismay, she's there waiting for her. Ez insists that Vel walk and she ride in the cart on the way back. If push comes to shove again over the issue, she will walk in front of the cart if Vel rides. Throughout the journey back, she keeps to herself and even whispers to herself several times as if holding a secret conversation.

* * *
Back at the lodge

Finally on there way back to the lodge, Esrisi hops off first when she sees Shelia. She doesn't exactly look happy to see the Venture Captain, a complete 180 swing from her deference this morning. Defiance and attempted authority booming from her voice, she strides right up to the VC.

"Look Shelia, we need to talk right the hell now. This structure isn't working out for me and I know that given my noble status, proven value to the team, and superior qualities to the rest of them, changes need to be made as I declare them. Effective immediately, I'm assuming control of the Magnimar Lodge and declaring myself Venture Captain of this city."

She folds her arms and waits for the inferior woman before her to submit to her clearly superior argument.

"No... I mean yes they do, but I mean... would you stop interru..." Sapher sighs as her attempt to say you cannot control what other people think and shouldn't Care so much (muttering about it was usually all bad and hurtful anyway) was taken somewhat wrongly.

Her brown eyes part up to the woman's hair as she mentions it, to the hunk just... missing... but decides mentioning it at the moment would be bad.

-----------

She pulls the cart, to the others, and to the lodge, but it ANYONE other than Drask gets in the thing, she will stop and wait until they get their ass out.