PFS 2-03 Rebel's Ransom (Inactive)

Game Master Pirate Rob

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21 Thank you, Scarab Sages Faction card!

"Yes, I learned about him, too. Alkhet outlived all of his wives, and when he died, they were all buried in the same tomb, the Hall of Seven Scepters. Shortly afterward, a great sandstorm blew across the Parched Dunes and the location of the tomb was lost. That is amazing if we've found it."

Earlier

Ethan half pays attention to the game being played with Sayna. ”Are you trying to lose?” he asks, after she sacrifices another piece to no good end. Though he doesn’t even care, he still manages to win.
1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Now
history: 1d20 + 14 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 14 + 2 + 2 = 27

He looks at Sayna as she ‘explains’ the tomb. He then offers, ”But actually, this Alkhet seems to have buried all of his wives in this tomb. Each had a scepter of some sort... himself included. Thus the hall of the seven scepters ”

”Oh, and we should expect traps in here. He spent a good deal of money on this tomb.”

As he moves in, he looks around. He does allow the barbarian and his dog to lead.
perception: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 15 + 2 = 37

Gorf keeps his big frog-eyes peeled as the party moves forward, looking for the traps he's sure are around every corner.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

"Traps, you say? Very well. Wait here and I'll search the room," Gavin says, gesturing for the group to hold. He steps into the room searching for any danger.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18

Once he's confident it's safe, he waves everyone forward.

Celie looks at the things on the wall.

History: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Not knowing much about this historical period, Celie shrugs and takes out some paper and charcoal. ”Give me a minute or two, I want to copy this down for later studies.” she places the paper over the historical carvings.

Tai joins Celie in taking some rubbings, though she also keeps an eye out for traps.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

No traps, perfectly safe.

The carvings on the walls of this chamber detail much of the history of the Merchant Prince, including his marriages (except the name of his first wife, which is missing) and much of his business dealings, making them of great historical interest.

In addition to their inscriptions the various altars are quite interesting as well.

The central altar is made of the same sandstone as the rest of this place. On the top of it are are four holes, one square, one circular, one triangular, and one rectangular. Three of them are filled at the moment with scepters and a simple inscription in ancient Osiriani reads “Everything in its proper place—such is the Wisdom
of Alkhet, the Merchant Prince.”

The first scepter is made of one large shard of ebony, studded with tiny rubies, and capped by platinum rings. The narrow end of this scepter is triangular. The northeast altar, which is made of similar materials bears the name Osomi in ancient Osiriani along with the following inscription: “For my beloved Osomi, the last love of my long life.”

The second scepter is made of iron and is lined with long grooves of silver that converge on a diamond tip. The narrow end of this scepter is perfectly square. The southeast altar is made of similar materials. The altar bears the name Kiranna in ancient Osiriani along with the following inscription: “For Kiranna, my right hand, my fifth, the one who brought order.”

The 4th scepter is made of copper, with precious pearls spiraling around its surface. The narrow end of this scepter is circular. The northwest altar is made of similar materials. The altar bears the name Shasha in ancient Osiriani along with the following inscription: “For Shasha, my third wife, who taught me to always seek the best in life.”[i]

The rectangular hole is empty, however the unaccounted for altar in the southwest is made of sandalwood and is decorated with fine inlaid ivory. The altar bears the name Elea in ancient Osiriani along with the following inscription: “For Elea, my delicate desert flower. May the fourth rest forever at my side.”[/i]

Added a slide with scepters.

Gavin eyes the scepters uncertainty. To Ethan he shouts, "Mister Wizard, what of it? Do they bear any enchantments? Or are they safe?"

He patiently waits for his allies to finish the rubbings, using the time to gaze down the halls. "I was once told that, when exploring an underground tomb, cave, or keep it is best to always go left. I've never understood why, but it does make the decision making easy."

Sayna sheathes her sword and takes off her helmet, the glow of her tattoos adding a warm orange glow to the room, and massages her temple. ”Well...looks like we have a puzzle on our hands. Though I get the feeling from the missing name of the First Wife and missing scepter, we may not have all the pieces yet.”

She closes her eyes and tries to think, talking through the situation out-loud, but quietly. ”Maybe...there was wife drama...jealousy of the first wife’s standing perhaps? Probably the last wife Osomi...though maybe one of the Pathfinders in the last team or the Thuvians have the last scepter? Why would they get rid of the name, though?”

Does the First Wife’s name look like it was removed or is she just never named? If removed, can we tell how recently?

Sayna shakes her head and puts her helmet back on and redraws her sword. ”There aren’t any bodies here, and we didn’t notice any traps, so we should be able to continue for now. I’m betting someone’s farther in with the last scepter.” While she feels it is honestly a strong theory, she also just wants an excuse to not have to worry about the scepters until she needs to.

She appears to not be mentioned by name. As a note Ethan and Tai appear to be the two capable of reading the language here. (Ancient Osirini)

Gavin stares down the right passage and sees it veer off after about twenty feet.

Gavin stares down the left passage and sees it veer off after about twenty feet.

Gavin stares down the stone doors to the north. Carved into their surface is a pair of figures holding aloft a throne, on which is seated a man of regal bearing. In one hand, he holds a scepter, in the other, a merchant boat. Beneath the carving of the throne, a pair of narrow holes in the door let through a flickering light. A woman’s voice calls out from beyond the door. “I was wondering when someone else would show up.”

Ah, gotcha. In which case, she’d use a charge from her comprehend languages wand

Is the voice from beyond the door also Ancient Osiriani or is it another language?

In common

Sayna immediately switches on the charm. She bows ostentatiously towards the direction of the voice, sword and shield still in-hand. ”Why hello there. You may call me ‘Someone Else’ or whatever you like. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking? Perhaps a lady desiring a knight’s assistance?” Even with her flirtatious tone. Sayna chooses her words carefully, hoping to draw the hidden woman into revealing as much as possible while minimizing how much information she herself reveals.

Sense Motive to Get a Hunch: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

The voice responds "We could indeed use your help. My name is Alarka and we were exploring this tomb when another group came in behind us and attacked us. The details of the battle are somewhat too complicated to explain but the short of it is we're stuck on this side with the 4th scepter."

Sayna smiles under her helmet enough that you can hear it seasoning her words. ”Alarka, what a lovely name. I’ve traveled many roads through Avistan and Garund in my time, and I don’t think I’ve found someone with that name before.” She tilts her head ever so slightly towards the nearby Baron de Roche.

Bluff to Pass Secret Message to the Baron: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19

Assuming the message is simple...

Picking up on what Sayna is putting down, the Baron nods. He snaps a finger and gestures to the mouth of the right passage, and moves to the left passage.

He hefts his butchering ax, then nods again to indicate he's ready.

Obeying his master, Buster moves to the right passage and sits down. The loyal animal then watches his master for the next command.

Tai listens to the woman's words carefully, trying to determine if she is being truthful.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

Ethan will cast detect magic and look at the scepters, and anything else that stands out.
Take 10 for 33 on spellcraft, 35 on kn:arcana

As to the yelling, Ethan just shakes his head. "Opening this door would be child's play to me. But why should I?" he asks.

He notices Gavin's preparations, and moves to the center of the room.

Ethan doesn't care about the motivations of the woman. He expects she is lying, and is going to betray them. Like he would to her.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Gorf cocks his head as the woman speaks, but isn't able to get much of a read on her. "Allraht, well maybe we can git that door open...." He trails off a bit as he sees his allies take up defensive positions. "...for ya. Izzer somethin' special we need ta do to open it?" While he talks, he moves behind the central alter, unslinging his musket and aiming vaguely at the door, the barrel steadied on the sandstone before him. Why's everyone so tense 'bout some woman askin' fer help?"

can't take 10 while concentrating on detect magic Source

that's a fine simple message.

Detect magic reveals no magic on the scepters or otherwise present other than what you've brought in with you.

She responds to the various questions "Letting us out is simple, and beneficial for us both. If needs be we can negotiate specifics though."

Tai has little capacity for subterfuge and so just speaks quietly to her companions.

"Something is certainly suspicious here, but we'll never find out anything if we don't open this door."

Tai will carefully examine the door for traps, and then, if it is neither trapped nor locked, she'll try to open it. If it is trapped or locked, she looks to her companions to see if anyone can deal with that.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

The door is neither locked nor trapped, but there is no obvious mechanism for opening it. It does seems attached through the floor via some complex mechanism to the altar though.

The voice speaks again "We have the last scepter in here, we'll pass it to you through the hole, you put it in the altar and the door should open up, then we'll be on our way. Deal?"

Tai looks at the others and shrugs, as if to say, do we have a choice?

Was Alarka the name of one of the missing Pathfinders?

Not one of your missing Pathfinders.

"It was a small group of just three experienced explorers. Led by Jilarni Golgarna, a veteran from Galt, the group also included Jojack Harnast, a dwarven trap expert, and Gilleon Samsil, a human sorcerer of some skill.”

Thanks, Rob!

Celie wonders around looking over the scripts written on the wall and follows along with the group as they continue down into the unknown.

Sayna glances about to her allies. "Personally, I always love a good story, and I am in no rush, so I'd rather hear more details on what happened, but I am but one of out of oh...you know...and it's not just my call."

Bluff to Lie: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

She's trying to pretend that she "let slip" that there are more of us about

The voice responds "Well who's call is it? Let us talk and come to an accord."

Gavin shrugs, hefts his ax, and waits.

Ethan calls the team to him. ”Ok, i have a plan ” he says, quietly. ”we get them to pass the scenter through, but before we trigger the doors, I will be ready with a force wall to keep them in. They don’t have teleportation, else they wouldn’t have stayed in there.”

Based on the map I assume the doors open towards us

If y’all would rather just push on, that’s fine. I just know Sayna would like to hear them talk more and potentially give more away. That’s why I phrased it the way I did, as I didn’t want to make a unilateral decision

Sayna frowns inside her helmet at the talk of double-cross. Even if the people inside are up to something, underhanded moves still sit poorly with her. It’s one thing to subtly adjust and mislead people with wordplay, but another to outright promise something with intent to deceive. To her, the former is more like feinting in a sword duel, a trick done courteously in plain view of the opponent that they fall for by their own deficiency.

Nevertheless, a force wall wouldn’t harm them, and it would give the Pathfinders a chance to get a plain view of these mysterious tomb trespassers. ”Your plan sounds wise. I will not impede it.”

"Agreed. Be ready, wizard."

Gavin walks to the door. "Slide the sceptre under, and we'll see if it opens the doors."

Should they comply, he'll take the item and try and slot it into the altar.

Tai nods assent and readies herself for whatever might come through the door.

"Alraht, ah guess. We won't be able to do much ta them neither if they're behind a wall, though."

"Gavin," says Ethan in a conspiratorial tone. "Pause a bit before putting the scepter in the slot. Like, maybe even a minute. Let's keep them off guard."

"Celie, be ready with something, too. Unless you have a wall spell prepared that can allow doors to open through it?"

Gavin shrugs, waiting the minute to let the strangers stew. Once he gets the go ahead, he places the sceptre in the receptacle.

They slide the scepter though, it barely fitting through the hole.

That's followed by the sounds of some shuffling and picking up stuff for about 30 seconds before a question comes through "I'd hate to do anything that might upset you, but can you put the scepter in the altar, we're getting a little anxious."

After a tense 30 second more pass Gavin places the scepter in causing the doors to grind open. There's no immediate rush from the inside, giving Ethan plenty of time to put up a wall of force in the doorway.

Being able to see into the room you now see it's a shorthallway with stairs up into an odd shaped room with a line of coals bisecting it and an altar of some sort towards the back.

Of more immediate interest are the pair of desert robed men with shields and scimitars drawn, they seem in a defensive position.

Behind them in a 3rd man with a scimitar in one hand, and an unconscious body over his other shoulder that bears a striking resemblance to the missing Pathfinder Jilarni.

The final figure is a less heavily armored woman wearing red and golds.

She looks to you for an explanation of your treachery.

"My apologies," Gavin says upon seeing the unconscious Pathfinder. "It's hard to be sure of someone's intentions when you can't see a face. Is Jilarni okay? What of the others? What happened?"

He does his best to try and smooth things over, looking for help from the others.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20

The woman responds "Didn't know he was one of yours, we were gonna take him back to Solthis. You'll forgive me if we don't trust the associates of a murderer who just trapped us in here with magic after agreeing to let us go. If you want this one back, you're going to need to come up with a plan that makes us feel safe on our way out."

"Wait, murderer? Looks ta me lahk he's the victim here, what with you bein' the ones up'n walkin' an' talkin' an' such."

The guards continue to hold their defensive positions, but are clearly sweating with the exchange.

She however responds with anger "I already lost 2 men to the last batch of tomb robbers who assaulted us. I'd rather not lose any more. Now I understand guilt by association is a bit problematic, and you did open the door and haven't tried to kill us yet... we'll throw him in as part of the deal if needs be, I'm getting my remaining men home though."

Sayna takes a deep breath. She should have gone with her gut and openly disagreed with the wizard's plan. She sheathes her sword and steps forward, taking a knee in front of the woman and guards. Having heard them mention go back to Sothis, she addresses them in Osiriani. Her voice lacks the playfulness it had before, replaced with a grave sincerity.

"I see that we have gotten off to poor start. Allow me to begin again. My name is Sayna Asenath Elantho. I am a knight in service to The Eternal Rose, and I apologize for any harm these 'tomb robbers' have inflicted upon you. I also apologize for my coy behavior earlier. We have been sent here by our mutual employer to find out what happened to the last group. They were sent here to investigate and learn, not to murder and rob. Please, tell us what happened so that we may report back and make the case for these allegations."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19

Tai stands at the ready, letting the talkier folks do their thing.

Diplomacy to aid Sayna: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (3) - 2 = 1

"Yeah, we ain't here to murder nobody on this mission."

She speaks, her guards continuing their nervous looks "I'm glad to hear that. Story time is going to have to wait until our back isn't to the wall. Now here's what I suggest, ya'll back off and leave us a clear path out, and we'll be on our way."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31

If Sayna thinks she will indeed give the story after the wall is down, she will recommend that our wizard dismiss it

Ethan chuckles at the ranting. "You hold in your arms one of ours. I have no proof that he still lives. The force wall is a necessary protection, should you have wanted to betray our trust. For all I know it is the only thing preventing you from attacking us at this moment.

"So, I think you need to think about this... talk to the nice Shelynite knight, and prove to her that it is safe to let you out of my defensive wall."

Sayna chafes at the mention of her. She takes off her helmet. Her tattoos burn especially bright and flickering as her face grows hot with frustration. "Do not presume to treat me as your lackey, Taldan. I serve the needs of our team, not your whims. Why would they be carrying a dead body around? So they could enjoy the stink while they waited to see whether they died of thirst? Why not bring the whole team with them and completely surround themselves with death?" The GM described Jilarni's body as unconscious, so I'm assuming they must be visibly breathing or otherwise notably alive She stands and turns towards him, her arm pointing acusingly at him. "Your cynicism has made you blind. I am ashamed my own blinded me momentarily."

I should mention that Wall of Force is a 1 ROUND per level spell and a diplomacy check takes 1 minute, so if it's not already down, it's coming down soon whether Ethan wants it to or not

She speaks "He is indeed alive. Are we leaving, or are we fighting?"

Her patience appears to be wearing somewhat thin.