Spell did not complete, can choose not to finish casting it, and thus "save" the spell slot.
Even minimum damage from Balrog's Enlarged Coup de Grace finishes the creature.
With the ferocious creature cleanly beheaded, and allies healed at least a little. The only thing that remains is to explore the temple and find the Braid of a Thousand Masters that they were sent here to find.
Daji, seeing no threats in the courtyard, moves to the doorway of another room and peers inside and listens closely for any further dangers. Perception:1d20 ⇒ 9
This fifteen-foot-by-thirty-foot room seems to have escaped the destruction found throughout the rest of the monastery. A statue, leaning against the northern wall, appears out of place among the rest of the room’s contents—clay pots, ruined sacks, and aged tools. The statue, made of finely carved stone with jade inlays, depicts a man with a serene face, standing in a meditative stance.
Daji does not detect anything magical in the room.
While Danny is searching the room...
Danny Only:
you graze against the statue that looks out of place. Inside your head you hear a strange voice "Greetings. Are you friend or foe?" and while the statue appears to be made out of solid stone, you can almost swear that the eyes are fixated on you.
"You guys don't hear it? How odd... I think the statue is talking to me. Oh! Hold on a second..." He holds a finger up to forstall any more discussion for a moment then says, "We are here for an ancient artifact. Assuming this is the Clouded Path Monastery, we should be finding it soon!"
Daji keeps his morningstar handy, and watches Danny closely. It's usually my trick to turn people against each other... Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I don't want that to happen to any of us...
"I dunno, it seems to be curious about why we're here. Come touch the statue, maybe it'll talk to you too!"
Talking to the statue again, "It used to be? Do you think the Braid of a Hundred Masters might still be here if this isn't the Clouded Path Monestary any more?"
Danny, and anyone else that touches the statue after Danny suggests it:
"It could be. But I feel that it stopped being the monastery it was when a petulant student believed he knew better than his master. The student proclaimed that the master unfairly gained power from the Braid of a Hundred Masters, cheapening the path to self-perfection. He challenged the master to remove the braid and compete against him without its power. The master did so and, in the process, defeated the student. Once the master had proven himself to the student, the master left the braid at the student’s feet, then turned away, leaving the monastery, never to return. The master took one student with him that day, the young disciple, Ying Pei, while the remaining students squabbled and fought over the braid. None could call upon the power of the braid and so they left the monastery, one by one, once again seeking their true paths to perfection. Eventually, only the petulant student and the braid remained. Here he stayed, until the day he died, contemplating the significance behind his master’s actions. Perhaps, through searching for the master and his last disciple, you may uncover the answer to the Braid of a Hundred Masters.”
Daji warily approaches the statue and touches it, then falls over backwards in surprise after hearing the voice in his head. Once he regains himself, Daji asks aloud, "Who are you? And how did you come to be a statue?"
Male Human (Taldan) Unchained Monk 2 | HP 20/20 | AC 19 (T 18 FF 14) | CMB +4, CMD 22 | Fort +4 Ref +7 Will +3 | Init +4 | Perc +8, SM +7 | Speed: 30ft | Stunning Fist: 2/2 | Active Conditions: None
Valon steps forward and places a hand on the statue at Danny's urging. He backs away quickly, looking in surprise first at his own hand, then at the statue itself, as the voice begins speaking in his head. He remains silent, looking at Daji as he asks his question, then shifting his gaze back to the statue, awaiting an answer.
M CN Ifrit Ftr3/Brd1 | HP 31/31 | AC 19, T 13, FF 16, CMD 19 | F +6 R +7 W +4 | Performance 6/6 | Per +4 (Darkvision) | Init +3 | Shield On |
The Balrog sighs, then goes up and touches the statue.
He listens to the voice in his head. He rolls his eyes a bit. Monks and their life of insight and discipline are alien to him.
Self-perfection. True paths. Contemplating significance. Sounds like a blast.
"So you are that petulant student, I suppose? Because everybody else left?"
"I am Jiang Dan, a simple servant of the Master of Masters."
Daji Boneheart wrote:
"And how did you come to be a statue?"
“I foolishly asked for wisdom. In response, I was given time to find that wisdom for myself.”
The Balrog wrote:
"So you are that petulant student, I suppose? Because everybody else left?"
I don't actually know if this is the case. It is not stated in the scenario. It could go either way.
Xiao Hua wrote:
"How can we proof that we are worthy. And where can we find the riddle!"
"I do not not know how to activate the Braid of a Hundred Masters, or how it functions. The last master, Li Yao, left the monastery and the braid here many, many years ago."
Daji is unnerved by the additional voice in his head. This haunt that pesters me is enough, thankyouverymuch. Daji nods solemnly. "Thank you for the information you've given us, Jiang Dan. Seeing as you are rather immobile, I'd assume you are unsure where the braid actually is?" Daji tries to keep his voice kind, but it probably comes off flat due to his fatigue.
Daji will move to the next room to the North once Jiang Dan answers, unless Jiang Dan does specify where the braid is. In this case Daji will go where Jiang Dan says the braid is.
"Gross... I guess this is where the yeti made itself at home..." Increasingly frustrated, Daji wanders around the courtyard. He decides to sit and meditate in the center of the courtyard to rid himself of his foul mood, and to try to think how best to find this relic.
Was it ever mentioned if this braid had truly magic qualities? In the story, the student accused the master of gaining power through it, but the master whooped the student even without the braid, right?
The Balrog enters the Yeti's nest and searches around. He finds a braid of hair tied together with a ribbon, woven in to the sticks as part of the nest.
The Balrog also finds an antique Iroran silver holy symbol, four jade gemstones, a magnifying glass, a set of silvered armbands depicting pouncing tigers, and a bejeweled ceremonial masterwork temple sword.
Daji, it is described as "a relic" but it does radiate as magical if observed with Detect Magic. However, only the Masters knew the secret to activating it. And the Master could still woop the student because he was a Master, he was impressive in his own right, regardless of the braid.
Daji will bring some dignity to the dead. He will at least move the corpses outside of the temple, asking for help moving the bodies, and will call for some silent reflection over the balance of life and death. Then Daji is ready to head back down.
If this sounds glossed over, that was the point. Daji's tired and ready to head back, but also stubborn about his beliefs in the balance of life and respect and dignity in death, even if in a sick and twisted way. So he's doing what he can, but not about to spend hours digging graves or anything like that.
Danny assists Daji with the bodies as best he can and stands with him mentally saying his own prayers for the natural balance to return.
Examining the braid, "This is what we came for? It doesn't look very impressive. What about those armbands too?" Danny casts a spell and looks the items over one more time.
Cast detect magic. Spellcraft rolls just in case Spellcraft:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12 Spellcraft:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
M CN Ifrit Ftr3/Brd1 | HP 31/31 | AC 19, T 13, FF 16, CMD 19 | F +6 R +7 W +4 | Performance 6/6 | Per +4 (Darkvision) | Init +3 | Shield On |
"Oh yeah, we're taking all the stuff. Nobody here needs it. And Xiao Hua, I can take a look at that last door."
The Balrog moves and uses Open/Close on the double doors from a reasonable distance.
The Braid of a Hundred Masters radiates strong Transmutation magic. But it is impossible to tell what it does. Nothing else appears magical
The final room:
Eleven ruined mattresses and a few aged and cracked pots are this room’s only furnishings. A section of the ceiling has collapsed in the northwestern corner of the room, causing the wind to howl eerily as it blows over the building. A series of images has been carved into the still-standing sections of the room’s walls, each image indicating a humanoid in a series of different positions and stances.
Knowledge (Religion) DC 20:
you recognize the carvings as depicting a series of exercises and forms that one could follow as part of an Iroran training regimen.
Rubbing his eyes as though recovering from a flash of light, "This is definately it. There's powerful transmutation magic in this thing. The armbands are just pretty though."
You may still make the Knowledge (Religion) in the room, but I will move along the scenario since there is nothing left.
Traveling back down the mountain is a simple matter, as the slope works in your favor. Returning to the Lantern Lodge, Venture-Captain Amara Li personally thanks you for recovering the Braid of a Hundred Masters. When you inform her that Jiang Dan told you that only the masters could activate the braid she immediately begins organizing a search for the last master and the young student that followed him. The results of this search are detailed in the remaining scenarios of this story arc.
I hope you all had fun! I enjoyed running for you! I will get chronicles out to you in the next few days. If you are interested in playing the next part of the arc you will have priority seating at my run of Part 2, RECRUITING NOW!
M CN Ifrit Ftr3/Brd1 | HP 31/31 | AC 19, T 13, FF 16, CMD 19 | F +6 R +7 W +4 | Performance 6/6 | Per +4 (Darkvision) | Init +3 | Shield On |
Thanks for running! I am in for Part II.
The Balrog is rather uninterested in monks and their ways no Knowledge (Religion), and traded away Bardic Knowledge so he waits until it is time to head down the mountain with the party.
I also do not have knowledge religion. Danny longs at the art on the walls without grasping the deeper meaning. On the way back down the mountain he keeps an eye out for any more dangers. He happily volunteers for thenext job if Amara will have him.
Thanks for putting in the work! I'm on board for the next one too!
