[PFS_2_Aerondor] 01-01 The Absalom Initiation (Inactive)

Game Master Aerondor

Put yourself where you want to be Flit.

There is no obvious hole in the floor that the hands came through, they just appeared to reach through the floor.

The hands that grasped her.. well, she couldn't really tell. The pain was intense and by the time she looked down they had vanished back into the floor, leaving her legs badly injured. Your speed is currently reduced by 10' and bleeding.

Status, bold may post[b]
Milday 6hp; bleeding (3)
Everyone else

Milady gathers her wits, and calms down: "Thank you, Arrus, for trying to help me out!"
She tries to think as to what is happening with these hands that pop up through wood--
Religion, untrained: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
--but cannot remember anything of the sort.

She pulls out that red potion they were given and that Hopper had no idea of what it was, and, hoping it is for healing, she drinks it--
Healing: 1d8 ⇒ 1
in case it is a Healing potion: 6+1=7 hp (otherwise...?!)
--feeling it is a lot weaker than the one she just had.
"Not from Swords this stuff!"

Then, the continuous bleeding in her legs--
a flat 3 (not rolled again, right? Lucky me!) so 7-3 = 4 hp
--reminds her of her condition, and she once again rubs her legs together, this time patting them too--
DC 15 flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 18
--and manages to quench the flow.

Feeling rather wobbly, she at list thinks she is not losing her life-blood anymore.

Actions: Recall Knowl' ; Interact x2 for Potion

Placed. It'd be unfair to pick a spot not in the midst of this. Would Flint know what this ....challenge, is? Asking for someone who has run this.

Is anyone trained in religion at all?

Arrus is trained! Sorry to be slow, had some trouble with Paizo this weekend.

religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Hopper as most Goblins is completely ignorant when it comes to the superstitions of other folks. However, he heard one or two things when traveling and talking to different beings

Religion, untrained: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15

Dubious Knowledge kicks in only on trained skills, so not here :(

Flint is trained! Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 What is this?

Pell is untrained.

"I think I know exactly what this is!" cries Pell before he informs the party of his conclusions.

Milady looks at Pell, wondering...

Nobody has any good idea about what happened, but it seems to have stopped happening... at least for the moment.

"Shall we go see what is down under, in the basement? See the body of this thing...
So, Pell, what is this, exactly?"

(if out of combat, otherwise scratch this:)
Milady pulls some medical tools from her bandolier, but does not really have what it takes to stitch these scratches up.
Medicine, trained: 1d20 + 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 2 + 1 = 7

You have not found a way into the basement as such yet.

(MIlady meant trying the hole or the well)

"Maybe let's check the remaining rooms? I am more and more inclined to burn this hole to the ground."

Says Hopper and walks down the corridor towards the small room.

"Ha! The Hopper speaks my mind. Let's check out the rooms first (skipping this one again if possible)." Flint gets his shield into position, and starts to advance.

"So, Pell, what is this, exactly?"

"A very unpleasant place to be." concludes Pell, looking at the goblin's wounds and visualizing the hands. "I believe gremlins have hands with sharp claws and could live under floor boards."

The fighter's thoughts seem to drift for a moment, then he says, "I suppose we will need to search the whole place. I could lead the way."

"I am not going to explore more over there until I heal up... I do not like Gremlins!"

"I can assist with tending to your wounds, but it will take a bit. If everyone is willing to halt our investigations for an hour, we can address the injuries."
Sadly Milady is immune to treat wounds for an hour. It takes 10 minutes to do, and another 50 to be able treat again.

The elf moves back out of the room, intending to wait out the time with Milady.

"I can either wait by myself, while you explore, or do as Zanderel kindly offers."

"There is no harm in waiting, I suppose." concedes Pell.

Good with waiting an hour to go heal up. Pell is trained in Medicine with a +4.

Eventually realizing that the goblin was asking for his assistance, Pell takes a knee and extends an open hand to the goblin.

"If I may borrow your tools, Milady." he offers, "then I am willing to work as soon as you think your body able to handle my...firm, but gentle touch."

Medicine: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Heal: 4d8 ⇒ (6, 4, 7, 4) = 21

Once he finishes sewing the goblin's deep gashes and applying a helpful salve, the fighter seems rather surprised by the skilled appearance of his handiwork.

'There you are!" he declares, "More than ready to face the most fearsome of gremlins!"

Anjo calls out, "Why don't we investigate the well. See if it leads to the basement and our demonic squatter?"

Anjo works his way around to the Northwest back staircase.

Milady is quite amazed by Pell's prowess...
"Why, th... thank you, Valiant Pell!"

Milady follows Anjo: "Good idea!"

When Anjo realizes that the attacks have stopped, he has an epiphany as he comes to the top of the back stairs, "This attack...perhaps it is the 'haunting' that this house has been known for. How do we put an end to it? Perhaps we should go into town and seek the advice of an expert on such matters?"

You are in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world. No need to go to town, you are in it. That said, finding a priest who would be willing to come to the Puddles may be difficult.

Youy head outside into the fresh afternoon air. Did I say fresh? Well, fresh compared to inside the manner anyway. Pell spends some time looking after Milady while the rest of you inspect the well.

It appears to have collapsed inward, presumably during the earthquake. Shining a light down it shows it only goes down a short way before being choked with rubble.

After an hour, and with her health restored, Milady finds her leg works better now as well.

We have Milady back to full hp and her movement penalty removed.

"I just hope there's no more of those ghosts." comments Arrus, a twinge of nervousness creeping into his voice.

"We need to investigate how to deal with a ghost. We didn't do anything to get rid of it, I doubt we've seen the last of it."

@GM - I wasn't thinking of bringing a priest here, I was hoping to find someone who knows about such things and can tell us what is typically done. Or, try and research it at the Pathfinder library. I would expect some other Pathfinder has encountered things like this and dealt with it.

Can I roll Occultism to get any clues on how to handle the enemy in this house? Can the skilled ones in Religion do another roll? Given that we had an hour of waiting?

my...firm, but gentle touch

Hopper rolls his eyes and turns his back on the whole situation.

He goes to look into the well. After which he joins the rest in front of the building.

In this case, you have limited time as the house is about to be demolished. While there is no concern in taking an hour to rest, wandering back to the Grand Lodge to try and do research is probably going to take too long. Undead really do require a religion check not occultism. That said, I'm happy to try and be a little creative here.

Hopper thinks that if it is a haunt, it might have limited energy and only be able to manifest infrequently.

"I talked a few times with some clerics crossing through my hill, they told me some fairy tales about some places being haunted that could result in a similar attack that Milady encountered. The cleric was saying something about frequency in which such emanations can occur that were related to the strength of the being haunting the place. To avoid being attacked one is supposed to carry 3 onions and garlic with him at all time."

Goblin pauses for better effect

"None of them said anything about how to resolve the haunt in a permanent manner."

Realizing that the group doesn't have time to seek help, "Perhaps if we search the house, we can find the source of the haunting. My guess...that bad smell."

Anjo prepares to renter the house from his location, checking to make sure the footing is secure.

"We need to send someone down the hole without the whole room collapsing. Maybe we can enter though some other break in the floor."

Arrus nods "Let's remember our first creed. 'Explore' and not let one set of ghostly hands deter us from our quest."

Despite failing the roll earlier to ID it, would Flint be able to try and use religion to exorcise the haunting?" My paizo profile has a typo. The modifier for religion is right, but I forgot the T. Flint is trained.

"Perhaps if we search the house, we can find the source of the haunting. My guess...that bad smell."

"You were able to narrow it down to just one?" Pell mutters quizzically in response to the comment from the outdoorsman. Though unable to restrain himself from responding aloud, despite a fervent wish not to be heard by the ranger, he nevertheless manages to keep his voice somewhat soft and nearly inaudible.

"Let's remember our first creed. 'Explore' and not let one set of ghostly hands deter us from our quest."

When the other man of the wilderness speaks, Pell can't help but release a slight chuckle. Given the apparent earnestness of the speaker, Pell feels compelled to add, "Nor gremlins! Let's not forget about gremlins!"

Grabbing hold of his blade and shield, Pell prepares to march back into the house.

Once more into the unknown or, as it appears with respect to this party, the unknowable?

Healed up, Milady is quite happy to have the use of her legs back.

"That was no ghost, it ripped my legs up and had me bleeding..."

"Ghosts, gremlins or demons it doesn't really matter, this vicious threat clearly dislike goblins. We should find the source of it!" Says Hopper in his high pitched voice.

how about we start from right room?

I'm fine with starting from anywhere.

With a nine Flint has no real idea about what he is facing, but the trained is helpful. For the moment he doesn't have enough information to do any more, but if you discover some more about the history of the house, I'll let him try again.

The Goblin walks down the corridor and opens the doors to the small room holding an alchemical lightning bomb in his hand.

Milady follows Hopper... but she is wary, and walks on the tip of her toes, checking for any holes where fingers can pop out of the floor!

Hopper hops into a ruined sitting room.
The rug, once fine, is now ruined by vermin and weather.

Pell follows the goblins keeping an eye out.

Exploration Mode: Scout

Zanderel follows the goblins, whispering a cantrip to find the presence of magic.

Gotcha Flint follows too.

"Check under the rug!"

The heavy rug comes apart when tugged, rotten fabrics littering the air in an almost choking cloud for a moment or two. But as it settles, you find just damp floor boards underneath. Boards that creak ominously, but don't appear in immediate threat of collapsing.

Pell moves cautiously across the rug and creaking floorboards to the door to the other room and gives it a push.

Crreeaaaakkkkk goes the door, unpleasantly loudly. This is a drawing room.

Everything this room once held now lies jumbled over the floor in a soggy mess: torn pages, scraps of fabric, and splintered remnants of furniture. Doors hang askew in the north and east walls, but the door to the south has been smashed from its hinges.

Milady follows along, trying always to walk on things so as not to touch the floor directly, if possible.

Pell moves forward into the room, trying to peak into any openings into the adjacent rooms for potential occupants...or bodies.