GM Nekome's Treacherous Waves (PbP Gameday VIII) (Inactive)

Game Master Nekome

"One of these could carry all of you, for sure," says Yuka. "Depends on the size of the people."

To Andy's question, he says, "I really can't say much. When I woke up, we were surrounded by the algae and people were screaming about the whale sharks dying. We all scrambled to get arranged so the remaining sharks could get us back, and the algae clung to us all along. One of the wildest rides I've ever had!"

As they talk, Las runs his magnet along the submersible. It appears to be constructed from a number of different metals, some magnetic and some not.

Las nods. "Did you notice anyone unusual? Do you hear anything unusual "

"Nothing at all, until the algae itself. The subs were all working fine."

Also, for Las and anyone else who wants to give the submersible a thorough examination:

Las invokes his wayfinder
K. Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 + Inspiration: 1d6 ⇒ 5

After examining the submersible, "Well, this looks to be sound. Thank you for your time."

Las waits to see if anyone has any more questions and then suggest heading to the name on the top of their list.

”I am no expert in this type of conveyance. “

Knowledge(Engineering) vs. SC=18: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

"Would it be possible for you to take us to the place where the attack happened?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

"All the way to the Lambent Bloom, with poisonous algae all the way? You'd want an expedition bigger than Zahra's to try that. I could try pointing it out on a chart, but Zahra kept the charts for the expedition. She could give you a better fix on it."

Where does the party want to go next?

Las steers the group to Honoke and his whale sharks. Reminding the group,

"Zahra said we should investigate Honoke's whale sharks directly. So maybe Andy can convince him to let us examine them?"

Seems highly logical, Las. Let us check on this Honoke and his sharks. Ecthelien nods and motions to proceed to the next location.

We can confer with Zahra upon our return.

As the party leaves Yuka's workshop, Andy, Ecthelien, and Hildan spot a tall, fishlike humanoid loitering in the area.

Apologies. My return was a little slower than I'd hoped, but I am back :)

As they leave Yuka's workshop Ferdrin mutters to himself. I had hoped he'd be of a more opinionated type and enthusiastic to give his input on the matter. Oh well...

Assuming one of Andy, Ecthelien, or Hildan point out the fishy humanoid...

knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23
sense motive: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Hmm, it's a sahuagin, and it seems to be tasked with watching the shop. I wonder if this is standard operations for Yuka or if he has reason to feel threatened lately... He softly relays to the group as they get further away from the shop.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Hildan points out the fishlike humanoid to the others but has no idea what such a creature might or might not be doing. He just thought it looked like it was loitering in the area...and was pretty tall for a fish.

Knowledge(Local) vs. DC=14: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Sense Motive vs. DC=15: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24

"Ferdin is correct, there is a Sahuagin watching the shop. I wonder if it is watching for us or just spying on her?"

Las spots the sahaugin and contemplates Fedrin and Andy's observations.

"Well, I suggest we approach him. No doubt he has something to do with this whole affair."

Las looks around at who might be the stealthiest among them.

The sahuagin has been watching the business and who enters and leaves, so it knows you're there. But you could try a Bluff check to stroll up to it nonchalantly without it realizing you're on to it.

Bluff: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

Nice. I mean...nothing...nothing at all.

Ecthenlien smiles and waits.

Las walks past at some distance, looking for possible routes the creature might escape.

Assuming that is enough...

Andy strolls up to the Sahuagin, stands next to it for a few seconds copying it as it looks around, then says, "So....what are we looking for today?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

Eeep

The sahuagin pays Andy no heed as he strolls up, but looks startled when he speaks to it. "None of your business," it spits back.

Las wheels around and approaches the sahuagin with the rest of the group, invoking his wayfinder. Las tries to get read on the situation.

Sense Motive (T10)=20

"Look, I don't know who you are," the sahuagin says, "but if you're friends of Yuka's, tell him he should watch who he deals with. That's all I've got to say."

Las responds, "We just met Yuka today. We think he might be involved in something unsavory. Maybe we can help each other out. Who has he been dealing with?"

"My friend is correct, we just met Yuka for the first time. You think he has been dealing with someone he shouldn't be? Would you be so kind as to provide us with some details so we don't deal with them without knowing better?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

Diplomacy, aid: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

It could help us in clearing Yuka's name regarding a recent incident surrounding an attempted expedition.

"No way. I've got nothing else to say to you lot. If you're not friends of Yuka's, stay out of the way."

Entreat as you may, the sahuagin refuses to say anything more about the matter.

I'll move the action to Honoke's tomorrow, unless anyone wanted to try violence?

Honoke's home sits in a less urban part of Vialesk, by a series of submerged enclosures. In one of them, you see an elderly, blue-skinned giant swimming back and forth among whale sharks. In fact, he seems to be pulling them back and forth. You surmise that this is Honoke.

Do we have to leave the bubble of our carriage to speak with him then? We do have water breathing, but in limited supply.

As they draw near Honoke's home, Ferdin waves at the giant to try to get his attention, hoping that he returns to one of his submerged enclosures to chat.

I was wonder the same - how we are getting to this place and are we in air or water or using our water-breathing stuff?

Ecthelien observes and assesses the giant with the whale sharks.

Vialesk maintains its own air bubble. The carriage was only necessary to get to it. While you're walking around in the city, it's like being in a city on Golarion.

If you wanted to leave the city for some reason, you'd need to use something that gave you an air supply.

Make sense, but then I'm unclear where the blue-skinned giant is swimming, since that is near the home within the air bubble

He's in a pool of water by the home.

Lol, okay, makes sense. Yo dawg, I heard you like water, so I put some water under your water... I digress.

As they reach the home, Ferdrin waits by the poolside for the giant to notice them, and when he exits they quickly greet the giant so as to not seem like intruders.

Greetings! I'm am Ferdrin. We're investigating the incident with Zahra's expedition and wanted to ask you some questions abut that. Do you think you could spare us a moment?

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11 halp!

He continues to look for the manner the giant controls the whale sharks (tethers, sounds, etc)

perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Very interesting.

if no mundane commands, he will see if spells of command are being used.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Finally, Ecthelien will attempt to assist poor Ferdrin.

Your assistance would be appreciated.

diplomacy-aid: 1d20 ⇒ 5

"Greetings! You must be the famous Honoke, and, of course, your whale sharks. My name is Andy Applebottom. My friends and I are Pathfinders. We have been tasked with investigating the mishap with the expedition. Would you happen to have any insights you care to share with us? Any help would be greatly appreciated."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

Website kept crashing otherwise I would have led the conversation upon arrival.

The giant is pulling the sharks back and forth in the pool by means of tethers. The sharks do not resist; in fact, they hardly appear to be trying to swim at all.

He pauses near you for a moment to say, "I can't talk, I'm sorry. These were the only ones that survived, and they can't breathe on their own." He looks exhausted, and seems to be near tears as he resumes pulling the sharks back and forth.

You may recall that Zahra said poison from the algae killed most of the sharks. You can try Heal, Craft (alchemy), or Knowledge (nature) to try to help them.

Las sees an opportunity.

"Honoke, I am an investigator with some skill at alchemy. With your permission, I'd like to see if I can figure out what this algae is."

Craft (alchemy) (T10) with Wayfinder: 10 + 16 = 26

If Alchemy doesn't give the answers, Las tries Nature.

K. Nature (w/wayfinder): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13 + Inspiration: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Ferdrin takes a closer look at the algae to see if he has constructive input...

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

Ecthelien observes the sickly sharks.

” And do you have any idea what caused all this? Has it ever happened before? The bloom and actions?“

Ecthelien observes the sickly sharks.

” And do you have any idea what caused all this? Has it ever happened before? The bloom and actions?“

Kn history : 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Kn planes : 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Las finds that the poison from the algae has an effect resembling toxins he's seen before. He is able to suggest quick ways to mitigate its effect, and soon the sharks are swimming around under their own power, though weakly.

"Thank you," says Honoke, a tremor in his voice. "My deepest gratitude. They're all the family I have left."

"The red algae is known to all of us on this plane," he says to Ecthelien. "I trusted the navigators to keep us clear of it. I didn't expect the tide to change like that. Now the algae is poisoning the very reefs around Vialesk."

Take 10 on Perception at +9

Keeping quiet and largely still during the conversations, Hildan speaks up as he notices something strange about the sharks. "There's a strange pattern of notches down one of their fins. I don't understand it, but it maybe looks a little like writing or some sort of code."

Perception vs. DC=15: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
Linguistics vs. DC=14: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

"I see that too, but I'm not sure what kind of code it is. Honoke, is that your way of marking which whale sharks are yours?"

Las assists the bard's impressive efforts, hoping the two of them might recognize it.

Las gets +9, so auto assist

"Perhaps Zahra or our host can tells us more about them."

"No, no, I'd never do that!" says the giant. He peers at the notches as the shark swims by. "They look fresh... It might just be damage from something it touched as we were fleeing back to Vialesk. You're sure it's a code?"

Using the fins of a whale shark for a form of communication seems very illogical at best. Is this a common practice without code? We may want to try and jot these markings down to study later.

Ecthelien will try as best he can to duplicate the different markings on the fins into his journal.

If the code would qualify as a language, Ecthelien will try a scroll of comp languages to read the runes. Otherwise if it looks more like counts or math (non-language) he will not waste it

Ferdrin's eyes narrow.

Sense motive: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Well, someone very clearly did. Is it possible that the markings were somehow used to sabotage the whale sharks? Does anybody else have access to these creatures?

If Comprehend Languages is eligible, you could save the scroll. Ferdrin can quick-study into comprehend languages; and then there's also...

Linguistics, fin code: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

It's a non-linguistic code.

As far as Ferdrin can tell, Honoke is genuinely shocked at the notion of intentionally defacing his beloved sharks. "Once we were in the open sea, anything is possible," he says. "They're such gentle creatures, they'd take no notice of a stranger approaching them, unless the stranger was as big as them."

Las assists the elf in copying the code. Turning to Honoke,

"Has anyone else come to see your sharks since the incident?"

With the help of his wayfinder, Las tries to determine how the marks were made.

Heal (if someone has a higher modifer in Heal than Las, then this is an Aid): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13