Eyes of Absalom

Game Master Fobok

Silas says to Iandra, "I know, whenever is good. And yes let us depart quickly, sooner out of sight, less chance of being noticed."

Silas says to the others "We should meet up at the Carrion Gate in within the hour, once we are all there we can go into the Cairnlands. I've rarely have had a contract there, and very briefly so I don't know much about it except that when it doesn't look dangerous, it's more dangerous."

Silas goes with Iandra to a weapon shop that is willing to service customers that prefer the night. He guides her through the dim-light street to a place rather foreboding only to those that can see without light, otherwise it has an eerie silence rarely broken with disturbing rustling. He makes the entry sign that he knows and quietly makes the needed transaction for Iandra. Then guides her away quickly careful to not draw a weapon but make it clear he is armed, ready, and watchful.

He meets up with the others and they head out into the nightmare lands of the restless dead. He keeps careful watch, saying, "I could make a light to guide you but I think that might draw to much notice. But if any wish it I will cast that cantrip on any one small item. I will not carry it, but go slightly ahead to keep my vision clear in the dark."

He is heading as best he can towards the place he thinks the tower is.

Please let us me know what if any rolls you want for this, thanks.

“The benefits of knowing the right people,” Iandra remarks to Silas on their way back from the weaponsmith’s. “…this won’t cost me extra, right?”

~

She looks out across the wasted expanse in silence and shakes her head. Usually the Caydenite has a wry quip to contribute when faced with something unusual, but the sight of the Cairnlands is just depressing. “Let’s get this over with,” Iandra says. “Probably best to hold off on any light until it gets so dark we can’t see otherwise.” Drawing her new warhammer and readying her shield, she begins moving towards the tower indicated in the bartender’s note, moving as quietly as she can to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

If we’re in exploration mode, I think Iandra is going to use Avoid Notice. Stealth +5, which is a secret check made by the GM if I’m not mistaken!

"Yes being local helps, and no the clients of this shop are rarely well off, goblinkind and such-like, many prefer the shadows, some because of their eyes, others ... because of not liking eyes of others on them. So standard rates usually , sometime less but they know not to offer such to me. After all I might be working for the person they borrowed it from. But we're good with each other mostly."

Later in the Cairnlands, "With this broken land and misty air, I'm already having trouble seeing colors well. You'll need to tell me if it gets too dark for you to walk safely, even with guidance."

For his part Elisendrel remains silent following along without word. He seems to keep this thoughts to himself only speaking once they arrive, “I do not wear any armor myself and would best remaining in th back.”

Silas starts when the mysterious elf speaks for the first time since leaving the city behind. "Oh, you spoke. Caught me by surprise there. Yes, lacking armor could make you a target. But if something sneaks up on us perhaps one of us should keep an eye out for that. I should lead with my vision, would you mind being the rearguard, Iandra? That way you would be between us and less likely to be attacked first."

GM with three of us posting I suggest you proceed with moving us forward. If the others notice that this is active they can follow with posts. Let us know about what rolls you want as well.

The Cairnlands are eerily silent as you start to make your way through them, except for the distant rumble of the city behind you that slowly fades away as you move further.

Passing over a small hill — still miles from your destination — the glow of a campfire becomes visible about a half-mile directly ahead, and the the sound of drunken laughter echoes from that direction.

You don't need any rolls for the shopping in the previous round, sorry I didn't clarify sooner. As for this round, that will depend what you want to do, but making the assumption that listening will be involved, everybody is free to do a perception check if you want to try to hear what the voices are saying. :-)

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

A wry smile played upon Elisdriel’s lips as his fellow elf spoke to him. “I thought it best not to stand in the way of those of a divine calling.” The smile would fade after a moment his gaze turning about the area as his lips pressed together in a thin line as he would move between the pair following along as quietly as he may prepared to call forth his magical talents should the need arise.

As the glow form the campfire is spotted in the distance, he pauses cupping a hand to his ear in an attempt to increase his chances of catching the sounds from the camp.

Edit, I forgot to bold the talking.

Silas nods at the polite elf. Then sees the light in the distance and hears the sounds of people. He seeks to see about them and listens for any sounds that he may discern.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25 Seek action with darkvision and listening. In Pathfinder 2 darkvision has no range limit, I simply see anything in line of sight as though brightly lit. Range modifiers a GM see fit. I'll only see in color though where there is actual light. For example what I can see in the range of the fire is in color but all else will be black and white. Of course the distance may be too great to see much detail. At least that's how i read the rules. Comments welcome.

She looks a little dubious when Silas suggests she bring up the rear. “Very well,” Iandra responds all the same. “Do try to get out of the way quick enough if something nasty comes at you, yeah?”

When a campfire not too far ahead of the party comes into view she comes to a halt, and cocks her head as she tries to discern something intelligible amid all that raucous laughter.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

You're all able to hear one of the voices say, seeming to grow louder and more angry by the moment, "… said some lady sent them to find some dead body, can you believe it? Through our territory! Those towers are ours to scavenge, not some rich lady in the city!"

Another voice speaks up, "Do you think if we sent them back we'd get a reward?"

"Naw, they're so ugly she'd probably pay us to keep them away!"

This just leads to more laughter.

Silas puts up his hand to halt the party, whispering, "I see three people, look like orc-blood humans, dead bodies on the ground before them, seems they killed them. They don't sound very nice. It seems they have claimed this area for themselves. Do we try to go around them or confront? I can't be sure if they have any allies though I see no one else."

Can Silas tell anything about how they are armed or armored?

There is a pause from Elisendrel as peers into the darkness a small nod of his head is given, “It seems we have three choices then.”b The elf says speaking in a soft whisper, “Slay them, avoid them, or attempt to bring them to our cause.” He looks between the pair as he prepares to cast mage armor based on their reply.

Letting out a small sigh the sorcerer practiced the magical gestures for his spell as he spoke, “While not overly fond of orc kin if we were able to bring to our side it might aid in our plans in establishing our cover.”

“Did you hear what they said?” Iandra whispers back. “About someone having been sent this way to find a dead body?” She scowls in the general direction of the campfire and the brutes gathered around it. “Seems Lady Neferpatra might've sent another party to find her dead cousin…who may have got themselves captured from the sound of it.”

The Caydenite glances at Elisendel. “That talk about scavenging the towers and their ‘territory’ doesn’t make them sound like allies worth having. Certainly not ones I’d trust.” She sniffs softly. “The odds aren’t really in our favour here. I think I’d rather sneak around ‘em.”

Silas mulls his companions conflicting views, "I understand your desire to just avoid them rather than confront or deceive them Iandra, but can we? We would have to go around a considerable distance not to be seen, the darkness may or may not help us as much as it hurts. Some Orc-Kin see in darkness as well as I do. I have no skill in not being seen or heard. I do have some in ... well, lying -" Silas mutters even more quietly, "- thanks to mother -"

Silas continues still quietly, "The idea is to fool them into a mutual agreement but there are indeed risks, they not agree and we lose any chance at surprise, they could agree and quickly betray us, they may see through our deceptions and attack anyway but Elisdriel's point that working with them would make us less goody in the eyes of miscreants is valid."

Silas shrugs, "Sorry to bore you with all that. Iandra's made a good point though as well, at this range while I see bodies around them I cannot be sure they are dead; they may well be captured. In which case can we abandon them? So what do we agree to? Do we attack with some chance at surprise? Do we leave them, and try to sneak around, with a good chance at being caught because of my clumsiness? Or close and try to make a deal and what kind?"

Silas pauses and then says, "Pardon my indecision, I favor just attacking if any captives live we save them and we clear our rear for a while but that too is a distraction from our goal."

Having given a third thing to do among three Silas waits to see if anything can be agreed on.

As Silas speaks Elisdriel slowly nods his head in agreement, “Indeed, it would be a distraction, yet I would not wish for those sent ahead to die without need. Slaying them could always become a tale that we are strong enough to slay those who stand in our way.”

Continuing to glance in the direction of the half orcs he continues to speak, “There is much wisdom in your words with the risk of them being behind us. “

Silas smiles and whipsers, "Okay then, Iandra do you have anything to add?"Silas starts weighing the options in his head while he waits Iandra's reply.

Off in the distance, while the group decides what to do, the half-orcs begin to sing a song. You can't quite tell which song as they are completely out of time with each other and the sounds just jumble together into an almost headache-inducing mess.

Grimly Silas observes the moving body, "I think we need to attack now, it looks like one of the bodies is moving slowly away from them, stopping whenever it might be seen. Could be a child or halfling or other small humanoid, but I don't think we have a choice." Silas looks at the others to see if they are willing to attack now.

“Not much point putting this to a vote, it looks like,” she concedes, and lets out a wry sigh. “All right then – let’s see if we can get the jump on those lunkheads and end the fight before it even starts?”

Silas shrugs and says, "I can try to sneak up on them, doubt it will work though, lets see the best way to do this."

Warfare Lore: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11 How to best approach where the Half-Orcs are.

"You'll need to show me where to step to draw as little attention as possible."

Stealth: 1d20 ⇒ 3

Elisdriel nodded his head at the woman's words. He quickly cast his spell of mage armor on himself in order to be completely prepared for the combat which would lay ahead.

“Don’t step there, for starters,” Iandra says, wincing slightly at the result of the elf’s efforts to stay quiet. She puts away her warhammer and draws her rapier instead – those half-orcs are sure to have plenty of soft bits to stab, after all. “Just…try to follow in my footsteps, I guess. Literally.”

By RAW, Stealth checks are made by the GM in secret. Are we doing that, or just rolling them ourselves? I’ve Stealth +5, in case it’s the former.

Okay, before we jump into this I want to clarify a couple of things. Note: this is my first time running a 2e encounter, so please be gentle. :-) In this case, if you're all attempting to sneak up on them, stealth will be the initiative checks, which I will roll for expediency's sake.

Since it is my first combat, (and my throat is getting too sore to do a full post tonight anyway), I want to do this a bit more by the book. (I'll try to streamline things after this first one, since I know we are at an incredibly slow pace here already.) These guys are drunk and loud so you'll be able to get close before initiative is a thing, and I'd like you to set yourselves up on the battle map in this link, in the bottom right corner. So I know who is in front if they win the initiative. :-)

The full link again: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WxHUq_lXQhmGlk7SGm_PfbGYZnznFPPZGFW ozTkmBxs/edit?usp=sharing

final note: The trees in the map are not actually trees, but rocks, bones, and rubble from ancient battles mostly buried in the dirt. Difficult terrain. I just couldn't find a wasteland campfire map. :-) Also, the halfling token is the crawling body on the ground, couldn't find anything more appropriate.

“I’ll take point,” the Caydenite whispers. “The sooner I can bury the tip of this blade in someone’s kidney, the better. And if they try to fight back, it might as well be me they take any swings at.”

"Agreed, though I'll be beside you as well, Ellsdriel is there some spell you wish to cast on them or us before hand? Even drunk as they appear they will notice us very soon." Silas whispers back.

“My talents tend to be more suited to avoiding combat.” Elisdriel stated with a small shrug his words a soft whisper, “Aside from drawing attention and setting them on fire, which is likely to gain an arrow my way.” After speaking a few gestures would be made as he spoke the magical words needed casting mage armor on himself.

Initiative! Those in bold may act.

Iandra - 0 damage taken
Half-orc Green - 0 damage taken
Half-orc Red - 0 damage taken
Half-orc Blue - 0 damage taken
Elisdriel - 0 damage taken
Silas - 0 damage taken

You all get quite close to the group before the drunken song ends, though they continue to laugh. There is a slight crunching sound from under Silas' foot, and the half-orcs start to look up, but Iandra is already in position.

I'm clumping the enemies into one initiative, for speed of posting. We'll see how that works out for now.

Does the square directly north-west of Iandra count as difficult terrain?

Nope

It looks to me that Iandra can get in front of enemy green(Mr. Green) in one action, and I think Silas can get to the square next to the down left of Mr. Green in two actions. I'll make my moves based on that. It it's wrong adjust as needed.

Depending on initiative the intention is that Silas follows Iandra (assuming she does move on Mr. Green), staying either behind her or to her left. Before he goes he readies his rapier for one action arriving armed but with no time to attack, unless the enemy closes first.

1d20 ⇒ 15 Not sure if you are using perception or stealth as the initiative modifier. so Per is +6 and Stealth is an amazing +0.

Iandra strides boldly into the fray. “You,” she exclaims as she thrusts the tip of her rapier at the closest half-orc, “have taken your last prisoner!” It is bold talk that at this time, unfortunately, she fails to actually follow up on.

Action 1: Stride.
Action 2: Rapier Strike vs Green: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 81d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Action 3: Raise Shield, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of my next turn.

Reactions: I will use Liberating Step the first time it is triggered (“an enemy damages, Grabs, or Grapples your ally, and both are within 15 feet of you”). If I am hit for half of my hit points or more, I’ll use Shield Block (hardness 5).

Sorry, Silas, I should have been more clear. I rolled everybody's initiative already, using stealth because of the situation. (More often it will be perception.) Iandra went, and then the half-orcs. I'll slot your actions in after the half-orcs in this post, so it'll just be Iandra and Elisdriel to post this round.

Just to add: when your name is in bold in the initiative tracker, you can post in whatever order you like, and I will sort out the results to fit the initiative. :-)

Green ducks back a moment as he avoids Iandra's stabbing rapier by inches. He scrambles to his feet, drawing what looks like an Orcish dagger, managing just a single stab with it at Iandra, which slips past his shield.

Attack on Iandra, -2 for drunkenness: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 7 - 2 = 24

Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Red also scrambles to his feet, reaching for a hand crossbow on his belt. Realizing only as he is about to fire at the running Silas that it isn't loaded, he curses under his breath as he spends a moment loading it, not getting a chance to fire.

Blue — who was the one who was complaining earlier — gets to his feet much more steadily than the others, picking up a large Orcish axe (also known as a Necksplitter). Roaring a challenge as if embracing his orc half, he runs around the fire, charging towards Iandra and coincidentally positioning himself right in front of Silas as the cleric catches up.

Conditions at end of round. Those in bold may act.

Iandra - 5 damage taken
Half-orc Green - 0 damage taken
Half-orc Red - 0 damage taken
Half-orc Blue - 0 damage taken
Elisdriel - 0 damage taken
Silas - 0 damage taken

On second thought, Silas, if you want to change your actions from the previous post now that the full info has been revealed, I'll allow you to retcon in this case. :-)

Can't see what to change, I need to close to do anything and I don't have any actions left after doing so. Now I see that if I had Iandra wait a round and cast fleet step earlier then went a round later it would be different, also could have had weapon already readied but did not really think of it. But this is to be expected, new group of players, characters that don't yet know how to work together, and new rules. I need to block the path of at least one hostile so Iandra isn't having to take all the baddies alone. So I'm good with things as they stand and hope they aren't too tough for us.

Unimpressed, she sneers at the half-orc hefting the axe. “Careful you don’t chop your own head off with that thing, you lout!” Iandra taunts him. Without waiting to see if the rather petty barb had any effect on her opponent, she immediately follows up with another rapier lunge.

Action 1: Intimidation/Demoralise vs Blue: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Action 2: Rapier Strike vs Blue: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 141d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Action 3: Raise Shield, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of my next turn.

Reactions: I will use Liberating Step the first time it is triggered (“an enemy damages, Grabs, or Grapples your ally, and both are within 15 feet of you”). If a hit would drop me below 50% of my hit points, I’ll use Shield Block (hardness 5).

As the battle started the elf surveyed the scene his eyes narrowing. Unarmed it would not be to anyone’s benefit if he charges forward. With a practice motion and an arcane word, he focused his arcane energy. A small magical flame forming in the palm of his hand. Extending his will Elisendrel launched it towards the half-orc.

Casting Produce Flame on half orc that Iandra Thistlerun is attacking.

Attack Roll: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 101d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Elisdriel moves so his spell is just barely in range, but the small flame that flies from his hand misses Blue, flying over his head.

Iandra's taunt seems to shake Blue, whose eyes flicked between his friends and these new enemies in front of him, hesitating for just a split second.

However, her follow-up with the rapier doesn't get past the half-orc's armour, making an ear-piercing scraping sound as it slides along his breastplate.

Green laughs and slurs drunkenly, "Looks like we have a brave one here!" He makes a couple of jabs with his dagger at Iandra.

Attack one: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 7 - 2 = 19

Attack two: 1d20 + 7 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 7 - 2 - 4 = 7

The first time the dagger skitters off the Champion's raised shield, and the second doesn't even come close. As it seems to finally sink in that the frontal assault isn't working, he starts to slip around to try to flank Iandra, but ends up stumbling on some rocks and doesn't make it all the way around yet.

Red fires his hand crossbow at Silas, reloads, and fires again. Neither shot comes close.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 4 - 2 = 15

Attack 2: 1d20 + 4 - 2 - 5 ⇒ (16) + 4 - 2 - 5 = 13

Blue, still looking a bit worried at Iandra, nonetheless goes into the attack. And, he goes all in, screaming to suppress his own nervousness as he swings his axe again and again, swinging in wide arcs towards both of them.

Attack 1 at Silas: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 - 1 = 25

Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Iandra react instantly, pushing Silas partly out of the way. Iandra reacts with Liberating Step, reducing the damage to 2. Silas you gain a free Step to use here, if you wish.

Attack 2 at Iandra: 1d20 + 7 + 1 - 1 - 5 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 1 - 1 - 5 = 19

As the axe sweeps towards Iandra, it clangs against her shield. Blue reverses course to sweep the axe back from the other direction.

Attack 3 at Iandra: 1d20 + 7 + 1 - 1 - 10 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 1 - 1 - 10 = 15

Blue's frightened 1 reduces to 0 at end of his turn, and is removed.

Conditions at end of round. Those in bold may act.

Iandra - 5 damage taken
Half-orc Green - 0 damage taken
Half-orc Red - 0 damage taken
Half-orc Blue - 0 damage taken
Elisdriel - 0 damage taken
Silas - 2 damage taken, free Step action.

Is the square immediately north of Iandra considered difficult terrain? If not, she and Silas could Step into flanking positions ‘round Blue. Silas might even still have his free Step available! (I’ve no idea if any of these enemies are capable of AoOs, but I’d rather err on the side of caution. :þ)

I'll say it's clear. :)

I read the rules and if I have them right with Liberating Step I have 3 points of damage resistance against the same type of damage that hurt me. (It''s not clear how long but I guess this round?) I can take one 5'foot step without triggering any AoO. If I step up(towards top of map) I'd be between Blue and Red and flanked but if Iandra also steps up we would flank Blue. Seems worth it.)

Silas with Iandra's inspiring defense sees the chance to move on the side of Blue and does so, taking the action to raise his shield then strikes twice at blue, if he is still up.

Action 1: Raise shield AC 19 but 17 to blue and red

Action 2: Attack with Rapier: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 Attack to damage not disarm. Attacking Blue, unless he is down by then otherwise Red.
..........Damage with Rapier: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 Damage if attack hits, type P.

Action 2: Attack with Rapier: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26 Attack to damage not disarm. Attacking Blue, unless he is down by then otherwise Red.
..........Damage with Rapier: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 Damage if attack hits, type P.

Silas says, "Thanks!" to Iandra but lacks the time to say anything more.

Sorry for post after post but I don't like edit that adds a new die roll,sometimes the forum gets confused and re-rolls everything.

Critical Success on Action 3 (mistakenly labeled Action 2) doubled damage so add 6 more damage and rapier's are deadly one dice 8 so:

Deadly Damage Rapier: 1d8 ⇒ 8

Also Hit Points 14/16.

“Uh huh,” she grunts in response. Then, spying an opportunity to pincer the axe-wielding half-orc between Silas and herself, she deftly steps aside and brings her rapier to bear once again.

Action 1: Step.
Action 2: Rapier Strike vs Blue: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18 — Piercing damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Action 3: Raise Shield, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of my next turn.

Alas, the resistance from Liberating Step only applies to the triggering damage.

Reactions: I will use Liberating Step the first time it is triggered (“an enemy damages, Grabs, or Grapples your ally, and both are within 15 feet of you”). If a hit would drop me below 50% of my hit points, I’ll use Shield Block (hardness 5).

There is a small shake of the elf’s head as his spell misses the target. The frown forming upon his lips as he prepares another attempt at the spell. Once more he conjures up a small flame to send flying towards the half orc once more.

Attack Roll:: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Damage Roll:: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Hello passing on a message for Fobok. Real life issues have arisen and he will not be able to post in the near future. Estimated time is a week or two.

All righty.

Iandra and Silas both stab in at the larger of the half-orcs from opposite sides even as Elisdriel flashes him with a burst of flame. He drops to the ground, dead before he can even let out a whimper.

This seems to startle both Green and Red into sobriety, and they both step back, their eyes wide. Only now realizing they are in over their head, it seems. Red finishes reloading his weapon but doesn't fire again yet, and neither does Green attack.

Green speaks up, "Wait, wait, we can talk this through! We were just following his lead, let us go and you won't hear from us again!"

You have the choice of continuing the combat, letting them go (with or without a price), or anything else you can think of. :-)

Conditions at end of the round. Those in bold may act.

Iandra - 5 damage taken
Half-orc Green - 0 damage taken
Half-orc Red - 0 damage taken
Half-orc Blue - Dead
Elisdriel - 0 damage taken
Silas - 2 damage taken

“Oh, just following his orders, were you?” Iandra retorts with a slight sneer. “Now where’ve I heard that before?” Her eyes dart across the bodies already littering the ground around the half-orcs’ campsite. “Can’t say I have much faith you lot won’t just set up shop somewhere else and go right back to whatever nasty business you were up to here.”

"Or perhaps we might add them to our service? Have them pay their debts four our cause." Elisdriel stated a hand moving in an arcane gesture, [b] "For any such chance they should drop their weapons least we finish what was started." [b]

Elisdrel has +7 for intimidation checks. +7 For Diplomacy as well.

Silas considers, "While I'm always open to mercy and adding to our numbers, is worthwhile, this collection of corpses is not giving me much confidence in their trustworthiness, their weapons down would be the first step in gaining trust."

I'm +5 for both of those, so I can roll for aid to Elsidriel

Silas Aid Intimidation: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Elisdriel Intimidation: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

The two half-orcs looked between each other, and then back to the group. They drop their weapons, throwing them just enough to prove that they aren't going to reach down and grab them again.

"Yeah, we can work for you. No problem!"

The small form they saw crawling earlier sits up, groggily looking around at everybody. It appears to be a young halfling woman with dark hair and equally dark eyes, wearing leather armour. She looks to the prisoners and then to the group, and in a confused tone of voice, she asks, "Am I being rescued or is this camping spot just really unlucky?"