World's Most Interesting Overflow Archives (003) [PFS Standard 6-15] (Inactive)

Game Master Great Green God

Tofang will present the imposter and hopes that Kolris will translate.

"So here is the guy you were looking for! It is really time to get rid of the water and help us to clean up this mess here!"

Rectitude hopes for a speedy resolution. The water seems to be quite high now.

"Enough!" Kolris snaps, anger rising. "No more of these shenanigans. We've caught you; you've lost! Show your face and let's end this!"

"Oh, you're no fun anymore." says the Fox now himself again.

"Enough!" Kolris snaps, anger rising. "No more of these shenanigans. We've caught you; you've lost! Show your face and let's end this!"

As Kolris says that all if the scrollwork fragments (including one secreted upon the Fox) all fly up into the air in the grip of a sudden dust devil that blows up around the party. Rearranging, and fusing itself into one, complete scroll outlined in a golden eldritch glow. The Fox disappears into the widening vortex, mouthing the words: "Well played" over the noise of the gale.

Sylvan subtitles

"Oh! Yes, that's it! That's how it goes! You're Caught!"

The argumentative gathian fishermen spin by as well upon their bookshelf boat--now taken to the air in the sudden windstorm. They wave happily as they pass, and then begin shouting at the group and each other before disappearing in a flurry of paper scraps.

At the center of the tornado beneath the glowing scroll, Mistress Koi takes a deep breath looking for all the world like some great puffer fish and all the water in the library rushes up and into her mouth in one great, indescribably noisy, torrential slurp.

The glow of the scroll abates and the twister with it. Without the wind the vellum flutters to the floor.

The hugely engorged Mistress Koi waves a goodbye with a tentacle, and leaps high before diving head-first into the tiny scroll disappearing into the text like a fish into a pond, leaving the library below as dry as a dusty bone.

Not a second later the entry doors open as a dozen Pathfinders lead by Dean Kreighton Shaine and Zarta Dralneen burst in all awkwardly dressed in fisherman's hip boots, and laden with wooden buckets, and tin pails.

The two leaders seem to be noisily arguing with each other. When Shaine finally sees the seemingly never flooded room, he says "Oh?" and he, and Zarta both noisily drop their armloads of buckets on the stone floor.

Confused, they look up to the party on the mezzanine for answers.

Rectitude relaxes some as the water is swept away but stresses again when the bosses storm in. Seems the strange entity that flooded the library has concluded its business. You may want to have better drainage installed for the future.

Kolris begins making his way down the stairs to the main floor, heading straight over to Zarta as he attempts to piece together what happened.

"It seems Virml accidentally released a fugitive fey that had been trapped inside this scroll. A fragment of which was the first clue you gave us, Dean Shaine. Unfortunately, our fugitive was also a shapechanger, and kept taking different people's shapes. He imprisoned Virml downstairs and impersonated him up here until you left. Then he took your shape, Dean Shaine."

Arriving by his faction leader's side, Kolris tries to pass her a package while at the same time distracting the others by pointing towards the stairs down. "This, of course, was all while we were investigating downstairs,"

Bluff, Lord Avid's recommendation, free inspiration: 1d20 + 2 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 2 + (3) = 11 hoping for a circumstance bonus on the following Sleight of Hand if he successfully redirects attention?
Sleight of Hand, free inspiration: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (7) + 7 + (2) = 16 passing the book, still wrapped in the sack so it doesn't make noise

"finding more scraps of this scroll and different foes that the fugitive left behind to harry us. We rescued Virml, and after ensuring we'd found all the clues, returned here. We looked for you, Dean Shaine, and found the fugitive posing as you up in the Scriptorium. We figured him out, caught him, and returned him to the grodair upstairs that was the source of all the water. She was flooding the library in order to float him up to her!"

"When we presented Mistress Koi with the fugitive she'd been seeking, she drew in all the water and left."

Tofang nods.

”I am glad Kolris was here!“

Fentar holds the poem in front of his face and stares at it through suspicious, narrowed eyes, "Maybe I should learn Sylvan?"

hoping for a circumstance bonus on the following Sleight of Hand if he successfully redirects attention? .... passing the book, still wrapped in the sack so it doesn't make noise

This is probably best done later, since Shaine is not likely to go through everyone's things, Kolris could just wait an hour and hand it to Zarta around the corner and down the block out of sight. That, and your rolls.... Inspiration to me always seems to be a case of overkill (I know more about kobolds than anyone--even kobolds), or totally underwhelming. Normally I would just say that Kolris is smart enough (Int 20) to just do that avoiding the need to roll and pass the item in front of Shaine, but this seems more like a Wisdom thing (Wis 7) so, give me a Wisdom check (DC 12). I Kolris makes it you can just hand the Darklands Precepts to Zarta later, otherwise Shaine's likely to say something like "What's that?".

If it comes to it, other folks can help with the distraction if they like.

"...finding more scraps of this scroll and different foes that the fugitive left behind to harry us. We rescued Virml, and after ensuring we'd found all the clues, returned here. We looked for you, Dean Shaine, and found the fugitive posing as you up in the Scriptorium. We figured him out, caught him, and returned him to the grodair upstairs that was the source of all the water. She was flooding the library in order to float him up to her!"

"When we presented Mistress Koi with the fugitive she'd been seeking, she drew in all the water and left."

"You don't say?" says Shaine, mentally weighing the improbable tale Kolris has spun (Cha 7--It's almost as if you were trying to get his Int to 20 ;)) against the evidence (or lack thereof) at the scene.

"You don't say?" says Shaine, mentally weighing the improbable tale Kolris has spun against the evidence (or lack thereof) at the scene.

"I do say!" Kolris says, defensively. "Are you saying you don't trust the accuracy of my report? Why assign me to investigate and clean up your library if you don't trust me to report on it accurately?" I may have min/maxed that Int/Cha combination, but you can't deny that I roleplay the Cha score that I gave him. ;)

Normally I would just say that Kolris is smart enough (Int 20) to just do that avoiding the need to roll and pass the item in front of Shaine, but this seems more like a Wisdom thing (Wis 7) so, give me a Wisdom check (DC 12).

If you would normally base this on INT, what about this situation makes it based on WIS instead? It's almost as if you were trying to engineer the check to make it harder ;)

Wisdom DC 12: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (9) - 2 = 7

Fentar shrugs and shakes his head at Shaine, "That's how it happened. Kolris is smart enough to make up something less stupid." He sighs heavily, "Fey, they're like the gods' worst joke."

If you would normally base this on INT, what about this situation makes it based on WIS instead? It's almost as if you were trying to engineer the check to make it harder ;)

Specifically, Int to me bespeaks "memory" or "knowledge" and I'll have characters roll to remember things that their players may have forgotten (usually I just tell them unless there is some sort of story reason--like the knowledge is part of an obscure clue or something) while wisdom is more like "situational awareness". It's the difference between a person intellectually knowing that it is raining (PC sees rain, and makes Knowledge (nature) check to understand rain. Ah ha! I know everything about rain!), and having the wisdom to go inside to get out of it. And yes, people could say that that's a case of just being "dumb" (standing out in the rain), but not really in the way that the game mechanics represent "intelligence" or mentality--dealing with stuff is better represented by wisdom.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"Nothing."

Bluff, student of philosophy, free inspiration: 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 9 + (3) = 15 +2 if Dean Shaine would be considered nobility (Lord Avid's recommendation)

Tofang does not get this ado about nothing.

“Well, as the mission is complete, I assume we can go?!“

Shaine's not no body, but he's not nobility either.

"It's not 'nothing'" snaps the Dean, patently ignoring Tofang's question. "It's, what I presume to be your bag. You brought it in with you earlier after all."

Shaine prepares to conjure what one with skills in the arcane would recognize as divinatory magic when...

"Look! It's Elvish!" cries Zarta pointing at pile of books. As Shaine turns to look, she jerks her head toward the door. Aid other. She really can't fail, but....

bluff (aid): 1d20 ⇒ 7

"Oh. Why so it is!" says Shaine loosing his previous trail of thought, and all interest in the other Pathfinders.

"I suppose that wraps things up well enough for now." says the Master of Scrolls going through the pile with mounting interest. "Go on. Get some sleep. I'll see you all on the proper morrow." Without looking up he waves them all off with one hand, while flipping through pages with the other.

THE END. I should have Chronicles up this weekend.

Fentar’s reptilian grin consumes his face, ”Cheers, Boss. I like you better when you don’t take over my mind.”

"Hm. Fentar, have you ever considered work as a wizard's crocodile?"

Fentar shakes his head, "They die too easily. And their masters get fooled by silly foxes when they're supposed to be clever-clogs Master-of-Scrolls types."

He grins at Shaine, really grins, like only a lizard can.