World's Most Interesting Overflow Archives (002) [PFS CORE 6-15] (Inactive)

Game Master Great Green God

You are missing a piece.

[b]"Search the fox! He's got nimble fingers along with that nimble tongue of his, I'm sure."[b]

perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16

Deluge does just so. And then also searches himself in case it was planted on him. Starting with his nearly empty snack bag.

Wasn't this just somewhat empty a moment ago?

Deluge glares at the fox as if he might be responsible for the missing goodies.

”Did we miss anything in the room with the book that was covered with Darkness?

Xusius walks over to a table, pulls out a chair, and sits down. He reaches into his robe and gets out a goblet and a bottle of Sangria. Filling the goblet, he slams the bottle down on the table, obviously angered. After a long pull from the goblet he says to Mistress Koi in Sylvan, "Were you going to put ze fox back een ze scroll? What crime deed he commit to be sentenced to such a fate?"

To the party he says, "I for one am not weelling to help ze her seal ze fox in ze scroll again. Zere ees something zat I feel ees not right here."

He then speaks to the fox. "Zou are quite lucky today, monsieur fox. We are meessing a piece of ze scroll. Eet zeems we zhall not find eet as we zearched for zem most diligently."

He takes another drink from the goblet.

"I said I didn't have it." says the Fox indignantly at Deluge's groping. "Trust me when you've lived with the riddle as long as I have, you know."

He perks up a bit at Xusius's news.

Sylvan subtitles. (I don't have any Xusius subtitles.)

Xusius walks over to a table, pulls out a chair, and sits down. He reaches into his robe and gets out a goblet and a bottle of Sangria. Filling the goblet, he slams the bottle down on the table, obviously angered. After a long pull from the goblet he says to Mistress Koi in Sylvan, "Were you going to put ze fox back een ze scroll? What crime deed he commit to be sentenced to such a fate?"

"Well, of course I was." she says to Xusius as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to do. "But, I'll need the rest of the scroll to do it. I suppose I'll have to flood the place, and just go look myself." Mistress Koi says with obviously distaste at the prospect.

Deluge just wants the problem to go away so he can see about filling his bag again. Besides, what doe she care if the dang library get's all flooded.

"More riddles, sir Fox?... Whatever!"

Sylvan subtitles.

"Just look at him." implores the fish. "You can see the level of his depravity."

The Fox makes a face and sticks out his tongue.

"Grrrrr! After all this--! Argh! Look: our mission is to stop the flooding. If we do not find the last piece of this poem, we will fail. Do not forget that this fox quite easily impersonated Dean Shaine to achieve his own ends. He cannot be trusted. I say we go back down into that cesspool of a basement and find the last scrap of that cursed poem so we can all be finished with this infuriating tripe. Now, before you make any more arguments, Xusius, I would have you know that I give exactly zero feces in a bag about the fate of that pestiferous fox!" She glares at the imbibing elf, as if accusing him of playing the devil's advocate simply to irritate her as much as possible.

Xusius takes another drink from his goblet and says in Sylvan, "Meestress Koi, Zou searching for ze missing piece zounds like a wonderful idea. Zou have not zold us ze truth about all of zi een my opinion. Zou just spout endless amounts of water and change ze story around whenever we ask zou questions. Zou could have flooded ze place and gone after eet any time zou wanted to do zo. Why haven't zou?"

After another drink he looks at the fox and speaks. "Ze feesh wants zou back in ze scroll. Any reason why we zoud or zoudn't allow zat? Eef she goes after ze piece and gets eet, eet will be hard to stop her. On ze other hand, eef we have ze piece, we can zee Dean Shaine and Meestress Zarta to zort all of zis out."

He takes another drink while pulling out another bottle of Sangria.

Pau shrugs his shoulders. ”If we can’t find the rest of the scrolls, the only thing I can think to do is punch the fish woman until it stops moving...”

You are missing a piece.

To clarify, a piece we have never seen or found?

The World's Most Interesting GM wrote:

You are missing a piece.

To clarify, a piece we have never seen or found?

Correct.

"Grrrrr! After all this--! Argh! Look: our mission is to stop the flooding. If we do not find the last piece of this poem, we will fail. Do not forget that this fox quite easily impersonated Dean Shaine to achieve his own ends."

"Well 'achieved' is a bit strong." says the "Deluged" Fox, self-deprecatingly holding up his tied wrists.

Sylvan subtitles.

Xusius takes another drink from his goblet and says in Sylvan, "Meestress Koi, Zou searching for ze missing piece zounds like a wonderful idea. Zou have not zold us ze truth about all of zi een my opinion. Zou just spout endless amounts of water and change ze story around whenever we ask zou questions. Zou could have flooded ze place and gone after eet any time zou wanted to do zo. Why haven't zou?"

The fish blinks twice at Xusius (or four times depending on how you count blinking with four eyes). "Have we met? Well, whatever you are, you are right. Honestly, why didn't I think of that?"

Mistress Koi starts pumping out torrents of water in all directions.

Xusius: "Meestress Koi, Zou searching for ze missing piece zounds like a wonderful idea. Zou have not zold us ze truth about all of zi een my opinion. Zou just spout endless amounts of water and change ze story around whenever we ask zou questions. Zou could have flooded ze place and gone after eet any time zou wanted to do zo. Why haven't zou?"

Madame Koi: "Have we met? Well, whatever you are, you are right. Honestly, why didn't I think of that?"

Xusius: "Blah blah blah..."

Madame Koi: "Blah Blah..."

...and then the fish lady starts spouting even more water with even more gusto. Yangrit snaps. This is just too much. She jerks to her full height, waving her arms to get the huge fish's attention. "No! Wait! Stop! Give us more time! We will look again! Xusius, you--Argh! Just get her to stop, or so help me, I will tell Dean Shaine that your bumbling idiocy is responsible for the extra damage and loss!" Spittle flies from her mouth as she shouts accusingly at Xusius, who has the audacity to lounge around drinking on the job. She is practically dancing with rage, her face turning a deep crimson, tinged with purple.

Pau began to question everything. ”Did we search the room we found the Fox in? I can’t recall since I was almost dead and all. Is there a chance the last slip is in the darkness book? We need to follow up everywhere.”

Xusius refills his goblet. After another long drink from the goblet he looks at Yangrit and smiles.

"Think about eet a minute, Yangrit. Ze feesh has been pumping out all zat water for hours and ze water level has not gone up down zere. Zere must be a drain somewhere that ees preventing eet from going up any more."

To Pau he says, "I zought we deed zearch in ze library. Any how, let us go zearch down zere in ze basement again. Zose of uz who can cast Detect Magic zould do zo."

Standing up he says, "Let uz go zearch again. Zince Yangrit ees zo determined to find ze worthless scrap of paper, zhe can lead ze way. Oh, and mademoiselle? Tell Zhaine whatever zou want. At zis point I really do not care."

As an afterthought he says, "Be zure to lead uz by ze lavatory!" as they descend down the stairs.

As she begins stomping down the stairs, Yangrit mutters quietly to herself: "Oh, I'll lead you by the lavatory, all right. Once we are finished with this fish, I will gladly lock you in there for the night!"

Louder, she announces with all the aplomb of someone volunteering for an onerous task and expecting absolutely no appreciation for it: "I am going to bring the dark book up here, but I will grab it right before we return upstairs. ...We had better hope that giant corpse bird has not returned. The way it simply disappeared is unnerving."

Deluge is amused by their panic. And although he is not all that concerned about the library, he figures he might as well help look around.

"Yes, let's start with that dang book and the things it hid."

Later, in the basement...

Are you leaving the Fox with Koi?

Is Deluge turning onto a scaly Uber?

As an afterthought he says, "Be zure to lead uz by ze lavatory!" as they descend down the stairs.

The water below is at about 5' deep now.

At one point in the search, the water around Xusius seems to grow warmer to those in close proximity.

Eventually, the party returns to the Heritage Stacks, the room with the stubborn dark, and finds what they suppose to be the final fragment.

Partway down the stairs, Yangrit suddenly realizes they can't just leave the fox up there with the prima dona fish. She insists on tying the fox spread-eagle-style to the railing so he can't move, much less reach one paw with another. She also takes some sodden clothes from her pack and ties them like mittens around his paws after his wrists are tied, so he can't possibly work himself free. For good measure, she ties his snout shut, too. "Xusius, tell that fish lady to watch him constantly." I doubt very much that it will do any good, but it is worth a try.

In the basement, upon finding the last scrap of poem:

"Ugh. Finally! Come on everyone, it is high time to go back upstairs."

@GM: Is the final fragment in or part of the darkness book, or just near it? As in, do we have to bring the book with us?

Xusius is amused as Yangrit's expertise at tying strange men down is quite evident. It is obvious she is extremely skillful at tying knots. With this new knowledge, he makes a mental note about what to buy her for her birthday. As they make their way back up the stairs he wrings out his robes a bit before deciding to just throw them away and get new, red silk robes.

No, Deluge is stuck being human. Only gets one change per day. So he will have to do a lot of floating.

"I doubt very much a trickster like him will remain tied up, but have it your way."

Deluge is a pretty decent swimmer, but the dragonhide armor and shield of his make thing difficult. But with his bulk and using the shield like a boogy-board, he slides along pretty effectively.

swim: 1d20 ⇒ 19

He snags the book and stuffs it into his backpack, not worrying about the noises it makes. He does not say much, but his digestive tracts start producing the most alarming clangor once he has the book in his possession.

Partway down the stairs, Yangrit suddenly realizes they can't just leave the fox up there with the prima dona fish. She insists on tying the fox spread-eagle-style to the railing so he can't move, much less reach one paw with another. She also takes some sodden clothes from her pack and ties them like mittens around his paws after his wrists are tied, so he can't possibly work himself free. For good measure, she ties his snout shut, too. "Xusius, tell that fish lady to watch him constantly." I doubt very much that it will do any good, but it is worth a try.

In the basement, upon finding the last scrap of poem:

"Ugh. Finally! Come on everyone, it is high time to go back upstairs."

@GM: Is the final fragment in or part of the darkness book, or just near it? As in, do we have to bring the book with us?

In his present form as Deluge he doesn't have so much a snout as a paunch.

No, Deluge is stuck being human. Only gets one change per day. So he will have to do a lot of floating.

So is Yangrit up on his or someone's shoulders or just bobbing every few steps?

He snags the book and stuffs it into his backpack, not worrying about the noises it makes. He does not say much, but his digestive tracts start producing the most alarming clangor once he has the book in his possession.

The darkness goes out while it is wrapped but if you have to open your pack to reach for something it shines out like a reverse spotlight. The noise though is like swimming in a group of 40 other people, except instead of splashing sounds it sounds like all those other people are being tortured--the noise being made up of their cries, moans, and screams.

In his present form as Deluge he doesn't have so much a snout as a paunch.

In that case, she'll just gag him with soggy fabric strips, torn from clothes.

So is Yangrit up on his or someone's shoulders or just bobbing every few steps?

I assume she's mostly bobbing, but she may grab onto someone's clothes for a tow. NOT Xusuis, though. She's too peeved at him (partly because she's chosen him as a scapegoat for all this madness).

The party returns to Mistress Koi with the final fragment in hand, their arrival heralded by a chorus of dreadful wailing.

More than slightly unnerved by the sound, Hannar the Wild casts Shield.

Deluge thinks that is a really good idea and casts a bull's strength on himself, knowing that his body is rather squishy and ineffective in combat without it. Just in case things get ugly.

Koi blinks at the arrival of the party. By her expression you can tell at once that she has forgotten who you are.

Pau puts his fingers to his wrinkly brow, trying to make the headaches go away. ”Someone please talk to her and make all this stop. I just...can’t anymore,” Pau says, clearly broken by this mission.

"I can't. Don't speak fish."

"Maybe the Countessa or Shaine can. Though by the time I found one of them the library might be an ocean. But, if I remember correctly, if we show her all the parts of the riddle, she might not need words."

And I can go back to bed. Wonder what time it is?

Xusius reminds the water spouting fish that they are there with the scroll and the fox so she can do whatever it is she is going to do with the scroll fragments.

In Sylvan: "Meestress Koi, we have found ze meesing scrap of ze scroll. Here eet ees. Just exactly what ees eet zou intend to do weeth ze fox? Eef zou intend upon sealing him into ze scroll again, I must inform zou that I cannot allow zat to happen. I zink a great wrong has been zere."

Xusius informs the party that he has told the fish that they are giving her the missing scroll fragment.

He then goes to a table, pulls out a goblet and another bottle of Sangria, and pours himself another drink. He also pulls out his wand of Magic Missile and a scroll of Obscuring Mist.

He raises the goblet in a toast to the fox and drinks.

Sylvan subtitles. In stereo where available

Xusius reminds the water spouting fish that they are there with the scroll and the fox so she can do whatever it is she is going to do with the scroll fragments.

In Sylvan: "Meestress Koi, we have found ze meesing scrap of ze scroll. Here eet ees."

"'Scroll?'" says Koi a bit befuddled. "OH, YES! THE SCROLL!"

"Just exactly what ees eet zou intend to do weeth ze fox? Eef zou intend upon sealing him into ze scroll again, I must inform zou that I cannot allow zat to happen. I zink a great wrong has been zere."

"'Fox?' OH, WHATSHISNAME!" says Koi surprised again. "I wonder where he's got to.... And what do you mean you won't allow me to take my prisoner into custody again? What the Maker says goes! He's the Maker after all."

Xusius replies to Mistress Koi in Sylvan. "Ze fox ees not zour prisoner. He ees ze prisoner of ze Pathfinder Society. Zou may inform zis Maker of zat. He may request an audience weeth Dean Kreighton Shaine to discuss ze matter weeth heem. Have a nice day."

He turns and walks back to where the fox is and being to unlash him from the railing while whispering to the fox, "Keep quiet and do not do anyzing to draw attention from her or zou weel be back in zat scroll because I doubt I can stop her.I weel take zou to Dean Shaine and hopefully we can get all zis taken care of zere. Eet ees either zat or back into ze scroll."

He speaks up to the rest of the agents in Common. "Ze feesh lady said we may take ze fox to Dean Shaine for hees decision on ze matter. Let us move quickly before she changes her mind."

Sense motive vs. Xusius 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Pau wasn’t sure of the details of the conversation, but he didn’t like the idea of taking the fox out of the room instead of dealing with it now.

Glowering darkly at Xusius, Yangrit growls: "Of course you went rogue to arrange that! You are the only one who thinks that is a good idea. Trust an elf to undermine the mission!" The last sentence comes out as a challenging sneer as she plants her feet at the top of the stairs. "All right, everyone! It is time to vote. Whoever wants to bring the fox to Dean Shaine, say 'Aye'!" She glares daggers at Xusius as she awaits the party's reaction.

No hard feelings intended Xusius. Yangrit has a deeply rooted distrust of men in charge, and Xusius's behavior, especially with the wine, is triggering some very unpleasant memories for her. Legolas may have been talking about her when he said: "Have you learned nothing of the stubbornness of dwarves?"

Like I care

"Abstain"

"Though if you want to impress the society, you might want to send the fox back. They are into such things you know. Me? Don't really care about such things."

"I hear crickets. Now, I think Deluge has the right idea. Let the magic fish deal with the tricksy fox. All others in favor, say 'Aye'!" Yangrit is definitely ready to be done with this.

Pau agrees with Yangrit and the Druid.

Just waiting for the GM to say I have unlashed the fox from the railing at which point Xusius slides a scroll of Obscuring Mist out for use.

"Are zou working for ze feesh or ze Pathfinder Society, mon amis? She cannot even remember why she ees here!

Xusius redoubles his efforts to untie the fox from the railing.

He turns and walks back to where the fox is....

"Was" is probably the better word. He's not here when the party returns from their trip to the basement.

@TWMIGM: That is something all of us would have noticed right away when we arrived in the area. Why didn't you tell us? (So all that tense RP was for naught.)

I thought he told us that. I figured I remembered wrong when everyone else figured he was there. Doesn't change much though, other that if we want to put him away we now have to find him.

In that case, roll back to this point.

Xusius reminds the water spouting fish that they are there with the scroll and the fox so she can do whatever it is she is going to do with the scroll fragments.

In Sylvan: "Meestress Koi, we have found ze meesing scrap of ze scroll. Here eet ees. Just exactly what ees eet zou intend to do weeth ze fox? Eef zou intend upon sealing him into ze scroll again, I must inform zou that I cannot allow zat to happen. I zink a great wrong has been zere."

Xusius informs the party that he has told the fish that they are giving her the missing scroll fragment.

He then goes to a table, pulls out a goblet and another bottle of Sangria, and pours himself another drink. He also pulls out his wand of Magic Missile and a scroll of Obscuring Mist. Then he sits down and puts his feet on the table while getting comfortable. He drinks from the goblet and raises it in a toast to Yangrit.

Yeah, we could belabor the point, or just move on. I'm with Xusius: let's move on.
@GM: What does the Madame Koi do once she has all the fragments?

Sylvan subtitles.

"OH! WONDERFUL!" Koi burbles upon seeing and then being reminded of what the parchment fragments are.

"Now where's Whatshisname? He has to be here so I can take him back to his imprisonment. The Maker is never wrong."

Xusius speaks loudly in Common after repeating what she said to the others, "He zent zou, zo obviously he ees wrong!"

Xusius pours another drink and passes the bottle around.

"Great!" Yangrit growls. "Now we have to find that dang fox again!" Before tromping back down the stairs, she searches the entire mezzanine, just in case the fox is hiding up there. It's just the sort of tricky thing a sly fox would do, if he was cocky enough.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16