GM Zin's CORE 5-11 Library of the Lion (Outpost III) (Inactive)

Game Master Zin Z'arin

Sounds good to me

Sounds good

OK, Fillia wants to return to The Caretaker's Quarters to investigate the portrait, which can be done while others search another room for clues. Did you want to explore The Study Chamber or the Ancient Books Room next?

1 Study 2 Books: 1d2 ⇒ 1

Study is my vote then. :-P

Time Check.

You believe that you've been down here somewhat more than an hour, but not two.

It's possible to calculate the time more accurately from the information given about searching each room; keep in mind that some additional time (though not much) was spent using Diplomacy both with The Guardian and Iliyana, and the few locations that don't have explicit research times provided took a couple of minutes each.

As long as we still have time to make it back. I'm all good.

"Aye let's move, let's check the study - though I do want to find out what was useful enough to hide in a secret chamber.

Samildanch moves over to the study, as indicated by Ilyana.

Vote for the study

Fillia returns to The Caretaker's Quarters while the rest of the Pathfinders move onto The Study Chamber with Iliyana.

The Study Chamber

Five broad desks line the walls of this study room. Each work surface is covered with stacked volumes brimming with page markers as well as numerous open books.

Ilyana repeats her admonition that each desk represents a specific student's studies, and thus to make sure all items are returned as they were to avoid detection.

This is a small room that would take a single person 30 minutes to search alone; up to four PCs can search together to reduce that time. Iliyana counts as an additional searcher with respect to the time it takes to search. The text-based skills shown on the slides are the only skills that may be used to find clues in this room. Remember that you've accumulated an abundance of clues that can provide bonuses on these skill checks, and any skill may be used with a discretionary penalty if you roleplay your reasoning.

Aldran walks is and starts to look around.

Know History: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Hudor carefully looks at the desk's contents, trying to help what little he can.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 11

Entering the study room, Samildanach first checks to see if there is another portrait of the Crown Prince to add to their list of possible clues. Then they look through the study material to see if there is anything pertaining to the curing of injuries, focusing on burns, claw marks and the like - usual injuries suffered by those fighting the demons of the Worldwound.

Heal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Samildanach and Hudor, you may want to use the "Magical Assistance" clue so you can both reroll

As the others investigate the study, Vraxam takes a precursory glance around the room with the ancient tomes.

Perception - non critical: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Will give that a chance

Magical Assistance, Heal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Fillia investigated the quotation on the picture frame in The Caretaker's Quarters

Aldran, Hudor, and Samildanach have all searched for clues in The Study Chamber

Vraxam has performed a preliminary investigation in the Ancient Books Room

I will bot Eoswulf as a searcher for clues here shortly.

The Magical Assistance clue allows all PCs to reroll their roll in this room. Aldran and Hudor, please reroll your skill check or let me know that you would like it to stand as rolled. In addition to Magical Assistance, you can elect to use a clue on the bot roll I make for Eoswulf, who will also get a reroll from Magical Assistance. Let me know if you want me to do that and what die results I should or should not reroll.

Know History: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Well the re-roll was a mistake, but had to try

Hudor, you have the option to reroll your skill check here, or to let it stand as rolled. Please let me know what your choice is.

I will bot Eoswulf's skill check with my next post if he hasn't posted by then. I know the DC, so I can't bot a reroll for him; if you would like me to reroll for Eoswulf as part of the bot, please let me know what final result I should reroll. (I.e. reroll if under XX.) Keep in mind that he doesn't have a text-based skill to use, so whichever skill I decide to bot will receive a penalty somewhere between -2 and -5. If I receive no direction, I will bot him without a reroll.

The first roll was better. Sigh.

Magical Assistance reroll: 1d20 ⇒ 1

Eoswulf bot
Appraise: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

The Pathfinders search around the Study Chamber, digging through the desks and associated papers. Samildanach has the greatest success, his insight in looking for injury reports proving fruitful.

You found the clues Encarthan Maps and Taldan Cipher 3, which can now be seen in the slides. You can continue searching in this room (again, for ½ the time of the original search, which was calculated with Iliyana as a 5th searcher) or move on.

Finding another code cipher, Samildanach examines them before making a note and returning the originals as instructed by the Caretaker. "So we got one more room to look at before the hidden chambers. I suggest checking out that hidden passage before we search the last room." the pirate suggests.

...and returning the originals as instructed by the Caretaker.

Aldran, Eoswolf, Hudor, and Samildanach, please make an Intelligence (lower DC) or Perception (higher DC) check to place the materials back as you found them. I will bot Eoswulf if he hasn't rolled by the time the other three have rolled.

INT: 1d20 ⇒ 11

Pretty confident in their abilities to remember their search, Samildanach leaves the room before they can knock anything over.

Intelligence: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

Hudor tries to move stuff back to where they were originally.

Note: the results of these checks are invisible to you. You can combine them with your posts to determine where to go next.

"I'm really curious about what is behind that secret door. Lets head there next."

Botting Aldran and Eoswulf

Intelligence, Aldran: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
Perception, Ēoswulf: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

After doing your best to cover your tracks in The Study Chamber, you circle back to the secret door you found in The Administrator's Room.

"I don't think I should go any further; I'm going to return to my quarters. Come get me when you want me to unlock the cases in the Ancient Books Room." Iliyana heads back to her quarters.

Not finding the trap on the door, Ēoswulf swings it open; you barely notice a short hallway that turns south before two darts fly out!

One dart flies wide, but another embeds itself in the back of his hand.

Fortitude, Eoswulf: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Damage, Dex: 1d2 ⇒ 1

Ēoswulf grunts at the sharp pain, and can feel the poison continuing to course through his veins.

Round 1 (bold may act)
Eoswulf (35/37, 1 Dex damage)
Vraxam
Fillia
Samildanach
Aldran
Hudor

Ēoswulf will need to continue to attempt saves each round and take additional Dex damage from the poison until he makes the save. I put us in rounds in case anybody has anything they can do to help. If not, I'll take us out of rounds and just bot his saves until the poison has run its course.

Seeing their ally struck by the dart, Samildanach checks to see if the dart contained any nasty surprises. Uttering a prayer to Gozreh, their eyes glow slightly as the see within their friend.

Casting Detect Poison

DC 20 Wisdom to identify: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

"Ach! Yer poisoned laddie, anyone help him? I can restore you after."

Samildanach confirms that Ēoswulf has been poisoned, but is unable to identify the specific poison.

Round 1 (bold may act)
Eoswulf (35/37, 1 Dex damage)
Vraxam
Fillia
Samildanach
Aldran
Hudor

With a sigh, Vraxam pipes up, "Better you than me...though I can't do much for ya."

Looking down the hall, he inquires "Was it a trap? Or yall piss someone off?"

"Trap. Poison dart like by the looks of it" Fillia replies.

Heal 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
"This is all I can do without magical means or more skills in the arts of healing." she replies after helping the man clean the wound somewhat with a some water.

Vraxam wonders what actually happened, and Fillia immediately begins tending the wound.

Ēoswulf will get a +4 circumstance bonus on his next saving throw due to Fillia's care. This can be repeated for each check until Ēoswulf succeeds at the saving throw; I'll include Fillia's Heal check with each bot of Ēoswulf's saving throw.

Round 1 (bold may act)
Ēoswulf (35/37, 1 Dex damage)
Vraxam
Fillia
Samildanach
Aldran
Hudor

Hudor has nothing he can do to help with the poison, "Lets be careful as we investigate further down the secret passage. There might be more traps."

Remembering they don't want to leave any traces of them being here, Hudor goes and retrieves the dart that missed.

"Poison ye say? I give upon ye my blessings." And Aldran touches Ēoswulf on the shoulder.

Resistant touch transfers resistance bonus to ally for one minute. He gets +1 to saves
Soory that I have been away, got swamped at work.

Taking us out of rounds, as it seems everybody has done what they can. Botting the rest of Ēoswulf's saves. Ēoswulf already has a +1 resistance bonus from his own cloak of resistance, so Aldran's resistant touch grants no additional bonus.

Fortitude, round 2, heal (treat poison): 1d20 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 4 = 19

And that was enough. Ability score damage doesn't affect a PC until it reaches 2 points of damage, so Ēoswulf feels no effects from the poison.

The short hallway turns right (south) before ending in another door.

Ēoswulf and Fillia find no traps on this door. Ēoswulf opens the door clumsily, perhaps overly cautious of another trap. Cabinets with two tall drawers each line the east and west walls of this room. A relief carving of a lion’s head dominates the south wall, hanging imperiously over a low stone step. Six freestanding statuettes of lions in various poses stand atop the furniture.

Map updated. This is a medium room that would take a single person 60 minutes to search alone; up to five PCs can search together to reduce that time. The text-based skills shown on the slides are the only skills that may be used to find clues in this room without penalty. Remember that you've accumulated an abundance of clues that can provide bonuses on these skill checks, and any skill may be used with a discretionary penalty if you roleplay your reasoning.

Stepping into the room, Samildanach ponders aloud. "I wonder if the Guardian can move to that Lion too, or could transfer into one of those Statues maybe?"

With the though out there, the Half-orc begins their search, seriously considering doing some book learning in the near future to avoid finding themselves in this situation again. They continue their search for healing texts to help the Crusaders and Pathfinder both in dealing with wounds - or reports from the Doctors of the previous crusades.

Heal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

If ok with others, I would like to use one of the clues to add 3 to the check. But happy for someone else with a proper skill to do so

"That would be a neat trick if he could."Responding to Samildanach.
Aldran starts to look around for old histories on the Crusaders.
Know History: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Hudor investigates the eastern wall but once again, his lack of book-learning, has made it hard for him to research like this.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 6

Eyeing the cabinets, Vraxam begins to consider his experience with disguises. 'Hmm...it's all about the subtle changes. Lose them in the details....'

Fairly certain he's figured out what doesn't belong, he reaches for a book with gusto!

Disguise?: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
lol! I found a piece of dust! This doesn't belong in a secluded, hidden room undergound!

Samil - go ahead and use it

Perception 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25
Yeah use the clue bonus..

"I doubt like it'll be easy for us to like carry that out with us." Filla points out the size of the statue.

Though she searches the place for interesting texts as well, the half elf's attention is drawn more towards the statues of the lions and wonders if they were meant to be something as she studies them....

Ēoswulf pitches in the best that he can, using one of the clues to help him out in his search for anything hidden or valuable.

perception: 1d20 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 6 + 3 = 24

team, the clues describe three ciphers. I think we should apply them to each of the messages we have found on inscriptions and see what hidden messages we find. Does anyone have time to do that soon? I do not have time for it this morning

Hudor cast detect magic as he scans the room and looks for anything that might be magical in some way or hints at magic.

"Maybe something will give off a slight magical aura to help us find any useful information in this room."

Fillia searches the room since the lions seems interesting.

The filing cabinets in this room house dossiers on Lion Blade agents past and present. Examining the documents in their entirety would take weeks, but even a cursory search of the papers shows that Taldor’s most infamous spies maintain a presence in nearly every nation of the Inner Sea region and in numerous nations that lie beyond. The rest of the documents pertain to known artifacts, holy sites, and cursed properties. Among these dossiers, two relevant clue are found; you are confident that nothing else related to the Shining Crusade can be found here.

Samildanach, Aldran, and Ēoswulf, with the aid of the Prolific Author and Handwritten Notes clues, find the clues Cryptic References and Enemy Analysis, which can now be seen in the slides. The combined results of your research rolls was high enough to uncover additional clues if any were here, so you are confident there's nothing more to find.

While the other Pathfinders search the dossiers, Fillia realizes that the large lion carving--stylistically similar to The Guardian--conceals an unlocked secret door. She notes that the stone step below the door has four shallow recesses that appear to be the same size as the bases of the six freestanding lion statues. It appears that these recesses act as a sort of combination lock. The door has no lock, however, so it's not clear what the function of this combination mechanism might be.

Each miniature lion is portrayed in a different way. One crouches as if preparing to ambush its prey. The second is roaring as it leaps at prey. The third wears a yoke that is chained to a large block that the lion strains to pull. The fourth wears a tiny pair of spectacles and reads from an ornate scroll. The fifth is draped in the flag of Taldor. The sixth sits erect and wears a crown.

Fillia alerts the rest to her discovery.
"I like found a door with lock but like some kind of combination of some kind. Am going to like check out the lion statues more and see if they have like names or something." she's excited as she looks at the lions closer.

There are no inscriptions on any of the lion statues.

”Hmm, maybe we should check the room beyond if it’s unlocked? No need to waste time on a combination we don’t need.” Samildanach suggests as they take the clues from this room. They follow up their advice by moving towards the Lion and peering at the door and saying a brief prayer to Gozreh to reveal auras.

Detect Magic

Samildanach is able to determine that there is in fact a magical aura on the door, linked to the recesses. Studying it more, it appears to be a single, moderate aura.

Knowledge (arcana) DC 20: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

Examining the door, "Conjuration. That is the magical aura around the door. Maybe it opens up some type of portal or gate."