Menagerie PFS: Wounded Wisp (Inactive)

Game Master Gummy Bear

"Oh, Tsamara" Aurora shakes her head, a note of pity in her voice. "Whyever should being dead stop you from living?"

Aurora chuckles, a warm and musical sound. She looks at Tsamara as if looking at a small child.

Once his companions have left the tomb, Tibitz will sneak away and join them a short distance away.

"That Devil-Priest is crazy. Yes, yes. Telling himself all kinds of lies. Maybe he bashed head on rock? Yes, yes."

As they walk he will attempt to contain his curiosity, which lasts for about a whole 60 seconds before be bursts into questions.

"What did you find? Did you find shiny-things or treasure-things? Bones and swords? Yes, yes. Tell us what you finded. Yes, yes."

"Well, there wasn't any chocolate soufflé" answers Aurora sadly.

Exiting the tomb, guilt flickers across Durward's face (as though he was just caught doing something) as you leave before waving you off.

While wandering the streets of Absalom, you find ample time to analyze the silver coin.

Spellcraft (DC 18): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

"Hmm...it is magical..." Tsamara remarks as she studies the coin, "...but...oh. I'm not sure what the exact enchantment is. All I can tell is that there's a faint aura of divination about it."

She thinks for a moment.

"Hmm...Mister Aram bin Kaleel told me that I would be welcome to visit his shop in the Coins District if I ever needed advice. He owns a shop of curiosities - maybe he could tell us what the coin does?"

"It certainly could not hurt!" Onye says encouragingly. "Let us do that."

Tibitz eyes Tsamara with admiration, "That very clever idea. Yes, yes. Go see coin-man. We will learn magic-things about it."

Tibitz begins asking questions, whether he is talking to himself or the group in general isn't clear, "Magic coin very valuable. Who leave shiny-magic-coin in old tomb-place? Must not have wanted it. We gets to keep it. That's what Path-Venturers do. Yes, yes."

With the help of your map and a little Absalom know-how, finding Kaleel's Curiosities in the Coin's District is an easy task.

As you enter his shop, you're greeted with the soft sound of chimes. The modestly sized room you find yourself in is filled with trinkets from across the globe, signs denoting the continent and country in a neat script.

Moving aside a hanging barrier of colorful beads, Aram bin Kaleel steps into the room. "Ah, Tsamara! What a pleasure it is to see you again," he says, warmly taking her hand for a moment. "Greetings to you all, I am Aram bin Kaleel, as I have no doubt our mutual friend has told you." Smiling, he continues, "What brings you to my little shop?"

"Hello again," Tsamara smiles, returning bin Kaleel's handshake. "I didn't think we would be crossing paths again so soon but we came across something of strange magical power and couldn't figure out what it is."

She then pulls out the coin (or beckons to whoever is holding it). "So we thought we would see if you would be willing to help. Have you seen one of these before?"

"Greetings, Aram bin Kaleel," Onye says with a feline smile--it is supposed to appear friendly. "I am Onye Dawon."

He looks around for somewhere to rest his glaive so that he looks less like a brigand ready to rob the store owner.

Tibitz smiles as the coin is handed to Aram bin Kaleel, "We have found Path-Venture treasure coin! Very magic, very special... very much gold! Yes, yes."

Bin Kaleel takes the offered coin with a smile and turns to the counter. Opening a book, he flips through it for a moment. "Just as I thought! Here, have a read," he says, turning back around and offering the tome to the nearest person.

"This is what's called a Pathfinder's Coin. Nifty little things. That page has everything there is to know about it," he explains. "I don't suppose any of you have been issued a Wayfinder yet?" His hand sinks to his pocket and grabs something resting there.

"Oh, so there's a hidden message? I sort of have a wayfinder, but it's broken. It's my only clue to my master's disappearance. I can't even open it."

This is just backstory stuff. When Aurora can afford it she'll probably take the 'inherited' wayfinder vanity.

Tsamara shakes her head. "Oh no, not yet. But I hope to get one soon - maybe after our errands are done today."

"Anyway...we've found a secret message? Now things are getting really interesting! I wonder what it says??"

Assuming nobody has a Wayfinder at this point.

Bin Kaleel hands the coin to Aurora to try. "Place it flat on the Wayfinder," he instructs, pulling his hand from his pocket to model the action with a plain coin. The coin shakes for a moment, one end even begins to rise, but it ultimately fails to respond.

"It was worth the attempt," he says, taking back the coin and placing it on his own Wayfinder. Within moments, the coin raises an inch into the air and begins spinning slowly. Then, a voice can be heard: "The path and chamber are complete, hidden behind the nameplate of the requested aspirant and guarded by the word you requested. Fimbrik will add more."

Once the message is complete, bin Kaleel plucks the coin from his Wayfinder and hands it back. "I hope you know what that means, because it was quite worthless to me!" he says with a chuckle. "Aurora, when you have the time, I'd be more than happy to take a look at that Wayfinder for you, but I sense you are quite busy at the moment!"

"Thank you sir, that is most generous of you. I will visit when our current investigation has concluded." Aurora beams happily.

"We should visit Fimbrik next, I think."

"I think so too," Tsamara agrees, her tail swishing with excitement. "Hopefully Fimbrik will know more about this 'path and chamber'!"

Turning to Bin Kaleel she smiles and offers a bow of gratitude. "Thank you again, sir! This is just what we needed for our investigation!"

Tibitz nods his approval of Aurora's plan, "Yes, yes, go, go. We go to Fimbrik. We have much more Path-Venture to be doing."

Within Foster's notes, you find Fimbrik's address (at least at the time of writing) is on the Arcanamirium's campus in the Wise Quarter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOME OF FIMBRIK THE ILLUSIONIST
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walking through campus, you see typical wizard-college sights: a student with blue skin, a Pseudodragon nipping at an apprentice's behind, some sort of arcane frat party (which, at this hour, likely indicates that either they're future dropouts or are just a bunch of lazy Sorcerers), and even a summoning gone wrong! Rumor around campus is that Professor Maren Fuln called a Yangethe into his office and was fortuitously saved by a group of Pathfinders.

Eventually, you pass through into the more tranquil residential area where graduate students and faculty must live. Double checking the address with the impressive stone dwelling before you, you're confident that this is the place Fimbrik lived. A brick step leads to the front entrance.
________
We are on Slide 10! Please place yourselves anywhere on the edge of the map. The front door is to the South, the light blue things in the walls are windows. Please be clear about how you'd like to proceed in your next post. If you wanted to do anything on the way, you have the time/chance to do so.

Apologies. I can't seem to paste onto the new map with my tablet.

"Thank you, Aram bin Kaleel," Onye says with a bow as they depart.

"What is this secret word, do you think?" he muses as they walk.

The amurrun strides up the stairs to the front door, knocks, and waits.

As the group approaches Tibitz will offer a rambling string of suggestions to his companions.

"This is a place that I would like to go study mixing-magic stuff, but no Ratfolk can affords all the coins. Maybe after Path-Venture I will come here to learn more things. Know many things now."

"Should I sneaky-thing the house to see if hidey-things or trappy-things are here?"

"I could climbs inside and do sneaky-things... yes, yes, do sneaky-things. What do you tells me to do?"

Tibitz will remain with the group if they ask him to, but will move just far away to use his stealth as best he can (say 20' back from the group). Either way, here is his stealth check.

Stealth: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

"Well, Tibitz, we just knocked. But if we don't get an answer then yes, sneaky-things sounds like just what we need. And if we have to get inside because Fimbrik isn't home then I think we'll need your special talents there as well."

"So, you want to learn magic then Tibitz? Stick close to me. The Divine Princess has much to offer you."

Aurora smiles warmly at her little ratfolk friend. He'd make a very curious pupil, but I think I could teach him.

"I think we should wait to make sure Fimbrik is home," Tsamara agrees. "One thing seems to be fairly constant through all the places I've traveled - no one likes intruders in their homes."

As they wait to see if someone answers the door, Tsamara smiles too as the talk turns to magic. "If you wanted to learn magic I think you could do it. Some magic comes from within and can't really be taught...but also, some of the most powerful mages and priests I've ever heard of gained their power through hard work and study."

Onye knocks on the door while the rest of the party converses about the nature of magic.

Nothing seems to be stirring on the other side of the door, as far as you can tell. Interestingly enough, anyone who gives the door a closer look notices the lock appears to be rusting. While not uncommon on an island, it is something a typical homeowner would likely seek to address before it fails at its purpose.

"Oh. Hmm. Do people normally let rust gather on their door locks?" Tsamara finally asks after the group waits and gets no answer. "It takes a while for rust to build up. Are we sure that Fimbrik still lives here?"

Curious, she bends down and peers into the door's mail slot.

Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

Tibitz will take a look through the windows and doors. Being very, very sneaky of course!

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13*

When the time comes, Tibitz will take a long, careful look at the lock before he accidentally 'fixes' it.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9*

"See this lock right here? Very broken, lots of red dirt not good for locks and such. I fix it for him so much that he will makes us alls his friends. Yes, yes."

Disable Device: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

"Look at that... bad locks just falls apart like that."

*=+1 vs. traps.

Peering through the mail slot, Tsamara sees multiple neat piles of newspapers on the floor by the door. A couch is positioned near the door, blocking further vision into the room. When Tibitz takes a peek, he thinks he sees some weird marks under the couch, but isn't quite sure if they're dangerous or not, yet (would need the door to be open).

Looking into the windows, you see...

Curiously, while giving the lock some much needed TLC, the soft *click* of tumblers falling into alignment can be heard.

Once she's tied off her horse it's too much work for Aurora to 'squirm' around the outside of the building, so she waits to see if the front door opens. Then Tibitz 'fixes' the lock...

"Oh! Well, that was a bad lock wasn't it, Tibitz. Shall we see if Fimbrik is in?"

Onye, in apparent disregard for Tsamara's more traditional concerns regarding privacy, opens the door and, lowering his glaive, steps inside. "Anyone at home? Fimbrick the gnome?" he calls out.

"Lots of papers piled up in there," Tsamara remarks as she moves aside to allow Tibitz to peer into the mail slot. "Maybe he went somewhere? Or maybe he's just a slob."

Once the lock is open and the front door swings open, Tsamara looks on as Onye casually steps inside. She looks at Aurora and Tibitz, then looks around to make sure no one else is taking notice of their antics. And then she shrugs and steps inside too.

"What is the saying? 'In for a copper, in for a gold'?"

Traditional rules of privacy thrown to the wind, the, perhaps impulsive, Catfolk step into Fimbrik's house. Now near the couch, the few markings that aren't covered glow angrily before flickering and going out. As the sound of a handbell rings out, a trio of firey insects individually coalesce in the room. This housecat-sized beetles are a dull brown color brightened by two glowing green-yellow spots on their carapaces. Their eyes carry a sinister cunning...

One of the beetles clambers onto the couch with the aid of a brief flutter of wings, its mandibles beginning to exude a purple, maleficent aura. It tries to bite down on Onye, but he nimbly pulls away from it.

***ROUND 1***
Global Effects: None
Initiative:
Yellow
Onye
Red
Orange
Tibitz
Tsamara
Aurora

Bold may go!

"Beware! The spawn of the pits descend upon us!" Onye warns his companions as he concentrates a moment on how best to deal with these foes. He lifts his glaive and swipes over the couch at one of the demonic beetles (Red) yet to act.

Move: Martial Flexibility: Dedicated Adversary (fiendish fire beetle), Attack

Glaive, DA: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 4 + 2 = 17 vs. Flat, vs. Cover?
S, DA: 1d10 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 2 = 12

Onye swipes across the couch at the central beetle, the delicate blade of his polearm neatly slicing through its carapace. He warns his allies that these fiendish fire beetles are resistant to fire and cold energy. 5 on the resistances, no sr, no dr. Two more questions if you want them!

The eastern beetle flutters up to the opposite side of the couch from its brethren, mandibles similarly exuding an aura as it tries to catch Tsamara's shoulder. Fortunately, they catch nothing but air.

***ROUND 1***
Global Effects: None
Initiative:
Yellow
Onye
Red (12pts slashing)
Orange
Tibitz
Tsamara
Aurora

Bold may go!

Special Attacks and AC, please

Aurora squirms over to peer into the house, and sees the beetles menacing her companions.

"Do you think these might taste like the land-lobsters too, Tibitz?" she asks as she brandishes her holy symbol and calls upon the Divine Princess to weaken the creatures.

variant channel: 1d6 ⇒ 3 1 damage to both beetles; DC15 Will or be sickened until the end of Aurora's action on round 3. Selective channel excludes the party.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

"'Doz are badly bugs! We need to kills them, yes, yes!"

Tibitz will a dart as a move action (also taking a 5 foot step bacwards) and throw it at one of the remaining beetles (Orange).

Range Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 1 - 4 = 18*
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1

*= penalty for throwing into melee already applied.

Kn. Nature (DC 10): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Kn. Planes (DC 10): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Weaknesses and Special Defenses, I guess? :)

"Eep! Why does it have to be more bugs!?"

Not really expecting to get into a scrape inside someone's home, Tsamara doesn't have a weapon immediately handy. She tries drawing out her silvery mace (provoking an AoO) and smashing the offending beetle!

Attack vs. Orange (Silver Mace): 1d20 ⇒ 2
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Very knowledgeable on the subject, several of you start spouting off as much as you can about these foes! Smite Evil, AC 12, no weaknesses, no special defenses (I'd argue knowing the creature means you know the creature type, therefore it is immune to mind-effecting though). Also, I goofed, they have SR 5.

Aurora's blast of negative energy doesn't seem to bother the yellowish fire beetle, but the orange one is feeling something! Tibitz times a dart throw to sail right over Tsamara's shoulder and into the beetle. Squirming with pain, it lashes out ineffectually at the Catfolk again as she draws her weapon. Proving to be nothing more than for show, the other beetle tries to nip at Onye again, but the warrior is simply too nimble to be caught easily.

***ROUND 1***
Global Effects: None
Initiative:
Yellow (1pt negative)
Onye
Red (12pts slashing)
Orange (sickened, 1pt piercing, 1pt negative)
Tibitz
Tsamara
Aurora

Bold may go!
________

Caught in fairly close quarters, Onye takes one hand from his glaive and draws the silver aspergillum from his belt. He slams the mace into the (orange) demonic beetle with Tibitz' knife sticking out of it.

Silver Battle Aspergillum, DA: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 4 + 2 = 20
B, DA: 1d6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 + 2 = 9

Onye switches up his tactics and easily crushes the bettle against the top of the back of the couch. Ichor and bug innards leave stains as they settle...

***ROUND 2***
Global Effects: None
Initiative:
Yellow (1pt negative)
Onye
Red (12pts slashing)
Orange (sickened, 9pts bludgeoning, 1pt piercing, 1pt negative)
Tibitz
Tsamara
Aurora

Bold may go!
________
FYI, Onye's action was in round 2, just didn't change the round counter.

Realizing that she's likely not going to do much good with her own weapon against the remaining beetle Tsamara switches gears and instead gives Onye a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Looks like you have things under control!"

Then she steps back out of the way.
______________

Tsamara will cast Guidance on Onye and then move to her current map position~

"May the Divine Princess guide us all!"

Aurora casts Guidance on herself and draws her shortspear. Activating Divine Vessel to give everyone a +2 on their next d20 roll - misses Tsamara as she's out of range.

"KILL THE BUGS!"

Tibitz will shout his encouragement as draws his dagger and double moves to get into position to help Onye (he doesn't make it this turn, but is moving to flank).

"Don't worry cat-warrior-man, I gets into special fighty place so you can be extra stabby! Make all stabby good!"

The party begins circling their prey, angling for the final strike and magically supporting Onye's killing abilities. The remaining beetle continues trying to gnaw on Onye, but the attack is well-telegraphed and thus easily evaded.

***ROUND 3***
Global Effects: None
Initiative:
Yellow (1pt negative)
Onye
Red (12pts slashing)
Orange (sickened, 9pts bludgeoning, 1pt piercing, 1pt negative)
Tibitz
Tsamara
Aurora

Bold may go!
________

Onye slams the perforated silver mace down on the remaining invader from the Abyss.

Silver Battle Aspergillum, DA, G, DV: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 17
B, DA: 1d6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 + 2 = 9

Though she's pretty sure that Onye has things under control, Tsamara decides to hedge her bets a little bit. She moves back over to her fellow amurrun and gives him another encouraging pat on the shoulder.
______________

Move to current map position & Guidance on Onye again...not that I think it'll be needed, but still~

Unless Onye dispatches the creature with his next swing (which looks likely) Tibitz will continue to move to flank.

***

Upon this dispatching of the last of the creatures Tibitz will congratulate his newly-found companions, "We dids good, yes, yes? This Path-Venturing very good team. We's tell them all good story when we get backs, yes, yes."

Aurora enters the house.

"Well, this looks quite comfortable for a land-dweller's lodging. But why hasn't Fimbrik come out to meet us? If we're considered invaders and the host is at home, surely he'd confront us? Unless he's not actually a powerful wizard, but a charlatan who purchased his magic and reputation with gold! In which case he's hiding in fear of us."

Aurora has quite the fantastical imagination ;)

With the aid of his allies, Onye smashed his mace against the beetle. Its exoskeleton is nothing before the force of the blow and it ceases to move. Moments after the last beetle is killed, all three of them disintegrate into a swirl of sulfurous dust.
________
Combat over! Here is a link to the description of each room. You may explore the area at your leisure, let me know what you'd like to do next!

Onye heads into the living room once the demonic fire beetles have been dispatched. He opens the double doors and looks inside, "Anyone at home?" he asks, scanning back and forth.

Hearing no answer, he pads over to the desk and searches it.