#0-13: The Prince of Augustana [Tier 1-2] by GM Rutseg (Inactive)

Game Master Balacertar

"It was a pleasure to help," Brand says, already turning his attention back to shuffling his cards. "The fellow we met had suggested there was a portal of some type? Maybe some entryway to another dimension or something? So, have you seen or heard of anything weird like that down here?" and Brand takes his attention briefly away from his shuffling as he looks around briefly at his party hoping that he said and did the right thing. After that extremely brief scan, he returns to his shuffling.

Strom swings his flail for a moment longer after the thug's leader dissappears. Satisfied that he left the stage, he stops swinging and clips the handle of the flail on his belt. He looks around at the carnage and rummages through some of the belongings from the thugs.

Turning to his comrades, he whispers "What about we give them a portion of the gold and let them keep the armour and weapons from the thugs? They can decide to sell it or use it for somethin' else then."

"According to Abadar's code with those 40 golds I am allowed to provide you with two minor healings" the Almsman offers nonchalantly.

"As you have defeated the Steel Wyverns it is my turn to honor our deal. Gandros lives in a basement not far from here. You must travel east to the next branch south, then look for a mossy, overgrown door marked 'Skytower' along the south wall. That is his place. Our trade is complete" the priest directs the beggars to clean all the mess left by the combat while he kneels next to one of the three ill ones and checks his temperature.

"I think it sounds like a fair deal to me." Terval suggests to the others.

if nobody intervenes I will make that deal

"Do you know what we should expect behind this door? Gandros was were confused about the deatils of his realm."

"I guess you will find him. It is his home after all. If you have already talked with him, you know he lives in delirium" the Almsman shrugs "I only know about him because a barely literate beggar came here telling he had met the Skytower Emperor. For what I managed to discover about him, his father name was Relios and passed a few years before we knew about him. It seems Gandros survived by himself, exploring the sewers with a magical compass from his father Relios after the Chelaxian civil war and Andoran war of Independence. But I was not around by that time, so I cannot tell much about the veracity of all his story. I tried to enroll him in our company of beggars, but he wanted to go by his own and anyway it is difficult to work with him, he barely makes sense of stuff"

Then extending the hand "If you want the healing, Abadar will bless you for trading in the fair amount of gold"

Is there a knowledge check we could try for Relios? I'm guessing local or history, which I don't have, but thought I'd suggest the idea.

"Aye, those potions seem like a good idea to me", Strom replied while nodding to his companions. "I'd like one for meself, to use in a pinch."

Strom steps forward after listening to the tale about Gandros and prepares to make the trade with the beggar king.

"Well, it seems the more we get to know Gandros, the more it confirms how crazy he is!"

"I am not in need of healing, so ahead Strom take one for yourself." Leena Listens to the history of Gandros
"We are getting close to seeing if there was any truth to Gandro's tale

To get us moving forward:

Terval returns to the priest and says:"We would like to donate that money to your noble cause. I hope you can get further medicine, food and clothes for it. I believe Hrothman and Strom are slightly wounded from the fight so they would benefit from your healing and your blessings."

My reasoning for the bless: Hrothman does the most damage and Strom will definitely be in the thick of the melee.

The Almsman takes thankfully the 40 gold pieces and bringing his hand to a golden key hanging from his neck says divine words and touches Hrothman then Strom.
CLW: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
CLW: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

Hrothman: 10/10 hp
Strom: 14/14 hp

The wounds on both of them fully disappear.

"Before you leave, I would like to give you something more as a payment with your help against the Steel Wyverns" he leaves through the doors at the north of the Sanctum and returns after a few minutes carrying a couple of black vials "These are oils of bless weapon. If what you say about a portal to another dimension is true, this might be of use. Anointing your weapons with them will help you bypass the physical defense of many evil creatures from other dimensions and damage evil incorporeals without the need of magical weapons"

Feeling invigorated from the healing received from The Almsman, Strom thanks him. "That feels much better. I reckon we better get going and see Gandros' hideout.

Strom looks expectantly at his companions.

"Okay, by," Brand says to the priest, never looking away from the cards he's shuffling and turns to start walking in the indicated direction.

Hrothman nods, "I thank you kindly, good sirs." Hrothman readies his greataxe and follows close behind Brandlemore, on guard.

Following the Almsman’s directions you take the sewer tunnel to the east. The stench and rats prowl the area but the way is steady enough. After half an hour you reach a major junction to the south that you understand is the one referred by the mysterious priest.

Carefully crossing a wooden bridge over the foamy waters you direct yourselves through this new dark corridor, and about a quarter hour later your light licks the frame of a door in the wall. A sign on it is partially obscured by grime and moss, and the word “Skytower” is still barely legible.

Added location D to the sewers map

Brand looks for potential threats before moving forward.

Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (9) + 0 = 9

"Onward companions." Leena waits for rest of the party to move past before venturing forth.

"The usual formation, I wager?"

"Aye, I shall follow close behind our good dwarf if he will."

"Certainly, let's move forward!"

Strom takes the lead of the group and opens the door slowly. He readies his shield just in case..

Strom slowly opens the sturdy wooden door trying to avoid any attention from anyone inside.

This room was once the basement of a building above, but the stairs in the far corner are now choked with charred rubble and seem to lead to a new stone foundation of the new building above. Odd furniture and knick-knacks of all description fill the remaining space, and strange winged effigies made of wood and broken pottery are arrayed in a bizarre diorama. The focal point of this display is a pair of chairs standing on different-sized piles of old crates like thrones on a dais. A charred and shriveled corpse dressed in rotting and burnt finery and wearing a tin crown is propped up in one of the chairs while the other, lower chair, sits vacant.

The charred corpse has a tin crown bearing a crude inscription that reads "Emperor Relios." It is clear someone placed him in this seat of honor and built a faerie court from what materials he could be find around the sewers to pay some kind of royal homage.

Amidst the furniture is a desk with several log books and journals.

The place is in full darkness a part from your light spells.

New Skytower map available!

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

"Thats for sure a strange sight. Looks like the man was barking mad after all."

Terval goes towards the desk and checks the books, to see if he can find anything that connects Gandros to the pathfinders.

Brand moves beside the desk, clearing room for Terval to step up, and simply keeps an eye out for potential threats coming down the stairs or from the other section of this floor.

Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (14) + 0 = 14

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Hrothman whispers, "I hear shuffling and snorting sounds coming from the farthest vault to the west."

Hrothman clutches his axe and cautiously moves there as silently as possible.

Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Leena moves quietly forward past the stairs gripping her katana in wait in case anyone come through the stairs.

Stealth: 1d20 ⇒ 16

Perception Check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Strom moves over towards the desk and starts reading some of the log books and journals. As he flips some of the pages while reading, he transcribes what he reads if he can, for the others to hear.

Terval approaches the desk and starts reading the log books while Strom has a look at the journals. The logs seem to detail the day-to-day transactions of the Emporium, but Strom finds the journal is Relios' personal journal. Opening it by the middle Strom starts reading a page that details how the wealthy owner of Augustana's shipyard came to take measures for a suit intended for a Chelaxian military parade.

The dwarf does not have time for much more before Hrothman advances himself to the stairs followed by Leena.

The next rooms are vaults lined with shelves thick with growing yellowcap mushrooms.

Three creatures of bloated frame are at the last vault shuffling and grunting. They turn towards you when they spot Leena's light, their mouths dribbling and their eyes injected in blood.

Fortunately Hrothman and Leena were ready for trouble, while the other ones are still entertained checking the journals at the desk.

Round 1: Hrothman, Leena, Good guys, Brand, Strom, Terval

Hrothman steps forward and swings at red

Greataxe: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Damage: 1d12 + 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (8) + (1) + 6 = 15

Knowledge Planes: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

"These things are resilient, We need strong hits or in Terval's case magic missile will always work."

Leena strides to the door enhancing her weapon with arcane pool and slashes at Blue double handed.

Katana: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Hrothman bolts forward slashing with his greataxe trying to catch the dretch flat-footed. He is surprised though to find the natural toughness of the demon's skin deflects the blade before it can bite it.

Leena is more lucky, her katana shines with new magic and cuts through the demon's skin easily causing more damage than she expected. It seems these dretches are weaker than she has heard about.

The one in green skin shushes opening her jaws and menacing Leena.
Will DC 11 (fear, mind-affecting, necromancy effect) or frightened for 1d4 ⇒ 4 rounds as per the cause fear spell. Shaken 1 round if successful

The one with reddish skin attacks Hrothman.
Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Slashing/Piercing/Bludgeoning damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Claw 1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Slashing/Piercing damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Claw 2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Slashing/Piercing damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
But the half-orc skillfully blocks the claws with his axe and dodges the bite.

While the blueish one attacks Leena.
Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Slashing/Piercing/Bludgeoning damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Claw 1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Slashing/Piercing damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Claw 2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Slashing/Piercing damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
And she manages to dodge the jaws but the claws open ugly gashes at both her arms.

Blue: 12 damage, badly damaged
Leena: 4/9 hp, shaken or frightened
Round 1: Brand, Strom, Terval Round 2: Hrothman, Leena, Dretch demons

Everybody can act!

acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Hrothman jumps over the smaller creature to get behind it, then shouts, "someone come help here!"

ready action to attack as soon as someone moves into flank

greataxe, flanking: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 2 = 18
damage + sneak attack: 1d12 + 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (4) + (4) + 6 = 14

Brand moves in response to Hrothman's call for help but has to double move to get in range, so no attack this round.

Terval looks up and rushes to help the others.

Move 20ft. and shoot Magic mIssile at blue

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

"Dont forget the oil of the priest."

Strom rushes forward, uttering a battle cry as he makes his way forward as fast as he can. Sprinting towards the danger, he slams the hilt of his flail on his shield, hopinG to catch the creatures attention.

Spell Combat, Katana: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Confirmation: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Leena takes a moment to imbue weapon with fleeting magic before slashing at blue.

Hrothman jumps over the dretch on a bold move and waits for his companions who strode forward towards the battle. When Strom reaches the place with his shield, the half-orc swings hard with his axe opening in an ill way the demon's neck. Nevertheless, the badly injured creature survives hissing horribly at him.

Terval moves forward, his force magic flying unerringly to blast the dretch on Leena.

Leena Will (vs fear) DC 11: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Leena flees panickly withdrawing from combat. Only when she is out of the Skytower Emporium she is able to recompose herself and stop running, breathing slowly and deeply.

The red dretch attacks Hrothman.
Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Slashing/Piercing/Bludgeoning damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Claw 1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Slashing/Piercing damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Claw 2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Slashing/Piercing damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
The half-orc manages to dodge the claws, but the demon snatches his arm with the vile jaws.

The blue dretch shushes opening her jaws and menacing Hrothman.
Will DC 11 (fear, mind-affecting, necromancy effect) or frightened for 1d4 ⇒ 4 rounds as per the cause fear spell. Shaken 1 round if successful

The green dretch at the back exhales a putrid cloud of gas.
Everyone but Leena is in the cloud (green circle). Please roll a Fort DC 13 or get nauseated. This is a poison effect, if you are immune to poison, your are immune to the nauseating effect.
As a fog, you can only see the 5' adjacent to you, and even then, your target has concealment (20% mischance), please roll a 1d100 for each attack, if 20 or lower, the attack fails regardless of the d20 result. If you have Blind Fight or a similar ability, you can roll twice.

Red: 14 damage, badly damaged
Blue: 14 damage, badly damaged
Hrothman: 6/10 hp, shaken or frightened
Leena: 4/9 hp, frightened r6
Round 2: Brand, Strom, Terval Round 3: Hrothman, Leena, Dretch demons

Everybody can act!

Fort DC13: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Terval retreats out if the cloud and catches his breath again.

I Understand that I cannot see blue so I cannot Magic Missile him without getting into Melee and I am much to weak to fight these guys melee. So for now I hope the cloud will soon disappear.

Will: 1d20 ⇒ 5
Fort: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Unable to get past the creature to flee, Hrothman swings his axe despite his terror:
Greataxe: 1d20 + 4 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 2 - 2 = 16
Damage: 1d12 + 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (4) + (3) + 6 = 13

I just remembered these are weakened versions of dretch, without immunity to poison, so they can be affected by the cloud
Fort DC 13: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Fort DC 13: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Fort DC 13: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Terval closes up nose and mouth on time to avoid the worst of the noxious gas. Unable to target his magic, the halfling steps out of the cloud.

Overwhelmed by a sudden unnatural fear, Hrothman attempts to escape jumping back over the dretch.
AoO: Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Slashing/Piercing/Bludgeoning damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Cloud misschance 20%: 1d100 ⇒ 59
But the demon snatches him with its jaws and places it back inside the room before he can escape.

Cloud misschance 20%: 1d100 ⇒ 17
Cornered, Hrothman desperately attempts to open a way of escape, but he results to lash out only to the cloud concealing the demon's body.

Taking long, deep gasps of air, Leena remains quite outside the Emporium trying to recover her composure.

Red: 14 damage, badly damaged
Blue: 14 damage, badly damaged
Hrothman: 2/10 hp, frightened r7
Leena: 4/9 hp, frightened r6
Round 2: Brand, Strom, Terval Round 3: Hrothman, Leena, Dretch demons

Brand and Strom!
Remember to save against the cloud

As a reflex, Strom puts his left arm in front of his face with shield, as if to shield him from the cloud.

Fort dc 13: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

And it somewhat seems to work, Strom not catching the brunt of the cloud in his face.

He then wildly swing his flail at the creature before him,through the fog.

Cloud mischance: 1d100 ⇒ 20

Cloud mischance: Blind fight Feat: 1d100 ⇒ 60

Attack roll: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Damage roll: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

And severly mamages to hit the creature in the face.

Strom's dwarven's body is well proved against the poison and the stink cannot defeat him.

Used to fight in the dark tunnels, the dwarf manages to correct his flail's direction when it seems it would fail in the mist. Instead, the metallic head crushes the skull of the demon that bursts in an amalgam of bones, flesh and blood!
That was a critical threat, but no need to confirm! And great use of Blind Fight!

Red: 25 damage, dead
Blue: 14 damage, badly damaged
Hrothman: 2/10 hp, frightened r7
Leena: 4/9 hp, frightened r6
Round 2: Brand, Strom, Terval Round 3: Hrothman, Leena, Dretch demons

Only Brand's round 2 remains!

Taking a step to the side 5 foot step, Brand gets one of the fiends in his sights blue, quickly infuses his deck with arcane power, and unleashes card and spell at the beastie.

Harrow Card: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 251d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Ray of Frost: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 91d3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 vs touch AC

Brand Fort (poison): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Total concealment 50% mischance: 1d100 ⇒ 61
Brand manages to overcome the poisonous cloud and throws a card at the last point he saw the demon. By pure luck, he hears an shout of pain indicating he did in fact found the dretch with his card, leaving it staggered despite he would not know that.

It seems these weakened dretches do not get the immunity to poison, and thus are affected by the cloud too
Round 2: Green Fort (poison): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Round 2: Blue Fort (poison): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Round 3: Blue Fort (poison): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

The blue skinned dretch waddles forward trying to find the way out of the cloud. Finding Brand in the middle it attacks with all its strength.
Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 91d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 31d100 ⇒ 23
It fails to find the man, and collapases to the ground unconscious.

The last dretch, nauseated by the stink, attempts to move out of the cloud, stopping when it finds Brand in the way out.

Red: 25 damage, dead
Blue: 19 damage, unconscious, dying
Green: nauseated
Hrothman: 2/10 hp, frightened r7
Leena: 4/9 hp, frightened r6
Round 3: Brand, Strom, Terval Round 4: Hrothman, Leena, Dretch demons

Everyone can act!

Please, remember you cannot see anything beyond 5' around you, which means you cannot target creatures with magic and cannot attack them with range weapons unless you have a way to pin-point their square (I leave them visible in the map for everyone convenience but I expect you to play fair on this)

I'm assuming with the one I was feared by dead I'm no longer feared?

"Where did they go? I can't see at all in this gunk!" Hrothman moves towards the entrance where they came in, trying to get out of the cloud, but finding himself adjacent to the creature! When I get to the square which Brand is in now, I'd see it, but being unable to stop have to tumble to avoid AOO and get to an empty square

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

"Ah! There it is! Ooh! Nasty bugger!"

Greataxe: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Damage: 1d12 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

"Doin' this the hard way," Brand mutters, lashing out with his spiked gauntlet.

Spiked Gauntlet: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 31d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Hearing some fighting somewhere to his side, Strom carefully shuffles towards the fighting, only to bump into one of the creatures. "Gah, another one. 'Ere we go!"

Swinging his flail yet again, with confidence after putting down one of the things, he roars.

Mischance from concealment: 1d100 ⇒ 12
Mischance from concealment Blind Fight: 1d100 ⇒ 63

Flail attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Flail damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Hearing the fighting going on inside Terval calls out:"How are you guys doing? If I need to hlp you just call out."

Terval delays until called.

I'm assuming with the one I was feared by dead I'm no longer feared?

You are still frightened, but because the source of your fear is no more, you can act normally. Basically it is like if you were just shaken

Also, I probably should had been more clear on this: you all need to save each turn you remain in the cloud (unless you are already nauseated) even if you saved the round before
Hrothman DC 13: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Brand DC 13: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Strom+hardy DC 13: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 2 = 10

The group starts to cough, all nauseated and unable to do much else than move.

Hrothman finds out the dretch and positions himself easily by him, as it is nauseated and cannot respond.

Leena remains focusing herself out of the Emporium.

Terval waits.

Just an instant before the dretch is to move, the stinking cloud loses strength and fades out, letting you see and breath properly.
You keep nauseated 1d4+1 rounds after leaving a stinking cloud, I rolled for you in the stats line

Still feeling bad, the dretch moves away from you into the deepest vault.

Red: 25 damage, dead
Blue: 19 damage, unconscious, dying
Green: nauseated 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 r8
Hrothman: 2/10 hp, frightened r7, nauseated 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 r7
Leena: 4/9 hp, frightened r6
Brand: nauseated 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 r6
Strom: nauseated 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 r8
Round 4: Brand, Strom, Terval Round 5: Hrothman, Leena, Dretch demons

Your turn! Although basically only Terval can do anything of use.
This is Leena's last round frightened, in case she want to use any buff or similar thing on herself or Terval, before she can go deeper and attack next round.

Terval has been eagerly waiting fo the cloud to dissipate and immediately releases his last magic missile.

Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

"Does anybody own a potion of healing I can give Hrothman?"

I'm going to use my GM Stars roll on the nauseated roll if that's ok

fort w 3 GM Stars: 1d20 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 3 = 8

and I am still nauseated. Oof

Stumbling forward due to being nauseated, Strom pursues the dretch to the back of the vault.

I can only use my move action right?