[PFS2e] 1-08 Revolution on the Riverside (Inactive)

Game Master Michael Hallet

"Wait. We have an actual descendant of one of the Pathfinders from the old lodge here in Artume!" Locke says. "We should see if she'll let us interview her before we report back."

It does seem like we should get to her sooner rather than later. Smine will be fine where he is whenever we need him. Aula Crispin could turn in early, take a journey out-of-town, who knows.

Voron winces and stakes his head at his accidental rhyme.

Another vote for heading to Aula's first.

Delorn shrugs. ”Very well”, he says. ” ‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may’ “

"Chug heard older human women give out drinks and treats to visitors. That sounds good after all this traveling."

You follow the directions and arrive at the house of Aula Crispin. She is an elderly woman in a green gown slowly rocking in a chair on her front porch. A housemaid is busy assisting her with her lunch.

The housemaid seems alarmed by a ragtag group of well-armed individuals approaching, but the young woman just smiles.

"Oh, hello dearies. I'm afraid I have no great quest for you to complete today. My my," she says eyeing Locke. "aren't you a handsome lad."

"Indeed he is, ma'am. Locke, maybe Aula would like some company for lunch." He winks at the man. "Ma'am, are you related to a Pavo Crispin?"

Locke bows with a flourish and smiles as he rises, "Thank you for the compliment. I have been called worse in the wrong side of Brevoy."

He pauses for Argoni to speak and then says, "We are Pathfinders and come looking into the history of Pavo Crispin and his lodge. If you do not mind, I would be interested in listening to what you might know."

The cantankerous wizard stands back behind the group leaning on his staff and listening, knowing to let the smooth-talkers do better.

Hear that folks, no great quests, I guess we take a couple of days to relax.

Delorn notes the housemaid scurrying about. ”Pardon me, Miss”, he says, ”but could you use some assistance?”

"I only go the one extra seat. It's just the two of us you know. The rest of you can set down on the steps. But I do have plenty of turnip soup and cheese sandwiches to go around."

The housemaid, suddenly having to prepare lunch for 8 accepts Delorn's assistance.

"I'm afraid I don't have any stories to tell about Pavo. I do know he built the first house on this land about 400 year ago. That was torn down and rebuilt about 200 years ago. But we do have a few of his old things somewhere. I can show them to you after lunch."

After lunch she takes you to her sitting room where on a table is a leather bound journal embossed with a worn glyph of the open road. Several other items which appear to have come from different corners of Golarion are displayed nearby.

Voron walks around and inspects the four items visually, to see what their significance might be, or where they came from.

I presume we'll be breaking into that book in only a moment anyway...

Specific checks for those? Arcana/occultism/other?

Delorn uses Prestidigitation for cleaning and food prep. As he assists in the kitchen, he looks over whatever areas of the house he can see, searching for anything of potential significance to their quest.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

The halfling thoroughly enjoys the lunch, particularly the cheese sandwiches. "These are amazing! Is that garlic butter on the bread?" He smiles enthusiastically at the maid.

"Ma'am, may we see that journal? Were there any stories of him that the family passed down through the generations?"

Chug takes a seat on the stairs and thanks the housemaid and Aula.

Once in the seating room, Chug looks over the different displays.

"Thank you for lunch," Locke says with a bow. Once inside he looks into his pack. "Oh, fiddlesticks. I forgot to pack my own journal and writing set. Does anyone else have the supplies? I think we would very much like to read and, if not copy, summarize this journal."

Voron reaches into his backpack, raising the other hand as if volunteering.

I have one. I can take notes.

He picks an open spot to lay out his quills and ink vial, with a stack of blank papers in his lap.

You realize that all of these trinkets would be considered prized finds by the Pathfinder Society.

”An impressive collection from an impressive individual”, says Delorn. ”The Society is keenly interested in the lodge and its founder. I’m sure artifacts such as these would be invaluable in our research, and help to reconstruct what may be missing from his history”

"Well, they've been in the family an awfully long time..."

"We assure you that they would be safely preserved in the Society's libraries. You could even visit them in the... where's the nearest lodge? Well, anywhere! Make a request to visit, and I'm certain the Society could get you there," Locke says animatedly. "Probably not the lodges in Tian Xa, but those mainly store Tian relics. The museums try to stay regional to the cultures they study."

Need a Diplomacy check.

Diplomacy (T): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

"Well... I do enjoy looking at them, but I'm not getting any younger. All my children have gone away to other lands. Once I'm off to the Boneyard, they'd likely be discarded or stolen. Perhaps it's best you look after them."

After spending a few hours with Aula Pavo, you gather the society's treasures and depart.

Where would you like to go now. You have a few hours until sunset.

"Thank you for your donation," Locke says to Aula as they collect the antiques. "I hope that you have a lovely rest of the day, and I shall endeavor to write to you of their ultimate destination. Once I get a hold of my writing set."

Outside with the others, he says, "Let's bring these to Smine and let him know what we've found. I suppose we might also have some time to put our ears to the ground and see what the people think of their new, well, relatively, king?"

She gave up the items on display, but did that include the journal itself? If not I'll assume that Voron did, in fact, take notes from it. It sounds like the contents of it aren't of immediate consequence to the scenario.

Voron nods at Locke's suggestion. Right. It would be good to hear how different folks are doing under the current rule, and whether most of them would even favor rebellion. I suspect after one or two replacements, the people start to get fatigued with it.

This time, the wizard is willing to attempt to talk to at least a few people on the way back to see Smine.

Diplomacy, gather info (+0; so yeah, his results won't be the best)

"Thank you for your time and generosity," expresses Chug as they leave the house.

"And the sandwiches!" Argoni waves at the housemaid.

Outside with the others, he says, "Let's bring these to Smine and let him know what we've found. I suppose we might also have some time to put our ears to the ground and see what the people think of their new, well, relatively, king?"

”An excellent idea”, says Delorn. ”Perhaps we can pick up some impressions at the bar, before we meet with him?”

Diplomacy(Gather Info): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

time: 1d4 ⇒ 3

After several hours of asking around you find a wide variety of opinions on the king. The vast majority of older residents remember the abuses of Regent Waike and are happy with the reforms King Edryd has made. A few younger voices feel that changes haven't gone far enough, but the number who want to depose him are a clear minority who tend to reject the idea of a monarch altogether.

You have about an hour to sundown. Just enough time to make a quick report to Venture-Captain Smine or take care of any other quick stop such as a last minute purchase before shops close for the evening.

Chug is good with doing a quick report to Venture-Captain Smine

Locke wipes a bead of sweat from his brow. "Did we need to survey the entire city?" he asks Delorn with a chuckle and a smile. "Let's go talk with Smine and see if we really want to meet with the Firebrands. I've got to admit, I have a personal, vested interest in making a connection with the Firebrands, but that's outside of the Society's mission, and I don't want to cause trouble for our organization."

Locke wipes a bead of sweat from his brow. "Did we need to survey the entire city?" he asks Delorn with a chuckle and a smile. "Let's go talk with Smine and see if we really want to meet with the Firebrands. I've got to admit, I have a personal, vested interest in making a connection with the Firebrands, but that's outside of the Society's mission, and I don't want to cause trouble for our organization."

”Well, let’s get his take on it”, Delorn replies. ”Perhaps your wish will be granted. You wanted to get the local scuttlebutt, and look at how well that worked out for you”

"It just took more work than I anticipated, that's all!" Locke protests with a dramatic gesture and a grin that belies his complaints.

"Imagine that, no King! I wonder how that would work. Rule by a council of nobles or the wealthy? Or a military rule...or a trade union." Argoni nods to that last idea, considering how that might work.

Phew, made it just in time and no shopping for me.

Voron looks over at Argoni and shrugs lightly.

I bet you're imagining actual representation in that fantasy. These rebels seem pretty hungry themselves... I'll take the pure, personal power of the arcane over the messy lives of others.

Ready to report to Smine.

The River Steed Inn resides quite close to the Gildtmede Keep and near the cliffside. The sign of the inn has horse rising out of a flowing river. Several rooms have balconies overlooking the Sellen river.

Venture-Captain Smine sits at a desk writing a letter, the open balcony door behind him giving a view over the docks and the Sellen River. A paper bird flies through the open doors and unfolds into a letter on the table. Smine hold up his hand for silence as he eyes the letter before handing it over. “So, what did you find out?”

"What!?" Locke says as he peers at the letter, his expression momentarily crestfallen.

"Who's this Ionnia?" he asks, ignoring Smine's own question.

"She's my contact with the Firebrands. My business here was investigating signs of a possible rebellion."

Voron squints, eyeing the letter when it's passed to him.

Hmm, so they're not acting in accord with their larger organization. What did we find? Well, for starters we did find the old lodge, though it was mostly barren and infested with creatures. Then we caught wind of a living descendant of its founding agent and paid her a visit. At her home we collected several relics, presumably from the old lodge, that the society should be highly interested in. Also, she had an old journal of Pavo Crispin.

He gestures to the side with his hand, beckoning the items forward from whoever is holding them.

But wait, there's more! On the evening that we'd found the old lodge, we ran into some squatters in the abandoned village. A group claiming to be with the Firebrands, and speaking of rebellion. We're supposed to meet with their leader within the hour.

The wizard gives Smine a knowing look, as if to say Yes, your rumored rebellion.

So, what do you suppose we should do with them when we meet? Talk them out of it? Alert the local authorities? We chatted with folks around town and they seem... content with the current rule. They certainly prefer it to the abuses of the prior regent.

”We also have the journal from the lodge. It talks about why they left and some cult,” Locke adds. ”I’m so disappointed that they’re not real Firebrands. Hmmph.”

”We also have the journal from the lodge. It talks about why they left and some cult,” Locke adds. ”I’m so disappointed that they’re not real Firebrands. Hmmph.”

” ‘Some cult’ “, muses Delorn. ”I wonder what the odds are that our ‘Firebrands’ are a new cell of the Golden Daughter?”

Chug reads the letter while the rest of team speaks with Venture-Captain Smine. "Now we must meet up with Chop and find out what is going on."

"If the people are satisfied with the King, then a rebellion only serves to hurt people. The King might even grow more harsh."

He gathers himself up. "I don't know if we can talk them out of it."

"...do we warn the king?" Locke asks.

You could go to meet the "firebrands" or you could go to the King. The scenario has multiple options at this point. I'll go with whichever path 3 of you agree on first.

I am going to defer to whichever gets 2 votes first (and post when I see that mark being reached).

”Well, this could be an interesting challenge”, says Delorn. ”Presumably, we would hear them out, and try to dissuade them from their plan?”