Hmm's PF2 #1-07 Flooded King's Court and Other Tales (Inactive)

Game Master Hmm

Scratch looks between the two whispering older Dwarven women and flinches a bit Ain't never good when the ladies look at ya and whisper 'tween themselves... 'specially when its such a small boat I can hear every word!

"A date ya say? So long as its a fun date n nuthin' stuffy er borin'. At our age ya gotta have fun while ya still can." He strips off his backpack and invites himself down beneath the waves with the woman to try his hand at free diving.

Athletics fer Swimmin': 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Sandstone, made deeply uncomfortable by the emotional conversation, busies himself by taking his own crack at the crate which he definitely noticed GM Hmm posting about before everyone else started posting about trying to force it open.

Athletics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Enstrengthened by his embarrassment, he manages to wrest the lid free to reveal several bottles. He runs his fingers over the turtle embossed in the wax seal on the bottle of rum. "It's beautiful!"

Scratch's head pops back up "Its rum? I TOLD YOU IT WOULD BE RUM!" He grins then goes back to trying to swim but mostly just flailing.

Hlar pushes Scratch out of the water. "Mebbe I can offer ye private lessons," she says. "But we're coming on Port Peril, soon-like, and I know that I'm not bringin' ye in for a holiday!"

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Her boat arrives in Port Peril around sunset. As you drift into Crescent Harbor, sailors disembarking for shore leave remain clearly visible, singing rowdily as they work.

♫ Old Rolly sails the stormy seas
New territory to explore
But his britches hit his knees
Ev'rytime he seeks the shore!

Lest the moon outshine the sun
Better catch him on the run
Hide the Rum and hide his bum
Pantless Old Rolly! ♫

Hlar soon lands at a smaller dock to unload her catch and gestures at Fane's ship in one of the docks. "Thar she be, the Risen Albatross. Stella Fane won't likely be there, though. They say she parties like a one-woman riot! The stories they tell about that one!"

Iqu eyes the Risen Albatross. "Not aboard? Do you know where she likes to drink?"

Sandstone helps Hlar unload the catch.

Athletics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Enstrengthened by his embarrassment, he manages to wrest the lid free to reveal several bottles.

I'm extremely here for the word "enstrengthened."

Tess is eager to stretch her legs and start exploring. Hopefully Hlar has a tip on where to begin, otherwise she'll suggest that we start with the first pub we find! She's parched. :)

"I confess that this old dwarf don't know where the kids go to riot these days. My favorite drinking establishment is Sam's Clams, by the wharf. That's where ye'll find me if ye need me.” She tells this last bit to Scratch, gesturing to a plain-looking bar nearby.

She points over to an officious-looking male dwarf with a clipboard. "That be the harbormaster, Tsojmin Kreidoros." With your help, Hlar finishes unpacking her catch right on the dock. "That young'un would probably know where Fane goes to get juiced an' sluiced, if you know what I mean. Why don't you ask him?"

Scratch nods and bids the woman off then goes about washing off as much fish and clam juice from himself as he can reasonably expect to. "Just remember folks, we ain't crawlin' 'round in a sewer here. Try keepin' yer weapons sleeved. If things go side ways yer best bet is ta start with fists unless the other side is goin' fer blood." He puts up his dukes just to show 'em how its done.

"Best we divvy up this rum though. If its good stuff we can save some fer bribing our Captain eh?" He pops the top on a bottle and takes a little taste test.

Iqu shrugs and takes her share of the rum. Then she heads over to the harbourmaster. "Hi there. We're looking to get in touch with Captain Fane. Do you know where she went? Or perhaps where she likes to drink?"

The rum is excellent. In fact, it is the finest stuff Scratch and Iqu have ever tasted. This must be seriously high end stuff.

The dwarven harbormaster glances over at Iqu, unimpressed. "Mayhap I know somethin' of this Fane of yours. Mayhap I don't... What's in it for me, lass, supposin' I do know? Kreidoros don't do much for free."

You get the sense that either charming speech or a bribe might be helpful here.

Loola looks up at Grams with pleading eyes, "Me want try rum, too." Then she remembers her manners, "PLEASE! Me say 'please.'"

The goblin walks over to stand beside Iqu and addresses the harbormaster.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

"Hi Kreidoros! Me Loola Berrythwaite; you call me Bloo. You want be Bloo's friend? We be very good friends have." She smiles warmly and genuinely at the dwarf.

Kreidoros softens a bit. "Well. Er... Bloo. You remind me of my daughter. Kreidoros don't do much for free, but I 'spose it does no harm to tell a friend something, now does it? You'll find Fane at the Crow's Nest." He holds up a hand. "Alright, that's not it's real name. It's really called Rivanti's Bar, but that's where all the crows hang out, if you get my drift. They have great oysters and a truly horrid homebrew that if not good, is at least pretty strong. It's a bit of a rough and tumble sort of a place in the Beggarbriar Slums, so make sure that your group keeps a good look out, y'hear?"

Earlier
Grams grins at Tess.

"No, he wasn't any adventurer. You can say we did a little exploring, just the two of us, when we were young and stupid, and ... well, our first son -- there's a reason was said he was our little treasure. We ended up married and settling in to raise him, and ... well, a little more 'exploring' led to a few more. You know how it is. We had almost a couple centuries -- good years! -- but then we lost him in the accident. I could've sat around and been miserable for another hundred years, but I know he'd have wanted me to get out. This was what we'd wanted to do way back when. Maybe not the Society, but at my age, I thought it would make sense to have some reliable support."

Later
Grams takes a swig of the rum, along with the others, and grins at Bloo as she manages to make friends again.

"I guess it's Rivanti's for us, then. Our thanks, Kreidoros," she says, leading the way to the named bar.

Sandstone sniffs the rum dubiously. His eyes widen. Casting prestidigitation, he produces a very small cup made of mystical sand from nowhere and pours himself a small amount. "Wow," he coughs. "I think I like rum."

As the others head off toward the Crow's Nest, Sandstone pours another shot into the cup. He hands the cup to Kreidoros and winks. It's slightly more natural this time.

"Thank ye kindly," Kreidoros takes a slight sip, and then his eyebrows raise as he licks his lips. "Seriously... THANK YE! T'was an amazing tipple."

Heading across the bay to the south on Hlar's boat, you make their way to the slums of Beggarbriar, where pickpockets linger in shady alleys, shooting you appraising looks in an effort to determine if the party is worth the trouble of trying to rob. They glance appraisingly at the two old dwarves, and then again at the ease with how Grams and Scratch carry their weapons, and the pickpockets back off.

Eventually, you arrive at a shack in a clearing, from which rowdy drinking songs and squawks spew forth.

♫ We're feathered friends and jack-a-daws
And swordsmen without peer
We're travelers who give folks pause
And mayhap they have somethin' to fear

We're the genus corvidae!
We boldly live and boldly die
And if you cross us,
We'll spit in your eye!
Ha ha! CAW! CAW!
Pass me another beer! ♫

Entering the bar, you see a crowd of tengus, split between merely drunk worshippers of Besmara and extremely inebriated priests of Hei Feng. It's clear they haven't swept in a a while because there are crumpled and dusty feathers all over this floor. The tengu proprietor, Rivanti, is passed out behind the bar next to Stella and a pile of recently emptied mugs.

"Oy!" Another tengu, fairly muscular, sweeps by with a tray full of glasses. "Ye want beer, booze, or bread n' oysters?" Looking around, the oysters do seem to be almost as popular a choice as the beer and booze.

SLIDE ONE, if you care to move your tokens to where you are. A picture of Stella Fane is on SLIDE TWO.

The bar is full, though I have only depicted a few people on the slide!

Sandstone perks up at the mention of oysters. "Those are those rock animals? Can I have some?"

"Rock animals?" The waiter's beak stays open a moment, and then he shrugs. "I suppose they look like rocks after you shuck 'em. So one order of bread n' oysters? Does anyone else want some?" The waiter gestures behind him. "Find a seat anywhere. If you don't mind my saying so, you stand out enough here that I'll have no trouble finding you."

Although there are a one or two other dwarves and humans in this crowd, the vast majority are tengus.

"Thievin' buggers them ones. Bloo, don't ever dip to their level. Anythin' worth havin' is worth workin' fer. Earnin' it fair n square." He ushers the group along towards the Crow's Nest and inside.

"Bready oysters fer me too and beer." He pulls out his own mug, blows some lint out of it and winks at the server. "We'll be over here takin' in the sights." He wiggles and scoots through the crowd towards a table.

Blue smiles and follows Scratch, "Bread'n oysters fer me too and beer!" She sits down at the table next to the old ranger, eagerly anticipating her beer.

Tess grins at the tune and picks it up quickly, humming along with the raucous tengus. She's always admired pirates' brash attitudes, being more of a shadows operative herself.

Keeping her eyes open* for any sign of Fane — or other useful observations, troublesome or otherwise — she opts for booze from the waiter, planning to surreptitiously help herself to her fellow adventurers' oysters when they're not looking.

*This is vague, but if she doesn't notice the pirate, maybe she'll hear something useful, or spot someone who looks amenable to answering questions from strangers?
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Edit: I'm guessing not, haha!

Tess, you are going to laugh even more when I tell you that I have already told you all where Stella is.

Grams shrugs and orders the oysters too.

"Seem a little bit like snot, but I always told the kids to at least take a no-thank-you bite, so that seems like the least I can do too," she says, looking around as she sits down at the table.

She's heard stories of tengu, but never seen one before. She tries to tell if any of them seem friendly, see if she can chat them up before they go talk to Stella.

Perception (expert): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Spotting Captain Fane sitting at the bar a few seats down, Sandstone prestidigitates another small cup into existence, places it on the corner of the bar behind him, fills it with a generous pour of what he has come to think of as Very Good Turtle Rum, and slides it along the bar to her.

This probably requires a check of some kind but idk what it would be.

If successful:

Sandstone essays a third wink at Captain Fane. Perhaps he has been practicing because this one looks almost normal.

Tess, you are going to laugh even more when I tell you that I have already told you all where Stella is.

Ha! Oh dear. Welp, that roll perfectly represents my mental capacity today! Thanks, insomnia.

Iqu strolls over to the Captain. "Hello, Captain Fane. Mind if I pull up a chair?"

As the glass slides down to Fane, she catches it expertly, sniffs it and smiles. Then she raps on poor Rivanti's beak. "Rivanti, wake up! You've been holding out on me! How come these newcomers get a fine vintage like Southern Squall and we two have been drinking this swill all evening? Tell me THAT!"

The tengu proprietor blinks, and looks blearily across the bar at Stella. "Stella, love, I'm not holding out on ye. They must have brought it with them!"

"They did, aye?" Fane eyes Iqu, and says, "I have a better idea. Let's take a table in the back where we can talk a bit, as you lot have brought me something truly fine." She walks back with you, and says casually, “So, you're just in time! Like little baby cleaner fish, not knowing that the shark might decide it wants a meal more than sparkling teeth. Let's see what we're dealing with. But first, a toast!” Then she pauses. "You wouldn't happen to have more of that Southern Squall? Otherwise, we'll be drinking from Rivanti's stock."

Scratch spins around in his chair and grins some yellowing teeth as he pulls out the bottle he secreted away for such an occasion, or maybe his own private one, who knows? "Sounds like we're gonna be best buds it do."

Sandstone holds up the Very Good Turtle Rum Southern Squall bottle to just the level where Captain Fane can see it. On his way back to the back table, still very curious about rock animals, he makes sure to catch the eye of the tengu clearing glasses, and motions toward the back table.

After that abysmal Perception (on both Tess's and my part), Tess gets lost in the shanties and is the last to notice that we're moving to a new table, but she gets there eventually.

Iqu nods and follows the others to a new table.

Reluctantly, Loola follows Iqu. "But they not bring my beer yet."

The tengu waiter arrives with your beers, Tess's booze, and several plates of bread n' oysters. The bread is some sort of whole grain garlic bread -- quite good, and the oysters all arrive with a dipping sauce, split open. For those of you unsure of the technique, Stella cheerfully steals one of Gram's oysters, taking her knife to loosen it, and then tipping the contents of the half shell to her mouth to slide the oyster in.

The beer is not great, but certainly drinkable. The oysters turn out to be mild with a somewhat buttery taste, if a bit slimy. Tess, do you try the booze you ordered? It smells a bit strong.

Stella happily lets you pour out glasses of Southern Squall, and then offers a toast: "May your anchor be tight, and your cork loose, may your rum be spiced, and your compass true!"

She tosses hers back in a single shot, and bids you to do the same.

Do you have one of your own toasts?

Iqu raises her glass. Having no idea what constitutes a good pirate toast, she adds, "To the future."

Iqu tosses back her shot of rum, considers it.... then nods. "That's good rum." Then she digs into the oysters, clearly familiar with seafood.

Tess suspiciously regards whatever liquor was delivered to her, hoping that even if it's awful she can keep her cool enough to look tough in front of Stella. (Or at least, not make a fool of herself.) Assuming her typical toast to the law — as tongue-in-cheek as it may sometimes be, in her case — isn't appropriate here, she instead intones, "To the sea!" before taking a sip.

Edit: I forgot! Tess also attempts to nab an oyster from whoever's plate is closest.

Thievery: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Pulling out a deck of cards, Fane offers you a lazy grin while the toasts continue. "Care to play a game of High Tide?" As she explains the rules, you realize that this is a pirate gambling game where cards are passed face-down while players try to lie about what cards they've “added to the tide.”

You can attempt a Games Lore check (to win fairly), a Thievery check (to surreptitiously hide cards up their sleeve), or a Deception check (to bluff Fane into thinking they have better cards). The game is played in three rounds, and a different PC must attempt the check for each round.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
It's just as bad as Tess suspected, but she manages to keep it together. She opts not to finish it and sneaks another of Scratch's oysters to get the taste out of her mouth.

Was that Bluff for Fortitude save or the card game?

Sorry, tried to edit for clarity and it didn't let me. That was for the High Tide game!

Tess wins the first round of the game of High Tide, pretending to have a much better hand than she has!

Stella's eyebrows raise, and then she deals out hands again. "Well-played, but perhaps that was beginner's luck. Shall we try another round?"

"Nech je vaša srdcia teplejšia a vaše kladivo pravdivé," Grams says, lifting the shot glass as she recites a traditional dwarven toast. Nech je váš kov rovnako silný ako kameň a možno budete žiť, aby ste videli oblohu."

She shoots it down, wiping her mouth on her arm.

"Nice," she says, exhaling with aplomb before diving into her oysters before any more of them go missing.

"Interesting. They're kind of slimy, but not bad."

She'll give a half-hearted attempt to play, but ceding her place to others if they're interested. If we're all playing, I'll join in. If it's meant to be one-on-one, I'll leave it for someone more capable at this than ol' Grams, who was almost more of a blunt truth-teller.

Sandstone raises his glass of rum. "To the wind," he says, blows gently over the top, and drinks. He clanks his glass back on the table and says, "Oh, I definitely like rum."

Following Captain Fane's lead, he slurps an oyster out of its shell. His eyes widen in surprise as he chews. "It tastes like when we jumped out of the boat!" He swallows, pauses, considers, then reaches for another. "Oysters are good."

Next, he picks up his beer and essays a swig. A panoply of expressions cross his face. "Hmm," he says, and carefully places his beer back on the table.

I'm no good at lying and no good at games, so I think I'll sit back on High Tide and let people with any CHA go. :)

"Oooh! Me love games!" exclaims the goblin.

Deception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Scratch looks a bit surprised as the oysters come on the half shell verses breaded and fried "Oh. Raw eh." He looks around for the condiments "What no spicy sauces? Or that an old thing these days..." He turns back to see his oyster stack shrinking. "I think these shellfishes are crawlin' over n away..." He chuckles before raising his glass of beer with the others.

He nods in approval to Gram's salute, taking a shot of rum for that one.

"I've lost enough paychecks from games like this back in the army, ain't about ta unlearn that mistake. You kids enjoy, I'll just watch." he sets about hacking n hammering away at the oysters with his clan dagger. Popping the shells apart soon like a practiced professional and hollering at the barkeep for some hot sauce.

You all succeeded in drinking with Fane!

Reward: Once during the adventure, a PC who succeeds at the check to drink with Fane (regardless of what drink they toasted with) can use a reaction when they are targeted by an attack roll from an enemy they can see. If they do so, they stumble just as the attack is made, gaining a +2 status bonus to their AC against the attack.

Your party wins two rounds of cards against Fane, who nods in appreciation. "Alright, you're mostly a clever lot, and those of you not skilled at cards helped me earn back my self-esteem."

After removing one of her gloves, she pricks her finger with a knife and writes her name in blood. "I'm so impressed that I'll honor the original terms of your deal, assisting the Pathfinder Society with the pirate blockade in exchange for information on slaver movements." She grins. "I don't do that for everyone!"

After Fane rolls the contract back up and hands it to you, she looks around suspiciously. “Never can tell who's watching—the Free Captains have eyes and ears everywhere. Best to be sure that if these lot remember anything about this night, it's not that they saw us here together.” With that, Stella Fane sweeps her hat off her head in an exaggerated bow. "Amusing friends, I bid ye good night!"

She calls out in the bar, "I'm betting that the Besmarans can whip the feathers off those wimpy Priests of Hai Feng! Lads, who's with me?" Fane drops a thunderstone at her feet, releasing a deafening clap, and then splashes a nearby drink around for good measure. Combined with the smoke left from her cape, the effect looks and sounds enough like a storm surge and thundercloud that the groups of Besmaran tengus and Hei Fengan tengus each think it is a conjuration created by the other party as a mockery of their god's majesty. After snapping at each other all night, this is the final straw needed to provoke the two groups into attacking each other.

The whole bar erupts in a bar fight! Stella Fane winks at you, and then activates her cape of the mountebank and disappears in a puff of smoke.

The bar fight spreads across the entire building. An assorted crowd throws punches, flings bottles, and otherwise flies into chaos as a bar fight breaks out, clustering in six sections of Rivanti's drinking house. Rivanti himself, woken by Stella earlier, grabs a tray and ducks behind the bar.

Meanwhile, three Storm Acolytes are glaring at you. Having heard Stella’s comment, they’re sure you're all Besmarans that have just besmirched your honor! “Storm siblings, let us fight them for the honor of Hai Feng!”

The other two shout, “For the honor of Hai Feng!” There is lightning crackling in their hands!

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

And now it is time to set the scene.

You were all at Sheila Fane’s table in the NE Corner of the Bar, in the part of the map labeled Section 4. The three storm acolytes are to the west, sitting in Section 3.

Instead of representing the bar fight as a single swarm that fights at its full strength until it is defeated, this encounter divides the bar fight into 6 sections, marked by dotted lines on this encounter's map. (This includes the section you are currently in, which is still rowdy.) I’ve numbered the sections to help all of us track which sections of the bar have been pacified.

Each round on its turn, the bar fight will do damage to everyone in an unpacified section of the bar. To pacify a section of the bar, you must go to that section. You can pacify a section of the bar in one of three ways:

1. Knock it out. Go in and fight them, and knock some sense into their heads!

2. Intimidate them! Scare them into behaving themselves!

3. Sweet talk them! Use your honeyed and diplomatic tongue to get everyone in that section to stand down.

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Round 1
Active conditions:

Sandstone

================================

Storm Acolytes
Pink
Yellow
Blue

================================

Loola
Iqu
Scratch
Tess
Grams

================================

Port Peril Bar Fight
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3 (location of Storm Acolytes)
Section 4 (location of Party)
Section 5
Section 6

That's a cool way to handle this! Is area 4 unpacified, or would we start with area 3 since that's where the acolytes are?

On Tess's turn, if she's in (or can move to) a rowdy area, she'll attempt to placate the fighters, holding out her glass (good rum if there's any left, or tar booze if not) and inviting them to share. "Friends, there's clearly been a misunderstanding. My companions and I have only the highest respect for Hai Feng. 干杯!"

Area 4 is still unpacified. You have rowdy neighbors who'd like to throw a bar stool at your head.

I'm going to take a crack at Area 4.

Sandstone draws himself up to his considerable full height and bares his considerable teeth. Summoning every memory of desolate wilderness to make himself look as considerably wild as possible, he growls at those in the immediate area: "This does not concern you."

Intimidate: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

haha beans. I'm gonna take a hero point on that one.

Intimidate (reroll): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

Sandstone quiets the area around the party with a fierce growl, causing the various tengu sailors around you to all startle, realizing they would rather have a fight elsewhere!

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Unfortunately, there are three storm acolytes who do not look like they'll be settled with honeyed words or a haughty manner! Unlike anyone else in this fight, they are coming in to attack with lethal damage!

Pink double moves, hoping to set up a flank for the others, and then pokes at Grams!

Pink Scimitar (forceful, sweep): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
Slashing Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

She hits, minimally!

Actions:
◈ Stride
◈ Stride
◈ Strike

Blue moves up to Scratch!

Blue Scimitar (forceful, sweep): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Slashing Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

He misses, then he tries to sweep into Tess!

Blue Scimitar (forceful, sweep): 1d20 + 8 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 8 - 5 + 1 = 15
Slashing Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 1 = 3

And misses!

Actions:
◈ Stride
◈ Strike
◈ Strike

Yellow double moves to attack Iqu!

Yellow Scimitar (forceful, sweep): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Crit Slashing Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 4) = 9

In addition, because of the crit, lightning bursts from the Yellow Storm Acolyte's scimitar, hitting both Loola and Iqu!

Storm Smite Electric Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6
DC 13 Reflex to halve this.

Actions:
◈ Stride
◈ Stride
◈ Strike

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Round 1
Active conditions:

Sandstone

================================

Storm Acolytes
Pink
Yellow
Blue

================================

Loola (need reflex)
Iqu (-9, need reflex)
Scratch
Tess
Grams (-1)

================================

Port Peril Bar Fight
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3 (location of Storm Acolytes)
Section 4 (location of Party, pacified!)
Section 5
Section 6