GM Mauve's PFS 1e 8-06 Reaping What We Sow (Inactive)

Game Master MauveAvengr

Staying at the docks right now... unless that messes stuff up, then I'm happy to go along for ease of narration. =)

Yuzu takes one of the romance novels and just about short-circuits. She's never held one before-- never really looked at one before, to be honest, and the cover is.............. not exactly chaste.

She hurriedly stashes it in a pouch.

"Though once we are through, we must leave, I will return this to you on that eve," she says, avoiding eye contact as her heartbeat quickens in her foxy chest.

Her eyes scan over the area; it's a joyful day, all told, as most Shelynite festivals tended to be. She herself was no Shelynite, but she had a fondness for the goddess.

Maybe this would be a mission for the Society that didn't involve bloodshed?

She sticks with Armeline, and when they have a relatively quiet moment not too close to prying ears, she asks:

"Pardon me, if I may ask, how years have passed you by.
Since your escape, have you been well? I do not mean to pry."

Nereus stays at the dock with the crew. There is still a fair amount of activity down there as ships move up and down the river. He gets a few strange looks, but he's able to shop the market - or stay on the boat if he wants.

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

"Twelve years. Twelve long years.". She looks down in sorrow. "But let's not dwell in the past. These pumpkins wont carve themselves!". She attempts to change the subject. Armeline stands up to look for more pumpkins... and they are all out! Luckily more pumpkins will be coming soon.

Will let you guys ask any more questions of Armeline or the locals (or just wander around) before more pumpkins arrive.

Yuzu bows her head.
"The future awaits,
Promises and pumpkins too
Let's see together."

She has a thought;
"We only need one,
Let me go retrieve one now--
I could ride my horse."

With Armeline's go-ahead, she'll retrieve Satsuki from the stable and go down to get a few good pumpkins in advance.

Andrelis will take a lap of the town, enjoying the country nature of the celebration, a far cry from hobnobbing with nobles and their more refined gatherings. He'll mark what landmarks there are, and see what the vendors have for sale in the market, before returning to the party.

Nodding to Armeline and Yuzu, he's happy to let the Samurai be the one handling the abandoned pathfinder, I still cannot believe they cut her loose like that... What if that's my fate? Would I be angry, or willing to take up again with those who so quickly abandoned me? Thinking deeply he grins at Gareleth's continued thoughts about his son, but spends more time staring off into space, before excusing himself and walking out to the edge of the festivities before seeking out a glass of whatever passes for wine in this farm town.

Gareleth begins wandering about the town looking for some sort of toy or cool piece of clothing or souvenir to bring home to Hallin. He take every opportunity in speaking with vendors or just locals about his fantastic young man. Often as he does so, his left hand absently reaches up to lightly touch the green cloth wrapped around his neck.

Armeline wasn't a Pathfinder, just a contact for them, just FYI.

The town is small and walking through it takes no time at all. There are no vendors here in town, just pumpkin carving for now.

Gareleth and Andrelis could walk to the dock market, about half a miles walk. There are vendors set up there. If they go, they spy Nereus on the riverboat talking to the crew. They are passing around a bottle of wine and telling stories.

As Yuzu prepares Satsuki to go get more pumpkins, she watches a group of villagers - who the group had watched leave earlier for more pumpkins - arrive in to town with a batch. One of the villagers runs over to the priest Bertinard, pulls him to the side and whispers something in the old priest's ear. He bows his head, thinking for a moment, then walks towards Yuzu and the other Pathfinders (Licia, Tessara, maybe Gareleth/Andrelis if they don't go to to the dock-market).

"You look like a brave sort that is comfortable facing grisly situations. Is that true"

Yuzu looks down at the priest, blinking.

She was optimistic, perhaps.

"A samurai sits astride before you;
My honor, bow, and blade are all true.
If my aid it is you need,
By all means, I shall hear your plea."

"Priest, tell us what you need. Without the guilt trap."

Tessara eyes the priest' garb to get a clue on his particular wishes for an afterlife residence...

Knowledge Religion: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

D'Oh! hoping he's going for one of the Core 20... :P

Andrelis wanders to the dock market, letting Yuzu, Licia, and Tessara know where he's headed, and will wander through the dock market since that's not too far away. Spying Nereus and the boat crew he waves to them, without heading over to the boat.

Its okay Armeline isn't a Pathfinder, but good to know!

Gareleth looks over various wares at the dock market trying to find an ideal item for Hallin. Sadly, nothing seems to stand as out just that right item. Despite that, he does enjoy the time with his "brother," and when they spy the aquatic Elf, Gareleth follows Andrelis' lead and gives a wave.

Giving one more scan to the marketplace, Gareleth sighs and then says, "Well, Andy, I suppose we'd better go find this Armandingle lady," as he, of course, has no idea that his comrades have already found her.

Gareleth's comment stirs Andrelis out of his funk, the elf laughing, We already did meet her, but come on, I'll introduce you - she seems very nice for someone we left out in the cold for over a decade though. I'm going to reserve my judgment until we've been around her a little longer.

"We met her without me? I mean, I guess that wouldn't still be 'we' then," he says, and pauses in thought for a moment before giving a hearty, "But I digress. Of course I'd love to meet her. I mean, we were hand-picked for this mission because you and I are so very diplomatic. A shame we weren't both there. I'll see if I can smooth over any damage that might have been done," and he goes about straightening his coat and adjusting the many odd and sundry trinkets he wears.

Tessara notices he is a Shelynite priest, which makes sense. The only temple in town is dedicated to Shelyn and he invoked her name in the festivities a few times already.

As Andrelis and Gareleth (and Nereus?) chat in the marketplace, Yuzu, Licia, and Tessera talk with Bertinard. He huddles them in close. "You brave lot seem comfortable facing grisly situations," he utters again. "Elm, the druid, is dead. Go with the constable Elise Tivareau to the farm and investigate. While you're gone, I'll gather some adults and let them know what happened."

He counts the three of you. "Weren't there more of you?"

"Yeah... they're taking in the... ahem... 'sights' of your town, I suppose... we'll round them up and head out to the farm. Where's this Elise Tivareau you speak of?"

Yuzu nods. "I shall retrieve our companions three; with Satsuki, haste comes naturally."

She waits around just long enough to hear where the farm is, then rides to the marketplace to gather the missing party members.

Upon hearing he might be needed, Nereus sighs slightly, then disembarks to head to the village.

He hesitates briefly before stepping off the dock onto solid land, then strides along with the others... though he seems a little uncomfortable the entire time.

A human woman walks over and Bertinard introduces her. "This is Elise. She'll take you to the druid's farm.

Elise gives each of you a handshake. "I'm relieved that you'll be joining me. It's my responsibility to shield the citizens from the grisly details.". She counts the three Pathfinders in front of her. "I was told there were six of you. Are there? If so, gather them and meet me by the road to the farm over there in ten minutes.". She points to a road where she wants to meet.

Bertinard clasps his hands together. "Great. I'll let the adults of town know what is happening."

As Yuzu gives Gareleth, Andrelis, and Nereus the news about the murder they're being asked to investigate, Gareleth says, "Of course we'll help!" then, after a moment of pondering, adds, "None of us did it, right?"

Counting his steps quickly, Andrelis looks askance at his brother, No, of course not, Dear brother, We’ve only just arrived, and no one had presented affront, even Yuzu hasn’t been slighted! the elf assuages his companion.

Just looked at the Ward Speaker archetype for perhaps the first time................. might need to retrain Yuzu between scenarios.

Yuzu nods, and leads the group to where they're set to meet up-- by the road to the farm.

"I know not how to set my tail; things seem bad, but what details?" she asks, once the full group is assembled.

Nereus, Gareleth, and Andrelis meet up with Yuzu, Tessara, Licia, and Elise.

The constable Tivareau leads the Pathfinders a few miles outside of town to Elm's farm. She doesn't talk much and will keep any answers the group asks her short.

The group passes by several farms, most are empty at the moment. Elise mentions that most of the farmers are probably at the festival at the moment.

Eventually after an hour or so of walking, the group approaches Elm's farm. His house is small, only one bedroom and looks dirty. About 50 feet away from the front door, a middle aged man's body lies on the ground facedown. Pumpkin vine entwine his body, encircling his arms and legs. One vine even wraps around his head, holding his jaw open.

Elise gasps: "Oh no. Poor Elm. He was a good friend of mine.". Tears start falling down her cheek.

"What in the Hells?!..."

Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

As they walk (and she rides), Yuzu keeps her bow in her lap, an arrow nocked on the string.

It's eerie, moving away from a happy festival to what one has been told is a grisly scene. As leaves fall on the path before her, Yuzu contemplates the nature of horror.

Happy faces smile
Not as far as they would like
From that which consumes

------------------

Reaching the sight, her eyes narrow behind her mask, and she lets Satsuki take a step back.

She turns to her companions:

"By nature, vines grow slow and freely.
This is unnatural, I believe completely.
Pumpkins, though? I've some concern:
The festival! Danger? We should return."

She sniffs, and turns to Elise.

"My sorrow for you, Elise, is deep.
Does anyone else this home keep?"

Looking over the scene with his detached analytical brain going, Gareleth speaks some thoughts aloud. "So, he's a druid, therefore plant-based magic and the manipulation of plant movements so perhaps this was druidic magic simply gone awry? Of course, there's also the possibility of the magic being deliberately tampered with, so I suppose if our new friend Elise was intimate with him, as her emotional outburst and quiet demeanor might suggest, and had a jealous husband, there's our first suspect, though we can't rule out Elise herself. For that matter, we know Armendingle was a wielder of at least some degree of magical or alchemical power, so perhaps her apparent joy at seeing us was a mask to hide this attempt at our murder as she did suggest we engage in the pumpkin carving. Then again, the town leader who sent us here did just get the best line of protection in town removed from the townsfolk as a batch of pumpkins from here arrived in town, and as Yuzu accurately observed, those pumpkins heading back to town might be contaminated and a threat. Yes," he says with a satisfied nod, "we should probably get back to town post haste."

"When you're all done talkin' 'n prosin' in front of the dead body, could one o' ye check it out? I'll stand here ready to shoot anythin' improper..."

Tessara loads her gun with shot. She then taps her left shoulder with a wand of mage armor.

Andrelis will draw his rapier and approach the body, looking for any clues,

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Just wait a moment brother, lets see what we can learn here before we solve the case that quickly...

Andrelis looks at the plants, and the body, seeing if anything is obvious.

Anyone mind giving me a hand looking this over, I don't really know what I'm looking for if it isn't a poisoned needle...

"Of course, Andy," Gareleth replies, his usual smile back on his face, "reminds me of that time we had to solve that murder in Magnimar, eh, brother?" and Gareleth begins inspecting the murder scene with no idea what one might actually look for as clues.

Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (19) + 0 = 19

A DC 14 Heal check could determine how he died. A DC 10 Heal check could determine when he died.

Patches of brown fungi are scattered on the ground near the druid's body. Tessara knows these are pumpkin vines.

Elise dabs her checks with a cloth. "Rosehaven is small. Everyone knows everyone. Elm and I were childhood friends." She's holding back the tears while trying to be professional. She starts wandering around the farm - then notices the door to Elm's house is slightly ajar.

Heal, from 10 ft. distance: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11
Then Perception, to make sure no one is sneaking on us or observing us...: 1d20 ⇒ 11

Looking at the body, Andrelis shrugs, Nereus, can you take a look at the old druid here, tell us anything? I'm certainly out of my own depth.

Seeing Elise noticing the door, Andrelis decides to check out the hut, Hey, let's make sure no one is inside the house while Nereus investigates the body. Everyone with me?

He creeps to the doorway, and peers inside as stealthily as possible.
Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

"Of course, brother," Gareleth says, drawing his scorpion whip and moving towards the door with Andrelis, "you know I've always got your back, as they say."

As they get to the door, he quietly adds, "Best let me check for traps first," still fully believing that he's actually good at it.

Perception to Check for Traps: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (11) + 0 = 11

Yuzu retrieves her staff—neither her lance nor her bow are likely to be useful in close-quarters.

”Swiftly, surely, let us check here quickly,
With concern, I feel rather sickly,” she advises.

Nereus moves up to the dead farmer, unsure on what sorts of plants encircle him, but still... just plants right?

He tries to determine what and when the man died.

Heal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Nereus examines the body of the druid. He flips him over and notices something strange: a combination of rows of puncture wounds from a creature with a wide maw, severe bruises, and burn wounds. Guesstimating, Nereus posits that Elm probably died between 8 and 16 hours ago.

Tessara looks around the farm and doesn't notice any movement of any kind. No one lurking in the shadows either.

Gareleth and Andrelis move up to the farmhouse with Yuzu and her staff nearby. The door does not seem to be trapped and peering in, the Pathfinders see a bed, a desk, a table, two chairs, a chest of clothes, a shelf of food and cooking supplies, and a fireplace. The house is dirty but uncluttered - suitable for a druid. On the desk lie two pieces of paper.

"I'm going to go in and grab those papers," Gareleth whispers, "Cover me," and with that, he moves slowly and cautiously into the room to get the papers, but keeps a lookout for threats as he goes.

Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (14) + 0 = 14

Gareleth dashes in. Nothing jumps out at him. He grabs the two pieces of paper and rushes back out.

One is a cryptic note (on slides) and one is a map.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
Nature: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Geography: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

"Whisperwort or red peat moss... this map here shows locations where that red moss was spotted... should we investigate some of these sightings?"

Wisdom: 1d20 ⇒ 15

”The map shows that this town is surrounded; his fears, it would seem, were quite well-founded.”

Wisdom: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (2) + 0 = 2

"Well, if we're heading to the woods to investigate, we might be leaving the townfolk to be slaughtered by pumpkin death vines, so maybe we should swing through town and check n them first," Gareleth says.

Yuzu nods. "My concern is with the villagers first; I fear the pumpkins may have bloodthirst."

"Good idea. With the yokels we will first share the intel!" says Tessara, winking at Yuzu.

Sounds reasonable to me, let them quietly know things may go badly, and then check out the X's on the map? Andrelis agrees with the group.

"Yes, and by sharing these map locations with the villagers, they'll know where to instigate a controlled burn of these fields, should we fail at finding the source of the blight and reversing its effect..."

"If none object, I'll ride ahead
Make haste the rest, non-quadrupeds."

Unless someone yells "don't split the party!", Yuzu will ride ahead and avoid combat except if necessary to protect lives. She can keep her distance with a bow and a horse, after all :D

"If I can ride along, I can be your arcane archer," Gareleth says, drawing his wand of magic missiles.

Splitting the party is fine with me as long as no one goes solo, plus Gareleth can also cast infernal healing, so he's handy for keeping people alive.

Tessara hops behind Yuzu, riding double, her loaded blunderbuss out and ready with a pack of shot. She smiles at Gareleth, saying "Shotgun!"

The gun-wielding Elf says "shotgun." Well played!

"Guess we're running to town, Andy," Gareleth says, starting in that direction, "just like that time when we were in Jalmeray trying to stop that coven of witches, eh?" he calls over his shoulder as he's running.

Yuzu and Tessara ride on Satsuki back to town while the rest of the Pathfinders and Elise stay back at Elm's farm.

Do the Pathfinders that stay want to investigate the red peat moss or walk back into town?

Gareleth was already running back towards town and was expecting that Andrelis was following him since it would be just like Gareleth to assume his "brother" is with him and never even bother to look back to confirm it. So yeah, he may be running through the woods on his own at this point.