Dot in here.
The adventure begins as you all have recently arrived or spent some time in the town of Petitioner’s Port. One of the town’s deputy leaders, Administrator Salayah (LN female half-elf), swiftly comes to town from the government building on a nearby hill, stopping in front of the town’s major rest stop: the Meticulous Truffle Inn. She places an updated sheet on the local bounty board, which you all see as the administrator is placing it, or later in the day as a small crowd forms around the board.
The Note:
Adventurers Needed!
My farm has been the victim of a terrible threat. Some kind
of awfulness is murdering my precious alpaca herd. I need
help immediately and am willing to pay a reward of 20 gold to
the adventurers who put a stop to these murders. Come visit
my farm, due north of Petitioner’s Port, for more information.
-Wilhuff Harjhack
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Calestia joins the crowd. Currently, she's on a .... travelabout (taking a break from PFS training on her OE)... and running out of coin. She looks like an elf but that slight glow around her gives away her Celestial heritage.
Somehow ... I suspect that this ... awfulness ... would not be open to negotiation she muses to herself. Probably deserves a good smiting - or at least a different style of diplomacy
She heads off in the direction to find out more. Besides, fresh farm food is always best ... and she could use a few more eggs.
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A halfling pushes his way to the front of the crowd, his crimson hair standing out just as much as the fiery tattoos covering his exposed arms.
He looks up at the posting and growls loudly, "Hunting on another's territory. Disrespectful and time to learn a lesson." he says taking a deep breath and heading north.
As he heads along the road he sees some woman that is...glowing.
"YOU!? Have you been killing alpaca? I guess you wouldn't admit it if you were..." he calls out.
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A large human male, recently arrived in Petitioner’s Port for reasons that are a bit vague even to him, heads towards the Meticulous Truffle Inn. He notes the crowd gathering to one side and his curiosity momentarily overcomes his thirst. As he approaches the bounty board, his size and appearance causes the crowd to almost naturally part before him.
His tan-darkened skin, close-cropped black hair, and somewhat ravaged countenance, frame a pair of steely blue eyes. A semi-permanent scowl discourages closer inspection, but the stronger willed see a tall, lean muscled man in slightly ill-fitting clothes; every part of his exposed body, except for the area around his eyes, is covered in an even crisscrossing of thousands of fine faded scar lines. Across this evenly scarred background, the occasional newer and larger scar can be picked out.
He seems to be of Kellid stock from the far north, but something is amiss. Perhaps it is the collection of unusual weapons hanging from different parts of his body that strikes the odd note. For he is clearly a member of that rare group known as the warrior monks, not a calling one generally associates with the Kellid.
His keen senses pick out the woman with the strange glowing eyes and the rufous haired halfling from the rest of the crowd; they are clearly cut from a different cloth than the other regular townsfolk clustered about. He notices that they both take an interest in the task at hand and start heading north, presumably to the farm in question.
Mandoo is a little torn; should he follow the two north or head into the inn for a refreshment after a long day on the road? He looks after them and sighs; They didn't look all that strong and he suspected that the awfulness that was killing the animals was unlikely to be kind to anyone who tried to stop it. He notices the locals looking him over and could sense the uneasiness that his presence was provoking. Perhaps it might be best if he continued north to the farm; the distressed farmer would probably be good for a drink, if nothing else.
With that, Mandoo moves away from the crowd and heads north, following the other two adventurers. He hangs back a little but keeps them in sight.
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Ulfgar lays down the coin for his drink then lumbers off his stool at the bar. Despite what he considers a pretentious name for the tavern, they had some pretty good ale.
Heading outside, he sees that a crowd has gathered around a post. Curious, he examines what they're looking at.
After he's read it (maybe twice, maybe he's just a slow reader) he spits decisively then starts to head up the north road.
He's clearly ready to deal with any kind of awfulness. Armored, with a dwarven waraxe carried loosely on his shoulder and a clan dagger in his belt and javelins on his back. His thick read beard is carefully braided but his hair, which is thinning is left unkempt. It seems to be retreating from the perpetual scowl on his face.
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A black-scaled kobold peers up at the notice board. He is naked, save for a leather loincloth. Tiny bat-like wings sprout from his shoulder blades.
”Alpaca...”, he muses in a high-pitched voice, his brow furrowing. Then he shakes his head. ”No matter! They will face the wrath of Dreadfang!”
Hemmed in by the crowd, he pushes his way out. ”One side! One side!”, he barks. ”Pathfinder coming through!”
Once free of them, he scampers off toward the farm.
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A dark-skinned Garundi male approaches the board. He carries a shortbow, a rapier, and a club. The man has a street-worn look about him. A wayfinder views prominently on his clothes. A loud black-scaled kobold pushes Luz aside, just as Luz finishes reading the notice.
"Pathfinder you say? I didn't know that they made them so small and scalely, but well met. The name is Luz, Luz Lumino. Perhaps we could work together on this mystery?"
Luz extends his hand, inviting a handsahke as he mentally makes whatever is killing the alpaca, the subject of his investigation.
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A dark-skinned Garundi male approaches the board. He carries a shortbow, a rapier, and a club. The man has a street-worn look about him. A wayfinder views prominently on his clothes. A loud black-scaled kobold pushes Luz aside, just as Luz finishes reading the notice.
"Pathfinder you say? I didn't know that they made them so small and scalely, but well met. The name is Luz, Luz Lumino. Perhaps we could work together on this mystery?"
Luz extends his hand, inviting a handsahke as he mentally makes whatever is killing the alpaca, the subject of his investigation.
Dreadfang stops and looks up at Luz suspiciously, but he notices the wayfinder, and his expression softens a bit.
”Hmmm”, he says. ”Good good!”
He takes the man’s hand in a small, clawed grip of his own.
”I am Dreadfang!”, he proclaims. ”We will attack this mystery, like a mighty dragon attacks a village, and burn it to the ground! Ha HA!”
The journey from Petitioner’s Port to the Harjhack farm takes 2 hours as you all trek north, mostly through rolling green hills broken by the occasional idyllic stream or copse of trees.
When you all arrive in the area, you spot a wandering herd of several dozen alpacas off in the distance, moving behind a growing hill. As the PCs continue towards the farm, they see the leader of the herd ascend to the top of the hill, silhouetted by the sun.
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Celestia looks down at the halfling, then kneels down so they are roughly the same height.
Alpacas? she says in a soft musical voice No .. indeed not. My intent is to ... investigate whomever, or whatever is responsible. Presumably you are on the same mission. My name is Celestia Sol, currently on holiday from the Pathfinder Society
She wears white robes and looks like some sort of arcanist - or maybe a cleric - as she also wears a holy symbol of Desna.
As they approach the farm, the sight of the glowing alpaca fascinates her so much that she gets dazzled.
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Mandoo squints suddenly to avoid being blinded. He nearly closes his eyes all the way; looking through his lashes in the way the Kellid do to avoid snow blindness when they're caught out without their goggles. His thoughts momentarily take him back to that fateful day long ago when his goggles, a gift from his father, were the only thing that saved his eyes. He shakes off the painful memory and instead, thinks, "Ah, so that is an alpaca; what odd looking creatures they are; sort of like large long-necked sheep, but prettier."
Sol is dazzled for a round as the shining fur of the Alpaca reflects sunlight into your eyes.
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"Oh...well the person doing this certainly wouldn't volunteer to track themselves down..." Silvrynn thinks out loud then shakes his head. "My name is Silvrynn Brago. Nice to meet someone else wanting to teach this guy a less-what is that?" he finishes peering up towards the crest of the hill.
He hisses as he rubs his eyes.
"What in the world!" he huffs while he waits for the stars to dissipate. He looks around to and sees others approaching and changes to a defensive stance.
He then realizes it is probably more people taking up the bounty, he barks out an introduction and warning.
"My name is Silvrynn Brago. Better not be the ones hunting those animals...at least two of us are after him."
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Mandoo looks over the small crowd of adventurers that have presumably gathered together to destroy the awfulness that's attacking the alpacas. There are six total, himself included. He does some mental calculations to try and figure out what his cut of the reward will be. After a few failed attempts, he estimates it to be about 3 gold each. Not a great deal, but not so bad for a day or two of work. On the plus side, they all seemed to be Pathfinders, though one of them could always turn out to be an impostor.
Looking at the expectant faces turned in his direction, he clears his throat harshly and states a little too loudly, "I am Mandoo", before adding more quietly, "of the Keun clan", with less certainty. When this appears to be insufficient, he adds, "I am monk; I like to fight. I too am Pathfinder, sometimes."
As you are all talking, the farmer Wilfur comes up to you all.
Wilfur a rugged-looking Kellid man in dirty overalls approaches, using a pitchfork as an impromptu walking stick. Howya doina, you'alla comea to ah, investigate? Pathfindahs?
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The appearance of farmer Wilfur surprises Mandoo. The man was clearly of Kellid stock, but working as a farmer and raising alpacas in Druma. Wilfur must be one of those Isgeri Kellids that he'd heard about. How interesting.
Mandoo stands back and lets the more silver-tongued members of the group deal directly with the farmer. He follows the group wherever the farmer leads them.
Ah, yeeass, he-re you go
the old farmer escorts them to the northeastern section of his land, where he has kept the body of his latest lost alpaca, Rockford, untouched near the containment fence. Farmer Wilhuff trusts you all and leaves them to perform their investigation in peace, departing quickly to get his herd gathered up and put into the barn.
Pathfinders also see the nearby fence
Pathfinder may also spot something in the nearby terrain
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On the way to the alpaca, Luz makes farmer the subject of his investigation and ask the farmer, a pointed question
"Mr. Wilfur, do you know who or what did this?" The question seems daft, but the investigator realized that sometimes you can catch people off-guard by asking the question no one thinks to ask.
When the group arrives at the scene, Luz (assuming Luz does no detect an lies or deception from Wilfur) switches his investigation to the dead alpaca and clues in the others
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Mandoo gives the fence a looking over to see if he can determine how and where the killer entered the paddock. He then spends more time looking over the ground and surrounding area searching for tracks or any other sign of who the killer might have been, the direction it came from, and particularly where it went after the attack.
Wilfur the farmer doesn't know honestly. Sorry, don't know, that is why I posted a bounty to hire investigators.
No signs of the occult, here is what you do know though.
1. Baccalias, some of these alpacas are a rare alpaca breed with some of the highest quality wool on Golarion.
2. You notice several puncture marks underneath the wool of the alpaca’s neck.
3. You quickly realizes that Rockford’s body has been almost completely drained of blood; on a critical success(which you did get), you realize that the alpaca was murdered late last night.
4. You find that the fence here has no signs of use, so whatever entered this area, likely did so by leaping over the fence.
5. Meanwhile, while investigating the nearby area you also note the presence of three golden studs, matching those in Rockford’s ears.
6. DC 15 Survival check sees small footprints directly next to Rockford’s corpse, though they don’t seem to go any further. A PC who succeeds this check by 5 or more (you have a 20) notes that the tracks start and end several feet past the fence, leading towards a nearby copse of trees.
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Mandoo nods in agreement at Silvrynn's comments. Mandoo points to the copse of trees, "Tracks lead to trees. Should look there next."
He then spots the three golden studs and bends over to pick them up. He takes them back to the rest of the group. "Creature dropped these. Gold not important to creature." He shows them to Wilfur, "You recognize these? Belong to dead alpaca?"
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Mandoo nods in agreement at Silvrynn's comments. Mandoo points to the copse of trees, "Tracks lead to trees. Should look there next."
He then spots the three golden studs and bends over to pick them up. He takes them back to the rest of the group. "Creature dropped these. Gold not important to creature." He shows them to Wilfur, "You recognize these? Belong to dead alpaca?"
Dreadfang looks over the gold. ”Oooo, fancy cow!”, he says. ”Wait...the cow had a hoard? Was it a dragon cow?” His eyes widen.
You follow the tracks and that gives you a huge advantage.
A collapsed tree trunk leads up to the main area from the lowered terrain in Starting Point 1. The trunk stretches 20 feet in length; crossing it requires a successful DC 12 Acrobatics check to Balance. Alternatively, a PC can attempt to scale the nearby walls with a successful DC 15 Athletics check to Climb.
You see a creature just waking up
Oh right Map
Ulfar
Mandoo is up on the map you see a creature northeast from where you are at, but you may have climb across the tree branch first.
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Mandoo is up on the map you see a creature northeast from where you are at, but you may have climb across the tree branch first.
Mandoo eyes the tree trunk warily; it looks slippery and dangerous. It is also quite long, and will take him much valuable time and effort to carefully work his way to the other end .
He then turns to face the short but brutal wall beside him. He's quite good at climbing and this looked like the quickest way to the top.
His first attempt ends in failure as a root he grabs onto turns out to be half-rotten and gives way. This causes him to swing out from the wall on his other hand. "What a rookie mistake. Must concentrate more and stop wasting precious time."
Redoubling his efforts, he swings back and tries again.
"Much better," he thinks to himself as he gets to the top and scrambles over the edge onto the high ground. The creature was still some distance away, but would soon be on them.
Mandoo eyes the beast in the distance, draws his bo staff out from behind him, and prepares for its arrival.
The creature triple moves just to get to Mandoo. However. It last move it does a pounce, which is a move and an attack in one. oouch, crit double that and you are grabbed.
All heroes are up