[OSP] GM PaleDim's PFS# 06-16 Scions of the Sky Key, Part 3 (Inactive)

Game Master PaleDim

Ari-Ani quietly informs the others as to the location of the other doses. She also offers the salve she is carrying to anyone who thinks they might be able to fight the creature outside the creature's gaze

Ari-Ani then examines the linguistics

Take 10=18

Heal or Engineering (both untrained): 1d20 ⇒ 10

Linguistics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

"Hey, runes... Can anyone read them? It looks kind of like dates, that get closer and closer together as they go down."

Heal, untrained: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (18) + 0 = 18

Gaskar shakes his head. "Infirmary?" he questions out loud. The half-orc looks around at the dragon pictures. He slowly rubs his hands over one. 'How interesting. Didn't realize kobolds were artists.'

He continues to walk around the room, inspecting every nook and cranny.

Ari-Ani is the only party member who knows Dwarven, I believe. Does she dispense the information from the infirmary for discussion?

lol. I forgot Ari knew Dwarven. Yes, she shares the information.

Ki Chin frowns and takes a closer look at the barely legible scratches then pulls back. He scratches his head and tilts it to the right, then to the left. Unable to make sense of what is written the magus steps back and waits for the others.

"Names followed by numbers...are they prisoner numbers?" he says at Ari-Ani's explanation. Turning to Talethia he asks "Dates? What is the significance of the dates? Could they be birth dates or special anniversaries?"

Well, given that Ari-Ani shared the spoilers above (abstractly at least :) ), you know them to be dates of death as recorded in this infirmary. The dates seem to indicate the acceleration of some disease as it spread amongst the dwarves that inhabited this place.

With that bit of information, the party thinks on where to head next.

I'm guessing it's finally approaching that foreboding passage at the West of this area :) How do you all want to do this?

Gaskar will approach and look for traps, especially knowing kobolds have been around here.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

As their rogue friend moves forward looking for traps, the Ifrits keep an eye out for any enemies who might be lurking.

Soleil's Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4

Magmara's Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Talethia will quietly follow and keep an eye out for Kobolds, or the basilisk.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

As Gaskar leads the group towards the Northwest of the area, they start to hear light scampering sounds further South in the Western corridor.

I'm going to drop the previous mentioned rules onto the campaign header so they're readily accessible.

AND does anybody explicitly look down the hall at it? Or walk South in this corridor?

Seeing nothing else in the area Ki Chin brings his guard up and keeps his eyes looking downwards. He watches Gaskar's shadow as he proceeds.
Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 15

At the sound of scampering Ki Chin pokes his katana around the corner and watching the reflection.

Ari-Ani invokes her jade wayfinder for guiadance, and then moves to the concavity in the southwest and attempts to hide.

"I may only get one shot at this."

Stealth: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

I've moved Ki-chin/Mei on the map to reflect your post.

Round 1 (we're counting not because there is combat, but because some checks have to be re-made each round)

Ki-chin pokes his blade around the corner and looks via the reflection, confirming the location of the basilisk.

Chance to avoid gaze (1-50 is success): 1d100 ⇒ 19

The kensai is careful enough to get a *sense* of where it is, and not fully take in the face or its gaze.

Position marked on the map.

Ari-Ani approaches the Southwest corner, but immediately sees that the rubble is 1. going to be tougher to move through, and 2. be prone to additional noise.

I wanted you make sure you noted these facts before proceeding. Would you still like to move into that corner? Or, am I mistaken and you in fact mean the SW alcove *in the center of the area* where I now see your token? If that's the case no problem, but are you look at the basilisk and using either of the methods to avoid its petrifying gaze?

I am where i am on the map. I don't have line of sight from where I am. But, yes, she is keeping her eyes down.

If Ari-Ani is aware that the creature has passed around the corner, Ari-Ani will prepare a blinfold. Then she'll advance to the next corner (directly SE of where the basilsk is) without looking around it and pull her blind-fold over her eyes.

Gaskar should probably have waited for the others to join in since he's only level 1.

Chance to avoid gaze (1-50 is success): 1d100 ⇒ 68

Gaskar inadvertently catches the creatures attention with the briefest acknowledgement. With that he notices a collar around its neck. It starts to mill about in place, sort of ignoring the half-orc but also seemingly observing him.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (13) + 0 = 13

Gaskar remains silent, sneaking back down the corridor (not too far) with a confused look on his face.

Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

"Collared?" he'll whisper to Ki Chin as he walks by.

Didn't someone bring it's chew toy?

Talethia pulls the leather fetch toy out of her backpack. "I've got the thing's toy." She whispers. "The Kobolds were teaching it to fetch, though, so I'm not quite sure if it will just sit and chew on this if we toss it in, or if it will bring it back and want to play catch with us..."

"Maybe a pet." Ki Chin replies to Gaskar with a nod. "Does anyone have any ability or spell that would let us play keep away without touching the doll and lead the basilisk in a room?"

"I know a spell to levitate a small object." Talethia replies. "I could probably float this into the room. But I have to stay somewhat close, within 30 feet or so. How big is the room the basilisk is in, Gaskar? How far back into the room is it? And which way are we trying to go while it's distracted?"

Gaskar holds out his hands to estimate how big the creature was. Then he motions north. "Door?"

Soleil mutters disappointedly about not being able to go play with the big lizard puppy while Magmara tries to console her by reminding her that they're on a mission right now and maybe they can go see lizard puppies at the zoo after the mission is finished. Soleil pouts, but the pout softens when Magmara suggests that maybe she'll get her a bowl of frozen sweetened cream if she's a very good girl on the mission.

Without any helpful courses of action coming to his mind, Meux waits nervously to react to any forthcoming action.

After Gaskar points to the door, Talethia begins a minor incantation and gets the basilisk's toy floating towards it. As soon as it sees the toy it seems to light up like an excited dog! As the toy nears it, it lifts its front half slightly up, supported by the back four legs, and snatches it out of the air in its large maw.

It's tail seems to wiggle with excitement as it skitters towards... Talethia! It drops the toy at her feet and nuzzles into her leg a bit.

What does the new basilisk whisperer do?

"Hello there dangerous beastie." Talethia says brightly, trying very hard to keep nervousness out of her voice. "Do you want to play?"

Talethia will pick up the toy and start waving it in the air in a little dance. "Why don't we play for a bit while my friends go past you while I've got you distracted, huh?"

Perform (Dance) Fascinate: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

Once she has its full attention, she will move in the opposite direction of the door her companions need to go through, taking the basilisk as far from the door as she can, keeping it facing away from them and focused on her.

"Let me know when you're all past, friends, so I can end the game and get the $&#@ out of here." She says in a sing-song voice, keeping the extremely dangerous "puppy" focused and happy on her dance.

She is trying to keep her eyes off of its eyes as much as she can, but needs to be able to see if it's keeping its attention on her. She isn't extremely worried about its gaze attack at the moment, because she figures it's not likely to use it on her right now, or else the fun fetch game will end.

Soleil and Magmara will move past as soon as Talethia has the beastie distracted.

I'm assuming we don't need to use stealth since the lizard puppy is distracted?

As Ari-Ani sees the others heading for the door...

[b]"If we can secure the creature in one of the rooms, let us return to the aspis agent and free her to lean what she knows."[/b

Talethia's ruse works handily, and indeed with its friendly demeanor there is little to no gaze risk at the moment.

The "sisters" move to the Northern door just before Ari-Ani makes another suggestion.

What does everyone do in response to this?

With the basilisk occupied with its game with Talethia Ki Chin and Mei move towards the door to join the sisters.

"Tis a good idea to lead it into one of the rooms and contain it. Ari, maybe the door across the way, you can open the way? We could even leave a bit of food in there to placate it after the novelty of the chew toy wears off..."

Meux opens the door to the view of the dwarven statue, pulls out some trail rations and waits to act however needed.

This is assuming that everyone whose tokens are in the room with him are actually there-if the room is clear, he will drop the rations in a small pile where he stands and shuffle on out the back way-I didnt want to assume the actual position of the fellow party members and lead the basilisk into the area where multiple lives are congregated

Ari-Ani does the best she can to follow Meux's instructions.

Also, based on Talethia's description, she'd have led the Basilisk away from the double doors to the north of the area. For clarity I've moved her icon roughly to where that would be, leading the basilisk with her. I've also moved the sisters towards the door as Soleil described.

Knowing that, which door do you want to open to lead it into? I assume you'd have Talethia do the leading after your setup.

Meux and Ari-Ani open a door and begin to plant trail rations in it, in hopes it would keep the basilisk happy for the foreseeable future.

The toy will essentially not wear out for it, at least for the duration of this scenario :)

The basilisk seems to be fully drawn to Talethia, and particularly the toy she's carrying to distract it from the door. For now, she has successfully diverted its attention away from all of her teammates.

Talethia will wait until Meux and Ari-Ani are done putting the food in the room and get out of the way. Then she will lead the basilisk in there, give it the toy, and try to slip out. Hopefully the basilisk doesn't get upset and break down the door and come after us...

When the basilisk is secure, Ari-Ani heads back to the woman and puts an application of the cream on her. If the woman starts to return to normal, Ari-Ani makes sure to remove any of her weapons.

Meux backs up Ari-Ani to try and facilitate a diplomatic solution with the Aspis agent.

Soleil and Magmara get on either side of the Aspis agent just in case she decides to try something foolish. And yes, they're intentionally flanking.

Gaskar joins in, raising his flail, just in case.

Talethia stands by with her starknife in-hand, but is mostly wondering to herself what they should do about the basilisk when they are done and leave the ruins.

Should they open the door and let it wander free? If they did, would it try to follow them home...?

Ari-Ani and Meux leave a pile of food in one room, after which they vacate it. Talethia leads her new "pet" to the entry of the room and, grimacing at the quickness needed for the next part, tosses the toy into the center of the room before slamming the door shut. Having no opposable thumbs, it is neutralized. She can hear it scratching and whimpering from behind the door, clearly wanting to play "fetch" some more.

After, Ari-Ani heads to the petrified Aspis agent and applies one of their three doses of basilisk blood extract to her body. The stony-gray color begins to recede from her body, revealing a natural skin tone and bright colors on her clothing.

Suddenly her body begins moving naturally again, and her frozen expression of looking over her shoulder turns to surprise, and looking back and forth quickly between all of you.

She looks down at her arms, held out in front of her, confirming that the condition is gone. Then, spying a wayfinder on one of your belts, her expression turns to deep shame.

So... I was revived by Pathfinders. The last word is dripping with disdain, but she's now looking at her feet as she says this.

She glances at a few of you again and then at the door behind you Which returns to the prior area and the exit.

What do you say to her or ask her?

It will take diplomacy or intimidation to get her to answer questions.

Deciding not to talk lest he grow more irritated at the ungrateful woman Ki Chin purses his lips and keeps his sword pointed downward but at a ready to swing up should hostilities start.

Ari-Ani waits for Talethia to do the introductions and set the mood.

Aid Another DIplomacy guidance: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

"Seeing as how we've essentially saved you life, I believe here is a certain quid pro quo which is in effect. As payment, we'll require any information you have regarding the Aspis' activity in his region and any other information one might find helpful."

Unfortunately, Soleil's go-to social skill is bluff which was not an option, so she'll aid a diplomacy.

Aid Another Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

"You're prettier when you're not a statue," she says, smiling. Soleil has learned in her travels that people like flattery, she just happens to not be that good at giving it.

Magmara can be primary if needed with a +4, but I assume someone else has a higher bonus, so I'll label it accordingly.

Aid Another (or primary?): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

"Easy, friend," Magmara says with a gentle smile, "it's not about sides or factions. We helped you because it was the right thing to do. Giving us any helpful information you can offer would be the right thing to do as a gesture of gratitude."

At the Aspis agent's disparaging phrasing of "Pathfinders" (and while the woman is looking down at her feet still), Talethia scowls and makes a rude gesture at her. The ungrateful little.... When the agent looks up, though, Talethia is all smiles. The dancer has hung her starknife back on her belt, but keeps her hand not too far away from it.

"Hey, I can see how much you hate being beholden to a bunch of Pathfinders," Talethia says to the Agent. "How about you tell us who you are, what you know about this place, and what you were planning to do here, and we'll call it even, ok?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
(Plus whatever Aid bonuses added up to)

"There is always a place to find common ground, even in the heart of the most heated of conflicts and competition. All we require of you is the exchange of information. Have you ever thought of, maybe amending your life's road to that of a Pathfinder? We would be happy to put in a kind word for some useful assistance. The blessed Dawnflowah, Mother Sarenrae, is always there for those who wish to follow the righteous path!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Gaskar stands behind everyone, listening to the questioning of the Aspis agent.

Intimidation: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

He stands tall with his flail drawn.

Resentful though she may be, it doesn't take much convincing in her vulnerable state to get her talking. You get the sense she'll do anything that gets her closer to the exit in short order.

I’m Vanei Thaskin. I was sent here to find out about any defenses. I got this far, but that... creature got me. I’ve had enough of this place and the Aspis Consortium! As for why we're here... we were looking for a Pathfinder agent who knows something about a dwarven device that would be of great value to the Consortium. There are also rumors that there is a golden statue in these ruins. They are going to melt it for profit.

She looks expectantly at all of you, clearly to see how many more questions stand between her and the exit.

Any more questions?

"Other than the lizard puppy, did you see any baddies we should know about?" Soleil asks, then she adds, "Oh, and if you're done with the Aspis, you could always come join the Pathfinders. The Society never would leave one of their own hanging like happened to you!"

Bluff: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Oof, bad roll on my part. Let's see how good her sense motive is :=)