Hi GM! How does Play-by-post work? Is this going to be a play-by-email / forum format (which is something I can do) or a typing campaign (which might be problematic due to my timezone).
Light Infantry Monk reporting as ordered!
(or should that be warty old toad) :-)
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"Good Roads be before you, friends," says a thin iruxi crossing his arms across his chest and bowing. His robes are little more than red shashes and a loin cloth. Attached to his chest sash is a clasp of silver bearing stars and a moon. He also has Two star-knives attached to his belt. "I am Spry Conor, follower of the Path of Heavens, and look forward to our journey together."
Greetings all! I am called Loong Laohu. My name is based on the two styles I practice, Dragon Style and Tiger Style. I look forward to our journey together.
To those curious, the name is the phonetic spelling of "Dragon" and "Tiger" in Mandarin.
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As is typical of Pathfinders, each of you is off pursuing some other area of interest while awaiting your next assignment. Scattered to the winds across Golarion though you may be, a letter from the Society manages to find you. This missive turns out to be from Urwal, the iruxi leader of the Verdant Wheel. As Pathfinders, you know Urwal by reputation, and some may have even worked with him before. He’s one of the newest leaders of the Pathfinder Society, an iruxi stargazer who simply showed up at the Grand Lodge the previous year and made himself at home, correcting labels on Mwangi artifacts, sorting insect collections, and painting murals of the night sky as seen from central Garund. He’s considered odd, even by the flexible standards of the Pathfinders, but he’s clearly committed to the Pathfinder cause, and he and his supporters have proven their worth where the preservation of nature is concerned.
Further, you are also aware that the Pathfinder Society was involved in a major operation in Finadar Forest in the last year, 4718 ar. An ancient cyclopean ritual was accidentally triggered by a group of goblins living in a dragon’s graveyard, causing a massive fire. With help from the Pathfinders, the local centaurs and druids managed to stop the fire, and since then have been working on the forest’s recovery. The goblins in question have since emigrated west.
With this letter in hand, the various Pathfinders set out to travel to the town of Mishkar, in Iobaria in the far northeastern reaches of Avistan.
Rhee and Flynn know a bit about Urwal's peculiar comments. Rhee knows the Green is the planet of Castrovel, associated with fertility, while the Stranger is one of the constellations of the Cosmic Caravan, associated with ill magic and typically depicted as a single, staring eye. The Child is another name for Golarion, while the Mother is another of the Cosmic Caravan, associated with protection. While Flynn believes that the Stranger has a particular place in the iconography of Old Koloran, the pre-human empire of cyclopses that included much of modern-day Iobaria, thousands of years ago.
Rhee also tries to parse Urwal's reference to spirits and primal worship. Iobaria’s dominant religion is the worship of various nature spirits, who protect harvests, prevent forest fires, and so forth. Most religious figures are druids.
Once more Rhee and Flynn recall a bit more information about the Finadar Forest. Finadar Forest, in western Iobaria, is mostly known for its bruorsivi (or blood pines), a species of pine tree with scarlet needles that burns remarkably well and sparks small wildfires as part of its life cycle. While Finadar’s blood pines make the forest highly susceptible to sudden and intense forest fires, the many druids and centaur shamans who reside there typically keep these fires from growing out of control.
Greetings fellow Pathfinders. I am Loong Laohu. You may simply call me "Tiger". I am a practitioner of the Dragon and Tiger styles of unarmed arts.
What folks see would be a unassuming man of medium build. His head is shaved save for a topknot. He is dressed in plain, simple homespun robes, which make him appear unremarkable. In one hand he carries a staff. A sling is tucked into his belt, along with what appear to be healer's tools.
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The puffin perched atop the young Tian-Dan [Vietnamese on Earth] man who approached the other two Pathfinders nocked it's head as it looked at the leshy, amused and curious at what it was seeing.
The man wore a robe outlined in colors reminiscent of the oceans deep. In his right hand, he clutched a staff with a shimmering, rough cut copper stone inlaid its top. On his belt, there was strapped a large tome and a backpack slung over his shoulders with all the usual necessities.
"Well met, I am Nuoc Tang. I come from a long line of hydromancers from the east. My pilgrimage has taken me from Xa Hoi over the Crown, where I befriended Mua Boa up north," motioning with his head to his puffin familiar. "I found my studies and training could be appropriately tested when I joined with the Society. At least for this stage in my life. I look forward to working with you all," he said, looking to the rest just joining them.
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"Did you two receive Urwal's cryptic notes as well? I understand some of the basic astronomy mentioned and I've always had a fondness for Iobaria and traveling amongst the Bruorsivi pines.
I hope you all like to eat your meals cold though. These forests can get quite hot the second a spark is added."
A tengu with sun-bleached feathers and a bandanna on his head greets the others. He smells of the sea, which is his home.
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Sprawling on a hilltop overlooking a broad caravansary, the town of Mishkar is an eclectic mix of steeply pitched Varisian houses interspersed with the occasional red-tiled Taldan roof. The scars of the recent fires are still visible if one cares to look, seen in the town’s smoke-darkened rooftops and sooted doorways. Mostly, though, you see evidence of new construction and repairs both finished and in progress; it seems that Mishkar is decidedly in favor of putting the past behind it. Today, it is a city of paint buckets and ladders, of carpenters and surveyors and masons, smelling of sawdust and sounding of workers’ cries.
The caravansary at the foot of the hill is equally bustling. A large caravan of merchants from Brevoy has just arrived, and the building’s yard is crowded with clerks and guards, horses and grooms, with curious children darting between the wagon wheels. Just about everyone seems to be at the caravansary today, except the person you need to meet. Jaldan is nowhere to be found!
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Rhee spends little time getting to know the lay of the land, the locals, and what they value. He begins to pick up some paint and help out where needed, quickly ingratiating himself to the people of Iobaria and the Caravansary.
(Rhee has Streetwise and gets to use Society instead of Diplomacy to gather information)
Tiger looks around and sees unshod hoofprints. Dropping to one knee, he notes their characteristics and tries to figure out which set to follow.
Tiger sees the gnome and extends a hand in greeting.
"Greetings sir gnome. What is your opinion on this set of hoofprints?"
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Spry Conor bows to each of his friends with arms crossed on his chest. "Master Tiger. Master Tang. Master Rhee. Master Pom. Pom's Master."
As a professional traveler Spry Conor is no stranger to meeting new folks. The Iruxi strides into the carvan and begins talking with them in his clipped and clicking way.
"Greetings friends..."
Tiger also looks up from his study of the tracks and looks around town (best analogy I can give is a tracker looking up from a set of tracks he's trying to follow to see if there's anything relevant; so pretty much I'm also going to attempt a perception check to see if anything sticks out immediately).
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One of the Grooms looks up at Spry as he begins asking the caravan about seeing Jaldan around. "You, know I did see a teenaged centaur girl out by the east wall about 20 minutes ago.
Looking around the city you manage to find the area. Just past the east wall of Miskhar is the peculiar sight of a freckled, teenaged centaur yelling at an apple tree. Upon closer inspection, it is clear that she is actually yelling at a pair of human children who have climbed the tree: a boy and a girl, each about ten years old, with matching red hair and homespun clothes. The girl nonchalantly eats an apple while the boy rifles through a decorated leather satchel.
[b]“You little demons, give that back!” the centaur yells, flicking her tail in profound irritation.
“Hmm. Nope,” the girl in the tree says, munching on the apple.
“Not until you show us how to make those dead squirrel monsters!” the boy calls down.
“Sure, I’ll show you! Come on down, I’ll make two dead monsters! Little devils, with red hair!” the centaur yells, then spots your approach. “... Oh no. You’re… did Urwal send you? Oh no. Um. Can you just... I’m sorry, could you come back in a half hour? Please?”
Tiger looks at the scene with a raised eyebrow, looking up the tree, then back at the centaur, then back up the tree... turning to the centaur he asks "Jaldan, I presume?"
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"Maybe we can be of aid? From my interpretation you know how to make undead squirrel monsters and do not want to show them how to do it. I assume it is because they are too young to know such things?"
“Yeah!” The boy says, “It’s like, a dead squirrel, with a bunch of branches stuck in it, and it moves kinda like a centipede, and it’s got burning eyes with bloodpine sap, and it’s the awesomest thing I’ve ever seen!”
“I think they maybe saw one of the polluted nature spirits.” Jaldan says to you, quietly. “And no, I can’t make one. Not that I would. If I could.”
Tiger begins to do some "monk-ly" acrobatic tricks (flips, somersaults, etc) to try to entice the children to come down from the tree.
Tiger pauses from his acrobatics (noting that the kids don't seem to be impressed). Calling up to the boy, "young lad, what will it take for you to hand the bag back to its rightful owner?"
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"Polluted? Is that why we have been requested? The children don't seem to be very afraid of these things. How bad can it be?"
Rhee inquires of the centaur youth.
“Sort of. Those little twerps stole my bag! It’s got my books and my tools and my food and it’s got the money I was supposed to give you for travel costs, and... and...” Jaldan trails off, then puts her head in her hands and moans. “This is a disaster.”
Calling up to the boy, "young lad, what will it take for you to hand the bag back to its rightful owner?"
“She’s a forest witch, see, and we want her to make us one of those scary squirrel monsters. Or show us how to make a scarecrow walk.” Alayn says, as if this is the most reasonable request in the world. “Then we’ll give it back!” “We’re not thieves.” The girl, Linnit, adds.
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Nuoc, seeing the plight in the situation, casts a Message to the red-headed boy to hear.
"If it's magic you really want to see, perhaps we can be of help, young man," Nuoc mouths. He waits until the boy identifies that it is him speaking to him, matching the silent lips with the voice in his head. "Hi there," he mouths, waving. "Why don't you and your sister come down from there? I'd be happy to show you more tricks than this one."
Tiger leaps up to the lowest branch in an attempt to clamber up the tree to get to the children.
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Toying with the children they begin to happily bombard Nuoc with apples from the tree. While they don't seem to hurt, but it is incredibly annoying. His distraction though gives Tiger a moment to grab ahold of the lowest branch and snatch the bag out of the child's hands. They quickly begin to complain. "That's fighting dirty!"
Climbing down from the tree the kids kick into the dirt and run off back into the town. Jaldan spends a few minutes sorting out her pack, making sure that the children haven’t stolen or broken anything inside. Finally, she relaxes, closing the pack.
“I might actually survive.” The centaur says. “Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!! You just saved my hooves. Uh... when we get back to camp, could you maybe, uh... not mention this to anyone. Please?”
Tiger assumes a serene pose and says with a perfectly straight face "Good Jaldan, one does not know what you refer to, but one is always happy to help."
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Jaldan walks with you back to Mishkar as she seems a bit relieved. “So, here’s the story. Over the last few months, something really weird has happened to the local forest spirits. They’ve always been a little cranky, but now they’ve gone from ‘Auntie Kaana before she has her morning tea’ to ‘We will bake bread from your bones’. They’re not talking to the druids or the shamans, and when Cenenviel tried to do a big ritual to ask them what’s wrong, a tree animated and tried to kill him."
“So that’s bad. Worse, the spirits have started making bodies for themselves. You know leshys, right? Well, normally, only druids can make one. They grow a little plant or mushroom body, nicely ask a spirit to come inside, and poof, leshy. Except now the spirits are making their own bodies, and they’re really creepy, and also violent. I had to smash something that looked like a dead skunk crossed with a thornbush when it tried to eat my face last night."
“These things have been attacking people, starting fires, and trying to burn down the forest. I don’t think anyone’s gotten killed yet, but it’s probably going to happen sooner rather than later."
“Anyway, that’s what Cenenviel, Kaana, and your Urwal are trying to figure out now at the Redpine camp. They seem to think you can help. So! Get your stuff and let’s get going!”
Jaldan gives you a little money and supplies. "The trip to the Redpine should take about a day, but you should be prepared for any troubles ahead."
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"I've heard about this kind of thing in this area from some of my other Pathfinder friends. I believe there is some ancient demon worship energy in these parts, possibly Cyclops related if I remember correctly. Still, I don't know how much I want to hurt a bunch of forest spirits. Is Cenenviel an exorcist?"
Rhee discusses possible non-violent actions that might be taken to better commune with the forest spirits as they walk back to town.
So that's what those 2 kids were referring to? Unusual, indeed.
"Greetings, Kelvris. Have you been sent by Urwal as well? If so, then yes, we are from the Pathfinder Society. I am called Loong Laohu, but you may call me Tiger, as what my brothers in the monastery called me."