PFS #5-21 The Merchant's Wake (Inactive)

Game Master cmlobue

Super sorry! I had those on top of my post and then I was disturbed and started a new post later and forgot!

danduun will : 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

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AoO claw : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 181d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

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Danduun attacks the undead.

Claw 1 : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 161d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Claw 2 : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 151d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Bite : 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 191d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

crocodile will : 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Still unharmed by channel negative energy ;)

know.religion DC11: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
know.religion DC13: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Focused almost entirely on the priestess, Sleeping Sword gives little thought to the nature of the undead.

AoO: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23magic bludgeoning damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Assumed since undead are described as bony that an unarmed strike will prove more effective than a slashing sword.

"No more will you disturb the sleep of these souls."

Sleeping Sword's skymetal katana flashes...

katana vs priestess, flurry: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
katana vs priestess, flurry: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

if the priestess still stands, spend 1 ki on an additional flurry attack

katana vs priestess, flurry: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
confirm? katana vs priestess, flurry, manuscript: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 9 + 2 = 22damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

"The Empress of Heaven condemns you!"

If the priestess does not still stand after the first two attacks, instead spend 1 ki on ki dodge (+4AC).

As she channels again Lo changes his phase status and acccepts it as healing.
Immediate action, Light and Dark. lasts 1 minute.

He then moves, dodging and weaving to flank her.
acrobatics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

He then attacks her with his Katana
katana: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 2 = 16
damage: 1d6 + 3 + 2d6 ⇒ (1) + 3 + (1, 4) = 9

"Hey lady, if anyone's going to be pronouncing doom around here, it'll be me!"

Casting fumbletongue on the cleric--DC 14 Will. Then doing a move action back.

Will save vs channel: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

The cleric requests that Sleeping Sword reverse polarity instead of Lo Pei. However, the channel does not become healing, since it can either harm living or heal undead, not both, but Lo Pei is unaffected now.

Will Save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

Makras tries to tie the cleric's tongue, but she shakes it off with some effort.

Sleeping Sword kicks one of the skeletons, reducing it to a pile of bones. He then turns his sword on the cleric. He misses with the first swing, but recovers perfectly to land a pair of strikes, the second straight across the neck. She crumples into a heap.

Danduun strikes at one of the undead as it passes, but his claw bounces off the creature's bones. Confused, he is unable to connect again.

The first skeleton to emerge takes a swipe at Sleeping Sword.

Scimitar: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Slashing Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

The dhampir easily dodges the blow.

Lo Pei turns his attention to the armored skeleton, tumbling past the other undead, but his blade glances off the creature's armor.

Just a guess for the retcon, since that is the most threatening target remaining.

Mop Up - bolded may go

Red
Rogarch
Lo Pei (-8 HP)
Sadaf and Crocodile (-4 HP, -5/10HP, Will DC 15)
Green
Umut?
Orange
Blue
Makras (-18HP)
Sleeping Sword
Danduun (-8HP, -5/10HP, Will DC 15)

Rogarch flies into a rage and charges the enemy's position. She attempts to bring her long hammer down on the elite undead unit (Orange).

Attack,Charge,Guidance,Rage,Power Attack: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 1 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (1) + 7 + 2 + 1 + 2 - 1 = 12

Damage,Blunt,Cold Iron,Enlarge Person,Rage,Power Attack: 3d6 + 7 + 3 + 3 ⇒ (2, 4, 4) + 7 + 3 + 3 = 23

Shirt re-roll on the attack.

Attack,Charge,Guidance,Rage,Power Attack: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 1 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 2 + 1 + 2 - 1 = 29

Rogarch will need to be closer to hit the orange creature. She is 25 feet away.

@cmlobue - Large creatures get to pick their square where their attack originates from and diagonal squares are treated as normal for reach due to the FAQ. That diagram is both incorrect (for Pathfinder) and not officially sanctioned so I recommend that you simply count the squares yourself going forward. Reach is reach and you can count all squares including diagonals in the same fashion.

However to avoid an argument or delay in the game I simply moved Rogarch up 5 feet as she has a ton of unused movement in her charge. Is her current position good for you now?

Rogarch runs toward the enemy and brings down her hammer, crushing the armored skeleton in a single blow.

Dealing with two normal skeletons at this point is too trivial to bother with, so Combat over!

You can easily search the corpses. The normal skeletons have only broken scimitars and chain shirts. The armored one has a breastplate, heavy steel shield, masterwork longsword and a very familiar ring.

The human has a potion of cure light wounds, potion of darkvision, +1 chainmail, dagger, bladed belt, cloak of resistance +1, silver unholy symbol of Pharasma, silver unholy symbol of Urgathoa, spell component pouch, symptom kit, onyx gems worth 500 gp and silver dust worth 50 gp

All is quiet in the area now.

Rogarch falls out of her rage and takes a short breather. She recovers her dropped wand placing it back into her spring-loaded wrist sheath. She holsters her pole arm on her back. She then will take don the cloak of resistance placing the yet to be identified cloak back into the party treasure pool.

The young woman looks around.

"Amazing job everyone. That was quick! Once everyone is healed up I think we should check out the buildings and report back."

”What kind of holy symbol is that?? Who is this woman following?!?“ he asks his companions.

Sadaf immediately stabilizes the woman and then wakes her up with smelling salts.

”Hey lady! What’s going on here?! Why are you doing all of this?!“

Recognising a holy symbol of a common goddess like Pharasma or Urgathoa is common knowledge (DC 10 - Religion check, CRB p. 101). That means that people of average intelligence would automatically recognise them (on a take 10) out of combat. So Sadaf should know this and know better than to try to revive an evil Cleric that will just try to kill us again with her nasty channels! :)

Sleeping Sword smashes the last skeleton to pieces, then turns back to the priestess, his sword poised. Deathwatch immediately tells Sleeping Sword whether she is already dead or not.

"Urgathoa" the monk answers Sadaf. "A goddess of the undead. That is where this woman's true allegiance lies."

Sleeping Sword removes the two holy symbols and the spell component pouch then stands ready.

Sleeping Sword won't prevent Sadaf attempting to revive the priestess if she's still clinging to life, but will remove her symbols and components first. She can't channel without a symbol (unless she has one of those tattoo symbols, which we can check for).

She is quite dead, and this is obvious before anyone uses resources to try to bring her back.

Makras sits down on a nearby tombstone and sighs. Somehow, he has narrowly escaped death again. Will the universe never stop disappointing?

Sadaf sighs.

”Very unfortunate that she is dead! She could’ve answered many questions! Let us do a search of the area and see if there is anything else of note and then we can return to report, right?“ he asks and begins the search.

perception : 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28

Other than the gear on your opponents, there is nothing of note outside. However, there is a crypt that a bunch of undead just emerged from.

"I say we go inside and finish the job. Unlike some people (pointing at the dead Cleric) hanging around in cemeteries is not my thing."

She turns around to watch Makras heavily wounded and moping again. She drops the cure light wounds potion that they just found in his hands.

"Try to start caring about staying alive and I promise you that the universe will try to kill you off that much sooner."

Ironic but probably true. :)

"Graveyards are not my preferred domain either. Let us finish this."

Makras chugs the potion, belching loudly in thanks.

potion: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

"A sword is a killing tool" remarks the dhampir as he wipes his blade clean. "The Way of the Sleeping Sword teaches: the warrior and the blade are one."

"Let us check the mausoleum." Sleeping Sword does not sheathe his weapon, but holds it at the ready.

Good to go look in the mausoleum as soon as everyone is ready.

The walls of this crypt are lined with the interred bodies of many generations of the Bahjari family, tracing back all the way to era of the first Qadiran satraps. A dying torch dimly illuminates the room.

Finding the disturbed spots from which the skeletons emerged is easy, but does take some time. Nothing else moves here other than your group, and if there were either treasure or further clues about the cleric, they have since been removed.

"The threat here is ended. Let us return to al-Hakim."

Sleeping Sword carries the remains of the Urgathoan priestess.

Sadaf nods in agreement.

Rogarch and her familiar look around for any secret doors or hidden items.

Perception, Guidance,Rogarch: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 1 = 7

Perception, Guidance,Helping Hand: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 9 + 1 = 15

"Sounds like a plan."

Helping Hand returns to his protective cage for now.

There are many doors, all labeled (though the text is wearing off some) and leading to a space exactly large enough for an unmoving medium humanoid.

"Uh, is there a connection between those who were animated by the Urgathoan?"

Any connection between the names or labels on the niches, GM?

Nothing that you can determine. They were from different dates and social classes.

Rogarch looks at the others.

"Shall we head back now? I do not intend to disturb any of these bodies unless we need to. We can always return latter if we are pressed but I feel we are done here."

Seeing Rogarch looking for the unseen, Lo does the same.
perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

If he sees nothing he will agree with the group and head back.

"There is nothing more to be done here. We should return."

You return to the manor and let Aaqir al’Hakam know that the undead threat has been eliminated. He asks you to debrief him after the ceremony is finished. Which it is without any further interruption, and Zarmina is laid to rest in the now-safe family crypt.

After the ceremony is over, Aaqir (and many of the guests) ask for your take on what happened.

"Uh, the priestess who originally officiated was no Pharasmin. She was a follower of Urgathoa. Somehow she animated a mass of undead from the remains in the graveyard. How this is connected to the assassin who bore Sarenrae's symbol I do not know."

Sleeping Sword presents the unholy symbol taken from the necromancer priestess.

Rogarch nods at Sleeping Sword's summary.

"Yes, I agree. There does not seem to be sufficient evidence to determine who was behind the assassin and the Urgathoan priest or even the true motivation behind these attacks."

"Did anything else of interest occur? I wonder if this was meant to keep everyone occupied?"

After hearing your tale, Jakti says, "Well, this is a sign that we will get farther with cooperation. I hope we can work together in the future." Temel and Metella give noncommittal responses, and continue to regard each other warily as they depart.

Aaqir is grateful for your help, debriefs you on what you were able to
accomplish regarding the merchants, and thanks you again for your contributions. He promises to write a report containing his account of the recent events to send to your venture-captain and the Grand Lodge so that you might be recognized for their efforts.

“I am glad that nobody was seriously hurt! I’ve got to get back to my business and hunt down the monsters that are disturbing the natural balance!?“ he says and together with Danduun starts to leave.

Makras shrugs and heads for the nearest tavern. His breath stinks of rotgut, his pick is filthy with zombie gore, and his skin is rotting from an awful curse. Same old, same old. Still, he held out hope: today wasn't the end of the world, but with a little bit of luck, tomorrow might be!

Rogarch nods and is happy that they were able to assist. She departs with the others and is curious what her next assignment will be.