Sebecloki presents Dreamscarred Press' From the Deep Psionic AP

Game Master Sebecloki

Having remained silent as the others did their looking around, Desi had her arms folded, looking around the area that they currently occupied, having not ventured far from their original point. The significance of any of this was lost on her, so she stated the obvious, leaning up against the wall.

"We found an ancient hole— inside a surprise hole..." The deadpan expression she was wearing was evident in her tone. "Not positive so far. Is there nothing else living around here besides us?"

"We found an ancient hole— inside a surprise hole..." The deadpan expression she was wearing was evident in her tone. "Not positive so far. Is there nothing else living around here besides us?"

Having reached the bottom of the crevasse a wee bit after all of the other volunteers had already arrived, Xonti takes the time to compare the various distances from the deep-well [where most of the others are gathered around] to where a few of the nearby unmoving bodies lay broken in various locales- some of these locales varying in both uneven height distributions along the crevasse walls and wayward distances away from the deep-well itself.

Going out on a limb here to suggest that many of these bodies would be beyond help? ;)

Perception on the bodies: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6. Untrained Heal check for the bodies, if needed: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20.

Giving a nod in the direction of Desidera, Xonti replies to her query with, "There are some bodies of those unfortunates who had fallen into this crevasse that I had spotted upon my way down here... some ways off to the distance from here in various areas that are not at all uniform in height or breadth. Whether or not they are truly beyond help, it will be hard to determine, Enlisted Stranger of the Protectorate and of the Healing Hand."

Are there even people down here? There's been no mention of people, corpses or otherwise.

Are there even people down here? There's been no mention of people, corpses or otherwise.

Admittedly, the bodies that Xonti saw was from an earlier spoilered post by Sebecloki...

Ok, let's try to get this back on track.

** spoiler omitted **
Xonti Ensk: Perception:
He sees several bodies that have tumbled into the rift.

I figured that those bodies, if they're already pining for the fjords, would be inconveniently located further away- possibly requiring more rope/more climb checks to even reach them or to even recover them. Some of them could possibly be rescued- not entirely sure of this though? Mebbe, some might even have stuff on them too to loot and stuff... although Ashtab would surely frown upon such looting. ;p

PS. Made up the stuff about the bodies being at various heights and uneven distances away from each other to account for there not being any nearby- or they gone down the well if they were nearby. Ouch times two? ;)

Apart from the respective activities performed by Ellais, Tai, and Yuumka while they lingered near the ancient well, none had quite the eye-raising effect to Xonti as when Tai had demonstrated his innate illuminatory ability to determine the depths of that uncovered well. It had been enough to draw his attention away from determining the distances to the other bodies within the crevasse- but only momentarily. It was sufficiently enough for the Ophiduan Raveler Cryptic to posit that this ancient well may very well be an entryway to the uncharted abyss down below...

"There are some bodies of those unfortunates who had fallen into this crevasse that I had spotted upon my way down here... some ways off to the distance from here in various areas that are not at all uniform in height or breadth. Whether or not they are truly beyond help, it will be hard to determine, Enlisted Stranger of the Protectorate and of the Healing Hand."

Having the sudden intrusive thought of there possibly being bodies that might have fallen down into the Well itself comes up unbidden from the very consciousness of the Ophiduan Cryptic, Xonti turns to address the others after answering Desidera's question.

"I concur with both of the observations of Lady Brione and Tai; this ancient well could be from a time from before the very existence of the Ophiduan Protectorate itself."

Almost as if he was murmuring to himself, although still loud enough to be clearly overheard by the others, Xonti also adds in with, "If I did not know any better, I would say that this well may even reach all the way down to the very Abyss beneath...", whilst contemplatively resting his scaled chin upon the bended forefingers of his left hand.

With a slight shake of his head to help focus himself to the more important issues at hand, Xonti raises his head back up towards the others gathered by the Well, "Do any of you three- Lady Brione, Tai, and the Stranger of the Sommaran Tribes who also observes the very patterns within the Flow- did any of you see any traces of bodies deep within the Well?"

Needless to say, my timing between postings definitely needs work. ;p

"Oh yeah. Bodies. Dead people and stuff. We...should probably see if there's anything left of them to bring back. I'm sure their families will want to know." Ellais frowns as she scrutinizes the strange well longer, not really wanting to take her attention off of it.

I'll keep looking at it with Detect Psionics until I get the round 3 stuff. Are there any tunnels splitting off from where we are or is it literally just a mile deep hole in a hole.

I don't think there'd be any round 2 or 3 stuff since "presence or absence" determined "absence".

It's probably magical, but I would assume for this setting Psionics/Magic transparency is firmly in the Off position.

Once they've investigated the mysterious hole, Tai Leng also looks around, now noticing the various corpses scattered about. He does a quick check to see if any survived, but he hardens himself to the strong possibility that everyone died.

Heal: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Noticing Tai taking a look at the dead, she accompanied him in the rounds, though she did wear a resigned expression, and shook her head at him. "—Was the first thing I did", she murmured. The pair of newcomers were welcome, since anything that could do this was likely something that was too big for three individuals to handle alone. In her head, she was trying not to identify the causes of death for these individuals, as they were already beyond her reach.

"I expect we'll find out if we're alone down here soon, though."

With a slight shake of his head to help focus himself to the more important issues at hand, Xonti raises his head back up towards the others gathered by the Well, "Do any of you three- Lady Brione, Tai, and the Stranger of the Sommaran Tribes who also observes the very patterns within the Flow- did any of you see any traces of bodies deep within the Well?"

The tall, lean grendle woman smiles a tusky smile. It's apparent that her heritage is somewhat orcish as well as troll. On closer inspection, she seems to have patches of moss growing on her in places.

"The name's Yuumka Flint-Eye. You follow the patterns of the Flow as well, then?

"Well met."

She keeps her ear poised over the hole, feeling like the pebble has been falling for an awfully long time.

With a slight shake of his head to help focus himself to the more important issues at hand, Xonti raises his head back up towards the others gathered by the Well, "Do any of you three- Lady Brione, Tai, and the Stranger of the Sommaran Tribes who also observes the very patterns within the Flow- did any of you see any traces of bodies deep within the Well?"

Needless to say, my timing between postings definitely needs work. ;p

"Allow me to reiterate. On sending my Soul Candle down the shaft, I reached the limit of its range. It may roam freely up to a mile from my person."

"The shaft is at least a mile deep. That effectively makes it a "bottomless pit" even if it isn't technically one. Anything we might have been able to see is long out of sight by that point in this darkness. Were I able to get my light to the bottom...we might be able to see something. But there's no telling exactly how deep this shaft goes. It could be truly bottomless for all we know."

Just to bring it to everyone's attention -- I posted an expanded map of the city. You're kind of near the center at the upper northeastern corner of the 'Citizen's District' area.

"Oh yeah. Bodies. Dead people and stuff. We...should probably see if there's anything left of them to bring back. I'm sure their families will want to know." Ellais frowns as she scrutinizes the strange well longer, not really wanting to take her attention off of it.

I'll keep looking at it with Detect Psionics until I get the round 3 stuff. Are there any tunnels splitting off from where we are or is it literally just a mile deep hole in a hole.

Nothing this ruin is psionic.

Xonti Ensk wrote:

With a slight shake of his head to help focus himself to the more important issues at hand, Xonti raises his head back up towards the others gathered by the Well, "Do any of you three- Lady Brione, Tai, and the Stranger of the Sommaran Tribes who also observes the very patterns within the Flow- did any of you see any traces of bodies deep within the Well?"

Needless to say, my timing between postings definitely needs work. ;p

"Allow me to reiterate. On sending my Soul Candle down the shaft, I reached the limit of its range. It may roam freely up to a mile from my person."

"The shaft is at least a mile deep. That effectively makes it a "bottomless pit" even if it isn't technically one. Anything we might have been able to see is long out of sight by that point in this darkness. Were I able to get my light to the bottom...we might be able to see something. But there's no telling exactly how deep this shaft goes. It could be truly bottomless for all we know."

Just to reiterate -- tunnel goes straight down, at least for a mile. You'll have to decide if you want to try to get down that far, or try something else.

Desidera Tahn wrote:

"We found an ancient hole— inside a surprise hole..." The deadpan expression she was wearing was evident in her tone. "Not positive so far. Is there nothing else living around here besides us?"

Having reached the bottom of the crevasse a wee bit after all of the other volunteers had already arrived, Xonti takes the time to compare the various distances from the deep-well [where most of the others are gathered around] to where a few of the nearby unmoving bodies lay broken in various locales- some of these locales varying in both uneven height distributions along the crevasse walls and wayward distances away from the deep-well itself.

Going out on a limb here to suggest that many of these bodies would be beyond help? ;)

[dice=Perception on the bodies]1d20+4. [dice=Untrained Heal check for the bodies, if needed]1d20+2.

Giving a nod in the direction of Desidera, Xonti replies to her query with, "There are some bodies of those unfortunates who had fallen into this crevasse that I had spotted upon my way down here... some ways off to the distance from here in various areas that are not at all uniform in height or breadth. Whether or not they are truly beyond help, it will be hard to determine, Enlisted Stranger of the Protectorate and of the Healing Hand."

Are there even people down here? There's been no mention of people, corpses or otherwise.

There are some bodies strewn intermittently throughout the crater. Xonti's perception check wasn't high enough to reliably determine if any are still alive.

How'd my 20 on Heal do to diagnose alive-ness?

How'd my 20 on Heal do to diagnose alive-ness?

I don't see any use of Heal that is diagnosis. Can you point me to what you're looking at?

Storm Dragon wrote:

How'd my 20 on Heal do to diagnose alive-ness?

I don't see any use of Heal that is diagnosis. Can you point me to what you're looking at?

I'm...unclear what other skill it would fall under. Every official use of a skill in "diagnosis" eg. from Paizo published Adventure Paths is always Heal. I can pull a smattering of examples if you want, there's at least one in every AP I've ever played or run.

"A ghostly skull (identifiable as the skull of a female dwarf
with a DC 20 Heal check) floats in the air nearby"

"A DC 15 Heal check while examining his body reveals the grisly
truth of his demise, which includes broken bones, severed
hands, dislocated hips and shoulders, a shattered jaw, and
numerous long, thin needles that have been driven into
his ears, eye sockets, elbows, hips, and knees."

"—a DC 16 Heal check identifies the bites on his neck and shoulders as serpentine in origin, although from a rather large snake"

"An examination of his body reveals two sets of wounds—the first seem to be a bit older and consist of rapier wounds (courtesy of Alton’s battle against his mind-controlled captain) while the others are
inflamed stings (from the eurypterid). Identifying the likely weapons used for each is a DC 16 Heal check—this check also reveals that it was poison that finished him off"

Sebecloki wrote:

Storm Dragon wrote:

How'd my 20 on Heal do to diagnose alive-ness?

I don't see any use of Heal that is diagnosis. Can you point me to what you're looking at?

I'm...unclear what other skill it would fall under. Every official use of a skill in "diagnosis" eg. from Paizo published Adventure Paths is always Heal. I can pull a smattering of examples if you want, there's at least one in every AP I've ever played or run.

"A ghostly skull (identifiable as the skull of a female dwarf
with a DC 20 Heal check) floats in the air nearby"

"A DC 15 Heal check while examining his body reveals the grisly
truth of his demise, which includes broken bones, severed
hands, dislocated hips and shoulders, a shattered jaw, and
numerous long, thin needles that have been driven into
his ears, eye sockets, elbows, hips, and knees."

"—a DC 16 Heal check identifies the bites on his neck and shoulders as serpentine in origin, although from a rather large snake"

"An examination of his body reveals two sets of wounds—the first seem to be a bit older and consist of rapier wounds (courtesy of Alton’s battle against his mind-controlled captain) while the others are
inflamed stings (from the eurypterid). Identifying the likely weapons used for each is a DC 16 Heal check—this check also reveals that it was poison that finished him off"

There are perhaps three dozen bodies strewn throughout the crater near the strange opening into the earth. Most of them are ophiduans, along with a number of duegar and members of other races. Near Tai are the bodies of two ophiduans, a duegar, and a member of the red-skinned adonais, the elfin inhabitants of the Eternal Desert to the north of the Protectorate. The adonais appears to be still alive, but barely, as well as one of the ophiduan, the latter who is dressed in the long, flowing robe of a powerful psion. The duegar and the other ophiduan, both outfitted in crystal armor and weapons, each appear to be recently deceased.

The revelation of the Adonais and the Ophiduan weakly drawing a breath set Desidera to nodding in appreciation of their hardiness as she set to treating them. "Still mind... Tough bastards."
___________________________
Heal(First Aid)@15: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Heal(First Aid)@15: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

The revelation of the Adonais and the Ophiduan weakly drawing a breath set Desidera to nodding in appreciation of their hardiness as she set to treating them. "Still mind... Tough bastards."

___________________________
[dice=Heal(First Aid)@15]1d20+9
[dice=Heal(First Aid)@15]1d20+9

Both the adonais and the ophiduan are now stabilized, though still teetering on the edge of death.

"Let's get these people up where they can get some help. Where are the guards? Medics? They should have shown up by now."

"I bet they're waiting for the all clear. Let's holler up and get some ropes and stretchers." Ellais goes to do just that.

"I bet they're waiting for the all clear. Let's holler up and get some ropes and stretchers." Ellais goes to do just that.

Ellais quickly catches sight of a pair of medics -- masewal in the ophiduan tongue -- who are attempting to treat the wounded. Their training in the healing arts is signaled by the bright plumage of the feathered mantles of office that sit on top of their glistening white robes.

The tall, lean grendle woman smiles a tusky smile. It's apparent that her heritage is somewhat orcish as well as troll. On closer inspection, she seems to have patches of moss growing on her in places.

"The name's Yuumka Flint-Eye. You follow the patterns of the Flow as well, then?

"Well met."

She keeps her ear poised over the hole, feeling like the pebble has been falling for an awfully long time.

Giving a respectful nod to the much taller Grendle tribeswoman as she continues to listen for any signs of noises from the well, Xonti answers thoughtfully with, "Well met to you in turn, Yuumka Flint-Eye. I am Xonti Ensk- a humble Citizen of the Protectorate. As you have correctly surmised, I do so follow after the patterns of the Flow. In fact..."

The Ophiduan Raveler Cryptic [and Adaptive Gunner, although the signs of such are not immediately obvious] turns to glance over at Ellias, Tai, and Desidera. "...I do believe that all five of us present by this ancient well have been revealed by the Flow for some unrevealed but vitally important purpose, on behalf of the Protectorate... with some commensurate payment for all of the troubles, of course."

The revelation of the Adonais and the Ophiduan weakly drawing a breath set Desidera to nodding in appreciation of their hardiness as she set to treating them. "Still mind... Tough bastards."

Tai Pao Leng wrote:

"Let's get these people up where they can get some help. Where are the guards? Medics? They should have shown up by now."

Ellais Brione wrote:

"I bet they're waiting for the all clear. Let's holler up and get some ropes and stretchers." Ellais goes to do just that.

Sebecloki wrote:

Ellais quickly catches sight of a pair of medics -- masewal in the ophiduan tongue -- who are attempting to treat the wounded. Their training in the healing arts is signaled by the bright plumage of the feathered mantles of office that sit on top of their glistening white robes.

All of the Masewals are up atop the crevice or are some of them already making their way downwards to the other bodies, Sebecloki?

Recalling the set of unlikely events that have bought all five down this chasm, complete with a newly uncovered well of ancient antiquity, Xonti thinks to himself for a moment before addressing Desidera as she stabilizes the surviving Ophiduan and Adonais, "Enlisted Stranger of the Healing Hands, it may be an unlikely occurrence but could you check both survivors to see if there are any signs of Puppeteers upon their persons? We may have to check for the same with the deceased Ophiduan and Duergar."

Sparing another glance towards Ellais and Yuumka, Xonti helpfully explains, "There was an immature Puppeteer that took a possession of a Dromite child that had been discovered in the Marketplace before the chasm opened up. That Dromite child had attempted to accost Tai Leng here but the Dromite was soon captured and the controlling Puppeteer revealed to all. It may just be all a simple coincidence but it would be rational to take some precautions nonetheless- in so far as an infestation of Puppeteers may be involved..."

Unsure of what skill checks would be involved in finding Puppeteers, hidden or not.

A brief nod was given, acknowledging the instructions while still tending to the others. "Desidera is my name. That other reference is a novel title, though— I'll have to practically strip them to check." A shrug was given at the modesty, having long since been inured to all manner of exposure.
______________________________
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Heal: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

"Let's get back up then. There's nothing left we can do here. The medics will have some way to bring these people up without hurting them."

Unless something stops him, he climbs back up and starts heading toward the warehouse.

The Ophiduan Raveler Cryptic [and Adaptive Gunner, although the signs of such are not immediately obvious] turns to glance over at Ellias, Tai, and Desidera. "...I do believe that all five of us present by this ancient well have been revealed by the Flow for some unrevealed but vitally important purpose, on behalf of the Protectorate... with some commensurate payment for all of the troubles, of course."

"What like destiny? That sounds interesting." Ellais is surprised and slightly confused by the comment and the mention of Puppeteers only heightens it.

"Puppeteers? Wait what? And where is that guy going now? Hey wait up! Atleast wait for Desidera to check their bodies for these 'Puppeteers.'"

A brief nod was given, acknowledging the instructions while still tending to the others. "Desidera is my name. That other reference is a novel title, though— I'll have to practically strip them to check." A shrug was given at the modesty, having long since been inured to all manner of exposure.

______________________________
[dice=Perception]1d20+7
[dice=Heal]1d20+9

Desidera finds no parasites on any of the victims, nor any evidence of their presence.

Giving the individuals a thorough search was tiresome, but it got done. "They're safe", she reported back to Xonti. While there was no danger of exposure, she left their belongings neatly stacked next to them, and left them modest coverings. Stretching as she stood up, she did not like the idea of climbing up that far so soon.

Letting our a sigh of relief, Xonti answers back to Desidera with, "Very good, Desidera; it is most fortunate that there were no signs of any Puppeteers upon them, the Flow mercifully willing..."

If Tai stuck around with Ellais' suggestion to stay put while Desidera searched for Puppeteers, Xonti will continue on with, "Given our involvement with discovering this uncovered Well and saving the ones that could be saved from their injuries, I feel that it will be vital to provide rightful remuneration and timely compensation for all of us here, provided by Ah-Kuhlel's leave upon behalf of the Protectorate."

Xonti will pay all party members half of the total provided pay divied up between everyone while reminding everybody present that the other half of the payment will be provided for investigating the warehouse. Xonti will also openly give his thanks to Ellais for keeping Tai present for the exchange afterwards as befitting her station.

If Tai already went up top, Xonti will instead say, "Is there anything more that we need to do down here? If not, I suggest that we all reconvene up top and find Tai; I still need to provide due compensation by Ah-Kuhlel's and the Protectorate's leave for everybody involved here- including him... especially him, as he is obviously a Fulcrum within the Flow's pattern."

The same payment will be arranged up top with everyone in the party gathered together. Xonti might give his commiseration to Ellais for her attempt at keeping Tai with the others- if there aren't anything immediately urgent on top otherwise.

PS. I've no idea of the actual amount of pay provided by Ashtab; all will be left up to Sebecloki's discretion. ;)

So, is everyone on the same page that they're going to go and investigate the warehouse now?

I *think* so. I think I posted this when you were busy with school. If Yuumka notices anything that makes her believe it's scalable, she'll say so. Otherwise, she's happy to go to the warehouse (and to thank Xonti for offering to share the job with her.

Sounds good to me.

"It's a shame we don't have the equipment to look down the Well. I bet there's all sorts of ancient relics and treasure down there. Maybe once the city has the site secured and the rubble excavated, a real dive can be attempted." Ellais rocks back on her heels.

"So what are we doing next? What's the deal with these Puppeteers?"

I looked up the relevant posts again -- Xonti got confused about where the other characters were and thought he could see a warehouse on the other side of the city, which he couldn't. So, it is possible to go investigate the market area and the collapsed buildings to see if there is any evidence of puppeteer activity, which is what the city official charged Xonti to do, but there's no warehouse that he already saw to investigate -- that detail was a mistake, and has no bearing on the story right now.

I'm going to try to get the player from the other thread to rejoin this one and then shut down table 1 and keep going here. The goal now is to have your characters explain how they're going to search the market area for evidence of parasite activity.

I *think* so. I think I posted this when you were busy with school. If Yuumka notices anything that makes her believe it's scalable, she'll say so. Otherwise, she's happy to go to the warehouse (and to thank Xonti for offering to share the job with her.

The pebble seems to drop into infinity. The tunnel is only scalable if you have a character that can climb a sheer, slick, surface for a mile with no handholds.

Cool, good to know.

"Ahh! This whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth! Puppets, a sudden collapse, a mysterious well? I'm going to ask around and see if anyone saw anything or anyone weird before the collapse."

Gather Information: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24

Cool, good to know.

"Ahh! This whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth! Puppets, a sudden collapse, a mysterious well? I'm going to ask around and see if anyone saw anything or anyone weird before the collapse."

[dice=Gather Information]1d20+12

Ellais speaks with a ophiduan citizen of the Protectorate who witnessed a odd-looking group consisting of a dromite, an ophiduan, and a duegar who seemed to be loitering around the market without any purpose... waiting for something, right before the earthquake.

"Did you see where they went? Maybe what they were wearing? Please, anything you can remember can help!" Ellais clasps her hands around the Ophiduan's.

"Did you see where they went? Maybe what they were wearing? Please, anything you can remember can help!" Ellais clasps her hands around the Ophiduan's.

The female ophiduan is clearly disoriented by the recent events, "Um... they went somewhere north west, into the non-citizen district, and I don't know anything else..."

Ellais goes to round up the others and inform them of this incredibly relevant new development before heading off to the Non-Citizen district.

"Father says that I shouldn't really go into the Non-Citizen district, but if you all are with me I'm sure it'll be fine. We're looking for a dromite, an ophiduan and a duergar. I know, I know it sounds like a bad joke, but this is serious!"

"As long as we have some kind of lead. Let's go." he says, then goes.

Winded from the climb up, Desidera had remained with the stabilized individuals until they could be recovered by the healers. She had been giving them the details of their injuries, but when she sees the others heading off, she moves to join them.

"Duergar are hard to find on the surface," Transient announced from behind the talking humans. "Everyone keeps thinking we're going to do something odd, and tends to be wary. If I was looking for a duergar I'd probably look around for strange happenings, as we're a strange folk."

The noncitizen district of Arbil sprawls northwest of the citizen's district, an immense labyrinth of low stone buildings huddled together on the seaside plain which contains the new Protectorate city state of the Overseer Mosephi.

On the walk

"Interesting," Yuumka nods. "While we walk, I can meld our psyches together in the flow, unless anyone objects?"

Adding everyone to my Collective. The only mechanical benefit at L1 is that at times I'll grant you a +1 morale bonus to hit/damage.

Noncitizen district

Once in the district, Yuumka starts asking around if anyone who's seen a a dromite, an ophiduan and a duergar together recently.

Gather Info: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
Hours: 1d4 ⇒ 1

Tai Leng nods, giving his consent.

"I'd urge everyone to do the same. We worked with collectives a lot in the army to help with unit cohesion. It's nothing but upside."

He looks around to see if he can find the group they're looking for, walking up and down the streets. The people he talks to are not likely to be friendly, given his appearance and clothing, but he gives it the occasional shot.

Diplomacy: 1d20 ⇒ 11

On the walk

"Interesting," Yuumka nods. "While we walk, I can meld our psyches together in the flow, unless anyone objects?"

Adding everyone to my Collective. The only mechanical benefit at L1 is that at times I'll grant you a +1 morale bonus to hit/damage.

Noncitizen district

Once in the district, Yuumka starts asking around if anyone who's seen a a dromite, an ophiduan and a duergar together recently.

[dice=Gather Info]1d20+8
[dice=Hours]1d4

The Noncitizen District is a dense amalgamation of almost a million individuals living in the shadow of monuments of the Citizen's District which can be seen from miles in every direction. Unfortunately, the level of detail which Yuumka is able to provide her interlocutors is unable to turn up any useful leads -- there are literally hundreds of thousands of members of these races in this vast press of mortal life.

Any attempt to hunt down potential puppeteer hives will have to adopt a different strategy, perhaps seeking out scholars of the subject in the Citizen's District, or else a criminal or villainous element that might have had some contact with these alien interlopers.

Tai Leng nods, giving his consent.

"I'd urge everyone to do the same. We worked with collectives a lot in the army to help with unit cohesion. It's nothing but upside."

He looks around to see if he can find the group they're looking for, walking up and down the streets. The people he talks to are not likely to be friendly, given his appearance and clothing, but he gives it the occasional shot.

[dice=Diplomacy]1d20

Tai exchanges pleasantries with several residents of the Noncitizen's District, but is unable to turn up any useful information.

My bad, Sebecloki; let's see to investigating those Puppeteers and the Earthquake then. :)

"It's a shame we don't have the equipment to look down the Well. I bet there's all sorts of ancient relics and treasure down there. Maybe once the city has the site secured and the rubble excavated, a real dive can be attempted." Ellais rocks back on her heels.

"So what are we doing next? What's the deal with these Puppeteers?"

"From what little we've gathered thus far, only an immature Puppeteer was found. That the said immature Puppeteer intentionally targeted Tai Leng before all this unfortunate disaster has even occurred, it is obvious that this would indicate that the Flow considers him to be an important figure in all of this... a fulcrum within the patterns, if you will."

"Interesting," Yuumka nods. "While we walk, I can meld our psyches together in the flow, unless anyone objects?"Adding everyone to my Collective. The only mechanical benefit at L1 is that at times I'll grant you a +1 morale bonus to hit/damage.

Tai Pao Leng wrote:

Tai Leng nods, giving his consent.

"I'd urge everyone to do the same. We worked with collectives a lot in the army to help with unit cohesion. It's nothing but upside."

Xonti will be fine with being added on by a fellow Flow adherent- especially when recommended to by a Fulcrum within the Flow. ;)

"I concur. It is a most sensible course of action."

"Duergar are hard to find on the surface," Transient announced from behind the talking humans. "Everyone keeps thinking we're going to do something odd, and tends to be wary. If I was looking for a duergar I'd probably look around for strange happenings, as we're a strange folk."

Turning to regard the mysterious individual Duergar that has miraculously turned up to offer some sound advice to the entire group, Xonti answers Transient with, "Then perhaps you would be willing to assist us all in finding this wayward Duergar fellow of yours, good Duergar Stranger? If the patterns in the Flow are to be revealed, it would be a tremendous boon to the Protectorate, under whose Auspices we are operating for. Financial remuneration will be provided for such assistance, of course."

Any attempt to hunt down potential puppeteer hives will have to adopt a different strategy, perhaps seeking out scholars of the subject in the Citizen's District, or else a criminal or villainous element that might have had some contact with these alien interlopers.

Perception to spot those 3 targets: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6. +2 if they're involved in the Flow or are NG.

Diplomacy, if needed: 1d20 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 1 - 2 = 15.

"As there is a fellow citizen of the Protectorate that is almost certainly mixed up in all of this, it might be wise to find out more in the Citizen's Quarter as an extra precaution."