[PFS2] Q13 Falcon's Descent (GM Watery Soup, Table 2) (Inactive)

Game Master Watery Soup

The Eagle Knights of Andoran are a state-funded military organization sworn to protect their homeland and to destroy the vile institution of slavery and those who profit from it.

The Pathfinders start their adventure at the edge of the nation of Andoran, just outside of an Eagle Knight encampment.

Feel free to introduce yourselves.

A three-foot green goblin with an elongated head and big ears sits outside the Eagle Knight encampment, having been chased away from the mess tent several hours before. For some reason, the Eagle Knights didn't believe her when she told them she was with the Pathfinders.

"This is the spot I was told to meet the other Paffinders" she says softly to herself. "I's a long way from Absalom. I wonder what brother is doing now? I hopes he remembered to fill the pickle jar..."

Muttering a few arcane words to herself, she conjures a fiddle and begins playing. Music seemed to calm her nerves, even though it grated on the ears of most other folks.

A Halfling, a couple of inches over three feet, approaches. Dressed neatly with shortish, dark hair hair, he grins at the Goblin. He carries two mugs of ale from the mess tent. His head is moving slightly, in time with the music. He places one mug next to the entertainer and sits down to listen.

After a few moments he speaks.

'I'm Eldon. I don't suppose you're with the Pathfinders? I'm quite new to this. The fellows in the mess hall mentioned a Goblin when I was procuring my refreshments.'

An absolutely bedraggled man sits nearby, sharpening a few arrowheads with a whetstone, running his thumb through the fletching. He looks to be in his late forties at first glance, but closer inspection reveals he's actually in his mid-thirties, just with a great deal of extra mileage. His bushy horseshoe mustache looks even shaggier with his dense stubble, and his thin, lanky brown gray-streaked hair is pulled into a messy ponytail with a strip of ratty leather. His hide armor is patchy and looks homemade--and not particularly well. The shortbow on his back, however, looks sturdy and well-maintained, if not particularly fancy.

Think Matthew McConaughey in True Detective.

"Ayuh," he says to the halfling. "Yer in the right place, far's I kin reckon." He spits away from the others in a long yellow line. "Them Eagle Knights're a mite too stuffy fer me, but a job's a job. Andocletus Tyranomach Juddalwain the Third, atcher service. That there's a mouthful, though. Err'body jes' calls me Cletus." He offers his hand to the other two. It's smeared with dirt and gods know what else.

A few days prior, the Pathfinders received a letter from Venture-Captain Brackett.

To my trusted allies,

I hope that this letter finds you well. An acquaintance of mine has reached out to the Pathfinder Society regarding a treasure that we cannot afford to pass up—a journal that once belonged to the accredited dwarven spelunker Ghelib.

The namesake of Ghelib’s Fissure in the Candlestone Caverns, he gave the surface world much of our knowledge of the upper layers of the Darklands before he disappeared on an expedition. Any additional insights the journal contains would be invaluable to the Society.

The journal, of course, comes with a small price: my friend and former protégé, Evanno Pratt, is a lieutenant in the Steel Falcons, one of the three branches of Andoran’s Eagle Knights. They’ve been monitoring a duergar raiding party that has been plundering the surface, and they are requesting our help to put a stop to these attacks.

Not only would the retrieval of Ghelib’s journal represent a significant scholarly find, but a joint operation with the Steel Falcons also could be an excellent way to rebuild Andoran’s relationship with the Society. Make a good impression with the Eagle Knights, and stay on your toes underground. Even the upper layers of the Darklands can be treacherous.

Yours most sincerely,

Venture-Captain Brackett

Waiting on Ietsuna / character TBD, Mitch / Marigold Longfoot, and GHembree / Squire Gaby. Feel free to spam up the thread while you wait.

Taking the offered hand, the slender halfling looks up at the older man.

'Stuffy sounds about right. They could do with letting their hair down more often, but at least they stand firm against slavers. It's a pleasure to meet you. I would guess that you both have some interesting stories to tell over a few drinks.'

”Did someone say drinks?”

A female gnome with a red rat’s nest of hair scampers up to the group. She wears leather armor, which is festooned with all sorts of tools and weapons.

”Marigold Longfoot!”, she says with a grin and a nod. ”This looks like the place, and you look like the folks!”

She turns toward the encampment. ”Shouldn’t we be in there?”, she asks, ”or is one of you playing barkeep?”

Seeing that she suddenly has an audience, the goblin stops playing and looks up.

"Oh! Are you all with the Paffinders too? I's was just there, " she says, pointing to the camp, "The tall humans dint believe me when I told them I was s'posed to be there. So here I am! Oh, I'm Lokaloka. I's called that when I's playing music in Absalom when brother and I was little. Needs to eat so I's play music for food. When I plays music, folk throw lotsa coins at me."

She gratefully accepts the mug of ale from the halfling and takes a sip. "Mmmm. This good ale. Brother and me made ale in Absalom too. He use pickle juice."

You hear someone moving through the underbrush towards you and in a high-pitched voice ” Image a mission to help the Eagle Knights! This had better not be some trick like the time the other Pages send me to collect goosebumps from the geese. how was I to know they weren’t a real thing. The geese weren’t very happy about it either. Oh, here the spot.”

Out of the bushes pops a short goblin wearing a crisp gold and blue uniform reminiscent of the Eagle Knights. She looks around at the group already assembled and gives a friendly smile ” Hi! I’m Squire Gaby. Here to help the Eagle Knights in their tireless fight to rid Golarion of slavery! I see the Pathfinder Society has taken my suggestion to heart and give the members short in statue more missions in which to earn advancement.”

Seeing the human party member sitting nearby, Gaby coughs, ” I don’t mean any disrespect to tall people, given the proper training and opportunities people short or tall can achieve their goals equally!”

Heavy footfalls precede the arrival of a dwarf clad in scalemail. A morning star hangs from his left hip and a shield is slung across his back. The long hair of his head and bread are bound into numerous braids keeping it orderly. The arrangement of the braids is symmetrical and his equipment is all stowed in an orderly fashion.

I am Dursk, cleric of law and the Godclaw.

Lokaloka appears thrilled at seeing another goblin in the group. She bounds forward towards Gaby.

"Ooh! You's also a singer! We should shares songs we should! You had to collects goosebumps from goose? Was yous successful at it? I's from Absalom."

Eldon drains his drink and looks around.

'So, Lokaloka, Cletus, Marigold, Gaby and Dursk' He makes eye contact with each in turn. 'We look like a fine crew to dissuade the Duergar from their present activities. Should we take Marigold's suggestion and head into the camp proper?

Bending down to pick up his pack, he continues 'Have any of you heard of this journal before?'

She turns toward the encampment. ”Shouldn’t we be in there?”

Marigold leads the group through the well-guarded entryway.

An Eagle Knight officer steps aside from the ranks, doffing his hat jovially. “Come on in! Pleased to meet you all! Lieutenant Evanno Pratt, at your service. But you can call me Evanno, or Ev.” He smiles as he waves your group over to a table bearing several incomplete maps, labeled as depicting nearby sections of the Candlestone Caverns."

Art on Slide 2. While you're there, please deposit your preferred icon and fill in your Perception and Initiative modifiers. :)

“We’ve been dealing with a problem these past few weeks that a bit of collaboration should be able to solve. A group of duergars from the Candlestone Caverns have emerged, raiding the nearby lands for slaves and supplies. We’re not sure if they’re a scouting party, colonists, or something else; frankly, it doesn’t matter to us. They’re abducting Andoren citizens and that’s not something we can allow to stand.”

Evanno’s expression darkens slightly. “We’ve been setting up some barricades in Candlestone, blocking off several passageways. Our plan is to force the duergars into this cavern right here, forming a two-pronged assault to wipe those filthy slavers out before they can escape deeper into the Darklands. The second prong,” he gestures to your group, “is right here in front of me. When my platoon found that journal on a duergar body, I knew that good ol’ Brackett would send some of his finest in exchange for it—and you all certainly seem capable. The placement of barricades is nearly done, and we want you to meet us there through the fastest means necessary; once they realize our trap, we need to act quickly. This map’s incomplete, so feel free to depart from it if you find a faster route. Any questions?”

In addition to questions, each PC has the opportunity to make two checks. Check #1: Diplomacy, Nature, or Underground Lore. Check #2: Duergar Lore, Dwarf Lore, or a dwarf with the Vengeful Hatred ancestry feat. These are secret checks - if you'd like to make them, please post your modifier.

Gaby nods to the dwarf, ” Good a Cleric! I hope an excellent precaution for the pathfinders to send, though I hope none get injured, except maybe the slavers.”

Being bounded upon by Lokaloka, Gaby is almost bowled over by her enthusiasm, ” Yes I know quite a few songs, well mostly ballads of brave knights fighting against desperate odds only to succeed in their valiant quest in the end, oh and a few love sonnets and few tales of the forgetful wizard! We should definitely trade stories, but for now, the mission comes first. As for goosebumps was just a trick the other children played on me when I didn’t know any better. I hope they have learned by now that goblins are not dumb creatures to be teased! We are just as good as any of the other races!”

Taking Marigold’s and Eldon’s suggestion, ” Yes we should get on with the mission.” Gaby moves forward into the encampment with her head held high through the entranceway. Moving to the table with the maps as Lieutenant Pratt directed.

The Goblin nods her understanding as the Lieutenant lays out the plan, ” Solid plan, do you know how many duergars there are and do they have any captives currently?”

(Check #1 Diplomacy +7)

Marigold’s eyes light up. ”Ooo, an ambush! Crackin’!”, she says. ”What’s their M.O. for these raids?”

Diplomacy +7

Cletus watches the two goblins banter with a bemused expression. Just watching their boundless energy makes him feel tired.

When Evanno steps in with information, he does his best to hide his relief. "Ayuh, ambush's the way to go. I get behind that barricade an' I kin put the fear o' the gods into 'em. Plus a couple arrows."

Best I got is Nature at a +4, so I don't think I should risk it, especially with others rolling with better modifiers. I'll hold off. Cletus isn't exactly a "knowledge" guy anyway.

Diplomacy +6 is all I can do

"Ambush is a good idea. Wes can stays behind the barricades and fill them with arrows. I's also gots some nice magic I learned at the Paffinder school. Slavers bad! We needs to stop them before they capture more tall 'uns. Otherwise goblins might get blamed."

Lokaloka turns to Marigold and greets her in Gnomish, though her accent is pretty horrendous.

Shyly, she turns to Lt Pratt. "Mays I asks if I can get some pickles to munch on while going to the caves? I run out earlier and the humans in the mess tent dint give me."

Marigold smiles at Lokaloka.

[Gnomish]

Eldon furrows his brow then rapidly says ‘Like Marigold said - is there a pattern or anything linking what has been taken? Same kinds of people, particular goods? Particular times when they strike? Any distinctive members of the raiding party? Do they have magic? If so, do we know what kind? How long will it take us to get there? Catching them unawares certainly seems sensible. We’re likely to need more light than them so that will add some complications.
He smiles at the lieutenant. ‘Sorry about that – I didn’t intend to bombard you with so many questions all at once, Evanno. Slavers always put me on edge.’

(For check 1, Eldon has Diplomacy at +7 or Nature at +4. If it’s in our interests to have both rolled, I’m happy to go with the latter.)

Not worth rolling with my modifiers.

”Solid plan, do you know how many duergars there are and do they have any captives currently?”

"There may be just a handful. We're not waging war on all the duergars, just the small band that has attacked the surface. Nobody knows how many captives they have - we can only work with the reports we know of, which are a few dozen. We can do a more thorough search when the caverns are secured."

”What’s their M.O. for these raids?”

"They'll hide and use the natural environment to their advantage, and then retreat as soon as their objective is completed. They're skirmishers, not open fighters."

is there a pattern or anything linking what has been taken? Same kinds of people, particular goods? Particular times when they strike?

"They seem to be avoiding the elderly and the young, as well as those stricken by illness. It's possible they want the captives for slave labor."

"Any distinctive members of the raiding party? Do they have magic?"

"They don't have any magic that we know of. They do use alchemical bombs, but, as you may know, alchemical bombs are not magic." Just sneaking in a bit of rules trivia, hehe - most alchemical items do not have the Magical trait, so they cannot be crafted with Magical Crafting, and characters with Alchemical Crafting cannot craft magical items such as invisibility potions!

How long will it take us to get there?

"I don't know, but you should hurry!"

Mays I asks if I can get some pickles to munch on while going to the caves?

"Hmm, it seems like the mess tent is out of pickles. But they have some leftover pickle brine if you want to drink that."

Everyone starts with 1 Hero Point. If anyone has extra Hero Points to give out, now is the time to give them out. Characters with a Pathfinder school can choose their school item now, and prepared spellcasters should lock in their spells.

Also, describe how your character sees in the dark. You may coordinate torches / light spells if needed.

Do we get school items for quests? I thought we didn't. In that case, I'll take the good ol' standby of a minor healing potion.

Cletus doesn't have low-light or darkvision. If no one casts any light spells, he has torches, and can carry one until combat starts (since he can drop it as a free action) but it does mean he'll have to spend one of his actions first round putting both hands back on the bow so he may as well carry it stowed.

TL;DR: If light spells active, he will have his bow out. If no light spells, bow stowed and carrying a torch.

Yes, there are school items for Quests. There are no school items for Bounties.

Marigold has low-light, and no light spells

It's dark (not dim light) in the cavern, so characters with LLV will be blinded just as those with NV would be.

Gaby has dark vision. School Item Minor healing potion

Listing to the answers about alchemical bombs, Gaby recalls something " I've heard that Duergars use bombs as booby-traps. We should proceed with caution."

Lokaloka has darkvision as well. School item Minor healing potion as well. Earlier I chose a heal scroll but then realized I can't use it... duh... :)

Smiling shyly at Lt Pratt, Lokaloka says happily, "Oh pickle brine is good! Thank you!"

Darkvision here

I have heard tell of dwarfs. Ones who never come to the surface. We call them Duergar back home. They fell to worship their own dark god, Droskar.

School item for Eldon will be a scroll of Burning Hands. He has low-light vision as a Twilight Halfling and the Light spell. He will cast it on his Filcher's Fork and on anything else other PCs might request.

Eldon says 'I can't see in complete darkness, so I'm going to light up my Fork if no-one minds. I'm happy to light something else up if you prefer! I don't want to go blindly stumbling about in the caverns. Truth be told, I'm a bit concerned about the infectious fungi - Vegepygmies are worrying. I've never actually been into the Darklands before.

"Ayuh," Cletus nods in agreement. "Don't know much about the Darklands neither. 'Cept that it's scary as Hells an' ya don't go there without a dang good reason. We goin' that far down, or we ambushin' 'em closer ta the surface?"

Carefully storing the jar of pickle brine in her pack, Lokaloka chimes in, "I's not heard much of Darklands before. I just knows it's not very friendly place to be."

He has low-light vision as a Twilight Halfling and the Light spell. He will cast it on his Filcher's Fork and on anything else other PCs might request.

You can only have one light spell active at a time. But I see 3 with darkvision, so Marigold and Eldon will be able to see 40' around Eldon, and Cletus will be able to see 20' around Eldon.

---

When the party is ready, Lieutenant Brackett cheerfully directs them to a tunnel leading to the cavern where the duergars are to be cornered. He reminds the Pathfinders that the way there is long, and that time is of the essence to catch the duergars in the pincer maneuver.

---

After about an hour’s travel down the caverns, the tunnel plunges into a steep decline too tall and uneven to simply walk down.

Acrobatics to Balance as they walk downward, Athletics to Climb down the slope, or Survival to Track where previous denizens safely traversed the path.

Lokaloka tries to balance herself as she walks downwards.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Edit: Eeek!

Eldon also tries to balance himself.

'This feels like we're travelling to another world.'

He looks around, trying to take it all in.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Cletus stows his bow and takes the incline carefully, searching in the soft light of Eldon's spell for foot- and handholds.

Athletics (climb): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

Marigold stays close to Eldon, carefully creeping along the sloping cavern with her bow in her hand.

”This is so rippin’!”, she breathes. ”I just wish I could see it”

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

Dursk lowers himself over the edge and begins to descend.

Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

just having this vision of a green ball rolling downhill as Lokaloka loses her balance

Gaby pauses for a moment watching the others descend with various success, before trying to make her way down cautiously.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Edit: Eeek!

Just wanted to make sure you knew about Hero Points. Everyone starts with 1.

---

Gaby, Dursk, and Cletus manage to climb down safely. Eldon is about to slip, but Marigold grabs him by the collar. Crit Success covers one Failure. But, suddenly, a green ball goes tumbling past as Lokaloka bounces down the chasm, dashing herself against the rocks.

Slashing: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2

Everyone is super concerned, but she takes way less damage than everyone expected.

If you want, you can take 10 minutes to Treat Wounds. But you'll only get to take one 10-minute break, so I'd recommend saving it for later.

The Pathfinders find that the sharp slope ends in a wandering cavern. As the Pathfinders make their way around its perimeter, they find a metallic grate securing the only apparent exit from the room. The grate appears to be completely sealed, with no knob, lock, or other mechanism to open it. Near the grate, an inscription in a mixture of Dwarven and Undercommon glows faintly on the wall.

DC 19 Occultism check, DC 20 Religion check, or a DC 17 Society check to Decipher Writing. Give yourself a +1 circumstance bonus if you know Dwarven or Undercommon, and +2 if you know both.

Falling damage is as if she fell half the distance (unbreakable goblin)

"Oooh... that smarts.. I's ok, everyone."

Picking herself up off the ground, Lokaloka shakes herself off and examines the grate and its inscription.

Occultism: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Edit: Not happening...

Falling damage is as if she fell half the distance (unbreakable goblin)

This was slashing damage from sharp rocks, so I don't think Unbreakable Goblin applies.

Lokaloka wrote:

Falling damage is as if she fell half the distance (unbreakable goblin)

This was slashing damage from sharp rocks, so I don't think Unbreakable Goblin applies.

Ok. Just making sure. Too early to burn a hero point... :) Happy 4th everyone!

Cletus scratches his head at the grate and shrugs helplessly. " 's all gobbledygook to me."

Not trained in either, and doesn't know either of those languages. But if you need a Stealth check, he's your guy! XD

Eldon's eyes widen and he shoots Marigold a grateful look.

'That could've been a lot worse! I wonder what this is....'

As the 'writing' is glowing, he will cast Read Aura on it, as well as attempting to Decipher it.

Society: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Slightly embarrassed, Lokaloka joins Eldon and will also cast Read Aura on the writing.

Gaby looks relieved when Lokaloka is not seriously injured by the fall, " You took quite a bounce, are you going to be OK?"

DC 17 Society check to Decipher Writing: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Gaby shakes her head sadly in her lack of understanding, " The glowing scribbles don't make any sense to me, but I do recall that Duergars leave cryptic inscriptions that can lead to secret passageways!"

"I's ok. Thanks for asking."

Lokaloka looks slightly embarrassed by the attention and wipes away a small trickle of blood from the scrape. She rubs some pickle brine on the cut to disinfect it and grimaces slightly from the sting.