GM Erich's PFS2E Quest 6 - Archaeology in Aspenthar for Gameday X (Inactive)

Game Master Thereus, Silver Crusader

This is the Gameplay Thread.

You have all received the missive from Venture Captain Ambrus Valsin that explains your current mission for the Society. In the handouts

Give me your bonuses for Academia Lore, Thuvian History Lore, and Society if you would like to maybe know more about the history of Thuvia, Prince Zinlo and the city-state of Aspenthar.

-------------------------------------

The streets of Aspenthar showcase the trappings of wealth and militarization in equal measure. The main road cutting through the heart of the city is patterned with brilliant mosaic stonework, and to each side are seemingly endless rows of proud and opulent structures.

The neatly ordered streets give way to the city’s chaotic and bustling docks, where a Garundi woman waits wearing subtle but expensive-looking clothing. She extends her hands in a grand welcoming gesture. Her pic is in the handouts, too

“Welcome, Pathfinders. I am Gol Amri. I greet you as a representative of the great Prince Zinlo. Let us conduct our business! I am sure you are eager to search for hidden treasures, and I wish you no delay.”

Society +3

Marcus wipes the sweat from his face. "Gods, how can anyone live here?" He looks down as possible the answer as he shifts his heavy chainmail and then rests his two-handed maul on the ground. He nods to Gol Amri. "Hi, I'm Marcus Howe. I'm not exactly sure why Valsin asked me to come, but I'm pleased to meet you. You can help us access the site, yes? Do we need to secure licenses first?"

A willowy blond woman steps up. Unlike Marcus, she wears simple homespun robes. She carries little, apart from her pack, a sling on her belt and a quiver of what appears to be throwing darts that have seen some use.

"Greetings, " she says in a slightly musical voice, "Kaitlyn Deathsbane at your service, though you may call me Kat, for short. This is indeed a harsh environment. I wonder what we will need to do here."

Next up, wearing even less clothing, barely just a loincloth and a row of freshly caught fish at his side, is an iruxi. He makes a bow at everyone present, then a more informal bow towards Kat. "Hello, my name's Thrass. Please tell me if my lack of clothing is distracting you. It's just that, as an iruxi, I don't understand your obsession with clothes and modesty. You see, we have this sheath-"

Thrass makes motions to undo his loincloth, but Gol Amri clears her throat and Thrass stops.

"Ah yes, like I said, the modesty thing. I do respect your need for it, so if I am at all distracting you, please say so, and I will change."

He unhooks a fish from his belt, takes a bite off the head, and starts snacking on it. "Anyone else want a bite?" he says, as he offers the rest of the fish to the others.

Kaitlyn tries hard to hide her smile, being through this before.

"We're in a desert, Thrass. Where did you manage to find fish?"

With his mouth still full of fish, Thrass simply points towards the boats moored at the docks.

Aspenthar is right next to the Inner Sea, according to the handout the GM provided. :P

Again, with his mouth full...

He's learned from last time. :P

"Oranna, says a gruff half orc woman, a toothpick resting upon her lips. A slightly barbaric look to her with just enough refinement to be considered more than just some tribal warrior from Belkzen, a mercenary.

Last to join the group is an adorably plump little old lady with a sweet smile, smooth rosy cheeks, and twinkly squinty eyes. Over her chain mail (and despite the heat) she wears an extremely oversized and frumpy blood red sweater dress, held together with a series of strategically placed slip knots. It looks...ridiculous. And yet, she's not sweating. Not even a little bit.

She leans on a staff and giggles gleefully at Thrass. "Heehee! If you want to run around naked, darling, you be my guest! I'm far too old to care about such things anymore."

Turning to Gol Amri, she nods understandingly: "Oh, dear! Here we are yammering on, and you have other things to do. How about we follow you, young lady, and you can tell us what we need to know. I'm Mrs. Crinkle, by the way."

"Well met, Oranna. My fellow Pathfinder Lokoloko told of a fearless warrior when he was in the River Kingdoms. I'm assuming he meant you."

Staring at Mrs Crinkle's strange attire, Kaitlyn asks "Do you not feel warm in that outfit? Won't you suffer from sun-sickness (aka heatstroke) dressed like that?"

Mrs. Crinkle chuckles merrily. "Oh, you know old ladies, sweetheart. We wear sweaters year-round, no matter how hot it is. Old bodies get cold easily, even in the hot sun. And besides...well, I'll tell you later, perhaps." She winks, and her eyes crinkle with mirth and mystery.

Marcus shakes his head at the old woman and sweat flies off his brow. "If you start feeling faint, ma'am, just let us know. Don't want you to pass out or anything." He looks between Mrs. Crinkle wearing too much and the iruxi wearing too little. He shrugs and wipes his forehead again.

Marcus thinks back but the mentioned names don't quite ring a bell.

"Everything has been arranged for your visit. I know little more than that." Gol Amri confirms, with a slight curtness to her voice. She looks around expectantly.

At the sight of a somewhat large Taralu dwarf with dark skin and vibrantly colored hair making his way up the street, she mutters under her breath..."finally." before turning back to you all. "This gentlemen will be able to lead you to your destination."

As the dwarf closes in, she moves to greet him and escort him the remaining paces. He shoos off her subtle but obvious reprimands in silence.

His smile ignites as he draws close. "Greetings, I am Sefu Moyo, your guide." new pic of him in handouts

With a nod to Amri's impatience, he adds. "If you are ready to go to the site, I certainly am. Shouldn't take more than a few hours."

"Right behind you, handsome!" With a wink at Sefu Moyo, Mrs. Crinkle bustles forward and introduces herself. "I'm Mrs. Crinkle, but you can call me gorgeous."

Marcus lifts the big maul to his shoulder, but barely grunts as it comes to rest there. "Should we know more about where we're going? We heard there could be threats nearby."

"Well met, Sefu Moyo. Where are we going, really?"

He tilts his backpack to show off the extensive rope ladder looped in and amongst the straps. "Nah, It's a pleasant little jaunt down the coast and then down this ladder to the site. You'll need to set it for the other exploration team to follow." He grunts lightly. “It’s not exactly what I’d call a fun climb, but it's doable, and more importanly - must be done.”

"Now once you get inside the site..." He rubs his beard in thought. "...well, I think it’s unlikely anyone knows what’s in the site for certain, but I guess that's why Prince Zinlo has entrusted you and your esteemed Society with the exploration."

Oranna, whom was mostly wearing just enough clothes for the climate didn't seem to care either way. As long as granny and the lizard could pull their weight in a fight or whatever they were doing it was fine to her. Besides, not like they had to worry with her on the job anyway as she followed everyone to wherever they were going.

Thrass is starting to get antsy. "Down the coast? I have bad experiences with wildlife... Are squirrels native to this area? Or toads?"

his tail starts swooshing back and forth, as if to generate an air current.

Chuckling genially, Mrs. Crinkle tries to reassure Thrass. "Squirrels need trees and toads need fresh water. Oh, I suppose there are ground squirrels, but they need soil or sand, not solid rock. My guess is that with cliffs and the sea right there, we probably won't see any. If we do though, you stick close to me until I chuck them away with my big stick, okay?" She brandishes her staff like a golf club for a moment.

"But I would wager on birds. Gulls or Rock Pigeons perhaps." Marcus chuckles at seeing Crinkle brandish her staff. "Careful, ma'am. That's a dangerous weapon!" He smiles at her protectively.

"Alright, let's get going then. How far away is it?"

Kat walks up to Thrass and says reassuringly, "Worry not, Thrass. We'll protect you from the squirrels around here."

Though Kat's perfectly straight face makes it hard to say whether she's teasing the iruxi or being serious.

Thrass makes a formal bow towards Kat and Mrs. Crinkle and stays as close to them as possible at all times.

Is anyone going to mention hot-weather clothing to Thrass, or are we going to have cooked lizard halfway through the adventure? :)

Kat looks at Thrass, concerned.

"Thrass, are you going to be all right? Do we need to get you a sunshade or a hat to protect you from the sun?"

Good point. I commented about Mrs Crinkle but forgot about my lizard friend...

A well-dressed human male comes strolling up confidently and apparently not in any hurry. He has deeply tanned skin, dark hair, and bright eyes. His face appears very friendly and welcoming. He doesn't appear to have any much in the way of weaponry besides a bandolier of a few darts and a dagger in his belt. He does not look ready for a fight. The rest of his equipment looks much too new and too excessive. He has a "desert-rated" canteen at his hip, his backpack looks more fashionable than functional, and his clothing looks high-quality while screaming "desert tourist". Imagine someone entirely new to camping/hiking and they blew a bunch of money on what the sales guy at northface/REI told them he needed.

Although, the first thing you probably notice is the strange octopus-like creature following close behind him. It looks pretty fearsome but seems well-behaved in the crowded streets. It walks on many tentacled legs and has a large beak. The creature appears to be various shades of white and grey or made of astral substance. This creature may be just the reason Giles does not look ready to fight. His eidolon

"Hello friends, is this the place to meet for the expedition?" He glances towards his companion. "It looks like we are just in time Ecthelion." Ecthelion appears to nod in agreement. Then quickly looking back at the group ready to head out he realizes he was being rude. He reaches his hand out for a handshake to Marcus and proceeds to shake anyone's hand that will take his. "Oh! My apologies, I should have introduced us. I am Giles Morningstar the second, and this is my companion Ecthelion. Don't worry he is quite friendly to my friends. Say hello Ecthelion." The eidolon lumbers forward and reaches out tentacles to each of the group mimicking Giles.

"Well met, Giles! Kaitlyn Deathsbane, at your service, but you may call me Kat for short." Kat shakes Ecthelion's tentacle, smiling at the unusual creature.

Looking over Giles' equipment, Kat comments "Will you be all right with your gear? It looks rather excessive. Are you sure you won't suffer from sun sickness (aka heatstroke) dressed like that?"

Giles smiles at Kat shaking Ecthelion's tentacle, it was always nice when folks accepted him without screaming. "The gentlemen in the market assured me that this was exactly what the desert nomads historically wore. So it must be alright. Besides-" he frowns briefly as he says- "As long as it isn't a humid heat like the jungle, I will be happy."

"Not far at all." Sefu marches along the waterside edge of Aspenthar, leaving the city and continuing on for nearly an hour to a seemingly unremarkable stretch of land bordered by a cliffside overlook of the Inner Sea. The terrain grows gradually steeper, and by the time Sefu motions to stop, he stands in the biting wind as large waves crash and rumble against the cliff.

Leaning through the biting wind, Sefu points downward to a barely visible landing that juts out from the cliff face, about sixty feet down. "See, easy climb..." and starts to unpack the 60 foot rope ladder and a small crate of metal anchors he brought along for you. "Now don't think I am so prepared. These here were provided by your Society!"

He stands in the buffeting winds, awaiting your next steps.

Those wishing to survey the cliffs can give me a Nature check.

No nature. Survival ok?

Nature: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Takes one knee and surveys the cliffs and the surrounding area for anything of note.

Nature (T): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Giles looks at the surrounding area and down the cliffs.

Oranna easily finds some natural handholds in the rocky cliffside.

Granting a +1 circumstance bonus to Athletics checks for anyone wishing to Climb.

"Well, don't everyone jump forward at once." Sefu laughs. "Someone's going to have to scale the cliff and secure the ladder down below."

"Oh, I'll leave that to the young 'uns. Heehee!" Mrs. Crinkle leans forward into the wind (away from the cliff edge, so she doesn't fall off if it suddenly lets up) seeing how much of her weight it'll hold. "Gosh! We should've bought a kite before coming out here! Give us something to do until that ladder's secured. OH! We should tie a rope to whoever's climbing down there, so they don't fall to their gruesome, splatty death. I have 50 feet of rope here in my pack, and a grappling hook if that helps. Does anyone else have a rope so we can tie them together?"

Athletics to climb own: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 7 + 1 = 23

Oranna being the rather proactive type was already fastening a rope to her person, "Secure and hold," she spoke fastening it down with a piston before quickly being the first to take the plunge and climb down the cliff, making use of handholds and whatever else she cold use to climb down.

"Well she seems very eager. Although the rope ladder would probably have been easier." He looks over the edge and watches Oranna's descent. Then gets to work securing the ladder Sefu unpacked.

We have a Cliffscale lizardfolk too.

Marcus watches Oranna climbs down, nodding appreciatively. "Good work," he says, encouraging her.

As Oranna starts to capably descend on her own, the winds buffet her, which will make it very difficult for her to secure the rope ladder by herself. Another climber will be needed to steady the ladder on the descent so that it can be guided down to the bottom.

Need at least one more of you to join in the climb...

Tightly grabs on to a hold in the cliff face, making sure to put hammer in a few pistons as she goes down. She had grabbed a few along the way, hoping to make things easier for those that followed, "One of you milk sops coming or what?!"

Giles leans over to look down the cliff and Oranna being pushed around by the winds and steps back. "I uh, don't think it should be me. He looks around at the other companions, the little old lady and then to the other seemingly more physically capable folks. "Maybe Thrass or Marcus, or maybe you, Kat? Ecthelion doesn't have any thumbs, so it makes hammer wielding difficult."

Kat looks at Thrass, concerned.

"Thrass, are you going to be all right? Do we need to get you a sunshade or a hat to protect you from the sun?"

Thrass looks at Kat after that remark, then looks straight at the sun. He hisses in pain, then looks at Kat again. "You might have point. I was warned during training that I was 'cold-blooded,' whatever that means. I thought it means I'm always cool, but that's clearly not the case. You seem more dressed for this adventure than I do. I'll be right back."

Thrass leaves his fish behind and disappears into the crowd. After a while, he returns dressed exactly like Kat.

"You're right, this feels surprisingly comfortable. And this 'bra' thing is great for holding things!" He reaches for his abandoned fish and stuffs them down the front of his robes.

He then notices Giles and Ecthelion. He bows for both of them, and when Ecthelion offers a tentacle, Thrass sniffs the appendage and his tongue starts darting out of his mouth. "It's... wonderful to meet new people. I assume you're part of the team now?"

---

Thrass looks at Oranna easily climbing down the cliff. Once it's clear she needs help, he goes on all fours and starts climbing down the cliff face, head-first.

Athletics, plus bonus: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 8 + 1 = 15

Can you Hero Point after you hear if you fail, or do you have to decide before? If this is a fail, I'll reroll. If I don't know, I'll reroll anyway.

Like his namesake, Thrass skitters down the cliff wall with ease, and arrives to help stabilise Oranna while she does her job.

The lizardfolk makes easy work of the cliffside and stabilizes the ladder enough for the barbarian to grab hold of and together they start making the trek further down toward the foamy surf.

So the GM tells you if its a fail (it wasn't), then you can decide to reroll (see here). So save your hero point. And I'm going to use your nice roll as your second of three checks.

Can I get two more climb checks from Oranna and one more from Thrass.

If anyone else really wants to try climbing before the ladder is set, you can roll three checks too. You might help, you might get hurt...

Woo, thanks!

While Thrass is clearly dextrous, he has no intuition what to do with the rope ladder, so he awkwardly copies what Oranna does.

Athletics check, plus bonus: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 8 + 1 = 28

Thrass might not be the brightest Pathfinder around, but he sure is made for physical labour.

Woo! So glad I'm sureful. I was afraid that with only three trained skills, I might be kinda useless. >_>

Kat grabs hold of the rope and starts climbing down.

Athletics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

As Thrass dips over the edge of the cliff head first, Mrs. Crinkle bustles over to the edge to look down. "Ooo I've gotta see this! Wow! You go, Thrass! Lookin' good, honey! Oranna, good job! You're doing us proud!"

Giles smiles as Mrs. Crinkle cheers on the rest of the team. He says to her and Marcus. "I'm glad our group is so cooperative so far. Although I hope there will not be a whole lot more rock climbing or I feel I will not be very useful on my first society mission." He looks over the edge carefully again. "Good job everyone! Looks good from up here!" Then turns to Mrs. Crinkle and winks.

Climbing: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 1 = 25
Climbing: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 1 = 26

Continued her climb down the cliff, finally receiving aide in setting the ladder up.

Climbing #2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Climbing #3: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

Kat successfully climbs down.