(PFS2) GM Round Robin: Into the Year of Shattered Sanctuaries (Inactive)

Game Master Farol

Sunshine walks up and tries to introduce himself to the kami. "I'm Sunshine."

The kami with the... floating bits hovers up to Sunshine and makes a bow, then moves closer, right in front of you, barely not touching you. It looks at Sunshine as if seeking permission.

Meanwhile, the hand-eye kami also moves closer, looking around for a second person to volunteer, but stays at a respectable distance.

Sunshine is open to any sort of greeting.

In Nidal, he'd draw his spiked chain so they could flog each other. But if the kami wants to shake hands or engage in whatever other weird greeting customs they do in this part of the world, he's amenable to that, as well.

As the team meets some kami, it indicates that “From what I understand kami are kind of nature spirits. I’m willing to try to communicate with them rather than try to avoid them.” It looks at its fellow Pathfinders “Althought, I am open to opinions.”

"Oh be my guest. But if you end up speaking to nonexisting creatures it will be on you." says Rawiri really did not like the spirits.

In every past run I was volunteering to speak with the spirits, but the images used changed my mind ;) I saw one of them when playing magic the gathering

"Hello, New Friends," Corona waves at the two kami. "It's nice to meet you! Are you lost? We're looking for some friends of ours who came this way and might be lost, too," she explains, whether they understand her or not. She watches them with a degree of cautious optimism, trying to decide if they're harmless or not.
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Corona would like to attempt a Sense Motive check.

The hand-eye kami raises a leg-finger and imitates Corona's wave. It looks kind of silly, but also pretty cute.

The leshy, with Resinosa next to it, gets closer to the kami. It starts speaken in the language of nature, Sylvan, hoping that the creature understand it better that Taldane. “I am Smell of the Pines, a leshy, a spirit of nature in a plant body. This is my soul mate.” The leshy starts thinking about the perverted ritual that allowed its creation, but hope that the foul Abyssal energies are left over. With that last sentence, Resinosa also speaks in Sylvan, only saying “I am Resinosa.” It gets closer slowly, extending one of its root in order to touch the creature.

"Aw, they seem like they're okay," Corona smiles as the hand-eye kami waves back in the best way it can manage. "But I think they want something, New Friends. We should see what it is, but be careful just the same."

As Resinosa reaches out to touch one the creatures she watches intently, ready to help her friend if it should need it.

Both spirits, now completely sure that their presence is welcome, slowly drift towards Sunshine and Resinosa and merge with them. At first, nothing happens. Then, Sunshine and Resinosa are flooded with experiences, emotions, and memories of the kami. You feel like you're drowning in multiple hundreds of years of life, and your brain is trying its best to sort through it all and making sense of it. Then, suddenly, a memory crystallises in your mind, clear as if you've experienced it yourself.

After that, the kami exit their hosts, turn towards you, make a bow, wave one of their appendages at you, then slowly drift back into the forest.

As the spirits merge with Sunshine, he begins talking. Unlike his naturally raspy kayal voice, his voice now is calm, smooth, and tinged with a Tien accent.

"I see two humans, a short heavyset male and an athletic-looking woman guiding a caravan through the snow. The light of a Wayfinder illuminates their path. Several small statues appear, assaulting the caravan. A humanoid figure with a fox's head and tail commands the statues, and while everyone is distracted, they slip into one of the wagons and takes a sack full of relics."

Society +7

As the spirit leaves, Sunshine growls, "That was weird."

People may make an Arcana or Crafting check to identify these statues. The DC is a little higher as it's second-hand information, though.

"I believe the humanoid I saw is a kitsune, a race of crafty shape-shifting humanoids. They're common in Tian Xia, but very rare in the Inner Sea region. They tend to be pretty smart and like pranks, but from what I've seen so far, this goes way beyond a simple practical joke."

"Oh wow! Um, statues attacked the caravan? Hmm...sounds like they might've been..."
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Arcana +6~

"...uh...um...well, I don't really know, New Friends," Corona sighs after clearly thinking very hard about the matter for a few moments. "Nothing's coming to mind."

Resinosa looks toward the leshy in silence. After a while, the leshy tell the party that a fox humanoid creature that seemed to pack plenty of stuff, made some kind of ritual from a book. Looking at Sunshine it indicates that this is probably the same person that stole the relics.

Arcana +5

Rawiri tries to recall what he knows, keeping his eyes on the spirits retreating away from his allies

"Sunshine, are you fine? You look less bright than usual." :P

"Oh hmm, statues.... I don't think I can recall anything"

"At least we know those kami were being nice and trying to help us," Corona remarks, considering what they've learned. "So for some reason a kitsune and his statues attacked the caravan and stole things! That's a start for sure, New Friends, but I wonder what happened to our *other* New Friends? I hope they're okay..."

She frowns worriedly for a moment and then finally shrugs.

"Nothing to do but keep going, right? If they came this way then we'll probably catch to the battle site soon - maybe we can learn more then!"

"I guess so, We should keep going" throws Rawiri

After you've shared the information with your party members about your visions, you keep following the path to find the lost Pathfinders.

It seems that the road is much easier to travel now. And indeed, if you pay close attention, you see tree branches that would snag on the caravan gently bow away from the road, small piles of acorns and other nuts stashed beside the road, easy to pick up and snack on, and bushes that pull away to reveal caravan tracks. Seems like the kami of the forest are helping you out on your journey.

Soon enough, you hear commotion coming from up ahead. You hurry your pace, and you finally find the lost caravan! But it seems like small stone statues are attacking the caravan, clobbering the carts and spooking the horses. Two people, both carrying wayfinders, are shooting at the statues with their crossbows, while the rest of the caravan takes shelter inside the wagons. The two people notice you and yell for assistance.

Initiative Sunshine: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Initiative Corona: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Initiative Rawiri: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Initiative Smell of the Pines: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Initiative Red: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Initiative Orange: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Initiative Green: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Initiative Pink: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Initiative Blue: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Initiative Yellow: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Sunshine
Green
Rawiri
Red
Orange
Pink
Blue
Carvan
Yellow
Smell of the Pines
Corona

Sunshine may act!
Squares with obvious foliage/trees are difficult terrain. I'll leave that up to your own judgment.

Sunshine instinctively moves up, interposing himself between the creature and the caravan, designating Red as his prey, and swinging his spiked chain.

Spiked Chain: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
slashing: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 plus Precision: 1d8 ⇒ 7

Sunshine interposes himself between Red and the caravan, and lashes out with his whip. Red is caught off guard, and the whip slices clean through its spine and falls apart in two separate pieces. Crit and dead!
You did notice a minor amount of hardness, but the crit hit right through that.

Green watches Sunshine kill its buddy and mindlessly rushes up to Sunshine, but has no actions left to pummel him.
Seems like they're very slow. Took it all three actions to get over there.

Sunshine
Green
Rawiri
Orange
Pink
Blue
Carvan
Yellow
Smell of the Pines
Corona

Rawiri may act!

Rawiri looks at the stones and wonders what they are. "A test of fire would have to tell me..."

He reaches for the flames within himself and tossed a flame at the one next to sunshine

Produce flame@green: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Damage, fire: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 6) + 3 = 13

Then he whistles at Hoya who runs forwards and strikes the stone creature.

Hoya Jaws@green flanking: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Damage, piercing, fire(1), sneak attack: 1d6 + 2 + 1 + 1d4 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 1 + (3) = 8

Produce flame (2-actions), command Hoya (move -35ft provokes AOO and attack)

Rawiri tosses a ball of fire at Green. The sheer force of impact causes the creature to collapse. You can redirect Hoya if you want.
Hoya attacks, but sadly fails to connect.

Orange ambles forward and lashes out twice at Hoya, but Hoya is too nimble and dodges away easily.

Slam: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
Bludgeoning damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Slam: 1d20 + 6 - 5 ⇒ (8) + 6 - 5 = 9
Bludgeoning damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Pink moves around the caravan and ends up right in front of Hoya, but is also out of actions.

Blue does the same, but for Sunshine.
Damn you, slow dumb creatures!

The two Pathfinders belonging to the caravan pop out of the bushes, aim a crossbow bolt at Orange, and fire, in an attempt to rid Hoya of one assailant.

Crossbow damage: 1d8 ⇒ 1
Sadly, the crossbow bolt plinks against Orange's stone skin and doesn't even leave a mark. Cursing, they retreat back into the bushes.

Yellow follows Blue's example and files up behind Blue, patiently waiting for its turn to hit Sunshine.

Sunshine
Rawiri
Orange
Pink
Blue
Carvan
Yellow
Smell of the Pines
Corona

Everyone may act!

"We're faster than they are ... let's use that to our advantage!"

Sunshine hunts Blue, and then Strikes.

Spiked Chain: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22
Slashing: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 plus Precision: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Then he backs off.

"Well fire worked, let us try again." Rawiri sends another ball of fire

Produce flame@Orange: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Damage, fire: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 2) + 3 = 9

But the ball of flame flies towards the sky.

Hoya at the same time bites the other stone creature

Hoya jaws@pink: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
Damage, piercing: 1d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 2 + 1 = 8

Then Hoya moves back towards Rawiri.

Sunshine lashes out at Blue, but its tough stone exterior saves it from crumbling to dust.

Rawiri throws another ball of fire, but misses Orange. Hoya has more success and crushes Pink between its teeth.

Sunshine
Rawiri
Orange
Blue - 4
Carvan
Yellow
Smell of the Pines
Corona

Smell of the Pines and Corona may act!

"Hey! You leave those people alone!" Corona calls out, quite incensed. She takes a few steps forward and tries to fire a divine lance at Blue, who is already a bit chipped and damaged.

Divine Lance vs. Blue: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Damage (Good): 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
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Stride, Divine Lance (2-Action)

Whoops, forgot a minor thing.

As Sunshine backs away from the statue he just damaged, the statue chases after him, but isn't fast enough to keep up with him.

This puts it now adjacent to Corona, who wasn't there when Sunshine ended his turn. Corona, you may re-do your Stride action if you want.

Maybe I should've just left it alone, but I wanted to use my fun reaction. :P

In that case Corona will move up a little to stand next to Sunshine; she'd not run right up in anything's face without some backup! Map position adjusted :)

The leshy casts boost eidolon while Resinosa steps to get in range.

The pine creature tries to pierce the creature rocks with her branches.

Act Together ◆/Tendril Strike: Impaling Branch vs Blue AC: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Boosted damage: 1d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 2 = 11

The plant creature tries to swipe the legs of the creature before getting back.

Tendril Strike ◆/Root for a trip attempt, athletics, vs Blue Reflex DC: 1d20 + 8 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 8 + 1 - 4 = 13
Probably only a failure.
Steps ◆ back where she was.

Resinosa pierces into the statue's heart (?) and the statue explodes in a shower of pebbles, then retreats back to its place.

Once again, the friendly Pathfinders pop out of the bushes, take a potshot at one of the statues, and retreat back into the undergrowth.
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 8

Orange get pierced right through the skull and falls over, dead.

Pink statue hops forward and throws a stone fist at Resinosa, but misses.

Slam: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Yellow does the same to Corona.
Slam: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Bludgeoning: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Yellow connects with Corona's face, but her connection to the cosmos wards off the majority of the blow.

I'm gonna call combat. They have 6 HP and Hardness 2, this isn't going to be a challenge anymore.

The six of you pulverise the remaining two statues, and peace returns to the forest.

The two Pathfinders come out of the bushes and are very thankful for your assistance. The jolly short fellow introduces himself as Lin Po, and the athletic woman says her name is Ti Lan.

Lin Po cracks a smile and says, "Thanks for the assistance, we won't take it for granite," then bends over and slaps his knee while howling with laughter. Ti Lan keeps a straight face, but a smile tugs at the corner of her mouth.

"Yes, thank you very much, I feared we'd be stuck in this forest forever. This entire journey has been fraught with problems. One of the relics started speaking to us, saying it was a kami that's been trapped inside the book, and that it was afraid of being stolen. Apparently it has some sort of control over the forest, and if it falls into the wrong hands, the whole forest could turn against us.

"So we convinced the caravan to take a detour in order to cover our tracks better, but the wilderness slowed us down more than we thought. And even worse, some fox-face showed up and stole the relic regardless! The kami of the forest helped us track it back down again, but with the caravan slowing us down, we never managed to keep up with them."

She slaps at an overhanging branch in frustration. "I know that bastard is following us, looking to steal more relics. We've seen them in the distance repeatedly, looking to steal more relics, but so far we've managed to protect the caravan. But morale's low, we're tired, and we just want to go home. Now that you're here, could you go after that thief and get the relic back before the forest swallows us whole?"

The caravan also gives you a composite shortbow with 10 arrows, a greataxe, and a greatclub as a thanks for saving them.

The leshy takes a look at the item that are far too big for its size and does not make a gesture to pick them up.

It listens before offering “Can we do anything before leaving to try to find this thief?”

""Granite'! Haha, that's a good one, New Friend," Corona giggles even as she wipes at her slightly bloodied and bruised face. "We'll go track down fox-face and get the kami-book back! The kami we've met so far have been really nice; they even showed us a little of what happened to you and where we needed to go. I guess the kami stuck in the book must be really important or something!"

Rawiri laughs out of courtesy. "Anyone of you is hurt? Should we heal you? We probably also have some rations to spare if you are hungry." says Rawiri before they will go and chase the thief.

"Yes, of quartz we can help you retrieve the items," smirks Sunshine.

Who says kayal don't have a sense of humor?

Sunshine offers whatever skills he has (although it seems others are more adept at healing than him), and then begins tracking.

Survival +5

They might but then it must be dark humor.

Hero Point to Sunshine for punning along!

"Oh, no worries about the caravan, we can handle that ourselves," Lin Po says. "Though some fresh rations would be nice. We've been in this forest for months now and I'd love something that's not dried, salted, or pickled."

You can write off a few rations if you want. I'm not going to be a stickler about the exact number.

You head off into the forest for the fox-faced thief. Sunshine finds a set of pawprints, belonging to a bipedal creature, and attempts to track it.

Sunshine Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

The tracks are fresh and clear, and after an hour of walking, you hear chanting up ahead. You slow your pace and advance carefully, and you come to a clearing. In the clearing, a kitsune is trying to cast a spell from a book. Picture in the map link. You see magic whirling around him, then suddenly sputter out, leaving behind the stench of burnt toast. The kitsune curses in Tien, leafs back to the start of the book, and starts again.

He's clearly absorbed in his ritual and hasn't noticed you yet. What do you do?

Sunshine will silently indicate that he intends to circle around to trap the fox creature. Stealth +11

Alternatively, the rest of the group can hang out nearby while Sunshine circles around and surprises him with Intimidation +7.

Corona gives Sunshine a 'thumbs up' gesture and turns her attention back to the kitsune. "I wonder what he's trying to cast, New Friends?" she whispers to the others. "Maybe we should try to distract him while Sunshine sneaks around. I'd sneak too but I've never been very sneaky!"

Sunshine sneaks around the glade, staying just in the tree line, and ends up on the opposite side of the group, the kitsune now trapped right in between. Seems like the thief hasn't noticed you yet.

When seeing that Anschluss was able to get behind the creature Rawiri sends after him Hoya.

The cat, walks staying close to the ground trying to join Anschluss. Hoya Stealth +8, but:
Burning Glow The fiery leopard sheds dim light in a 10-foot radius which gives it a –2 circumstance penalty on Stealth checks made at night or in a dark environment.

When it gets to the other side Rawiri moves towards kitsune saying

"So you are the thief that stole the artifact? We would need it back!"

As Rawiri takes the initiative, Corona smiles and also makes her presence known as she waves at the kitsune.

"Hello, Nice Kitsune! We'd really like our book back but if you're really nice and apologize for stealing it maybe we can work a way for you to study it somewhere safer than the middle of the forest?"

While Sunshine moves around, the leshy tries to find out what kind of spell or ritual the kitsune is trying.

Not sure that the creature speaks common, it makes itself visible and tries to take a frightening face. Resinosa follows but she does not try to be frightening.

Smell of the Pines has Intimidating Glare.

Sunshine will not have his spiked chain out; instead, he will attempt to grab/tackle the kitsune if they try to run.

Hoya joins Sunshine on the opposite side of the clearing, then the main group steps out. As Rawiri and Corona introduce themselves, the kitsune is clearly surprised and stops casting the ritual. The magic in the air pops like a bubble and dissipates, but not before wreaking havoc on the environment. A big pile of fish fall out of a tree, one other tree's leaves turn all colours of the rainbow, and a final tree starts sobbing softly.

The kitsune sees the group and slowly starts backing away, until Sunshine and Hoya meet up with him from the other side.

"W-wait! You're interrupting very important work! The trees have been going rampant all throughout the forest, and I'm trying to back to normal before-" but he cuts off as he sees Resinosa. The thief narrows his eyes, and his hand slowly goes towards the dagger at his side. "You're with the trees? Then you're the enemy! They must've put you under some kind of mind control!"

The kitsune isn't doing anything just yet, but he is clearly on edge. He's eyeing you warily, looking to see who's going to make the first move.

What do you do?

Going slightly off script here, but this seems appropriate.

"I'm not sure what's 'normal' and what's not 'normal' in this part of the world, but I'm pretty sure that thieving isn't normal anywhere. Return the artifacts, and maybe then we can investigate these 'abnormal' trees."

Sunshine looks at Resinosa.

"He's normal."

"Can you calm down, we are not with trees. We are pathfinders, and we came to find our allies who were traveling with the caravan. The one from which you took this artifact. Tell us what is happening and we will consider helping you"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

"Yamatsumi tells us to respect the nature after all..."