Longroads Coffeehouse 2.0

Game Master chadius

"Ah yes, this amulet?" Bella draws the amulet. "Now this, the creature in the blue portal simply handed it to us. No argument, no wager, and it left before we could respond. Couldn't get its name, never mind its type."

"We did consider presenting this to you, but we would fail your game if this is the wrong one, yes? So, off we went to check the other portals, first."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

"Will you let us take our leave to explore the other portals before handing this over? Or did we fail already?"

"Little bugger practically threw it at us then vanished. Kinda think it was trying to play a trick and get us in trouble... those devilish types always trying to call in some fine print to screw the innocent ya know."

Legal Lore: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

His argument is a bit erratic and trails off with some Dwarven vulgarity at the end.

"And, um, sometimes fortune smiles on you when you least expect it," Fran finally adds, having dredged up enough nerve to speak. "It could have been a trick or maybe all we had to do for that amulet was state our case and ask nicely. I hope we don't have to be penalized just because we happened to pick that particular portal first and not a different one..."

Diplomacy (Aid Another): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

"Fail? How could we fail, pal?" Finn looks at Bella sideways. "We brought back the loot, just as asked. ... Right?" He pauses, then starts frantically flipping through his notepad, but much of the writing is too smudged to be legible. "Maybe?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

"Fail? By no means, no. You just won't get full credit for the trial."

Kreighton Shaine looks a bit disappointed at Bella trying to hide the amulet. "Please do not try to deceive me in the future. Now, then, off you go to the next portal."

You all step into the red portal.

This room was clearly once a confluence of the various portals that pepper this dungeon, as all five colors of glyph are symmetrically arranged here. Only the red circle in the southeastern corner is currently activated. You see a creature (see the slides) hovering in the room’s precise center, slowly revolving and analyzing the room’s symmetry.

Religion/Axis Lore/Aeon Lore to ID

The creature notices you and asks in a clipped tone "Are you here for my amulet?"

Bella chuckles. "I'll have to harder, next time. Toodleoo." Bella waves goodbye to Master Shaine and practically skips into the portal.

"He is a man of many mysteries, Master Shaine. I wonder how many rules we'll have to extract."

The new creature. "One moment, please. We already received demerits for taking the wrong amulet."

She looks to her allies for confirmation. "Is this our devil?"

"U-um, I don't really know," Fran sighs. "Planar things and religious stuff isn't really my, um, area of expertise..."

Religion +4

Finn stands and stares at the devil with a critical eye, his hand passing through his moustache. I'm not falling for it this time!

Stitch rumbles off into the red portal on top of Meat Wagon, after coming out the other side he rolls his eyes and complains of Master Shaine "Glad that guy isn't my full time boss around here, needs to lighten up and let things go."

He looks up and sees the creature Religion +6

"Ya, don't go giving us anything yet till we ask... speaking of which.. how come all you guys are so eager to get rid of those things? They keeping you stuck here or something?"

Again, the creature asks you, somewhat impatiently, "So are you here for my amulet?"

"Not much for chitchat, are you? That's why no one invites you to parties."

She turns to her allies. "Should we be here? This spirit is quite busy, we shouldn't waste its valuable time."

"Um, I d-don't know...this one doesn't really *look* like what I'd think a devil would look like," Fran whispers, conflicted. "But I can't really say for sure. I should have paid more attention in Planar Studies..." she sighs.

Any clue for Stitch's Recall's? Religion +6

Ack sorry, missed this.

"Ya.. don't recognize that one. Can't say for sure either way.. maybe we should try another portal first?" He shrugs at the being before moving to spin Meat Wagon around and back into the portal.

"We shall we return, spirit." Bella about faces.

"Two down. Two to go?"

1 is Purple, 2 is Yellow: 1d2 ⇒ 2

"I'm in a Yellow mood. Let's try this portal next."

"Yellow sounds good to me," Fran agrees. "Hopefully we can maybe figure things out through process of elimination..."

"Hey, where's that Finn fella gone to?" Stitch climbs down and checks under Meat Wagon, just to be sure he didn't crawl up to find a warm place to nap.

"Let's go to Yellow Portal then, and find that creature." Nicole agrees with the chosen portal to enter next.

Finn is indeed found investigating meat wagon. For clues, of course.

"The smell! What do you got in that thing?" He asks, holding his nose.

"Oh, by the way, I've seen something like that creature just now. It was an Arbiter Aeon, not a devil, if that matters?"

"Not a devil. Good, Master Shaine would spank us if he brought its amulet."

"Arbiter Aeon? Huh..." Stitch stares off into space for a few moments before shaking his head "Yup, never heard of it."

He revs up Meat Wagon's engine and turns on the mower blade for a few seconds "You weren't there, but Meat here had a close encounter with a giant zombie a few weeks back.. probably should have cleaned better up underneath..." He chuckles and heads for the yellow portal.

"See? Now we know for sure what one of these guardians is, so we can go back and get their amulet when Master Shaine asks for that one," Fran smiles, relieved that they're finally making some (hopefully) good progress on the portals.

You see the following creature (on Slide 2) flitting excitedly up and down the corridor, constantly fascinated by the way the stone walls remain solid and unchanging. They react to your arrival with interest.

"Oh hello. Are you here for my amulet?"

Religion/Maelstrom/Protean Lore to ID

"Aren't you busy little bees.. know much about mechanics or engineering?" He eyes their small stature and quickness, perfect for working in hard to reach places.

Religion +6

Appears I also forgot to add the description of the hallway it's in

You see glowing circles all, as well as magical script lines all over the floor.

"You remind me of my sister. So much energy and enthusiasm." Bella watches it bob around.

"We are looking for an amulet, but it may not be yours. We need to find a devil. The taskmaster is annoyingly strict about what order we retrieve the medallions."

LOL!

"Don't know any devils. You're not here for my amulet, then? You just need to entertain me, and I'll give it to you."

Assurance (Arcana) for an automatic 13

"Runes, huh. Rudimentary preservation runes, meant to keep the area clean. That means keep the poop wagon back, pal." Finn chuckles.

Yep, those are whiskers! Stitch shakes his head in the negative "No devil here folks, just a mystical blue catfish from one of the outer planes. Maybe we'll have the ladies do a jig for you when we get back later ok?"

"Ah, that's a shame. Master Shaine's rules are annoying enough. I shall save my performance for another day."

She turns towards the portals. "Time for my favorite color: Purple!"

You head into the purple portal. This chamber is empty save for a single stone plinth covered in a purple drape. A creature stands on the plinth, idly toying with the amulet.

"I suppose you're here for my amulet?" the creature asks.

Religion/Devil or Hell Lore to id

"Ah, that's a shame. Master Shaine's rules are annoying enough. I shall save my performance for another day."

She turns towards the portals. "Time for my favorite color: Purple!"

"So if your favorite color is purple how come we did this portal last?" Stitch queries, ignoring the not-so-subtle dig at Meat Wagon's odorousness.

"I'm a big fan of the green.. er green. Gold and silver are high on the list too." Stitch also is not one for subtlety.

Religion +6. Would it be ok to just say we are all going to make these secret checks if we're trained? As in the macro sheet? Just trying to streamline things a bit.

That'll work, though since this is the last of the creatures to identify it's kind of unnecessary at this point :)

"I suppose you're here for my amulet?"

Stitch's eyes light up as he recognized the purple draped creature as an Imp. "Why yes, yes we are! Bella here loves the color purple and dances the jig." He deflects the imp towards the others.

"The host should take different perspectives and opinions before reaffiriming." Bella responds, reciting one of her father's many lectures. "If I were to present a laurel of lavender, you would not even consider the other options."

"Although it would have saved us a bit of time." She steps through the portal and waits for her teammates to identify the creature.

Bella nods at Stitch and takes a step forward. "As my friend indicated. We are here for your amulet. What can we offer in exchange?"

"All you really need to do is accept the deal I'm offering. I can give one of you good luck for an hour. However, if you die, I get your soul. It goes directly to Hell. Do not pass GO, do not collect you 5gp. Deal?"

”Why would we agree a deal with a bat from Hell?” Nicole questions the creature, and she is sure enough the she recognizes the creature as a bat. But she ponders about the offer. But anyway, do you have any other offer for us?”

"Nope. That's my deal for my amulet."

Bella chuckles. "My dear. Life among the First World has taught me there is no such thing as free. I wonder what play of words you are exploiting. I wonder how many assassins you've hired, or what traps I will face as soon as I sign the dotted line."

"Besides, my sister would come to Hell to slap me silly if I were to lease my soul. Can you imagine? I'd bet her hooves and fur would blend right in with the goat faced felons. At least until they realize she doesn't smell like a furnace. How do you get the smoke smell out of your fur, anyway? Do you raid this land for flowers, oils and scents to hide it?"

Bella begins her Twenty Question Routine, hoping to fascinate the imp as she gets close.

I'm using >Fascinating Performance< to distract the Imp.
Performance vs Will DC: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Whether or not the imp is following along, doesn't really matter. Bella's here for the amulet.

Bella will try to >Steal< the amulet from the imp. Hopefully it's >Fascinated< so it's easier to steal.

Thievery vs Perception DC: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

"Wait, so...does that mean if they die, um, ever you get their soul or just if the person dies during that one hour timeframe?" Fran can't help but ask. "Because if it's just during that one hour then that's not too bad...um, not that I'm volunteering! I'm just curious about how these things work..."

"Come on, you don't really like that amulet anyway, pal. I've seen shinier amulets at the bottom of the Absalom junkyard! Let us take it off your hands." Finn pleads, assuming Bella's attempt fails.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

Stitch ponders the deal, looking for some good questions for loopholes they can put to their own advantage, or at least avoid on the Imp's side of things. "In for a good dickerin' dance are we?"

Legal Lore +7

Not sure what to do and seeing that the creature with the amulet is stubborn about the deal, Nicole approach it and tells with her hand extended for the amulet, "I am not sure of you are lying or what, but I'll accept your deal. Just one hour, you say? We can perhaps stay here for an hour to let the blessing you offer to wear off."

The creature stares at Bella for an instant. Her eyes narrow suspiciously trying to figure out what Bella might be up to. It follows Bella carefully. Finally, when Bella steps back towards the portal the imp begins to disappear. She howls in anger knowing that she'd been outfoxed.

Hero point to Bella for the innovative way of getting the amulet

You return to Shaine with the amulet. He beams with pleasure and offers you the next riddle.

"A being of law and order has one of my amulets. It’s one of the least of the inevitables, aeons bound tightly by rules and constraints."

"Oh! I think we met that one already, didn't we? Through the red portal, Finn said something about that creature being an aeon," Fran reminds the group. "We should go see what they want in exchange for their amulet!"

Bella reappears from the portal and takes a bow. "It's always a joy to trick the wicked." She presents the amulet to Master Shaine. "How's that for sticking to the rules?"

She turns to her teammates. "Rules and constraints? Not my forte."

She smiles at Madam Flames. "You must be more careful. Suitors love to stretch the meaning of the truth until it becomes a lie. Who knows what that imp could have done if it had your boisterous spirit."

"Good thinking there, pal!" Finn says with an elbow check to Bella.

"Yes indeed, that thing beyond the red portal was an Arbiter Aeon."

Bella freezes as Finn shows his appreciation. Who is this Pal, and why did he require physical contact by proxy? Commoner behavior is so odd!