Longroads Coffeehouse 2.0

Game Master chadius

Bella continues singing that seems to work this time. Stitch helps out more by applying his self-help reflection, telling the haunt to do the same. Fran performs some occult quick rituals to dispel the same haunt. Sooner, the blood stops flowing from the skull rune and it becomes dry as quickly as it flows. The haunt is disabled.

The group quickly gets out of the ruins now that nothing impedes their way. Leaving the temple, they easily return to Eando Kline's camp. He listens eagerly to what they describe about the item’s properties. He takes it from them and makes it clear that he understands the seriousness of the relic and thanks them for their efforts.

After they undertake the last of their four missions, they return to the camp to report in on their final mission. The final faction leader, Eando Kline, offers them the opportunity to join them and the other faction leaders for dinner at the base camp. Over the course of a hearty meal (prepared by Gorm Greathammer), they get a chance to share their findings, impressing the leaders. The leaders thank them and make it clear the work they have done will make it possible for more thorough explorations in the future.

-END OF SCENARIO-

"And then Meat spun their wheels in the gore, flinging bone and liver all across the wall!" He raises his mostly empty glass, laughing like a drunk sailor.

Bella tries not to grimace as Mister Steeltoe goes through the gory details.

Deception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Whenever the Venture-Captains grow bored of the rigors of combat, Bella and Khiari give a recital of Whistling While they Work, a song that dispelled the ghostly cleaning staff.

Performance: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Bella simply sits down and drinks more tea, rather than wait for polite applause.

Khiari, for her benefit, is glad to help in anyway she can. She's felt so much better since she removed the amulet. She looks ahead to some peace and quiet for the next few days. And getting her magic to work while on the Material Plane, that would be nice, too!

Stitch and Meat Wagon roll up outside the Pathfinder Lodge in Absalom after the return trip home. He pulls over and parks next to a still smoldering barrel that smells oddly of pickles. A half burnt sign sticks out of the barrel, as well as what resemble burnt, broken chair legs. "Looks like someone had themselves a street barbeque. Wonder what the street meat was?" He sniffs the air and starts pawing through the barrel for any leftovers.

"Maybe we should just get this fired back up, get some meat on a stick and have a few beers while we wait on our next assignment?" He asks the group.

Your adventure begins in the Vaults of the Grand Lodge in Absalom.

Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen asked Rain in Cloudy Day to assemble a group of Pathfinders in a vault filled with newly acquired treasures.

"Hi all! I'm Rain In Cloudy Day. I'm a new Pathfinder agent here in the Grand Lodge. I'm a special assistant to Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin."

Rain in Cloudy Day has a bright green body and a purple mushroom “cap” atop his head, and he wears a white scarf and brown vest emblazoned with the Glyph of the Open Road. Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen has long dark hair and black nail polish and is wearing a vibrant blue dress. Both greet the group of Pathfinders in a vault filled with newly acquired treasures, which Rain calls the “Vault of Boundless Wonder!”—a phrase he exclaims while excitedly waving his hands.

You can go ahead and introduce yourselves here. If you have any school consumables, go ahead and pick them up now.

Its that mushroom guy again... he's working for us in the Lodge? Cripes.

"Hello Rain, its us again, you know, from the swamps of Cassomir?"At least I think that's where we were..

"Good to meet you too, name's Stitch Steeltoe, and my sweet ride Meat Wagon." He lets the exhaust billow forth in a grand display of technological savvy.

He takes a look around the room and cracks his knuckles "A treasure vault? You're letting us into a Society treasure vault... " He does some quick mental math before immediately turning suspicious "So what's the catch?"This is totally a set up. They're going to tempt us with amazing treasures so they can fire us.. or lock us in prison for stealing!

Absalom's apartments are... appreciated, but nothing compared to home. At least they don't ask much about her sister and the vague musky mint smell that accompanies her.

Khiari begs her to check out town, especially the less fortunate. Bella finds her highlife melting as she sings to the children, climbs rotting wood to help tear them down from the top. And encouraging the townsfolk to keep fighting for what they deserve. Khiari records their lives, planning to tell their tale. Sometimes she gets a bit too friendly and Bella has to reel her back.

Alas, the carefree time comes to an end when she is summoned. At last, she will get to enter the vault.

"Salutations, Rain in Cloudy Day. We meet again." Bella looks at a familiar Leshy. "Greetings, Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen." She curtsies. "Are we entering... the Vault?" She raises an eyebrow.

Khiari scratches the hair of her left thigh. "Seems like it. Otherwise this will be a boring tour."

Nicole joins the others in arriving at the Vaults. Her absence allowed her to learn more about crafting talismans and tattoos. She has actually prepared an owlbear claw and potency crystal for anyone who might be interested to let her affix them on their weapons.

"Greetings, Grand Archivist Zarta. Nice to meet in person." she greets the archivist.

"It is nice to meet you again, Rain. Since the last time we meet, I learned to make talismans and magical tattoos! I can etch a tattoo that I know on your skin if you like, of course, after our mission here." she tells excitedly to Rain. "Oh, and before I forget," she asks the others and pulls out from her pocket some talismans. "Does anyone want these affixed to your weapons? They are very effective when properly used with your weapons." she offers them the owlbear claw and potency crystal. "It will just only take me ten minutes to affix them both."

"Greetings, Madame Flames. We missed you during our last excursion." Bella curtsies in an informal manner best reserved for a respected ally or good acquaintance. "I would be honored to try out the owlbear claw. Well, to be honest I would try both if I had the chance, but we should... share the wealth amongst our teammates."

I'm willing to affix the owlbear claw onto my handwraps of mighty blows. I would also take the potency crystal if no one else wants it.

"Hey Nicky, learned some new tricks while you were away then?" Stitch declines the talismans but is very interested in observing their fixture and use.

Best put to use on someone else, nice gadgets though!

If none takes the potency crystal, she will give it to Bella then.

"I miss you all too!" she tells Bella and about to give her a hug but stops midway, ashamed of her behavior. "Yes, I found interest in talismans and tattoos, both additions to what I can craft. But I still have a lot to learn," she tells Stitch, with her face turning red when addressed as Nicky. The nickname sounds cool to her. She then looks around. "Hmm, where's Roark?" she asks before she affixes the owlbear on handwraps of Bella.

"So Khiari, how is your time with your sister Miss Bella?" she asks Khiari. "Is she teaching you formal manners or something? I bet you'll get a hard time with that." she whispers to her while affixing the talisman and waiting for Rain or the archivist to give them the task.

Khiari giggles as Bella stands still as a board and turns away from Nicole.

"She's pretending to not hear us. It's a great way to pick up rumors and gossip." Nicole asks about manners and Khiari pauses to find the right answer. "My manners are pretty good at Home, but amongst humans? They say my legs shed too much hair." She shrugs. "Also bumping into my horns during a dance shows they don't know how to manage their headspace properly. This is my fault, somehow." She rolls her eyes.

"Roark... I know he was really drunk last night. The three of us went to a LOT of parties. Some very nice. Some... not so nice. Some, pretty rowdy." She grins. "He's probably sleeping it off."

"Oh there you all are! Just letting ya know I'm off on vacation for a spell. I'll travel for a bit while you're all busy cataloguing the treasures. Maybe I'll bring you some trinkets. Heya Rain! Take care of my friends, but give that dwarf more things to do. He's got too much time on his hands!"

Roark heads out...

Rapidly-approaching footsteps can be heard and as Roark moves to make his exit he's nearly bowled over as Fran comes running into the room, Mister Midnight hot on her heels.

"Eep! S-sorry, Roark!"

She leans against the wall, panting as she tries to catch her breath.

"I'm...s-sorry we're late, we...overslept..."

As she realizes that Rain and Zarta are also present, her face flushes red with embarrassment. "U-um, d-don't...don't mind me..." she mumbles as she slinks over to a nearby chair and takes a seat. She takes a moment to privately thank the gods that she at least remembered to make all of her preparations the night before.

Roark barely gets out of the way in time as Fran tears past him.

"I think they're waiting for you," he says, matter-of-factly, though he has difficulty keeping the mischief from his voice.

Big wall of text coming

Zarta Dralneen watches the conversation with amusement, but clears her throat to remind Rain of his current mission.

"The Archives get more exciting every day," Rain states then adds, "And who better to manage the excitement than Zarta! Oh, have you all met Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen?" Rain prompts you to introduce yourselves. Zarta smiles and thanks you for coming. Rain and Zarta then lead the group to a table covered in interesting objects.

Rain in Cloudy Day waves exuberantly to indicate the piles of treasure in the vaulted chamber. "Just look at all these magic items! And enchanted weapons! And a skull that always looks at me funny! Big magic books about even bigger magic books! Well, I'm not sure about that last one. I haven't read them. Cataloging all this treasure is bound to be exciting! It sure beats sorting the mail."

Zarta leads the group through the vaults. She runs her fingertips along the table, lifts a strange hourglass, and inspects it with dubious curiosity. "Exciting, yes, and possibly quite dangerous."

Rain frowns. "Well, yes, but… at least we're in the safety of the Lodge? Can't be that bad! You said these items are harmless." He picks up a skull from the table. Its eyes glow with pink fire, and it speaks, "Unhand me, you hideous rotten mushroom! Harmless?! How dare you!" Rain replaces the skull and covers it with a cloth, muffling the voice.
"Well… mostly harmless?"

Zarta fails to stifle a grin. She tilts the hourglass this way and that, shrugs, and sets it back on the table. "Yes, mostly harmless. We believe these items present no major threat to us, and we've secured those we believe to be cursed. The true danger comes from an old enemy of the Pathfinder Society, the night hag Aslynn. She nearly claimed these treasures for herself before they were entrusted to us. We don't know why she needs the items, or which ones are most central to her wicked plans. I'm off to a meeting to discuss the situation with Eliza, Ambrus, and the faction leaders. You'll stay here with Rain and continue cataloging these objects. We need to learn where the items come from and understand what they do. Then we can decide what to do with them. Any questions?"

Before you could answer, a gnome enters the Vault.

"Any one of you named Nicole Flames? You forgot to fill in the check-in form for your unused consumable. The document is HERE and is pretty straightforward. Sorry to bother you like this but Venture-Captain Ambrus will be really upset with us if our paperwork isn't complete. If you'll follow me, we'll get this straightened out. Sorry, Grand Archivist Zarta, but we'll just be a moment."

This sounds like busywork.
But it could get them in the good graces of the Society.
At least they would get close enough to acquire the cold iron dagger.
That blade slew her father but it left a trail of clues to the killer.

Bella nods along as a gnome runs in to address Madame Flames. Bella keeps her mouth shut, but taps her foot impatiently.

"Oh, how did I miss that?" She takes the document and follows the gnome to quickly fill up the necessary information the gnome needs from her in their office. She gets back to the others as quickly as possible.

Zarta looks to Nicole, though a bit impatiently. "Well? Any questions before I leave? Ambrus will be peeved at me if I'm late."

"Oh there you all are! Just letting ya know I'm off on vacation for a spell. I'll travel for a bit while you're all busy cataloguing the treasures. Maybe I'll bring you some trinkets. Heya Rain! Take care of my friends, but give that dwarf more things to do. He's got too much time on his hands!"

Roark heads out...

"He's going to get work done. All those fancy folks like tellin' us simple folk they're 'Going on vacation.. traveling' when they're getting a beak job, or a feather implant! Don't be fooled!" He chuckles a bit to himself before getting quickly distracted by all the tables, crates, and stacks of loot everywhere.

"Name's Stitch, of Clan Steeltoe. I've got an eye for the useful and unusual, we'll find some good stuff down here. You don't need it all back in one piece do you?" He grins before poking around. "Who's gonna take the notes?"

Does that hag's name ring a bell?

Well, other than Zarta mentions that Aslynn is an old enemy of the Society. As I've never played PF1e, I don't know the full history/lore behind it.

"U-um, do you need these things catalogued in any specific way?" Fran timidly asks, side-eyeing the disgruntled talking skull. "Or is there anything you'd like us to start with first?"

"Rain will give you instructions and guide you through the task. It shouldn't be too hard for a team of Pathfinders like yourselves. Now then, I have to be off, or Ambrus will have my head!"

Zarta leaves the Vault and Rain steps up. He hands each of you a sheet of paper with what he needs you to do.

Surprise! It's skill check time. I know you are all shocked and amazed that there is a whole section specifically on skill checks and/or socialization. The listed skills are the obvious ones for each location, but creative solutions may be rewarded!

Also, you can use any Lore skill you have that seems to fit the needs of the area. When you post where you are going, please move your token to that location on the map

"Well, there is some controversy back Home about natural horn beauty and uh... horn enlargement." Khiari mumbles.

"Well, since we're here already." And that skull would make one hell of a hood ornament! Stitch rolls up to the table and pulls the cloth off of the skull.

Arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

"Tell us mysterious skull, do you remember who's shoulders you used to set on?"

Nicole heads for the pile of treasures to see if she can find something useful there. She arranges mundane things based on their type and magical ones based on their... type as well.
Crafting: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

But she still can't get over the thought of how Roark will get a beak job after he hears Stitch bickers with the bird tengu. "So how would Roark change his beak if he gets a beak job? Like more pointed? Or a twisted one?" She muses loudly about what would Roark look like while doing the task at hand.

"So how would Roark change his beak if he gets a beak job? Like more pointed? Or a twisted one?"

Stitch looks up from the skull, still half trying to decide how to mount it on Meat Wagon's hood "He's always stabbing things with that pecker of his, my guess he's going to try augmenting it somehow. Heavier duty maybe? Put a sharper point on it.. some razor blades mounted on the sides if he wants to go all in."

GROAN

Nicole blinks thrice with a cringe just thinking about what Stitch has described of Roark's possible new beak. "I think I am good with his current beak. Pointy and... just pointy. Might as well I will ask him what it feels like when he hits something hard whenever he attacks with his beak."

Nicole checks the pile of treasure and finds a beautiful brooch. Rain sees it and identifies it as a brooch of shielding.

Stitch heads over to the skull and questions it.

"Wouldn't you want to know? comes the snarky answer. Clearly the skull has some attitude! :)

Waiting for Bella and Fran

Fran also winces as Stitch describes the array of beak enhancements that Roark could have access to. "Yikes...wouldn't those make it hard to eat? Or what about when he puts his shirts on; it'd be really hard to pull them over his head without slicing them to pieces!"

She considers her options for a moment and settles on tackling what she feels most qualified to handle - the pile of scrolls. "Let's s-see, what do we have here..."

Pile O Scrolls: Arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10 Ew no, let's HP that.

Pile O Scrolls: Arcana Redo: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26 Better!

Bella silently amuses herself on the talk of various augmentations. She looks at the shelves stacked to the ceiling and hops onto a shelf.

Danger: Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Danger: Hero Point: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

She almost loses her balance before correcting herself, vaulting up and down the shelves like she's playing with the other children back at her home manor. She enjoys tossing the most dangerous chemicals higher and higher.

"Wouldn't you want to know? comes the snarky answer. Clearly the skull has some attitude! :)

I'd poke you in the eye if I wasn't worried about getting bit! Stitch squints a bit in displeasure at the skull's curt response, regardless, he continues chatting with the anomaly, he does have ten minutes to kill here..

"How about I mount you to the hood of Meat Wagon, roll you around this place a bit. You'll get to see something other than the underside of that cloth? Maybe we can shoot the shit about internal combustion and steam power? Or refining the explosive potentials of gunpowder relative to their encasement materials and/or thicknesses?" He hops down off his wagon and lifts the skull up, looking at its underside for possible placement of mounting brackets.

Stitch watch your language please. I'm told there are filters that block stuff like that (Tyranius had one heck of a typo in 02-21!).

Stitch watch your language please. I'm told there are filters that block stuff like that (Tyranius had one heck of a typo in 02-21!).

Ok sorry, yes there are filters. I always tended to assume that if the filter doesn't proc then its allowed but I can clean up Stitch's language. I've had problems with his brother Scratch's language too in the past :)

You all oughta be ashamed of yourselves! Making fun of a helpless tengu behind his back! :)

Bella balances precariously on the shelves. Looking into a particularly high shelf, she finds a dusty looking dagger. Pulling it out, she notices runes on the blade. Remembering the catalog Rain showed them earlier, she realizes that she found a dagger of venom.

Fran heads over to the scrolls. Rooting through them she accidentally knocks one onto the floor. Bending over to pick it up, she notices Mister Midnight batting a slender wooden stick. Picking it up, she notices runes on it as well. She realizes that she has found a Wand of Widening (1st-level spells).

Rain takes a deep breath as he watches you work. He heads for the Vault door and calls that he's heading out to look for some refreshments. You pay him no mind and keep on working.

You suddenly hear a scream coming from Rain by the Vault entrance

"They're not real! They can't be real!" The panicked voice of Rain in Cloudy Day precedes his rapid footsteps as he races back into the vault. "I can't… I don't… help! Please, help! They're after me!" Rain collapses just inside the vault, clutching the sides of his head and whimpering in fear. A hideous snarl from just past the entryway causes Rain to go completely still.

You see shadowy figures suddenly appear. You see two so far, but you don't know how many there are...

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
------------------
Those with ** may go

**Nicole - AC 18 (19 w/buckler), 22/22
**Stitch - AC 16, 30/30; Meat Wagon AC 17, 26/26
**Bella Sidare - AC 19, 34/34; Khiari AC 18
Yellow
White
Red
Blue
Fran - AC 14, 24/24; Mister Midnight AC 14, 10/10

Stitch hustles over to Meat Wagon and climbs back up top of the buck board. A slow whistle of gas escapes his backside during the climb, an unfortunate side effect of age and a poor diet. Lucky for Meat Wagon Stitch hasn't invented any advanced sensory systems like smell yet.

"Guess we got trouble in the vault, who'd have thunk?" He gives the strange creatures a look before lubing himself and Meat up in WD42 (patent pending).

Overdrive: Standard Craft Check, DC16: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
*Success: +2 damage to personal and construct damage rolls for 1 minute.

Mount his Steed, Recall Knowledge, Overdrive +2!

Stitch boards Meat Wagon and prepares for action.

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
------------------
Those with ** may go

**Nicole - AC 18 (19 w/buckler), 22/22
Stitch - AC 16, 30/30; Meat Wagon AC 17, 26/26
**Bella Sidare - AC 19, 34/34; Khiari AC 18
Yellow
White
Red
Blue
Fran - AC 14, 24/24; Mister Midnight AC 14, 10/10

Stitch boards Meat Wagon and prepares for action.

Cough: Recall Knowledge?

Better take care of that cough, Stitch. You wouldn't want to infect anyone, would you? What would Roark think?

Stitch always has a bit of a cough, all those years working in foundries, machine shops, and back alley's do bad things to your lungs.

"I don't know WHAT those shadowy things are, we'll see if bullets, blades or bumpers works soon enough though." He prepares to shift his wagon into gear.

Feel free to just put the results of the recall knowledge for all to see, you can always assume Stitch relays what he knows, or doesn't know.

Hearing Rain's panicked voice of something that is not real and eventually calling for help, Nicole proceeds to where he is, seeing him collapse on the floor, clutching the sides of his head and whimpering in fear. "Rain!" she exclaims dramatically as if he is his very close friend. She quickly draws her hand crossbow and loads it with an arrow.

◆ Stride
◆ Interact to draw hand crossbow
◆ Reload

Khiari and Bella stop their balancing act just in time to hear trouble.

"I'll be quick, sister. Whatever is going on, we're too far away to help." Bella tries to roll off the stairs.

GM, the map isn't clear on how high up I am. Also I'm not certain if the floor + stairs are walled off. Bella would like to use 1 Stride action to move to the right most stair and tumble off, attempting a cool landing.

"I wish I had my magic..." Khiari frowns. "Sis, just... dismiss me for now, I'm no good up here." Bella cannot hide her frown from the truth, and with a wave of her hand Khiari scatters away in a pile of leaves and smoke. The rose sigil on Bella's armor fades away.

The precarious shelves are about 45' up. The corridors above the floor have a railing. I'll let you vault over the railing as part of movement. Stairs are not difficult terrain -- too many stairs on this map. We'd never get anything done if they were all difficult terrain! :)

Nicole draws her crossbow and moves towards the action.

Bella runs around and around until she's halfway down.

A shadowy creature with a hint of Yellow moves closer, pulls out a spear and hurls it at Nicole.

Spear vs Nicole AC 18: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Piercing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Another shadowy creature charges at Fran and Mister Midnight. It punches Fran, MM: 2d2 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4

Fist vs Mister Midnight AC 14: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Fist vs Mister Midnight AC 14, MAP, Agile: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Blue's in for it now...

Turns out, one creature is under the table and reaches out to grab Stitch. Miraculously, it succeeds

Stitch, MW: 1d2 ⇒ 1
Startling Grasp vs Stitch Fort DC 18: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Startling Grasp [one-action] The creature Strides up to 10 feet and attempts to Grapple a creature they’re undetected by. If they succeed, the creature is frightened 1, or frightened 2 if the creature critically succeeds at their Athletics check to Grapple.

The creature with the white streak on his head now lays into Stitch with its fists.

Fist vs Stitch AC 16, FF, MAP, Agile: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Fist vs Stitch AC 16, FF, MAP 2+, Agile: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14
Bludgeoning: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

A fourth creature with a red streak runs forward and tries to punch Stitch, MW: 1d2 ⇒ 1

Fist vs Stitch AC 16, FF: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1-2
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
------------------
Those with ** may go

-2-
**Nicole - AC 18 (19 w/buckler), 13/22
**Stitch - AC 16, 23/30 (Grabbed, FF, Immobilized; Frightened 1); Meat Wagon AC 17, 26/26
**Bella Sidare - AC 19, 34/34
Yellow
White
Red
Blue

-1-
**Fran - AC 14, 24/24; Mister Midnight AC 14, 10/10

Some questions: Are these things small? They just randomly appear on the map vs were there before combat started?

"ACK! Buggers are comin' out of the shadows!" He panics a bit and pushes the giant red button, dumping flaming fuel down Meat Wagon's exhaust vents. Explode (Unstable): ◆◆

DC5 Flat Check for Manipulate Explode Action: 1d20 ⇒ 7

Explode: Unstable: 5' Radius Fire Damage around Meat Wagon vs Basic Reflex DC18: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4
Unstable Flat Check DC17: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Reflex Save DC18 for Self, Frightened: 1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 5 - 1 = 16

"Mash them Meat, the White one first!" Command Minion

Stitch takes 4 fire damage, MW is now unstable.

Ignoring the laws of physics and momentum, Meat Wagon strikes at the white shadowy figure to its driver side quarter panel with its bumper then mower blade.

Burnt wires, mashed shadows, chopped up smooth like a ride to the grocery store! Its pretty obvious things aren't functioning perfectly.

Melee (Overdrive): Bumper Ram: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Damage (B): 1d8 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 2 = 11

Melee (Overdrive): Mower Blade (Agile)(Finesse): 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 7 - 4 = 10 Damage (S): 1d6 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 = 9

That was a really poor turn.