1) I am based in Shrewsbury, UK (GMT currently) so my posting hours may be unusual for some of you. I usually update at least one or twice per day. Just to keep the game moving, please post at least once every day and at least once during the weekend. If you disappear for more than 24 hours, especially during combat, I will simply place your character on infinite delay just to keep things moving.
2) Please label all three of your actions. Even if you think what you are doing is obvious.
3) If I am unavailable for longer than 24 hours, I will let you know in the Discussion Tab. Out of respect for your fellow players and myself, I ask that you do the same. Real life happens, and real life will always take priority over the game, but out of fairness for your fellow players, please let us know if you will be unavailable for an extended period of time.
4) Please complete the Macros and the Slides linked at the top of the page.
5) Questions, concerns? Feel free to share them in the Discussion tab.
6) Let's have some fun and tell a great story together! After all, that's what we are here for.
(Blurb stolen from GM Tiger )
You are all on your way to meet Venture Captain Drandle Dreng outside the Grand Lodge in Absalom.
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A male android with veins of white energy clearly visible on his slightly swarthy skin is slowly moving towards the first task. He looks at everything around him as if he sees many objects for the first time. His face does not reflect any surprise (as well as other emotions), but his gaze constantly jumps in different directions, as if he is scanning the territory and collecting information for analysis.
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A fairly tall Gnome girl enters the room, wait, that's not quite right or accurate, she looks a bit tall but is actually using some platform shoes, her hair is a mix of blonde and pink streaks with some other colors then and there depending on the light and the angle and direction from where you're looking at, she is dressed in gaudy and flamboyant clothes which gives her a picaresque air, her big yellow eyes are expressive and inquisitive at the same time and adorned with equally colorful makeup and a mischievous smile completes her look
"Hey there, the name is Lolizette" Introduced herself the colorful gnome full of confidence and energy.
But she isn't alone, a tall humanoid figure accompanies her...
The figure may look humanoid and dresses in gaudy red clothes that wouldn't be out if place in a noble with jewelry and all but it's face reveals it's Fey nature, it's akin to a mask almost unremarkable but certainly smiling with glee and amusement, it's eyes shining bright as if made of flames and it's hands possessing long black claws, atop it's head rest a black top hat, all in all the Fey looks quite classy!
"Greetings Pathfinders, Raoul the Phantom at your service." Introduced itself the Fey with grandeur and finishing with a bow to complete it's gentleman persona, of course it speaks in Sylvan so there's no guarantee that the present humanoids besides Lolizette actually understand it.
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As the group waits, they notice a small figure dressed somewhat uniformly in black standing not too far away. On his head is a wide-brimmed felt fedora that keeps his face shaded. A long leather coat covers his leather armor, which is crisscrossed by two bandoliers; one loaded with a large number of small shiny brass cylinders; the other with what seems like small tied bundles of cheap flatware. His black leather pants are topped by a gun belt with a holster on his right side holding a pistol. His hands are covered with fingerless fitted kid leather gloves that are like a second skin. Strangely though, the figure is bare-footed.
The figure appears to be almost hopping from foot to foot in incessant motion as he cranes his neck left and right as if in search of something. His head finally turns to face the group and the wide ears, red eyes and green-tinged gray skin make his goblin ancestry immediately clear. He stops moving for a second and looks closely at the group. His face finally splits into a wide grin showing a motley collection of sharp teeth pointing in all directions; he raises his hand and waves an excited greeting as he runs up.
He's a little out of breath when he arrives, but recovers quickly. "This Captain Dreng group? Good, goood! Kizik also in group." He pauses to catch his breath. "Kizik excited. Reeealy excited! Dreng promised exciting first mission for Kizik." His eyes flicker over each member of the group trying to assess their strengths and weaknesses. He stops when he catches sight of Lolizette. "Ooo. Pretty lady. Nice hair. Nice clothes." His eyes fall to her feet and his jaw drops open a little in surprise. "Suuuper cooool shoes!"
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The android slowly turns his gaze to the gnome. His bright blue synthetic eyes do not express sympathy or delight. For a while he looks from the gnome to fey, from the fey to the goblin and from the goblin back to the gnome... and seems to come to some conclusion.
Greetings, colleagues. I am Impulse-Seven. I am glad to meet together the upcoming trials and discoveries.
At the last sentence, the android begins to smile. Somewhat unnatural, but the smile is quite beautiful.
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Kizik stares at Impulse-7 in open bewilderment. Without moving a muscle, his eyes dart left to Lolizette, then right to Raoul, hoping to gauge their reaction. His eyes then snap back to Impulse-7 in time to catch the smile. He shivers involuntarily; the odd combination of beauty and alienness playing tricks with his mind.
He shakes his head to clear it and then shrugs. Who on this world wasn't a little strange, eh? "Kizik also happy to join Impulse-Seven for exciiiting mission." In his impatience, he starts shifting his weight from leg to leg again as he looks around at the passers-by. "Where Captain Dreng? Dreng late."
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"It's a pleasure Impulse! Listen maybe we just meet but I got a hunch... I Think we'll get along pretty well! Somehow..." added the small summoner with glee, a reaction that apparently isn't hard to trigger on her all things considered.
"Naahh, it must be part of Dreng's style... To leave us hanging enough to build some tension and then..! Something? I dunno, he surely has this all arranged, don't you agree?" says Lolizette while flashing a wide grin to her partners.
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An average-sized lean Half-Orc arrives and walks towards the waiting group. He is wearing leather armor and all his clothing is in brown-grey tones. A rapier and dagger are sheathed on his sides.
As he reaches the group he asks "Hello. I heard you mention Captain Dreng. Are all of you waiting here to meet him?"
He looks around the group, studying each person shortly, and nodding to each of them as way of greeting.
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Kizik nods to the newcomers. "Yes, yesss. This is Dreng group. We all waiting for Dreng. Kizik hope he come soon."
He was well-pleased with the makeup of the group. It was a good mix of longshanks and normal sized humanoids. He might even be able to avoid getting a crick in his neck from looking up at people all the time. He particularly liked Lolizette though, who was both easy on the eyes and a natty dresser. He was really looking forward to this mission. Where in Golarion had Dreng got to?
"And I'm surprised you haven't spotted me!"
An older human man with a shock of white hair and a slight paunch, Drandle Dreng, stands smiling just off the street and with perception indicative of a Pathfinder, he waves a beckoning hand.
“Pathfinders!” He says, motioning to follow. “Your timing is perfect, but let me get straight on to the matter at hand, and also add that I certainly hope that you’re all wearing a good set of boots.”
The city is alive with the sounds of bustling conversation and commerce outside of the Pathfinder Society’s Grand Lodge.
He swiftly walks off, leading you into the city’s back alleys. “As you may well be aware, the Pathfinder Society has many allies hailing from across Avistan, Garund, and beyond. Some of our allies are much closer, and indeed right below our feet.” He comes to a stop and motions down at a thick bronze plate in the road covering an entry into Absalom’s sewers. “Perhaps you’ve heard of the Sewer Dragons? They’re a resourceful kobold tribe claiming a major portion of Absalom’s underground. The Society has understanding with them, and I’ve regularly met with their representative, one Dragonspeaker Engashez, a blue-scaled bard with a penchant for drums. While she can occasionally be yappy, she is prompt, and earlier today she failed to appear at our scheduled meeting. I suspect that something has happened, and I want to find out what.”
Dreng leads the way below ground, into a subterranean chamber strewn with the carnage of a recent fight. Two ragged, giant holes are punched through the walls at the room’s opposite ends though both tunnels subsequently collapsed. More startling are the dozen kobold corpses dead and partially submerged in the room’s standing water.
“Oh no no…” Dreng mutters in disbelief before he raises his head at the echoing, distorted sounds of nearby fighting. “Trouble ahead. Whatever caused this must still be close by!” He points down one of the passageways out of the room and wades across the room towards the other exit. “I’ll go this way and you go that way! Quickly now!”
Seeing the carnage immediately raises the alarms for the Fey trickster which drops his suave demeanor and adopt a fighting stance, eyes burning more than before and claws extended ready to take on anything that may jump from the hole ahead
"Get ready Lolizette, seems like it already is showtime." speaks the Eidolon once again in sylvan.
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Kizik jumps a little in surprise when Drengle appears as if out of nowhere. Excitedly, he runs over to the Captain. At the mention of good boots, Kizik looks down at his bare feet without concern. "Kisik not have boots. Kizik feet tough; better than boots." Following on Dreng's heels, he listens intently at what the Captain has to say. The mention of sewers worries him a little; not because of any personal squeamishness, but because his black powder ammunition does not do well in wet environments.
Once they get to the chamber with all the floating bodies, Kizik gulps. Up until now, the excitement of his first mission had all been rather theoretical, but seeing the kobold corpses brought home the fact that they were now playing for keeps. He pulls out his pistol and holding it high, makes sure to keep it and his ammunition out of the water as he wades across the sewer channel. He hops out of the water onto the raised platform, and urging his comrades to follow, starts moving quietly down the passageway indicated by the Venture-Captain.
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Impulse-7 does not make any emotional expressions of surprise, only the eyes quickly rush from one detail of the massacre to another. Then he concentrates for a few seconds, and right under his clothes, some kind of rune or pattern in the shape of a hexagon begins to glow blue.
At the same time, with a slight ripple that disappears after a few seconds a powerful metal construct appears, vaguely similar to those that run in Numeria, but much cleaner and newer.
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The robot with a camera in the middle of his head looks around for a few seconds , after which it says "Enforcer 571-294 is here. Traces of the battle are visible. The security protocol is activated." He turns to you and says, "Allied targets have been identified. Greetings to you!". You can see that he has the same hexagon symbol shining on his chest as your android friend.
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At the appearance of Enforcer 571-294, Kizik starts so violently that he almost falls into the canal. He scrambles several steps backwards away from the new arrival, while waving his pistol at it and trying to decide what to target. He calms down a little when it becomes apparent that the robot is on their side, but is still shaken by its surprise appearance. He admonishes the android. "Kizik almost die of fright. Impulse-7 should give warning first." After a moment, the advantages of having such an armored ally become clearer to him. "Enforcer go ahead. Kizik follow."
"Greetings good sir, seems like there's some common ground between us, I'll looking forward to put a good show alongside you." Adds the Trickster as he tips his hat as an stylish way of greet the fellow Eidolon.
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Enforcer 571-294 looks around at the fey and the gnome, seeing that they are also connected by some runes. Perhaps. The analysis protocol shows that my connection with the material plane is partially broken and most of the time I am on the astral plane. It doesn't seem right to me. I have to return to the base on Verc... Verch... Vert...? I don't remember, the protocol is corrupted. The robot's metallic voice sounds dull and indifferent. For a second, the android's eyes and the robot's camera meet, there is a silent exchange of thoughts or images, after which the robot continues. The current task is clear. Ensuring the security of the allied forces. The protocol remains activated.
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Impulse-7 adds quietly and thoughtfully: We don't remember exactly what happened. I was found in the Labyrinths of Open Roads after recent events... Immediately after its functioning was restored. It was decided that it was Renewal. It probably is. He shrugs his shoulders. This time you feel the emotion in his words. A slight shade of doubt, sadness and hope for something...
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To Kizik, everything that Impulse-7 and Enforcer 571-294 just said sounded a little like "<blah, blah, blah>." He understood none of it and wasn't all that sad about it. What Schek said on the other hand, he understood. "Kizik think Dreng want us to find bad guys; stop bad guys from killing kobolds. Pathfinders find bad guys then Pathfinders kill bad guys. Veeery simple."
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After entering the subterranean chamber and realizing what has happened, Tolobo draws his weapons and carefully studies the groups surroundings.
He tries to follow the discussions of his companions after the intriguing appearance of the construct. But just as for Kizik, the details of the conversation are quite a bit above his knowledge about such topics.
He turns to Kizik and remarks "This really is a very nice and simple summary of what he probably wants us to do."
"However, I wonder..." he continues after a short pause "Where will we meet up with Dreng - and was it a good idea to let him go alone?"
Schek follows the team while still confused on what they will do for the mission.
"What specifically our mission aside from looking for Dragonspeaker Engashez?" he asks. The spear that partially serves as his walking stick splashes some water as they hurriedly walk.
As he dashes off Dreng just says "Protect the Sewer Dragons. Find the Drgonspeaker. Don't die."
As Dreng dashes west, you look east. None of the kobolds strewn about the room or floating in the sewage are still alive. The signs of battle are intense, though it’s clear that the kobolds were taken by surprise. Many still have their weapons sheathed at their sides, and an equal number of kobolds seem to have been crushed by debris or with bodies twisted as though smashed down by some powerful creature.
If anyone wants to examine the dead kobolds, make a
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Kizik looks over the dead kobolds and listens in astonishment as the rest of the group misses all the details. "No, no, noooo!" He points to the crushed remains of one kobold. "That one squished by something hard and heavy." He then points at a few more. "Them burned by acid and them are chompy marks of large creature." Looking around some more, he spots some scrape marks leading away. "Oh, looooky see? Here where chompy creature move away." He then shakes his head. "But Kizik not good at tracking. Anyone good at tracking? Anyone know what monster is?"
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Tolok also takes a look at the Kobolds, but doesn't notice anything in particular.
As Kizik talks about having found where the creature moved away, Tolok immediately comes over and takes a look as well "Oh, fantastic that you found those tiny marks. I'm not great at tracking, but let's see if I can follow the marks."
Turning around to his other companions he continues "If anybody of you has experience with tracking, you should probably also take a look."
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Schek follows Kizik and listens to his findings. Anger is starting to well up inside him, seeing that what happened to the kobolds is beyond of what he has imagined. But he just keeps his emotions to himself and doesn't want to show it to others because he thinks it's a weakness.
”We got to save the others. This monstrosity or something should end,” Schek says with conviction.
Tolobo spots the trail with ease and is able to show everyone where it is.
Moving down the passage, you quickly notice a pile of broken stones and glass in the tunnel’s centre, and with a
The tunnel also has seen the after effects of a recent combat and the passage of a large creature.