[OUTPOST V] GM ZD Tarnbreaker's Trail (Inactive)

Game Master Z...D...

Survival check to Track: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Avery begins to track the source of the claw marks Illnore found. She is not fond talking to people this time. She is more interested on what mystery lies in the area.

"We are still in a race. We should not take waste time looking for random animals. Besides, it might make its way to us."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Illnore shrugs good-naturedly. "Fair enough. To the campsite!"

Once there, she thinks about joining Sawaaya again to chat up the Wyrding Wayfinders, but instead she decides to inform the race officials about the dead caribou and what killed it.

"...and so I thought you'd want to know, so you could warn everyone else. By the way, I'm curious: why bother putting wool in the caribou's bells? It seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to, so I'm just curious about why you bothered."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

The agents wrap up their investigation of the deceased caribou and head to the campsite.

Illnore stops off to speak to an official. They look at the bell and frown, "It appears to have been tampered with, we did not do this. This does concern me however, as tampering with the obstacles are grounds for disqualification. If you notice anymore tampering, please let us know"

Swayaah heads over and attempts to strike up a conversation with the Wyrding Wayfinders. Again, the older female speaks for the group, "We did well enough. still plenty of race to race." She cocks her head to the side at the mention of the bells. "That's odd, the bells we had recovered were not stuffed with wool."

Avery begins to track whatever creature did this, but turns back once she begins to lose site of the checkpoint.

Day 3

The fog continues to hang low on the third day as the PC's head out.

Time to make you travel rolls. Athletics, Nature, or Survival.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

"We's Pathfinder Pros! More challenge means more fun!"

Athletics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Tieri will clearly be having a lot of fun today.

"Best of luck to you. I know my dad would love to speak to you." She waves goodbye to Faegrim.

Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

"This way." Swayaah spends day 3 guiding Tieri forward.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Avery becomes suspicious. It seems somebody is sabotaging their team's participation. But she has only suspicions, for now.

Why would it be done to our bells?... sbe thinks as they go through the day for the next race.

Illnore is rather perplexed by the discovery that the official didn't know about the wool in the bells, despite the officials being the ones who placed the bells on the caribou. It just doesn't make any *sense*. However, that's as far as her trusting mind can go. She mulls over this conundrum all during the next day's trek, allowing Chiselnits to pack down the snow ahead of her as her thoughts wear circular tracks in her mind.

Chiselnits notices how distracted Illnore seems this morning. "Gosh, you're in one of your quiet thinking moods, aren't you Illnore? Don't worry about it. I'll make sure you have a nice, easy path to walk on, okay?" He begins rolling in front of her, using his arms to pack down the snow even more.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

"Aww. Thanks, buddy. You're the best."

Ekaterina relies on her knowledge of nature to make her way for the third day.
Nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

4 success for the day of travel which grants you 2 more progress points.

Steam and spray from the Whitegold River hangs in the air as the checkpoint draws near. The wet air carries a cold sting. The snow on the trees drips, plopping heavily to the ground and the snow and frost seem to be clinging only in shadowed nooks and slick patches, despite the frigid air. Race officials prepare fish caught from the banks of the river near the camp. South of the campsite, another official stands near the riverbank. Several long poles lean against a mossy rock. Across the river, the course stretches away from the river and through the thinning trees into the snow-dusted hills beyond.

The wide river flows quickly as winter draws close, chunks of ice occasionally drift and crash among the rocks from further upstream.

The officials tell the PCs that this trial is particularly important to the Balgirdtrek. After spotting the tarn linnorm, Balgird gave chase to the beast. The linnorm slipped through the trees and made its way across the Whitegold River to evade Balgird. The rushing river was frigid and cold, and as Balgird approached he could see the tarn linnorm lurking in the trees on the other side, waiting to pluck his exhausted body from the shore if he swam across. Balgird felled a tall sapling from the riverside and vaulted across the river with as much of his gear as he could carry, foiling the linnorm and chasing it further into the wild.

You could aways swim across, but in this frigid weather, it may be a bad idea. The preferred method for crossing the river is to use the large poles on hand for the trial. Each fifteen-foot long pole has a small plate affixed to the base, just below the tip to prevent the pole from simply sinking into the mud of the river. The goal of the trial is for each member of the party to cross the river, preferably using the poles to vault across to the other side. A PC attempting to cross the river can attempt an Acrobatics or Athletics check to vault the river with the following results. If you fail, you sway back to the original side and may try again. If you critically fail, you lose your grip/balance and plunge into the river. Each PC MUST attempt this trial.

For our summoner Illnore, since PFS calls out that you can choose either you or you eidolon can make the check, Chiselnits can complete this challenge for you as well.

And since I've been slacking on Hero Points thus far, I will give one to Kaitlyn for her great skills during day 1. another hero point to Ekaterina for wooing the Bluetongue Brawlers and assisting on the Caribou challenge

"Ooh, this is interesting. And maybe not good for the teeth if you mess up..."

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Tieri barely makes it off the ground on his first attempt, but at least isn't in the drink.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

He definitely figures it out after that, and lands gracefully in the snow on the opposite bank.

"Go Tieri, go!" Swayaah cheers him on as he leaps across the chasm. "I think he could have jumped across on his own."

Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 Burning a Hero Point.
Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8 The dice really want me to fail, huh?
Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Fae winces as Swayaah almost falls into the river. Eventually she makes it across. "It's not like jumping across rooftops..."

Kat sets herself, grabs a pole, concentrates for a moment before attempting to pole vault across.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

She gracefully somersaults across, even doing a pair of flips in mid-air.

Tieri loses his balance on the first attempt and falls back onto the bank. His second attempt he nails the placement and easily gets across the river. Critical Success=2 progress points.

Swayaah is completely out of her element, whether it be the placement of the pole or the loose snow underfoot, she fails to get enough momentum to get across. On her fourth attempt, all the conditions seem right and she finds her way across the river. Success=1 progress point

Kaitlyn once again shows an impressive display of athleticism and crosses on the first try and flips to add some emphasis before her feet touch the ground. Critical Success=2 progress points

5 so far, making up some ground

Illnore/Chiselnits, Avery, and Ekaterina are left to cross the river.

Avery begins her turn, checking the stability of the pole she will be crossing. She begins stepping into it, looks at the other end and back to her feet again. She then moves quick across the river.

Acrobatics Check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22 with Steady Balance Feat

She lands at the end with a somersault and bows for her imaginary audience.

Swayaah digs her head out of the snow just in time to watch Avery land. "Yeah yeah, good job. Some of us are happy we didn't freeze in the river."

Making sure she has everything secured Ekaterina grabs one of the poles and backs up before running and vaulting to the other side.
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Using Hero Point
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

Illnore pats Chiselnits between his spikes as the others vault across the river. "Looks like it's our turn, buddy. Mind if I hitch a ride?"

"Sure! Hop in!" Chiselnits's belly cracks open, revealing the open space inside him. Illnore clambers inside with her pack. It's a tight fit, but Chiselnits is able to mostly close his belly crack once she's tucked up her feet. He grabs a pole and hefts it for balance. "Okay, ready? Here we goooooo!" Holding it out to the side, he takes a rolling start. At the last moment, he shoves his muscular arm out in front of him to gain some lift, then jams the pole into the river with the other two arms.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

"Oof!" His timing was off, so he backs up and tries again.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

I realize that Chiselnits isn't a mount, but since we're having him do the check instead of Illnore, I thought this would be a convenient and amusing way to get her across the river too.

As soon as Chiselnits opens his stomach crack on the other side of the river, Illnore woozily spills/crawls out onto the ground. Her face looks greenish. "Ohhh. That's never as fun as you'd think it would be." She groans, then begins taking deep breaths, trying to get her motion sickness under control. "That was a lot of rolling. Urp."

"Oh, poor Illnore. I'm so sorry. I tried real hard to get it right the first time, but it's harder than it looks." Chiselnits cuddles up next to her, spikes retracted, and looks on with concern until she feels better.

After a few minutes, Illnore smiles at him and gives him a hug. "Thanks, buddy. I'm all better now. Let's get moving!"

Avery manages to make it across on her first try. 1 progress point

Ekaterina hands begin to slip, but manages to hang on and make it look good. critical success-2 progress points

Illnore climbs inside of Chesilnits and goes along for the ride. The feat of strength impresses the officials. Critical Success=2 progress points

Another 5, good job. Total of 12 for the day.

As the PCs make their way to the camp site. The campsite in this area is settled among the standing stones. These stones recall the deeds of Balgird Bluetongue and his heroic deeds

Both Two Houses and Without Trace or Fail are already setting up camp. The other teams seem to have fallen behind.

The members of Two Houses wave cheerfully and congratulate them on catching up.

Without Trace or Fail give the Pathfinders the stink eye and go back to work.

You can go and try to make nice with Without Trace or Fail or you can try to talk to the officials.

Avery makes her way toward the officials, introduces herself, in case they don't remember her. She asks for advice about how one manages to live in the frigid conditions with ice and snow, explaining that she herself is more adept in woodlands and rainforests. She subtly leads their conversation from survival to what could be next for the competitions, without the officials realizing they are doing so.
Diplomacy check to Gather Information: 1d20 ⇒ 20

Tieri makes friends with Two Houses. He recounts his team's attempts to get over the river and asks about theirs, and offers to treat any injuries they sustained.

Medicine: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12 This character really has to stretch for influence skills.

With no broken teeth, he's a bit out of his element.

Kat heads over to the other team, thinking that if they're giving her team the stink eye, how much worse can it be.

"Well met. I'm Kat from the Pathfinder Pro's!"

Diplomacy(U): 1d20 ⇒ 7

Oh well...

Standing up gracefully from her near fall Ekaterina continues as if nothing happened.

"Greetings.I must say, Balgird must have been quite a survivor to be able to make it home by himself woth all the dangers he mjst have encountered. And probably with limited supplies too."

Ekaterina begins as she tries to start up a conversation with the other teams.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

"Thanks for the help. So, what's up for tomorrow?" Swayaah speaks to the officials.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

"Can you blame me for asking for help?" She shrugs and spends the night hanging out with the Two Houses team.

Illnore tags along with the group chatting with Without Trace or Fail. After listening to the dysfunctional conversation for a bit, she exchanges a wry look with Chiselnits before dropping in her two coppers. "You guys sure were fast today. We thought we were making good time, but you sure beat us here."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

She spends a bit of time stroking their egos in the hopes that it'll smooth over her teammates' unintentionally ineffective overtures of friendship. Our hearts are in the right place, but that team sure is prickly.

The only Pathfinder that appears to have any luck is Ekaterina, who manages to get some good information on the trek ahead. Will gain a +1 circumstance bonus to the next overland travel portion, as well as the next trial.

As the sun sets on this day, the PCs spot creature can be seen moving along the horizon. This is the beast that you believe has been keeping up with the race.

Day 4

The final day could not have started better. The skies are clear of any cloud and no fog is present.

[ooc]Athletic, Nature, or Survival

Nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

"Huh. I can't tell what that animal is. Can you, Chiselnits?"

The next day, Illnore let's Chiselnits clear the way for her again. "I can't believe we didn't try this earlier. It's genius!"

"Yeah! 'Cause I can go faster! Let's go!" And with that, Chiselnits rolls off in the wrong direction again. This time, he corrects himself after about 20 feet. "Heheh. Meant to do that!"

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Kat notices the large plant rolling off in the opposite direction.

"This way, Chiselnits!"

Nature: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

DC 18 Nature check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Avery seems familiar with the creature that has been following them. She shares what she knows into her allies. "I think it is a Giant Short-Faced Bear, kinda large animal that has the ability to maw and toss its prey aside. We better be careful if it gets close and if it is hostile. But what is it doing here?"

Survival check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Avery is enjoying the weather with ease. She seems she is one with nature so far.

Unsure of what to expect, especially now with a large beast following her companions, Kat pulls out her crossbow and loads it.

Draw and load crossbow

Glad to be out of the fog, Tieri practically runs down the trail.

Athletics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

It is not very practical.

Swayaah lets the trackers do their tracking thing. A bear, huh? She refines her investigation to focus on the bear.

The next day, she continues her unofficial Tieri duty.

Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8 Yup, it's a living.

"What's that over there?" The witch squints as she tries to recognize the beast.
Nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Ekaterina tries to use her survival skills to get through the task.
Nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
using second hero point
Nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Ugh. This woman is a city girl through and through. she thinks as she slogs through the fog.

The Pathfinder Pro's are grateful for the clear weather, but exhaustion is definitely setting in as they move towards the last obstacle.

3 Success are good enough for 2 progress points

Among the tall drifts and dunes of snow and ice, a small hollow reveals signs of life. A large fire pit is encircled by tents and snow shelters as officials stand near the warmth of the blazing fire. Beyond the camp, a large sheet of exposed ice is marked by race banners. In the middle of the ice, a delicate ribbon lies partially frozen in the sheet.

The officials tell the teams that this trial recounts the tale of Balgird’s brave survival on the open ice. While camping in the tundra, Balgird lost some precious equipment to the wind in the night. The following morning, he followed a trail of gear to discover one of his scrolls frozen in the ice. With great care, he moved across the thin sheet to where his scroll lay trapped. Balgird created a lens from a piece of the ice itself, focusing the sunlight on the ice to slowly melt it away from his scroll until he was able to free it.

To make it out to the ribbon will take a Acrobatics check to balance. Once out to the ribbon, it will take a thievery or nature to remove the delicate ribbon. Creative ways of removing the ribbon could grant you circumstance bonus, while brutish ways may rip the ribbon.

Multiple PC's may attempt to gain additional progress points, but failing too many acrobatics checks per PC or destroying the ribbon could cost you.

Acrobatics check with Steady Balance feat: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Avery easily balances herself on the vast expanse of ice and her way out to the ribbon. She then attempts to melt the ice surrounding the ribbon with the warmth of her hands.

Thievery check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

It seems her technique is too slow to get the ribbon out of the ice.

"Fae, get the cocoa ready. I'm gonna get a ribbon." Swayaah tiptoes onto the ice.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Once she gets to the ribbon, she pulls out a small chisel from her bag of fun. "Like dad would teach me, patience and care are paramount."

Thievery: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

"I was a bad student, though."

"Ice is just like bone, yes? I cut through, careful not to open anything that will bleed much. Today, I will extract the ribbon without making it bleed."

Tieri heads out, wishing he brought a pair of skates, and carefully cuts through the ice to reach the ribbon.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Thievery: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Tieri has Surgery Lore, but it is only a +3, so unless he gets a +5 bonus for using it, Thievery is a better skill to roll.

At the last moment, he adjusts the position of the razor in his hand to avoid slicing into the ribbon.

Thievery, Hero Point: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

"This patient is not doing so well."

I have Acrobatics, but not the 2nd skill so I think I'll pass this one unless we really need another success

"Gosh, I don't know about this. How 'bout we watch the others and see if they really need someone else to do it. I'm not too keen on falling through the ice though. Ughghghg!" Illnore shivers at the thought of it.

+2 Acrobatics and +5 Nature for Illnore; Chiselnits is worse. She'll try it if the judges don't deem the rest of the team's efforts worthy.

acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
"Whooah!" Ekaterina's arms wave around as she tries to make her way to the ribbon. Frustrated, the witch decides to use her Wordreaper(Sickle) as an ice pick and help drag herself to to the ribbon before a gust of wind suddenly circles around her.

She looks around before hearing a tinkling sound. "Oh! Midnight, there you are!" she exclaimed at her air wisp familiar made its' presence known. "Midnight, do you see that ribbon in the ice? Do you think you can go there and spin around the ice to wear it down?"

Avery makes her way easily across the ice, but the ribbon is holds firm.

Swayaah likewise makes it to the ribbon, but can not free it from its icy confines.

Tieri moves across the ice and is too stumped by the ribbon.

Ekaterina takes step in the ice and falls hard cracking it around her. Ekaterina can try the acrobatics again. And I'll give you a +2 circumstance bonus for you elemental aiding you.

@Illnore, up to you if you want, we can hold out for Kaitlyn or Ekaterina a bit longer

I don't have the 2nd skill. I'll give it a shot...

Kat lightly steps across to the ribbon.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Then tries to take the ribbon without losing her footing.

Thievery(U): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Unfortunately she doesn't do well this time