Welcome!
Please dot (add a post) in here and then delete your post to add yourself to this campaign.
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 )
Let's get started!
You have been travelling on the Glorious Payoff for several days, with Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry at the helm. She invited each of you to come on the mission, promising you that it would be a short but worthwhile trip and that she would fill you in on the details once you were at sea.
You know you're headed for the Shackles and have been sailing down the Garundi coast.
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A glowing woman, literally, with translucent wings, sits next to her corgi. She is only just over a foot tall and had introduced herself to the rest of you as Luciola Iridessa, a light sprite who ha joined the Pathfinders to, as she put it, "to boldly go where no other sprite had been before". As befitting her ancestry, or maybe because of it, she is a fae sorceress and delights in pixie pranks and mischief although she said she wouldn't pull pranks on her fellow party members .... after all that would be against the Pathfinder Code ... or at least that was what she interpreted what Ol' Muttonchops .... erm ... VC Ambrus Valsin ... has said when he gave her a right dressing down during her training over a certain .... incident. Speaking of dress, she was basically wearing a translucent outfit made of spidersilk but was opaque where it needed to be, mainly so the light she emitted wouldn't be blocked. Once Kyra had called her a "Little Saren Ray of Sunshine". At least that was better than being called "You Little Pest".
Currently she was full of excitement, wondering how this mission was going to go. Hopefully, for a change, it had nothing to do with threats against the various lodges.
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A goblin, wearing a stereotypical wizard's robe and hat, sits quietly poring over a large (well, at least large for him) spellbook. "Hi. I'm BakBat, the mighty wizard. We can be friends!"
Anyone attempting to see what is written in his spellbook will notice that nothing is written there, only pictures drawn in a crude style.
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Traveling with you is a half-elven woman in her early to mid twenties, probably more at home wearing expensive clothing at one of Zarta Dralneen's affairs, but is currently clad in sturdy explorer's clothing. At the hollow of her throat is a silver holy symbol tied with a black leather cord like a choker. Despite a fairly delicate profile, she doesn't seem to have too much trouble with her gear.
She flashes you a dazzling smile as she introduces herself. "Elixia Zielle of the savored sting, at your service." That last word emphasized just enough to be enticing. She looks at her fellow Pathfinder agents and then around at all the activity on board the ship. "I'm sure someone will explain what's going on sooner or later, yes? As long as the mission is more exciting than the trip here from Absalom, it'll be worth it."
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Spending any sunny day on deck is a rather strange "person" - looking like someone wrapped a suit of armor around a collection of thick vines that then grew mostly straight upwards through it nearly six and a half feet tall, but with limbs enough to carry a large steel shield bearing a stylized spiral upon it. On the being's other side is a very strange looking sword that appears to be able to separate into segments!
Nestled at the neck of the armor is an orb, so dark purple it's almost black, flecked with tiny pinpricks of light. You can only really tell when it's looking at you because it awkwardly wears a steel helmet as part of its plate armor kit, so when it rotates some 200-degrees around to look at you, you know you have its attention.
The orb creates a pleasant hum and soft warble whenever it speaks, which hasn't been often during this voyage. It does so now, however, as everyone gathers on-deck together.
"We find this warm, sunny weather to be quite enjoyable. It is entirely possible that this is the closest we've been to our home in many years. Not since Bloodcove, at least!"
"We are Standarii, and we are pleased to meet you!"
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Pictograms in your spellbook? Luciola says to BakBat That's novel. Certainly illuminates your understanding I suppose. And yes, I'd like to be friends. Some say you can't have too many of those. If BakBat needs light to study his book, Luciola will gladly sit next to him and provide some. BakBat also discovers Luciola knows quite a bit about the Arcane.
She doesn't have much to say in reply to either Elixa or Quickblade although she does grin when Elixa says 'service' as if she's interested in finding out more. However she does find Standarii rather interesting. I've never seen anyone like you before. You look like a piece of the night sky ... it's so pretty. And yeah ... I like this weather too.
To everyone she says I'm Luciola but most entities call me Luci. I'm bright and I know a lot about some things. I'm even a medic but .... I'd rather be away from the combat. I'm ...... rather afraid of being overlooked and stepped on. Um .... oh ... meet my corgi, Caroli
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Luciola looks rather dejected as Bakbat has an adverse reaction to Caroli. Sit girl. She then sighs. She's my ride .... think I can get far on these wings? Besides, more people are more likely to see Caroli than me. But ... I'll do what I can to see she doesn't annoy you.
While she's saying that Caroli is lapping up the attention she gets from Quickblade.
As a splash of salt crashes over the bow of the Glorious Payoff, Calisro Benarry deftly steers her ship through a hidden channel, carefully navigating through the barely visible rock and coral that protrude slightly from the water’s surface. Behind the Payoff, a slightly smaller ship—the Sea Sparkle—follows, making every effort to follow Benarry’s course as closely as possible. Off the port hull, the deep green of the Garundi coast is illuminated by the late afternoon sun.
“See those gulls?” Benarry shouts over the flapping of the sails, “that’s the sandbar we’ll be dropping you off at. Barely sticks up over the waves, but the seabirds flock over it to feast on crab.”
“As I explained earlier, Vidrian—you might have known it as Sargava not that long ago—needs explorers to chart the trade routes to the south that they couldn’t use back when it was ruled by Cheliax. Simple enough bit of adventuring, but the new nation’s been having trouble with the Free Captains of late. Turns out when Vidrian broke free of Cheliax, the locals stopped paying the pirates protection money, and now they’re the number-one plunder target in the Shackles. What’s more, the pirates have set up a blockade preventing our ships from making it down to Vidrian to assist.”
“Thankfully, we’ve got someone on the inside. Stella Fane, a Free Captain with ties to the Firebrands and the Pirate Council, has been in contact with the Society. She and members of the Society’s leadership have put together a fairly clever plan to help the Society’s ships pass through the pirate blockades unharmed. The Wind and the Waves willing, the Payoff and the Sparkle can sail to Vidrian, no problem. While we’re doing that, I’ve arranged transport for you to Port Peril to meet with Fane and get her to sign this contract making the whole thing official—she may be a pirate, but she’s the kind that holds to her word. You’ll need to avoid drawing too much attention until after the deal is done. Once she’s signed the contract her friends in the Pirate Council will ratify it and there won’t be much the lesser captains can do. Be careful. Anyone looking to put a stop to this need only ensure that contract never gets signed.”
"Questions?"
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I ..... hope they don't feast on faerie Luciola says nervously while sitting on Caroli And ..... if you're leaving us there, how do we get off .... and how deep is the water there anyway? I don't swim well .... maybe I should get a potion of water breathing and an elixer of swimming from the Quartermaster
Benarry looks at you. "Do they not teach you this stuff? The Firebrands are a bunch of daredevils, liberators, and injustice fighters with a reputation for sowing chaos after performing ostentatious acts. The Pirate Council are the most powerful of the pirate lords of the Shackles. Each controls one of the major ports of the region. They are led by the Hurricane Queen, Tessa Fairwind, who rules the Shackles with the support of the members. The sandbank does go under, but it will be no more than a few inches or so deep, I'm told, even if you have to wait."
She hands the contract to you and gestures towards the side of the ship.
"We've slowed down so it's easier for you to jump in."
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Caroli, with Luciola still on her, jumps off the ship. They separate at the top of the arc. Caroli hits the water first then swims to the sand bank to drive off the seagulls.
Meanwhile .... flutter ... flutter ..... flutter .... flutter .... splot as Luciola glides to a landing near the sandbank, using the water to cushion the fall. Fortunately the water is only up to her waist at that point so she, now soaking wet, is able to reach the sandbank. She then hides under her corgi.
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Luciola wasn't happy either. She had earlier discovered there was no such thing as an Elixir of Swimming, and she was only one gold short of being able to purchase a Potion of Water Breathing. Plus the stuff that helps one swim was twice as expensive as the Water Breathing potion.
As Elixa reaches the sandbar Luciola started using cantrips to try and dry off Elixa's fine clothes.
Maybe you should be wearing an outfit like mine she quips.
Elixia notices a wooden crate barely protruding from the sandbar. Opening the crate will take an Athletics check.
You all notice the water is too shallow for the Payoff to get closer, but it’s calm enough in the lee of the sandbar that you have no trouble swimming to it.
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Khagra looks to Standarii looks to the box, looks back and grunts, "Want a hand?"
The conrasu regains their full height, standing on the sandbar, then looks down at their vine-appendages for a moment. "Is...is it considered socially appropriate if we should accept an offer of an additional hand even though our exoskeleton has not yet molted this season?"
...
A moment later, they look at what Khagra is attempting to do and their deep purple orb pulses with tiny flecks of light. Possibly something akin to blushing?
"OH!"
Their orb sinks a tiny bit down into the neck-and-shoulder piece of their armor as they tread forward in the sandbar, reaching down.
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Elixia would point out the crate to the others and would cast Guidance on Standari, giggling a little bit at their exchange.
She thanks Luciola, and whispers "I think I own something similar to that, but I got arrested the last time I tried to wear it out in public. I thought about getting changed on deck before leaving the ship but I don't want to have to explain THAT when we get back to Absalom either!"
You open the crate to find a bottle of rum stamped with a stylized dragon turtle. (Alcohol Lore to ID)
The tide comes in as you wait on the sandbar, eventually leaving you standing in a few inches of water in the middle of the ocean. About an hour later, a small boat appears, sailed by an elderly dwarf. The woman beckons the you aboard, shifting around sacks of shellfish and crab traps to make room in the cramped vessel.
Over the next few hours, Hlar sails her boat in a meandering path to shore along the submerged rock formations, every now and then jumping overboard and freediving for several minutes before reemerging with an oyster, sea urchin, or squid.
”If you want to get into port quicker, two of you can row.” she says gruffly.
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A few inches of water is just about thigh deep to Luciola so she is rather relieved when the Hlar's boat arrives. Her and Corali jump in the boat.
She also watches, fascinated, as the lady dwarf, goes free diving.
I should learn to do that. I've heard that there can be a lot of fun to be found in the water
Hlar’s boat arrives in Port Peril around sunset. As you drift into Crescent Harbour, sailors disembarking for shore leave remain clearly visible, singing rowdily as they work.
Hlar soon lands at a smaller dock to unload her catch and gestures at Fane’s ship in one of the docks—the Risen Albatross.
”Fane loves partying hard when she returns to port. Could be any number of places. I don’t know where the kids go these days. The harbourmaster would probably have a better idea of where he saw Fane head after her ship docked and unloaded. He’s called. Tsojmin Kreidoros. He’s quite miserable, so you’d better bribe him unless you’re good at sweet-talking. He’s the bald dwarf over there.” she points to a dwarf with a ledger and pen not too far away.
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Khagra puts his right foot up on the dock and reaches back into the boat with his left hand, offering help for anybody who wants a hand getting out.
Khagra looks to Elixa, look down at his buff shirtless self and looks back "Hope you more his type Khagra not too elloguent. Maybe you ask nicely about Fane."
As the two of you approach, the bald-headed dwarf looks down at you and carries on his work.
"Yes?" he says, largely ignoring you.