#8-05 UNGROUNDED BUT UNBROKEN - GM Nowruz (Inactive)

Game Master noral

Captain Othis claps slowly from the balcony, her jaw tight.

"Very well," she says at last.

"In spite of your teammates' valiant efforts to even the playing field, it appears that some can't control their hotheadedness by claiming there was foul play."

She glares pointedly at Ash.

"A sign you all require more discipline."

She waves curtly as she turns around and walks away.

"You can report to the armory to clean those weapons. Perhaps tomorrow we can start with some practical training."

A grizzled Ungrounded veteran helps the other recruits to their feet before shaking her head and continuing onward to another part of the mercenary complex.

The dwarf clutches his side, but turns to Ash.

"I... I am sorry. You're... good people."

He pulls out a small vial of clear liquid from his belt and hands it to the warrior.

"For... goodwill, eh?"

His smile is bloody as he limps after his companions towards the armory.

You've seen enough of these draughts to recognize a healing potion when you see one. This one looks to be a bit stronger than most (potion of cure moderate wounds).

Once the martinet is out of earshot, the witch motions the others to gather around. "Before we clean up, what was that about poison?"

The dwarf is clearly concerned.

“I … I don’t know what you mean!“ he says and looks at the captain.

GM N, my intent was to only talk to the party. That was why I waited until the captain was gone.

Ooops, then the captain is gone and imagine that the dwarf heard you and came running. ;)

"I guess I don't know for sure but Kridash mentioned the blades were poisoned. I guess he was the only one who experienced it. I noticed our opponents were guilty when he brought it up, which is why I told them we would wait for them to get fairer weapons.

"Actually, I guess it wasn't really fair that they were using real weapons with edges and we were using nonlethal versions.

"Anyway, on one hand, it is clearly bad that Othis would reduce to having people use poison in what is, supposed to be, a training session. On the other hand, it is a good thing that her underlings are only following orders and don't seem to bear us any direct malice," Shenendril says.

Ilarien has +12 Healing and +11 Craft (Alchemy). Taking 10, can she detect the poison and identify it?

ETA: she'd be checking where Kridash and Zandu got hit, looking for traces of some sort of contact poison.

"Hey, we'll chat over a drink later, I guess?”, Ash gives back the vial. "Sorry if I we went too hard. Captain's hard to please."

Camina is often a little slow on the uptake and after the captain criticizes the party for complaining she'll say to the party, "But, but there was foul play. Wasn't there? But whatever, let's go give those weapons a good lick."

Zandu shakes his head as he walks with the others toward the armory. "I get the feeling Cap doesn't much like us." He then casts the handy ol' Prestidigitation, and makes quick work of cleaning the borrowed weapons.

Ilarien is able to check the wounds of the group and even one of the weapons that their opponents had!

After some time she thinks that she knows what this was!

Dusk Agate Extract
75 GP
SAVE Fortitude DC 13 TYPE poison (contact)
EFFECT unconsciousness for 1 minute
SECONDARY EFFECT 1 Wisdom damage
CURE 1 save

"Hey, we'll chat over a drink later, I guess?”, Ash gives back the vial. "Sorry if I we went too hard. Captain's hard to please."

The captain is gone and the dwarf opens up to you.

But he shakes his head after Ash's comment.

"No! Please keep the potion! I feel bad enough!"

"That's...interesting. I suspect that if we confronted her with the evidence, she'd say that it was part of the exercise--that in a real fight, you won't know what advantages and tricks the enemy has." She sniffs. "While that's true, I'm beginning to come around to the idea that there's more to her opposition than that. Ash and Zandru, what would you say to a repeat of the chandlery office?"

SM: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Ash looks at the rest of the agents, and speaks with a lowered voice "These guys know more. We already gave them a beating, and I don't want to harass it out of them. Maybe someone with a more honeyed tongue could try to talk to them?"

The Pathfinders walk with the other recruits to the armory, storing the blunted weapons and retrieving their own from the racks.

Some of you have to spend a bit of time cleaning the blood off your borrowed weapons.

The other Ungrounded recruits that you fought stick around to ask how your group's training is going and if you think you'll make it as members of the company.

This is another open-ended period. Anything you want to do?

Camina will skulk around the camp, trying avoid detection, and listen in on conversations. If the fancy strikes her, she'll climb the odd wall, squeeze through tight spaces just to see if she can, and eat any tasty things she finds lying around unattended.

stealth: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16

Ilarien will try to abandon her usual reserve and hauteur and chat with the other Ungrounded, sharing stories of her adventures in the Society (particularly the most recent set with Ash, Zandu, Shen, and the others). "I suppose that's why we were picked for this assignment. We're all of us competent enough, and we're trained to work as a team. Our leadership wouldn't want to send a group that's likely to fail...the stakes are too high for that. But that's boring politics, and not something you're likely to hear about."

Her intent is for someone to share rumors about how the assignment looked from the other side, and if the captain has a motivation to make us fail.

"We're doing acceptably," Shenendril said to their former opponents. "It's not easy, but I guess that's to be expected with such an elite unit."

She darts her eyes around as though looking for eavesdroppers. "I can't help but feel that Othis has it out for us in particular, though. I'd offer to buy you a drink to chat about it, but I don't think there's anywhere to do that. Would you be willing to compare notes with us after dinner one night?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

"We're doing acceptably," Shenendril said to their former opponents. "It's not easy, but I guess that's to be expected with such an elite unit."

She darts her eyes around as though looking for eavesdroppers. "I can't help but feel that Othis has it out for us in particular, though. I'd offer to buy you a drink to chat about it, but I don't think there's anywhere to do that. Would you be willing to compare notes with us after dinner one night?"

[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 9

You see that the leader of the band follows you all to a quite corner and then his mask crumbles under the weight of Shenendril's attention.

"You-you do not know how bad the captain is! How much she makes us suffer!" he blurts, failing to hold back the tears leaking down his cheeks.

"I-I-I tried to stand up to her too, you know - told her it wasn't fair for us to cheat even if she told us to. And then she had Herma dragged into her office, and all we could hear outside was our companion crying out in pain and the captain yelling. And when the door opened..."

He glares at Shenendril.

"She could barely walk, barely speak. Captain followed her out and said she'd asked nicely and wasn't asking as nicely now, and if we 'understood the message'. I..."

He looks at Ash as he echoes her words, then down at the stone floor.

"I couldn't stand to see another of my friends dragged in there and beaten for my actions," he whispers.

"I... I said yes, we would obey the captain's order to sabotage the obstacle course and use the poison she provided on our weapons today."

He looks back up at the Pathfinders, his face once more an emotionless mask of stone.

"So do what you want with me. You can't break me more than I already am."

Camina will skulk around the camp, trying avoid detection, and listen in on conversations. If the fancy strikes her, she'll climb the odd wall, squeeze through tight spaces just to see if she can, and eat any tasty things she finds lying around unattended.

[dice=stealth]1d20+13

You see that these soldiers are very well trained and clearly disciplined.

The conditions are not favorable and the training is hard!

You actually have access to all the locations except of the captain's office Camina.

When she is not busy conducting drills or supervising the training, Othis spends most of her day in the office, leaving only to take dinner and rest in her private chambers in the evening.

Ilarien will try to abandon her usual reserve and hauteur and chat with the other Ungrounded, sharing stories of her adventures in the Society (particularly the most recent set with Ash, Zandu, Shen, and the others). "I suppose that's why we were picked for this assignment. We're all of us competent enough, and we're trained to work as a team. Our leadership wouldn't want to send a group that's likely to fail...the stakes are too high for that. But that's boring politics, and not something you're likely to hear about."

Her intent is for someone to share rumors about how the assignment looked from the other side, and if the captain has a motivation to make us fail.

diplomacy gather information Ilarien: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Ilarien tries her best to get the crew to talk but they really are not very talkative as it seems ... or there are really no rumors to share.

You see that the leader of the band follows you all to a quite corner and then his mask crumbles under the weight of Shenendril's attention.

"You-you do not know how bad the captain is! How much she makes us suffer!" he blurts, failing to hold back the tears leaking down his cheeks.

"I-I-I tried to stand up to her too, you know - told her it wasn't fair for us to cheat even if she told us to. And then she had Herma dragged into her office, and all we could hear outside was our companion crying out in pain and the captain yelling. And when the door opened..."

He glares at Shenendril.

"She could barely walk, barely speak. Captain followed her out and said she'd asked nicely and wasn't asking as nicely now, and if we 'understood the message'. I..."

He looks at Ash as he echoes her words, then down at the stone floor.

"I couldn't stand to see another of my friends dragged in there and beaten for my actions," he whispers.

"I... I said yes, we would obey the captain's order to sabotage the obstacle course and use the poison she provided on our weapons today."

He looks back up at the Pathfinders, his face once more an emotionless mask of stone.

"So do what you want with me. You can't break me more than I already am."

"Was the captain -ALWAYS- like that? Or is that a recent thing?", he probes a little more.

Ash seems surprised with that last sentence. Uh - where did that come from? Who said we're planning on doing anything like that? We're here to see how you train... To make friends and allies!"

He looks around everyone for reactions.

The dwarf looks at Ash with hope in his eyes.

“She was always a hard leader but since you arrived she’s really something else!! And I’m glad that you are so kind although we did … you know… “ he says apologetically.

Ilarien sniffs. "I certainly don't blame you." Especially since you lost without giving us more than bruises. . "As long as you're answering questions, though, who is her superior?"

The dwarf shrugs.

"A shaitan general I assume but I have never seen them here!" he says.

Despite that Camina is permitted to freely roam the camp, she sneaks around the edges of it, trying to be quiet and avoid notice. It's just her way.

"Why do you think our presence has made her so mean? Is she one of the many people in the multiverse who seem to hold a grudge against us?"

Shenendril is shocked by the insinuation that they would harm this man further. If anything, she wants to give him a hug.

"I'm sorry our presence seems to have tipped something in your commander. We'll do what we can to make things right," she says.

When the Pathfinders have some time alone, she talks things over with them.

"I only wish it was as simple as she just doesn't like us. Which, it may be. But we've all heard or experienced malignant spirits and entities taking people over or impersonating them. We have to assume that is a possibility here. So, the real question is, what do we do? Do we confront her? Do we try to find more evidence? Do we simply continue our training and hope that she'll tip her hand at some point or that nothing too drastic will happen before we're done and it's time to leave?"

Ilarien ponders. "We have to continue with the training. We shouldn't say or do anything to make her aware of our suspicions while we gather evidence, and I think the best evidence is likely to be in her office. The other thing we need to find out is who we tell if we find something."

Ash is listening to the discission, and only bow decides to step in.

"The obvious name is Reyshal ik Jalman. Although I am not sure how to get a hold of him. But first things first - we need to figure out what the issue is, exactly. Perhaps we should talk to this Herma person?"

Good line of thoughts ... ;-) How do you continue?

Shenendril nods in Kridash's direction.

"Yes, let's find Herma. Perhaps she can tell us if the Captain was behaving strangely and in what way," Shenendril says.

Zandu nods. "Sounds like a good start. We can always avail ourselves of our more... stealthy... skills later, should the need call for it."

You can easily find Herma who confirms the story.

“I am so sorry!! We are a group of friends who dreamed of becoming accomplished soldiers. Our shared vision of a promising and exciting mercenary career crumbled under the captain’s iron fist. For weeks, the constant verbal abuse has whittled away at our resolve, leaving most of us almost completely broken! I think the captain was always like this!! You arrived and she now only openly shows her colors!!“ she says angrily.

“When the captain ordered us to help test you recruits, we didn’t ask questions. Darkblade, the dwarf you let is the unofficial leader of our group. I know that he was secretly thrilled that the captain’s attention shifted to you. We all were afraid that we friends couldn’t take much more before we broke!!“

She explains that when the captain ordered them to cheat, they refused, only to watch Helma getting dragged into the captain’s office and being severely beaten.

GM N, do we (or any of the other Ungrounded) ever get liberty? Time off base?

I posted your daily routine earlier. On the road now so can’t link it. That’s your schedule every day. :-(

How about anyone else in the Ungrounded?

I mean you have time for yourselves in the evening and morning. The other Ungrounded that trust you are in the same boat as you. All others are in the captain’s corner.

What do you do everyone?

"Can someone who's better at figuring people out try to tell who the other cliques are in this place? I want to know who we can trust."

Ryskovich just get up, and does what’s required before he heads to meal time then back to the barracks before repeating the same process. As his fellow pathfinder speaks up, he looks to them.

I can try, but I’m not the most sliver tongued individual

Ryskovich will attempt to go around, trying to discern who belongs to what clique/faction in hopes to find out useful information.

diplomacy is +5 if gather info: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Camina does a bit of mingling, but it's painfully apparent to all of you that she does not really get people. Most of what she says is harmlessly awkward.

"Okay, so this seems it's not a new issue that started when we arrived. I understand that the training has to be tough, but ... this is a bit overboard, I guess. Maybe we check the captain's belongings for some sort of indication?"

Shenendril continues to use her time trying to investigate how the other members of the Ungrounded feel about their commander, see whose loyal and who is not, and who might be interested in allying with the Pathfinders.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Or...

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Shenendril believes that everyone in the regiment is loyal to the captain and that only group that fought against you and was forced to use poison has doubts and is on your side.

All others do not really warm up the crowd and cannot find out much more.

Ash's suggestion hangs in the air ...

Ilarien nods. "We'll need a plan. The captain follows a routine, which will help, but now that we know most of the Ungrounded are loyal to her we'll have to avoid them, too. She may also have magical wards--I can sense them from a distance, though."

"If I thought that she just had it in for us, I would suggest we just suffer through. It's for a limited time, after all and we can likely survive by helping each other. But if she's just doing this over and over to other people for no real reason, we need to determine why and try to get things taken care of," Shenendril says.

"We're probably going to have to miss a night's sleep if we want to do anything."

"Let's do this across two nights. The first night, Ash and Zandu scout the best route to her office and verify that there aren't any magical wards. The rest of us will set watches, so we won't all be short on sleep. The second night, we all go."

Shenendril sighs. "It's the best plan I can think of in the circumstances. The only other thing I can think of is to try to make her overplay her hand, but with most of the people here on her side, there's as much chance they'll just support her as be offended by the injustice."

Sounds good. The characters involved have to please describe what they are planning to do and give me the appropriate rolls that they believe they will need to accomplish their plan. I will then resolve.

I can take a watch, to ensure sleep is had by all. I do not believe any of my limited skills will be beneficial in the current plan structure